The battle that changed a way of life

MY McLeod kinfolk fought at Culloden, so I decided to draw this picture in their memory. They joined Bonnie Prince Charlie in his vain bid to overturn the monarchy in 1745, and suffered the final indignity of defeat at the hands of the Duke of Cumberland's army on a ragged field near Inverness. What I didn't know until very recently was that this famous battle lasted only half an hour, during which 1,500 were killed. Worse still was the aftermath, when 'Butcher' Cumberland embarked on a mission of persecution, slaughtering the Highlanders and instigating a long campaign of oppression which changed the highland way of life forever. Flora MacDonald, who helped Prince Charlie escape, was also related to my family through marriage.