Scotland Travel Blog May 2025

Jacobite Stories for "Outlander" Fans

I recently put a post on our Facebook page that generated a lot of responses from "Outlander" fans with an interest in Jacobite history. The post featured a gravestone in Boleskin graveyard that bears the impact marks of 3 musket balls that Red Coat soldiers fired into a crowd of Highlanders attending a burial.

The incident took place in late 1746, some months after the Battle of Culloden. It was a time of oppression in the Highlands with the British Army violently imposing its authority. A funeral was taking place in Boleskin Graveyard at the same time that a troop of Red Coat soldiers were passing on the old Military Road between the garrisons based at Fort Augustus and Inverness.

One of the funeral party spotted an opportunity to steal food from the soldiers’ supply wagon, but he was spotted and the soldiers opened fire on the funeral party. Hence the musket ball impact marks on the gravestone.

No one was killed, but the marks of the musket balls are still clearly visible in the gravestone. They are neatly clustered and each is about the size of a 10p coin. In the photo below we have inserted 10p coins to help illustrate where the projectiles hit. It would seem that the soldiers were good shots, or else they were firing at a close range.

We think the post generated so much interest because it appealed to “Outlander” fans who want to visit places in Scotland with tangible links to the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion. So, this is a blog about places with interesting Jacobite connections. Places that make the “Outlander” story feel more real.

Coilleag a’ Phrionnsa, Isle of Eriskay

It seems fitting to start with the place where Bonnie Prince Charlie first stepped ashore in Scotland, and that was on a lovely beach on the Island of Eriskay.

Some dispute that this was his first footfall on Scottish soil, and there is some evidence that suggests the Prince first came ashore at Colonsay. But the folk on Eriskay were better at marketing and named their beach in honour of the Prince, so Eriskay is credited as his arrival point.

Eriskay also claims to have received a gift from the Prince in the form of a rare wildflower that is only found growing on the island’s dunes. According to local folklore, as the Prince stepped ashore he pulled a handkerchief from his pocket, and in so doing, scattered seeds of the flower on Eriskay where it still flourishes. You can see some of these flowers in the bottom right of the picture below.

And in this picture, we've zoomed in a bit. Sorry, I forgot to take a close-up.

Colonsay’s connection to the Prince is less romantic. The local legend has it that the Prince’s ship anchored off Colonsay to recruit locals who would help them navigate the Western Isles. Two brothers, who were MacMillans, agreed to act as navigators on the condition that their families got paid upfront. Upon boarding the ship and learning more about the young Prince’s plans, one of the MacMillan brothers decided the whole escapade was a bad idea. So under the cover of darkness, he left the ship and swam back to shore. The other brother stayed with the Prince, and eventually married a French woman with whom he settled in France. The brother that stayed on Colonsay enjoyed a comfortable life with the money that he took from the Prince.

Old High Bridge, near Spean Bridge

The Old High Bridge was the scene of one of the most amazing events of the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion, and it is also where the first shots of the conflict were fired. But despite its incredible history, this old bridge gets hardly any attention from visitors.

The bridge lies in a wooded gorge about a 20 minute walk from the well known Commando Memorial that thousands of tourists visit every year. The bridge dates from 1736 and was built as part of General Wade’s network of military roads in the Highlands. These roads were built with the plan of aiding the deployment of British soldiers against any rebellious Highlanders, but it didn’t work out that way at High Bridge!

It was on the 16 August 1745, just 3 days before Bonnie Prince Charlie raised his standard at Glenfinnan at the start of his campaign, when our story begins. Word had reached the British Army that something was afoot at Glenfinnan, so 2 companies of Royal Scots were dispatched to reinforce the garrison at Fort William. But the Redcoats were marching through Jacobite territory, and the Chief of the MacDonalds of Keppoch wasn’t going to make things easy for them.

So, Macdonald assembled his forces…11 of them and a piper, and took up position in the woods overlooking the south end of the Higfh Bridge. Against them was a force of at least 80 Recoats, but this didn’t daunt the Highlanders because the enemy had to cross the narrow and exposed High Bridge where they’d be easy targets.

MacDonald ordered his men to make as much noise as possible and to fire from as many different positions as possible to create the impression that they were a much larger force. In so doing, they created panic and confusion amongst the Recdoats who soon retreated from the bridge and tried to return to their base at Fort Augustus. The MacDonalds of Keppoch then chased them up the Glen towards Invergarry where other Jacobite clans lay in wait. The Redcoats soon surrendered and most survived.

Unfortunately, the High Bridge hasn’t survived intact but enough remains to let you appreciate what would once have been an impressive structure. Originally, the bridge had a span of ~140 feet which was supported on 3 arches that stood about 80 feet above the River Spean. One of the arches remains intact, and the stanchions of the other arches remain, but the linking arches collapsed long ago and the rest of the bridge might soon follow. It’s still worth a visit as the landscape around the bridge has probably not changed all that much over the last 3 centuries.

The "Farewell Stone", Glen Strathfarrar

The “Farewell Stone” in Glen Strathfarrar has a love story behind it that matches any fictional romance thought up by Diana Gabaldon.

The stone was erected by a local who wished to preserve the history of William Chisholm and his wife Christine Ferguson. Local folklore has it that William bade farewell to Christine at this spot before departing to fight for the Jacobites. Christine clung to the hope that William had survived Culloden until one day she met a traveling Tinker who was wearing a jacket that she recognised was one that she had made for her husband.

Christine must have been an educated lady as she went on to become a celebrated poet who composed in the Gaelic language. Her most famous piece is a lament for her lost love which is titled “Mo rùn geal òg”, My fair young love. The "Farewell Stone" is inscribed with the lovers' initials and the title of Christine's lament for her fallen husband. 

But the story of William has an extra dramatic twist. In Gaelic folklore, William survived the battle but died whilst bravely defending wounded members of Clan Chisholm who were taking refuge in a barn.

Dunlichity Kirk, near Inverness 

Dunlichity village consists of a church and a few scattered houses which are located a few miles south of Inverness. You could drive through it without even noticing, but the graveyard at the kirk is worth exploring.

The church that stands here today is a simple building that was built in 1759 and replaced an earlier church on the same site, but elements of the older church are incorporated into the new and it is in these older sections that you find an interesting link to Culloden.

This is Clan MacGillivray territory and the graveyard is the final resting place of several Clan chiefs. Before battles, Clan MacGillivray would assemble at this church where I presume they would ask for Holy blessing before facing death. In preparation for battle, they would also sharpen the blades of their weapons by running them in grooves on the church walls and coping stones of the graveyard walls. So, it is more than likely that this would have happened here before the battle of Culloden in 1746.

If you look at some of the waist-level stones at the corners of the eastern end of an old enclosure attached to the church, you will find some stones with distinct vertical grooves worn into them. And along the eastern boundary wall, there are coping stones with deep “V” shaped grooves which look well suited for the task of sharpening a long blade such as a claymore sword.

Cille Choirill, Glen Spean

The setting of Cille Choirill Chapel is one of the most atmospheric of any church in Scotland. Sat on a hillside above the meandering River Spean, it is easy to block out the modern world and feel transported to another time.

The Jacobite connection of Cille Choirill relates to the days just after Culloden. The Prince was a fugitive and had signaled the end of his military campaign with the order “Let every man seek his own safety in the best way he can". Scattered groups of Highlanders were trying to return to their homes whilst evading Redcoat troops and nursing wounded comrades.

Amongst the men escaping from Culloden was Eoghun Ruad from Glen Spean. Eoghun had led the charge of his clansmen at Culloden, but had been severely wounded in the legs by grapeshot. His comrades carried him from the battlefield, but he soon died from his wounds.

At great risk to their own lives, his clansmen carried his body back to the clan burial ground at Cille Choirill. A journey of at least 70 miles, made at night to avoid the constant threat of capture. Fortunately, they did manage to return Eoghun’s body to be buried with his ancestors, but they had to keep his burial a secret from the Redcoats. So, his body was buried beneath the flagstones at the entrance to the chapel, or so the story goes.

I’m not sure that any skeleton has ever been discovered beneath the chapel floor, but folklore is more romantic than facts so let's not spoil a good story.

Prince’s Cairn, Lochan nan Uamh

It seems appropriate to close out this blog with the place where Bonnie Prince Charlie last stood on Scottish soil. This spot is well known and is marked by a large memorial cairn that is signposted from the A830 a few miles east of Arisaig.

It was from this rocky shore that the Prince, after 5 months of evading British troops, boarded a rowing boat that took him to 2 French frigates that were waiting moored in the sheltered sea loch called Lochan nan Uamh, Gaelic for “Loch of the Cave”.

History does record that the Prince hid in a cave in the Lochan nan Uamh area, we assume that’s the reason for its Gaelic name, but we have yet to find this cave. If you are interested to seek it out, you will see that the location is vaguely indicated on Ordnance Survey maps. If the maps are correct, it is located about a Kilometre west of the Prince’s Cairn and is located in woodlands just south of Arisaig House. Please let us know if you find it!