Saturday, April 21, 2018 the celebration of the Battle of Culloden will commence at 11 A.M. with a march to the Cairn in Knoydart, followed by a roast beef dinner and ceilidh at the Lismore Community Centre, Hwy 245, Lismore, N.S. All are welcome to attend this historical event.

The Battle of Culloden was the final confrontation of the Jacobite rising of 1745 and part of a religious civil war in Britain. On 16 April 1746, the Jacobite forces were decisively defeated by loyalist troops near Inverness in the Scottish Highlands. Between 1,500 and 2,000 Jacobites were killed or wounded in the brief battle. In contrast, only about 300 government soldiers were killed or wounded.

Following up on the military success won by their forces, the British Government enacted laws further to integrate Scotland – specifically the Scottish Highlands – with the rest of Britain. Anti-clothing measures were taken against the highland dress by an Act of Parliament in 1746. The result was that the wearing of tartan was banned except as a uniform for officers and soldiers in the British Army.

The Highland Clearances, were the evictions of a significant number of tenants in the Scottish Highlands mostly during the 18th and 19th centuries. The Clearances resulted in significant emigration of Highlanders to the coast, the Scottish Lowlands, and further afield to North America. The first phase of the Clearances occurred mostly over the period 1760 to 1815. However, it began before the Jacobite rebellion of 1745.

Emigrants settled in close communities on Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia (Antigonish and Pictou counties and later in Cape Breton),