Battle of Culloden clay pipe

Mudlarking find: clay pipe bowl commemorating the battle of Culloden

   









    I was thrilled to find this little fellow. It's really exciting finding something that shows a figure. It really makes me wonder about their story, buried in the river for centuries. With this piece, I have (with the help of a D. Higgins, thank you!) been able to identify the find, and somewhat unravel its secrets. The figure is William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland celebrating his victory at the Battle of Culloden.

Here is D. Higgins description of how the full pipe would have looked:

“The bowl depicts a standing English figure (Cumberland) with upheld sword and scroll on the left hand side and ‘I.VICTORY.GAIND’ above and a Scotsman in traditional dress with round shield and downturned sword on the right hand side, with ‘I.BUT.DISTURB’ above. There is a Royal Standard on the seam facing the smoker and vine scroll type leaves away from the smoker’.

I feel very grateful to have been given this information, and can only imagine how impressive the complete pipe would have once looked. 

Left: William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, commander of  UK Government army. Right: Charles Edward Stuart, leader of Jacobite army.

 The pipe I found was made to mark the victory at Culloden, which was the final confrontation of the 1745 Jacobite rising- the last major battle fought on British soil. The battle took place on 16 April 1746, when the Jacobite forces of Charles Edward Stuart fought loyalist troops known as ‘redcoats’ commanded by William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland near Inverness. The Jacobites were decisively defeated and Charles Stuart never again mounted any further attempts to challenge Hanoverian power in Great Britain.

  Charles Stuart’s, (affectionately known as ‘Bonnie Prince Charlie’s’) Jacobite army mainly consisted of Catholics, whilst the British Governments Hanoverian loyalist forces were mostly Protestants. The battle was quick and bloody, finishing in less than one hour. Around 1200-1500 Jacobites were killed or wounded, compared to only around 300 UK Government soldiers.

Left: Example of UK Government army soldiers uniform. Right: Example of the Highland units Jacobite soldier uniform. 

 The prince himself had invaded Britain to put his own father back on the throne of Great Britain and the army had worked their way south to London. However, by the time they had reached Derby it became very apparent that they weren’t going to get the support they expected. And so, they began their march north again, hoping to fight the British governments’ armies back on their own soil in Scotland. 
   By the time they had arrived back in Culloden in the morning of the 15^th April, they stood there waiting for the opposition to approach Inverness. Unbeknown to the Jacobites, that morning was the Duke of Cumberland’s 25^th birthday, and he had no intention of fighting a battle. He remained in his camp at Nairn and issued brandy and cheese to his men to celebrate. So it wasn’t until the morning of the 16^th April after the Jacobites had made an aborted night march against the government camp that the battle itself began, and Charles's dreams of victory evaporated.

   Ignoring the advice of his best commander, Lord George Murray, Charles chose to fight on flat, open, marshy ground where his forces would be exposed to superior government firepower. Charles commanded his army from a position behind his lines, where he could not see what was happening. Hoping Cumberland's army would attack first, he had his men stand exposed to Hanoverian artillery. Seeing the error in this, he quickly ordered an attack, but the messenger was killed before the order could be delivered. The Jacobite attack, charging into the teeth of musket fire and grapeshot fired from the cannons, was uncoordinated and met with little success.

   The Jacobites broke through the bayonets of the redcoats in one place, but they were shot down by a second line of soldiers, and the survivors fled. Murray managed to lead a group of Jacobites to Ruthven, intending to continue the fight. However Charles, believing himself betrayed, had decided to abandon the Jacobite cause.

   At a time when the etiquette of warfare was considered very important, Cumberland was able to dispense with it by labelling the Highlanders inhuman savages. The brutish way in which Cumberland went about dismantling Highland culture by disarming the clans, banning the wearing of Highland dress, suppressing certain surnames and the use of the Gaelic language amounted to an early example of ethnic cleansing. Cumberland set about destroying the social nexus of the clan that was at the heart of Highland society. After the battle, as a result of his ruthless treatment of the rebels William Augustus was known as the ‘Butcher’.

   After Culloden, Cumberland emerged a powerful and opinion dividing character. He was despised by the Highlanders and remains perhaps the most villainised historical figure of his age, yet idolised in England and the Lowlands.  

Due to his unpopularity in the Highlands, Cumberland was frequently satirized.

    As for Charles's, his subsequent flight has become the stuff of legend and is commemorated in the popular folk song The Skye Boat Song and also the old Irish song Mo Ghile Mear.

   Hiding in the moors of Scotland, he traveled about, always barely ahead of the government forces. Though many Highlanders saw Charles, and indeed aided him, none of them betrayed him for the £30,000 reward offered. Assisted by supporters such as the pilot Donald Macleod of Galtrigill, Captain Felix O'Neill of the O'Neills of the Fews dynasty and Flora MacDonald, who helped him escape pursuers on the Isle of Skye by taking him in a small boat disguised as her Irish maid, "Betty Burke,” he evaded capture and left the country aboard the French frigate L'Heureux, arriving back in France in September.

Left: Flora Macdonald. Right: Charles Edward Stuart dressed as Betty Burke.

   The Prince's Cairn marks the traditional spot on the shores of Loch nan Uamh in Lochaber from which he made his final departure from Scotland. With the Jacobite cause now lost, Stuart would spend the remainder of his life — with one brief secret visit to London — in exile.

The 'Princes Cairn' today

Images: National portrait gallery, wikipedia, 1745association, clanmacfarlanegeneology.