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THE BATTLE OF CULLODEN

The Battle of Culloden

This song is the serendipitous coincidence of a a few different elements coming together. It would not have happened if any of those elements were missing.

The ‘Outlander’, a Netflix series set mostly in 18^th century Scotland had captured enough of my interest to warrant a little bit of historical research. I have never been to Scotland, but the affinity I feel for the wildly free and proud highlander is very real. I have a fanciful notion, not based on anything really, that some time long ago, perhaps very long ago, my ancestors lived there. Perhaps they were farmers.

I didn’t start out with the intention of writing a song about this particularly tragic moment in Scottish history but rarely will I sit down with a guitar and a plan to come up with a song. It just sort of happens while noodling around and exploring different rhythms. It just so happened that I had my guitar tuned to an open C chord that day which was the critical second element. From thick to thin string, this tuning goes C G C G C E. The early James Gang song ‘Garden Gate’ and Leo Kottke’s ‘Busted Bicycle’ are two examples of songs played in this tuning.

With season two came a history lesson on the Jacobites and their fight for independence from the British crown. I had just finished watching the poignantly tragic episode of the battle itself, but didn’t even realize I had begun to write a song with that theme until I started searching for a rhyming second line and the word ‘Jacobite’ appeared on the paper.

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The third element that was looking for a way to manifest was a recently developed taste for Celtic flavoured music. I was thus compelled to find a powerful female vocalist who could do it justice. In my opinion, this song would not have worked without Melanie’s vocals.

The Gaelic bridge section does not mean that I speak Gaelic, but it does lend a more authentic feel than say Chinese or Swahili would. Language is a truly fascinating study, each one intimately entwined with the history of a geographical area. It is my hope that this song conveys an emotion that might resonate with a modern day highlander whose ears might happen to catch it. It is my hope that it might be appreciated by whoever might be listening to it through Stephanie’s blog.

Michael,