"Oh sons of dogs, oh dogs of the breed,
Come, come here, on flesh to feed!"
Hello everyone!
We made it all the way through what is hopefully only season ONE of this show, because I'm pretty sure that every single one of us would love nothing more than to watch McTavish and Heughan traipse across some sort of landscape and give us the details as they go along.
I've seen commentary online that they could be giving a guided tour of the local Target or Tesco and people would still watch.
I mean, same, I totally would too!
All signs seem to point to a season two based on social media posts, but alas, for the time being, there hasn't really been any news of it, so we bid adieu to our two Scots who've done all the roadtripping.
And so, for one last time, it's hold on to your kilts, everybody.
The finale to Men in Kilts is up next.
You'll find links to all the previous episode recaps down at the bottom of the page, as always.
With that, it's time to have a look at the Battle of Culloden.
Outlander fans (and other assorted gentry) will of course know this was THE battle Scotland ever fought in, back in 1746 when the Jacobites faced the British and lost, which not only ended the uprising but also decimated the way of life in Scotland up until that point when the British retaliated, and brutally at that.
As our boys sit down with a historian to talk all things Culloden, it's time to cast our mind back to season two of the acclaimed show in which the protagonists spend the majority of it trying to prevent the uprising; and of course, the fabled episode in season three, where we actually get to SEE some of the horrible battle.
What was it about?
Well, Jacobites wanted the Catholic Stuarts back on the throne, and Protestant England was having none of it, really, as Sam and Graham learn as they go along.
But because this is mostly a show for comedic relief, the lads meet up with the training expert from Outlander, aka a big Scot that looks like he could take on a bear and chuck it out a window without a scratch, who teaches them a couple of really good, survival-level killing moves.
Since this show is basically an off-shot of Outlander, it's to the surprise of literally no one when the weapons makers also make a cameo appearance to show off some of the broadswords and rifles that would have been in use then.
The hilarity ebbs as soon as we step foot onto the actual moor, however, because just the sight of Culloden field is enough to raise the hair on the back of your head.
It's probably one of the worst positions to entrench yourself in with the rainy weather Scotland knows and loves, because it's basically a bog, and thus the famous Highland charge (aka, Highlanders screaming like banshees and running full-tilt towards an enemy to try and break their ranks by sheer fright) was quite literally bogged down, and with the cannons firing at them across the way, severely outnumbered by the time they reached the English.
Add in a changed tactic - aka the bayonets weren't going to try and skewer the man right in front but the one to their RIGHT - and the entire thing was over in an hour, with thousands of casualties.
Sam and Graham re-enact the charge in fairly nice weather, both kilted and shirted up, but it isn't until the bagpipes start playing, first in a band, and then the lone wolf, that I start properly bawling my eyes out over the cruel history of it all.
Culloden changed everything for Scotland - it was in essence the last pitched battle fought on the island of Britain, and in the aftermath, the British outlawed the wearing of tartan (kilts), the playing of bagpipes (unless it was in the Highland regiment of their own army), and the speaking of Gaelic. And it was a messy business all around, too, considering it wasn't clean-cut British against Scots - there were Scots fighting for the Brits as well.
"An entire way of life was consigned to history, and Scotland was forever changed."
So all in all, the boys deserve the dram of Sassenach whiskey when they finally sit down in the pub after their journeys (one that Graham has apparently been waiting for since forever).
And this is where we leave them, the bagpipes still playing their haunting tunes.
Until next time, brothers.
Slainte!
xx
*images and video not mine
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