Culloden Memorial

Amazing story! My mother (who grew up in Scotland) lived not far from here in Tatamagouche, was a staunch supporter of the Scottish cause and would have been touched to visit it. I would not have “discovered” it without Google maps. I was originally mapping the location of Knoydart Scotland mentioned in a photo magazine I was reading. When a similar place name in Nova Scotia popped up, I searched it as well and thereby found the reference to this memorial. Two things struck me the most, first that actual stones from the battle site were included in the construction and second, it’s the only memorial to those lost in the battle outside of Scotland.

Beautiful and touching memorial park. This site hosts a cairn that was built in 1938, in memory of three men who fought in the battle of Culloden, namely, Angus, Hugh MacDonald, and John MacPherson. Angus MacDonald and John MacPherson came from Kinlochmoidart, Scotland and came in a ship named Dunkeld with other immigrants in 1791. They both had fought at the battle of Culloden. They were imprisoned in Kelso and Edinburgh and were released under the general pardon of 1747.They settled in the place they named Moidart in Pictou Co. N.S. [Knoydart and McArras Brook today.]These three men are buried near the west side of the cairn. The cairn was erected in 1938 under the supervision of Dr. Ronald St. John MacDonald of nearby Baileys Brook, who at the time was a professor at McGill University in Montreal.A plaque was installed on the cairn in 1978 in loving memory of his father and also in memory of his great, great, grandfather Angus MacDonald, one of the men so honored here. Keen interest was also shown by D.C. Sinclair, Q.C. New Glasgow, who with Dr. MacDonald were instrumental in bringing stones from the actual Culloden battlefield and mingling them with native stones to build this cairn. A number of local people in the area helped erect the cairn with Dr. MacDonald as supervisor.This cairn is the only one of its kind erected to this cause outside of Scotland.