1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Culloden
CULLODEN, a desolate tract of moorland, Inverness-shire, Scotland. It forms part of the north-east of Drummossie Muir, and is situated about 6 m. by road E. of Inverness, and ½ m. from Culloden Muir station on the Highland railway from Aviemore to Inverness via Daviot. It is celebrated as the scene of the battle of the 16th of April 1746 (see Cumberland, William Augustus, Duke of, and Murray, Lord George), by which the fate of the house of Stuart was decided. By Highlanders the battle is more generally described as the battle of Drummossie. Memorial stones bearing the names of the clans engaged in the conflict were erected in 1881 at the head of each trench where the clansmen—about 1000 in number—were buried. A monumental cairn, 20 ft. high, marks the chief scene of the fight, and the Cumberland Stone, a huge boulder, indicates the spot where the English commander took up his position. A mile to the north is Culloden House, which belonged to Duncan Forbes, the president of the Court of Session. The Culloden Papers, a number of historical documents ranging from 1625 to 1748, were discovered in this mansion in 1812 and published in 1815 by Duncan George Forbes. On the death of the 10th laird, the collection of Jacobite relics and works of art was sold by auction in 1897. About 1 m. to the south of the field, on the right bank of the Nairn, is the plain of Clava, containing several stone circles, monoliths, cairns and other prehistoric remains. The circles, some apparently never completed, vary in circumference from 12 yds. to 140 yds.