Remembering the Battle of Dunkeld 330 years on

With the 330th anniversary of the Battle of Dunkeld coming up on 17 August, the 1745 Association is hosting a tour of Dunkeld that Saturday afternoon.

A range of activities have been planned throughout the day to encourage the community to remember the Orphan Battle of the Jacobite Wars that took place in 1689.

The Battle of Dunkeld was fought between the Jacobites and a government regiment of Covenanters, the Cameronians. The Jacobite clans were in support of the deposed king James VII of Scotland and the covenanters were supporting William of Orange, King of Scotland. The two sides came together in a clash of conflict.

The chairman of the 1745 Association, Michael Nevin said: ‘Dunkeld was quite unlike any other battle of the Jacobite Wars, fought in an urban environment with brutal street-to-street fighting between the two sides. By the end of the fight, Dunkeld lay in flames, never to regain its former glory. Only the Cathedral remains today of the buildings that stood before 1689.’

The day will commence with a talk from the chairman. He will go into great depths in addressing the history of the battle; the context, the phases, the outcomes etc. and this will take place at the Perth Arms Hotel in Dunkeld at 1.30pm.

Subsequently there will be a tour of Dunkeld town where the council members of the 1745 Association, Kevin Smith and John McCulloch will mark key points in the battle and point out relevant landmarks.

Within this tour there will be a visit to the Cathedral as well as a description of the tactics, the plans involved and the clothes worn throughout the conflict. There will be a commemoration held in Dunkeld Cathedral in memory of those who fell on both sides of this historic battle.

Finally, the tour will conclude at the Perth Arms Hotel for a re-enactment of the Jacobite toast ‘Tae the King o’er the Water’ at 3.30pm.

The tour is free to attend and run by The 1745 Association who strive to raise awareness of the events and individuals involved in the Jacobite Wars.

The Chairman of the Association hosts events such as this with the aim to remember this aspect of history: ‘in the hope that greater understanding of a cathartic period in Scottish and British history will help to achieve lasting peace and reconciliation in the future.’

For more information and tickets, click HERE.

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