Story Behind the Song
This unaccompanied song imagines a lone Highlander surviving the massacre at Culloden and cursing forever his disastrous leader. I doubt if any Highlander who had been at Culloden ever sang romantic tales of Bloody Charlie.
The song is from a cycle about the Highland Clearances. The whole cycle was inspired by the HIghland History Trilogy of John Prebble.
Lyrics
Culloden Field (Bloody Charlie)
Oh I wouldn’t tell a lie to this present company,
It’s the truth I am to tell you, though it’s hard to believe.
How the flower of all Scotland were led unto their deaths,
By the man we’d called “our darling” “our Charlie”.
Don’t sing of no bonny boats heading over tae Skye,
Don’t sing of the Italian, who watched so many die.
Don’t sing of his fair face, his royal degree,
He’s nae bonny tae me is bloody Charlie.
He let the cursed English choose the battleground,
Had us stand in our thousands as their cannon did sound.
For near an hour we waited for his order to attack,
Till a third of our army lay in blood at our back.
CHORUS
Our charge was met by bayonet, by musket and grapeshot,
But astride his grey gelding “Bonny” Charlie saw it not.
When the smoke cleared from their guns, we glimpsed hundreds lying dead,
And we turned in retreat to find Charlie had fled.
CHORUS
Those of us still able we sped back to the hills,
The wounded who remained, by the English were killed,
All hope fled from our hearts, as they blazed into our land,
Those regiments of evil under “Butcher” Cumberland.
CHORUS
How I escaped their slaughter I never shall tell,
It’s my shame and my sorrow and will haunt me to hell.
But I swear I’ve told you true by the sword I cannae weald,
We should spit at Charlie’s name after Culloden field.
CHORUS
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