Music & Celebrations Back to Inside The Highlander "The Bonnie, Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond" - A Jacobite Prisoner's Last Words by Gilly Pickup Death on the battlefield was a fate for which the Jacobite soldiers were well prepared. However, trials for treason and execution was something completely different. One of those 127 prisoners, awaiting death in grim Carlisle Castle, penned the words to the beautiful song, "The Bonnie, Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond" as he lived the last days of his life. This nameless Jacobite soldier had been born on the shores of the loch, where, as one version of the story goes, his true love still waited for his return. His great friend, and a fellow prisoner, was one of the lucky ones to escape the fate of death and was already sailing across the ocean. The song says that even though he himself will be dead soon, he will still be able to return to Scotland long before his great friend ever can, because he will take the "low road" -- the road of death -- while his companion will have to take the "high road," which means traveling back in the conventional manner. Though the prisoner will never see his loved one again, he will still return to Scotland, something that the reprieved prisoner, bound for America, will never do. Games And Celebrations In 18th-Century Scotland by Maisie Steven The Old Statistical Account might well be called Scotland's forgotten treasure. Covering almost the entire decade of the 1790s, it offers a fascinating, detailed picture of what life was like for ordinary Scots just over 200 years ago. Almost 1,000 ministers of the kirk were persuaded, cajoled, and sometimes bullied (although always in a gentlemanly way) into answering a lengthy questionnaire on the state of their parishes. Most often, deep disapproval appears to be aroused by the "penny bridals," here described by the recorder for Avoch in the Black Isle (Ross and Cromarty): "Marriages, in this place, are generally conducted in the style of penny weddings. Little other fare is provided, except bread, ale, and whisky. The relatives, who assemble in the morning, are entertained to a dram and drink gratis. But, after the ceremony is performed, every man pays for his drink. The neighbours then convene in great numbers. A fiddler or two, with perhaps a boy to scrape on an old violoncello, are engaged. A barn is allotted for the dancing, and the house for drinking. And there they make merry for two or three days, till Saturday night." More Excerpts Choose from the topics below to view more excerpts, or return to Inside The Highlander. Historic Events Scottish Castles Military History Battles & Uprisings Famous Scots Historic Places Scottish Life & Traditions Clans Legends Music & Celebrations Genealogy

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