YOUR article on Culloden ("Radar search may have located ‘mass grave’ of Culloden victims", The Herald, April 16) refers, in the last paragraph, to a "Tartan Army", a description I find trite. The so-called Tartan Army is to be found heading for a football match. Many of the lads are wearing kilts, some fitting better than others. A See-you-Jimmy hat is often worn. This is fine; an " army " of excited folk making their way to a stadium hoping to see their team win.
The ceremony at Culloden, which I have attended for some years, is a solemn, thoughtful occasion. There is no marching involved. Many men wear their clan tartans and some wear the blue bonnets. There are indeed claymores and dirks to be seen, usually carried by a few people who belong to re-enactment groups. We gather outside the Culloden Centre and make our way quietly through the battlefield to the memorial. A service of remembrance follows. Wreaths are laid in memory of the fallen on both sides of the battle. These are laid on behalf of clans and worldwide societies. People travel many miles each year to do this. The United States, Germany, France, England and Ireland are represented alongside the clan members.
At the end of the ceremony people move off in groups, some with a piper, to pay their respects at the headstones of their own clans.
Phyllis Mackay,
6 Cairn Walk, Aberdeen.
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