John Roy Stuart - Latha Chuilodair - Culloden Day

April 16th 1746: the Battle of Culloden, the last battle fought on British soil.

April 16th 2025: the ghost of John Roy Stuart, poet, partisan and Colonel of the Jacobite Edinburgh Regiment, returns to Scotland to recall his life, times and final battle.

The play interweaves John Roy's own words, translated from Gaelic into English, with words that the playwright believes accurately reflect John Roy's thoughts at critical moments in his life, as revealed by documented histories of the time.

In his story, John Roy remembers the people whom he met on his journey through life and gives his account of what happened on the fateful day of April 16th 1746. He recalls the follies of his youth; his great friendship with Lady Christian Macintosh to whom he dedicated a beautiful lament; his encounters with his friend Lord Lovat; his romantic life, his exile and his return to Scotland in 1745. He concludes his story with an account of the Night March on Nairn, the dispute he had on the morning of April 16th with Lord George Murray, the final denouement on Drumossie Moor later the same day, and his escape to France on board the ‘Heureux’ with Prince Charles.

“Great are the depths of my sorrow as I mourn for the wounds of my land.”

Words by John Roy Stuart; Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat; William Neill; Alfred, Lord Tennyson; and Andrew Lang.

Performed by Michael Nevin.

About 'John Roy Stuart'. John Roy was a warrior, partisan and poet. Just a dozen of his poems survive - all but one originally composed in Scots Gaelic, less than 1,000 lines in total. Yet they cover many human experiences and emotions - joy, grief, despair, and recovery; hope and fear; and love in its many forms.

John Roy was a cosmopolitan figure who travelled widely, for many years living in forced exile. He spoke seven languages, including French, Spanish and Portuguese, as well as English and his native Gaelic. Detailed analysis of historic accounts of the Battle of Culloden indicate a distinct possibility, if not probability, that it was he who led the final Highland Charge into the guns of the enemy on April 16th 1746.

His passions, loves, loyalty, integrity, and undoubted courage embody the spirit and the very soul of the Gaels, making him the worthy Bard of Culloden and perhaps the whole of Scotland.

The performance of 'John Roy Stuart' in the Old Fox's Den of the Fox Tavern in Edinburgh on April 16th 2025 will be its premiere.