Passion, strong passion that stirs deep within a person, can cloud all reason and understanding. We just have to look at how Prince Charles Edward Stuart and The Duke of Cumberland are remembered: the former as Bonnie Prince Charlie (of the shortbread tins that flood our tourist retailers today) and the latter as The Butcher (an etching created a few months after the Battle of Culloden and can be seen in many book illustrations). The Prince is more romantically remembered than the Duke and our passions usually rise in favour of the Prince whilst condemning the Duke in perpetuity.

Both the Prince and the Duke were fighting for political and religious reasons, but primarily they were fighting for their family sovereignty. The aftermath that followed this battle shows how unjust and cruel not just one person but a whole society can be when they attempt to tear each other apart in the warped and distorted passions held within political or religious zealots. If we allow our passions to cloud over with our own bias or judgements then we are no better than 18th century warmongers living in the past; we will remain fighting for politics and religion instead of for all humanity.

© Annie McLean