Penicuik sketches from the '45



The drawing above is one of the "Penicuik sketches", contemporary drawings by an unknown artist during the Jacobite Rising of 1745-46. I first became aware of these sketches during my recent visit to Culloden. They're featured in the guidebook I bought at Culloden Battlefield, and I thought the rest of you might find them interesting, too.

According to this site:
An unknown artist near Penicuik (just outside Edinburgh) did a series of remarkable sketches of both the Government militia prior to the Jacobite arrival, the Jacobite occupation 1745-6, and the Government troops (particularly the Hessians!) which arrived later. These are the only known contemporary illustrations taken during the ’45 itself, and of the 29 illustrations of Highland troops, 17 are shown carrying broadswords of various descriptions (including two with curved Turkish blades), 10 are with muskets, and 2 with Lochaber Axes.
According to the site where I found these pictures, the man shown above is "identified as 'Glengarry' - presumably Colonel Angus McDonnell, Glengarry's second son who was accidentally shot & killed on 22 January 1746".


This man is identified only as "a Highland sentry". Note the bayonet affixed to his musket.

To see more of these drawings, look here. These sketches were collected in a book called WITNESS TO REBELLION, published in 1996 to coincide with the 250th anniversary of the battle of Culloden. I have not seen this book myself, but you may still be able to find it in print.

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