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Killiecrankie
Whaur hae ye been sae braw lad?
Whaur hae ye been sae brankie-o?
Whaur hae ye been sae braw lad?
Cam' ye by Killiecrankie-o?
Chorus:
And ye had been whaur I hae been
Ye wadna been sae cantie-o
And ye had seen what I hae seen
On the braes o' Killiecrankie-o
I fought at land, I fought at sea
At hame I fought my auntie-o
But I met the Devil, and Dundee
On the braes o' Killiecrankie-o
Chorus....
See the tall grass is there awaiting,
As their banners of long ago,
With their heads high, forwar threading,
Marching lightly to meet the foe.
Chorus....
The bold Pitcur fell wi' a fur
And Clavers gat a clankie-o
And I had fed an Atholl gled
On the braes o' Killiecrankie-o
Chorus....
Oh fie, McKay, what gart ye lie
In the bush ayont the brankie-o?
Ye'd better kissed King Willie's loof
Than come by Killiecrankie-o
Chorus....
There's nae shame, there's nae shame
There's nae shame tae swankie-o
There's soor slaes on Atholl's braes
And the De'il's at Killiecrankie-o
Chorus....

The Battle of Killiecrankie

July 27, 1689

Near Pitlochry in Perthshire is the Pass of Killiecrankie, a gorge with a six feet wide riverside track.

News came to Jacobite leader Viscount Dundee, John Graham of Claverhouse, that General Hugh MacKay would be moving his men from Stirling to Blair Castle. Dundee, known by his supporters as Bonnie Dundee and by the Covenanters as Bloody Clavers, took his twenty five hundred Highlanders over the Drumochter Pass near Blair on 26 July 1689. Meanwhile MacKay was in Dunkeld, and with four thousand foot-soldiers, two divisions of cavalry, twelve hundred supply-laden horses and three cannon, he dismissed Dundee's pack.

Next morning, while the Jacobites moved into the Pass of Killiecrankie and up onto a high crest, sniper Farquhar MacRae kept MacKay's progress slow. When he eventually came into the Pass, his scouts detected Dundee's presence and MacKay ordered cover to be taken uphill, three ranks deep, below the Jacobite position. For two hours Dundee did nothing while the Williamites discharged their cannon into them.

At seven o'clock, with the sun now behind him, the Jacobites rose to their feet and came screaming down the hillside. Discharging and dropping their one-shot firearms, they tore through the Williamites swinging their broadswords. Bodies on the track blocked supplies while the remaining flanks of MacKay's formation were taken on. Both sides took heavy losses, including Dundee, who died in the initial downhill charge.

Despite this, the day belonged to the Jacobites, and news of the victory swelled their ranks everywhere.

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