A deadly firearm that saw action at the Battle of Culloden has been on display at the battlefield visitor centre for 17 years, but now a financial fight to keep the weapon there has been launched.
More than 80 local members of the National Trust for Scotland (NTS) attended an event last night to shed some light on this historic battle and also allow guests to see one of the most significant artefacts from its collection – the blunderbuss.
The gun, designed to fire a hail of metal shot or other projectiles, has been on loan to the NTS and displayed at Culloden since 1996.
It is now due for sale, and the trust has been offered first refusal to purchase.
If the charity is unable to secure funds within six months, the gun will be returned to the owner for sale. The most likely scenario is that it will then be purchased by a collector overseas and removed from Scotland.
The blunderbuss was made circa 1670 by John Finch, a leading London firearms maker, and is a rare survivor of its type.
It is a muzzle-loading firearm with a flintlock mechanism and dog lock. It is a form of early shotgun, used to good effect at close range but with no accuracy for long range shooting. The term blunderbuss is from the Dutch word donderbus, which is a combination of donder, meaning “thunder”, and bus, meaning “pipe”
It is connected to Culloden battlefield by its inscription “Taken at the Battle of CULLODEN 16 April 1746 by Captain John Goodenough with 18 balls in it.”
This particular blunderbuss would likely have made a good battle trophy for Capt Goodenough, who is known to have fought with the government forces at Culloden in Blakeney’s 27th Foot Regiment.
The trust will endeavour to secure half the purchase cost from a grant-maker with the other half dependent on philanthropic income.
As one of only a small group of objects taken from the battlefield, the blunderbuss has powerful associations and provides a tangible link to the past. According to the NTS, it is an item of national interest and a key element of the collection at Culloden.