The White Cockade

My love was born in Aberdeen,
The boniest lad that e'er was seen,
But now he makes our hearts fu' sad,
He takes the Field wi' his White Cockade.

Chorus:
O he's a ranting, roving lad,
He is a brisk an a bonny lad,
Betide what may, I will be wed,
And follow the boy wi the White Cockade.

I'll sell my rock, my reel, my tow,
My gude gray mare and hawkit cow;
To buy mysel a tartan plaid,
To follow the boy wi the White Cockade.

Chorus:
O he's a ranting, roving lad,
He is a brisk an a bonny lad,
Betide what may, I will be wed,
And follow the boy wi the White Cockade.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Robert Burns

This Robert Burns version (there are many others) was originally called My love was born in Aberdeen, which appeared Herd's Ancient and Modern Scottish Songs in 1776, by which time the music was thoroughly established. One of the first printings as a reel is in Playford's Apollo's Banquet of 1687 where it was called simply a "Scots tune", but earlier estimates place it as a popular air and song of 1615-1630.

A cockade was a badge/ribbon in the shape of a rosette used as a decoration on hats to mark the loyalties of irregular troops in the 18th century with various colors representing different loyalties. A white cockade was associated with Jacobite rebels in 1715 and again for Bonnie Prince Charlie's 1745 uprising in Scotland in opposition to the Hanoverian monarchy in England.

Initially, the Highland chiefs were reluctant to join the rightful heir to the Scottish throne (a Stewart), particularly as he had no French army with him. Ranald MacDonald was the first to announce he would follow Charles and others soon followed on August 19th. Late in the afternoon the Camerons of Lochiel arrived followed by more MacDonalds and the MacGregors. Eventually some 1,500 men assembled, including both Catholics (Jacobites) and Protestants (Presbyterian Church of Scotland). Charlie's enthusiasm and charm persuaded many who heard him, but others were persuaded by their opposition to being ruled by a foreigner. It is also likely that the news that the Campbells were gathering a unit to assist the government forces, may have induced some clans with scores to settle to join the Jacobite cause.

In the County of Ross, the nominal 18th Chief of Clan Ross was Alexander Ross of Pitcalnie. Like other members of the fragmented clan, he was a staunch Protestant, but somewhat more tolerant of Jacobites than his father and definitely pro-Royalist or Hanoverian in his public sentiments (unlike many plain clansfolk whose loyalties favoured a Scottish King over a German one). In addition, Alexander's uncle, Duncan Forbes of Culloden, was Lord President of the Court of Session for King George II's government in London. With great difficulty, Duncan Forbes and the Pitcalnie chief raised a Ross Independent Company to garrison the castle at Inverness.

The source of their difficulty was no lesser person than Malcolm Ross, the eldest son of Alexander in the Pitcalnie line. This son was a student at Aberdeen University, and he was soon caught up in the rebel ferment which arose in that area. In tribal times, such high-spiritedness in a chief's son earned clan respect and support when he, in turn, became the chief. In these times, according to Donald MacKinnon's The Clan Ross, Malcolm's actions would eventually lead to disinheritance, the chieftainship falling to a half-brother. In view of Malcolm's concentrated efforts in the Dornoch countryside around Tain to force men into following him as their rebel colonel, it is my belief that many in his "army" lacked whole-hearted support. The McFarquhars of Redcastle brought a strong contingent from the Black Isle to join the forces of Lord Cromarty. Prior to the Battle of Culloden on April 16th, 1746, several forays were undertaken and on the day before the battle, about 200 of the force were ambushed between Skelbo and Dunrobin Castles in Caithness. Only one-tenth at the most escaped to equally perilous Sutherland. .