The fiddle tune Cold Frosty Morning remembers the battle of Culloden Moor. On the morning of April 16, 1746 an English Army of 8,000 massacred a Scottish army of 7,000 ending the Jacobite Rebellion in Scotland.
George II gave the Duke of Cumberland instructions that the Scots had to be punished for supporting Charles Stuart. Many who had joined Stuart's army were executed and their land given to those who had remained loyal to King George.
After their victory the English were determined to make sure the highland clans did not rebel again. The English army killed any Highlander they could find. Even Highlanders who had not joined the rebellion were slaughtered. There were even cases of highland women and children being murdered. As a result of these
atrocities the Duke of Cumberland was given the name Butcher.
My ancestors (Gilchrist - a surname derived from two Gaelic words, Gille and Criosd, meaning the servant of Christ.) fled Scotland by way of Ireland in the late 1740's. Eventually they settled in what is now West Virginia.
I don't know with certainty if there is a link*, but many who fled Scotland after the Jacobite rebellion ended up in West Virginia. My ancestors are Scottish and from West Virginia. I like to think there is a connection in my family history to this great modal fiddle tune.
*A Gilchrist was probably at the Battle of Culloden Moor in 1746. Both the MacLachlan and Ogilvie Clans participated and both claim Gilchrists as members.
Hetzler's Fakebook
a
resource
for
fiddle, banjo,
guitar, mandolin and dulcimer players who want to learn traditional
music.
may be related to a Scottish tune from the Jacobite Rebellion called Johnny Cope.
The English General John Cope was defeated at the battle of Prestonpans on September 21 1745
