There they'll pay tribute to the courage of the clansmen who followed Bonnie Prince Charlie to the bitter end and who paid the ultimate price in that short but bloody encounter on April 16, 1746.

Perhaps, too, these visitors, from America, Canada, Australia, in fact from all corners of the world, will also reflect a little on the destruction and killing which followed the battle for more than a decade afterwards, right across the Highlands.

The echoes of these horrific times, leading to the virtual extermination of a people and its culture, are felt today more keenly, not just because of the 250th anniversary, but as a result of the fair number of television programmes over the last few days explaining the background and the consequences of the battle.

Perhaps, for the first time in generations, the people of the Highlands, and Scotland, are beginning to realise the true cost of that fateful day, kept 'hidden' by an educational system which has certainly served the aims and ambitions of the British Crown well.

Some 5,000 or more people are expected to attend the anniversary which will begin with the opening of an exhibition of Jacobite arms and artifacts. With Mr Forsyth now attending a cabinet meeting in London instead, says the Scottish Office, his place will be taken by Sir Russell Hillhouse, permanent under-secretary at the Scottish Office.

The opening of the exhibition will be followed by the Culloden service involving the laying of wreaths at the Culloden battlefield cairn. This annual service, normally attracting around two or three hundred people, is always organised by Inverness Gaelic Society.

Attending the 250th anniversary, too, will be representatives of the clans and regiments that took part in the battle, including a party from France who are descendants of the French regiments which fought on the Prince's side.