In the Major Battles of Scotland @ http://www.highlanderweb.co.uk/battles.htm is listed: 1745 Prestonpans - Prince Charles (Bonnie Prince Charlie) and his army of 2,400 defeat Cope and his army of 3,000. 1746 Falkirk - Jacobites defeat the English governments troops. 1746 Culloden - The Jacobites with 4,900 men are massacred by Cumberland with 10,000 men. Since my ancestor (gggg grandfather) Andrew CADDELL departed Scotland in abt 1746 coming to America, I can't help but wonder if the military/government climate was what prompted him to leave. According to family tradition, he stowed away on a ship at the age of 14 after having an argument with his father when he exclaimed that he would go to America where there is freedom. I know nothing about his life or whereabouts of his family in Scotland, except it is thought that he lived in the vicinity of Edinburgh at the time. Once he arrived in America, after serving endentured service for his passage, I have been able to generally following his migration through the Carolinas to Alabama where he died. Trying to find any trace of him or his family has been an impossible task for the past 15 years. However, in doing so, I have learned much about Scottish history and its people during the early years in Scotland. Most contacts I've made have usually said they have never heard of the name, but were in the 1500s - 1700s throughout Caithness, Inverness-shire, Nairnshire, Banffshire, Aberdeenshire, Perthshire, Lanarkshire, the Lothians and even Orkney and Shetland where the name was frequently found in early records. But were in the Nairn-Banff-shires as early as the 1050s. By the end of the Clearances most were gone from Scotland...to England, Ireland, Canada, Australia and America. I feel at a loss in not being able to check a census or other official record to find family, since mostly all I've been able to find is through the OPR, which todate has been inadequate. What other records exist that would be of benefit to me in my quest? My ponderings, Bill Caddell