The Whaups and the Jacobites: the story of the Traitor Bird
Known as the whaup, the curlew is one of the most iconic birds of the coasts and highlands of Scotland. It sounds a distinctive warbling alarm call at the slightest disturbance, rising into the air and circling relentlessly until any danger departs.
The whaup is now critically threatened with declining populations, but its haunting calls have echoed through thousands of years of human stories, first recorded in writing in the ancient poem The Seafarer.
During the unification of the ancient kingdoms of Scotland and England in the early eighteenth century, the whaup also played a role in history: According to legend, the Jacobite rebellions against English rule in Scotland were betrayed by the whaup's haunting calls.
The Jacobites would hide in the glens, moving silently, and almost invisible in the heather. Setting the perfect ambush for patrols of English redcoats. But even the slightest disturbance will alarm the flighty whaup. Even the most careful stealthy movement could cause a hidden ground-nesting whaup to rise into the sky. From there, with a clear view of trespassers in its territory it would circle and call, audible for miles around on a calm night. This gave the English forces warning of many attacks, revealing the exact location of Jacobite ambushes.
This story is where the name Traitorbird, and the name of our company Whaup Limited, come from.
You can help to support the whaup by supporting the Scottish Wildlife Trusts.