1745 and all That Sarah Rose was working as a servant at Portwood Hall near Stockport in 1745 when the ‘wild petticoat men’ - the kilted Scottish followers of Bonnie Prince Charlie - over-ran the neighbourhood on their march south. Sarah’s master and mistress fled with their valuables and she was left alone in a state of terror. But the Highlanders only stopped long enough to help themselves to food, drink and clothing. A few days later the bedraggled Scots had turned for home and were out of control. Local tradition has it that the old women of Needwood Forest woodlands crept down to bridges on the Derbyshire/Staffordshire borders to see what was happening. When it began to rain, they used their red flannel petticoats as cloaks, which the Highlanders mistook for the red uniforms of soldiers and they panicked. One group who had just stolen some hot pig-puddings ran out through a back door and jumped straight over a manure heap into a cess pit. Read More >> More Pictures Romans and other invaders