Incredible discovery as magnet fishers 'catch' 350-year-old cannonball with links to English Civil War

A magnet fishing group from Edinburgh uncovered a 350-year-old cannonball - which may have been used in the English Civil War.

The Magnet Fishing Edinburgh group were carrying out a search of the River Lochy in the Scottish Highlands - overlooked by the ruins of Inverlochy Castle.

Their searches revealed clean waters - until group member Eryn's magnet picked up a metal sphere.

After examining the object and consulting a local history buff, the group have now come to believe they have discovered a cannonball - which would have likely been used in the 1645 Battle of Inverlochy.

History buff dated cannonball to 1645

Magnet Fishing Edinburgh leader, known as Bob, said: "We were down by Inverlochy Castle up at Fort William, and we were hoping to find historic stuff.

"It was quite clean where we were - until Eryn chucked the magnet in and found a cannonball. It was surprisingly quite light. At first, we weren't quite sure what it was, but on further inspection after taking it off the magnet, we were able to figure out what it was.

"We went to someone who knows a lot about Scottish history, and he dated it back to the 1645 Battle of Inverlochy."

Clan Wars find is ‘exciting’

The group have found bombs, bayonettes, and relics from both World Wars before - but the group were thrilled to find a piece of history from the Clan Wars.

Bob added: "It was pretty exciting. We've found stuff from the First and Second World Wars before, but when we found that, it was very exciting. It's one of our best finds ever - the chances of us finding something like that are so rare!"

One of the many battles during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, the battle saw James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose, defeat swathes of Campbell troops - led by Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll.

Campbell, controller of the Scottish Committee of Estates, had agreed to intervene in the ongoing English Civil War, on the Parliamentarian side, while King Charles I had already commissioned Graham to organise Royalist opposition in Scotland.

A piece of history

Montrose troops had camped on the side of Ben Nevis, surprising the Campbells with their expansive army - and despite their 200 musketeers flanking Inverlochy Castle, the Parliamentarians began to fall, with the garrison in the castle surrendering after losing the majority of their fighters.

The Royalist forces recruited many of the Campbell's bitter rivals - including men from Clan MacDonald, who chased fleeing Campbell troops nearly eight miles from the battlefield.

A cairn still stands in Glen Nevis, known as Clach nan Caimbeulach, or Campbell's Stone, marking the location where the MacDonalds stopped chasing and killing their enemy.