The Acton Militia and the March to Concord
The “White Cockade” is a traditional Scottish folk song that pays tribute to the 1745 Jacobite Uprising, an attempt to return the British throne to the Stuart line.
Legend has it that Luther Blanchard, the fifer, and Francis Barker, the drummer played the song while the Action Militia, led by Captain Isaac Davis, marched to Concord.
According to historians, the first time anyone mentioned the song being played was in a deposition given by Charles Handley in 1835, when he was 73.
Over time, the legend of the Acton company playing the song has become part of the story of the Battles of Lexington and Concord.
Whether it is true or not, will likely never be known.
