The Battle of Cromdale took place at the end of the Scots Jacobite rebellion of 1698. In May of that year a 1,500 strong Jacobite army encamped near the Haughs of Cromdale on the banks of the River Spey; haugh being a Scots word for a flat meadowland beside a river.

The ballad, "The Haughs of Cromdale", which appeared shortly after the battle, describes how the Jacobite army was ambushed by Government forces and, despite stiff resistance, was forced to retreat is disarray. It goes on to tell how the Scots re-grouped under James Graham, the Marquis of Montrose, returned and soundly defeated the enemy forces. The ballad became a great favourite throughout Highland Scotland, and soon after its composition was being sung all over The North.   
It is still to be found as a march in the repertoires of the pipe bands of the Highland regiments.

Essentially, the facts presented in the ballad are true; the Scots army was routed at Cromdale and General Montrose did lead an army against the English and defeated them. Unfortunately, the second battle described in the ballad took place 43 years before the first, and General Montrose had been dead for over forty years before the defeat at Cromdale. It appears that the unknown ballad maker, unable to accept such an ignominious defeat, joined two different battles together making the rebel army the final victors, thus playing a part in keeping the Jacobite cause alive for another 48 years until the final defeat at Culloden in 1746 under "Bonnie Prince Charlie".