TWO of Scotland's leading public figures are to visit Worcester to unveil memorials to thousands of Scottish soldiers who died in the bloodsoaked Battle of Worcester in 1651.

MP Tam Dalyell, Father of the House of Commons, and the 15th Duke of Hamilton, the country's premier peer, will form part of the 350th anniversary re-enactments of the defeat of King Charles II's Cavaliers by Oliver Cromwell's Roundheads, which ended the Civil War.

Most of the Royalist army was Scottish and Angus, the 15th Duke of Hamilton - whose family seat was at Lennoxlove, East Lothian - will walk in the footsteps of his ancestor, William, the 2nd Duke, who died at Worcester leading the King's men.

Severely wounded in a charge at Perry Wood, on the city outskirts, the 2nd Duke expired a week later in The Commandery, now a Civil War museum.

It is there, on Monday, September 3, that the 15th Duke will unveil a memorial to all those who died during the nine-year conflict.

The day before, Sunday, September 2, Tam Dalyell will unveil an inscribed two-ton block of Scottish granite on the banks of the River Teme, near the old Powick Bridge, in honour of all the Scottish soldiers that took part in the 1651 battle.

Of the Royalist army of 15,000, only about 2,000 escaped.

Around 3,000 were killed and the remaining 10,000 were captured.

Of these, many died after being sent to work in the fens of East Anglia or having been shipped into slavery in the colonies and America.

"One of Tam Dalyell's ancestors was captured at the Battle of Worcester and imprisoned for a while in Dudley Castle," said Worcester farmer and businessman John Bennett, on whose land at Lower Wick the re-enactment will take place.

"From there he was taken to the Tower of London, but escaped, first to France and then to Russia, where he became a commander in the Tsar's army.

"It's tremendous that figures like Tam and the Duke of Hamilton have agreed to join us in these celebrations."

Indeed, the re-enactment weekend will have a decidedly Scottish flavour.

As well as 1,200 soldiers of the Sealed Knot re-staging the battle itself on the afternoons of both September 1 and September 2, there will be a Caledonian Banquet in Worcester Guildhall on the evening of Saturday, September 1, with a traditional menu centred around haggis and whisky.

Tickets for the banquet must be bought this week from the Tourist Information Centre, Worcester Guildhall, The Commandery, Sidbury or Bennett's Farm Park Shop, Lower Wick.

Battle re-enactment tickets, at £6.50 for adults and £2.30 for the under-15s, can be bought from the same outlets.