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| Introducing Nessie (well, an artistic conception of her). |
A soft ocean mist hung over Inverness this morning, so with Sandy's recommendation, we headed down A82 to Loch Ness, with our destination Urqhart Castle. We watched for signs of Nessie out the window as best we could, considering people were driving what seemed really fast to me on that fairly narrow road! A82 is considered a major roadway (or carriageway, as they are called here). Neither the traffic, the tall roadside vegetation nor the mist helped with the views!
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| Our view of Urqhart Castle from the information center. |
Once we got to the turn for the castle, which is located right on the edge of Loch Ness, we noticed lots of cars in the car park and a very discrete visitor's center. We parked, showed our entrance passes, and walked downstairs to the theater for several hundred years of history of the castle condensed into 8 minutes! The last scene of the movie showed the fire resulting from the explosion that ripped the castle apart, an act carried out by the then current castle inhabitants to prevent it being taken over by the Jacobites. As the screen slowly withdrew from site, the curtains parted on a full wall of windows overlooking the castle remains. What a dramatic way to introduce the castle to visitors!
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| Urqhart Castle with its view of Loch Ness. |
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| Trebuchet outside castle. |
From there, we exited the visitor center, which is set right into the hillside facing the castle, and walked over the bridge to the castle. Helpful signs gave us brief introductions to the various parts of the castle. Even though little of the castle remains today, it is easy to imagine what it might have been like back in the days of its glory. The location on the edge of Loch Ness is nothing short of spectacular. The mist from earlier this morning was dissipating as we walked to the castle, and from there on the day was lovely, with blue sky and cool, crisp breezes.
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| Scottish "coo" in pen beside battlefield. |
We headed back to Inverness and over to the Culloden Battlefield by mid afternoon. I know this battle was one of the turning points in the Jacobites' efforts to overthrow British rule in Scotland, but there is a lot of history that I'm not that familiar with. At the battlefield, the Jacobites, made up of a number of different clans, numbered over 1000 men. The government forces were lined up on one side and the Jacobites on the other. Some parts of Culloden were quite marshy, which made it very difficult for the Jacobites, who were charging toward the stationary government forces.
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| Lovely cottage at the edge of Culloden battlefield. |
From all accounts, the battle was fierce and didn't last long, especially after some government forces attacked from the rear of the Jacobite line. Many clansmen died that day. Most were buried on the battlefield. Today flags indicate where each clan and the government stood as the fight began, and stones mark the memorials for those who fell in the battle.
Just down the road from Culloden is a fascinating set of standing stones and cairns known as "Clava cairns." This site includes three very well preserved burial cairns, built some 4000 years ago. Each of the three cairns was very precisely positioned, and the standing stones surrounding the cairns were chosen for height and color and placed to mark the setting sun. You can read more about this fascinating location at the Historic Scotland website. We took a number of photographs and also some compass readings, but the most interesting thing was to spend time feeling the energy of this very spiritual place.
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| One of the remarkable Clava cairns. |
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| Flower growing near one cairn. |
Our goal today was to get back to the B&B early so we could get more rest tonight, but by the time we reluctantly left the Clava cairns, it was almost 6pm! Vacationing is hard work. But you'll be happy to know that we've figured out something that helps. In Scotland, we believe a scone (along with butter or cream and jam) a day keeps the doctor away! And, yes, we had our daily scone today!
Tomorrow we head north from Inverness.
--Shann
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