Scotland wrap-up

Inverness Castle

 Inverness - sabbatical 2, week 5

Some other miscellany about Inverness.  On one night Yolanda and Craig, and on the next night all 4 of us, took a stroll along the River Ness.  It has a very nice river walk, with a variety of sites like Inverness Castle, churches, pubs, guest houses, etc. in the downtown area.  Further down (which we saw on the bus tour) is the sport complex (pool, skating rink, etc. - yes, a skating rink!) and eventually the point where the River Ness joins Loch Ness, but we didn't get down that far.  Incidentally, in Gaelic the city's name is Inbhir Ness, which means "mouth of the Ness", i.e. where the river opens into the sea.  Thus, it has a sturdy population of ducks and seagulls (they grow them big here!) who appear to stay up all night yapping at each other.  There are boat tours for whale watching (bottlenose dolphins), and our landlady said she often sees otters at the estuary zone (just north of town) where the sea water and river water meet.

Andrew on bus, along the River Ness

We did not get the chance to see Inverness castle because it is closed for extensive restoration.  We also
did not see any otters.  Lots of ducks and seagulls though.

"All hail, Macbeth, hail to thee, thane of Cawdor"

 Cawdor - sabbatical 2, week 4

Although Shakespearean Macbeth is awarded the title "Thane of Cawdor", the first recorded person with that title was a couple hundred years after Macbeth, and this castle wasn't built until 1454.  It was expanded through the 17th century to the structure that currently exists, with various improvements continuing on the inside and the grounds.  For example, a modern kitchen was installed in the 1990s, and there is a cabinet in the sitting room containing a television set.

One recent "famous" Thane of Cawdor was John Campbell, 1st Baron Cawdor, who led the British defense in the so-called Battle of Fishguard, when French revolutionary troops and their American commander landed an invasion force.  After a few days of maneuvering, Campbell demanded and received the French troops' unconditional surrender, without having to fight an actual battle.  Therefore, the last invasion of Britain occurred in 1797, over 50 years after the last battle in Britain at Culloden Moor.

The taxi from Inverness was a convenient way to get there.  The ticket price includes a tour of the castle (where the current dowager Lady Cawdor still lives 6 months of the year), multiple large gardens, picnic areas, and even a playground.  Green fees for the golf course are extra.

The '45

 Culloden - sabbatical 2, week 4

Another train ride took us to Inverness.  The hop-on-hop-off bus has two loops, the first out to Culloden Moor, site of the last "land battle" to take place on the island of Great Britain (but not, oddly, the last invasion of Britain - more on that next post!).  It took place in 1746, between the Jacobite forces of Bonnie Prince Charlie and the English forces under the Duke of Cumberland (and featuring a young officer named James Wolfe, who later won the Plains of Abraham).  It resulted in a rout of the Jacobite Highlanders and the start of years of oppression of Highland culture.  Craig had already visited (with brother Paul in 1993), but the visitor's centre is much expanded and improved since then.  There are plenty of artifacts and interpretive signs, and of course the moor/battlefield itself, with flags demarking the starting positions of the two armies.

Just down the road (or a 30-minute walk, which is what we did) from the moor are the Clava Cairns, 4000-year-old bronze age burial chambers.  There are also a number of standing stones on the site, which will look familiar to fans of the Outlander series (as Yolanda is), as the site of Claire Randall's time-traveling.

"I was feeling part of the scenery"

 Edinburgh - sabbatical 2, week 4

A 5-hour train ride took us from King's Cross (platform 5, not 9¾) to Edinburgh.  The train was packed because of a "problem elsewhere on the line", so only Andrew got to sit the whole way.  We were happy to get into the hotel (close to the station) and eat at the Conan Doyle pub.  Unfortunately the statue of Sherlock Holmes was removed for roadwork.

That's Edinburgh Castle in the background

We took a walk in the evening, wandering down to the pier where the Royal Yacht Britannia is on "permanent" display.

The next morning we took a walk through the Royal Mile in the old city then a hike up the Salisbury Crags (not the Solsbury Hill Peter Gabriel was singing about, but I still like the quote).  The day was clear and sunny, and the views out over the Palace of Holyroodhouse and the rest of Edinburgh were very fine.