Inverness, Scotland - Battles, Druids, Loch Ness, July 16-17, WTRD 41-42

Inverness, Scotland - Battles, Druids, Loch Ness, and the City  July 16 -17, WTRD 41-42

Monday, July 16, 2018 - Battle of Culloden

After listening to a couple more hours of the TV series Outlander by Diana Gibaldon (about the woman who travels back in time to 1745 Inverness), we now are even more curious about the real history of the area.  Our first visit for the day is to the Culloden Visitor Center that stands on the edge of the battle field where the Jacobites and the English Army fought.

The Jacobites were a group of mostly Scottish people in the late 17th and 18th centuries, who believed that the Catholic James VII of Scotland (James II of England) and his Stuart descendants should be restored to the throne of Scotland and England.  

Many Catholic English supported the Jacobites hoping that if a Stuart king were restored, Catholics would have their oppressed rights restored as well.  There was some peripheral French support who were at the time fighting the English on a global stage. (French muskets and musket balls were found on the battle ground after the battle).

Leader of the Jacobites:  Prince Charles (Bonnie Prince Charlie 20 years old)  was the son of  James Francis Stuart and the grandson of James VII of Scotland (also known as James II of England). Young, idealistic, and inexperienced, Prince Charlie secured the allegiance of 7,000 men and took them ill prepared, exhausted, unorganized and with inferior weapons into the battle.

Strategic leader of the army that quelled the rebellion was Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, 25 years old (the third and youngest son of King George II of Great Britain and Ireland) .   The Royal Army of 8,000 prepared, well trained and armed army was the Winner of the Battle of Culloden picking off 700 Jacobites within the first few minutes and when the battle ended 500 English and 1500 Clansmen lay dead on the heath.  The English army  executed thousands more over a couple of months of raiding the countryside while confiscating land and castles and banning the wearingof clan tartans.

Bonnie Prince Charlie escaped as a lady's maid out of the country and never returned.  The bloody Battle of Culloden is historically represented here at the visitor center and of course in the fields.  

Again, we walk through a battle field spilled with blood and reclaimed by wild flowers and grasses.  Generalized grave stones were established in the 1800 to memorialize the men and clans who fought here.

Before we left the visitor center, we bought three taster bottles of Scottish Gin.  Looking forward to a taste test tonight.












Our second stop of the day was at the Clava Cairn, a spiritual site of the Druids 4,000 years ago.  These stones were built in  round mounds with sentinel stones that cast direct light and shadows at particular times of the year (solstice, equinox, etc.).  

Stones like these, of which there are many, were  the inspiration for the magical stones in the Outlander at Craigh Na Dun that was the portal into the past.  While Craigh na Dun is a fictional stone circle, many such structures exist all over the British Isles, including Scotland. 

A split stone. perhaps the perfect portal to step back in time

The stones in the TV series were made of styrofoam and installed on location at Kinloch Rannoch. ... There is a very small stone circle there just off of a local trail.  Filming was not conducted at this site, but one can feel the inspiration and the awe at being in a place so ancient that had spiritual meaning for the inhabitants.  We will be visiting another such site on the Island of Lewis and Harris.

Our third and last stop of the day before returning back to our accommodation in Inverness was to the Dore Pub on the northern shore of Loch Ness.  While we drank Ale and watched the rain clouds boil over the mountains, we kept our eyes open for the Loch Ness monster.....to no avail.  

I doubt that we or anyone else will ever see Nessie again. In the meantime some very brave children were playing along the beach and having great fun with no fear.

Oh yes, the gin was great!

Tuesday, July 17, 2018 - The City of Inverness

We slept in this morning and got a late start around 11:00 to take our walk from our accommodations to downtown Inverness. Today was a RJO day,  Rain jacket off, rain jacket on, and repeat at least 3 times.  The clouds would spit some rain for a few minutes then return overcast with a few bright blasts of sun through the clouds.

 The round trip along the river bank, 

to a cathedral 

and meander through old town,

 and back along the riverbank was nearly 10,000 steps.  


Frankly after all of he quaint towns, the city of Inverness was a bit of a disappointment.  We did do a bit of shopping and enjoyed a late lunch.  Russ tried a angus burger with haggis (a Scottish dish consisting of a sheep's or calf's offal mixed with suet, oatmeal, and seasoning and boiled in a bag, traditionally one made from the animal's stomach.)  I tasted it and it wasn't too bad.  Russ enjoyed it.  I settled for cream minestrone soup (yep everything blended together) and deep fried eggplant with sweet chili sauce.

We returned to our accommodations late in the afternoon, got caught up on a few electronic chores, and had a cup of soup for dinner, some wine, and some more gin.

We leave for the outer Heberdes tomorrow morning by ferry.

All is Well with the Worrall Travel Rs our last night in Inverness