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

CONTRASTS - Andrew Carnegie, Edinburgh, English Headlines Scotland July 14, WTRD 38

Saturday, July 14, 2018

Today, we start a 30 day contract with our rental car company. Either by rental service, national law, or insurance regulations, we could not rent a car for 45 consecutive days.  The car we picked up in Dover must be returned in Edinburgh for another.

From Saint Andrews we drive back to  Edinburgh, but not without a little sight seeing along the way.  We hope that our car exchange at the airport will go without a hitch as we had not wanted to return to Edinburgh on the day that there was a large scale anti-Trump protest.

We stop at the birthplace of Andrew Carnegie, a penniless Scottish emigrant who came to America with his family as a youth.  With his brilliant mind, industriousness, and moral compass pointed in the right direction, he made his fortune in America becoming the wealthiest man in the world and then returned his wealth through philanthropy to noble causes.  His story is inspirational.  We would be so much better off in the world if there were more heroes like this.  Andrew credited his mother, education,

and his wife for becoming the man he became.

Andrew's father was a weaver and had a small scale at-home business weaving fine linen.  Apparently due to a dire economic situation in Scotland, the advent of industrialization of weaving, and the senior Carnegie not being an astute businessman, the family finances collapsed.

Fine Linens

Humble Beginnings

 By selling the loom and borrowing some money for passage, the family emigrated to America.

Upon reaching America, Young Andrew got a job with a telegraph company as a runner.  He soon applied his mind and keen ear to translating Morse code without writing it down.  He was also able to translate private "secret" codes.  He soon became indispensable to his employer.  When his employer, Mr. Scott, accepted a job with the new railroad industry, he took Carnegie with him.  He mentored Carnegie, paid him in railroad stock, and encouraged his own investing.  Andrew became a successful stock holder.

Andrew Carnegie chose to use his new capitol to start his own business furnishing materials for the building of railroads....rails, engines, sleeping cars, etc.  His steel industry grew quickly.

 While building his industry, Carnegie kept in mind his responsibility to pay back and to pay forward.

Eventually, Carnegie sold his steel industry and became the wealthiest, most socially responsible men in the world.

Having known poverty, emigration, the importance of education, opportunity, and the kindness and encouragement of a mentor, Andrew Carnegie who had always be generous, became a full time philanthropist, developing free libraries, funding endeavors in science, music, and education (including the Sesame Workshop and Sesame Strreet).

How fortunate for America that immigrant Andrew Carnegie came our way.   He is a prime example of how our country benefits from those who come poor and desperate come our way.  They of all people know how to pay back their opportunity with generosity and to help others, unlike those who have never known financial adversity, insecurity, and honest hard work.

Visiting Carnegie's birth place and museum, we were inspired.  By contrast, when we reached Edinburgh Airport and perused the headlines in the numerous UK newspapers, we became dejected by the antics of another very wealthy and spoiled individual who happens to be the president of America.

How is it that the majority of Americans who did not vote for this man are now being held hostage and in contempt for believing in freedom and justice for all. This is not FAKE news. Only we as voters without privilege and wealth, but with working brains, must work to distain lies and propel truth and justice over greed and irresponsible power.   It's been a day of contrast and tears.  America, where are we going?  My mother would have said, "To hell in a hand basket."

Worrall Travel R's in Scotland