August 1, 2018 - Scotland Trip Day 3 - Inverary, Glen Coe, Loch Ness, Culloden, & Portknockie

The 3rd day of our trip through Scotland was so beautiful! We started the day at Inverary Castle. We then drove through Glencoe, past Loch Ness, and through Inverness. We also stopped at the historic battlefield of Culloden and Bodie Castle. We spent the night in the quaint and beautiful coastal town of Portknockie. We did a lot of driving, but we got to see some amazing scenery!

Mark and his dad had a few minutes to do some exploring before we left Inverary. They found this church right behind our house and enjoyed the loch.

Less that 1/2 mile from our apartment was the grand Iverary Castle, which was featured in Downton Abbey as "Duneagle." We didn't have time to tour the inside, but it was fun to see the beautiful exterior. The 13th Duke of Argyll lives there with his family, but visitors can tour non-private areas.

The drive for the rest of the day was spectacular! On our way from Inverary to Glencoe we passed the castle pictured below and many other beautiful views.

One of the symbols of Scotland is the thistle, pictured below.

Scotland is fantastically beautiful! We loved it! This area felt like highlands, and it is called that, although we were driving at only about 1,000 feet above sea level. There are ski resorts in the area, and it is the center of Scottish mountaineering. The higher latitude makes a big difference. There is plenty of snow here in the winter, and it is a rather harsh climate and has a feeling of wildness to it that we could not find in England.

We also love heather...and Heather!

We stopped at a visitor center to stretch our legs and learn more about the Glencoe area. This is the Glencoe Wood Nature Preserve.

The area also has some sad history. Here is a Wikipedia excerpt about it:

The Massacre of Glencoe (Gaelic: Mort Ghlinne Comhann) took place in Glen Coe in the Highlands of Scotland on 13 February 1692, following the Jacobite uprising of 1689-92. An estimated thirty-eight ^[a] members and associates of Clan MacDonald of Glencoe were killed by government forces billeted with them, with others later alleged to have died of exposure, on the grounds they had not been prompt in pledging allegiance to the new monarchs, William III of England and II of Scotland and Mary II.

There was a time period when the British monarchy was determined to have clear dominance over the Scottish people, and to possibly even snuff out the culture. But in the early 1800's, a new attitude was taken, and some wounds were healed. But there are still vestiges of anger at the injuries in the past. The Scottish people were very warm and friendly to us, but there seems to be a bit more of a salty toughness to them than among the people we met down in the south.

We enjoyed lunch on the shore of Loch Levan, just outside of Glencoe.

As we drove along Loch Ness we kept an eye out for Nessie, but we did not see her.

We stopped briefly at Urquhart Castle, but decided not to fight the crowds to tour it.

We stopped for a history lesson at the battelfield of Culloden. Wikipedia says the following about it:

The Battle of Culloden (/kəˈlɒdən/;[4] Scottish Gaelic: Blàr Chùil Lodair) was the final confrontation of the Jacobite rising of 1745. On 16 April 1746, the Jacobite forces of Charles Edward Stuart were decisively defeated by Hanoverian forces commanded by William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, near Inverness in the Scottish Highlands.

Queen Anne, the last monarch of the House of Stuart, died in 1714, with no living children. Under the terms of the Act of Settlement 1701, she was succeeded by her second cousin George I of the House of Hanover, who was a descendant of the Stuarts through his maternal grandmother, Elizabeth, a daughter of James VI and I. The Hanoverian victory at Culloden halted the Jacobite intent to overthrow the House of Hanover and restore the House of Stuart to the British throne; Charles Stuart never again tried to challenge Hanoverian power in Great Britain. The conflict was the last pitched battle fought on British soil.[5]

Charles Stuart's Jacobite army consisted largely of Catholics and Scottish Episcopalians – mainly Scots but with a small detachment of Englishmen from the Manchester Regiment. The Jacobites were supported and supplied by the Kingdom of France from Irish and Scots units in French service. A composite battalion of infantry ("Irish Picquets"), comprising detachments from each of the regiments of the Irish Brigade plus one squadron of Irish in the French army, served at the battle alongside the regiment of Royal Scots (Royal Écossais) raised the previous year to support the Stuart claim.[6] The British Government (Hanoverian loyalist) forces were mostly Protestants – English, along with a significant number of Scottish Lowlanders and Highlanders, a battalion of Ulstermen, some Hessians from Prussia,[7] and Austrians.[8] The quick and bloody battle on Culloden Moor was over in less than an hour, when after an unsuccessful Highland charge against the government lines, the Jacobites were routed and driven from the field.

Between 1,500 and 2,000 Jacobites were killed or wounded in the brief battle.[2][3] In contrast, only about 300 government soldiers were killed or wounded.

An audio tour helped to fill in all of the interesting bits of history at this site.

Mark has some Brodie ancestors from Scotland, so we decided to stop at the Scottish National Trust-run Brodie Castle. Unfortunately, we arrived just as they were closing for the day. Even though the castle itself was closed, we were able to explore the outside, and we got to talk with a tour guide for a few minutes about the history of the castle.