British Isle Cruise--Day 15

August 9, 2015—Day 15, Inverness (Invergordon), Scotland

Another very cold day and the high today was forecasted to be 58 degrees.  Although it’s August, it sure feels like the middle of winter for those of us used to much warmer climates.

We were up early, had breakfast, then was off the ship a little after 8:00am to meet our tour guide at 8:30.  Laura met us outside the port gates and off we went.  We had booked Inverness Tours for its Outlander Tour, which stops at some of the places featured in Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander books, and in the Starz TV series.  Since this was a private tour, we had enough flexibility to stop anywhere else we wanted to visit taking into consideration that we needed to be back on board no later than 5:30pm, although our targeted return time was an hour before that at 4:30pm. 

Our first stop was Clava Cairns, a site that pre-dates history as it is reputed to be 4,000 years old.  There were three cairns with a circle of standing stones surrounding each cairn; each cairn looked like a mound of rocks with a hollow area in the center.  Laura told us that the archaeologists have determined that the center cairn was used to cremate people who had died and that the two outer cairns had contained pots with the ashes of those cremated.  Amazingly, the center cairn had three mounds in the shape of spokes leading to the cairn; these were apparently air tubes which allowed the fires to burn hotter (necessary when cremating bodies).  Considering the site was thousands of years old, the workmanship to build these cairns was incredible, especially for that time in history.  The two outer cairns had a narrow opening and originally the entire cairn was covered over.  The pots containing the ashes were presumably brought in by someone, perhaps a family member, who had to crawl through the opening and place the pot in this circular room which had no light and was probably pitch dark.  Each year, during the winter solstice, the sun was positioned in such a way that the light shone directly through the entrance, and legend has it that the people of that time believed the light from the sun shining through into the cairns led the spirits of the dead to another world.  (Hmmm, maybe that was the beginning of the phrase, “go into the light.”)  Whether it is true or not, it was a very interesting story about the cairns.  As far as the Outlander tour, the standing stones included the one Claire, a WWII British nurse, touched when she was whisked away to the past and wound up in Scotland in the 1740s.  (If you haven’t read the books, I very much recommend them.)

Our second stop was Culloden Battlefield, where the government’s forces fought and defeated the Jacobites in April 1746.  Laura did an incredible job bringing the stories alive for us, making this important part of Scottish history so interesting.  Tying it all to the Outlander books, she pointed out both the MacKenzie and Fraser clan stones marking the mass grave where those clans fell and were buried.  The field has an eerie feel to it which is understandable since it is a memorial to not just those who died in this major battle, but also a symbolic memorial to the end of a way of life in Scotland with the defeat of the clans.  I saw some of the clan stones had flowers placed there presumably by descendants of those clans.

Leaving Culloden, we drove along the coast of Loch Ness.  The benefit of a private tour is that we were able to set the itinerary, and while this part wasn’t tied to the Outlander books, I wanted to see this famous lake.  After all, what visit to Inverness would be complete without a visit to Loch Ness to see the Loch Ness monster?  We drove along the coast looking for Nessie, then stopped to have lunch in a quaint little pub.  Unfortunately, we didn’t spot anything that could possibly be mistaken for Nessie, the infamous Loch Ness monster. 

We made our way to the town of Beauly and visited the 13^th century priory where many of the gravestones had names that were common in the Outlander books.  Beauly was the town where Jaimie Fraser’s dad had come from and Lord Lovat (the lord of Beauly) was Jaimie’s grandfather.  We also visited a small hotel that was supposed to resemble the description of Lallybroch in the Outlander books (but looked nothing like the Lallybroch featured in the movie). 

Our last stop was at Castle Leod, which was the home of Clan MacKenzie (Castle Leoch in the Outlander books).  This is a private home and the head of Clan MacKenzie still resides here, so we would not be able to actually visit, but was making a photo stop.  Laura explained that Inverness Tours (her company) had an agreement with the owner that they could bring people by the house for a photo stop.  We drove down a secluded tree-shaded road and parked near a sign that said “Private Property” but where the castle was clearly visible.  Several other cars were parked nearby and others arrived while we were there.  There was a large tent in a nearby field and it looked like there was going to be a large party.  All the people getting out of their cars and walking up to the castle were dressed in the tartan plaid.  Laura asked if it was a clan gathering and was told that it was.  Laura explained to us that all the members of Clan MacKenzie gather once a year, and it turned out that today happened to be the day.  The field was set up for the highland games and a large banquet. Being there at the beginning of a Clan Gathering was certainly an experience we hadn’t planned, but how exciting to see.  Of course, since we weren’t invited guests, we finally left and made our way back to the ship.

We thanked Laura and said our goodbyes—she was a great guide and had provided us so much information in a way that made the people of Scotland, both past and present, come alive. 

We were back on board the ship by 4:00pm, earlier than scheduled which was great.  We looked at the dining room menu, and again it didn’t really appeal to us, so at a little after 6:00pm we headed for the buffet.  Afterward, I talked with a few fellow passengers and we exchanged stories of what we had done at the various ports. 

I was back in my cabin by 9:00pm and curled up with my Kindle before falling asleep.  It had been a long day, and while it had been cold, we were lucky that we had periods of sunshine between cloudy skies.  We had another Outlander excursion planned for our time in Edinburgh tomorrow, and the weather was projected to be rainy all day.