Outlander Tourists and Highland Weapons

Amongst his many accomplishments Jamie Fraser, hero of Diana Gabaldon's 'Outlander' series, was highly skilled with Highland weaponry. Last night those on our fourth Outlander Tour enjoyed trying the weapons for themselves under instruction from Hugh Allison, author and mine of information on the Battle of Culloden.


I always enjoy leading these Outlander tours. The weather has been a bit grey, but a happy group has interrogated salmon fishermen, tapped feet to Highland folk music, seen where the Brahan Seer's prophesies came true and sampled local malt whisky and elderflower wine. (This in additon to the headline activities noted on the website!). Tomorrow, it seems, the weather will be better and we head by Loch Ness to Glenshiel, the brochs at Glenelg and the Isle of Skye.

Diana Gabaldon Tour, Day Five

Monday was Crathes Castle with its sensational gardens (right) and 'Royal Deeside' which nearly lived up to its name: we missed Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall by 20 minutes at McEwans of Perth in Ballater.

Yesterday was the trip over here, to Skye. We had planned to come by the six car Glenelg Ferry but it wasn't running, so we swung by Eilean Donan Castle, allowing some to renew old acquaintances, and Irina to take this beautiful shot of Lochalsh with Skye in the distance.


Today we saw Dunvegan Castle, seat of the Macleods, looking proudly over Loch Dunvegan. But beyond the far shore of that loch, beyond the world famous Three Chimneys Restaurant, lie the villages that were 'cleared' by the MacLeods in the 1780s. We visited one of them. It used to be a remote, hard working, close-knit community; now just overgrown stone cottages with a tumbledown church, first consecrated about 1300 years ago, all set by a spectacular waterfall, the shore not far below. As with all clearance villages, it was a thought provoking visit: the residents had committed no crime, there was no Court of Appeal, just the promise of better land in Carolina... if they ever got there.

If we needed to know more of those times, of that society, and indeed of the one before it, there was no better oracle than Seoras, the storyteller, clad in traditional belted plaid, sitting by the fire in his 'Black House'. As he talked of the myths and legends of Skye, as he stroked his beard and the peat smoke wafted round the simple room, we were all a little mesmerised and left pondering on druids and magical wells.

Day Two of the 2007 Diana Gabaldon Tour

It was a pleasure to see happy, if tired, faces at Aviemore Railway Station yesterday, amongst them two old friends from last year's tour. A refreshing walk down to the River Spey, the evening light on the Cairngorm Mountains, and an excellent dinner at Corrour House set everyone up for an interesting first day.

The Clava Cairns with the split stone might have been today's highlight. Or maybe Culloden Battlefield. But the deepest impression was probably left by the Lovat Mausoleum at the old Wardlaw Cemetery. The memorial plaques on the wall date back to 1634, and in the centre, secured by a padlocked cover, is the entrance to a crypt. The 11th Lord Lovat, most notorious of his line and known as the 'Old Fox' lies down there. Hauling on the two cast iron rings to lift the heavy oak trapdoor and reveal the stairs was a touch dramatic. Not everyone decided to go down; but those who did found several lead-lined coffins, one of which, poignantly, is that of a child. In another, so they say, lies the corpse of the 11th lord, beheaded in 1747 for his part in the 1745 Rising; his body was smuggled north whilst his head was still on display in London.

Tonight we returned to Corrour, and to a fascinating presentation on Culloden by Hugh Allison who also signed copies of his new book, 'Culloden Tales'.

Here is the group on the battlefield.