Urquhart Castle by Loch Ness and Glen Affric

Snow falling again today and I wonder what I will do with two travel agents from New Jersey in such poor visibility. However by the time we got to Urquhart Castle by Loch Ness there were only a few crystals in the wind. It seemed the castle had so much more of a story to tell on this chilly March day than it ever could in summer with a cruise ship at Invergordon and the coach park overflowing. St Columba was here in AD 580, baptising a Pictish nobleman and his household. (He went on to be the first recorded witness of the Loch Ness monster but that is another story). Urquhart was held by Durwards, Comyns, MacDonalds, Gordons, Chisolms, Grants right through until about 1650 when the Grant family, loyal to King Charles I, was forced to leave by the Covenanters who opposed him. And they all faced chilly March winds and much worse. I suppose there are other places in the Highlands that were continuously occupied for 1070 years but I couldn't name them.

As we headed away towards Glenurquhart, I found myself saying that beyond the next glen was Glen Affric, supposedly 'the most beautiful in Scotland'. Well, the sun was out, the sky was clear and we dumped the planned programme to head up there. The River Affric, the mountains, the ancient Caledonian Pine Forest, all were spectacular in the snow and sun. Lots of nice pictures...



The cows were crossing in front of Rait Castle when we arrived later in the afternoon and we viewed from a distance. Here is another place that was going strong at the same time as William Wallace and his nemesis Edward I of England, in fact Gervaise de Rait, who built the castle, was Edward's man in Nairnshire.

We could see the Gothic windows in the evening sun, beautifully carved from single slabs of sandstone. But happily not the trees still growing out of the wallheads.

The saga of preserving Rait Castle is one for another day. This day was a good one.

Snow, and a date which very precisely marks the end of the clan system in the Highlands.

The snow came today; the first since December - large, wet flakes in the wind, bowing the daffodils, silencing the rooks that were noisily repairing nests in the tall Scots pines, drenching the plum blossom. The grey geese are still there in the upland meadows - heard, not seen, through the thick, heavy sky; it's good that they haven't left on their journey to the breeding grounds, as the recent harsh winds would have driven them well off course.

I feel sorry for our clients from Seattle, just embarking on their first trip to Scotland. However they wanted to explore sites linked to the novels of Diana Gabaldon. Her hero, Jamie Fraser, took his place in Bonnie Prince Charlie's army on Culloden Moor, fighting for a cause that few who were there fully understood. But if our clients visit Culloden Battlefield today they will get some idea of the plight of those tired, hungry Highlanders who, already exhausted from an abortive night march, faced driving sleet and the overwhelmingly firepower of the government army. It happened on 16 April 1746, a date which very precisely marks the end of the clan system in the Highlands.

'A Hundred Years in the Highlands' by Osgood Mackenzie

My wife's great grandfather was Moderator of the Church of Scotland and his name lives on in Dr Graham's homes in Northern India founded to care for orphaned Anglo Indian children. Through the energies of a small number of dedicated people the homes still care for eight hundred neglected children today. I was looking for things to sell at a fundraising event and came upon one of my father's old books: 'A Hundred Years in the Highlands' by Osgood Mackenzie, who founded the remarkable Inverewe Gardens near Ullapool - created from a barren peninsular which he inherited in 1862. I opened up the book and, glancing at the early pages, I see that the Mackenzie family used to make an annual trek up Strathconon each spring. A convoy of horses, cattle and dog carts made their way from Conon Bridge north of Inverness, through to Gairloch on the west coast. I found that they had followed the same track past Loch Beannacharain that I was walking on just a couple of weeks ago. I look forward to reading further.

Clan Ewan of Otter

Sometimes we have to disappoint people. In the last few weeks we have had requests for information on the Mitchell, Hunter and Wilson clan lands. Now whilst these are all good Scottish names, none of these families operated as clans, with all the ingrained Celtic traditions that come with clanship. But today we were asked about the MacEwans. Now there is a fine Scottish name, still associated with a fine Scottish beer! And yet the unfortunate MacEwans of Otter lost their lands to the expansionist Clan Campbell right back in the 15th century. Worse, they lost their chief and so became a 'broken clan', without protection. The MacEwans dispersed along the west coast, becoming dependents of other clans or surviving on their wits and by thievery. In 1602 they were listed in an Act of Parliament as 'broken Highland men, heavily armed and living by robbery'. The Earl of Argyll (Chief of Clan Campbell), was made responsible for their good behaviour.
I very much doubt he was successful!

Castle Ewan, Caisteal mhic Eoghainn, by Kilfinnan, and Ballimore Castle by Otter Ferry, both on Loch Fyne in Argyll, are sadly now just heaps of stone. And any MacEwans visiting Ballimore should be warned that the burial enclosure is to commemorate - I hate to report it - the 'Campbells of Otter'.

Strathconon

Mountains all around us - that's one of the great things about living in the Highlands! This morning was mild, calm, hardly a cloud in the sky. I roused a gap-yearing son and we decided to climb Sgurr a' Mhuilinn, Peak of the Mill - at the top of Strathconon and visible from both Scottish coasts.

As we crossed the Kessock Bridge, just north of Inverness, the miller's cap was glistening in the sun and it looked like a good day. But the weather worsened as we drove up the River Conon, and when we arrived the rain was unrelenting. No fun. So we headed on up the glen, stopping again by Loch Beannacharain, inhabited by a mass of mallard, and two whooper swans. The weather was better and as we walked by the shore, a large bird of prey settled on a pole and sat there drying its wings. Neither of us recognised it, and it was only later we learned that this was a Gyr Falcon - a vagrant from Iceland, clearly enjoying our icelandic weather.

The walk was good too - mostly sun but with rain showers and a burst of hail. We took one of the old routes across the Highlands, from Strathconon through to Ach na Shellach, then veered off to climb Creag na h-Iolaire, rock of the Eagles. No eagles there now, but we saw about 250 stags during the day - wonderful beasts. How often I wish that some of our Clans and Castles clients who visit in the summer would come a little earlier - before all the deer have disappeared up to the high corries!