Beyond (Dornoch) to Inverness

Did you know Madonna got married at Dornoch and that one of her children was baptised in the Cathedral?

Well a day that started off a bit grey and overcast just kept getting better and by early afternoon we had blue cloudless skies, sunshine and just the faintest of breezes. Don’t be fooled this was shorts and jandals weather as the breeze came straight of the snow covered hills reminding us that it was early spring not high summer.

I forgot to mention in the last blog that we visited the Glenmorangie Distillery just outside of Tain. We didn’t do the tour but succumbed to a tasting session and I can safely say that my Scotch collection (extensive as it is) is not under threat. Deidre was not particularly taken with the whiskeys on offer, she definitely prefers the Irish variety.

Our first stop along the way was the town of Strathpeffer, a Victorian spa town full of hotels, restaurants, cafes and walks. It suffered a decline after World War I but is making a decided comeback. The hotels including one named MacKays are picturesque multi storied stone monuments to a time gone by each with an amazing number chimneys and chimney pots. The air was clean, crisp and bracing, prefect for relaxation and recharging the batteries. The only downside I could see was that Deidre and I were amongst the youngest people there.

The trip from Strathpeffer to Inverness was relatively straight forward and quick and we soon found ourselves wandering around the town centre. It is an interesting town with signs of the hard economic times everywhere (shops to let etc.), we visited the Information Centre and then had a look in several Highland outfitters. So far I have only bought a scarf and a pair of cufflinks.

Once we had finished with the shops we toddled of to Culloden only stopping for fuel and a bite to eat. The battlefield, despite blue cloudless skies, sunshine and just the faintest of breezes has an eeriness and silence about it. The muted browns and greens of heather and moss disguise the treacherously boggy and uneven terrain that was the Scots undoing, the ‘Bonnie Prince” and his advisors chose an absolutely prefect place for a defeat.

It is like all battlefields and stands as testament to man’s stupidity and his inability to learn from the mistakes of the past. Culloden is the start of the end of Scotland as it was and bore witness to indescribable atrocities that are hard to understand and even harder to justify. When Scotland was destroyed and the Highlanders spread to the four corners of the earth little did those responsible know the impact that the hardy, resourceful and stubborn Scots would have on the development the world as we know it today.

When we think of Culloden we tend to think of it as an English atrocity visited on the Scots but it is not that simple it was about power and religion with Scots, English, Irish and French fighting on both sides. Given that the Mackays made up over half of the Argyle Regiment it is highly likely that my ancestors were standing amongst the lines of red and then chased the vanquished off the battlefield and into the glens.

The tour of Culloden and the visitors centre took almost three hours and we were both a bit tired by the end of it so it was straight off to the B&B for a rest and nap before tea. Our rest and relaxation was aided by a wee dram of Bushmills.

Still no camera other than my phone so no photos sorry.