Lots of ruins and a battlefield

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This was the first, and only, morning in Inverness where I did not have to rush off to be to the train station. I relaxed and had the full Highland breakfast which was delicious. Alison is a great cook and hostess. Every morning there is fresh orange juice, tea or coffee with toast, homemade strawberry jam, orange marmalade, overnight oats, yoghurt, some sort of stewed fruits, granola, and a fruit salad. That is all on top of the cooked portion. The breakfast room overlooks her beautiful garden and, of course, Rupert is there to greet you every morning. He comes bounding up the stairs as soon as he hears a door open and escorts you down to your table. What is not to like about that!

I packed so many stops into today. There were things I did not get to because of lack of time but I saw all the major places on my list. Shortly after starting my drive, I encountered my first traffic signaled roundabout. I actually like those better because I do not have to do as much deciding of what lane to be in. However, I did notice that the big roads will have their numbers painted on the lane you need to be in which helps a little. Also, the UK uses miles per hour for speed limits and miles for distance. Apparently, they switched to metric in the 70s but left the roads as is to avoid having to change all the road signs. Some of the gas stations use gallons instead of liters, but I also read the UK gallon is larger than the US gallon. Anyway, back to the roads. The beginning of my journey was on a main road but I got stuck behind an oversized load carrying two pre-fab houses. It was a relief to turn off onto a one-track road towards the small town of Duffus.

Here I pulled up to Duffus Castle by turning onto a road and then another road and encountered no one. My favorite way to explore ruins! Duffus is part of the Historic Environment of Scotland, has no entrance fee and appears to be open all the time. There is not a lot known about this castle other than at one point it was one of the strongest castles in Scotland. It was built on an artificial earthwork mound, which proved to be not a great idea when one side of the castle slid down the hill! What remains today is a haunting ruin surrounded by farm fields of the modern day.

Spynie Palace was my next stop. Again, I was the only visitor! Also run by the Historic Environment there is a small fee, small shop, and a toilet. When you think Palace, you think of kings and queens, lords and ladies, but not this palace. This was the residence of the bishops of Moray for almost 500 years. Here you can climb David’s Tower, which is one of the largest tower houses ever built in Scotland, and walk along the palace walls. There is some restoration work going on, but that just helps to show how committed the group is to preserving these historic sites.

Originally when researching the area, I came across Elgin Cathedral and knew I had to try to stop here. The other castles and palaces were bonus ruins! Elgin Cathedral is known as the Lantern of the North and was the second largest cathedral after St Andrews. Work began in the first half of the 1200s and was probably completed in the late 1200s. The central tower collapsed in 1711 and would have been taller than the two surviving front towers. Trying to imagine this cathedral with full walls and a ceiling is impossible. It had to have been so ornate! Also housed in the cathedral is a Pictish cross slab found nearby. This dates to the 9^th century. I took some time to walk through the graveyard and take everything in.

Alison had suggested Cawdor Castle as a stop. This castle was built in the 1400s and remains the ancestral home of the Campbells of Cawdor to this day. The Dowager Countess still lives in the castle part of the year. She lives in a smaller cottage during the summer when the castle is open to visitors. While I am sure the castle tour would be nice, I did not have time so I paid for access to the gardens only. This still gave access to the café where I had a delicious late lunch of mushroom and leek soup and a sausage roll with black pudding. Both very good and very filling! I spent a little bit of time walking the gardens and then headed on my way. I still had two stops to make before returning the rental car by 6!

The Clava Cairns is another Historic Scotland site. There is a small car park and free entry. These tombs are about 4000 years old and yet they still remain virtually intact! There are three large cairns here, one that is fully enclosed and two with entrance passages. There are also many standing stones dotting the site. Apparently, these types of cairns are found only in the Moray Firth region. I was again amazed at how quiet and respectful people were here.

I turned right out of the parking lot instead of left, which turned out to be a happy accident. GPS rerouted me up into the hills and I was rewarded with a great view of the Nairn (or Culloden) Viaduct. This railroad viaduct has 29 arches, is 1800 feet long and stretches across this valley and over the river Nairn. I saw it driving to the Cairns but this scenic detour got me up close to it. By up close I mean I drove under it! Very impressive.

The last stop of the day was the most sobering, Culloden Battlefield. On April 16, 1746 1,500 Jacobite soldiers were slaughtered in just under an hour (maybe 100 British soldiers were killed) in the last pitched battle fought on British soil. After this battle the wearing of the tartan was banned and basically marked the end of an era for the clan system. Today, Culloden Moor is peaceful and visitors arrive to walk what is essentially a mass grave. The battlefield itself is free and always open. The visitor center charges a fee to see the exhibits. There is also a gift shop, small café, and the always important toilets. I did not pay to go into the museum as I wanted to have enough time to walk the battlefield. A row of red flags marks the British front line while a row of blue flags marks the Jacobite front line. It is almost impossible to see the blue flags when standing along the British side of the field due to the gentle rise and fall of the moor. The same is true once you reach the Jacobite lines. There are several paths here and it is again a place you could spend a lot of time walking and contemplating. Researchers are still trying to locate the burial site of the British soldiers who perished here. A stone marks the area where it is thought they were buried but upon excavation there were no human remains. The Scottish men however were buried all over this site. Further along your walk you will come across markers with the names of Clans near where many of their fallen were buried. The markers were placed in the 1800s. Unfortunately, due to the popularity of Outlander, the Fraser clan stone has been roped off to allow the ground to be restored after too much foot traffic. Eventually the path turns and you stand on the spot where the Jacobites fired the first shots of the battle. The rest is history.

Culloden falls under the jurisdiction of the National Trust for Scotland. They are working hard to restore the moor to what it would have looked like at the time of the battle. This includes bringing in cows, goats, and horses to help shape the landscape. At the time of the battle this are would have been used for farming and not covered in trees or heather. They are also trying to stop further housing developments from moving in. The battlefield is larger than what is protected today and the hope is to continue to preserve as much as possible for future generations to visit and learn about Scottish History.

Back to Outlander, yes, I have read the books and watched some of the TV series. Did I visit the cairns and battlefield because of this series? No. I visited because of the history. There are tours devoted to visiting sites mentioned in the books or used in filming, which is understandable. We did a Lord of the Rings tour in New Zealand so I cannot really fault these travelers. However, I would hope they continue to be as respectful as possible when visiting places associated with real life people and events.

And the day ended with me trying to find a gas station to fill up the car with petrol before dropping it back at the train station parking lot. I grabbed a quick but delicious chicken tender dinner at Coyote Burger and headed back to my room. Time to pack everything back up for another train ride tomorrow.

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Photos

Full Highland
Fried egg, sausage, mushrooms, tomatoes and a potato scone. It also comes with bacon but I didn't need that and sausage. The sausage was really good!

Spynie Palace
View from David's Tower