Day 5: Inverness, Scotland

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I'm finally to the place of been dreaming of going since I was a kid... parts of it are what I expected it to be, and some are better, others I find are polluted by modernization and crowds. It's interesting to see the contrast between the old town and the new, but in all of my research of this area, I had imagined it as it was, and not as it really is.

The town itself is boisterous (at least as small towns go) and friendly. The people are wonderful no matter who you ask, and everyone is starting a conversation with you, wanting to know where you're from, what you're going to see, and where you're headed after that.

We took a tour by the Jacobite tour company along the River Ness up to the Loch. Our bus driver Kenny was a fantastic and was more than happy to share stories and side notes when I questioned him about the history of the area, specifically about the Clans Fraser and MacKenzie. As it turns out, there are two Fraser townhouses still standing in Inverness, on opposite sides of the River. The first, Balnain, was built in the 1725. It didn't come into the hands of the Frasers until 1825, 3/4 of a century after its claim to fame as a hospital for Hanoverian soldiers, used during the battle of Culloden in 1746. The second is one of the oldest houses in Inverness, built in 1593, was owned by Archibald Fraser of Beaufort and Abertarff, who was the son of Simon, Lord Lovat, also known as the Old Fox.

After we made our way out of the town of Inverness (Inver- meaning mouth of, Ness- River Ness) south towards the Loch we saw several old estates, many with restored manors and castles. We boarded a boat in near a small town, Drumnadrochit and motored up the Loch for half an hour to Urquhart Castle. The castle was built over several centuries, the first parts dating to the 6th century when it was the stronghold of Emcath, the leader of the Picts, a tribe from Ireland also called the Scots, from which Scotland gets its name. The castle itself dates from the 1200s, and changed hands between the English and the Highlanders several time before finally settling in the hands of the Grants in 1509. Though the Grants retained ownership of the castle it was still successfully seized and retaken several more times, as it played an important role in the Scottish rebellion. Unfortunately, in 1692 it was blown up by the Grants to keep it out of Jacobite hands, and thus it lays in the ruins you see today. Ironically the Grants eventually turned, and played a role in the battle of Culloden, as did many clans during this civil war. "Whoever held Urquhart Castle, held the Highlands."

Later, back at the hostel, we were relaxing in the common room for a bit and were surprised by a bagpipe march right outside the window.

Tomorrow, we're getting up early to head to Culloden, and hopefully we'll beat the masses, and have a more accurate perspective of what it may have looked like on the fateful morning.

Cheers,
Britany

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