Advertisement
i feel oddly connected to this place that some call the island of mist.. i have never been here before but my ancestors have called this place ‘home’ for well.. a long time.
u might know it cause ur grandma would continuously whistle the ‘skye boat song’ until blood poured from ur ears.. or u might know it from drinking its talisker malt whiskey or red cuillin premium scottish ale brewed from the pier at uig. + btw, it was from uig that my mckinnon ancestors left the isle of skye on a rickety old boat leaving for a better place. times were tough + australia was seen as a place of hope. this trip really has opened our red-neck kanga eyes to the reality of how connected all on this planet are. .. we are all the same but different.. we all matter.. + we are all of equal worth.
now the isle of skye has been home to 3 clans who lived together in peace + harmony.. the mcclouds, the mcdonalds + us (the
mckinnons). i continue this tradition today by visiting mcdonalds frequently, each time referencing my name + hoping for some kind of loyalty clan friendship discount (the scots are rather tight so no discount as yet).
so as i said, the mckinnons are peaceful peeps, loyal friends with the mcdonalds + the mcclouds.. but those bloody mcleans were the trouble makers + who most disputes were with.. one day the mcleans seized some of mckinnons land on mull.. the mckinnons chased them onto the mainland of scotland to find the idiots snoring drunkenly.. the diplomatic mckinnons seeking to end rather than exacerbate the feud placed cut fir trees (as it was the clans badge) all around them + then left a naked sword to emphasise the point – all this to say, the gutless idiots got the point + gave our land back.
now every self respecting clan had its castle.. + castles were an expression of clan strength + fortune. the mcclouds had the impressive dunvegan castle in the north west that u would have seen or heard of. the mcdonalds lived in the north eastern impressive duntulum castle until a clumsy nurse dropped
the infant heir from a window onto rocks below.. the horror of the memory led to them leaving the castle + even today the infant is said to haunt the castle – she wasn’t there when we visited.
the mckinnons occupied the southern lands. now our motto is ‘fortune favours the brave’. our first home was a pile of rocks called dun ringill. our next + i guess current castle would have been less impressive than the other clans + today stands in ruin + much in need of repair. so ‘fortune favours the brave’ hey!
the mckinnon castle was first known as dun haakon.. then as dunakin castle + now as caisteal maol. it is situated on a 600m wide loch alsh (safe water haven for ships) + was built by a norwegian princess named saucy mary who shacked up with mr findanus mckinnon. ever the opportunists, mr + mrs saucy mckinnon implemented a levy on passing ships into the safe waters by placing a log chain across the loch alsh. im guessing u are guessing by now how the heck ‘saucy mary’ got her saucy nickname.. yeah? well we were quite interested
also.. + we eventually found out.. to encourage the ships to pay the toll, saucy mary would apparently undo her saucy blouse in appreciation for the eager sailor seamen paying the toll!
now u would of heard of bonnie prince charlie yeah? or charles edward stuart to those with ties + suits.. well he was nicknamed the ‘young pretender’ (arguably the inspiration for foo fighters song ‘the pretender’) as he was the 2
nd jacobite pretender to the throne. he was the instigator of the unsuccessful jacobite uprising in 1745 to restore his family to the throne which ended in defeat at the battle of culloden (see my last blog for more details). after the defeat at culloden bonnie prince charlie fled for his life + was famously assisted by a sweet girl by the name of flora mcdonald.. now the mcdonalds as they always do get all the spotlight but it was actually the mckinnons that arguably did the most to assist him. did we get thanked? no. a card or letter from bonnie once he got back to france? no. do we get the romantic glory of stories passed down from generation to generation like flora?
no. so what is it that we did that was so spectacular + so unheralded?
well.. so flora had organised for bonnie to get from the outer hebrides to skye. she then did what every other scot clan + now rest of the world do.. rely on a mckinnon to save the day. so she took bonnie down to john mckinnon at straithaird deep in mckinnon country dressed as a girl to protect his identity (believe that if u want to). they then took him to elgol cave which is now known as prince charles cave where he hid out before being rowed across to mailaig by the mckinnon lads. In return for their awesomeness synonymous with the name mckinnon, bonnie gave the secret liqueur recipe for drambuie to the mckinnons which is still owned by the mckinnons + drank round the world.
so do urself a favour + have a celebratory drumbuie in honour of all the mckinnons who risk their lives to help out rich pretenders
Advertisement
Tot: 0.165s; Tpl: 0.015s; cc: 16; qc: 53; dbt: 0.0524s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Susan McKinnon
non-member comment
great blog ben !
LOved reading this Ben & the photos are fantastic!! Glad you are soaking in the mckinnon lore! You did well to find the original stronghold - well done! I enjoyed seeing the castles from different vantage points to where we saw them from.