Aug 16, 2012

Snippets / Memories / Photos of the day:

• We had a quiet day today doing a bit of exploring but not much riding and this old body appreciated that.
• I have spent a lot of time thinking about my heritage over the time of our trip. I am of English, Irish and Scottish stock and I think seeing the state of things here in time gone by my ancestors believed their descendants would be better off having a chance to make a new start as they did.
• I believe the greatest legacy they have passed on to me is that I am grateful for that new start and do not carry a legacy of hatred for what had been visited on my ancestors so they were obviously strong people and I am grateful for that. I’d like to think any other immigrants to my country would carry that same legacy rather than one of hatred and persecution because it doesn’t help them or anyone else to have a healthy life.



The Memorial on the Culloden Battlefield on Culloden Moor which is the site of defeat in 1746 of Bonnie Prince Charlie and his hastily gathered troops and the end of the 1745 Jacobite Rising. 1,500 of his men died that day compared to only 50 of the English Army (which consisted of English Army and Scottish supporters). There was no mention of how many died from injury after that but 200 of the English soldiers didn’t return to active duty (and they received medical care…..such as it was whereas the Scots didn’t so I guess you can multiply that number by many).



Part of the Culloden Battlefield from the Cairn on the left (with memorial stones for the clans) and the cottage used as the hospital for English troops on the right. I tend to think it would have been a more merciful death on the battlefield after seeing the rudimentary instruments they had. In front of the memorial are a number of cairns erected above the burial pits of the various clans who fought. These were erected in 1881 by the landholder by the name of Forbes as people were coming from all over the land to pay their respects to their ancestors and ask where they were. He may have had the last laugh after all as a Scot as he erected one to the English who died….except it has been identified by X-Ray that this is in the wrong place and it wasn’t just English but Scottish sympathisers. To quote Norm, "this was a mine field not a burial field!”



Cawdor Castle and Norm in the foreground viewing the last Castle he figures he will probably visit….and not at all distressed about that..…just when I was thinking I could incorporate a ‘Where’s Normie’ as opposed to a ‘Where’s Wally’ spot in my photos….ah well I guess you get that. Cawdor Castle is considered ‘The most romantic castle in the Highlands’ with fine paintings, tapestries, furniture, gardens, nature trails and golf courses to explore and we enjoyed the open space and particularly the massive leafy trees we walked through to get to the drawbridge entrance where tree boughs drooped to the ground and extended beyond that. Very quirky.



In the Cawdor Castle Walled garden …and yes it takes the regular garden stuff to make sure it is great to view.



A dramatic Viaduct on a railway which continues on to the great Viaduct we recorded in our 2010 trip which is the one immortalised in the Harry Potter films but this one still looks pretty impressive.



Inverness Castle which has been rebuilt many times over the time Inverness has been settled. Inverness is a very strategic place re trade routes between north and south and east and west so it was always going to be an issue with people / factions seeking supremacy / ultimate rule so over time it was apparently pretty regular for the local population to check out what banner / flag was flying from the top of the castle to know who actually held power today.

Bits and Bobs:

Yesterday we spotted a quad axle low-loader with some sort of big machine on it and as we passed it I was shocked to see an incredible bow towards the road in the drop deck table. If it didn’t bottom out when it hit a decent bump I’d be very surprised and Norm said it was an extendable unit so I wonder if it was able to be retracted when it was empty.

Saw quite a bit of truck traffic yesterday but we were on main roads for a fair while though it did seem more prevalent than in Ireland…any part of Ireland.