Just outside Inverness lies Culloden, the final battlefield for the failed and final Jacobite uprising of 1745 to 1746. The Jacobites, from the Latin, Jacobus, meaning James, supported that the throne rightly belonged to the Stuarts and the Catholic Highlanders rallied to the cause. Led by “Bonnie” Prince Charles, the Jacobites saw impressive initial success but were eventually beaten back and then crushed in a rout here at Culloden. This conflict was the last pitched battle on British soil and the ruthless pursuit by the victorious Hanovarian army under the orders of the Duke of Cumberland eliminated any chance of the Jacobite cause beings saved. Today the moor that was fought upon has started to disappear as the forest regrowth slowly advances in to fill the fields of this venerated field.
Nearby, but thousands of years in the past, the Clava Cairns, three massive burial mounds and multiple standing stones is a glimpse into the Neolithic history of the region. There are two “Passage Graves” that are oriented to catch the direct light of the winter solstice, and would have illuminated the inside of the chambers. While we know very little about them other than they would have been first built around 1500 B.C. it is likely that the sophisticated construction had religious significance pertaining to the seasons. That period of time is easily 500 years before the druids but the standing stones were still thought to have been used in rituals and legends imply that they were used to telepathically communicate to other locations along ley lines great distances away.
We make our way back to the ship and cast off lines for our afternoon destination of Fort Augustus, passing through numerous locks and several lochs, which doesn’t confuse anybody. Kayaking up the canal and hikes into the glen are offered and after a few hours of activity and some wildlife, including the idyllically shaggy highlands cows, there is a pre-dinner surprise tasting of some Scottish whisky (if it were Irish it would be spelled whiskey). A full first day and we hadn’t even had our last meal!
