Morning found us sailing across Loch Ness, all eyes peeled in search of the Loch Ness monster. Although a few ripples in the water made us hopeful, Nessie remained as elusive as ever. But Urquhart Castle was easily visible along the loch shore, an impressive ruin best seen from our vantage point out on the water. The Urquhart site was inhabited for centuries, stretching back to at least Pictish times, but the castle was blown up in 1692 so that it could not be used by Jacobite rebels. As we crossed Loch Ness, Carol told us more about the Jacobite uprisings, and the 18th century efforts of Bonnie Prince Charles to restore the Catholic Stuart dynasty to power.
We left Loch Ness, making our way up the last stretch of the Caledonian Canal to arrive at our final stop at Inverness with the ocean water of the Moray Firth visible from our berth. From there, we set off to the battlefield of Culloden, the site of Prince Charles’ defeat in 1746. Here, in what was the last armed civil conflict on British soil, the government troops crushed the Jacobite rebels. Years of suppression of Highland culture followed this defeat, with the clan system shattered and the Gaelic language proscribed. We had the chance to absorb the story of the Jacobite uprisings in the award-winning Culloden Visitor Center, then walk the battlefield, where headstones mark the mass graves of the different clan members who died in the battle.
Our next stop was the prehistoric Clava Cairns, a site of Bronze Age monuments built three to four thousand years ago. Three large burial cairns dominate the site. Two are Passage Graves constructed with a narrow passage into the central burial chamber, aligned to catch the sun’s rays at the winter solstice. A Ring Cairn is also at the site, a burial cairn with a central burial chamber but no passageway.
At the day’s end we gathered for our last evening together. Dinner started with the presentation of the haggis, piped in with rousing bagpipe tunes, followed by Robert Burn’s “Ode to the Haggis,” recited by the Brian, hotel manager as the haggis was ceremonially dismantled. The day drew to a close with shared stories and laughter, as we celebrated our week together exploring the beautiful Highlands and Islands of Scotland.
