Part 8: Urquhart Castle and Loch Ness
Today we got up on the early side to take the long trip down to the Isle of Skye, which is about four hours away, but fear not, for we had much to do in the meantime. Therefore we moved out of Aberdeenshire towards the western coast. After about an hour and a half we reached Inverness where the river Ness begins that will become a loch, it also happens to be the ancient home of the Picts, the native people of Scotland. This leads us the Urquhart Castle at little farther down the loch.
http://www.photo-pimp.com/kim/misc/Urquhart%20Castle.jpg
The legend of Urquhart castle is that sometime around 500 A.D. St. Columba,
http://historyofscience.com/G2I/timeline/images/st_columba.jpg
(who I was surprised to learn has little to no association with these two things:
http://wizzyswandrings.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/columbo.jpg
http://www.primosdowntowntampa.com/images/P/yogurt.jpg )
came across the Pict chieftain who lay dying, but just as he was about to pass St. Columba blessed and baptized him, and the next in line said they would build a great castle on that spot. And so they did. Well, they build a stone house that would BECOME a castle.
Urquhart was then, like many other castles built upon by generation after generation until it became a sprawling campus-like setting where one could find A lord, his servants and their servants; A lady, her ladies in waiting and their servants, their friends with their servants and their servants’ servants, a Chaplain with, well you get the picture. All I’m saying there must have been a ton of thatched roofing going around this place. The most coveted job, at least in my opinion, would have been that of the Ale wife, if you’re wondering what that job is, it’s exactly what it sounds like. The whole campus sits along the edge of the water like a great heavy ragged whale washed upon the shore, a dark ominous mass which is riddled with holes and history. The high light of the Castle is the Tall tower in which the Lord would have lived. It overlooks the sea and though the Castle is exposed and destroyed does not mean it is any less imposing, in fact it has the worn visage that you might see on someone who has lived a lot of life, scarred but powerful. In this particular tower if you look hard enough you can find graffiti dating all the way back to 1881.
The most interesting element of this castle however is how it became a ruin. Sure it had been subject to Viking attack after Viking attack but what really did it in was it’s owner. In 1692 the Williamite owners of the castle, knowing that they were to be taken over by the Jacobeans blew up the castle and everything in it rather than have it given up to the enemy.
And so we went farther down the famous loch and took the opportunity to avoid the tackiest of Nessie shops. Sometimes I actually like kitschy things like that, examples being South of the Border, S.C. and the Corn Palace, but I was having none of it this time. The palpable beauty of the landscape did more for the soul than a shot glass with a cartoon water dragon could ever bring me. I did buy stamps and candy though.
Part 9: Landscapes. Landscapes. Landscapes.
My God does the north of Scotland look like the Pacific Northwest. I mean it’s almost uncanny. All you need is the local football team in a school bus chanting relentlessly. I imagine that the climate is what makes that so, similar to Oregon and Washington the general weather is that of grey compliance and rain. But in the few days we’ve had here the sun has been so bright that everything look as if its stepped out of a fairy tale. The fog rolls off the hill and you can almost spot Brigadoon.
The other thing to notice is how the landscapes really lead into the colors of the kilts, the regionalism of these clothes cannot be understated. If you lived by a lake your color would be blue, navy for the magpies, red for the ground, things like that. And watching the many shades of green hue and reinvent themselves one can see them in a whole new light. Plus, you know, plaid. Who doesn’t love plaid?
Part 10: Eilean Donan Castle
Are you getting tired of Castles? Yes? Well too bad there’s one more on the way and it’s a lovely one. Lo! Eilean Donan Castle the most photographed Castle in Scotland…apparently.
http://www.etravelreviews.com/eileandonan/
Eilean Donan is still the ancestral home of Clan MacRae, who still use the castle from time to time. The castle has two legends of Origin:
The first being one about a boy who can speak to birds and is told by the birds that one day he will be master of all the land, the current clan leader finds this appalling and sends the boy away. The boy then makes his fortune using his ability to speak to birds and returns to the village a wealthy man. The clan chieftain, who does not recognize him then prepares a feast for him and offers him his daughter in marriage, thus fulfilling the prophecy. Then they built a castle.
The second and much cooler myth is that the King of the Otters, who was known by his fur of gleaming silver and gold had traveled far and wide to find a place of pure perfection. After many years of searching he finally came across an island in the middle of the loch and went ashore with the rest of the Otters. Then he turned to his followers and told them this was where he was to die and that he was sorry to leave them but he had brought them to this most beautiful of places so that they may live there. And with that the king of the Otters died and the other Otters were so saddened by his passing and so touched by this last act of kindness that they all turned into stones and became the foundation for the castle as a testament to their leader. It is said that the Otters in the lake come to pay tribute to this act of kindness and will too eventually turn to stone at the bottom of the loch.
However! In reality the story is much more straightforward. Originally constructed in the middle ages to keep away Vikings, like many other castles it eventually fell to time and war, that is until the 1930s when one of the descendents of Clan MacRae decided to buy it, reconstruct it and live in it with his family. Lt. Col. John MacRae-Gilstrap then went about painfully reconstructing the castle to make it nearly identical to what had existed in the Middle Ages. I am torn by this, on one side I admire his strength in not subjecting the castle to an art-deco addition, but at the same time did it have to be exactly the same? Not to sound too much like a juror at a critique but, where’s you in this project?
But I think that’s nit-picking. It is beautiful out on a rock in the middle of the river and since it was a clear day we could see all the way to the Isle of Skye.
You might recognize Eilean Donan Castle from the following movies:
The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970)
The World Is Not Enough (1999)
Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007)
Part 11: The Isle of Skye.
There is something so terribly beautiful about the Isle of Skye that you feel feeble in its prescence. I know that’s a little cliché because EVERYBODY says that, but EVERYBODY also says the Mona Lisa is beautiful. I’m just saying.
Unlike the Pacific Northwest similarities you find near Loch Ness, the Isle of Skye is mountains and glens that dance and shoot out beautifully and the hills are so lush with grasses that they look like great expansive expensive emerald green furs.
http://www.caranddriving.com/features2/300/travel%20-%20motoring%20in%20isle%20of%20skye.jpg
Did I mention waterfalls? They also have waterfalls.
The first time we stopped was on in the town of Portree which is pretty cute with Caribbean painted buildings and the low ringing and clanging of boats. We had dinner there next to the harbor.
The other thing to mention about Skye is the White-tailed Sea Eagle. The Sea Eagle bears a striking resemblance to the North American Bald eagle, which makes sense, seeing how they are in the same family. The only real exception being while the Bald Eagle is pure white on its head the Sea Eagle has a more caramel colored plumage at the top. They are beautiful birds and I hate birds.
So that’s it for now, stay tuned for the Portsoy Wooden Boat Festival.
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