Day #6 Brodie Castle and Culloden Battlefield

This morning after breakfast we headed off to Brodie Castle. The men's bathroom there had this sign on it and Bill had to take a double take before entering! Here in Scotland "lads" are men and "lasses" are women-- or laddies and lassies! (They did not misspell "ladies"--hahaha!) This was a cute and quaint countryside castle! It is rose-colored and looked so pretty as we drove up with the sun hitting it. This castle served as the ancestral home of the Brodie Clan for over 400 years and was the family seat since the 12th century! The impenetrable 16th- Century guard chamber is flanked on one side by a cozy 17th-Century wing and on the other by a sprawling Victorian extension. It had an impressive library containing over 6,000 books. It was a well fortified castle, but according to our guide, it was never attacked! The floors were old and creaky and the stairs were uneven stone and you had to really watch your step! I enjoyed the children's room upstairs with all their toys-- rocking horses and tea cups, etc. They also had school in there so there was a table displaying their slate boards, etc. It was a really cute castle! Then we headed over to the Culloden Battlefield, which is their equivalent of Gettysburg. This was the last battle fought on British soil between the Jacobite rebels and the government. It was the site of the final Jacobite uprising-- those who were trying to restore the House of Stuart to the throne in 1746. It was a very bloody battle that only took about an hour! There were about 5,500 Jacobite troops and about 8,000 government troops. The Jacobites were kind of a rag tag group, not well-prepared and they were fighting against the trained British army led by the Duke of Cumberland!! It was a very unfair match and 1,500 of the Jacobites were killed and only about 100 of the government troops were killed before they decided to retreat! The Jacobites were obviously unsuccessful in their attempt to overthrow the throne and dispersed shortly after this battle. We enjoyed walking around the battlefield and seeking the grave markings for the mass graves and other points of interest along the way. We spent time in the visitors' center learning more in depth facts about the battle. It was really interesting! I learned on the way home the many Scots do NOT like the bagpipes! They share my dislike! I thought they all loved them! I also learned that the Scottish Galic and the Irish Gaelic are cousin languages and the Scottish Galic started when a Scotsman came from Ireland and brought it here and it morphed into what they speak here-- very interesting! Only 2% of the population here speaks it, though. (Many English words come from it though! The word "galore" comes from Galic and others I can't remember!) We came back to the hotel and rested up. Bill tried on his kilt and all the accessories to make sure everything fits before our final dinner tonight.  Later on, we walked around the ground of the hotel-- which didn't take long!  It's a very small hotel!  Then we went to the Edward Jones farewell dinner and everyone looked so good in their Scottish clothing-- especially the men in their kilts!  Kilts have really grown on me since we've been here in Scotland and now I really like them!  We enjoyed a very nice dinner, and then when we finished dessert, a bagpiper came in and played and then they opened up the curtains and there was a whole bunch of them outside all ready to play for us and they joined in on playing with the one bagpiper.  There were 6 of them in total and I've never seen or heard that many at one time!  The drummers were also really fun to watch!  It was actually very enjoyable!  Scotland has really grown on me and I am kinda sad to leave tomorrow... it is so beautiful here and the gorgeous fall foliage is going to be something I really miss!  Scotland, you have treated us well!  Thank you!!!

 

Day #5 Urquhart Castle and Cruise on Loch Ness

We had another amazing day in Scotland! We headed off around 9am for the Urquhart Castle which dates back to the 1100's! This little gem was so fun to poke around in and imagine how life was throughout it's 1,500 year history! Many took it over, blew it up and rebuilt it over the years and it saw a lot of battles! These mystic craggy ruins have quite the tale to tell! Then we headed on a cruise where we were able to warm up a bit inside the boat! We got to see some amazing scenery including more castles and estates and some beautiful fall foliage! Then we split off into a smaller Edward Jones group of about 10 of us and went for lunch at a beautiful little cafe there along the shores of the Lock Ness and then headed off for a bicycle tour starting at Dochgarroch through the gorgeous Scottish countryside. We followed the Caledonian Canal (Caledonia is the Roman name for Scotland) and stopped here and there for some information from our guides-- one at the front named Donovan and another at the back, whose name I can't remember. After about 4 miles our group split up again and those who wanted to go all the way to the end of the canal got to do so...we decided to do it although it was sooooo cold and windy! (And I was a little bit saddle sore!) However, the sun shone more today than any other day! Donovan led this group. In all, we biked 10.5 miles total and got a pretty good workout with some hills there at the end where all the locks were to control the flow of the water. At the end, it was a lot windier and colder where it opens up to the North Sea. We cycled back to the hotel through beautiful fall foliage and trees losing their leaves and were able to rest a bit! It was a fun day!!!  (Oh and as a side note: The legend of the Loch Ness monster is very real here-- she's female and they call her Nessie!)