Inverness
Inverness 10/02/2022
We left Isle of Skye yesterday and drove to Inverness. When we left it was cold, wet, and rainy. Once we got inland aways, the sun was shining and the day was very pleasant, a convertible day. We had an uneventful trip and got to Inverness around 12:30. We found a car park, had lunch, and walked around Inverness until we could check into our cottage. It is a nice place, 3 B/R, 2 bath, two story, about 5 miles out of town. Tomorrow will be a wal through history as we go back in time to the 17th century and visit the Battle of Culloden battlefield, a castle from the 14th century, and back to the Bronze Age to the Clava Cairns.
Today we started with the Battle of Culloden. This battle, fought on 16 April 1746, lasted less than one hour. The British army, numbering 7,000 soldiers met the Jacobite army, numbering 5,000 soldiers. The British were led by Prince William Agustus, the Duke of Cumberland, and the Jacobites were led by Charles Edward Stuart, known as Bonnie Prince Charlie. The British won a resounding victory. Within one hour after the battle started between1500 and 2000 Jacobite soldiers lay dead or wounded on the field of battle along with about 300 British casualties. This was the last pitched battle on British soil. There are a lot of misconceptions about the Jacobite uprising. It was basically a civil war between the Stuarts and the Hanovers. The conflict was about restoring the Stuarts to the throne of England. Hanovers won the day and going forward they eventually changed their family name to the House of Windsor. This occurred in 1917. It remains the family name today.
Next we toured the Cawdor Castle. The earliest documented date for the castle is 1454, the date a license was granted to William Cawdor, 6th Thane of Cawdor. However, some portions of the 15th-century tower house may precede that date. I won’t try to go into the history, except to say descendants of William Cawdor have lived in this castle continuously for 600 years. The Dowager Countess Angelika still lives there 6 months out of the year. Today was the last day for tourists. The Countess is scheduled to return to the castle tomorrow and will be in residence until April, and then it will be open to the public again. It was a small glimpse in the life and times of the Cawdor family.
Now we go further back in history, to the Bronze Age. The Clava Cairns are a group of three Bronze Age cairns located near Inverness. The cairns are an example of the distant history of Highland Scotland, dating back about 4,000 years. A cairn is basically a manmade pile of raised stones used as a marker or grave. In this case it is a grave site. I found it very interesting, especially the vertical stones. I don’t know how many of you watch Outlander, but I was told these stones served as an inspiration for the vertical stones that Claire went through when she left the 1940’s and woke up in the 1740’s. Just what I heard. Tomorrow we go in search of the Loch Ness Monster. I will let you know how that goes.
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