The next day we walked over Culloden battlefield, where a great
memorial cairn was erected on the site in 1881, marking the last battle
between the Scottish Highlanders and British troops which occurred on 16
April 1746. The area covered about 50 acres and contained markers where
over 1200
Scottish Highlanders died.
Later we visited the area of CAWDOR and Kilravock Castles, dating from
the 14th and 15th Centuries, respectively. Documents of the library at
Inverness showed that Kilravock Castle has been the seat of the Rose
clan since 1190. CAWDOR Castle has been the home of the clan chief of
Campbell of CAWDOR since about 1524.
During the past year and a half, I had received two very nice letters
from Earl CAWDOR, the Clan Chief. When we went to CAWDOR this time I
had hoped that I would be able to visit with him. However, two days
before we arrived, Hugh John Vaughan Campbell, born 6 September 1932,
6th Earl and 25th Thane of CAWDOR, died on 20 June 1993, at the age of
60, succumbing after a short illness to lung cancer while in a hospital
in London, England. When he died, he was reported as being one of the
richest men in Scotland, owning extensive lands in Scotland and Wales.
The family's Welsh connection was underlined by the fact that Lord
CAWDOR was High Sheriff of Carmarthenshire, Wales, an office he held
since 1964. Hugh was succeeded by his eldest son, Lord Colin Robert
Vaughan Campbell. At the age of 29, he is a direct descendent (17th
generation removed) of Sir John Campbell that married Muriel CALDER.
According to Lord CAWDOR's obituary in "The Inverness Courier," CAWDOR
estate now covered some 50,000 acres of land.
"Scottish Chronicles" records listed (during the period 1058 - 1093) a
Hugo CADELLe, who was awarded the Thaneship of CAWDOR for his service to
King Malcom III and son Gilbert CADELLe (also listed as CALDER) who
obtained a land grant in Nairnshire. One interesting point - while in
Edinburgh in a historic map shop, I found an early 16th Century map
showing CAWDOR as "CADDELL Castle."
After departing the Inverness area, we headed north to Thurso and
Castletown through the extremely bleak and sparsely populated area of
Caithness - consisting of scrubby brush and upland moorish lands.
Heading north, we traveled in a remote area of Caithness - through
ScotsCALDER Station, CALDER Mains and by Loch CALDER where I understood
CADDELL's (or what ever they were called back then) lived in the 12th
and 13th Centuries. However, about all I saw was peat diggings and
dairy farming. The land appeared to be agriculturally very productive
in the lower valleys. I recently found a reprint of John Speed's map
dated circa 1662 showing Loch Calder as Caldel.
At Castletown we found a very nice B&B - Garth House Estate, which had
been originally built in about 1720. It was recently (in about 1988)
restored by a middle aged couple from the south of England. Just inside
the entrance at the front of the house was a spiral staircase to the
second floor. When restoring, they had used all the old wood trim,
doors and hardware. The massive wood doors were beautiful. An unusual
find occurred during restoration, when they removed the ceiling
materials on the first floor, down came a two foot thick mass of
"peat." It apparently had been used as insulation between the floors at
Garth House. What a fire hazard. They were also in the process of
restoring its gardens. What they had done was spectacular. As with all
of Scotland, the houses were stone, several feet thick with slate
roofs.
In Scotland we did not see any air conditioners. They have very large
windows that swivel out to allow maximum airflow through the homes -
that is essential. However, the humidity was always a constant
problem. Remember, this was in the middle of June. The temperature
remained in the 40's at night and the 50's to lower 60's in the day. I
understand that only the mid to southern part of Scotland ever gets into
the 80's or higher.
There were numerous slate quarries in the Castletown area. Slate is
used in Scotland for roofs, floors in the homes, fences and other
building materials. Surrounding the Garth estate was the usual rock
walls. But one very unusual site was the slate fences - slabs of the
rock stood upright two foot wide, about five foot tall and two inches
thick. Garth House was located about a mile from Dunnet Bay. Looking
to the north we could see Dunnet Head's massive rock cliffs towering
into the sky several hundred feet high - the farthest north point of
land in Scotland.
At about 9:00 am the next morning, we proceeded to Scabster on Thurso
Bay to catch a P&O Ferry to the Island of Orkney about 25 miles north of
Scotland - a hard day's trip up and back. We did not get back to
Castletown until about 11:00 pm that night. It rained steady on us all
day.
We reached Orkney mid-day at the port of Stromness, a very small
coastal village nestled into the steep cliffs along Hoy Sound. At one
point while on the ferry we encountered a strange phenomenon - the
opposing tides of the Atlantic Ocean and that of the North Sea coming
together - it made for a very bumpy ride. However, in places there were
channels of perfectly calm water and on either side turbulent white
waters, almost looking like reef areas.
Touring the Island we saw Maes Howe, one of the largest stone age
burial mounds in the world. The entrance was a very small (about four
feet high and three feet wide) stone walled tunnel leading to the main
chamber. In the central portion was slab vaults similar to our
mausoleums. At some point in time the chamber had been broken into by
the Vikings. There was a cylindrical hole in the roof of the main
chamber where they entered. However, the hole had been later capped to
protect the artifact. Their cryptic glyph writings were on the walls
telling the tale of what they had found in the mound. It was very eerie
crawling around in the underground tomb, even if it was only about 30
feet below the surface. Later we saw the Ring of Brodgar, an oblong
(about the size of a football field) ring of standing stones and about
the same size as Callanish, previously described. Over the years about
half the stones had been destroyed or removed. It was understood that
early settlers used the stones for building materials. Throughout the
trip we saw several hundred standing stones - also many burial Cairns.
Along the east coast of Orkney just adjacent to the tidal waters of the
Bay of Skaill was Skara Brae - an entire stone age village originating
in about 3000 BC, uncovered in about 1850 by a storm that washed the
sand away from part of the village. It is said to be the best preserved
(buried some 4000 years) of any such artifact in the world. It showed a
close collection of homes connected by stone tunnels, with stone
hearths, fish larder-pools, stone beds and other primitive furniture,
all fashioned from local flagstone.
That evening we boarded the last ferry back to Scotland. We got back
too late to find a B&B. So, we started driving south along the coast of
the North Sea past Sinclair Bay and Castle (Girnigoe, home of the Earl
of Caithness), and Castle of ole Wick until I got too tired. We stopped
at a pull over (a rare find) and slept in the car for about four or five
hours before continuing on south past Dunbeath Castle, Dunrobin Castle,
Skibo Castle and finally back to Inverness. In the Lairg area just
north of Inverness were many pre- historic Cairns and stone age
dwellings. At Inverness we visited several woolen mills, and kilt
shops. While at Inverness, my wife and I celebrated our 30th wedding
anniversary.
That night we stayed at the Schoolhouse B&B in CAWDOR Village about 200
yards from CAWDOR Castle. The day we stayed at the B&B was the day of
the funeral for Lord CAWDOR. The castle was closed for the funeral but
was open the next day. The B&B was a very quaint and immaculate
accommodation. The one thing common about most B&B's, they were owned
and operated by some of the nicest "little old ladies," many of whom
were widows. Each, generally, serves very generous, but similar,
breakfasts. One thing that I could not develop a taste for was their
sausage - made from meat and cereal mix, very tasteless. Nowhere did I
ever see any with all meat. When asked about their breakfasts, most
replied they served what tourist like. They all had corn flakes
available as a dry cereal. We usually had porridge (cooked oatmeal).
However, a couple of B&B's had actual menus that we could order from,
but had only limited selections. They did serve hearty breakfasts
though.
In the village of CAWDOR we revisited the many sites previously
described in our December 1991 trip. At the end of one lane in the
village, I was standing by the side of a rock wall taking pictures.
Suddenly, I heard a crashing noise. I turned around and a yearling red
deer buck was standing in a clearing, staring at me. I took his picture
and he bounded off into the woods. The red deer of Scotland are so
beautiful, with their rather bright sandy red colored coat, not scruffy
like our Texas deer.
The one thing about CAWDOR village was that everywhere you looked were
beautiful flower gardens like nowhere you have ever seen. About 11:00
am, we went to CAWDOR castle. Already the parking lot was full of tour
busses, cars, RV's, and others. CAWDOR was a money making enterprise
with its nine hole golf course, nature trails, two gift shop, entrance
fees, and a nice sized cafeteria. Just outside the entrance was a gift
shop. I bought several CAWDOR tartan and crest items. We entered the
Castle across its original drawbridge (restored and well preserved),
passing a small cannon.
On the central tower wall just inside the castle gate was the family
crest and coat of arms. Lord CAWDOR in his book on CAWDOR Castle gave
the following description: "The coat of arms, painted in heraldic
colours, is Sir Hugh Campbell's (on the left), quartered with Lady
Henrietta Stuart's (on the right). The crest of the Crowned Swan
challenges that the medieval CAWDORs (CALDER) had long claimed descent
in the female line from Lohengrin, the Swan Knight, in German legend, a
knight of the Holy Grail and son of Parsifal. Lohengrin was a cavalier
recorded in the 1100s for his exploits during the Crusades in the Holy
Land; his romantic and legendary behavior was celebrated over the
centuries in French, German and English literature and song.... The
arms are carved in dark grey sandstone.... They show the Hart's Head
(head and antlers of a red deer) and Buckles for CALDER...." It is
noted that several years back I bought a CADDELL family crest which also
showed the Hart's Head and Buckles of the CALDER's as described by Lord
CAWDOR. In addition, in the gift shop in one of the villages visited, I
purchased a plaque showing the Campbell of CAWDOR crest. It exhibited
the Crowned Swan surrounded by a Buckle mounted on a background of
CAWDOR tartan cloth, with the motto inscription "Be Mindful" on the
Buckle. Lord CAWDOR seemed to think that it was possibly an inverse
rendering of the Campbell of Argyll motto "NE OBLIVISCARIS"(Do Not
Forget) taken from the Bible (1 Chronicles, 16:15).
Inside CAWDOR Castle, the walls were mostly white washed, having
carpeted halls and 16th and 17th century tapestries on nearly every
wall. To the right of the entrance door inside at the lower stoop of
the front stairway was a beautifully exhibited display of early
flintlock rifles. The carpet up the stairs and in the hallways was in
the Campbell of CAWDOR tartan. Everywhere we looked were pots of fresh
cut flowers out of the CAWDOR gardens. The immaculate cleanliness and
amount of daily preparation obviously was done by as many as 50
employees and probably at least that many more that tended the
gardening, nurseries, livestock, farming and timberland. There were
more employees of the Castle than in all of CAWDOR Village. The
residential living quarters were well decorated with numerous 16th and
17th century antiques. After our tour through the castle, we stopped at
the inside castle gift shop and picked up several items. Then we had a
very good meal in the cafeteria.
The best part of the visit to CAWDOR was its gardens. It had gardens
on two sides of the Castle. The opposite side was a well established
maze inside a four foot wide and eight foot tall rock wall. The gardens
contained every type flower imaginable and many exotic trees and shrubs,
all ablaze in their colorful splendor. At the back of the Castle was a
burn (creek) of running water over undulating rock slabs with small
waterfalls. In and around the CAWDOR woods were several nature trails,
the longest 5 miles in length.
We departed CAWDOR and headed south toward Spey Valley - the popular
ski area in Scotland. Skirting the Spey River, We passed through
Grantown on Spey, Aviemore, and Kingussie. East of Aviemore we drove
through the Queen's Forest and Cairngorm Mountains. At Kingussie we
viewed a stone structure - Ruthven Barracks, built in 1715 by the
British to fight against the Jacobite rebellion. Finally we reached
Newtonmore, where we stayed the night at the Ben Y Gloe B&B.
The next day we drove south through Glens Truim and Garry to Pitlochry
where we visited local shops and spent the night at Robertson B&B.
After rising for the day, we drove to Blair Castle in Glen Garry. I
toured the castle and viewed many of the Blair of Otto's private arms
collection. In the collection was a pistol made in about 1720 by a
Thomas CADDELL, of a family of gunsmiths at Doune, Scotland.
Nearby was the village of Blair Atholl. I had especially wanted to see
this village and Castle because of the pistol and a flour mill with its
old water wheel in the village. The mill was originally built in 1610
along the Garry River. Currently owned by John Ridley, we saw the mill
on one of our travel videos which we had during our trip preparation.
We bought some stone ground bread-making flour and oatmeal at the mill
shop. We found a small shop and bought two hand-knit sweaters.
Mid morning we departed Atholl, heading generally west toward the
Queen's View on Loch Tummel. We continued on south past Allt Mor, where
we saw a large herd (about 50) of red deer grazing, and at Keltneyburn
saw several croft-like sheared thatch roofed homes. We finally stopped
at Fortingall Kirk. We had come this route to see the Kirk, where in
its courtyard was a Yew tree that is said to be over 3000 years old
(considered to be the oldest tree on earth).
From there we made a fast trip to St. Andrews. We spent about an hour
going through shops in the town centre. We bought some Scottish art
prints and tartan clothes. Along the coast south of the town centre was
the ruins of St. Andrews Cathedral. Founded in 1160 and consecrated in
1318, the Cathedral stood 160 feet wide and 355 feet long, the largest
in Scotland. Neglect and other factors led to its ruin as early as
1649. Many of the towers and parts of the rock wall of the cathedral
still remain. The huge, massive tower structures were very impressive.
Before we left St. Andrews we went by The Royal & Ancient Golf Club
where golf originated in 1754. While we were at St. Andrews, the sun
came out, the first time in nearly three weeks since it started raining.