scotland, part 5

[kirkcudbright]

The last of the vacation pictures, I promise.




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This was serendipity. Before we determined that Orkney was full, please go away, we decided to book into the greater Inverness area as a halfway point. The Tourist Information Centre booked us into a perfectly nice home B&B run by an Irish couple. However, they had found an old reservation that hadn't gotten logged, or something like that, and they eventually foisted us off on a neighbor (about 2 miles away) who also ran a B&B. So it's about 9pm, and here's this old farmhouse, cluttered (but not dirty). The hostess, in a tattered sweater and garish striped jeans, says she's waited on feeding the pigs because she's heard we have little girl who likes animals. Oh, and she wasn't expecting clients, and she's got friends coming up from Edinburgh and Glasgow for the weekend, arriving around 10pm, hopes they won't keep us up. They did. The second night, we decided to join them, stayed up until 4:30am, and more hung over than we've ever been. The pigs (George and Mildred - half wild boar) got out of their pen 3 times in the 2 days we were there, and various of the group had to entice them back. We hadn't even been planning on staying a second night, but decided to see a bit of the Black Isle while we were there. In the normal geography, this would have been called the Cromarty Peninsula; neither our hostess nor her guests could convincingly say why it was the Black Isle, being neither black nor an island, but that didn't keep them from trying until they forgot what they were arguing about. Anyway, big shout out to Romay Garcia at Netherton Farm, and her friends Nick and Suzy, Roddy, Oz, Euan (age 15), and Lucky (a dog).

The Munlochy Clootie Well. This is similar to the Fairy Tree that I mentioned earlier, but has a more serious/religious/healing atmosphere. "In the case of this well the gift is a cloot [a piece of rag or cloth] tied to a nearby branch, and the prayer or wish is usually for healing. In this respect the cloot is supposed to have been in contact with the sick person and it is vital that the piece of cloth is biodegradable as it is the belief that as the cloot rots, the person recovers. A word of warning, it is considered very bad luck kto remove any rags as it is believed you will inherit the problem." This was on the Black Isle, as was Fortrose Cathedral, also seen earlier.

Loch Creran, at the Oban Sea Life Centre.

Urquhart Castle, on Loch Ness. This played a part in a number of provincial struggles, and changed hands any number of times before finally being blown up in 1692 by departing government forces, to prevent it falling into Jacobite hands. When we were last here, about 15 years ago, there was a little car park and a ticket kiosk. Now it's been built up into a major tourist attraction, with a slick new visitors' center showing a potted history film ("potted" as in chopped, mixed, and pressed).

Dun Dearg, on the Isle of Skye. It appears to be a natural formation, but it may have been helped along. A "dun" was an iron-age small fort, and this was on a cliff over the ocean. There were no signs to explain it, so I'm just guesing.

Finally, a 14-point buck, near Inverary. If you look closely, you can see the tag on its ear. Bambi's father will not be shot by hunters, because he's needed to produce lots of little Bambini for the table. Mm, venison.