I titled this post the Highlands because, even though we
technically were in the Highlands while in Aviemore, we didn’t do much
exploring outside of the music festival. Our two days in the Highlands we
visited several different sites but not really any specific city. We started by
visiting Ft. George, an impressive fortification built in response to the
Jacobite uprising in the mid 1700’s. It is still in use today and also has
different museums and exhibits. The fort is symmetrical and unique in that it was
designed by a fashionable architect family in conjunction with the King's Military Engineer.
After Ft. George, we made it to Culloden just in time to go
through the exhibit and visit the battlefield. This battle marked the end of
the Jacobite uprising and was a disastrous defeat for the Highlanders. It was
after this battle that the English forces effectively ended clan culture in the
Highlands. Those in power thought it too risky for the clans to continue in their current state, so there was a campaign which resulted in the death or migration of
the many Highland Scots.
The stone commemorating those from Clan Cameron who lost their lives at the battle
Before finding our dorm room for the night, we stopped by Clava Cairns. These are ancient stone circle graves. Part of what I find so intriguing about places like this is that for centuries no one bothered the structures. Gratefully, at some point a landowner even planted trees around the perimeter to further protect the graves.
Clava Cairns
That evening we drove along Loch Ness to a hostel just off
the road and stayed in a dorm for the evening. Dormitories are never ideal but
this place also had an awesomely huge kitchen in which we cooked some delicious
dinner and breakfast. In the morning we had to back track some to visit
Urquhart Castle. This was a place that had been recommended to us by several
different people and was high on our priority list. Unfortunately, it was a
little disappointing when we arrived. The castle is largely in ruins, and
although on a very scenic spot it was not a very important defensive spot and
so does not have a strong history behind it. We did some monster watching
though and didn’t see a trace of neither head nor hide of the beast.
To finish up our time in the Highlands, we had two more
stops: the Cameron museum and the Glenfinnan viaduct. My maiden name is Cameron
and, although the name was originally spelled Camron on my grandfather’s birth
certificate, the little bit of research I have done convinces me that the two
names and families are certainly linked (if not the same), and in fact it is probable that
there was a misspelling on the original birth certificate. Either way, I was in
the Highlands so why wouldn’t I go take a look?! The museum was very small but
on the original Clan lands. There were also genealogy papers, though not well organized, and since I had no
idea where to even start and limited time I couldn’t sift through all of the
information. After seeing the land of my Scottish people, we went to take a peek
at the Glenfinnan Viaduct. This is the railway that is used for the Hogwart’s
Express shots in Harry Potter. We were trying to make it when the train was
going over but I think we missed it by no more than a half hour. The viaduct
itself was still pretty neat to see and we were satisfied with our Highland
adventure.
We stayed over that night in Glencoe, and left the next morning for our next stop, Glasgow!
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