Scotland Day 9 and 10

On day 9 we spent the day traveling up to the highlands, taking a quick stop in the Cairngorm mountains (where it was snowing much to our delight!) and then just shopping for groceries and settling into our next air bnb and taking a short walk along the River Ness.

The highlands already feels slower and cozier. Our air bnb is fantastic and we are almost right on the River Ness. We went for a walk in the morning after we got in and you wouldn’t believe it, just five hundred feet down the street is the small ruins of a Black Friers (Dominicans) priory build in 1225. I cannot believe it! We didn’t spot it before and it’s all but built over with a modern factory but it’s there. Most of the graves are not legible but a plaque stated that the friers were there caring for the people in the remote highlands, relying on donations to stay alive. They were driven off in the reformation.  The oldest parts of the priory are the knight effigy, and the column you see in these pictures. The graves we could read were mostly families, which was sad because in most of the cases the one or both of parents survived the children- lots of babies and young children were buried before their parents followed. Or the whole family but two of the kids survived till they were in their forties then they both died too. I wonder what happened? 

Zelie with the knight effigy

Our walk led us to Leakeys Book Store an purveyor of old and rare books, along with all the usuals. It is situated in an old church, with an open wood burning stove in the center. While this makes a very cozy place, it seems not the ideal situation for a place full of highly flammable material, haha! 

After the book shop we went to the Victorian and market, just down the street. A popular tourist trap but fun to look around.

Victorian market

After lunch at home we headed out to the Calva Cairns and Culloden Moor. Culloden Moor was a somber, but beautiful place. It is heart breaking to think of the devastation that happened there. One stainless steel plaque stated that a cross they had found on the ground might have been left by a Jacobite who was charging forward or either fleeing the battle field. “Fleeing the battle field” had been scratched out by some metal instrument- the highland folk have not forgotten. 

The rebuild of the Croft on the field
Clan stone
Huge cairn built in remembrance of the clans

I saw a highland cow there too so I was pretty excited about that. 

The prettiest cow! There was a blonde and redhead

The Clava Cairns are Bronze Age burial grounds, well, one or two of the cairns were. They are guessing as to the for sure use of the third. They were amazing!! Chris and I hypothesized all the possible reasons they had for building them. The opening of the biggest cairns line up so that the midwinter sun on the shortest day of the year,  shines right through the opening, midwinter would have been the hardest time for these people; the stores of summer running out, and the daylight scarce. Chris and I thought it must have been a religious reason they built these in order to line up with the sun that particular way, at that particular time. Pretty amazing. It made me think of how out of touch with nature we are as a society now.  

I mean wow! How?!
Rock art carved from the Bronze Age

Deeper under one of the cairns they have found Neolithic flint pieces. Can’t you believe it?! So the think these have been in use for much longer. I encourage you to read about this more, it is so interesting! 

We went home and had dinner- Cullen Skink for Chris and I, and cock-a-leekie soup for the kids. We loved the Cullen skink but were not fans of the cock-a-leekie. We can’t wait to go monster hunting at Lock Ness and Urquhart castle tomorrow! 

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