Scotland, Here We Come! (Part 5)

Day 6

Thursday morning we again loaded up on the bus.  Our main destination today was Culloden Visitor Centre to learn about the Battle of Culloden where Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Jacobites were defeated by the British army in 1746.  One source says that between 1,500 and 2,000 Jacobites were killed or wounded in the brief battle (lasting not more than an hour), while government losses were lighter with 50 dead and 259 wounded.  The plaque further down indicates that 700 Jacobites were killed or wounded.  However many died, this battle changed the traditional way of Highland clan life forever. 

There was a rock wall as you approached the visitor's center with  statements in Gaelic and the translation in English.  I took a picture of one and it reads: "Our blood is still our Fathers and ours the valour of our hearts".  I wish now that I'd taken a picture of all of them.



Inside the visitor's center were displays of artifacts found on the battleground and examples of weapons used during that time period.  A walk-through exhibit told the history leading up to the battle - the Jacobite (Scottish clans loyal to Prince Charlie) viewpoint on one side and the British viewpoint on the other side. The highlight of the exhibit was a theatre-in-the-round.  As you stood there a film of the battle was shown on the screens surrounding you and you felt like you were right in the middle of it.

Ipods were available at the visitor's centre before you went outside.  They were GPS controlled and, at each point on the map as you walked through the grounds, a narrator described what was happening where you stood.  We weren't able to experience the whole thing as it took quite a long time.  However, we were able to listen to a little of the history before we had to head back to the bus.

Roger and I went different directions on the walking tour, and he ended up with the camera, so I didn't take pictures on my walk.  The direction I went took me past the clan markers showing where each clan fell.  Next to that area a clan memorial had been erected to mark the spot where so many met their death.  When I met up with Roger, we were able to use the zoom lens on the camera to get a picture of the memorial (below), but we didn't end up with a picture of the stone markers for the clans.  It was quite an experience to visit some of these sites - especially since we have Scottish ancestors and know that they had to have been affected by the events that happened.

Below are some random pictures as we left Culloden and the Highlands and drove down to Edinburgh.  We enjoyed the scenery so much -- especially since we weren't doing the driving -- we could just relax and look as much as we wanted.  The purple plants are heather.  We were told that it would be even more beautiful in a couple of weeks.

I guess because we were both raised on farms, we enjoyed seeing the different farm settings as we drove.  It was also interesting to see that they "roll" their hay instead of baling it in the large bales like we do in Utah.

 

The picture above is one of the many bridges going into Edinburgh.  The picture below is the Marriott Hotel that we stayed at for two nights on the outskirts of Edinburgh.  That seems to be a normal thing to do -- if you can't afford to keep up your home, turn it into a hotel.

Below is a view we had of Edinburgh Castle as we were driving into Edinburgh for dinner. 

That evening we ate in a fancy rooftop restaurant of one of the hotels that overlooked Edinburgh and had a great view of the Edinburgh Castle at night. We had a fun visit with other members of the tour, and then we were taken on a walking tour of Edinburgh at night. 

View from the restaurant window as the sun was going down and the lights were going on around the castle and the city.

Endinburgh had a very busy nightlife. There were students of all ages hanging out in groups and walking around the city.  One of our stops was the Greyfriars Kirk (church) and Cemetery.  There was a tombstone and a monument to "Greyfriar's Bobby".  There is a children's story about a little dog that was so devoted to his master (a policeman in Edinburgh) that when his master died, he stayed by his grave in the cemetery.  Disney made a movie about it, and we bought the children's storybook while we were in Scotland.  That book was quick to point out that Disney's story was the "folktale".  Anyway, the main point was that the dog was real and has been made an integral part of the history of Edinburgh.

One of the sites that was pointed out to us was "The Elephant House" where the author of the Harry Potter books used to come to eat and work on her stories.  One of the things I didn't mention was that as we drove through the Highlands on our tour, various sites were pointed out to us as part of the Harry Potter books - either as location or as actual film sites.  I actually took some pictures of some of those sites, but.....  I'm not sure if I should admit this or not: If I'd read the books, it might have meant more to me and been easier to keep track of.  Sorry, Harry Potter fans!!

Edinburgh at night -- a very busy city!

Our guide.

One of the many cathedrals.

In this age of cell phones, I haven't seen a telephone booth in the US for a long time.  I didn't think telephone booths still existed, but they do in Scotland!  I almost expected to see superman to hurry out -- does that age me?