Photos and the City

Category: In The Movies

Ardvreck Castle

On the shores of Loch Assynt lies Ardvreck Castle, a ruined castle dating from the 16th century – the former old stronghold of the MacLeods of Assynt.

The castle is said to be haunted by the weeping ghost of one of the daughters of a MacLeod chief, who threw herself out of one of the windows after being promised to the Devil, as well as the ghost of a tall man, clad in grey. (The Castles of Scotland)

Ardvreck Castle dates back to about 1490, a time when the land was owned by the Macleods of Assynt.

It only entered the history books once, in especially inglorious circumstances. On 27 April 1650, the Marquis of Montrose, fighting for the Royalist cause even after the execution of Charles I lost the battle of Carbisdale to a much smaller Covenanter army. His flight brought him, two days later, to Ardvreck Castle, where he sought sanctuary with Neil Macleod of Assynt. (Undiscovered Scotland)

But there isn´t a happy end for the Marquis, Neil wasn´t at the castle, but his wife Christine tricked Montrose into going in the dungeon and sent for the Government troops. Montrose was executed in Edinburgh in May.

Adrvreck castle was attacked and captured by the Mackenzies of Assynt in 1672. In 1726 they replaced it with Calda House, also on Loch Assynt. They even seemed to have used stones from the castle to build it. But Calda House burned down in 1737 and the Crown punished the Mackenzies for being on the wrong side of the 1745 Jacobites uprising and took away the land.

In 1758 the land and house were sold to the Earl of Sutherland.

Calda House

Calda House

Built in 1726 by the Mackenzies as their new home to replace Ardvreck Castle.

The family were said to have held riotous parties, and soon became short of money. The house was plundered and torched in 1737, perhaps deliberately by the Mackenzies as they were in debt. (Castles of Scotland)

Calda House is also said to be haunted, by a pipe player and again a woman.

A sudden change of weather and it started raining cats and dogs!

19/05/2020
Clava Cairns

Only a mile far from Culloden lies another link with Scotlands past, dating back to around 2000BC. A short drive along some minor roads will take you away from the busy visitor centre of Culloden to the very quiet and impressive Prehistoric Burial Cairns of Balnuaran of Clava, shortly called Clava Cairns, set on a terrace above the River Nairn.

Clava Cairns is a group of three Bronze Age cairns dating back around 4000 years.

The cemetery was used in two periods. At around 2000 BC a row of large cairns was built, three of which can still be seen today. A thousand years later the cemetery was reused and new burials were placed in some of the existing cairns and three smaller monuments were built including a ‘kerb cairn’. Traces of a smaller cemetery can also be seen at Milton of Clava, a short distance up the valley to the west. The cairns at Balnuaran of Clava extended along a gravel terrace raised above the River Nairn. (Visit Scotland)

The land was used for farming before the cairns were built and the stones were probably taken from demolished houses.

There are two different types of cairns and you can see both at Clava Cairns:

The North East and South West Cairns are knows as passage graves. Here the inner chamber remains linked to the outside world by a passage. Both are no more than a metre or so in height, but when originally constructed the cairns are likely to have been around 3m or 10ft in height. (Undiscovered Scotland)

Both of the passage cairns have a surrounding circle of widely spaced standing stones.

The central cairn is a ring cairn and has so connecting passageway linking the central chamber with the outside. And again it is surrounded by a ring of standing stones.

The Clava Cairns are a type-site for a group of around 50 similar cairns found only in the region of the Moray Firth and Inverness. The form of these burial monuments uniquely combines aspects of ring cairns, passage graves, and stone circles. (Historic Enviroment of Scotland)

Midwinter seemed to be an important turning point of time of the year for the Bronze Age society, the three cairns form a line running north-east to the south-west. The passageways are also aligned towards the south-west looking towards the winter sunset.

It is assumed that Clava Cairns inspired the fictitious Craigh na Dun standing stones, which send the main character of the books and tv show “Outlander”, Claire, back in time.

I met actress Mikaila at this magical place for some “Highlander” inspired pictures showing off her and her Scottish roots.

We continued in the surrounding areas and enjoyed some fabulous views.

25/02/2020
Culloden

A battlefield near the village Culloden, the powerfully moving site of the final Jacobite Rising, the last battle to be fought on British land. It was the end of the Scottish Highland clan culture and the end of an era for Scotland.

On 16 April 1746, the final Jacobite Rising came to a brutal head. Jacobite supporters, seeking to restore the Stuart monarchy to the British thrones, gathered to fight the Duke of Cumberland’s government troops. It was the last pitched battle on British soil and, in less than an hour, around 1,500 men were slain – more than 1,000 of them Jacobites. (Visit Scotland)

The Battle of Culloden was fought on Drumossie Moor, to the northeast of Inverness, it was the last of the great Jacobite risings, attempts to reinstate a Stuart monarch on the throne of Britain and was led by Charles Edward Stuart, also known as Bonnie Prince Charlie or the Young Pretender.

The Jacobites

The term Jacobites derives from the Latin “Jacobe” which means James, a very popular Christian name in the Stuart family. Bonnie Prince Charlie was the son of the Old Pretender, James Francis Edward Stuart, and grandson of the deposed James II of England. He landed in Scotland in July 1745 in an attempt to throw King George II from the throne. The Hanoverian line became the kings of Britain when in 1603 when King James VI of Scotland had travelled south to become King James I of England and Ireland.

Charles sought and raised support for his cause amongst the Highland clans and most of them supported him. Just a few were loyal to the Hanoveranians, while most of the lowland Scotland opposed the Jacobites movement.

Charles and his gathering army reached Perth on September 4, 1745, where the Young Pretender proclaimed his father, the Old Pretender, to be the rightful King. He took Edinburgh on September 17 and won a decisive victory at Prestonpans on September 21. Carlisle fell on November 15 after a short, five-day siege, and the Jacobites marched on toward London through Lancaster, Preston and Manchester. The army reached Derby on December 4, but turned back to Scotland two days later on the advice of Lord George Murray and several of the Highland Chiefs when it became clear that the much-promised support of the French and the English Jacobites wasn’t forthcoming. It was this retreat, against the wishes of Charles himself, which many historians believe to have been the fatal move which defeated the ’45 rising. (BBC History)

The Jacobites retreated to the Highlands but still had a few victories against the British. The British army trained and exercised in Aberdeen. Charles tried to avoid direct contact with the British army and used guerrilla tactics which were so effective in Highland warfare. But the funds of the Jacobites were running low and something had to happen.

The Battle of Culloden

On the night of April 15-16, Charles tried to a surprise attack on the Hanoverian camp near Nairn, but the plan failed and the Jacobite had to retreat to Culloden, a marshland. When the British army advanced into the field on the next day they outnumbered the Jacobites by 9000 to 6000 and the Jacobites were exhausted from the nightly raid.

The marshland wasn´t in favour of the tactics of the Highlanders but it suited the heavy artillery and cavalry of the British. The Jacobite army was defeated into retreat and the ones still alive fled towards Inverness or the mountains. The British army hunted many of them down and killed them.

Culloden Today

Today the Culloden Visitor Center of the National Trust of Scotland stands beside the battlefield, features artefacts from both sides of the battle and tells the story of the Jacobites.

It is an airy walk through the fields, which are marshland again. Even so, there were many visitors it felt quiet. Gravestones mark the graves of hundreds of clansmen and also British soldiers that were killed on that day.

Leanach Cottage

Originally built in the 18th century the traditional thatched cottage has seen many changes since then. Lived in until 1912 it felt into disrepair afterwards.

The cottage was later restored and served as the first visitor centre for people coming to see Culloden Battlefield. Now the cottage is a temporary exhibition space for you to discover more about Culloden’s heritage. (National Trust for Scotland)

20/02/2020