Sherramore Lodge Day 1 - 9/29/08

Breakfast was in the dining room overlooking the hills, called the Bunions. A traditional Scottish breakfast of eggs sunny-side up, ham (bacon), sausage, fried potatoes, roasted tomato halves and toast was served. The hunters were almost too excited to eat.

At 9:30, the hunters met up with their guides and departed. They were headed "up the hill" to find the red stags.

Debbie, Diane and I went with our tour guide, Mitch, to the Woolen Mills. I bought a cashmere scarf and found some clan books on Davidson and Hamilton. Enjoyed the exhibit on weaving the tartan plaid.

We drove through Inverness and admired the architecture along Main street. Mitch took us to the grocery store to get supplies and buy whiskey for Doug and Diane.

Afterwards, we drove to Cawdor Castle, had lunch and toured. The main part of the castle was built in the late 1400’s or early 1500’s, and it was added onto in the 1600’s. The story goes that Henry Campbell decided to find a new place for his castle, put a bag of gold on the back of a donkey and said wherever he stops is where he will build his new castle. He ended up getting caught up on a holly tree, and that is where they built the castle. In the basement, is the trunk of the tree, which was carbon-dated back to 1372. There was also a secret dungeon that was discovered in 1979. We saw the marital bed of Henry and Henrietta Campbell (it was 6’6” by 6’6”) with claw feet. Their bedroom had wall-to-wall tapestries which depicted stories from the bible.

There was an arc of rifles that the Campbells of Cawdor had captured from the French during one of the invasions. Also saw the original kitchen and the pots/pans used for cooking. Saw a laundry agitator (wooden handle with a slit cup on the bottom). There were many beautiful pieces of art and lots of paintings of the Campbell family. Several pieces of Chinese furniture, china and carvings were scattered throughout the castle. We saw one cabinet that was made in 1643 in the dining room.

When we returned to the lodge, Gary and Doug were back. Diane had shot a red stag, but it went over the hill, and the guide couldn’t find it. Therefore, they all came back and had a late lunch. Doug and Gary then went back out with their guides. George and David were teamed up, and when they returned, they had one deer that David had shot.

Dinner was lamb with mint sauce, mashed potatoes, carrots and onions and broccoli with bread pudding for dessert.