Sherramore Lodge Day 5 - 10/3/08

I once had a PH who knew how to cook. Mike made breakfast, but worried that the girls were afraid to eat it. The men survived...but I'm afraid we hurt Mike's feelings.

Gary went out with Doug and Diane on an early hunt.

Our first tourist stop was the Barracks.

Then we went to Carr-Bridge to see the packhorse bridge that was built in 1717. The river was too hard to cross during spring when it was rushing so General Alexander Grant had the bridge commissioned. There was a flood in 1829 where the river rose 35-40 ft, and it damaged the parapets and side walls.

At the Battlefield of Culloden which was fought in 1746, we went into a museum, watched a video of the battle and listened to a story-teller. When I purchased the ticket, the gentleman asked me where I was from and if I had relatives from Scotland. He told me that both clans had relatives killed on the battlefield, and I should look for the clan memorials.



The Battle of Culloden was between the Jacobites and the Government. The Jacobites were led by Bonnie Prince Charlie, and the government forces were led by the Duke of Cumberland. It was the last great pitched battle on the soil of mainland Britain. It was also the end of the Gaelic clan system, which had survived in the mountains of Scotland long after it had disappeared from Ireland. The battle was brutal, and the Highland clansmen were the ones that opened fire first. The Jacobites suffered terrible injuries as they stood in line, waiting for the order to charge. Around 700 Jacobites were killed.

Mitch took us to see the Clava viaduct. It has 28 arches.



Then we went to the Clava Cairns, which are a prehistoric cemetery made between 3000 and 4000 years ago. The cairns were dome-shaped, and there was a small passage-way that you entered by crawling through. Mitch said that the dead were cremated on the outside, placed in urns with a bit of jewelry for currency, food and a weapon. Then the urn was placed in the cairn toward the front. As more were interred, the urn moved toward the back of the cairn. At winter solstice, the sun would shine directly into the cairn. There were several stones placed upright around the outside of the cairn, and they marked each of the solstices. For the visible bit of stone, 1/3 of it was placed underground to hold it up.

Lunch was at a fish and chips place that was voted best in Scotland.

On to Buely where we stopped at the priory. Just outside the priory was a scale. Mitch said that goods were weighed there before being taken into the market. If the weight was fudged, the person was put in the stockades and his ears were nailed down. From thereon, he was a marked man, and no one would do business with him.



The priory was built in 1230 and is made of sandstone. When Mitch brushed a stone, the sand just sprinkled to the ground. The priory was built in the shape of a cross, and it was a monastery. The monks had to attend 8 services each day and spend 3 hours per day studying. There were many graves inside the priory on the floor. Mitch explained the markings to us. There was also a room with coffins which looked much like sarcophagus. It was an ancient mausoleum.





Gary obtained red stag #3 at 4 p.m., and it was an old 9-pointer.




Mike and Mitch had been threatening us with a traditional Scottish dish, called haggis, all week. Guess what we had for dinner?!! Our appetizer for dinner was haggis, followed by pork tenderloin, beet root and parsnips, par-boiled roasted potatoes with rosemary and fried red cabbage. The haggis tasted a lot better than we expected, and the dessert of sherry trifle more than made made up for it.