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Tour Day 6: Culloden Battlefield and Cawdor Castle

Culloden

 

     Our first stop this day was to Culloden Battlefield, the site of the final battle of Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Jacobites. There was a museum to tour that explained the battle and then we were provided with headsets to listen to a guided tour as we walked the grounds independently. This was a somber experience as we relived the bloodshed in this otherwise peaceful place. There were stones used as markers of the mass graves for each clan and a memorial built to remember them by.

Clava Cairns

 

    We recovered from the difficult history of Culloden with a visit to Clava Cairns, an ancient, prehistoric burial place. Anne says she likes to bring tours here after Culloden because it is so peaceful and the history of Culloden is so traumatic. After touring the burial sites, we enjoyed a picnic Anne surprised us with. She had collected a number of locally produced meats, fish and cheeses and some popular local drinks for us to try. It was a beautiful way to relax as a group.

 Speaking Scottish

 

"Cairns" is from the Scottish gaelic and literally means a pile of rocks.

Cawdor Castle

 

After our picnic, we visited one of our favorite castles of the trip: Cawdor Castle. The exterior was stunning and there were wonderful gardens that were still beautiful in September. The tour of the interior had a bit of a hodgepodge of antiques from different eras. It is still lived in by the family that owns it, so intermixed throughout were family snapshots, which put an interesting twist on the experience. The castle even comes with a modern day "evil stepmother" type of story. We also saw our first hairy coo here! We came to really love those silly animals. After our tour, we headed back to Inverness for a stroll around town before dinner together. The next day we would head into the Highlands for our stay in Oban!

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