Wednesday, September 17

We started the day with a visit to the Culloden Battlefield site managed by the National Trust of Scotland.  Not far from Inverness, it was the site of the end of the 1745 Jacobite Uprising led by Bonnie Prince Charlie. The British forces defeated the Jacobites here in April 1746 and the Bonnie Prince fled to France.  We took a tour of the Battlefield with one of the National Trust guides.  Along the way we saw a few Highland Cows.


Afterwards, we visited Cawdor Castle.  The Castle was built over 600 years ago and is still lived in by the Cawdor family.  (See note below about Cawdor and Shakespeare). There is a room in the Castle with a trapdoor to a hidden dungeon - currently not in use, it has a desk placed over it.  Underneath the original stronghold tower of the Castle is a petrified tree.  The tree is part of a story about how the Castle was built in this place.  It involved a donkey laying down next to a holly tree, with this location being foretold as the place to build.  The tree marks the spot.  There is also an unusual tapestry that depicts parts of the Don Quixote story.  Outside in the gardens, there is a maze with a Minator overlooking the passageways.  


Finally, we went in search of the Loch Ness  Monster.  We saw the Loch from the less touristed side of the Loch at Dores Beach. We did not see the Monster. However, we were told there was a sighting two weeks ago...

Note:  Macbeth was the Thane of Cawdor in Shakespeare's play "Macbeth."  Macbeth was set in the 11th Century and this Castle did not exist at that time.  However, the Castle did exist in Shakespeare's time.  A Thane was a minor noble and royal official appointed by the Crown.  It was a Thane of Cawdor who built the stronghold tower that was eventually expanded into the present day Castle.  







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