Beautiful Scotland Countryside

Today we arrived in Invergordon and got off the ship at 7:30 am for our tour arranged by Virginia, one of our Cruise Critic friends. Our guide was Stephen Craig of Clans and Castles Tours and what a day we had in store!  The weather was absolutely gorgeous -- warm and sunny.  Stephen told us they were expecting frost in the next two days.

First stop was in Beauly which received its name because of a visit from Mary, Queen of Scots who said the town was beautiful.

Stephen explaining history to Al at our second stop -- Urquhart Castle.

Urquhart Castle (pronounced "irk it")

Thistle is a national symbol in Scotland and you find lots of things that include it like jewelry and souvenirs.

Next stop was the Culloden Battlefield where we had a light lunch.  I had tomato basil soup with a cheese scone and Al had a cheese/apple sandwich and some fruit bread -- very good.  Stephen, our tour guide took us out on the battlefield and explained some of the history of the battle between the Hanoverians (Protestants) and the Jacobites (Catholics) that took place there.  While only a few of the English lost their lives, the Jacobite clan members suffered very heavy losses.  Thousands are burried there in a large grave (below).  Clan names are listed on the stones and people bring flowers to leave there in memory of relatives.

Culloden Battlefield

I was excited about visiting Clava Cairns because the stones above are supposed to be the ones Claire slipped through to arrive in Scotland in the 1700's and meet up with Jamie Fraser in the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon.  I think I will have to go back and read that book again since I saw so many of the places she talks about. 

The cairns were piles of rocks that have been there for a couple thousand years and no one knows what their purpose was or who put them there. 

Last stop before returning to the ship was Cawdor Castle.  Angelica, Dowager Duchess of Cawdor lives there and opens the castle to the public who pay to tour it.  The funds help pay for the very expensive upkeep.  Angelica was the 2nd wife of Hugh Cawdor who led a rather wild lifestyle.  He had 3 children by hus first wife before divorcing her and marrying Angelica.  He died fairly young and though the title of Duke of Cawdor passed to his oldest son by his first marriage, he left the house and much land to Angelica.  The courts have ruled that she may pass it to anyone she chooses upon her death so the people of Scotland are curious about who will inherit the castle and lands.

There were beautiful gardens in back of the castle and lots of plants that butterflies love.  This peacock butterfly landed very close to me and just sat there on the wall posing for the picture!

"Clansmen" were demonstrating fighting techniques in historic costumes.

And....of course Al found the plants!

A little more Scotish trivia we learned from Stephen....dignitaries have different titles in England than they do in Scotland.  For example:  Prince Andrew is Duke of York in England and is the Earl of Inverness in Scotland.

There are 2 flags in Scotland.  The official one is blue with a white "X" from corner to corner and it is flown unless the Queen is in residence.  If the Queen is in town, they fly a flag with a gold background and double red border with a red lion rampart in the center-- the royal standard of Scotland.

It was a wonderful day!  Tonight we relaxed in the room and ordered room service which was nice.  Tomorrow we are in port in South Queensferry (Edinburgh) and we have a tour to Stirling Castle, Culross, Callander and Loch Lommond among other sites.