SATURDAY - Saturday dawned overcast with showers however the day improved. Early on the morning of 13 February 1692 before daylight, many Macdonald were killed in their beds by the Red Coats acting on orders to exterminate the 'troublesome' Macdonald clansmen of Glencoe. A Campbell was captain of the soldiers so they have been blamed. These days there is a memorial in Glencoe remembering this sad event.
Gencoe sits at the entrance to a glen (valley) which has high steep mountains along each side. The scenery is stunning, not unlike some parts of Norway.
Looking at the map we noticed an area by the name of Ardnamurchan (Ard-na-murr-kin) and Bryan recalled Lois mentioning this as a place where Macdonalds lived so we took a ferry ride across the loch and headed west. Ardnamurchan is not on the main tourist routes so the roads are much narrower and slower however what this place lacked in roads it made up for in its beauty. We found a room at the Sonachan Hotel just a couple of miles from the Ardnamurchan Lighthouse.
SUNDAY - The owner of the Sonachan Hotel, Helen was very hospitable and as she had grown up here she had a vast amount of local knowledge. Her own mother was a Macdonald from Glencoe, thankfully one of the ones that escaped, so she was able to tell us of how they came to Ardnamurchan, changed their surnames and settled here. She also told us of the crofters (croof-ters), people who were pushed off estates by the lords onto small very marginal pieces of land. All these stories meant we were late checking out. After driving out to the lighthouse, the most westerly point on the UK mainland, we turned our car towards the Isle of Skye . Some more stunning scenery and another ferry ride and we were on Skye. The Ardvasar Hotel, where we stayed looks over the water back towards the mainland. Not that we could see much when we arrived for the rain however the forecast for tomorrow was promising.
MONDAY - Just up the road from the hotel is the Clan Macdonald Museum which includes and Genealogy Centre. Bryan spent most of the day here and learnt quite a bit. Some of the Macdonald relatives lived at a place called Aird of Benbecula in the Outer Isles. We had noticed the name 'Aird' in other places on the maps. Turns out the 'aird' means a headland or promontory. We learnt of the clearances, where the estate lords part-payed for crofters to move to America, Australia and other places so they could run more sheep and cattle on their estates. Back at the hotel while having our evening meal, who should sit down beside us but some Aussies from Melbourne, McDonalds as well (they don't spell their name correctly) and they are Hawks supporters. Tim you can't get away from them!
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| Our B&B at Glencoe. We had no trouble from any Campbells. |
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| The Macdonald massacre memorial with the accompanying plague in the photo below. |
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| The scenery around Glencoe is something very special. |
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| We took a drive up the valley - stunning! |
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| Driving through Ardnamurchan the scenery was different but no less beautiful. |
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| The showers of rain passed through but did not last long. |
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| The further west we travelled in Ardnamurchan the less trees there were. In that cloud is the top of a mountain, the remains of an old volcano. |
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| The last part of the road to the lighthouse is one lane and controlled by lights. |
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| Ardnamurchan Lighthouse - the most westerly point on the UK mainland. Most people would say the Lands End in Cornwall is the most westerly point - not so. |
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| That is the Sonachan Hotel over there in the distance where we enjoyed Helens stories of the local history. There was a young Aussie working there from Toowoomba. |
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| The Sonachan Hotel up close. |
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| On the ferry leaving the UK Mainland for the Isle of Skye, heading for Macdonald country! |
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| Something that will interest Dean from the Clan Macdonald Museum. These weapons have a bore of 25mm. The recoil was such that they had to be mounted. |
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| The old Macdonald Castle near the Museum. |
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| The weather improved in the afternoon. That is the same ferry that we arrived on yesterday (just near the tops of the trees). Yesterday the rain reduced visibility so much that we could not see any of this scene. |
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| The UK mainland from the Isle of Skye. |
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| The Aird of Sleat, the southern end of the Isle of Skye looking east. |
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| The Aird of Sleat looking to the south west. Our first day on the Isle of Skye ended with this evening drive . The wind was calm and the water was glassy in places. |
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