The Jacobite Trail

After a great night's sleep (finally), our morning began with this fabulous breakfast

Marty's egg, baked beans, bacon and tomatoes

I thought it kind of looked like a face with tomatoes for eyes and the yolk for the mouth.

My pancakes.

Which, I thought looked just FABulous!!

Don't know about you, but I'd pick mine over Marty's any day!

After bidding a fond farewell to our gracious hosts, we decided to visit the Ruthven barracks which were only a mile away from our B&B

This horse in the red coat seemed to be quite curious as we parked the car and began walking towards the barracks.

A castle stood on this ground as early as the 1200's, but this structure was built by the British in an attempt to deter any uprisings from the Scots.  It was built in 1715 and designed to hold 120 infantry soldiers as well as their horses.  (Perhaps that creature in the red coat is an ancestor….who knows?)

Here you can see Marty standing in the door of the barracks.

Marty wanted a photo taken nest to the Bakery and Brewhouse, since he loves both.

and we took one last shot as we headed back to our car.

Touring the barracks caught our interest about the Jacobites, so we decided to modify our plans today and head towards Culloden where the final Jacobite battle took place.  The Jacobites who managed to survive, retreated to Ruthven for safe haven after the battle, although it was a set of ruins at that point, having been destroyed by Prince Charles' orders.  Only two months previously, the Jacobites had taken this defensive structure in battle from the Brits, and that was when Charles had it burned and why you see the ruins that are here today.

We arrived at Culloden, parked in the lot, which was next to the grazing field of some Highland Cows, so Marty shot this photo.

They were not the least bit interested in being photographed.  Quite disappointing for Marty.

Inside the visitor center, we were able to tour through the history of the Jacobite Rebellion from start to finish.  The Jacobites had succeeded in beating the English in every battle prior to this one at Culloden.

But having analyzed their mistakes, the Brits adjusted their battle plans and increased their ammunition for this battle.  The night before the battle, they were well rested.

On the other hand, the Jacobites had traveled through the night, through dense fog.  Many of them were still asleep when the battle began.  They were worn and tired and not prepared, and Charles was overly confident from his  100% battle record.

This final battle in 1746 resulted in 1500 Jacobites being brutally slaughtered by the Brits.  Inside the visitor center, there was a surround sound and video highlight of the battle which really brought to light just how horrid this event was.  Actually, it was quite graphic and I actually had to shut my eyes for some of it.  

We were able to walk outside to get an idea of what the battlefield was like.

The audio guides worked by GPS, so when we walked to a particular spot, the device automatically began giving the information pertaining to that spot.  How cool was that?

Along the Jacobite line, there stand markers that list the particular clansmen who died in that area.

There are also stone markers that are engraved with the names of clansmen who died as well.

No one really knows where the British soldiers who perished that day are buried in this field. 

On the grounds stand this house from the 1700''s. 

I knew somewhat of the history of Bonnie Prince Charlie, but this visitor center certainly explained a lot more than I had realized.  

A lot of time and effort went into planning this visitor center and it had a unique way of presenting the information.  As one walked through somewhat of a maze, info pertaining to the government's view on the uprising was along one wall while the Jacobite viewpoint was along the opposite wall.  It required a lot of weaving back and forth between the two sides in order to keep up on the story as it unfolded, but I found this to be a very clever way of presenting the story from both sides. 

One thing of note of which I had not been aware, was that after the battle of Culloden, it was ordered that there could be no surrender.  Every man who was considered to be a Jacobite was to be killed.  Many clansmen who were not even sympathizers were murdered.  The British went through the towns intent on killing every man who had been even remotely involved with the Jacobite cause.  There was to be no mercy.  

Just a few miles from Culloden is the city of Inverness.  We managed to get into the town without an issue, but once in it, we found that the road to our hotel was closed at the spot where we needed to turn.

After circling the same street twice, we decided to park and grab lunch at a delightful restaurant in town.  Then, we ventured off again, ready for the challenge. 

Marty ended up driving over one bridge, traveling a few blocks on the other side, then driving back over on another bridge, making a few sharp turns, and finally, we were at our hotel!

We are staying at the Glen Mohr which stands right along the river Ness.  The location is beautiful.

The hotel appears to be a long row of very old town houses, with a very modern interior.  It is really quite quaint.  The room is very large and even holds two chairs and a small sofa.

Funny, but I had paid extra for a river view room, and we had to laugh when we saw that we could, indeed, see the river if we stood up and looked out the window!  But the rest of the room certainly makes up for the price difference.   I hadn't paid much for the room as it was, because I had a free room booking through the hotels.com service that I use frequently. 

The skies began to clear so we took a walk into Inverness.

Along the way, we spotted Faith, Hope and Charity.

The visitor center had an interesting bench.

We climbed up to take a look at Inverness Castle where we could see this lovely view of St. Andrew's Cathedral across the river. 

The opposite direction featured the city of Inverness and the mountains in the distance.

Just lovely, don't you think?

We walked to the Victoria Market, built in the late 1800's.

And by the old hospital on Church Street.

We crossed the footbridge to the other side, then headed back along the River Ness.  Just about that time, the sun decided to shine on the castle.

You can see one of the footbridges here in the distance.

Marty took a photo of us on the bridge, with the castle in the distance.  Funny, but it looked much closer by the eye.

Back on the hotel side of the river there stands a celtic cross which is a memorial to the WWI soldiers who died in battle.

Back in our hotel….let me share some photos from the room.  This is looking out the back window, which isn't bad. Had we been one level lower, we would have looked onto another building.

This is the view from the front window.

And, here is Marty, relaxing on the sofa, where you can see our window view from the room!

When darkness fell, we were pleasantly surprised to walk outside and see that the trees lining the street were strung with tiny white lights that were sparkling, but our biggest surprise was the foot bridge which was lit up with neon colors. 

It was tough to get a good photo at night, but I think that will do.

Off to Loch Ness today…….I'll let you know if we see any monsters lurking about!