With our time in Isle of Skye coming to a close, we were faced with the fact that we’d now be heading to London over two days, making stops along the way. The weather was mixed across the two days with it being fairly clear in Isle of Skye and getting progressively wet as we headed into the rest of the Scottish Highlands.
Eilean Donan Castle
One of our first main stops was to visit Eilean Donan Castle. We’d previously driven past this on our way up to Isle of Skye and were keen to explore it this time around. The island was originally setup with a defensive structure in the 13th century to fend off Viking raids. However, over time the castle area contracted in size. It’s not entirely known why but it’s assumed that it was to do with the level of maintenance required and the number of people available to support.
In 1719, the castle was garrisoned by Spanish soldiers supporting the Jacobites. The English Government sent heavily armed frigates to the castle after hearing that they were holding copious amounts of gunpowder and were awaiting a shipment of weapons. They’d attempted to bombard the castle from their ships however after a few days they weren’t successful. Standing inside the castle you can see why – the castle walls are several metres thick!
Eventually the English stormed the castle, took control, and blew the gunpowder, destroying most of the castle. The castle lay in ruins until 1911, when it was purchased by Lt Colonel John Macrae-Gilstrap. The Macrae’s had a connection to the castle, with Lt Colonel John Macrae-Gilstrap’s ancestors being the castle’s protectors. Using early plans, the castle was fully restored in 1932.
Glencoe and the Massacre (why the Campbells get such a bad rap)
We then continued the journey into the heart of the Scottish Highlands towards Glencoe, where a great massacre took place against the MacDonalds perpetrated by the Campbells in 1692. The history goes that the Highlands were resisting the combined English and Scottish crown. The Campbells were loyal to the King and as they were also Highlanders (holding the seat of Argyll), they were commissioned by the Crown to seek out the traitors to the crown.
The Campbells requested lodgings with the MacDonalds under the pretext of requiring shelter. The McNaught family’s legend says that the Campbells did this dishonestly, making up a story that they needed protection from the crown. The MacDonalds obliged and provided lodging and protection. On the 14th day, the Campbells received word from the crown to leave no MacDonald alive. In the early morning on 13 February 1692, the Campbells slaughtered an estimated 30 plus men, women and children loyal to the MacDonald clan.
Even though this event occurred so long ago, it remains a heavy reminder for all that have Scottish ancestry. It was such a significant act of brazen betrayal, that the massacre of Glencoe is likely to have inspired several fictional works.
The search for Clan MacNaughton
Since we were in the Argyll region, we could not go past attempting to view Dunderave Castle – the Castle of the MacNaughton clan of which Chantal has direct ancestry. The castle is privately owned, however. That is a concept which is quite interesting and complicates the journey to connect with Chantal’s ancestral history. We located the castle just up the coast of the loch from the Campbell clan’s castle of Inverary.
The challenge is that Google search results and outdated webpages meant that Chantal was not able to correspond with the current owners prior to this trip. Perhaps Chantal’s aunts can have better luck on their trip!
Langbank and Curry
Our final stop for the day was to our hotel in Langbank, a small village not too far from Glasgow. The hotel was on a golf resort (not that golf is our thing). But we did enjoy seeing the numerous rabbits hopping around the grounds.
Once we’d dropped off our stuff we went for a short drive to a nearby Indian restaurant (Kilmataj Finest Indian Cuisine). This was some of the best food we’d eaten so far and the service was incredible. We were told by the restaurant manager that Indian is the topmost consumed food in Scotland.
Final stretch to London
The following morning, we had a quick breakfast at the hotel before making the last drive to London. The drive was mostly uneventful, with us taking regular stops along the way to stretch our legs. Once we arrived in London we dropped off the rental car, struggled with London’s complete ignorance to pedestrian access and travelled the tube to get to the hotel.
For dinner, walked to a place called Murger Han that specialises in Murgers – an ancient sandwich which Chris says was very good!
Now we have two whole days in London and a jam-packed itinerary.
Chris and Chantal 