Tuši

Tuši's blog

Tuesday, August 06, 2024

16518

Scotland: Day 5 - St Andrews, Dunnottar CastleBattle of Culloden and Loch Ness


Scotland — where misty highlands meet ancient castles. We spent our days wandering through breathtaking landscapes, timeless villages, and the kind of peace you only find when the air smells like heather and rain.

Our journey continued towards north of Scotland on the East coast. Bronco wanted to play with Nessie in the evening, so our destination was obvious, but we were not in any hurry, so we stopped at some amazing places on the way.

Previous days of our trip to Scotland: Day 4 - 16517, Day 3 - 16516,  Day 2 - 16515, Day 1 - 16514.

We stayed in a camp, where there was a special trail for walking the dogs. Bronco loved all the smells.

 
Pictures from Fife countryside.

Slippery way to the seaside (North Sea).

View back to the city of St Andrews.

Nada and the ruins of St Andrews Castle.

There has been a castle standing at the site since the times of Bishop Roger (1189–1202), son of the Earl of Leicester.

During the Wars of Scottish Independence, the castle was destroyed and rebuilt several times as it changed hands between the Scots and the English.

 
Through the wall, we spotted the St Rule's Tower, that stands next to St Andrews Cathedral.

We walked along the shore.

 
The Cathedral of St Andrew was built in 1158 and became the centre of the Medieval Catholic Church in Scotland. It fell into disuse and ruin after Catholic mass was outlawed during the 16th-century Scottish Reformation.

The ruins indicate that the building was approximately 119 m long, and is the largest church to have been built in Scotland.

The name St Andrews derives from the town's claim to be the resting place of bones of the apostle Andrew.

Its name (St Andrews) may also be notable for the lack of apostrophe; this is due to the fact that the name of the town predates the introduction of the apostrophe into the English language from French in the 16th century; similarly St Davids in Wales and St Neots in Cambridgeshire.

St Andrews is known widely as the "home of golf". According to the earliest surviving document from 1552, the "playing at golf" on the links adjacent to the "water of eden" was granted permission by Archbishop Hamilton. The most famous golf course in the town is the Old Course, purchased by the town council in 1894.

View across St Salvator's Quadrangle to the University of St Andrews.

Our next stop was Dunnottar Castle, a ruined medieval fortress located upon a rocky headland on the northeast coast of Scotland.

 
The surviving buildings are largely of the 15th and 16th centuries, but the site is believed to have been fortified in the Early Middle Ages. Dunnottar has played a prominent role in the history of Scotland through to the 18th-century Jacobite risings because of its strategic location and defensive strength.

Dunnottar is best known as the place where the Honours of Scotland, the Scottish crown jewels, were hidden from Oliver Cromwell's invading army in the 17th century.

Exploring the nearby area.

440 Million years ago - The rock on which the Castle stands is as remarkable at close quarters as it is from a distance. The conglomerate is known as a "pudding stone" and consists large rocks and pebbles held in an immensely strong cementing matter, like raisins in a fruitcake. It was forced to the surface of the earth during the Silurian period and the cementing matter is so tough that faults or cracks do not pass between the pebbles and their binding material, but straight through the pebbles themselves.

Evidence of Picts living on the sea stack of Dunnicaer, just north of where the Castle is situated today, has been found by archaeologists from the University of Aberdeen. Carbon dating shows this to be the oldest Pictish fort ever discovered, in fact the name "dun" is Pictish for "fort". It is not known exactly how long ago the site was originally inhabited, it is believed that the Picts established it between 5000BC and 700AD.

Around 400 AD Saint Ninian, an early Christian missionary, establishes a place of worship on the site where the Castle now stands and converts the Picts of Dunnottar to Christianity.

Around 900 AD King Donald II of Scotland is killed at Dunnottar by an invading Viking force which went on to destroy the buildings here.

In 1297 after the invasion of Scotland by English forces, William Wallace attacks an English garrison at Dunnottar, taking it back under Scottish control. Legend has it that Wallace showed no mercy to the soldiers and set fire to the Chapel where they had taken refuge, condemning all inside to a terrible death. Others were driven over the cliff edges, with no survivors.

The ruins of the castle are spread over 1.4 hectares, surrounded by steep cliffs that drop to the North Sea, 50 metres below. A narrow strip of land joins the headland to the mainland, along which a steep path leads up to the gatehouse.

In 1392, Sir William Keith, Great Marischal of Scotland, builds the first stone castle at Dunnottar, now known as The Keep.

 
The sightseeing was over so we decided to move on.

 
Quick snack above the Stonehaven harbour.

After some driving, we made a stop near Inverness, where Battle of Culloden took place on 16. April 1746. A Jacobite army under Charles Edward Stuart was decisively defeated by a British government force commanded by the Duke of Cumberland, thereby ending the Jacobite rising of 1745. On the photo we have Leanach Cottage and during the battle, a similar cottage stood on this spot and served as a field hospital for Government soldiers.

Charles landed in Scotland in July 1745, seeking to restore his father James Francis Edward Stuart to the British throne. He quickly won control of large parts of Scotland, and an invasion of England reached as far south as Derby before being forced to turn back. However, by April 1746, the Jacobites were short of supplies, facing a superior and better equipped opponent.

Walk along the Jacobite line (blue).

Charles and his senior officers decided their only option was to stand and fight. When the two armies met at Culloden, the battle was brief, lasting less than an hour, with the Jacobites suffering an overwhelming and bloody defeat. This effectively ended both the 1745 rising, and Jacobitism as a significant element in British politics. It was the last pitched battle on British soil and, in less than an hour, around 1600 men were slain, 1500 of them Jacobites.

 
Red flags represent the government line.

Following up on the military success won by their forces, the British government enacted laws to further integrate Scotland, specifically the Scottish Highlands, with the rest of Britain.

Last caption of the day was to find a spot to sleep, possible near the Loch Ness.

 
Our campsite and time to cook some dinner.

Sunset over Loch Ness. Still no sign of Nessie.

 
Dinner.

Time to go to bed.

Day 5 - 371 km - From Kinross to Loch Ness.

Geocache found:
- Prince Charlie's Bonnie Cache, GC1267N, that received a visit  by trackable item "Second Angel of peace", TBA8B55


Monday, August 05, 2024

16517

Scotland: Day 4 - Edinburgh


Scotland — where misty highlands meet ancient castles. We spent our days wandering through breathtaking landscapes, timeless villages, and the kind of peace you only find when the air smells like heather and rain.

Today we explored it's capital, Edinburgh. First we had a walk on the suburbs to an extinct volcano and then we went to the city center, to feel the vibes of the Fringe festival. Bronco didn't like the crowd and with his barking he scared some people, so we moved back to the suburbs and after the beer, we went back to our campsite.

Previous days of our trip to Scotland: Day 3 - 16516,  Day 2 - 16515, Day 1 - 16514.

 
After the morning drive with Meri we started exploring the suburbs of Edinburgh.

We started hiking towards the summit of an extinct volcano. View from St. Margaret's Loch,  a shallow man-made lochan.

 
Bronco and Tuši.

 
The only building in the central area of Edinburgh's Holyrood Park is St Anthony's Chapel. Looking more like the gaunt ruin of an ancient castle than a religious building, it stands on a rocky outcrop high above St Margaret's Loch, commanding excellent views over North Edinburgh, Leith and the River Forth.

 
Quite many tourists hiked in the area.

 
View along our hike to Arthur's Seat.

Getting closer and closer.

Where nature meets the city.

 Edinburgh had a population of 506520 in 2020, making it the second-most populous city in Scotland.

 
Bronco posing in the wind.

Windy summit.

The hill rises above the city to a height of 250.5 m.

The city was once called "Auld Reekie" (Old Smoky) because of the thick smoke from thousands of coal fires. It wasn’t exactly known for fresh air back in the day.

Looking back to our hill Arthur's Seat.

 
Returning back to the city.

When Nada has her camera with her, we have a lot of photos.

Goodbye Arthur.

 
Time for a snack on George Square.

 
East end of Greyfriars Kirk and Candlemaker Row, a historic street that used to be the main route from the Grassmarket to Blackfriars Abbey.

Edinburgh Castle stands on Castle Rock and has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age. There has been a royal castle on the rock since the reign of Malcolm III in the 11th century, and the castle continued to be a royal residence until 1633.

 
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featured more than 51446 scheduled performances of 3746 different shows across 262 venues from 60 different countries.

 
Double terraced Victoria Street and Lawnmarket.

 
St Giles' Cathedral (Scottish Gaelic: Cathair-eaglais Naomh Giles), or the High Kirk of Edinburgh, is a parish church of the Church of Scotland in the Old Town of Edinburgh.

 
Every August, Edinburgh bursts into life with the world’s largest arts festival – the legendary Fringe. For three wild weeks, the city becomes one giant stage, filled with comedy, theatre, music, dance, and the wonderfully unexpected.

 
Bronco was exhausted from the crowd and dogs, so we made a break and then we decided to continue with more quiet places - Carlton Hill, with Dugald Stewart Monument.

 
Past Burns Monument to Regent Road Park. The foundation stone of the Edinburgh Burns Monument was laid in 1831 and honors Scotland's national bard Robert Burns (1759 to 1796).

 
After moving away from the crowded center, Bronco was happy again.

 
OK Bronco, we will move on and finish our city hike - Garmin Connect.

 
Finally a beer and a little piece of British history in your sink. "Why does the UK have two taps? One for freezing cold, one for lava-hot - because old plumbing rules didn’t allow mixing! Cold came from clean mains, hot from a sketchy attic tank. It’s tradition now… and a true test of hand speed!"

 
The boy was tired again.

 
Whiskey, beer and barbecue.

 
And the outcome: a delicious diner.

Day 4 - 124 km - Around Edinburgh.

Geocache found:
- Arthur's Seat, Virtual, GC9P5Y7, that received a visit  by trackable item "Second Angel of peace", TBA8B55