Inverness 23 Sept

We got a close look at Scottish history today by visiting the 2 most important historical sites: the Culloden moor and Ft. George. Both are just outside of Inverness. We hired a cab-tourist guide to drive us around to these places – Alistair. He was great.
Culloden moor is where the Jacobite Scottish Army under Bonnie Prince Charlie was massively defeated by the British Army under the Duke of Cumberland. The Scots had invaded England, hoping to raise rebellion with the Jacobites there and attract French support. Although the Scots won battles, the English were not welcoming and the French did not come through. The Scots retreated to consolidate and attract more troops in Scotland, pursued by the Brits. Battle was joined at Culloden. Essentially, the outnumbered Scots charged the redcoats who had superior fire discipline and had learned how to use the bayonet while being beaten by the Scots in earlier battles. Charlie fled to Skye (where we flee tomorrow) and that was the end of Scottish independence.
The Brits decided that since they had this army all assembled and in Scotland, this was the time to put those pesky Scots under control. They built the massive Ft. George near Inverness as their base of operations and began the Clearances. They swept through Scotland banning all things Gaelic (the language, kilts, tartans, etc.) , killing any real or potential Jacobites in the process. Many Scots began fleeing to North America. Later, it became clear that it was more economical to raise sheep in the highlands than to have Scots farm there so many chieftans were bought out, speeding up the pace of the Clearances of Scots to North America.
Brian believes that his ancestors were with the Scots at Culloden and were subsequently pushed out of Scotland in the Clearances. Meg’s ancestors were there with the Scots, too and we found their burial marker. Thus, it was good for us to stand on Culloden moor and see where it all began. And to see Ft. George, which was pretty impressive. It is still the HQ of the consolidated Scottish Highlander regiments and has the Highlanders’ Regimental museum.
Alistair then took us to the Clava Cairns, near Culloden. They are three massive stone cairns, each surrounded by 12 standing stones. They are thought to have been ancient burial chambers but nobody knows for sure. The standing stones and cairns are aligned such that the 2 with entrances would have the sun shine in through the entrance on the shortest day of the year. The distance between each cairn is the same.
After about 4 and a half hours of touring we returned to our B&B to find out that there really isn’t that much of interest to see in Inverness itself. It is a regional shopping town of 100,000 people and most of the big sites are outside Inverness but in the vicinity. Time hung on our hands and we ended up walking around until dinner and then walked back to the B&B before reading and turning in. We chopped a day off the end of our intended stay in Inverness to give us more time in Skye, where the accommodations will be better and there will be more to do.
Tomorrow we are off to Skye on the 1:32 train and mighty glad to get going.