Monument to the Battle of Langside in Glasgow

Historic Scotland has recently opened a consultation with the public as it moves to increase the number of recognised historic battlefield sites around Scotland. Under plans drawn up areas such as the site of the battle of Loudon Hill, One of Robert the Bruce’s early victories, Mary Queen of Scots defeat at Langside and the ‘Battle of the Shirts’ a famous skirmish between Clan Donald and Clan Fraser will all be protected as sites of historical significance.

Historic Scotland already looks after well knows sites such as Culloden and Bannockburn. Culloden already has a magnificent and award winning visitor centre and plans are underway for a new centre at Bannockburn. During this ‘Year of Creative Scotland’ in 2012 the sites chosen will be properly investigated for any physical remains or significant archeology and also deeper consideration will be given to any potential planning applications which may impact on these areas.

To be added to Historic Scotland’s current list of 28 battle sites the new ones will have to demonstrate that they are of  extreme historical and cultural significance. The consultation will go online for public comment on Friday May 18th until June 30th, at www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/battlefieldconsultation .

The successful candidates for the Inventory will be announced later this year.

The battlefields under consideration in the consultation are:

• East Ayrshire

Loudoun Hill (1307)

• East Lothian

Dunbar I (1296)

• Glasgow City / East Renfrewshire

Langside (1568)
The battle of Langside includes a small area of East Renfrewshire, although the majority is in
Glasgow City.

• Highland

Blar na Léine (1544)
Glenlivet (1594)
Inverlochy I (1431)

• Midlothian

Roslin (1303)

• Perth and Kinross

Dunkeld (1689)
Tippermuir (1644)

• Scottish Borders

Melrose (1526)

• Stirling

Sauchieburn (1488)

The Stewarts rose from relative obscurity to a place of importance in the Scottish Court through the 13^th century, and during the Wars of Independence they sided with the Bruce faction; and Walter Stewart married Robert the Bruce’s daughter Marjorie. Eventually, in 1371 after a half-century wait for his uncle to die Robert Stewart became king ofScotland. It was the beginning of a dynastic rule that would last 343 years until the death of Queen Anne in 1714. Throughout that time, the family – which employed mafia tactics – extended their control over Scotland, and finally reached the giddy heights of the throne of England.

As British kings their successes were less evident – one was executed and another deposed; and their increasing disengagement with the political momentum and religious intolerance of the times would see the great House permanently exiled. From James VII to his grandson Charles Edward the exiled Stuarts (French spelling) would set up counter-courts in France and Italy; where they’d be hocked from palace to palace maintaining a veneer of royalty and influence. It was back to this fantasy world that the L’Heureux would bring the young Pretender following the disaster of the ’45: but in reality it was to an alcohol fuelled life of obscurity.

Charles’ stay in France was short-lived, for within a couple of years of the rising the British and the French signed the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle’ effectively ending the War of the Austrian Succession, which the Jacobite rebellion was essentially part of; and with the deal the Pretender was expelled. He returned to Italy, where his father still held a degree of social influence. Shattered by the failure of the Cause, and haunted by ghosts of Culloden Charles began a string of affairs and sought solace in the bottom of a bottle. His principal mistress was the Scottish socialite, Clementina Walkinshaw, who in 1753 bore him a daughter, Charlotte.

Henry Stuart, Charles’ younger brother took a different route after 1746, perhaps armed with more realism, and entered the Catholic Church. His father was on good terms with the Pope, who still recognised him as the rightful king, and Henry made a meteoric rise through the ranks of the episcopacy, becoming Cardinal-Bishop of Frascati in 1761. While his brother became a Prince of the Church; Charles, drunk half the time, still entertained dreams of fantasy thrones.

In 1759, at the height of the Seven Years War, a conflict that for the first time took on a global perspective, the French drew up plans for a full-scale invasion of England. As part of the project he wanted to enlist the support of the still-loyal Jacobites; and Charles was summoned to Paris. Boorish and unrealistic, the French government were soon repelled by him, and sent him packing: he’d play no part in the operation. However, significant British victories overseas essentially put paid to the expedition and it was permanently shelved. This was Charles’ last true, albeit slim, chance to be king. His drinking worsened, his life increasingly nomadic and his treatment of Clementina increasingly abusive. In 1760 she left him, and took Charlotte with her. There is a strong suspicion that Prince James helped out, and gave her an allowance.

As she grew up, Charlotte was bounced from convent to convent as her father refused to provide for her or her mother; and with James dead in 1766 that avenue dried up as well. James Francis Stuart, born in 1688 to James VII was the last prince of the House of Stewart to be born in Britain and to the reigning dynasty. As such the Pope and kings across Europe still either recognised his claim, or treated him on an equal footing. The world by 1766 had moved on, and neither the Papacy nor the crowned heads would give the increasingly distant, melancholic and unpopular Charles the same recognition. His downward spiral continued.

In 1772 he married Princess Louise of Stolberg-Geden; but, due to the nature of the man, now a broken alcoholic, it was doomed to failure: she left him eight years later. Now an old man in ill-health he reached out again to his family, and was reconciled with his daughter; who also engaged her uncle, the Cardinal Henry, to bring the once-Bonnie Prince back to Rome, where she would care for him until he died of a stroke in 1788. Chronically ill herself, she died three years later.

Charles Edward Stuart had lit up Scotland like a firework during the 1745 rebellion; but the rest of his life had been an unfulfilled damp-squib; and on his death the Jacobite claim fell to his brother: Cardinal Henry Stuart. As a successful and powerful clergyman (Henry was raised to the Dean of the College of Cardinals in 1803) he did not press his case. He died in 1807: last of the Royal Stewarts. Both he and Charles were buried within the Basilica of St Peter’s in the Vatican. He may have been the last of the dynasty; but not last of the bloodline.

In the years before she returned to her father, Charlotte Stuart had a long term affair with Ferdinand de Rohan, Archbishop of Bordeaux, which considering his position was a risky enterprise. She had three children by him: Marie Victoire, Charlotte and a boy, Charles Edward. Little is known about the two girls, or whether they married and had children – it is believed that Marie Victoire ended up in Poland (Charles’ mother was Polish) and that Charlotte was absorbed into polite society in England. Either way, they and any possible descendants vanished into anonymity.

The son, Charles became a distinguished soldier and something of a globetrotter; and while he never pressed his Jacobite claim, he did maintain links with leading Scots. Indeed, it was while returning from a meeting with the Duke of Atholl in 1854 he was killed in a coaching accident; and is buried in the grounds of Dunkeld Cathedral in Perthshire. With him, the last of the true direct bloodline ended. Meanwhile, fanatical Jacobites searched around for an heir to Henry Stuart; and with his death the ‘claim’ passed to King Charles Emmanuel IV of Sardinia; the senior living descendant of Charles I Stuart through his daughter Henrietta. In a parallel universe the line has passed down to Franz von Wittelsbach, Duke of Bavaria; although he declines ever to talk about his Stewart ancestry.

 The bitter wars of the 17^th and 18^th centuries shaped the modern Britain that emerged, the nature of the monarchy, and indeed the dynastic future itself. The Royal Stewarts had their time; their crown slipped, fell and it was eventually buried in the setting sun amid the hallowed walls of Dunkeld. And few were there to mourn it.

England’s version of this top prize, the FA Cup founded in 1871, is the oldest soccer competition of them all; but the actual silver cup itself has gone through several incarnations and the first few versions are long gone. However, the trophy that the winners on the 19^th will lift at Hampden is the game’s oldest and goes right back to the dawn of the sport itself. The competition was first held in the season 1873/74 and the final was played at a field close to the modern stadium and was won by Queens Park, Scotland’s oldest team and one of the co-authors in the formation of the rules. Hampden Park is still the home stadium for Queens Park; and throughout the formative years of football’s development they were the nation’s most successful team. The dominance of Celtic and Rangers, the so called Old Firm was yet to come.

Properly the Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup, the current trophy was first held aloft in 1885; and to date Celtic have won it 35 times, and Rangers 33 times, with the rest a long way behind. Since 2001, the winning team only gets to hold and show off the prize for around half an hour as they do the lap of honour and pose for the press. Then, due to its fragility it gets taken back to the cabinet at the Scottish Football Museum, which is inside the stadium. The team then get a replica to display in their own cabinet; which should Hibs win will be for the first time in over a hundred years.

The superlatives of the day don’t end there. Hampden Park, one of the longest continually used international grounds, was when it was built in 1905 the largest stadium in the world with a capacity of around 100,000 (the second and third largest were Ibrox and Celtic Park – also in Glasgow). That capacity would rise to nearly 150,000 by 1937; and it holds the record for the largest crowd at an international match in Europe. It was an intimidating place for visiting teams, greeted as they were by the famous Hampden Roar while walking up onto the pitch. Ironically, the stadium is named after an Englishman, John Hampden, a key player during the civil wars of the 17th century, who had a nearby street named for him.

The first international match in the world was held at a nearby cricket ground in 1872 when Scotland hosted the old enemy England (Scotland was essentially Queens Park). It finished 0-0 – an inauspicious start to the oldest rivalry in world football. England played at the current Hampden for the first time in 1906 (Scotland won 2-1); and this cemented its position as the home of Scottish football. In a way I think this is right and to the benefit of the game in Scotland as a whole; that the national stadium, and the ground where the Cup is contested, is neutral from Celtic or Rangers.

 Football is very much part of the Scottish psyche; and as we settle down to watch the showcase event in the calendar it is worth remembering the history, the memories, the highs and lows that have taken place in this great cathedral of sport in the battle for this most venerated and priceless of cups.

 This article was written by David McNicoll who runs Vacation Scotland; a travel company specialising in Scottish travel packages. For more information – http://www.vacationscotland.biz/

Grave of David Octavius Hill in Dean Cemetery. The bust of him was sculpted by his wife.

Buried in the beautiful Victorian Dean Cemetery in Edinburgh is David Octavius Hill, a painter who, along with Robert Adamson, pioneered in Scottish and aesthetic photography. They founded the Hill & Adamson Studio in 1843, Scotland’s first photographic studio, when the medium of photography was still very much in its infancy. And from this partnership, the pair produced perhaps the first ever collection of photographs that were purposefully taken in an artistic style.

David Hill was witness to the Disruption Assembly in the May of 1843 -  a schism in the Church of Scotland, which led to the founding of the Free Church of Scotland when 474 ministers walked out because they were extremely unhappy with the Church’s relationship with the State – and Hill, with the encouragement of friend and other witness Lord Henry Cockburn, wanted to paint the historic event. Hill admired the ministers’ great personal risk they were taking, and so wanted to sketch a likeness of each one to put into his painting. Another witness to the Disruption was the eminent physicist Sir David Brewster, and when he realised Hill’s desire to sketch nearly 500 ministers before they headed back to their respective homes across Scotland he suggested that Hill might like to use the services of Robert Adamson to create photographic images of the men instead. Initially Hill was quite reluctant to use this new art form, but after he first met Adamson and discussed the logistics of it all he was quickly won over to the idea and within weeks the two had formed a close working partnership. Hill and Adamson took photos of the setting of the Disruption as well of those who had been there. Hill had a great eye for composition and lighting from his skill as a painter, and positioned each sitter how he envisioned them to be in the finished painting, whereas Robert Adamson, the photography enthusiast, had considerable dexterity when it came to handling the camera, as well as being very genial in nature, which put the sitters at ease and allowed them to act naturally in front of the camera.

A Hill & Adamson picture titled 'His Faither's Breeks'

Their collaboration proved to have been very successful and they went on to produce portraits of well-known Scots of the time, both outdoors and in their studio at “Rock House” on Calton Hill. They would quite often use the grand tombs in the kirkyard at Greyfriars in their portraits. But it wasn’t only the famous or well-to-do that Hill and Adamson photographed; they also took landscape pictures locally and around Fife to the north, as well as photos of normal working people, most notably fishermen and women around Newhaven village and harbour.

However, David Octavius Hill’s partnership with Robert Adamson was to last only four and half years. Adamson fell ill in late 1847 and died, at the age of just 26, in the January of 1848. Together the pair produced thousands of groundbreaking portraits and landscapes as well as worked on improving the technology of photography.

After Adamson’s death the studio became less and less active, and Hill eventually returned solely to painting, selling prints of his photographs as a way to earn a living. He finally finished his painting of the Disruption Assembly nearly two decades later in 1866 to much acclaim.

Hill's Disruption of 1843 painting

Robert the Bruce

One famous battle immediately springs to mind when you think about Robert the Bruce; The Battle of Bannockburn. A great victory for the Scots led by Bruce over the English foe. But before this Bruce’s path had been a hard one and he suffered many humiliations on the route to victory.

It all started with a bitter rivalry. While Edward I of England strutted around north of the border, demanding that nobles swear allegiance to him two men came before him who hated each other far more than Edward. Robert the Bruce and John Comyn, The ‘Red Comyn’.

Comyn and Bruce were supposed to be working together as guardians of Scotland under the watchful eye of Edward but this was an impossible situation and it came to a head in 1306 when Bruce stabbed Comyn to death at the altar of Greyfriars church in Dumfries. This event and Bruce’s subsequent crowning at Scone palace was a signal of intent to Edward, ‘come and have a go if you think you’re hard enough’!

Edward responded with fury, he authorised the raising of the ‘Dragon Banner’ a sign that no quarter would be given to Bruce or his followers. Back in Scotland Bruce was still trying to convince his fellow Scots that he was the man for the job. Many still supported Comyn and he would have a hard time uniting Scotland. With Edward’s knights marching north this was not a good time for the newly crowned king.

By the summer of 1306 Edwards army had made camp in Perthshire and had linked up with Comyn’s supporters north of the border, it was a formidable force and not one to be taken on lightly. Nevertheless Bruce set off to engage them and suffered a great defeat at the Battle of Methven. The English army was led by Aymer de Valence, Comyn’s brother-in-law. According to accounts of the battle Bruce arrived at the appointed place but then retired with his army to camp for the night. Under the feudal rules of engagement Valence would not attack however under cover of darkness he did just that and routed Bruce and his forces.

This was a sign for Bruce that his enemies were not intending to ‘play fair’ remembering the campaign of his predecessor Wallace he resorted to more guerilla tactics.

As we already know Bruce had made a few enemies when he stabbed Comyn. By far the biggest of these north of the Border were the MacDougalls a powerful clan who held the lands around Argyll. This clan was descended from Somerled a great Hebridean king and it’s testament to their power that they had inflicted heavy defeats on both the MacDonald and Campbell clans. They had been great Scottish patriots, unfortunately for Bruce though Comyn was related to the MacDougalls and so they had come out in support of Balliol and the English. With Bruce and his surviving army fleeing westward they ran out of the frying pan and smack into the fire where a large force of MacDougalls were sharpening their swords in anticipation.

When Bruce reached Strathfillan, just to the south of Tyndrum around a thousand MacDougalls were there to meet him, led by the son of Alexander the chief John of Lorne (also known as ‘John the Lame). Bruce was trapped! With Valence pursuing him and the MacDougalls blocking his path he was forced to fight. Bruce and his men were not prepared for battle and the result was a foregone conclusion. What few horses Bruce still had were cut down by the MacDougall axemen and many of his most valued allies such as Sir James Douglas and Gilbert Hey were wounded during the engagement. This rather fanciful poem gives account of the battle:

They thereupon withdrew. In this
There was no mark of cowardice.
They kept together; and the king
Was ever busy rescuing
The rearmost of his company.
With skill and valour there wrought he,
And safely all his men withdrew.
He daunted those that would pursue
So none durst leave their cloe array,
For he was never far away.

The fighting was desperate for Bruce, at one point cut off from his allies he was fighting alone against a small lochan. A MacDougall man attempted to pull Bruce from his horse by grabbing his cloak. Bruce killed him but lost his cloak in so doing. The dead MacDougall was found later still grasping the cloak with Bruce’s brooch still attached. This brooch is still in the possession of the clan to his day.

Bruce and a handful of men escaped with their lives. His army was now non-existent and he fled to the caves and into the history books!

He hadn’t finished with the MacDougalls though and in 1308 at the Pass of Brander Bruce took bloody revenge against the MacDougalls. Once again with the Black Douglas by his side he completely destroyed the MacDougall’s and finally put an end to Scottish resistance to his claim to the throne.

The Lochan of the Lost Sword

The place where Bruce’s darkest moment had come was named ‘Dail Righ’ or ‘The Kings Field’. Bruce had escaped by a hairs breadth (of maybe a brooch pin’s width). As Bruce had escaped he and many of his men threw any unwieldy heavy arms they had into a small lochan. Local legend has it that the king’s sword still lies beneath the surface. Whether its guarded by a ‘lady of the lake’ would be mere speculation.

The new-look Bannockburn Centre

This is an artists impression of what the site will look like when the centre is opened for the 700th anniversary of the battle of Bannockburn in 2014. The Heritage Centre is currently a rather dreary building sat directly on the main road. Later this year it will close for the last time, and then be demolished. It’s an exciting and adventurous venture bringing the interpretation of one of Scotland’s most important battles into the 21st Century. The new centre will offer a truly interactive experience, where cutting-edge technology will bring the battle to life before your eyes. The National Trust website says they are working to create the most remarkable interactive presentation seen in this country.

Property Manager Scott McMaster said:
“The centre has been at the heart of Bannockburn for a long time and has served it well. Our last year here will be a big success. There are series of living history events from ‘strictly swashbuckling’ to academic talks. I urge everyone to see Bannockburn as it is now for the last time. We’re looking forward to welcoming visitors from near and far and sharing our knowledge of this important place with them.

“We’ll also be looking ahead to the amazing new facilities we’ll have onsite from 2014 – it’s going to be a whole new era for Bannockburn and visitors will be blown away.”

The Heritage Centre now

The project – a partnership between heritage agency Historic Scotland and the National Trust for Scotland – was announced in October 2010 by the then Minister for Culture and External Affairs, Fiona Hyslop.

In addition to the £5m initially awarded to the project by the Scottish Government, another £3.94m Heritage Lottery grant has been received for additional interpretation and landscaping works.

Speaking during a visit to Stirling Castle on Friday 3 February, the First Minister Alex Salmond announced the project would commence building and landscaping work in early summer, with work to conserve the historic monuments on site also scheduled to start later this year, subject to local planning consents.
He said:
“The eyes of the world will be on Scotland during 2014, with international events such as the Commonwealth Games and the Ryder Cup being held on our shores.

“2014 also marks the 700th anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn, and I am delighted to announce today a significant milestone in the commemoration of this fascinating period of Scottish history in what will be the most ambitious partnership between the National Trust for Scotland and Historic Scotland.

“It is exciting to confirm that landscaping and building work on the state-of-the-art visitor centre will commence in the summer, with work to conserve the historic monuments also due to begin in the coming months.

“The backing in place from Historic Scotland and the Heritage Lottery Fund will ensure that the ambitious Bannockburn Project comes to fruition, paving the way for an unrivalled experience for those who are lucky enough to travel to this historic site in the future. We intend to use the cutting edge of Scottish technology to bring the battle to life and showcase our history in a dramatic way.”

Designed by Reiach and Hall the new centre will be part of an overall project to establish the site’s position as one of the most historically and culturally important places in Scotland, during the commemoration of the Battle’s 700 year anniversary in 2014.

Historic Scotland Chief Executive Ruth Parsons said: “In looking at all we want to achieve with world-class, cutting edge technology to immerse the visitor in the experience of battle, we quickly realised that the existing centre would not be able to accommodate everything we wanted.

“I am very excited to be able to unveil the new designs created exclusively for this project by Reiach and Hall. They bring with them a great empathy for what we want to achieve and I think they have created a design that will be the perfect canvas to the exceptional interpretation we are planning to introduce.”

National Trust for Scotland Chief Executive Kate Mavor said: “This is a once in a generation opportunity to look at how we present and interpret one of the most defining moments in our history and this new centre is the first step in achieving that.

“Another key element in the design is the landscaping which will open up the views of the memorial and give them back to the people of Bannockburn as the current building prevents you from looking straight through to the iconic statue of Robert the Bruce that is recognised around the world.”

Reiach and Hall design was unveiled just a week after their leading architect Neil Gillespie was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list for services to architecture. Gillespie was also made an Academician of the Royal Scottish Academy.

Neil Gillespie OBE said: ‘’Along with Landscape Architects, Ian White Associates, and Interpretation Designers, Brightwhite, we are extremely privileged to be working with The National Trust for Scotland and Historic Scotland at The Battle of Bannockburn, a defining moment in Scottish History and a wonderful site.

“Although modest in scale our project attempts to give some gravitas back to the site, concentrating attention on the story of the battle, the rotunda, the statue of Bruce and the great prospect to the north of Stirling Castle and the Ochils.’’

The new design - very modern and simple

Here you can see the landscaping around the Heritage Centre

Plans for Bannockburn Heritage Centre

So what do you think of the new design? Have you visited the Bannockburn Heritage Centre before – if so what are your memories of it?

Map Key

A map pinpointing many of the Highland Games and Scottish events taking place this year across Scotland and North America.

If anyone out there thinks I’ve missed some, please feel free to let us know!

Both sides realised that this could not go on. and so some attempt was made to broker a peace between the two warring clans. Unfortunately this would end up making matters a whole lot worse!

Around 1600 a ‘Romeo and Juliet’ style romance blossomed between the Margaret, sister of the chief of the MacLeods and Donald Gorm Mor MacDonald the son of the MacDonald chief. surely such a match would see an end to war between the clans? err not exactly!

It was tradition in the highlands that a form of marriage contract called ‘hand fasting’ could be entered into. This contract was in all respects similar to marriage except that it could have certain ‘conditions’ that could be agreed beforehand, in this instance that Margaret would produce a male heir. Unfortunately for Margaret and Donald a son was not forthcoming and to make matters worse Margaret somehow managed to loose sight in one eye during the first year of the handfasting.

Donald was now intent on ending his contract with Margaret and so his father decided to send her home to Skye. Unfortunately the old chief had never forgotten the old feud and could not resist the opportunity to stir things up again. Margaret was landed back on skye and sent to Dunvegan sitting backwards on a one eyed horse, accompanied by a one eyed servant and a one eyed dog. This had the desired effect of enraging Rory, the MacLeod chief and war was back on again.

Trinity Temple, North Uist

Rory sent his cousin, Donald Glas MacLeod along with a party of 40 men over to the island of North Uist to exact revenge and raid the land taking any livestock they could lay hands on. The locals had been warned of the approaching MacLeods and had gathered up any goods they had and stored them at the Trinity Temple and Carinish. The Macleods soon found out and headed there, breaking the sanctity of the temple in doing so. The MacLeods now camped out there were were surprised by twelve MacDonalds led by Donald MacIain ‘ic Sheumais (Donald, son of John, son of James) of Clan Ranald. Clearly outnumbering the MacDonalds the MacLeod men pursued them but this had been a carefully planned ambush drawing them into open ground. A fierce battle ensued which by all accounts lasted most of the day. At one point the leaders of both forces faced each other and all other fighting stopped as Donald Glas and Donald MacIan traded sword blows, neither giving an inch of ground. This fight carried on for some time, many MacLeods had already been killed and those observing this titan battle were mostly Macdonalds. On seeing that their leader was gradually loosing ground to MacLeod some of them rushed in to assist. MacLeod was said to have killed two of them instantly but another landed a sword blow which mortally wounded him.

Donald MacIan survived the engagement but had received an arrow in the foot during the battle and his foster mother removed the arrow, tradition has it that she sang a song to drown out his cries of pain, the translation from the Gaelic was:

Son in Iain, my Darling
Soon you heard the wailing
You saved the shore on the paling day
You struck terror into the seed of the stallion (Macleod)
The seed of the white faced lame mare

The result was a victory for the MacDonalds but at a high cost and with the entire party of MacLeods wiped out the bodies littered the small field, the nearby ‘Feith na Fala’ or ‘Ditch of Blood’ attests to this.

The Ditch of Blood

This has been said to be the last battle fought in Scotland using only traditional weapons (swords and arrows) but it wasn’t the end of the feud, later that year the MacDonalds headed for Skye. They raided the north of the island, driving cattle down towards Glen Brittle. The Macleods who had been busy attempting to get support from Campbell of Argyll against the MacDonalds were surprised but pursued their enemy to Coire Na Creiche. Rory MacLeod’s brother Alastair led the attack on the MacDonalds and this battle lasted for a day and well into the night. Alas it did not go well for the MacLeods who were defeated once again by the MacDonalds with 30 MacLeods including Alastair being taken prisoner.

For Scotland’s Privy council though this had gone too far and they decided to intervene. Both leaders were ordered to surrender; MacDonald to Gordon of Huntly and MacLeod to Campbell of Argyll. Both sides agreed to release their prisoners and call an end to all hostility. Peace between the clans was celebrated with a party at Dunvegan castle that lasted 3 weeks and since then (more or less) The MacLeods and MacDonalds have lived together peacefully!

In 1830 people were busy cutting seaweed at Sgeir na Duchadh near Grimnis on the west coat of the island of Benbecula. One woman spotted a creature several yards out in the water. The creature looked like a woman in miniature. Alarmed she called to the others working on the shore who also saw this strange sight. Men went into the water to try to catch the creature but she evaded them. A boy aimed a rock at her which struck her on the back, she cried out in pain and disappeared beneath the waves.

A few days later a creature was washed up dead on the beach at Culle bay near the township of Nunton which lies a few miles north of this spot. The creature was said to have the upper shape of a well developed woman but was around the size of a 4 year old girl. She had long dark glossy hair and white skin, however her lower half was described as being ‘like a salmon’ but without the scales.

As the crowds gathered on the beach they all agreed that this was the body of a mermaid.

The factor for the chief of MacDonald of Clanranald who was also the local sherif was called. On seeing the creature he called for a shroud and coffin to be brought to the beach and the creature was layer into this and buried in the nearby churchyard. It was said that the funeral for this creature was one of the largest attended on the island and was carried out like any proper christian burial.

No grave marker related to the incident can be seen at the churchyard and others have said that the creature was buried near the dunes and not in the churchyard at all, in fact a recent survey of a large stone near the south end of the bay was carried out, suspecting that this may indeed be the resting lave of the mermaid but this was inconclusive.

Culla Bay, Benbecula

So what do you think? evidence of mermaids or another ‘fishy tale’ from the islands. Certainly mermaid stories like this do bring in the tourists who were beginning to find their way to the islands in the mid 19th century. Many other tales of mermaids exist on the islands. A crofter from Barra called Colin Campbell spotted what looked like an otter fishing near the shore, he was about to shoot it but decided to check it though a telescope only to see what he described as a woman carrying a small baby in her arms. the creature then spotted him on the shore and disappeared. Whatever the truth is they do make great stories.

The Glenfinnan Monument

This is a sleepy part of Scotland; nothing happens in much of a hurry here and the pace of life is delightful. As you drive up this winding coastline you are taken aback by the breathtaking beaches, some of the best on mainland Britain with pure white sand and a scattering of small rocky islands. This beauty has not gone unnoticed by everyone and every little cove seems to shelter a campsite of caravan park. There are literally dozens along this stretch, so close together they almost join into a single ribbon of white fibreglass and coloured canvas.

Camping on the Beach by Arisaig

You really cannot blame them for coming here though, if only for one reason; the sunsets! Sitting on the beach here the sun drops down behind the little islands of Rum Eigg and Muck. Known as the ‘Small Isles’ each has its own character; Rum with its sharp volcanic peaks and wild landscape. Eigg, the most populated island looks like something from ‘The Land the Time Forgot’ with its huge basalt cliffs. The island was also the site of a horrific massacre in 1577 when a force of Macleods from Skye slaughtered over 390 MacDonalds in one murderous act with only one family from the island escaping. By contrast to the other two the tiny island of Muck is a little arable oasis where cows graze by the beach.

And so as evening begins the campers who flock to this stretch of coast make their way down to the beach, camera in one hand and a drink of choice in the other and get ready for the show and for many night if the year they are not disappointed! The sky becomes awash with fiery reds and deep blues, its a painters dream! You can’t help but feel spiritual in a place like this.

The Sunset Over Rum

Whenever the time comes to meet my maker I really must congratulate him on the excellent works he’s done at Arisaig!