We weren’t due to arrive at Ullapool until noon. Our passports were being returned to us at 10am to 11am. They had been held onto until we were away from Ireland (and Northern Ireland). I slept in until 8am, had breakfast, and was in the line to get my passport by 10am. I had a lecture I wanted to attend at 10:30am by Russell Lee – “Beyond Braveheart: The First Scottish War of independence”.
Now I love history, which means that I was not at all happy with the film Braveheart and its rabid inaccuracies. For instance, Braveheart was not William Wallace’s nickname, it was Robert the Bruce’s. Kilts were not worn at that time. They did not come into fashion until much later. The Scots did not wear blue paint into battle. That was the Picts and many centuries earlier. Actually the Picts went into battle totally naked and were heavily tattooed. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. Fortunately Russell Lee felt pretty much the same as me about the inaccuracies. A good share of his lecture was spent correcting them.
After the lecture, there was time for a leisurely lunch. Then everyone going on an excursion met back in the theatre (at 12:20pm for my group) to wait for each group to be called to board the tender.
I had been to the village of Ullapool (roughly 1,500 inhabitants) before and had loved its beautiful setting. Ullapool had been founded in 1788 as a herring port. It is still used as a fishing port, a yachting haven, and a ferry port (as well as a stop for cruise ships). We were tendered to the docks and met by a piper. This was our first stop in Scotland, so we received the traditional Scottish welcome. I know people tend to either love or hate bagpipes. I love them. I even have recordings of a bagrock group or two (rock music and even some jazz played by bands incorporating bagpipes along with the usual rock instruments). You haven’t fully lived until you have heard a duet between an electric guitar and bagpipes.
I had wanted to visit Castle Leod, home of Clan Mackenzie, but it was sold out before I could sign up. In addition to the castle being sold out, an excursion to an island avian sanctuary was also sold out. So I had a walking tour of the town, an excursion to a garden, a hike at Knockan Crag (labeled as “demanding”), or a scenic drive through the area of Assynt from which to choose. I picked the last one.
Since the previous day in Belfast had been so strenuous, it was probably a good thing that I spent most of my time on this excursion looking out of the window of the tour coach at the gorgeous scenery of the Scottish Highlands.
Assynt is a very sparsely populated area in the southwest of Sutherland in Scotland. One reason for the sparse population is what is known as the Highland Clearances. This took place between the years 1750 to 1860 when a very large number of tenants in the highlands and islands of Scotland were evicted from their homes. Some were just kicked out and many were transported to other countries. This came about when the landlords needed to increase their income because of debt. A large number of the landlords felt that grazing sheep was more profitable than having tenant farmers.
Our first stop was Knockan Crag. This was where some of my shipmates had gone hiking. It was the first thrust fault to be discovered in the world. Due to horizontal tectonic activity, older rocks had been pushed up over younger rocks. There were some lovely views from up there.
A small hamlet named Inchnadamph is known for its “Bone Caves”. These contain relics of reindeer, Artic fox, Eurasian lynx, and brown bear – all dating to 47,000 BCE. They have also found the only remains of polar bears yet discovered in Scotland. Plus there are some human skeletons dated to the 3rd millennium BCE. We didn’t stop and explore anything there, however, just sort of waved as we went by.
We stopped to take photos of the ruins of Ardveck Castle and Calda House. The castle had been built in around 1490 by the Macleods of Assynt. Clan Mackenzie attacked and captured Ardveck in 1672 and took control of the Assynt lands. In 1726, the castle owner’s wife wanted a new place to live. Calda House was built. A fire destroyed the house in 1737 and a storm badly damaged the castle in 1795.
We were apparently behind time when we arrived in the village of Lochinver. We were only given a half hour to be there. I spent a good 25 of those 30 minutes in the line for the loo. Not much time for any exploration before I needed to be back on the tour coach again. Lochinver was on a sea loch and is a fishing port. I managed a photo of a war memorial and of some heather before heading back along the road to where the coach was waiting.
Back on the ship, we had a lecture by Dennis Fitzsimonds on “Pre-Historic Shetland, Orkney and Caithness” at 6:30pm. At 7:30pm, Dr Caroline Malloy gave a talk on “The Orkney Islands – Archaeology, Climate Change and Preservation”. Despite having a very late dinner that night, I still managed to get what appeared to be the last of the escargot (I ate three of them before remembering to take a photo). With that, I also had some crab legs, mussels and roasted sweet potato. I went with a Riesling for my wine and some Crepe Suzette for dessert. One of the few times I indulged in a dessert.
Next time – Prehistoric Orkney – And You Thought Stonehenge Was Old
