Raven's Roads
Living an interesting life: the travels and musings
of motorcycling author Linda R. Moore

Nov 14, 2004

12th - 13th November

Filed in Britain 2004, Landmark-Hunting, Travel

11th November

In the morning we went Christmas shopping. I met an Irish-sounding Canadian who was now running a card shop in Inverness.

They had a nice street fair, European with several different languages wafting around.

I donâ€™t like shopping, and I ran out of steam - luckily, everyone is now supplied with at least one present.

Saw several extra plaques on the way to the theatre - a whole new area of Inverness to play with when I return. ;-)

We had lunch at the food court at the mall. I noticed that there was a Ben and Jerryâ€™s ice cream shop upstairs. Bliss!

Afterwards we headed off to Culloden, site of the final and fateful battle of the Jacobites (Bonnie Prince Charlie supporters) and the British army. The Jacobites got creamed. Their mass graves remain, sorted by clan with some simply stating â€œmixed clanâ€. On my previous two visits I never noticed the mounds; I thought that the stones for each clan were just markers. But they were graves, and some of them had flowers still laid there; a poignant reminder that these men are not forgotten.

It was a cold and blustery day, and the sky was dark - a perfect day to reflect on Veteranâ€™s Day stuff and contemplate the nature of the universe, which still has war in it: we should know better by now.

The moorland is bleak and covered in gorse and heather - not good stuff for charging. My parents went inside and I took a solo walk around the perimeter. The National Trust has done a good job of putting up signs - both to explain the features and to show which clan was where, based on contemporary accounts. I passed a field of fluffy black sheep with curly horns, and they passed before me likeâ€¦a field of fluffy black sheep with curly horns. ;-)

When I got back I was about to check out the little preserved cottage where the Brits did their surgery type stuff (most soldiers so medicked died of gangrene later) but the film came on and we rushed in to see it. The theme tune was a lament in Gaelic - a wild-sounding language and haunting.

I had hunted stuff online at Historic Scotland, and found Clava Cairns near Culloden. I found that while I was in the Culloden battlefield, Mam and Dad had asked for directions and knew exactly where they were going. ;-)

Clava Cairns is a set of three well-preserved burial cairns in a walled-off, woody enclosure. There is a fourth, miniature cairn. You can walk into two of the three - the other has no obvious passageway. They would have been covered with a domed roof, but are now open on top. Each of the three major cairns is surrounded by an impressive stone circle.

The stone circles felt unfriendly - like guardians. Given the nature of the site this is not surprising. I felt a shiver as I explored, especially when I stayed still for a little while. My Dad fell and skinned his elbow. :-(

I was intrigued that the stone circle formed part of the fence, one stone was on the opposite side of the narrow lane, and then curved inwards. In other words, they built around the circle instead of pulling up stones.

We got there just in time because a minibus load of hikers showed up next (yes, I know, a contradiction in terms ;-) and people swarmed over the site. I like to visit my stone circles alone to get a feel for them.

12th November

In the morning we picked up Anne and went to a series of gift shops. It wasnâ€™t really my cup of tea, but I saw some fun (and expensive) stuff. First stop was Brodieâ€™s which is the National Trust tourist trap associated with Brodie Castle. We did go look at Brodie Castle but it was closed and freezing cold out - literally only one degree over freezing, with a sting to the air that made me think of snow.

Then we went to a kitchen/food shop where I nibbled the cheese samples (exquisitely rich) and declined to actually purchase anything.

Then we went to the San Francisco Music Box company, which I like a bit better because I met the owners just as they were setting up last time, and it was nice to see them thriving and still as friendly and willing to chat as before. I admired the pretty jewellery - I seldom am in a situation where I like to wear it, but I did enjoy this stuff - my favourite was a silver necklace with little opals of various colours. I opened a lot of music boxes and let them play little tinkling tunes. ;-)

While we were there, it snowedâ€¦and the mountains got a thick dusting in the distance.

We dropped Anne off home a bit later and I got to hang out for a short while, chatting to my brother. Heâ€™s very busy and time with him is precious, but he does seem to be doing well and looks well. Bethany showed me the Sims and Anne played the keyboard; it was a nice evening.

13th November

Went shopping to Dingwall in the morning. Took a look in at the farmerâ€™s market. Got finished up with some data acquiring and did a few tweaks online.

Anne, Ian, Bethany and Lauren came over for tea. We had fun, but this is family stuff and private. It was also the first of the sad farewells, though I hope to come back a lot sooner than everyone expects - and not in two and a half years, which is how long it was since my last visit.

Itâ€™s possible that this is my last update, since Iâ€™ll be heading down to Hitchin tomorrow and the day after back to California. The time started to run really quickly. It always happens that way.