Discoveries in the Cemetery

Before we left Fort William, we made one last stop at Kilmallie Old Cemetery and Church. We had driven by a couple of times and not been sure if the pathway that seemed to lead up to the church was a pathway or a laneway. Turns out you can drive up there - Google did, so we did too.

John McIntyre the minister at Kilmonivaig was the son of a minister and also had at least two brothers who were ministers and sons as well. John had given character witness statements for most of Lauren's Cameron family and his brother Duncan who emigrated to Australia in 1836. His father Duncan McIntyre was the minister at Kilmallie from 1816 til ? He died in 1830, so maybe then ? Anyways, since there was a large headstone erected by the parishioners at Kilmonivaig for John McIntyre, also for his son John Walker McIntyre (also a minister there) and for Thomas Ross an earlier minister related through the Cameron's, I felt sure there must be something at Kilmaillie. And there was.

It is a little difficult to read

"Rev Duncan MacIntyre ~ Lochaber Camusnaherie Minister of the Parish of Kilmalie (sic) born 22 June 1757 died 12 Aug 1830. Also of his spouse Jean the daughter of his ~ James MacIntyre of Glenoe himself being a ~ from that family. She died 26th July 1855 aged 78 years"

Turns out James was the head of the clan - so more great connections.

There are some other headstones to note which we found in our exploring, two with New Zealand connections, some early Cameron ones buried in the ruin of the old church and one for an engineer who had worked on the construction of the Caledonian Canal.

Pretty awesome cemetery finds we thought. Then it was time to leave the highlands and begin our journey southward - in the pouring rain.

We missed Kilchurn Castle after specifically driving that way to see it. Annoying. But we did make a detour en route to Edinburgh to the Falkirk Wheel. A pretty amazing piece of engineering to manoeuvre boats on canals. We didnt stay long as the heavens opened and we were (again) totally unprepared - one umbrella, 2 puffer jackets - and got pretty much drowned.

Glasgow, Inverness and Fort William

We've done a bit of driving again this week. And the whole time we've just been in awe of the scenery. English people that go to NZ for the scenery should make sure they have seen what the Highlands offers as well. Just awesome, so many Kodak moments.

One morning we got up early to go and get some early morning misty moody photos on Rannoch Moor. I just LOVE that landscape and all the lochs, small and large. One day, maybe next summer if I am still here I want to do the Great Glen walk - or at least part of it.

We also went to Glasgow, by bus which was great to be able to actually take in a bit more of the scenery and not have to concentrate on the road. That day the reflections on the lochs on Rannoch Moor were stunning, sadly they weren't on our early morning trip. We'll have to go again.

Glasgow was crazy busy, as you would imagine a city hosting the Commonwealth Games would be. I met a friend for lunch - which was an exercise in itself, but fun and we wandered about soaking up the Games atmosphere. We'll need to revisit when it isn't quite so busy I think.

We went to Culloden Moor near Drummossie and Inverness - the site of the brutal battle of Culloden. It is such an eerie place, and both times I've been - windswept. We went up through the Cairngorms and then drove back down the side of Loch Ness. No Nessie to be seen though. 

We didn't have time to stop in Inverness, so we went back the next day - just up and back the same way this time. When we walked out of the mall in search of a better selection of food we came upon a caravan with owls. We had to stop, donate and take photos.

"Granny will be so jealous"

We found somewhere to eat (finally) that doesn't just serve toasties and mac cheese or nothing vegetarian at all. It was lovely though apart from the giant size servings. While we were eating the heavens opened and the rain poured down. It had eased off by the time we left and made our way back to the mall. After another unsuccessful shopping expedition (you wouldn't believe how hard it is to find a skirt here) we returned to the car park to drive back to Fort William.

We made it back to Kilmonivaig by the skin of our teeth, to be able to see inside the church which is celebrating its bicentenary this year. A lovely lady told us a lot about the church and its ministers, some of whom were related to Lauren. She produced a Gaelic bible which had belonged to the minister and had been passed to his brother in law and then his brother, and also a communion plate which dates from 1814 so surely had some DNA on it.

The fiercely loyal Highland spirit still seems strong here, with local Highland games and Shinty tournaments, signs written in Gaelic and English and such pride of their history and struggles with those sassenachs from the south. The people are so friendly and welcoming, it makes it hard to have to leave.

Beetling about

We've driven miles and miles and miles over the last couple of days and the biggest things we have learned are :

1. Some of us don't like being here one day and somewhere else the next, and

2. Google lies when you ask what the driving times are to places.

From Royal Tunbridge Wells we travelled to Nottingham. Before we left Kent though, we paid a visit to Hever Castle where Anne Boleyn spent much of her childhood, and some of her courtship with King Henry VIII. We were early enough to be able to be the 2nd people into the Castle when it opened so had much of it to ourselves. The gardens open earlier than the castle itself. There are some wonderful portraits there and a lot of information about her and the family. No inside photos though - they're not permitted. We are such history (and in particular Tudor) geeks that this was a must-see for us.

Then the long hot drive - hours and hours on the M25 to get to the M1. Masses of traffic and queues, but still faster than Auckland I reckon. It was 30C according to the car, but the tv said 28 - whichever it was we were glad to be out of it and in an airconditioned room at the Holiday Inn.

Next morning we began the next part of the epic journey north. To Galashiels via Middlesborough. We only went there for a joke since before leaving NZ a friend had said to Lauren "don't go there". So we had to, just to see. It was another hot driving day, but seemed to get a bit cooler as we approached the border. We stopped for the obligatory photos to record the crossing into another country where no passport needed to be produced, then continued on our way. Turned out the actual Scottish pub I had booked for the night was a tad further north than Galashiels itself. But, it was not too bad, they had a restaurant so we could get dinner, breakfast was part of the deal and there was free wifi.

Today, we started off with a plan to go to the James Hogg monument (Border minstrel reputed to be related to Lauren) then drive through the area where the family was living for generations prior to emigrating to Australia. Some years ago Mum and Dad had taken a photo for me of a James Hogg statue near Tibbie Shiel's inn at St Mary's Loch. He used to frequent the Inn with his mates William Wordsworth & Sir Walter Scott who were all inspired to publish poetic verse about the location. Turns out this is not the monument marked on my new road map. The one we found today is in Ettrick and marks the site of the cottage where he was born in 1770. 

 look at these !! just growing wild everywhere on the side of the road - YUM

on the road from Ettrick to Traquair - just us and nature

From there we found our way to Traquair where the last Scot born Hogg was born in Lauren's branch of the family, then had a cuppa at Traquair House. Traquair House is the oldest inhabited house in Scotland, it dates back to 1107; has been visited by 27 kings and queens; and became a refuge for Catholic priests and the family supported Mary Queen of Scots and the Jacobite cause.

So back to the drive - via Edinburgh and Stirling so as not to get caught up with the traffic around Glasgow and the Commonwealth Games - to Fort William. It took a lot longer than we thought and thankfully we had the foresight to stop at Stirling and buy things to be able to cook (yes COOK) dinner. As well, the temperature dropped the further north we came and we had rain. Woohoo. We got caught behind slow traffic and those of you who have been to the Highlands will know that dual carriageways (passing lanes in Kiwi-speak) are a rarity. We'd have loved to stop and take photos of the mist hanging in the glens and covering the peaks. It makes it all look so much more moody. Hopefully it will hang around (excuse the pun) so we can get photos tomorrow, or another day this week.

We are staying in the most amazing apartment next to the Caledonian Canal by Neptune's Staircase, close to the Road to the Isles and the Clan Cameron museum. Both on our list of must-do's.