The Auld Wives Lift

As we trekked out of the pine forest and across the moor, Cheyenne relayed the folklore of these three massive stones. The story goes that three witches were in an argument about which of them was the strongest. Each of them carried one of these stones in their apron and hurled them in the air and they landed in their current resting positions. All of the sisters were equally strong. These stones rest in their own natural amphitheater. The stones have Pictish carvings, and through the years have aquired more carving from the peoples of various ages that have come into contact with the stones. Pretty cool, huh?

And so ended the last exciting event on my last day before flying back to the U.S.

Cheyenne the Explorer

Cheyenne is great at looking at survey maps, and then exploring to find the notations of interesting sites that she can explore in areas she visits. This is her friend, Steph, in the photos.

Cheyenne's Back Yard

I visited with Cheyenne again, and look what she has in her back yard...castle remains!

Margaret MacDonald Mackintosh

A set of blank cards with Margaret MacDonald’s (Mackintosh’s wife) gesso designs that I purchased several years ago is what originally drew me explore Mackintosh’s designs. Charlotte, from Ed Miller’s Tour, got me excited about seeing A House for an Art Lover in addition to the School of Art and the Willow Tea Room.

Tree of Life

The Tree of Life imagery figures prominantly.

Posthumous Recreation

This house was built posthumously. Charles Mackintosh originally submitted preliminary sketches and designs as part of a contest. When this house was built, designers and architects needed to look at Mackintosh’s original designs and reconstruct what the intentions would have been, since detailed plans were never drawn up.

House for an Art Lover

Today was the long drive from Inverness to Glasgow. This was the only day I was free to see the House for an Art Lover designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh. I had already gotten cued in from Charlotte and Sarah from our tour group that they sometimes changed the hours of operation for special events. Good thing I called last week, because they had a wedding today and had shortened hours.

Sunset

After these wonderful afternoon rambles, Sue made some ham sandwiches with coarse ground mustard and cucumber slices on whole grain bread she had gotten in Kirkwall on the Orkney Mainland. The sunset was beautiful as I was leaving at 10:30 p.m. I have loved these long days where the sun rises before 4:00 a.m. and sets so late in the evening.

Brodie Castle

And then John thought of nearby Brodie Castle that also has a stone on the grounds with Pictish Carvings.

Sueno Stone

As an afterthought, John drove us to the remarkable and massive Sueno Stone in Forres. It is encased in glass to prevent further erosion of the Pictish carvings.

Clearing Skies

Although it had rained during the first part of the day, the day became dryer with beautiful skies.

Seals

We even saw seals on a sand bar.

Moray Firth and the North Sea

We went to a hill park where we could see the entire coastline our bus had travelled on our trek to John O’ Groats where we caught the ferry. John is good at explaining what I am seeing and providing trivia and history. Then we went to the coastline where the Moray Firth meets the North Sea.

Sue and John--Wonderful Hosts

On the day that I went on the Orkney bus tour, I met John and Sue. We enjoyed each other’s company throughout the day, and they invited me to lunch at their home. Sue, with her Yorkshire upbringing, was the wonderful hostess. She made a wonderful salmon dish with a yummy sauce and potatoes and green beens. Then she served fresh fruit salad with creme fraise. We finished with coffee and chocolates before I was treated to a tour of some special sites in their area.

Cawdor Castle Gardens

Cawdor Castle has some great walled gardens.

Cawdor Castle

After seeing the Clava Cairns, I went to Cawdor Castle. I learned the tune “The Hawthorn Tree of Cawdor” or “Cawdor Castle” from Dominique Dodge. When I researched the history of this place, I found out about its interesting history. Legend says that in the 13th century, the Thane had a dream that he should load a donkey with a kisk of gold and set it off to wander. Wherever the donkey stopped is where he should build his new castle. The donkey, however, stopped by a tree that was considered sacred during the pre-Christian era. To cut the tree down would have been a very bad thing to do, so the keep of the castle was built over and around the tree. The tree is there to this day. Interestingly, an interesting piece of art hanging in the upstairs hallway depicts this event. I would love to have a photo of it, but as in most castles and homes, photography inside is prohibited. The painting (pastel?) is called "Little Blue Donkey" and is by Craigie Aitchison. The docent related how a visitor once asked if one of the children in the family had done the painting!

Balnuaran of Clava

The Balnuaran of Clava are burial cairns that have several stages of development. The builders were very precise in the selection of stones that have graduated sizes and colors of stones facing in certain directions. Some of these cairns did have stone roofs overhead. At a later time, standing stones were added to the perimeter, and lines of stones connecting the cairn with standing stones developed.

Lost

As I was getting lost on my way to some stone circles and cairns, I saw this enchanting scene.

The Italian Chapel

Finally, we stopped at the Italian Chapel that was built by Italian Prisoners of War from WWII using any items they could find. These photos show the front, curved sides, and the decorated interior.

Okney Landscape

Orkney has slight inclines and lots of flat land good for farming.

Ring of Brodgar

Ring of Brodgar

Then we moved on to the Ring of Brodgar. This standing stone circle has a deep diitch around the perimeter of the stones. There is also a stone outside the circle which points to Maes Howe chambered cairn.

Skara Brae

The tour continued to Skara Brae. This neolithic village was exposed by a storm in 1850 and was further unearthed by the local laird, William Watt of Skaill. This 4000 year old village has eight rooms linked by alleys. Each room has a fireplace with a bedbox on either side. On the opposite wall are shelves.

Kirkwall

We stopped in Kirkwall, the main city center of the Orkney Islands. I had a locally brewed dark beer called the Dark Island. I spoke with the bar keep about some other locally produced favorites like a dark grain bannock and cheese. When I mentioned that I had heard the Wrigley Sisters in Ohio a few times, he said, “I remember them being gone for a few years. They came back and opened a gathering place where they teach music lessons, hold sessions, and serve some meals.” Since he knew I had a very short time in Kirkwall, he said, “You better finish that and head down there. You’ll probably see them because they’re usually there.” I dashed down the street to St. Magnus Cathedral, and across the street was the place I thought probably belonged to the Wrigley Sisters. I zipped into the Cathedral for a few quick photos. By then, my timer was going off and I had to run to catch my tour bus. Sadly, I didn’t get to see these fine musicians. Such is the life of being on a time schedule when you are on a tour with other people.

Tricky Tidal Movements

These ocean waters are alleged to be difficult to pilot boats through because two oceans come together. The Atlantic Ocean meets the North Sea. The tidal movements are multileveled and fierce.

Prepared

As soon as the ferry left the dock, I was glad I had my gloves, neckband, jacket and windbreaker.

John 'O Groats

Today I took a tour to Orkney. I left from Inverness at 7:30 to travel by bus to the northeast horn of Scotland. This place is called John ‘O Groats, and it provides the shortest travel by ferry to the Orkney Mainland.

Eilean Aigas

When we returned to the front of the mansion, we met one of the groundsmen. Andy bid me farewell in a way that let me know that it was time to go. Only when I was out of view did I dare to snap a photo of the mansion that was mostly obscured by trees. But, I found it--Eilean Aigas!

Estate Manager

Andy explained that he had been the estate manager for about 6 years. We walked past his house. He pointed out that he had supervised the renovation of a house across the bridge from the island that the family lived in while the new house was being built. After it was finished, that renovated temporary home was torn down. We continued down the lane that was hugged with dry stone wall on one side and closely spaced Beech trees on the other. We turned the bend, and there it was. All I could immediately ask was, “How many fire places does that have?” The number of chimneys was astounding. Seventeen! We continued around the bend and over a relatively short bridge that crossed the fast moving river. The exterior was understated in a way that made me think that there must be much more beyond the eyes of visitors that are on the road. The land around the mansion was gorge like and adorned with beautiful Rhododendron blooms. There were tall trees everywhere. No wonder I couldn’t see anything from across the river up by Crask of Aigas. We continued past the mansion to a white lodge. It sits a distance beyond the mansion and is separated by woods. Andy had also supervised the restoration of the lodge that dates from the 1400‘s. He mentioned that it was built by a Fraser family who were supporters of Bonnie Prince Charlie. I relayed my information about a family of Frasers who were Jacobites and whose house was raised and family murdered in this area during the aftermath of the Battle of Culloden. He said that family had lived in the surrounding area and not on the island.

Maddie's Help

Maddie also mentioned that the owners had built a huge new mansion that took over two years to compete. “Spent a boatload of money.” He mentioned that there are signs saying private property and not vehicles beyond this point, but he suggested I pull over to the side of the road and just walk down. That’s what I did. I was very quickly met by Andy, the head estate keeper. I introduced myself and explained my story. He said, “You do realize that this is private property.” I said, “My understanding was that it might be okay to walk up the road.” He said that under the provision of the “Right To Ramble Act” that had been passed a few years ago, that I could walk road and paths, but that I could not go through gardens. Since much of the estate was gardens, it would be okay if I stayed on the road. Then he offered, “Might I go with you and point out some things that might be of interest?” This had been a bit tense. I didn’t want to ruin my chance of seeing what I had been trying to sleuth out all day. So I made no mention of my camera. Didn’t want to push my luck.