A little bit of Durness and Culloden (08-10-19)

After leaving Skye, our route took us north,  deep into the highlands, as we made our way to Durness for a few days.

At 5.5 hours, this was our longest drive of our trip, so we tried to break it up a bit by stopping to admire the views.

We kept our first day easy and short, walking around Smoo Cave and out to the point, where we were looking at the North Sea.

Smoo Cave is one of the largest sea caves in Scotland, and evidence of very early inhabitants has been found inside.

A waterfall comes into the cave from above, and if you want, you can take a ride out in a small boat to get a better look. We opted to pass on the boat, but did enjoy the cave.

There was one major perk to Durness- the library at the BnB had the original Whisky Galore, so we finally got to watch it!

We had planned to spend 3 nights but after being spoiled with gorgeous weather for the last week, the forecast of 90% chance of rain, and 30-40 mph winds had us checking out early and heading toward the Inverness area, our next destination.








Leaving early meant we had a couple of single night accommodations.  At the last minute we found two small apartments in the town of Nairn that was on our route south.  That gave us more time at the Battlefield of Culloden.

The field doesn't look like much, although to be honest, it was raining, so we just toured the visitor center and took a quick look at the battlefield.  Innocuous looking or not, the course of world history was changed here on April 16, 1746.

After being exiled to Italy with his family since birth, Bonnie Prince Charlie attempted to regain the throne of Great Britain for his father.  He arrived in Scotland in 1745 with just two ships, one of which turned back after heavy losses from a sea battle.








He gathered support from the clans by convincing the leaders that France would arrive soon to support them.  That never happened.

After months of fighting, his cause was lost forever that day in April. Pushing forward to fight when his troops were ill equipped, they suffered major casualties, and much of his army was massacred.

He himself escaped by dressing as a maid to Flora MacDonald.  The two took a small boat to the Isle of Skye and he hid for months before being rescued by the French.

There are many monuments throughout the Hebrides Islands and beyond, celebrating Flora MacDonald for her role in the Jacobite uprising.



After Bonnie Prince Charlie's failure, many Highlanders were killed, their homes destroyed, and their way of life changed forever.