After yesterday’s totally white-out fog and rains all day, which was not the way we wanted Margaret & Colin to be greeted when they arrived, we awoke this morning to beautiful blue skies dotted with white puffy clouds. Ray fixed us his “Waffle House” breakfast, then we were off on our driving tour of Skye.
On this trip, we saw the several waterfalls, the Old Man of Storr (clearer than ever before), Kilt Rock (with its humming railings created by the winds), Staffin, the single track road between Staffin and Uig with the Quiraing, Uig, the Isle of Isay, Fairy Bridge, Trumpan Church and Ardmore Point, and Dunvegan, where we had lunch. I had my first taste of Ginger Beer, which was delicious.
Learned several new things on this trip:
--ginger beer is delicious
--the pillars of rock forming the Kilt Rock formed as molten rock forced its way between layers of Jurassic sandstone rocks. The molten rock cooled slowly and columns formed as it shrank. The Scandinavians settled at Kilt Rock in the 10th century. The dolerite sea cliffs here are 200 feet high and have the appearance of pleats in a tartan kilt.
--an Ornithopod dinosaur was found at Brother’s Point in 1982. A Giant Carnivorous dinosaur print was found at An Corran Beach—this is where we looked for the fossilized footprints on our last visit. The smallest ever dinosaur footprint was found here on Skye in 2004.
--Quiraing comes from KVI and RAND, which is Norse for “round fold.” The Quiraing is one of a series of landslips that formed the Trotternish Ridge, but the Quiraing is the only part of the slip that is still moving. The road at its base near Flodigarry requires repairs every year. The Table (slipped down from the summit plateau creating what looks like a raised platform hidden by pillars) is here and was used to hide cattle from Viking raiders. The Prison is also here, a pyramidal rocky peak, which can look like a medieval castle keep when viewed from the right angle. The Needle is a jagged 120-foot high landmark pinnacle.
--Dunvegan Castle is the oldest continuously inhabited castle in Scotland and has been the stronghold of the Chiefs of MacLeod for nearly 800 years. Built on a rock, it has survived clan battles, the extremes of feast and famine and profound social, political and economic changes. Originally designed to keep people out, romantic and historic Dunvegan Castle was first opened to the public in 1933. Over the years, they have welcomed Sir Walter Scott, Dr Johnson, Queen Elizabeth II and the Japanese Emperor Akihito.
--Fairy Bridge stands where 3 roads converge. It got its name from a time in Clan McLeod history when the 4th Chief married a fairy wife. They had a son, but on the son’s first birthday, the fairy mother was summoned back to her fairy homeland. The Chief refused to let her take their son and decided to walk with her to see where she was going. He pleaded with her not to leave but she had promised to go back to her land. They reached the humpbacked bridge where she rose into the air on colorful wings and dropped a silk flag to them, telling them if unfurled twice it would save the clan, but the third time it would destroy them. A year and a half later, while the Chief was away at battle, she returned and carried off her son. The fairy flag is still preserved at Dunvegan Castle and has only been unfurled twice—once to save the MacLeod cattle from disease (the flag cured them instantly) and once in the Battle of the Spoiling of the Dyke I mention below.
--In the winter of 1577, MacLeod of Dunvegan massacred 395 MacDonalds trapped in St. Francis Cave on Eigg by lighting a fire near the opening to the cave and suffocating them. The Chief of the MacDonalds of Uist plotted revenge. On the first Sunday of May 1578, they surrounded the church and barred the door then set fire to the thatched roof, killing all but one young girl who escaped through the small window of the church and ran to Dunvegan Castle to raise alarm. Waving the Fairy Flag, an army of MacLeods rushed down and slaughtered all of the MacDonalds there. They are buried in a dyke (small dry-stone and turf wall, covered only with stone), and this is now known as the Battle of the Spoiling of the Dyke.
Also in the churchyard is the Trial Stone. Accused of a crime, a blindfolded person who could put their finger straight through a hole in the stone was deemed to be innocent. If this was not successful the first time, the person was considered guilty.
--from a distance, I think I saw one of MacLeod’s Maidens at the southern tip of the Duirinish peninsula. These are three sea stacks, the tallest (the mother) rising over 200 ft. out of the sea. Her two daughters stand near her. It is a 5-mile walk out there to get a closer look, in a very isolated area, so I don’t think we’ll be going.
--I saw the Old Kilmuir Graveyard near Dunvegan. A stone wall encloses the gravestones surrounding the ruins of St Mary's Chapel. The roofless ruin has a date of 1694 over the north entrance, but the condition of some stones predates this period. There are also late medieval gravestones and some 18th century table stones. In the center is an obelisk from the early 18th century, in memory of Lord Thomas Frazer, father of Simon Fraser of Lovat, who died while visiting the Chief at Dunvegan Castle in 1699.
For many years the principal burial site for the MacLeod Chiefs was at Rodel, Isle of Harris, but later the Clan Chiefs were buried at Kilmuir. Within the walls of the ruin are buried the MacLeod Chiefs since the 24th Chief, John Norman who died in 1835. He and his wife Anne and his daughter Emily, the historian, had been very involved in life at Dunvegan and improvements to the Castle. The most recent burial was the 29th Chief, John MacLeod who was buried there 24th February 2007. Also many of the famous MacCrimmons, the hereditary pipers to the MacLeods were buried here. A tablet is placed on the wall of the church in memory of these great pipers.
The hereditary wardens of Dunvegan Castle, the McSweens of Roag, one of Skye's oldest tribes are on the west side of the churchyard, with carved grave slabs with claymore and foliage designs on them.
--While at Trumpan & Ardmore Point (with its double rock arch), we saw the Isle of Isay. In the early 19th century, the island had a population of around ninety and had its own general store and fishing station. However, like many other small islands, the island people were removed during the Highland clearances to make way for sheep. The island was briefly owned by the singer Donovan in the 1980s. The island’s Gaelic name is Eilean Isa ("Island of Jesus"). This had led some to speculate that Jesus himself visited this island. There are no religious sites on Eilean Isa or anything to suggest that it's name was conceived from a religious dedication, so some think it may have been named such because Jesus actually was here in person as this is how many places were named in the early centuries. Legends and folklore also associate Joseph of Arimathea, the uncle of Jesus, with the Isle of Skye. One of the main proponents of this theory is Barry Dunford who wrote “ Were Jesus & Mary Magdalene on the Holy Isle of Iona?”
--riding in the back seat of a car on the windy roads of Skye is very sleep-inducing.
We returned to the cottage for naps then went to dinner at the Kyle Hotel Old Chapel Restaurant where I had salmon yet again. I just can’t seem to get enough of it. We also visited the Lifeboat Rescue Center in Kyle and watched them head out on a training exercise. Just across the water stood Castle Maol with its walls 11 feet thick. The castle is an ancient seat of the Mackinnon clan and was a fortress commanding Kyle Akin between Skye and the mainland. All ships had to pass through this passage or else attempt the stormy passage of the Minch. The present castle, in ruins, dates back to the 15th century but is reputed to be of much earlier origin.
According to tradition, the 4th Mackinnon chief, Findanus ( a great-grandson of Alpin), brought Dunakin into the clan around the year 900 by marrying a Norse princess named Saucy Mary. (The “saucy” part of her name came from the way in which she acknowledged payment: apparently she would lift her clothes to reveal her ample bosom to passing sailors!) She ran a heavy chain across the sound and levied a toll on all shipping vessels except those from her native homeland. She lies buried in a cairn on top of one of the Cuiliins, her face reputedly turned towards Norway.
There is good reason to believe the legend as King Haakon IV is believed to have assembled his fleet of longships here before the Battle of Largs in 1263—that is wher the name of the city where it is located is called Kyleakin=Haakon’s kyle). His defeat ended Norse domination of the islands. Medieval documents refer to the castle as Dunakin (Dun-Haakon). The last occupant of the castle was Neill MacKinnon. His father, Iain Og, was killed in the final conflict between the MacLeods and MacDonalds fought at Coire na Creiche in the Cuillin in 1601. He was raised at this castle by his aunt, Jane.
It is a simple rectangular keep of three stories. The unexplored basement level is filled with rubble and is believed to be where the ktichen was. You can enter the main level where the public dining space was. Stairs would’ve led up to the private bedrooms. In 1949 and 1989, parts of the ruin broke away in storms.
We returned to the cottage where we were lulled to sleep by the soft whoosh-whoosh of the waves and the glug-glug as they lazy hit the rocks just below us.
The Ferry Cottage sits about 6 feet above the water of Loch Alsh, and the front door is no more than feet from the edge of the loch. Sometimes when I look out the window, I truly get the sensation that I am on a boat. Days are long here in summer. The sun rises around 4 and doesn’t really go down til around 1 am, so I suppose there are brilliantly bright stars up there, but I have yet to stay up long enough to see them. Beautiful roses grown right under the windows making the cottage look like it’s idyllically right from a fairy tale. Crab fishermen tend to their crabpots in the waters between here and Skye and we watch them making their catches for the day and folding their nets. It is surprising how relaxing this is to watch. We’ve seen tiny little birds called swifts as they flit about from the nests they’ve built into the eaves of the cottage. A huge cormorant flies over occasionally—his name is Colin as we have been informed in the comment book here.
This cottage was probably built in the early 1800s and was used from about 1815 until 1897 when the railroad arrived and a newer ferry service had begun closer to Kyle. This cottage was the waiting room for passengers wanting to make the crossing from Balmacara to the Isle of Skye. I have searched in vain for a photo of the cottage being used then. Prior to 1897, steamers used to anchor off Glaick and passengers were ferried to the slipway at the end of the driveway to Craggan Cottage (originally the ferryman’s cottage). The main road in the area ran from Glaick to Balmacara Square. The trunk road between Balmacara and Kyle was only built in the 1960s. Before this the road to Kyle was by way of Erbusaig.
Pictures from top: This may look like a painting, but this is unretouched photo from our dining room window at the Ferry Cottage after rains finally stopped yesterday; two views of The Old Man of Storr; Trumpan Church; Ardmore Point.
