Today we journeyed off Skye across the Skye bridge to visit Eilean Donan Castle, on an island at the junction of Loch Alsh, Loch Long and Loch Duich. We drove through the Cuillin Mountains towards the bridge. There are two Cuillin ranges which dominate the landscape, the Black Cuillin and the Red Cuillin, separated by Glen Sligachan. The ridge of the Black Cuillin is said to be the UK’s most challenging mountain range. Over 11 kilometres long and above 3,000 feet in places, the ridge contains 11 Munros and 16 other summits. It is very rocky with sharp peaks, steep slopes and knife edge ridges because it is made of very hard rocks. Somehow, I seem not to have managed to take any photos, probably because we were never very close, the mountains were just misty in the distance, or at other times the mist was covering the peaks - they don’t call it ‘The Misty Isle’ for nothing!
The Red Cuillins are formed of softer rocks which were less resistant to glaciation and have a more rounded appearance.
Like a lot of my photos, this is poor because it was taken out of the bus window as it travelled past at speed.
We crossed the Skye bridge and as you can see, I attempted to take a photo.
I assume the ferry in this photo could be one that comes up from Mallaig. We shall be taking a ferry to Mallaig tomorrow, though in the other direction, and not this one, as we will be leaving from Armadale.
We headed on through Kyle of Lochalsh and to the village of Dornie, from where you can see Eilean Donan Castle.
Eilean Donan may be called after the 6th century Irish Saint, Bishop Donan who came to Scotland around 580 AD. There are several churches dedicated to him in the area and he may have formed a small community on the island during the 7th century. The first fortified structure was built in the early 13th century as a defensive measure, protecting the land against the Vikings who raided, then settled and controlled much of the North of Scotland and the Western Isles between 800 and 1266. From the mid 13th century, this area was the ‘Kingdom’ of the Lord of the Isles and the sea was the main highway. Eilean Donan, set on an island, was the perfect defensive position. Over the centuries, the castle expanded and contracted in size. Finally, it played a part in the Jacobite risings, which led to its destruction. In 1719 it was being held by 46 Spanish soldiers supporting the Jacobites, and the government sent 3 frigates to attack and bombard it, destroying much of it. The garrison were eventually forced to surrender, and the government troops discovered a great many barrels of gunpowder which they then used to blow up what remained of the castle after the bombardment.
The ruins lay neglected, abandoned and decaying until 1911, when Lt Colonel John Macrae-Gilstrap bought the island and the ruin. He spent the next 20 years of his life in the reconstruction of Eilean Donan and it was formally completed in 1932. The restoration included the construction of an arched bridge to give easier access to the island, and we crossed this after we had obtained our tickets.
The castle is entered by a modern portal complete with a portcullis. This gives you access to the courtyard, from which you can go up to the keep. The visit to the interior is fascinating, as the castle is filled with period furniture, portraits and other paintings, Jacobean artefacts and displays of weapons, but there were notices everywhere forbidding photography inside. In spite of this, I did sneak a few when nobody was looking.
In the keep, the ground floor is a single room, the tunnel-vaulted Billeting Hall, which has information and some old flintlock rifles on the walls. Above on the first floor is the Banqueting Hall with an oak ceiling, and decorated with coats of arms and a 15th-century style fireplace. This is my illegal photo of the banqueting hall, which could be viewed from a small Minstrel’s Gallery from which I sneakily took this.
Above are the bedrooms, which were full of family things which I could not really photograph and publish on the internet. But I am always fascinated by bathroom arrangements, and many of the bedrooms contained a pot cupboard.
As most of the bedrooms had washbasins and running water, I’m not sure whether these were in regular use or just a way of giving some medieval verisimilitude.
There was nothing very personal about the kitchen either, so I took some more photographs there. It was set up (with models) as it would have been in 1932 in preparation for a grand meal, with many elaborate dishes being prepared or ready to be served.
There was a generator at the castle, which was installed in 1928, but it was used for lighting. There was no fridge, so food was kept in the larder on slate shelves to keep it cool. Cooking was done on the range, which burned coal.
The outside of the castle is also interesting; there are two World War l field guns which are now very fragile and some wonderful views. When we had seen everything, we set off back over the Skye bridge, and were able to stop to get a photo of it. The Cuillins are in the background.
The bridge was opened in 1995, making access to Skye much easier. Our driver told us that there were originally quite heavy tolls, but this was hard on the farmers who often had to cross it with animals they had bought or were taking to be sold. So a rule was made that the crossing would be free to those carrying livestock. Two enterprising farmers, one on each side of the bridge, each set up a pen with a few sheep, and anybody who wanted to cross toll-free picked up a sheep before crossing and delivered it to the pen at the other side! Tolls were eventually abolished, so it was free for us today, we didn’t need to put a sheep in the bus.
We stopped for lunch in Broadfoot and then stopped again at a river which was supposed to be magic.
A bride who had had an accident to her face which destroyed her beauty and was rejected by her projected husband was told by the king of the fairies to put her face in the river for exactly 7 seconds and her beauty would be restored. As it was restored, the projected husband who had rejected her thought he would try it too, but he left his face in the river too long and became very ugly. There was a cold wind by then, so none of us was keen to try the 7 second cure.
After failing to have my beauty restored, we drove to visit the Tallisker distillery, where we learned how whisky is made in an interesting talk and tour round the distillery. We were told that the barley for the whisky is mostly grown on the east coast and malted and kiln dried there, using peat fires. Then it is sent to Tallisker by lorry, where it is ground in a mill, then mixed with hot water in a huge vessel called a mashtun. It is cooled and yeast is added, then it is fermented in a fermentation vessel.
We were able to see inside some of these vessels and you could see that the fermentation process was at different stages - in one, it was frothing and bubbling and looked alive.
At the end of fermentation, it is transferred to the still house for distillation.
We had to be very careful in the still house and turn off our cameras and mobile phones because the place was full of the fumes of alcohol and we didn’t want to cause a spark. The place certainly was full of fumes, I felt if I stayed there for any length of time I wouldn’t need to drink the stuff, I would already be full of it! There were several distillations before the whisky was ready to go into barrels and be stored for years. Some was stored in the warehouse on site.
The whisky must be stored for a least 3 years and some can be stored for up to 40 years, so there are warehouses all over the place, not just at this site. Bottling takes place in Glasgow, that isn’t done on site either.
After the talk and tour, we went to taste it. I only took a few sips but I’m afraid I didn’t like it at all, I found it far too smoky and rather disgusting, and in fact none of our party liked it. But we are none of us whisky drinkers, so perhaps we weren’t a good example.
Then after that we drove back to Portree where I was glad to put my feet up because we had been standing for a long time during the distillery tour. Later we went out to eat and I was able to get a better photo of the colourful harbour front from a street up the hill above it.
We had a final wander round Portree, and I couldn’t resist this charming bench which is outside the bakers.
I always though the spelling was Bogle not Bogal, and I see the internet thinks I am correct. A tattie bogle is a scarecrow, but this family looks quite respectable and well dressed to me, and not in the least like scarecrows!
Our hotel is only a few minutes walk from the town centre and we have to take a path which skirts a playing field. Tonight the pipe band from Scotch College Melbourne were rehearsing on the playing field, so we had more entertainment!
Tomorrow we have a full day and end up back in Edinburgh tomorrow night.
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