writerSandy
  • home
  • bio
  • events
  • teaser tuesday
  • blog
  • book of shadows
  • potions & herbs
  • contact

Hollow Bones

"In our life there is a time of wonder. Walking with the ancient ones as they share their world. And the dancing voices are carried by the wind. As I walk this sacred ground, I know I'm not alone, and I thank Mother Earth."  ~Alex Davis, Seneca Cayuga

Sacred Scotland Tour - Part I

7/23/2017

0 Comments

 
My husband and I are in Scotland while I research settings for the second book of my Ancient Magic paranormal suspense series. What a marvelous excuse to get to know the country of my origin!
Day 1: Inverness
Despite being jet-lagged, we enjoyed our stay in the Palace Hotel, right across the street from Inverness Castle. We had tea while gazing out the window of our room at this amazing view of the Ness River
Picture
and Inverness Castle. Thank you, Paul, for asking for a “castle view” upgrade, it was worth it. 

Inverness is a pedestrian-friendly city. It includes a lovely two-hour waterside walk that follows the river south and then crosses to the opposite bank via a couple of islands. While we didn’t have time to do that whole path, we strolled around the city center and shopped. I found my Campbell clan tartan and bought cashmere scarves for family members (my buying splurge for the trip), as well as a traditional sgian-dubh, the ceremonial knife that’s part of traditional Scottish Highland dress.

Picture
​If you have any friends who wear kilts, you know the clansmen usually wear their knife tucked into the top of their kilt hosiery. However, I plan to use mine as a ritual athame.  

We had dinner at a little Italian restaurant down the street for our hotel, where I discovered a new favorite wine, Primitivo Del Salento Caleo. I would recommend both the restaurant and the wine.
My only regret is that we could not visit the Inverness Highlands Family Archives to research my Campbell clan family roots. It wasn’t open on Sunday, and we had an early-morning tour scheduled the next day. I do intend to contact them for research assistance when we get home.

Day 2: Outlander Tour
We met Diana Bertoldi, our Tours By Locals guide, and were delighted to discover we were her only customers for the day. She told us she’d lived in Italy before moving to Scotland. While her son still lives in Milan, Diana considers Scotland her true home.

Our first stop was the Culloden Battlefield, one of the most important places in Scottish history. It’s managed by the National Trust of Scotland and has an informative visitor centre. However, Diana worked at the site previously, so she gave us a vivid account of the final battle in the Jacobite Uprising.

At Culloden), the Jacobites (mostly Scottish clansmen) lost 2,000 men, while the British suffered a mere 300 causalities.  The Duke of Cumberland’s dragoons (think of the Outlander character Jonathan “Black Jack” Randall) chased fleeing Jacobite clansmen into the Western Highlands, executing many of those they caught.

Picture
​The massacre of the Scottish was so complete that the Culloden burial sites are marked by clans, not individuals. 

Those clansmen  not executed were often transported to the colonies, ushering in the first wave of large-scale Scottish immigration to North America. The British government also banned the tartan and kilt. The clan system—the social order that had existed in the Scottish Highlands since before the days of William Wallace—was lost to history.


​Although the clan way of life was formally eliminated, their sense of national pride was not.  In 2014, Scotland issued a referendum on national independence. That, coupled with the release of Diana Gabaldon’s Starz television drama, Outlander, has sparked renewed interest in Scotland’s Jacobite Rebellion. The efforts of Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Highlanders mark one of the most important—and ultimately tragic—moments in Scottish history.

Our wonderful guide Diana had arranged for us to meet the current McKenzie Clan Chief, Laird John Ruaridh Grant MacKenzie. We spent a delightful couple of  hours visiting with him and touring


Picture
his home, Castle Leod. We shared a dram of whiskey, while he gave us the background of the castle and all the family portraits. The relative most interesting to me was George, the 1st Earl of Cromartie. A friend of Sir Isaac Newton and an ardent alchemist, he spoke five languages and was against the burning of witches. A truly modern man!  His father Sir John, owned Staten Island for a time, but sold it on account of “too many Indians and mosquitos.”
​
He also showed us the giant chestnut tree on the back grounds, planted by Mary Queen of Scots’ mother, as well as the only redwood tree in Scotland, along the front drive.  

​When she learned I was researching sacred sites for my book, Diana took us to the Corrimony Chambered Cairn. 
Picture
Sitting in a grassy field surrounded by sheep and bordered by a small stream, the 4000-year-old burial cairn and the standing stones ringing it are still intact. We had the place completely to ourselves, so Diana gave me no information, just instructed me to walk the perimeter and then let her know what I felt, if anything.

I walked two-thirds of the way around the stones, feeling like they were repelling me. As I rounded the back of the cairn to complete my circle, it felt the opposite: the stones were pulling me toward them. When I told Diana what I’d experienced, she explained that an energetic ley line ran through the site, roughly along the line where I’d begun to feel attracted!

That was my first experience with the supernatural Scottish highlands. It wouldn’t be my last, as we had two full weeks of sacred sites to visit with our next tour group, Gothic Tours.

So, meet me here on Saturday to learn next about the Black Isle fairy pools, plus the standing stones, prehistoric villages and Viking influences on the island of Orkney. Plus, we'll visit a dig-site-in-progress and meet two of the archaeologists unearthing an exciting new discovery that could be larger than anything uncovered to date in Scotland. 
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Writer, witch, mother and wife. Order of importance is a continual shuffle.

    Blog Updates

    Yes, I want to become a member of the Blog Updates Mailing List.
    Enter your e-mail address:

    Please confirm your e-mail address:


    Archives

    October 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    April 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    February 2016
    October 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    July 2014
    March 2014
    September 2013
    April 2013
    July 2012

    Categories

    All
    13 Yule Lads
    Beach Wedding
    Beautiful Bride
    Beltane
    Blood Moon Eclipse
    Bucket List
    Caganer Figurine
    Candy Cane Flavors
    Carlton Hill
    Christmas
    Christmas Cat
    Christmas Pickle
    Climate Change
    Corvid Magic
    Crescent Moon Crossing
    Crow Magic
    David Richo
    Deaths In The Desert
    Edinburgh Beltane Fire Festival
    Essential Workers
    Free Book
    Holiday
    Hryla
    Human Smuggling
    Iceland
    Informal Marriage Ceremony
    Jarl Jung
    Love
    Love Potion
    Marriage Blessing
    Maypole
    Mexican Border
    Mindfulness
    Mother's Day
    NaNoWriMo
    Nativity Scenes
    Newlyweds
    Northern Arizona Snow
    No Tomorrow
    Pandemic
    Proposed Import Tax
    Psychology
    Raven Magic
    Scotland
    Shadow Dance
    Shadow Self
    Shadow Work
    Sinoloan Cartel
    Snow Days
    Snow Fun
    Super Moon Eclipse
    Suspense Writing
    Tarot
    Travel
    Trump
    Weird Holiday Traditions
    Wendy Rule
    Yule
    Zen

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.