Scotland & Ireland Adventure – Day 3

Scotland rain

Tuesday 28^th October 2014 – Loch Ness, St Andrews & Edinburgh Ghost Tour

At another lovely buffet breakfast at the Newton Hotel (mansion-house) Mary met a Scot who was going to be the loader for an American man who was going out for a shoot that morning.  They were both certainly well dressed in the nicest hunting clothes I had ever seen (imagine 19th century English attire).  However I certainly wouldn’t like to be out shooting that morning as it was cold and it was raining quite heavily, but I suppose it wouldn’t be the American cleaning the guns.  As we boarded the bus one of the lovely staff at the hotel got on the bus to wish us well on the rest of our journey and his parting words were “The weather is going to get better, well let’s face it, it has to as it can’t get much worse!  Unfortunately their jokes (as he looked at our guides David and Gordon) don’t!”  Haha yes both the Scots and the Irish have a good sense of humour.

Sleeping bus

It was an early morning, once again, and quite a drive to rearrange our schedule and take a cruise on Loch Ness to look for Nessie (the famous Loch Ness monster).  Once more the whole bus was asleep and this time I have some photographic evidence that this was true (I was feeling awfully tired too but I certainly didn’t want to sleep while driving through such a beautiful country)!  There was plenty of waterfalls and high rock cliffs however I was too slow as we raced passed on the bus to get a photo.

Gordon kept us updated once more with Scotland history and facts informing us that there is more water in Loch Ness than in England and Ireland combined!  It has a brown tinge so you can’t see through it (which is not surprising if it is always raining and filling up from the Highlands) and is 27 miles long and a mile wide.  Loch Ness is 1,000ft deep and in some places it is deeper than the Red Sea (so plenty of room for Nessie to hide).  There are many people who have given up their jobs to come and live in Scotland and try to get a photo of Nessie and there are many different stories as to whether there is a monster or if it is a log or family of otters.

Scotland Flooding

Gordon announced that Nessie sometimes comes up for a walk and that he could see flipper tracks on the road and as we turned towards the lock I saw her! Haha can you spot Nessie?!

Can you spot Nessie?

Looking for Nessie

Urquhart Castle

We then arrived at the ruins of Urquhart Castle (first discovered 500 years ago) and after watching a short film about the castle’s history and how it was the Scots of the land themselves that eventually blew up their own castle using gun powder after years of fighting and raids we went down to explore the ruins and look for Nessie.

It was nice for the rain to finally stop and it was a great chance to get some really nice photos.  The ferry arrived but as we were exploring the water level continued to rise and our cruise had to be cancelled as the dock become completely covered in water (giving Nessie more room to hide).

The photos really don’t do Loch Ness or the castle justice and it was just beautiful standing there and breathing in the lovely fresh air and taking in the magnificent view and trying to get a feel for the history of the place and the castle.

Loch Ness & Urquhart Castle ruins

The ferry

Chillin’ in the castle with Nessie

One of the staff at the castle or for the ferry informed me that it was the most rain Scotland had seen in 5 years and when I told him Australia is in drought at the moment and my family would love for this rain he replied “Well we will sell it to them!”  And my first thought was no wonder they still have the name of being ‘Tight-fisted Scots’ but Gordon explained where that saying came from when we got back onto the bus.

Looking out the castle window

Our ferry sailing away

Dock now covered in water

In the Woollen Mills. Apparently I did get a photo of a Scottish Highlander cow (but unfortunately it is only a photo of a photo).

Well as we couldn’t go on our cruise this meant we could stop at one of the Woollen Mills for a nice lunch but it was again quite a bit of a drive and so Gordon informed us a little more of Scotland and its history.  The Scots used to carry oatmeal in their sporran (the pouch worn in front of their kilt as a pocket) and to make oatmeal cakes they would get a fistful of oatmeal and dip their fist into the river to dampen the oatmeal as they squeezed it into a cake.  They had to hang on tightly and not let the oatmeal go as it would get washed away in the river and this is how they got the name ‘Tight-fisted Scots’ and so the saying apparently has nothing to do with money.

Council workers hard at work

As we travelled along we past some more road construction however it was raining and there was no construction happening but three council workers were simply sitting in a parked truck as Gordon commented that the Scotland council workers were hard at work (so it seems to be a world-wide thing to make fun of the council workers).

We then continued our drive past the town of Perth (yes just like Australia – talk about a way to make a person homesick) and Gordon explained as we passed that Perth was home to the Queen’s hotel that had bars in every room … it was the local prison!  I did have to give him points for that joke as he got me with that one!  Gordon also explained that he wasn’t sure why but everyone always asked what is worn underneath the kilt.  He said that a Scot in the Highlander army would say “Nothing was issued” as they are issued with the other garments they are made to wear but nothing is issued to be worn under the kilt (hence why they are plaited at the back for extra weight to stop the wind lifting them up).  He also told us that a man once replied to that question “Nothing is worn under the kilt, it is all in perfectly working condition!”  If you want to know a little more Gordon also played us the song “The Drunken Scotsman” which is quite a good listen http://youtu.be/fnlqTOsR0RA

We drove on some very skinny roads to which David and Gordon explained they are called ‘Friendly Roads’ as you have to be friendly and wait sometimes and you need to pull over and let people pass and they usually give you a wave.  However a lot of people don’t wave with as many fingers any more. 😉  We asked about the temperature in Scotland and Gordon said it gets down to minus twenty degrees but never hotter than 20 degrees Celsius and so there are no air-conditioners (or even fans) in any of the houses and their cars have only just got air-con put into them as it is never really hot enough to use them.  We had a ten minute rest stop and as we got back on the bus I think David was envious of the sleepers and asked if I wanted to drive the bus.  He wasn’t quite expecting when I replied “Yes!” and nearly jumped up enthusiastically.  He laughed and said he was sure I would and I explained I had my truck licence but sadly he got back behind the wheel.  The others replied they noticed he didn’t ask any of the Americans or Canadians if they wanted to drive but I am sure you have all figured out that Scotland also drives on the left side of the road similar to England and Australia (opposite to America, Canada and other European countries).  I think David was trying hard not to take away from Gordon’s jokes but he did ask Gordon “What are an Irish man’s two favourite days of the year?”

“Christmas Day and Summer” haha and with all the rain in Scotland and Ireland I couldn’t argue with that one either.

Loch on one of the canals

As we continued to travel near water the whole way through Scotland Gordon explained that all of the lochs in Scotland are connected by 25 miles of man-made canal and so you can sail all around Scotland connected by this canal and the rivers (there is only one river in Scotland that flows the opposite way to the others).  As we travelled past Loch Lochi (no that isn’t a spelling mistake that is the actual name of the loch) we saw ‘The Well of Seven Heads’.  It seems that a son (or two sons) of a McDonald King were murdered when they came to visit their uncle and his six sons however there was not much of a justice system within or between the Scottish clans and so for a while the murder went unpunished.  One man set out and eventually got justice and beheaded the 7 men but as he was taking the heads to Edinburgh he stopped by a local well and washed the heads in the well (frankly I can understand the beheading but to ruin a good well by washing heads in it seems a little extreme).  They have a monument there with the 7 heads to remind them of that history.  There are also some stone monuments for different clans of the area and Gordon explained that when the Clans would go off to fight there would be a pile of rocks (one rock for every soldier or family) and as the soldiers came back they would collect their rock.  Once everyone had collected their rocks they would know how many of their Clan had been lost in battle and have a shrine with the rocks for them (one of the first kind of roll calls).

Scotland field

Finally we arrived at St Andrews which is known as the “Home of Golf” and it was quite late so I had to race down to get photos of the old golf course as the sun was already set but the beautiful pink sunset colours were coming out which I hadn’t seen since Germany and I couldn’t resist taking some photos of the old golf course, the famous Swilcan bridge and the North Sea.  It was nice to see the sea again although as the sun was already set and we were next to the sea it was colder than ever with a fierce wind and I was missing the Australian summer more than ever.

St Andrews Golf Course, Swilcan bridge and the North Sea

Gordon then continued with teaching us about Scotland informing us that on the 18th of September this year they had a referendum if they should become an independent country and it was quite close but they voted against independence.  He said most of them in their hearts wanted to vote yes but their minds told them no because of a few things.  One was the army (which was my first thought as Scotland would be quite a small army without the rest of the United Kingdom) but the Scots were unsure who would rule the army, another reason was money as they use the British Pound and were unsure if they would be able to join the European Union and use the Euro and either way it would be quite a huge expense.  On the 18th of September they also had another vote as to whether they would allow women to play Golf on the old course at St Andrews to which they voted yes!  Before this women were only allowed on the course one day of the year on November 30th which is St Andrews day.  So apparently the name of Golf is no longer accurate as GOLF is said to stand for ‘Gentlemen Only Ladies Forbidden’ (which I had heard before).  However something I didn’t know, which I actually learned in Ireland, is the reason there are 18 holes in a round of Golf is because there are 18 shots in a bottle of whiskey and you used to have to take a shot of whiskey at every tee as you played!

These stories helped make the trip to Edinburgh go quickly and it was straight to a nice fancy dinner, sadly this is where we said goodbye to Gordon.  However the dinner was lovely (still 3-course dinners the whole trip) nevertheless then we had to battle the cold again as we went on a ghost tour of Edinburgh that night with our guide Linda (I am sorry to say I can’t remember if her name was Linda or not but for the sake of the story she will be).  Edinburgh has such a rich history and I will try to do my best to relay some of the most interesting things I remember from that night.

Edinburgh Ghost Tour

We first stopped in the middle of the street outside of a few pubs.  One was called ‘The Last Drop’ and I was thinking that was a perfect name for a pub but I was soon to learn its name had nothing to do with alcohol but more to do with where we were standing which used to be the hanging docks where people would drop to their death on a hanging rope (hence the name ‘The Last Drop’).  Linda asked for us all to do a little acting.  She called up two men to be Englishmen to be tortured and the rest of us were a blood-thirsty group of Scots.  Linda told us their crimes weren’t bad enough for them to be hung so instead they were to be whipped.  She pretended to whip them 13 times.  She said they would give them 13 lashes and then rub something into their wounds….yep you guessed it – salt!  Then they would get 13 more lashes, some more salt, and then 13 lashes again.  Linda informed us that 13 and 3 were said to be unlucky numbers and so they got 13 lashes 3 times which for those good at mathematics means 39 lashes.  39 lashes a person can withstand, however 40 lashes would kill a person so that is another reason they stopped at 39.  We cheered as a blood-thirsty mob would and then Linda said we had been quite heartless as we didn’t even ask what their crimes had been.  She said to start with they were Englishmen which would have been enough (that was my thought to start with when she said they were English) but one of them toasted to the King which at the time the Scots had a Queen and therefore the English man was not allowed to toast to the King as clearly it was the English King he was toasting to and the other English man simply did nothing but hear the toast and reply “Here, here” which was also against the law.  So to the one who toasted to the King they sliced his mouth from inside his lip to his ear and the same on the other side and then pulled out his tongue and cut it off.  To the one who heard the toast they cut off his ears (yes don’t mess with the Scots).

Englishmen being tortured

Another pub that was near where we were standing was linked to Maggie Dickson’s story.  Maggie had committed one of the worst crimes imaginable – she had a baby out of wed lock, and so was sentenced to be hung.  She was hung from the gallows that used to be where we stood and then her family and friends came to collect her.  However as they took her away in the coffin in the horse and carriage they heard a knocking, they opened the coffin and up sat Maggie quite alive!  She had merely only appeared dead (so I am assuming she fainted) and so they brought her back to trial her but as she was already hung to death they couldn’t hang her again so she was allowed to live out her days.  Nevertheless they say she still haunts the streets as to where she was first hung.  A member in our group asked what happened to the baby and Linda replied that was the saddest thing of all.  Maggie had given birth to a still-born baby and it was when she was trying to get rid of the baby’s body that she was discovered to have had a baby out of wed-lock.  Therefore Maggie didn’t even have the baby she was hung for (which to me seems awfully unfair as she certainly didn’t make the baby all by herself but that was the law).

One of the other ghosts that is said to have roamed the streets was Deacon Brodie a man who was in council and quite a respected man who is said to be the original Jekyll & Hyde who eventually was hung on his own gallows (he was a cabinetmaker) outside his own front door.  However rather than me trying to remember the story you can read about him and also Burke & Hare the grave robbers who dug up bodies to sell to the universities (and sometimes went beyond that and didn’t wait until the person was dead but killed them themselves).  You can read about these characters of Edinburgh and more here  http://www.23mayfield.co.uk/about-edinburgh/haunted-edinburgh.htm

We also learned about Old Town and New Town and how in Edinburgh they used to have a slop bucket (with all kitchen scraps and the toilet bucket and any used cooking or bathing water) used to be tipped out onto the street at a certain time at night and this was all washed into the lake (heads up if you were walking in the street at the time).  Now where do you think they all also got their drinking water from? Yep that’s it – the lake!  It is no wonder the plague struck them hard and they even had to close off part of the city and not let anyone in or out of it because of the plague but eventually when they went to get the bodies because of rigor mortis they couldn’t get them out through the doors and so had to chop the dead bodies up into pieces to remove them.  The stories say that there are ghosts with missing body parts, including heads or floating heads that haunt that part of the city and it took a young lawyer and his bride to encourage people to come back after they fixed it up and built buildings on top of the old town buildings and decreased the rent significantly.

We continued exploring Edinburgh and came to where an old tolbooth (prison) used to be and where there is now a Mosaic heart.  People used to spit on that spot to show either disdain for the prison or for the prisoners who were executed there.  Now people spit on the heart for good luck and some for good luck for their sports team which has a heart as the emblem or the opposing team spits on the heart for bad luck to the team. Kevin and Carrie, one of the couples who still didn’t have their bags back from the airline, spat on the heart for good luck and I did it for them.  Sadly however it didn’t work as the next morning as we got on the bus Carrie walked on with quite a cut on her nose!  After waiting so long they finally got their bags that night and were quite happy for a few hours until Carrie had to go to the bathroom and tripped over her suitcase (yes the one she had been waiting so long for) and smashed her nose into a glass table.  Luckily the hotel was great and called a taxi for them and Scotland (like Australia) have free health care so Carrie had her nose glued together at no cost (in America you need insurance so the Americans were all quite impressed with this and I really think they are quite backwards not having free medical care for everyone).  Needless to say it was a long day and night (longer for some more than others) and we were all very glad to get to the hotel and cuddle up in our nice comfy beds for some sleep before the next big day in Edinburgh tomorrow (which at least did not include any long bus rides).

Bed at last

Photos courtesy of Carrie & Kevin Ritter:

Stairs in Urquhart castle

The Old Course at St Andrews