Farewell to the Highlands, farewell to the North,

The birth-place of Valour, the country of Worth;

Wherever I wander, wherever I rove,

The hills of the Highlands for ever I love.

Chorus

My heart's in the Highlands, my heart is not here,

My heart's in the Highlands, a-chasing the deer;

Chasing the wild-deer, and following the roe,

My heart's in the Highlands, wherever I go.

Farewell to the mountains, high-cover'd with snow,

Farewell to the straths and green vallies below;

Farewell to the forests and wild-hanging woods,

Farewell to the torrents and loud-pouring floods.

Chorus

My heart's in the Highlands, my heart is not here,

My heart's in the Highlands, a-chasing the deer;

Chasing the wild-deer, and following the roe,

My heart's in the Highlands, wherever I go.

― Robert Burns —

Loch Lomond

A Visit to Luss

By yon bonnie banks … We traveled north to Luss on the banks of Loch Lomond twice. The first time we learned about Lussie who is a cousin of the Loch Ness monster. She wasn’t home as she was visiting Nessie.

Seriously the village is lovely. A holy place for millennia, Luss Parish Church graveyard is fascinating with its many ancient listed grave markers, the most interesting perhaps being an 11th century Viking hogback grave stone.

On the shores of Loch Lomond

Luss Parish Church

Tarbet

Loch Lomond

Less Parish Church

Loch Lomond

Luss

Loch Lomond

Luss

Loch Lomond

Luss

Loch Lomond

Luss

Loch Lomond

Viking Grave

Luss

Loch Lomond

Inveraray Castle

Inverary Harbour

Inveraray

Vital Spark

Inveraray Harbour

Inveraray

Loch Fyne

Inveraray

We have been to the Royal Burgh of Inveraray twice. On the second visit we toured the town. It was mover away from the castle and rebuilt in the 18th century to a Robert Adam plan. The finished product is one of the best examples of an 18th-century new town design in Scotland. It is quite charming … and Harry and I found the pub.

We toured Inveraray Castle on our first visit. It was worth the visit. This was where was one if the episodes of Downton Abbey.

On to the Highlands

Glen Coe

Spean Bridge

The Commando Memorial

Not having accommodations booked we headed north from Inveraray. Just outside of Glencoe we found a B & B and signed in getting their last room.

The B & B provided unique entertainment, a helicopter rescuing a klutzy climber off the mountain. It took them about an hour to complete the rescue.

The next morning we toured the visitor centre to get a taste of the stories that make Glencoe National Nature Reserve so special> This area is also famous as the site of the massacre of the MacDonalds, ordered by the King and carried out by Campbell troops.. The weather was misty and rainy – perfect for a visit to such a gloomy site.

From there we carried on to the Commando Memorial at Spean Bridge

Kinchurn Castle

Loch Awe

Robin

Rannoch Moor

Loch Eil

Loch Fyne

Commando Memorial

Spean Bridge

Commando Memorial

Spean Bridge

Loch Linnie

Loch Ness

Urquhart Castle

Loch Ness

The Bridge of Oich

Looking down the Oich River to the Ness River

Inverness Sunset

The Great Glenn

A visit to Urquhart Castle

From Spean Bridge to Loch Ness.

Ate the eastern end of Loch Ness we travelled along the north shore of Loch Ness to Urquhart Castle. A stop at the visitors centre gave us a good grasp of the history the castle,

On our way to Inverness, just beyond the castle we found the 46m Bridge of Oich, built in 1854, an interesting 19^th century structure.

Take a Moment to Behold

South through the Cairngorms

We travelled south, stopping first at the Culloden Battlefield site for a walk around this poignant and haunted place. The site of the last land battle fought on mainland Britain. “Arguably no battle out of living memory is remembered so powerfully and so falsely“ (Professor Murray Pittock}

From Culloden, through Cawdor to Grant-Town-on-Spey to Balmoral Castle. Unfortunately the castle was closed to visitors. The guard at the gate recommended a visit to the Royal Lochnagar Distillery just down the road. We did the tour and I purchased a really nice single malt. I’m not sorry to say I drank it all, there is none left so visitors are out of luck.