Clava Cairns and Stone Circle

Clava Cairns may have been the inspiration for Craigh na Dun, the stone circle in the TV/book series Outlander. While the stones they used in the series were fake, the inspiration had to come from somewhere, didn't it? Clava Cairns, outside of Inverness, includes burial cairns and standing stones. 

Balnuaran of Clava

Stone cairn

Little me inside the cairn

Clava Cairns are about 4000 years old and were built to house the dead. What remains today would have been part of a larger complex. The word cairn means heap or mound of stones.

Standing stones

Jamie, here I come?

Wooded area

Kerb Cairn

Fence through it

Culloden Battlefield

One of the places I was most looking forward to seeing during my trip to the Scottish Highlands was the Culloden Battlefield.  I had only become aware of and interested in Scottish history as a result of watching Outlander. We visited Culloden on the last day. The weather was picture perfect, unusual for Scotland. Naturally, Culloden reminded me of the battlefields I have visited in the US, some very recently.

Culloden Battlefield

Memorial Wall: stones are pushed out for the deceased

A depiction of the battle (Lord Cumberland, R)

Bonnie Prince Charlie

The Battle of Culloden took place on April 16, 1746, near Inverness. The Jacobite Army led by Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie) was decisively defeated by British government forces commanded by the Duke of Cumberland (Prince William Augustus). Jacobite losses were between 1500 and 2000 killed or wounded. 3471 prisoners were taken. Government casualties were much less, only 50 dead and 259 wounded. 

Welcome to Culloden Battlefield

Jacobite front line

Memorial Cairn, c. 1881

The Duke of Cumberland earned the nickname the "Butcher of Culloden" because he ordered his troops to kill surviving and wounded Jacobites. In fact, British forces committed many atrocities. Charles Edward Stuart escaped, eventually finding exile in France, then Italy.

Dedication

Grave marker

The Fraser stone was roped off -- wonder why?

Culloden moor

British line: site of ferocious hand-to-hand fighting

Clan Mackintosh

Location of field hospital, c. 1760

After the Battle of Culloden, the British government launched a brutal military campaign and severe legal reforms to crush the Jacobite movement and destroy the traditional Scottish Highland way of life. Tartans, kilts, bagpipes, weapons, and the Gaelic (language) were all banned. Clan territories were transitioned to commercial estates. Eventually the land was consolidated into large sheep farms, forcing many people off their ancestral lands, with some emigrating to the US, Australia, and Canada. Some people have equated the Highland Clearances to genocide or ethnic cleansing. Others attribute it to economics (a.k.a., greed). I suspect it was a bit of both.

Standing Stones of Stenness

The Standing Stones of Stenness are a Neolithic monument located on the mainland of Orkney. The monument consists of four stones that stand upright in a circle that originally held 12 stones. The remaining megaliths are huge, up to 20 feet high. They are remarkably thin and have a slab like appearance. Their tops are knife-like, pointing towards the sky.  The henge (ditch and bank) is no longer visible. 

Signage

Three of the stones

Knife-like tops

Thin, slab-like

Stenness is widely recognized as potentially the oldest henge and stone circle in the British Isles. According to carbon dating, it dates back over 5400 years to roughly 3100 BC -- older than Stonehenge! In 1814, a farmer toppled and destroyed some of the stones because he didn't like people walking across his crop fields to see the stones. One of the stones he destroyed was the mysterious Odin Stone, a 2.5 foot stone with a hole in it. Lovers would hold hands through it and swear their commitment to each other with the God Odin as their witness. The locals were so outraged with the farmer that they tried to burn his house down. 

Ancient stones

Not touching

While the exact function of stones circles is not known, it is thought to be ceremonial in nature. Even in the 18th century, Stenness was still associated with traditions and rituals, by then, relating to Norse Gods. Other Neolithic sites near Stenness include Maeshowe and the Ring of Brodgar.

The Ring of Brodgar

The Ring of Brodgar is a Neolithic henge and stone circle on the Orkney mainland. It stands on a narrow isthmus between two freshwater lochs: Stennis (south) and Harray (north). The closest town is Stromness. There are other Neolithic sites nearby: Maeshowe (east) and the Standing Stones of Stenness (south-east). Orkney functioned as a major ceremonial center during the Neolithic period.

Signage

Ring of Brodgar, c. 2500-2000 BC

Ancient stone circle

The Ring of Brodgar is relatively poorly understood. Its interior has never been fully excavated and its exact age and purpose are unknown. It is surmised that it was constructed sometime between 2500 to 2000 BC. Experts believe it served a ritual or ceremonial function. 

Tada!

See the circle

Close-up

The Ring of Brodgar is the only major henge and stone circle in Britain which is an almost perfect circle. There are 26 stones. When it was built, there were probably more than 60 stones. It would have taken a considerable amount of time to build. In June 1941, the Ring of Brodgar and its ditch were used to practice military maneuvers. Supposedly no damage was caused. In more recent times, lightning destroyed two of the stones.

The henge

This way!

Heather (pink/purple flowers) was at its peak when we visited the stones in early September.  Heather is a low growing shrub native to Scotland. It is an important forage source for sheep, especially in the winter and early spring. Sheep prefer the young shoots. In the spring and summer, sheep prefer other plants (grass and soft plants).

Heather (Calluna vulgaris)

Isle of Iona

Iona is an island in the Inner Hebrides, off the Ross of Mull on the western coast of Scotland. It is known for its historic abbey and beautiful beaches.  We spent the day there. It was a short (10 minute) ferry ride from Fionnphort on Mull.

Land area: 3.39 square miles

Estimated population: 178

Beach front

Boats

Traps

Waterfront street

McClean's Cross, c. late 1400's

Summer residence

Organic gardens

Iona War Memorial

Bicycles

The path

Of course, a golf course!

Iona's economy is based on seasonal tourism, fishing, and farming. Approximately 1000 sheep and a smaller number of cattle graze across the island's rough coastal pastures. After June shearing, the sheep's wool is utilized by the local heritage brand Iona Wool. The lambs and cattle are processed on the neighboring Isle of Mull.

Sheep grazing

Suffolk tup

Along the top

A Scotch Mule?

A lost lamb

Hauling hay