Today, we had an extra day in Inverness to explore a few things further.

Inverness was a Christian settlement in about 565. Now, it is the crossroads and the capital of the highlands with a rich history stretching way back over 1,500 years..

Culloden Battlefield

The misconception of this battle is that it was between the Scottish clans and the English, but it was way more complicated than that. This was more a civil war that had been going on for some time with many battles all over the country between the disposed king of England and the current King of England. And, to make it more complex, there were Scott’s and English on both sides, not to mention mercenaries from a range of other nations.

Culloden was the final battle on 16 April 1746, where the Jacobites (those supporting re-establishing the previous king) were finally defeated in a battle lasting only 40 minutes, which saw huge numbers of casualties.

Following the battle the English army were given the orders to not allow any survivors and to show no mercy. The army then had a ten-year free range to treat the Scottish people however they saw fit without fear of prosecution to stop any further uprising.

One method of control was to destroy the highland culture by banning gatherings, the wearing of kilts, and the bagpipes (as they were a weapon of war).

In a strange twist – the English recognised the fighting ability of the clansmen and if they joined the English army they could keep their traditions alive. Many joined and became an elite and much feared fighting unit.

One example of the treatment of the Scottish people after Culloden was shown in a walking tour. The English army rounded up men, women and children into the below cathedral and then shot each one as they brought them out. You can still see the outside evidence of the musket shot. A message to control the population.

It is hard to fathom this level of brutality against a defeated army and its people. It makes you wonder what else they were capable of… whether that’s conquering or colonising… explains a lot.

Loch Ness

After the Culloden battlefields we headed south of Inverness to visit Lochie at Loch Ness, but clearly it’s been too warm and she didn’t make an appearance.

It was actually quite hard to grab a photo of the loch as the road was very busy and where you could pull over didn’t provide good locations for photos.

From the south of Loch Ness we returned to Inverness via a series of backroads which were much quieter … and narrower, but such a beautiful road.

We stopped and sat for a while at Loch Tarff to just soak it all in. Such a beautiful backdrop on a beautiful day.

Then we get onto even narrower roads that are only one lane … and the crazy part is that these are still at the national speed limit of 60 mph.

Riding through the yellow Gorse or Hawthorne (not totally sure what it is) on these narrow roads is very pretty.

A couple of random Inverness Photos.

Today’s total distance – 80 miles