Outlander Tour Day 3

 

Well, today sadly my Outlander tour will come officially to an end, but of course I managed to find places in Edinburgh and beyond that were in Outlander over the month in Scotland.

As usual we were picked up near George Square in Glasgow and then headed out to our first stop on the tour which technically was not from Outlander, but was a lovely stop - the little town of Pitlochery.

I got a kick out of this "diversion" sign - here in the U.S. we would say "detour"

 Pitlochery is known for its Heathergems factory and we had a great time learning about how they made their gems. They are actually made of heather stems that are cut and dyed and then pressed together to make brooches, earrings and necklaces. Here is a link to the factory and store heathergems.com

After our tour we had some time to wander around the town and I came across another sign that truly made me laugh out loud

 

I wonder how that tasted!

There was a wonderful scene in front of the factory with willow people that made me wonder if Sam Heughan's uncle, Trevor Leat had made them.

Now if you were on this tour in the summer, your next stop would be the Highland Folk Museum where the "Rent" episode took place, but they close after the summer, so sadly it is one place I didn't get to go to. But, our next stop was so important to me, it was Culloden Moor Battlefield. This was one of those places where you could almost hear the spirits of those brave Jacobite soldiers on April 16, 1746 as they valiantly fought the British to restore the Stuart throne and thus the freedom of Scotland. In less than an hour the battle was over and over 1,000 highland soldiers lost not only their lives, but the Highland culture was lost as well.

As you enter the field, you come to Leanach Cottage which was originally built in the 18th century. It was actually lived in until 1912, but then fell into disrepair. Artisans came and made a thatched roof from the heather on the battlefield, the walls are stones and turf.

Next comes the visitor's center which houses a museum, store and cafeteria where we grabbed some lunch. They have scooters there for the handicapped which was nice to see as the field is quite large. The museum is wonderful - you truly need a few hours just to see and experience it. The 360 degree Battlefield Immersion room that places you inside the battle and has tables with the places of the battlefield as they played out was incredible. They also have a fantastic collection of swords and a blunderbuss taken from the actual battle. They have musket balls and a Jacobite necklace that someone dropped in the battle which made me think of the dragonfly in amber. From there you exit out into the battlefield.

 There are flags showing the position of the armies, a memorial cairn put there in 1881 

and of course the stones representing the clans that died on the field. 

To think of all these men cut down in their prime, as in many times of battle, is a sobering thing.

Our next stop was Clava Cairns where we would see stones similar to what they recreated in Outlander. They say the stones are over 4,000 years old.

This is one of the cairns. It is a bronze age circular chamber tomb. In the front there is an opening where the sun hits it and comes right up the middle. They believe it has something to do with fertility rites. The stones by the opening have these marks they call "Cup marks" but no one really knows what they are for or how they were made. There was another cairn there, but it was a burial cairn and closed with no entrance for it

And...of course the standing stones - there were quite a few. I tried my best to go trough to no avail.

All that was waiting on the other side was Andrew, my wee tour guide

We had one last stop this day and that was The Hermitage woodland that was created by the Third Duke of Atholl in the 18th century. It was so beautiful that I visited it twice while I was there, having more time to explore it at my leisure. It was used in the last few episodes in Season 5.

Before I forget, I want to pass on a useful piece of information. Many tours do not include entry fees, they are the paid by you, but Scotland has the Scotland Explorer Pass which can save you quite a bit of money. There is a 3, 7 or 14 day card running from £33-45. There is also a family pass. You can buy them at the first place you visit, but then you lose time on line. You can buy them online here: https://www.tiqets.com/en/edinburgh-attractions-c21/tickets-for-historic-scotland-explorer-pass-p997442/?partner=myvacation&tq_campaign=sco_pass

Next I headed out to Edinburgh to catch a  4 day Highland/Isle of Skye tour. I can tell you this - it was the most amazing of all my time in Scotland and Ireland!