Day 7 – Kirkwall, Scotland

Our day started off with us meeting Anna, our driver and guide, at the port. We loaded up in her Mini Countryman, Diana’s favorite since that is what she drives as well, and headed out of Kirkwall. Anna asked if we would like to start a the Italian Chapel. She proceeded to tell us the story of Italian POW’s who built the chapel out of scraps in the POW camp. As she was talking, I realized that I had read a book recently that told this story! The book I read was “When We Were Enemies” by Emily Bleeker. It was so crazy that I remembered reading this story. I have to admit that while reading the story, I never imagined such a beautiful chapel built out of scrap. The chandeliers were made out of old canned beef tins, the candelabra were made from old stair banisters. The paintings on the wall were amazing and the painting on the wall and floor were amazing in that they made it look like it was tile. On our way out of the Chapel, we saw our first “hairy coos”, the Highland cattle of the region.

From the Italian Chapel we proceeded to the first set of standing stones, the Stones of Sternness. These stones supposedly date to 2500 BC. It is hard to imagine that people from the Neolithic Age transported these stones from miles away (they are not from the immediate area) and didn’t break them – they are so thin! In addition the quarried side of the stones all faced toward the center of the circle and made for very interesting acoustic effects. Looking out from the stones, you can see two lochs. The story is that a giant came to the area and loved the land so much he reached down and took two handfuls of the fertile ground to take back with him. The resulting holes were then filled with water and became the two lochs you see today.

The ring of stones originally had twelve stones surrounding a large stone hearth. Now only a few of them are still standing. I wasn’t able to catch Diana before she reached out and touched the stones, however, it seems she is not a traveler and she is still with us in the current time. (This is a reference to Outlander, just in case you didn’t know to what I was referring.)

Unstan Cairn was our next stop. This is an ancient burial mound. The entrance to the cairn was very narrow and very low. I have to admit, I was a little anxious entering the cairn. Inside were several chambers in which bodies would have been laid. The funniest part was a stone slab inside the cairn that shows that Vikings had visited the tomb in the 1100s and left ancient graffiti. The runes on the slab say interesting things like, “Bjorn was here”, “Ingibiorg the fair widow. Many a woman has gone stooping in here. A great show-off.” and other similar phrases. Not much has changed through the centuries!

Next we visited the Cliffs of Yesnaby. These were beautiful. Anna made us promise not to get too close to the edge. When we got back in the car, Anna told us she had made us a snack of Orkadian cheese and bere (a type of barley) crackers. We were running fast and furious to get everything in so the snack was very welcome as we did not have time to stop for lunch.

We proceeded on to Skara Brae, a Neolithic community that was discovered in 1850 when a storm blew the sand off of the ruins that had been hidden under a sand dune. The community was active around 3100 BC to 2500 BC. There are nine houses that are all very similar in set up. Each house has a “dresser”, a set of shelves, beds built into the walls that would have been warmed by straw, furs, and the fire in the hearth in the middle of the house. The houses were connected by covered pathways between them. There is also a drainage system suggesting that the community was relatively advanced. One other structure seems to be a communal building and tools were found there suggesting a workshop. First we toured a replica of House 7 and then we proceeded back in time to see the ruins themselves.

Next to Skara Brae is Skaill House, the house of the Bishop who owned the land on which Skara Brae is located.

The Ring of Brodgar is another set of standing stones. It is about 1,000 years younger than the stones of Sternness, but much larger consisting of around sixty stones originally.

Our time with Anna was coming to an end, but before she took us back to Kirkwall, she drove to a gorgeous viewpoint where you could see all of the Orkney islands. If you look closely in the first picture, you will also see the Scarlet Lady, our ship and home away from home.

Anna dropped us off near the Orkney Cathedral and we sadly said our goodbyes. We took a self guided tour of the Cathedral and then walked into Kirkwall to check out a few of the stores and have a pint at the Orkney Brewery before returning to our ship.

Day 8 – Stornoway, Scotland

Today we visited Stornoway. We boarded a bus for a short ride to the town. Stornoway is the home of Harris Tweed so it was, of course, on the itinerary. After Harris Tweed and we visited a bookshop and several stores around town before landing at a charity thrift store. Here we found a sale that we couldn’t resist – ladies’ jackets for 5£ each. I found two and Diana found one. Diana also found a scarf and I found a sweater. All of that shopping made us a little peckish and so we stopped in a coffee shop across the street. The sign outside said they would give a 10% discount to anyone who ordered in Gaelic. Fortunately, the servers were willing to assist and I had a delicious chai latte and Diana a cup of tea and a shortbread. We sat at a table with a couple of locals who told us a little about how and when they learned Gaelic and gave us a few lessons in Gaelic as well.

We bid our new friends farewell, and continued our walk around the town finding another sale at a store where everything was 50% off. Naturally, I had to have a pair of earrings from Scotland. We then visited a craft butcher and made our way back to the shuttle stop where we had the obligatory picture as Lews Chessmen – I recommend you Google them, they were quite interesting. We boarded the shuttle and once again returned to our ship.

Day 9 – At Sea

Today we were able to sleep in a little as we were at sea all day. We stopped by to see David Maestro and his magic show. I was even chosen to assist. Diana was so entranced, she forgot to get pictures of me, but I did get to keep my souvenir from the show. David invited us to his secret show (IYKYK). We were not allowed to take pictures, so you’ll just have to take my word, it was awesome!

After dinner we checked out the Y2K party, but since we are no longer in our thirties, we went to bed before midnight. Tomorrow is the day I’ve been waiting for….

Day 10 – Greenock, Scotland

Today we hired a private driver to take us to Castle Lachlan, the seat of Clan MacLachlan. After doing a DNA test, I found I am 23% Scottish. Many of my ancestors were born in Argyll, Scotland – the area around Loch Fyne and the site of Castle Lachlan. Phil, our driver and guide, met us at the cruise terminal. Phil was very excited by today’s tour as he had not approached a tour in the past from a clan perspective. He had done some research and had a package of notes for me about Clan MacLachlan. My great, great grandmother was Susan McGloghlan (a derivative of MacLachlan) and my great, great grandfather was Colin Leitch, a member of Clan MacDonald which inhabited a lot of the same area.

Our first stop was the ruins of Kilmorie Chapel. We walked among the gravestones and saw surnames that I recognized from my family tree. There was even a Leitch. I hope that somehow I can find a firm connection to one of the names we saw there, but for now just seeing the familiar names gave me a feeling of connection to my ancestors. From Kilmorie Chapel, we walked a path through the fields to the ruins of Castle Lachlan. Buildings here were few and far between. The New Castle Lachlan, the home of the current chief of the clan, was in the distance and there was only one other building visible from the pathway. It looked much like I suspect it looked when my ancestors were alive. Following the pathway, we came upon the Old Castle. Inside there was a sign giving explaining that the castle was built in the 1400s and gave a layout of the castle. In addition, there were a couple of stories about the castle.

I was very surprised at how being in this space affected me. I didn’t know any of these people, but walking down the pathway in the middle of nowhere, I felt a connection to the past that made me just a little misty-eyed.

After leaving Castle Lachlan, we stopped for a bit of lunch and a cup of tea at the Cottage House on the way to Inveraray Castle. One of my Leitch ancestors was born in Inveraray so it seemed the next obvious stop. Here the castle was in much better condition since it was built several hundred years later. The Duke and Duchess of Argyll still live in the castle, so only half of it is open to the public.

From Inveraray we had to drive directly to the port since we were still two hours away from Greenock. It was an amazing day walking in the lands where my ancestors lived. I hope someday to come back and visit again.