Clark's Trip to the UK and Ireland
July, 1999

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The logo of An Ceathramh Scottish Gaelic Language School in Rogart, Sutherland, Scotland My Scottish Gaelic class at An Ceathramh Me in the strath at An Ceathramh McDonald, our tour guide at Culloden Battlefield, site of the last great battle of the Scottish Clans. Here is where the Clan way of life was snuffed out.
The bleak landscape of Culloden Battlefield, near Inverness in the Highlands Standing next to a stone Clan marker, McDonald tells the tale of the Battle at Culloden The Culloden Visitors Center A restoration of a barn at Culloden Battlefield. Site of a really hokey historical dramatic recreation of a surgeon's house during the battle.
A typical red British postbox at Culloden Visitors Center A typical red British postbox at Culloden Visitors Center Sheep grazing in the lawn of my Bed and Breakfast at Culloden A sheep grazing in the lawn of my Bed and Breakfast at Culloden
A cairn at Clava, near Culloden. A lichen-covered standing stone at Clava, near Culloden. Another standing stone at Clava, near Culloden. Cawdor Castle, in Nairn, near Culloden. Home of the Campbells of Cawdor.
Rain on a red bench at Cawdor Castle in Nairn in the Highlands. Typical Scottish weather brings the typical Scottish response Cawdor Castle from the front lawn. Imposing on the outside, and surprisingly homey on the inside. I found it quite warm and comfortable feeling. It is occupied part of the year by the Campbells of Cawdor, Lady Cawdor if I remember correctly. A shrubbery maze with Cawdor Castle in the background.
The beautiful, rain-soaked garden at Cawdor Castle in Nairn, Scotland The bluebells of Scotland, in bloom at Cawdor Castle gardens The beautiful, rain-soaked garden at Cawdor Castle in Nairn, Scotland A purple flower at the rain-soaked garden at Cawdor Castle in Nairn, Scotland
A pink flower at the rain-soaked garden at Cawdor Castle in Nairn, Scotland The brook behind Cawdor Castle flows brown and cold with the tannin of the local peat infused therein A crowd of multi-colored pansies (?) stare me in the eye at the garden of Cawdor Castle. A vine-entwined garden gate at Cawdor Castle
Foxglove grew in abundance on the Cawdor Castle grounds. An Ceathramh, the Scottish Gaelic language school in Rogart, Sutherland, in the Highlands of Scotland. Here, Alasdair B. Mearns, one of the remaining 50,000 speakers of Gaelic works to perpetuate the Celtic heritage of the Scottish people. Night view from the Rovie Farm Guest House in Rogart, looking down the strath towards the village The Scottish symbol, the thistle, about to bloom in Rogart in the Highlands
Cattle pens at An Ceathramh, where Alastair raises Highland cattle and teaches Gaelic. Alastair, Fred, David, and Kev relax during a break from the An Ceathramh Gaelic class, held in the former barn on Alastair's family croft. A gate at Rovie Farm, a working beef and sheep farm -- I stayed in the guest house at Rovie Farm while I took my Gaelic classes at An Ceathramh. A cow pasture at Rovie Farm, Rogart, in the Scottish Highlands
One of many barns at Rovie Farm, Rogart, in the Scottish Highlands The side of a barn at Rovie Farm, Rogart, in the Scottish Highlands The rotting boards in one of many barns at Rovie Farm, Rogart, in the Scottish Highlands The rotting boards in one of many barns at Rovie Farm, Rogart, in the Scottish Highlands
Rovie Farm Guest House -- Mrs. Moodie kept us in tea and blood pudding, amongst other Scottish delicacies, for the week I was in Gaelic class. Rovie Farm, Rogart, in the Scottish Highlands One of Alastair's Highland cows, shown on the slope of his family croft. Rogart, in the Scottish Highlands The Highlands offer no easy land for its Highland cattle. Stones, steep slopes, and difficult-to-navigate peat and heather make hill-walking (not to mention raising livestock) difficult. The reward is reaching the top of a ridge and staring down across the stark beauty of the Highland hills. Kev looks out over the Highland hills in Rogart above An Ceathramh.
The Gaelic class gathered nightly at the Pittentrail Pub in Rogart for some drinks and a lot of storytelling. Fien ("Kermit") and I drink while Fred shoots pool. No, those were not all my drinks! Fred ("Feredach") takes a break from spinning tales to shoot some pool at the Pittentrail Pub. Like father, like daughter -- Johan (sp?) seemes destined to follow in the footsteps of her competition piper father Alastair. I try (and sadly, fails) to play the bagpipes!
Alastair demonstrates the Scottish smallpipes. A view out the back gate and up the hill at An Ceathramh on a uncommonly sunny day in the Highlands This Highland cow is really keeping an eye on the camera man! An Ceathramh and a view down the strath
Thank goodness for the sign, I wasn't sure what that was in the field... A view from the ridgeline of a strath in the Highlands A view from the ridgeline of a strath in the Highlands -- I had to shoo sheep from the road to get up here! I had thought that the Highlands were the domain of the Catholic Church, but I guess the Church of Scotland (aka the Presbyterian Church) has taken hold in the many years since the fall of Bonnie Prince Charlie's troops.
Flowers along the railroad tracks in Rogart "Downtown" Rogart, Scotland On the Isle of Skye, I often drove for 30 minutes or more without seeing another car. This russet barn stuck out brilliantly against the greens and browns of the Cuillin Mountains in the background. The sun shines through Flora MacDonald's gravestone on the Isle of Skye. Flora is famous/infamous for helping Bonnie Prince Charlie escape Scotland after his troops' grave defeat at the Battle of Culloden in 1746.
A Celtic Cross grave marker on the Isle of Skye A Celtic Cross in a remote graveyard on the Isle of Skye A 360-degree panoramic view approaching the coast at Elgol, on the Western side of the Isle of Skye
Clark Geddie, CGeddie@aol.com