Isle of Skye
It was grey and windy when we first awoke, but as we walked the short mile to Armadale Castle, the rain held off, shelter was found and the sun emerged. The gardens are beautiful: fuchsia hedges, well-cut lawns, grand fir trees, ornamental ponds and an array of shrubs. The centrepiece is the ruins of Armadale House, the seat of the Clan Donald – the Macdonalds. The new museum gives a fascinating insight into the history of Skye, the Lords of the Isles, clan warfare, the Highland Clearances and the conversion of the lairds from clan chiefs to absentee landlords.
We walked back to the ship in sunshine, partook of luncheon and then boarded our coaches to discover the Isle of Skye. We drove through the famous Cuillin mountains, the burns in a white spate of new rainwater and the summits lost in their envelope of cloud. Our destination was Dunvegan Castle, home for generations of the chiefs of the Clan Macleods. The castle sits four-square on a small cliff above the seaweedy bay and its interior of lush furnishing belies the harsh environment in which it sits. Similarly, the prisoner moaning in his bleak dungeon contrasts with the luxurious life of his captors above.
The rain eased and the sun came out as we toured the gardens, the raindrops now sparkling. With a woodland garden, a water garden, a formal garden and a walled garden, there was much to see, the towering monkey puzzle and the trailing white clematis being of particularly interest. All too soon it was time to head back south down the island, Konia regaling us with stories of the island.
The ship left its mooring at Armadale and rolled across the Sound of Sleat into Glen Nevis, where we were welcomed by the brightest rainbow most of us had ever seen. Passing under this, we arrived at Inverie, one of the remotest communities in Scotland and still only accessible by ferry. Those who ventured ashore to The Iron Forge, the local pub, were entertained by a band of itinerant Irish folk musicians, who regaled us with their Irish and Scottish music.
It was grey and windy when we first awoke, but as we walked the short mile to Armadale Castle, the rain held off, shelter was found and the sun emerged. The gardens are beautiful: fuchsia hedges, well-cut lawns, grand fir trees, ornamental ponds and an array of shrubs. The centrepiece is the ruins of Armadale House, the seat of the Clan Donald – the Macdonalds. The new museum gives a fascinating insight into the history of Skye, the Lords of the Isles, clan warfare, the Highland Clearances and the conversion of the lairds from clan chiefs to absentee landlords.
We walked back to the ship in sunshine, partook of luncheon and then boarded our coaches to discover the Isle of Skye. We drove through the famous Cuillin mountains, the burns in a white spate of new rainwater and the summits lost in their envelope of cloud. Our destination was Dunvegan Castle, home for generations of the chiefs of the Clan Macleods. The castle sits four-square on a small cliff above the seaweedy bay and its interior of lush furnishing belies the harsh environment in which it sits. Similarly, the prisoner moaning in his bleak dungeon contrasts with the luxurious life of his captors above.
The rain eased and the sun came out as we toured the gardens, the raindrops now sparkling. With a woodland garden, a water garden, a formal garden and a walled garden, there was much to see, the towering monkey puzzle and the trailing white clematis being of particularly interest. All too soon it was time to head back south down the island, Konia regaling us with stories of the island.
The ship left its mooring at Armadale and rolled across the Sound of Sleat into Glen Nevis, where we were welcomed by the brightest rainbow most of us had ever seen. Passing under this, we arrived at Inverie, one of the remotest communities in Scotland and still only accessible by ferry. Those who ventured ashore to The Iron Forge, the local pub, were entertained by a band of itinerant Irish folk musicians, who regaled us with their Irish and Scottish music.
