John and Jen's Wedding and Honeymoon Extravaganza

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Tulach ard!!


Culloden Field was the main attraction of the day. On April 16, 1746, the Scots supporting Charles Edward Stuart's claim to the English crown fought the governmental army at Culloden Field. The government army thrashed the Scots, forever ending the Scottish system of clans. The book series we're reading, Outlander, has its roots in the battle of Culloden. Our entire trip to Scotland was in fact inspired by wanting to take Jen to the places we've read about in the books. We joined the tour group and our guide, Nicole, gave a great presentation and tour of the field even during winds that were making our eyes sting with cold. Afterwards, she also gave a lecture about life in a Highland clan (pre-Culloden) and had a member of the audience (not me) dress up in a kilt of their own making. After that, we visited Tain Pottery Works. Very neat, and we bought some more pottery!	Today we went to Culloden Battlefield and it was my favorite place we visited in Scotland. Their visitor center was so well-laid out. Culloden was the place the Jacobites, those who fought to restore a Scot to the throne and chuck the English rule out of Scotland, had their final battle against the English army. We walked through the center with the English government's story along the wall on one side, and Bonnie Prince Charles and the Jacobites on the other. We stood in the battle experience theater and saw how the highlanders charged and why it would frighten the opposing forces into confusion. The Jacobites would fire their muskets to create a huge cloud of smoke, then charge through it screaming like banshees and completely terrify the other side, who would generally break and run away. Then we went on a guided tour of the battlefield and learned why that didn't work this time. When we went outside, the wind hit us right in our faces and the Jacobite lines faced the wind which blew their musket smoke back into their faces. Plus, the Jacobites were tired from marching all night. They'd stood all day at Culloden waiting for a battle before they got news that the government was taking the day off to celebrate their commander's birthday. So the Jacobites planned to do a sneak attack around 2 am and they started marching, but they were still four miles from the government camp when 2 am rolled around. So they turned around and marched back to Culloden. After standing all day and marching all night, they were no match for the well-rested, well-fed English army and they were slaughtered. After the tour, our guide Nicole did a presentation about highland life about how the clan worked and she picked a volunteer to demonstrate how to put on a traditional belted kilt. John wouldn't let me volunteer him, but he did tell me later that he wouldn've done a better job than the poor guy who got picked to be the chief. Next we went to Clava Cairns and saw a set of standing stones that partially inspired Diana Gabaldon for her Outlander books. I stood in the cleft in the rock where Claire stands in the book and John watched me to make sure I didn't get sucked back in time. Then we went to Tain Pottery and saw the whole works. My favorite part was the decorator's studio where they were hand applying all the glaze designs. The lady working upstairs was cool and I talked with her about how colors change once they're fired and how that's like what I do with glaze and stains on wood. She showed me a piece of plaid they're working on color-matching and several plates with different combinations of browns and blacks trying to find the right color. It sounds like my job. And the mugs she was painting while we were there had thistles and a bee on them. She was adding wings and antennae to the bee. So I bought a wee teapot and teacups and saucers in that pattern. Special.	Comment submission is now closed.

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