Fields of the Dead, Valleys of Life

Dollar Glen, a second time

The second big highlight for our visit into the Highlands of Scotland was our visit to Culloden battlefield. This field was were the Jacobite rebellion faced off against an English army for a war-ending battle. The Jacobites were Scotsmen fighting for independence, armed with claymores and fierce battle cries, not to mention bagpipes. They had been marching all night, however, and they were hungry and standing almost knee-deep in marshy land, which was not their favored terrain. The army of the English (most of the army wasn’t actually English, it was primarily comprised of mercenaries of different nationalities) were armed with rifles, and had the advantage of land, nourishment, and numbers. It was a massacre. The Scottish were soundly and utterly defeated, and the few survivors were forced to give up their weapons and their clan system, along with their whole way of life.

We arrived on another sunny day in May, to find a field no longer as marshy, but otherwise seemingly frozen in time. There were flags set up on each side to help visitors see where each side took their stand, and the historical museum set up by the field had an excellent explication of both sides of the rebellion and the events of this momentous battle. Most significant on the field were the headstones that marked the mass graves of the dead, which were primarily separated by clan. Most poignant for me was this marker:

The field was peaceful, but eerily quiet. There was a definite aura that something worth mourning had happened there. I am told that it holds a similar feeling to that of the beaches of Normandy.

After that spiritual experience of sorts, we headed back towards Edinburgh, stopping first in Dollar Glen. This was my second visit there (the first is detailed in an earlier post), because I knew that I had to bring my parents there, and it was another excellent visit. The lushness of that valley, and of the castle that nature is slowly reclaiming astounded me to no end.

We explored the castle, its gardens, and the wild abundant forest around it with joy and renewed energy, even with the mountain trek still making our muscles ache. It was a lovely trip, and the glen secured its place as my favorite in Scotland, aside perhaps from Holyrood Park.

Brendan and Mom enjoying the sunny day at Castle Campbell