[Oct. 2023] On our one-day Scottish Highlands tour, the first stop after lunch was Stalker Castle.
However, just like 13 years ago, we only looked at it from a distance.
Last time when we saw it in the rain, I imagined that it must have had some sort of bloody history, but this time the weather was nice and the scene was peaceful.
When I heard that it was used in the British comedy Monty Python, it made sense.
Our last stop was Glencoe.
Of course, our guide, Al, told us about the terrible history that happened here.
The Campbell clan, who had a feud with the MacDonald clan, came to Glencoe, the territory of the MacDonald, and stayed there for about two weeks.
In keeping with the Scottish custom of showing hospitality to travellers, even if they don’t like them, the MacDonald family welcomed them.
During this time, Campbell was given orders to kill the MacDonald family, and in the wee hours of the morning, Campbell assassinated them while they slept.
This story takes place around the time of the Glorious Revolution at the end of the 17th century, and is rooted in the feud between Scotland and England.
This is a deep-rooted feud, and I remember strongly that our last tour guide said, “Scotland’s history is a history of war against England.”
This time, our guide, Al, said, “Scotland has a lot of surplus electricity. We want to be independent and decide the direction of our economy.”
There seemed to be some dissatisfaction among the Scots that they were under the control of the English government in faraway London.
Returning to Glencoe, there is still a cemetery for those killed at that time, and commemorative events are held every year.
And it is said that the MacDonald family and the Campbell family are not on good terms.
I guess there must be some stories like Romeo and Juliet.
In any case, even though they have done such terrible things, public opinion against Campbell has not raised and the family has not been destroyed, and it seems that the Campbell family is still flourishing.
The Duke of Argyll, the lord of Inveraray Castle, which we visited earlier, also has the surname Campbell.
After Glencoe, we stopped at a souvenir shop for a toilet break, and there was a cute canned shortbread with a Highland cow motif, so I almost bought it, but I decided against it because the manufacturer’s name was Campbell.
I did a little research and found that Campbell is the fourth most common surname in Scotland.
MacDonald is ninth.
Anyway, that’s the end of the tour.
We were really blessed with great weather on this highland tour.
Al had warned us at the beginning of the tour that “Scotland is the wettest country in Europe,” so it seems that this day was an exception.
Apparently Glencoe is often hidden in fog and you can’t see anything.
Even though we were on the bus for a long time, my daily step count was over 13,000.
