Founded in 1178 by William the Lion - king of Scotland - to honor Thomas Becket who was killed by order of Henry II of England.

It is also where the Declaration of Arbroath sent to the Pope in 1320 for help against England. The famous line "For, as long as but a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be brought under English rule."

Today not much is left, and unfortunately the inner rooms were not accessible due to unstable walls that were under repair. Thus the scaffolding.

The obvious defensive properties of this outcrop means something has been set here for about 4000 years. Dun is Pictish for fort, so maybe they were here around the year 400.

The Vikings destroyed it in 681. It got rebuilt only to have it raided by King Aethelstan of Wessex in 934.

So, back to William Wallace. Edward I of England took it in 1296. In 1297 Wallace took it back. In the process he burned down the church with the entire English garrison still in it.

A lot has happened since, but thankfully today it is a quiet place sitting on a magnificent point.

Yes, there is an old Slains Castle ruin down the road. In 1594 the owner, Earl of Erroll backed a plot against King James IV, so James blew up the Earls home.

In 1597 the Earl came back from exile, made peace and built the new castle here. It was quite splendid from all accounts, grew in size over the years, until it was sold for death taxes. Fell into disrepair, but was purchased in 1916.

In 1925 the new owner stripped off the roof and anything of value, leaving a shell of what was once a grand home.

This is a restored meal mill. Built in the 1700s it served the farming community for years until the number of farms declined and barley became the grain of choice, not oats.

It sits in a lovely area and is a great place to stroll in the Mill Brae Woods

The area has some very interesting stops - not huge but very fun and interesting. So, here's a compilation of places we saw.

Pennan Village - yes that quirky little town in Local Hero. It is a small as it looked in the movie.

Nair Viaduct - the second longest masonry rail viaduct in Scotland - impressive.

Clava Cairns - 4000 year old graves from the Bronze Age.

Bow Fiddle Rock in Portknockie - an impressive sea rock.

So much to see, so little time

This is a very impressive cairn, or fort as broch. Even now you can see that in it's prime the wall were very high.

The broch was built about 2,200 years ago, although indications are there was something here during the Bronze Age - 4,000 years ago.

There are indications a village surrounded the fort at some time, although precise dates are uncertain.

Not too much left of The Old Man of Wick, but the site is impressive. They really knew about location - usually because they needed a good defensive position - but the views are amazing.

Since most of these castles are on cliffs, gulls and other birds nest here, so we can't resist taking pictures of them. Prolific little critters.

Henry Sinclair probably built the first castle here around 1379.

It is associated with the story of the Sinclair family, who became the Earls of Caithness and the Earls of Orkney. They had estates and castles as far afield as Kirkwall in Orkney and Roslin, south of Edinburgh, where they built both Rosslyn Castle and Rosslyn Chapel.

Yes, Sinclair, Rosslyn, DiVinci Code. There's always a grain of truth in fiction.

The 330 or so steps lead down to Whaligoe Haven, a small harbor along the coast used by fishermen.

It was considered a terrible place for harbor until Captain David Brodie build the 300+ sandstone stops at a cost of £8.

At some point a Brink was constructed - a flat grassy area where fishermen could drop off salt and other good or pick up barrels of fish cured on site.

It is a very nice stroll down and a bit of a slog up, but we thought it was fun

There really isn't a whole lot in John O'Groats, but it is considered the most northern point of mainland UK.

We are heading for Orkney Isles, so a little drive through was in order - and believe me it does not take long.

If you have ever seen the "Long Way..." series with Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman you will recognize John O' Groats as their starting point as the drove "The Long Way Down" to the southern most tip of Africa.

We made it to Orkney - fast and smooth ferry ride.

Weather is getting pretty bad, but we couldn't let a little "Scottish mist" stop us from seeing some of the ancient sites.

The Ring of Brodgar, a Henge, is maybe built around 2,000 or 2,500BC, as was Stenness. Why, no one really knows. Lots of theories, but whatever the reason Brodgar was a massive undertaking of time and manpower.

Maeshowe Chambered Cairn sits out in a field, and you need to ride their bus to get to it. Probably built around 2800BC, it isn't a burial cairn, and no one is quite sure of it's intended purpose. Pictures inside were not allowed.

Urquhart, like all castles in Scotland, has had a lot of ups and downs. What we see today is probably the 13th to the 16th centuries version, but there is some evidence a Pict fort was here before that.

Although a ruin it does have a nice tower you can still climb, and some nice grassy areas that give it a quiet, calm feeling.

It also sits on Loch Ness. No Nessie sightings. Sorry

Dunvegan Castle sits near, you guessed it, the village of Dunvegan. and was the stronghold of the clan MacCleod. Yup.

"I am Connor MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod. I was born in 1518 in the village of Glenfinnan on the shores of Loch Shiel. And I am immortal."

OK, so he probably was mortal but history and myth are tied here.

It sits on a big dome of rock, is impressive, and some parts are restored for viewing.

This is a small, family owned tannery founded by a Clive & Lydia Hartwell. 41 years later it's a thriving little business.

The site has several small buildings, and the tanning process hasn't really changed except now there are some machines that do the sorting, washing, combing, etc. But there is still a lot of hands on that needs to happen to make a good sheepskin.

Our guide was a young lady who is one of the tanners and she was a joy to listen to.

We had a private tour since we were the only ones there, and got out just as the tour busses started arriving.

If I had a place for a sheepskin, I would have bought one. It's an amazing craft and worthy of support.

Water runs off the Black Cuillin mountains over a vast area of gently sloping land with multiple drops providing you a plethora of waterfalls and pools.

It's an easy walk of about 2.5 miles, up and back, so anyone can stroll along the well maintained path and enjoy.

The lighthouse sits on the most westerly point of the Isle of Sky. It's a nice walk down - about 3 miles round trip, with a little bit of an up coming back.

The lighthouse is still active, but automated.

Spectacular views, a nice little bit of exercise, what more could you want.

Eilean Donan Castle sits at the meeting point of three sea lochs Loch Duich, Loch Long, and Loch Alsh near the village of Dornie, on the route towards the Isle of Skye.

This picturesque castle, built in 1220, holds the title of the most photographed castle in Scotland.

The bridge was built sometime from 1919 to 1932 during a restoration.

It is also the one Conner MacLeod rides across with is Cousins Angus and Dugal in the movie Highlander.

We enjoy the little things as well as the big things, so we made a few stop to see some of the things we found interesting.

Well of the Seven Heads - a monument and roadside obelisk . It was erected in 1812 by the Chief of Clan Macdonnel to commemorate the brutal 1663 revenge killing in Scottish clan history: 7 brothers of the MacDonald family were murdered by their cousins in a bloody family feud.

Kilmartin Church. It has an amazing graveyard, and a collection of graveslabs from the 13th to 18th century.

This is a very important site in Scottish history.

The original Scots were migrants from Ireland, and it is from this fort that they spread out, absorbed the Pics and set the stage for what would be known as Scotland.

Scottish kings were traditionally crowned here to about 850.

The fort had 4 lines of walls at different levels, and was close to the motte and bailey design favored by the Normans for their castles.

There are several carved stones. The foot print - upon coronation the king placed his foot in this indent.

There are other carvings as well, but we couldn't make them out. Need better eyes and better cameras I guess.

This is part of a line of cairns built 5,000 to 3,000 years ago, the Neolithic period to Bronze Age.

Standing in the field you can look down the line to the different mounds.

Nether Largie North Cairn is one of five large burial cairns that form a ‘linear cemetery' along Kilmartin Glen.

The rare axe-head carvings found in one of the cairn's two cists suggest that this was the burial place of a high-status individual: axes were an indicator of wealth.


The Nether Largie Mid Cairn has scattered large stones. Up front is a flat stone slab supported by metal braces hat covers a small chamber entrance. Behind it lies a low mound edged with pale stones.

The largest is Nether Largie South was likely built over 5,000 years ago. The original chamber at its centre was divided into four compartments and probably held numerous burials, in line with Neolithic practices.

As with the other monuments in Kilmartin Glen, the site continued to be used as a sacred place. At some point about 4,000 years ago the cairn was enlarged into a 30m-wide round cairn, to accommodate two secondary cists, or stone coffins – doubtless to house the remains of chiefs.

Stirling Castle - another major player in Scottish history.

It was home to Scottish Kings and Queens, also where some of them died.

It was under seige 8 times, including during the Wars of Scottish Independence. Think William wallace and Robert the Bruce.

It has been renovated many times, was a lavish home, a defensive fortress, and from 1800 or so until 1964,served as a permanent military barracks. On the balcony you can see where a second floor was installed to hold sleeping quarters.

A major renovation to restore the former beauty began around 2000 and was completed in 2011

New Lanark was one of the largest cotton mills in Scotland. It operated from 1785 until it closed in 1968.

Since 1974 the New Lanark Conservation Trust has worked to restore it , and it is a UNESCO site.

The really interesting part is the man who ran it, Robert Owen, was a radical. He believed in good housing, fair wages, childcare, sick leave, etc.

The mill is really worth visiting, if not for the history, than for the beauty of the area.

Last day in Scotland, and with a bit of time to spare we jumped off the A9 to see The Kelpies.

These are huge statues of horses heads sitting at the Forth and Clyde Canal and River Carron.

In mythology Kelpies are malevolent shapeshifting water spirits ithat inhabit lochs and rivers. Usually appearing as a beautiful, tame black or white horse, their sticky skin traps anyone who mounts them. The kelpie then dives to the depths, dragging its victim to a watery grave

However, these Kelpies were constructed by Andy Scott in 2013, and they are in honor of all the work horses who have helped drive Scottish industry.

They were amazing to see on an overcast day, but I'm sure they really shine when it's nice and sunny.

We took a bunch of pictures of birds and 4 legged critters as we went along. Mostly gulls and sheep with a few other critters thrown in.