My husband
and I are in Scotland while I research settings for the second book of my
Ancient Magic paranormal suspense series. What a marvelous excuse to get to
know the country of my origin!
Day 1: Inverness
Despite being jet-lagged, we enjoyed our stay in
the Palace Hotel, right across the street from Inverness Castle.
We had tea while
gazing out the window of our room at this amazing view of the Ness River and
Inverness Castle. Thank you, Paul, for asking for a “castle view” upgrade, it
was worth it.
Inverness
is a pedestrian-friendly city. It includes a lovely two-hour waterside walk
that follows the river south and then crosses to the opposite bank via a couple
of islands. While we didn’t have time to do that whole path, we strolled around
the city center and shopped. I found my Campbell clan tartan and bought cashmere
scarves for family members (my buying splurge for the trip), as well as a traditional
sgian-dubh, the ceremonial knife
that’s
part
of traditional Scottish Highland dress. If you
have any friends who wear kilts, you know the clansmen usually wear their knife
tucked into the top of their kilt hosiery. However, I plan to use mine as a
ritual athame.
We had
dinner at a little Italian restaurant down the street for our hotel, where I
discovered a new favorite wine, Primitivo Del Salento Caleo. I would recommend
both the restaurant and the wine.
My only
regret is that we could not visit the Inverness Highlands Family Archives to
research my Campbell clan family roots. It wasn’t open on Sunday, and we had an
early-morning tour scheduled the next day. I do intend to contact them for
research assistance when we get home.
Day 2: Outlander Tour
We met Diana
Bertoldi, our Tours By Locals guide, and were delighted to discover we were her
only customers for the day. She told us she’d lived in Italy before moving to
Scotland. While her son still lives in Milan, Diana considers Scotland her true
home.
Our first
stop was the Culloden Battlefield, one of the most important places in Scottish
history. It’s managed by the National Trust of Scotland and has an informative
visitor centre. However, Diana worked at the site previously, so she gave us a
vivid account of the final battle in the Jacobite Uprising.
At Culloden),
the Jacobites (mostly Scottish clansmen) lost 2,000 men, while the British
suffered a mere 300 causalities. The Duke of Cumberland’s dragoons (think of the
Outlander character Jonathan “Black Jack” Randall) chased fleeing Jacobite
clansmen into the Western Highlands, executing many of those they caught. The
Scottish massacre was so complete that the Culloden burial sites are marked by
clans, not individuals.
Those
clansmen who were not executed were often transported to the colonies, ushering
in the first wave of large-scale Scottish immigration to North America. The
British government also banned the tartan and kilt. The clan system—the social
order that had existed in the Scottish Highlands since before the days of
William Wallace—was lost to history.
Although
the clan way of life was formally eliminated, their sense of national pride was
not. In 2014, Scotland issued a
referendum on national independence. That, coupled with the release of Diana
Gabaldon’s Starz television drama, Outlander, has sparked renewed interest in
Scotland’s Jacobite Rebellion. The efforts of Bonnie Prince Charlie and the
Highlanders mark one of the most important—and ultimately tragic—moments in
Scottish history.
Our wonderful guide Diana
had arranged for us to meet the current McKenzie Clan Chief, Laird John Ruaridh
Grant MacKenzie.
We spent a delightful
couple of hours visiting with him and touring his home, Castle Leod. We shared
a dram of whiskey, while he gave us the background of the castle and all the
family portraits.
The relative most interesting to me was George, the 1st
Earl of Cromartie. A friend of Sir Isaac Newton and an ardent alchemist, he
spoke five languages and was against the burning of witches. A truly modern
man! His father Sir John, owned Staten
Island for a time, but sold it on account of “too many Indians and mosquitos.”
He also showed us the
giant chestnut tree on the back grounds, planted by Mary Queen of Scots’ mother,
as well as the only redwood tree in Scotland, along the front drive.
When she learned I was
researching sacred sites for my book, Diana took us to the Corrimony Cairns.
Sitting in a grassy
field surrounded by sheep and bordered by a small stream, the 4000-year-old
burial cairn and the standing stones ringing it are still intact. We had the
place completely to ourselves, so Diana gave me no information, just instructed
me to walk the perimeter and then let her know what I felt, if anything
I walked two-thirds
of the way around the stones, feeling like they were repelling me. As I rounded
the back of the cairn to complete my circle, it felt the opposite: the stones
were pulling me toward them. When I told Diana what I’d experienced, she
explained that an energetic ley line ran through the site, roughly along the
line where I’d begun to feel attracted!
That was my first
experience with the supernatural Scottish highlands. It wouldn’t be my last, as
we had two full weeks of sacred sites to visit with our next tour group, Gothic
Tours.
If you would like to
read more about sacred sites in the Scotland Highlands, visit my continuing
blog at www.writerSandy.com.
------------------------
I
live in Arizona with my husband, a super-smart Border Collie/Aussie mix named
Teak, and two huge black panther cats (18 pounds each), named Salem and Shadow
Moon. Their daddy, Magick, was even bigger! He's featured in my debut novel, Song of the Ancients, the first book in
my paranormal suspense series, Ancient
Magic.
They say write what you know, and I'm Wiccan, so my debut novel
involves witchcraft and Native American medicine magic. It's set in the
energy-laden town of Sedona, Arizona. It
was interesting to introduce the concept of witchcraft, seen through the eyes
of an ordinary, non-magical woman, and go through her reactions and disbelief
along with her. While I did a lot of research for this book, most of the
magical stuff I drew from my own Wiccan background and practice.
Sedona is but one earth "power site" in
the world. The Ancient Magic series will take Samantha and Nicholas, as well as
a few secondary characters, to adventures at other sacred sites. The second
book, Stones of the Ancients, will
take us to the ancient standing stones of Scotland, where I get to trace my own
heritage while researching the book. The series continues to Hawaii to learn
about Pele, the Goddess of fire and volcanos. The last book will be set
somewhere along the ancient icy land bridge of the First People, maybe Newfoundland,
Alaska or Siberia.
Book One – Song of the
Ancients is available now on Amazon, in both print and ebook.
Book Two, Stones of the
Ancients, will be available early 2018.
4 comments:
Sandy, what a treat. I loved reading about your trip and plan to read more on your blog. Hubs' grandfather was born in Scotland, so we've always wanted to visit. I hope you'll learn more about your ancestors and how they came to America. The part about the cairn was eerie and fascinating. I hope you'll write more about how this trip influences your stories.
Diane,
I will be writing a LOT more about Scotland. The next book in my Ancient Magic series will be set at one of the sites we visited...but I'm not telling exactly which one yet!
I'm Campbell Clan, btw. Do you know your Grandfather's history?
Wow, thanks for sharing part of your trip, Sandy! Scotland is definitely on my bucket list (hopefully sooner than later). Loved all the pictures and details, and now I'm even more excited to travel there. :)
Wow- what an awesome way to research a story. Thank you for sharing about your trip!
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