Kilmallie Stone Circle

In an ealier post I mentioned a stone circle that I had spotted on a trip to Glenfinnan. It was such an unusual thing to come across that I had to stop and take a closer look.

Located on land beside Kilmallie Hall in Corpach, on the A830 between Glenfinnan and Fort William, it's a modern circle of rocks from the Highlands and Islands of Scotland recording the history of Scotland from 3,125 million to 55 million years ago.

Each stone is labelled and comes from a different area and is intended to highlight the geodiversity of the region.

More information on the circle can be found here.

Roadside Cairn

On my recent trip north, and about three miles west of the Dalwhinnie Distillery, I spotted a cairn a short distance from the road and stopped to investigate and take some photos.

The cairn is a dedication to a 19th Century piper and teacher, Calum  MacPherson.

Calum Piobaire at Dalwhinnie

More information on the life and times of piper Calum MacPherson can be found at The Calum Maclean Project.

Bloody Saturday

Looking north towards the Firth of Forth

East Lothian, where I now live, is replete with sites of historical interest. Many are just a short distance away, and I often use the excuse of visiting them to take the bike out for a spin.

After adjusting the clutch recently, I made the short two mile trip to the memorial for the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh to make sure that everything was working as it should.

The battle site is now farmland, and the main A1 arterial road runs through what was, in 1547, the site of the last pitched battle between the armies of Scotland and England.

On this occasion, the away team won the day.

Instrument of War

Yesterday in 1746 James Reid was hanged, drawn, and quartered at York. He had served as a piper in the 1st Battalion, Lord Ogilvy’s (Forfarshire) Regiment, raised in October 1745 in support of the Young Pretender, Prince Charles Edward Stewart. 

He was among several men from this regiment left as part of the garrison of the English border city of Carlisle when the Jacobites abandoned their invasion of England, and was captured when the city surrendered to government forces in December 1745. 

At his treason trial  it was put forward in his defence that, as a musician, he did not carry arms and had not struck a blow against the Government. 

However the court ruled that “...a Highland regiment never marched without a piper, and therefore his bagpipe, in the eyes of the law, was an instrument of war”.

The pipes in the picture were played at Culloden in 1746 and are on display at the National Museum of Scotland 

(Via: scotianostra)