Alba Gu Bra!

Loch Ness

Greetings fellow relatives, well-wishers and other readers.

March is crunch time for projects over here at UCC. Mix that with traveling somewhere different every weekend and trying to plan my month in the mainland and you've got my excuse for a delay in posting.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Scotland had to have been the coolest place I've ever seen in my short adult life. It's a little surreal knowing that just in three days, I stood on the spot of land where golf, the undisputed 'best sport in the world' was invented, saw where my ancestors raised and herded their cattle, spalshed my hands in a magestic Scottish loch, ate the parts of an animal that are usually thrown in the dumpster, and traveled to landscapes I had only seen during one of the dozen times I've watched 'Braveheart'.

If you've got about a half hour (or maybe longer...), I'll elaborate on what went down a couple weeks ago. This won't be a small post.

Where to begin? Really hard to decide. First, a little family history lesson. We took a bus tour to the Highlands. About 20 minutes after crossing the lowland/highland border (which is quite amazing as there is no gradual change in landscape, it's more of a BOOM! MOUNTAINS type of deal) I was told by our tour guide that we were in the country of the Clan MacGregor. According to the guide, our clan was an 'outlaw' clan. After years and years of a power struggle with the Clan Campbell, the McGregors had been 'outlawed' and relied on hunting deer, rustling cattle to survive. They became so great at doing this that other clans would pay the MacGregors to NOT steal their cattle. For future reference, the Campbells are a clan that aren't viewed very highly upon--as they were traitors, selling out many of the highland clans later on when the English sought to crush the Highland way of life. Cattle were the main commodity in the highlands... every year clans would herd their cattle down to the lowlands, so there had to be towns every 50 or so km for the Highlanders and their cattle to rest. In fact, cattle were so important that some of the highlanders would let the cattle in the house with them during bad weather.

But the main story the tour guide elaborated on was the story of Rob Roy. It starts with the war with on Clan Colquhoun for years over land and cattle, eventually wiping out most of the men. Refusing to become allies with the MacGregors, the remaining Colquhouns went to the King James VI and pledged allegiance to him in turn for revenge against the MacGregors. Now being completely banished, some of the outlaws such as Rob Roy, who was a Jacobite (didn't support monarchial rule) would steal from the rich oligarchs controlling the Highlands and re-distribute it through the suffering clans. He was seen as a 'real-life' Robin Hood in the Highlands and was a well-respected cattleman. I could go on and on about all this historical stuff, but I don't want to bore you, and there are MANY different sides to each story. A pub we stopped at on the way back from Loch Ness spouted some of these views. When introducing myself to the barman, he exclaimed his 'discontent' with the MacGregors, while the man next to me said "Don't take any of that to heart lad, the man's a Campbell. Never trust a Campbell!"

<-- Glencoe: best view I've ever seen!

But during the rest of our Highland adventure, we saw breathtaking landscapes, a highland bull, and experienced each season of weather within a matter of hours. The trip north to Loch Ness seemed like an Iowa blizzard, while the ride back down seemed like a humid, cool day in Ireland. Anyways, I had the seat up in front and my eyes were glued to the window the whole time.

The view at Loch Ness was great. I don't mean to go off on another history lesson, but the stories the tour guide were what made the trip. Back in the 7th century when St. Columba, a missionary from the island of Iona off the coast of Scotland, set out to convert the Celtics from their primitive pagan views to Christianity. He was having a rendezvous with a Chief and his clan in the Northeast Scottish Highlands. "You have one God, only one. How can one God's power be greater than all of our gods? We have a god of the sun, god of the trees, god of the water..." After much discussion, they all decided to take a dip in Loch Ness, and there... in the deep... came the monster. (This is where the tour guide keyed in the 'Jaws' theme song). The legend is that St. Columba saw a large, black figure in the water, and proceeded to pull out his cross, calling upon God to shield them from the beast. Sure enough, a ray of light shined upon the black mass, sending the figure back into the depths. In a state of shock and awe, the Pagan Celtic chief said "We have many gods, Saint Columba... but your God is allll powerful." So begins, the legend of the Loch Ness Monster. And the ensuing rabble of college students, Asians armed with cameras and dozens of 'Nessie fridge magnets.

Enough with the stories. Two more highlights on this trip for me were going to St. Andrews in the region of Fife to see the sights, including the Old Links, where golf, the undisputed 'best sport in the world' was invented. This sight was truly wondrous to behold, as the whole eastern side of the 18th hole was lined with miles of shell-covered beach. I wasn't able to get onto the course and snap a shot of the "hell bunkers" but do me a favor. Dig a six foot hole. Stand in it. Put a golf ball down. Try and hit it out. If you succeed, congratulations, you are one of the few people on this earth that could play at St. Andrews. Just make sure to call ahead a few years in advance to reserve a tee time.
To close with my experience, I gobbled down some Haggis, Neeps 'n Tatties (turnips and potatoes). Delicious. Want to know what Haggis is? Ok. Sheep? Those adorable farm animals that we cattle-farming McGregors see no purpose in? It's their lungs, liver and heart diced up with oatmeal, suet, onions and an array of other spices, cooked up within a sheep's stomach, served with Scotch whisky gravy. Not bad stuff, don't let your eyes decieve you. It's not something I'm going to drool at when I see in the menu or teach everyone to cook, but it was cool to say the least, that I can tell people I ate it.

Well, I better call it a day on this one, so far. If I have some down time over the next month, I'll tell some more stories about Scotland. Great country, coolest place I've ever seen, and it was an honor to see where my ancestors came from!

Slan
Brendan