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The Old Crow
| This is the page where the author shows the things and places that bring some pleasure to himself and Mavis |
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Blowing his
own trumpet
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2011 Christmas
| Christmas in Scotland 2011 |
I know it doesn't seem right, but Mavis and I decided to go to Scotland for Christmas instead of the normal New Year and we went to stay at the Claymore at the top of Loch Long, about 45 minutes drive from Glasgow. We boarded a coach in Oldham at 8.20 am on the 23rd of December with about 8 people, some of whom, like ourselves, were repeating the same holiday as the 2010 Christmas. We said 'Good morning' to the passengers who had boarded at earlier points and made our way to pick up the last ones at Preston, some from Preston and others from Blackpool. The coach then made it's way toward Arrochar, stopping at Tee Bay and Moffat, before reaching Glasgow, Erskine Bridge (over the Clyde for the fourth time) and Dumbarton to get to where, in our opinion, the words and tune about the Bonnie, Bonnie Banks start to have a slight effect. If you have a driver who has knowledge of the history and beauty of the surroundings, you find it relaxing and interesting on a long journey.
When you get to the turning to Balloch, you will, after a few minutes, spot the waters of the Loch and, in the distance, the magnificent Ben Lomond.
The loch is about 24 miles long, 5 miles maximum width, 620 ft maximum depth and the mountain is a 'Munro', which means that it is more than 3,000 feet high.
Mavis and I sat back, admiring the scenery, and hoping that dinner would be ready and good when we arrive, it usually is. Eventually the coach passed by the village of LUSS which, history declares, was one of the first settlements founded by St Kessog, son of the King of Munster. The saint came to Scotland in 510 AD and set up a church on Inchtavvanach, monks' island, opposite to the settlement of Clachan Dubh, 'the dark village' which is the former name of Luss where an effigy of MacKessog stands in the church.
How the name was changed to Luss will be part of the story when we are travelling back home in 5 days time.
The town of Tarbet is approaching and, with Ben Lomond growing larger on the east bank the loch seems to be narrowing but it opens again with the road, which we are travelling along, skirting the edge of the water. The road was formally called 'The Old Military Road'. When we reach Tarbet to turn left through the glen to Arrochar, our destination. Mavis and I mention about the same thing that we have said many times before when passing the village. 'We will stop and visit it' because we have been told that there are numerous places to eat and drink, It has a lot of history and there is an opportunity to sail on the loch. As we travel along the road, we pass a station where you can catch the train that links Oban to Glasgow and two miles further on, we can see Ben Arthur (Cobbler) which overlooks the northern end of the Ship Loch (Loch Long) and Arrochar. The village, Arrochar, stands in the shadow of the Cobbler, the top of which resembles a cobbler's last and the name comes from the Gaelic & Irish corruption of the Latin 'aratum' 'plough' and 'carrucate', a measure of land between 100 & 160 acres repesenting the amount of land which could be worked by one ploughing team in one year.
At the hotel, we are cordially greeted by David, the assistant manager, and he explains the initial directives that should make it easy to get to your rooms, well, it did for us. We found our room, conveniently near the lounge and concert room for two cronies like us and, after getting warm and refreshed, we emptied our cases and made our way to the lounge, for a nice cuppa.
For dinner, we were shown to a table which we were to share with Jack and Barbara, from Preston, a couple who had been at the Claymore in November, on an 'All Inclusive' and it proved to be a very good arrangement and a friendship to be enjoyed by all of us. Worra a good do! The dinner proved to be a bit of a mix-up, probably because of new staff and the normal situation that not everybody accepts their table arrangements. Some people don't realise that the staff, normally, sort things out and things work out with a bit of tolerance. Perhaps I'm a lucky so-and-so
After dinner, the four of us settled down into armchairs in the lower part of the concert room and, just relaxed. Some shut their eyes after the journey and the meal and I just gazed out of the window looking at the lights shining on the loch with the heavy rain making them shimmer. I'm glad that I'm indoors.
It's hard to believe that the land on the opposite side of the loch was occupied by Norwegians and English only spoken on the side where we sitting. History states that the Orkneys, Shetlands and the Kingdom of Suoreyjar (Southern Islands) comprising of the Inner and Outer Hebrides, Kintyre and The Kingdom of Man were owned by Norway (Vikings) since the 1100's. In 1240. King Alexander III of Scotland wanted the Vikings to vacate the mainland, on which the ports of Oban and Inverary stand, but, Hakon Hakonnson, the Viking chief refused and vowed that he would defend his land.
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THE STORY OF THE LEAD UP TO THE BATTLE OF LARGS 1263
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In 1263, about 200 longboats sailed down the west coast of Scotland to turn North/North West up the Firth of Clyde, passing the isle of Arran and Largs, the 50 ships continuing up Loch Long reaching Arrochar.The rest made anchor off Largs. The 50 ships, then, found that they had reached the northern end of the loch so they investigated a pass to the east and found another stretch of water which turned out to be Loch Lomond. From Arrochar to Tarbet, they dragged the longships over the two and half mile stretch, launched them into the fresh water loch and sailed toward Balloch, 7 miles to the south. Again, they came to a dead end, landed, then went overland to Dumbarton (a town on the Firth of Clyde about 20 miles from where they started the sail up Loch Long ) having routed the settlements on Loch Lomond on the way down, including Clachan Dubh (Luss). In Dumbarton, they looted 200 ship loads of goods, but their hold was shortlived, however, because they were routed at the Battle of Largs, later that year.
At Largs, the first storms of autumn forced Haakon to decide between abandoning the campaign or chancing a risky landing on the Scottish coast. Haakon chose to go for the landing. The Norwegians struggled through the storm-roiled surf on the west coast of Scotland only to be met on the beaches by a Scottish vanguard of archers and mailed knights, who commenced a running battle with the Norwegians on 2 October. (Ewan MacDougall had, by this time, decided which horse to back, and attacked the remaining Norse fleet.)
The bedraggled Norwegians were in no shape to deal with a hot landing zone, but found themselves unable to put back out to sea due to the worsening weather. They were equally unable to gain a secure beachhead for themselves in the face of the growing numbers of Scots that Alexander dispatched from their inland bases as soon as he learned of the Norwegian predicament.
After some 72 hours of debilitating and almost continuous combat, the weather lifted just enough to enable the remaining Norwegians to make a hasty evacuation, leaving most of their dead and wounded on beaches lit by the burning hulks of their ships. The Battle of the Largs marked the rise of independent Scotland and the terminal decline of Norways North Sea hegemony and was the last Norse raid on the mainland of Scotland.
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The victory was followed by the death of Haakon on return to Orkney, Norways cessation of the Hebrides to Scotland, and the Scottish takeover of the Orkneys and the Kingdom of Mann and the Isles. Scotland eventually gained Shetland too, as a wedding present.
Back in the Claymore, I was so confused why the Vikings had travelled about 50 miles up Long and down Lomond to get to somewhere which was much nearer at the start. After the Battle of Largs, the land around Arrochar belonged to the MacFarlanes, noted for their cattle stealing, but they sold it to the Colquhouns and the clan home, Invereach, was renamed 'Arrochar House' , now part of the Claymore Hotel.
It puzzled me that I relented to Jack's persuasive nature to drink a pint of Guinness that he was offering. AS IF
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Oh I've just remembered. I forgot to complain to Ronnie, the manager, about the RUNNING OUT of Guinness on the last night.
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Dancers from The Margaret Rose School of Dancing
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The entertainment started at about 8-30pm with Elaine, our receptionist/compere, introducing herself with a few songs and a build-up to a good couple of hours of songs from a male artist. Together with one or two drinks and the added company of Clark and Lynn, from Manchester, we settled back to an evening of good entertainment. Part of the entertainment which Mavis and I always enjoy is the highland dancing which is done by the dancers of the Margaret Rose School of Highland Dancers and the school children singing carols but, unfortunately, time ran out for the choir. However, the dancers did their usual top class display.
The pipe musicand dancing takes me back to my younger days when I was a piper in various English bands and the lads were obliged to take part in the dancing. I can still remember doing the Argyllshire Broadswords and the eightsome reel plus others.
After brunch on the next day, we all boarded the coaches for a trip to Oban and as appears to be usual on this trip, it is raining but,when the weather changes in this part of Scotland, the scenery appears to be different. We travelled round the top of the loch and turned up the A83 trunk road to climb 860 ft up the long road to the summit which is known as the 'Rest and be Thankful' and the name is well-earned when you look back and imagine the condition of the horses as they once laboured up the old road which can be seen below the modern road on the left.
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At the highest point, you can see Ben Donich, The Brack, Beinn Luiblean and Beinn an Lochain all of which are Corbetts, mountains between 2500 and 3000 ft in height. We turned off the A83 on to the Inverary Rd going, gradually, down through the moutains toward the coast and the town of Inverary but, before we reach the town, we have to cross a bridge where the driver slows the coach for view of Inverary Castle, this is ancestral home of Duke of Argyll. He is the chief of the Clan Campbell, and we all know about the Campbells involved in the massacre at Glencoe.
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Just a point that might interest you. You won't see the flag flying outside Jimmy Saville's home in Glencoe any more. God Bless Him.
We don't stop at Inverary this time, but, if you do stop, there is an historic jail and courthouse where you can listen to court procedures and it is extremely interesting. Driving up from the town, we are now making our way towards Oban, but first, we will pass Loch Awe and the Cruachan Hydro Electric Power Station which is hewn out of Ben Cruachan and powered by water from a 316 metre long dam on the top of the mountain. The cavern is the size of a football pitch with 4 generators supplying 400 megawatts of electricity. During the night, water is pumped back up to the reservoir. The station is also used as a conventional hydro plant system, pumping water back into Loch Awe.
I have a personal connection with the station, having worked on the 120 ton transformer when it was built at Ferranti, Hollinwood, in the early 1960's
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Onwards we go towards Oban, admiring the scenery with mountains and lochs on both sides, mile after mile, with sheep and deer in the glens and being able to relax. This is life, that's what all the people say. Six miles from Oban, we reach the town of Connel which is on the banks of Loch Etive and the name Connel is an Anglicisation of "A'Choingheal" which translates as "the white dogs" referring to the white water. At Connel, there is a bridge called Skerries and below the bridge is a phenomenon called the Falls of Lora. There is a ridge of rock at the narrows forming a sill more than half way across under the bridge.. The depth water over the sill at low water varies from just a few cm in places to a couple of metres. However, there is a channel about 30 meters deep near the southern bridge pier. This allows surprisingly large ships to make their way up to Bonawe Quarry. To the East of the narrows the loch is 30 km long, about 1 km wide and mostly 20 to 60 meters deep. The surface area is 28.8 square Kilometers. When the tide in the Firth of Lorn drops through its average 2.3 meter tidal range, that's a heck of a lot of water trying to get out through such a narrow exit! Roughly 66,000,000 cubic meters in fact. And, of course, on the flood tide it is all trying to get back in again
Do they work both ways?
Yes. They are more spectacular on the ebb tide but the view from the bridge eastwards on the flood tide is also impressive and great fun in a sea kayak
;  Skerries Bridge and The Falls Of Lora with Loch Etive in the background
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Oban was not very far away and sure enough we were going down the steep road towards the sea and the ferries. The name of the town comes from 'an t-oban' which, in Scottish gaelic, means 'The Little Bay' but during the Second World War, it was used by merchant and Royal Navy. One note of distinction is the importance of being the first Transatlantic Telephone Cable, coming ashore at Gallanach Bay. This carried the direct 'Hot line' cable connection between the US and USSR presidents during the Cold war. We were going to have a walk along the front but the heavens opened so, Mavis and I walked as quick as we could to our usual watering hole (about 4 minutes from the coach stop) to enjoy coffee, a snack and a few drams in the Caledonian Hotel. We were followed by a number of our fellow travellers so we all sat, comfortably, looking out of the hotel's bay windows enjoying the warmth and wetness (inside).
On the way back to Arrochar, the driver used the same route in reverse to be in time for afternoon tea at the hotel, and because Lynn bought a tape in Oban, we were able to enjoy a sing-song of christmas carols, etc. After going to our room, which I will say, was comfortable and clean, as well as being near to the dining, concert and bar rooms, we got ready for Christmas Eve dinner which we knew would be enjoyable. This proved to be true because our group made it that way, supported by the staff. After dinner, we had an evening of entertainment, good company and a few good drinks.
MERRY CHRISTMAS
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Sorry that the weather was too wet to go to church.
Christmas Day was treated as a day of relaxing, eating and drinking in a warm pleasant hotel. We certainly made it a pleasant, enjoyable day with friends and the staff helped a lot. In the evening, Elaine and, the male artist, Whisky Mac entertained us and finished a good day.
Boxing Day is here and Mavis and I decided not to go on the trip to Callander & Aberfoyle, because we've been to both so many times and we decided to spend some time around the village. We had brunch with everybody else and made arrangements with Jack and Barbara to meet at the Village Inn for a drink and a bit of lunch. Jack said that haggis was on the menu. After walking down to the Inn and enjoying the haggis, we were making our way back only to get wet through from the seaspray blowing over the wall on to the footpath. We finished the day off again as usual with a good evening but NO GUINNESS.
Next morning, after saying goodbye to the staff and the passengers on the other coaches, we started on our journey home feeling that we have had a nice break but we'll be glad to get back home.
When we passed Luss, I remembered that I was going to make a few comments about the history of the village. The recent history shows the village being used in the setting for the Television sit-com 'Take the high road'. In the 14th century, a Baroness McAustin was born in Clachan Dubh, married a French soldier and left for France when the French were fighting the English. She died in 1330 when her husband was fighting at the siege of Tournay. Her body was sent back to Clachan Dubh covered in flowers, particularly Fleur de Lys. The flowers were planted and have grown there, ever since. It was given credit for warding off the plague, shortly afterwards. The legend says that Fleur de Lys became Flower of Lus and so the village became LUSS
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We finished our holiday by calling at a butcher's shop in Moffat and buying some haggis to take home.
;  A man's a man's for a' that
WE'LL ENJOY IT ON BURN'S NIGHT
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Mavis and I are saying 'Thank You' to the staff at the Claymore and National Holidays and, if we are still fit , we will return next year for Christmas, if not before, and, hopefully, in a similar room
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Later this year, we will visiting OBAN, in March and just after our 54th Wedding anniversary, for an All Inclusive.
Alas, I only drink Guinness.
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