Scotland the Brave

Sept 2012 by Frank

In the Autumn of 2012 a Movie was released called ‘Brave’ featuring a feisty young Scottish princess and the story of her avoiding getting married.

The film was much more than just a pretty story of a strong willed lassie, it was designed from the outset to remind people with Scottish blood of the spirit of their mother land.

By featuring beautiful scenery and characters based upon real people from the four kingdoms it calls out to that Celtic something written deep within the heart of every Celt.

It screams “Visit Scotland” so in September that is what just exactly I did.

First stop Loch Lomand, to enjoy lunch with friends Tand M who live just a stones throw away.

The next part of our journey took us through Glen Coe and over many hills to reach Oban, a small fishing town on the west coast. There was a reason for my wanting to go to Oban; it is the home of the ferry to Mull, and from Mull it is possible to cross to the sacred Druid Isle of Iona. Although Iona is perhaps most famous for its monastery, it is in fact a place sacred to Druids as a holy Island stretching back into the very mists of time.

Above, leaving the harbour of Oban heading towards Mull.

Below, the beautiful Isle of Mull:

Mull is simply breathtaking

IONA

I first found out about the existence of the Isle of Iona from a two part vivid dream that I had whilst only 16 years old.

I was so moved by the dream that stayed with me and did not fade, that I decided to look up if any such place existed and was surprised to find out that it does.

Since I was 16 I have always desired to go, to find out why this Island had called to me and to see if I would recognise its features as seen in my dream.

I guess that I should not have been surprised to find that this Island was most sacred to Druids and that the Sidhe once spoke with our ancestors here.

We arrived with just a couple of hours to spare on the Island, not enough time to do more than sense its presence and relate to its energy. I will be returning next year, gods willing. Left and below: Iona

After this pilgrimage, it was time to spend a few days of restful holiday. We had a lodge beside the great Caledonian Canal. Holiday accommodation in Scotland is good value for money and generally to a high standard whether it is a castle or a campsite that you are visiting. Be prepared for weather that can change every half an hour though!

If you are visiting Scotland then you simply must get a boat and go out onto a loch....we did this on Loch Lochy (Scottish Gaelic, Loch  Lochaidh) is a large freshwater loch in Lochaber, Highland, Scotland.. The ever changing light, with sky and water and mountains is a  photographers dream. I took the following just using my iPhone 4s

The is a colony of common seals located in the loch to see, and every few minutes the scene has changed before your eyes.

This is Scottish magic.

Time to explore the canal !

The Caledonian Canal is a canal in Scotland that connects the Scottish east coast at Inverness with the west coast at Corpach near Fort William. It was constructed in the early nineteenth century by engineer Thomas Telford

 

The canal runs some 62 miles (100 km) from northeast to southwest. Only one third of the entire length is man-made, the rest being formed by Loch Dochfour, Loch Ness, Loch Oich, and Loch Lochy. These lochs are part of the Great Glen, a geological fault in the Earth's crust. There are 29 locks (including eight at Neptune's Staircase, Banavie), four aqueducts and 10 bridges in the course of the canal.

 

The canal was conceived as a way of providing much-needed employment to the Highland region. The area was depressed as a result of the Highland Clearances, which had deprived many of their homes and jobs, and faced with laws which sought to eradicate their culture, including the right to wear tartan, to play bagpipes, and to speak Gaelic.

 

The canal would also provide a safer passage for wooden sailing ships from the north east of Scotland to the south west, avoiding the route around the north coast via Cape Wrath and the Pentland Firth

 

Any place with a name as powerfully evocative as ‘V’ surely deserves a visit. I was an 8 mile cycle ride from our lodge but worth it:

As the lock flooded to lift this boat to the next level, the crew of the boat moaned that the chap playing bagpipes only does so in order to drive everyone else off the boat with the ‘awful din’ to do all of the work for him!

Scottish humour.

What a great atmosphere it created

There is a further Druidical point to this page, but before I get to it, please read on because there is just so much to see and do and experience in this Celtic Motherland of Scotland and I would like everyone to see what I experienced and to consider going there themselves... because this place and its people will cast a spell on you and win over your heart

This is not our video, but I found it on you tube where someone has done a far better job than I of capturing the splendour of the Jacobite Railway

OK there’s plenty more to show you but that can wait. I have saved the best for last:

The Gaelic Druid Order join the Spiritual Accord

I had the great pleasure and honour to meet with a very special couple, Ruiseart and Cait Alcorn of the Gaelic Druid Order.

 

They did not know that I was in Scotland, or that I was coming to see them at the Clan McPherson Museum that day. It took less than a second for Ruis to recognise a brother Druid and embrace me warmly upon my arrival and I was deeply touched. After talking for hours on all manner of subjects Druidic and to do with our ancestors I was delighted that the Order is very willing to join the Spiritual Accord for Mother Earth.

Ruis’ and Cait

True Druids, and now also true friends