Day 11 - Orkney to Inverness

Our last full day in the Islands started early...damned early. To explain, I must go back to the previous day. Alex had presented us with an optional “added attraction” on our trip to Glasgow. Our tour schedule called for rising at a civilized hour, taking breakfast, some free time in Kirkwall to use as we desired, a mid-day ferry to the mainland Boarding our Luxury Coach at the Kirkwall Hotel and a leisurely drive to Inverness. Alex’s proposed that we make a stop at the Castle of Mey. However, to make the 9:20am opening, we would have to change from the noon ferry to the, uh, 7:45am ferry. This meant having our bags out by 5:30, taking a cold breakfast at 6:00 and being aboard the coach by 6:30. Being the intrepid tourists that we are, the decision was unanimous. Be-sides, on our trip to Scotland, we had visited but one castle (Eilean Donan not counting being only a “photo op”.)

So we gathered along the pier of Kirkwall at 6:30am and bid farewell to this lovely town. Hastily we boarded and headed south, past the Highland Distillery, the Italian Chapel and crossing back over the Churchill Barriers to the port of St. Margaret’s Hope.

On boarding our ferry, we now had time for a little hot food. I found that a bacon and roll hit the spot (a roll being more like, say, a hamburger bun.) Our passage proved to be most pleasant with excellent weather and a relatively The Swilkie Point Lighthouse, Island of Stroma warm morning. Though the trip was short, it proved to be very rewarding. Retracing our previous path, we had excellent views of the passing islands of Swona and Stroma.

As we pass from the Orkneys back to mainland Scotland, we traverse a stretch of water known as the Pentland Firth but also going by such names as the Orcadian Straight and the Sea of Orcs, the last being a reference to a Pictish tribe well known for its seafaring prowess rather than the creatures of Tolkien’s Middle Earth. And skill is needed to make this crossing for the Firth is known for its strong tides that give rise to tidal races, overfalls and whirlpools. These are especially prevalent at the north and south ends of Swona and Stroma. One prominent race is named “The Swilkie”. It lies off the north point of Stroma. The nearby whirlpool of the same name was thought by the Norse to be caused by a sea witch turning a great wheel to grind the salt that keeps the seas salty. We observed a number of them on our passage, generally appearing as white water similar to that produced by a shoal. Less romantic, the power of the tidal races is being tapped as the source for electrical generation with a 400MW project in the works. This would be enough power to light my town of Jackson, TN, with some to spare.

A tidal race or possibly a whirlpool off the south of Stroma

We made land at the scheduled time at Gill’s Bay and were soon on our way to Castle Mey. The castle was originally constructed around 1566 by the 4th Earl of Caithness. It changed hands and names a number of times over the years before being purchased by Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother in 1952. She set about restoring both its name and the castle for use as a holiday home. She regularly visited it in the months of August and October until her death in March of 2002. In 1996 she gave the castle and ground over to the Queen Elizabeth Castle of Mey Trust and it is now open for public show year round except for the last ten days of July and the beginning of August. During that time, the Duke and Duchess of Rothesay (that would be Prince Charles and his lovely wife Camilla) make their annual holiday visit. When open for the public, the Castle is arranged as the Queen Mother wished it; however, it is closed prior to the Duke’s visit to rearrange the furniture to his liking.

It is reported that the castle is haunted by the ghost of The Green Lady, the daughter of George, the 5th Earl of Caithness. The story goes that Marilyn Stewart, Amy and moi at Castle Mey she had fallen in love with a local ploughman. On the Earl’s learning of this, the unhappy girl was imprisoned in the castle attic and, in a fit of despair, she threw herself from a window. But then again, a castle without a ghost is a rara avis as the Romans would say.

As with many Scottish castles, Mey has a delightful garden. And as in many gardens, not only are there flowers but edible plants and at Mey are artichokes, a plant I have not seen elsewhere. And in addition, they also have a small petting zoo for children. Of course, Amy and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Everyone agreed that this stop had been a success. It’s not everyday that we colonials get to see how “The Royals” live. I guess I’m just glad it’s not our money they are spending.

Taking leave of Castle Mey, we headed west to Thurso and then once again turned south on the A9. We proceeded south along the coast taking a short detour t Barry with Linda awaiting their lamb’s liver lunch o the town of Dornoch for lunch. Dornoch is a seaside resort along the Dornoch Firth. It may be best known to some where Madonna had her son, Rocco, christened in the Dornoch Cathedral in 2000. On this day Alex, Linda, Barry, Amy and I took our lunch at the Dornoch Castle Hotel where four of us dined on the lamb’s liver. If you are neither a liver nor lamb lover, you probably are not impressed. However, as a lover of both, I found it irresistible to pass up this opportunity that had never come before in my lifetime and may not come again. Nor was I disappointed. The one abstaining from the lovely lunch of lamb’s liver was, of course, Amy who, not surprisingly, had the Fish & Chips and a pint of Tennents.

Thus satiated, we reboarded the Coach and made our way to Inverness for our dinner and rest. Sadly, tomorrow would be our last full day here in Scotland.