A Water Beast, a Battlefield, and a Drawer Full of Porridge: Outlandish Discoveries in Inverness, a Scottish Gem Worth a Visit
Ever heard of Urquhart Castle? Or better yet, the Great Glen Way, which leads passed such fortress? No?! How about Inverness? That lovely city on Scotland’s northeast coast, a place full of history and hair-raising tales, end point of the Great Glen Way, and yes, stomping grounds of Jamie Fraser and his Sassenach. If the latter rings a bell, I hereby welcome you, my fellow Outlander-fans. If not sure what I’m on about, have a google and join the club, or simply stick with us till the end as I might have another HBO reference up my sleeve (or other garments)…
Outlander-fan or not, Inverness is definitely a place in Scotland you do not want to miss out on, as it’s home of a far more ancient celebrity who continues roaming the grounds (and lochs) despite its Hollywood competition — which one of the two is more fantastical is up to you to decide but both come with historical trivia I hereby would like to share in an effort to finally finish off my Inverness weekend, a story I’ve been dragging out almost as much as the NDW adventure, which I can assure you is finally on its homestretch. To offer a little change of scenery though, and being inspired by our ‘Doon the Forth’-paddlers myself, I figured it might be a good time to wrap up this little Scotland trip as well whilst sharing a fairly recent discovery that made me smirk, and still does, every time I have breakfast these days.
Before giving you a taste of modern Scottish delights though, how about another legend, one you’re most likely familiar with but if you’re like me, just can’t get enough of!? Let’s talk about that infamous ‘water beast’ an Irish Monk is said to have encountered and banished nearly 1,500 years ago. Let’s talk about ‘Nessie’.
The Monk and the Beast
In contrast to the cheeky fairies we encountered on the Isle of Skye and in Rosemarkie, this mythical creature is not known to have harmed any soul throughout the years. Well, not recent years at least, as the very first appearance unfortunately gave her a bad reputation, one that didn’t scare people off but rather attract them — human behaviour can be rather questionable at times, occasionally needing higher powers to come to the rescue.
Stories do vary but most of them go back to Saint Columba, the Irish missionary who helped spreading Christianity in Scotland. One day, the story goes, he was on his way to visit the king of the northern Picts near Inverness. His journey led him past some locals burying a man by the River Ness. When he asked what had happened, they explained he’d been attacked whilst swimming in the river, a suicidal act in itself if you ask me keeping Scottish weather in mind — as good ole Sir Connolly likes to say: “There are two seasons in Scotland: June and Winter.”
So, let’s assume it’s been June when this fearless soul ventured into the nippy waters tempting our favourite mythical creature to come out and play. Surely unintentionally, she ended up mauling the swimmer’s pasty body and dragged him under water. A sad way to go which did not stop Columba to ask for a volunteer to recreate the scenario — as I said, human behaviour and all. It did work though. Once he found another brave swimmer, Nessie appeared yet again but this time had to deal with the Irish monk who invoked the name of God and commanded her to retreat and never touch another man again. And so she did. I guess sometimes you just have to ask!?
That was the first and last close encounter with our more or less friendly sea monster, only a Pictish stone carving of an aquatic creature near Loch Ness bearing evidence of such occurrence. The legend was buried with the swimmer’s body, no sight of Nessie to be seen, until modern photography and punchy newspaper headlines made her resurface — or did they?
Hippopotamus, Plesiosaurs, or Just a Tidal Bore?
With the completion of a new road in 1933 passing by the shore of Loch Ness, its mythical waters started to receive a lot more traffic and close attention, leading to a couple claiming to have seen “an enormous animal rolling and plunging on the surface” — a story that was reported in the Inverness Courier in May 1933. Having had the loch to herself for hundreds of years, Nessie must have dropped her guard for a second, which led to a media phenomenon luring newspaper correspondence and curious tourists from all over the UK to the Scottish loch. Some sources say a circus even offered a £20,000 reward for capturing the creature.
If there’s a bounty, a headhunter is usually not far, wherefore Marmaduke Wetherell entered the scene. Wanting to be the first one to find the beast, the Daily Mail is said to have commissioned the big-game hunter who did not secure her head but instead found a footprint turning the legend into a fact, or so they claimed. A closer look revealed that the tracks of the sea beast were more likely the doing of a hippopotamus, a one-footed one, potentially stuffed.
The disappointment was huge once the hoax was busted. It stopped Nessie mania in its tracks, quite literally, but only temporarily as photos continued to appear in years to come. One of the more famous ones depicted a long-necked dinosaur-like creature leading to speculations she might be the last of the long-extinct plesiosaurs, a cold-blooded aquatic creature that probably would have struggled in recent ice ages venturing through a solidly frozen Loch Ness. With dinosaurs being long gone, for about 65 million years to get a better idea of its unlikeliness, other scientist suggested it could be an archeocyte, a primitive whale with serpentine neck, which has been extinct for only 18 million years.
Somewhat closer but still a bit of a stretch, leading to the less fantastical but plausible conclusion that people have been fooled by ‘seiches’ for the past century, subtle waves which are caused by the cold river water meeting the slightly warmer loch. From hippo, to dinosaur, to less exciting oscillations on the water surface, the mystery around the water beast remains and continues to fascinate tourists from all over the world.
Things to Do Around Inverness
Myself included, whereby I had a few other attractions on my trip agenda. Urquhart Castle was one of them, said to be a prime location to spot Nessie as its halfway up the loch, but also a highlight to take in when starting the last section of the Great Glen Way, a long-distance path a fellow hiker told me about which piqued my interest due to its challenging nature, as well as its end point bringing other fictional characters to mind.
The Great Glen Way itself is a 118.5 km-long trail along the major natural faultline that divides Scotland from coast to coast, the Great Glen, leading you passed Loch Lochy (most likely one of my favourite lochs for pure semantical reasons), Loch Oich (not bad either), Loch Ness and the towpath of the Caledonian Canal, which I ended up having a closer look at instead after running into a backpacker who just completed the trail, …and full disclosure, after getting slightly lost when trying to find the Glen Way as signage decided to hide from me that day.
It might have been a blessing in disguise though as the shattered but happy hiker made me realise that the trail experience is probably more fun and rewarding if done in one go, starting at the gateway to Ben Nevis, Fort William, trekking all the way up to Inverness. So, I decided to leave the Glen and Urquhart Castle for later and continue my explorative stroll along the Caledonian Canal instead, a spontaneous endeavour that needed no particular navigation skills as you can follow along the engineering masterpiece of Thomas Telford who linked the lochs with the help of 29 locks and 10 swing bridges, thereby creating a through route between the Scottish west to the Scottish east coast, an impressive constructional effort worth strolling along as well I’d say.
Not having walked the Great Glen Way, I still finished my day at Inverness Castle, the official end point of the trail, as my hostel happened to be right next it. Situated on the riverside, the castle offers lovely sunset views and conveniently links to the less adventurous but rather ‘outlandish’ reason for my Inverness visit. Having been destroyed and rebuilt various times throughout the centuries, the castles’ destruction by Jacobites at the command of Charles Edward Stuart might be most relevant to mention in this context as it takes us back to the Battle of Culloden which occurred shortly after such destruction. Not wanting to repeat myself as I’ve already elaborated on this piece of Scottish history when taking you to the Isle of Skye, but Culloden Battlefield is where we almost lost our beloved fictional character Jamie Fraser while he was fighting in the name of Bonnie Prince Charlie against the Hanoverian government army led by the Duke of Cumberland, son of King George II.
Similar to Nessie, there’s often some truth to the stories we tell, and lots of it in the case of Outlander, besides the time travel bit I guess, but such battlefield encounter did take place in 1746, and the Fraser clan, among many others, still lies buried in Culloden, which draws the attention of historical and fictional fans alike these days. Initially being one of the latter, learning about the actual history and walking the boggy field itself was terribly interesting and saddening, a well-rounded experience, not just due to the 360-degree theatre the Visitor Centre features, which I still highly recommend.
Outdoor Premonitions and Oaty Revelations
The same applies to the Skye day trip, a beautiful if yet rainy excursion I truly enjoyed and which, as it appears, offered a little premonition to my current shenanigans* now that I think about it. Besides having gotten continuously soaked on recent hikes, I also remember our tour guide Murray saying that I’d be good at this, herding and entertaining the crowds, at least when not being hauled out of the passenger seat, although I assume that also offered some drama and later on amusement to the rather gloomy day — life works in mysterious ways. Things that seemed insignificant at the time, might carry some weight down the line. So, simply keep going. Even if something does not appear to make sense right then and there, it might serve a purpose later on. A bit like the Scottish ‘Porridge Drawer,’ a Highland modification of your regular dresser which at first sight might not make sense at all, but if you give it some time, its product shall come in rather handy.
*The latest endeavour took me up to the Chilterns last week to complete some Lowland Leader Training, which caused a slight delay to this post but hopefully will lead to many more stories to come, and if nothing else, made me a pro in navigating my way along those trails going forward. No more signage required — Great Glen, you better watch out. 🧭 🗺️
Back in the day, instead of pouring their freshly made porridge into a bowl for immediate consumption, true Scotsmen and -women filled tin-lined drawers with such gooey deliciousness to let it cool and dry. They then cut it into slices just big enough to fit into those sporrans I already told you about which therefore not only protected the kilt wearer’s modesty but also kept him fuelled during field work and other strenuous professions, …such as selling the main ingredient for instance — I did promise another HBO reference, and being a woman of my word, I’d like finish with the following gem I came across when looking into ‘Scott’s Porage Oats’, the brand that always wants you to get out a pen and correct its spelling.
In an effort to distinguish themselves from competitors, they opted for a spelling combining ‘porridge’ and the French word ‘potage’ meaning ‘thick soup’. In case that wasn’t enough to set them apart, they also engaged a lovely face to sell their products, a face that might look familiar to some of us** and I think offers the perfect end to my praise of Inverness and its cultural highlights:
**If not quite sure or no clue at all, it’s Sandor Clegane, aka the Hound, from Game of Thrones, and I agree, he does clean up rather nicely.
Be it a hoax, an outlandish drama, or a lofty piece of fabric, the Scots do know how to pique your interest, and once you give in, they shall not disappoint. So, if Inverness has not been on your list just yet, I hope these little snippets of information might have encouraged you to reconsider. 🧳 🌍📍
Itinerary Bonus
In case you’re a Solotravelless (or -traveller) yourself who would like to skip the research-bit and just follow in my footsteps, here my full trip itinerary:
Day 1: Take an afternoon flight followed by a relatively quick and scenic bus journey to Inverness. Check-in at BazPackers before checking out Inverness Castle and stroll along the River Ness to Nessie Island which looks lovely at night with fairy lights illuminating some of its sections. You might come across one or the other tent on your stroll as wild camping is allowed pretty much anywhere in Scotland, although I would personally opt for a more hidden spot, unless I haven’t talked to anybody in a while which might have been the case with the friendly camper I passed by as he was going through his evening routine, roping strangers into random conversation being part of it apparently.
Day 2: Go for a walk along the Caledonian Canal, take a bus from the city centre to Culloden Battlefield, soak up some history, before returning to the city where some pubs might lure you in with live music filling the streets. If you hear something you like, just go for it, people are very friendly and when in Scotland, a nicely poured Guinness is always a welcome treat.
Day 3: Take a bus up to Rosemarkie for the day, where you can explore Caird’s Cave, stop by the Beach Cafe for Breakfast (Tubbeck is the way to go I’d say), give the Fairy Glen Walk and Dolphin Mile a whirl, before returning to Inverness to maybe pay Hootananny a visit for dinner and some more live music if you’re lucky.
Day 4: Join a Rabbies excursion to the Isle of Skye.
Day 5: Time to head home, get back to reality…
When was I there? 31 March – 4 April 2019
