7 October: Up and dressed in clean clothes, I leave Fooh by
the window and walk up the small road as far as it goes, saying hi to cattle
and a man who waves from his precious croft house. Then Fooh and I are off to send
photos—this takes a long time from the UK
to America .
I get chatted up by a grungy guy who is staying at the hostel...precisely why I
don’t stay at hostels—they smell like dirty hair. Fooh grins his Cheshire cat
smile and says, 'A chat-up is better than no chat-up, any way you look at it.'
Now it’s time for a fun trip. We head over the Skye bridge, through
Lochalsh, east on A87, along Loch Duich, turn right at Shiel Bridge Mam Ratagan
Pass
Here are the Bernerra Barracks, completed by the Hanoverian
government in 1723, after the 1715 Jacobite uprising. They are still quite
intact but fenced off. What a shame, as they would provide an impressive
exploration op and historical insight.
We cruise through the settlement of Glenelg and continue on a tiny
road to Gleann Beag, home to three somewhat preserved brochs. The first we
explore is Dun Trodden.
30. Dun
Trodden.
It is a beautiful spot, with amazing views up the Glenn. Then a stop at
Dun Telve, the larger and more complete one, which stands under a canopy of oak
and sycamore trees.
These squat and round or somewhat elliptical brochs are thought to
be built by Iron Age farmers between the fourth century BCE and first century
CE, though the many interpretations of origin include Pictish towers and Danish
forts.
The double walls take up as much space as the living areas and
have stairs built between them, which lead to galleries.
31. Stairs in
Dun Trodden.
They are reminiscent of castle keeps, which also have these thick
walls with stairs, but brochs are so much smaller. It appears they had central
hearths and probably roofs made of timber—or something lightweight. Fooh
wonders if researchers have simply sat in the center of them to try to divine
how people lived here, since there are so many opinions. The floors are uneven
and lead some to believe the inhabitants did not live on the ground floor, but
kept their livestock here. There is evidence of spaces for floor support beams
in the walls.
It’s time for tea, so we back-track to Glenelg. The ferry here
still carries a few cars at a time across to Kylerhea, on Skye, during summer.
Before the 1819 completion of the road to Lochalsh, this was an age-old watery
passage to the Misty Isle. There is a camping ground on the shingle beach or
you can stay at ye olde Glenelg Inn. I make the mistake of thinking this is the
inn which lives on in Boswell and Johnson’s literary history, as an
unforgettable lodging. Not so. In 1773, the only lodging inn was the Ferry Inn.
It is now a self-catering house here, set above the narrows of Kyle Rhea. James
Boswell writes in his 1773 Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides:
As we passed the barracks at
Bernea, I looked at them wishfully, as soldiers have always every
thing in the best order: but there was only a serjeant and a few men there. We
came on to the inn at Glenelg.
There was no provender for our horses: so they were sent to grass, with a man
to watch them. A maid shewed us up stairs into a room damp and dirty, with bare
walls, a variety of bad smells, a coarse black greasy fir table, and forms of
the same kind; and out of a wretched bed started a fellow from his sleep, like
Edgar in King Lear, ‘Poor Tom’s a-cold’. [Footnote: It is amusing to observe
the different images which this being presented to Dr Johnson and me. The
Doctor, in his Journey, compares him to a Cyclops.]
If you like this area of the world and
want a bit of historical insight for appreciation, check out Boswell (and also
Samuel Johnson’s version of their tour, Journey to the Western Isles of
Scotland) for your enjoyment.
We are in
the Glenelg Inn pub on this late and (what’s new?) chilly afternoon. The
building looks Elizabethan to me, but I am always wishful of these things. I
find out it existed way back in 1875, at least, but burned to the ground in
1947. The east part of this inn is on the earlier stable block.
I have never seen
a pub so comfy—it takes me by surprise. A rock fireplace provides warmth, and
fresh flowers in vases add beauty. Lots of books fill the reading corner. There
are big candles and a slightly worn, warm red tartan rug, and Fooh entices the
friendly cat over here to finish the cozy ambience. The only downside is the
loud rock music the pretty bartender turns up...why doesn’t anyone around here
listen to pipes or fiddle? ~
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