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| Eilean Dolan Castle, the castle on the island |
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| Picture-sque Eilean Dolan Castle |
Next stop
was Eilean Dolan Castle, built some 800 years ago which, as Stocky was not shy to point out, is longer than our countries have existed. Yes Stocky, we felt our insignificance! It was quite a cool castle and certainly "picture-skew".
We were
spending the night on the Isle of Skye and so once again heard how the English have screwed the Scots
over. This time it was Maggie Thatcher, who kindly built a bridge between the island and the mainland, and then made
it the most expensive toll bridge in the world! After Stocky paid £41 for the
bus to cross, we stopped in Kyleakin at the Saucy Mary hostel.
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| The view from my front-of-the-bus seat |
Saucy Mary
was a woman who lived in a small castle on the point, charging sailors a toll to go past.
She felt a little bad about charging them this, so would give them a little bonus – by flashing her boobs at
them as they passed! And, we were told, we all had to do it too or when we left
the Isle of Skye the faeries would make our boobs fall off! I wasn’t about to
take the risk, so I duly performed my Saucy Mary to the ocean!
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| Stocky telling us about the MacDonald/MacLeod clans fighting and the one-eyed woman |
Monday
was a full day on the Isle of Skye and our first stop was at a river in Sligachan.
We learnt about the feud between the MacDonalds and the MacLeods and the story of the one-eyed woman and, for not the
first or the last time, we were taught of the “true, deep Scottish love; the kind of love you’ll only ever experience
if you love somebody Scottish, or if somebody Scottish (pause) loves you”. Apparently
the faeries helped make the ugly woman pretty again when she put her face in the water, and Stocky suggested we could all
benefit from such a spell. I couldn’t quite keep my face under the cold
water for the full seven seconds required, but I am sure I noticed a difference nonetheless…
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| Megan dipping her head in the enchanted faerie river |
Onto Portree
where the bakery was highly recommended for its 44p sausage rolls and 18p shortbread.
I ate well for breakfast! Megan, Justine and I took up Stocky’s
challenge to find out the name of the exploding whale from a nearby beach (a beached whale had to be disposed of and a little
too much dynamite was used, we heard…)
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| I couldn't help myself and had to take a photo of this dog park in Portree! |
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| Faerie Glen and Loch Faerie |
Another
highlight was the next stop, in the secret faerie glen. Stocky swore he brings
very few buses here, to the gorgeous little glen with small trees and bumpy land. I
could almost imagine the faeries living there. We didn’t see any though,
even after we climbed to the top of the Faerie Queen’s castle and did a little dance, much to the bemusement of some
passing hikers. We all made a donation to the faerie heart of stones, and made
a wish for “true, deep Scottish love; the kind of love…”
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| Everything's small in faerie land - look how little the yellow Haggis bus is |
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| A little road into the faerie glen |
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| Michelle is wishing for "true, deep scottish love; the kind of love you'll only ever experience..." |
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| The faerie glen, taken from the Faerie Queen's castle |
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| The faerie glen |
We stopped
next at Kilmuir, where we learned of Flora MacDonald, and then at Duntulm Castle, a castle cursed by the faeries and abandoned by the MacDonalds. I’m
just glad I didn’t look out that window! The story is that the chief’s
wife died in childbirth and so a nanny brought up the chief’s son. One
day she did a Michael Jackson impersonation and dangled the baby out the window to wave goodbye to his father…and dropped
him. She was drowned in punishment and now haunts the castle ruins, and any woman
who looks out the window will never have a child.
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| The impressive view from the top of Quiraing |
Click here for a panoramic view from the Quiraing.
We stopped
in Flodigarry for lunch and then worked that off with a trek up the Quiraing, for spectacular views. More stories followed, of silkies (Scottish mermaids) and Old Man Storr.
We headed back to the hostel for dinner, drinking and a live band. Although
I wasn’t about, I understand the high (and low) points of the evening were Dean playing his whistles, Beth falling over,
and something about mince…
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| The Quiraing |
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