Scotland III - Exploring the West Coast (Dunstaffnage)

Ft William was the northernmost point on our Highland Loop. On Wednesday morning, we packed up our trusty Vauxhall and wound our way back down along the coast towards Oban. Our plan was to wander leisurely southward, catch the ferry in Oban, and spend the afternoon duffing about on the Isle of Mull. Things didn't go exactly as planned, but plans are flexible, and we had a stellar day regardless. It helped that our first stop was a castle, which we would have missed except that it popped up on Google Maps as I was looking at our route!

The MacDougall family chapel at Dunstaffnage 

The inner Bailey as you come through the Gatehouse

 I've always loved castles. Most of the time, my dream castles looked less like spired 19th-century romantic sculptures and more like Dunstaffnage. A keep built on a rocky outcrop over a natural harbor, it guards the entrance to Loch Etive for the MacDougall Clan beginning in the 12th or early 13th century. After some to-do involving Robert the Bruce in the 1400's, the castle passed into "Crown" hands and was held by the Campbells / Duke of Argyle for the next several centuries. An impressive gatehouse tower was added sometime around 1500, and the Jacobite uprisings of the 18th century saw a house for quartering English soldiers added above the original Medieval kitchen.

  One event that we saw mentioned several times throughout our Highland travels was the Massacre at Glencoe in 1698. When we were in Glen Coe, we ducked into the little thatched croft that houses their Folk Museum. Their display on the event mentioned (in both Gaelic and English) that government soldiers were under the command of the Campbells of Argyle. Upon reaching Argyle, the story omits that there were Campbells involved... It was an interesting peek into the centuries of divided and conflicting loyalties in Scotland. One of my few regrets on the trip was not getting to sit down with a local and talk about identity and how they see themselves!

We saw grander castles, greater houses, and more dramatic keeps on our trip, but this was by far my favorite castle stop. Being able to walk through the layers of history and see the transition in the walls from arrows to firearms, from the post-Norwegian period to today, oriented me in the timeline that we kept criss-crossing as we toured towards Oban...