“We Scots are a people who are bound to our ancestors. Though we cannot look into their eyes, or hear their voices, we can walk in their footsteps and be where they once stood. We keep our ancestors alive, in our flesh and in our blood and we carry them within our hearts with pride because for as long as we remember them, they will truly never be gone.”
-Author unknown
By Nancy Dorrans
I am bound. I’ve been three times and Scotland keeps calling. The first time was in 1985 when I fulfilled a childhood dream and went with my grandmother. She was born Bessie Macleod in 1893 in the small town of Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis, the largest island of the Western Isles or Outer Hebrides.
We almost didn’t go. A few weeks prior I had sprained my foot, and then she fell and broke her elbow. It was risky but we weren’t planning to hike the West Highland Way. We were going there to be together, fulfill a dream, and visit with our relatives. And so, against those odds we went.
Remembering Queen Victoria
On the flight from Boston to Glasgow I was chatting with a man sitting with us while my grandmother napped. He was a professor of British history. He asked me how old my grandmother was. I asked him to guess. He said seventy-five. When I told him that she was ninety-two, he got excited and started doing the math in his head. After a moment he asked, “Do you suppose she’ll remember the death of Queen Victoria?” I had no idea and asked that he please not wake her up to ask.
When she did wake up, he asked. She recalled that they got half a day off school that day. He was thrilled to meet someone from that page in history! You can read more about that adventure in an article from 2016, http://thewestendnews.com/grandma-dorrans.
Visit Scotland Trade Show
Since that trip I have returned to Scotland two more times, once with my parents in 1994 and ten years ago with a group of travel agents to attend the Visit Scotland travel trade show. From the blokes in a pub in Glasgow to Torquhil Campbell, the 13th Duke of Argyll, the people of Scotland were gracious and friendly – albeit a tad bit hard to understand at times.
Our tour ended on a Thursday, which happened to be my birthday! It didn’t seem right to fly home on my birthday. So, my coworker and friend Shelli and I extended our stay through the weekend. The folks from Visit Scotland helped us with our itinerary and directions.
We rented a car in Edinburgh and headed west. Along the way we saw a sign pointing to a castle! Why not stop? It was in the town of Doune. The sign at the castle read: “Once a regal residence and also the site of a very silly film.” If you are a fan of Monty Python, you know. It was that castle! Shelli had no idea.
I asked the guy in the souvenir shop if they sold coconuts. He replied with a sigh, “Yes, we have the coconuts.”
Also, Outlander and Game of Thrones were filmed there.
The Duke had invited us to come and visit his castle in Inveraray, and so we did that too!
We drove on to Oban, the fishing whiskey village, and stayed the night. The next day we headed south to Tarbert. We took a car ferry to the Island of Arran, known as “Scotland in miniature” because of its mountainous terrain to the north and lush, green lowland countryside to the south. We spent one night at the lovely Auchrannie Resort. Another ferry across to Ardrossan and on to Kilmarnock to visit with my dad’s first cousin Jean, her son Gordon, and a few other cousins.
Then east to Aberdeen before returning to Edinburgh via St. Andrews. Scotland is a small country – about the size of New Jersey – so it is fairly easy to travel about.
Highland Games in our Backyard
If you are bound to Scotland at all then you know the draw. If you aren’t ready to travel overseas but want a true Scottish experience, I highly recommend the New Hampshire Highland Games and Festival in Lincoln, New Hampshire. It is always the third weekend in September!
Saturday is the day to go if you only have one day so you can witness the mass-band opening ceremony. There are over seventy clans and societies represented along with historic encampments, piping, drumming, fiddle, harp and dance competitions, strong man athletic competitions, whisky tastings, Scottish goods, crafts, Scotch eggs, meat pies… and so much more!
I’m planning to go to the NH Games this year. Though looking forward, I know I must return to Scotland again someday. I want to visit the Isle of Lewis… and the town where my grandmother was born… and maybe take a trip through the stones…
Till then, Safe Home. That’s what my grandmother would say!
Nancy Dorrans is a professional travel expert and founded Adventure Marketplace in 2014.
