DAY 9
Today we do "The Glen". I'm not going to name it as it is a place that
has just the right number of visitors at the moment and doesn't need to
become famous and suffer the way some of the world's great sites have
done. It is on a par with them, both with history, wildlife and
stunning beauty.
Sally: We hiked into a Clearance Village - it was powerful. I felt I
could hear the people chatting and the children running and laughing.
The Clearance was obviously so wrong.
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| I call this "taigh a'chailleach" - the old woman's house. |
DAY 10 - the last day
John: We had a really great dinner last night at the B&B, fresh venison, loin of Roe deer. The operator of the B&B was the one who prepared the meal. What an outstanding Chef he proved to be. Where we live, there are a lot of white tail and mule deer, but the the taste of the Roe deer is much different. In fact, it is much better and a lot more tender...no wild sage brush taste. Try it sometime, you will love it.
Scot: That will be the last you hear from John and Sally for this trip. Today is our last day together and I take them across Argyll to Glasgow for their flight home.
I do have a surprise or two on the way though.
Pic above. Charles Dixon-Spain, the laird of Dunans Castle, explains to John and Sally what I have just got them into, project wise. They are now also Lord and Lady McRae of Dunans Castle (no, really), on account of the gift I have just given them - a Scottish Lairdship. As our friend the Earl of Cromartie said to us once "If someone offers you a castle for free, run away". And so it is, along with many others, John and Sally own a wee piece of Dunans Castle land, their rights as Lairds are held in perpetuity and their presence will contribute to the restoration of this fine building over the next 10 years, a project that Charles explains with professionalism, enthusiasm and humour. John is most taken with this "fixer-upper".
Here ends this tour blog for now. I've had a grand old time with John and Sally on this Western Isles tour. It's been a very full time for all of us. I've learned much myself as I have guided them, especially about the comparisons between Scottish and Montana cattle farming. They are no longer "guests", but friends and I await to hear "news from the prairie".
Scot
