Sunday, April 14, 2013
Saturday, April 13, 2013
The Riots
Ready to head back, I turned back after Smoo Cave, but I stopped at a road side marker. The marker indicated that this has been the site of the Durness Riots.
The Riots happened in 1841 and by 1842, all of the inhabitants of the village were gone. These were part of the clearances, which is a big thing in Scotland and can best be summed up by the landed gentry were having a hard time paying their bills so they evicted all their tenant farmers in order to graze sheep on the land - pushing the farmers to the coast.
At Durness, the sheriff was sent to give eviction notices and the cowarderly sheriff waited until all of the men were gone cutting thatch to serve this notice, which said they had to be out in 48 hours. The women were annoyed, so they tackled the sheriff and held his hand over a fire until the writ burned - thereby making it impossible to serve them - clever huh?
He came back a couple of days later to try again and again they kicked his butt, and this time they booted him out of the village without his mackintosh - harsh treatment in Scotland.
This was all very scandalous, and there were threats hurled both direction, but when the sheriff tried to raise a party to force the action - no one would join him.
So diplomacy prevailed and the villagers were given a year to find another place to live, which they did, and the land was given over to the sheep.
The Riots happened in 1841 and by 1842, all of the inhabitants of the village were gone. These were part of the clearances, which is a big thing in Scotland and can best be summed up by the landed gentry were having a hard time paying their bills so they evicted all their tenant farmers in order to graze sheep on the land - pushing the farmers to the coast.
At Durness, the sheriff was sent to give eviction notices and the cowarderly sheriff waited until all of the men were gone cutting thatch to serve this notice, which said they had to be out in 48 hours. The women were annoyed, so they tackled the sheriff and held his hand over a fire until the writ burned - thereby making it impossible to serve them - clever huh?
He came back a couple of days later to try again and again they kicked his butt, and this time they booted him out of the village without his mackintosh - harsh treatment in Scotland.
This was all very scandalous, and there were threats hurled both direction, but when the sheriff tried to raise a party to force the action - no one would join him.
So diplomacy prevailed and the villagers were given a year to find another place to live, which they did, and the land was given over to the sheep.
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Durness
I was still feeling adventurous, so I continued on to Durness. Part of this trip reminded me of Alaska. I am not sure why, maybe the desolation, maybe the unspoiled beauty, but it was fairly spectacular.
You have to go all the way around Lock Eriboll and this takes quite a long time, but then all of a sudden you are in Durness. There is not much in Durness and you can't help but wonder how these people get the stuff they need - there is no Tesco.
I stopped at Smoo cave - Smoo is Viking for Cave. I didn't go in because there was a little kid that was spending his Easter screaming at the top of his lungs.
I did smile as I watched the husband hiking fast and farther away from screaming child and mother - I suspect the car ride was jangling his nerves.
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| Across Loch Eriboll with Ganu Moran, Cranstackie, and Benn Spionnaidh in the background |
I stopped at Smoo cave - Smoo is Viking for Cave. I didn't go in because there was a little kid that was spending his Easter screaming at the top of his lungs.
I did smile as I watched the husband hiking fast and farther away from screaming child and mother - I suspect the car ride was jangling his nerves.
Sunday, April 7, 2013
Easter Sunday
We had 4 days off for the Easter weekend. I was pleased that I really didn't have any plans and decided that I would watch the weather and on a good day would drive West. I really hadn't been past Strathy Beach and everyone said the landscape totally changed past this point.
Saddled with a horrible cold, I watched the weather and decided Sunday looked like a good day. I struggled with whether to take the dogs. Badger was bound to be a pill about getting in the car, and Maggie is always a bit off without her fur man. So in the end, I packed up the car and left on my own.
I had no real plan, but to stop where I was interested and turn around when I was tired. Once I was past Strathy, everything was new.
The first little town was Bettyhill, and I was surprised to see that much of the road was single track - this is like the only road going West in this part of Scotland, and it's fairly narrow.
The landscape did start to change, and I stopped at Tongue and took some pictures.
I had an 'Oh No' moment when I came around the corner and a sheep threw itself in front of the car. I jammed on the brakes and swerved, but she was determined.
The good news is she bounced on the bumper and ran off. All the road in this part of Scotland were part of open range land for sheep.
The fishmonger had told me there was a great beach near here. I followed what I thought were the directions, but could not find it. I did find some spectacular views and had some nice 'hallos' with people that looked to be doing the same thing I was doing on Easter morning.
Saddled with a horrible cold, I watched the weather and decided Sunday looked like a good day. I struggled with whether to take the dogs. Badger was bound to be a pill about getting in the car, and Maggie is always a bit off without her fur man. So in the end, I packed up the car and left on my own.
I had no real plan, but to stop where I was interested and turn around when I was tired. Once I was past Strathy, everything was new.
The first little town was Bettyhill, and I was surprised to see that much of the road was single track - this is like the only road going West in this part of Scotland, and it's fairly narrow.
The landscape did start to change, and I stopped at Tongue and took some pictures.
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| Ben Loyal Across the Kyle of Tongue |
The good news is she bounced on the bumper and ran off. All the road in this part of Scotland were part of open range land for sheep.
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| Sheep Commute |
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| Eternal View of Ben Loyal |
Friday, April 5, 2013
Saturday Shopping
Our original Saturday plan was that we would go to Portabello market. Unfortunately, when we woke up the weather was still not nice so we headed to Selfridges instead.
After eating our salt beef sandwich - where Gill had to go: wait! you aren't making it right! We hit a couple of departments, but made no real purchases. They were having a shoe carnival, but neither of us saw anything we must have...this is unusual.
We wandered down to Liberty, which is my favorite store in London. It is a wonderful old fashioned wooden structure, and they have the best stationary. We checked out the home section, and there were some amazing unique things in there.
By this point the salt beef was gone and we realized we were ready for our cream tea. It took a bit to locate the cafe, and we finally found it by sound, not sign. We each got 2 scones, and we really only needed 1, but when you have clotted cream in front of you, it must be eaten, so we did our duty.
When the bill arrived, I told Gill we were paying with change. She stopped for a second and then said okay. We see Gill's wallet was bursting with change.
The waitress was good natured about it - at least to our face and we left feeling quite pleased with ourselves.
We wandered around the streets until we found an interesting wine bar and had a glass and great chat before going back to the apartment for takeout.
It was a blissful break with my good friend and could not have been a nicer treat for my birthday.
After eating our salt beef sandwich - where Gill had to go: wait! you aren't making it right! We hit a couple of departments, but made no real purchases. They were having a shoe carnival, but neither of us saw anything we must have...this is unusual.
We wandered down to Liberty, which is my favorite store in London. It is a wonderful old fashioned wooden structure, and they have the best stationary. We checked out the home section, and there were some amazing unique things in there.
By this point the salt beef was gone and we realized we were ready for our cream tea. It took a bit to locate the cafe, and we finally found it by sound, not sign. We each got 2 scones, and we really only needed 1, but when you have clotted cream in front of you, it must be eaten, so we did our duty.
When the bill arrived, I told Gill we were paying with change. She stopped for a second and then said okay. We see Gill's wallet was bursting with change.
The waitress was good natured about it - at least to our face and we left feeling quite pleased with ourselves.
We wandered around the streets until we found an interesting wine bar and had a glass and great chat before going back to the apartment for takeout.
It was a blissful break with my good friend and could not have been a nicer treat for my birthday.
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Gill's View
Like many old theaters, the seats were made for smaller people and many of us where a bit jammed into these seats that didn't have enough leg room and basically made you feel like you were sitting on someone's lap.
Gill had this guy in front of her that had to get up 10-12 times to let people into the row. Unfortunately, he seemed to be having continuous and severe wardrobe malfunction.
Gill had this guy in front of her that had to get up 10-12 times to let people into the row. Unfortunately, he seemed to be having continuous and severe wardrobe malfunction.
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Once
The plan was Gill was going to meet me in London the next day; however, there was a funeral she had to attend, and this changed all of the plans, and we were in a do-our-best sort of situation.
It just so happened that the UK was experiencing some snow, and in general, doesn't handle snow well. So as she tried to get back to Cumbria, the roads closed forcing her to turn around and catch an earlier train.
I went to Harrods and loaded up on snacks and treats and went back and laid out a spread for us for when she arrived. We had a good catch up and then we headed off to the theater.
We were seeing a show called Once; this is where everyone says - I never heard of it. Once is a movie that just happens to be in my top 10 movies of all time. In looking for tickets over my birthday, I was surprised to see it had been turned into a show - so I bought tickets.
If you haven't seen the movie, it is difficult to explain. It is quite an intimate movie, and I really could not imagine how it could be put on the stage.
The theater was fantastic - The Phoenix Theater is an old brick theater and they'd put up the scenery so that you could see the brick back of the theater over the top. Occasionally, you could hear the subway trundle underneath.
They really only had one set, which was a 3 sided bar and they moved in/out chairs, tables and a piano. At the beginning of the show and at intermission, the bar was functioning and you could go up and get a drink.
The mirrors on the set gave you a number of perspectives on each scene, and it sort of had the same intimacy as the film.
All in all, I was completely taken aback, somehow they had made something completely new, yet had been true to the original. It is hard to understand that sort of creativity.
It just so happened that the UK was experiencing some snow, and in general, doesn't handle snow well. So as she tried to get back to Cumbria, the roads closed forcing her to turn around and catch an earlier train.
I went to Harrods and loaded up on snacks and treats and went back and laid out a spread for us for when she arrived. We had a good catch up and then we headed off to the theater.
We were seeing a show called Once; this is where everyone says - I never heard of it. Once is a movie that just happens to be in my top 10 movies of all time. In looking for tickets over my birthday, I was surprised to see it had been turned into a show - so I bought tickets.
If you haven't seen the movie, it is difficult to explain. It is quite an intimate movie, and I really could not imagine how it could be put on the stage.
The theater was fantastic - The Phoenix Theater is an old brick theater and they'd put up the scenery so that you could see the brick back of the theater over the top. Occasionally, you could hear the subway trundle underneath.
 |
| The Set |
 |
| The Set / The Bar |
All in all, I was completely taken aback, somehow they had made something completely new, yet had been true to the original. It is hard to understand that sort of creativity.
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