Today is another bus tour – yes, we really like those. We didn’t want to rent a vehicle and drive, and so we thought these bus tours would be the best way to travel around and see as much as we could.
We were undecided about this tour, but the day before decided to commit! So we showed up to the pick-up spot early in the morning and set off!
The first thing we did was do a boat tour of Loch Lomond.
Loch Lomond is famous in Scottish history. There have been people living there since 5000 BC, with many different inhabitants and many wars fought. The Loch and surrounding area is actually divided among many different jurisdictions, formally owned by different clans and families. Now they belong to different cities/municipalities.
The castle on the island, now in ruins, was visited by James IV, in 1506, Mary Queen of Scots, in 1563, and James VI, in 1617. Among other famous Scots, it’s believed that William Wallace (Braveheart) hid out along the shores. There is an island called ‘Wallace’s Isle’, after the Scottish icon.
Inchlonaig (an island in the Loch) is known as the “island of the yew trees”. It is claimed to have acquired this name after Robert the Bruce ( King of Scotland from 1306 until his death in 1329) ordered the planting of yews. The yews were used for bow making for his archers.
Much of the shoreline is commercialized now, and most of the islands are privately owned, so there’s some beautiful buildings, but not much historical remains.
Now, why does Loch Lomond sound familiar to you? Perhaps it’s the song “The Bonnie Banks o’ Loch Lomond”. It’s a famous song that many believe closely ties to the Jacobite uprising of 1745.
One interpretation based on the lyrics is that the song is sung by the lover of a captured Jacobite rebel set to be executed in London following a show trial. The heads of the executed rebels were then set upon pikes and exhibited in all of the towns between London and Edinburgh in a procession along the “high road” (the most important road), while the relatives of the rebels walked back along the “low road” (the ordinary road travelled by peasants and commoners).
Another similar interpretation also attributes it to a Jacobite Highlander captured after the 1745 rising. The Hanoverian British victors were known to play cruel games on the captured Jacobites, and would supposedly find a pair of either brothers or friends and tell them one could live and the other would be executed, and it was up to the pair to decide. Thus the interpretation here is that the song is sung by the brother or friend who chose or was chosen to die. It is the condemned man who will return to Scotland via the low road then, and will reach Loch Lomond before his friend. who must travel the earthly high road.
You can listen to the song here on Spotify. This is a more traditional version than some of the pop covers that you find when you google.
From there we started driving through the highlands, and made a stop to see Hamish the highland cow!
This little family of cows is apparently quite the attraction. In fact, I stopped and saw them several years prior!
I took this picture of my friends feeding the cows almost 8 years ago, when I first visited Scotland in 2012. It was so long ago I honestly don’t remember the circumstances, but this is for real! haha. I’m not sure if they’re the same cows, but the little family we saw was pretty cute 🙂
We got to the main attraction in the early afternoon: Stirling Castle.
Before the union with England, Stirling Castle was also one of the most used of the many Scottish royal residences, very much a palace as well as a fortress. Several Scottish Kings and Queens have been crowned at Stirling, including Mary, Queen of Scots, in 1542, and others were born or died there. There have been at least eight sieges of Stirling Castle, including several during the Wars of Scottish Independence, with the last being in 1746, when Bonnie Prince Charlie unsuccessfully tried to take the castle.
Also, as a note, I ended up learning a lot of historical facts about Scotland while there, mostly about the royal family and monarchy and I’ll be honest – it’s super confusing.
Stirling Castle is huge, and pretty well maintained. The oldest parts date back to the beginning of the 14th century (1308 I believe).
I love Stirling Castle. It was wild to be there with my mom and grandma because it brought back so many memories.
Because, as I mentioned briefly before, I’ve been to Scotland before. Back in 2012 I was actually a performer in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival (it’s a big deal, look it up). And while we were there, we were able to do some touring around. And one of these tours was to Stirling Castle (with a stop to see the highland cows above haha).
So, as cheesy as it may seem, I made my mom recreate a couple pictures for me.
Man, the last 7 years have done me dirty, haven’t they?! If you can’t tell, the 2012 pictures are on the left. I was 17, still in high school. The girl on the right grew up, graduated university, and was on a journey of self-discovery (I guess?). The same place, 2 totally different people. It’s actually kind of crazy to see. And it was crazy to be there again because it was all so familiar! Like I was there last summer, rather than 7 years ago. I actually felt a little emotional about it – to be in the same place physically, but such a different place mentally, physically, emotionally. The place didn’t really change (clearly, by the pictures), but I was so different.
Crazy world we live in.
This throwback theme is only going to increase as we move to Edinburgh, so sorry in advance!
After wandering the castle and having some lunch, we had to head back to the city. We actually were at the Castle for a fair amount of time, and spent lots of time driving the highlands.
Also, just like most of the UK, the weather at the beginning of the day is usually different from the end of the day, as perfectly shown with these two pictures, taken hours apart haha!
Once we got back to Glasgow, we wandered around the center of town, did a little souvenir shopping, and eventually made our way back to our airbnb. We had to pack up and get ready to take the train to Edinburgh the next morning! It was a pretty simple tour, with some interesting facts told by our driver that I have since TOTALLY forgotten. But I still enjoyed myself!
This is an outtake of my mom and grandma at Stirling Castle. If you need evidence about where I get my stunning good looks, impeccable charm, and straight up gangster attitude, just look at the women who came before me.
We don’t stay in places very long haha! On to the next adventure!
Wandering Miss Emma.K 