New Travel Itch: Scotland

McTag - I had a feeling you'd been.....

Fman, geology if I'd be interested?!? Hello? If I go... yes. I do know the story of the land from pangea. I also learned that they have had two volcanic eras which caused two mountain chains and at least one (many?) glacial epochs which provided fertile lowlands between.

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@littlek,

littlek wrote:

McTag - I had a feeling you'd been.....

Quote:

"When watch fires burst across the main From Rona, and Uist and Skye, To tell that the ships of the Dane And the red-haired slayer were nigh; Our Islesmen rose from their slumbers, And buckled on their arms. But few, alas! were their numbers To Lochlin's mailed swarms; And the blade of the bloody Norse Has filled the shores of the Gael With many a floating corpse And many a widow's wail."

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I've never been to Scotland myself, but I drooled when January's National Geographic featured an article about the Hebrides. Whether or not you'll have enough time to get there from the mainland or not, they're a great place to phantasy-travel to.

Here's National Geographic's photo gallery.

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I was in Scotland for a few days 21 years ago. I felt as though I belonged there. It was kind of spooky.

I would dearly love to go back. So I guess you could say it's an old travel itch for me.

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Just checked with dad. Our surname comes from that area (probably). It originated from Normandy, though.

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@mac11,

Have been in Scotland in the 60's and 70's a couple of times and in the 80's with the navy.

Even got an "own" clan there Very Happy

(Though that souvenir reminds me more of Gerry & the Pacemakers' Ferry across the Mersey - but that's a different story.)

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@littlek,

I was stationed in Scotland in the mid 80's. Absolutely beautiful countryside with a castle on every loch. Should you go, Stirling Castle is a must see. This is not some show castle build to house government, this is the real thing with fireplaces big enough to cook a full spitted cow and stone battlements where the stairs have been noticably worn down by 500 years of rain. Extremely impressive! I also recommend Oban, a quaint port city with spectacular views and lots of shops and restaurants, the self proclaimed "seafood capital of Scotland".

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@Ceili,

Ceili, thanks for that, it's fabulous. Especially the bits about food and language.

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You're welcome. I howled the first time I saw it.

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@Ceili,

OH, my that was great!

The food part reminds me of my first trip to Scotland. This young man was trying to convince me and my friend to try Haggis. When we asked what was in it, he pretty much described it like this video and when he saw our faces turn green, he went on to say (quite seriously) - "It is quite savory really." We decided against trying their national savory dish.

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@Ceili,

Ceili- It's not fair. Only part of that is true.

Hey Thomas, I've been to St Kilda. It's so spectacular and a really special place.
But the photos were a bit arty, to my taste.

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@engineer,

Engineer, my father said that the place he most often saw our surname was around Stirling.

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@McTag,

McTag wrote:

History. This is on the isle of Skye

There's a similar cairn to the MacCrimmons (also by a piping school, now long defunct) hereditary pipers to the MacLeods. I'll dig out a photo of me playing my pipes beside it, and see if I can work out how to post it.

Not a long flight, my arse! but worth every second.

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@Eorl,

WOW !!! A giant petrifed chokito !

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@Eorl,

Eorl wrote:

McTag wrote:

History. This is on the isle of Skye

There's a similar cairn to the MacCrimmons (also by a piping school, now long defunct) hereditary pipers to the MacLeods. I'll dig out a photo of me playing my pipes beside it, and see if I can work out how to post it.

Not a long flight, my arse! but worth every second.

I wonder whether that is related to General Douglas MacArthur's family.

Does "Mac" mean something ?

David

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@OmSigDAVID,

OmSigDAVID wrote:

Does "Mac" mean something ?

David

Of course - otherwise it wouldn't be used: it's Gaelic for 'son', a patronymic prefix.

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@Ionus,

Ionus wrote:

WOW !!! A giant petrifed chokito !

and not even a chortle from the multitudes! (although I must admit - I read it first as "choko"!)

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@OmSigDAVID,

OmSigDavid wrote:

Does "Mac" mean something ?

It's Liverpool slang for "raincoat". Because it rains a lot in Scotland, the term got so popular there that the locals imported it into their family names.

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@Thomas,

A man named MacIntosh invented the rubberised cotton cloth for the first waterproof raincoats. Hence "mac".

Walter's right, of course, it means "the son of" and is a patronymic prefix.

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New Travel Itch: Scotland

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