Scotland’s most beloved train has an accident, and a crucial community hub is saved
This year a British couple embarked on an expedition like no other, sailing from their home port of Yarmouth on England’s south coast to the far reaches of the Outer Hebrides, Orkney, and Shetland in search of Scotland’s wild horses and ponies.
Professional photographer and former jockey Karen Bennett and her husband, Mark, set off in their sailing boat SaltPot with the aim of capturing these beautiful creatures in their natural environment and as you can see, they have already achieved that aim, even though their trip is not quite over yet.
At the time of press, the couple were preparing to embark on their final leg home, and it’s been nothing if not an epic adventure, Karen says: “Some days we sail from 4am until dark to give ourselves the best chance to reach our next location, which is both exhilarating and exhausting!
“We need to be prepared for anything because we really are in the hands of the elements, and the animals appear and disappear in the blink of an eye.”
You can get the latest updates on the couple’s exploits on their Instagram page at @saltpotsailing
Words by KENNETH STEVEN
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PREVIOUS PAGE: The mighty ruins of Kilchurn Castle with magnificent Ben Cruachan looming behind
LEFT: St Conan’s Kirk was built on the steep shores of Loch Awe in the 19th century
I’m sometimes amused to think just what a difference a few hundred years makes in Scotland. Of course it’s true that daring to travel at all in the Highlands would have been an act of folly before the 1700s, but entering Argyll and the west (the part I now consider home) would have been a particular bit of madness. Unless, of course, you happened to be a Campbell or a MacDougall; those were the two clans that ruled the roost here for centuries.
In the earliest days of the re-establishment of Scottish independence, Robert the Bruce came to this part of Argyll to subdue some of those still intent on having things their own way. So it’s bristling with history that is very much in evidence from the moment you arrive.
I can’t think of a more exciting bit of train journey in Scotland than the route from Glasgow to Oban along the West Highland Line that sweeps around the north end of Loch Awe after creeping for some time through inland glens. All at once you have an open view down the many miles of the loch, and in front of you, as though conjured by magic for the re-enactment of Macbeth, are the mighty and ghostly ruins of Kilchurn Castle out on their promontory. In terms of sheer drama it’s hard to beat.
The castle dates back to the 1400s and was the domain of the Campbells of Glenorchy for 150 years. I suppose part of what makes it so dramatic is the sheer power and bulk of the mountain behind; the head and shoulders of Ben Cruachan – the mountain that dominates the whole county of Argyll.
There’s a story going back to the time of the first Campbells who built Kilchurn. Colin Campbell was nicknamed the Black Knight of Rhodes: he’d left behind Loch Awe and his wife Lady Margaret to fight in the Crusades. He’d been seven long years in the Holy Land when one night he had a strange and troubling dream; he was so troubled by it that he sought out a priest to confide in. Instead of offering words of comfort the priest urged
Castles don’t come much more picturesque than Crathes, but beneath the beauty lie tragic stories of ghostly gures.
The most famous is the Green Lady, spotted by many people over the years, including Queen Victoria. The ghostly gure appears either as a young woman carrying a baby or a green orb, gliding across the room before disappearing into the replace.
Said to have been a servant girl who became pregnant by one of the Burnett lairds, she disappeared mysteriously shortly after giving birth and the scandal was covered up. Whatever the truth behind the legend, when the castle was undergoing renovations in the 1800s, the skeleton of a baby was discovered underneath the replace of the Green Lady’s room.
Often forgotten, the story of the White Lady is much older, from before the present 16th-century castle was built. Back then the Burnett family lived on an arti cial island in a nearby loch and that was where the young Laird Alexander Burnett was preparing for his upcoming wedding.
His blushing bride Bertha was staying with the family in the lead-up to the big day, but like many ambitious mothers, Lady Agnes didn’t think Bertha was good enough for her only son. Alexander was smitten though, so there was nothing she could do.
That was until the Laird rode off to deal with some business, just days before the wedding. Agnes took the opportunity and poisoned Bertha during dinner and when Alexander returned, he was crushed with the news. Even though he strongly suspected his mother, there was no way to prove it.
On the day of the wedding, Bertha’s parents arrived to nd their daughter wrapped in a white shroud instead of a white dress. As they came face to face with Lady Agnes, a look of terror came over her. Pointing behind the grieving couple, Agnes cried, ‘She comes! She comes!’ before dropping dead at their feet.
It’s said that every year, on the anniversary of Bertha’s death, the White Lady appears, walking from the old island to Crathes Castle. Even after they moved, she didn’t ever want the Burnetts to forget about her fate. S
In his new book, Graeme Johncock brings together some of Scotland’s most intriguing stories, such as the Lady Ghosts of Crathes Castle, as told below…
