Culloden and Puppies (Oct. 8)

This morning was another semi-early morning. Ross brought us to Culloden battlefield, the site of the last battle on Scottish soil. It was the Scottish Gov. troops versus the highlands led by Bonnie Prince Charlie. The highlanders would normally attack down hill with shields and swords and overwhelm their opponent. But this battlefield had no mounds of earth, it was flat. Plus the highlanders attacked soldiers with guns and cannons. One can guess what happened. The highlanders (Bonnie Prince Charlie escaped) were killed mercilessly. Any wounded or captured highlanders were killed on the spot. This remains in the hearts of the clans involved in the event. It was emotional to know what happened on that spot. To make things more positive, we got some good group photos and saw the highland hairy coos (cows). They look really interesting.

left to right: Emily, John, Myself, Liz

 left to right: Caroline, Erin, Brady, Sarah, Brendan, Cooper, Liz

A note about Hairy Coos is that Ross our guide told us that whenever we saw the cows on the road, we were to yell out "Hairy Coos". So we did when ever we saw them.

What we saw after Culloden would probably be the highlight of our experience in Scotland for some of the people I am with. Sarah told us to make sure not to leave her at the next stop, because leaving would be extremely hard. You will understand in the next few lines. We arrived at Kingussie for a sheep dog and sheep display. This farm raises black face sheep and cows. They have a large tract of land, thus the need for dogs to collect the sheep. There were at least 10-12 sheep dogs on the job, each with their own command and whistles. Watching how smart these dogs are and well trained they are was fascinating. They can hear the trainer whisper from over 100 meters away. Fantastic. After the display, we were able to try our hand at shearing sheep. I did this. I also had the chance to feed lambs and a baby calf milk from bottles. When the cow drank all the milk from my bottle, it would head but my hand for more, but sadly I did not have more.

One sheep tried to get away, and got chased and brought back by 4 dogs. No sheep were harmed in this process.

Shearing the sheep. You hand shear sheep in the winter months so that it leaves a layer of wool to keep the animal warm. Otherwise, you would use the electric clippers to get closer to the skin. Sheep are very complacent when you place them on their back. They don't even struggle. It's interesting. Maybe they like the hair cut?

As I fed on of the baby lambs, a sheep dog puppy wanted some milk too. It was really cute.

Feeding the calf

 The cow drooled a lot

Next, the trainer guy brought out a literal bucket of puppies and set them down for us to play with. Everyone, including the hardened university boys were turned to mush when holding a 16-day old puppy. It was chilly, so I kept it warm in my hands. I wanted to put it in my jacket and walk away, but I left it sadly. Sarah, when she gave someone else a chance to hold a puppy, she went and scooped another up. Sarah said "She could tell they all wanted to go home with her." She was so happy, but then we all were.

"Simba, everything the light touches is our kingdom"

After the display, we had lunch in Aviemore and then onto the Glen Grant Whisky Distillery. The distillery was interesting, but I did not like the Whisky that we were given samples of. 

Had another night at the Hootenany, the pub with live music and went back to the hostel for sleep. I was exhausted.