Mike's Harp Adventures: Isle of Mull

I was really looking forward to the Isle of Mull. I took the ferry Lochaline to Fishnish, and drove to Tobermory.

Tobermorry is the largest town on Mull.

There is a lovely waterfront.

The boats are driven by birds.

The day after I arrived was the Mull Highland Games.

What a beautiful setting. On a golf course way up high.

There were lots of relay races and other little track and field events in addition to the piping, dancing, and Scottish heavy athletics.

I decided to sport a kilt this day.

The porta-johns here flush! (and have a stick shift).

Just in case you were wondering.

This was from someone's yard, on the walk back to town from the games.

Say what?

The path to Bloody Bay. I saw things on this trail that I simply cannot talk about.

Bloody Bay. From what Jo Ellen told me from reading in the Neil Oliver book, there had been a long-running envy by King James III for the power and lands of the MacDonalds and at that particular time John MacDonald was Lord of the Isles, with a lot of power and land "from coast to coast." Just before this incident, John had been persuaded by the "Black Douglases" and King Edward IV of England to rebel against King James of Scotland, which was treason. However, after using them as a diversion, Edward had some resolution of his situation and basically dropped out of the whole business, leaving John MacDonald to face the music with King James of Scotland. John was badly humiliated and stripped of land and titles.

John's illegitimate son, Angus Og, disapproved of this outcome and led the opposition against his father. Parliament named him as heir to try and appease him, but he eventually had a confrontation with John, his father. The story is that the son came to his father's hall where they had a terrible fight. Angus Og threw him out of his home and he had to spend the night sheltered under an upturned boat. Then, "opposing forces met in the Sound of Mull and amid the disastrous violence could be heard the death knell of a whole ancient world. The place is called 'Bloody Bay' now and Angus Og emerged the victor."

"The rock of Scotland is endlessly on the move, tectonic plates grinding mindlessly past one another on the way from somewhere to elsewhere. From time to time there is a jolt, a judder great enough to be felt through the feet or heard like distant thunder. Blood Bay was a seismic moment too. The hairline crack between Highlands and Lowlands became a yawning chasm, too wide ever to be bridged again. Once, it was all Gaelic - the first land and the first language we all had. For long after other tongues arrived, giving new names to old placed, the Gaelic world had remained part of the centre, the heart. It was a crystalline vein running through the collective identity of all Scots. All in an instant that day in the Sound of Mull, Gaelic Scotland became something else, something different - something threatening and something 'other.' The future was changed in that moment."

Basically, he implies that this is when the Lordship of the Isles imploded and changed the image of the Highlands and Highlanders. They lost their power and identity as a result of this inner struggle. What King James of Scotland or the English rulers had tried to accomplish happened without their direct actions. "Without the glue of a cohesive Lordship to hold everyone together, Gaelic society tore itself to pieces." He goes on to talk about how the Highlands and islands descended into lawlessness. King James pushed the influence of the Lowlands as the Scottish identity and took control of the Lordship of the Isles; the Highlanders were made to be rebels and outsiders without power. He talks about a sense of separation and Scotland's split personality.

Interesting note right after this on Angus Og. "He was strangled to death by one of his own followers, an Irish harpist named Dairmaid O'Cairbre." Gotta watch those harpists. O'Cairbre then was killed by being tied between 2 horses and ripped apart.

On a lighter note, check out this little guy:

Love those heeland coos!

After Tobermory, I worked my way to Fionnphort to see the sights and catch a ferry out to Iona and Staffa. I stopped and took some pictures of Duart Castle.

Yes, that is a photo, taken with my cheap digital camera. Check out the mountain backdrop. This castle and setting is so stunning, I've seen pictures on the covers of many books and Scotland travel guides.

I camped, and made a video of Mull of the Mountains at the campsite.

This was the view from my site. I really didn't sleep well. I was comfortable enough (a big air mattress in the back of the station wagon). A bit chilly-40 degrees at night. But from what I hear about the heat wave gripping the eastern US right now, I'll take it. It never really got dark. It was dusk till almost midnight, the moon was bright, and the sun was coming up at 4:00. And a noisy sheep came up to my window and decided to be my alarm clock. Oh, well. I'm not here to sleep anyway. Here are some more pictures from the campground: