All aboard for a Jacobite cruise on Loch Ness
If you haven’t planned your May holiday, now is the time for a last minute scan of the web to see what is available here in the Highlands at Loch Ness. May Day has been a traditional day of festivities throughout the centuries both in Anglo Saxon and Celtic homelands. The festival in Scotland is also called Beltane and usually celebrated with a fire extravaganza on Calton Hill in Edinburgh, a great place to kick off your Scottish tour.
In Edinburgh on May Day it is traditional for the young women of the area to wash their faces in the early morning dew on Arthurs Seat. (a famous hill and landmark in the centre of the city). Here at Loch Ness there were many Pictish settlements whose people celebrated pagan festivals, these have all contributed to our rich heritage and culture.
On your trip to this area you can see much of the evidence of these ancient people – the Clava Stone Circle outside Inverness, the Chambered Cairn at Corrimony near Loch Ness and Urquhart Castle – built on the site of an ancient Pictish Fort. Inverness Museum has many Pictish carvings found in the area.
On your trip with Jacobite Cruises can visit Urquhart Castle. You can take the City Sightseeing tour to catch the boat at Tomnahurich bridge for your cruise down Loch Ness. You can also visit the museum before catching the tour as the bus picks up at the Tourist Office which is right next to the museum. All our driver/guides are extremely knowledgeable and helpful, so please don’t hesitate to ask them questions.
On your way out of town they will point out Craig Phadraig, the site of an ancient Pictish Fort; the home of King Brude, Chief of the Pictish Tribes. The Picts worshipped the sun, moon, the stars, wood and fire here at Loch Ness, they also paid homage to The Water Kelpie which through myth and legend has made this stretch of water world famous.
You too can immerse yourselves in this ancient Celtic culture and walk in the footsteps of these Pictish peoples by taking your May holiday here at Loch Ness. We look forward to seeing you!
Willie Cameron
Writer in Residence
