Seòras Outlander Tours

28/09/2024

The 5000 year old standing stones at Callanish in Lewis are Diana Gabaldon's inspiration behind Craigh na Dun

This was a rare visit here yesterday, we'll continue to go to Clava as usual!!

13/08/2024

My pal Graham getting a goal for Strachur and District Shinty Club at the weekend! 🏑👏👏

A comfortable 4-1 victory over Aberdour ended our season on a high last Saturday, as goals from Graham Love (Seòras Outlander Tours), Ross MacDonald (WEF Floorcoverings), Ollie Adrian (Benmore Farm Cottages) and a first senior goal for Nathan Morris (McNee Building Services Ltd) rounded off what was a comfortable performance for the home side.

Thank you to Aberdour Shinty Club for making the journey over 🏑

It was tight for man of the match this week, but in what was his final game for the club (so he says), Ross MacDonald was chosen as our man of that match this week after an impressive performance at full-forward, bagging his second goal in the space of two weeks.

Ross is kindly sponsored by WEF Floorcoverings, a carpet retail shop based in Tom-A-Mhoid Road, Dunoon.

The club would also like to take this opportunity to thank all of the supporters and volunteers for their efforts over the course of the season - if it wasn’t for you we wouldn’t be able to continue. We would
Also like to thank all of our sponsors for their continued and generous support, which has went a long way in helping us this year.

This was our third season as a joint effort with Dunoon Camanachd, and hopefully there’s plenty more to come!

More details on post-season events will be on the page soon.

🔵⚪️

09/08/2024

10 years since Outlander debuted!!

Except in Scotland, where the opportunity to watch it in 2014 was curtailed by the UK Government. They were terrified that it would show the British in a bad light in the run up to the Scottish Independence Referendum.

Outlander, the show that had David Cameron running scared!!

30/07/2024

An unusual one..

Had 2 lovely ladies from London on tour in Skye and it turns out they're both former fashion designers so I took them to the North end of the island to see something I thought they might like....

13/07/2024

Visiting Falkland today and couldn't resist this classic pose

11/06/2024

There's a place in Scotland called Dull !!

And it's twinned with Boring, Oregon 🤣😂

08/06/2024

A rare day off so I'm at the Strachur and District Shinty Club v Uddingston match in beautiful, but rainy, Argyll.

I sponsor one of the Strachur players so hoping for a big home win today!

15/05/2024

No prizes for guessing where I am!!

14/05/2024

Cawdor Castle located in the Scottish Highlands near Nairn, is known for its picturesque gardens and tenuous links to Macbeth

01/05/2024

Did an Outlander tour yesterday, as usual the team at Culloden Battlefield NTS outdid themselves with a wonderful presentation on life as a Highlander in the 18th century

29/04/2024

Today we concentrated on the MacRae lands with visits to Glenelg, Clachan Duich, Eilean Donan Castle.

Also Bernera Barracks, the Glenelg Inn and a few other stops on the way.

28/04/2024

Things I saw today

My guests had a morning boat trip to see the wildlife of Skye and the Inner Hebrides so I took the chance to walk down to the point south of Elgol.

28/04/2024

My guests got the best weather for their trip on the AquaXplore to Canna this morning. Thanks to everyone at Bella Jane Boat Trips

The view from Elgol across to The Cuillin 😍

27/04/2024

Things I saw today...

Touring from Edinburgh to Skye with a lovely couple from Texas

06/04/2024

Picked up a lovely couple in Edinburgh this morning and they are spending 3 days in the Torridon area with visits to Skye and Applecross on the itinerary.

The stark contrasts between Edinburgh City centre and the village of Shieldaig 😲

08/03/2024

In Outlander we see Jamie and Claire settling in what would become modern day North Carolina in the USA. I think everyone in North America is aware of the pivotal roles played by Scots and their descendants in the formation of the US and also Canada.

On my travels this week I visited the cairn at Dalmore, dedicated to Sir John A. Macdonald, the first Prime Minister of Canada. This monument is located near the village of Rogart, about 50 miles north of Inverness.

"𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐧 𝐚𝐭 𝐃𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞: 𝐀 𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐒𝐢𝐫 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧 𝐀. 𝐌𝐚𝐜𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐝

Text from the Rogart Heritage Society

𝐎𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐑𝐨𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐭

Although Sir John A. Macdonald was not born in Rogart, this Highland parish maintained a close affiliation with his pivotal role in establishing Canada as a nation. His Macdonald ancestry was regarded as being “of the parish.” The cairn was erected on the site of his grandparents’ house at Dalmore, using local stone.

Sir John’s father, Hugh Macdonald, was said to have been born at nearby Rovie Craig, where the family resided before moving to Fourpenny in Dornoch and eventually embarking on their journey to Glasgow and, ultimately, Canada. The very location of the cairn at Dalmore was where Sir John A. Macdonald's grandfather had lived. Interestingly, there is no historical record indicating that Sir John A. Macdonald himself ever recognized this connection to the parish.

𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐌𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥

The idea of a commemorative cairn had been discussed for years. In 1922, Colonel Gilbert Gunn of Inchcape advocated for one, drawing upon information from local historian Andrew Mackay of Dalmore. However, it was another Rogart man who had ventured to Canada in the 1920s and achieved success that truly catalyzed the project. This man was Hugh Macpherson, whose roots were in Blairmore. Hugh wielded influence both in Canada and the world of pipe music. His famous tartan shop in Haymarket, Edinburgh, and his service on the City Council made him a respected figure.

Hugh Macpherson rallied support from the Sutherland County Council, with Councillor George Murray of Morvich backing the cause. Additionally, Joyce Rawstorne, the landowner of the cairn site, lent her support. Another influential Rogart figure, Captain John Mackay of Corry, played a role. Captain Mackay, a distant relative, had a mother who was a daughter of Macdonald, the last tacksman of Dalmore. She recalled stories of Hugh Macdonald’s presence in Rovie.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐲

On July 13, 1968, the cairn’s grand opening ceremony drew over a thousand people. The Bonar and Ardgay Pipe Band paraded, and the 13th Canadian Prime Minister, John Diefenbaker, took center stage. Diefenbaker’s own people had been cleared from Kildonan in Sutherland, adding a poignant layer of history to the event.

𝐋𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐜𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐞𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

As time has passed, we’ve come to recognize the complexities of Macdonald’s legacy. His premiership, marked by achievements and controversies, now stands in a more nuanced light. While we honor his role in Canadian Confederation, we also acknowledge the darker aspects of his tenure—the treatment of indigenous peoples, the Chinese Immigration Act, and the scandals. Today, building a cairn in his honor would likely spark deeper conversations about history and responsibility."

And so, nestled in the Scottish Highlands, the cairn at Dalmore remains—a testament to a leader whose impact reverberates across time and continents.