View from Dunollie Castle

Sadly we leave Oban tomorrow. We finished packing and tidying the house in time to walk round to Dunollie for tea. As we left, it began to rain so we took the car instead, don’t want a load of wet clothes when we leave.

By the time we’d finished tea and looked at the exhibitions, the rain had stopped. Walked up the hill to the castle for the views. Even on a gloomy day, it’s fabulous. The island is Rubha Cruidh* (according to my little book of Gaelic Rubha is Headland, cruidh is possibly derived from the word meaning Hard) in Oban Harbour where a businessman has built a new house in the last couple of years. How wonderful, his own island. The big island curving on the right is of course Kerrera with the marina, and the channel leading into the distance is Kerrera Sound. Love love love :-)

Coming down from the Castle I met the Clan Chief [Morag}’s son who was on his way to lock up the castle. What a throw away line …. “I’m off to lock up the castle!” I love the dedication of the MacDougall family in sharing the collections and history of the Clan. I met Morag a couple of years ago when she served tea in the old servants kitchen on the day they opened to test the waters. Now they are open for the second year, and adding bits to the exhibits all the time. * since posting this I've come across another word crodh which says cruidh is the singular form. If so, the island is called Cow or Cattle Headland! [i]Update:[/i] Harvey remembers reading that cattle used to be shipped from Mull to Kerrera, walked across Kerrera to this little island and swum from there across the narrows to the mainland. Then they would be driven along the old drove tracks south to market. So the meaning is probably Cattle Headland.

See you all in a couple of days.