DAY 18
Thursday June
9th 2016
Isle of Mull to
Oban Miles 60
Well today is St. Columba Day, which is a complete coincidence
as today is also the day that I went to the Island of Iona where Columba
established his monastery. Today has
also been somewhat of a day of rest; partly due to ferry bookings and partly as
I am feeling fairly frazzled with all of the driving that I decided I needed a
day off. I have also decided to abandon
my plans of visiting Islay. All of these
islands are incredibly beautiful, but there are only so many mountains, sea
lochs, single track roads and sheep that you can take. This will not impact my objective of
traveling around Britain by the road closest to the ocean as I will be driving
the Mull of Kintyre, the mainland route rather than taking Islay as an outer
route.
My B&B last night provided a lovely view across the Loch and
breakfast was fresh eggs from the hens wandering around the property. The couple who run this B&B come from the
North East of England, with relatives in areas that I have visited. They have been on Mull for 16 years,
originally working as a nurse and a carer for terminally ill patients. Her current job is much less emotionally
draining.
My B&B for tonight in Oban is another one booked through Air
BnB. It looks and sounds very nice, but
as I arrived on Iona I had a text saying would I mind moving into a single bed
in another room as their current guests wanted to stay for an extra night in
the double. On the basis that I thought
that this was a cheek and unprofessional and I had paid in advance and that I
was needing a good night’s sleep and did not want to change, I said no let me
have the room I’d booked. I later relented and sent a message to say OK let the
other couple have the room. The message
I got back was they did not mind moving after all, so, it seems as if we will
all be happy, but did they really need to ask me to change and by so doing,
irritate me?
On my way to Iona I had to stop for fuel. I drove past the petrol station first time as
it did not appear to have any bright signage, or indeed pumps. But, second time around I found a pump, close
to a pile of old cars that looked as if they were up for scrap. A friendly man and his even more friendly dog
served me. I had a conversation with
him, or at least I nodded and smiled as I genuinely could not understand a word
he was saying. Maybe his was the local
country accent of Mull. I expect all day
long he was wondering why this Sassenach just smiled at him and kept nodding
his head.
The Island of Iona is certainly a very peaceful place. It is quiet in that few people live there and
there are no cars. Of course 4 coach
loads of tourists all descending by ferry at once does make an impact. I wandered around slowly and went first of
all to St. Oran’s Chapel, which is the burial ground alongside the Abbey. I thought that this would give time for the
coach parties to disperse and return for the next ferry and in the gap between
I could see the Abbey in peace with few people around.
The Abbey was founded on Iona by Columba (later St. Columba) and
the work that he did was instrumental in spreading Christianity across the
British Isles. One of his later monks,
Cuthbert, went to Holy Island and founded the community there (which I visited
a couple of weeks ago). Columba was born
in Donegal in Ireland in 521 and trained as a monk. In 563 he came to Scotland and there is some
debate as to whether he came willingly or fled following a dispute over a
Psalter that he had copied that ended up in a fight with another Abbot. The west coast of Scotland at this time was
very much an Irish domain and he was given the Island of Iona by an Irish
noble. He founded the Abbey (not the one
standing today as his was made of wood and has disappeared). He is responsible for the magnificent
illustrated Gospels, now known as the Book of Kells. It was made in Iona by the monks, but was
taken to Kells for safe keeping from Viking raids in about 840. The Vikings on one occasion raided the Abbey
and slaughtered all 68 monks who were there.
Columba died and his bones were interred in a grave over which a chapel
was built. His body was later dug up,
after the flesh had decayed, and his bones placed in a decorated ossuary to
which pilgrims would come and pray. In
849 his bones were removed to Ireland and now reside in Downpatrick. A chapel on the same site still exists.
St. Columba's Chapel
Inside St. Columba's Chapel
Jump a few hundred years and the Abbey is destroyed at the time
of the reformation and becomes a ruin.
It was the magnanimity of the Duke of Argyle who in the 1960s paid for
the Abbey to be rebuilt on the ruins, which is what you see today.
There is an ecumenical community who live at the Abbey with
groups of people (mainly young) who come and stay for periods of time. Their focus is on social justice. They have a public worship time at 9.00am and
9.00pm every day, with occasional daily services, such as today at 2.00pm when
they would have a 15 minute Justice and Peace service. I was surprised though that nothing special
happened to celebrate St. Columba’s Day.
I sat quietly in the sunshine for an hour and then went to the 2.00pm
service.
Traditional Iona Cross
If you go to Iona make sure you do not miss the museum at the
Abbey. This is especially interesting
with a number of original Iona crosses on display. Entry to the Abbey is a reasonable charge and
you get a digital player and head set, which gives a very informative guide.
There are a number of places providing tea and lunches on Iona,
plus there are short walks to other parts of the island. I decided to find lunch and then not have a
meal this evening. I was recommended a
fish place at the dock, but when I got there the ferry was just loading so I jumped
on it. On the dock on the other side is
also a fish hut and I purchased fresh scallops and salad for six pounds. There were also fresh mussels and
Langoustines as well. (Clearly all the
Langoustines don’t make it to France).
Probably the healthiest meal I have eaten in 18 days!
I understood that Macbeth was buried in St. Oran’s churchyard,
which is next to the Abbey. It is said
that he lies there with 47 other Kings of Scotland. Unfortunately there are no signs of him or
any of the other Kings of Scotland in the cemetery. Over hundreds of years it has been allowed to
decay and for any old graves the burial markers have long since disappeared. (Macbeth died in 1057 so just over one
thousand years ago). Indeed it is only
speculation that royalty is buried here.
It is known that noble men of the isles were buried here and it has
always been seen as a place of spirituality from the days of St. Columba, with
pilgrimages being made, so perhaps it was the Westminster Abbey of its
time. However no proof remains, and the
48 “Kings” may only have been local nobles rather than full Kings of
Scotland. There are references in old
documents to this being a resting place for Kings so we can only assume that
the stories are true. I would certainly
like to think so and that I had walked where King Macbeth was lying.
I went to the information office and said I was looking for a
grave and could they help. “Ah you must
be looking for John Smiths” the young woman replied.
“Well no, Macbeth actually, he’s an ancestor
of mine”.
“Wow that’s great, but I don’t know where he is, only that he’s
in there somewhere.”
I searched all over
but the cemetery, apart from a few recent graves gives no clue.
For those of you who don’t know, John Smith was a Labour Party
Politician who became Leader of the Labour Party back in the 1980s. He was considered a very honourable and
honest man by everyone. He was serving
as Chancellor of the Exchequer under the leadership of Neil Kinnock, who all
the polls predicted would win the General Election and replace John Major’s
Conservative government. John Smith was
so honest that on the night before the election he gave a speech as to what
Labour would do when they came into power.
One of things he said they would do would be to raise income tax by
2%. Overnight the electorate reacted to
this news and did not vote Labour into power.
I suppose this is an example of why politicians are less than frank and
are what is said to be “economical with the truth”. Sometimes politicians make promises they
just cannot keep, but their pledge to do certain popular things gets them
elected. In the recent Canadian
elections, Justin Trudeau was elected, for reasons not just based on what he
promised to do, however, his first three big promises have all failed to
materialize and been pulled back on. So
now he has, early into his government, a real credibility problem that may come
back to haunt him.
The grave of John Smith is covered with pebbles, coins, flowers
etc. and lots of cards. I expect to hear
a request for sainthood coming shortly!
I feel that I have need to put a more truer account of my
ancestor than that portrayed by Shakespeare.
According to Shakespeare, Macbeth was a person driven by a lust for power
and urged on by his evil wife, who was prepared to kill to take the throne of
Scotland. The reality of the history
that we now know is very different.
Macbeth or MacBeadth MacFindlaech ruled as King of Scotland from
1040 to 1057. He was of royal blood as a
grandson of King Malcolm II of Scotland and thus a cousin to King Duncan who he
succeeded. He ruled as an Earl (or Mormaer) in the north west of Scotland
around the Moray Firth area and across to the western highlands. The northern areas of Scotland out to the
western isles and the east coast of England, down through the Borders and into
Northumberland, were ruled by descendents of the Vikings. Indeed it has been suggested by some
historians that Macbeth was a cousin of Thorfin the Mighty, Earl of Orkney and
Caithness. Macbeth was also known as the Red King. Likely he was red haired, which could
indicate Viking lineage
The lower western part of Scotland and north west of England was
traditionally under the control of people of pictish Irish descent, though the
Vikings had been strong in Ireland also.
Lady Macbeth, who was called Gruoch, was also of royal descent,
she was the grand daughter of King Kenneth II.
She was not MacBeadth’s first wife, who was probably Sybil Bjornsdotter
(or Bjorn’s daughter) the daughter of the King of Northumbia. He married Sybil long before he became King
and it may have been one of those marriages of convenience for the sake of
uniting lands and retaining power. He
does not appear to have had any children with her. Lady Macbeth was a widow when he married her
and she already had a son, Lulach. Her
husband had been Gille Coemgain, Mormaer of Moray and cousin to MacBeadth. He was killed in 1032 along with 50 of his
men when the building they were in was set on fire. It is thought that this was done by Malcolm
II, but some historians say it might even have been perpetrated by MacBeadth
himself. If the latter is true it could be
understandable as Gille Coemagain had allegedly killed his uncle MacFindlaich (who
was possibly MacBeadth’s Father) in 1020.
After his death MacBeadth then married Gille Coemagain’s widow Gruoch,
either as a prize, as he had killed her husband, or out of a duty of protection
to his cousin’s widow if it had been Malcolm who killed him. MacBeadth then took on the position of
Mormaer of Moray.
During these times power struggles were constant. Often the protagonists were related in some
way and so fighting could be seen as rooted in family jealousies and deep
seated arguments, but on a much grander scale.
The story of MacBeadth is very much one of these, involving his
relatives in both Scotland and in Northumbria.
It is now thought that the battle that MacBeadth had with Duncan, in
which Duncan was killed, was as a result of a raid on MacBeadth’s lands by
Duncan (aided by the Earl of Northumbria) and MacBeadth’s defence of his
lands. He had both title and lineage to
take on the role of King.
His 17 year rule was apparently a time of peace and prosperity
in Scotland. His ability to leave
Scotland in 1050 and visit the Pope in Rome is suggested as indicative that he
was confident that his kingdom would not be invaded in his absence. While in Rome he is said to have given out
large sums of money to the poor as a penance for the death of Duncan.
Lady Macbeth was also apparently a kind woman and she is
credited with starting the first widow’s pension. She is said to have offered to provide money
and support to the family of any man who was killed in battle fighting for her
husband. (Possibly this might indicate
that she saw MacBeadth as a protector rather than a captor).
In 1052 MacBeadth was involved in the strife in England between
the Earl of Wessex and Edward the Confessor by receiving a number of Norman
exiles from England, which angered Edward.
It may have partly been because of this that Edward encouraged Siward,
Earl of Northumbria to invade Scotland in 1057.
Alongside Siward was Malcolm, the son of Duncan, who wanted to avenge
the death of his father and take the throne that he felt was rightly his. At the time of Duncan’s death, Malcolm, was
only a child. He had fled to Northumbria
for safety. Now 17 years later he was
old enough to fight and he wanted the crown.
King MacBeadth died after a battle against Malcolm and Siward at
Lumphanin, in Aberdeenshire. It is
thought that MacBeadth did not die on the battle field but was seriously
wounded and was able to escape to his castle at Dunsinane in Fife, near to
Scoon. Here he died and the remaining
Earls gathered at Scoon and quickly crowned his Son, Lulach as King. Lulach was apparently a gentle soul without
leadership abilities. History has dubbed
him as “Lulach the Fool” and Malcolm killed him in battle 7 months later and
took the throne of Scotland as Malcom III.
Blue water, white ands of Mull
History lesson over, back to today. After my healthy lunch I decided that there
was no more to see on Mull and I would drive to the ferry and see if I could
take an earlier one than the 7.30pm, which was the only I had been able to
book. I got there at 4.45pm and was allocated
a place in the stand-by line for the 5.05pm sailing. I got up to number two in the line before
being told that the boat was full and I would have to wait for the next one at
6.10pm. Not a problem; across the road
was a bar/café that had been heaving with people waiting to get on the
ferry. As I sat down the owner said
“Sorry we close at 5.00pm” and cleared everyone out who were sitting on the
terrace, so I had to return to my hot car for an hour. The Spar shop next door to the café stays
open until after the last ferry. However I was surprised that a café/bar that
is clearly well used by ferry passengers would close at 5.00pm with more
ferries still to run. OK its his
business and he can do what he likes, but I bet he is also one of those who complains
that business on Mull is hard, especially when it is out of season and no
tourists are there. If I come again I
wonder if he will have shut down, if so, serves him right.
There was nothing for it but to buy some milk from the Spar
grocer and go and make myself a cup of tea.
While in the spar I also purchased a prawn pasta salad for my supper
tonight. So, I got all that I needed and
the Spar got extra business.
Oban
Arriving into Oban was also in the glorious sunshine that I have
had all day. Oban is a fine town that I
had not been to for over 30 years. I had forgotten how attractive it was,
especially coming in from the ocean. We
plowed through hundreds and hundres of jelly fish as the boat approached the
dock.
Tomorrow it will be the Mull of Kintyre and then the ferry to
the Isle of Arran for another AirBnB; this time a vegetarian one (who request
you bring no meat products with you into the house!). I can imagine that tomorrow night is going to
be fun!
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