We got up around 7.40, and had breakfast at 8.30. We headed out through Inverness to Culloden, site of the battle in 1746 at which the Jacobite forces of Charles Edward Stuart were defeated by the Duke of Cumberland's army.
There was a moderately-sized exhibition, including an audio-visual presentation, covering the events of the Jacobite Revolution of 1745, the retreat to Scotland, the decisive battle at Culloden, and the repression of the old Highland traditions in the decades following the battle.
We wandered out onto the actual battlefield, until a few years ago traversed by the B9006 road from Inverness to Nairn, but the road has now been diverted. A large cairn commemorates the battle, while various smaller monuments are to the various Highland clans, and the regiments of the Government army.
A few miles further on lies Cawdor Castle, and this was our next stop. The castle is the seat of the Thane of Cawdor, a title known to anyone who knows ``The Scottish Play'', but the castle of today dates from rather later and indeed is not even on the same site as any residence of Shakespeare's Thane.
Each room of the castle open to the public was full of items of interest, the author of the detailed descriptions evidently considering himself something of a wit, and we spent a long time working our way around the extensive castle.
We returned to the car for lunch, before heading back into the grounds. There was a large and attractive garden which we spent a little time exploring, and we took a brief stroll around the woods behind the castle.
Our final tourist attraction for the day was Fort George, a huge military base and fortress built on a peninsula jutting out across the Moray Firth in the latter half of the eighteenth century. The site is an excellent one from which to defend the Moray Firth, and at the time of construction it provided a much-needed base from which troops could rapidly be mobilised in case of further conflict with the Highlanders. There has never been a need to fire a shot in anger at the fort.
There was much to explore at the fort, parts of which are still in use as a military base. Part of the barracks showed what life would have been life for the common soldier at different epochs. Another wing had been turned into a large museum of the Seaforth Highlanders, and described in detail the history of the regiment, with artifacts and explanations of the various campaigns in which they have taken part.
We took a walk around part of the ramparts, looking out over the Moray Firth across to Chanonry Point, which we were to visit the following day. Also on the ramparts were a group of people in late eighteenth-century costumes, part of some event earlier in the day. Further entertainment was provided in the form of the sight of a soldier having great trouble lowering the parade ground flag for the night, and having to seek out help in the matter.
We left around 6pm as the place was closing, and drove a short distance along the edge of the peninsula to the village of Ardesier, in which we had seen various establishments which were likely to offer food. Finding somewhere reasonable, we dined there --- I had Garlic bread and salad, scampi, and ice cream.
We returned to Contin at 9.15, having taken a vaguely scenic coastal route into Inverness, caught the weather on the television, and relaxed for a while before going to bed.