After an action packed few days in Oban last week, my next dog-friendly #Woofhostelling stay with @hostellingscot was very different.
Molly and I spent a couple of nights on a slower paced but just as interesting trip at Cairngorm Lodge Hostel in the Cairngorms National Park!
I didn't even have to leave the hostel to find my first story! During WWII, this old shooting lodge was home to Norwegian commandos known as Kompani Linge.
One day, an overeager soldier accidentally fired his gun indoors, shooting through a window pane that the hostel still has!
They were to be parachuted back into Norway to carry out raids and sabotage missions against the occupying Nazis.
The difficult terrain in the Cairngorms was the perfect training ground due to its similarity to Norway, so Molly and I went to check it out.
Sticking close to the hostel, just a five minute walk away is Loch Morlich where we walked the flat 6km route around the edge - achievable for almost all abilities.
Dogs are even welcome in the boats and canoes that can be hired at Loch Morlich Watersports!
If you're looking for something a bit more challenging then 3-4 hours of walking will see you up Meall a Bhuachaille and back.
Molly hasn't done a lot of hiking recently, but this test proved that she's got a few Munros left in her! I'm not so sure I can still keep up though...
So after an enormous steak pie from the hostel restaurant, it was time to sit.
I caught up with a book and shared drams with other guests including a solo American visiting for work, two French girls hiking Ben Macdui and even Kathi from Watchmesee on her own Hostel adventure.
This is a place to get in touch with nature, from red squirrels running in the garden to grouse I heard up on the hills.
Take the dog hiking amongst the many peaks or just for a paddle in the Loch.
One of those lochs is extra special, but that's a story for another post...
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His story is long, but I'll try and condense it into a short thread!
When Scotland was left without a monarch, reeling in chaos and suffering under the thumb of King Edward of England, Bruce stepped up.
He had the best claim to the Scottish throne as a descendant of David I, but not everybody supported him.
In 1306, during a meeting with John Comyn in Greyfriars Monastery in Dumfries, Bruce stabbed his rival at the altar.
Nobody knows exactly what went happened, but the Bishops of Scotland absolved Robert of the sin and he was quickly crowned at Scone as King of Scots. Those celebrations didn't last long.
Today is the anniversary of the Glencoe Massacre, an atrocity that still stirs emotion over 330 years later.
After the 1689 Jacobite rising, an official government pardon was offered to any clan who swore an oath to King William by the 1st of January 1692.
Many clan chiefs waited for permission from the exiled King James. By the time that arrived, it was only a few days to the deadline.
MacIain, chief of the MacDonalds of Glencoe, arrived in Fort William just in time, to discover that the governor wasn’t authorised to accept
He was sent another 60 miles to Inveraray, with a letter to explain the honest mistake.
The oath was taken on January 6th & confirmation given that the clan was protected. However, the Scottish government had been looking to make an example and Glencoe was an easy target.
This is St Rule's tower in the grounds of St Andrews Cathedral and it dates all the way back to the 11th century, older than the cathedral building itself.
If you manage to climb all the 156 steps to the top, then you might find more than just a beautiful view...
The tower was once part of a large church built to house St Andrew's relics, you can just see a V-shape in the stonework where a roof once stood.
It's named after St Rule (also known as St Regulus), the man legend says sailed with Andrew's bones to the end of the earth - Fife.
In the late 14th century, the prior of St Andrews was Robert de Montrose, said to have been a fair, kind man but still very firm with the rules.
One monk in particular needed regular reminding of his duties and suffered the consequences of his slacking.
You might think you've never met any Norse giants, but if you've visited Scotland in Summer, then you almost definitely have!
This particular giant was exiled from Norway for being a terror, coming down from the icy mountains to bite off heads and drink villager's blood!
It's not like exile bothered him, he just waded through the sea towards Scotland. The giant slowly moved southwest from Caithness, spreading chaos and misery as he went.
Refugees fled before the monster, screaming warnings that it was after blood.
Eventually, the Scots realised they couldn't keep running. It was time to make a stand and they did so here, at the Bealach na Ba.
They dug a deep pit on one side of a narrow pass, filling it with sharp spikes, then a huge rope was tied tightly, strung from mountain to mountain.
It's feeling a lot darker and stormier in Scotland just now, the perfect for supernatural stories like this from Shetland!
Ertie, a young fisherman from Fetlar, had no fear of the waves. One stormy day, a tall, dark stranger approached him with a mischievous smile on his face.
Ertie immediately knew this was a Finnman. Shape-shifting creatures who lived amongst the waves.
The Finnman had a wager for Ertie. Since he thought he was such a great fisherman and wasn't afraid of a little storm, he bet that he couldn't catch a single fish before Yule.
Ertie accepted.
The wind blowed and the sea raged and even Ertie thought it best to wait a little. With just a few days to go, the storm finally eased and Ertie got his boat ready to sail, but he didn't have any bait.