Aug 5

More history. We stopped at the Tarbat Museum and Church in Portmahomack. This is a small museum dedicated to the ancient history of the Picts. These were people who were here when the Romans came. They painted their faces while at war, thus the "pictus" from Latin, meaning pictured or painted. They were quite warlike, and greatly resisted the onslaught of the Romans. They eventually merged with people of Caledonia to become the Kingdom of Alba(700's). After the Vikings conquered, it became Northumbria(850). Later, the Gaels came from the west in Ireland, and they became known as Scots(900s and later into the 1100s). The term Scot comes from the Latin term for Gaelic, Scoti.
Excavations around the museum produced stones with ornamental pictures of animals and people. The Picts had no known written language, so this is all we have.
We drove into the town of Dornoch, the largest town in the Sutherland area. We had lunch in the old Courthouse, next to the old Jail(now converted to shops).
On our way to our next stop at Dunrobin Castle, we took a detour to the shore to see a few sea lions lounging on the beach.
We proceeded to Dunrobin, the Castle of the Sutherland Clan. This area got its name from the Norse who had conquered from further north, and this was the "southern land". The Sutherlands were mostly Protestant and loyalist in the various uprisings, and never really supported the Jacobites. Thus their lands and castles were not destroyed or plundered. The castle now is mostly of Victorian vintage, with many beautiful rooms, lots of wood and Oriental rugs. Before we toured the castle, we watched a falcon demonstration, which showed the capabilities of these birds.
Pix in an adjoining post. It seems that I am limited using Apple's Notes to uploading large files.