Jake's Scotland Photography

Since I've had so many requests to see my Scotland photos, I've decided to make them the dominant theme of this page, although I've also included a few others that I'm fond of.

Many of these photos have been cropped to save space on my server. If there is something you really like and would like a full size pic of it, let me know what it is and I'll try to send it to you. Enjoy.

Click on the thumbnail to see a larger picture...

Here are a few pics from Glasgow. The first is the Glasgow Bridge over the river Clyde. Next are the Great War memorial and the National Piping Centre, respectively.

From Edinburgh: First is the Sir Walter Scott memorial standing an impressive 200 ft. high (the top is attained by humping up 287 steps...). Second picture is of Edinburgh Castle, pic taken from mid-level of the SWS memorial. Third and fourth picture are of the inside of the castle, w/ the last being the resting place of the "Honours of Scotland". They are the crown jewels (kept there since 1617) and the Stone of Destiny.

These pictures are of Roslyn Chapel. I could have spent weeks in here. Every square foot of it is ornate and has esoteric significance. The third pic is of an archway depicting the 7 deadly sins with the "jaws of lucifer" at the far right (alligator looking thing). The fourth pic is a strange inscription which is written in Gothic Latin, and translates to: "Wine is strong. The King is stronger. Woman are stronger still: but truth conquers all". Notice the small, carved blocks in the fifth picture. They are said to be the key to a riddle or possibly notes to a song. They are everywhere in the Chapel. The seventh picture is of the 'Apprentice Pillar' and the last pic is of the 'Mason's Pillar'. Both have a long legend or story attached, and are enigmatic for a multitude of reasons. Frankly, the entire chapel is an enigma.

These pictures are of Stirling and the surrounding area. The first is simply of a couple buildings that are the norm in the town of Stirling. The second is a masonic grave marker. Notice the pock marks in the top... those are from bullets. There were similar marks around the windows of the adjacent church tower... yes, people have been fighting over Stirling for a VERY long time.

The third pic is of a cathedral in Stirling and the fourth is of Stirling Castle, taken from the top of the William Wallace Monument (last photo). The Fifth pic is of the Stirling Castle entrance or gate (notice more pock marks around the verticle windows or firing slots...). The castle is home to the Argyll and Sutherland Highlander's museum. Seventh pic is of the William Wallace monument, taken from Stirling Castle.

The first picture is of me taking an old coal steamer (The SS Sir Walter Scott) down Loch Katrine. The steamer dropped me off in Stronachlacher, Rob Roy MacGregor's stomping grounds (2nd pic). From there I hiked to beautiful Loch Lomond (3rd and 4th pics). Got a quick shot of a little Shetland Pony while in Luss and on to Glen Orchy (Bridge of Orchy), the last photo. A number of MacIntyres have historically settled in Glenorchy.

The Simon Fraser University Pipe Band at the 2006 World Pipe Band Championships. A few of the band members are friends of mine, and I can safely say that almost everyone is a fine gentleman or lady.

They took 2nd in the world. There were hundreds of bands of all levels but SFU is the best of the best. In talking to some of their top rivals or competitors, many felt that SFU was definately the top band on the field that day. There are even those who believe that the winning band had a little help... The first pic is of SFU warming up while Jack and Terry Lee tune them, the second is of them in the throws of competition, and the third; awaiting the judges decision (and it was a hell of a long wait!).

The first picture here is of Glen Strae from the East end of Loch Awe (it was a beautiful hike), and then Kilchurn Castle after that (same area). From there I went after Ben Cruachan, the mountain or "Munro" as the Scottish call it, that is the dominant peak of the area (as well as the MacIntyre war cry).

The 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th pic are of my climb up Ben Cruachan. As you can tell by the 6th picture, the weather made it pointless to top the beast, so I didn't (I already have many pictures of fog). The last two are of Loch Etive, one of my primary destinations on this trip (yep... once again, MacIntyre land). That is actually a seal colony in the last picture... or a haggis colony, whichever you prefer.

I stayed the night in the Taynuilt Hotel then headed out to Loch Etive in the morning. The people of Taynuilt couldn't have been better. What a great little village.

A trek up Loch Etive was rewarded with Glen Noe (or Glennoe depending on the map), ancestral home of the MacIntyres. The cairn or Clan Chief's memorial is situated on the banks of Loch Etive (2nd pic). I traveled up the road at the mouth of the glen (3rd pic) until its end, then off across the ever so boggy glen to the River Noe (4th pic). Here I found a spot to draw water for cooking and such.

I set camp halfway up the glen, facing Loch Etive to the West (5th pic) and enjoyed not only a beautiful sunset between the munros opposite, but a crisp and reasonably clear sunrise on Ben Cruachan (last two pics) situated behind my camp at the top of Glen Noe. This part of the trek was all soul food!

The first pic here is of the Oban Distillery. The second is of the town of Oban from the West (the Roman looking structure on the hill is McCaig's Tower). 3rd you find the ruins of a castle in Oban (to the North) and the 4th picture is of the sunset in Oban as viewed from McCaig's tower. Its a "touristy" but beautiful little town and a major sea port to the West Isles.

On the way to the Isle of Mull, I snapped this shot from the ferry of a castle (I still don't know the name of it). The 6th and 7th pictures are taken on the Isle of Mull.

After leaving the Isle of Mull, I went to the tiny little Isle of Iona. This is the "birthplace" of Christianity in Scotland. The entire island is about 3 miles from top to bottom and has been a place of pilgrimage for many Christians for almost 1500 years. The ancient Book of Kells was written here and in 806 AD, everyone at the abbey was found dead (the result of a Viking raid).

The first picture is of the west shores of Mull to make the short jump to Iona. The tropical looking waters are probably a result of the warm gulf stream that runs past the West of Scotland. The 2nd pic is of the ruins of an ancient nunnery on Iona. The three pics following are of some of the VERY ancient, Celtic crosses found on the Isle in various places (some of them carved hundreds of years apart).

The remaining pictures in this series are all of the Abbey itself. It is currently being re-constructed and repaired (as a result of the Protestant Reformation wherein many Scottish abbeys were destroyed). I thought the last picture was a very nice example of the quality of craftsmanship you find so prevalent all over Iona Abbey (and much of Scotland for that matter). It is of white and green marble, and I'm told its local!

Although the first two photos are of low quality, they do the job of portraying the UGLY Scottish Highlands. They are seen here from the window of the train I took to Mallaig.

The next three photos are pictures I took from the shores of the town of Mallaig, a port to the west Isles. I was lucky enough to catch it on what I considered a perfect sunset. The 1st photo is looking south to Ardnamurchan Point on the mainland. The second pic is of the Isle of Eigg, and in the 3rd photo, you can see the mists blanketing the Isle of Rum to the West with a sliver of the Isle of Skye on the right. What an amazing sight it was.

The Isle of Skye is a very ancient and mystical place. There is much lore and legend surrounding the Isle and its inhabitants. In the first pic, you see a memorial of WWI with one of the "standing stones" in the distance. The origins of most of the standing stones of Scotland (and all GB for that matter) are largely unknown, but many of them date back as far as almost 3000 BC.

The second pic is of a chapel just outside of Dunvegan, and the remaining pictures are all of Dunvegan Castle (home to the 29th Chief of Clan MacLeod) and its gardens (which seemed to go on forever... it was just awful).

Here is the small sea-port town of Uig on the Northwest end of the Isle of Skye. As you can see, it is a beautiful little place and very quiet. I took a 5 hour ferry ride from Uig to Lochmaddy on North Uist, of the Hebrides, the western most Isles of Scotland. The top 3 pics are of Uig and the bottom 3 are of part of the ferry ride across The Minch to the Hebrides.

I arrived in the small, port town of Lochmaddy on North Uist. The local language is Gaelic and as you can tell by the 3rd pic, it is the language of choice. First pic is of some Eriskay ponies (Eriskay being one of the Hebridean islands). I'm told there are only about 200 of these ponies in the world and they are rarer than the Chinese Panda (but not in the Hebrides...).

The second pic is an all too familiar scene on these isles. Some families just cannot afford to repair their homes once something like a storm of 100+ mph winds comes through and wrecks them. They had just such a storm about 2 years ago wherein 5 of the locals on S. Uist lost their lives and many homes were ruined.

4th pic is of a great little cottage built in the tradition fashion, 5th pic is another Eriskay Pony that I lured in w/ candy and dried apricots. The 6th picture is of Lochboisedale on the south end of South Uist (the port of departure) and lastly; a Hebridean farewell from some of the locals and a lighthouse (I'm unsure of the name) on the way back to Oban. The dolphins were great and came racing from a good distance just to frolic in the wakes of the ship.

These are some pictures of Inverness and the area. The first is of the Inverness Courthouse (converted and updated castle). The second is of one of the buildings in the main city. Alas, I don't know what the building currently houses, but it sure makes for a nice picture. The 3rd pic is of Graeme MacKay as he performed in the Mansfield Castle Hotel in Tain. Graeme comes from a very musical family and I'm told was even taught a thing or two from the great Jimmy Shand (he plays a Shand Marino as well). The last pic is of the Cairngorm Mountains (notice all the purple heather...).

The first and second pictures here are of Castle Urquehart, the guardian of Loch Ness. The 2nd is just of Loch Ness (it was a beautiful day and 'Ol Nessy could be seen sunbathing on the adjacent shore...). Last photo is of my campsite on the field of a horse ranch in Drumnadrochit (a couple miles down the road from Castle Urquehart).

Here is some of the beautiful town of Inverary. First pic is of a store I found most interesting. My great grandfather was named Alexander MacIntyre. The funny thing is; he had a store in Anaconda, Montana called "MacIntyres" and it was a clothing store... The next two pictures are of Inverary Castle, home to the Duke of Argyll, and lastly is Loch Fyne which Inverary is pretty much built around. Inverary is also home to piping gold medalist Stuart Liddell who was kind enough to meet me for lunch and show me around a little. His is always good company.

Check back soon, I still have a lot of pictures I am uploading. Thanks for visiting.

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