Loch Lomond and Inveraray Castle

Loch Lomond

"O ye`ll tak` the high road, And I'll tak` the low road, And I'll be in Scotland afore ye. But me and my true love will never meet again, By the bonnie, bonnie banks o` Loch Lomond." 

Cameron House, our home for this explore..really nice

Yep, we are off to check out some of the romantic lochs of Scotland, the kind they write songs about. We had the pleasure of staying at the Cameron House located on the shores of Loch Lomond. The Cameron House is an 18th century baronial mansion. It is named for the peninsular shoreline on which it is built and the celtic phrase "cam sron" meaning crooked nose. Cameron House Estate was home to the Smollett family who were wealthy merchants and shipbuilders. Luckily for us, in 1986 it was converted into a very nice resort.

Guests can arrive or depart by seaplane, as well as enjoy tours of the area. The weather was quite "iffy" whilst we were here, and we definitely stayed on land (notice I didn't say "dry" land).

Inveraray Castle

We were happy to learn we were close to the home of Clan Campbell and just couldn't pass it up. Inveraray Castle (Gaelic; Caisteal Inbhir Aora) is located in county Argyll on the shore of Loch Fyne which is Scotland's longest sea loch. The castle has stood on this spot since the 1400's. It was built to take on its current appearance and grandure in the 1600's. Most notably it has been the home and seat of the Duke of Argyll, Chief of Clan Campbell, since the 17th century. The13th Duke and his family live here today.

The castle was the location
for the Christmas 2012
filming of Downton Abby.

The Armory Hall with displays of 1300 weapons. 

The Armory Hall is an amazing 21 meters (63 feet) high which makes it the highest ceiling in Scotland. The hall displays 16th and 17th century armament including pole-arms, Brown Bess muskets, Lochaber axes, and Scottish Broadswords. Other items on display here bring the history of the Campbell Clan into view. Among the items is the dirk and sporran belonging to Rob Roy MacGreagor who lived from 1671 to 1734. MacGreagor, usually known simply as Rob Roy, was a famous Scottish folk hero sometimes referred to as the Scottish Robin Hood. At the age of only 18 Rob Roy joined the Jacobite rising to support Stuart King James II who had been deposed during the Glorious revolution of 1688.