Charlie, Meg and Me by Gregor Ewing sampler

More documents

Recommendations

Info

charlie, meg and me be getting on with, so I did my research and made a plan. There are good books detailing the Prince’s escape and some authors have travelled sections of the route. But no one had attempted to recreate the journey in a single outing. I decided to make this my goal, recreating as accurately as possible his movements during the period of flight. Travelling with me would be Meg, my five-year-old border collie. In the course of the journey I would visit all the sites that Bonnie Prince Charlie frequented, including houses, castles and caves. I dug out 1:50,000 Ordnance Survey Landranger Maps and started plotting. Having planned many hill-walking trips, the same principles still applied, although this was many times bigger than any journey I had undertaken previously. From the descriptions I had of the Prince’s escape, I started to transfer his route to the map. Sometimes the planning was easy, as a more modern path or road has simply replaced the old path that the Prince followed. In fact, some sections of General Wade’s roads built after the Jacobite rising of 1715 and which Charles occasionally used remain today. On other occasions following the route accurately meant foregoing paths and looking to find a realistic way through glens and across hills. I love maps, your index finger following a route, spotting points of interest whether it is a cave, a cairn or a section of General Wade’s military road. With unbounded enthusiasm I poured over maps tracing out the Prince’s route. On a few occasions how he got from one location to another is unknown, but in the main I followed W.B. Blaikie’s Itinerary of Prince Charles Edward Stuart; from his landing in Scotland, 1745 to his departure in 1746 (Scottish History Society, 1897). This was constructed from first hand journals and accounts in the Lyon in Mourning by Bishop Forbes, published by the Scottish History Society in 1895. Sometimes I would have to walk the modern, traffic-bearing road rather than a nearby path because that was the route the Prince took. My decision to be accurate wasn’t always going to produce the best excursion! Based on previous experience and taking my backpack into consideration, I estimated that I could travel 26km (approx. 16 miles) per day. Overall, the approximate pace would be four kilometres (2.5 miles) per hour, not including rests, and on climbing days the distance would be reduced according to the total amount of height to be gained. 22
introduction One day a week I would rest my legs. This was intended to be a tough physical challenge but one I was determined to enjoy. It was not a punitive speed march. During walking days I also had to retain enough energy to make camp, record my thoughts and cook a decent meal. I had been in situations before where I had arrived back at a campsite so exhausted that I had unzipped the tent, crawled in and crashed out without food or drink. Being on my own, I couldn’t afford to be blasé with my well-being or timetable. Quite soon I had a rough plan. Travelling through the Northwest Highlands, the Outer Hebrides, Skye and Raasay, I would be walking just over 800km (500 miles). Taking in a combination of modern roads, paths and trackless mountainside wherever the Prince’s party had walked. There would also be 500km (300 miles) of ferry and bus journeys. Amongst the sailings made by the Prince were journeys from Arisaig to Benbecula and Elgol to Mallaig. No modern day ferries run these exact routes so I would walk to the water’s edge where the Prince embarked and then take public transport to the relevant ferry port. After the ferry crossing, I would make my way to the point where the Prince landed. Reconstructing the journey in this way, I would still be walking almost exactly where the Prince walked in 1746. In the main, I would rough camp and sleep in my tent, trying to make sure that my campsites were located in as interesting but sheltered places as possible. I would also make use of a few bothies, the odd hotel and one hostel. There are also a number of caves associated with the Prince, ranging from a tiny one near Loch Arkaig, to a more commodious affair at Glen Moriston with its own running water. I tried to organise my days so that I would end up at a cave as often as possible. Whether I would sleep in Courtesy of Jim Barker 23
Page 3: gregor ewing has combined his passi
Page 6 and 7: First Published 2013 Reprinted 2013
Page 8 and 9: List of Maps The Complete Journey 7
Page 10 and 11: Acknowledgements my journey would n
Page 12 and 13: charlie, meg and me world and retur
Page 14 and 15: Notes on the text Although I believ
Page 16 and 17: charlie, meg and me Bonnie Prince C
Page 18 and 19: charlie, meg and me On 26 December,
Page 21 and 22: chapter 1 Introduction i have had a
Page 23: introduction Having spent a good de
Page 27 and 28: introduction Jacobites. He also lac
Page 29: introduction Dogs that we had met c

Charlie, Meg and Me by Gregor Ewing sampler

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?