Tha seo inntinneach, nach eil? [This is interesting, isn't it?]

Not long after posting about the Stone of Destiny in Islay, I stumbled across a similar statement of belief on the Secret Scotland Blog. The entire entry is worth reading, and at the end is the reference to the Stone. I sent a message to Secret Scotland, asking about the story, and received this response from Mike: "My grandmother, long since passed away, told me the story. She was a MacDonald of Clanranald, a family connected to the Lordship of the Isles." As I said "Tha i inntinneach, nach eil?"

An Lia Fàil [The Stone of Destiny] A bheil e ann an Ìle? [Is it in Islay?]

We all know the story of Edward Longshanks stealing the Stone of Scone/Destiny and taking it to England. If you don't, you should. If you do, you might know what is believed to be the story.

I've been reading The Story of Scotland by Nigel Tranter, and in that book he presents his theory/belief the stone was given to Aonghas Og, the Lord of the Isles (or Islay), to prevent its being taken by the auld enemy.

I must confess to be unaware of this viewpoint but it seems he is not alone in that belief. Here is a link to a Wiki (the source of all knowledge ;-)) article discussing the Westminster Stone Theory. According to the theory, the stone was probably hidden on an Eilean Sgitheanach (the Isle of Skye).

Personally, with no evidence to support my belief, I like to imagine the stone was taken to the powerbase of the Lord: Finlaggan!!! If it's there, I wonder how close I was when I visited in May of 2009, and again in May of 2010?

Car hire, picked up at GLA, manual transmission !!!

It's been a while since I posted to OorAlbaBlog, and for that I am sorry. However, my situation has changed and hopefully, prayerfully, that will encourage me to be more disciplined in my blogging.

As readers know, we in the USA drive on the wrong side of the road. The steering wheel is also on the wrong side. Still, we have adapted. When we (J and I) were last in Scotland, which was too long ago (2010)and we miss her and our friends terribly, we hired a car from GLA (Glasgow Internation Airport) that I was to pickup. From there I would drive the auto back to the home of Pastor Marshall Cross (of New Hope Church), in Wishaw, and his wife Michelle. Pastor Cross was kind enough to convey me to the airport and wait while I conducted business at the care hire kiosk.

When it was my turn in the queue, I asked if the auto was an automatic transmission. I was told, politely, "No sir, it's a manual, just as specified in the contract. You did not request an automatic transmission." My response was "Well won't that be interesting." "Have you never driven a manual transmission, sir?" I was asked. "Yes", I replied, "but it's been a few years and it was never on the left side of the road, while sitting on the right side of the vehicle, and shifting with my left hand."

There were no other vehicles available so I completed the paperwork, went outside and explained the situation to Pastor Cross. I pleaded with him to avoid hills if at all possible during the drive back to his home. Not being familiar with the area I am unsure to this day if the route was a short cut of any sort, or the long way around, but we made it back with no incidents.

The next day my wife and I set out to drive to Tarbert, via Helensburgh. There we stayed overnight in caravan (arranged by Iris and Graham Terry, proprietors of Bluebell Cottage) prior to taking the CalMac ferry to Islay the next morning.

Jacqueline has told me I did a fine job of driving. What I remember is how mentally demanding it was to pay attention to the driving rather than the beautiful scenery. It's a wonder we did not end up in Loch Long as we drove along the A814 which seemed not much wider than our wee car. Here's a link to a short Youtube Video of Arrochar, which we passed through just before turning onto the A83.

Until next post, SLÀINTE.