Monday 30th August 1819
Monday 30th August At nine o’clock we set sail for Ballachulish the day was very wet & the wind quite against us both which disagreeable circumstances greatly increasing towards the evening obliged us to land & sleep at a place called Appin where there is a very small Inn 16 miles from Ballachulish we arrived here at a very late hour.
OBSERVATIONS & COMMENTS:
Ballachulish (from Gaelic) means "the Village by the Narrows" at the mouth of Loch Leven.
2006: Ballachulish, Lochaber, Highland, Scotland seen from the lower slopes of Beinn Bhàn, by Lessthankris41. This work has been released into the public domain by its author, Lessthankris41 at English Wikipedia. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Balachulish_by_Lessthankris.jpg
As there was no road to the head of Loch Leven, the Ballachulish Ferry, established in 1733, was essential.
circa 1870: Ballachulish Ferry Hotels, photograph by James Valentine, in the public domain. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballachulish#/media/File:Ballachulish_Ferry_Hotels,_James_Valentine_photograph_c._1870.png
Ballachulish House was reputed to be haunted, and the drive leading to it was ridden by a headless horseman. Overlooking the narrows is the monument to James of the Glen, "hanged on this spot for a crime of which he was not guilty". Robert Louis Stevenson based his novel Kidnapped around the story of the Appin Murder. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballachulish
Appin village lies at the seaward end of the Strath of Appin.
2005: Appin Village , by Mike and Kirsty Grundy. This image was taken from the Geograph project collection. The copyright on this image is owned by Mike and Kirsty Grundy and is licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 license. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Appin_Village.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appin
Inn: The original 18th century ferry inn at Port Appin is now the Airds Hotel. Their website states Once through into the main hallway of the original 18th century ferry inn, the atmosphere of our family run, luxury 4-star hotel is one of a Scottish country house, where personal service, luxury and a gourmet dining experience are the very essence of all that is great about a visit to our exclusive retreat. https://www.airds-hotel.com/information/contact-us/ Lucy describes their accommodation as a very small Inn and some doubt must remain as to whether this is where they stayed.
Can you help us?
Old Regency Prints, Pictures an Coaching maps: Do you have access to any prints or pictures showing what town and country would have looked like when Lucy travelled through? Any illustrations of what she would have seen in 1819 will enliven our research.
New Pictures: Do you have any modern pictures of the streets, buildings, gardens and views that would enable us to see the changes that two centuries have wrought?