Saturday 4th September 1819
Saturday Sept 4th We left Fort Augustus & breakfasted at Invermoriston ?***? this road to this place lies on the bank of Loch Ness the Inn is very good ; there a short distance from this Inn is a pretty
waterfall seen from a summerhouse; after breakfast we took a boat & crossed Loch Ness (5 miles) to the Fall of Foyers This cataract is decidedly the finest we have yet seen it falls down a precipice of about two hundred feet into a dark abyss of water surrounded by craggy rocks. This is called the Lower Fall the upper one is not so fine, but a pretty bridge is thrown over it and built on rock the rocks and distance distant foliage seen under it is beautiful. We then again crossed the water to a place called Rushie where our carriages were waiting & then proceeded on the banks of Loch Ness to Drumnadrochit an excellent Inn where took dinner we were much surprised within a mile of this place to see the face of the country so entirely changed cultivation appeared on all sides & the lake’s miserable hovels were changed into comparatively neat cottages a few miles further back are the ruins of Drumnadrochit Castle in an advanced state of
decay; after dinner we advanced through a comparatively flat country to Inverness 15 miles we took up our abode at Bennett’s hotel an excellent Inn.
OBSERVATIONS & COMMENTS:
Invermoriston: The village's most visited attraction is the Thomas Telford bridge, built in 1813, which crosses the spectacular River Moriston falls. This bridge used to form part of the main road between Drumnadrochit and Fort Augustus but was replaced in the 1930s with the new bridge used today. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invermoriston
2007: Invermoriston Old Bridge, Scotland, built in the middle of the 18th century. Photograph by James F Carter, the copyright holder of this work, published under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Telford_Bridge_at_Invermoriston.jpg
Lucy would have crossed this bridge by Thomas Telford when it was only six years old. The newly routed new road uses the 1930s bridge.
Loch Ness is known as the home of the Loch Ness Monster, a cryptid, reputedly a large unknown animal. It is similar to other supposed lake monsters in Scotland and elsewhere, though its description varies from one account to the next. Popular interest and belief in the animal's existence have varied since it was first brought to the world's attention in 1933.
2008: Loch Ness Panorama by Carlesmari, the copyright holder of this work, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Loch_Ness_Panoramin_July_2008.JPG
Loch Ness is the second largest Scottish loch by surface area at 56 km2 (22 sq mi) after Loch Lomond, but due to its great depth, it is the largest by volume in the British Isles. It contains more fresh water than all the lakes in England and Wales combined, and is the largest body of water in the Great Glen, which runs from Inverness in the north to Fort William in the south. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loch_Ness
Loch Ness, by John Fleming, engraved by J Gellatly, published by J Menzies, Edinburgh. http://www.rareoldprints.com/z/21765
circa 1880: Loch Ness, chromolithograph . https://antique-prints-maps.com/acatalog/ref1.php?imagefile=../largeimages/SELochNess.jpg
Glenmoriston Arms Hotel where Lucy would have enjoyed her breakfast and the Inn. It was originally a drover's inn, a stopover point for farmers taking their cattle to and from market. It dates to 1740, 6 years before the battle of Culloden. Part of this original structure is still in place today forming the Moriston Bar and Reception area with granite walls 3-4 feet thick.
From the Hotel's website, http://glenmoristonarms.co.uk/index.php
It was the meeting place for Johnson & Boswell when they charted their journey to the Hebrides and also a favourite haunt for Charlie Chaplin in the 1930’s. http://glenmoristonarms.co.uk/index.php & http://glenmoristonarms.co.uk/Glen_Moriston_Brochure.pdf
Fall of Foyers: The river Foyers drops a spectacular 140 feet in to the gorge know as the Falls of Foyers, and then runs into Loch Ness, in 1787 inspiring Robert (Robbie) Burns to write a dramatic poem about the Falls. The falls and gorge soon became a popular tourist attraction for the “gentry”, arriving by paddle steamer from Inverness. http://enjoylochness.com/activities/falls-of-foyers
circa 1880: The Falls of the Foyers ,chromolithograph. https://antique-prints-maps.com/acatalog/ref1.php?imagefile=../largeimages/SEFallsOfFoyers.jpg
2009: The Fall of Foyers, by Zenit and licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Foyers_Falls.jpg
Below, from Lucy’s sketchbook dated September 4th 1819, her sketch entitled “Bridge over the Upper Fall of Foyers”
The earlier print below of the Upper Fall, circa 1774, shows a more perilous bridge hung straight over the falls
circa 1774: Upper Fall of Fyers. Engraving by P. Mazell after W. Tomkyns. https://antique-prints-maps.com/acatalog/ref1.php?imagefile=../largeimages/SEUpperFallsFyers19.jpg
This waterfall influenced Robert Addams to write a paper in 1834 about the motion aftereffect. See https://www.illusionsindex.org/ir/waterfall-illusion
The Falls of Foyers by W. Beattie https://www.illusionsindex.org/ir/waterfall-illusion
Lucy’s sketch attempts to record the height of what she saw - “ Rough Sketch of the Lower Fall of Foyers Inverness-shire Sept 4th 1819” - below:
Inn: Possibly the Drumnadrochit Hotel. It was the landlady here whose sighting of the Loch Ness Monster in 1833 spurred much of the modern interest in the phenomenon. Today the building holds one of two exhibitions in the village devoted to the loch and its monster. https://www.scottishaccommodationindex.com/drumnadrochitpics.htm
Drumnadrochit Castle. Lucy is referring to Urquhart Castle, near the village of Drumnadrochit.
2014 : Panorama of Urquhart Castle English by Cédric Bonhomme, the copyright holder of this work, and licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Urquhart_Castle_Panorama.jpg
The first documentary record of Urquhart Castle occurs in 1296, when it was captured by Edward I of England, marking the beginning of the Wars of Scottish Independence, which would go on intermittently until 1357. Subjected to clan feuds, the castle was subjected to ruinous damage, but by the close of the 16th century Urquhart had been rebuilt by the Grants, now a powerful force in the Highlands. Repairs and remodelling continued as late as 1623. In 1644 a mob of Covenanters (Presbyterian agitators) broke into the castle when Lady Mary Grant was staying, robbing her and turning her out for her adherence to Episcopalianism. An inventory taken in 1647 shows the castle virtually empty. When Oliver Cromwell invaded Scotland in 1650, he disregarded Urquhart in favour of building forts at either end of the Great Glen.
1779-1790c: Castle Urquhart, in the Shire of Inverness, in Scotland from the Modern Universal British Traveller http://www.rareoldprints.com/p/16639
circa 1830: Castle Urquhart, Loch Ness. Granted by Charter to the family of Grant of Grant now Earls of Seafield. Engraving by W. Forrest after J. Fleming. https://antique-prints-maps.com/acatalog/ref1.php?imagefile=../largeimages/SECastleUrqhuartWF18.jpg
By the 1770s the castle was roofless, and was regarded as a romantic ruin by 19th-century painters and visitors to the Highlands. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urquhart_Castle
Inverness is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands.
2011: View over Inverness from the river Ness to the North , by Avarim , the copyright holder of this work, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Inverness-pano.jpg
It lies near two important battle sites: the 11th-century battle of Blàr nam Fèinne against Norway which took place on the Aird and the 18th century Battle of Culloden which took place on Culloden Moor. It is the northernmost city in the United Kingdom and lies within the Great Glen (Gleann Mòr) at its north-eastern extremity where the River Ness enters the Moray Firth. The Gaelic king Mac Bethad Mac Findláich (MacBeth) whose 11th-century killing of King Duncan was immortalised in Shakespeare's largely fictionalized play Macbeth, held a castle within the city where he ruled as Mormaer of Moray and Ross.
circa 1800: A view of Inverness in Scotland, with its bridge over the River Ness and Fort George on an Eminence near it, engraved for "The Modern Universal British Traveller." https://antique-prints-maps.com/acatalog/ref1.php?imagefile=../largeimages/SEInvernessEngTrav.JPG
In 1562, during the progress undertaken to suppress Huntly's insurrection, Mary, Queen of Scots, was denied admittance into Inverness Castle by the governor, who belonged to the earl's faction, and whom she afterwards caused to be hanged. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverness
Bennett’s hotel is recorded as being visited by Count Itterberg, son of the ex-king of Sweden, on 7 June 1820. https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=rrQvAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PA72&lpg=RA1-PA72&dq=%22bennett%27s%22+Hotel+Inverness&source=bl&ots=zb1W9UCRFF&sig=_3_za2BLJXF16ilIyfw0P5cyRl8&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwio9cWgvPzdAhUQyaQKHXCeCjoQ6AEwAXoECAsQAQ#v=onepage&q=%22bennett's%22%20Hotel%20Inverness&f=false
Can you help us?
Transcription problems: As untrained transcribers we sometimes experience problems interpreting some of Lucy’s writing. We have a problem deciphering a section today:
We left Fort Augustus & breakfasted at Invermoriston ?***? this road to this ..
the word inserted by Lucy between Invermoriston and this has been a challenge. Help please!
Bennett’s hotel: Does the hotel still exist? It was the luxury hotel of its day - does it have another name? Was it rebuilt for a different purpose?
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?