here in scotland on the road to the isle of skye from glencoe is one of the most scenic roads in the world...and i havent travelled much out side the UK...but it is...
this is some of the scenery im talking about...
a land of such scenic beauty that cant really be caught on film and has to be seen in person to capture the light, colour and history of this land of ours..and the blood once spilt not just between england but often clan against clan...sometimes brother against brother...today it is all a bit of a tartan tourist trail for the visitor but drive this route,just one of many scenic routes at dawn like i did at 4am mid summer in june when devoid of nearly anyone and apart from the tarmac road below you can step back in time and absorb the scenic beauty without having to scale a 3000ft peak...anyway as you near the skye bridge-gateway to the isle of skye from lochalsh just after driving through balmacara there is a small sign for a turn off north to the village of `plockton`...
this small seaside village is of course famous for the classic bbc series `hamish macbeth` starring an upcoming actor called robert carlyle who went on to star in trainspotting to name one of several classic scottish films...
plockton though is special to me as it is the home of my family name, clan mathieson...
across the bay from the village is `duncraig castle` a stately house on the seat of clan mathieson...
the village itself is lovely, with its roadside cottages...
with terraced gardens behind...
and shoreline which before the cattle grid was installed last year highland cattle would stroll down the village street onto the shore and graze...good old health and safety eh?...palm trees flourish here due to the warm winter tempertures created from the north atlantic drift which also gives the sea that green colour from its rich aquatic growth...
the surrounding scenery is breathtaking...
the clan mathieson was split in two...here in lochalsh and also in shiness...
on the shores of loch shin in sutherland the shiness clan fought under the sutherland clan and so had to opposse the jacobite uprising of 1745 led by bonnie prince charlie, the then 7th clan chief donald mathieson did this in the best interest for his peoples protection,turned out a wise choice because as we know the uprising would end in the slaughter of thousands on culloden moor...because of the shiness clans oppossing of the uprising no clan mathieson flag was raised during the uprising although records show some lochalsh mathiesons did fight at culloden for the jacobite cause...and so the clan was spared the onslaught revenge of the duke of cumberland who after the jacobite defeat ravaged the highlands butchering jacobite supporting clans be it men woman or children and burning the crofts that homed generations of familys..
despite there loyalty to there tennent the duke of sunderland for many generations it did not do the clan much good,there were forced to move from there homes along with an approx 30,000 other people to sail on ships for a hopefully new and better life following the infamous highland clearances where land was cleared for sheep...
today there are more mathiesons and mathesons- the 2 most apdopted spellings of 16 variations living in canada,america, australia and new zealand than here in scotland......a look in the phone book at plockton has pages of mathiesons as does the village graveyard of those that stayed...a james mathieson of shiness part founded a hong kong trading company and making his fortunes returned to scotland and purchased the isle of lewis in 1844...the clan certainly seems to have prospered abroad after the clearances...
here is our clan crest...
we have several tartans...they include;
mathieson dress tartan...
mathieson ancient tartan...
mathieson weathered tartan...
mathieson hunting tartan...
mathieson ancient hunting tartan...
the mathieson clan motto is `In Fac Et Spera (Do and hope)`
something i seem to do often...
