Prince Charles Edward salutes you
Monument erected at Glenfinnan in 1815 to commemorate the raising of the Jacobite Standard on August 19th 1745
Extract from "Walking with Charlie"
I
began by walking along the road to Glenmoidart, following the path the Jacobites
took to Dalelia on the shore of Loch Shiel. At Brunery I crossed the river and
found the track leading uphill to Ty Coat. Fortunately the owner of this
interestingly named wooden house was bumping towards me in his car and stopped
to provide confirmation that this was the right route. ‘In the steps of the
Prince,’ were his very words and you can’t get clearer than that. Three
miles later I arrived at Dalelia to discover that although there are trails
along the northern side of the loch they peter out quickly. To reach Glenfinnan
I had either to travel by boat as the Prince did, or somehow find my way to
Polloch pier on the far side of the loch, from where there is a forest road to
Glenfinnan. Polloch is only about three miles in a straight line from Dalelia
but about twenty-five by road. I quickly determined that the thing to do was to
take a boat. The only trouble was, I didn’t have one.
I
visited the big house in Dalelia to ask if anyone would be prepared to take me
over the water. It seemed that someone working on the fish farm might, but quite
when was impossible to say. There was nothing for it but to potter about and
hope for a boat to tie up at the pier. Half an hour later one did and the offer
of a twenty-pound note saw me scudding across the loch to Polloch. I wanted to
travel the whole length of the Loch Shiel to Glenfinnan but my ship’s captain
had neither time nor inclination for that. My tiny craft cut its engine and the
twenty pounds fare stretched far enough to have the pilot pull the boat into the
shallows so that I could avoid getting my boots soaked. I said goodbye and leapt
out onto the wide forest road to Glenfinnan.
End
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