Take our tour through the beautiful scenery of Royal Deeside, Speyside and Donside to find out what drove the Jacobite rebellions, the sad fate of the Jacobite clansmen and the far reaching consequences for the Highlands of the failed uprisings.
Itinerary
Starting at the Drum Castle, an amalgamation of medieval tower and elegant Jacobean mansion, we’ll hear how Alexander Irvine, the 17th Laird of Drum, hid in a secret room to avoid capture after the Battle of Culloden. An amalgamation of medieval tower and elegant Jacobean mansion, this is where Alexander Irvine, the 17th Laird of Drum, hid in a secret room to avoid capture after the Battle of Culloden. Our next stop is Aboyne Castle, where the 1715 uprising in support of the ‘Old Pretender’ was hatched before the march to Braemar Castle to raise the Jacobite standard.
Passing into the mountains, we’ll join the Old Military Road built by the Hanoverian government after the uprisings to ‘tame’ the Highlands. Now called the Snow Road, we’ll enjoy the stunning scenery as we wind along upper Deeside and Donside and enjoy stops to view the historic Gairnshiel Bridge and brooding Corgarff Castle. Once a proud tower house of the Forbes clan, the castle became a barracks for the Redcoats from which to hunt down Jacobite sympathisers and, later, illicit whisky distillers and smugglers.
Pressing deep into the remote Braes of Glenlivet, which hid Culloden fugitives and Highland Catholics seeking refuge from persecution, we’ll walk for 15 minutes across a lonely moorland to the atmospheric and peaceful Forbidden Seminary of Scalan. Here 18th century Catholic priests trained in secret, playing cat and mouse with the Redcoats sent over from Corgarff to hunt them out.
After a picnic lunch next to the old pack horse bridge across the beautiful River Livet, we’ll visit the world renown Glenlivet Distillery (reputedly set up by a descendant of one of the refugees) for a tour and tasting of The Glenlivet 12 year old, 15 year old and a Distillery Exclusive edition. We’ll round the day off with a drive home across the wild and remote whisky smuggling country of the Cabrach.
Visits to: Drum Castle (view from outside); Aboyne Castle (view from outside); Gairnshiel Bridge; Corgarff Castle (viewed from the Watchers) & brunch; Scalan Seminary (15 minute walk each way on 4×4 track); Lunch at Glenlivet Old Packhorse Bridge; Glenlivet Distillery tour and tasting; return drive across the Cabrach.