Many years later, seven headless bodies were found buried nearby, suggesting the story is true.
The 7 men were killed and decapitated. Iain Lom collected the heads and washed them in a well at Loch Oich on his way to present them to Lord MacDonnell at Invergarry Castle. The monument was erected in 1812. It has a hand holding a dagger on top of seven severed heads.
My downstairs neighbour feeds the crows and now this one sits in her garden and looks in her window, waiting to be fed.
From Mrs Frazer's 1804 fourth edition - An Italian Pyramid. Decreasing circles of puff pastry layered with preserved fruits - apples, raspberries, pears, apricots and blackberries, topped with a preserved orange "cut in imitation of a pine apple with a top of bay leaves". This was fun to make! 🍊🍍
Urquhart Castle on Loch Ness. My favourite Loch Ness fact - it contains more water than all the lakes in England and Wales combined.
The Well of Seven Heads, Loch Oich. In 1663, Alasdair and Ranald MacDonald of Keppoch were murdered by their uncle and his six sons. Iain Lom, kinsman to the murdered men, petitioned a MacDonald clan chief who obtained letters of "fire and sword" so the killers could be brought to justice.
Boleskine House. Built by the Frasers of Lovat, C18th, famous as the home of Aleister Crowley then Jimmy Page. Gutted in a 2015 fire and derelict for years. Bought by a trust and rebuilt, now open to the public for the first time. Renovated with nods to each part of its history. Beautiful.
Rain can't dampen the beauty of the West Highlands. Coffee at the 18th-century Drovers Inn, the Commando Memorial in Spean Bridge, then found our lovely cottage on the south side of Loch Ness and went exploring with a walk to the Falls of Foyers, which moved Robert Burns to poetry.
