Meet the Jacobites (with a bit of the tragic history of Glencoe) Jacobite hopes Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons This is a really complicated part of the history of the British Isles and although I'm paraphrasing madly here, there's quite a bit to plough through in order to get some understanding of the Jacobites and why the massacre at Glencoe was so significant.  King Henry the VIII gets a pretty bad press these days for his treatment of women. What tends to be forgotten is that he was, almost exclusively, the architect of some of the most divisive royal, religious and political events witnessed in these Isles for over two hundred years after his death.    Portrait of a young King Henry VIII circa 1515-20 Anglesey Abbey He was a second son and as a youngster he was well educated. Unlike Arthur, the first son who was destined to be King and thus was deemed to be infallible and therefore not in need of an education. Then fate lent a hand and Henry became King at the age of

Today’s walk is going to be a long one in comparison to the rest of our itinerary.   At nineteen miles with nearly two thousand feet of elevation gain it takes the prize for the most demanding day. Despite this I am excited because we will be staying overnight in the spectacular and historical setting of Glencoe.    To give us the best possible start we arrived at breakfast just as they are laying out the buffet items and we are left to our own devices to collect our food and push slices of bread through the crazy rolling toaster that never actually manages to toast two sides evenly or at all.  The restaurant itself could sit hundreds of people and had long draped tables down each side, all set out as if for a massive banquet.   About half an hour into our breakfast, the hordes from the coach parties descended. The queue increased exponentially and soon it rivalled ‘ The Queue ’, as it had become known, in London for the lying-in-state of the Queen. Queuing is often regarded as a pecul