Driving Miss Daisy Crazy! Days 3 and 4

We took the train from Glasgow Central Station to Ardrossan.  The train was nice--cheap, fast, stress-free.

At Ardrossan, we boarded the ferry for The Isle of Arran.  The ferry was nice--cheap, fast, stress-free.  And the safety instructions were given in both English and Gaelic.

At Brodick, the port of entry on the Isle of Arran, we rented a car.  The car may have been cheap, fast, and stress-free, but the passenger was not!!!
The driver was cool.....at first.

As we drove on the WRONG side of the road through the 8 foot-wide track with hairpin turns beside precipitous drop-offs into the deep blue sea, Old Granite grappled on to her seat-belt emitting gasps and sharp intakes of breaths.  Never once did she scream out loud!  She cringed, huddled, squeezed her chubby little self into as much of a fetal position as she could muster.  It seemed as if the mirror could not help but be broken off by a bridge, a hydro pole, a blackberry bush, a house, a sheep, another vehicle....The roads on Arran were built around the communities--- not the communities around the roads.

In Canada, when Cuddles and I are driving, he often drives while I knit in the passenger seat.  This is not just me being productive, it is me calming my nerves because I am a BAD passenger.  About half an hour into the drive around Arran, Tom lost his Cuddles demeanour and said, "Where's your knitting?"  No, actually he yelled, "WHERE'S YOUR KNITTING!!!???"

Cuddles nearly left Granite on Arran.

We did survive the drive.  We visited the Machrie Moor which has 6 stone circles estimated to be between 3,000 to 4,000

years old.

We spent the night at a lovely B and B hosted by the lovely Claire.

The next day we drove north up the island, through idyllic scenery ....

.....to the castle ruins of Lochranza.

Again, you can see how the stature of the Scot has changed over the years.

We drove on to Brodick, on the wrong side of the road...

through hill and dale....

said good-bye to our little Kia Rio, with not one scratch on it!  

Next stop, Ayr.

Until Next Time....

The Fullerton Clan

     

     As promised, I have done some more research on the Scottish heritage of the Fullerton family.  I am a bit reluctant to share my results with Tom as I am afraid it will upset the balance of power in our home.  The Fullarton/Fullerton clan is said to be armigerous.  Well, I had to look up that word; I’m still not sure I understand but I get the feeling the Fullertons were underlings of another clan.  

Scottish Clansmen

     "In Scotland, an "armigerous clan" is a clan without a chief, which is therefore said to bear a coat of arms collectively, rather than have a chief who bears the arms.  The validity of this term is dubious, since under Scottish heraldic law, it is impossible for two men to use the same coat of arms, let alone an entire clan of people." (wikipedia)
     Just look at those words....without, dubious, impossible, let alone...How would you feel if you were armigerous?

    

Fullerton/Fullarton

     When I entered my name, Fullerton, on the clan page, there was no response.  I expected that; I knew exactly what to do….Fullarton. No Fullerton/Fullarton tartan.  They fall under Stuart of Bute tartan. There was even a disclaimer on the website that said: "There is no registered tartan for this clan."

Stuart of Bute Tartan

    They do have a crest.  The caption under it says, "An otter's head erased, Gules."  Erased?  Gules?  More research needed.

(Fullerton)Fullarton Clan Crest

    And they have a motto.  Lux in Tenebris which translates to Light in Darkness.  I do like that!!
Despite a valiant search, I did not find a Fullerton castle, but I did find a beautiful House with a capital H.

Fullarton House

     Not to be outdone by Clan Mathiesons, I thought maybe I’d share my Canadian version of my personal heritage.

My Castles:

My Winter Castle

My Summer Castle

My Tartan:

Long Reach Fullerton Tartan

My Motto:  I have not decided yet.  The following are contenders.  Which would you choose?

   1.  “Get out of the road!”

   2.   “Of all the didos!”

   3. “Is supper ready?”

Until Next Time....