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In the far north of Scotland,
there's a huge area of wild country
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where sometimes there seems to be
more water than land.
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00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:20,880
Remote and windswept,
this loch-studded landscape
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00:00:21,040 --> 00:00:23,160
is the north's Empty Quarter
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00:00:23,320 --> 00:00:27,560
and one of the most sparsely
populated areas in northern Europe.
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00:00:27,720 --> 00:00:30,080
But it wasn't always like this.
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00:00:32,440 --> 00:00:34,760
Lochs are Scotland's
gift to the world
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and are the product of an element
that we have in spectacular
abundance - water.
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It's been estimated that there are
more than 31,000 lochs in Scotland.
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00:00:47,000 --> 00:00:51,560
They come in all shapes and sizes,
from long fjordlike sea lochs,
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00:00:51,720 --> 00:00:55,200
great freshwater lochs
of the Central Highlands
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00:00:55,360 --> 00:00:58,640
to the innumerable lochans
that stud the open moors.
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In this series, I'm on a loch-hopping
journey across Scotland,
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discovering
how they shape the character
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00:01:06,360 --> 00:01:09,640
of the people who live
close to their shores.
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On this Grand Tour, I'll be
travelling under wide skies
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through a wilderness
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where life can seem to exist
on the margins of what is possible.
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My journey starts with a train ride
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to a station
in the middle of nowhere,
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goes with the flow
across miles of featureless moorland
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to a river with a glittering past,
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then loch hops
through space and time
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00:01:46,480 --> 00:01:49,880
to discover why people
were pushed to the margins.
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Journey's end is on the shining
sands of a tide-swept beach.
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I'm crossing a vast expanse
of country far from any public road,
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travelling on Britain's
most northerly railway line,
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which connects the town of Caithness
to the cities of the south.
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This is Altnabreac - one of Britain's
remotest railway stations.
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When you get off the train here, you
really are in the middle of nowhere.
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It's 10 kilometres
to the nearest road,
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00:02:24,360 --> 00:02:27,720
39 kilometres
to the nearest supermarket
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and a very long way indeed
to the nearest pub.
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Meeting me at the deserted platform
at Altnabreac Station
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is retired rail worker
Lewis Sinclair,
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who spent 32 years walking the line,
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maintaining this track in this
lonely corner of the rail network,
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00:02:49,800 --> 00:02:51,880
and when the winter snows hit hard,
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00:02:52,040 --> 00:02:55,480
this is how they kept the trains
running in the 1970s.
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00:02:55,640 --> 00:03:00,000
That was them trying to open
the track after a big snowstorm.
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The train had got buried.
Good grief.
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It's completely buried.
Completely buried.
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It would have been over 20 feet
at that time.
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They were stuck on there the whole
Saturday night, Sunday morning
on the train,
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00:03:13,440 --> 00:03:18,200
and then the helicopters came and
rescued the people off the train.
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That's a great shot.
That's a snow plough?
Yes.
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That's a small plough.
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00:03:24,080 --> 00:03:26,920
That's a SMALL one? (LAUGHS)
Yeah, that's a small one.
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00:03:27,080 --> 00:03:29,880
And that's the big plough, is it?
That's the big plough.
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00:03:30,040 --> 00:03:32,480
Look at the depth of the snow there -
a good 15-foot drift.
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That's the one that got buried,
just...
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The snow plough got buried?
Yeah.
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00:03:36,880 --> 00:03:39,240
How would you get it out,
once you'd found it?
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Just dig.
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00:03:41,120 --> 00:03:44,120
Moving hundreds of tonnes of snow?
There would've been a big squad.
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Like a chain gang.
Yeah, a chain gang.
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00:03:46,360 --> 00:03:48,440
Amazing winters in those days.
Oh, yes.
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I would be cut off
for quite a time here.
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I remember they were cut off
for six weeks at one time.
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Lewis heads home by train,
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down the track that he tended
most of his working life,
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and I continue my journey by foot,
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through almost unimaginably
gloomy weather.
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00:04:10,440 --> 00:04:14,600
The view ahead is obscured
by clouds hanging in the treetops,
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which seem to press in on me
from either side.
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I come at last
to the first loch on my journey -
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Lochdubh, the Black Loch.
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00:04:25,800 --> 00:04:29,480
Dominating the eerie scene
is one of the hunting lodges
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that the station was built to serve.
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00:04:32,600 --> 00:04:36,680
At one time it was at the centre
of a vast sporting estate,
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00:04:36,840 --> 00:04:41,040
but the guns are silent now
and today it's a private house.
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Despite the grandeur,
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there's definitely something spooky
about this place,
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and I can't help thinking
that the house really would make
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a great location for a horror movie.
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So I'll not tarry long
on the shores of Lochdubh.
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With a quickening step,
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I gladly leave the trees
and the dark loch behind,
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00:05:15,920 --> 00:05:19,920
and the landscape suddenly opens out
under wide skies -
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so typical of Caithness.
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00:05:22,400 --> 00:05:26,480
The country here
is full of Gaelic placenames -
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a reminder of an earlier way of life
before the coming of the railway
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00:05:30,960 --> 00:05:33,520
and sporting landlords.
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00:05:35,880 --> 00:05:37,960
Now, most of my knowledge of Gaelic
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00:05:38,120 --> 00:05:40,760
actually comes from
ordnance survey maps,
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and I happen to know that the loch
behind me is called Loch Mhuilinn,
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which means 'the mill loch',
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and the wee burn that flows from it
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is marked on the map here as Alt
na Mhuilinn, or 'the mill stream',
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which indicates there would have been
a mill here at one time.
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00:05:59,840 --> 00:06:02,280
The question is, where is it?
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I'm not looking for the remains
of a big old-fashioned mill
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with a large vertical waterwheel,
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but something much simpler.
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That's because the traditional
type of mill used here
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was a very primitive affair
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and little changed
over many centuries,
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and was common in Scandinavia,
Scotland and Ireland.
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Unfortunately, I can't find
the remains of the mill
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00:06:30,800 --> 00:06:32,680
that gave its name to this burn.
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00:06:32,840 --> 00:06:36,200
In fact, it's hard to imagine
anyone living here.
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00:06:37,680 --> 00:06:40,480
But this wasn't always a wilderness,
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and we have the evidence to prove it
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in this fascinating
if slightly unwieldy atlas.
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Named after the man who made it,
it's called Roy's Great Map,
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and was commissioned by
the victorious government army
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after the Battle of Culloden in 1746.
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According to Roy's military map,
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00:07:01,040 --> 00:07:04,440
back in the 18th century there were
several communities out here,
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with names like Dalwhillan,
Dalnaha, and even The Glutt.
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00:07:09,600 --> 00:07:13,160
But there's nothing left of this
now-forgotten way of life -
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00:07:13,320 --> 00:07:16,840
in fact, today
this is more like a human desert.
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Continuing through this wilderness,
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00:07:22,960 --> 00:07:26,840
I enter an increasingly
remote landscape.
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Here the ground
becomes ever more waterlogged.
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00:07:32,440 --> 00:07:35,400
Stretching as far
as the eye can see,
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there are lochans and pools
everywhere.
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This watery mosaic
is all part of a vast peat bog
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known as The Flow Country.
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00:07:54,280 --> 00:07:56,760
The name Flow Country was first used
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00:07:56,920 --> 00:08:00,960
to describe these wide open
but rather soggy spaces
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00:08:01,120 --> 00:08:05,400
by surveyors from the Nature
Conservancy Council in the 1950s.
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00:08:05,560 --> 00:08:09,480
They recognised the unique importance
of this environment
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00:08:09,640 --> 00:08:15,000
and used the Old Norse word 'floi',
meaning a flat, marshy area,
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to describe this fabulous wilderness.
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I want to investigate the nature of
this vast tract of the Flow Country,
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which covers a total area
of 2,000 square kilometres
of northern Scotland.
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Roxane Anderson is a scientist
who specialises in peat -
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the stuff that makes up
most of what you see out here.
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Along with her field technician,
whose name happens to be Pete,
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they show me how a peat bog
is an accumulation of dead plants
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that haven't fully decomposed
due to the waterlogged conditions.
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Roxane, we're standing on
blanket bog,
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so it's smothering the landscape.
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Absolutely. It's just covering.
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This is why
they're called 'blanket'.
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It really is covering
the whole landscape.
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It is the largest blanket bog
in Europe,
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and potentially even
the largest in the world.
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So it's really significant.
It is.
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Another aspect
that's really significant
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is the amount of carbon
that is stored in the peatlands.
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This is significant in, for example,
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Scotland's fight
against climate change,
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because if we have peatland
in good condition
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and that enables
the carbon to be stored,
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then it helps to reduce
the amount of carbon
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that's emitted in the atmosphere.
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Roxane is keen to show me
how the peat not only locks in carbon
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but is also a record
of the climate in the past.
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To see into history,
Pete first takes a core sample
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of...well, the peat.
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This is from the top
at 50 centimetres,
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so you're looking at the most recent
vegetation to the oldest.
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So, 50 centimetres would be...yeah,
a few hundred years, maybe.
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A few hundred years. That's amazing.
That's incredibly well preserved.
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And you can still see
all the vegetation.
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And then by the time you get deeper,
there's hardly anything at all.
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Is it completely decayed away?
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It's much more decomposed but...
No, no!
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..even at the very bottom you can
still find remains of plants,
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and that's one of the interesting
things about, you know, peat -
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is that if you know how to read it,
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it's basically like a history book
of what happened in this landscape
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for the last 9,000 or 10,000 years.
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And the vegetation
over the thousands of years
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would have changed, would it,
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or is it the same vegetation
growing all that time?
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It has changed a little bit.
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About 5,000 years ago,
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there was a period of...the climate
was a bit warmer and drier.
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That allowed the pine to rise.
Really?
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But then it got wet again,
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and so we can see the rise and fall
of the pine in the peat as well.
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So as the climate got wetter, it
would've killed off the pine forests.
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Yeah.
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Today this blanket bog is recognised
as both an important carbon sink
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and a very special habitat
for flora and fauna.
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00:11:15,470 --> 00:11:18,190
But this wasn't always the case.
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In recent decades,
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00:11:20,390 --> 00:11:24,310
the Flow Country was severely damaged
by afforestation,
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and huge plantations of spruce and
pine still blight the landscape -
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00:11:28,990 --> 00:11:33,270
the legacy of government policy
in the 1970s and '80s,
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when the super-rich
were encouraged to tax dodge
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00:11:36,590 --> 00:11:38,550
by investing in tree planting.
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Many peat bogs were drained, and the
rivers that they fed were starved.
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Even worse, there was a scheme
to exploit the peat
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on an industrial scale,
and turn it into electricity.
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60 years ago, these huge mechanical
beasts crawling over the bog
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were deemed a symbol of improvement.
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00:12:01,230 --> 00:12:04,390
Jim Johnston helps me
to paint a picture
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00:12:04,550 --> 00:12:08,830
of a very different period
of Flow Country history.
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00:12:08,990 --> 00:12:13,230
Jim, can you describe what this
amazing contraption is there?
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I mean, it looks like a tank
with a garden shed on the top.
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00:12:16,510 --> 00:12:19,270
There would be a number of machines
like this one
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which would be ditching the bog,
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00:12:21,150 --> 00:12:23,910
and picking up the milled peat
off the surface.
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00:12:24,070 --> 00:12:25,590
And why were they milling the peat?
199
00:12:25,750 --> 00:12:30,870
To supply heating material
to a very large power station
200
00:12:31,030 --> 00:12:34,510
which was standing just a few
thousand yards or so away
201
00:12:34,670 --> 00:12:39,670
which was operating on a very modern
system - a closed-cycle gas turbine,
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00:12:39,830 --> 00:12:43,630
and the idea was that you would
clear that peat completely
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00:12:43,790 --> 00:12:46,270
while generating
all this electricity,
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00:12:46,430 --> 00:12:49,550
and then you would create farms
on the cleared ground.
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00:12:49,710 --> 00:12:53,830
The purpose of it
was to make something better
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00:12:53,990 --> 00:12:57,230
out of what they regarded as
the wastelands of peat.
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00:12:57,390 --> 00:13:00,190
In the end it didn't run properly,
which was rather a shame.
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00:13:00,350 --> 00:13:04,470
But of course these days we see peat
as valuable in its own right
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for different reasons.
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00:13:06,270 --> 00:13:09,350
Because of global warming,
it's seen as a carbon sink
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00:13:09,510 --> 00:13:11,870
and perhaps a defence
against global warming.
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00:13:12,750 --> 00:13:16,430
Well, in those days, the worry was
that there was going to be
another ice age
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00:13:16,590 --> 00:13:19,150
rather than
that things were going to heat up.
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00:13:21,030 --> 00:13:24,350
It's incredible what a difference
a few decades can make
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00:13:24,510 --> 00:13:26,590
to our perception of the landscape.
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00:13:26,750 --> 00:13:30,590
The Flow Country has gone from
being seen as a wasteland
217
00:13:30,750 --> 00:13:34,830
to being seriously considered
as a World Heritage site.
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00:13:36,830 --> 00:13:40,670
If peat were once regarded
as a version of "black gold",
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00:13:40,830 --> 00:13:45,110
then a few miles to the south
is the real stuff.
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00:13:45,270 --> 00:13:47,350
This is the Kildonan Burn,
221
00:13:47,510 --> 00:13:50,710
which drains from the lochans
and bogs of the Flow Country.
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00:13:50,870 --> 00:13:55,230
The Gaelic name for this place
is Baile An Or - "gold town" -
223
00:13:55,390 --> 00:14:00,150
and remarkably
it was home to Scotland's very own
19th-century gold rush.
224
00:14:04,670 --> 00:14:08,750
Yvonne Creedy tells me
how locals still pan for gold
225
00:14:08,910 --> 00:14:10,590
for very special occasions,
226
00:14:10,750 --> 00:14:13,070
and shows me how it's done.
227
00:14:13,230 --> 00:14:15,070
Get rid of some of
these bigger stones.
228
00:14:15,230 --> 00:14:18,190
So, we're getting down
to finer and finer sand here.
229
00:14:18,350 --> 00:14:22,350
Yeah, and you want the black sand -
that's what holds the gold.
230
00:14:22,630 --> 00:14:26,710
See here?
That's a bit of gold.
231
00:14:26,870 --> 00:14:28,830
That is gold, isn't it?
Yes. Uh-huh.
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00:14:28,990 --> 00:14:31,670
We've found gold.
This is really amazing!
233
00:14:31,830 --> 00:14:33,830
How often do you find it?
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00:14:33,990 --> 00:14:36,270
I mean, is it
every once in a blue moon?
235
00:14:36,430 --> 00:14:38,150
Am I exceptionally lucky?
236
00:14:38,310 --> 00:14:40,430
Uh, there'll be...
That's neat, isn't it?
237
00:14:40,590 --> 00:14:43,270
Well, where there's one piece,
I think you probably attract it.
238
00:14:43,430 --> 00:14:46,230
Spin it round.
You've got more, you see?
239
00:14:46,390 --> 00:14:48,870
Look at that! Is that all gold?
240
00:14:49,030 --> 00:14:50,830
That's all gold there, yes.
241
00:14:50,990 --> 00:14:52,790
That's Kildonan gold.
242
00:14:52,950 --> 00:14:56,910
Not enough to make a ring, but enough
to make me feel very happy.
243
00:14:57,070 --> 00:14:58,430
That's brilliant, Yvonne.
244
00:15:03,750 --> 00:15:08,190
Enriched by the experience
and thrilled by my gold find,
245
00:15:08,350 --> 00:15:12,510
I head for my next destination,
Strathnaver,
246
00:15:12,670 --> 00:15:16,190
and the beautiful and melancholy
Loch Naver.
247
00:15:18,990 --> 00:15:23,230
Walking through Strathnaver is like
taking a hike through history,
248
00:15:23,390 --> 00:15:26,150
and I can't think of a better guide
to the area
249
00:15:26,310 --> 00:15:29,190
than Roy's old Military Map.
250
00:15:29,350 --> 00:15:32,510
I just wish there was a pocket-sized
version of the thing.
251
00:15:32,670 --> 00:15:35,750
But it gives
an absolutely fascinating insight
252
00:15:35,910 --> 00:15:39,670
into what this area was like
some 250 years ago,
253
00:15:39,830 --> 00:15:43,470
and there've been
some very significant changes.
254
00:15:45,990 --> 00:15:49,870
Roy's map really is
a beautiful piece of work,
255
00:15:50,030 --> 00:15:54,830
but it also provides evidence
for a great human tragedy.
256
00:15:54,990 --> 00:15:59,830
We've already seen
that the map shows settlements
that are no longer here,
257
00:15:59,990 --> 00:16:01,870
and as I continue my journey,
258
00:16:02,030 --> 00:16:05,190
the absences seem to haunt
the whole landscape.
259
00:16:06,470 --> 00:16:07,990
You can see from the map
260
00:16:08,150 --> 00:16:10,870
that Roy has marked several villages
along the loch side
261
00:16:11,030 --> 00:16:13,630
and further north up Strathnaver.
262
00:16:13,790 --> 00:16:16,390
Now, many of these places
no longer exist.
263
00:16:16,550 --> 00:16:19,470
They and the inhabitants
vanished long ago,
264
00:16:19,630 --> 00:16:25,070
and all thanks to the greatest
and perhaps the worst landlord
in Highland history -
265
00:16:25,230 --> 00:16:27,550
the Duke of Sutherland.
266
00:16:31,270 --> 00:16:35,870
The name Sutherland is synonymous
with the brutal Highland clearances
267
00:16:36,030 --> 00:16:38,790
of the 19th century.
268
00:16:38,950 --> 00:16:42,110
But the Highland clearances
started out
269
00:16:42,270 --> 00:16:46,230
as part of a program
of agricultural improvements.
270
00:16:46,390 --> 00:16:49,710
Now, the idea was to give over
the good, fertile land
271
00:16:49,870 --> 00:16:52,590
to large-scale
and efficient sheep farms,
272
00:16:52,750 --> 00:16:55,510
and to move the people
who lived here to the coast,
273
00:16:55,670 --> 00:16:58,790
where they were expected
to take up fishing.
274
00:17:03,430 --> 00:17:07,150
In Strathnaver
and across the county of Sutherland,
275
00:17:07,310 --> 00:17:11,710
over 15,000 tenants of the Duke
were evicted from their homes,
276
00:17:11,870 --> 00:17:14,190
all in the name of progress.
277
00:17:15,430 --> 00:17:17,150
As the sheep moved in,
278
00:17:17,310 --> 00:17:22,510
the 13 families who lived here
at Rosal were moved out.
279
00:17:22,670 --> 00:17:25,750
The only evidence
that people ever lived here
280
00:17:25,910 --> 00:17:28,070
are these few scattered stones,
281
00:17:28,230 --> 00:17:30,230
but eyewitnesses from the time
282
00:17:30,390 --> 00:17:33,670
reported savage cruelty
and destruction
283
00:17:33,830 --> 00:17:35,950
on an almost biblical scale.
284
00:17:36,110 --> 00:17:39,350
Now, this was written
by Donald Macleod,
285
00:17:39,510 --> 00:17:42,150
who published
a horrifying account of events.
286
00:17:43,310 --> 00:17:47,910
"All the houses in an extensive
district were in flames at once.
287
00:17:48,070 --> 00:17:51,670
"I counted 250.
288
00:17:51,830 --> 00:17:55,790
"Little or no time was given for
the removal of persons or property,
289
00:17:55,950 --> 00:17:58,790
"the people striving to remove
the sick and the helpless
290
00:17:58,950 --> 00:18:00,990
"before the fire should reach them.
291
00:18:01,150 --> 00:18:05,590
"The cries of the women and children,
the roaring of the affrighted cattle
292
00:18:05,750 --> 00:18:10,990
"altogether presented a scene that
completely baffles description."
293
00:18:13,550 --> 00:18:16,470
As for the Duke of Sutherland
and his agents,
294
00:18:16,630 --> 00:18:20,830
they described what happened
as a "benevolent action,
295
00:18:20,990 --> 00:18:26,270
"necessary humanely to order
the new arrangement of this country."
296
00:18:26,430 --> 00:18:28,830
The legacy of this arrangement
297
00:18:28,990 --> 00:18:32,870
continues in the empty wilderness
left in its wake.
298
00:18:44,110 --> 00:18:46,950
The suffering
of the people of Strathnaver
299
00:18:47,110 --> 00:18:50,110
has put me
in a serious and reflective mood
300
00:18:50,270 --> 00:18:55,070
as I continue to my next
destination - tiny Loch ma Naire.
301
00:18:56,350 --> 00:19:01,630
In legend, Mo Naire is the name
of an ancient Celtic water goddess.
302
00:19:05,390 --> 00:19:09,470
Legend has it that the waters
of this tiny wee loch
303
00:19:09,630 --> 00:19:11,830
have wondrous healing powers,
304
00:19:11,990 --> 00:19:14,710
and in the old days, people came
from all over the north,
305
00:19:14,870 --> 00:19:19,630
seeking cures for diseases
that had baffled all medical skill.
306
00:19:19,790 --> 00:19:22,870
Now, given my own rather precarious
state of health,
307
00:19:23,030 --> 00:19:25,710
that sounds a wee bit like
a cue for a dunk,
308
00:19:25,870 --> 00:19:29,990
although I have to say I'm not
particularly relishing the prospect.
309
00:19:30,150 --> 00:19:32,270
That looks decidedly chilly.
310
00:19:39,150 --> 00:19:40,390
Oooh!
311
00:19:40,550 --> 00:19:43,990
I have to say that for a spa resort,
312
00:19:44,150 --> 00:19:47,510
Loch ma Naire isn't
what I would have expected.
313
00:19:47,670 --> 00:19:51,910
It's totally deserted, and the fabled
waters of this northern Lourdes
314
00:19:52,070 --> 00:19:56,670
might look blue and clear
but, boy, are they chilly.
315
00:19:56,830 --> 00:20:01,350
Now, according to tradition,
you have to perform certain rituals
316
00:20:01,510 --> 00:20:03,470
for a cure to be effective,
317
00:20:03,630 --> 00:20:08,510
and the first of these
is to make an offering
to the goddess of the loch.
318
00:20:08,670 --> 00:20:12,430
Now, custom had it
that you threw in a silver coin.
319
00:20:12,590 --> 00:20:14,510
Now, I've got 20 pence here.
320
00:20:14,670 --> 00:20:16,710
I'm just hoping
that's going to be enough.
321
00:20:16,870 --> 00:20:18,470
There we go.
322
00:20:18,630 --> 00:20:21,390
Next, you had to
call out your disease
323
00:20:21,550 --> 00:20:24,190
and then dunk your head
under the water three times.
324
00:20:24,350 --> 00:20:27,630
So, uh...this is very embarrassing,
but...
325
00:20:27,790 --> 00:20:32,190
Please, Goddess, cure me
of my unfortunate verruca.
326
00:20:32,350 --> 00:20:33,990
Three times. Here we go.
327
00:20:34,150 --> 00:20:35,710
One!
328
00:20:35,870 --> 00:20:37,750
Two!
329
00:20:39,230 --> 00:20:40,710
Three!
330
00:20:44,710 --> 00:20:47,150
I've actually found something here.
331
00:20:47,310 --> 00:20:53,190
It looks like an old coin
from a previous visit to the loch.
332
00:20:53,350 --> 00:20:58,270
Now, also, legend has it that your
offering has to be a fresh one,
333
00:20:58,430 --> 00:21:00,910
otherwise you would
acquire the disease
334
00:21:01,070 --> 00:21:02,910
of the person who threw this in.
335
00:21:03,070 --> 00:21:04,870
So, I think this is dirty money.
336
00:21:06,310 --> 00:21:08,590
Now, I feel a whole lot better
already,
337
00:21:08,750 --> 00:21:11,750
and I can feel that verruca
rapidly disappearing.
338
00:21:14,870 --> 00:21:17,790
Perhaps the experience
of chilly Loch ma Naire
339
00:21:17,950 --> 00:21:20,590
has had a positive effect on me
after all.
340
00:21:20,750 --> 00:21:25,670
I have a spring in my step as I head
for the next loch on this Grand Tour
341
00:21:25,830 --> 00:21:27,950
and a body of salty Atlantic water
342
00:21:28,110 --> 00:21:30,670
on the cold northern coast
of Scotland.
343
00:21:32,430 --> 00:21:37,550
I'm speaking about the Kyle
of Tongue, a shallow arm of the sea
344
00:21:37,710 --> 00:21:41,830
that splits the land on either side
and penetrates into the Flow Country
345
00:21:41,990 --> 00:21:44,990
towards the magnificent peak
of Ben Loyal.
346
00:21:51,110 --> 00:21:54,150
Apparently, Tongue comes
from the old language of the Vikings
347
00:21:54,310 --> 00:21:58,030
when they held sway
in these northern parts.
348
00:21:58,190 --> 00:22:02,630
The Norse word 'tunga'
means, uh, well, 'tongue'
349
00:22:02,790 --> 00:22:05,070
and refers to the tongue-shaped
spit of land
350
00:22:05,230 --> 00:22:06,870
that projects across the loch,
351
00:22:07,030 --> 00:22:08,790
almost dividing it in two.
352
00:22:08,950 --> 00:22:13,790
Today, the tongue carries
the road bridge that spans the Kyle.
353
00:22:19,350 --> 00:22:24,110
I'm here to learn about
a little-known episode
in Scottish history.
354
00:22:24,270 --> 00:22:26,910
The year is 1746.
355
00:22:27,070 --> 00:22:29,830
The Highlands
is awash with rebel Jacobites,
356
00:22:29,990 --> 00:22:32,110
supporters of
the exiled Stuart Kings
357
00:22:32,270 --> 00:22:35,710
under the leadership
of Bonnie Prince Charlie.
358
00:22:35,870 --> 00:22:40,070
Opposing them is the Hanoverian
Government in London.
359
00:22:40,230 --> 00:22:43,950
It's just a few weeks
before the culminating action
360
00:22:44,110 --> 00:22:47,110
of the whole era -
the Battle of Culloden.
361
00:22:47,270 --> 00:22:52,470
A French ship loaded with gold and
guns destined for the Jacobite army
362
00:22:52,630 --> 00:22:54,710
sails into this kyle,
363
00:22:54,870 --> 00:22:59,030
pursued by a heavily armed
British frigate.
364
00:22:59,190 --> 00:23:02,190
In the ensuing engagement,
there was much at stake.
365
00:23:02,350 --> 00:23:05,430
Would the Jacobites get
their desperately needed supplies?
366
00:23:05,590 --> 00:23:08,430
And what happened to all that gold?
367
00:23:08,590 --> 00:23:11,390
Local farmer and keen historian
Allan MacKay
368
00:23:11,550 --> 00:23:14,310
helps me speculate about
a wee battle,
369
00:23:14,470 --> 00:23:16,150
no more than a skirmish,
370
00:23:16,310 --> 00:23:18,470
that could have had
huge consequences.
371
00:23:18,630 --> 00:23:22,030
Who knows what would have happened
if the gold had got to Inverness?
372
00:23:22,190 --> 00:23:23,750
Changed the course of history.
373
00:23:23,910 --> 00:23:26,470
Well, I was going to say, because
in many ways what happened here
374
00:23:26,630 --> 00:23:28,390
could have been
a tipping point in history.
375
00:23:28,550 --> 00:23:30,350
Yes. I mean,
there was a lot of gold.
376
00:23:30,510 --> 00:23:32,910
It was £13,000 worth.
377
00:23:33,070 --> 00:23:35,790
So is there any evidence
of the battle that took place?
378
00:23:35,950 --> 00:23:38,990
Well, there's cannonballs.
Cannonballs!
379
00:23:39,150 --> 00:23:41,230
Cannonballs have been recovered.
(LAUGHS)
380
00:23:41,390 --> 00:23:44,870
There's...round here they were found
in...stuck into rock.
381
00:23:45,030 --> 00:23:46,390
Into the rock crevices?
382
00:23:46,550 --> 00:23:48,270
There was a cannonball recovered
383
00:23:48,430 --> 00:23:50,910
which I actually happen to have
in my hand here.
384
00:23:51,070 --> 00:23:54,910
A genuine cannonball fired by,
presumably, the Royal Navy
385
00:23:55,070 --> 00:23:56,670
firing at the Jacobites.
386
00:23:56,830 --> 00:23:58,390
Good grief.
387
00:23:58,550 --> 00:24:03,230
Allan tells me
how the Jacobites abandoned
their heavily bombarded ship
388
00:24:03,390 --> 00:24:07,150
and made a desperate bid
to get their precious cargo of gold
389
00:24:07,310 --> 00:24:10,750
away from the British soldiers,
who were in hot pursuit.
390
00:24:11,950 --> 00:24:15,270
The two parties met
at Lochan Haken,
391
00:24:15,430 --> 00:24:17,870
and this is where the gold
was supposedly deposited.
392
00:24:18,030 --> 00:24:19,630
Do you think there was gold there?
393
00:24:19,790 --> 00:24:24,270
There was a cow appeared in
with a gold coin stuck between
its cleats and its feet.
394
00:24:24,430 --> 00:24:27,230
The coin does exist, I believe,
in Dunrobin Castle,
395
00:24:27,390 --> 00:24:30,310
so I think if there's any gold
in the loch,
396
00:24:30,470 --> 00:24:32,830
they'd have recovered it -
the people in the area.
397
00:24:32,830 --> 00:24:34,950
Did it find its way
into the community, do you think?
398
00:24:35,110 --> 00:24:38,630
Well, there was a family
which did become very wealthy.
399
00:24:38,790 --> 00:24:41,270
Right.
And it wasn't my family!
400
00:24:41,430 --> 00:24:43,710
It wasn't your family?
That's very tragic.
401
00:24:43,870 --> 00:24:45,470
It is, yes.
(LAUGHS)
402
00:24:49,430 --> 00:24:55,350
Leaving Allan, I wander out across
the beautiful sands of the Kyle.
403
00:24:55,510 --> 00:24:59,110
It's hard to imagine that
a fortune was brought here
404
00:24:59,270 --> 00:25:03,230
and then lost again
beneath these wide skies.
405
00:25:03,390 --> 00:25:07,110
Countless tides have ebbed
and flowed since then, of course -
406
00:25:07,270 --> 00:25:11,110
almost washing away the memory
of those turbulent times,
407
00:25:11,270 --> 00:25:16,190
when a fortune destined for a prince
could have changed history.
408
00:25:16,350 --> 00:25:19,990
There might not be any Jacobite gold
to be found here,
409
00:25:20,150 --> 00:25:25,070
but this is surely compensation,
and a view to treasure.
410
00:25:25,230 --> 00:25:29,710
Ben Loyal, in all its magnificence,
is absolutely priceless -
411
00:25:29,870 --> 00:25:34,070
making this the perfect place
to end my Grand Tour
412
00:25:34,230 --> 00:25:35,990
through the Flow Country.
413
00:25:44,910 --> 00:25:47,750
Captions by Red Bee Media
(c) SBS Australia 2019
35858
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