No photos of the Ardbeg distillery, which is a shame, as it was lovely and they gave of a great tour and plenty of free samples (the Ten Year Old is the best, like someone wrung out a whole peat bog and distilled it -- get some now!). Meanwhile, here are some pictures of ancient monuments …

View of Eilean Mor, Loch Finlaggan



Eilean Mor in Loch Finlaggan was the seat of the Lord of the Isles from the 12th through 16th centuries AD. As my mother and I have Clan Donald ancestry, coming here was a must! In this shot, it looks more like a penninsula than an island, but you do have to walk out there over a causeway and a bridge (a bit rickety, in places). You can read about recent excavations on Eilean Mor if you feel keen.

Carving of Donald MacGilleasbuig (?)



The churchyard on Eilean Mor has some extremely cool stone grave-slab carvings. This one is thought possibly to depict Donald MacGilleasbuig, who was crown tenant of Finlaggan in the 1540s (after the period of the Lords of the Isles, admittedly). IMO, his gear shows resemblances to much earlier styles. You can check out The Finlaggan Trust, who have a better image of this dude than I do, and some generic historical summary about Finlaggan in Scots Gaelic (which is pretty cool).

Carving of a Sword



My guess is this grave slab could be from somewhere in the 14th-15th century range (this is not my period or region!). But if you can see the sword on the right (I've tweaked the contrast and levels a bit to try an make it clearer), it doesn't look so different from, say, 12th-century Scandinavian sword styles (especially that pommel!).

View from the Ruins



Looking out over Loch Finlaggan through the window of the old hall on Eilean Mor.

Standing Stone



Part of a not-quite-finished stone circle in the Rhinns of Islay, over on the western part of the island. I think this is, in fact, Cultoon circle, about which more here. Clive Ruggles's site at the University of Leicester has a couple of images of Cultoon. There's a steady drizzle off the Irish Sea and the clouds have taken the mountain tops for their own.