Detour #185: Seeking Shakespeare on "The Scottish Drive", Scotland

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Searching for a particular gnarled oak tree, said to have been The Bard’s inspiration, Samantha Priestley heads into Scotland.

There’s a certain Shakespeare play that can’t be named, if you work in theatre anyway. Instead of calling it by its title (that’s Macbeth if you hadn’t realised) it’s known behind the curtain as ‘the Scottish play’. To mention the name Macbeth is bad luck in theatre.

As the wind howls and the snow flurries, I need all the good luck I can get so, making no mention of the cursed king, I name this trip The Scottish Drive.

It begins in Dunblane. Well, actually, I started way before that in my hometown in Yorkshire, but the drive doesn’t get too interesting until you’ve passed Glasgow. The weather is bad. So bad, in fact, I nervously listen to radio reports of cars being abandoned up in Perthshire while I decide whether to turn back or not. The snow is thick and the wind is up, and I might be mad as Macbeth, but I keep on going.

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Dunblane’s most famous son, Andy Murray, has a hotel here, Cromlix, where you can stay in rooms and suites named after famous Scots – Macbeth is noticeably absent from the list. The A9 is flanked by fields and some nice enough trees, but it’s nothing compared to what awaits you in Dunkeld.

Skirt by Perth and take the A9 towards Inverness, and when you begin to follow the direction of the River Tay things start to change. Lush, thick trees line the single lane of the A9 and the hills begin to rise on both sides.

The further I go the denser the snow gets, and I drive for miles without seeing another soul. By the time I make the turnoff to Dunkeld, I feel like I’m in some remote winter wonderland.

The town awaits over the hump of a bridge and I park in Tay Terrace Car Park. You can visit The Whisky Box in the town, eat lunch in and stay in, the Atholl Arms, dog friendly if you have a companion with you, then walk back over the bridge and nip down the stone steps next to The Toll House. A pleasant walk along the river brings you to the Birnam woods where you’ll find the legendary Birnam oak.

In Shakespeare’s play the army advancing against Macbeth is told to use the branches of the trees in Birnam wood to disguise themselves, and so it appeared to Macbeth as if the trees are moving against him. The twisted Birnam Oak is ancient and widely believed to have inspired him to write this section of the play.

From Dunkeld take the A822, and the landscape really starts to open up. The mist hangs low over the hills, the snow gathers by the side of the road and in drifts over the fields, and ice whispers under my tyres. But this is a beautiful drive. The Tay Forest appears alpine, and the road begins to snake through the scenery like a dog following its nose.

As the A822, the Old Military Road, begins to rise, the snow and ice thicken and this is the point where I think I might not make it. Still alone on the road, I persevere, and conditions begin to clear.

Turn off onto the A826 and suddenly you’re amongst moorland, and then you’re rewarded with the incredible sight of The Griffin Forest where trees stand silent in reds, greens, and browns. At the end of the journey you’re in Kenmore, by Loch Tay. It’s a dream-like end to a road trip that takes in every kind of landscape, and even a magical tree that inspired a play so fearsome, its name dare not be spoken.

Words & Photography Samantha Priestley Twitter | Instagram

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ROADBOOK

CLASS: seeking shakespeare

NAME: the scottish drive

ROUTE: dunblane to kenmore

COUNTRY: scotland,uk

DISTANCE: 63 miles

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