Forgotten ashes on final journey

By Steven McKenzie
Highlands and Islands reporter, BBC Scotland news website

The cruiser, Cockney Rebel, sped through the rain to Tor Point, a name on sailors' charts for Loch Ness.

The boat carried an unusual cargo - the unclaimed ashes of 13 people that had been held by a funeral director for as long as 40 years.

Cutting the engines, the skipper brought the vessel to a stop off the village of Dores.

The colourful circus-like tents set up for the weekend's Rock Ness music festival were clearly visible.

For a moment there was silence and the rain stopped.

Retired church minister, Rev Douglas Clyne, led a short prayer service.

For the former minister at Fraserburgh Old Church and a padre to lifeboat crews, the ceremony on the deck of a gently falling and rising craft was not all that unusual.

Rev Clyne's duties have previously seen him perform ceremonies at sea, close to the mouth of a harbour, for lost fishermen.

Flower petals

He said the lives of the 13, whose cremated remains have never been collected by their relatives, were a closed book to those onboard but known in detail by God.

Rev Clyne said: "Let us look around at the beauty of this place that will now receive these ashes."

Staff from funeral director John Fraser and Son in Inverness poured the ashes on to the loch's calm waters one set at a time, before the company's Vicky Fraser threw a handful of yellow flower petals.

Calum Fraser, better known as Spud the Piper, closed the ceremony with a tune.

For a moment Tor Point was silent once more. The rain came again and a breeze began to blow, chopping the loch's surface.