As you may remember, I have never met a castle I didn’t like. So I figured a Rabbie’s tour with four days of Scottish Castles would be a good one. I wasn’t wrong.
Shortly before this 2017 trip, I had purchased a new, four-wheeled, hard-sided, smaller suitcase to make life easier with all of the times I would need to lift and carry the darned thing on this trip. The longest I would ever be seen by the same people was five days. So five days of tops were what I brought along. I would wear each of them up to three times. So I wouldn’t need a larger case. I had it all figured out. But, for some reason, the wheels were not all that cooperative on anything but a smooth surface (like the floor inside of the store where I bought it). Even some carpets caused an issue, much less cobblestones, uneven sidewalks and gravel. Obviously I should have test driven it before leaving home.
Because I had fought with it all the way from Waverly Train Station in Edinburgh to the hotel (just two blocks), I was not in the mood to be fighting with it for the four blocks from the hotel to the bus terminal. So I took a taxi instead. At the bus terminal all of the floors were even and tiled. Smooth sailing.
This time we had eight people – one from Malta, four from Canada, two from Germany, and me. Our Tour Director/Driver was named George and he wore a kilt. Many of the male tour directors and drivers on day trips or longer tours like this one up in Scotland wore kilts. Like all of the Rabbie’s personnel before him, George was knowledgeable, helpful, very nice to deal with, patient, and had a good sense of humor.
He would need both the patience and the good sense of humor in abundance. One of our number (not me) continually asked questions at about a five year old level. “Why did they paint the walls blue?” Each time she received an answer, she would respond with, “Oh,” and quickly ask another equally ridiculous question.
She didn’t listen to anything anyone else said, so she frequently asked things that had already been answered. Such as “Where are the people who own this castle?” when it had been said repeatedly that all of the places we were visiting were run by the National Trust of Scotland.
This carried on both while we were on the tour coach and at the site of whatever location we were touring. She drove all of the guides at the places we visited bonkers. She pretty much ignored the rest of us who were on the tour. So none of us were peppered with constant questions. Whew!
Our first castle on the tour, Falkland Palace, was built by Mary Queen of Scots’ grandfather, King James IV of Scotland. This James’ son (and Mary’s father) died at the Renaissance style palace, leaving Mary as Queen at the ripe old age of six days.
During the English Civil War, while some of Cromwell’s troops were staying there, a fire destroyed part of the palace. For a couple hundred years, the palace fell into ruin until it was bought and restored in the late 19th century. I really liked the interior of the place, but we weren’t allowed to take photos inside. I found it to be rather cozy. It seemed like a nice place to live.
Falkland Palace had the oldest tennis court in the world still in use. Mary Queen of Scots used to play there. It managed to survive even when the palace itself was in ruins.
I really loved Falkland Palace. Even though parts were in ruins, the parts that weren’t in ruins were lovely and cozy. It seemed like a place in which it would be great to live.
We had lunch in St Andrews, in a part of town where I had never been before – along the main street in the town center. Every other time I had been there, I had confined myself to the castle and/or the Old Course. Two ladies from Quebec City (Michelle and Searan) and I had lunch at a pub on the main street. We had a tasty lunch and some of the local ale.
Built in the 1730s, the House of Dun lies in the county of Angus. More of a large country house than a castle, the Georgian house is known for its extravagant plasterwork in the salon. One of its former residents had been very handy with a needle as there was a very large amount of really well executed needlework throughout. They still had a Game Larder just outside of the kitchens. We were able to take photos inside this time.
Our last stop of the day was Dunnotter Castle. Located on a rocky outcrop with steep cliffs jutting out into the North Sea, Dunnotter was a spectacular ruin of a mainly 15th and 16th century castle. It was fairly recently (2015) used during parts of the filming of Macbeth, starring Michael Fassbender as the title character and Marion Cotillard as Lady Macbeth.
After Charles II was crowned King of Scotland at Scone Palace during the English Civil War, the Honors of Scotland (the Scottish Crown Jewels) were hidden at Dunnotter Castle to keep them out of the hands of Oliver Cromwell and his troops. Katherine Drummond had carried them into the castle concealed in sacks of wool.
When Cromwell besieged the castle, the Honors were smuggled out hidden among sacks of goods over the course of three visits to the castle by Christian Fletcher, a minister’s wife. They were then buried under the floor of the church until Charles II returned. In the meantime, another woman, Anne Lindsay, removed the King’s papers from the castle sewn inside of her clothes. Some pretty brave women.
On this tour, instead of booking hotels, B&Bs or hostels, we were all together in country house hotels which were included in the price of the tour. Our first two nights were to be in Thainstone House Hotel, which was near Aberdeen and built in the 18th century. The house was set in 44 acres of woodlands. So once you were there, you were there (unless you had a car). It had a restaurant that had the reputation of the best steaks in Aberdeen. Breakfast was mighty tasty with a buffet plus a cooked breakfast to order. Our last morning there I was in the restaurant early and our driver/tour director, George, joined me.
Next time – Day 2 of the Scottish Castles Experience with Castle Fraser, the villages of Ballater and Crathie as well as Crathes Castle.
The town of Falkland 
Falkland Palace 
A wing of the palace 
The garden 
Another part of the garden 
Tennis court 
Main street of St Andrews 
House of Dun 
Salon 
Dining Room 
Sitting Room 
Framed piece of needlework 
Kitchen 
Game Larder 
Dunnotter Castle 
Thainstone House Hotel 
Hotel Entrance 
A small sitting room 
Upstairs landing