Rabbies Tours – A Traveling Fool

October 18, 2020

Scottish Castles Experience Day 3 – Part 2: Brodie Castle, Culloden Battlefield & Clava Cairns

Located in Moray, Scotland, Brodie Castle was built in 1567 by the Brodie family. They had been in the area from the 12^th century, so likely had an earlier castle on the site that may have been swallowed up by this castle.

The Entrance Hall to the current castle is in the 16^th century part of the castle, flanked by a Guard Chamber (rather disturbingly containing the skeleton of a child in a glass case) on one side and the Library on the other. From this part of the house, a staircase leads up to the Dining Room.

The Dining Room has a very ornate and heavy ceiling. It also has a portrait of a lady who is pointing to the ceiling. Is she trying to say, “Look up?” And is she indicating the ceiling or the room above?

The lady in question is Lady Margaret Duff, who was the wife of Lord James Brodie back in 1786. In the room directly above the Dining Room, known as the Best Bedchamber, Lady Margaret fell asleep by the fireplace where her clothes were set on fire and she died. She is said to haunt the castle.

In the Blue Drawing Room, which is just off of the Dining Room, a ghostly soldier often sits in contemplation. The Red Drawing Room leads to the very large and airy Victorian Drawing Room. This was my favorite room in the castle, other than the suite of Nursery Rooms. Brodie was the only castle on this tour where we could see a Victorian Nursery with all of its furnishings and even the toys. It covered the entire top floor and looked as though the children would be returning any minute. A little ghostly dog probably would agree as it is often seen heading for the Nursery.

The child’s skeleton was found when some renovations were being carried out on a set of turnpike stairs in the castle. Surprisingly enough, there doesn’t seem to be a ghost associated with the bones. Maybe that, and the fact that nobody seems to know who it is, are why they haven’t been buried anywhere and are on display in the Guard Chamber instead.

I have been to Culloden Battlefield four times. Each time has been completely different. The first time was on the second anniversary of 9/11 in 2002. It was a gloomy, rainy day. Not much was there at the time. It was mainly a rather overgrown field with a path leading to the monument. Said path was dirt, so quite muddy on that occasion. We all tromped out to the monument and had a minute of silence for 9/11 in the rain and mud.

Other than the path and monument, was the little, thatched cottage. We could go inside back then. It was decorated to look as it had after the massacre of the battle when those would took refuge there were all slain.

The second time I was there, they were starting to clean up the area – mowing the grass and uncovering the various small, stone markers to indicate the mass graves of those who had fallen. They were also raising money for a visitor center. I contributed. That was in 2005.

By my next visit in 2009, the visitor center was up and running. They had artifacts from the battle, a timeline, a display of the history behind it all, and a very moving film. To see the film, just stand in the middle of the room and watch the battle unfold all around you. I have seen it twice now and it moved me to tears both times.

The battlefield had flags indicating where each side was, the ground had been cleared, paths were created, the clan grave markers could be seen and other signs had been added. There were also benches to sit on if needed or desired.

The best part was that there were GPS devices with recorded commentary. These would beep when you entered a space where something notable happened. Then they would tell you all about it when you pushed the button in response.

I had looked for my name on the ceiling of the main room of the visitor center, but couldn’t find it. All contributors towards its building were supposed to be represented. But it was in order of contribution which made it difficult to find. There were a lot of names there.

During the 2017 visit, I watched the film for the second time, went out and explored the battlefield again, and then came back to the cafeteria for some lunch. I have included with this post, photos of some of the mass grave markers for some of the clans.

The nearby Clava Cairns were built about 4,000 years ago and constitute a Bronze Age cemetery. After many years of suffering from a lack of interest, the site has become famous as the inspiration for Craigh na Dun in the “Outlander” books and series.

We visited the main site, known as Balnauran of Clava. It has three large burial cairns, each with its own stone circle. Two of the cairns are called “passage cairns” where you enter through a narrow corridor. The third cairn (in the middle of the other two) is completely enclosed. All three have lost their roofs as well as their contents.

Of the four photos I selected to include here, the first shows two of the cairns with several of the standing stones. The second is my viewpoint from inside of one of the passage cairns. The third is a lovely tall stone. The fourth is the infamous split stone which, if you are an Outlander fan, you should recognize immediately as Claire’s means of time travel.

That night we spent the night at Knockomie House Hotel, a stone house built in 1812. The owners have it set up as a 15 room inn. Each room is different. Mine was dark purple and had a Victorian iron bed and plaid drapes. The reception area where we checked in was very quaint. Next to that was a small pub where they also pushed together a few tables and served us a delicious dinner.

We were served a Chicken and Ham Terrine (kind of a pate) with Chutney; Haddock with a nice variation on a Hollandaise Sauce and some Lemon Dill Mashed Potatoes; and a Sticky Toffee Pudding with a Butterscotch Sauce and some Ice Cream. I remember sleeping quite peacefully after that meal.

Next time – our last day on the Scottish Castles Experience tour with Ruthven Barracks, Dalwhinnie Scotch Distillery, lunch at Pitlochary, and Loch Leven Castle.

October 11, 2020

Scottish Castles Experience Day 3 – Part1: Fyvie Castle

I was really excited to be able to visit Fyvie Castle. From what I had read about it and had seen in various programs that talked about the castle, it was quite a place.

The oldest of the castles we were visiting on the tour, Fyvie was said to have been built originally in about 1211 by King William the Lion of Scotland. It remained in royal hands until about 1390 when it became the property of the Preston family in order to pay off a ransom. The Prestons celebrated by building a tower.

Early on in its history, however, it gained a curse. A prophet called Thomas the Rhymer turned up at the castle in the 13^th century (same century in which it had been built). Due to some freak gust of wind that came up just as he reached the gate, Thomas was incensed that the gate had been slammed in his face and put a curse on the castle. This curse involved three stones that were referred to as the “weeping stones”.

The “weeping stones” always appear to be wet no matter what is happening with their environment. The curse says that, until all three stones are found and removed from the property, no eldest son of the owner of the castle will ever inherit. So far, it has appeared to be true as no eldest son of any owner since has ever inherited the castle.

Originally the three stones were said to have been boundary stones marking the parish. But one supposedly found its way into the walls of the oldest part of the castle. Another somehow ended up in the Charter Room. That is the only one to have been found to date and is on display in a bowl inside of a glass box in the Charter Room. The last stone was lost in the River Ythan, which makes it impossible to ever lift the curse.

I have included a photo of the stone on display in the Charter Room. On the day we visited, it seemed to be only slightly moist. Apparently it hasn’t cried quite so much since it has been in the glass case.

While exiting the tour coach before going into the castle, I felt like we were being watched from one of the rooms above. I looked up and took a photo of the window. It was at the corner of where the south range met the west range, just below a little turret and a flag pole with the Scottish flag. I didn’t see anybody at the window, but they could have just stepped out of sight.

We entered the west range into the main hall which contains loads of armor, some taxidermied animals and a few bronze Chinese dogs. It was very interesting room and one of 110 rooms in the entire castle. We went up what was called the Great Wheel Stair to the Dining Room. This was a lovely room (though my photos were a little on the dark side), followed by the Morning Room, which I thought was quite cozy. It seemed like a pleasant room to hang out in. The Charter Room came next and then the large and opulent Library.

In addition to the “weeping stone”, a second curse having to do with the castle involves a secret chamber below the Charter Room. It is said that, should anyone enter the chamber, the Laird of the Castle will die and his wife will go blind. They say that someone did enter the room once upon a time and the curse did happen. So the chamber was completely sealed up to the point that there isn’t even an entrance to it.

After the Prestons, the castle passed to the Meldrums when a Meldrum married a Preston daughter. This was about 1433. The Meldrum family added a tower too. Then the castle was sold to Alexander Seton in 1596 who added the Seton Tower in the middle of the south side of the castle (between the Meldrum and PrestonTowers). He also added the West Range.

Alexander Seton’s wife, Dame Lilias Drummond, kept giving him only daughters, which ticked him off royally. So he imprisoned her in part of the house and starved her to death in order to marry a much younger cousin of Lilias with whom he was enjoying himself. If the room in which she died had been the secret chamber below the Charter Room, it would make sense that the curse would be about killing the Laird and blinding his wife.

Shortly after Lilias died, Alexander married his mistress. On the wedding night, the newlyweds heard some scratching and moaning outside of the window of the bedchamber (four floors up). They thought it was just the wind. In the morning when Alexander opened the shutters and the window, he saw the name of his first wife,” D. Lilias Drummond”, scratched deeply into the stone window sill , outside, upside down, as if done by someone hovering outside of the window.

We were shown the room. It was no longer a bedroom (who would want to sleep there?), but had maps and charts and such scattered around. It seemed to be a storage room. I walked over to the window and took photos of the name carved into the stone. It was the same window from which I had felt we were being watched when we arrived.

A successor of Alexander Seton died in exile in Paris after a Jacobite uprising that had taken place in 1689. At the time of the uprising, the castle had been forfeited to the crown. This would have been the Hanoverians down in London.

It remained a crown property until it was purchased by William Gordon, who was Earl of Aberdeen at the time, in 1733. Forty five years later the Gordon Tower was added to the north end of the west range. Gordon was also the one who moved the main entrance of the castle from the Seton Tower in the middle of the south range to the middle of the west range.

One more family purchased the castle in 1885, adding the final tower. That was the Forbes-Leith family. It was Alexander Leith who built the Leith Tower in 1890.

Another ghostly presence for a short time was Lady Meldrum, who died sometime in the 13^th century. For some strange reason, her dying wish was to be placed in the walls somewhere in the castle. She supposedly loved the castle and didn’t want to leave it. Around 1920 her skeleton was discovered, carefully excavated from the castle and buried in a grave. After that, she haunted the castle as The Grey Lady (Lilias Drummond is called The Green Lady and has been seen here and there too). Once they gave in and put her back in the wall (in one of the bedrooms), she stopped her haunting.

One of the most impressive parts of the castle consists of the enormous Drawing Room in the Gordon Tower and how it opens onto the Gallery in the Leith Tower. The Gallery has several rich tapestries and portraits of King Charles I and his wife Henrietta Maria. It also has a fairly large organ. The Gallery is often used for weddings.

Heading back downstairs towards the entrance again, we entered the Billiard Room. This was a more casual, welcoming room with flowered sofas and a table with a tartan cloth.

Next time – Brodie Castle, Culloden Battlefield, and Clava Cairns.

September 27, 2020

Scottish Castles Experience Day 1: Falkland Palace, House of Dun & Dunnotter Castle

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 19^th 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 15^th and 16^th 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 18^th 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.

May 24, 2020

Alnwick Castle & the Scottish Borders

My first full day in Scotland, I had a day trip booked to visit Alnwick Castle and the Scottish Borders. As a fan of both Downton Abbey and the Harry Potter books and films, I was really looking forward to seeing Alnwick (pronounced Ann-ick). The castle was used as the home of the fella who ultimately became Edith’s husband in Downton. In the Harry Potter films, it was used for many of the exterior shots, and a few interiors, of the Hogwarts School of Magic.

The tour left from just across the street and down the road a bit. The tour group – Rabbies – does small group tours with a maximum of 16 people. I booked all of my day trips through Viator online. They were through various tour groups. Rabbies was one I really liked.

The tour coach was packed and a woman asked if she could sit with me. Her name was Naomi and she lived in Israel. We hit it off immediately and ended up spending the day together. We continue to stay in touch.

Our first stop was Kelso Abbey. As with most of the abbeys along the Scottish border with England, Kelso was destroyed in the 16^th century as part of what was known as the Rough Wooing. King Henry VIII of England wanted Mary Queen of Scots in marriage to his son Edward. When the answer came back as “no”, Henry started a war with Scotland. As part of that war, he destroyed all of the abbeys he could in Scotland. Henry did not take “no” for an answer ever.

After the destruction of the 12^th century abbey, much of the stone was hauled away to be used to build other things. There is one section of the building remaining. It gives an idea of both how strong and how beautiful a building it once was. Most of the land around it is a cemetery.

We took a walk into the town through the cemetery. This was so folks could get their morning coffee. Not being a coffee drinker, I went along just to see the town. It was a small market town with a central town square, where it would have been difficult to lose one’s way.

To get to Alnwick, we needed to cross the border into England. This included crossing the great salmon fishing river, the River Tweed. We stopped for some photos.

In Scottish Gaelic, the river is Abhainn Thuaidh, and in Scots it is called Watter o Tweid. Scottish Gaelic is the unique language of Scotland, which is still spoken in some parts of the Highlands, but not too much elsewhere in Scotland any more (unlike Welsh which is having a great revival). Scots is an archaic hybrid of Scottish Gaelic and English that was mainly spoken in the Lowlands of Scotland. It is the language in which the song “Auld Lang Syne” was written. “Auld Lang Syne” means roughly “days gone by.”

The seat of the Dukes of Northumberland, the 11^th century Alnwick Castle is the second largest inhabited castle in England, after Windsor. Over its long history, it has been involved in several battles, including the Wars of the Roses between the Yorkists and Lancastrians. Although it changed hands a few times over the centuries, it was never severely damaged and still looks very much as it did in the 12^th century on the outside. The inside and the parks were altered in the 18^th and 19^th centuries. New gardens were created in 2003 for the purposes of a charitable trust.

The castle has several Harry Potter displays and experiences for children and families. While we were there, a Downton Abbey costume exhibit was going on inside of the castle. Unfortunately they didn’t allow photos inside.

The dining room looked just as it did in Downton Abbey and there were several mannequins around the room wearing gowns that had been worn in the scenes shot there. This was another castle that, despite its size, seemed rather cozy.

Wanting something associated with Downton Abbey, I purchased a very elegant ‘cake slice’ which looked like something that would be used at a formal dinner there. A couple of my friends (also Downton Abbey fans) and I have an annual tea during which we use this special purchase to serve desserts.

Naomi and I had lunch together at the Treehouse, which actually was a treehouse. Then we walked around the garden and grounds until it was time to leave. I can’t remember who the person was whose statue on horseback I photographed, but I am sure it was a family member (the Percy family) and I really liked the statue.

Originally the site of an ancient fort built by the indigenous Celtic Britons, Bamburgh Castle had its origins in 547. That castle was destroyed by the Vikings in 993. The Normans built a new castle on the site in the 11^th century. Unfortunately there wasn’t enough time to tour the castle (and I think it was either closed for the day or about to be).

Just before crossing the border back into Scotland, we made a stop at Berwick-on-Tweed to take photos of the bridges. Berwick started as an Anglo-Saxon market town. Taking a photo of the bridges properly lined up with one another, there are three bridges from three different centuries.

Dunbar Castle was begun in the 7^th century on a rocky outcrop at the harbor of the town of Dunbar. The castle was then rebuilt in stone in the 11^th century. But in the 16^th century, the castle was blown up.

Back in Edinburgh, Naomi and I decided to have dinner together. Although it was my first full day in Scotland, it was her last. She was returning home the next day. I proposed the bar at the Balmoral. They had food as well as drinks in a casual atmosphere.

We shared a vegetarian grill that was huge (I think it was intended to be shared by two people) and delicious. Along with that, I had a mojito that added some cherry juice and champagne to the usual recipe. It too was quite tasty.

After our dinner, when we entered the lobby from the bar, we were called over to the desk by the Assistant Manager. He had some chocolates to give us. And then he also gave us some of the most light and airy macarons I have ever had. I thought that was so nice.

After sending Naomi off in her taxi to her hotel, I headed up to my room. My bed had already been turned down, with some hotel slippers next to the bed and more chocolates on the nightstand.

Next time – Rosslyn Chapel (and Castle), Melrose Abbey & Part of Hadrian’s Wall