Scotland – A Traveling Fool

November 10, 2024

Viking British Isles Explorer Cruise: Linlithgow Palace – Birthplace of Mary Queen of Scots

With the many trips I have taken to Scotland over the years, I have been to a lot of places associated with Mary Queen of Scots. Places where she lived. Multiple places where she was imprisoned. Where she gave birth to her son. Where her personal secretary was murdered by her 2nd husband (Lord Darnley) and his cronies. Where her 2nd husband died. But Linlithgow is where Mary Stuart was born.

I had originally signed up to see Scone Palace, but that excursion had been canceled when not enough people signed up for it. Of all of the other excursions, the only other two that I had not done before were Broomhall (the home of the Family Bruce), and Linlithgow Palace. Broomhall was sold out by that time, so I signed up for Linlithgow Palace. This was an included tour. No additional charge.

The site on which the castle stands has been occupied for as far back as Roman times (2,000 years ago). King David I of Scotland founded the town of Linlithgow (meaning “the loch in the damp hollow”) and built a royal manor there in the 11^th century. In 1424 a fire partially destroyed the town and much of the manor as well.

King James I rebuilt the manor as a grand Royal Residence and also rebuilt the Church of St Michael. Linlithgow Palace became one of the principle Scottish royal residences throughout the 15^th and 16^th centuries. Mary’s father, James V, was born there in 1512 and she was born there in 1542.

After Mary’s son, King James VI of Scotland, left Scotland to become King James I of England after Queen Elizabeth I’s death in 1603, the palace was rarely used and fell into disrepair. It was finally ‘accidentally’ burned out in 1746 by the Duke of Cumberland’s men.

During our visit to the palace, we listened to our tour guide give us a history of the palace and point a few things out while we hung out in the inner close by the fountain. There were several benches on which to sit, so I did that for a while and then began to circle the fascinating fountain to take photos of it from all angles. We were then set free to explore the palace at our own pace. I headed up the Queen’s Turnpike to the first floor and the Bed Chamber.

I continued on from there, photographing the Presence Chamber, the King’s Hall, and a statue of Mary Queen of Scots from one of the windows in the King’s Hall. Passing the King’s Turnpike (and taking a photo of it), I entered the museum and explored its contents. When I was done in there, I checked out another Hall and the Chapel, taking a photo of the Church of Saint Michael from one of the windows there.

I found a very interesting old door (but likely not original) that was closed and locked. I wondered where it led. Then I discovered another very interesting set of really old stairs. I wanted to see where they led but they appeared to be blocked part of the way up. That is one of the things about ruined castles. You never know when something may be blocked, falling down, or missing entirely.

Next came the Great Hall, which was also known as the “Lyon Chalmer”. This was the largest room in the palace and had a properly gigantic fireplace at one end. At the other end, I found the entrance to the Court Kitchen.

With a little further exploration and my natural curiosity, I ventured down a long passageway within the wall alongside the Great Hall. That was quite rewarding. I found another turnpike (this one unnamed) and took it back down to the ground floor where I wandered through another interesting corridor, discovered a guardroom, and eventually came out near the entrance (and the gift shop).

At this point, I discovered that Christine and Sherry were also at Linlithgow on another tour coach. They had arrived after me, but were already in the gift shop. Most of my explorations had been a solitary endeavor. I had some company in the Bedchamber, the Presence Chamber and the King’s Hall. But then was entirely on my own in the museum, another hall and the Chapel, until the Great Hall, where I encountered a handful of people. After the Great Hall, I was completely alone again until the gift shop. It was crowded in there.

We still had some time before my coach would return to the ship (theirs would be about 15 minutes after mine), so we left the palace to explore the town. We were pretty far along the main drag (I had purchased a wooden thingy with which to stir my porridge) when it began to rain fairly heavily. We ducked into a café where I ordered a chocolate shake and a pastry while my companions ordered a cream tea (tea with scones, cream and jam). Fittingly, the site where the café now stands was once the location of the bakery for the palace.

Later, after our evening lecture on the Highland Clearances (and my Lemon Drop Martini), the three of us had dinner together again. I had some salmon stuffed with Spinach Florentine and crabmeat, some roasted vegetables, and a very nice Italian rosé.

Next time – Invergordon, Inverness, Urquhart Castle & Loch Ness

November 3, 2024

Viking British Isles Explorer Cruise: 17th Century Orkney – Skaill House

Literally a stone’s throw from Skara Brae stands a 17^th century manor house built over a pre-Norse burial site and surrounded by various burial mounds. It has been enlarged over the centuries. Nowadays the house is open for tours. Parts of the building that have been redeveloped into apartments are available as holiday rentals.

On my first visit there, once I finished photographing Skara Brae, I traipsed through the mud towards Skaill House. I had the very odd experience of being rained upon heavily on one side of the arch next to the house, only to find that the rain ended abruptly when I walked through the arch. I turned around to look back through the arch and could see it was still definitely raining on the other side. Interestingly enough, a large stretch of the pre-Norse burial site lies next to the house right where I was standing. I was walking over graves from that point to the entrance porch on the other side of that part of the house.

When the flagstone floor in the Main Hall was replaced by Oak flooring in the 20^th century, more skeletons were discovered there. There has been a debate about whether the skeletons were Norse or Pictish. They seem to have settled on pre-Norse. Before the Vikings, but maybe not necessarily the Picts. The current owner thinks that either they didn’t know the graves were there, or they weren’t concerned about it. According to my DNA, I have both Viking and ancient Briton. In this part of the UK, that likely would have been the Picts.

When coming from Skara Brae, it seems that the house is being entered at the back. The rear of the house, is actually facing Skara Brae (although that had once been the front of the house). But the main road now comes to the property on the side of the loch, which is the opposite of where Skara Brae sits on the edge of the ocean. The main drive comes up to the house from the loch. The East Porch, which is the front entrance to the house, was built in 1878.

Entering through the East Porch, the Entrance Hall was created from a storage room and pantry when the main entrance was moved. I showed the woman sitting there my ticket and bought a guidebook for £4.00. The Dining Room was the next room. The dishes in the display cabinet were once owned by Captain Cook and were brought to Skaill House in 1780 by Captain King after Captain Cook was killed in Hawaii.

The Library, which had an interesting atmosphere, is the room with the odd round window. The portrait next to the window is of the son of a former owner of the house (Colonel Scarth) who was killed at the age of 14 from an accident with a horse. The round window was created to allow for light while making room for a flue pipe to reach the gable chimney from a boiler that had been installed near the library.

The Main Hall and the wing to the south of it were added, along with the main staircase, in roughly 1790. At that time the road was to the west of the house (on the Skara Brae side), so the main entrance was moved to the Main Hall, where it remained until the road was moved to the east side of the house.

The Main Hall contains a large, dark cupboard, called the Armada Chest. The panels of the chest are said to have come from one of the Spanish galleons which sank in 1588. A similar chest is in the Victoria and Albert Museum. Visitors are sent up the main staircase to see the rooms on the floor above.

The large Drawing Room sits in the south wing (above the dining room and library) and has views of both the loch to the east and the bay to the west. My photos of the room show the doors of a closet containing glassware open on the east-facing end of the room, and a less formal area on the west facing end.

From there the former dressing room and bedroom of Colonel Scarth are used as exhibit rooms. Just before entering the 17^th century bedroom of Bishop Graham, I came across a part of the house I had not seen when I was there in 2009. This was the dressing room and bedroom of Colonel Scarth’s wife. They have been kept as they were from the early 20^th century.

It is said that when visitors were able to enter the rooms and take a closer look at her belongings, her ghost wasn’t happy and let it be known. Once the rooms were roped off at the doorways, she settled down. Skaill House is reportedly very, very haunted with ghosts from many different centuries in many parts of the house. So you never know who you might encounter.

On this visit, as I did on my previous visit, I headed straight for Skaill House after spending loads of time at Skara Brae. After touring the house, I visited its gift shop and bought some beautiful, silver, Celtic earrings before heading to the reproduction of one of the houses at Skara Brae. I still had a decent amount of time before we needed to get back on the tour coach.

I checked out the visitor center which seemed to be larger than I remembered it from 2009. I found a couple necklaces for my sister-in-laws there and had a nice cup of hot chocolate to warm me up. It was quite nippy the closer one was to the sea. So spending so much time at House #1 of Skara Brae, which was right next to the sea necessitated a warming drink. I still got my usual Lemon Drop Martini at that evening’s presentation on “Roman Britain” however.

When we returned to the ship, we found some pipers and Scottish dancers performing for us just before the ship sailed. They were on the same side of the ship as my stateroom so I could get the best view of them from up above. A couple of photos are here with this post.

I was very glad to see Skaill House again, but don’t think I would be interested in spending the night. At least not completely on my own.

Next time – Linlithgow Palace – Birthplace of Mary Queen of Scots

October 27, 2024

Viking British Isles Explorer Cruise: A Neolithic Orcadian Village – Skara Brae

After a quick lunch in the stateroom back at the ship, we headed out for the afternoon excursion of Skara Brae and Skaill House. We drove through Kirkwall on the way and approached our destination from the inland side. I recognized Skaill House from across the loch even though, when I had been there before, we had only been on the ocean side. It is a large, sprawling house — mostly two stories, but with a three story tower. I quickly raised my phone and took a photo.

The tour coach ended up parking just north of the house, not too far from the visitor center. We got off of the coach and immediately headed along the path to Skara Brae. Since it is below the ground, there isn’t much that can be seen until you are right on top of it. Then, what you see is mesmerizing.

This was how regular people lived in this part of the world at least as far back as 3180 to 2500 BC. Skara Brae is on the Bay of Skaill on the largest island in Orkney, known as Mainland. It consists of ten earthen houses, with stone interior walls, clustered together. Some of them have the remains of stone furniture and even sewer systems.

It is the best preserved Neolithic village in Europe. It also happens to be older than both Stonehenge and the Pyramids. I am fascinated by Skara Brae both because of its age and the fact that the buildings were the homes of regular people. Not palaces or tombs.

Skara Brae was discovered when a nasty storm hit Scotland in the winter of 1850. The top of the hill containing the houses was ripped off revealing parts of some of them. Excavations began to reveal the rest of them.

The houses were built into mounds of domestic waste known as middens, which created some stability for the mortarless stone walls while also acting as insulation. They are not certain what was burned in the firepits as peat was not readily available as fuel until after Skara Brae had already been abandoned. Possible fuels could have been animal dung, dried seaweed or driftwood. Trees have never been in abundance on Orkney.

Looking at the photos I took, you can see that the furniture includes dressers, storage boxes, cupboards, and even rudimentary beds. The doors to each house were made of stone slabs which used bars made of bone to shut them. Beads and painted pots were left behind in many of the houses, which suggests that the inhabitants may have left in a hurry.

One of the buildings, House 8, is different from the rest. It has no dresser or storage boxes and has been divided into smaller areas. There also appears to be a flue as well as fragments of bone, antler, and stone. It is thought that this house, which also is a stand-alone structure not surrounded by midden, was used to make tools.

House #1 is the most complete. It has a fire pit in the center. A dresser is against the wall bordering the sea. When facing the dresser, the men’s bed is at the left and the women’s bed at the right. You can see storage boxes scattered around and also see some cupboards built into the walls.

It is believed that the people who built Skara Brae primarily raised cattle, sheep and pigs. Evidence shows that barley was cultivated. Fish bones and shells were also found.

Artefacts include lumps of red ochre (indicating the possibility of body painting), and awls, needles, knives, beads, shovels, small bowls, and ivory pins. These items were made of animal, fish, bird, and whalebone, as well as walrus ivory and orca teeth.

Additional excavations in 1972 reached layers that had remained under water and therefore contained items that would have been destroyed if not having been preserved in the water. These included a wooden handle and a piece of rope made from a twisted skein of heather.

On my previous visit to Skara Brae, it had been raining quite heavily there too. This made the paths and grass upon which we needed to walk to be able to look down into the houses rather treacherous.

On this trip, I was able to take my time and thoroughly photograph everything. It was cold since I was near the sea, but it wasn’t raining. I spent a lot of time both in the real Skara Brae and visiting the reproduction of what one of the houses might have looked like when it was inhabited. It actually seemed rather cozy. It would have been interesting to know how many people lived in a house.

Next time – 17^th Century Orkney – Skaill House

October 20, 2024

Viking British Isles Explorer Cruise: Prehistoric Orkney – And You Thought Stonehenge Was Old

I have divided Orkney into three posts as there was so much to see there, spread across two excursions. This first part has to do with Maeshowe, the Standing Stones of Stenness, the Ring of Brodgar, and the Ness of Brodgar. This was the morning excursion, which ended with a visit to the town of Stromness.

I am really fascinated by ancient civilizations and archaeology, so this was my second trip to Orkney. The islands there have been inhabited for at least 8,500 years (Mesolithic, Neolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age, etcetera). Orkney became part of the Pictish kingdom by the late Iron Age.

In 875, Orkney was colonized and annexed by the Kingdom of Norway. This was around the time that my Norse ancestors turned up in Orkney. The king at the time was Harald Fairhair (Harald Hårfagne). Rognvald Eysteinsson was the first Jarl (or Earl) of both Orkney and Shetland. He was a close relative and ally of Harald Fairhair. His nicknames were “Rognvald the Wise” and “Rognvald the Powerful”. He died in about 890.

After a few centuries, the then fully Norse Orkney (the Picts had been assimilated) was absorbed into Scotland in 1472 following the failure of the Norwegian king to pay a dowry to James III of Scotland for his daughter, Margaret of Denmark.

Orkney consists of Mainland, the North Isles and the South Isles. The people are referred to as Orcadians. The climate is mild; the soil fertile; the most important sector of the economy is agriculture.

The ship was docked at Kirkwall, the largest city in Orkney. It has an airport with regular flights to various parts of Scotland. St Magnus Cathedral was built in honor of the martyrdom of Magnus Erlendsson, who was killed in April of 1116 by his cousin Haakon Paulsson. The people in power all seem to have been related in some way.

The last time I had been in Orkney, it was raining quite heavily as we ventured into the area where Maeshowe, the Standing Stones of Stenness, and the Ring of Brodgar were located. During that earlier visit, I could barely see Maeshowe, much less photograph it.

Maeshowe is a chambered cairn and passageway grave that was probably built around 2800 BC. This specific type of tomb, with a long, low entrance passageway (about three feet in height) leading to a square (or rectangular) chamber from which there is access to a number of side cells, was only built on Orkney. It is, however, somewhat similar to Newgrange in Ireland so there might have been a link between the two cultures.

The Norsemen left behind their graffiti when they first discovered and entered the tomb sometime in about the 12th century. Of course, their graffiti was in runes. It still said the usual “Harald was here” though.

Begun in about 3100 BC, the Standing Stones of Stenness are possibly the oldest henge site in the British Isles. Originally there were thought to have been 12 stones. There are four left. My attempts at photographing them the first time I was there ended up with some rain-streaked, blurry shots taken through the tour coach window. This time I actually got a couple of decent photos.

The Ring of Brodgar is the only major henge and stone circle in Britain that is almost a perfect circle. The interior of the circle, which was erected between 2500 and 2000 BC has never been excavated. It is the last of the great Neolithic monuments built on the Ness of Brodgar.

Surrounded by a ditch, the circle consists of 27 stones out of its original 60. Despite the torrential rain experienced during the first visit (in 2009) we were actually allowed to walk around amongst the stones. Since the rain was mainly horizontal, due to the high winds and lack of trees, I hid myself behind one of the stones and photographed what I could from there.

On this trip, we were greeted by a herd of cattle. We were not allowed to enter the circle. But we could walk around the perimeter of the entire site and photograph it from all angles. I got some shots of nearby burial mounds too.

Upon leaving the Ring of Brodgar and heading towards the village of Stromness, we passed the Ness of Brodgar excavation. This site (from 2004 to 2024) has uncovered about 40 structures. It was built roughly between 3500 and 2400 BC. They were just about to start covering it over again with the same dirt that was previously removed from the site.

The problem is that, while the stones used at Skara Brae are hard beach stones, the stones used here are quarried stones that are being eroded by being exposed to the elements. The only way to protect it all is to cover it up. They have loads of photos, data, and items they have unearthed that they can study for many years to come. Then, when the technology to possibly preserve the site and building remains is at hand, one of those future generations can dig it up again and still have something to see.

At Stromness (population roughly 2,500), I bought a couple of watercolors of the Stones of Stenness and a painted fridge magnet of the Ring of Brodgar. Since I didn’t have a lot of time in between this excursion and the afternoon tour to have lunch, I also picked up a sausage roll, some crisps, and an energizing chocolate bar to consume in my stateroom before heading out again to see more really, really old stuff.

Next time – A Neolithic Orcadian Village – Skara Brae

October 13, 2024

Viking British Isles Explorer Cruise: Ullapool & A Beautiful, Scenic Drive in the Scottish Highlands

We weren’t due to arrive at Ullapool until noon. Our passports were being returned to us at 10am to 11am. They had been held onto until we were away from Ireland (and Northern Ireland). I slept in until 8am, had breakfast, and was in the line to get my passport by 10am. I had a lecture I wanted to attend at 10:30am by Russell Lee – “Beyond Braveheart: The First Scottish War of independence”.

Now I love history, which means that I was not at all happy with the film Braveheart and its rabid inaccuracies. For instance, Braveheart was not William Wallace’s nickname, it was Robert the Bruce’s. Kilts were not worn at that time. They did not come into fashion until much later. The Scots did not wear blue paint into battle. That was the Picts and many centuries earlier. Actually the Picts went into battle totally naked and were heavily tattooed. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. Fortunately Russell Lee felt pretty much the same as me about the inaccuracies. A good share of his lecture was spent correcting them.

After the lecture, there was time for a leisurely lunch. Then everyone going on an excursion met back in the theatre (at 12:20pm for my group) to wait for each group to be called to board the tender.

I had been to the village of Ullapool (roughly 1,500 inhabitants) before and had loved its beautiful setting. Ullapool had been founded in 1788 as a herring port. It is still used as a fishing port, a yachting haven, and a ferry port (as well as a stop for cruise ships). We were tendered to the docks and met by a piper. This was our first stop in Scotland, so we received the traditional Scottish welcome. I know people tend to either love or hate bagpipes. I love them. I even have recordings of a bagrock group or two (rock music and even some jazz played by bands incorporating bagpipes along with the usual rock instruments). You haven’t fully lived until you have heard a duet between an electric guitar and bagpipes.

I had wanted to visit Castle Leod, home of Clan Mackenzie, but it was sold out before I could sign up. In addition to the castle being sold out, an excursion to an island avian sanctuary was also sold out. So I had a walking tour of the town, an excursion to a garden, a hike at Knockan Crag (labeled as “demanding”), or a scenic drive through the area of Assynt from which to choose. I picked the last one.

Since the previous day in Belfast had been so strenuous, it was probably a good thing that I spent most of my time on this excursion looking out of the window of the tour coach at the gorgeous scenery of the Scottish Highlands.

Assynt is a very sparsely populated area in the southwest of Sutherland in Scotland. One reason for the sparse population is what is known as the Highland Clearances. This took place between the years 1750 to 1860 when a very large number of tenants in the highlands and islands of Scotland were evicted from their homes. Some were just kicked out and many were transported to other countries. This came about when the landlords needed to increase their income because of debt. A large number of the landlords felt that grazing sheep was more profitable than having tenant farmers.

Our first stop was Knockan Crag. This was where some of my shipmates had gone hiking. It was the first thrust fault to be discovered in the world. Due to horizontal tectonic activity, older rocks had been pushed up over younger rocks. There were some lovely views from up there.

A small hamlet named Inchnadamph is known for its “Bone Caves”. These contain relics of reindeer, Artic fox, Eurasian lynx, and brown bear – all dating to 47,000 BCE. They have also found the only remains of polar bears yet discovered in Scotland. Plus there are some human skeletons dated to the 3^rd millennium BCE. We didn’t stop and explore anything there, however, just sort of waved as we went by.

We stopped to take photos of the ruins of Ardveck Castle and Calda House. The castle had been built in around 1490 by the Macleods of Assynt. Clan Mackenzie attacked and captured Ardveck in 1672 and took control of the Assynt lands. In 1726, the castle owner’s wife wanted a new place to live. Calda House was built. A fire destroyed the house in 1737 and a storm badly damaged the castle in 1795.

We were apparently behind time when we arrived in the village of Lochinver. We were only given a half hour to be there. I spent a good 25 of those 30 minutes in the line for the loo. Not much time for any exploration before I needed to be back on the tour coach again. Lochinver was on a sea loch and is a fishing port. I managed a photo of a war memorial and of some heather before heading back along the road to where the coach was waiting.

Back on the ship, we had a lecture by Dennis Fitzsimonds on “Pre-Historic Shetland, Orkney and Caithness” at 6:30pm. At 7:30pm, Dr Caroline Malloy gave a talk on “The Orkney Islands – Archaeology, Climate Change and Preservation”. Despite having a very late dinner that night, I still managed to get what appeared to be the last of the escargot (I ate three of them before remembering to take a photo). With that, I also had some crab legs, mussels and roasted sweet potato. I went with a Riesling for my wine and some Crepe Suzette for dessert. One of the few times I indulged in a dessert.

Next time – Prehistoric Orkney – And You Thought Stonehenge Was Old

November 8, 2020

Anstruther & St Andrews with a Stop in Falkland

My last full day in Scotland on this particular trip involved a day trip from Edinburgh to Anstruther and St Andrews with a stop in Falkland. I had been to St Andrews several times before, but only passing through, with just a half hour or an hour to spend there. This time I would have about three hours.

Whenever heading north from Edinburgh the route goes through South Queensferry as both the rail bridge and a couple car and truck bridges take folks across to the other side of the Firth of Forth. The Queen in question was Saint Margaret, consort of King Malcolm Canmore. This time, when we stopped, I zoomed in with my camera on the rail bridge and caught a train on its way to Inverness. I think sometime I should take the train from Edinburgh to Inverness just so I can ride across that bridge.

Founded as a fishing village in 1225, Anstruther (pronounced like “ANN-stir”) is now a resort village on the north coast of the Firth of Forth where it meets the North Sea. It is a pretty little village that can be walked from end to end without much effort.

Anstruther is another British place name that illustrates how British English and American English can be slightly different. There is Belvoir Castle, which is pronounced “Beaver” (don’t ask). Leicester Square in London = “Lester”. Southwark Cathedral = “SUTH-erk”. One of my favorites isn’t a place — it is just the British word for aluminum, which is aluminium (“al-u-MINI-um”).

We were dropped off at a spot where we could use restrooms and get some coffee. We would be picked up at the other end of the main road bordering the water in about 45 minutes. I had plenty of time to walk around, explore and take photos.

When we got to St Andrews, we were given the choice of being dropped off at one of three places – the main street in town, the Old Course, or the Cathedral. We would be picked up at the in town drop off spot in three hours, so we were all shown where that was first. Then we drove over to the Old Course.

The public cn have lunch at the Clubhouse. It isn’t necessary to be a member. There is a museum a short distance from there. A ways across the course is the hotel where a lot of the golfers who come to play stay. It also isn’t necessary to be a member to play the course, but there is a long wait for a tee time. So advanced planning is necessary.

Several people jumped off at the Old Course. The rest of us headed off to the cathedral. There were only three of us that got off there. The others were apparently going into town for lunch first.

I had never had time to visit the cathedral. On the other trips to St Andrews we had been dropped off at the Old Course and had to hot foot it at a sprightly pace down the road to the castle. I could only gaze at the cathedral longingly from the road next to the castle. So this trip, it was my first priority.

St Andrews Cathedral was built in the 12^th century and was ransacked and ruined during the Scottish Reformation in the 16^th century. The grounds over which the ruins are scattered are quite extensive. Many people have been buried there throughout the centuries. Some of the tombstones depicted the person buried beneath as a golfer. What a place for a lifelong golfer to be buried!

After I took all the photos I wanted, I headed over to the town to get some lunch. Since we had had our lunch stop in St Andrews on the first day of the Scottish Castles Experience tour, I had learned about the main drag of St Andrews and had a pretty good idea of the pubs along the road.

I had been to a pub down closer to the fountain in the middle of the road, but didn’t want to go too far that way since I wanted to visit the castle after lunch. The road to the castle was fairly close to where I had come out of the cathedral grounds. So I opted for the first pub that looked welcoming and had an open table.

One of my favorite pub lunches is a ploughman’s lunch which includes bread, cheese, usually some sort of pate or ham, and maybe a hard-boiled egg. If they don’t have a ploughman’s lunch, I will often get fish & chips unless they have something else interesting like bangers & mash (sausage and mashed potatoes), toad in the hole (sausage baked inside of some Yorkshire pudding), Scotch eggs (soft-boiled eggs wrapped in sausage meat and bread crumps and deep fried), or Welsh Rarebit (a cheese toast usually made with sharp cheddar and a spicy mustard). I know. Healthy dining! That’s why I like to get the ploughman’s lunch. It is the least of all evils.

I do like to eat in pubs because they are much cheaper than restaurants and take much less time to get your food. You also order at the bar, so no waiting on the server to come around. And you usually pay when you order, so can leave when done instead of waiting for the bill. It is plenty of food for me too.

Sometimes I will do a café, especially one in a museum or other attraction that I am visiting (such as the one at Holyrood Palace). I prefer to eat the local cuisine, so I tend to avoid American fast food shops unless I am really pressed for time and/or desperate.

The particular pub I chose had a board outside that said they had a ploughman’s lunch. So I ordered that and a half pint of local Scottish dark ale. They served grape jelly with the meal. It was not to spread on the bread, but to eat with the pate. The first time that happened years ago I thought that it would most likely be disgusting, as peanut butter and liverwurst had been (which was a common sandwich on offer at several sandwich shops). But I was wrong. It was delicious.

Now well fortified, I headed for the castle. I had made a hurried tour of the castle several years before when I had an hour total in St Andrews. This time I wanted to take the trail down to the water’s edge. Then I would see how much time I had left to tour the castle again before I needed to be at the pickup point.

I often overestimate how much time something will take, especially since I have fairly short little legs. But I can get those stubby limbs in gear and cover a lot of ground quickly. More than one tour director has commented on how fast I can move. I think it’s because of having to spend so much of my life keeping up with people much taller than me.

I got to the top of the trail quickly (even with stopping to take a couple photos on the way) and headed down, knowing it would take longer to get back up the trail than down it. Fortunately it wasn’t too steep. It was also worth it. I loved the photo of the castle with a couple of the university buildings behind it.

The castle had been built in the 12^th century for the bishops of St Andrews Cathedral. Cardinal David Beaton had the protestant preacher George Wishart burned at the stake in front of the castle in 1546. There was a marker in the street just before reaching the trail down to the beach.

Later in the same year, the Cardinal was murdered and his body hung out of the castle window. The Protestants were in control of the castle, but not for long. A French fleet bombarded the castle with enough canon fire to render it defenseless and it has been a ruin ever since.

When I came back up from the beach, I found I still had plenty of time to visit the ruins. So I paid the fee and went in to see the bottle dungeon.

Located in the northwest tower of the castle, the bottle dungeon was shaped like a bottle, with a narrow opening at the top through which the prisoner was lowered. One prisoner was even Archbishop Patrick Graham who was imprisoned in his own castle when he was judged to be insane. It is also said the body of Cardinal Beaton was stored in a chest of salt in the bottle dungeon during the siege of the castle.

I had timed my walk to the castle from the main road and so knew how long the return trip would take me. But the pickup point was a fairly long haul down South Street in front of Madras College (one of the colleges of St Andrews University). So once I had looked down into the bottle dungeon, gazed out at the sea, and climbed up on a part of the walls that was still standing, I headed back along the castle road and then down South Street.

I arrived at our rendezvous with about 15 minutes to spare, so I crossed the street to the place advertising ice cream and purchased a double scoop cone to savor as I sat on the low wall and waited for the tour coach. As others in the group arrived and asked where I had gotten my ice cream, I pointed them in the shop’s direction. By the time our chariot arrived, nearly all of us had ice cream.

On the way back to Edinburgh, we had a stop at Falkland in front of Falkland Palace. Our driver/guide told us we had time to tour the castle if we wanted, so I decided to buy a ticket and see it again. I really liked that castle.

This time, we were on our own instead of being taken around by a guide who explained everything. I was still regretting that we couldn’t take any photos. But I got a really good look at everything by being decisive and ending up first in line. That way there weren’t a lot of people in the room with me. They also took longer because they would stop and read the signs telling them what the room was and some history. Most of the time, I had whatever room I was in to myself.

When I got back to Edinburgh, I decided to stop in at the private bar in the hotel just for guests. I had a drink called a Strawberry Whisky Smash, which contained Dewars blended Scotch, strawberry, lemonade and mint. My second drink was a French Martini. This consisted of vodka, Chambord, and pineapple juice. Then I picked up a sandwich in the shop next door to the hotel and packed up to be ready to leave for the London train the next day.

Next time – return to London and spend time wandering around the Covent Garden area.

October 25, 2020

Scottish Castles Experience Day 4 – Ruthven Barracks, Dalwhinnie Distillery, Pitlochary, Loch Leven Castle, and Back to Edinburgh

In the area of Badenoch, Scotland, sits the remains of Ruthven Barracks. The British Government forces built Ruthven on a former castle mount in 1721 after the Jacobite rising of 1715. The barracks could accommodate 120 troops and 18 horses. The walls had loopholes for musket firing and bastion towers built at opposite corners.

In 1746 prior to the Battle of Culloden, the commander of Ruthven surrendered to a fairly sizeable force of Jacobites after a short siege and battle. The day after Culloden, roughly 3,000 Jacobites retreated to Ruthven but were sent home by Prince Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie) as their cause was determined to be hopeless. As they departed, the Jacobites blew up the barracks so the government forces wouldn’t be able to use it.

It had a fairly steep gravel path leading up to it, but was very interesting to explore. Most of the other military barracks I have seen in the UK have still been in use, so it wasn’t possible to go inside. Of course this one was missing floors and roofs, but many of the stone walls were in pretty decent shape to get an idea of what it might have been like when it was used as a military base.

Our next stop was the Dalwhinnie Distillery, which produces single malt Scotch whisky. The distillery straddles the regions of the Highlands and Speyside in the Cairngorm Mountains. They refer to themselves as a Highland Scotch. The location was chosen because of the availability of clear spring water and the abundance of peat.

Peat is a brown deposit that looks like dirt bricks which is created through decomposition of vegetable matter in places like bogs and fens. It is often used for fuel. Some of the whisky distilleries in Scotland use peat fires to dry out their malted barley. This gives the Scotch a distinct smoky flavor.

The name Dalwhinnie comes from the Scottish Gaelic Dail Chuinnidh, which means “meeting place”. It was a meeting point of cattle drover’s routes through the mountains.

Immediately upon arrival at the distillery, I headed for the restroom. That was where I was when the fire alarm sounded. As I left the room, I found myself alone in the tasting and shop area as the alarm continued to sound. There was a woman outside of the front door who was quite startled to see me. I explained where I had been and asked where my tour group might be so I could join them. With a chuckle, she pointed me to the Rabbies group just as George was heading towards us.

He was very glad to see me, but was missing one more. This was the woman I mentioned back in my first post about this particular tour — the one who was constantly asking questions, didn’t seem to be terribly bright, and never listened to what anybody else said. The woman at the door sent one of the men outside with us back inside to call out the missing woman’s name. In the meantime, I headed for the rest of our group while the fire department arrived.

It turned out that it was a false alarm. We were able to enter the building once the fire department vacated it. Our missing colleague had been completely oblivious as to what had been going on. She said she heard the alarm but didn’t know what it was for. I thought it was a very good thing that it turned out to be a false alarm as she could have ended up being in real trouble since she never caught on that she needed to get out of the building.

Photos weren’t allowed inside, so nothing to share of the tour other than that they walked us through the entire process they use to create their Scotch. After the tour, we were able to taste, not only the varieties of Dalwhinnie Single Malt Scotch, but also several of the single malt Scotch whiskies produced by Diageo (the company that owns Dalwhinnie and several other distilleries). This was helpful to discover the preferred level of “peatiness”.

I found that I liked more smokiness than the Scotch I was drinking at that time, but not nearly as much as the Scotches one of my brothers prefers. Dalwhinnie actually was in the “sweet spot” as far as I was concerned, especially when accompanied by some of the luxurious Scottish chocolate truffles they also had on hand.

Michelle, Searan, and I had lunch together again in Pitlochry, which was a mostly Victorian town that sprang up as a tourist resort back when Queen Victoria and Prince Albert visited and bought Balmoral Castle not too far away. We ended up at an Italian Restaurant as we wanted a leisurely lunch outside and they had tables in a courtyard at in the back of the restaurant.

After lunch, we went to a nearby crafts shop. I found a table runner with thistles embroidered on it that I bought.

Down on the other end of the block, we visited a sweet shop called Scotch Corner. They had loads of fudge and other sweets in addition to ice cream and cotton candy. We each bought a variety of fudge and other Scottish sweets. Then we decided to have a little dessert for the road and bought ice cream cones.

Our last castle on the tour was Loch Leven Castle. This was a 13^th century castle that is best well known for being a prison for Mary Queen of Scots from June 17, 1567 until her escape on May 2, 1568. The castle originally took up most of the island, but when the river that feeds the loch was canalized in the 19^th century, the water level lowered.

There still is a tower house (keep) at one corner and the remains of a round tower called the Glassin Tower at the diagonally opposite corner with most of the inner wall somewhat intact. But only outlines of some of the other buildings remain and the outer walls are gone completely.

The only way to get to the island was on a 12-person ferry from the visitor center in Kinross. It travels back and forth at specific times. We were a tad early for the next crossing, so we visited the gift shop while waiting.

I saw a woman looking at a rubber duck that was dressed as Mary Queen of Scots. She apparently decided not to buy it and set it down. It was the only one, so I quickly picked it up and bought it. Later, she went back to try to find it, but it was too late. The rubber ducky was safely inside my camera bag.

During the time when Mary was a prisoner there, she was mainly held in the round Glassin Tower. The Towerhouse was used to accommodate her jailer, Sir William Douglas of Lochleven, and the staff to look after the Scottish Queen.

Not long after her arrival, Mary miscarried twins that she had conceived with her second husband, the Earl of Bothwell. They were quickly buried somewhere on the grounds of the castle. Just a few days later she was forced to abdicate in favor of her infant son James who was being looked after at Stirling Castle.

She made several attempts to escape which failed until her jailer’s family (the men seeming to have fallen in love with her) helped her to a boat and some awaiting horsemen. She fled to another castle from which she contacted her cousin, Elizabeth I of England, and asked for her help.

Loch Leven Castle is one of many castles throughout Scotland where the ghost of Mary is supposed to roam. It is said that she looks for her lost twins.

The Highlands of Scotland has insects known as midges that swarm in large numbers, biting and getting into eyes, mouths ears and noses. In all of the trips I have made to Scotland, I had never experienced the swarms in such enormous numbers before. But on that little island where the remains of Loch Leven Castle stand, I had the full Highland Midge experience. I don’t recommend it. It was much worse than the mosquitos in Minnesota, which we jokingly call our state bird.

That evening, we were dropped off at the Edinburgh bus station. From there, I took a taxi to the hotel where I would be staying for two nights.

The Scotsman Hotel was originally the offices of The Scotsman newspaper. They were housed in the Scottish baronial style building from 1904 until 2001. That was when they moved to new offices and the building was renovated into a hotel. It was just the other side of the North Bridge from the Balmoral Hotel on the Old Town side.

It seemed like it would be such a cool place to stay, but I ended up being creeped out. I found out after my stay that my room was on the same floor and only a short distance away from a room where a couple had committed suicide a few years earlier. Despite not knowing about this, I found it to be really spooky when I turned out the lights, so I left them on all night both nights.

Next time – a day trip from Edinburgh to Anstruther, St Andrews, with a stop at Falkland Palace.

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.

October 4, 2020

Scottish Castles Experience Day 2: Castle Fraser, the villages of Ballater and Crathie, as well as Crathes Castle

Pretty much every castle that is at least two hundred years old has a ghost. The older the castle, the more spirits there may be roaming the building or grounds or both. Both of the castles in this post and both in the next post were reportedly haunted with very interesting stories associated with them.

The majority of the ghosts in haunted castles seem to be of females who were victims of domestic violence. Either they didn’t want to marry the man to whom their father was trying to unite them or they wanted to marry a man of whom daddy didn’t approve. Or they were someone entirely inappropriate who turned up at the castle with child by one of the males in the castle. Or they were an inconvenient wife of whom their husband wanted to dispose so he could marry someone else.

Built in 1575 by the 6^th Laird, Michael Fraser, Castle Fraser was originally a two-story square keep. Over the centuries the castle was added to and evolved into what is considered to be the most elaborate Z-plan castle in Scotland. A Z-plan castle has a strong, rectangular center tower with smaller towers attached at diagonally opposite corners.

Castle Fraser is now six floors with turnpike stairs at each end and a normal staircase covering some of the lower floors in the center of the main tower. Two additional wings form a courtyard in the rear of the castle. The photo I have included is from the rear as I think that is the most interesting façade.

The rooms were a more human scale than in many castles and more cozy and livable too. The Great Hall was in the oldest part of the castle and very simple in layout and décor. One of the early lairds (Scottish Lords of the Manor are called Lairds) apparently was not too trusting. He had both a spy hole into the Great Hall and a Lairds Lug, which was a tiny secret room above the Great Hall where the Laird could sit and listen to everything that was said below.

In the Great Hall was a chest with a complicated locking mechanism that reminded me of the trunk in Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire. After exploring some of the other rooms on the ground floor, we headed up a set of turnpike stairs all the way up to the top of the castle, stopping off on various floors to see various rooms on the way up and then again on the way down.

One of the rooms we visited on the way up was the Green Room (a bedroom). While visiting the castle, a woman was murdered when sleeping in the Green Bedroom. Afterwards her body was dragged down the turnpike stairs for disposal. The blood stains could not be removed, so they placed wooden steps over the offending stone steps. The ghost of the murdered lady has been seen throughout the house.

Once we reached the top of the castle, we went out on the roof where we had gorgeous views of the grounds. I included a photo of the view down at the back of the castle from the roof.

On the way down, one of the interesting rooms we visited was the library. One of the Lairds, Charles Mackenzie Fraser (1792 – 1871) lost his leg in the 1812 Peninsular War. His wooden leg was on display in the library. You can see it in the far right of the photo included here of the library. It is peeking out from behind a green baize gaming table.

Apparently the leg’s owner doesn’t need it anymore as he doesn’t seem to be hanging around looking for it. However, children laughing and other unearthly sounds have been heard in the kitchens; piano music has been heard drifting through the castle when nobody has been playing; and disembodied voices are frequently heard in various parts of the castle.

Then there is Lady Blanche Drummond who died from a fever in the 1870s, just a couple years after her marriage. She has been seen wandering the grounds in a long, black gown.

We stopped off in the village of Ballater to have lunch. Once again, Michelle, Searan and I ate together at a pub where we had some good food and a pint of the local ale.

After lunch we paid a visit to the village of Crathie. This is the village just outside of Balmoral Castle where the Royal Family goes to church and where some of the people who work at the castle live.

This was my fourth time in Crathie. The prior three times, we were supposedly going to visit Balmoral Castle, but some member of the Royal Family ended up being there so we could only visit the church.

This time there had been no discussion of any possibility of seeing Balmoral Castle. Since I had seen the tiny little church three times already, I decided to cross the bridge over the River Dee and walk to the gates of the castle. Included here is my photo of the gates – most likely the closest I will ever get to Balmoral Castle.

I did get a great photo of the phone box back across the road from the bridge to the castle. It’s very colorful with yellow daffodils around the bright red phone box.

Our final visit for the day was Crathes Castle. Like Castle Fraser, Crathes Castle was also in Aberdeenshire, near the town of Banchory. The land upon which Crathes was built was given to the Burnetts of Leys by King Robert the Bruce back in 1323. Originally the family built a Crannog (a kind of fortification made with timber on a manmade island in a lake or bog), but by 1553 they started building the castle. It was mainly a tower house with a wing added in the 18^th century.

The first thing I noticed in the Great Hall was what looked like some chainmail armor high up on the wall in a niche. Not far below is an ivory horn that Robert the Bruce also gave to the family. It was called the Horn of Leys.

Again like Castle Fraser, Crathes had six floors. The only stairs were of the turnpike variety. The stairs we were led up, however, did not have any kind of railings or even ropes. So I was holding onto the steps themselves and the walls on the way up.

One of the problems with traveling in the spring is that I have allergies. Beginning in 2016, a certain amount of dizziness accompanies the allergies. So holding onto something as I go up and down twisting, uneven stairs is somewhat of a necessity. Not too interested in falling and possibly ending up as another ghost in the castle.

My favorite bedroom had a 16^th century bed with a bedspread covered in crewel embroidery from the 17^th century. At the top of the castle was a long gallery with a wooden barrel vaulted ceiling. There was a bedroom up there too. I didn’t think I would want to have to haul myself up all of those stairs every night. However, I had once lived in a fifth floor walkup in NYC and had to go up and down those stairs constantly. I was in my early twenties at the time and quickly became used to it.

The turnpike stairs on which we came back down had railings. I was so relieved.

This castle had several rooms with very colorful painted ceilings. One of the rooms was where the ghost of this particular castle comes in. It is called the Green Lady’s room. This is where several people have seen a woman carrying a baby walk through the room and disappear at the fireplace. Skeletons of a woman and a baby were found behind the hearthstone of the fireplace when some changes were being made to the fireplace a few years back. They received a decent burial but continue to haunt.

The photo I include here of the Green Lady’s Room doesn’t show the fireplace. Unfortunately I learned of the story after having returned home from this trip, or I would have taken a photo of the fireplace.

There was a tiny little room inside of a tiny little turret. It seemed like it might be a fun place to hang out, read a book, and drink some hot chocolate, or ale or mead or mulled wine.

Once back downstairs and outside of the castle, I visited the walled garden. It was very nice. Parts were somewhat wild looking and parts were fairly formal. It had a lovely pond in it with a bench nearby. So I took a seat for a bit. I like to be able to have some time to sit and absorb it all.

During the English Civil War, the Burnetts had friends on both sides and so had letters from both sides stating that they should not be “molested”. The castle hasn’t ever been sacked or taken from the family. What can been seen is pretty much as the family left it.

We returned to Thainstone House Hotel for another night. After all that climbing up and down six floors each in two castles, I felt a relaxing bubble bath followed by a stiff glass of Scotch was the ticket.

Next time – Fyvie Castle