Ossian's Hall
As predicted, today proved extremely wet thus vindicating our decision to change the itinerary and visit St. Andrews yesterday. We progressed as follows:
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Browsing Posts in Perthshire
Today, our tour schedule was changed due to impending bad weather. We brought the trip to St. Andrews forward by one day resulting in the following programme:
- Departed Inverness about 08.45am and drove round to Benromach Distillery at Forres calling in briefly at Nairn Golf Course.
Inverness Town Centre
Nairn Golf course
Kenmore Hotel
This evening, I am focusing on one of my favourite places -and hotels.
Kenmore is a small village located on the northern end of Loch Tay in Perthshire, Central Scotland. This is a wonderful place to relax and unwind in a semi-Highland setting. continue reading…
This evening, my theme is the small Glenturret Distillery in Perthshire. Here is produced a single which is a constituent of the Famous Grouse blend. In fact this distillery is marketed as the Famous Grouse Experience with associated marketing hype. Unfortunately, photography is restricted and hence paucity of images of the interior distilling process.
Entrance to Glenturret
Glenturret is possibly the oldest distillery in Scotland dating back to 1775 when it began as Hosh distillery. After many changes of ownership since start up, the distillery it was shut down in 1923 and thereafter reverted to the farming enterprise from it originally evolved. In the 1950s the distillery was reactivated by one James Fairlie and now forms part of the Highland Distillers Group. Sister brands include Highland Park, Cutty Sark and Macallan.The Famous Grouse is reported to be the best selling whisky in Scotland for the past 30 years. continue reading…
This evening, my theme is the Picts who were the indigenous people of Scotland prior to arrival of the Scots from Ireland around the 5th century AD.
Pictish stone at Meigle
We learn of the Picts from the Romans who called the people Pictii or ‘Painted Men’. Our knowledge base of the Pictsis woefully low with much left to speculation. This is because (a) the Picts seem to have left no record of a written language and (b) they were never assimilated within the Roman Empire thus only tit bits of information from Roman sources are available. The Picts were ultimately subsumed, around the 9th century,within a united country of what is now Scotland ruled by the Gaelic speaking Scots.
This evening, I am focusing on Drummond Castle which is located near Muthill in Perthshire, central Scotland. This site attracts visitors as a function of the elaborate and well maintained Italianate parterre gardens. Unfortunately the castle ( Tower House) is not open to the public, which is very unfortunate. The original castle was built in 1491 and then rebuilt in 1653 after a siege by Cromwell’s troops. The building appears to be maintained in very good condition and affords a good understanding of an original, 15thcentury high status tower house constructed with defence in mind.
Drummond Castle
Today, we undertook a private, small group tour as follows:
- Left Glasgow prompt at 9.00am
- Arrive Stirling Castle about 10.20am. Here we undertook a short tour covering the Great Hall, Chapel Royal, Kitchens, Tapestry Weaving and general aspects of the castle’s architecture and history. Also views across the surrounding landscape including Wallace Monument.
Palace at Stirling Castle
Entrance to Stirling Castle
This evening, my theme is the Picts. These people were indigenous to Scotland and dominated the country before arrival of the Scots from Ireland around the 5th century AD.
The Picts have left a legacy of elaborate stone carvings and place names but other than these records we little about these people with whom the Romans came in contact in the 3rd century AD and named them Pictii or painted men (from which we get the modern word ‘picture’. Place names today beginning Pet or Pit usually signifies an early Pictish settlement, e.g. Pittenweem, Pitlochry, Pitcairn, Pitmedden and Pitnacree. If the Picts had a written language then, sadly, they left no record of it. The Picts may well have understood and used Latin.
Stone carvings are the most tangible record left by the Picts. These are of some size with carvings represting Every day items such as anvils, cauldrons, hammers, mirrors and combs with another category comprising abstract symbols utilising arches, crescents,discs, flowers, knots, rectangles and circles.
Below can be found a selection of Pictish carved stones from the museum at Meigle which is dedicated to these items.
Pictish stone at Meigle
This morning, we departed our very comfortable lodgings at Ballifeary Guest House in Inverness in the Highlands and proceeded to drive south down the A9 to our first stop at Blair Castle in Perthshire.
Blair Castle
Blair castle is a very well presented visitor attraction comprising a grand house (as opposed to a military type castle) together with woodland walks, a well maintained garden and various activities for children. Blair is the historic seat of the Duke of Atholl who actually resides in South Africa. The present Duke’s ancestor was granted the right to maintain a private army by Queen Victoria, a tradition which continues today as manifested in the ‘Atholl Highlanders’ which bears arms but is essentially a ceremonial unit and not part of the British Army. The castle is a repository for old furniture, paintings, weapons and the like. Outside, the gardens were at their resplendent best at this time of year.
Swans at Blair Castle
After departing Blair Castle we drove on a few miles to nearby Pitlochry, a popular country and tourist town with a wide array of shops which attracted our attention.
Next, we drove east to Glamis Castle in the county of Angus. This is something of a fairy tale edifice for long associated with the late Queen Mother ( mother of the present Queen Elizabeth). By coincidence today was the anniversary of the late Queen Mother’s birthday, dating back over 100 years. This castle has much to offer the visitor including a resident ghost! Outside there are many interesting trees, a small burial ground dedicated to the family’s pets, a herd of Highland Cattle and a very pleasant Italianate garden. We availed of some lunch in the excellent restaurant.
Glamis Castle
Highland Cattle at Glamis
Culross Palace
Our next and final destination was Culross (pronounced ” Cure-oss”) on the north shore of the River Forth, west of Dunfermline. This fascinating town dates back to the 16th century when considerable wealth was generated from coal mining and salt panning which in turn financed the construction of what now looks like a Disney-esque community of winding cobbled streets and cross-stepped gables centred on the ochre-coloured Culross Palace (1597) and the Town House (1626). Fortunately, light and weather conditions proved conducive to an extensive photo opportunity.
After Culross, we drove on, across the Forth Road Bridge, to Edinburgh and final destination of the Caledonian Hilton where this interesting,. Scottish Castles themed tour, came to an end at about 8.00pm. A long but very satisfying day concluding a four day tour.
Culross House
Wendy at Culross
This morning our tour group departed our Dunkeld lodgings promptly at about 9.00 and then proceeded as follows:
- Just a few miles to the Falls of Braan at Ossian’s Hall. This dates back to the 18th century when it part of the Duke of Atholl’s estate and provided a mature based experience for private guests commencing with a gentle walk along the banks of the River Braan and ending in front of a spectacular waterfall.
Falls of Braan
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