Castles, Tower Houses and a Chapel
Several of these places are privately owned so photos of the interiors were not allowed.
Rosslyn
Chapel
A short distance away from where we were staying in Linlithgow and a place we had to visit was Rosslyn Chapel. Made famous by Dan Browns novel and Tom Hanks movie – the Da Vinci Code, we set out from Linlithgow on
29 March to the village of Roslin, Midlothian to see if it lived up to the hype.
Since the late 1980s, the chapel has been the subject of speculative theories concerning a connection with the Knights
Templar and the Holy Grail, and Freemasonry. Medieval historians say these accounts have
no basis in fact.
Rosslyn Chapel was founded on a small hill above Roslin Glen in the mid-15th century by William Sinclair,
1st Earl of Caithness of the Scoto-Norman Sinclair family.
One of the
more notable architectural features of the Chapel is the "Apprentice Pillar, or "Prentice Pillar". Originally called the "Prince's Pillar" the name morphed over time due to a legend dating from the 18th century, involving the master mason in charge of
the stonework in the chapel and his young apprentice mason.
According to the legend, the master mason did not believe that the apprentice could perform the complicated task of carving the column without seeing the original which formed the inspiration
for the design.
The master mason travelled to see the original himself, but upon his return was enraged to find that the upstart apprentice had completed the column by himself. In a fit of jealous anger, the master mason took his mallet and struck the
apprentice on the head, killing him. The legend concludes that as punishment for his crime, the master mason's face was carved into the opposite corner to forever gaze upon his apprentice's pillar.
A crypt was once accessible from a descending stair
at the rear of the chapel. This crypt has been sealed shut for many years, which may explain the recurrent legends that it is merely a front to a more extensive subterranean vault containing (variously) the mummified head of Jesus
Christ, the Holy Grail, the treasure of the Templars, or
the original crown jewels of Scotland.
In 1842 the chapel, then in a ruined and overgrown state, was visited by Queen Victoria, who expressed a desire that it should
be preserved. The chapel was re-dedicated on 22 April 1862, and from this time, Sunday services were once again held, now under the jurisdiction of the Scottish
Episcopal Church, for the first time in 270 years.
Rosslyn Chapel remains privately owned. The current owner is Peter
St Clair-Erskine, 7th Earl of Rosslyn. Sadly – photos of the chapel interior are not allowed but can be found online.
Glamis Castle
Departing Linlithgow
on 30 March and on our way to our next port of call, Stonehaven, we stopped in at Glamis Castle just north of Dundee.
Glamis Castle has been the home of the Lyon (later Bowes-Lyon)
family since the 14th century, though the present building dates largely from the 17th century. Glamis Castle is the legendary setting for Shakespeare's Macbeth although the historical King
Macbeth (d. 1057) had no connection to the castle, the childhood home of HM Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother and the birthplace of Princess Margaret.
By 1372 a castle had been built at Glamis which was granted by King Robert II to Sir John Lyon, Thane of Glamis and husband of the king's daughter. Glamis has remained in the family since this time.
The title Lord
Glamis was created in 1445 for Sir Patrick Lyon (1402–1459). His descendant, John Lyon, 6th Lord Glamis, married Janet Douglas, daughter of the Master
of Angus, at a time when King James V was feuding with the Douglases.
In December 1528 Janet was accused of treason for bringing supporters of
the Earl of Angus to Edinburgh. She was then charged with poisoning her husband, Lord Glamis, who had died on 17 September 1528.
Eventually, she was accused of witchcraft, and was burned at the stake at Edinburgh on 17 July 1537. James V subsequently
seized Glamis, living there for some time. Obviously, James V had it in for witches in general and poor old Janet (and her property).
During the (Cromwell era) Commonwealth
of England, Scotland and Ireland, soldiers were garrisoned at Glamis doing a lot of damage. In 1670 Patrick
Lyon, 3rd Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, returned to the castle and found it uninhabitable. Restorations took place until 1689, including the creation of a major Baroque garden.
John Lyon, 9th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, succeeded in 1753 but by then the family fortunes had
deteriorated , and in 1767 he married Mary Eleanor Bowes, heiress to a coal-mining fortune. He set about improving the grounds of the castle in the picturesque style
in the 1770s. It was largely down to her money that the castle is the way it is today.
In 1900, Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon was born,
the youngest daughter of Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne and
his wife, Cecilia. She spent much of her childhood at Glamis, which was used during the
First World War as a military hospital. She was particularly instrumental in organising the rescue of the castle's contents during a serious fire on 16 September 1916. On 26 April 1923 she married Prince
Albert, Duke of York, the second son of King George V, at Westminster Abbey. Their second daughter, Princess
Margaret, was born at Glamis Castle in 1930.
There are many legends and myths about monsters and ghosts at Glamis – too many to describe. These legends may have been inspired by the true story of the Ogilvies. Somewhere in the 16-foot-thick
(4.9 m) walls is the famous room of skulls, where the Ogilvie family, who sought protection from their enemies the Lindsays, were walled up to die of starvation.
Craigievar Castle
Leaving Stonehaven on 30 March, we headed for Dufftown (Oh yeah) but stopped in on our way to tour Craigievar Castle.
The castle is reputed to have been the inspiration for Walt Disney's castle motif. My money is still on the castle of Neuschwanstein built for the very eccentric King Ludwig III.
An excellent example of the original Scottish Baronial architecture, the great seven-storey castle was completed in 1626 by the Aberdonian merchant William Forbes, ancestor of the Forbes
baronets of Craigievar and brother of the Bishop of Aberdeen, Patrick Forbes. Forbes purchased the partially completed structure from the impoverished Mortimer
family in the year 1610. Forbes was nicknamed Danzig Willy, a reference to his shrewd international trading success with the Baltic states.
Craigievar is noted for
its exceptionally crafted plasterwork ceilings. Craigevar, Muchalls Castle and Glamis Castle are generally considered to have the three finest ceilings in Scotland.
The castle interior boasts a Great
Hall that has the Stuart Arms over the fireplace; a musicians gallery; secret staircase connecting the high tower to the Great Hall; Queen's Bedroom;
servants' quarters and of course several splendid plasterwork ceilings. There is a collection of Forbes family portraits inside as well as a considerable quantity of Forbes furnishings dating to the 17th and 18th centuries. The castle also houses two
original Henry Raeburn portraits complete with original receipts.
An interesting anecdote relating to this family involves a change made to the family motto by
Sir John Forbes, the second Baronet of Craigievar. The original motto of the Forbes family included the words, Let sleeping boars lie… Given the number of raids and skirmishes carried out by rival clans, Sir John decided to send a message to his
enemies by changing their motto to, Let sleeping dogs lie, to let them know that further incursions would not be tolerated. Whether or not this was the origin of the term, I will leave it up to you to decide.
Balvenie Castle
We arrived at Dufftown on 1 April – a town with no less than 6 whisky distilleries in the immediate vicinity, including Balvenie distillery, makers of Glenfiddich whisky. On 2 April, I set out to walk
to Balvenie Castle which is situated about a mile from where we were staying and just across the road from the Balvenie distillery. Valiantly ignoring the distillery, I strode up the hill to the castle.
As I approached Balvenie, I set eyes on
the impressive remains contributed by all three of the dynastic families that owned it. The massive almost featureless stone enclosure wall that dominates the complex, and the wide ditch that surrounds it, were most likely built by the powerful Black
Comyns, earls of Buchan in the later 13th century.
They remained its lords for barely 50 years. In 1296, John Comyn - The Black became the 3rd Earl of Buchan. After variously supporting Edward I of England, John Balliol and Robert
Bruce in the Wars of Independence, the Black Comyns allegiance settled in favour of the English king due to the murder of his kinsman, John the Red Comyn by Robert Bruce at a church in Dumfries in 1306.
The effective end of the Comyns came on 22 May
1308, when Bruce and Comyn met in battle at Inverurie. Earl Johns force was routed and Bruce embarked on his notorious harrying of Buchan in which the earldom was laid waste and its inhabitants indiscriminately slaughtered. Earl John fled south but was
dead within the tear and his lands were parcelled out to various supporters by the Bruce. By 1400, the stronghold was in the possession of the equally mighty Black Douglases. When they too were wiped out by King James II, the king entrusted it
to a kinsman, John Stewart, Earl of Atholl. It remained with his descendants for the next 250 years.
During this period, John Stewart, the 4th Earl hosted Mary, Queen of Scots who stayed at the castle for 2 nights during her royal progress
in September 1562.
After John, the 5th Earl died in 1595 without an heir and the property changed hands numerous times. In 1929, the castle was taken into state care but is currently owned by Jeremy Duncan Nicholson, Baron of
Balvenie, who resides in Atlanta, Georgia in the USA.
Brodie Castle
Leaving Dufftown for Dornoch on 3 April, we called in at Brodie Castle which is
located 4.5 miles west of Forres and 24 miles east of Inverness on the east coast of Scotland.
The original
castle was built in 1567 by Clan Brodie but destroyed by fire in 1645 by Lewis
Gordon of Clan Gordon, the 3rd Marquess of Huntly. In 1824, architect William Burn was commissioned to turn it into a large mansion house in the Scots Baronial style,
but these additions were never completed and were later remodelled by James Wylson (c. 1845).
The Brodie family called the castle home until the late 20th century. It's widely accepted that the Brodies have been associated with the land the castle
is built on since around 1160, when it is believed that King Malcolm IV gave the land to the family.
Architecturally, the castle has a very well
preserved central keep with two 5-storey towers on opposing corners. As with many fortified stately homes of the time it has no wall. It does, however, contain a guardroom and secret
passages to help the occupants escape assassination attempts. The interior of the castle is also well preserved, containing fine antique furniture, oriental artefacts and painted ceilings.
In the grounds there is a Pictish stone which was found
in 1781 during excavations for a local church. It was moved here around 1840 and features various knots and sea monsters. This cross-slab of grey sandstone is known as Rodney
Stone with varying stories as to the origin of the name.
The last inhabitant of the castle, Ninian Brodie of Brodie (The Brodie of Brodie) died in 2003 and his son shortly after. Many years prior, Ninian had sold the castle and its valuable
contents (but not the land) to the National Trust of Scotland as he could not afford the upkeep and the roof badly needed extremely expensive repairs. As part of the arrangement, he was allowed to remain living in the castle until his death.
The family had been unhappy with the transfer of the castle to the National Trust and his grandson petitioned the European Court of Human Rights to have the ownership restored to him but without success. As a result, no Brodie now lives in the
castle and the former family wing is being prepared for holiday letting.
