26 March, 2011 Disneyland Castle or the Axeman!

Huntingtower Castle is a prime example, and we have seen others, of the importance of picking the winner in a fight if you are going to be involved.  Of course, if the decision as to which side you will support is based on ideological grounds, you don't have much choice.  You just do it.  Perhaps, do and die. 

This is Huntingtower Castle, so named when the Ruthven family developed a power struggle with King James VI.  When the king regained enough power, he beheaded William Ruthven, the 1st Earl of Gowrie in 1584.  The property then went into the crown's possession and eventually into disrepair and was sold in 1805.

There are two towers in this castle, originally nine feet apart and housing two Ruthven brothers and their families.  A building was later erected to join them.  There were three stories in this tower, but the timber work is now gone.  Still, it is fun to think how it used to be, and not too hard to imagine.  The story goes that a daughter of one of the brothers was caught by a servant in the bedroom of an attractive visiting suitor.  The servant ran to inform her parents, the daughter ran up the stone stairs to the ramparts around the edge of the roof  and jumped the nine feet between the two towers to get back to her bedroom.  When her mother didn't find her in the suitor's room, she went to her daughter's bedroom and found her "asleep" in her bed.  The next night, the daughter and her suitor ran away and were married.  We walked around the ramparts on the roof level and checked out that nine foot jump . . . certain death if she had missed!

After Huntingtower we went to Blair Castle, pictured above.  It is easy to imagine that you are in Disneyland when you see it.  Blair is still in private hands and is intact.  It is always interesting to go through these castles that are still furnished as they were.  This castle went through three major renovations to get it to where it is today.  There is much historic memorabilia in the home. 

This is the great ballroom, and the only room they allow picture-taking.  There are an amazing amount of military arms (guns/swords) displayed in the rooms

as several of the Earls were involved in conflicts, including that of the American War for Independence.  Throughout the castle, there are red deer antlers by the hundreds hanging in patterns on the walls like you see in the picture above.

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This is Snowdrop Walk on the grounds of Blair Castle.  A few weeks later in the year and a bit more sunshine would have made this even more picturesque than it was.  If you waited for sunshine in Scotland though, you would never get to do anything so you go and do and enjoy and then really celebrate when you get blue sky for a background.  The Scots tells us that their national hobby is watching the weather and that you can experience four seasons in one day in this country.  They aren't exaggerating too much!

19 March 2011 - At long last -- Greenock and the West Coast

Several archive couples have told us that we just have to drive the west coast of Scotland from Greenock to Ayr before we go home.  We have waited for a beautiful sunny day to do it!  Finally, it looked like we were going to get one and we were running out of time here on our mission to do it.  So away we went.

Yes, so much for sunny days.  But there is blue sky above the clouds, if you look closely. Here is the Firth of Clyde, where the River Clyde runs into the Irish Sea. 

Glasgow is a ship building city and a major port for Scotland.  The ships go from Glasgow through the Firth of Clyde, and you need a neat lighthouse (Cloch Lighthouse) to keep them in the water in the fog and at night.

The salty dog looking for ships, birds and maybe some sunshine.

Yes, the water is salty!

Serendipity  -  We were on our way home going through a little villiage called Manchline, when we saw a sign that said "Burns Museum".  There are a lot of people named Burns, but there is only one "Burns" in Scotland, that is Robbie.  He was born in 1759.  When his father died in 1784, 25 year old Robbie, and his mother's family, moved to Manchline, where Robbie stayed for four years.  Robbie proved to be a poor farmer and a good poet.  Most of his poems in these years were to "the lassies."

This one room was the home of Robbie and Jean Armour, whom he married. 

Four of their seven children were born under the privilege of marriage.  Robbie's good looks, likable personality, and great writing must have had appeal to the ladies as he had several other love affairs and illegitimate children.

 

This is a church where four of Robbie's children, who died in infancy, are buried.  Robbie himself died near Dumfries in 1796, with broken health, at the age of thirty-seven.

3 March 2011 - Birthday Weekend/Jedburgh Abbey in the Borders

It's never fun to get older at our age, but this birthday weekend turned out to be especially fun.  The "birthday boy" below looks as young as ever (though he says he feels 68!) and we celebrated with the other archive missionaries over dinner in the village of  Roslyn (near the famous Roslyn Chapel).  Our local Scot missionaries, Jimmy and Margaret (on either side of Ned) recommended The Original Hotel for delicious food and we went early enough that we had the place to ourselves for most of the meal.  Great fun!

 Minus Linda, the photographer, this is all we have left in our camera room in the archives.  Jimmy (a true Highlander Scot), Ned, Margaret, Cindy and Allan (St. George).  We've had great times with these good people but never more fun than this night when Jimmy said that only Mormons could laugh so hard and loud and not be drunk!

Jimmy knows the owner of the hotel and he reserved seating around this cozy fireplace.  The food was especially delicious . . . as good as the company and atmosphere.  Roslyn is such a quaint little village, about 20 minutes from our flat and we wish we had discovered this place to eat sooner.  We will sorely miss our Scottish missionary archive friends!  Great people!

 This tall, skinny, little church is in Pathhead, going down to the Borders.  This is High Steet (Main Street in the US) and the road in the middle of the village splits and goes down either side of this church that was built smack dab in the middle of the street.  I smile and think it's so unique everytime we pass it and this time we stopped to take a quick picture on our way to Jedburgh Abbey.

 And here is Jedburgh Abbey, one of three major abbeys all close together in the Borders.  We have blogged about Melrose and Dryburgh Abbeys earlier, so this finishes the big abbeys near the English border.  This abbey ruin is nearly 1000 years old and was built and occupied by Augustinian monks who were known as black monks because they wore black hooded cloaks.  They were unique to other orders of monks in the Borders area because they mingled with the community and opened this church to allow the public to worship in it along with them on Sundays.  The ruins just boggle the mind as to how they were ever constructed and the time and energy required in that time!

 

 Here's the nave of the chapel with the rose window at the far end still in tact.  Considering what Cromwell did to the abbeys, this abbey has fared quite well and the ruins and stone sculpturing are really quite beautiful.

This side entrance gives a closer look at the stone sculpturing that has endured nearly 1000 years of weather and human destruction.  The archwork in this abbey is amazing.  This abbey is located right in the heart of the village of Jedburgh next to a beautiful little river.

An example of the the clothing of the Jedburgh monks that gave them the nickname of "Black Monks."   LDS missionaries might fit the same nickname with all the dark, conservative clothing we wear!

26 February 2011 - An Experiment in Social Reform

We had heard about New Lanark for several months and finally found a P-day to visit it.  New Lanark is a beautiful 18th Century village located on the River Clyde by the philanthoropist and Utopian idealist Robert Owen who established a model industrial community in the early 1800's.  Owen's cotton mills used water power from the River Clyde falls to operate the mills and he established a social society that provided better working conditions, health care, and education for the factory employees.  Ideas ahead of the day.

 Robert Owen's abbreviated story is above.

 The building at the right is the residence of Robert Owen, the rowhouses on the left are some of the residences of the original mill workers that have now been restored and are privately owned and occupied  today.  The mills operated in New Lanark until 1968. 

 The mill made thread and yarn for the cloth industry.  This is one of the machines that makes hundreds of spools of yarn at a time, still in use today for visitors to see the process.

Watching the yarn-making in process.  Each of the orange sticks in the foreground, with the lines running to them, are wound with yarn from the big bolts in the background that is twisted, pulled and wound in the process and then spun onto the spools.  Some engineer knew his stuff when he made this machine!

This is the upper part of the River Clyde, which was used to provide power to the mill.  Of course, it provided water to the village as well.  

Scottish Engineering - 12 February 2011

For the size of this country, it continues to amaze us to see the number of great influential people it has produced.  The Falkirk Wheel is a modern tribute to the engineers Scotland has produced. It is the only rotating wheel to lift boats in the world.  It was completed in 2002 to replace eleven locks that had fallen into disrepair.  Those locks lifted boats 35 meters (about 38 yards) to allow them to link boats between the Forth and Clyde Canal (built in 1790) and the Union Canal (1822). 

Linda and I with the Falkirk Wheel in the background.  The "wheel" and visitor center (on the left) cost 17.5 million pounds.

The reason we made this trip was to take our son-in-law, Mike, to see this marvel.  There is one lock still in place, pictured here, between the Forth and Clyde and the Union Canals.

Explaining how this works is a little difficult.  There are two gondolas, each filled with 300 tons of water, that boats on the canal are driven into.  You can see them in the circles at the ends of the "wheel."  They exactly balance each other.  When a boat is driven into the gondola, its weight exactly displaces its own weight in water, maintaining the balance.  Boats can be in each gondola, taking one to the top (Union Canal) and one to the bottom (Forth/Clyde Canal) or they can take only one - doesn't matter, each gondola always carries 300 tons.  The "wheel" is then rotated by eight small electric motors which use very little electricity.  As the wheel rotates, the gondolas rotate at the same rate, but in the opposite direction, always keeping them level.

This picture shows the gondolas about half way down (or up, depending on which direction you are traveling).  There is a boat going down in the gondola on the right.

 

Now the trip is completed.  The boat pictured has gone from the Union Canal at the top of the wheel, to the pond at the bottom.  It can now go through the one remaining lock, pictured in the second picture, and into the Forth and Clyde canal.  There you have it.  It was a fun day to be with Mike and great to see this thing.

2011 February - Edinburgh Architecture - "Athens of the North"

Edinburgh, capital of Scotland, has got to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world.  It's not so big that you can't get around and embrace it easily and the architecture takes you back in time.  These pictures give just a small taste of this charming city, known for its popular festivals, arts, and universities/colleges.  We have been so happy that our mission call located us here.  This post is for us - to remind us of a few of the things we have grown to love in "our home away from home."

 We always go into the city by bus or train (usually bus as we can walk to a convenient stop from our flat and we are entitled to free bus passes - age has some privileges) because parking is at a premium in the city and public transporation is so frequent, accessible and good.  This picture is taken from the bus we were on of a Lothian double-decker bus that we ride into Edinburgh ("Edin-burrah").  The bus seats are tartan plaid and riding up top gives you a great view through big windows. 

 We are looking at Cockburn Street (one of our favorites) from Waverley Bridge.  The black car is a taxi in the round-about.

 These stairs go up to the Royal Mile, location of Edinburgh Castle.  You feel your knees if you use the stairs to go up to High Street!  Prince's Street and the Royal Mile parallel each other in the city.  The Royal Mile is a decent climb above Prince's Street and Waverley Station.  The Royal Mile rises to the castle on the west end and goes down to the Queen's Holyroodhouse Palace on the east end. 

Walking up Cockburn Street to the Mile.  This street is so quaint because the building fronts curve with the curve of the street.  No names are pronounced as they are spelled in Scotland.  Cockburn is pronounced "Co-burn."  You have to love all the chimneys and stone.

We're at the top of Cockburn Street now and looking up a narrow close to the Mile.  Whose the guy in black?

 The Royal Mile of Edinburgh with its cobbled street, St. Giles Cathedral - home of the Reformation in Scotland (birthplace of Presbyterianism through John Knox), and Adam Smith's statue, resident of Edinburgh and Father of Economics.  The spire on St. Giles Cathedral is a replica of the Scottish crown.

 Street performer (often seen on the Mile) in front of the City Centre

 The corner of High Street on the Royal Mile and George IV Bridge.  Deacon Brody's Tavern is on the corner on the right side.

 On George IV Bridge you pass this restaurant where it's purported that J.K. Rowling wrote the beginnings of Harry Potter.  Rowling was a single mother, living in council housing with her children and unable to pay for heat so she went to two different cafes to write.  Rowling lives in Edinburgh today and we were told that her children attend the George Heriot private school that Hogwarts was modelled after in her books. 

 A popular pub in Edinburgh . . . always busy, good food and fun atmosphere . . . and when you know the story of Grey Friar's Bobby, you like the pub even more.  Grey Friar's Bobby is buried very near here and his small monument is just across the street from this pub.

We're walking back down Cockburn Street to catch the bus and go home after a fun evening in the city.  The first time we passed this shop, I thought it was a place to get ice cream.  But alas, it's a whisky store, which we find plenty of in Scotland.    

29 January 2011 - Castle Campbell, Dollar Glen and Highland "Coos"

Flat inspections just before missionary transfers take us out to Dunfermline, Alloa, and Stirling every six weeks.  Dollar Glen is not far from Stirling and that's where we ended up after checking our flats in late January.  Dollar Glen is such a gorgeous place but not at its peak during the winter when the leaves are gone.  Still it was a fun afternoon and we could "remember" the green beauty.

 Castle Campbell (under renovation) is at the top of Dollar Glen.  We marvel at all the stone in this country!

 Nearly every castle has arched ceilings like this one. We are always surprised that this keystone engineering can hold heavy stone ceilings, bridges and archways in place for hundreds, even thousands of years.

 The Glen is every bit as interesting as the castle and the trees everywhere we go are so unique and often covered with moss.

 The climate in the narrowest part of the glen allows ferns and other leafy vegetation to grow throughout the winter - a rare sight in January.  This elder looks especially happy because it's P-day! 

Beautiful Dollar Glen

 Driving home, we passed some Highland Coos.  We see them occasionally, but coos are never found in large herds (like normal cows) and seen infrequently enough that these hairy cows always attract our attention.