JIMBO RED BESIEGES A CASTLE OR TWO – SCOTLAND 1998 TO 2002

This next post is written for one of my most avid readers. At times known as Deysi, other times Bubbaloo (when I am feeling brave) and always “our leader”. After reading my babblings, about our time in Scotland, and thereabouts, she has requested a piece on the castles we visited and some of the sights we explored. I could have made it a slideshow, however some of these places need a little more description, than what is allowed in a slideshow. For that reason, I have combined some of our photos with a small bit of text, to set the scene for each place we visited. Please remember these pics are more than 20 years old and were scanned copies of originals that had set in storage for many years. Although they may seem faded and dull, to me they are still bright and crisp in my mind.

My first photo, (and the cover) are not of a castle. However they are of a 300 year old cottage located at the battlefield near Culloden, Scotland. The significance is, that, of all the places we visited, this one is my favorite. I studied it in College, dreamed of the epic battle, and could not wait to visit it when we came to Scotland. It was at this place in 1746, that a good part, of the Scottish Clans, fought against English rule. They got their asses “handed to them” on this day, but have, never since, quit the battlefield. If you missed it, I wrote an earlier post about Nessie, Loch Ness and Culloden. You can view it for more detail.

Of course, argument could be made for Edinburgh Castle, being the site to lead into this blog. Indeed, it was the very first place that we, and everyone else whom arrives, visited. When you are in Edinburgh, the city centre skyline is dominated by this spectacular castle. It sits atop castle hill, on the NW end of town. At times it was used to defend, Scots, from other Scots. They were not a particularly friendly group, and when they didn’t have the Brits to fight, they fought each other. Sometimes, it protected Scots, against the invading Brits. At other times, the English held it and used it to fend off attacking hoards of Scots. This castle is said to have been built around 1100AD, but some history shows a queen dying there in 1093AD.

The next, and only slightly lesser famous castle, is in Stirling. That was the site, near where William Wallace lived. Also famous from around that area, was Robert the Bruce (the real Braveheart), as well as Rob Roy. All were famous English hating, skirt wearing Scots. Each of them had some successes in their battles against the English crown. However, they each along with many other famous Scottish Clan leaders, were, eventually, ground up by the British war machine. Many of them were killed, others fled, into the Highlands, with all their parts swinging in the wind; but nonetheless, they never gave up.

What I find so interesting, was that when I studied history, many of the epic battles were fought between Edinburgh Castle and Stirling. I envisioned huge armies marching for days and weeks before the battles began. In reality, you could see Stirling, on a clear day, from the top of Edinburgh Castle. It was no more than a few miles way. So all of these epic battles, I had envisioned, happened in a very tiny area. With this realization, came the knowledge, that a lot of my ideas of these wars, were blown out of proportion, by my mind. Oh, the wonderful things I dreamt.

For me, next, in my order of interest was another site on the other end of Edinburgh (Mussleburg). One day we visited, what is now a horserace track. Inside the “infield” are the remains of the first golf course in Scotland. It is said that Mary Queen of Scots played golf here in 1567. It is nine holes, links type layout, and not much longer than today’s executive courses. I just bet, that, I could have kicked her ass, on the links. She would have ended up buying me a beer.

The next picture is Jimbo Red standing outside of a “wattle and daub” thatched hut. These were used for hundreds of years, up to and including parts of the Roman era. Possibly into the years 400 – 500 AD. At that point, stone walls replaced the wattle (or cow crap) walls. They were more common in England, but fine replicas of these huts were also found in Scotland. During the winter months, the farm animals were moved inside. The body heat of the animals kept these huts quite “toasty” inside. The smell must have been a real “sinus cleaner”.

One of my favorite castles in Scotland, was along the coast, east of Edinburgh, near a place called North Berwick. It was named Tantalon castle and was home of the Black Douglas. Tantalon was perched, on top of sheer cliffs, high above the North Sea, which made two sides of it impenetrable. It just fit my vision of the perfect ruins. In someways, seeing this, took me back to stories of Sherlock Holmes, or the Hardy Boys, from times of my youth. I could see them finding an old (never discovered) dungeon, full of mystery and secrets.The Black Douglas was said to have long black hair. Once, he wore long black coats to conceal weapons for a surprise attack on an English castle.

My interest in Tantalon castle has much to do with its rightful owner, the Black Douglas. It was stripped from his father William Douglas, by King Edward I, because of William’s opposition to English rule. Years later, after many attempts to regain his heritage, James (the Black Douglas) attacked his own castle. He routed the English defenders. Then killed all his prisoners, beheaded and burnt them, along with all the stores of food and supplies. He poisoned the wells with carcasses, and then burnt his own castle. This battle was known as the Douglas Larder. He became a staunch ally of Robert the Bruce when, Robert, became king of the Scots. The English said he had a “black heart” which belonged too the devil. He fought a guerrilla type warfare. The Brits, were indeed, crapping themselves, when he was near. The Scots loved him.

Another visit took us to a place of dreams. St. Andrews, the birthplace of modern day golf. I had long dreamt of testing my skills, by bringing this famous course to its knees. However, when we arrived and walked out to the viewing area, I realized that there was no way I was going to be able to tee off here. Right in front of the first tee box, and in full sight of the jacket and tie dressed members, sipping their tea and gazing out the window, stood a skirt clad Scot. He was an older guy, and looking at him, you knew that you were less than a worm in his eyes. He inspected everyone’s attire, verified handicaps, and sniffed his nose at each golfer. All this before you were allowed to start play.

I would have been paralyzed, and probably hit a shank off his head and thru the clubhouse window, taking out a few, older, Scots along the way. Whereby they would have discovered my English lineage, and another civil war would have broken out. So, instead we snooped around the old town of St. Andrews and looked at the many sights to be found in this area. Much of the older ruins are located along the seawall facing into the North Sea. Once, Catholicism ruled here, however when the protestants took control of the crown, much of the catholic monuments were destroyed. Such as the one shown below.

One fine day, we headed to Dundee. It is located on the east coast of Scotland, in the Firth of Tay, just off the North Sea. Although it seemed like a substantial drive, it was still not quite as far from Edinburgh, as St. Andrews. We made this trip specifically to see the vessel, named Discovery. This was the ship that carried, the famous explorers, Scott and Shackleton to Antartica in the very early 1900’s. This ship was a three masted, sailing vessel, with coal fired, backup, steam engines. Under, 12,000 sq. ft. of sail, it could travel over 200 miles in a single day. Coal was scarce in the Antarctica, so it had to be conserved. Hence, the Discovery was mostly powered by sail. It was the world’s first ship, build entirely for research. Built in Dundee, It was retired there in the 60’s, and completely refitted.

After leaving Dundee, on our way back to Edinburgh, we made a visit to the place where the original “Stone of Scone” was kept. The stone was used for the crowning of Scottish kings. It is located at the Scone Abbey, in Perth, Scotland. On view at this time, is a replica of the real stone. The original now resides in Westminster Abbey. I had a seat on this stone, and must say, that for an instance, I felt quite King like.

Very near the Abbey, also in Perth, we visited the Scone Palace. It has survived religious changes and purges, transformations, and pillage. Fifteen hundred years ago, it was the home of the PIcts. Since that time, it has been the seat of Scottish Parliament, and a place for the crowning of Kings, such as Robert the Bruce and Macbeth. For the last 400 years it has been the home of the Earl(s) of Mansfield. What impressed us the most, besides a huge huge house, was the size of the grounds. This property consists of 5000 acres. Most of it in well tended lawns, gardens and forests. Although, at the time of our visit, a part of the forest was reserved for the Royal Hunt. Geezus, talk about decadent!

During our stay in Edinburgh, and especially when we had company, we had many occasions to view another local site. This one, called Arthur’s Seat, was an extinct volcano peak, just to the east of downtown Edinburgh. It is really only a hill, rising about 800 feet, above the surrounding landscape. It looked much more than a hill, because of its spectacular shape, in an otherwise, pretty flat landscape. Legend has it, that it got its name from King Arthur. Perhaps he climbed there and took a seat while he surveyed his domain. I know, that, I took a seat after hiking my way to the top of this big rock. Deysi loved it up here, looking over the city and telling our guests “a thing or two”, about Edinburgh.

Another of my favorite places was Hadrian’s Wall. Built by the Romans in about 100 AD. The Emporer, at that time, Hadrian, had it built across northern England, as a defense against the warring tribes of the north. It was about 70 miles long and was made of stones, with a type of mortar to hold them in place. Coincidentally, it pretty much follows, the modern border of England and Scotland. Although at that time, neither existed as countries. The wall was not really very tall. However on the northern perimeter, it was built on the side of steep ridges, that would have, had to be scaled, before you could attack the wall. The wall had Roman outposts, every few kilometres. Each one of these was home to local tradesmen, farmers, labourers, and sellers, as well as the Roman (and local) forces. I found it spectacular.

Another of our trips took us to London, to see the London Eye. It was opened for the millennium in the year 2000. At that time, it was the world’s tallest Ferris wheel. We may not have been the first to see it, but we were in the first few thousand. It was as high as a forty storey building. It holds about 800 people, every trip. Deysi and Ange visited it, while I was in the office at work. They said it was scary.

Another of my all-time favourite castles was the Dunvegan castle on the Isle of Skye. Built sometime in the 12th century, this castle has been inhabited for more than 800 years. It was the main home of the MacLoed clan. Their name, derived from a Norse king named Loed (or the ugly), dates back to 1200 AD. The MacLoeds were famous English haters and Jacobite sympathizers. It is said, that after the battle of Culloden, the MacLoeds smuggled Bonny Prince Charlie away from the battlefield and hid him on the Isle of Skye, until the Brits quit looking for him. From there, I believe they shipped Ol’ Bonny, off to France to live in exile. I remember this castle from our visit to Skye. We spent a good amount of time here, while I avoided returning to our “B&B” (see my earlier story on how I handled B&B’s).

On a fine weekend, in 2002, and shortly before our transfer to Houston, Deysi, Ange and I paid a visit to England in search of my family’s roots. We knew the general area where my mother’s family came from, so started in Lincolnshire and Sherwood Forrest, of Robin Hood fame. There was no question in my mind, that we were surely from famous, outlaw, stock. Ange’s like, “dad I sure hope so”, while Deysi, just looks at me with her patient smile. So, off we went. Map in hand and a vague idea of the location of my roots. One of the first places we stopped was an old, old church in a place called Donnington.

It seems like, for centuries, before official Government census data, the Church was the holder of most family records. So, with that in mind, we poured into a Church and sought out a clergyman to help us. This guy was very pleasant and helpful. He thumbed thru the pages of his book and found a record of My Mother’s, Grand Mother, at her time of birth. Her name was Annie Sharp and she was thought to be buried in this very church yard. We never did locate her headstone, as they were mostly illegible after years of deterioration from the weather. However, we did locate a tombstone for another Sharp family member. The clergyman, also, provided us with a, sort of, address as to where my mother’s family lived. It was called Fen Quadring, which meant a field, in a certain quarter section of land not far from town.

Once we had cleared up the mystery of my lineage, we proceeded to travel to Lincoln, the city where my mother’s birth was “officially” recorded. Lincoln, is on the east coast of England, high above a lake and river. Two major sites dominate this city. One, the Lincoln Cathedral and the other, Lincoln Castle. This made it very easy to decide where to start. The city was first established in, about 100BC, and then settled by the Romans in about 48BC. The Romans built a fortress high atop a hill overlooking the river and a natural lake (Brayford Pool). It was an easy site to defend. In the 400’s and for about 500 years after, Lincoln was subjected to regular attacks by the Norsemen. Geezus, if it wasn’t the howling Scots from the North, it was the Wild Norsemen from across the sea. All of them, seeking British maidens.

Finally, I have come up for a breath of air and realized, that this little piece for Desyi, has blown out of all proportion. I have now, spilled out a major piece of our memories. I was so involved that I could have just kept writing. What I have thought about, and chosen to display in this post, is really a very small part of what we experienced in Scotland and the UK. Those of you that know, Jimbo Red, know, that once started, I could talk for hours, without really breathing. For that reason, I must tear myself from this post, with a large piece of memory still trying to escape my mind. I do promise, however, if “ANYONE” even hints that they have seen something they like, I WILL MAKE, a Part II and continue releasing, these pent up memories. I leave you with one last image.