April 15, 1997
After a late start from Inverness, we arrived at Blair Castle in the early afternoon. It was just too pretty a day to spend it inside so I opted not to take the tour. So I wouldn�t feel like I missed out on anything I purchased a guide book in the gift shop that told me all about everything I was missing by not taking the tour. Here are some of the little tidbits I picked up when reading the book. Blair Castle is the home of the Duke of Atholl, the only person in Scotland who is allowed to maintain a private army. According to guide book which I purchased in the gift shop, when Queen Victoria visited Blair in 1844, she was so captivated by the 200 Athollmen who formed the royal bodyguard, that she presented them with regimental colors. They are now the only private army in Europe, and as the Atholl Highlanders are recruited mainly from the Atholl estate, they exist today as a private ceremonial bodyguard.
The book also stated that in 1269, while the Earl of Atholl was away in England for an extended period, a neighbor, John Comyn, started to build a castle on the Earl's land. Atholl complained to King Alexander III, got his land back, and incorporated the usurping tower into his own castle. It is still there, called Comyn's Tower. It has been occupied by attackers on four occasions, including being taken by the Cromwellians during the English Civil War.During the 1745 Jacobite revolt, Bonnie Prince Charlie stayed at Blair Castle on his way south after landing at Glenfinnan. Inevitably the English army occupied the castle in 1746 as the Jacobite revolt came to its sad conclusion. The Jacobites under Lord George Murray, lay siege to Blair in what is believed to be the last castle siege in Britain.
Now, aren�t you glad I told you all that?
Book in hand, I started walking down the long tree lined drive that leads from the highway to the Castle. The weather in Scotland always has reminded me of the nursery rhyme about the little girl who when she was good she was very very good, and when she was bad she was horrid. This was one of those very, very good days. On both sides of the drive were large fields with cute little lambies running and jumping around. They were probably as thrilled with this day as I was.
It was about a 20 or thirty-minute walk into the village of Blair Atholl. I stopped and read the names on the plaque at the War Memorial, checked out a couple of shops and the went into the Palace Hotel where a sumptuous high tea was soon to be laid out for us. The featured author for today was Alexandra Raife whose books include Belonging, Drumveyn , Mountain Heather, Until the Spring and Wild Highland Home. She gave a short talk about how she started writing and went about trying to get published. At the time of this tour Drumveyn was the only book she had out and none of us had ever heard of her. Since then I have read all her books as they have come out and she is one of the authors whose books I will buy on sight. I should have been more impressed.
The tea was really something else! I don�t remember exactly what they served but remember that it included finger sandwiches that included rounds with smoked salmon and ham, all sorts of fruits and cheeses and of course pastries, tarts, cakes and candy. As we stuffed our faces, a piper played for us. Great fun!
Then it was onward to Sterling. The hotel in Sterling was very nice. Definitely three star at least. I have a vivid memory of the lobby of this hotel being virtually wall to wall luggage and one lone, very young bellman standing there looking at it all with a slightly panicky look on his face. But bless his heart, he got everyone delivered to their room with our correct bags. I hope everyone tipped him generously because he certainly deserved it.
Dinner that evening was pork and haggis. The pork was very good, the haggis was not. After dinner there was a wine and cheese �do� provided courtesy of Heather Graham who was unable to be there. We were also all given a copy of her latest book. My friend Elaine who is helping me try to reconstruct this tour e-mailed me her account of this evening. I am copying it exactly as she sent it because she really nailed it. "Karen Monk talked about how she got started writing, and there was a woman doing the Gaelic mouth music thing, and some guy at an electric piano and some CDs or something entertaining us. I think it was here that we had that YUMMY dessert with the cream and oatmeal and berries in it. Forget the name, but loved every bite."
The next morning almost everyone made their way up the hill, and when I say hill, I mean HILL, to Sterling Castle. I have always loved that castle. I remember the first time I visited there back in 1978 one of the tour guides assured us with a perfectly straight face that it was the only real, functioning castle left in Scotland and that the castle in Edinburgh was simply an imitation castle.
I was very interested in the construction, or should I say reconstruction of the castle�s Great Hall. They were just starting to excavate the site for it when we were here nineteen years ago and each time we have returned it�s been at a different stage of construction. Funny thing though, I have never seen anyone actually working on it. I wonder what their hours are? Do they work in the middle of the night when no visitors are around? I never thought to ask that question. They are very close to completion so I figure in another five or ten years they should have it finished.
After leaving the Castle I wandered around in the town centre until it was time to return to the hotel. After spending only one night in Sterling the tour was moving on to Edinburgh. Before we left the hotel this morning we set our luggage outside the door for the bellman to haul back down to the bus. I wonder if it was the same one?
