Isle of Skye Scotland

 

Floors Castle, Kelso, Scotland

 

Floors Castle is in the southern part of Scotland known as the Scottish Borders. Located in Kelso, Roxburghshire, it is the largest inhabited  castle in Scotland.

Architect William Adam built the iconic Floors Castle between 1721 - 1726 for the first Duke of Roxburghe.

The rooms house collections of fine art, porcelain and tapestries.

Through the windows you can see the gardens, the River Tweed, and the Cheviot Hills.

Notes

There are places to eat and shop.

There is a play area for children.

In 2022, they were open between April and September.

Find more information on their website. https://www.floorscastle.com/

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Jarlshof, Shetland, Scotland

 

After our ship anchored at Lewick, Shetland, we got bus 6 south to the Jarlshof settlements at Sumburgh Head by the southern end of Mainland Shetland.

With an audio guide, we wend our way through Neolithic houses, to a Bronze age village, an Iron broch and wheelhouse, a Norse longhouse, a medieval farm, and a laird's house from the 1500s.

Stone Age house site

Bronze Age Smithy

Iron Age Broch

Broch Signboard

Iron Age Wheelhouse- named for the spoke-like wall structures.

Wheel House Signboard

The size of the settlement is not obvious from the road. A person helps appreciate the size of the dwellings.

The Norse Settlement reveals a preference for rectangular houses. The Vikings may have arrived about 850. 

Remains of a Medieval Farmhouse

The Laird's House is what was visible when Sir Walter Scott visited in 1814.

There are some fantastic views of the site from the tower at the east end of the Laird's House.

Notes from our visit August 2022

We took bus 6 from Lerwick to Sumburgh.

The entrance to Jarlshof is marked by a sign and is only a short walk past some Shetland ponies.

We paid a small fee at the visitor's centre, which accepted our English Heritage pass.

The audio guides are excellent. You enter a number corresponding to the sign board along the trail from the oldest settlements to the more recent Laird's house.

Sir Walter Scott is the person who named Jarlshof, which he saw when on a cruise in 1814. At the time he only saw the Laird's house. Jarlshof is the setting for Scott's novel, The Pirate.

A broch is a stone structure that dates from the Iron Age, which in Scotland dates from about 300 to 900 (historic-uk). There are many brochs in the Scottish isles.

A Scottish Laird was an owner of a large Scottish estate. A Laird is not exactly the same as an English Lord--Lords, but not Lairds, are members of nobility.

Bus and bus stop

Entry signs

The welcome

Posing with ponies

Irresistible

Shetland ponies/Sutton/2022

The coastline by Jarlshof

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Jedburgh Scotland

 

Jedburgh Scotland is a border town on the Jed Water about 10 miles north of the border with England.

Jedburgh Abbey, pictured above, was founded by King David I in 1138. The Abbey is made of red sandstone and has been the site of many border battles over the centuries. 

Mary Queen of Scots stayed in Jedburgh in 1566--the house is a museum.

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St Andrews Scotland

 

St Andrews is the world famous home of golf on the coast of Fife, Scotland.

Here's a view of the St Andrews Club House.

Nearby is the beach--the one used in the movie, Chariots of Fire.

No surprise, there's a castle here too.

And a Cathedral

Close to St Andrews Castle is the highly ranked University of St Andrews, which dates to 1413 and is Scotland's oldest university.

The university is where Prince William earned a Master of Arts degree. He switched from Art History to Geography. He also met Kate Middleton who studied art history. The couple married in 2011 and are known as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Notes

The city of St Andrews is named after St Andrew the Apostle.

St Andrew, is the patron St of Scotland.

St Andrew's Day is celebrated 30 November. It is also known as the Feast of Saint Andrew and Andermas. It is also a national holiday.

Golf has been played at St Andrews Links for some 600 years. The links are known as the Old Lady, Grand Old Lady, and the Old Course. The 150th Open Championship was played at St Andrews in July 2022.

St Andrews Castle and Cathedral

Bishop Arnold began building the Cathedral in the 1100s. The Cathedral and the castle are ruins. The Catholic Cathedral was the centre of church power as the seat of the Bishops and Archbishops of St Andrews. The ruins indicate how impressive the building must have been before it was destroyed. The castle was the residence of the lead bishop of Scotland in the Middle Ages.

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Urquhart Castle & Loch Ness Scotland

Urquhart Castle was built on a rock by the famous lake, Loch Ness.

According to his biographer, St Columba may have been here about 580 because of a story about a monster at the loch. Columba had left his monastery on the Isle of Iona to visit the king of the Picts at the Inverness court of Bridei.

The castle is the site of historic conflicts. Edward I of England captured the castle in 1296. Robert the Bruce had control of the castle in 1306. The MacDonald clan from the Isle of Islay also attacked the castle after the death of Robert the Bruce.

Clan Grant had the task of restoration in the 1500s with instructions from King James IV.

Loch Ness is a large freshwater lake having a length of just over 22 miles but is only about a mile and 3/4 wide. It is of course the site known for the Loch Ness monster popularised by the 1933 photo.

Lakeside activities include boating and enjoying the lake trails on bikes, horses, or on foot.

Notes

Loch is the Scottish Gaelic, Scots, and Irish word for lake.

Loch Ness is near Inverness and can be reached by busses.

Check online for tickets to tour the castle.

There is a café at the castle

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Culloden, Scotland

 

Culloden is in the county of Inverness and about 6 miles east of the city. 

It on the moor that the Battle of Culloden (also called the Battle of Drumossie) took place 16 April 1746. Here the Jacobites were defeated by the larger force of British soldiers.

The Jacobites were supporters of Charles Edward's claim to the British throne.

Invergordon, Scotland

 

Invergordon is a small town in Eastern Scotland on the Cromarty Firth.

It is a deep water port used by cruise ships visiting the Scottish Highlands.

There is a train station nearby. A trip to Inverness takes about an hour.

Others might visit Dunrobin Castle.

See VISIT SCOTLAND for more places to see.

Inverness, Scotland

 

Inverness/ Nathan Sutton

Inverness is the cultural capital of the Scottish Highlands. The city is by the River Ness, which flows from the well known, Loch Ness.

Inverness Castle dates from the 1800s Earlier, a castle was the Royal Residence of King Malcolm III (Canmore).

Inverness Castle

The Columba Hotel is in the view below. St Columba visited Pictish King Brude in their capital of Inverness about 565.

Ness River, Inverness

Military Tattoo, Inverness

Close to Inverness is the site of the Battle of Culloden.

Dunrobin Castle, Scotland

Dunrobin Castle, Scotland / Geoff Sutton 2022

 We arrived at the 700-year-old Dunrobin Castle via coach from Invergordon on a pleasant sunny August day. We decided to tour the castle first before walking about the gardens and visiting the small museum.

I didn't count the number of rooms on the tour but they were surely a fraction of the 189--Dunrobin is the largest castle in the Northern Highlands and one of the oldest houses where people have always lived.

As you might expect, the dining hall is grand.

The furniture and other items reveal purposes for different rooms.

There's a gift shop of course.

The Military Room

A clear window offered a fantastic overview of the gardens and the Moray Firth.

The castle is most impressive from the garden.

Before leaving, we photographed the view from the long drive.

The cafeteria is worth a look even if you don't stop for a snack.

A short video offers a panorama of the gardens.

Notes

The name, Dun Robin is from the Gaelic meaning Robin's Hill or Fort.

The castle has been home to the Earls and Dukes of Sutherland since the 1200s.

The Earldom of Sutherland, created in 1235,  is one of the seven in Scotland's history.

The castle has been added to over the centuries.

It was remodeled in 1845 by Sir Charles Barry. Queen Victoria's residence at Balmoral appears to have influenced the style.

Dunrobin is the home of Clan Sutherland.

The castle is located at Golspie, Sutherland, Scotland  KW10 6SF

According to the website, it is open from April to October.

A colourful  guide book is available for a small fee.

You can learn more about the castle at http://www.dunrobincastle.co.uk/

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Final note- amazed by giant rhubarb!