And This Is What We Did Next

[poliphilo]

There was frost on the ground next morning. We hadn't made any plans, so we shuffled the tourist brochures we'd picked up along the way and went to Falkland. There's a palace there. It used to be a castle of the MacDuffs, but later passed into the hands of the Stuart kings. The present building was created by James IV and James V, using French masons, and is- essentially- a French Renaissance chateau beefed up for northern climes. it was a favourite retreat of Mary Queen of Scots. Cromwell's soldiers occupied it during the Civil war and managed to burn it down- the result not of deliberate vandalism but of an accident in the kitchen. It was restored- and turned into a modern country house- by a19th century Marquess of Bute. The Palace chapel still serves as the town's Roman Catholic church.  I lit a candle.



We shuffled the brochures some more over an all-day breakfast at the Hayloft tea-room (Falkland is the sort of pretty little place you expect to find tea-rooms) and drove the length of the Kingdom of Fife to St. Andrews, the university city and birthplace of golf. It was the ecclesiastical capital of Scotland through the middle ages. The cathedral got smashed up in the course of the Scottish reformation and Civil War. The immensely tall square tower- St. Rule's Tower- predates the cathedral.




 

Comments

[saare-snowqueen.livejournal.com]

You had really nice weather it seems; pretty photos

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Thanks.

We seem to have caught a dry, sunny spell between two unfriendly weather systems.

[pondhopper.livejournal.com]

Incredibly beautiful places. I meant to ask you yesterday in your post if you've ever visited Carlisle? Lovely town.

So, the Cathedral was smashed but they respected the graveyard? That photo is wonderful.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I've never been to Carlisle, but it's on my list.

The gravestones are all post-Reformation. Even Presbyterians have to bury their dead somewhere.:)

The Scottish Reformation seems to have been even more violent than the English Reformation was. It's rare to find anything medieval and catholic that hasn't had a hammer taken to it or a boot put through it.

[litchick.livejournal.com]

Those are some breathtaking photos.

Your post made me chuckle. I live in Las Vegas which is a new city, even by American standards. When my now-husband and I were looking for apartments when we moved in together he refused a group of apartments near my place of employment because they were "too old." "Too old" like they were built in the 90's.

The best quips come years later right? "Too OLD? Like, Mary Queen of Scots lived there???"

haha.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Thanks.

My father in law refuses to live in a house that's been lived in before- and always buys new. I don't know what he's afraid of- ghosts? germs? other people's dirt?

Our house is coming up to its centenary. It was built, as far as I can make out, in 1909. I love a house with character.

[litchick.livejournal.com]

Ghost germs? Spooky.

The house I grew up in, in New York State, was built in the late 19th century. It was gorgeous. Stained glass, china doors, beautiful wood work. It even had a pentagram in the hardwood floor in the front hall.

I'm hoping someday I can convince my husband to move into a Victorian, or at least a craftsman, in Portland, Oregon.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Your childhood home sounds lovely.

This house has stained glass, fancy tiles, a marble fireplace. No pentacle, alas.