A Glorious Day in the Borders of Scotland

I'm here to say that I DID get some sleep in our room in Traquair house, and the only thing a little disconcerting was when the power went out.  But, that only lasted a few seconds and the rest of the night was pretty much uneventful.

Breakfast was served downstairs in the Still Room, where an original painting from the 1800s still stands above the fireplace. 

Our meals were presented on fine china, and delicate porcelain was used for my tea. I'm still a wee bit curious as to who the figure is that was on my spoon. Any ideas? 

After breakfast, we set about exploring the interior of the house.  But, before I go on, let me I'd like to show you the stairs that we used going from floor to floor

There was no doubting they were several hundred years old, and well worn!

And, here are the keys to the front door, as well as to the room where we stayed. 

oh.... and the back of the bedroom door, I can't forget to show you that!

certainly quite different from any of the other places where we had stayed!

Now let me delve into the house a bit.  I did take a lot of photos, but I'm not going to bore you with all of the details here.  I'll just highlight some of the items that I found fascinating. 

Do you recall my reference to the cradle that Mary, Queen of Scots used to rock the future King James, back in 1566?  Well, I found it.  In the King's room, which would have been one of the original rooms in Traquair back in the day. 

It would have been used in the very room where it still stands.

On the bottom floor there is an Oak Door from 1601.

Upstairs, there is a Museum Room that features items that one would expect to find in a Museum. 

The earliest known English Montrose, marked London 1692

A coat of arms presented from Mary, Queen of Scots, thanking the family for opening their home to her.

A Koberger Bible dated 1501, preserved behind glass.

The Nuremberg Chronicle, printed in 1493

a shoe, belonging to Mary, Queen of Scots.  (I have no idea what happened to its pair.)

The original cloak worn by the wife of William Maxwell, that was used to aid him in escaping from the Tower of London in 1715.  It's behind glass to preserve the fabric. I find it amazing that someone thought to hold onto it!

And finally, the museum room has an original mural painted on the wall that dates to the 1500s. 

Pretty amazing, isn't it?

There was this very impressive family tree on the wall in the downstairs hall.

What really caught my attention was how the royal line was documented through the use of crowns, and marriages were noted by a set of clasped hands. What an unusual and clever way to present the tree!

The house was filled to the brim with original paintings, some dating back into the 1500's, most of them representing someone in the Traquair family line. Here are just two that caught my eye.

In 1829, when Catholics were once again permitted to freely practice their faith, a chapel was inserted into one of the additions to the house.

It continues to be used with Mass being offered once a month inside.  It was rather interesting to learn that it sits right above the brewery, offering some enticing smells for some as they come to worship. 

I think that you'll agree that this house is a gem, filled with history that one generally can only view in a museum.  How wonderful that we were able to take advantage of this opportunity! 

Just when we decided that it was time to move on, a huge tour bus showed up and delivered a very large group of eager visitors who were heading to the front door.  Perfect timing on that departure! 

And speaking of perfect timing, Marty and I had decided to stop into Robert Smail's print shop, located just about a mile away, as it was a featured National Trust site to which we had free admittance.  We no sooner walked through the door, and the attendant was eagerly ushering us to a tour that had just begun. 

How great was that?

The tour was absolutely amazing.  Both of the guides offered a wealth of information pertaining to this printing house, and delved into the many facets of printing that the original owner would have done. 

The entire procedure was fascinating, and Jack, the young man upstairs, coached the group on just how to set Type for printing. 

Then, everyone in the group was encouraged to set up their name to be printed.

My husband, of course, had to be a bit different.

Upper and lower are letters are stored in designated areas by use, not in alphabetical order.  

The Capital letters are kept in the upper boxes, and the small letters are kept on the lower boxes.  This is how the terms "Upper" and "lower" case were developed.  How clever! 

Jack had us pick and set our own type set, then he put it on the board, painted some ink overtop, and put the board into the press. 

Perfect!

How much fun is that? 

Time was moving on now, but we decided to take the advice of good hearted soul who recommended that we stop to see this Viaduct.  I'm pretty sure that we saw it several years ago, but it did seem the perfect day to view it.  And it was, indeed, stunning to see in the background. 

We made the drive to South Queensferry, and managed to attend 5:00 Mass at St. Margaret's church.  It's a very pretty interior that looks far nicer in person. The gold highlights have a glimmer that my phone just could not capture. 

Then, we headed down into South Queensferry, to the Hawes Inn, where we are staying tonight.

Here's a view from our room.

Pretty amazing, don't you think?

We had a delightful dinner in the hotel restaurant, then headed up to our room to pack our bags as we have an early flight and need to leave in the wee hours of the morning.

It's certainly been another amazing trip, and we both feel so grateful that we were able to visit this beautiful country once again.

Thanks for following along.  I hope you enjoyed our ventures! 

Until next time!

Farewell Arran...Greetings to Traquair

 We awoke to this brilliant view this morning

Yet another day of brilliant sunshine in Scotland.  How lucky is that?

After breakfast, we checked out of our hotel and headed to the Brodick-Ardrossan Ferry line.  When I booked the ferry, the first two time slots had no availability, so I had no choice but to schedule the return for early afternoon.  

But, after the conversation with the "darlin'" director in Ardrossan on Tuesday, we decided to head to the ferry terminal early to see if we could get on an earlier ferry.  We were told to drive into the standby line, and as they began to load countless cars and trucks into the ferry, I had just about given up hope of being added to the queue when we were directed to drive into the ferry.  And, they even managed to squeeze in a few more cars as well as a large truck in behind us! 

Simply amazing!  I was so grateful for the advice earlier in the week, because it made our trek across this beautiful country much less stressful.

In the meantime, we sat outside and watched the ferry pull away from the amazing island that we had visited for three days.

55 minutes later, we were unloading onto the mainland, and making our way across Scotland.  Our destination was Traquair house.  There isn't a direct route from west to east, so we had to travel along stunning country roads and enjoy the scenery along the way.  

In fact, we just so happened to spot this castle not far from our destination.

It was quite obvious that this would be the scene of some spectacular event, as there was a carpet rolled out on the grass, and a grand white tent set up on the grounds.  I'll surmise that some lucky bride and groom are going to be hosting tomorrow.  Hope this glorious weather holds out for them!

After about two and a half hours, we arrived at our destination, Traquair House.

Now, I'll admit, this is not our general mode of accommodation.  But, when I was planning the trip, I was looking for something convenient, that would get us close to Edinburgh for the final leg of our journey.  I was having a difficult time finding a room that would suit, when Traquair house popped up.  I asked Marty what he thought about staying one night in an ancient home, and he thought it was a great idea.  So, I grabbed the Pink Room while it was available. 

The housekeeper greeted us at the door, and led us up the original stone curved steps, to the second floor, down the hall, behind a locked door, to our bedroom for the night. 

As you can see, it is definitely a spacious room.  It was apparently originally Lord Traquair's room, and there is an 18th century trompe l’oeil over the fireplace. I'll admit, I had to look up the definition, and learned that it is an artistic term for the look of a three dimensional object on a two dimensional surface.  

I find it amazing that it has lasted in this condition for so many years. 

The room came with a complimentary bottle of beer, made in Traquair's own brewery, as well as tea and Scottish shortbreads for our enjoyment.

And it has a lovely view of the maze in the back of the house.

That will be tomorrow's challenge. 

Because we are guests, we are able to walk around the house and view the rooms inside, but before we attempted to do so, we needed some refreshment!

That's millionaire shortbread, made on the premises, and it was delicious!

We popped into the brewery that is perpendicular to the house.

In the 18th century, it was common for large houses such as this one to have their own brewery.   But by the early 1800s, there were so many commercial breweries in the area, that it wasn't feasible for the family to maintain their own.  So, it was closed up and the area actually became a collector of a lot of unwanted family items.  

In 1965, when the present day owners were undergoing a huge clean up in order to open the house to the public, they were surprised to find all of the original vessels had survived.  So, he decided to restart the brewery, and it has been producing its own line of product since that time. 

We will be able to investigate the rooms at our leisure tomorrow, before the general public is invited in, but we did manage to check out a couple today.  Marty purchased a book on the history of Traquair house to help understand some of the items in the collections preserved here. 

This is considered to be Scotland's Oldest Inhabited House, having been occupied for over 900 years.  

It began as a defensive tower but in the 1500's, the lairds of Traquair transitioned the house into a family home. John Stuart, 4th Laird of Traquair was appointed captain of the Queen's bodyguard to Mary, Queen of Scots.  He hosted her when she visited Traquair with her husband and son, James in 1566. Apparently the cradle where she rocked James is one of the possessions in the house.  

You better believe that I'll be hunting down that item tomorrow!

In the early 1600's the main building had been extended, and the 7th Laird added a top story.   The 2nd Earl of Traquair, John, was a strong Catholic, along with his second wife, Lady Anne Seton.  Although it was dangerous in that time period to practice the Catholic faith, they were determined to raise their five children as Catholics.  

Tucked on the top floor, in the back of the house, is a small room that would be used as a chapel.  There was a bed for a priest in the room, and, in the corner, is a cleverly disguised set of stairs hidden behind a bookshelf. 

It was a potential escape route for a priest, should it be necessary. 

The opposite corner of the room held vestments that date back to the 1600's!

I don't know about you, but I find that to be pretty amazing!

There is a museum room on the top floor, and we need to really delve into it tomorrow, but I did spot these rosary beads, originally belonging to Mary, Queen of Scots.

Just to get you up to date on the history, the house as it stands now, was completed of all renovations by 1695. No major renovations have taken place since. 

When the previous owners were renovating some of the rooms for repairs in 1965, they were surprised to find the original ceilings had been covered with plaster.  The decision was made to keep some of these beams exposed to show the integrity of the original structure. 

As you can see, just the living room holds a lot of character with so many fine paintings, and a rare harpsichord in the corner.

There are two libraries on the second floor

and that's just a glimpse of what's to come.  I'll do my best to give more details regarding the contents of this home tomorrow, after we've had more time to explore.  One could spend hours just trying to digest all of the historical items here. 

In the meantime, we decided to walk along the grounds to the road that leads to Traquair Arms, where we enjoyed a delicious meal.  

There were marked wooden posts to help keep us on track.  (and believe me...we needed some  help.)

We crossed the river Tweed on the way to dinner.

And back again, with the sun setting in the distance, afterwards.

Back on the path, we passed this friendly fella who seemed interested in our whereabouts.

Then we went through the gate, followed along a stone wall

passed through yet another gate

along a gravel path

and ended up at the bridge leading to the estate.

The walk to and from the restaurant was a little over 2 miles (actually longer due to us getting lost a few times in the woods), so we certainly did manage to get in some exercise today.

Tomorrow we plan on delving into the rooms in the house to see what special secrets they might hold.

If we make it out of the maze, I'll give you the update. You can choose whether or not your are interested in learning more about this ancient estate. 

In the meantime, I'll be able to say that I have slept in the oldest inhabited house in Scotland....presuming that I actually do!

Until tomorrow!