Exploring Dunfermline

Those of you following my blog might recall my gallivanting adventures in Dunfermline, back in  2012 and 2013.  My husband was working out of Glenrothes, and I had the days to myself to set out on adventures, and that I did! So, when setting up this trip, I showed Amy some literature on this town, and it spurred her interest, so I included a day of touring Dunfermline among our travels.

The weather certainly looked promising this morning when I peeked out the window.

If you recall yesterday's morning shot, there was quite a bit of mist in the air to start off the day.  But it looked like we just might be lucky and avoid any type of precipitation today.

A quick walk down to the harbor after breakfast proved that the weather must have cleared more than we actually realized, as we did not spy the Island of May at all yesterday. , But it was easy to see in this morning's light.

After just a final walk through Crail, we popped into the car and headed to Dunfermline, taking the scenic route which certainly did not disappoint!

We decided to stop in Dysart for a wee look around as I had been there in the past and really fell in love with the harbor and houses.  And, you can certainly see why.

Marty and Amy put their hands into the water and the report the I received was that the water was cold.

Not exactly a surprise if you ask me!

Of course, we needed our daily selfie!

We then headed into Dunfermline to the birthplace of Andrew Carnegie.

Many of you might not realize that my husband and I both have strong ties to Pittsburgh PA,  and the name Andrew Carnegie is certainly a familiar one.  His name is synonymous with library.  And he is certainly well known for his generosity and endowments that he set up during his lifetime.

Our first stop today was his birthplace. The original house where he was born still stands on the edge of the town.  Andrew was the son of a linen weaver:  Damask linen to be specific.

In one of the downstairs rooms of the cottage, there is a 200 year old loom, set up for weaving flax into the Damask pattern.

Those punchcards were set patterns that the flax was strung through so that a perfect Damask pattern could be woven on this machine.  Quite amazing, if you ask me.

None of Carnegie's original family items are preserved in this museum, as the family sold all of their possessions to purchase passage to the United States when the linen loom was replaced by manufacturing companies.   Andrew was 12 when the family emigrated to what is now known as the North Side of Pittsburgh.

Andrew was raised with a love of learning and reading, impressed upon him by his parents.  I enjoyed a particularly amusing anecdote involving Carnegie that stated that Andrew had been disappointed to learn from a fellow pupil at school that England was larger than Scotland.  His uncle consoled him by assuring Andrew that if all Scotland were rolled out flat as England, Scotland would most definitely be the larger.  Well, after our gallivanting adventures this past week, up and down numerous mountains, I'd have to say that Carnegie's uncle was right on track with that comment!

Andrew Carnegie was certainly an amazing man who possessed a talent for memorizing, and he soon became a valuable employee in the telegraph industry as he was able to translate morse code by ear.  That put a company at an advantage because one did not have to wait until the code was written down and translated. This talent was the key to Carnegie's beginning.  I'm not going to dwell much more on the merits of this accomplished and generous man, as I'm certain that most of you are quite familiar with his life. There is a very large, informative information center, attached to the weaver's cottage and commissioned by Carnegie's widow after his death, that details the many accomplishments of this man.  It is certainly well worth the visit if you are in the area.

Just adjacent to Carnegie's birthplace is an entrance to Pittencrieff Park, so we decided to head through the park, to the Abbott House for some refreshment.  We passed this lovely waterfall along the way.

As well as a larger than life statue of Carnegie in the park.

The gardens and grounds are beautifully maintained and add some real charm to a town that has a lot of dark and gloomy looking buildings along the main street. 

In short time, we were at the Abbott house, but soon learned that it had closed.  Apparently there was some mismanagement of funds and the Scottish Historical Society closed it. Now this was a sad state of affairs!  I had so enjoyed a lovely cup of tea and, perhaps a scone or a sandwich, while looking out the window of the cafe at the large cathedral that holds the bones of Robert the Bruce. 

But that option was certainly out of the question, so we decided to pop into a local bakery and order an authentic Scottish meat pie.  After all, that opportunity doesn't come up our way back home, that's for sure!

Walking through the church grounds, one can easily see the Abbott house with its bright orange color.

We stopped into the Old Cathedral, and popped into the oldest part.

The vast size is impressive, and the stained glass windows look awesome!

Adjacent to the Abbey stands the ruins of an old Monastery that Queen Margaret commissioned in 1070.   The Abbey was built in 1128 by her son, King David I.

Walking through this town offered a completely different experience than the one that we experienced in Crail.   The building were much darker and kind of depressing to view in comparison to the bright white cottages in Crail.   But as I told my daughter, today's adventure involved a lot of history, dating back to 1070.  The town might not have offered a lot of charm, but the stone buildings represented life nearly a thousand years ago. 

And, we learned of kings and queens and saints among them, as well as the influence of one man from this village on so many aspects of modern technology.  Certainly not something to scoff at.

So my blog today doesn't offer breath taking views. Rather, it features the history of a different era.

One of the other features of Dunfermline is Pittencrieff  Park.  A funny story pertaining to the park:  when Andrew Carnegie was a lad, he loved to play in this park.  But the owner of the land one day made it perfectly clear that he did not want youngsters of weavers playing in his park.  Carnegie was quite disgruntled by this, and when he became wealthy, he purchased this park and demanded that it be open to all walks of life. Guess he kind of got even with the landowner, except that the man was more than likely deceased by the time Carnegie purchased it. But this is just one more example of the generosity of this man who never forgot his origins.

Here are some views from our walk through the park: 

In the distance you can see the old bridge as well as the new suspension bridge.  I'm still hoping for a better shot, but this one will have to suffice for now.

Dinner was at a restaurant in town called Fabric.  The food was fabulous!

We are staying at a recently refurbished inn/hotel on the outskirts of Dunfermline.  The place has a restaurant as well as a bar, and since it is my birthday, we decided to go to the bar for a celebration drink.

I will admit that I felt a wee bit out of place as I crossed the room, ducking my head as to not hinder the visibility of the television screen that was featuring a local football match. It was obvious that the room was filled with hard working men who wanted their whiskey or a dram after a hard day's work.

But, my daughter and I wanted a drink.  And, I'll admit that we certainly looked out of place.  The bartender was nice enough to get us a drink menu from the restaurant, and Amy chose a Moscow Mule and I picked something called a Woo Woo. 

I probably could have chosen something else, but since my husband was doing the ordering, I just couldn't help myself.  So, he went up to the bar, where a tough looking bunch were sitting, and told the female bartender that he wanted a moscow mule, a Woo Woo and a dram of whiskey.  She said in response, "That's a mule, 2 WooWoo's and a dram, right?".  Nope, he replied, that was only one WooWoo.

I'm not sure if he'll be letting me order anything else for the remainder of the trip.  

By the way.....the WooWoo was really quite tasty!

Off on another adventure tomorrow!

I'll try and keep you posted.

Crail at Its Finest

Many of you realize that our life has been extremely hectic as of late, and that this trip was actually thrown together only 2 months ago.  Just about the time I started planning, I spotted a Facebook post singing the praises of Crail as the perfect vacation spot.

Well, we had never been to Crail, and when I was able to easily find a B&B, with a triple room, for 2 nights that fit into the schedule, I jumped at the opportunity.   And, after the exuberant welcome that we received last evening, I had the feeling that we would love it here.

Crail sits in eastern Fife, right on the Firth of Forth as it meets the North Sea.  Our original plan was to arise early and head down to the harbor to see the sunrise.   I could say that we got up and were disappointed when we saw that a fog was hanging in the air.  But the fact of the matter is, none of us was up before the sun, and, when I did peek out the window,  I knew immediately that we had missed absolutely nothing.

Can you see that mist out there?  Sleeping in a wee bit was the perfect decision!  And we were just happy that we didn't awake to rain!

After an absolutely awesome breakfast, we thought we would head down to the harbor area as it appeared that the fog was lifting a bit.

As luck would have it, the fog was lifting, and we delighted in the visual beauty that was slowly developing.

How awesome is that?

While we were standing on the pier in the harbor, I watched this boat slowly come in.

The man on the boat, then proceeded to unload lobsters from traps, into a large bucket which was hoisted to the top.

He then climbed up the ladder

The fresh lobsters were then taken just a few hundred feet to a small shack in the pier area.  

Here's what the lobster traps look like for those who might be interested.

We decided that we would come back later in the day and have one of the fresh caught lobsters steamed for our enjoyment. 

In the meantime, we headed out to Kellie Castle for a tour.  Just look at those brilliant blue skies! The mist had subsided.......for now!

When we arrived, we were told that a guided tour would begin at 12:15, and last around 50 minutes.  So, we spent the time walking around the surrounding gardens.

As you can see apple trees were brimming with fruit

pumpkins were nearly ready for picking

And I do believe that the zucchini had been forgotten.

The 45 min wait soon passed, and we headed inside for the beginning of the tour.  The guide, Margaret, introduced herself, and led us right up a flight of stairs to a landing.  She gave us a brief history of the castle, and showed us a very large painting that featured that very same staircase leading to an open front door.

The artist was John Henry Lorimer, and his father had purchased the house from the Earl of Mar, in the late 1800's after leasing it for many years.  Margaret was sure to give us all of the details of the painting which we might just have missed.

Now, we've been on quite a few of the National Trust property tours, and have found them to be fun and informative.  But today's tour was definitely one that will stand out in our minds for quite some time.

It was obvious that Margaret was a master in regards to the knowledge of this castle.  She knew the history of the house like the back of her hand, and she was an expert on every single piece of art, furniture, ceilings and statues.  I kid you not when I say that in the first room, the present day drawing room, there were no less than 70 separate items in that room, and she went into detail regarding every single one, and she also seemed to have some sort of anecdote related to many of them. 

It was definitely interesting, but, honestly, our heads were buzzing as she went on .....and on.......and on, obviously excited to share her vast knowledge with us.  I began to notice that people in our group were quietly slipping out of the room, but I didn't have the heart to leave, and I really did want to see the Castle in its entirety.  When all was said and done, our "50 minute" tour was not a second less than a full hour and a half.

So, what did I learn?

Well, the castle began as a single tower, owned by the Oliphant family as early as 1360.  The 4th Lord Oliphant added the east tower in 1573.  Twenty years later, the 5th Earl joined the two towers resulting in what one sees today. 

The 5th earl then sold the castle to Sir Thomas Erskine in 1613. He was a personal friend of King James I, and when he invited the king to his castle, Erskine commissioned a group of plasterers to make a unique ceiling in the formal bedroom just in honor of the king's visit.   The molds from the ceiling were then used in several of the stately houses and castles including Craigeviar which we had visited the other day.

In 1829, when the 10th earl died, there were no obvious heirs, and all of the contents of the castle were auctioned, and the castle was left abandoned. 

Kellie Castle was  then discovered by the James Lorimer family in 1870. He was a professor of law at Edinburgh University, was married, and had 6 children.  He approached the 9th Earl of Mar, who now owned the property but left the castle unattended, and asked if he would consider leasing the house.  A 38 year lease was agreed upon where the Earl of Mar would make the external repairs, and Lorimer could live in the house and pay for interior repairs.   James' sons and daughters were all artistically talented with John Henry being an accomplished artist.  His parents converted an upstairs turret room into an artist studio for him so that he would be close to him and continue to pursue his passion of painting.  Many of his artistic works are hanging in the castle.  

Robert Lorimer was an architect and he designed numerous pieces of furniture that now stand on display in the house. 

Even though James died in 1890, the house continued to be lived in by this family until 1936 when  John Henry died and willed all of his possessions to charity. Once again, all of the contents of the castle were publicly auctioned off.  

In 1937, John's nephew, Hugh Lorimer, took over the lease and he and his wife Mary moved into the castle. When the Earl of Mar died, his successor offered the castle for sale to the Lorimer family, and so they purchased it and owned it until it was offered to the National Trust in 1970.

I can't really say how the trust managed to have so many Lorimer items on display since all of the contents had been sold off many years ago.  A few of the pieces were donated from family members, but believe me, that house was brimming with a variety of items, and you can rest assured that Margaret knew something about each and every one of them!

What I found extremely interesting was the ingenuity of Mary Lorimer in regards to some of the pieces.  There is a large table in the dining room, which had once been a wood workers table.  Mary purchased it at auction relatively inexpensively. Similarly, a huge wardrobe stands in the men's dressing room.   That piece once stood in a church and held altar robes.  A pianoforte stands in the drawing room, a result of trade between two families:  the owner was happy to trade it for a barouche. And, finally, there was a lovely canopy over Mary's bed that she constructed herself.  She found a relatively large oval broken mirror that had a gold gilded edge.  She removed all of the glass, had someone saw it in half lengthwise, added some gold upholstery to where the mirror glass had been, and hung it from the wall above the bed, with gold netting streaming down the sides.  Now, how clever was that?

Our guide knew absolutely everything about every single piece in that house, and believe me, we learned not only about the items, but about the personal history of just about every family member.

I'm just glad that we didn't have to take a test when it was all done!  We politely exited, and headed back to Crail, because, we had a date with a Lobster, remember?

When we returned to harbor, the mist had returned, but that didn't dampen our enthusiasm.  I peered into the lobster chest.

He didn't appear very happy.   

Marty ordered one steamed lobster at the little brown hut.

And, 10 minutes later,  this showed up for us, along with three plates and dinnerware.

Amy took one bite and decided that she didn't care for lobster.  So the rest was for Marty and me to enjoy.  One thing to note:  Scots do not eat their lobster with clarified butter.  Or so I was told by our B&B hosts, and, to be quite frank, there was no mention of such a thing when we ordered.  So, Marty and I just enjoyed the lobster without any enhancements.

And it was really quite delicious, full of flavor, and, obviously, as fresh as one can get, having just been pulled from the sea a few hours earlier!

By the time we finished our treat, the skies began to clear, and we decided to make the most of it and walk along a bit of the coastal trail.

But before I describe the walk, I'd just like to make mention of the Lobster man....the one with the hat in the boat, who hauled in the lobsters, climbed the ladder, and carried the catch to the Lobster hut to sell.  His appearance was quite  unique, with very long hair, a knit cap on his head, camaflouge shorts, and bright yellow Wellies upon his feet.    Honestly, it would be hard to miss him.

So, we found it rather amusing that while we were driving to Kellie Castle, this same man was driving his truck (at a rather fast pace) in the opposite direction, back to Crail.  He had obviously made a delivery to someone nearby.  

Later, while waiting for the steaming, we spotted this same man, skirting from place to place in the harbor.  Then, while walking back to the B&B, we saw him pop out of his truck, and walk up to someone's front door holding a canvas bag in each hand, (obviously each containing a lobster).  He departed the house empty handed and jumped back into his truck, obviously going out to make another delivery.  Hours later, that same man was still hopping around town.  What a hard working and industrious young man!  

Strolling through the village offered some really quaint houses, and, as usual, I took way too many photos, but I'll try to limit how many I share here.  (But it can be hard picking the best ones.)

The yellow house has a plaque with the year 1632.

This is the walk down towards the trail.

Some views along the shoreline.

A cute house along the way.

More shoreline

And, finally, the view of Crail  walking north along the trail from Anstruther. 

The weather was a bit chilly, but certainly welcomed!  Just a few hours earlier and it would have been impossible to see the village from the trail due to the mist.  Once again, how lucky were we?

Well....tomorrow's another day and we'll be off on another Gallivanting Adventure.  In the meantime, Crail has been everything that we had hoped it would be.  Can't ask for more than that, for sure!

Until tomorrow......