Shiver me timbers!
Did I mention that Robert Louis Stevenson wrote Treasure Island just a
few cottages away from where we were staying in Braemar?
And, that Old MacDonald had a room…….ee – eye – ee – eye –
oh?
But it was time to head on, so we “took the high road” and
we “took the low road”, as we drove away in Scotland in the morn’n.
Over hill and dale, weaving our way through the
Cairngorms. Did you know that a large mountain in Scotland is called a Ben? (just some trivia for you)
The road was twisty and narrow, and at one point it became
quite obvious that
Little Bo Peep had lost her sheep.
Hey! We could tell
her where to find them!
Luckily, there had been a hand drawn map side posted at the side
of the road as a warning.
At first, we thought the sign was quite amusing, but we
could see now that it was posted for a good reason.
This little guy seemed to be confused as to what to do when
we showed up, and he kept running down the middle of the road bleating,
“Maaaaa-ma! Maaaaaa-ma!”
What an adventure!
My hope of seeing a Highland Cow (coo as they say here in
Scotland) were met when we spotted one obviously posing for anyone interested
in stopping. He was so friendly, that I
expected him to start doing a jig!
When we entered the grounds for Blair Castle, we were
greeted by an attendant who insisted on selling us two “senior” tickets. I suppose that I should start getting used to
that. I attempted to argue with him, but
I don’t think he heard me. (He was
pretty “senior” himself!)
This castle was built in 1296 by the Earl of Atholl. While he was off fighting in the Crusades, his neighbor kindly decided to build the tower and move his family in.
When the Earl returned, he complained about the "squatter" to King Alexander III and won back his land, evicted the occupants, and built the rest of the castle around the tower.
The inside is filled with
heirlooms and historical items dating back from the 1st Duke
of Atholl and carried through the 11th Duke, who died in May 2012.
The holding were quite remarkable, with original hand
stitched bed hangings dating from the 1690’s and sets of chairs with needlepoint
covers that were painstakingly sewn by the wife of the 2nd Duke of
Atholl.
All of the rooms were quite amazing. The only room in which we could take
photographs was the ballroom.
If you're wondering why THIS would be the only room permitting photography, then you are not alone. Believe me, when I think of the word "ballroom" I would never imagine something with antlers mounted all over the walls.
Or swords, for that matter.
Antlers seemed to be a big theme in this room as well as in the hallways, which were lined with them throughout the house. The rooms, however, were decorated quite elegantly, in direct contrast.
The grounds also feature a huge walled garden, known as
Hercules Garden.
We spotted a Little
White Duck floating on the water and,
as you can see, there were plenty of lily pads had he wanted to take a bite!
We did see Peter Rabbit with some friends,
and Mr. Jeremy
Fisher having a chuckle on a rock (he's in the far right corner)
I’m kind of worried that the Mr. Tod, the Sly Fox might have had Jemima Puddle-Duck for lunch, because she was nowhere to be found.
It took all of 5 minutes to walk through the garden. I had imagined much more. Marty said that it was a good thing that I
hadn’t planned this stop as our main adventure of the day!
But I certainly did love this quote by Beatrix Potter.
Since we obviously had some time, we decided to walk through
the Hermitage, a lovely wooded walk that leads to a spectacular waterfall
What a lovely way to end the day!
Today I'm off to find some seals!
But, I don't plan on climbing out on any rocks like someone else I know.
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