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!
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