It was late afternoon when Steve, Steph and I arrived at Stirling Castle, in Scotland. The parking god arranged a fortuitous meeting with Gary, who was out in the lot directing traffic. A saturnalian Stirling employee, he remembered Steve from the ‘Great Hall Restorations’, a time of epic upheaval. Gary was kind enough to procure some complimentary entrance tickets and recommendations. Prostrations to thee, Oh god of Scottish tourism!
Stirling Castle
The castle’s location rivals that of Edinburgh Castle for sheer magnificence, as it sits on one of the three volcanic (basalt) outcrops in the surrounding lowlands. It towers over some of the most important battlefields of Scotland’s past, including Stirling Bridge, the site of Mel Gibson’s vic – um…William Wallace’s victory over the English in 1297, and Bannockburn (pronounced Bas@£$%j in Scottish), where Robert the Bruce defeated the same infamous foe in the summer of 1314. Visible for many miles in every direction, Stirling guards the lowest crossing point of the River Forth and would have been of strategic interest to anyone wanting to control central Scotland.
As the control of central Scotland was on the top of my travel itinerary, the castle was naturally of interest to me. With the exception of the Outer Defences, most of Stirling Castle dates back to the 100-year period between 1496 and 1583, and to the efforts of three Kings, James IV, V and VI and one of their Queens, Mary of Guise.
After a quick tour of the castle cafe, a didactic exhibit offered views of a well-made miniature, video productions and historical timelines. Although the arched doorframes connecting the various exhibition rooms were kindly padded, they were only five feet high! The grass was exceptionally well kept and provided the only consistent saturated colour to contrast the heavy dark grey of the stone buildings. Ironically, the display cannons along the outer wall at one point overlook a hill of grave markers…the Scotts were deadly accurate back in the day.
Interior of the Great Hall, Stirling Castle.
The largest secular building in Medieval Scotland, the Great Hall was of primary focus, Steve and Steph having put so much work into the restored timber framed roof. The outside of the hall is especially striking, and especially controversial since it was restored to its limewashed pinkish self in 1999. The inside was spacious and plain until you had enough time to soak in all the details: the hand grooved and heated stone floor; the smoky marble of the medular rays in the oak panelling; the two pegs that weren’t cut down to size in the timber frame roof; and the one floral carving with five petals instead of four. Apparently the thick moss green curtains that cost one hundred pounds per square meter and hang along the walls were initially cut too long and had to be resized. Steve informed me that the atmospheric harpsichord music playing in the background would be replaced by loud ambient dance music during the after hours re-oiling sessions! I wonder if James ever would have imagined such a thing. Some of the woodwork was completed using partially green wood so that now the dried carving work is cracked and miss-aligned, which added to the authenticity and flavour of the experience. The doors are heavy and beautiful.
We also had a chance to wander through dark kitchens that offered convincing ceramic dead animals, manikin chefs and dogs, all of which were surrounded by recorded kitchen background audio. It lacked only the heat of the bread ovens and the smell of culinary preparation. We wondered what life was like for the poor children who had to rotate skewered chickens over the fire nine to five or the farmer who was only paid if he produced enough crops. We had difficulty choosing which servant had the better time.
A cathedral in Edinburgh
The chapel smelled of coconut and featured two examples of reproduced tapestries from the Unicorn Tapestries series. Apparently, one of the works took two years to weave with three to five weavers working non-stop. Historic Scotland wants to reproduce all seven with an ETA of 2010 and a big budget. Later, from the merciless ramparts we watched a timid sun set behind the Scottish horizon. And despite my shivering, (the wind is cold in Scotland) I marvelled at the wonder of being there. Steph stood a step away from the edge, and Steve smiled as he took a digital photograph of us. The sunset would provide a pink reminder in the rear view mirror as we rounded round-abouts and headed back to Southlodge, flushed with our day’s adventure, munching on salted almonds and cashews and finishing off the last of the lemon ginger tea.
The rest of my stay consisted of cats, brownies, updates to Steve’s resume, a delicious curry and a fruit salad with sage. On an overcast and drizzly day, I had a chance to wander the streets of Edinburgh on my way back to the airport. As I laboured up the hill towards the city’s version of Stirling Castle with my fully loaded sixty litre blue Serratus ‘Icefall’ backpack on, another traveller was hiking down the other side of the wet brown streets of the paved mountain. He was obviously a more seasoned wanderer, but as we passed each other our age, our names, our language and loves disappeared: I shall never forget my initiation into the travelling community. Our eyes met and the humorous mutual understanding of the nomad had spoken. The two strangers nodded to each other, smiled and walked on. I don’t think I stopped smiling for some time.
Tags: travel