Elgin Museum

Did you know there were wild cats in Scotland?  Visit the museum in Elgin to see examples of two.

The Museum in Elgin is the oldest private museum in Scotland. It's collection is quite amazing, covering geology, prehistory and on through modern day.  The building was designed as a museum, in the Victorian era, so has a wonderful quaint feel, but the displays are top notch.

A grand staircase is a dominant feature when you walk in.

The center of the building is open with a staircase to the top floor.  On the sides are niches, each with a display behind a wall of glass.  Most of them have drawers underneath which you can open to see more about the display above.

Looking back while standing on the staircase.

Excellent display of Pictish carved stones.

One of the five Burghead Pictish carved bulls, all in amazing condition.

Roseisle Man buried 4000 years ago.  His burial chamber was found by a farmer plowing his field near Elgin.

Bells were used to mark time in Scottish towns.  They would ring to announce the time to start and end trading as well.

Living with Cats

Living with cats is very different than living with dogs.  They may want your attention, but only on their terms, and it really isn't required, except for feeding time.  As long as their bowls are full, and I mean topped up completely, they are satisfied. (Look at Cat Diaries on YouTube.)

The four cats in Edinvillie have 4 distinct personalities, like all of us.  We enjoyed them, even Tilda who was seldom seen.  The enjoyment of Tilda was in the hunt to get a picture of her, without resorting to cornering her in the bedroom closet, where she spent most of her time.  Our policy is to never freak out an animal!  Tilda has a distinctive walk pattern, as she limps.  We could hear her coming down the stairs and walking across the living room, but she was always too fast to hit the cat door, for us to get a picture.  We started watching for her when she was returning from outside. Seeing her returning one day, I grabbed my phone, crouched down by the work table, so she couldn't see me, and waited.  Success!  Well, kind of.  Tilda was still in charge!

The only picture I have of Tilda.

Puffin helping me work at the computer.

Puffin, Spud and Mousie were much easier to photograph. Puffin and Spud are very sociable, with Spud being quite the conversationalist.  Puffin, didn't talk much; more a demonstrative kind of guy. He would let me know when it was time for his pills, even if he didn't want to open his mouth for them. Mousie is her own cat.  She didn't wish to socialize, but she did want to be in the room to hear the conversation.

Spud, with the one drooping ear.  I told him he was half Scottish Fold.  

Mousie as a still life.

We have enjoyed staying with these four, and will miss them when we leave.  Even if we aren't sure what Tilda looks like!

Aberlour

The nearest town to Edinvillie is Aberlour.  It's not a very big place, but it does look prosperous.  The two main industries are whisky and shortbread.

Follow me!

Aberlour Distillery, a part of Chivas Brothers since 1974, has been in town since the 1879.  The gift shop and tasting room are still in the original quaint stone house. When ever we drive through town, we see the trucks full of, we hope, whisky.

Visitors welcome, but they don't take American Express.

We bought their award winning 12 year old.  Yum!

Walker's Shortbread has been a staple in the Scottish Highlands since 1898.  They still use the original family recipe, perfected by Joseph Walker.  Even during WWII, when other companies switched to lard or margarine, Walker's continued to only use butter.  Their butter and flour is exclusively from Scotland; all production is Scottish. The Walker family are still the owners.

Iconic Walker's Scottie tin filled with shortbread Scottie dogs.  This one is coming home with me; don't tell the family.

Everyone it seems has their own way to pronounce Aberlour.  We are always "corrected" on the way we say it.  Everyone says Aber, like Aberdeen, but the lour has been rhymed with floor or hour.  Take your pick.   Our GPS, Bib (Bitch in the Box) pronounced it A bur low er, with the accent on the second and fourth syllables. I think this is my favorite.  Of course, we are sure she has been nipping at the whisky, since she also has a slur to her speech!

Brodie Castle

Brodie Castle

We visited Brodie Castle when we were here in 2015.  They still won't let visitors take photos, but this time we had a private tour, which almost made up for no photos.  Our guide was in his 80's, and very knowledgeable about not only the castle, but the family and the art we were looking at.  When we arrived at the main lounge on the first floor, he played the 1870's piano for us.  Wonderful!!

Look at the Victorian kitchen while you can!

Most of the furniture was already gone, and soon the beautiful copper pots will be history, as well.

Bill did take a couple of pictures in the Victorian kitchen, because they are dismantling it to expand the tea room!!  None of the employees we spoke with were happy about the change, including the ones who worked in the tea room.

The garden has many beautiful trees.

We enjoyed our private tour!  As we were leaving, the entire entrance was full of people waiting to take a look.  Timing is everything!

The last owner of the castle was an avid gardener, who loved daffodils.  At one time, he had over 400 varieties.  Today, because of wars and other misuses, they only have about 180 different ones, many of which he was the one who hybridized them.  If you show up in the spring, the entire grounds are covered in daffodils!

Rodney's Stone, a Pictish carved stone which has nothing to do with Rodney. 

Huntly Castle

Huntly Castle from the front.

Huntly Castle is what remains of the house of the chief of Clan Gordon, Earl of Huntly.  The original castle was burned in 1452, but a bigger one took its place.  You can see the foundations of the original.

Artists rendition of the inside of the castle, with information taken from an old inventory.

Small scale of the original tower and out buildings.

Even though it is a ruin, it is still magnificent to see.  Because the wooden floors rotted, access to the upper areas of the castle was not easily available, which saved several of the elegant carvings from vandals over the centuries.

View from the top.

The small room at the top of the highest tower has a wonderful view.  It's thought this was a library.  I can visualize sitting near one of the windows and reading for hours.

Him and Her on either side of a smaller fireplace in a sitting room.

The Grand fireplace; built to impress.

The Gordons had wealth, which is shown by the lavish carvings on two of the remaining fireplaces. The outside of the house is also carved with a statement to let all know that the first Earl lived here.

When Mary of Guise, the mother of Queen Mary of Scots, visited, she referred to the 4th Earl as "The Cock of the North", for his lavish lifestyle and flaunting of his wealth.  It would come back to haunt him in 1562, when royal forces defeated in battle and claimed the inventory of the castle for the crown.

The 4th Earl died from a seizure during the battle, but his corpse was tried for treason. It's interesting to note that the Gordon Highlanders still march to "The Cock of the North".

The outbuilding where ale was brewed.  The staff drank ale, while the owners had wine as well.

Everyone drank ale, for it was safer than the water.  The brew master was a woman, who was responsible for keeping the castle folks supplied with their gallon of beer a day.

The Castle, with the visitors center below. The window in the tallest tower shows, too.

There were two prisoners in the bottom of the prison tower.  It would take a long ladder to get them in or out.

More medieval stairs; we're not dead yet!

While the Gordons are my ancestors, my great grandparents would have lived in the original building, while the ones in the "modern" castle are cousins, many time removed.  It doesn't change who I am, but it's fun to walk in their footsteps.

Edinvillie House Sit

We found the house for our next stay.  The directions from Britt were excellent; "just as you think you're are lost, keep going and there we are!"  Britt and Pete were packed and ready to leave in their camping van.  We met the 3 dogs, who were going with them, and saw two of the cats, out of the four we are to care for.

When I saw the atrium, I knew this was the place.  Britt sent pictures showing this.

The house is very comfortable, with a wonderful atrium on the end with underfloor heating, so it's warm. Our bedroom is on the ground floor with the bath across the hall. We can save our achy knees for climbing medieval stairs!  I do go upstairs to leave cat food for Mouse and Tilda, but that is doable.

The back of the house seen from the road on the hill.  We came home a different way and saw this view.  The view was nice, the road not so much.  Britt warned us!

Sitting at the computer, it dawned on me what is different about this house from the others we have stayed in; there is no wallpaper.  All of the houses we have stayed in while in the UK, except for Jude's, have had large print wallpaper in most of the rooms.  This house has painted walls and lots of windows.

Mouse, who is a very small cat.

Puffin, who is old, but still feisty!

Bill and Spud having an early morning conversation.

There are four cats in the house: Puffin, Spud, Mouse and the elusive Tilda.  Puffin has been ill recently, so receives pills and extra attention to food.  Mouse, we were warned, was very shy, but on the second morning she showed up to sit in the same room with us.  She is still nervous, but getting better.  Spud is the warm, mellow guy who just wants to be rubbed and fed.  Tilda, who we have only seen speeding out the door, lives upstairs in the closet.  I finally went upstairs and peeked in the closet to make sure she was ok, she was.  Maybe someday I can get a picture.  Tilda and Spud are siblings.

The area is semi-rural, we have neighbors across and down the lane.  Usually what we hear are the rooster crowing in the morning, the cows mooing in the evening, and the stream behind the house always running, nature's white noise.

Sunrise!  The first we've seen in Scotland; too many buildings and too many clouds until now.

This is our last housesit of the year.  We have another week in Scotland after it's over, but we will be using AirBnB for our accomodations until we fly home from Glasgow.

Elgin Catherdral

The front of the Cathedral built in the 13th century.  The hole once had a beautiful rose window. 

A visit Elgin Cathedral was first on our list, since Bill had discovered that my 12th Great Grandmother, Margaretha Crichton Gordon was buried in the Gordon Vault. Margaretha was married to Sir James Gordon, 4th Laird of Lochinvar who died in the Battle of Pinkie, also known as Black Sunday.  He is not buried here, but there. While we found the Gordon Vault, the stones were so old as to be unreadable, but I'm sure she's there.

The Gordon Vault has a wooden roof built over to help protect is from the elements.  For most of the gravestones, it was too late.

A bit of the engraving on this one is almost legible, but not enough to know who is under here.

The name of this knight is known, but he was buried much later than my grandmother.  The plaque of the wall is for the last Gordon's buried here in the 1860's.

While most of the Cathedral is open to the sky, the two towers when you first enter have been reroofed and secured.  What does this mean?  Medieval stairs to climb!  There are 3 levels in each tower, with displays of pieces of the Cathedral found during it's excavation and renovation.  We shared our climb with a family with 3 young children, who added a touch of whimsy to the visit.

When we can no longer climb medieval stairs, it may be time to stop traveling.  So far, so good!

Loved this guy with his tongue sticking out.  Was he giving the devil his opinion?

Pieces of the beautiful carvings that were once part of this amazing building.

The roof of one of the towers now has a 360 degree viewing platform.  The day was clear, so we could see all the places pointed out on the map, except for the ones blocked by the trees which have grown since this was opened.  Time for a trim.

The interior of the Cathedral from the south tower.  The covered building on the left was the chapterhouse, where the canons met for their daily devotionals and other important meetings.  The one on the right is the Gordon Vault.

The ceiling of the chapterhouse is still in good condition.

With the Scottish Reformation in 1560, even though the number of canons had increase, the Cathedral was abandoned, with it's services transferred to St Giles. The lead that waterproofed the roof was sold and removed in 1567, which lead to it's decay.  In the 19th century, thanks to one local man, the work to save what remained of the Cathedral was begun.

Looking from the top of the tower to the road leading to the Cathedral.

It was a unique feeling to walk on road to the Cathedral and realize that one of my GreatGrandmothers may have walked this way to services, almost 500 years ago. 

Wildlife on the Way to Aberlour

Driving from Inverness to Aberlour didn't take as long as we thought it would.  Instead of 2 plus hours, it was just over 1 1/2.  We took the backroads, as usual, and saw pheasants, grouse, and other birds we haven't been able to identify.

Ring-necked Pheasant posing by the side of the road. They are considered a nuisance since they constantly in the road and getting hit. I think the local foxes would enjoy them for dinner.

A ring-necked Pheasant and three, what we called, large quail.

It was a good thing we were on the lesser traveled roads, as we kept stopping in the middle to try and get pictures.  There were huge flocks of Ringnecked pheasants, several were dead on the road, as well as smaller brown birds which were built like our quail, but larger. They also acted like quail, running in every direction to avoid detection.  There were also grouse flying over the road, but they were impossible to get pictures of.

It was a lovely drive, with very little traffic.  We came into Aberlour from the west instead of north, so we drove through the town, turned around, and went off to find Britt and Pete's house, with help from her emailed directions.