On to Glamis Castle!

After leaving our hotel in Glenrothes Fife, we headed north toward Braemar and the Scottish Highlands.  We’d determined that Glamis Castle would be a key stop along the way…but first we had to navigate the roads along the way!

The roads across Fife to the Firth of Tay were decent and we made good time.  This is the bridge across the Firth to the city of Dundee Scotland.  Historically, Dundee is part of Angus, one of 32 local government council areas of Scotland.

With a population of about 150,000, the city is Scotland’s 4^th largest metropolitan area after Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen.

Dundee’s early growth and success as a seaport probably came as the result of William the Lion’s charter which granted Dundee to his younger brother David, later the Earl of Huntingdon in the late 12^th century.  William the Lion was the King of Scots from 1165 to 1214.  The town and its castle were occupied by English forces for several years but was recaptured by Robert the Bruce in 1312.  If my math serves me right, Dundee is approaching its thousanth birthday sometime this century…

The ‘fun’ began after we crossed the bridge into the city.  Road improvements, a confusing temporary traffic layout, the usual 'roundabouts' and a GPS that was also confused or confusing, led to my crossing back over the bridge and then back to Dundee again before we could navigate our way out of town…

I suspect that part of my traffic woes were the result of Dundee’s ongoing 1 billion pound ($1.31 billion US) master plan to regenerate and reconnect the city’s waterfront with the city center.  This project started in 2001 and is expected to take another 14 years or so… 

  

Notes:

·        Dundee has 2 football (soccer) clubs, Dundee United and Dundee F.C.  Their stadiums are situated right next to each other…

·         Dundee accounts for 10% of the United Kingdom’s digital-entertainment industry.  Rockstar North, the developer of “Lemmings” and “Grand Theft Auto” was founded in Dundee as DMA Design.

·         The oldest building still extant in Dundee is St. Mary’s Tower which dates back to the late 15^th century.  Dundee’s older structures were mostly destroyed during a war between Scotland and England between 1543 and 1551 that is often referred to as “The Rough Wooing”.  

  

Once we cleared Dundee, the drive to Glamis Castle was a breeze.  This is the public entrance to the castle.  Visitors buy their tickets for the visit at the blue ticket booths shown above.  Prices were 10.50 BP/$13.75 for seniors and 12.50 BP/$16.38 for adults.  The castle is open to visitors from 10 AM until 5:30 PM with the last tour at 4:30 PM.

This is the view of the castle as you drive to the parking area.  It’s very pretty and very impressive!

Glamis Castle is located near the village of Glamis in Angus, Scotland.  The castle is the home of the Earl and Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne.  The castle has been the home of the Lyon family since the 14^th century.  However, most of the structure dates from the 17^th century. 

Glamis castle was the childhood home of Queen Elizabeth - The Queen Mother and the wife of King George VI.  Queen Elizabeth II’s sister, Princess Margaret, the Countess of Snowdon was born here…

This aerial view of Glamis Castle that I borrowed from a postcard that I purchased, gives you an idea of the size and scope of the structure…  The castle was first occupied in 1372.  Today the estate encompasses over 14,000 acres.

This is a view of the back of Glamis Castle from the visitor center and gift shop near the parking area.

In addition to the castle with its parks and gardens, this working estate produces several cash crops including lumber and beef.  Two streams flow though the property.  An arboretum on the property features trees from all over the world.  Many of them are rare and hundreds of years old…

We walked around to the front of the castle to get a good look.  Workers were taking down a huge tent at one side of the castle following some kind of big event.  The castle’s website provides information on gala dinners, weddings, product launches and other event possibilities.

I took this photo of Laurie with her sister Bonnie and Bonnie’s husband Bill on the castle grounds.

It’s believed that Glamis was a royal hunting lodge at the time of its first grant.  It wasn’t until the first part of the 15^th century that any part of the current structure was built.  Many legends and myths abound.  King Malcom II was said to have been murdered here in the 11^th century.  King James V had Lady Janet Douglas, the widow of Lord Glamis, burned at the stake in 1540 as a witch. 

Laurie then took this photo of yours truly with Bonnie and Bill…

Another fact of interest is that Glamis Castle is the setting for Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” and it’s referred to numerous times in his play.  “Glamis thou art”, “and yet woulds’t wrongly win: thou’dst have great Glamis”.  It is generally believed that Duncan was murdered here by Macbeth.  

  

Our guide, who was very friendly and knowledgeable, straightened us out on one fact right at the start of our tour.  Glamis is pronounced ‘GLAMS’. 

  

Unfortunately…but understandably…no photos were allowed inside the castle.  Consequently, I’m sure that the gift shop sells a lot of postcards!  Of the many, many rooms in the castle, the tour is limited to only 10.  However, it is enough rooms to capture the ‘feel’ of life in a castle. 

This is the dining room with the table set for a party of 12 but the room can seat up to 40 guests.  The woodwork, furniture and paintings throughout the tour are exceptional. 

This is the 46 seat family chapel at Glamis.  It is still used regularly for Lyon family functions.  According to the tour guide, one seat in the chapel is always reserved for the “White Lady”, a ghost that allegedly inhabits the castle.  It’s thought to be Janet Douglas, Lady Glamis who was burned at the stake.

After Janet Douglas, widow of the 6^th Lord Glamis, was burned at the stake by James V, the lands and castle were pillaged by royal forces and John Lyon, Janet’s son, was also sentenced to death.  However he was too young for the sentence to be carried out.  Consequently, when James V died in 1542, John was released.  He later recovered the property and the title.

The chapel features paintings by Dutch artist Jacob de Wet.  The most famous of the paintings is partially covered by a curtain at the right of the photo.  It shows Christ wearing a hat, one of only 6 such paintings in the world.

This room is called the Crypt…and you can easily see why.  The crypt was the lower hall of the 15^th century tower house where the lord’s retainers would dine.  Chain mail hanging here dates from the 19^th century.  There are numerous big game heads, weapons and armor as well as a saddle, a relic of Oliver Cromwell’s occupation of the castle.  This is one of the oldest and most impregnable parts of the castle.     

Note:

·         A legendary secret chamber is thought to be located deep in the thick walls of the crypt.  In this room it is said that one of the Lords of Glamis and the Earl of Crawford played cards with the Devil himself on the Sabbath.  A series of resulting disturbances and events caused the room to be built up and permanently sealed 300 years later.  However, some claim that the players were sealed in the room...

This is the drawing room.  It looks ‘just like’ my living room in East Tennessee and I’m sure it ‘closely resembles’ the same room in many of your family homes.  The furnishings and decorative items are just a bit over the top…but I think that the room is still warm and welcoming. 

Note: 

The castle and its tour are not handicapped friendly.  There are lots of stairs along the route but it’s worth the effort if one is able.

This was The Queen Mother’s sitting room.  Her desk is in the window at the center rear of the photo.   The nice thing about this room is that since the Queen Mother visited Glamis regularly throughout her life, in many ways the sitting room was like that of any other family home.  It is filled with family photos and other personal items. 

Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (1900 – 2002) was the wife of King George VI and she was Queen Elizabeth II’s mother.  She was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions from the time that her husband acceded the throne in 1936 until his death in 1952.  After Elizabeth II became Queen, her mother was known as Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother…popularly referred to as the ‘Queen Mum’.  She was the last Empress of India.

To learn more about the Queen Mother’s life and times, go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Elizabeth_The_Queen_Mother.  

I’m guessing that this is the wing of the castle where the family of Simon Patrick Bowes-Lyon, 19^th Lord Glamis and 6^th Earl of Strathmore and Kingshorne resides for at least part of the year.  The Earl was born in 1986 and he is the first cousin twice removed of Queen Elizabeth II and a great-grandnephew of the late Queen Elizabeth…The Queen Mother.  Our guide told us that the family has 80 private rooms in the castle.   

One final view of Glamis Castle… As it turned out, this was the only occupied and intact castle that we visited during our adventures in Scotland and Ireland.  We would recommend the visit and tour to anyone interested in history and royalty…

Notes:

·         Mary, Queen of Scots stayed a Glamis Castle in 1562.

·         The castle has a total of 125 rooms.

·         One stairwell leading from the basement to the battlements has 143 steps…

·         Then there is the legend of the ‘Monster of Glamis’, possibly a deformed heir that was locked up in a secret room.  For that story, go to https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-monster-of-glamis-92015626/.

…One final photo from Glamis, or at least the Glamis Castle/Lyon family estate.  The estate has a large number of residential properties, ranging from 2 bedroom cottages to larger 4 bedroom farmhouses.  This classic beautiful thatched roof dwelling is one of them.  The demand for let (rental) property is high as the estate is a popular place to live and turnover is low.

In addition to housing, the estate includes a number of commercial properties.  These include radio towers, the Glamis Corner Shop and Post Office, Strathmore Arms Public House and Hotel, workshops and garages, a sand and gravel quarry as well as a wind farm that is under development.  Finally, about 7,500 acres of agricultural land is leased out.

That’s it for now… Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them.

Thanks for stopping by to keep up with our tour of Scotland!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave