Our adventures today took us first to Glamis Castle. This
has been the ancestral seat of the Earls of Strathmore and
Kinghorne since 1372. It was the childhood home of the
Queen Mother and Princess Margaret was born there. Most of the
building dates to the 17th century but, of course, there have
been various alterations and additions since then. Sadly, like
other stately homes which are still lived in, we were not
permitted to take photos of the interior of the castle. All is
not lost, howver, as you can see some of the rooms in this article in the
"Discover Britain" magazine web site.
Our tour was led by a knowledgeable and pleasant young lady and we were shown the Dining Room, the Crypt, the Drawing Room, the Chapel, the Billiard Room, King Malcolm's Room, and the Royal Apartments. It was all most interesting and enjoyable.
At the completion of the tour, we looked over the gardens. There were not many flowers blooming with the exception of many rhododendrons. There is a "Macbeth Trail" which includes seven statues of characters from Shakespeare's play. Information about this, and the gardens can be found here.
Our tour was led by a knowledgeable and pleasant young lady and we were shown the Dining Room, the Crypt, the Drawing Room, the Chapel, the Billiard Room, King Malcolm's Room, and the Royal Apartments. It was all most interesting and enjoyable.
At the completion of the tour, we looked over the gardens. There were not many flowers blooming with the exception of many rhododendrons. There is a "Macbeth Trail" which includes seven statues of characters from Shakespeare's play. Information about this, and the gardens can be found here.
Lunch for two!
The sundial is amazing! It is 350 years old and was commissioned by Patrick, 3rd Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, in the 1670s, when he was making major improvements to the castle and its grounds. It is a majestic sculpture piece, starting from the four massive lions carrying four sundials in their claws that represent an illustrious history of the Lyon family going right back to the 1300s. The lions are topped with a canopy, and above this rises a tiered base for the mathematical ‘pineapple’ with 80 individual dial faces. Only the technical would know and call this a ‘stellated rhombicuboctahedron‘. The finial finishes with a flourish—four beautiful curling scrolls, a lovely ‘fleur-de-lys’ or lily flower, and the tips of four petals balancing the coronet for the Earl.
Now that's a rhododendron!
Not many guinea pigs are remembered by a tombstone like this! Clearly "Happy" was well-loved.
At least Little Bo-Peep has one of her sheep!
This is a memorial of the late Princess Margaret
The Macbeth Trail: The Three Witches
The Macbeth Trail: King Duncan
The Macbeth Trail: Macbeth
The Macbeth Trail: Banquo (not looking great)
The Macbeth Trail: Lady Macbeth
The Macbeth Trail: Macbeth
The Macbeth Trail: Macduff with Macbeth (well part of him at least)
I don't know who lives in this lovely cottage near the gardens. It would do me nicely though!
We were very privileged to be taken out to
dinner by our friend Anne Geddes' Aunt Jean and her
brother-in-law, Norrie. Norrie picked us up from our hotel and
drove us to our destination. We had a lovely meal at the Redwood
Restaurant which is located within the Invercarse Hotel. Jean
and Norrie were gracious hosts and made us feel very welcome.
Our time together included lots of laughs and interesting
stories from them about life in Dundee. It will be great to be
able to put faces to names when Anne speaks about them in the
future. Thanks, Jean and Norrie!
At the Redwood Restaurant