Scotland
Well, we have arrived in Bonny Scotland and it is a first for me. Despite living so comparatively close to Scotland when we lived in Durham, we didn't make it over the border but returned home to Wales instead each holiday.
Scotland is indeed famous for many things including haggis, bagpipes, kilts, whisky etc. I think these Highland Cattle are lovely.
Excursion 1 - Edinburgh Castle.
Edinburgh Castle is one of the oldest fortified places in Europe. It has a very long rich history as a royal residence, military garrison, prison and fortress. It's stones tell many a story and they could tell the very stones are alive with so many exciting tales. Castle Hill, lets you climb in the footsteps of soldiers, kings and queens – and even the odd pirate or two! Even today in 2020 some parts of the castle still remain in military use. Edinnnnnnnburgh Castle now a world-famous visitor attraction. It’s also an iconic part of the Old and New Towns of Edinburgh World Heritage Site.
The bagpipes are an old instrument and more than likely introduced to Scotland by the Romans. There are different forms of the pipes as we might discover in Ireland and certainly the Northumbrian pipes.
Another theory is that they were developed there independently. Historians can only speculate on the origins of the Scottish clans’ piob mhor, or great Highland bagpipe, but the Highlanders were the ones to develop the instrument to its fullest extent and make it, both in peace and war, their national instrument.
The original pipes in Scotland probably had, at the most, a single drone. The second drone was added to the pipes in the mid to late 1500s.
Robert Louis Stevenson was a 19th-century Scottish novelist and travel writer, perhaps most well known for his novels, 'Treasure Island,' 'Kidnapped' and 'Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.'
Many believed that Stevenson’s love and familiarity of both Scotland and traveling are showcased at their best in 'Treasure Island'. While nobody knows for certain, it is widely speculated that the landscape around the UK’s most northerly inhabited island, Unst, Shetland, was the inspiration for the location of his fictional island in the novel.
We are popping in to see Jean's yellow and blue garden, which provided us with some quietness after having the noisy music of the bagpipes. It is lovely and well worth a viewing.
Excursion 2 - A visit to a Distillery
The first whisky is said to have been distilled and sent to a Friar John Cox, in 1494 by order of the King.‘Whisky’ derives originally from the Gaelic ‘uisge beatha’, or ‘usquebaugh’, meaning ‘water of life’. Gaelic is that branch of Celtic spoken in the Highlands of Scotland.
When King James IV was in Inverness during September 1506, his Treasurer’s Accounts had entries for the 15th and 17th of the month respectively: ‘For aqua vite to the King. . .’ and ‘For ane flacat of aqua vite to the King. . .’. lt is probable that the aquavitae in this case was spirit for drinking.
The earliest reference to a distillery in the Acts of the Scottish Parliament appears to be in 1690, when mention is made of the famous Ferintosh distillery owned by Duncan Forbes of Culloden.
There are presently 120 distilleries in Scotland and each claiming a particular quality to the drink from the water or grain and other ingredients. Most scotch distilleries use malted barley and the spirit is made solely in Scotland. Whisky have an unique flavour depending on where they are made and what ingredients are used.
To follow your tour guide, click on this link: https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=bZMbquUCthj&play=1
Or learn more about the distillery from their main website page: https://www.theglenturret.com/
Our last visit today is to the museum to tour the National Museum of Scotland. here you can wander around and see many things dipping into things which might suit your personal likes and dislikes best. It is the first Scottish museum to offer such a tour as we can share in.
Evening Entertainment
Our evening tonight we can share in some Scottish dancing and maybe enjoy a "wee dram" as well.
Prayer
Thank you Father for the variety and wonder of the Scottish countryside.
For the warmth of its people and its culture.
For sea, mountains and valleys, for history- past, present and future.
For the opportunity at the end of the day to pray,
I lie down this night with God, words attributed to Carmina Gadelica
And God will lie down with me;
I lie down this night with Christ,
And Christ will lie down with me;
I lie down this night with Spirit,
And the Spirit will lie down with me;
God and Christ and the Spirit
Be lying down with me. AMEN
