Day 3 - Stirling and Doune

Doune Castle
Finally I could greet the dawn with a ray of sunshine, though this would be the wettest day so far. However, with Amy in our company, I looked forward to whatever the day would bring. I'll not rehash my breakfast fare since, by now, you probably know it by heart. So, with a full belly, we boarded our luxury coach for another day of historic Scotland.

We began the day with a stop at ancient Doune Castle. Bonnie Doune, standing on a small hill in the bend of the Tieth River, was built in the 14th century by the Stewarts. It is probably best known as the scene of the Monty Python movie “The Holy Grail”. I am told that groups pilgrimage here on a regular basis to re-enact scenes from the movie in the very spot they were filmed.

From Doune we traveled a short way to the town of Stirling where sits Stirling Castle on a basaltic promontory commanding the countryside. Stirling was the bastion of the Stewart Monarchy and was the true ruling place of the Kings of Scotland. While Edinburgh is the most visited of the Scottish Castles, Stirling is far and away the more important in history. Mary, Queen of Scots, was crowned in the Chapel in 1543 and her son, the future James VI of Scotland and also James I of the united kingdoms of Scotland and England, was baptized here as well.

However, I had visited Stirling Castle on my two previous visits and so Sharon had selected a pair of nearby attractions as an alternative. The City of Stirling is of such great historic importance that it would still be a major tourist attraction even without Stirling Castle. So, as our troupe trekked up the hill to the Castle, we set off down hill to Argyll's Lodging. Argyll's Lodging is an accurate recreation of a dwelling dating from the 1500's. The furniture has been extensively researched and reconstructed and it appears as it did in the 17th century. And, because the furniture is not period, you can actually sit down on it and touch it. This gave us a very good feel of the life and times of its inhabitants.

Just a bit further down the street from Argyll's Lodging sits the Church of the Holy Rude (rude referring to a stick or, in this case, a cross). This church originates from the 1130's and, though small, proved to be one of the highlights of my visit. It's exquisite stained glass windows and rafter and beam ceiling exudes both solemnity and spirituality. After a brief tour of the church, we wandered a small portion of the churchyard. As I mentioned previously, this day was one of almost continuous rain and as we roamed the churchyard, the patter of the light rain on my umbrella added a measure of the surrealism to the walk. It was certainly one of those moments I have come to not entirely expect but certainly to savor on my visits to this ancient land.

Finally, we trekked back up the hill to rejoin our group on the coach for the journey back to Edinburgh and our now standard dinner of carvery. I must say that, while many of our group made fun of the nightly fare, including mine host, Mr. Beaton, I personally found the selection to be quite satisfying. I do realize that the offering did not stand up to that of the other hostelries along the trip, but still the heartiness of the selections was most gratifying. And thus ended the third day of our tour, being the eighth day of my visit.

Tomorrow we take to the road and I am looking forward to my first real fish and chips since my arrival.