Subject: From Caledonia, Friday pm

Well, it has been some time since I last was able to post. Much has happened and my time here grows much too short. I will try to bring you up to date, but to paraphrase the poet, I have yet miles to go before I sup.

Leaving Edinburgh

On Sunday we departed Edinburgh, a city of much beauty and majesty. But we must move on. As we traveled northward, we first stopped to have a look at the Forth Rail and Road Bridges. These structures were an engineering marvel at the time of their construction and are still quite impressive. Boarding the coach, we proceeded through the burgh of Queensbury, passing the Hawes Inn where Robert Louis Stevenson himself wrote a portion of Kidnapped in room 13.

We crossed the Road Bridge and entered the Kingdom of Fife. Proceeding along the coast of the Firth of Fife we passed through villages with such names as Kirkcaldy, Pettenweem and Kingsbairn until we came to lovely St. Andrews by the sea. For those that know the game of golf, St. Andrews will need no explanation. For those less genteel, it is the very home of the Royal and Ancient of Scotland, the very Mecca of golf. And it is the home of the British Open every six years. To say St. Andrews is to say golf!

Here I had a very satisfying meal of steak pie and a lovely, yet brisk, stroll through the grounds of the ruins of St. Andrews Abbey. It should also be noted that the opening scene from "Chariots of Fire" were filmed along the seaside strands that can be seen from St. Andrews pro shop.

From St. Andrews we fared north across the Firth of Tay. The River Tay is just one of the many rivers famous in song and story in Scotland. One of my favorites is "The Loch Tay Boatman", a lovely song of unrequited love. Proceeding through the town of Dundee, we traveled on to Glamis (pronounced glams) Castle. Glamis is the birthplace of the late Queen Mother. It is also an excellent example of how the better life is lived.

Leaving Glamis, we again struck out for the north toward our location for the night in Banchory along the Dee River. Because of its proximity to both Glamis and Balmoral Castles (Balmoral being the ancestral home of Queen Elizabeth) the area is referred to as Royal Deeside

Here I must take a moment to recite a most remarkable experience. As it is late August, the heather is in bloom throughout the Highland as well as the Lowlands. While the blooms give the hills the most colorful adornment ("...in deep purple hues, the Heiland hills we viewed..."), when we stopped at the crest of the range of hills we were crossing, we had a chance to experience the smell of blooming heather. As I stood taking in the heady essence of heather in bloom, I can only describe it as the smell of honey served by the Hand of God Himself. It is a fragrance which I can never forget, but the likes of which I can only find again by returning to this beautiful kingdom.

Royal Deeside

The remaining excursion to Banchory was rather undramatic though we motored through endless miles of blooming heather. When we arrived at the Banchory Lodge Hotel, we discovered delightful lodging along the very banks of the Dee. If you can imagine a river 150 feet wide cascading over rocks in such a manner as to induce a constant state of near dreams,you will be close. Immediately across from our lawn, the Dee is intersected by another stream and at the confluence of the two, trout would play and scamper throughout the evening. And a large blue heron had staked out his territory and patrolled continuously.

On Monday, we took early breakfast and an early coach for a day of seeing the sites. First on our agenda was Crathes Castle. Crathes is a lovely castle that is currently used as a residence. Like many castles in Scotland, it is not what you would think of as a typical castle. There is no moat and there is no large wall surrounding it. However, it was built to be defended. As such, the doors between rooms are low and narrow so that a soldier, trying to enter with his sword drawn would be hampered. All stairs in the castle are what we would think of as spiral. And the eleventh step is higher than the rest. Again, someone trying to fight his way up the stairs would be at a great disadvantage to those above. And the eleventh step could be fatal! At every opportunity, there are arrow ports for firing on the enemy below.

Crathes, as are many castles, was granted to the current family because they were on the winning side. While most castles are granted with written document, a very few were granted by a token from the king that could be both held and displayed. Above the mantle in the main hall of Crathes is a horn of bone that was granted to the first laird of Crathes by non other than Robert the Bruce himself (see "Braveheart") in the early 14th century. It is a little awe inspiring to see something that was held in the hands of the Bruce himself. Crathes also possess a most remarkable garden containing a hedge maze that is over 250 years old. I had time to see only half of the garden.

From Crathes we proceeded to a little town along the Dee named Ballater. Here I had my usual lunch of fish and chips and a pint of the barkeeps finest lager. A little shopping and we were again on the road.

The afternoon's highlight was a visit to the Cairnton Aberdeen Angus Farm where we were treated by the farmer and his wife with scones and afternoon tea. The farmer, a man of some local renown whose name escapes me, then gave us a rather lengthy discussion of the raising of Angus cattle. These are raised only for their meat and their milk is reserved only for the calves. He lectured us at length regarding the benefits of breast feeding. And we also learned the one and only duty of the bull and the importance of his "scrotal diameter".

We returned to our lodge for dinner and some entertainment by Alex. Unfortunately, my time grows short and I cannot proceed further. Next I will tell you of our own trip "...over the sea to Skye".

Gordie