Ecosse and Beyond: 25th April, Wednesday

Moving on from Cordon, I went first to Brodick Castle.

The entrance to the Castle

The current castle is a Victorian nostrum. Part of it, at the back, dates back to the C15th – and Robert the Bruce was there.

Arran was given to the Hamiltons by an early James (III?) and in 1895 inherited by the Duchess of Montrose, a Hamilton daughter. One of the Hamiltons was a collector – some fine china – even to my untotored eye, lovely claret jugs in the shapes of birds and animals and, for Harry Potter fans a Bezoar stone in a gold cup with a chain (used for checking for poison). No photos allowed – and, a loss of opportunity, no post card of the item. In fact the post card collection in National Trust of Scotland properties is a major failure.

However I did manage to sneak a picture of the following:

But the Bezoar stone got me thinking what the J K Rowling connection was…. I’ve found out subsequently that her great great grandfather, a minister of the kirk, is buried in Lamlash Kirkyard.

I could take pictures of the Bavarian summerhouse

Inside walls and ceiling lined with pine cones

There are red squirrels in the castle grounds but they did not come out for me. However the dinosaur in the wood carver’s garden was on guard …

as was his dog.

The wood carver’s gate.

Further down the coast at Kingscross, a Viking burial and fort, overlooking Holy Island and Robert the Bruce crossed to the mainland from here.

Looking back at Lamlash

Walked up to Glenashdale Falls from Whiting Bay – I think this is an geological fault but there is no explanation. (I’ve since found out the water falls over a Tertiary composite sill)