Pupletts in Sweden: Scotland and England - Part 2 - Doune, Glamis and Campbell Castles (1 Apr)

We started out pretty early on day 2, heading back to Doune Castle. We waited until it was open and then took the tour.

Doune castle was built in the late 1300s by Robert Stewart, 1st Duke of Albany, Earl of Menteith and Fife. He was the younger brother of King Robert III and essentially ruled Scotland from 1388 to 1420. Because of this he was known as the "Uncrowned King". That alone would be interesting, but Doune castle is famous for one other thing - it was the main castle used for filming my favourite movie - Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Holy Grail Movie Cover

Family tree of Robert Stewart (click to zoom)

Since we arrived before the castle opened (and had also taken some photos the day before, we started with taking a walk around (and way too many photos of) the exterior of the castle.

Doune Castle

Gatehouse Tower

Rear Wall

Cam at the castle

Us at the castle

Me and the kids at Doune Castle

Side of the Gatehouse Tower

The wall (where the French taunters stood)

The same wall in The Holy Grail animal throwing scene

And the Trojan Rabbit scene

Map of the castle

Gates

Behind the castle is the River Teith, which is popular for salmon fishing and also makes a nice walk while you wait for the castle to open...

Looking out over the River Teith

Wall on the far bank

Building on the far bank

The only salmon we saw

I'm guessing this was a vent of some sort but it was pretty ornate.

By the time we arrived back at the castle it was open.

Our first stop was the Courtyard:

Courtyard and well

Tom enjoying the Audioguide

Stairs and wall

The courtyard was where the exteriors for the wedding scene in Holy Grail was shot - unfortunately the area was closed for entry on the day we went, so we couldnt get perfect shots, but here's the shot from the movie:

Holy Grail Wedding

In the shot you can see the well from the shot above.

Because we couldn't move into the courtyard we couldn't get the shot above, but here's a picture from the Castle Guidebook showing it perfectly:

Guide Book Photo of the Courtyard

Hurry up Dad! We've already heard all the auidoguide bits for the courtyard!

Gargoyle

Next we moved through to the Duke's Hall in the Gatehouse Tower:

Duke's Hall

It is believed the Dukes Hall was used for private dining space and conducting business. The decor is from the 1880s - the original would have been more ornate. The gate portcullis could be operated from one of the windows in the hall.

Rear of the Duke's Hall

Twin Fireplace

We then headed up to the Upper Chambers of the Gatehouse Tower. The first room was believed to be the Duke's Study then, above that, his bedchamber and privy.

Following those was a large room, the upper hall believed to originally have two floors. This was the area used for a couple more scene's from Holy Grail.

Alcoves - the middle one has a small piscina (a shallow basin used to was communion vessels in a holy place)

Corner of the Upper Hall

View over the courtyard

Piscina in the middle alcove - this would likely have been a small oratory for the family to worship in

Window in the Upper Chamber

The Three Alcoves

Looking out along the wall - this is where the French Taunters stood in Holy Grail

Top of the walls

Wall and window

Remains of the upper floor

So, did you recognise any of the shots above from the movie? Its a bit a hard to see without all the dressing:

My favourite scene from Holy Grail - the Swamp Castle window

It's this window

Here's me explaining to the boys that one day this all could be theirs... (there were no curtains though)

The guards guarding the Prince in Swamp Tower

This was the rightmost alcove, dressed up with a door and other props:

Here's our inept guards

Next stop was the Great Hall:

Great Hall

A fairly unassuming window....

Upper Deck for musicians and minstrels

Brazier

There was also a Holy Grail scene shot here - in case you missed the subtle hint above..

The Camelot scene was filmed in the Great Hall, with the singers standing in the window:

Holy Grail - Minstrels

Holy Grail - Singers

Tom and I preparing to sing

The window

Next stop was the Kitchen and Servery Area.

These are the stairs that the servants would have carried the trays of food up

Cutouts for passing food from the kitchen to the servery

The big fireplace

Bread Oven


Area around the oven

The fireplace chimney went up a long way

Drains for the blood and mess from the fireplace

Marks on the stone from cooks sharpening their knives

Fireplace

There were two python scenes filmed here, but you'd be unlikely to guess which or where.

The giant fireplace formed the bedroom for the Castle Anthrax scene. Its hard to see in the next shot, but the curved bricks behind Dingo are the curve of the fireplace:

The rest of the kitchen/servery formed the rest of Castle Anthrax:

The servery alcoves

Castle Anthrax

After the kitchen, we headed upstairs. The rooms above the kitchen were popular as they were well heated by the fires below. The main room was the guest chambers, known as the Mary Queen of Scots Room, even though Mary Queen of Scots is unlikely to have stayed there.

Mary Queen of Scots Room

That was everything to see in Doune, so we headed off to our next destination. Originally we had planned to visit a series of castles along the way, but we'd spent more time at Doune than expected.

Instead we had bought a Scotland Explorer pass at Doune and it allowed free entry to Castle Campbell, which was on our way. Since Kristine's family (the Hastings - a long time past) were part of the Campbells of Argyll, this would have been the castle where the rulers of her clan would have lived.

The approach to the castle was up a very long and steep approach - at times it was about 45 degrees.

The castle was built in 1430 for John Stewart, Lord Lorn and called "Castle Gloom" (Gloom means Chasm in Scottish).

The Campbells acquired Castle Gloom in 1460 when Colin Campbell, 1st Earl of Argyll married Isabel, Lord Lorn's daughter. The name was changed to Castle Campbell in 1488 after a petition to King James IV from Lord Argyll.

The castle served three purposes - accommodation, defense and to make a conspicuous statement of wealth for a leading member of the aristocracy.

Castle Campbell

Approach was either via the sloping road, or climbing up through a forested walkway through Dollar Glen. We walked up along the road and back via the walkway.

Heading up the road

First glimpse of the castle (A depressingly long way away)

Castle trail information (Click to enlarge)

Stream

Forest path

Resting and looking at the castle

Stream in Dollar Glen

Dollar Glen

Castle Campbell

Musket firing holes in the wall

Gates

Entry

The Argylls of Campbell supported the Protestant reformation in the 16th century and hosted Mary Queen of Scots in 1563. When Mary married Lord Darnley, Argyll joined the rebellion and eventually surrendered the castle to Mary and Darnley. The Argylls continued to support the Protestants, and Archibald Campbell, 8th Lord of Argyll, became the leader of the Presbyterian Covenanters to oppose Royalist James Graham, Earl of Montrose.

Argyll supported Charles II (even crowing him at Scone), but they opposed the invasion of England and in 1652 he submitted to Oliver Cromwell. Royalist forces attacked in 1654, burning the castle and Argyll was executed in 1660. The castle was abandoned and bought by a business man in 1805. In 1948 the owners gave the castle to the Scottish National Trust.

First stop was the former kitchens and cellars:

Not much was left of the kitchens and attached hall

Wall of the kitchen

Cellar

The 'South Range' held the entry to the kitchens and halls by a staired tower, that still shows the remains of three shields above the door:

South Range

Remains of the shields

Stone in the South Range

The main part of the castle was the Tower with three main areas - the Grein Chamber, The Wttir Chamber and the Tower Haw

Tower and Eastern Range

Stairwell in the tower

View from the tower - looking over the Valley of the River Forth

What can be seen to the left of the picture

What can be seen in the right of the picture

Looking down on the South Range

Top of the tower

Looking down on the kitchens

Moss growing between the stones

The Grein Chamber was next - this part of the tower was the lord's bedroom.

Grein Chalmer

Face carvings on the room - possibly held lamps

Carving

Next was the Wttir Chalmer

Wttir Chalmer

The Wttr Chalmer

Entry to the pit prison

Final stop in the tower was the Towir Haw (Tower Hall)

Towir Haw

Fireplace in Tower Hall

Staircase leading down

Final stop in the castle was the gardens behind the walls. There were three levels of gardens and they also housed John Knox's Pulpit, a pillar by an archway where the Protestant John Knox is believe to have preached from.

Out to the gardens

Remains of the south tower and way to gardens

Top level of the gardens

Second Level

Rear wall of castle

Our final stop for the day (before camping) was Glamis Castle. Normally it would have cost us £50 (about $100) just to enter but since today was the first day of the season it was free!

The castle is the private home of the Earl and Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne. The current buildings have been there since the 17th century, but the area has been reported since 1034, when King Malcolm II was murdered at the Glamis Hunting Lodge. MacBeth (from Shakespeare's MacBeth) lives in Glamis Castle.

We didn't enter the castle, but we did tour the grounds:

It had a pretty long driveway

First views of Glamis

Castle Glamis

Glamis - side view

Front corner of the castle

The Macbeth witches

The kids helped add the 'trouble' to "Double double, toil and trouble."

Witches

After Glamis we drove up to Inverness to try to find somewhere to camp for the night. I'd checked online and found three suggestions - each one we tried was blocked by height restrictors or had "No Overnight Parking" signs. We stopped outside of Fort George (formerly a good spot to camp, now no longer allowed).

Fort George is an 18th century fortress that was built to pacify the highlands. Its a classic star fort and is now serving as a tourist site and army barracks.

Sunset over Fort George

Fort George

After we cooked up a dinner of Enchiladas we moved on to find somewhere to camp. We tried a few other areas, but no luck. Eventually we found a secluded carpark near a "Clootie Well" (more on that tomorrow), and set up for a restful night sleep.