From Inverness we headed south east down through the incredible 'highlands' of Scotland. Everyone needs to make that drive some time in their lives because you will never be the same afterwards. On our way, we stopped at a number of castles because the highlands are full of them. The first one was Brodie Castle. Apparently this castle was
badly damaged by a fire in 1645 and it was rebuilt. It's lime-harled (the external protective coating) on the outside and has a typical Z plan tower house with ornate corbelled battlements and bartizans (overhanging, wall-mounted turrets, in case you didn't know).
Here is a picture of the lovely highlands just outside the next castle we stopped to visit. The second castle was Craigievar (pronounced craig- ee- var). It's got pink harling, for anyone who likes that colour (not me, however)!
This castle was the seat of
Clan Sempill, but was originally owned by the impoverished Mortimer family who had to sell it, before it was finished, to the wealthy merchant William Forbes. Forbes completed the building in 1626. It has some of the finest plaster work ceilings in the country and once boasted more defensive fortifications and towers than you see here. (A pink harled castle does look a bit wimpy, to be honest)
Here we are sitting on the steps leading into the grounds. This castle does not have a garden, like so many do, but it has more than 200 acres of farmland and woodland attached to it. We did not have time to explore the woods, sadly.
Our third stop was Fraser Castle. We found ourselves touring the place on the same day that someone was holding a wedding, so it was a bit awkward. The castle itself dates back to the 15th century and it was the ancestral home of the Fraser family. It is a five story Z-plan building standing on over 300 acres of land; including walled gardens and woodland.
Here we are in one of the walled gardens. As I said, there was a wedding party here and they were taking wedding photos in this garden, which made it very hard for us to take very many without getting in the way. We were entertained by the bagpipes and by men running around in kilts.
And then, finally, we stopped at Drum Castle. The above picture is the front of the castle and the below picture is the back of it. Hard to believe they are the same place, really, but they are. Bet you didn't know that the place-name Drum is derived from
Gaelic
druim, meaning 'ridge'. The tower on the left side of the picture is the original 13th century tower and one of the owners decided to house his personal library on the first floor of it. Obviously there wasn't enough light in there, so he put in a huge window (can't see it from this angle) and had to cut through all the stone to do it. It was really impressive from the inside and the library itself has to be one of my favorite in-house libraries of all time. When I make my millions, I'll have to design a library like that for my own house.
This castle overlooks the river Dee and was, from 1323 to 1975, the home of the Irvine family. It belongs to the National Trust of Scotland now and they claim that it is the oldest intact building in their care. Who knew?
It had lovely gardens and the above picture is me telling the time with my shadow by standing in the middle of a sun dial. I am facing the month of August and my shadow is saying that it is almost 5 pm, which was true.
They had beautiful roses in their garden and you know how I love those wherever I find them.
And this is one of the fountains in the garden. It was a lovely place and though it was at the end of a long day of castles, this was probably my favorite one of the day; it's hard to beat beautiful libraries and blooming roses in the same place.
From Inverness we headed south east down through the incredible 'highlands' of Scotland. Everyone needs to make that drive some time in their lives because you will never be the same afterwards. On our way, we stopped at a number of castles because the highlands are full of them. The first one was Brodie Castle. Apparently this castle was badly damaged by a fire in 1645 and it was rebuilt. It's lime-harled (the external protective coating) on the outside and has a typical Z plan tower house with ornate corbelled battlements and bartizans (overhanging, wall-mounted turrets, in case you didn't know).
Here is a picture of the lovely highlands just outside the next castle we stopped to visit. The second castle was Craigievar (pronounced craig- ee- var). It's got pink harling, for anyone who likes that colour (not me, however)! 
This castle was the seat of Clan Sempill, but was originally owned by the impoverished Mortimer family who had to sell it, before it was finished, to the wealthy merchant William Forbes. Forbes completed the building in 1626. It has some of the finest plaster work ceilings in the country and once boasted more defensive fortifications and towers than you see here. (A pink harled castle does look a bit wimpy, to be honest)
Here we are sitting on the steps leading into the grounds. This castle does not have a garden, like so many do, but it has more than 200 acres of farmland and woodland attached to it. We did not have time to explore the woods, sadly.
Our third stop was Fraser Castle. We found ourselves touring the place on the same day that someone was holding a wedding, so it was a bit awkward. The castle itself dates back to the 15th century and it was the ancestral home of the Fraser family. It is a five story Z-plan building standing on over 300 acres of land; including walled gardens and woodland.
Here we are in one of the walled gardens. As I said, there was a wedding party here and they were taking wedding photos in this garden, which made it very hard for us to take very many without getting in the way. We were entertained by the bagpipes and by men running around in kilts.
And then, finally, we stopped at Drum Castle. The above picture is the front of the castle and the below picture is the back of it. Hard to believe they are the same place, really, but they are. Bet you didn't know that the place-name Drum is derived from Gaelic druim, meaning 'ridge'. The tower on the left side of the picture is the original 13th century tower and one of the owners decided to house his personal library on the first floor of it. Obviously there wasn't enough light in there, so he put in a huge window (can't see it from this angle) and had to cut through all the stone to do it. It was really impressive from the inside and the library itself has to be one of my favorite in-house libraries of all time. When I make my millions, I'll have to design a library like that for my own house.
This castle overlooks the river Dee and was, from 1323 to 1975, the home of the Irvine family. It belongs to the National Trust of Scotland now and they claim that it is the oldest intact building in their care. Who knew? 
It had lovely gardens and the above picture is me telling the time with my shadow by standing in the middle of a sun dial. I am facing the month of August and my shadow is saying that it is almost 5 pm, which was true.
They had beautiful roses in their garden and you know how I love those wherever I find them.
And this is one of the fountains in the garden. It was a lovely place and though it was at the end of a long day of castles, this was probably my favorite one of the day; it's hard to beat beautiful libraries and blooming roses in the same place.
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