Another Magical Day

June 7, 2019

Even though we were a bit tired from all the activity yesterday, we got up quite early to meet Chris & Christie for breakfast before we left town. They will be headed off on their camping honeymoon today and we will be venturing northward. We had a lovely time chatting about their wedding and future plans for all of us over a delicious breakfast at the Ednam Hotel. But all too soon it was time to take our leave.

We started northward and came upon a castle ruin that we had to explore. Castle Hume was built in 1214 and was used as a beacon station warning of invasion from England. This rectangular castle was the only Borders castle not destroyed by Robert Bruce’s scorched earth policy in 1313. The ruin sitting on a hill is not all that spectacular in itself, but the views from it are ridiculously fabulous! Cattle grazed on the lush green grass and we can see around us for miles! I love the stone fences that separate one field from another and break up the rolling hillside landscape. This is a truly beautiful place!

Our next roadside stop was at the site of bridges crossing the River Tweed. Some of the bridges in Scotland are such works of art that they are beautiful just to view – let alone that they are architectural marvels. Here we saw beautiful examples of arched stone bridges. It isn’t too deep right here because a man was standing in the river wearing waders and fishing. A nice little stop except for walking through the weeds going back to the car we all were attacked by stinging nettles that we felt the effects of for several hours!

Melrose Abbey was next up on our itinerary. Dating from the 1100’s, Melrose was one of Scotland’s richest and most powerful medieval abbeys. This monastery boasting Gothic architecture and built in

 the shape of a cross it is a magnificent ruin and lavishly decorated. Robert the Bruce’s heart is buried here. As we walk the grounds and cemetery, there are signs explaining what we are seeing. A beautiful outer stone wall with roses growing up it sits behind a deep pit with water in it. The sign said it was the latrine!

Loving flowers like I do, a visit to nearby Priorwood Gardens was a fun stop. It was formerly used as a kitchen garden and during The Second World War it was a valuable market garden hosting over 70 apple varieties in its orchard section. A beekeeper was working there that day all swathed in his beekeeping garb. We stayed in the flower section enjoying the colors and scents of pink peonies, orange begonias, blue delphinium, red poppies and many more that I did not know the names of. The garden is enclosed by stone walls with decorative wrought iron fencing. Beautiful!

The quaint little town of Falkland is our next stop. Many scenes in Outlander were shot here including the infamous “Jamie’s Ghost” scene where he is standing at the Bruce fountain in the town center and looking up to the window of Mrs. Baird's B&B. Mrs. Baird's is in fact The Covenanter Hotel next to the fountain and I cannot possibly guess how many thousands of people have stood in that spot next the fountain for a photo-op….including us! Falkland is used in the Outlander filming for many scenes portraying 1940’s Inverness. 

It is fun to walk around the town and visit with shopkeepers. Most are happy to share their stories of their interactions with the Outlander filming crew and Johnny Cash. You see, Johnny Cash traced his ancestors to Falkland and there and Cash and his wife and daughter once visited here. There is a bench in the town park dedicated to Johnny and is a must to stop at for true JC fans. I had been here before so we skipped it this time around.

Down the road and up a mountain, back and forth on narrow roadways in Perthshire, is the sweeping view of Loch Tummel Called Queen’s View. Queen Victoria visited the area in 1866 and is said to have remarked that the spectacular view was named after her. However, it has also been suggested that the view was in fact named after King Robert the Bruce’s wife, Queen Isabella of Scotland, over 550 years earlier. The fence overlooking the loch has darling wooden carvings on the top of it. A pinecone and caterpillar are two that I remember. It looks like they have a nice gift shop here but it was late in the day and was closed already so no ice cream or shopping for us!

Our final site to see for today was my favorite! The world famous – Outlander famous – Dunalastair Estate located in the small village of Kinloch Rannoch which sits in the shadow of the Schiehallion Mountain. Still never heard of it? Well, how about Craigh na Dun? Yes, we visited the iconic location of the standing stones, Craigh na Dun! What a wonderful experience! I was in Outlander heaven! Not only is it where the famous scenes were shot, it is truly a beautiful part of the world in itself.

As we drove to it with somewhat sketchy instructions over narrow twisting roads, we were never quite sure we were in the right place until we actually reached it. But then, when we pulled up, it was instantly recognizable! Plus then we saw a sign. It was a simple piece of laminated paper nailed to the fence. We parked the car and quickly walked up the hill passing frolicking sheep and lambs grazing on the hillside. The weather was partly cloudy and breezy. We found ourselves walking about on the hill taking dozens and dozens of photos. It was really a fun experience to be there and such beautiful scenery to boot! We stayed so long that the weather actually changed and became even windier and overcast but it was fun to be able to take photos in  the changing light.

We saw a couple of items that may have been left from filming. First, a sandbag embedded in the ground and some kind of what I think are anchors. Since this is a working farm there is a piece of farm machinery at the bottom of the hill. As we were leaving, a farmer in a pickup truck drove down the lane and waved at us. He probably thinks we are nuts to be making this pilgrimage! But I am so very happy that we did! I have checked off one more Outlander filming location off of the list!

Now it is off to our flat and sleep and dreams of the wonders we have seen today! We have a wonderful apartment with two bedrooms and plenty of living space to spread out. Since it was a pretty late arrival tonight, dinner was pretty slim pickings. We forget that it is as late as it is because it is light till well after 10 pm. Restaurants were closed and we ended up going to a convenient store and grabbing a few snacks. We will survive and tomorrow is another day!