Of course we had to visit Glamis Castle, the fairy-tale home of the Earls of Strathmore, setting for Shakespeare's "MacBeth," and haunt of a few ghosts. Because it is still a residence, all tours through the castle are guided. We were shown through many of the rooms, including the dungeon where a previous earl is alleged to be behind a sealed wall playing cards through eternity; the Queen Mother's quarters; a room where Bonnie Prince Charlie slept (and left a pocket watch behind--on display and still working); the grand dining room with a table that seats 40 people; and the chapel where the Gray Lady occasionally makes an appearance. The panels in the chapel are painted with various scenes from the Bible, including one of the post-resurrection Jesus wearing a gardener's hat--one of the very few paintings in the world like it.

 

After our tour of Glamis, we visited Jon and Ruth Bergen, friends of mine who moved from Texas to Brechin (in Angus).

 

Their cottage is in Kinnaird Park, an estate that raises pheasant and deer. At first, I wondered what kind of bird those fat little things were. I'd never seen such plump pheasants.

Too bad it was such an overcast day. Ruth says that on a clear day, from the upstairs windows they can see the ocean from one side of the house and the mountains on the other.

 

The Rob Roy Inn in Buchlyvie is one of the places that we ate a couple of times. Good food, but they had an odd selection of music playing in the background--one day it was c&w, the other is was hits from the 70's.

 

The Cross Keys in Kippen is another place where we ate a couple of times. Excellent food. Plus, they had cask-conditioned ales and a coal fire going in the fireplace. The days that we went there, both amenities were very welcome!

 

What's a trip to Scotland without a whisky distillery tour? This is the Glengoyne Distillery (on the A81), where we had an almost private tour. The only other folks there were two guys from Texas. The tour began with a wee dram. Their single malt is very smooth--the barley is not peat smoked.

 

Southern Highland water cascades down from the Glengoyne burn. It is alleged that Rob Roy hid in a tree a few hundred yards from the distillery when he was on the run.