Stirling Castle

We went to Stirling castle today, which, in many respects, is similar to Edinburgh castle. It sits on a high rocky promontory, is a series of buildings surrounded by walls built at different times, and housed some of the Scottish Monarchs. It changed hands over the years between the English and the Scottish, and was central to Scotland's struggle for independence, including battles with William Wallace (Braveheart). THe more we learn about the history in Britain, it seems to be pretty bloody and involves some greedy ruler wanting to impose his will and authority over unwilling subjects. This was also where Mary, Queen of Scots, was born, and lived much of her young life. Sterling castle was used as a regimental headquarters for the Scottish Highlanders for years until 1964. We may think of them as cool-looking guys in kilts, tall furry hats and playing bagpipes, but these guys were a mean fighting force, fierce and feared by their enemies.

The Entrance to Stirling castleOur guide explaining the history of the castle
The men guarding the young Mary, future queen of the Scots, or at least actors explaining what the guards didA typical celtic cross on a grave marker

We drove to one of the many beautiful lochs in the area. Scotland is peppered with lochs (lakes), large and small. Loch Ness and Loch Lamond are probably two of the most well-known, but there are hundreds are other lochs, and they are beautiful and peaceful. Even though it is still May, and we are farth north, we saw a guy wake-boarding in Loch Earn, near where we are staying. These Scots are made of pretty tough stuff!

Loch Earn

As we were driving around, Marilyn saw something that caught her eye. She initially saw a woman in a beautiful evening dress as we passed through a small town. Wondering why she would be dressed so lightly in a shoulderless dress on a cool evening, she then saw the woman's two year old son with curly blond hair, wearing a small kilt, sock, dress coat, shoes, all like a grown highlander, only in miniature. She says it reminded her of her own dad, and began to wonder if her Wallace and Blackburn ancestors may have been Scottish.

I can't believe how far north we are! We are at 56 degrees north, and the sun sets at 9:45 and rises at 4:45, but it doesn't really get dark until after 11PM and starts getting light again by 3AM. I can only imagine how long the nights are here in the winter! We have had rain every day here in Scotland, the first rain we have had our entire trip, so I guess we should be pretty grateful for that!