Caleb arrived early Friday afternoon. We did a short walk around Stirling that day, stopping for lunch at No. 2 Baker Street (a pub near our place) and dessert at Darnley House (a little café at what was once Lord Darnley’s house – he was the second husband of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots). We also went up to the castle for a quick look, but would save our visit for another day. That evening we introduced Caleb to the history of Scotland documentary series that B had given me for Christmas. The series is in ten parts – we made it through seven while Caleb was here. It’s a fantastic series and has given us some great ideas of places to visit in Scotland!
Saturday was a quiet day – we were all travel weary, so we spent the day mostly at home. In the afternoon Brendan & Caleb headed out to see the castle but stopped at a pub first and ended up arriving at the castle too late! So we planned to go the next day instead. That night we watched Attack on Leningrad, about events during WWII. No Marshall family gathering of any kind is complete without some reference to the Nazis (not that they are fans of the latter, just that WWII always seems to come up as a topic of conversation)! That night B and Caleb went out for another pint and apparently ran into some quite colourful Scots!
Sunday was Caleb’s real introduction to Stirling’s historical attractions. We headed up to the castle before Mass to check out the Regimental Museum, which Brendan and I had not yet been too. After Mass we went back to the castle to look around a bit, and then joined a guided tour of Argyll’s Lodging, which is a house just down the road from the castle. We learned there that one of the residents of this house had been the first Viscount of Canada. Another interesting tidbit we picked up on this tour: apparently there is a paving stone outside Edinburgh Castle that is considered Canadian territory. Wealthy Scotsmen could purchase land in Canada buy standing on that stone and paying for the lands across the ocean!
Unfortunately we couldn’t stay for the whole tour of the lodging – Liam decided that he’d much rather be eating than listening to the tour guide, and as there wasn’t a suitable place for me to sit down and feed him, we decided to go home. It was just as well, because Caleb wanted to go to the Wallace Monument and had to make it there with enough time to see the place properly before closing. So I went home and the guys went to visit the monument. Caleb treated us to a Sunday roast beef dinner that night at a restaurant carved out of the old city walls, appropriately named The City Walls.
Monday morning Brendan rented a car and we set out on a day trip, the main focus of which was a visit to Kirriemuir and Glamis Castle (pronounced Glahms). Before making in that far though, we went in search of a Pictish stone. The Picts, as we learned from Neil Oliver, the host of our Scottish history series, were among Scotland’s most ancient peoples. Their culture largely died out under the influence of the Gaels, but examples of their intricate stone carvings have been preserved. We saw in a guidebook that one such stone could be seen along the way to Glamis, so we sought it out. Finding it was a bit trickier than we expected. Our guidebook told us that it was in the old church of Eassie. We saw a sign pointing towards Eassie along the main road, so we turned in that direction. There were no other signs. We drove first one way, then another, and then came upon some well-dressed people walking down the road. They had just come from a funeral, they informed us, but if we went to the church, there would surely be someone there who could enlighten us as to the whereabouts of this Pictish stone. So we went to the church, and Brendan and Caleb, feeling a bit out of place in this funeral setting, inquired about the stone. A very helpful woman told them that she was driving in the direction of the stone and that we could follow her to find it. It was a bit strange, the funeral and the following and all. She went to her car and quickly ran back to tell us that the gate to the churchyard where the stone was had been barred up earlier that morning, but that she was sure we’d manage to find our way in. It might be hard with the baby, but she thought we’d find a way. So we followed her down a road that we never ever would have found on our own, and stopped behind her at the old church of Eassie. The other church had looked old, but this one was definitely older.
The gate was securely closed, but we managed to hop the stone fence. And inside the old church of Eassie, as our guidebook had promised, was a Pictish stone.
Having successfully found and properly admired the stone, we continued on our journey. Caleb and Brendan’s great-grandmother lived in Kirriemuir, and it was at Glamis Castle that she met their Canadian great-grandfather. Thomas Alphonsus McMenamon was gassed by the Germans during WWI and was taken to Glamis Castle to recover. The billiard room in the castle had been turned into an infirmary, and Mary Anne Smith was stationed there, tending to wounded soldiers. The two met and fell in love. They had a daughter named Mary, who married Hal Marshall; their son is Bill, whose son I married. Brendan and Caleb were both very excited to see the place where their great-grandparents had met, and Brendan was particularly proud to bring Liam, the couple’s great-great-grandson, to that place. We were especially fortunate to see the billiard room, because the castle is closed to visitors until the spring. Brendan had written an email to the staff there a few days earlier asking for permission to see the room, but had not gotten a response. We went anyway, and when Caleb introduced us at the office, the attendant explained that she had received the email only that morning because of problems with their server. She graciously sent us in with an equally gracious tour guide. It was a real privilege to see the place, opened just for us.
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| Liam sitting on the table where his great-great-grandfather would have played pool. |
After visiting the castle we drove to Kirriemuir and found 28 South Street, where Mary Smith had lived.
We then drove to the coast, to visit the ruins of Arbroath Abbey. Here a declaration was sealed in 1320 defending Scotland’s status as an independent state. The Declaration of Arbroath was sent to the pope and requested that he recognize Scotland’s independence from English rule and lift the ban of excommunication on Scottish king Robert the Bruce. Eventually both were done, but this was certainly not the end of Scotland’s struggle with England.
That night we watched another episode of the documentary. We were hooked!
Tuesday we spent the day in Glasgow. Caleb had been to Scotland once before and had seen Edinburgh, but not Glasgow. We visited the cathedral (the weather conditions were not adverse this time, so the cathedral was open!), walked down Buchanan Street and by the river, and spent some time at the People’s Palace, a museum on Glasgow’s history. In the evening we did what had become our custom: listen to Neil Oliver tell us about Scotland and then chat until bedtime.
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| Glasgow Cathedral |
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| At the People's Palace |
Caleb left early Wednesday morning for his long journey home. Both Brendan and I really enjoyed having him with us. I had only ever seen Caleb for a few days here and there in Fredericton, so it was nice to have more of a chance to get to know him. We were glad he could make the trip.
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