Scotland Day 2

Britishism of the day: roundabout instead of rotary.

American tourist move of the day: None! (That I noticed.)

Today was all about Stirling Castle.

First of all, if you’ve never been in a real, mostly intact castle it is hard to describe. Sure, its on a big hill, stone walls, towers… the elements are easy to describe. But the whole of the thing is more difficult.

Perhaps it is my experience in the SCA, but looking at the thing from ground level I kept thinking “wow, I wouldn’t want to attack that without modern weapons…” which, of course, is the often-forgotten point of a castle. The castle was a deterrent in peacetime and a force multiplier (a huge one) in war. Castles were not static structures (something I knew academically before this but, again, didn’t truly grasp). Buildings and walls get knocked down, replaced, or expanded; sometimes due to violent applications of hostile force, sometimes peacefully. No one is sure when the first castle was built on the site currently occupied by Stirling – nine hundred years ago is when surviving references begin to place events there, but as they refer to things occurring in an established location all we can say for sure about the original construction is ‘before that.’ The castle overlooks a huge sweep of the valley between Glasgow and Edinburgh. The non-functional cannons in its several surviving batteries command the nearby river crossings. Several famous battles have been fought within sight of its walls and the castle itself was besieged more than once.

Most of the castle is bare stone at this point, but one building has been restored (based on forensic archeology) to its original appearance: a yellowish colored plaster smoothes out the stone, making a single bright surface quite at odds with the traditional image of a castle. Some inner areas have been restored or reconstructed also: the kitchens, the great hall, a chapel, and several rooms of the royal residence. Some of this is admitted guesswork; knowing what furniture was present in the royal rooms but not the details of its design, for example.

Stirling was home to a set of tapestries depicting the hunt of a unicorn. This is presented as being a metaphor for the search for Christ. The tapestries are currently being recreated by a team of weavers who’ve been working on them, by hand, for several years. This is an SCA Laurel-quality project on a huge scale; the dyes, the tools, and the thread are all chosen for authenticity. Some of the work is being done on-site, and gives a feel for just what went into the decorations of such a place. We're talking about man-years, not man-hours, (OK, mostly woman-hours if you prefer) as a measurement.

The castle is also home to a regimental museum for the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders. The British Regimental system is far too complicated to address here, but suffice to say that elements of the regiment fought in most of the major conflicts of the last 200 years – from the Napoleonic Wars to the ‘war on terror.’ Battle flags and regimental silver are interspersed with mementos and stories. My favorite was of three soldiers who were captured in WWII. They escaped from their POW camp and then made their way across Europe by speaking Gaelic and pretending to be Russians. They encountered a number of German translators and passed muster each time, two of them making it back to Britain.

The castle kitchens are another recreated environment, and provide both good atmosphere and details to gladden the eye of any SCAdian; recipes (both in their original form and with modern ‘translations’), details of feasts and purchases, and some exhibits showing how food was presented (at least for the head table).

Stirling begins what will soon become apparent as a trend: multiple gift shops. The castle has no less than four, one dedicated to the regimental museum. None of these are especially large and some merchandise repeats, but they do have distinctly different flavors. Speaking of flavors, Stirling Castle has its own special whiskey, a 12 year old Speyside Single Malt. This also will prove to be a trend.

“Everyone said I was daft to build a castle on top of a giant plug of volcanic rock… well, actually only the builders said that…”