Life after Annandale High: From Inverness to Dundee

It was road trip day once again. This time, we’d be travelling for most of the day from Inverness to Dundee, with stops along the way at Carrbridge, at the twin villages of Birnam and Dunkeld, and at Glamis Castle. It was a bright, clear morning when we set out. I wasn’t surprised to see so many golfers taking advantage of the unusually sunny weather.

The first part of the journey took us on a winding southerly route through Cairngorms National Park, the largest national park in the United Kingdom. (It’s about half the size of Yellowstone NP in the U.S.) Approximately two million people come to experience nature in the park every year. The region became popular in the late 1800s when Queen Victoria established a home in Balmoral. Cairngorm’s Arctic Alpine climate means that summers are cool and winters are very cold and snowy. The park is home to a wide variety of plants and animals, including a quarter of the country’s rare and endangered species. Of special note is the dense temperate Caledonian forest which at one time extended across all of Scotland, from east to west.

Over 18,000 people live in the towns and villages within the park. One of these villages, Carrbridge, located on the northern edge of the park, was our first stop. Carrbridge has only 200 residents, and its main attraction (in addition to pristine restrooms) is the stone bridge over the River Dulnain. Built in 1717, primarily for use by packhorses, it is thought to be the oldest stone bridge in the Highlands.

Our next stop was in the village of Birnam, which was built around the 1850s, when the railroad came to town. The village’s stone buildings were hotels where wealthy families vacationed, especially when Queen Victoria was visiting her estate in Balmoral.

If Birnam sounds vaguely familiar, think back to your high school English class, where you probably read Shakespeare’s Macbeth. According to the witches’ prophecy, Macbeth wouldn’t be defeated until Birnam Wood came to Dunsinane. Of course, everyone who comes to Birnam nowadays wants to see Birnam Wood. We walked on a shady path through the ancient woodlands that would lead us to the big 500-year old oak tree whose branches were taken by Macbeth’s enemies to fulfill the prophecy.

Our local guide pointed out oak, rowan, sycamore and yew trees. The first couple of big trees we came across had signs propped against their trunks saying, “Not this tree.” They were actually sycamore trees.

The path brought us past the River Tay where a dog playing catch with its owner.

At last, we arrived at the tree reputed to be the Birnam oak from Shakespeare’s day. If you can see the people standing near the base of the tree, you’ll get an idea of the relative size of the tree. It towers over all of the surrounding trees.

Continuing along the path, we crossed an 1809 stone bridge and arrived at the neighboring town of Dunkeld, on the banks of the River Tay, the longest river in Scotland.

Dunkeld is considered the gateway to the Highlands not only because it was located on the main road and rail line. It’s also located on a geological boundary, the Highland boundary fault. In the 900s, Gaelic-speaking Gaels lived to the northwest, Picts (who spoke a different Celtic or Brittonic language) lived to the northeast, and Scots-speaking Angles and Britons lived to the southwest. Even today, the Highland boundary fault is the dividing point for the squirrel population: red squirrels live to the north while gray squirrels live to the south.

The town was an important center of Celtic Christianity. Construction of the Dunkeld Cathedral (now Church of Scotland) began in 1260 and was completed in 1501.

Several of Dunkeld’s houses date back to the late-17^th and early-18^th centuries.

By this point, all of us had worked up quite an appetite and we found plenty of lunch options in this charming village. After I picked up a carry-out pastrami, cheese, and pickle sandwich (surprisingly good) on Atholl Street, I walked over to the cathedral and found a shady spot for an impromptu picnic. Fortunately, I had room for dessert because the Aran Bakery was full of tempting treats. I was told that the baker was a contestant on the Great British Baking Show. I couldn’t resist the buttery shortbread.

I would have been happy to linger in Dunkeld but right after lunch, we proceeded on our journey through the countryside. The next stop was at Glamis (pronounced “glams”) Castle, built in the 1400s. The sunny weather had given way to threatening clouds and there was even a rumble of thunder in the distance when we reached the castle. Glamis was the childhood home of the late Queen Mother (mother of Queen Elizabeth II). It also has a connection to Macbeth, who was known in Shakespeare’s play as “the thane of Glamis.”

A guide brought us through several rooms of the castle and informed us that photography was not allowed. The interior is a dark, dreary, gloomy place, overstuffed with ancestor portraits, old-fashioned furniture and draperies, and an incredible number of dead animal heads staring out from the walls. I was glad to get back out into the fresh air. I did learn, however, about the history of the powder room, which was originally used by men. During the era when men wore wigs made of human hair, lice were a constant problem. A man would periodically go off to a small room where a young child would pick off the nits (hence, the term “nitpicker”) and powder the wig with arsenic to kill the bugs.

After a quick stroll through the formal Italian gardens, we set out on the Macbeth Trail through the woods and discovered several wooden sculptures of characters from the play, including the three witches, King Duncan, Macbeth, Banquo, Lady Macbeth, and Macduff.

It was late afternoon when we reached our hotel in Dundee, Scotland’s fourth largest city. The modern hotel was in an area of the old industrial port that is in the process of being revitalized. The city itself wasn’t especially interesting, but it made a good base for a visit to St. Andrews in the neighboring region of Fife.

St. Andrews is the home of golf. Golf was first played on the links here in the early 15^th century. It became such a popular game that it was briefly outlawed during the Middle Ages because it was taking too much time away from archery practice. Golf is still very popular in Scotland, where there are 550 courses today. And I learned another bit of trivia: The reason a golf course has 18 holes is because that’s how many fit onto the course at St. Andrews.

Our bus dropped us off at the clubhouse which is beautifully situated on the shores of the North Sea. It’s surrounded by rolling greens that looked like they were made of velvet. There was time to browse in the clubhouse shop, which was filled with pricey clothing and golf paraphernalia, all sporting the St. Andrews logo.

In addition to being famous as the home of golf, St. Andrews is equally well-known for its university. Established in 1412 to train priests, teachers, and lawyers, it’s the third oldest university in the English-speaking world. Like Oxford and Cambridge, St. Andrews consists of several colleges. Tuition is free to Scottish students and 30,000 British pounds (about $40,000 annually) for students from the United States. The student enrollment is about 12,000, including many international students. A young Benjamin Franklin attended the university back in the 1700s. And, in case you’ve forgotten, St. Andrews University is where Prince William and Kate Middleton met.

On our walk through the town, our guide noted that many of the buildings dated back to the Victorian era.

I found the early history of the town quite confusing. Before the town was known as St. Andrews, it was a small Pictish town named Kilrymont on the east coast of Scotland. According to legend, in the 4^th century, a Greek monk named Saint Regulus/Rule brought some of St. Andrew’s bones to the town, which was already an important Celtic religious center. However, another theory suggests the relics of St. Andrew came to Britain with Augustinian monks who arrived in the late 6^th century and were later brought to the town by an English bishop in the year 732.

In any case, a few of St. Andrew’s bones ended up in the town and they needed to be housed in a suitable place. Construction of a cathedral began in 1157 and by the year 1200, the name St. Andrews became attached to the town. Scottish king Robert Bruce consecrated the cathedral in 1318 and St. Andrews became a major pilgrimage center. During the medieval period, St. Andrews was the spiritual and intellectual capital of Scotland.

In case you’re wondering where the relics are now, they disappeared during the Scottish Reformation of the 1500s when John Knox returned to St. Andrews and encouraged his Protestant congregation to destroy the cathedral. Afterwards, the local people reused the stones from the building and the area became the town graveyard. All that remains today are ruins.

St. Andrew has been the official patron saint of Scotland since 1320. The X-shaped cross (called a saltire) on the Scottish flag is a reference to the X-shaped cross on which Andrew was crucified by the Romans.

Our guide brought us into San Salvator’s quadrangle where we were able to look inside the Blackfriars Chapel, which dates back to the 1520s. The chapel is all that survives of the Dominican friary of St. Andrews. The rest of the complex was destroyed, and the Dominicans expelled, by the same Protestant congregation that attacked St. Andrews Cathedral.

Nearby San Salvator’s Tower, a stone clock tower, dates back to 1450.

I walked to the edge of town, on the windswept shore of the North Sea, to reach the ruins of the medieval cathedral. Even in ruins, its magnificence of the sandstone structure is apparent. A guide explained that the cathedral’s 50-meter (164-foot) long nave soared to a height of 20 meters (65 feet). The interior would have been colorful and lavishly decorated with stained glass, tapestries, and statues. Incense would have filled the air.

west end of the cathedral

looking from west to east

east end of the cathedral

east end of the cathedral

Since the cathedral was built over a period of more than 150 years, its earlier windows feature rounded Romanesque arches while later ones feature pointed Gothic arches.

Other structures on the site include a monastery with a chapter house, dormitory, refectory, and garden.

The main Presbyterian church in St. Andrews is Holy Trinity Church. Originally established in the 12^thcentury, it has been in its current location in the center of town since 1412. Until the Reformation, it was Roman Catholic. In 1559, John Knox, founder of Scottish Presbyterianism, gave his “Cleansing of the Temple” sermon at Holy Trinity.

The beautiful pulpit, made of marble, alabaster, and onyx, was a later addition.

I enjoyed walking around the town and checking out two contemporary points of interest. The first was the Fisher Donaldson bakery where I faced the dilemma of choosing among the tempting savory and sweet treats displayed in their glass case. Ultimately, I selected a rhubarb tart.

strawberry yum-yums

rhubarb tarts

The second was Jannetta’s Gelateria where I faced the challenge of deciding which flavor to order. I chose elderberry, and wasn’t disappointed.

After a walk back to the beach, we returned to Dundee where Stephen led us on a walk through the city center on our way to a surprise performance of traditional Scottish music and dance. The original instruments of the old Gaelic world were the harp, fiddle, and bagpipes. Highland dance was originally done only by men. Dancing a Highland fling was a way of testing a man’s strength, to determine how he would do in battle. Women only started doing Highland dance in the early 1900s. The dancer’s arms are held aloft to resemble a deer’s antlers.