Saturday 8 March 2014

and a rainbow .....






On a windy day last week, a friend and I visited this medieval castle on the outskirts of the city.




Information board illustration of how Craigmillar would have looked in past times.




The outer courtyard



Outer courtyard and door to the inner courtyard



The inner courtyard



The coat of arms of the Preston family who built the castle in the late 1300s.
The animals on either side of the shield resemble monkeys but may be lions.



The interior is large and a confusing warren of rooms and spiral stairways.

On our way up to the roof in the oldest part of the castle we pass the medieval laird's hall.
This room would have been used for entertaining



Present day inhabitants sit in a nest above a doorway



On the roof rain clouds are gathering over the Pentland hills.
It's 10 degrees C, and very windy and we have to hang on to the safety railings to keep our balance.



This was an amazing position for a fortification. Today visibility is moderately good but on a clear day the
horizon can be seen for miles in all directions. Looking north, the older Edinburgh castle is on the skyline
to the left, with views of the Firth of Forth and lands of Fife in the distance.



Looking towards the Lammermuir Hills and East lothian.

The buildings below are a new hospital built on an area called Little France, the site of a former hamlet
where Mary Queen of Scots French retainers camped in the 1500s.






And in this direction, the North Sea. 



In 1660 the Preston family sold the castle to Sir John Gilmour, Lord President of the Court of Session

in Edinburgh. He set about modernizing the place by adding a new west wing.
Above is the fireplace of his drawing room,which can be seen below
in an artists impression of how it may have looked in Sir John's day.








Sir John in his official robes 




A land owning family in the 1660s


Engraving by J M W Turner  -  1836


Eventually the family built a grand new house as was fashionable at the time and
by the late 1700s the castle was described as a romantic ruin, an inspiration
for writers and artists.


In 1949 the building went into state care but present day Gilmour family burials are still carried
 out in the ruined chapel in the castle grounds.



Dark clouds now drift above us and it's beginning to rain.




Crows brace themselves in the wind




And a rainbow appears.........


Thank you for visiting

Shared with       Skywatch Friday     Saturday's Critters

42 comments:

biebkriebels said...

What a lovely post Ruby and such nice photos. Thanks for sharing.

three sea horses said...

Really interesting, never been there but thoroughly enjoyed your visit, information and photos!

eileeninmd said...

Wonderful series, the castle is awesome. Love the scenery and the tour! Lovely photos and post. Thank you for linking up with the Saturday Critter party.. Enjoy your weekend!

Maude Lynn said...

What a gorgeous place!

Bob Bushell said...

Beautiful images, and a place to go.

Margaret Birding For Pleasure said...

Looks like a lovely place to visit. thanks for sharing.

tattina said...

A real fairyland!
The photo of inner courtyard is great. It's a pity that magicians abandoned Scotland.
But I'm sure they'll come back.

kissed by an angel said...

Thank you for this wonderful tour, the interesting informations, all these beautiful pictures and sharing this lovely rainbow!!!
Scotland must be a such a incredibly beautiful place! I love these rough nature!

Laura said...

BEautiful series of photos, history lesson and a rainbow too:-)

Minoru Saito said...

Hi! Nice captures. I like old castles very much. I am very impressed by your photos. Especially the last photo makes me happy. Thanks for sharing.

Ritesh Agarwal said...

Can't get any quainter than this castle...the feels

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous scenery and rainbow.

sarah said...

The old medieval castle has mysterious for me. The rainbow at the last scene is very beautiful!
Thank you for sharing.
Have a lovely week!

Unknown said...

Looks like a very interesting place to visit. Beautiful photos.

DeniseinVA said...

Hi Ruby, this is a great post. I enjoyed it very much, thank you :)

Midori said...

I love the old tress in a courtyard. Thank you for sharing this beautiful place. : )

Stewart M said...

Nice post - I often wonder just how much time, money and effort was needed to build places like these - and how long they would take to build today.

Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne

Tammie Lee said...

such a wonderful strand of photos!
I feel as though i went on a journey with you ~

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

An amazing tour -- I would love to look at this.

EG CameraGirl said...

Thanks for the tour of the Medieval castle. How perfect to end with a rainbow!

carol l mckenna said...

A Castle, a rainbow and glorious weather ~ what lovely photos for OWT ~ thanks, xxx

artmusedog and carol ^_^

dulcy said...

What a fabulous tour! I enjoyed all the information for each picture....beautiful pictures!

dulcy

foxysue said...

A breath of fresh air!

Thanks for the journey...

My son and family visit your neck of the woods this weekend for his 35th birthday..rainbow's end.x

Indrani said...

Such a wonderful virtual tour! The interior of the castle simple yet grand! Great series!

TheChieftess said...

Nice tour of a bit of Scotland!!! We're headed there in October!!!

Unknown said...

What an interesting place to visit, great shots and magnificent views! Love the rainbow at the end too.

Waldameise Andrea said...

Hallo Ruby,

ich liebe solche historischen Stätten. Sie haben so etwas geheimnisvolles. Man fühlt sich immer in die alte Zeit zurückversetzt.
Danke für den interessanten Post und die tollen Fotos dazu.

Liebe Abendgrüße
von der Waldameise

Rajesh said...

Great place with such nice architecture.

Faith Hope and Cherrytea said...

Appreciate your excellent and informative tour! You've made me lonesome..
a wee bit of Scotland posted HERE today
tea's on...

Susie Clevenger said...

What fantastic shots...I would love to see a castle. The architecture in the U.S. just isn't that old compared to other parts of the world.

Suman said...

Such stunning pictures! Visiting a Scottish castle has been a long cherished dream; thank you so much for taking me to one. :-)

dritanje said...

Brilliant evocation of history, seeing the pictures/portraits of the family too and the little birds in the ruins and in the trees all make it very real.
Mxx

stardust said...

Hello, Ruby! I'm back from one-month break from blogging. As you showed us, this castle must have had advantage of height as a fortification to overlook overall terrain. Toward the end of the tour the weather seems to have been unnerving but a rainbow at the very end is perfectly lovely.

Yoko

WordsPoeticallyWorth said...

A nice fortress.

Thank you. Love love, Andrew. Bye.

Fran said...

I really enjoyed taking the tour of this lovely old castle with you. Thank you so much for sharing.

Palomasea said...

So wonderful to experience this history and beauty through your artful eye, dear Ruby....thank you.
The city I reside in now (in the state of Minnesota) is actually named for Edinburgh!
This magical rainbow is the icing on the cake... ;)
Wishes for a blissful weekend...
Blessings,
- Irina

Ramakrishnan said...

Magnificent castle with captivating lawns and splendid paintings. The exquisite rainbow of course takes the cake !

Anonymous said...

How fortunate you live in a country with so much history and beautiful ruins, hope to see it someday! (plumfieldhousegardens.blogspot.com)

Endah Murniyati said...

Beautiful and monumental place. Thanks for this tour.

The Furry Gnome said...

Love those old castles in Scotland. Recognized the view of Edinburgh; I think it's our favourite city.

DeniseinVA said...

Brilliant!!!

adhi das said...

AWESOME Pictures!! smiles:)

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