More on the Dalkeith House Itself

Having been here for over a week now, and gaining a sense of place, I thought I would add some imformation about the house and grounds that I have been discovering over the past week.

The place itself has had a castle on it since at least 1122 and the structure that stood here was built by William Graham and the Graham Family; although many writers suggest that a "castle like" structure probaly existed on this spot for at least 100 years prior to this date.

There is a long story that includes many dates, names, kings, murders, and battles that goes something like this:


In 1369 Sir James Douglas I, Lord of Dalkeith, succeds his uncle William, with a charter from David II, to become one of the wealthiest men in the Kindom. By the time his grandson, James 'weak of mind' Douglas the III came along, he had screwed things up and was murdered by King James II and his army attacked the castle, which withstood that seige, but was later destroyed by the Black Douglases in revenge for opposition to the king.


I'll speed it up a bit and hit some of the highlights.

-James married Joan, daughert of King James I, 1456

-Their son bcomes Earl of Morton, 1493

-He married King James V's half sister Katherine Stuart

and kept many prisoners in the castle's dungeon, 1500

- Castle besieged by King Henry VIII's Lord Grey, 1547-48

- King James VI of Scotland (Son of Mary, Queen of Scots) one of castle's chief residents, 1582
- Above resident became James I King of England
- Sir William Douglas 6th Earl of Morton takes over, 1589
- King Charles I purchased Dalkeith castle and strengthened its defenses, built a second drawbridge. The Civil Government of the country was conducted from here and housed the Regalia of Scotland (crown jewels etc..) until 1639
- General Leslie, a Scot, attacks and takes the castle, 1639
- Oliver Cromwell takes possesion of the castle, 1650
- Mary, elder daughter of Francis Scott, Countess of Buccleuch marries Water Scott (she is 11 he is 14)??!
Marey died at the age of 13 and is bured at Dalkeith. At age 12 her sister, Anne, marries 14 year old James, Duke of Monmouth, illegitimate son of King Charles II. They become Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch and Count and Countess of Dalkeith. The Duke is beheaded in 1685 ( a person couldn't make this stuff up!) for attempting to gain the throne from his uncle after his father's death. Anne returns to the Castle at Dalkeith and hires James Smith in 1701, Scotland's leading architect, to transform the castle into the Palace it is today.
- Francis 2nd Duke of Buccleuch, Anne's grandson, succeeds to Duke, 1732
- Francis marries Lady Elizabeth Montegue, 1751
- Some generations of Montague Douglas Scotts follow realatively uneventfully.
- Walter Francis John Montague Douglas Scott 9th Duke of Buccleuch and 11th Duke of Queensberry, Knight of Thistle, 1973 (This is the person who worked with Wisconsin in Scotland to start the program)
- Richard Montague Douglas Scott (Walter's Son) is current manager of property for family, 2007


Richard is undertaking some renovation of the place.  Two years ago he put a new roof (which is slate tile and lead) on the place, and now he is doing some landscaping.

The ravine down toward the river located behind the castle had grown into a forest over the last hundred years or so, and now it is being returned to it's original parklike setting by clearing the trees and re-shaping the side of the hill to allow residents to use the ravine as an amphi-theatre and picnic area near the river.

Up to castle from Montegue bridge and from castle down to Montegue bridge.

There are two branches of the River Esk that run on either side of the estate and converge on the south end of the property. The property's proximity to the rivers made it a natural settling place that experts surmise has been used by humans for at least 3,000 years.
 

The North Branch of the River Esk

 -

The South Branch of the River Esk



The majority of the grounds are open to the public as walking trails, but some of it is designated as pasture to livestock that live here as well.

There are many mature trees on the property including some monsters in "The Oak Grove" that feature original growth oak trees that date back up to 1,000 years! They're incredible.

 



Scots Pine











Weeping Willow

A little heavy on the pictures of the trees, but it was really an amazing evening when we came across the oak grove on an evening hike. We are finding out more about the place all the time. As two weeks in country approaches, our sense of place is increasing rapidly. We are becoming expert bus riders, after a couple of time consuming lessons early on. The long history found in Europe, in comparison to the realativly short history of America since Europea contact, is sometimes hard to grasp. 

We are becoming familiar withthe city of Edinburgh, the town of Dalkieth,  and the estate itself. The early perceptions of where we are have changed, and we look forward to how we will feel about this place months from now.

A final picture for this posting shows Denise sitting atop "Athur's Seat" - a 250m high hill (an ancient volcano core scoured by glaciation) that allows great 360 degree views of the city to the west, the Firth of Forth to the North, the Atlantic Ocean to the East, and to the South, pictured here, are the farmlands reaching out to the Dalkeith house in the Esk valley.

Week-End in Aberdeen

The city of Aberdeen - The Granite City - is on the east coast of Scotland facing the North Sea and Norway. It is a three hour train ride north from Edinburgh. It was nice to glide through the country side on the quiet, smooth train and have a look at the coastline, villages, and fields of the area. Lots of wheat, potatoes and other vegetables, and soybeans.

The city itself is known as the "granite city" because there is a large deposit of granite that has been mined over recent centuries to build the city, and the granite has been shipped out all over the world. There are buildings built with this granite that date back to 1300 bc.  They say that when the sun is shining in Aberdeen the buildings, 50% of which are made with this high grade granite, sparkle and shine. 

I will have to take their word for it, as the sun didn't come out while we were there. Many of the streets were done in beautiful granite cobble stone too.

Another prevalent aspect of Aberdeen is the oil industry.  In the 1970's, some of you may remember, oil was found in the North Sea, and off shore oil rigs continue to pump oil from beneath the ocean floor, making the port of Aberdeen very busy indeed.



While traveling around the area, we met a couple on the bus, and the gentleman had spent many years working on the oil rigs and now teaches continuing education courses to oil rig workers all over the world. It was very interesting to talk with him about the industry. The city has grown rapidly since the time of the oil rigs, so people talk about the "before and after" , as it changed the city significantly.

At the end of our ride together, they brought us to the two oldest pubs in the city. There is a disput as to which is oldest, so we had to go to both. The first was The Old King's Highway, established by local monks in the 1600's. However, I liked the second one, The Prince of Wales, best because there was no TV and no jukebox - just suds, old wooden floors, and folks talking and laughing.

We used the bus system in Aberdeen to make a couple of outings into the country side.  On Saturday we went to Dunnottar Castle, which is a castle ruin near the small town of Stonehaven.   From the brochure:

• William Wallace, Mary Queen of Scots, the Marquis of Montrose and the future King Charles, all graced the Castle with their presence. Most famously though, it was here that a small garrison held out against the might of Cromwell's army for eight months and saved the Scottish Crown Jewels, the 'Honors of Scotland' from destruction.
• A darker chapter in the history of the castle is that of the 'Whig's Vault'. The gruesume story of the imprinsoment in 1685 of a group of Covenanters who refused to acknowledge the King's supremacy in spiritual matters.
• The Castle was home of hte Earls Marischal once one of the most powerful families in the land. The last Earl was convicted of treason for his part in the Jacobite rising of 1715, and as a result his estates, including Dunnottar, were seized by the government.
• The buildings were thereafter much neglected until 1925 when the 1st Viscontess Cowdray embarked on a systematic preservation of the castle, which was offically made open to visitors thereafter.

It was a little soggy for hiking with sporadic rain, but still, with proper gear, not unpleasent. We hiked for about an hour each way to get to the castle from Stonehaven. The following are some photos from the hike.

On Sunday we went inland, following the River Dee, to the town of Banchory, and there we hiked up Scolty Hill.  Scolty Hill is a small hill south of the Deeside town, Banchory. Its best known feature is the 20m tall tower monument, a memorial to General Burnett who fought alongside Wellington. It was cool and very windy, especially at the top of the tower, but less wet that day.



The River Dee

 

 

 

We are back at Dalkeith House again, and today we will meet with the rest of the faculty and begin our orientation. There is a group of 10 students and 2 staff who are coming from the UW system specifically for a week of the Fringe Festival, which is a course the students will take, and an event that will warrent a posting all its own.  The fall semester students will begin to arrive next week as well, with classes starting on the 17th.

I have an appointment with the Jewel and Esk college in Edinburgh on Friday (the 12th) to meet a director there to begin looking for ways to make connections for our WITC students in the future. Today I will take a walk to the Jewel and Esk, Dalkeith-campus.  It was a great week-end in Aberdeen - now we're back to it.