Imagine yourself in a class about Medieval Castles, and part of that class is to go on a field trip. Remind you, St. Andrew's has its own really cool castle (I have not been yet, but will be going soon), but we did not go there. The field trip started at 9 and went to 5 pm. So a whole day. We besieged and charged 4 castles that day. The first to fall was Ravenscraig in Kirkcaldy.
On the left is Dr. Michael Brown. Brilliant man! Knows his castles.
The castle sits on the coast looking into the ocean and was quite beautiful. There was not much to explore. You walk across a ditch via bridge and walk through the gatehouse and enter into the yard where the later two pictures were taken. We were here for a short time. Dr. Brown said that the castle was owned soon after its construction by the St. Clair family. The same family who owned and built Rosslyn Chapel near Edinburgh. I was the only one who had been to the church to see the similarities. I then had a short conversation with Brown about that connection with the two buildings.
The next castle to fall was Aberdour. The castle is really hard to date. There are buildings from the 14th - 17th century. The progression works from one side to the other. I did not like the new stuff (the purist part of me) so there are not many pictures of it.
The newer buildings are on the left
The great tower donjon
Following the fall of Aberdour, the next to fall was that of the mighty royal palace of Linlithgow. The palace was huge. Probably 15th to 17th century. I can't remember. I was just excited to be seeing so many castles in one day. This was the home and court of King James V. The rooms showed a clear progression from the courtyard, to the great hall and kitchen. Behind the great hall was the chapel and beyond that the private residences of the the lord. Castles were designed to have different waiting areas according to your status and relation to the lord/king. The flow of the castle supports this idea.
Above the main gate (new gate) are the crests and heraldic symbols of the progression of kings inhabiting Linlithgow Palace.
The connecting chruch. It was pretty, but there was a wedding inside so I could not get in. It had a weird silver spiky top that is very modern and not old.
Here was the original door into the palace (not a castle). There is a difference. Ask me when I get home and I can tell you sometime. Anyway, as you can see the door is pretty high up the wall. In its use, the door would have connected to a bridge that would be touching the ground. It allowed for a grand approach into the castle. Gave visitors a chance to marvel at the massive size of the palace.
I just like this pic
Do you see the trusses on the right side of the palace? Those are not for holding up the wall. They are original to the castle. On top and around them would have been a facade of a large gatehouse that looked impressive, but really served no purpose. It had not defensive value. It was all for show. I just finished and essay about 13th century castles and how they were used as a symbol of status in the hierarchy of power.
Ahhhhhh
The great hall. It had a roof. It was made of wood, so it obviously does not last.
View from an upper window into the main courtyard area. Lots of rooms!
The last castle to be taken, I was the most excited for. I did my research and found out stuff about the castle. After my research had been taken, I knew that taking the castle would be difficult. The French taunting would be daunting. I will just say that the castle was from a famous, fabulous movie. I will post some pictures and see if you can guess what movie. I will post pictures from the movie, then my own. They are not exactly the same, but you can see that it is indeed the same place.
"Are you suggesting Coconuts migrate"
Different angle, but the same
"Run Away"
You can see the squared tower on the right had side of each pic. This is where the french taunted Arthur and his knights and threw livestock at them.
Herberts window in Swamp Castle
It's a little dark, but I am sure its the same window
"Were knights of the Round Table"
"Camelot is a silly place"
Lancelot and the wedding slaughter
You can tell by the stairs and the well. Where the brave Lancelot began his rampage to save...Herbert
The door where the wedding guards where standing watching Lancelot from from a distance off
I don't have this picture, cause I did not think about getting this angle. But where the trojan rabbit is, is where the path is that gets to and from the castle
"Come Patsy" (after discussion of coconuts migrating)
Doune Castle
You just saw the undeniable truth that I have been to the site of a major portion of the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It's a great movie. It was filmed at Castle Doune near Stirling. My professor found out that I knew where all of the scenes were filmed, for when we walked into rooms, I could say what scene was filmed. Seeing the similarities only supported my claim. I was very happy to say the least.
In the year two thousand and eleven, the castles Ravenscraig, Aberdour, Linlithgow, and Doune met their fate in the Castle Chronicles
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