Linlithgow Palace

Visited Linlithgow Palace over the weekend.  The main impetus for this was that Grandie #3 has been acting as a Palace Guide during the summer holidays. (She is the one in red.) This was her last weekend of the summer, schools start again this week.

HBTW and I enjoy tours of stately homes, castles and gardens, so this was a double pleasure. The two “Ladies” dressed in period costumes expertly led us round the Palace showing us special places of interest. Their narrative enlivened cold stones with tales of a fountain that flowed with wine and statues destroyed in fits of religious temper. My photos of the palace are not as extensive as usual for such a tour, I was too busy imagining myself living in those times of long ago. That proves the girls were good at their tasks. Not easy to keep a group of around twenty to thirty people entertained.

The ruin is owned by Historic Scotland and you can see an excellent picture here. Such a perspective can only be obtained from the middle of the adjoining loch. I contented myself with trying for some unusual angles of windows and so forth. The one on the right here looks out onto the car park and the nearby church of St Michael’s where the Royal Family would worship on Sundays.

Much of the palace is a ruin, but sections have been restored so that the visitor gets a real feel for the scale and grandeur of the whole. Being a Historic Scotland property they make full use of all facilities, organising events and weddings throughout the year.

The guides told us that this window would originally have different colours of glass which would have made spectacular rainbow patterns on the floor. An “alehouse keeper” met us in the dining hall and kitchen quarters. She had everyone laughing and being pleased not to have been a servant in those far off days. Some of their habits left a lot to be desired. (Especially the annual bath shared by all the inhabitants from king to kitchen-boy.)

This History of Scotland for Children was an excellent find. It sets out the broad themes with sweeping strokes that make Scottish History make more sense to me than it ever has before. Previously, my understanding has been based around Church History. Too much detail obscures the events that have shaped the course of our progress. I’ve also bought an Illustrated History for adults – that’s for “grown-up” days when I feel able to ingest more facts.