Macbeth Castle Tour

So, three families wandering around Scotland looking at castles connected with Macbeth -- here are the highlights and a group shot at each (though at least one person was always missing).

Scone Palace:  best tour guides -- older women who rotated though the rooms and answered your questions.  We loved them for their blatant admiration for the family who still lived in part of the house and willingness to tell us all about the family. The queen was having lunch at the Palace the day after we visited, so one tour guide filled us in on how the grandfather was in a wheelchair and living with his daughter nearby so it wasn't clear if he would come since he couldn't properly greet the queen from his chair, and how his son was extremely shy, so the speculation was that the grandson (aged 23) would act as host.  We wanted her to call us the next day and tell us what really happened!

Scone, also had the most extensive grounds, including an impressive hedge maze and adventure playground.  Scone made the least of its connections to Macbeth, probably due to its importance as a tourist site in its own right.

Glamis Castle:  most annoying tour guide -- we had a young, Italian woman leading our guided tour of the castle and it just felt wrong to hear about a Scottish castle from somebody with such a thick non-Scottish accent.  Of course, Jamie and I, as the teachers of teens, made the most fun of her.  She told a story about a page boy who died waiting for his "h'orders" which we of course heard as hoarders, so kept saying the word to each other for the rest of the tour confusing her as to why we kept laughing.  The true low moment was when she stuck to the script obviously written by someone else since she referred a photo of the Queen Mother (who was born at Scone) as a picture that shows "how we remember our Queen."  Okay, you're Italian; she's not your queen!

Glamis had lots of lions since that was on the family crest -- I think people must give them lion things as presents (note all the lion photos below).  Their gardens were under renovation, but there were lovely woods to walk in and a sweet pet cemetery.  This castle capitalized on their Macbeth connections, even claiming that one room in the castle was where Macbeth killed Duncan, but in the play he kills the king in Inverness.

McKenna declaring herself Queen!

Cawdor Castle:  best gardens.  Although all the castles still had families living there, this castle was the only one where the family lived in the same part that was open to the public, so there was  even more family photos spread about and probably explains why the gardens were so nice.

witches' cauldron with a model of the castle inside

Salvador Dali sketch that depicts Macbeth sitting in a chair while a whirlwind comes towards him

great knot gardens

saying "Macbeth" instead of cheese

We loved touring these castles:  helping McKenna decide which would be the best one for her future wedding, testing all the zip lines at each castle, Tanya timing the obstacle course challenge at Glamis, eating in the tea rooms, making fun of the guides, snooping into the current lords' families' lives, wandering the gardens, seeing the places mentioned in Macbeth.

All Hail Thee!!

As part of our grand finale in Scotland, we, along with our friends, are touring the Macbeth castles.  Now, Macbeth never lived in any of these nor did these titles even exist in the historic Macbeth's time, but Shakespeare played fast and loose with reality to create Macbeth.  And, we enjoyed visiting the places that come up in the play. Disclaimer:  this post is about Macbeth connections to the castles; another post will be about the castles as tourist destinations.

First stop:  Scone Palace, The Crowning Place of Scottish Kings

Here is where Macbeth is crowned after killing Duncan to get the throne

MACDUFF:  He is already named, and gone to Scone
To be invested.  (II, iv)

And where Malcolm is crowned after Macduff kills Macbeth in battle

MALCOLM:  So, thanks to all at once and to each one,
Whom we invite to see us crown'd at Scone.  (V, viii)

An imposing palace where the Queen was having lunch the day after we toured it (still following us around).

Second stop:  Glamis Castle

Macbeth, at the start of the play, is thane of Glamis, but he and his wife have their eyes on more!

FIRST WITCH:  All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, thane of Glamis! (I, iii)

Now, the tour guide at Glamis showed us Duncan's chamber, a room where Macbeth killed King Duncan; however, in the play, even though Macbeth was thane of Glamis, he lived at Inverness Castle. At least according to Shakespeare, who has Duncan invite himself to visit Macbeth after the victory over Norway.

DUNCAN:   From hence to Inverness,

And bind us further to you.  (I, iv)

Third stop:  Cawdor Castle

When the witches promise Macbeth greater honors, the first is Thane of Cawdor.  Macbeth does not know that Duncan has already pledged to award him this title for his valour in the war against Norway, so when he finds out he wonders if the witches are also telling him the truth about becoming king.

SECOND WITCH:  All hail, Macbeth, hail to thee, thane of Cawdor!  (I, iii)

And this prophecy is the beginning of the end for Macbeth as it awakens his greed and ambition and sets Lady Macbeth down the path of evil and destruction hand and hand with Macbeth.


LADY MACBETH:  Glamis thou art, and Cawdor; and shalt be
What thou art promised  (I, v)

Extra Stop:  Forres

Macbeth and Duncan encounter the witches on their way to Forres, where they are to meet King Duncan.  We drove through the town of Forres after a very long ride through some beautiful mountains (the pace was slow then add in some carsick kids and the scenery started to pale), so these lines seemed very fitting.

BANQUO:  How far is't call'd to Forres?

It was great fun to seek out these Macbeth connections!  Next, I'll give you the run down of how these castles compared!!  Off to celebrate Cormac's 14th birthday and my and Liam's wedding anniversary.

Good-bye Loudon Terrace

To catch up on the past few days:

July1-3  we packed up our flat while trying to provide some entertainment for our visiting friends
July 4-6 in Perth to start tour of Macbeth castles (more on this later)


July 1
Liam's Birthday!

We spent the day sorting and packing, but managed to squeeze in some time for cake!  Our friends Kate, John, Connor and Claire arrived in the late evening, so there was lots of late night chatting for the kids and shushing from the parents.

July 2
Our friends took our boys off for a soggy walk to the Kelvingrove Museum, while Liam and I packed and cleaned some more.  The next set of friends, Tanya, Jamie, Anna and Mckenna arrived in time for dinner and some more late night silliness.

July 3
Cormac and Declan escorted everyone to the Hunterian Museum, while we again cleaned and packed the flat.  But we were done by midday, so had lunch with the gang at Mother India Cafe and then tried to go to the Cathedral, but it was closed due to the Queen's visit the next day.  Pizza and salad for dinner at Zizzi ( a great place for a party of 12!), then off to see Romeo and Juliet in Botanic Gardens.   It was a great production -- outside under a tarp (necessary due to rain throughout performance) -- set in modern times with lots of violence, many sexual references and some drug use (a little inappropriate for the under 12 set we had with us).  The actors, especially Romeo, were excellent and ended up covered in mud by the end of the play (oh yeah, and all dead of course, except for Benvolio who in this production was creepily lurking in the background of every scene watching what was going on?!?).

 July 4
We start off to Perth and our Macbeth tour.   So, good-bye Loudon Terrace, our home for six months!! And onward to the Highlands!

Scottish Immersion

It's hard to believe, but the end is in sight.  This week we go to France and Germany for ten days, then return to Scotland for a trip to Perth and Inverness (northern Scotland), then a few, final days in Glasgow and back home.  I can't imagine not being in Glasgow, but I'm sure the moment I'm back it will feel like I never left.

We're trying to eke out the most we can, so here are some of the quintessential Scottish things we've been doing as our time in Glasgow winds down.

A couple of weeks ago, our friends Simon and Marina had a history department party to say good-bye to Liam and another colleague who was working at the University of Glasgow temporarily.  Even though both Simon and Marine are transplants to Scotland, the spread at their house shows the generous hospitality extended to friends and family (as we also experienced while visiting cousins in Ireland).  Don't you want to go their next party?

sweets

savories

guests

Simon and Marina

Then on Sunday, Liam, Cormac and I went to see Macbeth.  Now, I've taught this play MANY times, but have never seen a live production of it.  This show was a little different -- Macbeth is in a mental hospital and tells the story by acting out all the parts himself in sort of a flashback style.  Although I missed the physical action and the different settings of the play, Alan Cumming surpassed himself in playing almost every part -- truly impressive acting.  Especially well-done was the use of CCTV and shadows to portray the three witches.  I also loved when the patient Macbeth asks the doctor and attendant, "When shall we three meet again?" at the beginning and end of the play.  Seeing this story of a Scottish king gone mad with ambition and hubris in Scotland with actors speaking in Scottish accents was very special!

creepy advertising poster

Also on Sunday, the whole family went to see my friend Barbara sing in the Mackintosh Choir, who performed a concert at the Mackintosh Church (described here).  The choir did a great job singing a range of numbers from "Hallelujah" (made famous by the Shrek movie) to "Ave Verum" (a Mozart hymn).  But most interesting to us was a series of traditional Scottish songs, which told the story of Charles Stuart's mid-18th century attempt to restore his father James VIII to the throne with the aid of the Jacobites (Latin for James, so James supporters).  Bonnie Prince Charlie's forces were defeated, but a legend was created.  Many of the songs expressed the loyalty and bravery the Stuarts and their supporters showed when fighting against great odds.

So, food, royalty, song, drama -- to me that's Scottish immersion, and a lot of what we will miss the most when we have to leave Scotland.  But in answer to the lyrics of the choir's encore song "Will ye no' come back again?"  I'm sure we will return some day (never mind enjoy our remaining time)!

Orchid Show with Clucky

My mom, aka Clucky (her grandmother name that came about since she has chickens), arrived on Saturday, just in time to see Cormac's performance for a theatre camp he had been attending last week at the Citizens Theatre. The performance was amazing, opening with some poses and movement that created slow motion abstract tableaux, leading into a brief, modern version of King Lear. All the teen actors did a great job expressing the emotions of Lear and his daughters through movement and words. The group had created the whole play through improv around the themes and emotions of King Lear (warms an English teacher's heart!). The lead tutor's son was finishing his dissertation on Cormac McCarthy, so he warmed to our Cormac right away!

Today, we took Clucky to the Botanics, where they were having an orchid show. We were dazzled by the variety and array of blooms. Below is just a very small sample of the gorgeous flowers we saw.

Following a great lunch at Mother India Cafe, we headed into the Kelvingrove Museum, where we were once again impressed by their eclectic and interesting collection of art, artifacts, clothes, taxidermy, tartans, furniture, jewelry, etc. You have to love a museum that has both these statues -- from Greek god to rock-n-roll king!

A circuitous return home through the university showed Clucky to be the most stalwart of walkers!

Then, just as we were dishing up dinner, our dear friends, Martin and Lesa arrived in a taxi. So, we all ate lamb curry with vegies (from the farmers' market) -- just like back in Bangor where we enjoy many meals together. Though after dinner we went out to the pubs, which does not happen back home very often (at least for us).