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Stay
in a Castle
Although
rooms in castles may be in short supply, there is almost no
end to the variety on offer. Some are in very smart hotels trying
hard not to engulf the old tower house and Great Hall; some
are in slightly scruffy private homes where they only occasionally
take in paying guests and you constantly trip over the dog.
Most have four-poster beds. All have ghosts.
Some can only
be taken over en bloc and fully staffed for a weekend or more
(ideal for serious 40th birthday parties); some only have 1
or 2 bedrooms available. Most have narrow stairs and advise
you against very large suitcases. Some have self-catering apartments
within them; some can be taken piecemeal on a self-catering
basis or with local caterers recommended. All have roaring log
fires.
Some have good
deals with the local golf club; some will drag you out on a
winter's morning to sit for geese. Some are close to airports;
some are on islands; some are three hours drive from a motorway.
Some have been slept in by Bonnie Prince Charlie; some by Mary
Queen of Scots (few by both). Most will give you a conducted
tour.
In some you dine
with the laird; in some the laird lives quietly in the stable
block and may easily be confused with the gardener. In some
everyone dines together in the Great Hall (this is normally
a treat but occasionally a trial); in others you may dine in
solitary splendour. All in all, you take your pick!
What
about Conferences, Seminars, etc.?
Scottish Castle owners are increasingly alert to the opportunities
presented by companies that need a relaxed environment for strategic
thinking, brainstorming, mind-bending or just a bit of fun and
self-congratulation. If you would like to have clay pigeon shooting,
off road driving, or team-building exercises laid on, this can
easily be arranged. We can also arrange a meet and greet service
at the airport, coach transfer and a programme for partners
if required.
And
just what is a Scottish Castle....?
The earliest Scottish castles (like that stormed by Wallace
in the early scenes of 'Braveheart') were built of wood. Unsurprisingly,
none of these have survived, but a few of the stone buildings
that replaced them in the late 13th and 14th centuries are in
our portfolio, castles not so much of kings, but of earls, thanes,
clan chiefs and other powerful families.
Built before
the age of effective cannons, these early castles were known
appropriately as 'tower houses', and typically relied on thick
walls, small windows and a discardable wooden stair leading
to a first floor entrance for their defence. A sentry walk on
the battlements afforded ample provision for dropping discouragement
on attackers.
This design
was not significantly altered until the 16th century when Progress
prompted new openings at low level (known as loop holes) for
hi-tech cannons to poke through and keep attackers at a comfortable
distance; defenders keen to retain a sense of hearing similarly
kept their distance if possible. Soon afterwards, new castles
were dispensing with the traditional battlements and all the
turrets and decoration still included round the roof were partly
for look-outs, mostly for show.
Within a hundred
years, though, at the time of The Scottish Enlightenment, Scottish
upper classes were feeling it was rather 'brutish' to live in
a castle so obviously built for more barbaric times. Elegant
living, English style, was where it was at now. And so, loop
holes were blocked up, windows enlarged, ground floor entrances
created, and many castles were re-christened as houses. At this
time many elegant Georgian mansions were also built - and were
generally much more comfortable to live in than the old castles.
Queen
Victoria
This really concludes our brief history of the Scottish Castle,
but there is an important Epilogue. In 1842 Queen Victoria and
Prince Albert visited Scotland. And to everyone's amazement,
they liked it. So much so that they later bought the 'pretty
little castle' of Balmoral by the River Dee. When the Queen
began to visit Deeside each summer, many nobles, courtiers (and
prosperous mill owners from Lancashire), all of whom had until
now shunned Scotland, decided that they too should have a Scottish
residence.
However there
were insufficient 'pretty little castles' to go round, so the
incomers erected baronial shooting lodges in the glens and christened
them castles. Then in the early years of the 20th century, rampaging
dry rot or an aversion to blood sports prompted many third generation
owners to sell on, mostly to hoteliers. And so it is that the
Highlands is littered with much-turretted Victorian residences
calling themselves castles. Many are now wonderful hotels, but
they are not, in our (rather strict) terms, Scottish Castles.
So, please note
that when we talk about a Scottish Castle, we refer to a building
of the 15th to early 18th century, and not to a Victorian Shooting
Lodge.
