Inside the ruins of Linlithgow Palace. James I started building the palace in 1425. Mary Queen of Scots was born here in 1542.
I loved exploring the cavernous kitchens, distillery, and Great Hall. We were reminded that everyone, including children, drank ale since water was often unfit to drink. The kids ran up and down the steep spiral staircases looking for towers and dungeons. We found a narrow, deep hole carved into the depths of the palace. A sign said it was the prison. They dropped people down there to freeze, starve, and suffocate. Lovely.
James V built the fountain for one of his French queens, Madeline or Mary of Guise. On special occasions, it ran with red wine.
On the road again. Picnic supreme outside Stirling Castle, with views of the River Forth where William Wallace defeated the English in 1297. Braveheart country! The cannon points toward the William Wallace monument.
Inside Stirling Castle. One highlight was the Lion's Den, where James V was said to have kept a real lion, the symbol of the king of Scots.
Freedom!
1 comment:
So neat! Wow...the history.
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