We've seen so many castles this trip that Lyn remembers them by nicknames: Unicorn Castle, Nessie Castle, Boggy Folly Castle, Green Castle and Kitchen Castle. Today we saw Blair Castle; forever to be remembered as Antler Castle.
We abandoned our bothy in Aviemore a day early because bed and shower were unsatisfactory. Lyn booked a night in Pitlochry and we drove south through steady rain, admiring the mist-wrapped and snow-topped Cairngorm peaks along the way. We pulled off the highway at Bruar and Lyn discovered the eponymous luxury shopping complex there.
We retired from there still reeling from the prices and made our way to Blair Castle, traditional seat of the Dukes of Atholl. We chatted with the ladies in the entrance hall and then hurried off to hear the piper in the ballroom (a young woman).
The ballroom had magnificent acoustics. It was decorated with paintings and souvenirs from the Sudan wars. However. The dominant feature was the stag antlers, they are everywhere in the castle.
The photo below shows hunting trophies, war trophies and even a trophy wife!
Next we hurried outside to see the deer being fed.
Back inside we saw an antler chandelier and an antler chair.
There was lots of fascinating stuff but my favourite personality was the Red Duchess who earned her nickname when, after a long career of espousing worthy causes and being elected to the House of Commons, she supported the Spanish Republic against Franco and tried to warn everybody about that Hitler fellow.
Lyn just gets more and more confused by who was who, and who supported who, and why, during the Jacobite uprisings. This is hardly surprising considering the Scots, then and now, are equally confused.
We walked outside to find the sun was shining. For once we got to enjoy come gardens without rain.
In Pitlochry we ate an excellent Indian meal. We still haven't tried haggis.
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