The Burrell Collection, housed in a purpose-built gallery in Glasgow’s Pollok Country Park, is a remarkable collection of over 9,000 artworks and objects gifted to the people of Glasgow in 1944 by shipping magnate Sir William Burrell and his wife, Lady Constance. Begun in the 1870s, the collection includes objects from ancient civilisations, European art, arms and armour, tapestries, stained glass, furniture, architectural fragments and one of Europe’s most important collections of Chinese art.
Edgar Degas, The Rehearsal, c. 1874Liu Zhen, Figure of a Luohan, c. 1484
The collection was in storage for many years because Sir William’s stipulations about how it should be housed and displayed made finding a suitable venue difficult. He insisted on a countryside setting to protect the objects from the air pollution of Victorian Glasgow’s heavy industry but he also wanted it to be easily accessible. Finally, a new gallery was designed and built in Pollok Country Park to the south of the city and opened in 1983. Since then, a major refurbishment has increased the amount of space for displaying the collection by opening new areas of the building to the public. A great way to find out more about the collection is to join one of the free guided tours. The guide on my recent visit was knowledgeable about the man behind the collection as well as the artworks themselves so that I left with a better understanding of how Sir William approached collecting and why he gifted the lot to his native city.
The picturesque Fife village of Falkland is dominated by the Renaissance palace that shares its name. The palace and gardens are managed by the National Trust for Scotland and make a great destination for a day out from Tigh a’ Mhaide. The palace was a favourite royal playground where Scotland’s kings and queens hunted and relaxed. More recently, the palace and Falkland village featured in the TV series Outlander, standing in for Inverness.
The medieval castle that preceded the palace at Falkland was a stronghold of the earls of Fife. It became the property of the Scottish crown in 1425 when Murdoch Stewart, earl of Fife at the time, was arrested, tried and executed for involvement in the gruesome murder of the heir to the throne. The murder victim was David, duke of Rothesay, who was thought to have been starved to death at Falkland by Murdoch’s father, Robert.
This summer was my first opportunity to visit the new lookout tower at Loch Katrine. I had the good fortune to be there on a beautiful day and it was well worth the short climb to the top. Built on three levels with information boards on the lower two and an open platform at the top for looking out over the loch and surrounding hills, the tower is near a viewpoint favoured by generations of visitors to Loch Katrine.
The tower is named after Roderick Dhu*, the fictional clan chief in the 1810 poem The Lady of the Lake written by Sir Walter Scott and often credited with starting tourism to Loch Katrine and The Trossachs. The tower stands on the site of a wicker hut built to shelter early tourists and intended to encourage artists and writers to visit and be inspired by the landscape.
A visit to the Library of Innerpeffray, near the Perthshire town of Crieff, is a must for history and book lovers. Founded around 1680 by David Drummond, third Lord Madertie, it is the oldest public lending library in Scotland. The library initially comprised Drummond’s personal collection of books which he stored in the 16th-century St Mary’s Chapel and made available to local people to borrow free of charge.
The original library was housed in St Mary’s Chapel (left) before moving to its current home in the purpose-built, adjacent building (centre).
In the mid-1700s, Robert Hay Drummond commissioned a new building for the library adjacent to the chapel and the books are housed there still. On a recent visit, we were greeted as we arrived by Lara Haggerty, Keeper of the Books, who explained the origins of the library, its expansion into the current building and some of the highlights of the collection. Before we started the tour, we got to choose a souvenir bookmark featuring woodcut illustrations from some of the collection’s 16th and 17th century books, and emboss it with the library’s stamp.
Silversmith Darren Rice makes Celtic-inspired jewellery at his workshop in rural Perthshire. Nestled in the hills near Balquhidder, Darren’s workshop at Immeroin is a beautiful old stone building with space for two people at a time to make their own silver rings in a half-day workshop.
The workshop at Immeroin Farm is in a quiet, rural location.
I was fortunate enough to be the only person at my ring-making workshop so I had Darren’s undivided attention. When I arrived we discussed whether I had a style in mind (I didn’t) and he showed me a comprehensive range of silver strips from which to choose the material for my ring. He suggested different designs I could try and measured an existing ring to make sure that my finished product would be the right size.
Darren’s workshop has two stations for visiting ring makers.
I choose to attempt a double-layered ring. To start, Darren showed me how to cut strips of the right length from two different widths of silver. We then moved to decorating the narrower strip and fixing it to the wider band before bending the resulting silver ‘sandwich’ it into a ring shape. Polishing the seam was a challenge and I didn’t quite manage the invisible join of a professional silversmith but under Darren’s guidance I achieved a respectable finish. Another stage in the process was to put the ring in a polishing bath from which it emerged shiny and sparkling, and looking far more professional than I had expected.
Darren checks my handiwork.My finished ring.
This was a thoroughly enjoyable way to spend an afternoon, learning a new skill and finding out more about the inspirations behind Darren’s own jewellery. Darren was an informative and encouraging teacher and it was fascinating to hear about his work. You can find out more about his workshops on his website: https://www.darrenrice.co.uk/product/silver-ring-making-workshop/. Darren also runs ‘Make your own wedding rings’ workshops for engaged couples.
Today marks the 334th anniversary of the Battle of Killiecrankie. It was fought on July 27, 1689 between Jacobite forces led by John Graham of Claverhouse, first viscount Dundee* and government troops under Major-General Hugh Mackay. The battle was part of the Highland War that followed the overthrow of the Catholic king James VII of Scotland and II of England in favour of Protestant William of Orange and his wife Mary (James’s elder daughter). Heavily outnumbered, the Jacobite forces achieved an unexpected victory in the short battle that evening but Dundee was shot dead in the final stages. Without Dundee, the Jacobites were unable to replicate their success and were defeated the following month at Dunkeld, and although a fierce campaign of raid and counter-raid followed, the war ended in a truce in the summer of 1691.
The Battle of Killiecrankie was the first major action in Scotland between supporters of the ousted King James (the Jacobites) and William of Orange’s army. Near the battle site, at the northern end of the Pass of Killiecrankie, a National Trust for Scotland visitor centre summarises the story. The main action took place about a mile from the visitor centre, across what is now the A9 main road from Perth to Inverness, but the narrow, deep gorge of the pass played an important role in the battle too as government soldiers advanced along it then fled back the same way, pursued by their Jacobite opponents.
Imagine making this leap with enemy soldiers hot on your heels.
The river flowing through the Pass of Killiecrankie is the Garry and there are several riverside walks along the gorge which make for a lovely afternoon out amidst beautiful scenery. The pass is also a rich wildlife habitat and the National Trust has plenty of information at the visitor centre and along the routes about its conservation work.
About two-thirds of the way along the pass, a green, metal footbridge spans the river. Looking north up the pass, the drop to the gorge floor seems huge but, turning to the south, the road bridge is even higher, emphasising the sheer depth of the pass.
The footbridge across the Garry pictured from the road bridge.The River Garry road bridge is over 130 feet above the gorge floor.
The height of the road bridge above the gorge means adventurous folk can hurl themselves off a platform slung below it towards the river, 132 feet below, on the end of a rope. Bungee jumping isn’t for me but when I passed yesterday, there were several people leaping into the abyss and a small audience had gathered on the riverside to watch. In the same area, is a course of nine zip lines through the trees and across the river, so if physical thrills are your thing Killiecrankie is a good place to go.
The southern end of the pass broadens out towards the confluence of the rivers Garry and Tummel. Close to this junction are the waterfalls at Linn of Tummel. These are well worth a visit. Queen Victoria clearly thought so as there is an obelisk nearby commemorating her visit to the spot in 1844. (Is there anywhere she didn’t visit?) The walk to the falls passes under the road bridge and continues along the western river bank. There are plenty of places where you can get right down to the water and yesterday paddle boarders, canoeists and swimmers were making the most of ready access to the water from extensive pebble beaches.
The falls at Linn of Tummel.
* John Graham was only around 40 when he was killed at Killiecrankie. He had served in the military since his early 20s and was recognised as a skilled leader. His relative youth and handsome face earned him the nickname Bonnie Dundee in some quarters. However, others remember him as Bluidy Clavers because of his violent suppression of covenanters in south-west Scotland. But that’s another story.
Is this your new site? Log in to activate admin features and dismiss this message
Tigh a' Mhaide 