I popped into Dundee quickly: it's a twenty minute drive from St.Andrews over the (free) Tay bridge. Dundee has its tourist attractions, but the only one that even vaguely attracted me was the boiled-sweet factory in Dundee north. I had two reasons for visiting: firstly to spend an afternoon in Borders (and I thank them for letting me read stuff), and secondly to see the statue of Minnie The Minx, who I loved reading in The Beano when I was a child. Minnie first appeared in the Beano in 1953, and a "minx" is apparently a flirtatious woman, which Minnie is totally not, but clearly they liked the sound so the name stuck. The Beano, the Dandy and the Commando comics were published by Dundee-based company D.C.Thomson &Co., whose proprietor David Coupar Thomson refused to employ catholics. The Beano and the Dandy were both started in the 1930's and Commando began in 1961, the year the Berlin Wall was erected.
So I said hello to Minnie, and that's it for Dundee and me.
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North of Dundee one can find Glamis Castle, which I thought I would visit mainly because it was the central location for Shakespeare's Macbeth. Although I didn't visit Sterling Castle, I hope that Glamis castle is better, and it's the first Scottish castle I visited on this trip.
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I don't know how much I need to say about Macbeth, however. It's one of his more famous plays, and it is a masterpiece of evocative language and frightening ideas. I rather assume that all British people know it already. A bit of knowledge of Scottish history seems to explain the creation of the play. As I've already noted elsewhere, James VI of Scotland inheirited the crown of England when Queen Elizabeth passed away in 1603.
King James had a great thing about witchcraft, and wrote a book "Demonologie" (1597) explaining how their evil operated, six years before becoming king of Great Britain. By Act of (Scottish) Parliament in 1563, witches and consulters of witches were to be put to death. The last witch was executed under this law in 1727, and the law was repealed in 1736.
Scholars date the writing of Macbeth to 1603-1606, so it's pretty clear that it was written as a gesture of recognition and acceptance of the new King: it's about Scottish kings and their right of accession, set in Scottish Castles, and involving James's favourite subject the evil of witches. It's important to realize however that the play is fictitious, and the phrase used to describe it is "historially inaccurate", but there does seem to be some basis on true facts. King Duncan I seems to have ruled from 1034 to 1040, dying in battle, and was succeeded by Macbeth who ruled from 1040 to 1057. King Malcolm II was murdered in Glamis in 1034, however, which is something the current administration of the castle were denying. Are they are clearly trying to distance themselves from the macabre legend of Shakespeare's play because they don't want to frighten away the tourists?!
I don't know how to begin describing the tour of Glamis Castle. You aren't allowed to wander around on your own because the furnishings are too valuable, so you are always being watched by security cameras and castle staff. That's something I am willing to tolerate I suppose. During the guided tour you visit several rooms like the dining-room, parlour, bedrooms, billiard-room, armoury and so forth and you are shown a dazzling collection of old stuff. Do you want me to list it all? there are tapestries, statues, paintings, leather screens, china, bearskins, suits of armour, swords, trophies of African hunting trips like impala horns and stuffed animal heads, cabinets and furniture. It would be silly for me to attempt to catalogue it all, particularly as they don't allow you to photograph anything during the tour.
They are pleased to point out on the tour that no part of the building existed in 1060 when Macbeth lived.
It probably costs an awful lot of money to maintain a place like Glamis Castle, and you really need to own a large supermarket chain in order to fund it. The items chronically need restoring and mending. For example, the lead in a stained-glass window will warp and crack the glass, so it needs to be replaced every century. The paint on the paintings will crack and fade. The roof will leak and the premiums for insurance against fire, damage and theft will be enormous. I mean, my Figaro is not yet twenty years old, and it's an effort to keep it running. To keep the castle in good condition must be an expensive and full-time job. So to aid their funds I had a deliberate lunch in their canteen, which served up some very pleasant bangers and mash.
The Queen mother spent her childhood here, between the age of four and ~nineteen when she married the second son of King George V, the Duke of York. In 1936 her husband unexpectedly became king of Britain when Edward VIII abdicated. There's a 1923 photograph of the Queen Mother playing piano in the Billiard Room which was my favourite item. That was the year of her marriage, and perhaps she was sad at having to leave her childhood home.
Outside the grounds of the castle are pleasant, and it's worth strolling around. The castle is built inside a meander of the river Dean, and you can walk along the river bank and visit the Italian Garden, which is rather nice. There is a statue of James VI himself, which I took an interest in.
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