Arcadia Scotland

Our trip started with a visit to the Hermitage just outside Dunkeld where the 3rd Earl of Breadalbane created a hall and cave in 1760 where he advertised unsuccessfully for a hermit. Fortunately none of our students took up the offer! This cave was dedicated to the fictional Ossian son of the Irish Finn McCool. Ossian and his associated history was invented by the poet James Macpherson in 1760.

We then visited Dunkeld cathedral. The history of Dunkeld can be traced to the ninth century when it emerged as an important religious centre for the early Celtic Church and may have held the relics of St Columba. No building of this period survives, the present Cathedral dates from 1318. It also houses a memorial to Niel Gow (1727-1807). He was the most famous Scottish fiddler and 'dancie' (travelling dance instructor and bard) of the eighteenth century.

Afterwards we had some free time to explore the beautiful and historic town. In the 9th Century, Kenneth MacAlpin, the first King of Scots, made Dunkeld head of the Celtic Church and capital of the newly-formed nation created by the union of the Scots and the Picts rather loosely illustrated by the film Brave and the surrounding area offers the setting for Shakespeare’s Macbeth.

In the afternoon we travelled to Perth where we visited Huntingtower castle formally owned by the Ruthven family. The 3rd Lord of Ruthven conspired to murder Mary Queen of Scots private secretary David Rizzio (an accomplished musician and singer) in 1566 with her jealous husband Lord Darnley. The Ruthven family lost the castle after various attempts to control the kingdom including a kidnapping of King James VI in 1582.

After dinner and exploring the town of Perth we met up at the Perth Concert Hall to watch the Scottish Fiddle Orchestra. The Scottish Fiddle Orchestra is one of Scotland’s foremost traditional music organisations. The Orchestra was formed in 1980, deriving its origins from Fiddlers’ Rallies which were – and are – held throughout the country. After one of these Rallies, a group of enthusiasts met to consider the formation of an orchestra which would draw its members from a’ the airts and would form a cohesive, vigorously rehearsed group of musicians.

On the Sunday morning we visited Dunnottar Castle, a romantic, evocative and historically significant ruin perched on a giant cliff on the edge of the North-Sea. During the 9th Century King Donald II was killed defending Dunnottar Castle from a Viking invasion. However his death was in vain and the Vikings seized and destroyed the Castle. In the 12th Century Dunnottar Castle became a Catholic settlement with the first stone chapel being consecrated in 1276. According to "Blind Harry", a 15th Century poet, whose epic poem was an inspiration for the 1996 film Braveheart, William Wallace set fire to this chapel with a garrison of English soldiers taking refuge inside. The current chapel was built in the 16th Century. The waves crashing onto the beach below the castle offered their own rhythm.

In the afternoon, after lunch in Broughty Ferry, we continued on to Dundee to visit The Royal Research Ship (RRS) Discovery, which was the first vessel to be constructed specifically for scientific research. Originally based on the great Dundee whalers, modifications were made for the epic Antarctic expedition as well as the last three-masked ships to be constructed in Britain.

It is said that hornpipe as a dance began around the 16th century on English and Scottish sailing vessels. Movements were those familiar to sailors of that time: "looking out to sea" with the right hand to the forehead, then the left, lurching as in heavy weather, and giving the occasional rhythmic tug to their breeches both fore and aft. I had the pleasure of playing a few hornpipes on the fiddle in the officers' wardroom. 

All in all a very enjoyable weekend (many thanks also to Abby Westover (Harvard University studying at the University of Edinburgh) for providing many of the photos she took on the trip)!