Rosslyn Chapel

The chapel was founded in 1446 by William St. Clair as the Collegiate Church of St. Matthew, the Chapel took 40 years to build. The beauty of its setting and the mysterious symbolism of its stonework have attracted, inspired and intrigued artists and visitors ever since.

This column was carved by an apprentice to the main stone cutter. He was trying to make a large scale of a smaller
sculpture that the builder had brought back. The sculpture went to see the original while the apprentice carved away. When the stone cutter returned he was so jealous of the beautiful work, he killed the apprentice.

You could spend days trying to READ the sculptures that are everywhere. Such a beautiful Chapel.

The intricate carvings tell so many stories. This is but one of the 7 deadly sins. This appears to be ENVY.

When Seth (Adam's son) went back to the Garden of Eden 

he was given 3 seeds. He was told to give these to Adam. 

By the time he returned, Adam had passed and he put the 3

seeds on Adam's lips. They sprouted to green vines and grew 

around his head. Not to worry if you don't remember 

reading this in the scriptures.

These young people dressed in period clothing, were actually there today telling us the story of 

Rosslyn Chapel. 

100th Anniversary of Printing of Jesus the Christ

Elder James E. Talmage of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles, compiled this book in 1905. "It is perhaps one of the most influential publications in Mormon literature. It has influenced doctrine. It has twice been used as curriculum for Priesthood meetings and is one of the few books approved for the official missionary library."





Elder Talmage used the information and insights that he had previously taught during a course of study on Jesus Christ from 1904-1906. Wouldn't you have loved to have been in that class?

"The writing began in the Salt Lake Temple just two months after the start of WWI. 'A time when faith in Christ was much needed.'"

Police in Scotland on Horseback

https://www.facebook.com/PoliceScotland/posts/516306595118431

This is a great video on the 22 horses that are used in Scotland by the police force. I just saw two of them walking together in the street among the cars. When they wanted to turn left the police officer on the left held out her left hand like she was turning and both horses made a left turn.

The police here do not carry guns. Access by the general public to firearms is tightly controlled.
The UK has the lowest rates of gun homicide in the world.

When the two patrolwomen wanted to turn left the one on the inside held out her arm in a L turn signal and off they went.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbTL5LXtUF4

This is a short clip of horses with riders patrolling Perthshire.

SCONE PALACE

Scone Palace is called the Crowning Place of Scottish Kings. They have the largest collection of of ivory in Europe
Someone has been living in Scone for over 2,000 years.

As you can see peacocks roam the 100 acres of beautifully landscaped grounds.

The drawing room in the palace used to be called the WITHDRAWING ROOM. It
was the room you withdrew to after eating in the dining room and was always
the most beautiful room in the palace. 

Scone Palace was opened in 1966 to visitors. It is still inhabited by the Murray Family and so we were not allowed to take pictures inside the palace. They have French tables and furniture dating from 1650..

The beautiful oak that abounds inside the palace is from the oak trees on the premise. It has not been stained.

This is called Moot Hill.

Notice the rise on Moot Hill. Lords of the area had to swear their loyalty to the Lord of the Manor. It was not
practical for the Lord to travel to each of the homes so they came to him. They came with their boots filled with dirt
from their land. They would empty the boots of the dirt from their land and then stand upon the dirt and swear allegiance to the Lord.

This is a replica of the Stone of Scone Destiny where 42 Scottish Kings sat upon to be crowned.
The last Scottish King was crowned here in 1651.

Inside the building on Moot Hill.

A wonderful woodland walk

You may remember the movie BELLE. She was the illegitimate mixed race daughter of William Murray's nephew. William Murray was also known at the 1st Earl of Mansfield and he adopted the daughter, Dido. When movie makers came to the palace and saw the picture of Dido Elizabeth Belle and her cousin Lady Elizabeth Murray, the movie was born. William Murray was the Lord Chief Justice of England at a time when he ruled on a case involving slavery. As a result in 1786, slavery was outlawed in Britain.

Hairy Cews. They can  withstand the cold Highland winter.

Dornoch

CLAN FEUDS

This was a wonderful beginning of the history of Dornoch. It boasts of being the only 5* museum in the HIghlands.
One of the most fun exhibits showed the  Earl of Dornoch riding off in the sunset with the head of his enemy on his
saddle. As he rode the teeth bit him and he later died of blood poisioning. So What is the morale?

These homes were built by the crofters when they had been kicked off their land by
the landowners. This occurred between 1807-1820 . More than 8,000 people
were moved fro their homes to make way for large sheep farms.
 This was called the Sutherland Clearances. You can see a variety of home styles.

This is the witches stone. The date that you cannot see says 1727 which was the last a
woman was burned for witchcraft here. Her daughter had a deformity in her hands and feet.
Janet's neighbors accused heer of making a pact with the devil of changing her daughter into a
pony and of having her shod by the devil himself. Mother and daughter were brought to the prison in
Dornoch and tried by Captain David Ross, Sheriff of Sutherland. They were found guilty and condemned
to be burned the following day. The younger woman escaped, but Janet was confused by events and she smiled at the flames and warmed herself at the very fire which was about to consume her alive.

Witches were useful scapegoats for society's ills and many ministers preached about the evil doings of witch heretics urging their congregations to report suspected persons to the Church courts. Anyone who was seen as abnormal or threatening ran the risk of being accused of witchcraft.In 1736 just 9 years after Janet Horne's death, the Witchcraft Acts
were repealed in Scotland and England.

Wouldn't you love to live in one of these cottages?

The Dornoch Cathedral 1239. Inside are 28 stained glass
windows.

Inside the Dornoch Cathedral

The church had a nave with side aisles and a tower in 1239 when
it was consecrated.

In 1570 the church was burnt during a clan battle and it was left with
only the four clusters of pillars, the tower and the quire. The church was
restored in 1616  by Sir Robert Gordon resulting inn the T shaped church
seen today.

10,000 years ago you would have been surrounded by miles of sheet ice.
The sea in front of you was a giant flowing ice-stream.  As the ice melted
the sea rose. The land below had been so badly crushed by the weight of the ice that it
took another 4,000  years to rise back to its present position and to push away the sea. Sand, pebbles and shells
were left stranded high above the water line all along this coast, sometimes for up to a mile inland.
Grass soon grew over the sand, forming the famous links or raised beach that you see in front of you.

Golf was being played on the links by the 16th century. One of the world's earliest written references to golf was made here by Sir Robert Gordon, uncle of the 13th Earl of Sutherland. In 1616 he submitted an expense account of 10 pounds and
12 pounds for My Lord's gold Clubs and golf balls. In current money that would be 2,500 pounds.

The North Sea

 

 The North Sea is a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean located between the Netherlands, Great Britain, Scandanavia, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France. AND WE WERE THERE.
The pictures below were taken from where we stayed over the weekend. It was all I could do to take my eyes off the beautiful scenery.

This beautiful rock fence was covered in ivy when the owners bought the property 4 years ago.

The inlet fills with the tide twice a day. Unfortunately we were not awake at midnight
or home at noon to see it filled. This was taken at 9am.

Kilmartin Museum

Kilmartin is a small village in Argyll and Bute Western Scotland. It has an abundance of prehistoric monuments and historical sites. In a 6 mile radius there are more than 800 prehistoric sites.

The monuments range from burial cairns, rock art to standing stones from the Neolithic and Bronze Age.

Carnasserie Castle was built from 1565-1572 as a grand residence for Bishop John Carswell. He is famous for producing the first book in Gaelic. This Celtic language is spoken in the Highlands and islands of western Scotland. It was brought from Ireland in the 5th and 6th centuries.

Entrance to Dunadd Hillfort Castle..

Dunadd Hillfort Castle was occupied in the Iron Age until 16th century. This was the site of many coronations for the
Scottish Kings.