This beautiful nonfiction book shows off some of the castles in Scotland. The castles reflect the history of Scotland and its many conflicts, and the architecture demonstrates the need to both control a population and protect against rebellion and invaders.
All those fairytales of long ago times and lands full of castles and knights in shining armor, or J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, even cartoons like, “Frozen,” “Brave” and “Tangled” show wonderful castles and the lives lived within such wondrous walls. When I think of castles though I love Lichtenstein Castle and of course Sleeping Beauty’s Castle, I am drawn to the castles of Scotland. All the great stories associated with Edinborough Castle, and until I read this book I had never heard Edinborough Castle is actually built on an extinct volcano! And the location it stands on is known as Castle Rock, hmmm, is that ominous fortress sitting atop a volcano inspiration for Stephan King’s often cited location? I wonder. I think of Scotland as a small country but you learn in this book that Scotland is home to over 1,000 castles, some in ruins some still being used as private residences (an image of Sting with a crown comes to mind – still the U.K.). Cawdor Castle which just reeks, Macbeth as does Glamis Castle o.k. witches was he the thane of Cawdor or Glamis or both? Reveal! Scotland’s moors and castles just cry out for ghostly tales and the glories of Kings and warriors, the struggles tragic and heroic of highlanders and lowlanders the battles of Culloden, Mulroy and all bare witness to the heart of Scots willing to do what it takes to hold Scotland under Scot rule. Hat tip to Flora MacDonald for aiding Bonnie Prince Charlie, it was a valiant effort. This book is so readable you won’t want to put it down and you will be dreaming of walks among the heather at Eilean Donan Castle and the storybook looking Inveraray Castle. I have to give a shout out to the nuevos architecture of Blair Castle. Very clean, very modern black and white storybook castle. Lovely. To live in a castle happily ever after? Maybe if you had enough tartans to cover the walls to keep the cold out, but, then castles are the stuff of legends and fairytales afterall and Scotland’s castles stand tall against all others. Thank you, Marc Alexander for enlightening your readers with all those juicy tidbits.
No comments:
Post a Comment