Scottish Highlands – Day 7

Scottish sheep farm

Today started out with a promise.  We were on out way to visit a shepherd!  If you’ve been reading my  blog with any regularity, you’ll have noticed my fascination with farms and people who run them and keep some kind of animals for food and profit.  Though this particular stop was an optional excursion, in retrospect, this was absolutely, hands-down, the best part of the guided tour (yes, even better than seeing the Magna Carta).

Dogs herding sheep

This man has 33 dogs, all of which he trains himself.  He has special whistles and verbal command and each dog has some commands that are unique to that dog.  Oh those dogs!  They’re so well-trained, and so well-behaved!  When the shepherd told the dog to “go to the left”, the dog did, but then he turned, and the dog still stayed on his left, even though it was a half mile away.  He is the reference point for the dog.

Dogs herding sheep

At one point, he showed us how these amazing dogs really do their thing.  He had the dogs lie down in a row with some distance between each other (see picture).  Then, another dog herded a bunch of sheep through the dogs that were laying down.  They veered left and they veered right, and the dog ran circles around them.  The dogs that were laying down, stayed down.  Just an amazing display of discipline and training.

Sheep herding dog

This was the most fascinating thing I’ve seen on this trip.  It felt like these dogs weren’t dogs but actual partners in sheep herding who knew their role and could understand what the shepherd was saying.  And the scenery was just stunning too.  Just look!  As you can see, the nasty weather of the previous day has receded and graced us with a very pleasant day.  I totally and completely fell in love with Scotland.  How could I not?

Sheep being shorn

We were also shown how to shear a sheep and some of us actually gave it a try (though I opted just to pet the newly-sheared sheep).  The shepherd told us that it takes him an average of two minutes to shear a sheep and that he needs to do it twice a year.  And please don’t tell me that this is cruel.  The sheep happily bounced off to join the rest of the flock after being shorn.  The sheep didn’t need to be held down in any manner.  It just pretty much stayed in the position the shepherd arranged it in.  Check out the dog sitting and waiting patiently for his next instructions.  And I think the sheep would suffer more if they weren’t shorn regularly; they’d get too hot during summer.

Sheared Sheep

He prefers using shears (as in the photo) during the fall because the sheep get to keep more of the wool versus working with an electric shears which cut more of the wool, thus not leaving enough of it for winter.  And if the sheep don’t have enough wool during winter, they can freeze.  But in the warmer months (late sprint/summer) he uses the electric shears since he doesn’t have to worry about leaving enough wool on the sheep for cold weather.

Sheep being shorn

And if seeing sheep all over the place leads you to make an assumption that there would be plenty of wool in Scotland, you would be disappointed.  We were also informed that it it costs about a pound to shear a sheep (I’m guessing in time rather than actual wages) and he can only sell it for about 20 pence in Scotland.  So, that’s why it’s really hard to find Scottish wool in Scotland and when you do, your eyes climb on top of your head when you see the price.

Blair Castle

Blair Castle - Outside

After the magical visit at the farm, we were hurried off to our next stop, an “optional” excursion to the Blair Castle.  I was pretty excited since it’s the first castle on this tour, which is quite a departure from another trip I took where one of the fellow travelers referred to as “the ABC of European travel; Another Bloody Castle”.  Here, I learned that the castle is owned by the Duke of Atholl and he lives in South Africa.  I also learned that he is the only person in GB, in addition to the Queen, who can legally have an army, and does.  It was some fluke that granted him that power during a war a few hundred years ago, and this power to have an army was never revoked.

Arms Hall at Blair Castle

Arms Hall at Blair Castle

One of the more recent Dukes added this entry hall and decorated it with antique arms which a previous Duke collected and kept in storage.  I found the display and arrangement of various arms and war implements utterly fascinating.  The rifles didn’t look like rifles when arranged in a circle as they were and the bayonets didn’t look like horrific killing instruments when arranged in a star pattern.

Antler Hallway at Blair Castle

This “Antler Hall” as I call it was a little creepy.  And really long.  Just take a look!

Don’t get me wrong, I find absolutely nothing wrong with hunting, especially if the animal is then used for its parts (food, leather goods, etc.) but there was just something surreal and creepy about this hallway.  Maybe it was the anachronistic “Exit” sign among all the antlers, maybe it was the skulls which reminded me of Georgia O’Keeffe’s paintings which would seem so out of place here, maybe it was that I was trying to sneak a photo when I wasn’t supposed to, maybe it was the way the antlers looked, like gnarled fingers of a giant reaching down to ensnare me, maybe it was something else.

Bathroon at Blair Castle

One of the rooms I found very interesting was the bathroom.  This one was really a large room with a bath and other necessities.  I’m always curious about the practical, daily living accommodations people had in centuries past.  Based on this “ancient” bath, I realized that things haven’t changed too drastically for the Brits.  Do you see that sink in the middle of the photo?  Do you see that it has two faucets?  A faucet for cold water and a faucet for hot water?  Well, looks like many establishments in the UK have not upgraded their sinks since the 1800s since I saw more of these faucets than the ones I’m used to in America, you know, where there’s one faucet and two knobs and the water mixes before it reaches your hands. (Though, I do know of a couple who has one of these old-fashioned faucets, but that’s because a modern one wouldn’t fit.)

China Room at Blair Castle

When I walked into the China Room (as I call it, since I can’t remember what it was actually called, but it seems apropos), my heart skipped a beat.  All this beautiful china, wall to wall, floor to ceiling.  All sizes and shapes and purposes and designs…  Makes a foodie salivate…  Just look at it!  A room just for dishes!  I can fit my whole kitchen in this room about 4 times!  Oh, they also had absolutely stunning antique lace in this room too.  But it was so delicate that I was afraid to take a photo.  I was afraid to breath near it.  Some of it was truly a work of art, created by extremely skillful hands.  Some were so intricate and delicate that they reminded me of a spider’s web.

Peacock at Blair Castle

The castle also has a few outdoor places to check out, like a sculpture garden, deer, a zoo, and other places.  But of course, we didn’t have time for these.  The only thing we saw this peacock which kept pecking at the bus.  The bus was shiny so it kept looking at his reflection and kept pecking at it.  This guy was just sauntering through the parking lot.  (You can tell that it’s a “boy” because he is colorful and during mating season would display his tail feathers.  “Girl” peacocks are shades of brown.) Oh, and as we were leaving, we saw a TV crew walking all around.  Turns out, they were setting up to film Antique Road Show.  I think it’s supposed to air sometime in 2011.

Highland Cows

I hope you dear reader are not surprised that I have a picture of cattle here.  These are Highland Cows, which we here in Wisconsin certainly don’t have.  It took us about three days of asking the tour guide to stop the next time we spotted these.  Many of us wanted to see these animals up close.  These were right outside Blair Castle, so we made a 7-minute stop (yes, I timed it).  Check out the “bangs” and a shorter, smooshed-in face.  Oh, and cows and bulls have horns, not just the bulls.  I think that’s what we were told.

Tree in cemetary

After the quick little stop to check out the cows, we stopped at a town, whose name escapes me now, for a quick stop.  Here too, I decided to take the opportunity to walk around and check out the sites.  The cute little town, and granted, most towns here were cute and little, was great.  One of the pretties trees that I found was in the cemetery.  But I’m also fascinated by ancient headstones.  Check out how straight these still are and the tree is just like a chandelier with rubies and emeralds.  After a brief “lunch” stop in this town were were on our way to St. Andrews.

18th Hole on Golf Course at St. Andrews

Apparently, this is the 18th hole of the golf course where golf was invented, in St. Andrews.  Yay.  Yawn.  I’m not a golfer, so this 40-minute stop felt like a complete waste of time to me.  Though, it gave me the opportunity to purchase a souvenir for a friend who is an avid golfer.  She would have enjoyed this so infinitely more than I did.  Not only did we not have enough time to explore the ruins not far from the where the bus stopped, but didn’t even have time to check out the town.  This golf club had a very interesting collection of cars in the little parking lot that we walked through.  There was a Bentley, an Astin Martin, a few Mercedes Benzes and Audis.

Torpichen Inn, Scottland

Traditional Scottish Sword Dance

For dinner, we went to Torphichen Inn, where we got a “Scottish Show”.  That essentially amounted to mediocre food, and I’m being generous, and a guy playing the bagpipes.  In the middle of dinner, his daughter and her friend came out and danced a few danced that looked very similar to Irish dancing.  I gotta say that the girls looked very cute and danced very well, even though they had to get home early since it was a school night.  The first dance the girls danced was called the “Sword Dance” and I don’t remember the name of the second dance.