Around Great Britain in 30 Days: Day 11, Stirling to St. Andrews

Check out the history that surrounds Scotland’s Firth of Forth.

After seeing Edinburgh again, it is time to see the rest of Scotland. Thousands of visitors each year flock to see the two major cities in Central Scotland, Glasgow and Edinburgh, but the heart of Scotland is its epic and legendary countryside. The place is packed with attractions. In just one day, I visited two castles, an abbey and the birthplace of golf!

I started Day 11 before the sunrise in Edinburgh, making my way around the Firth of Forth (a real name) to Stirling, finally ending the day in St. Andrews. It was a rainy, stormy day of high winds which closed a few attractions. Luckily for me, I was able to visit Stirling Castle before it closed due to the weather. Tip: Always bring a wool coat (or any decent coat for that matter) to Scotland, even in September.

Stop 1: Stirling Castle

Stirling Castle is one of the most important castles in Scottish history. Rising above the landscape, the castle sits on a tall hill that overlooks the surrounding area.

Most of the castle dates from the 15th and 16th centuries, although a few bits from the 14th century remain. The area around Stirling has been important for centuries. Some legends say that a castle stood here when Kenneth MacAlpin, the first king of Scotland, besieged the area in the 9th century.

That’s a nice legend, but the first confirmed record of Stirling Castle was in 1110 when King Alexander I dedicated a chapel on the castle mount. David I, his successor, made Stirling the center of the kingdom. Stirling remained a favorite haunt of the royals from that point onward.

Major building on the castle mount started with the Stewarts in the 14th-15th centuries, who made it their principal royal center. It remained that way until the last Stewart king, James VI (James I of England). After the Stewarts left, Stirling Castle became a major military center and prison.

Today, the castle is now mainly a museum (a really awesome one at that) but it still functions as an official royal palace. The self-guided tour takes you around the centuries old castle, through the newly restored state rooms and great hall. Much work still has to be done to the castle, but it is truly a sight to be had.

Stop 2: Doune Castle

Doune Castle dates from between the 13th and 14th centuries, built in a strategic spot near Stirling. This castle has seen many a conflict: the Scottish Wars of Independence, War of the Three Kingdoms, the Jacobite Risings in the late 17th century, and probably quite a few drunk guys shooting at deer. The castle survived almost all these conflicts largely intact. But by 1800, the unused fortress fell into despair until George Stuart, 14th Earl of Moray, fixed it up in the 1880s. Thank you, George & Co.!

A typical story for many castles in Scotland, there are layers of history here but to tell you the truth, that is not why I came to this spot. I really wanted to walk through the steps of greatness…Monty Python and the Holy Grail. That’s right, it was largely filmed here at Doune!

Due to low budget, the severity of the taunting, and the National Trust of Scotland not giving them film permits, almost every castle scene was filmed at this castle, they just used different angles. (The last castle scene filmed was at Castle Stalker on the other side of Scotland.)

Stop 3: Dunfermline Abbey and Palace

On the north side of the Firth of Forth lies Dunfermline, a place of great importance to Scottish history and even American history. Here is the birthplace of the great industrialist Andrew Carnegie and the place of burial for some of the greatest kings of Scotland. Surrounded by a cemetery lies one of the stranger churches in all of Scotland, Dunfermline Abbey.

While the abbey does not seem all that strange on the outside, the church really consists of two parts. There had been an abbey here since the reign of Malcolm III of Scotland (r. 1058-93). It was the place for the important royals to be entombed. So important that David I of Scotland founded a new abbey church here in 1128. The list of royals dirt napping here is lengthy. In fact, the abbey has received more of Scotland’s royal dead than any other place in the kingdom, except Iona.

The church was royally sacked during the Scottish Reformation in 1560. However, some parts of the original abbey still remain. The long nave from the reign of King David I was repaired in 1570 and served as a parish church until the 19th century. It now serves as a grand vestibule for the parish church that now occupies the space where the original altar once stood. In 1821, a new parish church was constructed over the remains and the old chancel and transepts. Yeah, this place has had a few face lifts.

It seemed quite strange walking into the original nave with grand Romanesque pillars and then proceeding through a large door and walking into something quite different, a normal British parish church. The contrast is interesting.

In 1818, workers building the new parish church uncovered a vault that would have been located under the altar of the original abbey. They opened the vault and found something very unexpected: the bones of Robert the Bruce, who led the fight against the English in the Wars of Scottish Independence. He was again lain to rest below the pulpit in the new church.

Next door to Dunfermline Abbey are the ruins of Dunfermline Palace. A favorite haunt for many Scottish monarchs, it was the capital during the reign of Malcolm III of Scotland. During its heyday in the medieval period, two future Scottish kings were born here: David II and James I of Scotland. Royals visited here well into the 16th century. Its downfall was the Union of the Crowns in 1603, which moved the Scottish court south to London. Charles I of England was the last king to be born in the palace, and Charles II the last monarch to visit in 1650. The palace was abandoned during the Cromwell administration and was done for by 1708 when the roof was removed. All that remains today are the kitchen, the cellars and a very large wall.

Stop 4: St. Andrews

St. Andrews, the “home of golf.” The Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews teed off on May 14th, 1754, and they have more or less been playing (and running the show) ever since. The Old Course at St. Andrews might be the oldest one in the world, and definitely ranks among the most respected.

But way way before golf found a home in this town of 16,000 on the Scottish coast, the area was already buzzing with activity of a rather macabre nature. In the mid-8th century, the Pictish king Oengus I founded a monastery at St. Andrews that ostensibly held the relics of Saint Andrew himself (disciple bones were a hot item in the mid-8th century). The town of St. Andrews grew up around the monastery and eventually officially established itself in 1140.

In 1160, a huge cathedral sprang up and became an important pilgrimage site for Scottish followers that wanted to be blessed or cured of something (usually demons) at the shrine of the saint. St. Andrews grew so much due to influx of pilgrims, that it became the ecclesiastical capital of Scotland (basically Scotland’s Canterbury or like a mini-Rome in Scotland. Something like that). Saint Andrew’s cross is still the official flag of Scotland.

The religious importance of St. Andrews died off during the Scottish Reformation. In 1559, the Cathedral of St. Andrews was stripped of its altars and images and two years later it was basically abandoned! If not for golf or St. Andrews University (third oldest English speaking university and oldest in Scotland), the town might be just an ordinary Scottish town today.

I had one more stop to make for the day and it didn’t work out so well. So St. Andrews has this castle with some awesome ruins, but since it was disgusting outside the castle was closed. They did have a very interesting exhibit I wandered through.

Back to the castle. The castle was founded on a rocky promontory looking over the North Sea. There had been a castle here since the late 12th century. The castle had to be rebuilt numerous times as it changed hands between the English and the Scots during the Wars of Scottish Independence. Most of what remains was finished in about 1400. Three James of Scotland stayed within these walls, James I, James II, and James III were born here. Once the royals were done with it, the castle became a notorious prison for non-king criminals. Apparently miscreants were sent there by orders of the local bishop, especially during the Scottish Reformation. The castle was used by bishops for years later, until King William of Orange abolished the position of the Bishop of Scotland. The castle was no longer needed and soon fell into disrepair (are you seeing a pattern yet?)

The weather was terrible. That´s Scotland for you. Regardless of the rain, I was still able to explore the history of Scotland and I barely even scratched the surface. The area around the Firth of Forth is rich and deep in terms of history, from the legends of the early Kings of Scotland to the slightly-less murdery Monty Python. I recommend taking your time to check out Doune Castle and the town of St. Andrews, they made my Day 11 a lot of fun.

Check out Days 12-13 where I explore Angus and Aberdeenshire.

or 

Start at the beginning of my 30 days around Great Britain!