Road through Ayrshire, Snodgrass ancestral grounds

Marilyn viewing the River Annock and the land our forefathers may have worked

Parish church in Ayrshire

Rolling hills of Ayrshire to the west coast and happy lowland cattle

Our FIRST castle (Dunure) in Scotland complete with Cairn to the right

This castle still has an operational shop that sells smoked salmon to the Queen! This is where we begin to discover the fun of circular steps!

There were many great interprative signs to help us understand how people may have lived in these enormous dwellings.

View from Cardoness castle near Gate House of Fleet in southern Scotland..lots of circular staicases!

Church in Gate House of Fleet where Corey Stayed on a college trip

Dunottar Castle with mote in the evening light; Near Dumfries in the Borders (S.Scotland)

Weapons of defense on the grounds of Dunottar Castle

The road north! To the Highlands!

Hike up the hill to the rail station at Bridge of Ochy. This is where the trail for the West Highlands (like the PCT in the US) passes through and we saw some hikers coming off the trail here.

Bridge of Ochy and Hotel

Our first glimpses of the beautiful Trossachs; the landscape changed swiftly to the rugged rocks and red-brown brush of heataher not yet in bloom

Highland Cows!

Charming abandoned Croft House along the highway; the walls were 1-2feet thick!

Ullapool West Highlands; a lochside town with lots of charm!

Ardvreck Castle at the end of loch Assynt; this was taken from a nearby dwelling where a Laird lived with quite a tumultour history. This spot was one of my favorites!

Scourie B&B; most north-west stopping point of our trip. Both M and I liked Scourie alot, the proprietors had been restaurant owners in Perth and had very yummy COFFEE! And CREAM! (not to be found many places in Scotland)

Rugged highlands as we head north to the tip of NW Scotland!

Creekside on a single track road (you can see it winding along the picture border)

North West point of Scotland at seaside village of Durness

I liked the horese here...a solid stout breed

Coastal town whose industry was harvesting slate. This beach is the 'tailings' of their work from 100's of years ago.

View of Dunnet Head with lighthouse in foreground, North coast

The sign says it all...brrrr!

Amazing stacks of Duncansby cliffs off the north coast

Plusscarden Abby; one of the few working Benedictine Monestaries in Scotland. We enjoyed Monday morning services there which were in Latin and the gospel was read with wonderful Scottish Broque

A wonderful reminder that we arethe creature and God, the Creator (quoted from Job); Tapestries hanging in Plusscarden Abbey

Elgin Cathedral before heading up more STEPS! We liked all those stone corridors and circualr steps with small rooms off to the side.

Dunottar Castle built on a outcropping of rock in the Atlantic Ocean. Hundreds (we counted!) of steps to get to the main courtyard and dwellings within the walls.

Restored Great Hall with guilded gold trim in the ceiling; Lairds would put their Crest and those of other powers in the ceiling

View from an outer wall at Dunottar looking north along the coast. All the white specks are sea birds-hundreds of them!

A great find after many backroads,..a hole that circles around to a cavern used, most likely, for food storage. Marilyn is BRAVE!

View from our room over working barley farm at our B&B in Perthshire

Our first look at ancient carvings from the Picts

These carvings are a facinating mix of the various influences and superstitions of the Picts. They were overtaken around 900AD along with two other people groups to form what we know now as the Scots. So these carvings are all from earlier dates and are amazing windows into ancient history.

The carvings show the dress of the time, the animals they saw and wepons that were used

Claypotts Castle; in the very center of a residential area in Dundee. It has a unique structure that makes it easy to defend from the upper windows; it is a Z shape which allows the inhabitants to aim back toward the base of the castle without exposing themselves to being fired upon (pretty smart, huh?)

A lovely example of an English Oak door; solid, reinforced and small (makes it difficult for fully armored men to get in). Marilyn really liked these doors (just her size). Note the really cool colors of the stone.

Red phone boxes everywhere...we really liked this one with the blooming primroses alongside

Charming community church with a 3000yr old Yew Tree (to the left). This community was situated along Loch Tay nestled between hills and farmland in Perthshire. Some houses still had thatched roofs!

Real 'live' thatched roof....they are fastened on with wire mesh. I wonder how they kept them from blowing off before chicken wire??

Another sample of the rugged hills, working farms and ancient rock walls that are still in use all throughout Scotland. I really liked the countryside here.

An unexpected find after a wrong turn took us to the other side of Loch Tay...the geologic interest was everywhere, even in the riverbeds! This one had huge slabs of rock at long angles (like books that fell over on a bookshelf)

We arrive at Stirling Castle. Quite a formitable complex.

People voluenteer their time and wardrobe (these were local actors) to display period dress and paraphernalia. They also act the part so talking with them was fun.

This is the final tapestry of 5 famous panels of a story called The Hunt of the Unicorn. At Stirling Castle, you can watch professional weavers on an ENORMOUS loom as they create a replica of each of the original 5 tapestries which are on display in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (more info at wikipedia 'hunt of the unicorn')

New Lanark in south central Scotland is a milltown that once was a successful sociological experiment that influenced human rights champions for over a centruy. This is a machine used for beginning the process of making yarn and thread.

New Lanark from a rooftop garden; the mill is still powered by water and is now mostly a memorial of all the progress that was made from an industrial standpoint as well as better living and education for the working class.

Dunblane Cathedral; there was a memorial to those who served and lost their lives in battle. The picture is poor, but the feeling of statesmanship and the tremendous loss of life over the various periods of time was very strong. Some memorials, especially from WWII, brought tears to my eyes. They do make a distinction between 'clan' battles and those fought standing together as the Country of Scotland

Behind the diving wall where the Monks carry on the service. The rich color of glass, warm hughes of wood with all the carvings and beautiful stonework created a very awesome atmosphere. I can understand how a building can inspire awe and reverence and enhance the worship for our Creator.

My favorite view from Dune Castle in Perthshire; what a great mix of the ancient and modern (wind mill farm in the distance)

Beautiful stone bridges. Spring was in full bloom in Perthshire

A lovely B&B we enjoyed in Perthshire. The hospitality was exceptional and we enjoyed fellow guests from Australia

Culross town square; The most well preserved town in Scotland (1200's). This place inspires the photographer in ANYONE! Cobble streets, small colorful doorways, flowers brightning stone walls and narrow passageways beckoning a curious passerby

Culross Abbey situated on a hill in the quiet town; history seems to permeate every stone in this place

A fine example of orthodox crosses with Pictish infulende; Culross cemetary

Edinburgh (need I say more?)

Cobble street leading up to Edinburgh Castle looking out over the Firth ( I thought the care was neat)

On entering the Edinburgh Castle Gate. NEMO ME IMPUNE LACESSIT : Latin motto of the Order of the Thistle (and the Scottish Regiment of the British Army) “No one provokes me with impunity” In other words, you will not get away with irritating these guys.

This is my favorite photo: the kitty in the window is surveying his farmyard and the ocean beyond in the quaint village of Scourie (far north west corner of the Highlands) Thank you for visiting the Scotland Photos! I hope you enjoyed them. I sure did:)