22 - 23 June: Ceilidh, Drum Castle and Castle Fraser

The boys and I had a weekend in Westhill, while my husband was on a business trip to the United States. Saturday night the boys and I attended a ceilidh, while the extremely rainy Sunday was spent looking at castles. We decided to re-visit Drum Castle and Castle Fraser, both within 30 minutes by car.

Saturday night: Ceilidh in  Westhill

The parents of one of our oldest son's class mates had invited us to a fund-raising ceilidh (pronounced 'kay-lee'). The ceilidh is a very typical Scottish event, so we jumped at the opportunity to attend one with 'the locals'.  

We had a great night of traditional Gaelic folk music and dancing, it reminded me a little of traditional 'gammeldans' in Norway, where anyone can take part, at least in the easiest of the dances. At the ceilidh it was even easier to participate. All dances and the corresponding moves were described and shown before the music started, so this meant that even us foreigners could participate. The boys and I had a lot of fun, doing our best to remember the moves.

I have embedded a YouTube video which shows an example of ceilidh dancing at a traditional Scottish wedding, to give you an idea of what some of the dances are like.

In addition to the dancing, we were served the traditional Scottish dish 'stovies', which consists of potatoes, fat, stock, meat and minced meat. The stovies were served with oatcakes and beetroots. The dish didn't look too tempting, but it was quite nice.

In addition to the food and the dancing, there were different fund-raising activities, including games for the kids and a 'silly photo booth' where you could get dressed up with silly accessories and have your photo taken. Our boys were only too happy to help mum contribute to the fund-raising.

Sunday: Visiting castles

On the weekend of 16 - 17 February we visited both Drum Castle and Castle Fraser, but this was outside of season so we only got to see the outside. This time we went inside on self-guided tours of both castles.

Drum Castle

Drum Castle started off as a tower house, and the tower has continued to dominate the east side of the castle. The tower was designed to be impregnable in an age before artillery, and is thought to have been built in two phases, the lower part shortly after 1200, and the upper part in the years around 1300.

The castle was the home of the Irvine family from 1323 to 1975, and has been in the care of the National Trust for Scotland since 1975. Drum castle is the oldest intact building the National Trust has in its care.

A lot of the items on display in Drum castle are typical of the period, but were not necessarily in the castle when it was still a family home. It was interesting to see old tools, utensils, toys etc., but unlike the castles still on private hands, I didn't get the sense of visiting a family home. When I did my self-guided tour of the castle, I read all available information as I went from one room to the next. I think a guided tour with a knowledgeable guide would have made the visit even more interesting.

To get an impression of the interior of the castle, I recommend the virtual tour of the castle.

An educational touch to Drum Castle were boxes spread around a number of rooms in the castle, where visitors were encouraged to touch the items inside. The items could be a piece of wallpaper, a piece of woven fabric, some lace or similar. In the small box half the item was covered by glass and could not be touched, the other half was for visitors to touch. The result was that half the item was very worn, while the untouched part was still fine. I thought this was a very nice and efficient way of showing the consequence of many people touching furniture or other items in the castle.

Unfortunately a lot of people think that their own contribution is so small it does not matter, and here we can draw parallels on a global scale when it comes to a number of types of actions, including littering (see sign from Blair Castle to the right). It's important to remember that you as an individual can make a difference, both positive and negative. It's up to you to do the right choices, every day.

The adventure playground and the woodland walk were great, but this day the rain was pouring down so we skipped them this time and drove to Castle Fraser instead. 

Castle Fraser

Castle Fraser was built between 1575 and 1636 by the 6th laird, Michael Fraser. In 1897 the last male Fraser of the direct line died childless, and 24 years later his widow sold the castle to Weetman Pearson, First Viscount Cowdray. Weetman Pearson's daughter Lavinia Pearson, and later also her husband Major Smiley, put in a lot of effort in restoring the castle, before they gifted it to the National Trust for Scotland in 1976.

Despite being in the care of the National Trust, the castle retains the atmosphere of a family home. Castle Fraser still contains the original contents, including Fraser family portraits, furniture and collections. The interiors represent all periods of the castle's history, from the Medieval stone vaulted Great Hall to the Regency Dining Room.

The castle's last owners have also left their mark on the castle; Lavinia Smiley's sitting room and Major Smiley's room, are set out to commemorate the castle's last owners. The contributions from the Fraser family and the Smiley's give the castle character and charm. The newspaper clippings about the castle cattle, in Major Smiley's room, gave us an indication of what was important to the last owners.

Another personal touch was Charles Mackenzie Fraser's wooden leg. He was wounded in the battle of Burgos in 1812 and had to amputate one of his legs. He had made a number of wooden legs for different purposes (walking, riding etc.) and one of his legs was displayed in an ante-room of the castle library.

As with Drum Castle, Castle Fraser has great woodland walks and a nice garden that we have already explored. With the pouring rain we focused our attention on the castle's interior this time.