7 October: Fine arts and quirky details at Fyvie Castle

The past couple of weeks have been spent showing visitors from Norway the best of Scotland, or at least as much as is possible during a long weekend. Our excursions included Dunottar castle, Haddo House, Lochnagar Distillery, a trip to Edinburgh and of course visits to Aberdeen.

YO! Sushi has been a great hit with our visitors and a another meal there was at the top of my in-laws' wishlist when they came back to visit us in September. Two days after my in-laws left I was back at YO! Sushi with one of my Norwegian friends and her 11-year-old daughter. Both of them loved the food and the concept.

Fyvie Castle - a fairytale castle

Only 45 minutes by car from our house is an amazing fairytale castle - Fyvie Castle. Before visiting Fyvie I had seen 14 castles, 2 palaces and 2 stately homes, giving a total of 18 amazing homes (and I still wanted to see more!). In addition to this we've seen 8 cathedrals/chapels/abbeys, Fort George and a fair few museums. No wonder the kids feel they've seen just about every castle in Scotland.

With friends and family back in Norway and my kids making it very clear that they'd had enough of castles for now, I was very happy that my Algerian friend agreed to go to Fyvie Castle with me. I'm not very interested in ghosts, so I won't write about the ghost stories connected to Fyvie Castle, if you're interested you can easily find this information online.

On the hands of five different families

Fyvie Castles first building was a royal lodge, built by William the Lion in the 13th century. A curtain wall was later added to create a huge courtyard and the castle had a succession of royal visitors, including Alexander II (1222), Edward I of England (1296), and Robert the Bruce in 1308.

In 1380 Fyvie was sold by the crown to the Lindsay family, but it quickly passed to the Preston family. It was the Prestons who made the first major changes to Fyvie, and they built the oldest surviving part of the current castle, the Preston Tower, at the south east corner. This tower dates to between 1390 and 1433.

In the 15th century Sir Alexander Meldrum added his own tower at the south west corner. Much of the current building, however, was the work of the Seton family, who added the impressive main entrance, with a high arched doorway flanked by twin drum towers. The Setons made the mistake of supporting the Jacobite cause, and in 1690 they were outlawed.

Fyvie then passed to the powerful Gordon family, Earls of Aberdeen, and they added yet another tower, to the north. In 1885 Alexander Forbes-Leith, a steel tycoon, purchased Fyvie with his American wife. They added a final tower, and, more importantly, restored the interiors and furnished Fyvie in a grand style.

A guided tour of the castle

Together with three other visitors we enjoyed a guided tour of the castle. The guide was very knowledgable and eager to share his knowledge with us. I get so inspired by guides like him, he was truly passionate about his job. In the end I think he had to skip a room or two in order to get back in time to take the next group on their tour of the castle.

Fyvie Castle has been a National Trust for Scotland property since 1984, when the Laird of Fyvie, Sir Andrew Forbes-Leith, sold the property to them. I assume it was because the castle was in such good condition when it was taken over by the Trust that it still feels a bit like a family home.

Exquisite interior, with a twist

The interior of the castle is magnificent, including beautiful four-poster beds and exquisitely carved furniture. The door we entered to get into the reception hall and the rest of the castle has the largest key I've ever seen - it's massive! In the reception hall there is also a smiling suit of armour, but I though it just looks creepy.

The piece of furniture that fascinated me the most was in one of the en-suite  bathrooms. It was a toilet that looks like a normal chair. When you want to go to the toilet, you lift the chair's seat - this is the toilet seat lid.

The library has a very large collection of large, old books - they are even stacked on the floor. In addition the library has a number of busts, including the death mask of a murderer who was hung. The mark left by the noose is quite visible on the neck of the bust. I found it rather macabre - I certainly wouldn't fancy a bust like that in my house.

Impressive collection of paintings

Fyvie Castle has a rich portrait collection, including works by Batoni, Romney, Opie, Gainsborough, Lawrence and Hoppner. The castle also boasts one of the largest private collections of Raeburn paintings in the world, it has 13 Raeburns. Among the most famous Raeburn paintings at Fyvie are Portrait of Thomas Reid and Portrait of Isabella McLeod, Mrs. James Gregory.

I rather enjoyed the Raeburns, but I was most intrigued by the Pompeo Batoni painting of Colonel William Gordon - there is such a mismatch between the upper and lower body. It almost looks like two paintings have been combined to make this one.

A cup of tea and back home to the kids

After our guided tour we only had time for a quick cup of tea before we had to head back home to pick up the children from school.

I guess it's more correct to say that my friend picks up her children from their school in Kingswells, mine have to walk home on their own. After all, it's only a ten minute walk for my boys.