Water, wildlife and wonders... a road trip around Scotland COMPLETED 11/6 - Page 23 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Wednesday 14 June – part five: arms, clans and a Royal wedding
The next room was probably the highlight of the whole castle tour – it certainly was for Raleigh, who as you’ve probably already guessed, and if not, you’ll get that idea later on during this trip report. This is the armoury hall, and it’s pretty much the centre of the castle, with rooms radiating off it downstairs.
The ceiling in here is 21 metres high, and it’s said to be the highest in Scotland. I got chatting to one of the staff members in here, and he told me that they have a massive Christmas tree in here, and it’s quite the sight when they move it in each year. They invite the kids from the local school to decorate it. He also told me that a couple of years ago, they needed to re-paint this room, and that was quite the undertaking, as they apparently had to get cherry pickers in to reach the higher points. I can imagine! On the ceiling is the Duke of Argyll’s family crest.
The display of arms you see in here were also down to the 5th Duke, who you’ve already heard me mention as the firsts to live here. There are 1,300 pieces of 16th and 17th century pole-arms, roundels of Brown Bess muskets, and spandrels of muskets, Lochaber axes and Scottish broadswords. Much of what you see here was last used in warfare at the Battle of Culloden, which you’ll hear more about later in this trip report.
The saloon was originally meant to be the entrance hall of the castle, so this room became the place for guests to relax, have breakfast, and play music or even billiards. Paintings or photos of each of the Dukes are on show in here. The room was originally hung with green damask, but by 1950, it had decayed so much, it had to be removed.
At this point, we headed upstairs…
On the way, we found this display…
The first room we went into upstairs was the Clan Room, and talked more about the Campbell clan that I mentioned earlier.
The Victorian Room commemorates the marriage of the Marquess of Lorne, who later became the 9th Duke, to Queen Victoria’s daughter, Princess Louise. It was a controversial marriage at the time, as it was the first time a member of the Royal Family had married outside of royalty. However, Queen Victoria wanted new blood in the family and consented to the wedding. The Duke went on to become Governor General of Canada and Lake Louise was named after his wife. Some of the sculptures and paintings in here were made by the Princess.
This is the Macarthur Room, which is apparently the most haunted room in the castle, something to do with the fact a young Irish harpist was murdered by the Duke of Montrose’s men in 1644. Legend has it when the bed was moved to the present castle, her spirit came along as well, and when a member of the family is about to die, harp music can be heard. I can report we didn’t get any haunted vibes from in here, which was a relief!
The gift shop on the way out was a bit of a treasure trove in terms of Highland coos, so I bought a few little bits and pieces, including a Christmas ornament.
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The center room is amazing! They did a great job with that. I can see why Raleigh liked it!
I love that they include the dresses and robes in there too. It helps to really get a complete feel for the place.
Of course there has to be a haunted room...
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Tanya
Every click helps feed .6 bowls of food to rescued animals. Give a quick click every day and help animals in shelters! www.theanimalrescuesite.com
The center room is amazing! They did a great job with that. I can see why Raleigh liked it!
I love that they include the dresses and robes in there too. It helps to really get a complete feel for the place.
Of course there has to be a haunted room...
Well, it wouldn't be a castle without one really....
The castle is quite amazing with each room looks so unique and different as you go from one to the next! The coos seem tp be everywhere today!
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
Wednesday 14 June – part six: this isn’t one of my favourites…
After we’d finished our tour of the castle, we headed into the gardens to admire the castle from the grounds.
Sadly the cows had headed down to the river by the time we left…
We headed out through the village of Inveraray, which looked so lovely and quaint.
We stopped a little further along to get some photos along the shoreline…
… and the photos continued as we drove along..
Our next stop was Crarae Garden, a National Trust property. It’s a Himalayan-style glen, which sounds very exotic, but it didn’t do much for me. It was sadly probably one of my least favourite of their properties. I don’t think it helped that it started to rain lightly, and we all wanted to get back to the car. I think we also missed some of the major blooms, which were probably good over the last week or so… Anyway, it was created in 1912 by Lady Grave Campbell, the aunt of plant hunter Reginald Farrer, who sourced the trees and shrubs here from China, Nepal and Tibet.
The castle looks amazing from the garden, wow! What a cute town too.
This other garden so far seems lacking the wow factor though. It's very lush and looks peaceful with the stream. Like you say, maybe the wow factor is when the right flowers boom.
__________________
Tanya
Every click helps feed .6 bowls of food to rescued animals. Give a quick click every day and help animals in shelters! www.theanimalrescuesite.com
The castle looks amazing from the garden, wow! What a cute town too.
This other garden so far seems lacking the wow factor though. It's very lush and looks peaceful with the stream. Like you say, maybe the wow factor is when the right flowers boom.
That's how we felt - no wow factor. Mind you, I guess if I visited some of our local gardens that are amazing in the fall at other times of the year, I'd probably say the same about them...
I see what you mean about that garden. It's okay but something's missing. the other gardens are so pretty. The castle looks beautiful through the garden.
The coos are so cute. They make you wan to take one home. Of course, the village I live in doesn't allow livestock.
Liz
The second property is fine but nothing special. They could do a lot more with the gardens. The castle is amazing and it really stands out. I love the photo below as the castle is so striking with the path leading up to it!
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
I see what you mean about that garden. It's okay but something's missing. the other gardens are so pretty. The castle looks beautiful through the garden.
Now you say it, the castle's gardens were better...
Quote:
The coos are so cute. They make you wan to take one home. Of course, the village I live in doesn't allow livestock.
Liz
Oh I could happily take any coo home. Sadly in our house, I'm not allowed livestock either...
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This is the armoury hall, and it’s pretty much the centre of the castle, with rooms radiating off it downstairs. 
On the ceiling is the Duke of Argyll’s family crest. 
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