Rosslyn Chapel and Craigmillar Castle

We have just completed our second week fulfilling our office responsibilities on our own. It is hard to believe we arrived 6-weeks ago. There is a good office work load, and we are keeping up so far. Our work days have been long, so we welcome the opportunity to have a break and visit some of the amazing sites of Scotland when possible. Yesterday was no exception. We took the opportunity to visit two great historical landmarks: Rosslyn Chapel and Craigmillar Castle. It made for a very enjoyable day.

Rosslyn Chapel

This chapel has been of particular interest to me for two reasons:

1. The chapel was founded by Sir William St. Clair, as the Collegiate Church of St. Matthew in 1446. I am a descendant of the Sinclair clan of Scotland and I wanted to find out about my relationship to those who built the chapel.
2. Years ago, I enjoyed reading Dan Brown’s book, “The Da Vinci Code” of which the chapel plays a significant part. The movie, of the same name, has scenes of Tom Hanks that were filmed in the chapel.

For more information, I recommend: a) https://www.rosslynchapel.com/; and b) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosslyn_Chapel. Unfortunately, they do not allow photography inside the chapel, so all of my pictures were taken on the outside.

Rosslyn Chapel was initially a family church so it is not surprising that family members are buried on the grounds. “The most prominent memorial is to Francis Robert St Clair-Erskine, the fourth Earl of Rosslyn (1833-1890). He was instrumental in instigating restoration work inside the Chapel and was buried, at his request, in the Chapel grounds. He was an accomplished poet and published several volumes of his works. The following inscription, taken from his volume of sonnets, is inscribed on the monument –”

“Safe, safe at last from doubt, from storm, from strife Moored in the depths of Christ’s unfathomed grave With spirits of just, with dear ones lost And found again, this strange ineffable life Is Life Eternal; Death here has no place And they are welcome best who suffered most. We enter Life but through the gates of Death.“(https://www.rosslynchapel.com/visit/things-to-do/wander-around-the-grounds/)

Craigmillar Castle

Our next stop was to Craigmillar castle. It is ranked among the top ten castles in Scotland. Construction of the castle started in the 14th century by the Preston family of Craigmillar. As I recall, the castle has 5 stories or levels. It has a large outer wall and inner courtyard just as depicted by movies of that era. It is amazing to consider actually living in that time period. The castle currently has no furnishings. It was designed with bathrooms, fireplaces, spiral staircases, kitchens, and horse stalls. The castle was made famous by housing Mary Queen of Scots as she recovered from having her son who would become king (James VI). Because of lighting and space, I did not bother taking many indoor photos.

Scottish Word

We are learning new Scottish words, and pronunciations, all the time. We’ve decided to share some with each post.

“Put the messages on the bunker, it’s time for scran.”

Translation: “Put the groceries on the counter, it’s time to eat.”

Our thanks to Wendy Ann Mackay (pronounced McEye) for giving us this one.