Culross - across the Firth of Fourth from Edinburgh
As we left Edinburgh for a short drive to Culross (Koo-ross) Roy talked about the education system in Scotland. One of the benefits of the “Reformation” was the belief that every person should be able to read the bible without the aid of the clergy or church. As a result, Scotland became one of the leaders in education with noted Universities, such as St. Andrews (more later today) taking a place up there with Oxford and Cambridge.
In Culross we found a quaint little village on the banks of the Firth of Fourth. Originally this was a port for shipping coal to the Continent. In the early 1600’s they even built a breakwater out a few hundred feet from shore. They then dug a mineshaft under the Firth to reach a coal seam and then brought the coal to a platform that extended above the high tide level so that they could load the ships directly from this point.
In Culross we found a quaint little village on the banks of the Firth of Fourth. Originally this was a port for shipping coal to the Continent. In the early 1600’s they even built a breakwater out a few hundred feet from shore. They then dug a mineshaft under the Firth to reach a coal seam and then brought the coal to a platform that extended above the high tide level so that they could load the ships directly from this point.
The orangy colour is a sign of the wealth of the owner as this was a significant expense to tint the exterior coating (looks like stucco). The red tile for the roofs where brought back from the Continent. Ships carrying raw materials, such as coal, to the continent would have to return across the North Sea virtually empty and therefore they would load up with these very heavy red clay tiles to provide a form of ballast on the journey.
St. Andrews
From Culross we made a short drive to St. Andrews.
When you mention St. Andrews a lot of different things might come to mind: the Home of Golf; Higher Education; or possibly where the Scottish Reformation took hold. We had already been to St. Andrews, but we only had time to see the golf course the first time. St. Andrews is a town of approx. 16,000 and grows by another 5-6,000 students when the University is in session. Word is that when Prince William announced that he would be attending St. Andrews, the number of requests by females to register went up 65%. The shop in the picture to the right claims to have been the location “Where Kate met Wills (for coffee)”. With their first child being born just 2 days before our visit this seemed worth recording. |
The Castle at St. Andrews was built by the bishop in the late 12th century to entertain visiting diplomats. It was home to powerful bishops and cardinals over the years. In 1546 the cardinal burned a Protestant preacher, George Wishart, at the stake in front of the castle. The Protestant Reformers then captured the castle and killed the cardinal, hanging his body from the ramparts. In 1547, the French attacked the castle on behalf of their friend and ally Mary, Queen of Scots. There was a siege and a young Protestant named John Knox was captured and put to work rowing on a galley ship headed back to France. He would later return as one of the strongest leaders of the Scottish Reformation. The Reformationists and the elements have been hard on the castle and very little remains today. If you look north from the castle you can see a long strip of beach that was used in the opening scene of the movie “Chariots of Fire”.
In the early middle ages, the presence of the remains of the Apostle Andrew made the cathedral one of the most important pilgrimage sites for all Christians. However, that same importance for the church, originally the Catholic church, made the cathedral the prime target for the Reformationists. The cathedral was started in 1160 which is all the more impressive when you see the size of the remains.
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St. Andrew became the patron saint of Scotland. St. Andrew chose a cross in the shape of an “X” because he didn’t feel worthy of being crucified in the same way as Jesus. Thus the white X on a blue background used as the flag of Scotland.
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At the end of the day we drove to Kenmore at the mouth of Loch Tay. This is a very small town nestled between the hills in a beautiful valley.
Next - we'll tour the sights near Kenmore
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