A Guest Blog from a Trip to Fife, Scotland
I always enjoy seeing photos from others taken during their vacations.
This Thanksgiving, I invited friends, colleagues, and social media followers to share photos of their holiday tables. We all enjoyed learning about the various dishes families made and shared, and all the decorations used to make each one of their gatherings extra special. This year, my longtime special projects producer, Judy Morris, did something a little different - she spent several days in Scotland visiting two of her three sons currently attending the University of St Andrews. Founded in 1413, it is the oldest university in that country and the third oldest in the English-speaking world after Oxford and Cambridge. Judy and her family also toured the historic county of Fife, where they visited a longbow range, learned about some birds of prey, and shopped in local Scottish establishments.
Here are some of Judy's photos, enjoy.
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- St. Andrews is a seaside town northeast of Edinburgh, in Fife, on Scotland’s east coast. St. Andrews Castle is a ruin located in the coastal Royal Burgh of St. Andrews. It sits on a rocky promontory overlooking a small beach called Castle Sands and the adjoining North Sea. A castle has been there since the times of Bishop Roger, son of the Earl of Leicester, 1189 to 1202.
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- These are the ancient ruins of St. Andrews Cathedral. It is open, but fences surround its walls. The cathedral was built in 1158 and became the center of the Medieval Catholic Church in Scotland as the seat of the Archdiocese of St Andrews and the Bishops and Archbishops of St Andrews. It fell into decline after Catholic mass was outlawed during the 16th-century Scottish Reformation. Now it is a monument under the care of the Historic Environment Scotland. Based on what is left still standing, the building was approximately 390 feet long, and is the largest church to have been built in Scotland.
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- This is one of the smaller arched doorways on the grounds of the cathedral. During the Reformation, when the structure was ransacked in 1559, the entire interior was destroyed and then abandoned by 1561. It wasn’t until 1826, when efforts started to preserve the building and the surrounding walls.
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- Judy and her family spend several days touring the area. They passed this section of Loch Lomond, a famous lake surrounded by mountains in west Scotland.
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- This is Jimmy, Judy’s eldest son, now a senior at the University of St. Andrews, and Judy’s husband, Jim.
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- Judy noticed many of the old cobblestones in Fife – still beautifully intact for having been hundreds and hundreds of years old.
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- Judy loved this quaint book store – filled with so many interesting titles, old and new.
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- Another stop was Balgrove Larder, a hub for locally reared, grown, handmade, and prepared foods. There was an entire section of baked goods ready to buy and bake. Pain au raisin is a spiral pastry often eaten for breakfast in France. It is made with creamy custard, golden raisins, and flaky puff pastry.
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- And look at these beautifully made croissants – almond and plain.
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- We all know pain au chocolate – the Viennoiserie type pastry consisting of a cuboid-shaped piece of yeast-leavened laminated dough, with one or two pieces of dark chocolate in the center.
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- At the butcher counter, Judy saw these steak truffles…
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- … and chicken orchids stuffed with haggis, which is a savory pudding containing sheep’s pluck – the heart, liver, and lungs – minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and seasonings.
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- Here is another quick snapshot of Judy’s family – Jimmy, her second son Eddie, the youngest Billy, and Jim.
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- Here, the four tried shooting longbows. The longbow is believed to have originated in Wales. The weapon was first made as tall as a man with an arrow about half that length. The bow was held with outstretched arm and the arrow drawn back to the bowman’s ear. Now modernized, using a longbow is only for sport and only aimed at paper targets.
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- On this day, Judy went to the Criterion Bar, a family-run traditional Scottish Pub established in 1874 in the heart of St Andrews. This is a chicken and chorizo pie. She loved it.
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- It didn’t take long to devour it.
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- Here are Judy’s “boys” with Steven Brazendale, known as the Scottish Countryman. He offers outdoor experiences with archery, wildlife and fly fishing.
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- Steven introduced Judy and her family to a few raptors, such as this barn owl. Barn owls are crepuscular hunters – meaning they prefer to hunt at dawn and dusk, when they have the best chance of finding prey and not having to compete with other species for it.
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- Here is a long-eared owl – a medium-sized owl with long, feathered ears. It is often found in woodland areas where it feeds mainly on small mammals such as voles and mice.
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- And here is a hooded falcon. Hooding is a technique used to calm and control a raptor. Anything a raptor cannot see, they do not fear. Hoods are used to help get the birds accustomed to humans positively.
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- When in Scotland, it is customary to see a kilt shop. The kilt originated in the first quarter of the 18th century. Known to the Gaelic-speaking Highlander as the “little wrap,” it evolved from the “big wrap” or belted plaid, the first identifiably “Scottish” form of dress. The kilt provided more than just a covering. It allowed those who wore it to move easily, especially in the Highlands of Scotland where the weather can be very damp. With its tight weave of strong wool, it also created a warm barrier between the rain and skin.
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- These are called sporrans, a traditional part of the male Scottish Highland dress. It is basically a pouch that performs the same function as pockets. Sporrans are made of leather or fur, and worn on the front of the kilt, hanging by light chains or leather belts.
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- And here a photo of one of the quads at the University of St. Andrews. St Andrews is made up of a variety of institutions, comprising three colleges — United College, St Mary’s College, and St Leonard’s College.
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- The oldest college building stands to the west of the entrance. The West Range and the Founder’s House were built by Archbishop John Hamilton in the 1500s. Notice, the house has a unique belfry looking as if it is about to fall off the structure.
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- This is an old door that leads into the courtyard of St. Andrews.
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- And this is the massive Holm Oak, Quercus ilex, that stands in the center of the quad in front of St. Mary’s. This species of evergreen oak, also known as the holly oak, was introduced into Britain in the late 16th century. This specimen was planted in the 1700s.
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- This is a monument to Bishop Wardlaw, Scottish church leader, Bishop of St Andrews and founder of the University of St Andrews. This is considered the remains of Bishop Wardlaw’s Pedagogy. On this site, the Scots Parliament was held in 1645. Thanks for the beautiful photos, Judy. And for allowing us to visit such a historical place through your images.
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