Monday, 27 April 2015

kellie castle

Kellie Castle is a castle just outside Arncroach, about 5 kilometres north of Pittenweem in the East Neuk of Fife, Scotland.
The earliest records of Kellie go back to 1150 where it is mentioned in a charter issued by King David I. The first known owner was Robert of London, the illegitimate son of King William the Lion. By 1266 Kellie had passed to the Siward family, who had hailed from Northumbria and had assisted King Malcolm Canmore to overthrow Macbeth. The estate was signed over to a Siward relative, Walter Oliphant, in 1360 and the castle remained in the ownership of the Oliphant family until 1613. It was purchased by Sir Thomas Erskine, who had saved the life of King James VI during the Gowrie Conspiracy by killing Sir Alexander Ruthven. The King stayed at Kellie in 1617 during his only visit to Scotland after the Union of the Crowns, and he appointed Erskine as Earl of Kellie in 1619.
It is likely that the ceiling of what is now the library in the 1573 east tower was decorated in plaster in anticipation of a Royal visit by King James. This room may be the first in Scotland where plaster decoration was used ‘in the London style’ in preference to the painted beams and boarded ceilings that were generally fashionable in the early 17th Century. Incorporated in the ceiling is the date "1617" and monogram "T V F" for Thomas Viscount Fenton,which title the King awarded Thomas Erskine in 1606.
Kellie Castle (rear view)
Originally a simple tower house, the lower section of what now constitutes the northwest tower is the oldest part of the castle, dating from around 1360, and is said to be haunted. In 1573 a new tower was built by the 4th Lord Oliphant to the east of the original tower. Between 1573 and 1606 the two towers were linked by a new range, terminated by another tower in the south-west, creating the T-plan layout that remains today. The castle is a fine example of Scots Baronial domestic architecture, with an imposing mix of gablescorbelled towers, and chimneys.

The lineage of the Earls of Kellie ceased in 1829, and the castle lay abandoned for many years. In 1878 it was rented from the Earl of Mar and Kellie by James LorimerRegius Professor of Public Law atEdinburgh University, and father to Sir Robert Lorimer, the renowned Scottish architect. The Lorimer family set about restoring the castle for use as a holiday retreat, but it soon became the family home. Robert Lorimer was instrumental in much of the restoration work, restoring magnificentplaster ceilings, painted panelling and furniture.
Following the death of the Professor the tenancy was taken by his wife, Lady Hannah in 1890. On her death in 1916 the tenancy was taken over by their son, John Henry Lorimer the famous Scottish Painter. Upon his death in 1936, the tenancy lapsed and the house was cleared and the castle once again became vacant. In 1936 Sir Robert's son, the sculptor Hew Lorimer and his wife Mary, renewed the Lorimer tenancy. Hew and Mary Lorimer purchased the castle in 1948 and it remained in his ownership until 1970. Between 1970 and 1990 Hew continued to live in part of the Castle and used the stable block as his studio

Hew Lorimer sold the castle, together with 6.5 hectares of gardens and an organic walled garden to the National Trust for Scotland in 1970. The walled garden is 17th century, with lateVictorian additions, and contains a fine collection of old-fashioned roses, fruit trees and herbaceous plants.
The main castle contents were given into the care of the Trust by the Secretary of State for Scotland and, in 1998 the Trust purchased the Lorimer family artifacts. The castle and gardens are open to the public, and there is a permanent exhibition of Hew Lorimer's work and studio in the old stables.






It is rumoured that the 5th Earl of Kellie hid in a burnt-out tree stump in the grounds of the castle for an entire summer following the Battle of Culloden in 1746.
Phoebe Anna Traquair, who was an outstanding proponent of the "Arts and Crafts” philosophy, completed the Painted Panel above the fireplace in the Drawing room in 1897. The painting is based on Botticelli's "primavera" and was completed when John Henry Lorimer occupied the Castle. However Hew and Mary Lorimer who took over the tenancy after John Henry, apparently did not like the painting and they had it covered in the late 1940s. They were careful not to damage the painting and they used cartridge paper with flour paste. The painting was restored in 1996 by the National Trust for Scotland following the death of Hew Lorimer who had remained at Kellie and lived in part of the east tower of the castle until 1990.
The tapestry now in the Dining Room is made up of at least two, possibly three, different tapestries. The centre and main element is a Flemish Tapestry (1580) that depicts ‘Europa and the Bull’. This tapestry used to be located in the Drawing Room as illustrated in a Country Life photograph taken in 1964. The beauty of Europa inspired the love of Zeus, who approached her in the form of a white bull. He carried her away from Phoenicia to Crete. The Latin inscription, which does not refer or relate to the main tapestry –‘The young man has saved his wounded father, carried him back and put him on his horse'. The borders have been added at some later time.


John Henry Lorimer (12 August 1856 – 4 November 1936) was a Scottish painter who worked on portraits and genre scenes of everyday life.
Lorimer was born in Edinburgh, the son of James Lorimer, who was Regius Professor of Public Law at Edinburgh University from 1862 to 1890.[1] He was educated at Edinburgh AcademyEdinburgh University and in 1875 at the Royal Scottish Academy,[2] being taught by McTaggart and Chalmers. This was followed by a period spent in Paris studying withCarolus-Duran. His younger brother was the renowned architect Robert Lorimer.
Lorimer travelled throughout SpainItaly and Algiers between 1877 and 1891. He exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy from 1873 and at the Royal Academy from 1878. Significant amongst his works are The Ordination of Elders in a Scottish Kirk, which hangs in theNational Gallery of ScotlandA Peaceful Art and Kellie Castle Garden, which was sold at auction in 2000 for £32,900. His portraits included renditions of Lyon PlayfairJoseph Lister,Peter Hately Waddell and other luminaries of the era.
Lorimer was elected an associate of the Royal Scottish Academy in 1882 and made a full academician in 1900. He showed 123 works at the Royal Scottish Academy and 43 works at the Royal Academy in London.
In 1878 the Lorimer family acquired the lease of Kellie Castle in Fife and began its restoration for use as a holiday home. This later became the permanent family home, after purchase in 1948 by Robert Lorimer's son, the sculptor Hew Lorimer. The castle is owned today by the National Trust for Scotland who maintain a changing exhibition of his works, plus those of his brother, Robert Lorimer and nephew, Hew Lorimer.
John Henry Lorimer died at Gyles House, Pittenweem, Fife, on 4 November 1936.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Henry_Lorimer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kellie_Castle

Falkland Palace

The Royal Palace of Falkland was used as a country residence by Stuart kings and queens who used to hunt deer and wild boar in the nearby Fife forests. Mary Queen of Scots spent some of the happiest days of her tragic life here, hunting and hawking around the woods and park, which is still beautifully maintained today.
The palace was built between 1501 and 1541 by James IV and James V, replacing earlier castle from the 12th century, traces of which can still be seen in the grounds.
The Palace fell into ruin from the late 17th to early 18th centuries after it fell into disuse and was badly burnt by Cromwellian troops.In the early 19th century it was restored by the 3rdMarquess of Bute and his descendants still live in the Palace today after giving the National Trust for Scotland the role of Deputy Keeper in the 1950s.The original and reconstructed rooms are packed with fine portraits of the Stuart monarchs, 17th-century Flemish tapestries, elaborate painted ceilings and antique furnishings.
The Palace was restored by the 3rd Marquess of Bute in the early 1900s. The roofed South Range contains the stunning Chapel Royal which is still a practicing Roman Catholic Chapel (one of the only surviving in a Palace owned by the Crown), Drawing Room, Tapestry Gallery and Edwardian Library. The ruined East Range was where the Royal Apartments would have been and the Cross House displays reconstructed King and Queen’s Rooms. The upper floors of the Gatehouse display the Keeper’s Apartments who would have maintained the Palace on behalf of the sovereign.   

The Palace sits in nine acres of maintained grounds and formal gardens. The Pleasure Garden was designed and built by Percy Cane between 1947 and 1952 and contains three herbaceous borders enclosing a wide lawn with many varieties of shrubs and trees. The ancient Orchard contains various fruit trees, some as old as 150 years, as well as willow sculptures and a Labyrinth. The Wildflower Meadow carpets the Orchard and is a home for rare plants, insects and wildlife. A newly planted Physic Garden contains medicinal herbs which would have been grown at the time of Mary Queen of Scots. Falkland Palace is also home to the oldest Real or Royal Tennis Court in Britain, originally built for King James V in 1539 and played on by Mary Queen of Scots herself.
http://www.visitscotland.com/info/see-do/falkland-palace-and-gardens-p254171















Icon of Lady of Ostrabrama in Falkland Palace chapel

The icon ‘Our Lady of Ostrabrama’, created by 2nd Lt Albin Bratanek, was
a gift from the 3rd Polish Parachute Battalion stationed in Falkland Palace.
This gift was a highly artistic and sophisticated example of recycling. 
It is almost beyond belief that it is made of corn beef tins, shells 
and cartridge cases!

The text of the official act of transfer of the image says:

We the Polish Paratroops of the 3rd Battalion offer to you, the People
of Falkland a picture of Our Lady of OSTRABRAMA in souvenir of our stay 
in Falkland and as a token of gratitude for all your kindness you have 
shown us when stationed amongst you. This picture must be kept for ever
in the chapel of Falkland’s Palace.

May it cement the friendship of both our Nations.

FALKLAND A. D. 1944.









Falkland town

Tennis took a decidedly Scottish twist in 2012 when Andy Murray topped Novak Djokovic to grab his first Grand Slam trophy. The Dunblane native has certainly earned a well-deserved moment in the long history of tennis in Scotland. Had he been born a mere four centuries earlier, Andy might have been a victor on the court you can still visit at Falkland Palace, 37 miles east of his home town, where the National Trust for Scotland maintains the oldest royal tennis court in Britain.Known officially as real tennis and as court tennis in the States, the game that Murray masters descends from one that rose from medieval roots to great popularity in Renaissance Europe. Royal tennis evolved to require an elaborate enclosed space, and as its name implies, from the beginning it was a sport of kings. Royals and aristocrats were among the few wealthy enough to construct courts to the unusual architectural specifications the game required.  The court at Falkland Palace is of a distinctive design known as jeu quarré, which features slope roofed viewing galleries (penthouses) on two rather than three of the four walls surrounding the playing space. Unlike the game played on the slightly larger jeu à dedans variant, players at Falkland would use their palms rather than racquets to bat the 2 ½ inch diameter, cloth covered, cork ball at opponents. In France, this is the variant from which the game earned its name – jeu de paume – and the French were truly crazed about the sport. In 1600 there were reported to be more than 1,000 courts in Paris alone. Alas, that number has been vastly diminished, although many still visit one court located in the Tuileries, which now houses the contemporary art museum known as the Galerie Nationale du Jeu De Paume.
http://www.ntsusa.org/royal-tennis-at-falkland-palace/



Falkland nestles between the two Lomond Hills in the Howe of Fife. It is most well known for Falkland Palace. This royal dwelling was once the country residence of the Stewart kings and queens as they hunted deer and wild boar in the forests of Fife. Built between 1501 and 1541 by James IV and James V, the palace has some of the most exceptional architecture of its time in Britain. It is also home to one of only two 16th century tennis courts in Britain (the other is at Hampton Court in England).