Week 12

The last module of classes started this week, and even though we are a wee bit droopy from our travels over fall break, classes began with enthusiasm for the new subjects at hand.  I am teaching Introduction to Communication to a smaller group of students; we’re enjoying it already.  We have covered quite a bit of material and been on our first field trip (see below).  The house staff also organized a two-castle day trip that got us into the countryside again. 

The Scottish International Storytelling Festival has been going on for the past ten days, with a variety of events around the theme of “Stories without Borders.”  The other big event of the week was Halloween.  Any day of the year, one can go on a ghost tour or dungeon tour in Edinburgh, so they are well set up for a ghoulish party.

Stirling Castle and Linlithgow Palace

Stirling is about an hour from Edinburgh and is an ancient seat of power, partly because of its location at a good point for crossing the River Forth.  The castle sits on a volcanic outcrop similar to the one Edinburgh Castle sits on (supposedly, on a clear day, one can be seen from the other).  Between 1500 and 1600, new buildings were added that showed the influence of the Renaissance and that were intended to show the power and sophistication of the Scots.

James IV added buildings, including the Great Hall in about 1500

This beautiful window in the Great Hall provides a beautiful view toward Edinburgh

James V initiated the spectacular Palace, with interiors that have been researched 

and re-done to show it as it might have looked in the 1545.  This room in the King's Inner Hall, with a spectacular painted wood ceiling with carved heads of many famous people.

The Queen's Bedchamber--the king's and queen's apartments each contained 3 rooms.

They adjoined through a door locked from the Queen's side (smart lady).

The Queen's Inner Hall contains many lovely features, especially the Unicorn Tapestries.

The originals of these seven tapestries would have hung here in the 1500s, but are now owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and hang in the Cloisters there.  The ones in Stirling are reproductions made as part of the renovation of the Royal Apartments.  Their creation took place over 13 years and involved 18 weavers, using both modern and ancient techniques. 

The tapestries are vibrant, beautiful, and tell a fascinating story.

 James VI commissioned the Chapel Royal in 1594

From Stirling Castle, the William Wallace Monument is visible against the hills.

It marks the victory of Wallace over the English in the Battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297.

Ever seen Braveheart?  That's the guy.

Linlithgow Palace sits between Stirling and Edinburgh and was one of the places the royals went to get away from work.  The grounds include a lovely loch (manmade) and peel (park).  King James V and his daughter, Mary, Queen of Scots, were both born in this palace.  It was ruined (mainly by a fire) nearly 200 years ago, but the rock structure is still fairly in-tact.  It provided an interesting contrast to the Palace at Stirling—it was as though we could see what was underneath all of that opulent décor.

Above the gate is the same insignia as on the ceiling in the King's Bedchamber in Stirling

From the outside the palace looks less ruined than it is

Inside you can climb one of the towers and get a view of the ruins, loch, and park

The Great Hall is great, but bare

The size of the main fireplace in the kitchen gives a sense of the scale of the place

International Storytelling Festival

The first field trip for my class this module was to a Storytelling Festival workshop called “The Ties that Bind: Word Dancing with Shonaleigh.”  The focus was on using language effectively to better manage conflict, and on acknowledging that each party involved in the conflict has a story.  Shonaleigh is a storyteller from an ancient Jewish women’s tradition, having learned thousands of stories from her grandmother (a Holocaust survivor).  She based some of the workshop on her current work with international human rights trials.  It fit very well with our course content, and students enjoyed the opportunity to interact with others and to see the course concepts applied in this way.

John Knox House, occupied by the famous Protestant reformer in the 1560s, and

now home of the Scottish Storytelling Centre

I attended another Storytelling Festival event on my own one afternoon.  It was held at the Royal Botanical Garden Edinburgh and was called “Tree Trails.”  Two storytellers, Janis Mackay and Ken Shapley, led the group around the Garden, stopping occasionally for a story that featured a type of tree nearby.  We heard the tale of the Prince and the Birch Lady; we learned how the rowan tree came to Scotland (that story included leprechauns and a giant); we heard a poem about which wood is best to burn in a fireplace (see below).  One of the storytellers also played the digeridoo and had several interesting wood sticks and staffs that we learned about—like the piece of yew that one could write a New Year’s Resolution on to help it come true.  Of course, the resolution had to be written in ancient runes so the magic would work : )

 At this tree we listened to Ken's story and digeridoo

and then tied a strip of cloth in the tree as we made a wish

The fall colors in the Garden were very nice, but as I left in the late afternoon, the lights and sound for their fall event, “Botanic Lights: A Night in the Garden,” were coming on.  It was lovely in the waning light; I'm sure it was magical after dark.

Halloween

Businesses from pubs to toy stores decorated for Halloween.  Special concerts and other events were held, and for the whole weekend, the city centre was crowded with adult revelers.  The children put on costumes for parties, but there is not so much Trick or Treating here.  The Storytelling Festival also had several events for different ages, from the “Guisers Trail” (a walk through the old town in costume or mask—a disguise—singing, dancing, and reciting poems) to the “Samhuinn Fire Festival” (the Beltane Fire Society celebrating the Celtic New Year—marking the end of summer and welcoming winter—with a torch-lit procession of acrobatics, costumes, and performances).  And yes, there were a more than a few fireworks shot off. 

If you are wondering what I did, I stayed at the house.  I was the staff person on duty, so I needed to answer the phone and door and be nearby.  However, the staff and students who stayed in had some old-fashioned fun with a bonfire and snacks and pumpkin carving and costumes.  I am happy to report that there were no major incidents and that everyone got back safely from whatever they did.  I also can report that the house was very quiet Sunday morning.

Firewood Poem—for those of you getting firewood ready for winter

The poem about firewood is old and can be found in many versions; this one, attributed to Lady Celia Congreve, is the one the storyteller recited—from memory, of course.

Beechwood fires are bright and clear
If the logs are kept a year,
Chestnut's only good they say,
If for logs 'tis laid away.
Make a fire of Elder tree,
Death within your house will be;
But ash new or ash old,
Is fit for a queen with crown of gold

Birch and fir logs burn too fast
Blaze up bright and do not last,
it is by the Irish said
Hawthorn bakes the sweetest bread.
Elm wood burns like churchyard mould,
E'en the very flames are cold
But ash green or ash brown
Is fit for a queen with golden crown

Poplar gives a bitter smoke,
Fills your eyes and makes you choke,
Apple wood will scent your room
Pear wood smells like flowers in bloom
Oaken logs, if dry and old
keep away the winter's cold
But ash wet or ash dry
a king shall warm his slippers by.