Our first icy windscreen but the day is clear. After removing the ice, we decide to drive east to the estates of Clan Brodie.
In 1990 Kerry and I were in Scotland and we discovered Brodie Castle. This was the ancestral home of Clan Brodie and the Laird’s (known as the Brodie) home. The area is named Brodie so he is the Brodie of Brodie. The Brodie’s have mysterious origins but can claim their rights to the ancestral lands come from a grant form Robert the Bruce in the 13th century.
We were fortunate to be shown the castle by the Brodie Montagu who used the name Ninnian because of his theatrical interests. Ninnian died in 2003 but before dying he entrusted Brodie castle to the National Trust of Scotland. The present Brodie is Ninnian’s grandson Alexander but he no longer resides in the ancestral castle.
Now in 2014 we have returned. We chose an excellent day for our visit. The sun was shining brightly and the sky was a clear pale blue. The wind was light but chilly. As we pulled into the car park there was a sense that something was wrong. Nevertheless we walked down the path leading to the castle and saw that there were cars parked beside the castle. The castle is closed to the public for the season and this is the staff arriving to undergo training and to attend to cleaning and maintenance. Kerry checks the web site and then rings to find out why the web site says it is open. This leads to the Estate manager letting us into the castle and arranging a personalised tour for us.
The present castle is a mixture of a 16th century defensive tower, and extensions in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. We only got a shortened version of the full tour viewing the basement hall of the tower with its ancient armaments and memorial to the Brodie Castle a member of the family constructed in Madras India, the space that was the original kitchen now part of the entry, the library, the dining room with it extremely different ceiling (plaster ornaments decorate the entire ceiling), the drawing room and it’s supplements from the Gordon Clan through a fortuitous marriage. No photos allowed so you will have to visit it yourself one day. I can recommend it.
glendon1954 