For the second night of our stay on the Forth, we were put up by one of James' old friends from his school days. Brian and Anne live in Charlestown, the place where James grew up. Charlestown is a 17th century village on the Forth about 5 miles from the town of Dunfermline. Originally it was developed by the local nobility, the Elgins, to house workers for the lime works and other mining activities the Elgins oversaw. Today it is a quaint living museum, with the village layout and old workers cottages preserved, mainly inhabited by the professionals and other well heeled occupants who generally commute to Edinburgh to work. It is overlooked by the Elgin Estate and castle, an elegant Georgian building surrounded by remnant woodlands and green fields which are still actively farmed. The castle is said to house the sword of Robert the Bruce, more about him later!
The next day we were relieved to move to our holiday flat we have booked for eight days, in an estate within Dunfermline called Pitreavie. Pitreavie is a Pictish name which I intend to research. The suburb is named after Pitreavie Castle, which still stands and serves as luxury holiday accommodation. I walked around the streets one early misty morning and took photos of the house which contains our holiday apartment (built up from a garage under the main roof, with a loft bedroom and a tiny kitchen and bathroom downstairs), the streets nearby, the type of trees and vegetation including the beautiful wildflowers currently in bloom on road verges, and of course the castle. I hope to find more information about the castle, which I currently understand is possibly a Victorian "faux" castle built by a well to do merchant family, rather than of ancient origins.
Earlier this week we took a drive along the Fife coastal tourist route along the Forth, from Dunfermline to St Andrews. The aim was to explore some caves near Kirkaldy, at a place called Wemyss (pronounced 'Weems' by everyone here), which contain rock incisions and carvings going back to Pictish and Bronze Age times. We were lucky to have the 'haar' lift and some lovely sunshine so it was pleasant trekking along the coastal path, stopping off at the ruins of MacDuff Castle. It is a crumbing red sandstone structure towering out of thick brambles and bushes, not cared for, not promoted, no fee to look, no pesky guides or glossy leaflets - we loved it! Walking along the beach a little further we came to a series of smaller caves and grottos in the red sandstone cliffs, then finally to the large Wemyss cave which is becoming known for its ancient carvings. We were surprised to find a party of campers right in front of the cave entrance, clothing hanging on the bars which partly cover the entrance. There was something slightly gypsy-ish about the group, and we asked them if we were at the right cave. Some of them assured us we were, and pointed out a woman who they said was the "guide" for the caves.
This woman stepped forward, torch in hand and offered to show us around. She explained she is from Australia, Melbourne in fact, and her name is Moira. Her parents are Scottish and her husband, who recently died, was also Scottish, a musician like her. Moira is passionately interested in the caves and all other ancient sites in Fife and is the Vice President of the Wemyss Caves Preservation Society (or something to that effect). She is an absolutely amazing storehouse of knowledge about this particular cave, others, and other interesting sites such as standing stones and Pictish and Celtic relics within existing Church grounds. Moira voluntarily runs a museum housed at a local primary school but the Council will only allow her to open it two and a half hours per month, due to lack of resources. Among the fascinating items on show there, is a skeleton of a Bronze Age woman which had been exposed in the sands near the cave we were currently exploring. I am definitely going to keep in touch with Moira, who offered me a tour of all of the sites she knows of!
The cave itself is of course dark and dank as caves tend to be, and the incisions of various artists over many thousands of years are in layers on the blackened, moss encrusted cave walls, mixed in with local current would-be artists who either imitated those more ancient symbols, or put their own marks in the form of initials or declarations of love for who ever. Thankfully Moira was able to point out the marks of great interest, such as that of a boat possibly inscribed by Vikings, various fish formations which may be Celtic Christian, also Celtic Christian cross symbols, Pictish double disc images and images of a hunter and an animal. I took photos wherever I could but had the problem of the flash eliminating shadows that defined the inscriptions, or a blurry outcome when I tried to use my cheap camera, sans tripod, without the flash. However there is a website about the cave with some excellent photos of the different inscriptions.
We had a great trip and I particularly like the look of St Andrews as an attractive coastal university town, not unlike our very own Fremantle. However time did not allow me to really have a good look at it, maybe that's something for the future!
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