Loch Leven Castle

The forecast for this past Saturday was to be total sun, 65 degrees, and a light breeze; and that, my friends, is as good as it gets here in Scotland!  In an effort to make use of the weather (and to meet a personal goal of having a more exciting week than my parents, whose idea of fun is watering flowers at a cemetery or playing cards at the bar), I decided to embrace this foreign land in which I live and play tourist for a day.  It would be a shame to finish my time of living in Scotland with a PhD and no sense of Scotland. 

In the spirit of poverty scrimping, I packed my peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, grabbed my camera and a book for the journey, and caught a bus south to a small town called Kinross and then to the country’s former capital, Dunfermline.  Kinross is nestled in the middle of Fife on the edge of Loch Leven, famous for the Loch Leven Castle, the place of Mary Queen of Scots’ 1567 imprisonment.

Loch Leven Castle, built sometime around 1300, sits on an island about half a mile from shore, and today is accessible only by boat.  It has received a number of famous guests and prisoners throughout its years of viability, including King Robert the Bruce in 1313 and 1323 and John Knox in 1565.  In 1565 John Knox was accompanied on his visit to the castle by Mary Queen of Scots—her first ‘visit’ to the castle.

It is not a large castle and is today primarily in a state of ruin, but the five-story tower built in the 14th or 15th century remains. 

It was on the fifth floor of the tower that the Queen was imprisoned for the year, during which she not only miscarried twins, but was forced to abdicate her throne to her one year old son, James VI.  In 1568 she managed to escape the stone fortress and fled to England, bidding farewell to her native land for the rest of her life.

In the photo below you can see the foundation of another building that formerly stood in front of the tower.  It was in this former building that Mary debated John Knox on their trip to the island in 1565 over the authority and primacy of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland.  John Knox had preached his ‘fiery sermon’ in St Andrews in 1559 which led to the destruction of the St Andrews Cathedral.  The Protestant Reformation in Scotland officially began one year later in 1560, five years previous to the encounter between John Knox and Queen Mary here at the Loch Leven Castle in 1565. 

The view from the kitchen window.

I can think of worse scenery for a year of imprisonment.

Below is a photo looking back at the mainland from the boat.  I believe it is the Kinross cemetery, but am not totally sure.  Either way, it was a gorgeous day for photography, wouldn’t you say?!

Stay tuned for Dunfermline and its Scottish treasures!