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Published: April 4th 2007
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Hermitage Castle I had one intense week at my new and last placement school. I’m teaching 7-8 year olds or the Scottish equivalent of grade 2. I continued my astonishingly large amount of ecclesiastical involvement this year at a whole school fieldtrip to the local church for an Easter service. Friday was spent watching Happy Feet, where we had a laugh about the backwards, old penguin being Scottish. Then it was Saturday.
Only people going through this mind numbing, self depreciating course would understand how much we were looking forward to the break. We had two contradicting lectures about what we should do during the break. One told us that we should give up any vacation and spend the two weeks planning. The other told us to have some fun and get some fresh air. I opted for the latter suggestion.
What started out as a 2 day break in the country side has turned into a 5 day tour of the historically volatile borders. I’ve always thought it was funny that Jeanette referred to her home town as “the borders”. I thought it meant just the whole area that is bordering England but in actuality it is a region
arrival
Just before stepping into the house and the vacation begins on the east coast, south of Edinburgh. I’ve never pictured country side in this way; rolling hill after rolling hill all populated by sheep. Did you know the sheep are some of the most hearty and low maintenance animals around? They can live under all sorts of weather conditions, and need almost no human care. Yet, they provide great tasting meat and wool. Spring time also means renew birth, as the minister at my placement school says, and this is very evident with all the young lambs skipping about among the sheep.
Jeanette’s parents have been incredible hosts- home cooking with really nice country meats for dinner and providing a car that Jeanette zips me around in navigating those rolling hills. I just had my last meal here tonight- butcher fresh steak pies with super flaky crust and chips from another of Jeanette’s favourite chippies. Just in case anyone is thinking the same thing I am, which is how the b**** can stay so skinny and be a huge chippy fan at the same time - I don’t know!
Upon arrival at Jeanette’s parents’ house I was outside in the field feeding the pet sheep, posing on the
The pet sheep
Jeanette's dad just called out "sheep!" and they came running. Amazing tractor and driving one of dad’s old cars around the field. This will be my second time ever operating a car. My first time was on another farm field in Ohio. I can’t seem to even move an inch on pavement but give a me a grassy field with sheep any day.
Sunday Jeanette took me to the local pub she use to work in to see if there were any colourful locals to banter with. Who goes to a pub at 1 in the afternoon? The Scottish do (and I do, it seems). Two gin and tonics later and only 3 in the afternoon, life seemed pretty good. The weather has been amazing here. We ran into some of her favourite patrons and got invited by the grounds/house keeper of the Duke of Northumberland to go take a wander around the private lands and pop in the house for a drink. We parked at the house and took a short walk over to one of the abbey ruins. We then wandered around the private grounds and found some hidden treasures like the small foot path and a post-modern roman monument signifying the four seasons. Drinks in the house
turned into a small feast of guinea fowl, Scottish beef, and roasted garlic butter mushrooms all washed down with top quality Champaign and new Zealand wine. What a great start to my holiday. I had my arm twisted into extending my stay here in The Borders.
We ventured out again on Monday, this time to the English/Scottish border, the deer park and Hermitage castle. The border is marked by a couple large stones with England written on one side and Scotland on the other. We made a pit stop at the rocks and took some pictures with some choice poses and then it was onward to the deer park. The best way to describe the deer park is it is like a safari for farm animals. We were disappointed, however, because I didn’t get to see the infamous Highland Cow. We then drove for what seemed like forever into the middle of nowhere to the sight of what some call the most haunted castle in Britain. Mary Queen of Scots had a short stay in this castle, but what was more interesting for me was the scary stuff. Jeanette purposely didn’t tell me it was known for being haunted.
We were the only visitors there. The only other person was the guy in the ticket booth. The contrast between the castle and the rest of the landscape makes the castle seem even more daunting and imposing. It was like this giant hostile creature baring down on you. I was actually hesitant to touch the stone. After the visit, Jeanette told me she knew it was haunted and didn’t tell me so I wouldn’t freak her out too. Thanks Jeanette. One of the lords was apparently very cruel and would boil his enemies alive. Another lord was supposed to be a warlock who stole children from the village and did rituals that involved eating them.
Today we went for a drive along St. Mary’s Loch, a site of glacial aftermath. Amazing views, reminiscent of the Okanogan in B.C. with the hills rising above the lake. We ended our day in the local pub again, this time listening to stories about more Borders history and hauntings. The local pub is really more of a hangout than anything else. People go in to watch some sports, read, or chat and catch up on the local gossip. Many people start, break or
end their days there.
The creepiest story was told by a great narrator/folk singer about one of his numerous ex girlfriends. He had left her one day after a 2 year relationship by telling her he was going to the store for some cigarettes and then never came back. This was back in 1976 in Edinburgh. They were both about 18- 19. About 17 years later he was in Edinburgh running some errands and while walking down the Royal Mile had an urge to go down the St. James Close (alleyway) that the girl use to live on. As he walked into the close he saw the silhouette of the girl coming towards him. They both stopped and she said “Is that you, Tommy?”. She invited him to the old flat for some tea. Tommy was in a bit of a shock from running into her. He accepted the invitation and found out that she was just about to move out in a couple days because she was pregnant and didn’t want to climb the stairs. When he left the flat to go about the rest of his day, it dawned on him that nothing had changed about the
girl. She should have been a woman in her late 30’s by then, yet she still had her long black hippy hair and it seemed nothing about her features had aged either. Her flat was also exactly the same as 17 years ago, as if stuck in time. He never did find out who the father of the “baby” was and has never tried to look her up again. He told us he is afraid of the answers he might find. I’m getting goose bumps just writing it.
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lora
non-member comment
you're so silly.
"We were disappointed, however, because I didn’t get to see the infamous Highland Cow." ....still drunk when you wrote this? hansee, you're hilarious and i'm glad you're doing well and getting out for adventures. cheers from b.c.'s sunny okanagan, lora.