Scotland family tour


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Europe » United Kingdom » Scotland
October 16th 2019
Published: December 19th 2019
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Scotland is just one of the places. We loved it last time we were here pre-kids and enjoyed showing our girls around this time. It was cold and wet, but we managed to do most of what we wanted and even had some snow on the hills behind our accommodation.



Our ancestors hail from Scotland. My great-grandmother and Murray's grandfather were Scottish. With my dad a bag-piping man and myself and my sister highland dancers in our day, we seem to still have a strong connection with Scotland. When we named our girls, we choose somewhat unusual middles names. Of their 2 middle names one is an ancestral, Scottish name. That meant that when we visited some family history places, the girls seemed to cling more to their names sites. This was cool to watch actually and made us all the more excited for the move back to New Zealand where we could share our more recent history with the girls.



We started in Edinburgh, flying in with easyjet. Then hired a car and drove to Edinburgh. Murray did his MBa through a university in Edinburgh, so he wanted to have a look around the campus as he'd missed graduating on site due to family/work commitments. Then we found a few of the houses that were lived in by Murray's ancestors. We had a good look around Edinburgh for a few days, making sure we saw the Edinburgh castle and Royal Mile. We came across the Camera Obscura, well worth a visit. It was a highlight for the children. A house of illusions, with the Camera Obscura at the top. Legend has it the lady who invented it used it to spy on people and was considered a witch, just well before her time it seems.

We visited Hawthorn Bank, Penicuk house, Penicuk cemetery, Mauricewood Mine disaster memorial. When driving around I noticed on the family tree (in the family history book) that many of the Burts actually came from Dunfermline, which we hadn't visited before. So we decided to swing by on our tour up the country.

Dunfermline was well worth the stop. The church Abbey was spectacular, the palace ruins interesting and we found some Burt gravestones in the surrounding cemetery. We then walked down through the surrounding gardens, with squirrels running around and moss, vines, stone walls, lakes, trees and more. It was magical and a lovely detour.

We then went up to Weem where the Menzies castle is. Menzies was my Great grandmothers maiden name, my grandfathers middle name, my fathers middle name, my middle name and Charlotte's middle name. Menzies castle is a firm favourite. A very grand castle worth a visit.

We kept on and headed up to Inverness for a day, exploring around town. Then down Fort William past Loch ness (no monster to be seen, although Emma saw a shadow in the lake). We then went to Ballachulish slate mine. Where an ancestor used to own it before it was sold on. The girls enjoyed walking around the quarry and finding different rocks.

We went on a bit and decided to find the scene of the famous Apin murder. As written about in the book by Robert Lewis Stevenson, Kidnapped. The Red Fox, a Campbell, was murdered in the forest, shot while he was on his horse. Their stands a cairn which we found on our walk in the forest. A man was later hung for the murder, but legend has it, Alan Breck Stewart was the actual murderer. A relative of Murray's so the legend goes. The girls loved hearing the story while working through the forest, the mystery of the murder fascinated them and they could see how the murderer could have quickly disappeared.

We then drove down to Alva. Which is where Murray's mum's side come from, Hayley's middle name. We did a lovely walk in the Glen up the stream and up the hills and then along the hills back down into the valley. A lovely hike with no complaining children, bliss! It was a tad muddy and a little steep in places, but nothing too strenuous for our girls.

Then we swung by the Falkirk, engineering brilliance, on our way back to the airport. (see photo)

A lovely trip, kids were exhausted. Next time more villages have been added to our list, not to mention actually stopping by and seeing friends who live there.

M


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19th December 2019

Wow you did heaps in a short time. Great memories.
20th December 2019

My wife and I also have Scottish ancestors...
I've traced them back to King Malcolm III Canmore (1031-1093). I've identified the castles where they lived and the abbeys where they are buried and developed an itinerary to include many of them. We will be there the first half of Sep 2020. Your blog is an inspiration to my planning. I've enjoyed following your blogs for years and watching your kids grow up. I wish you the best as you settle back in NZ. Keep on blogging about this transition.

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