Rosslyn Chapel and the Borders

Last weekend (I'm a week behind - gotta try to catch up) I went on an Arcadia trip to Rosslyn Chapel and the Borders. Wonderful trip.

Our first stop after departing from Edinburgh was Rosslyn Chapel. Rosslyn is considered by many to have the finest architecture in all of Scotland; it is also surrounded by conspiracy theories connecting it to the Knights Templar, the Freemasons, and Elvis. Most famous, it is prominent in Dan Brown's The DaVinci Code. These speculations are partly due to the insane amount of carvings inside. Insane. Just about every surface was intricately covered in beautiful craftsmanship. Which we were not allowed to take pictures of. Very sad. But many of these carvings are Druidic, Norse, Templar or Masonic symbols, and very awesome. My favourite mystery they showed us were carvings of maize. Now, the chapel was basically complete by the 1450s. ('Basically' because it was supposed to be a cathedral, with the extant part being the choir, but the rest was never finished.) Now, Columbus didn't sail to the New World 'til 1492. Many people think the Templars had found the New World in the early 15th century, and because the Sinclair (St. Clair) family, who built and own the chapel, had Templar connections, they knew about maize, and carved it into an arch.

Also, there is a burial vault beneath the Chapel that has been sealed for about 200 years. It had been the burying place of the Sinclairs, many were laid out in their armour on display. But then one of the Patriarchs died, and his grieving widow had him buried there, then sealed up the vault, never to be opened again. This is where Elvis comes in: people claim all sorts of things are buried down there, including the Holy Grail and Elvis.

 Right now there's a bunch of conservation work going on, so we couldn't see the ceiling, and the entire building is covered by a giant canopy so it can dry out. The flip side of which is we were allowed to climb up the scaffolding and see parts of a church most people never can, simply because there's no access. Which was pretty awesome. There were carvings up top too.

The basic feeling I got from the place was that if you took a normal awesome, giant cathedral or church, then shrunk it down so all the artistry is crammed together, and almost within arms reach rather than a hundred feet up. Then off to the Borders!

The Borders is the region of Southern Scotland and Northern England that changed hands quite frequently before the Union of Crowns. The first place we visited was the ruined Melrose Abbyin the town of Melrose. There was a very interesting audio tour about the history of both the Abby (once the biggest sheep farm in Europe) and the Cistercian Monks who founded it. It was also cold and wet, and hard as I tried to do the whole thing, it got to be too much. So three of us went to lunch at a nice little local restaurant, decorated for Christmas. Never had a pot of tea and bowl of hot soup (potato leek) tasted so good. Granted, they were amazing anyway. Also a panini with mango chutney and melted cheese. Sounds terrible but really a wonderful combination.

Next stop was Traquair House , which is the oldest continually inhabited house in Scotland. It started as a hunting lodge for kings of the Scots, Then became a fortified house, and is now half house half museum. There's also an inn and a brewery. Which brews amazing beer. I bought some. And, as every old house should, it has intrigue and a secret passageway! See, the house is owned by the Stuart family. Yes, as in James I-VII, Charles I and II, and Mary Queen of Scots. Not them directly, but members of the same family. So when the Glorious Revolution happened, and the Stuart family were deposed and William and Mary of Orange were crowned, the owners and the state were not on the best of terms, to say the least. The owners became Jacobites - supporters of the Stuart royal line - and helped the Jacobite rebellion. To make matters worse, they were Catholics in a protestant country, so the house was often raided. This meant the priest had a secret passageway through which he could escape when needed.

The good thing about this, from a historian's standpoint, is that with their house being raided and lands confiscated, the family could not afford to tear the house down and build a new stylish one. Which makes the house itself an amazing treasure trove, not to mention the amazing collection of papers, books, and nick-nacks.

Then we headed home. Good day, it was. Pictures here.