Like Nothing Else Going...

I've been a bit heavy on the place recommendations lately, so let me pass along a singer/songwriter whose work has been exclusively on shuffle on the old iPod for the last week and there's no sign of it letting up-- I adore him, and he goes by the name of Teitur.*


Credit for this discovery goes to a very dear friend of mine-- let's call him Adam-- and to be fair he told me about him back in March. However, it took me ages to get my act together and really give it a listen. Needless to say, I wish I had been more attentive ages ago.


Originally from the Faroe Islands**, he was first part of a little band known as Mark No Limits, but has met with much wider success for his solo work. He's got one album out in Faroese (which I think is pretty outrageously cool) and another two in english. Despite Celan's statement that poetry is not bilingual, I've got to say that Teitur proves him wrong with well-written, subtle and delightful lyrics and a brilliant orchestration.


Albums include Poetry and Airplanes (July 2003), Stay Under the Stars (September 2006), Káta Hornið (May 2007), and The Singer (April 2008). Poetry and Airplanes contains such gems as the song that first hooked me, Sleeping with the Lights On. Other personal favorites include Rough Around the Edges and the title track, though I don't know who I'm kidding, I'm basically addicted to this entire album. The lyrics are just so damn perfect, and if you don't find his voice genuine, then sir, you have no beating heart within you.


Stay Under the Stars has it's fair share of memorable lyrics as well-- "May our minds lose the battle / May our hearts win the war" for instance, from Don't Want You to Wake Up, and several others.


Despite the fact that I don't know what he's saying, Káta Hornið is very much in heavy rotation on the Baby. If anyone knows what he's saying, I'll bake you a whole batch of orange shortbread if you enlighten me!

*His name, in Old Norse, means 'happy' and that is precisely what his songs make me--how lovely is that!
**Equidistant from Iceland, Scotland and Norway, I think my perfect summer house might be in the Faroe Islands, and if the men are as lovely as Teitur's lyrics, I might stay for a winter or two as well.

Elgin!

Or: The Day That Never Ended.*

For the money, Elgin is not a bad idea. In fact, if you're into really interesting, ruined cathedrals with atmosphere and history spilling out of every nook and cranny, Elgin is for you! Just make sure you know what time the train comes and goes. In fact, you might want to tattoo it somewhere on your body, just to be safe. Especially if travelling on a Sunday. Just take my word on this one.

It isn't so obvious on a modern map, but for much of recorded history Elgin was isolated from the rest of Scotland; with the Cairngorms to the south and protected by two unbridged and often uncrossable rivers, the Spey to the east and the Findhorn to the west, Elgin really is in the middle of nowhere. This is a fact you will become keenly aware of should you miss the aforementioned trains.

Historians say that Elgin "probably" existed in 1040 when King Duncan's army met and lost to the infamous macbeth at Pitgaveney, a mile north east of the modern city. It was definitely a well-established hum for humanity by the time it was Chartered as a Royal Burgh by David I in 1136. By 1230 Elgin had also acquired a Royal Castle, built on the foundations of an earlier defensive structure, possibly the one in which Duncan died of his wounds in 1040. On the royal line, Richard I stayed in Elgin Castle when he visited the city in 1296 during one of his tours of suppression. For more on the Castle, stay tuned-- but for now, let's talk a little (or rather, quite large and ruined) cathedral!

Anyways, the Cathedral is a decent walk through a residential bit of Elgin, past some large palm trees in the center of a roundabout and then, poof! giant honking ruin. The first church on the grounds dates back to the 1200s, and was a cross-shaped building much smaller than the currently visible ruins. It was enlarged later in the same century, possibly following a fire, which yeilded the main church, 280ft in length, taller than the original and with a new choir and an octagonal chapter house. After St. Andrews it was the second largest cathedral in Scotland.

Some badly judged local politics led to the burning of the Cathedral (and much of the rest of Elgin as well) in 1390, by the Wolf of Badenoch, otherwise known as Alexander Stewart, the younger son of Robert II. Bishop Alexander Bur had apparently caused him to to be excommunicated for marital infidelity, and this was his way of getting even. If you ask me, burning a church isn't the best way to get back in with the church, but whatever.

The destruction was followed up by two hundred years of off-and-on rebuilding and adding-on. More work was needed after the collapse of the central tower in 1506, and the west front and chapter house both had some work done around the same time.

Sadly, the Lantern of the North, as Elgin Cathedral is still affectionately known, was one of the many casualties of the 1560 reformation. Unfortunately, it was a blow from which the mightly old building would never recover, as the cathedral fabric soon began to suffer. The lead roofs and the cathedral bells were pulled down and in 1637 the choir roof blew down in a gale. The cathedral still saw occasional use, but it was never enough to justify any repairs. Much of the inside was robbed out, including the destruction of the rood screen for firewood, which breaks the heart if you think about it for long enough.

In the early 1800s there was finally some interest in preserving what hadn't already been lost forever. In 1807, John Shanks, "a drouthy cobbler" was appointed keeper of the cathedral and his single-handed efforts in the clearing of collapsed masonry led to the preparation of a report seeking to highlight the steps required to stabilise the ruin and improve the cathedral grounds.

Modern visitors are left imagine what the cathedral must have looked like in its day. However, there's still plenty to marvel over. Sadly, little remains of the nave, though the ruins of the inner walls are of full height where they abut the towers, showing that it was two stories high. The two transepts represent the most complete part of the first church, and they also had two stages. Nothing remains of the great central tower, but two stone figures, one of a bishop and another of a knight are now on display in the south-east corner of the nave. They originally sat in large niches high up on the western angles of the tower.

Of the cathedral church, the choir and presbytery are the most complete parts remaining. These were rebuilt in the late 1400s. The aisles and chapels flanking the choir have been altered, but the vaults that cover them are still essentially as built after 1270. The tomb of Bishop John of Winchester, lord bishop of Moray which is found here, is the most complete in the cathedral. There are some truly unusual tombstones, take your time and look closely!

Even if you arrive after the cathedral is officially closed for the day, there are pleanty of sights to be seen and photos to be gleaned by a walk around the perimeter. While I'm pretty happy with most of the pictures I took of the place, they comepletely and totally fail to capture the sheer SCALE of the place. I suppose you'll just have to see it with your own eyes! ;)

If you've still got some time to kill while in Elgin (and considering it's Elgin, you just might), take a walk over to Lady Hill Monument. There's not a whole lot left of the castle today, though Lady Hill on which it stood remains a prominent viewpoint. Since 1839 it's been the home of the 80ft high Duke of Gordon Monument with a statue of the fifth duke glowering down on Elgin. Maybe he missed his trains as well.

The base of Lady Hill is perfectly semmetrical and really quite lovely, and you could totally pull a Rocky up the steps if you really want. To the right of the undeniably phallic Gordon tower...... one will find some rocky, castley bits. Feel free to impersonate a mountain goat on some really, REALLY old castle. I certainly enjoyed it! Just remember, you've got to walk back down the hill you climb. :)

*-- If you want the FULL story on why this epic day was the "day that never ended" you'll have to find me in person, soften me up with at least three pints or two double whiskey and lemonade, and then-- and only then-- ask me about it.

Huntly Castle

If you're ever in the area, and you want to see a decently well-preserved castle with incredible history, let me recommend Huntly:

It's a few stops down the line if you take the train out of Aberdeen, the day return is less than you'd pay for a nice bottle of wine, and if you ask me it's a pretty good way to spend a day. Some may disagree. On this particular day, a friend of mine (who just happened to be buying his ticket down to Glasgow for a Lads' Weekender at the same time we were in the que)-- let's call him Dear-- asked where we were going. The conversation ran a little like this:

Dear: "So, where are you ladies off to?"

Me: "Huntly, just for the day."

Dear: "... Why?!"

KayPea: "There's a castle there!"

And so there is. It's a comfortable walk through the very quaint town of Huntly to the Castle from the station. The approach is lovely, and as the Castle grounds butt up against the other great Scottish landmark-- a golf course-- there's lots of pretty green spaces about. Large parts of the Castle are labeled with helpful little signs, and there's clear distinction between the different ages of renovation within the grounds.

Some of the highlights include a fragment of the medieval road leading to the old gate:

The very unique frontispiece:

The remains of the stable (the differentiation in the floor shows the size of the stalls, and the very small size of the horses bred in the region at that time):

The labeling along the front of the "recent" addition:

The intricately carved mantlepieces, some of which are remarkably intact:

Here's a lovely shot of KayPea doing what she does best-- recording her stay in Scotland frame-by-frame with her lovely camera! ;)

Though, to be fair, the view from the very top of the round tower was definitely worth snapping for posterity...

For a modest fee (even more modest if you join up for a year-long membership in the Heritage Trust) you gain entry to the grounds and this lovely chunk of history. So do it!