After seeing the Clava Cairns, I went to Cawdor Castle. I learned the tune “The Hawthorn Tree of Cawdor” or “Cawdor Castle” from Dominique Dodge. When I researched the history of this place, I found out about its interesting history. Legend says that in the 13th century, the Thane had a dream that he should load a donkey with a kisk of gold and set it off to wander. Wherever the donkey stopped is where he should build his new castle. The donkey, however, stopped by a tree that was considered sacred during the pre-Christian era. To cut the tree down would have been a very bad thing to do, so the keep of the castle was built over and around the tree. The tree is there to this day. Interestingly, an interesting piece of art hanging in the upstairs hallway depicts this event. I would love to have a photo of it, but as in most castles and homes, photography inside is prohibited. The painting (pastel?) is called "Little Blue Donkey" and is by Craigie Aitchison. The docent related how a visitor once asked if one of the children in the family had done the painting!
Here's a link to a picture of the tapestry (if this is the one you saw)
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(copy and paste into your browser).
I went to that site. It looks like a few photos of the tree and a drawing. The piece of art was done by Craigie Aitchison. Looked like pastel to me. There are some unicorn tapestries in muted colors.
ReplyDeleteI'm DELIGHTED to see you at Cawdor Castle - I think you play that - isn't it magical to stand on a tune you've played before? I hope you've had a fantastic trip - we missed you though!
ReplyDeleteHi Jen! It was cool to visit the name places associated with tunes, and yes I love the tune Cawdor Castle. Dominique Dodge taught us such a nice arrangement. Now I've got an image in my mind to go with some of these tunes. Visiting places associated with tunes helped to shape my explorations of Scotland. I missed everyone at the Ohio Scottish Arts School.
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