Those Kennedys knew how to live in style!
Jul. 3rd, 2010 08:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
anteros_lmc
Last weekend we went for a visit to Culzean Castle and were blessed with the most glorious weather. Culzean is the seat of Clan Kennedy and the present castle was commissioned by David Kennedy, the 10th Earl, (he who Boswell lampooned for his reluctance to marry) and built by Robert Adam between 1777 and 1792. The Kennedy's gifted the castle and estate to the National Trust for Scotland in 1945 although the apartment at the top was loaned in perpetuity to General Dwight Eisenhower in recognition of his service to the allied cause during the Second World War. Culzean is widely held to be Adam's masterpiece and the interior of the castle is an archetype of Georgian elegance. Sadly photography is not allowed inside which is a damn shame because as well as the gorgeous interiors there are also some extraordinary model ships and maritime paintings and etchings. One model is a huge reconstruction of HMS Britannia, 120 guns, 1820, however the figure head of Britannia has rather cheekily been removed and replaced by a figure of a Highlander :) The castle also has the most elaborate decorative Armoury, with the largest collection of period weapons outside Windsor Castle, and more cannons than you can shake a powder monkey at. Most of the pictures below were taken in the formal gardens and terraces immediately surrounding the castle, however the estate, which was designed and landscaped by Thomas White Senior, a student of Capability Brown, stretches for miles along the coast and is dotted with, among other things, kitchen gardens, green houses, vineries and orangeries, a camelia house, an aviary, the Swan Pond, round houses, icehouses, laundries, deer parks and too many other things to mention!
 Facade and Fountain Court |  Facade with long guns |
 Fountain terrace |  Arch with crest and motto Avise La Fine (Consider The End) |
 Cannon with heraldic dolphin |  Cannon crest |
 Long gun |  View from ramparts, looking towards Arran |
 Boat carriage for taking guests on fishing trips! |  Avise La Fine (Consider The End) |
 Jasmine in the Orangery |  Fountain |
 Long gun barrel |  Into the blue |
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Date: 2010-07-03 07:40 pm (UTC)I can also see a very angry Mr. K when Lord H lifts Bartholomew into a cannon.
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Date: 2010-07-03 08:03 pm (UTC)Isn't it just perfect?!
I can also see a very angry Mr. K when Lord H lifts Bartholomew into a cannon.
Bartholomew of course would be completely unperturbed and would simply curl up and go to sleep.
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Date: 2010-07-03 08:17 pm (UTC)Of course, all those lamb chops need sleeping off!
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Date: 2010-07-03 08:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-03 11:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-04 12:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-03 08:09 pm (UTC)Btw this icon is Ailsa Craig which one of the Kennedy titles is named after: Marquis of Ailsa. You can see Ailsa from Culzean on a clear day. I took this pic a couple of years ago and it's not colourised or filtered in the slightest!
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Date: 2010-07-03 07:49 pm (UTC)*invites self round* When I make my pilgrimage you have to show me round, k?
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Date: 2010-07-03 08:13 pm (UTC)Isn't it amazing? In my private LKU Archie survives, Horatio leaves the service & the live happily ever after at Culzean :)
Pemberly with more guns
Its Scotland. Country houses always have gun up here!
When I make my pilgrimage you have to show me round, k?
K :)
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Date: 2010-07-03 10:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-27 06:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-27 09:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-03 08:02 pm (UTC)Did you see the deer??
I want to jump into that sea. Badly. :/
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Date: 2010-07-03 08:17 pm (UTC)It's the Gulf Stream m'dear. Palm trees grow like weeds all up and down the west coast of the UK. The Gulf Stream keeps the west relatively warm and wet. We don't get much snow and rarely have hard frosts. They would't stand a chance on the east coast though, it's baltic over there!
I want to jump into that sea. Badly
It would certainly cool you down!
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Date: 2010-07-03 08:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-03 08:55 pm (UTC)Yup, lots of rain and howling gales but relatively mild with it ;)
Oh and we didn't see the deer this time round but you can see them all over Scotland, even just on the outskirts of Glasgow.
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Date: 2011-09-27 06:52 pm (UTC)We get gulf stream along the East Coast of the US, too of course. But we don't have palm trees north of South Carolina.
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Date: 2011-09-27 09:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-03 10:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-04 12:27 pm (UTC)