Day 10: Adventures in Scotland
Day 2 in Cullen
Morning on the Beach
One of my favorite places is on the beach with my toes in the sand. Since we were so close to the beach I was out first thing in the morning and last thing at night. I didn’t even need a perfect sunrise or sunset to be happy. I just enjoyed walking in the sand and listening to the North Sea.
After a week of extremely full days we enjoyed a relaxed pace visiting with friends who proved to be excellent tour guides. They suggested that we visit Huntly in the morning and Cullen House Grounds when they were open in the afternoon.
Huntly
Huntly is the birthplace of George MacDonald, who set two of his books there. Robert Falconer set in Huntly, Aberdeen, and London and Alec Forbes of Howglen in Huntly and Aberdeen.
Huntly Library has quite a bit of information about George MacDonald, as does Orbs Bookshop. As usual, everyone was super friendly and helpful!
Huntly is a delightful town for walking around and enjoying the history! The Merry Kettle Tea Shoppe is one of the places that I wanted to visit in 2020. It’s on Duke street between George MacDonald’s birthplace and The Square.
Huntly Castle
Huntly Castle is a half mile from The Square in Huntly and is free to visit with an Explorer Pass for Historic Environment Scotland. It is fascinating seeing how the buildings grow and change over the centuries. Huntly Castle has an over 700 year history where you can see the destruction caused by political and religious factions. There are also quite a few artifacts that have been preserved in spite of the years of use, abuse, and disuse.
Cullen House and Grounds
If you are a fan of George MacDonald books you will understand how excited I was to walk the grounds of Cullen House. Cullen House does have an interesting history of it’s own, but as I walked through the gate it was Malcolm that I could see walking up to the house with his fish. My imagination was also busy thinking about Michael Phillip’s modern mystery, Murder By Quill.
Cullen Old Kirk
Cullen Old Kirk was founded in the 13th century and dedicated to St Mary the Virgin. Queen Elizabeth de Burgh, second wife of Robert the Bruce, died at Cullen in 1327. Her ‘interior parts’ are believed to be buried at Cullen Kirk which King Robert the Bruce endowed as a chaplainry in 1327 to pray for her soul.
A few historical facts about Cullen Old Kirk: in 1543 the church acquired collegiate status. It’s choir is also from this date. St Anne’s Aisle is from 1539 and the laird’s loft is from 1602. Cullen ‘Auld’ Kirk also has a pre-Reformation aumbry or sacrament house, tombs and monuments. The box pews are of the 17th-century.
Cullen Historic Society
It was starting to really rain by the time we finished our tour of Cullen House Grounds and Cullen Old Kirk. Our friends made the wonderful suggestion that we visit Cullen Historic Society before it closed for the evening. It brought the history of Cullen to life. The best part was that they had Cullen House guide books for sale.
Ending the Second day in Cullen
Day 10: Adventures in Scotland ended with a marvelous walk down Seafield street passed Granda George’s Train with views of the harbor and the North Sea. As we curved around to Bayview road we saw the famous Cullen dinosaur on the Laundry Hub, Seatown, and Cullen Viaduct.
There are stairs that take you up to the path to Castle Hill. The views are phenomenal! You can see the Temple of Pomona from Castle Hill. If you feel contemplative, sitting on the George MacDonald Memorial bench gives an excellent view over Seatown to the North Sea.
Enjoying the sunset on Cullen Beach was a perfect ending the second day in Cullen!
