It finally happened

Part 17: Monkfest 1282

It had to happen sometime; we had to go to a ruin that wasn’t a castle. Lo and Behold we found Elgin Cathedral. We started off at the nearby Biblical gardens of Elgin, which were charming, but had some really strange statuary.

http://www.armin-grewe.com/holiday/scotland2001/elgin-biblical.jpg

They weren’t really copper or steel; they were plastic filled with foam.

ELGIN CATHEDRAL!!!!!!!

http://www.electricscotland.com/historic/pics/elgin%20cathedral%202.jpg

So super sweet. The interesting thing about this cathedral is that unlike many cathedrals built at its time Elgin Cathedral did not have a specific allegiance to any one order of monks. Elgin had in it’s midst Benedictines, Cistercians, Fransiscans, etc. etc. depending on the time. This means that their architecture is somewhat unique. Each branch of monks would have had particular things they would have done in the building of a church. In particular the Cistercians, who would use the same floor plan in every structure they built. It was once said that any monk could find his way around any Cistercian Cathedral as easily as they could get around their own room regardless of where in the world he was.

But this somewhat politic disassociation means that they don’t have to pay homage or follow the rules of any of those lofty orders. Nope, this was strictly for the Bishop, who, by the way, had really nice digs on the opposite end of the Cathedral.

http://www.geo.ed.ac.uk/scotgaz/images/p4455.jpg

The galleries on either side served as semi-flying buttresses, they pull weight away from the interior of the building, but they are not strictly structural, it is also important to note that they have rather thick regular buttressing along the exterior. Because of the thickness and regularity of the columns in the nave as well as the relative short height of the roof there was no need for there to be massive flying buttresses anyway. The front façade towers were pretty interesting, unlike many other cathedral towers I have been to, Elgin actually lets you into the rooms throughout the towers, which would have been used for meeting rooms, storage and living quarters if necessary. These are actually pretty expansive rooms with the Musicians’ gallery serving as walkway from one tower to another.

The Chapterhouse was another very interesting part. It was organized as a Heptagon with 5 of the sides being used for seating and two being used for entrance and exit. This is where the higher-ups of the church would meet to discuss the rules of the monasteries. One would sit under one of the five symbols etched into the glass and stone above your head. Quite possibly these symbols represent the vows you would take when you entered monastic rule: Poverty, Chastity, Obedience, Silence and, above everything else, To Serve God.

So what happened to Elgin? Why did it become a ruin. Well, three reasons.

First, in 1390 it was partially burned down by a Knight who had been excommunicated when they stopped paying him protection money.

Second, in 1402 it was again burned in an attempt made by the landed gentry to confiscate the church’s power in the region.

And Finally, after two attempted destructions it finally succumbed to the Scottish reformation and fell apart from abandonment around the 1600s.

Still, it is painfully, tragically beautiful.

Part 18: Can you believe this wool?

The next stop was at a local Cashmere factory, where I splurged and bought a coat (which was ironically not cashmere). BUT! IN MY DEFENSE! It had been marked clearance, was not much more that a coat I would have paid for at home, and was super, super cute.

It turns out that Cashmere factories in Europe are facing a tough time from Chinese manufacturers; over and over again I was lectured on the benefit ofquality over price. And I have to admit there were some beautiful pieces on display that were worth more money than my life.

Hermes, Versace, things like that. Man, it must be convenient to be obscenely wealthy.

For lunch we stopped at nearby Baxter’s Factory and café. Baxter’s is essentially Scotland’s Campbell’s, so what can I say besides mm. mm. good.

Part 19: The Valley of the Deer

We rounded out the day with a tour of the Glenfiddich distillery, the whiskey which takes its water from a spring the river Fiddich takes its name from the valley. This literally means “The Valley of the Deer”, hence the stag on the bottle. Here are a few things I learned on the tour:

1. Glenfiddich Scotch Whiskey is always stored in oak barrels for at least 12 years

2. They have their own coopers (barrel-builders) on the premises

3. They have an artist in residence that changes every year

4. The wood used in the barrels must have had another kind of liquor in it first, most of these either come from Spain (where they use it for sherry) or from the U.S. ( where they use it for bourbon)

5. These barrels are only used about 4 or 5 times and then they are turned into furniture, or rarely in the case of the Tuns (the large heated vats) houses.

6. I can, in fact, still drink scotch whiskey (something I thought I was incapable of). I must therefore conclude that I am no longer capable of drinking cheap whiskey.

Overall a nice tour, but I couldn’t escape the thought that they just wanted to get me drunk. I resisted however and returned to Buckie.

Well that’s all for now. Stay tuned for the last day in Scotland tomorrow!

McCormick-out.