Caerlaverock Castle

I crossed into Scotland today, and I gotta say it's good to be back. First thing this morning, I visited Caerlaverock Castle, not far inside the border and I could have hugged the guy behind the counter when he greeted me with a thick, Scottish accent.

The castle itself is a magnificent building, one might say it's castlerer than most castles. It has a moat, a drawbridge, towers and turrets and windows and slits where one would have fired crossbows and ruins of fireplaces and ovens and and and just wheeeeee. This, in short, is a proper castle.

It was built towards the end of the 1200s, after an unsuccessful predecessor built close by had been abandoned. In 1300, it was subjected to a short and brutal siege by king Edward I of England, aka Longshanks, aka "cunt" (his Scottish name). Teddy boy hammered the Scots and they duly surrendered, and the skirmish has no military value at all, except that it is very well documented. Apparently we even know the color and drawings of the shields each of the 87 English knights used. I use the term "we" liberally here, since I would commit murder rather than sit through a reading of this information.

Still, this castle is so very much worth a trip. It's a handsome building even today, and you can go up into most of the remaining structures and gawp at the remains of fireplaces or where they would keep silverware or where the floors/ceilings would be. And if it starts to rain, like it did with me this morning, just remember that if you don't like the weather in Scotland - just wait five minutes.

All pics here.

The Castle. Good, eh?


Looks like somebody knocked down the wall to get a view.


View of the buildings from the courtyard.


View of the courtyard from the Lord's personal hall. Ish good to be the king.


View from the remains of the staircase.


The castle had its own bakery.


Huge flock of birds photographed from the castle walls.


The bumps in the ground are remains of various outer fortifications. Makes the area almost look like Hobbiton.


These trebuchets (catapults) and other assorted war machinery stand outside the castle. At first glance they looked like a kindergarten playground.


In the little museum by the visitor center, you can dress up. Well, iffin yer small. I didn't even dare try. Sniffles.