On April 13th, ten members of the Society went off on the delayed Easter excursion. We were a bit disappointed that more people did not come as the day proved to be an excellent one in all respects. This was in no small way due to the meticulous planning undertaken by Sandy Gilchrist. The first port of call was Aberdour Church which looked very much a 17th century parish church as can be seen in the photo above. But as Sandy was to show us the truth was somewhat different from the photograph directly above of a typical splay window of the 12th Century. It was a magnificent church and it was fortunate that the local parishioners saved it in the 1920's.
There was time afterwards for a welcome cup of tea and a scone as well as a chance to look around Aberdour Castle and see the information about its connections with the Earl Of Morton-one of the Regents of Scotland during the minority of Mary Queen of Scots. One of his claims to fame was that he introduced the guillotine to Scotland and was one of the very first people to try it out.
After Aberdour we made our way westwards in the general direction of Dollar where we had lunch. Everybody enjoyed the scenery round Dollar and so did the rest of the world. We had quite a demanding walk up Dollar Glen since the Castle car park was full as all Historic Scotland properties were free that day. It worked off the lunch! Inside the Castle Ed Archer spoke about the history of the Castle first and how the Campbells - Dukes of Argyll acquired the castle and the answer was through marriage. He also explained that the great preacher-John Knox came to Castle Campbell as the Argylls were staunch supporters of the Protestant cause. He also talked about the architecture that included some Renaissance features. These dated to the period after the visit made by Mary Queen of Scots to a Campbell wedding in the castle.
After Ed had finished Scott Main spoke about the Covenanting period and several cases that had come up before the Presbytery. These were about the usual types of scandal-lewd and libidinous behaviour and how the girl accused of such acts threw herself at the mercy of the Presbytery.
The Covenanting period saw much action in the area and James Graham, Marquis of Montrose attacked Dollar during the Civil War though he did not bother with the Castle.
Members had a good look around the castle but they did not have time to inspect the gardens or the alleged site of John Knox's preaching. However they were very impressed with the Green man carvings on the ceiling of the second floor in the main tower at Castle Campbell.
The last port of call was Alloa tower that was restored by the National Trust working with the local community. This was an impressive achievement since the last time I saw it it was covered in graffiti.