Caerlaverock Castle

We left Edinburgh Sunday heading for Dumfries, where my Dad’s Mom’s family was established. As I have always claimed a background with aristocratic origins, for the most part that was always as pretender to the throne, but now I will be hard to live with, if not so already, as the Maxwell’s were the local reigning family. This castle Caerlaverock was a strategic fortification on the west coast of England, at the time it was right on the river, although now the waterway has receded. It is the only triangular designed Castle, originally as a defensive fortification but later Lord Maxwell built a more luxurious inner sanctum, with receiving rooms, dining hall and other amenities to enjoy those comforts when not under siege by Protestant interlopers. They were, and remain staunch Catholics to this day. Ultimately the English Protestants prevailed and men of the Castle were hung outside the walls, as a demonstration of religious intolerance. The castle had 3 levels and there were large fireplaces in all the rooms where there were sleeping quarters and all the other rooms where the inhabitants would gather. I stoke one modest wood stove,  and may go through a couple of cords in a winter, they must of been almost constantly harvesting wood for the fires. The weather is blustery and this is September. Today we are in Warwick, quite a drive from where we were yesterday. Tomorrow we visit Warwick Castle, then on to Oxford. We are currently staying at the Old Four Penny Inn in Warwick. We spent sometime in the hotel bar, more like a pub and got a chance to chat with some locals, very refreshing to get a chance to engage in conversation. The English are definitely adept at casual, good humored conversation. Heard a pretty funny joke from one of the local lads regarding Trump and Kim Jong Un that I hope I can recount as well as it was told. Kim’s latest astounding announcement, is his country’s new initiative to put a man on the sun. His officers gently reminded him that the sun is extremely hot and probably another noteworthy objective would be in order but the Supreme leader chided their ignorance, as he planned the landing at night when the sun was cool. When Trump heard of this astounding attempted feat, he chuckled and commented the Sun is gone at night. I guess the moral of the story is 2 wing-nuts do not make a right.

Some more pictures of the Castle

His Lordship outside the entrance to his ancestral home:

The Maxwell Coat of Arms:

The Grounds beyond the Castle:

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