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prayers bouncing off of 800-year-old walls

Scotland Day 6, Part 1

By Tineke Ziemer

March 18^th, 2019

culross

Stop. Stop right now and put Culross, Scotland at the top of your destination dream list.

It's tiny, quaint and enchanted. I would not have been surprised to see fairy tale characters step out of these buildings. But instead, we met kind-hearted locals, out for a wander with their dog, taking a moment to sit at the fountain, lovely enough to chat with us in the morning sunshine.

Just a few minutes drive from Edinburgh, this village is situated along the sea with a population of 395. Please can I make that 396? Full of unique historical buildings, it's no wonder it is used as a location for filming many shows, including Outlander and Captain America: The First Avenger. (I finally found a way to make my daughter listen to me talk about my trip!)

Play our Scot-Free contest by choosing your favourite shot from this post before midnight tonight (March 18) and you will be entered to a win an 8x12 print. Winner announced on facebook tomorrow. (candid photos at the end are not part of the contest for obvious reasons. haha)

Spending an hour wandering these streets in the morning light was one of my most delightful memories from Scotland. My favourite books have always been stories where someone goes back in time, and for the first time in my life, I felt like I was actually living that dream. I can't pinpoint what did it for me. It was the whole experience. For that short bit of time, I wasn't Tineke the photographer from Canada. I belonged there. I was a part of it.

One of the notes I made in my journal that day was about the street names. EVERYTHING was given a name, and I mean everything. No matter how narrow the causeway, it had a street sign. Every back alley, stairway and hill! I couldn't help but feeling like every inch of this enchanting village is loved, cared for and a part of somebody's story.

In the photos below you will see a couple of examples of street signs on the back alleys and hills. Hagg's Wynd and Hagg's steps are pictured in the top photo.

prayers bouncing off of 800-year-old walls

culross abbey

I love Culross. It's impossible to say what was the best part. But the Abbey ruins, dating back to the 1200s, were definitely up at the top of the list. Quiet moments of prayer bouncing back off of 800 year old walls - I've never had an experience quite like it.

According to wikipedia: "A Ley tunnel is said to exist beneath the abbey, and within is said to sit a man in a golden chair waiting to give valuable treasures to anyone who succeeds in finding him. According to one story, many years ago a blind piper decided to try and upon entering at Newgate with his dog he proceeded to search and could be heard playing his pipes as far as the West Kirk, three quarters of a mile away. Eventually the dog emerged into the daylight, however the piper was never seen, or heard of, again."

For me, it was the stories that flooded my mind without dates or times. The door laying abandoned on the ground inside an old room with incredible windows, the ancient ornate gate we squeezed through in the trees, the stone stairways leading to nowhere, the narrow opening in the walls just wide enough to fit through. A place for the mind to wander and get lost, and maybe, like the piper, never to emerge again.

Climbing the Ladder (and yes, of course we did!)

candids of culross

Like kids in a candy store! We played at the park, took selfies at Hagg's Steps, posed in tiny doorways of enchanted houses, found a cardboard cutout of Jamie from Outlander, shopped in the charming arts and crafts store, talked to locals and had moments of reflection at the Abbey.