St Anthony's Chapel

Sitting on the side of Arthur's Seat and above St Margaret's Loch in Edinburgh are the ruins of St Anthony's Chapel. Couldn't find much about the history but I am amazed that it wasn't rebuilt because the views from here are spectacular.

Loch Lomond

As mentioned in the previous post, one potential location for the 2nd through 5th battles of King Arthur was by Loch Lomond at the outlet of the River Douglas. This is a view of Loch Lomond right by that outlet.

Inverbeg

Welcome to Inverbeg, Scotland. A very, very small pitstop on the edge of Loch Lomond. This is a beautiful place for a vacation. This area is also a possible candidate for the site of the second through fifth battles (out of 12) of King Arthur based on the writings of Nennius. It was a battle based on a promise of Arthurs to rid England of the Saxon menace. Arthur marched north and met the Saxon forces at the river Douglas. Some suppose that the spot of the bottle would have taken place where the river drained into the lake. If legend and speculation hold true, then one of the locations for the battles would be just out of sight, right around the bend ahead.

River Tweed

One legend states that the magician Merlin was buried on the banks of the River Tweed close to the village of Drumelzier in Scotland under a thorn tree. (I never found out what a thorn tree was but I assume it was similar to those bushes across the river. They are brilliant orange and all over Scotland) One of Scotland's prophets, Thomas the Rhymer or Michael Scot (it's not known who exactly) even made a prophecy concerning the location of Merlin's grave. The prophecy claimed that when the River Tweed and the River Powsail met at Merlin's grave, Scotland and England would have one Monarch. This came true in 1603 when Scotland and England were first united under James VI of Scotland (James I of England) on the very same day that the river Tweed overflowed its banks and met the river Powsail at the site of Merlin's Grave. This is the River Tweed just as it enters the village of Drumelzier. Is this the legendary site? Not a clue. But I'll give it this, it was a wonderful place to spend the morning photographing and also reported to be a great place to go fishing as well.

The Eildons

This is Scotts View of the Eildon Hills. The name Scotts View comes from this being the purported favorite viewpoint of Sir Walter Scott. So much so that legend has that as his funeral procession passed this spot on the way to Dryburgh Abbey for burial his horses stopped out of habit. In regards to the Eildons, Scott tells the tale of Thomas the Rhymer who is taken inside the hill only to meet a sleeping King Arthur and his nights. Thomas fails a test and is ejected from the mountain and dies from exhaustion after telling his story to some shepherds. I also met a cool old military guy here who sat and talked to me about military life and photography for about an hour.

Arthurs Seat

I loved Scotland. I want to get up into the highlands really bad which leaves the possibility of liking Scotland even more. The Edinburgh area alone is enough to justify my love for Scotland. I made two separate trips there while I was in Europe over a 5 week period. During the second trip I went and hiked around on Arthurs Seat. Arthurs Seat is the main peak of a grouping of hills within Holyrood Park in Edinburgh. It was a simple landscape but was also absolutely stunning. Even has some cool history relative to those of the LDS faith. If you are ever in Edinburgh go hike around Arthurs Seat. You won't regret it.

Kings Knot

This is the Kings Knot below Stirling Castle in Scotland. An earthwork that has taken on different forms and has been written about as far back as 1375 by the Scot poet John Barbour. Its present form is said to date to around 1620 when renovations were made for Charles I. Locals refer to it as the cup and saucer but legend refers to this as the sight of King Arthurs round table. Recent research concludes that the mound in the center is built over a circular wooden structure that is considerably older. Let round table speculation begin anew.

King of the Who?

If you are a Monty Python fan you may recognize this castle. It is Doune Castle in Scotland and was used for many scenes in the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail. This is where King Arthur and Patsy first met the French soldiers that hurled insults as well as the sight for the musical number Knights of the Round Table (A few of us may or may not have sung and danced to that number while in the great hall)

Rosslyn Interior

Here is another view that shows the interior of the Rosslyn Chapel. A view that is far more enjoyable than what is typically seen as it is usually filled with throngs of tourists. It was so peaceful and allowed me to truly soak in all that makes this location such a magical place. It is no wonder that so many legends exist concerning the history and purpose of this chapel.

Rosslyn Chapel

It is time to start sharing some of my photography again. I haven't put anything up since I left a cryptic post back in May. I am going to leave it cryptic for now and will go into more of an explanation as I have time to edit and start sequencing my imagery but needless to say it has been an amazing quest so far. This image is from Rosslyn Chapel just outside of Edinburgh Scotland. The chapel was made famous from the Dan Brown novel and the subsequent movie The Da Vinci Code. Photography is actually not allowed in the chapel but through discussions with the Rosslyn Chapel Trust they were gracious enough to allow me access.

There is a lot of subtle symbolism that I have included as I was composing this image. The biggest one is physically not possible to see but it is due to the location of the tripod as I took this picture. Without me providing the context inspiring the image I hope you can still enjoy the beauty of it. The chapel truly is remarkable and I would highly recommend visiting it if you ever find yourself in Scotland. If you find yourself not ending up in Scotland then I also recommend changing that predicament as soon as possible. Incredible country, weird getting used to driving in, but other than that it is absolutely stunning.