Blair Castle Archives - Scones, history and a dollop of politics

With the Fife Arms in Braemar being voted the most stylish place in Britain it would seem like the natural habitat for Pat and I. The natural habitat for the twitchers amongst you is right at the end of this post where you can see Pat’s bird list for our stay in the Cairngorms. The dipper,was our favourite on this trip.

Braemar, of course is on Royal Deeside and is within spitting distance of Balmoral, the Royals favourite 50,000 acre playground. Meanwhile we are still having to make do on the Delnabo Estate, a mere 3,500 acres. The Royal connection probably doesn’t do the Fife Arms any harm with its cheapest room coming in at £750 per night … and the hotel is fully booked.

Trepidation

Introducing five cartwheeling, somersaulting, back-flipping granddaughters to such salubrious surroundings is something you do with a certain sense of trepidation.

There’s twelve in our party and we were here for afternoon tea. It was going to be interesting and probably not what this place is used to. Before that however some of us went on the art tour. The Swiss couple who own the hotel are billionaire gallerists so the place is hanging with Picassos and other works of art. Pat and I were left looking after the children while the tour was going on. We needn’t have worried too much about the children. They ended up entertaining the other guests to much acclaim on the grand piano in the reception area. When they’re not abusing their grandpa they’re actually quite a talented bunch. Click here for a wee sample

dining area with a chandelier made of kitchen utensils

It seems odd that all the Picassos and other works of art are just hanging in public areas whereas the cozy wee bar we were shown into is kept locked.

The bar at the Fife Arms, Braemar — Our daughters in their natural habitat

It only makes sense when you realise that they have two bottles of whisky priced at £10,000 …not for a bottle, just a nip! Okay it’s 190 years old and was only recently discovered in a forgotten cellar room in Blair Castle. But even though!? And, more to the point, how do you manage to have a room you’ve forgotten for 190 years?

Not normal

Normally afternoon tea would be served in the beautiful quiet drawing room however because there was a host of us they said the chef’s table in the Clunie restaurant would be a better option. We had it all to ourselves which was maybe just as well.

The Clunie dining room — Everyone should have a full sized stag in their dining room

It took a while for our afternoon tea to appear but when it did we were not disappointed.

A private dining area — Private dining with a chandelier made of kitchen utensils

The scones were on the bottom tier and cosily wrapped up in a linen towel while we tackled a delicious array of sandwiches and sausage rolls. By the time we got round to the scones they were still lovely and warm. With the accompanying Fife Arms berry jam and clotted cream served in beautiful silver dishes this was a bit of a no brainer…. topscone!

Mystifying

There’s no doubt that the Fife Arms is a stylish, if expensive, place. It’s fully booked so they are obviously able to find people willing to pay their prices in a small Highland village like Braemar. It’s a kind of comment on the human condition. A Picasso is just paint on canvas yet we give it some magical attribution that artificially imposes an impossible value. It’s the same for a 190 year old whisky, is it worth £10,000 per sip? For simple folks like ourselves, it’s mystifying.

Mind you, not nearly as mystifying as the US and UK’s complete inability to recognise genocide. Britain in particular is more practiced than most in genocide so they should know it when they see it. Of course, Britain has to follow US’s directives so its eyesight is severely impaired.

Tam o' Shanter fireplace at the Fife Arms, Braemar — Fireplace featuring the poems of Robert Burns

It has been the most wonderful week at Delnabo Lodge. Great house, great company, great scenery, great weather, great food … just great! But as they say “all good things …”

Picture atthe Fife Arms, Braemar — Circle Of Pieter Brueghel The Younger (1564 – 1636)

AB35 5YN. tel: 01339 720215 Fife Arms Hotel

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ps: Pat’s bird list for Easter 2024, Delnabo estate
1 oyster catcher 2 carrion crows 3 heron gull 4 pheasant 5 Buzzard 6 Great tit 7 kestrel 8 blue tit 9 jackdaw 10 long tail tit 11 chaffinch 12 greylag goose 13 herring gull 14 skylark 15 grey wagtail 16 greenfinch 17 Siskin 18 treecreeper 19 Robin 20 goldcrest 21 goldfinch 22 collared dove 23 curlew 24 wood pigeon 25 song thrush 26 dipper 27 meadow pipit 28 Rook 29 black headed gull 30 mallard 31 Pied wagtail

Everyone should have a river running through their garden, don’t you think? The Duke of Atholl has 145,000 acres so he probably has several. To join the aristocracy you need do nothing more than be in the right place at the right time, then monarchy can shower you with all sorts of gifts … like large parts of Scotland. Mind you the 1st Duke of Atholl seems to have been a sensible sort of chap. He opposed the Act of Union in 1707 and, for daring to have an opinion, was promptly placed under house arrest. However, if you are going to be placed under house arrest there are definately worse places than Blair Castle … it’s more “castle arrest’ really.

ballroom at Blair Castle — The ballroom … everyone should have at least one of these

Much has happened since our previous post from Hickety Pickety Tearoom. Most momentous was the Queen’s death. She did a great job of bring up a family and saying absolutely nothing while under the microscope of the world’s media. And it was fitting that she died at Balmoral, where she was actually happy.

Intimidation

a corridor at Blair Castle — An antler corridor

Her funeral went on interminably. Even the food banks had to close. If the principal aim of monarchy is to intimidate then this certainly worked. The greatest display of white male privilege ever witnessed by mankind. There wasn’t a single world leader there who thought that they were going to get anything remotely like this as a send off. Britain does it again with an incredible show of nonsensical pomp. But who, in this day and age are we trying to intimidate?

Will we, won’t we?

With King Charles III ascending the throne surely now is the time for countries like Canada and Australia to realise that they need one of their own to be Head of State. Okay, Canada likes monarchy to differentiate it from their rather common cousins to the south, but still, your all grown up now, Perhaps, like Denmark has just done, all Royal children should be stripped off their titles so that they can actually lead normal lives like the rest of us? However, the big question is, will Scotland give the Stone of Destiny back so that Charles can be crowned? Maybe not a BIG question but a question nevertheless.

drawing room at Blair Castle — a drawing room

Goodness, you can’t turn your back for a minute, we have a new government as well. Not so much a ‘new’ government, just a continuation of the old one but worse. Don’t think anyone thought that was even possible! Liz Truss, thrashing around, making it up as she goes along, hoping she can last to the next General Election and plunging the country into its worst economic crisis for almost fifty years. Brilliant! Bring back Boris …. joke!

Private army

painting at Blair Castle — This is how I feel after a good scone.

But enough of this nonsense, did they have scones at Blair Castle? Well, yes they did! We are actually taking part in our first ever coach trip . woohoo with the Falkirk Local History Society and this was our first stop before heading further north. Going round the castle is a bit like being in IKEA … it’s a one way system. And just as well. It would be very easy to get lost otherwise. The current Duke of Atholl got fed up getting lost so he now lives in South Africa. He still has his own private army here in Scotland … the Atholl Highlanders … isn’t it great!

Locusts

There was also the alternative of going round the rather splendiferous gardens. The Hercules Garden is lovely … everyone should have one of these as well, but we concentrated on the castle. At the end we all met up again and descends on the restaurant like the proverbial locusts. Scones were laid out on tiered plates for all …. yeah! You can probably imagine that the sudden influx of more than fifty people at one time might create a few problems … and it did. Nothing too serious though and we were all soon kitted out with everything we needed. They were very fresh and crumbly and although we did swither on topscone status, they eventually just missed the cut. A good time was had by all so what does it matter? Definitely worth a visit … especially if you want to see all the things you don’t have

entrance hall at Blair Castle — Aristocracy is also all about intimidation of lesser mortals so this entrance hall may have been a reminder to guests that they had better behave.

PH18 5TL. tel: 01796 481207 Blair Castle

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Scones, history and a dollop of politics

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