Tag Archives: Jacobite rebellion

Fernie Castle

26 June 2021 billpaterson1@me.com 5 Comments

Fernie Castle has been around since the middle of the 14th century and has had a pretty chequered history through the years. In 1715 it was even forfeited for its support of Bonnie Prince Charlie in the Jacobite Rebellion. Since 1960, however, it has been a hotel and we’re here for afternoon tea.

First impressions are impressive. A beautiful building surrounded by acres of beautiful grounds. What’s not to like? Well, the owner for a start. In his tartan trews and coiffured accent he bore all the hallmarks of someone who could barely stand the fact that he had to admit riff riff like us into his stately abode. We had just come from another stay at Rufflets (the subject of a previous post) so we knew what a good hotel looks like. Fernie didn’t look like one! There were all sorts of things wrong … understaffed and just a bit grubby for starters. What would our afternoon tea be like?

Broken teeth

We didn’t have long to wait. It was plonked in front of us along with our tea and bubbles. The sandwiches were actually quite good but the scones tasted like they been freshly baked for the Bonnie Prince back in 1745. More akin to a museum exhibit rather than something we were supposed to eat. Between us we ate half of one scone and none of the rather sweaty looking cakes. In our time, as you know, we have eaten some pretty dodgy scones but these ones took the biscuit. We could have broken our teeth on them! This was as far away from a topscone as it’s possible to get.

Not a clue

Presumably all the original artworks had been sold off over time and they had been replaced with rather shoddy looking replacements. Everything just looked tired. As if it was being run by someone who had neither the money or the ability to run a successful hotel. Pity, because it’s a great place with loads of potential.

The Green Lady

No castle worth its salt would be without its own ghost and Fernie Castle is no exception. A young girl whose father disapproved of her lover saught refuge in the west tower. She fell from a top floor window to her death. Her ghost, known as the ‘Green Lady’ has been seen wandering through the bedrooms. We think, however, that she had just partaken of an afternoon tea and had simply lost the will to live.

an atmospheric bar at Fernie — The Keep Bar

The curse

In the nearby village of Letham there have been several sightings of a “big black cat”. Not your ordinary overfed domestic moggie but a full sized panther type creature. They are supposed to be lucky but in some parts of the world a black cat walking across in front of you is deemed unlucky. Never mind, you can reverse the curse. First walk in a circle, then walk backwards across the place it happened, count to 13 and chant a charm or line from the Bible. That should do the trick! See, you thought this blog was just about trivia and scones, you never realised it had useful stuff as well.

Curses curses!

Oh dear, our beloved Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (who would have his job), Matt Hancock, has fallen foul of that age old curse, the office romance. He’s a bit of an Adonis after all? And he seems to have fallen for millionaire mum, Gina Coladangelo thus displaying to same judgement he has exercised during COVID. His job might be on a shaky peg but Boris, given his record, would have a bit a nerve sacking someone for such a dalliance.

KY15 7RU. tel: 01337 810 381 Fernie

Scones, Top

Applejacks

12 September 2018 billpaterson1@me.com 4 Comments

Last time we were in the Perthshire town of Callander we were indulging ourselves at the Roman Camp Hotel. It is situated, would you believe it, on the site of a 1st century roman camp on the banks of the river Teith. It’s great, but definitely at the luxury end of the market. This time we were just here visiting an elderly relative. The town is oft’ referred to as ‘The Gateway To The Highlands‘ and certainly, when we were traveling north to Glen Coe every weekend in our youth, we never felt ‘away’ until we hit Callander.

In summer it is extremely busy so it is well endowed with cafés and restaurants to cater for throngs of tourists. We were attracted to Applejacks by the placard outside advertising our favourite coffee, the Cat’s Pyjamas from Henry’s Coffee Company. The café is a long narrow affair and we ended up going to the furthest point from the door where it seemed, for a moment, like we had gone too far. Nobody was speaking English. Indeed everyone was speaking very loudly in some indiscernible language. Not to worry our waitress was local and soon had us fixed up with a couple of scones. Pat chose plain and I went for apple and cinnamon. The café has a kind of trendy upbeat vibe and as well as great coffee they do a good range of savoury wraps and sandwiches.

Misdemeanours

Our scones were accompanied by pots of jam and clotted cream … all English, arrgghh! We have nothing against that, per se. However, tourists from England do not come all this way north to be served the same stuff they get at home. Since they say on their menu that they pride themselves on accessing local ingredients we pointed out this misdemeanour to the management. They took note! It had been a long time since an apple and cinnamon scone had graced my plate. This one served to reminded me of just how delicious they can be. Not made on the premises but, we were assured, made locally. Pat’s scone was good as well and provided a sweet counterpoint to the strong cup of Cat’s Pyjamas coffee. A winning combination … a topscone. Well done Applejacks!

Too and fro

In the 17th and 18th centuries Callander, like much of Scotland, was a hotbed of unrest. Almost all Scots vehemently opposed the Union in 1707 . To make matters even worse, deep rooted Jacobite sympathies abounded and Callander was no exception. The town’s location, however, made it an obvious choice for a military road. It would provide better access for the government’s armed forces in its aim to subdue the unruly Highlands.

Completed in 1743, ironically, the first army to use the new road was that of invaders. Bonnie Prince Charlie, moving south through Callander from Glenfinnan to Derby in the 1745 uprising. It must have been quite a sight as they passed by Ancaster Square where Applejacks is situated. A few months later of course, after the Battle of Falkirk in 1746, the flow was the other way as they headed back north where the disaster that was Culloden would eventually unfold.

Criticising the government

Over the following decade, with over 400 garrisons north of the border, Scotland would be comprehensively crushed. It became the colony it remains to this day. Also ironically, a few years later the town’s namesake, James Thomson Callendar published a book with the rather snappy title of “The Political Progress of Britain or an Impartial History of Abuses in the Government of the British Empire in Europe, Asia and America since the Revolution in 1688 to the present time, the whole tending to prove the ruinous consequences of the popular system of Taxation, War and Conquest.” For his criticisms of the then system of government, Callendar, accused of sedition, had been obliged to remove himself from Scotland and flee to America.

Foundations

Sounds like his book could well be pertinent even today. As our more fervent Brexiteers, the Goves and Rees Moggs, fantasise with their rose tinted glasses over the glory days of Empire it is perhaps worth remembering that the barbaric practices perfected in the ten years after Culloden formed the foundations of the Empire.

Customer distribution map of the world at Applejacks, Callander — a wall map showing the Applejacks empire of diverse customers

However this picturesque little town hides its more turbulent past rather well. And Applejacks is a great addition to its High Street.

FK17 8ED tel: 01877 330370 Applejacks FB

ps For some reason Pat laughed out loud at this notice in Applejacks.and some kind soul has knitted covers to keep the street bollards warm … magic, the world has not gone completely mad after all

Ordinary, Scones

The Ladybird Tearoom

9 September 2016 billpaterson1@me.com 2 Comments

If you have ever picked up a bottle of Johnnie Walker … and, let’s face it, who hasn’t, you were probably more interested in the contents than the bottle itself. That bottle however was probably made here in Alloa where the glassworks is one of the biggest employers in an old established industry.

‘Twas not always so settled though! Things were a little different in 1715. The Earl of Mar, who owned most of the town had to flee the country and forfeit his lands. He had backed the wrong side in the Jacobite rebellion. Heyho, it did not hold the town back for long and Alloa soon became the main port for exporting Glasgow’s manufactured goods across the North Sea to the continent. In 1878 they even started their own football team, Clackmannan County, though 5 years later it changed it’s name to Alloa Athletic … and the team still plays at Recreation Park to this day.

The town is no longer a flourishing port and in common with many other towns that have lost much of their industry, it looks a bit tired. It is surrounded by all the usual ‘superstores’ that only serve to make all such towns look equally miserable. They have sucked the lifeblood out of the centre.

Cut the crap, we hear you ask impatiently, does it have scones ? Apologies for the course language .. too many episodes of House of Cards. The answer, of course, is, yes it does. Hence we find ourselves here at the Ladybird Tearoom.
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Nightmares

It’s nice enough and everyone’s very friendly. Although we were told that the scones had been baked that day, we suspect it was actually the day before. So not good if freshly baked but not bad if they were yesterday’s, if you catch our drift. No awards awarded today, unfortunately. We got the feeling that this place was full of good intentions. It had large jars of jelly babies on every table so you could just help yourself. A generous well intentioned gesture, but a nightmare for parents trying to keep their kids off the easy road to obesity. As such, it probably keeps as many folk away as it attracts.

State of the Union

There was also much of the usual lifestyle advice hanging on the walls. The one asking the question ‘fancy a brew’ had, as it’s background, a rather faded and jaded union jack. We felt it quite accurately reflected the current state of the Union. The other day the Prime Minister declared that Scotland, in the same way as other regions of the UK, would just have to live with the result of Brexit. Thus demonstrating her amazingly poor understanding of what the UK actually is. Whatever her understanding is, Scotland, for sure, is not a ‘region’. A fact that will doubtless be brought to her attention in the near future.

FK10 1ED Ladybird Tearoom FB

Scones, history and a dollop of politics