Castles, farms, and rolling landscapes

There is so much history that surrounds Wigtown. I had the great pleasure of being given a tour of Baldoon Castle by Rosemary--she owns the shop. Some of you may not have found this excursion as exciting as I did just by hearing the name, so I will fill you in on the back story.

Sir Walter Scott wrote a historical novel called "The Bride of Lammermoor" in 1819 that was later turned into a wonderful opera (Lucia di Lammermore) by Gaetano Donizatti. In the story, a young girl was secretly betrothed to a man, but her parents had another marriage arranged for her to a wealthy landowner not far from their home. Her parents forbade her to honor her vow to the other man and she was forced to go through with the arrangement set up by her parents. She was so brokenhearted, that she is said to have stabbed her new husband on her wedding night and never recovered from her hysteria. She died less than one month later.

What I found fascinating was that this story was based on real-life events here in Wigtownshire. The girl was Janet Dalrymple, daughter of the Viscount of Stair. They were a very important family with a house in Edinburgh and farm in Glen Luce (Blaniel farm to Carscreugh Castle). Lucy Dalrymple fell in love with Lord Archibald Rutherford, a handsome and gallant young man, and entered into a secret vow with him to be married when she came of age. Unfortunately, Janet's future was in her parents' hands, and they had entered into a betrothal with David Dunbar of Baldoon in Wigtown. He was the son of a very sucessful farmer and wealthy landowner. Archibald came to the Dalrymple's home to officially propose to Janet, but her parents refused since they had no knowledge of the secret vow between Janet and Archie and because he was the third son and would not be able to support Janet's lifestyle.

Poor Janet was heartbroken over her loss of Archie and her upcoming marriage to David Dunbar. Faily history says that she fell into despair and never quite recovered from her sadness. They were married on August 12th, 1669 and strange circumstances surround the wedding night. Janet had fainted and was taken up to the room. Later that night when Dunbar went up, he was found stabbed in the stomach. Some people belive that Janet had carried a knife with her to bed to keep from having to love another man, but a few people believe that Archibald had snuck in the window and waited behind a curtain until Dunbar came in, stabbed him, then escaped back out through the window. Dunbar's wounds were not fatal, and he took his bride home to Baldoon Castle, 25 miles from her family's farm of Balniel. There, she remained in a state of despair and died on September 12th, exactly one month after her wedding.

Descendants of both families (Dalrymple and Dunbar) still live in the areas of the story. David Dunbar later remarried and had two children. He was known as a very sensible man and remained a wealthy and prosperous landowner until his death. Archibald went on to have a career in the military and never married. Janet's mother Margaret was buried near Janet, and is said to never gotten over the grief of possibly being one of the causes of her daughter's heartbreak.

It was an honor to visit the castle on the Dunbar estate of Baldoon. What a convergence of history, literature, fable, and the present. There are only ruins of the once-great castle, but the family has used some of the stones to build the current house on the estate. The ruins stand ancient and ivy-covered, a monument to the past.

This land is alive around you. It is as if all of these stories and all of this history are in the air and you breathe them in deeply. Before this, I don't think I've ever taken a full breath. Something about it moves about and colors every shade and shadow.

One of my favorite things about Scotland has to be the food. Here is a picture of one of my daily breakfast--each completely different, but oh so lovely.

Remember to keep checking theopenbookwigtown tumblr to see the goings-on in the shop. I have some exciting things planned for the remainder of my time here, and I can't wait to fill you in!

Cheers!