This End Is Near
As we approach the end of this year’s sojourn, let’s catch up on the antics of my pesky compadre.
And a hearty farewell. See you all next time.
This End Is Near
As we approach the end of this year’s sojourn, let’s catch up on the antics of my pesky compadre.
And a hearty farewell. See you all next time.
Monument to the Battle of the Nations – Völkerschlachtdenkmal
The Monument to the Battle of the Nations commemorates the Battle of the Nations which took place on this site for three days in October of 1813. Over 500,000 soldiers amassed in one of the largest battles in history as coalition armies of Russia, Prussia, Austria and Sweden fought against Napoleon’s troops.
The monument stands on the spot of some of the bloodiest fighting. It is reputed that there are over 100,000 dead buried in mass graves here. Realizing his defeat, Napoleon ordered the retreat of his army and returned to France. By the next year, the Allied forces invaded France, Napoleon abdicated and in May of 1814 was exiled to Elba.
The granite and sandstone memorial, at 299 ft high, is one of the tallest monuments in all of Europe.
The 39 foot main figure on the front of the memorial represents the Archangel Michael, considered the “War God of Germans”.
The first level, the Crypt, is adorned by eight large statues representing the faces of fallen warriors.
Each one is protected by the Totenwächter or the Guardians of the Dead.
The second story, the Ruhmeshalle or the Hall of Fame, features four 31 foot statues. Each represents one of the four legendary historic qualities ascribed to the German people: bravery, faith, sacrifice, and fertility.
The cupola is decorated with primitive Germanic shapes, inspired by Egyptian and Assyrian sculpture and the inside of the Dome features a calvary of soldiers.
Oaks surround the monument, a symbol of masculine strength and endurance. These oaks are complemented with evergreens that symbolize feminine fertility.
The View From The Top
On a clear day you can see the town of Halle, 50 km to the NE.
The Nazi’s Last Stand in Leipzig, 1945
The monument was designed to commemorate the spirit of the German people, the establishment of a lasting German community and their maturation into an “organized ethnic group”. Hitler frequently used the monument as a venue for his meetings in Leipzig.
As the Allied noose tightened around Leipzig, the Völkerschlachtdenkmal monument would become the scene of one of Nazi Germany’s last stand.
Brig. Gen. of Police Wilhelm von Grolmann controlled the 3,400-strong paramilitary Leipzig police force. He saw nothing to be gained in a futile defense of the city and hoped to spare Leipzig from total destruction. Unfortunately, Colonel Hans von Poncet, who commanded a handful of German defenders, insisted he was under a direct order from Hitler not to surrender. On April 18th he withdrew to the Battle of the Nations Monument with about 150 men and enough ammunition and foodstuffs to last three months.
On the morning of April 19, Colonel Poncet, occupying the nearly impregnable position, was still defiant as the heavy artillery shells did little damage to the sturdy walls of the monument. The Germans were holding 17 American prisoners inside so American General Reinhardt decided against using flamethrowers to burn the Germans out and began negotiations. At 2am on April 20th, the diehard Nazi commander strode out of the main entrance and the monument was secured. During the negotiations, Lt. Col. Knight granted permission to the remaining handful of German solders for a 48 hour leave, allowing them to pay one last visit their homes in Leipzig. Knight supervised the disarming of the enlisted prisoners and Captain Hans Trefousse, an interrogator of German prisoners with the 273rd Infantry Regiment, guided more than a dozen of the German officers through the lines to their homes. When it was time for them to return to captivity only one failed to appear, leaving behind a note of apology.
Russian Spin
In July, the Americans withdrew from Leipzig, moving westward to the designated postwar zone of occupation and allowed the Red Army to move in. Thus began a period of Communist rule in East Germany that lasted until 1989. The government of the new German Democratic Republic was unsure whether to allow the monument to stand since it stood for steadfast German Nationalism, but because the monument was primarily linked to a battle in which Russian and German soldiers had fought together against Napoleon, it was spun to represent an example of Deutsch-russische Waffenbrüderschaft or Russo-German brotherhood-in-arms and was allowed to remain. In 1956, authorities stated that the monument could be interpreted as a symbol of “long-standing German-Russian friendship”.
After years of neglect, a 16 year restoration was started in 2003. With the exception of some landscaping and designated parking the project is just about complete.
Schwerin
This lovely storybook city in Northern Germany is referred to as the Florence of the North. The capital of the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommen, Schwerin has a population of about 150,000. It is surrounded by lakes, the largest of these being the Schweriner See, the third largest in Germany.
At the end of World War II, Schwerin was taken by United States troops. It was then turned over to the British on June 1, 1945. One month later, on July 1st, it was handed over to the Soviet forces, and the British and American forces pulled back from the line of contact to the predesignated occupation zones.
Schwerin was then in the Soviet Occupation Zone which was to become the German Democratic Republic (GDR). After reunification in 1990 it once again became the capital of the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommen.
The Trace of the Lion Monument
This monument on the Market Square in Schwerin was built in 1995 by the controversial German sculptor Peter Lenk. It commemorates the 800th anniversary of the death of the city’s founder Heinrich the Lion. During his lifetime, Henry, Duke of Bavaria and Saxony, was one of the most powerful men in his region of the world. He founded the city of Schwerin in 1160, Munich in 1157 and Lübeck in 1159. During his reign, he ruled over a territory that reached from the coasts of the North and Baltic Seas all the way to the Alps.
The nearly 15-foot-tall monument features a lion, Henry’s heraldic animal. The sides show curious scenes associated with Henry’s life. The most bizarre scene depicts the duke riding through a gauntlet of people flashing their buttocks. Legend has it that when Henry arrived in the town of Bardowick, its contemptuous residents received him with their pants pulled down to reveal their bare behinds in an expression of anger at the Duke’s punitive trade policy that promoted Schwerin and Lübeck as important trading places and caused Bardowick to lose it’s prestige.
Schloss Schwerin – Schwerin Palace
The first records of a Slavic fort at this small island date from AD 973. In 1160, the fort became a target of Henry the Lion. The Slavs destroyed the fort before leaving but Henry recognized the strategic importance of the location and immediately started building new defenses. He also had the first foundations of the city of Schwerin laid the same year. In 1167, Henry gave the County of Schwerin to his vassal Gunzelin von Hagen, who formed a ducal hereditary line that lasted until the revolution of 1918 which resulted in the abdication of the Grand Duke.
The shelves that surround this beautifully paneled room are supported by individually craved animals.
Petermännchen ,“Little Peterman”
Every good castle has to have a ghost. Meet Petermännchen.
This good-natured household spirit is only a few feet tall, is often described as carrying many keys, roaming through the vaults and tunnels underneath the castle, unlocking doors as he goes. He has a cavalier look with a stylish moustache, wearing a waistcoat, riding boots with spurs and a feathered hat. He is said to carry a lantern and sword and is the keeper and watchman of the castle, rewarding those who are honest and good. Conversely he will punish or drive away thieves and intruders. To do so Petermännchen will cause a nuisance or play pranks, crashing and banging through the night. He also wakes soldiers who have fallen asleep on their watch in order to save them from being punished.
The Winter Room
The ceiling decoration in the Winter Room is made of paper mache and covered with three millimeters of gold foil. The builders discovered that paper mache was far superior to paster or stone carving. It’s faster, lighter, cheaper and can be pressed into molds so the designs are infinitely repeatable.
Queen Luisa of Prussia
This beautiful portrait of Queen Luisa of Prussia hangs in the Winter Room and was painted in 1812 by W. Temite from a drawing made on her deathbed. The covered hands and palm fronds in the veil would have indicated to viewers that the portrait was posthumous.
Albrecht II
I’ve always insisted that no matter how peculiar some folks seem to look there had to be some point in the day when they caught sight of their own reflection and thought, “Yea, I look pretty cool.”
I’ll bet the pliers hanging from his waist were to help get in and out of that getup.
The Staatliches Museum
The Staatliches Museum Schwerin (State Museum Schwerin) was established in 1882 and is nationally known for its medieval collections well as one of Europe’s most significant collections of French-American artist Marcel Duchamp.
Besides the Alte Meisters (Old Masters), we are here primarily for the GDR Show.
Hinter dem Horizont – Beyond the Horizon …
GDR art from the collections of the Staatliches Museum Schwerin
The exhibition brings together around 100 paintings, drawings, graphics and sculptures some maintaining the prescribed ideologies of the times, others not so much. Here’s just a few.
The Bitterfeld Way
Artists were called upon to seek out their subject matter in factories or in the countryside. Proximity to the working populace was a programmatic specification of the cultural policy.
“In our time, a contribution to socialist art must consist primarily in encouraging the working people of socialist society to actively shape their lives.”
“The working day seems to be approaching its end. The excitement at the prospect of knocking off is unmistakable. This image, marked by optimism and a lust for life, can be understood as a metaphor for the dawning of a new age.”
On Gorbachev’s Reforms In The Soviet Union
“Incidentally, if your neighbor redid the wallpaper in his apartment, would you feel obliged to redo the wallpaper in your apartment as well?”
Jean-Baptiste Oudry – An Alte Meister
Oudry was a much favored 18th century French painter that specialized in animals in conflict, but also had a keen eye for the historical significance of many of these amazing creatures.
The Indian rhinoceros “Jungfer Clara” came to Versailles and Paris in 1749. Oudry studied her at the fair at St, Germain. At the time very few people had seen one of these creatures. It must have seemed as alien to the 18th century viewer as a Martian. The life-size portrayal became a memorial to this magnificent rhinoceros.
Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, a French naturalist, mathematician, cosmologist, and encyclopédiste, produced a highly successful and widespread engraving of Clara’s portrait, which allowed a much larger audience to view this amazing animal.
These large scale paintings of animals at battle were highly favored in the royal houses and palaces of Europe in the 18th century.
Let’s finish with a great German artist.
Paul Kuhfuss, a classically trained Berlin artist, was hugely prolific and left an archive of over 5,300 works of art.
Herr Kuhfuss was also a man of conscience. In October of 1935, he was denounced by the Gestapo as member of the artist association “Berlin North”, for his resistance to the Nazi cultural propaganda and his defense of Jewish colleagues. Participation in art exhibitions in Berlin was no longer possible until after the war.
Berlin – Great, In Spite of Itself
I don’t know how many of you remember Ian Shoales. He would do commentary and social observations in the 80’s and was my favorite segment on NPR’s All Things Considered. In one show he talked about the real intent and purpose of McDonalds. He suggested that their success and proliferation throughout America, and ultimately the world, is really about sameness and predictability. By offering the exact same Big Mac with Cheese in Columbus, Ohio as in Seattle, Washington you relieve the consumer/traveler of the anxiety of making a bad choice and you fill them with warmth and comfort. It doesn’t matter that it’s not the best burger, the important thing is the sameness. You combine this with, at least in the 80’s, the virtually identical pimple faced and polite teenager at the drive-thru window and all your fears and reservations are dispelled.
Now fast forward to 2018 and the Global Village. We find that every major city we visit is striving for exactly the same thing. Wendi and I walked down the Kurfürstendamm in Berlin 26 years ago and stopped in beer halls, ate bratwurst and schnitzel while listening to Oom-pah bands blasting out German tunes to the delight of everyone. Now after spending three very hot days here we find it is more international then national. We went in search of the aforementioned schnitzel, bratwurst and beer halls but were confronted with pizza, pasta, falafel, curry, tacos and HipHop, anything that makes the visitor feel more at home and less here. With the exception of street signs almost everything German has been pushed aside and replaced with samples of cuisine and culture from other places. Even the new architecture would be at home in any major city in the world as more traditional buildings peek through the giant skyscrapers.
Who know? Perhaps I’ve got it all wrong and that for decades Germans have been saying, “Hey, I gotta get me some of that fast food.”
Art’s The Thing
Man doesn’t live by sausage and beer alone. Does he? Anyway, art is really the thing that rings our bell and the art here is great, especially the German art.
We managed to make our way to four museums that were all terrific.
CO/Berlin
First up was the CO/Berlin, a contemporary photo museum that is showing an amazingly curated show of Polaroid images , most by the great German film director Wim Wender. He took the photos while traveling during the 70s and uses them to help illustrate the social significance this technology has had and how digital imagery is a direct offshoot of it. The Grandfather of the Selfie.
The Camera
Edwin Land attended Harvard University but did not finish his studies or receive a degree. His wife told his biographer that she would prod him for answers to homework problems, write up the work and turn it in so that he could receive credit for the course.
At work he would conceive of an idea, experiment and brainstorm, taking no breaks, until it was solved. Food was brought to him and he had to be reminded to eat. He was rumored to have worn the same clothes for eighteen consecutive days while working on a diffcult problem. As the company grew, Land had teams of assistants working in shifts at his side. As one group grew tired, the next was brought in to continue.
Polaroid originally manufactured sixty units of the First Land Camera. Fifty-seven went on sale at the Jordan Marsh department store in Boston for the 1948 Christmas holiday. Polaroid marketers imagined they would have time enough to manufacture a second run before the first batch ran out but all fifty-seven cameras were sold on the very first day.
I was lucky enough to hear Edwin Land speak during an Icons of Photography series at MIT in Cambridge in the early 70s and he was quick to point out that he thought the initial attraction of the instant camera was so people could make “personal” pictures at home without having to take the film to a lab for development and “scrutiny”.
The Alte Nationalgalerie
Next up was the Alte Nationalgalerie, situated on Museum Island, a UNESCO-designated World Heritage site. This national gallery has an amazing permanent collection that includes a few of all the greats.
Wanderlust
The current exhibition, “Wanderlust”, follows art from 1800 through the early 1900s which illustrated Europeans new found love of the self-determined journey on foot that came to represent a new, intensified encounter with nature in particular and life in general. These wanderings represented a significant development of world knowledge for artists and writers who were trekking through the Alps and all over France, Germany, Norway, Great Britain, Denmark and Russia. Every painting in the show depicts a wanderer in the wilderness.
Loving to travel like we do, this show had a particular connection for us.
This famous painting “Wanderer above the Sea of Fog” by Caspar David Friedrich was the center piece and inspiration for the show. It has come to represent a metaphor for life, as we stand and look out across the great unknown.
At a time when women were all trussed up, this was considered one of the first Feminist paintings, showing a woman wandering alone and dressed for freedom of motion.
Gassies was inspired to paint this during his travels through England and Scotland. In this large painting he accentuates the winds ferocity with clearly visible brush strokes.
Nolde paints a solitary traveler on a path that leads to an unclear destination, suggesting hardship and danger, somewhat popular themes during the Romantic period.
Most of the paintings in the show were on loan from other museums so most photography was verboten, but I did want to show a few pictures from the permanent collection that I thought were fun.
There was no nameplate on this so I have no idea who painted it. I can only hope that the model didn’t have to sit too long and got the sausages in the end.
Any of us who have spent time with children can relate to this.
Before there was Disney there was Victor Müller.
I’m thinking that Arnold Bocklin worried a bit about the passage of time.
I love the Dutch. Leave to them to take what we think of as a solo pursuit, the women alone at her spinning wheel, and putting the whole village to work, even the kids.
For our dear friend Sabine.
The Neues Museum
Right next door was the Neues Museum. We’re here for the “Margiana. A Bronze Age Kingdom in Turkmenistan” show and their collection of Egyptian artifacts.
I’m going to forego the broken pottery and jump right to the show stopper, the mysterious “Berlin Golden Hat”. This is the only fully preserved specimen of the four known conical Golden Hats from the late European Bronze Age, 1,000 to 800 BC. It is generally assumed that the hats were worn by priests of the Sun Cult that appears to have been widespread in Central Europe at the time. A detailed study of the Berlin example showed that the symbols represent a lunisolar calendar and would have aided the wearer/priest in predicting the dates and periods of both lunar and solar events.
The Museum für Fotografie
We finished our quick visit with an afternoon at the Museum für Fotografie. This museum is a joint collaboration between the Kunstbibliothek and the Helmut Newton Foundation and exhibits a huge array of contemporary photography that challenges our notions about what constitutes fine art photography and fashion photography.
These 9′ Amazon Women greet you in the main foyer. It’s funny to think that in the early 80s Helmut Newton shocked the fashion and photography world when he first exhibited them. Now they seem almost quaint, just good clean naked fun.
In the Aftermath of WWII
There’s no denying that, in regards to the horror of WWII, Berlin was the heart of the beast. Germany has recognized that to be a world leader they would have to expose Nazism for what it was and help educate the world about the events that help create the huge tragedy it represents. All of this is done with the hope that in knowledge is the power to stop this from ever happening again.
The Topography of Terror
The Topography of Terror is a documentation center that is visited by 1.5 million people a year and is one of the most frequently visited places of remembrance in Berlin. This is a fascinating site that gives a step by step historical account of exactly how the Nazi party came to seize power and convince an entire population to believe their lies and propaganda.
Let’s not forget the Commies
The 17 June Memorial
This huge mural was created by the artist Wolfgang Rüppel and commemorates a worker upraising on June, 17, 1953. It’s original working title was, “The importance of peace for the cultural development of humanity and the necessity of struggle to achieve this goal.” Leave it to the Commies to overcomplicate things.
The Holocaust Memorial
The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, or Holocaust Memorial, is a memorial to all the Jewish victims of WWII. It was designed by architect Peter Eisenman and engineer Buro Happold. According to Eisenman’s project text, the stones are meant to produce an uneasy, confusing atmosphere, and the whole sculpture aims to represent a supposedly ordered system that has lost touch with human reason. Many visitors and Berliners have also interpreted the contrast between the grey flat stones and the blue sky as a recognition of the “dismal times” of the Holocaust. Needless to say there has been much controversy surrounding the site since it was first constructed in 2003. Regardless, over 1,000 people visit each day and it is truly sobering.
On A Cheerier Note
We did manage to find schnitzel at the Duke restaurant in the Ellington Hotel. The food, beer and service were all great.
So what was I on about?
The Journey
We sailed out of Helsinki Harbor on a beautiful sunny day for the 2 1/2 hour ferry ride to Estonia. The ship winds through the islands that dot the coast of Finland and then 80 km across the Baltic Sea.
Tallinn is Estonia’s capital and cultural hub. It retains its walled, cobblestoned old town, a 15th-century defensive tower, Gothic Town Hall, historic main square and numerous 13th-century churches. The only downside was that we were a little late in our discovery and found the place packed with tourists from all over the world. We tried to not let the crowds diminish our appreciation and spent a few days wandering Vanalinn, the old town, and marveling at the architecture.
Doors Of Many Colors
I love the uniqueness of the doors. Everyone wants the front portal into their building to be a personal statement, like entrance art. I’m certain people have done entire books about them.
And a couple windows.
All Along The Watchtower
Large portions of the wall and many of it’s gates are still intact today. This has contributed to Tallinn’s old town being named a Unesco World Heritage Site.
Construction of the first wall surrounding Tallinn, known as the Margaret Wall, was begun in 1265 by Ruler Margaret Sambiria. In the beginning it was less than 16 ft tall and about 5 ft thick at the base but over the years it was enlarged considerably. By the fourteenth century all the citizens of Tallinn were required to serve guard duty, They had to wear armor and be prepared to fight off invaders.
Margaret Sambiria
Margie was a tough old bird with a reputation as a competent and enlightened ruler with a strong-willed and energetic personality. Her nicknames were ’Burst-horse’* and ‘Black Greta’.
When her husband, King Christopher of Denmark, demanded autonomy from the church it launched a full blown feud. The King insisted that the church pay taxes like any other land owner. Archbishop Jacob Erlandsen, the wealthiest man in the kingdom, refused and forbid any peasants who lived or worked on church properties to serve in Christopher’s Army. Erlandsen excommunicated the king and refused to recognize Christopher’s young son, Eric, as the rightful heir. That was the last straw, the King had the troublesome archbishop arrested and paraded him through the country wearing secular clothing and a fool’s cap with a fox tail . He was then chained and cast into prison.
But payback was swift and on May 29, 1259, in revenge for his mistreatment of Archbishop Erlandsen and oppression of the church, the King drank poisoned communion wine from the hands of one abbot Arnfast .
His son and heir, Eric V of Denmark, was still a child so Margaret was made regent until he reached maturity. Planning ahead, in 1263 Margaret successfully wrote to Pope Urban IV asking him to allow women to inherit the Danish throne. In 1266, her son, King Eric, granted her the rulership of Danish Estonia for life.
* Apparently there are documented cases of some horses racing so hard and fast that their hearts would literally burst.
Modern Tallinn
I don’t want to leave you with the impression that Tallinn is just an old place because it certainly isn’t. It’s a modern prospering and fast growing city with a vibrant downtown. The Rotermann district, in particular, is very cool with small shops and eateries of every description. Don’t hesitate to come, just try to make in the autumn after all the cruise ships and big busses have gone home.
See you in Berlin.
We did a quick swing through Oslo and Helsinki. Unfortunately my camera froze up when I was leaving Scotland and I’ve been lost without it, like a ship without a rudder, like Lewis and Clarke without Sacajawea, Ying without Yang. It’s my guiding light, the thing that helps me keep the world in focus, no pun intended. Until I replaced it in Finland, I had to rely on my phone. Can you imagine, my phone! I’m a professional photographer not a telephone operator. Consequently, all I was able to put together was a sort of Mulligan Stew of images, but I have a new camera now so further crisis should be averted.
Oslo
Founded in 1040, Oslo is the capital and most populous city of Norway. With just under 700,000 people, it is the fastest growing major city in Europe. The city is also the hub of Norwegian trade, banking, industry and shipping. In 2012 fDi magazine ranked Oslo number one in terms of quality of life among European large cities in the European Cities of the Future study. According to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)’s Worldwide Cost of Living study in 2013, it tied with Melbourne, Australia as the fourth most expensive city in the world.
Frogner Park
Frogner Park contains bridges, fountains and the well-known Vigeland or sculpture installation created by Gustav Vigeland between 1924 and 1943.
The Norsk Folkemuseum
Oslo is dotted with an assortment of Museums from Fine Art to Vikings. We decided to spent some time at the Norsk Folkemuseum, one of the world’s oldest and largest open-air museums, with 155 traditional houses from all parts of Norway and a stave church from the year 1200.
While there I discovered a bit about the Norwegian weather. It seems that with the exception of a short window of normalcy in the spring and fall, Norway has essentially two seasons, light and dark. It seems to me that a long season of 18 to 22 hour daylight sandwiched with another long stretch of 18 to 22 hour nighttime would create a certain level of anxiety.
And like the small flame at the top of a gas well, people need a way to burn off the excess adrenaline created by long periods of sleeplessness juxtaposed with equally lengthy periods of nonstop activity. I suppose they could chain smoke cigarettes or drink obsessively, but the Norwegians are far more practical then that.
They have decided to keep themselves busy with knitting. That’s right knitting. It is apparently a national obsession. Everyone knits, young, old, male, female, everyone!
I joke but don’t think for a minute that this was just fun and games or an idle pastime to while away the long hours. For many this was a means of survival and a source of national pride and identity.
The Exhibition Selbuvotter
Called two-threading knitting, it all began in the winter of 1857 when Marit Emstad knitted her first pair of Rose Mittens and wore them to church in her village of Selbu. These exquisitely handcrafted little hand warmers caught everyone’s attention and the method quickly spread from farm to farm and village to village. Families started to develop and name their own patterns and designs. Knitting became an increasingly important part of village life.
Initially in black patterns on a white background, red, blues and violets also became common for weddings, christenings and other celebrations.
In 1905 the age old production of millstones came to a halt and the mountain villagers need a new source of income. The merchant Frederik Birch turned his extensive marketing and sales network from millstones to knitwear. By the 1930s the Selbu Husflidsentral, Mitten Central, was formed to maintain strict quality control and by 1957 the export of these goods was bringing in over one million NOK a year.
The exhibit shows over 500 pairs all knitted between 2013 and 2016 to aid in the production of the Sebuvotter Book published in 2016.
Helsinki
Located on the shores of the Gulf of Finland, Helsinki has an urban population of about 1 1/4 million. The capital is by far Finland’s most populace city as well as it’s political, cultural, financial and educational center. It has one of the highest urban standards of of living in the world and was ranked the world’s most livable city by the British magazine Monocle in 2011. The 2016 the Economist Intelligence Unit’s livability survey ranked it ninth out of 140 cities. As you would expect it has great museums, terrific parks and very expensive restaurants.
People have been clamoring for the Wendi Files but rather then burden everyone with endless tales of blood-curdling debauchery, I thought we could start off slow and just let her never-ending wackiness unfurl at it’s own pace.
Wendi said she’d rest on the lawn at Castle Drum while I climbed the Tower. The groundskeeper came over and nudged her to make sure she hadn’t expired.
As usual there just isn’t enough time to get to everything so here’s a few sad and peculiar tales that got lost in the shuffle.
In October of 1881 the fishermen of the North Sea could not have predicted that a European windstorm, the strongest of all extratropical cyclones, was moving their way. Because of the unsettled weather the fishermen of Eyemouth had been unable to put to sea all that week. By Friday the 14th everyone’s stores were exhausted and bait was going stale. The morning broke clear and calm yet the barometer was still abnormally low. The younger men knew that if they didn’t put out to sea there would be no food for their families until, at least, Monday evening. The older fisherman cautioned against it, but the impatient younger men, with hungry families and loans to repay, ignored the more experienced advice and, one by one, raised their sails and moved out of the harbor. They sailed nine miles out to the fishing grounds unaware that the storm had already broken along the coast further south. Suddenly a horrible stillness fell over everything, the sky darkened and the storm clouds began to roll in. Most of the fishermen, having no time, cut their lines and turned into the wind, while others made a run for Eyemouth.
On the shore, whole families gathered and watched through the driving spray and lashing rain as their fathers, brothers and husbands crashed into the rocks along the coast. By the end of the mornings 189 fishermen had died, 129 from Eyemouth. Every family was effected as 250 children were left fatherless.
This small and very heartfelt bronze memorial, created by sculptor Jill Watson, stands on the bluff above the harbor where the women and children gathered and watched their loved ones perish on the rocks just off shore during the Eyemouth Fishing Disaster of 1881.
Lives Of The Rich & Famous
In our age of celebrity we tend to think of the rich and famous as having charmed lives free of stress, worry and anxiety. Lives in which everything they could ever want is right at their fingertips. Lives filled with adoration and privilege. They appear to look good, feel good and fill their trouble free days with unimaginable joy. I think this notion is completely illusionary and with the exception of an incredibly lucky few, has no basis in reality. If it’s not true now, then it definitely wasn’t true in the 16th &17th centuries. Here’s just a few examples.
Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll
Archibald was a man of immense power who shifted his political allegiances between the Protestants and Catholics as the prevailing winds blew. Even his father referred to him as a man of craft and falsehood. Eventually he found himself on the wrong side and in 1660 Charles II had him arrested and executed. His famous squint and gloomy countenance earned him the nickname of “Archibald the Grim”.
Lady Arabella Stuart
This potential heir to both the Scottish and English crown was amazingly wealthy. Her evil mother kept her in a semi-imprisonment for most of her life. When Arabella finally gained a little freedom she eloped without her cousin, the King’s, consent. He was so furious he imprisoned her in the Tower of London were she starved herself to death.
James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton
Morton was always a troublemaker. He infamously introduced the guillotine to Scotland. After trying to de- stabilize the reign of Mary, Queen of Scots he was convicted of taking part in the murder of her beloved Lord Darnley 13 years earlier. He was publicly executed with the very same guillotine he had brought to the country.
Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley
An heir to both the English and Scottish thrones, Henry was married to his cousin Mary, Queen of Scots. Mary crowned him King of Scots. Although adored by Mary, he quickly proved himself to be spoilt, arrogant, unstable and completely incompetent. He was murdered just one year later at the age of twenty one.
James Graham, 1st Marques of Montrose
Montrose was another man of privilege that just couldn’t make up his mind. First he was a Royalist, then a Clan Chief, then a Covenanter and then a Royalist again. Always in trouble, Jimmy hid out in the Highlands, then England, then France and eventually returned to Scotland only to be captured and brought to the High Street in Edinburgh where he was hung, cut down while still alive, had his entrails cut out and set ablaze, and finally was drawn and quartered.
Peculiar creatures are not restricted to the windows of Haarlem. They have, apparently made their way to Scotland.
Most Americans are familiar with these magnificent horses from the incredibly sentimental ads that Budweiser uses to make us cry every Christmas and Super Bowl.
The friendly nature of these giant creatures is no accident. In the 1820s Scotsmen cross bred powerful Flemish stallions with local mares to create a workhorse that is powerful, even tempered and docile enough to work in close proximity with men. They were quickly put to use pulling boats and barges along the canals and rivers of Scotland.
It’s no wonder the shape-shifting Kelpies that live below the surface of these waterways chose the Clydesdale as the form they would take when they came ashore. These mythical creatures wait patiently on the banks for unsuspecting passersby who are drawn to their kind eyes and magnificent countenance. Innocent people would reach out and touch them, only to be trapped and pulled below to a watery grave.
By the end of the 20th century the canals and waterways around the once vibrant industrial Falkirk region were silted up, filled with refuge and unused.
At the beginning of the restoration project, named the Helix, sculptor Andy Scott was brought in to help. He imagined that Clydesdales would be the perfect image to bridge the divide between the areas industrial past and it’s mythological folklore. He chose the Clydesdales Duke and Baron as his models.
These amazing sculptures have completely revitalized the Falkirk area. The first year alone drawing a million tourists.
The Castle Tour – Episode 6
This is what the Kennedy Clan calls home. Not bad.
Motto: “Consider the End”
The Kennedy Clan dates back to at least the 1200s when Cunedda, the Grim-headed, was sent to southwest Scotland to defend the region from sea raids.
They have absolutely no connection to the American Kennedys.
Culzean Castle was constructed by order of the 10th Earl of Cassilis. The castle was designed by architect Robert Adam and was built in stages between 1777 and 1792. The building and large drum tower were built to take full advantage of it’s location overlooking the sea.
For the interiors, symmetry was the order of the day. Only one of these doors is functional. The left hand one is just there to balance the other and goes nowhere. There are maids bells on each side of the fireplace. The right one works, the left one is a dummy. This concept is seen in every room of the house.
The Lion & The Mouse
I love this 17th century painting by Paul de Vos. It depicts the final scene in the classic fable by Aesop. In the oldest versions, a lion is woken from sleep by a tiny mouse. The mouse begs for the lion’s forgiveness explaining that such lowly prey couldn’t possibly bring the lion any honor. When the roaring lion is trapped by hunters, the mouse remembers its clemency and gnaws through the ropes to free the giant beast. The moral being that mercy brings its own reward and there is no being so small it cannot help a greater. This fable has been reinterpreted by many different cultures the world over, some coming to much different moral conclusions.
Sir Thomas Kennedy
Accorded to the guide, Sir Thomas Kennedy was considered a real piece of work. Rumor has it that in an attempt to forcibly procure land from a neighbor, he and his henchman strapped the poor man to a spit and slowly roasted him until he agreed to sell. The man recovered and the sale was revoked, but the chief men of Ayr agreed to slay Sir Thomas Kennedy the first opportunity they got. On May 11 1602 he was murdered just outside the town of Ayr.
Artistic License
Everything in these mansions is designed to impress, even commissioned paintings. These two fine paintings by Alexander Nasmyth are no exception. The first shows the island of Ailsa Craig in the misty distance just off shore. The island is considerably further south and impossible to see from the house. The second painting shows Culzean Castle from the sea, sitting on a bluff that is at least three times as high as the real thing. Impressive, yes, accurate, hardly.
For A Job Well Done
The Kennedy family retained ownership until 1945 when they gave the castle and its grounds to the National Trust for Scotland with one stipulation. The apartment at the top of the castle was to be given to General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower in recognition of his role as Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe during the Second World War.
Ike first visited the castle in 1946 and stayed there four times, including once while President of the United States.
A Message For Our Times
“ If all that Americans want is security, they can go to prison. They’ll have enough to eat, a bed and a roof over their heads. But if an American wants to preserve his dignity and his equality as a human being, he must not bow his neck to any dictatorial government.”
Dwight Eisenhower.