{"id":11788,"date":"2022-09-23T12:49:51","date_gmt":"2022-09-23T09:49:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aleta.life\/?p=11788"},"modified":"2022-09-27T10:38:31","modified_gmt":"2022-09-27T07:38:31","slug":"dunrobin-castle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aleta.life\/index.php\/2022\/09\/23\/dunrobin-castle\/","title":{"rendered":"Dunrobin Castle"},"content":{"rendered":"
Position: 57\u00b058’53″N 3\u00b056’41″W<\/a><\/h6>\n

<\/p>\n

The Sutherlands seem like a bloodthirsty lot. Or at least they were. At the turn of the 19th<\/sup> century they were also the wealthiest landowners in Britain. Eclipsing even Queen Victoria. One of the better-known Scottish clans, the Sutherlands served king, queen, and country for more than 800 years.<\/p>\n

A canny bunch, they lived off the backs of their impoverished tenant farmers whose subsistence lives were simply wretched. Yet, once the first Duke and Duchess[1]<\/a> did the math and found sheep\u2019s wool more profitable than rents, they began moving the crofters out. For many of the poor, emigration to the colonies soon followed. The entire bowdlerised history is proudly displayed in the baronial pile known as Dunrobin Castle<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Portraits<\/h6>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Teetering high on a bluff overlooking the North Sea, the Firth of Cromarty to the south and Norway some 500 kilometres to the east, the castle demands at least an ooh, and perhaps an ahh! With its Victorian gothic makeover, Dunrobin\u2019s light grey stone and narrow turrets might serve as an understudy for Neuschwanstein, should Disney and Tinkerbell require a stand in.<\/p>\n

Given its nearly new condition, it is no surprise it is a popular stopping point for aging Americans and Germans doing the highland rounds. For only the second time we declared our 60+ birthrights and received, by way of reward, discounted admission.<\/p>\n

Climbing the main staircase, you are immediately encircled by portraits, selected perhaps for their size rather than temporal position in the family tree. It is up to the viewer to make linear sense of the long genetic sequence linking the pictures. Around the middle of the 18th<\/sup> century the familial gene pool appeared rather too small. Long inbreeding led to a weak chin and thin lips that graced both parents and their offspring. Or perhaps the portrait artist unintentionally overemphasized these features in search of flattery.<\/p>\n

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