The New Newport News News 142: Lindisfarne edition
Friday saw the Buckitts4 catching a tour bus to Lindisfarne and Alnwick, aka, from the sublime to the wizardly.
Heading down the east coast of Scotland, we crossed the border into England at Berwick-upon-Tweed. The road runs beside the North Sea, with glorious vistas of “fields of gold” [ref. the Sting song], already being harvested for hay. [Here, the haying won’t start for almost 2 months. That’s how much northerly Britain is.]
Our driver told us of the kelpie, the water horse, who rises from the sea enticing a human to mount for a ride. Once on horseback, the person cannot dismount as the creature rides beneath the waves, only to consume the drowned unfortunate. We saw the rowan trees, famed in Celtic myth, a bush more than a tree, with bright red berry clusters.
We crossed the causeway at low tide onto the Holy Isle of Lindisfarne. Like San Michel off the coast of Normandy, access to the Holy Isle is cut off by rising tides. As we approached, we could see the marked Pilgrim’s Way across the flood plain, with seals lying on the sand in the distance. At least, we were told it was seals and not prone pilgrims.
The priory at Lindisfarne was founded when the King of Northumbria requested St. Columba of Ireland to come and preach the Gospel; St. Columba had been sent from Rome to Ireland in the wake of St. Patrick to set up monasteries there. Columbia dispatched St. Aidan to found the monastery in 7th century; in the 9th century, Vikings raided and destroyed this and there are none of the original buildings above ground.
Subsequently, St. Cuthbert headed the priory and rebuilt, converting the remaining Vikings. There are many post-death adventures of St. Cuddy’s body and the head of the converted king. To relate these would be exhausting for us all, dear readers.
The plucky pilgrims walked from the village to the monastery where a brisk sea wind brought a flurry of photographs. The priory was very wealthy in its day but not totally ruined, a result of King Henry VIII closing the Catholic holy places and selling the land. The ruins are quite scenic and the museum informative. The Buckitts split into ones and twos to tour, pray and sketch.
The next stop was Alnwick Castle. Pronounced “Awe-nick”, it was and is the home of the Percy family. You’ll recall, no doubt, Hotspur from Shakespeare plays; he was but one of the influential and frequently rebellious Percys. But the main attraction for tourists is the courtyard of the castle, which was the filming location for Harry Potter learning to fly the broom.
The senior Bucks were worn out by the Lindisfarne exertion and opted to skip the castle-and-grounds tour [rather expensive for them just to sit around]. The 3 younger folk enthusiastically went for the tour. The seniors walked around the castle walls and into the village, greeted by charity shops and tea places. Ron was up to a bit of shopping and Carol sat in the scenic square sketching and journaling. They had lunch in the town square next to the medieval cross and marketplace. Ron ate a Ploughman’s Lunch [leaving some hapless farm worker to go hungry] of mixed cheeses, breads and cold cuts, whilst Carol had Creamy Cullen Skink. How could she not order this? It turned out to be a delicious cream soup with fish stock, potatoes and leeks. Cock-a-leekie but fish. So, fishie-leekie.
Back on the bus to head back to Scotland, we learned that “Cheviot” is pronounced Chee-v’ot, not Chevy-ott as it is in MD. Somehow, Andrew and the driver came up with the phrase “pugilistic cheeviots,” which apparently referred to a local soccer team. Perhaps. Or not.
We saw more rowan trees, fields and Banded Galloways cattle, which are black with broad bands of white around their chest. You cannot make this up.
We stopped at the border for some photos of Buckitts in separate countries and then again at a Cousin Vinny’s1 for snacks, bathroom, shopping. Zoe went off to mingle with a flock of swans. Carol visited a field of highland cows [eee-lan coos].
And back to crowded, hectic Edinburgh. Weary but satisfied. Declaring that Lindisfarne is the highlight of the trip. Stay tuned!