The Quest for Affleck Castle
As promised, here is the full story.
I got into Edinburgh about noon, and hung out with Eddie for a little while. We drove about an hour up to Monikie, Scotland. The land there is very similar to North Idaho, and I absolutely loved it. I could see myself being very happy in Scotland. The air is clean and fortifying, expecially after London.
We knew about where the Castle was supposed to be, and knew we were in the right town. We drove around a little looking for it, as it is supposed to be visible from the road. We weren't having much success, so we stopped so Eddie could call his son for the directions from Google. I stepped to a high rock wall to answer the call of nature, and saw this:
Apparently we were on the right track. We couldn't see any castle from there, but we could see a house and some deer. If you look closely at the picture, you can almost make out the deer in the background. One of them was a White Hart, which I found very exciting. Then I noticed several other white deer, and realized they weren't quite as special as I thought. Still cool, though.
We drove around for a while looking for another vantage point, and even hiked around a bit. We couldn't see anything else, although we did find this right down the road. Hell of a street sign to run into.
After some very pleasant hiking around wonderful Socttish countryside, we finally asked for directions and learned that the Castle was indeed behind the high rock wall that held the first sign. We found another gate, and lo and behold there was something large and castley looming in the trees. There were more "STRICTLY PRIVATE" signs around, so I debated hopping the fence for a while. According to Eddie, Scottish trespassing law says that as long as you don't touch or damange anything on private property, they can't presecute you.
I screwed my courage to the sticking place and hopped the gate. Besides the deer, there was a large number of peacocks wandering around. I found a woman nearby and hailed her. She turned out to be some kind of gardener or groundskeeper, and she made it very clear that Mrs Fife (the owner of the land and Castle) does not want visitors on the property. I explained myself and begged leave to take a picture, which is the one in the previous post. She allowed this, but I could see I was making her very uncomfortable. She tried to find Mrs Fife, but the Lady of the house was absent. I got the gardener to take a picture of me in front of the Castle, and then left them alone.
I admit I was hoping for a nice old lady who would invite me in for tea and give me a tour, but I'm satisfied with what I got. I have no idea what Mrs Fife does with the Castle, but I hope she is treating my heritage well. I'll have to keep my eye on Scottish newpapers for "Castle for Sale" ads and convince Ben to buy it for the family.
Afterward Eddie and I had a good meal in a pub, and took a long route home. We stopped by some other ruins he knew as a boy, but didn't know anything about.
Here's a shot of Eddie in front of the ruins. He's my kind of cool old guy, and I suspect he would fit in with my folks quite well.
We visited a friend of his, another really cool older dude, and then returned to Edinburgh and hung out at Eddie's place with his 19-ish son, Martin (I think). I was quite tuckered out, as I had been up since the wee hours of the morning riding a train. We partook of some fine libations, and watched Grand Prix. Eddie is a gearhead, so I got the full indoctronation. He drives like a gearhead, too. Not unsafely, just very aggresively.
The next day I returned to London, full of conquest and family pride.
Tomorrow I fly to Vienna to meet my cousin Rayco for the first time, and I'll return on Monday. Then the final countdown begins.
w00t
I got into Edinburgh about noon, and hung out with Eddie for a little while. We drove about an hour up to Monikie, Scotland. The land there is very similar to North Idaho, and I absolutely loved it. I could see myself being very happy in Scotland. The air is clean and fortifying, expecially after London.
We knew about where the Castle was supposed to be, and knew we were in the right town. We drove around a little looking for it, as it is supposed to be visible from the road. We weren't having much success, so we stopped so Eddie could call his son for the directions from Google. I stepped to a high rock wall to answer the call of nature, and saw this:
Apparently we were on the right track. We couldn't see any castle from there, but we could see a house and some deer. If you look closely at the picture, you can almost make out the deer in the background. One of them was a White Hart, which I found very exciting. Then I noticed several other white deer, and realized they weren't quite as special as I thought. Still cool, though.
We drove around for a while looking for another vantage point, and even hiked around a bit. We couldn't see anything else, although we did find this right down the road. Hell of a street sign to run into.
After some very pleasant hiking around wonderful Socttish countryside, we finally asked for directions and learned that the Castle was indeed behind the high rock wall that held the first sign. We found another gate, and lo and behold there was something large and castley looming in the trees. There were more "STRICTLY PRIVATE" signs around, so I debated hopping the fence for a while. According to Eddie, Scottish trespassing law says that as long as you don't touch or damange anything on private property, they can't presecute you.
I screwed my courage to the sticking place and hopped the gate. Besides the deer, there was a large number of peacocks wandering around. I found a woman nearby and hailed her. She turned out to be some kind of gardener or groundskeeper, and she made it very clear that Mrs Fife (the owner of the land and Castle) does not want visitors on the property. I explained myself and begged leave to take a picture, which is the one in the previous post. She allowed this, but I could see I was making her very uncomfortable. She tried to find Mrs Fife, but the Lady of the house was absent. I got the gardener to take a picture of me in front of the Castle, and then left them alone.
I admit I was hoping for a nice old lady who would invite me in for tea and give me a tour, but I'm satisfied with what I got. I have no idea what Mrs Fife does with the Castle, but I hope she is treating my heritage well. I'll have to keep my eye on Scottish newpapers for "Castle for Sale" ads and convince Ben to buy it for the family.
Afterward Eddie and I had a good meal in a pub, and took a long route home. We stopped by some other ruins he knew as a boy, but didn't know anything about.
Here's a shot of Eddie in front of the ruins. He's my kind of cool old guy, and I suspect he would fit in with my folks quite well.
We visited a friend of his, another really cool older dude, and then returned to Edinburgh and hung out at Eddie's place with his 19-ish son, Martin (I think). I was quite tuckered out, as I had been up since the wee hours of the morning riding a train. We partook of some fine libations, and watched Grand Prix. Eddie is a gearhead, so I got the full indoctronation. He drives like a gearhead, too. Not unsafely, just very aggresively.
The next day I returned to London, full of conquest and family pride.
Tomorrow I fly to Vienna to meet my cousin Rayco for the first time, and I'll return on Monday. Then the final countdown begins.
w00t
posted by BAA at 9:43 AM
4 Comments:
God I hate computers. But anyway..........
Very cool. I know I am a little late in commenting but this is the first site I have seen about someone who actually visited the Castle (except my dad, Hugh Affleck) We are of the Ottawa Valley, Ontario, Canada Afflecks and and I doing up a short bio on them. Good on ya mate. Well done.
Colin Affleck
Ottawa Canada
brett
I read your blog about trying to get to see affleck castle.
the place has been like that for years.
but it is good to see other afflecks trying to find there roots. thought i would blog you.
cheers
Keith Affleck ,midlothian,near edinburgh,scotland.the scottish afflecks!!!!
I was told about the Affleck castle from my family as we came from there ages ago! I would love to visit the castle and maybe one day with my English wife but I am an affleck that lives in New Zealand! We came from Scotland a while back and we decided to google Affleck Castle and we saw your website! There are quite a few Afflecks in New Zealand! Hope to go Scotland one day - Tim Affleck, Queenstown, NZ
That's a nice little post. I grew up in Monikie, and as kids we used to sneak around those grounds. The owner at that time(maybe still owned by the family) was a grumpy old fellow, but used to provide a good chase :) It is a shame it is not open to the public. You Aflecks should put your money together and buy it, and advertise it, a castle with a good history makes for a good tourist trail.
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