Rumbling Bridge

The Emperor recently had cause to re-visit Rumbling Bridge, just outside the village of Crook of Devon.
 

Its a most beautiful spot with its own distinct history and a favourite place to take foreign dignitaries and guests of the Imperial court.
Actually comprising two bridges that span a dramatic gorge, the Emperor is reminded of the local history of the area:

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"Rumbling Bridge is so named from the rumbling or violent noise that the water makes, as it rushes, swells, and thunders among the rocky fragments that oppose it progress downwards. The bridge consists of one arch, wide, safe and strong, and erected above an old bridge, which was built by William Gray of Saline in 1713. This old bridge is placed eighty feet above the Channel of the Devon, and the span twenty two feet. It was very dangerous, for, while it was narrow, it had no parapet and it stood thus for more than a century, and was crossed by equestrians as well as by those on foot, at all seasons, by night as well as day, although a wrong footstep or the least stumble would have precipitated the passenger into the frightful abyss below. It is now covered with ivy. The new bridge built in 1816 stands 120 feet above the river. "

Text from, "A Run Along the Banks of the Devon", as published within the Fife Herald. and cited in 1864 extract of, The Annals of Kinross-shire, p.91

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Loch Leven Castle, Kinross-shire

Ok, so this emperor has an obsession for visiting castles .... and I've never denied it.



Our most recent foray, took the imperial court to my home of Kinross-shire on the beautiful banks of Loch Leven. The small ferry boat carried us to the historical Castle Island; site of the famous stronghold that once served as a prison to the unhappy figure, Mary Queen of Scots .

Queen Mary's imprisonment (for a period of 288 days) was only broken by a dramatic night-time escape on 2nd May 1568. She was spirited away by boat, with the surreptitious help of the youth William Douglas, who stole the castle keys and locked her captors inside before discarding them into the loch.*

Its fair to say that Mary's stay at Lochleven Castle was an unhappy one and her later web posting on Trip-Advisor was less than complementary of its amenieties; a fact that must surley have led to the castle's current decline as a recreational retreat.

This Emperor's visit was lucky to catch a sunny day - one of those 'Last Days of Summer' gems that only September in Scotland can offer.

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*On the issue of the stolen castle keys: the 'Annals of Kinross-shire' make an interesting note that a rusted set of ancient and mighty keys were discovered by a local boy - William Honeyman - in the Autumn of 1805, during a period of particularly low water level for the Loch.

As Old As the Hills

The flight of years cannot affect the natural beauty of Kinross-shire, nor efface the memories inspired by its historical and romantic associations. In the dim and distant pre-historic ages, when Lochleven was dotted with lake-dwellings, the Lomond, Benarty, Cleish, and Ochil Hills, looked down upon our County in the same friendly spirit with which they do to-day, and their messengers, the streams flowing into the loch, gurgle the same old song:-

"Men may come and men may go,
But we go on forever."

[Extract from the Kinorss-shire Advertiser - 12th July 1912]