Scotland, Dunfirmline

Friday 21st September 2018, Linlithgow, Lanakshire
Since I last made notes a couple of days have elapsed. Yesterday when we woke it was with relief that we realised the high winds and driving rain had calmed to a few playful gusts and the occasional wet grizzle leaving our windscreen with no more than a fine film of mist, just damp enough to ensure the build up of wet leaves stuck rather than being blown off by the wind.

It had been a good campsite and we left with a slight sense of regret. It's unlikely we will make the long trip north again.

Our intention was to make our way towards Glasgow and hope we could find somewhere reasonable to camp. We'd noticed in the atlas a site at Linlithgow, near the railway line that runs between the cities of Glasgow and Edinburgh. Along the way we decided to take a look at Dunfermline.

Mercat cross. Dunfermline. Scotland.

Abbot's house. Dunfermline. Scotland.


Abbey church. Dunfermline. Scotland.

Unicorn. Dunfermline. Scotland.
Dunfirmline is a town with much of interest. It's a comfortable size, large enough to have the main stores but easy to move around in. It is the birthplace of Andrew Carnegie, the entrepreneur and industrialist. The eldest son of a weaver he was born in the city into a life of near poverty. His parents did manage to send him to school however and the family struggled on, sharing a small cottage with his father's loom and another weaver and his family.


Public library and museum. Jacquard loom. Dunfermline. Scotland.

Public library and museum. Jacquard loom. Dunfermline. Scotland.

Carnegie Birthplace. Exterior. Dunfermline. Scotland

Carnegie Birthplace. Jacquard loom. Dunfermline. Scotland. 

Carnegie Birthplace. Birth bed. Dunfermline. Scotland. 
When he was around ten his family emigrated to America to join his mother's family in Pittsburg. The potato harvest had failed in Scotland and, along with those starving in Ireland the family braved weeks of discomfort and danger to cross the Atlantic to join family relatives and to make a new life. Andrew found his first job as a young teenager working for a telegraphic office in Pittsburg. He learnt quickly and developed the ability to hear the morse code messages coming over the wire. He did not need to write down the letters as they came through and then pass the messages for decoding as was the usual practice. He could write out the messages directly, saving valuable time when it mattered, particularly in the financial sector. He became a prized company employee. He was introduced to the concept of investment and finance and soon discovered how to make his money work for him. Soon he earned more from buying and selling stocks and shares than from his salary. He widened his investments, trading in oil, railways, iron and steel. He had the ability to look at the market and see where the best investments could be made and to foresee demand for certain products - such as steel.

His life was one of enormous success and eventually he became one of the richest men in the world. He never forgot his origins however and became a great philanthropist, endowing organisations back in his home country and setting up free libraries in towns and cities in Britain. He also established places of learning, working mens clubs, and schools. Today libraries the length of Britain are still using the Carnegie funded libraries he set up to ensure people could always have free access to books and education.


Public library and museum. Original building. Dunfermline. Scotland.
Dunfirmline has a magnificent new Carnegie-funded library but it has managed to include aspects of his original gift to his home town. Some of the original fixtures can be found in the new building, such as some of the shelving, tables and chairs.


Public library and museum. Modern building. Dunfermline. Scotland.

Public library and museum. Appreciation. Dunfermline. Scotland. 

Public library and museum. Reading room. Dunfermline. Scotland.
From the upper floors there are lovely views out over the grounds of the neighbouring abbey where the body of Robert the Bruce lies buried - apart from his heart which is in Melrose Abbey having been taken to the Crusades and back, and his skull which is in Dunfermline Public library. He seems to have been a man of many parts! The tomb of Queen Margaret of Scotland, known as Saint Margaret, is also in the abbey cemetery.


Abbot's house. From library. Dunfermline. Scotland.

Abbey church. Romanesque nave. Dunfermline. Scotland.

Public library and museum. Skull of Robert Bruce. Dunfermline. Scotland. 

Saint Margaret's shrine. Dunfermline. Scotland. 
Next to the abbey stand the remains of Dunfirmline’s Royal Palace.


Royal Palace. Dunfermline. Scotland.

Royal Palace. Dunfermline. Scotland.
We asked a traffic warden for directions to the house where Andrew Carnegie was born. She actually knew! Having visited the house, seen the loom and the paucity of home comforts, even the bed where he was born, we passed through into the museum which explained his life story with documents and photos. His story was one of rags to riches and having earned it, he them gave it all away to help others to learn and to open up opportunities for them. We felt rather honoured to have spent our working lives, initially at least, working in Carnegie libraries, carrying out his purpose of bring education and books to everyone who wished to take advantage of the opportunity.


Public library and museum. Carnegie display. Dunfermline. Scotland.
So engrossed were we that it was a shock when we remembered our four hours parking was almost up and we had to leave the museum in a rush to get back to Modestine before our traffic warden friend discovered we'd overstayed our time!

We'd decided Linlithgow had what looked like a suitable campsite. It is set within a country park a couple of miles up into the steep hills above the main street of the little town. Soon we'd negotiated the steep, winding, narrow road and settled ourselves on the campsite. With several hours of daylight left we set off to explore the country park. Nearby was a lough, originally to supply the little town with its own water supply. Now it serves only for fishing but we made a pleasant stroll around it before we branched off to investigate a woodland track that lead up through woodland with a view of the rugged, volcanic hills common to this area. Here we encountered fields of highland cattle with their long horns and shaggy coats.


View from Beecraigs Country Park. Forth Road Bridge. Scotland. 

Beecraigs Country Park. Linlithgow. Scotland. 
We chanced on a field of many sheep. Curiously it was a mixed field of roughly 50/50 black sheep amd white. They had separated themselves into two distinct groups at opposite ends of the field! Were they really doing this consciously? We ended our walk in a farmyard with a stunning view back down over the Firth of Fife with its delicate suspension bridge that we'd crossed earlier in the afternoon. A belicose stag in a field of hind trumpetted to us in a threatening manner. He wasn't in the wild, just a very large field backed by forest woodland. He had magnificent antlers though and was most impressive.

Beecraigs Country Park. Linlithgow. Scotland.