Greetings Travelers!
My version of "The Skye Boat Song" ,Outlanders Theme Tune
"Sing me a song of a lass that is gone
Say could that lass be I
Merry of soul she sailed on a day
Over the sea to Skye"
These words might well be familiar to some of you. They are from the theme tune to the popular TV show Outlander.
Until very recently I had never seen any of the show although I have been to some locations here in Fife that were used as filming locations.
A brief overview of the show is that an English nurse from 1945 is on holiday in Scotland with her husband. She touches a sacred stone in a stone circle and is transported back to the year 1743, 3 years before the Jacobite uprising and the battle of Culloden.
On Saturday my father and I spent the day in Culross ,one of the most well preserved old towns in Scotland. Many of the buildings here date back to the 1600s.It is easy to see why this town was chosen for so many of the locations in Outlander.
The market square is featured in many episodes of the show. These cobblestoned streets ,17th century buildings and this remarkably well preserved statue are instantly recognisable
Just look at these beautiful old house's ,a perfect location for filming an 18th century drama
The Old Kirk ruins date back to the 1500s and were abandoned in 1633.This location was used as the location for The Black Kirk in Season 1 Episode 3 of Outlander
Using OBS screen recording software I have made this little 5 minute video showing scenes from season 1 episode 3 of the show.
Claire and Jamie visit "The Black Kirk" (Culross West Kirk Ruins). Two local boys have fallen ill after visiting this old church , one has died the other is on his death bed. Claire discovers the cause is not demonic possession but poisoning caused by Lilly of the valley.
This episode also shows alot of The Market square in Culross .A young boy has been caught stealing bread and as a punishment has his ear nailed to the pillary . Claire ask Jamie to help free the boy before they head to "The Black Kirk"
https://hive.blog/hive-181335/@celticheartbeat/dxhcjtcz
I figured making this visual reference would be useful for making some comparison screenshots of the real locations vs the shows locations.
When "The Black Kirk" scenes were filmed The Old Church ruins were beautifully overgrown with Ivy.
This collection of screenshots were taken by me from the recording I made of these scenes. If you are interested in watching the whole episode of the show this is where I found a 1080p recording to use for these screenshots.
https://www1.freemoviesfull.com/watch-tv/watch-outlander-39513.1598920
I am glad the show captured the Kirk when it had all this wonderful over growth. Compare the screenshots above to the photographs I took at the weekend.
The Ivy has all been removed. I believe the reason for this was due to the massively increased tourism in the area due to the shows popularity.
Having such overgrowth compromised the old stonework's structural integrity. In short it was really unsafe both as a tripping hazard and also just in case the roots of the overgrowth caused one of the walls to collapse.
There used to be a small tree growing out of this corner of the church roof. A fantastic example of nature always finding a way. This was particularly dangerous and would have eventually caused the wall to crumble.A sad loss but I can understand the need for it to be cut down.
When I was walking around The Old Kirkyard at the weekend. I had no idea it had been used in Outlander.
Here is the footage I shot while wandering around this old church. Had I known it was used in the show I would have mentioned it and been alot more excited about being in the location.
It was only as I was reseaching the history of the churchyard that I found out it was in the show.
I had been here once before during the first covid lockdown .I remember thinking to my self this seems like a location from one of The Witcher games...
I imagined Geralt of Rivia wandering this area perhaps looking to break a curse on rid the land of some foul ghoulish creature...
The episode of Outlander was not unsimilair to a Witcher mission....One local boy has died after visiting here...another lies dying. The town folk fear it is the result of demonic possession. Upon investigation it is the result of poisoning from mistaking Lilly of the valley as wood garlic.
In my mind I hear Geralts voice "This is not the work of a demon , merely a case of poisoning due to a lack of understand the local herbs"... :)
The graveyard is home to some uniquely beautiful gravestones. Although the church was abandoned in 1633 people were buried here up until the 19th century.
Lets leave the Churchyard and explore some more of the town...
The Kirk is 1 mile out of town ,to get here we had to wander through these beautifully picturesque country roads.
Although they are beautifully photogenic during the day I bet these roads would be terrifying at night. I dont fancy a moonlight stroll down them toward the old Kirk ,that would be the stuff of nightmares.
This sign is at a crossroads about half a mile out of town, lets head towards the abbey.
On the road to the abbey we pass another beautiful old building.This one still has its Ivy.
After the old Kirk fell into disrepair and was finally abandoned as a place of worship local people started to use this abbey which was built in 1643.
The Parish church still operates today.
This building has some more fine examples of 17th centuary stone work.
And some more beautiful 19th century headstones.
Im unsure what this creepy little house is for...storage of gravekeeper tools I guess?
The open door is more than a little ominous...what lies inside? Perhaps a portal to 1743?
The ruined part of the abbey is currently off limits due to some dangerous stonework.
I believe the dangerous stonework is in this part of the old building. I managed to get these shots and some footage by looking over the wall.
I have often thought this almost vertical staircase is dangerous in itself , especially when its wet.
A few more over the wall shots of the abbey.
This old lane named "The cats close" leads us back into town.
I had hoped to get some lunch at this historic Red Lion Inn, it is one of my favourite places to eat in all of Fife.
Unfortunately the Inn was really busy ,we got here around 3pm on a beautiful Sunday afternoon and many people were already having lunch here. We were told we would need to wait around for half an hour so we gave it a miss this time.
Another of Culross historic buildings ,this Inn also dates to sometime around the 17th century.
I managed to snap a few shots of the art inside the Inns entrance before moving on.
These pictures are inspiring ,maybe I should try some that are similar based on some of the photographs I have taken I think to myself.
The Townhouse featured in the painting above now houses an art exhibition by a local artist who's photographs are inspired by Outlander. Unfortunately no photography or filming was allowed inside this exhibition.
Another historic market square. This is where livestock was brought to market from neighbouring towns.
The beautiful yellow building we can see in the background of this shot is Culross Palace.
Although it has never been a royal residence, James VI visited the Palace in 1617. The National Trust for Scotland have restored the gardens in a seventeenth-century style. The herbs, vegetables and fruit trees planted in the garden are types that were used in the early seventeenth century. The gardens pathing is made from crushed sea shells.
The Palace is a late 16th to early 17th century merchant's house. It was constructed between 1597 and 1611 by Sir George Bruce, the Laird of Carnock.
The house was mainly built in two campaigns. The south side in 1597 and the north building in 1611.
These shots are from the terraced gardens at the back of the palace. The gardens are free to enter. The place is currently closed until the covid regulations are fully lifted in April.
I particularly like this composition. We can see the roof of the townhouse shot from this garden archway.
This is another good one. Another one for the "I should turn this into a painting" collection.
While we are looking at Culross gardens we should head over and take a look at the community garden before we head out of town.
One last thing for show and tell before we close out this post is the old peer.
To me it seems kind of dangerous...there is only a railing on one side...
I managed to get about half way across it before getting shakey legs which made me turn back...
These kids weren't scared in the least, I dont think I would want my nephews walking that far out...
My dad made it all the way out and back safely...
Ok folks , time to wrap this post up with a few random shots from around town....
I hope you guys have enjoyed this little tour of a very historic spot here in Fife :)
Epic post - fair play. We love Culross and goa few times each year (we are not that far away in Edinburgh) - I'd never been to west kirk before though - so thats on the list now - thanks for sharing !
Hi @celticheartbeat, Thank you for participating in the #teamuk curated tag. We have upvoted your quality content. For more information visit our discord https://discord.gg/8CVx2Am
Your content has been voted as a part of Encouragement program. Keep up the good work!
Use Ecency daily to boost your growth on platform!
Support Ecency
Vote for new Proposal
Delegate HP and earn more
Congratulations, your post has been added to Pinmapple! 🎉🥳🍍
Did you know you have your own profile map?
And every post has their own map too!
Want to have your post on the map too?
Daily Travel Digest #1507.
Become part of our travel community:
- Join our Discord
- Learn more about our travel application
Hiya, @LivingUKTaiwan here, just swinging by to let you know that this post made it into our Honorable Mentions in Your post has been manually curated by the @pinmapple team. If you like what we're doing, please drop by to check out all the rest of today's great posts and consider supporting other authors like yourself and us so we can keep the project going!