The Hercules garden

Today I visited the grounds of Blair castle in Scotland near Pitlochry, Cairngorms national park and it was amazing! One of the most amazing parts was one of the gardens called the Hercules garden!

My guess for the reason of its name is probably because of the large statue of Hercules overlooking the garden!
I was so amazed by all the fruit trees and the big pond! It was all so beautiful!
It was quite big and i wanted to find out exactly how big it is and it turned out to be about nine acres! (If you don't know how big an acre is its about 4000 m² which is roughly 200 x 200m) There is a very high wall built around the garden and two large gates the enter and exit. One of my favourite parts of the garden is the Chinese bridge! (shown below)

Chinese bridge

Its not just the garden that is named after Hercules, the long path (which is a beautiful walk filled with lovely trees) that leads to the garden is also named after Hercules.

The most incredible part of Blair castle (to me at least) is Diana's grove. It has so many trees and how beautiful the scenery was is beyond words! The biggest tree in Diana's grove is a giant redwood planted from one of the seeds from one of the biggest trees in the world the Grizzly giant. the mount it is planted on (mount strange) was recreated in 1884 to show the volume of the Grizzly giant. This amazing tree is about 1900 to 2400 years old and is 64 metres high and 34,005 cubic feet!

We didn't do the tour but did pop our heads into the entrance hall and there were quite a couple of stuffed stags and we decided to just stay outside.

If you happen to be near and have some time on your hands definitely have a look because it is so amazing!

Loch Ness

Today as my blog I am going to write about the Loch Ness Which is probably most well known for the Loch ness monster (most commonly known as Nessie.) heres a link to a blog I wrote about Nessie.

What does Loch Ness mean?

The word Loch means lake but the word Ness is simply just  a name.

Is it fresh water or salt water?

The Loch Ness is actually fresh water and has more fresh water in it than all the lakes in Wales and England combined!

How deep is it?

The Loch Ness is 23 miles long, 1 mile wide, and 227 metres deep! Thats the height of nearly 57 double decker busses!

What gives it its colour?

The pitch black loch is actually given its colour by small bits of peat floating on the surface.

Does it ever flood?

Luckily no it doesn't flood but if it does look like it is going to flood the local power company can adjust it by several feet by pumping out as much water as possible.

Does it freeze in the winter?

No sadly it doesn't ever freeze over so put away your ice skates but when you go to the Loch Ness always bring a camera! You never know you may spot Nessie on your trip.

Fun facts!

1. Nessie is the most famous lake monster in the world and she even has her own roller coaster in Virginia!
2. At least 40 small rivers and streams run into the Loch Ness.
3. Some people think that Nessie is either a giant slug or fish or a family of monsters that got trapped there after the end of the last ice age!

William Wallace

Today as my blog I am going to write about William Wallace.


Who is he?

William Wallace is a very famous Scotsman who lived in the late 1200's.

What was he known for?

William Wallace is Known for starting a revolt against Edward 1 of England Who at the time was controlling Scotland thinking it was his to rule...... But it wasn't! After Edward took it too far by bossing loads of people about telling them what to do William thought that he should stop Edward and started by killing an english sheriff. After Killing him a massive rebellion started!

When did he live?

William was born on the 3rd April 1270 and died on the 23rd August 1305 at the tower of London where he was half hanged, gutted, chopped up and had his head put on a spike on London bridge and his limbs put in four different places Scotland.

Where did he live?

William Wallace lived in Elderslie.

When was he knighted?

William Wallace was Knighted in the early December of 1297.

Haggis

Today as my blog I am going to write about Haggis, a national Scottish dish.


What is Haggis?

Haggis is a native Scottish savoury pudding traditionally served with mashed neeps and mashed tatties (mashed turnips and mashed potatoes) in a burns supper (but not always). If you were wondering what a burns supper is its a traditional Scottish supper held to celebrate the poet, Robert Burns' life, usually held near the poets birthday.

What is it made out of?

Haggis is made of sheep pluck (Heart, Liver, and lungs), stock, salt, suet, onion, oatmeal, and spices wrapped in artificial sausage casing but in the old days it would have been an animals stomach.

When was it invented?

The first known haggis recipe was first found in a cook book dating back to 1615.

Who invented it?

Believe it or not haggis was actually invented by the English but some was eaten also in Scotland. As it faded out in England it also grew in Scotland at the same time so its is a bit of a misconception of who invented it but it is still a traditional Scottish food.

What is the wild haggis?

 The Wild Haggis is a non-real Scottish animal (like the loch ness monster) smaller than a rabbit that is in a lot of Scottish folklore.

viking runes

Today I am going to write about viking runes.

What are runes?

runes are very old letters that where used by vikings and saxons.

What is the futhark?

The Futhark is the rune alphabet named after its first six letters. The original futhark was 16 runes long but near the end of the viking era it was updated to 24 runes.

Where where runes used?

Runes where mainly used on stone, wood, and bone. Runes where also used on everyday items like combs to note who they belonged to and gravestones to help the dead get to Valhalla easily and peacefully.

How long where runes used?

Runes where used from the 2nd century until thee middle ages when they where replaced by latin.

The Loch Ness monster

Today as my blog I am going to write about the Loch Ness monster.

What is the Loch Ness monster?

The loch ness monster is a mythical creature that lives in the Loch Ness and it is always a continuous hunt to find it. if you ask ten people who the Loch Ness monster is at least half of them of them or more will know about it at least a little bit.

Has it ever been spotted?

There have been loads of sightings of the Loch Ness monster but loads have also been proved fakes so who knows if the loch ness monster is real or not its a very hard thing to know, its like believing in Bigfoot people believe in  him and people don't and people have faked seeing him but people have also claimed seeing him but no one knows if there lying or not?

When did the story first appear?

The loch ness monster was first spotted in the sixth century by saint Columba when his friend was killed by it so to prove to his other friends that the monster was safe (and real) he told one of his friends to swim to the other side of the loch, and he did and about halfway across the river the monster appeared and as it did saint Columba told the monster, 'Go no further. Do not touch the man. Go back at once.' and as he spoke the monster backed away and swam off!