Wednesday 22nd September 1819
Wednesday 22d Sept We breakfasted at Elgin 8 miles from Forres having passed over a flat pretty country Elgin is a small town & the Inn good; it is remarkable for the Cathedral, a magnificent ruin built in the 14 century; there is also the ruin of a priory here; thence to Fochabers 9 miles passing through a road of fine trees & a bridge thrown over the river Spey on entering this place we arrived
at the entrance of the Duke of Gordons; having walked nearly a mile through a most beautiful park we stopped at the castle a very grand fine building I was disappointed in the interior the rooms which are very numerous are of a moderate size plainly furnished & the pictures which adorn them are chiefly family portraits, the gardens are very extensive. Fochabers is a small town and the Inn appears good; thence to Keith 8 miles a small town the Inn tolerable there is a nice church here….
OBSERVATIONS & COMMENTS:
Elgin: In August 1040, MacBeth's army defeated and killed Duncan I at Bothganowan (Pitgaveny), near Elgin. Elgin is first recorded in a charter of David I in 1151 in which he granted an annuity to the Priory of Urquhart. Elgin was a popular residence for the early Scottish monarchs.
2006: View of Elgin Cathedral with River Lossie in foreground, taken by Bill Reid at English Wikipedia and licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic, 2.0 Generic and 1.0 Generic license. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Elgin_cathedral_2.jpg
On 19 July 1224, the foundation stone of the new Elgin Cathedral was ceremoniously laid. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elgin,_Moray
Part of Elgin Cathedral, Murrayshire, Scotland. Aquatint engraved and published by F J Sarjent after Thomas Walmsley. http://www.rareoldprints.com/z/19306
Fochabers was founded in 1776, and is one of the best examples of a planned village. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fochabers
2003: Fochabers village, beside the River Spey, by Qeqertaq, the copyright holder of this work, and published under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fochabers_and_the_Spey.JPG
The River Spey is unusual in that its speed increases as it flows closer to the sea, due to a broadly convex long-profile. The mean flow is around 16 metres per second (36 mph) making it the fastest flowing river in Scotland. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Spey
2005: River Spey at Aberlour, by Anne Burgess. This image was taken from the Geograph project collection. The copyright on this image is owned by Anne Burgess and is licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 license. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:River_Spey.jpg
Gordon Castle and Park was completed as one of Scotland’s largest houses in the 1770s by the Duke of Gordon, Gordon Castle is the spiritual home of the House of Gordon, one of Scotland’s oldest families.
c. 1830: Gordon Castle. Engraving after J.P. Neale. https://antique-prints-maps.com/acatalog/ref1.php?imagefile=../largeimages/SEGordonCastle15.jpg
The estate nestles in the Spey valley, in the heart of whisky country, with a stretch of the Spey River running through the estate, which boasts some of the best salmon fishing in the world Today, the Estate offers exclusive use accommodation in the Castle, self-catering holiday cottages, world-class salmon fishing, Walled Garden visitor attraction, natural children’s play area and a café serving delicious fresh food from the garden and local suppliers. https://www.gordoncastle.co.uk/our-story/ The Gordon Castle website includes a YouTube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=79&v=bOIZrxoW7L4 entitled A view, a brew and a loo; breathing life into a traditional Scottish Estate
The Gordon Arms Hotel is a former coaching inn based in the attractive village of Fochabers, in Moray, and has served guests for over 200 years. http://www.gordonarms.co.uk/
Keith dates to around 1180 where the Old Town still remains, now almost indistinguishable from the rest of the town. It developed around the old bridge which was built there by two mourning parents as a permanent memorial to their dear child who drowned in the river at that crossing point in the hope that none should suffer similar loss.
2005: Auld Brig, Old Bridge in Keith, Banffshire, Scotland by , Kcampbell, the copyright holder, at English Wikipedia, and published under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Keithauldbrig.jpg
The main part of the town is on higher ground above the river, laid out around 1750 by the Earl of Findlater. The language spoken indigenously round Keith is Doric, which superseded Scottish Gaelic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith,_Moray
Inn: Possibly the Crown Inn http://www.thecrowninnkeith.com/
Image from the Crown Inn website http://www.thecrowninnkeith.com/
The Church: St Rufus was built in 1819 to cater for the new town. The former parish church was in the old churchyard at Auld Toun near the River Isla and dated back to mediaeval times. It was rebuilt in 1569 and then abandoned in 1819 when the new church was built.
2005: Church in Keith, Banffshire, Scotland , by Kcampbell at English Wikipedia, the copyright holder of this work, and published it under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Keithchurch.jpg
Lucy finds a “nice church” and it is probably this newly built church she visited. http://strufus.org/churches.php
Can you help us?
Old Regency Prints, Pictures an Coaching maps: Do you have access to any prints or pictures showing what town and country would have looked like when Lucy travelled through? Any illustrations of what she would have seen in 1819 will enliven our research.
New Pictures: Do you have any modern pictures of the streets, buildings, gardens and views that would enable us to see the changes that two centuries have wrought?