View allAll Photos Tagged practicality
1. As mentioned before, Heather loves forests and nature. Being outside gives her the feeling of freedom.
2. She loves coloured hair of all sorts and styles. For herself, she prefers a short, bob-like cut for practicality, and the colour purple.
3. Heather is very well spoken and good with words, when she decides to use them. Poetic talent is apparent in her but she has never found the will to explore it.
4. Being athletic, Heather was always excellent in sports (one of the few classes where she actually did fullfil her potential). Not so much the ball or team sports, but she loved cross-country, triathletic disciplins and gymnastics. Where you didn't need to be near so many people.
5. Heather's wardrobe is based on functionality and mood. When she feels insecure she will constantly wear the same items (her galaxy dress is one of these favourites). She does posess a lot of black clothing, but she can't be considered "goth" in the traditional sense. Jewellery or any kind of accessories are non-existent, since it would just bother her while climbing trees.
6. She is obsessed with comic books. She loves Marvel and all their superheroes: Captain America, Iron Man, the X-Men.... Her favourite character is Wolverine.
7. Her music taste isn't very spread-out. She loves dark, romantic or symphonic tunes. Occasionally she will listen to 60s rock because it gives her a sense of home and safety.
Her favourite bands are Nightwish and The Beatles.
8. Heather isn't unhappy with her looks, she just doesn't consider herself "beautiful" in the common sense. She will always wear the same make-up look: Black or brown smokey eyes with a dark-tinted lip.
9. Heather has an extremely laid-back attitude. But in an unmotivated, unpreoccupied sort of way. Her insecurity feelings often overpower her and she feels like she can do nothing but wait until she feels better. Other than reading comics and being outside, she hasn't got any other hobbies. Her parents blame it all on laziness of youth and such nonsense. Heather is greatly misunderstood by her parents, but has no motivation to change anything about it.
10. Heather can't stand her own name.
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Heather is a DollZone female Megi-A.
An original artwork by Sherri Warner Hunter commissioned by the Friends of the Library and private donations through UrbanArt in 2001.
Sherri Warner Hunter designed the Children’s Courtyard creating mosaics titled Rain Forest Treasures. Hunter combined whimsical and practicality in her sculptural seating. Because the courtyard is located beside the children’s area in the library but will be accessible to all visitors, it was important for Hunter that the benches and sculptures inspire a sense of discovery for all age groups.
ObjectDock - (KKMenu w/ Leopard Stacks-Grid skin, custom icons, KKMenu system tray)
Rainmeter - (customized out of HUD.Vision and the latest Enigma)
DColor for desktop icons, Launchy and Digsby currently hiding, walls from the Enigma release, NiteLiteXP visualstyle (hidden).
The icons on the side, ane in each KKMenu, are custom-made from scratch by me.
I was inspired to make this because almost everything I do on the computer is in the "portrait" format - from web browsing to word documenting to print-based graphic design. A sidebar seems like a better use of space than a taskbar.
Practicality takes prominence over aesthetics. What's wrong with leaving files strewn around the desktop?
It came with a little table and two chairs, the cabinet belongs to another set from the series. The table may not be as large as the Living Pretty dining room, but Living Pretty is luxury and grandeur, Decor Collection is practicality and simplicity. Although it does come with an impressive amount of accessories, it was lacking a coffee machine so I added the one that came with my Korean Mimi doll.
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From blueprint to reality, we deliver a full-service approach that blends texture, color and a durable finishes, creating the look and atmosphere you desire. Where passion meets practicality, Alternative Surfaces offers the tools, creative vision and technological expertise to propel your design imagination to new heights. Create ambiance through innovative surface styles. Leave a bold, lasting impression. Unleash your inner artist with limitless creative freedom.
Hundreds of African Refugees from Eritrea and Ethiopia make a pilgrimage to Bethlehem to visit Manger Square and the Church of the Nativity for a Coptic Christmas. Bethlehem, Palestine, 6th January 2012.
Shortly about me:
It’s my passion to create stories and bring back pictures of events, people and places that are rarely seen. It’s a combination of exploration, exposition and artistry that together create a life of adventure and excitement.
In my work it is imperative for me that information be accurate and the images must be respectful of the subject and viewer. My goal is to combine creativity with practicality to capture the best possible images to document events, tell a story, meet the picture editor's deadlines.
If you would like to know more, or even just pick my brains to discuss your project with me, please visit my homepage documentary photography or send me an Email.
This is our 1940s-vintage O'Keefe and Merritt stove. We purchased the gas range around 2003 when we remodeled our kitchen. It added a lot of style to the kitchen, and we got many compliments on it. After using it for 10 years, however, we are reluctantly getting a new gas range with a larger oven--practicality wins out over looks this time.
These wheels were built for practicality and durability. Shimano 105 (5500) 9 speed hubs... Wheelsmith butted spokes (1.99 - 1.74 -1.99 mm)... Sun CR-18 rims... Kenda tires... Schwalb presta tubes.
Not super light weight, the tires weigh more than many others available. The hubs are practical for 130 mm rear spacing on any modern road bike, are durable and also moderately priced. And, they can be used with modern Shimano 8 or 9 or 10 speed cassettes, so they offer very versitile gear options to match any terrain.
DSCF5405
A variety of 35mm photos. As you can see, I primarily am interested in portraiture. In particular I have a fascination with documenting moments of juvenile hedonism, and I find much inspiration in the works of Larry Clark, Ray Billingham, and Ryan McGinley, amongst others who stepped outside of the box in terms of documenting the taboo, intimate, and uncomfortable parts of reality. I am also inspired by the lush Amish farmland and rural Americana of my hometown Reading, Pennsylvania. My other photographic focus is the phenomena of graffiti and it’s historic rudimentary predecessor: mark-making. I consider this latter focus to be non-artistic in nature, and purely an anthropological/documentarian pursuit. For practicality, my documentary work is now largely done on my iPhone, while things that I consider artistic pursuits are all shot on film, as I have come to prefer the medium of analog photography and actually sold all my digital equipment a few years ago!
Casio watches are probably best known for their G-Shock watches and Baby-G watch range. But Casio watches have been renowned for innovative technology for many years. Many Casio watches feature high levels of functionality and practicality: The Casio G-Shock and Casio Baby-G ranges are known for their toughness; the Casio Edifice and Casio WaveCeptor watches combine stylish looks with their many functions; and the Casio Pro-Trek range is built for the outdoors.
Not forgetting the classic designs that have been present throughout the years and are now coming back into fashion – Casio Illuminator being a great example.
Many Casio watches feature the Tough Solar movement, a solar-powered electronic movement that never requires a battery change.
Browse the range of ladies’ and men’s Casio watches. Most are in stock and available with free next day UK delivery from Lingray Watches, an authorised UK stockist of Casio watches.
www.lingraywatches.co.uk/casio-watches-c-232.html
Main Site: www.lingraywatches.co.uk www.lingraywatches.co.uk/casio-watches-c-232.html
The Opel Mokka, the shooting star under the SUVs, has reached new heights with the 500,000th unit of the bestseller now having been ordered. Ever since its launch around three years ago, the Mokka has impressed with stylish design, high practicality, frugal engines and ultra-modern technologies...
www.autonews.us/bestseller-opel-mokka-reaches-500000-orders/
I discovered this about a year ago after getting home from helping Angela move to her summer internship last year. I've left it up since then as a constant reminder of how great she is, but practicality has finally won out over sentimentality, and I had to erase it.
Here it stands, a testament to how much of a softy I am. :)
My latest addition to my Classic Army replica of the DSA Arms SA58 Tactical Carbine - the BE Meyer style 'blackout' flash hider.
This is the full steel King Arms replica flash hider. It is one mighty piece of kit!
Apart from the practicalities of the real steal version of this flash hider I like it because of it's chunky looks - and it harks back to the old L1A1 flash hider. This aggressive look seems to go well with the stark and angular SA58.
One thing to note about the King Arms replica is that it comes in a dark gun-metal grey finish and not a black satin finish. This suited my Classic Army SA58 fine as it has several components in a similar grey colour - but if you have a more traditional black finish on your AEG you may find the colour doesnt match so well.
This item was purchased from UNCompany in Hong Kong for $27.
Neil Levine (a friend of mine through the FLW Building Conservancy) and me standing with Wright's designed Goetsch-Winkler House in the background. This is really an amazing house. Its got some practicality problems but a magnificent example of Wright's mature design for a Usonian concept house.
Olá ^^
Estou no hobbie há uns 7 anos e coleciono e fotografo vários tipos de boneca (ig @dollsbr), porém sempre gostei do flickr pela estórias que criam para as dolls e é tão legal acompanhar o desenvolvimento delas! Há poucos meses conheci as ai dolls e me apaixonei pela fofura e pela praticidade do tamanho haha Durante todos esses anos nunca consegui desenvolver as personalidade das minhas dolls, e com as ai dolls foi quase automático, essa da foto é a Ísis, uma (ai doll Holly), e tô esperando a irmã dela Íris (Coreopsis) pra desenvolver as estórinhas. Ambas já tem personalidades definidas e acho que vai ser muito divertido trabalhar com isso aqui, espero que vocês aproveitem tanto quanto eu! (minha conta será dedicada apenas às duas mas no instagram vocês podem encontrar fotos das demais!)
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Hello ^^
I've got this collecting hobby for about 7 years. I collect and photograph various types of doll (ig @ dollsbr), but I'd always liked flickr because of the stories people create for their dolls and it's so cool to follow their development of the characters! A few months ago I met the ai dolls and fell in love with their cuteness and the practicality of the size lol. During all those years I never managed to develop the personality of my dolls, and with the ai dolls I could do it so easily! Th e one in the picture is Isis, my shy little girl (ai Doll Holly), and I'm waiting for her sister Iris (Coreopsis) to arrive to develop better their characters and relationship. Both already have definite personalities and I think I'll have a lot of fun to work with them here, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! (My account will be dedicated only to them but in instagram you can find photos of the others!)
"...While traditional Koenigseggs have always had surprising levels of practicality, creature comforts and features, our primary focus has always been to make the fastest cars on the planet – around a racetrack or anywhere else. The Koenigsegg Regera continues this tradition, but with innovative technology that blends outrageous speed, supreme comfort, and a unique Direct Drive experience..."
Source: Koenigsegg
Photographed at Hampton Court Palace during Concours of Elegance - the annual event which bring together a selection of 60 of the rarest cars from around the world – many of which will never have been seen before in the UK.
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Feb 15, 2017 — Sep 10, 2017
A native of the South Carolina lowcountry, Carew Rice (1899 – 1971) was the son of James Henry Rice, Jr., a noted conservationist and newspaper columnist. As a student in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Carew Rice discovered the art of cutting silhouettes and worked from the Depression era up until 1970, when he cut silhouettes for South Carolina’s Tricentennial celebration.
Rice subtly challenged viewers with reductive renditions of Old South nostalgia. His cautionary tales were grounded in conservative values, but he liberally embraced the field hands, chain gangs, and working-class lifestyles of marginalized minorities. His black subjects, sometimes peppered with Gullah dialect, were love letters to people he lived among and respected.
Being an artist of practicality as well as of principles, Rice also cut picturesque lowcountry landscapes, church architecture, wildfowl, and Charleston’s intricate wrought iron gates to produce commercially viable merchandise. Some of these scenes were applied to drinking glasses and stationery; some of his characters became templates for stuffed dolls for children. He traveled the world creating silhouettes of politicians, royalty, and ordinary folks, and he became well known throughout the South for portraiture, landscapes, and scenes of everyday life meticulously rendered in this unusual and exacting medium.
The pristine 4 x 4 Evoque from Land Rover has created a new vision of luxury motoring combined with practicality and convenience that Range Rover enthusiasts have come to expect.
Large scale Brutalist architecture in modern China. The Xicun Courtyard in Chengdu is a striking example of Brutalist architecture, known for its raw, concrete aesthetic and minimalist design. Built during the 1970s, this residential complex stands out for its stark geometric forms and rugged appearance, which are hallmarks of the Brutalist movement. The use of exposed concrete and functional design elements reflects the architectural philosophy of the time, emphasizing practicality and the expression of structural elements. Despite its initially austere appearance, the Xicun Courtyard has become a notable landmark in Chengdu, appreciated for its bold and distinctive style that contrasts with more conventional architectural designs.
Scotland baked in the sun today 25/5/2018, with the sun beating down it felt like a day to get out and about, I decided to revisit one of my favourite sites
Dunnottar Castle as it is located
40 minutes drive from my home in Aberdeen,a piper played as visitors and tourists arrived , what a magnificent sight.
I wandered along the base of the castle and enjoyed the bay with its calm waters and great views, after an hour or so it was time to leave and climb the numerous stairs back up the hill to the car park.
Castles History.
Dunnottar Castle (Scottish Gaelic: Dùn Fhoithear, "fort on the shelving slope" is a ruined medieval fortress located upon a rocky headland on the north-east coast of Scotland, about 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) south of Stonehaven.
The surviving buildings are largely of the 15th and 16th centuries, but the site is believed to have been fortified in the Early Middle Ages. Dunnottar has played a prominent role in the history of Scotland through to the 18th-century Jacobite risings because of its strategic location and defensive strength. Dunnottar is best known as the place where the Honours of Scotland, the Scottish crown jewels, were hidden from Oliver Cromwell's invading army in the 17th century. The property of the Keiths from the 14th century, and the seat of the Earl Marischal, Dunnottar declined after the last Earl forfeited his titles by taking part in the Jacobite rebellion of 1715.
The castle was restored in the 20th century and is now open to the public.
The ruins of the castle are spread over 1.4 hectares (3.5 acres), surrounded by steep cliffs that drop to the North Sea, 50 metres (160 ft) below. A narrow strip of land joins the headland to the mainland, along which a steep path leads up to the gatehouse.
The various buildings within the castle include the 14th-century tower house as well as the 16th-century palace. Dunnottar Castle is a scheduled monument, and twelve structures on the site are listed buildings.
History
Early Middle Ages
A chapel at Dunnottar is said to have been founded by St Ninian in the 5th century, although it is not clear when the site was first fortified, but in any case the legend is late and highly implausible. Possibly the earliest written reference to the site is found in the Annals of Ulster which record two sieges of "Dún Foither" in 681 and 694.
The earlier event has been interpreted as an attack by Brude, the Pictish king of Fortriu, to extend his power over the north-east coast of Scotland. The Scottish Chronicle records that King Domnall II, the first ruler to be called rí Alban (King of Alba), was killed at Dunnottar during an attack by Vikings in 900. King Aethelstan of Wessex led a force into Scotland in 934, and raided as far north as Dunnottar according to the account of Symeon of Durham. W. D. Simpson speculated that a motte might lie under the present caste, but excavations in the 1980s failed to uncover substantive evidence of early medieval fortification.
The discovery of a group of Pictish stones at Dunnicaer, a nearby sea stack, has prompted speculation that "Dún Foither" was actually located on the adjacent headland of Bowduns, 0.5 kilometres (0.31 mi) to the north.
Later Middle Ages
During the reign of King William the Lion (ruled 1165–1214) Dunnottar was a center of local administration for The Mearns. The castle is named in the Roman de Fergus, an early 13th-century Arthurian romance, in which the hero Fergus must travel to Dunnottar to retrieve a magic shield.
In May 1276 a church on the site was consecrated by William Wishart, Bishop of St Andrews. The poet Blind Harry relates that William Wallace captured Dunnottar from the English in 1297, during the Wars of Scottish Independence. He is said to have imprisoned 4,000 defeated English soldiers in the church and burned them alive.
In 1336 Edward III of England ordered William Sinclair, 8th Baron of Roslin, to sail eight ships to the partially ruined Dunnottar for the purpose of rebuilding and fortifying the site as a forward resupply base for his northern campaign. Sinclair took with him 160 soldiers, horses, and a corps of masons and carpenters.
Edward himself visited in July, but the English efforts were undone before the end of the year when the Scottish Regent Sir Andrew Murray led a force that captured and again destroyed the defences of Dunnottar.
In the 14th century Dunnottar was granted to William de Moravia, 5th Earl of Sutherland (d.1370), and in 1346 a licence to crenellate was issued by David II. Around 1359 William Keith, Marischal of Scotland, married Margaret Fraser, niece of Robert the Bruce, and was granted the barony of Dunnottar at this time. Keith then gave the lands of Dunnottar to his daughter Christian and son-in-law William Lindsay of Byres, but in 1392 an excambion (exchange) was agreed whereby Keith regained Dunnottar and Lindsay took lands in Fife.
William Keith completed construction of the tower house at Dunnottar, but was excommunicated for building on the consecrated ground associated with the parish church. Keith had provided a new parish church closer to Stonehaven, but was forced to write to the Pope, Benedict XIII, who issued a bull in 1395 lifting the excommunication.William Keith's descendents were created Earls Marischal in the mid 15th century, and they held Dunottar until the 18th century.
16th century rebuilding
Through the 16th century the Keiths improved and expanded their principal seats: at Dunnottar and also at Keith Marischal in East Lothian. James IV visited Dunnottar in 1504, and in 1531 James V exempted the Earl's men from military service on the grounds that Dunnottar was one of the "principall strenthis of our realme".
Mary, Queen of Scots, visited in 1562 after the Battle of Corrichie, and returned in 1564.
James VI stayed for 10 days in 1580, as part of a progress through Fife and Angus, during which a meeting of the Privy Council was convened at Dunnottar.
During a rebellion of Catholic nobles in 1592, Dunnottar was captured by a Captain Carr on behalf of the Earl of Huntly, but was restored to Lord Marischal just a few weeks later.
In 1581 George Keith succeeded as 5th Earl Marischal, and began a large scale reconstruction that saw the medieval fortress converted into a more comfortable home. The founder of Marischal College in Aberdeen, the 5th Earl valued Dunnottar as much for its dramatic situation as for its security.
A "palace" comprising a series of ranges around a quadrangle was built on the north-eastern cliffs, creating luxurious living quarters with sea views. The 13th-century chapel was restored and incorporated into the quadrangle.
An impressive stone gatehouse was constructed, now known as Benholm's Lodging, featuring numerous gun ports facing the approach. Although impressive, these are likely to have been fashionable embellishments rather than genuine defensive features.
Civil wars
Further information: Scotland in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms
In 1639 William Keith, 7th Earl Marischal, came out in support of the Covenanters, a Presbyterian movement who opposed the established Episcopal Church and the changes which Charles I was attempting to impose. With James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose, he marched against the Catholic James Gordon, 2nd Viscount Aboyne, Earl of Huntly, and defeated an attempt by the Royalists to seize Stonehaven. However, when Montrose changed sides to the Royalists and marched north, Marischal remained in Dunnottar, even when given command of the area by Parliament, and even when Montrose burned Stonehaven.
Marischal then joined with the Engager faction, who had made a deal with the king, and led a troop of horse to the Battle of Preston (1648) in support of the royalists.
Following the execution of Charles I in 1649, the Engagers gave their allegiance to his son and heir: Charles II was proclaimed king, arriving in Scotland in June 1650. He visited Dunnottar in July 1650, but his presence in Scotland prompted Oliver Cromwell to lead a force into Scotland, defeating the Scots at Dunbar in September 1650.
The Honours of Scotland
Charles II was crowned at Scone Palace on 1 January 1651, at which the Honours of Scotland (the regalia of crown, sword and sceptre) were used. However, with Cromwell's troops in Lothian, the honours could not be returned to Edinburgh. The Earl Marischal, as Marischal of Scotland, had formal responsibility for the honours, and in June the Privy Council duly decided to place them at Dunnottar.
They were brought to the castle by Katherine Drummond, hidden in sacks of wool. Sir George Ogilvie (or Ogilvy) of Barras was appointed lieutenant-governor of the castle, and given responsibility for its defence.
In November 1651 Cromwell's troops called on Ogilvie to surrender, but he refused. During the subsequent blockade of the castle, the removal of the Honours of Scotland was planned by Elizabeth Douglas, wife of Sir George Ogilvie, and Christian Fletcher, wife of James Granger, minister of Kinneff Parish Church. The king's papers were first removed from the castle by Anne Lindsay, a kinswoman of Elizabeth Douglas, who walked through the besieging force with the papers sewn into her clothes.
Two stories exist regarding the removal of the honours themselves. Fletcher stated in 1664 that over the course of three visits to the castle in February and March 1652, she carried away the crown, sceptre, sword and sword-case hidden amongst sacks of goods. Another account, given in the 18th century by a tutor to the Earl Marischal, records that the honours were lowered from the castle onto the beach, where they were collected by Fletcher's servant and carried off in a creel (basket) of seaweed. Having smuggled the honours from the castle, Fletcher and her husband buried them under the floor of the Old Kirk at Kinneff.
Meanwhile, by May 1652 the commander of the blockade, Colonel Thomas Morgan, had taken delivery of the artillery necessary for the reduction of Dunnottar. Ogilvie surrendered on 24 May, on condition that the garrison could go free. Finding the honours gone, the Cromwellians imprisoned Ogilvie and his wife in the castle until the following year, when a false story was put about suggesting that the honours had been taken overseas.
Much of the castle property was removed, including twenty-one brass cannons,[28] and Marischal was required to sell further lands and possessions to pay fines imposed by Cromwell's government.
At the Restoration of Charles II in 1660, the honours were removed from Kinneff Church and returned to the king. Ogilvie quarrelled with Marischal's mother over who would take credit for saving the honours, though he was eventually rewarded with a baronetcy. Fletcher was awarded 2,000 merks by Parliament but the sum was never paid.
Whigs and Jacobites
Religious and political conflicts continued to be played out at Dunnottar through the 17th and early 18th centuries. In 1685, during the rebellion of the Earl of Argyll against the new king James VII, 167 Covenanters were seized and held in a cellar at Dunnottar. The prisoners included 122 men and 45 women associated with the Whigs, an anti-Royalist group within the Covenanter movement, and had refused to take an oath of allegiance to the new king.
The Whigs were imprisoned from 24 May until late July. A group of 25 escaped, although two of these were killed in a fall from the cliffs, and another 15 were recaptured. Five prisoners died in the vault, and 37 of the Whigs were released after taking the oath of allegiance.
The remaining prisoners were transported to Perth Amboy, New Jersey, as part of a colonisation scheme devised by George Scot of Pitlochie. Many, like Scot himself, died on the voyage.
The cellar, located beneath the "King's Bedroom" in the 16th-century castle buildings, has since become known as the "Whigs' Vault".
Both the Jacobites (supporters of the exiled Stuarts) and the Hanoverians (supporters of George I and his descendents) used Dunnottar Castle. In 1689 during Viscount Dundee's campaign in support of the deposed James VII, the castle was garrisoned for William and Mary with Lord Marischal appointed captain.
Seventeen suspected Jacobites from Aberdeen were seized and held in the fortress for around three weeks, including George Liddell, professor of mathematics at Marischal College.
In the Jacobite Rising of 1715 George Keith, 10th Earl Marischal, took an active role with the rebels, leading cavalry at the Battle of Sheriffmuir. After the subsequent abandonment of the rising Lord Marischal fled to the Continent, eventually becoming French ambassador for Frederick the Great of Prussia. Meanwhile, in 1716, his titles and estates including Dunnottar were declared forfeit to the crown.
Later history
The seized estates of the Earl Marischal were purchased in 1720 for £41,172, by the York Buildings Company who dismantled much of the castle.
In 1761 the Earl briefly returned to Scotland and bought back Dunnottar only to sell it five years later to Alexander Keith, an Edinburgh lawyer who served as Knight Marischal of Scotland.
Dunnottar was inherited in 1852 by Sir Patrick Keith-Murray of Ochtertyre, who in turn sold it in July 1873 to Major Alexander Innes of Cowie and Raemoir for about £80,000.
It was purchased by Weetman Pearson, 1st Viscount Cowdray, in 1925 after which his wife embarked on a programme of repairs.
Since that time the castle has remained in the family, and has been open to the public, attracting 52,500 visitors in 2009.
Dunnottar Castle, and the headland on which is stands, was designated as a scheduled monument in 1970.In 1972 twelve of the structures at Dunnottar were listed.
Three buildings are listed at category A as being of "national importance": the keep; the entrance gateway; and Benholm's Lodging.
The remaining listings are at category B as being of "regional importance".[39] The Hon. Charles Anthony Pearson, the younger son of the 3rd Viscount Cowdray, currently owns and runs Dunnottar Castle which is part of the 210-square-kilometre (52,000-acre) Dunecht Estates.
Portions of the 1990 film Hamlet, starring Mel Gibson and Glenn Close, were shot there.
Description
Dunnottar's strategic location allowed its owners to control the coastal terrace between the North Sea cliffs and the hills of the Mounth, 3.5 kilometres (2.2 mi) inland, which enabled access to and from the north-east of Scotland.
The site is accessed via a steep, 800-metre (2,600 ft) footpath (with modern staircases) from a car park on the coastal road, or via a 3-kilometre (1.9 mi) cliff-top path from Stonehaven. Dunnottar's several buildings, put up between the 13th and 17th centuries, are arranged across a headland covering around 1.4 hectares (3.5 acres).
The dominant building, viewed from the land approach, is the 14th-century keep or tower house. The other principal buildings are the gatehouse; the chapel; and the 16th-century "palace" which incorporates the "Whigs' Vault".
Defences
The approach to the castle is overlooked by outworks on the "Fiddle Head", a promontory on the western side of the headland. The entrance is through the well-defended main gate, set in a curtain wall which entirely blocks a cleft in the rocky cliffs.
The gate has a portcullis and has been partly blocked up. Alongside the main gate is the 16th-century Benholm's Lodging, a five-storey building cut into the rock, which incorporated a prison with apartments above.
Three tiers of gun ports face outwards from the lower floors of Benholm's Lodging, while inside the main gate, a group of four gun ports face the entrance. The entrance passage then turns sharply to the left, running underground through two tunnels to emerge near the tower house.
Simpson contends that these defences are "without exception the strongest in Scotland", although later writers have doubted the effectiveness of the gun ports. Cruden notes that the alignment of the gun ports in Benholm's Lodging, facing across the approach rather than along, means that they are of limited efficiency.
The practicality of the gun ports facing the entrance has also been questioned, though an inventory of 1612 records that four brass cannons were placed here.
A second access to the castle leads up from a rocky cove, the aperture to a marine cave on the northern side of the Dunnottar cliffs into which a small boat could be brought. From here a steep path leads to the well-fortified postern gate on the cliff top, which in turn offers access to the castle via the Water Gate in the palace.
Artillery defences, taking the form of earthworks, surround the north-west corner of the castle, facing inland, and the south-east, facing seaward. A small sentry box or guard house stands by the eastern battery, overlooking the coast.
Tower house and surrounding buildings
The tower house of Dunnottar, viewed from the west
The late 14th-century tower house has a stone-vaulted basement, and originally had three further storeys and a garret above.
Measuring 12 by 11 metres (39 by 36 ft), the tower house stood 15 metres (49 ft) high to its gable. The principal rooms included a great hall and a private chamber for the lord, with bedrooms upstairs.
Beside the tower house is a storehouse, and a blacksmith's forge with a large chimney. A stable block is ranged along the southern edge of the headland. Nearby is Waterton's Lodging, also known as the Priest's House, built around 1574, possibly for the use of William Keith (died 1580), son of the 4th Earl Marischal.
This small self-contained house includes a hall and kitchen at ground level, with private chambers above, and has a projecting spiral stair on the north side. It is named for Thomas Forbes of Waterton, an attendant of the 7th Earl.
The palace
The palace, to the north-east of the headland, was built in the late 16th century and early to mid-17th century. It comprises three main wings set out around a quadrangle, and for the most part is probably the work of the 5th Earl Marischal who succeeded in 1581.
It provided extensive and comfortable accommodation to replace the rooms in the tower house. In its long, low design it has been compared to contemporary English buildings, in contrast to the Scottish tradition of taller towers still prevalent in the 16th century.
Seven identical lodgings are arranged along the west range, each opening onto the quadrangle and including windows and fireplace. Above the lodgings the west range comprised a 35-metre (115 ft) gallery. Now roofless, the gallery originally had an elaborate oak ceiling, and on display was a Roman tablet taken from the Antonine Wall.
At the north end of the gallery was a drawing room linked to the north range. The gallery could also be accessed from the Silver House to the south, which incorporated a broad stairway with a treasury above.
The basement of the north range incorporates kitchens and stores, with a dining room and great chamber above. At ground floor level is the Water Gate, between the north and west ranges, which gives access to the postern on the northern cliffs.
The east and north ranges are linked via a rectangular stair. The east range has a larder, brewhouse and bakery at ground level, with a suite of apartments for the Countess above. A north-east wing contains the Earl's apartments, and includes the "King's Bedroom" in which Charles II stayed. In this room is a carved stone inscribed with the arms of the 7th Earl and his wife, and the date 1654. Below these rooms is the Whigs' Vault, a cellar measuring 16 by 4.5 metres (52 by 15 ft). This cellar, in which the Covenanters were held in 1685, has a large eastern window, as well as a lower vault accessed via a trap-door in the floor.
Of the chambers in the palace, only the dining room and the Silver House remain roofed, having been restored in the 1920s. The central area contains a circular cistern or fish pond, 16 metres (52 ft) across and 7.6 metres (25 ft) deep, and a bowling green is located to the west.
At the south-east corner of the quadrangle is the chapel, consecrated in 1276 and largely rebuilt in the 16th century. Medieval walling and two 13th-century windows remain, and there is a graveyard to the south.
May 30, 2010, 6:53 a.m. Bright and fresh-looking Matthew Eglin (341) and Lindsay Crompton (2810), Running Room (Slater St) clinic participants, wait for a friend beside the long, long line of Go-Huts. Making a pre-race "visit" is both tradition and a practicality.
Love the semiotic significance of this design, though I'm not sure of its practicality.
I think I'd prefer Duet or O-Zone because of the facility to store two bicycles separately next to each other: www.centrum.amsterdam.nl/smartsite.dws?id=27612
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Generously hosted by Greenwich Co-operative Development Agency, Paul Rhodes of the eponymous artisan bakery and his head baker Yann Legallais kindly gave up their day to pass bread making skills on to thirteen would-be bakers from public sector kitchens. Tracey Simmons from Pabulum Catering then spoke about the practicalities of Real Bread in a public sector catering situation.
This shot was taken at my shop. We have sodium lighting, that is practicality orange. I had my WB set to tungsten +3. This is why it looks as though I haven't used a CTO.1st strobe camera right with a CTO, 2nd flash camera left, about 20 feet back and up high with no gel.
Honoring American Practicality and Simplicity while Thinking of the style of American Precisionism and the American painter Charles Sheeler, August 11, 2024,Eaglesmere, Pennsylvania.
Find out more about the new A3 Sportback here: www.m25audi.co.uk/audi/new-a3/new-a3-sportback.html
Even with the additional practicality, comfort is not compromised in the new A3 Sportback.
The Great Seal Of The Irish Free State.
Between 1922 and 1937 the Irish Free State, Saorstat Éireann, was the name of the state comprising the 26 of Ireland's 32 counties, which were separated from the United Kingdom under the Irish Free State Agreement (or Anglo-Irish Treaty) signed by British and Irish Republic's representatives in London on December 6, 1921. The Irish Free State came into being in December 1922, replacing two co-existing but nominally rival states, the de jure Southern Ireland, which had been created by the Government of Ireland Act, 1920 and which from January 1922 had been governed by a Provisional Government under Michael Collins and the de facto Irish Republic under the President of Dáil Éireann, Arthur Griffith, which had been created by Dáil Éireann in 1919.
The contents of the Treaty divided the Irish Republic's leadership, with the President of the Republic, Éamon de Valera, leading the anti-Treaty minority and the split eventually led to the Irish Civil War of 1922/23. In 1922 the two main Irish signatories, President Griffith and Michael Collins, both died. Griffith died partially from exhaustion; Collins, at the signing of the Treaty, had said that in signing it, he may have signed his "actual death warrant" and he was correct: he was assassinated by anti-Treaty republicans in August 1922, barely a week after Griffith's death. With the deaths of their leaders both states in effect merged and both posts came to be held simultaneously by W.T. Cosgrave.
As the anti-Treaty military effort collapsed towards the end of 1922, thousands of prisoners fell into Free State hands, reaching 12,000 by early 1923. Such numbers placed a massive strain on the meagre resources of the new state. At a meeting of the Executive Council on 19 September 1922, it was agreed that the British government would be requested to make the island of St Helena available for the internment of captured republicans.
Minister for External Affairs Desmond FitzGerald would undertake the necessary preliminary negotiations with Alfred Cope at the British Colonial Office and report back as soon as possible. Cope, Assistant Under-Secretary for Ireland before the truce of 1921, had been instrumental in keeping channels of communication open between Sinn Féin leaders and Lloyd George. During the early post-Treaty period he enjoyed the friendship and confidence of FitzGerald and other members of the Provisional Government. As Secretary of State for the Colonies he was responsible for relations with the Irish Provisional Government, and especially for the implementation of the Treaty. Another former under-secretary in the Dublin Castle administration, Mark Sturgis, who worked at the Irish Office in 1922, took charge of the St Helena negotiations on the British side.
The Provisional Government pursued the St Helena project with enthusiasm. On 20 November 1922 FitzGerald visited Sturgis at the Irish Office. Within two days Sturgis, having made detailed enquiries, was able to provide FitzGerald with the broad outlines of a possible scheme, incorporating suggestions for the provision of hutments and transport. A complete hutted camp at Brockton in Derbyshire could be dismantled and conveyed to Liverpool at a cost of £2–3000. Its re-erection in St Helena would be a matter for the Irish authorities. Sturgis had in mind a more convenient but more expensive option: the placing of an order with a contractor normally used by the War Office for the erection of a camp for a specified number of men, complete with water supply, drainage and lighting. When FitzGerald conveyed these recommendations to the Executive Council on 23 November, he was directed to obtain inclusive estimates for the work from the firm acting for the War Office.
By the 7th December Sturgis was able to tell FitzGerald that he had been able to arrange with Lt. Col. P.N. Nissen DSO, head of the firm of contractors, to discuss the possibilities of the St Helena scheme with a representative of the Executive Council. FitzGerald sent M.J. Burke, an official of the Board of Works responsible for the construction of internment camps in the Free State, to meet British officials in London on 18 December. Burke’s lengthy report, completed in just over a week, was generally optimistic about the feasibility of the project, and offers an interesting account of the conditions Irish republican prisoners could expect to experience during their period of incarceration on the island. According to Burke, St Helena would be a pleasanter place of detention than Mountjoy, Limerick, Arbour Hill or the internment camps elsewhere in Ireland. Climatic conditions were ideal for most of the year, with little variation between summer and winter temperatures. Even on the colder heights where a camp could most fittingly be located, the lowest winter temperature would seldom fall below 50 degrees Fahrenheit, making the provision of heating virtually unnecessary.
Burke had every confidence in the judgement of Nissen, who was uniquely qualified to offer advice on the housing of internees, having had extensive experience as a prisoner and later as an engineer entrusted with the construction of prisoner-of-war camps on a large scale. He invented the hut that bears his name, which had evolved in the later stages of the Great War. Nissen, with Burke’s approval, devised an elaborate scheme for the construction of a camp for every 500 men, with sleeping accommodation of sixty square feet per prisoner, and two dining huts, each with an area of 4000 square feet. Provision was also made for recreation huts, a small hospital staffed by resident surgeons, sanitary facilities, coal stoves for heating and paraffin lamps for lighting.
Burke and his British advisers gave a good deal of consideration to the question of how large a number of prisoners could be held on St Helena in circumstances most conducive to what Burke described as ‘an orderly and comparatively contented residence’. At the same time, prisoners had to be prevented from interfering with the amenities of the island. At first Burke was hopeful that it might be possible to avail of some of the natural features of St Helena to confine the prisoners to an isolated part of the island within which they would have full liberty but beyond which they could not wander. Thus prisoners might enjoy a relatively benign and congenial period of imprisonment, during which ‘a healthy existence with opportunities for occupation in cultivating land and perhaps rearing stock and other occupations of a beneficial character could be afforded’. On further investigation Burke found that geographical barriers would not facilitate the isolation of any area on the island: an enclosed and guarded camp would have to be created.
On 3 January 1923 the Free State authorities were in possession of enough information to decide on the practicality of the St Helena project. Nissen’s firm had submitted an estimate of £77,000 for a camp catering for 500 prisoners and 500 guards. The Board of Works had also commissioned two reports, one from the governor of St Helena on the topography of the island and its resources. He believed that from 2000 to 4000 prisoners might be accommodated in Deadwood in the north-east of the island. From 1900 to 1902, 2000 Boer prisoners were interned there. A confidential memorandum from a private source made it clear that the natural resources of St Helena would sustain the large numbers of prisoners the governor had in mind.
When FitzGerald first broached the St Helena proposal with British officials, Lloyd George’s Liberal–Conservative coalition cabinet, which had negotiated the Anglo-Irish Treaty, was still in power. In October 1922 Bonar Law’s Conservative administration replaced it. In January 1923 the Free State government learned that even if agreement in principle was reached between the two governments, republican prisoners could not be dispatched to St Helena until three months after such an agreement. One month would be required for collecting the material for the camp prior to shipment, and two months for its installation. The available documents suggest that the close relationship between the Irish Minister for External Affairs and officials at the Colonial Office in London did not long survive the change of British government. The new administration did not seem fully informed on what the Irish government had in mind. The Colonial Office, the British authorities pointed out, would have to maintain a strong military guard, at an estimated cost of £200,000 per annum, to be met from the impoverished Free State exchequer. Irish officials, conscious of the impossibility of meeting such demands, explained that the Free State government wanted the prisoners enclosed in camps inside barbed wire entanglements, with only a token garrison.
The St Helena project remained a live possibility until early 1923, although it never reached the stage at which sanction at government level became an issue. After this the Free State authorities seem to have lost their earlier enthusiasm for it. There can be little doubt, however, that in the later part of 1922 the project was pursued with vigour on the Irish government side. At a time when Republicans were profiting, in propaganda terms, both in Ireland and abroad from the Free State policy of illegal executions of untried prisoners, particularly in November and December 1922, it is difficult to understand the motivation for the St Helena scheme, and the enthusiasm of the government in persisting with it for as long as it did. It is easy to imagine what its political opponents would have made of the imprisonment by an Irish government of thousands of Irish Republican prisoners, guarded by British troops and housed by a British contractor, on a remote British island to which they had been conveyed by British ships.
The two introductory paragraphs were amended from: www.generalmichaelcollins.com/Fine_Gael/Saorstat_Eireann....
The bulk of the narrative was taken from the article “On St Helena’s Bleak Shore” available at: www.historyireland.com/volumes/volume11/issue1/news/?id=1... and used with permission of the Editor.
An abridged version of the same article is also available at: www.anphoblacht.com/news/detail/2802
Kotor is often nicknamed Town (or City) of Cats and indeed you get the feeling that the many cats in Kotor are the true rulers here and people are merely accepted for reasons of practicality and amusement. A proper cat needs servants - noblesse oblige.
Kotor's Old Town even has a museum dedicated to cats and a very popular cat-focused souvenir shop. But the truth is: nobody really knows where the tight connotation with cats came from or when it started because lots of other places in the region would equally qualify as "town of cats" - mediterranean lifestyle and pace of living simply suits the feline. However, a small detail: when the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea was under the rule of the Venecian Empire, Kotor has been known under the name Cattaro. And that name has "cat" right in its beginning... even if "Cat" in Italian languange would be "Gatto/Gatta".
Klick Link For Read Online Or Download Rick Steves' Pocket Paris Book : bit.ly/2hqFF3U
Synopsis
Rick Steves’ Pocket guidebooks truly are a “tour guide in your pocket.†Each colorful, compact book includes Rick’s advice for prioritizing your time, whether you're spending one or seven days in a city. Everything a busy traveler needs is easy to access: a neighborhood overview, city walks and tours, sights, handy food and accommodations charts, an appendix packed with information on trip planning and practicalities, and a fold-out city map.Included in Rick Steves' Pocket Paris—Sights: the Orangerie Museum, Rodin Museum, Army Museum and Napoleon’s Tomb, Left Bank Walk, Cluny Museum, Champs-Elysees Walk, Marais Walk, Pompidou Center, Carnavalet Museum, and Picasso MuseumWalks and Tours: the Historic Paris Walk, Louvre Tour, Orsay Museum Tour, Eiffel Tower Tour, Rue Cler Walk, and Versailles Day Trip
The Tiger I was notoriously over-engineered, making it expensive to produce and maintain. Although it was a significant design and technical achievement, its practicality in the field was less than ideal.
THE INDUCED-DRAFT FAN (FOREGROUND) AND EXHAUST STACK (RIGHT REAR) FOR THE AFB SYSTEM.
OBJECTIVES OF THE GREAT LAKES AFB STEAM BOILER PROJECT ARE THE DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION, TESTING, AND OPERATION OF A PRO- TO TYPE BOILER TO ESTABLISH THE PRACTICALITY OF BURNING HIGH-SULFUR COAL AND THE COMPILATION OF SUFFICIENT DATA FROM PROTOTYPE OPERATIONS TO ENABLE THE INDUSTRY TO DESIGN AND OPERATE FULL-SIZE UNITS IN INDUSTRIAL PLANTS. THE GREAT LAKES PROJECT IS USING A 50,000 LB/HR SUPER HEATED STEAM BOILER WITH A COAL RATE OF 2.5 TONS/HR.
For more information or additional images, please contact 202-586-5251.
Modern Seamless Surfaces That Will Transform Your Space.
Our decorative concrete coatings dramatically enhance the appearance and value to your home or business. Whether you own a home, hotel, condo, or business, count on Alternative Surfaces for long lasting beauty and reliability.
From blueprint to reality, we deliver a full-service approach that blends texture, color and a durable finishes, creating the look and atmosphere you desire. Where passion meets practicality, Alternative Surfaces offers the tools, creative vision and technological expertise to propel your design imagination to new heights. Create ambiance through innovative surface styles. Leave a bold, lasting impression. Unleash your inner artist with limitless creative freedom.
Motor homes have become increasingly popular over the last 100 years and more, with many families across the globe making it their vehicle of choice for long and short breaks. From Class A integrated models to Class C Alcove models, Motor homes are loved the world over for their practicality and versatility. But where did it all begin? In this infographic we explore the path the modern motor home has taken over the past century.
The dressing area was essential for practicality and to really bring home the boudoir luxurious feel. The bevelled edge mirror was a modern take on a traditional carved triptych mirror and is from Graham and Green
The 911 has forever been the best road going supercar in the world for it's practicality and useability, plus the fact that it's probably the most successful competition car in history makes it my ultimate dream car.
Given Jag has had almost two decades to perfect the new model, it's disappointing the F-Pace is not a benchmark. Having said that, it's still a beautifully designed and engineered SUV that has the soul of its sports car stablemates, combined with space and practicality few of its rivals can match.
www.mynrma.com.au/motoring-services/reviews/car-reviews/j...
Generously hosted by Greenwich Co-operative Development Agency, Paul Rhodes of the eponymous artisan bakery and his head baker Yann Legallais kindly gave up their day to pass bread making skills on to thirteen would-be bakers from public sector kitchens. Tracey Simmons from Pabulum Catering then spoke about the practicalities of Real Bread in a public sector catering situation.
Generously hosted by Greenwich Co-operative Development Agency, Paul Rhodes of the eponymous artisan bakery and his head baker Yann Legallais kindly gave up their day to pass bread making skills on to thirteen would-be bakers from public sector kitchens. Tracey Simmons from Pabulum Catering then spoke about the practicalities of Real Bread in a public sector catering situation.
From The Car Connection (http://www.thecarconnection.com/review/1013522_2008-honda-element) -
While the look of the Honda Element's exterior may not be for everyone, the form and the function of the interior create a harmonious blend of comfort and practicality. As Kelley Blue Book puts it, "the Element's interior is unlike anything else on the road"--and according to most reviews read by TheCarConnection.com, that seems to be the point. Kelley Blue Book reports that "the Element's original concept, in fact, was touted as a 'rolling dorm room.'" Be that as it may, The Auto Channel says that, in the Element, Honda has provided a "spacious, accessible, and easy-to-clean interior," with the SC trim distinguished from the base trims with "special fabric on the seats, copper-colored bezels around the instruments and shifter with some exterior colors, copper-backlit instruments, and 'piano black' interior trim." Cars.com, though, finds "little to like in cabin quality and ergonomics" of the 2008 Honda Element, complaining that although the 2007 update "gave it new gauges and center controls," the dash still "has an industrial severity to it," with "upright facings and hard, dimpled plastics [that] feel too cold and trucklike." ConsumerGuide is a little more positive, finding that on the Element, Honda has crafted "simple, convenient climate and audio controls"; however, they add that the "hooded gauges are hard to see in some light conditions, and are partly obscured for tall drivers by steering wheel."
TheCarConnection.com’s team of SUV reviewers likes the original appeal of the Element. It’s a singular vehicle; part crossover, part sport-utility, part economy car, and part mini-minivan, its big virtues include big interior space, a flexible rear seat and cargo bay, and a funky appeal that's modern and fresh. The Element's unique shape has been dulled somewhat as a result of the tweaks meant to appeal to younger buyers, but the look is still like something you’d find on a shelf at Target. Inside, the hard plastics are at least washable, and the Element’s simple, straightforward layout of controls and upright shape gives it acres of functionality.
Conclusion
The 2008 Honda Element still sports unique styling inside and out—and while it’s not universally loved, it is functional.
Museum info:
The 2CV (Deux Chevaux) was originally conceived as a car for French rural communities which put ease of maintenance, practicality and frugality above all else. The car was described as 'four wheels under an umbrella', intended to provide maximum mobility at minimal cost. A team of designers and engineers masterminded by André Lefèbvre, who developed the design from 1937, had a set of pre-production cars ready for launch at the 1939 Paris Salon Motor Show, but this was cancelled due to the onset of the Second World War.
Nine years later, in 1948, the 2CV was finally launched in Paris. A softly sprung, interconnected suspension system made reasonable speeds possible on the then uneven French roads, while the 350c.c. front-mounted air-cooled, flat-twin engine, driving the front wheels, offered simplicity and economy. With its rounded, corrugated form, and a folding roof made of cloth, the car offered an ingenious technical and stylistic solution to the need for affordable motoring. Production ended in 1990.
Science Museum
South Kensington, London
I first visited Dunnottar Castle summer 2017, this magnificent castle sits high on a hill, last time I visited I captured my shots from the cliffs overlooking the site, though today I made the journey up the hill and entered the castle walls , wow what a magnificent experience, just perfect with loads of great photo opportunities to capture real Scottish history,after two hours wandering around and capturing as many shots that caught my eye , I made my way home, a magnificent experience indeed.
Dunnottar Castle (Scottish Gaelic: Dùn Fhoithear, "fort on the shelving slope" is a ruined medieval fortress located upon a rocky headland on the north-east coast of Scotland, about 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) south of Stonehaven.
The surviving buildings are largely of the 15th and 16th centuries, but the site is believed to have been fortified in the Early Middle Ages. Dunnottar has played a prominent role in the history of Scotland through to the 18th-century Jacobite risings because of its strategic location and defensive strength. Dunnottar is best known as the place where the Honours of Scotland, the Scottish crown jewels, were hidden from Oliver Cromwell's invading army in the 17th century. The property of the Keiths from the 14th century, and the seat of the Earl Marischal, Dunnottar declined after the last Earl forfeited his titles by taking part in the Jacobite rebellion of 1715.
The castle was restored in the 20th century and is now open to the public.
The ruins of the castle are spread over 1.4 hectares (3.5 acres), surrounded by steep cliffs that drop to the North Sea, 50 metres (160 ft) below. A narrow strip of land joins the headland to the mainland, along which a steep path leads up to the gatehouse.
The various buildings within the castle include the 14th-century tower house as well as the 16th-century palace. Dunnottar Castle is a scheduled monument, and twelve structures on the site are listed buildings.
History
Early Middle Ages
A chapel at Dunnottar is said to have been founded by St Ninian in the 5th century, although it is not clear when the site was first fortified, but in any case the legend is late and highly implausible. Possibly the earliest written reference to the site is found in the Annals of Ulster which record two sieges of "Dún Foither" in 681 and 694.
The earlier event has been interpreted as an attack by Brude, the Pictish king of Fortriu, to extend his power over the north-east coast of Scotland. The Scottish Chronicle records that King Domnall II, the first ruler to be called rí Alban (King of Alba), was killed at Dunnottar during an attack by Vikings in 900. King Aethelstan of Wessex led a force into Scotland in 934, and raided as far north as Dunnottar according to the account of Symeon of Durham. W. D. Simpson speculated that a motte might lie under the present caste, but excavations in the 1980s failed to uncover substantive evidence of early medieval fortification.
The discovery of a group of Pictish stones at Dunnicaer, a nearby sea stack, has prompted speculation that "Dún Foither" was actually located on the adjacent headland of Bowduns, 0.5 kilometres (0.31 mi) to the north.
Later Middle Ages
During the reign of King William the Lion (ruled 1165–1214) Dunnottar was a center of local administration for The Mearns. The castle is named in the Roman de Fergus, an early 13th-century Arthurian romance, in which the hero Fergus must travel to Dunnottar to retrieve a magic shield.
In May 1276 a church on the site was consecrated by William Wishart, Bishop of St Andrews. The poet Blind Harry relates that William Wallace captured Dunnottar from the English in 1297, during the Wars of Scottish Independence. He is said to have imprisoned 4,000 defeated English soldiers in the church and burned them alive.
In 1336 Edward III of England ordered William Sinclair, 8th Baron of Roslin, to sail eight ships to the partially ruined Dunnottar for the purpose of rebuilding and fortifying the site as a forward resupply base for his northern campaign. Sinclair took with him 160 soldiers, horses, and a corps of masons and carpenters.
Edward himself visited in July, but the English efforts were undone before the end of the year when the Scottish Regent Sir Andrew Murray led a force that captured and again destroyed the defences of Dunnottar.
In the 14th century Dunnottar was granted to William de Moravia, 5th Earl of Sutherland (d.1370), and in 1346 a licence to crenellate was issued by David II. Around 1359 William Keith, Marischal of Scotland, married Margaret Fraser, niece of Robert the Bruce, and was granted the barony of Dunnottar at this time. Keith then gave the lands of Dunnottar to his daughter Christian and son-in-law William Lindsay of Byres, but in 1392 an excambion (exchange) was agreed whereby Keith regained Dunnottar and Lindsay took lands in Fife.
William Keith completed construction of the tower house at Dunnottar, but was excommunicated for building on the consecrated ground associated with the parish church. Keith had provided a new parish church closer to Stonehaven, but was forced to write to the Pope, Benedict XIII, who issued a bull in 1395 lifting the excommunication.William Keith's descendents were created Earls Marischal in the mid 15th century, and they held Dunottar until the 18th century.
16th century rebuilding
Through the 16th century the Keiths improved and expanded their principal seats: at Dunnottar and also at Keith Marischal in East Lothian. James IV visited Dunnottar in 1504, and in 1531 James V exempted the Earl's men from military service on the grounds that Dunnottar was one of the "principall strenthis of our realme".
Mary, Queen of Scots, visited in 1562 after the Battle of Corrichie, and returned in 1564.
James VI stayed for 10 days in 1580, as part of a progress through Fife and Angus, during which a meeting of the Privy Council was convened at Dunnottar.
During a rebellion of Catholic nobles in 1592, Dunnottar was captured by a Captain Carr on behalf of the Earl of Huntly, but was restored to Lord Marischal just a few weeks later.
In 1581 George Keith succeeded as 5th Earl Marischal, and began a large scale reconstruction that saw the medieval fortress converted into a more comfortable home. The founder of Marischal College in Aberdeen, the 5th Earl valued Dunnottar as much for its dramatic situation as for its security.
A "palace" comprising a series of ranges around a quadrangle was built on the north-eastern cliffs, creating luxurious living quarters with sea views. The 13th-century chapel was restored and incorporated into the quadrangle.
An impressive stone gatehouse was constructed, now known as Benholm's Lodging, featuring numerous gun ports facing the approach. Although impressive, these are likely to have been fashionable embellishments rather than genuine defensive features.
Civil wars
Further information: Scotland in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms
In 1639 William Keith, 7th Earl Marischal, came out in support of the Covenanters, a Presbyterian movement who opposed the established Episcopal Church and the changes which Charles I was attempting to impose. With James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose, he marched against the Catholic James Gordon, 2nd Viscount Aboyne, Earl of Huntly, and defeated an attempt by the Royalists to seize Stonehaven. However, when Montrose changed sides to the Royalists and marched north, Marischal remained in Dunnottar, even when given command of the area by Parliament, and even when Montrose burned Stonehaven.
Marischal then joined with the Engager faction, who had made a deal with the king, and led a troop of horse to the Battle of Preston (1648) in support of the royalists.
Following the execution of Charles I in 1649, the Engagers gave their allegiance to his son and heir: Charles II was proclaimed king, arriving in Scotland in June 1650. He visited Dunnottar in July 1650, but his presence in Scotland prompted Oliver Cromwell to lead a force into Scotland, defeating the Scots at Dunbar in September 1650.
The Honours of Scotland
Charles II was crowned at Scone Palace on 1 January 1651, at which the Honours of Scotland (the regalia of crown, sword and sceptre) were used. However, with Cromwell's troops in Lothian, the honours could not be returned to Edinburgh. The Earl Marischal, as Marischal of Scotland, had formal responsibility for the honours, and in June the Privy Council duly decided to place them at Dunnottar.
They were brought to the castle by Katherine Drummond, hidden in sacks of wool. Sir George Ogilvie (or Ogilvy) of Barras was appointed lieutenant-governor of the castle, and given responsibility for its defence.
In November 1651 Cromwell's troops called on Ogilvie to surrender, but he refused. During the subsequent blockade of the castle, the removal of the Honours of Scotland was planned by Elizabeth Douglas, wife of Sir George Ogilvie, and Christian Fletcher, wife of James Granger, minister of Kinneff Parish Church. The king's papers were first removed from the castle by Anne Lindsay, a kinswoman of Elizabeth Douglas, who walked through the besieging force with the papers sewn into her clothes.
Two stories exist regarding the removal of the honours themselves. Fletcher stated in 1664 that over the course of three visits to the castle in February and March 1652, she carried away the crown, sceptre, sword and sword-case hidden amongst sacks of goods. Another account, given in the 18th century by a tutor to the Earl Marischal, records that the honours were lowered from the castle onto the beach, where they were collected by Fletcher's servant and carried off in a creel (basket) of seaweed. Having smuggled the honours from the castle, Fletcher and her husband buried them under the floor of the Old Kirk at Kinneff.
Meanwhile, by May 1652 the commander of the blockade, Colonel Thomas Morgan, had taken delivery of the artillery necessary for the reduction of Dunnottar. Ogilvie surrendered on 24 May, on condition that the garrison could go free. Finding the honours gone, the Cromwellians imprisoned Ogilvie and his wife in the castle until the following year, when a false story was put about suggesting that the honours had been taken overseas.
Much of the castle property was removed, including twenty-one brass cannons,[28] and Marischal was required to sell further lands and possessions to pay fines imposed by Cromwell's government.
At the Restoration of Charles II in 1660, the honours were removed from Kinneff Church and returned to the king. Ogilvie quarrelled with Marischal's mother over who would take credit for saving the honours, though he was eventually rewarded with a baronetcy. Fletcher was awarded 2,000 merks by Parliament but the sum was never paid.
Whigs and Jacobites
Religious and political conflicts continued to be played out at Dunnottar through the 17th and early 18th centuries. In 1685, during the rebellion of the Earl of Argyll against the new king James VII, 167 Covenanters were seized and held in a cellar at Dunnottar. The prisoners included 122 men and 45 women associated with the Whigs, an anti-Royalist group within the Covenanter movement, and had refused to take an oath of allegiance to the new king.
The Whigs were imprisoned from 24 May until late July. A group of 25 escaped, although two of these were killed in a fall from the cliffs, and another 15 were recaptured. Five prisoners died in the vault, and 37 of the Whigs were released after taking the oath of allegiance.
The remaining prisoners were transported to Perth Amboy, New Jersey, as part of a colonisation scheme devised by George Scot of Pitlochie. Many, like Scot himself, died on the voyage.
The cellar, located beneath the "King's Bedroom" in the 16th-century castle buildings, has since become known as the "Whigs' Vault".
Both the Jacobites (supporters of the exiled Stuarts) and the Hanoverians (supporters of George I and his descendents) used Dunnottar Castle. In 1689 during Viscount Dundee's campaign in support of the deposed James VII, the castle was garrisoned for William and Mary with Lord Marischal appointed captain.
Seventeen suspected Jacobites from Aberdeen were seized and held in the fortress for around three weeks, including George Liddell, professor of mathematics at Marischal College.
In the Jacobite Rising of 1715 George Keith, 10th Earl Marischal, took an active role with the rebels, leading cavalry at the Battle of Sheriffmuir. After the subsequent abandonment of the rising Lord Marischal fled to the Continent, eventually becoming French ambassador for Frederick the Great of Prussia. Meanwhile, in 1716, his titles and estates including Dunnottar were declared forfeit to the crown.
Later history
The seized estates of the Earl Marischal were purchased in 1720 for £41,172, by the York Buildings Company who dismantled much of the castle.
In 1761 the Earl briefly returned to Scotland and bought back Dunnottar only to sell it five years later to Alexander Keith, an Edinburgh lawyer who served as Knight Marischal of Scotland.
Dunnottar was inherited in 1852 by Sir Patrick Keith-Murray of Ochtertyre, who in turn sold it in July 1873 to Major Alexander Innes of Cowie and Raemoir for about £80,000.
It was purchased by Weetman Pearson, 1st Viscount Cowdray, in 1925 after which his wife embarked on a programme of repairs.
Since that time the castle has remained in the family, and has been open to the public, attracting 52,500 visitors in 2009.
Dunnottar Castle, and the headland on which is stands, was designated as a scheduled monument in 1970.In 1972 twelve of the structures at Dunnottar were listed.
Three buildings are listed at category A as being of "national importance": the keep; the entrance gateway; and Benholm's Lodging.
The remaining listings are at category B as being of "regional importance".[39] The Hon. Charles Anthony Pearson, the younger son of the 3rd Viscount Cowdray, currently owns and runs Dunnottar Castle which is part of the 210-square-kilometre (52,000-acre) Dunecht Estates.
Portions of the 1990 film Hamlet, starring Mel Gibson and Glenn Close, were shot there.
Description
Dunnottar's strategic location allowed its owners to control the coastal terrace between the North Sea cliffs and the hills of the Mounth, 3.5 kilometres (2.2 mi) inland, which enabled access to and from the north-east of Scotland.
The site is accessed via a steep, 800-metre (2,600 ft) footpath (with modern staircases) from a car park on the coastal road, or via a 3-kilometre (1.9 mi) cliff-top path from Stonehaven. Dunnottar's several buildings, put up between the 13th and 17th centuries, are arranged across a headland covering around 1.4 hectares (3.5 acres).
The dominant building, viewed from the land approach, is the 14th-century keep or tower house. The other principal buildings are the gatehouse; the chapel; and the 16th-century "palace" which incorporates the "Whigs' Vault".
Defences
The approach to the castle is overlooked by outworks on the "Fiddle Head", a promontory on the western side of the headland. The entrance is through the well-defended main gate, set in a curtain wall which entirely blocks a cleft in the rocky cliffs.
The gate has a portcullis and has been partly blocked up. Alongside the main gate is the 16th-century Benholm's Lodging, a five-storey building cut into the rock, which incorporated a prison with apartments above.
Three tiers of gun ports face outwards from the lower floors of Benholm's Lodging, while inside the main gate, a group of four gun ports face the entrance. The entrance passage then turns sharply to the left, running underground through two tunnels to emerge near the tower house.
Simpson contends that these defences are "without exception the strongest in Scotland", although later writers have doubted the effectiveness of the gun ports. Cruden notes that the alignment of the gun ports in Benholm's Lodging, facing across the approach rather than along, means that they are of limited efficiency.
The practicality of the gun ports facing the entrance has also been questioned, though an inventory of 1612 records that four brass cannons were placed here.
A second access to the castle leads up from a rocky cove, the aperture to a marine cave on the northern side of the Dunnottar cliffs into which a small boat could be brought. From here a steep path leads to the well-fortified postern gate on the cliff top, which in turn offers access to the castle via the Water Gate in the palace.
Artillery defences, taking the form of earthworks, surround the north-west corner of the castle, facing inland, and the south-east, facing seaward. A small sentry box or guard house stands by the eastern battery, overlooking the coast.
Tower house and surrounding buildings
The tower house of Dunnottar, viewed from the west
The late 14th-century tower house has a stone-vaulted basement, and originally had three further storeys and a garret above.
Measuring 12 by 11 metres (39 by 36 ft), the tower house stood 15 metres (49 ft) high to its gable. The principal rooms included a great hall and a private chamber for the lord, with bedrooms upstairs.
Beside the tower house is a storehouse, and a blacksmith's forge with a large chimney. A stable block is ranged along the southern edge of the headland. Nearby is Waterton's Lodging, also known as the Priest's House, built around 1574, possibly for the use of William Keith (died 1580), son of the 4th Earl Marischal.
This small self-contained house includes a hall and kitchen at ground level, with private chambers above, and has a projecting spiral stair on the north side. It is named for Thomas Forbes of Waterton, an attendant of the 7th Earl.
The palace
The palace, to the north-east of the headland, was built in the late 16th century and early to mid-17th century. It comprises three main wings set out around a quadrangle, and for the most part is probably the work of the 5th Earl Marischal who succeeded in 1581.
It provided extensive and comfortable accommodation to replace the rooms in the tower house. In its long, low design it has been compared to contemporary English buildings, in contrast to the Scottish tradition of taller towers still prevalent in the 16th century.
Seven identical lodgings are arranged along the west range, each opening onto the quadrangle and including windows and fireplace. Above the lodgings the west range comprised a 35-metre (115 ft) gallery. Now roofless, the gallery originally had an elaborate oak ceiling, and on display was a Roman tablet taken from the Antonine Wall.
At the north end of the gallery was a drawing room linked to the north range. The gallery could also be accessed from the Silver House to the south, which incorporated a broad stairway with a treasury above.
The basement of the north range incorporates kitchens and stores, with a dining room and great chamber above. At ground floor level is the Water Gate, between the north and west ranges, which gives access to the postern on the northern cliffs.
The east and north ranges are linked via a rectangular stair. The east range has a larder, brewhouse and bakery at ground level, with a suite of apartments for the Countess above. A north-east wing contains the Earl's apartments, and includes the "King's Bedroom" in which Charles II stayed. In this room is a carved stone inscribed with the arms of the 7th Earl and his wife, and the date 1654. Below these rooms is the Whigs' Vault, a cellar measuring 16 by 4.5 metres (52 by 15 ft). This cellar, in which the Covenanters were held in 1685, has a large eastern window, as well as a lower vault accessed via a trap-door in the floor.
Of the chambers in the palace, only the dining room and the Silver House remain roofed, having been restored in the 1920s. The central area contains a circular cistern or fish pond, 16 metres (52 ft) across and 7.6 metres (25 ft) deep, and a bowling green is located to the west.
At the south-east corner of the quadrangle is the chapel, consecrated in 1276 and largely rebuilt in the 16th century. Medieval walling and two 13th-century windows remain, and there is a graveyard to the south.