Relics from Another Age

We had a bit of a later start this morning, but we got to Carlisle around 11:30.  We came to see the Castle and Cathedral and then move on to Birdoswald Roman Fort and Hadrien's Wall.  Carlisle is way up near the Scottish border and was a key defensive position against invasions.  It also served as a holding place for Mary Queen of Scots in the 1500's after her husband was murdered and she, being forced to abdicate her throne, sought asylum in England under the reign of her cousin Queen Elizabeth.  Lizzy didn't quite know what to do with Mary since she was Catholic and had James, her son as her heir.  Queen Elizabeth did not have an heir and there were still many Catholic sympathizers in England, so Mary was a considerable threat to her crown.  As a result, she imprisioned Mary in Carlisle Castle for a time, and then moved her and her court of servants to a number of castles through the country as a means of deterring any plotting to rescue her, until she was finally moved to the Tower of London for almost 20 years before Elizabeth finally had her executed.

Another interesting part of the history of the Castle was when the Scottish heir, Bonny Prince Charlie lead a revolt trying to reclaim the English and Scottish throne for his father James III, who was forced out by William of Orange.  Prince Charlie retreated back into Scotland and a garrison of his troops were forced into the dungeons at the castle and held there with no food or water.  As the stones began to weep water, the soldiers would press their tongues against them for moisture.  These "licking stones" were clearly visible, and very disturbing.

After we finished at the Castle and I bought a great book on Castles and Keith bought a trebuchet pencil sharpener we walked over to the Cathedral.  It was neat to see the little church community on Abbey St.  They had a little restaurant and shop alongside the beautiful cathedral.  It was a busy place, which was great to see since a few of the churches we've visited have been desolate places, beautiful, but almost dead.

After a couple of wrong turns, we were on our way to the Roman Fort.  Along the way we stopped in at Lanercroft Priory.  This was a beautiful ruin of a Priory but the Chapel was still in use.  At Birdoswald we listened to a brief history about the fort and the wall and then walked over the ruin and explored the outer walls where sheep grazed.  It was a bit odd to see sheep wandering around in the middle of this relic from the first century AD.  Hadrien's wall is only about waist high and one to three feet thick now, but it used to tower at 15 feet high and 3 or more feet thick.  It also used to be nearly impenetrable due to the towers and milecastles, forts and patrols.

Getting so much accomplished in one day, we felt quite pleased with ourselves.  It was a good thing Keith knew his way home because I couldn't keep my eyes open.  He said I looked cute with my little head bobbing up and down.