Stacy in Scotland: Mount Stuart and the Isle of Bute

The last field trip we took for our Gothic Revival course was to the Isle of Bute. A charming little isle off the west coast of the mainland. It's a 30-40 minute ferry ride across the Firth of Clyde. It's just like out of the movies. Charming little seaside towns and green, green, green as far as the eyes can see!

Me hanging out on the ferry.

The weather is also very crazy but beautiful....we have the sun shining and at the same time it is raining, rainbows, and passing wild clouds. But for the most part, we have wonderful sunshine and mild weather. Such a beautiful day to be out on the water.

You can see the rain coming straight for us!

Rain on the other side of the island. Crazy weather!

On the island, we went to Mt. Stuart. Mt. Stuart is an amazing Gothic style manner, or mansion, or whatever you want to call it. I just call it amazing. It is the home of the Stuarts of Bute. They are the descendants of the Royal House of Stuart. The isle of Bute is an ancient stronghold of Scottish kings. The Stuart family line has famous rulers such as King Henry VIII, Elizabeth I, and James I. The family today has like 6 houses and only visits this house occasionally.

They wouldn't allow photography inside, which broke my heart! That place is a treasure trove of paintings, stained glass, and all the decorative arts one could want. Whenever you view an object or painting in a book, the objects will be labeled with the artists name, date of painting, artist life dates, and where the object is located.....now some of them will say (Smithsonian National Gallery, or Metropolitan museum of art and so-on). Some will say (In private collection) they some times will say which private collection but most often not. Well....the day I went to Mt. Stuart, lets just say that I found a lot of those objects on the wall and sitting around their house!! OMG!!!

Such a charming little house on the way to Mt. Stuart

Mount Stuart...need I say more?

It's a Monkey Tail Tree!

But it is a magical place! It sets on a hill over looking the sea. There is a small trail that leads through the woods to the water. The forest there is so unreal. There is moss on the stones, everything is green and bright. I was expecting a fairy to fly by my head at any moment.