Our cozy Christmas at home in Culloden
We enjoyed a relaxed Christmas at home after a very busy 2023 and a busy period of reorganisation and home improvements since we finished our tour season at the end of October.
Since then, we have reorganised our many antiques and historic books in our large open-plan living room/dining room and built a new library area. The new bookshelves have allowed us to arrange our historic books on Scotland, which in turn has freed up space to represent our collections of Scottish antiques (which aren’t shown in this blogpost).
Here are some pictures of the new layout and our Christmas dining table.
William Murray, Marquess of Tullibardine (14 April 1689 – 9 July 1746), Scottish nobleman and Jacobite who took part in the rebellions of 1715, 1719, and 1745. He was the eldest surviving son of the 1st Duke of Atholl, whose seat was Blair Castle.
The Murray family was split between factions supporting the Hanoverians and those supporting the Stuart Dynasty and Jacobite cause.
Due to William’s Jacobite support in 1715, his younger brother James succeeded their father as Duke of Atholl in 1724.
After the 1719 rebellion, William spent 25 years in France, where he lived in extreme poverty and seemed to have suffered from physical and mental illness. Nevertheless, he was one of the Seven Men of Moidart who accompanied Prince Charles to Scotland in July 1745, onboard the French privateer ship ‘Du Teillay’.
William was given the honour of unfurling and raising Prince Charles Edward Stuart’s Royal Standard at Glenfinnan on 19th August 1745, when the Prince’s manifesto was proclaimed.
William’s younger brother, Lord George Murray, then served as a senior leader of the Prince’s Jacobite army (as depicted in Outlander).
David Morier (1705 – 1770) was an Anglo-Swiss painter of portraits, military subjects and historical scenes. His art portrayed scenes around and after the time of the War of the Austrian Succession (1740 – 1748) and the related Jacobite rising of 1745. He painted ‘An Incident in the Rebellion of 1745’.
Morier worked under the patronage of the Duke of Cumberland from 1747 to 1767, producing several portraits of his patron and other senior officers, as well as his greatest series of works, known as the Grenadier Paintings, which document the uniforms and equipment of the Army in the years leading up to the Seven Years’ War.
The original of ‘An Incident in the Rebellion of 1745’, painted sometime shortly after the battle, depicts hand-to-hand combat between a party of Highland warriors and an officer, sergeant and privates of a Grenadier company of the 4th King’s Own (Barrel’s) Regiment. A Battalion Company officer and drummer of the regiment are also shown behind the main action. The Jacobite soldiers are said to be wearing as many as 20 different tartans between them. Morier is said to have used imprisoned Jacobite soldiers for models, as well as British soldiers, although this idea is disputed.
The painting was given as a gift to Cumberland’s father, George II, and remains in the Royal collection. It was first recorded as being hung in General Taylor’s Room at Buckingham House in 1819. The painting now resides at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh.
The colours of the Culloden Ancient Tartan represent the colours of Culloden Battlefield:
Purple – the heather
Yellow – the yellow grasses
Red – the blood that was spilled.
It is said that this tartan was inspired by one seen on a coat found on a deceased French soldier on the Battlefield next to his fallen Scottish Jacobite comrades.
Finally, here is our finished library nook.
We added a lovely Nicholson plaque, generously gifted to us by one of our tour guests who, believe it or not, is called Diane Nicholson!
We also added a very appropriate and poignant painting by Andy’s grandmother, Jessie Nicholson, which she painted in January 1949. She was an amazing artist. The words speak for themselves…
The phrase “O for a booke and a shady nooke” is the opening line of a poem by John Wilson, an English poet and playwright who lived in the 16th and 17th centuries. The full poem is titled “The Scholar’s Praise,” and it expresses the joys of a quiet, scholarly life.
“O for a booke and a shadie nooke,
A poem by John Wilson
Eyther in-a-doore or out;
With the grene leaves whispering overhede,
Or the streete cryes all about.
Where I maie Reade all at my ease,
Both of the Newe and Olde;
For a jolly goode Booke whereon to looke,
Is better to me than Golde.”
The poem celebrates the pleasures of reading and the intellectual pursuits of a scholar. It reflects a love for books and the desire for a peaceful, contemplative space in which to enjoy them.
Happy New Year from us both. Wishing you peace and prosperity in 2024.
Andy & Di Nicholson
3 Responses
What a wonderful array of treasures! Who could forget Kyle!!! I absolutely love the teapot. So appropriate for you two! Happiest New Year to the best tour guides in Scotland!
Hi, I’ve been reading through the blogs and you write so beautifully. Just looking at these ‘in house’ photos – as you have so many old items, do you feel like you ever get any spirits or memories of the past visiting to be near their item? Do you capture anything ever? I love the warm cosy feeling that comes from your photos. So beautiful .
Hi Jennii, yes, we occasionally see shadows moving around the house. I’ve had a few instances when I’ve busy in the kitchen and can see someone put of the corner of my eye walking down the dining room, past the kitchen, into the living room and through into our bedroom. I’ve been so convinced of it that I’ve then walked into the bedroom looking for Andy, as that’s where the shadow went to. But he’s not there – he’s in the other end of the house. (The lounge, dining room and kitchen are all one large open space). So there are often shadows and pillars of energy around, but they never have a bad feeling with them. The house has a lovely energy about it. We consider the land we’re on to be somewhat sacred, so we tend to love it in that capacity.