BASTIONS OF INDEPENDENCE
JUNE 18, 2024
glenfarclas
A visit to Glenfarclas Distillery is essential. The slogan here is “The Spirit of Independence,” and indeed this is one of the few remaining truly independent whisky distilleries in Scotland. Glenfarclas opened in 1836, but has been owned and run by one family, the Grants of Glenfarclas — no relation to the Grants of Glenfiddich — since 1865. Currently the fifth and sixth generations of the family are active in the distillery.
doune castle
This medieval stronghold eight miles outside of Stirling was originally built in the 13th century but rebuilt to its present form in the late 14th. It lay in ruins by 1800 but restoration works were carried out in the 1880s, prior to its passing into state care in the 20th century. Today Doune is a largely unchanged and complete edifice – a rare example of single-period fortress construction.
The castle has featured in several literary works, including a 17th-century ballad and Sir Walter Scott’s 19th-century novel Waverley. It has served as a location for several movies and television series, including MGM’s 1952 historical film Ivanhoe, The BBC adaptation of Ivanhoe in 1996, the 2011 first season of Game of Thrones and the historical 2018 action drama Outlaw King. It is best known however as the setting for most of the castle scenes in the 1974 comedy classic Monty Python and the Holy Grail and more currently, it features in the TV hit Outlander as Castle Leoch!
stirling / the portcullis
Nearly equidistant to and forming the upper point of a triangle with Scotland’s main cities Edinburgh and Glasgow, Stirling is renowned as the Gateway to the Highlands, situated as it is along the Highland Boundary Fault, where the relatively flat Scottish Lowlands meet the dramatic slopes of the Highlands. The historically-preserved small city’s oldest existing structures date back 2,000 years and its earliest surviving archaeological evidence of human existence over 4,000.
Stirling’s strategic location (“like a huge brooch that clasps Highlands and Lowlands together” per 13th-century Scottish king Robert the Bruce), along with its famous castle and beautifully-preserved old town, make it one of the most-visited and attractive cities in the UK. As such it necessarily boasts several classic pubs, arguably the most cosy of which is The Portcullis, perfectly located in the shadows of the castle. Not content to rest on its historical laurels, The Portcullis was named Pub of the Year for southern Scotland in 2023, and is consistently named the best pub in Stirling.
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