As predicted, today is a rainy day. Despite the threats of not being able to do our Pictish tour with Willy today if it rained, we went on with the tour anyway. The point of the Pict tour was to learn about events, places, and people in the Arbroath area that are significant to Scotland's history. To start we went the Fraser Memorial Chapel which is a Monument/chapel in a cemetery in Arbroath made for Elizabeth and Patrick (whom I have spoken about in earlier entries). Willy spoke mostly about the architecture and design of the structure because the chapel was meant to be open to all religions/denominations, as it is intended to be a community building, so there are a wide variety of symbols and elements from nature incorporated in the space. Next we went to Saint Figen? Which is basically a road on which a famous battle took place. History (or Wilky) says that an Anglican Saxon army was championing their way across Scotland and were on there way through a smaller town. As armies go through it was tradition to tease/ agitate the troops who would then chase the agitators who would then trick the troops to stampeding into a bog (and then be lanced pectin through with arrows and spears.) Those who caught on and started fleeing up the hill were then met by a guerilla style onslaught of naked Picts, painted blue, wielding gigantic swords running towards them, quickly hacking the remaining Anglo Saxons to bits. The true effect of the story will be lost to you unless you hear it from Willy acting it out with noise effects while standing on the side of a gravel road in the middle of nowhere in the wind and rain:) We took a little side trip from the usual route to see the Brax Quarry, which is where the majority of the old red sandstone used to build Hospitalfield was quarried. That part of the day was my favorite. The quarry is now part of a widow's estate and Willy knows her, so we walked through a field, hopped over a fence, and then walked on a path through the woods to see what remains of the quarry. It was especially beautiful because the rain made everything vibrant. The quarry that we saw would have been deeper in it's prime, but farmers have been filling it in with rocks and such from their field. A few of us climbed over the rocks and overgrowth to get a closer look, but everything was rather slippery from the rain so our tour swiftly turned back around. Poor Willy chose to ride in our van, which has been notoriously rowdy, and after quickly catching on to atmosphere in the van referred to us as the "lusty farmgirls." Although it may sound like sarcasm, I have not contributed much to reputation. I just enjoy watching Al's reaction, and laughing at some of the wonderful crap that goes on in the back of the van. When we reached our next destination, the Restenneth Priory, we walked around the ruins, and learned about some of the spiritual and sacrificial-like practices of Pictish people who focused more on natural elements such as air, fire, water, and earth. The sacrifice included several volunteers who would put there odds in to be chosen by fate to travel through a portal to another time. This was decided by choosing a bit of oatcake out of a sack, and whoever chose the bit that was burned was the honored lamb-so to speak. This selected person (overjoyed with this honor) would drink a sort of mead with mistletoe or some plant/flower in it that disables the nervous system. The person would be undressed and a leather cloak would then be their only garment. There would also be a thong tied around the neck that would be tightened until almost lethal. The honoree would then be knelt down by the fire where a person with a hammer ax would bash the honoree's skull in. The blood gushing from the head would be collected in a bowl and then ceremoniously thrown into the fire. Next, the body, which would still be alive at this point, would be lowered into the water to then travel through the portal to another time and place. The point of Willy yelling is this mild mannered story is that one of these such lucky honorees was discovered, preserved perfectly in a bog near where the priory was built. The scientist who studied the corpse could even tell the last things the man ate...a burnt oatcake being some of what they found. In comparison to this last place and story, the Aberlemno Stones were rather anticlimactic. The stones were tall standing stones with carvings on them depicting hunting scenes and Celtic patterns among other things. We then went to the Aberlemno Chapel that has a large stone similar to the ones we had just seen in it's cemetery. On our way back to Arbroath we drove by Melvin Castle, which is being refurbished into a residence by an art collector in London...pretty impressive. We also drove past a 5000 year old megalith stone. We got back to Hospitalfield in time to take a short nap before our dinner of haggis, mashed turnips, and mashed potatoes with a halved ports pear with a florentine biscuit whipping cream mixture on top drizzled with chocolate for dessert. When dinner was finished most of went up to the common-room for a bit, and then it was time to get ready for a Friday night at the pub.