Scotland 2025: Scone Castle, Perth Art Trail, Trip Postmortem

Our last full day in Scotland was spent in Scone and Perth before heading back to Edinburgh to prepare for our flight home.

Located near the village of Scone and the city of Perth, Scone Palace is an iconic site that was once the location where Scottish Kings were crowned in a ceremony that started in a grand Abbey and concluded at a smaller chapel. The Abbey was mostly destroyed during the Scottish Reformation in 1559 but the chapel remains and is of great historic significance. The current red sandstone Gothic Revival Palace dates mainly from the early 19th century, incorporated with older buildings from the late 16th century. This is the ancestral seat of the Earls of Mansfield. While the scone pastry is widely considered to have originated in Scotland in the early 1500s, there is no connection to the village of Scone or Scone Palace. We also found out from a guide that we were mispronouncing both the pastry (rhymes with “gone”, not “zone”) and the village (rhymes with “spoon”). To us, she said what sounded like “No, the skon was not created at Scoon”.

Scone Palace does not allow photos of the interiors because it is still an active private residence of the Murrays, Earls of Mansfield who have lived here for nearly 400 years. We were able to capture a few photos from the internet as memories.  We viewed the lavishly decorated state rooms and royal galleries to see the ornate furniture and the collection of antiques and artworks owned by the Murray family.  The Long Gallery displayed family portraits and taxidermy on the walls as well as Chinoiserie cabinets. The State bedrooms included beds once slept in by Mary Queen of Scots and King James VI.

One of the main reasons Rich wanted to visit this palace was so that he could say he ate a “skon in Skoon”, so we made sure we allocated time for this.  We ordered one Scottish cheddar savoury scone and one fruit scone which came with jam and clotted cream. For a change, instead of the usual pot of tea, we shared a latte. We also spotted some unique flavours of chips and decided to buy some to have as a snack in the evening. While they each had a distinct flavour, by the third bag they all started to taste the same and I don’t think we could have indicated the flavours on a blind taste test. But it was fun trying them anyways.

After touring the inside of the castle, we explored a bit of the extensive estate which consists of 100 acres of woodlands, gardens and a Victorian Pinetum. Scone Palace is known for its peacocks, both live and sculptural.  Right outside of the cafeteria entrance are a pair of beautifully constructed metal peacock sculptures with exquisitely detailed plumage. As we walked around the grounds, we saw several of the more common Indian peacocks strutting around the property with their bright teal necks and colourful tails decorated with the iconic circles that resemble eyes. Even more thrilling was when we spotted an elegant white peacock which is a much rarer experience for us. Finally, we came across a whimsical sculpture that was a cow/peacock hybrid. It was sponsored by Scone Palace as part of “The Hairy Highland Coo Trail”, a free public event that ran through the areas surrounding Perth in 2024. Created by artist Rio Moore, the sculpture was titled “PeaCOOck” and consisted of a cute Highland “Coo” painted in the colours and ornamentation of an Indian peacock. Moore said he was inspired by “Patrick the Peacock”, one of the resident peacocks roaming the grounds.

Next, we wandered over to a small 17th-century Presbyterian chapel on Moot Hill, which now commemorates the spot where kings were crowned while sitting on the “Stone of Scone” or “Stone of Destiny”. The stone resided in this location until 1296 when King Edward I took it to Westminster Abbey.  The real stone now resides in the Perth Museum but a replica sits in front of the Moot Hill Chapel where tourists can sit on it for photos. In front of the stone are plaques naming famous Scottish Kings who were crowned here, including Macbeth, Robert the Bruce, King James I, King James IV, and King Charles II. Inside the chapel is an ornate Italian alabaster monument to David Murray, 1st Viscount Stormont. Near the chapel is a sword in a stone, harking to the myths of King Arthur, probably added as a tourist attraction.  Two sculptures of deer made of wicker stand off to one side but look rather realistic from afar.

Continuing on through the place grounds, we passed through a stone archway, with the Murray coat of arms at the top, that is part of the surviving ruins of an old defensive wall. We found a gun loop or in the wall that was used for firing weapons or for surveillance. Further on is the Old Scone Mercat Cross, a late medieval relic that was the site of an ancient marketplace. We walked through the palace pinetum, which is a collection of coniferous trees including hemlocks, firs and sequoias. The highlight was a giant Douglas Fir that is extremely old and large. It was raised from seeds brought back from North America in 1826 by botanist David Douglas.

There is also a historic village graveyard on the grounds containing weathered headstones and old graves, as well as the remnants from the Old Scone Church and Abbey.  A small crenulated tower attached to the cemetery wall remains fairly intact.  Further off is the Minister’s tomb, honouring Presbyterian ministers who faced persecution during the 16th century Reformation, but we did not get far enough to see that.

Instead, we decided to try our hand at the unique star-shaped maze created from 2000 tall beech trees designed in the shape of the heraldic five-pointed Murray Star from the family’s crest. Opened in 1991, the maze spans 215 feet across with 2625 feet of paths leading to a central pentagon-shaped fountain with a bronze sculpture of the water nymph Arethusa. Stairs lead to an aerial view of the maze pattern. We thought that one of us could stand on the platform and guide the other to the prize at the centre. Unfortunately, the stairs were blocked off so we had to navigate the maze on our own (which we are notoriously bad at!).  We went around and around for what felt like forever, getting close enough to the centre to see the nymph through the bushes but never finding the path to access her.  Even worse, we could not find the path to get out and were trapped in this maze! Finally, we stumbled across the exit and were so grateful that we hurried out. This took so much longer than expected that we did not have enough time to explore more of the grounds as we needed to head to Perth to go on a sculpture trail walk.

The River Tay Public Art Trail runs about 4km along both sides of the River Tay and into a few riverside streets in the city of Perth. The trail features over 20 sculptures and installations that reflect the city’s history and heritage. Unfortunately, we did not have enough time to find them all and we missed some good ones, but we still saw many lovely works. One of the most spectacular pieces is titled “Millais Viewpoint” (1999) by Tim Shutter, evoking similar views painted by artist John Everett Millais. It consists of sandstone seat in front of a partial picture frame that highlights the stunning vista of the hills and Kinnoull Kirkyard across the River Tay. Nestled within shrubs and colourful foliage is “Foxtrot Ridge” (1992) by David Annand where a life-sized fox seems to be in mid stride as it looks back at the sound of a noise that has caught its attention. Deschampsia Flexuosa (1992) by Phil Johnson is a set of three metal litter bins shaped like triple-pointed Celtic-inspired flowers to blend in with the natural surroundings. Giant Thistle (2007) by David Wilson is a stainless steel and copper representation of the national emblem of Scotland.

In addition to the sculptures, there were many beautifully landscaped gardens to see including Rodney Gardens, which contains formal flower beds, a circular lawn, topiary, heather displays and a small pond. Norie Miller Park is a larger space with trees, shrubs and open lawns providing backdrops to the artworks. Bellwood Riverside Park offers grassy areas and informal plantings along the River Tay.

While exploring the art trail on the east side of the River Tay, we came across the Kinnoull Kirkyard, a historic burial grounds connected to the old Kinnoull parish church called the Kinnoull Aisle, the 17th century burial chapel built for the Hay family, Earls of Kinnoull.  Inside the Kinnoull Aisle is an elaborate monument to Sir George Hay, 1st Earl of Kinnoull and Chancellor of Scotland.  It is cited as one of Scotland’s earliest major funerary monuments.  The Earl is depicted standing full-length in his Chancellor robes within a classical Corinthian portico with elegantly carved columns and a decorated pediment.  At his side is a table bearing the Great Seal of Scotland while the heraldic panel of the Hay/Kinnoull arms sits above, supported by fruit, shields, unicorns and spears.

Notable graves in the kirkyard include ones for Effie Gray, wife of artist Sir John Everett Millais, who inspired the Millais View sculpture that we saw earlier, as well as photographer W.H.Findlay, theologian John Hunt, and James Fairholme, a Royal Navy officer lost in the Franklin expedition. There are many intricately carved tombs where the images are still quite visible. The grave of Mary Duff (?-1782) commemorates her as being the wife of a ferry boatman with a distinctive tomb featuring a carving of a boatman rowing in the water with an angel flying above.

Returning back to the art trail, we approached the river and saw some beautiful views of Perth on the other side including the tall spire of St.John’s Kirk, as well as the many bridges spanning the River Tay. More sculptures were found on this part of the trail.  The Dance Within (1998) by Paul Eugene Riley looks like a totem pole of ovoid geometric shapes. Right by the water is a large installation called Benchmark (1998) by John Creed consisting of a central form of twisted steel flanked by two wooden benches that is meant to convey a sense of permanence and stability. Further away are a series spiraling metal shapes, each with a flat platform that might also be used as a seat. These are meant to represent the movement and force of the river. Sundial II (1970) by David Lovejoy is built on a solid concrete base marked with roman numerals. An upward metal bar that acts as the gnomon (the part of the sundial that casts a shadow to tell the time). 

Carved on a defensive flood wall on Tay Street between Perth Bridge and Queen’s Bridge are a series of whimsical Wall Sculptures (1998) by Gillian Forbes including one called “Cream of the Well” that looks like a waterfall, and another titled “Ecce Tiber” (translated as Behold, the Tiber River) but it is unclear what the sculpture depicts—possibly a river spirit?  Also on this wall are plaques depicting cities that twin with Perth, UK including one from Perth, Ontario!

TRIP POSTMORTEM

We spent 22 days in Scotland, not including the two travel days on either end. This was a long, tiring, but fun trip where we had so many different experiences. At a final tally, we visited: 

• 9 Castles (2 only outside on the grounds), 
• 9 Museums or Art Galleries 
• 8 Cemeteries (including a few unplanned ones that we stumbled across), 
• 6 Churches, 
• 9 Historic sites, went on 
• 9 Nature hikes along cliffs and through forests, and toured 8 gardens (some with sculptures). 

On top of all that, we watched 8 live theatre shows at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and toured 4 architectural masterpieces by iconic designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

We were extremely lucky in that it only rained significantly twice on our entire vacation, although both times occurred when we were roaming through kirkyards. It felt like the heavens were mourning the dead! We tried throughout the trip to walk and climb stairs on the left side like the locals but found that we were so often surrounded by tourists who walked towards us on the right that it defeated the purpose. 

Although it was not Rich’s first time driving on the other side of the road, it had been a few years and driving in Scotland had its own quirks. Every time Rich made a right-hand turn, I reminded him to “turn wide” while on a left-hand turn, I said “turn narrow”. After nudging the curb the first couple of times, the drive was mostly uneventful. We did find that there were so many “roundabouts” even when we were going straight for long distances. We found that the GPS in our rental car repeatedly brought us “near” our desired destination but not right to it.  We often had to use Google Maps on our cell phones to find the exact locations.  Thank goodness we each bought huge data plans. Many of the streets we drove down only fit one car in one direction. We soon learned the protocol which is to duck into one of the numerous pull-offs as soon as you see an oncoming vehicle to let them by before proceeding.  In a few cases, both cars pulled in and we were at a standoff. There were also so many traffic circles that it seemed like we entered them the equivalent of every few blocks, even when we were merely trying to go straight for a long distance. And we found that the traffic lights turned red, then yellow, then green unlike in North America where they go from green to yellow to red.

In retrospect, we needed to add a few more rest days to the trip and if possible, not change accommodations so often which was very tiring. But we enjoyed all the different types of activities that we took park in and liked that our trip was a bit different that most others who visit Scotland. As always, we like to wander off the beaten path and march to our own drummer.