History: Aviemore to Elgin

First on our Historic places to visit is the atmospheric Cawdor Castle: Thanks to William Shakespeare, Cawdor Castle has been linked to Macbeth, a real Scottish king who reigned successfully for 17 years, nearly 1000 years ago. Shakespeare wrote the final version of the "Tradegie of Macbeth" during the spring of 1606. His story of witches, prophesy, treason, execution and murder were topics that fascinated the then King of both Scotland and England, James the 6th and 1st. The opportunity of the Scottish connection was not lost on Shakespeare, who finished the script just in time for a special royal performance at Hampton Court. The builders of the current castle tower at Cawdor, which dates back 640 years, were equally interested in Scottish legends and insisted that the tower was built around a living holy tree. Of course, once enclosed the tree died but its trunk remains in the middle of the tower's vaulted basement. The holy tree was a pagan and Christian symbol of life and luck and that it provided an infallible defence against "Lightning, Fiends and Faries"!

Then it’s on to another iconic location, Brodie Castle; Brodie Castle is a magnificent turreted castle with a playful garden for children and over 400 varieties of daffodils. The castle dates from at least 1567, as indicated on a date stone at the top of the South West Tower however, other parts might be earlier. The Brodie Clan have had their ancestral home in the area since the 1100’s.