Tuesday 24 April 2012

A Jail, An Abbey and Meringue!

I've been neglecting my blog these past few weeks, lots has been going on and I haven't had a lot of spare time to devote to writing.  But I thought I'd write up a visit I recently made this weekend to Jedburgh in the Scottish Borders.

Jedburgh Jail
I met up with my friend Alison in Hawick - I'd taken the bus there because with the sky high price of petrol now it was cheaper than taking my car.  We went for lunch in The Bourtree, a Wetherspoons pub in the centre of Hawick.  It was a rather grand building, that had a sweeping wooden staircase that led to the loos!  Apparently it used to the a Conservative club, and the name Bourtree comes from ancient elder trees that used to stand where the present day building now is.

After a nice lunch we drove the 10 or so miles to Jedburgh.  I'd never been there before and thought it a lovely town dominated by the old castle-like jail on top of a hill at the head of the town's main street.  We first visited the jail which was on a prominent site where there was originally a castle built in the 12th century by King David I.  Being only ten miles from the border with England the castle was constantly fought over and by the 1400's had fallen into disrepair.

In 1823 the remains of the castle were removed and a Howard Reform prison was built on the site.  At the time it was the most modern and forward-thinking form of incarceration.  It has the look of a well preserved castle with turrets and walls and a portcullis-like entrance through the outer wall.  Entry was free (donations welcome) and what we noticed first was how bitterly cold it was inside - colder than outside!  That was really odd, maybe the stories of it being haunted are true.  We saw a display of the history of the building, the bleak cells with huge iron doors, examples of crimes - a 9 year old boy imprisoned for stealing potatoes was an example I remember.  Examples of the prison clothing was exhibited and the prison diet consisted of porridge, milk and potatoes.  It was a reformist jail but it still seemed pretty harsh.
Jedburgh Abbey

It was a relief to get outside again and warm up a bit!  We went to look at Jedburgh Abbey nearby.  It was a large building quite well preserved.  We didn't actually go into it as you had to pay but wandered around the perimeter.  Jedburgh is a small town of 4000 inhabitants today, but was clearly was an important religious seat in past times.

Mary, Queen of Scots House
We walked down Castle Gate and noticed a very old house called Mary, Queen of Scots House so we went to investigate.  It was another donation only museum so we went in to look around. It is rumoured Mary stayed at this house, owned by the Kerr family, while recovering from illness in 1566.  It is has four storeys which you reached via a stone spiral staircase and is full of memorabilia of Mary and this era. Once she returned from exile in France to Scotland, and later England, she seemed to have led an almost nomadic existence staying at various castles and grand mansions along the way.

The walls are wood panelled, the floors stone flags.  In one room there are panels painted with the images of people who played a role in Mary's eventful life.  A family tree shows all the royal inter-connections between those vying for the throne of England at the time. There is also a death mask of Mary taken after her execution in at Fotheringhay Castle1587 in the museum which shows her to have been a very beautiful woman.

Finally Alison and I went to a meringue shop, my idea of heaven LOL!  Border Meringues supplies meringues to shops etc in the region, and it's very ordinary exterior hides a lovely cafe with meringue and cake delights to please everyone.  Delicious and well deserved after our historical traipsing around Jedburgh.  It's a small, but historically interesting town and well worth a visit.

Wednesday 18 April 2012

A Dog Called Hope by Bono

Photo taken from BuzzFeed website
Bono left this poem in his hotel room in Jerusalem after his recent visit to Israel. For those who can't read the writing here is a transcription. Amichai was an Israeli poet.


"In Jerusalem, hope springs eternal. Hope is like a faithful dog, sometimes she runs ahead of me to check the future, to sniff it out and then I call to her: Hope, Hope, come here, and she comes to me. I pet her, she eats out of my hand and sometimes she stays behind, near some other hope maybe to sniff out whatever was. Then I call her my Despair. I call out to her. Here, my little Despair, come here and she comes and snuggles up, and again I call her Hope."


He signed, "With great thanks for great room in great hotel in great city, Bono.  
reading Amichai ___" (can't make out the last word)  
Beautiful words, scary drawing (love the shades though)!




Friday 13 April 2012

Bono in Israel

(Photo by Bauer Griffin)

There have been recent reports of Bono being in Israel.  Here are some pictures taken at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem - the hair is looking better I am pleased to say LOL!  So much for U2 being busy recording, but then maybe it's just an Easter break while the kids are off school.  Let's hope so, it's about time U2 got serious about making new music.

More photos can be found here .

Monday 2 April 2012

Bono Introduces Dierks Bentley at the 2012 Academy of Country Music Awards

Here's a video of Bono introducing Dierks Bentley at the 2012 Academy Country Music Awards on April 1st.  I have to admit I've never heard of this guy, but then again I can't stand country music so never listen to it.  Good to hear Bono is in Dublin, so maybe the rumours that the band is working on a new album there (at last!) are true....  Don't know what's happened to Bono's hair though, is he trying to cultivate a quiff??  My advice, (which I'm sure he wants LOL) get it cut!