The blood is the life!

Here, up north, we were today blessed with another exceptionally fine day. Just the day for a stroll along the cliff tops to New Slains Castle, just north of Port Erroll.

There are in fact two Slains Castles on this stretch of coast. The original, Old Slains, six miles further south, was built in the 1200s. Back in 1594 the owner, the Earl of Erroll, unwisely backed a plot by the Earl of Huntly against King James VI. When the plot collapsed, the Earl was forced into exile and James retaliated by blowing up Old Slains Castle, leaving just a wall of the old tower.

The Earl of Erroll eventually made his peace with King James and returned from exile in 1597. Rather than rebuilding Old Slains, he acquired the old cliff-top tower house of Bowness which he extended to form the beginnings of New Slains Castle.

Over the centuries the Castle was enlarged with the final and major changes taking place in 1836 when it was converted into a typical Victorian pile. You can see a photograph of the castle in its final form in 1900. In 1916 death duties forced the 20th Earl of Erroll to sell the Castle, which soon fell into disrepair, and in 1925 its roof was removed, leaving the rather unsettling ruins that we see today.

In the modern world the Castle's main claim to fame is the fact that Bram Stoker, whilst on holiday in nearby Cruden Bay, used it as inspiration whilst writing his 1897 novel, Dracula.

In case anyone is wondering, the blip title is a quote from Dracula:

Before he could strike again, however, I got in my right hand and he was sprawling on his back on the floor. My wrist bled freely, and quite a little pool trickled on to the carpet. I saw that my friend was not intent on further effort, and occupied myself binding up my wrist, keeping a wary eye on the prostrate figure all the time. When the attendants rushed in, and we turned our attention to him, his employment positively sickened me. He was lying on his belly on the floor licking up, like a dog, the blood which had fallen from my wounded wrist. He was easily secured, and to my surprise, went with the attendants quite placidly, simply repeating over and over again, "The blood is the life! The blood is the life!"