Earl's Palace, Kirkwall

I paid my 9d for my guide to the Earl’s Palace.  It is hailed by Angus McRobert as "the finest example of French Renaissance architecture in Scotland".

In the late 16th and early 17th centuries, Orkney was under the rule of the Stewart family, first Earl Robert - an illegitimate son of King James V of Scotland - and then his son, Patrick.  History treats both men as despots and extraordinarily vicious extortioners.  (Not mentioned in their CVs).

They are alleged to have forced the Orcadians under their rule to work without pay and jailing, or torturing, those who would not comply with their wishes. The Stewarts' men controlled Orkney's council and courts and were therefore held to be above the law.  The construction of the Earl's Palace began in 1600, although it still awaits a joiner to finish an ornate wooden cornice, instigated by Patrick Stewart, a few years after his accession to the earldom.  Using forced labour to quarry and ship in the stone for the grandiose scheme - not dissimilar to the RBS HQ in Gogarburn.   

The Earl's Palace remains a two-storey building today. Consisting of two rectangular sections placed at right-angles to each other, forming an "L" shape, the ground floor contains massive cellars, a large kitchen and a well.

In other news, I have finally sorted my slow puncture; CMC says I need to sort the one in the car now.  We are awaiting the visit of nieces who return south to Glasgow Uni and a teaching post in Aberdeen. 

The wimmin folk have laid plans for Hogmanay.  The men are yet to be informed.

Katie Boyle is 90.