Fingask
Fingask Castle is a country house in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It is perched 200 feet above Rait, three miles north-east of Errol, in the Braes of the Carse, on the fringes of the Sidlaw Hills. Thus it overlooks both the Carse of Gowrie and the Firth of Tay and beyond into the Kingdom of Fife.
Fingask was once an explicitly holy place, a convenient and numinous stop-off between the abbeys at Falkirk and Scone. In the eighteenth century it was a nest of Jacobites. Today, though still riddled with shrines, it is best known for its garden and parties. Fingask is also home to the Fingask Follies, an annual musical event that takes place in late May and early June.
Gardens
The garden is renowned for its topiary, but also features The Pavilion, a picturesque venue for things such as colloquia and wedding parties. There are statues by David Anderson, sculptor, of Perth, of characters from Scots literature. Works depicted include Robert Burns’ or Alexander Thomson’s (1763-1803) Meg and Watty, Burns’ Willie Brew’d a Peck o’ Maut, And Rab and Allan cam’ tae Pree, Sir Walter Scott’s Last Minstrel/Ossian, and Burns’ Tam O’ Shanter and Kate. By other sculptors are also to be found the naked black figure of Doryphoros; a full length statue of William Pitt the Younger, and some small pieces by Charles Spence. Off the drive, in a sheltered glen, is the Well of St. Peter with the Linn-ma-Gray flowing beside it. On a stone above the well are the appropriate lines:
Drink, weary pilgrim, drink,And bless St. Peter’s well,
Unscathed by sun or scorching ray,
Or frost or thawing swell
The RTO has performed there several times. Click on the dates below and have a look.
>>> 2008
>>> 2009
>>> 2010