Springtime in Dunkeld - 5

Originally built by the 7th Duke of Atholl as a summer home for his wife, the Hilton Dunkeld House Hotel is a fabulous country house hotel. It is as elegant and comfortable as you would expect, with wood panelling, a stone fireplace and ornate furnishings.

Springtime in Dunkeld - 4

Further along the drive you come across this lovely 'Hallelujah! Chorus' in narcissi.

Springtime in Dunkeld - 3

Dunkeld Cathedral provides a wonderful oasis of peace and refreshment in this busy world.



The Lord my pasture shall prepare
and feed me with a shepherd's care;
his presence shall my wants supply
and guard me with a watchful eye;
my noonday walks he shall attend
and all my midnight hours defend.

When in the sultry glebe I faint
or on the thirsty mountain pant,
to fertile vales and dewy meads
my weary, wandering steps he leads,
where peaceful rivers, soft and slow,
amid the verdant landscape flow.

Though in a bare and rugged way,
through devious lonely wilds, I stray,
thy bounty shall my pains beguile;
the barren wilderness shall smile,
with sudden greens and herbage crowned,
and streams shall murmur all around.

Though in the paths of death I tread,
with gloomy horrors overspread,
my steadfast heart shall fear no ill,
for thou, O Lord, art with me still;
thy friendly crook shall give me aid
and guide me through the dreadful shade.

Joseph Addison, 1712

Springtime in Dunkeld - 2

As you move along the driveway, you soon get a view of Dunkeld Cathedral - partially hidden in the trees.

Springtime in Dunkeld - 1

I have just returned to Inverness after spending a marvellous week at one of my lodges in Dunkeld, on the banks of the River Tay.



Here is the drive way to the lodges - it is 1 mile long! In the distance you can see sheep grazing in the fields.

5th Sunday of Easter

Come, ye faithful, raise the strain of triumphant gladness;
God hath brought forth Israel into joy from sadness;
Loosed from Pharaoh’s bitter yoke Jacob’s sons and daughters,
Led them with unmoistened foot through the Red Sea waters.

’Tis the spring of souls today; Christ has burst His prison,
And from three days’ sleep in death as a sun hath risen;
All the winter of our sins, long and dark, is flying
From His light, to Whom we give laud and praise undying.

Now the queen of seasons, bright with the day of splendor,
With the royal feast of feasts, comes its joy to render;
Comes to glad Jerusalem, who with true affection
Welcomes in unwearied strains Jesus’ resurrection.

Neither might the gates of death, nor the tomb’s dark portal,
Nor the watchers, nor the seal hold Thee as a mortal;
But today amidst the twelve Thou didst stand, bestowing
That Thy peace which evermore passeth human knowing.

“Alleluia!” now we cry to our King immortal,
Who, triumphant, burst the bars of the tomb’s dark portal;
“Alleluia!” with the Son, God the Father praising,
“Alleluia!” yet again to the Spirit raising.

St John Damascene c. 750

Tomorrow, I shall start a new series of posts entitled 'Springtime in Dunkeld'.

Happy Sunday!

Springtime in Cromarty - 6

The town was looking really smart and clean in the late afternoon sunshine. The Black Isle attracts many visitors during Mary's month of May.

Bring flowers of the rarest,
Bring blossoms the fairest,
From garden and woodland and hillside and dale;
Our full hearts are swelling,
Our glad voices telling
The praise of the loveliest flower of the vale.

O Mary, we crown thee with blossoms today,
Queen of the Angels and Queen of the May,
O Mary, we crown thee with blossoms today,
Queen of the Angels and Queen of the May.

Their lady they name thee,
Their mistress proclaim thee,
Oh, grant that thy children on earth be as true
As long as the bowers
Are radiant with flowers
As long as the azure shall keep its bright hue.

O Mary, we crown thee with blossoms today,
Queen of the Angels and Queen of the May,
O Mary, we crown thee with blossoms today,
Queen of the Angels and Queen of the May.

Sing gladly in chorus,
The bright angels o'er us
Re-echo the strains we begin upon earth;
Their harps are repeating
The notes of our greeting,
For Mary herself is the cause of our mirth.

O Mary, we crown thee with blossoms today,
Queen of the Angels and Queen of the May,
O Mary, we crown thee with blossoms today,
Queen of the Angels and Queen of the May.

Anonymous

Happy May Day!