A wee bit of history

Some pics taken when we were last up north...Due to AOL's new slideshow presentation then you need to click on a pic whilst it is on view to see caption...Am not going to change this entry as i do think the slideshow works well on these pics

Cullen has a very long history...It was first established in around 1189 but not in it's present location...Originally Cullen was built around the old Kirk which is a wee bit inland...In the 1800's the then Earl of Seafield demolished the village and rebuilt it in it's current location...This was to make way for improvments to Cullen house...The seatown was already there and was built to the fisher folk could be near the harbour...So the part that was rebuilt was built up on the hill and is a planned village...The seatown is ramshackle and not planned at all...there's all kinds of wee lanes and nooks and crannies there...The methodist church sits right in the middle of the seatown...Like many villages in the area the houses in the seatown are painted white with the cement between the bricks highlighted in a different colour or sometimes painted with the cement highlighted white or black...To the left hand side of the 'straight brae' is the castlehill and there is remains of an old fort there...Not very large now but big when it existed and was in use and Robert the Bruces 2nd wife died either there or the castle of cullen house...The parish kirk itself was established by Robert the Bruce and his heart is reputed to be buried in it...The kirk survived the reformation by the then Earl of Findlater (Seafield) using it as a stable for his horses...It is one of the oldest pre-reformation churchs in scotland still intact and in use today as a church...It's the church my mum and older sister go to...We all went there when growing up, went to sunday school and am the only one of my siblings who didn't get married in it...I really need to get some photos of it because it is quite amazing for a small church with many quirks, a huge stained glass window and a very interesting graveyard

Cullen house was established when the Earls of Findlater & Seafield moved away from Findlater Castle...It's around 2½ along the coast eastwards from Cullen...It's now very much an old ruin perched on the rather scary looking cliffside...In it's heydey it must have been a rather imposing massive castle detering invaders...So the earls moved to cullen house in the 1500's...It was enlarged a lot over the years and is a massive building...When Bonnie Prince Charlie was enroute from Aberdeen to Culloden he passed through cullen and ransacked Cullen house...Across the burn of deskford which runs to the sea at the back/front of the house there is a wee shaky bridge that everyone local calls charlies brig...Cullen house was sold in in 1983 and is now large apartments and townhouses...As with many notable families within the aristocracy death duties hit the family big time when the Countess of Seafield died in 1969...The furniture etc from Cullen house was sold off at a big auction in the late 1970's...The current earl and his wife live in the old dowager house or white house as locals call it...It's also beside the old kirk...As i think i have said before the current earls eldest son went to my primary school for a very short time before he went to some private prep school...I do have fond memories of going down to the white house on my bike to play with him and for tea...And the christmas and birthday parties he had for the whole class...Hmmm not too sure if he ever did get married LOL

The Earls of Findlater & Seafield are steeped in history...They came from Glamis originally...The first Earl of Seafield (when Findlater was dropped) signed the Act of Union as he was Chancellor of Scotland at the time...Another of the Ogilvie-Grants moved to america and a descedant of his was Ulysses S Grant...The Earls of Seafield own a fair bit of land not just around Cullen but also in Strathspey...I used to live eight across from seafield estate offices LOL

Anyways back to my pics...The Three Kings Rocks on the east side of the beach there are two stories behind the name...Some reckon they're named after the 3 wise men in the bible...But the locals story is that underneath each of the rocks is buried a viking king...Now that could be likely as there was a big battle on the Bauds which is the area inland between Cullen, Portknockie and Findochty (finechtie)...The vikings landed in cullen bay and marched up there and battled with King Indulf of Scotland...Whatever reason behind the naming 2 of the rocks are on the beach and the other is up off the beach beside the golf club...Now the golf course itself is rather quirky for want of a better word...It's a links course are as many in scotland but the outward 9 holes are on the cliff top and the inner 9 down below...But you don't start on the cliff top oh no that be too easy...The first tee is downbelow and you have to hit your ball up there LOL...The beach itself though lovely isn't used for swimming by the locals...We go swimming in the harbour...There are some quite serious rip tides on the actual beach...Cullen bay itself is encircled by Logie head on the Cullen side and Scarnose on Portknockie side...Not just the Scarnose that juts out there but also the Bow Fiddle rock...Now that i must get a pic of to post as it's rather impressive and looks like a bow for a fiddle hence the name...You can go dolphin watching in the bay when the moray firth dolphin pod is down that way...Water skiing and canoeing are also popular in the bay...And of course when growing up all the kids go down to the harbour to jump off the pier...The wee lighthouse on the end of the pier i have never known to be in use so it fell into disuse a long long time ago...Cullen harbour used to be really busy in the 1800s with fishing boats...I have some old pics of it full of Zulus and they look so amazing

The viaducts are very immpresive...There is 4 arches to the viaducts...One on the main street, one on the straight brae and another to the west of the straight brae that is just a path to walk under...Then there is the long stretch at the far end of the seatown...They're now part of the national cycle path of Scotland...I think there was some talk of knocking part of them down when the railway was done away with but that would be a travesty IMO...Along the top of the one on the main street at christmas time there is a railway engine with santa driving it as part of the christmas lights...And in the square up in the gardens beside the war memorial they have an old fishing boat as part of the lights...Not real ones just made from lights...The Mercat cross was originally down by the Kirk and was taken down brick by brick and rebuilt in the square with the new village at the time...It's not that long ago that the bus stop was moved from outside the famous ice cream shop to in front of the Mercat cross...The ice cream shop is listed in undiscovered scotland as the best ice cream shop in scotland :o) And hey it is to die for, it's first place we stop at when we go up to visit my mum and of course we buy her one too

And that's just a wee bit of history behind where am from originally...I may not live there now but my family do and am proud to come from a small place that has so much history attached to it...Oh Cullen is also a Royal Burgh and was given it's charter as such back in the 1450...In the 1975 under the local government act (1973) the burgh was abolished but in the 90s all the old Royal Burghs were allowed to call themselves one again