Dundurn Castle

Dundurn Castle became my next stomping grounds, so to speak. I tromped about and took some pictures...it was all very Dark Shadowsy. Tour tickets seemed to be very pricey, though perhaps it was when I was there or I read the wrong thing, since the weblink doesn't seem quite so much as I remembered. But at the moment I was content to walk about and snoop out interesting angles. Only later did I piece together things...like it apparently offered not just a plain vanilla tour, but a 'period piece' kind of tour, with actors portraying the staff, etc. as it would have had in its heyday. Here's an info link:

http://www.myhamilton.ca/myhamilton/CityandGovernment/CultureandRecreation/Arts_Culture_And_Museums/HamiltonCivicMuseums/Dundurn/Dundurn_Castle.htm

Apparently, as most old places properly sport, Dundurn has its share of ghosties and ghoulies, too. Of course, it is across the street from a cemetery. Those folks gotta have some place to party, after all.

http://www.hauntedhamilton.com/local_dundurn.html

Further on and behind the

main buildings, I found a little building.

Not sure if it was a sort of lighthouse

or boathouse or swimming

house or summer spot,

but it was mostly boarded up

and had a path to its side leading

down towards the water.

But it was too far from the

present shore to help me

make up my mind about

its original purpose. Garden house?

It was cute, anyway. Continuing west, there were

areas of wild along the edge,

and a nice kitchen garden nearby.

I saw some people touring that,

so I figured that was part of the

pay tour and stayed out of there.

I'm sure it was very nice,

from what I could see.

Anyway I hung out with the trees. Some trees were wild and untamed,

and some were quite stolid sorts.

This "v" framed the Castle nicely.

Main Castle buildings from behind

the little white building and assorted flora.

It was pretty overcast and still chilly,

but the buildings were certainly

surprisingly colorful in contrast.

Must be knock-outs on a sunny

blue-skied day. Look at

the designs on the tiled roofs.

It was close enough to see the inlet

from the lake behind the overgrowth

in the back of the park grounds.

Complete with maple leaves and

little red tuft flower accents, lol.

I walked back to the main

building and observed the door.

I think you went in there to start the tour.

I just spent a few minutes trying to

get a decent angle to take a picture

while preserving the feel of the area.

And wondering how anyone

could dust up there...

That'd be my luck to get the

job painting the columns.

An admirable place to hang a hat,

but obviously a neoclassic neckpain

to the caretakers, heheh.

Wonder if JF ever had a stint

there as a tour actor...of course

I don't know how long they've

been doing that, either.

I wandered back into the gift shop to look some more, but it was suddenly overrun with school kids. Guess someone was having a field trip. Wasn't hungry enough to try the restaurant, but did wait a while in getting a chance at the facilities...flipped through a book on tartans as I waited. One of these days I'll have to research the family stuff. In theory our Watsons came from a clan of Watts in Scotland, but I've yet to stumble on anything specific about that. Much later there was a Parliamentary-type fellow, a Lord Watson (inscribed somewhere in Parliament) who hooked up with an Irish lady from the house of House, and perhaps due to all the potato blight and the like, took off together to Georgia and founded a massive plantation. Which didn't do too well after General Sherman paid a visit (Robert E. Lee being a greatgreatgreatsomething godfather), and the family split up and headed mostly west and downhill from there, LOL. Oh well. Only family "name" I know on the Watson side is that Jesse James was a cousin (I came close to being named Jesse). Mom's side brings Grover Cleveland and Henry Clay. Of course everyone generations from now will point to that maverick Sherlock in the bloodline....one of my sisters has kids. There should be a few more drops of genetic material to stretch out a while, snicker. Anyway I never can find the correct tartan. I have a coat-of-arms design around somewhere, though...