Autumn in the Hedges of our Heart

Glendalough Forest in October

I've been lucky enough to ramble the Celtic lands of Ireland, England, & Wales during this ephemeral season of Autumn. To taste the blackberries on the brambles, to stir up golden leaves. They are beautiful, enchanting places in each season but they have a atmosphere to them in the Fall, with the hedgerows adorned with myriad berries and the valleys swallowed in mists.

It is not wonder that so many of our Halloween traditions are rooted in these lands. More on Samhain traditions in the following week but today I share some of the fruits of fall that I've encountered on my travels, some of the shimmering leaves, the golden light and the mythic shadows.

Giant Rosehips found in Cornwall, England - The biggest I've ever seen! Rosehips are edible & medicinal & kind of otherworldly here. 

Rosehips - What is left after a rose blooms. 

Rowan Berries - just everywhere across the countryside

Rowan Berries

Hawthorn Berries

View of Glendalough (Valley of the Two Lakes) from a long hike uphill. 

Dublin Cobbles and Gilt Leaves

Path to Tintern Abbey, County Wexford, Ireland

A gold leaf strewn path at Glenariff Forest Park, Antrim, Ireland. The Waterfall Hike. 

A Glowing Orange Footpath through Tollymore Forest Park, County Down, Ireland

Also hop over to Into the Hermitage to read of an artist's daily life during Autumn in England - full of old traditions - including elderberry and rosehip syrups. Rima Staines makes the most mysteriously beautiful art forever situated in the hedgerows of Autumn. Here shop is HERE .

Anatomy of a Castle: Magic, Myth & Legends

Ivy clad ruins of Ballycarbery Castle, Kerry, Ireland

Many of us have learned most of our knowledge of castles from childhood stories, from books, television and films. Or, at least, that is where we begin. From these interpretations, castles are infused with stories, with legends of King Arthur, visits from Merlin, with legends of ghosts and banshees, with the sadness of unrequited love, the joy of amorous reunions, even the mischief of fairies in the nearby woods. I see a castle turret and wonder who pondered the horizon from that window. I walk into a great hall and wonder who supped at the table. What kings plotted dominion from private chambers, what knights plotted treason from their seat below the lord. What lovers met secretly in dark corridors. All of these inklings woven with the true history and glorious architecture of castles form a truly magical tapestry. For this, I never tire of visiting these strongholds, these homes, these works of arts, these magical realms. I hope you've enjoyed the journey as well.  Here are some (well many!) of my favorite photos through which I hope you can grasp some of the magic.

Cahir Castle, Ireland 

Tower House of Aughnanure Castle, County Galway, Ireland

Courtyard of Craigmillar Castle, Scotland

Chepstow Castle, Wales

Cliffside ruins of Dunluce Castle, County Antrim, Ireland

Edinburgh Castle, Scotland

The remote ruins of Auchindoun Castle Scotland

Hilltop ruins of Carreg Cennen Castle, Wales

View from Kidwelly Castle, Wales

Stirling Castle, Scotland

Anatomy of a Castle: The Castle Keep

Keep in the center of Blackness Castle, Scotland

Within the castle walls you will find the Castle Keep. The Keep is a heavily fortified central tower serving as the last defense of the castle. This might also be called a donjon, especially academically, though donjon is not to be confused with dungeon, they are different things altogether. If the enemies have breached the castle walls and gotten past the gatehouse to the inner bailey - everyone would be in the castle keep, and they would try as they may to defend it. It was the last stronghold. 

The Keep at Trim Castle, Ireland

View of Castle Keep at Chepstow Castle, Wales

Strategically situated on a Cliffside on the River Wye

Keep & Great Hall at Caerphilly Castle, Wales

Depending on the date of the castle, some keeps were central towers, giants rising from within the inner bailey. Later, some were built so that one side of the keep was part of the castle walls. Most often, the Great Hall would be found near the bottom of the keep and the living quarters at the top. 

Keep of Carrickfergus Castle, Ireland

Keep of Ross Castle, Ireland

Round Keep of Pembroke Castle, Wales

Interior (looking up) of Round Keep at Pemrboke

Though in its day, there would have been several floors to this tower 

and a staircase to reach them all. Now it is home to a million pigeons and doves

whose cooing was amplified magnificently. 

Anatomy of a Castle: The Gatehouse

Gatehouse at Kidwelly Castle, Wales

Cross the drawbridge and you'll likely find yourself staring up at the gatehouse, the front door of the castle and arguably the strongest part of the castle.  Flanked, usually, by two enormous towers, peppered with arrow loops, and a slew of armed guards. The gatehouse might sometimes be referred to as a barbican, which is defined as a defensive tower, usually a double tower, of a castle or walled city, often above a gate or drawbridge.

Bridge over moat and Grand Gatehouse of Caerphilly Castle, Wales

Gatehouse of Carrickfergus Castle, Northern Ireland

Gatehouse at Pembroke Castle, Wales

Barbican & Gatehouse at Harlech Castle, Wales

Gatehouse at Caernarfon Castle, Wales

The tunnel through the gate is often extremely thick, supporting several doors or gates, usually including a portcullis. A portcullis is a heavy gate or grill, usually made of metal, which could be raised and lowered with pulleys inside the gatehouse. If lowered at the right time, the portcullis could be a weapon in its own right, impaling or crushing enemies. Two doors lowered in concert could also trap enemies. From within the gatehouse, soldiers could shoot arrows through arrow loops as well as make use of the murder hole. A murder hole is a gap, situated inside the doorway, above where people enter, through which boiling water, hot oil, and rocks might have been heaved upon unsuspecting enemies.

Gate and Portcullis at Cahir Castle, Ireland

Ruined Gate at Rock of Dunamase, Ireland

Anatomy of a Castle: Moat & Drawbridge

Most people have heard of moats & drawbridges and they make a castle quite iconic as well as very well defended. A moat is a steep, defensive trench or ditch, sometimes dry or filled with water. A drawbridge is a bridge that can be raised or lowered over the moat. The moats could also be stocked with fish for the residents to eat.  Visiting castles with moats is quite a treat. Visually they are stunning, grand fortified islands reflecting in the water.

Moat surrounding the impressive Caerphilly Castle in Wales, the largest castle in Wales and second only to Windsor Castle in the UK

Caerlaverock Castle, Scotland

A wooden bridge spans across the moat where a drawbridge once would have been.

Moat & Bridge around Caerlaverock Castle, Scotland

Bridge over moat, Raglan Castle, Wales

Moat at Raglan Castle, Wales, full of lily pads

Anatomy of a Castle: Battlements

Tower along the walls of Cahir Castle, Ireland

There are many defensive elements to a castle wall and many different terms associated with them. The walls themselves might be called battlements - a parapet on the top of a wall with spaced openings for shooting through. A parapet is simply a protective wall on the top of a roof. These opening in the wall are called crenellations as a whole. If you've seen a child draw a castle, they almost always include crenellations, the iconic notched parts on the top of castles. These crenellations also have parts: crenels (or embrasures) are the opening through which archers shoot, merlons are the raised parts which give the archer cover, and machicolations. Machicolations are a part of the wall that juts out with openings on the floor of the walkway through which an archer could also take aim, or defenders could drop things on the enemy below like stones, boiling water, hot oil, and sometimes dead and diseased animals. Also along the walls there is likely to be towers, also called turrets. These were usually round with arrow loops for better vantage points and defense. As I'm sure those laying siege to a castle also felt, it's taking us forever to get inside these walls!  

This is a battlement atop a wall made up of

1. crenel  2. merlon  3. machicolation

Raglan Castle, Wales

Example of corbelled Machicolations

Here you can see the sky through the openings of the machicolations, how they jut out from the towers and how the defenders could use them to drop stones or hot oil on those trying to break into the gate below. Raglan Castle, Wales

Example of an Arrow Loop through which Archers could shoot while being protected.

Outer Walls and Towers of Chepstow Castle where arrow loops can be seen.