I had dreamed of this visit for decades. Ever since my Great-Aunt Edna showed me the crude, scanned drawing of our ancestors "believed-to-be" home in Scotland, I just had to see it for myself. And here I was, driving toward the GPS coordinates thru the beautiful Scottish countryside.
I knew we were getting close when suddenly - there it was - ruins in the middle of a small valley, surrounded by gorgeous yellow fields of unknown crops. (I’ve since learned those yellow fields are rapeseed in bloom, from which Scottish rapeseed oil is pressed).
My wife Patty, brother Charles and his wife Shannon started shooting frames with their cell phone cameras as my heartrate began to increase.
I stopped on the barely one-land road to give them a better chance to capture the sight. My mind raced to the thought of the entry gate, which in my online views from home was always closed. In a moment we were there, and the gate was open!
I didn’t hesitate, and immediately turned into the lane and drove up to the ruins like I owned the place. I parked along the road just past the ruins and we exited the car. All four of us started snapping away when a voice called out from near the old house near the ruins – “This is private property!”
As I stammered to speak, sister-in-law Shannon or maybe her husband Charles said “He’s a Creech”! The voice responded back “A Creech? Then welcome, welcome!” She excitedly introduced herself as Susan, the caretaker of the property and that she lived in the old house by the ruins. She told us the house was built about 1725 and she had lived there for about 10 years. Susan hurried into the house to fetch some chairs for us but we stopped her at one.
Susan also retrieved a Creich Castle visitors book, a leather-bound notebook left by a former visitor for Creech visitors to sign when they visited. I signed the book while the others were snapping pictures. Our new friend Susan walked us around the property and could not have been nicer. She asked if we would like some tea or to use the toilet, an invitation the ladies eagerly accepted. I waited until we were about to leave. :-)
Before I signed
Castle ruins to the right, ca 1725 caretakers' house on the left
Susan seemed disappointed when we refused her invitation for tea, explaining that we had only a few minutes to stay and were traveling to our accommodations in St. Andrews. She showed us around the property and outlying buildings and told us the owner of the property (maybe a Bethune?) lived in “a mansion” nearby. As we left, she eagerly invited us to spend the night at the house on our next visit and stated that she had 6 bedrooms ("and I only use one!").
