Original subtitles

(wind rushing)

(inspirational music)

(upbeat music)

- [Narrator] Our journey starts

at the historic city of Stirling

in the southern lowlands of Scotland.

We then head towards the university town of St. Andrews

and its famous golf course.

Along the dramatic coastline with its red cliffs

is the mighty 10th century Dunnottar Castle.

At Aberdeen we turn inland

towards the Cairngorms National Park,

home to some of the highest peaks in Scotland.

It's also where we find Balmoral Castle,

the summer residence of the British royal family.

Passing through Scotland's biggest

whiskey producing region,

the journey ends at Cawdor Castle,

famous for its link with Shakespeare's tragedy, Macbeth.

(birds chirping)

This is Scotland's smallest city: Stirling.

700 years ago, it was the capitol of Scotland

where Parliament was held,

and Scottish kings were crowned.

Perched high on a crag of volcanic rock

is Stirling Castle, a great symbol

of Scottish independence.

The site of many battles and sieges,

it's long been associated with great figures

from Scotland's past, like Mary Queen of Scots

and William Wallace, the national hero

who led the Scottish into battle

with the English at the turn of the 14th century.

(birds chirping)

Scotland's turbulent history

has left an enduring mark on the landscape

in the shape of many castles

peppering the lowlands of Scotland.

(serene flute music)

Several were renovated and rebuilt over the centuries

as grand country residences

with splendid gardens.

Like Drummond Castle, whose grounds

has one of the best examples

of formal terrace gardens in Scotland.

(serene flute music)

It's a 17th-century Scottish Renaissance garden

that's mainly Italian in style

with its fountains, terracing, urns, and statues.

It was used as a location

for the 1995 Liam Neeson film, "Rob Roy."

The dominant feature is the X

of the Scottish flag that signifies the loyalty

and nationality of the Drummond family,

who've been living here for over 500 years.

As famous as Scotland's castles

are its world-class golf courses,

and few can rival those at Gleneagles Hotel.

The three championship golf courses

cover over three and a half square kilometers.

The hotel, with 232 rooms,

26 suites, and four restaurants,

was built in the style of a French chateau

by the former Caledonian Railway Company.

When it opened in 1924,

golf and hotels were the height of fashion

and the Gleneagles hotel became the playground

for the wealthy.

By the 1950s, it was a fixed part

of high society's calendar.

The sheer size and elegance of the Gleneagles hotel

made it the venue for the 2005 G8 Summit

of the heads of the world's richest nations.

(serene orchestral music)

Further east is one of the 31,000

freshwater lochs in Scotland.

And this is the largest loch of the Scottish lowlands.

Loch Leven, with its dramatic castle island,

plays one of the most important roles

in Scottish history.

Because it was this 14th-century tower

that was a setting for the greatest ordeal

in the life of Mary Queen of Scots,

a cousin of the Tudor queen, Elizabeth I of England.

It was here in 1567 that the 25-year-old monarch

was imprisoned and forced to abdicate

in favor of her baby son, James VI.

A year later, with the help of one of her jailers,

Mary escaped and fled to England,

never again to see her only child,

the future king of these lands.

Today, the ruin of Loch Leven Castle

is open to the public in the summer months

when a ferry service runs to the island.

On the banks of the loch,

built with the perfect view of the castle in mind,

is another great piece of Scottish heritage, Kinross House.

This grand 17th-century residence and grounds

was designed by one of Scotland's greatest architects,

Sir William Bruce, who built Kinross House as his own home.

It's considered to be the first rural house

of its kind in the country,

as well as his greatest work.

Part of the grounds has been home

to the Kinross Cricket Club,

which was founded in 1853.

The mansion was occupied as a family home until 2010.

It's now being extensively renovated

for use as a private and exclusive venue.

Flying east and towards the coast

takes us along the Fife Peninsula

and lush, rolling farmland.

North of the peninsula is the giant inlet,

Firth of Tay, formed by glacial movement

during the last ice age,

around 20,000 years ago.

(serene violin music)

At the mouth of the Tay estuary

is the town of St. Andrews.

Once an important religious center,

it's been home to St. Andrews University

since 1413, making it the third-oldest university

in the English-speaking world.

This is where Prince William famously met

his future wife, Kate Middleton, in 2001.

During term time, students make up

around 1/3 of the 18,000 population.

St. Andrews is also known world-wide

as the home of golf,

because it's where the world governing body,

except for USA and Mexico, is based.

It's also the most frequent venue

for the Open Championship,

the oldest of golf's four major championships.

The seven public golf courses

are ranked amongst the finest in the world.

The oldest of which, aptly called the Old Course,

dates back to the 15th century.

(serene piano music)

Crossing the estuary and following the coast north,

we pass yet another

world championship golf course, at Carnoustie.

Famed for its difficulty,

it's been nicknamed Car-Nasty.

But this ancient course,

going back to the 15th century,

is also recognized for its influence

on the development of golf in America.

In the early part of the 20th century,

an estimated 300 golfers from Carnoustie

emigrated to the United States.

And when the Professional Golfers Association of America

was founded in 1916,

nearly half of the 82 professional members

were from this club.

This east coast of Scotland

looks out over the North Sea,

which has long been important

for its fishing industry

and the nation's economy.

The coastal town of Arbroath

was once one of the larger fishing ports

along this stretch.

Its heyday was between 1900 and 1980

when around 40 vessels worked from this harbor.

But the decades of over-fishing

led to strict quotas,

which eventually decimated the industry throughout Scotland.

But here in Arbroath,

with a population of over 20,000 people,

the fish processing sector

remains one of the largest employers.

With catch coming in from as far away

as Iceland and Norway.

A handful of fishing boats

still work from Arbroath Harbor.

With the decline of whitefish in these waters,

langoustines and lobsters

have become a more viable option.

And fishing boats shooting lines of creels,

or baskets containing bait,

is now a familiar sight along these coastal waters.

(water splashing)

Just beyond Arbroath are the red sandstone cliffs

that mark the start of one of the most

picturesque walking trails on the east coast of Scotland.

(serene bell music)

Thousands of years of erosion

have created dramatic rock formations

with evocative names such as The Needle's Eye

and The Devil's Head.

(serene bell music)

It passes through the Seaton Cliffs Wildlife Reserve,

home to a range of seabirds,

including fulmars and herring gulls.

The trail ends at Auchmithie,

a once-thriving fishing village

that sits atop a 40-meter cliff,

overlooking its now derelict harbor.

(seagulls cawing)

(upbeat guitar music)

The land here has been cultivated since the 13th century

and today presents some of the most

fertile soil in Scotland.

With a reputation for yielding high-quality crops,

such as potato and cereals,

this eastern coastal belt

forms the country's main agricultural zone.

(seagulls cawing)

The red cliffs continue as far as Montrose

on the mouth of the river South Esk.

Much of the town lies on a spit of sandy land

a kilometer wide, forming the largest

inland saltwater lagoon in the United Kingdom.

From this, it's clear to see

how Montrose developed as a harbor,

which over the centuries,

brought wealth to the town

as an important trading center.

The port is still in use today

for the oil and gas industry.

From the sands of Saint Cyrus,

hikers can embark on yet another picturesque trail.

(serene orchestral music)

This Aberdeenshire coastal path

leads walkers along windswept beaches,

cliffs, lighthouses, and sheltered coves.

(serene orchestral music)

It's part of an ambitious scheme

to create a series of coastal paths

around northern Europe,

known as the North Sea Trail.

The route links parts of Norway,

Sweden, Denmark, Germany, and Netherlands,

as well as England and Scotland.

The North Sea Trail project

aims to support sustainable tourism

and to explore the heritage of communities

along the North Sea coast.

Like the quaint fishing village of Gordon,

it's retained the tradition of a working port,

making it a popular stop for both sightseers

and visitors keen to sample the locally-smoked fish.

(somber bagpipe music)

One of the most impressive sites along the trail

is Dunnottar Castle.

A formidable castle rock,

surrounded on three sides by the North Sea,

and accessed only by a narrow blade of rock.

(somber bagpipe music)

Having witnessed many bloody battles,

conquests, and sieges,

Dunnottar Castle has played a crucial role

in Scottish history for over a thousand years.

In the 10th century, Dunnottar was the scene

of one of the most important battles of the Dark Ages,

considered to be the first ever big battle

between the Scots and the English.

Having retreated into these walls,

the Scottish king Constantine II's army

was able to withstand a ferocious onslaught

from the English invaders.

But in a reversal of roles

during the 13th century wars of independence,

it was the Scottish leader and warrior William Wallace

who laid siege to the castle,

burning his captors alive

in revenge for earlier English cruelties.

(somber orchestral music)

A few hundred years later in the 17th century,

the fortress was devastated by eight months

of cannon fire, when Oliver Cromwell's revolutionary army

attempted to take the Scottish crown jewels.

Though the jewels remained in Scottish hands,

Dunnottar never recovered from the damage.

It remained neglected until 1925,

when the first Viscountess Cowdray

started its restoration.

The castle is still privately owned,

but is open to the public.

(serene orchestral music) (seagulls cawing)

Our last stop along this northeast coast

before turning inland is Aberdeen, the boom city.

(upbeat percussion music)

Though Aberdeen has always been economically important,

it was the discovery of North Sea oil in the 1970s

that transformed the fortunes of this city.

Aberdeen became the center

of the North Sea oil industry

and a major supply center for North Sea oil platforms

160 kilometers off the coast.

The oil boom provided jobs

and financed the construction of housing, offices,

and new schools throughout the city.

Income from the harbor and port of Aberdeen

increased 15 times in the 1970s and the 1980s.

Aberdeen's main harbor was continually improved,

enlarged, and modernized to accommodate

the growing support industries

for chemicals and machinery manufacturing.

Today, Aberdeen's harbor is the largest

in the north of Scotland,

handling around five million tons of cargo each year.

(upbeat percussion music)

Turning west into the lowlands of Aberdeenshire,

we find one of the grandest

of the Scottish baronial tower houses,

set in a square kilometer

of landscape gardens: Castle Fraser.

(serene orchestral music)

Dating from 1575, it was built as a stronghold.

But over the centuries, the castle evolved

from being a purely defensive structure

into a comfortable and prestigious lordly residence,

rebuilt in a classical style with turrets,

balustrades, and gables.

It was home for generations of Frasers

until it was handed over

to the National Trust of Scotland in 1976.

It's now open all year-round for visitors,

who are attracted not only by the splendor

of the stately home, but also its reputation

as one of Scotland's most haunted castles.

(serene orchestral music)

As we approach the foothills of the Cairngorms Mountains,

there is a striking fairytale castle: Craigievar.

Its distinctly un-British design

was heavily influenced by French architecture of the time.

This seven-story structure was built in 1626

by the wealthy merchant William Forbes,

who was well-known for his business shrewdness.

He had in fact bought the castle already half-made

from the cash-strapped Mortimer family.

It was home for Forbes and his descendants

for over 350 years.

Like many other castles, Craigievar was gifted

to the National Trust of Scotland,

which now has 26 castles in its care.

(birds chirping) (water rushing)

The lowlands finally give way to the landscape

Scotland is best known for: its mountains.

And there are none more dramatic

than the Cairngorms.

This is the highest, coldest, and snowiest plateau

in the British isles.

Formed 40 million years before the last ice age,

the Cairngorms is also home

to some of the highest peaks in Scotland.

(serene piano music)

The long-reigning British monarch, Queen Victoria,

came climbing here on the seventh of October 1859.

Afterwards, she wrote:

"It had a sublime and solemn effect.

"So wild, so solitary.

"No one but ourselves and our little party there.

"I had a little whiskey and water

"as the people declared pure water

"would be too chilling."

Today, the Cairngorms provide a unique alpine

semi-tundra habitat, home to many rare plants,

birds, and animals.

Red deer, mountain hare, red squirrel,

and wildcat are all present,

as well as the only herd of reindeer

in the British isles.

(birds chirping)

This is one of the two major rivers

that flow through the Cairngorms: the River Dee.

Under a European directive,

this picturesque river has been designated

a special area of conservation

for its populations of Atlantic salmon,

otter, water vole, and freshwater mussels.

The Dee is also one of the finest rivers

for recreational salmon fishing,

which is estimated to be worth around $19 million a year

to the local economy.

Midway along the River Dee

is the part of the valley named Royal Deeside,

for a good reason.

Lying on the banks of the river

is Balmoral Castle.

It's been the summer home of the British royal family

for over 150 years.

The original castle that stood here

was purchased in 1852 by Queen Victoria.

Considering it too small, it was demolished,

then rebuilt to a size and design

that met the approval of her husband, Prince Albert.

(upbeat violin music)

In the summer of 1997,

Queen Elizabeth II was in residence

here at Balmoral when she was informed

of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.

(upbeat violin music)

Today, Balmoral is a working estate

with farmland, cattle, even a whiskey distillery.

Whiskey is almost synonymous with Scotland,

and just north of Cairngorms National Park

is Speyside, the famous whiskey-producing region.

But far from being a small local industry,

whiskey here is big business.

It plays a vital role in the Scottish economy,

contributing billions of dollars to the national revenue.

With over 50 distilleries

distributed along the River Spey,

there's more whiskey being produced here

than any other region in Scotland.

But traditional skills

are still at the heart of whiskey making,

like here at the village of Craigellachie,

where oak barrels are crafted.

The spirit from the distilleries

which will be stored in these casks

for a legal minimum of three years,

during which period the whiskey

will gain much of its color and flavor.

The Cooperage, as it's known,

produces, assembles, or repairs

over 100,000 casks each year.

Probably the most famous of the distilleries is Glenfiddich,

which is one of the best-selling malt whiskeys in the world.

Speyside whiskeys are distinguished

by their sweet, fragrant character,

which in part is a product of the water

that's used from the springs and streams

surrounding the river.

(dreamy bell music)

Nearing the end of our journey,

the river winds its way northeast,

passing this historic iron bridge.

Built by the great Scottish engineer Thomas Telford in 1814,

the metal latticework revolutionized bridge design

for wide and deep river crossings.

(water rushing)

Designated as an international

historic civil engineering landmark,

this elegant structure attracts

thousands of visitors each year.

Our last stop takes us away from the river,

heading west to one of the great cultural icons

of Scotland: Cawdor Castle.

Set amidst an array of splendid gardens,

this tower house dates back to the 13th century

when it was constructed by the Thanes of Cawdor

as a mighty fortress.

But Cawdor Castle is best known

for its connection with Shakespeare's

famously violent play, Macbeth.

In the story of Macbeth,

the title character is made Thane of Cawdor,

who then goes on to commit a series of murders

to maintain his power.

The story is highly fictionalized,

with no evidence to suggest that any such events

took place at this castle.

But this has never stopped visitors to Cawdor

asking about the connection.

The most famous explanation was given

by the fifth Earl of Cawdor,

who was quoted as saying,

"I wish the bard had never written this damned play."

It's an amusing tale

and a fine place to end this journey.

(inspiring music)

(whooshing)