The Sunday Class
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Taught/practised on: 2013 July 14 th
ROSLIN CASTLE (R8x32)  Jean Attwood  Alexander Book 2  1- 8 1s cast 1 place & dance ½ Fig 8 round 2s, 1s turn LH to face 1 st  corners  9-16 1s set to 1 st  corners, set to partner & face 2 nd  corners, 1s dance ½ diagonal RSh reel of 4 with 2 nd  corners & end facing 4 th  corner (position) 17-24 1s set to 4 th  corners, set to partner & face 1 st  corners, 1s dance ½ diagonal RSh reel of 4 with 1 st  corners & pass LSh to… 25-32 1s dance RH across (Man with 3s at top & Lady with 2s), 1s turn LH 1½ times to 2 nd  place while 3s+2s chase clockwise ½ way
Roslin Castle (sometimes spelt Rosslyn) is a partially ruined castle near the village of Roslin in Midlothian, about 9 miles south of Edinburgh, on the north bank of the North Esk, only a few hundred metres from the famous Rosslyn Chapel. There has been a castle on the site since the early 14 th C, when the Sinclair family, Earls of Caithness and Barons of Roslin, fortified the site, although the present ruins are of slightly later date. The castle was damaged by a domestic fire in 1452 whilst it was a scriptorium the valuable manuscripts were lowered to safety from a window by the chaplain. Five St Clair manuscripts, dating back to 1488, are in the National Library of Scotland, including the Rosslyn-Hay manuscript, believed to be the earliest extant work in Scots prose. Following destruction during the War of the Rough Wooing of 1544 (when Henry VIII tried to secure the marriage of his son Edward to infant Mary, Queen of Scots), the castle was rebuilt. This structure, built into the cliffs of Roslin Glen, has remained at least partially habitable ever since, despite further damage by Cromwell’s commander in 1650, and a Reforming mob in 1688. The castle is accessed via a high bridge, which replaced an earlier drawbridge. Roslin was renovated in the 1980s and now serves as holiday accommodation. Roslin Castle is one of the places featuring in Sir Walter Scott's poem Rosabelle. A ballad named Roslin Castle was written in the 18 th C by Richard Hewitt of Cumberland. The castle was also a featured filming location in Ron Howard's movie rendition of "The Da Vinci Code". Legend has it that it is haunted by a black knight on horseback and a phantom hound, whose eerie baying is heard in the woods around the castle on dark and stormy nights ... On February 24, 1302, the castle was the scene of a major battle between Scots and English forces. One large war hound, owned by an English knight, viciously attacked the Scotsman who had killed his master and was slain in his turn. That very night as the Scots rested in the confines of Roslin Castle, the spirit of the hound appeared in the guardroom causing panic amongst the troops. After this the dog appeared nightly, and the soldiers nicknamed it the 'Mauthe Doog'. Eventually the turn to guard came to the man who had slain the hound's master. Walking down the passage with the castle keys he let out a scream above the noise of a snarling hound, and fled back upstairs in blind panic, he never spoke another word and died three days later. The hound was said to have disappeared from the castle after this event, although the sound of baying can still be heard. The castle is said to be home to a sleeping lady who will one day awake and show the whereabouts of a fabulous treasure buried deep within its vaults. When this happens, the castle will again rise from its ruins. A similar story of treasure surrounds the visit to Rosslyn Castle of a Count Poli from Italy in 1834, allegedly a descendant of the last Provost of Rosslyn Chapel who had been forced to flee to Italy after the Reformation of 1560. It is said that, following instructions written by his ancestor, he discovered the hiding place within the castle vaults of a hoard of manuscripts and books, hidden during the Reformation. It is also said he took many back to Italy with him, including a copy of a Latin history of Scotland from the beginning of the world until 1535, which is now said to be in the Vatican Library.