Doune Castle lies northwest of Edinburgh in Stirlingshire just outside the small town of Doune.
Famous for being a location in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, as you walk the grounds, you hear quotes from the movie called out. “Fetchez la vache!” And I witnessed a woman in the courtyard clapping coconuts. 🙂
Scenes from IN PURSUIT OF DRAGONS take place in that very courtyard, at the top of the stairway to the kitchen and in the great hall. The postern door – once open to the side of the castle down a second flight of stairs leading from the kitchen – has been sealed over.
The castle is filled with amazing fireplaces, but it’s this one that captured my imagination. What better location for a dragon to collect her hoard?
In a room above the kitchens, a small barred window looks out upon the River Teith which flows behind Castle Doune.
With the postern door long since sealed over, I had to exit via the main gate, then walk around the side of the castle to find the path down to the river.
And here’s where a hint of spoilers sneak in. Do you want to flee this page and come back when you’ve finished? Or perhaps you’ve already read IN PURSUIT OF DRAGONS? Well, then, perhaps you recognize the edge of this river? All it needs is a small boat buried in the weeds.
I stood here, at the edge of the River Teith and took a long video. Quiet and peaceful, you can listen to the rush of water… and imagine the flap of leathery wings overhead.
From Doune, we continued upriver, driving through Callander – Gateway to the Highlands – and then yet further north into the Trossachs where we stopped briefly to take in the beauty that is Loch Lubnaig.
And I’ll say no more. Just in case you kept reading when you shouldn’t have. 😉
Secrets hidden inside a castle. The return of a lost love. A desperate fight to defeat the enemies who threaten their future.
IN PURSUIT OF DRAGONS
Book Two of the Elemental Web Tales
In a laboratory behind the walls of a castle, Natalia Zakharova Kinross, Lady of Kinlarig, hides her many secrets. But for how much longer? For not only is a medical miracle embedded within her skin, a mythological dragon prowls the grounds. And there are men who will stop at little to lay claim to both.
Though Luke Dryden, cryptozoologist, is welcomed back to the castle at the tip of a blade, an old romance ignites. Until a lingering illness acquired in a secret biotechnology facility takes a turn for the worse – all while disaster circles. To help defend a lady and her dragon, he must attempt a risky cure.
As old enemies threaten their future, they will fight back to back in a desperate last stand…
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