Armadale Castle

The Home of Clan Donald Flora MacDonald was married here In 1750 Johnson and Boswell visited In 1773 In 1925, the MacDonalds Moved to a smaller house Leaving Armadale to the Wind and rain Photographs show As late as 1965 It was still a glorious place A main hall Lavishly furnished with a Drawing room off To one side And a billiard room Off to another A staircase at the far End Leading to a suite of Bedrooms and a Library But what was once So magnificent Is today but a shell Of its former self In so short a time What was vibrant And full of life Becomes but a sigh That ever so discreetly Slips like a phantom Into the last fading wisp of Twilight. ~ Laurence Overmire (Previously published in The Ghost of Rabbie Burns: An American Poet's Journey Through Scotland, Indelible Mark Publishing,2016)