Quote Originally Posted by piperdbh View Post
By the way, Mac of Rath, Lee Castle once belonged to my Lockhart chief, who now lives in the hunting lodge. I hope you enjoyed dinner there, and someday I hope to visit it myself.
These black tie dinners were the stuff of legends. Generally dinner parties were made up of between 12 and 16 guests, most of whom were staying at the castle. Often the full band would serenade the guests during cocktails before we were piped in to dinner. Dinner was usually served in six, or sometimes eight, removes, and there was a fifteen minute intermission after the fourth or fifth course. Sitting down promptly at 8pm meant you wouldn't rise until something approaching 11pm, when all would adjourn to a comfy wee "pub" in the cellar for coffee and drinks. I think I have a photo somewhere from one of the parties-- if I can find it I'll post it here in the Traditional Highland Dress forum as an example of the most wonderful kind of traditional Highland hospitality.