Enchanted Creative Process

The Fife coast has been the location for books, films, tv series, etc., but for VYV (Viv and Yve) Ravenscraig castle and park was our childhood playground. By osmosis, we inherited our mother’s passion for Scottish history and the atmosphere in and around the castle. With the imaginations of curious children we envisaged the temperamental Firth of Forth river, often furiously and savagely beating against the rocks below the castle, whilst the occupants of a bygone age huddled around the huge roaring fires in their heavy finery. The odours borne of our imaginations are reflected in “Gueldres”

Ravenscraig is only one of two royal castles in Fife. The unusual design was the inspiration from the king himself, James II, as he wished the castle to defend against cannon fire. The castle stands on a rocky spit of land extending into the river Forth just to the east of Kirkcaldy – our childhood home. Unfortunately, in the year that building began, King James II was killed at the siege of Roxburgh but his Dutch wife, Mary of Guelders, continued the building until she, herself died in 1463. Despite it’s unfinished state, Ravenscraig castle remains an interesting exception to the general run of castles in the county.

In later years, we attended a performance of “Macbeth” with my mother at the castle, which only enhanced an interest in the energy surrounding the location, albeit that the play was performed in Belarus! (unbeknown to us). My mother – an avid Shakespeare devotee, turned to us and said “It’s just as well we know the story!”

Allow “Gueldres” – named in honour of Mary of Guelders – to transport you with it’s blend straight from our visualisation of the epoch, to a time when flora, coastal winds and heavy, natural fibered garments were the prevalent odours.