Doune Castle a holy grail for Python fans

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This article was published 21/09/2003 (8144 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

DOUNE, Scotland — Strange things happen to many travellers while they roam the dark passages and chambers of Doune Castle. They are overcome with the irresistible urge to say silly things like “Bring out your dead!” and “We are the knights who say NI!”

The 14th-century castle, the location for much of the filming of the 1974 classic Monty Python and the Holy Grail, has become something of a holy grail for Python fans.

They walk through the castle reciting lines from the movie, and looking for sites where specific scenes were shot — such as the battlement where John Cleese’s French soldier shouts down at King Arthur, “Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!”

Castle manager George McWilliam recalls a group of Americans who came last year to re-enact much of the movie and shoot it as a home video. They used a toy cow — the type you might find in a baby’s crib — as a stand-in for the full-sized cow hurled over the battlements by King Arthur’s French taunters.

McWilliam is a good sport about this, even a co-conspirator. He provides visitors with coconuts so they can wander around the grounds making the “clop-clop” sounds made by the horseless King Arthur and his sidekick, Patsy.

“We had about 23,000 visitors last year,” said McWilliam. “I reckon 30 per cent come because of the Python thing.”

McWilliam himself is a fan of the Monty Python movies.

“My favourite is the Holy Grail. I re-enact it nearly every day with my visitors,” McWilliam said, only half-kidding.

For the benefit of the uninitiated, here are some of the scenes from the movie that live on among fans as endless inside jokes:

Sharp-minded villagers deduce that a young woman is a witch because she is made of wood. In Camelot, the knights eat “Spam a lot.” King Arthur hacks the arms and legs off the Black Knight, but it’s only a flesh wound. Sir Robin soils his armour. A group of men, asked by Arthur to identify themselves, inspire terror by responding, “We are the knights who say NI!” They then demand a “sacrifice” in the form of “shrubbery.” Sir Galahad struggles to escape from a roomful of virgins. And the cutest bunny in film history reveals itself to be a serial killer.

And now for something completely different.

Doune Castle is not a silly place. It is a Scottish national treasure, dripping with six centuries of history.

Overlooking a picturesque river just south of the brooding Scottish highlands, the castle is in a region once roamed by Scottish heroes like Robert the Bruce and William Wallace.

The 1297 Battle of Stirling Bridge — in which a force led by Wallace defeated the English — took place 14 kilometres southeast of here. A monument at Stirling pays homage to Wallace, long revered in Scotland but little known outside the country until Mel Gibson portrayed him in the movie Braveheart.

Doune Castle is considered the best-preserved medieval castle in Scotland. It was built at the end of the 14th century by Robert Stewart, the first Duke of Albany, whose story is laced with intrigue.

When the duke’s brother, King Robert III, was deemed feeble and unfit to rule, his eldest son and the heir apparent, the Duke of Rothesay, was taken into custody by the Duke of Albany and died in 1402 under mysterious circumstances — some say of starvation. That left Albany the most powerful man in Scotland.

Albany governed Scotland until his death in 1420. The governorship and Doune Castle passed to his son, Murdoch. The Duke of Rothesay’s brother and the rightful king returned from exile in 1424 and was crowned James I. Murdoch was executed for treason.

Doune Castle became a royal retreat and hunting lodge for successive kings.

During the Jacobite Uprising of 1745, some prisoners captured by the Jacobites were kept at Doune Castle. Among them was John Witherspoon, a Scottish minister and scholar who later moved to the American colonies. He became president of Princeton, a delegate to the Continental Congress for New Jersey, and a signer of the Declaration of Independence.

For decades, Doune Castle’s haunting appearance and its rich history were the attractions for visitors. Monty Python’s Flying Circus has brought legions more.

While preparing to film their irreverent movie about the King Arthur legend, the British TV comedy troupe went looking for castles. They found two that were suitable — Doune Castle and another in Scotland, Stalker Castle. A third castle seen in the film is only a model.

Fans of the movie started coming to Doune Castle after reading the script book, which disclosed the film locations. Release of a special DVD version of the movie two years ago has resulted in even more visits to the castle by Python devotees.

One of the DVD’s bonuses is a documentary in which two of the Python troupe — Michael Palin and Terry Jones — revisit the filming sites.

Much of the documentary is about Doune Castle, including a snippet showing McWilliam with a pair of coconuts. Palin and Jones are astonished when McWilliam tells them many of the castle’s visitors come because of the Python movie.

The two Pythoners peruse movie merchandise sold at the castle gift shop. Palin notices traditional books on Scotland and its history.

“Get rid of these!” he says. “Get some Python tapes in!”

The pair leaves Castle Doune and travels to a cave on a hill overlooking Loch Tay. It was here that three of Arthur’s men were slaughtered by the film’s little white bunny.

Palin and Jones finish their trip with a visit to Castle Stalker, known in the film as Castle Aargh! The movie ends there with modern-day bobbies arresting Arthur and Sir Bedevere for the murder of a bow-tied scholar as he narrated part of the story.

Back at Doune Castle, McWilliam likes to think that Python fans learn a lot about Scotland and its history during their visits to the medieval edifice.

“I’ve seen about 60,000 people in the past few years,” says McWilliam.

“Comments made as I chat with them tell me they are surprised at the number of rooms intact, the fact that it is over 600 years old, and a lot mention the peaceful, relaxing atmosphere,” he says.

Still, McWilliam is always ready to hand out the coconuts. But you might want to first give him a shrubbery.

–Associated Press