The friar may have suggested that the lady too should go to Whithorn; whatever the reason, Janet herself went almost immediately. Preparations for the pilgrimage were completed by the end of June. A French saddle was bought and covered with velvet, and yet more clothes were made; damask, taffeta and velvet were bought for gowns. Janet was returning to Galloway in style. The road to Whithorn passed through the lands of both the Kennedy family and her husband Alexander Gordon, it was summer, she had done what was expected and produced a healthy son, the journey had a religious purpose but it was also a holiday. (...) On the way more goods had to be bought, including six brass candlesticks. In Dumfries she had already begun to think about furnishing her new castle; there she acquired a hundred ells of red and green kersey for Darnaway and then the king had to pay not only for the goods but also for a horse to take them back to Stirling.
‘Janet Kennedy, Royal Mistress’, Ishbel Barnes
(Also known as ‘forget the last quote lads, I found a better one on the next page’. Let’s face it we’ve all ended up impulse buying interior decorations while ostensibly on a serious trip, if only I could get someone else to pay or it.
And now I will stop before I copy out the whole book)
The mid-fifteenth century great hall at Darnaway Castle in Moray, the only medieval part of the castle which survives and would have been there in Janet Kennedy’s time.
(Pictures from here, will remove if necessary).
