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Doune Castle has become a magnet for "Monty
Python" fans wanting to see where much of the cult
movie "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" was filmed
in 1974. ‘Bring Out Your Dead’ Monty
Python Fans Flock to Scottish Castle Strange things
happen to many a traveler while roaming the dark
passages and chambers of Doune Castle. They
are overcome with an irresistible urge to say silly
things like "Bring out your dead!" and "We are the
knights who say NI!" The 14th-century castle was
the location for much of the filming of the 1974
classic Monty Python and the Holy Grail, considered
by devotees one of the funniest films ever made.
Doune Castle has become something of a shrine for
Monty Python fans &emdash; a holy grail of its own.
They walk through the castle reciting lines from
the movie, and looking for sites where specific
scenes were shot &emdash; 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 &emdash; the type you might find in a
baby's crib &emdash; as a stand-in for the
full-sized cow hurled over the battlements by King
Arthur's French taunters. Castle Manager Hands out
Coconuts 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 percent come because of the Python
thing." McWilliam himself is a fan of the Monty
Python movies.
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"My favorite 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 armor.
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. Castle Is National Historic
Treasure 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, Doune Castle is in a region once roamed
by Scottish heroes like Robert the Bruce and
William Wallace. The 1297 Battle of Stirling Bridge
&emdash; in which a force led by Wallace defeated
the English &emdash; took place eight miles
southeast of here. A monument at Stirling pays
homage to Wallace, long revered in Scotland but
little known in the United States 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 &emdash; 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, James I, returned
from exile in 1424 and was crowned. 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
&emdash; 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 &emdash;
Michael Palin and Terry Jones &emdash; 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. Sex Scene Location Spotted 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!" Jones and Palin also find
the spot outside the castle where the Knights of
the Round Table watched the Trojan Rabbit being
pushed through the gate by the French taunters and
realize they'd forgotten to hide inside the rodent
on wheels. They inspect the hall where Palin's
chaste Sir Galahad found himself besieged by
virgins. "Hmm, the sex scene," says Palin. 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. If You Go
… GETTING THERE: Doune Castle is about 40
miles from Glasgow and eight miles from Stirling.
Trains run regularly between Glasgow and Stirling,
and there is bus service from Stirling to Doune,
though the buses are less frequent on the weekends.
THE CASTLE: Visit
http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk and search the
"Properties" section for Doune. To contact the
castle by phone, call 1786-8417-42 (punch in 011-44
first if calling from the United States). THE
MOVIE: Available on video and DVD. Official Web
site is
http://www.sonypictures.com/cthe/montypython/ but
unofficial Web sites abound. Type a snatch of
dialogue from the movie (such as "We are the
knights who say NI!") and you're likely to come up
with several hits. THE REGION: Doune is located in
Central Scotland, less than an hour from Glasgow.
Loch Lomond, Scotland's largest lake, offers
beautiful vistas and hikes; old fishing villages
and other historic castles dot the countryside.
Nearby Stirling, just eight miles from Doune, is
the country's former royal capital, rich with
history, architecture and a castle of its own. Fans
of another movie, Mel Gibson's Braveheart,
will want to make a pilgrimage to the National
Wallace Monument just outside Stirling, a
spectacular 220-foot-high 19th-century tower built
to commemorate William Wallace's exploits.
From atop the tower, visitors can see across the
Forth Valley and the Trossachs Hills. FOR MORE
INFORMATION: For more information about touring
Scotland, contact Visit Britain at (877) 899-8391
or www.visitbritain.com. .
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