Dead Animals in The Sun

In the early morning, the sun in the east can occasionally send shafts of sunlight deep into the dark un-restored parts of the castle. It feels as magical as the passage at Newgrange in Ireland being lit by the Winter Solstice sun. This morning, the light illuminated the castle's taxidermy animals with the assured hand of an old master. 

The images below shows the back-stage waiting areas for the expectant cast, who will shortly be performing in the theatre of the Entrance Hall, where Victorians traditionally corralled their bestial un-dead.

As the assemblage of animals is a temporary, random and unplanned pile, there is a certain uncomposed and transient beauty to the scene, that I felt I should capture before it disperses. The stoat is a particularly handsome fellow, with an astonishingly etiolated body. His name is "Tiny Tim" not because he plays ukulele, but because he is tiny and was a gift in the Christmas season.

current antique storage room

The herd of deer below escaped from an un-known Highland Estate somewhere near Inverness and migrated to Balintore en masse via the casting couch of a Glasgow auction room. I am presuming the new owner of the estate disliked what must have once been a formidable collection of taxidermy.

Lady Langman's bedroom, currently used for storage.

Anyhow, just like genuine thespians in the current pandemic, my animals are keen to be more than head shots in agents' books or photos in a blog and once again perform to the public.