Not One But TWO Great Xmas Gifts

[ForresterModern]

Christmas morning I opened a package from my lovely wife (aka Wife here) that was the gift of ownership of one (1) square foot of pasture land on the property of Dunans Castle near Glendaruel, Argyll (Scotland), UK, thereby establishing me as an official "Laird of Dunans", a legal landowner registered in Scotland. The gift also entitles me to two free adult tours of the castle, unlimited visitation to "my" property, as well as fishing rights (by appointment)on the section of the Alt a Chaol Ghleann (a river) that runs through the property and under Dunans Bridge, an elegant triple arched old stone bridge that leads to the property and castle. My own email address hosted @lairdofdunans.com , use of the Dunans Insignia, letterhead, business cards, and some other neat stuff. Nice gift for a relative/member of the distant scottish diaspora.

Yesterday, I recieved via mail a belated Christmas package from my elder son, Calvin, and when I opened it i discovered that he had presented me with the gift of a similar, but only slightly less extravagant ownership of five (5) square feet of land on the Bandrum Estate in the Village of Saline near Dumferline, Kingdom of Fife (Scotland), UK, along with the official title of "Laird of Bandrum", property access, and a bunch of other neat stuff (no castle---bummer---but a neat little stone tower on the prow of the hill). The property has direct views of the beautiful Ochil Hills, the William Wallace Monument at Stirling, the Firth of Forth and the Forth Bridge, and abuts the Saline Golf Club (celebrating its centennial in 2012). Also a very nice and totally unexpected gift from my loving son.

I just registered both properties tonight so effective immediately you may all now begin addressing me as either Laird of Dunans or Laird of Bandrum, or just The Laird for short, whatever your preference. Consider me one of the landed gentry now. Must visit my property "in the country" sometime soon.

Both are basically fundraising efforts for land and/or castle preservation, maintenance, and restoration, but neither appears to have been prohibitively expensive or difficult, and each has an irrevocable title for 175 years, automatically renewable at no additional cost for up to 999 years, and is considered heritable estate to be passed down to future Foster generations.

I just wanted to take a moment to formally thank my beloved wife and dear loving son for the kind and thoughtful gifts, the perfect gift for the kiltie who has just about everything----except property in Scotland---until now. A "repatriation" of sorts.

Yours sincerely,

Jeffrey
Laird of Dunans, Laird of Bandrum

[Standard]

What a fun gift. When you go next to your country estate you simply must take photos for us.

[Downunder Kilt]

Conratulations Jeff. My wife also presented me, for Christmas, a certificate stating that I was now a Laird of Lochaber with my own plot of land in Scotland. And I agree that it is just the gift "for the kiltie who has just about everything"

[seanachie]

Laird Jeff (or is Dr. Laird Jeff?)
Just out of curiosity, are there a series of restrictions on the property.
I suppose on five feet you could lease the land to Vodafone and erect an aerial
antenna. I understand the fundraising behind it but just could see a little craziness this could create with creative minds.

[Big Mikey]

From another Laird of Lochaber, congratulations good sir.

[Bugbear]

Congratulations, your Lairdlyness. A while back I suggested that someone reenact events in Scottish history on these types of properties, such as the Battle of the North Inch, using ant colonies... Just a thought.

[ForresterModern]

Laird Jeff (or is Dr. Laird Jeff?)
Just out of curiosity, are there a series of restrictions on the property.
I suppose on five feet you could lease the land to Vodafone and erect an aerial
antenna. I understand the fundraising behind it but just could see a little craziness this could create with creative minds.

Yes, there are all manner of restrictions, albeit defined a bit differently for each property, but basically you own only the surface of the piece of ground with neither rights to build on it or above it nor to bury anything beneath it. Essentially it is not legally improvable or habitable, regardless of how many total parcels one might acquire in aggregate and in connection with one another. Each parcel's restrictions are designed to preserve the property as is while raising at least a small amount of funds for either maintenance and preservation of the larger plot of land (Bandrum Estate) or for repair, restoration, preservation and maintenance of the castle (Dunans Castle suffered a fire a few years ago and was nearly destroyed) as well as the grounds. Some of the more expensive packages provide for the planting of a tree of native origin on the property, but not necessarily your piece or property. (By the way, interestingly, Dunans Castle estate is home to the tallest tree in all of the UK, a particular Douglas Fir that is more than a meter taller than its nearest competitor somewhere in England.) At the same time it is not taxable now or at any time in the future, nor does it allow you any specific or general rights to UK citizenry, etc...

The fishing rights are a neat little perk that I (or my beneficiaries) may actually use someday, after personally ascertaining that the river actually bears fish and is sizable enough to accommodate flyfishing, another of my less than optimally partaken passions.

I have noted several other xmarks members listed as Lairds of Lochaber, and figured that that was a similar situation, so I must investigate that further just for interest's sake.

One of the "clearing house" websites for these types of things also sells naming rights for a star, or for a newly defined rose hybrid, some neat ideas.

jeff

[ForresterModern]

Congratulations, your Lairdlyness. A while back I suggested that someone reenact events in Scottish history on these types of properties, such as the Battle of the North Inch, using ant colonies... Just a thought.

Novel thoughts, Ted. Extra points for inventiveness and use of an original pun. ;)

[KenB]

Check this web site.
http://www.scots-titles.com/fake-lai...E2%80%9D-scams

[ForresterModern]

Check this web site.
http://www.scots-titles.com/fake-lai...E2%80%9D-scams

Yes, I've read this particular site before, which is one of the reasons that I personally have not purchased such "property for title" to date, nor even mentioned it to my wife or son. Their gifts were spontaneous and from the heart, and I enjoy them and those that gave them all the more for it.

I agree that some/many/most of these ventures may be akin to the proverbial purchase of the Brooklyn Bridge. The documentation and paperwork, especially the fine print, that accompanied the Dunans Castle property seems extraordinarily in-depth for your typical "take your money and run" scheme, but I must admit that the best told and most believable lies are those that are the most fleshed out. Dunans, however, appears more likely to be at least partially legitimate, for fundraising for restoration of the recently gutted castle (although they never show any pictures of the fire-ravaged building, only beautiful scenics of it sitting on the hillside above the stream). Either way I know just how much, or in this case how little, my wife paid for this "package" ordered from a well known and long established catalog, so my fears of having been "taken for a scottish sleigh ride" are diminished by the more layers of validity attached to that purchase, combined with the small outlay "invested" relative to the obvious amount of time and effort put into the detailed presentation and offerings. However, the above website lists one of the centers of such underhanded scam activity to be Glendaruel, which is indeed very near where the Dunans Castle property and website are centered.

The Bandrum Estate property purchased for me by my son seems more likely to fit the bill of a scam, as it appears on aerials and maps as an undeveloped hillside adjacent to the 100 year old golf course, above a ravine of no specific interest, with no specific structures other than the apparent stone tower (no real idea of how big, how old, or how significant it might be--they do not say), appearing to likely be property of little use or other value due to its location and topography. Also the paperwork and documentation seems far less "fleshed out", under-detailed and a little heavy on the sales pitch type inclusions---focusing on the contents of the "panoramic vista of historical sites" and including photos of the Forth Bridge from its early construction days, of Robert the Bruce's tomb in nearby (6 miles) Dumferline Abbey, the small stone "tower" on the hillside's prow, and the Ochil Hills, along with a cheesy picture on the website with a "Lady and Laird" standing in front of flags of the Rampant Lion and Saltire holding a sign documenting your purchase and date, etc.. with the beautiful panorama valley view in the background. It does seem a bit much for purchasing a couple feet of a hillside in central Scotland of otherwise no particular interest or use. There is also no extensive discussion of any conservation or preservation efforts (tree plantings, threatening development, specific need for preservation, etc...) that might justify a need for fundraising for the property itself. I have not discussed with my son of his outlay for this gift, or of its potential for being chum for scammers, for obvious reasons, not the least of which that I am proud of and grateful to him for the very personal and considerate if potentially naive gift. I will thank him for it with appropriate levels of pride, recognize its potential real value (or lack thereof), discuss it with him at a later date (we will be snowboarding together for several days in a couple weeks), and make sure that it is in his "inheritance" when my days are passed.

Believe me when I say that I hold no high expectations of grandeur from these two gifts, recognize their potential for fraud, but remain pleased and proud of two of my beloved family personally and spontaneously finding something that was unique and connected to one of my significant personal interests.

Jeffrey
Laird of Dunans and Bandrum (?)