Scotland – Page 2 – A Traveling Fool

September 27, 2020

Scottish Castles Experience Day 1: Falkland Palace, House of Dun & Dunnotter Castle

As you may remember, I have never met a castle I didn’t like. So I figured a Rabbie’s tour with four days of Scottish Castles would be a good one. I wasn’t wrong.

Shortly before this 2017 trip, I had purchased a new, four-wheeled, hard-sided, smaller suitcase to make life easier with all of the times I would need to lift and carry the darned thing on this trip. The longest I would ever be seen by the same people was five days. So five days of tops were what I brought along. I would wear each of them up to three times. So I wouldn’t need a larger case. I had it all figured out. But, for some reason, the wheels were not all that cooperative on anything but a smooth surface (like the floor inside of the store where I bought it). Even some carpets caused an issue, much less cobblestones, uneven sidewalks and gravel. Obviously I should have test driven it before leaving home.

Because I had fought with it all the way from Waverly Train Station in Edinburgh to the hotel (just two blocks), I was not in the mood to be fighting with it for the four blocks from the hotel to the bus terminal. So I took a taxi instead. At the bus terminal all of the floors were even and tiled. Smooth sailing.

This time we had eight people – one from Malta, four from Canada, two from Germany, and me. Our Tour Director/Driver was named George and he wore a kilt. Many of the male tour directors and drivers on day trips or longer tours like this one up in Scotland wore kilts. Like all of the Rabbie’s personnel before him, George was knowledgeable, helpful, very nice to deal with, patient, and had a good sense of humor.

He would need both the patience and the good sense of humor in abundance. One of our number (not me) continually asked questions at about a five year old level. “Why did they paint the walls blue?” Each time she received an answer, she would respond with, “Oh,” and quickly ask another equally ridiculous question.

She didn’t listen to anything anyone else said, so she frequently asked things that had already been answered. Such as “Where are the people who own this castle?” when it had been said repeatedly that all of the places we were visiting were run by the National Trust of Scotland.

This carried on both while we were on the tour coach and at the site of whatever location we were touring. She drove all of the guides at the places we visited bonkers. She pretty much ignored the rest of us who were on the tour. So none of us were peppered with constant questions. Whew!

Our first castle on the tour, Falkland Palace, was built by Mary Queen of Scots’ grandfather, King James IV of Scotland. This James’ son (and Mary’s father) died at the Renaissance style palace, leaving Mary as Queen at the ripe old age of six days.

During the English Civil War, while some of Cromwell’s troops were staying there, a fire destroyed part of the palace. For a couple hundred years, the palace fell into ruin until it was bought and restored in the late 19^th century. I really liked the interior of the place, but we weren’t allowed to take photos inside. I found it to be rather cozy. It seemed like a nice place to live.

Falkland Palace had the oldest tennis court in the world still in use. Mary Queen of Scots used to play there. It managed to survive even when the palace itself was in ruins.

I really loved Falkland Palace. Even though parts were in ruins, the parts that weren’t in ruins were lovely and cozy. It seemed like a place in which it would be great to live.

We had lunch in St Andrews, in a part of town where I had never been before – along the main street in the town center. Every other time I had been there, I had confined myself to the castle and/or the Old Course. Two ladies from Quebec City (Michelle and Searan) and I had lunch at a pub on the main street. We had a tasty lunch and some of the local ale.

Built in the 1730s, the House of Dun lies in the county of Angus. More of a large country house than a castle, the Georgian house is known for its extravagant plasterwork in the salon. One of its former residents had been very handy with a needle as there was a very large amount of really well executed needlework throughout. They still had a Game Larder just outside of the kitchens. We were able to take photos inside this time.

Our last stop of the day was Dunnotter Castle. Located on a rocky outcrop with steep cliffs jutting out into the North Sea, Dunnotter was a spectacular ruin of a mainly 15^th and 16^th century castle. It was fairly recently (2015) used during parts of the filming of Macbeth, starring Michael Fassbender as the title character and Marion Cotillard as Lady Macbeth.

After Charles II was crowned King of Scotland at Scone Palace during the English Civil War, the Honors of Scotland (the Scottish Crown Jewels) were hidden at Dunnotter Castle to keep them out of the hands of Oliver Cromwell and his troops. Katherine Drummond had carried them into the castle concealed in sacks of wool.

When Cromwell besieged the castle, the Honors were smuggled out hidden among sacks of goods over the course of three visits to the castle by Christian Fletcher, a minister’s wife. They were then buried under the floor of the church until Charles II returned. In the meantime, another woman, Anne Lindsay, removed the King’s papers from the castle sewn inside of her clothes. Some pretty brave women.

On this tour, instead of booking hotels, B&Bs or hostels, we were all together in country house hotels which were included in the price of the tour. Our first two nights were to be in Thainstone House Hotel, which was near Aberdeen and built in the 18^th century. The house was set in 44 acres of woodlands. So once you were there, you were there (unless you had a car). It had a restaurant that had the reputation of the best steaks in Aberdeen. Breakfast was mighty tasty with a buffet plus a cooked breakfast to order. Our last morning there I was in the restaurant early and our driver/tour director, George, joined me.

Next time – Day 2 of the Scottish Castles Experience with Castle Fraser, the villages of Ballater and Crathie as well as Crathes Castle.

September 20, 2020

Best of Scotland in a Day

Arrived at King’s Cross Train Station to catch my train to Edinburgh. This time the First Class ticket was more than double the Standard (as opposed to the only $20 US difference that it was for my train trip the prior year). So I had a Standard Round Trip ticket. This meant that, instead of checking my large bag and having a small table to myself in the car, I needed to find someplace to stow my large bag fairly close to where I was sitting and share a four seat table with strangers. Back when Mom and I used to fly into Gatwick Airport in London, we took the train to Victoria Station with a Standard Round Trip ticket. But that was a 40 minute ride. London to Edinburgh was four hours.

The seats were assigned in advance and I managed to have a table to myself all the way to York (halfway). But then I gained a couple who sat across from me, did not speak English, and smooched and snuggled the entire two hours from York to Edinburgh. Good thing I had a good book.

Since the Balmoral was charging its usual high prices this time, I tried the Apex Waterloo Place. This Georgian hotel wasn’t far from the Balmoral (or the train station or the grocery store) and was right across the street from where most of the day trips picked up and dropped off. A convenient location. They also had fridges in the rooms, so I picked up a few things from the grocers.

Once I was settled in the room (which was at the back of the hotel, one floor down from the entrance floor – still about three floors up from the street on that side of the hotel), I walked around in the area before it was time for the Champagne Tea reservation I had booked online when I was still in Minneapolis.

Calton Hill was an interesting place, full of monuments and giving great views of the city. The steps up the hill were right next to the hotel. The monuments included The National Monument of Scotland, which was dedicated to the Scottish soldiers and sailors who died during the Napoleonic Wars. It looked like an unfinished Greek temple. Then there was the monument to Admiral Nelson, which looked like a giant inverted telescope. There was a Robert Burns Monument, a Political Martyrs Monument and a City Observatory.

The round, Grecian-looking monument shown in the photo I have included with this post is the Dugald Stewart Monument and is a memorial to the Scottish philosopher who was a professor at the University of Edinburgh. To the left of that monument in the photo, can be seen the Gothic-looking spire of the Waverly Monument (dedicated to Sir Walter Scott), the clock tower of the Balmoral Hotel, and Edinburgh Castle up on top of the hill near the center of the photo.

The next morning I crossed the street and picked up the small group day tour Best of Scotland in a Day. These were all places I had not been to before.

At the tour pickup place, I ran into two of the women who had been on the Heart of England & Wales tour with me. They had also taken the train up to Edinburgh after the other tour ended and were doing a different day trip than I was. It was one I had been on the previous year that I had really enjoyed. It was fun to actually run into someone I knew.

We started at Dunkeld with a visit to Dunkeld Cathedral. Begun in 1260, the Cathedral stood near the River Tay in a very scenic location. The original monastery on the site dated to the 6^th century AD. In 1689, the Battle of Dunkeld took place in the area around the cathedral between the Jacobite Highlanders who supported King James II & VII and those who supported William of Orange. William and his wife, Mary (daughter of James), had recently taken over the monarchy from James, when he was kicked off the throne, in what had been called “The Glorious Revolution”. William’s supporters prevailed.

Inside the cathedral were the banners that had been carried by the Jacobites. Also inside was the sarcophagus of Alexander Stewart, Earl of Buchan, nicknamed the “Wolf of Badenoch”. That nickname intrigued me, so I learned some more about him after taking his photo.

He was the 3^rd surviving son of King Robert II of Scotland and lived from 1343 to 1405. He had a petulant relationship with his uncle King David II of Scotland before his father became king. He was also said to have had a defiant relationship with the church. He was best known for his destruction of Elgin and the cathedral there.

He was also Justiciar of Scotia for a while, but apparently not a good one. He ended up losing a fair amount of the territories he held going into the job. The nickname, Wolf of Badenoch, was given to him due to his notorious cruelty and aggressively greedy streak. Apparently not the type of person with whom you would want to try to be friends. His father’s reputation as king suffered due to the actions of his son (and the fact that he seemed to back his son rather than attempt to curb him). The Wolf of Badenoch’s effigy is one of the very few from the Middle Ages that has survived in Scotland.

The towns of Dunkeld and Birnam have been incorporated together. The area is quite forested although the only tree that dates back to the time of the setting of Shakespeare’s Scottish play that mentioned Birnam Wood (Macbeth shall never vanquish’d be until Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill shall come against him) is a single, massive oak tree. The wooded area is still called Birnam Wood however.

Not too far away was Blair Castle, the seat of the head of Clan Murray, the Duke of Atholl. This was the Scottish Castle that Queen Victoria and Prince Albert visited back in 1844 when the Queen began a lifelong love of Scotland. They even used the real Blair Castle when they did an episode on the visit in the “Victoria” miniseries. Shortly after her visit, the Queen gave the Duke the permission to create his own private army, the Atholl Highlanders. They remain the only legal private army in Europe.

I had a running joke with my mom that I wanted to introduce her to the 11^th Duke (who was single) so he would fall in love with her and we could all live in the castle. Unfortunately, he died before I could put that plan into motion.

Upon entering the castle, I took a couple photos of the entrance hall before being told that no photography was allowed except in the ballroom. Some of the shields and muskets in the entrance hall saw service at the Battle of Culloden in 1746.

I put my camera away until we got to the ballroom. Those of you who may have seen Scotland episode of the “Victoria” miniseries definitely saw the ballroom. It was quite prominently featured as were the castle grounds.

The grounds and gardens of the castle were quite extensive. After lunch at the restaurant within the castle, I set off on a circular hike through the grounds and gardens. My first stop was at the ruins of St Bride’s Kirk. This contained the last resting place of John Graham of Claverhouse, who was nicknamed “Bonnie Dundee”.

“Bonnie Dundee” sounded like a much friendlier nickname than “Wolf of Badenoch”. It turned out that he earned his nickname at the time of his death. He was a leader of the 1689 Jacobite rising and died a hero at the Battle of Killiecrankie, which the Jacobites won just days before losing at the Battle of Dunkeld.

Bonnie Dundee was the commander of the Jacobites, who were in possession of Blair Castle at the time. If they had lost the battle, the castle would have been forfeit to the Crown of England. As it was, it was a pretty rousing victory. His breastplate and helmet were on display inside the castle.

After my hike through the gardens, I returned to the castle with a small amount of time left before we were to depart. So I took a seat on a shaded bench, listened to the sounds of the stream bubbling past and the bagpiper playing next to the castle.

Since Killiecrankie was not far from Blair Castle, that was our next visit for the day. Killiecrankie Gorge was quite a scenic place with the battlefield just beyond.

At Queen’s View, we got some really nice photos of what is considered to be one of the best views in Scotland. When Queen Victoria visited in 1866, she thought that it was named for her. It wasn’t. It was named for Isabella, the first wife of King Robert the Bruce, more than 500 years earlier. The lake is Loch Tummel.

Our last visit of the day involved a roughly 20 minute walk deep into the Caledonian Forest. At the end of the walk was a building. We entered and found a viewing platform for a magnificent waterfall called the Black Spout. It was quite dramatic.

Next time – the first day of the Scottish Castles Experience tour with eight castles in four days.

June 28, 2020

Much More of Hadrian’s Wall

A full day exploring various sections of the Roman wall built across Britain, near present day Scotland, in 122 AD to keep those wild tribes north of the wall north of the wall. As a descendant of more than one of those wild tribes, I have to say that I’m rather proud of them putting the “fear of God” into those Roman Legions. The Romans were used to just going all over Europe and the Middle East conquering everybody.

This was another Rabbie’s day trip, leaving from across the street. This time we had a much smaller group. Me and two young guys in their twenties who were from the Dominican Republic and were re-enactors of the Roman Ninth Legion (officially Legio IX Hispana). They had their banner with them and posed for photos at the wall, some of which I took for them. The Ninth Legion is the one that was stationed in York and supposedly marched up to Caledonia and disappeared. This was prior to the wall being built and has been considered to be one of the reasons why Hadrian ordered its building.

They didn’t speak much English so most of the conversation was between the Tour Guide and me. It seemed they understood more English than they could speak although the Tour Guide would write down the times they needed to be back to our chariot (the tour coach). They were always there on time.

After a bathroom break at Jedburgh, our next stop was Carter Bar – one of the border crossings between Scotland and England. It was also the site of the last battle between England and Scotland in the 1500s (Culloden technically wasn’t between England and Scotland, but between British Royal forces and Bonnie Prince Charlie and his forces).

Once we crossed the border, we drove along Dere Street, which was built by the Romans, to our first stop along the wall. This was Housesteads Fort again. But we were only stopping briefly. This was just to give us a taste. We were heading for Steel Rigg.

Along the way, between Housesteads and Steel Rigg, was Sycamore Gap. This is on a part of the wall which runs along the edge of a cliff and has some rather dramatic dips formed by retreating glaciers. In the middle of one of the sharpest dips is an enormous sycamore tree. The tree is a few hundred years old and was used in a pivotal scene near the beginning of the Kevin Costner film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.

Steel Rigg got its name from the 17^th century farm that used to be there. It was a cool site with lots of dips and twists in the ground upon which it runs. The wall itself was low and grass covered on top, but it ran on for a ways. It briefly snowed while we were there. The ground got a “wee bit slippy” but we managed to stay on our feet while getting photos and heading back to the van.

Our next stop was Vindolanda. The name comes from a post that was excavated there and was the actual name of the Roman garrison, which predated Hadrian’s Wall and had a village just outside of it. The fort was built 85 AD (the wall 122 AD) and ended up just south of the wall.

Vindolanda has been an active archaeological site since the early 1800s. It has a very interesting museum containing clothing, shoes, pottery, tools, equipment, weapons, and even some skeletons of both dogs and horses. All of these artifacts would have been from between 85 AD and 370 AD. It was amazing to me how well things had been preserved.

The most important artifacts found there have been the Vindolanda Tablets which are handwritten wooden leaf tablets. These were the oldest surviving handwritten documents (in ink) in Britain at the time they were discovered. More recently older documents were found in London. They included letters, various lists (of supplies, for example), military orders, a request for “more beer” –- quite a variety.

I had lunch at a café next to the museum and then went exploring outside. Temples (one was a combined Roman/Celtic temple), bathhouses, barracks, officer’s quarters, storage buildings, domestic homes, and drainage ditches were among the excavations with more buildings being discovered all the time.

In addition, they had replicas of what the origin wooden portions of the wall would have looked like as well as the stone walls. People could enter the replicas and walk along at the height (16 feet) and width (six feet) that the real walls would have been when the Romans were manning them. I climbed up on both the wooden and stone replicas to see what they would have been like.

Originally called Banna (horn) by the Celts, Birdoswald (named for the farm it is on) has a Roman fort, a milecastle (a small fort), a turret, and one of the longest stretches of a pretty solid wall from six to eight feet in height. The site also has the remains of a Dark Ages Hall and a Medieval Tower House as well as the 16^th century farmhouse.

When the Romans arrived, the site was a forested bog. They needed to clear and drain it before they could build. It seems that the main Roman occupants of this fort were Dacians, from what eventually became present day Romania. They know this because of Dacian inscriptions found in the fort and on the wall.

After the Romans left, parts of the fort were still in use. This is also when the Dark Ages Hall was built. Remains from the Anglo-Saxon period have been found at Birdoswald as well as the Middle Ages. The main west gate of the fort was apparently still in use at that time. A small Medieval Tower house was built next to it. By the 16^th century, the west gate had collapsed and the current farmhouse was built. The tower of the farmhouse was added in the 18^th century.

Here was where we had the opportunity to walk on the actual wall. To do so would involve some climbing. This would have been much easier back when I was in my twenties. By 2016 I was a long way from my twenties, but I was determined to walk on the wall. Using my hands as well as my feet, I climbed to a height of about six feet (I judged the height by the distance over my 5’3” head the wall appeared to be at that point).

Once on top of the wall, I walked along it rather gingerly. It was only about three feet wide at this point, rather rough, and missing some stones here and there. Plus, my spring allergies had recently shown me a new symptom –- a slight dizziness. Said dizziness was more pronounced up there on top of the wall. So determined as I was to be up and walk along it, I was being careful not to fall off.

Imagine my feelings as I saw a child, about three feet in height, running along the top of the wall towards me. His parents were down on the ground and didn’t seem to be concerned about his safety any more than mine. They didn’t tell him to stop running or to be careful about me, although they were looking up and could see us both. I froze totally until he passed me. Then I continued on for a while, taking the photo of my foot on the wall that I use here in my blog, before going back down.

Back on terra firma, I took the photo showing some other people on top of the wall coming from the opposite direction. The wall was wider there. The photo of my foot doesn’t give much of an indication of how high up I was, but the photo of the longer course of the wall gives a pretty good idea of both the height and the roughness of the top of the wall. You can probably guess that I was pretty excited about having been able to get up there and walk along for a bit.

We were not too far from Carlisle and from the west coast of England. When our visit at Birdoswald was over, we continued along the wall until reaching Lanercost Priory. The priory was founded in roughly 1169 and used several stones from Hadrian’s Wall. King Edward I of England stayed a few times at the priory and was initially buried there until he was moved to Westminster Abbey.

From Lanercost, we pulled northwards to re-enter Scotland. Our last pit stop was in the town of Moffet. Just outside of town is an area called The Devil’s Beef Tub. This was where four mountains sit very close together to form a very deep and dark ravine. Cattle thieves once used this area to hide themselves and their stolen cattle. Later (in 1935) a Moffat doctor used this location to hide the bodies of his murder victims, including his own family. The road we were on had a sharp drop down into the ravine next to it which provided a pretty dramatic viewpoint.

Back in Edinburgh, I purchased some food at Sainsbury’s for dinner in my room. That night, BBC2 had a three hour “Shakespeare Live” telecast from Stratford-Upon-Avon which was being hosted by David Tennant and Catherine Tate. I settled in for the night with my dinner and thoroughly enjoyed the show. You can probably pick out Benedict Cumberbatch, Helen Mirren, Ian McKellen, and Judy Dench in the cast photo.

Next time – the train to London and a boat trip to Greenwich.

June 21, 2020

Dunfermline Abbey & Stirling Castle

Dunfermline Abbey was another of King David I of Scotland’s abbeys. But this one was personal as it was founded on behalf of his mother, Queen Margaret of Scotland, who was later canonized as a saint. Margaret was buried before the high altar until her canonization, after which a special shrine was built for her and her husband, King Malcolm III. If you are familiar with Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Malcolm was the son of King Duncan (who was murdered in the play by Macbeth). Both in the play and real life, Malcolm avenged his father’s death, taking back the crown.

During the Scottish Reformation, which replaced Catholicism with the Presbyterian religion in Scotland, Margaret’s shrine was destroyed with both her and Malcolm’s remains dispersed and eventually lost. What remained were a couple of stacked slabs upon which her tomb used to sit and upon which visitors often place flowers.

Both Duncan and David were also buried at Dunfermline, along with other Scottish royals of their family. King Robert the Bruce was buried there and can be found under the pulpit of the church that was built inside of the remains of part of the abbey. A beautiful stained glass window showing the wedding of Margaret and Malcolm was also found in the church.

Where Duncan and David’s remains are located, nobody seems certain; just that they were somewhere in the abbey. It seems that Robert the Bruce fared better because he had been buried in the quire of the abbey, which was the part that became the church.

On the whole, this abbey did better than many of David’s abbeys because it survived the Rough Wooing (too far north) and the Reformation zealots were mainly interested in destroying the shrine of a Catholic saint and not necessarily the entire abbey. Around the top of the church end of the abbey is the name “King Robert the Bruce”. That might have helped in saving it.

From Dunfermline, we drove to Bannockburn. This was the site of where Robert the Bruce (who had taken the Scottish crown in 1306) and his army of Scots (and some say Templar Knights, as he accepted many Templars into Scotland who fled persecution in 1307) soundly defeated the English armies of King Edward II in 1314. This was what made Scotland a free and separate country again until King James VI of Scotland also became James I of England in 1603.

A statue of Robert the Bruce on horseback stands above the battlefield as part of a memorial to that victory and to the Bruce himself. They say that the statue is a fairly accurate representation of what he looked like. If so, he was not a handsome guy.

Robert’s 4^th great grandfather was David I. Just a couple generations after David died, the direct royal line died out and the throne was up in the air with twelve claimants for it; all descendants of one or another prior king. Edward I of England was in the position to choose among them and picked John Balliol, mainly because he could use Balliol as a puppet. Long story short (don’t worry, I get to William Wallace shortly), the Bruce ended up as the main candidate and then won at Bannockburn. Stirling Castle could be seen from Bannockburn and that was where we went next.

I love Stirling Castle. This was my second trip to it and it had undergone a lot of improvements since I was there the first time with my mom. Right outside of the castle is another statue of Robert the Bruce, which is a little more idealized. I looked over the wall next to the statue down at Stirling Bridge.

This version of Stirling Bridge was built of stone to replace the wooden bridge that featured so prominently in William Wallace’s victory there. Wallace and his men waited up on Abbey Crag (where the Wallace Monument is today) while the English forces marched across the very narrow (could accommodate only two men on horse abreast) wooden bridge that was the only bridge across the River Forth at Stirling.

Once Wallace felt that enough men had crossed the bridge, the Scots swooped down upon them and pretty much annihilated them. Only one man made it back across the bridge. The English forces burned the bridge so the Scots couldn’t follow them and fled.

At the time of the Battle of Stirling a castle already existed on Castle Crag, although it was not as extensive as the present castle that dates mainly from 15^th and 16^th centuries. However, King Edward I of England’s forces occupied the castle until the Battle of Stirling Bridge when they were dislodged by Wallace and the Scottish forces. The castle then changed hands many times between 1296 (Battle of Stirling Bridge) and the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314.

The English once again took over the castle in 1336 and were dislodged by Robert Stewart, who became King Robert II of Scotland in 1342. Up until this time, the castle was mainly timber, mud and plaster. The Stewarts began to build in stone by 1380. But still, the majority of the present castle was constructed between 1490 and 1600 by Kings James IV, James V, and James VI (Mary Queen of Scots’ grandfather, father and son).

This was where Mary Queen of Scots was brought shortly after her birth and lived until she was sent to France at the age of five. Stirling Castle was also where her son was brought shortly after his birth and he continued to live there much of the time until he left for London in 1603. His eldest son, Henry, was born there.

As I said earlier, I love Stirling Castle. This is a castle as a castle should be. Now it is a tourist destination and is not used as a royal residence like Holyrood Palace or a military fortress like Edinburgh Castle. They restored both the palace within the castle and the Great Hall.

There was quite a bit of controversy when the Great Hall was painted externally in a bright gold. But that was what it looked like back when James V was king. It certainly stands out as you can see in an included photo of the Great Hall and the Royal Palace.

The interior of the Great Hall was in the process of being restored when Mom and I had visited before, but it was complete by my 2016 visit, including the restoration of the hammerbeam ceiling. They even served soup, sandwiches, and desserts at the far end of the hall with tables and chairs. I can truthfully say that I have dined in the Great Hall of Stirling Castle.

They also had some men dressed as they would have been back in the day. I love when places have costumed interpreters. Loads more tourist sites in both the US and the UK are doing that now. Gives another dimension to the visit.

The Royal Palace was dark and dingy and didn’t have many rooms open when Mom were there in 2005. Nine years later, nearly the whole palace was open and restored and quite amazing. It’s only been in recent years that interior restorations have added loads of colors to the white, grey or blackened stone walls. This is because these rooms originally had bright colors.

After the palace, I went around to the other buildings in the main courtyard – a chapel and the King’s Old Building (parts of which date back to James I). Then I headed for a garden on the other side of the chapel. From the garden, I took some stairs up the wall to do the wall walk.

From there I could clearly see the Wallace Monument, which is a Victorian tower up on Abbey Crag. It contains his claymore, which is a large, two-handed, double-edged sword. I have one that is close to four feet in length. His is said to be nearly six feet as he was nearly seven feet tall himself.

I stayed on the walls for as long as I could, taking them to the end near the castle kitchens. They are next to the North Gate, which is the oldest part of the castle that is still complete (not like the King’s Old Building or the kitchens which have bits and pieces of various building periods). The kitchens themselves are quite old.

I ended this visit there and headed back out to the car park to catch the small group tour bus back to Edinburgh. Since I arrived a little earlier in the evening than usual with these day trips, I decided to have dinner at the restaurant in the hotel that was called Hadrian’s at that time. I had rabbit with whipped potatoes and baby vegetables.

Next time – another trip to much more of Hadrian’s Wall with the opportunity to actually walk on part of it.

June 14, 2020

Around Edinburgh Part 2

On this visit to Edinburgh Castle, I went to the National War Museum of Scotland. The building was built about 1700 and was used for an ordinance storehouse and later as a hospital. The place was jam-packed with all sorts of items from throughout the centuries, such as uniforms, letters, claymores (a large, two-handed broadsword), chemical suits, etc. The exhibits were all behind glass and somewhat crowded together, so photos were difficult. But I did include one here containing a jumble of items.

On my way up to the main part of the castle from the museum, I saw some of the current Scottish army in their fatigues, carrying their dress uniforms complete with kilts. Once I got to the top, I went over to the wall that looked down over the New Town and shot a few photos of the view.

At the front of the photo included here, is the Scottish National Gallery (the main art museum in Edinburgh). Behind it to the right, the building with the kind of wavy roof is the Waverly Train Station. To the left of that building, with a mostly flat roof and some green turf, is the shopping center. It has the one level above ground and two more underground. Behind the shopping center, the Victorian building with the clock tower is the Balmoral Hotel. The clock on the clock tower is always about three minutes fast so people won’t miss their train.

In the main portion of the castle the rooms that the visitor passes through on their way to see the Scottish Crown Jewels (the “Honors of Scotland”) and the Stone of Scone had exhibits featuring Scottish history in them instead of being bare. The rest of the rooms were no longer bare either. They had been refurbished with paint and other decoration to look more like they would have back in their heyday. Some paintings were on the walls and some sticks of furniture added. The rooms are still quite small which makes photography a challenge, but a photo of the interior of one of the rooms has been included. The Great Hall had much more arms and armor in it.

One of the legends regarding Edinburgh Castle is that of the Lone Piper. It is said that, several hundred years ago when tunnels were found under the castle that seemed to lead to Holyrood Palace, a young male piper was sent into the tunnels beneath the castle to see where the tunnels went. He played his pipes as he marched along so that the people up above could hear him and know where he was.

At some point, however, around Tron Kirk (near the present day intersection with the North Bridge) the pipes were abruptly silenced and he was never seen again. Notice I didn’t say he was never heard from again. This is because there are times still when the sound of bagpipes can be heard from beneath the castle and the Royal Mile.

On the Esplanade in front of the castle, where the Edinburgh Military Tattoo takes place every year, if you search for it, you can find a memorial on one of the walls to the women who were burnt at the stake as witches there. It is near the end of the wall on the left of where you exit out of the Esplanade to the Royal Mile.

Leaving the castle grounds and heading down the Royal Mile, it wasn’t long before I reached Gladstone’s Land. This was a 17^th century (completed about 1620) tenement house that belonged to an upper middle class merchant who had his shops on the ground floor, lived above, and rented out parts of the house to others. In Scotland, a tenement is simply a building in which multiple people have rooms or flats (apartments). This building is six floors high.

Connecting the floors are turnpike stairs. These are narrow, stone, circular stairs that exist in loads of medieval and older Scottish residences. The steps are wider out near the walls and way more narrow in the inside near the stone pillar the steps are built around. A photo is included here.

Several rooms were open on the first two floors. The kitchen was quite interesting and included a wheeled, wooden contraption that kept a baby in a standing position while they walk around in it. The room with the painted ceiling was a great find. This was not a restored ceiling, but the original, and is very colorful. The room was decorated as a bedchamber. There were a couple of women with owls just outside where the shops would have been on the ground floor.

I rode around for the rest of the tour, passing the First Minister’s House in Charlotte Square as well as a Georgian House that can be toured. Mom and I toured it on a previous trip. The First Minister is the Scottish version of a Prime Minister. The house is just sitting there without any visible security.

There was also a house where the owner, an obstetrician named James Simpson, in 1847 would experiment with chloroform on his dinner guests. Some of his experiments went well; some did not.

His behavior was mild in comparison to Burke and Hare who, in 1828, supplied bodies for dissection at the medical schools by murdering 16 people. Hare turned state’s evidence against Burke and was set free. Burke was hanged and dissected. His skeleton remains at the Edinburgh Medical School.

When I returned to the hotel that evening, I saw on the BBC that Prince had died back home in Minneapolis. I was both shocked and saddened. Plus I felt bad that I was so far from home.

Next time – Dunfermline Abbey & Stirling Castle

June 7, 2020

Around Edinburgh Part 1

There are several Hop On Hop Off bus tours around Edinburgh offered online through Viator. I booked one of them that was going to the places I wanted to go (I actually think it was the same one I had done several years earlier with my mom). They all depart from the Waverly Bridge near the Scott Memorial. I planned to spend the day hopping on and off to explore different locations along the way, so I was at the starting location at 9:00am.

I was met by a woman who was checking our online receipts and giving us the appropriate tickets for the tour we had selected. When she saw my receipt, she suggested another tour that had a live commentator instead of a recording. There was no further exchange of money needed. She just printed out a new receipt for me, gave me the ticket and route map, and I was all set. I thought that was great. A live commentator is definitely better than a recording. Not only can you ask them questions, but they tend to add a certain amount of humor as well as extra information to their commentary.

The route was different from the other tour, but went to all of the same locations. I hopped on the bus and went upstairs to the open air seating. The first place I hopped off was near the Scottish Parliament building to visit Holyrood Palace. Although I tend to visit this palace (which is the Queen’s official residence when in Edinburgh) most times I am in Edinburgh, this time I didn’t have any time limits. I could take as long as I wanted.

I know that palace almost as well as I know my own house. There is a portion of it that dates back to Mary Queen of Scots — basically one tower with her suite of rooms, her husband’s rooms, and the turnpike staircase that linked them.

The rest of the State Rooms were created when Charles II refurbished the palace after Cromwell’s troops had burned down part of it and abused most of the rest of it. So, for most of Holyrood, you feel you are in the late 1600s and then step into the late 1500s when entering Mary’s rooms. The original palace had been built by David I of Scotland in the 1100s. But most of that was gone.

I have my certain favorite rooms. Mary’s rooms of course. Then the Throne Room with the portraits of the Stuart kings, the King’s Bedchamber with the huge red curtained bed, and the Gallery with what are supposed to be portraits of every Scottish king. I get a kick of the portraits because they mostly look alike and tend to have fairly prominent noses, like Charles II had. Should you visit and burst into laughter when you see the portraits, you can always blame it on me.

Because of Queen Elizabeth II’s 90th birthday, they had an exhibit of the Queen’s gowns and suits plus a tartan gown that had belonged to Queen Victoria. If I hadn’t already known that Victoria had been tiny, the gown might have been a surprise. She was super tiny at only 5’0”. She was also petite with a very small waist at the time she wore that gown, which was 1835 to 1837 (she became queen in 1837 at the age of eighteen).

In Mary Queen of Scots’ bedroom, there was a place where I could actually sit down. I sat for a while looking all around the room. It was pretty much empty at the time and I could really take it all in. I explored the side room that was used as a dining room for very intimate groups (it’s a tiny room). This was the room from which her secretary, David Rizzio, was dragged and then stabbed to death in front of a very pregnant Mary by her husband, Lord Darnley, and his pals.

After that, Mary fled to Edinburgh Castle to give birth to her son, James, who became James VI of Scotland and succeeded Elizabeth I as James I of England. James was taken to Stirling Castle after his birth to be raised Protestant (his mother was Catholic). This was just the start of Mary’s troubles.

Darnley ended up getting murdered a few months after James was born. Lord Bothwell kidnapped Mary and took her to Dunbar Castle. For some reason, Bothwell and Mary got married. Then Mary ended up being imprisoned at Loch Leven Castle, where she miscarried twins. She was then forced to abdicate the throne of Scotland in favor of her one-year-old son.

She escaped from Loch Leven, raised an army, was defeated, and taken to Carlisle Castle. She spent the rest of her life imprisoned in various locations, involved in various plots (both to regain her own throne and to take Elizabeth’s) until she finally stood trial for one of the plots to take the throne of England. She was found guilty and eventually executed. She was buried at Westminster Abbey by her son, James, (who had her moved from Peterborough Cathedral) on one side of the Henry VII Chapel while her cousin, Elizabeth I, is buried on the other side of that same chapel.

I find the whole Mary Queen of Scots story to be quite fascinating. But she didn’t seem to be the brightest bulb in the fixture. So many of her life choices were doomed to failure.

Since I had all of the time that I wanted to see what I wanted, after spending time in the palace and then in the ruins of the abbey next door (also built by David I), I took a garden path from the abbey through the grounds. I had never had the time to do that before.

It was a lovely walk in a beautiful garden which circled around to the rear of the abbey where the foundations of the rest of the abbey had been recently discovered. It was once about double its current size. I could also see the back side of the palace, which consisted of the private royal quarters. I could see the private stairs to the royal apartments. There was also a parade ground back there.

Coming around to the other side of the palace provided a really great view of Arthur’s Seat. This is another extinct volcano. There are the remains of an Iron Age hill fort at the top and some miniature coffins containing wooden figures were found in a cave. Nobody is really sure where it got its name. Some association to King Arthur perhaps? There was a prince of Dalriada (prior to Scotland becoming Scotland) back in the 500s named Arthur.

As I was heading out of the palace grounds to have lunch at the palace café, I was offered some champagne and a cupcake by palace staff in honor of the Queen’s 90^th birthday. I had my dessert first and then some lunch.

Between the Palace and the place where I needed to catch the hop on hop off bus was a place called White Horse Close. This is a little group of buildings off of the Royal Mile through what looks like an alley. I found out a long time ago that things that look like alleys are often very old streets and have some great places hidden in them. White Horse Close dates to the 17^th century and used to be a little residential area behind the White Horse Inn. The lovely buildings in the Close were turned into housing for the working class in 1889 when the neighborhood was somewhat run down. Currently these buildings would cost a very pretty penny to live in.

I stayed on the tour bus for several stops until reaching Edinburgh Castle. A relatively new Radisson Blu hotel on the Royal Mile was built to resemble a row of medieval townhouses. I love that. It fits in with the existing architecture.

The National Museum of Scotland consists of a modern building and a Victorian building, combining a museum with collections of Scottish antiquities and another focusing on natural history and science. These museums are right by Greyfriars Bobby, the pub made famous by the little dog who stayed by his human’s grave for years after his owner’s death. The entrance to the cemetery is next to the pub. Mom and I visited both Bobby’s and his owner’s graves during a previous visit.

Next time – Around Edinburgh Part 2

May 31, 2020

Rosslyn Chapel, Melrose Abbey, and Part of Hadrian’s Wall

In addition to Rabbie’s, the other small group tour company out of Edinburgh that I really liked was the Heart of Scotland. They left from the same location as Rabbie’s and had a day trip to Rosslyn Chapel, Melrose Abbey and the portion of Hadrian’s Wall known as Housesteads Fort. So I hopped on the tour coach with about 10 other people this time and we headed for the village of Roslin.

I don’t know why the spelling of the chapel name is different from the spelling of the village name. The castle is also spelled like the village even though it belongs to the same family as the chapel. That family is named Sinclair or St Clare. St Clare was the original name of the Norman French family. They arrived in Scotland in the 11^th century, building a castle at Roslin in the early 14^th century. They got around, having spent quite a bit of time up in Caithness in northern Scotland and on Orkney – a group of islands north of mainland Scotland. I saw loads of Sinclair castles up in Caithness on a previous trip.

The castle at Roslin was heavily damaged during the Rough Wooing Wars between Scotland and England during the time of Henry VIII. The East Range of the castle was rebuilt in the 16^th century and has been steadily inhabited ever since. It only looks like a house from up above, but it is located on sheer cliffs above the River Esk and has three more levels under the two that can be readily seen. These lower levels were built directly into the rock upon which the castle sits.

My previous visit to Rosslyn Chapel was during a very heavy rainstorm. So the small group of us that went there on the city bus from Edinburgh didn’t go down the rather steep dirt trail from the chapel to the castle. It was pretty much a rushing stream of water instead of a path. I was really glad to be back at the chapel so I could see the castle.

Another reason I was happy to be back was that the chapel had been completely encased in scaffolding at the time of the 2009 visit. For the 2016 visit, the repairs had been made, the scaffolding was off, and the entire building could be seen. It was nearly as exquisite outside as inside. They don’t allow photos inside. They sell them in the gift shop. I had hoped that they would allow interior photography this time, but they didn’t.

What wasn’t the least bit disappointing was the talk given inside by a very knowledgeable guide with a great sense of humor. The building is not all that large, so a fairly central seat enables the listener to gaze around in awe and see everything the guide talks about. After they are done, there is plenty of time to walk around and take a closer look. You know where everything is after listening to the guide.

After closer looks at many items upstairs and down, I ended up near the guide and we had a very interesting conversation about the town, the castle, the chapel, and The DaVinci Code film. She had been there during the filming and had several anecdotes.

The tour set off for the town of Melrose closer to the border with England. We had a good amount of free time to have lunch and explore both the town and the abbey. I had lunch at a sandwich shop connected to a chocolate shop that made its own chocolate. Needless to say I bought some of their chocolate both for myself and for small gifts for various people back home. Scottish chocolate is quite good. It also goes well with Scotch Whiskey.

Between the sandwich shop and the abbey was Priorwood Garden. I had some time before the abbey was open to tourists, so I explored the garden. It was a very lovely, large garden and I wandered around it for a while.

Then I headed over to Melrose Abbey. The abbey had been founded in 1136 by King David I of Scotland. King Richard II of England had the abbey burned in the 14^th century. Then it was badly damaged by King Henry VIII of England during the Rough Wooing. But what remains is still very impressive and quite large.

Back when the movie Braveheart was made, it was full of historical inaccuracies. I could write an entire post on just that. But the one in particular that pertains to this trip is that William Wallace was never nicknamed ‘Braveheart’. That was Robert the Bruce, who became king of Scotland (he also didn’t betray Wallace; that was John de Menteith).

After death, Robert the Bruce was mostly buried at Dunfermline. But his heart was removed, placed in a silver casket, and taken on a crusade in Spain by his friend Sir James Douglas. Sir James and most of the rest of the contingency were killed. The silver casket was brought back to Scotland along with the Scots and the casket with the actual Braveheart’s heart was buried at Melrose Abbey. I took a photo of the heart’s location, which I have included here.

From Melrose, we headed down to the border and crossed into England on our way to the portion of Hadrian’s Wall called Housesteads Fort. This was a Roman fort along the wall and up a steep hill.

I have always enjoyed the idea of the wall. In 122 AD, the Romans, after managing to conquer much of England, headed north, encountered the Picts (Scotland as such didn’t exist yet; the people known as the Scots didn’t arrive in the area until a few hundred years later), decided that they just didn’t want to deal with them at all and built a wall to contain them instead. The official reason for the wall was to “separate the Romans from the barbarians.”

For the most part, the wall was about 10 feet wide and 16 to 20 feet in height. Despite hundreds of years of people taking stones from the wall to build their own walls or other buildings (such as Carlisle Castle), there is still a pretty substantial amount of wall standing. The various forts, milecastles (small forts placed every mile along the wall) and turrets were dismantled more than the wall itself.

Because the actual name of the fort isn’t known (there are several possibilities, one of which is Vercovicium), Housesteads Fort (built in 124 AD) was named after the farm on which it stood for several hundred years after the Romans left (about 409 AD). The fort has been the property of the National Trust since 1930, though sheep still graze on the land between the visitor’s center and the fort.

In addition to the Roman baths and the other usual Roman buildings that can be seen at such sites across Britain, this particular fort has the best preserved stone latrine found in any Roman excavations in Great Britain. Just outside the fort itself is a building called ‘the murder house’ as two skeletons were found beneath a newly laid floor when excavated.

Our guide mentioned the films The Centurion and The Eagle, which were both loosely based on the legend of the disappearance of the Roman Ninth Legion into Caledonia (the name the Romans gave to the land north of the wall). However there isn’t any actual historical evidence that the Ninth was ever involved with anything having to do with Caledonia, so nobody is certain what really happened to them. They were, however, in Britain from about 43 AD until the record runs dry. They were involved with Boudica’s rebellion in 61 AD and were reportedly trounced by her forces at what is now Colchester.

On our way back to Edinburgh, we made a stop for photos at Jedburgh Abbey – another border abbey founded by King David I of Scotland. This one, though damaged during the Rough Wooing, made it through until the Scottish Reformation. As it is, there is a fair amount of it still standing and it is quite beautiful.

Next time –taking a Hop On Hop Off tour around Edinburgh.

May 24, 2020

Alnwick Castle & the Scottish Borders

My first full day in Scotland, I had a day trip booked to visit Alnwick Castle and the Scottish Borders. As a fan of both Downton Abbey and the Harry Potter books and films, I was really looking forward to seeing Alnwick (pronounced Ann-ick). The castle was used as the home of the fella who ultimately became Edith’s husband in Downton. In the Harry Potter films, it was used for many of the exterior shots, and a few interiors, of the Hogwarts School of Magic.

The tour left from just across the street and down the road a bit. The tour group – Rabbies – does small group tours with a maximum of 16 people. I booked all of my day trips through Viator online. They were through various tour groups. Rabbies was one I really liked.

The tour coach was packed and a woman asked if she could sit with me. Her name was Naomi and she lived in Israel. We hit it off immediately and ended up spending the day together. We continue to stay in touch.

Our first stop was Kelso Abbey. As with most of the abbeys along the Scottish border with England, Kelso was destroyed in the 16^th century as part of what was known as the Rough Wooing. King Henry VIII of England wanted Mary Queen of Scots in marriage to his son Edward. When the answer came back as “no”, Henry started a war with Scotland. As part of that war, he destroyed all of the abbeys he could in Scotland. Henry did not take “no” for an answer ever.

After the destruction of the 12^th century abbey, much of the stone was hauled away to be used to build other things. There is one section of the building remaining. It gives an idea of both how strong and how beautiful a building it once was. Most of the land around it is a cemetery.

We took a walk into the town through the cemetery. This was so folks could get their morning coffee. Not being a coffee drinker, I went along just to see the town. It was a small market town with a central town square, where it would have been difficult to lose one’s way.

To get to Alnwick, we needed to cross the border into England. This included crossing the great salmon fishing river, the River Tweed. We stopped for some photos.

In Scottish Gaelic, the river is Abhainn Thuaidh, and in Scots it is called Watter o Tweid. Scottish Gaelic is the unique language of Scotland, which is still spoken in some parts of the Highlands, but not too much elsewhere in Scotland any more (unlike Welsh which is having a great revival). Scots is an archaic hybrid of Scottish Gaelic and English that was mainly spoken in the Lowlands of Scotland. It is the language in which the song “Auld Lang Syne” was written. “Auld Lang Syne” means roughly “days gone by.”

The seat of the Dukes of Northumberland, the 11^th century Alnwick Castle is the second largest inhabited castle in England, after Windsor. Over its long history, it has been involved in several battles, including the Wars of the Roses between the Yorkists and Lancastrians. Although it changed hands a few times over the centuries, it was never severely damaged and still looks very much as it did in the 12^th century on the outside. The inside and the parks were altered in the 18^th and 19^th centuries. New gardens were created in 2003 for the purposes of a charitable trust.

The castle has several Harry Potter displays and experiences for children and families. While we were there, a Downton Abbey costume exhibit was going on inside of the castle. Unfortunately they didn’t allow photos inside.

The dining room looked just as it did in Downton Abbey and there were several mannequins around the room wearing gowns that had been worn in the scenes shot there. This was another castle that, despite its size, seemed rather cozy.

Wanting something associated with Downton Abbey, I purchased a very elegant ‘cake slice’ which looked like something that would be used at a formal dinner there. A couple of my friends (also Downton Abbey fans) and I have an annual tea during which we use this special purchase to serve desserts.

Naomi and I had lunch together at the Treehouse, which actually was a treehouse. Then we walked around the garden and grounds until it was time to leave. I can’t remember who the person was whose statue on horseback I photographed, but I am sure it was a family member (the Percy family) and I really liked the statue.

Originally the site of an ancient fort built by the indigenous Celtic Britons, Bamburgh Castle had its origins in 547. That castle was destroyed by the Vikings in 993. The Normans built a new castle on the site in the 11^th century. Unfortunately there wasn’t enough time to tour the castle (and I think it was either closed for the day or about to be).

Just before crossing the border back into Scotland, we made a stop at Berwick-on-Tweed to take photos of the bridges. Berwick started as an Anglo-Saxon market town. Taking a photo of the bridges properly lined up with one another, there are three bridges from three different centuries.

Dunbar Castle was begun in the 7^th century on a rocky outcrop at the harbor of the town of Dunbar. The castle was then rebuilt in stone in the 11^th century. But in the 16^th century, the castle was blown up.

Back in Edinburgh, Naomi and I decided to have dinner together. Although it was my first full day in Scotland, it was her last. She was returning home the next day. I proposed the bar at the Balmoral. They had food as well as drinks in a casual atmosphere.

We shared a vegetarian grill that was huge (I think it was intended to be shared by two people) and delicious. Along with that, I had a mojito that added some cherry juice and champagne to the usual recipe. It too was quite tasty.

After our dinner, when we entered the lobby from the bar, we were called over to the desk by the Assistant Manager. He had some chocolates to give us. And then he also gave us some of the most light and airy macarons I have ever had. I thought that was so nice.

After sending Naomi off in her taxi to her hotel, I headed up to my room. My bed had already been turned down, with some hotel slippers next to the bed and more chocolates on the nightstand.

Next time – Rosslyn Chapel (and Castle), Melrose Abbey & Part of Hadrian’s Wall

May 17, 2020May 24, 2020

Edinburgh: St Giles Cathedral & The Real Mary King’s Close

All of my previous times in Edinburgh had been as part of a tour. So I only had a day or two in Scotland’s capitol on those past trips. This time I was traveling entirely on my own and had seven days planned in Edinburgh and on day trips from Edinburgh.

I love Edinburgh. It is a unique city with some of the nicest people you’ll ever want to meet. Central Edinburgh consists of the Old Town and the New Town. The New Town is Georgian (1700s) with some Victorian as it expanded its boundaries. The Old Town is Medieval and perched on an extinct volcano. Edinburgh Castle is at the top with the main road (called the Royal Mile) running down the lava flow. Buildings, other roads, and bridges spanning the area between the Old Town and New Town fill in the rest.

I arrived in Edinburgh about a quarter to eight in the morning. After collecting my luggage and getting through customs, I took a taxi to the hotel. The airport is not far from Central Edinburgh, so it was only a £10 (about $12.80 USD) ride.

I usually don’t get too much into specific hotels on these posts unless the hotel and/or the deal I managed to get was special. This hotel was special in every way. It was the Balmoral – a five star Victorian Scottish Baronial on Princes Street in the New Town. Normally I wouldn’t even begin to be able to afford a room at the Balmoral. But, for some reason, when I did the hotel search, they had a room for only slightly more (about $10 per night USD) than I normally pay. Maybe it was the time of year, or the number of nights, or just a fluke. I figured that was possibly my one and only chance to ever stay in one of the premier hotels of Edinburgh, so I nabbed it.

The location was amazing too. A small shopping mall, which included a grocers, was next door along Princes Street. I only had to go over the North Bridge to get to the Royal Mile. Most of the day trips picked up and dropped off just across the street. And getting the train to London wouldn’t be too difficult since the Waverly Train Station was next door behind the shopping mall.

When my taxi pulled up, the driver got my luggage out and handed the two bags to the kilted doorman who, in turn, swept me and my luggage up the stairs and into the hotel. There, he handed my luggage off to a bellman and me to the fella behind the desk, who was the assistant manager of the hotel. Then he gave me a small bow and headed back to his post.

The assistant manager checked me in, gave me all pertinent information (including that the breakfast buffet – which came with the room – would be open for another hour). He slipped the bellman the info as to where my room was and then escorted me to a special lift that would get me closer to where my room was than the main elevator. The Balmoral is known for its service and they were already giving me a demonstration of what staying there was all about.

Now, this is not a small hotel, however the assistant manager and the lady who seated me at breakfast every morning both remembered my name and referred to me as “Ms Lichty” each time they encountered me. The breakfast lady also remembered my preference in newspapers and where I liked to sit in the restaurant. I found that very impressive.

The breakfast was an enormous buffet. You could have anything you wanted from just some toast and butter to a full Scottish breakfast and everything in between. As anxious as I was to go exploring, it was raining and I was hungry, so I took my time with a modified version of the full Scottish. I don’t like blood pudding, but I do like haggis. Eggs, sausage, mushrooms, pork’n’beans, toast and jelly, orange juice and tea rounded out my meal.

By the time I was done and had grabbed my jacket, cap, camera and camera bag from my room, it was raining more lightly and I set off up and over the North Bridge. As I reached the Royal Mile, I also reached a souvenir shop. I knew there were several along the road and decided to walk a ways down the road to see what else there might be. I had a few people to get things for (especially golf items from St Andrews) and wanted to get some quality items without paying premium prices.

Down the road a ways I could get a good shot of St Giles Cathedral showing its very unique crown spire. The shops I chose to buy most of my gifts from were back down the road near that first shop I encountered upon reaching the Royal Mile. After buying what I needed and stashing most of it inside my camera bag, I headed back again towards St Giles. Before entering the cathedral, I decided to take a closer look at the Mercat Cross.

A Mercat Cross is essentially the Scottish version of a Market Cross. This was a central location in a city, town or village where people could find out the latest news, and where punishments, including executions, were often meted out. The current Mercat Cross in Edinburgh is a Victorian version of the original, located a short distance (a few feet) from where the original (14^th century) was located. The Mercat Cross is still a meeting point. Several of the walking tours that were offered in Edinburgh departed from the Mercat Cross.

From the Mercat Cross, I walked to the entrance to St Giles at the other end of the cathedral. There was somebody playing the bagpipes near there, so I sat down on a now dry bench by the entrance and listened before going inside.

The oldest part of St Giles Cathedral was originally built in the 12^th century and rebuilt in the 14^th century after it was burned by King Richard II of England during the First Scottish Wars of Independence. Inside it looked like several different churches were sort of knitted together with a few mismatches here and there. It was a fascinating church because of all of the different aspects to it.

There were memorials to such people as author Robert Louis Stevenson and Mary Queen of Scots’ half-brother, James Stewart, Earl of Moray. As the High Kirk (church) of Edinburgh, the cathedral contains one of the original copies of the National Covenant, which was signed in 1638 and adopted by the Church of Scotland. A chapel for the Knights of the Thistle, which is a special Scottish knighthood with St Andrew as its patron saint, was added onto the cathedral in 1909.

The tombs of James Graham, Marquess of Montrose and Archibald Campbell, Marquess of Argyll are on opposite sides of the church. It was Argyll who had Montrose executed during King Charles II’s exile. Charles had Argyll executed when he returned. He also had Montrose interred. Since Montrose had been hanged, drawn and quartered, he needed to collect all of his parts first. Argyll was merely beheaded.

While I was there, a prayer service was held. I sat down and participated. Most of the people in the cathedral at that time did the same.

Not far from Argyll’s tomb and the last thing I checked out before I left the building was a statue of John Knox. He was the minister at St Giles from 1559 to 1572, one of the leaders of the Scottish Reformation, and founder of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland.

After my long visit to St Giles, I went across the street to The Real Mary King’s Close. This was a series of closes (narrow streets, more like alleys) that were underneath the buildings of the Royal Exchange and City Chambers. The streets were bricked up during the plague in 1645 because of the overly large number of victims in that area (it is rumored that some of those victims were bricked up with the streets).

In the 18^th century, the streets and buildings were partially demolished and buried when the Royal Exchange was being built. The area was forgotten about until about 1970, when it was rediscovered. The area was opened to the public in 2003 for guided tours. The tour concentrated on the history of the area which included people who lived there, the professions of the people who lived there (as the remains of the buildings are toured), and the time of the plague. There was also discussion of the reported hauntings.

This leads me to an anecdote. Just after the photo of me looking happy and rather ghostly on the actual Mary King’s Close was taken, I walked slowly down to the bottom of the close at the request of the guide. I had been first to get my photo taken, so I was alone on that part of the darkened close. When I reached the bottom, there was a small amount of light. I turned around and looked back up at a group of people who were being photographed after me when one of the women screamed. She thought that I was a ghost. I thought it was quite funny. I do have a very pale complexion and very light blonde hair.

Since I had such a large breakfast, I hadn’t been too hungry until about 3pm at the end of the tour. The Real Mary King’s Close had a gift shop and café so I took a look at what they had on offer. I really like Cullen Skink, which is a creamy soup with haddock, turnips, potatoes, carrots and onions – usually blended until smooth. I got some of that and some Irn Bru, which is a Scottish soft drink that tastes somewhat like a cross between an orange soda and a cream soda.

As I left the close, a young man who had heard me speak to a couple who had been on the tour, asked where I was from. When I responded, “Minneapolis”, he told me about what a big fan of Prince he was. This ended up being just three days before Prince died.

Instead of returning to the hotel via the North Bridge, I swung down Cockburn Street to the Waverly Bridge. There I took a photo of the monument to Sir Walter Scott at the junction of Princes Street and the Waverly Bridge. It looks rather medieval, but it is Victorian. There is a statue of Scott seated inside.

Next time – a day trip to Alnwick Castle and the Scottish Borders