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Edinburgh

fredstraveltrails
Bagpiper Girl, Edinburgh
The littlest Bagpiper

HiYa!! My new all-purpose greeting, yes, everybody in Scotland greets you with HiYa! Shopkeepers greet you: HiYa! Bartenders: Hiya! Hikers: HiYa.

 

All right, four million visitors clog Auld Reekie’s (Old Stinkie…a 19th century blend of coal smoke and you-don’t-want-to-know) streets annually. They hit the highlights: The Castle (£) and The Royal Mile, peer down some closes, visit Holyrood (Holy Cross) Palace and St. Giles Cathedral (£); shop on Princes Street, take in an evening ghost walk, maybe visit the Scottish parliament. If fit, climb Arthur’s seat, but never dig into Edinburgh’s history preserved and available for us to this day. 

Highlander, native costume
Asking directions? to the Fringe? at the Scottish Parliament.

 

So, who wants to hear about these delights right away, when we can tell you about the Beltane Fire Festival instead, associated with druids, Celtic rituals, the return of summer, and fire. Celebrated on May 1, associated with fertility rites, in days long past, arcane rituals were performed to protect cattle, people and crops. Special bonfires were lit, and all household fires were extinguished and re-lit from the Beltane flames. There was food and drink and lots of carousing, and some of it was given to the aos sith, or the fairie-folk of Celtic belief. Nine months later, their families may increase by one. The modern Beltane was restarted in 1988 by some U. of Edinburgh types, grown to 300 associated organisations and takes place yearly on Calton Hill. The May Queen and The Green Man (look it up), light the bonfire to spark the birth of summer. Be there for the debauchery (just kidding). 

Credit to Nyri0 from CreativeCommons

 So, now for the wicked.

The Royal Mile in the Old Town starts at Holyrood (Holy Cross) Palace and ends at The Castle, but just before reaching the Esplanade before the Castle, on the side of the current Tartan Weaving Mill, overlooked by all, easy to miss is The Witches Well. Not really a well, but a fountain now dry, it marks the spot where thousands of ‘witches’ were burnt at the stake between the 16th and 18th centuries. The mentally ill, those, unfortunate enough to be wrongly accused by someone’s ill will, mere herbalists, wise women, were accused and murdered without trial. In the late 19th century, this memorial in bronze was designed and executed by the famed artist, John Duncan. Small but mighty and worth a look at the symbolism on its bas-relief.

Witches Well, Edinburgh
Witches Well, credit to Kim Traynor, Creative Commons

Just outside the entrance to St. Giles down the Royal Mile, have a look for a heart-shaped granite mosaic embedded in the street, called The Heart of Midlothian. The heart marks the entrance to the infamous Old Tolbooth (jail), demolished in 1817. Passing locals will often spit on it as a sign of good luck (??). Legend says that in the past, it was done as a sign of disdain to authority (dangerous stuff in the 17th century). So, watch your step. The infamous prison and the heart have been immortalized by Sir Walter Scott’s novel, The Heart of Mid-Lothian, some say, his best, which fictionalized the events of the Porteus Riots of the early 18th century. Inside the Cathedral, look for the Thistle Chapel and see stone angels playing bagpipes.

St. Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh
St, Giles Cathedral

 

Credit to SecretPilgrim from CreativeCommons

Stone angel, bagpipes, St. Giles Cathedral
Stone Angel playing bagpipes

 

The Castle itself…well… I guess you have to see the stuff inside but have a gander at the stone statues of William Wallace and Robert the Bruce right at the drawbridge.  

Edinburh Castle
Edinburgh Castle

 Any visit to the castle must involve a view of Mons Meg, a 15th century iron bombard designed to burst castle walls. Six tonnes itself, it could fire a 550 pound stone ball a distance of 3 Kms (2 miles). It was so heavy a team of oxen would need a day to move it three miles. It had a barrel diameter of 20 inches, making it one of the largest cannons by caliber. Made in Mons, today’s Belgium, it was gifted by the Duke of Burgundy to James II, used in several sieges, last fired in 1680 when the barrel burst.

 

The Mile is the focal point for Edinburgh’s Festivals, The International, and the more outré Fringe, the world’s largest arts festival, which spans typically 3 weeks in August. The International brought the best performers in the theater, music and the arts generally and catered to a more high-brow crowd, and as such grabbed the best venues of the city. The Fringe began as a reaction/counter-culture movement to this state of affairs, but as all the ‘good’ places were taken, they were consigned to venues on the ‘fringes’ of the city. Not any more. The city is packed in August, but Scotland’s weather being what it is, it’s the best time to visit. 

Fringe Party, Edinburgh
Fringe Toga?

After some Fringe activities, what could be better than a pop into Bennet’s Bar; gorgeous, ornate, 19th century decor, stained glass windows!!, a separate lounge for Ladies, well preserved, gleaming wood throughout, south of the Castle on Leven St, has stood there since 1839. The bar has a well-deserved reputation for its selection of fine beers and ales, and a truly vast selection of over 150 single malts. Very worth a visit. 

Bennets Bar, Edinburgh
Bennets Bar, credit: Kim Traynor, CreativeCommons

Now, some eateries (not Bennet’s) advertised in their windows that they served Fish Teas! Thinking that this was another disgusting item on the Scottish menu like Haggis (actually, quite good), my fevered mind was laid to rest by my relatives-in-law, by being told ‘not to be daft’…everybody knows that Tea is the evening meal, except a Colonial like me. Why don’t they just call it Fish and Chips??

 

The other end of the Royal Mile has Holyrood Palace, the royal residence of the Kings of Scotland, and now, of the UK, when visiting. Nearby are the ruins of the Abbey, built in 1128 by David I and destroyed by Thomas, the destroyer, Cromwell (Henry VIII needed the money). Of course, the Palace is best known as the abode of the unfortunate Mary, Queen of Scots, a Catholic, brought up in France, an ex-Queen-Consort of France (for one whole year), the monarch of a Protestant country, torn by feuding religious lords, marrying badly, accused in abetting a murder and finally losing her head to Elizabeth I, a Protestant. Sigh… Mere Christianity (pace C.S. Lewis). The palace shows off the rooms where-it-all-happened, where Bonnie Prince Charlie partied in the Great Gallery, the royal apartments, a HUGE portrait of Charles II, and so on. 

Holyrood Palace
Holyrood Palace, credit: Daniel Craft, CreativeCommons

 

Queen Mary’s Bath House…very near the Palace, so quaint, it was probably never a bath house, but was most likely a retreat for the royals. It once was part of the massive two-tiered wall that surrounded the Palace. 

Queen Mary's Bathhouse
Queen Mary's Bathhouse

 Edinburgh’s Closes…As you walk down the Mile from the Castle look to the left for several of narrow, really narrow, alleyways leading off the Mile down the hill to Princes Street and the New Town. They date from medieval times, and originally, they were the access paths for residences that were further off from the Mile. As a result, they were really spaced for 1-2 persons to pass. These ‘entrance-ways’, as private lanes, would be closed at night, hence…closes. Peering down these dark closes, especially on a heavy overcast day, a frequent occurrence… anything could be lurking below… 

OK, well in this case, it was Yum Yums Kebabs and pizzas

 

Paisley Close
Paisley Close

 


 

 Mary King’s Close has been haunted since the 17th century. Paranormal investigations have taken place. Urban myths – tales of murders. Edinburgh was hard hit by the black death in 1645, wiping our half its population. The closes were especially hit. The old Loch Nor, between the Old and New towns, no longer, was a stagnant and polluted marsh that gave off gases – biogas – which may have led to these tales as the gas combusted in air. The gases could flow into the closes and caused hallucinations and inexplicable deaths. 

Sign to Mary King's Close
Get a tattoo at Mary King's Close

Lady Stairs Close begins in darkness, but, unexpectedly opens up into a nice expansive quadrangle full of 17th century buildings, almost demolished, but saved from the wrecking ball. The writers’ museum is here.

 


 

Lady Stairs Close, Edinburgh
Lady Stairs Close

Some closes were named for the goods that could be purchased there, hence, Bakehouse Close, but this Close has a seedier history as Edinburgh’s red-light district. A visitor towards the end of the 18th century might come to see the Scottish Innovations of the Enlightenment, like Mr. Watt’s steam engine, but he would be warned away from this den of iniquity. 

 

 White Horse Close, not really a close, is a very nice enclosed courtyard off the Canongate at the eastern end of the Mile.

 

White Horse Close Edinburgh
White Horse Close

 Arthur’s Seat, so… the name is a huge modification from the unpronounceable Gaelic, but its top affords the most outstanding view of the city laid out before you. Start the climb from the Palace and an hour later you’ll be wheezing your way to the top. 

Arthur's Seat
Arthur's Seat, must have been pretty big...

Lauriston Castle is a gorgeous specimen, at the western edge of Edinburgh, worth a visit and, yes, haunted.

 

The Blair Street Underground Vaults are also worth a look and a Haunted tour will take you there. As space was at a premium at one time and more and more tenements went up, the vaults were dug, sometime four stories deep. Originally used as warehouses, it soon became clear that it was not going to work from the cold and damp and rats…by and by they were abandoned and taken over by the criminal element: bootleggers, thieves, body snatchers (body snatchers?? – it was a thing back in the 16 hundreds), certain ladies…interested in companionship… 

 

The Tolbooth Tavern, an iconic structure on the Royal Mile, was originally part of the Canon Gate into Edinburgh, built in 1591, where the tolls from travellers were collected. It aIso served as a jail, then became a tavern in 1820. It is, what else, haunted. Scots love their haunted stuff. Most of their castles are haunted too

 

Tolbooth Tavern
Tollbooth Tavern

 The National Museum holds wonderful delights such as the original second-in-the-world guillotine and a Scold’s Bridle. What is a Scold’s Bridle you may ask?? A horrible instrument of punishment – a form of public humiliation. Best left undescribed, it prevented the wearer from speaking or eating.

 

National Museuim, Edinburgh
National Museum

 

 Close by, and last by not least…Greyfriar’s Bobby (and Pub).

In 1850, John Gray, a gardener by trade arrived in Edinburgh with his wife. Finding no work in his trade, he joined the Police Force as a night watchman. To keep him company, he took on a partner, a scruffy Skye Terrier, his watchdog, and called him Bobby. Through summer and winter, cold and sleet, they trudged through the streets of the Old Town – they were thick as thieves (love this expression). Troubled by TB, John passed away eight years later and was buried in Greyfiars Kirkyard. Bobby refused to leave his master’s graveside. The Kirkyard gardener provided a shelter for him by his master. News of Bobby’s faithfulness spread throughout Edinburgh, crowds would gather. At the 1 PM gun, Bobby would leave his place and go to the inn where his master used to go, where he was given his meal. For fourteen years, Bobby kept watch over his master until his own death in 1872. Baroness Angela Burdett-Coutts commissioned a bronze statue of Bobby to be created and installed next to the Kirkyard. The inscription says, “Let his loyalty and devotion be a lesson for us all.” Today, you can see Bobby on his plinth, at the intersection of George IV Bridge and Candlemakers’ Row (love the name), opposite Greyfriars Pub, the Kirkyard, and the National Gallery. Touch his gleaming nose for good luck, DON’T rub, it's fragile. 

Greyfriars Bobby
Greyfriars Bobby and Bar

 There you have it, a short stroll through much, much history.

 

PS: Did you know that one of the most popular cures for baldness in 17th century Edinburgh was applying burnt ashes of dove’s dung? Hmmm, I wonder if it worked – slightly acidic... lots of organic compounds... hey! Organic…and a new product is born…perhaps not.

 

PPS: BTW, there’s an easy way to separate the locals from the tourists. At 1 PM, every day since 1861, a cannon is fired from the castle. Locals react by checking their watches, tourists duck for cover.

 

Extras:

 

 

 

Cockburn Street, edinburgh
Cockburn Street from Princes St to Old Town

 


The Royal Mile, Ediburgh
The Royal Mile (and 116 feet)

 

 

 


 

 

 

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