Winter’s Morn
“There are two seasons in Scotland: June and winter.”
Winter woke from her slumber today (Dec 21). As if to signal her return, bitterly cold winds whipped over the summit and through the passageways of the many buildings that make up the mighty Edinburgh Castle.
At a northern latitude of 56°, the sun’s rays did not greet Edinburgh this morning until 8:42 am. While it’s still afternoon, we will bid the sun farewell at 3:39 pm.
For Amanda and me, this is our 40th day in the city, but we held off touring the famous castle until Pam’s arrival. Today was finally the day—welcoming winter at Edinburgh Castle.
Standing on a bridge over a moat, and flanked on the left by Sir William Wallace (Braveheart) and on the right by Robert the Bruce, Pam and Amanda prepare to enter the fortress of Edinburgh Castle.
The statues were only erected outside the castle in 1929, but both men had been celebrated for centuries before. Both were prominent leaders during the First War of Scottish Independence, which began in 1296 and lasted for roughly three decades.
Inside the main gate, you arrive at the Portcullis Gate. Built after the long siege of 1571-3 as the main gateway into the castle, it stands on the site of the medieval constable’s tower. The top story was added in 1887.
Not a silly pretend gate from the Sleeping Beauty’s Castle at Disneyland, this is the genuine article.
Get it: Lang Stairs…Langstaff. Hey, close enough!
The Argyle Battery’s six guns, plus the adjacent Mill’s Mount Battery, formed the main artillery defense on the north side of castle, and offers commanding views over the present day Princes Street Gardens and on to the Firth of Forth.
These 18-pounder muzzle-loaders are from the Napoleonic era, built in 1810.
On the top of each barrel is the royal cipher GR3—George III.
The Argyle Battery and the Low Defense.
The path down to the Low Defense.
Waverly train station and Calton Hill through a cannon slit in the Low Defense.
Adjacent to the Argyle Battery is the Mills Mount Battery, with the One o’clock Gun as its most famous resident. Ships in the Firth of Forth once set their maritime clocks by its sound. The firing of the gun dates back to 1861, when businessman John Hewat brought the idea to Edinburgh from Paris.
The gun is still fired every day at 1 pm and the sound often surprises people on Princes Street below. The original gun was a 64-pounder. Since 2001, however, a 105mm field gun has fired instead.
Here’s today’s gun: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmV2-EEFNvU
When you hear “castle,” you imagine a single building; in reality, it’s more like a fortress city on top of the rock. Within the castle walls, there are at least three full-scale museums dedicated to one facet of war or another. There are simply too many things to mention, but I’ll include just a few photos that interested me (one can only take so much death and dismemberment anyway). The pistols above came as a set in a custom case. It made me think of every duel scene I’ve ever watched where they open a case and ask you to select your weapon.
Here is a cool assortment of traditional Scottish knives known as sgian-dubh (anglicized as skene), sporran, swords, and kilt pins.
Scottish military drum.
Dragoon Guards refers to certain heavy calvary regimens.
In a bookshop halfway through the castle grounds I came upon this copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stane (for the American version of the book, they replaced Philosopher’s with Sorcerer’s.) As Harry Potter fans, this sounds like an amazing gift, something truly worth owning. And then you open the book to page 1 and start reading…
Ahhh, no!
Prisoner barracks.
Foog’s Gate was the principle gate to the Upper Ward. The perimeter wall on either side was built during King Charles II reign (1649-85) to bolster the castle's defences.
Beautiful exterior of The Scottish National War Memorial building inside the castle grounds. It commemorates Scottish service personnel and civilians, and those serving with Scottish regiments, who died in the two world wars and subsequent conflicts.
The entrance to The Scottish National War Memorial building (no photos are permitted inside).
A contemplative horse at the Memorial’s entrance.
A wonder of medieval Scotland, the Great Hall was completed in 1511 for King James IV. Its wooden roof is one of the most superb in Britain.
Grand banquets and state events took place here. Restored to its medieval splendour, the Great Hall today displays weapons and armour that hint at its military past.
Merry Christmas from the Great Hall.
Overlooking Crown Square and the queue outside the Royal Palace to enter the Crown Room to see the Honours of Scotland—the oldest Crown jewels in Britain. Made of gold, silver, and precious gems, the priceless crown, sceptre, and sword of state are objects of immense significance. (There were definitely no photos allowed inside the room.)
The crown was made for James V, who first wore it at the coronation of Queen Mary of Guise in 1540. Mary Queen of Scots was the first to be crowned using the new crown and sceptre together, in 1543.
The Honours have had a turbulent past. They were removed from the castle and hidden in 1651–60 to keep them from Oliver Cromwell’s army. In 1707, following the Act of Union between England and Scotland, they were locked in a chest and sealed away.
In 1818, Sir Walter Scott, the famous novelist, rediscovered the Honours—along with a mysterious silver wand.
Inside the same enclosure that houses the Honours, also sits the Stone of Destiny—an ancient symbol of Scotland’s monarchy, used for centuries in the inauguration of its kings. Seen as a sacred object, its earliest origins are now unknown.
In 1296, King Edward I of England seized the stone from the Scots, and had it built into a new throne at Westminster Abbey in London. From then on, it was used in the coronation ceremonies of the monarchs of England and then Great Britain.
On Christmas Day 1950, four Scottish students removed the stone from Westminster. Three months later it turned up 500 miles away—at the high altar of Arbroath Abbey in Perth, Scotland. (You can rent the 2008 film Stone of Destiny on Amazon Prime if you want to see all about the Scots stealing the stone and bringing it back to Scotland. We just watched it again last night and it was really fun.)
In 1996, the stone was officially returned to Scotland and will only leave Scotland again for the coronation of King Charles III in Westminster Abbey on May 6, 2023.
After viewing the Honours and the Stone, you are directed into the Royal Palace, where Mary Queen of Scots gave birth to her son James in the small room shown above—his birth chamber was a highlight.
Crowned king of Scotland at just 13 months old, James became the first monarch of both Scotland (James VI) and England (James I) in 1603.
As king, James VI and I commissioned a new translation of the Bible—the King James Version. It is considered one of the most influential books ever published in the English language. A copy on display in Mary’s bedchamber is shown above.
When the first guidebooks to the castle were published in the 1800s, Mary rather than her more successful son James, was usually the central character. The queen had become a cultural icon, inspiring writers, artists, playwrights, and musicians, with particular appeal to Victorian sentimentality.
Public pressure for access to the castle grew after the discovery of the Honours of Scotland in 1818. The military gradually retreated from the palace.
“My son, my son, may kinder stars
Upon your fortune shine.”
Above the door to the Royal Palace are the gilded initials MAH—for Mary Queen of Scots and her second husband Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley. They married in 1565 and moved into this palace in 1566.
Cemetery for Regimental Mascots & Officers’ Dogs—This small garden space holds a soldiers’ dog cemetery that dates back to 1837. The year marks the ascent of Queen Victoria to the British throne, and her reign (until 1901) was noted by several cultural traits, among which was an appreciation of pets and companion animals.
The same appreciation for animals that led to the story of Greyfriars Bobby could also have led to the establishment of this cemetery, especially since burial plots in castles were often considered exclusive to military personnel and nobles.
The small graveyard is home to about 20 headstones. Many of the engravings have worn away over time, but the oldest visible inscription is from 1881, a dedication to Jess, band pet of the Black Watch 42nd Royal Highlanders. The youngest headstone commemorates Winkle, who died in 1980 and was the “dear and faithful friend of Lady Gow and the Governor.”
“Berkin dugs here lie at rest
The yappin worst, obedient best
Sodgers pets and mascots tae
Still the guard the castle to this day.”
Bob regimental pet of the 1st Battalion, Scots Fusilier Guards, preserved after his death in 1860 (not in the least bit creepy). Bob is wearing the special medal he was awarded during the Crimean War. Pets were often kept under the communal ownership of a regiment.
St Margaret’s Chapel—King David I built the chapel in about 1130, probably as part of a great stone tower. He dedicated it to his saintly mother, Margaret. Scotland’s royal family once knelt to worship in this serene private chapel. Today, the doors of Edinburgh’s oldest building are open to all castle visitors, and the chapel continues to host weddings and christenings.
The chapel is the oldest building in all Edinburgh. After the Protestant Reformation in the 1560s. the chapel was converted into a gunpowder store and its origins forgotten. It endured many sieges before being rediscovered in 1845. Queen Victoria supported the chapel's restoration in 1851-2.
Scottish saints and heroes, including St Margaret and William Wallace, are shown in the stained glass installed in 1922.
When the king who has everything gets married, it’s important to have just the right gift. In this case, the perfect thing was two enormous cannons, equipped to fire monstrous cannonballs weighing in at 330 pounds each, and launching those missiles to an impressive distance of two miles.
“I got big balls.” -Amanda
OK, now I just feel inadequate!
Named for the town in Belgium where she was forged around 1449, Mons Meg is the last surviving of the two enormous guns.
Although she was once used in battle against the English, Meg’s enormous weight—15,366 pounds—proved unwieldy and difficult to move, eventually restricting her mighty strength to marking momentous royal occasions rather than destroying enemy walls.
Meg was fired in celebration during the marriage of Mary Queen of Scots in 1558. Her career came to an explosive end in 1681, firing her last shot in celebration of the birthday of the man who would later become King James VII of Scotland and II of England. The barrel’s iron rings burst, and she has been silent ever since.
Although Meg saw some time standing silent vigil at the Tower of London, she was returned to Edinburgh in 1829.
Meg and a full rainbow. God’s only promise with today’s rainbow was, “It will be cold and windy.”
Looking east over the Forewall Battery, across the esplanade (where we will see the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo in August), past and toward Arthur’s Seat.
At long last, we’ve come full circle. Now it’s down the Lang Stairs toward the Way Out (how they say Exit here). 😊
Bye bye Edinburgh Castle! (If only it was still a drawbridge…no worries we’ll see a drawbridge tomorrow at Blackness Castle!)
Dinner with the dogs and the Canucks at Down the Hatch, right around the corner from our house. When Pam first arrived and was unfamiliar with the lay of the land, she kept seeing this restaurant and saying, “There’s another Down the Hatch.” We figured we should stop in for dinner.
Bad Sadie!
Old fashioneds are only for mommy!
Here you go girls; that’s better.
