Kings (And Queens) Of The Hill

Hello again, Blogonauts!

I must be a charming old scamp! Scots keep complimenting my enthusiastic smile. But we'll get to that later.

First let's have some fun storming the castle!

Edinburgh Castle

 

Edinburgh's prehistoric inhabitants found safety from marauders atop a massive, extinct volcano. The Ice Age had carved sheer cliffs on 3 sides of the promontory, and the plateau offered a commanding view of the surrounding countryside. Sneaking up on them here was nearly impossible.

There was no arguing with such success, so medieval rulers followed suit by establishing fortresses of various kinds here. And in the 11th century, after killing King Macbeth and assuming his crown, King Malcolm III made Edinburgh Castle a royal residence for him and his wife Margaret. (More on Margaret in a moment.)

My day began with a guided tour of the "modern" castle. Modern here essentially means fortifications that date back as far as the mid-14th century (well before Columbus sailed the ocean blue). Aside from serving as a royal palace, the castle has been used as a defensive stronghold, as a vault for housing the Scottish crown jewels, and as a prison. (Many American's captured by the British during the American Revolution were held as prisoners of war here.)

St. Margaret's Chapel, built in 1130, is the oldest building in Edinburgh.

The only building on the site that precedes the Renaissance is St. Margaret's Chapel. Malcolm's wife Margaret was a pious & charitable woman. When she died she was soon canonized as a saint, and the 12th century chapel in the castle was built in her honor.

(The tour guide told a story of a youngster who asked if Margaret was chopped up and shot off into into the valley using the cannons in the castle. She had to explain to him that being canonized doesn't involve distributing your body parts via artillery.)  

Nowadays the castle is largely a museum complex, although it retains its status as a military base. Tucked atop the hill here are the Scottish National War Museum, the Scottish National War Memorial, the Scottish Crown Jewels and the royal apartments and banquet hall. (Some of these buildings restricted taking of photographs...darn it!)

The Royal Banquet Hall

Weaponry on display in the Banquet Hall

Scottish National War Memorial

Building housing the Scottish Crown Jewels

This post already contains too much history, so you can look elsewhere for the litany of wars, power grabs, and nationalistic soap operas where Edinburgh Castle played a role.

But here are a couple of non-history tidbits about the castle I can pass on.

First, there is below a rank of cannons a small cemetery where are buried the beloved deceased dogs that belonged to soldier stationed at the castle. It's such a bittersweet tribute!

The dog cemetery, complete with headstones along the wall

 

And second, to my surprise, Scotland's national animal remains the Unicorn. They even mark National Unicorn Day every April 9. Unicorns have featured prominently in the Scottish national seal since the 15th century.

Chained Unicorns on the Scottish National Seal

Of course another reason to visit the castle is recreational photography. From such a high perch the views are tremendous. Here are a couple of examples.

If you look in the middle left, you'll see my hotel room. See it? It's right there!

This photo looks down the Royal Mile...but at rooftop level.

Before I close out, let's go back to the my enthusiastic demeanor. Yesterday as I was exiting a church along the Royal Mile, one of the docents said to me, "You have the most amazing smile, like you're really enjoying yourself." Then today, as our castle tour wrapped up, the guide stopped me and said, "On occasion I notice when someone is really paying attention and enjoying the tour. It always makes a difference to me." And she gave me a sticker (one I assume normally saved for children) marked "Seal of Approval." 

So maybe I somehow brought a couple of hardened tour wranglers a bit of a giggle. Or perhaps instead I've reached the age where people think, "Oh, look! Grampy's off on a spree! Go Grampy!"

Again, if you want to leave a comment, please indicate who you are. Otherwise my mind wanders into hysterics, wondering about Q-Anon and whether birds are real.

Blog to you later!