Edinburgh (1), The Castle and National Museum: Scotland '21 Part 1

Not to Mention Greyfriars' Kirkyard, A Long Dead Dog and the Elephant House Café

05-July-2021

First steps in Edinburgh: Parking and Dining

Scotland

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is 250 miles from Swynnerton, a long but relatively easy journey once beyond Manchester where the M6 becomes less crowded.

We checked in to our hotel but there was no room in the inn for our car. The receptionist directed us to a cavernous NCP car park nearby where overnight packing was a snip at £35.

Walking back to the hotel, the view of Edinburgh castle reminded us of how well the hotel was situated - and if you want to stay in the centre of a crowded city, you have to suffer the parking costs.

The roof of the car park - and Edinburgh Castle

Once settled in Scotland we set off for Italy, or at least the facsimile generated by the Italian staff at Piccolino, a restaurant which, in the spirit of Covid, we had booked the previous week.

The three Piccolino restaurants in Scotland are related, but their websites differ markedly from those of the larger English Piccolino chain. The food was excellent, the pasta freshly made, the flavours authentically Italian. A curious ingredient called Evoo, appeared in many dishes but I detected nothing unexpected in my flavourful Orecchiette Salsiccia & Friarelli. I looked it up later: Evoo, I discovered, is Extra Virgin Olive Oil, hardly unexpected, but I have never before seen it listed as an ‘ingredient’.

The smallish portions allowed us to try the desserts. The Tiramisu was as expected, the Canollo Siciliano, a Sicilian biscuit cone, filled with sweet ricotta cheese and chocolate chip, was a more interesting blend of flavours and textures. Grappa did not appear on the menu, but our hopeful request produced a slug of rustic liquor which did the job nicely.

Tiramasu, Piccolino, Edinurgh

06-July-2021

Edinburgh Castle

In the morning, like any Edinburgh newbies we set off, timed ticket in hand (Covid kills spontaneity), to see the castle.

Edinburgh Castle and Castle Rock from the Grassmarket

We walked down to the Grassmarket and ascended Castle Wynd, a passage involving three substantial flights of stairs.

The formidable Castle Rock has been occupied since the Iron Age. A royal castle was built in the reign of David I (1124-53) and it remained the king's residence until 1633. Since then, it has principally been a barracks. The once large garrison is now much smaller and its duties purely ceremonial.

The entrance from the top of Castle Wynd is across flatter ground.

Approaching the gatehouse, Edinburgh Castle

The castle has seen conflict, notably in the 14th century Wars of Independence and 1745 Jacobite rising. Recent research has identified a remarkable 26 sieges in the last 1,100-years. Few were successful.

Working our way up and round we passed through the Portcullis Gate…

Portcullis gate, Edinburgh Castle

…and paused to admire the rather misty view of Calton Hill. To the left is the new W Hotel, although not yet open it has proved controversial and been dubbed ‘The Golden Turd’. How this was ever designed, let alone approved is beyond me.

Calton Hill from Edinburgh Castle

The homely Governor’s House emphasised how unlike a medieval castle this is.

The Governor's House, Edinburgh Castle

In 1567 the catholic Mary, Queen of Scots, was forced to abdicate by the protestant nobility who installed a regent for her infant son James VI (later James I and VI of England and Scotland). Mary escaped to England leaving behind an intermittent civil war. By 1571 only Edinburgh Castle remained for Mary.

The resulting stand-off - the ‘Lang Siege’ - lasted two years. Fearing the defenders would receive help from France the King's party appealed to Elizabeth I of England for assistance. In April 1573 1,000 English troops arrived with 27 cannons. That is why few of the castle’s buildings predate 1573.

Crown Square

Through Foog’s Gate…

Foog's Gate, Edinburgh Castle

…we entered Crown Square. The three doors off the square were set up to control socially distanced queues, but we were almost on our own, tourist pioneers in the (I hope) declining days of Covid.

Crown Square, Edinburgh Castle

One door was to the Scottish National War Memorial. No photos allow, but it contains many very similar neo-classical memorials to different regiments and campaigns.

Behind the middle door are the Scottish Crown Jewels. Locked away in a chest after the Act of Union in 1707 they were rediscovered in 1818. The crown (made 1540) is fairly plain (as crowns go) and since 1818 has been worn only by George IV (in 1822) and the current queen. The sceptre and sword were gifts to James IV from the Pope.

Scottish monarchs were crowned on the Stone of Scone until it was stolen by Edward I in 1296 and placed in Westminster Abbey, thereafter all English and subsequently British monarchs were crowned on it. In 1996 it was returned to Edinburgh and now sits among the crown jewels. It is, in reality, an undistinguished slab of stone and if, as some claim, it is not the ‘original’ how could anyone know.

The third door opens onto the Great Hall. Probably completed in the early 16th century. It has a display of arms, …

Great Hall, Edinburgh Castle

… one of only two surviving hammer-beam roofs in Scotland….

The hammer-beam roof, Great Hall, Edinburgh Castle

…and a painting of Sergeant Charles Ewart of the Royal North British Dragoons capturing the eagle of Napoleon’s 45th Regiment at Waterloo.

Sgt Charles Ewart in action

The nearby Half Moon battery was part of the reconstruction after 1573. It seems one cannon is trained on the Golden Turd. Sadly, I did not know how to fire it.

I would pull the trigger, if it had one

St Margaret’s chapel is one of the castle’s few genuinely old survivors. It was built around 1130 and named for the saintly Margaret of Wessex, an English princess and the Queen Consort of Malcolm III.

Inside St Margaret's Chapel

All that remained to be seen in the castle was a huge cannon of Belgian origin known as Mons Meg…

Mons Meg

…and the re-created quarters of the prisoners of war, mainly French sailors from the Seven Years War and Americans from the War of Independence. The youngest prisoner was a 5-year-old-drummer boy captured at Trafalgar. They were kept in the vaults below Crown Square. Pirates were also accommodated, but unlike the prisoners of war they usually ended up on the gallows. The reconstructions are probably faithful, but they are undoubtedly far more fragrant than the originals.

Reconstructed prisoner of war quarters, Edinburgh Castle

Ensign Charles Ewart, the hero of Waterloo (he was given a commission before her retired) died aged 77 in 1846 in Salford. His grave was paved over and lost but rediscovered in the 1930s when he was reburied by the castle esplanade.

The grave of Charles Ewart

The Grassmarket: A Brief Introduction

We returned to The Grassmarket for a bite of lunch. The Grassmarket will feature in the next post, here I will merely say that it has a chequered past, but is now a quarter of bars and restaurants.

The Grassmarket, Edinburgh

The sky was heavy, with occasional bouts of drizzle so we took shelter in Maggie Dickson’s. They brought us falafel, haloumi fries and Gunn and Innis IPA with commendable alacrity – well, they had no other customers to look after.

The Grassmarket from inside Maggie Dickson's

Afterwards, as we headed towards the National Museum, I looked at the dark, threatening sky and the dark stone buildings flecked with drizzle and wondered for a moment if I had ever seen a more depressing city. Then I turned to look at the street on my left. West Bow, lined with 19th century buildings, rises and turns, inviting you to walk up it. It could only be in Edinburgh and even in the rain it was an inviting prospect.

West Bow, Edinburgh

Greyfriars Kirkyard

But we resisted and crossed the road to Greyfriars Kirkyard.

A group of Dutch Franciscan Friars (Greyfriars) were granted land just outside the burgh in the mid-15th century. After the Scottish Reformation, the Friary’s redundant grounds became a cemetery and Greyfriars Kirk was constructed at the top end of the cemetery between 1602 and 1620.

At the bottom of the sloping graveyard, we stepped over gravel washed down by floods two days earlier.

Wikipedia’s list of notables buried here is long, but few names ring many bells. An exception, at least for a retired maths teacher, is Colin MacLaurin (1698 – 1746) whose eponymous theorem remains embedded in A level Mathematics.

JK Rowling and Greyfriars Kirkyard

Harry Potter was born (in a literary sense) on a train between Manchester and London, but he was brought up in JK Rowling’s adopted home city of Edinburgh. The author borrowed several names from Greyfriars Kirkyard; Lord Voldemort’s real name was Tom Riddle and directions to the grave of Thomas Riddell (sic) are widely available. The original was a man of decent obscurity and probably not the personification of evil.

The Grave of Thomas Riddell - not really Voldemort - on the Flodden Wall

Riddell’s memorial is attached to the Flodden Wall, which cuts the graveyard in half. It was built after James IV’s disastrous incursion into England in 1513. He died, with much of the Scottish nobility, at the Battle of Flodden in Northumberland and the wall was an added protection against an expected retaliatory invasion (which never happened).

Professor Minerva McGonagall shares her name from one of the few graveyard residents I have heard of. William McGonagall won renown as Scotland’s worst ever poet…

William McGonagall, Greyfriar's Kirkyard

written 1880, The Tay Bridge Disaster begins

Beautiful Railway Bridge of the Silv’ry Tay!
Alas! I am very sorry to say
That ninety lives have been taken away
On the last Sabbath day of 1879,
Which will be remember’d for a very long time

Enough!

Greyfriars Bobby

The best-known resident of the graveyard is not human, Greyfriars Bobby was a Skye Terrier. After his owner died in 1858 the dog kept a vigil at his graveside until his own death 14 years later. This demonstrates the heart-warming loyalty of man’s best friend - or is perhaps an example of dogs’ pathetic neediness, a self-respecting cat would have raised its tail and stalked away.

The grave of Greyfriars Bobby

The story was, of course, good publicity, but was it true? Some account for Bobby’s longevity by claiming the original Bobby died and was replaced by an identical Skye Terrier. In Greyfriars Bobby, the Most Faithful Dog in the World Jan Bonderson points out that the story is far from unique and there are 60 documented cases of graveyard dogs in 19th century Europe. He suggests they were fed by visitors (and those promoting the story) and so made the graveyards their home. I am a sceptic, not a cynic, and Bonderson’s account makes sense to me.

The graveyard map states there is a statue of 'Bobby' nearby, but we could not find it.

Greyfriars Kirk

The exterior of the kirk, a Church of Scotland Parish church, is not particularly remarkable - my lame excuse for lacking a photograph.

But here is Greyfriars after the 1845 fire (Public Domain)

The Scottish National Covenant was signed here in 1638. It aimed to promote the Presbyterian Church, and establish the primacy of its leaders in Scottish religious affairs.The political consequences were long and complicated, involving Scotland in what, south of the border, is parochially know as the English Civil War. After periods of persecution the Covenanters achieved their aims only after the ‘Glorious Revolution’ of 1688 brought William and Mary to the English and Scottish thrones.

The Presbyterian Church remains the established Church of Scotland., though the 2019 Scottish Household Survey, reported the proportion of adults not belonging to any religion to be 56%.

The interior is plain, the seating set out to accommodate Covid social-distancing.

Inside Greyfriars kirk

A fire in 1845 damaged the structure and gutted the interior. The minister, Robert Lee, used the opportunity to loosen up dour Presbyterianism and the restored church boasted the first stained glass in a Scottish church since the reformation.

Stained glass, Greyfriars Church

He also installed a harmonium and so re-introduced music into services. Greyfriars' organ has been upgraded many times since, the current rather splendid beast was built by Peter Collins of Melton Mowbray in 1989. Not being musical, I judge church organs on their looks, and this is a good ‘un.

The organ, Greyfriars Kirk

The Scottish National Museum

The National Museum is a short step from Greyfriars in Chambers Street - a capital city sort of street.

Chambers Street, Edinburgh

Like any well funded national museum there is much to see, and much to walk past because no one can see everything. The exhibits are well chosen to trace the history and development of Scotland and even look into the future.

Below are three exhibits that took my fancy.

The Lewis Chessmen

A group of 78 12th century chessmen were found on Lewis in 1831. Carved from walrus ivory and probably made in Trondheim there is not a complete set among them, but the quality of the craftsmanship and the contemplative nature of chess fit uneasily with our view of  their wild and violent times. Most of the chessmen are in the British Museum, only 11 are in Scotland, which feels wrong to me.

The Lewis Chessmen, National Museum of Scotland

The Claymore

Wild, violent men of later generations favoured the Claymore. Although two-handed swords were by no means unique to Scotland, the claymore is a design peculiar to the Highlands. This example is early 16th century, the hilt made in Scotland, the blade imported from Germany.

16th century Claymore, National Museum of Scotland

The Galloway Hoard

Buried around 900 CE and discovered by a metal detectorist in 2014 this is the Viking equivalent of the Saxon Staffordshire Hoard discovered a few years earlier. The Galloway Hoard contain far less gold, but many more intact articles. Some of them were in a fabric covered pot whose origins were somewhere round the Caspian Sea.

A cross with a silver 'rope' from the Galloway Hoard

Fun with Google Maps, The Greyfriars' Bobby Statue and The Elephant House Café

Leaving the museum, we searched again for the Greyfriars Bobby statue. After an abortive stroll up and down George IV Bridge Road, Lynne produced her phone and appealed to Google maps. It wanted to send us back where we had been.

Believing, a least for a moment, in the all-knowing power of technology we stepped forward uncertainly before suddenly realising we had walked past it twice. The small statue had been hiding behind an ever-changing knot of people gathered at a corner. The work of William Brodie, it was originally a drinking fountain (humans above, dogs below) and has stood here since 1873. Bobby's highly polished nose proves how irresistible it has been to many thousands of hands.

Greyfriars Bobby, corner of Candlemaker Row and George IV Bridge Road

Further technological shenanigans attended our visit to the Elephant House Café, scarcely more than 50m away. We walked down Candlemaker Row, turned into Merchant Street and found a blank wall where the map said the café should be. After exchanging quizzical (and mildly irritated) glances a metaphorical scratch of the head provided the solution. The map was 2D, but Edinburgh is a 3D city. The Elephant House was several metres above us, on the George IV Bridge which crosses Merchant Street at that very point. Perhaps we should have checked the address as well as the map.

Rain was beginning to spatter as we arrived, but we were in quickly - Covid restrictions required customers to hover in the doorway until shown to a table. The small horde of rain-avoiders close on our heels were less fortunate and many were turned away.

So why visit this cafe, was it just for the chocolate sprinkle elephant atop our cappuccinos? Every true Harry Potter fan (our grandson, if not us) knows that much of the first two books was written in the back room of the Elephant Café. Covid restrictions meant we could not wander at will, so the back room with its view of Edinburgh Castle remained unseen - but as least we are out of the rain.

The Elephant House Café. Is this the diet that created Harry Potter?

JK Rowling is not the cafe's only literary connection. Alexander McCall Smith also visits occasionally as does Ian Rankin. I can imagine Precious Ramotswe dropping in for a beverage should she ever come to visit her creator, but I doubt Inspector Rebus would tolerate such gentility.

There is a limit to how long a cappuccino and slice of carrot cake allows you to occupy a café table - eventually we had to make our way out into the rain.

Leaving the Elephant House in the rain

An Edinburgh Soaking

During the 15-minute walk from the café through Greyfriars Kirkyard and the Grassmarket to our hotel the rain became steadily heavier. My ‘showerproof’ jacket (in a fit of optimism it was the only rainwear I had brought) proved totally inadequate. Lynne was wet, I was soaked to the skin long before we arrived. The illogical remedy is to remove wet clothing, step in the shower and get properly wet.

Reluctant to venture out again on such a night, we settled for the hotel bar. The limited menu provided something reasonably palatable, the house white was cheap if regrettable, but they had a long list of malts, so we checked out a couple. We also watched the first Euros semi-final. It will be interesting watching England’s semi tomorrow in a Scottish bar, but surely, we had just seen the two best teams in the competition

Scotland 2021

Part 1 Edinburgh (1): The Castle and National Museum
Part 2 Edinburgh (2): The Royal Yacht and the Royal Mile
Part 3 Moray (1) Forres
Part 4 Moray (2) Elgin and Craigellachie
Part 5 Fort George and Brodie Castle
Part 6 Lanark, New and Old