Scotland (2) Tales of Edinburgh

When I arrived in Edinburgh and took my first steps outside of the train station it become perfectly clear that Edinburgh had more to offer when it comes to fascinating old buildings. So as I made my way to the “Caledonian backpacker’s hostel”, where I expected to find some nice leaflets and folders containing loads of information about what to see in Edinburgh, I already had a chance to admire the beautiful buildings from the old town from afar and the monuments and statues located along Princes Street and Queen Street. Of course, since I had no map, I walked the wrong way first for about 20 minutes before I had the feeling that I was indeed heading the wrong way. I proceeded to do the most logical thing. I decided to walk up to the next person I came across. To my amusement the next ‘person’ was actually a group of local ladies from around my parents’ age. Why was this to my amusement? Well I hadn’t shaved since I started studying for the exams. Now try and imagine a (Middle-) Eastern-looking fellow with a beard (thank god I didn’t wear a turban, though I have no reason to do so) walking up to you with a strange purpose and then he opens his mouth and says … “Could you tell me how to get to Queensferry street?”. At the Middle-Eastern-looking beard some people might already have their alarm bells going off. Now there’s a guy like that walking up to you? Your first instinct would probably be: run! So yes, I was amused. They were able to point me into the right direction though.

When I stepped through the doors into the lobby I was not disappointed. To the side was a massive collection of folders screaming “pick me, pick me, I’ll show you the good places!” So naturally I took a careful selection with me to the common room and started planning. The first thing that peaked my interest was a folder saying “free tour”. I had done a free tour (tip-basis) in Dublin and that turned out to be great, so why not. I pinpointed the location on the map and it my first target for the next day. I planned to see the nice spots of the tour afterwards in detail for the rest of the day. Then I could visit a few museums and the famous extinct volcano the next day. After making those plans I decided it was high time I headed up to my bed, bed number six in room number 11.

The free tour proved to be indeed very entertaining. Native Scotsman Billy told us nice, interesting tales about Scotland, Edinburgh and sites we visited that day. And this is where you’ll have to indulge me. I promise to not go into too much detail. The first scenes we visited were situated along the Royal Mile. The St. Giles Cathedral and a site where earlier a tollhouse had stood were among those first stops. In front of the cathedral there was an interesting raised stage where in times of yore the town crier did (royal) proclamations. We also swung by the castle before we made our way to Grass Market where a lot of nice pubs and cafes were situated. Most of these had a name with a story behind it. There was Maggie Dickson’s pub named for the famous “Half-hanged Maggie”. Who was she and more importantly how can she be half-hanged. Well Maggie was a dear lass who had fallen in love with a lad, got pregnant, but the lad died (in an accident if memory serves correctly). So she found herself an unmarried woman who was pregnant, which was highly frowned upon by society in those days. So she decided to hide it and keep working, which for some reason was illegal. Of course time would eventually tell. Her baby however was stillborn. So she went out to bury the child at a remote spot. But … she could not do it. She could not bring herself to bury the child she had borne, so she left it. But word travels. And word of her actions reached the wrong ears. Soon she was arrested, had trial and was found guilty and sentenced to hang. The hanging would take place at the gallows which was in the past located at the grass market. So, not much later dear Maggie found herself with the noose around her neck. And a little while after she was presumably dead. Now I say presumably, because when they carried her away in a coffin noises arose from the within … The people were astonished and opened the coffin to see Maggie very much alive. The harsh people took her back to the gallows to hang again and not long after she was back at the gallows with noose around her neck. The hangman got ready to pull the lever when suddenly a voice shouted out in the crowd “waaaait! You cannot hang her again. She has already been punished for the crime she has committed!” Confusion gripped the crowd after these words. Was the man right? Eventually the crowd decided that Maggie had indeed been punished already. The man who pleaded for her life ended up marrying her. Since then every convict taken to the gallows to hang looked up to the window of their house and prayed for the same fortune.
Another pub, “the Last Drop”, was a place where convicts were taken to have their ‘final drop’ (drink) before they had to take the ‘final drop’ (with the noose around their neck). Yet another pub, this one called Deacon’s house café, was named after a real life Jekyll and Hyde, Deacon Brody. He was an honest furniture seller, and at night he was a burglar and thief who stole back the furniture he had sold initially. The burglaries and thefts were baffling to the community and they decided to form a taskforce solely for the purpose of hunting down the responsible ones. Now comes the fun part. The man elected to lead that task force was … Deacon Brody. It took quite some time until the law caught up with him cornering him in Amsterdam (yes, it gives a whole new meaning to the long arm of the law right). In the end Brody was hanged.

Ok, enough about hangings. A new story starts at Greyfriars Kirk. Billy had more stories to tell here. One in particular was quite an interesting set of facts. He started talking about the “Elephant House” and a poor young woman who had come to Edinburgh to escape the ghosts of a marital drama. She visited cafés with her baby to save on heating in her own house and started writing on a novel. She ended up writing her first bestseller for a large part at the Elephant House and after following up that book with six others there isn’t a teen in the civilized world who doesn’t know it. You probably need only one guess. J.K. Rowling was that young woman once upon a time. Rumor has it she used a few names that were on graves at the graveyard of Greyfriars Kirk. After taking a walk around on said site I did find a grave belonging to a certain William McGonagall and … a certain Thomas Riddell. She supposedly also got the idea of the four houses from four towers of the George Heriot private school that could be seen from the graveyard. Now this is probably the romanticized version. But still, it makes for a nice story indeed.

After the pubs, the grass market the Cathedral and Greyfriars’ Kirk the tour was coming to an end. Another was starting though; a tour of Edinburgh castle. Most of the stories Billy told there were closely connected to the history of Scotland and several conflicts with the English. I will tell the two most interesting stories here. They are connected to the Scottish crown jewels and the “Stone of Destiny”. Now there have been many conflicts between Scotland and England and in one of those Edward the Longshanks from England (after successful conquest of Scotland) took back with him the “Stone of Destiny”. This was a rock on which the kings of old were crowned. It was a symbol of power for the Scottish. At present it’s back in Scotland, given back by Tony Blair among other gifts to entice the Scottish to vote for him. However the stone had made its way back before this moment. Ian Hamilton had vowed after a beer (and maybe a whiskey) too many that he would bring the “Stone of Destiny” back to Scotland where it belonged. Everyone thought he was joking, but the day after he prepared to set out to England. He was accompanied by three fellow students. And after an adventurous trip and successful heist at Westminster abbey the stone was back in Scotland. The stone had to be handed over, but Ian, who became a lawyer and wrote a book about it, was never prosecuted. And the crown jewels? Well they were hidden on more than one account to make sure they were not seized by English. After the last time it would take quite some time for the jewels to resurface. They were discovered by Sir Walter Scott and a group of comrades in 1818. And now they are on display at Edinburgh Castle. After the Castle visit I made one more stop before going back to the hostel for a much desired shower, meal and rest. I went to the Edinburgh old town Weaving Co to view how Tartan was made. I also made a few nice pictures in traditional garb. Me in a kilt, with bagpipes, a large two handed sword, and a longsword accompanied by a shield. It was loads of fun to dress up :).

Well after skipping the boring stuff (shower, dinner, sleep and breakfast) I got, after a healthy walk, to Calton Hill (by the way the day was Tuesday the 21st), one of the highest viewpoints in the area (next to Arthur’s Seat). After making some nice pictures of the scenery and capturing the nice panoramic view from the hill I moved on to Arthur’s Seat via Holyrood palace. Since I could not get a very close look at the Royal Residence of Edinburgh I quickly decided to move on to what promised to be a lovely hike in the sunshine.

The hike at Arthur’s Seat was splendid. It was one of those moments in which I find myself totally at “inner” peace and filled with joy and happiness. The sun was kissing my skin from a blue sky above while I was treading on grass-covered slopes that were bordered by flower-covered bushes, exuding a lovely smell, on my way to the top. Once I reached it I admired the view for quite a while, making pictures by the dozen and enjoying the lovely weather. On my way down I decided to take a different route. So, trying to avoid to playing ladybugs at my feet I followed the Salisbury crags until I found a way precarious path down that lead through a “forest” of the bushes with the yellow flower, called “Scottish Gorse”. Trying not to get scratched too much by its thorns I made my way down to appear before a few astonished tourists that had no idea where the strange boy appearing from the bushes.

The rest of that day was spent in museums and rushing about the city trying to find as much nice scenes as I could, for the last two days would be spent on tours in the highlands. I would go and visit some Lochs and castles and even a whiskey distillery. Stay tuned and you’ll hear all about those days in the next installment.