September 16, 2013: A Visit to Stirling, Scotland
	September 14, 2013: Sightseeing in Edinburgh (Day 1)
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Today was one of the few days on our trip on which the weather was not good; it was raining and chilly in the morning, although it cleared up for a while in midday before some scattered showers late in the afternoon. Most of the group wanted to go to the Scottish Royal Museum, but museums aren't really my thing, so since it was raining, I stayed at the Guest House to work on our daily email missive. I also consolidated all the pictures we'd taken in and around the guest house, and I'll introduce you to it in the first of this page's sections.

The Cluaran Guest House

The Cluaran Guest House is located on a street called Leamington Terrace, which runs northwest from one of Edinburgh's main arteries- Bruntsfield Road. It one of a row of houses that extends in an unbroken row all the way down the street. Most of the buildings are quite similiar, even identical, which is probably why homeowners have to paint their front doors different colors for those times when they return home after a night on the town.

The Cluaran Guest House is located in a period building dating from the 1860s. The area of Edinburgh where the guest house is located is called "Bruntsfield Links," (I am not sure where the name came from, although there is a part of the nearby park where golfers practice short shots and also a golf course of the same name about a mile northwest) area of Edinburgh. The neighborhood is within walking distance to the city centre tourist attractions such as Edinburgh Castle. It took us perhaps thirty minutes to walk into the center of town yesterday.

The house was renovated when our hosts first moved there in 1999, and is now decorated with bright harmonious colors that complement an interior that belies its location in a row of houses through its seemingly bright, airy and spacious interior. Just like my house in Dallas, there is a lot of natural light. Many original features have been restored to something of their former glory; examples are the stained glass panel in the front door and the original wood floors. Cornices, wooden shutters, mouldings and other accents have been restored to try to recapture as much of the skilled craftsmanship of the period as possible.

Cluaran House is family-run; we met three members of the four-person family; one was off at school. I think that the couple succeed in their stated aim of giving their guests a welcoming and "home away from home" experience. (The fact that I think that Ron and Prudence do an even better job of this in San Antonio may be a reflection of my long friendship with them, but Cluaran came pretty close.)

All of the bedrooms are have ensuite baths except the single that Guy occupied; its bath was just across the stairway landing. As with all the places we stayed, there was convenient Internet access that allowed us to send out our daily emails. The breakfasts were quite good, although unlike the bed and breakfasts that we have stayed in within the US, breakfasts were cooked to order, with a little buffet for the cold items like fruit and cereal. We were occupying almost all the rooms, so it wasn't difficult to get a large table in the breakfast room to accommodate all of us.

Below are clickable thumbnails for some additional photos taken in the breakfast room:

I didn't make a movie wandering around Cluaran Guest House, but we did take some pictures of the public areas and a couple of the room that we occupied. Just inside the front door, there is a welcome hall, whose main feature is a beautiful old staircase.

The entry area was enhanced by a skylight, which was a good idea, since there was a great deal of artwork displayed. You can see some of it by using the clickable thumbnails below:

I really liked the stairway, with its curves at both the bottom and the top. Of all the pictures we took of it, I've selected a couple more to include here- one looking up and one looking down.

The other rooms we took pictures of were the living room (the large public space) and our own room.

At the front of the house, just off the entry hall, was a large living room, full of couches, chairs and tables, with a large fireplace and a beautiful bay window. We spent a fair amount of time there, before and after going out on our walks and tours; it was a nice place to relax and read. Below are clickable thumbnails for two more views of the living room:

Of course, the other room we spent a great deal of time in was our bedroom, which was upstairs at the back of the house. While it wasn't large, it was well-appointed, with two twin beds, nightstand, small closet and desk. The bathroom, while also small, had everything we needed. Below are clickable thumbnails for two pictures that Fred took in our room at Cluaran House:

Well, that's it for the Cluaran Guest House. Now let's go see more of Edinburgh.

The Royal Museum of Scotland

As I said earlier, today was rainy and a bit raw, so the group planned to begin the day inside- at the Royal Museum of Scotland. We'd passed the building both on our walk into town yesterday, and on the sightseeing bus ride that we took a bit later. Museums not really being my "thing," I thought I would kill two birds with one stone this morning- get out our email from yesterday and wait for the weather to clear, which it was supposed to do towards noontime. So I did not accompany everyone else to the museum or to lunch, but Fred did take a few pictures inside (since photography was allowed).

As Fred's pictures showed, the main hall of the museum recalled those built in London during Victoria's reign, or perhaps at the Columbian Exposition in turn-of-the-century Chicago. There were large pieces in the hall and different exhibits in the various rooms branching off of it.

Click on the Image Above to View the Slideshow

Since I was not along, I can't say much about many of the photos that Fred took, so I will simply include the best of them here. I have put them into the slideshow at right.

To view the slideshow, just click on the image at right and I will open the slideshow in a new window. In the slideshow, you can use the little arrows in the lower corners of each image to move from one to the next, and the index numbers in the upper left of each image will tell you where you are in the series. When you are finished looking at the pictures, just close the popup window.

Three of the object that Fred photographed had accompanying signs, so for these three, you can see both the picture and the sign using the links below:

Statue of James Watt (read sign here)
Columbian Printing Press (read sign here)
Lorimer Sideboard (read sign here)

As expected, the weather began to clear right after lunch, so after I sent out the daily email and did some picture work, I headed out to catch up with the group at Edinburgh Castle.

Edinburgh Castle

I left Cluaran House about one-thirty, and by about two o'clock, I was climbing the last set of steps up to the level of the castle plaza. I'd taken a circuitous route from the guest house to the castle, trying to keep the route short. Fortunately, I could always see the castle above me, so it was easy to go directly towards it.

I was fortunate to meet up with Nancy and Karl, who were walking to the castle gift shop to browse; they told me where to find everyone else- in the little tea room. Of course, they had been at the castle for the better part of an hour before I joined them, but had spent all that time having some lunch. Both Fred and Guy had taken some pictures on approach a bit earlier, and as they walked to the tea room, and I'd like to include a few of them here. Use the clickable thumbnails below to have a look:

The historic fortress on Castle Rock dominates the city of Edinburgh; archaeologists have established human occupation of the rock since at least AD 200, and there has been a royal castle on the rock since at least the reign of David I in the 12th century. After the Union of the Crowns in 1603, the castle's residential role declined, and by the 17th century was principally a military garrison. It is one of Scotland's most important sites, involved in many historical conflicts from the Wars of Scottish Independence in the 14th century to the Jacobite Rising of 1745. It has been besieged, both successfully and unsuccessfully, on several occasions. As befits such an important site, restoration and upkeep are continual.

Few of the present buildings pre-date the Lang Siege of the 16th century, when the medieval defences were largely destroyed by artillery bombardment. The most notable exceptions are St Margaret's Chapel (early 1100s and the oldest building in Edinburgh), the Royal Palace, and the early-16th-century Great Hall. The interiors, of course, have been altered over the centuries. The castle also houses the Scottish regalia (the "Honors of Scotland") and is the site of the Scottish National War Memorial and the National War Museum of Scotland. The British Army is still responsible for some parts of the castle, although its presence is now largely ceremonial and administrative. Some of the castle buildings house regimental museums which contribute to its presentation as a tourist attraction.

The castle is the backdrop to the Edinburgh Military Tattoo during the annual Edinburgh International Festival (the bleacher-like constructions around the plaza are from that festival) and the castle has become a recognizable symbol of Edinburgh and of Scotland.

I thought you might be interested in seeing the layout of the Castle, since our pictures were taken in various buildings at various times, so I found a good one and will use it to show you where we went in the complex. To begin with, I came across the esplanade and through the gatehouse, which is where I ran across Nancy and Karl. I stopped at the ticket office at the north edge of the entry plaza and then walked up the path through the Portcullis Gate.

I followed the signs to the tea room, and there I found Guy, Prudence and Fred. They were just finishing up with a light lunch and after Nancy and Karl returned from the Castle store, we made some plans to look at as much of the complex as we could. Below are clickable thumbnails for some of the pictures taken in the Tea Room:

Done with a bit of lunch, we sat by the window of the tea room looking out onto Crown Square and planning where we wanted to go next. Our decision was to go to the building next door- the Great Hall.

The Great Hall

The Great Hall (100 by 40 feet) was the chief place of state assembly in the castle, although there is no evidence that the Parliament of Scotland ever met there, as is sometimes reported. While there is disagreement, it is usually thought to have been constructed during the reign of King James IV, in the early years of the 16th century. The decorative carved stone corbels supporting the roof have Renaissance detailing, which has been compared to works in France circa 1515, indicating that the arts in Scotland were relatively advanced at this time. It is one of only two medieval halls in Scotland with an original hammerbeam roof.

Following Oliver Cromwell's seizure of the castle in 1650, the Great Hall was converted into a barracks for his troops; and in 1737 it was subdivided into three storeys to house 312 soldiers. This use is emphasized through the display of armament around the walls. Following the construction of the New Barracks in the 1790s, it became a military hospital until 1897. It was then restored by Hippolyte Blanc in line with contemporary ideas of medieval architecture. The Great Hall is still occasionally used for ceremonial occasions (and as the setting for British television shows).

Across Crown Square from the Great Hall was the Scottish National War Memorial, and that was our next stop.

Scottish National War Memorial

The Scottish National War Memorial is on the north side of the square, on the site of the medieval St. Mary's Church, That early church was rebuilt in 1366 and converted into an armory in 1540. The armory was demolished in 1755 and the masonry reused to build a new North Barrack Block. Proposals for a Scottish National War Memorial were put forward during the WWI; an architect was appointed in 1919, construction began in 1923, and the memorial was formally opened oin 1927 by the Prince of Wales. The exterior is decorated with gargoyles and sculpture, while the interior contains monuments to individual regiments. The stained-glass windows are by Douglas Strachan.

The memorial commemorates Scottish soldiers, and those serving with Scottish regiments, who died in the two world wars and in more recent conflicts. Upon the altar within the Shrine, placed upon the highest point of the Castle Rock, is a sealed casket containing Rolls of Honor which list over 147,000 names of those soldiers killed in the First World War. After the Second World War, another 50,000 names were inscribed on Rolls of Honor held within the Hall, and further names continue to be added there.

Arrayed around the inside of the memorial, on shelves allowing visitors access to them, are copies of these Rolls of Honor. They are organized by conflict and by military organization; there is no one master list available (or accessible online yet). Photography was not allowed inside, so we had only the opportunity to take pictures outside. The picture above right is of course the view from Crown Square; Fred also took a picture of me at the entrance. A little later on in the afternoon, we happened to be around on the other side of the building that houses the memorial, and we took a couple of pictures from that angle. You can see them here and here.

At right is another copy of the diagram of the Edinburgh Castle complex, so you can follow us on the remainder of our walk around the area. When we came out of the War Memorial, we walked across to the east side of Crown Square to the Royal Palace.

When we were done there, we walked back across the square and around the building housing the Tea Room to visit the military prison and the new barracks.

The last building we went inside was St. Margaret's Chapel, a little ways around to the north. After that, we just wandered around the battlements for a while taking pictures.

The Royal Palace

The Royal Palace comprises the former royal apartments, which were the residence of the later Stewart monarchs. It was begun in the mid-15th century, during the reign of James IV, and it originally connected with David's Tower. The building was extensively remodelled for the visit of James VI to the castle in 1617, when state apartments for the King and Queen were built.

The Royal Palace

On the ground floor is the Laich Hall (Low Hall), now called the King's Dining Room. It was created in its present form in 1617 to serve as an outer reception room and dining chamber for King James VI. It is still used for government functions. It has a particularly striking fireplace with the royal emblem above the mantel. Fred took a closeup of that emblem, so you can see it better here.

On this same floor there is a small room, known as the Birth Chamber or Mary Room, where James VI was born to Mary, Queen of Scots, in June 1566. The commemorative painted ceiling and other decoration were added in 1617. This room was dark and hard to photograph, so I made a movie instead; you can watch it with the player below:

(Mouseover Image if Video Controls Not Visible)

On the first floor is the vaulted Crown Room, built in 1615 to house the Honours of Scotland: the crown, the sceptre and the sword of state. The Stone of Scone, upon which the monarchs of Scotland were traditionally crowned, has been kept in the Crown Room since its return to Scotland in 1996. To the south of the palace is the Register House, built in the 1540s to accommodate state archives. We did tour these rooms, but photography was only allowed in the first few rooms where there were exhibits relating to the items on display. You can see a couple of pictures of the exhibits here and here. There were also two interesting signs having to do with the Scottish Crown, and I have enlarged them and put them in the two scrollable windows below:

Military Buildings

The area to the north and west of the buildings surrounding Crown Square is largely occupied by military buildings erected after the castle became a major garrison in the early 18th century. The military cart sheds are now the tea rooms, while the Governor's House to the south was built in 1742 as accommodation for the Governor, Storekeeper, and Master Gunner; it was used until the post of Governor became vacant in the later 19th century, after which it was used by nurses of the castle hospital. Today, it functions as an officers' mess, and as the office of the Governor since the restoration of the post in 1936.

Clickable thumbnails for pictures taken in Museum and Military Prison

South of the Governor's House are the New Barracks, completed in 1799 to house 600 soldiers, and replacing the outdated accommodation in the Great Hall. They now house the Regimental Headquarters of the Royal Regiment of Scotland and the Regimental Headquarters and Museum of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (Carabiniers and Greys). The latter was opened in 1995 by the regiment's Colonel, Queen Elizabeth II.[ Also nearby, in the former Royal Scots drill hall, constructed in 1900, is the regimental museum of the Royal Scots Regiment. The military prison was built in 1842 as a detention block for the castle garrison and was extended in the 1880s. It was last used in 1923, when the garrison moved to the city's Redford Barracks.

St. Margaret's Chapel

Saint Margaret of Scotland (1045 – 1093) was an English princess of the House of Wessex; her family fled to Scotland following the Norman conquest of England of 1066. Around 1070 Margaret married Malcolm III of Scotland. She was a pious woman, and among many charitable works she established a ferry across the Firth of Forth for pilgrims travelling to Dunfermline Abbey. She died at Edinburgh Castle in 1093, just days after receiving the news of her husband's death in battle. In 1250 she was canonized by Pope Innocent IV.

It was originally thought that St Margaret herself worshipped in this small chapel, but the style of the architecture indicates that it was built during the reign of David I, her fourth son, who ruled from 1124–1153. On the night of 14 March 1314 the castle was captured by Robert the Bruce; he destroyed all the buildings in the castle, except for the little chapel. On his deathbed in 1329, Bruce spoke of the story of Queen Margaret and issued orders for the chapel's repair, with some forty pounds Scots being put aside for that purpose. For many years afterwards the building was known as the "Royal Chapel in the Castle". There is a fairly frequent record of services held in the chapel, though another and larger chapel was also in use within the castle.

The chapel fell into disuse at the Protestant Reformation, and it became a storeroom. When the antiquarian Sir Daniel Wilson realized the significance of the chapel building, his publicity efforts (and the support of Queen Victoria) led to the removal of the garrison chapel and the restoration of St. Margaret's Chapel in 1851–1852. The barrel-vault over the nave was added at this time and the stained glass was installed in 1922. In 1929 further work was carried out to bring the chapel back into use, and the restored and refurnished chapel was dedicated on 16 March 1934.

The small irregular stone building has some similarity to earlier Scottish and Irish Celtic chapels. The rectangular structure is ten feet wide inside, and the nave is 16 feet long. A typically Romanesque round, 5-foot-wide chancel arch with chevron mouldings decorating the arch above columns on each side leads into an apsed, 10‑foot‑long sanctuary. The north wall has been renewed; the three surviving outer walls are 2 feet thick. Five small round-headed windows and the round arch above the entrance door confirm the Romanesque style. The five stained glass windows by Douglas Strachan illustrate St. Margaret, St. Andrew, St. Colomba, St Ninian and William Wallace.

Battlements and Other Structures

Fred and I spent some more time wandering around Edinburgh Castle on our own; Karl and Nancy had taken a cab back to Cluaran House a good deal earlier, and Prudence, Ron and Guy had started back before Fred and I visited the barracks and prison.

One very interesting item along the northern battlement was the 15th-century siege gun or bombard known as Mons Meg. It actually sits today on a terrace in front of St. Margaret's Chapel. The siege gun was constructed in Flanders on the orders of Philip III, Duke of Burgundy in 1449, and gifted by him to the husband of his niece, King James II, in 1457.

The 13,000-pound gun rests on a reconstructed carriage, the details of which were copied from an old stone relief that can be seen inside the tunnel of the Gatehouse at the castle entrance. Some of Meg's large gun stones, weighing around 330 pounds each, are displayed alongside her. On 3 July 1558, she was fired in salute to celebrate the marriage of Mary, Queen of Scots to the French dauphin, François II. The royal Treasurer's Accounts of the time record a payment to soldiers for retrieving one of her stones from Wardie Muir near the River Forth, fully 2 miles from the castle!

The gun has been inoperable since her barrel burst while firing a salute to greet the Duke of Albany, the future King James VII of Scotland and James II of England, on his arrival in Edinburgh on 30 October 1681.

Coming out of St. Margaret's Chapel, Fred took a series of three pictures that we later stitched together into this panorama:

We took some good pictures of the battlements and other buildings as we were wandering around the outside areas here at Edinburgh Castle, and you should have a look at some of them. I have put them into a slideshow for you.

Click on the Image Above to View the Slideshow

To view the slideshow, just click on the image at left and I will open the slideshow in a new window. In the slideshow, you can use the little arrows in the lower corners of each image to move from one to the next, and the index numbers in the upper left of each image will tell you where you are in the series. When you are finished looking at the pictures, just close the popup window.

I also made a movie at the north side of the complex, looking out over Edinburgh, and you can watch it with the player below:

(Mouseover Image if Video Controls Not Visible)

I also made a panorama out of a series of five pictures, the view looking north from the Castle. It is below:

It was late afternoon and time to head back to the guest house to meet up with everyone else for dinner, so we headed out of Edinburgh Castle. As we left, I got a good picture of Fred with the Portcullis Gate in the background.

We met up with everyone about six, and walked out to another, different restaurant along Bruntsfield Road.

You can use the links below to continue to another photo album page.

	September 16, 2013: A Visit to Stirling, Scotland
	September 14, 2013: Sightseeing in Edinburgh (Day 1)
	Return to the Index for Our British Isles Trip