It is made up of about 20 separate buildings, some very large with many levels; some very small and private. It was built and rebuilt over many centuries. We took the #27 bus up to New College and walked up the last little (but extremely steep) way.
Here is the entrance to the Castle. On the left is a statue of Robert the Bruce, King of Scotland. On the right is William Wallace, the Scottish Freedom Fighter who was immortalized in the movie Brave Heart. In the center is David Capes, famous scholar (no, David is not writing the blog today! He is off working.)
At this site there were 4 different gates to serve as a defense. Today, 2 of them remain.
There is a very interesting custom here. At exactly 1:00 pm every afternoon (except Christmas and Good Friday), a cannon fires a single round and a ball drops from a tower. This was done in past centuries so that sailors could set their navigational instruments to a precise time. It still carries on each day today.
The man in the picture below is Tom MacKay (pronounced "Mikai"). For decades he shot the "one o'clock cannon" everyday. His son, Robert (who you saw in a previous post) works at the University of Edinburgh as the Servitor...meaning he is in charge of looking after all the building facilities there. This man, his father, is a bit of a legend around here. He died a few years ago. No, that isn't really him. It is a cardboard image of him.
One of the first buildings you come to on the 2nd level is actually the oldest surviving structure here in the Castle and also in the whole city of Edinburgh. It is St. Margaret's Chapel. Margaret, whose family were contenders for the throne of England, fled England when William the Conqueror came to power instead. She married the King of Scotland, Malcolm III, and became one of their most loved queens. She was a devout Christian, promoted education and welfare for the poor. She was recognized as a saint by the Catholic church many years later.
This is one of the rooms in the Royal living quarters. Here is the fireplace in the sitting room. Just behind this room is the royal bedroom and just off that is a tiny little room where Mary, Queen of Scots gave birth to King James VI of Scotland who became King James I of England. He is the King James of the King James Bible. As our guide said, the room is no bigger than a cupboard.
This picture is taken in The Great Hall, another part of the royal living quarters. Here they held banquets and official royal activities. David got to go behind the barrier and try out a Scottish Long Sword called a Claymore. It weighs about 8 pounds.
After all this walking and climbing, we went into The Queen Ann Cafe and had coffee and scones.YUM!
The castle was about to close so we started the walk back down to the bottom level. Here is a shot of me standing against some of the volcanic rock that serves as a foundation for all the buildings. You can see bits and pieces of it coming out from under and around many of the buildings. Two sides of the castle sit on the exposed rock and a third side, though covered in vegetation, is also the same rock. In person, it is easy to see that it would be very difficult for an army to overtake the castle except from the one side which has a more gradual incline.
This was a great day of sight seeing. Before I came to Scotland, I read a book by Alison Weir called The Children of Henry VIII and now I am reading another of her books called The Life of Elizabeth I. This visit to the castle was great timing because I have learned a lot of the background information which made this visit even more fascinating. I hope you all are having a great day and will post more soon.
Wow!! This is a great trip!! I love seeing you guys! The castle is amazing!
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