Day 26, Sunday, October 11, "Church and Jekyll and Hyde"

Sunday was a very good day for us. We have had the privilege of visiting several different churches here and worshiping with our fellow Christians, within their traditions. So far we have visited churches affiliated with our Episcopal churches in America. This Sunday we visited St. Giles which is a part of The Church of Scotland, affiliated with our Presbyterian churches. We took a bus and arrived on The Royal Mile, where St Giles is located.

They have mulitple services each Sunday and we attended the 10:00 am service. The inside of the church was magnificent! Beautiful old stone, soaring arches, amazing stained glass windows...a ceiling that defies understanding of how craftsmen of old could construct it without modern tools...and not have them fall in on our heads.

As the organ played, the large choir slowly made their way up the center aisle, singing beautifully as they came. They wore robes reminiscent of monks. They were, off-white nubby wool, that looked like it had come right off the sheep in the fields. I can't describe how their voices reverberated off those old stone walls...filling up the space with beautiful sound. With their voices, the stone columns, walls, ceilings and the wonderful stained glass, I felt like I was in a movie or a music video or something not quite real. The pastor's message was very thought-provoking, causing us to discuss it over lunch.

This church celebrates Communion in a unique way. All are invited to participate if they are followers of the Christian faith, a warm and welcoming custom (each church we have visited invited all to partake). Everyone in attendance who wished to join in, came forward and stood around the altar in a very large circle. The elements were then passed around and each took bread and wine as they were passed to them. The pastor started the passing but then each person passed to the other. In this way they show the priesthood of every believer.

By the way, I took the photos after the service was over and while people were visiting with each other. Sitting just behind us was a woman from Little Rock, Arkansas. She and her husband, a retired Presbyterian minister, are here in Edinburgh for a year. He works for St. Giles during that time.  His nickname is "Flash" and his last name is "Gordon."  Imagine that.  David gave him a copy of THE VOICE NEW TESTAMENT.

After the service we walked just a few blocks to eat lunch at a famous place. Being The Royal Mile, there are many shops, street performers and vendors along the way. Often as you might imagine, there are bagpipes along they way. It is amazing how loud these instruments are. I have since learned that they were used in battle to call the troops, hence the reason they are so loud. Anyway, the lovely music carries up and down the hills.

Okay, so back to lunch. In the 1700's there was a man named William Brodie. By day, he was a model citizen, businessman, involved in local government and the church. But by night, he led a secret and evil life. He was a thief, excess consumer of alcohol and other substances and even a murderer. You may remember my story on the day we went to the Royal Surgeon's Museum about the underground business of digging up newly buried corpses to sell to medical students. Well, Deacon Brodie was a ringleader in this activity who was finally caught, tried and hung. Maybe you can read this plaque outside the tavern that tells the story.

It's a true story and inspired Robert Louise Stevenson (a famous Scottish author) to write the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. So we had to enjoy lunch just steps away from where Deacon Brodie was born and hanged! Lunch was being served upstairs in this lovely old building. It has the charm and atmosphere of a typical Sottish tavern. I had a "roast of the day" sandwich with onion gravy and roasted potatoes. Roast of the day turned out to be lamb and it was tender and juicy...yum.

After lunch, we did some shopping before walking home.We were able to find one gift we had been looking for and I bought a necklace that I wanted for my special momento of my visit. When David came to Scotland many years ago, he brought me a beautiful celtic knot necklace which I wear often. This time, I chose a Scottish Thistle. This flower is the national symbol of Scotland and we have seen it growing in the wild and in cultivated gardens.

 

Daniel, thanks for the information on the Pigs of Bath (see comments under the Bath post). That explains the topiary and I guess it is along the lines of the painted cows we have in Texas. I saw that same recipe for the Sally Lunn Buns so we will try them out when we get back home. We were able to video chat with Nana and Pop and Daniel and Jenel this week so that was really great. We hope you all have a great day and we will be back soon with more of our adventure.