30 Aug 19 – Touring in Edinburgh

For those of us who might think of Scotland as just a province of England with bagpipes and kilts, it is time to get over that.  The more I learn, the more I wonder how they’ve stayed together for over 300 years. John Sadler – a dapper military historian, author, and BBC consultant who will be our guide during much of our trip took us on a walking tour of Old Town Edinburgh and taught us a bit of Scottish history.  The Scots looked more to Europe – mostly the French, Dutch, and Spanish – as their cultural allies than they ever did to the English.  Scottish noble children were sent to France to be educated and they came home with French, and therefore anti-English, ideas. (One wishes they’d kept the French ideas about cuisine.) As we walked around town, John pointed out many of the architectural features that clearly came from Europe and made the area look uniquely Scottish and not at all English. He also described many of the border skirmishes and how the cross cultural effects of those impacted Edinburgh. In 1603, after centuries of fighting in the border towns, Elizabeth I of England died leaving no heirs except for James VI of Scotland and so he became James I of England as well. The Scots took this as quite a victory until 1707 when they were going broke and were saved by England in return for signing the Act of Union which united the two Parliaments and created the United Kingdom.  The Scots insisted, however, on keeping their own legal, educational, and religious systems which they proudly do to this day. Although Wales and Northern Ireland are connected to the UK in the same way legally, they have none of these same provisions and really are like provinces of England.  We were surprised to see that some of our money was even issued from the Bank of Scotland.  Although it is legal tender in England, we are told that in the south of England they might balk at taking it.  My brain was as tired as my feet after this walk…and that was just the morning,

In the afternoon we walked over to the National Museum of Scotland which is a huge museum covering all aspects of Scottish life.  We only concentrated on the history section which added illustration to the stories John had been telling us in the morning.  The history and timeline bears little resemblance to that of England and again it is startling to me that they have stayed united.  Even the Enlightenment and the Reformation came to Scotland in different times and in different ways than they came to England.  One little artifact really caught my eye – the clarsach (pictured above).  It is part of the oldest surviving tradition of Scottish music and was an important instrument in the pre-Christian Gaelic culture. The workmanship is extraordinarily beautiful and I’m told the sound is just as sweet.

Our last stop of the day was Mary King’s Close – an historic alleyway located under buildings on the Royal Mile.  It is named for Mary King who was a merchant burgess who resided on the close in the 17th century. It was one of many of these narrow streets with tenement houses on either side stretching up to 8 stories high.  It was partially demolished and buried due to the building of the Royal Exchange in the 18th century, but a few of the stories are now open to the public and the tour teaches about the lives of the people who lived there.  It has much the same feel as the NY Tenement museum and John says that other than the myths of the haunting, the history and the artifacts are quite accurate. Of course you can never recreate the sounds and the smalls of that kind of crowded living.  We had a fascinating time, but didn’t mind going back to our 21century upscale hotel.