10/3: Edinburgh: The Royal Mile, New Town & New Birth!

The afternoon before, Steven and I had arrived in Edinburgh, the political, cultural, and historical capital of Scotland, after five weeks exploring mostly rural communities in Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Wales, and the hilly Highlands of northern and western Scotland. The city, home for nearly a thousand years for Scottish kings, parliaments, bankers, thinkers, and writers, has remained the most sophisticated city in the land. 

To get a sense of the city I hadn't seen in 45 years, we first embarked on travel writer Rick Steves' walk of the Royal Mile, the city's Old Town, and one of Europe's most important historic walks. Since we'd taken a bus into the city, we started the walk at the half-way point, knowing we'd see it from the beginning much later in the day.

Even though the Radisson Blu Hotel looked ancient with its 16th century charm and turret, it had been constructed only in 1990.

Once a fancy bank with a lavish interior, The Inn on the Mile had been converted into a boutique hotel as modern banks had moved away from the city core. 

In the next block were some characteristic pubs that offered traditional Scottish and folk music at night. I could see that Dutch people might feel perfectly at home in Edinburgh coming across buildings like these with the varied roof styles and gables which reminded me so much of our visit to Amsterdam a year previously. 

Way back in the 20th century, people used to make phone calls to each other (!) and they used red cast-iron booths like these which were fabricated here in Scotland for all of Britain! As phone booths became no longer used, people have repurposed them as ATMs, wee shops, and even as garden decorations in residential neighborhoods. 

The John Knox House was named for the local man who converted Scotland to a Calvinist style of Protestantism which meant that parishes were governed by elected officials instead of elected bishops. This democratic brand of Christianity led Scotland toward political democracy.

Down the narrow World's End Close was a bar of the same name because back in the 16th century the city of Edinburgh was a walled city. Parts of the 1513 Flodden Wall still existed in the foundations of the building. As far as the people of Edinburgh were concerned, outside these gates was no longer their world. Hence the name The World's End!

The gates to the city were situated outside the pub with the brass cobbles in the road representing their exact location. The area beyond was called Canongate, a monastic community associated with Holyrood Abbey.

After the Royal Mile changed its name to Canongate, we had a marvelous view of an obelisk called Martyrs' Monument which honored a group of 18th century patriots exiled by the British government in London to Australia for their reform politics. The big turreted building to the right of the monument was the jail master's house. 

Scotland's main exports include food and drink with whisky comprising 25% of all their food and drink exports. The US represents the biggest market by value with France the biggest market by volume.

Located near the Queen Elizabeth II's family residence of Holyroodhouse was the Canongate Kirk or church and where the royal family worships when they're in town. The church was founded in 1688. The gilded emblem at the top of the roof had antlers from a stag which came from the royal estate in Balmoral. The Queen's granddaughter married here in 2011.

As the church was closed because no volunteers had signed up to welcome visitors, we entered the graveyard where numerous important residents of Edinburgh were laid to rest.

The monument to Adam Smith honored the Edinburgh author of Wealth of Nations published in 1776 which laid out the economics of free-market capitalism. In the mid-1700s, Edinburgh was Europe's most enlightened city and Smith was smack dab in the middle of it. 

Smith and other great intellectuals like James Watt, the inventor of the steam engine, the poet Robert Burns, geologist James Hutton, and biographer James Boswell, all lived in Edinburgh and helped create the modern world.

Just outside the church was a statue of poet Robert Ferguson who was one of the first to write in the Scots language. Robert Burns was so inspired by Ferguson that he paid for his tombstone and composed his epitaph.

A couple of hundred yards along, we were transported into the 21st century after centuries of history with the sight of the Scottish Parliament Building that was established in 2004 after three centuries of rule from London. When Scotland united with England in 1707, its parliament was dissolved. I was no fan of the plain, stark building designed by architect Enric Miralles from Catalunya, another breakaway nation. The designs on the facade looked like they belonged more in Israel as they resembled Hebrew letters.

The architecture wasn't intended as a statement of authority since it celebrated Scottish democracy. I understood there were, therefore, no statues of old heroes but it felt too much like an ultramodern office park to me plonked down in the middle of history with no link through the ages.

Opposite Parliament was White Horse Close, a 17th century courtyard. Back then, stagecoaches left for London from here where they would arrive eight days later!

Across the street from Parliament was the Queen's Gallery which had part of her large personal art collection. 

At the end of Abbey Strand was the impressive wrought-iron gate of Holyroodhouse, the Queen's Palace that had marked the end of the Royal Mile since the 16th century. As a 12th-century Augustinian abbey originally stood here, the palace was named for a 'holy rood' for a piece of the cross brought here as a relic by Queen (and later Saint) Margaret according to one legend.

We could have paid to take a tour of the palace but the price was hefty and there was still lots more to see in Edinburgh that day so we gave it a pass. Instead, I poked the camera through the fence to take these photos!

This heraldic panel with the royal arms and IRS for King James V was originally over the entrance of the Gatehouse which stood here.

Here's some trivia for you! In Scotland, the monarch is referred to as simply Queen Elizabeth and not Queen Elizabeth II because Scotland and England were separate monarchies when the latter had their first Elizabeth.

That was the end of the Royal Mile Walk but we were close to Edinburgh's New Town so our appetite was whetted for a stroll of some of the city's finest Georgian architecture from the city's 18th century boom period. 

We began at the National Records of Scotland that was opened to the public in 1788. Its current motto which I found very apt was "Preserving the past, Recording the present, Informing the future."

On his high horse out front was a statue of the Duke of Wellington that was unveiled in a highly patriotic ceremony on June 18, 1852, the thirty-seventh anniversary of his greatest victory at Waterloo. Though Wellington at age 83 wasn't present, many veterans he commanded in the battle were there to hear him hailed as an outstanding British military hero. His defeat of Napoleon was regarded as ensuring the freedom not only of Britain but of Europe in general.

The huge turreted building nearby was The Balmoral, one of the city's most prestigious hotels during its glory days. It's more famous now as the place where J.K. Rowling finished her final book! The Scottish flag, known as the Saltire, had an X-shaped white cross on a blue background which represented the crucifixion of the apostle Andrew, Scotland's patron saint.

The spire looked all the world like one that rightfully belonged to a church but the elaborate Neo-Gothic Scott Monument in the Princes Street Gardens honored author Sir Walter Scott, one of Edinburgh's most famous citizens. Built in 1840, the monument commemorated the man who celebrated traditional architecture, kilts, songs, legends, and myths, thereby reviving the "Highland culture and cementing the Scottish identity" according to travel writer Steves.

In the center of the 200-foot monument was a marble statue of Scott and his favorite dog, Maida, one of 30 the dog lover owned during his lifetime.

Another view of the Scott Monument with the Balmoral Hotel's clocktower in the background:

In the distance in the center was a glimpse of Edinburgh Castle that I had toured about 45 years ago with a high school friend on my last visit to the city. On the left was St. Giles' Cathedral, Scotland's most important church aka the Mother Church of Presbyterianism.

Across Princes Street was Jenners Department Store that was once such an important bastion of fashion that new arrivals would be recognized by flying flags on the Nelson Monument atop Calton Hill!

Statues of women supported the building just as real women supported the business. I did my share, too, supporting the business and bought a lovely ceramic tray to remind me of the Highlands we'd just driven through the last few days!

Inside the grand, skylit atrium was "classic Industrial Age architecture" as Steves described it.

High on the wall was the Queen's coat-of-arms which indicated she or, more likely, her representatives, shop there. The Queen did visit, though, Jenners on the 150th anniversary of the store back in 1988. Jenners received a Royal Warrant for furnishings in 1911 from King George V and the store still supplies furnishings to Holyrood Palace.

A block away was the delightful St. Andrew's Square where we found a spot to rest awhile. In the early 19th century, there were no stores, just lovely homes whose people loved to congregate in the private garden. Fortunately, we common folk were now allowed to enjoy its beauty!

In the park's center was Melville Monument which 'honored' a Member of Parliament Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville, whose nicknames of ‘King Harry the Ninth’, the ‘Great Tyrant’ and the ‘Uncrowned King of Scotland’, told their own story around 1800. As Home Secretary he used his influence to frustrate efforts to end the slave trade. At the outbreak of war with France he became Minister for War, and I read that many historians blame him for much of the lack of organization and confused planning in the campaigns that followed. In 1806 he was impeached for the misuse of public funds, and, although found not guilty, he never held office again.

Why then would anyone build a monument to this ‘monster’? The simple fact was that Dundas was apparently very good at working the corrupt system of Georgian politics, and many people in Scotland had benefited from his goodwill. 

We walked up St. George St, the main street of the city's grid-planned New Town which was laid out in 1776 when King George III was also occupied putting out a revolution in "a troublesome overseas colony!" The street plan, a model for urban planning in its day, came with the message to celebrate the joining of Scotland and England into the United Kingdom. The street was made intentionally 20-feet wider than others so a four-horse carriage could make a U-turn.

The statue commemorated the visit by King George IV.

On the first block of the street was St. Andrew's and St. George's Church that was designed as part of the New Town plan in the 1780s. With the first elliptical plan in Britain, all worshippers could focus on the pulpit.

Directly across the street was another temple, to money! Called The Dome, the former bank building was now a tony restaurant. The pediment was filled with figures demonstrating ways to make money.

Thistle Street was described as the street with perhaps the most vivid Scottish character, perhaps because it was named after the country's national flower. Though it appeared a bit sleepy compared to the hustle and bustle along Princes and George streets, it had some interesting boutiques and good restaurants. 

Pittsburghers would no doubt love this statue of William Pitt, the prime minister under King George III, whose father gave his name to the Pennsylvania city!

The Tudor rose embedded in the sidewalk was a good hint for us to turn onto the more commercialized Rose Street!

In a few blocks, we marveled at the exquisite Georgian architecture.

New Town began with the building of St. Andrew Square but ended at the stately Charlotte Square which was designed in 1791 by the prestigious Scottish architect Robert Adam.

We returned to the city center through the Princes Street Gardens but, sadly, the famous gardens and the oldest floral clock in the world had both been put to bed for the season. Oh well, we still felt the castle looming overhead and passed a fanciful Victorian fountain, and even more monuments and memorials to great Scots!

Next post: The path through the gardens led to a staircase up to the Scottish National Gallery which we visited next. It was strange but wonderful being in a 'house of culture' after a month or so traveling the back roads of Ireland, Wales, and Scotland! We then hit the beginning of the Royal Mile so we could explore the entire historic walk!

I am also writing posts from our shortened trip to Asia because of the coronavirus. Here's a link to my latest post on the wonders of the Northern Group of ruins at Polonnaruwa in Sri Lanka:
https://bergersadventures8.blogspot.com/2020/05/38-ancient-city-of-polonnaruwas.html

Posted on May 24th, 2020, from rainy Denver as Steven and I joyously celebrate the birth of our first grandchild, Max Ellie, born to our son, Alexander and Cory in San Francisco just a few hours ago. You can bet we can't wait to meet the newest addition to our family and shower her with love as soon as we can!