Edenburgh
Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, is one of the most beautiful cities in
Europe. This distinction is partly an accident of Nature, for the city is
built upon a jumble of hills and valleys; however, during the eighteenth
and nineteenth centuries the natural geography was enhanced by the works of
a succession of distinguished Georgian and Victorian architects. The result
today is high drama; there are countless spots where Edinburgh looks less
like a city and more like a theatrical backdrop. The view from Edinburgh’s
Calton Hill, across the River Forth to Fife, looks more like a scene from
ancient Rome.
Edinburgh incidentally, is named after Edwin, a king of ancient
Northumbria; it has been a Royal Burgh since at least the twelfth century,
and has been recognised as the capital of Scotland since the fifteenth.
Edinburgh’s face is her fortune, for it was this dramatic beauty which, in
the first instance, made the Scottish capital’s name familiar throughout
the modern world. But there are other, less tangible factors involved, for
Edinburgh is a city that delights the mind as well as the eye. It is a city
where the past lives comfortably with the present. It is a gracious place,
in the way that many other cities used to be.
Edinburgh is also a well endowed city, in the sense that there really is a
great deal to see and to do. Indeed the average holiday visitor can only
dip into the great variety of entertainment and reation that is available.
Add to this the fact that Edinburgh is easily accessible by rail, road, air
and sea, and it becomes obvious why the city has a special place in the
affections of so many. It is, indeed, the most popular tourist destination
in Britain after London.
That Edinburgh is pure theatre is immediately demonstrated as the traveller
emerges from Waverley railway station: he looks along the valley of Princes
Street Gardens and gazes upon Edinburgh Castle, perched dramatically on its
precipitous crag of volcanic rock. To his left, huddled on a lofty ridge,
is the Old Town; halfway along the valley, among the trees, rise the
classical columns of the National Gallery of Scotland and the Royal
Scottish Academy. On his right soars the Scott Monument, a remarkable
tribute to the Edinburgh writer Sir Walter Scott.
Perhaps it is for its Castle which Edinburgh is famous, certainly in the
eyes of countless tourists.
To the north, between the Castle and the Firth of Forth is the New Town.
But, first, the visitor is recommended to walk down through the Old Town,
running to the east directly below the castle ramparts.
We have now reached the ornamental gates of the Palace of Holyroodhouse.
Originally this was a guest house for the adjacent Abbey of Holyrood, but
the Palace was begun for King James IV in the early sixteenth century.
However, most of the Palace seen today was built for Charles II and dates
from 1671. The Palace is now the residence of Her Majesty the Queen when
she and other members of the Royal Family make their regular visits to
Edinburgh. The Palace is normally open to the public, who are admitted to
the State apartments and the historical apartments. Mary, Queen of Scots,
spent the six tragic years of her reign here.
Near the Queen’s supper room, visitors are shown a brass tablet in the
floor marking the place where the lifeless body of David Rissio, Queen
Mary’s secretary, was left after he had been stabbed repeatedly by a number
of nobles.
The Palace, however, also has happy associations; there was a brilliant
period in 1745 when it was occupied by Prince Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie
Prince Charlie). He was the last Stuart to reside there.
To the north, between the Castle and the Firth of Forth, the spectator has