Edinburgh Castle

Scott and I set off to visit Edinburgh
Castle on Saturday morning. Like many castles, this one has seen it's share of wars, additions, and renovations, and so the structures are not all of the same age. The oldest structures in the Castle date from the 12th century. It is built on volcanic rock, at the top of a steep hill. It's location made it more easily defensible and provides some lovely views of the city as well.
Scotland does not get the best weather in the world. It is often cold, rainy, and windy. There is a palace inside the castle walls, but, for the most part the royals of Scotland chose not to use the palace as their permanent residence. Mostly they came to the palace when they felt their life was in danger. The Castle has always had a strong military presence, and that continues to the present day.

Inside the castle walls there is the Regimental Museum of The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, The Regimental Museum of The Royal Scots, several cannon batterys, and Mons Meg. Mons Meg is a huge gun weighing in at about 6 tons. The gun was given to James II of Scotland in 1457 as a seige gun. Despite it's huge size, or, actually, due to it's huge size, it was not very practical to use. It could only travel about 3 miles each day and required a hundred men to move it! It could fire a distance of up to 2 miles however.

After about 1550 it was taken out of military service and only fired on special occasions such as the marriage of Mary Queen of Scots in 1558.

Another building inside the castle walls is the Great Hall.  The Great Hall was completed in 1511 and was intended to be a ceremonial meeting place. In 1650 it was turned into a barracks and remained in military use until 1886. The stone corbels supporting the roof are carved with Renaissance sculpture, the oldest surviving in Britain. During our visit the walls were lined with swords, armour, pistols, and guns. This collection was on loan from the Tower of London.

There are many other buildings inside the castle walls, including the Scottish National War Memorial. The War Memorial was opened in 1927 to honour the dead from World War I. The building also commemorates the deaths of those in World War II.

There is a palace inside the castle walls, used off and on by royals from 1430 to 1633. It was the birthplace of James VI of Scotland, son of Mary Queen of Scots and Henry Lord Darnley. Also inside the castle walls are The Honours of Scotland: the Crown, Sceptre, and Sword of State. These are the oldest crown jewels in the British Isles and were used together for the coronation of Mary Queen of Scots in 1543.


After walking around inside the castle walls, and checking out a gift shop or two, Scott and I left the castle and started down the hill towards the Palace at Holyrood House. We did make a couple of detours, however. We stopped in at The Scottish Whiskey Experience where we learned the story of how whiskey is made and also had a tasting. Scott has been known to enjoy a single malt from time to time, as both Uncle Dana and our friend Ray will attest. I, on the other hand, could barely get the glass to my nose, had one very tiny sip, and turned my shot over to Scott to finish off. Inside the Scottish Whiskey Experience is the largest collection of whiskey in the world.


Cheers!