William Wallace and a Hairy Coo, March 10

The morning the bus tour was to begin, we were experiencing typical Scottish weather for March...wet and cold. Still, we were all excited to get started; the tour was the main reason why we came to Scotland. Haggis was the name of the company providing the Compass Buster Tour that we were taking. It was indeed a compass buster.

As we started out of Edinburgh our driver, Rab, asked us to introduce ourselves. Most of the group, outside of mine, were from Australia or New Zealand, with one from South Africa and another from the states. With the exception of wearing seat belts, Rab explained three rules for the week long bus tour. No smoking/drinking on the bus, no snoggin’ and please no farting.....

Our destination for the day was Oban, Scotland, but our first stop would be the Wallace Monument, in Stirling. Rab was an excellent storyteller, and when we were getting close to our destination, he would say something like: “and now, it’s time to go back through the misty curtains of time....”

On our way there Rab asked us to “go back through the misty curtains of time....” and proceeded to tell us a little about William Wallace. He was the subject of the Mel Gibson film “Braveheart” in which Gibson played Wallace. Wallace is one of Scotland’s greatest heroes and even though there was a movie made about him, there really isn’t much known about him, accept that he was apparently much taller than the average Scot in the 1200s.

As a movie, “Braveheart” is actually pretty good, but if you’re looking at it for historical information, well there are just a few things that are a bit off......

In the film, Wallace is shown wearing a kilt. Because William Wallace was the son of a lowly knight and a Lowlander, he would have worn armor in battle. The love scene at the Battle of Falkirk between Wallace and Isabella of France that resulted in a child....didn’t happen since Isabella was only 3 at the time.

There is a question as to whether William Wallace was the Braveheart, or if Robert the Bruce was. On his deathbed, Robert the Bruce asked that his heart be cut out upon his death and taken into battle against the “infidels” during the crusades. Strangely, it was not uncommon for a request like this to be made, and his request was granted.

It is told that during the battle, the soldiers were told not to fear for their king was with them. They lost the battle anyway. At one point the holder of the heart, Sir James, also known as the Black Douglas, threw Bruce’s heart at the enemy before he died. The heart was retrieved and is supposedly now buried in Melrose Abbey. The rest of Robert the Bruce’s body is buried in Dunfurmline. Ironically, while touring the Palace of Holyroodhouse, I noticed a skull with a placard next to it that claimed the skull to be that of Robert the Bruce.....again, the mind boggles.

We arrived at the William Wallace Monument and Rab told us the first thing we would see is a statue at the bottom of the hill placed there soon after the movie came out, to honor William Wallace. Never mind that the William Wallace monument at the top of the hill had been around since the 1800s; no, another statue was needed to REALLY honor William Wallace, especially since the movie Braveheart introduced the world to Wallace, and well.....you may find this hard to believe, but apparently William Wallace looked EXACTLY like Mel Gibson.....
We began to walk up the hill, which was paved but with very few switchbacks. While I reached my target heart rate in Edinburgh in about 2 minutes, I reached it in about 2 seconds walking this route. I thought I was going to die or at the very least, my knees were going to break. I also thought, if the rest of the walks on this adventure were anything like the first one, I was going to be crawling by the end of the tour.

Earlier, Julie had been talking about the last time she was at the monument, they climbed up the actual monument itself. The steps inside are very steep and narrow, much like the ones at the Camera Obscura. Apparently steps were intentionally built this way as a early security system. It’s very hard to run up steps when they are uneven and narrow. Anyway, at the top of the monument is a sword that is rumored to be the one that William Wallace used in the battles.

As I was walking up the hill, I remember thinking that even though I wanted to see the sword, I was actually kind of glad that we didn’t have enough time to climb the monument. I had to stop a couple of times....my walks in Florida while frequent, did little to prepare me for this jaunt. Julie was gracious enough keep with me....very gracious indeed, and did mention that the last time she was here, they took the shuttle up the hill.....LOL.

We.....I made it to the top....and even though my knees were screaming at me, the view was spectacular. Off in the distance, Stirling Castle could be seen. Lots of history that I don’t know about, happened there.....

Now, it was time to go back down the hill....a much quicker jaunt.....and back on the bus to continue the adventure.

Hamish the Highland Coo
This was our next adventure....this is Hamish....he’s a hairy cow. Kind of sexy, don’t you think?

Back on the bus......and to the Highlands....

Edinburgh, March 9, Mary King's Close

After the tour of the Palace, we walked down, or actually up the Royal Mile. We had seen some of the city from above, now it was time to see some of the city underneath. We were going on a tour of Mary King's Close.

I mentioned in an earlier post the closes were narrow winding streets between buildings. The buildings were typically at least 7 stories high and held apartments and shops. The picture to the right is of the Fleshmarket close. This close led to, as you may have already guessed, the market where animals were bought, sold and sometimes, slaughtered.

The area around Mary King's Close, apparently originally names Alexander King's Close (no relation to Mary), was a shopping area back in the day. Mary King moved there with her four kids after her husband's death. Through her work as a seamstress, Mary King became wealthy enough to become a burgess, a status that very few women held. Only burgesses had voting rights within the city.

In 1753, the burgh council decided to build the Royal Exchange in the Mary King Close area. The top floors of the buildings were knocked down with the bottom floors being used as a foundation. Mary King's Close was re-opened in 2003 and now offers an opportunity to see what life was like in the closes around the 1600s. It was not pretty and the poorer one was, the less pretty life was.

As mentioned, most of the tenements were 7 stories. The wealthiest people lived on the higher levels, and did not have to deal with as much shit, literally, as the poorer individuals below. On the lower floors it was not uncommon for a family of 10 to live in a room that was maybe 10x10. Because the buildings were so close together, it was difficult for sunlight to reach many of the apartments; the lower the level the less light, leaving the first floor in pitch blackness.

With that family of 10, there might have been a couple of animals thrown in just for good measure, making that 10x10 room a bit more crowded and odoriferous. There was no running water or sanitation, which leads to the question of where 10 people and maybe a couple of animals relieved themselves? Well, a small bucket in one of the corners of course, with the crap from the animals picked up and thrown right on top!

Okay, so what happened to the bucket when it was full? Why the shit was thrown out the window of course. Two times a day, perhaps 10 at night and 7 in the morning, a lot of shit came flying out of a lot of buildings, with a shout of “Garde Loo” to warn people to get the hell out of the way!

I can imagine that the smells in Edinburgh were quite unpleasant in the 1600s. I referred to the area in which the closes were located as Old Town. New Town did not begin to exist until the 1700s. Old town Edinburgh is situated on a hill, so the term, “the shit rolls downhill” was quite literal, and of course the closer to the bottom of the hill, the worse the stench became. At the bottom of the hill was Nor Loch where all the shit as well as other garbage from the city (remember the animal slaughtering....) ended up. In the 1820s, the Loch was drained and turned into a public garden known as Princes Street Gardens. It is no doubt, the greenest garden I have ever seen.

Now, back to the tour of the Real Mary King's Close.... It was very dark and eerie and when the plague hit in the 1600s it got even more so. There was a rumor that victims of the plague were simply walled up in their homes and starved to death, but this is not true. In fact, the ill were treated well despite the fear of the plague.

A story told by our tour guide:

There was a little girl whose name was Annie, who had already lost her parents and was ill herself. When she became ill, she was taken away and put into a room until her death. Not long ago, soon after the Close had been rediscovered, a medium was wandering around a particular section of the close and “felt a presence” of a little girl. The little girl, Annie, seemed to be very sad. The medium learned from the girl that she was sad because she lost her doll and had been looking for her for many years. A few days later, the medium brought another doll into the close, and felt that the Annie seemed more peaceful. Now, when in that particular part of the tour, one will see hundreds of toys in a pile where the little girl apparently died. These toys have been sent from all over the world. Money is sent too, in honor of Annie, and is donated to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children. Many tourists claim, when visiting that section of the close, they can still feel the presence of Annie.

A lot of death happened in those closes; natural and otherwise. I wouldn't be surprised if Annie wasn't alone....

Further down the close was a sawmaker's workshop, which was still in operation in the 19th Century. The family that worked and lived there, had one of the only toilets in the close, before it was finally shut down.

So ended the tour of Mary King's Close.

As I mentioned above, the particular day in Edinburgh was my favorite. I could feel the history of the city the moment we walked into the Old Town two days earlier, but the tour of the Palace and the Close allowed the history to permeate my skin. There were times when I found myself thinking about some current events; realizing somethings haven't really changed. There are still governments that use bloodshed and treachery to "govern" and the shit continues to roll down hill.

We headed back the hostel to get ready for dinner and hopefully meet up with the final two Canadian adventurers who were joining the clan. Unfortunately, bad weather had once again hit Canada and Meg and Mo's flight was delayed. There was no indication as to how long it would be delayed. This was particularly troublesome, because the next day we were to check out of the hostel, and begin our adventure into the Scottish Highlands.

Edinburgh, March 9 Holyrood Palace

This day in Edinburgh was probably my most favorite day by far in the city.

After breakfast, we hopped onto the tour bus, after walking uphill to catch it of course, and headed to the Palace of Holyroodhouse. The palace is at the lower end of the Royal Mile with Edinburgh Castle being at the higher end. Yes, we walked up the hill to catch the bus that took us down the hill. It made sense at the time.

Holyroodhouse was first built approximately 900 years ago as an abbey. It was also a sanctuary for those who were having troubles with the law. Those granted sanctuary could roam freely about the palace, which included small markets and shops at that time. They also received papers that allowed them to leave the sanctuary on Sundays so they could go to the city. Apparently, arresting people on Sunday was not allowed. The sanctuary status has apparently not been officially removed from the palace, so if you find yourself in trouble with the law in Scotland, remember the Palace is at the lower end of the Royal Mile.

The Abbey later became the home to various monarchs with many of the rooms and buildings added on by James V. Although most of the original abbey is gone; parts of it can still be seen between the palace and the Queen's gardens. The Palace at Holyroodhouse is a working palace to this day, with the Queen residing there during the months of June and July. This was one of the reasons why pictures were not allowed in the palace. Another reason was that fact that many of the tapestries and some furniture had been there almost as long as the palace itself.

The first thing we saw upon entering the palace was an elegant staircase, which took us to a series of rooms each more grand than the one before. The grander the room, the closer one was to having court with the King/Queen. You were gold if you made it to the final room in which the king held court, and strangely enough, it looked like a bedroom. In fact, it was a bedroom, but probably not the bedroom in which the king slept. Meeting subjects in the bedroom meant that one was worthy enough, I guess, to be in such an intimate place with the monarch.

The dining room was also part of the tour and was partially set to show what it would look like if the Queen were there having a dinner party, or other queenly functions.

The highlight of the tour for me, were the suites occupied by Mary, Queen of Scots who, because of her tumultuous life, is probably one of the best known of the Scottish Royalty.

We entered the suite of rooms, one of which held a bed on which Mary slept. It had the orginal bed covers and tapestries and the entire thing was enclosed in glass to protect it from the elements. There was a side room in which Mary would take tea and on at least one particular occasion had audience with her secretary and close friend David Rizzio. Mary's husband at the time was Lord Darnley, very suspicious character who believed that the Queen and Rizzio were having an affair. Entering into a secret conspiracy with other nobles, which also included the overthrow of the Queen, Darnley murdered Rizzio in front of Mary's eyes. Rizzio was dragged from the small room into an outer chamber and stabbed somewhere between 54 and 57 times. They wanted to make sure he was really dead and stabbing Rizzio 50 times was apparently not adequate.

There is a brass plaque in the room near the floor marking the spot where Rizzio's body laid. Even though this murder happened over 400 years ago, it is still quite possible to see a blood stain on the solid wood floors. By the way....Darnley was killed from an apparent assassination not to long after his murdering of Rizzio.....Bloodshed and Treachery....

For more of the conspiracies and intrigue of Mary Queen of Scots' life, click here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_I_of_Scotland

From the suites we were led back outside to the ruins of the original abbey. Unfortunately, the Queen's Gardens were not open to the public during that time of year.