The Events of Saturday, May 28, 2011

                Our day started this morning with a little lesson in the old Scottish Celtic language of Gaelic, (pronounced “gallic”, not to be confused with its near relative Celtic Irish Gaelic, pronounced “gaylic”). A Scottish Gaelic word adorned each of the placemats we found in the kitchen of our Edinburgh flat. We studied them carefully so we would be prepared, when we ventured out, to fully engage in Scottish culture and conversation. We learned that galoot (gah-loot) means bumbling fool or slow-witted person (as in “Och that’s no’ a tour guide. It’s a naked rambler, ya daft galoot!”). Numpty (num-p-tee) means a bumbling fool, intellectually challenged – widely known in Scotland as a Member of Scottish Parliament (as in “Thae numpties couldnae organise a piss up in a brewery.”) It seems Gaelic words abound for idiot, simpleton, or those who are unable to properly conduct their own affairs. We learned eejit, bawheid, and dunderheid. We also found a good descriptor for the more chatty members of our family – blether (ble-thir). It is used for someone who babbles on and on; as in “That wee yin o’ yurs is an awfy blether gettin’.” On second thought, maybe we shouldn’t use some of this new vocabulary if we want to enjoy our time exploring Edinburgh today.

                Jim is our tour guide for Scotland and planned a walking tour of Edinburgh’s Royal Mile for our activity today. Grateful to finally have internet in our abode, he researched bus fares and parking availability before making his decision. Though it would be cheaper to drive and park, he opted for the really cool double-decker buses they have here. Our bus stop was just around the corner from our flat. In no time at all we paid our fare and followed Abby up to the upper deck. Lindsey and Abby scored seats right in the front, surrounded with glass on all sides. The views were tremendous and it was fun to be so high and able to see everything at once.

                We disembarked on the North Bridge and immediately the girls wanted to go shopping. It seems a souvenir kilt was on the list. However, they soon found that authentic Scottish kilts are quite expensive. Instead, Caitlin found a cute skirt at our first stop. Ben and Abby were excited to find bagpipes for sale, but sorely disappointed when they heard the poor sound quality. Jim found the “Taylor” tartan and a “Lindsay” tartan. Lindsey thought she had found her souvenir in a Scottish cap, but couldn’t make it look right over her French braid.  We decided to move on, without buying Caitlin’s skirt, in case she found a better deal somewhere else. However, despite making a few stops, nothing better was found, and soon Jim put a halt on shopping. He wanted to find the tourist information office, for we had much to see today.

                Being Saturday, the line was long at the tourist information center, but eventually Jim obtained a map and some other rather useless literature. Scotland’s most important church, St. Giles Cathedral, was our first stop. Stepping inside, we viewed the wall of stained glass celebrating Robert Burns, Scotland’s favorite poet. Then we stared into the eyes of Reformer John Knox, the founder of Scottish Presbyterianism. It was Knox who, in his insistence that everyone be able to read the Word of God, gave Scotland its top-notch educational system. The 1992 Austrian-built organ was beautiful to behold and we hope to hear it in action when we return to attend church here tomorrow. We also had the chance to view a copy of the National Covenant, signed in blood by the Scottish heroes who refused to compromise their religion for the king in 1638.

                Next we made our way to the Writers’ Museum at Lady Stair’s House. Four of Scotland’s greatest literature figures are honored in this museum: Robert Burns, Sir Walter Scott, Robert Louis Stevenson and, on temporary exhibit, philosopher David Hume. Circular stairways “wynd” their way between exhibit areas. The stair steps are purposefully misaligned and uneven. They were constructed this way to “trip up” any intruder who might be trying to slip inside the home under cover of darkness. The exhibits were fairly well done. In addition to text, paraphernalia and pictures from these men’s lives, there were audio recordings of their works and mannequins representing them in action. My favorite display was that of Robert Louis Stevenson, as his was the first poem I memorized as a child:

 

Time to Rise

A birdie with a yellow bill,

Hopped upon my window sill,

Cocked his shining eye and said:

“Ain’t you ‘shamed, you sleepy-head!”

 

We tried to make it out of the museum to hear the cannon shot that marks the one o’clock hour, but to no avail.

                Hungry now for lunch, we looked for a dry, sunny spot. The weather has been changing several times today. A Scottish proverb advises to expect all four seasons to occur in one day. We found a sunny spot, but it wasn’t sunny for long as the winds drove the clouds across the sky. Just as we were finishing up our meal, it began to rain. By the time we had rushed to put everything away and get our waterproof layers on, it had cleared up again. Crazy Scottish weather‼

                Heading uphill, we followed the Royal Mile to its start – at the Edinburgh Castle. We will tour that tomorrow, but Jim wanted to see if he could get advance tickets. While he investigated, the rest of us enjoyed the view overlooking Edinburgh and spied several bunnies making their home on the protected hillside. When Jim returned we embarked on our tour of the Royal Mile. The Royal Mile is a historic walk from Edinburgh Castle to the new Scottish Parliament Building and the Queen’s Gallery. Rick Steves sets it up sort of like a scavenger hunt. Find a small fountain here, a plaque there, a sleeping pig and then a heart made of brick in the pavement. After finding the witches fountain, memorializing where over 300 woman were burned at the stake, we made our way past “Malt Disney” – the overly touristy whisky distillery, to take pictures in front of the funky distorting mirrors outside Camera Obscura. We viewed churches and “lands” (tenement houses) and stopped outside of Deacon Brodie’s Tavern. Deacon Brodie was the real-life Jekyll and Hide whose story Robert Louis Stevenson told.

                After passing by the Old Parliament House and the Mercat Cross where Royal Proclamations were read, we stopped in at the Police Information Center. This little police station has a mini-museum that covers the history of law and order in Edinburgh. Of particular note was a business card holder made out of what looked like leather. It seems that William Burke was one of the first serial killer, killing off street people and giving their bodies to the medical school for dissection and study. When he was finally caught, the judge decreed that he should be executed and his body given to the medical school. A few zealous medical students took this opportunity to craft a business card holder from the skin of his left hand. Gross‼

                Next on the tour was a series of museums. We toured the Museum of Childhood, dedicated to historical toys and games, and then breezed through the Museum of Edinburgh to see yet another original copy of the National Covenant. Next we toured the new, horrendously expensive ($800 million), Scottish Parliament Building. Its modern lines and architecture thrilled Ben, but the inside wasn’t much to see. We reached the People’s Story museum just before closing and had to be satisfied with a visit around back to the tomb of Adam Smith, author of Wealth of Nations, imbedded in the back wall.

                Tired from all this walking, we wearily made our way back up the Royal Mile to the North Bridge to catch our bus home. The plan had been for the kids to have leftovers while Jim and I went out to eat to celebrate our anniversary. However, the internet reservation system of our chosen Edinburgh restaurant leaves something to be desired and they had emailed us back that we needed to call to make reservations. When we did, the only available seating was after 9pm. Not wanting to have that late a dinner, we decided to make reservations for the tomorrow night and have dinner with the kids. I blogged while the rest of the family prepared the meal. After dinner we divided the time for computer internet access among the kids while the rest of us read or played games. All too soon it was time for bed.