2023 Scotland – 6

The Royal Mile, Dunnetteers, St. Giles and a Concert

We actually slept in this morning! It was lovely, and we had a leisurely breakfast, and had a chance to talk to Lizzie, the proprietor of the Kingsway Guesthouse. By the time we got going it was about 11.

I haven’t mentioned the weather much lately, but we’ve had a little of everything. We say in Seattle that if you don’t like the weather, wait 20 minutes. Here it is wait maybe 5 minutes. The morning begain sunny, they clouded over. It was sunny for parts, rain for others, and then for kicks, hailed a couple of times. Yesterday was much the same. Bright and sunny while we were at Chester’s fort, then moving to clouds, and by the time we were on the way home, it was a downpour. You just roll with it!

Today was the Dunnett Society’s Edinburgh Walk. This took place on the Royal Mile. This is a road that spans from the Castle at the top, down to Holyrood Palace at the bottom. Since many of Dunnett’s books were set in Scotland much of the time, and Edinburgh in particular, there was a lot to see. Much has changed since the 1500’s, as cities are living entities, always evolving.

The Dorothy Dunnett Society had stewards set at certain places, and they were easy to find with their blue lanyards. We were all given one at registrations with nametages, and asked to wear them at events. It was fun to run into other Dunnetteers up and down the Royal Mile. (For those that have read the books, Julie and I had fun trying to decide whether they were the Charetty Blue, or the Midculter Blue.) We’ve had fun talking to people and finding out where they are from. We were approaching one steward as a couple was leaving. When the steward asked where we were from, and told her Seattle, she was surprised, as the couple who had just left were from Seattle as well! We also ran into Karen Alvey, one of those in charge of the confernce. It was wonderful to meet her!

(Karen Alvey of the Dorothy Dunnett Society, and one of the organizers of the conference.)

The National Library is just off of the Royal Mile, and that is where Dunnett’s manuscripts, notes and papers are archived. Several of the group were able to go ane view them. Others were attending a talk on the maps of the time. Julie and I found where Niccolo’s house would have been, where the Kilmirren house would have been, Mary de Guise’s home had been, and several other places of note – both fictional and actual.

The Royal Mile was once the main street. Off of it ran ‘closes’, or narrow alleys, as well as other streets. The best description I heard was that they ‘herringboned’ off of the street and out. One of the streets was a street that Niccolo took from the Grassmarket up to his house ‘and talked to 20 people’. The street no longer existed, but we walked down to a balcony of sorts, and found that it now overlooked Victoria Street, which was the inspiration of J. K. Rowling’s Diagon Alley.

Anyway, I digress. One of the stewards had recommended that we see a museum called Gladstone’s Land. This was already on my list, as it is a home set up as a merchant would have lived. This is the Old Town counterpart to the Georgian House Museum I saw on Saturday. The museum is called ‘Gladstone’s Land’ because the owners of the buildings owned the land behind it, making it their land. At the time, most consisted of a lower floor with a stone arched exterior, and an outside staircase leading up to the upper story. The floors were connected by a spiral stone staircase with a door to each floor. A wealthy family would live on one floor, usually an upper, and often would have 5 to a room. (Hence the move to New Town, and the spaciousness of a Georgian Town House!).

Gladstone’s Land is laid out with a typical boarding house room on the top. In this room was a Scottish Sampler that I found fascinating. The next floor was set up like a dressmakers shop. The next floor was the wealthy family’s home. One unusual thing is the painted ceilings. Not many have survived, and these did because they had been covered up. I could go on and on, but there is a lot of information online about this museum online. If you get a chance to visit, I highly recommend it.

I think Edinburgh has the market cornered on narrow, spiral staircases. Amsterdam has the steepest, by far, but Edinburgh’s come pretty close. Stone spiral staircases seem to be everywhere, and it would follow, as space was always at a premium in the Old Town. Below are the staircases from Gladstone’s Land and the Scott Monument, as well as a couple of closes. The closes tend to be steep, narrow, and have lots of steps!

Just down from the Gladstone’s Land, off the Lady Stairs Close, is a small plaza and the Writer’s Museum. I would have loved to go into the Writer’s Musuem, but I had had enough of small narrow stairs for the moment. However, in that lovely plaza was Dorothy Dunnett’s plaque. That was a must see for us!

In the square near St. Giles Cathedral, we found the Meerkat Marker. This was the marker where news was read out, usually in the public market. It was originally the ‘Market’ marker, and the name has evolved to ‘Meerkat’.

As part of our tour, we had a guide escort us through St. Giles Cathedral. The catheral is magnificant. It was begun in 1124, and has continued to evolve and change. I could say much more about it, but I’m really tired, and I’ll save that for another time, and just let some pictures do the talking for me.

Again, thanks to the Dorothy Dunnett Society, we were able to get into the Thistle Chapel, which is no longer open to the public. This is the chapel for the Order of the Thistle. The inside full of beautfiul stonework, elaborately carved wood, and the heraldic devices of the members of the order The small room was exquisite, and a real treat to be able to see.

Our final event of the day was a renaissance concert in the cathedral. The music was intersperced with readings from the Dunnett books. The music was incredible, and hearing it in the cathedral was soul lifting. It is very hard to describle the feeling of sitting in a gothic cathedral that was built in the 1100s, listening to music from the renaissance that soared into the air. I don’t know that I can even try.

Tomorrow is another day, and it’s late and I’m tired, so I’ll just close with pictures.