After Bamburgh it was time to head north to Edinburgh, about an hour and a half drive along the coast. Since this was the day of our actual anniversary, we splurged on a great hotel across the street from the castle (unfortunately we didn’t have a view of the castle from our room).
The next morning was grey and cool as we headed to the castle. Once again, we had to climb a big, steep hill to get there. Why, oh why are castles always on top of a big hill?!! castle in Edinburgh sits on top of this huge volcanic rock projecting from the ground – 134 meters above sea level! I made the comment to Chip that it couldn’t have been easy to get stuff way up there in order to build it. As we walked along the base of the hill towards what we hoped was the entrance, we passed a couple of charter buses parked along the side of the road (just on the other side of this curve). But I wasn’t too concerned – after all, the castle looked huge. How crowded could it be?
A castle/fortress has existed here since at least around 600 when it was known as Din Eidyn, “the stronghold of the Eidyn”. In 638, the local tribe and their king, Mynyddog the Magnificent, were beaten by the invading Angles and the rock was renamed Edinburgh.
Around 843, the Picts and Scots living north of the Forth and Clyde united to become one nation – Scotland. – and in 1018, Malcolm II defeated the Angles/English, freeing his country. In 1093, a “Castle of Maidens” is recorded as existing on the site and was likely built mostly of wood. In November of that year, King Malcolm III was in Northumberland fighting while his queen, Margaret, remained at the castle. Upon hearing that both her husband and son had been killed near Alnwick, Margaret become ill and died.
During the reign of David I (1142-53), Edinburgh became a major royal fortress and during the 13th century the wooden structure was replaced with stone. But despite its seemingly impenetrable location, the castle fell to the English king Edward I in 1296.
It took 18 years for the Scots to win their castle back. An attack led by Sir Thomas Randolph, nephew of the Scots king Robert the Bruce, caught the English off guard and shortly afterwards, Robert ordered the castle to be dismantled so that the English would be unable to use it. The above picture is of a plaque that commemorates the event. Three months later, Bruce defeated the English at Bannockburn.
For the next twenty years, the castle remained in ruins but when Robert the Bruce died in 1329, war broke out again and in 1335 the English were once again in control. Not content with English rule, in 1341 a group led by Sir William Douglas tricked the guards and took back the castle. Bruce’s son David (II) rebuilt the castle.
(the Scottish Royal Arms which has been the emblem of Scotland for 800 years)
In the mid 15th century, James III made the castle his permanent residence and rebuilt much of the interior. The castle served as not only a royal residence but also held the state archives and the royal artillery and was used as a prison. But given the castle’s perch on the top of a rock, the Stewart monarchs quickly decided that Holyrood Abbey made more sense as a residence. By the time of the Protestant Reformation, the Abbey had become the Palace of Holyrood and Edinburgh castle was only used if the royal family was in danger or for formal occasions.
(bust of Mary Queen of Scots in one of the Royal Palace Rooms)
Perhaps the castle’s most famous resident was Mary, Queen of Scots. A niece of Henry VIII, her reign ended in 1567 when she was forced to abdicate in favor of her infant son James VI. Although she managed to escape from Scotland, she ended up the prisoner of her cousin, Elizabeth I in England. Mary still had her supporters though and in 1571 they took control of the castle in a siege that lasted over a year. The Lang (long) siege as it was known finally ended when Elizabeth I lent the regency government 20 heavy guns and they managed to bring down much of the east side of the castle as well as cutting off the castle’s water supply. The badly damaged palace went unused by royalty for more than 42 years until James VI ordered its reconstruction to celebrate his 50th anniversary as king. 
The last reigning sovereign to stay in the castle was Charles I who slept there the night before his Scottish coronation in 1633. Much of what remains today was built for the army in the 17th century when the castle became a garrison fortress. Many of the medieval building were demolished and other structures were converted for army uses. The only room not affected was the Crown Room which was sealed up in 1707 following the Treaty of Union between Scotland and England.
(the Visitor/Information Center)
Throughout the first half of the 18th century, a number of rebellions took place which included efforts to retake the castle. The last one was in 1745. More than 100 years after it was sealed, the Crown Room was opened in 1818 by Sir Walter Scott and inside he found the Honours of Scotland. They were put on display and the castle became a visitor attraction. 
The Gatehouse was built in 1888 with the intention of making the castle look more formidable.
On the left of the arch is a bronze statute of King Robert the Bruce
To the right is one of William Wallace. These were added in 1929 to mark the 600th anniversary of Bruce’s death.
The Lang Stairs is a steep flight of 70 steps and was the main way up to the castle in medieval times. Above the stairs was once the Constable’s Tower which was destroyed during the Lang siege.
Rather than going up the stairs (especially after climbing the hill to get up here!), we opted for the cobblestone road that was added during the 17th century to aid in the movement of heavy artillery in and out of the castle.
The Argyle Battery is opposite the Lang Stairs and was built in the 1730s. The guns, on loan from the Royal Armouries, are cast-iron, muzzle-loading 18 pounders made around 1810. From this area we saw some spectacular views of the city.
In the middle of the castle grounds is the oldest building not only within the castle walls but in all of Edinburgh – St. Margaret’s Chapel. Built around 1130 by David I and dedicated to his mother Margaret, it served as a private chapel for the royal family.
The chapel is small and very quaint and it is still used for christenings and weddings.
The stained glass windows of St. Margaret and William Wallace (as well as a few others) were added in 1922. Margaret was canonized in 1250.
Mons Meg was a gift to James II in 1457. A six ton siege gun, it was built in the Belgian town of Mons and fired gunstones with a range of almost 2 miles and that weighed 330 pounds! Considered on the leading edge of technology for the time, the gun was soon put into action against the English in 1460 at the siege of Roxburgh Castle where James II was killed. It took more than 100 men to move the gun at a rate of three miles per day. It was taken out of service around 1550 and then used as a saluting gun for events like royal weddings and birthdays. Its last firing was on October 14 1681 (we were there on October 14!!).
Down in a little walled off area below Mons Meg is The Dog Cemetary. Since the 1840’s, regimental mascots and dogs of officers have been buried here.
The Half Moon Battery is a large curved wall that gives the castle a distinct look. It was built after the Lang Siege over the ruins of David’s Tower which was destroyed during the siege.
One of the most impressive buildings is the Scottish National War Memorial. Originally the site of a medieval church, it was converted to a munitions store in the 1530’s before being demolished two centuries later and replaced by a barracks building. In 1923, with the army gone, the barracks was transformed into the Scottish National War Memorial.
Originally developed to honor the dead of WWI, it now also includes those killed during WWII as well as subsequent military campaigns. No pictures were allowed inside so the above is scanned from the guide book. The inside is absolutely beautiful and reminded me of a cathedral – lots of stained glass, arches, and sculptures. You can see more of the inside at the memorial's web site.
The Royal Palace was the royal residence and was originally built in the 1430’s. The structure that exists today dates from the late 15th century. It is within this residence that James VI of Scotland and I of England was born in 1566.
On the first floor of the Royal Palace is the Crown Room which holds the Honours of Scotland – the Crown, Sceptre and Sword of State. No pictures were allowed so I scanned a couple of pages from the guide book (the picture above is the hilt of the Sword of State). The oldest crown jewels in the British Isles, they were made in Scotland and Italy and first used together for the coronation of Mary, Queen of Scots in 1543. From 1651 to 1660 they were buried to keep Oliver Cromwell from getting his hands on them and as indicated previously, they were locked up from 1707 until 1818. During the Second World War, the Honours were hidden in a privy in David’s Tower to prevent them from falling into enemy hands in case of an invasion.
The Great Hall was completed in 1511 but was rarely used for its intended purpose. When the castle was captured by Cromwell in 1650, the hall was converted into military barracks and used as such for 230 years. In 1886, work began to restore the hall and most of what is seen is a recreation with the exception of the ceiling which is the medieval original.
The stone corbels supporting the main trusses are decorated with Renaissance sculptures and are the oldest surviving in Britain. Due to the dark conditions of the ceiling, it was hard to get a good picture of some of the sculptures which include IR4 (for James IV), the crowned Royal Arms, Scottish thistles and the “Maid of Norway”. The above picture is from the guide book - pictures of a few of the sculptures are on either side of the picture.
Some of the stained glass windows in the Great Hall
more stained glass
(view of the city from the castle)
Remember those buses I mentioned? Well, it seems all of those people came together in this part of the castle at the same time we did. The rooms in the Royal Palace were so crowded that it was hard to take pictures without all of the cool stuff being blocked by people. The worst part? These were some of the rudest people I have ever run across – they were literally running into people and pushing them out of their way. Even when we were in London the year before and visited places like The Tower, Hampton Court and St. Pauls, we didn’t see this many tourists. By the time we made it out of there we decided we’d had enough. So, off for some lunch and then a walk down The Royal Mile.Here are a few more views of the city:
*Information from the Guide book
Cheers!
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