Friday, January 18, 2013

Europe CNY 2012 - Day 9, Part 1 - Edinburgh Castle

"I adore war. It's like a big picnic without the objectlessness of a picnic... The fighting excitement vitalises everything... One loves one's fellow-man so much more when one is bent on killing him." - Julian Grenfell

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Europe CNY 2012
Day 9, Part 1 - 27th January - Edinburgh Castle


Sadly I forgot to charge my camera battery the previous night and only had one, so I ran out later in the day.

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Glasgow Architecture

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Cornish Pasty for breakfast (with another smoothie from the previous night - they were 2 for £3 - and crisps). This one was more like a Polar curry puff with flaky pastry, versus the firmer more crumbly one I'd had in London. I'm reasonably sure a pasty is not supposed to be flaky like a croissant!
Worse, there was no meat - all I felt was potato (so it was like a curry puff in another way)
Annoyingly my Walkers Worcestershire crisps were lao hong because there was a hole in the packet (no wonder it was deflated - I should've realised). Next time I must only take puffy packets.

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Not a condom vending machine but for umbrellas. And cheap too (£3)

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Very Problematic Robin Hood Tax sticker. Besides the problems with the tax it basically paints financiers as evil. Bah.

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George IV of Hannover, George Street

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Edinburgh Train Station

There was an interesting place called Makars' Court, with quotes from Scottish writers in the floor.

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On Makars' Court

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"Freedom is a noble thing" - John Barbour
"Populo enim jus eft, ut Imperium, cui veut, déférât" - George Buchanan

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"Blessed be sempill lyfe without in dreid" - Robert Henryson

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"Auld Reikie, wale o' ilka Town" - Robert Fergusson
"Sing it aince for pleasure, Sing it twice for joy." - J.K. Annand
"He was eident,/ he was blye,/ in Scotlands cause" - Douglas Young

Full list of the quotes of Makar's Court: Edinburgh UNESCO City of Literature: The Literary City

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Makars' Court

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"This is my own, my native land!" - Sir Walter Scott
"I rattled/down the/High Street/in high elevation/of spirits" - James Boswell

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Lady Stairs Close

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What looks like a church is Edinburgh's Festival Centre: "The building remains the property of the Church of Scotland having been leased to support its new use."

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West Bow

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"Papa Djabs Big Cock Is Out Now" - ???

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"Confusion is Sex" - ???

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Edinburgh Castle

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In front of castle

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Crosses. Celtic Crosses, naturally.

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Edinburgh New Town, sea

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Castle Square

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View of Edinburgh

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View of Edinburgh


Outside Edinburgh Castle: Panorama of Edinburgh

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Entrance. On the left is Robert the Bruce, on the Right is William Wallace. The statues date from 1929, and the gatehouse 1887.

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Portcullis Gate

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Memorial plaque - to a guy who defended the castle against... The English

Plaques on the history of the castle:

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100 BC

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AD 600

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AD 1093

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AD 1314

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AD 1457

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AD 1566

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AD 1573

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AD 1689

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AD 1818


Edinburgh Castle lookout: Panorama of Edinburgh

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Edinburgh from battlements

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Train Station, Scottish National Gallery, Scott Monument

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Home of many Units

There were some army unit museums, but none dealt with Pre-Stuart military history, i.e. when they were fighting the English.

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Late 17th c Scottish Dragoon

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Capture of French standards at Waterloo

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Music in the regiment

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The Greys at Waterloo, Regimental Standard of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards 1971-1994

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Scotland for ever!

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"The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (Carabiniers & Greys)"

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The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (Carabiniers & Greys) Regimental Museum

In the museum, I became acquainted with the most deadly of all Scottish Weapons


Unchained Melody played on Bagpipes

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"Pontius Pilate's Bodyguard". Wut.

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The Origin of The Royal Scotts

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How to use a musket

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Scottish Childcare: "It was at Malplaquet that a soldier's wife who had been in winter quarters, decided to return home to Scotland. She handed her infant son to his father, Private McBain, who was on parade. Having nowhere else to put him, Private McBain fought the battle with the child in his knapsack."

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The Revolutionary War 1793-1802

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Ensign Kennedy, rescuing the colours

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On the Colours

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The military: desperately searching for relevance in a post-war world
You can tell they're not happy about Overstretch.
To think that some people suggested just rolling over and surrendering to Communism.

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At the end I found out that the unit didn't even exist anymore. Bah.

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"The Genealogy of the Royal Regiment of Scotland
Colonel-in-Chief - HM The Queen"
The Queen is only a Colonel?! And yet she's Commander-in-Chief. Maybe because the unit doesn't have any post above Colonel.

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Foog's Gate

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Scottish National War Memorial

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View of Edinburgh

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Dog cemetery (for regimental mascots and officers' dogs only, naturally)

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Edinburgh's New Town

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Mons Meg (huge Cannon)

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St Margaret's Chapel, 12th c.

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Inside

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St Margaret

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St Columba

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Altar
At the back is St Andrew on a fish

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St Andrew on a fish

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Forewall Battery

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Half-moon battery

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Wall of War Memorial

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On David's Tower (remains)

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Buried Treasure

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Funky colours

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Death in the cellars

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Royal Palace

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On the Scottish Crown Jewels (note that there are no English crown jewels). As with the War Memorial (and the UK Crown Jewels) there was no photography permitted.
They were last used in 1651 and the Crown is used for Scottish Parliament. There was the Stone of Scone ("Stone of Destiny") also.
As jewels go they weren't numerous: just a crown, sword with scabbard, a couple of jewels and a stone. But hey they are older than the UK ones.

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On Laich Hall

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Laich Hall

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Fireplace

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Coat of arms on window

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Fireplace

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Queen Mary's Chambers

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Charles II

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James VI/I

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Charles II

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Queen Mary's Chamber

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Mary Queen of Scots

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Coat of Arms

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Coat of Arms

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Scottish War Memorial

The war memorial was nice, with the regimental colours and country flags. There were leather-bound tomes each for a unit, with names of dead from the World Wars.

The building was turned into a war memorial in 1920. Before it was a barracks of 3-4 storeys so the interior was gutted.

There was a silver box surrounded by kneeling/praying angels. Inside was a an original roll with the names of WWI dead.

The stained glass was novel, with scenes of people manning AA guns (it was a war memorial after all). The zeppelins on the stained glass surprised me, though.

The Air Force wing had "I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you unto myself". Another side was for the navy. I thought there was no army section, but individual army units got their sections so that was better.

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The most decorated drainpipe I've seen

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Great Hall Entrance

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Crown Jewels building

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Weapons Hall

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Trench Mortars

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War Memorial again

There was an exhibition on prisoners and prisons.

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Graffiti

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Rations for POWs.

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POWs got paid too!

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Edinburgh Castle

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HMS St George, made by a prisoner

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Bank of Scotland dies and forged bbanknotes

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How to forge currency

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Straw goods

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Pre-Geneva Convention POW Rules

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Quarters

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Lang stairs

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Exit

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Edinburgh

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Ensign Ewart tomb. He captured a French standard at Waterloo, which inspired the Royal Scots Greys' badge, tsk.

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Duke of York

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Scottish Horse

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Kids and Edinburgh's Festival Centre

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Braveheart


The Scottish National Gallery sounded nice but I only had a day for Edinburgh (I hadn't considered spending the night in Glasgow or going to the highlands). Ah well, if I ever go back.

In Glasgow I didn't see any EU GB license plates (and indeed saw the fake EU SCO one). In Edinburgh I saw a few - probably because of Crown administrators.
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