Windows on Scottish society

Monday morning in Edinburgh was devoted to a guided bus tour of the city. Our guide arrived in Tartan pants (his "dress tartans," not his clan tartans) and quickly charmed us with his knowledge and his wit. Our tour included admission to the Royal Yacht Britannia (decommissioned in 1997 and now docked permanently at the Port of Edinburgh) and a guided tour of Edinburgh Castle. Both visits were wonderful and helped us better understand Scottish (and British) culture and history.

Tom Ross is, he said in introducing himself, a "Presbyterian of the John Knox variety," leading us to expect a rather rigid conservatism. Later he told us that he votes Green Party, and we found him to be genial, flexible, and funny. He could (and did) quote both Shakespeare and Robert Browning. Once, he said, someone asked him to compare the merits of Browning and Shakespeare. His response: "Well, I'm prepared to discuss it, but who is Shakespeare?"

The castle has many attractions. The most spectacular was witnessed by Jan and Robin -- a 21-gun salute by the palace guard marking the arrival of Queen Elizabeth at Waverly Station (deep in the valley below the castle). Evidently the Queen is in town for a series of garden parties (remember, her husband is the Duke of Edinburgh), and she arrived today. Robin has wonderful pictures of the mustering of the guard and the firing of the cannon.

The central city is quite hilly, but the deepest valleys are crossed by bridges which limit ascent and descent, and there is much of interest within an easy walk from our hotel, so we have been exploring. Interestingly, we saw several magnificent churches that are no longer functioning as churches. One is a restaurant; another is a museum of witchcraft! So the secularization of Scottish society is proceeding apace.

We seem to need frequent infusions of caffein ... which the Scots are happy to oblige. A "quick quart of coffee" at Starbuck revived one of our party this afternoon.

Most of us had dinner at The Abbotsford, a pub with upstairs restaurant less than two blocks from our hotel. The fare was traditional Scottish, and quite good: roast beef, fish and chips, steak and ale (sounds like "steak and eel") pie. Desserts we sampled included cheesecake, honey-poached peaches with mint cream, and apple crumble.

Following dinner several of us walked back toward the castle and stopped for an after-dinner drink at the Greyfriars Bobby pub. In the '50s, Disney made a film telling the story of Bobby, the Skye Terrier who, upon the death of the policeman who was his master, spent every remaining day lying on his master's grave. The dog was ultimately buried in the Greyfriars cemetery next to his master. The pub was over-decorated with memorabilia of the dog and film, but the atmosphere was charming. Two fiddlers, a guitarist, and a drummer sang and played (a mini-ceilidh) as we enjoyed our whisky and ale.

And so to bed....