Edinburgh is so cultural and such a beautiful place to walk around. Rupert Friend

My pictures today are just lovely details of the UK….but we are looking at Edinburgh today—again for that friend who I met by the fuzzy coos and who is thinking about a trip there.—AFTER all the recommendations I made in London.

And of course you can’t have Scotland without Jamie and Claire and Season 3 should be in the great city as there’s where Jamie had the infamous PRINT SHOP.

So are you ready to run away to Scotland—LET’S GO

I sang in a rock band when I was training as a lawyer. You know, not professional, we just did it for fun. We just did gigs all over Edinburgh and some in Glasgow and some at festivals.

Gerard Butler

Another hot Scot

Mug of GENERAL Douglas MACARTHUR Antique Royal Winton Grimwaedes Toby Made in England

$100.40

https://www.etsy.com/listing/245583943/mug-of-general-douglas-macarthur-antique?ref=shop_home_active_18

The place to start in Edinburgh is the Castle

EDINBURGH CASTLE

You can see it from all over the city…the 10 acres of castle from where a cannon is fired every day at one and that has served as a fortress, royal palace, military garrison and a prison over the years.

The land the castle stands on is the granite core of an extinct volcano. The buildings date from 10th to 20th century. It is on this high rising piece of rock that the city got it’s start—and it has been the site of inhabitation since the Bronze Age.

The first fortress didn’t come till the 6th century when a king named Edwin built it and gave the town it’s name. King Malcolm and his wife (who is now a saint) Queen Margaret lived here in the 10th century and their son David (who became the first) built a tiny chapel in her honor and you can still see it today.

I’ve spent a lot of very happy times in Edinburgh as a result of playing virtually every festival since 1996. It’s also a beautiful city in its own right, is walkable, within sight of the sea and mountains – and was too far north for the Luftwaffe to have done any damage, hence the spectacularly beautiful architecture.

Marcus Brigstocke

The castle was the site of many battles and wars of Independence against England, and began to develop into the castle we known today in 1356 when King David II initiated his defense building. By the 15th century King James III used the Castle as a ordnance factory and by the Renaissance King James IV added a great hall, to what was mainly a fortress.

The Castle was sacked by the English in 1573 after Mary Queen of Scotts was deposed in favor of her son James VI, who was born at the castle. It was this James who became James I of England uniting the two countries till the present day (despite votes to the contrary).

Edinburgh Castle has from time to time been starved into submission or betrayed from within, but only twice has it been captured in combat, once through stratagem and once-fearsome thought it was taken by direct assault over the wall.

Edinburgh used to be a haughty city.

Alexander McCall Smith

By 1753 the esplanade ceremonial parade ground was under constructions and 60 years after that it was broadened and surrounded with walls in effect it was a statement that the castle was no longer a fortress. But it was used a barracks during the Napolenic War as well as a prison for French captives. By 1914 the last garrison was gone though the building continues to be guarded, usually by Scottish soldiers since the Castle is now the home for the Scottish Crown Jewels—thought to be the oldest of their kind in Europe; as well as the home to a number of military museums and the Scottish National War Memorial.

The War Memorial is a museum (1927) by Sir Robert Loremer with memorials to a Scottish regiment and even the animals that were part of their life. Don’t miss the enteral Shrine which is a silver casket containing the roll of honor for 100,000 Scots who fell in World War II.

Edinburgh is my adopted home. It’s a place where I wanted to come and live, and I managed to arrange my life so it happened.

Peter Higgs

YOU enter the castle over a waterless moat flanked on either side by Robert the Bruce (1274-1329) King from 1306 who won the decisive battle against England and Edward II at Bannochburn (1314) and William Wallace (1270 – 1305) whom we all know about thanks to Mel….Beat Edward earlier and was beheaded in Smithfield area of London in 1305. Porticullis Gate and Argyll’s Tower (Marquess of Argylle confined there in 17th c)

The highest point here is the Citadel of King’s Bastion—Castle Rock at 443′. Don’t miss the Pet Cemetery, small but impressive and the castle vaults below the Great Hall. You can also see the military prison, new barracks and Governor’s House as well as the Museum of Scot’s Dragon Guards as well as the Half Moon & Forward Batteries, The Great Hall (1502) was used for official functions and has a fine hammerbeam roof, and museum giving the history a Scottish regiment.

Around Crown Square are the main historic apartments including the Royal Apartments with the Crown chambers. It is also in this area that you can see the Honours of Scotland–the ancient crown, sepulcher and sword (these are as previously stated the oldest in Europe) which were successfully hidden from Cromwell, who was notorious for destroying the symbols of the royals. In this same place Mary Queen of Scotts gave birth to James VI—

And if you miss the view of Edinburgh strung out below you might just be SIGHT IMPAIRED.

My first ever stage performance was in Edinburgh in 1960.

Davy Jones

Oh and what would a tour of a place in Edinburgh be with out a few ghost stories. There are tales from visitors of hearing ghostly drumming despite the absence of any musicians anywhere and many complain of the unsettling atmosphere of the dungeons as well as many reporting ghostly sightings and such here–what you’d expect of any self respecting dungeons.

Legends about the castle include a headless boy in traditional dress (Kilt?) who only appears when there is immediate danger to the keep. There’s also the tale of a piper who was sent down to rediscover tunnels reputedly in existence from the Castle to Holyrood Place (on the other end of the Royal Mile) about a mile or so down hill from here. His passage was to be marked from above as the pipe could be heard…about half way down the pipes stopped and rescue parties found no trace of the piper, but to this day there are still reports of people hearing the ghostly pipes.

And as to the Canine Graveyard I mentioned before—reportedly it is one of only two in Scotland—the other at Ft. George–has been the subject of reported barking and howling from one or more of it’s now presumed ghostly canines.

In Edinburgh, there was a lovely little Episcopalian Church of Scotland church on my way to the theater, so I used to pop in there and soak up the atmosphere.

Neve McIntosh

Knowles 1988 Little Red Robins #4132 A Plate

Knowles 1988 Little Red Robins #4132 A Plate $20.00 https://www.etsy.com/listing/478902309/knowles-1988-little-red-robins-4132-a?ref=shop_home_active_1

Tackling DROUGHTLANDER one agonizing one horrible minute at a time:

Check out the latest on two new cast members for season 3: https://www.tvfanatic.com/2017/01/outlander-season-3-mr-willoughby-and-captain-thomas-leonard-cast/

Check out a new project in Scotland whose interest was promoted by Outlander: A new trail takes in 25 locations around Scotland linked to the Young Pretender/Bonnie Prince Charlie: https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/lifestyle/outdoors/1156282/new-trail-set-up-to-promote-scotland-through-bonnie-prince-charlie-interest/

and check out how even the crew are heroes in this real life incident: https://stv.tv/news/west-central/1379633-outlander-crew-help-rescue-woman-near-film-set-in-ayrs

My accent is… sort of an Edinburgh sort of soft southwest Scottish accent. It could almost be English.

Sam Heughan

The definition of a hot Scot–Sam

PRECIOUS MOMENTS “This is Your Day to Shine” Figurine $9.76

https://www.etsy.com/listing/481468251/precious-moments-this-is-your-day-to?ref=shop_home_active_2

I try not to think about writers who came before me when I’m writing myself. If I did, given the abundance of literary talent Scotland – and Edinburgh in particular – has bestowed upon the world, I wouldn’t be able to get as much as a sentence written.

Allan Guthrie