Edinburgh Castle

Scotland and England waged war against each other for 100's of years until 1603 when James VI of Scotland became James I, King of Scotland and England.  Not that he was invited to rule, but royalty has always strictly followed the rules of succession.

When Henry VIII died, the crown went to his son, Edward, who lived until age 16.  Henry's first born daughter, Mary (from Catherine of Aragon) succeeded Edward.  Mary tried to bring catholicism back to England after Henry broke from the Catholic church and burned and tortured those who refused to return to her faith.  She is known as Bloody Mary.  Mary died childless allowing Elizabeth I to succeed.  Elizabeth, daughter of Ann Bolyn, was known as The Virgin Queen and brought about the reformation, peace and prosperity to England.

She and her cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots, were always at odds.  Mary gave birth to James VI and was forced to abdicate her throne.  Following Elizabeth's death, Mary's son, James became James I of England and Scotland.

Little trick to remember the outcome of Henry's six wives:  Divorced, Beheaded, Died, Divorced, Beheaded, Survived.  Quite the ditty..... (sorry)

As in many other great cities around the world, Edinburgh has seven hills.  The Edinburgh Castle is built on one of them, called a "crag and tail".   This refers to the shape of the hill ... ideally 3 of the sides are like cliffs and one side is a gentle rise.  This allows protection of the castle, while the castle's village is built on the slope allowing the villagers to escape into the castle should an army threaten.

This building houses the royal chambers and is home to the crown jewels.  Naturally this is this is the only area in the castle where photography is strictly prohibited.  The jewels are the second oldest royal jewels in the world, behind Hungry and the oldest in the UK (because Cromwell hated royalty and destroyed the British crown jewels by melting them down/breaking them up).

He was on his way to Scotland to do away with the royal family and their jewels.  The jewels were quickly spirited away and hidden within the walls.  The sword is broken in two pieces and crammed into the hole, then quickly covered.

Turns out no one kept notes of where the jewels were hidden and it wasn't until 1818 when Sir Walter Scott discovered the jewels in the wall.

 This is Margaret's Chapel named for a Queen Margaret from way, way back (I didn't take notes on the year :) but somewhere in the 1500s I believe)  It is still in use today.  Amazing!

 I took this shot because I just love what it says.  He is actually Security and today his job was to look into everyone's bag before gaining entry to the castle.  He's here to help.  He was very polite but I suspect he could take no prisoners if he found it necessary.

Tonight we  will have a "Scottish Evening" with dinner followed by entertainment at an annex of Presonfield House, set in the heart of Edinburgh, built in 1688 by Sir James Dick.  The description sounds lovely.  Tomorrow we'll be off to visit Britannia and explore Holyrood Palace, followed by our first farewell dinner.  About 19 of our group will return home while the rest will continue on for the post tour, headed to Inverness and then Glasgow.