THE OLD TOWN
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ROYAL MUSEUM AND MUSEUM OF SCOTLAND
Open daily from 10.00am to 5.00pm. Admission Free. For details of exhibits and layout visit www.nms.ac.uk.
Royal
Museum
The
Royal Museum is the largest all-encompassing museum in Britain,
combining the curatorial responsibilities of the V&A, the
Natural History and the Science museums in London. It was purpose-built
in 1861. Long steps lead up to the arched main entrance which
is decorated with busts of Victoria and Albert, Watt, Darwin,
Michelangelo and Newton. Above are portraits of Natural History,
Science and Applied Art, which go some way towards covering the
museum's main concerns.
Apart
from the exhibits, the building's greatest joy is its wonderful,
large and airy entrance hall, complete with the soothing
trickle of water from the fountains in its two fish ponds. Elegant
cast-iron columns soar upwards, supporting delicate balconies
laden with fascinating treasures, the whole space flooded with
natural light.
Museum
of Scotland
The
exciting new Museum of Scotland weaves a compelling story of Scottish
life through the ages, with the help of up-to-the-minute displays
and an intriguing collection of objects found on Scottish soil.
The purpose-built pink sandstone fortress was inspired by the
country's brochs, castles, tower houses and tenements. Individual
stones of different hue were hand-picked and placed in the cladding
in positions selected by the architects [Cordon Benson and Alan
Forsyth). The rather striking building with its distinctive tower
has typically received a fairly mixed reaction from locals, but
its aims are beyond criticism: to tell the history of Scotland
from prehistory to the present day. Great care has also gone
into designing each gallery's environment so that it complements
the displays within and creates a neat link with the views of
the city out of their respective windows.
Leave
the new museum and cross George IV Bridge at the top of Chambers
Street to reach Candlemaker Row, where the smell of the brewery
might just reach you once again. The narrow entrance to the left
of the Greyfriars Bobby pub will take you into Greyfriars'
Kirkyard.
Greyfriars
A
sublime cemetery, yet I sud'na like to be interr'd in't. It
looks see dank and clammy and cauld
Christopher
North
This
unexpectedly large and grassy graveyard is a peaceful oasis from
the bustle of George IV Bridge, where you can wander among the
graves accompanied by birdsong, and enjoy the excellent views
into the Old Town down the hill. A board at the gate lists the
famous people that are buried here: the likes of architects William
Adam and James Craig, designer of the New Town, scientists
Joseph Black and James Hutton, and the poet Allan Ramsay.
Greyfriars'
Kirk Itself is rather a grisly place. As you enter the church,
the monument to James Borthwick sets the tone, with its rampant
skeleton festooned with surgical instruments. This was the first
church to be built in the city after the Reformation, on the site
of the old Greyfriars monastery which had been given to the city
by Mary, Queen of Scots. The eastern part, although heavily restored,
is the oldest (1620), while the western side was completed a century
later by the architect Alexander McGill. The entire church was
much restored in 1938, but is well worth exploring, even if just
for a taste of its atmosphere.
Greyfriars'
principal claim to fame, however, Is as the place where the National
Covenant was signed in 1638 in defiance of Charles I's imposition
of the Book of Common Prayer. (The covenant itself is on display
in the Huntly House Museum) The first to sign was the Marquess
of Montrose, who later changed sides and joined the royalists,
followed by thousands of people—rich and poor— some of whom signed
their names in blood. And blood was spilled consequently when
1184 men were captured at the battle of Bothwell Bridge and held
for five months without shelter, and only one penny loaf each
a day, in the Covenanters' Prison in the southwest corner
of the kirkyard.
The
tomb of 'Broody George Mackenzie', who prosecuted the Covenanters
mercilessly, is also in the kirkyard, which is long believed to
be haunted by his uneasy spirit. He was an enlightened man who
gave 1500 books to found the Advocates' Library which subsequently
became the National Library of Scotland ( see below).
Turn
left out of the churchyard past the life-size statue of Greyfriars
Bobby at the comer of Candlemaker Row and George IV Bridge.
Greyfriars Bobby
The best-known resident of the graveyard is Greyfriars Bobby, the
most famous Skye terrier in the world. His master, John Gray,
a farmer from Midlothian, died one Wednesday market day in 1858
and for 14 long years the ever-loyal little dog refused to leave
his graveside in Greyfriars' Kirkyard. Bobby was looked after
until his death by the local people, who gave him a collar (now
on display in the Huntly House Museum). Poor Bobby could not be
buried next to his master; when he died he was quietly laid to
rest in a different part of the graveyard, in a patch of unconsecrated
ground.
Continue along George IV Bridge, named after George IV's visit to
Edinburgh in 1822.
A little way along on your right is the 1930s bulk of the National
Library of Scotland, sitting on Its seven-storey book-stack
below the bridge. Opposite is the decorative French style of the
late 19th-century City Library, whose Edinburgh Room is the best
place to find a wealth of information on local history.
Cross
the Lawnmarket and go down the twist of Bank Street, past the
headquarters of the Bank of Scotland
The
spectacular site was purchased in 1800, but the Roman Baroque
design, including the green dome topped with a great gilded statue
of Fame, was largely the work of David Bryce towards the end of
the 19th century.
Continue
down Bank Street to the top of the Playfair Steps, which
lead down to the National Gallery of Scotland and Royal Scottish
Academy at the bottom of the Mound.
The
Playfair Steps are named after the architect of these two
temples for art. The view from here looks like the dawn of a new
civilization after the twists and turns of the Old Town. Spread
out beyond Princes Street Gardens is the New Town and, beyond
that, the sea with the hills of Fife in the distance. If they
look strangely close, that's supposed to presage rain. Behind
you to the left, on Mound Place, rear the twin towers of the New
College and Assembly Hall. They too were designed by Playfair
for the Free Church in the mid 19th century, the Tudor front deliberately
designed to line up with his Royal Scottish Academy building below
and, when viewed from down there, to frame the spire of the Church
of Scotland's Assembly Hall at the top of the Mound. The Assembly
Hall is the temporary home of the Scottish parliament before it
moves to Holyrood Road.
For
the final leg of the walk turn right down Market Street, and at
the bottom turn right again up Cockburn Street.
Named
after the great judge, memoir-writer and wit Lord Cockburn, the
street twists up on to the Royal Mile from Waverley Bridge. It's
lined with art galleries and fashion shops, and really comes into
its own at weekends. Several steep flights of steps through narrow
closes make their way up to the High Street on the right, and
down to East Market Street on the left. About halfway up the street,
on the right, the back of the City Chambers towers up 12 storeys
high.
Under
here is Mary King's Close, one of Edinburgh's 'buried streets'.
Guided walks organised by Mercat Tours (0131) 225 6591 leave
regularly from the Mercat Cross in the High Street, taking you
on an atmospheric journey into these cellar-like houses, spiced
with horrible tales of people being sealed up alive with the plague,
wading through human excrement and hanging each other from meathooks.
There
are lots of Cafés and restaurants in Cockburn Street and
at the top of the hill on the Royal Mile, where you can stop at
the end of the walk for a well-earned drink.
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