stone.
All this led to the creation a popular resistance movement. At first
it was led by William Wallace, a Norman-Scottish knight. But after one
victory against English army, Wallace’s “people’s army” was itself
destroyed by Edward in 1297.
It seemed that Edward had won after all. Wallace was captured and
executed. His head was put on a pole on London Bridge. Edward tried to make
Scotland a part of England as he had already done with Wales. Some Scottish
nobles accepted him, but the people refused to be ruled by the English
king. Scottish nationalism was born on the day Wallace died.
A new leader took up the struggle. This was Robert Bruce, who had
competed with John de Balliol for the throne. He was able to raise an army
and defeat the English army in Scotland. Edward the I gathered another
great army and marched against Robert Bruce, but he died on the way north
in 1327. On Edward’s grave were written the words “Edward, the Hammer of
the Scots”. He had intended to hammer them into the ground and destroy
them, but in fact he had hammered them into a nation.
After Edward’s death Bruce had enough time to defeat his Scottish
enemies, and make himself accepted as king of the Scots. He then began to
win back the castles still held by the English. When the son of his old
enemy Edward II invaded Scotland in 1314 Bruce destroyed his army at
Bannockburn, near Stirling. Six years later, in 1320, the Scots clergy
meeting in Arbroath wrote to the Pope in Rome to tell him that they would
never accept English authority: “for as long as even one hundred of us
remain alive, we will never consent to subject ourselves to the dominion of
the English.”
In the long, bitter struggle for independence, Scotland never
capitulated, and when at last it became part of the United Kingdom in 1707
it was by treaty, even if many Scots regarded the Act of Union[6] as a
piece of treachery. It is still a land apart, with a very separate culture.
Scotland retained its separate legal and ecclesiastical systems, and until
well into the 20th century its separate system of free education was the
most advanced and generous in Britain. Nowadays, it has its own Parliament.
III. Scotland’s beautiful capital.
1. Introduction
Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, is one of the most beautiful
cities in Europe. This distinction is partly an accident of Nature, for the
city is built upon jumble of hills and valleys; however, during the
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the natural geography was enhanced by
the works of a succession of distinguished Georgian and Victorian
architects.
Evidence that Stone Ages settlers lived in Edinburgh has been found on
Calton Hill[7], Arthur’s Seat[8] and Castlehill, and the town’s early
history centres around Castlehill. Some historians believe that this
volcanic hill was a tribal stronghold as early as 600 BC.
One tribe who definitely made their mark were a group of Nothumbrians,
whose 7th-century king Edwin[9], is thought to have given his name to the
castle and town. “Burgh” is a Scottish word for borough (a small town).
2. Edinburgh’s Castle
The Royal Castle of Edinburgh is the most powerful symbol of Scotland.
For centuries, this mighty fortress has dominated its surroundings with a
majesty, which has deeply impressed many generations.
The volcanic castle rock in Edinburgh was born over 340 million years
ago following a violent eruption deep in the earth’s crust. Its story as a
place of human habitation stretches back a mere 3,000 years, to the late
Bronze Age. It was evidently a thriving hill-top settlement when Roman
soldiers marched by in the first century AD.
The place had become an important royal fortress by the time of Queen
Margaret’s[10] death there in November 1093. Throughout the Middle Ages
Edinburgh Castle ranked as one of the major castles of the kingdom and its
story is very much the story of Scotland. But within the building of the
Palace of Holyroodhouse in the early 16th century, the castle was used less
and less as a royal residence, though it remained symbolically the heart of
the kingdom.
Edinburgh Castle is the home of the Scottish Crown Jewels, the oldest
Royal Regalia in Britain. The Honours of Scotland – the Crown, Sword and
Sceptre – were shaped in Italy and Scotland during the reigns of King James
IV and king James V and were first used together as coronation regalia in
1543.
After the 1707 Treaty of Union between Scotland and England, the
Honours were locked away in the Crown Room and the doors were walled up.
111 years later, the Honours were rediscovered and immediately displayed to
the public. Displayed with the Crown Jewels is the Stone of Destiny,
returned to Scotland after 700 years in England.
Edinburgh Castle boasts having the giant siege gun Mons Meg in its
military collection. Mons Meg (or simply “Mons”) was made at Mons (in
present-day Belgium) in 1449. It was at the leading edge of artillery
technology at the time: it weighs 6040 kilogrammes and its firing gunstones
weigh 150 kilogrammes. It soon saw action against the English. But it great
weigh made it ponderously slow to drag around – it could only make 5
kilometres a day. By the middle of the 16th century it was retired from
military service and restricted to firing salutes from the castle ramparts.
It was returned to the castle in 1829.
3. The Military Tattoo
For many visitors the castle means nothing without the Edinburgh
Military Tattoo[11] which is taking place at the Castle Esplanade. The
esplanade had been a narrow rocky ridge until the middle of the 18th
century when the present platform was created as a parade ground.
The signal (Tattoo) indicated that soldiers should return to their
quarters and that the beer in the taverns should be turned off. This signal
was transmitted by drum beat each evening. Eventually this developed into a
ceremonial performance of military music by massed bands.
It began when the city held its first International Festival in the
summer of 1947. The Army staged an evening military display on the
Esplanade. The march and counter-march of the pipes and drums which was
held near one of the most dramatic places anywhere in the world made it an
immediate success. The Tattoo has been repeated every summer since on the
same site. Each Tattoo closes with another “tradition”- the appearance of
the lone piper on the battlements of the castle.
4. St. Giles’ Cathedral
If Edinburgh Castle has been at the centre of Scottish life for 9
centuries, St. Giles’ Cathedral, the High Kirk of Edinburgh, has been the
religious heart of Scotland for even longer.
In 854 there was a church. It belonged to Lindisfarne, where Columba’s
monks first brought the Gospel from Iona. In 1150, the monks of St. Giles’
were farming lands round about and a bigger church was built by the end of
the century. The first parish church of Edinburgh was dedicated to St.
Giles, a saint popular in France. It was probably due to the Auld Alliance
of Scotland and France against the common enemy of England.
St Giles’Cathedral is one of the most historic and romantic buildings
in Scotland. Founded in 1100s, this church has witnessed executions, riots
and celebrations. Its famous crown spire has dominated Edinburgh’s skyline
for over 500 years. Scotland was a Catholic nation until the Reformation in
the mid-16th century.
John Knox[12], the fiery “Trumpeter of God”, who preached against
Popery, brought St. Giles into great prominence. Knox’s aim was to create a
reformed Church of Scotland, to banish “popery”, to strengthen democracy
and to set up a system of comprehensive education. The religious transition
was to take 130 years of struggle to achieve.
Many of the famous Scots are commemorated in the church, including R.
Burns and R. L. Stevenson.
The Giles is famous for its Thistle Chapel, which is home to the Order
of the Thistle[13] and honours some of the greatest Scots of the last 300
years. This exquisite little room will take one’s breath away. Its
magnificent carvings and stonework evoke the ancient origins of the order
and will amaze anyone with a wealth of details associated with Scotland,
for example, the angel that plays the bagpipe.
5. Edinburgh’s museums.
In the field of arts, Edinburgh has a host of outstanding attractions
for different tastes and interests. The Scottish National Portrait Gallery
provides a unique visual history of Scotland, told through portraits of the
figures who shaped it: royals and rebels, poets and philosophers, heroes
and villains. All the portraits are of Scots, but not all are by Scots. The
collection also holds works by great English, European and American
masters. Since the Gallery first opened its doors, the collection has grown
steadily to form a kaleidoscope of Scottish life and history. Among the
most famous portraits are Mary, Queen of Scots, Ramsay’s portrait of
philosopher David Hume, Nasmyth’s portrait of Robert Burns, and Raeburn’s
Sir Walter Scott. In addition to paintings, it displays sculptures,
miniatures, coins, medallions, drawings, watercolours and photographs.
The Royal Museum and the Museum of Scotland are two museums under one
roof. The Royal Museum is Scotland’s premier museum and international
treasure-house. It contains material from all over the world. A vast and
varied range of objects are on display – from the endangered Giant Panda to
working scale models of British steam engines. The Museum of Scotland tells
the remarkable story of a remarkable country from the geological dawn of
time to modern-day life in Scotland. The variety and richness of Scotland’s
long and vibrant history, is brought to life by the fascinating stories
