Edinburgh is older than Glasgow, and has held a somewhat more important purpose in Scotland's history, and that's what this History Sunday post is focusing on. When Glasgow was nothing but a settlement outside of the Cathedral, Edinburgh was home to Kings and Queens, and the government, a position it still holds today.
On my trip to Edinburgh, I went to see the castle, which I've actually only visited about once before. I know, who goes to Edinburgh and doesn't see the infamous castle? It's a bit of a tourist trap, obviously. It's like going to the Tower of London, or Madam Tussaud's in the UK capital, for a lot of people the enjoyment is taken away by the sheer number of people being herded around. I would love to wander around Edinburgh without having to navigate my way through a group of Americans, or avoiding the camera lenses of the Chinese tour. Unfortunately I didn't have that privilege this time and so you also get to see the other tourists.
The Edinburgh Castle the world knows today is relatively modern, and still used as an army Barracks, but the sight has been used since the Iron Age. It won't surprise people to know that the rock it's built on is volcanic, but fear not those who still want to go and visit, it won't erupt any time soon. It's obvious from every picture you see of this grand castle that the rock is not just another Great Glen, and it dominates every picture of Edinburgh; the views are amazing.
The earliest source mentioning Edinburgh was Ptolemy's map in the 2nd Century, this area belonged to the Votadini tribe and is recorded as Alauna, which means rocky place. As with many things from this early on his history there are many legends surrounding this piece of land, and the legendary kings, and if you're interested some quick Googling should be better then me. I did listen to the audioguide but I'm afraid history this early in Scotland doesn't really interest me, so let's skip ahead.
The next recorded name of Edinburgh was in the 7th Century, and now this piece of land was called "Din Eidyn" in a Welsh poem. The tale in the poem is about a King of Goddodin (what the Eastern part of Scotland was called during this period in time) and his warriors who feasted before riding off to battle with the Angles of what is now England, and being subsequently slaughtered in the act. A cheery poem. After the real defeat of the warriors of Goddodin Edinburgh became part of the lands of the Kingdom of Northumbria, one of the seven other kingdoms of the English heptarchy that came to be in the centuries following the Roman departure from Britain. By the tenth century Northumbria had been united into England, and hence Edinburgh along with it. According to the audioguide it was after the Goddodin defeat by the Northumbrians that "Din Eidyn" became Edinburgh, and has remained to this day. To give you a better idea Burgh is an Anglo-Saxon word and doesn't originate from Scotland or any of the languages that has ever been spoken here. "Gow" on the end of Glasgow, Linlithgow, etc, is a word with Scottish origins and means hollow, or dip.
Unfortunately information from this period comes from middens excavated on the site, and so is sparse, as you can imagine. The next we hear from the castle is in the 11th Century after the death of the legendary King Malcolm III. He was the first Scottish King I truly learned about during my travels, and his wife, the illustrious Saint Margaret. I've briefly spoken about both in my post about Dunfermline Abbey, where she's buried.
Edinburgh Castle hasn't always been called this, and during St Margaret's lifetime it was known as the Castle of Maidens; she was here when she learnt of the death of her husband, Malcolm. The origin of this name is a mystery that has a few origins in the various chronicles of history, but is was used frequently until the 17th Century.
It was Malcolm and Margaret's son, good ol' King David, that developed Edinburgh and planted the roots for its future importance in the fate of Scotland. In my opinion it was the first call of anyone wanting to invade Scotland, due to its significance within the royal family. Wallace and Edward III fought over it, Cromwell marched all the way across the border to destroy it; in fact it's been demolished and rebuilt so many times in its history I'm surprised it doesn't look more like Linlithgow Palace, nothing but a shell of its former glory, literally.
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| thanks to the panoramic mode on my phone |
The castle was destroyed by William Wallace during the Wars of Independence, his thought was that if the Scots couldn't storm and keep it, then the English couldn't have it. It's been rebuilt since and King James VI and I of Scotland and England, respectively, was born in a tiny room here, which you can still visit today. There is a War memorial inside of the walls which I didn't go in, and also the Scottish crown jewels (that's right, we have our own separate set) are kept here for people to take a look.
Edinburgh Castle has a long and bloody history that is just too rich to go through in this post. Much blood was spilled, many buildings destroyed, and many births, deaths, marriages, romances, hatreds, and history came to pass here. If you ever do get a chance Edinburgh is a must, although it's always busy and so hardly needs my ambassadorial skill. I think the amazing Fudge Kitchen shop might, at the opposite end of the Royal Mile from the castle, but definitely worth the wander down (I don't like fudge but I eat the stuff they make). A tour-guide, or even the audio-guide, will do a much better job than I have of informing you about Edinburgh's long history, or even just Wikipedia.
