Edinburgh Castle

Some of the steps up to the Royal Mile where the Castle is located.

Exterior of the Castle

Inside the Great Hall of the Castle

A 20th century stained glass window of Saint Queen Margaret.  She was a Saxon princess who married Malcolm III of Scotland and became Queen of the Scots. She was a very pious Roman Catholic, and among many charitable works she established a ferry across the Firth of Forth in Scotland for pilgrims traveling to St Andrews in Fife, which gave the towns of South Queensferry and North Queensferry their names. Margaret was the mother of four kings of Scotland, and of a queen consort of England.  After reading a historical novel about her, Queen Hereafter by Susan Fraser King, I was quite thrilled to visit her chapel at Edinburgh Castle and to see her prayer book.

Tableau of Isabella McDuff crowning Robert the Bruce at Scone.  After reading a novel about Robert the Bruce that included the story about Isabella leaving her English-allied husband, The Earl of Buchan, to crown the king of Scotland, which by tradition, is done by a McDuff, I sat and listened to the audio that described this tableau with amazement.  I could almost see it happen.

Inside the castle, just pass the scene of Robert being crowned, are the Honors of Scotland, 16th century regalia first used by Mary, Queen of Scots, and last used to crown Charles II.  They are the oldest surviving crown jewels in the British Isles. They were re-discovered in 1818 by Walter Scott as the request of the Prince Regent (who would become George IV).  Photos are not allowed, so this picture is from the web.

Panorama of the city from the castle.