Discover Edinburgh - Discover Scotland: Experience the Best of Scotland - page 161

Scottish Parliament). If you want to see the parliament in session , check the website to see when it will be sitting -
business days are normally Tuesday to Thursday year-round.
The Main Hall , inside the public entrance, has a low, triple-arched ceiling of polished concrete, like a cave, or
cellar, or castle vault. It is a dimly lit space, the starting point for a metaphorical journey from this relative darkness
up to the Debating Chamber (sitting directly above the Main Hall), which is, in contrast, a palace of light - the
light of democracy. This magnificent chamber is the centrepiece of the parliament, designed not to glorify but to
humble the politicians who sit within it.

| Museum

PEOPLE'S STORY
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( www.edinburghmuseums.org.uk ; 163 Canongate; 10am-5pm Mon-Sat year-round, 2-5pm Sun Aug)
One of the surviving symbols of Canongate's former independence is the Canongate Tol-
booth . Built in 1591 it served successively as a collection point for tolls (taxes), a council
house, a courtroom and a jail. With picturesque turrets and a projecting clock, it's an inter-
esting example of 16th-century architecture. It now houses a fascinating museum called
the People's Story, which covers the life, work and pastimes of ordinary Edinburgh folk
from the 18th century to today.

| Museum

MUSEUM OF EDINBURGH
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( www.edinburghmuseums.org.uk ; 142 Canongate; 10am-5pm Mon-Sat year-round, 2-5pm Sun Aug)
You can't miss the colourful facade of Huntly House, newly renovated in bright red and
yellow ochre, opposite the Tolbooth clock. Built in 1570, it houses a museum covering
Edinburgh from its prehistory to the present. Exhibits of national importance include an
original copy of the National Covenant of 1638, but the big crowd-pleaser is the dog col-
lar and feeding bowl that once belonged to Greyfriars Bobby , the city's most famous
canine citizen.

CANONGATE KIRK
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Downhill from Huntly House is the attractive curved gable of the Canongate Kirk, built in
1688. The kirkyard contains the graves of several famous people, including the economist
Adam Smith , author of The Wealth of Nations; Mrs Agnes MacLehose (the 'Clarinda' of
Robert Burns' love poems); and the 18th-century poet Robert Fergusson (1750-74;
there's a statue of him on the street outside the church). Fergusson was much admired by

| Church