Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
1
THE STONE OF DESTINY
Legend has it that the
Stone of Destiny
(also called the Stone of Scone) was “Jacob's Pillow”,
on which he dreamed of the ladder of angels from earth to heaven. Its real history is obscure,
but it is known to have been moved from Ireland to Dunadd by missionaries, and thence to
Dunstaffnage, from where Kenneth MacAlpine, king of the Dalriada Scots, brought it to the
abbey at Scone, near Perth, in 838. There it remained for almost five hundred years, used as a
coronation throne
on which all kings of Scotland were crowned.
In 1296 Edward I stole what he believed to be the Stone and installed it at
Westminster
Abbey
, where, apart from a brief interlude in 1950 when it was removed by Scottish
nationalists and hidden in Arbroath for several months, it remained for seven hundred years.
All this changed in December 1996 when, after a ceremony-laden journey from London, the
Stone returned to Scotland, in one of the doomed attempts by the Conservative government
to convince the Scottish people that the Union was a good thing. Much to the annoyance of
the people of Perth and the curators of Scone Palace (see p.324), and the general indifference
of the people of Scotland, the Stone was placed in
Edinburgh Castle
.
However, speculation surrounds the
authenticity
of the Stone, for the original is said to
have been intricately carved, while the one seen today is a plain block of sandstone. Many
believe that the canny monks at Scone palmed this off onto the English king (some say
that it's nothing more sacred than the cover for a medieval septic tank), and that the real
Stone of Destiny lies hidden in an underground chamber, its whereabouts a mystery to all
but the chosen few.
The rest of the complex
From Crown Square, you can descend to the
Vaults
, a series of cavernous chambers
erected by James IV to provide a level surface for the buildings above. hey were later
used as a prison for captured foreign nationals, who bequeathed a rich legacy of gra
ti.
Directly opposite the entrance to the Vaults is the
Military Prison
, built in 1842, when
the design and function of jails was a major topic of public debate. he cells, designed
for solitary confinement, are less forbidding than might be expected.
The Royal Mile
he
Royal Mile
,
the main thoroughfare linking the Castle to Holyrood Palace, was
described by Daniel Defoe in 1724, as “the largest, longest and finest street for
buildings and number of inhabitants, not in Britain only, but in the world”. It is
divided into four separate streets (
Castlehill
,
Lawnmarket
,
High
Street
and
Canongate
,
west to east respectively) - from which, branching out in a herringbone pattern, are a
series of tightly packed
closes
and steep
lanes
entered via archways known as “pends”.
Hosting an architectural feast of styles from lofty rubblestone tenements and merchant
houses to grand post-sixteenth-century sandstone structures built on medieval
foundations - often resulting in hidden subterranean vaults and closes - he Royal
Mile caters well to the hoards of tourists that gravitate towards it.
Scotch Whisky Experience
354 Castlehill • Daily: June-Aug 10am-5.30pm; Sept-May 10am-5pm • £12.75 •
T
0131 220 0441,
W
scotchwhiskyexperience.co.uk
he
Scotch Whisky Experience
mimics the kind of tours offered at distilleries in the
Highlands, and while it can't match the authenticity of the real thing, the centre does
offer a thorough introduction to the “water of life” (
uisge beatha
in Gaelic), with tours
featuring an entertaining tutorial on the specialized art of whisky “nosing”, a gimmicky
ride in a moving “barrel” car, a peek at the world's largest whisky collection and a
tasting. On the ground floor, a well-stocked shop gives an idea of the sheer range and
diversity of the drink, while downstairs there's a pleasant whisky bar and restaurant,
Amber
(see p.91).
