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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 each object and every gallery has to tell.

At the heart of the museum is the Kingdom of the Scots. This is the story of Scotland’s emergence as a distinctive nation able to take its place on the European stage. Here are the icons of Scotland’s past – objects connected with some of the most famous events and best-known figures in Scottish history, from the Declaration of Arbroath[14] to Mary,
Queen of Scots.

Described as “the noisiest museum in the world”, the Museum of
Childhood is a favourite with adults and children alike. It is a treasure house, full of objects telling of childhood, past and present. The museum has five public galleries. A list of their contents makes it sound like a magical department store. There are riding toys, push and pull toys, doll’s prams, yachts and boats, slot machines, a punch and judy, a nickelodeon, a carousel horse, dolls’ houses, toy animals, zoos, farms and circuses, trains, soldiers, optical toys, marionettes, soft toys, games and much, much more.

In addition, the museum features a time tunnel (with reconstructions of a school room, street scene, fancy dress party and nursery from the days of our grandparents) an activity area, and video presentations. The museum opened in 1955 was the first museum in the world to specialize in the history of childhood. It also helps to find out how children have been brought up, dressed and educated in decades gone by.

“The People’s Story” is a museum with a difference. As the name implies, it uses oral history, reminiscence, and written sources to tell the story of the lives, work and leisure of te ordinary people of
Edinburgh, from the late 18th century to the present day. The museum is filled with the sounds, sights and smells of the past – a prison cell, town crier, reform parade, cooper’s workshop, fishwife, servant at work, dressmaker, 1940s kitchen, a wash-house, pub and tea-room.

These reconstructions are complimented by displays of photographs, everyday objects and rare artifacts, such as the museum’s outstanding collections of trade union banners and friendly society regalia.

6. Where life is one long festival.

Edinburgh may be called the Athens of the North, but from mid-August to early September that’s probably because it’s hot, noisy and overpriced – and crawling with foreign students.

Over the next three weeks the population will double as half a million visitors invade Britain’s most majestic city.

If you are a theatre buff or a comedy fan, Edinburgh at Festival time[15] will be your idea of heaven. But the city is a centre for culture all year round.

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