Months could be profitably spent in touring through the Isles of
Scotland, and they would be months of unalloyed delight. Two small
islands should be visited even in the course of the briefest Scottish
tour, the Island of Iona, where Saint Columba, the missionary, landed
from Ireland in 563, to begin his missionary work in Scotland, and
on which are to be found the tombs of ancient Scottish, Irish, and
Norwegian kings.
For over a thousand years the Island of Iona was the chosen “God’s
Acre” for the great chieftains. The land was held sacred on account of
Columba, and it was regarded as the securest spot on earth for mortal
remains to rest in. Therefore the bodies of kings were taken there even
from distant points in Ireland and in Norway, and for centuries Iona
was the Mecca of religious pilgrims who went there to pray and to pay
reverent tribute to the tombs of the great.
[Illustration: BEDROOM OF MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS
_Visited by many every year, this is the most interesting spot in
Holyrood Castle._]