EDINBURGH.
From Loch Leven Castle our party returned in the coach to the railway
station, and thence proceeded to Edinburgh. They crossed the Frith of
Forth by a ferry, at a place where it was about five miles wide.
Edinburgh is considered one of the most remarkable cities in the world,
in respect to the picturesqueness of its situation. It stands upon and
among a very extraordinary group of steep hills and deep valleys. A part
of it is very ancient, and another part is quite modern, so that in
describing it, it is often said that it consists of the old town and the
new town. But it seems to me that a more obvious distinction would be,
to divide it into the upper town and the lower town; for there are
almost literally two towns, one upon the top of the other. The upper
town is built on the hills. The lower one lies in the valleys. The
streets of the upper town are connected by bridges; and when you stand
upon one of these bridges, and look down, you see a street instead of a
river below, with ranges of strange and antique-looking buildings on
each side, for banks, and a current of men, women, and children flowing
along, instead of water.
The different portions of the lower town, on the other hand, are
connected by tunnels and arched passage ways under the bridges above
described; and then there are flights of steps, and steep winding or
zigzag paths, leading up and down between the lower streets and the
upper, in the most surprising manner.
There are twenty places, more or less, in the town, where you have two
streets crossing each other at right angles, one fifty feet below the
other, with an immense traffic of horses, carriages, carts, and foot
passengers, going to and fro in both of them. You come upon these places
sometimes very unexpectedly. You are walking along on the pavement of a
crowded street, when you come suddenly upon the break, or interruption
in the line of building on each side. The space is occupied by a
parapet, or by a high iron balustrade. You stop to look over, expecting
to see a river or a canal; instead of which, you find yourself looking
down into the chimneys of four-story houses bordering another street
below you, which is so far down that the people walking in it, and the
children playing on the sidewalk, look like pygmies.
At one place, in looking over the parapet of such a bridge, you see a
vast market, with carts filled with vegetables standing all around it.
At another, you behold a great railway station, with crowds of
passengers on the platforms, and trains of cars coming and going; at
another, a range of beautiful gardens and pleasure grounds, with ladies
and gentlemen walking in them, or sitting on seats under the trees, and
children trundling their hoops, or rolling their balls, over the smooth
gravel walks.
Sometimes a street of the upper town, running along on the crest or side
of a hill, lies _parallel_ with one in the lower town, that extends
below it in the valley. In this case the block of houses that comes
between will be very high indeed on the side towards the lower street;
so that you see buildings sometimes eight or ten stories high at one
front, and only four or five on the other. These structures consist, in
fact, of two houses, one on top of the other; the entrances to the lower
house being from one of the streets of the lower town, and those leading
to the one on the top being from a street in the upper town.
The reason why Edinburgh was built in this extraordinary position was,
because it had its origin in a castle on a rock. This rock, with the
castle that crowns the summit of it, rears its lofty head now in the
very centre of the town, with deep valleys all around it. This rock, or
rather rocky hill,--for it is nearly a mile in circumference,--is very
steep on all sides but one. On that side there is a gradual slope, a
mile or more in length, leading down to the level country. A great many
centuries ago the military chieftains of those days built the castle on
the hill. About the same time the monks built a monastery on the level
ground at the foot of the long slope leading down from the castle. The
rocky hill was an excellent place for the castle, for there was a
hundred feet of almost perpendicular precipice on all sides but one, and
on that side there was a convenient slope for the people who lived in
the castle to go up and down; and thus, by fortifying this side, and
making slight walls on all the other sides, the whole place would be
very secure. The level ground below, too, was a very good place for the
monastery or abbey; for it was easily accessible from all the country
around, and was, moreover, in the midst of a region of fertile land,
easy for the lay brethren to till. There was no necessity that the abbey
should be in a fortified place, for such establishments were considered
sacred in those days, and even in the most furious wars they were seldom
molested.
In process of time a palace was built by the side of the abbey. This
palace and a part of the ruins of the abbey still remain. Of course,
when the palace was built, a town would gradually grow up near it. Many
noblemen of the realm came and built houses along the street which led
from the palace up to the castle--now called High Street. The fronts of
these houses were on the street, and the gardens behind them extended
down the slopes of the ridge on both sides, into the deep valleys that
bordered them. Little lanes were left between these houses, leading down
the slopes; but they were closed at the bottom by a wall, which was
built along at the foot of the descent on each side, and formed the
enclosure of the town.
In process of time the town extended down into these valleys, and then
to the other hills beyond them. Then bridges were built here and there
across the valleys, to lead from one hill to another, and tunnels and
other subterranean passages were made, to connect one valley with
another, until, finally, the town assumed the very extraordinary
appearance which it now presents to view. Besides the hills within the
town, there are some very large and high ones just beyond the limits of
it. One of these is called Arthur's Seat, and is quite a little
mountain. The path leading to the top of it runs along upon the crest of
a remarkable range of precipices, called Salisbury Crags. These
precipices face towards the town, and together with the lofty summit of
Arthur's Seat, which rises immediately behind them, form a very
conspicuous object from a great many points of view in and around the
town.
Unfortunately, however, none of this exceedingly picturesque scenery
could be seen to advantage by our party, on the day that they arrived in
Edinburgh, on account of the rain. All that they knew was, that they
came into the town by a tunnel, and when they left the train at the
station they were at the bottom of so deep a valley that they had to
ascend to the third story before they could get out, and then they had
to go up a hill to get to the street in which the hotel was situated.
The name of this street was Prince's Street. It lay along the margin of
one of the Edinburgh hills, overlooking a long valley, which extended
between it and Castle Hill, on which the town was first built. There
were no houses in this street on the side towards the valley, but there
were several bridges leading across the valley, as if it had been a
river. Beyond the valley were to be seen the backs of the houses in
High Street, which looked like a range of cliffs, divided by vertical
chasms and seams, and blackened by time. At one end of the hill was the
castle rock, crowned with the towers, and bastions, and battlemented
walls of the ancient fortress.
The boys went directly to their rooms when they arrived at the hotel,
and while Mr. George was unstrapping and opening his valise, Waldron and
Rollo went to look out at the window, to see what they could see.
"Well, boys," said Mr. George, "how does it look?"
"It looks rainy," said Rollo. "But we can see something."
"What can you see?" asked Mr. George.
"We can see the castle on the hill," said Rollo. "At least, I suppose it
is the castle. It is right before us, across the valley, with a
precipice of rocks all around it, on every side but one. There is a
zigzag wall running round on the top of the precipices, close to the
brink of them. If a man could climb up the rocks he could not get in,
after all."
"And what is there inside the wall?" asked Mr. George.
"O, there are ever so many buildings," said Rollo--"great stone forts,
and barracks, and bastions, rising up one above another, and watch
towers on the angles of the walls. I can see one, two, three watch
towers. I should like to be in one of them. I could look over the whole
city, and all the country around.
"I can see some portholes, with guns pointing out,--and--O, and now I
see a monstrous great gun, looking over this way, from one of the
highest platforms. I believe it is a gun."
"I suppose it must be Mons Meg," said Mr. George.
"Mons Meg?" repeated Rollo. "I'll get a glass and see."
"Yes," said Mr. George. "There is a very famous old gun in Edinburgh
Castle, named Mons Meg. I think it may be that."
"I can't see very plain," said Rollo, "the air is so thick with the
rain; but it is a monstrous gun."
Just at this time the waiter came into the room to ask the party if they
would have any thing to eat.
"Yes," said Mr. George, "we will. Go down with the waiter, boys, and see
what there is, and order a good supper. I will come down in fifteen
minutes."
So the boys went down, and in fifteen minutes Mr. George followed. He
found the supper table ready in a corner of the coffee room, and Rollo
sitting by it alone.
"Where is Waldron?" asked Mr. George.
"He's gone to the circulating library," said Rollo.
"The circulating library?" repeated Mr. George.
"He has gone to get a book about the history of Scotland," said Rollo.
"We have been reading in the guide book about the castle, and Waldron
says he wants to know something more about the kings, and the battles
they fought."
"How does he know there is any circulating library?" asked Mr. George.
"He asked the waiter," said Rollo, "and the waiter told him where there
was one. He said he would try to be back before the supper was ready,
and that we must not wait for him if he did not come."
"He ought to have asked me if I was willing that he should go," said Mr.
George.
In a few minutes Waldron came in with two pretty big books under his
arm. They were covered with paper, in the manner usual with the books of
circulating libraries. Waldron advanced to the supper table, and laid
the books down upon it with an air of great satisfaction.
"Then you found a circulating library," said Mr. George.
"Yes, sir," said Waldron, "and I have got two volumes of the history of
the great men of Scotland."
"What did you get two volumes for?" asked Mr. George.
"One for Rollo and one for me," said Waldron. "They are for us to read
this evening, because it rains."
"Well," said Mr. George, after a moment's pause. "I am very glad to find
that you take an interest in reading about Scotland; but you ought to
have asked me, before you went away to get books from a circulating
library."
Waldron paused a moment on hearing this remark, and his countenance
assumed a very serious expression.
"So I ought," said he. "I did not think of that. And now, if you think I
had better, I will go and carry them right back."
"No," said Mr. George, "I don't wish you to carry them back. But I
should not have thought they would have intrusted such books to you--a
perfect stranger--and a boy besides."
"I made a deposit," said Waldron.
Just at this time the waiter brought the supper to the table, and the
party, being all hungry, set themselves to the work of eating it.
"You see," said Waldron, when they had nearly finished their supper, "I
thought we should want something to do this evening; it rains, and we
can't go out."
"What time in the evening do you suppose it is?" asked Mr. George.
"Why, it is not near dark yet," said Waldron.
"True," said Mr. George; "but it is almost ten o'clock."
"O Mr. George!" exclaimed Waldron.
"It is half past nine, at any rate," said Mr. George.
The boys were greatly surprised at hearing this. They were very slow in
learning to keep in mind how late the sun goes down in the middle of
June in these extreme northern latitudes.
However, on this occasion it was dark earlier than usual, on account of
the clouds and the rain; and the waiter came to light the gas over the
table where our party were at supper, before they finished their meal,
although it was only a little more than half past nine. This made it
very bright and cheerful in the corner, and Mr. George proposed that
they should all stay there one hour. "I will write," said he, "and you
may read in your books. We will stay here till half past ten, and then,
after you have gone to bed, you can talk yourselves to sleep by telling
each other what you have read about in your books."
This plan was carried into effect. Mr. George wrote, and the boys read,
by the light of the gas for an hour. Then Mr. George put away his
papers, and said it was time to go to bed. When the boys went to their
bedroom they found two narrow beds in it, one in each corner of the
room. Waldron took one of them, and Rollo the other. When both the boys
were in bed they commenced conversation in respect to what they had been
reading.
"Come, Waldron," said Rollo, "tell me what you have been reading about."
"No," said Waldron, "you must begin."
"Well," said Rollo, "I read about King James the First. There have been
a good many King Jameses in Scotland."
"Yes," said Waldron, "six."
"This was King James the First. He was a bad king. He oppressed his
people, and they determined to kill him. So they banded together and
made a plot. They were going to kill him in a monastery where he stopped
on a journey.
"He was going over a river just before he came to the monastery, and a
woman, who pretended to be a prophetess, called out to him as he went
by towards the bank of the river, and told him to beware, for if he
crossed that river he would certainly be killed. The king was very
superstitious; so he sent one of his men back to ask the woman what she
meant. The man came to him again very soon, and said that it was nothing
but an old drunken woman raving, and that he must not mind her. So the
king went on.
"He crossed the water, and went to the monastery. The conspirators were
there before him. The leader of them was a man named Graham. He had
three hundred Highlanders with him. They were all concealed in the
neighborhood of the monastery. They were going to break into the king's
room in the monastery, at night, and kill him. They found out the room
where he was going to sleep, and they took off the bolts from the doors,
so as to keep them from fastening them.
"The woman that had met the king on the way followed him to the
monastery, and wanted to see the king. They told her she could not see
him. She said she _must_ see him. They told her that at any rate she
could not see him then--he was tired with his journey. She must go away,
they said, and come the next day. So she went away; but she told them
they would all be sorry for not letting her in."
"Do you suppose she really knew," asked Waldron, "that they were going
to kill the king?"
"I don't know," said Rollo. "At any rate, she seemed very much in
earnest about warning him."
"Well; go on with the story," said Waldron.
"Why, the conspirators broke into the room that night just as the king
was going to bed. He was sitting near the fire, in his gown and
slippers, talking with the queen and the other ladies that were there,
when, all at once, he heard a terrible noise at the doors of the
monastery. It was the conspirators trying to get in."
"Why did not they come right in," asked Waldron, "if the doors were not
fastened?"
"Why, I suppose there were guards, or something, outside, that tried to
prevent them. At any rate, the king heard a frightful noise, like
clattering and jingling of armor, and of men trying to get in. He and
the women who were there ran to the door and tried to fasten it; but the
bolts and bars were gone. So the king told them to hold the door with
all their strength, till he could find something to fasten it with. The
king went to the window, and tried to tear off an iron stanchion there
was there, but he could not. Then he saw a trap door in the floor, which
led down to a kind of dark dungeon. So he took the tongs and pried up
the door, and jumped down.
"By the time that he got down, and the door was shut over him, the
conspirators came in, and began to look all about for him; but they
could not find him. I suppose they did not see the trap door. Or,
perhaps, the women had covered it over with something."
"Well, and what did they do?" asked Waldron.
"Why, they were dreadfully angry because they could not find the king,
and some of them were going to kill the queen; but the rest would not
let them. But there was one of the women that got her arm broken."
"How?" asked Waldron.
"She did it somehow or other holding the door. I suppose she got it
wedged in some way. She was a countess.
"After a while," continued Rollo, "the men went away to look in some of
the other rooms of the monastery, and see if they could not find the
king there. As soon as they were gone the king wanted to get out of the
dungeon. The women opened the trap door, but he could not reach up high
enough to get out. So he told them to go and get some sheets and let
them down, for ropes to pull him up by.
"They brought the sheets, and while they were letting them down, and
trying to get the king out, one of the ladies fell down herself into the
hole. So there were two to get up; and while the others were trying to
get them up, the conspirators came in again."
"Hoh!" said Waldron.
"One of them had a torch," said Rollo, continuing his narrative. "He
brought the torch and held it down the trap door, and presently he
caught sight of the king. So he called out to the other conspirators
that he had found him, and they all came round the place, with their
swords, and daggers, and knives in their hands.
"One of them let himself down into the dungeon. He had a great knife in
his hand for a dagger. But the king seized him the instant he came down,
got his knife away from him, and pinned him to the ground. The king was
a very strong man. Immediately another man came down, and the king
seized him, and held him down in the same way. Next Graham himself came
with a sword. He stabbed the king with his sword, and so disabled him.
The king then began to beg for his life, and Graham did not seem to like
to strike him again. But the other conspirators, who were looking down
through the trap door, said if he did not do it they would kill _him_.
So at last he stabbed the king again, and killed him."
When Rollo had finished the story he paused, expecting that Waldron
would say something in relation to it.
"Is that all?" said Waldron, after waiting a moment. He spoke, however,
in a very sleepy tone of voice.
"Yes," said Rollo, "that is all. Now tell me your story."
Waldron began; but he seemed very sleepy, and he had advanced only a
very little way before his words began to grow incoherent and faltering,
and very soon Rollo perceived that he was going to sleep. Indeed, Rollo
himself was beginning to feel sleepy, too; so he said,--
"No matter, Waldron. You can tell me your story to-morrow."
In five minutes from that time both the boys were fast asleep.