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Published: August 13th 2007
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A Green Man in Rosslyn Chapel
If only he could speak...the stories he could tell! He could tell us what is REALLY buried under the chapel 7/3/2007 Tuesday
Today Marie and I took a day trip - I had such a good time with my Heart of Scotland tour last week, I decided to go on another. Last week, I saw the highlands of Scotland, today I saw the lowlands and the Borders, and went into Northern England. Our first stop was Rosslyn Chapel in Roslin Glen. Rosslyn Chapel is an amazing example of gothic architecture. It was founded in 1446 by Sir William St. Clair. I loved this quote that pretty much summed up how I felt about the chapel: “The building, I believe, may be pronounced unique, and I am confident it will be found curious, elaborate, and singularly interesting, impossible to designate by any given on familiar term (Britton 1812).” Rosslyn Chapel’s real name is The Collegiate Church of St. Matthew. Inside, there are these amazing intricate traceries on the walls and ceiling. 600 years after its building, it really is an enigma. There are tons of theories bandied about, things that are supposedly buried in the crypt under the chapel, such as the Ark of the Covenant, Spear of Destiny, the True Cross, the Holy Grail…to name a few! The Chapel gained
notoriety after Dan Brown, where in “The DaVinci Code” he claimed the Holy Grail was once hidden at Rosslyn and that the descendants of Mary Magdalene and Jesus can be traced to Rosslyn. Parts of the movie were even filmed there. Most knowledgeable people don’t believe any of the legends, they don’t believe anything other that St. Clair family members are buried in the crypt. But, you never know…
After the Chapel, we drove further south to the town of Melrose, and saw Melrose Abbey, where Robert the Bruce’s heart is buried. Robert the Bruce was one of Scotland’s most beloved kings, fighting for independence.
Further south, into northern England, we drove towards Hadrian’s Wall. Heart of Scotland was the only tour I could find that went to the Wall, and I was super excited about it. It is pretty amazing to see today, and that is with only parts and sections still standing. I can’t even begin to imagine how it looked to the “barbarian” Scots back in AD 125. It was built as the north-west border of the Roman Empire, and to literally separate the barbaric Scots and the civilized world. At the time, the Roman
Empire was over 2500 miles from Northern England to (present day) Iraq and 1500 miles south to the Sahara Desert. During our drive, we came to a “Road Closed” sign. The guide was so calm and collected, I thought he reacted differently than if he were an American guide. In America, the guide would have been on his cell within the minute, calling the office and asking for the best route. Our guide, Bill, just said, well, um.. the trip’s going to take a little longer than planned. I don’t know an alternate route, so we’re going to play it by ear, ok? And of course, we drove down other roads, and eventually got to the wall, but Bill handled the situation great. Once we arrived at the section of wall, we took an hour walk alongside it. Of course, it started raining-hello, UK summer-but that just added to the atmosphere. After all, the Romans had to contend with exactly the same weather. The wall stretches 73 miles (80 Roman miles) from the west to the east coast. It’s made of stone the whole length. There were forts on the wall, as long as milecastles, turrets and gates every mile.
Melrose Abbey
Where Robert the Bruce's heart is buried Hadrian’s Wall was constructed to be like a Berlin Wall- it was meant to serve as a segregation line. It was occupied for over 300 years. When the Romans first arrived in England, they quickly overtook the English. However, when they tried to contend with the Scots, they quickly found they had a fight they weren’t prepared for. They were unable to invade Scotland, and instead of trying to conquer them, built Hadrian’s Wall to keep them out of the Roman Empire.
In 2005, Hadrian’s Wall was declared a World Heritage Site. It is an amazing site to behold, and imagining the Romans and local Britons building it in the second century is just mind-boggling.
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