Edinburgh!

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I didn’t fall off the top bunk last night! Today I woke up around 9 and it was great. I got ready and grabbed a breakfast bar then walked down to go on Sandemans free walking tour. The tour was about 2 and a half hours long and I got Sabela again as my tour guide. I also met up with Erin, the girl from Alaska that I met the night before. It started out as a cloudy day, but the tour still continued. This tour made me fall in love with Edinburgh even more. There is so much history, folk lore, and awesome stories about this city. We walked around all over the old town while Sabela told us very interesting stories. We started at the church and talked about town hangings outside of it. We continued on with the tour down throughout the Royal Mile until we went through a close and came out at the Writer’s museum. In the 18^th century, the writer’s museum was actually a mansion where William Broodie Deacon used to live. Most may not know who he is, but he is what the story Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is based on. William was a respectable cabinet maker but had three illegitimate wives and six illegitimate children to take care of. He would make copies of keys to the houses that he was working on, coming back to later steal things from them. No one suspected him of this because he was a renowned upper-class citizen who wouldn’t do anything like that. Eventually he got too greedy and tried to steal from the tax office. He was drunk and ended up falling asleep in the middle of his thieving. He woke up before he could get caught, but some fellow thieves were not as fortunate as he was and ended up getting caught, and ratting him out. Everyone was so astonished that they refused to believe it was the truth. He ended up getting hanged for his crimes, and even made the new town gallows himself. Forty thousand people watched him hang on the gallows that day and not one of them believed that he died. Many years later they opened up his coffin to confirm that he died. When they opened it, they found nothing. So no one knows if he really did die that day or if grave robbers stole his body. Now there is a bar called Deacon Brodies that keeps the tale alive. We walked over to another old house and learned how there were trick steps in order to keep thieves out. Then we ventured through one of the smallest closes in the city that accurately describes how small the streets were in Edinburgh. We walked back along the royal mile until we came to the castle. The castle was pretty neat to see, but they are holding a series of concerts so a huge stadium has been put up inside the castle grounds. Afterwards, we went down to the grass market and learned about a lady named Maggie Dickson’s. Maggie was left by her husband and found company in a young boy. She ended up getting pregnant and concealed her pregnancy by a huge dress. Her baby ended up being stillborn, so she made her way out of the city walls in order to bury her child. Someone saw her and reported that she had concealed a pregnancy, which was a crime. She was sentenced to death at the gallows in the middle of grassmarket. Everyone came to watch as they hung her. When she was dead, they signed a death certificate and put her in a coffin to go be buried. The man who was transporting her body to the grave yard heard a noise coming from the coffin. So he stopped the carriage and went to check out what it was. When he opened it, Maggie was alive. He brought her back to town and they proceeded to hang her again, but someone yelled at them to stop. They said that she had already died and was already punished for her crime. Everyone began to agree with that person and decided to let her go. Since she had died, her binds to her husband were gone (until death do us part) and Maggie was a free woman. She was able to remarry and opened a bar in grass market right in front of where she was hanged. To this day that bar remains and tells the story of Maggie Dickson. After a ten minute break we headed up to Greyfriar graveyard. This graveyard is said to be where J.K. Rowling got some of her names for the Harry Potter series. Inside you can find names like Moody, McGonagall, Peter Pettigrew and the tombstone of Thomas Riddell. There also is a story about a cop who had a dog named Bobby. They were partners for a couple of years when one day the owner of the dog died. For 14 years after his death, Bobby remained at his grave. The town took care of him, feeding him and playing with him until he died. Since stray dogs were illegal, they made Bobby a citizen of Edinburgh. This meant that he had the right to vote ( before woman had the right to vote). Now there is a statue of him outside the graveyard and he is one of the most popular attractions in Edinburgh. We ended up inside the National museum of Scotland because it started raining. I went with Erin to go search for some food. We ended up eating at some pub and I tried Haggis. It was actually decent even though I knew how it was made. Luckily we were inside because it started raining and there was fog all over the city. I went shopping for the rest of the day because you could barely see anything in front of you. Hopefully tomorrow will be a much better day for the weather! Until then,

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Photos

There are actually really tall buildings all around it.

So foggy you couldn't see any other buildings!

A close

The castle

Maggie Dicksons

Thomas Riddells grave

AKA Lord Voldemort

Deacon Brodies

The Church

The mansion that is known the Writers Museum

The trick step

What 17th century Edinburgh streets looked like