People's Pilot, Volume 3, Number 27, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 December 1893 — ACROSS THE DEEP. [ARTICLE]

ACROSS THE DEEP.

Aronntl flic “Hodcrn Athens."’ Halle a. s.. Nov. 23. '93. In my last letter, I said that I Edinburgh was divided properly iuto Old and New Edinburgh. At each end of the famous Canongate and its continuation. Hign street, are situated the two objects of great interest to the visitors of the “Modern Athens”— Edinburgh and Holy rood Castles. As the first dates much earlier than the last, we will notice it first. As we have remarked before, this castle has determined the position of Edinburgh and dates from 617 as a fortress built by Edwin, an early king of one of the Saxon tribes of England. The castle is grandly situated on a bold rock, which gradually slopes down High street, but on the other three sides it descends almost abruptly to a considerable distance. This castle, as w T eil as Stirling, was the ancient seat of the Scottish kings, and the personal and public deeds happening within its walls are voluminous. The castle, at the time I visited it, was the garrison home of the famous HigUJand Guard of Princess Louise. I was especially fortunate in seeing the Guard on morning parade. The Guard is organized principally with the view of preserving the old Scottish Higiand military dress and drill, and it has proven the most interesting military organization which I have so far seen. More aitention is given to the preservation of the historic interest of this castle than Stirling.

The old Parliament Hall has recently been restored, and the oldest building in Edinburgh is within the castle walls, St. Margaret’s Chapel, a small, stone structure of great interest. The room of Queen Mary of Scotland is pointed out, whei’e Janies I, of England, was born in 1560. The furniture too is the same as at that time. Avery simple and frugal room for the home of the proud spirit of Mary. It is not our intention to tire anyone who may desire to read these lines by an extensive description of the castle, but there is one room that was of great interest to me, which I desire to mention as the Crown Room. This room contains the crown jewels and paraphernalia of the royal dynasty of Scotland. They being the first crown jewels which it was my privilege to behold they naturally appealed to me strongly. The room was small and the jewels were in the center and were surrounded with a strong iron framework, besides a guard. The crown was large and magnificently set with pearls and brilliants of all sizes and kinds. The robes were inlaid with gold. The especial mace of Queen Mary, with its brilliant array of diamonds, was a conspicious object, and contrasted strikingly with the ponderous mace of King James. The history of these jewels is as interesting as they themselves. It was known that the Scotch dynasty possessed a full set of crown jewels, but in the wars that overthrew Scotland, they were secreted and for a full century their place w r as not known. The tradition of the early existance attracted the attention of Walter Scott, and after a long and careful search, he located where he thought they ought to be found. He had selected a room adjoining the private, rooms of Queen Mary as the place. The government permitted the search to proceed under Scott’s direction. An inner wall was opened and was found to be hollow, and on further examination a huge wooden chest was found. This chest contained the above mentioned jewels. They have never been removed from the room in which they have remained for two or three centuries. Apparently this was the “safe” for the deposit of so much value.

Bidding adieu to this monument of Scottish chivalry of the past, let us hasten rapidly down old Canongate, past old houses, dirty children, historic places that have been turned completely over to the direst poverty of Edinburgh, and we will soon reach the interesting Holyrood castle. This is comparatively modern, and had not so much of the coldness and bareness of Stirling and Edinburgh. It is not situated on the high biuff, and was evidently intended more for a residence than a stronghold. Those who have read the life of Queen Maiy, of Scotland —and not many American boys and girls escape her life, as written by Abbott—will remember this castle as connected with her career, especially with some of her dark deeds. Her rooms are still preserved and the blood

stains on the floor pointed out where Rizzio was struck down, but our guide was kind enough to inform us that the floor had been scrubbed too often for consistency with such a tradition, but the room and place of his death are certain. Those who have read Abbott's “Life of Mary, of Scots,” will remember the connection with Lord Darnley and the ball that Queen Mary attended at Holyrood the evening his home was blown up. The castle occupies the site of Holyrood Abbey, founded by David I, in 1128, on the spot that he was saved from the attack of an infuriated wild boar, by the interposition of a miraculous cross—so tradition says. The Abbey was an inviolable sanctuary for criminals, and was, until 1880, for debtors, when imprisonment for debt was abolished. Let us turn our attention to New Edinburgh, and in doing so we are confronted with an endless array of places of interest to visit, all of which would take much longer than we had at our disposal. The new town is beautiful, indeed. Every attention has been given to the streets and public places to give them an appearance of refinement and taste. It is, indeed, a place of monuments and memorials. These have been the gifts of private persons, principally, and have taken a practical turn, mostly. The National Gallery is a private gift as far as the building. It contains many masterpieces and originals. The Burns and Scott monuments are strikingly beautiful. Edinburgh was, for a long period, the home of all the famous Scotch literary men and philosophers: Burns, Scott, Jeffrey, Knox, and a score of others of great worth. To see the city of Edinburgh and its environs one ought to stay thereat least one week, and two would be too short. Here is the place to see the fashionable life of Scotland as well as the cultured. The city is also a great commercial center. Its University is one of the famous centers of learning of the world. Its students numbered, last year, nearly 4,000. In the evening we left Edinburgh and passed by rail over to Glasgow. The distance is some 74 miles. Glasgow is a much larger and more busy city than Edinburgh. Our stay in Glasgow was not long. We visited the University and some of the beautiful public parks. The wealthy residence part of the town is near the University campus. Their homes are noticeable more for their solidity than their beauty. They are built solidly together, and a whole block appears as one monster building.- These residences are only for the winter, while the countay is the place where the summers are spent. Every beautiful lake is lined with summer homes, where the cares of a busy city life is escaped by a retreat into these romantic and lovely glens and dales. Country life in this section of the country is much different than in the country districts of America. Country life is not cultivated to the extent that it is in England and Scotland. These countries can be justly proud of the influence that rural life exerts upon their national characters. It is questionable whether the trend of our country life is such that such results can ever be achieved. In Scotland the beautiful homes are in the country. Many things have contributed to make this true: Short distances, uniformly beautiful country, good roads and railway communications, and a social life which has been inherited from the past, when the long list of country castles played an important part in the social fabric of Scottish life. We resumed our ticket at Glasgow, for a 200 mile ride to the city of Liverpool, the commercial center of West England and the world.