Scotland - Day Five

 This morning, Mardi and I headed to the Princess Street Gardens to see the floral clock.

And yes, it was 11:45.

The park is just below (actually, well below) Edinburgh Castle......

..............and the stadium where we'll be tonight.

Lots to see, including these two prickly items.

And this quaint cottage, which I assume belongs to the head gardener.  Wonder if David would build me one of these at Trillium Hill?

If you throw a ball at the dog in this picture, he'll bounce it back to you off his nose.

He was playing catch with his owner, in the background, as we walked up.  Pretty impressive!

Lots of elevation changes on our trip, but the weather was cooperative.  We stopped for a Smoked Salmon plate and a drink on the way home.  Nice way to spend an afternoon.

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While Mardi and I did our thing, David and the young folk hiked on Salisbury Crag, perhaps stepping on spots where our ancestors walked.

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Tonight we headed to the Tattoo.  Mardi's Greg had made arrangements for us to meet his friend, Ross McCrindle, the Pipe Major of the tattoo.

A young lady took us back stage (into the castle)............

..........where we met Ross.  He came back outside and spent several minutes with us.

Oh wait, I should show you his pants!

A real gentleman!  And after he left us, he came back with a member of the only Canadian Drum Corp in the Tattoo for us to meet, named Andrew.

There was a contingent from the Ukraine and they were welcomed by the crowd!

An amazing show!

And then the 75th year of the Tattoo was over.

Thank you David for including Mardi and me in this special trip.  And thank you Greg for sharing your friend Ross with us. A memorable event!

We walked back to our apartment after the show, arriving about midnight and finding that the power was out.  So that's why this blog is late.

Today we move on to our next destination.

Stay well.

Scotland - Day Four - Part Two

 After we had regained our energy we headed to the St. Bernard Bar to repay Hugo for his generosity on Monday.  But, he had gone home at 6 p.m. so he may never know.

We saw this sign when we arrived.

They really have a sit on each other's lap policy, but we managed to fit everyone in (except Sean who was smarter than the rest of us).

It is a small bar.  Ontario wouldn't allow the crowding, or the fun.

Sarah-Jean ordered a "Melancholy and Infinite Happiness" drink.

Hugo does have a vivid imagination!

See you tomorrow.

Scotland - Day Four

 This morning I was presented with a special pin by David.

Everybody bought in except Mardi.  She likes touching me 😍.  I just hope she's careful 😇.

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Back to business.  We headed out this morning to visit Holyrood Palace.  That's where the Royals stay for a week each year.

Pictures are not allowed inside, but the outside is pretty nice.  Especially the old Abbey ruins.

The ten acres of gardens are beautiful, even without Mardi and me in the picture..........

..........and they are designed to blend in with the landscape beyond.

They also appear to contain some ancient structure foundations.

And right outside the property is Salisbury Crag (an ancient spelling of Craig as my sister reminded me).

But the connection of this old volcanic remnant may not be the source of my paternal grandfather's middle name as I suspected.  Salisbury Crag was a royal hunting ground - we Craigs were likely not welcome.  But who cares - it makes a good story.

Although there are a few Craig castles in Scotland, David suggests that we were serfs/slaves to the Gordons or the Murrays (see following story).  My dad told me that the Craigs fought for the Gordons in the war, which I assume was the Jacobite war that ended with their defeat in the final Battle of Culloden.

After the war came the Clearances, when farms concentrated on raising sheep and farm workers were not as required.  Scots people left voluntarily, or were chased out after those two events.

The farthest back that sister Judy could trace our ancestors was to a death a few years after the clearances, but no birth records, so I assume that he left Scotland for one of the foregoing reasons.

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Early Origins of the Craig family

The Pictish clans of ancient Scotland were the ancestors of the first people to use the name Craig. The name was found in Aberdeen (part of the modern Grampian region), and other shires across Scotland. The Craig surname is derived from the Scottish Gaelic word creag, meaning "a rock" which became the Scottish word "craig." Craig is a parish in Forfarshire which was "formerly called Inchbrayock, the 'island of trout,' by which name an island of thirty-four Scotch acres within the parish is still known. Craig was at that time only the designation of one of the chief estates, and it is supposed that, when the place of worship was transferred from the island to the property of Craig on the continental part of the district, the name of Craig, which is naturally derived from the rocky nature of the shore, was extended to the whole of the parish." 

The surname Craig was first found in Aberdeenshire (Gaelic: Siorrachd Obar Dheathain), a historic county, and present day Council Area of Aberdeen, located in the Grampian region of northeastern Scotland. This northern Clan was frequently associated with the Gordons (the Gordons were the most powerful clan in northwest Scotland and the Craigs were one of about 80 sects that fought for them), but their first records appeared in Ayrshire and Lanarkshire to the south about 1180. One of the first records of the name was Johannes del Crag who was witness to a charter by William the Lion.  Later, Robertus de Crag witnessed a charter by Alexander II.

Clan Craig has been amerigerous (no chief who possesses the "chiefly arms") since1823 when Robert Craig of Riccerton died, leaving no heirs.  A descendant, James Gibson, changed his name to James Gibson Craig and took over.

The Gordon motto "Bydand" means steadfast.  The Craig motto is either "J'ai Bonne Esperance" i.e. I have good hope, or "Vive Deo Et Vives" i.e. Live for God and you will have life (I like the first one better).

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After we left Salisbury Crag we headed up the Royal Mile again.  Stopped for a beer along the way.

Notice that it's sunny and warm.  I don't know what this brolly talk is all about!

Later in our walk we stopped for some food (and more drink - I had a scotch/coffee mix)............

......and Cullen Skink.

That's fish chowder folks.  Very tasty.

Our last event of the day was a stop at Craig's Close.

Three generations of a motley crew.  From the left, Malcolm, David, me, Sean and Ewen.  Craig's Close indeed!

That's it for today.  Tomorrow we attend the Tattoo.

Stay well.

Scotland Day Three

 Yesterday's wind maxed out at 107 mph. No wonder walking was so tough.  Today was "just" in the 40's.  But so far we haven't needed brollies.  Count your blessings where you can find them I guess.

Today we headed to Edinburgh Castle for our tour.  Our guide was a lovely young ADHD woman who never stopped talking.  We learned a lot!

At 1 p.m. each day (except three holidays) this gun (the black barrel to the left) goes off.  It was for the benefit of seafarers so that they could reset their clocks upon their return from sea.  A tradition that is still kept.

Edinburgh Castle is a military garrison, and the most important of Scotland's over 2,000 castles.  The Tattoo that we will see on Thursday will be held in the attached (blue and red) stadium which you can see through this cannon turret.

 It takes about two months to construct this temporary structure on the parade ground and another two months to dismantle it each year.

Much of the story about the castle and about Scotland is related to this unfortunate lady.

Another lady spent time here too.

She was better treated.

Lots of old buildings, including this original church.

When Scotland claimed Nova Scotia, they didn't bother to do it in Canada - they simply moved some soil to this spot and had the ceremony here.  So, on our visit we stood on Nova Scotia soil.  

When in Scotland, do what the Scots do.  So I rubbed Hume's toe for good luck.

And after walking around the castle for a couple of hours, we then walked the mile and a half back to our apartment - with a stop for dinner.

A busy, but educational, day.

Tomorrow I plan to head to Salisbury Hill to see what I assume is a connection to my paternal grandfather.

Stay well.

Scotland - Day Two

 This morning we headed to the St. Bernard Bar, about two blocks down the street.  David and the kids had visited yesterday and made friends with Hugo, the owner.  He's closed on Mondays but invited everyone to return and have free drinks while he cleaned the beer taps!

So here we are, including Sarah-Jean who arrived from Vancouver Island, a trip which included a five hour layover in Calgary.  She was lucky to get here - we've been dealing with very high winds today which closed the airport after she arrived and also caused the cancellation of today's Tattoo at the stadium.

The sign on the door above Malcolm's head says "No Stupid People Beyond Here".  Apparently we tricked Hugo!

And here he is, pouring our drinks.

We'll be back Hugo!

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This afternoon we headed back to the castle area for a Witches Tour.  This is our Witch, getting ready to torture Ewen to death.

Fortunately he survived and we enjoyed a very informative dissertation on the history of witchery and saw some sites associated with that historic practice.  Lots of stairs along the way though😓.

We subsequently walked a lot, exploring the downtown.........

...........having a bite to eat and being teased by this Teacher's Highland Cream sign.  Of course they didn't have any available - the search will go on.

Finished the evening with a half hour hike back to our apartment.  During the day we seemed to be either walking uphill or facing a strong headwind, or both.

Managed to persevere though.

Tomorrow we tour the castle.

Stay well.