Tour The Royal Mile

The principal thoroughfare of the Old Town of Edinburgh runs from the castle, in its strategic site, down the ridge to the abbey and palace. The Royal Mile is in fact a succession of four streets: Castle Hill, the Lawnmarket, the High Street and the Canongate. Daniel Defoe wrote in the early 18C"

"This is. perhaps, the largest, longest, and finest street for buildings and number of inhabitants, not in Britain only, but in the world."

The few original buildings which remain give some idea of what medieval Edinburgh must have looked like. Plaques on the pends record the famous and infamous occupants and historic events associated with the closes. Ramsay Gardens on the left incorporate Ramsay Lodge built in the 18C by the poet Allan Ramsay (1686-1758), father of the portrait painter of the same name.

The Scotch Whisky Heritage Centre

The ground floor exhibition traces the whisky-making process from peat making to bottling and packaging. A 10-minute film "The Water of Life" explains the different types of whisky and the workings and layout of a typical Speyside distillery. Upstairs, a ride through a series of lifelike tableaux gives a pictorial account of whisky making.

Outlook Tower and Camera Obscura

From its rooftop position in the Outlook Tower, the camera obscura presents a fascinating view of the city. Exhibitions deal with holography, pin-hole photography and space photography.

The Church of Scotland General Assembly Hall

Stands on the site of what was Mary of Guise's Palace (destroyed 1861). The Hall is the temporary home of the Debating Chamber of the Scottish Parliament, pending the completion of the new Parliament Building at Holyrood. Enter Mylne's Court, a 1970s reconstruction, to have some idea of what a court looked like once a narrow burgess strip had been built over. The narrow approach passages from the main street are known as closes or wynds with a pend at the entrance.

The Hub

A tall steeple highlights the former Highland Tolbooth, built in the mid 19C by James Gillespie Graham and Augustus Pugin and now imaginatively refxurbished as Edinburgh's Festival Centre. The ornate interior boasts contemporary sculpture, tiling and stained glass as well as a splendid sculpture hall.

Gladstone's Land

This narrow six-storey land (tenement) Is typical of 17C Edinburgh when all building was upwards. The property was acquired in 1617 by a merchant burgess. Thomas Gledstanes. who rebuilt and extended it out towards the street. The premises behind the pavement arcade are arranged as a shop with living quarters on the other floors. The first floor is a good example of a 17C town house: original painted ceilings and 17C carved Scottish bed and Dutch chests.

Lady Stair's House

Down the close. Built in 1622. this town house takes its name from an occupant of the late 18C, the widow of John Dalrymple. 1 st Earl of Stair. It is now home to the Writers' Museum Q which displays manuscripts, relics and other memorabilia of three of Scotland's greatest literary figures: Robert Burns (1759-96), Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832) and R L Stevenson (1850-94). In Riddle's Court go through to the second courtyard which is overlooked on the south side by Bailie MacMorran's House. It was here that the burgesses of Edinburgh laid on a banquet in 1598 for James VI and Anne of Denmark.

The imposing buildings at the corner of the Lawnmarket and George IV Bridge are the Committee Chambers. They contain the Scottish Parliament Visitor Centre which provides information about all aspects of the Scottish Parliament. The Signet Library to the rear of the St Giles Cathedral dates from 1810-12. Near the Boehm statue of the 5th Duke of Buccleuch in Garter Robes is a heart shape set into the cobbles. This marks the site of the old tolbooth (1466-1817) made famous by Scott in The Heart of Midlothian.

St Gile's Cathedral

Situated on the Royal Mile, the present High Kirk of Edinburgh is probably the third church on this site. The first, dating from the 9th Century, was probably closer to the Castle. It was replaced by a Romanesque structure in 1126 of which remain the four piers sup-porting the tower. This was burnt down by the English in 1385 following which the present building was raised.

Parliament Hall

Behind the imposing Georgian facade is the 17th Century Parliament Hall decreed by Charles I and designed by his master mason John Mylne. Where the Scottish Parliament met from 1639 to 1707, lawyers now pace under the carved and gilded hammerbeam roof and the gaze of their august predecessors: Duncan Forties (Roubiliac); Sir Adam Cockburn (Brodie); Scott; 1st Viscount Melville (Chantrey) and his nephew. Robert Dundas (also Chantrey): Viscount Stair (Alkman), author of Stairs institutes (1681), and his contemporary Sir George Mackenzie, known as "Bluidy Mackenzie" in Covenanting history, but best remembered for his standard work on Scottish law and as founder of the Advocate's Library, today Scotland's National Library; and Lord Monbuddo, an 18th Century eccentric. It was Lord Cockburn who said. "The old building exhibited some respectable ' turrets, some ornamental windows and doors and a handsome balustrade." The great window depicts the inauguration of the College of Justice. In the foreground is the Lord Chancellor Gavin Dunbar with Alexander Mylne, Abbot of Cambus-kenneth and the first President, with the Papal Bull before James V and his court. South of St Giles' is an equestrian statue of the Merry Monarch, Charles II (1685), the oldest in Edinburgh.

At the east end is the mercat cross, where merchants and traders congregated to transact business and the scene of celebrations, demonstrations, executions and royal proclamations. The 19C structure incorporates the shaft of the 16C cross.

City Chambers

The former Royal Exchange was built in 1753 to replace the mercat cross as a meeting place. The front, facing Cockburn Street, is 11 storeys high. The screen at pavement level shelters the City's Stone of Remembrance. The first edition of Encyclopaedia Britannica was printed between 1768-71 in Anchor Close. The original compilers were William Smellie. Colin Macfarquhar and Andrew Bell. They purposely avoided the encyclopaedic dictionary form and their solution became the model for later English language encyclopaedias. The Encyclopaedia Britannica still bears a thistle on the covers. Tron Kirk - John Mylne built this church prior to undertaking Parliament Hall. The spire is a 19C replacement. This is the traditional gathering place of Hogmanay revellers.

Museum of Childhood

Anything and everything to do with childhood is the theme of this unique museum. Displays include toys, costumes, books, dolls and games. Children discover while parents reminisce.

Brass Rubbing Centre - Chalmers' Close

Try your hand at brass rubbing and choose from a varied collection of replicas of Pictish stones and brasses. Further along the street. 15C Mowbray House was the studio of the portraitist George Jamesone (1588-1644).

John Knox House

This picturesque town house was probably built prior to 1490. The armorial panel on the west wall is that of the goldsmith, James Mossman. whose father was responsible for redesigning the Scottish crown. The John Knox connection is now much contested but the house and its exhibits provide an insight into the man. his beliefs and Scotland during the Reformation. The main room on the second floor has a painted ceiling (1600).

The junction with St Mary's and Jeffrey Streets marks the site of the Netherbow Port. The arched gateway with a tower and spire was demolished in 1764. Beyond was the independent burgh of Canongate (gait or way of the canons) where the nobility, ambassadors and other royal officers built residences in close proximity to the royal palace of Holyroodhouse. Only a few of these mansions remain.

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