Auld Reekie

I had never been to Edinburgh on a nice day. Every time I’ve been here the skies were gray, or it was raining. The gray skies, the brownstone buildings, and the Sir Walter Scott Monument, a gothic tower blackened by more than a century of coal pollution (and which is purposely not cleaned to maintain its Gothic tone to mirror the tone of Sir. Walter’s novels) added to Edinburgh’s gloomy visage. The city was called “Auld Reekey,” in the Scotts dialect, “Old Smokey” inn English, because of the smoke. When I first visited with my grandfather in 1961 many buildings, heated with coal or peat, were stained by centuries of smoke. That was my first impression. I knew Edinburgh had its charms, but I didn’t see them because of the smog. My Brother-in-law used to live there, ran a bookstore and loved it. Now, with greener energy and an effort to clean up many of the stained buildings, I can see those charms. It helps that it was a blue bird day.

One of my biggest memories of Edinburgh from 1961 was the hotel we stayed in, the Caledonian. It was, and still is, a VERY pricy hotel. We really couldn’t afford it, but we got off a train from Glasgow late at night without hotel reservations and it was the only place we could find a room. My grandfather was very nervous and found another less expensive place in the morning. I loved the luxury, even for one night. We went by it three times on various buses this trip.

The other memory was finding a tailor on Prince Street and getting matching Black Watch sports coats, one each for me, my grandfather and to bring home to Pop. We also got him a tie and a tam ‘o shanter in matching Black Watch plaid. The hat is named after the Robert Burns poem. Before that it was simply known as “The Scottish blue bonnet.” The jacket and hat became pop’s trademark as a salesman. Vance “Mac” McClear. My tie was the Royal Stewart Plaid. Even then I was rebellious.

We had a gloriously sunny day and while the city is still made largely of brownstone and the Scott tower is still appropriately goth, I got a different impression.

Edinburgh is a university town and was a hotbed of The Enlightenment, fostering minds like David Hume and Adam Smith. But it was also the home of the dour theologian John Knox who led the Scottish Reformation. I always felt his theology was, to some extent, dictated by the Edinburgh weather as much as the Bible.

Today I had to reconsider Edinburgh. The buildings are still brownstone, but the tone is upbeat. We took the X99 bus from Queensferry to the stop by St. Andrew’s Square in the new town, got on the Hop on Hop Off bus. Hopped off at the top of the Royal Mile and walked down to to St. Giles Cathedral (There will be a separate post), into a shop for tea and scones, to the bottom at Holyrood.

Here is a gallery of Edinburgh pictures.