Monday, June 25, 2007 Oracle: !Tinne, or Holly, the tree of the Winter Lord of the Forest, as opposed to Oak, the Lord of the Summer. We have passed the Summer Solstice, and are moving inexorably toward the waning year, even though it is still high summer. Judgment is the card of awakening, a paradigm shift, and a rebirth. Potent signs for my exploration into the past of this city. Also pictured is a nice marble votive candle holder I found in an Edinburgh shop. Perfect for Dark Moon ceremonies! The journey: For the first time, I breakfasted with strangers – a very nice couple from Australia. I had bought a bottle of Drambuie yesterday, as a wonderful addition to my morning meal of oatmeal. Drambuie The legend of Drambuie is that the recipe of this drink was given as a gift in 1745 to John McKinnon by Bonnie Prince Charlie, who had nothing left to give but the secret of this extraordinary liqueur, after the devastating Battle of Culloden. McKinnon is one of the valiant Scots who helped to smuggle the prince out of Scotland, even though the British Crown had offered an enormous reward for the Prince’s capture. It has been in the same family ever since, its recipe closely guarded. It was during my Irish tour with Mara in 2005, at the Heaton Hotel, that I learned to include a dash of Drambuie to sweeten my oatmeal! Then I traveled back to the Royal Mile to one of my favorite museums, which I had visited on my last trip – the Museum of Childhood on High Street. The museum opened in 1955, the first in the world to specialize in the history of children. The five story museum with multiple galleries houses toys, art, music, games, clothing, educational tools, and other children’s artifacts from many parts of the world. There are recordings of children, including a 1930’s recording of children chanting their multiplication tables. The museum is filled with a sense of nostalgia for bygone ages, and I recognized many toys from my own childhood, including Barbie dolls and Teddy Bears. I could feel the love children lavished on these adorable toys, so many joyous memories. I almost started crying – they looked so forlorn and abandoned behind their glass enclosures, beyond the reach of loving children. I finally made contact with Scots Pagans at the delightful Wyrd Shop on Canongate, the lower portion of the Royal Mile. There, I bought a delightful bag with a pentacle embroidered on it. I found a treasure trove of “Celtic Birth Charm Pendants” that I had been collecting since my visit to Glastonbury in England. These pendants are based on many Celtic myths, such as the snowdrops that grow on Saint Brigid’s Day, and the Hounds of Annwn. Celtic theme pendants I met two delightful salespeople, a man and a woman, who told me that there is an active Pagan community in Edinburgh – Norse, Celtic, and Druid traditions are represented. I apparently had just missed a successful Pagan convention, and am too early for the next one! I bought a copy of a periodical, “Witch Hiker’s Guide”, which had many resources for Scottish Pagans and tourists looking for Pagan venues. They also informed me that there is a “Sidhe Mound” or Fairy Hill on top of Arthur’s Seat above Edinburgh, and that it is not a mountain but a “hollow hill”. I vowed to climb the hill and visit the mound before I left the city. I continued down Canongate until I reached the end of the Royal Mile – and Holyrood Palace. Holyrood Palace I had visited the palace twice before, and noted that this time they offered a self paced tour with headphones. I enjoyed moving through the palace at my own pace, staying at particular exhibits as long as I liked. The palace is known alternatively as Holyrood House or Holyrood Palace. The site was originally an abbey, now in ruins, founded by King David I in 1128, in honor of his mother, Saint Margaret. She was reputed to have owned a remarkable treasure – a piece of the original cross of Christ – the holy rood, after which the abbey was named. The palace adjacent to the ruined abbey is the official residence of the Queen while in Edinburgh. The building, originally a guesthouse, became a royal residence and when James IV constructed a new building between 1498 and 1501, it became a royal palace, the home of Scottish monarchs until James VI moved his court to London after the union of the crowns in 1601. Gates to Holyrood Palace Holyrood Palace Courtyard It was a thrill to see the very spot where Queen Mary’s confidential secretary, David Rizzio was murdered by her jealous husband, Lord Darnley and the Lords of the Congregation. There was a picture of Rizzio, her handsome Italian servant, above the spot. I climbed down the narrow spiral staircase the heavily pregnant queen had taken in her escape with Lord Bothwell, before the Protestant Scottish lords could attempt to murder her and her unborn prince (who was to become James VI of Scotland and James I of England). The palace had beautiful furnishings – a bog oak chair, great oaken canopied beds, portraits, tapestries, wood paneling, gorgeous silver plate, ornate jewelry. Yet with all the resplendent surroundings, few of the Stewart monarchs were successful or happy. I then left the Palace to visit the beautiful ruins of Holyrood Abbey, and the well kept royal gardens. Holyrood Abbey Ruins Holyrood Abbey Holyrood Gardens I met an absolutely delightful groundskeeper who was a musician and poet. He recited some of his poetry to me, and he was a wonderful, passionate wordsmith. I had one of my Scottish themed poems, The Gregarach, with me, which I recited to him, and he professed to like it! The Gregarach Majestic, he stands Like an elk in his own hills, Breathing the wind of freedom. He surveys the lands beneath him, the eyes of a hawk, his feet wide apart, hand on hilt, a powerful man ready to defend his own. A rough stone cottage awaits him deep in the glen, shrouded in the Highland mist. A woman stirs a cauldron with a meager meal while hungry children come in from chores. “Father is awa’ in the mountains. He will come hame when it is safe.” And shivering, she draws her old green wool shawl close about her, to keep out the cold. Deep in the night, The vigilant Highlander breathes a sigh of relief, for the soldiers have not found his hidden homestead and his family is safe. He sheathes his sword, and with the eyes of a cat, slowly makes his way home in the dark. She awaits him in their narrow bed, the bairns asleep nearby. His sword hung on a peg, and his tartan cast aside, like a Selkie in the night, he slips in beside her. - Smb,1995 Holyrood Grounds Keeper The poet/gardener told me they were hard at work preparing the grounds for a royal visit from the queen later this week, to open Parliament, which was just across the street from the palace. Part of the extraordinary façade to the Scottish Parliament building I ambled my way back up the Royal Mile, stopping for a traditional tea at one of the tiny restaurants on the way. The weather was still cold for summer, which was a great excuse to stop off at another woolen shop and acquire two shawls sporting two of my clan tartans – a MacDonald and a MacGregor! Clan Donald Shawl Clan Gregor Shawl After returning home for a meal of oatcakes and chocolate bars, and depositing a load of souvenirs, I wrapped up in my Donald tartan shawl and made my way back toward the Royal Mile for a night of ghosts. I made for the Mercat Cross near St. Giles Church for the Auld Reekie Ghost Tour. As the tourists gathered, our “Goth” guide, Tonks – with bright red hair, a pierced lip, and a long black trench coat – showed up. “Tonks” Tonks started off with horrifying stories about the Tolbooth. Tolbooth Tavern, near the site of the original Tolbooth Tonks described some of the inventive and unpleasant ways in which suspected witches were tortured in the Tolbooth. She then led us through the streets to Greyfriars Graveyard, and pointed out the graves of John Gray, the beloved owner of the famous sky terrier, Bobby. Statue of Greyfriars Bobby Tonks then took us to an eerie, gated part of the graveyard – the Covenanter’s Prison, where hundreds of people were murdered for their religious rebellion in 1679. Tonks explaining the significance of this “special place” The Covenanter’s section of Greyfriars cemetery is haunted by a much documented entity called the MacKenzie Poltergeist. This is an active haunting, the last incident reported only eight weeks ago. We were all invited to come inside “the black tomb” where the mischievous Tonks told the details of the story, and her hidden colleague popped out to terrify all of us! “The Black Tomb” According to Jan-Andrew Henderson, in The Ghost that Haunted Itself, the Story of the MacKenzie Poltergeist, “ Greyfriar’s Cemetery in Edinburgh has a centuries old reputation for being haunted. Its gruesome history includes bodysnatching, witchcraft, headstone removal, desecration, corpse dumping, live burial, and use as a mass prison. “In 1998 something new and inexplicable began occurring in the graveyard. Visitors encountered “cold spots”, strange smells and banging noises. They found themselves overcome by nausea, or cut and bruised by something they could not see.