Roslin is the site of a battle which happened in 1303, where 8,000 Scots reputedly defeated an English force of 24,000 as part of the battle for Scottish independence. As we were just starting off down the trail, we passed this monument commemorating the victory. After the monument, we started passing through some farmland, and as we were walking past one particular field, we spotted this little guy roaming around. He might be a bit difficult to see, but click on the image for the full-sized version.
Big kudos to B's new camera for even getting this close a shot - these pictures were taken from pretty far away as we were trying to decide whether it was in fact a fox, but the photos make it pretty clear I think. He walked away for a while, then just sat down to stare at us going by.
We carried on, and met up with the River Esk which we started following the back towards Roslin. The trail was mostly wooded, and started getting a bit trickier as we had to climb over and under fallen trees. (When we made it to the end of the trail, the start was actually blocked off with a "trail closed" sign, but I guess they didn't get us the message in time.) Across the river was Hawthornden Castle, which we couldn't get a very good view of through the trees. Also over there somewhere is William Wallace's cave. We saw a few caves on the other side, but we couldn't figure out which one it was. After looking for pictures of it on the internet, it turns out that we missed it entirely. (Maybe we'll just have to go back and walk down the other side of the river instead.)
After passing the aforementioned "trail closed" sign, we came to the partial ruins of Roslin Castle. This is the view of the castle (or what's left of it) as you approach it from the trail. When you're coming at it from this direction, it almost looks like it's just mysteriously sitting right in the middle of the forest, although it does have an access road on the other side which leads to the rest of the town. Roslin Castle dates back to the 15th century, and is still partially habitable (apparently it's the summer home of the current Earl of Rosslyn). The photo on the right is the view of the ruined gatehouse as you approach the front entrance of the castle ruins. It's been damaged by fire and
raging mobs several times since it was originally built.But one of the main reasons people come to visit Roslin these days is to see Rosslyn Chapel - a 14th century Gothic chapel which was brought into the limelight as one of the central locations and pieces of the puzzle in The DaVinci Code. It seems that visitors have been flocking to the chapel since the book came out, so they now charge admission to visit the chapel, and photography is prohibited. According to the website, the chapel is staying under a metal canopy until 2009 to "dry out the damp stonework." We walked by the chapel, but I admit it was a little less than impressive-looking in it's current state. (It also turns out that - surprise surprise - the DaVinci Code is a work of fiction, and many of the things described in the chapel don't actually exist.)
And after a couple of pints on the patio of one of the local pubs, we headed back into town. Good times!
2 comments:
i'm really glad to see you're making the most of living in such a historic country. I've often wondered why we don't do more touristy things here in Ottawa, and i'm worried we won't get out enough in NZ either...
Thanks Blaise!
You just sort of have to get out and do it, I think. It helps being in Edinburgh where there is so much around here, and it's all accessible by public transport. There's pretty much no excuse not to, really. Oh, and I need filler for this blog of mine.
It also helps when you're in a new environment, and not the same city you've been living in for a long time...
I can only guess, but when you get to NZ you'll probably just want to get out there and explore everything. It definitely makes you more comfortable when you know a bit about the area, too.
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