A 5:30 wake-up alarm yesterday heralded a long day; hence no blog was done. We checked out of our hotel in Galway and drove to Shannon Airport for the flight to Scotland. On the way we stopped at Dromoland, a castle cum hotel, an Irish Heritage site that they have worked to keep authentic. This was on Beth’s scouting agenda for the trip and this hotel is sure to be a tour group pleaser.
The flight to Edinburgh was not long. After we collected our luggage, we got a taxi to take us to the apartment that Jon had reserved in the Knight Hotel. We expected a suite of rooms, but were surprised to find it was outfitted with a full kitchen including pots, pans, dishes and a washer-dryer.
The first impression of Edinburgh is the Castle that rises majestically over the city. This site, like most all castles, was originally a fortified position. Archaeologists have found artifacts of people living atop this high hill as long ago as 900 BC. Today the Castle is a big draw for tourists the world over. Kings and queens have lived here and their children born here.
The second impression is that all the building stone in Edinburgh is beige or brown whereas in Ireland all the stone was gray. The streets are wider here, some still cobblestoned. And where Dublin was relatively flat; there is nothing flat about Edinburgh. You are usually either walking up or walking down. Even Beth found the hills a challenge on her morning run today.
Yesterday we hunted down the Genealogy Society and learned they had nothing there that would be helpful to me since we already had names and dates going back to 1770. We were referred to the Archives at the People’s Center. We continued on, had lunch at a restaurant familiar to Jon and Beth, Wagamama, a Japanese vegetarian place. In a Scotch Whiskey store, we got a history narrative and personal consultation from a very knowledgable salesman. Jon enjoyed that visit and the tasting that accompanied it before he made his purchase selection. Then we found a grocery store, bought supplies and prepared supper at the apartment. We all went to bed earlier than usual.
This morning over breakfast we did a lot of conferring on what to do today. First order of business was to go to the Archives, not only for what records they might have, but also to get some clue of where to find the “land of the ancestors”, Ardclach Parish, village of Lynmore. We were warned ahead of time that we would have to register to enter the Archives. Jon and I both got reading passes with picture ID on them. It did take us almost as long to get the registration done as it did to look at the one Ardclach Parish minutes book that they had for the 1700s.
We were hoping to find something in the church minutes reporting that the Dowglas family had departed for America. But we found nothing that would shed any light on that or on the two Alexander Dowglases, one from Dunorn and the other from Branchor. It was amusing to read in the parish records about church members who had strayed from the straight and narrow and received punishment of one variety or another, as “they needed more strength in their repentance.”
We ate lunch at another vegetarian restaurant. Scotland has more vegetarian restaurants than Jon and Beth usually find when they travel, they tell me. In particular, I enjoy the wonderful soups that they have. They use leeks for flavor and I always like that flavoring.
We walked up to the Castle, stayed for the Changing of the Guard, but did not pay the hefty price to go inside. Instead we walked down the Royal Mile to St. Giles Cathedral, where John Knox once preached. Inside I was nearly overcome with the beauty of the windows and the arches and the wondrously tall organ pipes rising high to the vaulted ceiling. For me, this was today’s high point..
Glad you enjoyed St. Giles Cathedral so much!
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