Fiction, Essays, and Other Things

  The morning of October 21 st began with planning the drive to the Hermitage through Dunkeld with awe-inspiring vistas of the Scottish countryside. But I had to visit Linlithgow Palace before departing the Edinburgh area. Linlithgow was, after all, the residence of Scottish royalty from the 15 th to the 17 th century when the Scottish crowns left for England. After falling into neglect in the 18 th century, the palace has since been revived as one of the most popular destinations in Scotland. It’s construction was a group effort started by the English occupation as a post between Edinburgh and Sterling Castle in 1301. Throughout 1302, the King’s soldiers as well as 200 civilians were hired to build the ditches. This palace was largely finished a year before the arrival of Elizabeth of Rhuddlan, daughter of Edward I (founder and visionary of the castle) to give birth. Nine years later Scotland would regain the castle in a battle tactic that can only be called Homerian. A fami...

  Admittedly and sadly, I saw too little of Glasgow to weigh in on its feud with Edinburgh for the title of the city most representative of Scotland. What I can say, however, is that Edinburgh is a beautiful city and, however it may hold up to Glasgow, is Scottish to the core. My first introduction to the city was at night, which is to my eyes the best way to see a city. The walk back to the hotel from the garage in which I left the car took me through its narrow, winding roads and past Edinburgh Castle. Few were out, however, and almost all the pubs were closed. Among the scarce signs of life are saw were a few European hares on the castle grounds. European hares bare a closer resemblance to our Eastern cottontail than the cottontail does to its Western cousin the jack-rabbit. Despite being canonized in British culture by the works of Lewis Carroll and A.A. Milne, the European hare is an import to Great Britain having been introduced from continental Europe by William the Conque...