h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Edinburgh Castle - work in progress - A1059400
Author: Wildman - I'm not really mad, I've just been in a very bad mood for 40 years! - U225113

I was amazed to find that there was no entry in the guide for this. So I started to write one - that was about 5 months ago!

I was finally inspired to finish it by The Royal h2g2 Geographical Entry Society A1286886 and The Royal H2G2 Historians Society A1310149 - so blame them!

I may have overdone it with the footnotes, see what you think.

Wildman

OOPS!!

Guess who was so glad to see the back of this article that he submitted it without changing the title

Wildman

I suggest you included a link to A973686 - the EG entry about Edinburgh .

Didn't have much time, so this meagre comment shall have to do for the moment ; I'll come back to it somewhat later. And, indeed, it is curious that no entry had been writen about the Castle before.

Excellent entry!

Just a few typos:

english --> English
ladies lavatory --> ladies' lavatory
it's appearance --> its appearance
seige --> siege

G

http://angryflower.com/bobsqu.gif

Read and learn

Oh you have got a thing about the correct use of the apostrophe, haven't you, Cyzaki! I had big arguments with the Editors once when someone (who shall remain unnamed) was argueing that it didn't matter these days. I think it does too!

This sentence is ambiguous.

'This they did, being almost completely destroyed'

I'm assuming it was the Angles who were destroyed, but the sentence leaves room for doubt.

Fixed the typos - can't believe that there were only 4, come on people! You're not really trying. The state I was in when I finished this, there must be more than that! (Or are you trying to leave some for the poor hard-working Subs?)

Zarquon, I completely missed the ambiguity in that sentence, it was the Angles who did the destroying!!!

Wildman

Hi Wildman

I like this entry - great descriptions and full of information.

What's the origin of Edin? Is it a personal name, or a description? It must have been something linked very closely with the place for the Angles to have adopted it as part of their renaming when they invaded.

should be
should be

I hadn't realised that Robert the Bruce had wrested Edinburgh from the English before he drubbed them at Bannockburn. Interesting...

The end of the para about castle defences (ending with the 1971 IRA bomb) doesn't sit very well with the start of the next one (<Since then&gt. It reads that the early 19th Century was after 1971!

I think that James VII of Scotland became James II of England, not UK - check out http://www.royalty.nu/Europe/England/Stuart/JamesII.html which I assume is correct.


F/b

I'm glad I asked the question, then, Wildman. I'd got the wrong end of the stick. Like F/b, I didn't realise that Edinburgh was held by the English at one point.

And great to see such a quick response to comments too, Wildman!

Hello

Just a couple of minor points. Do you think it is worth mentioning the plans that were put forward in the 19th century(I think) for "restoring" the castle into more of a romantic image of castles. As in nearer the fairytale than reality. (sorry if this has been mentioned and I have just missed it.)

Also I quite liked how the Scotish Crown Jewels had a version for the blind just outside the jewel room. Might be worth a mention.

Researcher PSG

I'll just mention a couple of other things I remember about the castle, but I can't think how they could be incorporated in the entry, or even if I am remembering them correctly. But I mention them none the less.

Isn't there a statue of Field Marshal Hague (as in WW1) in the car park?

I seem to remember something about the well never being able to supply enough water for the castle.

I also seem to remember the person in charge of the castle at some point in the past having a garden in part of the defensive structure, though I can't remember who it was or where the garden was. I couldn't be much more vague really could I?

I also seem to recall it was very near a whisky museum and the famous Camera Obscurer

Researcher PSG

Hi PSG

I don't know about the rest, but it is indeed just close to the Whisky Museum and the Camera Obscura (rather than the camera Obscurer, which is a bit of a contradiction in terms and a great typo )


F/b

Typos fixed - I knew there had to be more!

Frenchbean, thanks for pointing out that mix-up, I'd added the bit about the zepellin and IRA without checking the effect on the following para. The Castle yo-yoed between Scots and English hands for centuries, it was actually the Earl of Moray's forces that captured it before the Bruce ordered its destruction in case it was recaptured by the English. And I have no intention of getting involved in the arguements over the derivation of the name Edinburgh - I'm just going to plead that it is outwith the scope of this article.

PSG, there were actually two wells in the Castle, one of them over 110 ft deep which supplied enough water - the main problem in siege conditions was food and disease. The garden was in part of the outer defences on the North of the Castle and part of it is now a pets cemetary. There are several statues on the esplanade including that of Field-Marshal Earl Haig, but I couldn't include everything in the entry and wanted to concentrate on the Castle itself with just a brief mention of the approaches. Similarly the Camera Obscura and whisky museum are in Castlehill, the short street leading up to the esplanade and are thus nothing to do with the Castle itself. They really belong in the rather woeful 'Royal Mile' entry at A126488 - incidently, one of my other 'in progress' articles is a possible update to that at A1047601

Wildman

I can added abit to this on edin.
The roman army where trying to push north building a road as the went when they crossed the river esk at inveresk AD79 they found a celtic tride called Votadinii , they had control over the south side of the firth of forth and the Dunedin (dun edin) which means Hill edin ,maybe should be Dun adini .They may have named the hill after themself, there is evidence that the romans mixed well with this tribe.

But Dun means Fortress, not Hill, in Celtic.

There are several theories as to where the name Edinburgh originated from. So I thought it best to chicken out and not get involved since this article was meant to be about the Castle itself and it's development rather than the city's development.

Wildman

Another interesting problem with the wells is that when they fired the cannon, the level of the water in at least one of the wells would tend to drop significantly. I would have been skeptical of this, but the audiotour thingy told me this, so it must be true.

I think it's worth mentioning the fact that the Honours were hidden in the castle during WW II.

I spent an afternoon wandering around the castle in early July. Very impressive!

Cheers!

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