WE START OUR VISIT WHERE THE CITY DID --
AT THE EDINBURGH CASTLE,
THE FORTIFIED BIRTHPLACE OF THE CITY
OVER A THOUSAND YEARS AGO.
THIS IMPOSING SYMBOL OF EDINBURGH
SITS BOLDLY ON A ROCK HIGH ABOVE THE CITY.
WHILE THE CASTLE HAS BEEN BOTH A FORT AND A ROYAL RESIDENCE
SINCE THE 11th CENTURY, MOST OF THE BUILDINGS TODAY
ARE FROM ITS MORE RECENT USE AS A MILITARY GARRISON.
CROWDS GATHER AS, TRADITIONALLY,
EACH DAY AT 1:00,
THE BIG GUN IS FIRED,
GIVING THE SHIPS IN THE PORT
SOMETHING TO SET THEIR CLOCKS BY.
WHY 1:00 AND NOT NOON?
IT COSTS THE FRUGAL SCOTS
ELEVEN FEWER ROUNDS.
YOUR ADMISSION COMES WITH A FINE GUIDED TOUR.
WELCOME TO THE CASTLE, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN.
IT TAKES ROUGHLY ABOUT 20 TO 25 MINUTES
FROM THE TIME WE LEAVE HERE
TO THE TIME WE GET TO THE TOP.
YOU'LL ALL HAVE CLIMBED 414 FEET.
IT'S EASY!
I'VE DONE IT 10 TIMES A DAY ALREADY.
COME ON.
Guide: AND ONCE YOU GOT THROUGH GATE NUMBER 5 --
ORIFYOU GOT THROUGH GATE NUMBER 5,
WE STILL HAD A SURPRISE FOR YOU,
BECAUSE WE HAD GATE NUMBER 6.
AND ONCE YOU'D KNOCKED DOWN ALL THESE GATES
YOU WERE BASICALLY IN THE LOWER DEFENSES,
WHICH MEANS IN THE BOTTOM HALF OF THE CASTLE,
AND YOU HAVE PLENTY OF ROOM TO FIGHT.
THE CASTLE HAS NEVER BEEN TAKEN BY FORCE.
IT HAS ONLY BEEN TAKEN UNDER SIEGE.
NOW YOU SEE HOW MUCH TROUBLE WE WENT TO
KEEP THE ENGLISH OUT.
WE'RE A BIT MORE DIPLOMATIC NOW...
WE CHARGE THEM MONEY TO COME IN.
[ LAUGHTER ]
THIS IS MONS MEG.
IT WAS GIVEN TO JAMES II
BY HIS UNCLE WILLIAM, DUKE OF BURGUNDY
AS A PRESENT IN 1457.
AND THE REASON WHY HE GAVE US IT
IS BECAUSE WE WERE FIGHTING THE ENGLISH.
HE WAS FIGHTING THE ENGLISH, SO IT WAS A COMMON BOND.
THE CANNON ITSELF WEIGHS SEVEN TONS.
IT TOOK 150 POUNDS OF GUNPOWDER
TO FIRE A 300-POUND STONE CANNON BALL
LESS THAN A MILE AND THREE QUARTERS.
THEY SENT THE SCOTS MANY TIMES
TO GO AND PICK THE CANNON BALLS UP,
BRING THEM BACK AND FIRE THEM AGAIN.
WELL, THIS WILL BE THE LAST STOP, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN.
AND WHAT YOU WANT TO SEE IN THE SQUARE NOW
IS THE GREAT HALL,
MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS' APARTMENTS,
THE CROWN JEWELS, AND OF COURSE,
THE SCOTTISH NATIONAL WAR MEMORIAL.
THANK YOU FOR LISTENING.
[ APPLAUSE ]
Steves: THE SCOTTISH NATIONAL WAR MEMORIAL
COMMEMORATES SCOTTISH SOLDIERS LOST IN WORLD WAR I
AND IN BRITISH WARS SINCE.
TO FATHOM THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS PLACE TO SCOTTISH PEOPLE,
CONSIDER THAT ONE OUT OF EVERY THREE ADULT SCOTTISH MEN
DIED IN WORLD WAR I.
EACH BAY IS DEDICATED TO A PARTICULAR SCOTTISH REGIMENT.
BOOKS OF REMEMBRANCE LIST
THE NAMES OF THAT REGIMENT'S FALLEN.
THE MAIN SHRINE, FEATURING THE ORIGINAL
WORLD WAR I ROLLS OF HONOR,
SITS ON AN EXPOSED CHUNK OF THE CASTLE ROCK,
AT THE HIGHEST POINT OF THIS SACRED HILL.
WITHIN THESE SAME CASTLE WALLS,
THE NATIONAL WAR MUSEUM THOUGHTFULLY COVERS
FOUR CENTURIES OF SCOTTISH MILITARY HISTORY.
IT TELLS THE STORY
OF HOW THE FIERCE KILTED SCOTTISH WARRIOR
CHANGED FROM BEING A SYMBOL OF RESISTANCE AGAINST BRITAIN
TO BEING A CHAMPION OF THAT SAME EMPIRE.
EVEN WHEN FIGHTING WITH, RATHER THAN AGAINST, ENGLAND,
SCOTTISH REGIMENTS PROMOTED
THE ROMANTIC KILTED WARRIOR IMAGE.
THIS WAS FUELED THROUGH THE 19th CENTURY
BY QUEEN VICTORIA'S INFATUATION
WITH THE SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS
AND THAT CULTURE'S
UNTAMED AND RUSTIC MYSTIQUE.
HIGHLAND SOLDIERS, ESPECIALLY OFFICERS,
WENT TO GREAT PERSONAL EXPENSE
TO SPORT ALL THEIR ELABORATE REGALIA.
AND THE MEN IN KILTS FOUGHT BEST
TO THE TUNE OF THEIR BELOVED BAGPIPES.
FOR CENTURIES, THE STIRRING DRONE OF BAGPIPES
HAS ACCOMPANIED HIGHLAND SOLDIERS INTO BATTLE --
RAISING THEIR SPIRITS
AND ANNOUNCING TO THE ENEMY
THAT THEY WERE ABOUT TO MEET
A BRAVE AND MIGHTY FOE.
SCOTTISH SOLDIERS DID MORE THAN THEIR SHARE
OF DYING FOR BRITAIN.
THEY FOUGHT WITH VALOR
AND WERE WELL DECORATED.
THE MUSEUM SHOWS THE HUMAN SIDE OF WAR.
AND IT SHOWS HOW CLEVER GOVERNMENT-SPONSORED
AD CAMPAIGNS KEPT LADS ENLISTING.
TWO CENTURIES OF RECRUITING POSTERS
ALL MAKE THE SAME PITCH,
THAT STILL WORKS TODAY --
A HEFTY SIGNING BONUS,
STEADY PAY,
AND JOB SECURITY,
WITH THE PROMISE OF A MANLY
AND ADVENTUROUS LIFE --
ALL SPIKED WITH A MIX OF SCOTTISH PRIDE
AND BRITISH PATRIOTISM.
AS YOU LEAVE THE CASTLE,
TURN AROUND AND LOOK UP.
REMEMBER TWO 14th-CENTURY CHAMPIONS
OF SCOTTISH LIBERTY -- KING ROBERT THE BRUCE
AND WILLIAM WALLACE,
A.K.A. BRAVEHEART.
WALLACE RALLIED HIS NATION,
FIGHTING LONG AND HARD AGAINST ENGLISH DOMINATION.
HE WAS EXECUTED IN LONDON --
HUNG, DRAWN AND QUARTERED,
WITH PARTS OF HIS BODY PARADED TO ALL PARTS OF ENGLAND.
ROBERT THE BRUCE BEAT THE ENGLISH
AT THE BATTLE BANNOCKBURN IN 1314.
IT WAS THE LAST GREAT SCOTTISH VICTORY.
BRUCE AND WALLACE STILL DEFEND THE SPIRIT OF SCOTLAND.
THE LATIN INSCRIPTION DECLARES, MORE OR LESS,
"WHAT YOU DO TO US... WE WILL DO TO YOU."