Original Email No. 4 - Edinburgh

Yup, me again.

Still in Edinburgh.. today we took a bus tour up through Stirling Castle, Glasgow, and about a billion little Loch's ending with Loch Lomond. Stirling Castle was classic: ancient buildings, ancient stone walls, ancient stories stuffed between the bricks to patch the wares of time, all sorts of good stuff. We took what we could of a tour all the way through (they were still doing a lot of renovations- the military had been using at as a Barracks for awhile, so there was a lot of fixing up to do in some of the main Halls and things) and got to hear all sorts of neat stories about Mary Queen of Scots and James VI. Fun Fact: James V was mad as haggis... he was scared quite literally to death of being stabbed by one of his enemies: to defend himself from attack, he wore dead chickens all over his body, and ended up contracting a fatal disease from their carcasses. I do love Brit History! Still, if you ask any good Scot around here, they'll tell you they're Scottish and naught else, while the English'll do the same... there's still a bit of a friendly rivalry between the nations, from the folks I've met. We stopped in a cute side town for Lunch and met a darling 80 year old couple there, celebrating their Diamond (61st) Anniversary... she was English and he was Scottish and they kept up this banter about which country was best and whatnot, telling us about what they've seen and what we should, it was fun... the people here are unbelievably friendly. Scotland is ranked top thus far on overall friendliness.

Eh, oh yes, the rest of the tour was also fantastic, and Loch Lomond was nature's Notre Dame. We hiked all the way to the top of some half mountain through the woods over all sorts of rivulets and streams, slapping at the "Midgies" (Microscopic Mosquitoes which travel in vicious packs of a thousand) and stopping every once in awhile to catch our breath, either from the hike or from the beauty of the scenery. The Highlands are everything you'd expect them to be- real grassy and rough, sheep everywhere... there's a joke up there that there are two sheep for every person: one to keep you warm at night and one to keep you fed in the morning. Anyway, there was a neat story our fellow was telling us about the song Loch Lomond.

The Lyrics were a poem written by a condemned Jackobite (Scottish Rebel of the 17-1800's who sought to restore Scotland's independence from the English crown) while he was in prision waiting to be hanged for his beloved Scotland. A friend of his had been released and was returning to Scotland, so the Jackobite sent him on with the poem to give to his sweetheart back home. He knew then that he was to die all too soon for defending his nation, and he didn't know how else to tell his young love. The tune was written for it later, and his since become one of the world's most reknown folk songs, reading:

You take the High Road and I'll take the Low Road and I'll be in Scotland before Ye, but me and my true love will never meet again by yon bonnie bonnie banks of Loch Lomond.

The High Road is in reference to the course his friend was taking back to Scotland, while the Low Road signified death. The Scots long believed that the soul returned to the place of its birth before passing on to heaven, and it was no different for this young lad, still, he was heartbroken never to see his bonnie lass nor his bonnie banks then on.

A Greek Tragedy if I've ever heard one. Better yet: A Scottish Tragedy. There are plenty to go around up here!

Oh, one last thing and then I'll stop yammering on through my fingernails.
We stopped by St. Giles Cathedral for a service tonight and ended up going to some Massachusettes High School Band Concert, which just happened to be Touring Britain for their trip. In all strange coincidence they played Elsa's Procession to the Cathedral for their last piece. Powerful stuff, but no one can play it like Brainerd *wink*.

Alright, again, love you all, miss you dearly, hope you're summers are treating you well, I'd love to hear from some of you if you get bored- how's work, how's life, how's the government...
Oh, yeah, while we were in London, we saw the reading room where Karl Marx wrote most of his papers.

(Yes, Bush, I did just write an email with the name Karl Marx in it. You can go ahead and add that to my list of transgressions... get me searched at the next rail station we come to, as well.)

Okay, my turn to stop talking, I miss you all dearly and love you all truly. Hugs and Rob Roys to all of you,

-Sara