Day Sixteen Part Four: Ghosts and The Open Mic

Yes, we are STILL enjoying Monday! The spectacularly lovely day has still not concluded! We arrived back in Edinburgh about 8 pm, and started looking for dinner right away.

We wandered into one lovely, interesting-looking restaurant, but decided we had better check out a menu before being seated, based on the surprisingly formal attire of the other guests.  Smiling wryly at one another we exited in unison, the price of a single entree at $50 USD being quite simply beyond our current stage in life. We found a charming historic pub, the Deacon Brodie, to be more within our price range. Named for the 19th century fraudster upon whom it is widely rumored the novel Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was based, it featured a beautiful candlelit upstairs dining area.

There was a lovely rose at each table, and these beautiful original window panes with the rain shining thru them gave it such a charming authentic atmosphere I was glad our first choice hadn't worked out! Lest you think achieving such fabulous photos on a cheap camera in a dimly lit dining area is a simple proposition, I just had to use my iPod to snag a picture of the device Richard jury-rigged to capture the moment.

 I can't remember what Richard tried, but I decided on a traditional Scots dish called Cullen Skink. Yep.  And it was fabulous! I kind of fish-based bisque that was uber-delicious. Just down the hill from the castle, I highly recommend this charming pub to old-town Edinburgh visitors!

After dinner we set out on a tour billed as the "City of the Dead," which the hostel clerk had told us was the best of the many ghost tours being offered in Old Town. Our guide was superb, and the entire experience was completely unforgettable, deliciously spooky, and chock full of fabulous historical information. (It was from this tour that we first heard of the Covenanter's Rebellion). We got to go into the 'catacombs' underneath the bridges that connect Old Town Edinburgh.  The hollow caverns beneath the bridges were originally built as luxury storage for the shops that lined the bridges, in a 18th century type of outdoor shopping mall.  However, the bridges leaked all sorts of rain and other undesirable liquids, making them unfir for storing goods.  So they moved the poor people into them as housing instead. In the great fire that destroyed much of downtown edinburgh, hundreds of men, women and children trapped inside these bridges literally roasted alive, modern day forensics indicating that the temperature inside probably reached as high as 800 degrees. It is 'certifiably haunted' (by all the sorts of wacky societies that certify other-worldy 'high activity spots.' And, to be honest, what with all the dripping wierd stalactytes and pitch blackness of it all, it was seriously, seriously spooky.

Our guide on the tour, one of the best guides we've had yet in Europe.

The tour also included a after-hours tour of Greyfriar's Kirk Graveyard, and the prison in which so many covenanters died of cold and exposure, as well as the Flodden wall, where the ringleaders were lined up and shot. (These pictures were taken the next day in daylight).

There was also a very spooky story of a would-be grave robber falling through the rotting floor of the tomb of Buidy George MacKenzie and finding himself in a plague pit.Well, an alleged plague pit, ironically (and a bit conveniently?) located underneath the tomb of Bluidy Mackenzie himself, the infamous persecuter of the Covenanters.

After the ghost tour, although Richard was longing for bed, as it was our last night in Edinburgh, I insisted we had to hear some live music at a for-real Scottish pub! He is just sweet enough to humor me, and we managed to located Whistle Winkies. (After a couple failed attempts, one of which hosted prominently the sign below.  I think it is a 'historical artifact.')

Here are a couple clips of the fab music we heard there! I wish I knew the singers' names to credit them, but almost everyone who participated in the open mic night we stumbled into was really very good! Ok, so it wasn't EXACTLY like the pub scene in PS I Love You, but since I already have a hunky husband I s'pose that's ok after all.

To finish the day off, I've included a list of Scottish words and phrases that I learned from our various tour guides of the day, as well as shameless eavesdropping.

Scottish Dictionary:

• Mac = Son (in Gaelic). Hence MacGregor is the 'The son of Gregor. ' Very similar to nordic naming traditions. e.g., my mother's maiden name of Johnson has the original meaning 'The son of John.
• Neeps and Tatties = Turnips and Pototatoes, often cooked and/or mashed together. Actually delicious!
• Burn = A stream
• Roy = A Scottish term for read hair. Hence, Rob 'Roy' simply meant Rob of the red hair.'
• Drum = A ridge
• Brae = A small hill
• Blair = A straight, level playing field
• Chuffed = Excited. As in, 'I know you are all chuffed to hear me play tonight.'
• Wee = Small or Little. A native Scotsman will never, ever actually use the words 'small' or 'little,' he will ALWAYS substitute the word 'Wee' instead.
• Burr = Term for a strong Scottish accent in one's spoken English. NOT to be confused with
• Brogue = Term for a strong Irish accent in one's spoken English.