The Newtown bee., 1905-03-31
sCOTT's GOWN ROMANTIC ToWN.'
WRITTEN FOR THE BEE BY PROF ROSS
 JEWELL.

1 1S d CIty Ol AOU,OUU, DeauLllulIy SltudUoU in the hilly district south of the Firth of Forth. Thirteen hundred years ago an English king recognized the natural advantages of castle-rock for =, defensive purposes and built a fortress upon it. Even earlier than this the rock is supposed to have been fortified by Celtic tribes and remnants of con- verging Roman roads in the vicinity indicate that the legionaries from the Fiber made this their temporary home
 Castle Rock is almost perpendicular on three sides but on the east it slopes gradually down series of quaint old streets to Holyrood Palace, mile or more away. An esplanade leads up to the gate of the castle, where we cross the old moat by drawbridge and pass | under portcullis. James I of Eng land was born in Queen Mary's Room ; and was lowered from a window sever- l al hundred feet in a basket and hurried l away to Stirling Castle. The Crown Room contains the ancient regalia of Scotland, including the crown of Rob- ert Bruce and the royal sword and sceptre. In front of St Margaret's chapel, the oldest building in Edin- burgh, is that huge cannon, "Mons Meg"
 Coming down from the castle we soon reach High Street and St Giles's. The present Gothic church dates from the 14th century. The interior was defaced by the Puritans and later divided by partitions into four separ- ate churches, but it has been restored in our own time to its original appear ance by the publisher Chambers. The pillars of the nave are decorated with old flags of Scottish regiments. A brass tablet marks the spot from which Jenny Geddes hurled her stool at Dean Hanna when he attempted to read the Episcopal service in the reign of Charles l. Dye mean to say mass at my lug (ear) ?" shouted the old.woman, and the Covenanters signed the Solemn League and Covenant here not long afterwards. The stool is preserved in another part of the city along with the sea-cbest of Alexander Selkirk, the original of ''Robinson Crusoe."
 Outside the church is figure of a heart. in the pavement of the square marking the site of the Old Tolbooth or city prison, known as the "Heart of Midlothian" Wagons rumble over it continually, but the thoughtful pause to muse upon the tragedies of other days and specifically upon Fife and Jennie Deans, whose touching story Scott has told in one of the best novels ever written. South of the church is Parliament Square, formerly the churchyard, and in the pavement is a stone inscribed 1T. K. 1572," supposed to marked the grave of St Giles's most famous preacher, John Knox. The house in which he lived the last 12 years of his life stands on High Street little farther down.
 On the south side of Parliament Square, and backing upon the Cowgate, stands the Parliament House, now oc- cupied by courts of justice and the largest library in Scotland. The li- brary contains sitting figure of Scott, the manuscripts of "Waverley" and "Marmion," and a copy of the | first printed Bible (Fust and Guten- berg). The Canongate is continual ation of High Street and conducts to Holy rood Palace.
 This famous home of Scottish sover- eigns occupies the site of IIolyrood Abbey, founded in the 12th century by David l. Only a fragment, though a beautiful one, of the ancient Abbey re- mains. Charles I was crowned here and in the royal vault repose SC everal Scottish monarchs. The most inter- esting rooms in the palace are the pie ture gallery, the aparments of Mary Queen of Scots, and the vestibule, with it's real or imaginary blood stain, where Queen Mary's husband, Lord Darnley murdered Rizzio, her Italian secre-
 tary. The next day it was Darnley $ turn to be murdered, perhaps by his charming queen and the Earl of Both.
 well, whom she soon afterward married.
 To the south of Holyrood Palace are Arthur's Seat and Salisbury Crags,
 with Dumbiedykes, the home of Jean