The searchlight. [volume] (Culbertson, Mont.) 1902-current, 1911-09-22

ancient fortress. From here James II.
was carried OF by his mother In
chest In order to save him from a fac
ton of the mobiles who wanted the
control Of the kingdom. Here took
place the treacherous slaughter Of the
two young Douglases, which gave rise
to the lines:
Edinburgh CASTLE. town and tower.
God grant thou sink for sin:
And that even for the black dinous
Earl Douglas gat therein
The Douglases had come to the cas-
tie by invitation. and were banquet
ing with the king. when suddenly the
BLACK Bulls Head" the signal Of
death. was set on the table. The king
(James H. tried to save the youths.
but Livingstone and Crichton. who
them carried to the courtyard and be.
headed.
With the exception of st. Margarets
chapel and the portion of the castle
In which Queen Mary's rooms are sit
uated. the buildings on the Castle
Rock are subsequent to this period
All earlier buildings (other than those
mentioned) were destroyed at the
time Of this siege
Charles l. slept in the castle on the
night before his coronation as king of
the Scots In Holyrood. and from here
he rode In state down the High street
and the Canongate to the Chapel
Roval m the nornin~ NJ the ,ara
mony. He also held his coronation
banquet in the great hall of the castle.
6eslsged by Cromwell.
A few years later the castle was be-
sieged by Cromwell At the revolu-
ton Of 1858 It held out for James. But
the tables were turned In HAS. when
the garrison fired on the troops of
Prince Charles Edward. Although
Prince Charlie held state at Hollywood.
the castle continued to be occupied
by the government troops. and every
now and again the Jacobites were re-
minded OF the fact. Not much dam
| age was done. but imbedded In the
wall on the Castlehill Is one Of the
last balls fired from this ancient fort.
ress
The Scottish regalia-the crown,
the sword of state and the scepter--
which were used at the coronation OF
the Scottish kings down to that OF
Charles !. In Holyrood and Charles IL
| at Scone (the last coronation In Scot.
land) are preserved In the castle
where for many years they were hid
den away until. largely through the
efforts of Sir Walter Scott. they were
discovered.
The Castlehill was long used for
executions, and II has been estimated
that about 1000 persons were burned
here for witchcraft. Among them were
several persons Of distinction.
| At a later date the soil of the Cas-
tlehill was. by a curious legal fiction
held to be the soil OF Nova Scotia
Those who were created baronets oil
Nova Scotia and who received grants
| OF land there had to have "seisin,
but II was felt to be a rather bis
undertaking to cross the Atlantic fol
the purpose. The device adopted
saved this. Between 1926 and 1874!
over sixty baronets Of Nova Scotis
took "seisin" here of the lands which
had been granted to them In America
There 10 a tradition Robert Louii
Stevenson fitly characterizes It as 81
silly story'D of a subterranean pas
sage between the castle and Holyroot
and Of a piper who volunteered to ex
plore 1t and never returned. Similar
legends are common In Scotland
There is said to be a passage between
the abbey and the cliffs at Arbroath
and a lost piper figures in that story
too. Secret passages are said to ex
list between the castle and the cathe
dral In st. Andrews. and also in con
nection with ElRin cathedral