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The Centre for Mathematical Sciences, University of Cambridge.
What fun the Science Festival has been! Exceedingly busy, but fun:-) Congrats to the University's Communications team for making it the biggest and the best such festival in the country. Well done to all the volunteers for their help.
My special thanks to Roly for being such a great support. Here he is helping cover activities at the Mathematics Zone at CMS. Where would we be without volunteers?
A previous meeting of the two preserved Pugs was at Southport Shed on 14th February 1998, when 51218 was in steam and "No. 19" had little expectaction of ever being active.
The shed was demolished the following year after most of the stock had moved to the Ribble Railway.
This is the most recent photo I have of my parents, taken on my dad's 93 birthday. Now they ride in the back seat and need help fastening the seat belts in our small car. Mom immediately falls asleep and dad is glad not to be driving in the heavy traffic but watches the road like a hawk. Happy Father's day.
EXPLORE Feb. 2, 1014
The last couple of weeks have been busy helping my niece make some big decisions for her father's care. Proud to see the woman she has become, and sad to see what alcohol addiction can do to a life.
I have been trying to get out of my comfort zone and take advantage of the high ISO on my new camera. I would never have thought that I could go 1600 and not have noise. Raising it was exactly what I needed to get this shot from being blurred. I took one other at my usual ISO 200 and it was terrible. I'm a believer!
Stock Shot | Forza Motorsport 7
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Once all of the shots of my next chosen car in FM7 are captured. There is a chance this shot will be edited.
At the Hampton Beach's Sand Sculpting Classic competition, this 3rd place winner, by Carl D. Jara of Ohio, depicted the equal parenting responsibilities in raising a child.
Have a lovely day, everyone...
Previously in Chapter 4 White Horses and Memories
⚜️Tabitha Kinkade could never forget the first time she saw a werewolf. She was just a little girl, wrapped in her mother's arms. She could still see it's yellow eyes rolling as it crushed bone and ripped flesh, killing Myra, her mother's handmaid, it's sharp teeth glistening over with drool and blood. She could still remember the huffing, bellowing growl and the mighty thud of it's massive feet when it turned toward her and her mother. Samantha Kinkade told her daughter to close her eyes, as she pulled a sword from over the fireplace and faced the beast. However, Tabitha had not closed her eyes, cowering there as her mother held her back behind her. And as much out of youthful curiosity than anything she'd peeked from around her mother's dress. When it saw her, clinching to her mother's skirts the beast stopped. Tilting it's head the creature gazed straight into her eyes as the fires from the sconces along the wall illuminated it's enormous body. It's raspy breathing caused the little flames to flicker creating overinflated shadows that danced around the room and then it began to creep closer, the claws of it's massive feet tapping against the wood floor...
Then somewhere out of the night...
an intense shrilling whimper!
And a friend's cry for help brought her back to the present, "My lady the child!"
⚜️Tabitha bolted into the moonlight just in time to see the werewolf cast the child over the edge of the cliff with Kiva jumping after her. She had no choice but to leave her other pets and Lexington alone to deal with the massive lycanthrope. Without a moment's hesitation she dove over the edge of the cliff side after the little girl. Even with her heightened senses the surrounding void was nearly pitch black as the cool salt air rushed through her red hair. From far away now and quickly growing farther with every passing moment, she could hear Lexington directing the wolves and his whip slashing into the fiend's flesh. The beast howled out, growling so loud she could hear the sounds resonate and echo down along the cliff's glistening walls as she fell down into the abyss.
⚜️The mist cascading across her face made her squint as she held her arms closely by her sides. At last she could see the girl through the murk, her red wolf Kiva holding the hem of her dress in her clinched teeth. Using every muscle and every bit of ability she had Tabitha kept her body, as straight as she could cutting through the darkness like a knife. Finally, within arms length, Tabitha found herself faced with a horrible decision. With the pair spinning uncontrollably and as they were too close to the rocks below, she would have to choose her beloved Kiva or the girl. With no time to think she grabbed the girl pulling her shivering body to her breast. Folding her arms around the child she continued to glide like a human cannonball through the night, watching her precious Kiva fade into the foggy chasm. In her desperation she screamed in terror racing to catch up to the dire wolf. And with her body taut, every muscle flexed and ready, she was able to grab the scruff of Kiva's neck just in time to pull her up to safety. With no more than a few meters between them and death, Tabitha flipped them all around and landed feet first on the slippery rocks. She held both her pet and the little girl in her arms for a moment almost in tears then told Kiva to stay with the toddler and keep her safe before she hurridly leapt up along the rock face.
⚜️She climbed the crag like a spider rushing quickly to the battle. As she neared the top the Shadowhunter could hear one of her wolves cry out and Lexington groan as his body crashed into something. Her fear for her friend's safety almost made her sick as she leapt and scurried up the wall grabbing at jagged edges and seams in the rock face hoisting her body closer up along the damp precipice. Overhead, clouds stirred like a soup as the approaching storm's winds became more intense the closer she got to the top. Finally, she could see grass hanging over the edge and just as she reached to grab the rim of the cliff she heard one of Lexington's flintlocks fire. Her wolves growled in anger, hissing and gnashing their teeth and just then, the monster spoke! It taunted Lexington "I'm gonna tear you apart piggy!" then roared again from deep in its massive chest. Just as the devilish brute began to rush her friend she leapt from the side of the cliff catapulting her body into the sky above the colossal beast. Drawing her swords the Shadowhunter was silent as she looked down across the back of the monster just six meters above him. Lexington never looked in her direction as not to alert the werewolf then fired again hitting it in the chest just as Xandra and Jesper both hurdled toward the lycan. As silent as a cat, her blades found their mark plunging deep on either side of the werewolves's broad neck cutting through his heart and deep into it's lungs. She rolled just past Lexington turning quickly, her own flintlock pulled only to watch the beast fall to his knees.
⚜️As it looked at them all the horror and terror was erased from its face. It was the same expression his mate had made before it died earlier that same evening. Calling to her wolves she ordered them off the monster to allow it to die in peace when in a trice it brought its great paw within inches of her boot and upon regaining enough strength it scowled at her and hissed, "He is coming. And there's nothing you can do about it Shadowhunter. You and your kind will be slaughtered like pigs." It laughed and then fell dead.
Taken aback, Tabitha stood motionless looming over the ghoulish creature. Lexington had heard as well, walking over to stand there with her. He started to say something, and she looked, but he obviously thought better to wait, and she did not ask. They both stood silent watching as the monster turned back to a human man, the curse lifted from him forever.
"Mistress look! The same brand as the female." Lexington had bent down to inspect the man's body.
Tabitha knelt down to see and there it was. The identical and peculiar tattoo they'd found on the girl and in the same spot.
Once she'd inspected the tattoo Tabitha looked at the man's face. She shook her head. He looked so peaceful now. Nearly handsome as he laid there naked, the distant thunder claps above them providing just a little light. Standing, she asked Lexington if he was injured and except for a few scrapes and bruises luckily he wasn't. She quickly took a look at her wolves calling them to her. They were bloody, some of it theirs, but nothing was broken and the lacerations that she could observe didn't look deep.
"Mother and Father must have been looking over us tonight." she thought to herself.
Lexington apologized to her for not asking about the girl and Kiva and she assured him it was alright and that they were as well. That said, she instructed the Prince to continue his inspection while she gathered up Kiva and the kidnapped girl before the coming storm set in.
Walking away Lexington must have noticed she was deep in her thoughts. "My Lady, are you alright?" he called out.
Standing there, cleaning the blood from her swords, she sheathed each of them and looked just over her shoulder asking in return. "Have you ever heard of one that could talk Lex?"
"No My Lady. Never. I... well I don't know what to say Ms. Tabitha."
With a slight nod she walked into the darkness, her gallant wolves at her sides. This night had been filled with violence and distress, and more mystery than she cared for.
It would be nice to be home soon, back at Belraak Castle.
🐺🐺🐺🐺
Continued in Chapter 6 The Two Societies
⭐And again,I would send a shout out to my friend Marcus Strong. He took on dual roles for this one and was so patient and forgiving. Thanks Big Daddy! hehe.
With love. 💓
🌳Taken at Flower of Scotland I would like to express my appreciation to elo {Neutron Nebula} for providing one of the most beautiful places in SL for us to take our pics. You can take a look as some of the amazing captures done at Auld Lang Syne in thier group, Auld Lang Syne. Isles of Scotland 🌼
Social roles in other societies. An Eastern European woman pushes uphill a cart with all the family's possessions. Cuesta Moyano, Madrid, Spain (see large)
Papeles sociales en otras sociedades. Una mujer de Europa del Este empuja cuesta arriba un carro con todas las posesiones de la familia. Cuesta Moyano, Madrid, España (ver en grande)
1/160, F/3.6, ISO 100
- Slave -
Doux hair - Rose
:: ANTAYA :: Group gift foot jewelry Alia
maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Kaleidoscope%20Island/182/159/23
:: ANTAYA :: Slave papers holder
:: ANTAYA :: FATPACK Undress camisk + collar Laila
LORIEN BLACK WINE TRAY ANIM
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- Free Women -
Doux hair - Venezia
Art&Ko - Charming Sorceress Set
maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Kaleidoscope%20Island/145/43/1771
:: ANTAYA :: Veil with pearls Florence
(Here you need to pick up another skirt)
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- Panther -
Doux hair - Lulu
PFC~Potions - round bottom flasks for belt
PFC~Potions - on ribs
PFC~Warg dagger
!LR BOW - Kronos Bow [Elite]
!LR KLAIVE - Mystical Klaive
:: ANTAYA :: Group gift - War paint
:: ANTAYA :: Fur outfit "Zelda
:: ANTAYA :: Inga
__________
PUMEC - OPAL - LELUTKA
Pepe Skins - Leanne V2 / Moonbeam
Maitreya Mesh Body
LeLUTKA.Head.Lake.
Cassandra Shape
marketplace.secondlife.com/p/Cassandra-Shape-Lelutka-Evo-Lake/20788536
Marisa has picked a bad role model as well
Caption was, "Patient care is for losers. Homey don't play that"
Totoro: Studio Ghibli Yurayura Roly-Poly YR-MC01 My Neighbor Totoro - Big.
Category: Completed Figure.
Name: Studio Ghibli Yurayura Roly-Poly YR-MC01 My Neighbor Totoro (big).
Secondary Name: となりのトトロ もっと!ゆらゆらおきあがりこぼしコレクション【どんどこ大トトロ】YR-MC01
Series: My Neighbor Totoro.
Size: Height - 73 mm, Width 42 mm, Depth - 40 mm.
Origin: Japanese anime: My Neighbor Totoro by Studio Ghibli.
Brand: Ensky.
Material: PVC and ABS.
Release Date: 30 Jan 2023.
Status:
Cost: S$20.99
Condition: Mint in Box.
Remark:
Description: Roly-Poly Toy.
*Note: These are Trading Figures/Gashapons/Capsule Toys collected by my BB or me.
More in My Collection Corner.
Architecture model of Bauhaus Dessau.
Fagus-Gropius Exhibition, Fagus Factory, Alfeld, Lower Saxony, Germany.
Photo taken through glass case.
By slipping through a small space between buildings, I got off the main road of scenic to photograph buildings almost no one ever does.
The last time my lens captured this pair on the coast, they were working the GBRf 'Four To The Sea' staff special from Cardiff to Llandudno on 27 July 2013.
Back then, 20189 was in a red London Transport livery, 20142 carried standard BR blue.
They've swapped! Well, sort of, 20189 now carries the blue, 20142 in a lined maroon real genuine-ish London Transport garb.
The first of three railtours to Llandudno on Saturday 30 April 2022 is 1Z20 from Tyseley Warwick Road, the Vintage Trains North Wales Coast Express.
The class 20's were making a proper racket as they storm through Rhyl, recreating happy memories of the late 1980's/early 1990's Derby-Llandudno, a regular turn for the class.
Pictured are 846 Naval Air Squadron conducting Role Demos with their Merlin MK3 Helicopters at RNAS Yeovilton...846 Naval Air Squadron (NAS) is one of two frontline squadrons forming part of the Royal Navy’s Commando Helicopter Force (CHF). 846 is in the vanguard of the conversion to the Merlin Mk3, and has now returned home to RNAS Yeovilton...846 Naval Air Squadron (NAS) are the first Royal Navy squadron to convert to Merlin Mk 3.
Merlin Mk3 is a new aircraft type for the Commando Helicopter Force (CHF). It will advance capability for the primary customer, The Royal Marines.
To take on the demanding Commando Role (from ship to shore operations) the current Merlin Mk3 fleet will undergo an upgrade package through an interim model. It will then move towards the advanced Merlin Mk4.
This will further increase the capability of this proven battlefield helicopter.
-------------------------------------------------------
© Crown Copyright 2014
Photographer: LPhot Dan Rosenbaum
Image 45159602.jpg from www.defenceimages.mod.uk
This image is available for high resolution download at www.defenceimagery.mod.uk subject to the terms and conditions of the Open Government License at www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/. Search for image number 45159602.jpg
For latest news visit www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-defence
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Controlling the skies Cloud Kingdom style!
I had planned on a minifigure scale F-15, but then my Friday evaporated into thin air.
It needs some improvement. To become a photo piece. A background and some small additional light. Just t present quit sober trains.
From making it, I learned. As expected and needed. Working in a small scale requires more eye on the general impression, the atmospheric concept. Details? well this comes a the border of the human eyes
This photo is meant atmospheric. just a try. About a could be scene, somewhere in the mid sixties. That is where the train lay out is abut
It is about that time on a common single line, a main line. Lets say in rural West-Germany . adds? holiday trains to come with some international coaches from France, Italy, Switzerland , the Netherlands. Lots of goods traffic. Cargo was an unknown word then.
And not too many trains running. A lot of preparation is now in progress.
The running machine Is a Fleischmann model of some years ago. the V100 1186. .A V100.1 , Later 211 baureihe. The first series of the program. With a bit less motorpower, and some slightly changes at the dashboard, like 1 gear less. For model train makers still a hard model. There is not much space beside the motor. A digital decoder is possible. But not recommended to add later, unless you are expert in adding decoders.. Sound is also a problem.The latest model version is from minitrix. It has no sound. That is understandable.
As I don't drive digital, this is beyond my scope. For digital drivers, this model is a challenge or a bully when sound has t be included.
Lots of digital tracks works with complete trains. A suggestion can be to add somehow a sound module in a (closed) car or a coach. But best option maybe is accept no sound. As f.e. a V60 handles the same problem; with as add lighting is also difficult.
All V100 trains in N has roots in the seventies. Fleischmann and Minitrix has models that define N as modeltrain. Lead away from the toy train imago. Arnold stepped in too and used the model to intoduce the simplex coppling. Meaning uncopple rails could be past. As these all have a bit unrealistic appeal. V1000's defining a weird gap late 70s : no toy model. Lima entered it in 1979. It did not look that bad. Just ran as crap. Given the prices, a second hand Minitrix, Arnold or Fleischmann is worth money. on Arnold be aware Arnold use a slithy different rail width. Usage on non Arnold tracks could lead to derailing. My personal choice is this one.
Edinburgh Castle is a historic castle in Edinburgh, Scotland. It stands on Castle Rock, which has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age, although the nature of the early settlement is unclear. There has been a royal castle on the rock since at least the reign of David I in the 12th century, and the site continued to be a royal residence until 1633. From the 15th century, the castle's residential role declined, and by the 17th century it was principally used as military barracks with a large garrison. Its importance as a part of Scotland's national heritage was recognised increasingly from the early 19th century onwards, and various restoration programmes have been carried out over the past century and a half.
As one of the most important strongholds in the Kingdom of Scotland, Edinburgh Castle was involved in many historical conflicts from the Wars of Scottish Independence in the 14th century to the Jacobite rising of 1745. Research undertaken in 2014 identified 26 sieges in its 1,100-year history, giving it a claim to having been "the most besieged place in Great Britain and one of the most attacked in the world". Few of the present buildings pre-date the Lang Siege of the 16th century when the medieval defences were largely destroyed by artillery bombardment. The most notable exceptions are St Margaret's Chapel from the early 12th century, which is regarded as the oldest building in Edinburgh, the Royal Palace, and the early 16th-century Great Hall, although the interiors have been much altered from the mid-Victorian period onwards. The castle also houses the Scottish regalia, known as the Honours of Scotland, and is the site of the Scottish National War Memorial and the National War Museum of Scotland. The British Army is still responsible for some parts of the castle, although its presence is now largely ceremonial and administrative. Some of the castle buildings house regimental museums which contribute to its presentation as a tourist attraction.
The castle, in the care of Historic Environment Scotland, is Scotland's most and the United Kingdom's second most-visited paid tourist attraction, with over 2.2 million visitors in 2019 and over 70 percent of leisure visitors to Edinburgh visiting the castle. As the backdrop to the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo during the annual Edinburgh Festival, the castle has become a recognisable symbol of Edinburgh in particular and of Scotland as a whole.
The castle stands upon the plug of an extinct volcano, which is estimated to have risen about 350 million years ago during the lower Carboniferous period. The Castle Rock is the remains of a volcanic pipe, which cut through the surrounding sedimentary rock before cooling to form very hard dolerite, a type of basalt. Subsequent glacial erosion was resisted by the dolerite, which protected the softer rock to the east, leaving a crag and tail formation.
The summit of the Castle Rock is 130 metres above sea level, with rocky cliffs to the south, west, and north, rising to a height of 80 metres above the surrounding landscape. This means that the only readily accessible route to the castle lies to the east, where the ridge slopes more gently. The defensive advantage of such a site is self-evident, but the geology of the rock also presents difficulties, since basalt is extremely impermeable. Providing water to the Upper Ward of the castle was problematic, and despite the sinking of a 28-metre deep well, the water supply often ran out during drought or siege, including during the Lang Siege in 1573.
Archaeological investigation has yet to establish when the Castle Rock was first used as a place of human habitation. There is no record of any Roman interest in the location during General Agricola's invasion of northern Britain near the end of the 1st century AD. Ptolemy's map of the 2nd century AD shows a settlement in the territory of the Votadini named "Alauna", meaning "rock place", making this possibly the earliest known name for the Castle Rock. This could, however, refer to another of the tribe's hill forts in the area. The Orygynale Cronykil of Andrew of Wyntoun (c. 1350 – c. 1423), an early source for Scottish history, names "Ebrawce" (Ebraucus), a legendary King of the Britons, as having "byggyd [built] Edynburgh". According to the earlier chronicler, Geoffrey of Monmouth (c. 1100 – c. 1155), Ebraucus had fifty children by his twenty wives, and was the founder of "Kaerebrauc" (York), "Alclud" (Dumbarton) and the "Maidens' Castle". The 16th-century English writer John Stow (c. 1525 – 1605), credited Ebraucus with building "the Castell of Maidens called Edenbrough" in 989 BC. The name "Maidens' Castle" (Latin: Castra or Castellum Puellarum) occurs frequently up until the 16th century.[16] It appears in charters of David I (r. 1124–1153) and his successors, although the reason for it is not known. William Camden's survey of Britain, Britannia (1607), records that "the Britans called [it] Castle Myned Agned [winged rock], the Scots, the Maidens Castle and the Virgins Castle, of certaine young maidens of the Picts roiall bloud who were kept there in old time". According to the 17th-century antiquarian Father Richard Hay, the "maidens" were a group of nuns, who were ejected from the castle and replaced by canons, considered "fitter to live among soldiers". However, this story was considered "apocryphal" by the 19th-century antiquarian Daniel Wilson and has been ignored by historians since. The name may have been derived from a "Cult of the Nine Maidens" type of legend. Arthurian legends suggest that the site once held a shrine to Morgain la Fee, one of nine sisters. Later, St Monenna, said to be one of nine companions, reputedly invested a church at Edinburgh, as well as at Dumbarton and other places. Similar names are shared by many other Iron Age hillforts and may have simply described a castle that had never been taken by force or derived from an earlier Brittonic name like mag dun.
An archaeological excavation in the early 1990s uncovered evidence of the site having been settled during the late Bronze Age or early Iron Age, potentially making the Castle Rock the longest continuously occupied site in Scotland. However, the extent of the finds was not particularly significant and was insufficient to draw any certain conclusions about the precise nature or scale of this earliest known phase of occupation.
The archaeological evidence is more reliable in respect of the Iron Age. Traditionally, it had been supposed that the tribes of central Scotland had made little or no use of the Castle Rock. Excavations at nearby Dunsapie Hill, Duddingston, Inveresk and Traprain Law had revealed relatively large settlements and it was supposed that these sites had been chosen in preference to the Castle Rock. However, the excavation in the 1990s pointed to the probable existence of an enclosed hill fort on the rock, although only the fringes of the site were excavated. House fragments revealed were similar to Iron Age dwellings previously found in Northumbria.
The 1990s dig revealed clear signs of habitation from the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, consistent with Ptolemy's reference to "Alauna". Signs of occupation included some Roman material, including pottery, bronzes and brooches, implying a possible trading relationship between the Votadini and the Romans beginning with Agricola's northern campaign in AD 82, and continuing through to the establishment of the Antonine Wall around AD 140. The nature of the settlement in this period is inconclusive, but Driscoll and Yeoman suggest it may have been a broch, similar to the one at Edin's Hall near Duns, Scottish Borders in the Scottish Borders.
The castle does not re-appear in contemporary historical records from the time of Ptolemy until around AD 600. Then, in the epic Welsh poem Y Gododdin there is a reference to Din Eidyn, "the stronghold of Eidyn". This has been generally assumed to refer to the Castle Rock. The poem tells of the Gododdin King Mynyddog Mwynfawr, and his band of warriors, who, after a year of feasting in their fortress, set out to do battle with the Angles at "Catreath" (possibly Catterick) in Yorkshire. Despite performing glorious deeds of valour and bravery, the poem relates that the Gododdin were massacred.
The Irish annals record that in 638, after the events related in Y Gododdin, "Etin" was besieged by the Angles under Oswald of Northumbria, and the Gododdin were defeated. The territory around Edinburgh then became part of the Kingdom of Northumbria, which was itself absorbed by England in the 10th century. Lothian became part of Scotland, during the reign of Indulf (r.954–962).
The archaeological evidence for the period in question is based entirely on the analysis of middens (domestic refuse heaps), with no evidence of structures. Few conclusions can therefore be derived about the status of the settlement during this period, although the midden deposits show no clear break since Roman times.
The first documentary reference to a castle at Edinburgh is John of Fordun's account of the death of King Malcolm III (1031–1093). Fordun describes his widow, the future Saint Margaret, as residing at the "Castle of Maidens" when she is brought news of his death in November 1093. Fordun's account goes on to relate how Margaret died of grief within days, and how Malcolm's brother Donald Bane laid siege to the castle. However, Fordun's chronicle was not written until the later 14th century, and the near-contemporary account of the life of St Margaret by Bishop Turgot makes no mention of a castle. During the reigns of Malcolm III and his sons, Edinburgh Castle became one of the most significant royal centres in Scotland. Malcolm's son King Edgar died here in 1107.
Malcolm's youngest son, King David I (r.1124–1153), developed Edinburgh as a seat of royal power principally through his administrative reforms (termed by some modern scholars the Davidian Revolution). Between 1139 and 1150, David held an assembly of nobles and churchmen, a precursor to the parliament of Scotland, at the castle. Any buildings or defences would probably have been of timber, although two stone buildings are documented as having existed in the 12th century. Of these, St. Margaret's Chapel remains at the summit of the rock. The second was a church, dedicated to St. Mary, which stood on the site of the Scottish National War Memorial. Given that the southern part of the Upper Ward (where Crown Square is now sited) was not suited to be built upon until the construction of the vaults in the 15th century, it seems probable that any earlier buildings would have been located towards the northern part of the rock; that is around the area where St. Margaret's Chapel stands. This has led to a suggestion that the chapel is the last remnant of a square, stone keep, which would have formed the bulk of the 12th-century fortification. The structure may have been similar to the keep of Carlisle Castle, which David I began after 1135.
David's successor King Malcolm IV (r.1153–1165) reportedly stayed at Edinburgh more than at any other location. But in 1174, King William "the Lion" (r.1165–1214) was captured by the English at the Battle of Alnwick. He was forced to sign the Treaty of Falaise to secure his release, in return for surrendering Edinburgh Castle, along with the castles of Berwick, Roxburgh and Stirling, to the English King, Henry II. The castle was occupied by the English for twelve years, until 1186, when it was returned to William as the dowry of his English bride, Ermengarde de Beaumont, who had been chosen for him by King Henry. By the end of the 12th century, Edinburgh Castle was established as the main repository of Scotland's official state papers.
A century later, in 1286, on the death of King Alexander III, the throne of Scotland became vacant. Edward I of England was appointed to adjudicate the competing claims for the Scottish crown, but used the opportunity to attempt to establish himself as the feudal overlord of Scotland. During the negotiations, Edward stayed briefly at Edinburgh Castle and may have received homage there from the Scottish nobles.
In March 1296, Edward I launched an invasion of Scotland, unleashing the First War of Scottish Independence. Edinburgh Castle soon came under English control, surrendering after a three days long bombardment. Following the siege, Edward had many of the Scottish legal records and royal treasures moved from the castle to England. A large garrison numbering 325 men was installed in 1300. Edward also brought to Scotland his master builders of the Welsh castles, including Thomas de Houghton and Master Walter of Hereford, both of whom travelled from Wales to Edinburgh. After the death of Edward I in 1307, however, England's control over Scotland weakened. On 14 March 1314, a surprise night attack by Thomas Randolph, 1st Earl of Moray recaptured the castle. John Barbour's narrative poem The Brus relates how a party of thirty hand-picked men was guided by one William Francis, a member of the garrison who knew of a route along the north face of the Castle Rock and a place where the wall might be scaled. Making the difficult ascent, Randolph's men scaled the wall, surprised the garrison and took control. Robert the Bruce immediately ordered the slighting of the castle to prevent its re-occupation by the English. Four months later, his army secured victory at the Battle of Bannockburn.
After Bruce's death in 1329, Edward III of England determined to renew the attempted subjugation of Scotland and supported the claim of Edward Balliol, son of the former King John Balliol, over that of Bruce's young son David II. Edward invaded in 1333, marking the start of the Second War of Scottish Independence, and the English forces reoccupied and refortified Edinburgh Castle in 1335, holding it until 1341. This time, the Scottish assault was led by William Douglas, Lord of Liddesdale. Douglas's party disguised themselves as merchants from Leith bringing supplies to the garrison. Driving a cart into the entrance, they halted it there to prevent the gates closing. A larger force hidden nearby rushed to join them and the castle was retaken. The 100 English men of the garrison were all killed.
The 1357 Treaty of Berwick brought the Wars of Independence to a close. David II resumed his rule and set about rebuilding Edinburgh Castle which became his principal seat of government. David's Tower was begun around 1367, and was incomplete when David died at the castle in 1371. It was completed by his successor, Robert II, in the 1370s. The tower stood on the site of the present Half Moon Battery and was connected by a section of curtain wall to the smaller Constable's Tower, a round tower built between 1375 and 1379 where the Portcullis Gate now stands.
In the early 15th century, another English invasion, this time under Henry IV, reached Edinburgh Castle and began a siege, but eventually withdrew due to lack of supplies. From 1437, Sir William Crichton was Keeper of Edinburgh Castle, and soon after became Chancellor of Scotland. In an attempt to gain the regency of Scotland, Crichton sought to break the power of the Douglases, the principal noble family in the kingdom. The sixteen-year-old William Douglas, 6th Earl of Douglas, and his younger brother David were summoned to Edinburgh Castle in November 1440. After the so-called "Black Dinner" had taken place in David's Tower, both boys were summarily executed on trumped-up charges in the presence of the ten-year-old King James II (r.1437–1460). Douglas' supporters subsequently besieged the castle, inflicting damage. Construction continued throughout this period, with the area now known as Crown Square being laid out over vaults in the 1430s. Royal apartments were built, forming the nucleus of the later palace block, and a Great Hall was in existence by 1458. In 1464, access to the castle was improved when the current approach road up the north-east side of the rock was created to allow easier movement of the royal artillery train in and out of the area now known as the Upper Ward.
In 1479, Alexander Stewart, Duke of Albany, was imprisoned in David's Tower for plotting against his brother, King James III (r.1460–1488). He escaped by getting his guards drunk, then lowering himself from a window on a rope. The duke fled to France, then England, where he allied himself with King Edward IV. In 1482, Albany marched into Scotland with Richard, Duke of Gloucester (later King Richard III), and an English army. James III was trapped in the castle from 22 July to 29 September 1482 until he successfully negotiated a settlement.
During the 15th century the castle was increasingly used as an arsenal and armaments factory. The first known purchase of a gun was in 1384, and the "great bombard" Mons Meg was delivered to Edinburgh in 1457. The first recorded mention of an armoury for the manufacture of guns occurs in 1474, and by 1498 the master gunner Robert Borthwick was casting bronze guns at Edinburgh. By 1511 Edinburgh was the principal foundry in Scotland, supplanting Stirling Castle, with Scottish and European smiths working under Borthwick, who by 1512 was appointed "master melter of the king's guns". Their output included guns for the Scottish flagship, the "Great Michael", and the "Seven Sisters", a set of cannons captured by the English at Flodden in 1513. Sir Thomas Howard, England's Lord Admiral, admired their graceful shape and brilliant finish, declaring them the most beautiful [cannon] for their size and length that he had ever seen. From 1510 Dutch craftsmen were also producing hand culverins, an early firearm. After Flodden, Borthwick continued his work, producing an unknown number of guns, of which none survive. He was succeeded by French smiths, who began manufacturing hagbuts (another type of firearm) in the 1550s, and by 1541 the castle had a stock of 413.
Meanwhile, the royal family began to stay more frequently at the Abbey of Holyrood, about 1 mile from the castle. Around the end of the fifteenth century, King James IV (r.1488–1513) built Holyroodhouse, by the abbey, as his principal Edinburgh residence, and the castle's role as a royal home subsequently declined. James IV did, however, construct the Great Hall, which was completed in the early 16th century. His daughter Margaret Stewart was lodged in the castle with her servant Ellen More.
James IV was killed in battle at Flodden Field, on 9 September 1513. Expecting the English to press their advantage, the Scots hastily constructed a town wall around Edinburgh and augmented the castle's defences. Robert Borthwick and a Frenchman, Antoine d'Arces, were involved in designing new artillery defences and fortifications in 1514, though it appears from lack of evidence that little of the planned work was carried out. Three years later, King James V (r.1513–1542), still only five years old, was brought to the castle for safety. Upon his death 25 years later, the crown passed to his week-old daughter, Mary, Queen of Scots. English invasions followed, as King Henry VIII attempted to force a dynastic marriage on Scotland. When the English burnt Edinburgh in May 1544 the gunner Andrew Mansioun firing from the castle destroyed an English cannon placed to bombard the forework. In 1547 disaffected members of the garrison who resented Regent Arran came to Norham Castle and offered to let the English in.
Refortification in 1548 included an earthen angle-bastion, known as the Spur, of the type known as trace italienne, one of the earliest examples in Britain. Brunstane Castle the home of the traitor Alexander Crichton was demolished to provide building materials. The Spur may have been designed by Migliorino Ubaldini, an Italian engineer from the court of Henry II of France, and was said to have the arms of France carved on it. James V's widow, Mary of Guise, acted as regent from 1554 until her death at the castle in 1560.
The following year, the Catholic Mary, Queen of Scots, returned from France to begin her reign, which was marred by crises and quarrels amongst the powerful Protestant Scottish nobility. In 1565, the Queen made an unpopular marriage with Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, and the following year, in a small room of the Palace at Edinburgh Castle, she gave birth to their son James, who would later be King of both Scotland and England. Mary's reign was, however, brought to an abrupt end. Three months after the murder of Darnley at Kirk o' Field in 1567, she married James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, one of the chief murder suspects. A large proportion of the nobility rebelled, resulting ultimately in the imprisonment and forced abdication of Mary at Loch Leven Castle. She escaped and fled to England, but some of the nobility remained faithful to her cause. Edinburgh Castle was initially handed by its Captain, James Balfour, to the Regent Moray, who had forced Mary's abdication and now held power in the name of the infant King James VI. Shortly after the Battle of Langside, in May 1568, Moray appointed Sir William Kirkcaldy of Grange Keeper of the Castle.
Grange was a trusted lieutenant of the Regent, but after Moray's murder in January 1570 his allegiance to the King's cause began to waver. Intermittent civil war continued between the supporters of the two monarchs, and in April 1571 Dumbarton Castle fell to "the King's men". Under the influence of William Maitland of Lethington, Mary's secretary, Grange changed sides, occupying the town and castle of Edinburgh for Queen Mary, and against the new regent, the Earl of Lennox. The stand-off which followed was not resolved until two years later, and became known as the "Lang Siege", from the Scots word for "long". Hostilities began in May, with a month-long siege of the town, and a second short siege in October. Blockades and skirmishing continued meanwhile, and Grange continued to refortify the castle. The King's party appealed to Elizabeth I of England for assistance, as they lacked the artillery and money required to reduce the castle, and feared that Grange would receive aid from France and the Duke of Alba in the Spanish Netherlands. Elizabeth sent ambassadors to negotiate, and in July 1572 a truce was agreed and the blockade lifted. The town was effectively surrendered to the King's party, with Grange confined to the castle.
The truce expired on 1 January 1573, and Grange began bombarding the town. His supplies of powder and shot, however, were running low, and despite having 40 cannon available, there were only seven gunners in the garrison. The King's forces, now with the Earl of Morton in charge as regent, were making headway with plans for a siege. Trenches were dug to surround the castle, and St Margaret's Well was poisoned. By February, all Queen Mary's other supporters had surrendered to the Regent, but Grange resolved to resist despite water shortages within the castle. The garrison continued to bombard the town, killing a number of citizens. They also made sorties to set fires, burning 100 houses in the town and then firing on anyone attempting to put out the flames.
In April, a force of around 1,000 English troops, led by Sir William Drury, arrived in Edinburgh. They were followed by 27 cannon from Berwick-upon-Tweed, including one that had been cast within Edinburgh Castle and captured by the English at Flodden. The English troops built an artillery emplacement on Castle Hill, immediately facing the east walls of the castle, and five others to the north, west and south. By 17 May these batteries were ready, and the bombardment began. Over the next 12 days, the gunners dispatched around 3,000 shots at the castle. On 22 May, the south wall of David's Tower collapsed, and the next day the Constable's Tower also fell. The debris blocked the castle entrance, as well as the Fore Well, although this had already run dry. On 26 May, the English attacked and captured the Spur, the outer fortification of the castle, which had been isolated by the collapse. The following day Grange emerged from the castle by a ladder after calling for a ceasefire to allow negotiations for a surrender to take place. When it was made clear that he would not be allowed to go free even if he ended the siege, Grange resolved to continue the resistance, but the garrison threatened to mutiny. He therefore arranged for Drury and his men to enter the castle on 28 May, preferring to surrender to the English rather than the Regent Morton. Edinburgh Castle was handed over to George Douglas of Parkhead, the Regent's brother, and the garrison were allowed to go free. In contrast, Kirkcaldy of Grange, his brother James and two jewellers, James Mossman and James Cokke, who had been minting coins in Mary's name inside the castle, were hanged at the Cross in Edinburgh on 3 August.
Nova Scotia and Civil War
Much of the castle was subsequently rebuilt by Regent Morton, including the Spur, the new Half Moon Battery and the Portcullis Gate. Some of these works were supervised by William MacDowall, the master of work who fifteen years earlier had repaired David's Tower. The Half Moon Battery, while impressive in size, is considered by historians to have been an ineffective and outdated artillery fortification. This may have been due to a shortage of resources, although the battery's position obscuring the ancient David's Tower and enhancing the prominence of the palace block, has been seen as a significant decision.
The battered palace block remained unused, particularly after James VI departed to become King of England in 1603. James had repairs carried out in 1584, and in 1615–1616 more extensive repairs were carried out in preparation for his return visit to Scotland. The mason William Wallace and master of works James Murray introduced an early Scottish example of the double-pile block. The principal external features were the three, three-storey oriel windows on the east façade, facing the town and emphasising that this was a palace rather than just a place of defence. During his visit in 1617, James held court in the refurbished palace block, but still preferred to sleep at Holyrood.
In 1621, King James granted Sir William Alexander the land in North America between New England and Newfoundland, as Nova Scotia ("New Scotland"). To promote the settlement and plantation of the new territory, the Baronetage of Nova Scotia was created in 1624. Under Scots Law, baronets had to "take sasine" by symbolically receiving the earth and stone of the land of which they were baronet. To make this possible, since Nova Scotia was so distant, the King declared that sasine could be taken either in the new province or alternatively "at the castle of Edinburgh as the most eminent and principal place of Scotland."
James' successor, King Charles I, visited Edinburgh Castle only once, hosting a feast in the Great Hall and staying the night before his Scottish coronation in 1633. This was the last occasion that a reigning monarch resided in the castle. In 1639, in response to Charles' attempts to impose Episcopacy on the Scottish Church, civil war broke out between the King's forces and the Presbyterian Covenanters. The Covenanters, led by Alexander Leslie, captured Edinburgh Castle after a short siege, although it was restored to Charles after the Peace of Berwick in June the same year. The peace was short-lived, however, and the following year the Covenanters took the castle again, this time after a three-month siege, during which the garrison ran out of supplies. The Spur was badly damaged and was demolished in the 1640s. The Royalist commander James Graham, 1st Marquis of Montrose, was imprisoned here after his capture in 1650.
In May 1650, the Covenanters signed the Treaty of Breda, allying themselves with the exiled Charles II against the English Parliamentarians, who had executed his father the previous year. In response to the Scots proclaiming Charles King, Oliver Cromwell launched an invasion of Scotland, defeating the Covenanter army at Dunbar in September. Edinburgh Castle was taken after a three-month siege, which caused further damage. The Governor of the Castle, Colonel Walter Dundas, surrendered to Cromwell despite having enough supplies to hold out, allegedly from a desire to change sides.
After his Restoration in 1660, Charles II opted to maintain a full-time standing army based on Cromwell's New Model Army. From this time until 1923, a garrison was continuously maintained at the castle. The medieval royal castle was transformed into a garrison fortress, but continued to see military and political action. The Marquis of Argyll was imprisoned here in 1661, when King Charles II settled old scores with his enemies following his return to the throne. Twenty years later, Argyll's son, the 9th Earl of Argyll, was also imprisoned in the castle for religious Nonconformism in the reign of King James VII. He escaped by disguising himself as his sister's footman, but was recaptured and returned to the castle after his failed rebellion to oust James from the throne in 1685.
James VII was deposed and exiled by the Glorious Revolution of 1688, which installed William of Orange as King of England. Not long after, in early 1689, the Estates of Scotland, after convening to accept William formally as their new king, demanded that Duke of Gordon, Governor of the Castle, surrender the fortress. Gordon, who had been appointed by James VII as a fellow Catholic, refused. In March 1689, the castle was blockaded by 7,000 troops against a garrison of 160 men, further weakened by religious disputes. On 18 March, Viscount Dundee, intent on raising a rebellion in the Highlands, climbed up the western side of the Castle Rock to urge Gordon to hold the castle against the new King. Gordon agreed, but during the ensuing siege he refused to fire upon the town, while the besiegers inflicted little damage on the castle. Despite Dundee's initial successes in the north, Gordon eventually surrendered on 14 June, due to dwindling supplies and having lost 70 men during the three-month siege.
The castle was almost taken in the first Jacobite rising in support of James Stuart, the "Old Pretender", in 1715. On 8 September, just two days after the rising began, a party of around 100 Jacobite Highlanders, led by Lord Drummond, attempted to scale the walls with the assistance of members of the garrison. However, the rope ladder lowered by the castle sentries was too short, and the alarm was raised after a change of the watch. The Jacobites fled, while the deserters within the castle were hanged or flogged. In 1728, General Wade reported that the castle's defences were decayed and inadequate, and a major strengthening of the fortifications was carried out throughout the 1720s and 1730s. This was the period when most of the artillery defences and bastions on the north and west sides of the castle were built. These were designed by military engineer Captain John Romer, and built by the architect William Adam. They include the Argyle Battery, Mills Mount Battery, the Low Defences and the Western Defences.
The last military action at the castle took place during the second Jacobite rising of 1745. The Jacobite army, under Charles Edward Stuart ("Bonnie Prince Charlie"), captured Edinburgh without a fight in September 1745, but the castle remained in the hands of its ageing Deputy Governor, General George Preston, who refused to surrender. After their victory over the government army at Prestonpans on 21 September, the Jacobites attempted to blockade the castle. Preston's response was to bombard Jacobite positions within the town. After several buildings had been demolished and four people killed, Charles called off the blockade. The Jacobites themselves had no heavy guns with which to respond, and by November they had marched into England, leaving Edinburgh to the castle garrison.
Over the next century, the castle vaults were used to hold prisoners of war during several conflicts, including the Seven Years' War (1756–1763), the American War of Independence (1775–1783) and the Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815). During this time, several new buildings were erected within the castle, including powder magazines, stores, the Governor's House (1742), and the New Barracks (1796–1799).
19th century to the present
Drawing of the castle surrounded by crowds
King George IV waves from the battlements of the Half Moon Battery in 1822, drawn by James Skene
A mass prison break in 1811, in which 49 prisoners of war escaped via a hole in the south wall, persuaded the authorities that the castle vaults were no longer suitable as a prison. This use ceased in 1814 and the castle began gradually to assume a different role as a national monument. In 1818, Sir Walter Scott was given permission to search the castle for the Crown of Scotland, believed lost after the union of Scotland and England in 1707. Breaking into a sealed room, now known as the Crown Room, and unlocking a chest within, he rediscovered the Honours of Scotland, which were then put on public display with an entry charge of one shilling. In 1822, King George IV made a visit to Edinburgh, becoming the first reigning monarch to visit the castle since Charles II in 1651. In 1829, the cannon Mons Meg was returned from the Tower of London, where it had been taken as part of the process of disarming Scotland after "the '45", and the palace began to be opened up to visitors during the 1830s. St Margaret's Chapel was "rediscovered" in 1845, having been used as a store for many years. Works in the 1880s, funded by the Edinburgh publisher William Nelson and carried out by Hippolyte Blanc, saw the Argyle Tower built over the Portcullis Gate and the Great Hall restored after years of use as a barracks. A new Gatehouse was built in 1888. During the 19th century, several schemes were put forward for rebuilding the whole castle as a Scottish baronial style château. Work began in 1858, but was soon abandoned, and only the hospital building was eventually remodelled in 1897. Following the death of Prince Albert in 1861, the architect David Bryce put forward a proposal for a 50-metre keep as a memorial, but Queen Victoria objected and the scheme was not pursued.
Edinburgh Castle, waxed-paper negative by Thomas Keith, c. 1855. Department of Image Collections, National Gallery of Art Library, Washington DC
In 1905, responsibility for the castle was transferred from the War Office to the Office of Works, although the garrison remained until 1923, when the troops moved to Redford Barracks in south-west Edinburgh. The castle was again used as a prison during the First World War, when "Red Clydesider" David Kirkwood was confined in the military prison block, and during the Second World War, when downed German Luftwaffe pilots were captured. The position of Governor of Edinburgh Castle, vacant since 1876, was revived in 1935 as an honorary title for the General Officer Commanding in Scotland, the first holder being Lieutenant-General Sir Archibald Cameron of Lochiel. The castle passed into the care of Historic Scotland when it was established in 1991, and was designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument in 1993. The buildings and structures of the castle are further protected by 24 separate listings, including 13 at category A, the highest level of protection for a historic building in Scotland, and special care was taken when installing 31 kW solar panels on the roof of the War Memorial, obscured by its parapet. The Old and New Towns of Edinburgh, a World Heritage Site inscribed by UNESCO in 1995, is described as "dominated by a medieval fortress".