Gorgeous blue skies in Edinburgh this week! The 16th century tower of Holyrood Palace (on the left of the photo) was built by King James V in the 16th century; the rest of the palace was mainly constructed in the late 1600s by King Charles II. It is now the official residence of the Queen in Scotland. You can visit the palace to see the state rooms used by the present queen, and also the rooms in the tower occupied by Mary, Queen of Scots in the 1500s.
Mary’s private secretary David Rizzio was murdered here in 1566 by her husband Lord Darnley. Mary was seven months pregnant at the time and it is said Darnley was jealous of Rizzio’s close friendship with the queen – he may even have suspected Rizzio was the real father of the unborn baby. Rizzio was dragged out of the turret room where he was dining with the queen and her ladies and waiting, and stabbed 56 times by Darnley and his friends. It is said his bloodstains still mark the floor…
Hope everyone has been enjoying the antics of the Tartan Army over in Boston for the World Cup! Glad to see the Glasgow tradition of putting cones on statues is alive and well across the pond 😂⚽️🏴The Scottish fans didn't just bring bagpipes and beer to Boston.
They brought traffic cones for the statues too.
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If trees could talk, this one would have some tales to tell!
This is the Birnam Oak, 600 years old and the last remaining tree of the Birnam Wood mentioned by Shakespeare in Macbeth.
In the play Macbeth is warned by the witches that he will not be overthrown until Birnam Wood moves to Dunsinane. Macbeth decides to ignore the witches with their crazy talk of trees moving around and commits several murders in pursuit of the Scottish throne. However Malcolm’s army take branches from the trees in the wood, use them to disguise themselves, and ultimately Macbeth meets a sticky end (it is a tragedy after all!)
Shakespeare is rumoured to have visited Perthshire with a group of travelling players in 1589, so perhaps he visited here and took inspiration from the forest ✍️
The oak in folklore is the king of the forest, and a hollow in an oak tree is said to be a fairy door, or a gateway to supernatural realms. The word ‘druid’ may come from a Celtic word meaning “knower of the oak tree” 🌳 🌳🌳
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