Abstract
Edinburgh has been the capital of Scotland since 1437 and by any standards is a beautiful city. It makes an immediate impact upon the visitor because major aspects of its history are there for all to see in the general arrangement of the city, and in its buildings. The Castle, sitting on the prominent summit of one of the volcanic plugs that dominate the topography of the city, is a constant focus for the eye of the wandering tourist. From the Castle Esplanade a downward-sloping road running eastward forms the spine of the Old Town. This road is known to tourists as the Royal Mile, but it actually consists of three parts with separate names: the Lawnmarket, the High Street, and the Canongate. The eastern end of the Canongate culminates at the ruined Holyrood Abbey (granted a Royal Charter in 1124) and the adjacent Palace of Holyrood House, the principal residence of the Scottish monarch since the fifteenth century (although rumored to be the least favorite of the present queen’s residences), and now the new Scottish Parliament building (officially opened in 2004). It is a Royal Mile, then, because it stretches from Castle to Palace.
John Henry is Reader in the History of Science at the Science Studies Unit, University of Edinburgh. He specializes in seventeenth-century history but has published on topics from the Middle Ages to the nineteenth century. Although English he has lived in Edinburgh since 1986 and would like to be considered an honorary Scot.
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References
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Henry, J. (2009). Physics in Edinburgh: From Napier’s Bones to Higgs’s Boson. In: Rigden, J.S., Stuewer, R.H. (eds) The Physical Tourist. Birkhäuser Basel. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7643-8933-8_3
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