UK Diary, Day 2 (part 2)

In which we take in Saint Margaret's Chapel, and finish the day shopping

Before we continue on Day 2, let’s have some more from Evelyn Underhill:

“We need surroundings which encourage us to attend to God. It is through such steadfast attention that men learn to know Him: for we can only know in a real sense, that we which love, gaze at, admire, and enjoy—and this is worship. Worship is not therefore getting information about God; though learning from those who know more about Him than we do may help us to worship better. It is not telling Him our sins and asking for forgiveness; though once the human creature begins to grasp what worship is, it is driven to confess its rebellions, imperfections, and nothingness and ask for that restoring energy we call grace. Nor is it recommending to His notice the persons and causes which happen to interest us. Exhortation, confession, intercession, all have their place in man’s religious life; but there are something less than worship. Worship is the little human spirit’s humble adoring acknowledgement of the measureless glory of God, the only Reality—the Perfect, the Unchanging, the entirely Free.” (from her book, Worship)

Right then, back to it:

I confess to not knowing much of anything about Edinburgh Castle. Much of it I thought was very cool. Obviously there are going to be touristy aspects to something like this, and while I suppose some people whilst in the Castle want to enjoy a flight of Scotch Whiskys, I am not such a chap. That said, pretty much everything I experienced of the Castle was new to me. And, reflecting a bit, I suppose the same pertains for Scotland and me. I do not know much of this ancient place, and therefore nothing of what it is really about.

And so it was in that spirit of ignorance that, after taking in much of the castle experience, at the top of the castle we came upon a rather holy spot. It was the Chapel of Saint Margaret. Here is the sign:

Here is the chapel from the outside (the first is taken from Wikipedia):

Coming upon this was the perfect thing at the perfect time. It is an amazingly small chapel, but size has little to do with the grandeur of God and worshiping Him. If you do not know about Saint Margaret of Scotland, here is a good account of why she is a Saint of Holy Church.

Inside was a small nave and a smaller sanctuary. Here is the sanctuary:

In the nave and sanctuary were several stained glass depictions of Saints. Above the Altar was Saint Andrew:

Also in the sanctuary was Saint Ninian:

In the nave was Saint Margaret:

Also Saint Columba:

I noted the detail at the bottom:

Also displayed in the narthex was a facsimile of Saint Margaret’s Gospel Book:

Despite being crowded because of the small space, this Chapel exuded a fragrance of holiness and prayer. As Evelyn Underhill wrote in the quote above, “We need surroundings which encourage us to attend to God.” This little Chapel has been prayed in for centuries, and those prayers echo off the stone walls. For me, S. Margaret’s Chapel is the real crown jewel of Edinburgh Castle.

We headed to the Castle’s gift shop. Twyla purchased a wool cable-knit sweater. I purchased a nice cannister of Scottish tea. Izzi, Oona, and Marla purchased postcards. Martin his knight costume (see Part 1). After leaving the Castle, we found a cafe near our apartment. It was dedicated to music cassette tapes of 1970s and 1980s rock from the UK and USA. As an example:

Here is a shot of Marla and me having had our coffee and snacks:

It was then to the shopping. The girls found two charity (thrift) shops near our apartment. The selections are both were (to me) surprisingly good. By this point the mist was turning into a light rain, but we carried on. We went to two used bookstores. The second was “the one.” An action shot:

I found gems by Evelyn Underhill and Jeremy Taylor:

This is what Jeremy Taylor (d. d. 1667) looked like:

To conclude the day, we hit the local grocery store and the local shop for piccalilly, charcuterie and cheese, to have with the ciabatta along with English and Scottish Ciders, which we ate back at the apartment. Soon after, we all conked out. A great day!