This huge museum has amassed more historic artifacts than every other place that I’ve seen in Scotland combined. It’s all wonderfully displayed, with fine descriptions offering a best-anywhere hike through the history of Scotland.
The museum can be confusing… make sure you keep your map handy. You’ve got everything here – T. Rex skeletons, science and technology galleries, fashion, art and design galleries… I could go on and on. For this review, I am going to focus on yet a different area – the Scotland galleries. This gallery sweeps us through Scottish history covering Roman and Viking times, Edinburgh’s witch-burning craze and clan massacres, the struggle for Scottish independence, the Industrial Revolution, and right up to the here and now.
The glass-roofed Grand Gallery is impressive. While walking back to the Scottish exhibit, we took a swing by Scottish inventor James Watt, and visited the famous Dolly the sheep. Why famous? Dolly was the world’s first cloned mammal. She was born in Edinburgh and now keeps watch over things in the science and technology wing. 🙂
From its very start, Scotland was determined to be free. I loved the proud quotes from what’s been called the Scottish Declaration of Independence – the Declaration of Arbroath, a defiant letter written to the pope in 1320. As early as the 9th century, Scotland’s patron saint, Andrew, had – according to legend – miraculously intervened to help the Picts and Scots of Scotland remain free by defeating the Angles of England. Andrew’s X-shaped cross still decorates the Scottish flag today.
Rooms of imposing swords and other objects related to Scotland’s most famous patriots – William Wallace and Robert the Bruce surround you. Bruce’s descendants, the Stuarts, went on to rule Scotland for the next 300 years. Eventually, James VI of Scotland (I’ve included a picture of his baby cradle below) came to rule England as well (as King James I of England). A massive banner of the royal arms of Britain is adorned with the motto of James VI: “Blessed are the peacemakers.”
This big guillotine recalls the harsh justice meted out to criminals, witches, and “Covenanters” (17th-century political activists who opposed interference of the Stuart kings in affairs of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland. I’ve also included the creepy mask of Covenanter Alexander Peden, who preached illegally in this disguise.
One can find the tomb (a copy) of Mary, Queen of Scots, the 16th-century Stuart monarch who opposed the Presbyterian Church of Scotland. Educated and raised in Renaissance France, Mary brought refinement to the Scottish throne. After she was imprisoned and then executed by Elizabeth I of England in 1587, her supporters rallied each other by invoking her memory. Pendants and coins with her portrait stoked the irrepressible Scottish spirit.
Moving up a level, we find artifacts related to Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Jacobite rebellions as well as items related to the Treaty of Union document, signed in 1707 by the Scottish parliament. This act voluntarily united Scotland and England under the single parliament of the United Kingdom. For some Scots, this move was an inevitable step in connecting to the wider world, but for others it symbolized the end of Scotland’s existence.
Union with England brought stability and investment to Scotland. In this same era, the advances of the Industrial Revolution were making a big impact on Scottish life. Mechanized textile looms replaced hand craftsmanship. The huge Newcomen steam-engine water pump helped the mining industry to develop sites with tricky drainage. I tried to get a picture of this monster, but even with my wide angle Apple lens, I could not fit in all in the picture.
How the parsimonious Scots financed these new, large-scale enterprises is explained in an exhibit on the Bank of Scotland. Powered by the Scottish work ethic and the new opportunities that came from the Industrial Revolution, the country came into relative prosperity. Education and medicine thrived. With the dawn of the modern age came leisure time, the concept of “healthful sports”, and golf – a popular Scottish pastime. The display on golf holds some early golf balls, which date from about 1820, made of leather and stuffed with feathers.
Climbing another level, one is reminded of the large number of remarkable people that Scotland has lent to the world. In the Industry and Empire exhibit, there are cases introducing one to architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh, who helped to define Scottish Art Nouveau. Scotland was at the forefront of literature (Robert Burns, Sir Walter Scott, Robert Louis Stevenson), science (Lord Kelvin, James Watt, Alexander Graham Bell), world exploration (John Kirk in Africa, Sir Alexander Mackenzie in Canada) and whiskey production.
Jackie and I fully enjoyed our morning in the museum. We could have spent quite a bit longer, but we only focused on the Scottish exhibit. Make sure to dedicate enough time to whet whatever whistle captures your curiosity. 🙂