'Where do you come from?
'Here,' I said,
'Here.
These parts.'
Jackie Kay
Canongate Wall, Scottish Parliament Building, Edinburgh.
06.03.2026 20:39
👍 3
🔁 0
💬 1
📌 0
'Where do you come from?
'Here,' I said,
'Here.
These parts.'
Jackie Kay
Canongate Wall, Scottish Parliament Building, Edinburgh.
Jackie Kay when she was Scottish Makar. In an age that's not short of poets eager to perform their work, Jackie Kay is by far the best of them. She's represented twice in the SNPG, and you'll also find her quoted both inside and outside the Scottish Parliament Building. Portrait by Clae Eastgate.
2/3 King Robert II, first of the Stuarts, or Stewarts as they were in his day. By George Jamesone, 1633, one of a series depicting the Stuart dynasty at what was an increasingly interesting time for the family, especially for his descendant Charles I.
More from the Scottish National Portrait Gallery today. A woman I've crossed paths with several times this week, at Linlithgow, Holyrood, Dunfermline and Edinburgh Castle: Mary Queen of Scots.
Ivor Cutler by Michael Knowles, 1988, in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery. Cutler's 'Life in a Scotch Sitting Room Vol 2' is one of the funniest books I've ever read. Hearing him read it aloud is even better.
To the Scottish National Portrait Gallery!
The Episcopalians may have been a much smaller denomination than the Church of Scotland, but they certainly had plenty of money.
St Joh's Episcopal Church, Edinburgh, seen from the kirkyard of adjacent St Cuthbert's Church of Scotland.
The unexpectedly splendid St John's Episcopal Church, Edinburgh this morning.
It's another lovely morning here in Edinburgh, cold and bright, the setts of the New Town still shiny with last night's rain.
Indeed, you can hardly fail to do so! My hotel is opposite the cathedral so I've been passing it every day.
Edinburgh Episcopal Cathedral, visited this afternoon, is a must-have for #AdoorableThursday.
The lady chapel, Edinburgh Episcopal Cathedral.
Edinburgh Episcopal Cathedral, looking east.
Somewhat confusingly, both Edinburgh's cathedrals are dedicated to St Mary. This is the other one, the Episcopal Cathedral, not hiding its light under a bushel in the West End.
A quick visit to Greyfriars Kirk, not been here for years and its been substantially revamped! Interested to see glass by Marjorie Kemp of Aberdeen, and also I think a window by Herbert Hendrie, although it's uncredited (and wrongly attributed, I think, to its donor). Most is by Ballantyne & Co.
Back to the National Museum of Scotland for another sweep. A wooden model of James VI, c1600. The arms can be moved from behind by levers, so it was probably part of a mechanical display clock, which were popular devices at the time.
St Mary's Catholic Cathedral, Edinburgh, looking east.
First stop of the day this morning in Edinburgh, St Mary's Catholic Cathedral.
'Hame's Best'
A doorway seen in St Michael's Wynd in Linlithgow yesterday for #AdoorableThursday.
A Bishop.
The King.
In the National Museum of Scotland. The Lewis chess pieces, made in Norway c1200 and found on the Isle of Lewis in 1831.
A wider view.
To the National Museum of Scotland, guarded by Greyfriars Bobby, no less.
St Michael, Linlithgow. Glass in St Katherine's chapel by Crear McCartney, 1992
Both palace and church are open all year around, but the hours are shorter in winter.
Linlithgow Palace, the gallery above the Great Hall.
Linlithgow Palace. 'The splendour falls on castle walls...'
To Linlithgow Palace, which I appear to have to myself...