49. Remembering Lochinvar

@Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland.

It was a privilege to be at the birthplace of the famous Scottish historical novelist, playwright, and poet, Sir Walter Scott, the author of great works such as Ivanhoe, Rob Roy, The Lady of the Lake, The Heart of Midlothian, Waverley and The Bride of Lammermoor. But what attracted me the most was the wonderful story of “young Lochinvar”, excerpted from Canto V of the poem ‘Marmion’. Walter Scott’s Lochinvar was the symbol of adventures, second only two Tennyson’s Ulysses who could not rest from travel; his journeys which always attracted him towards adventure and even the old age couldn’t stop him. But Lochinvar is more of a man of chivalry and unmatched courage along with love beyond horizons, as mentioned by the poet, “So faithful in love, and so dauntless in war”. The man who crossed the Eske river with no Ford; the knight who rode all unarmed and alone to reach his lover Ellen who was to be forcefully married to “A laggard in love, and a dastard in war” by her parents, finally escaped his lover. His novels like Ivanhoe and Rob Roy also created an interest these type of things even as they depicted the social conditions of that time in England and Scotland. It was due to this man that Edinburgh became so important from that literature point of view for me; it was also a city of long history and therefore it also evoked interest from that side.

I would start with the Scott Monument, a Victorian Gothic monument to the same Scottish author, located so much near the railway station which was another place to visit even if there was no reason for it, and train watching wasn’t on the list. I had never seen a better railway station even as it was complicated for me just looking at it; I felt as if having an outdated brain at that moment which would make it appropriate to come back to the monument to Sir Walter Scott. From a distance, it looked like an undead rocket ship which transported monsters into outer space for their further development into aliens, or may be the fallen angels from heavens are banished to another dimension in this space ship fuelled by the elements beyond the science of planet Earth. That would sound strange, but that was the closest to what it looked like for me at the first sight. But I wouldn’t deny that the beauty of that monument struck me more than anything else in the city; it was so special that I had to sound too strange to describe it. The monument is still a wonderful Gothic structure which has so much of detailed architecture at each level. It was only due to the lack of time that I couldn’t do a closer examination; nothing else can stop someone from being so near it and experience the feeling.

Then there was the Edinburgh Castle, a fortress which reminded me of Age of Empires II: The Conquerers. It was the closest I could get to the game in a non-religious manner as finding the similarities to worship places was further easier just as the wonders shown in the game. I wouldn’t consider it the perfect sample of the game, but it was surely the best of it’s kind I had seen anywhere in the world. Right from its appearance on the coat of arms of the city of Edinburgh, it came alive as I saw it in real, first dominating the skyline of the city and later being a perfect defensive structure which I wished to be the defender of my soul against everything which stands opposite to truth and righteousness, as it looked stronger than the strongest thing of defense which did enlighten my eyes with a view. As one of the most important fortresses in Scotland, Edinburgh Castle was part of many historical conflicts, mostly related to the Wars of Scottish Independence and those consistent conflicts between the kingdoms of Scotland and England. It had it’s role to play in the long history of the island most of the time. It is not just a castle; it is a symbol of many things, and for me it is the symbol of righteous defence which stretches beyond this dimension and reaches that point of perpetual reality.

St Giles’ Cathedral a.k.a the High Kirk of Edinburgh was next; or the first one to be added to list considering the importance of visiting another different church. This beautiful cathedral is dedicated to Saint Giles, the patron saint of Edinburgh as well as of cripples and lepers, outcasts and the poor; with countless churches and monasteries dedicated to him all around Europe also supported by various tales about him during the Middle Ages. It has one of the best crown steeples and beautiful stained glasses and strong pillars which seems to show the power of faith and belief. There are some corners of the church building which were so beautiful that paying to take photos was not that bad a thing; there was no fee for entrance though. There were so many visitors for sure; considering the fact that this church is smaller than what was seen in Liverpool, York and the other popular structures of England which would stun people, it was once again proven that size doesn’t really matter. But that should only be partially true as it was proven on many occasions on the long run; still by considering smaller periods of time for an evalutaion, it can be proven the way it is expected to. There is always the tampering to prove oneself right and every critic will try to do the same as long as he or she is bound to that title; but there is no denying the beauty of this church.

St Mary’s Metropolitan Cathedral is the major Roman Catholic Church and there were so many buildings which looked like churches all around the area and it was surprising to see that most of them didn’t even come a little close to the sanctity which one would associate with a church building. But being in a historic city has its own hallowed experience which it carries in it’s soul. Walking through the stone-paved roads and between those buildings with many legends which still fly with the wind and also a few others which lay forgotten. There is magnificience which breathes life into the tourist as long as he or she is not attacked by a one-sided mentality which is usually placed by some of those selfish people who always thinks about the profit side of every action; this way of thinking always results in the ignorance of art and literature and makes Humanities an unimportant division in the eyes of those hypocrites who relate themselves to modernity with their spoon-fed collection of scientific theories which are of no value to a world which is to be destroyed by the same field. They are the ones who try to degrade the best forms of arts and make themselves the clear abominations in front of all forms of righteousness. They might not enjoy the place, as this is a marvellous city and to view it from a point of selfish materialistic barbarian hidden in the visage of that vanity called science, is pure blunder.

To add to it, there is always that case of pure evil which is inherent on the undead, as seen in most of those zombie movies; their aim is just to satisfy the hunger or thirst, or whatever they have for human flesh and blood. The same has happened to humanity even before turning into the blood sucking creatures of the night who rises from the grave. If we add a little more nonsense to it along with kid’s stuff which is not suitable for children and the also every available thing which is so senseless that the whole genre is affected, we could even call their life part of Twilight series. There is so much hidden radical behaviour and sucking goodness out of others, which is so common about these people who run around with that kind of selfishness which would make the toughest cavemen cry and Count Dracula would commit suicide for eternity. There is no wonder about the fact that Dracula has lost his fame; we have these people who can suck the happiness and beauty out of the lives of people, and I would be astonished if I find the old vampire surviving in this situation of fake people living in their fake worlds creating a kind of poison in the atmosphere which is very unlike the world of conscience which the Count lived in. Where is the sense in these pathetic people to enjoy the beauty of this historic city? There is no good that they do for this world of history which lives in almost every building of Edinburgh and I hope they don’t have a chance to make this great place less important.

Diving out —>

TeNy

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