The ancient settlement that became Edinburgh started on the hill that rises above the city to the north. There is archaeological evidence that it was inhabited as early as 1,000 BC.

The castle itself includes sections nearly 1000 years old. At various times Edinburgh Castle has been in the control of both the Scots and the English and has come close to being totally demolished several times- but it always rises again.

The ancient Honours of Scotland - the crown, scepter and sword of state - are on display in the Crown Room, where they lay hidden in the bottom of a wooden box between 1707 when Scotland fell to the English and 1818 when they were "rediscovered" and yielded up to the crown after the Act of Union.

In 1996 they were joined by the Stone of Destiny (also known as the Stone of Scone), returned as a loan to the Scottish people from the Queen of England, 700 years after the English had taken it and used it as a coronation seat for English monarchs.

The Stone's history goes back even further; it is said to be the stone pillow on which Jacob slept and was moved from Ireland to Scotland in the sixth century AD.

There were magnificent views of the city, the Firth of Forth and the North Sea. Still, Ron thinks it's extremely inconsiderate that castles and forts are always stuck someplace where the tourists have to climb steps and hills to get there.

We stayed at the Castle View Guest House on Castle Street, the house where Kenneth Grahame, author of The Wind in the Willows, was born. The name was not false advertising. This is the view from the breakfast room, where we could get a full Scottish breakfast including haggis and blood pudding and, thankfully, less exotic fare. The fog in the foreground was typical.

This, fortunately, was not the approach we had to take to get to the castle. A few enemies of the Scots probably had to try it, however.

Walking around the base of the castle, one gets a clear sense of its strength. One also develops a respect for those nameless laborers and artisans who carried, shaped and placed these stones. At the bases the outer walls are yards thick.

This entrance is better protected than it might seem. Aside from having had sturdy oak and iron gates, it is inset so that attackers assembled to force those gates would be in a crossfire of lances and arrows from adjoining the archers' ports and walls.

More views of the Firth of Forth and the port of Leith, where the former royal yacht Britannia has been moored, now no longer royal, it is reduced to being used as a tourist attraction.

The castle and defenses were built in many stages. This is an inscription over a gate. Someone tried to chip it out, but the original date was 1450.

A very impressive war memorial to the Scottish Regiments in "The Great War." At left of the entrance is a unicorn and at right, a lion.

Medicine, scholarship, business... and war all seem to come naturally to the people of Scotland.