Rosslyn Chapel

Yesterday we took a bumpy bus ride out of Edinburgh to the tiny village of Roslin to see the chapel.  If you are familiar with the Da Vinci Code, you may remember that Rosslyn Chapel figures prominently in the final sequence when they are attempting to uncover the mysteries of the Holy Grail.  (The chapel and the village are spelled differently.)  Although we are not fans of the book or movie, we did want to see the chapel.  And what a place!

The chapel was built in the 1400s by William St. Clair, a prominent member of the Knights Templar and a Freemason.  We haven't figured out these medieval secret societies but they are connected to many of the legends about the Chapel.  The Chapel itself is not large, maybe twenty five feet across by eighty five feet long, with a very high arched ceiling.  It is all stone walls and stained glass windows, and it seems like every part of the stone inside is carved with some sort of figure.   They don't allow photographs to be taken within the chapel, so here is a link to Wikipedia that shows some of them:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosslyn_Chapel   There are thousands, maybe tens of thousands of carved figures and images into the stone.  These include stars, moon, and the sun; lilies, roses, and other flowers; skeletons, angels, demons, and dozens of other kinds of faces. There are more than 100 images of the Green Man, a carving of a manís head with trees and foliage surrounding his face and growing from his head.  The meaning of the image is unknown but Green Man carvings date from the Middle Ages and are found throughout churches and temples in Europe, the Middle East, Asia Minor, and India; some of the best examples are here. 

With so many mysterious images and the connection to secret societies, legends about the chapel abound.  Among the things that are supposed buried beneath the chapel floor are:  the Holy Grail, wood from the cross, the Ark of Covenant, the treasures of Solomonís temple, information related to the Second Coming, and many others.  All of these legends date back hundreds of years, so Dan Brown did not invent them for The Da Vinci Code.  The bodies of the St Clair family are definitely buried there, so the family will not allow excavation or searches, which of course only adds to the legends.  Here are a few of the interesting legendary tidbits.

The chapel was completed in the 1480s, before Columbus came to America.  Yet there are clear carvings of corn plants, the leaves of a Trillium plant, and an aloe veraóthree plants that are only found in North America.  These lead to legends about the Knights Templar coming to the America in the 14th century, or 100 years before Columbus.  

There are two elaborate pillars at the front of the chapel, referred to the as the Master Pillar and the Apprentice Pillar.  The legend is that the master mason first carved the Master Pillar, an elegant and carefully carved pillar.  He then left for awhile, searching for inspiration for the second pillar.  When he returned, his apprentice had already carved the second pillar.  This one features spirals, dragons, and even more elaborate images than the Master Pillar.  Angered that his apprentice had out-done him, the Master smashed him with his mallet.  The master was then arrested and executed.  In support of this legend, there are three faced carved in the wall facing the pillarsóa young man with his head apparently bashed in, an older weeping woman (the apprenticeís mother), and an older man with a hammer.  The legend was first recorded 300 years after the completion of the chapel, so judge for yourself if you believe it.  

And that is part of the mystery of Rosslyn Chapel.  With so many carved images of different types and so many years of history, it is possible to connect these images to make many different stories and legends.     

Hello Edinburgh

We arrived in Edinburgh yesterday afternoon after a long train ride through northern England.  But the long train ride was worth it for the fabulous view you have as you arrive in Edinburgh by rail via Waverly Train Station.  We had forgotten how dramatic it is to pull in beneath the sheer cliff with Edinburgh Castle above you.  We are returning here after 16 years-- we made this trip in August of 1992, when Alison and Andy were 8 and 11.  We're staying with Deb's Scottish friend, Carol Lenagan, who hosted us back then as well.  In fact, we remember watching the Olympics on the BBC with their family that August, just as we are now.  The Edinburgh Festival is in full swing as well, so the streets are lively, to be sure.

Today we did a walking tour of Edinburgh and immediately noticed some of the differences between walking here and walking in Oxford.  Edinburgh has hills!  We saw a lot of the usual, great sites-- Arthur's seat, the Castle (still one of most impressive castles we have seen), the Palace of Holyrood House where Queen Elizabeth stays when she is in town.  (She isn't here right now.) 

Edinburgh Castle from Princes Street

 We also saw more street performers than you can imagine-- jugglers, acrobats, musicians, plays, etc.  We were handed flyers for many performances since there are literally thousands of events going on right now. 

 Edinburgh Castle Entrance

We did go to a chamber music concert at the Canongate Kirk (Scottish for church).  At our dinner after the concert at a nearby restaurant, who should show up but the musicians!  So our touch for eating next to well-known people continues.  

Arthur's Seat

Rainbows over Oxford

We couldn't resist one final posting from Oxford of a magnificent double rainbow in the sky last night. We took these photos from the landing outside our apartment.

Farewell to Oxford

Our bags are packed and we are waiting for the taxi to help us take our luggage over to the University. We are storing the bulk of our luggage in the lab for the next 8 days while we head to Scotland and Northern England. We'll just have overnight bags and our computers for the final leg of our trip.


Yesterday we ran errands (returned library books!) and picked up last minute souvenirs, ending our afternoon at the Turf Tavern, where the Hodgkin lab members met us for a farewell pint. Philip and Jonathan entertained us with stories from the worm research community over the years-- since both of them have been working in the field since the mid-70's...

Mocha break

Our train for Edinburgh leaves at 7:30am tomorrow morning-- a 6-1/2 hour trip by rail. We'll be staying with our friends Carol and Thomas Lenagan up there for 4 nights, before returning to northern England for several nights, then flying home on August 21st.

We hope to post blog entries while on the road, but as I learned on our trip to Ireland last week-- internet access is not always easy to find.

More soon,
Deb

Isis Tavern

The sun decided to make an appearance in Oxford yesterday-- our last Sunday in Oxford. We enjoyed one last service at Magdalen Road Church, saying goodbye to some folks who had befriended us. We neglected to mention that Andy accompanied Philip there last Sunday, when an American couple said their goodbyes to the church after having spent 3 years here. They had worked with international students while the husband was working on a PhD. Philip and Andy went over to talk with them afterwards and it turned out they had worked with Andy's Calvin College roommate Nathaniel 2 years ago when he attended Oxford during a semester abroad... it is a small world!

We took a little time to walk along the Thames to the Isis Tavern for Sunday lunch one last time. It's hard to believe our time here in coming to a close.

Isis Tavern along Thames
(only accessible by boat, bicycle, or on foot)

Narrowboat out for a Sunday ride

--Deb

Shakespeare at the Castle

With the reunion of the blogging duo, we can go back and fill in the remainder of Phil and Andy’s time in Oxford, while Deb was in Ireland (Thanks to Andy for posting some blogs by logging on as Deb.)

After the London in a Day tour on Monday, Tuesday was as rainy as it has been here all summer, other than the infamous Blenheim downpour. We managed to make it to the Ashmolean Museum and to find a nearby street where Tolkien lived, but mostly we found shelter from the rain. This made us nervous because we had theatre tickets for that evening—an outdoor performance of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing—and we did not want it to be rescheduled.


The play was at Oxford Castle. We have not written before about the castle, mostly because there is not much to say. It is a small castle, recently restored, but of little historical significance. The play was in its open courtyard. We arrived early and waited (in the coffee shop, of course) as the rain came down in buckets. Finally, they announced that the play would go on, with a brief delay to mop the stage. The rain stopped, or at least slowed to a mist, and about 100 people including us enjoyed a great performance in a fantastic setting. We were in the cheap seats, but still less than 40 feet from the stage and elevated enough to see over the umbrellas in the front row. The play is a comedy which, for Shakespeare, means broad and sometimes bawdy. It had all the elements of classic slapstick, with people hiding in bushes, tripping over things, getting water dumped on them, mangling the language, and so on. (It did include the unintended comedic suspense when an actor was nearly unable to strike a match because of the rain.) We were waiting for Moe, Larry and Curly to make an appearance. Great performance, great setting, and the rain subsided long enough to let us enjoy it.

With nicer weather on Wednesday, we visited the Botanical Gardens and squeezed in visits to several more colleges.

Andy wearing his coffee t-shirt standing
next to the coffee tree at the Botanical Garden
(double-click picture to read caption on his shirt)

We also had a classic pub evening, when we went for a pint at “our local”, a pub called the Fir Tree at the end of our road. (Contrary to what you may think, we don’t go to the pub that often.) The Fir Tree was celebrating the opening of a new and nice outdoor patio, and in the course of events, we ended up in a spirited discussion of classic rock music (and other things) with some other patrons. This discussion included the profound insight that, “ah, there will always be nutters”. (A “nutter” is what we would call a nut.) Andy left on Thursday, having gotten the full Oxford experience and a new catchphrase.
--Philip