Blowing a Gale

The weather report promised a welcome break from the rain, with some sunshine and high winds. Spot on!

This morning we visited St Giles cathedral. The lady who led the free tour gave us way too much information about John Knox, the Reformation, Mary Queen of Scots, the Marquis of Montrose, the Restoration and Knights of the Thistle. I gleaned three useful pieces of trivia:

- St Giles is usually depicted with an arrow sticking out of his hand and his pet deer

- John Knox is responsible for ordering the removal of the stained glass and is honoured there in ... stained glass

- A woman was so disgusted with the English Book of Common Prayer that she threw a three-legged stool at the preacher. She is honoured with a bronze stool.

Lyn and I left early, with the guide still grappling with the 18th Century, because we had to catch a boat at Queensferry. This was the Maid of the Forth. 

We sailed under the three bridges which cross the Firth of Forth. Each bridge was built in a different century. The middle one is a dud.

As we moved further downstream the wind turned into a gale. The boat was struggling with the conditions but we reached Inchcolme Island safely. 

What a place this is -  but the wind was now a howling gale funneling down the Firth. In the open we struggled to move in a straight line so were all relieved to reach the shelter of the 12th century Augustinian abbey. Exploring was great fun.

Inchcolme Island and the surrounding islets are home to vast colonies of seabirds, and the odd gnome.

Apart from the wildlife and the abbey, the island has a complex of WWI and WWII fortifications around its summit, with quite the views.

After an action-packed couple of hours on the island the Maid returned. Our adventures had only just begun. The Firth of Forth had by this time been whipped into quite a frenzy. The bow dipped into waves which sprayed over our windows and onto the uncovered observation deck above us. The best part of this experience was a baby that kept bursting into delighted baby cackles every time the Maid did her U-boat impression. Eventually we reached shelter. The whole experience had been spectacular. 

Lyn found a local double-decker bus to take us sedately home.