7 June 2019:
Edinburgh (Leith), Scotland:
The Athens of the North

By Corey Sandler

We have sailed back across the North Sea to the glorious city of Edinburgh, Scotland.

Welcome to a famous city, the capital of Scotland, a place that is among the more commonly mispronounced locations in the world.

Resist the urge to call it Edin-BURG.

In Scotland and Northern England, starting from King David I in the 12th century, significant communities were awarded the status of a Royal Burgh, never mind the spelling.

Elsewhere there are places that spell the word in the Scottish sense but pronounce it in the Germanic style. Like Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania, and Lansingburgh in upstate New York.

It is the equivalent of the word borough, which is in use in many places around the world, and the spelling of that word includes one of those magically invisible “O-U-G-H” vowel-like sounds.

Places like downstate New York, where New York City is made up of five boroughs, which is different from the remainder of the state which is divided into counties.

If you really want to sound as if you are either very, very knowledgeable—or extremely out of touch—you can try one of the old nicknames for Edinburgh:

“Auld Reekie”, meaning Old Smoky,

Or “Edina”, the source of the first part of the city’s name, before it became a burgh.

Or this one: “The Athens of the North”, s nod to the many classical designs for grand buildings.

We went for a long walk in the morning sun. Here is some of what we saw today:

The Castle on the hill
The memorials to the explorer David Lingstone (born about 35 miles west of Edinburgh, and celebrated throughout the United Kingdom), and in the background that of author Sir Walter Scott.
All photos by Corey Sandler, copyright 2019. All rights reserved.

More Photos of Edinburgh from Previous Visits

The Castle

All photos and text Copyright 2019 by Corey Sandler, all rights reserved. See more photos on my website at http://www.coreysandler.com

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE ANY PHOTO OR AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS, PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

————-

Now available, the revised Second Edition of “Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession” by Corey Sandler, for the Amazon Kindle. You can read the book on a Kindle device, or in a Kindle App on your computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

Here’s where to order an electronic copy for immediate delivery:

Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession: The Tragic Legacy of the New World’s Least Understood Explorer (Kindle Edition)