Neglected Edinburgh 
It is this same War Office, 
though, which has but recently 
returned to me a missive di¬ 
rected to a British officer sta¬ 
tioned on a far colonial fron¬ 
tier, whose precise address 
was unknown to me, with a 
curt but informing note to the 
effect that the Secretary of the 
War Office “cannot under¬ 
take to forward the private 
correspondence of officers’’— 
a discourtesy for which 1 must 
confess myself unprepared, 
and one which augurs ill for 
my purchase of the Edin¬ 
burgh bartizan. 
It was precisely at the sally¬ 
port of the castle, which is seen in the centre 
of the esplanade, that I was the solitary civilian 
witness of a scene not, I imagine, common in 
British garrison life. A gentleman of slim 
and soldierly aspect, but in mufti, was 
descending with rapid steps the incline which 
leads upward from the sally-port to the outer 
confines of the castle. A moment after his 
passing the guard house I was aware of an 
QUEEN MARY S BEDROOM 
undue commotion within and presently the 
guard moved out with much parade and a 
brave show of presenting arms to the cir¬ 
cumambient air. On inquiring the cause of 
this phenomenon from a soldier off duty at 
the sally-port, l was informed that the 
gentleman who had just passed out was the 
colonel commanding, and that he had passed 
the guard before they were aware of his 
presence. Their sub¬ 
sequent fate I was un¬ 
able to learn, though 
I had meant to return 
next day and enquire. 
My informant seemed 
to look upon it as a 
contingency unprovi¬ 
ded for in the articles 
of war, and was appar¬ 
ently incapable of spec¬ 
ulation upon the con¬ 
sequence. 
Every foot of the 
highway from the cas¬ 
tle at the top to Holy- 
rood at the bottom is 
pregnant with historic 
interest. Here lay the 
town houses of the 
distinguished men and 
women of Scotland— 
now long since given 
over to the pauper and 
unclean. But the 
names of Netherbow, 
A CORNER OF THE CASTLE FROM ST. CUTHBERT’s CHURCHYARD 
13 
