Edinburgh Castle as seen from The Vennel is a brooding view which makes it all to easy to imagine dark and damp dungeons where prisoners were tortured. In the 17th century the castle became infamous for torturing the Covenanters who opposed the belief of Divine Right of the monarch.
Torture was first abandoned in England in about 1640 and it was written into the Bill of Rights in 1689 that "cruel and unusual punishment" should be forbidden. Scotland, however, did not finally abolish torture until 1708, leaving open the possibility of transferring prisoners from the Tower of London to Edinburgh Castle in an early example of extraordinary rendition, that is the transfer of a person from one state to another, without legal proceedings, to take advantage of harsher interrogation techniques.
James II of England (James VII of Scotland) had one William Spence taken to Scotland where he could legally be tortured. Because he was thought to have information on a plot against the King, he was thrown into the dungeons carved into the volcanic rock deep beneath Edinburgh Castle. He stayed there nine days.
In spite of the rather morbid train of thought that I've conjured up, it's a card I like. I bought it in the early 1980s.
E is for Edinburgh Castle. A post for ABC Wednesday.
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I've always wanted to check Edinburgh out, hopefully one day. Nice photo, I like the perspective on it :)
ReplyDeleteWe've been delving into the history of John Wycliffe (and I've always been a student of British and Scottish history), so your post is quite relevant to our study. Great information!
ReplyDeleteWhen I lived in Edinburgh I was once waiting for a bus in Princess Street when an American couple, tourists, came by, stopped and looked up at the Castle. Then the lady said to her husband "Gee - is that the Castle ?". True story. The locals in the bus queue were in stitches.
ReplyDeleteI had lots of great photos of Edinburgh (despite the rain), but lost them all in a fight with my computer. So, I will have to visit again...
ReplyDeleteA beautiful castle, if not a perfect history. Then again, few castles have.
ReplyDeleteWow, I did not know the history behind this. Thanks for sharing. ~
ReplyDeleteWhat a coincidence! Yesterday I read something about this impressive castle steeped in history. Torture however is still the common practice. We all know the horrific stories about the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq (also known as Baghdad Correctional Facility)which came to public attention.
ReplyDeleteWe all live in countries that were guilty of torture in any war we were involved in.
Nearly all castles have grisly histories, do they not? They were garrisons in many wars and prisoners did suffer 'cruel and unusual punishments' more often than not, I think.
ReplyDeleteI've never been to Edinburgh, but I should go, since my ancestors come from there.
On behalf of the team, thanks for taking part in ABC Wednesday this week! :)
Hi Sheila,
ReplyDeleteI have just made the most delicious scotch eggs ever! I had some biryani rice delivered today, proper authentic stuff which I cooked with some chopped boiled eggs, awesome, anyway there was some left so I mixed it with some sausagemeat and wrapped round some of our own hen's eggs! I coated them in flour, egg & breadcrumbs (shop bought type) and cooked in the oven rather than fry! AWESOME!
Beautiful castle and I wanna go there:-)
ReplyDeleteEdinburgh always had such a turbulent past, but I think that's why it fascinates us.
ReplyDeleteA great picture and I remember that summer day, it was the only one we had in 1957!
ReplyDeleteInteresting and informational post!
ReplyDeleteAn EARLY version of EXTRAORDINARY rendition. Good to be reminded that miscarriage of justice by the state is not new.
ReplyDelete-Ramblin with Roger
I did some studies in Edinburgh 15 year ago it was fun to see it again.
ReplyDeleteMB
Nice bit of history!
ReplyDeleteNice blog with postcards. This from Edinburgh Castle is nice but the history is not as nice.
ReplyDeleteHave a great weekend/
Ulla & Brian Sweden
Thank you all for your comments. Those of you who want to visit, really must! Just choose a sunny day - ask Adullamite for a forecast! :)
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