Up to Calton Hill with Robert Louis Stevenson !
Calton Hill stairs 2007
The east of new Edinburgh is guarded by a craggy hill, of no great elevation which the town embraces (…)You mount by stairs in a cutting of the rock to find yourself in a field of monuments. (Robert Louis Stevenson – Edinburgh Picturesque Notes - 1878 )
I’m coming Janice ! Didn’t you say Calton Hill was 333 feet high ? that’s about 100 metres and there is a staircase to begin with, a family walk actually and worth the effort if the weather is fine. We’ll have to climb a little more than that if we want to get to the top of Arthur’s Seat. The famous volcanic rock which dominates the city is 823 feet high, that is about 251 m (who said I was bad in mathematics !) … not a Munro anyway nor even a Corbett[1] … but up Calton Hill for now…
R.L.Stevenson "Edinburgh Picturesque Notes" illustration
I’ve taken with me my old illustrated edition of Edinburgh Picturesque Notes. No better guide to visit the place than Stevenson. Born in Edinburgh in 1850, he knew pretty well his native town. Some of the Calton monuments must have been quite new at the time he used to walk up there to see the town from above. Let us see what he wrote about the place … Oups ! mind the step !
Calton Hill Nelson Monument 2007
What’s that ? A big tower has just emerged in front of me which looks like a lighthouse. If we hadn’t seen what kind of construction Stevenson’s family has built all along the Scottish coast I would have wondered why Stevenson did not use himself such a comparison to describe Nelson Monument instead of comparing it to a telescope or a butterchurn ! This monument seems to have been built to celebrate Nelson’s victory against Napoleon , at Trafalgar in 1805. But let us go ahead, there seems to be other monuments in the area!
Calton Hill Commemorative & Nelson Monuments 2007
All these [monuments] are scattered on a green turf, browsed over by some sheep…
No more sheep today but many people resting on the grass or strolling around the place. The weather is fine. The melancholy accents of a violin are rising in the air together with the more cheerful notes of a guitar… Oh ! here’s Janice, sitting in front of that monument which looks like the Greek Parthenon. No wonder Edinburgh has often been called “The Athens of the North”. Hi, Janice ! could you tell us more about that place ?
[1] Munro : 3000 feet (914 m) – Corbett : between 2500 feet and 3000 feet (between 762 m and 914 m)
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