Scottish Art - Paintings of Scotland:
Ancient Edinburgh Castle
by D. Bruce Bennett
Edwin's Burgh, Castle Rock
Dim. Hazy, Lonely. It’s how Bruce thinks Edinburgh Castle Rock might’ve looked as Din Eidyn (fortress-on-a-hill) in the seventh century. Do you have scholarly knowledge of ancient Edinburgh? Warning: you may not get through this next bit unless you can set aside what you know about ancient Edinburgh. It may not fit with Bruce’s romantic-artist rendition – or maybe it will?
(Click for larger view of Edwin's Burgh, Castle Rock.)
Historian or no, if you’ve visited Edinburgh Castle, you’ve seen first-hand evidence of why the Angles of Northumbria, during their 638 A.D. invasion, cherry-picked Din Eidyn for their own use. That fort’s remains – and the current castle fort – sit atop a basalt rock outcropping rising up 437 feet.
When the Angles arrived, long after the Romans had left, there was a loch at the north base of the rock – yet another way of keeping out undesirables. FYI: that area (Nor’ Loch) came to be used as an open sewer, was drained during the Georgian era, and is now covered by what we know as “New Town.”
The Angles soon anglicized Din Eidyn (big surprise), calling it Edwin’s Burgh, which eventually morphed into Edinburgh. Not until Queen Margaret’s well-known influence in the eleventh century, were any structures built on Castle Rock that remain today. Her chapel is touted as the oldest structure within the castle grounds, while Edinburgh palace dates only from the nineteenth century.
Since we have no idea how Castle Rock looked during the seventh century, Bruce has felt free to paint it quite isolated, with a very dim, hazy morning sun over a vague palace profile. It’s suitable lighting for portraying the area in these Dark Ages, before the Medieval town sprang up along the volcanic ridge and became what we call the Royal Mile.
Morning sun from the upper right casts a warm yellow-pink glow above Castle Rock and fades to a cooler purple-pink in the lower left of this Scottish art. Though this version of Edwin's Burgh has sold, you can commission another. If a room in your home includes warm and cool pinks, you can simply ask for a re-make. If not, ask for the colors you'd rather have.
(Check our color print of Edinburgh Castle, too. Today's castle's foggy guard tower lights show through thick fog, giving a very different feel and look to this most famous of Scotland's castles.)
Edwin's Burgh, Castle Rock Picture of Scotland
Medium: acrylic on hardboard
Image Dimensions: 16" w. x 12" h.
Mat: none
Glass: none
Frame: none
(This painting of ancient Edinburgh Castle WAS DONATED in July, 2007, for a charity auction, but you could commission something similar.)
Please note that all Paintings of Scotland (and Paintings of England, too) on this site are the original artwork of U.S. artist, D. Bruce Bennett. United States customers pay no U.K. exchange rate, no customs duty tax, and no international mailing costs. All we have to add to the very reasonable price of our Scottish Art is plain old U.S. postage (and state tax for Colorado residents).
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