Introduction
EDINBURGH is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. For the visitor it has a many-sided appeal. To the attractions of its aspect, the beauty of which comes partly from its architecture and partly from its picturesque site and setting, is added an indefinable glamour of romance.
As the Capital of Scotland, it is intimately associated with the history of the country. Its closes and wynds, its famous personages, the struggles and the feuds of which it has been the scene in successive ages, have been made familiar to the world in the imaginative writings of Scottish poets and romancers.
At the same time, it is a modern, thoroughly up-to-date city. No finer shops are to be seen anywhere than those on its principal thoroughfares. It is notable for the purity of its air and its bracing climate.
Its variety is extraordinary. From the street claimed by its citizens as the finest in the world - offering a promenade close on a mile long - the visitor is confronted on the one hand by handsome modern business premises; turning his gaze southwards, he is at once linked up with the romantic past.
The Castle, on its majestic rock, is the same fortress, which has seen some of the most stirring events in Scottish history.
The ridge which slopes down from the Castle Esplanade carries the high tenements which once were one of the wonders of the world in city architecture, within whose very walls some centuries ago the Scottish nobility had their homes.
There is no sense of incongruity in the mingling in Edinburgh of the modern and ancient. The city has evolved by a gradual process, and has never lost its character. There is a subtle harmony in the form and colouring of its architecture, blending new and old.
Historically a city of culture and education, of art and letters, of law and finance, Edinburgh keeps its footing in the modern world of business and technology.
But its industries form part of a well - balanced unity. On its northern boundaries, where it touches the Firth of Forth, the old - world fishing harbour of Newhaven separates the busy ports of Granton and Leith.
