In St. Giles, the guide, in hushed tones, told the story of "Jenny Geddes" who hurled her stool at the bishop, starting a riot—and a 50-year religious struggle. Nearby was the Tolbooth where some of the rioters were jailed. That was in 1638.

The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland (Presbyterian) opened with great pomp and ceremony on the day of our arrival. It was a reminder of the famous Assembly of 1638, though that was at Glasgow, and Reverend John Houston of the parish of Wardlaw was among the delegates.

Side by side with the old city of Edinburgh is the newer city, the glory of which is Princes Street, with its smart stores, restful teashops, its Woolworth’s and impressive row of banking institutions. The old and the new are tied together by a series of bridges, parks and formal gardens, blending the ancient and the modern in a marvelous way to make one of the more beautiful capital cities of the world.

One of the lovely features of Princes Street in the morning hours is the parade of shopping mothers with their beautiful balms. Nowhere else in the world do parents take so much pride in their children as in Scotland and nowhere else are the children so beautiful, so well dressed and so blooming with health. Mothers wheel their babies in handsome perambulators, tucked about with soft blankets and dressed in lacy frills. No wonder the wee ones seem happy and contented, seldom fretting. The older children show the same care and are blessed with most beautiful complexions. Pink cheeks are a badge of the Scots which cannot be explained altogether by the climate. Here, too, red hair is in its top glory, possibly inherited from the ancient Caledonians who filled even the bold Romans with fear.

As we travelled over Scotland, through the Lowlands, to Inverness-shire where Reverend Thomas Houston ministered, into the Highlands, back to the ancient city of Perth, we found the people much the same in appearance and personality. The old regional enmity seem fully healed. The kilts, the plaids and tartans of the Highlands are in evidence in the Lowlands as well. Young Scots dance the Highland fling and march with the bagpipes in Inverness folk festivals and all come down to Edinburgh for the great festival in August.