THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
Parliament Square, Edinburgh - one of the sights on the 'Editburgh' spoof tour
On this hour-plus-long walking tour of Edinburgh’s Old Town, I had the distinct pleasure of being in on the joke. Our guide, town planner and dry wit, Angus Dodds, divulged that his mission for the tour was to poke fun at the over-earnest and sometimes boring historical walking tours that abound in the area. A mannerly and poised fellow, leaning on a solid umbrella like it was a dandy’s cane, Angus certainly appeared and sounded like a learned scholar, so it took some time toddling after him to evolve from serious listening to mild guffawing to outright hilarity. By the end of the tour, everything he said was side-splitting.
As for the substance of the tour, and without giving away too much of the fun, we discovered the nature of the “Scottish Experience”, that William Wallace was not accurately represented in “Braveheart”, that there is good reason why unicorns are a symbol of Scotland, and that bagpipers never pipe down (when asked to by a tour guide). I have one nagging worry about how many nosy passersby are now gossiping about the deadly and salacious history of Cockburn Street.
For any who enjoy a good parody and a bit of walking, I highly recommend this entertaining excursion. Our group was good humored, and I jealously suspected that there were even more inside jokes for the town planners of the group! At the end, I noticed that most of the walkers stayed on to compliment Angus, a good sign indeed.
