Edinburgh's Writers' Museum-July 25

On my last day in Edinburgh, we visited Edinburgh's Writers' Museum honoring favorite sons Robert Burns, Sir Walter Scott, and Robert Louis Stevenson. Located in historic Lady Stair's House, this building was gifted by the 5th Earl of Rosebury to the city of Edinburgh in 1907. Although tiny, the Writers' Museum groans with cool stuff: Burns' sword stick and writing desk, Scott's chess set and printing press which printed his Waverly novels, and Stevenson's fishing rod, pipe and riding boots he wore while living in Samoa.

The picture above is from London Libby's blog (thanks Libby). We happy librarians are waiting early morn outside the Writers' Museum. Prof. Wright is front row left in purple and Prof. Welsh is front row right with the purple scarf. I'm in the back (I'm the only one with a mustache). We are standing in the Museum Makars' Court ("Makar" is Scots for poet or author skilled in the craft of writing). Stone slabs in the ground are inscribed with pithy quotes from Scottish authors. My favorite quotes are John Buchan, 1875-1940, "We can only pay our debt to the past

by putting the future in debt to us" and Neil Gunn, 1891-1973, "Knowledge is high in the head but the salmon of wisdom swims deep."

After the Writers' Museum, we met for a late morning coffee at the Elephant House where J.K. Rowling got her inspiration for Harry Potter. The writer's Muse struck us all in mid-slurp and we immediately began next year's bestsellers (picture below, thanks again Libby). My bestseller will, of course, be a manly bestseller with lots of blood and severed limbs. The ladies are doing teddy bears and talking ponies. At this point, I left the ladies for the Edinburgh train station to begin my journey to Hadrian's Wall.