Craigmillar castle

Such is his Lordship's and my propensity for being unable to relax totally, that we found ourselves driving through early stygian gloom and dense curtains of rain to fight as we thought, for some New Year shopping and beat the frenzy of last week in the shop of our favourite saint.

However, not only were the crowds missing, but so were the Christmassy morsels which we had earmarked for feeding to our guests on New Year's day.
I guess early birds doesn't always get the worm even if Three Two of Them Go A-Calling on this Third Day of Christmas.

While wasting time until the witching hour of 10am for his Lordship to buy the all important liquid refreshment for Hogmanay, we drove past the partially ruined Craigmillar castle.

This was built in the early 15th century as a tower house for the Preston family on a rise of ground some 3 miles SE of Edinburgh on the outskirts of the suburb of Craigmillar.

It is famous for having accommodated Mary Queen of Scots on several occasions, most notably after the murder in 1566 of her Italian secretary Davide Rizzio in Holyrood Palace, and it was where the plan to murder her husband Lord Darnley was hatched.
Today, the Great Hall is used as a wedding venue and can accommodate 60 people.

With the all important alcohol cellared safely, I'm going to spend the afternoon in quiet contemplation with a book and watch the rain showers on the other side of the glass soaking the pedestrians as they pass like lemmings into the city centre to fight for their bargains in the sales.