From the Highlands to the Lowlands

We left Inverness about 8 a.m. this morning headed south for Edinburgh. I began to notice road signs pointing to Elgin. This was the birth place of the late New Testament scholar, F. F. Bruce (1910-1990). He taught at Edinburgh, Leeds, Sheffield, and closed his academic career as Rylands Professor of Biblical Criticism and Exegesis at the University of Manchester. I have been greatly helped by the writings of Bruce, and was delighted to have the opportunity to meet him at a professional meeting in 1975. He was very gracious to an insignificant young teacher, and I have since appreciated that meeting.

Elgin, Scotland, has a nice web page with a list of Famous Children. Alexander Graham Bell is listed among the famous from Elgin. (Poor guy never had to drive in front of a teenage girl with a cell (mobile  here) phone to her ear!). But F. F. Bruce, author of more than 30 books, is not listed among the Famous Children. Perhaps that will be corrected.

By the time we reached the area around Balmoral, summer residence of Queen Elizabeth and the Royal Family, the weather was very cold and windy. About the time we stopped at a ski lift snow flakes began to fall. The workers in the restaurant said it was the first snow of the season. Here is a photo I took. What appears to be white strips are actually snow flakes that were falling close to the camera.

Because the Queen is at Balmoral we were not permitted to visit the estate. We did visit the Presbyterian church where the Queen, head of the Church of England, attends when she is in Scotland. Not enough time to tell you about this. If you saw The Queen, staring Helen Mirren, you saw scenes typical of this region. Here is a photo of our coach coming over a one lane bridge.

Heather is in abundance on the hills of the Highlands. Here is a close up.

After lunch in Braemor we continued to St. Andrews, famous to all golfers as the birthplace of golf. We made a group photo here. The 18th hole is to the left.

St. Andrews is home to one of the oldest universities. One of the blogs I read regularly is PaleoJudaica, a weblog by Jim Davila of St. Andrews University. St. Andrews has an important place in the Reformation Movement. John Knox preached here. At least four leaders of the Reformation, including Patrick Hamilton and George Wishart, were martyred in St. Andrews. I suspect that not many people who visit the Old Course know that the monument on the hill overlooking the course is a Martyrs Monument.

This golfer was having a little problem with the rough. That’s the North Sea in the distance. We had sun most of the time while here, but the wind was high and cold.

We arrived in Edinburgh by 6:30 p.m. after an eventful day of beautiful scenery and unusual weather.