No Stars So Lovely: Edinburgh’s Magic and Mystery

From Arthur Conan Doyle to JK Rowling, from Sherlock Holmes to Harry Potter, Edinburgh has inspired a plethora of literary masters and their creations.

A feature article by an Alumbo member, Mar 30, 2008

Summary:
From Arthur Conan Doyle to JK Rowling, from Sherlock Holmes to Harry Potter, Edinburgh has inspired a plethora of literary masters and their creations. And when visiting the Scottish capital, it’s easy to see what inspires such mystery and magic.

In Edinburgh’s Elephant House Café in the early 1990s, JK Rowling sat sipping an espresso, jotting down notes on napkins, shaping the characters and ideas that would resolve into one of the most well-known and best-loved stories of all time.

On the east wall of Edinburgh University’s Medical School, a plaque commemorates Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes, and another of the world’s favourite literary heroes.

In Edinburgh’s Makar’s Court, outside the Writer’s Museum, twelve plaques commemorate the greatest Scottish authors and poets. One plaque, dedicated to the memory of Robert Louis Stevenson, creator of the haunting tale of ‘Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’, quotes the author: “There are no stars so lovely as Edinburgh street-lamps”.

This metaphor of stars and street-lamps reflects Edinburgh’s charming blend of the real and the magical. Like Harry Potter’s world of witchcraft and wizardry, offset against the ordinary muggle; or Jekyll and his haunting alter ego Mr Hyde; or Holmes’s search for logical answers in a world of mystery, Edinburgh is the meeting place of the natural…and the super.

From its rugged setting embraced by the Scottish hills and the Lothian coastline, to its bustling 21st century city life; from the medieval streets and ancient castle of Edinburgh’s Old Town, to the neo-classical style of the New Town, Edinburgh’s architecture embodies this tradition of duality; a theme that continues in the city’s many world-famous attractions.

Magic & mystery take to the streets each year in the form of the Edinburgh Fringe, the biggest and most famous arts festival in the world, where performers from across the world come to share their otherworldly talents and acts. Comparably, the traditional & elegant can be seen through the Edinburgh International Festival, which includes a programme of high-profile productions and musical performances from some of the world’s top international theatre companies and orchestras.

During the Edinburgh Military Tattoo, armed forces from the far reaches of the Commonwealth come together to perform musical numbers both historical and mystical, while the Edinburgh International Film Festival sees some of the coolest characters from modern cinema hitting the capital.

Edinburgh is also home to a host of museums and art galleries offering pieces dating from medieval times to present day Modern Art, from Possin through to Picasso and Matisse to Damien Hirst. There are also fantastic restaurants, and after you’ve spent some of the night under the street-lamp stars of Edinburgh’s winding roads, there are a number of great hotels in Edinburgh where weary travellers can rest.

So if you want to be broom-swept away to a city that maintains an air of magic and mystery, even in the 21st century, Edinburgh is the only place to go.

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