feather in your cap sir

it's holyrood week here in edinburgh, and today was garden party day - which usually means rain pouring from the heavens like there's no tomorrow. it was forecast, but failed to materialise; the hats and fascinators (and feathers) not be going home limp for once.

these chaps pictured, just outside the gates of the palace of holyroodhouse (to give the place its sunday name), are part of the royal company of archers , the queen's official bodyguard in scotland. not sure you could defend the monarch against rabid sucide bombers or rabid nationalists with just a longbow, but they do look good ;-) i like traditions and customs and wotnot - part of the reason i went to st andrews university was the way it repects and recalls its history.

and i'm a bit of a monarchist to be honest - though that opinion may well change when we get a new bottom on the throne! the queen is great, i have the utmost respect for a woman who have devoted her entire adult life to serving her subjects. yeah, she gets posh frocks and fancy houses, but she also has to attend hundreds of engagements a year (travelling thousands of miles to do so) and be interested in meeting every single person that shakes her hand as well as putting up with objectionable politicians - i think she earns her keep. i know someone who disagrees (he spent half an hour disgreeing with me vehemently via email this afternoon), but this my blog page and therefore my opinion is sacrosanct ;-)