Far from the Madding Crowd

Just when the centre of Edinburgh is a maelstrom of humanity: tourists slung with cameras, stravaiging hither and thither, harassed travellers pulling bulging cases behind them, pipers at every street corner perfecting their grace notes in yet another rendition of Highland Cathedral, and shoals of new graduates in coloured hoods trailing proud parents dressed in their Sunday best, this mother has found an oasis of calm in Princes Street Gardens away from the madding crowd.