The two major cities of the Lowlands are Glasgow and Edinburgh (the capital of Scotland) - less than 50 miles apart in terms of travel, but a world apart in terms of their industry and architecture. Edinburgh is one of Europe's most beautiful capitals. It is built upon hills in a superb natural setting, overlooked by a mountain-in-miniature. Edinburgh, named after Edwin, a 7th-century king of Northumbria - has been a Royal Burgth since at least the 12th century, and recognized as the capital of Scotland since the 15th.  Its natural situation and classical architecture grained it the title "Athens of the North". Built mostly of an attractive sandstone, in a dramatic setting of firth, sea and rolling hills, its unique character has made it one of the most fascinating cities in the world.

Mendelssohn acknowledged its natural beauty as a source of inspiration; Chesterton wrote of its streets as seeming to "rush downhill like rivers in spate"; and Oliver Wendell Holmes paid tribute to its "incomparable loveliness". A native son, Sir Walter Scott, wrote lovingly of "mine own romantic town". The city is important largely as an intellectual centre. It has one of the oldest universities in Europe - the University of Edinburgh Castle. It is situated on the rock 440 feet high. It is a volcanic rock with steep cliff walls. The strategic location must have had a magical attraction for the builders af the castle. The possession of this rock must have been regraded as a kind of status symbol, and this would explain why the Scottish kings were so attached to it, and why the English repeatedly attempted to grain control of the castle and rock.