Published in Scotland Magazine Issue 22 on 10/08/2005.

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Chance to be a king at the castle

Special private events at Edinburgh Castle are highly popular. Sue Lawrence went to find out what was on offer

On November 24, 1440, a ‘Black Dinner’ took place in Edinburgh Castle in the presence of King James II, then aged 10 years old.

A young rival for power, the Earl of Black Douglas, was also invited to dine and at the close of dinner a black bull’s head was placed in front of the Earl – a symbol representing death. He was then tried for treason, taken to the Castle Esplanade and beheaded.

One hundred and twenty six years later when Mary Queen of Scots gave birth to a boy, later James VI in the castle, I imagine there was more of a celebratory banquet than a portentous black dinner.

But nowadays, no-one dining at Edinburgh Castle need fear anything apart from walking uphill over the cobbles from the Esplanade through the Portcullis Gate to the Battery beside the ‘one o’clock gun’ , where you will witness not a beheading but the most glorious views in the city, overlooking the Firth of Forth and Fife, while sipping chilled Champagne and enjoying the most exquisite canapes prepared by the excellent in-house caterers Digby Trout .

Its reputation for good food means that people are clamouring to book events at Edinburgh Castle.

And instead of having the delights of a bull’s head, diners in either of the two castle venues available for hire, the elegant Queen Anne Room or the red-painted Jacobite Room, can enjoy some of Scotland’s finest produce cooked simply and with imagination, from Stornoway black pudding and West Coast scallops to Aberdeen angus beef and orange shortbread.
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By Sue Lawrence

Section : Scottish Food

Page number : 53