Although the churches of Scotland are not generally on the same scale as the cathedrals of the Continent, they do have their own slightly austere allure. Dedicated in 1620, this kirk was the first "reformed" church in Edinburgh and became the center of a good bit of history. It was built amid a cemetery that Queen Mary proposed in 1562 because there was no more burial space at St. Giles Cathedral on the Royal Mile. In 1638, the National Covenant, favoring Scottish Presbyterianism to the English Episcopacy, was signed here, and an original copy is displayed. By the middle of the 17th century the church had become a barracks for Cromwell's forces, and then, in the 18th century, the original tower exploded when gunpowder stored there caught fire. Among the many restorations, one in the 1930s brought in California redwood to create the current ceiling. The kirkyard has a bit of the Flodden Wall and it was the site of a prison for Covenanters. Its collection of 17th-century monuments and gravestones is impressive. The most celebrated grave, however, contains a 19th-century policeman whose faithful dog, Bobby, reputedly stood watch for years. The tenacious terrier's first portrait (painted in 1867) hangs in the church while a statue of the wee dog -- made famous by Hollywood -- is nearby at the top of Candlemaker Row, just outside a pub named in his honor.
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