Letters from Norman Griffiths Ellsworth to his Mother, 1916 - Part 11 of 28

King George & Queen Mary's Club. 
for Overseas Club Forces. 
Scotland. 8 Rutland Square. 
Edinburgh 14^th April. 

My Dearest Mother & all at Home, 
Just a few 
lines to let you know that I have gone on my tour 
at last, & up to the present, I must say that I 
have thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it, & what 
is more, I do not think that I ever felt so well 
in all my life. 
Well, to get on with the story, 
In company with a fellow patient, we left 
for Euston railway station, & it was whilst 
making for there, that I got my first taste of the 
underground tube railway system. — Good 
gracious, Mother, we went into a place, & got 
our fares, & went to go down on to the platform, 
& the staircase, is going down all the 
time. I can hardly describe it to you. 
One gets on it, & if you stand on one 
stair, one gets to the bottom alright, & then 
gets off, but in order to gain time, one can 
walk down the stairs, whilst the concern 
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is descending, & get there all the quicker, 
but by jingo, I did not like getting on to 
the thing, — however, when one sees the 
elderly ladies, & young flappers jumping 
on and off alright, one begins to feel a 
fool, & then trys to do the same as them. 
When one gets onto the platform, the 
train appears almost at once, like a 
thing of magic, stops, doors open with a 
crash, people get in & out, doors crash again, 
& the trains glides quickly off into a tunnel, 
like a great rat disappears into a drain 
or sewer, & almost immediately another 
one is in the station. — Really it is 
marvellous, & these things convey one 
anywhere about London & suburbs, in a 
very short space of time, & very cheaply. 
We arrived in Euston in due time, & 
got our tickets to Inverness, which is the 
furthest station north in Scotland that 
we wanted to go to (we get this for "nix") 
The train, which is one of the principal 
expresses in England, was a very long one, 
& the carriages were very comf'y, altho' it does

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not compare with our Sydney or Adelaide 
Express carriages. — The train left punctually 
at 10 a.m. & we soon got quickly moving 
out into the country. It was a non-stop 
train, & travels for 100 miles without a 
stop of any kind: The Mails are caught 
off hooks outside platforms, & fall into the 
sorting van. Water is picked up out of 
troughs between the rails, at 60 miles an hour, 
so this sort of thing does not stop us. 
The 
country looked charming, & great canals, 
with horses drawing barges along, were to 
be seen for miles & miles, & they wind 
& curve in a most amazing way all among 
the hills, & little country hills with sheep & 
cattle grazing on them, & the different town 
ships, all made the run so pleasant. 
Every 
now & then, we would pass thro' a big 
manufacturing town, & in these places, the 
houses are crowded together in a most 
alarming way, & the population is very 
congested. Of course, there were lots 
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of newly made towns which have sprung 
up, since the beginning of the war, into big 
munition manufacturing cities. We passed 
Vickers Sons, & Maxims great works, & there 
the yards were full of submarine [[mines?]], 
& other engines of destruction, & of course, 
sentries were walking about in all these 
places, & all the bridges that we passed 
over, were guarded in a similar manner. 
We had dinner in the train for 2/6 
& a very fair dinner at that, & then resumed 
our seats in our compartment, 
& noticed the miles & miles of unimproved 
land that could be put into decent 
cultivation, if they only had some sort 
of legislation in this country, for the land 
is there, & it is splendid land, & beautifully 
fertile, & it all belongs to "fat men" who 
do not want it, & do not want anyone else 
to have it, & of course, have no tax to 
pay, & there it lies, & will lie until 
Asquiths rotten Government are kicked 
out, never to return, & a progressive 
government thoroughly established.

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Well, we reached Scotland about tea 
time, & what rugged & mountainous country 
it is too, & of course there was still snow 
on the hills, & it looked very pretty shining 
in the sun; — as in England, there is 
plenty of idle land, & the towns are very 
densely populated. We arrived in Edinburgh 
at 7.15 pm. (an hour late) & proceeded 
to this house, almost alongside the railway stn. 
It is two private houses joined together, 
very cosily furnished, splendid, clean & 
the food plentiful & good, & in fact, it is 
"a home from home". 
To-day, we had 
our first opportunity of looking around the 
city, & I must say that it is a very nice 
& attractive, & also fascinating city. It is 
clean, & the streets are wide, possessing 
a cable tram service, also motor 'buses 
& char-a- bancs services to different 
parts of the city. The shops are very 
nice, & things cheaper than in London. 
The people are well dressed, & happy 
but speak with the Scotch dialect, which 
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we have some difficulty in understanding 
We, of course, are treated splendidly. 
The tower & castles of different big 
historical events can be seen in the 
distance, but Edinburgh Castle, is right 
in the heart of the City itself, & is situated 
in a very dominating position, & the 
view from the top was magnificent. 
We were late arriving there, as we 
stopped to watch some Highland Regt 
being drilled in the Parade Ground, & 
my word, their non-coms would not 
speak to our chaps, like they spoke to 
those poor devils. All the old guns 
are still in position, & the drawbridge 
& moat are still there, & most of the 
other valuable things have been removed 
to a place of security from Zeppelin Raids, 
the last of which, dropped a bomb very 
close to the castle. We are going to view 
the Castle properly to-morrow, so will 
give you details of it some other time. 
In the morning, we paid 2^d, & went 
up to the top of Sir Walter Scotts

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magnificent monument, which is situated 
in the principal street, called Princes St. 
We ascended by means of a spiral 
staircase inside, & when we reached 
the top, we were enthralled with the 
most beautiful sight. The Firth of Forth, 
with its great bridge could be seen 
in the distance, & all the old castles & 
old buildings could also be seen, & 
altogether, it is simply indescribable. 
In the morning, we visited the 
famous Holyrood Palace, where the noted 
Mary Queen of Scots, & her Consort Lord 
Darnley, & later on, King Charles 1^st & 
Queen Henrietta lived. I did not take 
much interest in old history before, but 
this simply "took me by storm". We 
went thro' all the old rooms, & everything 
is in a wonderful state of preservation. 
We went thro' Darnleys apartments, & 
saw his bed, etc, & immediately on top, 
was Queen Marys apartment & bed. 
In her supper room, just alongside 
her bedroom, she had a special listening 
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place made, so that she could hear 
what was going on in Darnleys room. 
Then there was a secret staircase 
leading from her bedroom into that of 
Darnleys. — Her supper room was 
the scene of a murder of a man called 
Riccio, her adviser, & believed to be a 
priest in disguise. Anyhow, she was 
in this room with Riccio, & Darnley & 
his pals overhead their conversation 
thro' Marys own listening place, & they 
went up, rushed in & stabbed him 
over 50 times, & then skull dragged 
him out into her bedroom, & she was 
made to stay in the room with him 
all night. Oh there was dirty work in 
those times, Mum. 
We passed into the 
Royal Chapel, now demolished, where 
Charles 1^st was crowned, & we also saw 
the stone that he knelt on during the 
ceremony, & also the chair that he & 
the Queen used on this occasion. There 
were conductors to show, & tell us anything.

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Being visitors, naturally everybody is very 
kind to us, & we have plenty of concessions 
shown us, such as half fares on trains etc 
& picture shows, & 'bus rides, etc, so you 
see that we are doing well. 
To-day, we 
are going to visit the Art Gallery, & Museum 
in the morning, & this afternoon to the Firth 
of Forth bridge, which will practically fill 
in the day, & on Saturday we expect to 
go on some joy ride to somewhere or other, 
& on Sunday, we are going to St Giles Cathedral 
My money is lasting surprisingly 
well, & I am not denying myself of anything, 
& I still have plenty, & the whole trip 
will not exceed ₤20, if it reaches that 
figure. 
The girls in this city are not so 
pretty as the London girls, but are more 
robust & buxom, whilst possessing _^as rare 
complexion as their English cousins. They 
are of course, very fond of the Colonials, 
& make no hesitation of showing it, & we 
take it all in good part, naturally. 
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I have not met a girl abroad that I 
would marry, but I must admit that 
several of the English girls simply staggered 
me at times. 
The female population 
go in a lot for smoking, & drinking, & you 
will be surprised to know that they all 
smoke at Gravesend, except Julia, & you 
would laugh to see the faces they pull 
whilst going thro' this delicate task, & they 
don't get the least enjoyment out of it I'm 
sure. Lucy smokes as well, but is the same 
as the others as regards enjoying it. 
There is 
a chap, a Scottish Canadian, touring with us 
& he is rather long winded in his conversation 
at times, but a really good sort. 
Well, Mum, 
I hope that you are all well at home. Give 
my love to them all, & all the rest of it, 
& an extra ration for yourself, 
From 
P.S. am sending Your loving Son 
Mab some P.Cs by Norman. 
this mail also. 
N.