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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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St Giles' Cathedral
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(Edinburgh) Gothic church of the 15C, in *Parliament Square, with a famous openwork structure (the Crown of St Giles) on top of its square tower. The building was dedicated to St Giles when a bone said to be from his arm was given in 1454; he was one of the most popular saints of the Middle Ages, the patron of cripples and believed to have been a French hermit, but nothing historical is known of him. John *Knox was the minister from 1559 until his death. The church is now incorrectly called a cathedral (the seat of a bishop), for it is the High Kirk of the *Church of the Scotland. Since the *Reformation it has only been a cathedral during two brief periods (1633–9 and 1660–90), when the *Stuart kings imposed Anglican bishops on Scotland.
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It was in 1637 that Jenny Geddes, outraged at hearing a passage from the Anglican prayer book, flung her stool at the preacher; the spot from which she supposedly launched it is marked in the floor of the church. St Giles' contains many memorials to famous Scots, and in the southeast corner is the entrance to the Chapel of the *Thistle.
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