The Sound of Drums

Tomorrow I'm going to a residence event and I have a paper due Monday, so I decided to take today and finish it at the library so all I have to do tomorrow is edit.  Naturally, as it's a Saturday, I had some trouble getting motivated.  So I decided to include some self-bribery, and stopped at the Central Library (the main branch of the public library located on George IV Bridge) to check out The Alienist, which I've been meaning to read on my dad's recommendation.
There are three different routes I can take to get to the library, but because it was a beautiful morning I decided to take the one that spends the majority of the walk on the Royal Mile.  The Royal Mile, which stretches from Edinburgh Castle to Holyrood Palace (thus the name), is probably the most touristy area of the city.  But I love all the weird little shops and pubs and people in capes advertising ghost tours.  So I headed off up the hill listening to "Paperback Writer" on my iPod, which is kind of my paper-writing tradition.  As I hit the Mile, I noticed a lot of police around and the road was closed.  I figured there was some sort of event happening and disregarded it, intent on my destination.  Then, over the sound of the Fab Four in my headphones, I noticed the sound of drums from up ahead...
I stepped over to the curb where people were lining the road and took out an earbud.  Yep, there were definitely bagpipes approaching.  So I joined the rest of the crowd to watch to approaching wave of kilts:



I'm still not sure exactly what was happening.  Behind the band was a modern army regiment, and they were heading in the direction of Holyrood, so my guess was they were mustering at the palace for some reason.  Regardless, it was a really nice way to start off my day.  There's nothing like getting ready to write a paper about Scottish history surrounded by masses waving Scottish flags and cheering for their national army!
Oh, and they have an ADORABLE mascot:

After the parade went by I did eventually make it to the library, where there was a three-ish year old boy battling and inflatable Dalek (a notorious Doctor Who villain) with a foam devil trident thing and a plastic spider.
And yes, I did get my paper written :)



P.S. Trivia question!! Does anybody know where the title of this entry came from? (Hint: it has to do with the boy in the library)