In a corner of Edinburgh, outside the Palace of Holyroodhouse with its witches’ hat towers and crenellated turrets, 74-year-old tour guide Kenny Hanley can often be found pointing to a little piece of magic atop an ornamental gateway at the residence’s southern approach.
The focus of his attention is an almost-forgotten stone emblem of the city and country in which he lives, and yet few realise it’s one that teems with meaning, telling an almost unbelievable story about Scotland’s national identity.
Take a step back, and the fuller picture emerges. There’s a second cast-stone figure opposite – a rampant lion, crowned, and holding a ceremonial flag as it stands guard. But Hanley’s gaze remains drawn to the slender, mythical creature wrapped in chains to our right.
The stone is just stone and the lion is just a lion, but this horse-like figure – adorned with a singularly fancy horn on its forehead – is extraordinary. It is a unicorn. And, believe the hype or not, it is Scotland’s national animal.
Until recently, all talk of unicorns belonged in the glitteriest corner of a children’s playroom. Or on a rainbow-coloured cereal box. It’s a subject rarely cerebral enough to merit debate, but these days, wide-eyed unicorns are everywhere.
From cartoons and movies to fashion and social media, they have a bigger role to play in the public consciousness than ever before. To cap it all, there’s now a National Unicorn Day on 9 April. Hashtag #NationalUnicornDay on Instagram and you’ll find yourself entering a world of sparkly cupcakes and multi-coloured memes. Amid this, let’s not forget JK Rowling’s Harry Potter, inspired by many real places in Edinburgh and brimming with stories of magical unicorn blood and unicorn hair-infused wands.
Not that any of that matters to Hanley, who saw his first unicorn more than 60 years ago, when growing up in the city’s Canongate district near the Palace of Holyroodhouse.
“It’s long been a symbol of purity and power, but also of virginity and subtlety,” said Hanley, who works as a Blue Badge guide for the Scottish Tourist Guides Association. “And those values still stand up when thinking about Scotland today. These are characteristics embedded in the Scottish psyche.”
