The irony of Fortifications
Johnson narrates, “Cardinal Beatoun is said to have had workmen employed in improving its ( the castle) fortifications at the time when he was murdered by the ruffians of reformation, in the manner of which Knox has given what he himself calls a merry narrative." Fortifications do not safeguard the cardinal from his death; hence, they are in vain. The ruffians' desire to eliminate the cardinal due to the ideology he endorses cannot be deterred by fortifications. Accordingly, the reformation is a strong movement that is intended to alter religious ideology.
“The dissolution of St Leonard’s College”
Johnson laments, “The dissolution of St Leonard’s college was doubtless necessary; but of that necessity there is reason to complain. It is surely not without just reproach, that a nation, of which the commerce is hourly extending, and the wealth encreasing, denies any participation of its prosperity to its literary societies." Thriving commercial ventures imply that the capitalists generate sufficient profits, which can be donated or invested in institutions such as the college. Its ironic decline is attributed to its affiliation with the Catholic church which is somehow destabilized by the reformation. Consequently, the merchants are not interested in investing in it due to the religious creed which it denotes.
The Irony of Royalty
Johnson explains, “One of the vaults ( at Saint Andrews) was inhabited by an old woman…she thinks however that she has claim to something more than sufferance; for her husband’s name was Bruce, she is allied to royalty, and told Mr Boswell that when there were persons of quality in the place, shew as distinguished by some notice; that indeed she is now neglected , but she spins a thread, has the company of her cat." The widow's lifestyle does not meet the standard of a conventional royalty. She would be expected to be residing in a palace or classy resident with servants. Her reality indicates that having royal links does not guarantee affluence and comfort; moreover, royal connections do not bid one immunity to paucity.
