We unearth some hidden tales about some of Edinburgh's historic addresses

Published on Wednesday 21 October 2009 21:56

IT PROMISES to turn homeowners into private detectives – and may offer them more than they bargained for. But it is hoped a week-long campaign being run in Edinburgh next month will also shed light on the little-known history tucked down some of its best-known streets.

Heritage leaders in the capital are joining forces with the city council's librarians to run an initiative aimed at helping anyone who has ever been tempted to look into the history of their house.

The campaign – devised as part of a drive to better promote the capital's World Heritage site – will see experts offering a guiding hand through the city's extensive archives to, hopefully, reveal a wealth of hidden stories in the Old and New Towns.

As Liz McGettigan, the council's library and information services manager, explains: "The week-long series of events starts on 23 November, when the Central Library will be hosting special surgeries where members of staff will be on hand to answer questions.

"Talks, displays and surgeries will be on offer, with experts on hand to help guide you through the extensive archives. A series of podcasts with residents will highlight how the collections and archives can be used for research, and some of the extraordinary stories that have been discovered."

David Hicks, a spokesman for Edinburgh World Heritage, said: "The 'History of My House' initiative will show that extraordinary events can happen in ordinary houses."

The little-known background to many historic buildings will be revealed over the next few weeks as part of the campaign.

Among the buildings featured will be several well-known landmarks, including the White Hart pub in the Grassmarket and the old observatory on Calton Hill.

Another is the building which is now the home of the Writer's Museum, just off the Lawnmarket, erected in 1622 by successful merchant Sir Willliam Gray. He was later fined and imprisoned during the Civil War for his royalist connections.

And Edinburgh's World Heritage's own home, at 5 Charlotte Square, was the birthplace of Elizabeth Grant in the 18th century, author of the classic Memoirs of a Highland Lady.

JAMES CRAIG HOUSE, CALTON HILL

FEW visitors to Calton Hill realise that it was once the scene of a dramatic raid led by an aggrieved widow and her heavily armed supporters.

Jacobina Short was the wife of the optician Thomas Short whose idea it was to create the Capital's first observatory at the top of the beauty spot.

The famous architect James Craig brought his vision to life in 1776, but after Thomas's death the building would be the subject of a bitter family feud over its ownership.

When Thomas died, the lease was passed to his grandson, rather than his widow, Jacobina.

An enraged Jacobina led a ten-strong gang wielding cutlasses, pistols and a blunderbuss to evict her own grandson (along with his accountant). However, the city guard stormed the observatory and arrested all the members of the gang, including Jacobina, who was put behind bars in the Tolbooth Jail.

The building went on to be used by various opticians before deterioration led to its abandonment, apart from a brief spell as a gunpowder store.

It was leased out as a residential home to various tenants until as recently as 20 years ago, but has lain empty since then.

QUEEN MARY'S BATH HOUSE, HOLYROOD

ALTHOUGH Queen Mary's Bath House may never actually have been used by royalty as a place to wash, it nevertheless has an intriguing history.

Dating from the time of Mary, Queen of Scots, legend has it that the queen bathed in sweet white wine within the walls of the peculiarly-shaped little building on the main road to the north west of the Palace of Holyroodhouse.

These days most experts believe that the little turreted structure is highly unlikely to have ever been a royal bath house. However, it is now thought to be the oldest surviving tennis pavilion in the world.

Built on two storeys, with a pyramidal roof, it was once attached to the royal garden wall and is thought to have been a pavilion or summer-house.

An ornate dagger was found concealed in the roof-space while the building was being repaired in 1789.

The site was also dug up in 2006 by television presenter Tony Robinson for his Time Team programme.

GREAT KING STREET

IT MAY be regarded as one of Edinburgh's grandest addresses today, but how many people realise that Great King Street was once home to one of the founding fathers of the study of poisons, as well as the creator of Peter Pan?

Robert Christison, who lived in the street in the late 1800s, carried out regular experiments with poisonous plants and even tried them out on his students at Edinburgh University.

He became renowned as an early pioneer of forensic medicine, and is widely thought to have influenced Arthur Conan Doyle's understanding of drugs and poisons – knowledge that he passed on to his most famous creation, the detective Sherlock Holmes.

The medical pioneer also examined the bodies of the victims of Burke and Hare to try and find evidence that they had been murdered.

Great King Street was also the one-time home of Peter Pan's creator JM Barrie, who was a student at the time living in lodgings with his landlady and a retired army officer.

WHITE HART INN, GRASSMARKET

THE White Hart, in Edinburgh's Grassmarket, has many claims to fame, including a reputation as the city's oldest pub, dating back to the 14th century.

However, in 1791 the poet Robert Burns was said to have stayed there, on a return trip to the city to say farewell to his mistress Agnes MacLehose – better known as Clarinda.

She was setting sail for the West Indies to try to repair her relationship with her husband and it was in response to their farewells that Burns wrote one of his best-known poems, Ae Fond Kiss.

In 1803, the poet William Wordsworth stayed at the pub, in preference to the more upmarket hostelries in the New Town.

The pub takes its name from King David I of Scotland and his legendary encounter with a white hart while hunting in what is now Holyrood Park.

He was thrown from his horse and a cross, the "holy rood", appeared between the threatening stag's antlers and the animal vanished.

David survived to found the abbey of Holyrood in grateful thanks.

In the mid-1700s the inn was also well-known as a place offering a "half-merk" marriage, a quick no-questions asked ceremony for eloping couples.

The pub is also one of several in the area where Burke and Hare were said to prey on unsuspecting victims.

GOVERNOR'S HOUSE, CALTON HILL

THE old Calton Jail, where the offices of the Scottish Government now stand, was a forbidding fortress perched on the side of Calton Hill overlooking the city.

It was to become home in the 1930s to the art deco St Andrew's House, one of the most recognisable buildings in Edinburgh.

However, the old Governor's House, which survives to this day and is part of the Scottish Government complex, is a reminder of the area's grim past.

The smoke-blackened round tower is all that is left of the old jail, which was once Scotland's largest prison.

Building the jail took four years, completion being in 1795, but the Governor's House was not built until 1817.

The last public hanging at the jail, in June 1864, was of George Bryce, a carter who had been convicted of the murder of a nursemaid in a villa in Ratho. More than 20,000 spectators turned out for the execution.

The Governor's House was nearly demolished in the 1930s when the new Art Deco complex for the Scottish Office was being built.

The Secretary of State for Scotland disliked the turreted Governor's House, but the new government building was proving so controversial that officials, fearing another scandal, persuaded him to change his mind about having it removed.

JOHN KNOX HOUSE, HIGH STREET

BUILT in the mid 15th century then rebuilt again in the 16th by goldsmith James Mossman, John Knox House, on the Royal Mile, is now part of the popular Scottish Storytelling Centre.

John Knox House is named after the founder of the Scottish Reformation who spent the last four months of his life there in 1572.

Known as the Father of the Scottish Presbyterian Church, Knox was born in 1505 and, although originally ordained as a Catholic priest, he was converted to Protestantism by George Wishart in 1545-6.

Knox joined the rebel Protestant nobles and, under French siege at St Andrews Castle, made his name as a preacher.

After capture, he spent 18 months in a French galley, then arrived in England in 1549, preaching and helping Thomas Cranmer write the 42 Articles and Second Prayer Book (1552). In Europe, during Mary Tudor's reign, he wrote First Blast of the Trumpet against the Monstrous Regiment of Women (1558), against the Catholic queens.

On returning to Scotland in 1559, he was instrumental in drawing up the Presbyterian body of beliefs and organisation adopted by the Kirk from 1560.

Following the expulsion of the French, he led the Protestants in Edinburgh, condemning the Catholic Mary Queen of Scots and helping determine the form of the Scottish Reformation.