Remember When: No pubs or clubs but still a cattle market

WITH its countless pubs and restaurants, stag parties and hen dos, it is hard to imagine the Grassmarket and Cowgate without its revellers.

While licensing chiefs claim there is an over-provision of watering holes in the area, pub bosses this week controversially called for more, insisting there is still space for new bars in the historic neighbourhood.

Looking at these pictures, there was a time when the Grassmarket and the Cowgate served entirely different purposes.

From the late 15th century to the early 1900s, the Grassmarket was one of the city's main markets for cattle, all of which were herded down the Cowgate to be sold.

To residents living in the 1850s, when our main photograph was taken, the idea of being woken during the night by modern day drunken party-goers, or police and ambulance sirens, would be unthinkable.

Earlier residents did have the odd public execution to deal with, though.