Edinburgh is famous for its many haunted locations and ghost walks that guide tourists through spooky backdrops as they listen to scary stories. The unsettling atmosphere of the underground streets at Mary Kings Close, for example, sees visitors walk through the Blair Street Vaults in the eerie quiet which can leave anyone feeling jumpy.
While it's fun to tease and mock these tours and their tales, many have been passed down through generations and their unsolved mysteries reflect a much more sinister, bloodier Edinburgh. Indeed, past the Instagram-worthy cobbled streets and Georgian architecture we see today lie dark secrets that reflect Edinburgh’s grisly past.
Here are 13 creepy facts about Edinburgh that you (probably) didn’t know.
Here are 13 creepy facts about Edinburgh that you (probably) didn’t know.
5. One ‘Witch’ suffered a fate unlike any other
Agnes Sampson, another woman accused of witchcraft, suffered a gruelling fate in 1590 when she was accused of trying to kill King James with voodoo. She also stood accused of crafting "magic powders" from corpses. She was executed via thrawing, a process where rope is bound around a skull and tightened until the head is completely crushed. Photo: Unknown author via Wikimedia Commons
6. Some Grave Robbers also made their own corpses
In the 1820s William Burke and William Hare devised a sinister money-making plan. After a man died of natural causes in Hare's lodging house in 1827, he left a bill unpaid for 4 pounds of rent. To cover the expense, the pair sold his corpse to a doctor at Edinburgh University for 7 pounds, turning a profit. To keep the money coming, rather than wait for people to die the two started to target the elderly, strays and poor people who might not be missed - they would lure them to the house, intoxicate them with whisky and then suffocate them. Over a dozen people were murdered before the serial killers were caught. Photo: Unknown author via Wikimedia Commons
7. Half of Leith was killed by rats
The plague reached the port of Leith in 1645 and it was brought in by flea-infested rats that absolutely devastated the community. It was reported that over half of the residents died and all of their corpses were dragged from their homes and piled onto the streets before they were dumped in the plague pits on Leith Links. In later years when the area was being remodelled the massive mounds of bodies were finally discovered. Photo: Mikejamesshaw via Wikimedia Commons
8. A dead bagpiper rests in Edinburgh Castle's tunnels
When secret tunnels were discovered beneath Edinburgh Castle many were curious to know where they led. So a young bagpiper was sent in to search the tunnels, playing his bagpipes as he went so people could locate him via sound, but the boy suddenly became silent and no search party was sent to retrieve him. So the tunnel was blocked up and the boy was left for dead. Visitors to this day report that they can hear the haunting sound of the boy playing his bagpipes underground. Photo: stephen samson via Wikimedia Commons