While Scotland’s capital is often seen as genteel by outsiders, locals know there's a darker version of Edinburgh lurking just below the surface that’s rammed full of witch burnings, plague outbreaks and public executions.
We walk past these places every day without giving them a single thought, because if we did we'd be chilled to the bone.
From Morningside to Leith, there are places dotted all around the city where generations of criminals, pirates and suspected witches met a grisly and painful end.
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Heads on spikes at the High Street
The types of tourists coming to Edinburgh would be very different if the Old Tolbooth - the capital’s ancient prison, was still active on the High Street.
The Old Tolbooth once stood on the High Street. Picture: Creative Commons.
While there was a prominent gallows at the site, which was adjacent St Giles' Cathedral, the body parts of those punished with the most severe penalties were also exhibited on spikes on the jail’s exterior. The head of James Graham, 1st Marquis of Montrose, became a familiar sight in the town, as it was exhibited atop the Tolbooth for 10 years in the mid-17th century.
Nowadays of course we don't need to worry about the Old Tolbooth - it was demolished more than 200 years ago. The jail is remembered, however, even if most locals are blissfully unaware. The spot where it stood is marked in the cobbles in the shape of a heart - the Heart of Midlothian, which is traditionally spat on for good luck.
Bruntsfield plague pits
Bruntsfield Links is just about all that remains of the large, verdant Burgh Muir outside the city walls of old Edinburgh.
Bruntsfield Links. Picture: Creative Commons.
Back in the 16th and 17th centuries, when Edinburgh’s populace were being ravaged by the Black Death, it’s believed that people suspected of being infected by the bubonic plague were sent to the Burgh Muir to be cleansed.
There are even stories of a giant burial pit for plague victims in the area. Enjoy your next stroll through the Links…
Morningside's hanging spot for highwaymen
Morningside has a fairly sedate rep, then you start peering back into its history…
A plaque situated near 66 Braid Road informs us that this was the spot where Thomas Kelly and Henry O’Neill - the last two highwaymen in Scotland to be executed - met their fate.
The magistrates on this occasion had ordered the condemned pair to walk from the Old Tolbooth in the High Street to be hanged in the place where they had committed their robbery.
The bodies of Kelly and O'Neill were left in place for weeks to act as a deterrent to others.
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The Gallow Lea
About half way down Leith Walk, at Shrubhill, there was once a large public execution spot called the Gallow Lea.
Many poor souls were put to death on the gibbet which stood on the sandy hillock which was once here. Norman Ross the murderer was taken from the Tolbooth, hanged and 'gibbeted' here in 1752 - his body remained on display for two years after.
A number of Covenanters met their end here also, as did the notorious Major Weir a 'proven' warlock. It’s said that the mound was eventually quarried as a source of sand for the building of the New Town. Now, there’s a nice thought.
The Shore's dark secret
Nowadays, the Shore, with its wine bars, gastropubs and charming tea shops, is the epitome of Leith’s ongoing gentrification, but it wasn’t always this way.
St Ninian's Manse in Leith. Picture: Creative Commons.
In Medieval times the north side of the Shore close to St Ninian’s Manse was an execution site for witches.
17th century Leith women such as Marioun Linkup, charged with having used a cat in rituals to cause storms, and Helen Clark, who the authorities said had the devil’s mark, were tried here.The area that is now Leith Docks has seen its fair share of misery down the centuries.
Those found guilty of piracy Leith and Edinburgh were sent to Leith Sands. There were no gallows or chopping block; pirates were executed at the flood mark.
Leiths Sands was where pirates were executed.
The last execution here took place in 1822 when Peter Haeman and Francois Gautiez were tried for the “piratical seizure of the schooner Jane of Gibraltar, on her voyage to the Brazils”.
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