FREAKY AULD REEKIE

Edinburgh is a city full of myths, legends and above all: ghost stories. At this blog you will find movies about the haunted places, like ‘Edinburgh Castle’ or ‘The Vaults’, audio clips, slideshows, timelines and articles about historical figures, like Mary Stuart or James Douglas. Every day we will keep you up to date using our twitterpage and writing down our adventures. In The Netherlands we have a saying: unknown is unloved. We are going to prove, that is wrong!

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The story behind our hostel: James Douglas

During our stay in Edinburgh we stayed in a special hostel, at least it was special for us. That's because it used be the house of James Douglas, the 4th Earl of Morton. He was the last of the four regents of Scotland. They say he was the most successful of those four, because he won the civil war with the supporters of Mary , Queen of Scots.

An ironic yet sad fact about him is that he got executed by the ‘maiden’, an early form of the guillotine which he himself had introduced to Scotland. He brought it personally from England, saying he was “impressed by its clean work”.

He led a successful life being the regent of Scotland, but he got sentenced to death, because he was said to be involved in the murder of Henry Darnley, the former husband of Queen Mary. In 1581, at the age of 69 he was executed. They left his corpse on the scaffold until the following day, when it was buried in an unmarked grave at Greyfriars Krikyard. His head got left on a spike on the Tolbooth of Edinburgh for eighteen months, until it was reunited with his corpse.

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Mary, Queen of Scots

One of the most famous and enigmatic people that ever lived in Edinburgh was Mary, Queen of Scots, also known as Mary Stuart. In Edinburgh you’ll find many tours, exhibitions and other tourist attractions based around her. The reason for this was her tragic life. She is known as the romantic queen that gave up her country for love.

The first remarkable fact about Mary is that she became queen at the age of only six in 1542, after her father, King James V died. Of course, Scotland was ruled by regents first, until she became an adult.

Mary has had several husbands during her life. When her first husband died, she became a widow at only 18 years old. She then married her cousin, Henry Stuart Darnley. The story goes that Mary was soon fed up with Henry, who hardly did his official tasks. That’s why Mary’s secretary, David Rizzio got all the official documents, instead of Henry. It’s safe to say Henry wasn’t pleased about this and had Rizzio killed. Because he was so jealous, he had him murdered in front of Mary’s eyes, who was pregnant at the time. Mary never forgave him and swore that she would get her revenge. She and James Hepburn, better known as  the Earl of Bothwell, had him killed by having his house blown up, though this has never actually been proved.

She then married Bothwell, the man she did actually love, but the lords and the civilians didn’t accept their marriage, because they were seen as the murderers of Henry Darnley. This almost caused a civil war between the royal family and the chivalry. Mary surrendered to the chivalry so Bothwell could get away. She got imprisoned and was forced to abdicate. That’s when she became known as the romantic queen.

Mary managed to escape and raise an army of six thousand men, but she got defeated and ran away to England, where she was first welcomed with respect. However, being a Catholic family member of the current Protestant queen of England, Elizabeth l, the Catholics hoped she was gonna be the new queen. She became a threat for Elizabeth, so Mary got captivated in a castle for twenty years.

In 1587 she participated in a conspiracy with other Catholics to kill Elizabeth and replace her for Mary so the Catholic religion could be restored in England. She signed an agreement for the murder of Elizabeth. When her sister found out, she was executed. Scottish nationalists and Catholics forgave her.

So despite her behavior, the Scots will always remember her as the romantic queen.

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The fish wife and the captain

At first sight the Grassmarket is just like the other parts of Edinburgh. A few pubs, a few stores, some breathtaking architecture, nothing more, nothing less. The only thing that is different is the view. At some points you can see the castle. Edinburgh castle, of course. But for the people, who know the history of the market. It is not only the view that makes this square market absolutely unique.

Grassmarket is located at the south east of the castle. It lies at the bottom of Castle Rock. From 1477 to 1911 the Grassmarket was one of the main markets in Edinburgh, especially for horse and cattle. The Grassmarket was not a nice place to be in the past. It was full of poverty, unemployment, disease and crime. It was also a place of public executions.

But that’s why Britt and I visited this city in the first place. We wanted to know all the cruel stories of Edinburgh. So we went to this pub, Maggie Dicksons pub. If you have been in Edinburgh for a few days, you already know that the people here don’t give their pubs just a random name. So who was Maggie Dicksons and why is she so special that they named a pub at the Grassmarket after her.

Maggie Dicksons turned out to be a fish wife, who sold her fish at the market. This story is actually a popular story in Edinburgh. Every local can tell you this story. In 1724 she was hanged, because she was accused of murdering her own baby. After the execution they put her in a coffin and brought her to Musselburgh, which is the place where she came from. But then something unexpected happened. She wasn’t dead. She awoke in her coffin. Under Scots Law she had served her punishment. She was hanged, so she did what she had to do, but she wasn’t dead. Not her fault, so she was allowed to go free. After Maggie, called half-hangit Maggie from that point, they added the words ‘until death’ in the sentence of hanging in the Scots Law.

This is one of the stories about the Grassmarket, but at a market, which is used for public executions, there must be more. So Britt and I became curious and went to another pub that had wi-fi that actually works and on the internet we found another ‘cute’ story.

So, several years later in 1736 Andrew Wilson lived in Edinburgh. He didn’t live that long, because he robbed the Collector of Customs and was caught and sentenced to death. Just like his friend, who helped him with the crime. With two other inmates, the four of them tried to escape out of prison. Two succeeded, but Andrew and his friend didn’t. On the Sunday before their scheduled execution, they were escorted to St Giles Cathedral. A new escape plan was made and because of Andrew his friend actually got free. This caused a lot of sympathy by the people of Edinburgh. Unfortunately it didn’t cause any sympathy by the city guards. So, they took him to Grassmarket and hanged him. Once he was executed, the spectators wanted to steal the body of Wilson. Captain John Porteous, leader of the Town Guard, didn’t agree with that. So he, why not, gave the order to open fire at the spectators. Six people died that day and many of them were wounded.

The people of Edinburgh thought that Porteous should get executed too. That is called justice. He killed six people, so this is what he deserved. The queen agreed, but at the last minute changed her mind. Porteous was pardoned and put back in his cell. The people who were involved with the accident that Porteous caused were furious. So they took him out of his cell, broke into a shop, ‘borrowed’ a rope, abused his body and then hanged him.

This plaque lies at the Grassmarket, where the lynching took place.

Britt and I didn’t know this when we went to the graveyard a few days earlier, but apparently Captain John Porteous his body lies buried in the Greyfriars Kirkyard, his tombstone reads “All Passion Spent”. 

Porteous grave at Greyfriars Kirkyard

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The Banshee Labyrinth

Oh finally, let’s get drunk in a pub and skip the ghost stories for one night. No, not in Edinburgh. Even the pubs are haunted here. We heard the story about ‘The Banshee Labyrinth’ pub a few times since we went to Edinburgh, but our personal tourguide Ally confirmed it for us.

  Before I’m going to tell you the story, I’m going to explain what a banshee is. A banshee is mystical figure and is also called the messenger of the underworld. The reason for that is logical. A banshee can foretell death. When you or someone who is important to you is about to die, most of the time in a violent way, such as murder, she will warn you.

  She won’t knock on your door and say:

“Hi there, yeah, so, you are going to die tonight. Have a nice day.”

Of course not, She will scream in the middle of the night and you will hear it. But how can you recognize a banshee? Most of the time she is dressed in white or grey and has long, pale hair. Blood is coming out of her eyes instead of teardrops.

  Back to the pub. So, there is this pub in the old center of Edinburgh and it is called The Banshee Labyrinth. It is located in the South Bridge Vaults. One day, two workmen heard terrifying screams in the vaults. It is said it was from a banshee and she looked like a little lost girl with her hands for her eyes. After she removed her hands, screamed and disappeared, one of the workmen received a phone call saying that a family member had died. So the two workmen ran away as fast as they could and quit their job that night. 

  If you are the kind of person, who likes to make fun of believers. Don’t go to the Banshee Labyrinth. People who scream for fun, should keep their drinks tightly in hand. Otherwise there are some ghosts who will throw your drinks against the walls.

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The Vaults: The Watchman

 The next story Ally told us in the vaults, is the story of the watchman. The watchman, like the name already explains, used to watch the vaults. It was supposed to be a job for a lifetime. He was in love with a girl from a higher class, but because he got the job as the watchmen he was finally able to pay for an engagement ring and convince the girl's family that he could take care of her. Unfortunately, the vaults had to shut down not long after he got the job. He had to ask the ring back in order to pay for food, but he didn't want to feel ashamed. So instead, he shot himself.

People that went into the vaults said they saw the ghost of the watchman and heard the sound of his keys. The watchman is told, he had to watch the vaults for the rest of his life and as long he isn’t gone, he is in the vaults, doing his job. 

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The Vaults: Witchcrafts

The second room we went into has a scarier story. When you look at the picture below, you can see a circle of stones. This circle is said to be made by people with witchcrafts. When you were inside the circle, you were safe from ghosts and anything evil. But outside of the circle, people that were inside the room started feeling especially weird. So a few years ago the owner of this part of the vaults asked one of his friends, a medium, if he could take a look. He decided to spend a night in the room.

He brought his sleeping bag, a book, a torch and some candles. Nothing really seemed to happen until candles started going out and he heard loud bangs. No one actually knows what happened then, but he left and told the owner there was a demon in the room. He went back to the room with other mediums and they reversed the spell of the circle.

Instead of keeping evil out of the circle, they captured the evil inside of the circle. The story now goes that there's a demon inside trapped in the circle. In the past few years several people dared to step inside. Four people fainted, one threw up and four years ago a man got a heart attack and died. So did we dare to step inside? Hell no! But then again, our friend Nathan did last year and he feels fine.

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The Vaults: Jack

We took another trip down to the vaults of Edinburgh. Ally was our guide for the night and told us more stories that haunt the city.

Without a doubt we can say that is the scariest night we've had during our stay, I'll tell you why in a bit. Before we entered the vaults, Ally showed us some objects that were used to torture people,  lovely!

For example, the mask in the middle on the picture below. This pleasant thing was not specifically used for torture,  but got used to test whether a woman was a witch or not. They placed it over a woman's head and if her nose didn't fit into the mask, they assumed she was a witch. She then either got thrown into the lake with het hands and ankles tied to each other, or she got burned alive. Poor women.

Back to the vaults. We walked down to the wet and chilly space and stopped just before we entered the first room. Ally told us that in this room people have often experienced the presence of a little boy: Jack. 8-year old Jack lost his mom and sister and endes up alone in the vaults. According to Ally, he always seeks the attention of blonde girls and women. He holds hands or pulls jackets of women entering the room. Probably because his mom had blonde hair. Lucky for us, we're both blondes. Since being here we've heard a lot of these kind of stories, so we didn't expect much. That was until we actually went inside. When we were standing inside the room, I looked to my left and saw Iris becoming incredibly tensed. Even I felt a little a bit weird. When we walked out again I asked her what was wrong. "I felt something pulling my coat", she stammered.  Jack?

Jacks Room

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Edinburgh Castle's Piper

Yesterday we went to Edinburgh Castle. It is said to be one of the most haunted spots in Scotland. Many people have reported their experiences, included sudden drops in temperature, seeing shadow figures, the feeling of being watched and the feeling of something tugging their clothes.

  When people think about ghosts, they think of scary woman in long white dresses or scary men in black ones. The thing is, ghosts don’t have to be scary. The spirits, who are reported in Edinburgh Castle are a headless drummer, the spirits of French prisoners from  the Seven Years War, colonial prisoners from the American Revolutionary War and a phantom  piper. The piper is lost in the tunnels below the castle.

  We met this woman in Edinburgh. Her name is Ally. Ally is a tourguide. She does ‘The Terrortour’ at the Royal mile. She told us the story about the lost piper. 

"This story is actually documented. It's about three men, who were working in the castle, when they found the entrance of a tunnel. All three of them weren't macho enough to go in the tunnel. So they sent a piper to do it. So, the piper went in to the tunnel and one of the men followed him above the ground. The tunnel appeared to be under the Royal Mile. When the piper stopped halfway the tunnel, the three men thought he just reached the end and came back to the castle. Since then, there is no sign or sound from the piper. And people say, when you are walking at the Royal Mile you can still here the piper playing his songs under the ground." 

  So, we went to the castle and if you forget about all the freaky things that happened there, it is absolutely breathtaking. The castle itself is already amazing, but the view over the entire city is even more beautiful. Watch the movie below to get an expression.

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Little expression of Edinburgh Castle

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Last night we did something that sounds like the beginning of a very cliché, teenage horror story. Yes, we went to a graveyard in the middle of the night. We were talking to Nathan, whom works at our hostel about why we are here this week. He turned out to know many stories and proposed to show us around at the Greyfriars Kirkyard.

So, around 2AM we put on our gloves and coats and started walking towards the graveyard.

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Bobby

At the Southern end of the George IV Bridge there is a statue of a Sky Terrier. His Name is Bobby. Bobby is the main character of an active oral story in Edinburgh.

In the 19th century a policeman called John Gray lived in Edinburgh with his dog Bobby. When John died of tuberculosis, he was buried at the Greyfriars Kirkyard. The dog spent the rest of his life (14 years) by the grave of his owner.

Bobby died in 1872, but nobody could prove if it was a catholic dog. That is why he is buried just outside the graveyard.

Poor Bobby. 

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