Edinburgh’s History & The Red Door Gallery
We recently travelled to the wonderful city of Edinburgh. The fab folks at The Red Door Gallery invited us up to add some prints to their lovely windows. All the illustrations are based on the darker side Edinburgh’s history, just in time for the autumn nights drawing in and halloween.
The prints and cards started as watercolour pencil illustrations inspired by the dark and old tales of Burke and Hare, Greyfriar’s Bobby and The Great Lafayette. I found looking into some of Edinburgh’s infamous and lost tales really interesting so here’s a bit more about the stories behind the drawings...
Burke & Hare - William Burke and William Hare were ‘grave robbers’ and murderers living in Edinburgh. In 1827 they sold a body of a man who died while staying in Hare’s house to Dr. Robert Knox to use for anatomical research. Realising this was a potentially lucrative trade, in 1828 they began murdering guests in Hare’s house and selling the bodies to Knox. They along with their wives were caught having murdered 16 people. Burke turned on Hare and was allowed free, little is known of what became of him. Hare was hanged for his part in the killings in front of an audience said to be as big as 25,000 people. His body was used for a public medical dissection and his skeleton can still be seen at Edinburgh’s Anatomical Museum.
We went to see the 17 miniature coffins at The National Museum of Scotland, little carved wooden coffins discovered on Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh. No one is entirely sure what these little figures are but one theory is that they represent the 17 people Burke and Hare sold to Knox. You can hear more about that here.
Greyfriars Bobby - This little dog has become the stuff of legend. The story goes that after his owner John Gray died, this loyal little Skye Terrier came to Greyfriars Kirkyard and sat by his grave for 14 years until his own death.
This tale has made him famous and now he has his own grave in the Kirkyard that scores of visitors leave sticks on for the loyal little chap. He also has a statue on George IV Bridge, just around the corner from the Red Door Gallery. The statue is a popular place to stop for a photo with Bobby and is Edinburgh’s smallest listed building.
The Great Lafayette - This story is fascinating and not as well known as it should be. At the start of the 20th Century The Great Lafayette was the world’s highest paid illusionist. He brought his act to what is now Edinburgh’s Festival Theatre for a sell out run. During the spectacular final act ‘The Lion’s Bride’ in which the magician appears to magically switch places with a real lion, a lamp caused the stage to set fire. At first the audience believed this to be part of the act and didn’t run to safety. Luckily the audience members were eventually taken to safety but the entire cast and all the animals died onstage.
The body of the magician was recovered and sent for cremation. Some days later a papier-mâché hand was found in the debris, pointing to a body that had been missed. This body was wearing the magician’s costume and also his famous rings. It was then discovered that the first corpse was that of The Great Lafayette’s stage double in an identical costume. Once this accidental final illusion had been worked out the funeral went ahead and was a huge spectacle through the streets of the city. Masses of mourners and floral tributes, including one in the shape of his dog’s head from Houdini, followed the hearse to the magician’s final resting place.
The Great Lafayette is buried in Piershill Cemetery near Portobello in Edinburgh and we went there to visit his grave. He was buried in his urn between the paws of his beloved dog Beauty. You can read more about this amazing story here.
It’s been amazing getting to find out more about some infamous, famous and not so well remembered figures from Edinburgh’s past. Illustrating these characters has been an adventure so thanks to Nicky, Ashley, Kathryn and Jason at The Red Door Gallery for having us!
You can shop the collection of prints and cards here and see the window all through October.
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