EDINBURGH EXPERT WALKING TOURS - BLOG

On Edinburgh's Royal Mile, sited outside the High Court on Lawnmarket, sits a statue of an imposing figure reclining in a chair. He often has a bagpiper in his vicinity, and if you linger a moment as you pass him you may notice passers-by rubbing the statue's foot.

The man in the chair is David Hume, an eighteenth-century philosopher born in Edinburgh on 26 April* 1711. Hume has entered the world rankings of influential figures, and is broadly considered to be one of history's most important philosophers writing in the English language. He was also a prolific writer of British history, and economic theory. His philosophical ideas and theories about human nature still have influence today, and he is justly celebrated here in Edinburgh, the city of his birth (and, in 1776, his death).

The people rubbing Hume's foot on the Royal Mile - specifically the big toe of his right foot, which dangles seductively over the edge of the plinth on which he sits - are enacting a superstitious ritual whereby the rubber of the toe is somehow magically endowed with either good luck or something of Hume's own wisdom and insight. 

One of Hume's great contributions to philosophical enquiry describes the relationship between cause and effect, and considers (in essence) that we can never explicitly connect two events in any sense of 'doing this caused that to happen'. As such, those rubbing Hume's toe for luck are directly contravening one of his fundamental assertions about the world...

During his life Hume lived in various places in the city, but most famously had a house just off St Andrew Square in the east end of the New Town. His devout atheism (broadly denied or ambivalently asserted during his lifetime) led the street on which he lived being informally dubbed 'St David Street', and happily it remains so today!

When Hume died in 1776, he was buried in a plot on the Old Calton burial ground on the slopes of Calton Hill. His tomb there today is styled as a large circular mausoleum, but visitors will note there is no grand inscription or statement of his prolific and influential life's work.

It is reputed that Hume expressly wished for his tomb to bear just his name, his date of birth, and his date of death. History and posterity, he modestly asserted, would do the rest.

Find out more about Hume and other figures from the Scottish Enlightenment on my private walking tours of the city!

​*In 1711 Scotland was still transitioning between the old Julian calendar and the newer Gregorian calendar. As such, there is a discrepancy of 11 days in some dates from this period. In the Old Style date format, Hume's date of birth was 26 April. On the New Style dating it is dated 7 May.  #simples

On this day, 14 April, 1670, one of Edinburgh's most infamous figures met his death following a short but sensational trial for witchcraft.

Thomas Weir had retired to live with his sister in a  house on the top part of West Bow, for centuries one of the main routes to the top of the Royal Mile. He'd been born at the end of the previous century in Lanarkshire, and as a septuagenarian gained a reputation for his devotion to the Protestant cause, giving impromptu anti-Catholic sermons to public gatherings when he left the house, which he shared with his older sister, Jean. 

Neither of the pair was married, and the community also considered them to be a strange couple. Jean, in particular, was often referred to by the nickname Grizel, and despite Thomas's reputation for religiosity rumours abounded about the precise nature of their relationship.

Thomas also held the prestigious position of captain of the city guard, a body of men (largely ex-soldiers) who were charged with enforcing a rough sense of law and order in the city.

One day in 1670, Thomas Weir had accumulated a small crowd waiting for one of his denouncements of the Catholic faith, when instead they were treated to Thomas's confession of a lifetime of heinous crimes. Of particular note was his sworn friendship with the devil, whom he would meet in Dalkeith (on the outskirts of Edinburgh) or bring to his house, where he and Jean would entertain him with food and dancing. 

Other salacious confessions followed, including admissions of bestiality, and confirmation of the local rumours that he and Jean were engaged in an unnatural relationship with each other. 

Thomas was promptly arrested, shortly followed by his sister Jean, when he corroborated his claims. The pair were put on trial for witchcraft, and were (of course) found guilty, and sentenced to death. Jean was hanged in the Grassmarket, where she determined to go to her death with the least dignity possible by stripping naked as she climbed the steps to the gallows.

The night before his execution. Thomas was offered a final opportunity to make his peace with God. He declined, claiming:

... on which basis, on 14 April, they burned him alive, and buried him in a shallow grave with Jean.

It was said that no one would then live in the Weirs' old house for the following two centuries, spooked by the usual array of supernatural effects (strange lights, noises, doors opening and closing) as well as the creatively described effect of going upstairs but feeling as though you were going downstairs...

It was thought the house was lost when the area around the the Lawnmarket and West Bow was being redeveloped in the 1830s. Recent archaeological surveys have discovered that the house survives largely intact, inside the shell of the surrounding facade which was built in the 1880s. The surrounding streets have been reconfigured slightly from Weir's time, and the street today bears little resemblance to the image above.

For those who believe such things, the building is considered one of the most haunted buildings in Edinburgh. For those who don't believe such things, the building today is the Quaker Meeting House.

Explore the West Bow in more detail with my Up-Close and Personal private walking tours!
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In 1603, when James VI of Scotland took the throne of England (becoming James I of England) the unicorn  joined the lion (representing England) on the British royal insignia. Two versions of the crest exist, one in which the lion is crowned and the unicorns stands on the right hand side of the crest, and a Scottish version in which the unicorn and lion are transposed, with the lion now on the right hand side. In this version, both lion and unicorn are adorned with crowns.

(Note the different mottos of the respective countries on the bands beneath the crests: England's translates as 'God and my right'; Scotland's is 'No one provokes me with impunity'...)

Traditionally, when featuring in a heraldic form, the unicorn is shown wearing a golden chain, securing it to the ground. This is a nod to the mythical beliefs that unicorns were magical and therefore unpredictable, and therefore dangerous. Some would suggest that in modern times, the chaining of the unicorn embodies the relationship between Scotland and England, with the unicorn unable to roam freely and independently.

Unicorn figures can be found all across Scotland - the emblem of Stirling Castle, for example, is a unicorn design - as well as around Edinburgh.

Book an Up-Close and Personal private tour for a unicorn hunt - how many unicorns will you find around the city?! 

As such, on 6 April each year, America celebrates Tartan Day, when this iconic patterned material (often referred to as 'plaid' in America) gets celebrated as an emblem of Scottish identity.

The history of tartan in Scotland itself is complex and rich. Originally a tartan cloth need not have had any particular colour or pattern - whereas today 'tartan' often refers to the pattern of colours specifically, rather than the material itself. The pattern of crossing coloured lines and stripes is known as a 'sett'. 

In Scottish culture, the distinct colours and patterns of tartan cloths were once said to be used to distinguish between particular clans, or families, of the Highlands and islands. In fact the idea of 'clan tartan' is thought to have been invented at the start of the 19th century when Scotland began to fashion its cultural and historical identity for the benefit of visitors.

So powerfully did the tartan enshrine notions of Scottish identity - discrete from the union of Scotland and England in 1707 - that in 1746 the wearing of tartan 'or any Highland dress' was banned under British law, with men found guilty of wearing the material punishable by up to six months in prison for the offence. 

Today visitors to Scotland delight in finding (or, in same cases, creating) the particular tartan of their family name, which need not have any historical or genealogical basis in Scotland. Many large companies and organisations also have their own tartan design, for corporate identity.

Tartan has another historic role, being the subject of the world's first colour photograph, taken by scientist James Clerk Maxwell in 1861. 
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Edinburgh itself has only one functioning tartan weaving mill today, at the top of the Royal Mile, near Edinburgh Castle. There are plenty of shops, however, who will sell you tartan-patterned products of varying degrees of authenticity and quality...

Explore Edinburgh Up-Close and Personal with my private walking tours! Contact me for more information!

Visitors to Edinburgh this summer are being made aware of the new so-called 'tartan tax', an effort to generate additional income to support charities across Scotland. It has been introduced by the government following Scotland's failure to gain full control of its finances after the referendum on Scottish independence in 2014.

Sales of any product bearing a traditional tartan pattern will be subject to an additional 1% levy at the point of sale. This includes all traditional style kilts, as well as novelty kilt products, tartan skirts, jacket and any gift items which bear a tartan design, including coasters, tea towels, and book marks. As a concession to painters and decorators, tins of tartan paint are exempt.

Cash raised from this additional tax will help support a variety of Scottish charities, engaged in work which supports traditional Scots heritage and culture. Among the first organisations to receive additional funding will be Bag Yin Music School, a Glasgow-based school teaching bagpipes to people with only one arm, a group previously unable to join in bands of these traditional Scottish musical instruments.

Other charitable bodies include those with environmental concerns, including efforts to construct a fence to mark the boundary between the Highlands and the Lowlands, helping to preserve peat fields from erosion, and WindUpScotland, seeking to put wind turbines on private houses across the country, to meet the SNP's pledge to have over 75% of Scotland's energy drawn from renewable sources by 2020.

Retailers opposed to the tartan tax have been advised that filling in the lines between the bands of colour in products branded with an iconic tartan pattern will render those products exempt from the new levy. Coloured pens will be distributed to all gift shops across Scotland for staff to take the necessary steps to avoid paying the additional tax. A strict 'colouring between the lines' policy is advised.

This 'tartan tax' is the latest controversial money-raising levy to be introduced since shops began charging for plastic bags in 2014. A suggestion to exempt purchases from paying the 'tartan tax' if paid in cash with Scottish banknotes was not given approval.

Opponents have suggested the tax will be more damaging to this emblem of Scottish identity than the law which prohibited the wearing of tartan in 1746, when men found guilty of wearing any form of Highland dress faced six months in prison for the offence. 

​Visitors worried about the additional cost to their trip to Scotland are advised to budget accordingly, or to avoid purchasing gift products with tartan designs.

The new levy comes into effect today, 1 April, with shops granted a grace period to introduce the tax before the new financial year starts next week.

All Edinburgh Expert tours are guaranteed tartan-free. Book yours today!