 Edinburgh's 'Speaking House' Keep your eyes peeled as you explore Edinburgh and you'll soon start to notice all kinds of carvings and decorated panels in the walls of buildings around the city. Many of the old buildings had words or phrases carved into the lintels above doorways, and decorative panels bearing Latin phrases and mottos were often placed on structures to reflect the beliefs or the character of the people who lived there. Here are some of the decorative carvings to look out for around the city...  NISI DOMINUS FRUSTRA This is the Latin motto of the city of Edinburgh itself, found on the coat of arms of the city and in various other forms around the town. It translates as 'without God [is it] in vain', which is a shortened version of a phrase in Psalm 127 from the Bible: "Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain." Essentially the phrase was an assertion of the godliness of Edinburgh, something we can see in many of the other examples of lintel carvings - contrast this with the motto of Glasgow, Scotland's largest city, which is: 'Let Glasgow flourish'. More of a mouthful, I always think, but a little more plain-spoken in its meaning!  NEMO ME IMPUNE LACESSIT Another bit of Latin and one closely linked to Edinburgh Castle and the Scottish armies who defended the country against invasion. It means 'No man shall attack me with impunity' - or, to put it more simply, 'If you hit me, I'll hit you back'. Which not only a pretty Scottish sentiment, it's also what you'd probably expect if you were to pick a fight with the forces ranged behind the castle walls!  SPES ALTERA VITAE This is a phrase that you'll find quite commonly over the doorways into Edinburgh's old houses. It means 'In hope of another life' - not so much that the residents were wishing for a different life from the one they had, but that they were expectant of the life that followed this one in the mortal realm. This example can be found on Advocate's Close, off the High Street near St Giles' Cathedral. The date above the door is 1590, an the initials in the stone - CC and HB - are for Clement Cor and his wife Helen Bellenden. Cor died in 1608 and was buried near St Andrews.  ESTO FIDUS This Latin phrase can be seen on a door inside the People's Story museum on the Canongate. Although the door is an internal one today, originally it would have been an external doorway, accessed by a stair from the street. The phrase itself means 'Be faithful' - a good motto for life in general, and the small detail of the hand with a pointing finger is rather lovely too. THE SPEAKING HOUSE Across the road from the People's Story is the Museum of Edinburgh, in a building which was formerly known as Huntly House, and sometimes colloquially referred to as the Speaking House - because of the four Latin inscriptions on its front wall. These phrases are a little more detailed than the brief mottos above the doorway lintels described above - although one of them is a version of Spes altera vitae, featuring ears of corn growing from between crossed bones, a symbol of rebirth or new life... Ut tu linguae tuae sic ego mear auriu dominus sum - 'As you are the master of your tongue, so I am master of my ear'....! A curiously snarky phrase, perhaps, but one I rather like!
 Constanti pectori res mortalium umbra - 'Mortal affairs are a shadow on a steadfast heart', a poetic way of reminding us of our mortality... The final panel bears the date of the building's original construction - 1570 - with another Latin motto: Hodie mihi cras tibi cur igitur curas - 'Today to me, tomorrow to you, why worry?' Or, what goes around comes around... Although the prevalence of Latin phrases suggests it was widely understood across Scotland, it would largely only have been scholars and academics who could read it. But it was a language which had a sense of status, hence its use in these formal carvings which would have been used to reflect the standing of the people whose houses they adorned. Later carvings and phrases - especially after the Reformation in 1560, when Latin was displaced as the language of the church in Scotland - represented people's thoughts and beliefs in Scots, which is broadly more easily understood.  BLESST BE GOD FOR AL[L] HIS GIFTS A simple phrase giving thanks for the munificence of God, to show the appreciation of the people for his generosity. This (partial) example is from a doorway, long since closed off, at the bottom of West Bow in the Old Town, with the date 1616.  LVFE GOD ABVFE AL[L] AND YI NYCHTBOVR AS YI SELF More religious instruction - this one can be found above the window of John Knox's House on the Royal Mile, and may partly be a reason why the building developed an apocryphal association with the Protestant reformer himself.  HE THAT THOLES OVERCOMES A peculiarly Scottish proverb this, with the word 'thole' being to bear, to endure, or to tolerate. This is another doorway on Advocate's Close, on a building dating from 1882, as per the date on the upper part of the lintel.  Other buildings often had specific phrases or sayings linked to their particular purpose. Here, for example, is the original doorway into the guild of baxters (bread bakers) which can be found in the Dean Village in the New Town. Although a bit worn and weathered, it reads: God bless the baxters of Edin | brugh who built this house 1675. So, not unbefitting the world's first UNESCO City of Literature, there are words to be discovered all around us in Edinburgh, giving an insight into the ideas, virtues, beliefs and ambitions of the people who lived and worked in these buildings centuries ago...
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