EDINBURGH EXPERT WALKING TOURS

Edinburgh Expert Walking Tours BLOG

Buy Me a Coffee
Enjoy the blog but can't take a tour? Buy me a coffee!

Blog Archive
  • Home
  • Private Edinburgh Tours
    • Customised Edinburgh Tours
    • Fixed Route Tours >
      • Royal Mile Tour
      • New Town Tour
      • Old and New Towns Tour
      • Beyond the World's End Tour
  • Book Online
  • About Your Guide
  • Blog

17/10/2017

Taxi! Navigating Edinburgh's Old Town

Read Now
 
PictureThe narrow alley of Tweeddale Court
Edinburgh's Old Town is far from an easy place to explore today, with its narrows closes and wynds running down the often steep inclines of the rock on which the city is built, and cut through with long, steep staircases and treacherous cobbles (actually called setts) underfoot. 

But in times past the city would have been even trickier to negotiate, with the lanes often being far narrower than they are today, few areas that were paved, and - worst of all - open sewers running along almost every surface...

Pity the unfortunate high status person who had need to visit this part of town! For those who were to the manor (or, later, New Town) born, the dirty, overcrowded and dangerous city was a threat not just to their health, but to the cleanliness of their clothes.

PictureOne of Edinburgh's original sedan chairs
Thus, on 19 October, 1687 the city's first formal taxi service was proposed. Alexander Hay, a carpenter, had constructed six sedan chairs - padded seats enclosed in a wooden compartment, mounted on two wooden poles - which could be carried between the shoulders of two footmen, for the purpose of transporting those who could afford his service through the areas of the city not accessible by coach and/or horse.

Hay applied to the council for a monopoly to run this service exclusively, and was granted the right to operate his sedan chairs without competition for a period of 11 years. For just 7 Scots shillings per hour travellers could use the taxi service to travel along any of the lanes and alleys between Edinburgh Castle and Holyrood. Travel outwith the limits of the city, beyond the Old Town, was by a price to be negotiated on pick-up.  ​

PictureThe last sedan chair storage shed
The sedan chairs had to be stored overnight in sheds around the city, and Tweeddale Court, near the World's End, still has one of the buildings which served this purpose. The unassuming looking stone structure on the right of the alley as you go into the lane from the Royal Mile is the last surviving sedan chair storage shed in Edinburgh and is (some claim) the smallest protected structure in the city.

(And Tweeddale Court itself, in the section immediately off the Royal Mile, gives an indication of how narrow many of these lanes originally would have been...)

Today the only sedan chairs you're likely to see on the streets of Edinburgh can be found on the sign for the Museum of Edinburgh on Canongate, where the red-liveried jackets of the footmen carrying the sedan chair give an indication of how strikingly colourful this method of transport would have been.

Following Alexander Hay's death, his widow made an application to Edinburgh council in 1700 to extend the monopoly her husband held on operating the service. Her petition was granted, allowing her to continue drawing income from the business, in order to pay for the support and education of her children.

I can't offer tours of Edinburgh in sedan chairs, but my walking tours will help you explore the lanes and alleys of the city's Old Town!

Share


Comments are closed.
Details

    Search the blog archive...

    Categories

    All
    Architecture Of Edinburgh
    Around Town
    A To Z Of Edinburgh
    City Of Literature
    Edinburgh History
    Edinburgh Local Heroes
    Edinburgh's Graveyards
    Expert Advice
    Local Flavour
    Museums And Galleries
    New Town
    Old Town
    Scottish History

    Archives

    January 2023
    November 2022
    October 2022
    July 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    October 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    April 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    August 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    August 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014

EDINBURGH TOURS
​Customised Edinburgh Walking Tours
Fixed Route Edinburgh Walking Tours
​​Edinburgh's New Town Walking Tour
Edinburgh's Old and New Towns Tour
Old Town and Royal Mile Walking Tour
Beyond the World's End Walking Tour​
BOOK A TOUR ONLINE
​Book an Edinburgh Tour
Edinburgh Tour Pricing
​Terms and Conditions
​Interactive Edinburgh map
CONTACT​
About Your Tour Guide
Edinburgh Expert Blog
​Frequently Asked Questions
​Telephone: +44 (0) 131 235 2351
Email: gareth@edinburghexpert.com
© COPYRIGHT GARETH DAVIES ​2014-23
Featured on KAYAK Travel Guides
  • Home
  • Private Edinburgh Tours
    • Customised Edinburgh Tours
    • Fixed Route Tours >
      • Royal Mile Tour
      • New Town Tour
      • Old and New Towns Tour
      • Beyond the World's End Tour
  • Book Online
  • About Your Guide
  • Blog