History of Leith, Edinburgh

Once the lead bars, or ‘Pigs’ as they were known, had been weighed, they were loaded onto horse drawn carts and transported 55 miles to the port of Leith near Edinburgh for export. Each cart held only 5 bars because of their weight! for more click here

This broadside, a hybrid of list and public announcement, begins: ‘List of the Horses book’d, That are to run for the Fifty Pound Sterling Plate, set out by the Town of Edinburgh, to be run for on Friday the 14. of June instant, on the Sands at Leith.’ After naming the horses, riders and owners, the writer tells his audience the exact time when the race will start. Although the sheet was published in Edinburgh in 1728, the publisher is not identified. for more click here

This first edition was produced in Anchor Close of the High Street in Edinburgh in 1771

John Napier, eighth Laird of Merchiston was born in Merchiston Tower in 1550 and was known as the ‘Marvellous Merchiston’, a title which was well-deserved, for his genius and imaginative vision encompassed a number of fields. At the age of thirteen Napier went to St Salvator ‘s College in St Andrews but left without graduating. If is thought that he then travelled in Europe between 1566 to 7577, perhaps studying in Paris or Holland though there is no corroborative proof of this. It is interesting to note that these were difficult years for Scotland with the dethronement of Queen Mary on the murder of her husband Darnley and the subsequent coronation of her infant son, James. for more click here

Although the picture above was taken at a demonstration in Glasgow exactly the same thing happened in Leith during the First World War. While husbands were fighting in France Landlords started to demand higher and higher rents due to some workers in munition factories being paid a higher wage. One unfortunate Landlord in Leith was tarred and fathered and thrown out of the Town.

The “Fruit Seller” by Walter Geikie (1795-1837). He produced many paintings of street scenes of Old Edinburgh and the countryside.

A NEW road bridge across the Forth is expected to be approved within weeks following fears there may be no viable solution to corrosion problems on the current structure, The Scotsman can reveal.

Ministers yesterday dramatically fast-tracked the process by announcing a decision in principle would be made by Easter – 16 April. for more click here

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Is there for honesty poverty
That hings his head, an’ a’ that;
The coward slave — we pass him by,
We dare be poor for a’ that!
For a’ that, an’ a’ that,
Our toils obscure an’ a’ that,
The rank is but the guinea’s stamp,
The man’s the gowd for a’ that.

What though on hamely fare we dine,
Wear hoddin grey, an’ a’ that?
Gie fools their silks, and knaves their wine,
A man’s a man for a’ that.
For a’ that, an’ a’ that,
Their tinsel show, an’ a’ that,
The honest man, tho’ e’er sae poor,
Is king o’ men for a’ that.

Ye see yon birkie ca’d a lord,
Wha struts, an’ stares, an’ a’ that;
Tho’ hundreds worship at his word,
He’s but a coof for a’ that.
For a’ that, an’ a’ that,
His ribband, star, an’ a’ that,
The man o’ independent mind
He looks an’ laughs at a’ that.

A prince can mak a belted knight,
A marquis, duke, an’ a’ that,
But an honest man’s aboon his might,
Gude faith, he maunna fa’ that!
For a’ that, an’ a’ that,
Their dignities an’ a’ that,
The pith o’ sense, an’ pride o’ worth,
Are higher rank than a’ that.

Then let us pray that come it may,
(As come it will for a’ that,)
That Sense and Worth, o’er a’ the earth,
Shall bear the gree, an’ a’ that,
For a’ that, an’ a’ that,
It’s coming yet for a’ that,
That man to man, the world o’er,
Shall brithers be for a’ that

Robert Burns