History of Leith, Edinburgh

This execution notice begins: ‘THE LAST / SPEECH AND DYING WORDS, / Of John Stewart, who was executed within the Flood-Mark at Leith, upon the 4th January 1721, for the Crime of Piracy and Robbery.’ This sheet was published in Edinburgh, in 1727, by Robert Brown of Forrester’s Wynd.for more click here

This crime report begins: ‘We have the following Account of a horrid Murder committed by Pirates on the Coast of Ireland, and how they threw the Crew over board.’ Four pirates, three named John Eustace or Philip Roch, Richard Neale and Francis Wise, seized a French vessel, mastered by Peter Tartoue, on the voyage from Cork, Ireland to Nantes, France.for more click here

Verse 1: ‘Now Brave Captain Gordon’s come, / And brought more Prizes with him home / Let’s Drink a Cup full to the brim, / In Health to Captain Gordon, / Because where ever he appears, / He clears Our Coasts of Privateers, / Makes Merchant Ships Trade without fears / Through out the Northern Ocean.’ The ballad was to be sung ‘To an Excellent New Tune, Hark I hear the Cannons Roar’. for more click here

Edinburgh’s spooky Greyfriar’s Cemetery is situated in the middle of the old town, just off the end of George IV Bridge and near to the Museum of Scotland. for more click here

Known as the ‘Athens of the North’, Scotland’s capital is one of the world’s great cities.

Its centuries of history can be traced in its stunning and memorable architecture, from the towering medieval heights of the High Street, to the Georgian splendours of the New Town, and more recently with the opening of the new Scottish parliament building, one of the most ambitious buildings of the late 20th century. Between the Old and the New Towns stands the prehistoric castle rock, an extinct volcano now topped by the castle, and forming one of Scotland’s most iconic landmarks. for more click here

Historic Scotland, an Executive agency, has arranged a tour through some of the more sinister nooks and crannies of Edinburgh Castle that are not normally open to the public. for more click here

Edinburgh Castle is reputed to be one of the most haunted spots in Scotland. And Edinburgh itself has been called the most haunted city in all of Europe. On various occasions, visitors to the castle have reported a phantom piper, a headless drummer, the spirits of French prisoners from the Seven Years War and colonial prisoners from the American Revolutionary War – even the ghost of a dog wandering in the grounds’ dog cemetery. for more click here

Pumpkins have carved their way into history books and mythology, making them an autumn, and Halloween, staple.

Native Americans wove dried strips of pumpkin into mats, while colonists sliced the tops off, filled them with spices, milk and honey, and baked the entire gourd in hot ashes. for more click here

NERVOUS squaddies posted to Edinburgh Castle need no longer hide under their duvets for fear of ghosts.

While stories of the Headless Drummer, the Tunnel Piper, the Ghost Dog and the former inmates of the Castle’s dungeons have terrified locals and visitors for generations, soldiers posted on guard duty have never noticed anything going bump in the night. for more click here

Map showing the Cowgate in the 17th c from the Port to the College Wynd.