Tag: Edinburgh
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Chopin – Summer in Scotland
Daisy Yip’s fictional piece reimagines the first two days of Chopin’s visit to Edinburgh.
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Cleaning Up Auld Reekie: Dr Henry Littlejohn and the Public Health of Edinburgh
Edinburgh has historically been known as ‘Auld Reekie,’ owing to the fact that for most of its existence it smelled awful. Ailsa Fraser explores how Dr Henry Littlejohn, the city’s first Medical Officer, helped to clean up the city.
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A History of the Vaults beneath Edinburgh’s South Bridge
The Edinburgh Vaults, constructed in 1788 beneath the South Bridge, transitioned from storage spaces to a refuge for the impoverished. Due to unsanitary conditions, they became infamous for illicit activities. Rediscovered in the 1980s, Louisa Steijger analyses how they now serve as a historical venue, reflecting the city’s complex identity.
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Murder, Resurrection and Dissection: The Dark History of Edinburgh’s Medical Past
In 1827 Edinburgh, Burke and Hare murdered lodgers to sell corpses to Dr. Knox, leading to Burke’s execution and posthumous dissection for anatomy. Abbie Teal recounts this gruesome episode of Edinburgh’s history.
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Farewell Juniper Green
Not so long ago you could be deported to Australia for committing a minor crime. Stuart McFarlane’s poem explores the feeling of being forced to leave Edinburgh.
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Craigmillar Castle: Edinburgh’s Forgotten ‘Other Castle’
Craigmillar Castle boasts a six-hundred-year history, but is often overlooked as Edinburgh’s forgotten castle. Eleanor Whitehead explores the stories of alleged witchcraft, royal escapes, and infamous plots that haunt the castle’s history.
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Memorials and Memoirs: Piecing Together the Lives of Formerly Enslaved Women
Malvina Wells, born in Carriacou around 1804, was one of a number of enslaved persons brought to Scotland during the period of colonial expansionism. Verity Limond examines the stories of women freed from slavery in Britain, where sources are sparse, to help shed light on their lives and experiences.
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Dead and Buried? Finding Edinburgh’s last hanged woman in oral history
Charged with a most heinous crime, Jessie King would come to sit in the annals of Scottish history as the last woman hanged in Edinburgh. Chloe Bramwell explores the story of a woman who may have been as much a victim of circumstance as a villain for commercial tours to exploit.
Retrospect Journal 