I mentioned in an earlier post the closes were narrow winding streets between buildings. The buildings were typically at least 7 stories high and held apartments and shops. The picture to the right is of the Fleshmarket close. This close led to, as you may have already guessed, the market where animals were bought, sold and sometimes, slaughtered.
The area around Mary King's Close, apparently originally names Alexander King's Close (no relation to Mary), was a shopping area back in the day. Mary King moved there with her four kids after her husband's death. Through her work as a seamstress, Mary King became wealthy enough to become a burgess, a status that very few women held. Only burgesses had voting rights within the city.
In 1753, the burgh council decided to build the Royal Exchange in the Mary King Close area. The top floors of the buildings were knocked down with the bottom floors being used as a foundation. Mary King's Close was re-opened in 2003 and now offers an opportunity to see what life was like in the closes around the 1600s. It was not pretty and the poorer one was, the less pretty life was.
As mentioned, most of the tenements were 7 stories. The wealthiest people lived on the higher levels, and did not have to deal with as much shit, literally, as the poorer individuals below. On the lower floors it was not uncommon for a family of 10 to live in a room that was maybe 10x10. Because the buildings were so close together, it was difficult for sunlight to reach many of the apartments; the lower the level the less light, leaving the first floor in pitch blackness.
With that family of 10, there might have been a couple of animals thrown in just for good measure, making that 10x10 room a bit more crowded and odoriferous. There was no running water or sanitation, which leads to the question of where 10 people and maybe a couple of animals relieved themselves? Well, a small bucket in one of the corners of course, with the crap from the animals picked up and thrown right on top!
Okay, so what happened to the bucket when it was full? Why the shit was thrown out the window of course. Two times a day, perhaps 10 at night and 7 in the morning, a lot of shit came flying out of a lot of buildings, with a shout of “Garde Loo” to warn people to get the hell out of the way!
I can imagine that the smells in Edinburgh were quite unpleasant in the 1600s. I referred to the area in which the closes were located as Old Town. New Town did not begin to exist until the 1700s. Old town Edinburgh is situated on a hill, so the term, “the shit rolls downhill” was quite literal, and of course the closer to the bottom of the hill, the worse the stench became. At the bottom of the hill was Nor Loch where all the shit as well as other garbage from the city (remember the animal slaughtering....) ended up. In the 1820s, the Loch was drained and turned into a public garden known as Princes Street Gardens. It is no doubt, the greenest garden I have ever seen.
Now, back to the tour of the Real Mary King's Close.... It was very dark and eerie and when the plague hit in the 1600s it got even more so. There was a rumor that victims of the plague were simply walled up in their homes and starved to death, but this is not true. In fact, the ill were treated well despite the fear of the plague.
A story told by our tour guide:
There was a little girl whose name was Annie, who had already lost her parents and was ill herself. When she became ill, she was taken away and put into a room until her death. Not long ago, soon after the Close had been rediscovered, a medium was wandering around a particular section of the close and “felt a presence” of a little girl. The little girl, Annie, seemed to be very sad. The medium learned from the girl that she was sad because she lost her doll and had been looking for her for many years. A few days later, the medium brought another doll into the close, and felt that the Annie seemed more peaceful. Now, when in that particular part of the tour, one will see hundreds of toys in a pile where the little girl apparently died. These toys have been sent from all over the world. Money is sent too, in honor of Annie, and is donated to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children. Many tourists claim, when visiting that section of the close, they can still feel the presence of Annie.
A lot of death happened in those closes; natural and otherwise. I wouldn't be surprised if Annie wasn't alone....
Further down the close was a sawmaker's workshop, which was still in operation in the 19th Century. The family that worked and lived there, had one of the only toilets in the close, before it was finally shut down.
So ended the tour of Mary King's Close.
As I mentioned above, the particular day in Edinburgh was my favorite. I could feel the history of the city the moment we walked into the Old Town two days earlier, but the tour of the Palace and the Close allowed the history to permeate my skin. There were times when I found myself thinking about some current events; realizing somethings haven't really changed. There are still governments that use bloodshed and treachery to "govern" and the shit continues to roll down hill.
We headed back the hostel to get ready for dinner and hopefully meet up with the final two Canadian adventurers who were joining the clan. Unfortunately, bad weather had once again hit Canada and Meg and Mo's flight was delayed. There was no indication as to how long it would be delayed. This was particularly troublesome, because the next day we were to check out of the hostel, and begin our adventure into the Scottish Highlands.
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