E D I N B U R G H
4 - 8 May 2007

The Past

In order to embrace the full scope of Edinburgh, we decided to delve into its past by visiting two historic sites. One was the house and shop of a wealthy merchant, the other the reconstructed tenements of Mary King's Close.

What impressed me about the merchant was that, even though he had it good, he didn't have it that good. Being rich in the 1500's meant two things: more room and more height. The richer you were, the further up in the building you lived and the larger your rooms were. This allowed you more light (while blocking light from those beneath you) and air that wasn't quite as fetid as it was down below. But that's about all you gained; you still had to conduct all your business at street level and, one must suppose, go outside at least occasionally.

Gladston's apartment (courtesy of Gladstone website)

For the poorer people (i.e. you and me) life was anything but nice. The pay gap between working class and the upper class may seem large these days, but back then, one step down from our well-heeled merchant and his brightly painted quarters had you living in continual twilight in a windowless room just off the street with your wife and 15 or so children.

Mary King's Close (courtesy of Mary King's Close website)

Chimneys were a luxury item, so you and the other 200 families on the Close would cook over an open fire near your doorway so at least some of the smoke would waft outside. Toilets were unheard of so the bucket in the corner made do for the lot of you and every night, when the church bells rang, everyone on the street (and, presumably, the city) would slop the contents of their buckets out the door (while shouting, legend has it, "Garde de l'eau!" or "Watch the water!" which is where the modern term 'Loo' is derived). The rain of human filth covered the cobbles in an ankle-deep blanket of raw sewage that slid slowly down the streets and, eventually, into the Loch, which was where the town got its drinking water. (The loch, we were told, eventually attained the consistency of gruel.)

Mary King's Close (courtesy of Mary King's Close website)

The guides did a marvelous job of recreating medieval life for us and I wondered if some historians could actually construct an exhibit of an authentic sixteenth century street. I think it would be a marvelous and educational achievement; I also think no one would ever visit it. Hard to imagine anyone parting with nine pounds fifty for the privilege of standing in six inches of shit (and remember, shoes were only for the very wealthy) while waving smoke, flies and plague-fleas off of some rancid meat you are haggling with an old man of thirty-six over.

Life in the Middle Ages was short, brutal and didn't smell so good; so, in the words of our tour guide, "The 1500's sucked, let's go back to the 21st century."

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