Published in Scotland Magazine Issue 39 on 23/06/2008.

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Supernatural Scotland

It was extremely dark and unnaturally cold. I could hear a dog barking and the clatter of horses hooves on the cobbled street in front of me. On all sides were shadows cast by the flicker of lamplight. From the far distance came the hollow sound of laughter, then a sudden cry as the clock of the High Kirk of St Giles struck the hour. Anearby door creaked open, then slammed shut.

I was 40 feet below Edinburgh’s Royal Mile for the launch of the 10-day Mary King’s Ghost Festival, now in its fourth year. Mary King, I should explain, was the daughter of Alexander King, a wealthy Scottish advocate who lived in the 16th century.

He named the narrow passage of properties which he owned Mary King’s Close, after his daughter, and today, this lies directly underneath Edinburgh’s City Chambers. Scotland’s Capital was built on seven hills, and its old town drops down several layers below its highest point.

No doubt Mary King enjoyed the rental income she received from her inheritance during her lifetime.

However, in the following century, the bubonic plague swept through the wynds and vennels of the old town causing a death rate of 80 per cent. In 1645, Mary King’s Close, described as “the smelliest, most rat infested place on earth,” was evacuated, the doors and windows of its cramped houses bricked in and boarded up regardless of whether or not there was still anyone left inside.

By the 18th century, what had been there was totally forgotten, submerged far below the splendour of th.....

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By Roddy Martine

Section : Roddy Martine's World

Page number : 7