Published in Scotland Magazine Issue 9 on 20/7/2003.

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Edinburgh's deep, dark secrets

DIANE MACLEAN TOOK A SPINE-TINGLING TRIP DOWN INTO EDINBURGH’S UNDERBELLY AND ITS ‘MOST HAUNTED PLACE’: MARY KING’S CLOSE

Midway down Edinburgh’s Royal Mile stands the proud building housing the City Chambers. Built in the 1750s, it was a testament to the city’s burgeoning wealth, yet this building, magnificent in itself, sits on top of buildings even more intriguing. Edinburgh’s deepest, darkest secret, rumoured to be the most haunted place in the city, is Mary King’s Close, and it has lain beneath the City Chambers for over 400 years.

This close would originally have been a narrow walkway with houses reaching up on either side. It runs off at right angles to the Royal Mile at an incline. Over the centuries, starting with the building of the City Chambers, the whole close has been gradually covered. You would never guess that under the streets of Edinburgh lies a perfectly-preserved close.

Now, after more than a year of historical and archæological research, Mary King’s Close has been opened up as a new tourist attraction. The close and the full story of its occupants is ready to see the light of day once more.

I took the trip on a glorious spring morning, swapping sunshine for underground cold. My guide was the servant-girl Agnes Chambers. Dressed in period costume, she took us down bare stone stairs in dim torchlight, until daylight and the clatter of traffic disappeared.

When we reached the bottom, we saw the close. Dark and menacing, it vibrated with the past. Barely stopping, we were swept into the partially-reconstructed house where Mary King lived in 1629. She owned and ran a shop o.....

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By Diane Maclean

Section : ScotMag Recommends

Page number : 56