Templars, pirates and witches: exploring Leith’s hidden history We take a tour of Leith’s dark, intriguing history with Stephen Millar, author of Edinburgh’s Hidden Walks This walk, exploring some of […]

We take a tour of Leith’s dark, intriguing history with Stephen Millar, author of Edinburgh’s Hidden Walks

This walk, exploring some of Leith’s darker secrets, starts on the south side of Henderson Street where it joins Great Junction Street.

On the wall – by Greggs the bakers – look up to see a monument recalling Henderson Street’s part in a major 19th century regeneration scheme.

The monument contains Leith’s coat of arms, depicting the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus in a boat.

The i newsletter cut through the noise Email address is invalid Email address is invalid Thank you for subscribing! Sorry, there was a problem with your subscription.

The origin of these arms is obscure, although they may date back to the 15th century when South Leith parish church was first founded and dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

Some, however, suggest the figures were originally intended to represent Mary Magdalene and the baby she had with Jesus.

They believe that Mary Magdalene fled the Holy Land after Jesus was crucified, sailing across the Mediterranean and settling in the South of France.

Dan Brown linked these stories with the Cathars, Knights Templars and origins of freemasonry in The Da Vinci Code.

Leith definitely has historic links with France, through the wine trade, and with the Knights Templars who used the port and may have had a hospice here.

A myth, surely?

But perhaps keep an open mind as you continue along Henderson Street to reach St Anthony Place.

On the right is Trafalgar Hall, home of the masonic Trafalgar Lodge since 1888. Look closely at the symbols of freemasonry carved into the frontage.

The Hall stands on the site of the demolished Hospital of St Anthony, built in the 15th century, and once occupied by monks from the Order of St Anthony in Vienne, France.

If you think Dan Brown’s work is just fiction, try Googling ‘The Order of the Temple, Great Priory of Scotland’.

Members of this organisation dress up as Templars, and trace their lineage back to the traditions of the Knight Templars.

They also list Trafalgar Hall as one of their meeting places.

Slave traders and prime ministers

Continue down Henderson Street, turning left along Parliament Street to reach Sheriff Brae.

On your left look out for the spire of St Thomas’s, a former church dating from 1840.

The church was endowed by Sir John Gladstone, a merchant who was born in Leith, and today is best known for being the father of William Edwart Gladstone, the British Prime Minister.

Sir John and St Thomas’s is a grim reminder of Leith’s close links to the slave trade.

He was one of 46,000 British slave owners who claimed compensation from the government when their slaves were freed under The Slavery Abolition Act of 1833.

Sir John ‘owned’ over 2,500 slaves and received the equivalent in today’s money of £80 million – the biggest recorded pay-out.

The home of witch trials

Before you continue north along the Shore, look over to the old belfry and manse of St Ninian’s, site of the first parish church in North Leith.

The original medieval bridge over the Water of Leith crossed this point, and the north side was an execution site for witches.

In the 1590s the sensational North Berwick Witch trials unleashed a frenzy of witch hunting in Scotland.

The case arose from King James VI’s belief that a coven of witches along the coast had used black arts to try to cause the king and queen to be drowned at sea.

One Leith woman named Marioun Linkup was cited for allegedly using a cat in rituals to raise wind and storms.

Another Leither, Helen Clark, was accused of being a witch in 1643. Evidence used against her included her ‘devil’s mark’.

Authorities hired a ‘Pricker’ named William Scoby to examine Helen. Prickers stabbed accused witches with special instruments, it being believed a witch would not bleed from a ‘devil’s mark’.

Prickers often used fake instruments, with retractable points, to ‘prove’ the accused was a witch when they didn’t bleed.

The headless coachman and the falsely accused pirate

Continue along the Shore, passing Tolbooth Wynd.

According to Leith folklore, locals along Tolbooth Wynd were once terrorised on stormy nights by the ghostly Twelve O’Clock Coach that hurtled down the street driven by a headless man.

The flats on the right, stand on the site of Old Sugarhouse Close.

For hundreds of years Leith merchants sailed across the sea to trade directly with slave plantations, exchanging goods for slave-produced commodities including sugar and tobacco.

Continue north.

After a few minutes you will reach the Malmaison Hotel, occupying a building that originally served as a mission for sailors.

Opposite is the Signal Tower building, dating from 1686 – this was constructed as a windmill.

East – along Tower Street – is the location of the starting post of Leith Races.

This week-long festival of debauchery and horse racing was held on Leith Sands every summer from at least 1504 until 1816.

The races then moved to Musselburgh where they remain today.

This area, before land reclamation pushed the northern boundary of Leith much further out, was known as Leith Sands.

For centuries pirates were executed on the Sands.

One sensational case in 1705 involved an Englishman, Captain Green, who was falsely accused of piracy against Scottish ships.

Anti-English sentiment was then very high, and the judiciary were too scared to acquit Green. He was hanged in front of a frenzied mob of 80,000.

The last execution of pirates on Leith Sands was in 1822, and the bodies of the two prisoners were taken for dissection at Edinburgh’s medical school.

Recently local building works have uncovered the remains of bodies, possibly of pirates who were hung along the shore in chains to act as a deterrent.

The walk finishes here, so you can return along the Shore and sample one of the many cafes and bars that make Leith so vibrant.

Edinburgh’s Hidden Walks by Stephen Millar is available to pre-order at Amazon.co.uk