IT IS one of Scotland's grisliest execution spots, yet its dark history remains unknown to the tens of thousands of tourists who go there every year.
Now, the hundreds of people executed in Edinburgh's Grassmarket will be commemorated under a scheme to refurbish the thoroughfare.
Visitors to the street, in the shadow of Edinburgh Castle, will be able to discover how crowds once flocked to w
atch hangings and beheadings for a variety of offences at the east end of the street.
Historical panels, engraved poems and a layout of cobbles to mark where the gallows once stood will be added to the Covenanters' Memorial, which is being overhauled as part of a multi-million-pound revamp of the area to make it more tourist-friendly.
The existing memorial, near the West Bow, which connects the Grassmarket with Victoria Street, simply recognises the 100 Covenanters who were executed there between 1661 and 1688.
Covenanters were the Scots who signed the National Covenant in 1638 to confirm their opposition to interference by the Stuart kings in the affairs of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland.
Ministers with Covenanting sympathies were "outed" from their churches by the authorities and had to leave their parishes.
Many continued to preach at "conventicles" in the open air or in barns and houses. This became an offence punishable by death.
The Grassmarket was one of two main areas for public executions in Edinburgh, the other being at the Mercat Cross, next to St Giles' Cathedral in the Royal Mile.
City council officials have revealed plans to restore the Grassmarket memorial, create a garden area around it and better reflect the history of executions in the area, including those accused of murder, witchcraft, smuggling and child abuse.
The existing memorial dates from 1771, although it was not until 4 February, 1784, that the last execution took place – that of James Andrews, for a robbery in a park.
The Grassmarket was also the scene of the Porteous riots in 1736. John Porteous, the unpopular and brutal captain of the Town Guard, was torn from the nearby Tollbooth prison and strung up by a mob for ordering his men to open fire into an angry crowd following the earlier hanging of a smuggler.
The improvements to the Grassmarket, which include extending pavement café areas, relocating parking spaces and creating an events zone, are expected to be completed early next year.
The walls that long surrounded the Covenanters' Memorial have been removed and will make way for picnic benches in an effort to make the east end of the Grassmarket more attractive.
John Lawson, the city council archaeologist, said: "The Covenanters' Memorial has never really fully reflected the history of executions in the Grassmarket, which is not that well known these days.
"The idea with the changes that are planned is to open this area up properly, make the memorial more visible to people and explain the full history of this part of the Grassmarket better."
Phil Wheeler, the councillor in charge of public realm projects in the capital, said: "The rejuvenation of the Grassmarket will undoubtedly mean that more people visit one of the most historic areas of Edinburgh and all it has to offer.
"Marking the line of the Flodden Wall, interpreting the former hangman's gallows in stone and improving the visibility of the Covenanters' Memorial will preserve the rich and varied history of the area in a way that will be of interest to locals and visitors alike."
The female Burke and Hare duoIN 1751 Jean Waldie and Helen Torrance were sentenced to hang in the Grassmarket for kidnapping and murdering an eight-year-old boy.
Jean had discovered the child, John Dallas, when he was apparently unwell and his parents were away.
She gave him a drink and when he died contacted some surgeon-apprentices who offered two shillings and a dram of whisky in return for the child. But the apprentices dumped the corpse in a lane and Waldie and Torrance were sentenced to die. The pair were thought to have killed far more people.
Their dark deeds and those of the serial killers Burke and Hare resulted in watchtowers and iron fences at public cemeteries, while some coffins were buried under iron bars.
Brother and sister's sinful lifeJEAN Weir was hung in the Grassmarket after she and her brother, Major Thomas Weir, both apparent pillars of Edinburgh society, were found guilty of incest in 1670.
The couple lived at the foot of the West Bow, by the Grassmarket, but Major Weir – captain of the city guard – was taken into custody after neighbours became concerned about his irrational behaviour.
Weir and his sister were put in the Tolbooth jail, where Major Weir voluntarily confessed to a life of fornication, incest, sodomy and bestiality, and to using witchcraft. He also denounced his sister as a witch.
The authorities sidestepped the issue of witchcraft, but they were declared guilty of incest and foul fornication with others. Major Weir was hung in the Gallowlee, on Leith Walk.
Maggie came back from the deadMAGGIE Dickson, a fish-wife, was charged with concealing that she was pregnant with an illegitimate child after an affair with an innkeeper.
The baby died and she left the corpse on a riverbank. But the body was found and identified and Dickson was hanged in the Grassmarket in 1728.
However, while her body was being taken back to her native Musselburgh, in East Lothian, for burial, noises were heard coming from the coffin – and she was found to be still alive.
She went on to have several more children and enjoyed a long life, running an ale house. A pub named after her is still in the Grassmarket. Had Dickson been hanged in England, she would have been strung up again, as English law dictated that a person must be hanged until dead.
The full article contains 987 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
