Greyfriars Kirkyard

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Greyfriars Kirkyard
Greyfriars Kirkyard, Edinburgh.JPG
Greyfriars Kirkyard and Edinburgh Castle
Details
Year established 1561 - 1562
Location Old Town, Edinburgh
Country Scotland
Type Public
Owned by City of Edinburgh Council
Size ?

Greyfriars Kirkyard is the graveyard surrounding Greyfriars Kirk in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located at the southern edge of the Old Town, adjacent to George Heriot's School. Burials have been taking place since the late 16th century, and a number of notable Edinburgh residents are interred at Greyfriars. The Kirkyard is operated by City of Edinburgh Council in liaison with a charitable trust, which is linked to but separate from the church. The Kirkyard and its monuments are protected as a category A listed building.[1]

Contents

History [edit]

Greyfriars takes its name from the Franciscan friary on the site, which was dissolved in 1559. The churchyard was founded in 1561/2, to replace the churchyard at St Giles, which was considered full. A record from the Town Council records for 23 April 1561 reads:

Because it is thoct gude that thair be na buriall within the Kirk, and that the kirk-zaird is nocht of sufficient rowme for bureing of the deid, and for esdrewing of the savour and inconvenientis that may follow thairupon in the heit of somer, it would be providit that ane buriall place be maid farrer from the myddis of the town, sic as in the Greyfreir zaird and the somyn biggit and maid close.[2]
Because it is thought correct that there should be no more burials within the church [ie St Giles], and because that kirkyard is not thought to have sufficient room for burying the dead, and taking into consideration the smell and inconvenience in the heat of summer, it would be provided [by the council] that a burial place be made further from the middle of town, such as in Greyfriars yard, and the same [should be] built up and made secure.
Hill & Adamson photograph dated 1848, showing D O Hill sketching at the Dennystoun Monument, watched by the Misses Morris.

The Kirkyard was involved in the history of the Covenanters. The Covenanting movement began with signing of the National Covenant in Greyfriars Kirk on 28 February 1638. Following the defeat of the militant Covenanters at Bothwell Brig in 1679, some 1200 Covenanters were imprisoned in a field to the south of the churchyard. When, in the 18th century, part of this field was amalgamated into the churchyard as vaulted tombs the area became known as the "Covenanters' Prison".

During the early days of photography in the 1840s the kirkyard was used by David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson as a setting for several portraits and tableaux such as The Artist and The Gravedigger.

Greyfriars Bobby [edit]

The graveyard is associated with Greyfriars Bobby, the loyal dog who guarded his master's grave. Bobby's headstone at the entrance to the Kirkyard, erected by the Dog Aid Society in 1981, marks his actual burial place in an unconsecrated patch of the Kirkyard - a peculiarity which has led to many misunderstandings and fictions about his burial. The dog's statue is opposite the graveyard's gate, at the junction of George IV Bridge and Candlemaker Row. The grave of Edinburgh police officer John Gray, where the dog famously slept for 13 years, lies on the eastern path, some 30m north of the entrance. The stone is modern, the grave originally being unmarked. Newer researchs suggest that this story is a myth. [3]

Monuments [edit]

Mortsafes to deter 'resurrectionists' from exhuming the dead before the 1832 Anatomy Act regulated the legal supply of corpses for medical purposes.

Enclosed vaults are found mainly on the south edge of the graveyard and in the "Covenanters' Prison". These either have solid stone walls or iron railings and were created as a deterrent to grave robbing, which had become a problem in the eighteenth century. Greyfriars also has two low ironwork cages, called mortsafes. These were leased, and protected bodies for long enough to deter the attentions of the early nineteenth century resurrection men who supplied Edinburgh Medical College with corpses for dissection.

Notable monuments include the Martyr's Monument, which remembers executed Covenanters. The Italianate monument to Sir George Mackenzie was designed by the architect James Smith, and modelled on the Tempietto di San Pietro, designed by Donato Bramante.[4] Duncan Ban MacIntyre's memorial was renovated in 2005, at a cost of about £3,000, raised by a fundraising campaign of over a year.[5] The monument of John Byres of Coates, 1629, was one of last works of the royal master mason William Wallace.

Tomb of Sir George Mackenzie

Haunting [edit]

The Greyfriars Cemetery is reputedly haunted. One such haunt is attributed to the restless spirit of the infamous 'Bluidy' George Mackenzie buried there in 1691. The 'Mackenzie Poltergeist' is said to cause bruising, bites and cuts on those who come into contact with it and many visitors have reported feeling strange sensations. Visitors who take a ghost tour, which has access to the Covenanters' Prison, have reportedly emerged with injuries which they had no recollection of sustaining. Even more interestingly, a number of deaths have taken place in the Kirkyard itself. The television shows Scariest Places on Earth and Extreme Ghost Stories featured Greyfriars Cemetery.

Notable burials [edit]

Monument to John Mylne, erected by his nephew Robert

Gallery [edit]

  • Notable burials

  • Section of the east wall

  • Monuments on the east wall

  • George Buchanan Memorial

  • Tomb of John Bayne of Pitcairlie (17thC)

  • Detail on the tomb of George Foulis, laird of Ravilstoun (d.1633) and his wife, Jane Bannatyne

  • Detail on the John Mylne Monument (17thC)

  • Martyrs' Monument (left), commemorating Covenanters who died during 'The Killing Time' (1661-88)

  • Tombstone of James Borthwick, surgeon, who died in 1676

  • Recumbent figure on the tomb of William and Clement Little, 1683

  • Gravestones in the north-west of the kirkyard, including marker for the burial site of George Watson

  • Thomas Riddell's grave is believed to be the inspiration for one of the characters in J. K. Rowling´s Harry Potter fantasy series, as the character Lord Voldemort was born as Tom Riddle

References [edit]

  1. ^ "Greyfriars Churchyard". Historic Scotland. Retrieved 2010-02-18. 
  2. ^ Edinburgh Council Records 23rd April 1561
  3. ^ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/8679341/The-legend-of-Greyfriars-Bobby-really-is-a-myth.html
  4. ^ Gifford, John (1989) William Adam 1689–1748, Mainstream Publishing / RIAS. pp.62–67
  5. ^ http://www.spl.org.uk/news/2004_2308.html

External links [edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Greyfriars Kirkyard

Coordinates: 55°56′48″N 3°11′32″W / 55.94667°N 3.19222°W / 55.94667; -3.19222

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