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The Old Tolbooth was a medieval building located on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Demolished in 1817, the Tolbooth served various purposes during its existence. It housed early meetings of the Estates of Scotland, Court of Session, and also of the Provost and Burgesses of the Burgh Council. Furthermore it was employed as the Burgh's main Gaol, and was one of the more popular places of public execution and torture for criminals and enemies of the state alike.

Location

The Tolbooth was situated in present day Parliament Square to the west door of St. Giles Cathedral where its footprint is today marked out by brass markers on the setts of the square. The decorative setts known as the Heart of Midlothian is where the entrance to building is purported to have been.

History

Originally the revenues of the burgh were granted to the monks of Holyrood, but by the 14thc. trade in the burgh was flourishing to the extent that Robert II signed a charter granting the burgesses the right to a construct a 'belhous' in what is now Parliament Square. This in order to organise collections of revenues on goods sold in the maket thereof and to collect taxes for the crown.

Famous Inmates and Executions

• Deacon Brodie
• James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton
• James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose
• Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll
• Captain John Porteous
• Major Weir

The Tolbooth in Fiction

The Tolbooth features heavily in the 1818 work The Heart of Midlothian, by Sir Walter Scott. Published the year after the demolition of the building, Scott obtained the entrance doorway to the gaol and incorporated it into his new mansion of Abbotsford House