Edinburgh - Scotland - page 100

UNDERGROUND EDINBURGH
As Edinburgh expanded in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, many old tenements were demolished and new
bridges were built to link the Old Town to the newly built areas to its north and south. South Bridge (built
between 1785 and 1788) and George IV Bridge (built between 1829 and 1834) lead south from the Royal Mile
over the deep valley of Cowgate, but so many buildings have been constructed around them you can hardly tell
they are bridges - George IV Bridge has a total of nine arches but only two are visible; South Bridge has no less
than 18 hidden arches.
These subterranean vaults were originally used as storerooms, workshops and drinking dens. But as Edin-
burgh's population swelled in the early 19th century with an influx of penniless Highlanders cleared from their
lands, and Irish refugees from the potato famine, the dark, dripping chambers were given over to slum accommod-
ation and abandoned to poverty, filth and crime.
The vaults were eventually cleared in the late 19th century, then lay forgotten until 1994 when the South
Bridge vaults were opened to guided tours. Certain chambers are said to be haunted and one particular vault was
investigated by paranormal researchers in 2001.
Nevertheless, the most ghoulish aspect of Edinburgh's hidden history dates from much earlier - from the plague
that struck the city in 1645. Legend has it that the disease-ridden inhabitants of Mary King's Close (a lane on the
northern side of the Royal Mile, on the site of the City Chambers - you can still see its blocked-off northern end
from Cockburn St) were walled up in their houses and left to perish. When the lifeless bodies were eventually
cleared from the houses, they were so stiff that workmen had to hack off limbs to get them through the small
doorways and narrow, twisting stairs.
From that day on, the close was said to be haunted by the spirits of the plague victims. The few people who
were prepared to live there reported seeing apparitions of severed heads and limbs, and the largely abandoned
close fell into ruin. When the Royal Exchange (now the City Chambers) was constructed between 1753 and 1761,
it was built over the lower levels of Mary King's Close, which were left intact and sealed off beneath the building.
Interest in the close revived in the 20th century when Edinburgh's city council began to allow occasional
guided tours to enter. Visitors have reported many supernatural experiences - the most famous ghost is 'Sarah', a
little girl whose sad tale has prompted people to leave gifts of dolls in a corner of one of the rooms. In 2003 the
close was opened to the public as the Real Mary King's Close ( Click here ) .
Edinburgh entered a new era following the 1997 referendum vote in favour of a de-
volved Scottish parliament, which first convened in July 1999. The parliament is housed
in a controversial modern building at the foot of the Royal Mile. The 2007 elections saw
the Scottish National Party, whose long-term aim is independence for Scotland, take
power for the first time.