Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
seum houses an eclectic collection covering natural history, archaeology, scientific and in-
dustrial technology, and the decorative arts of ancient Egypt, Islam, China, Japan, Korea
and the West.
CHURCH
Greyfriars Kirk & Kirkyard
(
www.greyfriarskirk.com
;
Candlemaker Row; 10.30am-4.30pm Mon-Fri & 11am-2pm
Sat Apr-Oct, 1.30-3.30pm Thu only Nov-Mar)
One of Edinburgh's most famous churches,
Greyfriars Kirk was built on the site of a Franciscan friary and opened for worship on
Christmas Day 1620. In 1638 the
National Covenant
was signed here, rejecting Charles
I's attempts to impose episcopacy and a new English prayer book on the Scots, and af-
firming the independence of the Scottish Church. Many who signed were later executed at
the Grassmarket and, in 1679, 1200 Covenanters were held prisoner in terrible conditions
in the southwestern corner of the kirkyard. There's a small exhibition inside the church.
Surrounding the church, hemmed in by high walls and overlooked by the brooding
presence of the castle,
Greyfriars Kirkyard
is one of Edinburgh's most evocative
cemeteries, a peaceful green oasis dotted with elaborate monuments. Many famous Edin-
burgh names are buried here, including the poet Allan Ramsay (1686-1758), architect
William Adam (1689-1748) and William Smellie (1740-95), the editor of the first edition
of the
Encyclopedia Britannica
.
If you want to experience the graveyard at its scariest - inside a burial vault, in the
dark, at night - go on one of Black Hart Storytellers' guided tours (
Click here
)
.
Greyfriars Bobby Statue
The memorials inside Greyfriars Kirkyard are interesting, but the one that draws the
biggest crowds is outside, opposite the pub beside the kirkyard gate. It's the tiny statue of
Greyfriars Bobby, a Skye terrier who, from 1858 to 1872, maintained a vigil over the
grave of his master, an Edinburgh police officer. The story was immortalised in a novel by
Eleanor Atkinson in 1912, and in 1963 was made into a movie by Walt Disney. Bobby's
own grave, marked by a small, pink granite stone, is just inside the kirkyard entrance. You
can see his original collar and bowl in the Museum of Edinburgh (
Click here
)
.
MONUMENT
Grassmarket
STREET
