Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
lection, which contains more than 1000 instruments, ranging from a 400-year-old lute to a
1959 synthesiser.
ADAM LYAL (DECEASED): GHOST
Adam Lyal (deceased) - aka Andrew Henderson - is the ghost of an Edinburgh highwayman who was hanged at the
Tolbooth in 1811, and a tour leader with Cadies & Witchery Tours.
What are Edinburgh's spookiest places?
The graveyards, though I would hesitate to recommend that anyone go
to visit them at night! The spookiest by far is undoubtedly the Old Calton Burial Ground on Waterloo Rd, home to
such departed notables as philosopher David Hume.
Where would a hard-working ghoul go to slake his thirst?
We tend to do our carousing in some of the Old
Town's marvellous little howffs (pubs), such as the Jolly Judge (
Click here
)
, and we can often be found in the Bow
Bar (
Click here
).
Can you recommend any good off-the-beaten-track places?
The wonderful thing about Edinburgh's Old Town
is that so much of it is off the beaten track! One of my favourite venues is Whistle Binkie's (
Click here
)
. It's quite
hard to spot, being located under the actual street, with only a doorway on the pavement leading down, but it's well
worth finding. Of course, there are other tours in Edinburgh, and the one I'd recommend to anyone is the Literary
Pub Tour (
Click here
)
. Booze, history and Scottish literature? It's a work of genius!
Burry Man
If you're in Edinburgh on the first Friday of August, head west to the village of Queens-
ferry to see the bizarre Burry Man. As part of the village gala day, a local man spends nine
hours roaming the streets wearing a woolly suit, which has been laboriously covered from
head to toe in big, green, prickly burrs. One glance at his costume - he looks like a child's
drawing of a Martian, with added prickles - would make you think he's suffering a medi-
eval punishment, but it's actually a great honour to be selected.
CULTURAL
