Edinburgh is not only full of folklore, legends and landmarks but also home to some of the best restaurants, quaint pubs, hotels, architecture, the art scene, and much more—meaning you can spend your afternoon exploring a haunted vault, and your evening tucking into a world-class meal by a crackling fireplace in a pub that’s older than the United States.
On my last trip to Edinburgh and as the night was falling and the sea mist began to roll in from the coast,(only about 3 miles away and worth a visit as nice sandy beaches) Edinburgh seemed to transform. The cobblestones were slick with moisture, gas lamps flickered, and the line between historical fact and folklore began to blur. For anyone seeking a stay steeped in atmosphere, poetry, and a thrilling chill down the spine, Edinburgh doesn’t just tell its history—it breathes it, as witnessed by so many.
There are a thousand tales about the ghost folk of Edinburgh, from the ancients as well as modern day visitors, but where did this all begin?
The city’s story began millions of years ago with an extinct volcano, upon which Edinburgh Castle now looms. For centuries, this fortress witnessed bloody sieges and royal betrayals. Below it grew the Old Town, a dense, medieval labyrinth of towering tenements and narrow, steep alleyways known as closes. It’s a real pleasure to walk around here, and up and down the ‘Royal Mile’ which is a cobbled stone road just over a mile which connects Edinburgh Castle at the top with the palace of Holyrood House at the bottom, and is filled with wonder everywhere you look.
It is within these shadows that Edinburgh’s mystery thrives. When the plague struck in the 17th century, parts of the city—like Mary King’s Close—were buried beneath newer structures. Today, a literal subterranean city exists beneath the modern streets, populated by tales of restless spirits and the historic cries of the forgotten.
The city’s folklore balances beautifully between the heartbreaking and the macabre.
In the 1820’s, the infamous body snatchers Burke and Hare murdered unsuspecting locals to sell their corpses to the city’s medical school. And Greyfriars Kirkyard, a beautiful yet unsettling cemetery, is home to the legend of Greyfriars Bobby—the loyal terrier who guarded his master’s grave for 14 years. Yet, just yards away, visitors report cold spots and scratches blamed on the violent poltergeist of “Bloody” George Mackenzie.
So you won’t have to go far in any direction in order to see or ‘feel’ something to pull and your heartstrings or frighten you to death!
Edinburgh – a Quick History
Edinburgh is a city carved out of volcanic rock and dark, sweeping history and to walk its streets is to step into a Gothic fairy tale, where the divide between the living world and the supernatural feels famously thin.
Before the tumultuous 16th century, the shadow of the English Tudors reshaped the city forever; following the devastating ‘Rough Wooing’ invasions ordered by Henry VIII, Edinburgh fortified its borders with the Flodden Wall, cramming citizens into ever-taller, wood-framed tenements that turned the Old Town into a towering, claustrophobic labyrinth of shadow and secrets.
In the 1500’s, Edinburgh was under constant threat of invasion from England. To stay safe, the people built the Flodden Wall, a massive defensive barrier around the city.
Because the population was booming but nobody wanted to live outside the safety of the wall, the city could not grow out. Instead, it had to grow up. Builders began stacking stone and timber apartments on top of one another, with some tenements reaching an astonishing 10 to 14 stories high—an engineering marvel for the 16th and 17th centuries.
A Vertical Class System
Because there were no elevators, these buildings created a fascinating, literal social hierarchy-
- The Bottom Floors – Dark, damp, and prone to flooding. These were rented by the poor or used as shops.
- The Middle Floors (elevated position) – The sweet spot! just High enough to escape the street filth, (remember people were just throwing their toilet out of the window directly onto the street)but low enough to avoid a gruelling climb. These massive, grand apartments were owned by judges, nobles, and wealthy merchants.
- The Top Floors/Garrets – Cramped, drafty, and a nightmare to climb. These were packed with impoverished families, artists, and labourers.
This meant that the wealthiest lords and the poorest beggars shared the exact same address, meeting every day on the narrow, winding stone spiral staircases (called turnpike stairs).
When visiting Edinburgh why not get a taste of this history by visiting –
- The Real Mary King’s Close – A preserved 17th-century tenement street that was built over and buried beneath the Royal Exchange. You can walk through the actual, untouched rooms of the people who lived there.
- The Gladstone’s Land – A beautifully restored 17th-century merchant’s tenement on the Royal Mile, showing exactly how the wealthy middle-class lived, complete with painted wooden ceilings.
- Look Up in the Closes – Walk down Advocate’s Close or Anchor Close off the Royal Mile. Look up at the towering stone walls—you can still see the ancient window frames and the sheer, claustrophobic scale of medieval life.
Folklore, legends and landmarks of Edinburgh
No atmospheric history of Edinburgh is complete without Mary, Queen of Scots. Her time in the city was defined by intense drama, betrayal, and a brutal murder that left a literal and historical stain on the city.
At the foot of the Royal Mile, the tragic ghost of Mary, Queen of Scots still haunts the Palace of Holyroodhouse. It was within her private, candlelit chambers that her jealous husband, Lord Darnley, and a band of noblemen brutally stabbed her secretary, David Rizzio, 56 times right before her eyes.
Folklore says the floorboards beneath the heavy tapestries still to this day bears the indelible stain of his blood—a chilling physical reminder of the royal conspiracies, heartbreak, and dark intrigue that clung to Mary’s brief, chaotic reign in the capital. While here you can walk around the ruined Abbey of Holyrood which was founded by David 1 who was a 12th century ruler and saint, he too was exiled to England but only temporarily in about 1093.
While here too, look up, at Edinburgh’s skyline, the massive peak known as Arthur’s Seat dominates the view. While geologists will tell you it’s an extinct volcano, older Celtic folklore tells a very different story.
According to legend, a massive dragon used to terrorise the local area, flying down to eat livestock and burn the settlements below. Eventually, after a particularly massive feast, the dragon grew incredibly bloated and tired. It lay down to rest on the edge of the city and fell into a deep, centuries-long sleep.
Over time, dust, earth, and grass covered the beast, forming the distinct shape of the hills we see today. If you look closely from the right angle, the ridge of the hill mimics a giant, resting creature. The local folklore warns that the dragon isn’t dead—it’s just waiting for the right moment to wake up.
Moving into the 17th century, Edinburgh has plenty of witch trials, but none are quite as strange as the story of Major Thomas Weir.
By day, Weir was a deeply pious, highly respected in the community, a leader of a strict religious sect. But by night, rumours swirled around his home on the West Bow (near the modern-day Grassmarket). He was inseparable from his thornwood walking stick, carved with a grinning human head, which locals swore could walk out in front of him, light his way through the dark closes, and even open doors on its own.
In 1670, old age or guilt got the better of Weir. During a severe illness, he suddenly confessed to a lifetime of witchcraft, incest, and dark magic. Both he and his sister Grizel were executed right here on the Grassmarket, where today people shop, eat, and stay the night in some rather nice accommodations!
While his house was eventually demolished, the folklore didn’t die with him. For generations, locals reported seeing his walking stick parading down the street by itself, and the sound of phantom coaches driven by headless horses pulling up to where his front door used to be.
There is another great story about an historical mystery and folklore. In 1836, a group of schoolboys hunting for rabbits on the slopes of Arthur’s Seat stumbled into a small cave hidden by slate. Inside, they found 17 tiny wooden coffins, each only a few inches long.
Inside each coffin was a small wooden doll, painstakingly carved and dressed in custom-made cloth clothes. They were placed in two rows of eight, with a lone 17th coffin starting a third row. There are only 8 that now survive and you can see these at the …………….
Because no one knew who put them there, people made their own minds up about why they were there.
- The Witchcraft Theory – Some believed they were used by local witches to cast spells or act as proxy burials for people lost at sea.
- The Burke and Hare Theory – The most popular theory links them to Edinburgh’s infamous serial killers, William Burke and William Hare, who murdered 17 people in 1828 to sell their bodies to medical science. Folklore suggests a superstitious soul carved the dolls as a way to finally give the ‘unburied’ victims a proper, symbolic resting place.
The South Bridge Underground Vaults are arguably the epicenter of Edinburgh’s ghost lore. Completed in 1788 to span the Cowgate ravine, the bridge was flanked by tightly packed tenement buildings, enclosing 19 massive stone arches. Beneath the bustling shopping street above, a dark, windowless labyrinth of around 120 stone chambers was created.
Initially meant for merchants’ workshops and storage, the vaults were plagued by a fundamental design flaw: they weren’t waterproof. As water mixed with street filth seeped through the stone, the merchants abandoned them. By the early 1800s, this pitch-black, damp underworld became a lawless slum, housing the city’s most destitute citizens, illegal whisky distilleries, brothels, and—according to lore—the bodies hidden by serial killers Burke and Hare.
Eventually sealed up with rubble and completely forgotten for over a century, they were rediscovered in the 1980s. Today, they are a hotspot for paranormal lore.
The folklore of the vaults actually begins before anyone even lived in them. When the South Bridge was completed, it was decided that the oldest, most respected resident of Edinburgh—a judge’s elderly wife—should have the honor of being the first person to cross it.
Unfortunately, just days before the grand opening, the lady passed away. Bound by their promise, the city officials decided the agreement must stand. The very first “citizen” to cross the grand new bridge did so in a coffin. The superstitious locals were horrified, declaring the bridge cursed. Many refused to cross it for years, preferring to trek all the way down into the muddy valley of the Cowgate below. Given the misery that eventually unfolded inside the vaults beneath, many locals believed the curse was real.
The most infamous and malevolent presence in the vaults is a spirit known universally by tour guides and investigators as Mr. Boots or The Watcher.
He is described as a tall, imposing man wearing heavy, knee-length leather boots and a dirty coat. He is primarily known for the distinct, loud scuff-clap of his footsteps echoing through the stone corridors. Lore suggests he may have been a brutal watchman or landlord from the 19th century who guarded the merchants’ properties from desperate thieves. While on this tour someone in the group kept saying he felt ‘someone/thing’ keep touching him on the back – creepy or what?
Unlike passive ghosts, Mr. Boots is said to be highly territorial and aggressive. Visitors to the “White Room” or the Niddry Street corridor have reported hearing a deep voice growl “Get out!” near their ears, feeling cold breath on their necks, or experiencing a sudden, overwhelming sense of dread.
In stark contrast to Mr. Boots is the bittersweet legend of Jack (sometimes called James), a ghost of a young boy around 6 to 8 years old with blonde, curly hair, dressed in a traditional old-fashioned suit.
Jack is believed to have been a homeless child who sought shelter in the vaults to escape the freezing Edinburgh winters, ultimately succumbing to disease or starvation.
Jack is considered a playful, gentle spirit. Visitors—particularly women—frequently report the sensation of a small, cold hand slipping into theirs as if the boy is looking for a mother figure. Tour guides also regularly report the distinct, disembodied sound of a rubber ball bouncing against the stone walls or a child’s light laughter echoing from the darkness. According to vault lore, Jack often hides in the “Cobbler’s Room” because he is terrified of Mr. Boots.
In the “Tavern Room”—an archway that once housed an illicit underground drinking den—visitors often report seeing a tall man in elegant, 17th-century clothing, including a top hat and a long cloak.
Dubbed The Aristocrat, he is often seen leaning casually against the stone walls, grinning curiously at modern tourists. Local lore connects him to the infamous Hellfire Club (or similar elite, secretive gentlemen’s societies of the era) whose wealthy members allegedly descended into the slums of the vaults to indulge in gambling, dark rituals, and debauchery away from the prying eyes of polite society.
On one of the tours it ends here with a ‘free’ glass of whiskey, the tour guide assures us if you see this gentleman, it is not the whiskey ‘talking’.
The folklore of the vaults isn’t entirely restricted to the distant past. In the 1990’s, a modern Wiccan group known as the Source Coven of the Blue Dragon was granted permission to use one of the deepest, most isolated vaults as a temple. They constructed a sacred stone circle on the floor to practice their craft.
However, the coven eventually fled the vault and refused to ever return. They claimed that a dark, oppressive, and non-human entity had taken over the room, breaking their protective circles and leaving members with unexplained scratches and cuts. Today, tour groups still visit the “Witches’ Vault,” but guides strictly warn visitors never to step inside the remaining stone circle, as it is said to leave people feeling intensely nauseous, dizzy, or physically pushed by an unseen force.
Be sure to visit the gardens of the palace More Here about opening times – when we visited we were lucky enough to see The Changing of the Guards – not a regular event, but see above for details – wishing you all a Bonny time in Scotland!
Until next time dear friends x
