Mark Hatton

Where Was The Friary?

28/06/202622/07/2026 Mark Hatton

One of the enduring mysteries of Greyfriars Kirkyard is we still don’t know where the original Grey Friars buildings were. When the Grey Friars established a Friary in Edinburgh in the early 15th century James I granted them the land that now forms the Kirkyard. Over the years they were based in Edinburgh they will have developed a friary church, a cloister, refectory, and dormitory. This complex would not necessarily have been particularly large, as there were likely no more than a couple of dozen Friars based here. The rest of their land was used for growing food and herbs used to feed the hungry and treat the sick of Edinburgh. But during the Reformation the Friars were banished and their buildings demolished. No one today knows what buildings they had or precisely where they were. Most historians appear to have concluded that these buildings were in the North end of the current burial ground, on the edge of the Grassmarket. But others (me included) speculate that Greyfriars Kirk built between 1610 & 1620 was founded on the footprint of the old Friary, incorporating where convenient the stonework of the much earlier buildings.

There are several things that corroborate this theory. Firstly this is a flat section of ground, that sits in the middle of the land, so a better position to locate the Friary than on the slope near the Grassmarket. Secondly if we look closely we can see evidence of an older building lying underneath the current Kirk. These photos illustrate where the walls, pillars and buttressing of the Kirk appear to have been built off earlier foundations.

Thanks to Jamie Moffat at the Kirk for identifying and allowing access to these old areas of stonework.

James Hutton Memorial Greyfriars Kirkyard Edinburgh

Articles, Conservation, People

A Before & After at The Hutton Memorial

25/06/202620/07/2026 Mark Hatton

In time for the James Hutton memorial concert in Greyfriars Kirk on Saturday, the Hutton lair in the Covenanters has had a makeover. The drain was taken out by Edinburgh University, Edinburgh Bereavement Services then made good the wall, we thoroughly weeded the lair and today 2 tons of nice new gravel was put in and levelled out. It now looks fly !

Articles, History, People

The Lady Who Had 3 Funerals

11/06/2026 Mark Hatton

There is one particularly gruesome and disconcerting tomb in Greyfriars Kirkyard, which is on the West Wall. This is the family tomb for the Chiesley’s. It features a spatchcocked skeleton, wearing a crown whilst floating in a skull soup, looking as if it has just given birth to a basketball. One may well ask “why” would the Chiesley Family choose such imagery for their family memorial. Well this is a rather “colourful” family, which had some rather unusual lifestyles and stories. Let’s just consider three members of this family, Robert Chiesley, his brother John and John’s daughter, Rachel.

Robert Chiesley was a successful Merchant, who lost a fortune in the Darien Scheme and then lost his mind, ending his days as a resident in Bedlam, just a few yards from Greyfriars Kirkyard.

John Chiesley abandoned his wife after they had 10 children together. When Judge Lockhart ordered John to pay alimony to his wife he was so offended that he followed the Judge home and shot him dead in the street. He never denied the Murder, simply saying he was judging the Judge for his outrageous verdict. John was tortured, then taken to the gallows, where his right hand was cut off and he was then hung in chains with his gun tied around his neck. Ever since his ghost has been named Johnny One Arm.

But it was John’s Daughter, Rachel, who perhaps had the maddest life. Rachel was only ten years old when her Father was executed and she grew up to be quite a “wild lady”. It is said that she fell pregnant by James Erskine, aka Lord Grange, then forced him to marry her by holding a gun to his head. She went on to have 9 children with Erskine.

When she discovered he had a mistress she variously threatened to commit suicide, or to run naked through the streets of Edinburgh, or to expose Erskine for his Jacobite sympathies, something that could have got him in to a heap of trouble. So Erskine arranged for Rachel to be kidnapped. He made up a story that she had died and he arranged a funeral at Greyfriars to prove it. Meanwhile Rachel was taken to a tiny, barely habited island off North Uist called Husker, where she lived in very basic conditions for two years, before being moved to a tiny stone hut on St Kilda (called a Cleit) where she was held in even worse conditions for 6 years. She wrote that “I was in great miserie in the Husker but I’m ten times worse and worse here”.

At the age of 61 rumours that she was being held on St Kilda caused a rescue party to set sail to find her, but she had been moved, eventually ending up on Skye. She was initially housed in a cave, before a humble cottage became her secret home for the final few years of her life. Initially she was buried under the cover of darkness at Waternish. When her existence and death became known, another well attended funeral was held for her, in which the coffin was apparently filled with stones. Her story became very popular and features in many songs, poems, novels and even a play.

So next time you are in Greyfriars Kirkyard, take a look at the gruesome Chiesley Tomb and reflect on what a Mad, Bad, Dangerous & Tormented family they were.

James Huttons Anniversary Greyfriars Kirkyard

People, Previous Events

James Hutton 300th Anniversary

31/05/202631/05/2026 Mark Hatton

As the 300th anniversary of the birth of James Hutton approaches (3rd June) we are getting more geologists wanting to visit his memorial. The respect and affection these visitors have for James Hutton serves to remind us just how great an impact this man had and continues to have on people who understand his genius, have studied his work and followed in his footsteps by becoming geologists.

Every one of the people buried at Greyfriars Kirkyard have individual stories, deserve to be remembered and respected for the lives they lived. But very few still command the esteem and reverence of James Hutton.

A Group from the Geological Society of America in Edinburgh this week to celebrate James Hutton’s anniversary’s

An American Couple who have long admired James Hutton and flew in to Edinburgh so they could lay a wreath at his grave.

Articles, Conservation, People

Walter Scott Memorial

28/05/202628/05/2026 Mark Hatton

Delighted to report that the memorial for Walter Scott (Father of Sir Walter Scott) and several members of the same family has been restored and remounted in the Kirkyard today. We embarked on this project as the stone had fallen over and become illegible, so very few people realised that the Scott family burial plot was here. Walter Scott was an Elder at Greyfriars Kirk and the whole family (including Sir Walter Scott) were members of the congregation here for many years. They didn’t have a gravestone until this one was erected many years after their passing. Now it stands again.

Many thanks to Robertson’s Memorials for fixing the stone, to Edinburgh Bereavement Services for mounting the stone, to The Edinburgh Walter Scott Club for supporting the project and to our Members of the Friends of Greyfriars for raising the funds to pay for the work.

Articles, History, People

Lady Yester’s Memorial

18/05/202628/05/2026 Mark Hatton

This is a slightly odd one for several reasons. Firstly it is inside the Greyfriars Kirk rather than outside. Secondly, it spent the first 290 years of its life elsewhere and was only moved here in 1938.

This is the memorial for Lady Yester (1572-1647). Margaret, Lady Yester donated funds to complete the Tron Kirk on the High Street in 1641 and further funds to build a new Kirk on Infirmary Street in 1644. This new Kirk bore her name. Lady Yester was buried in an aisle at that Kirk when she died aged 75 in 1647 and this elaborate memorial plaque was raised above her grave.

The original Lady Yester Kirk building was replaced in 1805 (with Lady Yester’s memorial retained) and in 1938 that Kirk building was sold to Edinburgh University to be used as their Estates Office (a role it still serves) and the congregation merged with Greyfriars. At that time Lady Yester’s memorial was itself moved to Greyfriars Kirk and now occupies the South East corner of the Kirk (known as Lady Yester’s Aisle).

Lady Yester’s memorial is very ornate with gold gilding and inlays that make it stand out. At the bottom of the plaque is a skull and crossbones on a swag. At the top is the family’s Crest consisting of a radiant sun beneath the family motto “LUX VENIT AB ALTO” (“light comes from on high”). The central panel is framed by pillars between which is another skull and crossbones topped by an hourglass, wings, and blades of corn. This is surrounded by the mottoes “MORS PATET HORA LATET” (“death is sure, the hour unsure”) and “SPES ALTERA VITÆ” (“hope for another life”). The inscription (with its quirky spelling) reads :

IT’S NEIDLES TO ERECT A MARBLE TOMBE
THE DAYLIE BREAD THAT FOR THE HUNGRY WOMBE
AND BREAD OF LYF THY BOUNTIE HATH PROVYDED
FOR HUNGRIE SOULES ALL TYMES TO BE DIVYDED
WORLD LASTING MONIMENTIS SHALL REARE
THAT SHAL ENDURE TIL CHRIST HIMSELF APPEARE
POS’D WAS THY LYF PREPAR’D THY HAPPIE END
NOTHING IN EITHER WAS WITHOUT COMMEND
LET IT BE THE CAIR OF AL THAT LIVE THEREFTER
TO LIVE & DIE LIKE MARGARET LADY YESTER
WHO DIED 15 MARCH 1647 HER AGE 75

Articles, History, People, Symbolism

Bannatyne v Foulis

03/05/202613/05/2026 Mark Hatton

There is no doubt in my mind that the Foulis Memorial and the Bannatyne are the two most outstanding examples of monumental architecture in Greyfriars Kirkyard. Each stands alone as soaring celebrations of the symbolism of death, resurrection and status. Each is a sermon in stone that speak volumes about the people they were raised to memorialise and the time in which they died. But do they somehow speak to each other ?

The Foulis was commissioned by George Foulis, the son of the deceased and it was created by the finest Master Mason of the period, William Ayton, in 1633/34. The Bannatyne was commissioned by Janet McMath, the young wife of the deceased and also created by William Ayton in 1635. Whilst each monument has much in common, they are different in some obvious and perhaps quite subtle ways.

The Foulis is designed to be a “look at us” monument, with the portraits of the deceased loving power couple taking centre stage. They look down on viewers from their lofty stance, where they are dressed to impress in their grand, perhaps rather haughty, clothing. Despite the inscription describing them as “humble”, there is nothing remotely modest or reserved about this memorial. One can’t help but think the Kardashians would approve.

The Bannatyne on the other hand is designed around the theme of Vanity and the need to avoid it. “Vanitas” is the use of symbolism to convey the meaning that life on earth is but a passing phase in which ambition, and worldly desires are futile, a mere vanity. Vanitas artwork developed and became very popular in Holland in the 16th & 17th centuries, where many Scottish people went to study, trade or escape. They were influenced by this art and inevitably brought it back to Scotland. This genre is depicted on the Bannatyne with symbols showing a Cherub blowing bubbles, amongst flowers and smoke, with the words “Nothing evades Death” and “What is Man’s Life ? A shade, a smoke, a flower ; short to the good, to the bad doth long endure” and “know the vanity of transitory things”.

Perhaps this theme on the Bannatyne serves deliberately to contrast with the excessive flamboyant pretentious pomposity of the Foulis ? So could Janet McMath be speaking to George Foulis, saying “I disapprove of your vanity” in a rather subtle & dignified manner ?

That either Monument was tolerated by a strictly Protestant society in 17th Century Scotland is something of a surprise. Although perhaps Charles I’s attempts to reintroduce colour, style and ceremony in the 1630’s was almost encouraging such elaborate works.

Articles, History, People, Symbolism

The Forrester Lair

02/05/202613/05/2026 Mark Hatton

This enclosure was raised by Rachel Balfour, the widow of William Forrester, a Writer to the King’s Signet who died in 1701. The inscription over the entrance speaks about William’s Mother & Father, of whom he was clearly very proud. William’s mother was Christine MacNeil, who had 8 sons and 3 daughters in 50 years of marriage to his father, Reverend Alexander Forrester. Alexander (born in 1611) was a committed Presbyterian and Covenanter who signed the National Covenant in 1638, served with the Covenanter Army in the 1640’s and steadfastly resisted Charles II’s attempts to impose an Episcopalian Church structure in the 1660’s. Alexander was Minister at St Mungo’s in Dumfriesshire, but refused to conform with Charles II’s “innovations” and so was expelled and subsequently arrested for holding an illegal conventicle. He then spent years imprisoned, firstly on Bass Rock and secondly in solitary confinement in the Edinburgh Tolbooth. He died in 1686 aged 75 and was buried at Greyfriars. His wife, Christine died in 1694 and was also buried at Greyfriars.

William was their 4th son who had a successful career as a Writer to the Signet. When William died in 1701 he left instructions to his Widow to erect this burial lair. When built this lair would have stood alone (like a detached house), with its elaborate external side walls, bearing many mortality symbols, fully visible. In subsequent years further burial lairs were built adjacent to the Forrester, effectively turning it in to a terraced house, with its side walls now less visible, but well worth seeking out. The Forrester Lair became a “Den” for youngsters (quite possibly pupils from Heriot’s School), who between 1710 and 1727, carved some fascinating graffiti on the inner walls, also well worth seeking out.

Articles, History, People

Ann Reid

01/05/2026 Mark Hatton

“the quiet heroine of the Southside”

The thick ledger stone lying in the bottom right of this photo carries a rather special inscription. It tells us about Miss Ann Reid, who dedicated herself to improving the lives of impoverished girls. It reads as follows :

“Sacred to the memory of Miss Ann Reid, a lady of exemplary piety and extensive but unostentatious charity; who died on the 23rd Nov. 1851, aged 90 years. From the savings of a very limited income, she established and endowed in perpetuity Miss Annie Reid’s Free Female School at Wester Newington, for the education of indigent children, without exclusion of sect or persuasion, constituting destitution as the only claim to admission. The school has been carried on successfully since 1815, the girls attending it being about 50. It is now vested in certain of the magistrates of Edinburgh and the Ministers of St Cuthbert’s as Trustees. Reader, mark from this example how much good may be done with small means, by the exertions of a mind devoted to virtue, guided by a benevolent heart !”

What this stone reflects is a period of rapid growth in Edinburgh which also saw a great deal of extreme poverty. The Reid School was one effort to educate the female children living in abject poverty, to enable them to learn to read and write and obtain useful skills and thereby break the cycle of poverty. The Free school operated at 81 Causewayside, in the Newington district to the south east of Edinburgh City Centre. Reid’s School merged with others when the School Education Board took over the provision of education for all children in the late 19th century.

Miss Ann Reid dedicated a great deal of her life to improving the lives of impoverished girls. She wasn’t a wealthy male merchant with all of the power and resources needed to contribute to charity. Instead she used her limited resources, energy and passion to great effect, creating, as the gravestone states, a lovely example of what can be achieved and a lasting legacy by improving the lives of others. Apparently this gravestone was partially paid for by the women who had benefited so much from Ann Reid’s charity.

Rev William Robertson Greyfriars Kirkyard Edinburgh

Articles, History, People

Rev William Robertson 1721 – 1793

26/04/202630/04/2026 Mark Hatton

This large domed mausoleum quite literally sits in the shadow of the Adam Family mausoleum, which is larger, far more ornate and in much better condition. However this remains a particularly note worthy mausoleum because of its design and the person who is buried here.

William Robertson was a prominent Scottish Enlightenment Historian, Minister, and Principal of the University of Edinburgh. His tomb is situated in the southwest area of the Kirkyard, near the entrance to The Covenanters’ Prison.

William Robertson was Minister at Greyfriars Kirk, Royal Chaplain to George III, a leader of the “moderates” in the Church of Scotland and a founding member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. But it was his work as a Historian for which he will be best remembered. Robertson made significant contributions to the writing of Scottish history and the history of Spain and Spanish America, and his historiographical approach had considerable contemporary influence (particularly his emphasis on the consistency of human nature across different eras and societies). One of his most notable works is his “History of Scotland 1542–1603”, begun in 1753 and first published in 1759. His multi volume history of Spain and of Charles V was translated into Spanish and was recognized by the Spanish authorities, so he was elected to Spain’s Royal Academy of History.

William Robertson was also a member of the famous “Oyster Club” which was founded by James Hutton (geologist), Joseph Black (chemist) and the famous economist and author Adam Smith. The Oyster Club was a weekly meeting for Edinburgh intellectuals as well as visiting thinkers like James Watt and Benjamin Franklin. Other members included David Hume (philosopher) & Adam Ferguson (poet). They were all avid oyster eaters and would meet each week in a different tavern to discuss art, architecture, philosophy, politics, science, history and economics. Each member gave a brief update on their projects. In Hutton’s words the discussions were “informal and amusing, despite their great learning”.

William Robertson gives his name to the William Robertson Building of the University of Edinburgh on Teviot Place, home to the School of History, Classics and Archaeology. There is also an endowed chair at Edinburgh University in his name, the William Robertson Chair of History, for a specialist in non-European modern history.

The Robertson Family were prominent in Edinburgh society for a century. William’s Father was a Minister at Greyfriars Kirk between 1736 and 1745. Three of Robertson’s children reached their own fame and are buried in individual plots directly behind the family’s main mausoleum. These are the Hon. William Robertson, Lord Robertson (a senator), General James Robertson, and Lt Col David Robertson.