Lord Monboddo is buried in this lair in The Covenanters Prison area of the Kirkyard. Today he is not a well known figure in Scottish history, despite some notable accomplishments, yet he is still celebrated in Germany. So why is this ?
James Burnett, Lord Monboddo (1714 – 1799) was a Scottish judge, scholar of linguistic evolution and a philosopher who was a great host at dinner parties. Regarded as a very clever eccentric in his day, he was well liked & admired by a wide circle of friends.
Monboddo thought that clothes were unnatural and undesirable for both mind and body and believed that Nudism was good for you. He “awaked every morning at four, and then for his health got up and walked in his room naked, with the window open, which he called taking an air bath.” Such behaviour marked him as a rather odd eccentric in Scotland but in Germany it earned him a reputation as a pioneer of nudism. When nudism became very fashionable in Germany Monboddo was celebrated and in 1913 a Monboddo Club was established in Berlin for the harmonious culture of body and mind.
It might be a coincidence but the heraldic shield over the door of his burial lair includes a figure of a near-naked wildman!
This photo shows where we believe Christian Shaw was buried at Greyfriars Kirkyard in September 1737. As an adult, she was a successful business woman who is credited with founding the Renfrewshire thread industry, introducing the spinning of fine linen thread to Scotland and the development of her own “Bagarran Thread”. The Bargarran Thread was, by the 1720s, seen to be a mark of quality in thread, and was advertised as the product of “Lady Bargarran and her Daughters”.
Shaw married Rev John Miller, the minister of Kilmaurs in September 1718. After his death in 1721 she returned to the family thread business, travelling with her mother to Holland, where both women observed Dutch spinning techniques. Shaw sketched the thread production process that she saw, and is said to have smuggled some of the necessary machinery back to Scotland in her luggage. The new production methods she introduced to Scotland resulted in a more durable & whiter thread.
But the period of Christian’s life that makes her infamous today was when she was only 11 years old in 1697. Shaw accused over 20 people of witchcraft, 7 of whom were later hanged then burned. The executed included: Katherine Campbell, Agnes Naismith, Margaret Lang, Margaret Fulton, John Lindsay of Barloch (who was a tenant farmer of the Shaws), John Lindsay and his brother James Lindsay.
Accounts of the trials reported that Shaw had been “bewitched” by the suspects and was exhibiting behaviours including flying and “vomiting coal and bent pins”.
An alternative account suggests that Shaw had taken a dislike to a servant, Katherine Campbell, and intentionally pretended that Katherine had bewitched her and caused her to have seizures and pull balls of hair from her mouth. This, it is alleged, was just so the unfortunate servant would be prosecuted and executed for witchcraft. Christian Shaw’s testimony to the Court then grew wilder and wider, resulting in the torture and brutal execution of dozens of people, including 2 young boys.
The burial lairs inside the Southern Greyfriars Yard (aka The Covenanters Prison) often have pairs of Death Heads facing each other on either side. These generally have a bone below and a banner above with messages in Latin that translate to sayings such as “Today me, tomorrow you”, “Live remembering death”, “Hope for the next life” and “Remember you will die”. Here are 9 pairs.
Saturday 12th September 2026 was James Anderson Day — and what a day it was.
Just 340 years ago, a craftsman, James Anderson was owed £80 for “painting, colouring and gilding” the newly built John Baine of Pitcairlie mausoleum. We know remarkably little about the people who actually built 17th-century Edinburgh, and here, at last, is one of their names.
To mark the occasion, Dr Louisa Campbell, University of Glasgow, an expert in polychromy, the study of paintwork on old sculptures and buildings opened the day with a fascinating talk on how researchers investigate and analyse historic paint. Armed with this new knowledge, members of Friends of Greyfriars Kirkyard and Edinburgh World Heritage spent two hours giving the John Baine statue a close examination, searching for original paintwork.
We’re waiting eagerly on the laboratory results before we can say whether any paint samples were found. But if they have been, this could be the first step towards contributing to a national database of painted monuments.
The day turned up two genuine discoveries. Close inspection revealed that John Baine is holding a pen — or quill — in his right hand, reinforcing the idea that this mausoleum is a tribute to a celebrated writer to the signet. And for the first time, carved lettering was spotted beneath the skull and crossbones on the monument’s front face. Both promise to deepen our understanding of a mausoleum commissioned by Eupham Aikman in memory of her husband, John Baine.
None of this would be possible without the generous support of Edinburgh World Heritage and the National Lottery — thank you.
To find out more about the Legacies in Stone Project, or to get involved, contact Friends of Greyfriars Kirkyard (fogk.org) or Edinburgh World Heritage (ewh.org).
On the 12th September, as part of the Legacies in Stone Project, Edinburgh World Heritage and the Friends of Greyfriars Kirkyard organised a polychromatic survey of the 1684 John Bayne of Pitcairlie Mausoleum to look for traces of any original paint pigments on the stone. This gave us the opportunity to have a closer look inside the mausoleum at some of the historic graffiti and marks which are normally hidden to the public. There’s the usual attempts at scrawling names into the stonework. However, we also found some intriguing symbols some of which may have characteristics of Christograms or apotropaic marks.
We don’t know the full story of carvings like these and numerous theories abound. The general consensus is that they are (somewhat secretive) Christian symbols, often based on the early Greek alphabet, and were thought to give some protection from evil. They are sometimes referred to as witch marks but counter witch marks would be more precise. In buildings, where such marks have been found, they are often carved around doorways, arches or windows suggesting they are to prevent something malevolent entering through those spaces. But I’ve also seen them in a cave in Derbyshire and even on a prehistoric standing stone in Yorkshire.
One of the most common Christograms is the I, usually carved with a bar through the middle. This is generally thought to be the Greek letter Iota and which is the first letter of Iesous, the Greek name for Jesus.1
Another frequently seen symbol is the double VV, sometimes referred to as a Marian mark as it’s thought to represent The Virgin Mary.2
Then we have the A, I’m going to speculate (wildly) this is Alpha. Being the first letter of the Greek alphabet it is thought to represent the beginning and is often seen on Christograms with its counterpart the last letter Omega. Proclaiming Christ is at the beginning and the end.3
There’s another interesting symbol which appears to be a circle with a cross in it. I wonder if this is the Greek character Theta which is thought to symbolise death4?
So, were these esoteric mason’s marks intentionally written with hidden religious symbols, made when the reformed church took a dim view of openly displaying such decoration. Or were they carved by local cunning folk offering their service to protect from ill will? Or simply meaningless trade initials perhaps of someone’s name? We’ll probably never know – but isn’t life more interesting sprinkled with a little mystery?
The John Bayne Mausoleum, Greyfriars Kirkyard, Edinburgh. The majority of the marks are behind the pillar in the foreground.I (Iota) and A (Alpha)?Double VV (Marian Mark)?Θ (Theta)?Similar I (Iota) and Double VV (Marian Marks), Lincoln Cathedral.Similar I (Iota) and Double VV (Marian Marks), Creswell Crags Cave Derbyshire.Similar I (Iota) and Double VV (Marian Mark), Rudston Monolith, Yorkshire.
Legacies in Stone is a three-year community heritage project funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, running from January 2026 to January 2029.
The recent drought is revealing where the walls around the burial lairs used to be. As the grass dehydrates and the ground shrinks back, the areas with shallow soil above buried hidden old stone walls brown off earlier than the rest of the grass. This reveals the ghosts of the old walls. Once the rain returns the grass will green, the earth will swell and these marks will disappear again, until the next drought.
A few weeks ago, Friends of Greyfriars Kirkyard trustees Chris Cooper (Treasurer) and Mark Hatton (Chair) gave two fascinating talks at an evening lecture put on by Edinburgh World Heritage. Chris shed further light on the man (and woman!) behind the enigmatic Bayne monument while Mark made a compelling case for why the George Heriot marker can be considered a trendsetter for monument designs in the years that followed. Both talks can now be viewed on YouTube.
The cracks that were threatening the integrity and symbolism of the Bannatyne Monument have been repaired. Nic Boyes, a highly skilled and experienced stone conservator, set about the task by injecting a paraloid in to the cracks, then applying resin. This will hopefully ensure that this wondrous example of 17th century symbolism is preserved for future generations to admire and marvel at.
Stone Conservation Students watched on to learn the techniques being used. Mark & Kev from the Edinburgh Bereavement Services erected the platform and took the opportunity to remove the buddleia and privet that was growing on the monument. Thanks to Susan at Edinburgh World Heritage for organising and funding the conservation work. It is fantastic to see this monument cherished like this.
Before.After.Work in progress.Stone Conservation Students from Edinburgh University watching and learning the specialist techniques required for a project of this nature.Mark & Kev erected and dismantled the platform.The vegetation that had been growing (bottom left) was cut back, giving us an unobstructed view of the top section of the monument.A view of the image on the monument that I believe depicts Thomas Bannatyne looking out from a burial shroud. This had been obscured by vegetation but is now visible. Need to find a way to treat that root stock to prevent regrowth.
So today we shifted a huge amount of Buddleia from the tops of the west walls around the Kirkyard. The priority was to remove the flower heads before they set seed and further spread this very invasive plant into every nook & cranny. Whilst Buddleia might look pretty, it causes a lot of damage to the stonework and obscures the view of the monuments. We find that extendable loppers are a safe and effective way to cut back the buddleia without the danger of using chemicals, the risk of using ladders or the cost of using a cherry picker. It isn’t perfect, but it certainly is better than letting the buddleia take over. Thanks to Paul, Paul, Paul and Tom for putting in a hell of a shift today.
Snipping away at this very determined and fast growing plant.One clump of buddleia pushing the stonework apart before we set about it.30 minutes later, this buddleia is down and bagged, ready to be loaded on to the trailer and taken off site.A trailer full of buddleia from all around the Kirkyard. Many dumpy bag loads each weighing 10 stone or more.
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.
One of the original buttresses stands on top of stonework that looks like an earlier structure, incorporating a rounded profile. Are these stones remnants of the original Friary?In the South East corner of the Kirk, hidden by boxing in, we can see the remains of a structure that is much wider than the Kirk’s walls that have been built on top. Are these the remains of the earlier Friary building?Some of the original internal pillars of the Kirk have been built on bases that don’t match the shape of the pillar. Were these bases part of the earlier Friary building?
