18th Century – Friends of Greyfriars Kirkyard

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, 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.

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.

Articles, History, People

John Hope Botanist 1725 – 1786

30/04/202630/04/2026 fogk.web

This relatively modern looking burial lair towards the North West corner of Greyfriars Kirkyard was used by the Hope Family since the 17th century, but the monument there today wasn’t raised until the 19th century. Perhaps the best know member of the family buried here is John Hope, the much celebrated botanist.

Born in Edinburgh in 1725, the son of a surgeon Robert Hope. John Hope studied Medicine at Edinburgh University, then studied botany in Paris at the Jardin du Roi. Hope graduated MD from Glasgow University in 1750. In 1762, he was elected fellow of the College of Physicians in Edinburgh. Hope had a lucrative private practice in Edinburgh and was appointed physician to the Royal Infirmary. He was active on the town’s council in improving the city’s sanitation.

Hope’s life spanned the Scottish enlightenment, when Edinburgh was the place to study medicine, and all medical students had to take botany courses. John created a school for botanists after spinning off the Materia Medica (pharmacy) department of the medical school, which allowed him to specialise exclusively in botany. Hope was an excellent lecturer, with his students travelling to Edinburgh from all over the world. He was appointed as the King’s botanist for Scotland and superintendent of the Royal Garden in Edinburgh. Hope was the first person in Britain to teach the Linnaean system of taxonomy (the system of classifying groups of biological organisms). A colored etching by J. Kay from 1786, depicting John Hope in the botanic gardens.

Hope’s creation of a new botanic garden in Edinburgh in 1763 was a bold and forward looking decision, completely in step with enlightenment Edinburgh that was creating The New Town. Hope received a royal warrant granting him the funds needed to construct the new garden on Leith Walk. The site was large enough to accommodate plants collected from all over the world, through Hope’s extensive global network of both professional and hobby botanical enthusiasts. With a large greenhouse and two hothouses, the Leith Walk Botanic Garden comfortably housed plants from many different climates, where they could thrive and be studied to determine whether they had properties of value to medicine. Edinburgh has had a vibrant passion for Life Sciences ever since.

Hope was a well known & influential character around Edinburgh and featured in one of John Kay’s many cartoons.

Hope died in Edinburgh in 1786. Today a small modern grey granite stone in front of his ancestors’ memorial commemorates him.

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.

Dr Robert Whytt Greyfriars Kirkyard Edinburgh

Articles, History, People

Dr Robert Whytt 1714 – 1766

24/04/202630/04/2026 Mark Hatton

The area of the Kirkyard known as The Covenanters Prison holds the burial place of many of Edinburgh’s most accomplished 18th century scientists, physicians and polymaths. Robert Whytt certainly deserves to be recognised as one of this elite enlightenment group, who advanced human knowledge in many & varied ways.

Whytt studied at St Andrews, Edinburgh, London, Paris, Leiden & Reims, before becoming a physician in Edinburgh in 1738. In 1747 Whytt was appointed professor of the theory of medicine at Edinburgh University. He carried out a great deal of research on the Central Nervous System, disproving many conventional theories and establishing a new understanding of how nerves work to operate muscles. Whytt became one of the most accomplished neurophysiologists of his time. In his research, he outlined the significance of the central nervous system on movement, drew distinctions between voluntary and involuntary actions and clarified the components of the light reflex within the eye.

In 1761 Whytt was made first physician to King George III in Scotland—a post specially created for him—and on 1 December 1763 he was elected president of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh; he held the presidency until his death at Edinburgh on 15 April 1766 at the age of just 52.

Robert Whytt is buried in his family lair in the south west end of the Covenanters Prison.

Articles, History, People

William Inglis Surgeon – 1792

05/04/202630/04/2026 Mark Hatton

This burial lair at Greyfriars has no memorials within, just an inscription above the doorway saying “Wiliam Inglis Surgeon 1792”. William Inglis was a prominent Scottish surgeon, serving as Deacon of the Incorporation of Surgeons and twice as President of the Royal College of Surgeons of the City of Edinburgh. As such he was a key figure in late 18th-century Edinburgh medicine, a period in which Edinburgh served as the global leader in medical research, education and practice.

He is also well known for his role as an early captain of the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, the oldest golf club in the world, famously painted by David Allan in 1787. Allan, a member of the same golf club, shows Inglis, wearing the red colours of the club, with his caddy on Leith Links, where the club was then located (it’s now based at Muirfield in East Lothian). Behind Inglis, the annual trophy presented by the City – a golf club with silver balls attached – is being paraded across the Links. Golf was a popular pastime among Edinburgh’s surgeons and other high ranking professionals, during the peak enlightenment years. This artwork holds historical significance as one of the earliest images of organized golf in Scotland, capturing the sport’s evolution from informal recreation to a structured gentlemanly pursuit on natural links courses like Leith, which featured undulating turf, dunes, and coastal hazards. Golf historians recognise this period in Edinburgh as laying the foundations for the huge growth in popularity of rules based golf played at clubs all over the country and beyond.

William Inglis died in 1792, leaving a legacy that bridged surgical excellence and the foundational years of organized golf.

Articles, History, People

The Hunter Blair Family Lair

29/03/202630/04/2026 Mark Hatton

It is rare to find a family portrait in such an informal pose, but here we have just such for a Family whose burial lair is at Greyfriars Kirkyard.

Sir James Hunter Blair, (1741 – 1787) was a Scottish banker, landowner and politician, who served as Member of Parliament for Edinburgh from 1780 to 1784 and Lord Provost of Edinburgh from 1784 to 1786. As Lord Provost he is best known for commencing the construction of South Bridge, over the Cowgate, which transformed the south side of Edinburgh. Two of the new areas just off South Bridge carry his name, being Hunter Square (around the Tron Kirk) and Blair Street (running down to the Cowgate).

Born in Ayr in 1741, the son of a merchant, in 1756 he was apprenticed to Messrs Coutts, bankers in Edinburgh and in 1763 became a partner in the banking company of Sir William Forbes. After marrying Jean Blair, the daughter and heiress of John Blair of Dunskey in Wigtownshire in 1770, the family name became Hunter Blair when she inherited her father’s estate in 1777. They had 14 children. James died aged just 46 in 1787 after contracting typhus.

Sir James Hunter Blair was a founder member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and welcomed Robert Burns when the poet first arrived in Edinburgh. On his death, Burns composed an elegy, beginning: “he lamp of day, with ill-presaging glare”, and which goes on to extol in a rather ponderous fashion Blair’s public virtues. Burns himself thought it was a rather mediocre piece, but other critics described it in rather more negative terms. The whole elegy is here.

Articles, History

Graves in the grass

10/08/202503/02/2026 Mark Hatton

There are no surviving gravestones at Greyfriars dated pre 1606. There is one fragment that may bear a date of 1596, but we can’t be sure of its age. We do know there were some grave markers erected between the 1560’s and the early 1600’s but these were cleared away by order of the City Council at various times in that period. It appears the Council were concerned that headstones erected on the grass area of the Kirkyard would limit the capacity of the Kirkyard to accommodate vast numbers of burials. It was also consistent with the policy of the new reformed church that everyone should be buried in secret (meaning without grave markers). However, from 1606 onwards the council allowed wealthy families to buy the right to erect mural monuments against the walls of the Kirkyard. This raised valuable funds for building the Kirk without significantly reducing the capacity of the grass area. But move on to the 1700’s and a few very small headstones start to be allowed on the grass. These photos show the oldest two that I have spotted. One is very clearly dated 1712. The other appears to be dated 1703. Such small headstones may have been considered acceptable as they don’t take up much space. By contrast, other burial grounds in and around Edinburgh in the 1700’s allowed far larger & more elaborate stone memorials on the grass, but at Greyfriars in the 1700’s large memorials were still limited to the walls. On the grass only quite basic, small, solid, simple stones appear at Greyfriars. However, by the very end of the 1700’s the council started allowing larger and more plentiful headstones in some open grassed areas of the Kirkyard, perhaps because the volume of new burials were starting to reduce as Edinburgh began opening new large cemeteries in other areas of the City. Another reason for the small & simple stones on the grass in the 1700’s may be that in that period Greyfriars’ main grassed areas were regarded as a poor man’s burial place with the wealthy folk only wanting the best wall side plots or those in the newly opened Covenanter Prison extension.

1775 grave with Masonic set square & compass

Only one of the small headstones dating to the 1700’s has any symbolism on it. This one dated 1775 has a set square & compass, which are Masonic symbols and the tools of a Mason.