Friends of Greyfriars Kirkyard
helping to understand, appreciate & conserve Greyfriars Kirkyard in Edinburgh
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
A Landmark Discovery
Something remarkable just happened at Greyfriars Kirkyard. On April 18th, a team of volunteers, archaeologists, and conservators achieved what hasn’t been done in living memory: lifting the massive ledger stone within the John Bayne of Pitcairlie enclosure.
The Rescue Mission
For decades, photographic records showed the stone slowly being swallowed by the earth. After carefully clearing the topsoil, the team discovered the stone had cracked under the pressure. It has now been entrusted to expert stone conservator Nic Boyes for off-site repair before its eventual return to its rightful place.
The Mystery Below
Beyond the stone itself, the team was hunting for a hidden vault. With the Pitcairlie mausoleum showing signs of settlement, understanding the ground conditions is vital for its survival.
The findings so far:
A Future Secured
These are small steps, but they are essential. Every discovery brings this Category A listed structure one step closer to a safe and secure future.
Two ways to stay tuned as we continue to peel back the layers of Edinburgh’s history. Please become a member of Friends of Greyfriars Kirkyard at fogk.org or join the Edinburgh World Heritage mailing list at ewht.org.uk
Supported by: the National Lottery Heritage Fund, thanks to the National Lottery players and the City of Edinburgh Council. Legacies in Stone: Connecting Communities with Historic Graveyards is a partnership project with Edinburgh World Heritage.
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.
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.
“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.
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.
