@jamiegobangbang - If you read what I said before you will see that I stated that I was told this by the council worker who took me on the tour. I had no reason not to believe him. Urban Legend or not, it wouldn't surprise me if it were true, those were gruesome times.
I really wish people paid more attention to this gentleman and his history of the close. :) this is the real truth not the made up stuff you read about online! great video and thank you for posting :)
this is so interesting to me cos I keep hearing more and more about this ghost that walks up and down the close AFTER I saw the shadow figure of a woman with a bun in her hair walk down that street from the house situated on it (during a tour obviously)! I knew about the little ghost girl and I knew about the big scary ghost man, but I'd never heard of 'Mary King's Ghost' until after I'd gone! Now I don't feel so crazy! lol
ad love to know about this man and how has he got that kind of access to mary kings close!? is he still alive? can you still meet him at the chambers after dark? do you know what year this program was first shown was this before they opend it as a public tourist attarction?
I don't know the original show that clip was from, but I'm fairly certain I got it from an Australian show in the mid to late 1990s called "The Extraordinary", which was hosted by Warwick Moss.
I have no idea how he was granted private access. Maybe he knew the right people.
Many years ago I worked for the City of Edinburgh Council and I was lucky enough to go down Mary Kings Close. This was long before it was opened to the public. The person who took us down was a council worker and he would do these tours voluntarily. Due to the fact that it wasn't open to the public and the fact that for all intents and purposes it was dangerous, we went down at our own risk.
This suited me fine because I was really interested in the history and what lay beneath our city. There are more underground closes than just this one, but Mary Kings is the most famous.
What they don't tell you on this video is that at the height of the plague, the entrances to the close were deliberately bricked up to contain the dying people of the close. So not only were these people sick and dying, any fresh air getting in to the close was cut off.
Across from the City Chambers is St Giles Cathedral and beneath it are more underground closes. These were used in WWII as air raid shelters, and they are now used as cells for the courts directly above (used to be the High Court but is now the Sheriff Court).
I haven't been down to the close since it's been opened up to the public, but from what I've seen so far, they've ruined it. That was bound to happen as first they had to make it safe for the general public, but I think they've gone too far by trying to make it so much more commercial.
@donna1167 emmmm no there isnt! the nearest location for air raid shelters from the high street was Blair street! I can assure you there are no other closes under St Giles or parliment square. the only thing that was there before the carpark was the citys burying ground! the holding cells you are talking about were built with the building as......cells!
@donna1167 NO THEY WERE NOT BRICKED UP ALIVE!!! read a history book! it clearly says in various books written at the time (1645) that the people were brought Food and wine along with coal and sometimes even port. The white flag was put at the head of the close and that was to let people know that the pestilence had hit there so enter at your own risk. The whole bricked up alive thing is 19th century urban legend to scare kids and other people.
its things like this that make me love my city <3 i love Edinburgh
missrandomchick 1 month ago
DID SOMEBODY SAY: "GHOST WALKING TOURS SCOTLAND "???? Great place
communistjesus 2 months ago
Christ! i would be shitting myself
mrwibble70 2 months ago
great story
jim09667 3 months ago
@jamiegobangbang - If you read what I said before you will see that I stated that I was told this by the council worker who took me on the tour. I had no reason not to believe him. Urban Legend or not, it wouldn't surprise me if it were true, those were gruesome times.
donna1167 7 months ago
I really wish people paid more attention to this gentleman and his history of the close. :) this is the real truth not the made up stuff you read about online! great video and thank you for posting :)
jamiegobangbang 7 months ago
great video!! :) keep them coming! :)
HistoricDepths 10 months ago
That man sounds like a "Doon Hammer" (Someone Born In Dumfries)
BobCratchit1843 1 year ago
this is so interesting to me cos I keep hearing more and more about this ghost that walks up and down the close AFTER I saw the shadow figure of a woman with a bun in her hair walk down that street from the house situated on it (during a tour obviously)! I knew about the little ghost girl and I knew about the big scary ghost man, but I'd never heard of 'Mary King's Ghost' until after I'd gone! Now I don't feel so crazy! lol
shakifer 1 year ago
brilliant!!
ad love to know about this man and how has he got that kind of access to mary kings close!? is he still alive? can you still meet him at the chambers after dark? do you know what year this program was first shown was this before they opend it as a public tourist attarction?
yulethomson 2 years ago
I don't know the original show that clip was from, but I'm fairly certain I got it from an Australian show in the mid to late 1990s called "The Extraordinary", which was hosted by Warwick Moss.
I have no idea how he was granted private access. Maybe he knew the right people.
I'd be pooping my pants down there alone! lol
jublywubly 2 years ago
If you look up user name Ghost Watching they just posted a 5 part ghost hunt taken down here.
carguyinok 2 years ago
@yulethomson
Many years ago I worked for the City of Edinburgh Council and I was lucky enough to go down Mary Kings Close. This was long before it was opened to the public. The person who took us down was a council worker and he would do these tours voluntarily. Due to the fact that it wasn't open to the public and the fact that for all intents and purposes it was dangerous, we went down at our own risk.
donna1167 1 year ago
This suited me fine because I was really interested in the history and what lay beneath our city. There are more underground closes than just this one, but Mary Kings is the most famous.
What they don't tell you on this video is that at the height of the plague, the entrances to the close were deliberately bricked up to contain the dying people of the close. So not only were these people sick and dying, any fresh air getting in to the close was cut off.
donna1167 1 year ago
Across from the City Chambers is St Giles Cathedral and beneath it are more underground closes. These were used in WWII as air raid shelters, and they are now used as cells for the courts directly above (used to be the High Court but is now the Sheriff Court).
donna1167 1 year ago
I haven't been down to the close since it's been opened up to the public, but from what I've seen so far, they've ruined it. That was bound to happen as first they had to make it safe for the general public, but I think they've gone too far by trying to make it so much more commercial.
donna1167 1 year ago
Please read my posts from the bottom up. I had too much to write in one section so I had to break it up :o)
donna1167 1 year ago
@donna1167 emmmm no there isnt! the nearest location for air raid shelters from the high street was Blair street! I can assure you there are no other closes under St Giles or parliment square. the only thing that was there before the carpark was the citys burying ground! the holding cells you are talking about were built with the building as......cells!
jamiegobangbang 7 months ago
@donna1167 NO THEY WERE NOT BRICKED UP ALIVE!!! read a history book! it clearly says in various books written at the time (1645) that the people were brought Food and wine along with coal and sometimes even port. The white flag was put at the head of the close and that was to let people know that the pestilence had hit there so enter at your own risk. The whole bricked up alive thing is 19th century urban legend to scare kids and other people.
jamiegobangbang 7 months ago