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89:. The timber-fronted "land" immediately in front of the steeple of St. Giles' was only three storeys high with a low-pitched roof so that the clock on St. Giles' (since removed) could be seen by passers-by in the High Street while its neighbour to the west rose to six storeys. The two most easterly lands were newer and substantial building of polished
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entrance of the ancient prison, which, as is well known to all men, rears its ancient front in the very middle of the High Street, forming, as it were, the termination to a huge pile of buildings called the
Luckenbooths, which, for some inconceivable reason, our ancestors had jammed into the midst of
179:
did in
Macbeth's Castle. Of later years these booths have degenerated into mere toy-shops, where the little loiterers chiefly interested in such wares are tempted to linger, enchanted by the rich display of hobby-horses, babies , and Dutch toys, arranged in artful and gay confusion; yet half-scared
116:
From early times, the traders of
Edinburgh would have sold their goods from stalls set up in one of the city's market places. The Buith Raw provided a more permanent base and incorporated shops as an integral part of the ground floor. Part of the street frontage consisted of heavy folding boards
61:
for booth row). Over the years, the row was extended and heightened until it consisted of seven tenement buildings of varying height, date and form, stretching the full length of St. Giles' from which it was separated by a narrow alleyway. At some point, the row of tenements took on the name of
268:
The
Luckenbooths reduced the width of the High Street on the other side of the building to only 14/15 feet, thus causing congestion, especially to wheeled traffic. The block was consequently demolished by 1817 after the Town Council, desirous of city street improvements, had deemed it a major
260:
Smollett wrote that the High Street "would undoubtedly be one of the noblest streets in Europe, if an ugly mass of mean buildings, called the Lucken-Booths, had not thrust itself, by what accident I know not, into the middle of the way, like Middle-Row in
165:
and the adjacent houses on the one side, and the buttresses and projections of the old
Cathedral upon the other. To give some gaiety to this sombre passage (well known by the name of the Krames), a number of little booths, or shops, after the fashion of
117:
which would be open by day, one board being drawn up to form an overhang to protect the stock, another let down to form a counter board to display goods, with others folded back to the side. A reconstruction of this form of shop front can be seen at
586:
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stalls, are plastered, as it were, against the Gothic projections and abutments, so that it seemed as if the traders had occupied with nests, bearing the same proportion to the building, every buttress and
104:
known as the Auld Kirk Style provided access from the front of the
Luckenbooths through to the old north door of St. Giles'. This passage was also known as the "Stinking Style", as criticised by the poet
161:
the principal street of the town, leaving for passage a narrow street on the north, and on the south, into which the prison opens, a narrow crooked lane, winding betwixt the high and sombre walls of the
249:
recalled Creech's shop as "the natural resort of lawyers, authors, and all sorts of literary idlers... All who wished to see a poet or a stranger, or to hear the public news, the last joke by
100:
The frontages of the
Luckenbooths were in line with the north front of the Old Tolbooth but the buildings were not as deep, leaving an alleyway between their rear and St. Giles'. A passage or
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had his shop on the first floor. It was here in 1752 that he established
Scotland's first "circulating library" (for borrowing books), which became a favourite meeting-place for the
85:
These ancient buildings, with their varied frontages and roof-lines, formed a picturesque feature in the High Street. The west-most tenement was contiguous with the
Belhouse of the
781:
404:
Gilmours, a name appearing on the westmost shop only two storeys high. The flat roof of this shop served as the platform for public hangings outside the adjacent
Tolbooth.
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in the 15th century to the early years of the 19th century. They were demolished in 1802, apart from the east end of the block which was removed in 1817.
687:
The Royal Commission On The Ancient Monuments Of Scotland, Inventory of the Ancient and Historical Monuments of the City Of Edinburgh, HMSO 1951, p.127
81:
Detail from James Gordon of Rothiemay's map of Edinburgh 1647. The building beyond St. Giles is the row of open-fronted shops called the Luckenbooths.
643:(1824), W & R Chambers Ltd. 1980, "...it had been an amusement to the poet Gay to survey from the neighbouring windows of Allan Ramsay's shop."
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666:
698:
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The building which housed them originated as a two storey, timber-fronted tenement built in 1440 and known as the "Buith Raw" (
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257:, or to get the publications of the day, or newspapers - all congregated there, lawyers, doctors, clergymen and authors."
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184:, or spectacled old lady, by whom these tempting stores are watched and superintended. But, in the times we write of, the
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152:, published in 1818, includes the following description of the Luckenbooths shortly before their disappearance,
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took the unit over in the late 18th century and it was thereafter known as "Creech's Land", much visited by
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97:. The east-most was built at the end of the 17th century and presented its main front down the High Street.
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250:
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The alleyway between the Luckenbooths and St. Giles' was occupied by a number of open stalls known as the
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The east end of the block, facing down the High Street, was the tenement where the wigmaker and poet
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62:"Luckenbuiths" from the lockable booths situated at street level. The earliest reference to the name
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390:"The Bellhouse" attached to the eastern end of the city's Tolbooth was the meeting place of various
568:
366:
287:
216:
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113:, c.1500 ("Your Stinkand Stull that standis dirk , Haldis the lycht fra your parroche kirk.").
678:
C A Stewart, The Eighteenth-century Novel and the Secularization of Ethics, Ashgate 2010, p.95
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The Tolbooth served as the city prison until 1817 when it was replaced by a new prison on the
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The Luckenbooths shown on a plan of Edinburgh in 1784 (See also external link at foot of page)
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had the eastmost unit, containing his circulating library. This was later purchased by
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377:’ poems from here). It was thereafter known as Creech’s Land until its demolition.
279:, published in 1856, expressed a nostalgic sense of loss for the vanished krames.
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St. Giles and the Luckenbooths from Gordon of Rothiemay's map of Edinburgh c.1647
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383:(alias, "Indian Peter") ran his publishing business and operated the first
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for pedlar) which were positioned between the buttresses of the church.
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93:. The first of these was apparently built not later than the reign of
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of 1521 where it is said (in Latin) to be commonly known as the
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C McKean, Edinburgh, Portrait Of A City, Century, London 1991,
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J Grant, Old And New Edinburgh, Edinburgh 1880, vol i, p.154
196:, and all who dealt in the miscellaneous wares now termed
557:
The Origin and History of the Old Tollbooth of Edinburgh
233:
fame during his residence in the city and the novelist
652:
O Smeaton, Edinburgh And Its Story, London 1904, p.177
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W Scott, The Heart Of Mid-Lothian, Nelson n.d., p.70
286:The poem's author (left) with Dr. George Bell and
33:which formerly stood immediately to the north of
777:Demolished buildings and structures in Scotland
8:
587:"Dictionaries of the Scots Language - Crame"
200:goods, were to be found in the narrow alley.
782:Buildings and structures demolished in 1802
348:Till frae their mithers they had scrapit
322:Whaur crowds o' bairnies gazed entranced
462:Memorials of Edinburgh in the Olden Time
373:(who published the Edinburgh edition of
302:Though scantly fed, and scrimply coatit
299:Whaur a' wee wairdless callants trottit
296:The ancient Krames whaur weanies tottit
17:
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325:While timmer tumblers swung an' danced
308:On dirlin' drums or ba's that stottit
223:of the time. Patrons included the poet
772:Buildings and structures in Edinburgh
316:Whaur wee lead penny watches glanced,
7:
605:"Edinburgh Castle- The Luckenbooths"
336:An' bawbee Dalls the fashions apit,
319:Whaur wee pig penny horses pranced,
253:, or yesterday's occurrences in the
342:An' wee bit lassies gazed an' gapit
180:by the cross looks of the withered
14:
704:– via electricscotland.com.
532:Edinburgh World Heritage Trust.
434:Edinburgh World Heritage Trust.
339:Sae rosy cheekit, jimpy shapit ,
188:, the glovers, the hatters, the
1:
697:James Ballantine (May 2021).
485:"Edinburgh, Anderson's Close"
111:To the Merchants of Edinburgh
277:Lament For Ancient Edinburgh
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156:He stood now before the
641:Traditions of Edinburgh
569:"Waverley – Chapter 41"
415:Old Tolbooth, Edinburgh
149:The Heart of Midlothian
53:History and description
699:"Lament for Edinburgh"
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331:On horse-hair strings.
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511:Old and New Edinburgh
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767:History of Edinburgh
593:on 23 December 2012.
573:www.personal.psu.edu
534:"The Edinburgh Shop"
436:"The Edinburgh Shop"
361:Shops and Other Uses
739: /
288:David Octavius Hill
175:of vantage, as the
743:55.9497°N 3.1910°W
609:www.royal-mile.com
345:Wi' mouth an' ee ,
328:A' round in rings,
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230:The Beggar's Opera
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45:from the reign of
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311:Against the wa' .
305:To spend their a'
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387:from this block.
381:Peter Williamson
273:James Ballantine
255:Parliament House
237:. The publisher
136:(cf. old German
119:Gladstone's Land
29:were a range of
27:The Luckenbooths
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506:Grant, James
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466:. Retrieved
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442:. Retrieved
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392:trade guilds
385:"Penny Post"
375:Robert Burns
367:Allan Ramsay
290:in the 1840s
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243:Robert Burns
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217:Allan Ramsay
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144:Walter Scott
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87:Old Tolbooth
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72:Lukkynbuthis
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64:Luckenbooths
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746: /
399:Calton Hill
351:The prized
39:High Street
761:Categories
731:55°56′59″N
542:12 January
517:13 January
490:12 January
468:12 January
444:12 January
421:References
123:Lawnmarket
734:3°11′28″W
194:milliners
182:pantaloon
168:cobblers'
146:'s novel
95:Charles I
43:Edinburgh
31:tenements
483:RCAHMS.
409:See also
275:'s poem
225:John Gay
221:literati
163:tolbooth
66:is in a
669:, p.166
263:Holborn
251:Erskine
211:in 1791
190:mercers
186:hosiers
177:martlet
121:in the
37:in the
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353:bawbee
192:, the
158:Gothic
138:krâmer
134:krames
130:crames
91:ashlar
68:sasine
702:(PDF)
537:(PDF)
439:(PDF)
173:coign
59:Scots
663:ISBN
544:2013
519:2013
492:2013
470:2013
446:2013
102:pend
265:".
227:of
132:or
41:of
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
