Having lived in Edinburgh my whole life, I feel pretty well-informed of its fascinating history.
But so vast and varied is the rich past of our capital, it boasts the capacity to astound even the most clued up of locals. And so it was when I took a tour of the eerie Real Mary King's Close - and got more than I bargained for.
Burrowing deep beneath the capital's City Chambers, Mary King's Close is a winding network of chambers where real people lived between the 17th and the 19th centuries, named after a merchant burgess who lived there in the 17th century. Intrigued by the prospect of a creepily lit tour of one of Edinburgh's most fascinating tourist attractions, I had to head down and see a lantern-led tour underneath the Royal Mile myself.
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The Record reports how this half-term, the Real Mary King's Close is offering the special look around the historic area. It was partially demolished and buried due to the construction of the Royal Exchange, and in the years since, has been converted into a tourist attraction.
On Sunday night, I headed to the Royal Mile, with no idea what was in store for me. Shortly after 8pm, I, along rest of my group, met a tour guide in full character: Mary King's daughter Jonet. She told us about the history of the Royal Exchange, which was built on top of Mary King's Close.
After a brief introduction, it was time to pick up our lanterns and head down into the darkness of the close. After walking down many steps, there was very little light other than our spooky lights.
Unfortunately, no photographs were allowed on the tour, but the lack of flashes just added to the spooky atmosphere. The lack of lighting made everything feel very engaging and authentic.
Our first stop on the tour was at Laigh House, where 12 people lived. Our guide told us about the poor conditions in the house, all while our lanterns lit up the small space.
We were then shown the semi-luxurious house of the Lord Provest Simon Preston, where Mary, Queen of Scots spent her last night in Edinburgh in 1567. While the guide was telling us about the Queen of Scots' final days , the entire group — myself included — were startled by the sudden appearance of our second character of the night, John Dickinson.
After taking us into another dark room, Dickinson revealed himself as Christian Caddell: Scotland's only female witch-pricker who carried out her work in disguise. She told us about the history of Edinburgh's witch-prickers, who literally 'pricked' women accused of being witches with large, sharp needles in order to obtain a confession.
To illustrate the point, Caddell accused members of the tour group of being witches — myself included — and demonstrated some of the brutal practices that would have been carried out in order to obtain a confession. While I was lucky — I was only chased around the room and screamed at — others were shown some of the torture instruments that were used.
Next, we met the Craig family in their home, perhaps the creepiest room on the tour yet. With only our lanterns as a source of light, we were shown the body of Mr John Craig and told that he died of pneumonic plague.
After that, the figures of his wife and baby on the bed were lit up. The two appeared badly infected and in severe pain, and we were told by our guide that they would both be dead in a matter of hours.
She then took us through to another room to learn about renowned physician George Rae, who helped eradicate the plague in Edinburgh. His creepy outfit — complete with large raven beak mask — was intended to ward off miasmas, which were foul smelling poisons in the air, believed at the time to be the cause of the plague.
Learning more, we were then introduced to one of the city's Foul Clengers, who told us about the grim reality of cleaning up after the plague. To make things even creepier, a large dimly lit body bag stood in the middle of the floor while she was talking — I was sure it was going to come alive at one point.
Our guide then told us we were about to enter the darkest room on the entire tour, and everybody started to sweat a little.
She took us to the living space of a family home and told us the bone-chilling story of when Japanese psychic Aiko Gibo came to visit The Real Mary King's Close in the 1990s.
While filming a documentary at the Close, she could not enter the home's bedroom due to the pain and unhappiness she could feel there. Eventually she crossed the threshold and communicated with the spirit of a little girl who told her she was left to die in the building after her parents abandoned her.
The little girl told the psychic she was sad that her favourite doll had been stolen, and so Gibo purchased a doll from a local Royal Mile shop and gave it to the little girl. After this, the feelings of pain and unhappiness she had felt subsided, and ever since visitors have come to leave dolls and toys.
As if this wasn't creepy enough, it was at this point that someone in our tour group knocked one of the lanterns off the wall and onto the floor with a loud clang. Not only did it scare all of us, but even the tour guide was shaken by the sudden racket.
To end our tour, we were taken outside onto the Close and given the opportunity to get a photo to remember our time. Overall, the experience was not only as creepy as I thought it would be, but also a lot more interesting and educational.
More information about the Lantern Led Tours can be found on The Real Mary King's Close website.
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