Stories of Old Gilmerton
© Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland.
Licensor www.scran.ac.uk
by the WEA Gilmerton Reminiscence Group
The Workers' Educational Association is a charity registered in England and Wales (number 1112775) and
in Scotland (number SC039239) and a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales
(number 2806910). Registered address is WEA, 4 Luke Street, London, EC2A 4XW.
Stories of Old Gilmerton
by the WEA Gilmerton Reminiscence Group
ISBN number: 978 0 902303 73 7
© Workers‟ Educational Association 2011
Edited and designed by Elizabeth Bryan, WEA
Printed with funding support from the WEA Lothian Association
Published by the Workers' Educational Association, Riddle's Court, 322 Lawnmarket,
Edinburgh, EH1 2PG. The Workers' Educational Association is a charity registered in
England and Wales (number 1112775) and in Scotland (number SC039239) and a
company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales (number 2806910).
Registered address is WEA, 4 Luke Street, London, EC2A 4XW.
Founded in 1903 the Workers‟ Educational Association is a national voluntary sector
provider of adult education in workplaces and communities across Scotland.
The
WEA‟s adult education programme in Edinburgh has been supported by the City of
Edinburgh Council since 1912 when the WEA Edinburgh Branch was formed.
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Introduction
In October 2010 the Workers‟ Educational Association established a group in Gilmerton
to reminisce about stories of old Gilmerton, aimed at promoting oral history. We felt it
was important to promote the social history of the village and its unique cultural
heritage. All the participants in the group have connections with the area and a great
interest in Gilmerton.
Gilmerton village was at one time just another Midlothian village. Once surrounded by
dense forest, Gilmerton was farmed out by King David I (1124-53) when he was Prince of
Cumbria and then King of Scotland. The lands were in possession of the Crown since
Robert the Bruce‟s time. The landscape was rich in minerals and good for agricultural
production. It was much coveted by Edward I (Longshanks).
However, Gilmerton was by no means a quiet sleepy village. In fact it lay on the Kings‟
Highway - one of the main invasion routes into Scotland. At one time the archery butts
were set up for locals to prepare for war. This was a place to be avoided after dark as
Gilmertonians were described as “wild and licentious”! The pagan „Robin Hood and
Little John‟ play in the sixteenth century was carried on at Gilmerton, when it was
outlawed by the City of Edinburgh.
Gilmerton was a community of miners as far back as the 15th Century, and the local
Brosie pit was at one time one of the deepest in Scotland. There is a description in
Fullerton‟s Gazetteer Courant in 1873 “Gilmerton was long characterized simply as a
village of colliers of a peculiarly degraded and brutal nature, as ferocious and
unprincipled as a gang of desperados, who rendered all the adjacent roads unsafe after
nightfall”. It‟s no wonder they were rough when we think of the dreadful conditions they
had to endure in the mines. But these same miners and carters fuelled the city and the
growing industries. The local carters supplied the city with all kinds of produce:
sandstone, yellow sand and limestone. There are rumours of several underground
tunnels that lead to Gilmerton, and the area was renowned for its massive network of
limestone quarries that stretched from Joppa to Straiton.
Now Gilmerton village has been swallowed up by the urban expansion of the city and is
now a suburb of Edinburgh. The surrounding farm lands are fast disappearing, and who
knows how long it will be until Edinburgh reaches Dalkeith or Newtongrange. Change
doesn‟t always mean progress and local people love to tell their stories and hold fast to
the past. Members of the group are very proud of Gilmerton, and enjoyed reminiscing
about memories of a unified community spirit. The contribution of each individual group
member is of real value to the social history of this much loved village.
The group began meeting in October 2010 in Gilmerton Community Centre for nine
weeks. On the first day eighteen people turned up, which is a testament to the interest
Gilmerton holds in the hearts of local people. It became very clear that the majority of
the group expected to be hear stories and learn about the local history. We put together
a slideshow to help individuals recollect how the village once looked. Group members
had a lot of knowledge to share, and enjoyed listening to one old worthy in particular
who had a wealth of information about the village.
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“Time is changing that much that you really need to record those changes…”
“You learn more about the village - the village secrets!”
“It was good meeting people from round about. Loved the stories.”
During the nine weeks we reminisced about the mines and the mining community, the
limestone quarries, the Gala Days, the Common Ridings and Play Days. We borrowed a
film from the WEA on the old Bo‟ness Children‟s Fair to encourage recall of the
Gilmerton Gala Day celebrations. One of the highlights of the course was a tour of
Gilmerton Cove, which was a source of great delight and enjoyment. Several members
expressed their gratitude for the visit, as although
they had lived in the village all their lives, they had
never had the opportunity to see this unique
underground cavern.
The Cove is located just after the
crossroads at Drum Street, and
We would like to thank all those who participated in
is said to be the work of one man
the group for their contributions to the meetings
- the local blacksmith, George
and this booklet. We would also like to thank
Paterson. The Reverend Thomas
Helen Bourquin the Community Learning and
Whyte says in his Account of the
Development
(CLD)
worker
at
Gilmerton
parish of Liberton in 1782, that
Community Centre for allowing us to use the
this subterranean cavern was
centre for our meetings and Dennis the Janitor for
hand hewn in five years by
his patience and kind assistance.
Paterson.
Maureen Watson and Anne Watson
Workers‟ Educational Association
In Cassel's „Old and New
March 2011
Edinburgh‟ it mentions that
Paterson‟s house was situated
above the Cove, and that the
dwelling was located at the
bottom of his garden. The Cove
is a great mystery, with so many
questions and theories as to the
purpose and origin of this unique
monument.
However, we do
know from session records that
it was used as a legitimate
drinking den. Paterson and two
others were brought before the
Kirk session for drinking outwith
hours; Paterson had opened on
the Sabbath, but took no
responsibility and blamed his
wife! On another occasion two
men claimed to have left before
the bell was rung. Presumably
before the bell for last orders.
One of the compartments in Gilmerton Cove
Photograph by Maureen Watson
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Stuart‟s Story
My full name is Stuart Robin McKay. I was born in Edinburgh on the 4th of July 1932 and
have lived in Gilmerton all my life. My mother‟s name is Davina McKay, and in 1932 I
came to Gilmerton. I was fostered to Mr and Mrs Rourke at Gilmerton village. I‟m still
living in their house in the street I grew up in. Gilmerton was the countryside then. All
the toffs came out here on a Sunday.
Stuart McKay with his mother Davina (left), and with Mrs Rourke (right) in Gilmerton
My foster father was James Rourke. He was a coal miner at the Brosie Pit. He was
injured in the pit in 1929 or 1930 with a fractured spine. He never worked for years after
it, until the war started. He went back to the pit after a while, but only worked repairing
the hutches in the joiner‟s workshop. My foster brother, James Rourke, was a fireman at
the pit.
Most of the men in Gilmerton worked in the pits and most of the women worked in the
laundry. My mother worked at the New Laundry at Gilmerton. The laundry was where
Lidl is now.
I went to Gilmerton School, which is now the Community Centre, and then I went to
Boroughmuir for two years. You had to be well up in the class at Gilmerton to get to go
to Boroughmuir. I quite liked school. My favorite subject was geography. Once you
got out of the school you used to play pickies, boules and kick-the-can. When we got a
bit older there was a wee park at Hyvots Bank, just behind Dr Guthrie‟s, and we used to
go in there and play cricket, fitba, tennis, things like that – whatever was the going thing
at the time.
We went to the Sunday school picnic at Roslyn Glen. We went by train, and the station
was where Bernard Hunters yard is now. I used to go to Dalkeith on a Saturday with Mrs
Rourke. There were two picture houses – The Playhouse and the Pavilion - next door to
each other. We‟d go to the second house, on a Saturday.
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I was just 14 when I left school. I was on my way to Leith Street for a job with the
Buttercup Dairy when I met my friend Tommy Kerr.
He says, “Where are you going?”
I says, “I’m going down here for a
job”.
He says “They’re looking for an
apprentice in the Playhouse”.
Stuart McKay (far left) and his friend, Tam Kerr
(second right) at the Playhouse.
So I never went for the other job
in the dairy.
I went to the
Playhouse instead and got the
job as a projectionist. I was paid
£1 2s 6d per week and I worked
48 hours for that. I worked in the
Playhouse right up until it closed
in 1973.
There must have been about 52
picture houses at one time in the
Lothians.
Tam left after five years and went
on to work at the Monsignor
News
Theatre.
I
left
the
Playhouse in 1973 and eventually it went on to become a theatre. The organ went to
Greenlaw it was the only one of its kind. It was a Hilsden Glasgow. I then went to work
at the Salon. At the end it was all changed and sometimes you had to work yourself. My
first film was „Leave her to Heaven‟ with Jean Tierney, Jeannie Crane, and Cornel Wilde.
My last film was James Bond. I think it was „Live and Let Die‟. After that I became a Civil
Servant at Argyle House.
I never went down the pit. If I hadn‟t got that job I would have had to go down the pit.
Nearly everyone went down the pit in Gilmerton. They‟d work in the pit heid first and
then later went doon. I knew one or two boys that were killed doon there. There were a
few accidents in that pit. The workings weren‟t as straightforward. At this side of the pit
was what they called stay workings which meant they went doon so far, dug the coal oot,
went doon again, dug the coal out, went doon again, dug the coal out and all the
workings were below each other.
They had small extra shafts beneath each level – folk sometimes fell down and got killed
in the shafts. And then eventually the pit got closed because of the gas. They had a
thing called „black damp‟ got into the west side up towards Loanhead. They tried to seal
it off but one day 8 or 9 miners were gassed and some of them died and they shut the pit
because the gas was spreading towards the main mine and they couldn‟t halt it.
All the gamblers in Gilmerton played pitch and toss at the back
Hall - where the wooden hut is now! It was mostly the miners
came up from the pit. There were no bookies then. Just street
illegal. The bookies‟ runner took the bet, put them in a cloth bag
the main bookies at the Jewel at Niddrie Crossroads.
6
of the Friendly Society
who played when they
bookies and they were
and took them down to
Miners outside Mitchell‟s Bar: Pate Smith, Old Wright, and Tam Kerr‟s grandfather
It wasn‟t the only entertainment. Miners had other hobbies like racing their whippets or
greyhounds in the park and pigeons. There was a pigeon club at the lane of Ravenscroft
Place. At its height there were 54 members.
They used to have Gala Days. All the local farmers used to supply a horse and a flat hay
cart for the kids to sit in. The hay carts were done up and decked with flowers. I was on
one of the carts. It was wonderful! You were dressed in your best and the horses were all
dolled up. The carts were drawn by big Clydesdale horses and went round the village.
The Queen was always crowned in Mitchell‟s Park at the back of the Friendly Society Hall
- where the football grounds are now. They didn‟t have a May King. After they crowned
the Queen we went down the Drum estate for races. You used to get a tinny of milk and a
lucky bag. There was usually a pie in the lucky bag, and maybe a couple of buns. It was
wonderful once a year.
The Gala stopped in 1938 but started again after the war. Back in 1991 there was a Gala.
Before the pits shut they did the trucks up with streamers and flowers. They had a prize
for the best dressed trucks. We have lost the village culture.
There are not many original Gilmertonians left because they moved away when they
married outside the village. Before the war people mostly married within the village and
occasionally someone fae Dalkeith, Loanhead or Straiton moved to Gilmerton. At one
time there were plenty of women in Gilmerton as during the wars the men were killed in
action or died in the pits. After the war it sort of broadened out. Some Gilmertonians
moved into the big housing estates that were built.
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Chalmers‟ Corner Shop
“The Chalmers‟ corner shop was at the bottom of Ravenscroft Street was a proper
grocer. At the front of the counter there were square tin boxes, with loose biscuits, and
things like that. They had glass tops to look through so you could see what was in there.
They sold bacon and cheese. There were big cellars are at the side that face on to Drum
Street. You could buy paraffin there.”
Stuart McKay
Eileen O‟Donnell now runs the corner shop which is owned by Margaret Allan.
Margaret lives in the house attached to the shop, and she used to run the shop herself.
8
Tam‟s Story
I was born Tam Middleton Kerr in 1930. I am a true Gilmertonian born and bred. I lived in
ma granny‟s hoose opposite the Kirk. My mother never got married until after I was born.
I have three sisters, Betty, Sadie and Cathie and two brothers, Louis and Freddie.
This is Tam Kerr on his bike on
Gilmerton Road, late 1950.
Note how little traffic there was on
the road in those days.
I worked in the Playhouse Cinema. Started as a spool boy with Stuart McKay and earned
25 shillings a week in 1946, which was a lot of money then. I remember singing along to
the Corries and Gene Kelly.
Tam Kerr (right) with his friend,
Peter Moir.
Peter Moir also worked at the
Playhouse, as a Page Boy.
I remember the Gala Day. We dressed up and got a gold penny and a jug of tea to take to
the park. I walked with my friend Stuart McKay for many years. All over we walked right up to the Pentlands Hills.
The Jolly Play Days once held in Gilmerton were a weeklong Green Man festival enjoyed
by Tam‟s ancestors. The celebrations included ring dances, athletic games, archery and
a play known as „The Robin Hood Little John‟ play‟.
There is a local Gilmerton song known as the „Jolly Coal Carter Tam Mackie‟, supposedly
the “Best man” or “May King” of the village. He sings “Oh am happy always light
hearted by night and day a Jolly Cock am aye.” This is a song of health, happiness,
vitality and virility. The song ends with the “Best Man” putting in the banns to marry his
Mags, who is really his May or Coal Queen.
Until recently the „Royal‟ public house at Little France was known as the Jolly Farmer,
and the Robin‟s Nest is also linked with this age old festival.
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Sheila‟s Story
My name is Sheila Kenny and my maiden name is Miller. I was born on the 10 th of April
1943 at East Preston Street. My mother‟s maiden name was Skinner. She was a bookkeeper and my father, John Miller, worked as a civil servant. I had one brother called
Eric. I went to school in London Street and then Broughton High School.
I remember we used to have a bonfire at Gayfield Square and there was dancing and
singing. We roasted potatoes on the fire. We would store firewood and other areas stole
the wood. We burnt barrels that belonged to the coopers.
Sheila, aged 9
The Band of Hope was a mission church hall. You got tea and biscuits, and a Sunday
school picnic. I remember we went to the Sunday school picnic by tram to Liberton Park.
We went from the bottom of Leith Walk out to Liberton and the Braids. The tram terminus
was at Nether Liberton at Goods Corner, and when you got out you reversed the seats.
You took a sandwich and a tinny (tin cup). The mothers ran the Sunday school.
I used to go to the Highland dancing at Windsor Street. I danced in front of the Queen at
Murrayfield. I had medals for exams and went to competitions at the Cowal Games in
Dunoon and the Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh. I went there when Bill Forsyth and
George Stoddart played. George Stoddart had a wax moustache. He was the Pipe Major
and the first Lone Piper at the Edinburgh Tattoo.
I married George Kenny and we have lived in Gilmerton for 35 years.
10
George‟s Story
My name is George Kenny I was born on the 11th October 1946 at Wauchope Road. My
mother, Isabella Mary (nee Ferguson), was a cleaner and my father, David Kenny, was a
ganger in the building trade. We lived at the Inch at Walter Scott Avenue. I remember
playing in the Inch Park: putting, fishing in the burn and learning to cycle. I went to the
Inch House Primary School and then Glenvarloch Primary. We drank bottled milk. Then
Liberton was my secondary school and that was at Walter Scott Avenue opposite the
shops.
I married Sheila and we have lived in Ravenscroft Gardens in Gilmerton village for 35
years.
I worked in the piggery at Old Dalkeith Road. There were three piggeries. There was also
a piggery up Ellen‟s Glen Road, where Eden Aerials is now. Baillie‟s nursery and market
garden was there. I went to the market garden at Dalkeith Road at Bridgend for fruit and
vegetables.
I remember the explosions at Craigmillar Quarry which was opposite Craigmillar Castle.
There was a fireworks factory where the refuse is dumped now between Inch and
Craigmillar. My brother worked in the fireworks factory for a short time. It‟s now the
recycling plant. The explosion happened when the recycling plant took over the
fireworks ground.
Sheila and George pictured with George‟s younger brother, Brian,
and Sheila and George‟s brother-in-law, Kevin, visiting from New Zealand in 2009.
The famous geologist, Hugh Millar worked as a stonemason at Craigmillar Quarry
beneath the Castle. St Giles‟ Cathedral and George Heriot‟s Hospital were built from
stone quarried at Craigmillar.
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Betty‟s Story
My name is Betty Innis. I was born on the 20th September 1937 at Greenside, below
Calton Hill. The buildings have been demolished. My mother, Liz Doig, was a chocolate
worker and my father, Peter Murray, was a miner. I have four brothers and one sister. I
went to London Street Primary and Bellevue Secondary School.
Calton Hill was our playground. It was windy up there. You could see our house from
the hill, and when the bedroom window was open we knew we had to go home. We
played tap door run and played in the back greens. We played with lemonade bottle tops
and pretended it was money. Leeches lemonade factory was down Cuddy Lane by the
Playhouse. It was a steep hill for horses, and when the horses slid the bottles fell of the
lorries. When the road was bad they put straw down for the horses. They did that all the
way up Leith Street. I remember an old woman sat at the top of Greenside Steps and
she played old 78s on the gramophone to entertain people queuing up. She got money
from them. There was a boy with a squeeze box at Littlejohns the Bakers.
I married a Gilmertonian and have lived in Gilmerton for over 40 years. My husband,
Tommy Innis was born in the cottages next to the church. His granny‟s house was
Mitchell‟s Cottage where the lounge in Mitchell‟s bar was.
Tommy was a miner for twenty-eight years and worked at the Gilmerton Pit, where
Bernard Hunters Yard is, until it went on fire. You could put your own dynamite into the
pit. Birds were taken down the pits to check for gas. Miners made their own wages, and
sometimes they got £100 weekly.
Tommy was one of the original members of the Miners‟ Club, now known as the Welfare
Club. It started off in a hut where they played pool at the age of 10-12 years and the
place expanded as the years went on. The Bowling Green was opened in 1954 and my
husband played bowls there successfully for 40 years or more.
Tommy was one of the last miners to work in the Gilmerton Pit. When it shut down he
moved to Monktonhall. But after that he had to look for work outside the mines due to ill
health. He suffered from lung disease and joint problems as a result of his work down
the pits.
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Marion‟s Story
My name is Marion Arnott, née Hughes. I was born in Leith on the 10th May 1939 at 13
Gordon Street. My mother Mary Ann Traynor was a housewife and my father, James
Cuthbert Hughes, was a general labourer. It was very much a family community because
you kind of knew everybody or everybody knew you without you knowing them.
I remember we used to make a den chalked
on the wall with the letter D. You had to
come back to the Den when you played
„Hide and Go Seek‟ or „Hingo See‟k. This is
me at the chalk den you can see the D to
the right on the wall.
We moved out to Fernieside in 1951. It was like coming out to the middle of the country.
I remember getting wakened up in the morning with the farmer bringing the cows up the
road and into the field at the bottom of Ferniehill Road and then he would come back at
night and take them back down again to the farmhouse.
The Gardener‟s Cottage at
Fernieside Estate
Photograph by Maureen
Watson
At the bottom of Ferniehill Road on the opposite side there was an estate with a little
lodge house there called Edmonston House. I used to go in to the lodge house. It was
amazing. This was a lovely little house and it had one room that was just filled with
potatoes, strewn all over the place, and I used to get them for my mum. And in the
Spring time I used to go over and get daffodils for her. I used to go up to Ferniehill Dell
and play there when I was a kid. There were caves at the bottom. I also remember
seeing hunting at Burdiehouse Burn/The Dip. They came one Saturday in their red coats
and horses riding through it.
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I went to St Mary‟s RC school in Leith then to St Anthony‟s in 1951 at Lochend Road. I
was given the opportunity to go to Holy Cross but I‟m the youngest of seven - I‟ve got
four brothers and two sisters - and because I‟d heard so many of their stories about St
Anthony‟s which was in Lochend Road I wanted to go there. I remember kneeling at my
father‟s knee pleading with him “Don‟t send me to Holy Cross, I want to go to St
Anthony‟s”. He did it, he let me go. I had to get two buses, it didn‟t matter what
weather. I do remember one year Little France was flooded over and the buses couldn‟t
get through. I loved school. I had a book every year for perfect attendance.
Marion (far right) at St Anthony‟s School
I started work when I was 15 in John Wilson‟s and Son which was an Irish Linen
Company, in Shandwick Place. I stayed there until I was 18 and went on to a joiner‟s
office which I absolutely hated. However, when I was in the joiner‟s I applied for a job in
the Scottish Council for Development and Industry. I went for interview, borrowed my
sister‟s dress, my white gloves on, and I got the job there and then. I loved that job but I
was just there for a couple of years because I was getting married and at that time they
didn‟t employ married women. We moved to a place called Dullater, near Glasgow, and
stayed there for 18 months. We then returned to Edinburgh.
I‟ve lived in Lasswade Grove at the bottom of Captain‟s Road for the past 46 years. At
one time all the houses here were prefabs. I remember you had to put your name down
for a council house and you got called for an interview. You got three chances. The first
chance we had was for a house in Craigmillar and one in the big flats in Gracemount and
we said “No, we didn‟t want that”. The next interview was for a house in Pilton as well as
Craigmillar and we said “No”.
I had asked about the house that we‟re in now when they were being built. I really
wanted this house. But they said “No they‟re not finished yet”. The third interview,
which was also going to be the final one, came. By that time I‟d sent in a letter to the
Council literally pleading with them to get one of these houses – “Please give a home to
this homeless family”.
I remember running down the road to post the letter.
My
husband went for the interview on his own and he came back and said “We‟ve got the
keys, we have to go and see this house.” I‟ve lived here ever since. I‟ve loved this area
and always have done.
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Jean‟s Story
My name is Jean Kinnear, née Rafferty. I was born at the Wisp near Portobello at the
start of the war in November 1939. My father worked in Woolmit pit. We stayed in the
Bankfield Cottages on Lady Walker‟s estate. We were surrounded by woods. My mum
had a baby nearly every year and life was tough. There was not much food about. I
remember going to the snares in the field in the early morning to get the rabbits out.
They were still warm. I had to take them home. I hated doing that but we had to eat. I
also went to the potato pits to get the spuds for dinner, and the coal slag heaps for coal
for the fire, and we collected hen and ducks eggs out in people‟s gardens.
I had a “gang hut” in the woods when I was little. It was like a tree house, and I had a pet
owl. It was beautiful. I just loved staying near the woods. There was so much life in
there - all the birds and animals. I used to be in there for hours - mum had to come
looking for me. I would wash in the little burn before I went home as I was always black.
I remember there used be potatoes in the fire ash pan, all black, but when you took the
black skin off they were great, the best tatties ever!
My dad asked me what I wanted for my birthday when I was about six, and by this time
there were another two in the family. I said I would like a doll‟s pram. I was so excited. I
imagined a large silver cross style. I could not sleep that night. When I got up in the
morning, my pram was a shoe box with a wire coat hanger over the top with a piece of
cloth as the hood. I was so disappointed but I told my dad it was lovely, and I have never
forgotten that gift.
There were not as many cars and people about in those days. There was only one bus
which came in the morning and it came back at night. I went to school in Portobello. I
used to have to walk to school. We went to chapel at St Theresa‟s in Craigmillar. During
the war I can remember hearing the planes coming and having to go into the air raid
shelter, which was in the back garden. It was a lovely area to live in and play in. We
had greyhound dogs and used to race them up the fields. In the summer everybody
came to Portobello for their holidays.
I remember my dad‟s pit helmet and he had a lamp. I would be about 7 or 8 years old and
have to go to the shop for him to buy the carbide to light his lamp. When you lit the
carbide it came out in a big flame. That‟s the only way the miners could see when they
were down the pit. So I was always sent to buy the carbide and I used to take a couple
of my little brothers or sisters and a pal. We had a game. We all put a piece of carbide
on our hands and we used to spit on it and it started to burn and we used to run to see
who could run the furthest before they dropped the carbide. By the time I got home to
the house there was no carbide left! My dad used to go mad.
We had to leave the cottages at the Wisp as we were overcrowded. Our little house was
full. There was only one bedroom that I can remember. Life was tough but there was a
lot of love in that house. There were five kids by then. I didn‟t want to leave as we were
all happy there. I remember we flitted on a coal lorry, up over the Wisp in the bad winter
for 1947/48.
It was freezing and everything was wet with snow.
We moved to
Danderhall. It was a different community. People came from all over to work in the
Woolmit pit. We went to school in Dalkeith.
15
We had some good times in Danderhall too.
We used to go to the Gala Day held at the
Cockatoo Inn, near the Woolmit pit .
I used to run quite a bit. This picture is of me
winning the Cup for the 100 yards race. I was
only 12. I‟m holding the 10 shilling note prize
money in my hands and the cup. I was so
happy to have won it.
For a treat on a Sunday dad used to walk me
to the Cockatoo Inn. I had to sit outside with a
lemonade and he had a pint with workmates.
Then we would walk home for lunch.
My father was killed in Danderhall when I was 15 and my mother died about a year and
half later. My parents are buried in Newton village cemetery overlooking the Cockatoo.
They never travelled very far in their life, just in a small circle.
I left school at 15 and went to work in a whisky bond at Causewayside. I also worked in
a brewery and in the tweed mills in Galashiels. It was easy to get jobs in those days. I
got married when I was 18. My husband, Andrew, worked in the pit at Gilmerton. I was
actually down Gilmerton pit in 1960. I remember everything about it. It was one of the
most hellish places to be in. I remember seeing the canaries that the men used to take
down the pit to see if there was any gas. It was a hard, hard pit to work in. They didn‟t
dig the coal along the face. The mine went up the way, in shafts, right up to the top of
the earth. There were a lot of men killed in Gilmerton pit. It was so dangerous. It was a
blessing when it was closed.
The Lookout
16
Photographs of the Lookout by Maureen Watson
Jean told us about a very interesting piece of architecture known as „The Lookout‟ at
Gilmerton. “There was an arch that once belonged to Gilmerton House. There is a
Lookout Place, and one hundred years ago they used to send the servants with an eye
glass.” Jean very kindly asked her neighbour, Andrew Grey Muir, if he would allow us to
view it.
We were delighted when Andrew invited us along to his cottage, located at the very top
of Ravenscroft Street, to see the mysterious „Lookout‟. Andrew was very hospitable, and
gave us permission to take photographs. He believes his cottage, built in 1870 was once
the Gardener‟s cottage of Gilmour House. His property is surrounded by a very old wall
with interesting features, such as windows and doorways, and what looks like the
remains of a very large fireplace. This according to Andrew was where the market
gardens were situated, which ties in with the local reminiscences of both Margaret Allan
and Margaret Glasgow. This was the market garden that supplied the village shops with
vegetables.
The Lookout is first mentioned by Reverend Thomas Whyte in his “Account of the Parish
of Liberton”, written in 1792:
“Almost directly east from Muirhouse, are the inclosures, the gardens, the
mansion house, and the village of Gilmerton. The mansion house has a most
excellent site, and is favoured with a most charming and delightful prospect on
all hands. The like is hardly to be seen anywhere. What is called the Long
Walk on the south side of the house, is peculiarly pleasant. At the east end of
it there is a large arch, and above it a balcony, in order to enlarge and improve
the view.”
When we went to investigate this ancient monument, we first came across a stone
stairway that looked as if it was leading to nowhere. We were delighted to see such a
unique piece of architecture still existed at Gilmerton. Andrew informed us that when he
first moved to the cottage in 1965 “the Lookout afforded a panoramic view of the
landscape”.
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Margaret Allan‟s Story
I was born in Newtoft Street in 1938, at 27 Bank House buildings. There were eight
houses in the block. My mother was Mary Flanders, and her father built Hill View along
the Farm Road. It was the first bungalow. My mother‟s people came from Stenhouse
village. My dad, Hugh Allan, was old Gilmerton. He was born in Gilmour House. The
estate was owned by Bobby Richie. It was his land and he had a market garden and a
piggery. He grew all his own vegetables and sold them to the local shops. Bobby lived
in Gilmour House, and I used to collect the vegetables for the shop. We used to buy
them from him.
Gilmerton Place House
At the top of Main Street in
Gilmerton village, there was
once
a
house
named
Gilmerton Place House, which
was locally known as Gilmour
House. It is probable that the
mansion was built in 1604, as
the date stone was found in
one of the garden walls.
View of Gilmerton House from the garden
Courtesy of © RCAHMS. Licensor www.rcahms.uk
Mary Queen of Scots was said to have regularly
visited Gilmerton House on horseback, when she
was staying at Craigmillar Castle. There were once
archery butts set up, an ancient orchard, bell jail and
a circular bathhouse surrounded by yew trees. They
have now vanished without a trace, but it is easy to
imagine how atmospheric old Gilmerton was long
ago.
There was an earlier fortified
keep or castle here, which
was occupied by the Earl of
Hereford during the Rough
Wooing of Mary Queen of
Scots. The original Gilmerton
House was said to have been
destroyed by the locals in
1547 as they wanted no
reminder of the tyrannous
English invasion.
I remember the Gilmerton Paydays where they used
to crown the Queen in the park. It was like the May
Day sort of thing. The Queen later became the Coal
Queen. The bandstand was in the park where the Drum Houses are built. The fields
belonged to the village like the common green. Watson‟s Dairy Farm was where
Limefield is now. The piggery next to it was John Young‟s House. Opposite the
Gardener‟s that used to be one big house. The police station was on the left hand side of
East Farm. The village policeman used to live in it. They had cells. So if you were
arrested on a Friday or Saturday you were kept till the Monday!
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Robert‟s Story
My name is Robert McKenzie Johnston. I was born in 1936 in my granny and grandad‟s
house in Elphinstone, which is about 2 miles from Tranent. I grew up in Canonmills.
We lived in a tenement in Heriot Hill Terrace, in the top flat. I lived there with my two
brothers and my mum and dad. There was a bedroom, a boxroom and a living room that
was a kitchen as well, with an old fire range and a bed recess. I enjoyed living in
Canonmills.
A local wedding. Note that the groom is in RAF uniform.
Robert is pictured on the far left and is one the children scrambling for the pour-it!
During the war my dad was in the Royal Artillery. We got evacuated from Edinburgh
down to Hawick in the Borders. I don‟t think I was there very long, maybe a year. I can
remember we had a gas mask slung round us and a name tag. The air raid shelters in
our street were in the back green. The only thing I didn‟t like was each stair had their
own shelter. There were bunks in it. The women used to make this cocoa and it was vile
– I hated it! I remember the end of the war this man coming down Broughton Street in a
taxi shouting “The War‟s Over!”
I went to Canonmills School. I loved school. I liked English and History and a wee bit of
Geography, but I didn‟t like Maths. I left Bellevue Secondary School (it‟s now called
Drummond High School) when I was 15. I wanted to go into the building trade. I wanted
to be a mason. I went to the Building School which was in New Street. You got taught
bricklaying, masonry, painting. I was there for about 7 months.
When I left I couldn‟t get a job as a mason. A couple of firms I went to were wanting
bricklayers but I thought “no”. So I ended up being a slater. It was in my family. It went
back a long, long time. My father was a slater, his brother was a slater, my grandfather
was a slater and his father too. I got started work right away with a firm called William
McLean and Sons. I worked 50 years as a slater until I retired. When I was an apprentice
I used to work in the town on the tenements which was hard work, up and down the
tenements on to the steep roofs.
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We used to dae chimney stacks, demolish them and rebuild them. Then later on I worked
with the boss‟s son and he asked me to work up north. I‟d never been far. We drove up
to Durness in the far north and we worked there. Then we went along to Wick and we
worked in Wick for a few weeks. From there we went to this village called Halkirk which
was about 12 miles I think from Wick and we slated a new Secondary School there. You
never wore safety boots and safety hats. There was quite a lot of accidents in these
days.
We moved from Heriot Hill down to West Pilton Circus. They were new houses. They
were lovely. I stayed in No 36 and Alice, my wife, stayed in 34 and that‟s how we met.
Alice and I moved up to Moredun in 1967 and then later to Gilmerton. The reason I knew
about Moredun was I worked on the houses when they were getting built. I was doing
the roofs. They were Council houses so I put my name down for one. By then we had
four kids and were staying in a 2 bedroom Council house in Muirhouse. We‟d moved into
that one when it was new too. My younger brother, Jimmy, became a slater as well. He
put his name down for a house in Moredun as well and we ended up living right opposite
each other. We‟re now in Ravenscroft Gardens. I like this area. It‟s like a village –
everybody knows each other.
Gilmerton Church
“(Gilmerton) Church was built in 1838 to be a Chapel of Ease from Liberton Kirk. It was
one of the first Church extension Charges set up by the General Assembly, and the
Reverend Walter Fairlie was the first minister.” Extract from the late Reverend Donald
Skinner‟s booklet.
20
Alice‟s Story
My name is Alice Johnston. My father was Edward Hamilton and my mother was Alice
Baxter. My mother was a housewife and my father was a Riverter‟s Holder On. I have
three brother, Eddie, James and Davy. I lived in a room and kitchen in Ballantyne Road
in Leith. Ballantyne Road was joined to Ballantyne Place and was opposite the State
Picture House. My grandfather stayed at Ballantyne Place so we stayed there. He was a
cooper by trade. He made barrels at Leith docks.
During the war Leith got a few bombs dropped on it. Where we stayed was only a mile
from the Docks and so it was the Docks they were after to blow up the ships. We had
three or four air raid shelters. Big concrete shelters out the back and everyone just got
out of their houses quick, and if you were lucky you picked up something or anything
valuable.
We went to the Gaiety Theatre for all our entertainment. There was always a matinee an
afternoon show. You had to pay sixpence to get in. They had singers, acrobats and
other Old Vaudeville acts. If you were lucky your name was drawn out of a draw you got
to go to the Christmas Pantomime.
We left Ballantyne Road in 1948 but if they hadn‟t knocked those buildings down I would
still be there! They moved us out but none of us wanted to move. We moved simply
because we had a room and a kitchen. My mother and father slept in a bed recess in the
kitchen. It was very cramped. It had gas mantle lighting, and a range and mother cooked
on the range. I was a Purchase Ledger Clerkess for Charles & Co at John‟s Place in
Leith.
Our first Council house was in Muirhouse. We
had four kids and we had to move as we only
had a bedroom and a box room. I had bad
asthma and was moved to Moredun because
the air was clearer. I had been in and out of
hospital all the time. My first inhaler was great
as it relieved the asthma. We moved to
Moredun Park Loan in 1967. We did our
shopping at the Co-op, now Scotmid, but I still
mainly shopped in Leith. Then from there we
bought a house at Burgh Toft in Gilmerton
village.
I remember when they opened up the
parklands to the public. We went with all the
family every Sunday, and we took our
children‟s friends to the Braids. We went right
up to the very top, through the Golf Course. It
was wonderful we would walk, play games and
the kids would run around all over the place.
We would take a camping stove up with us and
cook bacon and eggs. It was great!
21
Alice and daughters, Leigh (aged 4)
and Dawn (aged 2) on a caravan
holiday at Kenmore, Perthshire
in 1964.
Kathleen‟s Story
My name is Kathleen Murphy. I was born in the Vennel at Hawthorn Place, Gilmerton
Village. My family are from Gilmerton. You‟re only classed as a Gilmertonian if you were
born in a house in Gilmerton. My mother was a Watson from Keltie in Fife. My father
was John Thomas Murphy and his father was Francis Goodwin Murphy. My father„s
mother was a Denholm, and he was born in 1925 in a house named Muirfield in
Gilmerton. My granny Margaret Murphy, nee Denholm, lived in Teapot Close. Where the
bank is now! She moved from Muirfield House which was on the old Lang Loan to
Teapot Close. Teapot Close was named because all the residents would empty their
teapots in the drain. The villagers would meet there for the daily gossip. Next to the flats
was the Barracks, where the horse and carts from Linlithgow stopped off to get watered.
I used to play at the Middle
Strip at the top of the
village just beyond South
Farm. The road that once
led to the old Railway
Station. I always walk there
a lot. This was the road the
miners used to go to the
pit.
Kate at the Middle Strip
My granny married my granddad, Francis Murphy, in
secret because he was a Catholic. He was the first
Catholic in Gilmerton, and was shunned in the pubs,
clubs, and social places. He was treated like a leper.
My uncle, Jackie Murphy, who lived at Drum cottages,
sold fruit and vegetables from a horse and cart in the
village. My father was a coal merchant and sold
Gilmerton coal right down to Pilton. He bought over the
business, W S Mark, and just kept the name the
customers knew. My auntie Molly was the Coal Queen,
and I just remember seeing a photograph of her in a
beautiful white dress in a black and white carriage
covered in flowers. She was like an old time film star.
I remember you could see a
large creepy House from
the top of the Middle Strip,
in the back fields of South
Farm. It was a mansion
house. We were too scared
to climb over the wall and
investigate. Further along
from the farm. My brother
said the entrance was
where Gilmerton place is
now. Near where the Gay
Gordon‟s pub was.
The
house
seemed
to
be
ruinous but still habitable in
the sixties. We never went
near it. There used to be
loads of beehives.
We moved from the Vennel at Hawthorn Place to one of
the new three bedroom house in Moredun Park. But we
moved back to the village to a tenement in Drum Street,
as my father was pining for the village. It was a shame
as we had a garden at Moredun. You moved back to a stair. It wasn‟t even a village
anymore. My auntie Molly lived across the road in the bought houses. So the Coal
Queen did quite well - she married a nice sea captain!
22
Margaret Glasgow‟s Story
My name is Margaret Glasgow, my maiden name is Baxter, and I was born in 123 Drum
Street, Gilmerton at five minutes past twelve on 25 th December 1937. I was told the
church bell rang when I was born!
My mother and father met at the Gilmerton Playdays. We lived opposite the Drum
cottages…We would go to garden fetes at the Drum House, and the Provost came oot
ken and farmers. The old laird was lovely.
The Drum Estate
Photograph by Maureen Watson
The present Drum House was built by William Adam in 1725 for James, the 12 th Lord
Somerville. Sir John Herring is believed to be the first owner of the Estate. The
Somervilles inherited the lands through marriage to John Herrings‟ daughter Giles. The
mansion is presently owned by the More-Nisbett family.
I was a flower girl at the Gala day and lived then at 75 New Street. There were twelve
flower girls. We all went every week to Mrs Keegan to tell us how to stand, and she gave
us wee flowers baskets wi‟ long handles. I stayed with my auntie Jenny. I was about
eleven or twelve. We all wore white dresses and the hooses were decorated. My auntie
made my dress and I felt like the Queen - it was beautiful…The weather was lovely. I
remember standing in the path and I had ringlets and bows in my hair. The bairns had
flags and there was a Pipe Band. They used to practice on a Friday and they walked up to
the top o‟ the toun and all the kids used to follow them around the village.
On the Gala day there was a procession around Gilmerton and then we all went to the
Society Hall. We gathered there and if it was a scorcher, they would rig a stage up and
the Queen was crowned in the park. If not it was held in the Society Hall. We had races
in the park and you got a bag of goodies. I remember Eileen Wighton was the Gala
Queen. She was a beautiful girl.
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The Friendly Society Hall
Margaret remembers Gilmerton Gala Day celebrations in the Friendly Society Hall. The
Friendly Society Hall was built in 1878 by local stonemasons who hewed the stone from
Craigmillar Quarry. It took two years to build the Hall.
Photograph by Maureen Watson
The Carters‟ Friendly Society was established in 1787, and was set up as a benevolent
fund for the poor, for members who were sick, lame or unable to attend work. They also
settled any bills for funeral expenses for members or their wives.
The Society carried on a play, procession and horse race on the public road. The play is
an even more ancient feature of Gilmerton history.
As far back as 1500 the play, „Robin Hood Little John”, was performed annually on 1st of
May and was attended by great numbers of people from Edinburgh. It was suppressed
by law in 1600 for its “excessive lewdness” but was revived in an expurgated version by
the Gilmerton Senior Friendly Society until 1787.
Information from “Annals of Liberton” by Reverend Campbell Ferenbach (1975)
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Raymond‟s Story
My name is Raymond Charles‟ I was born on the 7 th of September 1945. At that time we
lived in Stockbridge which we called “Stockerie”. In 1947 it was the worst winter and
they were desperate for miners. My father got a job at the Brosie Pit, and we moved to
Gilmerton village. We lived at 48 Ravenscroft Street next to the post office. My three
brothers were born in the village.
My dad, Sonny Charles,
was born in 1923 in Easter
Road, Edinburgh. He was
a
miner
and
Mick
McGahey‟s
right
hand
man. He worked at the
Brosie Pit and was injured,
and while recuperating
worked
at
the
Inch
Gardens.
My dad, Sonny Charles (second right) and me
(far right).
He was treated like a
superstar in the village, as
he would sing Nat King
Cole songs at house
parties. He sang for Paul
Robeson in the North
British Hotel.
He was a ballad singer and
could sing anything that
Paul Robeson and Nat
King Cole sang. He also
used to ring the bell at
Gilmerton church.
My mother is Beatrice.
Peacock was her maiden
name.
She was born in
Bonnybridge in 1922.
My mother, Beatrice, is pictured on the far right.
I went to school at Gilmerton Annex which was just
round from St Barnabas Church at the bottom of Moredun Dell.
Glenvarloch Crescent at the Inch in 1955 when I was aged 9.
We moved to
I remember my mother would buy fish from the Newhaven fishwife. She came to the Inch
every Wednesday, and she would gut the fish in front of you.
25
I married Cathy and we had three children Paul, Angie and Sean. We lived in Greendykes
before moving to Moredun. I worked in the Victoria and Imperial docks in Leith.
My eldest son, Paul. My youngest son, Sean, and my daughter, Angie.
During the war years they had to get the coal to make the pig iron to make guns, bullets,
aeroplane parts, piano wire. The railings at Gilmerton and Dalkeith Road were taken
down and used too. Brunton‟s Gunpowder Factory along the side of the Esk was huge.
They blacked it all out.
I remember the Coronation in 1953 and when the Queen came to the Drum Estate. I
remember the pipers coming up from the Drum and the Queen followed going to
Holyrood House.
At Drum Crescent there was a street party for the Coronation. We watched the
Coronation on the television down at a house next to the old Post Office over the road
from Coutts shop. There were celebrations in Gilmerton that day. The Gilmerton Queen
followed the pipes past the dairy farm to the Drum, then on to Coutts – the dry–salter and
grocer. Behind Coutts was a cornfield up from the Drum up past the Mechanic Arms.
Café Miranda was a real Italian café in the 1950s and 60s until round about the time
Tony‟s Café opened up. It was right in the middle of Drum Street just down from Gilder
the baker, who sold rolls on a Sunday. All the mothers would sit down and get a tea, as it
was waitress service. A bit like the Glasgow tea rooms which were famous. Miranda was
a bit of a posh joint.
Henniker‟s was a sweet shop next to the Royal Bank and was at one time part of the
bank. They sold dinky toys, papers, sweets in jars. I remember trying to get a bar of
chocolate without my ration book and being turned away. Henniker kept himself fit at the
Infirmary baths, and we used to see him now and again at the swimming, because we all
went there.
Later on we all went to the hot baths up the stairs at the Infirmary. You could get a bath
cheap after work. Everyone used the bath up the stairs in these days, as if you had a big
family the older ones that were working would use them, because if you went home not
everyone could have a bath. There were nine in my family counting my mother and
father.
26
Mitchell‟s Bar (The Mechanic Arms)
Raymond mentions The Mechanic Arms. Known locally as Mitchell‟s Bar after the family
who owned it, the Mechanic Arms was once a coaching inn. It‟s believed to date back to
the beginning of the 18th Century. Gilmerton at one time had twenty four porter houses,
to accommodate the large crowds that attended the Play Days - a week long Beltane
Festival. Today the Mechanic Arms is the only pub that remains open for business in the
village.
Dr Guthrie‟s Home for Girls
Dr Guthrie‟s Industrial School at Gilmeron is now the Faith Mission Bible College
Dr Guthrie's Girls Industrial School was built by architects John Watson and David
McArthy. It opened in 1904. Dr Guthrie was a preacher and philanthropist and one of the
leaders of the Disruption in 1843. His statue is in Princes Street. As a Minister at
Greyfriar‟s Parish he became deeply concerned about the poverty and neglect of the
local children. He set up a reformatory school, known as “the Ragged School” which
aimed to provide education for homeless children, orphans and children neglected by
their parents and known to the police. The children were exposed to a hands-on
experience in the industrial working environment. We know from reminiscence that the
girls worked at Gilmerton in the laundry, and at the market garden at the top of
Ravenscroft Road.
27
Stories of Old Gilmerton
by the WEA Gilmerton Reminiscence Group
ISBN number: 978 0 902303 73 7
© Workers‟ Educational Association 2011
28