"Human remains were sometimes used for ritual, magical purposes. Around 2000 years ago, in the Western Isles, the partly decayed body of a youth age about 12 was cut into quarters and deposited in four pits along with the butchered remains of two young cattle and two sheep. The pits were found beneath a house. It may be that he had drowned, and when his decaying remains were found, rituals were performed to lay him -- and perhaps his ghost -- to rest. Or he may have been the victim of a sacrifice. Placing the dismembered animal carcasses in the pits was part of these rituals. The house may have been built above the pits because this place was now seen as a place of good luck."
Tomb lintels at the National Museum - Edinburgh, Scotland
"Some of the Orcadian tombs, builts as houses for the dead, were decorated with sacred symbols. These stones originally were lintels in two such tombs. Their decoration closely resembles that found on tombs in the Boyne Valley in eastern Ireland. It seems that the powerful people responsible for building these ancestral monuments in Orkney and Ireland were in contact with one another. Such long distance links would have bolstered the local power of each elite group."
This is why I have a thing for spirals
So many interesting things to see at Scotland's National Museum. We went specifically to see the mesmerizing Celts exhibition. I recommend it if you are going to be anywhere in the UK in the coming months. It ends September 25, 2016. Check out the exhibition page.
The videos below were made by the British Museum where this exhibition started last year. Click here for an interesting review on the differences in this exhibit from London to Edinburgh.
"Seventeen miniature coffins were found in 1836 on Arthur's Seat, Edinburgh, each containing a clothed figure. No one knows what they were, why they were buried or who buried them, but people have been trying to solve the mystery ever since. At the time of their discovery The Scotsman newspaper suggested they were used by witches casting death spells on specific individuals. Another theory is that they were kept by sailors to protect against death. They may even represent a mock burial, possibly for the 17 known victims of Burke and Hare. In 1827-8 Burke and Hare, working in Edinburgh, sold the bodies of people they had murdered for dissection in the city's anatomy classes. This horrified many Scots who feared that a dissected body would not rise to life at the Last Judgement. William Burke was caught and executed for his crimes in 1829. Ironically, his body was legally given to an antaomy class for dissection. Look at the mortsafe for more about Burke and Hare. We are unlikely ever to be sure of the meaning of the coffins. It remains with the hidden aspects of death and belief in Scotland."
"...owned by Botlton kirk session, East Lothian, 1783-1844, decorated with symbols of death and tears. The undercarriage may be from a mid-17th-century coach, making it the oldest surviving road vehicle in Scotland. The use of a horse-drawn hearse to carry the coffin initially indicated wealth and status, but gradually became an accepted part of many funeral processions. Funds raised through hiring out the hearse contributed to poor relief."
Uw aye! We're just back from a wee trip to the land beyond Hadrian's Wall. Locating ourselves in the festival city of Edinburgh we managed to squeeze in a lot during one week. A tour of underground Edinburgh was a top priority on my list.
Now, if you haven't been to Edinburgh and you are a fan of Halloween and spookiness, well, you are definitely missing out. Sad to say we did not take advantage of every ghost tour on offer (and there are lots!) but we did take the tour of Mary King's Close, which was really interesting.
Our costumed guide, Agnes, brought our group through a sampling of the rooms in buildings built over then sealed up well over a century ago. We were told tales of plague, murder and given a good understanding of exactly how cramped, dark, dank, and smelly these 'streets' in Edinburgh's old town once were. Although there's not a lot to see other than the brick and stone walls touches of period furniture and various wax figures and tableaux do help flesh things out.
As do the cries of "Gardez loo!" which you will hear during your tour. This cry was heard twice a day in old Edinburgh. Coinciding with the church bells it was the only time you were allowed to empty your chamber pots...into the street. Everyone. At the same time.
Now, I didn't find this tour particularly frightening but it was certainly atmospheric and rather fascinating to be in the actual spaces that people once lived in and walked through. The room that thrilled me most was the one that still contains the grinding stone for making flour. You can also see bits of horse hair poking out from inside the crumbling lime plaster still clinging to spots on the walls and propped up ceiling. This domicile is comprised of three rooms, the smallest of which is thought to have been a bedroom. And that is the room which currently holds an assortment of dolls and toys people have left behind for Annie, the ghost of a little girl who died of plague centuries ago....
The hole in the floor is part of the grinding stone
