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Greyfriars Kirkyard

Adapted from Wikipedia · Discoverer experience

Historical painting showing the signing of the National Covenant in Edinburgh, a significant moment in Scottish history.

Greyfriars Kirkyard is the graveyard around Greyfriars Kirk in Edinburgh, Scotland. It sits at the southern edge of the Old Town, close to George Heriot's School. People have been buried there since the late 1500s, and many well-known people from Edinburgh rest there.

The Kirkyard is managed by the City of Edinburgh Council together with a special charity group that works with, but is separate from, the church. The Kirkyard and its many monuments are important historic sites and are protected as a category A listed building. It is a special place that helps us remember the past.

History

Greyfriars Kirkyard gets its name from the Franciscan friary nearby, where the friars wore grey clothes. The churchyard started in August 1562 after getting permission from the king to replace the old burial ground at St Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh. People stopped using that old burial ground around the year 1600.

The Kirkyard played a part in the history of the Covenanters. The National Covenant, an important promise for freedom, was signed in Greyfriars Kirk on February 28, 1638. After the Covenanters lost a battle at Bothwell Brig in 1679, about 1200 of them were kept in a field south of the churchyard. Later, when part of that field was added to the churchyard for family tombs, the area became known as the "Covenanters' Prison."

An oil painting of The Signing of the National Covenant in Greyfriars Kirkyard by William Allan (painter) in 1838

In the 1840s, famous photographers David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson used the kirkyard for portraits and scenes, like one called The Artist and The Gravedigger.

Covenanters

The National Covenant was signed in the kirkyard in 1638 because it was a place where people could meet freely. After the Battle of Bothwell Bridge on June 22, 1679, about 1200 prisoners came to Edinburgh. There wasn't enough space in the prison or castle, so they were kept in a field south of Greyfriars Kirkyard. This field was naturally enclosed by walls on three sides and had a fence on the fourth side.

Greyfriars Kirkyard with Edinburgh Castle behind

The name Covenanters Prison stayed even after the area was mostly built over by the city around 1690. A small part of that land, between the built area and George Heriot's School, was used for more burials starting around 1700. During that time, people built vaults to hold families, and that style is still seen there today. These vaults weren’t there when the area was used as a prison, so they were never used that way.

People could see this area until around 1990, but then the City of Edinburgh Council locked it to stop vandalism and people using it for harmful activities. You can visit during the day by arranging with guides at Greyfriars Kirk or at night on a City of the Dead Tour, where you can see the Black Mausoleum.

Greyfriars Bobby

"Non Omnis Moriar" ("Not All of Me Will Die"), Greyfriars Kirkyard, Edinburgh

The kirkyard is famous for Greyfriars Bobby, a loyal dog who watched over his owner's grave. A stone for Bobby was put up by the Dog Aid Society in 1981, but some think he was actually buried under a tree just outside the gates. There is a statue of Bobby near the kirkyard gate where George IV Bridge meets Candlemaker Row. The grave of Bobby’s owner, a shepherd named "Auld Jock" (John Gray), is on the east path about 30 meters north of the entrance. The stone there is newer, as the original grave didn’t have a marker.

Hill & Adamson photograph dated 1848, showing D O Hill sketching at the Dennystoun Monument, watched by the Misses Morris
Because it is thoct gude that thair be na buriall within the Kirk, and that the kirk-zaird is nocht of sufficient rowme for bureing of the deid, and for esdrewing of the savour and inconvenientis that may follow thairupon in the heit of somer, it would be providit that ane buriall place be maid farrer from the myddis of the town, sic as in the Greyfreir zaird and the somyn biggit and maid close.
Because it is thought beneficial that there should be no more burials within the church [ie St Giles], and because that kirkyard is not thought to have sufficient room for burying the dead, and taking into consideration the smell and inconvenience in the heat of summer, it would be provided [by the council] that a burial place be made further from the middle of town, such as in Greyfriars yard, and the same [should be] built up and made secure.

Monuments

In Greyfriars Kirkyard, you can find special stone walls and iron fences around some burial places. These were built to stop people from stealing bodies, which was a problem a long time ago.

Mortsafes to deter 'resurrectionists' from exhuming the dead, before the 1832 Anatomy Act regulated the legal supply of corpses for medical purposes

The graveyard has beautiful stone monuments with symbols about life and death, like angels and kings. Some important monuments include one for brave people called the Martyr’s Monument and a fancy tomb for a man named Sir George Mackenzie, made to look like a famous building.

Bloody MacKenzie's Tomb

Long ago, two boys broke into Sir George MacKenzie’s tomb and took a skull from inside. The police found them playing with it, but they did not get into serious trouble.

Notable burials

Greyfriars Kirkyard in Edinburgh, Scotland, is a historic graveyard where many important people from the city's past are buried. The burials date back to the late 1500s, making it a place of great historical interest.

The huge monument to Thomas Bannatyn, Greyfriars Kirkyard
Monument to John Mylne, erected by his nephew Robert
The Pitcairne vault within the Covenanter's Prison, Greyfriars Kirkyard
Sir James McLurg's tomb in the Covenanter's Prison

Some of the notable individuals buried here include architects, judges, scientists, and writers. The graveyard holds the remains of people who shaped Edinburgh and Scotland in many ways. Notable burials include:

Images

Monument in Greyfriars Kirkyard honoring historical figures from Scotland's past.
A historical monument in Greyfriars Kirkyard, Edinburgh.
A historical grave marker in Greyfriars Kirkyard, Edinburgh, remembering members of the Riddell family from the 1800s.
Historical image of notable burials at Greyfriars Kirkyard in the United Kingdom.
A view of the historic Greyfriars Kirkyard in Scotland, showing part of its stone wall.

Related articles

Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh

This article is a child-friendly adaptation of the Wikipedia article on Greyfriars Kirkyard, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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