By David O'Leary
MILLIONS flock from around the globe each year to walk Edinburgh’s cobbled streets and revel at its historic landmarks.
Now thanks to a handy mobile phone application, travellers can wander its closes at the time of Mary Queen of Scots.
Researchers at the University of St Andrews have digitally recreated the lost townscape of 16th-century Edinburgh based on a drawing from 1544.
The app provides a glimpse of the city before it was sacked and burned by an English army led by Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford.
The drawing is the work of Richard Lee, an English military engineer who later designed the massive artillery defences at Berwick-upon-Tweed.
Lee accompanied the Earl of Hertford’s forces to Edinburgh, and his artwork is thought to be the first realistic portrayal of Scotland’s capital.
Virtual Time Binoculars - Edinburgh 1544 from Smart History on Vimeo.
The virtual time travel technology will be released as an app in May with a particular focus on the Old Town, Grassmarket and Royal Mile.
It is the result of a collaboration between St Andrews historians and university spin-out company Smart History.
Dr Bess Rhodes, an expert on 16th-century Scottishhistory, said: “For the first time visitors and residents can compare the city they know with the capital of James V and Mary Queen of Scots.”
Edinburgh became established as the capital from the 1500s onwards. Inhabitants seeking to stay in proximity to the protection of the castle built tall narrow tenements.
By the time of the birth of Mary Queen of Scots, in 1542, the city’s well-known warren of narrow wynds and closes was well established.
When James VI took the throne in England in 1603, Edinburgh lost its status as the principal site of the royal court.
Back in the 16th century, inns such as the White Hart and the Black Bull opened and in 1560 the town council relocated its corn exchange to the site.
Photo credit: University of St Andrews
Lothian farmers regularly sold hay, corn and seed in the city’s Grassmarket until 1911 – trading was first sanctioned by royal charter in 1477.
It was also the scene of many hangings, and the famous Porteous riot. John Porteous, who was Captain of the Town Guard, was taken from prison and strung up by a mob in the Grassmarket.
Dr Rhodes continued: “The 1540s were a tumultuous period in Edinburgh’s history.” In December 1542 King James V of Scotland died, leaving his baby daughter Mary as monarch. Not long after the English King Henry VIII ordered an invasion of Scotland, with the aim of forcing the Scots to accept a proposed betrothal between the infant Mary and his young son (the future Edward VI of England).”
“One of the first major actions in the conflict later known as the ‘Rough Wooing’ was the Earl of Hertford’s attack on Edinburgh in May 1544. Hertford’s forces failed to capture Edinburgh Castle, but set fire to the city.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel