User:Wvbailey/Canongate Tolbooth



Canongate Tolbooth is a historical landmark of the Old Town section of Edinburgh, Scotland (U.K.). Built in 1591, it as a tolbooth or toll-collecting gate for those entering Edingburgh from the lower (eastern or Holyrood) end of what is now known as the Royal Mile. It originally served both as toll collection point and as police headquarters and jail. It remains famous for its historical associations with the development of Edinburgh and now serves as tavern.

Historical brass plaque at the entrance to the Tolbooth Tavern
The text on the plaque reads as follows:

"Tolbooth Tavern "The Tolbooth Tavern is part of the original Canongate Tolbooth which was built in 1591.

"The building was used to collect tolls from travelers entering the burgh but has also served as a Council Chamber, Police Court and Prison. The Prison was tenanted by those who suffered in the cause of liberty and many of its captives were wrongly detained and brutally treated.

"A suspected warlock is thought to have been exorcised here by the lay successor to the Abbots of Holyrood, Sir Lewis Bellenden. The unfortunate soul was so terrified by the fierce preacher he is said to have died of fright soon after the experience.

"In 1654 Oliver Cromwell’s guard detained several Scottish enemies of the State in the building but the Tolbooth’s walls could not hold them and they made their excape using strips of blanket as rope lowering themselves to freedom from the upper floor.

"The Covenanters were also imprisoned in the Tolbooth’s cells between 1661 and 1688.

"Many of the prisoners were sent to the plantations of the Caribbean for seven years hard labour. After this period they could return to Scotland or remain in the colony, however, before their departure all the captives were marked so they could not escape their past. Women had their faces branded with an iron while men had an ear chopped off.

"The rear section of the pub was originally built as housing c.1750 and was still used for this purpose into the early 20th century and while this area of the establishment is not as old as the front many people find it the most eerie and have claimed to feel a presence.

"The front area became a tavern in 1820 with the rear area following suit some 100 years later and has traded in this fashion up to the present day."