What is the Edinburgh Mercat Cross and how is it connected to a proclamation? 👇
‘Mercat’ is the Scots word for market, and the market cross or Mercat Cross was a hub of activity in centuries gone by.
Adorned with the national animal of Scotland, the Mercat Cross was an incredibly important proclamation point in the 1500-1700s—an age before modern technology. There was no internet, no phone reminders and no push notifications.
So, how was the most important news shared? By shouting it from the balcony of the Mercat Cross, of course!
This included word of general elections and successions to the throne. There was a three-day delay between London and Edinburgh proclamations due to the time it took a messenger to travel on horseback.
The tradition of the three-day delay is still upheld to date whenever news is announced from the cross.
For us, these events are incredibly memorable occasions to witness our beloved Mercat Cross being used for one of its centuries-old purposes!
📍 Edinburgh Mercat Cross, 31 May 2024
[Video description: two short video clips showing a kilted band marching down the Edinburgh Royal Mile and the Lord Lyon giving a speech from the top of the Mercat Cross, overlaid by the marching band music. End description] #History #Edinburgh
An underground tavern right in the heart of Edinburgh? 🍻🦪
Edinburgh’s underground vaults were used for many reasons between the 18th and 19th centuries—not only for business (storage rooms and workshops) but also for pleasure (oyster cellars and taverns).
The Blair Street Underground Vaults are a hidden gem situated just off Edinburgh’s Royal Mile. And we’d love to show you around!
Join us to discover an underground world and follow in the steps of residents from centuries gone by—your feet, their footsteps.
[Video description: Linda, a Scottish woman, leads you through the Tavern Room in the Blair Street Underground Vaults in Edinburgh, pointing out black glass on the ground and the corner where piles of oyster shells were found. End description]
Everyone always talks about the Edinburgh vaults, but what about the rest of the city? The Royal Mile has centuries of stories permeating its cobblestones...
For example, we have:
⚰️ Parliament Square, which was once a graveyard
🗡 St Giles & its surroundings, which were once home to a jail and not one, but two forms of execution
🏰 Edinburgh Castle, which might have a labyrinth running beneath it...
Want to explore more of Edinburgh’s above-ground ghost stories? Join us on our brand-new Ghostly Tales of Edinburgh’s Royal Mile tour! It’s entirely above ground and accessible to all.
👉 Book your tickets here! bit.ly/3vDTgkh
Tours begin 9th April.
[Video description: a 56-second video titled ‘3 haunted places in Edinburgh that aren’t underground’ which explores the three locations mentioned in the caption illustrated by animations and historical images. End description]
Don’t miss the sell-out workshop, back for one day only!
Now’s your chance to become an archaeologist, if only for an evening. Guided by our in-house expert, you’ll get the chance to handle real artefacts from Edinburgh’s Blair Street Underground Vaults. Some of them haven’t seen the light of day in centuries!
Learn more about the city's history and even uncover some of the secrets of Edinburgh’s underground vaults.
👉Thursday, 11th April @ 5:30pm
Tickets are limited, so book ASAP! ✨bit.ly/3xuDIQc
[Video description: a 40-second video starting with ASMR of artefacts being removed from a display case and moved to a table, followed by a voiceover describing some details of a stoneware bottle, before going over the details for the archaeology event described in the caption. End description]
#Edinburgh #Archaeology
Celebrate World Poetry Day with a little Scottish verse. 🍂
Here, Linda shares a section of Sir Walter Scott’s ‘By lone St Mary’s silent lake’.
While St Margaret’s Loch wasn’t the subject of Scott’s poem, we can’t help but think that the Edinburgh beauty fits the descriptions well.
[Video description: a short video of a body of water with craggy hills rising in the background, with a voiceover of a Scottish woman reciting part of a Walter Scott poem. End description] #Edinburgh
🎵 Long Road Ahead by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence.
Source: incompetech . com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100588
Artist: incompetech . com/
📣 More dates added! 📣
Our kids’ tour is back for Easter weekend! Add some intrigue to the school holidays with a Gory Story tour, full of tales of Edinburgh’s past.
Due to high demand, we’ve now added additional dates & times!
👻 Saturday 30th March, 12:00
🏰 Sunday 31st March, 13:00
🕯 Monday 1st April, 11:00
Book online. ✨
[Video description: a short video captioned ‘POV: You & your kids are on a ghostly tour of Edinburgh’ showing a family with young kids on a tour with a Mercat Storyteller. End description]
Another unfortunate end for a man in Mary Queen of Scots’s life...🙁
David Rizzio was a casualty of Mary’s second husband’s jealousy. Darnley, of course, later became a casualty himself...
Already learned this on our history tours? Why not join us for a Doomed, Dead & Buried tour and discover the other dark secrets of Canongate Kirk (returners get £2 off each ticket!). #edinburgh
[Video description: a short narrated video describing the unfortunate end of Mary Queen of Scots’s private secretary, David Rizzio, and his grave that can be found at Canongate Kirk in Edinburgh, Scotland. End description]
We can’t celebrate #InternationalWomensDay without remembering Dr Elsie Inglis! 💪👩🏻⚕️
Picture this: World War I has just begun and you offer your medical expertise to the War Office, only for someone to respond with ‘My good lady, go home and sit still’... 💀
Inglis did not go home and sit still: she instead set up the Scottish Women’s Hospitals for Foreign Service (or SWH) and served during WWI. Elsie’s story encompasses the rich and diverse history of Edinburgh we hope to bring to life on our tours. #IWD2024 #IWD
[Video description: a short exploring the life of Elsie Inglis and how she and her nurses served during World War One, with video clips from around Edinburgh and historical photos and documents from WWI. End description]
Little secrets are hidden all along the Royal Mile in Edinburgh. 🏰
If you look around, you’ll see interesting measuring units, tiny listed buildings, underground vaults, and So. Many. Windows.
(You can also join our Secrets of #Edinburgh’s Royal Mile tour to discover more hidden gems like these, or try an underground tour to explore the Blair Street Underground Vaults!)
[Video description: a 40 second video titled ‘4 things you probably didn’t know about Edinburgh’ quickly exploring four interesting things you can find on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, with a quick voiceover explaining each—topics mentioned in the caption. End description]
Become a Storyteller Tour Guide!
'I found myself in a position to tell, shape and even write stories [...] All the overwrought imagination of my youth came flooding back as I began learning historical accounts of Edinburgh’s legendary figures.'
-Jared, Mercat Tours Storyteller
As a Mercat Storyteller you can expect:
⭐ 5-star visitor attraction
💼 Real Living Wage and Fair Work Employer
📅 Guaranteed hours & permanent contracts
🎫 Independent family business
🕒Flexible working
🍃Green Tourism GOLD Award for sustainability
📈10% annual discretionary bonus
📓 Full training provided
✨ A warm welcome in a friendly and diverse team
Closing date for applications: 5pm, Friday 1st March
👉 Apply on our vacancies page: bit.ly/Join-the-MT-Team
[Video description: Mercat Storyteller, Naomi, in a black cloak, describing what she likes about being a Storyteller, including its ability to teach people history even on ghost tours, and its flexibility. End description]
Become a Storyteller Tour Guide!
'But the vital component is the energy one can create as a tour guide… an energy that can only work with an audience. Effective storytelling is as much about the listeners and their reactions, without which even the best tale remains a static monologue, entrapped in the pages of a dusty tome or manuscript.'
Jared, Mercat Storyteller
Share your passion for Scotland’s past story by story, step by step.
Join our award-winning team and provide a 5-star experience by giving Edinburgh’s history ‘a damn good telling’.
As a Mercat Storyteller you can expect:
⭐ 5-star visitor attraction
💼 Real Living Wage and Fair Work Employer
📅 Guaranteed hours & permanent contracts
🎫 Independent family business
🕒Flexible working
🍃Green Tourism GOLD Award for sustainability
📈10% annual discretionary bonus
📓 Full training provided
✨ A warm welcome in a friendly and diverse team
Closing date for applications: 5pm, Friday 1st March
👉 Apply on our vacancies page. bit.ly/JoinMTNow
[Video description: a voiceover of Mercat Storyteller Fred talking about what she likes about being a Storyteller, over videos of walking tours through the streets of Edinburgh and the Blair Street Underground Vaults. End description]
#VisitScotland #ForeverEdinburgh #TravelWithMe #Vacancies #Hiring #HistoricScotland #ExploreScotland #EdinburghCity
'History is a damn good story, what it needs is a damn good telling' - and Mercat does! Local, indep
