The Worlds End

The tour starts at 10:00 AM, lasts approximately 2 hours and is approximately 6,000 – 7,000 steps so a good contribution towards the daily recommended 10,000 steps, on an undulating route through the Royal Mile and Grassmarket good for cardiovascular fitness. Per Scottish Govt regulations, from July 19th Edinburgh will be in Level 0, meaning that up to 15 people from 15 different households may meet out of doors. The tour is limited to a maximum of 12 people with 2 guides to be within that limit. The tour guides will be Michael Nevin, author of 'Reminiscences of a Jacobite', and Kevin Smith in the guise of Donald Cameron of Lochiel ('The Gentle Lochiel'). There are a total of 10 stops on our pilgrimage through place and time: 1. Starting at the Netherbow Port, broached by the Jacobites before dawn on Tuesday, September 17th 1745 (just outside the World's End public house). 2. Proceeding up the High Street to the Tron Kirk, where three days earlier members of the Edinburgh Defence Volunteers – the local "Home Guard" formed to resist the Jacobites – mustered to decide what to do next. 3. Then onto the Market Cross, where King James was proclaimed on Wednesday September 18th 1745. 4. Then round St. Giles Cathedral / Parliament Square (next to the Market Cross). 5. Onto the statue of David Hume, philosopher and member of the Edinburgh Defence Volunteers, whose thinking seems to have been influenced by his encounters with the Jacobites during their period of occupation. 6. From there, a walk to the Castlehill Esplanade, where directors of the Royal Bank of Scotland led by John Campbell of Ardmaddie tentatively walked into the Castle on October 3rd 1745 to recover the bank’s gold reserves and pay off banknotes held by the Jacobites. 7. Back to the Lawnmarket, scene of a brutal street battle when the government soldiers trapped in a castle sought to break out the Jacobite blockade on October 5th 1745. 8. Down to West Bow to Lord Provost Archibald Stewart’s Land. Stewart was Lord Provost of Edinburgh at the time of Jacobite occupation and afterwards tried for treason for allegedly collaborating with the rebels. 9. Then the Gallowgate in the Grassmarket, next to the Lord Provost's Land, where General Henry (Hangman) Hawley executed members of his own army who served as scapegoats for his defeat at Falkirk Muir on January 17th 1746. 10. Finishing at Greyfriars Kirkyard, last resting place of the Gaelic bard Duncan Ban MacIntyre (who served in the Hanoverian ranks at Falkirk Muir) and of Duncan Forbes of Culloden, Lord President of the Council in 1745 – and of course, that well-known Jacobite terrier, Greyfriars Bobby!