The Greyfriars Kirkyard tour

General information

Destination
Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Program details

Tales of tortured martyrs, an executed lord, a lynched guardsman and many others will soon leave you in no doubt that Greyfriars Kirkyard is truly a thought provoking place. The stories will give you an understanding of what Edinburgh was like to live in...and die in. A visit to the Kirkyard with Historic Edinburgh tours is an exploration of what made Edinburgh the city it was, for good and for bad...


The Kirkyard was involved in the history of the Covenanters. The Covenanting movement began with signing of the National Covenant in Greyfriars Kirk on 28 February 1638. Following the defeat of the militant Covenanters at Bothwell Brig in 1679, some 1200 Covenanters were imprisoned in a field to the south of the churchyard. When, in the 18th century, part of this field was amalgamated into the churchyard as vaulted tombs the area became known as the “Covenanters' Prison”.


The graveyard is associated with Greyfriars Bobby, the loyal dog who guarded his master's grave. Bobby's headstone at the entrance to the Kirkyard, erected by the Dog Aid Society in 1981, marks his actual burial place in an unconsecrated patch of the Kirkyard - a peculiarity which has led to many misunderstandings and fictions about his burial. The dog's statue is opposite the graveyard's gate, at the junction of George IV Bridge and Candlemaker Row. The grave of Edinburgh police officer John Gray, where the dog famously slept for 13 years, lies on the eastern path, some 30m north of the entrance. The stone is modern, the grave originally being unmarked. Newer researchs suggest that this story is a myth.


Duration: One and-a-half hours.

Start/opening time: At 7pm.

Languages: English.