Just Plain Wrong Edinburgh Facts

I’ve heard lots of tall tales and facts about Edinburgh – but not all your pub quiz trivia is made equal.  Here are a few little trivia tidbits, and what I’ve found to be the correct answer.  Some of them are surprising.

Fiction: Scots call their dinner ‘tea’ because it’s usually washed down with copious amounts of tea.

Fact: A nobleman in the mid 1700s is said to have been tired of tea-slurping, and used this classic Edinburgh greeting to make sure that he could have a beer instead of slurping tea.

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Fiction: There is only one Edinburgh Castle (map).

Fact:  While in atmosphere and character, yes, there is only one castle.  However, there is a full size replica in storage in New Zeland, which was built in the 90s when the Tattoo when touring there.

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Fiction:  Rose Street (map) was named after the patches of wild roses that surrounded the nearby Nor Loch (now Princes Street Gardens).

Fact:  Rose Street was once home to prostitutes, and “to pluck a rose” was to take these ladies of ill repute up on their services.

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Fiction:  Edinburgh is known as the Athens of the North because of the acropolis-like National Monument on Calton Hill (map).

Fact:  The name Athens of the North actually more relates to the architecture of many other buildings in Edinburgh, which are far more detailed examples of the architecture.  The most prominent and most often cited in reference to this nickname is the Old High School, on the southern slope of Calton Hill.

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Fiction:  Scotland’s national animal is the lobster.

Fact:  Scotland’s ‘unofficial’ national animal (yes there is one) is the mythical unicorn.  That’s why you’ll find the unicorn on many insignias and family shields.  It’s believed that his historic times many creatures were spotted along the shores, and perhaps a wild horse was more than once mistaken as a unicorn.

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Fiction:  Edinburgh’s population doubles during the Edinburgh Festival.

Fact:  Edinburgh has just shy of a half million residents, but over 1 million come during the month of August to visit.  Thus, the city’s population actually increases 300%.  Incredible.

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Truth Stranger than Fiction

Many of these facts have other perspectives and are sometimes questions, so in some cases, there’s no history book or scrap of old paper to tell us the truth. But for other things, as they say, truth is stranger than fiction.  Some more salubrious facts and figures:

• The city was once home to many a “genius” medical cures, including using dove dung to cure baldness.
• Despite an ever-evolving parliamentary system, Scotland always has had its own courts system, which many will face when trying to buy property (which is completely different than elsewhere in the UK).
• The city is also known as the Windy City.  Most wouldn’t say it is that windy though – but it can be!
• Edinburgh’s always had a weird relationship with dogs.  The city loved dogs, as witness of the dog cemetery in Edinburgh Castle, but then in the 1700s all dogs were killed after an incident at a butcher’s.  We come full circle with the story of Greyfriar’s Bobby, who waited faithfully at the Greyfriar Church for his master to return.

What’s your favourite weird/wonderful fact (or fiction!) trivia about Edinburgh?

Tags: facts, trivia