Award-winning Author of Scottish Historical Romance
  • Home Page
  • Hardy Heroines Series
  • The Highlander's Bride Series
  • Novellas
  • Contemporary Romance
  • About Cathy & DD MacRae
  • Bits 'n Bobs Author Blog
  • Wonderful Wednesday Personal Blog
  • Author Links
  • Contact Page
  • Privacy Policy
  • Home Page
  • Hardy Heroines Series
  • The Highlander's Bride Series
  • Novellas
  • Contemporary Romance
  • About Cathy & DD MacRae
  • Bits 'n Bobs Author Blog
  • Wonderful Wednesday Personal Blog
  • Author Links
  • Contact Page
  • Privacy Policy
Search by typing & pressing enter

YOUR CART

                                                                  Bits 'n Bobs Author Blog

9/11/2016 0 Comments

Scotland with Grace 2016 - Day 2

Picture
Day 2: Up bright and early for a hike through Edinburgh. Sounds fun- and it was- but it was also quite informative.
Here, Susie takes a moment to show us Edinburgh's layout. It is a very old city with the castle at the top of an ancient volcanic mound that fell over. The city was built down its slope and is why the streets are rather steep in places.

Picture
This is where our journey led. A narrow street, or close, in the old town, dating to medieval times. Since that is my era of interest, I was thrilled! No photos were allowed inside, but I'll try to re-create the tour.

Mary King's Close was the second widest street in Edinburgh, though it is quite narrow by even modest standards. Its buildings were perhaps 8-12 stories high, which allowed little or no light into the lower levels. Rooms for the poorer inhabitants had a ceiling approximately 6 feet high, and 2-3 families (12-14 people) lived in each single-room home. People typically slept on the floor, with perhaps a bit of straw. There were no fireplaces in the dwellings, though some undoubtedly lit fires in the doorways, or used a communal fire nearby to cook their meals.

For light, they used oil lamps burning fish oil or animal fat. This, combined with the aromas of unwashed people and the dreadful sanitation, caused quite a stench. Buckets of human refuse were only allowed to be emptied twice per day - at 7am and 10pm. Shouts of 'Garde loo!' could be heard in the streets as a warning (rather like shouting 'fore' in golf) before the buckets were emptied. Out the window.

Wealthier people inhabited more than one room, and these often boasted carved wooden wall panels as well as carved fireplaces. They would have been on a higher level to avoid the smells and noise at the street. Many wore attachments clipped to the bottom of their shoes to keep them out of the muck on the streets.

Within the close were also byres for the cattle, sheep and goats, perhaps as many as 20-35 cows in one byre. The animals were tied to the walls and did not roam the close.

It's not difficult to imagine the living conditions bred disease among the inhabitants. Both the pneumonic and bubonic plagues spread like wildfire through the close and others like it. Those with pneumonic plague developed a cough that grew more and more violent until their insides burst from the force. They also developed symptoms of blackened and rotting extremities.
Those with bubonic (so named for the bubbles or blisters on the skin) had a bit better survival rate, though the treatment was terrifying. Blisters were lanced, drained, cleaned, then seared with a red-hot poker. Without the benefit of sedation or much in the way of pain management afterwards.
Doctors wore a black leather cloak to keep the plague from touching his clothing, and a beak-like mask with sweet herbs packed in the front of it to breathe through, hoping to keep the miasmas thought to spread the plague from reaching him. Of course, this did not help as the bubonic plague is spread by fleas, not through the air.
Many people were abandoned by their families if they caught the plague.
Once a patient was over the critical stage, he was released from quarantine and sent outside the city for about 6 weeks to recover. Cleaners would come in and burn his house to remove the miasmas, which only succeeded in driving the rats (and fleas) to the next house.
A white flag hanging from a window alerted the doctor (and passing people) that sickness was in the house.
​
By 1687 (post-plague) Edinburgh was growing! A mixture of water, limestone and horsehair was used to plaster walls and ceilings. Wall paper was taxed, so many people decorated with block painting instead. Some lovely evidence of this artwork was still visible.
Windows were also taxed, so the upper part of a window might have glass while the lower only had shutters.

By 1766 there were over 30 thousand people living in 'old' Edinburgh. Designers were consulted to build 'new' Edinburgh, resulting in wider streets, larger houses, and gardens.

In an area known as Gladston's Land, the dense networks of closes were a distinct contrast to the elegant streets of New Town. Here families often inhabited multiple rooms, with block painting on stone walls and beamed ceilings. They had fireplaces-sometimes in more than one room- and bed steads for sleeping. A curious note: beds were quite short. Granted, the people were a bit shorter than 21st century men and women, but the reason for the abbreviated beds was not simply a lack of stature. People slept in a semi-reclining position. Why? There was a prevailing belief that if you slept flat on your back, the devil might think you were dead and take you away whilst you slept. Also, from the coal smoke and other respiratory ailments, people often had enough congestion they felt as though they were dying when they slept flat on their back, and were more comfortable sleeping partially sitting up..

The poorer people lived on the upper floors, while shops were on the ground floors. The first storey was prime real estate where wealthier people lived. Not too many stairs to climb, yet out of the flow of traffic and muck.

I'll leave you with a few images from the Georgian period.
The price of glass decreased, and entire windows were now glazed.
Most rooms had wood paneling that was often painted.
Oil lamps were no longer in much use- replaced by wax candles
China, vases (Dutch Delft ware)
Furniture was of imported woods.
A spinet (keyboard instrument) was in many drawing rooms
Tea Time was established
Fireplaces in many rooms-- as were fire screens
Clocks are now seen in homes.
Smallpox left its mark on victims' faces, and thick white makeup would be applied-- which would melt off the face if it got too hot. From this we get the term to 'lose face'.

I love hearing where phrases originate. Do you have any favorites?
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    To follow this blog, enter your email address and click 'Subscribe'.

    RSS Feed

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    Picture

    Archives

    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    July 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014

    Categories

    All 4th Of July 99 Cents Abbotsford Adam Adam-a-highlander-romance Aidi Breed American-civil-war Anastasia Abboud Andrea-r-cooper Angela-scavone Anne-b-cole Anthology April-holthaus Ashley York Australia Author Interview Bambi Lynn Barbara Bettis Barnes & Noble Berengaria-brown Best-seller Betrayal Black Watch Museum Blair-castle Blog Hop Book Deal Book Dogs Book Giveaway Book Release Day Book Release Party Book Sale Book Series Books To Read After Outlander Booksweeps Border-collies Boxed-set Braemar-highland-games Brenda-stinnett Burke-and-hare Capercallie Carly-jordynn Carmen-stefanescu Carol-ann-moleti Carole-ann-moleti Caroline-warfield Castle-menzies Catherine-castle Cathy & DD MacRae Cathy Dd Macrae Cathy-macrae Cd-hersh Ceci-giltenan Celebrations Celeste Barclay Celtic Cerian-herbert Character-interview Char-chaffin Chocolate Christmas Christmas-box-set Claire-gem Clava-cairns Collette-cameron Colley Collie Compuiter-woes Contemporary-mystery Contemporary-paranormal Contemporary-romance Contest Cover-reveal Creme-de-la-cover-contest Ct-green Culloden-battlefield Cynthia-owens Daryl Devore Dawn-ireland Dawn-marie-hamilton Dd-macrae Debut Debut-author Dewars-distillery Direct-deposit Edinburgh Eilean-donan-castle Elisabeth-hobbes Elizabeth-preston Elizabeth-rose Eliza Knight Elle-hill Evil-villain Excerpts Fantasy-historical Farleyer-lodge First First-kiss Flowers Food Forth-bridges France Free-book Free-books Freki Georgian-romance German-shepherd Get-lost-in-a-story-blog-interview Ghost-tour Gilda Gildas-story Giveaway Glen-ord-whisky Graveyards Guest-author Guest-blogger Halloween Hardy-heroines Highland-chocolatier Highlander-romance Highland-escape Highland-romance Historical-irish Historical-post Historical Romance Hm-queen-elizabeth-ii Holiday Holiday-read Hot-historicals Hurricane-harvey Iain-burnett Indtale Jenna Jaxon Jenni-fletcher Jessica-jefferson Jill-hughey Judith Sterling Karen-lopp Kate-hill Katherine-bone Kathryn-le-veque Kelley Heckart Kindle-world Kobo Lane Mcfarland Larynn-ford Laura-strickland Laurel Odonnell Lauren-linwood Leault-farm Legends-of-scotland Life-with-freki Limited-time-offer Linda-bennett-pennell Lochleven-castle Loch-ness Luxury-cruises Macleod Madeline-martin Madelyn-hill Maggie-mundy Mairi-norris Marilyn-baxter Mary-gillgannon Mary Morgan Meda-white Medieval-blog-hop Medieval-hop Medieval-monday-2015 Medieval-monday-2016 Medieval-monday-2017 Medievalmonday2018 Medieval-monday-2018 Medieval Monday 2019 Medieval Monday 2020 Medieval Monday 2021 Medieval Monday Fall 2020 Medieval Mondays Medieval Monday Spring 2020 Medieval-mystery Medieval Romance Meet-the-characters Meggan-connor Meggan-connors Mhairis-yuletide-wish Military-romance Miriam-newman Neva-brown New Book Nicole-locke Night-owl-reviews Norman-conquest Nostalgia-romance Novella Paranormal Paranormal Romance Patricia-hudson Patrick Paty-jager Pirate-romance Pirates Post-civil-war Postcivil-war-western-romance Preorder Pre-order Prizes Puppy Rachel-sharpe R-b-austin Rb-austin Recipe Recipes Red-l-jameson Regency-romance Release-date Research Review Rl-syme Romance Romance-novels Romance-on-the-high-seas Romantic-mystery Romantic-suspense Rone-award Rue-allyn Ruth A Casie Ruth-a-casie Ruth-kaufman Sale Samantha-wyatt Samhain Sandra-harris Sandra-jones Sarah-hegger Sarah-hoss Sarah-woodbury Saranna-dewylde Scavenger-hunt Sci-fi-romance Scifi-romance Sc-mitchell Scotland Scotland-with-grace-2016 Scottish-crannog-centre Scottish-historical Scottish-regency Scottish Romance Sheep Sherrie-hansen Sherry Ewing Sherry-ewing Short-dog-press Sir-walter-scott Sophia Nye Soul-mate-publishing Southern-romance Special-price Spermbanks Spring Steamships Stella-marie-alden St-patricks-day Sweet-romance Tam Tea-party-and-books Teaser-tuesday Thankful The-ghosts-of-culloden-moor-series The-hardy-heroines-series The-hghlanders-accidental-bride The-highlanders-accidental-bride The-highlanders-bride-series The Highlander's Crusader Bride The-highlanders-french-bride The-highlanders-norse-bride The-highlanders-outlaw-bride The Highlander's Pirate Bride The-highlanders-reluctant-bride The-highlanders-tempestuous-bride The-highlanders-viking-bride The-highlanders-welsh-bride The Prince's Highland Bride The-reading-cafe The-saint The-seventh-son The-twalve-days-o-yuletide Thursdays-teaser Thursdays-threads Time-travel Time Travel Romance Tina-susedik Top-ten-list Travel Twelve-days-of-christmas Uisge-beatha Urban-fantasy Urquart-castle Valentine Valentines Day Victorian-romance Victoria-zak Vijaya-schartz Viking-romance Vikings Villains Viola-russell Wales Wareeze-woodson Water-kelpie Weeping-window-of-poppies Western-romance Whisky Winner Winners Womens-fiction World-of-de-wolfe Ya-fantasy

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.