Lady Stair's Close

Lady Stair's Close (477 Lawnmarket) is a close in Edinburgh, Scotland, just off the Royal Mile, close to the entrance to Gladstone's Land. Most notably it contains the Scottish Writers' Museum.

Exiting Lady Stair's Close onto Lawnmarket (the Royal Mile).

History

Located in Edinburgh's Lawnmarket, Lady Stair's Close is the location of a 17th-century townhouse called Lady Stair's House built in 1622 for Sir William Gray of Pittendrum, an Edinburgh Baronet. It was originally called Lady Gray's House after the widow of the first proprietor.[1] She was the mother of the Scots Worthy Andrew Gray whose books became well-known despite dying at an early age. It was then bought in 1719 by Elizabeth Dundas, Lady Stair,[2] the widow of John Dalrymple (1648 - 1707) the 1st Earl of Stair, hence its present name.[3]

The close contains the Makars' Court - inscribed stones to the great names of Scottish literature.[4]

Writers' Museum

The Writers' Museum, belonging to the city of Edinburgh, contains memorabilia which celebrate the lives of three writers who all at one time lived in Edinburgh: Sir Walter Scott, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Robert Burns. Burns stayed in a house in Baxter's Close (since demolished) to the east of Lady Stair's Close during his first trip to Edinburgh in 1786.[5]

See also
  • Scottish Writers' Museum at the Lady Stair's Close
    Scottish Writers' Museum at the Lady Stair's Close
  • Sir Walter Scott's stone slab at the Lady Stair's Close
    Sir Walter Scott's stone slab at the Lady Stair's Close
  • Nan Shepherd's stone slab at the Lady Stair's Close
    Nan Shepherd's stone slab at the Lady Stair's Close

References
  1. Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland
  2. Elizabeth., Berry (1990). The writing on the walls. Cockburn Association. Edinburgh: Published by the Cockburn Association in collaboration with the Scottish National Portrait Gallery and the Saltire Society. ISBN 0950515922. OCLC 24699879.
  3. "Lady Stair's Close", Royal-Mile Edinburgh
  4. "Makars' Court". Edinburgh Museums & Galleries. Archived from the original on 9 April 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  5. Canmore, RCAHMS. "Edinburgh, 475 and 479 Lawnmarket, Baxter's Close". Retrieved 2 February 2014.
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