Heart of Midlothian (Royal Mile)

For other uses of "Heart of Midlothian", see Heart of Midlothian (disambiguation).

The Heart of Midlothian

The Heart of Midlothian is a heart-shaped mosaic built into the roadway near the West Door of St Giles High Kirk on the Royal Mile (the High Street in this section) in Edinburgh, not far from Parliament House, which was the former Parliament of Scotland, and now the site of the Court of Session and Signet Library.

Together with brass markers set into the pavement, it records the position of the 15th-century Old Tolbooth, demolished in 1817, which was the administrative centre of the town, prison and one of several sites of public execution. The tolbooth features in Sir Walter Scott's novel, The Heart of Midlothian, published in 1818.

Although falling within the historic county of Midlothian, which exists today as a registration county, the Heart is no longer within the local authority area of Midlothian. The City of Edinburgh, the historic county town of Midlothian which is also known as the County of Edinburgh or Edinburghshire, is now a unitary local authority area which incorporates former sections of West and East Lothian within it. The crest of the Edinburgh football team Heart of Midlothian is based upon this Heart.

Spitting

Visitors to Edinburgh will often notice people spitting on the Heart. A tolbooth (prison) stood on the site, where executions used to take place. The heart marks its doorway: the point of public execution. Some people spit on the Heart. Although it now said to be done for good luck, it was originally done as a sign of disdain for the former prison. The spot lay directly outside the prison entrance, so the custom may have been begun by debtors on their release.

References

• A short documentary with both locals and tourists giving their differing views about the origin of spitting on The Heart.
• Picture of the Tolbooth in Edinburgh City Libraries' Capital Collections