Article Source: Citadel Arts Group
Last Updated: 15 May 2023 11:24
CITADEL ARTS GROUP PRESS RELEASE – THE GHOSTS OF NORTH LEITH
ARTS GROUP DISCOVERS LONG-LOST GRAVE
Their playwrights workshop wondered what lies beneath Coburg Street and found a number of big characters interred in this small cemetery.
Seven members of Citadel’s group of older writers each chose to research the story behind one of the graves.
There are people whose achievements and eccentricities will be dramatized in a play, The Ghosts of North Leith. Using music, humour and poetry, the drama will raise awareness of this fascinating area of Leith history.
In the Coburg Street Burial Ground lies Lady Anne Mackintosh nicknamed the ‘Colonel’. Playwright Rhona McAdam explains she was drawn to her ‘as she seemed a strong, independent woman, taking part in the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745. Her husband, Sir Angus, chief of Clan Mackintosh, was a Captain in the government troops. Since he was unable, or unwilling, to raise the clan to fight for Bonnie Prince Charlie, Lady Anne did it instead. When the Jacobites won the Battle of Prestonpans, Sir Angus surrendered to his wife. After the Battle of Culloden, when the Jacobites were defeated, Lady Anne surrendered to her husband.’
Jim Brown took on the poet, David NicolI, heralded as the next Robert Burns. Jim said ‘I became fascinated by Robert Nicoll because he was a poet, writer and radical newspaper man born in 1814, who packed so much into his short life. He died aged 23.’
No stone marks the burial place of 12-year-old Matilda Molesworth, but burial records indicate the spot. She features in the real-life story of the Trinity poltergeist. One of the collection of unexplained happenings in Catherine Crowe's 1848 book "The Night Side of Nature", it has popped up in anthologies of uncanny happenings ever since.
Another member of Citadel’s playwrights’ workshop, novelist Hilary Spiers explains,’ I’ve long been interested in the history of slavery in Scotland. While John Gladstones (buried in North Leith graveyard) and his grandson William Gladstone are better known, I felt John’s wife Nellie (who was known to be a very capable woman) might well have held views at odds with the men in her family. Women were a strong if largely unsung force in the abolitionist movement’.
Elaine Campbell came across the North Leith gravestone of three children and told us, ‘I was intrigued. Who were these three bairns so lovingly remembered? In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries when the Millar children lived and died, infant mortality was ferociously high. Sadly all attempts to locate the children in church records proved fruitless. There were Millars living in Leith at the time. I have assumed Peter, John and Archibald were part of this extended, prosperous family of merchants. Although the “Three Cherubs” is my fictional account, I drew on historical material to describe their short lives and untimely deaths. By telling their story I hope to have given voice to the countless children who lie long forgotten in North Leith Graveyard’.
Was it chance or Divine intervention that led writers Carolyn and Brian Lincoln to the gravestone of the Rev. Dr. David Johnston? Previous attempts at finding the grave of this pillar of the North Leith community had proved fruitless. The Lincolns were paying one last visit to the Coburg Street churchyard, when they noticed the letters D.D. poking through the moss. D.D. Doctor of Divinity. They scraped away some moss and there was the name. David Johnston (1735-1824) served the parish for nearly 60 years, a strong leader when Leith was seriously threatened by the ships of John Paul Jones, who supported the breakaway American colonies.
The play, which includes all these stories, and more, will be given a trial performed reading in North Leith Parish Church on 15 June. Citadel Arts Group seeks feedback from this first audience at Leith Festival with a view to staging a full performance of the play later in the year in the same venue.
North Leith Parish Church in Madeira Street welcomes Citadel Arts Group’s interest in the burial ground, and the church building which was to have been the keystone of Leith’s ‘New Town’. Tim Bell told us, ‘I welcome the play as a chance for local and Edinburgh people to see this beautiful Georgian Church before it is released from the Church of Scotland estate in 2024’.
Venue: North Leith Parish Church, 51 Madeira Street EH6 4AU
Date: June 15th 7pm
Tickets: £5 from lizhare@blueyonder.co.uk /07770 623 924
Associated event: Hilary Spiers will lead a free guided tour of North Leith Burial Ground in Coburg Street on Monday June 12th at 2pm. Places are limited. Book from Liz Hare
Writers: Carolyn and Brian Lincoln, Jim Brown, John Lamb, Hilary Spiers, Elaine Campbell and Rhona McAdam.
Cast: Mark Kydd, Deborah Whyte, Chelsea Grace, Gregor Davidson, Dale McQueen.
Director: Liz Hare
Sound: Stewart Emm
Citadel Arts Group (SC 034687) is a Leith-based theatre company which specialises in creating new plays based on local stories, memories, and history.
For further information contact 07770 623 924
Image: (l to r) Elaine Campbell, Rhona McAdam and Carolyn Lincoln beside the tomb of the Gladstones, grandparents of 19c Prime Minister WE Gladstone.
Children attending Dobbies Little Seedlings Club will get the chance to travel back hundreds of millions of years to learn about prehistoric plants and talk about their favourite dinosaurs!
READ MOREScottish trad supergroup Mànran will headline a one-off live show on the Mound this month, as part of the return of Innis & Gunn's popular Edinburgh Festival Fringe takeover.
READ MORESUSHISAMBA Edinburgh launches its famed Champagne Afternoon Tea, with a refreshing summer spin, whilst guests enjoy unparalleled views from the restaurant’s home on the 10th floor of W Edinburgh!
READ MOREHot on the heels of a thrilling TravFest25 programme, the Traverse Theatre has announced the first details of the exciting work audiences can look forward to seeing in the venue from September.
READ MOREEdinburgh's West End has welcomed an exciting new destination as Don't Tell Mama, the beloved local coffee shop, officially opens The West End Garden.
READ MOREVirgin Hotels Edinburgh is excited to announce the creation of a brand new role, adding the first-ever 'Director of Mischief' position to its team.
READ MOREEdinburgh Zoo has welcomed Scotland’s only sloth bear, Cipísek, from Zlin Zoo in the Czech Republic.
READ MOREPubLife, a UK-wide summer celebration of the '90s will take place in over 500 pubs, including 7 in Scotland.
READ MOREThis summer, as school holidays get underway, families are invited to enjoy a day out at Scone Palace with their Kids Go Free promotion.
READ MOREThe inaugural Scone Palace International Horse Trials will take place from 21st–24th August 2025 in the stunning grounds of Scone Palace and Perth Racecourse.
READ MOREToday, Collective is delighted to announce and open a new programme, Panorama: New Views of a City, running from Wednesday 9 July to Sunday 21 December 2025.
READ MOREThis summer, The LEGO Group is excited to bring its new Summer Fun with Music Creativity Workshop directly to families in Edinburgh!
READ MOREScotland's greatest running event, the AJ Bell Great Scottish Run, will return to Glasgow on Sunday 5th October and they want everyone to 'Be Your Greatest'.
READ MOREFamilies will have the chance to meet some of this year’s biggest blockbuster-inspired characters for free at Fort Kinnaird this summer, as part of a series of exciting meet and greet sessions.
READ MOREThis week, the globally acclaimed venue, The Famous Spiegeltent makes her grand return to St Andrew Square after almost a decade away from her spiritual home.
READ MORENewtongrange Community Council is now pleased to reveal the names of the green-fingered locals that stood out in this historic garden contest.
READ MOREDynamic Earth launches its Toddler Tidal and Deep-Sea Discovery Zones in a bid provide accessible enrichment for little ones across the Capital.
READ MOREHis Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh welcomed Gold DofE Award holders to The Palace of Holyroodhouse this morning at a very special event to mark their achievements.
READ MOREBTS Army: Forever We Are Young, a brand-new documentary celebrating the fans that helped catapult 21st century pop icons BTS into global stardom comes to Vue.
READ MOREFamily favourites and animated adventures are heading to the big screen this summer holiday at Vue venues across Scotland.
READ MORECapital Theatres has today launched The People’s Archive, a digital exhibition that celebrates the rich history and cultural legacy of the King’s Theatre.
READ MOREA Disney-loving mum and her one-year-old daughter have been crowned Edinburgh’s biggest Stitch fans after winning a competition hosted by Fort Kinnaird.
READ MORELivingston Designer Outlet goes Jurassic crazy this July with lifelike dinosaurs, ranger training and endless photo opportunities for the whole family to enjoy.
READ MOREDeparting on Saturday 29th November 2025 at from Edinburgh Waverley, this enchanting lunchtime journey will be led by the iconic 60532 Blue Peter.
READ MOREEdinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) has today announced its programme of screenings and events for its 2025 edition.
READ MOREParty at the Palace will host Scotland’s first solar-powered festival stage, the GreenFox Energy Breakthrough Stage, twinning clean energy and the joy of live music.
READ MOREGilded Balloon has unveiled a huge line-up of comedy stars to take part in a special ‘40 Years of Fringe’ in conversation series, to celebrate the venue’s 40th anniversary.
READ MOREScotland’s national music prize – the Scottish Album of the Year (SAY) Award – has opened submissions for 2025’s £20,000 prize.
READ MOREAhead of its programme launch on 2 July, EIFF venues will include Filmhouse, Cameo Cinema, Vue Omni and a new pop-up screen at National Galleries Scotland: National.
READ MOREOne of Edinburgh’s most popular city centre restaurants has started a new dining chapter at its famous Castle Street venue.
READ MORE