Lady Stair's Close (477 Lawnmarket) is a close in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, just off the

Royal Mile The Royal Mile () is the nickname of a series of streets forming the main thoroughfare of the Old Town, Edinburgh, Old Town of Edinburgh, Scotland. The term originated in the early 20th century and has since entered popular usage. The Royal ...

, close to the entrance to Gladstone's Land. Most notably it contains the

Scottish Writers' Museum The Writers’ Museum, housed in Lady Stair’s House, Lady Stair's House at the Lawnmarket on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, presents the lives of three of the foremost Scottish writers: Robert Burns, Walter Scott and Robert Louis Stevenson. Ru ...

History

Located in Edinburgh's

Lawnmarket The Royal Mile () is the nickname of a series of streets forming the main thoroughfare of the Old Town of Edinburgh, Scotland. The term originated in the early 20th century and has since entered popular usage. The Royal Mile runs between two ...

, 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. 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, the widow of John Dalrymple (1648 - 1707) the 1st Earl of Stair, hence its present name."Lady Stair's Close", Royal-Mile Edinburgh
/ref> The close contains the Makars' Court - inscribed stones to the great names of

Scottish literature Scottish literature is literature written in Scotland or by Scottish writers. It includes works in English, Scottish Gaelic, Scots, Brythonic, French, Latin, Norn or other languages written within the modern boundaries of Scotland. The e ...

Writers' Museum

The

Writers' Museum The Writers’ Museum, housed in Lady Stair’s House, Lady Stair's House at the Lawnmarket on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, presents the lives of three of the foremost Scottish writers: Robert Burns, Walter Scott and Robert Louis Stevenson. Ru ...

, 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 Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...

, 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.

Gallery

Scottish Writers' Museum.jpg, Scottish Writers' Museum at the Lady Stair's Close Makars' Court, Sir Walter Scott.jpg, Sir Walter Scott's stone slab at the Lady Stair's Close Makars' Court, Nan Shepherd.jpg, Nan Shepherd's stone slab at the Lady Stair's Close

References

{{Coord, 55, 57, 00, N, 3, 11, 38, W, region:GB, display=title Royal Mile

History

Writers' Museum

See also

Gallery

References