Deep beneath Edinburgh’s Royal Mile sits a dark secret. A narrow alleyway that was once rife with the plague is buried underground in Edinburgh’s City Chambers.
Mary King’s Close was located in the centre of Edinburgh’s Old Town during the 17th century. The close was named in 1630 after Mary King, a fabric merchant who built her own business after her husband’s death.
It was 1644, and the plague hit Edinburgh. The narrow alleyways were overcrowded, which provided the perfect breeding ground for the epidemic – and it hit Edinburgh hard.
Edinburgh was built within the medieval defence walls known as the Flodden Walls.
This meant that all of the buildings were built up; the wealthy lived at the top, and everyone else lived in near darkness at the bottom next to the sewage-covered streets.
Mary King’s Close was a street in Edinburgh sealed off from the world, leaving all the people suffering from the bubonic plague trapped beneath.
These people were quarantined and left to die. The residents in the city above went about their everyday lives. Did they even know there were victims of the plague dying beneath their feet?
Edinburgh’s history is full of dark tales and scary stories, but plague victims being buried alive is not one of them.
Mary King’s Close was bricked up, but all of the people who lived within – plague-infected or not – were no longer living within the street.
During the plague, the 17th-century residents that lived in what is now underground Edinburgh were treated well. The close was quarantined, and locals would bring food and water to those suffering from the plague.
Mary Kings Close was abandoned in 1645.
Mary King’s Close was a street in Edinburgh sealed off from the world, leaving all the people suffering from the bubonic plague trapped beneath.
These people were quarantined and left to die. The residents in the city above went about their everyday lives. Did they even know there were victims of the plague dying beneath their feet?
Edinburgh’s history is full of dark tales and scary stories, but plague victims being buried alive is not one of them.
Mary King’s Close was bricked up, but all of the people who lived within – plague-infected or not – were no longer living within the street.
During the plague, the 17th-century residents who lived in what is now underground Edinburgh were treated well. The close was quarantined, and locals would bring food and water to those suffering from the plague.
Mary Kings Close was abandoned in 1645.
Then, the warning cry “Gardy Loo!” would be bellowed at a specific time of day before the bucket contents were thrown into the streets below. If you look closely at the sides of the roads in Mary King’s Close, you can see where the sewage ran down towards what was known as the Nor’ Loch.
Now, the location of the beautiful Princes Street Gardens, the Nor’ Loch, was once a lake heavily polluted by sewage and household waste. It was also rumoured to be where suspected witches in Scotland were drowned — a practice known as “dunking.”
These unsanitary conditions created a breeding ground for flea-infested rats ridden with bacteria (specifically Yersinia Pestis Bacterium) in Edinburgh. Not before long this deadly bacterium spread further than the city and wreaked havoc on Scotland, just like it had done previously across the rest of Europe.

Contrary to popular belief, Edinburgh’s plague victims were not trapped in Mary King’s Close but were treated by people known as Plague Doctors. These doctors believed that the plague was caused by miasmas in the air and dressed head-to-toe in defensive gear to protect themselves from the infected air. Their outfits comprised thick leather cloaks and bird-like masks filled with sweet lavender and herbs, designed to keep airborne diseases out of the doctors’ airways. The leather clothing prevented infection-inducing rat bites, meaning the doctors wouldn’t contract the plague.

However, plague victims had to endure great pain at the hands of the doctor. He would cut off the top of each boil (usually located in the armpit or groin) and cauterise the wound by sticking a burning hot pole over it. Although incredibly painful, this form of treatment was quite successful.

After the plague passed through Edinburgh, Mary King’s Close and other closes (streets/alleyways) in the local area began to decay, transforming into dilapidated, overcrowded places.

The council sealed off the closes and built a place on top of them where merchants could conduct their businesses. Some close were destroyed while others stayed intact and used stable grounds to support the buildings above.