Giles Street

Category

Library Item

Item no

38090

Title

Giles Street

Artist / maker

Unknown

Date

1900

Size

11.9 x 16.3 cm

Type

Oil painting; Reproduction

Copyright

The copyright status of this item is unknown. If you have information related to the copyright holder please contact us.

From a painting possessed by the late John Kirk, hairdresser in the Yardheads. It shows his father's shop in Giles Street, with the surrounding buildings, all of which were demolished in 1916 to provide space for the extension of Yardheads School (later St Mary's RC School).

Kirk's barber shop stood at the corner of Green Jenny Lane (St Anthony Lane), and the courtyard beside it was Nicol's Court - an unofficial title bestowed on it in honour of an old wife who lived in the house next to the barber shop. Mrs Nicol kept a mangle and took in mangling, for which the charge was 'a farthing a pin'. This was the accepted rate for the job for many a poor old body who kept a mangle before the coming of the old age pension.

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Related subjects

Architecture > Architectural features > Courtyards

Architecture > Architectural features > Railings

Architecture > Architectural features > Stairways

Business > Advertising > Signs

Business > Service industry > Hairdressers

Homes > Residential buildings > Houses

Places > Edinburgh areas > Leith

Places > Scotland > Edinburgh