Morocco Land

Category

Library Item

Item no

21477

Title

Morocco Land

Description

A wooden cart is parked in front of tall tenement buildings in the Canongate in Edinburgh. A stone carving of a turbaned figure is set in the wall above a stepped entrance between the buildings. A woman leans out of a first storey window. There is a baker shop and a joiner's premises at the bottom of the block of housing.

Artist / maker

Unknown

Date

1902

Size

13.8 x 8.3 cm

Type

Postcard

Location

Edinburgh and Scottish Collection

Morocco Land, in the Canongate is said to derive its name from the legend of Andrew Gray, an ancestor of the Earl of Moray, who, having escaped execution for rioting, fled to Morocco where he made his fortune. On his return, he heard that his cousin, daughter of the Lord Provost of the time, had caught the plague. He cured her and they later married and continued to live in her home in the Canongate. The figure of a turbaned Moor which projected from a recess over the second floor of the building is attributed to this time and associated with the plague epidemic, although it may have been a tradesman's sign.

In the 1930s, examination was made of the properties in the Canongate by officials from Edinburgh Corporation and many were assessed as being no longer fit for habitation. By 1937, the buildings were derelict and plans were made to preserve them, but by 1940 work had not begun on reconstruction. In March 1947, it was necessary to demolish part of Morocco Land when the empty tenement began to collapse and in 1952 the architect, Robert Hurd outlined his plans for the redevelopment of the second section of the Canongate to include Morocco Land. By 1958 Morocco Land had been rebuilt with shops on the ground floor and modern flats above, with the figure of the Moor reinstated in its rightful place on the wall. An unusual wooden house-front was incorporated into the façade of the building.

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Related subjects

Architecture > Architectural features > Stairways

Business > Service industry > Shops

Homes > Residential buildings > Tenements

Places > Edinburgh areas > Canongate

Places > Edinburgh areas > Old Town

Places > Scotland > Edinburgh

Transport > Land > Carts and wagons