Luckenbooths

The Luckenbooths were a range of tenements which formerly stood immediately to the north of St. Giles' Kirk in the High Street of Edinburgh from the reign of King James II in the 15th century to the early years of the 19th century. They were demolished in 1802 apart from the east end of the block which was removed in 1817.

The building which housed them originated as a two storey, timber-fronted tenement built in 1440 and known as the "Buith Raw" (Scots for booth row). Over the years, the row was extended and heightened until it consisted of seven tenement buildings of varying height, date and form, stretching the full length of St. Giles' from which it was separated by a narrow alleyway. At some point, the row of tenements took on the name of "Luckenbuiths" from the lockable booths situated at street level. The earliest reference to the name Luckenbooths is in a sasine of 1521 where it is said (in Latin) to be commonly known as the Lukkynbuthis.

These ancient buildings, with their varied frontages and roof-lines, formed a picturesque feature in the High Street. The west-most tenement was contiguous with the Belhouse of the Old Tolbooth. The timber-fronted "land" immediately in front of the steeple of St. Giles' was only three storeys high with a low-pitched roof so that the clock on St. Giles' (since removed) could be seen by passers-by in the High Street while its neighbour to the west rose to six storeys. The two most easterly lands were newer and substantial building of polished ashlar. The first of these was apparently built not later than the reign of Charles I. The east-most was built at the end of the 17th century and presented its main front down the High Street.

The frontages of the Luckenbooths were in line with the north front of the Old Tolbooth but the buildings were not as deep, leaving an alleyway between their rear and St. Giles'. A passage or pend known as the Auld Kirk Style provided access from the front of the Luckenbooths through to the old north door of St. Giles'. This passage was also known as the "Stinking Style", as criticised by the poet William Dunbar in his address To the Merchants of Edinburgh, c.1500 ("Your Stinkand Stull that standis dirk [darkly], Haldis the lycht fra your parroche kirk.").

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