Edinburgh Old Town Slums (High-Rise Hovels in 19th Century Scotland - Episode 1) 

Something should be said about the major reason so many destitute Scottish people were crowding into cities during this period. It was largely the result of the so-called “Highland Clearances” (ejecting tenant farmers) and the “enclosures” (privatization of communal agricultural land). These actions resulted in the eviction of poor farmers from large areas of Scotland in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In other words, their suffering was a result of policy decisions by the rich and the powerful, not of some kind of natural disaster or of their own choices. These mass evictions and dispossessions were also the main reason so many Scottish people emigrated to the United States and Canada during the same era.

I love the Georgian houses and how the old town of Edinburgh has barely changed in hundreds of years, there's just something about it that makes it stand out from other cities

I live in a flat directly across from the well in Canongate which she describes. Looking out my window picturing the people that would have amassed there 160 years ago.

I live in Edinburgh. And am glad it's not still this way to this day 😂

Considering the improvements we have seen in the last hundred years, I imagine people a hundred years from now will be shocked at how we lived.

Truly great as always. I appreciate the stories from Scotland today. I look forward to anything from Ireland. Happy Easter, Fact Feast and everyone.

I'm new to your channel and I love the way you can tell these stories in such a way as to make the listener feel like they are there. It reminds me of old radio shows. Very well done.

We are fortunate to visit Edinburgh on a number of times and the streets and closes were recognisable, I think that it is a fantastic city, one of the best there is, I live in Nottingham, which has the dubious honour of once having the worst slums this side of Calcutta we were told, many of the poorest lived in caves, some of which can be visited today.

Loved this video. I'm from Glasgow. The poverty was terrible!

As bad as things may seem right now....at least we aren't in a Victorian slum.

....to the land where they shall thirst no more... Very touching, reminds me to be grateful for what I have. Great video!

Thanks for the vid!

Edinburgh wasn't alone,the whole world was a hovel.

Love these stories, look forward to each & every one, thanks

Flipping heck 12 years of torydom and we are rapidly reaching this level again. Rejoice and doff your caps

It was the same in Ireland up to the 50s when the council started to change thing a little bit

Helps me understand why my ancestors spent 3 months on a dirty old tub emigrating to the other side of the world.

My family are from Edinburgh I just love it there going up those long steps and side streets so interesting

Makes me think of Burke and Hare....😜

✅ Watch Episode 2 of Edinburgh Old Town Slums (Slum Kids) link here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-jYfrRqvzU4o.html

My grandma was born in Edinburgh we tried to trace her and her parents but we got so far and couldn't get any ferther.maybe she her parents died from colera and my grandmother ended up in the workhouse .it must have been a bad life for her as a child.

This is the most depressing interesting channel.

That’s hilarious…. 😂 I love your Scottish old woman accent, sounds half Farsi half Welsh.

This is just the video i needed to set the scene for my ancestor's story. Have you done a video of life in an Industrial town in Northern England?

How are you doing sir thank you for your wonderful cultural documentary channel we appreciate your great efforts as foreigners subscribers as overseas students want to increase our cultural level improve our English language as well so that I looked up for meaning of high rise means multiple equipment stories with elevators hovels means open shed or shelter and old town is name popularly given to oldest part in Scotland capital city of Edinburgh has preserved much of medieval street plan and many reformation era building it’s focused attention on Edinburgh slums was even that calling for renewal had been waiting for in year 1959 Edinburgh councilors. Made tour of inspection of slums in st Leonard ward to view problem first hand slum clearance programs originated with section 3 of housing repairs and rents Scotland act 1954 however in 1959 before demolition work was carried out the tenement collapsed giving tenants and neighbors fright of their lives causing uproar in community and old and new town of Edinburgh become UNESCO world heritage site stay safe blessed good luck to you your dearest ones

(Sir) Patrick Geddes (1854 - 1932) did excellent work to rejuvenate the Old Town and improve living standards there. He chose to live there when well off ppl moved to the new Town. We benefit greatly from his efforts. He used the Outlook Tower as an education aid.

We're heading back in that direction now.

I ve been in Edinburgh 3 times 2017-2019 Now is very nice and clean city

I adore this channel! I adore your narration voice. I adore the subjects you talk about, I adore it through and through!

That was very enjoyable so thank you. And thank you again for all the time & effort you put in to making these videos, researching for them must be so interesting. I think if it was me, I'd be off on numerous tangents if something caught my eye, the video would never get finished lol. Keep up the fantastic work can't wait to go on another adventure with you soon 👏👏

When you said they were evicted from their farm my blood boiled. Absentee landlords of the time were vile.

Your channel is amazing. Thank you so much.

Those poor crofters, dying from the filthy water, so tragic. :(

I love your style, Keep it up. Could you do one on underground cities buried

The old town looks so nice these days too. Another great vid 👍

great again!!!

Thank you my friend. I love this. The way you tell it makes me feel like I am there.

Dun Edin, please! NZ got it right by keeping the original Gaelic name 'Aidan's Fort'. Germanic Queen Victoria changed everything to suit her origins. It's not only cream that rises to the top!

"No rain had fallen for several weeks..." Seriously, hen??? We're talking Scotland here! Several hours, maybe...here we go out on a summer day in shorts and t shirts...and a brolly just in case! :)

Slum because English colonialism under the brutal Victoria

I love Edinburgh. I'm from Dublin and I've been 3 times. The history is fascinating, cruel and foul yet curious. The city steps and architecture are a creepy girls dream. My ugly Disneyland. Adore the place. Hope I'm not insulting anyone. Great video. I'll share with my brother.

Those tenements weren't torn down til the 60s and many didn't want to leave. They built new council houses that are now ghettos.

Happy Easter All!!!🐰🌷💗

Fantastic video as always, thanks so much, I hope you are doing very well 😀👍

Daughter of a priest? Priests are catholic and aren’t allowed to marry, do you mean a vicar, rector maybe? I’m thinking he’s not doing to be a rogue one since you said she came from a wealthy family. Very interesting video though, I do enjoy a good history channel 😀

Thank you

Your narration always paints such a real picture. Bravo 👏

Last week I was for the first time in my life in Edinburgh. I loved it. The history of the Old and New Town is so visible. Yes I know, just like my hometown Amsterdam, the city is flooded with tourists and tourist shops that have nothing to do with the real city. Looking through that, you see a very beautiful city. I advise everyone who want to visit it, to stay at least five days.

Actually there is a counter explanation for the nickname Auld Reekie. The town was very smokey and "reek" does not just mean stink it also.means smoke.

Just came back from Edinburgh, spent 3 nights in a 3rd story AirBnB flat about 50 yards down from the castle gate in the old town. Took a tour called the "city of death" where the guide talked about all this and even took us to some vaults under the bridge. It is so sad to hear about the greed of some people that caused so much suffering. Interrsting to note is that the decends of those poor people have moved on, had they been black or a different race they probly would be complaining about a racist history... but the fact is that history shows human beings did NOT discriminate based on race, they just discriminated because they could. Humans have been and can be totally cruel to anyone.

The body snatchers or "resureccionist " were very numerous and the less well-off were horrified by their deceased loves one

Auld reekie

Misery is w/out end then & now in many places ... it doesn't take much to create chaos ... it's a sad old world unless we chose to ignore some of it 😑

You have a wonderful voice .you need your own radio show

I need to see if I can show you some of the pictures of Aberdeen slums throughout the Victorian period, they have a very interesting design including the sharp rising roofs to stop snow building up and rounded corners to stop dangerous crime (didn't work), the various illicit distilleries that you can still see, and the fact that one of the buildings (I believe now gone) used to be a gambling house between one slum lord and Lord Byron who was reported to flee from the police on the beach and tripped on the sand. A few lochs that no longer exist as well that were really just massive sewage pits that certainly didn't help with our outbreak of both plague and cholera.

I really appreciate these Victorian learning videos... It often wakes you up and makes you realise just how well to do and how truly lucky we are. Even the simple pleasure of a simple meal, hot shower, clean clothes and a warm bed to sleep... we are lucky indeed!

Edinburgh Old Town Slums replaced by the snp to the New Edinburgh Town Slums.

This was wonderful thank you so much

I have traveled extensively in my life. I have been to many of those cities including Edinburgh, London, NYC, Quebec, Paris, Rome etc! I can only imagine how bad it was! 😮😮😮😮 God Bless our ancestors! It is an amazing story of struggle, perseverance , and in very rare cases breaking the cycle of poverty 🙏🙏🙏🕊️🕊️🕊️

Still better than modern day Glasgow.

Voice and presentation of the narrator is AMAZING.

I heard stories about my great grandpa, living in the Gorbals (Glasgow) having no front door, and this seemed to be common amongst the slums, Makes me wonder why the UK residents never really revolted like the civilians of France with the state of things

This was incredible! Fantastic narration, and equally impressive (and relevant) images. Well done!

Now its full of English settlers , holiday homes and AIR BnB. A city that voted 70% in favour of being ruled by England , more of an English enclave than a Scottish capital. Sad times.

Good to see you exploring other cities, I know some of the places mention. The Grassmarket is now trendy pubs, cafes and shops and I have a few good times there. Hollyrood is still a hive of scum and villainy in my opinion as it’s the site of the Scottish ‘parliament’. XD

My great grandma lived on St Mary’s Street in a flat , it was nice to find it where my nana brought my mom home after she was born .. I touched the big blue door and it felt awesome knowing my family once lived there, every time I fly over to Edinburgh where I was born I feel like I am home ❤️

Can you do the 5 point slums in NYC?

Love the narration! Very Dickensian.

Yet more looking through the telescope from the wrong end.. all cities have rich and poor! In 18thC Edinburgh they all lived together until the New Town was built in the 19th C. Social integration was in reality much greater in Edinburgh than in many other cities. The reason that much of the old town survived into the 19th C was that the city was basically rebuilt on a different site. Unlike many other cities where old buildings were demolished to make way for new, they were abandoned by the better off. The wealthy simply moved out, leaving the old town to the less well off. The reason it was never upgraded or even maintained was that the population had no money. The city was also not subject to much damage during war, even though it was bombed by Zeppelin in WW1 and had one of the first raids of WW2. The old town lay virtually untouched until the 1950s when there was a couple of decades of redevelopment. Some of this was done well and looked very much like the structures they replaced, but some 1960s development was awful, mostly at the hand of the regional council who built some horrible concrete monstrosities. We still suffer from moronic town councils, with most of the good work done by private concerns. I really do not like the "oh it was awful" tone of these commentary, and particularly the focus of the "do gooder" sticking her nose into other folk's business. Some people do good stuff, some people do nothing but like criticising others and spending their money. Many people love to blame anyone but themselves for their misfortunes. The conditions in Edinburgh were no worse than other places, and a lot better than some!

I am from New York City, and your documentary on the other side of England is quite sobering and moving. Back in the early 2000s, I came across the “People of the Abyss” by American author Jack London. Thanks for posting. I subscribed to your channel!

It's a shame they didn't have TV to watch Hoarders.

Most of the Georgian slums were replaced in Victorian times. Go look at the building of Cockburn st 1856

what in the end did they do about the housing conditions of those poor people?I heard the rich got splendid new grand houses, but the poor? Was there social housing?

very very good thankyou

... and you wonder what these rich 'tourists' actually did to help the people they met, as the could have done easily. It seems like a zoo to them.

All of my roots on my mother's side are from Edinburgh ❤

I love the narration. Also, “real” history fascinates me ❤

The picture at .07. When did they build these buildings? They already look very old. Love your videos.

It's no much better now, I Ken I'm Edinburgh born and bred

Auld reekie.. not old

We liked it. True by Southsiders.

Does anyone know what now stands on where Binnie's Row was in Morningside?

Wow your Scottish accent had me in stitches 😂 that might be the funniest but worst attempt I've ever heard, thanks for making me laugh this much ❤

Train Spotting is a modern day take on this description of Edinburgh. I'm sure the residents of Edinburgh love their beautiful city. If you scratch deep enough into any big town or city only about 60 years ago, you're sure to find scenes like these.

We're going backwards

AULD REEKIE!

You Tube video yesterday. They are knocking down the last slum pub

Anyone teacher send u this

Thank you 😊 💓

Scottish accent reminds me of Norwegian

What accent is telling the story? Is it British?

so harsh.

🫣 good Scottish accent 😳 lol

Auld reekie.

Slums are/were pretty much the same the world round.

I Am Native Of Edinburgh, You Missed A Part Of The City That Was Behind Leith St, It Was Called GREENSIDE, It Was A Real Hovel Of Slums,They Were Very High, I Was Very Young Then, Just A Child In My Post Infant Days So Can't Really Recall The Hights Of Them, But I Think They Were About Six To Eight Levels, But I Was Unfortunate That We Had To Move From Them Like Many Other Families, Due To A Large Fire That Went Through Them, That Area Is Now A Large Car Park, Just Down From Where The Playhous Is, So My Mother I Were Alloted To Residential Area Just Up The Road From The Burnt Out Slums, In The Same St, They Were Built Right On The Side Of What You Know As The Calton Hill,, They Were About Four Stories Not A Very Large Block Built Up Of The Road That Runs From Leith Walk Down Past Our Block Commenly Known As Nottingham Terrace, All The Way Down To London Road, That Ajoins Leith Walk, As We Were Built On The Cliffside Of Calton Hill We Had No Sare Area For Playing, They Built These Landings From The Flats To The Side Of The Hill For The Top Three Floors, They Were Terrible Things To Live In, One Large Room As The Living Ares Which Was Used As A Kitchen Dining And NO Where to Bath, Just Big Ceramic Sink That We Had Do Everything With Washing, And Little Area In One Of The Corners We Had To Use As A Coal Cellar For Our Little Fire Place We Had, And Used For Cooking, And One Bedroom For A Large Bed, Mentioning Beds I Had To Sleep In The Coal Cellar Sometimes, I Won't Go Into The Reason Why, The Other Problem Was A The Worst As We Had No Toilet In Our Little Living Area's, WE Had One Toilet On Each Level That We Had To Share, And We All Had To Take Turns Cleaning It, And Toilet Paper Was News Papers Cut Up Into Little Sheets, And You Had Hell Of A Time If Sombody Forgot To Ressuply, I Have Never Been Back To That Part Of The City For Many Years That Was Away Back In The Early 40s I Was Born 1941,AND CAN TELL YOU WE HAD MY SLUMS THEN, WE HAD ONE THAT WAS ALWAYS THE NEWS, IT WAS CALLED THE PENNY TENNAMENT, I Don't Know Why, But It Was Very Old And As The Guy Telling Story Said, There Are Still Many Left, And Still Standing, Some As High As Eight Stories And Still There, Remember This Edinburgh Was The First Original Highest Building In The World There Were Buildings As High As Sixteen Floors Long Before Skyscrapers Were Ever Thought Off, If You Do Visit Edinburgh Just Check How High Some Of These Buildings Are, And Still Standing And Beautiful,🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🙏🏻🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿👍🏻🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿👍🏻🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿👍🏻I AM AN EDINBURGH BORN SCOTT AND PROUD OF IT, 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿👍🏻🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿👍🏻🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿👍🏻,

looks no different looks a little cleaner back then if anything

Omg his voice is HORRIBLE imagine having to listen to him soooooooo soooooo my head is splitting two minutes in bye

I lived in 2 different flats we had to share a toilet with neighbours with no baths we went to the swimming pool where they had baths and showers only once you showered could you get a swim in the pool .🛁🚿🧻 used newspaper not toilet roll .