This is another cache in the "Scottish Literary Tour" Series. The
final cache is wheelchair accessible. The cache is not at the above
co-ordinates, but at this busy road junction you will find three
plaques to three Scottish literary figures, modern and recent,
successful and not so successful! To complete this cache you must
find all three plaques and the information on them.
The first plaque to find is dedicated to JK Rowling, the
author of the phenomenally popular Harry Potter series. The plaque
is located here as the Chinese restaurant located above the plaque
is where Rowling wrote most of the first Harry Potter book, The
Philosopher's Stone, when the restaurant used to be Nicolson's
Cafe. This contrasts to the final Harry Potter book, which she
recently completed just north of here in the slightly more
luxurious surroundings of The Balmoral Hotel.
Look at the 4th line of text on the plaque. This line has
A words in it. The last word on this line has B
letters.
Across the road from here is another plaque, this time dedicated
to Robert Louis Stevenson, author of such novels as
Treasure Island (1883), Kidnapped (1886) and The
Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886). The plaque is
located close to The Rutherford Bar, at which Stevenson was a
regular. His recollection of the pub serves as a fairly reliable
description of its current state: “I was the companion of
seamen, chimney-sweeps and thieves; my circle was being changed
continually by the action of the police magistrate”.
The quotation from Stevenson on the plaque is dated as September
18CD.
The final plaque can be found a short distance down South
College Street. This one, however, is to a man who had considerably
less critical success than the other two authors. In fact,
William McGonagall is considered by many to hold the
somewhat dubious distinction of being the world's worst ever poet.
McGonagall was born in Edinburgh but spent most of his life in
Dundee before moving back to Edinburgh. The plaque marks the flat
in which he died. Today he is probably best remembered for his poem
The Tay
Bridge Disaster but his full collection of misunderstood
masterpieces can be found here.
On the plaque, McGonagall is described as two things, a poet and
???. There are E letters in the missing word. McGonagall
died at this address in 19F2.
There is a campaign to get a fourth plaque mounted on the
University Old College Building commemorating another author
associated with the University. The most likely candidate for this
honour is Alexander McCall Smith.
The final cache location is located nearby at:
N55 56.E(C-D)A W003 11.FCB.
There are two main routes to the cache site; one wheelchair and
buggy accessible the other not so. Remember your own pen! The large
building facing the cache location has one final plaque next to the
main entrance commemorating another Scottish author, who attended
school at this site.