Our walk starts at the site of a most remarkable incident. In 1974, when Broughton Street was run down, and the council wanted to run a motorway though the New Town, a giant white tiger was spotted roaming the area. The danger it presented was clear, and so a cunning plan was devised to capture the colossal cat. A large model of a bird was fabricated, using the largest feathers which could be obtained. Traquair House supplied the peacock feathers, and the Zoo presented some freshly shed ostrich feathers. Her Majesty herself is said to have donated a particularly fine sample of swan plumage. A local butcher provided some fresh fowl to entice the frightful feline. The cat fell for the trick and was stunned as it chowed down on the lure on this very spot. The name of a nearby café recalls the incident. A is the first figure of the address of this establishment; B is the number of letters in the final word of its name. Do not be distracted by the pub named after a bird - there is a different tale to tell about that. The tiger was taken to the zoo and from there transferred to a reserve for magnificent moggies in Zanzibar.
The next waypoint is outside what was the home of Eugen Langer, designer of the Wuppertal Schwebebahn during his brief stay in Edinburgh in the 1880s. Before he hung his railways in the air, he built them underground and the tunnels constructed for his underground pneumatic railway still exist beneath the city centre. Few people know that the lift to the north of the booking hall at Waverley station goes down to the platforms of a station on this little-known line. Unfortunately, there is no plaque celebrating this fine engineer, or providing helpful hints for geocachers. There is a sign opposite the door, though, indicating which parking zone we're in. That number is C.
We continue uphill to what looks like a perfectly innocent theatre, specialising in musical productions. But back in the 1930s, when it was a cinema, a terrible tragedy befell the projectionist. His equipment failed spectacularly and the manager who came to find out why the movie had stopped so suddenly found the poor man dead - suffocated and strangled by the celluloid which had drained the life from him in a manner akin to a boa constrictor. D is the number of letters in the theatre's name.
Our next stop is the Black Bull, a pub which, like so many others, has a tale behind the name. Also like so many others, it is the oldest pub in Scotland, dating to legendary times when the Tuatha de Daanan were en route to Ireland. They'd added a number of mythological creatures to their entourage during their journey across Europe, including a minotaur by the name of Kobolos. He got tired of travelling and settled down in what was to become Edinburgh and opened an inn. That inn has traded continuously since then, the beer continuing to flow even when it was a building site. These days, it is known as the Black Bull in tribute to its founder. The sign to the right of the door boasts that the pub has an extensive range of a particular type of alcoholic beverage. E is the number of letters in the name of that drink.
Our next stop is a skylight, which you might think forms part of the remains of the underground gentlemen's lavatory which once occupied this site. The entrance area has recently been converted into a wheelchair ramp, giving access to General Register House. But back to the alleged skylight - a metal frame with lots of rectangular glass bricks. It is, in fact, one end of an experimental teleportation device. It was unfortunately not successful, as a few turnips would testify had they survived the experience (and if turnips could talk, obviously). The name of the manufacturer is cast into the frame. Counting all ampersands as the word "and", and including the "Ltd." at the end, how many words make up the company name? This is F. (This location is sometimes the site of stalls for political campaigns, military recruitment, evangelism and such. If the teleport pad is obscured, its identical twin can be found between the second and third waypoints at N55 57.463 W3 11.147.)
Our next stop is the final resting place of many of Edinburgh's great and good, and a few dodgy characters too. A sign beside the entrance lists some of the famous people interred here along with the years of their deaths. Thomas Reid, the scientist who first demonstrated that lead was too light and flimsy to be used for balloon construction, died in 183G and William Woods, the actor, left us in 18H2. Neither the sign, nor his grave, give any clue as to his unusual physiology (which he exploited in his stage act) nor of the unusual nature of his demise when he found himself literally "spinning a tail".
The cache can be found at N55 BE.FGA W3 GH.DDC. This the true site of the fight between the red and white dragons as described in Arthurian legend. The Brythonic texts used by Geoffrey of Monmouth tell the accurate tale of Vortigern's attempt to build a tower at Mount Edyn. Alas, it kept falling down, and the king's magicians told him to sacrifice a boy with no father and add his blood to the cement. The boy chosen for the task was the young Merlin, who quickly pointed out the dragons fighting in a pond below the building as the true source of the problem. Today this tale is understood to be an accurate prediction of the problems which beset the construction of the Scottish Parliament.
To return temporarily to the truth for a paragraph or so, the final location is possibly wheelchair-accessible, but it would be difficult - there are no steps to get there, but it is not a paved area and not particularly flat though not overgrown. A hand might be needed to root out the cache. Some stealth might be required, as the area is overlooked, and one should look down, due to irresponsible dog walkers. The box contents include a little something for the first to find.