DO NOT GO TO THE POSTED COORDINATES: IT IS DANGEROUS AND THE CACHE IS NOT THERE
This is a bonus cache for the Adventure Lab 'Edinburgh's Bible Belt'.
To find the cache you must first complete the adventure lab which contains all the clues you need to find this container.
The adventure lab took you on a walk around some streets of South Edinburgh with bibilical names; one of the theories about the origin of these names relates to a gypsy group that once lived here.
Johnne Faa (or Faw) was the leader of a setttlement of gypies in 16th century Edinburgh. Gypsies are thought to be a group of Christian pilgrims who were expelled from Egypt and became a landless people wandering across Europe and India. They were first seen in Edinburgh around the time of James I who, in exchange for a large sum of money, granted the gypsies the right to settle on land which at the time was mostly rough moor and forest land, in that part of the Great Forest of Drumselch known as the Burgh Muir. Most likely that is roughly where the Astley Ainslie Hospital is now. At first, the newcomers were welcomed at court and admired for their colourful costumes and music and dancing, and were paid large fees for performances at Holyrood House.
JAMES V
In 1540, King James V granted to 'Johnne Faw, Lord and Erle of Egypt, and to his sons and successors, the powere to hang and punish all Egyptians withing the kingdom of Scotland'.
In other words, the gypies became self-governing. Unfortunately this state of welcome did not last long: the townsfolk, rightly or wrongly, came to blame the gypsies for an increased amount of crime in the city: thefts, assaults and vagrancy were rampant, hangings were commonplace, and the townsfolks turned against them. There was also a story that King James V himself was roughly handled by gypsies while out for a ride disguised as a commoner.
In 1541 The gypsies were therefore once more expelled from where they were settled. The Lords Council issued an order to have them expelled from Scotland on account of
'the gret thiftis and scaithis done by the saidis Egiptianis upon our soverance lordis liegis quhairever thai cum or resortis,'
However our group of gypsies did not go too far away: they only moved a bit further south, to the other side of the Jordan Burn, which marked the city boundary at the time. This land that they settled in belonged to the Braid Estate, so they must have been squatters; or perhaps Laird Fairlie of the Braids granted them asylum? Their new home was roughly where Cluny Gardens and Cluny Drive is now.
Whatever the truth, the area around here began to be called 'Little Egypt'.
(There is however an alternative explanation for the biblical street names: this relates to the occupation by the forces of Oliver Cromwell, when he camped at Fairmilehead with an army of 16,000 men. The puritans gave biblical names to places they explored, and would forage into the community of Little Egypt, which was likened to 'Joshua against the Canannites'.)
Was this Johnne Faa the same one who is the subject of a tragic romance which you can read about here : The Raggle Taggle Gypsy Margaret Kennedy, wife of the Earl of Cassilis, ran off with John Faa. The Earl caught up with them; she was imprisoned for the rest of her life, in Cassilis Castle in Ayrshire, and she was made to watch the hanging of Johnne Faa on a nearby Dule tree. Who knows if it's the same Johnne Faa.
Johnny Faa's family and descendants kept a treasured possession called 'Johnny Faa's Charter Chest' which was supposed to contain the original papers given to him by James V granting him and his descendants freedom to travel. Whatever the truth of the matter, the Faa family remained prominent in gypsy history for many years.
The last of the Scottish gypsy kings was Charles Faa Blyth, known as Charles II, son of Queen Esther, a direct descendent of Johnne Faa. He was crowned in 1898 in Kirk Yetholm.
CORONATION OF THE GYPSY KING
Those of you who like Phillip Pullman's 'Dark Materials' trilogy may recognise the name John Faa as one of his characters: in the books, he is the leader of the Gyptians.
To find the location of the bonus cache, you must first collect clues A,B,C,D,E,F from the adventure lab.
The cache is approximately 740m, as the crow flies, from the furthest away location of the adventure lab.
It can be done on foot and is suitable for wheelers and cyclists.
Car drivers: there's so many road blocks around, really, you're better off on foot.
N55 55.ABC W003 12.DEF