Search results
Apr 15, 2013 · Mike Dash. April 15, 2013. The “fairy coffins” discovered on Arthur’s Seat, a hill above Edinburgh, in 1836. Were they magical symbols, sailors’ memorials—or somehow linked to the city’s...
A group of boys discovered 17 miniature coffins on Arthur's Seat in 1836, hidden in a rock cave. They were carved figures of people, some with custom-made clothes and symbols. Theories about their origin, meaning and purpose have varied over time, from witchcraft to honorific burial. See the evidence and stories behind this baffling mystery.
- What Are The Edinburgh Murder Coffins?
- Facts Weird Fact About Burke & Hare Murder Dolls
- Who Discovered The Miniature Coffins?
- What Happened to The Coffins When They Were Found?
- Coffin Owners Over The Years
- Theories Surrounding The Miniature Coffins Aka The Burke & Hare Murder Dolls
- Do The Coffins Represent Burke & Hare’s Victims?
- Are These Really Murder Dolls?
- Edinburgh Miniature Coffins and Their Links with Witchcraft
- Were The Coffins A Tribute to Lost Sailors?
If you’re a first-time visitor to Edinburgh, or even the National Museum of Scotland, then you may not know what all the hype is about surrounding these small coffins. The Edinburgh Miniature Coffins, also known as The Burke and Hare Murder Dolls or coffins, were once a collection of seventeen miniature wooden coffins, complete with tiny, individua...
While I was looking into the history of the Edinburgh miniature coffins, I came across a superb article in the Smithsonian Magazinefrom 2013 which had me glued! I’ve pulled together the main points from it, as well as building in other facts I came across after reading about the miniature coffins following my visit. If you can, I do recommend readi...
Everyone agrees that the coffins were found by schoolboys out rabbiting on one day in June 1836, one account says the 25thof the month, but what is in doubt is the actual number of boys who made the discovery. What is agreed is that several schoolboys, between two and a ‘small group’, which to me is about 3-4 people, discovered a small niche under ...
We’re lucky that we have these intriguing relics if what happened to the coffins when they were found can be believed. After being discovered on the slopes of Arthur’s Seat, the boys originally, according to the Scotsman, ‘pelted them at each other as unmeaning and contemptible trifles’. In other words, they had no idea what they’d just discovered,...
The Edinburgh miniature coffins and dolls may be tiny but they’ve certainly had an interesting life ever since they were hurtled through the air by a number of schoolboys out on a rabbiting adventure. To round things up a bit, I thought it might be fun to see where the dolls and their coffins have been over the years ever since they were accidental...
These wee ‘fairy coffins’ have had the world puzzled ever since they were found nearly 200 years ago. As with all things, man needs a reason why and the reason why the coffins and dolls were made and hidden in the first place has been on antiquarian’s lips ever since the mid-nineteenth century. The most popular theories or explanations include:
Perhaps it’s purely coincidence that Burke and Hare murdered seventeen people and there were seventeen coffins found by the schoolboys out rabbiting on Arthur’s Seat that day. If you don’t know their story, and have time to dive down a rabbit hole, then take a look at my blog on the Complete History of Burke and Hare. Such is the lure of these two ...
I’ve read quite a bit on this and as with most things surrounding Burke and Hare, and indeed the Edinburgh miniature coffins, there are arguments for and against. For, being that there are seventeen coffins, and against, is that all the figures are male. Burke and Hare’s victims were predominantly female. One theory associated with the Burke and Ha...
One of the earliest theories to be linked with Edinburgh’s miniature coffins was one that was linked to witchcraft. The first newspaper reports, printed in The Scotsman,mentioning the discovery jumped on the witchcraft theory and it is a theory that has stuck to this day, some believing that the coffins were used in ceremonies or rituals.
This mimicking of burials is a thought connected with this next theory, that the coffins represent sailors who were lost at sea. There is said to be some tradition surrounding this theory, where sailors would ask their wives to bury small effigies if they failed to return and were lost at sea. There’s more explanation given to this theory on the Na...
Jul 13, 2023 · The mystery of Edinburgh's creepy miniature coffins and possible Burke and Hare link. The miniature Arthur's Seat effigies were discovered by a group of young boys back in 1836 and have left Edinburgh's historians positively baffled ever since - but there may be a plausible explanation behind them. News. By.
The coffins were found in a cave on Arthur's Seat, a rocky peak overlooking Edinburgh, in 1836. They were all about 3.7 inches long and had small wooden dolls inside. Theories about their origin range from witchcraft to medical students, but the most popular one is that they were made by the notorious murderers Burke and Hare.
People also ask
Did you know these tiny coffins were found on Arthur's Seat?
What was Arthur's Seat?
Who were the Edinburgh miniature coffins?
What happened in Arthur's Seat?
In 1836, a group of boys discovered 17 wooden coffins, each with a small wooden figure, hidden behind a piece of slate on a rocky hill in Edinburgh. The coffins were hidden by someone or something unknown, and some of them were destroyed by the boys. The National Museum of Scotland owns eight of them and speculates on their origin and meaning.
Apr 9, 2023 · The Arthur's Seat coffins: The strange Edinburgh mystery linked to Burke and Hare and witchcraft. Almost 200 years ago, miniature coffins were discovered on Arthur’s Seat – becoming...
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/Past-Imperfect-Edinburgh-coffins-631.jpg&q=arthur%27s%20seat%20coffins&ck=FDC8D169A7437784CDCB4FC6E9E48762&idpp=rc&idpview=singleimage&form=rc2idp "arthur's seat coffins2")
