St John's Land

This building has a sign on it which reads:
"This fine example of an 18th Century Edinburgh tenement was erected by the Earls of Hopetoun who also built Hopetoun House.

It remained in residential use until Moray House acquired the building in 1956 and installed classrooms, staff studies and a fully equipped proscenium theatre.

Tobias Smollet the novelist stayed with his sister in a flat which is now part of the theatre stage.  It was here in 1766 that he wrote his last novel, 'Humphry Clinker' in which tenement life is fully described.

The building was originally six storeys high but today only five storeys are above ground.  It takes its name from the adjoining St John's Masonic Lodge.  James Boswell was once President of the Lodge and Robert Burns attended its meetings during his visit to Edinburgh in 1787-88."

I was listening to Outlander book V - The Fiery Cross - the other day, when the subject of this particular novel (Humphry Clinker) came up... another Outlander connection for my Edinburgh blogging.