These two houses often arouse the interest of tourists. Above the covered stairway is Moubray House which is an early example of one of the oldest tenement houses in Edinburgh.  Andrew Moubray built the original house in 1477 and around 1530 his son, also called Andrew, built a new tenement at the back.
The adjacent house which is typical of the period with overhanging upper storeys and crow stepped gable ends was built a few years later in 1490 and known as John Knox House, but contrary to belief, he didn’t actually live there but nearby.  It is now a museum about John Knox with the Scottish Storytelling centre beside.

Yesterday’s mystery (extra) is a Galileo thermometer made of a sealed glass cylinder containing a clear liquid. As the temperature changes, the individual glass floats which are of varying densities rise or fall in proportion to their respective density.