Hunters Bog

My attempts to blip the blue damselflies at Hunter’s Bog in Holyrood Park were unsuccessful but here you can (in large) possibly make out tiny ripples that some of them had made while skimming over the water. In the background is the ancient volcanic 251 metres (823 ft) hill of Arthur’s Seat which dominates Edinburgh.

In 1564 Mary Queen of Scots ordered that the bog be dammed to form an artificial loch. As part of the celebrations of the marriage of two of her courtiers Mary arranged for the re-enactment of the naval engagement that had taken place during the Siege of Leith a few years earlier. A couple of years later she asked John Huntar who was the Keeper of the Park to drain the King’s Meadow bog (just behind where the Scottish Parliament now stands) and in return granted him a 19 year lease of Grundles Myre. So his reward for draining a bog was to be given another bog which then became known as Hunters Bog.

In Queen Victoria’s time the bog was drained and the area was used by the garrison of Edinburgh Castle and four rifle ranges were in use until 1948. Now the area is reverting back to marshland with the associated wildlife. It is strange to think that this quiet area is scarcely 2 kilometres from the centre of Edinburgh.


This is part of an occasional series on places connected with the famous, but tragic, Mary Queen of Scots

(Mary Queen of Scots 7)