Unlucky

These initials, set into the cobbles just outside the old quadrangle of St Andrews university (founded 1413), mark the spot in 1528 where Patrick Hamilton, a university member, was burnt at the stake. He'd returned from the continent with (then) heretically Lutheran ideas.

The timing was unlucky. Henry VIII began cutting ties with Rome the following year, and declared himself head of the protestant Church of England in 1534.

It's considered very unlucky to stand on the initials. Students who do so inadvertently have to make amends by jumping into the sea early in the morning on May Day.