Dalry House, Orwell Place

Image: © kim traynor Taken: 15 May 2010

A 17thC manor house built by William Mudie in the reign of Charles II. It was reputedly haunted by a later owner, John Chiesly, who, after a legal disagreement, shot the Lord President of Session, Sir George Lockhart of Carnwath, in 1689. Chiesly's right hand, which had wielded the offending weapon, was cut off prior to his execution and his body hung in chains at the Gallow Lee on the road to Leith. Relatives removed the corpse for secret burial. Years later, repairs to a garden wall at the back of the house caused the removal of a stone seat which revealed a grave whose occupant's right hand was missing. Local lore had it that this put an end to the haunting. By the early 1960s the house had fallen into disrepair, from which it was rescued after a public appeal for restoration funds. From 1968 onwards, it served as a Day Centre for the Elderly, but has recently been converted into private flats. Image

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