Around Town
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THE BEST EVENTS, TALKS AND SPORT
# Ghost Walk Follow in the footsteps of camp TV spook- chaser Derek Acorah and hunt outthe ghost of the Tall Ship's lost Soul, William Pedvin. Includes the usual gruesome tales of death and disease. Tall Ship at Glasgow Harbour, GIaSQOW. Thu 26 Oct.
# Samhulnn Festival This mystical parade and neo-pagan ritual celebrates the coming of the Celtic new year. Fire displays, drumming and tribal dance accompany a parade beginning on Edinburgh castle esplanade, to be followed by an afterparty at the Bongo Club until 3am. Castle Esplanade, Edinburgh, Tue 31 Oct.
# Scottish International Storytelling Festival A celebration of oral storytelling
featuring music, song, film, workshops. talks and international guests. See -www.scottishstorytelingcentre .co.ul< fordetails. Various venues, Edinburgh, Wed 25 Oct-Sun 5 Nov.
3 Stop Cllrnete Change Chm hike Selle. Green guru George Monbiot (2 Nov) is the headline name at this festival of talks on the future of the planet. See www.tinyurl.com/hcxw2 for the schedule; topics include ecotourism, carbon rationing and scotland’s weather. Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh, Mon 16
: Oct—Sun 5 Nov.
million on th Moun
The headquarters of Halifax Bank of Scotland and the adjoining museum reopened in September, after a lavish refurbishment. Robin Lee pays a visit.
t‘s creepy. discovering that someone was murdered right outside your office: even more chilling when you find out that it’s unsolved. Yes. a man named William Begbie. a porter for the British
Linen Bank. was stabbed to death and robbed of
£4392 of the institution's cash in Twecdale's Close. the small courtyard off the Royal Mile in which The List has its Edinburgh base.
Of course. the British Linen Bank no longer exists. and eagle eyes may have spotted that today the close is called Tweeddale Court. so it‘s reassuring to note that the murder took place in I806. It‘s one of the earliest— recorded British bank robberies. a fact I learnt from Doug McBeath. curator of the Museum on the Mound. the exhibition dedicated to filthy lucre and the people who look after it. The museum is part of the corporate residence of Halifax Bank of Scotland. which reopened over the summer after extensive renovations. the exact cost of which is not being disclosed. The gilded ceiling cornices in the showpiece Bryce Room indicate it was not an inconsiderable sum.
Neither is the one million pounds in cancelled.
uncirculated. but absolutely genuine Bank of
Scotland £20 notes that sits in a perspex case in the museum. surely a highlight of the exhibition for the unquenchably avaricious visitor. ‘If you can get the ink off them. you can spend them.‘ says McBeath. before hastily assuring that it’s not possible. The Museum on the Mound illuminates subjects from the origin of banking in Scotland to the manufacture of coins and notes. via the story of the headquarters. the history of finance. and life as an employee.
Originally. the building was a boxy Robert Adam- style villa that displeased such lidinburgh arbiters of taste as the then Lord (‘ockburir who decried it as ‘a prominent deformity". This led to a scheme to augment and prettify the carbuncle. which was carried out between 186-1 and 1878 using the designs of David Bryce. whose name the grandest room now bears. Iiager young architects can complete the revamp in less than a minute using the interactive display (pictured). although the guidance of Ian Rankin cannot be guaranteed.
()ne of the more surprising tales is that of the ‘bank wars'. which sound comically petty when measured against the immense machinations of international finance in the 21st century. After the establishment of the Royal Bank in I727. the two note-issuers began hoarding each others currency and then demanding it in coinage. It was an attempt to lever out interest payments. as these were due from the time the coins were requested. However. soon the two lidinburgh banks formed an alliance — the first (ilasgow bank was incorporated in 174‘). and east—west rivalry commenced in earnest.
And just to prove that little else has changed in the life of lidinburgh. a copy of the North Briton newspaper from 1868 was discovered behind plasterwork during the museum upgrade. In it. an article raises issues with the proposed relocation of the Royal Infirmary. Plus ca change.
Museum on the Mound, the Mound, Edinburgh. Tue-Fri 10am-5pm, Sat & Sun 1pm-5pm. Free.
19 Oct—Q Nov THE LIST 25