Above the Deacon Brodie

This is the Bank Street wall above a famous Edinburgh pub called the Deacon Brodie Tavern, which has its entrance on the Royal Mile. The pub was named after Deacon William Brodie, an Edinburgh man who inspired Robert Louis Stevenson's novel The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

William Brodie (1741-88) was a well-respected member of the Town Council, and Deacon, or Head of the Incorporation of Wrights and Masons. But although Brodie was a respectable tradesman by day, by night he lived a double life of crime. He used his daytime job to copy the keys of his clients, whom he burgled by night. He also used illicit money to fuel his expensive lifestyle which included mistresses and a gambling habit. Brodie was eventually found out, tried and hanged.