Makars' Court, Literary courtyard in Old Town, Edinburgh, Scotland
Makars' Court is a stone-paved courtyard in Edinburgh's Old Town, where flat slabs set into the ground carry engraved quotations from Scottish writers across many centuries. It sits beside Lady Stair's Close, next to the Writers' Museum, forming a small open space within the dense medieval layout of the area.
The court was created in 1999 by Edinburgh City Council together with the Saltire Society and Lothian Edinburgh Enterprise. It was laid out on the western part of what had previously been Wardrop's Court, an older close in the same area.
The word "Makar" comes from an old Scots term for a poet or skilled maker of verse, and visitors can read it carved directly into the paving stones underfoot. The stones are laid in a deliberate order, so walking through the court feels a little like reading a page of an open book.
The courtyard is open at all times and free to enter, reached through Lady Stair's Close off the Lawnmarket. The Writers' Museum next door stops admitting visitors in the early afternoon, so it is worth arriving in the morning if you want to see both.
New stone slabs are still being added to the collection, so the floor you walk on today is not the same as it was when the court first opened. Among the inscriptions are texts in Scottish Gaelic as well as Scots and English, reflecting the country's three main literary languages side by side.
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