In June 1836, several teenagers were hunting rabbits in the vicinity of the Scottish capital. They hung around a hill called the Throne of King Arthur and found in it the entrance to a mysterious cave, which turned out to be a kind of crypt. Inside, the company found 17 miniature coffins, each containing wooden figurines.
The coffins were placed on three shelves carved into slate, one above the other. The two lower rows had 8 coffins each, and another one towered above the rest, laid on the topmost shelf alone. All the figures lying inside are unique and presumably have a portrait resemblance to certain people. They are dressed in neatly sewn (and also unique for each figurine) funeral robes, which only confirms that they all symbolize some specific personalities.
The Scotsman, Edinburgh Evening Post, and the Caledonian Mercury all replicated this story and related speculation. As a matter of fact, from here we learned all this.
What are these figures, and what does it all mean?
The first idea, that these are just baby dolls, can be discarded. It is difficult to imagine parents who give their child 17 coffins with creepy bodies as toys, and then "bury" them in a makeshift crypt - and all this is just for fun.
Another hypothesis - that this is a witch's belongings - was especially popular among the villagers. The fact is that at one time the Scots burned many "witches", and the last trials of those accused of witchcraft took place in Scotland not so long ago, in the 18th century. The Scots, for some reason, believed that their gloomy land was full of witches, druids, fairies and other evil spirits. And this find fit perfectly into their worldview.
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Another assumption was based on the name of the hill and the fact that one of the wooden "departed" rested higher than the rest, as if he was their leader. Because of this, some decided that the figurines symbolized King Arthur and the knights of his round table. But this did not explain in any way who and why made and hid them in the 19th century, and even so far from Wales, where, according to legend, Arthur ruled.
The most curious idea refers us to the beloved criminal history of the Edinburgh people - the misadventures of two cunning and unscrupulous businessmen, Burke and Hare. Both were Irish immigrants and made their living by killing nocturnal passers-by and their guests to sell their bodies to surgeon Robert Knox for dissection. As a result, both were caught, but Hare made a deal with the investigation, testified, and Burke was executed, making him the object of anatomical research. Later, a book was made from his skin - in general, it is not surprising that an excellent film with Simon Pegg and Andy Serkis was released on this story.
But how does this relate to the find from the cave? The fact is that Burke and Hare killed 16 (according to other sources 17) people, so many people assumed that the wooden figures somehow symbolized the victims of these serial killers. Perhaps this was the last tribute paid to those whose bodies were deprived of a decent burial, or some psychopathic fan Burke and Hare was having fun in such a strange way. The version is bizarre, but it was it that was dominant and even semi-official: the Scottish public found it most exciting (and therefore true).
However, the most rational hypothesis (although it looks wildly) is that these figures symbolize the bodies of the dead sailors. In those days, quite a lot of sailors died during the voyages, and they were buried according to the maritime custom, that is, simply in the depths.
From the point of view of Christianity, this was not the best burial, and the relatives of the deceased feared that the souls of the deceased would not find peace. Those who remained on the shore could order a symbolic funeral with such figures. This, of course, smacks of paganism, but at least explains how this crypt, coffins appeared, and also why each figure was given unique features of appearance.
Author: Vladimir Brovin