The Cadies & Witchery Tours

William McGonagall: Not even the best poet in this cemetery

William McGonagall and his plaque in Greyfriars Kirkyard, composite

The latest instalment of our strand investigating the denizens of Greyfriars Cemetery marks a departure from previous episodes for two reasons. First: It centres upon not a contemporaneous gravestone but a plaque erected after the fact, alluding vaguely to an otherwise unmarked grave whose exact position is unknown (having been unmarked, and all). Second: The subject happens to be a bonafide CELEBRITY! (Not just the grandfather-in-law of one.) Rest assured, normal service will be resumed in forthcoming episodes (probably).

The Bowes family: Cementing a legacy

The Bowes family headstone, and The Royal Albert Hall (composite)

I'd imagine while you walk through Edinburgh's historic Greyfriars cemetery, you're unlikely to be thinking about the Royal Albert Hall in London and a type of cement named after a British army major's daughter. Well, thanks to our resident genealogist, known in-house by the nom de guerre Cousin David, we have a connection to both.

A spooky coincidence?

Robin Mitchell as Adam Lyal (deceased) boarding a spooky taxi

Having conducted outdoor ghostly themed walking tours in Edinburgh for over 40 years we've encountered a number of unusual incidents which we'd like to share with you. Some of those incidents may be described as co-incidental while others verge on the unexplained.

You had to be there

An Egyptian mummy and an Irish skeleton on a Witchery Tour

Do you ever tell someone a funny story and their response is ... a little below what you hoped? An anecdote going down like a lead balloon often initiates the phrase, "You had to be there". This blog may have to end with those words, as it contains anecdotes relating to our evening ghostly walking tours with "jumper-ooters". We think the stories are amusing, but you'll need to be the judge of that.

Forty Years Dead For A Living, Part 3

Robin Mitchell outside The Cadies & Witchery Tours shop

Concluding our 40th anniversary retrospective. In Part 1 we told the Cadies' origin story, and in Part 2 we charted its coming-of-age. We wrap up with co-founder Robin Mitchell's reflections on how a business became an institution, a community, and ... a political movement?

Forty Years Dead For A Living, Part 2

Robin Mitchell as Adam Lyal and Colin Macphail as The Mad Monk

Continuing our 40^th anniversary retrospective series. In Part 1, Robin Mitchell recalled meeting co-founder Colin Macphail and their first steps as a fledgling tour enterprise. In this next instalment, Robin recounts the business's coming of age, and how The Cadies came to add "... & Witchery Tours".

Forty Years Dead For A Living, Part 1

Robin Mitchell and Colin MacPhail, The Cadies 1984

February 2024 marked 40 years of our wee business - The Cadies. In the first of a three-part series, co-founder Robin Mitchell recounts the genesis and early days of the business.

Spooks On Screen: Our adventures in television

Mark Wogan with the Mad Monk and Adam Lyal on This Morning (ITV)

Having created and launched our walking tours (The Cadies) in Edinburgh 40 years ago in 1984, we participated in two small business competitions sponsored by BP and Shell, becoming runners-up in the Shell Livewire competition. Our success was spotted by the BBC, who invited us to appear on the topical TV show Pebble Mill at One.

35 years with a bit of a Burke

William Burke court sketch; card case display in William Burke Museum

Thursday 7^th of September 2023 marks exactly 35 years to the day since we purchased at auction a small calling-card case made out of the skin of the notorious "body-snatcher" William Burke.

Give the Shop a bone

Our shop at 84 West Bow being painted black, 2003

The 17th of February 2023 marks 20 years' trading from our wee shop at 84 West Bow (Victoria Street) in the heart of Edinburgh's Old Town. We entered our new lair after searching high and low for several months, seeking a suitable ghostly abode. Of course, our walking tours had been operating since February 1984, but prior to securing access to our permanent base, we were housed in a variety of temporary old town spaces. How time flies when you're having fun, as the over-used homily has it.

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