Edinburgh: shops and signs, including Harry Potter and Scots language

Coming back to Edinburgh after my last visit 8 years ago, I enjoyed browsing and purchasing at  some favourite shops and some new ones.  I was struck by how Victoria Street (above) had become claimed by the Harry Potter fans and businesses since I had last been there.  It amused me because this was a street I knew well before the fans.  As usual all the locals tut-tutted about the demise of Princes Street and some of the signs amused me. 

We occasionally saw queues outside the Museum Context shop.  I assume they were there for tours, even in the rain as in this photo.  Maybe they even enjoyed just soaking in the vibe of in the colourful cobble-stoned Victoria Street that is now claimed (not by JK Rowling) as the inspiration for Diagon Alley in the Harry Potter world. 

It was a beautiful shop both viewed from the outside and while wandering inside but I found that it was really crowded, especially if you wanted to climb the stairs to the upper levels.  Opposite is another gift shop selling Harry Potter merchandise.  I wonder if the Harry Potter locations for fans have gained momentum as the children who grew up on Harry Potter are now adults travelling the world.

Museum Context sold nicely drawn postcards of Robert Cressers Brush Shop with a witch sitting above the ground floor holding a broom.  Then I read this sign!  The postcard suddenly made sense when I found out it was previously Robert Cresser's brush shop.  I remember loving that dusty old shop as I passed it regularly when I lived in Edinburgh.  It looked like a place from history with its old brooms.  Most intriguing was the sign advertising "toilet brushes rebristled and repaired".  I used to wonder if there are people whose toilet brushes were worth repairing.  The sign suggests it might be a the inspiration for Olivanders which sells wands but it should have been the inspiration for the broom shop (Quality Quidditch Supplies).

I was less enthused by this sign about the Elephant House Cafe being destroyed by fire in 2021.  I was very fond of the Elephant House.  In fact it was where I went after I got married in Victoria Street Registry Office (now a Virgin Hotel).  So I could not bring myself to go into this cafe that was aimed at Harry Potter fans.  According to one Harry Potter website, JK Rowling was well known for initially writing her novels in Nicholsons but moved to other cafes such as the Elephant House to write in more privacy.  I miss the original Elephant House but I suspect that it would not be the same with the queues of fans.

The last sign I photographed was one welcoming visitors to Victoria Street: "Scotland's most photographed street and believed to be JK Rowling's inspiration for Diagon Alley".  The sign then goes on to read "An old book shop has traded on this site for over four decades.  With shelves stacked to the ceiling, was this the original Flourish and Blotts?"  

The John Kay's Shop beside the sign at the top of the street was closed but looked interesting when I passed it.  I have memories of passing an old musty bookstore there with lots of tables of books on the footpath.  If it is the same as John Kay's it has been spruced up now but I am not sure.

I preferred the Museum Context shop in Cockburn Street to the one in Victoria Street.  For a start, it was not so crowded.  Instead of three floors, it was just one larger space that took up two shop fronts.  It had a lot of Harry Potter merchandise but also some lovely books, stationery and gifts that were not related to the film.  As with the Victoria Street store, it was arranged very stylishly with nice touches like a giant spider or magic mirror.

Last time I was in Edinburgh in 2016 there was Diagon Alley artwork in Candlemaker Row that seemed to suggest this was the street that inspired Diagon Alley.  There are some beautiful witchy shops on this street.  Sylvia was quite excited to go to Black Moon Botanica.  This was a beautiful shop to visit, though small enough that a sign at the door asked for no more than 8 customers at a time.  Candles, herbs, books, crystals and other items related to magic.  It had lots of wooden shelves that made it look like a olde worlde shoppe.  But not in a cynical way.  The woman who runs it seems very genuine and played such great music that I had to ask about it.  When she said it was her spotify playlist, someone nearby asked the name so she could follow it.  It was that sort of friendly shop with warm welcoming vibes.

We also enjoyed browsing the gift shops in Cockburn Street.  I used to love the shops there but there is no longer Avalanche and Fopp for the music lovers.  We really enjoyed Eden, Mysa and Museum Context.  Years ago I remember there being a cool gift shop around where Eden was but I think it might be a different business now.  I liked this tree in the middle of Eden.

Edinburgh is jam packed with souvenir shops.  You can't walk a few minutes without seeing one.  I particularly liked this one in the Grassmarket called Great Scot because it had a life sized toy hairy cow as you can see in the window.

A wonderfully old fashioned bookstore was Armchair Books in the West Port near where we were staying.  I am sure it was there way back when I lived in the West Port many years ago.

I loved the Opening Hours sign: "hours subject to local/international chaos" it tells us, and "if it seems like we should be open and we're not ... maybe something exciting happened."  It makes it sound so intriguing if it is closed when it should be.  Better than the manager sleeping in!

A more modern bookstore is the West End  Princes Street Waterstones.  The building is amazing. There are lifts but it far more romantic to go up and down the marvellous wooden staircases.  Especially when they pass the window with fantastic views of the Castle and Princes Street.

I get sad sometimes that Sylvia is too young for all the fun children's books that have come out recently.  When she was younger she would have loved Peppa Goes to Scotland with Peppa Pig on the cover in a kilt.  There were lots more Scottish themed children's books that I would have loved to browse if we had had the time.  Of course you don't have to be a kid to appreciate children's books but the excitement of a child with a new book is just magical.

Waterstones has lots of books and gifts for adults too.  These were my favourites.  I love an historic streetscape and I love a literary biography.  These jigsaws by Laurence King Publishing are both.  Such beautiful artwork of streets in the world of authors such as Virginia Woolf, Jane Austen and William Shakespeare.

Not all Princes Street shops have weathered the winds of change as well as Waterstones (and even they have closed their East End Princes Street store).  Locals that I talked to said it was a shame it had got so tatty.  The saddest sight was the permanently closed doors of Jenners.  This was once aan upmarket department store to rival Harrods and Bloomingdales.  I shared photos of Jenners on a previous visit in 2012.  It was such a pleasure to visit with the amazing wooden balconies.  And so sad they are no longer part of Edinburgh's sights.

When older established shops close, it makes way for the new.  Primark is the shop we loved when we were here in 2016 because Sylvia was into Minions and Primark had lots of merchandise.  We had a quick look on this journey and I found the clothes rather dull.  We laughed at how colourless this display was.  (I only just found out that Primark is the international franchise of the store called Penneys in Ireland.)  discovered that In fact the main place we bought clothes from was Sainsbury's in Cameron Toll. 

I loved John Lewis department store at the top of Leith Walk when I lived in Edinburgh.  I still have wedding gifts from their shop and we love the Christmas adverts.  I was on the lookout for a pretty bread and butter plate.  These William Morris plates were lovely but £50 for a set of 4 was pricey,  I left them behind because 4 plates seemed a lot for my luggage. 

Instead I admired some of the displays such as this Easter celebration dining table.  I ended up buying another plate that came in singles.  I will share more on this in another post.

 

I have seen this sign on a previous visit but could not remember if I had shared it on this blog before.  Who could forget a claim that "unattended children will be given an espresso and a free kitten".  That is some threat!  It was in the Netherbow cafe near the Fudge Kitchen

I am always interested to see reclamation of Indigenous languages.  Scottish Gaelic is sometimes used in signs in Scotland.  I took this photo of the Glasgow Queen Street sign with a Gaelic alternative.  I also saw Gaelic alternative at Haymarket Station in Edinburgh but not at Edinburgh Waverley.  This article by Ian Cameron about Gaelic Road Signs has some interesting reflections about Scottish gaelic (another language) and Scots language (a dialect).

Other than the occasional railway sign, I didn't notice much Gaelic about Edinburgh, though I am sure there was more than I remember.  I was quite taken with this little bear holding up a "Failte Lack dhu" sign.  Isn't it gorgeous!  Failte is Gaelic for "welcome".  The shop was called "Lack Dhu" but I am not sure about translating that in to English.

A few other signs were in a Scottish dialect of English.  I thought this one about was quite clear but Sylvia did not understand "your polis are oot and aboot: they'll be back in a tick to help ye oot".  I saw it in the Waverly Centre: a modern shopping market next to Waverley Station.  For those who find this as foreign as Sylvia it says "your police are all out and about: they'll be back in a tick to help you out."  The Scottish style of saying polis instead of police reminds me of the The Fast Show parody of a Scottish detective tv show called Monkfish where the Scottish actors spent a lot of time saying "polis" and "muurdah".  The sketch has not aged well but I still remember my amusement at the Scottish pronunciations.

Near our apartment on the West Port was the Dragonfly cocktail bar.  It was very Scottish to see a sign asking patrons to "haud yer wheesht".  This is something that my Scottish ex-husband used to say to me in jest so I am quite familiar with it meaning: be quiet.  One of the joys of visiting Edinburgh is that it is so familiar and yet has such a great sense of its own unique culture too.