Edinburgh is world-renowned for its bookish connections, with literary legends like Sir Walter Scott, Robert Burns and Robert Louis Stevenson to modern-day bestsellers Sir Ian Rankin, JK Rowling and Irvine Welsh all having lived in the city. So it's no surprise many authors have found inspiration in the Capital's numerous bars.
Ahead of this year’s Edinburgh International Book Festival, which runs from 12 to 28, we take a look at nine Edinburgh pubs with literary connections.
. Edinburgh's literary pubs
Take a look through our picture gallery to see nine Edinburgh pubs with literary connections. Photo: Third Party
. The Cumberland Bar
Where: Visit: 1-3 Cumberland Street, EH3 6RT. About: A classic New Town pub, The Cumberland Bar regularly features in Alexander McCall Smith’s 44 Scotland Street series. The Edinburgh-based author thought his favourite bar would be the perfect local for his refined New Town characters, with Bruce, Pat, Angus, Matthew, Stuart and even Cyril the dog visiting regularly throughout the novels. Photo: Third Party
. Milne’s Bar
Where: Visit: 35 Hanover Street, EH2 2PJ. About: Milne’s Bar is known as the “Poet’s Pub” because it was a favourite haunt of some of the most important writers of the Scottish Renaissance movement of the mid-20th century. Writers like Norman McCaig, Hugh MacDiarmid, Sorley MacLean, Iain Crichton Smith, George Mackay Brown, Sydney Goodsir Smith, Edwin Morgan and Robert Garioch all used to meet there to discuss literature, politics and culture, and to get inspiration for their work. Photo: Third Party
9. The Oxford Bar
Where Visit: 8 Young Street, EH2 4JB. About: The Oxford Bar is a favourite haunt of Ian Rankin’s fictional Detective Inspector Rebus, who has appeared in 22 novels set in Edinburgh since Knots and Crosses was published in 1987. The bar has long been a favourite watering hole of the author himself, and he can regularly be found enjoying a quiet pint in the bar with other loyal customers. Photo: Third Party
10. Deacon Brodie’s Tavern
Where: 435 Lawnmarket, EH1 2NT. About: This historic pub has been around since 1806, named after the infamous Deacon Brodie – a respectable Edinburgh businessman who moonlighted as a burglar and gambler. The true tale (and no doubt the pub itself) inspired Robert Louis Stevenson. After penning an unsuccessful play called Deacon Brodie, The Double Life, Stevenson further explored the duality of man in one of his most famous works, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Photo: Third Party