Leith's history brought to life by Portobello author's trilogy of 'Leithers' books stepping back in time
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A trilogy of novels has brought the history of Leith to life, with fictional and real characters dropped into historically accurate surroundings.
Retired social work manager William Haddow, 69, from Portobello, recently released the third instalment of his ‘Leithers’ series of novels.
Available through Amazon e-books, ‘The Bridge’ is a medieval tale set in Leith in 1493, where “some find solace in their art while others hope to survive in a world filled with danger and deception”.
The book features real characters from the time, including Sir Andrew Woods and Robert Ballantyne - the Abbot of Holyrood Abbey.
However, William adds fictional characters for the reader to see Leith’s history through their eyes as they cope with life in the old port during difficult times.
This latest novel follows ‘One Family’, released in 2020, which told the story of the fictional ‘Preston’ family through 600 years of Leith’s history, and ‘Two Families’ set in 1832, released in 2023. With the first book in the series leading to ‘Leithers Live’, the 2022 play by the Citadel Theatre Company.
Speaking about his Leithers series of novels and how it came about, William said: “The first one was a story of Leith told through the Preston family, and the other books also feature the Prestons, but they are not the main characters. The Prestons are fictional, I just wanted a local-sounding name with two syllables really.
“It’s real history with drama on top of it. What might have happened instead of what definitely happened. Basically I’m teaching the history of Leith through fiction.
“History books can be really boring, so this is hopefully much more interesting and engrossing for the reader, but you learn at the same time.
“When they built the new tramlines in Leith and found that old graveyard, and then Dundee University used technology to show what those people would have looked like, I just thought ‘what must their lives have been like?’
“And that is where the whole idea for the Leithers books started. It’s a nice way of teaching history.
“There is a nice old map of Leith in each book to show where people lived, and the cover has an amazing picture of Leith brought to life by a graphics guy down south. It’s the same picture on each book, just with a different colour.
“It was an old painting from 1830 or thereabouts, then it was done up by the graphics guy. It’s such a great picture so I’ve just decided to keep using it, but just changed the colour for each book.”
Speaking about The Bridge, William said: “It’s set in 1493, around the time of the Ballantyne Bridge, which I believe wasn’t the first bridge in Leith as originally thought. The reality is there was probably a wooden bridge built in Leith beforehand.
“Robert Ballantyne features in the book, as does Sir Andrew Woods, a sort of Sir Frances Drake type character, who was around at the time. And there are also some fictional characters joining them in Leith more than 500 years ago.
“It’s basically another yarn with history in the background, and real people in the background also, that did live in Leith back then. As I found a list of people that lived on Sandport Street at the time and added them into The Bridge.”
Although William enjoys writing the Leithers books, he is not expecting them to be international best-sellers anytime soon, but would like to see local children learn about Leith’s history through the series.
He said: “It’s more for locals, I’m not aiming for an international audience, but the books sell well in Leith. The first one sold over a thousand copies, which was great. Hopefully this third book sells well.
“It’s just a hobby for me really. But it’s a lot of fun writing these novels, I really enjoy it. Being retired, and with the book being self-published, I’ve not got any deadlines. I just write it at my own pace.
“I have got an idea for a fourth book, which will take at least a year to write, probably longer. It’s much harder than it looks, fiction, and researching the history behind the novels.
“I’m not looking to make a living out of it, this is just a hobby really. But it would be good if local schools maybe picked up on it.
“Amazon is great, it allows me to do this, anyone can do it for free. It’s only when you sell a book then they print it out and take half the money.”
Talking about the play based on his ‘One Family’ Leithers book, William said: “It was on for five nights and it sold out every night, that was about two or three years ago.
“It was fantastic to see it come alive on the stage, totally amazing, they did a great job with it.
“It could definitely be turned into a radio or television series. But there are so many books out there, it’s hard competition, I don’t expect a call from Netflix anytime soon!”
And although he lives along the road at Portobello, William admits he is fascinated by the history of the Port of Leith.
He added: “I’m from Portobello, but it’s not got the same history. Leith has incredible history. I couldn’t find anywhere else in Britain that has as much rich history as Leith. A lot of people don’t quite realise its amazing history.
“So I’m delighted to be able to bring it to life through my series of Leithers books, and I hope people learn about that history while enjoying my novels.”
The Bridge by William Haddow is available to buy now from Amazon, along with the other Leithers books.