Lassies of Leith, a comedy tour with a difference - Fiona Duff

Dear readers, do cast your mind back about 11 months if you possibly can.

Leith tour guide Paul entertains and informs visitors

Now, I know that this isn’t always easy – the main problem that lockdown has imposed upon yours truly is an inability to remember much. Names of people I know (although not those of their dogs), books I have read and TV series I have watched have disappeared into the ether.However, I do remember an evening in Leith when a very funny man called Paul took me and a few others on a tour of Leith that was unlike any other visit to that area of the city. Ooops, I may have just upset the residents as they are Leithers, not Edinburgers, so apologies to each and every one of you who may have taken offence.Anyway the good news to spread this week is that he is back with a new tour looking at the ladies who have graced the streets of this riverside area. From Mary Moriarty who graced the bar of the infamous Port O’ Leith bar for many a year to Mary of Guise, mother of Mary Queen of Scots who took her first footsteps in Scotland at the docks. From 7th August Paul will bring their stories to life in his very own inimitable manner.These walks are being organised jointly by Leith Comedy Festival and Invisible Cities, a social enterprise that trains people who have previously experienced homelessness, to become walking tour guides of their own city. And believe me they know more about their manor than anyone else. Last year, at one point I asked a friend, who has lived in Leith for over 20 years, if he had known the spot on which we stood. He shook his head, then nudged me for distracting him from the tales we were being told.So I’ll be getting the bus to Leith this August, although quite how they get there with all the tram works going on is a mystery. It’s also another column which I rather doubt will produce as many laughs as you’ll get doing this tour with Paul.