Ill-repute...

One of Scotland's most famous brothels used to be located in this house. Dora Noyce (1900-77), the proprietor for about thirty years after the second world war, was fined 47 times for living off immoral earnings. It used to be said that when she came to court there might be a nod and a wink between her and some of the justiciary. As apocraphyl one hopes as her comment that her busiest week of the year was during the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.

I lived - with two other theology students - in a basement flat round the corner. The block of houses had a large back green - and the only way to access that area was through a basement flat. One morning at about 3.00 am there was a fierce knocking at the back door leading into the enclosed area. Crawling out of bed we opened the door to find three very scantily clothed young women. The police had raided the front of the house, they had escaped through the back, and were now trapped.

After a ribald question or two about who had ordered the take-away, we (probably for the first and the last time) took steps to pervert the course of justice.