The Ghosts of North Leith: Citadel Arts Group leave no stone unturned

Citadel’s Arts Group’s 12th foray into Leith Festival is an exploration of the atmospheric North Leith Burial Ground. Their playwrights workshop wondered what lies beneath Coburg Street and found a number of big characters interred in this small cemetery.

Seven members of Citadel’s group of older writers each chose to research the story behind one of the graves.

There are people whose achievements and eccentricities will be dramatized in a play, The Ghosts of North Leith. Using music, humour and poetry, the drama will raise awareness of this fascinating area of Leith history.

In the Coburg Street Burial Ground lies Lady Anne Mackintosh nicknamed the ‘Colonel’. Playwright Rhona McAdam explains she was drawn to her ‘as she seemed a strong, independent woman, taking part in the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745. 

“Her husband, Sir Angus, chief of Clan Mackintosh, was a Captain in the government troops.  Since he was unable, or unwilling, to raise the clan to fight for Bonnie Prince Charlie, Lady Anne did it instead. 

“When the Jacobites won the Battle of Prestonpans, Sir Angus surrendered to his wife.  After the Battle of Culloden, when the Jacobites were defeated, Lady Anne surrendered to her husband.’  

Jim Brown took on the poet, Robert NicolI, heralded as the next Robert Burns. Jim said: ‘I became fascinated by Robert Nicoll because he was a poet, writer and radical newspaper man born in 1814, who packed so much into his short life. He died aged 23.’

No stone marks the burial place of 12-year-old Matilda Molesworth, but burial records indicate the spot. She features in the real-life story of the Trinity poltergeist. One of the collection of unexplained happenings in Catherine Crowe’s 1848 book “The Night Side of Nature“, it has popped up in anthologies of uncanny happenings ever since.

Another member of Citadel’s playwrights’ workshop, novelist Hilary Spiers explains: ” I’ve long been interested in the history of slavery in Scotland.

“While John Gladstones (buried in North Leith graveyard) and his grandson William Gladstone are better known, I felt John’s wife Nellie (who was known to be a very capable woman) might well have held views at odds with the men in her family. Women were a strong if largely unsung force in the abolitionist movement’.

Elaine Campbell came across the North Leith gravestone of three children and told us: ‘I was intrigued. Who were these three bairns so lovingly remembered?

“In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries when the Millar children lived and died, infant mortality was ferociously high. Sadly all attempts to locate the children in church records proved fruitless.

“There were Millars living in Leith at the time.  I have assumed Peter, John and Archibald were part of this extended, prosperous family of merchants. Although the “Three Cherubs” is my fictional account, I drew on historical material to describe their short lives and untimely deaths.

“By telling their story I hope to have given voice to the countless children who lie long forgotten in North Leith Graveyard’. 

Was it chance or Divine intervention that led writers Carolyn and Brian Lincoln to the gravestone of the Rev. Dr. David Johnston? Previous attempts at finding the grave of this pillar of the North Leith community had proved fruitless.

The Lincolns were paying one last visit to the Coburg Street churchyard, when they noticed the letters D.D. poking through the moss. D.D. Doctor of Divinity.  They scraped away some moss and there was the name. David Johnston (1735-1824) served the parish for nearly 60 years, a strong leader when Leith was seriously threatened by the ships of John Paul Jones, who supported the breakaway American colonies.

The play, which includes all these stories, and more, will be given a trial performed reading in North Leith Parish Church on 15 June. Citadel Arts Group seeks feedback from this first audience at Leith Festival with a view to staging a full performance of the play later in the year in the same venue.

North Leith Parish Church in Madeira Street welcomes Citadel Arts Group’s interest in the burial ground, and the church building which was to have been the keystone of Leith’s ‘New Town’.

Tim Bell told us: ‘I welcome the play as a chance for local and Edinburgh people to see this beautiful Georgian Church before it is released from the Church of Scotland estate in 2024’.

Venue: North Leith Parish Church, 51 Madeira Street EH6 4AU

Date: June 15th 7pm

Tickets: £5 from lizhare@blueyonder.co.uk /07770 623 924

Associated event: Hilary Spiers will lead a free guided tour of North Leith Burial Ground in Coburg Street on Monday June 12th at 2pm. Places are limited. Book from Liz Hare

Writers: Carolyn and Brian Lincoln, Jim Brown, John Lamb, Hilary Spiers, Elaine Campbell and Rhona McAdam.

Cast: Mark Kydd, Deborah Whyte, Chelsea Grace, Gregor Davidson, Dale McQueen.

Director: Liz Hare

Sound: Stewart Emm

Citadel Arts Group (SC 034687) is a Leith-based theatre company which specialises in creating new plays based on local stories, memories, and history.

Black Widow passes the Bechdel Test … but which Hollywood heroes have failed?

  • More than a third of films over the past decade fail test for representing female characters
  • More than a quarter of movies released in 2021 and assessed on bechdeltest.com failed to meet the test’s requirements
  • Of the films assessed in 2016, 43.6% failed the Bedchel Test – the highest rate in the last ten years
  • Some of the past decade’s highest-grossing films, such as The Avengers, Monsters University and Bad Boys For Life have all failed the test

More than a third of major films of the past decade have failed to pass a basic test for representing female characters, a new study has found.

To mark the release of Marvel Studios’ Black Widow, gambling community hub CasinoGrounds analysed how many popular films from the past decade pass the Bechdel test, which means the movie or media must have two named female characters, who talk to each other about something other than a man.

Collecting user-submitted data from bechdeltest.com, the study shows that over the past 10 years, more than a third of the 1118 films assessed on the site have failed the test – a total of 36.4%.

Of the 33 films assessed so far during 2021, nine have failed the test, a total of 27% – including A Quiet Place Part II and F9: The Fast Saga. This figure is currently higher than the total from 2020, in which 21.5% of films measured failed to meet all three of the test’s requirements.

The two lowest performing years over the past decade were 2014 and 2016, in which 40.7% and 43.6% of the films assessed failed to achieve a passing “grade”.

Bechdel Test – Failure rates over past 10 years

Year of releaseNo. of movies assessed by Bechdeltest.comNumber of failed moviesPercentage of failed movies
201137213937.7%
201235212635.8%
201341314330.4%
201439015940.7%
201533212637.9%
201632514243.6%
20172709033.3%
20182388234.4%
20192297732.2%
20201162521.5%
202133927.2%

Assessing the five highest-grossing films of each year from the past decade, there are four years in which all five films pass the test – 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2019.

Last year, only two of the year’s five highest-grossing films passed – Sonic The Hedgehog and Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker.

Perhaps some of the most surprising failures from the past decade come from the most renowned movie franchises – Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger TidesMonsters University and Jumanji: The Next Level each failed to tick all three boxes of the test.

And although Black Widow passes the Bechdel test, Marvel Studios’ 2012 epic The Avengers – which also saw Scarlett Johansson assuming the role of Natasha Romanov – did not.

Commenting on the study’s findings, a spokesperson of CasinoGrounds stated: “With more emphasis being placed on the importance of gender quality in recent years, it is encouraging to see films like Black Widow leading the charge in creating strong female characters in Hollywood.

“There are certainly some surprising passing entries from the highest grossing films, and some equally surprising failures. Hopefully, the future holds even more positive representation of women in film and media overall”.

Casinogrounds.com is the leading online gambling community, which promotes safe and responsible practise and discussions around gambling.

Matilda and Wimpy Kids will top World Book Day costume charts

Matilda will be the most popular costume for World Book Day 2021, according to search trends.

Costumes for the character from the Roald Dahl favourite are the most searched for in the UK. Miss Trunchball and Miss Honey from the book are also expected to be amongst the most popular.

The analysis, compiled by www.takepayments.com, reveals Diary of a Wimpy Kid follows Matilda in the list of costume inspiration parents are searching for the most.

Harry Potter and Alice in Wonderland are also top search terms, whilst David Walliams and Julia Donaldson are the most searched for authors. 

Futurist (Eh? – Ed.) Tracey Follows predicts* that characters from the books of Jacqueline Wilson and Michael Morpurgo will also heavily feature this year.

World Book Day 2021 takes place tomorrow (4th March). With schools not expected to reopen until at least 8th March and lockdown restrictions still in place, this year organisers are encouraging families to dress up at home and get involved online.

There will be special free digital events including ‘Share a Story Live’ and author academy videos will be available online.

Books are once again being offered for just £1 through book tokens with more than 15 million tokens being made available to children across the country.

Bosses are also being encouraged to allow their staff to go home early so they can share stories with the children in their lives.

Google search trends on the biggest UK events have been compiled by www.takepayments.com as part of a 2021 report which can be found here.

* Tracey Follows is a professional futurist who runs the consultancy, Futuremade. She helps brands and businesses spot trends, develop foresight and fully prepare for what comes next. She is the author of the forthcoming book The Future of You, out March 2021.