BROTHWICKS CLOSE,
DATE, PRESENT,
LOCATION, THE ROYAL MILE,
TYPE, HAUNTING/ MANIFESTATION,
Annmarie Taylor and John Gunn,
Annmarie was said by all accounts to be a very fine looking woman,she was in her late teens early 20s when she met John Gunn
( no age is given for him) she lived at Allans close or near to it with her father and mother and her two sisters. They were a rich family her dad part owned a mill down by the water of Leith, she was not ment to meet let alone fall in love with John Gunn he was a common worker a charge hand working on the farms in Prestonpans, some how these two met and fell in love. To keep there love a secret they used to meet in Borthswick close just down from Allans close which is now under the City Chambers. This was done by the help of Annmarie's maid who would stand guard while she would go down the close to meet John. He would stand just down by the door in to George Herots school for hospital doctors. Although at the time the door was used to get into the printers there. He would be hidden from site, Annmarie would stand with her back to him so they could touch and hold each other in the dark close without being seen from the street level. How ever one day John Gunn was to have an accident he fell into a thrasher face first and was killed out right.
However love is strong at times and between these two it was, Annmarie left her house that night unaware of what happened to John, as she
got to the close she would have gone down as normal to the meeting spot, John was there waiting as he always did for her. As Annmarie got
close to the spot she knew something was wrong she could feel it, as always she turned her back and he reached out this time as she
turned to face him a horrible site met her eyes his face was hanging off Annmarie screamed and ran. When she returned to her house not
far away her father knew something was not right and he called the doctor who then in turn called a minster in, as all Annmarie would say is
"his face it was hanging off".
Now John Gunn is said to haunt part of Borthwicks close near to the spot of his meetings with Annmarie, He is said to hold out his hands
looking for his true love to fall into them once more. The story now goes that if a young woman does not fall into his hands, he will pick
one and fallow her home to try and find love and warmth from her.
The part about the accident is noted down in the parish records of Prestonpans, this is dated 23 sept 1641 at Mains farm and is written
by a Mr A Cuningham, The part about there meetings is taken from both the dairy's of Annmarie and her maid Julie these can be found in
The Edinburgh room, also taken from parish records of St Giles as it was the minster from there who came to see to her.
The first reported sighting of John Gunn was by a merchant walking home late one night, he reported that he heard a scream in Borthwicks
Close and went to look. There he met a young woman running up the close towards him, when asked if it was her that screamed she said "
that she had saw a man with his face hanging off and dripping blood had try to grab her". The merchant on hearing this took the young woman
to the police station where he reported what happened. The report states that a woman brought in to the station by a Mr Huntington
was crying and in a panic she was in a high state of fear. Two police officers were sent to look for the gentleman in question in the close
a search was carried out when no body was found. The report goes on to say that, there was a search during the day but no blood was found
at the site or anywhere within the close. The report is dated June 21st 1729.
The close has undergone some change due to the fire there in 1824, but it still is in part how it was when the two of them met each other, over the years people have heard screams and seen shadows. This may be in part to the tour companies and guides giving tours, but not all the screams seem to be at times the tour companies are out on the Royal Mile. The last known sighting of Mr Gunn was in 2010 when a young woman was visiting her uni friend. They had been out late at one of the many pubs that are on the Mile and taking a short cut home were walking down Borthwicks Close, when they heard a noise behind them of a man coughing they turned to meet a horrible site a man was standing bleeding from a bad face wound, the girls took to there heels and ran. They reported it as soon as they got back to there flat to the police, the police records show no one was found and again no blood was found at the seen, could this have been Mr Gunn still looking for his true love.
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