John Muir's Birthplace

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Content updated Sun, 31 Jan 1999 23:19:47 GMT

John Muir's Dunbar... [home]

Corn Exchange Close

Silver Street

Town House

Silver Street

At the foot of the close turn south (right) again to the crossroads at the end of Silver Street [6].

[D] The dilapidated look to part of the crossroads would not be out of place even in John's time. Areas of the Burgh are continually refurbished over the years and move up and down in condition - many recent redevelopments fostered under the Dunbar Initiative can be seen on the walk. At one time Castle and Church Streets (look along them to explain the names) may even have been the High Street. Here, however, were certainly coach houses, stables, byres and servants' quarters. John, a 'Streetie', would have been at risk if he went north-east of this junction, into the territory of the 'Shories'. The children of the businessmen of the High Street and the artisans and fishermen of the Shore tended to go to different (but adjacent) schools. This led to epic childhood battles

'...To be a 'gude fechter' was our highest ambition, our dearest aim in life in or out of school. ... We often managed to bring on something like real war, greatly more exiting than personal combat. ... Cheering and shouting some battle-cry ... we stuffed our Scotch blue bonnets with snow (or) sand, sometimes mixed with gravel, and fired them at each other as cannon-balls.'

As you look around you can see evidence of the regeneration mentioned above. Down towards the shore are recently built houses with red pantiles and white harling. John would have remembered a maze of old tenements and passages, granaries and maltings, a brewery, a tannery, a soapworks, dairies, coopers and fish-curing yards - all of great entertainment value to 'wild boys' and a hive of industry. Many old buildings are reconditioned, rather than replaced. To see a good example look left as you go up Silver Street [7]. Look at the building half way up on the right and see the three grilled cell windows facing the sea; formerly, the building was Dunbar Gaol.