Heart of Midlothian, Edinburgh

The Heart of Midlothian is a heart-shaped mosaic made from coloured granite setts outside St Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh. Its pattern marks the entrance to the Old Tolbooth, Edinburgh’s former prison, demolished in 1817. The site has carried this pavement heart since 1860.

Sir Walter Scott turned the Tolbooth into the setting for his 1818 novel The Heart of Midlothian, whose heroine is imprisoned there despite being innocent. As local tradition has it, spitting on the heart brings good luck; the custom may instead preserve contempt for executions held at the Tolbooth. The mosaic also lends its name and crest to Heart of Midlothian F.C. The small, unmistakable shape underfoot connects a surviving piece of Edinburgh’s prison history with literature, local ritual and football.