The Sporting Ladies of Edinburgh

Mrs Mary Paterson is a lady who is like the city of Edinburgh itself, on the surface very respectable, but underneath she has a darker side and a fascinating past. Join her to hear about The Sporting Ladies. This was a term used to refer to prostitutes in the 18th century, and Mrs Paterson can tell a few stories about Edinburgh’s ‘ladies of the night’ from centuries past. She has promised to tell her tales and she may also be persuaded to reveal her own dark ‘secret’!

Hear about Edinburgh’s most notorious madam, as well as Mrs Paterson’s own namesake whose life came to a terrifying end at the hands of Edinburgh’s infamous serial killers, Burke & Hare. And what of the beautiful Mary Queen of Scots, accused of being a harlot and a whore, so was she? Mrs Paterson has her own theory about our tragic Queen. Another Mary, executed for murder, was the owner of a house of ill repute in the 18th century. Who was she and what happened to this Mary that led her to the gallows?

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