10 of the most historic graveyards in Scotland to visit this autumn

As anyone who has read Peter Ross’s fine book A Tomb With A View will know, cemeteries are repositories of stories and social history as well as safe spaces for reflection and contemplation (apart from the one at the start of George Romero’s zombie classic Night of the Living Dead, obviously).

Here are 10 that would be worth a visit on an autumn afternoon.

Canongate Kirkyard, Edinburgh

Whilst tourists to the capital flock to Greyfriars Kirk in Candlemaker Row, the Canongate Kirkyard can be overlooked even if it is on the Royal Mile. The economist Adam Smith and the poet Robert Fergusson are both buried here. It’s Fergusson’s statue that stands at the gate. Much loved by Robert Burns, the poet was buried in a pauper’s grave until Burns himself raised a memorial stone. It is also the last resting place of Agnes Maclehose who inspired Burns’s song Ae Fond Kiss.

Other residents include William Fettes, who founded the school that bears his name, and pioneering female novelist Mary Balfour who in her day outsold Jane Austen. Balfour, by the way, eloped with Alexander Brunton who would himself become Professor of Oriental Languages at Edinburgh University. And Brunton is also buried in this cemetery.

Glasgow Necropolis, Glasgow

Sometimes you just need to embrace the obvious and Glasgow Necropolis is very much that. Located on the site of the city’s origins, this storied cemetery towers above the cathedral and the nearby Royal infirmary. It was Victorian Glasgow’s attempt to build its own version of Paris’s Pere-Lachaise. An interdenominational cemetery, it saw its first burial in 1832, when Joseph Levi, a Jewish jeweller, was interred. It is estimated that some 50,000 burials have taken place in the Necropolis, all of them under the watchful eye of John Knox whose memorial was erected in 1825.

St Michael’s, Dumfries

Scotland’s bard is buried in Dumfries where he spent his final years. His mausoleum - painted white - is hard to miss. Sir Walter Scott was involved in the fundraising for its construction. It was completed in 1815 and Burns’s remains were moved from their original resting place and reinterred under the floor of the museum.

Maes Howe or Maeshowe is a neolithic chambered cairn (2800 bc) (Image: Universal Images Group via Getty)

Maeshowe Chambered Cairn, Stennesss, Orkney

I’m slightly pushing the parameters of this list here, but this 5,000-year old cairn is open to visitors and is regarded as a masterpiece of neolithic design and construction (no power tools involved). From the outside it looks like a grassy mound, but walk through its 10-metre-long sandstone passage and you will find a tomb larger in scale than other Orcadian passage graves. It sits in a landscape that also includes the Stones of Stenness, the Ring of Brodgar and Skara Brae. Here is a final resting place that is also a symbol of Scotland’s beginnings.

Kirkoswald Kirkyard, Kirkoswald

Of course Ayrshire has a claim on the story of Robert Burns. The poet’s most famous poem Tam o’ Shanter takes place in Alloway Auld Kirk where the titular character meets the devil. But the inspirations for Tam and Souter Johnnie were Douglas Graham (Tam) and John Davidson (Johnnie) who are both buried at the kirkyard in Kirkoswald.

Old Town Cemetery, Stirling

Peter Ross’s book A Tomb With A View starts in the Old Town Cemetery in Stirling and it is a suitable place for beginnings and endings. Located between Stirling Castle and the Church of the Holy Rude it is home to a memorial for Protestant martyrs and one of the engineers on the Titanic, as well as the remains of members of Canada’s Cree Nation. Ladies Rock offers outstanding views across the Carse of Stirling. It is also where Bonnie Prince Charlie stood as he directed the last ever siege of Stirling Castle in 1746.

Kilmuir Cemetery, Trotternish, Skye

As well as its impressive views across The Minch, the old cemetery of Kilmuir is the last resting place of Flora MacDonald who helped Bonnie Prince Charlie escape from Scotland in 1746. She was buried wrapped in a sheet that Charles Edward Stuart once slept in. Her grave is marked by a Celtic Cross and a memorial which features a tribute from the writer Samuel Johnson. It’s also worth visiting the new cemetery across the way where there is an imposing, impressive slate headstone, designed by sculptor Andrew Tanser, for the late, great fashion designer Alexander McQueen. McQueen’s ashes were scattered here on the island where his father was born.

Tourists visiting St Oran's Cemetery, Reilig Odhrain, where kings and clan chiefs are buried (Image: Getty Images) Reilig Odhrain, Iona

There are a few island cemeteries in Scotland worth a visit; notably Portnellan on Loch Katrine (actually located on a manmade causeway, so not technically an island even though it sits on the water) and Eilean Munde on Loch Leven. But Reilig Odhrain on Iona stands out. Sited next to the abbey, it is reputed to hold the remains of as many as 60 ancient kings, including 48 Scots - it is said Kenneth MacAlpin, his son Constantine I and a certain Macbeth are among their number - eight Norwegians and four Irish rulers. John Smith, former leader of the Labour party, is also buried here.

Ancrum Church, near Jedburgh

According to Peter Irvine in the latest edition of Scotland the Best, this is the “quintessential country churchyard”, located beside the Ale Water, complete with ruined chapel. “Elegiac and deeply peaceful,” Irvine reckons. The perfect venue to read Thomas Gray’s poem Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard by the sounds of it.

(NB, Irvine also recommends Birkhill Cemetery in Dundee as one of Scotland’s most well kept and well used, so add that to the list too.)

Tomnahurich Cemetery, Inverness

Not so much a recommendation as a cautionary tale. Located on a hill between the Caledonian Canal and the River Ness, this Victorian cemetery offers panoramic views of Inverness as well as across the Moray Firth. But in the last couple of years there have been concerns raised in the local press about the current state of the cemetery. A reminder that our duty to the dead continues long after they are gone.