Heritage

Around 150 buildings, many off-bounds to the general public during the rest of the year, throw open their doors, and gates for the annual Edinburgh Doors Open Day.

Doors Open Day has taken place each year, since 1991, and over the whole weekend since 2009.

For scale, no show in Edinburgh can rival the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo. Literally hundreds of performers, both from Scotland and bands and outfits from abroad, gather under the dramatic backdrop of Edinburgh Castle. The series of displays, which take place on the castle esplanade (an 18th century parade ground), combine breathtaking shows of military precision, often a battle re-enactment, military bands, traditional dancers, and a rousing finale of mass pipes and drums, topped by the lone piper playing from the castle battlements.

The 1800s saw a series of scandals concerning individuals being locked away in lunatic asylums – the victims of unscrupulous persons who wanted to be rid of a ‘difficult’ family member, spouse or frie

Despite growing historical interest in the male body, historians have, until fairly recently, overlooked a principle component of both men’s bodies and masculinity - facial hair.