Robert Burns described William Smellie, the printer of the first Encyclopaedia Britannica as follows:

"Shrewd Willie Smellie to Crochallan came: The old cock'd hat, the brown surtout, the same."

Burns knew him well because he proofread the Encyclopedia and Smellie also published Burns’s poetry.  The plaque references "The Crohallan Fencibles" one of many convivial clubs founded in 18th. century Edinburgh. The somewhat rowdy club met in the close and Burns was introduced to it by Smellie in 1787. Burns was later to compose a set of popular songs for the club, entitled The Merry Muses of Caledonia.

Continue for another 300m on the Royal Mile; to your left you will find the House of John Knox

John Knox's House

Although not particularly relevant to the Edinburgh Enlightenment, it would be amiss to ignore this remarkable building.  It is the oldest of the city's surviving medieval houses, dating back to 1470.  Knox is reputed to have only lived here for a short time before his death in 1572.  On the ground floor there is an unusual bookstore called the Scottish Storytelling Centre.  The museum above relates the turbulent times of the Scottish Reformation.