Picnicking on a Little Hillie
Near my old flat in Aberdeen there is a hill. It is small, flat on the top, and a good spot for picnics. You get a good view of the surrounding area, despite its small height, and until the 90s it was used as a cheeky ticket-free vantage point for games played at Pittodrie Football Stadium known locally as ‘Miser’s Hillie’. But these playful associations skim over a grim past.
As I sit here on top of the hillie, it is peaceful and the view is delightful. I can see little bunnies scampering around between the graves below me, and beyond that I can watch the fishing boats in the North Sea. To the west I enjoy a view of tenement rooftops running along the spital, heading north to Old Aberdeen and the iconic skyline defined by Kings College. During the war this area was plagued by bombs dropped by Nazi bombers because of the nearby gas works and factories but it is hard to see any scars today. The landscape has been built upon and modernised with only a few remaining gravestones which still bear cracks and bullet holes sitting in the south east corner of the graveyard. It is easy to think I could spend a few more hours, at least, examining the landscape around me from up on this hill.
Unfortunately, there is a significant irony to this, as Miser’s Hillie should be better recognised as Gallow’s Hill, an Aberdeen execution site from the 14th to 18th Centuries. Many a convicted criminal who was sentenced to death by hanging did indeed spend their last few minutes examining the landscape beyond (perhaps less attractive at the time as it was without landmarks such as Sir Duncan Rice Library and St Margret’s Chapel, and it was certainly not a vantage point for football games but for a steaming dung heap). In the most disgraceful of cases, the dead body of the accused would be removed from the gallows, dipped in tar, and returned to the gibbet until their bones dropped to the ground and only the chains remained. The more serious the crime, the more time you spent enjoying the luxurious view.
Maybe this is a fine example of ‘be careful what you wish for’, as wishing for a lengthy spell on top of this cute hillock might go wrong if you find yourself victim to the hangman. However, it more probably means ‘be grateful you’re not at the hands of early modern criminal justice’.
Picnicking on a Little Hillie
Near my old flat in Aberdeen there is a hill. It is small, flat on the top, and a good spot for picnics. You get a good view of the surrounding area, despite its small height, and until the 90s it was used as a cheeky ticket-free vantage point for games played at Pittodrie Football Stadium known locally as ‘Miser’s Hillie’. But these playful associations skim over a grim past.
As I sit here on top of the hillie, it is peaceful and the view is delightful. I can see little bunnies scampering around between the graves below me, and beyond that I can watch the fishing boats in the North Sea. To the west I enjoy a view of tenement rooftops running along the spital, heading north to Old Aberdeen and the iconic skyline defined by Kings College. During the war this area was plagued by bombs dropped by Nazi bombers because of the nearby gas works and factories but it is hard to see any scars today. The landscape has been built upon and modernised with only a few remaining gravestones which still bear cracks and bullet holes sitting in the south east corner of the graveyard. It is easy to think I could spend a few more hours, at least, examining the landscape around me from up on this hill.<
Unfortunately, there is a significant irony to this, as Miser’s Hillie should be better recognised as Gallow’s Hill, an Aberdeen execution site from the 14th to 18th Centuries. Many a convicted criminal who was sentenced to death by hanging did indeed spend their last few minutes examining the landscape beyond (perhaps less attractive at the time as it was without landmarks such as Sir Duncan Rice Library and St Margret’s Chapel, and it was certainly not a vantage point for football games but for a steaming dung heap). In the most disgraceful of cases, the dead body of the accused would be removed from the gallows, dipped in tar, and returned to the gibbet until their bones dropped to the ground and only the chains remained. The more serious the crime, the more time you spent enjoying the luxurious view.
Maybe this is a fine example of ‘be careful what you wish for’, as wishing for a lengthy spell on top of this cute hillock might go wrong if you find yourself victim to the hangman. However, it more probably means ‘be grateful you’re not at the hands of early modern criminal justice’.