Martin Hannan: Our history is a bit hit and myth

Well, tell us something we didn't know, doc - we've been peddling myths and legends in Edinburgh for centuries and still people keep coming to the city.

The fact is that a lot of Edinburgh stories are exaggerated, and if you want proof of that, why not avail yourself of an Old Town ghost tour or listen to the commentary on some of the open-topped buses. Honestly, you'll hear some whoppers.

My problem with historians digging up the "true" stories of legends like Bobby is that I find it incredible that anybody takes the tales seriously in the first place. In Bobby's case, the modern version was entirely created by Walt Disney studios, from the original story of a dog who frequented Greyfriars and who was called Bobby - the only two verifiable facts in the whole legend.

Once upon a time in another life I suggested that Greyfriars Bobby might be a good emblem for the city, but the council's slogan at the time was "Improving Services, Creating Jobs" and the idea collapsed when it was pointed out that linking the dog and "jobs" might see the latter word made slightly longer.

The trouble with Edinburgh lore is that revisionists can have a field day. Next the historians will be telling us that Burke and Hare were murderers, that Deacon Brodie was the inspiration for Stevenson's Jekyll and Hyde - actually, it was more likely to have been Major Weir - and that a giant created Arthur's Seat so he could have a resting place. Or perhaps not.

Edinburgh's history is colourful and replete with legend. My personal favourites include the true story of Half-hangit Maggie Dickson, the fishwife who was to be executed for her part in concealing her pregnancy when the baby died. Maggie somehow survived the hanging, and passed into legend.

Or the story of Joseph McIvor, buried alive when an Old Town building collapsed in 1861, and who shouted "heave awa' lads, I'm no deid yet" until he was rescued.

Perhaps there are indeed a few total myths, like that lump of rock in Edinburgh Castle being the Stone of Destiny. Aye, pull the other one.

There are also some people who will tell you in all seriousness that Hibs used to win the Scottish Cup and that Hearts was once a sane football club. How gullible do they think people are?

We locals will keep those secrets to ourselves, and allow our visitors to glory in the most historic destination on the planet, apart from maybe Athens, London and Rome. But you can't walk round them in a day, which is why Edinburgh, the first and best Festival City, is wonderfully unique.

What a waste

Edinburgh really is wonderful, and we must all do our bit to keep it that way.

Maybe I'm just getting older, but I am coming to resent the amount of litter that you see around the city.

The cleansing teams do a terrific job in the city centre, but there are outlying areas where litter ranges from discarded sweet papers to whole boxes of refuse.

These parts of the city rarely see the presence of litter wardens with their power to fine people on the spot. Which is mystifying as the council could raise lots of cash if litter droppers were really targeted.

There are also miscreants who make you want to thump them for their idiocy. Last week a friend and I were having coffee in Cockburn Street when we saw a Viridor glass recycling lorry spilling a tiny amount of its load. The operative's response was to kick the glass into the gutter. Nice, eh?

Every day you see people, locals and visitors alike, dropping litter around the place. Would they do that in their own home or front garden? Sadly, they probably would.

As for those who chuck things out of moving cars - three points on the driver's licence and that practice would soon cease.

I'm not one of those people who think that increased litter-dropping is testament to the reduction in moral values in modern society, but there are times when you have to conclude that people just don't seem to care about such things any more.

It's as if the lack of litter bins seemingly across the entire western world - all locked up to stop terrorists using them for bomb receptacles - gives people licence to drop their litter where they like. Well it doesn't - littering is a crime and it's time we had zero tolerance to this offence, though I'm not suggesting that we all start telling litter droppers to pick up their stuff, as that will merely start fights.

I would like to see more litter wardens on the streets of Edinburgh as like parking attendants, they can pay for themselves.

Meanwhile there is something we can all do to maintain the beauty of our city. Take litter home or to the nearest bin. It's not hard to do, and it does make a difference.