Hidden History, Robert Burns & an Indecent Proposal

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EDINBURGH: In the third of the 3-part series with Eric Melvin, author & local historian we uncover museums, a couple of Eric's historical muses, Robert Burns, the resurgence of Edinburgh history in schools, and how a desperate aristocrat managed to persuade Lady Stair to marry him.
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Photo: George Street, in Edinburgh New Town
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Books:

‘A Walk Down Edinburgh’s Royal Mile’

‘A Walk Through Edinburgh’s New Town’

'Mary, Queen of Scots'

Bio:

Eric Melvin is a Scottish historian who graduated with First Class Honours in History and Political Thought from Edinburgh University in 1967. After a year out in London, he qualified as a secondary teacher of History and Modern Studies at the then Moray House College of Education, gaining a Dip. Ed. in the process and the Staff Prize. He later gained an M.Ed. from the University of Edinburgh. After retiring from teaching in 2005, he worked for the City of Edinburgh Council as a Headteacher at Currie Community High School.
Upon taking Community Education classes for The City of Edinburgh in both Scottish History and the History of Edinburgh, he now gives talks to various groups on aspects of the City’s History. (e.g. The Saltire Society, U3A, Probus, and Local History Clubs). Eric is a trained volunteer guide for The Edinburgh Festival Voluntary Guides Association and regularly takes groups down the Royal Mile and through the New Town.
Eric has had several books published by John Murray for younger readers on aspects of Scottish History as well as ‘Discovering Scotland’ for Ladybird. Most recently I have had three books published on Amazon – ‘A Walk Down Edinburgh’s Royal Mile’, ‘A Walk Through Edinburgh’s New Town’, and ‘Mary, Queen of Scots’ written for younger readers and illustrated by Aileen Paterson. ‘The Edinburgh of John Kay’ was published in 2017 and he has just finished a book about Duncan Napier, (The Fresh Air of the Summer Morning) the founder of the famous Edinburgh Herbalist business in 1860.
He volunteers at the Oxfam Bookshop at Morningside and has also done some voluntary teaching at Chogoria Girls’ High School in Kenya, most recently in January 2017.
Eric is married to Lynda, a retired Nursery School Teacher. They have two sons, John currently lecturing in Heritage Tourism at Hosei University in Tokyo and Graeme, also working in Tokyo as a Business Communications Skills Trainer for American Express. John is married to Shizue Ichikawa from Sakkata, Japan. They are the proud parents of Isla, a first grandchild, born in August 2010, and Rui born in April 2013.

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