Timber Bush

Timber Bush, Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland.

Etymology

"Bush" is the corrupt form of "Bourse", meaning a stock exchange

History

Timber Bush was originally the open piazza in the lower storey of an ancient building adjoining Queen Street Chapel in Leith, where the merchants and traders met for business - the Bourse, or exchange.

Later the whole ground was used as a timber market - hence its name. It was known also as the "Timber Howff", or "Timber Holf" - the name is used as equivalent to Timber Yard.

By order of the Burgh Council, no Timber Bushes were allowed on any part of Princes Street, or the pleasure grounds there.

Part of the seawall built by Robert Mylne in 1685 to protect the stores of wood within Timber Bush from being washed away by the sea still forms the lower part of the walls of the shacks lining adjacent Tower Street, and in them one can easily discern embrasures for cannon and through which the timber cargoes floated from the ships were hauled, for storage within the Timber Bush.

The export of whisky from, and the import of wine into Leith, gave it a large trade in coopering. In his Bride of Lammermoor, Sir Walter Scott speaks of "Peter Puncheon that was cooper to the queen's stores at the Timmer Burse (that is, Timber Bush) at Leith."

The Bond Warehouses where the wine and whisky were stored form the main part of the southern wall and eastern sides of Timberbush, and externally still are remarkably untouched by later redevelopment.

Present day

Timber Bush is now a pleasant enclave behind the busy traffic of Bernard Street, and home to up market flats, ethical marketing firms and small media companies, such as bigmouthmedia, Pro Poor (organisers of the Homeless World Cup), international sustainable tourism consultants Dunira Strategy, the flight seach engine company - Skyscanner, and New Consumer Magazine, a resource on ethical consumerism.

External links

* [http://www.electricscotland.com/history/leith/32.htm Electricscotland.com - Industry in Leith]
* [http://www.edinburgh.org.uk/STREETS/part1/t.htm Note on origin of name at www.edinburgh.org.uk]