Auld Reekie
Auld Reekie, Scots for "Old Smoky", is a long-standing nickname for Edinburgh, from the smoke of the coal and wood fires that once hung over the Old Town. "Auld" is old and "reek" is smoke, a word still used in Scotland for the smell of smoke or anything that stinks.
In practice
The crowded tenements of the Old Town burned fuel in thousands of fireplaces, and the smoke settled over the ridge in a haze visible from miles away. The nickname outlived the smoke: clean-air laws ended the coal fires in the twentieth century, but Auld Reekie stayed in songs, poems, pub names, tour names and newspaper headlines. Edinburgh's other old nickname, "the Athens of the North", came later and refers to the classical buildings of the New Town and Calton Hill.
Why it matters to newcomers
You will meet the name on brewery labels, walking tours and in affectionate local writing. It is used fondly, not as an insult, and it is a useful marker of the two cities inside one: smoky, medieval Auld Reekie on the ridge, and the planned Georgian New Town below it.
Related
- Royal Mile - the heart of the old smoky town
- Tenement - the tall buildings whose fires gave the name
- New Town - the "Athens of the North" half of the city
Source: Edinburgh World Heritage.