Jenny Geddes and the St Giles’ Riot

The spire of St Giles’ Cathedral is an iconic sight in Edinburgh, poking high above the Royal Mile, as an ever-present symbol of the city’s past. This is the High Kirk of Edinburgh, having provided spiritual services to locals since the 12th century. The church is a peaceful place today, but almost 400 years ago, these solemn walls witnessed a fierce riot that would spread right across Scotland. 

It was Sunday the 23rd of July 1637, and as the congregation filed into the church, they had no idea that years of bubbling religious and political discontent were about to come to a head. Things began to go downhill when the Dean of St Giles’ attempted to read out a new common prayer book on the orders of King Charles I. 

Charles had been born in Scotland, but he was raised down in England as an heir to both country’s thrones. The King’s upbringing caused him to lean more toward the English church, which saw the monarch as its spiritual head. He wasn’t happy that the Church of Scotland followed a very different form of worship. 

They had fought long and hard to shift away from the old religion, keeping the King and the Church very much separate. Many saw this new prayer book as exactly what they had been trying to avoid. 

To add to their feeling of unease, neither the Scottish Parliament nor the Church’s General Assembly had been consulted. To the people of Edinburgh, it seemed as if the monarch was trying to take back control of the Scottish Church. 

As the new prayer book was being read out loud in St Giles’ for the first time, the listeners began to grumble their discontent. The story goes that a street trader called Jenny Geddes finally snapped, standing up in a rage and screaming at the reader, "Dare ye say mass in my lug". She followed the outburst by picking up her stool and launching it at the Dean’s head. 

It was the spark that started a full-scale riot in Edinburgh. Things quickly began to get out of hand and the city guard was called to keep order. The dissenters were soon safely locked out of St Giles’ but carried on rampaging in the streets, beating at the church doors and smashing the windows. News of the drama in Edinburgh spread and similar riots sprung up around Scotland.

The events that began with Jenny Geddes throwing that stool would lead to the National Covenant being drawn up the next year, one of the nation’s most significant documents. It declared the Scottish Church free from interference by the Crown, with copies being signed by thousands of people around the country.

We can’t be sure that the story’s heroine truly existed, but the story has stuck in Edinburgh folklore. The name Jenny Geddes will forever be linked with St Gile’s Cathedral and a bronze stool memorial is displayed inside, reminding all visitors never to get on the wrong side of a fiery Scotswoman.