In late June 1836, a group of boys made an eerie discovery on the slopes of Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh. Hidden in a cleft in a rock, they found 17 miniature coffins, each containing a tiny carved corpse. In 1901, eight of the coffins were donated to the Royal Museum of Scotland, and they remain one of their most fascinating and unusual treasures.

The Falls by Ian Rankin

As soon as I saw them, I knew they would make a great story, especially as no one had come up with an incontrovertible interpretation of their meaning.”
Ian Rankin in the introduction to The Falls.

In the TV version of the Falls, which is somewhat different from the book, DI Rebus, played by Ken Stott, investigates the murder of Dr. Joseph Devlin, a retired obstetrician. The man is found in his home, tied to a chair with his wrists slit. On his lap is a miniature coffin, similar to those found in a local museum, with the smiling effigy of a child inside.

Devlin had dined the previous evening with Sir James Hogarth, his closest friend. Rebus and DS Siobhan Clarke get on the trail of David Costello when Phillipa Balfour, a university student working at a local museum, tells them she has once again started to receive threatening e-mails from Costello, who has stalked her in the past.

When Sir James’ ex-wife is found murdered in exactly the same way as Devlin, it becomes apparent that Costello is seeking some type of revenge.

Rebus suspects Sir James has had an incestuous relationship with his daughter but is having difficulty finding the evidence.

The Arthur Seat Coffins

There are actually two versions of the Arthur Seat coffins. The surviving originals can be found in the Industry and Empire Gallery while in the Scotland a Changing Nation gallery on Level 6 there is an exibit of the larger coffins used in the Rebus Episiode The Falls.

For much more information on the coffins visit the excellent National Museums of Scotland website.