Talk by Andy Arthur     

The registers of the Canongate Kirk in Edinburgh record that on 17^th Feb 1819 a man was interred there having died 3 days previously from fever.  They say he was 22 years old, although nobody was exactly sure.  What they do not say is that he was far from the land of his birth on the west coast of Greenland at a latitude of 69 degrees North, and that he was a truly remarkable man.

He was John Sakeouse, an adventurer, explorer, artist, kayaker, interpreter and a beloved friend of Edinburgh and Leith. 

This is the story of how he hatched a plan to come to this country, how he ingratiated himself in a foreign land, and his subsequent adventures here and back in his homeland as an explorer.

Andy Arthur has been researching and informally writing about Edinburgh and Leith history since 2018.  In 2022 he decided to create a permanent home for an increasingly large back catalogue of stories and launched the website Threadinburgh.

There will be tea, coffee and biscuits after the talk.