January

Voted Scotland’s greatest man-made wonder, the Forth Rail Bridge was first crossed by train in January 1890. It wasn’t carrying passengers. Rather, engineers wanted to test that their calculations were correct, and the bridge could support the combined weight of locomotives, carriages and their contents.

January was also the month in which a gruesome death – in highly suspicious circumstances – inspired one of our greatest works of literature. When Elizabeth Chantrelle was taken to hospital, and subsequently died, traces of opium were found in her vomit. None could be found in her body, but this was still sufficient to raise suspicions, and for the finger of blame to be pointed towards her husband. He was tried for her murder, convicted, and executed, and the sorry affair is said to have been the inspiration for Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

This was also the month in which another murderer – and a far more prolific one than Elizabeth Chantrelle’s husband – confessed to his crimes. William Burke had killed more than a dozen people in and around Edinburgh, with accomplice William Hare, and the pair had sold the bodies for dissection. Burke and his wife were tried later in the year, with the judge eventually delivering his verdict on Christmas morning.

And January was the month in which the Scottish Bard – Robbie Burns – was born in the Ayrshire village of Alloway. He left behind a significant body of work, despite never having been a full-time poet, and dying at the comparatively early age of 37. His birth is marked around the world in annual Burns’ Night celebrations.