The Heart of Midlothian is a heart-shaped mosaic built into the pavement near the West Door of St Giles High Kirk on the Royal Mile (the High Street in this section) in Edinburgh, not far from Parliament House, which was the former Parliament of Scotland, and now the site of the Court of Session and Signet Library.
Together with brass markers set into the pavement, it records the position of the 15th-century Old Tolbooth, demolished in 1817, which was the administrative centre of the town, prison and one of several sites of public execution. The tolbooth features in Sir Walter Scott's novel, The Heart of Midlothian, published in 1818.
Although falling within the historic county of Midlothian, which exists today as a registration county, the Heart is no longer within the local authority area of Midlothian. The City of Edinburgh, the historic county town of Midlothian which is also known as the County of Edinburgh or Edinburghshire, is now a unitary local authority area which incorporates former sections of West and East Lothian within it. The crest of the Edinburgh football team Heart of Midlothian is based upon this Heart.
Visitors to Edinburgh will often notice people spitting on the Heart. A tolbooth (prison) stood on the site, where executions used to take place. The heart marks its doorway: the point of public execution.[1] Some people spit on the Heart. Although now sometimes said to be for good luck, this was originally simply a sign of historic disdain for the former prison.