Heart of Midlothian
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
The old jail, the Tol- booth of Edinburgh, taken down in 3817. Sir Walter Scott has a novel so entitled.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Heart of Midlothian” mean?
The old jail, the Tol- booth of Edinburgh, taken down in 3817. Sir Walter Scott has a novel so entitled.
Is “Heart of Midlothian” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.