Behind the song
Edinburgh’s real double life.
Inspired by William Brodie, the respected Edinburgh cabinetmaker and Deacon of the Incorporation of Wrights whose respectable public life concealed a criminal one. Brodie used his knowledge of locks and the homes of wealthy clients to support a secret life of burglary, gambling and vice. His story later became associated with Robert Louis Stevenson’s fascination with divided identity and the world of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.