Angie Brown BBC Scotland, Edinburgh, Eastern Reporter April 25, 2023
Updated April 26, 2023
image captionLinda Melvin said she remembered her father Jack mixing herbs in the shop's basement
A forgotten diary has been discovered, revealing how a chance encounter changed the life of an illiterate baker who became a pioneer in herbal medicine in Edinburgh.
Fifteen-year-old Duncan Napier was delivering rolls when he struck up a conversation with lawyer John Hope, the grandson of the King's botanist.
Hope took the boy into custody after she was “shocked by his illiteracy, his lack of knowledge of Christianity, and his regular drinking.”
After a few years, Duncan was able to provide the funds and open Napier's, Scotland's first herbal pharmacy, in 1860.
The story of their chance encounter first came to light in forgotten diaries from more than 100 years ago. The diary was recently discovered by his great-granddaughter Linda Melvin.
She is the daughter of Jack Napier, the third generation of the Napier family to own an herbalist business in Edinburgh.
Image source, Eric Melvin
image captionDuncan Napier opened his herbal pharmacy in 1860
Shortly before his sudden death in 1978, Mr. Napier gave his daughter two old notebooks.
Linda, 74, told BBC Scotland: 'I put the book on the shelf and forgot about it, never reading it.
“Notebooks had been sitting on shelves for decades and could easily have been thrown away.
“I came across them recently and when I opened them I couldn't believe all the secrets hidden inside. It's amazing to think how close we came to losing all this history. , it's not worth thinking about.
They tell how Duncan Napier was mentored by Mr. Hope for weeks and years after that chance encounter.
Image source, Eric Melvin
image captionThe only surviving photograph of Duncan Napier outside his shop in Edinburgh
The prominent lawyer, whose grandfather founded Britain's first Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh, persuaded the teenager to attend night school, join a church and stop drinking.
The two kept in touch, and upon learning of Duncan's interest in plants, Mr. Hope persuaded him to attend botany classes and then join the Edinburgh Botanical Society.
Duncan, who had been an apprentice baker since the age of nine, developed a cough caused by the flour dust he inhaled during his years of work.
Looking for a cure, he was inspired by Mr. Hope to use the herb to create lobelia cough syrup.
The results were so successful that it inspired him to become an herbalist and open a small shop, Napier's, in Lindsay's Close, off Brist Street.
He soon opened a large store across the road on Brist Place, where the store still stands today. We currently have branches in Bathgate, West Lothian and Glasgow.
image captionEric Melvin analyzed Duncan Napier's handwriting to find out who took his dictations
Linda's historian husband Eric Melvin said the diary contained “unbelievable stories”.
“Duncan had a very difficult upbringing and we hear how he overcame illiteracy to help the poor people of Edinburgh,” Melvin said.
“Back then there was no NHS and you had to pay for your medicines. His treatment was very affordable and sometimes he didn't charge for the treatment.
“He also talked about feeding the poor and having lines outside his store even at 10pm.”
He said the notes contained details about the first patients he treated and were “remarkable”.
Image source, Eric Melvin
image captionDuncan Napier and Linda's father Jack, aged 4, in 1918
“One man kept falling to the ground and having seizures and came to Duncan's clinic as a last resort before traditional doctors sent him to a psychiatric hospital.”
“Duncan realized it was a common condition and created a mixture to treat tapeworm.
“He ended up outrunning a tapeworm that was 16 yards (14 meters) long.”
Another woman had a severe ulcer on her leg and was told it would have to be amputated, but her diary recorded that her leg was cured with herbal medicine.
But she couldn't afford to pay, so she offered to sit in a shop window and show off her legs to promote the successful treatment. Her offer was declined.
Image source, Eric Melvin
image captionJack Napier mixes herbs in a vat in the basement of his Edinburgh shop
Mr Melvin said the diary records that Duncan, born in February 1831, was the illegitimate son of Helen Alexander, a young widow from Edinburgh.
As a child, he was taken in by James Napier, an Edinburgh tax collector, who was “almost certainly” his biological father.
Duncan described an abusive childhood at the hands of a cruel alcoholic stepmother.
Around 1840 the family moved to the village of Coltbridge, where James Napier took over the tenancy of the local pub.
This is where Duncan first developed his love of plants tending the pub's garden.
Image source, Eric Melvin
image captionDuncan Napier celebrates his golden wedding anniversary at his home in Sienne
He worked for a local market gardener and by 1845 was apprenticed to local baker John Binney, where he was working when he met John Hope.
After launching Napiers in 1860, the business grew and built an international reputation.
Duncan married his wife Joan in 1854, and in time their sons Andrew and Duncan Jr. (Linda's grandfather) also joined his business.
Joan died in 1915, a year after their diamond wedding anniversary, and Duncan died in 1921 at the age of 90.
Melvin said he established that the newly discovered diary was dictated by Duncan by comparing the handwriting and the signature on the death certificate.
Image source, Eric Melvin
image captionMr Duncan and Joan celebrated their diamond wedding in 1914
His first diary containing his childhood memories was dictated to his eldest son Andrew in 1914.
The second document was dictated to Duncan Jr. in 1918 and focused on how successful his patents and treatments were.
Napier's was run by Duncan Jr. and then by his son Jack until his death in 1978.
The business was then taken over by the family and after a difficult few years was saved by Edinburgh herbalist Dee Atkinson and her partner Monica Wilde.
