Mid Yoken, East Craigs, Edinburgh

The name commemorates the spot nearby, which was the site of an old steading, which has long since gone. The steading sat here within the endless fields and pastures of what was then a rural country landscape. The steading was the middle meeting place of the ploughmen, who with their teams ploughed the land from the grey dawn ‘til dusk. It was a hard life, and for the horses and men now tiring in the middle of the day, it was their resting place. It was here that they came to exchange their weary horses for fresh horses that were yoked to the plough ready for then to continue their labours. Hence the name mid-yoken, meaning “The middle place to yoke the horses”. The pub sits in the centre of large housing scheme and is not particularly easy to find. It is a typical new housing scheme pub. The pub has a separate bar and lounge and usually the bar is very busy unless there is a function going on to open the lounge. The bar area has a pool table and games machines. If arriving from a westerly direction there is parking available at the shops across the road and from an easterly direction there is parking at the rear.