Aunt Oz

The whole of Number 39 was occupied in the 1970s by wealthy widow Ysende Smyth, born Maxton Graham and popularly known as Aunt Oz. During the Second World War she had driven ambulances. She had a Steinway grand piano which was often used for practice by pianists performing at the Edinburgh Festival.  She liked to sit out on her front step. Once, when a TV crew were filming her, she was asked why she didn’t speak with a Scottish accent. “We don’t all sound like Billy Connolly” she retorted.