Lauriston Castle

This guide to Lauriston Castle in Edinburgh follows John Law, the goldsmith's son who grew up on this estate before gambling and duelling his way out of Scotland. You'll hear about the swordfight in a London square that saw him convicted and then oddly pardoned, his escape to Amsterdam, and how the banking ideas he picked up there carried him into the court of the French regent, Philippe of Orleans. Investors soon crowded one narrow Paris street to buy shares in his scheme built on Louisiana land claims.