The Vault was so named because it was the Kirkyard of St. Clement’s Church, which was superseded in 1567 by the Howff, or orchard of the Franciscan Monastery, given as a cemetery by Mary Queen of Scots in that year. St. Roque’s Lane, corrupted into “Simmierookie,” was beside the chapel dedicated to St. Roque.
This Saint had care of plague–stricken inhabitants, who were isolated at the ground beyond the East Port known as “Sick-Men’s Yards”. Those who died from infectious diseases were buried in Rood-yards Cemetery, which still exists, and is approached by Roodyards Road.
Source: ‘Glimpses of Old and New Dundee’ – A.H. Millar, January 1925