... to his new monastery were the churches
of St. Cuthbert. and of the Castle, among which
one plot of land ...
Vol. 1 p. 20 (Rel. 3.46)
![Cramond.] CRAMOND BRIG. 317
Robert Bruce, “the King’s meadow and muir of
Cramond I’ are mentioned. Among the missing
charters of Robert III., are two to William Touris,
“of the lands of Berntoun))’ and another to the
same of the superiority of King’s Cramond.
William Touris, of Cramond, was a bailie of the
city in 1482. These Touris were the same family
who afterwards poFsessed Inverleith, and whose
name appears so often ill Scotstarvit’s “ Calendar.”
In I j38 the family seems to have passed to Bristol,
in England, as Protestants, Pinkerton suppose$, for
and has already been referred to in a preceding
chapter. In February, 1763, there died in Barnton
House, in the sixty-fourth year of her age,
Lady Susannah Hamilton, third daughter of John,
Earl of Ruglen, whose son William was styled
Lord Daer and Riccarton. She was buried in the
chapel royal at Holyrood.
In 1771 the Scots Magazine records the demise
of John. Viscount Glenorchy “at his house of
Barnton, five miles west of Edinburgh.” He was
husband of Lady Glenorchy of pious memory.
VIEW BELOW GRAMOND BRIG, (Alter a Phufog-rajh by G. W. WiZsom & Co.)
1r1 that year a charter of part of Inverleith is granted
to George Touris, of Bristol; but Lord Durie, in
1636, reports a case concerning ‘‘ umquhile James
Touris, brother to the laird of Inverleith.”
As stated elsewhere, Overbarnton belonged, in
~508, to Sir Robert Barnton, who was comptroller
of the household to James V. in 1520, and who
acquired the lands by purchase with money found
by despoiling the Portuguese ; but a George Maxwell
of Barnton, appears among the knights slain
at Flodden in 1513. He obtained Barnton by a
royal charter in 1460, on his mother’s resignation,
and was a brother of John, Lord Maxwell, who
also fell at Flodden. This property has changed
hands many times. James Elphinston of Barnton,
was the first Lord Balmerino, a Lord of the Treasury,
In after years it became the property of the
Ramsays, one of whom was long known in the
sporting world.
The quaint old bridge of Cramond is one of the
features of the parish, and is celebrated as the
scene of that dangerous frolic of James V., related
in our account of Holyrood. It consists of three
Pointed arches, with massively buttressed piers.
It became ruinous in 1607, and was repaired in
1619, 1687, and later still in 1761 and 1776: as a
panel in the parapet records. Adjoining it, and
high in air above it, is the new and lofty bridge of
eight arches, constructed by Rennie.
A little to the eastward of the village is Cramond
House, a fine old residence within a wooded
domain. Sir John Inglis cf Cramond was made](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v6p136.gif "Volume 6 Page 317")
... CRAMOND BRIG. 317
Robert Bruce, “the King’s meadow and muir of
Cramond I’ are mentioned. Among ...
Vol. 6 p. 317 (Rel. 2.98)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. Leith.
or ripple or burnished face of water, the very
aspect of which is luxury in a ...
Vol. 5 p. 166 (Rel. 2.81)
... Strathearn, the Rosabelle of Scott’s beautiful
ballad, which tells us-
“ There are twenty of Roslin’s ...
Vol. 6 p. 348 (Rel. 2.72)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Dab.
~~ ~~
Cuthbert’s, in 1831, for .&2,500, and seated for
1,300.
The church ...
Vol. 4 p. 216 (Rel. 2.49)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Restalrig.
oxen, and other things belonging to a field, by the
hands of him, namely, ...
Vol. 5 p. 132 (Rel. 2.23)
... 1 THE CAVERNS. 355
Druminond wrote most of his works in Hawthornden.
In the year 1643 he met ...
Vol. 6 p. 355 (Rel. 2.11)
![Newhaven.] FISHER FEUD WITH PRESTONPANS 301
men of the town of Edinburgh, and Lady Greenwich,
on one part, and certain fishermen of
Prestonpans on the other. The point in dispute is
certain oyster scalps, to which each party claims an
exclusive right. Accusations of encroachment were
mutually given and retorted. At dredging, when
the parties met, much altercation and abusive
language took place-bloody encounters ensued,
but only occurs in the Tmendas, like hawkings,
huntings, or other words of style.
“ After various representations to the Judge-
Admiral, his lordship pronounced an interlocutor,
ordaining both parties to produce their prescriptive
rights to their fishings, and prohibited them from
dredging oysters in any of the scalps in dispute till
the issue of the cause.
November 10, 1786, in virtue of which his lordship
was infeft, interaZia, in the oyster scalps in question.
They also condescended on a charter granted by
King James VI., in 1585, to the town of Burntisland,
which is on record, and which they say establishes
their right. They further contend that the magistrates
have produced no proper titles to prove
their exclusive right to the scalps they have let in
tack to the Newhaven fishermen.
“The charter of King James VI. was resigned
,by the town in the time of Charles I,, and the new
charter granted by the latter, gives no right to the
oyster scalps in dispute. The word ‘fishings,’ in
was abolished in defiance of the principles of the
Treaty of Union) in favour of the Newhaven men;
but each party had to pay their own expenses.
So far back as 1789 we begin to read of the
encroachments made by the sea in this quarter, and
probably of what was afterwards so long known as
the “ Man-trap,” as the Advertiser mentions that ‘‘ a
young lady coming from Newhaven to Leith fell
over the precipice on the side of the sea,’’ and
that within six weeks the same catastrophe had
befallen four others, ‘‘ the road being so narrow
and dangerous that people at night run a great risk
of their lives”](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v6p120.gif "Volume 6 Page 301")
... Newhaven.] FISHER FEUD WITH PRESTONPANS 301
men of the town of Edinburgh, and Lady Greenwich,
on one part, and ...
Vol. 6 p. 301 (Rel. 2.04)
... AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Newhaven. ST.JAMES’S CHAPEL. 297
a manufactory of ropes and cables as having existed
in ...
Vol. 6 p. 297 (Rel. 1.87)
... of reptiles. “ Thus was dissipated the illusion,
founded on the Burdiehouse fossils, that saurian
. ...
Vol. 6 p. 343 (Rel. 1.79)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. Holyrood.
Wllliam, who had property in Broughton, after his
death, none bore even ...
Vol. 3 p. 50 (Rel. 1.78)
![Holyrood.] SUCCESSION. OF ABBOTS. 47
between Randolph the famous’ Earl of Moray and
Sir William Oliphant, in connection with the forfeited
estate of William of Monte Alto. Another
species of Parliament was held at Holyrood on
the 10th of February, in the year 1333-4, when
Edward 111. received the enforced homage of his
creature Baliol.
XVI. JOHN II., abbot, appears as a witness to
three charters in 1338, granted to William of
Livingston, William of Creighton, and Henry of
Brade (Braid?).
XVII. BARTHOLOMEW, abbot in 1342.
XVIII. THOMAS, abbot, witnessed a charter to
William Douglas of that ilk, Sir James of Sandilands,
and the Lady Elenora Bruce, relict of Alexander
Earl of Carrick, nephew of Robert I., of the
lands of the West Calder. On the 8th of May,
1366, a council was held at Holyrood, at which the
Scottish nobles treated with ridicule and contempt
the pretensions of the kings of England, and sanctioned
an assessment for the ransom of David II.,
taken prisoner at the battle of Durham. That
monarch was buried before the high altar in 1371,
and Edward 111. granted a safe conduct to certain
persons proceeding to Flanders to provide for the
tomb in which he was placed.
XIX. JOHN III., abbot on the 11th of January,
~372. During his term of office, John of Gaunt
Duke of Lancaster, fourth son of Edward III., was
hospitably entertained at Holyrood, when compelled
to take flight from his enemies in England.
XX. DAVID, abbot on the 18th of January, in
the thirteenth year of Robert 11. The abbey was
burned by the armyof Richard 11. whose army
encamped at Restalrig; but it was soon after
repaired. David is mentioned in a charter dated
at Perth, 1384-5.
XXI. JOHN (formerly Dean of Leith) was abbot
on the 8th of May, 1386. His name occurs in
several charters and other documents, and for the
last time in the indenture or lease of the Canonmills
to the city of Edinburgh, 12th September,
1423. In his time Henry IV. spared the monastery
in gratitude for the kindness of the monks to
his exiled father John of Gaunt.
XXII. PATRICK, abbot 5th September, 1435.
In his term of office James II., who had been born
in the abbey, was crowned there in his sixth year,
on the 25th March, 1436-7; and anothet high
ceremony was performed in the same church when
Mary of Gueldres was crowned -as Queen Consort
in July, 1449. In the preceding year, John Bishop
of Galloway elect became an inmate of the abbey,
and was buried in the cloisters.
XXIII. JAMES, abbot 26th April, 14~0.
XXIV. ARCHIBALD CRAWFORD, abbot in 1457.
He was son of Sir William‘ Crawford of Haining,
and had previously been Prior of Holytood. In
1450 he was one of the commissioners who treated
with the English at Coventry concerning a truce ;
and again in 1474, concerning a marriage between
James Duke of Rothesay and the Princess Cecile,
second daughter of Edward IV. of England. He
was Lord High Treasurer of Scotland in 1480.
He died in 1483. On the abbey church (according
to Crawford) his arms were carved niore than
thirty times. “He added the buttresses on the
walls of the north and south aisles, and probably
built the rich doorway which opens into the north
aisle.” Many finely executed coats armorial are
found over the niches, among them Abbot Crawford’s
frequently- fesse ermine, with a star of five
points, in chief, surmounted by an abbot’s mitre
resting on a pastoral staff.
XXV. ROBERT BELLENDEN, abbot in 1486,
when commissioner concerning a truce with
England. He was still abbot in 1498, and his
virtues are celebrated by his namesake, the archdean
of Moray, canon of ROSS, and translator of
Boece, who says ‘‘ he left the abbey, and died ane
Chartour-monk.” In 1507 the Papal legate presented
James IV., in the name of Pope Julius II.,
in the church, amid a brilliant crowd of nobles,
with a purple crown adorned by golden lilies, and
a sword of state studded with gems, which is still
preserved in the Castle of Edinburgh. He also
brought a bull, bestowing upon James the title of
Defender of the Faith. Abbot Bellenden, in 1493,
founded a chapel in North Leith, dedicated to St.
Ninian, latterly degraded into a victual granary
The causes moving the abbot to build this chapei,
independent of the spiritual wants of the people,
were manifold, as set forth in the charter of
erection. The bridge connecting North and South
Leith, over which he levied toll, was erected at the
same time.
XXVI. GEORGE CRICHTOUN, abbot in 1515,
and Lord Privy Seal, was promoted to the see of
Uunkeld in 1528. As we have recorded elsewhere,
he was the founder of the Hospital of St. Thomas,
near the Water Gate. An interesting relic of his
abbacy exists at present in England.
About the year 1750, when a grave was being
dug in the chancel of St Stephen’s church, St.
Albans, in Hertfordshire, there was found buried
in the soil an ancient lectern bearing his name, and
which is supposed to have been concealed there at
some time during the Civil Wars. It is of cast
brass, and handsonie in design, consisting of an eagle
with expanded wings, supported by a shaft deco-
The piers still remain.](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v3p059.gif "Volume 3 Page 47")
... SUCCESSION. OF ABBOTS. 47
between Randolph the famous’ Earl of Moray and
Sir William Oliphant, in ...
Vol. 3 p. 47 (Rel. 1.72)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [The University.
thereof-A few Notable Bequests-Income-The Library-The
OF the four ...
Vol. 5 p. 8 (Rel. 1.66)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [High Street.
ROBERT CHAMBERS.
(From a *ate PkOtog~U#h.)
1
volume by the firm in ...
Vol. 2 p. 224 (Rel. 1.61)
![THE TOWER 327 Liberton.]
between 1124 and 1153, according to the Lih
Cartarvm Sanchz Crwis.
Macbeth of Liberton also granted to St. Cuth
bert’s Church the tithes and oblations of Legbor
nard, a church which cannot now be traced.
The name is supposed to be a corruption o
Lepertoun, as there stood here a hospital fo
lepers, of which all vestiges have disappeared ; bu
the lands thereof in some old writs (according tc
the “New Statistical Account”) were called “Spital
town.”
At Nether Liberton, three-quarters of a mile nortl
of the church, was a mill, worked of course by thc
Braid Burn, which David I, bestowed upon tht
monks of Holyrood, as a tithe thereof, ‘‘wit1
thirty cartloads from the bush of Liberton,” gift!
confirmed by William the Lion under the Grea
Seal circa I I 7 1-7.
The Black Friars at Edinburgh received fivc
pounds sterling annually from this mill at Nethei
Liberton, by a charter from King Robert I.
Prior to the date of King David’s charter, thc
church of Liberton belonged to St. Cuthbert’s
The patronage of it, with an acre of land adjoining
it, was bestowed by Sir John Maxwell of that iik
in 1367, on the monastery of Kilwinning,pro sahh
aniiiim SUE et Agnetis sponsiz SUE.
This gift was confirmed by King David 11.
By David 11. the lands of Over Liberton,
‘( quhilk Allan Baroune resigned,” were gifted tc
John Wigham ; and by the same monarch the land:
of Nether Liberton were gifted to William Ramsay,
of Dalhousie, knight, and Agnes, his spouse, 24th
October, 1369. At a later period he granted a
charter “to David Libbertoun, of the office of
sergandrie of the overward of the Constabularie of
Edinburgh, with the lands of Over Libbertoun
pertaining thereto.” (“ Robertson’s Index.”)
Adam Forrester (ancestor of the Corstorphine
family) was Laird of Nether Liberton in 1387, for
estates changed proprietors quickly in those troublesome
times, and we have already reterred to him
as one of those who, with the Provost Andrew
Yichtson, made arrangements for certain extensive
additions to the church of St. Giles in that year.
William of Liberton was provost of the city in
1429, and ten years subsequently with William
Douglas of Hawthornden, Meclielson of Herdmanston
(now Harviston), and others, he witnessed
the charter of Patrick, abbot of Holyrood, to Sir
Yatrick Logan, Lord. of Restalrig, of the office of
bailie of St. Leonard’s. (“ Burgh Charters,” No.
At Liberton there was standing till about 1840
a tall peel-house or tower, which was believed to
XXVI.)
have been the residence of Macbeth and other
barons of Liberton, and which must not be confounded
with the solitary square tower that stands
to the westward of the road that leads into the
heart of the Braid Hills, and is traditionally said to
have been the abode of a troublesome robber
laud, who waylaid provisions coming to the city
markets.
The former had an old dial-stone, inscribed
‘‘ God’s Providence is our Inheritance.”
Near the present Liberton Tower the remains
of a Celtic cross were found embedded in a wall in
1863, by the late James Drummond, R.S.A. It
was covered with knot-work.
The old church-or chapel it was more probably
-at Kirk-Liberton, is supposed to have been dedicated
to the Virgin Mary-there having been a
holy spring near it, called our Lady’s Well-and
it had attached to it a glebe of two oxgates of
land.
In the vicinity was a place called Kilmartin,
which seemed to indicate the site of some ancient
and now forgotten chapel.
In.1240 the chapelry of Liberton was disjoined by
David Benham, Bishop of St. Andrews and Great
Chamberlain to the King, from the parish of St.
Cuthbert’s, and constituted a rectory belonging to
the Abbey of Holyrood, and from then till the
Reformation it was served by a vicar.
For a brief period subsequent to 1633, it was a
prebend of the short-lived and most inglorious
bishopric of Edinburgh ; and at the final abolition
thereof it reverted to the disposal of the Crown.
The parochial registers date from 1639.
When the old church was demolished prior to
:he erection of the new, in 1815, there was found
very mysteriously embedded in its basement an
ron medal of the thirteenth century, inscribed in
xncient Russian characters “ THE GRAND PRINCE
3 ~ . ALEXANDER YAROSLAVITCH NEVSKOI.”
The old church is said to have been a picuresque
edifice not unlike that now at Corstor-
Ihine ; the new one is a tolerably handsome semi-
Gothic structure, designed by Gillespie Graham,
,eated for 1,430 persons, and having a square
ower with four ornamental pinnacles, forming a
)leasing and prominent object in the landscape
outhward of the city.
Subordinate to the church there were in Catholic
imes three chapels-one built by James V. at
3rigend’ already referred to ; a second at Niddrie,
ounded by Robert Wauchope of Niddrie, in 1389,
.nd dedicated to “ Our .Lady,” but which is now
inly commemorated by its burying-ground-which
ontinues to be in use-and a few faint traces of](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v6p146.gif "Volume 6 Page 327")
... TOWER 327 Liberton.]
between 1124 and 1153, according to the Lih
Cartarvm Sanchz Crwis.
Macbeth of Liberton ...
Vol. 6 p. 327 (Rel. 1.6)
![Leith.] THE FIRST BRIDGE. 167
Kirk aark, and to be-deprived of- the freedom (of
the city) for ane zeare.” 1
.of the harbour, for the erection of quays and wharfs
and for the loading of goods, with the liberty to
have shops and granaries, and to make all necessary
roads thereto ; but this grasping feudal baron
afterwards sorely teased and perplexed the town
council with points of litigation, till eventually he
roused them to adopt a strong measure for satiating
.at once his avarice and their own ambition.
Bought over by them with alarge sum of nionfy
.drawn from the city treasury, Sir Robert Logan on
;the 27th of February, 1413, granted them an extraordinary
charter, which has been characterised as
an exclusive, ruinous, and enslaving bond,” restraining
the luckless inhabitants of Leith from
.carrying on trade cE any sort, from possessing warehouses
or shops, from keeping inns for strangers,
“ so that nothing should be built or constructed on
the said land (in Leith) in future, to the prejudice
and impediment of the said community.” The
witnesses to this grant are George Lauder the Pro-
Test, and the Bailies, William Touris of Cramond,
William of Edmondston, James Cant, Dean of
Guild, John Clark of Lanark, Andrew Learmouth,
and William of the Wood.
In 1428 King James I. granted a charter under
.his great seal, with consent of the community of
Edinburgh, ordaining “ that in augmentation of the
fabrik and reparation of the port and harbour of
Leith, there should be uplifted a certain tax or toll
upon all ships and boats entering therein,” This
is dated from the Palace of Dunfermline, 31st
December. (Burgh Records.)
In 1439 Patrick, abbot of Holyrood, granted to
Sir Robert Logan and his heirs the office of bailie
aver the abbey lands of St. Leonards, “lyande in
the town of Leicht, within the barony of Restalrig,
on the south halfe the water, from the end of the
gret volut of William Logane on the east part to
the common gate that passes to the ford over the
water of Leicht, beside the waste land near the
house of John of Turing,” etc. (Burgh Charters.)
Not content with the power already given them
over their vassals in Leith, the magistrates of Edinburgh,
after letting the petty customs and haven
siller” of Leith for the sum of one hkdred and
ten merks in 1485, passed a remarkable order in
council :-“ That no merchant of Edinburgh presume
to take into partnership any indweller of the
town of Leith, under pain of forty pounds to the
he proceeded to Leith tb hold his water courts,
such an escort being deemed necessary for the
In 1497 the civic despots of Edinburgh obtained,
on writ from the Privy Council, that “ all manner
of persons, quhilk are infectit, or has been infectit
and uncurrit of the contageouse plage, callit
the grand gore, devoid red and pass furth of
this towne, and compeir on the sandis of Leith,
at ten hours before noon, and thair shall have
boats reddie in the Haven, ordainit to thame be
the officears, reddie furnished with victualles, to
have them to the inche, there to remain quhi!l
God provide for thair health.” (Town Council
Records.)
As regards Leith, a much more important event
is recorded four years before this, when Robert
Ballantyne, abbot of Holyrood, “ with the consent
of his chapter and the approbation of William,
Archbishop of St. Andrews,” first spanned the
river by a solid stone bridge, thus connecting South
and North Leith, holding the right of levying a toll
therefor. It was a bridge of three arches; of
which Lord Eldin made a sketch in 1779, and part
of one of the piers of which still remains. Abbot
Ballantyne also built a chapel thereby, and in his
charter it is expressly stated, after enumerating the
tithes and tolls of the bridge, “that the stipend of
each of the two incumbents is to be limited to
fifteen merks, and after the repairs of the said
bridge and chapel, and lighting the same, the surplus
is to be given to the poor.”
This chapel was dedicated to St. Ninian the
apostle of Galloway, and the abbot’s charter was
confirmed by King James IV. on the 1st June,
1493. He also established a range of buildings
on the south side of the river, a portion of which,
says Robertson, writing in 1851, still exists in
the form of a gable and large oven, at the locality
generally designated ‘ the Old Bridge End.’ ”
The part in Leith whereon, it is said, the first
houses were built in the twelfth century, is bounded ,
on the south by the Tolbooth Wynd, on the west
by the shore or quay, on the north by the Broad
Wynd, and on the east by the Rotten Row, now
called Water Lane. One of the broadest alleys in
this ancient quarter is the Burgess Close,’ ten feet
in width, and was the first road granted to the
citizens of Edinburgh by Logan of Kestalng.
In the year 1501, all freemen of the city, to the
number of twenty or so, were directed by the
magistrates to accompany the water bailie when](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v5p178.gif "Volume 5 Page 167")
... THE FIRST BRIDGE. 167
Kirk aark, and to be-deprived of- the freedom (of
the city) for ane zeare.” ...
Vol. 5 p. 167 (Rel. 1.57)
... HARBOUR AND ISLAND. 31.5
In the reign of David 11. Roger Greenlaw
obtained a royal charter of the ...
Vol. 6 p. 315 (Rel. 1.56)
... I64 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Leith.
*
LElTH WALK, FROM GAYFIELD SQUARE, LOOKING SOUTH.
CHAPTER ...
Vol. 5 p. 164 (Rel. 1.56)
... 18 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [cogs.
p. baronet of Nova Scotia by James VII., in
1687.
The close of the family is ...
Vol. 6 p. 318 (Rel. 1.5)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Lord Prowsta
the city, Berwick, Roxburgh, and Stirling, met in
Holyrood Abbey.
After ...
Vol. 4 p. 278 (Rel. 1.48)
... for sale, “together with those new subjects
lying in Water Lane, adjoining Messrs. Elder and
Archibald‘s ...
Vol. 6 p. 236 (Rel. 1.47)
... of glittering jewels, of which Tytler gives
the list. In the “inventory” of the Jewel House
are ...
Vol. 1 p. 35 (Rel. 1.46)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Corstorphine.
of the House of Orkney. He is represented in
armour of the fifteenth ...
Vol. 5 p. 118 (Rel. 1.42)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Leith
chapel of St. Jamey at Newhaven, belonged to
the preceptory at Leith; and also ...
Vol. 6 p. 216 (Rel. 1.41)
... don't play riddle games with Giants, or get tricked by Faerie Queens. They don't follow Blind ...
Vol. 3 p. 54 (Rel. 1.41)
![The Cowgate.] LADY GALLOWAY. Z S 7
Although the name of this wynd is as old as
the middle of the seventeeth century, none of the
buildings in it latterly were older than the middle of
the eighteenth. They had all been removed by
those who were anxious for the benefit of such fine
air as its surroundings afforded, for in the map of
1647 the Yicus Epuorzrm is shown as having to
the westward gardens in plenitude, divided by four
long hedgerows, and closed on the south by the
became remarkable for piety, mingled with great
stateliness and pride; and she is thus referred to
in the Ridotto of Holyrood, partly written by her
sister-in-law, Lady Bruce of Kinloss :--
“And there was Bob Murray, though married, alas !
Yet still rivalling Johnstone in beauty and grace.
And there was my lady, well known by her airs,
Who ne’er goes to revel but after her prayers.”
The Bob herein referred to was Sir Robert
crenelated wall of the city, and it terminated by a
bend eastward at the Potterrow Port.
Respectable members of the bar were always
glad to have a flat in some of the tall edifices on
the east side of the wynd. About the middle of it,
on the west side, was a distinct mansion called
Galloway House, having a large Fcdiment, and
ornamented on the top by stone vases. This
residence was built by Alexander, sixth Earl of
Galloway, one of the Lords of Police, who died in
1773. His countess Catharine, daughter of John
Earl of Dundonald, colonel of the Scottish Horse
Guards, was mother of Captain George Stewart, who
fell at Ticonderoga. She had been a beauty in her
youth, and formed the subject of one of Hamilton
of Bangour’s poetical tributes, and in her old age
81
Murray of Clermont. Among all the precise
granddames of her time in Edinburgh, Lady
Galloway was noted for her pre-eminent pomp and
formality, and would order out her coach with six
horses, if but to pay a visit to a friend at the corner
of the wpd, or to Lord hfinto, whose house was a few
yards westward of it. “ It was alleged that when
the countess made calls, the leaders were sometimes
at the door she was going to when she was stepping
into the camage at her own door. This may be
called a tour de force illustration of the nearness of
friends to each other in Old Edinburgh.”
New College Wynd, which strikes from the
eastern part of Chambers Street, runs first IIO feet
northward, then 180 feet westward, and then northward
again in the line of the Iower part of the](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v4p077.gif "Volume 4 Page 257")
... Cowgate.] LADY GALLOWAY. Z S 7
Although the name of this wynd is as old as
the middle of the seventeeth ...
Vol. 4 p. 257 (Rel. 1.38)
... GOVERNMENT OF THE BURGH. 3
{oundation charter of the latter, I likewise grant
go the said canons the ...
Vol. 3 p. 3 (Rel. 1.38)
![Leith.] SIR ANDREW WOOD. 199
CHAPTER XXI.
LEITH-HISTORICAL SURVEY (ronfinaed).
A Scottish Navy-Old Fighting Mariners of Leith-Sir Andrew Woodand the YdZm CaravrZ-J.~es 111. skin-James IV. and Su-
Andrew-Double Defeat of the English Ships-John, Kobert, and Andrew Barton-Their Letten of Marque against the Portugu-
Jarnes IV. and his Sailors-A Naval Review.
AND now, before giving the history of more
modern Leith, we must refer to some of her brave
old fighting merchant mariners, who made her
famous in other years.
“As the subject of the Scottish navy,” says
Pinkerton, “ forms a subject but little known, any
anecdotes concerning it become interesting ;1’ and,
fortunately for our purpose, most of these have
some reference to the zncient port of Leith.
Though the foymation of a Scottish navy was
among the last thoughts of the great king Robert
Bruce, when, worn with war and years, he lay dying
in the castle of Cardross, it was not until the reigns
of James 111. and IV. that Scotland possessed any
ships for purely warlike purposes. Nevertheless,
she was rich in hardy mariners and enterprising
merchants ; and an Act of Parliament during the
reign of the latter monarch refers to “ the great
and innumerable riches yat is tint in fault of shippis
and busses,” or boats to be employed in the
fisheries.
In 1497 an enactment was made that vessels of
twenty tons and upwards should be built in all the
seaports of the kingdom, while the magistrates were
directed to compel all stout vagrants who frequented
such places to learn the trade of mariners, and
labour for their own living.
Among the merchants and the private traders
James IV. found many men of ability, bravery,
and experience, such as Sir Andrew Wood of Largo,
the two Bartons (John and Robert), Sir Alexander
Mathieson, William Meremonth, all merchants of
Leith; and Sir David Falconer, of Borrowstounness.
Williarn Brownhill, who never saw an English
ship, either in peace or war, without attacking and
taking her if he was able, and various other naval adventurers
of less note were sought out by James 111.
and treated with peculiar favour and distinction.
But it was in the reign of his father that Sir Andrew
Wood, who has been called the “ Scottish Nelson ”
of his day, made his name in history, and to him
we shall first refer.
Under that unfortunate monarch Scotland’s commerce
was beginning to flourish, notwithstanding
the restraint so curiously laid upon maritime enterprise
by the Act that restricted sailing from St Jude’s
Day till Candlemas, under a penalty; and in 1476
R’e read of the ‘‘ great ship ” of James Kennedy,
which Buchanan states “ to have been the largest
that ever sailed the ocean,” but was wrecked upon.
the coast of England and destroyed by the people.
During the reign of James III., the fighting merchant
of Leith, Sir Andrew Wood, bore the terror
of his name through English, Dutch, and Flemish
waters, and in two pitched battles defeated the
superior power of England at sea. As he was the
first of his race whose name obtained eminence,
nothing is known of his family, and even much of
his personal history is buried in obscurity. Dr.
Abercrombie, in his “ Martial Achievements,” supposes
him to have been a cadet of the Bonnington
family in Angus, and he is generally stated to have
been born about the middle of the fifteenth century
at the old Kirktoun of Largo, situated on the
beautiful bay of the same name.
Wood appears to have been during the early
part of the reign of James 111. a wealthy merchant
in Leith, where at first he possessed and commanded
two armed vessels of some 300 tons each, the-
YeZZow CaraveZ and FZlmer, good and strong ships,
superior in equipment to any that had been seen in*
Scotland before, so excellent were his mariners,
their arms, cannon, and armour. According to
a foot-note in Scott of Scotstarvit’s work, “he had
been first a skipper at the north side of the bridge
of Leith, and being pursued, mortified his house
to Paul’s Work (in Leith Wynd) as the register
beats.”
It would appear that the vessel called the YelZow
CuraveZ was formerly commanded by his friend!
John Barton (of whom more elsewhere), as in the
accounts of the Lord High Treasurer the following
note occurs by the editor :-
‘( In March 1473-4 the accounts contain a notice
of a ship which a cancelled entry enables us to
identify with the King‘s Yellow Carad, afterwards
rendered famous under the command of Sir Andrews
Wood in naval engagements with the English.”
The editor a!so states that in the ‘‘ Account of the
Chamberlain of Fife” he had found another entry
concerning 3 delivery to John Barton, master of
the King’s CurnveZ, under date 1475. “ This last
entry,” says an annotator, ‘‘ being deleted, however
shows that there must have been some mistake as
to whom the corn was delivered, John Barton being
probably sailing one of his own ships. During](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v6p018.gif "Volume 6 Page 199")
... SIR ANDREW WOOD. 199
CHAPTER XXI.
LEITH-HISTORICAL SURVEY (ronfinaed).
A Scottish Navy-Old Fighting ...
Vol. 6 p. 199 (Rel. 1.36)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Roslin.
’ scratching on a pewter plate two verses, which are
~ preserved among his ...
Vol. 6 p. 352 (Rel. 1.35)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Holyroob
chateau of Chantilly, from plans by the royal
architect, Sir William Bruce of ...
Vol. 3 p. 74 (Rel. 1.33)
... of the garrison made a fruitless defence
till the 6th of June, 1296, when they were compelled
to ...
Vol. 1 p. 24 (Rel. 1.33)
... . OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Inverleith.
the long hill on the south side of the West Port,
from Cowfeeder Row to ...
Vol. 5 p. 94 (Rel. 1.33)
![Lord Promsts.] THE DOUGLASES AND HAMILTONS. 279
“James of Creichtoun of Felde,” as a deputy provost
under him ; and the first entry in the Records
under that date is a statute that “ the commoun
pyperis of the towne ” shall be properly feed, for
the honour thereof, and that they get their food,
day about, from all honest persons of substance,
under a penalty of 9d. per day, ‘‘ that is to ilk
pyper iijd at least.”
The fifth provost after this was Sir Thomas Tod,
zznd August, 1491, and again in 1498, with
Richard Lawson of the Highriggs, and Sir John
Murray in the interval during 1492.
From this date to 1513, with a little interval,
Richard Lawson was again provost ; the office was
held by Sir Alexander Lauder of Blythe, who -in
the last named year was also Justice Depute.
He fell in the battle.on the fatal 9th of September,
1513, and the apairs ofthe city, amid the consternation
and grief that ensued, were managed by George
of Tours, who with Robert Bruce, William Lockhart,
William Adamson, and William Clerk, all
bailies, had been, on the 19th of August, chosen
by the provost and community to rule the city
after his departure with the army for England.
The aged Archibald Douglas, Earl of Angus
(better known as Archibald Bell-thecat)-whose
two sons, George Master of Angus, and Sir William
Douglas of Glenbervie, with more then zoo
knights and gentlemen of his surname, found their
tomb on Flodden Hill-was elected provost on the
30th of September, twenty-one days after the battle ;
and at the same time his son, Gawain the Poet,
provost of St. Giles’s, was ‘( made burgess, gratis, for
the Common benefit of the town.” It was he of
whom Scott makes th’e grim old Earl say, with
reference to the English knight’s act of forgery,
“ Thanks to St. Bothan, son of mine,
Save Gawain, ne’er could pen a line.”
He was succeeded on the 24th July, 1514, by
Alexander Lord Home, Great Chamberlain 01
Scotland in 1507, and baron of Dunglasand Greenlaw,
under whom preparations for the defence of
the city, in expectation of a counter-invasion, went
on. An Act was passed for the furnishing “01
artailyerie for the resisting of our auld innemies of
Ingland;” a tax was laid upon all-even the
widows of the fallen, so far as their substance permitted
them to pay-and all persons having heidyaird
dykes, “were to build them up within fifteen
days, under pain of six pounds to the Kirk-werk.”
In August of the same year David Melville was
provost, and the pestilence caused the division ol
the city into four quarters, each under a bailie and
quartermaster to attend to the health of the people.
Except the interval, during which Sir Patrick
Hamilton of Kincavil and Archibald Douglas were
Provosts, Melville was in office till 15 17, when James
Earl of Arran, Regent of Scotland, took it upon
him, and was designated Lord Provost. In consequence
of the influence it conferred, the office was at
this time an object of ambition among the nobility.
His enemies, the Douglases, taking advantage of
his temporary absence from the city, procured the
election of Archibald Douglas of Kilspindie, the
uncle of the EarLof Angus, in his place ; and when
Arran returned from the castle of Dalkeith, where
the court was then held, he found the gates of Edinburgh
shut against him. His followers attempted
to force an entrance sword in hand, but were repulsed,
and a number were killed and wounded on.
both sides. Similar scenes of violence and bloodshed
were of almost daily occurrence, and between
the rival factions of Hamilton and Douglas the Lowlands
were in a complete state of demoralisation ;
and on the z 1st of February, 15 I 9, in consequence
of the bitter feud and bloody broils between the
houses of Douglas and Hamilton, he was ordered
by the Regent, then absent, to vacate his office, as
it was ordained that no person of either of those
names was eligible as provost, till the “Lord
Governor‘s home coming, and for a year.”
Thus, in 1510, Robert Logan of Coitfield was.
provost, and in October he was granted by the
Council 100 merks of the common good, beside his
ordinary fee, for the sustentation of four armed
men, to carry halberds before him, “because the
warld is brukle and troublous.”
The fourth provost after this was Robert Lord
Maxwell, 18th August, 1524, who was made so by
the Queen-mother, when she (‘ tuik the hail1 government
of the realm and ruele of the king (James
V.) upoun her.” This was evidently an invasion of
the rights of the citizens ; yet on the same day the
Lord Justice Clerk. appeared before the Council,
and declared “ that it was the mind and will ” of the
king, then in his minority, that Mr. Francis Bothwell,
provost, ‘‘ cedit and left his office of provostier
in the town’s hand,” and the said provost protested
that the leaving of his office thus should not be
derogatory to the city, nor injurious to its privileges
Lord Maxwell was afterwards Governor of Lochmaben,
Captain of the Royal Guard, Warden of the
West Marches, and Ambassador to France to
negotiate the king‘s marriage with Mary of Lorraine ;
but long ere all that he had been succeeded as
provost by Allan Stuart.
In 15.26 Archibald Douglas of Kilspindie, Lord
High Treasurer, was provost again. In this year
it was ordained that through the resort to Edin](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v4p099.gif "Volume 4 Page 279")
... Promsts.] THE DOUGLASES AND HAMILTONS. 279
“James of Creichtoun of Felde,” as a deputy provost
under him ...
Vol. 4 p. 279 (Rel. 1.32)
... following day, accompanied by twelve armed
‘ men, disguised as seamen, with hoods over their
helmets, he ...
Vol. 1 p. 26 (Rel. 1.26)
![Colstorphine.] THE FORRESTERS. 119
of land, in any proper place;” and in 1383 there
followed another charter from the same king concerning
“ the twenty merks yearly from the farmes
of Edinburgh.” (Burgh Charters.) In the preceding
year this influential citizen had been made
Sheriff of Edinburgh and of Lothian.
In 1390 he was made Lord Privy Seal, and
negotiated several treaties with England; but in
1402 he followed Douglas in his famous English
raid, which ended in the battle of Homildon Hill,
where he fell into the hands of Hotspur, but was
ransomed. He died in the Castle of Corstorphine
on the 13th of October, leaving, by his wife, Agnes
Dundas of Fingask, two sons, Sir John, his heir,
and Thomas, who got the adjacent lands of Drylaw
by a charter, under Robert Duke of Albany, dated
‘‘ at Corstorfyne,” 1406, and witnessed among others
by Gilbert, Bishop of Aberdeen, then Lord Chancellor,
George of Preston, and others.
Sir John Forrester obtained a grant of the barony
of Ochtertyre, in favour of him and his first wife
in 1407, and from Henry Sinclair, Earl of Orkney,
he obtained an annuity of twelve merks yearly,
out of the coal-works at Dysart, till repaid thirty
nobles, “which he lent the said earl in his great
necessity.’’
In 1424 he was one of the hostages for the
ransom of James I., with whom he stood so high
in favour that he was made Master of the Household
and Lord High Chamberlain, according to
Douglas, and Lord Chancellor, according to Beatson’s
Lists. His second wife was Jean Sinclair, daughter
of Henry Earl of Orkney. He founded the collegiate
church of which we have given a description,
and in 1425 an altar to St Ninian in the
church of St. Giles’s, requiring the chaplain there
to say perpetual prayers for the souls of James I.
and Queen Jane, and of himself and Margaret his
deceased wife.
He died in 1440, and was succeeded by his son
Sir John, who lived in stormy times, and whose
lands of Corstorphine were subjected to fire and
sword, and ravaged in 1445 by the forces of the
Lord Chancellor, Sir William Crichton, whose lands
of Crichton he had previously spoiled.
By his wife, Marian Stewart of Dalswhton, he
had Archibald his heir, and Matthew, to whom
James III., in 1487, gave a grant of the lands of
Barnton. Then followed in succession, Sir Alexander
Forrester, and two Sir Jameses. On the
death of the last without heirs Corstorphine devolved
on his younger brother Henry, who married
Helen Preston of Craigmillar.
Their son GerJrge was a man of talent and probity.
He stooci high in favour with Charles I.,
who made him a baronet in 1625, and eight years
afterwards a peer, by the title of Lord Forrester
of Corstorphine. By his wife Christian he had
several daughters-Helen, who became Lady Ross
of Hawkhead ; Jean, married to. lames Baillie of
Torwoodhead, son of Lieutenant-General William
Baillie, famous in the annals of the covenanthg
wars ; and Lilias, married to William, another son
of the same officer, And now we approach the
dark tragedy which, for a time, even in those days,
gave Corstorphine Castle a temble notoriety.
George, first Lord Forrester, having no male
heir, made a resignation of his estates and honours
into the hands of the king, and obtained a new
patent from Charles II., to himself in life-rent,
and after his decease, “to, or in favour of, his
daughter Jean and her husband the said James
Baillie and the heirs procreate betwixt them ;
whom failing, to the nearest lawful heir-male of the
said James whatever, they carrying the name and
arms of Forrester ; the said James being designed
Master of Forrester during George’s life.”
This patent is dated 13th August, 1650, a few
weeks before the battle of Worcester. He died
soon after, and was succeeded by his son-in-law,
whose wife is said to have sunk into an earlygrave,
in consequence of his having an intrigue with one
of her sisters.
James Lord Forrester married, secondly, a
daughter of the famous old Cavalier general, Patrick
Ruthven, Earl of Forth and Brentford, by whom,
says Burke, “he had three sons and two daughters,
all of whom assumed the name of Ruthven,”
while Sir Robert Douglas states that he died
without any heir, and omits to record the mode of
his death.
He was a zealous Presbyterian, and for those of
that persuasion, in prelatic times, built a special
meeting-house in Corstorphine ; this did not prevent
him from forming a dangerous intrigue with
a handsome woman named Christian Nimmo,
wife of a merchant in Edinburgh, and the scandal
was increased in consequence of the lady being
the niece of his first wife and grand-daughter of
the first Lord Forrester. She was a woman of a
violent and impulsive character, and was said to
carry a weapon concealed about her person. - It
is further stated that she was mutually related to
Mrs. Bedford, a remarkably wicked woman, who
had murdered her husband a few years before, and
to that Lady Warriston who was beheaded for the
same crime in 1600 ; thus she was not a woman to
be treated lightly.
Lord Forrester, when intoxicated, had on one
occasion spoken of her opprobriously, and this](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v5p130.gif "Volume 5 Page 119")
... THE FORRESTERS. 119
of land, in any proper place;” and in 1383 there
followed another charter ...
Vol. 5 p. 119 (Rel. 1.26)
... Giles.
elasticity which the nation displayed in its endless ’ naceus,” in the Harleian Collection in the ...
Vol. 1 p. 142 (Rel. 1.23)
... OLD .4ND NEW EDINBURGH. [Leith.
park and ample stabling; and there are always
two batteries, with guns and ...
Vol. 6 p. 198 (Rel. 1.21)
![Gmrge Street.] THE COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS. I47
of the college, which had entire control over ‘the
drugs of apothecaries and chemists. It further
protected Fellows from sitting on juries.
Under this charter the college continued to
discharge its functions for many years, although
it eventually abandoned in practice the exclusive
rights conferred on it, and ceased to exercise any
inspection over the shops of apothecaries as the
changes of social position and necessity caused
many of the provisions to fall into abeyance.
Having become sensible of the advantages that
would accrue to it from a new charter, to the end
that it might be free from the obligation of admitting
to its license all Scottish University graduates
without examination, to get rid of the clause prohibiting,
its connection with a medical school,
and further, that it might have the power of expelling
unworthy members, a new charter was prepared
in 1843, but, after a great many delays
and readjustments, was not obtained until the 16th
of August, 1861.
The first president of the institution was Dr.
Archibald Stevenson, who was elected on the 8th
of December, 1681, and held the chair till 1684;
his successor was Sir Robert Sibbald (of the house
of Balgonie), an eminent physician, naturalist, and
antiquary, who graduated in medicine at Leyden
in 1661 ; but from the time of his election there is
a hiatus in the records till the 30th of November,
1693, when we again find in the chair Dr.
Archibald Stevenson, with the then considerable
honour of knighthood.
It was when Sir Thomas Burnet, author oi
U Thesaurus Mediam Pructice,” London, I 673,
was president, in 1696-8, that we find it recorded
that certain ruinous buildings bordering on the
Cowgate were converted by the college ‘‘ into a
pavilion-shaped cold bath, which was open to the
inhabitants generally, at a charge for each ablution
of twelve shillings Scots, and one penny to the
servant; but those who subscribed one guinea
annually might resort to. it as often as they
pleased.”
Under the presidency of Dr. John Drumrnond,
in 1722, a new hall was erected in the gardens at
Fountain Close ; but proving insufficient, the college
was compelled to relinquish certain plans for
an edifice, offered by Adam the architect, and to
find a temporary asylum in the Royal Infirmary.
In 1770 the premises at Fountain Close were sold
for A800 ; more money was raised by mortgage
and other means, and the hall we have described
was erected in George Street, only to be relinquished
in time, after about seventy years’ occupancy.
“The same poverty,” says the “Historical Sketch,”
’
which had prevented the college from availing
itself of the plans of Adam, and which had caused
it to desire to part with its new hall in George
Street, even before its occupation, still pressed
heavily upon it. Having at that time no funded
capital, it was entirely dependent on the entrancefees
paid by Fellows, a fluctuating and inadequate
source of income. Besides, beautiful as the
George Street hall was in its outward proportions,
its internal arrangements were not so convenient as
might have been desired, and it is therefore not to
be wondered at that when the college found their
site was coveted by a wealthy banking corporation
their poverty and not their will consented ; and in
1843 the George Street hall was sold to the Commercial
Bank for Azo,ooo-a sum which it was
hoped would suffice to build a more comfortable
if less imposing, hall, and leave a surplus to secure
a certain, though possibly a small, annual income.
Although the transaction was obviously an advantageous
one for the college, it was not without
some difficulty that many of the Fellows made up
their minds to part with a building of which they
were justly proud.”
The beautiful hall was accordingly demolished
to the foundation stone, in which were found the
silver medals and other relics now in possession of
the college, which rented for its use No. 121,
George Street till the completion of its new hall,
whither we shall shortly follow k.
On its site was built, in 1847, the Commercial
Bank, an imposing structure of mingled Greek and
Roman character, designed by David Rhind, an
architect of high reputation. The magnificent
portico is hexastyle. There are ninety-five feet in
length of fapde, the columns are thirty-five feet in
height, with an entablature of nine feet ; the pediment
is fifteen feet six inches in height, and holds
in its tympanum a beautiful group of emblematic
sculpture from the chisel of A. Handyside Ritchie,
which figures on the notes of the bank. It has
a spacious and elegant telling-room, surrounded
by tall Corinthian pillars, with a vaulted roof,
measuring ninety feet by fifty. The Commercial
Bank of Scotland and the National Bank of Scotland
have been incorporated by royal charter ; but
as there is no Qubt about their being unlimited,
they are considered, with the Scottish joint stock
banks, of recent creation.
The deed of partnership of the Commercial
Bank is dated gist October, 1810, but subsequent
alterations have taken place, none of which, however,
in any way affect the principle named and
confirmed in the charter. The capital of the bank
was declared at ~3,000,000 j but only, a thud of](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v3p159.gif "Volume 3 Page 147")
... Street.] THE COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS. I47
of the college, which had entire control over ‘the
drugs of ...
Vol. 3 p. 147 (Rel. 1.21)
... reign of James 111. there were two or three
vessels called “royal,” and among them often
appears the ...
Vol. 6 p. 200 (Rel. 1.19)
... AND NEW EDINEURGH. LSouth Bridge. 376
In 1837 he succeeded Professor Macvey Napier
as Librarian to the Signet ...
Vol. 2 p. 377 (Rel. 1.19)
... Leith Wynd.1 THE DUCHESS OF LENNOX
Pont, an illustrious Venetian who came to Scotland
in the train of Mary of ...
Vol. 2 p. 305 (Rel. 1.19)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [The Inch.
CHAPTER XL.
THE ENVIRONS OF EDINBURGH (continued).
The Inch Honse-The ...
Vol. 6 p. 338 (Rel. 1.18)
![High Street.] ANDRO HART. 229
caunt-a very common kind of ghost story-we
are told, was related by the minister (of course)
who was in the house on this occasion, to John
Duke of Lauderdale (who died in 1682), in pre-
.sence of many other nobles. After this the house
was again deserted ; yet another attempt was
made to inhabit it - probably rent-free -by .a
courageous and drink-loving old soldier and his
wife; but towards midnight the candle began to
burn blue, and the grisly
old head was seen to
hover in mid-air, on
which the terrified couple
fled, and Mary Kings
Close was finally aban-
.doned to desolation and
.decay. No record of its
,inmates in the flesh has
.ever been handed down,
.and thus the name of the
place is associated with
its goblins alone.
Professor Sinclair, who
wrote the history of
these, was author of
several very learned
works on astronomy,
navigation, mathematics,
and so forth; but he
also favoured the world
with .a strange “Dis-
.course concerning Coal ”
-a compound of science
.and superstition, containing
an account of the
witches of Glenluce, Sinclair
being, like many
.other learned men of his
time, a firm believer in
the black art.
Passing Writers’ Court
.and the Royal Exchange,
both of which have been
Meter,” and other works that issued from his
press. He flourished in the reign of James VI.,
and previous to 1600 he was in the habit of importing
books from the Continent ; but about 1601
he printed, at his own expense, several works in
Holland ; and subsequently commenced business
as a printer in those premises in the High Street
which, two centuries after his death in 1621, became
the residence of the great bibliopole, Pro-
STAMP OFFICE CLOSE
already described, we come to the once famous
alley, Craig’s Close, the lower end of which, like
the rest of such thoroughfares in this quarter,
has been removed to make way for Cockburn
Street.
The old tenement which faces the High Street at
the head of this close occupies the site of the
open booth or shop of Andro Hart, the famous
.old Scottish printer ; and therein was, of course,
exposed for sale his well-known Bible, which has
always been admired for its beautiful typography;
h i s Barbour’s “Bruce,” his “ Psalms in Scottish
vost Creech, and of that
still greater one, Archibald
Constable.
A little way down the
close on the east side was
the printing - house of
Andro Hart, apicturesque
and substantial stone
tenement, with finely
moulded windows divided
by mullions, and
having the Sinclair arms
on the bed-corbel of the
crow-stepped gable.
Over the old doorway
was the legend and date,
My h i p is in Chrisf, A.
S. M K., 1593,” under a
label moulding. In 1828
there was presented to
the Antiquarian Museum
by Mr. Hutchison, printer, .
a very fine Scottish spear,
which had been preserved
from time immemorial in
the old printing-house of
Andro Hart, and is confidently
believed to have
been his-perhaps the
same weapon with which
he sallied forth to take
part in the great tumult
of 1596, when the king
was besieged in the Tolbooth
; for Caldenvood and others- distinctly tell
us that the old printer was one of the foremost in
the disturbance, and roused so much the indignation
of the king, James VI., that he was sent
prisoner to the Castle in February, 1597, together
with two other booksellers, James and Edward
Cathkin.
In 1759 a dromedary and camel were exhibited
at the head of Craig‘s Close, where they seem to
have been deemed two wonder9 of the world, and,
according to the Edinbwgh NMaZd and ChronicZc
for that year, itwas doubted whether there were other](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v2p049.gif "Volume 2 Page 229")
... Street.] ANDRO HART. 229
caunt-a very common kind of ghost story-we
are told, was related by the minister ...
Vol. 2 p. 229 (Rel. 1.18)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. IHolyrood
these ecclesiastical foundations :-The Priory of St.
Mary’s Isle, in ...
Vol. 3 p. 46 (Rel. 1.15)
... SIR THOMAS CFLAIG. 321
Riccarton, with those of Warriston, in the barony
of Currie, were given by ...
Vol. 6 p. 321 (Rel. 1.15)
... ST. LEONARD’S CHAPEL. 383
entirely to act as barbers. In consequence, the
council, on the 26th ...
Vol. 2 p. 383 (Rel. 1.13)
![The Mound.] GEORGE WATSON, P.R.S.A. 91
of John Watson of Overmains, in Berwickshire,
his mother being Frances Veitch, of the Elliock
fimily. He was a cousin of Sir Walter Scott’s, and
was born in I 767. He studied art under Nasmyth
and Sir Joshua Reynolds, and before the time of
his election had won a high reputation as a portrait
painter. From 1808 to 1812 he was President of
the Associated Artists of Scotland. His brother,
Captain Watson, R.N., was the, father of Sir John
Watson-Gordon, also a president of the Academy ;
and his nephew, William Stewart Watson, was an
artist of some repute, whose chief work is the
‘‘ Inauguration of Burns as Poet Laureate or Grand
Bard,” now in the Masonic Hall, George Street, and,
as a collection of portraits, is historically curious.
George Watson’s son, W. Smellie Watson, was
also R.S.A., and died in No. 10 Forth Street in
1874, the same house in which his father had held
some early exhibitions about the close of the last
century or beginning of the present. ’
The President and Council resolved that the first
exhibition of their infant Academy should take
place early in February, 1827, in two large galleries
which they rented, in 24 Waterloo Place, for three
months at eighty guineas, and subsequently at
one hundred and thirty pounds per annum.
Opposed by those who should have aided it, the
Academy had a hard struggle for a time in the first
years of its existence. Application was made to
the Home Secretary, the future Sir Robert Peel, for
. a charter of incorporation, and it was favourably
viewed by those in office, and submitted to the
Lord Advocate. Eut though the application was
generously and warmly seconded by Sir Thomas
Lawrence, then President of the Royal Academy of
London, it was put off for two years, “and
ultimately refused,” says Sir George Harvey ‘‘ on
grounds which the Academy could never learn;
and though they applied for permission to do so,
they were never allowed to peruse the document
which induced his lordship to decide against their
claim. . . . Curiously enough, although the
request of the Academy for a charter of incorporation
was at this time denied, the Institution had
that distinction conferred upon it, and henceforth
came to be designated the Royal Institution.”
The first general exhibition of the Scottish
Academy being advertised for February, 1827,
“ the Royal Institution, under the immediatepatronage
of His Mq>siY,‘‘ was, in a spirit of genuine
opposition, advertised to open at the same time ; but
by the time of the third Exhibition, “ the Royal
Institution,” says Sir George, ‘‘ was fairly driven
out of the field ; ” and among the contributors were
the future Sir Francis Grant, John Linnell, and
John Martin, and one of Etty’s magnificent works,
now the property of the Academy, was for the first
time hung upon its walls, while many Scottish
artists in London or elsewhere, watched with patriotic
interest the progress of art in their native land,
and the Institution rapidly began to take a
subordinate position ; and by a minute of the 10th
July, 1829, twenty-four of its artists, weary of its
rule, were admitted as members of the Scottish
Academy, thus raising the numerical force of the
latter to thirty-nine. Eventually the number of
Academicians became forty-two. In the rank of
Associate Engravers was the well-known William
Lizars, for as the law stood then he could not
be elected an Academician, engravers being then
limited to the position of Associate, but after a
time they were rendered eligible to occupy any
rank in the Academy.
George Watson, the first President of the Scottish
Academy, died on the 24th of August, 1837, at
No. 10 Forth Street, in his seventieth year. For
a long time previously his occupation of the chair
had been nominal, his age and declining health
precluding his attendance at council meetings-
A white marble slab in the west .wall of the West
Kirkyard marks his grave and that of “ Rebecca.
Smellie, his spouse, who died 5th May, 1839, aged
74 years.”
In the subsequent November William Allan,
RA. (afterwards knighted), was elected president,
and during his term .of office the long-desired
object was accomplished, and the Academy came
to be designated at last “The Royal Scottish
Academy,” incorporated by royal charter on the
13th of August, 1838, consisting now of thirty
Academicians and twenty Associates-a consummation
of their wishes for which they were greatly
indebted to the warm and earnest interest of Lord
Cockburn.
By its charter the Academy is to consist of artists
by profession, being men of fair moral character and
of high repute in art, settled and resident in Scotland
at the dates of their elections. It ordains that,
there shall be an annual exhibition of paintings,
sculptures, and designs, in which all artists.of distinguished
merit may be permitted to exhibit their
works, to continue open six weeks or longer. It
likewise ordains that so soon as the funds of the
Academy will allow it, there shall be in the Royal
Scottish Academy professors of painting, sculpture,,
architecture, perspective, and anatomy, elected
according to the laws framed for the Royal Academy
of London; and that there shall be schools to
provide the means of studying the human form with
respect both to anatomical knowledge and taste of](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v3p103.gif "Volume 3 Page 91")
... Mound.] GEORGE WATSON, P.R.S.A. 91
of John Watson of Overmains, in Berwickshire,
his mother being Frances ...
Vol. 3 p. 91 (Rel. 1.13)
... the street, reached Holyrood, where he
sought sanctuary in the chapel of St. Augustine;
there his English ...
Vol. 3 p. 53 (Rel. 1.12)
... 66 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [The Cowgate.
provided by the said charter, that each person commencing
business for ...
Vol. 4 p. 266 (Rel. 1.11)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [North Bridge.
from somewhere about Coltbridge, to fill, and run
through the North ...
Vol. 2 p. 336 (Rel. 1.08)
... THE FORRESTERS. I21
took the name of Ruthven, and occupied the castle,
the family honours and ...
Vol. 5 p. 121 (Rel. 1.08)
![Leith.] DEATH OF JAMES 111. 201
1488-he embarked in one of Sir Andrew’s ships
then anchored in the Roads of Leith, and landed
from it in Fifeshire. As the Admiral had been lying
there for some time, intending to sail to Flanders,
the Barons, now in arms against the Crown, spread
a report that James had fled, surprised the castle
of Dunbar, furnished themselves with arms and
ammunition out of the royal arsenal, “ and,” says
Abercrombie, “ overran the three Lothians and
the Merse, rifling and plundering all honest men.”
In April, 1488, the king re-crossed the Forth in
the admiral’s ship, and, marching past Stirling,
pitched his standard near Blackness, where his
army mustered thirty thousand, and some say
forty thousand, strong, but was disbanded after an
indecisive skirmish. Fresh intrigues ensued that
belong to general history; two other armies, in
all amounting to nearly seventy thousand men,
took the field James 111. had no alternative but
to take flight in the ships of Wood, then cruising
in the Forth, or to resort to the sword on the 11th
June, 1488.
His army took up a position near the Bum of
Sauchie, while ‘‘ Sir Andrew Wood, attending to
the fortune of war, sailed up the silver winding of
the beautiful river with the FZmw and YelZow
CaraveZ, and continued during the whole of that
cloudless day to cruise between dusky Alloa and
the rich Carse of Stirling, then clothed im all the
glory of summer.” On the right bank of the river
he kept several boats ready to receive the king if
defeat-as it eventually did-fell upon him, and
he often landed, with his brothers John and Robert
and a body of men, to yield any assistance in his
power.
While attempting to reach the ships James was
barbarously slain, and was lying dead in a mill
that still stands by the wayside, when rumour went
that he had reached the YeZZow Caravd Thus
Wood received a message in the name of the Duke
of Rothesay (afterwards James IV.), as to the truth
of this story; but Sir Andrew declared that the
king was not with him, and refilsed to go on shore,
when invited, without hostages for his own safety.
The Lords Fleming and Seaton came on board
in this capacity, and landing at Leith the admiral
was conducted to the presence of the Prince, who
was then a captive and tool in the hands of the
rebels, and only in his sixteenth year. Wood was
arrayed in handsome armour, and so dignified was
he in aspect, and so much did he resemble the
king his master, that the Prince, who had seen little
of the latter, shed tears, and said, timidly-
‘‘ Sir, are you my father? ”
. Then this true old Scottish mariner, heedless of
123
the titled crowd which regarded him with bitter
hostility, and touched to the heart by the question,
also burst into tears, and said-
“ I am not your father, but his faithful servant,
and the enemy of all who have occasioned his
downfall ! ”
“ Where is the king, and who are those you took
on board after the battle?” demanded several of
the rebel lords.
‘‘ As for the king, I know nothing of him. Finding
our efforts to fight for or to save him vain, my
brother and I returned to our ships.” He added,
says Buchanan, “that if the king were alive he
would obey none but him; ,and that if slain, he
would revenge him ! ”
He then went off to the ships, but just in time
to save the hostages, whom his impatient brothers
were about to hang at the yard-arm. The lords
now wanted the mariners of Leith to arm their
ships, and attack Wood; but, to a man, they
declined.
In the early part of 1489 Henry of England, to
make profit out of the still disturbed state of Scotland,
sent five of his largest ships to waste and burn
the sea-coast villages of Fife and the Lothians ; and
the young James IV., in wrath at these proceedings,
requested Sir Andrew Wood to appear before the
Privy Council and take measures to curb the outrages
of the English.
He at once undertook to attack them ; but James,
as they outnumbered him by three, advised him to
equip more vessels.
‘‘ No: he replied,” ‘‘ I shall only take my own
two-the FZower and the Jl‘ellow Carard.”
Accordingly, .with the first fair wind on a day in
February, he dropped down the Firth, and found
the plunder-laden English vessels hovering off
Dunbar, and which Tytler surmises to have been
pirates, as they came in time of truce. Wood at
once engaged them, and after an obstinate conflict,
of which no details are preserved, he brought them
all prizes into Leith. He presented their captains
to the young king, who now further rewarded him on
the 11th March, 1490, with the lands of Balbegnoth,
the superiority of Inchkeith, the lands of
Dron and Newbyrn ; and by a charter under the
Great Seal, 18th May, 1491, he granted to Sir
Andrew Wood “ license to build a castfe at Largo
with gates of iron as a reward for the great services
done and losses sustained by the said Andrew, and
for those services which there was no doubt he
would yet render.” This castle, fragments of which
yet remain, he appears to have built, with some
adjacent houses, by the hands of English pirates
whom he had captured at sea; and the coat](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v6p020.gif "Volume 6 Page 201")
... DEATH OF JAMES 111. 201
1488-he embarked in one of Sir Andrew’s ships
then anchored in the Roads of ...
Vol. 6 p. 201 (Rel. 1.07)
![Grassmarket.] THE GREYFRIARS MONASTERY. 233
while behind the noble pile of Heriot‘s Hospital thereof, Henry granted to them a charter empowertowers
above them, as a counterpart to the old I ing the latter to trade to any part of England,
Castle that rises majestically over the north side of subject to no other duties than those payable by
the same area Many antique features are dis- the most highly favoured natives of that country,
cernible here. Several of the older houses are in acknowledgment, as he states, of the humane
built with bartizaned roofs and ornamental copings, i and honourable treatment he met with from the
designed to afford their inmates an uninterrupted
view of the magnificent pageants
that were wont of old to defile through
the wide area below, or of the gloomy
tragedies that were so frequently enacted
here between the Restoration and the
Revolution. ”
Towards the south-east end of the market
place stood the ancient monastery of Grey
Friars, opposite where the Bow Foot Well,
erected in 1681, now stands. James I., a
monarch, who by many salutary laws and
the encouragement of learning, endeavoured
to civilise the country, long barbarised
by wars with England, established this
monastery. In obedience to a requisition
made by him to the Vicar-General of the
Order at Cologne, a body of Franciscans
came hither under Comelius of Zurich, a
scholar of great reputation. The house
prepared for their reception proved so
magnificent for the times, says Arnot, that
in the spirit of humility and self-denial
they declined to live in it, and could only
be prevailed upon to do so at the earnest
request of the Archbishop of St. Andrews
; consequently a considerable time
must have elapsed ere they were finally
established in the Grassmarket. There
they taught divinity and philosophy till
the Reformation, when their spacious and
beautiful gardens, that extended up the
slope towards the town wall, were bestowed
on the citizens as a cemetery by Queen
Mary.
That the monastery was a sumptuous
edifice according to the times, is proved
by its being assigned for the temporary
abode of the Princess Mary of Gueldres, who after
her arrival at Leith in June, 1449, rode thither on
a pillion behind the Count de Vere, and was visited
by her future husband, James II., on the following
In 1461, after the battle of Towton, its roof
afforded shelter to the luckless Henry VI. of England
when he fled to Scotland, together with his
heroic Queen Margaret and their son Prince
Edward. The fugitives were so hospitably entertained
by the court and citizens, that in requital
day.
78
EAST END OF THE GRASSMARKET, SHOWING THE WEST BOW,
(FaC-iitRik of an Eichiwg by Jam8 S h of RnbXaw.)
THE GALLOWS, AND OLD CORN MARKET.
Provost and burgesses of Edinburgh. As the
house of Lancaster never regained the English
throne, the charter survives only as an acknowledgment
of Henry’s gratitude. How long the latter
resided in the Grassmarket does not precisely
appear. Balfour states that in 1465, Henry VI.,
“ having lurked long under the Scotts King’s wing
as a privat man, resolves in a disgyssed habit to
enter England.” His future fate belongs to English
history, but his flight from Scotland evidently
was the result of a treaty of truce, in Feb., 1464. I](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v4p053.gif "Volume 4 Page 233")
... THE GREYFRIARS MONASTERY. 233
while behind the noble pile of Heriot‘s Hospital thereof, Henry ...
Vol. 4 p. 233 (Rel. 1.07)
... Chambers of Glenormiston (April 16, 1800 - May 20, 1883) was a Scottish publisher and politician, the ...
Vol. 1 p. viii (Rel. 1.06)
... granting a charter to Robert Winton
“of the barony of Hirdmanston, called Curry.”
(Robertson’s ...
Vol. 6 p. 332 (Rel. 1.06)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [The Sciennes.
of hermit, or chaplain, resided ; and the charter of
foundation mentions ...
Vol. 5 p. 52 (Rel. 1.06)
![Craigcrook.] HISTORY OF CRAIGCROOK. 107
summer residence of Lord Jeffrey-deeply secluded
amid coppice.
The lands of Craigcrook appear to have belonged
in the fourteenth century to the noble family of
Graham. By a deed bearing date 9th April, 1362,
Patrick Graham, Lord of Kinpunt, and David
Graham, Lord of Dundaff, make them over to
John de Alyncrum, burgess of Edinburgh. He
in turn settled them on a chaplain officiating at
“Our Lady’s altar,” in the church of St. Giles,
and his successors to be nominated by the magistrates
of Edinburgh.
John de Alyncrum states his donation of those
lands of Craigcrook, was “ to be for the salvation
of the souls of the late king and queen (Robert
and Elizabeth), of the present King David, and of
all their predecessors and successors ; for the salvation
of the souls of all the burghers of Edinburgh,
their predecessors and successors ; of his own father
and mother, brothers, sisters, etc. ; then of himself
and of his wife; and, finally, of all faithful souls
deceased.”
The rental of Craigcrook in the year 1368 was
only A6 6s. 8d. Scots per annum; and in 1376 it
was let at that rate in feu farm, to Patrick and
John Lepars.
At an early period it became the property of
the Adamsons. William Adamson was bailie of
Edinburgh in 1513, and one of the guardians of
the city after the battle of Flodden, and Williim
Adamson of Craigcrook, burgess of Edinburgh
(and probably son of the preceding), was killed at
the battle of Pinkie, in 1547 ; and by him or his
immediate successors, most probably the present
castle was built-an edifice wbich Wood, in his
learned ‘‘ History of Cramond Parish,” regards
as one of the most ancient in the parish.
In consequence of the approaching Reformation,
the proceeds of the lands were no longer required
for pious purposes, and the latter were made over by
Sir Simon Prestonof Craigmillar, when Provost, to Sir
Edward Marj oribanks, styled Prebend of Craigcrook.
They were next held for a year, by George Kirkaldy,
brother of Sir James Kirkaldy of Grange in
Fifeshire, Lord High Treasurer of Scotland, who
engaged to pay for them A27 6s. 8d. Scots.
In June, 1542, they reverted again to Sir Edward
Majoribanks, who assigned them in perpetual feufarm
to William Adamson before-named. This
wealthy burgess had acquired much property in
the vicinity, including Craigleith, Cammo, Groat
Hall, Clermiston, Southfield, and part of Cramond
Regis. After Pinkie he was succeeded by his son
William, and Craigcrook continued to pass through
several generations of his heirs, till it came into
~~
the hands of Robert Adamson, who, in 1656, sold
to different persons the whole of his property.
Craigcrook was purchased by John Muir, merchant
in Edinburgh, whose son sold it to Sir John
Hall, Lord Provost of the city in 1689-92. He was
created a baronet in 1687, and was ancestor of the
Halls of Dunglass, on the acquisition of which, in
East Lothian, he sold Craigcrook to Walter Pringle,
advocate, from whose son it was purchased by John
Strachan, clerk to the signet.
When the latter died in 1719, he left the whole
of his property, with North Clermiston and the
rest of his fortune, both in land and movables
(save some small sums to his relations) ‘‘ mortified
for charitable purposes,”
The regulations were that the rents should be
given to poor old men and women and orphans ;
that the trustees should be “two advocates, two
Writers to the Signet, and the Presbytery of Edinburgh,
at the sight of the Lords of Session, and any
two of these members,” for whose trouble one
hundred merks yearly is allowed.
There are also allowed to the advocates, poor
fifty merks Scots, and to those of the writers to the
signet one hundred merks ; also twenty pounds
annually for a Bible to one of the members of the
Presbytery, beginning with the moderator and
going through the rest in rotation.
This deed is dated the 24th September, 1712.
The persons constituted trustees by it held a meeting
and passed resolutions respecting several
points which had not been regulated in the will. A
clerk and factor, each with a yearly allowance of
twenty pounds, were appointed to receive the
money, pay it out, and keep the books.
They resolved that no old person should be
admitted under the age of sixty-five, nor any orphan
above the age of twelve; and that no annuity
should exceed five pounds.
Among the names in a charter by William
Forbes, Provost of the Collegiate Church of St.
Giles, granting to that church a part of the ground
lying contiguous to his manse for a burial-place,
dated at Edinburgh, 14th January, 1477-8, there
appears that of Ricardus Robed, jrebena‘anks de
Cragmk mansepropie (“ Burgh Charters.”)
Over the outer gate of the courtyard a shield
bore what was supposed to have been the arms of
the Adamsons, and the date 1626 ; but Craigcrook
has evidently been erected a century before that
period. At that time its occupant was Walter
Adamson, who succeeded his father Willian~
Adamson in 1621, and whose sister, Catharine,
married Robert Melville of Raith, according to
the Douglas Peerage.](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v5p118.gif "Volume 5 Page 107")
... HISTORY OF CRAIGCROOK. 107
summer residence of Lord Jeffrey-deeply secluded
amid coppice.
The lands ...
Vol. 5 p. 107 (Rel. 1.05)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Bmughtoa --
REMAINS OF THE VILLAGE OF OLD RROUGHTON, Isj2.
(From a Drawing by Gcorp ...
Vol. 3 p. 180 (Rel. 1.04)
... ix
CHAPTER XLVII.
MOULTRAY'S HILL-HER MAJESTY'S GENERAL REGISTER HOUSE. PAGE
The Moultrays ...
Vol. 2 p. 391 (Rel. 1.03)
![’ klth] KING JAMES V1.5 HOSPITAL 217
Barker, whose office ceased to exist after the Burgh
Reform Bill of 1833.
The seal of the preceptory is preserved in the
Antiquarian Museum. It bears the figure of St.
Anthonyina hermit’s garb, with a book in one
hand, a staff in the other, and by his side is a sow
with a bell at its neck. Over his head is a capital
T, which the brethren had sewn in blue cloth on
their black tunics. Around is the legend,
S. Cornmum PreceptoriC Sancfi Anthunii, Propc L&cht.
there when the ground was opened to lay down
gas-pipes; and in the title deeds of a property
here, “ the churchyard of St. Anthony ” is mentioned
as one of the boundaries.
The grotesque association of St. Anthony with a
sow is because the latter was supposed to represent
gluttony, which the saint is said to have overcome ;
and the further to conquer Satan, a consecrated
bell is suspended from his alleged ally the pig.
On the east side of the Kirkgate stood King
ST. MARY’S (SOUTH LEITH) CHURCH, 1820. (After .Ytme+.)
Sir David Lindesay of the Mount refers in his
vigorous way to
“The gruntil of St. Anthony’s sow,
There was an aisle, with an altar therein, dedicated
to him in the parish church of St. Giles; and among
the jewels of James 111. is enumerated “Sanct
Antonis cors,” with a diamond, a ruby, and a great
pearl,
Save the fragments of some old vaults, not a
vestige of the preceptory now remains, though its
name is still preserved in St. Anthony’s Street,
which opens westward off the Kirkgate, and is sup
posed to pass through what was its cemetery, as
large quantities of human bones were exhumed
Quhilk bore his holy bell.”
124
James’s Hospital, built in 1614 by the sixth monarch
of that name, and the site of which now forms
part of the present burying-ground. At the southeast
angle of the old churchyard, says Wilson, there
is an ‘‘ elegant Gothic pediment surmounting the
boundary wall and adorned with the Scottish regalia,
sculptured in high relief with the initials
J. R. 6., while a large panel below bears the
royal arms and initials of Charles 11. very boldly
executed. These insignia of royalty are intended
to mark the spot on which KiEg James’s Hospital
stood-a benevolent foundation which owed no
more to the royal patron whose name it bore than
the confirmation by his charter in 1614 of a portion
of those revenues which had been long before](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v6p036.gif "Volume 6 Page 217")
... klth] KING JAMES V1.5 HOSPITAL 217
Barker, whose office ceased to exist after the Burgh
Reform Bill of ...
Vol. 6 p. 217 (Rel. 1.03)
... Place 1 LORD ROBERTSON. I93
antiquarian taste consorted with the musical skill
ancl critical sagacity of ...
Vol. 4 p. 193 (Rel. 1.02)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Leith.
and cleaning the channel of the river at Leith.
(Burgh Records.)
In 1510, on ...
Vol. 5 p. 168 (Rel. 1.01)
... .OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH.
CHAPTER VIII.
HOLYROOD ABBEY (mnrZu&d).
PAGE
Charter of W X i I.-Trial of the ...
Vol. 4 p. 386 (Rel. 1)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [North Loch.
THE garden wherein St. David budded trees and
cultivated such fruits and ...
Vol. 3 p. 80 (Rel. 1)
... 382 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH.
thoroughfare named Chambers Street, to which the
school was transferred in ...
Vol. 2 p. 382 (Rel. 0.99)
... etymology of the word Links has been a
puzzle to Scottish antiquaries. By some it has
been supposed, that ...
Vol. 6 p. 260 (Rel. 0.99)
... is of great height, contains a large painting
over the stone fireplace of the Adoration of the
Vise Men.
A ...
Vol. 1 p. 116 (Rel. 0.97)
![Holyrood. I KING DAVID’S CHARTER. 43
sake of trade ; and if it happen that they do no
come, I grant the aforesaid church from my ren
of Edinburgh forty shillings, from Stirling twentj
shillings, and from Perth forty shillings ; and ont
toft in Stirling, and the draught of one net foi
tishing ; and one toft in my Burgh of Edinburgh
free and quit of all custom and exaction ; and ont
toft in Berwick, and the draught of two nets ir
Scypwell ; one toft in Renfrew of five perches, tht
‘draught of one net for salmon, and to fish thert
for herrings freely ; and I forbid any one to exact
from you or your men any customs therefor.
‘‘ I moreover grant to the aforesaid canons from
my exchequer yearly ten pounds for the lights o
the church, for the works of that church, anc
repairing these works for ever. I charge, more
over, all my servants and foresters of Stirlingshirt
and Clackmannan, that the abbot and convent havt
free power in all my woods and forests, of taking
as much timber as they please for the building 01
their church and of their houses, and for any purpost
of theirs; and I enjoin that their men who take
timber for their use in the said woods have my
firm peace, and so that ye do not permit them tc
be disturbed in any way ; and the swine, the property
of the aforesaid church, I grant in all my
woods to be quit of pannage [food].
‘‘ I grant, moreover, to the aforesaid canons the
half of the fat, tallow, and hides of the slaughter 01
Edinburgh ; and a tithe of all the whales and seabeasts
which fall to me from Avon to Coldbrandspath;
and a tithe of all my pleas and gains from
Avon to Coldbrandspath ; and the half of my tithe
of cane, and of my pleas and gains of Cantyre and
Argyll ; and all the skins of rams, ewes, and lambs
of the castle and of Linlithgow which die of my
flock ; and eight chalders of malt and eight of meal,
with thirty *cart-loads of bush from Liberton ; and
one of my mills of Dean; and a tithe of the mill
of Liberton, and of Dean, and of the new mill of
*Edinburgh, and of Craggenemarf, as much as I
.have for the same in my domain, and as much as
JVuieth the White gave them of alms of the same
Crag. I
‘ ‘‘ I grant likewise to them leave to establish a
burgh between that church and my burgh.* And
. I grant that the burgesses have common right of
selling their wares and of buying in my market,
‘freely and quit of claim and custom, in like manner
.as my own burgesses ; and I forbid that any one
take in this burgh, bread, ale, or cloth, or any ware
-by force, or without consent of the burgesses. I
grant, moreover, that the canons be quit of toll
. Here them is no mention of the town of Hcr6Crgrrs, alleged to haw
occupied the site of the Canongate.
and of all custom in all my burghs and throughout
all my land: to wit, all things that they buy
and sell.
“And I forbid any one to take pledge on the
land of the Holy Rood, unless the abbot of that
place shall have refused to do right and justice. I
will, moreover, that they hold all that is above
written as freely and quietly as I hold my own
lands ; and I will that the abbot hold his court as
freely, fully, and honourably as the Bishop of St.
Andrews and the Abbots of Dunfermline and
Kelso hold their courts.
“Witnesses tRobert Bishop of St. Andrews,
John Bishop of Glasgow, Henry my son, William
my grandson, Edward the Chancellor, Ilerbert the
Chamberlain, Gillemichael the Earl, Gospatrick the
brother of Dolphin, Robert of Montague, Robert
of Burneville, Peter of Brus, Norman the Sheriff,
Oggu, Leising, Gillise, William of Grahani, Turston
of Crechtune, Blein the Archdeacon, Aelfric the
Chaplain, Walerain the Chaplain.” l-
This document is interesting from its simplicity,
and curious as mentioning mzny places still known
under the same names. 1
The canons regular of the order of St. Augustine
were brought there from St. Andrews in Fifeshire.
The order was first established in Scotlayd
by Alexander I. in 1114, and ere long possessed
twenty-eight monasteries or foundations in tqe
So, in process of time, ‘‘ in the hollow betweqn
two hills ” where King David was saved from the
white hart, there rose the great abbey house,
with its stately cruciform church, having three
:ewers, of which but a fragment now remainsT
i melancholy ruin. Till its completion the canods
Mere housed in the Castle, where they resided till
rbout 1176, occupying an edifice which had preiliously
been a nunnery.
The southern aisle of the nave is the only part
if the church on which a roof remains, and of the
whole range of beautifully clustered pillars on the
iorth side but two fragments alone survive. The
mtire ruin retains numerous traces of the original
vork of the twelfth century, though enriched by
he additions of subsequent ages. With reference
o the view of it in the old print which has been
:opied in these pages,$ it has been observed
hat therein “the abbey church appears with a
econd square tower, uniform with the one still
tanding at the north of the great doorway. The
ransepts are about the usual proportions, but the
:hoir is much shorter than it is proved from other
kingdom. I
-
t “Charters relatiagta Cityof E&bwgh,“&u xr43-x5+ao. 4ta. 1871.
f see ante, vol. i, p. 5.](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v3p054.gif "Volume 3 Page 42")
... I KING DAVID’S CHARTER. 43
sake of trade ; and if it happen that they do no
come, I grant the ...
Vol. 3 p. 42 (Rel. 0.97)
![Cmigmillar.] CRAIGMILLAR CASTLE. Si
Robert XI., “of the lands of Craigmillar, in Vic
du Edinburgh, whilk William de Capella resigned,
sustennand an archer in the king‘s army.” (Robertson’s
“ Index”)
Under the same monarch, some time after,
another charter was granted, confirming “John de
Capella, keeper of the king’s chapel, in the lands of
Erolly (sic), whilk Simon de Prestoun resigned ; he,
John, performing the same service in the king’s
chapel that his predecessors used to perform for
the third part of Craigmillar.”
The date 1474 above the principal gate probably
refers to some repairs. Four years afterwards,
William, a successor of Sir Simon Preston,
was a member of the parliament which met at
Edinburgh June I, 1478. He had the title .of
Domine de Craigmillar, the residence of his race
for nearly three hundred years.
In 1479 this castle became connected with a
dark and mysterious State tragedy. The Duke
of Albany was accused of conspiring treasonably
with the English against the life of his brother,
James III., but made his escape from Edinburgh
Castle, as related in Volume I. Their younger
brother John, Earl of Mar, was placed a prisoner
in Craigmillar on the same charges. James 111.
did not possess, it was alleged, the true characteristics
of a king in those days. He loved music,
architecture, poetry, and study. “He was ane
man that loved solitude,” says Pitscottie, “and
desired never to hear of warre ”-a desire that the
Scottish noblemen never’ cared to patronise.
Mar, a handsome and gay fellow, “ knew nothing
but nobility.” He was a keen hunter, a sportsman,
and breeder of horses for warlike purposes.
Whether Mar was guilty or not of the treasons which
were alleged against him will never be known, but
certain it is that he never left his captivity alive.
Old annalists say that he chose his own mode 01
death, and had his veins opened in a warm bath
but Drummond, in his “ History of the Jameses,’
says he was seized by fever and delirium in Craig
millar, and was’ removed to the Canongate, wherc
he died in the hands of the king‘s physician, eithei
from a too profuse use of phlebotomy, or from his
having, in a fit of frenzy, torn off the bandages.
In 1517 Balfour records that the young king
James V. was removed from Edinburgh to Craig
millar, and the queen-mother was not permitted tc
see him, in consequence of the pestilence ther
raging. But he resided here frequently. In 1544
it is stated in the “ Diurnal of Occurents ” that thc
fortress was too hastily surrendered to the Englisl
invaders, who sacked and burned it.
By far the most interesting associations of Craig
nillar, like so many other castles in the south of
kotland, are those in which Queen Mary behrs a
)art, as she made it a favourite country retreat.
Within its walls was drawn up by Sir James
Balfour, with unique legal solemnity, the bond of
Dardey’s murder, and there signed by so many
iobles of the first rank, who pledged themselves
o stand by Bothwell with life and limb, in weal or
woe, after its perpetration, which bond of blood the
wily lawyer afterwards destroyed.
Some months after the murder of Rizzio, and
while the grasping and avaricious statesmen of the
!ay were watching the estrangement of Nary and
ier husband, on the 2nd December, 1560, Le
3oc, the French Ambassador, wrote thus to the
4rchbishop of Glasgow :-“ The Queen is for the
xesent at Craigmillar, about a league distant from
.his city. She is in the hands of the physicians,
and I do assure you is not at all well, and do
Jelieve the principal part of her disease to consist
n deep grief and sorrow. Nor does it seem possible
to make her forget the same. Still she repeats
ihese words--‘lcould wish to be dead!”’
Craigmillar narrowly escaped being stained with
the blood of the dissolute Darnley. It would zppear
that when he returned from Glasgow, early in
1567, instead of lodging him in the fatal Kirk-0’-
Field, the first idea of the conspirators was to bring ,
him hither, when it was suggested that his recovery
from his odious disease might be aided by the
sanitary use of a bath--“ an ominous proposal to a
prince, who might remember what tradition stated
to have happened ninety years earlier within the
same walls.”
The vicinity abounds with traditions of the
hapless Mary. Her bed closet is still pointed out ;
and on the east side of the road, at Little France,
a hamlet below the castle walls, wherein some of
her French retinue was quartered, a gigantic
plane-the largest in the Lothians-is to this day
called “ Queen Mary’s Tree,’’ from the unauthenticated
tradition that her own hands planted it, and
as such it has been visited by generations. In
recent storms it was likely to suffer ; and Mr. Gilmour
of Craigmillar, in September, 1881, after consulting
the best authorities, had a portion of the
upper branches sawn off to preserve the rest
In ‘‘ the Douglas wars,” subsequent to the time
when Mary was a captive and exile, Craigmillar
bore its part, especially as a prison ; and terrible
times these were, when towns, villages, and castles
were stormed and pillaged, as if the opposite
factions were inspired by the demon of destruction
-when torture and death were added to military
execution, and the hapless prisoners were hurried](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v5p070.gif "Volume 5 Page 59")
... CRAIGMILLAR CASTLE. Si
Robert XI., “of the lands of Craigmillar, in Vic
du Edinburgh, whilk ...
Vol. 5 p. 59 (Rel. 0.96)
... 68 OLD. AND NEW EDINBURGH. [St. Andrew Square.
Natural Phenomena,” and many other scientific
and geographical ...
Vol. 3 p. 167 (Rel. 0.96)
![Rase Street.] HUG0 ARNOT. ‘59
announced that Bailie Creech, of literary celebrity,
was about to lead Miss Burns of Rose Street ‘‘ to
the hymeneal altar.” In hiswrath, Creech threatened
an action against the editor, whose contradiction
made matters worse :-“ In a former number we
noticed the intended marriage between Bailie
Creech of Edinburgh and the beautiful Miss Bums
of the same place. We have now the authority of
that gentleman to say that the proposed marriage
is not to take place, matters having been otherwise
arranged, to the mutual satisfaction of both parties
and their respective friends.” After a few years of
unenviable notoriety, says the editor of *‘ Kay,”
Miss Burns fell into a decline, and died in 1792 at
Roslin, where a stone in the churchyard records
her name and the date of her demise.
In the same year of this squabble we find a
ball advertised in connection with the now unfashionable
locality of Rose Street, thus :-“ Mr.
Sealey (teacher of dancing) begs to acquaint his
friends and the public that his ball is iixed for the
20th of March next, and that in order to accommodate
his scholars in the New Town, he proposes
opening a school in Rose Street, Young’s Land,
opposite to the Physicians’ Hall, the 24th of that
month, where he intends to teach on Tuesdays
and Fridays from nine in the morning, and the
remainder of the week at his school in Foulis’s
Close, as formerly.” In 1796 we find among
its residents Sir Samuel Egerton Leigh, Knight, of
South Carolina, whose lady “ was safely delivered
of a son on Wednesday morning (16th March) at
her lodgings in Rose Street.”
Sir Samuel was the second son of Sir Egerton
high, His Majesty’s AttorneyGenerd for South
Carolina, and he died at Edinburgh in the ensuing
January. He had a sister, married to the youngest
brother of Sir Thomas Burnet of Leya
This son, born at Edinburgh in 1796, succeeded
in ISIS to the baronetcy, on the death of his uncle,
Sir Egerton, who married Theodosia (relict of
Captain John Donellan), daughter of Sir Edward,
and sister of Sir Theodosius Edward Boughton,
for the murder of whom by poison the captain was
executed at Warwick in 1781,
It was in Dr. John Brown’s Chapel in Rose
Street, that Robert Pollok, the well-known author
of “The Course of Time,” who was a licentiate of
the United Secession Church, preached his only
sermon, and soon after ordination he was attacked
by that pulmonary disease of which he died in
1827.
In 1810 No. 82 was “Mrs. Bruce’s fashionable
boarding-school,” and many persons of the greatest
respectability occupied the common stairs, particularly
to the westward ; and in Thistle Street were
many residents of very good position.
Thus No. z was the house, in 1784, of Sir
John Gordon, Bart. ; and Sir Alexander Don, Bart.,
of Newton Don, lived in No. 4, when Lady Don
Dowager resided in No. 53, George Street (he had
been one of the d h u s in France who were seized
when passing through it during the short peace of
1802), and a Mrs. Colonel Ross occupied No. 17,
Under the name of Hill Street this thoroughfare
is continued westward, between Fredenck Street
and Castle Street, all the houses being “selfcontained.”
The Right Hon. Charles Hope of
Granton, Lord Justice Clerk, had his chambers in
No. 6 (now writers’ offices) in ~808 ; Buchanan of
Auchintorlie lived in No. I I, and Clark of Comrie
in No. 9, now also legal offices. In one of the houses
here resided, and was married in 1822, as mentioned
in Bkrckwoad’s Magazine for that year, Charles
Edward Stuart, styled latterly Count d’Albany
(whose son, the Carlist colonel, married a daughter
of the Earl of Errol), and who, with his brother, John
Sobieski Stuarf attracted much attention in the city
and Scotland generally, between that period and
1847, and of whom various accounts have been
given. They gave themselves out as the grandsons
of Charles Edward Stuart, but were said to be
the sons of a Captain Thomas Allan, R.N., and
grandsons of Admiral John Carter Allan, who died
in 1800.
Seven broad and handsome streets, running south
and north, intersect the great parallelogram of the
New Town. It was at the corner of one of those
streets-but which we are not told-that Robert
Burns first saw, in 1787, Mrs. Graham, so celebrated
for her wonderful beauty, and whose husband
commanded in the Castle of Stirling.
From the summit of the ridge, where each of
these streets cross George Street, are commanded
superb views : on one side the old town, and on
the other the northern New Town, and away to the
hills of Fife and Kinross.
According to “ Peter Williamson’s Directory,”
Hugo Arnot, the historian, had taken up his abode
in the Meuse Lane of South St. Andrew Street
in 1784. His own name was Pollock, but he
changed it to Arnot on succeeding to the estate of
Balcormo, in Fifeshire. In his fifteenth year hC
became afflicted with asthma, and through life was
reduced to the attenuation of a skeleton. Admitted
an advocate in 1772, he ever took a deep interest
in all local matters, and published various essays
thereon, and his exertions in promoting the
improvements then in progress in Edinburgh were
which is now the New Town dispensary. c](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v3p171.gif "Volume 3 Page 159")
... Street.] HUG0 ARNOT. ‘59
announced that Bailie Creech, of literary celebrity,
was about to lead Miss Burns ...
Vol. 3 p. 159 (Rel. 0.96)
... directly at the south-eastern base of Arthur's
Seat, and has long'been one of the daily ...
Vol. 4 p. 314 (Rel. 0.95)
... a matrimonial alliance having been concluded
between Ermengarde de Beaumont (cousin of
Henry) and King ...
Vol. 1 p. 23 (Rel. 0.95)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. lcolinton.
the Belitice Puetaruni Scuiurum. He was a convert
to the Protestant ...
Vol. 6 p. 322 (Rel. 0.94)
![High Street.] CARRUBBER’S CLOSE. 239
the name of “ the Hanoverian usurpers ” from all
their devotions. But the humble chapels with
which these old Scottish Episcopalians contented
themselves in Carrubber‘s Close, Skinner’s Close,
and elsewhere, present a wonderful contrast’ to their
St. Paul’s and St. Mary’s in the Edinburgh of
to-day.
In this close was the house of Robert Ainslie’s
master, during Burns’s visit to Edinburgh, Mr.
Samuel Mitchelson, a great musical amateur ; and
here it was that occurred the famous “Haggis
Scene,”described by Smollett in “Humphrey Clinker.”
At the table of Mitchelson the poet was a frequent
guest, while on another floor of the old Clam Shell
Land, as it was named, dwelt another friend of
Burns’s, the elder Sir William Forbes of Pitsligo,
prior to his removal to the New Town. On the
second floor of an ancient stone land at the head
.of the close dwelt Captain Matthew Henderson,
a well-known antiquary, a gentleman of agreeable
and dignified manners, who was a hero of Minden,
and .a member of the Crochallan Club, and dined
constactly at Fortune’s tavern.
He died in 1789, and Bums wrote a powerful
elegy on him as “ a gentleman who held the patent
for his honours immediately from Almighty God.”
“ I loved the man much, and have not flattered his
memory,” said Burns in a note to the elegy, which
contains sixteen verses. The old captain was one
whom all men liked. “ In our travelling party,”
says Sir James Campbell of Ardkinglas in his
(suppressed) Memoirs, “ was Matthew Henderson,
then (I 759) and afterwards well known and much
esteemed in the town of Edinburgh, at that time
an officer in the 25th Regiment of Foot, and, like
myself, on his way to join the army; and I may say
with truth, that in the course of a long life I have
never known a more estimable character than
Matthew Henderson.”
This close was the scene of the unsuccessful
speculation of another poet, for here Allan Ramsay
made a bold attempt to establish his theatre,
which was roughly closed by the magistrates in
1737, after it had been barely opened, for which
he took a poet’s vengeance in rhyme in the
GenlZmn’s Magazine. The edifice, which stood
at the foot of the close, was quizzically named
st. Andrew’s Chapel, and in 1773 was the arena
for the debates of a famous speculative club named
the Pantheon.
Five years subsequently Hind Dr. Moyes, the
clever lecturer on natural philosophy, held forth
therein to audiences both fashionable and select,
on optics, the property’of light, and so forth. It
was afterwards occupied by Mr. John Barclay,
founder of the Bereans, whose chief tenet was, that
the knowledge of the existence of God is derived
from revelation and not from Scripture.
From him and his followers Ramsay’s luckless
theatre passed to the Rev. Mr. Tait and other
founders of the Rowites, during whose occupancy
the pulpit was frequently filled by the celebrated
Edward Irving. The Relief and Secession congregations
have also had it in succession; the
Catholics have used it as a schoolroom ; and till
its demolition to make way for Jeffrey Street, it
has been the arena of a strange oZZapodda of per
sonages and purposes.
In Carrubber’s Close stood the ancient Tailor‘s
Hall, the meeting-place of a corporation whose
charter, granted to them by the Town Council, is
dated 20th October, 1531, and with their original
one, was further confirmed by charters from James V.
and JamesVI. Theyhad analtar in St. Giles’sChurch
dedicated to their patron St. Ann, and the date of
their seal of cause is 1500. They had also an
altar dedicated to St. Ann in the Abbey church,
erected in 1554 by permission of Robert Commendator
of Holyrood.
The fine old hall in the Cowgate has long
since been abandoned by the Corporation, which
still exists; and in their other place of meeting
in Carrubber’s Close an autograph letter of
King James VI., which hung framed and glazed
over the old fireplace, was long one of its chief
features.
It was dated in 1594, and ran thus; but afew
lines will suffice for a specimen :-
“Dekin and remanent Maisters and Brethren of the
Tailyer Craft within oure burgh of Edinburgh, we g e t
zow weilL
“Forsaemeikle as, respecting the gude service of AZexander
MilZer, in making and working the abulzements of our
awn person, minding to continue him in oure service, as ain
maist fit and meit persone. We laitlie recommendit him into
zow be oure letter of requiest, desiring you to receive and
admit him gratis to the libertie and fredom of the said craft,
as a thing maist requisite for him, having the a i r of our
awin wark, notwithstanding that he was not prenteis
amongk zow, according to your ancient liberties and priviliges
had in the contraie. M‘illing zow at this our requiest to
dispense him thereanent, &c, JAMES R.”
The king‘s request was no doubt granted, and
the Alexander Miller to whom it referred died in
1616, a reputable burgess, whose tomb in the
Greyfriars’ churchyard was inscribed thus by
his heirs :-
“AZexundro Milka, Jorobi Mug. Brit. FY&, &c.,
Regis Sarion; adfiltrni vifre, frinrario, hmedes. F. C. *it
annb 57, obiit Principis et Civium iauta decoratus, Anno
1616. Maii 2.’’](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v2p059.gif "Volume 2 Page 239")
... Street.] CARRUBBER’S CLOSE. 239
the name of “ the Hanoverian usurpers ” from all
their devotions. But ...
Vol. 2 p. 239 (Rel. 0.94)
... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J
CHAPTER I.
P R E H I S T O R ...
Vol. 2 p. 385 (Rel. 0.94)
... TENTS. V
CHAPTER XIII.
THE DISTRICT OF RESTALRIG.
PAGE
Abbey Hill-Baron Norton-Alex. Campbell and 'I ...
Vol. 6 p. 395 (Rel. 0.93)
![Lauriston.] JOHN LAW OF LAURISTON. 111
tisement announces, “ that there was this day
lodged in the High Council House, an old silver
snuff-box, which was found upon the highway leading
from Muttonhole to Cramond Bridge in the
month of July last. Whoever can prove the property
will get the box,.upon paying the expense incurred;
and that if this is not done betwixt this
and the roth of November next, the same will be
sold for payment thereof.” .
In the time of King David 11. a charter was
given t9 John Tennand of the lands of Lauriston,
with forty creels of peats in Cramond, in the county
of Edinburgh, paying thirty-three shillings and fourpence
to the Crown, and the same sum sterling to
the Bishop of Dunkeld.
The present Castle of Lauriston-which consisted,
before it was embellished by the late Lord Rutherford,
of a simple square three-storeyed tower, with
two corbelled turrets, a remarkably large chimney,
and some gableted windows-was built by Sir
Archibald Kapier of Merchiston and Edenbellie,
father of the philosopher, who, some years before
his death, obtained a charter of the lands and
meadow, called the King‘s Meadow, 1’587-8 and of
half the lands of ‘& Lauranstoun,” 16th November,
1593.
On two of the windows there yet remain his
initials, S. A N., and those of his wife, D. E. M.,
Dame Elizabeth Mowbray, daughter of Mowbray
of Banibougle, now called Dalmeny Park.
Tie tower gave the title of Lord Launston to
their son, Sir Alexander Napier, who became a
Lord of Session in 1626.
Towards the close of the same century the tower
and estate became the property of Law, a wealthy
gddsmith of Edinburgh, descended from the Laws
of Lithrie, in Fifeshire ; and in the tower, it is said,
his son John, the great financier, was born in April,
1671. There, too, the sister of the latter, Agnes,
was married in 1685 to John Hamilton, Writer to
the Signet in Edinburgh, where she died in 1750.
On his father’s death Law succeeded to Lauriston,
but as he had been bred to no profession, and
exhibited chiefly a great aptitude for calculation,
he took to gambling. This led him into extravagances.
He became deeply involved, but his
mother paid his debts and obtained possession of
the estate, which she immediately entailed. Tall,
handsome, and addicted to gallantry, he became
familiarly known as Beau Law in London, where
he slew a young man named Wilson in a duel, and
was found guilty of murder, but was pardoned by
the Crown. An appeal being made against this
pardon, he escaped from the King’s Bench, reached
France, and through Holland returned to Scotland
(Robertson’s Index.)
in 1700, and in the following year published at
Glasgow his “ Proposals and Reasons for Constituting
a Council of Trade in Scotland.”
He now went to France, where he obtained an
introduction to the Duke of Orleans, and offered
his banking scheme to the hfinister of Finance,
who deemed it so dangerous that he served him
with a police notice to quit Paris in twenty-four
hours. Visiting Italy, he was in the same summary
manner banished from Venice and Genoa as a daring
adventurer. His success at play was always
great; thus, when he returned to Pans during the
Regency of Orleans, he was in the possession of
&IOO,OOO sterling.
On securing the patronage of the Regent, he received
letters patent which, on the 2nd March, I 7 16,
established his bank, with a capital of 1,200 shares
of 500 livres each, which soon bore a premium.
To this bank was annexed the famous Mississippi
scheme, which was invested with the full sovereignty
of Louisiana for planting co1onie.s and extending
commerce-the grandest and most comprehensive
scheme ever conceived-and rumour went that gold
mines had been discovered of fabulous and mysterious
value.
The sanguine anticipations seemed to be realised,
and for a time prosperity and wealth began to pre
vail in France, where John Law was regarded as its
good genius and deliverer from poverty.
The house of Law in the Rue Quinquempoix, in
Pans, was beset day and night by applicants, who
blocked up the streets-peers, prelates, citizens,
and artisans, even ladies of rank, all flocked to that
temple of Plutus, till he was compelled to transfer
his residence to the Place VendBme. Here again
the prince of stockjobbers found himself overwhelmed
by fresh multitudes clamouring for allotments,
and having to shift his quarters once more,
he purchased from the Prince de Carignan, at an
enormous price, the HBtel de Soissons, in the
spacious gardens of which he held his levees.
It is related of him, that when in the zenith of his
fame and wealth he was visited by John the “great
Euke of Argyle,” the latter found him busy writing.
The duke never doubted but that the financier
was engaged on some matter of the highest importance,
as crowds of the first people of France were
waiting impatiently an audience in the suites of
ante-rooms, and the duke had to wait too, until &It.
Law had finished his letter, which was merely one
to his gardener at Lauriston regarding the planting
of cabbages at a particular spot !
In 1720 he was made Comptroller-General ot
the Finances, but the crash came at last. The
amount of notes issued by Law’s bank more
‘](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v5p122.gif "Volume 5 Page 111")
... JOHN LAW OF LAURISTON. 111
tisement announces, “ that there was this day
lodged in the High Council ...
Vol. 5 p. 111 (Rel. 0.91)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Cowgate.
mentioned as residents in it in 1501. He was
Provost in 1425, and was ...
Vol. 4 p. 242 (Rel. 0.91)
... and the founder’s own mother and wife, and
of all the faithful dead, was specially directed, at
the ...
Vol. 5 p. 116 (Rel. 0.9)
![Cnigmillar.] CRAIGMILLAR CASTLE. 61
when descending Craigmillar Hill, a queen’s soldier,
who had a loose match in his hand, exploded
the powder-barrels, and mortally injured Captain
Melville, the kinsman of Sir William Kirkaldy.
The latter interred him with military honours in a
vault of Edinburgh Castle, where, doubtless, his remains
still rest
In 1589 there was granted a charter under the
great seal to John Ross of the lands of Limpitstoun,
which was witnessed in Craigmillar by the Arch-
%ishop of St. Andrews, John Lord Hamilton, the
Commendator of Arbroath, Maitland of Thirlstane,
Walter, Prior of Blantyre, and others.
Calderwood relates, that in January, 1590, when
Jaines VI. was sitting in the Tolbooth, hearing
to the gibbet by forty and fifty at a time. in the
sight of Edinburgh and Leith.
In 1573 the Loyalists, says Crawford of Drumsoy,
sent a strong body of horse and foot, in hope
to capture the Regent Morton at Dalkeith in the
aight; but found him ready to receive them on
Sheriff-hall Muir, from whence he drove them in as
far as the Burghmuir, and only lost the Laird of
Kirkmichael and some fifty men. Few were killed,
recent rains having wetted the gun-matches ; but
its ofice houses and grass,” it was advertised to be
let in the Edinburgh Cowant for 11th March, 1761.
In that year Sir Alexander Gilmour of Craigmillar
was elected M.P. for the county.
We cannot dismiss the subject of Craigmillar
without a brief glance at some of those who occupied
it
Sir Simon Preston, who obtained it from John
de Capella, traced his descent up to Leolph de
Preston, who lived in the reign of William the
Lion; and, according to Douglas, his father was
Sir John Preston, who was taken at the battle of
Durham in 1346, and remained in the Tower of
London until ransomed.
In 1434 Sir Henry Preston of Craigmillar (whose
the case of the Laird of Criigmillar, who was sueing
for a divorce against his wife, the Earl of Bothwell
forcibly carried off one of the most important witnesses
to his Castle of Crichton, threatening him
with the gallows, ‘&as if there had been no king
in Israel.”
It was not until after the beginning of the present
century that the castle was permitted to fall into
ruin and decay, which it did rapidly. It was
in perfect preservation, no doubt, when, with ‘‘ all
PEFFER MILL-HOUSE.](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v5p072.gif "Volume 5 Page 61")
... CRAIGMILLAR CASTLE. 61
when descending Craigmillar Hill, a queen’s soldier,
who had a loose match ...
Vol. 5 p. 61 (Rel. 0.9)
![Leith] ST. NINIAN’S CHAPEL 251
the eighty-seventh year of his age, and was able
to transact business until a very short time before
his death. He was succeeded in the baronetcy
by his eldest son, Sir Thomas Gladstone, of Fasque
and Balfour, M.P. for Queenborough and other
places successively in England.
Gladstone Place, near the Links, has been
so named in honour of this family.
From the top of the Sheriff Brae and Mill Lane,
Great Junction Street, a broad and spacious
thoroughfare, extends eastward for the distance of
two thousand feet to the foot of Leith Walk.
Here, on the south side, are the United Presbyterian
church, the neat Methodist chapel, and a
large and handsome edifice erected in 1839 as a
school, and liberally endowed by Dr. Bell, founder
of the Madras system of education, at a cost of
f;IO,OOO.
C H A P T E R X X V I I I ,
NORTH LEITH.
The Chapel and Church of St. NiniaPParish Created-Its Records-Rev. George Wishart-Rev. John Knox-Rev. Dr. Johnston-The Burial-
Ground-New North Leith ChurchlFree Church-Old Grammar SchoolXobourg Street-St. Nicholas Church-The Citadel-Its
Remains-Houses within k--Beach and Sands of North Leith-New Custom How-Shipping Inwards and Outwards.
ON crossing the river we find ourselves in North
Leith, which is thus described by Kincaid in
‘787 :-
“ With regard to North Leith, very little alteration
has taken place here for a century past. It consists
of one street running north-east from the bridge,
six hundred feet long, and about forty in breadth
where broadest. On each side are many narrow
lanesand closes, those on the south side leading
down to the carpenters’ yards by the side of the
river, and those on the north to the gardens belonging
to the inhabitants. From the bridge a
road leads to the citadel, in length 520 feet ; then
IOO feet west, and we enter the remains of the old
fortification, on the top of which a dwelling-house
is now erected. The buiIdings in this place are in
general very mean in their appearance, and inhabited
by peopIe who let rooms during the summer
season to persons who bathe in the salt water.”
One of the leading features of North Leith, when
viewed from any point of view, is the quaint spire
of its.old church, on the west bank of the river,
near the end of the upper drawbridge, abandoned
now to secular purposes, separated from its ancient
burying-ground (which still remains, With its many
tombstones, half sunk amid the long rank grass
of ages), and lifting its withered and storm-worn
outline, as if in deprecation of the squalor by which
it is surrounded, and the neglect and contumely
heaped on its venerable history.
North Leith, which contains the first, or original
docks, and anciently comprehended the citadel
and the chief seat of traffic, was long a congeries
of low, quaint-looking old houses, huddled
into groups or irregular lines, and straddling their
way amid nuisances in back and front, very much
the style of a Spanish or Portuguese town of the
present day; but since 1818 it has undergone great
and renovating changes, and, besides being disenambered
of the citadel and masses of crumbling
houses, it has some streets that may vie with the
second or third thoroughfares of Edinburgh.
As stated in our general history of Leith, Robert
Ballantyne, Abbot of Holyrood, towards the close
of the fifteenth century, built a handsome bridge
of three stone arches over the Water of Leith, to
connect the southern with the northern quarter of
the rising seaport, and so011 after its completion he
erected and endowed near its northern end a chapel,
dedicated to the honour of God, the Virgin Mary,
and St. Ninian, the apostle of Galloway, Having
considerable possessions in Leith, €he abbot a p
pointed two. chaplains to officiate in this chapel,
who were ta receive all the profits accruing from a
house which he had built at the southern end of
this bridge, with A4 yearly out of other tenements
he possessed in South Leith.
In addition to the offerings made in the chapel,
the tolls or duties accruing from this new bridge
were to be employed in its repair and that of the
chapel, but all surplus the charitable abbot ordained
was to be given to the poor; and this charter of
foundation was confirmed by James IV., of gallant
memory, on the 1st of January, 1493. (Maitland.)
This chapel was built with the full consent of
the Chapter of Holyrood, and with the approbation
of William, Archbishop of St Andrews ; and-as a.
dependency of the church of the Holy Crossthe
land whereon it stood is termed the Rudest&
in a charter of Queen Mary, dated 1569.](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v6p070.gif "Volume 6 Page 251")
... ST. NINIAN’S CHAPEL 251
the eighty-seventh year of his age, and was able
to transact business until a ...
Vol. 6 p. 251 (Rel. 0.9)
![Cowgate.] ANCIENT
Both these relics are now preserved in the
Museum of Antiquities.
An act of the Privy Council in 1616 describes
Edinburgh as infested by strong and idle vagabonds,
having their resorts “in some parts of the Cowgate,
Canongate, Potterrow, West Port, &c., where
they ordinarily convene every night, and pass their
time in all kind of not and filthy lechery, to the
offence and displeasure of God,” lying all day on
CLOSES. 241
Close in 1514; Todrig’s Wynd is mentioned in
1456, when Patrick Donald granted two merks
yearly from his tenement therein for repairing the
altar of St. Hubert, and in 1500 a bailie named
Todrig, was assaulted with drawn swords in his
own house by two men, who were taken to the Tron,
and had their hands stricken through.
Carrubber‘s Close was probably named from
“ William of Caribris,” one of the three bailies in
THE COWGATE, FROM THE PORT TO COLLEGE WYND, 1646. ( A f b cfdsthumay.)
17. The Cowgate ; 44, Peebles Wynd ; 45, Merlin’s Wynd ; 46, Niddry’s Wynd ; 47, Dickson’s Close : 50, Gnfs Wynd ; 5% St Mad5 w p d ;
h St Mary’s Wpd Suburbs ; I; Cov&e Port ; g, Si M a j s Wynd Port ; 53, The College Wynd ; 54. Robertson’s Wynd ; 55. High
School Wynd ; q, Lady Yeser‘s Kirk ; .r, The High School ; w, The College ; y, S i M;uy of the Fields, or the Kirk of Fields ; 25, The
Town Wall.
the causeway, extorting alms with “ shameful exclamations,”
to such an extent that passengers could
neither walk nor confer in the streets without being
impeded and pestered by them ; hence the magistrates
gave orders to expel them wholesale from the
city and keep it clear of them.
The Burgh Records throw some light on the
names of certain of the oldest closes-those running
between the central street and the Cowgate, as being
the residences or erections of old and influential
citizens. Thus Niddry’s Wynd is doubtless connected
with Robert Niddry, a magistrate in 1437 ;
Cant’s Close with Adam Cant, who was Dean of
Guild in 1450, though it is called Alexander Cant’s
79
1454, as doubtless Con’s Close was from John Con,
a wealthy flesher of 1508. William Foular’s Close
is mentioned in 1521, when Bessie Symourtoun
is ordered to be burned there on the cheeks and
banished for passing gear infected with the pest ;
and Mauchan’s Close was no doubt connected
with the name of John Mauchane, one of the bailies
in 1523; Lord Eorthwick’s Close is frequently
mentioned before 1530, and Francis Bell’s Close
occurs in the City Treasurer‘s Accounts, under date
1554. Liberton’s Wynd is mentioned in a charter
by James 111. in 1474, and the old protocol books of
the city refer to it frequently in the twelve years
preceding Flodden ; William Liberton’s heirs are](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v4p061.gif "Volume 4 Page 241")
... ANCIENT
Both these relics are now preserved in the
Museum of Antiquities.
An act of the Privy Council ...
Vol. 4 p. 241 (Rel. 0.9)
![Leith.] THE KING'S WARK. 237
~
Arnot adds. It was to keep one of the cellars in
the King's Wark in repair, for holding wines and
other provisions for the king's use.
This Bernard Lindsay it was whom Taylor
mentions in his '' Penniless Pilgrimage " as having
Moreover, the King's Wark was placed most
advantageously at the mouth of the harbour, to
serve as -a defence against any enemy who might
approach it from the seaward. It thus partook
somewhat of the character of a citadel; and this
BERNARD STREET.
given him so warm a welcome at Leith in
1618.
That some funds were derivable from the King's
Wark to the Crown is proved by the frequent
payments with which it was burdened by several
of our monarchs. Thus, in the year 1477 James
111. granted out of it a perpetual annuity of twelve
marks Scots, for support of a chaplain to officiate
at the altar of c'the upper chapel in the collegiate
church of the Blessed Virgin Mary at
Restalrig."
seems to have been implied by the infeftment
granted by Queen Mary in 1564 to John Chisho!ia,
Master or Comptroller of the Royal Artillery,
who would appear to have repaired the buildings
which, no doubt, shared in the general conflagrations
that signalised the English invasions of 1544
and 1547. and the queen, on the completion
of his work, thus confirms her grant to the
comptroller :-
U Efter Her Heinis lauchful age, and revocation
made in parIiament, hir majestie sett in feu farme](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v6p056.gif "Volume 6 Page 237")
... THE KING'S WARK. 237
~
Arnot adds. It was to keep one of the cellars in
the King's Wark in ...
Vol. 6 p. 237 (Rel. 0.89)
![Leith.1 THE CUSTOM-HOUSE 259
EASTWARD of Leith lie those open downs called
the Links, once of much greater extent than we
find them, and doubtless at one time connected
ground to the westward of the pier, when it was
blowing fresh, with a heavy sea, and before any
assistance could be given she was driven upon
the beach, near the citadel, having beaten off her
rudder and otherwise considerably damaged herself
[sic]. They are employed in taking out the
cargo, and if the weather continues moderate, it
is expected she will be got off.”
The waves of the sea are now distant nearly two
thousand feet north from the spot where the wreck
took place.
Three of the bastions, and two of the gates of
the citadel, were standing when the old “Statistical
Account ” was published, in 1793.
Before quitting this quarter of North Leith we
may quote the following rather melancholy account
given of the latter in 1779, in a work entitled “The
Modem British Traveller,” folio, and now probably
out of print.
About a mile from the city is Leith, which may
be called the warehouse of Edinburgh. It is
divided into two parts by a small rivulet, over
which is a neat bridge of three arches. That part
called South Leith is both large and populous ; it
has an exceeding handsome church, a jail, a
custom-house [the old one in the Tolbooth Wynd],
but the streets are irregular, nor do any of the
buildings merit particular attention. It was
formerly fortified, but the works were destroyed
by the English in 1559 [?I, and not any remains
are now to be seen. That part called North
Leith is a very poor place, without any publick
building, except an old Gothic church ; there is a
small dock, but it is only capable of admitting
ships of a hundred and fifty tons. The harbour is
generally crowded with vessels from different parts;
and from here to Kinghorn, in Fifeshire, the
passage-boat crosses every tide, except on Sundays. . . . Great numbers of the citizens of Edin-
’burgh resort to Leith on parties of pleasure, and
to regale themselves with the sea air and oysters,
which are caught here in great abundance. . . .
with the wide, open, and sandy waste that extended
beyond the Figgate Burn to Magdalene
Bridge,
The town is under the jurisdiction of a bailiff CT],
but it may be called a part of, and is subject to the
jurisdiction of, Edinburgh, in virtue of a charter
granted by King Robert the Eruce.”
The Manners’ Church, a rather handsome building,
with two smail spires facing the east, is built
upon a portion of the site of the citadel, and
schools are attached to it. The church was designed
by John Henderson of Edinburgh, and
was erected in 1840.
In this quarter Sand Port Street, which led to the
then beach, with a few old houses neax the citadel,
and the old church of St. Ninian, comprised the.
whole of North Leith at the time of the Union.
There the oldest graving-dock was constructed in
1720, and it yet remains, behind a house not far
from the bridge, dated-according to Parker
Lawson-162 2.
The present custom-house of Leith was built in
1812, on the site where H.M. ship Fu~y was built
in I 780 ; and an old native of Leith, who saw her
launched, had the circumstance impressed upon
his memory, as he related to Robertson (whose
“Antiquities ” were published in 185 I), “by a carpenter
having been killed by the falling of the
shores.”
The edifice cost A12,617, is handsome, and in
the Grecian style, adorned in front with pillars and
pediment It stands at the North Leith end of the
lower drawbridge.
The officials here consist of a collector, twb
chief clerks, three first and seven second-class
clerks, with one extra ; eight writers, two surveyors,
eighteen examining officers, and a principal coast
officer for Fisherrow. The long room is handsome,
and very different from its predecessor in the Tolbooth
Wynd, which was simply divided by long
poles, through which entries were passed.
In May, 1882, the building at Dock Place (in
this quarter) known as the Sailors’ Home, was
converted into the Mercantile Marine Department
and Government Navigation School.
C H A P T E R XXIX.
LEITH -THE LINKS.](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v6p078.gif "Volume 6 Page 259")
... THE CUSTOM-HOUSE 259
EASTWARD of Leith lie those open downs called
the Links, once of much greater extent ...
Vol. 6 p. 259 (Rel. 0.88)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Iauwade
families of note. Philip became sheriff of the
Mearns, and ancestor of the ...
Vol. 6 p. 362 (Rel. 0.88)
... was accordingly built for them, at the
expense, says h o t , of Az,400 sterling. A portion
of this ...
Vol. 3 p. 29 (Rel. 0.88)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Moultray’s Hill.
+
CHAPTER XLVII.
MOULTRAY’S HILL-HER MAJESTY’S GENERAL ...
Vol. 2 p. 364 (Rel. 0.88)
![THE GREAT WINCOW. ‘59 Parliament Hoox.]
obelisks, with the motto Bominus cusfodif infroifurn
msfrunz. The destruction of all this was utterly
unwarrantable.
The tapestries with which the hall was hung
were all removed about the end of the last century,
and now its pictnres, statues, and decorations of
Scotland’s elder and latter days replace them.
Of the statues of the distinguished Scottish
statesmen and lawyers, the most noticeable are a
colossal one of Henry first Viscount Melville in
his robes as a peer, by Chantrey ; on his left is Lord
Cockburn, by Brodie ; Duncan Forbes of Culloden,
in his judicial costume as President of the Court,
by Roubiliac (a fine example) ; the Lord President
Boyle, and Lord Jeffrey, by Steel ; the Lord President
Blair (son of the author of “The Grave”),
by Chantrey.. .
On the opposite or eastern side of the hall
(which stands north and south) is the statue
of Robert Dundas of Arniston, Lord Chief Baron
of the Scottish Exchequer, also by Chautrey;
portraits, many of them of considerable antiquity,
some by Jameson, a Scottish painter who studied
under Rubens at Antwerp. But the most remarkable
among the modern portraits are those of
Lord Broiigham, by Sir Daniel Macnee, P.R.S.A. ;
Lord Colonsay, formerly President of the Court,
and the Lord Justice-clerk Hope, both by the
same artist. Thete are also two very tine pQrtraits
of Lord Abercrombie and Professor Bell, by Sir
Henry Raeburn.
Light is given to this interestihg hall by fouI
windows on the side, and the great window on the
south. It is of stained glass, and trulymagnificent.
It was erected in 1868 at a cost of Az,ooo, and
was the work of two German artists, having been
designed by Wilhelm von Kaulbach, and executed
by the Chevalier Ainmiller of Munich. It repre.
sents the inauguration of the College of Justice, 01:
the Supreme Court of Scotland, by King Tames V.,
in 1532. The opening of the court is supposed by
the artist to have been the. occasion of a grand
state ceremonial, and the moment chosen for
representation is that in which the young king,
surrounded by his nobles and great officers
of state, is depicted in the ,act of presenting
the charter of institution and of confirniation by
Pope Clement VII. to Alexander Mylne, Abbot
of Cambuskenneth, the first Lord President, wha
kneels before him to receive it, surrounded by the
other judges in their robes, while the then Lord
Chancellor of Scotland, Gavin Dunbar, ArchbishoF
of Glasgow, and afterwards of St. Andrews, with
upraised hand invokes a.blessing on the act.
In 1870 the four side windows on the west of the
la11 were filled in with stained glass Qf a heraldic
:haracter, under the superintendence of the late
Sir George Harvey, president of the Royal Scottish
kcadeniy. Each window is twenty feet high
~y nine wide, divided by a central mullion, the
:racery between being occupied by the armorial
learings and crests of the various Lord Justice-
Zlerks, the great legal writers of the Faculty of
Advocates, those of the Deans of Faculty, and the
Lords Advocate.
This old hall has been the scene of many a
;reat event and many a strange debate, and most
Df the proceedings that took place here belong
to the history of the country j for with the exception
of the Castle and the ancient portion of Holyrood,
no edifice in the city is so rich in historic
memories.
Beneath the old roof consecrated to these, says
one of its latest chroniclers, “ the first ’great movements
of the Civil War took place, and the successive
steps in that eventful crisis were debated
with a zeal commensurate to the important results
involved in them. Here Montrose united with
Rothes, Lindsay, Loudon, and others of the
covenanting leaders, in maturing the bold measures
that formed the basis of our national liberties ; and
within the same hall, only a few years later, he sat
with the calmness of despair, to receive from the
lips of his old compatriot, Loudon, the barbarous
sentence, which was executed with such savage
rigour.”
After his victory at Dunbar, some of Cromwell’s
troopers in their falling bands, buff coats, and steel
morions, spent their time alternately in preaching to
the people in the Parliament Hall and guarding a
number of Scottish prisoners of war who were confined
in “ the laigh Parliament House ” below it
On the 17th of May, 1654, some of these contrived
to cut a hole in the floor of the great hall, and all
effected their escape save two; but when peace
was established between Croniwell and the Scots,
and the Courts of Law resumed their sittings,
the hall was restored to somewhat of its legitimate
uses, and there, in 1655, the leaders of the Commonwealth,
including General Monk, were feasted
with a lavish hospitality.
In 1660, under the auspices of the same republican
general, came to pass “ the - glorious
Restoration,” when the magistrates had a banquet
Ft the cross, and gave _~;I,OOO sterling to the king;
and his brother, the Duke of Albany and York, who
came as Koyal Commissioner, was feasted in the
same hall with his Princess Mary d’Este and his
daughter, the future Queen Anne, surrounded by all
the high-born and beautiful in Scotland. But dark](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v1p171.gif "Volume 1 Page 159")
... GREAT WINCOW. ‘59 Parliament Hoox.]
obelisks, with the motto Bominus cusfodif infroifurn
msfrunz. The ...
Vol. 1 p. 159 (Rel. 0.87)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [‘Newhaven.
there was built and launched, in I 5 I I, the famous
war-ship of James ...
Vol. 6 p. 298 (Rel. 0.87)
... AND NEW EDINBURGH.
Scotland. But it does not appear that any of
this family ever sat in Parliament. The title ...
Vol. 6 p. 316 (Rel. 0.87)
... AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Craigmillar.
-- 58
competition, the first prize for the chapel, &c., was
awarded to ...
Vol. 5 p. 58 (Rel. 0.87)
... --_ - b r d Prumts.1 THE FIRST MAGISTRATE.
c-
CHAMBERS STREET.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
THE L9RD PROVOSTS OF ...
Vol. 4 p. 277 (Rel. 0.87)
... 1,,firwry Strert.1 1NFIRMARY SUGGESTED.
CHAPTER XXXVI.
THE OLD ROYAL INFIRMARY-SURGEON SQUARE.
The Old Royal ...
Vol. 4 p. 297 (Rel. 0.87)
![Leith.] THE BARTONS. 203
is the second of the name, who died in 1513,
John the senior was certainly dead in 1508.
Charles, Duke of Burgundy, was so incensed by
the capture of the Juliuna in Flemish waters that
he demanded the surrender of Pret and Velasquez
to himself, with due compensation to Barton, but
failed in both cases. Joam 111. was then King of
Portugal.
Robert Barton would seem also at one time to
have faHen into the hands of the Portuguese ; and
there is extant a letter sent by James IV. to the
Emperor Maximilian, requesting his influenCe to
have him released from prison, and therein the
king refers to the quarrel of 1476, and merely
states that old John Barton was thrown into a prison
also.
In 1506, at a tournament held by James IV. in
Stirling, we read of a blackamoor girl, captured
from the Portuguese by Captain Barton, seated in
a triumphal chariot, being adjudged the prize of
the victor knight ; but the Bartons sent other gifts
to the king, in the shape of casks full of pickled
Portuguese heads.
In 1498, when Perkin Warbecli and his wife, the
Lady Katharine Gordon, left Scotland for Flanders,
they were on board a ship which, Tytler says, was
commanded by and afterwards the property of the
celebrated Robert Barton. Amongst her stores,
noted in the “.Treasurefs Accounts,” are ‘‘ ten tuns
and four pipes of wine, 8 bolls of aitmele, 18 marts
of beef, 23 muttons, and a hogshead of herring.”
Andrew Barton, the brother of the captain (and,
like him, a merchant in Leith), is mentioned as
having furnished biscuit, cider, and beer, for the
voyage.
In 1508 this family continued their feud with the
Portuguese. In that year Letters of Marque were
granted to them by James IV., and they run thus,
according to the “Burgh Records of Edinburgh ” :-
“]~callus Dei Gratia Rex Scatorurn, deZectis semit
o d u s nosiris. John Barton and Robert Barton,
sons of our late beloved servant John Barton, shipmaster,
and other shipmasters our lieges and subjects,
in company of the said John Barton for the
time (greeting) :
“ Some pirates of the nation of Portugal attacked
a ship of our late illustrious ancestor (James HI.),
which, under God, the late John commanded, and
with a fleet of many ships compelled it to surrender,
robbed it of its merchandise, of very great
value, and stripped it of its armament On account
of which, our most serene father transmitted his complaint
to the King of Portugal.” Justice not having
been done, the document runs, Jarnes 111. decreed
Letters of Reprisal against the Portuguese. “ We,
moreover, following the footsteps of our dearly
beloved ancestor . . . . . concede and grant by
these presents to you, John and Robert aforesaid,
and our other subjects who shall be in your company
for the time, our Letters of Marque or Reprisai,
that you may receive and bring back to us
from any men whomsoever of the nation of Portugal,
on account of the justice aforesaid being.
desired, to the extent of 3,000 crowns of money
of France . . . . Givenunder our Privy Seal, &c.”
Under these letters the brothers put to sea in
the quaint argosies of those days, which had low
waists with towering poops and forecastles, and
captured many Portuguese ships, and doubtless
indemnified themselves remarkably well ; while
their elder brother, Andrew, an especial favourite
of James IV., who bestowed upon him the then
coveted honour of knighthood, “ for upholding
the Scottish flag upon the seas,” was despatched
to punish some Dutch or Flemish pirates who had
captured certain Scottish ships and destroyed theircrews
with great barbarity. These he captured,
with their vessel, and sent all their heads to LeitL
in a hogshead.
As is well known, he was killed fighting bravely
in the Downs on the 2nd August, 1511, after a
severe conflict with the ships of Sir Thomas and Sir.
Edward Howard, afterwards Lord High Admiral of
England, when he had only two vessels with him,
the Lion of 36 great guns, and a sloop name$ the.
Jenny. The Howards had three ships of war and
an armed collier. The Lion was afterwards added
to the English navy, as she was found to be only
second in size and armament to the famous Great
Harry. His grandson Charles married Susan
Stedman of Edinburgh, and from them are said tobe
descended nearly all of that name in Fife, Kinross,
and Holland.
For his services as Admiral on the West Coast,
John Barton received the lands of Dalfibble ; and
in April, 1513, he returned from a diplomatic mission
to France, accompanied by the Unicorn Pursuivant;
and so important was its nature that he
took horse, and rode all night to meet the king,
who was then on the eve of departing for Flodden.
On the 26th of July in the Same year he joined
the squadron, consisting of the Great Michael, the
James, Marguret, the S/$ of Lynne (an English
prize), a thirty-oared galley, and fourteen other
armed ships, commanded by Gordon of Letterfourie
(and having on board the Earl of Arran and
3,000 soldiers), which sailed from Leith as a present
to Anne, Queen of France-a piece of ill-timed
generosity on the part of the princely Jarnes IV.,
who accompanied the armament as far as the Isle](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v6p022.gif "Volume 6 Page 203")
... THE BARTONS. 203
is the second of the name, who died in 1513,
John the senior was certainly dead in ...
Vol. 6 p. 203 (Rel. 0.86)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Leith
by the enterprising firm, but was conducted by
them in conjunction with other ...
Vol. 6 p. 274 (Rel. 0.85)
... THE REV. JOHN LOGAN.
The first Protestant minister of Leith, at the
settlement of the Reformation in 1560, ...
Vol. 6 p. 219 (Rel. 0.85)
... to 500 men.” This enumeration probably
includes wounded.
On the 13th of June the duke pulled down ...
Vol. 1 p. 65 (Rel. 0.84)
![94 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [The Mourd
of the sums set down in their respective subscriptions
towards carrying on the bank, and all and
every the persons subscribing and paying to. the
said stock as aforesaid shall be, and hereby are
declared to be, one body corporate and politic,
by the name and company of THE BANK OF
SCOTLAND,” etc.
The charter, while detailing minutely all that
the bank may do in the way of lending money and
giving laws for its internal government, fails to
define in any way the liability of the shareholders
to each other or to the public. For the space of
twenty-one years it was to be free from all public
burdens, and during that time all other persons in
the realm of Scotland are prohibited from setting
up any rival company.
To preclude the breaking of the bank contrary
to the object in view, it is declared that the sums
of the present subscriptions and shares may only
be conveyed and transmitted by the owners to
others who shall become partners in their place,
or by adjudication or other legal means. It is
also provided by the charter that aH foreigners on
acquiring the bank stock must become “ naturalised
Scotsmen, to all intents and! purposes whatsoever,”
a privilege that became abused, and was abolished
in 1822. The charter further ordains that no
member of the said company shall, upon any
“ pretence whatever, directly or indirectly, use,
exercise, or follow any other traffic or trade with
the said joint stock to be employed in the said
bank, or any part thereof, or profits arising therefrom,
excepting the trade of lending 2nd borrowing money
upon interest, and negotiating bills of exchange,
allenarly [i.e., these things only], and no other.”
By various subsequent statutes the capital of
this bank was increased till it stood nominally at
~1,500,000, a third of which has not been called ;
and by the Act 36 and 37 Victoria, cap. gg, further
powers to raise capital were granted, without the
Act being taken advantage of. The additional
amount authorised is ~3,000,000, which would
give a total capital of A~,~OO,OOO sterling.
The monopoly conferred on the bank by the
Parliament of Scotland was not renewed at the
expiry of the first twenty-one years; and on its
being found that banking business was on the
increase, another establishment, the Royal Bank
of Scotland, was chartered in 1727, and immediately
became the rival of its predecessor.
“It purchased up,” says Amot, “all the notes of
the Bank of Scotland that they (the directors)
could lay hands on, and caused such a run upon
this bank as reduced them to considerable difficulties.
To avoid such distresses for the future,
the Bank of Scotland, on the 29th of November,
1730, began to issue 6 5 notes, payable on demand,
or 65 2s. 6d. six months after their being presented
for payment, in the option of the bank.
On the 12th of December, 1732, they began to
issue AI notes with a similar clause.”
The other banking companies in Scotland found
it convenient to follow the example, and universally
framed their notes with these optional clauses.
They were issued for the most petty sums, and
were currently accepted in payment, insomuch
that notes for five shillings were perfectly common,
and silver was, in a manner, banished from
Scotland. To remedy these banking abuses, an
Act of the British Parliament was passed in 1765,
prohibiting all promissory notes payable to the
bearer under 61 sterling, and also prohibiting and!
declaring void all the optional clauses.
In the year 1774, when the Bank of Scotlan&
obtained an Act to enlarge their capital to
~2,400,000 Scots, or ;~ZOO,OOO sterling, a clause
provided that no individual should possess in
whole, or more than, ~ 4 0 , 0 0 0 in stock, and the
qualification for the offices of governor and directors
was doubled.
The present offices of the Bank of Scotland
were completed from the original design in 1806
by Mr. Richard Cnchton, and the institution was
moved thither in that year from the old, narrow,
and gloomy close where it had transacted business
for one hundred and eleven years.
In digging the foundation of this edifice, the
same obstacle came in the way that eventually
occasioned the fall of the North Bridge. After
excavating to a great depth, no proper foundation
could be found-all being travelled earth. The
quantity of this carted away was such that the
foundations of some of the houses in the nearest
closes were shaken and their walls rent, so that
the occupants had to remove. A solid foundation
was at last found, and the vast structure was reared
at the cost of L75,ooo. T h e quantity of stone and
mortar which IS buried below the present surface is
immense, and perhaps as much of the building is below
the ground as above it,” says Stark in 1820.
“The dead wall on the north of the edifice, where the
declivity is greatest, is covered by a stone curtain,.
ornamented with a balustrade. The south front is.
elegant. A small dome rises from the centre,
and in the front are four projections. A range
of Connthian pilasters decorates the second floor,
and over the door in the recess is a Venetian
window, ornamented with two columns of the
Corinthian order, surmounted by the arms of the
bank.”](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v3p106.gif "Volume 3 Page 94")
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [The Mourd
of the sums set down in their respective subscriptions
towards carrying on ...
Vol. 3 p. 94 (Rel. 0.84)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Hawthornden.
walls seven feet thick, and the remains of a banqueting-
hall with large ...
Vol. 6 p. 354 (Rel. 0.84)
... Claw.
One of the shops next to the jeweller’s was,
about the middle of last century, a tavern, kept ...
Vol. 1 p. 176 (Rel. 0.84)
... CANONGATE TOLBOOTH.
OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. -
CHAPTER I.
THE CANONGATE.
Its Origin-Songs concerning ...
Vol. 3 p. 1 (Rel. 0.83)
![Restalrig.] THE CHURCHYARD. 131
That the church was not utterly destroyed is
proved by the fact that the choir walls of this
monument of idolatry ” were roofed over in 1837,
as has been stated.
An ancient crypt, or mausoleum, of large diniensions
and octangular in form, stands on the south
side of the church. Internally it is constructed with
a good groined roof, and some venerable yews cast
their shadow over the soil that has accumulated
above it, and in which they have taken root. It is
believed to have been erected by Sir Robert Logan,
knight, of Restalrig, who died in 1439, according
to the obituary of the Preceptory of St. Anthony at
Leith, and it has been used as a last resting-place
for several of his successors. Some antiquaries,
however, have supposed that it was undoubtedly
attached to the college, perhaps as a chapter-house,
or as a chapel of St. Triduana, but constructed on
the model of St. Margaret’s Well. Among others
buried here is “LADY JANEr KER, LADY RESTALRIG,
QUHA DEPARTED THIS LIFE 17th MAY, 1526.”
Wilson, in his ‘‘ Reminiscences,” mentions that
‘‘ Restalrig kirkyard was the favourite cemetery of
the Nonjuring Scottish Episcopalians of the last
century, when the use of the burial service was
proscribed in the city burial-grounds ; ” and a strong
division of dead cavalry have been interred there
from the adjacent barracks. From Charles Kirkpatrick
Sharpe he quotes a story of a quarrel carried
beyond the grave, which may be read upon a flat
stone near that old crypt.
Of the latter wrote Sharpe, “I believe it belongs
to Lord Bute, and that application was made to him
to allow Miss Hay-whom I well knew-daughter
of Hay of Restalrig, Prince Charles’s forfeited
secretary, to be buried in the vault. This was
refused, and she lies outside the door. May the
earth lie light on her, old lady kind and vener.
able !”
In 1609 the legal rights of the church and parish
of Restalrig, with all their revenues and pertinents,
were formally conferred upon the church of South
Leith.
In 1492, John Fraser, dean of Restalrig, wa?
appointed Lord Clerk Register; and in 154C
another dean, John Sinclair, was made Lord 01
Session, and was afterwards Bishop of Brechin and
Lord President of the Court of Session. He it war
who performed the marriage ceremony for Queen
* Mary and Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley. In 1592
the deanery was dissolved by Act of Parliament,
and divided between “ the parsonage of Leswadc
and parsonage of Dalkeith, maid by Mr. Georgt
Ramsay, dean of Restalrig.”
After the Logans-of whom elsewhere-tht
Lords Balmerino held the lands of Restalrig till
their forfeiture in I 746, and during the whole period
of their possession, appropriated the vaults of the
forsaken and dilapidated church as the burial-place
of themselves and their immediate relations. From
them it passed to the Earls of Bute, with whose
family it still remains.
In the burying-ground here, amid a host of
ancient tombs, are some of modem date, marking
where lie the father of Lord Brougham ; Louis
Cauvin, who founded the hospital which bears his
name at Duddingston ; the eccentric doctor known
as Lang Sandy Wood,” and his kindred, including
the late Lord Wood ; and Lieutenant-Colonel
William Rickson, of the I 9th Foot, a brave and distinguished
soldier, the comrade and attached friend
of Wolfe, the hero of Quebec. His death is thus
recorded in the Scots Magazine for 1770 :-cr At
his house in Broughton, Lieutenant-Colonel William
Rickson, Quartermaster-General and Superintendent
of Roads in North Britain.” His widow died
so lately as 1811, as her tomb at Restalrig bears,
‘‘ in the fortieth year of her widowhood”
Here, too, was interred, in 1720, the Rev. Alexander
Rose, the last titular bishop of Edinburgh.
In tracing out the ancient barons of Restalrig,
among the earliest known is Thomas of Restalrig,
nxa 1210, whose name appears in the Regktruum
de DunferrnZine as Sheriff of Edinburgh.
In the Macfarlane MSS. in the Advocates’
Library, there is a charter of his to the Priory of
Inchcolm, in the Firth of Forth, circa 1217, very
interesting from the localities therein referred to,
and the tenor of which runs thus in English :-
“To all seeing or hearing these writings,
Thomas of Lestalrig wishes health. Know ye,
that for the good of my soul, and the souls of all
my predecessors and successors, and the soul of
my wife, I have given and conceded, and by this
my charter have confirmed, to God and the canons
of the church of St. Columba on the Isle, and the
canons of the same serving God, and that may yet
serve Him forever, that whole land which Baldwin
Comyn was wont to hold from me in the town of
Leith, namely, that land which is next and adjoining
on the south to that land which belonged to
Ernauld of Leith, and to twenty-four acres and a
half of arable land in my estate of Lestalrig in that
field which is called Horstanes, on the west part of
the same field, and on the north part of the high
road between Edinburgh and Leith (it., the Easter
Road) in pure and perpetual gift to be held by
them, with all its pertinents and easements, and
with common pasture belocging to such land, and
with free ingress and egress, with carriage, team,](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v5p142.gif "Volume 5 Page 131")
... THE CHURCHYARD. 131
That the church was not utterly destroyed is
proved by the fact that the choir ...
Vol. 5 p. 131 (Rel. 0.83)
![High Street.] MESSRS. W. & R. CHAMBERS. 225
fortyyfve years ago. This little work came out in
the Augustan days of Edinburgh, when Jeffrey and
Scott, Wilson and the Ettrick Shepherd, Dugald
Stewart and Alison, were daily giving the producpublic
victory, and in a few days the sale in Scotland
alone was 50,000 copies, while No. 3 rose to
80,ooo in the Esglish market. Robert threw himself
heart and soul into the successful periodical ;
tions of their minds
to the public, and
while yet Archibald
Constable acted as
the unquestioned
emperor of the publishing
world.”
In 1826 Robert
published his “ Popular
Rhymes of
Scotland,” and the
“ Picture of Scotland,”
and shortly
afterwards five
volumes of Scottish
history, for Consiable’s
Miscellany.
The brothers were
now making
money, and in tolerably
prosperous
c i r cu m s t a n c es,
though they lost
much of their hardwon
savings by assisting
their father
in a piece of unsuccessful
litigation.
About that time
William produced
the “Book of Scotland,”
a work describing
the institutions
of the country,
for which he
got A30, while
Robert got 6100
for preparing a
“Gazetteer of Scotland
;” and in I 83 2
William projected
the great work
ADVOCATES’ CLOSE.
which made the firm prosperous and famous wherever
the English language is spoken-- Chambers’s Edinburgh
journal, the vanguard of all that is wholesome,
sensible, and unsectarian in cheap literature, as it ap
peared six weeks before the famous Penny Magazin~
The first weekly number appeared on the 4th
February, 1832. Robert thought the speculation a
hazardous one, but William’s courage achieved a
29
and speaking of
partnership with
him, his brother
writes : ‘‘ Such was
the degree of mutual
confidence between
us that not
for the space of
twenty-one years
was it thought expedient
to execute
any deed of agreement.”
While constantly
contributing
to the Journal,
Robert, in 1835,
completed his “Biographical
Dictionary
of Eminent
Scotsmen,” in foul
volumes.
The brothers
issued, in the preceding
year, their
‘‘ Information for
the People,” and
after this venture
came a series of
about a hundred
school books-the
“ Chambers’s Edu,
cational Course,‘
still so familiar to
many middle-class
school-boys. While
collecting information
upon the subject
of public education,
William got
together materials in
1839 for his “Tour
in Holland and the
Rhine Countries i
and about this time, twenty volumes of a series
entitled “ Chambers’s Miscellany ” were issued by
the firm, which had an enormous circulation j but
the great and crowning enterprise of Messrs.
W. and R Chambers was unquestionably their
‘‘ Encyclopzedia, or Dictionary of Uni;ersal Information
for the People,” a work begun in 1859 and
completed in 1868-a work unrivalled by any in](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v2p045.gif "Volume 2 Page 225")
... Street.] MESSRS. W. & R. CHAMBERS. 225
fortyyfve years ago. This little work came out in
the Augustan ...
Vol. 2 p. 225 (Rel. 0.82)
... OLD AED NEW EDINBURGH. [Hanover Street.
in yhich David Hume died the Bible Society oi
Edinburgh was many ...
Vol. 3 p. 162 (Rel. 0.82)
![Merchiston.] THE NAPIERS OF MERCHISTON. 35
likeness of the founder, painted by Sir James
Foulis of Woodhall, Bart.
In 1870 the original use to which the foundation
was put underwent a change, and the hospital
became a great public school for boys and girls.
At the western extremity of what was the Burghmuir,
near where lately was an old village of that
name (at the point where the Colinton road diverges
from that which leads to Biggar), there stands, yet
unchanged amid all its new surroundings, the
ancient castle of Merchiston, the whilom seat of a
race second to none in Scotland for rank and talent
-the Napiers, now Lords Napier and Ettrick. It
is a lofty square tower, surmounted by corbelled
battlements, a ape-house, and tall chimneys. It
was once surrounded by a moat, and had a secret
avenue or means of escape into the fields to the
north. As to when it was built, or by whom, no
record now remains.
In the missing rolls of Robert I., the lands of
Merchiston and Dalry, in the county of Edinburgh,
belonged in his reign to William Bisset, and under
David II., the former belonged to William de
Sancto Claro, on the resignation of Williani Bisset,
according to Robertson’s “Index,” in which we find
a royal charter, “datum est apud Dundee,” 14th
August, 1367, to John of Cragyof the lands of
Merchiston, which John of Creigchton had resigned.
So the estate would seem to have had several
proprietors before it came into the hands of
Alexander Napier, who was Provost of Edinburgh
in 1438, and by this acquisition Merchiston became
the chief title of his family.
His son, Sir Alexander, who was Comptroller of
Scotland under James 11. in 1450, and went on a
pilgrimage to St. Thomas of Canterbury in the
following year-for which he had safe-conduct from
the King of England-was Provost of Edinburgh
between 1469 and 1471- He was ambassador to
the Court of the Golden Fleece in 1473, and was
no stranger to Charles the Bold ; the tenor of his
instructions to whom from James II., shows that he
visited Bruges a d the court of Burgundy before
that year, in 1468, when he was present at the
Tournament of the Golden Fleece, and selected a
suit of brilliant armour for his sovereign.
Sir Alexander, fifth of Merchiston, fell at Flodden
with James IV.
John Napier of Merchiston was Provost 17th
of May, 1484, and his son and successor, Sir Archibald,
founded a chaplaincy and altar in honour of St.
Salvator in St. Giles’s Church in November, 1493.
His grandson, Sir Archibald Napier, who married
a daughter of Duncan Campbell of Glenorchy, was
slain at the battle of Pinkie, in 1547.
Sir Alexander Napier of Merchiston and Edinbellie,
who was latterly Master of the Mint to
James VI., was father of John Napier the
celebrated inventor of the Logarithms, who was
born in Merchiston Castle in 1550, fgur years after
the birth of Tycho Brahe, and fourteen before that
of Galileo, at a time when the Reformation in
Scotland was just commencing, as in the preceding‘
year John Knox had been released from the
French galleys, and was then enjoying royal
patronage in England. His mother was Janet,
only daughter of Sir Francis Bothwell, and sister
of Adam, Bishop of Orkney. At the time of his
birth his father was only sixteen years of age. He
was educated at St. Salvator’s College, St. Andrews,
where he matriculated 1562-3, and afterwards spent
several years in France, the Low Countries, and
Italy; he applied himself closely to the study of
mathematics, and it is conjectured that he gained
a taste for that branch of learning during his residence
abroad, especially in Itily, where at that
time were many mathematicians of high repute.
While abroad young Napier escaped some perils
that existed at home. In 150s a dreadful pest
broke out in Edinburgh, and his father and family
were exposed to the contagion, “ by the vicinity,”
says Mark Napier, ‘‘ of his mansion to the Burghmuir,
upon which waste the infected were driven
out to grovel and die, under the very walls of
Merchiston.”
In his earlier years his studies took a deep theological
turn, the fruits of which appeared in his
“ Plain Discovery of the Revelation of St John,”
which he published at Edinburgh in 1593, and
dedicated to James VI. But some twenty years
before that time his studies must have been sorely
interrupted, as his old ancestral fortalice lay in the
very centre of the field of strife, when Kirkaldy
held out the castle for Queen Mary, and the savage
Douglas wars surged wildly round its walls.
On the 2nd April, 1572, John Napier, then in his
twenty-second year, was betrothed to Elizabeth,
daughter of Sir James Stirling of Keir ; but as he
had incurred the displeasure of the queen’s party
by taking no active share in her interests, on the
18th of July he was arrested by the Laid of Minto,
and sent a prisoner to the Castle of Edinburgh,
then governed by Sir TVilliam Kirkaldy, who in the
preceding year had bombarded Merchiston with
his iron guns because certain soldiers of the king’s
party occupied it, and cut off provisions coming
north for the use of his garrison. The solitary
tower formed the key of the southern approach
to the city ; thus, whoever triumphed, it became the
object of the opponent’s enmity.](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v5p046.gif "Volume 5 Page 35")
... THE NAPIERS OF MERCHISTON. 35
likeness of the founder, painted by Sir James
Foulis of Woodhall, ...
Vol. 5 p. 35 (Rel. 0.82)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Kirk-of-Field.
land of umyle Hew Berrie’s tenement and chamber
adjacent yr to, lying ...
Vol. 5 p. 2 (Rel. 0.82)
... of the siege, he says, “ upon the twentieth
day, the principal block-house of Leith, called ...
Vol. 6 p. 222 (Rel. 0.81)
... of the siege, he says, “ upon the twentieth
day, the principal block-house of Leith, called ...
Vol. 6 p. 223 (Rel. 0.81)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. 11745.
-the identical vehicle in which the deputies had returned
from Gray’s Mill, ...
Vol. 2 p. 326 (Rel. 0.81)
... INDEX. 371
Black Watch, 11. 89, 138, 149, 179.
Black Wigs ClLb, 111. 123
Blackwood, Hnilie, 111. ...
Vol. 6 p. 371 (Rel. 0.81)
![THE EARLY CHURCH. I39 St. Giles’s Church.]
of that hospital used to present a bowl of ale to away. The first stone church was probably of
every felon as he passed their gate to Newgate.
Among the places enumerated by Simon Dunelmensis,
of Durham, as belonging to the see
.of Lindkfarn in 854, when Earnulph, who removed
it to Chester-le-Street, was bishop, he includes
that of Edinburgh. From this it must
be distinctly inferred that a church of some
kind existed on the long slope that led to Dun
Edin, but no authentic record of it occurs till the
reign of King Alexander II., when Baldred deacon
of Lothian, and John perpetual vicar of the
church of St. Giles at Edinburgh, attached their
seals to copies of certain Papal bulls and charters
of the church of Megginche, a dependency of the
church of Holyrood ; and (according to the Liber
Cartaruni Sanctae Crucis) on the Sunday before the
feast of St. Thomas, in the year 1293, Donoca,
daughter of John, son of Herveus, resigned certain
Iands to the monastery of Holyrood, in full consis-,
Norman architecture. A beautiful Norman dborway,
which stood below the third window from the
west, was wantonly destroyed towards the end of
the eighteenth century. ‘‘ This fragment,” says
Wilson, “sufficiently enables us to picture the
little parish church of St. Giles in the reign of
David I. Built in the massive style of the early
Norman period, it would consist simply of a nave
and chancel, united by a rich Norman chancel
arch, altogether occupying only a portion of the
centre of the present nave. Small circular-headed
windows, decorated with zig-zag mouldings, would
admit the light to its sombre interior; while its
west front was in all probability surmounted by
a simple belfry, from whence the bell would summon
the natives of the hamlet to matins and
vespers, and with slow measured sounds toll their
knell, as they were laid in the neighbouring churchyard.
This ancient church was never entire4 detory,
held in the church of St. Giles. Its solid masonry was probably very
is again mentioned, when William the bishop of St. forces of Edward 11. in 1322, when Holyrood was
,%ndrews confirmed numerous gifts bestowed upon spoiled, or by those of his son in 1335, when
the abbey and its dependencies. In 1359 King the whole country was wasted with fire and sword.
David II., by a charter under his great seal, con- The town was again subjected to the like violence,
Catharine in the church of St. Giles all the lands I conflagration of 1385, when the English army
.of Upper Merchiston, the gift of Roger Hog, under Richard 11. occupied the town for five days,
burgess of Edinburgh. It is more than probable and then laid it and the abbey of Holyrood in
961, and built up again within the year. Of what ’ the original fabric by the piety of private donors,
must the materials have been? asks Maitland. I or by the zeal of its own clergy to adapt it to
Burned again in 1187, it was rebuilt on arches of, the wants of the rising town. In all the changes
.stone--“ a wonderful work,” say the authors of the that it underwent for above seven centuries, the
day. I original north door, with its beautifully recessed
A portion of the church of St. Giles was arched ’ Norman arches and grotesque decorations, always
I with stone in 1380, as would appear from a con- commanded the veneration of the innovators, and I tract noted by Maitland, who has also preserved remained as a precious relic of the past, until the
the terms of another contract, made in 1387, be- tasteless improvers of the eighteenth century de-.
tween the provost and community of Edinburgh I molished it without a cause, and probably for no
on one hand, an? two masons on the other, for the better reason than to evade the cost of its repair !”
construction of five separate vaulted chapels along I In the year 1462 great additions and repairs.
the south side of the church, the architectural appear to have been in progress, for the Town.
features of which prove its existence at a period Council then passed a law that all persons selling
I long before any of these dates, and when Edin- corn before it was entered should forfeit one chal-
I der to church work. In the year 1466 it was I burgh was merely a cluster of thatched huts.
The edifice, as it now stands, is a building erected into a collegiate church by James III.,.
including the work of many different and remote the foundation consisting (according to Keitli and
I periods. By all men of taste and letters in Edin- others) of a provost, curate, sixteen prebendaries,.
burgh it has been a general subject of regret that sacristan, beadle, minister of the choir, and four
the restoration in 1829 was conducted in a man- choristers. - Various sums of money, lands, tithes,
ner so barbarous and irreverent, that many of its &c., were appropriated for the support of the new
In an Act ’ molished.
passed in 1319, in the reign of Robert I., the church I partially affected by the ravages of the invading
firmed to the chaplain officiating at the altar of St. i probably with results little more lasting, by the
that the first church on the site was of wood. St. i ashes. The Norman architecture disappeared
Paul’s Cathedral, at London, was burned down in I piecemeal, as chapels and aisles were added to](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v1p151.gif "Volume 1 Page 139")
... EARLY CHURCH. I39 St. Giles’s Church.]
of that hospital used to present a bowl of ale to away. The first ...
Vol. 1 p. 139 (Rel. 0.81)
... of Belhaven, the Earl Marischal, after having
opposed the Union in all its stages, refused to be
present at ...
Vol. 1 p. 67 (Rel. 0.81)
![Leith.] HOME-COMING OF MONS MEG. 209
by the foot o the Calton Hill towards the Palace
of Holyrood.
As a souvenir of this event, on the first anniversary
of it a massive plate was inserted on the
Shore, in the exact spot on which the king first
placed his foot, and there it remains to this day,
with a suitable inscription commemorative of the
event.
In 1829, Mons Meg, which, among other ord
nance deemed unserviceable, had been transmitted
by the ignorance of an officer to London, and retained
there in the Tower, was, by the patriotic
efforts of Sir Walter Scott, sent home to Scotland.
This famous old cannon, deemed a kind of Palladium
by the Scots, after an absence of seventy-five
years, was landed from the Happy Janet, and after
lying for a time in the Naval Yard, till arrangements
were made, the gun was conveyed to the Castle by
a team of ten horses decked with laurels, preceded
by two led horses, mounted by boys clad in tartans
with broadswords. The escort was formed by a
123
grooms and esquires; Sir Patrick Walker, as
Usher of the White Rod; a long alternation of
cavalry and infantry, city dignitaries, and Highlanders,
followed.
At the end of the vista, preceded by ten royal
footmen, two and two, sixteen yeomen of the
Scottish Guard, escorted by the Royal Archers,
came the king, followed by the head-quarter staff,
three clans of Highlanders, two squadrons of Lothian
yeomanry, three of the 3rd Dragoon Guards, Scots
Greys, and the Grenadiers of the 77th regiment;
and after some delay in going through the ceremony
of receiving the city keys-which no monarch
had touched since the days of Charles I.-the
magnificent train moved through the living masses
Lochend to the latter on the east, tA-e middle of
Leith Walk on the south, and Wardie Bum on the
west.
Adam White was the first Provost of Leith after
the passing of the Burgh Reform Bill in 1833;
and it is now governed by a chief magistrate, four
bailies, ten councillors, a treasurer, town clerk, and
two joint assessors.
Powers have since then been conferred upon the
Provost of Leith as admiral, and the bailies as
admirals-depute. There are in the town four
principal corporations - the Shipmasters, the
Traffickers, the Malt-men, and the Trades. The
Traffickers, or Merchant Company, have lost their
charter, and are merely a benefit society, without
the power of compelling entries ; and the Ship
masters, ordinarily called the Trinity House, vi11
be noticed in connection with that institution.
The Trades Corporation is multifarious, and
independently of it there is a body called “ The
Convenery,” consisting of members delegated from
troop of the 3rd Dragoon Guards, and detachments
of the Koyal Artillery and Highlanders. In the
evening the Celtic Society, all kilted, IOO strong,
dined together in honour of the event, Sir Walter
Scott in the chair; and on this occasion the old
saying was not forgotten, that Scotland would
never be Scotland till Mons Meg cam hame.”
The gun was then on the same ancient carriage
on which it had been taken away.
It was not until 1827 that the precise limits of
Leith as a town were defined, and a territory given
to it which, if filled, would almost enable it to vie
with the metropolis in extent, More extensive
boundaries were afterwards assigned, and these
are the Firth of Forth on the north, a line from
SIGNAL TOWER, LEITH PIER, 1775. (ABw Ckrk ofEUin.)](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v6p028.gif "Volume 6 Page 209")
... HOME-COMING OF MONS MEG. 209
by the foot o the Calton Hill towards the Palace
of Holyrood.
As a souvenir ...
Vol. 6 p. 209 (Rel. 0.81)
![High Street.] THE BRITISH LINEN COMPANY. 279
resided here was John, fourth Marquis, who was
Secretary of State for Scotland from 1742 till 1745,
when he resigned the office, on which the Government
at once availed themselves of the opportunity
for leaving it vacant, as it has remained ever since.
He died in 1762, and soon after the carriageentrance
and the fine old terraced garden of the
house, which lay on the slope westward, were
removed to make way for the Episcopal church in
the Cowgate-doomed in turn to be forsaken by
its founders, and even by their successors.
From the Tmeeddale family the mansion passed
into the hands of the British Linen Company, and
became their banking house, until they deserted it
for Moray House in the Canongate, from which they
ultiniatelymigrated to a statelier edifice inSt. Andrew
Square. This company was originally incorpo-
Tated by a charter under the Privy Seal granted by
George 11. on the 6th of July, 1746, at a time
when the mind of the Scottish people was still
agitated by the events of the preceding year and
the result of the battle of Culloden; and it was
deemed an object of the first importance to tranquillise
the country and call forth its resources, so
that the attention of the nation should be directed
to the advantages of trade and manufacture. With
this view the Government, as well as many gentlemen
of rank and fortune, exerted themselves to
promote the linen manufacture, which had been
lately introduced, deeming that it would in time
become the staple manufacture of Scotland, and
provide ample employment for her people, while
.extensive markets for the produce of their labour
would be found alike at home and in the colonies,
then chiefly supplied by the linens of Germany.
By the Dukes of Queensberry and Argyle, who
became the first governors of the British Linen
Company, representations to this effect were made
to Government, and by the Earls of Glencairn, Eglinton,
Galloway, Panmure, and many other peers,
together with the Lord Justice Clerk Fletcher of
Saltoun, afterwards Lord Milton, who was the first
deputy governor, and whose mother, when an exile
in Holland during the troubles, had secretly obtained
a knowledge of the art of weaving and of
dressidg the fine linen known as “ Holland,” and
introduced its manufacture at the village of Saltoun;
by the Lord Justice Clerk Alva ; Provost George
Drummond ; John Coutts, founder of the famous
banking houses of Forbes and Co., and Coutts
and Co. in the Strand; by Henry Home, Lord
Kames ; and many othqs, all of whom urged the
establishment of the company, under royal sanction,
and offered to become subscribers to the undertaking.
A charter was obtained in accordance with their
views and wishes, establishing the British Linen
Company as a corporation, and bestowing upon
it ample privileges, not only to manufacture and
deal in linen fabrics, but also to do all that
might conduce to the promotion thereof; and
authority was given to raise a capital of ~roo,ooo,
to be enlarged by future warrants under the
sign manual of his Majesty, his heirs and successors,
to such sums as the affairs of the company
might .require. After this the company engaged to
a considerable extent in the importation of flax and
the manufacture of yarns and linens, having warehouses
both in Edinburgh and London, and in its
affairs none took a more active part than Lord
Milton, who was an enthusiast in all that related to
the improvement of trade, agriculture, and learning,
in his native country; but it soon became apparent
that the company “ would be of more utility, and
better promote the objects of their institution, by
enlarging the issue of their notes to traders, than
being traders and manufacturers themselves.”
By degrees, therefore, the company withdrew
from all manufacturing operations and speculations,
and finally closed them in 1763, from which year
to the present time their business has been confined
to the discount of bills, advances on accounts,
and other b.ank transactions, in support of Scottish
trade generally, at home and abroad. “By the
extension of their branch agencies to a great number
of towns,” to quote their own historical report, “ and
the employment in discounts and cash advaqces of
their own funds, as well as of that portion of the
formerly scanty and inactive money capital of Scotland
which has been lodged with the company, they
have been the means of contributing very materially
to the encouragement of useful industry throughout
Scotland, and to her rapid progress in agricultural
and mechanical improvements, and in commercial
intercourse with foreign countries. As regards the
particular object of the institution of the companythe
encouragement of the linen manufa.cture-considerably
more than half of the flax and hemp
imported into the United Kingdom, is now (in
1878) brought to the Scottish ports.”
Now the bank has nearly eighty branch or subbranch
offices over all Scotland alone. The company’s
original capital of AIOO,OOO has been
gradually increased under three additional charters,
granted at different times, under the Great Seal
By Queen Victoria, their fourth charter, dated 19th
March, 1849, ratifies and confirms all, their privileges
and rights, and power was given to augment
their capital to any sum not exceeding A r,5oo,ooo
in all, for banking purposes. The amount of new](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v2p099.gif "Volume 2 Page 279")
... Street.] THE BRITISH LINEN COMPANY. 279
resided here was John, fourth Marquis, who was
Secretary of State ...
Vol. 2 p. 279 (Rel. 0.8)
![Leith Wynd.] TRINITY COLLEGE. 303
near its site stands one of the fine and spacious
school houses erected for the School Board.
At the foot of Leith Wynd, on the west side,
there was founded on the 5th of March, 1462, by
royal charter, the collegiate church of the Holy
Trinity, by Mary, Queen of Scotland, daughter of
Arnold Duke of Gueldres, grand-daughter of John
Duke of Burgundy, and widow of James II., slain
about two years before by the bursting of a cannon
at Roxburgh. Her great firniness on that disastrous
occasion, and during the few remaining
years of her own life, proves her to have been a
princess of no ordinary
strength of
mind. She took
an active part in
goyerning the stormy
kingdom of her son,
and died in 1463.
Her early death may
account for the nave
never being built,
though it was not
unusual for devout
persons in that age
of church buliding,
to erect as much
as they could finish,
and leave to the
devotion of posterity
the completion of
the rest. Pitscottie
tells us that she OLD COLLEGIATE SEALS,
his office shall be adjudged vacant, and the same
shall, by the Provost and Chapter, with consent of
the Ordinary, be conferred upon another. If any
of the said prebendaries shall keep a $ye-maker,
and shall not dismiss her, after being therein admonished
thereto by the Provost, his prebend shall
be adjudged vacant, and conferred on another, by
consent of the Ordinary as aforesaid.
“ The Provost of the said college, whenever the
office of provostry shall become vacant, shall by
us and our successors, Kings of Scotland, be presented
to the Ordinary; and the vicars belonging
to the out-churches
aforesaid shall be
presented by the
Provost and Chapter
of the said college
to the Ordinary,
fromwhomtheyshall
receive canonical institution;
and no
prebendary shall be
instituted unless he
can read and sing
plainly, count and
discount, and that
the boys may be
found docile in the
premises. And we
further appoint and
ordain, that whenever
any of the said
‘RINITY COLLEGE CHURCH. prebendwies shall
“was buried in the
Trinitie College, quhilk she built hirself.” Her
grave was violated at the Reformation.
The church was dedicated “to the Holy Trinity,
to the ever blessed and glorious Virgin Mary, to
3t. Ninian the Confessor, and to all the saints and
elect people of God.” The foundation was for a
provost, eight prebendaries, and two clerks, and
with much minuteness several ecclesiastical benefices
and portions of land were assigned for the
support of the several offices ; and in the charter
there are some provisions of a peculiar character,
in Scotland at least, and curiously illustrative of
the age and its manners :-
“Aud we appoint that none of the said preben-
,daries or clerks absent themselves from their offices
without the leave of the Provost, to whom it shall
not be lawful to allow any of them above the space
of fifteen days at a time, unless it be on extraordiaary
occasions, and then not without consent of
the chapter ; and whosoever of the said prebendaries
or clerks shall act contrary to this ordinance,
iead mass,‘ he shall,
after the same, in his sacerdotal habits, repair to
the tomb of the foundress with hyssop, and there
read the prayer Dep-ofmdis, together with that of
the faithful, and exhortation to excite the people to
devotion.’’ .
Thechoir of this church from the apse to the
west enclosure of the rood tower was go feet long,
and 70 feet from transept to transept window ; the
north aisle was 12 feet broad, and the south g feet.
It is a tradition in masonry that the north aisles of
all Catholic churches were wider than the south,
to commemorate the alleged circumstance of the
Saviour‘s head, on the cross, falling on his right
shoulder. In digging the foundation of the Scott
monument, an old quarry 40 feet deep was discovered,
and from it the stones from which the
church was built were taken. With the exception
of Holyrood, it was the finest example of decorated
English Gothic architecture in the city, with many
of the peculiarities of the age to which it belonged.
Various armorial bearings adorned different parts](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v2p123.gif "Volume 2 Page 303")
... Wynd.] TRINITY COLLEGE. 303
near its site stands one of the fine and spacious
school houses erected for the ...
Vol. 2 p. 303 (Rel. 0.8)
... monarchs-a new era began in its history,
and it took a stahding as the chief burgh in
Scotland, the ...
Vol. 1 p. 27 (Rel. 0.8)
... with legends, dates, and coats of arms,
for ages formed one of the most important features
of the ...
Vol. 5 p. 32 (Rel. 0.8)
... I.
THE CANONGATE.
@AGE
I& Origin-Songs concerning it-Reaords-Market Cross-St. John's ...
Vol. 4 p. 385 (Rel. 0.79)
![THE NORMAL SCHOOL. 295 George IV. Bridge.]
highly qualified examiners, on every point of which
it takes cognisance. It grants annually ten bursaries
of L z o each, and five of LIO each, to be
competed for by pupils of schools approved .of by
the directors.
The Society’s vested capital now’ amounts to
&o,ooo, and its annual revenue reaches more than
&,~oo, besides the receipts for general shows,
The Argyle Fund, for the education of young Highland
gentlemen for the navy, now amounts to
A5,639, and was instituted by John fifth Duke of
Argyle, the original president of the Society.
From its chambers, No. 3, George IV. Bridge, surveying
a width of range and multiplicity of objects
worthy of its wealth and intellect, its opulence of
power and resource, the Soqiety promotes the erection
of towns and bridges, the formation of roads,
the experiments and enterprises of agriculture, the
improvement of farm stock, the sheltering processes
of planting, the extension of fisheries, the introduction
of manufactures, the adaptation of machinery
to all useful arts, the ready co-operation of
’ local influence with legislative and public measures,
the diffusion of practical knowledge of all that may
tend to the general good of the Scottish nation,
and the consolidation of the Highlanders and
Lowlanders into one great fraternal community.
“ The Society awards large and numerous premiums
to stimulate desiderated enterprises, and in
1828 began the publication of the Quarter0 lown
d of Agridtztre, for prize essays and the dissemination
of the newest practical information ; it
patronises great annual cattle shows successively in
different towns, and by means of them excites and
directs a stirring and creditable spirit of emulation
among graziers, and, in general, it keeps in play
upon the community, a variety of influences which,
as far as regards mere earthly well-being, have
singularly transformed and beautified its character.”
Its arms are a figure of Caledonia on a pedestal,
between two youths-one a Highland reaper, the
other a ploughboy-being crowned. The motto is,
Sem$er armis nunc et industria. The Highland
Society’s hall and chamber form a very symmetrical
and also ornamental edifice, with a beautiful sculpture
of its coat of arms from the chisel of A.. H.
Kitchie. It formerly contained a most interesting
agricultural museum, which has been removed elsewhere.
Simil7.r societies on the same model have
since been established-by England in 1838, and
by Ireland in 1841.
The other edifice referred to, the Sheriff’s Court
Buildings, contiguous to the open arches over the
Cowgate, was erected in 1865-8, from designs
by David Bryce, at a cost of more than A44,ooo. -
It rises from a low basement, with an extensive
and imposing flank to the south, and presents in
its fapde an ornate variety of the Italian style
of architecture ; but within exhibits simply the
usual features of legal courts, with three subordinate
official chambers, unless we except the Society
hall of the solicitors-at-law, a minor legal body in
Edinburgh, which was incorporated by royal charter
in 1780, and only certain members of which are
qualified to act as agents before the Supreme Courts.
Johnstone Terrace, King’s Road, and Castle
Terrace crossing the King’s Bridge, the foundation
stone of which was laid in 1827, unitedly extend
about go0 yards along the southern limb, or southwestern
skirt of the Castle Rock, connecting the
head of the Lawnmarket with the Lothian Road,
at a point about 180 yards south of the west end
of Princes Street. These were formed between
1825 and 1836, to afford improved access to the
Old Town from the westward. They are collectively
called the New Western Approach, and apart
from being a very questionable improvement as
regards artistic taste, have destroyed the amenity
of the Castle Rock, and lessened its strength as a
fortress.
In Johnstone Terrace, to which we shall confine
ourselves for the present, at the eastern end,
resting at the corner of the Old West Bow, is St.
John’s Free Church, a handsome edifice in a mixed
style of early Gothic It was built from designs
furnished by Robert Hamilton in 1847, and is
chiefly famous for its congregation having enjoyed
for some years the ministry of the celebrated Dr.
Guthrie, and of Dr. Williani Hanna, a graduate of
the University of Glasgow, who was ordained to
the ministry of the Presbyterian Church in 1835,
and who is so well known as the author of “Wycliffe
and the Huguenots,” and as the affectionate
biographer of Chalmers.
Westward of this edifice is St. Columba’s Episcopal
church, also a Gothic structure, but of an earlier
style, with a low, square battlemented tower;
built in 1845.
At the cost of about ;GIO,OOO, the Normal School
of the Church of Scotland was built westward of it,
in 1845, and is a large and handsome edifice.
It is called the Normal School, or Church of
Scotland Training College. It is under the control
and management of the Education Committee of
the Church. It is a double college, and like that
in Glasgow, trains both masters and mistresses.
The course of training extends over two years,
and none are admitted as students but those who
have passed a preliminary examination ; but the
committee exercise their discretion in making their](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v2p115.gif "Volume 2 Page 295")
... NORMAL SCHOOL. 295 George IV. Bridge.]
highly qualified examiners, on every point of which
it takes ...
Vol. 2 p. 295 (Rel. 0.79)
![West Bow.1 THE TEMPLE LANDS. 321
and diversion from other patients, and his lucrum
assans, he has lost more than &so sterling, and
craves that sum as his fee and the recompense of
his damage.”
But as it was represented for the Laird of Netherplace,
that he had done his work unskilfully, and
In the city the order possessed several flat-roofed
tenements, known as the Temple Lands, and one
archway, numbered as 145, on the south side of the
Grassmarket, led to what was called the Temple
Close, but they have all been removed. It was
a lofty pile, and is mentioned in a charter of
that the sum of seyenteen
guineas was sufficient
payment.
At the foot of the
Bow, and on the west
side chiefly, were a few
old tenements, that,
in consequence of
being built upon
ground which had
originally belonged to
the Knights of the
Temple, were styled
Templar Lands, and
were distinguished by
having iron crosses on
their fronts and gables.
In the “Heart of
Midlothian,” Scott
describes them as being
of uncommon
height and antique
appearance ; but of
late years they have
all disappeared.
It was during the
Grand Mastership of
Everhard de Bar, and
while that brave warrior,
with only 130
knights of the order,
, was fighting under the
banner of Louis VII.
at Damascus, that the
Grand Priory of Scotland
was instituted,
~~
KOMIEU’S HOUSE.
( F Y o ~ a Measured Dnrwing by T. Hamilton, pzr6Zislud in 1830.)
and the knight who presided over it was then
styled Magziter Domus T’YZi in Sotid, when
lands were bestowed on the order,first by King
David I., and then by many others. To all the
property belonging to the Temple a great value
was attached, from the circumstance that it
afforded, until the extinction of heritable jurisdictions
in 1747, the benefit of sanctuary; thus
the Temple tenements in Fifeshire are still termed
houses of refuge.
Tempillands, lyand
next ye Gray Friers’
Yard;” and in 1598,
“a temple tenement
lyand near the Gray
Friars ’ Yett ” was confirmed
to James Kent
(Torphichen Charters).
On these the
iron cross was visible
in 1824.
On the dissolution
of the order all this
property in Scotland
was bestowed upon
their rivals, the
Knights of St. John of
Jerusalem ; and the
houses referred to became
eventually a part
of the barony of Drem
(of old a Temple
Priory) in Haddingtonshire,
the baron of
which used to hold
courts in them occasionally,
and here, till
I 747, were harboured
persons not free of
the city corporations, I
to the great annoyance
of the adherents of
local monopoly ; but
so lately as 1731, on
the 24th of August,
the Temple vassals
were ordered by the Bailie of Lord Torphichen,
to erect the cross of St. John “on the Templelands
within Burgh, amerciating [fining] such as
did not affix the said cross.’’ This was a strange
enactment in a country where it is still doubtful
whether such an emblem can figure as an ornament
upon a tomb or church. CIearly there must have
been some disinclination to affix the crosses,
otherwise the regulation would scarcely have been
passed.
buildings
shops
templar
knights](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v2p141.gif "Volume 2 Page 321")
... Bow.1 THE TEMPLE LANDS. 321
and diversion from other patients, and his lucrum
assans, he has lost more than ...
Vol. 2 p. 321 (Rel. 0.78)
![The Saennes.] ST. KATHARINE’S CONVENT. 53
“Papingo,” makes Chastity flee for refuge to the
sisters of the Sciennes.
The convent was erected under a Bull of Pope
Lax., and also by a charter of James V. This
Bull informs us that the convent was created
hough the influence of the families of Seton,
Lord Seton, refusing all offers of mamage, became
a nun at the Sciennes, and dying in her seventyeighth
year, was buried there, according to the
history of her house.
The chapel of St. John the Eaptist became
that of the new convent, which, up to the middle
MR. DUNCAN MCLAREN. (Froma Pkofo~roph &y/. G. Tunny.)
Douglas of Glenbervie, and Lauder of the Bass,
the land being given by the venerable Sir John
Crawford. The first prioress was the widowed
Lady Seton ; “ ane nobill and wyse Ladye,” says
Sir Richard hlaitland, “sche gydit hir sonnis
leving quhill he was cumit to age, and thereafter
she passit and remainit at the place of Senis, on
the Borrow Mure.” There she died in 1558, and
was buried in the choir of Seton church, beside
her husband, whose body had been brought from
Flodden.
Katharine, second daughter of George, fourth
of the skteenth century, received various augmentations-
among others, a tenement in the Cowgate.
The nuns made annual processions to the altar
of St. Katharine in St. Margaret’s Chapel at Liberton;
and it was remarked, says- the editor of
ArcAauZqia Scutica, that the man who demolished
the latter never prospered after.
In 1541 the magistrates took in feu from the
nuns their arable land, lying outside the Greyfriars’
Port, and, curious to say, it is on a portion of this
that the new Convent of St. Katharine was founded,
about 1860. Within the grounds on the north side](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v5p064.gif "Volume 5 Page 53")
... Saennes.] ST. KATHARINE’S CONVENT. 53
“Papingo,” makes Chastity flee for refuge to the
sisters of the ...
Vol. 5 p. 53 (Rel. 0.78)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Leith
helmet, now preserved in the Antiquarian Museum
-and the entrance gate or ...
Vol. 6 p. 258 (Rel. 0.78)
... he spent many a jovial hour with Willie
Xcol and Allan Masterton. ‘‘ Three blyther
lads” never ...
Vol. 1 p. 120 (Rel. 0.78)
... AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Canonmills. 86
modation than external display, and yet is not
unsuited to the ...
Vol. 5 p. 86 (Rel. 0.77)
... Hospital.1 WALTER BALCANQU.-II,L. 367
Waucllop Thesauer,” is ordained “ to take down
the stonewark ...
Vol. 4 p. 367 (Rel. 0.77)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Leith Walk.
Tience, he was appointed captain of the East New
Town Company, and ...
Vol. 5 p. 162 (Rel. 0.76)
... the time of her accouchement drew near, she
was advised by the Lords of Council to remain in
the fortress and ...
Vol. 1 p. 46 (Rel. 0.76)
... ROMAN AND OTUER ANTIQUITIES. 331
locality; But the ‘‘ Old Statistical Account ” has
the following ...
Vol. 6 p. 331 (Rel. 0.76)
... Street. THE sco-rr MONUMENT. 127
- -
Beattie, James Thomson, and John Home, adorn
the west front j those ...
Vol. 3 p. 127 (Rel. 0.76)
![Burghmuir.] GOLF ON BRUNTSFIELD LINKS. 31
Lord High Treasurer, under James IV., the following
entries are found :-
In virtue of a bet in 1798, Mr. Scales of Leith,
and Mr. Smellie, a printer, were selected to perform
..
King , . . . . . . . ixs.
1503, Feb. 22. Item, xij Golf Balls to the King iiijs.
1506. Item, the 28th day of Julii for ij Golf Clubbes to the
King . . . . . . . ijs.
During the reign of James VI. the business of
club making had become one of some importance,
and by a letter, dated Holyrood, 4th April, 1603,
William Mayne, Bowyer, burgess of Edinburgh, is
appointed maker of bows, arrows, spears, and clubs
to the king. From thenceforward the game took a
firm hold of the people as a national pastime, and
it seems to have been a favourite one with Henry,
Duke of Rothesay, and with the great Marquis of
Montrose, as the many entries in his ‘‘ Household
Book ” prove. ‘‘ Even kings themselves,” says a
writer in the Sots Magazine for 1792, “did not
decline the princely sport; and it will not be
displeasing to the Society of Edinburgh Golfers to
be informed that the two last crowned heads that
ever visited this country (Charles I. .and James
VII.) used to practise golf on the Links of Leith,
now occupied by the society for the same purpose.”
In 1744 the city gave a silver club, valued at
LIS, to be played for on the 1st of April annually
by the Edinburgh Company of Golfers, the victor
to be styled captain for the time, and to append
a gold or silver -medal to the club, bearing his
name and date of victory. The Honourable Company
was incorporated by a charter froni the
magistrates in 1800, and could boast of the most
illustrious Scotsmen of the day among its members.
Until the year 1792 St. Andrews had a species of
monopoly in the manufacture of golf balls. They
are small and hard, and of old were always stuffed
with feathers. The clubs are from three to four
feet long. “The heads are of brass,” says Dr.
Walker, in a letter to the famous Dr. Carlyle of
Inveresk ; ‘‘ and the face with which the ball is
struck is perfectly smooth, having no inclination,
such as might have a tendency to raise the ball
from the ground. The game may be played by
any number, either in parties against each other,
or each person for himself, and the contest is to
hole the course in the fewest strokes.”
“Far!” or “Fore!” is the signal cry before the ball
is struck, to warn loiterers or spectators; and
“Far and Surc !” is a common motto with golf clubs.
.
the Erle of Bothwile . . . . xlijs
Feb. 4- Item to Golf‘ Clubbes and Ballis to the
the church. They were allowed the use of six
balls each. These‘ all went considerably higher
than the vane, and were found in the Advocate’s
Close, on the north side of the High Street.
Duncan Forbes, the Lord President, was so fond
of golf that he was wont to play on the sands of
Leith when the Links were covered with snow.
Kay gives us a portrait of a famous old golfer,
Andrew McKellar, known as the “Cock o’ the
Green,” in the act of striking the ball. This enthusiast
spent entire days on Bruntsfield Links,
club in hand, and was often there by night too,
playing at the “short holes” by lantern light
Andrew died about 1813.
Bruntsfield Links and those of Musselburgh are
the favourite places yet of the Edinburgh Club ;
but the St. Andrews meetings are so numerously
attended that the old city by the sea has been
denominated the MefropoZis of golfing.
In a miscellaneous collection, entitled “ Mistura
Curiosa,” a song in praise of golf has two verses
“ I love the game of golf, my boys, though there are folks in
Who, when upon the Links they walk, delight to run it
But then those folks who don’t love golf, of coursc, can’t
The fond love that exists between the golfer and his friend.
“For on the green the new command, that ye love one
Is, as a rule, kept better by a golfer than a brother;
For if he’s struck, a brother’s rage is not so soon appeased,
But the harder that Zhit my friend, the better he is pleased.”
Until the Royal Park at Holyrood was opened
up, levelled, and improved, at the suggestion of the
late Prince Consort, Bruntsfield Links was the
invariable place for garrison reviews and field days
by the troops ; but >neither they nor any one else
can interfere with the vested rights of the golfers
to play over any part of the open ground at all
times.
On the summit of the green slope now crowned
by the hideous edifice known as Gillespie’s Hospital,
a picturesque mansion of very great antiquity,
quadrangular in form, striking in outline, with its
peel-tower, turrets, crowstepped gables and gablets,
thus :-
town
down ;
comprehend
another,
1 east corner of the Parliament Square over the
weathercock of St. Giles’s, 161 feet from the base of](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v5p042.gif "Volume 5 Page 31")
... GOLF ON BRUNTSFIELD LINKS. 31
Lord High Treasurer, under James IV., the following
entries are found ...
Vol. 5 p. 31 (Rel. 0.76)
![TU Cowpate.] THE HAMMERMEN. 263
reference to those trades which form the United
Incorporation of Hammermen, and to the old city
companies and trades in generaL
‘6 The Hammerer’s Seill of Cause,” was issued
on the 2nd Nay, 1483, by Sir Patrick Baron of
Spittalfield, Knight, Provost ‘of the City, Patrick
Balbirge of that ilk, David Crawford of St. Giles’s
Grange, and Archibald Todrig, being bailies ; and
under the general name are’included at that time,
blacksmiths, goldsmiths, lorimers, saddlers, cutlers,
buckler-makers, armourers, (( and all others
within the said burgh of Edinburgh.” Pewterers
were afterwards included, and a heckle-maker so
lately as 1609. By the rule of the corporation it
was statute and ordained, that ‘‘ na hammerman,
maister, feitman, servand, nor utheris, tak vpon
hand fra this tyme furth, to exercise or use ony
mair craftis but alanerly ane, and to live thairupon,
sua that his brether craftismen be not hurt throu
his large exercitation and exceeding of boundis,”
Src. And all the privileges of the haminermen
were ratified by Act of Parliament so recently
as September, 1681, when shearsmiths appear as
members of the corporation. In those days all the
operations of industry were treated as secrets.
Each trade was a craft, and those who followed
it were called craftsmen ; and skilled artisans were
‘‘ cunning men.” (Smiles.)
The Hammermen’s seal bears the effigyof St.
Eloi, in apostolical vestments, in a church porch
surmounted by five pinnacles, holding in one hand
a hammer, and in the other a key, with the legend,
(( Sig2lum commune artis tudiatorum.”
By the end of the 16th century the manufacture
of offensive weapons predominated over all other
trades in the city. The essay-piece ofa cutler, prior
to his admission to the corporation, was a wellfinished
“quhinzier,” or sword; and there were
gaird-makers, whose business consisted in fashioning
the hilts ; dalmascars, who gilded weapons and
armour. In 1582 sword blades were damascened
at Edinburgh ; but ‘‘ Hew Vans, dalmascar, was
ordained not to buy blades to sell again,” his business
being confined to gilding steel. There were
also the belt-makers, who wrought military girdles ;
dag-makers, who made hackbutts (short guns),
and dags, or pistols ; but all these various trades
became associated in the general one of armourers
or gunsmiths, as the wearing of weapons
began to fall into desuetude, and other arts connected
with civilisation and luxury began to take
their places.
In 1586 a locksmith is first found in Edinburgh,
where he was the cnly one, and could only make
a ‘‘ kist-lock.” Tirling-pins, wooden latches, and
transom bars, were the appurtenances of doors
before his time generally. But by 1609, “as the
security of property increased,” says Chambers,
the essay was a kist-lock and a hing and bois
lock with ane double plate lock ;” and, in 1644,
‘‘ a key and sprent band were added to the essay.”
In 1682 “a cruik and cruik band’ were further
added; and in 1728, for the safety of the liegeq
the locksmiths’ essay was appointed to be ‘‘ a cruik
and cruik-band, a pass-lock with a round filled
bridge, not cut or broke in the backside, with nobs
and jamb bound.” The trade of a shearsmith
appears first in 1595 in Edinburgh, and in 1613
Thomas Duncan, the first tinkler in the city was
admitted a hammerman. The trade of a pewterer
is found as far back as 1588; the first knockmaker
(or clockmaker) appears in 1647, but his
business was so limited that he added thereto
the making of locks. (“ Traditions of Edin.”) In
1664 the first white iron smith was admitted a
hammerman, and the first harnessmaker, though
lorimers-manufacturers of the iron-work used in
saddlery-were members. since 1483. The first
maker of surgical instruments in Edinburgh was
Paul Martin, a French Protestant refugee, in 1691.
In 1720 the first pin-maker appears ; and in 1764
the first edge-tool maker, and the first manufacturer
of fish-hooks.
By the first charter of the hammermen all a p
plicants for admission were examined by the
deacons and masters of their respective arts, as to
their qualifications ; and any member found guilty
of a bre?ch of any one of the articles contained in
their charter, was fined eight shillings Scots towards
the support of the corporation’s altar of St. Eloi in
St Giles’s Church and the chaplain thereof. The
goldsmiths were separated from the hammermen in
1581 ; but since then many other crafts have joined
them, including gunsmiths, watchmakers, founders,
braziers, and coppersmiths.
The cordiners, or shoemakers, were first created
into a society by the magistrates on the 28th of
July, 1449 (according to Maitland), in terms of
which each master of the trade who kept a booth
within the town, paid one penny Scots, and the;.
servants one halfpenny, towards the support of
their altar of St. Crispin, in St. Giles’s Church. A
new seal of cause was granted to them in 1509, and
another in 1586, which enacted that their shops were
not to be open on Sundays after g AM., and that no
work was to be done on that day under pain of twenty
shillings fine. It also regulated the days of the
week on which leather boots and shoes could be sold
by strangers in booths. This charter was confirmed
on 6th March, 1598, by James VI., in considera](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v4p083.gif "Volume 4 Page 263")
... Cowpate.] THE HAMMERMEN. 263
reference to those trades which form the United
Incorporation of Hammermen, and ...
Vol. 4 p. 263 (Rel. 0.75)
... barbarously threw the bodies on a great fire
that blazed in the fireplace of the tower; “and
there in their ...
Vol. 1 p. 34 (Rel. 0.75)
![High Street.] U‘ARRISTON’S CLOSE. 223
the floors as a picture gallery or exhibition, a new
leature in the Edinburgh of the seventeenth century,
and long before any such idea had been
conceived in France, England, or any other
country. Some of his best works were in possession
of the late Andrew Bell, engraver, the originator
of the ‘‘ Encyclopzdia Britannica,” who married
his granddaughter. “For some years after the
Revolution,” says Pinkerton, “ he was the only
painter in Scotland, and had a very great run of
business. This brought him into a hasty and
.incorrect manner.” So
here, in the Advocates’ -* ~ Close, in the dull and
anorose Edinburgh of
the seventeenth cendury,
was the fashionable
lounge of the dilettanti,
.the resort of rank and
beauty-a quarter from
which the haut ton of the
,present day would shrink
with aversion.
He died at Prestonpans
in the year 1730,
in his eighty-fifth year,
after having witnessed
as startling a series of
political changes as ever
occurred in a long lifetime.
Taking the ancient
.alleys seriatim, Roxburghe
Close comes
next, numbered as 341,
High Street, and. so
- -_
-- = --_= -- -+-
next we come to in descending the north side of
the street, remains only in name, the houses on
both sides being entirely new, and its old steep
descent broken at intervals by convenient flights
of steps; but until r868 it was nearly unchanged
froin its ancient state, some relics of which still
remain.
It had handsome fronts of carefully-polished
ashlar, with richly-decorated doorways with pious
legends on their lintels, to exclude witches, fairies,
and all manner of evil ; there were ornate dormer
named, it may COnfi- HOUSE OF LORD ADVOCATE STEWART, AT THE FOOT
dently be supposed OF ADVOCATES’ CLOSE, w e s ~ SIDE.
(though it cannot be
proved as a fact) from having contained the town
residence of some ancient Earl of Roxburghe.
All its ancient features have disappeared, save a
door built up with a handsome cut legend in
raised Roman letters :-“WHATEVER ME BEFALL
I THANK THE LORD OF ALL. J. M., 1586.” This
is said to have been the dwelling-place of the
Roxburghe family, but by tradition only. If true,
it takes the antiquary back to the year in which
.Sir Walter Kerr of Cessford (ancestor of the Dukes
.of Roxburghe), “ baron of Auld-Roxburghe, the
.castle thereof and the lands of Auldtonbum, &c.,”
died at a great age, the last survivor, perhaps, of
the affray in which Sir Walter Scott of Buccleuch
gerished at Edinburgh.
Warriston’s Close (anciently called Bruce’s), the
windows on the roofs
with steep crow-stepped
gables, black with the
smoke and storms of
centuries.
MIHI . SEMPER. DEUS.
1583,” was the legend
which first caught the
eye above a door of a
tenement on the west ’
side, long occupied bj
James Murray, Lord
Philiphaugh, raised to
the bench November Ist,
1689, without having
any predecessor, being
0n.e of the set of judges
nominated after the Re- ,
volution. After being
chosen member of Parliament
for Selkirk in
1681, he had become
an object of special
jealousy to the Scottish
Cavalier Government.
He was imprisoned in
1684, and under terror
“ QUI . ERrr . ILLE .
of being tortured in the iron boots, before the
Privy Council in the high Chamber below the
Parliament House, he gave evidence against those
who were concerned in the Rye House Plot.
Lord Philiphaugh had the character of being an
upright judge, but the men of his time never forgot
or forgave the weakness that made him stoop to
save his life, though many of them might no doubt
have acted in the same way, the Scottish Privy
Council of that time being a species of Star
Chamber that did not stand on trifles.
Farther down the close was another edifice, the
lintel of which like some others that were in the
same locality, has been with great good taste
rebuilt, as a lintel, into the extensive printing and
publishing premises of the Messrs. Chambers, a](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v2p043.gif "Volume 2 Page 223")
... Street.] U‘ARRISTON’S CLOSE. 223
the floors as a picture gallery or exhibition, a new
leature in the ...
Vol. 2 p. 223 (Rel. 0.75)
![Beechwood.] SIR ROBERT DUNDAS OF BEECHWOOD. 105
to the Castle of Edinburgh under a strong escort of
their comrades.
General Leslie, and Lieutenant MacLean the
adjutant, having accompanied this party a little
way out of Glasgow, were, on their return, assailed
by a mob which sympathised with the Highlanders
and accused them of being active in sending
away the prisoners. The tumult increased,
stones were thrown ; General Leslie was knocked
down, and he and MacLean had to seek shelter
these documents were not formally executed, were
confused in their terms, and good for nothing in a
legal sense, Mrs. Rutherford of Edgerstoun very
generously fulfilled to the utmost what she conceived
to be the intentions of her father.
Sir Robert Dundas, Bart., of Beechwood, like the
preceding, figures in the pages of Kay. He was
one of the principal Clerks of Session, and Deputy
Lord Privy Seal of Scotland. He was born in
June, 1761, and was descended from the Dundases
BEECHWOOD.
in the house of the Lord Provost till peace
officers came, and a company of Fencibles. One
of the mutineers was shot, by sentence of a
court-martial. The others were sent to America.
On his way back to Edinburgh General Leslie
was seized with a dangerous illness, and died at
' Beechwood House on the 27th of December,
'794.
No will could be found among the General's repositories
at Beechwood, and it was presumed that
he had died intestate. However, a few days after
the filneral, two holograph papers were discovered,
bequeathing legacies to the amount of L7,ooo
among some of his relations and friends, particularly
.&I,OOO each to two natural daughters. Although
110
of Amiston, the common ancestor of whom was
knighted by Charles I., and appointed to the
bench by Charles 11. Educated as a Writer to
the Signet, he was made deputy-keeper of Sashes,
and in 1820 a principal Clerk of Session. He was
one of the original members of the old Royal
Edinburgh Volunteers, of which corps he was a
lieutenant in 1794. He purchased from Lord
Melville the estate of Dunira in Perthshire, and
succeeded to the baronetcy and the estate of
Beechwood on the death of his uncle General Sir
David Dundas, G.C.B., who was for some time
Commander-in-Chief of the forces. Sir Robert
died in 1835.
A winding rural carriage-way, umbrageous and](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v5p116.gif "Volume 5 Page 105")
... SIR ROBERT DUNDAS OF BEECHWOOD. 105
to the Castle of Edinburgh under a strong escort of
their ...
Vol. 5 p. 105 (Rel. 0.75)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [The Meadows
‘upwards of eighty years of age, as captain-general,
and the Earl of ...
Vol. 4 p. 354 (Rel. 0.74)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Wright’s H0u.w~
good behaviour of William Douglas of Hyvelie
(Reg : Privy Council ...
Vol. 5 p. 34 (Rel. 0.74)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Charlotte Square.
Bank, near Edinburgh; Arnsheen, in Ayrshire ;
Redcastle, ...
Vol. 3 p. 174 (Rel. 0.74)
![323 *la.] ADV.4NCE OF THE * HIGHLANDERS, -__
appointed thereto in 1716), mustered the outpensioners
of Chelsea, and officered them, locally,
from the half-pay list.
Doubtful of the faith of Preston, as a Scotsman,
the Government superseded him in command, and
sent in his place Lieutenant-General Joshua Guest,
an Englishman, who proved a staunch Jacobite,
and on the approach of the Highlanders he was
the first to propose a capitulation, a measure
vigorously opposed by Preston, a resolute Whig 01
the old King William school, who thereupon undertook
the defence, with a gamson which consisted
only of the old Castle company, the two companies
of the 47th, each mustering about seventy bayonets,
under Major Robertson, the Chelsea Pensioners,
and Lieutenant Brydone’s artillery company, which
had landed at Leith on the 4th of September, and
marched in with a great quantity of the munitions
of war.
The other troops in Scotland at this time consisted
only of the 13th and 14th Light Dragoons
at Edinburgh, the company of the Royals captured
at Spean Bridge, the 6th Foot at Aberdeen, two
companies of the 21st Scots Fusiliers at Glasgow,
the 25th Edinburgh regiment in Fifeshire, two
companies of the 4znd at Crieff, five of the 44th
in the West, and another five at Berwick, the 46th
(known as ‘‘ Murray’s Bucks ”) scattered over the
Highlands, Loudon’s Highlanders (disbanded in
1749) stationed in the north ; in all not quite 4,ooc
men ; but, collecting these, Sir John Cope prepared
to bar the Prince’s way into the Lowlands.
Quitting Perth at the head of little more than
2,000 men,* only the half of whom had arms, the
latter, on the 11th September, resumed his adventurous
march southward, and crossing the Forth
by the perilous fords of Frew, to avoid the guns
of Stirling, he held on his way by the Scottish
Marathon, by the Torwood and Linlithgow, traversing
scenes that he, the heir of the ancient regal
line, could not have beheld without emotion, engaged,
as he was, on an enterprise more daring
and more desperate than had ever been undertaken
by any of his ancestors since Bruce fought
the battle of Dalry.
On the 1,gth he was at Corstorphine, less than
A true account of thestrengthof the Highland army, aph August, 1745.
Lochiel ........................... 700
Clanmnald, having men of his Islands ...... 050
The Stewarts of Appin under Ardsheil ...... a50
Keppoch ........................... 260
and the Grants of Glenmorriston ...... 600
, Glengawy’s men, induding Knoydart, Glencoe.
2 . h
(“ Culloden Papers. ’3
“The Highlanders were not more than 1,800, and the half of them only
Were armed.” (“Autobiography of Dr. Carlyle of Inveresk”)
lour miles distant from the capital, and to avoid
exposing his troops to the Castle guns in advancing,
he wheeled southward towards Slateford, and fixed
his quarters at Gray’s Mill, two miles from the
city.
Great was now the excitement within the walls.
The militia, called the trained bands, consisted of
sixteen companies, or 1,000 men, entirely undisciplined,
and many of them entirely disloyal to the
Hanoverian cause. In their own armoury the
citizens had 1,259 muskets and zoo bayonets, 300
sets of accoutrements, a considerable quantity of
ammunition, with seventy-five stand of arms and
Lochaber axes belonging to the City Guard. On
Sunday, 16th September, Hislop, keeper of this
arsenal, issued 500 rounds of ball ammunition and
sixty firelocks to each company of the trained
bands, thirty-nine firelocks to the additional
company of the City Guard, and twenty-four to the
company of the Canongate-head, 500 rounds of
ball to the Seceders, whose muster-place was the
Infirmary, and 450 Ibs. of powder for the cannon on
the walls. All the rest he sent to the Castle. The
banner borne by the Seceders is now in the Museum
3f Antiquities, and was once used at Bothwell
Brig. It is blue, with a white St. Andrew‘s saltire,
charged with five roses, and the motto, Cmenanfs,
Ueligion, Kin& and Kingdoms.
Towards the end of the preceding month the
nore zealous citizens had proposed to raise a
regiment 1,000 strong for the defence of the town ;
but the royal permission therefor was not accorded
till the 9th of September, and by the time that
the Prince drew near only zoo men had been
enrolled, all of the most dissolute character, and
tempted by the proffered pay alone. In addition
to these was the regiment of Edinburgh Volunteers,
400 strong, divided into six companies, and drilled
regularly twice daily. Cannon from the ships at
Leith were mounted on the walls together with
swivels or pateraroes (i.e., small cannon). The ports
were barricaded ; there was much military bluster,
with much Singing of psalms ; but as the Highlanders
drew nearer all this show of valour died away.
When the Prince’s vanguard was at Kirkliston, it
was proposed by General Guest that the two Light
Dragoon regiments, supported by the City Guard,
the so-called Edinburgh Regiment, and 250 volunteers,
should march out and give battle to the
insurgents !
The signal was given ; on the forenoon of Sunday
the 15th of September the clang of the alarm
bells came during sermon, and the people rushed
rorth from the churches to find the detailed force
&-awn up under arms ia the High Street; but the](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v2p143.gif "Volume 2 Page 323")
... *la.] ADV.4NCE OF THE * HIGHLANDERS, -__
appointed thereto in 1716), mustered the outpensioners
of Chelsea, ...
Vol. 2 p. 323 (Rel. 0.73)
... this time a strange story went abroad
concerning the spectre of Dundee ; the terrible
yet handsome ...
Vol. 1 p. 66 (Rel. 0.73)
![Kirk-of- Field.] THE CONSPIRACY AGAINST DARNLEY. 5
IZ. our lady kirk of field
13. ye kirk of field kirk y i '
I+ ye potterraw .. .. .. The Pot:er Row.
15. ye caich ill gait . . . . The Catchpole Gate.
. . Our Lady Kirk-of-Field. . . The Kirk-of-Field kirk y d .
EXPLANATION OF THE ORIGINAL I
I. ye blak freiris . . . . .. The Black Friars.
a. ye priestis chameris . . . . The priest's chambers.
3. ye well .. .. . . .. The well.
4. ye mylk row . . .. . . The Milk Row.
5. our lady stapis . . Our Lady's steos.
6. ye Dukis gaitt ofchattiiieraur
7. ye lu+ att ye king was keipit
8. ye place of ye murthqr . . . . The lace of the murder.
9. ye provost place ..
The Duke of Chatelherault's gate.
The lodging at which the King
eftir his murthur . . . , was kept after his murder,
. . .. The Frovast's place.](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v5p016.gif "Volume 5 Page 5")
... Field.] THE CONSPIRACY AGAINST DARNLEY. 5
IZ. our lady kirk of field
13. ye kirk of field kirk y i ...
Vol. 5 p. 5 (Rel. 0.72)
![Calton HilL] THE NATIONAL MONUMENT. 109
~
Grand Master of Scotland, the various loQges
proceeded in procession from the Parliament Square,
accompanied by the commissioners for the King,
and a brilliant concourse. The foundation-stone
of the edifice (which was to be 228 feet long, by
IOZ broad) weighed six tons, and amid salutes of
cannon from the Castle, Salisbury Craigs, Leith
Majesty, the patron of the undertaking. The celebrated
Parthenon of Athens being model of the edifice.”
The Scots Greys and 3rd Dragoons formed
the escorts. Notwithstanding the enthusiasm displayed
when the undertaking was originated, and
though a vast amount of money was subscribed, the
former subsided, and the western peristyle alone
THE NATICNAL MORUMEST, CALTON HILL.
Fort, and the royal squadron in the roads, the
inscription plates were deposited therein, One is
inscribed thus, and somewhat fulsomely :-
‘‘ To the glory of God, in honour of the King, for
the good of the people, this monument, the tribute
of a gratefur country to her gallant and illustrious
sms, as a memorial of the past and incentive to the
future heroism of the men of Scotland, was founded
on the 27th day of August in the year of our Lord
1822, and in the third year of the glorious reign of
George IV., under his immediate auspices, and in
commemoration of his most gracious and welcome
visit to his ancient capital, and the palace of his
royal ancestors; John Duke of Atholl, James Duke
of Montrose, Archibald Earl of Rosebery, John
Earl of Hopetoun, Robert Viscount Melville, and
Thomas Lord Lynedoch, officiating as commissioners,
by the special appointment of his august
was partially erected. In consequence of this
*emarkable end to an entefprise that was begun
mder the most favourable auspices, the national
monument is often referred to as “Scotland’s
pride and poverty.” The pillars are of gigantic
proportions, formed of beautiful Craigleith stone ;
each block weighed from ten to fifteen tons, and
each column as it stands, with the base and frieze,
cost upwards of LI,OOO. As a ruin it gives a
classic aspect to the whole city. According to the
original idea, part of the edifice was to be used as
a Scottish Valhalla
On the face of the hill overlooking Waterloo
Place is the monument of one of Scotland’s gredtest
philosophers. It is simply inscribed :-
DUGALD STEWART.
BORN NOVEMBER 22ND, 1753;
DIED JUKE KITH, 1828.](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v3p121.gif "Volume 3 Page 109")
... HilL] THE NATIONAL MONUMENT. 109
~
Grand Master of Scotland, the various loQges
proceeded in procession ...
Vol. 3 p. 109 (Rel. 0.72)
![THE PRECEPTORY OF ST. ANTHONY. 215 Leith]
not making any deliberate assault ; but a pistol
shot was heard, and in a few minutes the Sieur de
la Roche lay dead, with a sword thrust in his body,
while Isaac had a finger nearly hewn OK
The guard now came on the scene, and Mowat
was found under an outer stair, with a bent sword
in his hand, bloody from point to hilt, his hand
wounded, and the sleeves of his coat stained with
blood. On seeing the dead body, he viewed it
without emotion, and merely remarked that he
wondered who had slain him.
The Master, Mowat, and James Sinclair the writer,
were all tried for the murder of Elias Poiret before
the Court of Justiciary, but the jury brought in a
verdict of not proven. The whole affair might
have been easily explained, but for heat of temper,
intemperance, and the ready resort to arms so usual
in those days. The three Frenchmen concerned in
it were Protestant refugees who were serving as
privates in the Scottish Life Guards. The Mastet
of Tarbet became Earl of Cromarty in 1714 and
survived the death of Poiret forty years. Two of
his sons, who were officers in the Scots-Dutch
Brigade, perished at sea, and his eldest, the third
and last Earl of Cromarty, was nearly brought to
Tower Hill in 1746 for his loyalty to the House of
Stuart.
No. 141 Kirkgate was long the place of business
of Mr. Alexander Watson, who is chiefly remarkable
as being the nephew and close correspondent
of a very remarkable man, who frequently resided
with him-Robert Watson, who was made Principal
of the Scots College at Paris by the Emperor
Napoleon I., an office which he held for six years.
It was to his nephew at Leith, after his escape to
Rome (having been tried at the Old Bailey as
President of a Corresponding Society), he confided
his discovery of a large mass of correspondence
known as “ The Stuart Papers,” which he
purchased (as stated in the Courunt for 1819.)
In one of his letters, dated London, 6th April,
1818, he states that they consist ofhalf a million of
pieces, and are valued at ~300,000. ‘‘ The Pope,
however, took military possession of them, under
the protest that they were of too much importance
to belong to a private individual. I protested
against the arbitrary proceedings of his Holiness.
The Prince Regent sent two ships of war to Civita
Vecchia to bring them to London, and they are
now in Carlton House.”
To his nephew in the Kirkgate he subsequently
wrote that a Royal Commissiolr under the Great
Seal (including Sir James Mackintosh) was a p
pointed to examine these valuable papers ; and in
1824 he wrote that amongst other things of some
value which have fallen into my possession, are the
carriage and tent-bed of Bonaparte, taken at the
battle of Waterloo. Further events will decide
to what purposes I may apply it (the carriage),
though it is probable I shall keep it for my own
use.”
This singular person committed suicide in 1838,
by strangling himself in a London tavern, in the
ninety-second year of his age--“a case of suicide,”
it was said, “unparalleled in the annals of sorrow.”
On the east side of the Kirkgate, to take the
edifices in succession there, there was founded by
Robert Logan of Restalrig, in 1435, a preceptory
for the canons of St. Anthony, the only establkhment
of the kind in Scotland.
Arnot, in his history, unthinkingly mentions ‘‘ the
monastery of Knights Templars of St. Anthony”
at Leith. These canons, says Chalmers, “ seem to
have been an order of religious knights, not
Templars. The only document in which they are
called Templars is a charter of James VI. in 1614,
giving away their establishment and revenues; and
this mistake of an ignorant clerk is wildly repeated
by Arnot.”
Their church, burying-ground, and gardens were
in St. Anthony’s Wynd, an alley off the Kirkgate ;
and the first community was brought from St
Anthony of Vienne, the seat of the order in France
They were formed in honour of St. Anthony, the
patriarch of monks, who was born at Coma, a
village of Heraclea on the borders of Arcadia, in
A.D.‘z~I, and whose sister was placed in the first
convent that is recorded in history. A hermit by
habit, he dwelt long in the ruins of an old castle
that overlooked the Nile; and after his death (said
to have been in 356) his body was deposited in the
church of La Motte St. Didier, at Vienne, when,
according to old traditions, those labouring under
the pest known as St. ,4nthony’s Fire-a species of
erysipelas-were miraculously cured by praying at
his shrine.
Gaston, a noble of Vienne, and his son Gironde,
filled with awe, we are told, by these wonderful
cures, devoted their lives and estates to found a
hospital for those who laboured under this disease,
and seven others joined them in their attendance
on the sick; and on these Hospitaller Brethren
Boniface VIII. bestowed the Benedictine Priory
of Vienne, giving them the rules of St. Austin, and
declaring the Abbot General of this new orderthe
Canons Regular of St, Anthony. The superiors
of the subordinate preceptones were called commanders,
says Alban Butler, “ and their houses are
called commandenes, as when they were Hospitallers”
.](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v6p034.gif "Volume 6 Page 215")
... PRECEPTORY OF ST. ANTHONY. 215 Leith]
not making any deliberate assault ; but a pistol
shot was heard, and in ...
Vol. 6 p. 215 (Rel. 0.72)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Drum.
the resort of the curious still, according to Fullarton’s
“Gazetteer,” ...
Vol. 6 p. 346 (Rel. 0.72)
... all human shape at the foot of the cliff. James V,
was struck with remorse on hearing‘ bll this ...
Vol. 1 p. 86 (Rel. 0.71)
... VERNOUR’S
from the two bridges named, it seems to cower in
its gorge, a narrow and dusky river of ...
Vol. 4 p. 239 (Rel. 0.7)
![Prince Street.] CRAIG OF RICCARTON. ‘23
brother of Sir William Jenner, Bart., the eminent
physician.
Princes Street contains most of the best-stocked,
highest-rented, and most handsome business premises
and shops in the city. From its magnificent
situation it is now, par exceZZence, the street for
hotels; and as a proof of the value of property
there, two houses, Nos. 49 and 62, were publicly
sold on the 12th of February, 1879, for
cf26,ooo and Lz4,soo respectively.
No. 53 at an early perid became the Royal
Hotel. In December, 1817, when it was possessed
bya Mr. Macculloch, the Grand Duke Nicholas,
brother of Alexander I., Emperor of Russia, resided
there with a brilliant suite, including Baron
Nicolai, Sir Wilhm Congreve, Count Kutusoff,
and Dr. Crichton-the latter a native of the city,
who died so lately as 1856. He was a member of
the Imperial Academy of St. Petersburg and that of
Natural History at Moscow, K.G.C, of St. Anne
and St. Vladimir. He was a grandson of Crichton
of Woodhouselee and Newington. A guard of the
92nd Gordon Highlanders was mounted on the
hotel, and the Grand Duke having expressed a
wish to see the regiment-the costume of which
had greatly impressed him-it was paraded before
him for that purpose on the zznd of December,
on which occasion he expressed his high admiration
of the corps.
No. 64 is now the North British and Mercantile
Insurance Company, established in I 809,
and incorporated by royal charter, with the Duke
of Roxburgh for its present president, and tht
Dukes of Sutherland and Abercorn, as vice-presi,
dents. A handsome statue of St. Andrew, tht
patron of Scotland, on his peculiar cross, adorn5
the front of the building, and is a conspicuou:
object from the street and opposite gardens.
The Life Association of Scotland, founded in
1839, occupies No. 82. It is a magnificent
palatial edifice, erected in 1855-8, after designs by
Sir Charles Barry and Mr. David Rhind, and
consists of three double storeys in florid Koman
style, the first being rusticated Uoric, the second
Ionic, and the third Corinthian. Over its whole
front it exhibits a great profusion of ornament-sa
great, indeed, as to make its appearance somewhat
heavy.
In 1811, and before that period, the Tax Office
occupied No. 84 The Comptroller in those
days was Henry Mackenzie, author of the “Man
of Feeling,” who obtained that lucrative appoint.
ment from Mr. Pitt, on the recommendation 01
Lord Melvilla and Mr. George Rose, in 1804.
With No. 85, it now forms the site of the New
Club, a large and elegant edifice, with a handsome
Tuscan doorway and projecting windows, erected
by an association of Scottish nobles and gentlenien
for purposes similar to those of the clubs at
the west end of London.
No. 91, which is now occupied as an hotel, was
the residence of the aged Robert Craig, Esq., of
Riccarton, of whom Kay gives us a portrait, seated
at the door thereof, with his long staff and broadbrimmed,
low-crowned hat, while his faithful
attendant, William Scott, is seen behind, carefully
taking “tent ’’ of his old master from the diningroom
window. Mr. Craig had been in early life a
great pedestrian, but as age came upon him his
walks were limited to the mile of Princes Street,
and after a time he would but sit at his door and
enjoy the summer breeze. He wore a plain coat
without any collar, a stock in lieu of a neckcloth,
knee-breeches, rough stockings, and enormous brass
shoe-buckles. He persisted in wearing a hat with
a narrow brim when cocked-hats were the fashion
in Edinburgh, until he was so annoyed by boys
that he adopted the head-dress in which he is
drawn by Kay. He always used a whistle in the
ancient manner, and not a bell, to sumnion his
servant. He died on the 13th of March, 1823.
Pursuant to a deed of entail, Mr. James Gibson, W.S.
(afterwards Sir James Gibson-Craig, Bart., of
Riccarton and Ingliston), succeeded to the estate,
and assumed the name and arms of Craig ; but the
house, No. 91, went to Colonel Gibson.
The record of his demise in the papers of the
time is not without interest :-“ Died at his house
in Princes Street (No. gi), on the r3th March, in
the 93rd year of his age, Robert Craig, Esq., of
Riccarton, the last male heir of Sir Thomas Craig
of Riccarton, the great feudal lawyer of Scotland.
Mr. Craig was admitted advocate in 1754, and was
one of the Commissaries of Edinburgh, the duties
of which situation he executed to the entire satisfaction
of every one connected with it. He resigned
the office many years ago, and has long been the
senior member of the Faculty of Advocates. It
is a remarkable circumstance that his father‘s elder
brother succeeded to the estate of Riccarton in
January, 1681, so that there has been only one
descent in the family for 142 years.”
No. 100, now occupied as an hotel, was for
many years the house of Lady Mary Clerk of
Pennicuick, known as “The White Rose of Scotland
.”
This lady, whose maiden name was Ilacre, was
the daughter of a gentleman in Cumberland, and
came into the world in that memorable year when
the Highland army was in possession of Carlisle,
.](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v3p135.gif "Volume 3 Page 123")
... Street.] CRAIG OF RICCARTON. ‘23
brother of Sir William Jenner, Bart., the eminent
physician.
Princes ...
Vol. 3 p. 123 (Rel. 0.69)
... BANK OF SCOTLAND. 93 The Mound. J
whereof are to be applied for ever for the support of
decayed and ...
Vol. 3 p. 93 (Rel. 0.69)
... of TheoZogy.
Theology, 1620. Andrew Ramsay.
Hebrew, 1642. Julius Conradus Otto.
Divinity, 1702. John ...
Vol. 5 p. 25 (Rel. 0.69)
![Leith Walk.] . REPULSE OF CROMWELL. 1.5 I
direction of Leith Walk, as by charter under thc
Great Seal, dated at Edinburgh, 13thAugust, 1456
King James 11. granted, “preposito, baZZiuis et corn
munitati nosh‘ de Rdinlbuv-gh,” the valley or loa
ground between the well called Craigangilt, on thc
east side (i.e., the Calton Hill), “ and the commor
way and road towards the town of Leith, on tht
west side,” etc.
. But the origin of Leith Loan-or Leith Walk, a:
.we now call it-was purely accidental, and tht
result of the contingencies of war.
In 1650, to repel Cromwell’s attack upon thc
city, Sir Alexander Leslie had the whole Scottish
army skilfully entrenched in rear of a strong breastwork
of earth that lay from north to south between
Edinburgh and Leith. Its right flank was de.
fended by redoubts armed with guns on the green
slope of the Calton Hill ; its left by others on the
eastern portions of Leith and St. ilnthony’s Port,
which enfiladed the line and swept all the open
ground towards Restalrig. In addition to all this,
the walls of the city were everywhere armed with
cannon, and the banners of the trades were displayed
above its gates.
Along the line of this entrenchment Charles II.,
after landing at Leith from Stirling, proceeded on
horseback to the city. His appearance created the
greatest enthusiasm, all the more so that Cromwell’s
arms were seen glittering in the distance. Around
Charles was his Life Guard of Horse, led by the Earl
of Eglinton, magnificently armed and mounted, and
having on their embroidered standards the crown,
sword, and sceptre, with the mottoes Nobis hczc inviita
misemnt, and Pro Religione, Rege, et Patrid.
On Monday, the 24th of July, Cromwell furiously
attacked the entrenchment, as he had been exasperated
by the result of a sortie made by Major
General Montgomery, who at the head of 2,000
Scottish dragoons, had repulsed an advanced
column, and ‘( killed five Colonells and Lieutenant-
Colonells, mortally wounded Lieut.-Gen. Lambert
and five hundred soldiers.” (Balfour.) As the
English advanced, the rising sun shone full upon
the long lines of Scottish helmets glittering above
the rough earthwork, where many a pike was
gleaming and inany a standard waving. Clearing
the rocks and house of Restalrig, they advanced
over the plain westward from Lochend, when the
field batteries atthe Quarry Holes, the guns on Leith
and theCalton,openedon them simultaneously, while
a rolling and incessant fire of musketry ran along
the whole Scottish line from flank to flank, and was
poured in closely and securely from the summit of
the breastwork. They were speedily thrown into
confusion, and fled in considerable disorder, leaving
behind them some pieces of cannon and the ground
strewn with dead and wounded.
Cromwell’s vigorous attack on the southern part
of the city was equally well repulsed, and he then
drew off from it till after his victory at Dunbar.
At this time General Leslie’s head-quarters were
in the village of Broughton, from whence many of
his despatches were dated ; and when the war was
shifted to other quarters, his famous breastwork
became the established footway between the capital
and its seaport.
Midway between these long stood an edifice, of
which no vestige remains-the Rood Chapel, repairs
upon which were paid for by the city in
1554-5. It stood in the vicinity of the Gallow
Lee, a place memorable for a desperate conflict
between the Kingsmen and Queensmen in 1571,
when the motto of “God shaw the Richt,” was
conferred on Captain Crawford, of Jordan Hill, by
the Regent Morton, and whose tombstone is yet
to be seen in the churchyard of Kilbirnie. On
nearly the same ground in 1G04 James Hardie, of
Bounmylnerig, with others, in the month of April,
between nine and ten in the evening, assailed
Jacques de la Berge, a Fleming, forced him to quit
his saddle, and thereafter rypeit him” of gold
and silver, for which Hardie was hanged at the
Cross and his goods forfeited.
Though in 1610 Henrie Anderson, a native of
Stralsund, in Pomerania, obtained a royal patent
for coaches to run between Edinburgh and Leith
at the rate of zd. per passenger, we have no record
of how his speculation succeeded ; nor was it until
1660 that William Woodcock obtained a license
“to fitt and set up ane haickney coatch for the
service of his Majesty’s lieges, betwix Leith and
Edinburgh,” at the rate of 12s. (Scots) per passenger,
if the latter decided to travel alone, but if
three went with him, the charge was to be no more
than 12s. ; and all who came upward to Edinburgh
were to alight at the foot of Leith Wynd, “for the
staynes yr of.”
From that time we hear no more of Leith stages
till 1678, as mentioned in our first volume; but in
1702 a person named Robert Miller obtained permission
to keep four vehicles to ply between the
two towns for nine years. Individual enterprise
having failed to make stages here remunerative,
the magistrates in 1722 granted to a company the
cxclusive right to run coaches on Leith Walk for a
period of twenty-one years, each to hold six passengers,
the fare to be gd. in summer and 4d. in
winter; but this speculation did not seem to pay,
md in 1727 the company raised the fares to 4d.
md 6d. respectively.](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v5p162.gif "Volume 5 Page 151")
... Walk.] . REPULSE OF CROMWELL. 1.5 I
direction of Leith Walk, as by charter under thc
Great Seal, dated at ...
Vol. 5 p. 151 (Rel. 0.69)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. rLeith .
but by bringing ordonnance from the Castell to the
shoare, to dins at them so ...
Vol. 5 p. 184 (Rel. 0.68)
... House.
days again awaited the latter, when the insane
Cavalier persecution began in a cruel and ...
Vol. 1 p. 160 (Rel. 0.68)
![Corstorphine.] CORSTORPHINE CHURCH. 115
was no side road into which he could have disappeared.
He returned home perplexed by the
oddness of the circumstance, when the first thing
he learned was, that during his absence this friend
had been killed by his horse falling in the Candlemakers
Row.’’
The church of Corstorphine is one of the most
interesting old edifices in the Lothians. It has
been generally supposed, says a writer, that Scotland,
while possessed of great and grand remains
of Gothic architecture, is deficient in those antique
rural village churches, whose square towers and
ivied buttresses so harmonise with the soft landscape
scenery of England, and that their place is
too often occupied by the hideous barn-like structure
of times subsequent to the Reformation. But
among the retiring niinor beauties of Gothic architecture
in Scotland, one of the principal is the
picturesque little church of Corstorphine.
It is a plain edifice of mixed date, says Billings
in his ‘‘ Antiquities,” the period of the Decorated
Gothic predominating. It is in the form of a cross,
with an additional transept on one of the sides;
but some irregularities in the height and character
of the different parts make them seem asif they
were irregularly clustered together without design.
A portion of the roof is still covered with old-&ey
flagstone. A small square belfry-tower at the west
end is surmounted by a short octagonal spire, the
ornate string’ mouldings on which suggest an idea
of the papal tiara
As the church of the parish, it is kept in tolerably
decent order, and it is truly amazing how it
escaped the destructive fury of the Reformers.
This edifice was not the original parish church,
which stood near it, but a separate establishment,
founded and richly endowed by the pious enthusiasm
of the ancient family whose tombs it contains,
and whose once great castle adjoined it.
Notices have been found of a chapel attached to
the manor of Corstorphine, but subordinate to the
church of St. Cuthbert, so far back as 1128, and
this chapel became the old parish church referred
to. Thus, in the Holyrood charter of King DavidI.,
1143-7, he grants to the monks there the two
chapels which pertain to the church of St. Cuthbert,
‘‘ to wit, Crostorfin, with two oxgates and six
acres of land, and the chapel of Libertun with two
oxgates of land.”
In the immediate vicinity of that very ancient
chapel there was founded ancther chapel towards
the end of the fourteenth century, by Sir Adam
Forrester of Corstorphine; and that edifice is sup
posed to form a portion of the present existing
church, because after its erection no mention whatever
has been found of the second chapel as a
separate edifice.
.The building with which we have now to do
was founded in 1429, as an inscription on the wall
of the chancel, and other authorities, testify, by Sir
John Forrester of Corstorphine, Lord High Chamberlain
of Scotland in 1425, and dedicated to St.
John the Baptist, for a provost, five prebendaries,
and two singing boys. It was a collegiate church,
to which belonged those of Corstorphine, Dalmahoy,
Hatton, Cramond, Colinton, &c. The tiends
of Ratho, and half of those of Adderton and Upper
Gogar, were appropriated to the revenues of this
college.
“Sir John consigned the annual rents of one hundred
and twenty ducats in gold to the church,” says
the author of the “New Statistical Account,” “on
condition that he and his successors should have the
patronage of the appointments, and on the understanding
that if the kirk of Ratho were united to
the provostry, other four or five prebendaries
should be added to the establishment, and maintained
out of the fruits of the benefice of Ratho.
Pope Eugenius IV. sanctioned this foundation by a
bull, in which he directed the Abbot of Holyroodhouse,
a$ his Apostolic Vicar, to ascertain whether
the foundation and consignation had been made in
terms of the original grant, and on being satisfied
on these points, to unite and incorporate the church
of Ratho with its rights, emoluments, and pertinents
to the college for ever.”
The first provost of this establishment was
Nicholas Bannatyne, who died there in 1470, and
was buried in the church, where his epitaph still
remains.
When Dunbar wrote his beautiful ‘ I Lament for
the Makaris,” he embalmed among the last Scottish
poets of his time, as taken by Death, “ the gentle
Roull of Corstorphine,” one of the first provosts of
the church-
‘( He has tane Rod1 of Aberdeen,
A d gentle Rod1 of Corstorphine ;
Twa better fellows did nae man see :
Timor mortis conturbat me.”
There was, says the “ The Book of Bon Accord,”
a Thomas Roull, who was Provost of Aberdeen in
1416, and it is conjectured that the baid was of the
same family ; but whatever the works of the latter
were, nothing is known of him now, save his name,
as recorded by Dunbar.
In the year 1475, Hugh Bar, a burgess of Edinburgh,
founded an additional chaplaincy in this
then much-favoured church. “ The chaplain, in
addition to the performance of daily masses for
the souls of the king andqueen, the lords of the](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v5p126.gif "Volume 5 Page 115")
... CORSTORPHINE CHURCH. 115
was no side road into which he could have disappeared.
He returned home ...
Vol. 5 p. 115 (Rel. 0.67)
... Hi11.1 THE LYON KING-OF-ARMS. 37= _.
able testimonial, signed and sealed by all the
members of that ...
Vol. 2 p. 371 (Rel. 0.67)
... Hi11.1 THE LYON KING-OF-ARMS. 37= _.
able testimonial, signed and sealed by all the
members of that ...
Vol. 2 p. 370 (Rel. 0.67)
... ancient ruby ring which the kings of Scotland
wore at their coronation. It was last used by the
unhappy ...
Vol. 1 p. 72 (Rel. 0.67)
![The Cowgate.] THE CORPORATIONS. 265
of the first places where woollen goods were made,
and had, at one time, the most important wool
market in Britain.
The hatmakers were formed into a corporation
in 1473, when ten masters of the craft presented
a petition to that effect; but the bonnet-makers
did not receive their seal of cause till 1530, prior to
which they had been united with the walkers and
shearers, with whom they were bound to uphold
the al+a of St Mark in St Giles’s Church. In
the articles and conditions it contained ; but it is
said that a seal was issued In 1508, Thomas
Greg, (‘ Kirk-master of the flescheour craft,” OD
behalf of the same, brought before the Council a
complaint, that certain persons, not‘ freemen of the
craft or the burgh, interfered with their privileges,
and had them forbidden to sell meat, except on
Sunday and Monday, the free market days, “ quhill
thai obtene thair fredome.”
The coopers were incorporated in 1489, binding
-
INTERIOR OF THE CHAPEL OF ST. MARY MAGDALENE. -
1685 an Act of Parliament confirmed all their
privileges, together with those of the litsters, or
dyers. About the middle of the seventeenth century,
owing to the spread of the use of hats, instead of
the national bonnet, among the upper classes, this
society was reduced to so low a condition that
its members could neither support their families or
the expense of a society.
The fleshers were a very old corporation, but
the precise date of their charter is not very clear.
In 1483 regulations concerning the fleshers dealing
in fish in Lent, &c, were issued by the magistrates,
whom they petitioned in 1488 for a seal of
cause, which petition was taken into consideration by
the Council, who ratified and confirmed the whole of
83
themselves to uphold the altar of St. John in St.
Giles’s Church.
The walkers obtained their seal of cause in
August, 1500. They had an altar in the same
church dedicated to SS. Mark, Philip, and Jacob,
to which the following among other fees were
paid :-
Each master, on taking an apprentice paid ten
shillings Scots ; and on any master taking into his
service, either the apprentice or journeyman of any
other master, he paid twenty shillings Scots ; if any
craftsman was found working with cards in the
country, he was to forfeit the sum of fifteen shillings
Scots, to be equally divided between the work of
Si Giles’s, their altar, and the informer. It is also](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v4p085.gif "Volume 4 Page 265")
... Cowgate.] THE CORPORATIONS. 265
of the first places where woollen goods were made,
and had, at one time, the ...
Vol. 4 p. 265 (Rel. 0.66)
![Kirk-of-Field.] BOTHWELL DENOUNCED. 7
of the Canongate to Bothwell’s lodging, near the
palace, at the gates of which they were again
challenged by the Archers of the Guard-a corps
which existed from 1562 to 1567-who asked “if
they knew what noise that was they heard a short
time before.” They replied that they did not.
Rushing to his house, Bothwell called for something
to drink, and throwing off his clothes, went
to bed.
Tidings that the house had been blown up and
the king slain spread fast through the startled
city, and George Hackett, a servant of the palace,
communicated these to Bothwell, whom he found
in “ane great effray pitch-black,” and excited.
Then with assumed coolness he inquired “what
was the matter ? ” On being distinctly informed,
he began to shout “Treason!” and on being
joined by the Earl of Huntley, he repaired at once
to the presence of the queen.
By dawn the whole area of the Kirk-of-Field
was crowded by citizens, who found that the three
servants who slept in the gallery were buried in the
ruins, out of which Nelson was dragged alive.
In Holyrood the queen kept her bed in a darkened
room, while a proclamation was issued, offering
the then tolerable sum of L2,ooo Scots to
any who would give information as to the perpetrators
of the crime. On the same day the body of
Darnley was brought to Holyrood Chapel, and
after being embalmed by Maistre Mastin Picauet,
‘ I ypothegar,” was interred on Saturday night, without
the presence of any of the nobles or officers
of state, except the Lord Justice Clerk Bellenden
and Sir James Traquair.
Bothwell was denounced as the murderer by a
paper fixed on the Tolbooth Gate. But though the
earl was ultimately brought to trial, no precisely
proper inquiry into the startling atrocity was made
by the officers of the Crown.
A bill fastened on the Tron Beam, declared
that the smith who furnished the false keys to the
king’s apartment would, on due security being
given, point out his employers ; and other placards,
on one of which were written the queen’s initials,
M.R., were posted elsewhere-manifestations of
public feeling that rendered Bothwell so furious
that he rode through the city at the head of a band
of his armed vassals, swearing that he “ would wash
his hands” in the blood of the authors, could he
but discover them ; and from that time forward he
watched all who approached him with a jealous
eye, and a hand on his dagger.
When that part of the city wall which immediately
adjoined the house of the Kirk-of-Field
was demolished in 1854, it was found to be five
feet thick, and contained among its rubble many
fragments of a Gothic church or other edifice, and
three cannon-balls, one of 24 pounds’ weight, were
found in it.
In the records of the Privy Council in 1599, we
find an order for denouncing and putting to the
horn Robert Balfour, Provost of the Kirk-of-Field,
for having failed to appear before the Lords, and
answer “ to sic thingis as sauld have been inquirit
of him at his cuming.” The Provost, brother of
the notorious Sir James, had been outlawed or forfeited
in 157 I, as there rested upon both the charge
of having been chief agents in the murder or
Darnley.
He was ultimately remitted and pardoned, and
this was ratified by Parliament in 1584, when he
and his posterity were allowed to enjoy all their
possessions,‘‘ providing alwayis that these presentis
be not extendit to repossess and restoir the said
Robert to bny ryt he has, or he may pretend, to ye
Provostrie of ye Kirk-of-Field, sumtym situat within
the libertie of ye burgh of Edinburgh.”
In this same year, 1584, the Town Council were
greatly excited by a serious affray that ensued at
the Kirk-of-Field Port, and to prevent the recurrence
of a similar disorder, ordained that on the
ringing of the alarm bell the inhabitants were all to
convene in their several quarters under their bailies,
“ in armour and good order.” And subsequently,
to prevent broils by night-walkers, they ordered
I‘ that at 10 o’clock fifty strokes would be given on
the great bell, after which none should be upon the
streets, under a penalty of Azo Scots, and imprisonment
during the town’s pleasure.” (“ Council
Records.”)
A fragment of ruin connected with the Kirk-of-
Field is shown as extant in 1647 in Gordon’s map,
near what is now the north-west corner of Drumrnond
Street, and close to the old University. A
group ot trees appear to the eastward, and a garden
to the iiorth.
(Tytler.)](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v5p018.gif "Volume 5 Page 7")
... BOTHWELL DENOUNCED. 7
of the Canongate to Bothwell’s lodging, near the
palace, at the gates of ...
Vol. 5 p. 7 (Rel. 0.65)
... KIRK-OF-FIELD. (Alto an Etching by /awes Skenc cf Rubirlaw).
OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH.
CHAPTER I.
THE KIRK OF ...
Vol. 5 p. 1 (Rel. 0.65)
... troops, chiefly cavalry, now gave way, but
still fighting with the dogged valour of Walloons.
Part of ...
Vol. 1 p. 25 (Rel. 0.65)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Leith Wynd.
housses, biggins, and yards adjacent thereto, and
by and contigue to the ...
Vol. 2 p. 306 (Rel. 0.65)
![202 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Leith.
.armorial he adopted was argent, a tree or, with two
ships under sail.
It was still time of truce when Henry, mortified
by the defeat of his five ships, exhorted his most
.able seamen “ to purge away this stain cast on the
English name,” and offered the then noble pension
of &I,OOO per annum to any man who could
accomplish Wood’s death or capture ; and the task
was taken in hand by Sir Stephen Bull (originally
a merchant of London), who, with three of Henry’s
largest ships manned by picked crews, and having
on board companies of crossbowmen, pikemen, and
many volunteers of valour and good birth, sailed
from the Thames in July, 1490, and entering the
Firth of Forth, came to anchor under the lee of
the Isle of May, there to await the return of Wood
from Sluys, and for whose approach he kept boats
scouting to seaward.
On the morning of the 18th of August the two
ships of Wood hove in sight, and were greeted with
exultant cheers by the crews of Bull, who set
some inlets of wine abroach, and gave the orders
to unmoor and clear away for battle.
Wood recognised the foe, and donninghis armour,
gave orders to clear away too ; and his brief ha-
Iangue, modernised, is thus given by Lindesay of
Pitscottie and others :-
“ My lads, these are the foes who would convey
us in bonds to the foot of an English king, but by
your courage and the help of God they shall fail !
Repair every man to his station-charge home,
gunners-cross-bowmen to the tops-two-handed
swords to the fore-rooms-lime-pots and fire-balls in
the tops ! Be stout, men, and true for the honour
of Scotland and your own sakes. Hurrah!”
Shouts followed, and stoups of wine went round.
His second in command was Sir David Falconer,
who was afterwards slain at Tantallon. The result
of the battle that ensued is well known. It was
continued for two days and a night, during which
the ships were all grappled together, and drifted
into the Firth of Tay, where the English were all
taken, and carried as prizes into the harbour of
Dundee. Wood presented Sir Stephen Bull and
his surviving officers to Jarnes IV., who dismissed
them unransomed, with their ships, “ because they
fought not for gain, but glory,” and Henry dissemkled
his rage by returning thanks.
For this victory Wood obtained the sea town as
well as the nether town of Largo, and soon afteI
his skilful eye recommended the Bay of Gourock ta
James as a capable harbour. In 1503 he led a
fleet against the insurgent chiefs of the Isles. Hi$
many brilliant services lie apart from the immediate
history of Leith. Suffice it to say that he was pre.
I
sent at the battle of Linlithgow in 1526, and
wrapped the dead body of Lennox in his own
scarlet mantle. Age was coming on him after this,
and he retired to his castle of Largo, where he
seems to have lived somewhat like old Commodore
Trunnion, for there is still shown the track of a
canal formed by his order, on which he was rowed
to mass daily in Largo church in a barge by his
old crew, who were all located around him, He is
supposed to have died abodt 1540, and was buried
in Largo church. One of his sons was a senator
of the College of Justice in 1562 ; and Sir Andrew
Wood, third of the House of Largo, was Comptroller
of Scotland in 1585.
Like himself, the Bartons, the shipmates and
friends of Sir -4ndrew, all attained high honour
and fame, though their origin was more distinguished
than his, and they were long remembered
among the fighting captains of Leith.
John Barton, a merchant of Leith in the time of
James III., had three sons : Sir Andrew, the hero
of the famous nautical ballad, who was slain in the
Downs in 151 I, but whose descendants still exist ;
Sir Robert of Overbarnton in 1508, Comptroller
of the Household to James V. in 1520; John, an
eminent naval commander under James 111. and
James IV., who died in t 5 13,and was buried at Kirkcudbright.
The Comptroller’s son Robert married
the heiress of Sir John Mowbray of Barnbougle, who
died in 151 y ; and his descendants became extinct
in the person of Sir Robert of Overbarnton, Barnbougle,
and Inverkeithing. Our authorities for these
and a few other memoranda concerning this old
Leith family are a “Memoir of the Familyof Barton,
&c.,” by J. Stedman, Esq., of Bath (which is scarce,
only twelve copies having been printed), Tytler,
Pinkerton, and others.
For three generations the Bartons of Leith seem
to have had a kind of family war with the Portuguese,
and their quarrel began in the year 1476,
when John Barton, senior, on putting to sea froin
Sluys, in Flanders, in a king’s ship, the ]iZiai’nnn,
laden with a valuable cargo, was unexpectedly
attacked by two armed Portuguese caravels, commanded
respectively by Juan Velasquez and Juan
Pret. The JiZiana was taken ; many of her crew
were slain or captured, the rest were thrust into a
boat and cut adrift. Among the latter was old John
Barton, who proceeded to Lisbon to seek indemnity,
but in vain; and he is said by one account to
have been assassinated by Pret or Velasquez to put
an end to the affair. By another he is stated to have
been alive in 1507, and in command of a ship
called the Liun, which was seized at Campvere, in
Zealand-unless it can be that the John referred to](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v6p021.gif "Volume 6 Page 202")
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Leith.
.armorial he adopted was argent, a tree or, with two
ships under sail.
It was ...
Vol. 6 p. 202 (Rel. 0.65)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [George Street.
that sum has been called. It is expressly provided
by the charter of ...
Vol. 3 p. 148 (Rel. 0.65)
... OLD ANI) NEW EDINBURGH. [Newhaven.
began in the Firth of Forth, and it is not very
creditable to the ...
Vol. 6 p. 302 (Rel. 0.65)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Edinburgh Castle.
entrance to the apartment in which her daughter
was delivered of ...
Vol. 1 p. 78 (Rel. 0.64)
... the Tolbooth; others were held there in 1449
and 1459. In the latter the Scottish word
“Tolbooth,” ...
Vol. 1 p. 126 (Rel. 0.64)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. . [High Street.
‘capital already created under the last charter is
L;~OO,OOO stock, ...
Vol. 2 p. 280 (Rel. 0.64)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. frhe Cowgate.
The skinners would seem to have been created
into a corporation in 1474, ...
Vol. 4 p. 264 (Rel. 0.63)
![The Guard.] DISBANDMENT. 137 - _ _ .
Square, as if the image of a Stuart were the last
refuge for any memorial of our ancient manners.”
In that year the Guard was finally disbanded,
THE CITY GUARD-HOUSE. (After Key.)
and fifes played slowly and sadly-
“ The last time I cam’ o’er the muir.”
Scott mentions this, but he little knew that two
weapon called a Lochaber axe. Such a phantom and the modem police took its place. The last
of former days still creeps, I have been informed, duty performed by these old soldiers was to march
THREE CAPTAINS OF THE CITY GUARD. (AflerKay..)
Gcorgc Pitcairn, died 1791 ; Gmrge Robertson, died 1787 ; Robert Pilkns, died 1788.](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v1p149.gif "Volume 1 Page 137")
... Guard.] DISBANDMENT. 137 - _ _ .
Square, as if the image of a Stuart were the last
refuge for any memorial of ...
Vol. 1 p. 137 (Rel. 0.63)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. IHo~yrOam
Commendator of Coldingham. He was created,
in right of his mother (who was ...
Vol. 3 p. 72 (Rel. 0.63)
![Wton Hill.] THE BURGH OF CALTON. 103 r
beneath the Caltoun Hill, the .place where those
imaginary criminals, witches, and sorcerers in less
enlightened times were burned ; and where at
festive seasons the gay and gallant held their tilts
and tournaments.”
On the north-westem shoulder of the hill stands
the modern Established Church of Greenside, at
the end of the Royal Terrace, a conspicuous and
attractive feature among the few architectural
decorations of that district. Its tower rises IOO feet
above the porch, is twenty feet square, and contains
a bell of 10 cwt.
The main street of the old barony of the Calton
was named, from the ancient chapel which stood
there, St. Ninian’s Row, and a place so called
still exists; and the date and name ST. NINIAN’S
Row, 1752, yet remains on the ancient well. 01
old, the street named the High Calton, was known
as the Craig End.
In those days’a body existed known as the
High Constables of the Calton, but the new
Municipality Act having extinguished the ancient
boundaries of the city, the constabulary, in 1857,
adopted the following resolution, which is written
on vellum, to the Society of Antiquaries of
Scotland :-
“ The district of Calton, or Caldton, formed at
one time part of the estate.of the Elphinstone
family, one of whom-% James, third son of the
third Lord Elphinstone-was created Lord &Imerino
in 1603-4 In 1631 the then Lord
Balmerino granted a charter to the trades of
Calton, constituting them a society or corporation ;
and in 1669 a royal charter was obtained from
Charles II., erecting the district into a burgh of
barony. A court was held by a bailie appointed
by the lord of the manor, and there was founded in
. connectiontherewith, the Societyof Highconstables
of Calton, who have been elected by, and have
continued to act under, the orders of succeeding
Baron Bailies. Although no mention is made 01
our various constabulary bodies in the ‘ Municipality
Extension Act, 1856,’ the venerable office
of Baron Bailie has thereby become extinct, and
the .ancient burghs of Canongate, Calton, Eastern
and Western Portsburgh, are now annexed to the
city. UnGer these circumstances the constabulary
of Calton held an extraordinary meeting on the
17th of March, 1857, at which, infer alia, the
following inotion was carried with acclamation, viz.
‘ That the burgh having ceased to exist, the con
stabulary, in order that some of the relics and
other insignia belonging to this body should be
preserved for the inspection of future generations,
unanimously resolve to present as a free gift to the
Royal Society of Antiquaries of Scotland the.
following, viz :-Constabulary baton, I 747, moderator‘
s official baton, marble bowl, moderator’?
state staff, silver-mounted horn with fourteefi
medals, members’ small baton; report on the
origin and standing of the High Constables OF
Calton, 1855, and the laws of the society, 1847.’”
These relics of the defunct little burgh are
consequently now preserved at the museum in the
Royal Institution.
A kind of round tower, or the basement thereof,
is shown above the south-west angle of the CaltoE
cliffs in Gordon’s view in 1647 ; but of any such
edifice no record remains ; and in the hollow where
Nottingham Place lies now, a group of five isolated
houses, called “ Mud Island,” appears in the maps.
of 1787 and 1798. In 1796, and at many other
times, the magistrates ordained that “ All-hallowfair
be held on the lands of Calton Hill,” as an
open and uncnclosed place, certainly a perilous one,
for tipsy drovers and obstinate cattle. An agriculturist
named Smith farmed the hill and lands
adjacent, now covered by great masses of building,
for several years, till about the close of the 18th
century; and his son, Dr. John Smith, who was
born in 1798, died only in February, 1879, afterbeing
fifty years physician tQ the old charity workhouse
in Forrest Road, .
In 1798, when the Rev. Rowland Hill (thefamous
son of Sir Rowland Hill, of Shropshire).
visited Edinburgh for the first time, he preached
in some of the churches every other day, but the
crowds became so immense, that at last he was
induced to hold forth from a platform erected on
the Calton Hili, where his audience was reckoned.
at not less than 10,000, and the interest excited by
his eloquence is said to have been beyond all
precedent. On his return from the West, he
preached on the hill again to several audiences,.
and on the last of these occasions, when a collection,
was made for the charity workhouse, fully zo,oom
were present. Long years after, when speaking to a.
friend of the multitude whom he had addressed,
there, he said, pleasantly, “ Well do I remember
the spot ; but I understand that it has now been
converted into a den of thieves,” referring to the
gaol now built on the ground where his platform
stood.
The first great cba,nge in the aspect of the hill
was effected by the formation of the Regent Road,
which was cut through the old burying-ground, the
soil of which avenue was decently carted away,
covered with white palls, and full of remnants of
humanity, to the new Calton burying-ground on]
the southern slope ; and the second was the open](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v3p115.gif "Volume 3 Page 103")
... Hill.] THE BURGH OF CALTON. 103 r
beneath the Caltoun Hill, the .place where those
imaginary criminals, ...
Vol. 3 p. 103 (Rel. 0.63)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Burghmuir.
great forest of Drumsheugh, wherein the white.
bull, the Caledonian boar, ...
Vol. 5 p. 28 (Rel. 0.62)
![University.] THE PROFESSORS AND THE TOWN COUNCIL. 15 -
endof the year named, a body was, for the first
time, regularly dissected in the city, after the celebrated
Dr. Archibald Pitcairn-who left a distinguished
position as a professor of medicine in the
University of Leyden, to marry a lady of Edinburgh
-had been induced to settle there, and seek a
practice. . . ,
The Doctor, on the 14th of October, wrote to his
friend 1)r. Gray, of London, stating that he was
making efforts to obtain from the magistrates subjects
for dissectiod, such as the bodies of those who
died in the ,House of Correction at Paul’s Work,
and had none to bury them. “We offer,” he says,
I‘ to wait on these poor for nothing, and bury them
after dissection at our own charges, which now the
town does; yet there is great opposition by the
chief surgeons, who neither eat hay nor suffer the
oxen to eat it. I do propose, if this be granted, to
make better improvements in anatomy than have
been made at Leyden these thirty years; for I
think most or all anatomists have neglected or
not known what was most useful for a physician.”
The person who moved ostensibly in this matter
was Alexander Monteith, who entered the Colleg?
of Surgeons in December, 1691. He was a prominent
Jacobite, and owner of Todshaugh, now
called Foxhall, in West Lothian. He was an eminent
surgeon, and a friend of Pitcairn’s. The Town
Council on the 24th of October, in compliance with
his urgent request, granted to him the bodies of
those who died in the House of Correction and
of all foundlings who died at the breast.
They gave him, at the same time, a room for dissection,
with permission to inter the mutilated remains
in the College Kirk Cemetery, stipulating
that he should inter all intestines within forty-eight
hours, the rest of the body within ten days, and that
his prelections should only be in the winter season.
Though the College of Surgeons did not generally
oppose this new movement, they greatly disliked
his exclusive permission from the Council,
and proposed to give demonstrations in anatomy
as well, asking for the unclaimed bodies of those
who died in the streets, and also of foundlings.
Their petition was granted, on the understanding
that they should have a regular anatomical theatre
ready before the Michaelmas of 1697 ; but it was
not until 1705 that the Anatomical Chair was
founded in the university.
In 1703 a struggle for emancipation from the
Town Council was made by the professors. It had
-wen usual f9r the former body to appoint a day for
graduation, or laureation, as it was named in those
days. This was for the first or senior class; and to
preside at this learned ceremony a certain portion
of the somewhat unlearned civic patrons were
regularly deputed, with their robes, insignia, and
halberdiers, to at ten d.
The professors, as may be supposed, were becoming
very impatient of this yearly interference
with their internal arrangements, and perhaps imagined,
not unnaturally, that literature, science,
and philosophy, could derive but little lustre .‘ from
the presence of men who, generally speaking, would
have ears which heard not, and understandings
which could not perceive.”
Thus they bethought them of a plan whereby they
hoped to get rid of such officious visitors in all
time coming.
Accordingly, when all the professors met in the
Old College Hall, on the 20th of January, 1703,
they, as an independent faculty, adopted the following
resolution :-
“ The Faculty of Philosophy within the city of
Edinburgh, taking to their consideration the reasons
offered by Mr. Scott . why his magistrand class
should be privately graduated, and being satisfied
with the same, do unanimously, according to fheir
undoubfed yighf, confained in the charfer of erection,
and their constant and uninterrupted custom in
such cases, appoint the said class to be laureated
privately upon the last Thursday of April next,
being the twenty-seventh day of the said month.
Signed by order, and in presence of the Faculty, by
Robert Anderson, CZerk.”
This was deemed by the Provost and bailies as
the very tocsin of rebellion, and roused at once
their wrath. A visitation accordingly followed, by
the Lord Provost, Sir Hugh Cunningham, Knight,
and the bailies, with the inevitable halberdiers, in
the library of the college on the 15th of the following
month ; there he informed the Senatus that
among many other contumacious things,. he had become
cognisant <‘ of an unwarrantable act of the
masters of that college, viz., the Professors of
Philosophy, Humanity, Mathematics, and Church
Iiistory, wherein they assert themselves a FiicuZty,
empowered by the charter of erection to appoint,
&C.”
It is difficult to know how this quarrel might
have ended, had not the Lord Advocate, as
mediator between the parties, effected a compromise,
which, however, implied a surrender of
the asserted point at issue by the four professors ;
at the same time, so resolute were the magistrates
and Council in their intention of upholding and
defending their privileges as patrms of the
university, that Bailie Blackwood, in the name of
the rest, declared that the Council of the city
“would not be satisfied with the masters simply](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v5p026.gif "Volume 5 Page 15")
... THE PROFESSORS AND THE TOWN COUNCIL. 15 -
endof the year named, a body was, for the first
time, ...
Vol. 5 p. 15 (Rel. 0.62)
... by King Alexander II., and in its earliest charters
named Mansio Re@, as he had bestowed upon
the monks a ...
Vol. 4 p. 285 (Rel. 0.62)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. ,The Dean.
Among the old houses here may be mentioned
a mill, or granary, immediately ...
Vol. 5 p. 64 (Rel. 0.62)
![The Meadows.] THE ROYAL .ARCHERS. 353
a captahseneral the famous Sir George Mackenzie,
then Lord Tarbat, and Secretary of State, and afterwards
Earl of Cromartie. Having judiciously
chosen a leader of powerful influence and approved
fidelity, they obtained from Queen Anne, on the
6th March, 1704, a charter under the Great Seal
of Scotland, erecting them into a royal company,
receiving and ratifying in their behalf the old laws
and acts in favour of archery ; giving them power
to enrol members, to select a council, and choose
for the Jacobites to omit utilising it for eventual
military purposes, and thus when, in 1714, the critical
state of the country and the hopes and fears of
opposite factions were roused by the approaching
death of Queen Anne and the distracted state of
her ministry, an unusual amount of vigour inspired
the Royal Company of Archers. Their laws were
extended on vellum, adorned with festoons of
ribbon, and subscribed by all the members ; and
they did not hesitate to engross in their minute
ARCHERS’ HALL: THE DINING HALL.
their own leaders ; ‘‘ as also of convening in military
fashion, by way of weapon-shaw, under the
guidance of their own officers . . . . and of
going forth as often as to it shall seem proper, at
least once in each year, about Midsummer, to shoot
arrow with a bow at a butt.” (“Laws, &c., of the
Royal Company of Archers ”-J. B. Paul’s Hist.,
&c.). The magistrates of Edinburgh soon after
gave them a silver arrow, to be shot for yearly.
These new rights and privileges they were appointed
to possess after the mode of 2 feudal tenure,
and to hold them in free gift of her Majesty and her
successors, paying therefor an annual acknowledgment
of a pair of barbed arrows.
Such an organisation as this proved too tempting
03
book, in terms not to be misunderstood, that on
his birthday they drank to the health of the exiled
James VIII.
The first
bears on one side Mars and Cupid within a wreath
of thistles, with the motto mentioned ; on the other
is a yew-tree, supported by two archers, with the
motto, Daf gZoria vires. The second colour has
on one side the royal standard, or lion rampant,
with a crowned thistle and the national motto,
Nemo me impune Zacessif. On the other side is St.
Andrew on his cross, with a crown over all, and
the then very significant motto, Dufce pro patria
pwicuZum.
On the 14th of June the Earl cf Cromartie, then
They still carry a pair of colours.](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v4p173.gif "Volume 4 Page 353")
... Meadows.] THE ROYAL .ARCHERS. 353
a captahseneral the famous Sir George Mackenzie,
then Lord Tarbat, and ...
Vol. 4 p. 353 (Rel. 0.62)
... goods on hand in their shops, everything had
to be ordered long before it was required ; and it
was always ...
Vol. 1 p. 175 (Rel. 0.62)
![Portobello.] THE FIGGATE MUIR ‘43
to the line of the turnpike road. The whole surface
of the district round them is studded with
buildings, and has only so far subsided from the
urban character as to acquire for these, whether
villa or cottage, the graceful accompaninients of
garden or hedge-row. “A stroll from the beautified
city to Piershill,” says a writer, “when the
musical bands of the barracks are striving to drown
the soft and carolling melodies of the little songsters
on the hedges and trees at the subsession ot
Arthur’s Seat, and when’ the blue Firth, with its
many-tinted canopy of clouds, and its picturesque
display of islets and steamers, and little smiling
boats on its waters, vies with the luxuriant lands
upon its shore to win the award due to beauty, is
indescribably delightful.”
C H A P T E R X I V .
PORTOBELLO.
Portolxll~The Site before the Houses-The Figgate Muir-Stone Coffins-A Meeting with Cromwell-A Curious Raae--Portobello Hut-
Robbqrs-Willkq Jamieson’s Feuing-Sir W. Scott and “The Lay “-Portobello Tower-Review of Yeomanry and H i g h d e w
Hugh Miller-David Laing-Joppa-Magdalene Bridge-Brunstane House.
PORTOBELLO, now a Parliamentary burgh, and
favourite bathing quarter of the citizens, occupies a
locality known for ages as the Figgate Muir, a once
desolate expanse of muir-land, which perhaps was
a portion of the forest of Drumsheugh, but which
latterly was covered With whins and furze, bordered
by a broad sandy beach, and extending from Magdalene
Bridge on the south perhaps to where Seafield
now lies, on the north-west.
Through this waste flowed the Figgate Bum out
of Duddingston Loch, a continuation of the Braid.
Figgate is said to be a corruption of the Saxon
word for a cow’s-ditch, and here ‘the monks of
Holyrood were wont to pasture their cattle.
Traces of early inhabitants were found here
in 1821, when three stone cofiins’were discovered
under a tumulus of sand, midway between Portobello
and Craigantinnie. These were rudely put
together, and each contained a human skeleton.
‘‘ The bones were quite entire,’’ says the Week&
JournnZ for that year, “and from their position it
would appear that the bodies had been buried with
their legs across. At the head of each was deposited
a number of flints, from which it is conjectured
the inhumation had taken place before the
use of metal in this country; and, what is very
remarkable, the roots of some shrubs had penetrated
the coffins and skulls of the skeletons, about which
and the ribs they had curiously twisted themselves.
The cavities of the skeletons indeed were quite
filled with vegetable matter.”
It was on the Figgate Muir that, during the
War of Independence, Sir William Wallace in 1296
mustered his zoo patriots to join Robert Lauder
and Crystal Seton at Musselblirgh for the pursuit
of the traitor Earl of Dunbar, whom they fought at
Inverwick, afterwards taking his castle at Dunbar.
In the Register of the Privy Council, January,
1584, in a bond of caution for David Preston of
Craigmillar, Robert Pacok in Brigend, Thomas
Pacok in Cameron, and others, are named as sureties
that John Hutchison, mirchant and burgess
of Edinburgh, shall be left peaceably in possession
of the lands ‘‘ callit Kingis medow, besyde the
said burgh, and of that pairt thairof nixt adjacent
to the bume callit the Figott Burne, on the north
side of the same, being a proper pairt and pertinent
of the saidis landis of Kingis Medow.”
Among the witnesses is George Ramsay, Dean of
Restalrig.
We next hear of this locality in 1650, when it
was supposed to be the scene of a secret meeting,
‘‘ half way between Leith and Musselburgh Rocks,
at low water,” between Oliver Cromwell and the
Scottish leaders, each attended by a hundred
horse, when any question the latter proposed to
ask he agreed to answer, but declined to admit
alike of animadversion or reply. A part of this
alleged conference is said to have been-
“ Why did you put the king to death ?
‘‘ Because he was a tyrant, and deserved death.”
“ Why did you dissolve the Parliament ? I’
‘“ Because they .were greater tyrants than the
king, and required dissolution.”
The Mercurius CaZtdoonius of 1661 records a very
different scene here, under the name of the Thicket
Burn, when a foot-race was run from thence to the
summit of Arthur’s Seat by twelve browster-wives,
“all of them in a condition which makes violent
exertion unsuitable to the female form.” The prizes
on this occasiofi were, for the first, a hundredweight
of cheese and “a budge11 of Dunkeld aquavite,
andarumpkin of Brunswick rum for the second, set
down by the Dutch midwife. The next day six](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v5p154.gif "Volume 5 Page 143")
... THE FIGGATE MUIR ‘43
to the line of the turnpike road. The whole surface
of the district round ...
Vol. 5 p. 143 (Rel. 0.62)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Leith Wynd.
broad and spacious thoroughfare, named St. Mary’s
Street, presenting on ...
Vol. 2 p. 300 (Rel. 0.62)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Leith
One of the greatest events of its time in Leith
was the landing there of George ...
Vol. 6 p. 208 (Rel. 0.62)
![High Street.] MISS NICKY MURRAY. 243
in the charter room of the burgh, dated 1723, is
described as being “that big hall, or great room,
now known by the name of the Assembly House,
twice upon it in one night, and often the most
beautiful girls in the city passed it, as inere spectators,
which threw serious duties on the gentlemen
There it was that the Honourable Miss Nicky
Murray reigned supreme as lady-directress and
goddess of fashion, for many years during the
middle of the eighteenth century. She was a
sister of the Earl of Mansfield, and was a woman
possessed of much good sense, firmness, knowledge
of the world, and of the characters of those by
whom she was surrounded. With her sisters she
lived long in one of the tenements at the head of
Bailie Fyfe’s Close, where she annually received
whole broods of fair country cousins, who came to
town to receive the finishing touches of a girl’s education,
and be introduced to society-the starched
and stately society of old Edinburgh.
The Assembly Room was in the close to which
it gave its name. It had a spacious lobby, lighted
by sconces, where the gilded sedans set down their
powdered, hooped, and wigged occupants, while
links flared, liveried valets jostled, and swords were
sometimes drawn; and where a reduced gentleman-
a claimant to the ancient peerage of Kirkcudbnght-
sold gloves, for which he was rather
ungenerously sneered at by Oliver Goldsmith.
From this lobby the dancing-hall opened at
once, and up-stairs was a tea-room. The former
had in its centre a railed space,-within which were
the dancers ; while the spectators, we are told, sat
on the outside, and no communication was permitted
between the different sides of this sacred
pale. Here it was that in 1753 Goldsmith first
saw, with some astonishment, the formalities of
the old Scottish balls. He relates that on entering
the dancing-room he saw one end of it taken up
by the ladies, who ‘sat dismally in a group by
themselves. “On the other end stand their
pensive partners that are to be, but no more
intercourse between the sexes than between two
countries at war. The ladies, indeed, may ogle,
and the gentlemen sigh, but an embargo is laid on
any closer commerce.”
The lady directress occupied a high chair, or
species of throne, upon a dais at one end, and
thereon sat Miss Nicky Murray in state. Her
immediate predecessors there had been Mrs.
Browne of Colstoun, and Lady Minto, daughter
of Sir Robert Stuart of Allanbank.
The whole arrangements were ofa rigid character,
iartner for the whole year! The arrangements
were generally made at some preliminary ball or
Ither gathering, when a gentleman’s cocked hat
was unflapped and the ladies’ fans were placed
;herein, and, as in a species of ballot, the beaux
hew forth the latter, and to whomsoever the fan
3elonged he was to be the partner for the season,
I system often productive of absurd combinations
md many a petty awkwardness. “ Then,” as Sir
Alexander Boswell wrote-
“ The Assembly Clbse received the fair-
Order and elegance presided there-
Each gay Right Honourable had her place,
To walk a minuet with becoming grace.
No racing to the dance, with rival hurry-
Such was thy sway, 0 famed Miss Nicky Murray !
Each lady’s fan a chosen Damon bore,
With care selected many a day before ;
For, unprovided with a favourite beau,
The nymph, chagrined, the ball must needs forego,
But previous matters to her taste arranged,
Certes, the constant couple never changed ;
Through a long night, to watch fair Delia’s will,
The same dull swain was at her elbow still.’’
With sword at side, and often hat in hand, the
gallants of those days escorted the chairs of their
partners home to many a close and wynd now the
ibode of squalor and sordid poverty; for much
Df stately and genuine old-fashioned gallantry prevailed,
as if it were part of the costume, referred
to by the poet :-
“ Shades of my fathers ! in your pasteboard skirts,
Your broidered waistcoats and your plaited shirts,
Your formal bag-wigs, wide extended cuffs,
Your five-inch chitterlings and nine-inch ruffs.
Gods! how ye strut at times in all your state,
Amid the visions of my thoughtful pate ! ”
Those who attended the assemblies belonged
exclusively to the upper circle of society that then,
existed in Edinburgh ; and Miss Murray, on
hearing a young lady’s name mentioned to her for
approval, was wont to ask, ‘‘ Miss-of what? ” and,
if no territorial or family name followed, she might
dismiss the matter by a wave of her fan, for,
according to her views, it was necessary to be
‘‘a lady 0’ that ilk;” and it is well known, that
“upon one occasion, seeing at an assembly a
wan who had been raised to wealth in some](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v2p063.gif "Volume 2 Page 243")
... Street.] MISS NICKY MURRAY. 243
in the charter room of the burgh, dated 1723, is
described as being “that ...
Vol. 2 p. 243 (Rel. 0.62)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Restalrig.
By interdict the directors were compelled to give
access to the well, ...
Vol. 5 p. 130 (Rel. 0.61)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Greyfirs Church.
King‘s Commissioner, the severity of these vile
persecutions was ...
Vol. 4 p. 378 (Rel. 0.61)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Leith Walk.
Roman, and which spans the bum where it flows
through a wooded and sylvan ...
Vol. 5 p. 150 (Rel. 0.61)
... Giles’s Church.
was a place frequently assigned in bills for the
payment of money.
The transept, called at ...
Vol. 1 p. 144 (Rel. 0.61)
... Street.! BISHOP BOTHWELL. 219 .
CHAPTEX X Y v r .
THE. HIGH STREET ( ~ ~ ~ f h t d ) .
The Ancient ...
Vol. 2 p. 219 (Rel. 0.61)
... AND NEW EDINBURGH. 1st. teona& 384
bat in St. Leonard’s Hill, and upon the 23rd the said
Robert was put ...
Vol. 2 p. 384 (Rel. 0.61)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Granton.
Scots now takefl this to be a prophecy of the
thing which has happened. ’ ...
Vol. 6 p. 310 (Rel. 0.61)
![High Street.] ST. MARY’S CHA4PEL. 247
made out by Latinising his name into Nz’choZaus
Ea’wfirtus. It occupied the western side of Lockhart’s
Court, and was accessible only by a deep
archway.
In an Act passed in 158r, ‘<Anent the Cuinzie,”
Alexander Clark of Balbirnie, Provost of Edinburgh,
and Nicol Edward, whose houses were both
in this wynd, are mentioned with others. The
latter appears in 1585 in the Parliament as Commissary
for Edinburgh, together with Michael Gilbert;
and in 1587 he appears again in an Act of
Parliament in favour of the Flemish craftsmen,
whom James VI. was desirous of encouraging ; but,
!est they should produce inferior work at Scottish
prices, his Majesty, with the advice of Council,
hes appointit, constitute, and ordainit, ane honest
and discreit man, Nicolas Uduart, burgess of Edinburgh,
to be visitor and overseer of the said craftsmen’s
hail warks, steiks, and pieces . . . the said
Nicolas sal have sic dueties as is contenit within
the buke, as is commonly usit to be payit therfore
in Flanderis, Holland, or Ingland ; I’ in virtue
of all of which Nicholas was freed froin all watching,
warding, and all charges and impositions.
In that court dwelt, in 17534761, George Lockhart
of Carnwath One of the thirteen roonis in his
house contained a mantelpiece of singular magnificence,
that reached the lofty ceiling; but the
house had a peculiar accessory, in the shape of (‘ a
profound dungeon, which was only accessible by a
secret trapdoor, opening through the floor of a
small closet, the most remote of a suite of rooms
extending along the south and west sides of the
court. Perhaps at a time when to be rich was
neither so common nor so safe as now, Provost
Edward might conceal his hoards in this massy
more.”
The north side of Lockhart’s Court was long
occupied by the family of Bruce of Kinnaird, the
celebrated traveller.
In Niddry‘s Wynd, a little below Provost Edward’s
house on the opposite side, stood St.
Mary’s Chapel, dedicated to God and the Blessed
Virgin Mary, according to Arnot, in 1505. Its
foundress was Elizabeth, daughter of James, Lord
Livingstone, Great Chamberlain of Scotland, and
Countess of Ross-then widow of John Earl of
Ross and Lord of the Isles, who, undeterred by
the miserable fate of his father, drew on him, by
his treasonable practices, the just vengeance of
James III., and died in 1498.
Colville of Easter U‘emyss, and afterwards
Richardson of Smeaton, became proprietors and
patrons of this religious foundation ; and about
the year 1600, James Chaliners, a macer before the
Court of Session, acquired a right to the chapel,
and in 1618 the Corporations of Wrights and
Masons, known by the name of the United Incorporations
of Mary’s Chapel, purchased this subject,
“where they still possess, and where they hold
meetings,” says Arnot, writing in 1779.
In the CaZedonian Mercury for 1736 we read
that on St. Andrew’s Day the masters and wardens
of forty masonic lodges met in St. Mary’s Chapel,
and unanimously elected as their grand-master
William Sinclair of Roslin, the representative of
an ancient though reduced family, connected for
several generations with Scottish freemasonry.
For this ancient chapel a modern edifice was
substituted, long before the demolition of Niddry’s
Wynd; but the masonic lodge of Mary’s Chapel
still exists, and we believe holds its meetings
there.
Religious services were last conducted in the
new edifice when Viscountess Glenorchy hired it.
She was zealous in the cause of religion, and conceived
a plan of having a place of worship in
which ministers of every orthodox denomination
might preach; and for this purpose she had St.
Mary’s Chapel opened on Wednesday, the 7th
March, 1770, by the Rev. Mr. Middleton, the
minister of a small Episcopal chapel at Dalkeith ;
but she failed to secure the ministrations of any
clergyman of the Established Church, though in
1779 the Rev. William Logan, of South Leith, a
poet of some eminence in his time, gave his course
of lectures on the philosophy of history in the
chapel, prior to offering himself as a candidate for
the chair of civil history in the University.
On the east side of Niddry’s Wynd, nearly opp0-
site to Lockhart’s Court, was a handsome house,
which early in the eighteenth century was inhabited
by the Hon. James Erskine, a senator, better
known by his legal and territorial appellation of
Lord Grange, brother of John Earl of Mar, who
led’ the great rising in 1715 on behalf of the
Stuarts. He was born in 1679, and was called to
the Scottish bar in 1705. He took no share in
the Jacobite enterprise which led to the forfeiture
of his brother, and the loss, ultimately of
the last remains of the once great inheritance in
the north from which the ancient family took its
name.
He affected to be a zealous Presbyterian and
adherent of the House of Hanover, and as such he
figures prominently in the ‘‘ Diary” of the indus .
trious \ffodrow, supplying that writer with many
shreds of the Court gossip, which he loved so
dearly ; but Lord Grange is chiefly remembered for
the romantic story of his wife, which has long filled](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v2p067.gif "Volume 2 Page 247")
... Street.] ST. MARY’S CHA4PEL. 247
made out by Latinising his name into Nz’choZaus
Ea’wfirtus. It ...
Vol. 2 p. 247 (Rel. 0.6)
... THE MELVILLES..
/
LASSWADE CnuKCH, 1773. (Afdw an Etching by Yohn Clerk of E(din.1
CHAPTER XLIII.
THE ...
Vol. 6 p. 361 (Rel. 0.6)
... OLD AKD NEW EDINBURGH, [Leith.
1596-7. In 1578 an Act of Parliament was passed
to prevent “ the taking away ...
Vol. 5 p. 180 (Rel. 0.6)
... BEARING DATE OF 1692.
discovery was made in one of our churches. Some
years ago a chest, without ...
Vol. 1 p. 186 (Rel. 0.59)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [St. Andrew Square.
old Scottish school. His habits were active, anc
he was fond of ...
Vol. 3 p. 170 (Rel. 0.59)
![Parlient Close.] JOHN OSW.4LD. I79
his peculiar hze& or place of resort by day or
night, where merchants, traders, and men of every
station, met for consultation, or good-fellowship,
and to hear the items of news that came by the
mail or stage from distant parts; and Wilson,
writing in 1847, says, “ Currie’s Tavern, in Craig’s
Close, ‘once the scene of meeting of various clubs,
and a favourite resort of merchants, still retains
.a reputation among certain antiquarian bibbers for
an old-fashioned luxury, known by the name
of jaj-in, a strange compound of small-beer and
whiskey, curried, as the phrase is, with a little
aatmeal.”
Gossiping Wodrow tells us in his ‘I Analecta,”
that, on the 10th of June, 1712, “The birthday of
the Pretender, I hear there has been great outrages
.at Edinburgh by his friends. His health was drunk
early in the morning in the Parliament Close j and
at night, when the magistrates were going through
the streets to keep th: peace, several were
taken up in disguise, and the King‘s health (ie.,
James VIII.) was drunk out of several windows,
and the glasses thrown over the windows when
the magistrates passed by, and many windows
were illuminated. At Leith there was a standard
:set upon the pier, with a thistle and Nemo me
imjune Zaessit, and J ‘R. VI11 ; and beneath,
Noe Abjuration. This stood a great part of the
-day.” Had the old historian lived till the close
.of the century or the beginning of the present,
he might have seen, as Chambers tells us, “Singing
Jamie Balfour ”-a noted convivialist, of whom
a portrait used to hang in the Leith Golf-housewith
other topers in the Parliament Close, all bareheaded,
on their knees, and hand-in-hand, around
.the statute of Charles II., chorusing vigorously,
“T. King s h d enjoy his own again.” Jamie
Balfour was well known to Sir Walter Scott.
About the year 1760 John’s coffee-house was
kept by a man named Oswald, whose son John,
born there, and better known under his assumed
name of Sylvester Otway, was one of the most
extraordinary characters of that century as a poet
.and politician. He served an apprenticeship to a
jeweller in the Close, till a relation left him a
legacy, with which he purchased a commission in
the Black Watch, and in 1780 he was the third
lieutenant in seniority in the 2nd battalion when
serving in India. Already master of Latin and
Greek, he then taught himself Arabic, and, quitting
the army in 1783, became a violent Radical, and
published in London a pamphlet on the British
Constitution, setting forth his views (crude as they
were) and principles. His amatory poems received
she dpprobation of Bums; and, after publishing
various farces, effusions, and fiery political papers,
he joined the French Revolutionists in 1792, when
his pamphlets obtained for him admission into
the Jacobite Club, and his experiences in the
qznd procured him command of a regiment composed
of the masses of Paris, with which he
marched against the royalists in La Vendie, on
which occasion his men mutinied, and shot him,
together with his two sons-whom, in the spirit of
quality, he had made drummers-and an English
Zentleman, who had the misfortune to be serving
in the same battalion.
John third Earl, of Bute, a statesman and a
patron of literature, who procured a pension for
Dr. Johnson, and who became so unpopular as
a minister through the attacks of Wilkes, was
born in the Parliament Close on the 25th of May,
1713.
Near to John’s coffee-house, and on the south
side ,of the Parliament Close, was the banking-house
of Sir William Forbes, Bart., who was born at Edinburgh
in 1739. He was favourably known as the
author of the “Life of Beattie,” and other works,
and as being one of the most benevolent and highspirited
of citizens. The bank was in reality established
by the father of Thomas Coutts, the eminent
London banker, and young Forbes, in October,
1753, was introduced to the former as an apprentice
for a term of seven years. He became a copartner
in 1761, and on the death of one of the
Messrs. Coutts, and retirement of another on
account of ill-health, while two others were settled
in London, a new company was formed, comprising
Sir William Forbes, Sir James Hunter Blair,
and Sir Robert Hemes, who, at first, carried on
business in the name of the old firm.
In 1773, however, Sir Robert formed a separate
establishment in London, when the name was
changed to Forbes, Hunter, and Co., of which
firm Sir William continued to be the head till his
death, in 1806.
Kin&id tells us that, when their first bankinghouse
was building, great quantities of human
bones-relics of St. Giles’s Churchyard-were dug
up, which were again buried at the south-east
corner, between the wall of the edifice and the
Parliament Stairs that led to the Cowgate; and
that, “ not many years ago, numbers were also dug
up in the Parliament Close, which were carefully
put in casks, and buried in the Greyfriars’ Churchyard”
In accordance with a longcherished desire of
restoring his family-which had been attainted for
loyalty to the house of StuartLSir William Forbes
embraced a favourable opportunity for purchasing](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v1p191.gif "Volume 1 Page 179")
... Close.] JOHN OSW.4LD. I79
his peculiar hze& or place of resort by day or
night, where merchants, ...
Vol. 1 p. 179 (Rel. 0.59)
... sixty feet wide, bordering the Albert and
other docks, and, in addition to the edifices
specially mentioned, ...
Vol. 6 p. 245 (Rel. 0.59)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [St. Giles's Church.
establishment, and Maitland gives us a roll of the
forty ...
Vol. 1 p. 140 (Rel. 0.59)
![University,] A STUDENTS’ RIOT. I1
placed in the city charter room; and this order
occurs often afterwards, or is referred to thus :-
‘‘ In 1663 the magistrates came down with their
halberts to the college, took away all our charters
and papers, declared the Provost perpetual rector,
though he was chancellor before, and at the same
time discharged university meetings.”
During the summer of 1656 some new buildings
were in progress on the south side of the old
college, as the town council records state that
for the better carrying on thereof, “there is a
necessitie to break down and demolishe the hous
neirest the Potterrow Port, which now the Court du
Guaird possesseth ; thairfoir ordaines the thesaurer
with John Milne to visite the place, and doe therin
what they find expedient, as weil for demolishing
the said hous as for provyding for the Court du
Guaird utenvayis.”
During the year 1665 some very unpleasant relations
ensued between the university and its civic
patrons, and these originated in a frivolous cause.
It had been the ancient practice of the regents of
all European seminaries to chastise with a birch
rod such of the students as were unruly or committed
a breach of the laws of the college within
its bound. Some punishment of this nature had
been administered to the son of the then Provost,
Sir Andrew Ramsay, Knight, and great offence was
taken thereat.
In imitation of his colleagues and predecessors,
the regent, on this occasion, had used his own
entire discretion as to the mode and amount of
punishment he should inflict ; but the Lord Provost
was highly exasperated, and determining to wreak
his vengeance on the whole university, assumed the
entire executive authority into his own hands.
‘‘ Having proceeded to the college, and exhibited
some very unnecessary symbols of his power within
the city-the halberts, we presume-on the tenth
of November he repaired to the Council Chamber
and procured the following Act- to be passed :-
Th CoumiZ agrees fhut fhe Provosf of Edinburgh,
present and to come, 6e &ways Rector and Governor
uf fhe roZZege in a21 time coming.’ The only important
effects which this disagreeable business
produced were, that it was the cause of corporal
punishment being banished from the university,
and that no rector has since been elected,” adds
Bower, writing in 1817. “The Senatw Arademiclls
have repeatedly made efforts to revive the election
of the ofice of rector, and have as often failed
of success.”
A short time before his death Cromwell made a
grant to the college of &zoo per annum, a sum
which in those days would greatly have added to
the prosperity of the institution ; but he happened
to die in the September of the same year in which
the grant was dated, and as all his Acts were
rescinded at the’ Restoration, his intentions towards
the university came to nothing. The expense of
passing the document at the Exchequer cost about
L476 16s. Scots; hence it is extremely doubtful if
the smallest benefit ever came of it in any way.
The year 1680 saw the students of the university
engaged in a serious riot, which created a profound
sensation at the time.
‘i After the Restoration, the students,” says
Amot, “ appear to have been pretty much tainted
with the fanatic principles of the Covenanters,”
and they resolved, while the Duke of Albany and
York was at Holyrood, to manifest their zeal by a
solemn procession and burning of the pope in effigy
on Christmas Day, and to that end posted up the
following :-
“‘I’HESE are to give notice to all Noblemen, Gentlemen,
Citizens, and others, that We, the Students of the Royal College
of Edinburgh (to show our detestation and abhorrence of
the Romish religion, and our zeal and fervency for the Protestant),
do resolve to bum the effigies of Anfi-ch&f, the
Pqe of Rome at the Mercat Cross of Edinburgh, the 25th of
December instant, at Twelve in the forenoon (being the
festival of Our Saviour’s nativity). And as we hate tumnlts
as we do superstition, we do hereby (under pain of death) discharge
all robbers, thieves, and bawds to come within 40
paces of our company, and such as shall be found disobedient
to these our commands, Sibi Caveant.
“ By our Special command, ROBERT BROWN, Secretary
to all our Theatricals and Extra L i t d Divertisements.”
“AN ADVERTISEMENT.
This announcement filled the magistrates with
alarm, as such an exhibition was seriously calculated
to affront the duke and duchess, and, moreover,
to excite a dangerous sedition. According to a
history of, this affair, published for Richard Janeway,
in Queen’s Head Alley, Paternoster Row, 1681,
the students bound themselves by a solemn oath
to support each other, under penalty of a fine, and
they employed a carver, “who erected then a
wooden Holiness, with clothes, tiiple crown, keys,
and other necessary habiliments,” and by Christmas
Eve all was in readiness for the display, to prevent
which the Lord Provost used every means
at his command.
He sent for Andrew Cant, the principal, and
the regents, whom he enjoined to deter the
students “ with menaces that if they would not, he
would make it a bloody Christmas to them.” He
then went to Holyrood, and had an interview with
the duke and the Lord Chancellor, who threatened
to march the Scottish troops into the town. Meanwhile,
the principal strove to exact oaths and
promises from the students that they would re](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v5p022.gif "Volume 5 Page 11")
... A STUDENTS’ RIOT. I1
placed in the city charter room; and this order
occurs often afterwards, or ...
Vol. 5 p. 11 (Rel. 0.59)
![I34 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Restalng.
many instances, relatives and friends. With all
the affected zeal of a peacemaker, this gentleman
(whose house stood in Drury Lane, off the Strand
in London), proposed terms which Huntly deemed
satisfactory ; but the next point to be considered
was, which party should first march off the field.
On this, both parties were absurdly obstinate.
Huntly maintained that Morton, by an aggressive
display, had drawn the Queen’s troops out of the
city ; while Morton, on the other hand, charged the
Highland Earl with various acts of hostility and
insult. Dnuy eventually got both parties to promise
to quit the ground at a given signal, “and
that signal,” he arranged, “shall be the throwing
up of my hat.”
This was agreed to, and before Drury was halfway
between the Hawkhill and the ancient quarries,
up went his plumed hat, and away wheeled
Huntly’s forces, marching for the city by the road
that led to the Canongate, without the least suspicion
of the treachery of Drury, or Morton, whose
soldiers had never left their ground, and who cow,
rushing across the open fields with shouts charged
with the utmost fury the queen’s men, ‘‘ who were
retiring with all the imprudent irregularity and confusion
which an imaginary security and exultation
at having escaped a sanguinary conflict were calculated
to produce.”
Thus treacherously attacked, they were put to
flight, and were pursued with cruel and rancorous
slaughter to the very gates of the city. The
whole road was covered with dead and wounded
men, while Lord Home, several gentlemen of high
position, and seventy-two private soldiers, a pair
of colours, several horses, and two pieces of cannon,
were, amid great triumph, marched into Leith in the
afternoon.
This was not the only act of treachery of which
Sir William Drury was guilty. He swore that he
was entirely innocent, and threw the whole blame
on Morton; but though an ambassador, so exas.
perated were the people of Edinburgh against him,
that he had afterwards to quit the city under a
guard to protect him from the infuriated mob.
The Laird of Restalrig was among those who
surrendered with Kirkaldy of Grange, in 1573, when
the Castle of Edinburgh capitulated to Morton;
but he would seem to have been pardoned, as
no record exists of any seventy practised upon him.
In #some criminal proceedings, in I 5 76, the sheet
of water here is designated as Restalrig Loch,
when a woman named Bessie Dunlop was tried
for witchcraft and having certain interviews with
‘‘ ane Tam Reid,” who was killed at the battle of
Pinkie. Having once ridden with her husband to
Leith to bring home meal, “ganging afield to
tether her horse at Restalrig Loch, there came ane
company of riders by, that made sic a din as if
heaven and earth had gane together; and, incontinent
they rade into the loch, with mony
hideous rumble. Tarn tauld [her] it was the
Gude Wights, that were riding in middle-eard.”
For these and similar confessions, Bessie was
consigned to the flames as a witch.
During the prevalence of the pestilence, in 1585,
James Melville says that on his way to join the
General Assembly at Linlithgow he had to pass
through Edinburgh ; that after dining at Restalrig at
eleven o’clock, he rode through thecity from the Water
Gate to the West Port, “ in all whilk way, we saw
not three persons, sae that I mis-kenned Edinburgh,
and almost forgot that I had ever seen sic a town.”
In 1594 Restalrig was the scene of one of those
stormy raids that the “mad Earl of Bothwell”
caused so frequently, to the torment of James VI.
The earl, at the head of an armed force, was in
Leith, and broke out in open rebellion, when,
on the 3rd of April, the king, after sermon, summoned
the people of Edinburgh in arms, and moved
towards Leith, from whence Bothwell instantly
issued at the head of 500 mounted men-atms,
and took up a position at the Hawkhill near
Restalrig. Fearing, however, the strength of the
citizens, he made a detour, and galloped through
Duddingstone. Lord Home with his lances followed
him to “the Woomet,” says Birrel, probably
meaning Woolmet, near Dalkeith, when Bothwell
faced about, and compelled him to retire in turn,
but not without bloodshed.
In February, 1593, at Holyrood, Robert Logan,
of Restalrig, was denounced for not appearing to
answer for his treasonable conspiracy and trafiicking
“ with Francis, sum tyme Earl of Bothwell ; ” and
in the June of the following year he was again
denounced as a traitor for failing to appear and
answer for the conduct of two of his vassals, Jockie
Houlden and Peter Craick, who had despoiled
Robert Gray, burgess in Edinburgh of Lg50.
It was in this year that the remarkable indenture
was formed between him and Napier of Merchiston
to search for gold in Fast Castle (the “Wolf’s Crag”
of the Master of Ravenswood), a fortress which lie
had acquired by his marriage with an heiress of
the Home family, to whom it originally belonged.
Logan joined the Earl of Gowrie in the infamous
and mysterious conspiracy at Perth, in the year
1600. It was proposed to force the king into ir
boat at the bottom of the garden of Gowrie
House, which the river Tay bordered, and from‘
thence conduct him by sea to Logan’s inacces](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v5p145.gif "Volume 5 Page 134")
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Restalng.
many instances, relatives and friends. With all
the affected zeal of a ...
Vol. 5 p. 134 (Rel. 0.58)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. WolJlmd
mted with several mouldings, partly circular and
partly hexagonal. The eagle ...
Vol. 3 p. 48 (Rel. 0.58)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Moultray‘s Hill.
country where pedigree is the best ascertained of
any in the ...
Vol. 2 p. 372 (Rel. 0.58)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Leith
is in the Gothic style, with a tower 130 feet high,
surmounted by an open ...
Vol. 6 p. 240 (Rel. 0.58)
... to Bellenden, was now standing boldly
at bay, and, with its branching antlers, put the life
of the ...
Vol. 1 p. 22 (Rel. 0.58)
![Holyrood.] THE ABBEY CHURCH IN RUINS. 59
and cannon were two ship’s masts, fully rigged,
one on the right bearing the Scottish flag, another
on the left bearing the English. ‘‘ Above all these
rose the beautiful eastem window, shedding a flood
of light along the nave, eclipsing the fourteen
windows of the clerestory. The floor was laid
with ornamental tiles, some portions of which are
yet preserved.”
In the royal yacht there came to Leith from
London an altar, vestments, and images, to complete
the restoration of the church to its ancient uses.
As if to hasten on the destruction of his house,
James VII., not content with securing to his
Catholic subjects within the precincts of Holyrood
that degree of religious toleration now enjoyed
by every British subject, had mass celebrated there,
and established a college of priests, whose rules
were published on the zznd of March, 1688, inviting
people to send their children there, to be
educated gratis, as Fountainhall records. He also
appointed a Catholic printer, named Watson (who
availed himself of the protection afforded by the
sanctuary) to be “ King‘s printer in Holyrood ;”
and obtained a right from the Privy Council
to print all the “ prognostications at Edinburgh,”
an interesting fact which accounts for the number
of old books bearing Holyrood on their
title-pages. Prior to all this, on St. Andrew’s
Day, 30th November, the whole church was
sprinkled with holy water, re-consecrated, and a
sermon was preached in it by a priest named
Widerington.
Tidings of the landing of William of Orange
roused the Presbyterian mobs to take summary vengeance,
and on being joined by the students of the
University, they assailed the palace and chapel royal.
The guard, IOO strong-“ the brats of Belia1”-
under Captain Wallace, opened a fire upon them,
killing twelve and wounding many more, but they
were ultimately compelled to give way, and the
chapel doors were burst open. The whole interior
was instantly gutted and destroyed, and
the magnificent throne, stalls, and orgab, were
ruthlessly tom down, conveyed to the Cross, and
there consigned to the flames, amid the frantic
shrieks and yells of thousands. Not content with
all this, in a spirit of mad sacrilege, the mob, now
grown lawless, burst into the royal vault, tore some
of the leaden coffins asunder, and, according to
Amot, camed off the lids.
By the middle of the eighteenth century the rooG
which had become ruinous, was restored with flagstones
in a manner too ponderous for the ancient
arches, which gave way beneath the superincumbent
weight on the 2nd of December, 1768; and again
the people of Edinburgh became seized by a spirit
of the foullest desecration, and from thenceforward,
until a comparafively recent period, the ruined
church remained open to all, and was appropriated ‘
tu the vilest uses. Grose thus describes what he
saw when the rubbish had been partly cleared
away :-“ When we lately visited it we saw in the
middle of the chapel the columns which had been
borne down by the weight of the roof. Upon
looking into the vaults which were open, we found
that what had escaped the fury of the mob at the
Revolution became a prey to the mobwho ransacked
it after it fell. In A.D. 1776 we had seen the body
of James V. and others in their leaden coffins;
the coffins are now stolen. The head of Queen
Margaret (Magdalene?), which was then entire, and
even beautiful, and the skull of Damley, were also
stolen, and were last traced to the collection of a
statuary in Edinburgh.”
In 1795 the great east window was blown out
in a violent storm, but in 1816 was restored from
its own remains, which lay scattered about on the
ground. In the latter year the north-west tower,
latterly used as a vestry, was still covered by an
ogee leaden roof.
The west front of what remains, though the W0i-k
perhaps of different periods, is in the most beautiful
style of Early English, and the boldly-cut heads
in its sculptured arcade and rich variety of ornament
in the doorway are universally admired.
The windows above it were additions made so
latelyas the time of Charles I., and the inscriptions
which that upfortunate king had carved on the
Ornamental tablet between them is a striking illustration
of the vanity of human hopes. One runs :-
Ultimately this also fell.
“Basiluam ham, Carolus Rex, @firnus imtaxravit, 1633.”
The other :-
“HE SHALL ESTABLISH ANE HOUSE FOR MY NAME, AND I
WILL ESTABLISH THE THRONE OF HIS KINGDOM FOR
EVER.”
In the north-west tower is amarble monument to
Robert, Viscount Belhaven, who was interred there
in January, 1639. His nephews, Sir Archibald and
Sir Robert Douglas, placed there that splendid
memorial to perpetuate hisvirtues as a man and
steadiness as a patriot. A row of tombs of Scottish
nobility and others lie in the north aisle. The
Roxburgh aisle adjoins the royal vault in the
south aisle, and in front of it lies the tomb of the
Countess of Errol, who died in 1808. Close by.
it is that of the Bishop of Orkney, already referred
to. “ A flattering inscription enumerates the.
bishop’s titles, and represents this worldly hypocrite](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v3p071.gif "Volume 3 Page 59")
... THE ABBEY CHURCH IN RUINS. 59
and cannon were two ship’s masts, fully rigged,
one on the right ...
Vol. 3 p. 59 (Rel. 0.58)
... .OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Leith
But this ancient alley is the earliest thoroughhre
in the seaport of which we ...
Vol. 6 p. 234 (Rel. 0.57)
... HALL. 319 Riccar&&l
He was at once-for some reasons known at the
time-accused of having ...
Vol. 6 p. 319 (Rel. 0.57)
... view below Cramond
Brig, 111. '317
Cramond Bridge, 11. 63, 111. 1x1
CramondChurch 111. 316 ...
Vol. 6 p. 374 (Rel. 0.57)
... SIR JOHN WHITEFORD OF THAT ILK 35
but who, after being sentenced to death, escaped to
Rome, where he ...
Vol. 3 p. 35 (Rel. 0.57)
![*lEe %we.] THE LORDS ROSS. 339
long, from where the north-east end of Teviot Row
was latterly. There were the stable offices; in
front of the house was a tree of great size, while
its spacious garden was bordered by Bristo Street.
When offered for sale, in March, 1761, it was
described in a newspaper of the period as “ROSS
House, with the fields and gardens lying around
it, consisting of about twenty-fou acres, divided as
follows : About an acre and a half in a field and
court about the house; seventeen acres in one
field lying to the south-west, between it and Hope
Park j the rest into kitchen-gardens, running along
Bristo Street and the back of the wall. The house
consists of dining, drawing, and dressing rooms,
six bed-chambers, several closets and garrets; in
the ground storey, kitchen, larder, pantry, milkhouse,
laundry, cellars, and accommodation for
servants, &c”
This house, which was latterly used as a lying-in
hospital, was occupied for some time prior to 1753
by George Lockhart of Carnwath, during whose
time it was the scene of many a gay rout, ball, and
ridotto ; but it was, when the family were in Edinburgh,
the permanent residence of the Lords Ross
of Halkhead, a family of great antiquity, dating
back to the days of King Willmm the Lion,
1165.
In this house died, in June, 2754, in the seventy
third year of his age, George, twelfth Lord ROSS,
Commissioner of the Customs, whose body wa
taken for interment to Renfrew, the burial-place 01
the family. His chief seats were Halkhead and
Melville Castle, He was succeeded by his son,
the Master of Ross, who waa the last lord of that
ilk, and who died in his thirty-fourth year, unmarried,
at Mount Teviof the seat of his uncle, the Marquis
of Lothian, in the following August, and was alsa
taken to Renfrew for purposes of interment.
His sister Elizabeth became Countess of Glas
gow, and eventually his heiress, and through he1
the Earls of Glasgow are also Lords Ross of
Halkhead, by creation in 1815.
Another sister was one of the last persons in
Scotland supposed to be possessed of an evil
spirit-Mary, who died unmarried. A correspondent
of Robert Chambers states as follows:-
‘‘A person alive in 1824 told me that, when a
child, he saw her clamber up to the top of an oldfashioned
four-post bed. In her fits it was impossible
to hold her.”
At the time-Ross House was offered for sale
the city was almost entirely confined within the
Flodden Wall, the suburbs being of small extent-
Nicolson Street and Square, Chapel Street, the
southern portion of Bristo Street, Crichton Street,
-
.
Buccleuch Street, and St. Patrick Square; though
some mere projected, the sites were nearly alI
fields and orchards. The old Statistical Account
says that Ross Park was purchased for ;GI,ZOO,
and that the ground-rents of the square yield
now (i.e., in 1793) above LI,OOO sterling per
annum to the proprietor.
James Brown, architect, who built Brown Square,
having feued from the city of Edinburgh the lands
of Ross Park, built thereon most of the houses of
the h’ew Square, which measures 220 yards by
150, and is said to have named it, not for the king,
but Brown’s elder brother George, who was the
Laud of Lindsaylands and Elliestown. It speedily
became a more popular place of residence than
Brown Square, being farther from town, and possessing
houses that were greatly superior in style
and accommodation.
Among the early residents in the square in
1784, and prior to that year, were the Countesses
of Glasgow and Sutherland, the Ladies Rae and
Philiphaugh, Antliony, Earl of Kintore, eighth
Lord Falconer of Halkertoun, Sir John Ross
Lockhart, and the Lords Braxheld, Stonefield, and
Kennet; and in 1788, Major-General Sir Ralph
Abercrombie, who died of his wounds in Egypt
It has been recorded as an instance of Lord Braxfield’g
great nerve that during the great political
trials in 1793-4, when men’s blood was almost at
fever heat, after each day’s proceedings closed,
usually about midnight, he always walked home,
alone and unprotected, through the dark or illlighted
streets, to his house in George Square,
though he constantly commented openly upon the
conduct of the Radicals, and more than once
announced in public that ‘‘ They wad a’ be muckle
the better 0’ bein’ hung !
Here, too, resided in 1784 the Hon. Henry
Erskine (brother of the Earl of Buchan), the witty
advocate, who, after being presented to Dr. Johnson
by Mr. Boswell, and having made his bow in
the Parliament House, slipped a shilling into
Boswell’s hand, whispering that it was for the sight
of his English bear.
To those named, Lord Cockburn, in his “Memorials,”
adds the Duchess of Gordon, Robert
Dundas of Amiston, Lord Chief Baron of Exchequer,
the hero of Camperdown, Lord President Blair,
Dr. John Jamieson, the Scottish lexicographer, and
says, “a host of other distinguished people all
resided here. The old square, with its pleasant
trim-kept gardens, has still an air of antiquated
grandeur about it, and retains not a few traces of
its former dignity and seclusion.”
Aniong the documents exhibited at the Scott](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v4p159.gif "Volume 4 Page 339")
... %we.] THE LORDS ROSS. 339
long, from where the north-east end of Teviot Row
was latterly. There were the ...
Vol. 4 p. 339 (Rel. 0.57)
![west Port.] THE TILTING GROUND. 225
centuries,” and the access thereto from the Castle
must have been both inconvenient and circuitous.
It has been supposed that the earliest buildings
-on this site had been erected in the reign of James
IV., when the low ground to the westward was the
scene of those magnificent tournaments, which drew
to that princely monarch7s court the most brilliant
chivalry in Europe, and where those combats ensued
of which the king was seldom an idle spectator.
This tilting ground remained open and unen-
~
appointed for triell of suche matters.” Latterly
the place bore the name of Livingstone’s Yards.
We have mentioned the acquisition by the city
of the king‘s stables at the Restoration. Lord
Fountainhall records, under date I rth March,
1685, a reduction pursued by the Duke of Queensberry,
as Governor of the Castle, against Thomas
Boreland and other possessors of these stables, as
part of the Castle precincts and property. Boreland
and others asserted that they held their property in
THE GRASSMARKET, FROM THE WEST PORT, 1825. (Afhh’wbmk.)
closed when Maitland wrote. and is described by I virtue of a feu granted in the reign of James V.,
him as a pleasant green space, 150 yards long, by
50 broad, adjoining the Chapel of Our Lady ; but
this “pleasant green” is now intersected by the‘
hideous Kingsbridge ; one portion is occupied by
the Royal Horse Bazaar and St. Cuthbert’s Free
Church, while the rest is made odious by tan-pits,
slaughter-houses, and other dwellings of various
descriptions.
Calderwood records that in the challenge to
mortal combat, in 1571, between Sir William
I Kirkaldy of Grange, and Alexander Stewart
younger of Garlies, they were to fight “upon the
ground, the Baresse, be-west the West Port of
Edinburgh, the place accustomed and of old ,
I
77
but the judges decided that unless thedefenders
could prove a legal dissolution of the royal possession,
they must be held as the king‘s stables, and
be accordingly annexed to the crown of Scotland
Thomas Boreland’s house, one which long figured
in every view of the Castle from the foot of Vennel
{see Vol. I., p. 80), has recently been pulled down.
It was a handsome and substantial edifice of three
storeys in height, including the dormer windows,
crow-stepped, and having three most picturesque
gables in front, with a finely moulded door, on the
lintel of which were inscribed a date and legend :-
T. B. v. B. 1675.
FEAR. GOD. HONOR . THE. KING.](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v4p045.gif "Volume 4 Page 225")
... Port.] THE TILTING GROUND. 225
centuries,” and the access thereto from the Castle
must have been both ...
Vol. 4 p. 225 (Rel. 0.57)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Infirmary Street.
In that year a fishing company was dissolved,
and the partners were ...
Vol. 4 p. 298 (Rel. 0.56)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Libertou.
extended from east to west over all the country.
This inequality in the ...
Vol. 6 p. 326 (Rel. 0.56)
... king, and will yield it to no power whatever.
But I respect that of the Parliament, and require
six days to ...
Vol. 1 p. 40 (Rel. 0.56)
![Canongate.] THE TENNIS COURT. ’ 39
Scotland, and who for some years had been Commissioner
to the General Assembly. In this house
he died, 28th July, 1767, as recorded in the Scots
Magazine, and was succeeded by his son, Major-
General the Earl of Ancrum, Colonel of the 11th
Light Dragoons (now Hussars). His second son,
Lord Robert, had been killed at Culloden.
His marchioness, Margaret, the daughter of Sir
Thomas Nicholson, Bart., of Kempnay, who survived
him twenty years, resided in Lothian Hut
till her death. It was afterwards occupied by the
dowager of the ‘ fourth Marquis, Lady Caroline
D’Arcy, who was only daughter of Robert Earl
of Holderness, and great-grand-daughter of Charles
Louis, the Elector Palatine, a lady whose character
is remembered traditionally to have been both
grand and amiable. Latterly the Hut was the
residence of Professor Dugald Stewart, who, about
the end of the last century, entertained there many
English pupils of high rank. Among them, perhaps
the most eminent was Henry Temple, afterwards
Lord Palmerston, whose education, commenced
at Harrow, was continued at the University
of Edinburgh. When he re-visited the latter city in
1865, during his stay he was made aware that an
aged woman, named Peggie Forbes, who had been
a servant with Dugald Stewart at Lothian Hut,
was still alive, and residing at No. I, Rankeillor
Street. There the great statesman visited her, and
expressed the pleasure he felt at renewing the
acquaintance of the old domestic.
Lothian Hut, the scene of Dugald Stewart’s
most important literary labours, was pulled down
ih 1825, to make room for a brewery ; but a house
of the same period, at the south-west corner of the
Horse Wynd, bears still the name of Lothian
Vale.
A little to the eastward of the present White
Horse hostel, and immediately adjoining the Water
Gate, stood the Hospital of St. Thomas, founded
in 154r by George Crichton, Bishop of Dunkeld,
“dedicated to God, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and
all the saints.” It consisted of an almshouse and
chapel, the bedesmen of which were “to celebrate
the founder’s anniversary obit. by solemnly singing
in the choir of Holyrood church yearly, on the
day of his death, ‘the Placebo and Dinie for the
repose of his soul ” and the soul of the King of
Scotland. “ Special care,” says Amot, “ was taken
in allotting money for providing candles to be
lighted during the anniversary ma.ss of requiem,
and the number and size of the tapers were fixed
with a precision which shows the importance in
which these circumstances were held by the founder.
The number of masses, paternosters, aye-marias,
and credos, to be said by the chaplain and bedesmen
is distinctly ascertained.”
The patronage of the institution was vested by
the founder in himself and a certain series of representatives
named by him.
In 1617, with the consent of David Crichton of
Lugton, the patron, who had retained possession
of the endowments, the magistrates of the Canongate
purchased the chapel and almshouse from the
chaplains and bedesmen, and converted the institution
into a hospital for the poor of the burgh.
Over the entrance they placed the Canongate arms,
supported by a pair of ‘cripples, an old man and
woman, with the inscription-
HELP HERE THE POORE, AS ZE WALD GOD DID ZOV.
JUNE 19, 1617.
The magistrates of the Canongate sold the patronage
of the institution in 1634 to the Kirk Session,
by whom its revenues “ were entirely embezzled f
by 1747 the buildings were turned into coachhouses,
and in 1787 were pulled down, and replaced
by modem houses of hideous aspect.
On the opposite side of the Water Gate was the
Royal Tennis Court, the buildings of which are
very distinctly shown in Gordon’s map of 1647.
Maitland says it was anciently called the Catchpel,
from Cache, a game now called Fives, a favourite
amusement in Scotland as early as the reign of
James IV. The house, a long, narrow building,
with a court, after being a weavers’ workhouse,
was burned down in 1771, and rebuilt in the
tasteless fashion of that period ; but the locality is
full of interest, as being connected not only with
the game of tennis, as played there by the Duke
of Albany, Law the great financial schemer, and
others, but the early and obscure history of the
stage in Scotland.
In 1554 there was a ‘‘litill farsche and play
maid be William Lauder,” and acted before the
Queen Regent, Mary of Guise, for which he was
rewarded by two silver cups. Where it was acted
is not stated. Neither are we told where was perlormed
another play, “ made by Robert Simple ”
at Edinburgh, before the grim Lord Regent and
others of the nobility in 1567, and for which the
mthor was paid ;E66 13s. 4d.
The next record of .a post-Reformation theatre is
in the time of James VI. when several companies
came from London for the amusement of the court,
including one of which Shakspere was a member,
though his appearance cannot be substantiated.
In 1599 the company of English comedians was
interdicted by the clergy and Kirk Session,
though their performances, says Spottiswoode in](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v3p051.gif "Volume 3 Page 39")
... THE TENNIS COURT. ’ 39
Scotland, and who for some years had been Commissioner
to the General ...
Vol. 3 p. 39 (Rel. 0.56)
![New Town.] JAMES CRAIG. I I7
1869 to make way for Grosvenor Street, in excavating
the foundation of which a number of ancient
bronze Caledonian swords were found-the relics
of some pre-historic strife. One was Specially remarkable
for having the hilt and pommel of bronze
cast in one piece with the blade-a form very rare,
there being only one other Scottish example known
-one from Tames, in Aberdeenshire, and now in
the British Museum.
The few houses enumerated alone occupied the
lonely site of the New Town when Gabriel’s Road,
of the poet Thomson, and who engraved thereon
the following appropriate lines from his uncle’s
poem :-
SI August, around, what public works I see !
Lo, stately streets ! 10, squares that court the breeze!
See long canals and
Each part with each, and with the circling main,
whole entwined
nvea join
The names given to the streets and squaresthe
formal array of parallelograms drawn by
Craig-were taken from the royal family chiefly,
latterly a mean, narrow alley, was a delightful
country path, ‘‘ along which,” says Wilson, in I 847,
“some venerable citizens still remember to have
wended their way between green hedges that
skirted the pleasant meadows and cornfields of
Wood’s Farm, and which was in days of yore a
favourite trysting place for lovers, where they
breathed out their teIpder tale of passion beneath
the fragrant hawthorn.”
It ran in an oblique direction through the
ancient hamlet of Silvermills, and its course is yet
indicated by the irregular slant of the garden walls
that separate the little plots behind Duke Street
from the East Queen Street Gardens at the lower
end.
The plan of the proposed new city was prepared
by James Craig, an eminent architect, nephew
’ and the tutelary saints of the island, The first
thoroughfare, now-a magnificent terrace, was called
St. Giles Street, after the. ancient patron of the
city ; but on the plan being shown to George 111.
for his approval, he exclaimed, “ Hey, hey !-what,
what!-St. Giles Street !-never do, never do!”
And so, to escape from a vulgar London association
of ideas, it was named Princes Street, after the
future George IV. and the Duke of York.
Craig survived to see his plans only partially
carried out, as he died in 1795, in his fifty-fifth year.
He was the son of Robert Craig, merchant, and
grandson of Robert Craig, who in the beginning of
that century had been a magistrate of Edinburgh.
His mother was Mary, youngest daughter of James
Thomson, minister of Ednam, and sister of the
author of “The Seasons.”](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v3p129.gif "Volume 3 Page 117")
... Town.] JAMES CRAIG. I I7
1869 to make way for Grosvenor Street, in excavating
the foundation of which a ...
Vol. 3 p. 117 (Rel. 0.56)
... QLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Arthur‘s Seat.
name of Arthur‘s Seat were anciently covered with
wood. The other ...
Vol. 4 p. 306 (Rel. 0.56)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Galton Hill,
thirteenth century, it was not until 1518, when the
Provost James, Earl ...
Vol. 3 p. 102 (Rel. 0.56)
![George Street.] THE BLACKWOODS. I39
CHAP,TER XIX.
GEORGE STREET.
Major Andrew Faser-The Father of Miss Femer-Grant of Kilgraston-William Blackwoad and his Magazine-The Mother of Sir Waltn
Scott-Sir John Hay, Banker-Colquhoun of Killermont-Mrs. Murray of Henderland-The Houses of Sir J. W. Gomon, Sir Jam-
Hall. and Sir John Sinclair of Ulbster-St. Andrew's Church-Scene of the Disruption-Physicians' Hall-Glance at the Histcry of thecollege
of Physicians-Sold and Removed-The Commercial Bank-Its Constitution-Assembly Rooms-Rules of 17+Banquet to Black
Watch-" The Author of Waverley"-The Music Hall-The New Union Bank-Its Formation, &c.-The Mlasonic Hall-Watsoa'E
Pictureof Bums-Statues of George IV., Pitt, and Chalmers. .
PREVIOUS to the brilliant streets and squares
erected in the northern and western portions of
new Edinburgh, George Street was said to have no
rival in the world ; and even yet, after having undergone
many changes, for combined length, space,
uniformity, and magnificence of vista, whether
viewed from the east or west, it may well be
pronounced unparalleled. Straight as an arrow
flies, it is like its sister streets, but is 1x5 feet
broad. Here a great fossil tree was found in 1852.
A portion of the street on the south side, near
the west end, long bore the name of the Tontine,
and owing to some legal dispute, which left the
houses there mfinished, they were occupied as
infantry barracks during the war with France.
Nos. 3 and 5 (the latter once the residence of
Major Andrew Fraser and cf William Creech the
eminent bookseller) forni the office of the Standard
Life Assurance Company, in the tympanum of
which, over four fine Corinthian pilasters, is a
sculptured group from the chisel of Sir John Steel,
representing the parable of the Ten Virgins. In
George Street are about thirty different insurance
offices, or their branches, all more or less ornate
in architecture, and several banks.
In No. 19, on the same side, is the Caledonian,
the oldest Scottish insurance company (having
been founded in June, 1805). Previously the
office had been in Bank Street. A royal charter
was granted to the company in May, 1810, and
twenty-three years afterwards the business of life
assurance was added to that of fire insurance.
No. 25 George Street was the residence (from
1784 till his death, in 18zg), of Mr. James Ferrier,
Principal Clerk of Session, and father of Miss
Susan Ferrier, the authoress of " Marriage," &c.
He was a keen whist player, and every night of his
life had a rubber, which occasionally included Lady
Augusta Clavering, daughter of his friend and client
John, fifth Duke of Argyll, and old Dr. Hamilton,
usually designated " Cocked Hat " Hamilton, from
the fact of his being one of the last in Edinburgh
who bore that head-piece. When victorious, he
wcdd snap his fingers and caper about the room,
to tbe manifest indignation of Mr. Ferrier, who
would express it to his partner in the words, "Lady
Augusta, did you ever see such rediculous leevity
in an auld man 7 " Robert Burns used also to be
a guest at No. 25, and was prescnt on one occasion
when some magnificent Gobelins tapestry arrived
there for the Duke of Argyll on its way to Inverary
Castle. Mrs. Piozzi also, when in Edinburgh, dined
there. Next door lived the Misses Edmonstone,
of the Duntreath family, and with them pitched
battles at whist were of frequent nightly occurrence.
These old ladies figure in " Marriage " as
Aunts Jacky, Grizzy, and Nicky; they were grandnieces
of the fourth Duke of Argyll. The eldest
Miss Ferrier was one of the Edinburgh beauties in
her day ; and Bums once happening to meet her,
while turning the corner of George Street, felt suddenly
inspired, and wrote the lines to her enclosed
in an elegy on the death of Sir D. H. Hair. Miss
Ferrier and Miss Penelope, Macdonald of Clanronald,
were rival belles ; the former married
General Graham ot Stirling Castle, the latter Lord
Belhaven.
In No. 32 dwelt Francis Grant of Kilgraston,
father of Sir Francis Grant, President of the Royal
Academy, born in 1803 ; and No. 35, now a shop,
was the town house of the Hairs of Balthayock, in
Perthshire.
No. 45 has long been famous as the establishment
of Messrs. Blackwood, the eminent publishers.
William Blackwood, the founder of the magazine
which stills bears his name, and on the model of
which so many high-class periodicals have been
started in the sister kingdom, was born at Edinburgh
in 1776, and after being apprenticed to the
ancient bookselling firni of Bell and Bradfute, and
engaging in various connections with other bibliopoles,
in 1804 he commenced as a dealer in old
books on the South Bridge, in No. 64, but soon
after became agent for several London publishing
houses. In 1S16 he disposed of his vast stock of
classical and antiquarian books, I 5,000 volumes in
number, and removing to No. 17 Princes Street,
thenceforward devoted his energies to the business
of a-general publisher, and No. 17 is to this day a
bookseller's shop.](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v3p151.gif "Volume 3 Page 139")
... Street.] THE BLACKWOODS. I39
CHAP,TER XIX.
GEORGE STREET.
Major Andrew Faser-The Father of Miss ...
Vol. 3 p. 139 (Rel. 0.56)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Holyrood.
orders, who was on his way to Scotland at the
time of the murder. ...
Vol. 3 p. 70 (Rel. 0.55)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [University.
Thoma Elder : Academire Primario Gulielmo Rabertson.
Architecto, Roberto ...
Vol. 5 p. 24 (Rel. 0.55)
... OLD AND NET
into the royal presence, the king became alarmed,
and retired into the Tolbooth, amid shouts ...
Vol. 1 p. 146 (Rel. 0.55)
... BURNS, 107
in the rooms of Stewart, Blair, or Robertson. . , .
But Edinburgh offered tables and ...
Vol. 1 p. 107 (Rel. 0.55)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Grassmarket:
houses which were inhabited by this gang were
well chosen for the ...
Vol. 4 p. 230 (Rel. 0.55)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Univtrsitv.
He seemed greatly delighted with the result,
and felt much ...
Vol. 5 p. 10 (Rel. 0.55)
... be the wretch who seized the throne,
And marred our Constitution ;
,4nd curs’d be they who helped ...
Vol. 1 p. 165 (Rel. 0.55)
![GENERAL INDEX. 387
Rhind. David. architect. 11. 147
275, '2 6, I I t . 67 244 .
Rhmd, {anet, ToAb of, 11. 262
Riccarton, 111. 319; its loca
history, 111. 321
Riccarton House 111. 322
Richard 11. of E h a n d . 11. 2
Richardson, Messrs., tobacconists
Richardson, W.L.,theartist, 111.8:
Richmond Court 11. 338
Richmond Stree; 11. 188 333, 332
Riding School ?he 11. 1>8
Riding School'Lani, 11. 135
Riddell's Close, I. 110, 1rr,z82, ng:
Riddell's Land, I. 98, 110, 11. 9
Riddle Sir Jama 11. 187 194
Riddle's Close, Liith, 111: 226, 22(
Ri ht of sanctuary, Edinburgt
tastle deorived of the. I. 67
111. 34
, ,
Rillbank IiI. 55
Riots at ;he Cananmills, 111. 87
Risps, or ancient knockers, I. 94
237, 271, 11. 253
35'
Ristori, Madam, the actress, I
Ritchie, the sculptor, 11. 134, 147
336
Ritchie, hitch, 111. 79
Ritchie, Prof. Uavid 11. rg6
Ritchie. William. iditor of thq
Scoto;mm, I. 284
of the Scottish bank note: RE25 and 5s.. 11. 94
Rirzio, David, Murder of, I. 6, 50
92. 3173 11. 41, 58, 66,68, 70, 71
92; abude of. 11. 11,111. 361
Rivio Joseph 11. 68, 70,
Robe4 Abbot)of H~lyrood,~II. 3
Rober;[., 11. 307, 111. 35, 94, 166
Robert II., I. 26, 27. 142, 11. 3
Robeh III., I. 27, 11. 54,111. 317
Robert Bruce, I. 23,24,III. 199,34:
Robert Gourlays house, 1. 116
327,343, 348
323 338, 348.354. 362
331, 354, 355
278, 111. 32, 59, 118, 166, 315
*rao 123 &. David. the oainter. 11. 80 Robei
III. +, 83; his p;rents,lI~. 7;
78; his birthplace, 111. -77, 78
Robertson, Patrick, Lord, 11. 156
175, 191, 193, 19% zoo, 111. 126
240; Lockhart's description 0:
him, 11. I 3 ; Lockhart'sepitaph:
an him, I?. 194
Robertson, Dr., I. 101, 231, 236
271, 273, 11. 27, 194: tomb of
11. * 381. (See also the two fol
Iaving articles)
Robertson, Principal, 1. 106, 261
(See tkc $re.
11. 255, 281, 24% 293. 378, 379
111. 20, 22, 23,45.
ceding andfolrauing artider)
Robertson, the historian, 11. 168
his death, 111. 49; his materna
niece, Lord Brougham's mother
11. 168. (See the two precedizg
Robertson Memorial Estahlishec
Chutch, 111. 50
Robertson, Dr., the Leith historian
111. 167, 173, 218, 219, zzo, 222
226, zA, 229, 23r. 235, 236, 238.
239,245, 2471 249, 256, 259:
2697 2701 276
Robertson Mr I. 175
Robertsonlof zochart, George, I.
204 206
Robekson of Lude, Lieut.-General.
111. 34 ; his black Servant, ib.
Robertson, Geordie, 11. 3'6
Kcbertson, John, and the lepers,
11. I02
Robertson Mrs. Hannah reputed
grand-diughter of Chahes II.,
Robertson's Close, 11. 250, 251
Robertson's Land, I. 178
"Robin Hood,"Gameof, forbidden,
I . 116, 277 ; riot in wnsequence,
II.21,355
1. 126
"Robin Mend-the-Market," 111.
274
RobRoy, 111,9r; thesonsof,I.70;
popularity of the play of, I. 349,
350
Rob Roy's purse, 11. 87
Rohinson, Professor, 11. 86, 191
Rohinson's Land, I. 264
FWwn, the actor, I. 351
Rocheid of Inverleith, Sir James, I
Rocheid family The 111. 94
Rocheid of 1n;erleith James, 111.
95 ; his encounter d t h the Duke
of hlontaw, ib. ; his mother, ib.
111.94, 343
architect. 11. 184
5, 6
Rollinson, the comedian, I. 350
Rollo, Lord, I. 208
Rollock, Hercules, 11. 288, 289
Rullock of Pilton Peter 111. 307
Rollock Robert,' PrinApal of the
Univirsity, I1 -78,111.8,9,16,2
Roman CatholicJchapels attacked
by the mob, 11. 282
Roman Eagle Hall I. IrI
Romanism, BurleAue on 11. 289
Roman relics and coins i. 10
Roman road near Portdbello. I. 10. . . * I2
I. +I0
319
Roman urn foundnear DeanBridge,
Romieu, Paul, the clockmaker, I.
Rood Chapel, Broughton, 111. 151
Rose, Bishop Alexander, 11. 22,
Rosebery, Archibald Earl of, I.
Rosebery Earls of I. g 111. 106
Rosebery: Lord, IiI. :5, 3 5
Rosebery James Ear? of, ?I. 324:
singula; advertisement, ib.
Rosehaugh, the persecutor, 11. 331,
375
Rosehaughs Close I. 253 25
Rose Court, Georie Stree;, If. 1x8
Rosehill, DavidLord, 111. 30
ROM Street, 11. 146, 158, 159, 163,
Rose Street Lane, 11. 150
Rosebank Cemetery, 111. 89
Roseburn Howe 111. I-, 103,
*104; lintel at: III. *Io3; 111-
scriptions at, ib.
Roseburn Mqltings, 111. 102
Rosevale Place 111. 266
Roslin Castle, iII. 346, 3 , *348,
351 ; its early history, 141. 347-
s p ; the St. Clairs (Sinclairs),
111. 131
2572 11. 1042 109
96
say, D a d ) ' ;, Lords, I. 66, 11.326, 339,111.
362
Ross of Hawkhead, Lord, 111.260
Ross, John Earl of I. 247
ROSS David comedian, I. 341, 342
Koss: Walte:, the antiquary, I. 230,
Ross House 11. 338, 339
Ross Park iI. 338, 339
Rosslyn. Earls of, I. 271-273, 111.
33% 111. 71-73
349-
Rosr's Court I. 91
Ross's Towe:. or " Follv."
Rothes, Earls of, I. 159, 11. p, 218,
Rothesay, Duke of, 1. 26, 27. 142,
Rothesay, Earl of, 11. 65
Rothesay Place, 111. 62
Kothiemay, Lady, 1. 281
Rotten Row, Leith, 111. 167. 235
Kotunda The 11. 83
Roubilkk, the'sculptor I. 159
Routing Well, The, 11). 364
Row, Colonel Archibald, I. zoz ; his
wife s tomb, 1. 203
Row, the Church hiatorian, 111.260
Rowites The I. 239
Rowland Hili, the preacher, 11. 103
Roxburgh, Dukes of,I. 128,223,Il.
' 5 , '23
Roxburgh, Earls of, I. 223, 11. 3,
15,50,181,111.57; houseof 11.34
Roxburgh, Dr., botanist, IIi. 162
258
11. 47, 243. 111. 31, 32
Roxburgh Close I. 223
Roxburgh Club,'I. 375
Roxburgh parish 11. 135
Roxburgh Place 'I. 362 111 338
Roxburgh Terrice, 11. j38
Royal apartments in Holpood
Xowl dank. I. 217. 222, 24% 11.
Palace Piate 15
Fro 115, 136 170"171 *17a'
the, 1. 182
335337 *?40
*IQ) its curator 111. 98
111. 71
b y a i Bank Ciose, iI1. h 4 ; fire in
hsyal Blindksylum andschool, 11.
Royal Bo;anic Gardens, 111. gb,
Royal kircus, 11. '195, 199, *ZOI,
Royal Collegeof Physicians, I. 362,
11. 247
Royal Company of Archers 11.348
3, 354; their hall, Ii. * 3 y :
Royal Crescent 111. a6
Royal Edinbuigh Asylum, 111.
25,53
39
Royal Edinburgh Volunteers, I. 63,
Royal Exchange, The, I. 79, 183-
187, *r8 191, 228, 229, a42, 255,
11. 281 ?I]. 125 ;.plan of the, I.
* t 8 8 ; ;he Council Chamber, I.
11. 307. *377, 111. 105, 264
184, 186, Pkfc 7; back of the
Royal Exchange, Plafe 10
Royal family, Submission by the
Jacobites to the, 11. 247
Royal gardens, Holyrood Palace,
11. "65 *69, 9
Royal H~ghlanJ Society, 111. 127
Royal Horse Bazaar 11.225
Royal Hotel, 11. I&; its distinguhhed
guests, ib.
Royal Infirmary, 11. 146, 147, 28r,
282,296, 298-302, 359, 111. 114;
thenewbuilding 11.358,359,*361
Royal Institution,'The, 11. 83, 86,
88. 01. 0 2 : in 1810. 11. *84: at ..
present -11. "85 ='
Royal Lhth Volunteers, The, 111.
198, 264
burgh Castle, I. 32, 36, *68
Royal Life Guards 11. 217
Royal lodging, 0; palace, Edin-
Roval Maternitv Hosnital. 11.2'1
Royal Maternity and $impson hie-
Royal Medical S&iety, I. 123, 11.
morial Hospital 11. 362
yx.303, 111. 266, 311
Royal Riding School, 11. 334, 335
Royal Scots Grey Dragoons I. 64
Rqyal Scottish Academy, 11:86,88,
Royal Scottlsh Naval and Military
Royal Scotkh Volunteer review,
Royal Society, l h e , 11. 83, 86, 204,
89, 9x7 921, I97
Academy 11. 335
11. 320, 354. Plate 23
111. 77
~Oy.2 Terrace 11.103
Royal Terrace'Gardens, 111. 158
Royal tournaments, I. 35
Royston, Lord I. rrr,273,III.310,
311 ; eccenhc pranks of his
daughter, I. 111,135,III.11q, 312
Royston, III.308,310
Koyston Ca5tle, 111. 311
Ruddiman, Thorn=, grammarian,
I. 110, 123, 11. 291, 382, 111. 363
Ruddiman, theprinter, 11.310,III.
Ruglen, Earl of, 111. 122, 3'7
Ruins of the old Market Closeafter
Rule, Principal Gilbert, 111. 14, 16
Rullion Green, 111. p. 334. *337
Rumhold, Richard, 1. 59, 60
Runciman. the oainter. I. oz. axo.
363
the fire, I. *177.
Russell Bishop of Leith 111. 187
Russell: Rev. 'Dr. h d a e l , 111.
Russell the actor I. 350
Rutheriord, Lord: 11. 98, 174, 111.
RutAerford Sir John 11. 356
Rutherford: Alison, iI. 156
Rutherford, Andrew, 11. 156
Rutherford, Dr., the fint inventor
243
68 ITI
of gas, I. 274, 276, 11. 383; hu
nephew, Sir Walter Scott, I. 276
Rutherford the botanist 11. 1zo
Rutherford: Anne(Si WAterScott's
mother) 11. 142
Rutherfurd-Clark, Lord, 111.26
Ruthven David Lord I. 178
Ruthven: Williarn Loh I. 6 206
215, 316, 11. 66, 70, 71; II1.'174!
his dagger I. 317
Ruthven Si; Patrick, I. 52, 54, 95
Ruthven' the printer 11.18 111.271
Ruthven's Land L i d I. 5x6
Rutland Street, \I. I$, zog
Ryan, the actor, 11.23
S
Sabbath, Breaches of the, 11. 132,
Sadler Sir Ralph, 111. 154 20)
Sailin;, Early restrictions on, III.
I33
'59
ailors' Home, Leith, 111. a59
'Salamander Land," The, 1. 142
Salamander Street, Leith, 111. 239
Salisbury, Earl of I1 305
Salisbury Craigs, \. I&, 384,II. 60,
161, 303, 305, 34, 3'372 311. 111,
142
Salisbury Road 111. 55
Salmon, Charle;, the local poet, 11.
310
111. 164
Salmon Pool, The, Water of Leith,
Salt Backet The, 11. 178
Saltoun, h i d , 11. 343, 344
Fmpson's Grave,!I. 319
Sarnsou's Ribs, I. 11. 11. 312,
313
Sancto Claro, W i l l i de, 111. 35
Sanctuary Court-house, 11. 11
Sand Port Leith 111.171, 177,281
Sand PoriStreet' Leith 111. 259
Sandford Bishod 11. 1:6 111. 147
Sandford: Sir Dakel K. iI. 126
Sand-glasses, Use of, in law courts,
Sandiland, James, 111. 42
Sandilands, Sir James, I. 195, 245,
302 11. 47 65 111. 116
Sandhand's ho;e I 240
Saughton Bridge'IiI. 319, *3zo
Saughton Hall, iII. 19
Saughton House, I d . 3 9 , * 320; a
drunken brawl I11 19
Saughton Laan knd,'dl. 319
Saunders Street, 111. 76
Saxe-Coburg Place 111. 75
Schmitz, Dr.Leonhh, 11.111,III.
School House Wynd, 111.2
School Lane, 111. 28
Sciennes Court, 111. 54
Sciennes Hall 111. 51
Sciennes Hill house 111. 55
Sciennes b a n III. \4
Sciennes, The,' 111. 29, 50, 51, $2,
I. I72
81
Scott William Lord Stowell, I. 299
Scott: LordJdhn, 111. 322
Scott, Sir Gilbert, the architect, 11.
111, 213, 111. 243
Scott, Sir John, 1. 210
Scott, Sir Walter, I. 3, 7, 12, 7'. 75,
1077 '23,1% 1% 150, 1549 163.
166, 171,173, 179, 182, 211, 222,](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v6p206.gif "Volume 6 Page 387")
... INDEX. 387
Rhind. David. architect. 11. 147
275, '2 6, I I t . 67 244 .
Rhmd, {anet, ToAb of, 11. ...
Vol. 6 p. 387 (Rel. 0.54)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [High Street.
where a curiously-carved fleur-de-lis surmounts the
gable, a grotesque ...
Vol. 2 p. 254 (Rel. 0.54)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Merchistom
captain named ScougaL
After a hard struggle, during which several ...
Vol. 5 p. 36 (Rel. 0.54)
![Leith] THE SUGAR HOUSE COMPANY. 235
In addition to the imperatively required sanitary
reform which this sqheme will effect in a few years,
the new thoroughfare will be of great commercial
utility, and present an easy gradient from the shore
to Leith Walk.
The area scheduled contains about 3,500 inhabitants,
but when the works are completed
nearly double that number will be accommodated.
The sum to be borrowed from the Public Works
Loan Commissioners was fixed at ~GIOO,OOO,
payable in thirty years, about 1911 ; but in 1881
the Home Secretary intimated his intention of
recommending a loan of cf70,000, which, in the
meantime, was deemed suiticient.
The ancient street named Water Lane, with
all its adjacent alleys, is not included in this scheme
of removal and improvement. It runs tortuously,
at an angle, from the foot of the Kirkgate to
Bemard Street, and is about seven hundred yards
in length. This thoroughfare was anciently called
the Rotten ROW ; and in the map given by Robertson
in his ‘‘ Antiquities,’’ that name is borne by an
alley ne+r the foot of it, running parallel with
Chapel Lane.
In the inventory of ‘( Pious Donations ” made to
the Brethren Predicators in Edinburgh, under date
14th May, 1473, is one by “John Sudgine, of
30s. 4d. out of his tenement of Leith on the south
side of the water thereof, between Alan Nepar’s
land on the east, and Rotten Row on the west.”
Alan Napier’s land, “on the east side of the
common vennel called the Ratounrow,” is referred
to in King James 111.’~ charter to the Black Friars,
under the same date. (“Burgh Charters,” No.
43.) It was so named from being built of houses
of mitim, or rough timber.
On Mary of Guise and Lorraine choosing Leith
as an occasional residence, she is stated by Maitland
to have erected a dwelling-house in the Rotten
Row, near the corner of the present Quality Street,
and that the royal arms of Scotland, which were
in front thereof, were, when it was taken down,
rebuilt into the wall of a mansion opposite, ‘‘ and
the said Mary, for the convenience of holding
councils, erected a spacious and handsome edifice
for her privy council to meet in.”
This is supposed to refer to a stately house on
the Coal Hill (facing the river), and to be treated
of when we come to that quarter of Leith.
The beautifully sculptured stone which bears
the arms of Scotland impaled with those of Guise,
surmounted by an imperial crown and the boldlycut
legend,
MARIA. DE. LORRAINE.
REGINA. SCOTIA. 1560,
and surrounded by the richest scroll-work, still
exists in Leith. It was long preserved in the
north wall of the old Tolbooth; and on the
demolition of the latter, after undergoing various
adventures, has now “been rebuilt,” says Dr,
Robertson, ‘‘ into the original window of St. Mary,
which has been erected in Albany Street,NorthLeith.”
This is the last relic of that house in which
Mary, the queen-regent (prior to her death in the
castle), spent the last year of her sorrowful life,
embittered by the strife of hostile factions and the
din of civil war-“an ominous preparation for her
unfortunate daughter’s assumption of the sceptre
which was then wielded in her name.”
Another ancient house in the same street bore a
legend similar to one already given :-
“THEY ARE WELCOME HERE
QHA THE LORD DO FEIR, 1574.”
It was demolished in I 83 2.
In this street was the establishment of the old
Leith Sugar House Company. The circumstances
that Leith was acentral port for carrying on West
Indian trade, where vessels could then be fitted
out more easily than on the Clyde, and at a lower
rate than at London-besides the savings on freight
and charges-eneouraged the West Indian planter
‘to make it a place for his consignments. Thus a
house for baking sugars was set up in Edinburgh
in 1751, and the manufacture was still carried on
in 1779 by the company that instituted it.
That of Leith was begun in 1757 by a company,
consisting chiefly of Edinburgh bankers ; but by
1762 their capital was totally lost, and for some
time the Sugar House remained unoccupied, till
some speculative Englishmen took a lease of it,
and revived the manufacture.
As these men were altogether without capital,
and had to fall back upon ruinous schemes to
support their false credit, they were soon involved
in complete failure, but were succeeded by the
Messrs. Parkers, who kept up the manufacture for
about five years.
‘‘ The house,” says h o t , ‘‘ was then purchased
by a set of merchants in Leith, who, as they began
with sufficient capital, as they have employed in
the work the best refiners of sugar that could be
procured in London, and as they pay attention
to the business, promise to conduct it with every
prospect of success.”
But be that as it may, in B e Advertiser for
1783, “the whole houses and subjects belonging
to and employed by the Leith Sugar House Company,
together with the coppers, coolers, and
whole utensils used in the trade,” are announced](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v6p054.gif "Volume 6 Page 235")
... THE SUGAR HOUSE COMPANY. 235
In addition to the imperatively required sanitary
reform which this sqheme ...
Vol. 6 p. 235 (Rel. 0.54)
![Kik-of-Field.] THE PROVOST’S HOUSE.
by the gate elsewhere already described as being
at the head of the College Wynd, in those days
known as “ The Wynd of the Blessed Virgin Maryin-
the-Fields.”
It was on the 31st of January, 1567, that the
weak, worthless, and debauched, but handsome,
Henry, Lord Darnley, King-consort of Scotland, was
brought to the place of his doom, in the house of
the Provost of the Kirk-of-Field.
Long ere that time his conduct had deprived
hini of authority, character, and adherents, and he
had been confined to bed in Glasgow by small-pox
There he was visited and nursed by Mary, who, as
Carte states, had that disease in her infancy, and
having no fears for it, attended hini with a sudden
and renewed tenderness that surprised and-as her
enemies say-alarmed him.
By the proceedings before the Commissioners at
York, 9th December, 1568, it would appear that it
had been Mary’s intention to take him to her
favourite residence, Craigmillar, when one of his
friends, named Crawford, hinted that she treated
him “ too like a prisoner j ” adding, “ Why should
you not be taken to one of your own houses in
Edinburgh ? ”
Mary and Darnley left Glasgow on the 27th of
January, and travelled by easy stages to Edinburgh,
which they reached four days after, and Bothwell
met them with an armed escort at a short distance
from the city on the western road, and accompanied
them to the House of the Kirk-of-Field, which
the ambitious earl and the secretary Lethington
were both of opinion was well suited for an invalid,
being suburban, and surrounded by open grounds
and gardens, and occupied by Robert Balfour,
brother of Sir Janies Baltour of Pittendreich, who,
though Lord Clerk Register, and author of the
well-known “ Practicks of Scots Law,” had nevertheless
drawn up the secret bond for the
murder of the king.
The large and commodious house of the Duke of
Chatelherault in the Kirk-of-Field Wynd was about
to be prepared for his residence ; but that idea was
overruled. Balfour’s house was selected ; a chamber
therein was newly hung with tapestry for him,
2nd a new bed of black figured velvet provided for
his use, by order of the queen.
“ The Kirk-of-Field,” says Melvil, “ in which the
king was lodged, in a place of good air, where he
might best recover his health,” was so called, we
have said, because it was beyond the more ancient
city wall ; but the new wall built after Flodden
enclosed the church as well as the houses of the
Provost and Prebendaries. “In the extended line
of wall,” says Bell, ‘‘ what was (latterly) called the
(Laing, Vol 11.)
3
Potterrow Port was at first denominated the Kirkof-
FFld Port, from its vicinity to the. church of
that name. The wall ran from this port along
the south side of the present College Street and
the north side of Drunimond Street, where a part is
still to be seen in its original state. The house
stood at some distance from the kirk, and the
latter from the period of the Reformation had fallen
into decay. The city had not yet stretched
in this direction much farther than the Cowgate.
Between that street and the town wall were the
Dominican Convent of the Black Friars, with its
alms-houses for the poor, and gardens covering the
site of the old High School and the Royal Infirmary,
and the Kirk-of-Field, with its Provost’s residence.
The Kirk-of-Field House stood very nearly
on the site of the present north-west corner of
Drummond Street. It fronted the west, having its
southern gavel so close upon the town wall that a
little postern door entered immediately through the
wall into the kitchen. It contained only four
apartments. . . . Below, a small passage went
through from the front door to the back of the
house, upon the right-hand of which was the kitchen,
and upon the left a room furnished as a bedroom
for the queen when she chose to remain all ’
night. Passing out at the back door there was a
turnpike stair behind, which, after the old fashion
of Scottish houses, led up to the second storey.‘
Above, there were two rooms corresponding with
those below. Damley’s chamber was immediately
over Mary’s; and on the other side of the lobby
above the kitchen, ‘ a garde robe,’ or ‘ little gallery,’
which was used as a servant’s room, and which had
a window in the gavel looking through the town
wall, and corresponding with the postern door below.
Immediately beyond this wall was a lane,
shut in by another wall, to the south of which
were extensive gardens.’’ (“Life of Queen Mary,”
chap. XX.)
Darnley occupied the upper chamber mentioned,
while his three immediate servants, Taylor, Nelson,
and Edward Simmons, had the gallery. The door
at the foot of the staircase having been removed,
and used as a cover for “the vat,” or species of
bath in which Darnley during his loathsome
disease was bathed, the house was without other
security than the portal doors of the gateway.
During much of the time that he was here Mary
attended him with all her old affection and with
assiduous care, passing most of each day in his
society, and sleeping for several nights in the lower *
chamber. The marks of tenderness and love
which she showed him partially dispelled those
fears which the sullen and suspicious Darnley had](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v5p014.gif "Volume 5 Page 3")
... THE PROVOST’S HOUSE.
by the gate elsewhere already described as being
at the head of the College ...
Vol. 5 p. 3 (Rel. 0.54)
... such as David Laing, Robert Chambers, and
Cosmo Innes. In his “ Diary” Scott writes of him
as “a very ...
Vol. 3 p. 192 (Rel. 0.54)
... the royal marriage and coronation of
Tames 111. with Margaret of Oldenburg-both of
which ceremonies took ...
Vol. 1 p. 32 (Rel. 0.53)
![A ,
k i t h Walk.] JOHNNIE WILKES”
himself in her bedroom, “with the intention of
carrying off a sum of money after she fell asleep.
But the noise of opening her desk awoke her; he,
for fear of detection, seized a knife which by accident
lay there, and mangled her throat so dreadfully
that she died next day. He then leaped from
a window of the second storey, but fractured one of
his legs so much in the fall that he was unable to
walk, and sustained himself for several days, eating
peas and turnips, until his hiding-place was discovered
He afterwards graced the gibbet in Leith
Walk, where his body hung for many a long year.”
In more than one instance on the King‘s birth-
BRWNSTME HOUSE.
day the effigy of Johnnie Wilkes,” that noted
demagogue, Lord Mayor of London and English
M.P., who made himself so obnoxious to the Scots,
figured at the Gallow Lee. The custom, still prevalent
in many parts of the country, and so dear to
the Scottish schoolboy, of destroying his effigy
with every indignity on the royal birthday, is first
mentioned, we believe, in ‘‘ Annals of the Reign of
George 111.f 1770.
But when only fields and green coppice lay between
the city and the seaport, the gibbet at the Gallow
Lee, with its ghastlyadditions,must have formed
a gloomy object amid the smiling urban landscape.
IN the beginning of the present century fields
and nursery grounds chiefly bordered Leith Walk,
CHAPTER XVI.
LEITH WALK (concZdd).
respectively Trotteis, Jollie’s, Ronaldson’s, and
King‘s Buildings-had been erected, with long open](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v5p168.gif "Volume 5 Page 157")
... ,
k i t h Walk.] JOHNNIE WILKES”
himself in her bedroom, “with the intention of
carrying off a sum of ...
Vol. 5 p. 157 (Rel. 0.53)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [High Street.
likely to have arisen. It happened by accident
that the Earl of ...
Vol. 2 p. 210 (Rel. 0.53)
... HARBOUR AND PIER 271
Hence all attempts, therefore, to obtain a good
or workable harbour at Leith have ...
Vol. 6 p. 271 (Rel. 0.53)
![Leith] SH EKIFF BRAE. 247
Leith by the rebels of Mary Queen of Scots, the
Earl of Lennox opened his council in the chambers
of the old tenement referred to, on the Coal Hill,
and it is, says Robertson, decorated with a rosethe
emblem of his connectian with Henry VIII. of
England-and the thistle for Scotland. Then
followed that war to which Morton’s ferocity imparted
a character so savage that ere long quarter
was neither given nor taken. And amidst it, in
connection with some private feud, some of the
followers of Sir William Kirkaldy, although they
had been ordered merely to use their batons, slew
Henry Setoun on the Shore of Leith, while his feet
were tripped up by an anchor. In escaping to
Edinburgh, one of them was taken and lodged in
the Tolbooth there ; but Kirkaldy came down from
the Castle with a party of his garrison, beat in the
doors, and rescued him, after which he seized ‘‘ the
victualls brought into Leith from the merchants,
and (did} provide all necessarie furniture to endure
a long siege, till supplie was sent from forrane
nations.” (Calderwood.)
On the death of Lennox, John, Earl of Mar, was
made Regent, and fixed his head-quarters in the
same old tenement at the Coal Hill, Morton being
again chief lieutenant.
From the presence of these peers here, it is
probable that the adjacent gloomy, and now filthy,
court, so grotesquely called Parliament Square, obtained
its name, which seems to have been formerly
the Peat Neuk. The old Council House has been
doomed to perish by the new improvement scheme.
In December, 1797, it was ordered by the Lord
Provost, Magistrates, and Council of Edinburgh,
through the deputy shore-master at Leith, that every
vessel coming into the port with coals for public
sale, was to have a berth immediately on her arrival
off the Coal Hill, and that all other vessels were to
unmoor for that purpose, while no shore duties
were to be charged for coal vessels. (HeyaZd and
ChyonicZe, No. 1,215.)
The adjacent Peat Neuk, for years during the
last century and the beginning of the present,
afforded a shelter to those reckless and abandoned
characters who abound in every seaport ; while in
that portion of the town between the Coal Hill and
the foot of the Tolbooth Wynd were a number of
ancient and ruinous houses, the abode of wandering
outcasts, from whom no rent was ever derived
or expected. It was further alleged, in the early
part of the nineteenth century, to be the favourite
haunt of disembodied spirits, whose crimes or
sufferings in life compelled them to wander ; so,
every way, the Coal Hill seems to have been an
unpleasant, as it is still an unsavoury, locality.
From thence, another quarter known as the
Sheriff, or Shirra Brae, extends in a south-westerly
direction, still abounding in ancient houses. Here,
facing the Coal Hill, there stood, till 1840, a very
fine old edifice, described as having been the residence
of a Logan of Restalrig. The dormer
windows, which rose high above the eaves, were
elaborately sculptured with many dates and quaint
devices. Some of these have been preserved in
the north wall of the manse of St. Thomas’s Church.
One of them displays a shield charged with a heart,
surmounted by a fleur-de-lis, with the initials 1.L
and the date 1636 ; another has the initials I.L.,
M.C., with the date 24 Dec., 1636; a third has
the initials M.C., with a shield; while a fourth
gablet has the initials D.D., M.C., and the comparatively
recent date I 734
The supposed grandsoq of the luckless Logan
of the Gowrie conspiracy married Isabel Fowler,
daughter of Ludovic Fowler of Burncastle (says
Robertson), the famous “ Tibbie Fowler ” of
Scottish song, and here she is said to have resided ;
but her husband has been otherwise said to have
been a collateral of the ancient house of Restalrig,
as it is recorded, under date 12th June, 1572-
Majestro Joanne Logan de Shireff Braye,” who
poitpones the case of Christian Gudsonne, wife of
Andrew Burne in Leith, “dilatit of the mutilation
of Willkm Burne, burgess of Edinburgh, of his
foremost finger be byting thereof.”
In the chartulary, says Robertson, we have also
John Logane of the Coatfield (Kirkgate), and George
Logane of Bonnington Mills is repeatedly alluded
to; ‘‘ and we believe,” he adds, that these branches
“existed as early as the charter of King David.”
The old house at Bmnington still shows a curious
doorway, surmounted by a carefully sculptured
tablet bearing a shield, with a chevron and three
fleurs-de-lis; crest, a ship with sails furled. The
motto and date are obliterated.
. Another writer supposes that if the old house on
the Sheriff Brae was really the residence of George
Logan, it may have been acquired by marriage,
“ seeing that the forfeiture of the family possessions
occurred so shortly before ; and this in itself affords
some colour to the tradition that he was the successhl
wooer of Tibbie Fowler.”
In support of this, the historian of Leith says :-
‘f We think it not improbable that it was Tibbie’s
tocher that enabled Logan, who was ruined by the
attainder of 1609, to build the elegant mansion on
the Sheriff Brae. The marriage contract between
Logan and Isabella Fowler (supposed to be the
Tibbie of the song) is now in possession of a
gentleman in Leith.”](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v6p066.gif "Volume 6 Page 247")
... SH EKIFF BRAE. 247
Leith by the rebels of Mary Queen of Scots, the
Earl of Lennox opened his council in ...
Vol. 6 p. 247 (Rel. 0.52)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH.
vestments, bearing the arm-bone of the saint ; then
they passed the Cross, the fountain ...
Vol. 3 p. 62 (Rel. 0.52)
... JAMES IV. 61
whose contract is still preserved in the city archives.
A minute account of her reception ...
Vol. 3 p. 61 (Rel. 0.52)
... “ Church History,” were licensed by the
king ! This interdict was annulled by proclamation
at the Market ...
Vol. 3 p. 40 (Rel. 0.52)
![High Street.] THE DEATH OF KNOX. 215
same chamber, was so sodainly amazed that she
took sickness and dyed ;I, an absurd fabrication, as
in the year after his death a pension was granted
to her and her three daughters, and she is known
to have been alive till about the end of the
sixteenth century.
In that old house, the abode of plebeians now,
have sat and debated again and again such men
as the Regent Murray, the cruel and crafty
Morton, the Lords Boyd, Ruthven, Ochiltree, and
the half-savage Lindsay-
“ He whose iron eye
Oft saw fair Mary weep in vain; ”
Johnstone of Elphinstone, Fairiie, Campbell of
Kinyeoncleugh, Douglas of Drumlanrig, and all
who were the intimates of Knox ; and its old walls
have witnessed much and heard much that history
may never unravel.
It was while resident here that Knox’s enemies
are said-for there is little proof of the statement
-to have put a price upon his head, and that his
most faithful friends were under the necessity of
keeping watch around it during the night, and of
appointing a guard for the protection of his person
at times when he went abroad. When under
danger of hostility from the queen’s garrison in
the Castle, in the spring of 1571, M‘Crie tells us
that “one evening a musket-ball was fired in at
his window and lodged in the roof of the apartment
in which he was sitting. It happened that
he sat at the time in a different part of the room
from that which he had been accustomed to
occupy, otherwise the ball, from the direction it
took, must have struck him.”
It was probably after this that he retreated for a
time to St. Andrews, but he returned to his manse
in the end of August, 1572, while Kirkaldy was
still vigorously defending the fortress for his exiled
queen.
His bodily infirmities now increased daily, and
on the 11th of November he was attacked with a
cough which confined him to bed.
Two days before that he had conducted the
services at the induction of his colleague, Mr.
James Lawson, in St. Giles’s, and though he was
greatly debilitated, he performed the important
duties that devolved upon him with something of
his wonted fire and energy to those who heard
him for the last time. He then came down from
the pulpit, and leaning on his staff, and supported
by his faithful secretary, Richard Bannatyne (one
account says by his wife), he walked slowly down
the street to his own house, accompanied by the
whole congregation, watching, for the last time, his
feeble steps.
During his last illness, which endured about a
fortnight, he was visited by many of the principal
nobles and reformed preachers, to all of whom he
gave much advice; and on Monday, the 24th of
November, 1572, he expired in his sixty-seventh
year, having been born in 1505, during the reign
of James IV.
From this house his body was conveyed to its
last resting-place, on the south side of St. Gileo’s,
accompanied by a mighty multitude of all ranks,
where the newly-appointed Regent Morton pronounced
over the closing grave his well-known
eulogiuni.
That eastern nook of the old city, known as the
Nether Eow has many associations connected with
it besides the manse of Knox
Therein was the abode of Robert Lekprevik,
one of the earliest of Scottish printers, to whose
business it is supposed Bassandyne succeeded on
his removal to St. Andrews in 1570; and there, in
16 13, the authorities discovered that a residenter
named James Stewart, “ commonly called James of
Jerusalem, a noted Papist, and re-setter of seminary
prints,” was wont to have mass celebrated in his
house by Robert Philip, a priest returned from
Rome. Both men were arrested and tried on this
charge, together with a third, John Logan, portioner,
of Restalrig, who had formed one of the
small and secret congregation in Stewart‘s house
in the Nether Bow. “One cannot, in these days
of tolerance,” says Dr. Chambers, “ read without a
strange sense of uncouthness the solemn expressions
of horror employed in the dittays of the king’s advocates
against the offenders, being precisely the
same expressions that were used against heinous
offences of a more tangible nature.”
Logan was fined LI,OOO, and compelled to express
public penitence; and Philip and Stewart
were condemned to banishment from the realm of
Scotland.
In the Nether Bow was the residence of James
Sharp, who had been consecrated with great pomp
at Westminster, as Archbishop of St. Andrews, on
the 15th of November, 1661-a prelate famous for
his unrelenting persecution of the faithful adherents
of the Covenant which followed his elevation, and
justly increased the general odium of his character,
and who perished under the hands of pitiless assassins
on Magus Muir, in 1679.
Nicoll, the diarist, tells us, that on the 8th of
May, 1662, all the newly consecrated bishops were
convened in their gowns at the house of the Archbishop,
in the Nether Bow, from whence they proceeded
in state to the Parliament House, conducted
by two peers, the Earl of Kellie (who had been](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v2p035.gif "Volume 2 Page 215")
... Street.] THE DEATH OF KNOX. 215
same chamber, was so sodainly amazed that she
took sickness and dyed ;I, an ...
Vol. 2 p. 215 (Rel. 0.52)
... --
CHAPTER I
THE KIRK OF ST. MARY-IN-THE-FIELDS.
YhCD
Memorabilia of the Edifice-Its ...
Vol. 6 p. 393 (Rel. 0.52)
![Holyrood.] ROYAT, MARRIAGES. 55
with the Dukes of Savoy and Burgundy. She
landed at Leith amid a vast concourse of all
classes of the people, and, escorted by a bodyguard
of 300 men-at-arms, all cap-d+e, with
the citizens also in their armour, under Patrick
Cockburn of Nevtbigging, Provost of Edinburgh
and Governor of the Castle, was escorted to the
monastery of the Greyfriars, where she was warmly
welcomed by her future husband, then in his
twentietb year, and was visited by the queenmother
on the following day.
The week which intervened between her arrival
and‘her marriage was spent in a series of magnificent
entertainments, during which, from her great
beauty and charms of manner, she won the devoted
affection of the loyal nobles and people.
A contemporary chronicler has given a minute
account of one of the many chivalrous tournaments
that took place, in which three Burgundian nobles,
two of them brothers named Lalain, and the thud
HervC Meriadet, challenged any three Scottish
knights to joust with lance, battle-axe, sword, and
dagger, a defiance at once accepted by Sir James
Douglas, James Douglas of Lochleven, and Sir
John Ross of Halkhead, Constable of Renfrew.
Lances were shivered and sword and axe resorted
to with nearly equal fortune, till the king threw
down his truncheon and ended the combat.
The royal marriage, which took place in the
church at Holyrood amid universal joy, concluded
these stirring scenes. At the bridal feast the first
dish was in the form of a boar’s head, painted and
stuck full df tufts of coarse flax, served up on an
enormous platter, with thirty-two banners, bearing
the arms of the king and principal nobles ; and the
flax was set aflame, amid the acclamations of the
numerous assembly that filled the banquet-hall.
Ten years after Holyrood beheld a sorrowful
scene, when, in 1460, James, who had been slain
by the bursting of a cannon at the siege of Roxburgh
on the 3rd August, in his thirtieth year, was
laid in the royal vault, “with the teares of his
people and his hail1 army,” says Balfour.
In 1467 there came from Rome, dated zznd
February, the bull of Pope Paul II., granting, on
the petition of the provost, bailies, and community
of the city, a con~mission to the Bishop of Galloway,
“et dilectojZio Abbafi Monasterii Sancta Cmcis mini
viuros de Rdynburgh,” to erect the Church of St.
Giles into a collegiate institution.
Two years afterwards Holyrood was again the
scene of nuptial festivities, when the Parliamen!
met, and Margaret of Norway, Denmark, and
Sweden, escorted by the Earl of Arran and a
gallant train of Scottish aad Danish nobles, landed
at Leith in July, 1469. She was in her sixteenth
year, and had as her dowry the isles of Orkney
and Shetland, over which her ancestors had hitherto
claimed feudal superiority. James III., her
husband, had barely completed his eighteenth
year when they were married in the abbey church,
where she was crowned queenconsort. ‘‘ The marriage
and coronation gave occasion to prolonged
festivities in the metropolis and plentiful congratulations
throughout the kingdom. Nor was the
flattering welcome undeserved by the queen ; in the
bloom of youth and beauty, amiable and virtuous,
educated in all the feminine accomplishments of
the age, and so richly endowed, she brought as
valuable an accession of lustre to the court as of
territory to the kingdom.”
In 1477 there arrived “heir in grate pompe,”
says Balfour, “Husman, the legate of Pope
Xystus the Fourth,” to enforce the sentence of
deprivation and imprisonment pronounced by Hjs
Holiness upon Patrick Graham, Archbishop of St.
Andrews, an eminent and unfortunate dignitary of
the Church of Scotland. He was the first who
bore that rank, and on making a journey to Rome,
returned as legate, and thus gained the displeasure
of the king and of the clergy, who dreaded his
power. He was shut up in the monastery of Inchcolm,
and finally in the castle of Lochleven. Meanwhile,
in the following year, William Schivez, a
great courtier and favourite of the king, was
solemnly consecrated in Holyrood Church by the
papal legate, from whose hands he received a pall,
the ensign of archiepiscopal dignity, and with great
solemnity was proclaimed ‘‘ Primate and Legate of
the realm of Scotland.” His luckless rival died
of a broken heart, and was buried in St. Serf‘s
Isle, where his remains were recently discovered,
buried in a peculiar posture, with the knees drawn
up and the hands down by the side.
In 1531, when Robert Cairncross was abbot,
there occurred an event, known as “ the miracle of
John Scott,” which made some noise in its time.
This man, a citizen of Edinburgh, having taken
shelter from his creditors in the sanctuary of Holyrood,
subsisted there, it is alleged, for forty days
without food of any kind.
Impressed by this circumstance, of which some
exaggerated account had perhaps been given to
him, James V. ordered his apparel to be changed
and strictly searched. He ordered also that he
should be conveyed from Holyrood to a vaulted
room in David‘s Tower in the castle, where he was
barred from access by all and closely guarded.
Daily a small allowance of bread and water were
placed before him, but he abstained from both for](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v3p067.gif "Volume 3 Page 55")
... ROYAT, MARRIAGES. 55
with the Dukes of Savoy and Burgundy. She
landed at Leith amid a vast concourse ...
Vol. 3 p. 55 (Rel. 0.52)
... blood of the Trojans. In Albanye (now called
Scotland) he edified the Castell of Alclude, which
is Dumbreyton ...
Vol. 1 p. 15 (Rel. 0.51)
... IN THE CASTLE BELOW QUEEN MARY’S ROOM.
CHL4PTER 111.
CASTLE OF EDINBURGH-(cantinued.~~e~.)
The Legend ...
Vol. 1 p. 21 (Rel. 0.51)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Hart Street
York Place he officiated there, until a severe illness
in 1831 compelled ...
Vol. 3 p. 190 (Rel. 0.51)
... -- Edinburgh Castle. THE EARL OF ARGYLE
which he received the sentence of death. His
guards in the Castle were ...
Vol. 1 p. 59 (Rel. 0.51)
![High Street.] TULZIES IN THE HIGH STREET. 195 - -
his own friends and servants into two armed parties,
set forth on slaughter intent.
He directed his brothers John and Robert
Tweedie, Porteous of Hawkshaw, Crichton of
Quarter, and others, to Conn’s Close, which was
directly opposite to the smith’s booth; while he,
accompanied by John and Adam Tweedie, sons of
the Gudeman of Dura, passed to the Kirk (of Field)
Wynd, a little to the westward of the booth, to cut
off the victim if he hewed a way to escape ; but as
he was seen standing at the booth door with his
back to them, they shot him down with their
pistols in cold blood, and left him lying dead on
the spot.
For this the Tweedies were imprisoned in the
Castle; but they contrived to compromise the
matter with the king, making many fair promises ;
yet when he was resident at St. James’s, in 1611,
he heard that the feud and the fighting in Upper
Tweeddale were as bitter as ever.
On the 19th of January, 1594, a sharp tulzie, or
combat, ensued in the High Street between the
Earl of Montrose, Sir James Sandilands, and others.
10 explain the cause of this we must refer to
Calderwood, who tells us that on the 13th of
February, in the preceding year, John Graham of
Halyards, a Lord of Session (a kinsman of Montrose),
was passing down Leith Wynd, attended by
three or four score of armed men for his protection,
when Sir Janies Sandilands, accompanied by his
friend Ludovic Duke of Lennox, with an armed
I company, met him. As they had recently been
in dispute before the Court about Some temple
lands, Graham thought he was about to be attacked,
and prepared to make resistance. The
duke told him to proceed on his journey, and that
no one would molest him; but the advice was
barely given when some stray shots were fired by
the party of the judge, who was at once attacked,
and fell wounded. He was borne bleeding into
an adjacent house, whither a French boy, page to
Sir Alexander Stewart, a friend of Sandilands, followed,
and plunged a dagger into him, thus ending
a lawsuit according to the taste of the age.
Hence it was that when, in the following year,
John Earl of Montrose-a noble then about fifty
years old, who had been chancellor of the jury that
condemned the Regent Morton, and moreover was
Lord High Chancellor of the kingdom-met Sir
James Sandilands in the High Street, he deemed
it his duty to avenge the death of the Laird of
Halyards. On the first amval of the earl in Edinburgh
Sir James had been strongly recommended
by his friends to quit it, as his enemies were too
strong for him ; but instead of doing so he desired
the aid and assistance of all his kinsmen and
friends, who joined him forthwith, and the two
parties meeting on the 19th of January, near the
Salt Tron, a general attack with swords and hack
buts begun. One account states that John, Master
of Montrose (and father of the great Marquis), first
began the fray; another that it was begun by Sir
James Sandilands, who was cut down and severely
wounded by more than one musket-shot, and
would have been slain outright but for the valour
of a friend named Captain Lockhart. The Lord
Chancellor was in great peril, for the combat was
waged furiously about him, and, according to the
“ Historie of King James the Sext,” he was driven
back fighting “to the College of Justice ( i e . , the
Tolbooth). The magistrates of the town with
fencible weapons separatit the parties for that time ;
and the greatest skaith Sir James gat on his party,
for he himself was left for dead, and a cousingerman
of his, callit Crawford of Kerse, was slain,
and many hurt.” On the side of the earl only one
was killed, but many were wounded.
On the 17th of June, 1605, there was fought in
the High Street a combat between the Lairds of
Edzell and Pittarrow, with many followers on both
sides. It lasted, says Balfour in his AnnaZes, from
nine at night till two next morning, with loss and
many injuries. The Privy Council committed the
leaders to prison.
The next tulzie of which we read arose from the
following circumstance :-
Captain James Stewart (at one time Earl of
Arran) having been slain in 1596 by Sir James
Douglas of Parkhead, a natural son of the Regent
Morton, who cut off his .head at a place called
Catslack, and carried it on a spear, “leaving his
body to be devoured by dogs and swine;” this
act was not allowed to pass unrevenged by the
house of Ochiltree, to which the captain-who had
been commander of the Royal Guard-belonged.
But as at that time a man of rank in Scotland
could not be treated as a malefactor for slaughter
committed in pursuance of a feud, the offence was
expiated by an assythement. The king strove
vainly to effect a reconciliation ; but for years the
Imds Ochiltree and Douglas (the latter of whom
was created Lord Torthorwald in 1590 by James
VI.) were at open variance.
It chanced that on the 14th of July, 1608, that
Lord Torthonvald was walking in the High Street
a little below the Cross, between six and seven in
the morning, alone and unattended, when he suddenly
met William Stewart, a nephew of the man
he had slain. Unable to restrain the sudden rage
that filled him, Stewart drew his sword, and ere](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v2p015.gif "Volume 2 Page 195")
... Street.] TULZIES IN THE HIGH STREET. 195 - -
his own friends and servants into two armed parties,
set forth ...
Vol. 2 p. 195 (Rel. 0.5)
... THE BOURSE. 231
U Throughout these troublesome days, a little episcopal
congregation was kept together in ...
Vol. 6 p. 231 (Rel. 0.5)
![222 OLD ‘AND NEW EDINBURGH. [West Port.
prehending the main street of the West Port (the
link between Fountainbridge and the Grassmarket),
the whole of Lauriston from the Corn-market and
foot of the Vennel to the Main Point, including
Portland Place on the west, and to Bruntsfield
Links on the east, including Home and Leven
Streets.
In IIGO John AbbotofKelso grantedtoLawrence,
the son of Edmund of Edinburgh, a toft situated
between the West Port and the Castle, on the left
of the entrance into the city. In this little burgh
there were of old eight incorporated trades, deriving
their rights from John Touris of Inverleitk
Many of the houses here were roofed with thatch
in the sixteenth century,
and the barriergate
by which the whole
of the district was cut
off from the city was
milt in 1513, as a port
in the ‘,F’lodden wall.
Some gate may, however,
have existed previously,
as Balfour in
his “Annales,” tells that
the head of Robert Graham,
oneof the assassins
of James I., in 1437,
“was sett ouer the West
Port of Edinburgh ;”
and in I 5 I 5 the head of
Peter Moffat, “ane
greit swerer and thief,”
was spiked in the same
place, after the reins
of government were
that every man in the city “be reddy boddin for
weir,” in his best armour at ‘‘ the jow of the common
bell” for its defence if necessary. Nearly
similar orders were issued concerning the gates in
1547, and the warders were to be well armed
with jack, steel helmet, and halberd or Jedmood
axe, finding surety to be never absent from their
In 1538 Mary of Guise made her first entry by
the West Port on St. Margaret’s day, “ with greit
trivmphe,” attended by all the nobility (Diurnal of
OCC.). There James VI. was received by “ King
Solomon ” on his first state entry in 1579 ; and by
it Anne of Denmark entcred in 1590, when she was
posts. (Ibid.)
HIGHRIGGS HOUSE, 1854. (Afler P Drawing by Ihr Aidkor.)
assumed by John Duke of Albany. (“ Diurnal of
Occurrents.”)
In the same year it was ordained by the magistrates
and council that only three of the city gates
were to be open daily, viz., “the West Port, Nether
Bow, and the Kirk-of-Field-and na ma. -4nd
ilk port to haif twa porteris daylie quhill my
Lord Govemoure’s hame coming. [Albany was
then on the Borders, putting down Lord Home’s
rebellion.] And thir porteris suffer na maner of
person on hors nor fute, to enter within this toune
without the President or one of the bailies knaw
of their cuming and gif thame licence. And the
said personis to be convayit to thair lugings be one
of the said porteris, swa that gif ony inconvenient
happenis, that thair hoste niycht answer for thame as
efferis.” (Burgh Records.) It was also ordained
that a fourth part of the citizens should form a
watch every night till the return of Albany, and
received by a long Latin
oration, while the garrison
in the Castle
“gave her thence a
great volley of shot,
with their banners and
ancient displays upon
the walls ” (‘( Marriage
of James VI.,” Bann.
Club). Here also in
1633, Charles I. at his
grand entrance was
received by the nymph
Edina, and again at the
Overbow by the Lady
Caledonia, both of
whom welcomed him
in copious verse from
the pen, it is said, of
the loyal cavalier and
poet, Drummond of
Hawthornden.
Fifteen years before this period the Common
Council had purchased the elevated ridge of ground
lying south of the West Port and Grassmarket,
denominated the Highriggs, on a part of which
Heriot’s Hospital was afterwards built, and the
most recent extension of the city wall then took
place for the purpose of enclosing it. A portion of
this wall still fomis the boundary of the hospital
grounds, terminating at the head of the Vennel, in
the only tower of the ancient fortifications now
remaining.
In 1648 the superiority of the Portsburgh was
bought by the city from Sir Adam Hepburn for
the sum of 27,500 merks Scots; and in 1661
the king’s stables were likewise purchased for
EI,OOO Scots, and the admission of James Baisland
to the freedom of Edinburgh.
In 1653 the West Port witnessed a curious
, scene, when Lieutenant-Colonel Cotterel, by order](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v4p042.gif "Volume 4 Page 222")
... OLD ‘AND NEW EDINBURGH. [West Port.
prehending the main street of the West Port (the
link between ...
Vol. 4 p. 222 (Rel. 0.5)
... AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Buccleuch Place. 346
way, and from thence along the Gibbet Street
northward, to where it ...
Vol. 4 p. 346 (Rel. 0.5)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Leith.
tyde to be a forewarning of some evil to
come.”
In 1644 the Leith timber ...
Vol. 6 p. 232 (Rel. 0.5)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [High Street.
his history, that Andrew Murray, an aged Presbyterian
minister, when he ...
Vol. 2 p. 202 (Rel. 0.49)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Moultray’s HilL
of the realm have been open to all genuine scholars.
Another result ...
Vol. 2 p. 369 (Rel. 0.49)
... permanent and undisputed capital of Scotland.
Sorrow and indignation spread over all the realm
when the fate ...
Vol. 1 p. 29 (Rel. 0.49)
![THE SCHOOL OF ARE. 379 South Bridge.]
called Adam Square. In those days the ground
in front of these was an open space, measuring
about 250 feet one way by zoo the other, nearly
to Robertson’s Close in the Cowgate, which was
concealed by double rows of trees.
In one of these houses there resided for many
years, and died on the 28th July, 1828, Dr. Andrew
Duncan, First Physician to His Majesty for Scotland;
and an eminent citizen in his day, so much
so that his funeral was a public one. “The custom
of visiting Arthur‘s Seat early on the morning
of the 1st of May is, or rather was, observed with
great enthusiasm by the inhabitants of Edinburgh,”
says the editor of “ Kay’s Portraits.” “ Dr.
younger son of Hope of Rankeillour, in Fife. Of
Stewart and Lindsay, the former was the son of
Charles Stewart of Ballechin, and the latter a
younger son of Lindsay of Wormiston. Among the
leading drapers : In the firm of Lindsay and Douglas,
the former was a younger son of Lindsay of Eaglescairnie,
and the latter of Douglas of Garvaldfoot.
Of Dundas, Inglis, and Callender, the first was a son
of Dundas of Fingarth, in Stirlingshire, the family
from which the Earl of Zetland and Baron Amesbury
are descended ; the second was a younger
son of Sir John Inglis of Cramond, and succeeded
to that baronetage, which, it may be remarked,
took its rise in an Edinburgh merchant of the
seventeenth century. Another eminent clothdealiog
firm, Hamilton and Dalrymple, comprehended
John Dalrymple, a younger brother of the wellknown
Lord Hailes and a grandson of the first
Lord Stair. He was at one time Master of the
Merchant Company. In a fourth firm, Stewart,
Wallace, and Stoddart, the leading partner was a
.son of Stewart of Dunearn.”
The Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce and
Manufactures is an offshoot of the old Merchant
Company in 1786, and consists of a chairman and
deputy,with about thirty directors and other officers,
and has led the van in patronising and promoting
liberal measures in trade and commerce generally.
The schools of the Edinburgh Merchant Company
are among the most prominent institutions
of the city at this day.
More than twenty years behre the erection of the
South Bridge, the celebrated Mr. Robert Adam, of
Maryburgh in Fifeshire, from whose designs many of
the principal edifices in Edinburgh were formed, and
who was appointed architect to the king in 1762,
built, on that piece of ground whereon the south-west
end of the Bridge Street abutted, two very large
and handsome houses, each with large bow-windows,
which, being well recessed back, and having the
College buildinas on the south, formed what was
at an expense within {is reach; and the idea was
the more favourably entertained because such a
scheme was already in full operation at Anderson’s
Institution in Glasgow, and the foundation of the
Edinburgh School of Art in the winter of 1821
was the immediate result.
With Mr. Horner many gentlemen well-known
in the city cordially co-operated ; among these were
Sir David Brewster, Principal of the University,
Dr. Brunton, Mr. (afterwards Lord) Murray, Professor
Pillans, Mr. Playfair, architect, Mr. Robert
Bryson, and Mr. James Mylne, brassfounder.
To enable young tradesmen to become acquainted
with the principles or chemistry and
Duncan was one of the most regular in his devotion
to the Queen of May during the long period of
fifty years, and to the very last he performed his
wonted pilgrimage with all the spirit, if not the
agility, of his younger years On the 1st of May,
1826, two years before his death, although aged
eighty-two, he paid his annual visit, and on the
summit of the hill read a few lines of an address to
Alexander Duke of Gordon, the oldest peer then
alive.” The Doctor was the originator of the Caledonian
Horticultural Society, and the first projector
of a lunatic asylum in Edinburgh
Latterly the houses of Adam were occupied by
the Edinburgh Young Men’s Christian Association,
and the Watt Institution and School of Arts,
which was founded by Mr. Leonard Horner,
F.R.S., a native, and for many years a citizen, of
Edinburgh, the son of Mr. John .Horner, of Messrs.
Inglis and Horner, merchants, at the Cross. The
latter years of his useful life were spent in London,
where he died in 1864, but he always visited Edinburgh
from time to time, and evinced the deepest
interest in its welfare. In 1843 he published the
memoirs and correspondence of his younger brother,
the gifted Francis Horner (the friend of Lansdowne,
Jeffrey, and Brougham), who died at Pisa,
yet won a cenotaph in Westminster Abbey.
To an accidental conversation in 1821, in the
shop of Mr. Bryson, a watchmaker, the origin of
the school has been traced. Mr. Horner asked
whether the young men brought to Mr. Bryson’s
trade received any mathematical education, and
the latter replied that, “it was seldom, if ever,
the case, and that daily experience showed the
want of this instruction; but that the expense
and usual hours of teaching mathematical classes
put it out of the power of working tradesmen to
obtain such education.” The suggestion then
occurred to Mr. Horner to devise a plan by which
such branches of science as would benefit the
mechanic might be taught at convenient hours and
. .](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v2p199.gif "Volume 2 Page 379")
... SCHOOL OF ARE. 379 South Bridge.]
called Adam Square. In those days the ground
in front of these was an open ...
Vol. 2 p. 379 (Rel. 0.49)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [North Bridge.
the postage to England was lowered to 4d. ; and
to zd. for a single ...
Vol. 2 p. 354 (Rel. 0.49)
![238 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [High Street.
other, Willielmina, became the wife of John Lord
Glenorchy.
The fate of the Earl of Sutherland, and of his
countess, whose beauty excited the admiration of
all at the coronation of George III., was a very
cloudy one. In frolicking with their first-born, a
daughter, the earl let the infant drop, and it sustained
injuries from which it never recovered, and
the event had so serious an effect on his mind,
that he resorted to Bath, where he died of a
malignant fever. For twenty-one days the countess,
then about to have a babe again, attended him
unremittingly, till she too caught the distemper, and
predeceased him by a few days, in her twenty-sixth
year. Her death was sedulously concealed from
him, yet the day before he expired, when delirium
passed away, he said, I am going to join my dear
Wife,” as if his mind had already begun to penetrate
the veil that hangs between this world and the
next.
In one grave in Holyrood, near the north-east
corner of the ruined chapel, the remains of this
ill-fated couple were laid, on the 9th of August,
1766.
Lady Glenorchy, a woman remarkable for the
piety of her disposition, was far from happy in her
marriage j but we are told that she met with her
rich reward, even iii this world, for she enjoyed
the applause of the wealthy and the blessings of the
poor, with that supreme of all pleasures-the conviction
that the eternal welfare of those in whose
fate she was chiefly interested was forwarded by
her precepts and example.”
In after years, the Earl of Hopetoun, when
acting as Royal Commissioner to the General
Assembly, was wont to hold his state levees in the
house that had been Lord Alva’s.
To the east of hfylne’s Square stood some old
alleys which were demolished to make way for the
North Bridge, one of the greatest local undertakings
of the eighteenth century. One of these alleys was
known as the Cap and Feather Close, immediately
above Halkerston’s Wynd. The lands that formed
the east side of the latter were remaining in some
places almost intact till about 1850.
In one of these, but which it was impossible
to say, was born on the 5th of September, 1750,
that luckless but gifted child of genius, Robert
Fergusson, the poet, whose father was then a clerk
in the British Linen Company; but even the site
of his house, which has peculiar claims on the
interest of every lover of Scottish poetry, cannot
be indicated.
How Halkerston’s Wynd obtained its name we
have already told. Here was an outlet from the
ancient city byway of a dam or dyke across the
loch, to which Lord Fountainhall refers in a case
dated zIst February, 1708. About twenty years
before that time it would appear that the Town
Council “had opened a new port at the foot
of Halkerston’s Wynd for the convenience of those
who went on foot to Leith; and that Robert
Malloch, having acquired some lands on the other
side of the North Loch, and made yards and built
houses thereon, and also having invited sundry
weavers and other good tradesmen to set up
on Moutree’s Hill [site of the Register House], and
the deacons of crafts finding this prejudicial
to them, and contrary to the 154th Act of Parliament,
I 592,’’ evading which, these craftsmen paid
neither scot, lot, nor stent,” the magistrates closed
up the port, and a law plea ensued between them
and the enterprising Robert Malloch, who was
accused of filling up a portion of the bank of the
loch with soil from a quarry. “The town, on the
other hand, did stop the vent and passage over the
loch, which made it overtlow and drown Robert’s
new acquired ground, of which he complained as
an act of oppression.”
Eventually the magistrates asserted that the loch
was wholly theirs, and ‘( that therefore he could
drain no part of it, especially to make it regorge
and inundate on their side. The Lords were
going to take trial by examining the witnesses, but
the magistrates prevented it, by opening the said
port of their own accord, without abiding an order,
and let the sluice run,” by which, of course, the
access by the gate was rendered useless.
Kinloch‘s Close adjoined Halkerston’s Wynd, and
therein, till about 1830, stood a handsome old
substantial tenement, the origin and early occupants
of which were all unknown. A mass of curious
and abutting projections, the result of its peculiar
site, it had a finely-carved entrance door, with
the legend, Peir. God. in . Luzy., 1595, and the
initials I. W., and the arms of the surname of
Williamson, together with a remarkable device, a
saltire, from the centre of which rose a crosssymbol
of passion.
Passing Allan Ramsay’s old shop, a narrow bend
gives us access to Carrubber’s Close, the last stronghold
of the faithful Jacobites after 1688. Episcopacy
was abolished in 1689, and although from
that period episcopal clergymen had no legal provision
or settlement, they were permitted, without
molestation, to preach in meeting-houses till I 746 ;
but as they derived no emolument from Government,
and no provision from the State, they did not,
says Arnot, perplex their consciences with voluminous
and unnecessary oaths, but merely excluded](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v2p058.gif "Volume 2 Page 238")
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [High Street.
other, Willielmina, became the wife of John Lord
Glenorchy.
The fate of ...
Vol. 2 p. 238 (Rel. 0.48)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Gregfriars Church.
encroaching on one not fit to be touched ! The
whole presents a ...
Vol. 4 p. 382 (Rel. 0.48)
... family were too rich to be bribed, and
clamoured that they would have blood for blood.
On the other hand, ...
Vol. 1 p. 111 (Rel. 0.48)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Cunie.
’ for provisions, and the enemy in confident expectation
of starving them ...
Vol. 6 p. 334 (Rel. 0.48)
![Leith.] CORNWALLIS’S REGIMENT. ‘93
“Are you uneasy about that fishing-party ? ” ‘‘ No,”
she replied, “I had no thought of it.” After she
had been asleep about an hour, she again exclaimed,
in a dreadful fright : ‘‘ I see the boat-it is going
down ! ” Again the major awoke her, on which she
said the second dream must have been suggested
Chambers conceives that, unlike many anecdotes
of this kind, Lady Clerk‘s dream-story can be traced
to an actual occurrence, which he quotes from the
CaZcdoniaiz Mercury of I 734, and that the old lady
had mistaken the precise year.
In 1740-for the first time, probably, since the
THE OLD TOLBOOTH, 1820. (&?er Slorcr.)
by the first. But no rest n-as to be obtained by
her, for again the dream returned, and she exclaimed,
in extreme agony : “They are gone !-the boat is
sunk ! Then she added : “ Mr. Dacre must not
go, for I feel that, should he go, I should be miserable
till his return.” In short, on the strength of
her treble dream, she induced their nephew to send
a note of apology to his companions, who left Leith,
but were caught in a storm, in which all perished.
121
days of Cromwell--we find regular troops quartered
in Leith, when General Guest, commanding in Scotland,
required the magistrates to find billets in
North and South Leith for certain companies of
Brigadier Cornwallis’s regiment, latterly the I I th
Foot.
Previous to 1745, the only place where troops
could be accommodated in a body at Leith was in the
old Tolbooth About that time, Robert Douglas,](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v6p012.gif "Volume 6 Page 193")
... CORNWALLIS’S REGIMENT. ‘93
“Are you uneasy about that fishing-party ? ” ‘‘ No,”
she ...
Vol. 6 p. 193 (Rel. 0.48)
... AND NEW EDINBURGH. cst. Andrew Sq-
ST. ANDREW SQUARE,
The Royal Eank of Scotland.
The Scottish Provident ...
Vol. 3 p. 172 (Rel. 0.47)
![urgh Castle.] THE ROYAL LODGING. 77
for woodwork in the “ Gret Ha’ windois in the
Castell, gret gestis and dowbill dalis for the myd
’ chalmer, the king’s kechin, and the New Court
kechin in David‘s Toure,” and for the Register
House built in 1542 by “John Merlyoune,” who
first paved the High Street by order of James V.
On the east side of the square is the old palace,
or royal lodging, in which many stirring events
have happened, many a lawless deed been done,
where the longest line of sovereigns in the British
Isles dwelt, and manv have been born and
gorgeous landscape is spread out, reaching almost
to the ancient landmarks of the kingdom, guarded
on the far east by the old keep of Craigmillar, and
on the west by Merchiston Tower.” Besides the
hall in this edifice there was another in the fortress ;
for among the items of the High Treasurer’s accounts,
in 1516, we find for flooring the Lord’s
James VI. was unable to take with him to England
-lay so long hidden from view, and where they are
now exhibited daily to visitors, who number several
thousands every meek. The room was greatly
improved in 1848, when the ceiling was repaired
with massive oak panelling, having shields in bold
relief, and a window was opened to the square.
Two barriers close this room, one a grated door of
vast strength like a small portcullis.
In this building Mary of Guise died in 1550,
and a doomay, bearing the date of 1566, gives
1 have died. It is a handsome edifice, repaired so
~ lately as 1616, as a date remains to show ; but its
octagonal tower, square turrets and battlements,
’ were probably designed by Sir James Hamilton
of Finnart, the architect to James V. A semioctagonal
tower of considerable height gives access
to the strongly vaulted and once totally dark room
EDINBURGH, FROM THE KING’S BASTION, 1825. (After EwJank.)](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v1p089.gif "Volume 1 Page 77")
... Castle.] THE ROYAL LODGING. 77
for woodwork in the “ Gret Ha’ windois in the
Castell, gret gestis and ...
Vol. 1 p. 77 (Rel. 0.47)
![ROBERT MONTEITH. . 3’5 Duddingston.]
incumbent of Duddingston in 1805. His favourite
subjects were to be found in the grand and sublime
of Nature, and his style is marked chiefly by
vigour, power, and breadth of effect-strong light
and deep shadow. As a man and a Christian
minister, his life was simple, pure, and irreproachable,
his disposition kind, affable, and benevolent.
He died of apoplexy in 1840, in his sixty-second
year.
The city must have had some interest in the loch,
as in the Burgh accounts for 1554 we read:-
‘‘ Item : twa masons twa weeks to big the Park Dyke
at the loch side of Dudding‘ston, and foreanent it
again on Priestfield syde, ilk man in the week xv’.
summa iijIi.
(‘Item : for ane lang tree to put in the wall that
lyes far in the loch for outganging of ziyld beistis
v?.” ’ (“ Burgh Records.”)
The town or lands of Duddingston are included
in an act of ratification to James, Lord Lindsay of
the Byers, in 1592.
In the Acts of Sederunt for February, 1650, we
find Alexander Craig, in-dweller in the hamlet,
pilloried at the Tron of Edinburgh,. and placarded
as being a “ lying witness ” in an action-at-law
concerning the pedigree of John Rob in Duddingston;
but among the few reminiscences of this
place may be mentioned the curious hoax which
the episcopal incumbent thereof at the Restoration
played upon Cardinal de Retz.
This gentleman, whose name was Robert Monteith,
had unfortunately become involved in an
amour with a lady in the vicinity, the wife of Sir
James Hamilton of Prestonfield, and was cpmpelled
to fly from the scene of his disgrace. He
was the son of a humble man employed in the
salmon-fishing above Alloa ; but on repairing to
Paris, and after attaching himself to M. de la
Porte, Grand Prior of France, and soliciting employment
from Cardinal de Retz, he stated he was
“one of the Monteith family in Scotland.” The
cardinal replied that he knew the family well, but
asked to which branch he belonged. “To the
Monteiths of Salmon-net,” replied the unabashed
adventurer.
The cardinal replied that this was a branch he
had never heard of, but added that he believed
it was, no doubt, a very ancient and illustrious
family. Monteith was patronised by the cardinal,
who bestowed on him a canonry in Notre Dame,
and made him his secretary, in which capacity he
distinguished himself by his elegance and purity,
in the French language. This strange man is
author of a well-known work, published in folio,
entitled, “ Hisfoa’re des TroubZes de &andBretap,
depuis Z’an 1633 juspu’a Z‘an 1649, pur Robed
Menfet de Salmonet.
It was dedicated to the Coadjutor Archbishop of
Pans, with a portrait of the author; and a trans- .
lation of it, by Captain James Ogilvie, was published
in 1735 by G. Strachan, at the “Golden Ball,”
in Cornhill.
In the year of the Revolution we find the
beautiful loch of Duddingston, as an adjunct to
the Royal Park, mentioned in a case before the
Privy Council on the 6th March.
The late Duke of Lauderdale having placed
some swans thereon, his clever duchess, who was
carrying on a legal contest With his heirs, deemed
herself entitled to take away some of those birds
when she chose; but Sir James Dick, now proprietor
of the %ch, broke a lock-fast place in
which she had put them, and set them once more
upon the water. The irate dowager raised an
action against him, which was decided in her
favour, but in defiance of this, the baronet turned
all the swans off the loch ; on which the Duke of
Hamilton, as Heritable Keeper of the palace, came
to the rescue, as Fountainhall records, alleging
that the loch bounded the King’s Park, and that
all the wild animals belonged to him ; they were,
therefore, restored to their former haunts.
Of the loch and the landsof Priestfield (orPrestonfield),
Cockburn says, in his “Memorials” :-“I know
the place thoroughly. The reeds were then regularly .
cut over by means of short scythes with very long
handles, close to the ground, and this (system)
made Duddingston nearly twice its present size”
Otters are found in its waters, and a solitary
badger has at times provoked a stubborn chase.
The loch is in summer covered by flocks of dusky
coots, where they remain till the closing of the ice
excludes them from the water, when they emigrate
to the coast, and return With the first thaw.
Wild duck, teal, and water-hens, also frequent it,
and swans breed there prolifically, and form one
of its most picturesque ornaments. The pike, the
perch, and a profusion of eels, which are killed by
the barbed sexdent, also abound there.
In winter here it is that skating is practised as an
art by the Edinburgh Club. “The writer recalls
with pleasure,” says the author of the “Book of
Days,” “skating exhibitions which he saw there early
in the present century, when Henry Cockburn,
and the philanthropist James Sipson, were conspicuous
amongst the most accomplished of the
club for their handsome figures and great skill in
the art. The scene of that loch ‘ in full bearing J
on a clear winter day, with its busy and stirring
multitude of sliders, skaters, and curlers, the snowy
Paris, 166 I.”](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v4p135.gif "Volume 4 Page 315")
... MONTEITH. . 3’5 Duddingston.]
incumbent of Duddingston in 1805. His favourite
subjects were to be found ...
Vol. 4 p. 315 (Rel. 0.47)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [The Sciennes.
of the latter is a grand old thorn, which has always
borne the name of ...
Vol. 5 p. 54 (Rel. 0.47)
... HANNAH ROBERTSON. 21
of stone with a
Panmure of Forth, and was the last who possessed
this house, in ...
Vol. 3 p. 22 (Rel. 0.47)
... HANNAH ROBERTSON. 21
of stone with a
Panmure of Forth, and was the last who possessed
this house, in ...
Vol. 3 p. 21 (Rel. 0.47)
![High Street.] THOMAS BASSANDYNE, PRINTER. 207
in an investment in favour of John Preston, Commissary,
dated 1581, is described as “that tenement
of lands lying in the said burgh on the south
side of the High Street, and on the entry of the
wynd of the Preaching Friars, formerly waste,
having been burnt by the English.” Thus it
would appear to have been built between 1544
and 158I-probably near the former date, as the
situation being central it was unlikely to remain
long waste.
In 1572 it suffered greatly during the siege of
the Castle, in common with the Earl of Mar’s
mansion in the Cowgate, and Baxter‘s house in
Dalgleish’s Close.
Its proprietor, John Preston, in 1581, though the
son of a baker, was an eminent lawyer in the time
of James VI., who was raised to the Bench in
March, 1594, as Lord Fentonbarns (in succession
to James first Lord Balmerino) and died President
of the Court in 1616. His mode of election
was curious. “The King,” says Lord Hailes,
“named Mr. Peter Rollock, Bishop of Dunkeld,
Mr. David MacGill of Cranstoun-Riddel, and Mr.
Preston of Fentonbarns, requesting the Lords to
choose the fittest of the three to be an Ordinary
Lord of Session. The Lords were solemnly sworn
to choose according to their knowledge and conscience.
In consequence of this, coigecfi in $ileum
;zominibus [by ballot], the Lords elected Mr. John
Preston.”
Before his death he attained to great wealth and
dignity; he was knighted by King James, and his
daughter Margaret wzs married in this old house to
Robert Nairn of’ Mackersie, and became mother
of the first Lord ’Nairn, who was placed in the
Tower of London by Cromwell in 1650, with many
others, and not released till the Restoration, ten
years after.
The senator‘s son, Sir Michael Preston, succeeded
him in possession of the mansion in 1610.
Preston, together with Craig and Stirling, is
mentioned in a satirical production of Alexander
Montgomery, author of “The Cherrie and the
Slae,” and before whom he had become involved
in a tedious suit before the Court of Session, and
was at one time threatened with quarters in the
Tolbooth. He wrote of Fentonbarns as-
“ A baxter’s bird, a bluitter beggar born”
The old house narrowly escaped total destruction
by a fire in 1795, thus nearly anticipating that
,of later years. It was the last survivor of the long
and unbroken range of quaint and stately edifices
on the south side of the street, between St. Giles’s
and the Nether Bow. An outside stair gave access
to the first floor, the stone turnpike stair of which
bore the abbreviated legend in Gothic characters-
DEO. HONOR . ET. GLIA.
A little lower down the street, and nearly
opposite the house of John b o x , dwelt Thomas
Bassandyne, in that tall old mansion we have
already referred to in an early chapter as having
had built into its front the fine sculptured heads of
the Emperor Septinius Severus and his Empress
Julia, and having between them a tablet inscribed,
“ In sudorc vuh fui vecmir pane tz~o,” which
Wilson shrewdly suspects to have been a fragment
of the adjacent convent of St May, or some other
old monastic establishment in Edinburgh.
Here it was that Thomas Bassandyne, a famous
old Scottish typographer, in conjunction with
Alexander Arbuthnot, undertook in 1574 the then
arduous task of issuing his beautiful folio Bible,
with George Young, a servant (clerk) of the Abbot
of Dunfermline, as a corrector of the press ; the
‘‘ printing irons,” or types were of cast-metal. The
work of printing the Bible proved a heavier task
than they expected, as it had met with many impediments
; and before the Privy Council, which
was giving them monetary aid, they pleaded for
nine months to complete the work, or return the
money contributed towards it by various Scottish
parishes. In this we see the first attempt to
publish by subscription. Here, too, Thomas
Bassandyne printed his rare quarto edition of Sir
David Lindesay’s Poems in 1574. His will is
preserved in the Banizatyne MisceZZany, and from
it it appears, that his mother was life-rented in that
part of the house which formed the printer’s
dwelling, the annual rent of which was eight
pounds ; while the remainder that belonged to
himself, was occupied by his brother Michael. At
all events, he leaves in his will “his thrid, the
ane half thairof to his wyf, and the vthir half to
his mother, and Michael and his bairnes,” in
which says the memorialist of Edinburgh, we
presume, to have been included the house, which
we find both he and his bairns afterwards possessing,
and for which no rent would appear to
have been exacted during the lifetime of the
generous old printer.
His house is repeatedly referred to in the evidence
of the accomplices of the Earl of Bothwell in the
murder of Darnley, an event which took place
during the life of Bassandyne, beneath whose house
was one occupied by a sword slipper, with whom it
is said lodged the Black John of Ormiston, one of
the conspirators, for whom the rest called on the
night of the murder.](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v2p027.gif "Volume 2 Page 207")
... Street.] THOMAS BASSANDYNE, PRINTER. 207
in an investment in favour of John Preston, Commissary,
dated 1581, ...
Vol. 2 p. 207 (Rel. 0.46)
... King Street1 SIR WILLIAM HAMILTON. 195
Royal Circus, was built in 1820, and in the following
year it was ...
Vol. 4 p. 195 (Rel. 0.46)
![Kolyrood.] THE COFFIN OF JAMES V. 65
Appended to this scroll was a minute of thei
possessions, with a hint of the pecuniary advantager
to result from forfeiture. This dangerous policy
James repelled by exclaiming, ‘‘ Pack you, javels !
(knaves). Get you to your religious charges ; reform
your lives, and be not instruments of discord
between me and my nobles, or else I shall reform
you, not as the King of Denmark does, by im
prisonment, nor yet as the King of England does
by hanging and heading, but by sharp swords,
if I hear of such hotion of you again ! ”
From this speech it has been suppqsed that
Jxnes contemplated some reform in the then
dissolute Church. But the rout at Solway
followed; his heart was broken, and on learning
the birth of his daughter Mary, he died in despair
at Falkland, yet, says Pitscottie, holding up his
hands to God, as he yielded his spirit. He was
interred in the royal vault, in December, 1542,
at Holyrood, where, according to a MS. in the
Advocates’ Library, his body was seen by the Earl
of Forfar, the Lord Strathnaver, and others, who
examined that vault in 1683. “We viewed the
body of James V. It lyeth within ane wodden
coffin, and is coverit with ane lead coffin. There
seemed to be hair upon the head still. The
body was two lengths of my staff with twa inches
more, which is twae inches and more above twae
Scots elms, for I measured the staff with an ellwand
afterward. The body was coloured black with ye
balsam that preserved it, and which was lyke
melted pitch. The Earl of Forfar took the measure
with his staf lykewayes” On the coffin was the
inscription, flhstris Scoturum, Rex Jacobus, gus
Nominis E, with the dates of his age and death.
The first regent after that event was James,
second Earl of Arran (afterwards Duke of Chatelherault,
who had been godfather to James, the
little Duke of Rothesay, next heir to the crown,
failing the issue of the infant Queen Mary), and in
1545 this high official was solemnly invested at
Holyrood, together with the Earls of Angus, Huntly,
and Argyle, with the collar and robes of St.
Michael, sent by the King of France, and at the
hands of the Lyon King of Arms.
We have related how the Church suffered at
the hands of English pillagers after Pinkie, in
1547. The Palace did not escape. Seacombe, in
his ‘‘ History of the House of Stanley,” mentions
that Norns, of Speke Hall, Lancashire, an
English commander at that battle, plundered
from Holyrood all or most of the princely
library of the deceased King of Scots, James V.,
“particularly four large folios, said to contain
the Records and Laws of Scotland at that time.”
He also describes a grand piece of wainscot,
now in Speke Hall, as having been brought from
the palace, but this is considered, from its style,
doubtful.
During the turmoils and troubles that ensued
after Mary of Guise assumed the regency, her
proposal, on the suggestion of the French Court,
to form a Scottish standing army like that of
France, so exasperated the nobles and barons,
that three hundred of them assembled at
Holyrood in 1555, and after denouncing the
measure in strong terms, deputed the Laird of
Wemyss and Sir James Sandilands of Calder to
remonstrate with her on the unconstitutional step
she was meditating, urging that Scotland had
never wanted brave defenders to fight her battles
in time of peril, and that they would never submit
to this innovation on their ancient customsc
This spirited remonstrance from Holyrood had the
desired effect, as the regent abandoned her pro--
ject. She came, after an absence, to the palace in
the November of the following year, when the
magistrates presented her with a quantity of new
wine, and dismissed McCalzean, an assessor of the
city, who spoke to her insultingly in the palace on
the affairs of Edinburgh; and in the following
February she received and entertained the ambassador
of the Duke of Muscovy, who had been
shipwrecked on his way to England, whither she
sent him, escorted by 500 lances, under the Lord
Home.
After the death of Mary of Guise and the arrival
of her daughter to assume the crown of her ancestors,
the most stirring scenes in the history of the
palace pass in review.](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v3p077.gif "Volume 3 Page 65")
... THE COFFIN OF JAMES V. 65
Appended to this scroll was a minute of thei
possessions, with a hint of the ...
Vol. 3 p. 65 (Rel. 0.45)
... 1 MARRIAGE OF MARY AND BOTHWELL. 71
dragged through the bed-room to the door of the
presence-chamber, where the ...
Vol. 3 p. 71 (Rel. 0.45)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [High Streer
Bart. ; Miss Lucy Johnston of East Lothian, who
married hlr. Oswald of ...
Vol. 2 p. 252 (Rel. 0.45)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Parliament Close.
their money brought on horseback to the Parliament
Close, where r ...
Vol. 1 p. 178 (Rel. 0.45)
... Streei.1 THE DARIEN SCHEME. 323
C H A P T E R XXXVIIP.
BRISTO AND THE POTTERROW.
Bristo Street-The Darien ...
Vol. 4 p. 323 (Rel. 0.45)
... OLD AKD NEW EDINBURGH. [High Street,
Europe or America as a handy yet comprehensive
book of ready reference, ...
Vol. 2 p. 226 (Rel. 0.44)
... whom she took up her abode. After having
effectually lulled all suspicion, she affected to remember
a vow ...
Vol. 1 p. 30 (Rel. 0.44)
... other lands, included those of “Lochflatt,
Pleasance, Se Leonards, Hillhousefield, Bonnytoun,
and ...
Vol. 3 p. 181 (Rel. 0.44)
![Holyrocd.] HOWIESON OF BRAEHEAD. 63
space of one year, with great triumph and mem
ness.” He diligently continued the works begur
by his gallant father, and erected the north-wes
towers, which have survived more than one con
flagration, and on the most northern of which coulc
be traced, till about 1820, his name, IACOBVS RE)
SCOTORVM, in large gilt Roman letters.
In 1528 blood was again shed in Holyrooc
during a great review of Douglases and Hamilton:
held there prior to a march against the Englis€
’borders. A groom of the Earl of Lennox perceiv
ing among those present Sir James Hamilton o
Finnart, who slew that noble at Linlithgow, intent or
vengeance, tracked him into the palace “by a dad
staircase which led to a narrow gallery,” and then
attacked him, sword in hand. Sir James en
deavoured to defend himself by the aid of hi:
. velvet mantle, but fell, pierced by six wounds, nonc
of which, however, were mortal. The gates wen
closed, and while a general mClCe was on the poin
of ensuing between the Douglases and Hamil
tons, the would-be assassin was discovered With hi:
bloody weapon, put to the torture, and then hi:
right hand was cut 04 on which “he observed
with a sarcastic smile, that it was punished les:
than it deserved for having failed to revenge tht
murder of his beloved master.’’
James V. was still in the palace in 1530, as we find
in the treasurer‘s accounts for that year : ‘‘ Item, tc
the Egiptianis that dansit before the king in Holy
rud House, 40s.” He was a monarch whose pure
benevolence of intention often rendered his roman.
tic freaks venial, if not respectable, since from his
anxiety to learn the wants and wishes of his humbler
subjects he was wont, like Il Boadocan4 or Haroun
Alrdschid, to traverse the vicinity of his palaces
in the plainest of disguises ; and two comic songs,
composed by himself, entitled “We’ll gang nae
mair a-roving,” and “The Gaberlunzie Man,” are
said to have been founded on his adventures while
masked as a beggar; and one of these, which
nearly cost him his life at Cramond, some five
miles frum Holyrood, is given in Scott’s ‘‘ Tales of
a Grandfather.”
While visiting a pretty peasant girl in Cramond
village he was beset by four or five persons, against
whom he made a stand with his sword upon the
high and narrow bridge that spans the Almond,
in a wooded hollow. Here, when well-nigh beaten,
and covered with blood, he was succoured and
rescued by a peasant armed with a flail, who conducted
him into a barn, where he bathed his wounds;
and in the course of conversation James discovered
that the summit of his deliverer’s earthly wishes
was to be proprietor of the little farm of Braehead,
on which he was then a labourer. Aware that it was
Crown property, James said, ‘‘ Come to Holyrood,
and inquire for the gudeman of Ballengeich,” referring
to a part of Stirling Castle which he was
wont to adopt as a cognomen.
The peasant came as appointed, and was met
by the king in his disguise, who conducted him
through the palace, and asked him if he wished
to see the king. John Howison-for such was his
name-expressed the joy it would give him, provided
he gave no offence. But how shall I know
him?” he added.
“ Easily,” replied James, “All others will be
bareheaded, the king alone will wear his bonnet.”
Scared by his surroundings and the uncovered
crowd in the great hall, John Howison looked
around him, and then said, naively, “The king
must be either you or me, for all but us are bareheaded.”
James and his courtiers laughed ; but
he bestowed upon Howison the lands of Braehead,
‘‘ on condition that he and his successors should
be ready to present an ewer and basin for the king
to wash his hands when His Majesty should come
to Holyrood or pass the bridge of Cramond.
Accordingly, in the year 1822, when George IV.
came to Scotland, a descendant of John Howison,
whose hmily still possess the estate, appeared at a
solemn festival, and offered His Majesty water from
a silver ewer, that he might perform the service by
which he held his land.”
Such pranks as these were ended by the king‘s marriage
in I 53 7 to the Princess Magdalene, the beautiful
daughter of Francis I., with unwonted splendour in
the cathedral of Notre Dame, in presence of the
Parliament of Paris, of Francis, the Queens of
France and Navarre, the Dauphin, Duke of Orleans,
md all the leading peers of Scotland and o(
France. On the 27th of May the royal pair
landed at Leith, amid every display of welcome,
md remained a few days at Holyrood, tin the
mthusiastic citizens prepared to receive them in
state with a procession of magnificence.
Magdalene, over whose rare beauty consump-
:ion seemed to spread a veil more tender and
rlluring, was affectionate and loving in nature. On
anding, in the excess of her love for James,
;he knelt down, and, kissing the soil, prayed God
:o bless the land of her adoption-scotland, and
ts people.
The “ Burgh Records ” bear witness how anxious
he Provost and citizens were to do honour to the
)ride of ‘‘ the good King James. All beggars were
varned off the streets : ‘lane honest man of ilk
:lose or two,” were to see this order enforced ; the
vbbish near John Makgill’s house and “the litster](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v3p075.gif "Volume 3 Page 63")
... HOWIESON OF BRAEHEAD. 63
space of one year, with great triumph and mem
ness.” He diligently ...
Vol. 3 p. 63 (Rel. 0.44)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Leith
brunt in assis, and all thair moveable guidis to be
escheat.”
On the 6th of ...
Vol. 5 p. 182 (Rel. 0.44)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Craiglockhart
Cluny (who died recently in London), Lady
Gordon-Cathcart of Killochan ...
Vol. 5 p. 42 (Rel. 0.43)
![The Water of Leith.] THE LAUDERS. 83
massive little mansion of Groat Hall, with a thatched
roof, whilom the property of Sir John Smith, Provost
of the city in 1643, whose daughter figured
as the heroine of the strange story connected with
the legend of the Morocco Land in the Canongate,
and whose sister (Giles Smith) was wife of Sir
William Gray of Pittendrum.
St. Cuthbert’s Poorhouse, a great quadrangular
edifice, stands in the eastern vicinity of Craigleith
Quarry. It was built in 1866-7, at a cost of
jG40,000, and has amenities of situation and
elegance of structure very rarely associated with
a residence for the poor.
Eastward of Stockbridge, and almost forming an
integral part of it, lies the now nearly absorbed and
half extinct, but ancient, village of Silvermills, a secluded
hamlet once, clustering by the ancient milllade,
and which of old lay within the Earony of
Broughton. It was chiefly occupied by tanners,
whose branch of trade is still carried on there by
the lade, which runs under Clarence Street: through
the village, and passes on to Canonmills. Some of
the houses still show designs of thistles and roses
on gablets, With the crowsteps of the sixteenth
century.
A little to the west of St. Stephen’s Church, a
narrow lane leads downward to the village, passing
through what was apparently the main street, and
emerges at Henderson Row, so called from the
Lord Provost of that name. According to
Chambers, a walk on a summer day from the old
city to the village, a hundred years ago, was considered
a very delightful one, and much ‘adopted
by idlers, the roads being then through corn-fields
and pleasant nursery-grounds.
No notice, says Chambers, has ever been taken
of Silvermills in any of the books regarding Edicburgh,
nor has any attempt ever been made to
account for its somewhat piquant name. “I
shall endeavour to do so,” he adds. “In 1607
silver was found in considerable abundance at
Hilderstone, in Linlithgowshire, on the property of
the gentleman who figures as Tarn 0’ the Cowgate.
Thirty-eight barrels of ore were sent to the mint in
the Tower of London to be tried, and were found
to give twenty-four ounces of silver for every
hundredweight. Expert persons were placed upon
the mine, and mills were erected upon the Water
of Leith for the melting and fining the ore. The
sagacious owner gave the mine the name of Go8s
BZessing. By-and-bye the king heard of it, and,
thinking it improper that any such fountain of
wealth should belong to a private person, purchased
‘ God‘s Blessing’ for L~,OOO, that it might
be worked upon a larger scale for the benefit of
the public But somehow, from the time it left
the hands of the original owner, ‘ God’s Blessing’
ceased to be anything like so fertile as it had been,
and in time the king withdrew from the enterprise,
a great loser. The Silvermills I conceive to have
been a part of the abandoned plant.”
This derivation seems extremely probable, but
Wilson thinks the name may have originated in
some of the alchemical projects of James IV., or
his son, James V.
city,” says the Edinburgh Week& Magazine for
January, 1774, “we are informed of a very singular
accident. On the nights of the zznd, 23rd, and
24th inst., the Canonmills dam, by reason of the
intenseness of the frost, was so gorged with ice and
snow, that at last the water, finding no vent, stagnated
to such a degree that it overfIowed the
lower floors of the houses in Silvermills, which
obliged many of the inhabitants to remove to the
risi,ng grounds adjacent. One family in particular,
not perceiving their danger till they observed the
cradle with a child in it afloat, and all the furniture
swimming, found it necessary to make their
escape out of the back windows, and were carried
on horseback to dry land.”
St. Stephen’s Established Church, at the foot
of St. Vincent Street, towers in a huge mass over
Silvermills, and was built in 1826-8, after designs
by W. H. Playfair, It is a massive octagonal
structure in mixed Roman style, with a grand, yet
simple, entrance porch, and a square tower 165 feet
high. It contains above 1,600 sittings. The parish
was disjoined from the conterminous parishes in
1828 by the Presbytery of Edinburgh and the Teind
Court. Itwas opened on Sunday, the 20th December,
1828, when the well-known Dr, Brunton preached
to the Lord Provost and magistrates in their official
robes, and the Rev. Henry Grey officiated in the
afternoon.
In an old mansion, immediately behind where
this church now stands, were born Robert Scott
Lauder, R.S. A., and his brother, James Eckford
Lauder, RSA., two artists of considerable note in
their time. The former was born in 1803, and for
some years, after attaining a name, resided in.No. 7,
Carlton Street. A love of art was early manifested
by him, and acquaintance with his young neighbour,
David Roberts, fostered it. The latter instructed
him in the mode of mixing colours, and urged him
to follow art as a profession ; thus, in his youth he
entered the Trustees’ Academy, then under the
care of Mr. Andrew Wilson.
After this he went to London, and worked with
great assiduity in the British Museum. In 1826
“From Silvermills, a little northward of this .](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v5p094.gif "Volume 5 Page 83")
... Water of Leith.] THE LAUDERS. 83
massive little mansion of Groat Hall, with a thatched
roof, whilom the ...
Vol. 5 p. 83 (Rel. 0.43)
... Castle Hill.
well-known in his time as a man of taste, and the
patron of Runciman the artist.
mond, of ...
Vol. 1 p. 92 (Rel. 0.43)
... were committed prisoners to his care, and
remained there till the pacification of Berwick.
On the 19th ...
Vol. 1 p. 52 (Rel. 0.43)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Heriot‘s Green.
a round hat, with a cockade and black feather on
the left side, ...
Vol. 4 p. 372 (Rel. 0.43)
![rrs PRISONERS. 7 127 The Talbooth.]
was sitting in the Tolbooth hearing the case of the
Laud of Craigmillar, who was suing a divorce
against his wife, the Earl of Bothwell forcibly
dragged out one of the most important witnesses,
and carrying him to his castle of Cricliton, eleven
miles distant, threatened to hang him if he uttered
a word.
On the charge of being a “ Papist,” among many
other prisoners in the Tolbooth in 1628, was the
Countess of Abercorn, where her health became
broken by confinement, and the misery of a
prison which, if it was loathsome in the reign of
George III., must have been something terrible in
the days orCharles I. In 1621 she obtained a
licence to go to the baths of Bristol, but failing
to leave the city, was lodged for six months in the
Canongate gaol. After she had been under restraint
in various places for three years, she was permitted
to remain ir. the earl’s house at Paisley, in March
1631, on condition that she “ reset no Jesuits,”
and to return if required under a penalty of 5,000
merks.
Taken seriatim, the records of the Tolbooth
contain volumes of entries made in the following
brief fashion :-
“1662, June 10.-John Kincaid put in ward
by warrant of the Lords of the Privy Council, for
‘ pricking of persons suspected of witchcraft anwarranfably.’
Liberated on finding caution not to
do so again.
“-June 10.-Robert Binning for falsehood ;
hanged with the false papers about his neck.
“--4ug. q.-Robert Reid for murder. His
head struck from his body at the mercat cross.
“- Dec. 4.-James Ridpath, tinker ; to be qhupitt
from Castle-hill to Netherbow, burned on the
cheek with the Toun’s common mark, and banished
the kicgdom, for the crime of double adultery.
‘‘ 1663, March ~g.-ATexander Kennedy; hanged
for raising false bonds and aritts.
“-March z I.-Aucht Qwakers; liberated, certifying
if again troubling the place, the next prison
shall be the Correction House.
“- July 8.-Katherine Reid ; hanged for
theft.
“-July &--Sir Archibald Johnston of Wamston;
treason. Hanged, his head cut off and placed
on the Netherbow.
“ - July I 8.-Bessie Brebner ; hansed for
murder.
‘I -Aug. zS.-The Provost of Kirkcudbright ;
banished for keeping his house during a tumult.
“ - Oct. 5.-William Dodds ; beheaded for
murder.”
And so on in grim monotony, till we come to
the last five entries in the old record, which is
quite incomplete.
1728, Oct. zs.-John Gibson; forging a
declaration, 18th January, 1727. His lug nailed
to the Tron, and dismissed.
‘( 1751, March 18.-Helen Torrance :md Jean
Waldie were executed this day, for stealing a child,
eight or nine years of age, and selling its body to
the surgeons for dissection. Alive on Tuesday when
carried OK, and dead on Friday, with an incision in
the belly, but sewn up again.
“ I 7 5 6, May 4.-Sir William Dalrymple of Cousland;
for shooting at Capt. Hen. Dalrymple of
Fordell, with a pistol at the Cross of Edinburgh.
Liberated’on 14th May, on bail for 6,000 merks,
to answer any complaint.
“ 1752, Jan. 10.-Norman Ross ; hanged and
hung in chains between Leith and Edinburgh, for
issassinating Lady Bailie, sister to Home of
Wedderburn.
‘ I 1757, Feb. 4.-Janies Rose, Excise Officer at
Muthill ; banished to America for forging receipts
for arrears.”
It was a peculiarity of the Tolbooth, that through
clanship, or some other influence, nearly every
criminal of rank confined in it achieved an escape.
Robert fourth Lord Burleigh, a half insane peer,
who was one of the commissioners for executing
the office of Lord Register in 1689, and who
married a daughter of the Earl of hfelville about
the time of the Union, assassinated a schoolmaster
who had married a girl to whom he had paid improper
addresses, was committed to the Tolbooth,
and sentenced to death; and of his first attempt
to escape the following story is told He was
carried out of the prison in a large trunk, to be
conveyed to Leith, on the back of a powerful
porter, who was to put hini on board a vessel
about to sail for the Continent. It chanced that
when slinging the trunk on his back, the porter
did so with Lord Burleigh‘s head doiwnnmost, thus
it had to sustain the weight of his whole body.
The posture was agony, the way long and rough,
but life was dear. Unconscious of his actual
burden, the porter reached the Netherbow Port,
where an acquaintance asked him “whither he
was going?” ‘:TO Leith,” was the reply. “ Is the
work good enough to afford a glass before going
farther?” was the next question. The porter said
it was; and tossed down the trunk with such
violence that it elicited a scream from Lord Burleigh,
who instantly fainted.
Scared and astounded, the porter wrenched open
the trunk, when its luckless inmate was found
cramped, doubled-up, and senseless. A crowd](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v1p139.gif "Volume 1 Page 127")
... PRISONERS. 7 127 The Talbooth.]
was sitting in the Tolbooth hearing the case of the
Laud of Craigmillar, who ...
Vol. 1 p. 127 (Rel. 0.43)
... Bridge. __ 362 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH.
Magazine (started in Edinburgh), and minister of’ son of Sir ...
Vol. 2 p. 362 (Rel. 0.43)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH, [High Street.
’ arms, and took her by boat across the loch that
rippled at the foot ...
Vol. 2 p. 228 (Rel. 0.42)
... DEFENCE ABANDONED. 325 .
abandoned; but still the gates were kept closed
and guarded. The Whigs were ...
Vol. 2 p. 325 (Rel. 0.42)
... OLD AND ‘NEW EDINBURGH. [High Street.
there was born in 1741 his son, the celebrated
statesman, Henry ...
Vol. 2 p. 208 (Rel. 0.42)
... OLD .AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Heriot’s Hospital.
as being in the vicinity of St. Giles’s church. There
he ...
Vol. 4 p. 364 (Rel. 0.42)
... the great plague of 1568 a huge pit,
wherein to bury the victims, was ordered to be dug
in the ‘‘ ...
Vol. 4 p. 380 (Rel. 0.41)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. princcs Street
came into her possession, the pocket-knife, fork,
and spoon which ...
Vol. 3 p. 124 (Rel. 0.41)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Moultray’s Hill.
-
dedicated to him,”) but by whom founded or when,
is quite ...
Vol. 2 p. 366 (Rel. 0.41)
... AND NEW EDINBURGH. (South Bridge. 378
then paid for the dean’s gown. This Hugh Blair was
the grandson of ...
Vol. 2 p. 378 (Rel. 0.41)
... probable that the Earl may often have been
a guest in that old mansion, and King James himself
in later ...
Vol. 2 p. 220 (Rel. 0.41)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH.
pilgrimage to on May Day, I. 379
geology of the hill 11. 303, 304
origin of the name: ...
Vol. 6 p. 370 (Rel. 0.41)
![Edinburgh Cad:.] CORONATION OF CHARLES I. 51
and long it was since Edinburgh had been
the scene of anything so magnificent. Every
window was crowded with eager faces, and every
house was gay with flowers, banners, and tapestry.
*‘ Mounted on a roan horse, and having a saddle
of rich velvet sweeping the ground, and massive with
pasements of gold, Alexander Clark, the Provost,
appeared at the head of the bailies and council to
meet the king, while the long perspective of the
crowded street ( then terminated by the spire of
the Nether Bow) was lined (as Spalding says) by
a brave company of soldiers, all clad in white
satin doublets, black velvet .breeches, and silk
stockings, with hats, feathers, scarfs, and bands.
Thesegallants haddaintymuskets, pikes, and gilded
partisans. Six trumpeters, in gold lace and scarlet,
preceded the procession, which moved slowly from
But most of the assembled multitude looked
darkly and doubtfully on. In almost every heart
there lurked the secret dread of that tampering
with the Scottish Church which for years had been
conspicuous.
Charles, with great solemnity, was crowned king
of Scotland, England, France, and Ireland, by the
Bishop of St. Andrews, who placed the crown upon
his head; and on the 18th July he left Edinburgh
on his return to London. Under the mal-influence
of the zealot Laud ruin and civil war soon came,
when Episcopacy was imposed upon the people,
A committee of Covenanters was speedily formed
at Edinburgh, and when the king’s commissioner
arrived, in 1638, he found the Castle beset by
armed men. His efforts at mediation were futile ;
and famous old “Jenny Geddes” took the initiative
the- Privy Seal;
Morton the Treasuw’s golden mace,with its globe of
sparkling beryl ; the York and Norroy English kingsat-
arms with their heralds, pursuivants, and trumpeters
in tabards blazing with gold and embroidery;
Sir James Balfour, the Scottish Lion king, preceding
the spurs, sword, sceptre, and crown, borne
by earls. Then came the Lord High Constable,
riding, with ,his blton, supported by the Great
Chamberlain and Earl Marshal, preceding Charles,
who was arrayed in &robe of purple velvet once
worn by James IV., and having a foot-cloth embroidered
with silver and pearls, and his long train
upborne by the young Lords Lorne, Annan, Dalkeith,
and Kinfauns Then came the Gentlemen
Pensioners, marching with partisans uplifted ; then
the Yeomen of the Guard, clad in doublets of
russet velvet, with the royal arms raised in embossed
work of silver and gold on the back and
breast of each coat-each company commanded
by an earL The gentlemen of the Scottish Horse
Guards were all armed d la cuirassier, and carried
swords, petronels, and musketoons.”
of trained Scottish
officers and soldiers, who had been pushing
their fortune by the shores of the Elbe and the
Rhine, in Sweden and Germany, came pouring
home to enrol under the banner of the Covenant ;
a general attack was concerted on every fortress
in Scotland; and the surprise of Edinburgh was
undertaken by the commander of the army, Sir
Alexander Leslie of Balgonie, Marshal of Sweden
under Gustavus Adolphus-a soldier second to
This he achieved successfully on the evening of
the 28th March, when he blew in the barrier gate
with a petard. The Covenanters rushed through
the Spur sword in hand, and the. second gate fell
before their sledge-hammers, and then Haldane of
Gleneagles, the governor, gave up his sword.
That night ieslie gave the Covenanting lords a
banquet in the hall of the Castle, .w&reon they
hoisted their blue standard with. the miotto, “ For
an oppressed kirk and broken’ Covenant” Montrose’s
regiment, 1,500 strong, replaced the gamson ;
Lord Bdmerbo was appointed goxernor, and many](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v1p063.gif "Volume 1 Page 51")
... Cad:.] CORONATION OF CHARLES I. 51
and long it was since Edinburgh had been
the scene of anything so ...
Vol. 1 p. 51 (Rel. 0.4)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH.
C
Cable’s Wynd, Leith, XI. 226, 227
Caddies,orstreetmesngers, I. 151,
Cadell and ...
Vol. 6 p. 372 (Rel. 0.4)
... OLD AIVD NEW EDINBURGH. [Hope Park.
“a broadsword, a real Andrea Femara blade, hung
by his bed-side, and ...
Vol. 4 p. 352 (Rel. 0.4)
... These documents had been perfidiously
sent to Scotland by General Monk. The marquis
was condemned to ...
Vol. 1 p. 58 (Rel. 0.4)
... These documents had been perfidiously
sent to Scotland by General Monk. The marquis
was condemned to ...
Vol. 1 p. 59 (Rel. 0.4)
![West Church.] MR. NEIL MWICAR. I33 -
those of other sections of the city, took courage, and
sought to retrieve their past ill-conduct by noisily .
preparing to raise forces to defend themselves in
case of a second visit from the Highlanders.
the General Assembly met in the church, and
passed an Act, which, however necessary, perhaps,
in those harassing times, concerning ‘‘ the sine and
guilte of the king and his house,” caused much
suffering to the Covenanters after the Restoration.
It was known by the name of the West Kirk Act,
and was approved by Parliament the same day.
Subsequently, during his siege of the castle
Cromwell made the church a barrack; hence its
roof and windows were destroyed by the guns of
the fortress, and soon little was left of it but the
bare walls, which were repaired, and opened for
service in 1655.
For some years subsequent the sole troubles
of the incumbents were breaches
of “the Sabbath,” such as when
William Gillespie, in 1659, was
“fund carrying watter, and his
wyfe knoking beir,” for which
they had to make public repentance,
or filling people for
“taking snuff in tyme of sermon,”
contrary to the Act of
18th June, 1640; till 1665,
when the ‘‘ great mutiny” in
the parish occurred, and the
minister, William Gordon, for
“ keeping of festivals,” was
railed at by the people, who
closed the doors against him,
for which a man and a woman,
according to Wodrow, were
scourged through Edinburgh.
At the Revolution, those
of ground to the west was added to it (including
the garden,with trees, shown in Gordon’s Map), from
the old boundary to the present west gate at the
Lothian Road. About the same time several
heritors requested permission to inter their dead
in the little or Wester-kirk, which had been a
species of ruin since the invasion of Cromwell.
In 1745, after the victory of the Highlanders at
Prestonpans, a message was sent to the ministers
of the city, in the name cf “Charles, Prince Regent,”
desiring them to preach next day, Sunday,
as usual; but many, alarmed by the defeat of Cope,
sought refuge in the country, and no public worship
was performed within the city, save by a
ST. CUTHBERT’S CHURCH.
(From Cmdm of Potkicmay’s Mu@.)
ministers who had been ejected in 1661, and were
yet alive, returned to their charges. Among them
was Mr. David Williamson, who, in 1689, was
settled in St. Cuthbert’s manse ; but not quietly,
for the castle, defended by the Duke of Gordon,
was undergoing its last disastrous siege by the
troops oC William, and the church suffered so much
damage from shot and shell, that for many months
after the surrender in June, the people were unable
to use it, and the repairs amounted to LI,~OO.
If tradition has not wronged him, Mr. Williamson
is the well-known (‘ Dainty Davie” of Scottish
song, who had six wives ere the seventh, Jean.
Straiton, survived him. He died in August, 1706,
and was buried in the churchyard, where the
vicinity of the grave is alone indicated by the
letters D. W. cut on the front of the tomb in which
he lies.
The ancient cemetery on the knoll having been
found too small for the increasing population and
consequent number of interments, in 1701 a piece
clergyman named Hog a t t h e
Tron.
It was otherwise, however,
at St. Cuthbert’s, the incumbent
of which was then the Rev.
Neil McVicar, yho preached
to a crowded congregation,
many of whom were armed
Highlanders, before whom he
prayed for George 11. and also
for Charles Edward in a fashion
of his own, recorded thus by
Ray, in his history of the time,
and others :-
‘(Bless the king! Thou
knowest what king I mean.
May the crown sit long on his
head. As for that young man
who has come among us to
seek an earthly crown, we](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v3p145.gif "Volume 3 Page 133")
... Church.] MR. NEIL MWICAR. I33 -
those of other sections of the city, took courage, and
sought to retrieve ...
Vol. 3 p. 133 (Rel. 0.4)
![Charlotte Square.] THE ALBERT MEMORIAL. I75
His neighbour and brother senator Lord Dundrennan
occupied No. 35 ; and in 1811 William
Robertson, Lord Robertson, a senator of 1805,
occupied No. 42. He was the eldest son of Dr.
Robertson the historian, and in 1779 was chosen
Procurator of the Church of Scotland, after ,a close
contest, in which he was opposed by the Hon.
Henry Erskine. His personal appearance is
described in “ Peter’s Letters to his Kinsfolk.”
He retired from the bench in 1826, in consequence
of deafness, and died in November, 1835.
On the western side of the Square, and terminating
with fine effect the long vista of George
Street from the east, is St. George’s Church, the
foundation of which was laid on the 14th of May,
1811. It was built from a design furnished by
Robert Reid, king’s architect The celebrated
Adam likewise furnished a plan for this church,
which was relinquished in consequence of the
expense it would have involved. The whole building,
with the exception of the dome, which is a
noble one, and seen to advantage from any point,
is heavy in appearance, meagre in detail, and
hideous in conception, and its ultimate expense
greatly exceeded the estimates and the sum for
which the more elegant design of Adam could have
been carried out. It cost A33,ooo, is calculated
to accommodate only 1,600 persons, and was opened
for public worship in 1814. It was intended in
its upper part to be a large miniature or reduced
copy of St. Paul’s in London, and is in a kind of
Grzco-Italian style, with a lofty but meagre Ionic
portico and surmounting an Attic Corinthian colonnade
; it rests on a square ground plan measuring
IIZ feet each way, and culminates in the dome,
surmounted by a lantern, cupola, and cross, the
last at the height of 160 feet from the ground.
The original design included two minarets, which
have not as yet been added.
It is chiefly celebrated as the scene of the ministrations
of Andrew Thomson, D.D., an eminent
divine who was fixed upon as its pastor in 1814.
He died suddenly on the 9th of February, 1831,
greatly beloved and lamented by the citizens in
general and his congregation in particular, and now
he lies in a piece of ground connected with the
churchyard of St. Cuthbert.
In Charlotte Place, behind the church, are the
atelier of Sir John Steel the eminent sculptor, and
a music-room called St. Cecilia’s Hall, with an
orchestra space for 250 performers and seats for
500 hearers.
In the centre of the Square is the memorial to
the Prince Consort, which was inaugurated with
much state by the Queen in person, attended by
the magistrates and archer guard, &c., in August,
1876. It cost A16,500, and is mainly from
the studio of Steel It is a quasi-pyramidal structure,
about thirty-two feet high, with a colossal
equestrian statue of the Prince as its central and
upper figure ; it is erected on an oblong Peterhead
granite pedestal, fully seventeen feet high, and
exhibiting emblematic bas-reliefs in the panels,
with four groups of statues on square blocks, projecting
from the corners of the basement; the
prince is shown in the uniform of a field marshal.
Of all the many statues that have been erected
to his memory, this in Charlotte Square is perhaps
one of the best and most pleasing.
With this chapter we close the history of what
may be regarded as thejt-st New Town, which was
designed in 1767, laid out, as we have seen, in a
parallelogram the sides of which measure 3,900
feet by 1,090.
The year 1755 was the period when Edinburgh
seemed really to wake from the sleep and torpor
that followed the Union, and a few imprdvements
began in the Old Town. After that period, says
Kincaid, writing in 1794, “ it is moderate to say
that not less than ~3,000,000 sterling has been
expended in building and public improvements.”
Thirty-five years ago,” says the Edinburgh
Adverther for 1823, “ there were scarcely a dozen
sliops in the New Town; now, in Princes Street,
with the exception of hotels and the Albyn Club
Room, they reach to Hanover Street.”
In the present day the whole .area we have described
is mainly occupied by shops, with the exception
of Charlotte Square and a small portion of
Queen Street.](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v3p187.gif "Volume 3 Page 175")
... Square.] THE ALBERT MEMORIAL. I75
His neighbour and brother senator Lord Dundrennan
occupied No. 35 ; ...
Vol. 3 p. 175 (Rel. 0.39)
... Gilds Churchyard. THE CHURCHYARD. I49
were a hospital and chapel known by the name
of the “Maison Dieu.” ...
Vol. 1 p. 149 (Rel. 0.39)
... restored, but in somewhat doubtful taste, by
Thomas Hamilton, architect, and a new square
tower, terminating ...
Vol. 6 p. 220 (Rel. 0.39)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [High Street.
THE mansion of the Earls of Iiyndford immediately
adjoined that of the ...
Vol. 2 p. 274 (Rel. 0.39)
![Moming+3c] THE ROYAL EDINBURGH ASYLUM. 39
sions and villas seem to crowd and jostle each other,
till it has become an integral part of Edinburgh;
but the adjacent hamlet of Tipperlinn, the abode
chiefly of weavers, and once also a summer resort,
has all disappeared, and nothing of it now remains
but an old draw-well The origin of its name is
evidently Celtic.
Falcon Hall, eastward of the old village, is an
elegant modem villa, erected early in the present
century byawealthy Indian civilian, named Falconer;
but, save old Morningside House, or Lodge, before
that time no other niansion of importance stood
here.
In the latter-which stands a little way back kom
the road on the west side-there died, in the year
1758, William Lockhart, Esq., of Carstairs, who
had been thrown from his cliaise at the Burghmuir-
head, and was so severely injured that he expired
two days after. Here also resided, and died
in 1810, William Coulter, a wealthy hosier, who was
then in office as Lord Provost of the city, which
gave him a magnificent civic and military funeral,
which was long remembered for its grandeur and
solemnity.
On this occasion long streamers of crape floated
from Nelson’s monument ; the bells were tolled.
Mr. Claud Thompson acted as chief mourner-in
lieu of the Provost’s only son, Lieutenant Coulter,
then serving with the army in Portugal-and the city
arms were borne by a man seven feet high before
the coffin, whereon lay a sword, robe, and chain
of office.
Three volleys were fired over it by the Edinburgh
Volunteers, of which he was colonel. A portrait
of him in uniform appears in one of Kay’s
sketches.
In 1807 Dr. Andrew Duncan (already noticed
in the account of Adam Square) proposed the
erection of a lunatic asylum, the want of which
had long been felt in the city. Subscriptions came
in slowly, but at last sufficient was collected, a
royal charter was obtained, and on the 8th of June,
1809, the foundation stone of the now famous and
philanthropic edifice at Morningside was laid by
the Lord Provost Coulter, within an enclosure, four
acres in extent, south of old Morningside House
Towards the erection a sum of LI,IOO came from
Scotsmen in Madras.
The object of this institution is to afford every
possible advantage in the treatment of insanity.
The unfortunate patients may be put under the
care of any medical practitioner in Edinburgh
(says the Scots Magmine for that year) whom the
relations may choose to employ, while the poor
will be attended gratis by physicians and surgeons
appointed by the managers. In every respect,
it is one of the most efficient institutions of the
kind in Scotland, It is called the Royal Edinburgh
Asylum, and has as its patron the reigning
sovereign, a governor, four deputies, a board of
managers, and another of medical men.
The original building was afterwards more than
doubled in extent by the addition of another, the
main entrance to which is from the old road that
led to Tipperlinn. This is called the west department,
where the average number of inmates is
above 500. It is filled with patients of the humbler
order, whose friends or parishes pay for them 6 1 5
per annum.
The east department, which was built in 1809, is
for patients who pay not less than A56 per annum
as an ordinary charge, though separate sitting-rooms
entail an additional expense. On the other hand,
when patients are in straitened circumstances a
yearly deduction of ten, or even twenty pounds, is
made from the ordinary rate.
In the former is kept the museum of plaster
casts from the heads of patients, a collection continually
being added to ; and no one, even without
a knowledge of phrenology, can behold these lifeless
images without feeling that the originals had
been afflicted by disease of the mind, for even the
cold, white, motionless plaster appears expressive
of ghastly insanity.
In the west department the patients who are
capable of doing so ply their trades as tailors,
shoemakers, and so forth; and one of the most
interesting features of the institution is the
printing-office, whence, to quote Chambers’sJournal,
“is issued the Morningside Mirror, a monthly
sheet, whose literary contents are supplied wholly
by the inmates, and contain playful hits and puns
which would not disgrace the habitual writers of
facetious articles.’’
From the list of occupations that appear in the
annual report, it would seem that nearly every
useful trade and industry. is followed within the
walls, and that the Morningside Asylum supplies
most of its own wants, being a little world complete
in itself.
Occupation and amusement here take the place
of irksome bondage, with results that have been
very beneficial, and among the most extraordinary
of these are the weekly balls, in which the patients
figure in reels and in country dances, and sing
songs.
At the foot of Morningside the Powburn takes the
singular name of the Jordan as it flows through a
farm named Egypt, and other Scriptural names
abound close by, such as Hebron Bank, Canaan](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v5p050.gif "Volume 5 Page 39")
... THE ROYAL EDINBURGH ASYLUM. 39
sions and villas seem to crowd and jostle each other,
till it has ...
Vol. 5 p. 39 (Rel. 0.38)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [George Smn
could be done.” On leaving the church, the
protestors proceeded to ...
Vol. 3 p. 146 (Rel. 0.38)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Leith.
up to the full average of poets, yet his vanity was
of a very inoffensive ...
Vol. 6 p. 242 (Rel. 0.38)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [ Holyrood.
The Edinburgh HeraZd of April, 1797, mentions
the departure froni Holyrood ...
Vol. 3 p. 78 (Rel. 0.38)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. me Mound.
distinguished trustees of whom it has been composed
since its formation ; ...
Vol. 3 p. 86 (Rel. 0.38)
![The Cowpate.] TAM 0’ THE COWGATE. 259
derived from Dickson by the stars, according to
Nisbet in his “Heraldry.” A John Dickison of
Winkston, who was provost of Peebles, was assassinated
in the High Street of that town, on the
1st of July, 1572, and James Tweedie, burgess of
Peebles, and four other persons, were tried for the
crime and acquitted. This is supposed to be the
John Dickison who built the house, and had placed
upon it these remarkable devices as a bold proof of
his adherence to the ancient faith “ The hand.
some antique form of this house, the strange
armorial device of the original proprietor, the tradition
of the Catholic chapel, the singular figures
over ‘the double dormer window, and Dickison’s
own tragic fate, in the midst of a frightful civil war,
when neither party gave quarter to the other, all
combine to throw a wild and extraordinary interest
over it, and make us greatly regret its removal.”
(“ Ancient Arch. of Edin.”)
The peculiar pediment, as well as the sculptured
lintel of the front door, were removed to Coates’
House, and are. now built into different parts of the
northern Wing of that quaint and venerable ch2teau
in the New Town.
In the middle of the last century, and prior to
1829, a court of old buildings existed in the Cowgate,
on the ground now occupied by the southern
piers of George IV. Bridge, which were used as
the Excise Office, but, even in this form, were
somewhat degraded from their original character,
for there resided Thomas Hamilton of Priestfield,
Earl of Melrose in 1619, and first Earl of Haddington
in 1627, Secretary of State in 16~2, King’s
Advocate, and Lord President of the Court of
Session in 15 92.
He rented the house in question from Macgill of
Rankeillor, and from the popularity of his character
and the circumstance of his residence, he
was endowed by his royal master, King James,
whose chief favourite he was, with‘ the sobriquet of
Tarn d the Cowgate, under which title he is better
remembered than by his talents as a statesman or
his Earldom of Haddington.
He was famous for his penetration as a judge,
his industry as a collector of decisionsAswing
up a set of these from 1592 to i6q-and his
talent for creating a vast fortune. It is related of
him, in one of many anecdotes concerning him,
communicated by Sir Walter Scott to the industrious
author of the ‘‘ Traditions of Edinburgh,’,
that, after a long day‘s hard labour in the public
service, he was one evening seated with a friend
over a bottle of wine near a window of his house
in the Cowgate, for his ease attired in a robc de
chrnbre and slippers, when a sudden disturbance
was heard in the street. This turned out to be a
bicker, one of those street disturbances peculiar to
the boys of Edinburgh, till the formation of the
present police, and referred to in the Burgh Records
so far back as 1529, anent “gret bikkyrringis
betwix bairns;” and again in 1535, when they
wefe to be repressed, under pain-of scourging and
banishment.
On this occasion the strife with sticks and stones
was between the youths of the High School and
those of the College, who, notwithstanding a bitter
resistance, were driving their antagonists before
them.
The old Earl, who in his yduth had been a High
School boy, and from his after education in Paris,
had no sympathy for the young collegians, rushed
into the street, rallied the fugitives, and took such
an active share in the combat that, finally, the High
School boys-gaining fresh courage upon discovering
that their leader was Tam 0’ the Cowgate, the
great judge and statesman-turned the scale of
victory upon the enemy, despite superior age and
strength. The Earl, still clad in his robe and slippers,
assumed the command, exciting the lads to the
charge by word and action. Nor did the hubbub
cease till the students, unable by a flank movement
to escape up the Candlemaker Row, were driven
headlong through the Grassmarket, and out at the
West Port, the gate of which he locked, compelling
the vanquished to spend the night in the fields
beyond the walls. He then returned to finish his
flask‘of wine. And a rare jest the whole episode
must have been for King James, when he heard of
it at St. James’s or Windsor.
When, in 1617, the latter revisited Scotland,. he
found his old friend very rich, and was informed
that it was a current belief that he had discovered
the Philosopher’s Stone. James was amused with
the idea of so valuable a talisman having fallen
into the hands of a Judge of the Cburt of Session,
and was not long in letting the latter know of the
story. The Earl immediately invited the king,
and all who were present, to dine with him, adding
that he would reveal to them the mystery of the
Philosopher‘s Stone.
The next day saw his mansion in the Cowgate
thronged by the king and his Scottish and English
courtiers After dinner, James reminded him of
the Philosopheis Stone, and then the wily Earl
addressed all present in a short speech, concluding
with the information that his whole secret of success
and wealth, lay in two simple and familiar
maxims :-cc Never put off till tomorrow what can
be done today; nor ever trust to the hand of
another that which your own can execute.”
‘
__](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v4p079.gif "Volume 4 Page 259")
... Cowpate.] TAM 0’ THE COWGATE. 259
derived from Dickson by the stars, according to
Nisbet in his ...
Vol. 4 p. 259 (Rel. 0.38)
... Old High S:hoo!.l THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL. 287
college, the pulpits, desks, lofts, and seats, were;
says Nicol, (( ...
Vol. 4 p. 287 (Rel. 0.38)
... With great eloquence upon what they had
picked up from the opposite counsel. When
acting as a volunteer ...
Vol. 1 p. 172 (Rel. 0.38)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. ‘ [Surgeon Square.
We may close our notice of the Old Royal
Infirmary by a reference ...
Vol. 4 p. 302 (Rel. 0.38)
... vii
. CHAPTER XXXI.
PAGE ALLEYS OF THE HIGH STREET (continued).
Blackfriars Wynd-The Grant of ...
Vol. 2 p. 389 (Rel. 0.38)
... --It OLD AND‘ NEW EDINBURGH. [High Street,
Baron of the Exchequer Court in 1748, and grandson
of James of ...
Vol. 2 p. 214 (Rel. 0.37)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Leith.
C H A P T E R X X X I I I .
LEITH-TIIE DOCKS.
New Docks proposed-Apathy of ...
Vol. 6 p. 282 (Rel. 0.37)
... and Dewar‘s Closes on the north side of
the market, were all doomed to destruction by the
late City ...
Vol. 4 p. 236 (Rel. 0.37)
... Cowgate. 262 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH.
Chapel, and quhat expensis he makis thaeron
sal be allowit to him in his ...
Vol. 4 p. 262 (Rel. 0.37)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Kirk-of-Field.
begun to entertain of his own safety ; for he knew
that he had many ...
Vol. 5 p. 4 (Rel. 0.37)
... - OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH.
- 52 -
set at liberty ; but on the suppression of the order
throughout Scotland, ...
Vol. 3 p. 52 (Rel. 0.37)
... but they failed to excite mutiny ; yet a
plan was formed by which it was expected that the
Castle and ...
Vol. 4 p. 237 (Rel. 0.37)
![The Tolhwth] THE SIGNET ANI) ADVOCATES’ LIBRARIES. 123
THE genius of Scott has shed a strange halo around
the memory of the grim and massive Tolbooth
prison, so much so that the creations of his imagination,
such as Jeanie and Effie Deans, take the
place of real persons of flesh’ and blood, and suchtraders.
They have been described as being “a
dramdrinking, news-mongering, facetious set of
citizens, who met every morn about seven o’clock,
and after proceeding to the post-office to ascertain
the news (when the mail arrived), generally adjourned
to a public-house and refreshed themselves
with a libation of brandy.” Unfounded articles of
intelligence that were spread abroad in those days
were usually named “ Lawnmarket Gazettes,” in
allusion to their roguish or waggish originators.
At all periods the Lawnmarket was a residence
for nien of note, and the frequent residence of
English and other foreign ambassadors; and so
long as Edinburgh continued to be the seat of the
Parliament, its vicinity to the House made it a
favourite and convenient resort for the members
of the Estates.
On the ground between Robert Gourlay’s house
and Beith’s Wynd we now find some of those portions
of the new city which have been engrafted on
the old. In Melbourne Place, at the north end of
George IV. Bridge, are situated many important
offices, such as, amongst others, those of the Royal
Medical Society, and the Chamber of Commerce
and Manufactures, built in an undefined style of
architecture, new to Edinburgh. Opposite, with
its back to the bridge, where a part of the line of
Liberton’s Wynd exists, is built the County Hall,
presenting fronts to the Lawnmarket and to St.
Giles’s. The last of these possesses no common
beauty, as it has a very lofty portico of finely-flutcd
columns, overshadowing a flight of steps leading to
the main entrance, which is modelled after the
choragic monument of Thrasyllus, while the ground
plan and style of ornament is an imitation of the
Temple of Erechtheius at Athens. It was erected
in 1817, and contains several spacious and lofty
court-rooms, with apartments for the Sheriff and
other functionaries employed in the business of the
county. The hall contains a fine statue of Lord
Chief Baron Dundas, by Chantrey.
is the power of genius, that with the name of the
Heart of Midlothian we couple the fierce fury of
the Porteous mob. “Antique in form, gloomy and
haggard in aspect, its black stanchioned windows,
opening through its dingy walls like the apertures
~
Adjoining it and stretching eastward is the library
of the Writers to the Signet. It is of Grecian architecture,
and possesses two long pillared halls of
beautiful proportions, the upper having Corinthian
columns, and a dome wherein are painted the
Muses. It is 132 feet long by about 40 broad,
and was used by George IV. as a drawing-room,
on the day of the royal banquet in the Parliament ,
House. Formed by funds drawn solely from contributions
by Writers to H.M. Signet, it is under
a body of curators. The library contains more
than 60,000 volumes, and is remarkably rich in
British and Irish history.
Southward of it and lying psxallel with it, nearer
the Cowgate, is the Advocates’ Library, two long
halls, with oriel windows on the north side. This
library, one of the five in the United Kingdom entitled
to a copy of every work printed in it, was
founded by Sir George Mackenzie, Dean of Faculty
in 168z, and contains some zoo,ooo volumes,
forming the most valuable cpllection of the kind
in Scotland. The volumes of Scottish poetry alone
exceed 400. Among some thousand MSS. are those
of Wodrow, Sir James Balfour, Sir Robert Sibbald,
and others. In one of the lower compartments
may be seen Greenshield’s statue of Sir Walter
Scott, and the original volume of Waverley; two
volumes of original letters written by Mary Queen
of Scots and Charles I.; the Confession of Faith
signed by James VI. and the Scottish nobles in
1589-90; a valuable cabinet from the old Scottish
mint in the Cowgate; the pennon borne by
Sir William Keith at Flodden; and many other
objects of the deepest interest. The office of
librarian has been held by many distinguished
men of letters; among them were Thomas Ruddiman,
in 1702; David Hume, his successor, in,
1752 ; Adani Ferguson ; and David Irving, LL.D.
A somewhat minor edifice in the vicinity forms
the library of the Solicitors before the Supreme
Court](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v1p135.gif "Volume 1 Page 123")
... Tolhwth] THE SIGNET ANI) ADVOCATES’ LIBRARIES. 123
THE genius of Scott has shed a strange halo around
the ...
Vol. 1 p. 123 (Rel. 0.37)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Canongate
4‘ History of Music j ” Dr. Gregory ; David Xllan ;
Lord Cromarty; and ...
Vol. 3 p. 30 (Rel. 0.37)
... people.
In the days of its declension, the Darien House
was abandoned to the uses of a lunatic asylum ...
Vol. 4 p. 324 (Rel. 0.37)
![Leith.] THE TOLBOOTH WYND. 1 0
marrow alley adjoining the latter, a house bearing
the date 1688 has the two legends, “Feir the
Lord,” and “The feir of the Lord is the beginning
of a1 wisdome.”
This part of the town-about the foot of St.
Andrew’s Street-is said to have borne anciently
the name of St. Leonard’s. There the Street
diverges into two alleys : one narrow and gloomy,
which bears the imposing title of Parliament Court ;
and the other called Sheephead Wynd, in which
there remains a very ancient edifice, the ground
floor of which is formed of arches constructed like
those of the old house described in the Kirkgate,
and bearing the date 1579, with the initials D. W.,
M. W. Though small and greatly dilapidated, it
is ornamented with string-courses and mouldings ;
and it was not without some traces of old importance
and grandeur amid its decay and degradation,
until it was entirely altered in 1859.
This house is said to have received the local
name of the Gun Stone, from the circumstance of
a stone cannon ball of considerable size having
been fired into it during some invasion by an
English ship of war. Local tradition avers that
for many years this bullet formed an ornament on
the summit of the square projecting staircase of
the house.
Near Cable’s Wynd, which adjoins this alley, and
between it and King Street, at a spot called
Meeting-house Green, are the relics of a building
formerly used as a place of worship, and although
it does not date farther back than the Revolution
.of 1688, it is oddly enough called “John Knox’s
Church.”
The records of South Leith parish bear that in
1692, ‘‘ the magistrates of Edinburgh, and members
of the Presbytery there, with a confused company
of the people, entered the church by breaking open
the locks of the doors and putting on new ones,
and so caused guard the church doors with halberts,
rang the bells, and possessed Mr. Wishart of
the church, against which all irregular proceedings
public protests were taken.”
Previous to this he would seem to have officiated
in a kind of chapel-of-ease established near Cable’s
Wynd, by permission of James VII. in 1687.
Soon after the forcible induction recorded, he
came to the church with a guard of halberdiers,
accompanied by the magistrates of Leith, and took
possession of the Session House, compelling the
“ prelatick Session ” to hold their meeting in the
adjacent Kantore. More unseemly matters followed,
for in December of the year 1692, when a
meeting was held in South Leith Church to hear
any objections that might be niade against the legal
induction of the Rev. Mr. Wishart, an adherent of
Mr. Kay, ‘‘ one of the prelatick incumbents,” protested
loudly against the whole proceedings.
Upon this, “Mr. Livingstone, a brewer at the
Craigend (or Calton), rose up, and, in presence of
the Presbytery, did most violently fall upon the
commissioner, and buffeted him and nipped his
cheeks, and had many base expressions to him.”
Others now fell on the luckless commissioner,
who was ultimately thrust into the Tolbooth of
Leith by a magistrate, for daring to do that which
the Presbytery had suggested. Mr. Kay’s session
were next driven out of the Kantore, on the door
of which another lock was placed.
It has been supposed that the ousted episcopal
incumbent formed his adherents into a small congregation,
as he remained long iu Leith, and died
at his house in the Yardheads there so lately as
November, 1719, in the seventieth year of his age.
His successor, tile Rev. Robert Forbes, was minister
of an episcopal chapel in Leith, according to an
anonymous writer, ‘‘ very shortly after Mr: Kay’s
death, and records a baptism as having been performed
‘ in my room in ye Yardheads.’ ”
The history of the Meeting-house near Cable’s
Wynd is rather obscure, but it seems to have been
generally used as a place of worship. The last
occasion was during a visit of John Wesley, the
great founder of Methodism. He was announced
to preach in it; but so grcat a concourse of people
assembled, that the edifice was incapable of accommodating
them, so he addressed the multitude
on the Meeting-house Green. LI house near it,
says The Srofsinan in 1879, is pointed out as “the
Manse.”
The Tolbooth TVynd is about five hundred an&
fifty feet in length, from where the old signal-tower
stood, at the foot of the Kirkgate, to the site of a
now removed building called Old Babylon, which
stood upon the Shore.
The second old thoroughfare of Leith was undoubtedly
the picturesque Tolbooth Wynd, as the
principal approach to the harbour, after it superseded
the more ancient Burgess Close.
It was down this street that, in the age when
Leith was noted for its dark superstitions and eccentric
inhabitants, the denizens therein, regularly
on stormy nights or those preceding a storm,
heard with horror, at midnight, the thundering
noise of “the twelve o‘clock coach,” a great oatafalque-
looking vehicle, driven by a tall, gaunt figure
without a head, drawn by black horses, also headless,
and supposed to be occupied by a mysterious
female.
Near the eastern end of the wynd there stood
,](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v6p046.gif "Volume 6 Page 227")
... THE TOLBOOTH WYND. 1 0
marrow alley adjoining the latter, a house bearing
the date 1688 has the two ...
Vol. 6 p. 227 (Rel. 0.36)
![canongate.] ROXBURGH HOUSE. 15
~~ House, there stood in those days the mansion of
the Earls of Roxburgh, surrounded by a beautiful
As a set-off against these items, we have the following,
in 1660-1, when Argyle’s fate came :-
To Alexander Davidson for a new axe to ye
Maiden, and is to maintain it all ye days of his
life . . . . . * . . . . p 12 o
To 4 Drummers when ArgyZe and Swzjtton were
brought from Leith . . . . . 14 8 o
To 17 extra Drummers, a days, when Montrose
was buried and Argyle executed . . , 21 12 o
The marquis was interred amid great pomp in
the Church of St. Giles at the Restoration; but
when a search was made for his remains in the
Chepman aisle, in April, 1879, no trace of them
whatever could be found there.
Amid the gloom and’horror of scenes such as
these executions, and the general events of the wars
of the Covenant, all traces of gaiety, and especially
of theatrical entertainments, disappeared in Edinburgh,
as forbidden displays; but in January,. 1659,
the citizens were regaled with the sight of a travelling
dromedary, the first that had ever been in
Scotland. Nicoll describes it as “ane heigh great
beast, callit ane dummodary, quhilk being keepit
clos in the Canongate, none had a sight of it, without
three pence the person. . . . . It was
very big, and of great height, cloven futted like
unto a kow, and on the bak ane saitt, as it were
a sadill to sit on. Thair was brocht in with it ane
lytill baboun, faced lyke unto an aip.”
In 1686 the public attendance at mass by some
of the officers of state excited a tumult in the city,
and many persons of rank were insulted on returning
therefrom by the rioters. One of these, a
journeyman baker, was, by order of the Privy
Council, whipped through the Canongate, and
ultimately the Foot Guards had to fire on the mob
that assembled.
In that year an Act of Parliament empowered
the magistrates to impose a tax of A500 sterling
yearly, for three years, to cleanse the town and
Canongate, and free both from beggars ; and in 1687
the whole members of the College of Justice voluntarily
offered to bear their full share of this tax,
and appointed two of their body to be present when
it was levied.
In 1692 we find an instance in the Canongate
of one of the many troubles which in those days
arose from corporation privileges, by which the
poor and industrious tradesman was made the
victim of monopoly.
In the open ground which now surrounds Milton
I which performs the whole journey in thirteen days,
I without any stoppage (if God permit), having eighty
Fepairs in this house, when Thomas Kinloch, Dea-
:on of the Wrights in the Canongate, came with
Jthers, and violently carried off all the tools of
Somerville and his workmen, on the plea that they
were not freemen of the burgh; and when the
tools were demanded formally, two days after,
they were withheld.
Robert, Earl of Roxburgh (who afterwards died
m his travels abroad), was then a minor, but his
curators resented the proceedings of Kinloch, and
sued him for riot and *oppression. Apparently, if
the Roxburgh mansion had been subject to the
jurisdiction of the Canongate, the Privy Council
would have given no redress ; but when the earl’s
ancestor, in 1636, had given up the superiority
of the Canongate, as he reserved his house to be
holden of the Crown, it was found that the local
corporation had no right to interfere with his
workmen, and Somerville’s tools were restored to
him by order of the Council.
Earl Robert was succeeded in this house by his
brother John, fifth Earl and first Duke of Roxburgh,
K.G., who sold his Union vote for LSOO,
became Secretary of State for Scotland in 1716,
and died in 1741.
Long ere that time the effect of the Union had
done its worst upon the old court burgh. Maitland,
writing in 1753, says :-“This place has suffered
more by the inion of the kingdoms than all the
other parts of Scotland : for having, before that
period, been the residence of the chief of the
Scottish nobility, it was thqn in a flourishing condition
; but being deserted by them, many of their
houses are fallen down, and others in a ruinous
condition ; it is in a piteous case ! ”
Five years after the Union we find a London
coach announced as starting from the Capongate,
the advertisement for which, with regard to expedition,
comfort, and economy, presents a curious contrast
to the announcements of to-day, and is worth
giving at length, as we find it in the NkwcastZe
Cau~unt of October, I 7 I 2.
“ Edinburgh, Berwick, Newcastle, Durham, and
London Stage-coach begins on Monday, 13th
October, 1712. All that desire to pass from
Edinbro’ to London, or from London to Edinbro’,
or any place on that road, let them repair to Mr.
John Baillie’s, at the Coach and Horses at the head
of the Canongate, every Saturday, or the Black
Swan in Holborn, every other Monday, at both of
which places they may be received in a stagexoach](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v3p027.gif "Volume 3 Page 15")
... ROXBURGH HOUSE. 15
~~ House, there stood in those days the mansion of
the Earls of Roxburgh, ...
Vol. 3 p. 15 (Rel. 0.36)
... INDEX.
Abbey Church, I-IoIyod, 11. 28,
I; west front of, 11. 53, mass
celebrated there, 11. 59; ...
Vol. 6 p. 369 (Rel. 0.36)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Cowgate.
CHAPTER XXXII.
C0WGATE
The South Side of the Street--The High School ...
Vol. 4 p. 250 (Rel. 0.36)
... to the muzzle with musket-balls was depressed
to sweep it, and did so with awful effect.
According to the ...
Vol. 1 p. 54 (Rel. 0.36)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Grassmarket.
Watt and Downie, they were brought to trial respectively
in August and ...
Vol. 4 p. 238 (Rel. 0.36)
... OF ILLUSTRATIONS . xi ..
P
Deacon Brodie . . . . . . . .
The First Interview in 1786: Deacon Brodie ...
Vol. 2 p. 393 (Rel. 0.36)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. Canongate.
the days that were no more. ‘* No funeral hearse,”
says Lockhart, ...
Vol. 3 p. 28 (Rel. 0.36)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [St. Andrew squan. I
CHAPTER XXII.
ST. ANDREW SQUARE.
St Andrew Square-List of Early ...
Vol. 3 p. 166 (Rel. 0.36)
![BARBARA NAPIER 3‘9 The West Bow.]
tlength, involving that of many others; but a portion
of the charges against her will suffice as a sample
of the whole, from U Pitcairn’s Trials.”
‘‘ Satan had informed the witches that James VI.
sf Scotland was the greatest enemy he had, and
the latter‘s visit to Norway, to bring over his queen,
seemed to afford an opportunity for his destrucition.
Accordingly, Dr. Fiar of Tranent, the
.devil’s secretary, summoned a great gathering of
witches on Hallow Eve, when zoo of them embarked,
each in a riddle or sieve, with much mirth
.and jollity; and after cruising about somewhere on
the ocean with Satan, who rolled himself before
them on the waves, dimly seen, but resembling a
huge haystack in size and aspect, he delivered to
-one of the company, named Robert Grierson, a
cat, which had been drawn previously nine times
through a crook, giving the order to ‘cast the same
into the sea.’ ”
This remarkable charm was intended to raise
such a furious tempest as would infallibly drown
the king and queen, then on their homeward
lroyage from Christiania, which, if any credit may
be given to the declaration of James (who greedily
swallowed the story), was not without some effect,
as the ship which conveyed him encountered a
furious contrary wind, while all the rest of the fleet
.had a fair one and a smooth sea.
On this, Barbara Napier and her infernal companions,
after regaling themselves with wine out of
their sieves, landed, and proceeded in procession
t o North Berwick Kirk, where the devil awaited
them in the pulpit, singing as they went-
‘‘ Cummer go ye before, cummer go ye ;
Cif ye winna gang before, cummer let me.”
Sir James Melville gives us a most distinct account
-of the devil’s appearance on this auspicious ocusion.
His body was like iron; “his faice was
terrible; his nose like the bek of an egle;” he
had claws like those of a griffin on his hands and
>feet. He then called the roll to see that all were
present, and all did him homage in a manner
.equally humiliating and indecorous, which does
not admit of description here.
All this absurdity being proved against Barbara
Napier, she was sentenced, with many others, on
the 11th of May, 1590, to be burnt “at a stake sett
on the Castle HiU, with barrells, coales, heather,
and powder;” but when the torch was about to
be applied, pregnancy was alleged, according to
“ Calderwood’s Historie,” as a just and sufficient
Cause for staying proceedings; the execution was
delayed, and ultimately the unfortunate creature
was set at liberty by order of James VI, Now
nothing remains of these Napiers but their tomb
and burial-place on the north side of the choir of
St. Giles’s.
In the basement of the house which was once
theirs was the booth from which the rioters, on the
night of the 7th September, 1736, obtained the
rope with which they hanged Porteous. It was
then rented by a woman named Jeffrey, a dealer in
miscellaneous wares, who offered them the rope
gratis when she learned for what purpose it was
required, but one of the conspirators threw a
guinea on the counter as payment. The house of
the Napiers was demolished in 1833.
Opposite the mansion of Provost Stewart, and
also outside the Bow Port, but on the east side of
the bend, was a tenement known as “the Clockmaker’s
Land,” which was demolished in 1835, to
make way for what is now Victoria Street, but
which ’took its name from an eminent watchmaker,
a native of France, named Paul ,Romieu, who is
said to have occupied it from the time of Charles
11. (about 1675) till the beginning of the eighteenth
century. In front of the house there remained,
until its demolition, one of the wonders of the
Bow-a curious piece of mechanism, which formed
the sign of the ingenious Paul Romieu. It projected
over the street from the third storey-a gilded
ball representing the moon, which was made to
revolve by means of clockwork. A large iron
key of antique form, which was found among the
ruins of this house, is preserved in the hfuseum of
Antiquities.
Among the oldest edifices in ]this part of the
street was one which bore the singular name of
the ‘‘ Mahogany Land,” having an outer stair protected
by a screen of wood. There was no date
to record its erection, but its ceilings were curiously
adorned by paintings precisely similar to those
which were found in the palace of Mary of Guise
in the Castle Hill ; and no record remained of its
generations of inmates, save that, like others about
to be mentioned, it bore the iron cross of the
Temple, and also the legend-which, from being a
simply moral apophthegm, and not Biblical, was
supposed to be anterior to the Reformation-22 .
yt. fhZis . overcommis, (i.e., “He that bears overcomes.”)
There was also a half-obliterated shield.
For ages the Bow was famous as the chief place
for whitesmiths, and till about the time of its demcr
lition there was scarcely a shop in it occupied by
any other tradesmen, and even on Sunday the
ceaseless clatter of their hammers on all hands
rang from morning till night.
Behind the Mahogany Land “ lay several steep,
narrow, and gloomy closes, containing the most](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v2p139.gif "Volume 2 Page 319")
... NAPIER 3‘9 The West Bow.]
tlength, involving that of many others; but a portion
of the charges against ...
Vol. 2 p. 319 (Rel. 0.36)
![North Bridge.] JOHN EARL OF MAR. 335
have foreseen; we say long-suggested, for, though
not carried out till the early years of George 111.’~
reign, it had been projected in the latter end of
the reign of Charles 11.
The idea was first suggested when James VII.,
as Duke of Albany and York, was resident Royal
Commissioner at Holyrood, in the zenith of the
only popularity he ever had in Scotland. Vast
numbers of the Scottish nobility and gentry flocked
.around him, and the old people of the middle of
xhe eighteenth century used to recall with delight
the magnificence and brilliance of the court he
gathered in the long-deserted palace, and the
general air of satisfaction which pervaded the
entire city.
Despite the recent turmoils and sufferings consequent
on the barbarous severity with which the
Covenanters had been treated, Edinburgh was prosperous,
and its magistrates bestowed noble presents
upon their royal guest; but the best proof of the
city’s prosperity was the new and then startling idea
s f having an extended royalty and a North Bridge,
;and this idea the Duke of Albany warmly patronised
and encouraged, and towards it gave the citizens a
grant in the following terms :-
“That, when they should have occasion to
enlarge their city by purchasing ground without
tthe town, or to build bridges or arches for the accomplishing
of the same, not only were the propietors
of such lands obliged to part With the same
an reasonable terms, but when in possession thereof,
they are to be erected into a regality in favour of
the citizens ; and after finishing the Canongate
church, the city is to have the surplus of the
20,ooo merks given by Thomas Moodie, in the
year 1649, with the interest thereof; and as all
public streets belong to the king, the vaults and
cellars under those of Edinburgh being forfeited to
the Crown, by their being built without leave or
consent of his majesty, he granted all the said
vaults or cellars to the town, together with a power
to oblige the proprietors of houses, to lay before
their. respective tenements large flat stones for the
conveniency of walking.”
James VII. had fully at heart the good of Edinburgh,
and but for the events of the Revolution
the improvements of the city would have commenced
seventy-two years sooner than they did, but
the neglect of subsequent monarchs fell heavily alike
on the capital and the kingdom. “Unfortunately,”
. :says Robert Chambers, “the advantages which
Edinburgh enjoyed under this system of things
were destined to be of short duration. Her royal
:guest departed, with all his family and retinue, in
May, 1682. In six years more he was lost both
:o Edinburgh and Britain; and ‘a stranger filled
:he Stuart’s throne,’ under whose dynasty Scotland
?ined long in undeserved reprobation.”
The desertion of the city consequent on the
Union made all prospect of progress seem hopeless,
yet some there were who never forgot the cherished
idea of an extended royalty. Among various
plans, the most remarkable for its foresight was that
3f John eighteenth Lord Erskine and eleventh
Earl of Mar, who was exiled for his share in the
insurrection of I 7 I 5.
His sole amusement during the years of the long
exile in which he died at Aix-la-Chapelle in 1732
was to draw plans and designs for the good of his
beloved native country and its capital; and the
paper to which we refer is one written by him in
1725, and mentioned in vol. 8 of the “Old Statistical
Account of Scotland,” published in 1793.
“All ways of improving Edinburgh should be
thought on : as in particular, making a Zarge bridge
flfhree arch, over the ground betwixt the North
Loch and Physic Gardens, from the High Street at
Liberton’s Wynd to the Multersey Hill, where
many fine streets might be built, as the inhabitants
increased. The access to them would be easy on
all hands, and the situation would be agreeable and
convenient, having a noble prospect of all the fine
ground towards the sea, the Firth of Forth, and
coast of Fife. One long street in a straight line,
where the Long Gate is now (Princes Street?) ; on
one side of it would be a fine opportunity for
gardens down to the North Loch, and one, on the
other side, towards Broughton. No houses to be
on the bridge, the breadth of the North Loch ; but
selling the places or the ends for houses, and the
vaults and arches below for warehouses and cellars,
the charge of the bridge might be defrayed.
“ Another bridge might also be made on the other
side of the towq, and almost as useful and commodious
as that on the north. The place where it
could most easily be made is St. Mary‘s Wynd, and
the Pleasance. The hollow there is not so deep, as
where the other bridge is proposed, so that it is
thought that two storeys of arches might raise it near
the level with the street at the head of St. Mary’s
Wynd. Betwixt the south end of the Pleasance and
the Potter-row, and from thence to Bristo Street,
and by the back of the wall at Heriot‘s Hospital, are
fine situations for houses and gardens. There would
be fine avenues to the town, and outlets for airing
and walking by these bridges ; and Edinburgh, from
being a bad incommodious situation, would become
a very beneficial and convenient one ; and to make
it still more so, a branch of that river, called the
Water of Leith, misht, it is thought, be brought](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v2p155.gif "Volume 2 Page 335")
... Bridge.] JOHN EARL OF MAR. 335
have foreseen; we say long-suggested, for, though
not carried out till the ...
Vol. 2 p. 335 (Rel. 0.35)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Ravelston.
shady with wood, strikes from the Murrayfield Road
northward past the ...
Vol. 5 p. 106 (Rel. 0.35)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Roslin
minute decorations of the latest species of the
Tudor age. It is impossible to ...
Vol. 6 p. 350 (Rel. 0.35)
![Univmity,] THE MUSEUMS. 27
brated cavalier-poet, bequeathed his entire library
to the University, and the gift is deemed a valuable
one, from the rare specimens of our early literature
which enriches the collection. Among the chief
donors whose gifts are extensive and valuable
may be named Principal Adamson, Dr. Robert
Johnston, the Rev. James Nairne of Wemyss, Dr.
John Stevenson, who held the chair of Logic and
Metaphysics from 1730 till 1774, Dr. William
Thomson, Professor of Anatomy at Oxford ; and
in 1872 the library received a very valuable
donation from J. 0. Halliwell, the eminent Shaksperian
critic, a collection of works relating to
Shakspere, and formed by him at great cost.
The average collection of the university extends
to about 150,000 volumes, and 700 volumes of
MSS. The university possesses above seventy
valuable portraits and busts of ancient and modern
alumni, most of which are kept in the Senate Hall
and librar).. The latter possesses a fine copy of
Fordun’s Sotichronicon (on vellum) in folio, from
which Goodall’s edition of 1775 was printed.
The Museum of Natural History was established
in 1812, in connection Kith the university, and
contains a most valuable zoological, geological,
and mineralogical collection, the greater portion of
which was formed by the exertions of Professor
Robert Jamieson, who was fifty years Professor of
Natural History (from 1804 to 1854) and Regius
keeper of the museum. In 1854 it was transferred
by the Town Council (at that time patrons of the
university) to Government, under whose control it
has since remained. The whole of the collections
have been now removed to the Natural History
department of the adjoining museum of Science
and Art ; but are available for the educational purposes
of the university, and are freely accessible to
the students of the natural history class.
The Anatomical Museum was founded in 1800
by Dr. Alexander Monro secz~~zdus, who presented
his own anatomical collection and that of his
father to the University, “ to be used by his future
successors in office, for the purpose of demonstrating
and explaining the structure, physiology,
and diseases of the human body.”
In 1859 Sir David Monro, M.D., presented a
considerable collection of anatomical preparations,
formed by his talented father, Dr. Alexander
Monro teyfiw. Many valuable additions have been
made since then ; among them, some by the late
John Goodsir, Professor of Anatomy, 1846-1867,
more especially iii the comparative department ;
and since his death the Senatus purchased from his
representatives his private museum and added it
to the collection, which now contains many thousand
specimens illustrative of human anatomy,
both normal and pathological, and of comparative
anatomy.
There are minor museums in connection with
the classes of natural philosophy, midwifery, materia
medica and botany, and one was recently constructed
by Professor Geikie for the use of the
geological class.
In October, 1881, nearly the whole of the great
anatomical collection referred to here, including
the skeletons of the infamous Burke and one of
his victims known as ‘‘ Daft Jamie,” was removed
from the old to the new University buildings at
huriston.
REFERENCES TO THE PLAN ON PAGE 21.
A, Entrance ; B E, Passages ; c c, Stairs to Divinity Class and Janitors’
Houses ; D D, Porters’ Lodges ; E, Faculty Room or Senatus Academicus
; F, Professor‘s House ; c, Principal’s House ; H, Professo<s How :
J, Professor’s House : K, Chemistry Class: L, Preparation Room:
H, Professor of Chemistry’s House; N, Stairs to Gallery and Upper
Preparation Room of Chemistry Class ; 0, Royal Society ; P, Lobby to
Royal Society : Q, Camage-way to Great Court : R, Arcades for footpassengers
: s s s s, Corridors of Communication : T T, Lobby and
Class for Practice of Physick : U, Civil Law Class Room ; w, Preparation
Room or Anatomical Museum; xx, Anatomical Theatre and
Lobby ; Y Y U, Painting Rooms and private m m : z, Great Hall for
Graduations, Lc., with Loggia and two staircases to the Galleries above;
a, Class for the Theory of Physick ; b, Mathematical Class, Professor’s
Room, Instrument Room, Lobby, &c. ; c, Universal History and Antiquity
Class, with the Professor’s Room: d, Class and Lobby for the
Professor of Humanity ; e, Museum for Natural History ; f, Class for
Natural History ; g, Guard Hall and Lobby : h, Librarian’s House ;
i, Professor’s How; k, Profe.swr df Divinity’s House. The Houses
marked F, H, J, and i arc to be possessed by the Professors of Humanity,
Greek, Hebrew, and Mathematics
CHAPTER 111.
THE DISTRICT OF THE BURGHMUIR.
The Muster by James 111.-Burghmuir feued by James lV.-Muster before Flodden-Relics thereof-The Pest-The Skirmish of Lowsie Low-
A Duel in 17zz-Valleyfield House and Leven Lodge-Barclay Free Church-Bruntsfield Links and the Golf Clubs.
THE tract of the Burghmuir, of which the name
alone remains, and which extended from the water
of the South loch on the north, to the foot of the
almost unchanged Braid Hills on the south ; from
Dalry on the west, to St. Leonard’s Craigs on the
east, formed no inconsiderable portion of the](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v5p038.gif "Volume 5 Page 27")
... THE MUSEUMS. 27
brated cavalier-poet, bequeathed his entire library
to the University, and the gift is ...
Vol. 5 p. 27 (Rel. 0.35)
... tradition, and in song. Professor Aytoun
finely reproduces the feeling of anguish in his ...
Vol. 1 p. 38 (Rel. 0.35)
... leaders of that movement, and with cold and
hard hostility they gazed upon her wasted but ...
Vol. 1 p. 45 (Rel. 0.35)
![The Water of Leith.] MAJOR-GENERAL MITCHELL. 79
1849. Horatio Macculloch, R.S.A., a most distinguished
landscape painter, lived for many years
in No. 7, Danube Street, where the best of his
works were executed. With Sir Daniel Macnee,
P.R.S.A., he first obtained employment from Lizars,
the engraver, as colourists of Selby’s ‘‘ Ornithology.”
In 1829 he first exhibited; and from thence onwards,
to his death in 1867, he contributed to the
yearly exhibitions, and won himself much fame in
Scotland.
In No. 16, Carlton Street, adjoining, lived for
many years his chief friend, Kenneth Macleay,
R.S.A., who was born at Oban in 1802, and after
being educated at the Trustees’ School, was one of
the thirteen founders of the Royal Scottish Academy,
and at his death was the last survivor of
them. He was chiefly famous for his beautiful
miniatures on ivory, and latterly was well known
for his occasional sketches and delineations of
Highland life, many of which were painted at the
express desire of Her Majesty. He died at No. 3,
Malta Terrace, in 1878, in his seventy-sixth year.
He was an enthusiastic Celt, and fond of wearing
the Highland dress on Academy receptions, and
on every possible occasion.
Among others connected with art who made
Stockbridge their residence was George Kemp, the
luckless architect of Sir Walter Scott’s monument,
who had a humble flat in No. 28, Bedford Street ;
James Stewart, the well-known engraver of Sir
Wlliam Allan’s finest works, who lived in No. 4
of that gloomy little street called Hermitage Place ;
and Comely Bank, close by, was not without its
famous people too, for there, for some years after
his marriage, dwelt Thomas Carlyle, and, in No. I I,
James Browne, LL.D., author of the “History 01
the Highland Clans,” and editor of the CaZea’onian
Mermv and of The Edinburgh Week& JournaZ,
and Macvey Napier’s collaborateur in the ‘‘ Encyclopzdia
Britannica.” Some differences having
arisen between him and Mr. Charles Maclaren,
the editor of the Scotsman, regarding a fine-art
criticism, the altercation ran so high that a hostile
meeting took place at seven o’clock in the morning
of the 12th of November, 1829, somewhere neaI
Ravelston, but, fortunately, without any calamitous
sequel. He took a great lead in Liberal politics,
and in No. 11 entertained Daniel O’Connell more
than once. He died at Woodbine Cottage, Trinity,
an the 8th of April, 1841, aged fifty years. John
Ewbank, R.S.A., the marine and landscape painter,
livedat No. 5, Comely Bank; while No. 13 was thc
residence of Mrs. Johnstone, who while there
wrote many of her best novels-among them, “ Clan
Albyn : a National Tale ”-and contributed man]
able articles to johnstone’s Magazine, a now forgotten
monthly.
From a passage in a memoir of himself prefixed
to “ The Mountain Bard,” we find that the Ettrick
Shepherd, about 1813, was living in Deanhaugh
Street while at work on the “Queen’s Wake,”
which he produced in that year; and that, in his
lodgings there, he was wont to read passages of
his poems to Mr. Gray, of the High School, whose
criticisms would seem to have led to a quarrel
between them.
Sir James Young Simpson, Bart., in his boyhood
and as a student lived with his brother, David
Simpson, a respectable master baker, in the shop,
No. I, Raeburn Place, at the corner of Dean Street.
When he first began to practise as a physician, it
was in a first flat of No. 2, Deanhaugh Street ; and
as his fame began to spread, and he was elected
Professor of Midwifery in the University in 1840,
in succession to Dr. Hamilton, he was living in
No. I, Dean Terrace.
In St. Bernard’s Crescent, for many years while
in the employment of the Messrs. Chambers, lived
Leitch Ritchie, author of ‘‘ Schinderhannes, the
Robber of the Rhine,’’ a famous romance in its
day ; also of ‘‘ Travelling Sketches on the Rhine,
in Belgium, and Holland,” and many other works.
He was born in 1801, and died on the 16th of
January, 1865.
His neighbour and friend here was Andrew
Crichton, LL.D., author of a ’‘ History of Scandinavia
I’ and other works, and twenty-one years
editor of the Edinburgh Advertiser.
In the same quarter there spent many years of
his life Major-General John Mitchell, a gallant old
Peninsular officer, who was an able writer on military
matters and biography. In 1803 he began life
as an ensign in the 57th Foot, and served in
all the campaigns in Spain and Portugal, France
and Flanders. Under the nomdepZuume of “Sabretache,”
he wrote some very smart things, his
earliest productions appearing in Fraser’s Magazine
and the United Serzlice JournaZ. He was the
author of a “ Life of Wallenstein” (London,
1837), which, like his “Fall of Napoleon,” was
well received by the public ; and Sir Robert Peel
acknowledged the importance of the information
he derived from the latter work, after the appearance
of which, Augustus, King of Hanover, presented
the author with a diamond brooch. He
was the author of many other works, including
“Biographies of Eminent Soldiers.” He was a
handsome man, with great buoyancy of spirit and
conversational powers ; thus “ Old Sabretache,” as
he was often called, was welcome everywhere. A](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v5p090.gif "Volume 5 Page 79")
... Water of Leith.] MAJOR-GENERAL MITCHELL. 79
1849. Horatio Macculloch, R.S.A., a most distinguished
landscape ...
Vol. 5 p. 79 (Rel. 0.35)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBVRGH. [Leith.
London, at the request of Lord Balgonie, afterwards
Earl of Leven.
People of ...
Vol. 6 p. 250 (Rel. 0.35)
![High Street.] MARY KINGS CLOSE 227
net tells us that he was a man of such unflagging
zeal that he barely allowed himself three hours’ sleep
out of the twenty-four. On the renewal of the
Covenant, in 1638, he and the celebrated Alexander
Henderson were appointed to revise and
adapt that national document to the circumstances
of the times; and at the memorable assembly
which met at Glasgow Johnston was unanimously
elected clerk, and was constituted Procurator for
the Church. ’ He took a prominent share in resisting
the unjust interference of Charles I: in Scottish
affairs, and in 1638, on the royal edict being proclaimed
from the Cross of Edinburgh, which set at
defiance the popular opposition to Episcopacy, he
boldly appeared on the scaffold erected near it,
and read aloud the famous protest drawn up in
the name of the Tables, while the mob compelled
the six royal heralds to remain while this counterdefiance
in the name of Scotland was being read
In 1641, when Charles visited Edinburgh for the
second time, Johnston was knighted and made a
Lord of Session, and after sitting in the Parliament
of Scotland in 1644, he attended, as one of the
Commissioners, the assembly of divines at Westminster.
In the following year he was Lord Advocate;
and in 1649 he performed one of his last
official duties, proclaiming Charles 11. King of
Scotland, on the 5th of February, 1650.
After the battle of Dunbar he was weak enough
to accept ofice under the Protectorate, as Clerk
Registrar; and after the death of Cromwell he
acted as one of the Committee of Public Safety,
when the feeble and timid Richard Cromwell withdrew
from public life ; and this last portion of his
career, together with the mode in which he had
prosecuted and persecuted the fallen Cavaliers, and
refused to concur in the treaty of Breda, sealed
his doom when the Restoration came. He was
forfeited in exile and condemned to death on the
15th of May, 1651.
An emissary of the Scottish ministry discovered
his retreat at Rouen, and, with the aid of the
French authorities, he was sent to the Tower, and
from thence to Edinburgh, where, with every mark
of indignity, he was publicly executed on the same
spot where, five-and-twenty years before, he had
defied the proclamation of Charles I. This was
on the n2nd of July, 1663, and he died with the
utmost constancy and Christian fortitude. And
now the busy establishment of one of the most
enterprising of Scottish publishing firms occupies
the site of the old mansion, in which he must many
a time have entertained such men as Alexander
Henderson, the Marquises Argyle, Rothes, and Callander,
the gallant Sir Alexander Leslie, the somewhat
double-dealing Monk, perhaps Cromwell too.
CHAPTER XXVI.
HIGH STREET (continued).
Mary King’s Close-Who was Mary ?-Scourged by the Plague of 1645-Its Mystery-Drummond‘s Epigram-Prof. Sinclair‘s ‘I Satan’s Invisible
World Discovered“--Mr. and Mrs. Coltheart’s Ghostly Visitors-The Clox finally abandoned to Goblins-Craig’s Close-Andro Hart,
Bookseller and Printer-Andro’s Spear-A Menagerie in Craig’s CIosc-The Isle of Man Arms--The Cape Club-Its Mysteries and O f f i c a ~
--Installation of a Knight-ProvinciaI Cape Clubs-The Poker Club-How it Originated-Members-Office-bearers-Old Stamp Office
Court-Fortune’s Tavern-The beautiful Countess of EgIinton-Her Patronage of Lettters-Her Family-Interview with Dr. Johnson-
Murderous Riot in the Close-Removal of the Stamp Office.
MARY KING’S Close was long a place of terror to
the superstitious, as one of the last retreats of the
desolating plague of 1645. “Who Mary King
was is now unknown, but though the alley is roofless
and ruined,” says one, writing of it in 1845,
“with weeds, wall-flowers, grass, and even little
trees, flourishing luxuriantly among the falling
walls, her name may still be seen painted on the
street corner.”
For some generations after the plague-in which
most of itsinhabitants perished-its houses remained
closed, and gradually it became a place of mystery
and horror, the abode of a thousand spectres and
nameless terrors, for superstition peopled it with
inhabitants, whom all feared and none cared to
succeed. “Those who had been foolhardy enough
to peep through the windows after nightfall saw
the spectres of the long-departed denizens engaged
in their wonted occupations ; headless forms danced
through the moonlit apartments ; on one occasion
a godly minister and two pious elders were scared
out of their senses by the terrible vision of a raw
head and blood-dripping arm, which protruded
from the wall in this terrible street, and flourished
a sword above their heads ; and many other terrors,
which are duly chronicled in ‘Satan’s Invisible
World;’” yet it was down this place that the wild
young Master of Gray dragged the fair Mistress
Carnegie, whom, sword in hand, he had abducted
from her father’s house at the head of twelve men-at](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v2p047.gif "Volume 2 Page 227")
... Street.] MARY KINGS CLOSE 227
net tells us that he was a man of such unflagging
zeal that he barely allowed ...
Vol. 2 p. 227 (Rel. 0.35)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [WaniStolL
The cost to the Government of fencing in the
-ground, planting, &c., up ...
Vol. 5 p. 98 (Rel. 0.35)
... FIRST THOROUGHFARE. Leith1
THE KIRKGATE.
CHAPTER XXIII.
LEITH - THE KIRKGATE.
The Kirkgate-Eastside-Tavern ...
Vol. 6 p. 213 (Rel. 0.34)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Leith.
of May. As history records, Gordon and Arran
could not resist doing a little ...
Vol. 6 p. 204 (Rel. 0.34)
... Edinburgh Castle, tome and tower,
God grant thou sinke for sinne,
An that even for the black dinner
Earle ...
Vol. 1 p. 31 (Rel. 0.34)
... had been paying his addresses to a girl
possessed of great attractions, daughter of Richard
Lawson of ...
Vol. 1 p. 42 (Rel. 0.34)
![Koslin.] THE THREE BATTLES ON ONE DAY. 351
hillside, and not beneath, but is attached to its
eastern end, the means of communication between
the two being by a steep descent of steps. Its use
has sorely puzzled antiquaries, though it forms a
handsome little chapel, with ribbed arches and roof
of stone. Under its eastern window is an altar, and
there is a piscina and anibry for the sacramental
plate, together with a comfortable fireplace and a
rob+ of closets.
‘‘ Its domestic appurtenances,” says a writer,
clearly- show. it. to have been the <house of: the
priestvrcustodier of the chapel, and the ecclesiastical’types
first named were for his private nieditation
; and thus the puzzle ceases.”
Near the,chapel is St, Mathew’s Well. The
parish of Roslin possesses many relics and traditions
of the famous three battles which were fought
there in one day-the 24th of February, 1302 :-
“ Three triumphs in a day,
Three hosts subdued in one,
Beneath one common sun !”
Three armies scattered like the spray
On the 26th of January, 1302, the cruel and
treacherous Edward I. of England concluded a
treaty of truce-not peace-with Scotland, while,
on the other hand, he prepared to renew the war
against her. To this end he marched in an army
of 2o,ooo--Some say 30,ooo-men, chiefly cavalry,
under Sir John de Segrave, with orders’less to
fight than to waste and devastate the already wasted
country.
To obtain ptovisions with more ease, Segrave
marched his force in three columns, each a mile or
two apart, and the 24th of February saw them on
the north bank of the Esk, at three places, still
indicated by crossed swords on the county map ;
the first at Roslin ; the second . at Loanhead, on
high ground, still named, from the battle, “ Killrig,”
north of the village ; and the third at Park Bum,
near Gilmerton Grange.
Meanwhile, Sir John Comyn, Guardian of the
Kingdom, and Sir Simon Fraser of Oliver Castle
(the friend and comrade of Wallace), Heritable
Sheriff of Tweeddale, after mustering a force of
only 8,000 men-but men carefully selected and
well armed-marched from Biggar in the night,
and in the dull grey light of the February morning,
in the wooded glen near Roslin Castle, came
suddenly on the first column, under Segrave.
Animated by a just thirst for vengeance, the
Scots made a furious attack, and Segrave was
rapidly routed, wounded, and taken prisoner, together
with his brother, his son, sixteen knights,
and thirty esquires, called sergeants by the rhyming
English chronicler Langtoft.
.
The contest was barely over when the second
column, alarmed by the fugitives, advanced from its
camp at Loanhead, ‘‘ and weary though the Scots
were with their forced night march, flushed with
their first success, and full of the most rancorous
hate of their invaders, they rushed to the charge,
and though the conflict was fiercer, were victorious.
A vast quantity of pillage fell into their hands,
together with Sir Ralph the Cofferer, a paymaster
of the English army.”
The second victory had barely been achieved,
when the third division, under Sir Robert Neville,
with all its arms and armour glittering in the
morning sun, came in sight, advancing from the
neighbourhood of Gilmerton, at a time when
many of the Scots had laid aside a portion of their
arms and helmets, and were preparing some to eat,
and others to sleep.
Frase; and Comyn at first thought of retiring,
but that was impracticable, as Neville was so close
upon, them. They flew from rank to rank, says
Tytler, “and having equipped the camp followers
in the arms of their slain enemies, they made a
furious charge on the English, and routed them
with great slaughter.”
Before the second and third encounters took
place, old historians state that the Scots had recourse
to the cruel practice of slaying their prisoners,
which was likely enough in keeping with the spirit
with which the wanton English war was conducted
in those days. Sir Ralph the Cofferer begged Fraser
to spare his life, offering a large ransom for it.
“ Your coat of mail is no priestly habit,” replied
Sir Simon. “ Where is thine alb-where thy hood ?
Often have you robbed us all and done us grievous
wrong, and now is our time to sum up the account,
and exact strict payment.’’
With these words he hewed off the gauntleted
hands of the degraded priest, and then by one
stroke severed his head from his body.
Old English writers always attribute the glory of
the day to Wallace ; but he was not present. The
pursuit lasted sixteen miles, even as far as Biggar,
and 12,000 of the enemy perished, says Sir James
Balfour. English historians have attempted to
conceal the triple defeat of their countrymen on
this occasion. They state that Sir Robert Neville’s
division stayed behind to hear mass, and repelled the
third Scottish attack, adding that none who heard
mass that morning were slain. But, unfortunately
for this statement, Neville himself was among the
dead ; and Langtoft, in his very minute account of
the battle, admits that the English were utterly
routed.
Many places in the vicinity still bear names con-
.](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v6p170.gif "Volume 6 Page 351")
... THE THREE BATTLES ON ONE DAY. 351
hillside, and not beneath, but is attached to its
eastern end, the ...
Vol. 6 p. 351 (Rel. 0.34)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Bmughton.
superiority of Broughton was yielded by the
Crown, partly in payment of ...
Vol. 3 p. 182 (Rel. 0.34)
![Queen Street.] SIR JAMES YOUNG SIMPSON. I53
office by Sir James Montgomery of Stanhope.
Early in the next century the house was the
residence of Sir William Cunningham, Bart, and in
more recent years had as an occupant the gallant
Sir Neil Douglas, Commander of the Forces in
Scotland and Governor of Edinburgh Castle, who
commanded the Cameron Highlanders in the war
with France, and was contused by a ball at Quatre
Bras. It is now occupied by tlic Edinburgh Institution
for Education, the head of which is Dr.
Fergusson, F.R.S.E.
Nos. g and 10 were removed in 1844 to make
way for the present hall of the Royal College of
Physicians, on the demolition of the former one in
George Street. The foundation stone was laid on
the 8th of August, 1844, by the then president,
Dr. Renton, in presence of the Fellows of the
college and others. In it were deposited a copy of
the first edition of the “ Edinburgn Pharmacopeia,”
containing a list .of the Fellows of the college; a
work concerning its private affairs, printed several
years before ; an Edinburgh Almanac for the
current year; several British coins, and a silver
plate with a suitable Latin inscription.
It was designed by Thomas Hamilton, and ’is
adorned in front with an Attic Corinthian tetrastyle,
sunqounted by a common Corinthian distyle, and
is handsomely adorned by colossal statues of
iBsculapius, Hippocrates, and Hygeia ; but it was
barely completed when, ample though its accommodation
appeared to be, the rapid additions to
its library and the great increase in the number of
Fellows, consequent on a reduction of the money
entry, and other changes, seemed to .render an
extension necessary.
In No. 11 are the offices of the E&hurgh
Gazette, the representative of the paper started by
Captain Donaldson in 1699, and re-issued by the
same person in March, I 707.
Sir Henry Wellwood Moncriff, Bart., D.D., a
distinguished divine, wha for half a century was
one .of the brightest ornaments of the Scottish
Church, resided in No. 13 during the first years of
the present century. He died in August, 1827,
and his second, son, James, a senator, under the
title of Lord Moncrieff, succeeded to the baronetcy,
which is one of the oldest in Scotland, having
been conferred by Charles I. in 1626.
It was afterwards occupied by the Scottish
Heritable Security Company.
-The next house westward was the residence, at
the same time, of William Honeyman of Graemsay,
who was elevated to the bench as Lord Armadale,
and created a baronet in 1804. He had been pre.
viously Sheriff of the county of Lanarkshire. ‘He mar.
88
*ied a daughter of Lord Braxfield, and died in 1825,
eaving ,behind him a reputation for considerable
dent and sound judgment, both as a barrister and
udge. He had two sons in the army-Patrick,
who served in the old -28th Light Dragoons, and
Robert, who died in Jamaica in 1809, Lieutenant-
Clolonel of the 18th Royal Irish.
His house is now occupied by the site of the
Zaledonian United Service Club, erected in 1853.
In 1811 No. 27 was the residence of General
Sraham Stirling, an old and distinguished officer,
whose family still occupy it. In the same year
4lexander Keith of Ravelston, Hereditary Knight
Marshal of Scotland, occupied No. 43. Behind the
louse line stands St. Luke’s Free Church, which has
i fictitious street front in the Tudor style, with two
-ichly crocketed finials.
No. 38 was the house of George Paton, ‘Advocate,
md afterwards Lord Justice Clerk, whose suicide
nade much sensation in Edinburgh a few years
1go.
In No. 52 lived and died one of the most illus-
:rious citizens of Edinburgh-Professor Sir James .
Young Sirnpson, Bart., who came to Edinburgh a
poor and nearly friendless student, yet in time
ittained, as Professor of Midwifery in the University
and as the discoverer of extended uses of chlorolorm,
a colossal fame, not only in Europe, but
wherever the English language is spoken. He
obtained the chair of midwifery in r840, and seven
years after made his great discovery. In 1849 he
was elected President of the Edinburgh College
of Physicians; in 1852 President of the Medico-
Chirurgical Society ; and ‘in the following year,
under circumstances of the greatest klat, Foreign
Associate of the French Academy of Medicine ‘
In 1856 the French Academy of Sciences awarded
him the “ Monthyon Prize ” of 2,000 francs for the
benefits he conferred on humanity by the introduction
of anmthesia by chloroform into the practice
of surgery and midwifery.
A few weeks earlief, for the same noble cause, he
won the royal order of St. Olaf, from Oscar, King
of Sweden, and in 1866 was created a baronet of
Great Britain. His ,professional writings are too
numerous to be recorded here, suffice it to say
that they have been translated into every European
language.
No man ever attracted so many visitors to Edinburgh
as Sir James Simpson, for many Came to see
him who were not invalids. His house in Queeu
Street was the centre of attraction for men -of
letters and science from all parts of the worldphysicians,
naturalists, antiquarians, and literati of
all kinds were daily to be met at his table. His](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v3p165.gif "Volume 3 Page 153")
... Street.] SIR JAMES YOUNG SIMPSON. I53
office by Sir James Montgomery of Stanhope.
Early in the next century ...
Vol. 3 p. 153 (Rel. 0.34)
![University.] THE NEW BUILDING COMPLETED. 2 3
Elder being Lord Provost of the city, William
Robertson, Principal of the University, and Robert
Adam, the architect. ’ May the undertaking prosper
and be crowned with success.”
The proceedings of the day were closed by a
princely banquet in the Assembly Rooms.
The building was now begun, and, portion by
portion, the old edifices engrafted on those of the
Kirk-of-Field gave place to the stately quadrangular
university of the present day; and, as nearly as
can be ascertained, on the spot occupied by the
Senate Hall stood that fatal tenement in which
King Henry was lodged on his return from Glas
gow, and which was partly blown up on the night
of his assassination, between the 9th and 10th of
February, 1567. In the repaired portion some
of the professors resided, and it was averred to
be ghost haunted, and the abode of mysterious
sounds.
The foundation stone of the old university-if
it ever had one-was not discovered during the
erection of the present edifice. The magistrates,
with more zeal for the celebrity of the city than
consideration for their financial resources, having
wished that-subscriptions apart-they should bear
the chief cost of the erection, it remained for more
than twenty years after the foundation-stone
was laid a monument of combined vanity, rashness,
and poverty, Government, as usual in most
Scottish matters, especially in those days, withholding
all aid. Yet, in 1790, when Profess01
William Cullen, first physician to His Majesty in
Scotland, and holder of the chair of medicine from
1773, died, it was proposed (( to erect a . statue to
him in the new university,” the walls of which
were barely above the ground.
Within the area of the latter masses of the old
buildings still remained, and in the following year,
1761, these gave accommodation to 1,255 students.
In that year we learn from the Scots Magazine that
the six noble pillars which adorn the front, each
22 feet 4 inches high, and in diameter 3 feet 3 inches,
were erected. These were brought from Craigleith
quarry, each drawn by sixteen horses.
Kincaid records that the total sum subscribed
by the end of February, 1794, amounted to only
If;32,000. Hence the work languished, and at
times was abandoned for want of funds; and
about that time we read of a meeting of Scottish
officers held at Calcutta, who subscribed a sum
towards its completion, the Governor-General, Lord
Cornwallis, heading the list with a contribution ol
3,000 sicca rupees.
But many parts of the edifice remained an open
aid unfinished ruin, in which crows and other
.
birds built their nests ; and a strange dwarf, known
as Geordie More (who died so lately as 1828), built
unto himself a species of booth or hut at the
college gate unchallenged.
In an old (( Guide to Edinburgh,” published in
181 I, we read thus of the building :-“ It cannot
said to be yet half finished, notwithstanding the
prodigious sums expended upon it ; if we advert to
the expenses which will unavoidably atttend the
completing of its ichnography or inside accommodations,
and, without the interference of the Legislature,
it will perhaps be exhibited to posterity as a
melancholy proof of the poverty of the nation.”
This state of matters led to the complete curtailment
of Adam’s grand designs, and modifications
of them were ultimately accomplished by Mr. W.
H. Playfair, after Parliament, in 1815, granted an
annual sum of LIO,OOO for ten years to finish
the work, which, however, was not completely done
till 1834; and since then, the idea of the great
central dome, which was always a part of the
original design, seems now to have been entirely
abandoned.
The university, as we find it now, presents its
main front to South Bridge Street, and forms an
entire side respectively to West College Street, to
South College Street, and to Chambers Street
on the north. It is a regular parallelogram,
356 feet long by 225 wide, extending in length
east and west, and having in its centre a stately
quadrangular court. The main front has some
exquisite, if simple, details, and is of stupendous
proportions. In style, within and without, it is
partly Palladian and partly Grecian, but is so
pent up by the pressure of adjacent streetson
three sides, at least-that it can never be seen
to advantage, It has been said that were the
university “ situated in a large park, particularly
upon a rising ground, it would appear almost
sublime, and without a parallel among the modern
edifices of Scotland ; but situated as it is, it makes
upon the mind of a stranger, in its exterior views
at least, impressions chiefly of bewilderment and
confusion.”
It is four storeys in height, and is entered by
three grand and lofty arched porticoes from the
east ; at the sides of these are the great Craigleith
columns above referred to, each formed of a single
stone.
On the summit is a vast entablature, bearing
the following inscription, cut in Roman letters :-
“Academia Jacobi VI., Scotorum Regis anno post
Christum natum b1,DLXXXII. instituta ; annoque
M,DCC,LXXXIX., renovari coepta ; regnante Georgio III.
Principe munificentissimo ; Urbis Edinensis Pmfecto](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v5p034.gif "Volume 5 Page 23")
... THE NEW BUILDING COMPLETED. 2 3
Elder being Lord Provost of the city, William
Robertson, Principal ...
Vol. 5 p. 23 (Rel. 0.34)
![Leith Wynd.] THE TRINITY HOSPITAL. 307
was abandoned. At length, as stated, Robert
Pont, in. 1585, resigned all his rights and interests
in the establishment, for the sum of 300 merks
down, and an annuity of A160 Scots.
In 1587 an Act was passed revoking all grants
made during the king’s minority, of hospitals,
Maiso’ss Dieu, and “ lands or rentis appertaining
thereto,” the object of which was, that they might
be applied to this original purpose-the sustentation
of the poor, and not to the aggrandisement of
mere individuals ; and in this Act it was specially
ordained, that the rents of the Trinity College,
“ quhilk is now decayit,” be .assigned to “ the new
hospital1 erectit be the Provest, Baillies, and
Counsall;” and thus it became for ever a corporation
charity, for which a suitable edifice was found
by simply repairing the ruinous buildings, occupied
of old by the Provost and prebends, south of the
church, and on the west side of the wynd.
It was a fine specimen of the architecture and
monastic accommodation of the age in which it
was erected. It was two storeys high, and formed
two sides of a square, and though far from ornamental,
its air of extreme antiquity, the smallness
and depth of its windows, its silent, melancholy,
and deserted aspect, in the very heart of a crowded
city, and latterly amid the uproar and bustle of the
fast-encroaching railway, seldom failed to strike the
passer with a mysterious interest.
Along the interior of the upper storey of the
longer side there was a gallery, about half the
width of the house, lighted from the west, which
served alike as a library (consisting chiefly of
quaint old books of dry divinity), a promenade, and
grand corridor, winged with a range of little rooms,
some whilom the prebends’ cells, each of which had
a bed, table, and chair, for a single occupant The
other parts of the building were more modem
sitting rooms, the erection of the sixteenth century,
when it became destined to support decayed
burgesses of Edinburgh, their wives and unmarried
children, above fifty years of age. “Five men
and two women were first admitted into it,” says
h o t , “ and, the number gradually increasing,
amounted AD. 1700 to fifty-four persons. It was
found, however, that the funds of the hospital
could not then support so many, and the number
of persons maintained in it,has frequently varied.
At present (‘779) there are within the hospital
forty men and women, and, there are besides twentysix
out-pensioners. The latter have E 6 a year,
the former are maintained in a very comfortable
manner. Each person has a convenient room.
The men are each allowed a hat, a pair of breeches,
a pair of shoes, a pair of stackings, two shirts, and
two neckcloths, yearly; and every other year a
coat‘and waistcoat The women have yearly, a
pair of shoes, pair of stockings, two shifts; and
every other year a gown and petticoat. For buying
petty necessaries the men are allowed 6s. Sd.,
the women 6s. 6d., yearly. Of food, each person
has a daily allowance of twelve ounces of household
bread; and of ale, the men a Scots pint each,
the women two-thirds of a pint. For breakfast
they have oatmeal-porridge, and for dinner, four
days in the week, broth and boiled meat, two days
roast meat, and each Monday, in lieu of flesh, the
men are allowed zd., the women rid. apiece.”
Such was this old charity towards the close of
the eighteenth century. The inmates were of a
class above the common, and whom a poor-house
life would have degraded, yet quarrels, even riots,
among them were 80 frequent, that the attention of
the governors had more than once to be called
to the subject, though they met only at meals
and evening worship. Yet, occasionally, some
belonged to the better classes of society. Lord
Cockburn, writing in 1840, says:-“One of the
present female pensioners is ninety-six. She was
sitting beside her own fire. The chaplain shook her
kindly by the hand, and asked her how she was.
‘ Very weel-just in my creeping ordinary.’ There
is one Catholic here, a merry little woman, obviously
with some gentle blood in her veins, and delighted
to allude to it. This book she got from Sir John
Something ; her great friend had been Lady something
Cunningham ; and her spinet was the oldest
that had ever been made ; to convince me of which
she opened it, and pointed exultingly to the year
I 776. Neither she nor the ninety-six-year-old
was in an ark, but in a small room. On overhearing
my name, she said she was once at Miss Brandon’s
boarding-school, in Bristo Street, with a Miss
Matilda Cockburn, ‘ a pretty little girl.’ I told her
that I remembered that school quite well, and that
the little girl was my sister ; and then I added as a
joke, that all the girls at that school were said
to have been pretty, and all light-headed, and given
to flirtation ; the tumult revived in the vestal’s veins.
Delighted with the imputation, she rubbed her
hands together, and giggled till she wept.” The
octogenarian he refers to was a Miss Gibb, and
the last nearly of the old original inmates.
By 1850 the revenues amounted to about
#,ooo per annum.
At its demolition, in 1845, forty-two persons
were maintained within the hospital, who then
received pensions of A26 each. Those elected
since that period receive L20 yearly each; one
hundred and twenty others have an annual allowance](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v2p127.gif "Volume 2 Page 307")
... Wynd.] THE TRINITY HOSPITAL. 307
was abandoned. At length, as stated, Robert
Pont, in. 1585, resigned all ...
Vol. 2 p. 307 (Rel. 0.34)
... AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Leith Wynd. 304
of the building, among these; on a buttress, at the
west angle of the ...
Vol. 2 p. 304 (Rel. 0.34)
![Leith] BUILDING OF THE WESTERN DOCKS. 283
I Government advanced A25,ooo to the city of
Edinburgh on security of the future dock revenues,
imd on the 14th of May, 1801, the foundation-stone
of the wet docks was laid by Robert Dundas, of
Melville, Deputy Grand Master, in absence of
Charles, Earl of Dalkeith, Grand Master of Scotland.
An immense concourse of masonic brethren
and spectators attended this ceremony, and the
procession left the Assembly Rooms, and proceeded
along the quay to the southeast corner of the first
dock, where the first stone was laid.
When the procession reached that spot, the substitute
Grand Master, after the usual formula, placed
in the cavity of the stone a large phial, containing
medals “of the first characters of the present age,”
coated with crystal, and two plates, whereon were
engraved inscriptiohs so long that they occupy each
half a column of the ChronicZe.
A salute of twenty-one guns was fired by the
squadron in the roads, under Captain Clements,
R.N., and the militia formed the escort for the
Grand Lodge ; and the Dumfries-shire militia and
other corps stationed in Edinburgh and its vicinity
contributed largely by their manual labour, being
employed by companies, and even battalions, in the
excavation and general formation of these docks,
the first of which, called now the old dock, was
opened to the shipping in 1806 ; and in the preceding
year a further sum of A;25,000 had been
advanced by Government on the dock property.
The Western, or Queen’s Dock, begun in 1810,
was finished in 1817, the suite being at a cost of
about Az85,ooo.
These two are each 250 yards long, and IOO wide,
with three graving docks on their north side, and
all protected from the sea by a retaining wall of
enormous strength, composed of vast blocks of
stone. The third, or largest dock of all, designed
to reach nearly,to Newhaven, was then projected;
but this and all kindred matters which accorded
hith the magnificence of Mr. Rennie’s design, and
the intentions of his employers, the magistrates of
Edinburgh, were thrown into abeyance during his
We by a total failure of funds.
On the occasion of the jubilee of the 25th of
October, 1809-the anniversary of the accession of
George 111. to the throne-the foundation-stone of
what was named “ King George’s Bastion ’’ was
laid by the Earl of Moira, in the north-west angle
of the western dock, amid a magnificent assemblage,
and followed by a procession, including all the
tnagnates of Edinburgh, escorted by the troops and
volunteers, under a grand salute of heavy guns,
fired by the crew of H.M.S. Egeria, on the west
side of the basin, followed by a general salute of
fifty rounds from all the shipping in the roads, and,
as the Sots Magazine has it, “the acclamations
of twenty thousand people ;” and a grand banquet
was given in the Assembly Rooms, George Street.
The gates of the old dock were renewed, and
the sill deepened in 1844.
The Western, or Queen’s Dock, when the George
Bastion had been built, was for some years mostly
used by the naval service for repairing and fitting
out
In 1S25 the city of Edinburgh borrowed from
Government A240,ooo more on security of the
dock dues (after there had been a proposal to sell
the whole property to a joint-stock company, a
proposal successfully opposed by the inhabitants of
Leith) j and after Mr. W. Chapman, of Newcastle,
hadmade surveys and plans for further improve
ments, as the result of his report and of subsequent
voluminous correspondence with Govemment
on the subject of a naval yard and store
yard, it was decided to extend the eastern pier
about 1,500 feet, so as to have an entire length
there of 2,550 feet, or more than half a mile.
The ceremony of driving the first pile took place
on the 15th of August, 1826, the fourth anniversary
of the landing of George IV. at Leith, and was
made the occasion, as usual, of an imposing
demonstration. All the vessels in port were gdy
decorated, and the various public bodies, accompanied
by three regimental bands and escorted by
Hussars, proceeded from the Assembly Rooms to
the end of the old pier, where the Dock Commissioners
and Lord Provost occupied a platform.
The Provost having cut a rope, and allowed a
heavy weight to fall upon the upright pile, wine,
oil, and corn, were placed upon it, and the company
then embarked in a tug and crossed to the other
pier, where the same ceremony was repeated, and
a banquet followedl
A western pier and breakwater were next erected,
to the extent of r,Soo feet, terminating within 200
feet of the other.
The insolvency of the city of Edinburgh in 1833
led to important re-arrangements in connection with
the management of their now valuable docks ; and
by virtue of an Act of Parliament passed in 1838,
the care of the docks and harbour was vested in
eleven Commissioners-five appointed by the Lords’
of the Treasury, three by the city of Edinburgh,
and three by the town of Leith.
In the winter of 1838-9, Messrs. Walker and
Cubbitt, two eminent engineers of London, were
sent down by the Lords of the Treasury to undertake
jointly the duty of providing their lordships
“with such a plan as will secure to the Port of](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v6p102.gif "Volume 6 Page 283")
... BUILDING OF THE WESTERN DOCKS. 283
I Government advanced A25,ooo to the city of
Edinburgh on security of ...
Vol. 6 p. 283 (Rel. 0.34)
![Ceorge Street.] MRS. MURRAY OF HENDERLAND. f 43
teen, Mr. Bartlett, six, Mr. Hay, four-in all, fortyeight
shares.” From that time he grew in wealth
and fame with the establishment, which is now
merged in the Joint-stock Union Bank of Scotland.
Si John Hay died in 1830, in his seventy-fifth
year.
No. 86 was the house of his nephew, Sir
William Forbes, Bart., who succeeded to the title
on the death of the eminent banker in 1806, and
who married the sole daughter and heiress of Sir
John Stuart of Fettercairn, whose arms were thus
quartered with his ovn.
In May, 1810, Lord Jeffrey-then at the bar as a
practising advocate-took up his dwelling in No.
92, and it was while there resident that, in consequence
of some generous and friendly criticism in
the Rdinburgh Reviaer, pleasant relations were
established between him and Professor Wilson,
which, says the daughter of the latter, “led to a
still closer intimacy, and which, though unhappily
interrupted by subsequent events, was renewed in
after years, when the bitterness of old controversies
had yielded to the hallowing influences of time.”
Lord Jeffrey resided here for seventeen years.
In the second storey of No. 108 Sir Walter Scott
dwelt in 1797, when actively engaged in his German
translations and forming the Edinburgh Volunteer
Light Horse, of which he was in that year, to
his great gratification, made quartermaster. Two
doors farther on was the house of the Countess of
Balcarres, the venerable dowager of Earl Alexander,
who died in 1768. She was Anne, daughter of
Sir Robert Dalrymple of Castleton.
No. 116, now formed into shops, was long the
residence of Archibald Colquhoun of Killermont,
Lord Advocate of Scotland in 1807. He was
Archibald Campbell of Clathick, but assumed the
name of Colquhoun on succeeding to the estate of
Killermont. He came to the bar in the same
year, 1768, or about the same time as his friends
Lord Craig and the Hon. Henry Erskine. He
succeeded Lord Frederick Campbell as Lord
Clerk Register in 1816. His mind and talents
were said to have been of a very superior order ;
he was a sound lawyer, an eloquent pleader, and
his independent fortune and proud reserve induced
him to avoid general business, while in his Parliamentary
duties as member for Dumbarton he was
unremitting and efficient.
The Edinburgh Association of Science and Arts
now occupies the former residence of the Butters
of Pitlochry, No. ‘17. It is an institution formed
in 1869, and its title is sufficiently explanatory of
its objects.
An interesting lady of the old school abode long
He died in 1820.
in No. I 22-Mrs. Murray of Henderland. She was
resident there from the early part of the present
century. The late Dr. Robert Chambers tells us
he was introduced to her by Dr. Chalmers, and found
her memories of the past went back to the first
years of the reign of George 111. Her husband,
Alexander Murray, had been, he states, Lord
North’s Solicitor-General for Scotland. His name
appears in 1775 on the list, between those of
Henry Dundas and Islay Campbell of Succoth.
‘‘ I found the venerable lady seated at a window
of her drawing-room in George Street, with her
daughter, Miss Murray, taking the care of her
which her extreme age required, and with some
help from this lady we had a conversation of about
an hour.” She was born before the Porteous Mob,
and well remembering the ’45, was now close on
her hundredth year.
She spoke with affection and reverence of her
mother’s brother, Lord Chief Justice Mansfield ;
“and when I adverted,” says Chambers, “ to the
long pamphlet written against him by Athenian
Stuart, at the conclusion of the Douglas cause, she
said that, to her knowledge, he neyer read it, such
being his practice in respect to ail attacks made
upon him, lest they should disturb his equanimity
in judgment. As the old lady was on intimate terms
with Boswell, and had seen Johnson on his visit to
Edinburgh-as she was the sister-in-law of Allan
Ramsay, the painter, and had lived in the most
cultivated society of Scotland all her life-there
were ample materials for conversation with her ;
but her small strength made this shorter and slower
than I could have wished. When we came upon
the poet Ramsay, she seemed to have caught new
vigour from the subject ; she spoke with animation
of the child-parties she had attended in his house
on the Castle Hill during a course of ten years
befoie his death-an event which happened in 1757.
He was ‘ charming,’ she said ; he entered so heartily
into the plays of the children. He, in particular,
gained their hearts by making houses for their
dolls. How pleasant it was to learn that our great
pastoral poet was a man who, in his private capacity,
loved to sweeten the daily life of his fellow-creatures,
and particularly of the young ! At a warning from
Miss Murray I had to tear myself away from this
delightful and never-to-be-forgotten interview.”
From this we may suppose that the worthy publisher
never saw the venerable occupant of No. 123
again.
No. 123, on the opposite side, was the residence
of the well-known Sir John Watson Gordon,
President of the Royal Scottish Academy, who
died June Ist, 1863, and to whom reference has](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v3p155.gif "Volume 3 Page 143")
... Street.] MRS. MURRAY OF HENDERLAND. f 43
teen, Mr. Bartlett, six, Mr. Hay, four-in all, ...
Vol. 3 p. 143 (Rel. 0.34)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Glton Hill.
money appropriated for the work was totally exhausted,
and the luckless ...
Vol. 3 p. 106 (Rel. 0.34)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [The Water of Leith.
and verse, the Ireland Scholarship, and a studentship
at Christ ...
Vol. 5 p. 82 (Rel. 0.34)
![Arthut’s Seat] “ THE WILD MACRAAS.” 307
The Edinburgh Evening Courant of the 29th
of October, 1728, contains the following reference
to the Craigs, or the chasm, there named the
Catnick :-“ A person who frequents the (King‘s)
Park, having noticed a man come from a cleft
towards the north-west of Salisbury Rocks, had the
curiosity to climb the precipice, if possibly he
might discover something that could invite him
there, He found a shallow pit, which delivered
him into a little snug room or vault hung with
dressed leather, lighted from the roof, the window
covered with a bladder. It is thought to have been
the cave of a hermit of ancient times, though now
the hiding-place of a gang of thieves.”
The long, deep, and tremendous rift in the wes
t e n slope of Arthur’s Seat (locally known as the
Gutiit Haddie) was caused by a mighty waterspout,
on the 13th of September, 1744. “Dividing its
force ”-says the “ Old Statistical -4ccount ”-‘‘ it
discharged one part upon the western side, and
tore up a channel or chasm, which still remains a
monument of its violence ; the other division took
its direction towards the village of Duddingston,
carried away the gable .of the most westerly cottage,
and flooded the loch over the adjacent meadows.”
On the steep sloping shoulder of Arthur‘s Seat,
south-westward, under the Rock of Dunsappie, the
Highland army encamped in September before
the battle of Prestonpans, and from thence it was
-after the Prince had held a council of his chief5
and nobles-the march began at daybreak on the
morning of the 20th through the old hedgerow:
and woods of Duddingston, with pipes playing
and colours flying, after Charles, in front of thc
he, had significantly drawn his claymore and flung
away the scabbard.
From a letter which appears in the Advertiser foi
the 15th of January, 1765, the entrance to tne Park
from St. Anne’s Yard to the Duke’s Walk having
become impassable, was privately repaired at tht
expense of a couple of classical wits, whose name:
were unknown, but who placed upon the entrance
the following inscription :-
Ite nunc faciles per gaudia uestra,
3 Cpuepecun sua re@&durn cur.
CaLIan. MD.C.CLXl?
rJ*i faciant ut haec smpiusjunf.
QUIRITES
Mungo Campbell (formerly officer of Excise ai
Saltcoats), who shot Archibald, tenth Earl oj
Eglinton, committed suicide in the Tolbooth ic
1770, on the day after he had been sentenced
to death, when the judge also directed that hi2
body should be given to the professor of anatomy,
His counsel having interposed on the plea that dip
section was not a legal penalty for self-murder, it
was privately interred at the foot of Salisbury Craigs.
But the Edinburgh mob, who were exasperated by
the manner in which he had shot the earl in a
poaching affray, took the .body out of the grave,
tossed it about till they were tired, and eventually
flung it over the cliffs. After this, to prevent
further indecency and outrage, Campbell’s friends
caused the body to be conveyed in a boat from
Leith and sank it in the Firth of Forth. (Caldwell
Papers ; S o t s Mug., Vol. XXXII.)
Southward of the coue of Arthur‘s Seat are the
Raven’s Craig and the Nether Hill, or Lion’s
Haunch ; between the latter and the cone can still
be traced the trench and breastwork formed by the
Seaforth Highlanders when they revolted in 1778-
an event which created a profound sensation in
Scotland.
In the July of that year they had marched into
the Castle, replacing the Royal Edinburgh Volunteers,
or 80th Regiment of the Line, a corps
which was raised by General Sir William Erskme in
1777, and was disbanded in 1783-5.
Kenneth Mackenzie, Earl of Seaforth, had
recently raised his noble regiment, which was then
numbered as the 78th (but is now known as the
Duke of Albany’s Own Highlanders), among his
clansmen in the district of Kintail and Applecross,
Kilcoy, and Redcastle ; of these Soawere from his
own estate; the rest were all from the others
named, and the corps mustered 1,130 bayonets at
its first parade in Elgin in the May of 1778 ; but
from a great number of another sept who were
in its ranks, the subsequent mutiny was known at
first as the afair of the WiZd Mwaas.
The latter was an ancient but subordinate tribe
of the west, who had followed the “ Caber Feigh,”
or banner of Seaforth, since the days when Black
Murdoch of Kintail carried it in the wars of
Robert I., and now many of its best men were
enrolled in Earl Kenneth‘s new Fencible regiment,
perfect subordination in the ranks of which was
maintained in the Castle until the 5th of August,
when an order was issued for marching at an hour’s
notice. A landing of a French force being expected
near Greenock, zoo of them, with seven
9-pounders, marched there with the greatest enthusiasm
to meet the foe, who never appeared; but
by the time these two companies returned, transports
to convey the whole for foreign service had come
to anchor in Leith Roads.
Where the scene of that service lay the men
knew not. It was kept a mystery from them and
their officers. The former would not believe a
rumour spread that it was to be tine Isle of Guern](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v4p127.gif "Volume 4 Page 307")
... Seat] “ THE WILD MACRAAS.” 307
The Edinburgh Evening Courant of the 29th
of October, 1728, ...
Vol. 4 p. 307 (Rel. 0.34)
... GRIZEL HUME. 89
of the Mylnes of Powderhall. The house was
advertised to be let in the Coumnf of ...
Vol. 5 p. 89 (Rel. 0.34)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH [The West Bow.
by Victoria Terrace, replaced in one part by a
flight of stairs, in ...
Vol. 2 p. 310 (Rel. 0.34)
![Currie.] DR. JAMES ANDERSON. . 335
were appointed to look after the king’s exchequer,
“properties, and casualties,” were named. (“Moyses’
Memoirs.”)
In April, 1598, he witnessed at Stirling the
contract between James VL, Ludovick Stewart,
Duke of Lennox, and Hugh, fifth Earl of Eglinton,
for the marriage of the latter and Gabriella,
sister of the duke.
He is best known in Scottish legal literature by
his treatise ‘‘ De Verborum Significatione,” and the
edition of the ‘‘ Regiam Majestatem,” but Lord
Hailes doubted if his knowledge of Scottish antiquities
was equal to his industry.
In 1607, with reference to the latter work, Sir
James Balfour records in his Annales” that ‘‘ The
ancient Lawes of Scotland, collected by s” John
Skeene, Clerke of Register, on the Lordes of the
Privey Counsall’s recommendation to the King,
by their letters of the 4th of Marche this yeire
wer ordained to be published and printed, on his
Majestie’s charges.”
This work, which was printed in folio at Edinburgh
in 1609, is entitled “ REGIAM MAJESTATEM
SCOTIR;. The auld lawes and constitutions of Scotland,
faithfullie collected furth of the Register, and
other auld authentick Bukes, from the dayes of King
hlalcolme the Second vntill the time of King Jame
the First.” It contains the Quoniam Attachianzentq
or Baron Laws, the Burgh Laws, the Forest Law:
of William the Lion, and many other quaint anc
curious statutes.
His son, Sir James Skene of Curriehill, succeedec
Thomas, Earl of Mehose, as President of thc
Court of Session in 1626. At what time he w;1!
made a baronet of Nova Scotia is unknown, bui
his death as such is thus recorded by Balfour :-
“The 20 of October (1663) deyed s” Jame:
Skeine of Curriehill, Knight and Barronet, Presi
dent of the Colledge of Justice, at his auen houssc
in Edinburghe, and was interred in the Greyfriar:
ther.” Re was buried within the church, when
his tomb was found a few years ago; and tht
house in which he died is that described as bein;
“beside the Grammar School,” within the south
east angle of the Flodden wall, and in after years
the official residence of the Professor of Divinity.
Sir Archibald Johnston (Lord Warriston) wa:
a considerable heritor in the parish of Currie
Maitland (Lord Ravelrig) we have already referrec
to, and also to Sir Thomas Craig of Riccarton
“The Scotts of hlalleny, father and son, were like
wise eminent lawyers at the same period, and tht
latter had a seat on the bench,” says the “Olc
Statistical Account” ; but if so, his name does no1
appear in the list of senators at that time.
(“ Eglinton Memorials.”)
.
The late General Thomas Scott of Malleny, who
lied at the age of ninety-six, served on the contilent
of Europe, and in the American War under
.he Marquis of Cornwallis.
He entered the army when a boy, and was a
:aptain in the 53rd Foot in October, 1777. It is
-ecorded of him that he carried some very impor-
:ant despatches in the barrel of his spontoon with
ucess and dexterity, passing through the American
hes in the disguise of aa armed pedler. These
services were recognised by Lord Melbourne, who
gave him a pension without solkitation.
He belonged latterly to the Scots Brigade ; was
t major-general of 1808, and a lieutenant-general
af 1813.
In 1882 his ancient patrimony of Malleny was
purchased by the Earl of Rosebery.
James Anderson, LLD., a miscellaneous writer
of considerable eminence, the son of a farmer, was
born at Hermiston, near Currie, in 1739, “His
ancestors had been farmers,” says the Sots Magazine
for 1809, “and had for several generations
farmed the same land, which circumstance is supposed
to have introduced him to that branch of
knowledge which formed the chief occupation of
his life.”
Among the companions of his youth, born in
the same hamlet, was Dr. James Anderson, who in
the early years of the present century was Physician-
General of the Forces in Madras. They were
related, educated together, and maintained a correspondence
throughout life.
Losing his father at the age of fifteen, he entered
upon the management of his ancestral farm, and
at the same time attended the chemistry class of
Dr. Cullen in the University of Edinburgh, studying
also several collateral branches of science. He
adopted a number of improvements, one of which,
the introduction of a small two-horse plough, was
afterwards so common in Scotland.
Amid his ’ agricultural labours, so great was his
thirst for knowledge, and so steady his application,
that he contrived to acquire a considerable stock
of information; and in 1771, under the nouz de
phme of “ Agricola,” he contributed to Ruddiman’s
Edinburgh Week4 Xagazine a series of “ Essays
on Planting,” which were afterwards published in
a volume. In 1773 he furnished the article
Monsoon” to the first edition of the EmycZopdia
Britannica,. in which, curiously enough, he
confidently predicted the failure of’captain Cook‘s
first expedition in search of a southern polar continent.
Previous to ,1777 he had removed from Hermistop
to a large uncultivated farm, consisting of](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v6p154.gif "Volume 6 Page 335")
... DR. JAMES ANDERSON. . 335
were appointed to look after the king’s exchequer,
“properties, and ...
Vol. 6 p. 335 (Rel. 0.34)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBUXGH. [High Street.
‘; two such animals in the whole island of Great
Britain.”
Between ...
Vol. 2 p. 230 (Rel. 0.34)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [University.
Among the first bequests we may mention that
of 8,000 nierks, or the ...
Vol. 5 p. 26 (Rel. 0.34)
![Pottemw.] JEAN BROWN. 331
BeAoZd
a thing
and how be-
Togzfher
B d
In Unit&
Hmu good
it is,
comitzg we2
m h ns
k n ar
io h e l .
an unaristocratic quarter inay be inferred from the
fact that, so lately as 1716, Robert, seventh Earl
of Morton, a man who, Douglas says, “was well
versed in the knowledge of the antiquities of our
country,” had his residence there ; and later still,
in 1760, Archibald, Duke of Douglas, had a stately
mansion, surrounded by extensive grounds, immediately
on the west side of the Potterrow, near
the north end of which was his carriage entrance,
a gate within a recess, overlooked by the city wall.
Lady Houston lived in the Potterrow in 1784.
In the Diary of Lord Grange, we are told of
Jean Brown, a woman in humble life, residing in the
Potterrow in I 7 17, who had somecuriousexperiences,
which, while reminding us of those of St. Teresa,
the Castilian, the foundress of the Barefooted
Carmelites, were not, singular to say, inconsistent
with orthodox Presbyterianism.
Being taken, together with Mr. Logan, the incumbent
of Culross, to see this pious woman, at
Lady Aytoun’s lodging behind the College, he
found her to be between thirty and forty years of
age ; when, having Conrmunion administered to
her at Leith, in the October of that year, she had
striven to dwell deeply on the thought of Christ
and all His sufferings. Then she had a vision of
Him extended on the cross and in His rocky sepulchre,
“ as plainly as if she had been actually present
when these things happened, though there was
not any visible representation thereof made to her
bodily eyes. She also got liberty to speak to
Him, and asked several questions at Him, to
which she got answers, as if one had spoken to her
audibly, though there was no audible voice.”
Lord Grange admits that all this was somewhat
like delusion or enthusiasm, but deemed it far
from him to say it was either. Being once at Communion
in Kirkcaldy, a voice called to her, “.Arise
and eat; for thou hast a journey to make-a
Jordan to pass through.”
The latter proved to be the Firth of Forth, where
she was upset in the water, but floated till rescued
bpa boat. Lord Grange called frequently to see
her at her little shop in the Potterrow, but usually
found it so crowded 6th children buying her
wares that his wishes were frustrated. “Afterwards,”
he states, “I employed her husband (a
shoemaker) to make some little things for me,
mostly to give them business, and that I might
thereby get opportunity now and then to talk with
such as, I hope, are acquainted with the ways of
God.“
Middleton’s Entry, which opened westward off the
Potterrow, was associated with another of Bums’s
heroines, Miss Jean Lorimer, the flaxen-haired](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v4p151.gif "Volume 4 Page 331")
... JEAN BROWN. 331
BeAoZd
a thing
and how be-
Togzfher
B d
In Unit&
Hmu good
it is,
comitzg ...
Vol. 4 p. 331 (Rel. 0.34)
... ASSEMBLY
presiding officials, male and female, with the names
they adopted, such as Elisha the ...
Vol. 5 p. 123 (Rel. 0.34)
![Colinton.] JUNIPER GREEN. 323
when the village was occupied on the 18th August
by ten companies of Monk’s Regiment (now the
Coldstream Guards), of which Captain Gough of
Berwick was lieutenant-colonel, and Captain
Holmes of Newcastle, major, prior to the storming
of the fortalices of Redhall and Colinton, before
the 24th of the same month. (“Records: Cold.
Guards.”) Redhall, in after years, was the patrimony
of Captain John Inglis, of H.M.S. Be&
pueux, who, at the battle of Camperdown, whq
confused by the signals of the admiral, shouted
with impatience to his sailing-master, ‘‘ Hang it,
Jock ! doon wi’ the helm, and gang iicht into the
middle o’t ! ” closing his telescope as he spoke.
Old Colinton House was, at the period of the
Protectorate, occupied by the Foulis family (now
represented by that of Woodhall in the same parish)
whose name is alleged to be a corruption of the
Norman, as their arms are azure, their bay leaves
uert, in old Norman called fed&. Be that as it
may, the family is older than is stated by Sir Bernard
Burke, as there were two senators of the College
of Justice, each Lord Colinton respectively-James
Foulis in 1532, and John Foulis in 1541; and
there was a James. Fodlis of Colinton, who lived
in the reigns of Mary and James VI., who married
Apes Heriot of Lumphoy, whose tombstone is yet
preserved in an aisle of Colinton Church, and
bears this inscription :-
HERE. LYES. ANE. HONORABIL. WOMAN. A. HERIOT.
SPOVS. TO . J. FOULIS . OF . COLLINT3VN. VAS. QUHA .
DEID . 8 . AUGUST. 1593.
They had four sons-James, who succeeded to
the estate; George, progenitor of the house of
Ravelston ; David, progenitor of the English family
of Ingleby Manor, Yorkshire ; and John, of ?he
Leadhills, whose granddaughter became ancestress
of the Earls of Hopetoun.
Alexander Foulis, of Colinton, was created a
baronet of Nova Scotia in 1634, and his son Sir
James, whose house was stormed by the troops of
Monk, having attended a convention of the estates
in Angus, was betrayed into the hands of the English,
together with the Earls of Leven, Crawford,
Marischal, the Lord Ogilvy, and many others, who
were surprised by a party of Cromwell’s cavalry,
under Colonel Aldridge, on August, 1651, and
taken as prisoners of war to London. He married
Barbara Ainslie of Dolphinton, but, by a case
reported by Sir James Dalrymple of Stair, in 1667,
he would seem to have been in a treaty of marriage
with Dame Margaret Erskine, Lady Tarbet, which
led to a somewhat involved suit before the Lords
of Council and Session. After the Restoration he
was raised to the-Bench as Lord Colinton, and was
succeeded by his son, also a Lord of Session, and
a member of the last Scottish Parliament in 1707,
the year of the Union.
he joined the Duke of Hamilton,
the Earl of Athol, and many others of the nobility
and gentry, in their celebrated protest made by the
Earl of Errol, respecting the most constitutional
defence of the house of legislature, He also
joined in the protest, which declared that an incorpotating
union of the two nations was inconsistent
with the honour of Scotland.”
Further details of this family will be found in
the account of Ravelston (p. 106).
The mansions and villas of many other families
are in this somewhat secluded district ; the principal
one is perhaps the modern seat of the late
Lord Dunfermline, on a beautifully wooded hill
overhanging the village on the south. Colinton
House was built by Sir William Forbes of Pitsligo,
Bart. Near it, the remains of the old edifice, of the
same name, form a kind of decorative ruin.
Dreghorn Castle, a stately modern edifice, with
a conspicuous round tower, is situated on the
northern slope of the Pentlands, at an elevation of
489 feet above the sea. John Maclaurin, son of
Colin Maclaurin, the eminent mathematician, was
called to the bench as Lord Dreghorn. A learned
correspondence, which took place in 17 go, between
him, Lord Monboddo, and M. Le Chevalier, afterwards
secretary to Talleyrand, on the site of Troy,
will be found in the Scots Magazine for 1810.
The name of this locality is very old, as among
the missing crown charters of Robert II., is one
confirming a lease by Alexander Meygners of
Redhall, to Robert, Earl of Fife and Menteith, of
the barony of Redhall in the shire of Edinburgh,
except Dreghorn and Woodhall; and of the barony
of Glendochart in Perthshire, during the said Earl’s
life. In the early part of the eighteenth century
it was the property of a family named Home.
Near Woodhall, in the parish of Colinton, is the
little modern village of Juniper Green, chiefly
celebrated as being the temporary residence of
Thomas Carlyle, some time after his marriage at
Comely Bank, Stockbridge, where, as he tells us in
his ‘‘ Reminiscences ” (edited by Mr. Froude), “his
first experience in the difficulties of housekeeping
began.” Carlyle’s state of health required perfect
quiet, if not absolute solitude; but at Juniper
Green, as at Comely Bank, their house was much
frequented by the literary society of the day; and,
among others, by Chalmers, Guthrie, and Lord
Jeffrey, whose intimacy with Carlyle .rapidly increased
after the first visit he paid him at Comely
Bank. “He was much taken with my little
-4fter that](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v6p142.gif "Volume 6 Page 323")
... JUNIPER GREEN. 323
when the village was occupied on the 18th August
by ten companies of Monk’s ...
Vol. 6 p. 323 (Rel. 0.34)
![Newhaven. ] HISTORICAL ASSOCIATIONS. 299
Newhaven was deemed a place of much more
importance in those days,than it has been in subsequent
times.
Thus, in 1554, the works then occupied the
attention of the Provost and Council repeatedly.
In February that year A500 was given for timber
to repair the harbour, to be taken with a portion
of the tax laid on the town for building forts upon
the Borders ; and in 1555 we read of timber again
for Newhaven, brought there by Robert Quintin,
but which was sold by the advice of Sir William
Macdowall, master of the works. (“Burgh Records?’)
In the Burgh Account, under date 1554-5, we
find some references to the locality, thus t
“Item, the vj day of July, 1555, for cords to
bind and hang the four Inglismen at Leyth and
Newhaven, iijs.
“ Item, geven to Gorge Tod, Adam Purves, and
ane servand, to mak ane gibbet at Newhaven, in
haist and evil wedder (weather), 4s.
“ Item, for garroun and plansheour naillis, xxd.
“ Item, for drink to them at Newhaven, vj4
“Item, to twa workmen to beir the wrychtis
lomis to the Newhevin and up again, and to beir
the work and set up the gibbet, xxd.”
In the same year extensive works seem to have
been in operation, as, by the Burgh Accounts,
they appear to have extended from August to
November, under Robert Quintin, master of the
works. The entries for masons’ wages, timber
work, wrights’ wages, “ on Saiterday at evin to thair
supperis,” are given in regular order. John Arduthy
in Leith seems to have contracted for the “ standarts
to the foir face of the Newhevin;” and for
the crane there, eighteen fathoms of “Danskin tow”
(rope), were purchased fram Peter Turnett’s wife,
at tenpence the fathom.
John Ahannay and Geoge Bennet did the smithwork
at the crane, bulwarks, and worklooms. The
works at Newhaven, commenced in August, 1555,
under John Preston, as City Treasurer, were continued
till the middle of December eventually, under
Sir John Wilson, “master of work at the Newhevin,”
when they were suspended during winter and resumed
in the spring of 1556 ; and “ drink silver,”
to all the various trades engaged, figures amply
among the items. (“ Burgh Accounts.”)
In 1573 the Links of Newhaven were let by the
city, at an annual rent of thirty merks per annum
as grazing ground, thus showing that they must
then have been about the extent of those at Leith.
In 1595 they only produced six merks, and from
this rapid fall Maitland supposes that the sea had
made extensive encroachments on the ground ; and
as they are now nearly swept away, save a space
500 yards by 250, at the foot of the Whale Brae,
we may presume that his conjecture was a correct
one.
Kincaid states that at one period Newhaven had
Links both to the east and west of it. Even
the road that must have bordered the east Links
was swept away, and for years a perilous hole,
known as the ‘‘ Man-trap,” remained in the placea
hole in which, till recently, many a limb was
fractured and many a life lost.
In one of the oldest houses in Newhaven, nearly
opposite the burial-ground, there is a large sculp
tured pediment of remarkable appearance. It is
surmounted by a thistle, with the motto Nemo me
impune Zacessit, on ,a scroll, and the date 1588, a
three-masted ship, with the Scottish ensign at each
truck, pierced for sixteen guns, and below the
motto, in Roman letters,
IN THE NUM OF GOD.
Below this again is a deeply-cut square panel,
decorated with a pair of globes, a quadrant, cross,
staff, and anchor; and beneath these part of the
motto “ Yirtzte sydera ’ may, upon very close examination,
still be deciphered; but the history of
the stone, or of the house to which it belonged, is
unknown.
Some hollows near the p?ace were known as the
Fairy Holes, and they are mentioned in the indictment
of Eufame McCulzane for witchcraft, who is
stated to have attended a convention of witches
there in 1591, and also at others called the “Brume
Hoillis,” where she and many other witches, with
the devil in company, put to sea in riddles.
In 1630 and 1631 we find from “Dune’s Decisions,”
James Drummond, tacksman to the Lord
Holyroodhouse, of the Tiend Fishes of Newhaven,
(‘ pursuing spulzie ,’ against the fishers there.
The year 1630 was the first year of the tack, and
the fishermen alleged that they had been in use to
pay a particular duty, that was condescended an,
“ of all years preceding this year now acclaimed.”
The Lords found there was no necessity to grant
an inhibition, and reserved to themselves the modification
of the duty or quantity to be paid.
Newhaven gave the title of Viscount to an
English family who never had any connection with
the place, when in 1681 Charles 11. raised to the
peerage of Scotland Charles Cheyne, of Cogenho,
in Middlesex (dcscended from an ancient family in
Buckinghamshire), with the titles of ‘‘ Lord Cheyne
and Viscount Newhaven, near Leith, in the county
of Midlothian,” by patent dated at Windsor. His
son, the second Viscount Newhaven, who was
appointed Lord Lieutenant of Bucks by Queen](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v6p118.gif "Volume 6 Page 299")
... ] HISTORICAL ASSOCIATIONS. 299
Newhaven was deemed a place of much more
importance in those days,than ...
Vol. 6 p. 299 (Rel. 0.34)
... “ THE WARLOCK NAPIER.” 37
men, and others felL Of the queen’s men, only one
lost his life by a ...
Vol. 5 p. 37 (Rel. 0.34)
... of the Scottish court. She was magnificent
in her own attire ; she increased the number
of persons in ...
Vol. 1 p. 19 (Rel. 0.34)
![castle Street.] NUMBER THIRTY-NINE CASTLE STREET. 163
lived for a time James Grant of Corrimony,
advocate, who had his town house in Mylne’s
Court, Lawnmarket, in 1783. This gentleman, the
representative of an old Inverness-shire family,
was born in 1743, in the house of Commony in
Urquhart, his mother being Jean Ogilvie, of the
family of Findlater. His father, Alexander Grant,
was induced by Lord Lovat to join Prince Charles,
and taking part in the battle of Culloden, was
wouiided in the thigh. The cave at Corrimony in
which he hid after the battle, is still pointed out to
tourists. His son was called to the bar in 1767,
and at the time of his death, in 1835, he was the
oldest member of the Faculty of Advocates. Being
early distinguished for his liberal principles, he
numbered among his friends the Hon. Henry
Erskine, Sir James Macintosh, Francis Jeffrey, and
many others eminent for position or attainments;
In 1785 he published his ‘‘ Essays on the Origin of
Society,” Src j in 1813, “Thoughts on the Origin
and Descent of the Gael,” &c: works which, illustrated
as they are by researches into ancient Greek,
Latin, and Celtic literature, show him to have been
a man of erudition, and are valuable contributions
to the early history of the Celtic races.
The next thoroughfare is Castle Street, so called
from its proximity to the fortress. As the houses
spread westward they gradually improved in external
finish and internal decoration. By the French
Revolutionary war, according to the author of
“Old Houses in Edinburgh,” writing in 1824, an
immense accession of inhabitants of a better class
were thrown into.the growing city, All the earlier
buildings of the new town were rubble-work, nnd
so simple were the ideas of the people at that
time, “ that main doors (now so important) were
not at all thought of, and many of the houses in
Princes Street had only common stairs entering
from the Mews Lane behind. But within the last
twenty years a very different taste has arisen, and
the dignity of a front door has become almost
indispensable. The later buildings are, with few
exceptions, of the finest ashlar-work, erected on a
scale of magnificence said to be unequalled ; yet,
it cannot be denied that here and there common
stairs-a nuisance that seems to cling to the very
nature of Edinburgh-have crept in. However,
even that objection has in most cases been got
over by an ingenious contrivance, which renders
them accessible only to the occupants of the various
flats,” it., the crank communicating from eabh,
with the general entrance-door below-a feature
altogether peculiar to Edinburgh and puzzling to
all strangers.
No. I Castle Street, now an hotel, was in 1811
he house of the first Lord Meadowbank, already
.ererred to, who died in 1816. At the same time
:he adjoining front door was occupied by the Hon.
Miss Napier (daughter of Francis; seventh Lord
Napier), who died unmarried in 18zc~. No. 16
,vas the house of Skene of Rubislaw, the bosom
iiend of Sir Walter Scott, and the last survivor of
$e six particdar friends to whom he dedicated
:he respective cantos of “ Marmion.” He possessed
the Bible used by Charles I. on the scaffold, and
which is described by Mr. Roach Smith in his
“ Collectanea Antiqua.” Latterly Mr. Skene took
up his residence at Oxford. pis house is now
legal offices.
About 1810 Lady Pringle of Stitchel occupied
No. 20, at the corner of Rose Street. She was the
daughter of Norman Macleod of Macleod, and
widow of Sir James Pringle, Bar!., a lieutenantcolonel
in the army, who died in 1809. At the
opposite corner lived Mrs. Fraser of Strichen; and
No. 27, now all sub-divided, was the residence of
Robert Reed, architect to the king. No. 37, in
1830, was the house of Sir Duncan Cameron, Bart.,
of Fassifem, brother of the gallant Colonel Cameron
who fell at Quatre Bras, and won a baronetcy for
his family. And now we come to the most important
house in New Edinburgh, No. 39, on the east side
of the northern half of the street, in which
Sir Walter Scott resided for twenty-six years prior
to 1826, and in which the most brilliant of his
works were written and he spent his happiest years,
“from the prime of life to its decline.” He considered
himself, and was considered by those about
him, as amassing a large fortune ; the annual profits
of his novels alone had not been less than A;IO,OOO
for several years. His den, or study, there is thus
described by Lockhart :-“ It had a single Venetian
window, opening on a patch of turf not much
Larger than itself, and the aspect of the place was
sombrous. . . . A dozen volumes or so, needful
for immediate purposes of reference, were placed
close by him on a small movable form. All the
rest were in their proper niches, and wherever a
volume had been lent its room was occupied by a
wooden block of the same size, having a card with
the name of the borrower and date of the lending
tacked on its front . . . The only table wasa
massive piece of furniture which he had constructed
on the model of one at Rokeby, with a desk and all
its appurtenances on either side, that an arnanuensis
might work opposite to him when he chose, with
small tiers of drawers reaching all round to the
floor. The top displayed a goodly array of session
papers, and on the desk below were, besides the
MS. at which he was working, proof-sheets and so](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v3p175.gif "Volume 3 Page 163")
... Street.] NUMBER THIRTY-NINE CASTLE STREET. 163
lived for a time James Grant of Corrimony,
advocate, who ...
Vol. 3 p. 163 (Rel. 0.33)
![The Water of Leith.] DANIEL STEWART. 67
with sword and sash, wig and cocked hat, queue
and ruffles. After looking at him steadily, but sadly,
the figure melted away; and, as usual with such
spectral appearances, it is alleged young Nisbet was
shot at the same moment, in an encounter with the
colonists.
In 1784 the Dean House was the residence of
Thomas Miller, Lord Barskimming, and Lord
Justice Clerk. In 1845 it was pulled down, when
the ground whereon it had stood so long was
acquired by a cemetery company, and now-save
the sculptured stones we have described--no relic
remains of the old Nisbets of Dean but their burial
place at the West Church-a gloomy chamber of
the dead, choked up with rank nettles and hemlock.
By 1881 the old village of Dean was entirely
cleared away. Near its centre stood the blacksmith’s
forge of Robert Orrock, who was indicted for
manufacturing pikes for the Friends of the People
in 1792. He and his friend, Arthur McEwan,
publican in Dean Side, Water of Leith village,
were legally examined at the time, and it is supposed
that many of the pikes were thrown into the
World’s End Pool, below the waterfall at the
Damhead. South of the smithy was the village
school, long taught by “ auld Dominie Fergusson.”
North of it stood the old farmhouse and steading
of the Dean Farm, all swept away like the quaint
old village, which’was wont to be a bustling place
when the commander-in-chief of the forces in
Scotland tenanted the Dean, and mounted orderlies
came galloping up the steep brae, and often reined
up their horses at the “Speed the Plough” alehouse,
before the stately gate.
Somewhere in the immediate vicinity of this
old village a meeting-house was erected in 1687
for the Rev. David Williamson, of St. Cuthbert’s,
who was denounced as a rebel, and intercommuned
in 1674 for holding conventicles, but was sheltered
secretly in the Dean House by Sir Patrick Nisbet.
In 1689 he was restored to his charge at the West
Church, and was one of the commissioners sent to
congratulate King William on his accession to the
throne.
Now all the site of the village and farms, and
the land between them and the Dean Bridge, is
covered by noble streets, such as Buckingham
Terrace and Belgrave Crescent, the position of
which is truly grand. In 1876 a movement was
se: on foot by the proprietors of this crescent, led
by Sir James Falshaw, Bart, then Lord Provost,
which resulted in the purchase of the ground between
it and the Dean village, at a cost of about
A5,ooo. In that year it was nearlyall covered by
kitchen gardens, ruinous buildings, and brokendown
fences. These and the irregularities of the
place have been removed, while the natural undulations,
which add such beauty to the modem
gardens, have been preserved, and the plantations
and walks are laid out with artistic effect,
The new parish church-which was built in
1836, in the Gothic style, for accommodation of
the inhabitants of the Water of Leith village1 and
those of the village of Dean-stands on the western
side of the old Dean Path.
Farther westward is Stewart’s Hospital, built in
1849-53, after designs by David Rhind, at a cost
of about ~30,000, in a mixture of the latest
domestic Gothic, with something of the old castellated
Scottish style. It comprises a quadrangle,
about 230 feet in length by IOO feet in minimum
breadth, and has two main towers, each 120 feet
high, with several turrets.
Mr. Daniel Stewart, of the Scottish Exchequer,
who died in 1814, left the residue of his property,
amounting (after the erection and endowment of a
free school in his native parish of Logieraitj to
about ;G13,000, with some property in the old
town, to accumulate for the purpose of founding a
hospital for the maintenance of boys, the children
of honest and industrious parents, whose circumstances
do not enable them suitably to support and
educate their children at other schools. Poor boys
of the name of Stewart and Macfarlane, resident
within Edinburgh and the suburbs, were always
to have a preference. The age for admission was
to be from seven to ten, and that for leaving at
fourteen .
The Merchant Company, as governors, taking
advantage of the powers given them by the provisional
order obtained in 1870, opened the hospital
as a,day school in the September of that
year. The education provided is of a very superior
order, qualifying the pupils for commercial
or professional life, and for the universities. The
course of study includes English, Latin, Greek,
French, German, and all the usual branches, including
drill, fencing, and gymnastics.
The Orphan Hospital at the Dean was erected
in 1833, after elegant designs by Thomas Hamilton,
at a cost of A16,000, in succession to the
older foundation, which we have already described
as standing eastward of the North Bridge, on the
site of the railway terminus. It comprises a large
central block, with two projecting wings, a portico
of Tuscan columns, and two light, elegant quadrangular
towers with arches, and has within its
clock-turret on the summit of its front the ancient
clock of the Nether Bow Port.
Its white facade stands boldly and pleasingly](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v5p078.gif "Volume 5 Page 67")
... Water of Leith.] DANIEL STEWART. 67
with sword and sash, wig and cocked hat, queue
and ruffles. After looking ...
Vol. 5 p. 67 (Rel. 0.33)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Bonnington.
In April, 1747, the Countess of Hugh, third Earl
of Marchmont (Anne ...
Vol. 5 p. 90 (Rel. 0.33)
![Liberton’s Wynd.] DOWIE’S TAVERN. 119
town mansion of the abbot, with a beautiful chapel
attached to it, and may serve to remind us how
little idea we can form of the beauty of the
Scottish capital before the Reformation, adorned
as it was with so many churches and conventual
buildings, the very sites of which are now unknown,
Over the doorway of an ancient stone land in Gosford’s
Close,which stood immediately east of the Old
Bank Close, there existed a curious sculptured
lintel containing a representation of the crucifixion,
and which may with every probability be regarded
as another relic of the abbot’s house that once
occupied its site.”
This lintel is still preserved, and the house
which it adorned belonged to Mungo Tennant, a
wealthy citizen, whose seal is appended to a reversion
of the half of the lands of Leny, in 1540. It
also bears his arms, with the then common legend
-Soli. Deo. Honor. et. GZona.
In the lower storcy of this house was a stronglyarched
cellar, in the floor of which was a concealed
trap-door, admitting to another lower down, hewn
out of the living rock. Tradition averred it was a
chamber for torture, but.it has more shrewdly been
supposed to have been connected with the smugglers,
to whom the North Loch afforded by boat such
facilities for evading the duties at the city gates,
and running in wines and brandies. This vault is
believed to be still remaining untouched beneath
the central roadway of the new bridge. On the
first floor of this mansion the fifth Earl of Loudon,
a gallant general officer, and his daughter, Lady
Flora (latterly countess in her own right) afterwards
Marchioness of Hastings, resided when in town.
Here, too, was the mansion of Hume Rigg of
Morton, who died in it in 1788. It is thus described
in a note to Kay’s works :-“ The dining and
drawing-rooms were spacious ; indeed, more so
than those of any private modern house we have
seen. The lobbies were all variegated marble, and
a splendid mahogany staircase led to the upper
storey. There was a large green behind, with a
statue in the middle, and a summer-house at the
bottom; but so confined was the entry to this
elegant mansion that it was impossible to get even
a sedan chair near to the door.’’ On the zoth
January, 1773, at four k.~., there was‘ a tempest,
says a print of the time, “ and a stack of chimneys
on an old house at the foot of Gosfords Close,
possessed by Hugh Mossman, writer, was blown
down, and breaking through the roof in that part
of the house where he and his spouse lay, they
both perished in the ruins. . . . . In the
storey below, Miss Mally Kigg, sister to Rigg of
Morton, also perished.”
So lately as 1773 the Ladies Catharine and
Anne Hay, daughters of John Marquis of Tweeddale,
and in that year their brother George, the
fifth Marquis, resided there too, in the thud floor
of the front “ land ” or tenement. “ Indeed,” says
Wilson, “the whole neighbourhood was the favourite
resort of the most fashionable and distinguished
among the resident citizens, and a perfect
nest of advocates and lords of session.” In the
pear 1794 the hall and museum of the Society of
Antiquaries were at the bottom of this ancient
thoroughfare.
Next it was Liberton’s Wynd, the avenue of which
is still partially open, and which was removed to
make way for the new bridge and other buildings.
Like many others still extant, or demolished, this
alley, called a wynd as being broader than a
close, had the fronts of its stone mansions so added
to and encumbered by quaint projecting out-shot
Doric gables of timber, that they nearly met overhead,
excluding the narrow strip of sky, and, save
at noon, all trace of sunshine. Yet herein stood
Johnnie Dowie’s tavern, one of the most famous in
the annals of Convivialia, and a view of which, by
Geikie, is preserved by Hone in his Year Book.”
Johnnie Dowie was the sleekest and kindest of
landlords ; nothing could equal the benignity of
his smile when he brought “ben” a bottle of his
famous old Edinburgh ale to a well-known and
friendly customer. The formality with which he
drew the cork, the air with which he filled the long,
slender glasses, and the regularity with which he
drank the healths of all present in the first, with
his dozrce civility at withdrawing, were as long remembered
by his many customers as his “Nor‘
Loch trouts and Welsh rabbits,” after he had gone
to his last home, in 1817, leaving a fortune to his
son, who was a major in the amy. With a laudable
attachment to the old costume he always wore
a cocked hat, buckles at the knees and shoes, as
well as a cross-handled cane, over which he
stooped in his gait. Here, in the space so small
and dark, that even cabmen would avoid it now,
there came, in the habit of the times, Robert Fergusson
the poet, David Herd the earliest collector
of Scottish songs, “ antiquarian Paton,” and others
forgotten now, but who were men of local note
in their own day as lords of session and leading
advocates. Here David Martin, a well-known
portrait painter, instituted a Club, which was
quaintly named after their host, the “Dowie
College;’ and there his far more celebrated
pupil Sir Henry Raeburn often accompanied
him in his earlier years; and, more than all,
it was the favourite resort of Robert Bums,](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v1p131.gif "Volume 1 Page 119")
... Wynd.] DOWIE’S TAVERN. 119
town mansion of the abbot, with a beautiful chapel
attached to it, and ...
Vol. 1 p. 119 (Rel. 0.33)
![Firinburgh Castle.] THE. REGIMENT OF EDINBURGH. 63
and all loyalists to quit the city. “At the head
of his forlorn band, consisting of sixty cavalier
troopers-Guardsmenand Greys mingled-Dundee,
the idol of his party, quitted Edinburgh by the
Leith Wynd Port; and, through a telescope, the
Duke of Gordon watched them as they wound
past the venerable church of, the Holy Trinity,
among the cottages and gardens of Moutries Hill,
and as they rode westward by the Lang Gate, a solitary
roadway bordered by fields and farmhouses.”
According to Balcarres this was on the 18th of
March, 1689, and as Gordon wished to confer with
the viscount, the latter, on seeing a red flag waved
at the western postern, rode down the Kirk Brae,
and, quitting his horse, all heavily accoutred as he
was, climbed the steep rock to hold that conference
of which so little was ever known. He is said to
have advised the’duke to leave the Castle in charge
of Winram, on whom they could depend, and seek
their fortunes together among the loyal clans in the
north. But the duke declined, adding, “Whither
“Wherever the shade of Montrose may direct
me,” was the pensive and poetical reply, and then
they parted to meet no more. But the moment
Dundee was gone the drums of the Cameroniaas
beat to ;urns, and they came swarming out of theix
places of concealment, mustering for immediate
ackioion, while, in the name of the Estates, the Earl$
of Tweeddale arid Lothian appeared at the gate d
the fortress, requesting the duke to surrender ii
within four-and-twenty houm, and daringly offering
a year’s pay to every soldier who would desert him.
‘‘ My lords,” said he, “without the express order?
of my royal master, James VII., I cannot surrendei
this castle.”
By the heralds and pursuivants the Duke 01
Gordon was now, as the only alternative, declarec
a traitor. He tossed them some guineas to drink
the health of James VII., adding, with a laugh, ‘‘I
would advise you not to proclaim men traitors whc
wear the king’s coat till they have turned it”
Under the highest penalties, all persons were non
forbidden to correspond with him or his garrison
and the Earl of Leven was ordered to blockadethc
rock with his Cameronians, to whom were addec
300 Highlanders under Argyle. Out of this bodj
there were formed in one day two battalions of thc
line, which still exist-the 25th, or old Edinburgt
regiment, which bears on its colours the tripk
castle, with the motto, ‘‘ Nisi Dominus Frustra,”*
go you ? ”
-
There was a second regiment, called the bth. or Royal Edinburgl
Volunteers, raised by Major-General Sir William Erskine. Bart., in 1777
It served rinder Cornwallis in the American War, and wasdibanded ai
the close thereof. Its Lieuteoant-Colooel was Dundas of Fingask, wh<
died at Guadaoupe
and the 26th, or Cameronians, whose appointments
bear the five-pointed mullet-the .arms of their
first colonel ; while three battalions of the Scots
Brigade, from Holland, were on their march, under
Lieutenant-General Hugh Mackay of Scoury, to
press the siege. Daily matters looked darker and
darker for the gallant Gordon, for now seventy-four
rank and file demanded their discharges, and were,
like their predecessors, stripped and expelled.
The gates were then barricaded, and preparations
made for resistance to the last; but though Sir
James Grant of Dalvey (fomierly King’s Advocate),
and Gordon of Edintore, contrived to throw in a
supply of provisions, the
that he could not hold
out beyond the month
of June unless relieved.
The entire strength
of the garrison, including
okers and gentlemen-
volunteers, was
only eighty-six men,
who had to work
twentv-two Dieces of
@j duke wrote King James -
(exclusive of FACSIMILE OF THE MEDAL
OF THE EDINBURGH REfield-
pieces) ranging VOLUTION CLUB.
from 42 to I a-pounders.
They had no doctor, no
engineer, no money, Mnrl in 1688.)
(=nick in 1753 in ~ommn~mmtiom
a d ~,ztrtu 6,. Wiziiam aw
of the recmwy of tkir Rrligwr
and only thirty barrels of powder in actual quantity.
It was truly a desperate hazard !
By the 18th the entire rock was fully and hopelessly
invested by the Earl of Leven, a Brandenburg
colonel, who displayed a great want of skill; and on
the following night the battlements were blazing
with bonfires and tar barrels in honour of King
Jam& safe arrival in Ireland, of which tidings had
probably been given by Grant of Dalvey. On the
25th came Mackay, with the three battalions of
the Scots Brigade, each consisting of twelve companies,
all splendidly-trained soldiers, a brigade of
guns, and a great quantity of woolpacks with
which to form breastworks. A11 within the Castle
who had gun-shot wounds suffered greatly from
the want of medical attendance, till the duke’s
family physician contrived to join him, probably by
the postern.
On the 13th of March he heavily cannonaded the
western entrenchments, and by dint of shot and
shell retnded the working parties; but General
Mackay now formed a battery of 18-pounders, at
the Highnggs, opposed to the royal lodging and
the half-moon. On the 3rd of April the Duke discovered
that the house of Coates, the ancient](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v1p075.gif "Volume 1 Page 63")
... Castle.] THE. REGIMENT OF EDINBURGH. 63
and all loyalists to quit the city. “At the head
of his ...
Vol. 1 p. 63 (Rel. 0.33)
![Firinburgh Castle.] THE. REGIMENT OF EDINBURGH. 63
and all loyalists to quit the city. “At the head
of his forlorn band, consisting of sixty cavalier
troopers-Guardsmenand Greys mingled-Dundee,
the idol of his party, quitted Edinburgh by the
Leith Wynd Port; and, through a telescope, the
Duke of Gordon watched them as they wound
past the venerable church of, the Holy Trinity,
among the cottages and gardens of Moutries Hill,
and as they rode westward by the Lang Gate, a solitary
roadway bordered by fields and farmhouses.”
According to Balcarres this was on the 18th of
March, 1689, and as Gordon wished to confer with
the viscount, the latter, on seeing a red flag waved
at the western postern, rode down the Kirk Brae,
and, quitting his horse, all heavily accoutred as he
was, climbed the steep rock to hold that conference
of which so little was ever known. He is said to
have advised the’duke to leave the Castle in charge
of Winram, on whom they could depend, and seek
their fortunes together among the loyal clans in the
north. But the duke declined, adding, “Whither
“Wherever the shade of Montrose may direct
me,” was the pensive and poetical reply, and then
they parted to meet no more. But the moment
Dundee was gone the drums of the Cameroniaas
beat to ;urns, and they came swarming out of theix
places of concealment, mustering for immediate
ackioion, while, in the name of the Estates, the Earl$
of Tweeddale arid Lothian appeared at the gate d
the fortress, requesting the duke to surrender ii
within four-and-twenty houm, and daringly offering
a year’s pay to every soldier who would desert him.
‘‘ My lords,” said he, “without the express order?
of my royal master, James VII., I cannot surrendei
this castle.”
By the heralds and pursuivants the Duke 01
Gordon was now, as the only alternative, declarec
a traitor. He tossed them some guineas to drink
the health of James VII., adding, with a laugh, ‘‘I
would advise you not to proclaim men traitors whc
wear the king’s coat till they have turned it”
Under the highest penalties, all persons were non
forbidden to correspond with him or his garrison
and the Earl of Leven was ordered to blockadethc
rock with his Cameronians, to whom were addec
300 Highlanders under Argyle. Out of this bodj
there were formed in one day two battalions of thc
line, which still exist-the 25th, or old Edinburgt
regiment, which bears on its colours the tripk
castle, with the motto, ‘‘ Nisi Dominus Frustra,”*
go you ? ”
-
There was a second regiment, called the bth. or Royal Edinburgl
Volunteers, raised by Major-General Sir William Erskine. Bart., in 1777
It served rinder Cornwallis in the American War, and wasdibanded ai
the close thereof. Its Lieuteoant-Colooel was Dundas of Fingask, wh<
died at Guadaoupe
and the 26th, or Cameronians, whose appointments
bear the five-pointed mullet-the .arms of their
first colonel ; while three battalions of the Scots
Brigade, from Holland, were on their march, under
Lieutenant-General Hugh Mackay of Scoury, to
press the siege. Daily matters looked darker and
darker for the gallant Gordon, for now seventy-four
rank and file demanded their discharges, and were,
like their predecessors, stripped and expelled.
The gates were then barricaded, and preparations
made for resistance to the last; but though Sir
James Grant of Dalvey (fomierly King’s Advocate),
and Gordon of Edintore, contrived to throw in a
supply of provisions, the
that he could not hold
out beyond the month
of June unless relieved.
The entire strength
of the garrison, including
okers and gentlemen-
volunteers, was
only eighty-six men,
who had to work
twentv-two Dieces of
@j duke wrote King James -
(exclusive of FACSIMILE OF THE MEDAL
OF THE EDINBURGH REfield-
pieces) ranging VOLUTION CLUB.
from 42 to I a-pounders.
They had no doctor, no
engineer, no money, Mnrl in 1688.)
(=nick in 1753 in ~ommn~mmtiom
a d ~,ztrtu 6,. Wiziiam aw
of the recmwy of tkir Rrligwr
and only thirty barrels of powder in actual quantity.
It was truly a desperate hazard !
By the 18th the entire rock was fully and hopelessly
invested by the Earl of Leven, a Brandenburg
colonel, who displayed a great want of skill; and on
the following night the battlements were blazing
with bonfires and tar barrels in honour of King
Jam& safe arrival in Ireland, of which tidings had
probably been given by Grant of Dalvey. On the
25th came Mackay, with the three battalions of
the Scots Brigade, each consisting of twelve companies,
all splendidly-trained soldiers, a brigade of
guns, and a great quantity of woolpacks with
which to form breastworks. A11 within the Castle
who had gun-shot wounds suffered greatly from
the want of medical attendance, till the duke’s
family physician contrived to join him, probably by
the postern.
On the 13th of March he heavily cannonaded the
western entrenchments, and by dint of shot and
shell retnded the working parties; but General
Mackay now formed a battery of 18-pounders, at
the Highnggs, opposed to the royal lodging and
the half-moon. On the 3rd of April the Duke discovered
that the house of Coates, the ancient](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v1p076.gif "Volume 1 Page 64")
... Castle.] THE. REGIMENT OF EDINBURGH. 63
and all loyalists to quit the city. “At the head
of his ...
Vol. 1 p. 64 (Rel. 0.33)
... [Bmdie’r Close.
from, and tried it on the lock by way of experiment,
but went no further then.
On the 5th ...
Vol. 1 p. 114 (Rel. 0.33)
![New Town.] ’ . WOOD’S FARM. 11.5
Lang Dykes; by the old Queensferry Road that
I descended into the deep hollow, where Bell’s Mills
lie, and by Broughton Loan at the other end of the
northern ridge.
Bearford‘s Parks on the west, and Wood’s Farm
on the east, formed the bulk of this portion of the
site; St. George’s Church is now in the centre of
the former, and Wemyss Place of the latter. The
hamlet and manor house of Moultray’s Hill arc now
occupied by the Register House; and where the
Royal Bank stands was a cottage called “Peace
and Plenty,” from its signboard near Gabriel’s
Road, “ where ambulative citizens regaled themselves
with curds and cream,’’ and Broughton was
deemed so far afield that people went there for
the summer months under the belief that they
were some distance from ‘town, just as people
used to go to Powburn and Tipperlinn fifty years
later.
Henry Mackenzie, author of “The Man of
Feeling,” who died in 1831, remembered shooting
snipes, hares, and partridges upon Wood’s Farm.
The latter was a tract of ground extending frGm
Canon Mills on the north, to Bearford‘s Parks on
the south, and was long in possession of Mr. Wood,
of Warriston, and in the house thereon, his son,
the famous “Lang Sandy Wood,” was born in
1725. It stood on the area between where Queen
Street and Heriot Row are now, and “many still
alive,” says Chambers, writing in 1824, “remember
of the fields bearing as fair and rich a crop of
wheat as they may now be said to bear houses.
Game used to be plentiful upon these groundsin
particular partridges and hares . . . . . Woodcocks
and snipe were to be had in all the damp
and low-lying situations, such as the Well-house
Tower, the Hunter’s Bog, and the borders of
Canon Mills Loch. Wild ducks were frequently
shot in the meadows, where in winter they are
sometimes yet to be found. Bruntsfield Links,
and the ground towards the Braid Hills abounded
in hares.”
In the list of Fellows of the Royal College of
Surgeons, Alexander Wood and his brother Thomas
are recorded, under date 1756 and 1715 respectively,
as the sons of “Thomas Wood, farmer on
the north side of Edinburgh, Stockbridge Road,“
now called Church Lane.
A tradition exists, that about 1730 the magistrates
offered to a residenter in Canon Mills all the
ground between Gabriel’s Road and the Gallowlee,
in perpetual fee, at the annual rent of a crown
bowl of punch; but so worthless was the land then,
producing only whim and heather, that the offer
was rejected. (L‘ Old Houses in Edinburgh.”)
The land referred to is now worth more than
A15,ooo per annum. .
Prior to the commencement of the new town,
the only other edifices. on the site were the Kirkbraehead
House, Drumsheugh House, near the old
Ferry Road, and the Manor House of Coates.
Drumsheugh House, of which nothing now remains
but its ancient rookery in Randolph Crescent,
was removed recently. Therein the famous
Chevaliei Johnstone, Assistant A.D.C. to Prince
Charles; was concealed for a time by Lady Jane
Douglas, after the battle of Culloden, till he escaped
to England, in the disguise of a pedlar.
Alexander Lord Colville of Culross, a distinguished
Admiral of the White, resided there s u b
sequently. He served at Carthagena in 1741, at
Quebec and Louisbourg in the days of Wolfe, and
died at Drumsheugh on the zIst of May, 1770.
His widow, Lady Elizabeth Erskine, daughter of
Alexander Earl of Kellie, resided there for some
years after, together with her brother, the Honourable
Andrew Erskine, an officer of the old 71st,
disbanded in 1763, an eccentric character, who
figures among Kay’s Portraits, and who in
1793 was drowned in the Forth, opposite Caroline
Park. Lady Colville died at Drumsheugh in
the following year, when the house and lands
thereof reverted to her brother-in-law, John Lord
Colville of Culross. And so lately as 1811 the
mansion was occupied by James Erskine, Esq.,.
of Cambus.
Southward of Drumsheugh lay Bearford’s Parks,.
mentioned as “ Terras de Barfurd ” in an Act in.
favour of Lord Newbattle in 1587, named from
Hepburn of Bearford in Haddingtonshire.
In 1767 the Earl of Morton proposed to have a
wooden bridge thrown across the North Loch
from these parks to the foot of Warriston’s Close, but
the magistrates objected, on the plea that the property
at the dose foot was worth A20,ooo. The
proposed bridge was to be on a line with “the
highest level ground of Robertson’s and Wood’s
Farms.” In the Edinburgh Adnediser for 1783
the magistrates announced that Hallow Fair was
to be “held in the Middle Bearford’s Park.”
Lord Fountainhall, under dates 1693 and 1695,
records a dispute between Robert Hepburn of
Bearford and the administrators of Heriot’s hospital,
concerning “the mortified annual rents
acclaimed out of his tenement in Edinburgh, called
the Black Turnpike,” and again in 1710, of an
action he raised against the Duchess of Buccleuch,
in which Sir Robert Hepburn of Bearford,
in I 633, is referred to, all probably of the same family.
The lands and houses of Easter and Wester](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v3p127.gif "Volume 3 Page 115")
... Town.] ’ . WOOD’S FARM. 11.5
Lang Dykes; by the old Queensferry Road that
I descended into the deep ...
Vol. 3 p. 115 (Rel. 0.33)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Arthur’s L t .
General Robert Skene, the Adjutant-General there,
summoned all the ...
Vol. 4 p. 309 (Rel. 0.33)
![High Street.] HOUSE OF THE ABBOTS OF MELROSE. 253
CHAPTER XXX.
THE HIGH STREET (caitfirzued).
Dickson’s and Cant’s Closes-The House of the “ Scottish Hogarth ” and the Knight of Tillybole-Rosehaugh’s, or Strichen’s, Close-House 01
the Abbots of Melrose-Sir Georye Yaclteuzie of Rosehaugh-Lady h n e Dick-Lord Strichen-The hlanncls of 1730-Pmvost Grieve-
John Dhu, Corporal of the City Guard-Lady Lovat’s Land-Walter Chnpman, Printer-Lady Lovat.
DICKSON’S CLOSE, numbered as 118, below the
modern Niddry Street, gave access to a handsome
and substantial edifice, supposed to be the work of
that excellent artificer Robert Mylne, who built the
modern portion of Holyrood and s3 rnacy houses
of an improved character in the city about the time
of the Revolution. Its earlier occupants are unknown,
but herein dwelt David Allan, known as
the “ Scottish Hogarth,” a historical painter of
undoubted genius, who, on the death of hlexander
Runciman, in 1786, was appointed director and
master of the academy established by the board of
trustees for manufacturers in Scotland.
While resident in Dickson’s Close he published,
in 1788, an edition of the “Gentle Shepherd,” with
characteristic etchings, and, some time after, a collection
of the most humorous old Scottish songs with
similar drawings ; these, with his illustrations of
“ The Cottar’s Saturday Night ” and the satire,
humour, and spirit of his other etchings in aquatinta,
won him a high reputation as a successful
delineator of character and nature. His drawing
classes met in the old college, but he received
private pupils at his house in Dickson’s Close after
his marriage, on the 15th November, 1788. His
terms were, as advertised in the Nucz~ry, one
guinea per month for three lessons in the week,
which in those simple days would restrict his pupils
to the wealthy and fashionable class of sqciety.
He died at Edinburgh on the 6th of August, 1796.
Lower down the close, on the same side, a
quaint old tenement, doomed to destruction by the
Improvements Act, 1867, showed on the coved bedcorbel
of its crowstepped gable the arms of Haliburton,
impaled with another coat armorial, with
the peculiar feature of a double window corbelled
out ; and in a deed extant, dated 1582, its first proprietor
is named Master James Haliburton. Afterwards
it was the residence of Sir John Haliday, of
Tillybole, and formed a part of Cant’s Close.
Its appearance in 1868 has been preserved to us
by R. Chambers, in a brief description in his
‘‘ Traditions . ” According to this authority: it was
two storeys in height, the second storey being
reached by an outside stair, within a small courtyard,
which had originally been shut by a gate.
The stone pillars of the gateway were decorated
with balls at the top, after the fashion of entrances
to the grounds of a country mansion. It was a
picturesque building in the style of the sixteenth
century in Scotland. As it resembled a neat oldfashioned
country house, it was odd to find it
jammed up amid the tall edifices of this confined
alley. Ascending the stair, the interior consisted
of three or four apartments, with elaborately-carved
stucco ceilings. The principal room had a double
window on the west to Dickson’s Close.
In 1735 this mansion was the abode of Robert
Geddes, Gird of Scotstoun in Peeblesshire, who sold
it to George Wight, a burgess of Edinburgh, after
which it became deteriorated, and its stuccoed
apartments, froin the attics to the ground floor,
became each the dwelling of a separate family, and
a scene of squalor and wretchedness.
A considerable portion of the edifices in Cant’s
Close mere once ecclesiastical, and belonged to
the prebendaries of the collegiate church, founded
at Ciichton in 1449, by Sir William Crichton of
that ilk, Lord High Chancellor of Scotland.
In Kosehaugh’s Close, now called Strichen’s, the
next alley on the east, was the town-house of the
princely mitred abbots of Melrose. In Catholic
times the great dignitaries of the church had all
their houses in Edinburgh ; the Archbishop of St.
dndrews resided at the foot of Blackfriars Wynd ;
the Bishop of Dunkeld in the Cowgate ; the Abbot
of Dunfermline at the Netherbow ; the Abbot of
Cambuskenneth in the Lawnmarket ; and the Abbot
of Melrose in the close we have named, and his
“ludging” had a garden which extend’ed down to
the Cowgate, and up the opposite slope on the
west side of the Pleasance, within the city wall.
The house of the abbot, a large and massive
building enclosing a small square or court in the
centre of it, was entered from Strichen’s Close.
‘‘ The whole building has evidently undergone
great alterations,’’ says the description of it written
in 1847; “a carved stone bears a large and very
boldlycut shield, with two coats of arms impaled,
and the date 1600. There seems no reason to
doubt, however, that the main portion of the
abbot’s residence still remains. The lower storey is
strongly vaulted, and is evidently the work of an
early date. The smalrquadrangle also is quite in
character with the period assumed for the building;
and at its north-west angle is Cant’s Close,](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v2p073.gif "Volume 2 Page 253")
... Street.] HOUSE OF THE ABBOTS OF MELROSE. 253
CHAPTER XXX.
THE HIGH STREET (caitfirzued).
Dickson’s and ...
Vol. 2 p. 253 (Rel. 0.33)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. rLeith
He adds that the most striking feature is the
curiously decorated doorway, an ...
Vol. 6 p. 221 (Rel. 0.33)
... of the name from Mollance to Mince, or
Mons Meg, was quite natural to the Scots, who
sink tlie l’s in ...
Vol. 1 p. 75 (Rel. 0.33)
... 99 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH.
. Stirling-Maxwell, Sir Wm., 11. 86,
. Stitchill, Laird of I. 169
.Stockbridge, 11. ...
Vol. 6 p. 390 (Rel. 0.33)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [St. Mary’s Wynd.
the maintenance of the beads-+eople of that hospital ;
and every ...
Vol. 2 p. 298 (Rel. 0.32)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [The Water of Leith.
~ ‘‘ Raeburn married Ann Edgar, daughter of Peter
Edgar, Esq., ...
Vol. 5 p. 76 (Rel. 0.32)
![Leith.] SCENES UN THE LINKS. 263
a teacher of fencing and cock-fighting in Edinburgh,
published an “ Essay on the Innocent and Royal
Recreation and Art of Cocking,” from which it
may be learned that he it was who introduced it
intQ the metropolis of Scotland, and entered into
it con amot-e.
“I am not ashamed to declare to the world,”
he wrote, “that I have a specialveneration and
esteem for those gentlemen, without and about this
city; who have entered in society for propagating
and establishing the royal recreation of cocking, in
order to which they have already erected a cockpit
in the Links of Leith; and I earnestly wish
that their generous and laudable example may be
imitated in that degree that, in cock-war, village
may be engaged against village, city against city,
kingdom against kingdom-nay, father against son
-until all the wars in Europe, where so much
Christian blood is spilt, may be turned into the
innocent pastime of cocking.”
This barbarous amusement was long a fancy of
the Scottish people, and the slain buds and fugies
(or cravens) became a perquisite of the village
schoolmaster.
On the 23rd of December, 1729, the Hon. Alexander,
Elphinstone (before mentioned), who was
leading a life of idleness and pleasure in Leith,
while his brother was in exile, met a Lieutenant
Swift, of Lord Cadogan’s regiment (latterly the 4th
or King‘s Own), at the house of Mr. Michael
Watson, in Leitk
Some hot words had arisen between them, and
Elphinstone rose haughtily to depart ; but before he
went he touched Swift on the shoulder with the
point of his sword, and intimated that he expected
to receive satisfaction next morning on the Links.
Accordingly the two met at eleven in the forenoon,
and in this comparatively public place (as it
appears now) fought a duel with their swords.
Swift received a mortal wound in the breast, and
expired.
For this, Alexander Elphinstone was indicted
before the High Court of Justiciary, but the case
never came on for trial, and he died without
molestation at his father’s house in Coatfield Lane,
three years after. Referring to his peaceful sport
with Captain Porteous, the author of the “ Domestic
Annals ” says “ that no one could have imagined,
as that cheerful game was going on, that both the
players were not many years after to have blood
upon their hands, one of them to take on the murderer‘
s mark upon this very field.”
Several military executions have taken placethere,
and among them we may note two.
The first recorded is that of a drummer, who was
shot there on the 23rd of February, 1686, by sentence
of a court-martial, for having, it was alleged,
said that he ‘‘ had it in his heart to run his sword
through any Papist,” on the occasion when the Foot
Guards and other troops, under General Dalzell and
the Earl of Linlithgow, were under arms to quell the
famous “Anti-Popish Riot,” made by the students
of the university.
One of the last instances was in 1754.
On the 4th of November in that year, John
Ramsbottom and James Burgess, deserters from
General the Hon. James Stuart’s regiment (latterly
the 37th Foot), were escorted from Edinburgh
Cast19 to Leith Links to be shot. The former
suffered, but the latter was pardoned.
His reprieve from death was only intimated to
him when he had been ordered to kneel, and the
firing’ party were drawn up with their arms m
readiness. The shock so affected him that he
fainted, and lay on the grass for some time
motionless ; but the temble lesson would seem to
have been given to him in vain, as in the Scots
Magazine for the same year and month it is announced
that “James Burgess, the deserter so
lately pardoned when on his knees to be shot, was
so far from being reformed by such a near view of
death, that immediately after he was guilty of theft,
for which he received a thousand lashes on the
parade in the Castle of Edinburgh, on November
zznd, and was drummed out of the regiment with
a rope round his neck.”
During the great plague of 1645 the ailing were
hutted in hundreds on the Links, and under its
turf their bones lie in numbers, as they were interred
where they died, with their blankets as
shrouds. Balfour, in his “ Annales,” records that
in the same year the people of Leith petitioned
Parliament, in consequence of this fearful pest, to
have 500 bolls of meal for their poor out of the
public magazines, which were accordingly given,
and a subscription was opened for them in certain
shires.
A hundred years afterwards saw the same ground
studded with the tents of a cavalry camp, when,
prior to the total rout of the king’s troops at
Prestonpans, Hamilton’s Dragoons (now the 14th
Hussars) occupied the Links, from whence theymarched,
by the way of Seafield and the Figgate
Muir, to join Sir John Cope.
During the old war with France the Links were
frequently adopted as a kind of Campus Marrius
for the many volunteer corps :hen enrolled in the
vicinity.
On the 4th of June, 1797, they had an unusual
display in honour of the king’s birthday and the](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v6p082.gif "Volume 6 Page 263")
... SCENES UN THE LINKS. 263
a teacher of fencing and cock-fighting in Edinburgh,
published an “ Essay on ...
Vol. 6 p. 263 (Rel. 0.32)
![Leith] CAPTAIN PALLISER’S CONTUMACY. 277
to-morrow ; the sailors belonging to the said ships
are to repair on board, under penalty of loss of
wages and imprisonment as deserters. Thir presents
to be published by tuck of drumme through
Leith, that none may pretend ignorance. (‘ WALTER SCOTTE, B.”
In 1752 the vessels of Leith amounted to sixtyeight,
with a tonnage of 6,935; and two years subsequently
we find an attempt upon the part of a
captain in the royal navy there to defy the Scottish
Court of Admiralty in the roads and harbour.
Captain (aflerwards Sir Hugh) Palliser, when
captain of H.M.S. Seahorse, in consequence of a
petition presented to the Judge of the High Court
of Admiralty, 20th March, 1754, by Thomas ROSS,
master, and Murdoch Campbell, owner of the
Scottish ship CumberZand, of Thurso, was served
with a notice to deliver up James Cormick, apprentice
to the former, whom he had taken on board
as a seaman.
Accordingly, by order of the judge, the macers
of court, messengers-at-arms, and other officials,
repaired on board the Seahorse, at the anchorage in
Leith, to bring off James Cormick; “and the said
Captain Hugh Palliser, and the other officers and
sailors on board the said shipof-war Seahorre,” ran
the warrant, “are hereby ordered to be assisting”
in putting it into execution, at their highest peril.
(‘ All others, shipmasters, sailors, and others his
Majesty’s .subjects,” were ordered to assist also, at
their utmost peril.
James Lindsay, Admiralty macer, served this
notice upon Captain Palliser, who foolishly and
haughtily replied that he was subject to the laws
of England only, and would not send Cormick
ashore. (‘ Upon which,” as the execution given
into court bears, ‘( I (James Lindsay) declared he
had contemned the law, was guilty of a deforcement,
and that he should be liable accordingly, having
my blazon on my breast, and broke my wand of
peace.’’
On this, a warrant was issued to apprehend the
commander of the Seahorse, and commit him to
the next sure prison (i.e. the Tolbooth of Leith), but
the captain having gone to Edinburgh, on the 26th
of March he was seized and placed in the Heart of
Midlothian, and brought before the High Court of
Admiralt), next day.
‘ There he denied that its jurisdiction extended
over a king’s ship, or over himself personally, or any
man in the Seahorse, especially an enlisted sailor ;
and maintained that the court, by attempting to do
so, assumed a right competent to the Lords of the
Admiralty alone ; ‘( and by your imprisoning me,”
he added, (( for not delivering up one of the king‘s
sailors, you have suspended my commission from
the Lord High Admiral, and disabled me from
executing the orders with which I am charged as
commander of one of the king’s ships.”
This only led to the re-commitment of the contumacious
captain, till he (‘found caution to obtemper
(sic) the Judge Admiral’s warrant, in case it should
be found by the Lords that he ought to do so.”
He was imprisoned for six weeks, until the apprentice
was put on shore. On this matter, Lord
Hardwicke, who was then Lord Chancellor, remarked
that the Scottiah Admiralty judge was a
bold one, “but that what he had done was
right.”
Captain Palliser, on his return to England,
threatened to make the frauds on the revenue a
matter for Parliamentary investigation, if not attended
to, And the ministry then enftrced the duties
upon claret, which, before this time, had been
drunk commonly even by Scottish artisans.
This officer afterwards behaved with great bravery
at Newfoundland, in 1764 ; and on attaining the
rank of Admiral of the White, was created a
baronet, and died governor of Greenwich Hospital
in 1796.
In 1763 the shore dues at Leith had increased to
A580. The Scots’ Magazine for December, 1769,
states that, “take one year with another, about
1,700 vessels are cleared out and in yearly at Leith.
Some days ago an acute merchant took a serious
view of the shipping in the harbour of Leith, and
reckoned upon a calculation that there would be
between 30,000 and 35,000 tonnage at one and the
same time mooring there.” This seems barely
probable.
In 17 7 I we meet with an indication of free trade,
when the Court of Session, upon the application
of the merchants of Edinburgh, ordered the port
of Leith, and all other Scottish ports, to be open
for the free importation of grain of all kinds.
Arnot states that in the year ending January
sth, 1778, there were, in Leith, 52 foreign ships,
6,800 tons, and 428 men ; 44 coasting and fishing
ships, 3,346 tons, and 281 men. Five years sub.
sequently, the shore dues were f;4,ooo; but in
that year there was only one vessel trading with
St. Petersburg. She made but one voyage yearly,
and never carried tallow if any other freight could
be obtained Now the sailing vessels make three
voyages to the same port annually.
In 1791 there was a proposal to form a jointstock
company, to cut a canal from Leith to the
middle ward of Lanarkshire.
The tonnage in 1792 had increased to 18,468.
In the same year, when those Radicals who](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v6p096.gif "Volume 6 Page 277")
... CAPTAIN PALLISER’S CONTUMACY. 277
to-morrow ; the sailors belonging to the said ships
are to repair on ...
Vol. 6 p. 277 (Rel. 0.32)
... OLD AND NEW' EDINBURGH.
'Plague in Leith, The 111. 180,186
Plainstane's close ~ i . ...
Vol. 6 p. 386 (Rel. 0.32)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Hope Park.
British House of Lords, would have left the fortress
of honours and of ...
Vol. 4 p. 350 (Rel. 0.32)
![The Mound.] THE SCOTTISH GALLERY. 89 -
seen Sir Noel Paton’s two wonderful pictures of
Oberon and Titania; others by Erskine Nicol,
Herdman, Faed, W. Fettes, Douglas, James Drummond,
Sir George Harvey, Horatio Macculloch,
R. S. Lauder, Roberts, Dyce, and Etty, from whose
brush there are those colossal paintings of U Judith
with the Head of Holofernes ’’ and “The Woman
Interceding for the Vanquished.”
Among the many fine paintings bequeathed to
this Scottish Gallery is Gainsborough’s celebrated
portrait of hfrs. Graham, depicting a proud and
are outlined ; and the great and accurately detailed
picture of the battle of Bannockburn.
There is a small full-length picture of Bums,
painted by Nasmyth, as a memento of the poet,
and another by the same artist, presented by the
poet’s son, Colonel W. Nicol Burns, and a fine
portrait of Sir John Moore, the property of the
officers of the Black Watch,
The choice collection of water colours embraces
some of the best works of I‘ Grecian ” Rilliams ;
a series of drawings bequeathed to the Gallery
INTERIOR OF THE NATIONAL GALLERY.
beautiful girl, grief for whose death in early fife
caused her husband, the future Lord Lynedoch,
“the hero of Earossa,” to have it covered up that
he might never look upon it again. There are
also some beautiful and delicate works by Greuze,
the gift of Lzdy Murray ; and one by Thomson of
Duddingstone, presented by Lady Stuart of
Allanbank ; and Landseer’s I‘ Rent Day in the
Wilderness,” a Jacobite subject, bequeathed by
the late Sir Roderick Murchison, Bart.
Not the least interesting works here are a few
that were among the last touched by deceased
artists, and left unfinished on their easels, such as
Wilkie’s “John Knox Dispensing the Sacrament
at Calder House,” of which a few of the faces alone
00
by Mr. Scott, including examples of Robert
Cattermole, Collins, Cox, Girtin, Prout, Nash,
and Cnstall; and a set of studies of the most
striking peculiarities of the Dutch, Spanish, Venetian,
and Flemish schools. Of great interest, too,
are the waxen models by Michael Angelo.
The Gallery also contains a collection of
marbles and bronzes, bequeathed by Sir James
Erskine of Tome, and a cabinet of medallion
portraits and casts fnm gems, by James and
William Tassie, the celebrated modellers, who,
though born of obscure parents in Renfrewshire,
acquired such fame and reputation that the first
cabinets in Europe were open to their use.
The Royal Scottish Academy of Painting and](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v3p101.gif "Volume 3 Page 89")
... Mound.] THE SCOTTISH GALLERY. 89 -
seen Sir Noel Paton’s two wonderful pictures of
Oberon and Titania; ...
Vol. 3 p. 89 (Rel. 0.32)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [High Stmt.
were also struck some very small copper coins
called pennies, worth ...
Vol. 2 p. 270 (Rel. 0.32)
![High Street.] BISHOP KENNEDY. 241
counsellor of James 11. and James 111. The
building indicated as having been his residence is
a large stone tenement of great antiquity on the
east side, having thereon a coat of arms and a
mitre, which were removed a few years ago ; and
our best antiquary asserts that ‘‘ the whole appearance
of the building is perfectly consistent with
the supposition” that it had been Bishop Kennedy’s
abode. “ The form and decorations of the
doorways all prove an early date ; while the large
“A large and convenient house, entering by a
close mostly paved with flagstones, on the north
side of the street near the Nether Bow, consisting
of eight rooms, painted last year, or papered, some
with Chinese paper ; a marble chimney-piece from
the ceiling in one, concaves and slabes (sic) two
other of the rooms ; the drawing-room elegantly
fitted up, painted, gilded, and carved in the newest
style, with light closets to all the bed-rooms and
other conveniences to the dining-room and parlour ;
HOUSE IN HIGH STREET WITH MEMORIAL WINDOW, I‘ HEAVE AWA, LADS, I’M NO DEID YET !”
and elegant mouldings of the windows, and the
massive appearance of the whole building, indicate
such magnificence as would well consort with the
dignity of the primacy at that early period.”
Bishop Kennedy, author of a history of his
own times, now lost, died in 1466, and was interred
at St. Andrews.
. Baron Grant’s and Bailie Grant’s Closes were
among the last alleys on this side, adjoining the
Nether Bow Port. An advertisement in the Edinburgh
Cvurani for 1761, in describing the house of
Mr. Grant (who was a Baron of the Exchequer
Court) as offered for sale, gives us a pretty accurate
idea of what a mansion in the Old Town was in
those days :-
31
wine cellar and large kitchen, a coal-fauld, fire-room
for servants, and larder; a hen-house and cribbs,
for feeding all sorts of fowls ; a house for a sedanchair;
a rack to contain 10 gross of bottles, all
built and slated; a garden extending down the
greatest part of Leith Wynd, planted with flowering
shrubs, and servitude for a separate entry to it,
passing by the gate of Lord Edgefield’s house.”
The garden referred to must have been bounded
by the massive portion of the eastern wall of the
city, which fell down about twenty years ago ; and
the Lord Edgefield, whose neighbour the Baron
had been, was Mr. Robert Pringle, who was raised
to the Bench in 1754, and, dying ten years after,
was succeeded by the well-known Lord Pitfour.](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v2p061.gif "Volume 2 Page 241")
... Street.] BISHOP KENNEDY. 241
counsellor of James 11. and James 111. The
building indicated as having been ...
Vol. 2 p. 241 (Rel. 0.32)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [North Bridge.
amounted to twenty-three persons, including lettercarriers.
Ten years ...
Vol. 2 p. 358 (Rel. 0.32)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. IArgyle square.
Many professors succeeded Blair as tenants of
the same house; among ...
Vol. 4 p. 272 (Rel. 0.32)
... OF ILLUSTRATIONS .
--c-
THE OLD CHURCH OF ST . CUTHBERT’S AND THE NORTH LOCH (after CZffSh of ...
Vol. 2 p. 392 (Rel. 0.31)
... Some have derived it from Coire, a hollow,
stoir, wet steps, and eitherjonn, white, orfein, ...
Vol. 5 p. 113 (Rel. 0.31)
... will, in a short space, run a great length. I desire
you may disperse this news abroad, if it be not in ...
Vol. 1 p. 62 (Rel. 0.31)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Gasford’s Close.
BELOW the scene of this tragedy opened Gosford’s
Close (in. the ...
Vol. 1 p. 118 (Rel. 0.31)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Leith .
choice of the inhabitants whether they will make
their dwelling where they do ...
Vol. 5 p. 186 (Rel. 0.31)
![High Street.] THE REGENT MORTON. 259
the king‘s chamber j the lie was given, and a somewhat
ribald altercation followed, but nothing occurred
for nearly three weeks after, till Sir William
Stewart, when coming down the High Street with
a party of his friends, met Bothwell, accompanied
by the Master of Gray and others, going up.
A collision between two such parties was inevitable,
and, in the spirit of the times, unavoidable.
Sword and dagger were instantly resorted to, and
in the general fight Sir William Stewart slew a friend
of Bothwell’s, but in doing so lost his sword, and,
being defenceless, was compelled to fly into
Blackfriars Wynd. Thither the vengeful Bothwell
pursued him ; and as he stood unarmed against a
wall, “strake him in at the back and out at the
belly, and killed him.”
For this Bothwell found it necessary to keep
out of the way only for a few days ; and such
events so commonly occurred, that it is not curious
to find the General Assembly, exactly a week
after this combat, proceeding qnietly with the
usual work of choosiiig a Moderator, providing for
ministers, and denouncing Popery, exactly as they
do in the reign of Queen Victoria.
The next most remarkable event was in 1668,
when, on Saturday the 9th of July, James Sharpe,
Archbishop of St. Andrews, whose residence was
then in the Wynd, so narrowly escaped assassination.
His apostacy from the Covenant, and unrelenting
persecution of his former compatriots, its adherents,
had roused the bitterness of the people against
him. He was seated in his coach, at the head of
the Wynd, waiting for Andrew Honeyman, Bishop
of Orkney, when Mitchell, a fanatical assassin and
preacher, and bosom friend of the infamous Major
Weir, with whom he was then boarding in the
house of Mrs. Grise1 Whiteford in the Cowgate,
fired a pistol at the primate, but, missing him,
dangerously wounded the Bishop of Orkney. He
was immediately seized, and, with little regard
to morality or justice, put to the torture, without
eliciting any confession ; . and after two years
seclusion on the Bass Rock, he was brought to
Edinburgh in 1676, and executed in the Grassmarket,
to strike terror into the Covenanters ; but
history has shown that their hearts never knew
what terror was.
Sir William Honeyman, Bart., Lord Armadale in
1797, was the fourth in descent from the bishop
who was wounded on this occasion by a poisoned
bullet, as it is affirmed.
While much of the west side of Blackfriars
Wynd was left standing, the east, in the city improvements,
was completely swept away. On the
latter side, near the head of the wynd, was a
house with a decorated lintel, inscribed-IN. THE.
LORD. IS. MY. nom. 1564. The ground floor of
it consisted of one great apartment, the roof or
ceiling of which was upheld by a massive stone
column. This hall formed the meeting-place of
those who adhered to the Covenanted Kirk, after
the Revolution of 1688, and was long known as
“ The Auld Cameronian Meeting-house,” and in
the upper storey thereof tradition alleges that
Nicol Muschat, the murderer, lived, when a student‘
attending the university.
On the west side of the Wynd was the ancient
residence of the Earls of Morton, with a handsome
ogee door-head and elaborate mouldings, shafted
jambs, and in the tympanum of the lintel a
coroneted shield supported by unicorns, though
the arms of the family have always had two savages,
or wild men, hence the edifice is supposed to be of a
date anterior to the days of the Regent. Yet it is
distinctly described, in a disposition by Archibald
Douglas younger of Whittinghame, as “ that tenement
which was sometime the Earl of Morton’s,’’
from which, according to Wilson, it may be inferred
to have been the residence of his direct ancestor,
John second Earl of Morton, who sat in the Parliament
of James IV. in 1504, and whose grandson,
William Douglas of Whittinghame, was created
a senator of the College of Justice in 1575.
Tradition has unvaryingly alleged this house to
have been that of the Regent Morton, in those
days when the king‘s men and queen’s men were
fighting all over the city, and Kirkaldy of Grange
was bent upon driving him out of it ; and here no
doubt it was that he had his body-guard, which
was commanded by Alexander Montgomery the
poet, whom Melvil in his diary mentions as
“Captain Montgomery, a good honest man, and
the Regent‘s domestic ; ” and the house is often
referred to, during the, civil wars of that period,
before he attained the Regency.
While Lennox was in office, Morton projected
the assassination of the Laird of Drumquhasel, whom
the former confined to his residence in Leith as a
protection. This Morton deemed an affront to
himself, and prepared to leave Leith and the king‘s
standard together. ‘‘ Alarmed .by the probable
loss of the most influential earl of the house of
Douglas, the weak Regent, affecting to be ignorant
of his wrathful intentions, sent a servant to acquaint
him that ‘he meant to dine with him that day,’
‘ I am sorry I cannot have the high honour of his
lordship’s company,’ replied the haughty earl ; ‘ my
business is pressing, and obliges me to leave Leith
without even bidding him adieu.’ Lennox was](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v2p079.gif "Volume 2 Page 259")
... Street.] THE REGENT MORTON. 259
the king‘s chamber j the lie was given, and a somewhat
ribald altercation ...
Vol. 2 p. 259 (Rel. 0.31)
![1628, by numerous wooden booths being stuck up
all around it, chiefly between the buttresses, some
of which were actually cut away for this ignoble
purpose, while the lower tracery of the windows
was destroyed by their lean-to roofs, just as we
may see still in the instance of many churches
in Belgium. These wretched edifices were called
the Krames, yet, as if to show that some reverence
was still paid to the sanctity of the place, the
Town Council decreed, ‘‘ that no tradesman should
be admitted to these shops except bookbinders,
mortmakers (i.e. watchmakers)] jewellers, and goldsmiths.”
“ Bookbinders,” says Robert Chambers,
“must be in this instance meant to signify booksellers,
the latter term being then unknown in
Scotland ;” but within the memory of many still
Displaying double-beaded winged dmgons clustering round a central rose with the hook of the altar lam?.
Sanction was given in the early part of 1878
by the municipal authorities for extensive restorations,
to be conducted in a spirit and taste un
known to thebarbarous “improvers” of 1829. At
the head of the restoration committee was placed
Dr. Rilliam Chambers, the well-known publisher
and author. According to the plans laid before
it, the last of the temporary partitions were to be
removed, the rich-shaped pillars embedded therein
to be uncovered and restored ; the galleries and
pews swept away, when the church will assume its
old cruciform aspect. “ By these operations the
Montrose aisle will be uncovered, and form an
interesting historical object. Provision is made
for the Knights of the Thistle, if they should desire
it, erecting their stalls, as is done by the Knights of
east angle of the church. Another account says
they were named from the infamous Lady March,
wife of the Earl of Arran, the profligate chancellor
of James VI., from whom the nine o’clock bell
was also named “The Lady Bell,” as it was rung
an hour later to suit herself. An old gentlewoman
mentioned in the ‘‘ Traditions of Edinburgh,” who
died in 1802, was wont to own that she had, in
her youth, seen both the sfdtue and the steps ; but
it is extremely unlikely that the former would
escape the iconoclasts of 1559, who left the church
almost a ruin.
But time has accomplished a change that John
Knox and “Jenny Geddes” could fittle foresee !
was ordered for the church. “The instrument,”
says the Scofsmzn, “consists of two full manuals
and a pedal organ of full compass. The great
organ contains eleven stops, and one of sixteen
feet in metal. There are eleven stops in the
swell organ, and one of sixteen feet in wood.
The pedal organ contains five stops, including two
of sixteen feet in wood, and one of sixteen feet in
metal. In the great organ there is to be a silver
clarionet of eight feet; a patent pneumatic action
is fitted to the keys, and the organ will be blown
by a double cylinder hydraulic engine.”
In its most palmy days old St. Gilas’s couldnevei
boast of such “a kist 0’ whistles ” as this !](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v1p159.gif "Volume 1 Page 147")
... by numerous wooden booths being stuck up
all around it, chiefly between the buttresses, some
of which were ...
Vol. 1 p. 147 (Rel. 0.31)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Parliament HOUSC
to the High Street scarcely one stone was left
upon another.
‘( ...
Vol. 1 p. 162 (Rel. 0.31)
... City Cross. J EXECUTIONS AT. THE CITY CROSS. ‘5‘
It flits, expands, and 2 hifts, till loud
From midmost ...
Vol. 1 p. 151 (Rel. 0.31)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH., [The Mound.
THE NATIONAL GALLERY.
CHAPTER XIII.
THE MOUND (concluded).
The Art ...
Vol. 3 p. 88 (Rel. 0.31)
... PGrt.1 THE LAWSONS. 22;
of Cromwell, expelled the General Assembly from
Edinburgh, literally drumming the ...
Vol. 4 p. 223 (Rel. 0.3)
![238 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Leith.
-to hir lovite suitore, Johne Chisholme, his airis and
. assignais, all and hailk hir lands callit the King’s
Werk in Leith, within the boundis specifit in the
infeftment maid to him thairupon, quhilkis than
-war alluterlie decayit, and sensyne are reparit and
re-edifit, he the said Johne Chisholnie, to the policy
.and great decoration of this realme, in that office,
place, and sight of all strangeris and utheris re-
- sortand to the Schore of Leith.”
In 1575 it had been converted into a hospital
- for the plague-stricken ; but when granted to Bernard
Lindsay in 1613, he was empowered to keep
four taverns in the buildings, together with the
tennis-court, for the then favourite pastime of
‘catchpel. It continued to be used for that purpose
till the year 1649, when it was taken pos-
2 session of by the magistrates of Edinburgh, and
. converted into a weigh-house.
“ In what part of the building Bemard Lindsay
commenced tavern-keeping we are unable to say,”
observes Campbell, in his “ History of Leith,” “ but
.are more than half disposed to believe it was that
old house which projects into Bernard Street, and
is situated nearly opposife the British Linen Com-
,pany’s Bank.” ‘‘ The house alluded to,” adds
Robertson on this, “has a carved stone in front,
representing a rainbow rising from the clouds, with
a date 165-, the last figure being obliterated, and
-can hatre no reference to Bernard Lindsay.”
The tennis-court of the latter would seem to have
been frequently patronised by the great Marquis of
Montrose in his youth, as in his ‘‘ Household Accounts,”
under date 1627, are the following entries
.(Mait. Club Edit.) :-
‘‘ Item to the poor, my Lord taking coch . . qs.
Item, carrying the graith to Leth . . . . 8s.
Item, to some poor there . . . . . . 3s
Item, to my Lord Nepar’s cochman . .
Item, for balls in the Tinnes Court of Leth..
. . 6s. Sd.
16s.”
The first memorial of Bernard Lindsay is in
the Parish Records ” of South Leith, and is dated
17th July, 1589 :-“ The quhilk days comperit
up Bemard Lindsay and Barbara Logan, and gave
their names to be proclamit and mareit, within
this date and Michaelmas.-JoHN LOGANE, Cautioper.”
Another record, 2nnd September, I 633, bears
that the Session “ allowis burial to Barbara Logane,
-.elict of Bernard Lindsaye, besyde her husbande in
the kirk-yeard, in contentation yairof, 100 merks to
be given to the poor.”
From Bernard Lindsay, the name of the present
Bernard Street is derived. Bernard’s Nook has
long been known. ‘‘ In the ‘ Council Records’ of
Edinburgh, 1647,” says Robertson, “is the following
entry :-‘ To the purchase of the Kingis Werk,
in Leith, 4,500 lib. Scot.’ A previous entry, 1627,
refers to dealing with the sons of Bernard Lindsay,
‘for their house in Leith to be a custom-house. . . .’
We have no record that any buildings existed beyond
the bounds of the walls or the present
Bernard Street at this time, the earliest dates on
the seaward part of the Shore being 1674-1681.”
The old Weigh-house, or Tron of Leith, stood
within Bernard’s Nook, on the west side of the
street ; but local, though unsupported, tradition
asserts that the original signal-tower and lighthouse
of Leith stood in the Broad Wynd.
Wilson thus refers to the relic of the Wark
already mentioned :-‘‘ A large stone panel, which
bore the date 1650-the year immediately succeeding
the appropriation of the King‘s Wark to
civic purposes-appeared in the north gable of the
old weigh-house, which till recently occupied its
site, with the curious device of a rainbow carved
in bold relief springing at either end from a bank
of clouds.”
“ So,” says Arnot, ‘‘ this fabric, which was reared
for the sports and recreations of a Court, was
speedily to be the scene of the ignoble labours of
carmen and porters, engaged in the drudgery of
weighing hemp and of iron.”
Eastward of the King’s Wark, between Bernard‘s
Street and chapel, lies the locality once so curiously
designated Little London, and which, according to
Kincaid, measured ninety feet from east to west,
by seventy-five broad over the walls. “ How it
acquired the name of Little London is now
unknown,” says Camphell, in his “ History ” ;
“but it was so-called in the year 1674, We do
not see, however,” he absurdly remarks, “that it
could have obtained this appellation from any
other circumstauce than its having had some
real or supposed resemblance to the [English]
metropolis.”
As the views preserved of Little London show it
to have consisted of only four houses or so, and
these of two storeys high, connected by a dead
wall with one doorway, facing Bemard Street in
1800, Campbell’s theory is untenable. It is much
more probable that it derived its name from being
the quarters or cantonments of those 1,500 English
soldiers who, under Sir Williani Drury, Marshal of
Berwick, came from England in April, 1573, to
assist the Regent Morton’s Scottish Companies in
the reduction of Edinburgh Castle. These men
departed from Leith on the 16th of the following
June, and it has been supposed that a few of them
may have been induced to remain, and the locality
thus won the name of Little London, in the same](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v6p057.gif "Volume 6 Page 238")
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Leith.
-to hir lovite suitore, Johne Chisholme, his airis and
. assignais, all and ...
Vol. 6 p. 238 (Rel. 0.3)
![Hogg was born on a farm near Ettrick Forest in Selkirk and baptized there on December 9. He had little education, and became a shepherd, living in grinding poverty hence his nickname, The Ettrick Shepherd. His employer, James Laidlaw of Blackhouse, seeing how hard he was working to improve himself, offered to help by making books available. Hogg used these to essentially teach himself to read and write (something he had achieved by the age of 14). In 1796 Robert Burns died, and Hogg, who had only just come to hear of him, was devastated by the loss. He struggled to produce poetry of his own, and Laidlaw introduced him to Sir Walter Scott, who asked him to help with a publication entitled The Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border. In 1801, Hogg visited Edinburgh for the first time. His own collection, The Mountain Bard, was published in 1807 and became a best-seller, allowing him to buy a farm of his own. Having made his name, he started a literary magazine, The Spy, and his epic story-poem, The Queen's Wake (the setting being the return to Scotland of Queen Mary (1561) after her exile in France), was published in 1813 and was another big success. William Blackwood recruited him for the Edinburgh Magazine, and he was introduced to William Wordsworth and several other well-known literary figures. He was given a farm by the Duke of Buccleuch, and settled down there for the rest of his life.
Hogg had already made his reputation as a prose writer with a practical treatise on sheep's diseases; and in 1824 his novel, The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner, was another major success. He became better known than his hero, Burns, had ever been.
Today, Hogg's poetry and essays are not as widely read as in his contemporary era. However "Justified Sinner" remains important and is now seen as one of the major Scottish novels of its time, and absolutely crucial in terms of exploring one of the key themes of Scottish culture and identity: Calvinism. In a 2006 interview with Melvyn Bragg for ITV1, Scottish novelist Irvine Welsh cited Hogg, especially "Justified Sinner" as a major influence on his writing.
[edit] Other works
The Forest Minstrel (1810) (poetry)
The Pilgrims of the Sun (1815) (poetry)
Brownie of Bodsbeck (1817) (novel)
Jacobite Reliques (1819) (collection of Jacobite protest songs)
The Three Perils of Man (1822) (novel)
The Three Perils of Woman (1923) (novel)
Queen Hynde (1925)) (poetry)
Songs by the Ettrick Shephard (1831) (songs/poetry)
The Brownie of the Black Haggs (1828) (short story/tale)
The Domestic Manner and Private Life of Sir Walter Scott (1834) ("unauthorised" biography)
Tales and Sketches of the Ettrick Shepherd (1837)[1]
[edit] Footnotes
^ Bibliographic information from:Bleiler](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v1p009.gif "Volume 1 Page ix")
... was born on a farm near Ettrick Forest in Selkirk and baptized there on December 9. He had little education, ...
Vol. 1 p. ix (Rel. 0.3)
![High Street.] EDINBURGH IN 1598 AND 1618. I99
is bought by courtiers, gentlemen, and the best
sort of citizens. They drink pure,aines, not with
sugar, as we English, yet at feasts they put comfits
in the wine, after the French manner; but they
had not our vintner’s fraud to mix their wines.
*‘ I did not see nor hear that they have any public
inns, with signs hanging out ; but the better sort of
‘ citizens brew ale (which will distemper a stranger’s
body), and then some citizens will entertain passengers
upon acquaintance or entreaty (i.e., introductioh).
Their bedsteads were then like cupboards
in the wall (i.e., box beds), to be opened and shut
at pleasure, so we climbed up to our beds. They
used but one sheet, open at the sides and top, but
close at the feet. When passengers go to bed, their
custom is to present them a sleeping cup of wine
at parting. The country people and merchants
used to drink largely, the gentlemen somewhat
more sparingly; yet the very courtiers, by nightmeetings
and entertaining any strangers, used to
drink healths, not without excess ; and to speak the
truth without offence, the excess of drinking was
far greater among the Scots than the English.
*‘ Myself being at the Court was invited by some
gentlemen to supper, and being forewarned to fear
this excess, would not promise to sup with them
but upon*condition that my inviter would be my
protection from large drinking. . . . The husbandmen
in Scotland, the servants, and almost all
the country, did wear coarse cloth made at home,
of grey or sky colour, and flat blew caps, very
broad. The merchants in cities were attired in
English or French cloth, of pale colour, or mingled
black and blew. The gentlemen did wear English
cloth or silk, or light stuffs, little or nothing adorned
with silk lace, much less with silver or gold ; and
all followed the French fashion, especially at
Court.
“Gentlewomen married did wear close upper
bodies, after the German manner, with large whalebone
sleeves, after the French manner; short
cloaks like the Germans, French hoods, and large
falling bands about their necks. The unmarried of
all sorts (?) did go bareheaded, and wear short
cloaks, with close linen sleeves on their arms, like
the virgins of Germany. The inferior sort of
citizen’s wives and the women of the country did
wear cloaks ,made of a coarse stuff, of two or three
colours, in checker work, vulgarly called jZodun
(i.e., tartan plaiding).
“To conclude, they would not at this time be
attired after the English fashion in any sort; but
the men, especially at Court, followed the French
fashion ; and the women, both in Court and city,
as well -in cloaks as naked heads and close
sleeves on the arms, and all other garments, follow
the fashion of the women in Germany.”
On the 20th of June, 1610, the Lord Provost of
Edinburgh exhibited to his Council two gowns, one
black, the other red, trimmed with sable, the gift
of King James, as patterns of the robes to be worn
by him and the bailies of the city; and in 1667
Charles 11. gave Sir Alexander Ramsay, Provost in
that year, a letter, stating that the chief magistrate
of Edinburgh should have the same precedence in
Scotland as the Mayor of London has in England,
and that no other provost should have the title of
‘I Lord Provost ”-a privilege which has, however,
since been modified.
l h e attention of King James, who never forgot
the interests of his native city, was drawn in 1618
to two abuses in its police. Notwithstanding the
warning given by the fire of 1584, it was still cus
tomary for “baxters and browsters” (i.e., bakers
and brewers) to keep great stacks of heather, whins,
and peatq in the very heart of the High Street and
other thoroughfares, to the great hazard of all adjacent
buildings, and many who were disposed to
erect houses within the walls were deterred from
doing so by the risks to be run ; while, moreover,
candle-makers and butchers were allowed to pursue
their avocations within the city, to the disgust and
annoeance of civil and honest neighbours, and of
the nobility and country people,” who came in
about their private affairs, and thus a royal procla-
.mation was issued against these abuses. The idea
of a cleaning department.of police never occurred
to the good folks of those days ; hence, in the following
year, the plan adopted was that each inhabitant
should keep clean that part of each street
before his own bounds.
In 1618 Edinburgh was visited by Taylor the
Water Poet, and his description of it is as truthful
as it is amusing :-“ So, leaving the castle, as it is
both defensive against any opposition and magnifick
for lodging and receipt, I descended lower to
the city, wherein I observed the fairest and goodliest
street mine eyes ever beheld, for I did
never see or hear of a street of that length (which
is half a mile English from the castle to a fair port,
which they call the Nether Bow); and from that
port the street which they call the Kenny-gate
(Canongate) is one quarter of a mile more, down
to the king’s palace, called Holyrood House ; the
buildings on each side of the way being all of
squared stone, five, six, and seven storeys high, and
many bye-lanes and closes on each side of the way,
wherein are gentlemen’s houses, much fairer than
the buildings in the High Street, fur in the High
Street the merchants and tradesmen. do dwell, but](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v2p019.gif "Volume 2 Page 199")
... Street.] EDINBURGH IN 1598 AND 1618. I99
is bought by courtiers, gentlemen, and the best
sort of citizens. ...
Vol. 2 p. 199 (Rel. 0.3)
... brave prince, demanded instant restitution, and,
at the head of an army, laid siege to the Normans
in the ...
Vol. 1 p. 18 (Rel. 0.3)
... of her chief intimates was the unfortunate
Lady Jane Douglas of Grantully, the heroine of
the long-contested ...
Vol. 2 p. 258 (Rel. 0.3)
... would ensure their total destruction, yet
he escaped them. Aware that a day of trial was
coming, and ...
Vol. 1 p. 33 (Rel. 0.3)
... cross was raised, " In memory of Colonel
Kenneth Douglas Mackenzie, C.B., who served for
forty-two ...
Vol. 1 p. 80 (Rel. 0.3)
... their stature and camage, all dressed in the
splendid, though formal, fashions of that ’ period,
and ...
Vol. 2 p. 233 (Rel. 0.3)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Lord Provosts.
burgh of great numbers of‘ His Majesty’s subjects
and strangers, ...
Vol. 4 p. 280 (Rel. 0.29)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Grassmarket.
Some English writers have denied that Henry
was ever in Edinburgh at any ...
Vol. 4 p. 234 (Rel. 0.29)
... BRUNSTANE HOUSE. I49
side of the streets when the cavalcade was to pass,
and through this flesh and blood ...
Vol. 5 p. 149 (Rel. 0.29)
![High Street.] SCOTTISH COINAGE. 269
~~ ~ ~ ~~~ ~ ~~~
crown for Mary of Guise, and inclosed with arches
the present crown of Scotland.
The early .gold coins of Mary‘s reign were of
native ore, and, during the minority of James VI.,
Cornelius de Vos, a Dutchman, who had licence to
seek for gold and silver, obtained considerable
quantities, according to the records relating to
mines and mining in Scotland, published by Mr.
Cochran-Patrick.
The oldest gold coin found in Scotland bears
- ~~
under pain of death. The coins current in Scotland
in the reign of James 111. were named the
demi, the lion, the groat of the crown, the groat
of the fleur-de-lis, the penny, farthing, and plack.
English coins were also current, but their value
was regulated by the estates. From “Miscelleanea
Scotica” we learn that in 1512 Sir Alexander
Napier of Merchiston found gold in the Pentland
Hills, and from the Balcarres MSS. (in the Advocates’
Library) he and his son figure conspicuously
3
2
RELICS OF THE OLD SCOTTISH MINT.
I, Delicate Set of Balances, 2, Dies ; 3, hnch : 4. Implements for Knarling the Coins : 5, Large Tiding-pin of the Great Door : 6, Roller for
Flattening the Silver; 7, Key of the Mint Door. (From Origiwlr am ia fhr ScottW Antiyuarzizn Musrum.)
the nameof Robert, but which of the three monarchs
so called is uncertain. Gold was not coined in
England till 1257. The first gold coins struck in
Scotland were of a broad surface and very thin.
There is some doubt about when copper coinage
was introduced, but in 1466, during the reign of
James III., an Act was passed to the effect that,
for the benefit 6f the poor, “there be cuinyied
copper money, four to the (silver) penny, having on
the one part the cross of St. Andrew and the crown,
and on the other part the subscription of Edinburgh,”
together with JAMES R.
The same monarch issued a silver coin containing
an alloy of copper, which went under the name
of black money, and to ensure the circulation of
this depreciated coin the parliament ordained that
no counterfeits of it be taken in payment, or used,
in connection With the Mint, of which the latter was
general for some years after 1592.
In 1572 the Regent Morton coined base money
in his castle at Dalkeith, and by proclamation
made it pass current for thrice its real value ; and
having got rid of it all in 1575, by paying workmen
in the repair of Edinburgh Castle and other public
places, he issued a council order reducing it to its
intrinsic value, an act of oppression which won him
the hatred of the people. In the reign of James
VI., all the silver coin, extending to two hundred
and eleven stone ten pounds in weight, was called
in, and a coin was issued from the Mint in Gray’s
Close, “in ten shilling pieces of eleven pennies
fine,” having on one side his effigywith the inscription,
JZZU~US YI., Da‘ Gratia Rex Scofomm,
on the other the royal arms, crowned. In hisreign](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v2p089.gif "Volume 2 Page 269")
... Street.] SCOTTISH COINAGE. 269
~~ ~ ~ ~~~ ~ ~~~
crown for Mary of Guise, and inclosed with arches
the ...
Vol. 2 p. 269 (Rel. 0.29)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [High Etreet.
the gentlemen’s mansions and goodliest houses are
obscurely founded in ...
Vol. 2 p. 200 (Rel. 0.29)
... THE LEITH RACE WEEK. 269
afterwards James VII., during the time he was
Royal Commissioner at Holyrood. ...
Vol. 6 p. 269 (Rel. 0.29)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Leith.
home. He not only took a deep interest in thes
matters, but he studied them ...
Vol. 6 p. 206 (Rel. 0.29)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Cowgate.
Mr. Andrew Anderson, printer to the King’s most
Excellent Majesty, for Mr. ...
Vol. 4 p. 256 (Rel. 0.29)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. nvarrender Pam.
gables, covered with masses of luxuriant ivy, surrounded
by fine old ...
Vol. 5 p. 46 (Rel. 0.29)
... from Restalrig, where it had been all hut
buried under the workshops of the North British
Railway ; but now ...
Vol. 4 p. 313 (Rel. 0.28)
... what was of old the open garden ground attached
t o the palace. The tradition of its having been
the Queen’s ...
Vol. 3 p. 41 (Rel. 0.28)
![The Cowpate.] TAM 0’ THE COWGATE. 259
derived from Dickson by the stars, according to
Nisbet in his “Heraldry.” A John Dickison of
Winkston, who was provost of Peebles, was assassin260
I
OLD AND NEW EDtNEURGH. [The Cowgate.
Full of years and honours, Tam 0’ the Cowgate
died in 1637. At Tynninghame, his family seat,
:here are two portraits of him preserved, and also
his state dress, in the crimson velvet breeches of
which there are no less than nine pockets. Among
many of his papers, which remain at Tynninghame
House, one contains a memorandum which throws
a curious light upon the way in which political
matters were then managed in Scotland. This
paper details the heads of a petition in his own
each way, and had a border of trees upon its east
and south sides. Latterly it bore the name of
Thomson’s Green, from the person to whom it
was leased by the Commissioners of Excise.
The Hammerman’s Close, Land, and Hall, adjoined
the site of this edifice on the westward.
The Land was in I 7 I I the abode of a man named
Anthony Parsons, among the last of those who
followed the ancient practice of vending quack
medicines on a public stage in the streets. In the
THE FRENCH AMBASSAUOR’S CHAPEL. (From a Drawing by W. Geikie.)
hand-writing to the Privy Council with a prayer to
“gar the Chancellor” do something else in his behalf
The Excise Office was removed about 1730 from
the Parliament Square to the houge so long occupied
by the Earl of Haddington, which afforded excellent
accommodation for so important a public
institution. The principal room on the second
floor, the windows of which opened to the Cowgate,
was one of great magnificence, having a stucco
ceiling divided into square compartments, each of
which contained an elegant device, and there was
also much fine paneling. At the back of the
house, extending to where the back of Brown
Square was built, and entered by a gate from the
Candlemaker Row, it measured nearly zoo feet
October of that year he advertised in the Scofs Postman-“
It being reported that Anthony Parsons
is gone from Edinburgh to mount public stages in
the country, this is to give notice that he hath left
off keeping stages, and still lives in the Hammerman’s
Land, near the head of the Cowgate, where
may be had the Orvicton, a famous antidote against
infectious distempers, and helps barrenness,” &c
Four years subsequently Parsons-an Englishman,
of course-announced his design of bidding adieu
to Edinburgh, and in that prospect offered his quack
medicines at reduced rates, and likewise, by auction,
“a fine cabinet organ.”
The last of these English quacks was Dr. Green,
gauger, of Doncaster, who made his appearance inated
in the High Street of that town, on the
1st of July, 1572, and James Tweedie, burgess of
Peebles, and four other persons, were tried for the
crime and acquitted. This is supposed to be the
John Dickison who built the house, and had placed
upon it these remarkable devices as a bold proof of
his adherence to the ancient faith “ The hand.
some antique form of this house, the strange
armorial device of the original proprietor, the tradition
of the Catholic chapel, the singular figures
over ‘the double dormer window, and Dickison’s
own tragic fate, in the midst of a frightful civil war,
when neither party gave quarter to the other, all
combine to throw a wild and extraordinary interest
over it, and make us greatly regret its removal.”
(“ Ancient Arch. of Edin.”)
The peculiar pediment, as well as the sculptured
lintel of the front door, were removed to Coates’
House, and are. now built into different parts of the
northern Wing of that quaint and venerable ch2teau
in the New Town.
In the middle of the last century, and prior to
1829, a court of old buildings existed in the Cowgate,
on the ground now occupied by the southern
piers of George IV. Bridge, which were used as
the Excise Office, but, even in this form, were
somewhat degraded from their original character,
for there resided Thomas Hamilton of Priestfield,
Earl of Melrose in 1619, and first Earl of Haddington
in 1627, Secretary of State in 16~2, King’s
Advocate, and Lord President of the Court of
Session in 15 92.
He rented the house in question from Macgill of
Rankeillor, and from the popularity of his character
and the circumstance of his residence, he
was endowed by his royal master, King James,
whose chief favourite he was, with‘ the sobriquet of
Tarn d the Cowgate, under which title he is better
remembered than by his talents as a statesman or
his Earldom of Haddington.
He was famous for his penetration as a judge,
his industry as a collector of decisionsAswing
up a set of these from 1592 to i6q-and his
talent for creating a vast fortune. It is related of
him, in one of many anecdotes concerning him,
communicated by Sir Walter Scott to the industrious
author of the ‘‘ Traditions of Edinburgh,’,
that, after a long day‘s hard labour in the public
service, he was one evening seated with a friend
over a bottle of wine near a window of his house
in the Cowgate, for his ease attired in a robc de
chrnbre and slippers, when a sudden disturbance
was heard in the street. This turned out to be a
bicker, one of those street disturbances peculiar to
the boys of Edinburgh, till the formation of the
present police, and referred to in the Burgh Records
so far back as 1529, anent “gret bikkyrringis
betwix bairns;” and again in 1535, when they
wefe to be repressed, under pain-of scourging and
banishment.
On this occasion the strife with sticks and stones
was between the youths of the High School and
those of the College, who, notwithstanding a bitter
resistance, were driving their antagonists before
them.
The old Earl, who in his yduth had been a High
School boy, and from his after education in Paris,
had no sympathy for the young collegians, rushed
into the street, rallied the fugitives, and took such
an active share in the combat that, finally, the High
School boys-gaining fresh courage upon discovering
that their leader was Tam 0’ the Cowgate, the
great judge and statesman-turned the scale of
victory upon the enemy, despite superior age and
strength. The Earl, still clad in his robe and slippers,
assumed the command, exciting the lads to the
charge by word and action. Nor did the hubbub
cease till the students, unable by a flank movement
to escape up the Candlemaker Row, were driven
headlong through the Grassmarket, and out at the
West Port, the gate of which he locked, compelling
the vanquished to spend the night in the fields
beyond the walls. He then returned to finish his
flask‘of wine. And a rare jest the whole episode
must have been for King James, when he heard of
it at St. James’s or Windsor.
When, in 1617, the latter revisited Scotland,. he
found his old friend very rich, and was informed
that it was a current belief that he had discovered
the Philosopher’s Stone. James was amused with
the idea of so valuable a talisman having fallen
into the hands of a Judge of the Cburt of Session,
and was not long in letting the latter know of the
story. The Earl immediately invited the king,
and all who were present, to dine with him, adding
that he would reveal to them the mystery of the
Philosopher‘s Stone.
The next day saw his mansion in the Cowgate
thronged by the king and his Scottish and English
courtiers After dinner, James reminded him of
the Philosopheis Stone, and then the wily Earl
addressed all present in a short speech, concluding
with the information that his whole secret of success
and wealth, lay in two simple and familiar
maxims :-cc Never put off till tomorrow what can
be done today; nor ever trust to the hand of
another that which your own can execute.”
‘
__](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v4p078.gif "Volume 4 Page 258")
... Cowpate.] TAM 0’ THE COWGATE. 259
derived from Dickson by the stars, according to
Nisbet in his ...
Vol. 4 p. 258 (Rel. 0.28)
![Leith.] EXECUTION OF PIRATES. “67
C H A P T E R XXX.
LEITH-THE SANDS.
The Sands of Leith-Piates Executed there-The Kaif ofLyane--Captain Potts of the Dreaa31uu~M-A Duel in 1€67-Horse-lacing-“The
Bell”-Leith Races in 1661-“Going Down with the Purse’-Races in 1763 and 1771, etc.
THE Sands of Leith, like other districts we have
described, have a notabilia peculiarly their own,
as the grim scene of executions for piracy, and of
the horse-races, which were long celebrated there
amid a jollity unknown now at the other locality to
which they have been transferred-the Links of
Musselburgh.
All pirates, and those who committed crimes or
misdemeanours upon the high seas, were, down to
1822, hanged within the flood-mark; but there does
not seem to have been any permanent erection, or
even a fixed locality, for this purpose, and thus any
part of the then great expanse of open sand must
have been deemed suitable for the last offices of
the law, and even the Pier and Shore were sometimes
used.
On the 6th of May, 1551, John Davidson was
convicted by an assize of piratically attacking a ship
of Bordeaux, and sentenced to be hanged in irons
on the Sands; and this, Pitcairn observes, is the
earliest notice in Scotland of the body of a criminal
being exposed in chains, to be consumed piecemeal
by the elements.
In 1555, Hilbert Stalfurde and the crew of the
Kait of Lynne, an English ship, were tried for piracy
and oppression, ‘( in reiving and spoiling furth of a
hulk of the toun of Stateyne (Stettin), then lying in
the harbour of Leith,” a cable of ninety fathoms,
three or four pistolettes,and other property,for which
theywere all hanged as pirates within the flood-mark.
Pitcairn gives this case in full, and it may not be
uninteresting to note what constituted piracy in the
sixteenth century.
In the ‘( Talbot Papers,” published by the Maitland
Club, there is a letter, dated 4th July, 1555,
from Lord Conyers to the Earl of Shrewsbury,
After stating that some ships had been captured,
very much to the annoyance of the Queen-Regent
Mary of Lorraine, she sent a Scottish ship of war to
search for the said ship of Lynne; and, as the
former passed herself on the seas as a merchantman,
the crew of the Kait “schott a piece of ordnance,
and the Scottis shippe schott off but a slinge, as
though she had been a merchant, and vailed her
bonnet,” or dipped her ensign
The crew of the Kait then hailed, and asked
what she was laden with, and the reply was, “ With
victualles; and then they desired them to borde, and
let them have a ton of bacon for their money.”
The Scots answered that they should do so, on
which there swarmed on board the Kaif a hundred
or eighty men, “well appoyntit in armoure and
stoutlie set,” on the English ship, which they
brought, with all her crew, into the haven of Leith ;
“and by that I can learn,” adds Lord Conyers,
“there is at least iij. or iiij. of the cheefest of the
Englismenne like to suffer death. Other news I have
none to certifie yr Lordschippe, and so I committ
the same unto the tuicion and governmente of
Almichtie God.”-Berwick, 4th July, 1555.
The seamen of those days were not very particular
when on the high seas, for in 1505 we find
the King’s Admiral, Sir Andrew Wood, obtaining a
remission under the Great Seal for (<ye ri>f an
anchor and cabyell” taken from John of Bonkle
on the sea, as he required these probably for the
king’s service ; and some fifty years later an admiral
of England piratically seized the ship coming from
France with the horses of Queen Mary on board.
In 1610 nine pirates were sentenced by the
mouth of James Lockhart of Lee, chancellor, to be
hanged upon “the sandis of Leyth, within the
floddis-mark;” and in the same year Pitcairn records
the trial of thirty more pirates for the affair
at Long Island, in Ireland, already related.
In 16 I 2 two more were hanged in the same place
for piracy.
Executions here of seamen were of constant occurrence
in the olden times, but after that of Wilson
Potts, captain of the Dreadnoughf privateer of Newcastle,
on the 13th of February, 1782, none took
place till the execution of Heaman and Gautiez, at
the foct of Constitution Street, in 1822.
Potts was convicted before the Admiralty Court
of having plundered the White Swaiz, of Copenhagen,
of four bags of dollars. He was recommended
to mercy by a majority of the jury, because
it was in proof that he had committed the crime
while in a state of intoxication, and had, on coming
to his senses, taken the first opportunity of restoring
the money to its owners; but the recommendation
was made in vain.](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v6p086.gif "Volume 6 Page 267")
... EXECUTION OF PIRATES. “67
C H A P T E R XXX.
LEITH-THE SANDS.
The Sands of Leith-Piates Executed ...
Vol. 6 p. 267 (Rel. 0.28)
... according to P. Williamson’s Directory for
1784.
Amid the tumultuom excitement of the ...
Vol. 2 p. 328 (Rel. 0.27)
![farswade.] CAPTAIN PHILIP LOCKHART. 357
was shot, and the other two performed the like
to his body ;‘then they were shot, and laid together,
without a coffin, in a pit digged for the purpose.
Which tragical scene being thus finished, Mr.
Nairne and Mr. Lockhart were decently buried.’’
(“ Letter to a friend in the king’s camp,” Perth,
Count Lockhart was succeeded by his son
1 7 1 5 )
turesqueness and romance to any in Scotland.
The river seems all the way to be merrily frdicsome,
and rushing along a shelving gradient, now hiding
itself behind rocks and weeping wood, and making
sudden, but always mirthful, transitions in its
moods.”
A few ancient and many modem mansions and
villas stud the banks of the glen above the ancient
ROSLIN CHAPEL :-INTERIOR. (A/& a Phtograph 6y G. W. Wiison & Co.)
Charles. In the early years of the present century,
Dryden was the property of George Mercer, a son
of Mercer of Pittuchar, in Perthshire.
In this quarter, on the north bank of the Esk, are
the church and village of Lasswade, amid scenery
remarkable for its varied beauty. The bed of the
Esk lies through a deep, singularly romantic, long,
and bold ravine, always steep, sometimes perpendicular
and overhanging, and everywhere covered
with the richest copsewood. ‘‘ Recesses, contractions,
irregularities, rapid and circling sinuosities,
combine with the remarkably varied surface of its
sides, to render its scenery equal in mingled picvillage
of Lasswade, whose bridge spans the river,
and the name of which Chalmers, in his ‘‘Caledonia,’’
believes to be derived from a ‘‘ well-watered
pasturage of common use, or Zaeswc, in Saxon a
common, and iueyde, a meadow.” In an old Dutch
map it is spelt Lesserwade, supposed to mean the
opposite of Legenvood-the smaller wood in contrast
to some greater one.
The parish of Melville was added to that of
Lasswade in 1633.
In the time of James 111. the ancient Church of
Lasswade was, by the Pope’s authority, detached
from St. Salvador’s College at St Andrews, to
.](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v6p176.gif "Volume 6 Page 357")
... CAPTAIN PHILIP LOCKHART. 357
was shot, and the other two performed the like
to his body ;‘then they ...
Vol. 6 p. 357 (Rel. 0.27)
... MACDONALD OF TEINDREICH. 333
landers, after their retreat from England, were besieging
Stirling, Lord ...
Vol. 2 p. 333 (Rel. 0.27)
... OLD.‘ AND NEW EDINBURGH. [The City Crosa.
by the Figgate-burn ere he marched to storm
Dunbar.”
There ...
Vol. 1 p. 150 (Rel. 0.27)
![High Street.] PHILIP STANFIELD. 281
(presumed) Custom House of ice^ running out of it,
with something under his coat. There can be no
doubt that this was the murderer, and the description
given coincided exactly with the appearance
of Mackoull, Although the boy heard of the murder
before he lkft Leith, he never thought of communicating
what he had seen to the authorities ; he was
shortly after captured and carried to a French prison,
where he remained for many years. Mackoull resided
in Edinburgh from September, 1805, till the
end of 1806, lodging very near the scene of the
murder, and was a frequent visitor at the coffee-
It was raised from the grave, after it had lain
there two days, and the surgeons having made an
incision near the neck, became convinced that
death had been caused by strangulation, so all
supposition of suicide was abandoned. This examination
took place in a church. After the cut
had been sewn up, the body was washed, wrapped
in fresh linen, and James Row, merchant in Edini
burgh, and Philip Stanfield, the disinherited son,
lifted it for deposition in the coffin, when 10 ! on
the side sustained by Philip an effusion of blood
took place, and so ample as to defile both his hands.
printers and publishers.
The World’s End Close was the curious and
appropriate name bestowed upon the last gloomy,
and mysterious-looking alley on the south side of
the High Street, adjacent to the Netherbow Port,
when it lost its oXer name of Sir John Stanfield’s
Close.
At the foot of it an ancient tenement, has a shield
of arms on its lintel, .with the common Edinburgh
legend-“Praisze. the. Lord. for.all.His.giftis,M.S. ;I’
but save this, and a rich Gothic niche, built into a
modern “land ” of uninteresting aspect, nothing remains
of Stanfield‘s Close save the memory of the
dark tragedy connected with the name of the knight.
Sir Jaines Stanfield was one of those English manufacturers
who, by permission of the Scottish Government,
had settled at Newmills, in East Lothian.
He was a respectable man, but the profligacy of
Philip, his eldest son, so greatly afflicted him that
he became melancholy, and he disinherited his heir
by a will. On a day in the November of 1687 he
was found drowned, it wafi alleged, in a pool of
water near his country house at Newmills. Doubts
were started as to whether he had committed
suicide, in consequence of domestic troubles, or had
been murdered. The circumstances of his being
hastily interred, and that Lady Stanfield had a suit
of graveclothes all ready for him before his death,
‘seemed to point to the latter; and two surgeons
“ Tiditions and Antiquities of Leith.”
36
November, 1806, Mackoull was seized with convulsions,
and threw himself back on his bed and
began to rave.
Tweeddale House, after being quitted by the
British Linen Company for their new office in St.
after handled by the murtherar, it will ;ushe out of
blood, as if the blood were crying to heaven for
revenge of the murtherar.”
Accordingly, on the 7th of February, 1688,
Philip was brought to trial at Edinburgh, and after
the household servants had been put to torture
without eliciting anything on the strength of the
mysterious bleeding, according to Fountainhall, save
that he was known to have cursed his father, drunk
to the king’s confusion, and linked the royal name
with those of the Pope, the devil, and Lord Chancellor,
he was sentenced to death. He protested
his innocence to the last, and urged in vain that
his father was a melancholy man, subject to fits;
that once he set out for England, but because his
horse stopped at a certain place, he thought he saw
the finger of God, and returned home ; and that he
once tried to throw himself over a window at the
Nether Bow, probably at his house in the World’s
End Close.
Philip Stanfield was hanged at the Market Cross
on the 24th of February. In consequence of a slip
of the rope, he came down on his knees, and it was
necessary to use more horrible means of strangulation
His tongue was cut out for cursing his
father ; his right hand was struck off for parricide ;
his head was spiked on the East Port of.Haddington,
and his mutilated body was hung in chains
between L.eith and the city. After a few days the
body was stolen fiom the gibbet, and found lying
in a ditch among water. It was chained up again,
time groaning in great anguish, and refusing to
touch the corpse again, while all looked on with
dismay. The incident was at once accepted by
the then Scottish mind in the light of a revelation
of Philip’s guilt as his father’s murderer. “In a
Andrew Square, became, and is still, the establish- 3 I ment of Messrs. Oliver and Boyd, t!ie well-known
secret niurther,” says King James in his ‘ Damonology’-“
if the dead carkasse be at any time there](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v2p101.gif "Volume 2 Page 281")
... Street.] PHILIP STANFIELD. 281
(presumed) Custom House of ice^ running out of it,
with something under his ...
Vol. 2 p. 281 (Rel. 0.27)
... SIR THOMAS DALYELL. I9
Often did her maid go with morning messages to her
friends, inquiring, with ...
Vol. 3 p. 18 (Rel. 0.27)
... INDEX. 371
118-121 ; tomb of, Corstorphine
Church, 111. 121
Forrester’s Wynd, I. 121. 122, 148,
219, ...
Vol. 6 p. 377 (Rel. 0.27)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [High Street.
and from Lord Lindesay’s Lives or the Lindesays” ’
we learn that ...
Vol. 2 p. 276 (Rel. 0.27)
![33 Canongate.] THE EARL OF SEAFIELD-AND THE UNION.
matures were affixed to the Act of Union, while the
cries of the exasperated mob rang in the streets
without the barred gates.
When James VII. so rashly urged those measures
in 1686 which were believed to be a prelude to
the re-establishment of the Catholic hierarchy,
under the guise of toleration, a new Scottish
ministry was formed, but chiefly consisting of
members of the king’s own faith. Among these
w i s the proprietor of this old house, Alexander
Earl of Moray, a recent convert from Protestantism,
then Lord High Commissioner to the Parliament,
and as such the representative of royalty in festive
hall as well as the Senate j and his mansion, being
Lord Lorne’s marriage-that Lorne better known
.as the luckless Earl of Argyle-with Lady Mary
Stuart, of the House of Moray.
In the highest terrace of the old garden an
ancient thorn-tree was pointed out as having been
planted by Queen Mary-a popular delusion, born
of the story that the house had belonged to her
hother, the subtle Regent ; but there.long remained
ahe old stone summer-house, surmounted by two
foul and degrading bribery connected with that
event took place within its walls, may safely be
inferred from the fact that it was the residence of
the Earl of Seafield,.then Lord High Chancellor, and
one of the commissioners for the negotiation of the
treaty, by which he pocketed j64g0, paid by the
Earl of Godolphin: and he it was who, on giving
the royal assent by touching the Act of Union with
I the sceptre, said, with a brutal laugh, ‘‘ There’s an
’ end of an auld sang.”
From those days Moray House ceased, like
many others, to be the scene of state pageantries.
For a time it became the ofice of the British Linen
Company’s Bank. Then the entail was broken
in the very centre of what was then the most aristocratic
quarter of the city, was admirably suited
for his courtly receptions, all the more so that
about that period the spacious gardens on the
south were, like those of Heriot’s Hospital, a kind
of public promenade or lounging place, as would
appear chiefly from a play called “ The Assembly,”
written by the witty Dr. Pitcairn in 1692.
The union of the kingdoms is the next historical](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v3p045.gif "Volume 3 Page 33")
... Canongate.] THE EARL OF SEAFIELD-AND THE UNION.
matures were affixed to the Act of Union, while the
cries of ...
Vol. 3 p. 33 (Rel. 0.26)
... edifice that forms the west side of Mylne’s
Court belongs to an earlier period, and had once
been the side ...
Vol. 1 p. 97 (Rel. 0.26)
... worth consideration ; but, interesting as it is, it
need not detain us long here.
In the ? Myrvyian, or ...
Vol. 1 p. 14 (Rel. 0.26)
... Arbuthnot, who twice held the chair in
1815, and again in 1821. He was created a
baronet by the King in ...
Vol. 4 p. 284 (Rel. 0.26)
![Calton HiX] SHORT’S 0 ESERVATORY. ‘05
‘patriotic Earl of Morton gave a sun1 for the purpose;
leaving the management thereof to Colin
‘Maclaurin, Professor of Mathematics, and others
of the Senatus Academicus. Maclaurin, with his
characteristic liberality, added to the earl’s gift by
the profits arising from a course of lectures on
experimental philosophy ; but his death, in 1746,
put a stop a second time to the execution of the
disposal for the purpose of building an observatory,
and to allow him to draw the whole emoluments
arising from the use of his apparatus for a certain
number of years ; “but,” says Arnot, ‘‘ on condition
that the students should, in the meantime,
have access to the observatory for a small gratuity,
and that the building,withall the instruments, should
. be vested in the Town Council for ever, as trustees
THE CALTON HILL, CALTON GAOL, BURYING-GROUND, AND MONUMENTS.
In 1776 there came to Edinburgh Mr. Short,
brother and executor to Mr. James Short, F.R.S.,
formerly an optician in Leith, and who brought with
him all his brother‘s optical apparatus, particularly
a large reflecting telescope that magnified 1,200
times, “and is,” says the Week0 Magazine for
that year, “ superior to any in Europe, but one in
possession of the King of Spain.” Mr. Short
intended to erect an observatory, which was to
be his own private property, and from which he
expected to draw considerable emoluments ; but
Dr. Alexander Monro, Professor of Anatomy, one
of Lord Morton’s trustees, showed that an observatory
unconnected with the Council and University
would conduce but little to the progress of science,
62
after a certain period. Mr. Short readily agreed,
and the Council were applied to for their concurrence
and patronage.”
It appears from their Register that in the
summer of 1776 the Council granted to Mr. Short,
his sons and grandsons, a life-rent lease of
half an acre on the Calton HilL A plan of the
intended building was made by James Craig,
architect, and the foundation-stone was laid by
Provost James Stodart, in presence of the Senatus,
25th July, I 776 ; and upon the suggestion of Adam,
the famous architect, in consequence of the high
and abrupt nature of the site, the whole edifice was
constructed to have the aspect of a fortification. 1 In the partial execution of this faulty design, thc](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v3p117.gif "Volume 3 Page 105")
... HiX] SHORT’S 0 ESERVATORY. ‘05
‘patriotic Earl of Morton gave a sun1 for the purpose;
leaving the ...
Vol. 3 p. 105 (Rel. 0.26)
![Burghmuir.] THE PEST. 29
sf old horse-shoes were dug up, where a farrier’s
forge is supposed to have stood; and another
relic of that great muster was removed only in
1876, a landmark known as King James’s knowe, a
small knoll, evidently artificial and partly built of
freestone, from which he is said to have reviewed
and addressed his army on the eve of its departure
for Flodden.
Close by, when digging the foundation of the
furth of the samyn, as they had done in tymes
past.”
In I 568, when a pest again appeared, the infected,
with all their furniture, were lodged in huts built
upon the muir, where they were visited by their
friends after 11 am.; “any one going earlier was
liable to be punished with death.” Then their
clothes were cleansed in a huge caldron in the
open air, under the supervision of two citizens,
“ Item : €or cords to bind the man that wes (be)
heiddit for the slauchter of the sister of the Sennis
man.”
In the same year, under the Regency of Mary of
Guise, that part of the muir ‘‘ besyde the sisters of
the Sciennes,” was appointed for the weapon-shaws
of the armed burghers, with ‘‘ lang wappinnis, sic
as speiris, pikis, and culveringis ; ” and about the
same time, in the “Retours,” we find that rising
citizen George Towers, heiring his father George
Towers, in the lands of Bnsto, and twenty acres
in “ Dalry and Tolcroce.”
In 1556, by order of the magistrates, a door
was made to the gallows on the Burghmuir, to
be the height of the enclosing wall, “sua that
doggis sall nocht be abill to carry the carrionis
In April, 1601, John Watt, Deacon of the Trades
in Edinburgh-the same gallant official who raised
them in arms for the protection of James VI. in the
tumult of 15g6-was shot dead on the muir ; but
by whom the outrage was perpetrated was never
known.
One of the earliest notices we find of the name
by which the open part of the muir is now known
occurs in Balfour’s “Annales,” when in 1644, the
Laird of Lawers’ troop of horse is ordered by
Parliament to muster on “Brountoune Links tomorrow,”
and the commissary to give them a
month’spay.
In this part many deep quarries were dug, from
which, no doubt, the old houses of Warrender
and other adjacent edifices were built, These](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v5p040.gif "Volume 5 Page 29")
... THE PEST. 29
sf old horse-shoes were dug up, where a farrier’s
forge is supposed to have stood; and ...
Vol. 5 p. 29 (Rel. 0.25)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Leith.
to extinguish the flames. On the same daya grand
assault was to be made.
By ...
Vol. 5 p. 176 (Rel. 0.25)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH, [Great King Street,
in July, .1836, was appointed to the chair of logic
and ...
Vol. 4 p. 196 (Rel. 0.25)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Kirk-oCField.
Her Majesty’s presence he should make him suffei
for it Paris then ...
Vol. 5 p. 6 (Rel. 0.25)
... House
PARLIAMENT HOUSE IN THE PRESENT DAY.
the Earl of Marchmont
Earl of Cromarty . . . . 300 0 ...
Vol. 1 p. 164 (Rel. 0.25)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. Holyrood.
~ ~~ ~~ ~
period, and in 1736- one of unusual brilliance
was given in ...
Vol. 3 p. 76 (Rel. 0.25)
... him an intimation that he was to be made
prisoner, and advised him to lose no time in
assuming the defensive. ...
Vol. 1 p. 39 (Rel. 0.25)
... WARRISTON CEMETERY. I01
with an extraordinary memory, He went into very
high notiom of lengthened ...
Vol. 5 p. 101 (Rel. 0.25)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH, [Newton.
gift ratified by Bishop Richard and Pope Gregory.
There are many places in ...
Vol. 6 p. 364 (Rel. 0.25)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Holyrood.
thirty-two days. He was then brought forth, nude,
in presence of a ...
Vol. 3 p. 56 (Rel. 0.25)
![kith.] THE OLD SMACKS AND FERRY-BOATS. e11
smacks in their southward voyage merely touching
at Berwick for their cargoes of salmon.
In ISOZ the merchants of Leith established a
line for themselves, ‘‘ The Edinburgh and Leith
Shipping Company,” which commenced with six
armed smacks, the crews of which were protected
from the impress.
On the 23rd of October, 1804, one of these
smacks, the Brifunnia, Captain Brown, and another
named the Sprz$fO, Captain Taylor, off Cromer,
fell in with a large French privateer, which bore
down on them both, firing heavily, particularly with
musketry; but the Leith smacks’ men stood to
their guns, engaged her briskly, and so damaged her
sails and rigging that she sheered off and dropped
astern. The smacks had many shots through their
canvas, but none of their men were killed.
On the 9th January, 1805, another, the SwaZZm,
Captain White, was attacked off Flamborough
Head by a heavy French privateer, carrying fourteen
guns, and very full of men. Passing through a
fleet of Newcastle colliers, she came within pistolshot
of the Swallow, and poured in a broadside,
accompanied by volleys of musketry.
Captain White replied with his carronades and
small arms. The round shot of the former told so
well that the privateer was fairly beaten off, while
neither the smack nor her crew sustained much
injury. “In these two actions,” says the Scots
Magazine, “ both seamen and passengers showed a
becoming spirit.” But such encounters were of
very common occurrence in those days.
In 1809 the new company had ten of these
smacks ; eventually, there were no fewer than four
companies trading between Leith and London ;
but in 182 I one was formed under the name of the
London and Edinburgh Steam Packet Company,
With three large steamers-the City of Eninbuqh,
theJnmes Watt, and the Solo.
So great was their success that in 1831 the London,
Leith, Edinburgh, and Glasgow Shipping
Company superseded their fine smacks by the
introduction of powerful steamers, with beautiful
cabin accommodation, the WiZliam, Addaide, and
Victoria. In 1836 the London and Edinburgh
Steam Packet Company became merged in the
General Steam Navigation Company, sailing from
Granton to London. The old smacks were retained
by only two of the companies ; but having
been found expensive to build and to maintain,
from the number of men required to handle their
unwieldy canvas-particularly their great boom
main-sail-they were in 1844 superseded by clipper
schooners ; so these once celebrated craft, the old
Leith smacks, have entirely disappeared from the
harbour with which they were so long and exclusively
identified.
Before quitting the subject of passenger traffic,
we may glance at the ancient ferries of Leith.
By an Act of James I., in 1425, it was ordained
that all femes where horses were conveyed, should
“have for jlk boate a treene brig,” or wooden gangway,
under the pain of ‘‘ 40 shillings of ilk boate ;”
and again, by an Act of James III., 1467, the
ferries at Leith, Kinghorn, and Queensferry are
ordained to have “brigges of buuds,” under penalty
of the “ tinsel ” or forfeitursof their boats. In 1475
the charge for a passenger was twopence, and for
a horse sixpence; at Queensferry one penny for
a man, and twopence for a horse. (Scots Acts,
Glendoick.)
Nicoll records that in 1650 the ferrymen at Leith
and Burntisland (taking advantage probably of the
confusion of affairs) became so exorbitant in their
charges that complaints were made to the Deputy
Governor of Leith, who ordered that the fare for a
man and horse should be only one shilling sterling,
and for a single person one groat, “quhairas it
wqs tripled of beioir.”
In July, 1633, a boat at the ferry between
Burntisland and Leith foundered in a fair summer’s
day, according to Spalding, and with it perished
thirty-five domestic servants of Charles I., with his
silver plate and household stuff, “but it foretokened
great troubles to fall out betwixt the king
and his subjects, as after does appear.” Balfour
states that there was a great stoi-m, that the king
crossed “in grate jeopardy of his lyffe,” and that
only eight servants perished.
In the early part of the present century the ferry
traffic between Leith, Kinghorn, and Burntisland
was carried on by means of stout sloops of forty oc
fifty tons, without topmasts, and manned generally
by only four men, and always known as “the
Kinghorn Boats,” although Pettycur was adopted
as the more modern harbour.
Generally there were two crossings between
Leith and Fife every tide, though subsequently,
as traffic increased, the number of runs was increased
by having a boat anchored outside the
harbour when there was not sufficient water for it
to enter. Small pinnaces were used for the voyage
in dead calms. The old ferrymen were strong,
rough, and quaint fellows, and Leith still abounds
with anecdotes of their brusque ways and jovial
humour.
A recent writer mentions that if a passenger
had a dog whose acquaintance he was disposed
to ignore, in order to escape paying its fare, he
would be sure to be accosted by a blue-bonneted](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v6p030.gif "Volume 6 Page 211")
... THE OLD SMACKS AND FERRY-BOATS. e11
smacks in their southward voyage merely touching
at Berwick for their ...
Vol. 6 p. 211 (Rel. 0.25)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. me Old High Schaol‘
display the dresses so used should be given to the
poor.”
For ...
Vol. 4 p. 290 (Rel. 0.25)
... OLD AND NEW EDINEURGH. [Cowgate.
showed that the barrel had been placed so as to collect
the rain water from ...
Vol. 4 p. 246 (Rel. 0.25)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Leith
named themselves the “ Friends of the People,”
were alarming the ...
Vol. 6 p. 278 (Rel. 0.25)
![Leith.] GROWTH OF THE PORT. 27.5
the sirpleth of woll and skin, because sho is fraughtit
in and furth, and the better chaip inwart becaus
sho fraucht swa deir furthwart; and this frauchtbg
is maid in the form of the statutes of the Toune
and Act ,of Parliament, the port oppin and the
nychtbouris firs seruit”
In 1519 the Provost and Council ordained the
water bailie of Leith to await the entry of all ships
at the port, and to see that no wine, timber, 01
other portions of the cargo be sold till duly entered
and paid for, the king‘s grace and the city
first served ; and if any goods were sold or tapped,
they should be arrested.
The numerous rules and laws which were enacted
in those days with reference to shipping,
navigation, and foreign commerce, evince that the
attention of the Scottish legislature was particularly
directed to maritime affairs. There was an
enactment which ordained that ships and fishingboats
of not less than twenty tons should be built
and equipped with appropriate nets and tackling
by all burghs and seaport towns.
By an Act passed in the second Parliament of
James III., in 1466, no ship from Leith or any
other port could be freighted without a charterparty,
whereof the points were: “ What the master
of the ship shall furnish to the merchant, that in
case of debate betwixt them, they underly the law
of the burgh whereto the ship ,is fraughted. That
the goods be not spilt by ill-stalling ; that no goods
be shown or stricken up ; that the master have no
goods in his over-loft, or if he do, these goods pay
no fraught. That every ship exceeding five lasts
of goods pay to the chaplain of the nation a sack
fraught, and if within five lasts, the half of it, under
pain of five pounds; and that no drink-silver be
taken by the master and his doers, under the same
pain. And homeward, a tun fraught to the kirkwork
of the town they are fraughted to.’’
In 1488 it was ordained that all ships, Scottish
or foreign, should arrive only at free burghs, and
the prohibition of navigation between All Saints
Day and Candlemas was renewed; and in -1535
it was ordered that ships should be ‘freighted to
Flanders only twice yearly, to the Easter market,
and that held on the 3rd of May. The exportation
of all tallow was strictly forbidden, as the
realm only furnished a sufficient quantity for home
consumption.
By an Act of James VI., no ship could sail without
the king’s consent, under pain of being arrested
by the conservator.
In March, 1567, there was a frightful tempest of
wind, which, says Birrel, “blew a very grate shippe
out of the Rode of Leith.” He records that in
.-
1596, between July and August, sixty-six ships
arrived in the harbour laden with victual
In 1616 the same monarch grauted a patent of
the whale fishery for thirty-five years to Sir George
Hay and Mr. Thomas Murray, who fitted out two
ships for that purpose. Nicol mentions that, in
1652 “there canie into the very Brig of Leith”
a whale, which rendered much profit to the English
garrison there.
In September, 1641, a Bill was brought before
the Parliament at Edinburgh by John, Earl of
Rothes, Sir George Hamilton of Blackburn,
Andrew Eusley, and George h o t , merchants, to
enforce restitution from the Hamburgers to the
value of 300,000 merks, taken from them in shipping
and goods, and to grant Letters of Marque against
the said Hamburgers; and in the ensuing November
Letters of Reprisal by sea and land were
granted under the Great Seal.
In 1651 an English ship, bound for Leith was
captured by the captain of the Bass, and her
crew made prisoners, some being placed on the
isle and others sent to Tantallon, She had on
board 10,000 pairs of shoes, 6,000 pairs of boots,
5,000 saddles and sets of horse furniture, ten tons
of London beeire and als muche bisquett as should
have served Cromwell for a month,” says Sir James
Balfour. Her cargo was handed over to Sir John
Smith, Commissary-General of the Scottish army.
In the May of the same year Captain Murray,
commander of a Scottish frigate, took another English
ship, laden with provisions, which he handed
over to the army, but retained the vessel as the prize
of himself and crew.
In 1656 Leith possessed only three vessels of
250 tons, and eleven of 20 tons each.
In 1661 the Scottish Parliament passed an Act
for the encouragement of shipping and navigation,
ordaining that all goods be transported in Scottish ‘
ships “from the original places, whence they are
in use first to be transported.” That all Scottish
ships should be navigated by a Scottish master,
and that at least three-parts of his crew should be
Scotsmen. The Act contains an order for verifying
a ship to be Scottish, and getting a certificate
thereof; and that no customer “allow the benefit
of a Scot’s skipper to any ship until the same be
so verified, under pain of deprivation.” This Act
was not to extend to imports from Asia, Africa,
America, Muscovy, or Italy.
The Iirst return of tonnage for Leith, preserved
in the “Archives of the Royal Burghs,” is dated
1692, when the port could only boast of twentynine
ships, with an aggregate tonnage of 1,702
tons, the estimated value of which was ;G7,1oo](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v6p094.gif "Volume 6 Page 275")
... GROWTH OF THE PORT. 27.5
the sirpleth of woll and skin, because sho is fraughtit
in and furth, and the ...
Vol. 6 p. 275 (Rel. 0.25)
![The Water of Leith.] THE’HOLE I’ THE WA’. 77
appointed Limner for Scutland. He always resided
in the old house at St. Bernard‘s. The
last pictures on which he was engaged were two
portraits of Sir Walter Scott, one for himself and
the other for Lord Montague. He died, after a
short illness, from a general decay of the system,
on the 8th of July, 1823, at St. Bernard‘s, little
more than a stone’s throw from where he was born.
His loss, said Sir Thomas Lawrence, had left a
blank in the Royal Academy, as well as Scotland,
which could not be filled up, By his wife, who
:survived him ten years, he had two sons : Peter,
who died in his nineteenth year ; and Henry, who,
with his wife and family, lived under the same roof
with his father, and to whose children the latter
,of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, of the Imperial
Academy of Florence, of the Royal Academy of
London, and other Societies. The number of
-portraits he painted is immense, and he was still
hale and vigorous, spending his time between his
studio, his gardens, and the pleasures of domestic
3ociety, when George IV. came to Edinburgh in the
year 1822, and knighted him at Hopetoun House.
The sword used by the king was that of Sir
Alexander Hope. In the following May he was
century it was occupied by Count Leslie. Mrs
Ann Inglis, Sir Henry Raeburn’s stepdaughter,
conthued to occupy the house, together with her
sons. In this house was born, it is said, Admiral
Deans Dundas, commander of the British fleet in
the Black Sea during the Crimean war. Latterly
it was the residence of working people, every room
being occupied by a separate family.
In Dean Street there long stood a little cottage
known as the Hole r” the Wu’, a great resort of
school-boys for apples, pears, and gooseberries,
retailed there by old ‘‘ Lucky Hazlewood,” who
lived to be ninety years of age. It was overshadowed
by birch-trees of great size and
beauty.
left the bulk of his fortune, consisting of groundrents
on his property at St. Bernard’s, which, in his
later years, had occupied much of his leisure time
by planning it out in streets and villas.
Old Deanhaugh House, which was pulled down
in 1880, to make room for the extension of Leslie
Place, was the most venerable mansion in the
locality, standing back a little way from the Water
of Leith j a short avenue branching off from that of i St. Bernard’s led to it. About the middle of this](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v5p088.gif "Volume 5 Page 77")
... Water of Leith.] THE’HOLE I’ THE WA’. 77
appointed Limner for Scutland. He always resided
in the old ...
Vol. 5 p. 77 (Rel. 0.25)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Leith.
The first volume of the ‘‘ Parochial Records ”
begins in January, 1605, ...
Vol. 6 p. 254 (Rel. 0.25)
... CAPTAIN CAYLEY. 243
Bridge, with a boldly moulded doorway, inscribed,
TECUM HABITA, 1616,
(i.e., “ ...
Vol. 4 p. 243 (Rel. 0.25)
![Castle Terrace.] THE UNION CANAL 215
newest mechanical appliances, including hydraulic
machinery for shifting the larger scenes. The
proscenium was 32 feet wide by 32 feet in height,
with an availabie width behind of 74 feet, expanding
backwards to 114 feet.
The lighting was achieved ‘by a central sunlight
and lamps hung on the partition walls. The ventilation
was admirable, and the temperature was
regulated by steam-pipes throughout the house.
But the career of this fine edifice as a theatre
was very brief, and proved how inadequate Edinburgh
is, from the peculiar tastes and wishes of
its people, to supply audiences for more than two
or three such places of entertainment. It speedily
proved a failure, and being in the inarket was
purchased by the members of the United Presbyterian
Church, who converted it into a theological
hall, suited for an audience of 2,ooo in all.
The total cost of the building to the denomination,
including the purchase of the theatre, amounted
to ~47,000. Two flats under the street $oor are
fitted up as fireproof stores, which will cover in all
an area of 3,500 square yards.
In connection with this defunct theatre it was
proposed to have a winter garden and aquarium.
Near it the eye is arrested by a vast pile of new
buildings, fantastic and unique in design and
detail, the architect of which has certainly been
fortunate, at least, in striking out something
original, if almost indescribable, in domestic architecture.
Free St. Cuthbert’s Church is in Spittal Street,
which is named from Provost Sir James Spittal,
and is terminated by the King’s Bridge at the base
of the Castle Rock.
All this area of ground and that lying a little
to the westward have the general name of the
Castle Barns, a designation still preserved in a
little street near Port Hopetoun. A map of the
suburbs, in 1798, shows Castle Barns to be an
isolated hamlet or double row of houses on Lhe
Falkirk Road, distant about 250 yards from the
little pavilion-roofed villa still standing at the Main
Point. Maitland alleges that somewhere thereabout
an ediiice was erected for the accommodation
of the royal retinue when the king resided
in the Castle; and perhaps such may have been
the case, but the name implies its having been
the grange or farm attached to the fortress, and
this idea is confirmed by early maps, when a considerable
portion of the ground now lying on both
sides of the Lothian Road is included under the
general term.
On the plateau at the head of the latter, bordered
on the south-east by the ancient way to Fountainbridge,
stands one of the most hideous features
of Edinburgh-the Canal Basinl with its surrounding
stores and offices. 8
In 1817 an Act of Parliament was procured,
giving power to a joint stock company to cut a
a canal from Edinburgh to the Forth and Clyde
Canal at a point about four miles before the communication
of the latter with the Forth. The canal
was begun in the following year and completed in
1822. The chief objects of it were the transmission
of heavy goods and the conveyance of passengers
between the capital and Glasgow-a system long
since abandoned ; the importation to the former
of large coal supplies from places to the *estward,
and the exportation of manure from the city into
agricultural districts. The eastern termination,
calledPort Hopetoun, occasioned the rapid erect;on
of a somewhat important suburb, where before there
stood only a few scattered houses surrounded by
fields and groves of pretty trees; but the canal,
though a considerable benefit to the city in prerailway
times, has drained a great deal of money
from its shareholders.
Though opened in 182, the canal was considerably
advanced in the year preceding. In the
Week0 Journd for November 7, 1821, we read
that “from the present state of the works, the
shortening of the days, and the probability of being
retarded by the weather, it seems scarcely possible
that the trade of this navigation can be opened up
sooner than the second month of spring, which
will be exactly four years from its commencement.
Much has been done within the last few months
on the west end of the line, while at the east end
the forming of the basin, which is now ready to
receive the water, together with the numerous
bridges necessary in the first quarter of a mile, have
required great attention. , Of the passage boats
building at the west end of Lochrin distillery, two
of which we mentioned some time ago as being
in a forward state, one is now completed ; she is
in every respect an elegant and comfortable vessel,
and is called the FZoora Mac Ivor; the second is
considerably advanced, and a third boat after the
same model as the others is commenced building.”
In the same (now defunct) periodical, for 1st
January, 1822, we learn that the RZora, “the first
of the Union Canal Company’s passage boats, was
yesterday launched from the company’s building
yard, at the back of Gilmore Place.”
One of the best features of street architecture
that sprung up in this quarter after the formation
of the canal was Gardiner’s Crescent., with its
chapel, which was purchased from the United
Secession Congregation by the Kirk Session of St.](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v4p035.gif "Volume 4 Page 215")
... Terrace.] THE UNION CANAL 215
newest mechanical appliances, including hydraulic
machinery for shifting the ...
Vol. 4 p. 215 (Rel. 0.25)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Weat Port.
~~ ~
the dreadful Irish murders in 1828; but its repute
was very ...
Vol. 4 p. 224 (Rel. 0.25)
![Bmghton.]
The new Catholic and Apostolic church, a conspicuous
and spacious edifice, stands north of
all those mentioned at the corner of East London
Street. It was founded in November, 1873, and
opened with much ceremony in April, 1876. It is
in a kind of Norman style, after designs by R.
Anderson, and measures zoo feet long, is 45 feet
in height to the wall-head, and 64 to the apex
EAST LONDON STREET.
of the internal roof. It comprises a nave, chancel,
and baptistry. The nave measures IOO feet in
length, by 45 in breadth; is divided into five
bays, marked externally by buttresses, and has
at each corner a massive square turret surmounted
by a pinnacle rising as high as the 1;dge of the
roof. The chancel measures 614 feet, and communicates
with the nave.
PICARDY VILLAGE AND GAYFIELD HOUSE. (Aft# CkrR of Ekiin.)
CHAPTER XXVI.
THE NORTHERN NEW TOWN.
Picardy Place-Lords Eldm and Craig - Si David Milne-John Abetnumbie-Lard Newton-Commissionex Osbome-St. Paul's Church-
St. George's Chapel-Willii Douglas, Artist-Professor Playfair-General Scott of Bellevue-Drummond P k c d . K. Sharpc of Hoddam
--Lord Robertson-Abercrombic Place and Heriot Row-Miss Femer-House in which H. McKenAe died-Rev. A. Aliin-Great King
Street-% R. Christison--Si W illiam Hamilton-Si William Ab-L-ard Colonsay, &c.
THE northern New Town, of which we now propose
to relate the progress and history, i; separated
from the southern by the undulating and extensive
range of Queen Street Gardens, which occupy a
portion of the slope that shelves down towards the
valley of the Water of Leith.
It is also in a parallelogram extending, from the
quarter we have just been describing, westward to ,
72
the Queensferry Road, and northward to the line
of Fettes Row. It has crescental curves in some
of its main lines, with squares, and is constructed
in a much grander style of architecture than the
original New Town of 1767. Generally, it wqs
begun about 1802, and nearly completed by 1822.
In the eastern part of this parallelogram are Picardy
Place, York Place, Forth and Albany Streets,](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v3p197.gif "Volume 3 Page 185")
... new Catholic and Apostolic church, a conspicuous
and spacious edifice, stands north of
all those ...
Vol. 3 p. 185 (Rel. 0.25)
... INDEX. 379
.Her!or brewery, The, 11.374
Henot free schools, 11. 374 37:
Heriot Kow, 11.1~5, 158,194, ...
Vol. 6 p. 378 (Rel. 0.25)
... IV., while preparing for his fatal invasion
rn 1513, went daily to the Castle to inspect and
prove his ...
Vol. 1 p. 36 (Rel. 0.25)
![The High Street.] THE HIGH STREET.
six storeys each ; in short, down as far as the Cowgate
nothing was to be seen but frightful heaps of
calcined and blackened ruins, with gaping windows
and piles of smoking rubbish.
In the Par!iament Square four double tenements
of from seven to eleven storeys also perished, and
the incessant cmsh of falling walls made the old
vicinity re-echo. Among other places of interest
destroyed here was the shop of Kay, the cancaturist,
always a great attraction to idlers.
During the whole of Thursday the authorities
were occupied in the perplexing task of .examining
the ruined edifices in the Parliament Square. These
being of enormous height and dreadfully shattered,
threatened, by their fall, destruction to everything
in their vicinity. One eleven-storeyed edifice presented
such a very striking, terrible, and dangerous
appearance, that it was proposed to batter it down
with cannon. On the next day the ruins were inspected
by Admiral Sir David Milne, and Captain
(afterwardssir Francis) Head of theRoyal Engineers,
an officer distinguished alike in war and In literature,
who gave in a professional report on the subject,
and to him the task of demolition was assigned.
’
In the meantime offers of assistance from Captain
Hope of H.M.S. BnX, then in Leith Roads,
were accepted, and his seamen, forty in number,
threw a line over the lofty southern gable above
Heron’s Court, but brought down only a small
portion Next day Captain Hope returned to the
attack, with iron cables, chains, and ropes, while
some sappers daringly undermined the eastern wall.
These were sprung, and, as had been predicted by
Captain Head, the enormous mass fell almost
perpendicularly to the grognd.
At the Tron Church, on the last night of every
year, there gathers a vast crowd, who watch with
patience and good-humour the hands of the illuminated
clock till they indicate one minute past
twelve, and then the New Year is welcomed in
with ringing cheers, joy, and hilarity. A general
shaking of hands and congratdlations ensue, and
one and all wish each other ‘‘ A happy New Year,
and mony 0’ them.” A busy hum pervades the older
parts of the city; bands of music and bagpipes
strike up in many a street and wynd; and, furnished
with egg-flip, whiskey, &c., thousands hasten off in
all directions to “first foot” friends and relations,
CHAPTER XXI.
THE HIGH STREET,
A Place for Brawling-First Paved and Lighted-The Meal and Flesh MarketsState of the Streets-Municipal Regulations 16th Century-
Tuleies-The Lairds of Ainh and Wemyss-The Tweedies of Drummelzier-A Mont- Quarrel-The Slaughter of Lord Tarthorwald-
-A Brawl in 1705-Attacking a Sedan Chair-Habits in Lhe Seventeenth Century-Abduction of Women and Girls-Sumptuary Law6
against Women.
BEFORE narrating the wondrous history of the many
quaint and ancient closes and wynds which diverged
of old, and some of which still diverge, from the
stately High Street, we shall treat of that venerable
thoroughfare itself-its gradual progress, changes,
and some of the stirring scenes that have been witnessed
from its windows.
Till so late as the era of building the Royal
Exchange Edinburgh had been without increase
or much alteration since King James VI. rode
forth for England in 1603. “The extended wall
erected in the memorable year 1513 still formed
the boundary of the city, with the exception of the
enclosure of the Highriggs. The ancient gates remained
kept under the care of jealous warders,
and nightly closed at an early hour ; even as when
the dreaded iiiroads of the Southron summoned
the Burgher Watch to guard their walls. At the
foot of the High Street, the lofty tower and spire
of the Nether Bow Port terminated the vista, surmounting
the old Temple Bar of Edinburgh, interposed
between the city and the ancient burgh of
Canongate.”
On this upward-sloping thoroughfare first rose
the rude huts of the Caledonians, by the side of
the wooded way that led to the Dun upon the rock
-when Pagan rites were celebrated at sunrise on
the bare scalp of Arthur‘s Seat-and destined
to become in future years “the King’s High
Street,” as it was exclusively named in writs and
charters, in so far as it extended from the Nether
Bow to the edifice named Creech’s Land, at the
east end of the Luckenbooths. “Here,” says a
writer, “ was the battle-ground of Scotland for
centuries, whereon private and party feuds, the
jealousies of nobles and burghers, and not a few of
the contests between the Crown and the people,
were settled at the sword.”
As a place for brawling it was proverbial ; and
thus it was that Colonel Munro, in “His Expedition
with the Worthy Scots Regiment called
Mackeyes,” levied in 1626, for service in Denmark](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v1p203.gif "Volume 1 Page 191")
... High Street.] THE HIGH STREET.
six storeys each ; in short, down as far as the Cowgate
nothing was to be seen ...
Vol. 1 p. 191 (Rel. 0.25)
... 88 OLD ANI) NEW EDINBURGH. [York Place
His lordship was so fond of card-playing that
he was wont to say, ...
Vol. 3 p. 188 (Rel. 0.25)
... of rank, another plot to storm it, at a time
when its garrison was the nsth, or old regiment of
Edinburgh, ...
Vol. 1 p. 68 (Rel. 0.24)
... 2 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [University.
posts, and make the Grassmarket their headquarters.
The City Militia held ...
Vol. 5 p. 12 (Rel. 0.24)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [North Bridge.
. of the greatest hits in the annals of the Theatre
Royal; and it was ...
Vol. 2 p. 350 (Rel. 0.24)
... at sea, yet he adds, “our numbers
amounted to 700, and with the loss of three we
made ourselves ...
Vol. 5 p. 173 (Rel. 0.24)
... PALACE BURNED AND REPAIRED. 73
~
gesse !”’ Then the castle fired a salute, while
silver was scattered to ...
Vol. 3 p. 73 (Rel. 0.24)
... he delighted in music and the theatre, and
it was his own advanced taste and spirit that led
.him, in 1725, ...
Vol. 1 p. 83 (Rel. 0.24)
![The Cowgate.] THE CUNZIE NOOK. 267
dexter hand palmed, and in its palm an eye. In
the dexter canton, a saltire argent, under the imperial
crown, surmounted by a thistle j and in base
a castle argent, masoned sable, within a border,
charged with instruments used by the society. To
the surgeons. were added the apothecaries.
James IV., one of the greatest patrons of art and
science in his time, dabbled a little in surgery and
chemistry, and had an assistant, John the Leeche,
whom he brought from the Continent. Pitscottie
tells us that James was “ane singular guid chirurgione,”
and in his daily expense book, singular
entries occur in 1491, of payments made to people
to let him bleed them and pull their teeth :-
“Item, to ane fallow, because the King pullit
furtht his twtht, xviii shillings.
“Item, to Kynnard, ye barbour, for tua teith
drawin furtht of his hed be the King, xvci sh.”
The barbers were frequently refractory, and
brought the surgeons into the Court of Session t e
adjust rights, real or imagined. But after the union
of the latter with the apothecaries, they gave up
the barber craft, and were formed into one corporation
by an Act of Council, on the 25th February,
1657, as already mentioned in the account of
the old Royal College of Surgeons.
The first admitted after the change, was Christopher
Irving, recorded as ‘‘ ane free chmgone,”
without the usual words “and barber,” after his
name. He was physician to James VII., and from
him the Irvings of Castle Irving, in .Ireland, are
descended.
CHAPTER XXXIII.
THE SOCIETY.
The Candlemaker Row--The “ Cunzie Nook”-Tbe of Charles 1.-The Candlemakers’ Hall--The Afhk of Dr. Symons-The Society, IS+
Brown Square-Proposed Statue to George III., x~-Di&nguished Inhabitants-Si IsIay Campbell-Lard Glenlec-Haigof Beimerside
--Si John Lerlie-Miss Jeannie Elliot-Argyle Square-Origin of it-Dr. Hugh Bkit-The Sutties of that Ilk-Trades Maiden Hospital-
-Mint0 House and the Elliots-New Medical School-Baptist Church-Chambers Strect-Idustrial Museum of Sdence and Art-Its
Great Hall and adjoining Halls-Aim of the Architect-Contents and Models briefly glanced at-New Watt Institution and School of
ArtsPhrenoloEical Museum-New Free Tron Church-New Tiainiing College of the Church of Scotland-The Dental Hospita-The
.
Theatre ofvari.&s.
THE Candlemaker Row is simply the first portion
of the old way that led from the Grassmarket and
Cowgate-head, where Sir John Inglis resided in
1784, to the lands of Bnsto, and thence on to
Powburn ; and it was down this way that a portion
of the routed Flemings, with Guy of Namur at their
head, fled towards the Castle rock, after their
defeat on the Burghmuir in 1335.
In Charles I.’s time a close line of street with a
great open space behind occupied the whole of the
east side, from the Greyfriars Port to the Cowgatehead.
The west side was the boundary wall of the
churchyard, save at the foot, where two or three
houses appear in 1647, one of which, as the Cunzie
Nook, is no doubt that referred to by Wilson as
a curious little timber-fronted tenement, surmounted
with antique crow-steps ; an open gallery
projects in front, and rude little; shot-windows admit
the light to the decayed and gloomy chambers
therein.” This, we presume, to be the Cunzie Nook,
a place where the Mint had no doubt been estab
Cshed at some early period, possibly during some
of the strange proceedings in the Regency of Mary
of Guise, when the Lords of the Congregation
“past to Holyroodhous, and tuik and intromettit
With the ernis of the Cunzehous.”
On the west side, near the present entrance to
the churchyard of the Greyfriars, stands the hall of
the ancient Corporation of the Candlemakers, which
gave its name to the Row, with the arms of the
craft boldly cut over the doorway, on a large oblong
panel, and, beneath, their appropriate motto,
. Omnia man;jesfa Zuce.
Internally, the hall is subdivided into many residences,
smaller accommodation sufficing for the
fraternity in this age of gas, so that it exists little
more than in name. In 1847 the number of its
members amounted to only fhw, who met periodically
for various purposes, connected with the corporation
and its funds.
Edgar‘s plan shows, in the eighteenth century, the
close row of houses that existed along the whole of
the west side, from the Bristo Port to the foot, and
nearly till Forrest Road was opened up in a linewith
the central Meadow Walk.
Humble though this locality may seem now, Sir
James Dunbar, Bart., of Dum, rented No. ZI in
1810, latterly a carting office. In those days the
street was a place ‘of considerable bustle; the
Hawick dilligence started twice weekly from
Paterson’s Inn, a well-known hostel in its time,](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v4p087.gif "Volume 4 Page 267")
... Cowgate.] THE CUNZIE NOOK. 267
dexter hand palmed, and in its palm an eye. In
the dexter canton, a saltire ...
Vol. 4 p. 267 (Rel. 0.24)
... 2 OLD AND KEW EDINBURGH. [North Brid~c
Neaves was to be delivered, the house was filled in
every quarter; and ...
Vol. 2 p. 352 (Rel. 0.24)
![307 - Trinity.] EASTER AND WESTER PILTON.
Now Trinity possesses a great number of handsome
villas in intersecting streets, a railway station,
and an Episcopal chapel called Christ Church,
which figured in a trial before the law courts of
Scotland, that made much noise in its time-the
Yelverton case.
At Wardie, not far from it, there died, in only
his thirty-eighth year, Edward Forbes, who, after
being a Professor in King’s College, London, was
appointed to the chair of Natural History in the
University of Edinburgh in May, 1854. He was
a man of distinguished talent and of an affectionate
nature, his last words being “ My own wife 1 ” when
she inquired, as he was dying, if he knew her.
Soon after she contracted a marriage with the
Hon. Major Yelverton, whose battefy of artillery
had just returned from Sebastopol, and was
quartered in Leith Fort. The marriage took place
in the little church at Trinity, and was barely
announced before the Major was arrested on a
charge of bigamy by the late Miss Theresa Longworth,
with whom he had contracted, it was
averred, an irregular marriage in Edinburgh. Before
this she had joined the Sisters of Chanty at T’arna,
and lived a life of adventure. Not satisfied with the
Scottish marriage, they went through another ceremony
before a Catholic priest in Ireland, where the
ceremony was declared legal, and she was accepted
as Mrs. Yelverton. She then endeavoured to
prove a Scottish marriage, by habit and repute, residence
at Circus Place, and elsewhere, but judgment
was given against her by the late Lord Ardmillan,
and after twenty years of wandering all over the
world, writing books of travel, she died at Natal in
September, 1881, retaining to the last the title of
Viscountess, acguired on old Lord Avonmore’s
death.
Horatio Macculloch, R.S.A., the well-known
landscape painter, lived latterly in a villa adjoining
Trinity Grove, and died there on the 15th June,
1867.
In 1836 some plans were prepared by Messrs.
Grainger and Miller, the eminent Edinburgh engineers,
and boldly designed for the construction of
a regular wet dock at Trinity, with a breakwater
outer harbour of twenty acres in extent, westward
of Newhaven pier and the sunken rock known as
the West Bush ; but the proposal met with no support,
and the whole scheme was abandoned.
On the noble road leading westward to
Queensfeny there was completed in April, 1880,
near the head of the Granton thoroughfare, a
Free Church for the congregation of Granton and
Wardie, which, since its organisation in 1876, under
the Rev. P. C. Purves, had occupied an iron building
near Wardie Crescent. The edifice is an ornament
to the swiftly-growing locality. The relative
proportions of the nave, aisles, and transepts, are
planned to form a ground area large enough tg
accommodate the increasing congregation, and
galleries can be added if required. This area is
nearly all within the nave, and is lighted by the
windows of the clerestory, which has flying buttresses.
The style is Early English, the pulpit is of
oak on a stone pedestal. This church has a tower
seventy-five feet high, and arrests the eye, as it
stands on a species of ridge between the city and
the sea.
Ashbrook, Wardieburn House, and other handsome
mansions, have been erected westward, and
ere long the old farmsteading of Windlestrawlee
(opposite North Inverleith Mains) will, of course,
disappear. It is called ‘‘ Winliestraley ” in Kincaid’s
‘‘ Local Gazetteer” for 1787, and is said to take its
name from ‘‘ windlestrae (the name given to crested
dogstail grass- Cynosurus prisfatus), and applied
in Scotland to bent and stalks of grass found OII
moorish ground.”
An old property long known as Cargilfield, lay to
the north-east of it, and to the westward are Easter
and Wester Pilton, an older property still, which
has changed owners several times.
On the 16th of May, 1610, Peter Rollock, of
Pilton, had a seat on the bench as Lord Pilton.
He had no predecessor. He had been removed,
when Bishop of Dunkeld (in 1603), says Lord
Hailes, that the number of extraordinary lards
might be reduced to four, and he was restored by
the king’s letter, with a special proviso that this
should not be precedent of establishing a fifth extraordinary
lord. The lands-or a portion thereof
-afterwards became a part of the barony of Royston,
formed in favour of Viscount Tarbet; but
previous to that had been in possession of a family
named Macculloch, as Monteith in his “ Theatre
of Mortality,” inserts the epitaph upon the tomb on
the east side of the Greyfriars Church, of Sir Hugh
Macculloch, of Pilton, Knight, descended from the
ancient family of Macculloch of CadbolI. He died
in August, 1688, and the stone was erected by his
son James. About I 780 Pilton became the property
of Sir Philip Ainslie, whose eldest daughter Jean
was married there, in 1801, to Lord Doune, eldest
son of the Earl of Moray-a marriage that does not
appear in the “Peerages ” generally, but is recorded
in the Edinburgh HeruZd for that year. She was his
second wife, the first being a daughter of General
Scott of Bellevue and Balcomie. Lord Doune
then resided, and for a few years before, in the old
Wrightshouse, or ‘‘ Bruntsfield Castle,” as it is](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v6p126.gif "Volume 6 Page 307")
... - Trinity.] EASTER AND WESTER PILTON.
Now Trinity possesses a great number of handsome
villas in intersecting ...
Vol. 6 p. 307 (Rel. 0.24)
![Grassmarket.] EXECUTIONS IN THE GUSSMARKET. 231
Market, from the corner of Marlin’s Wynd (where
Blair Street is now) to the east end of the Grassmarket,
where it continued to be held until within
the last few years.
It was not until about a century later that this
great market place began to acquire an interest of
a gloomy and peculiar character, as the scene of
the public execution of many victims of religious
intolerance, who died heroically here, and also as
the spot where niany criminals met their doom.
Prior to the adoption of this place for public
executions, the Castle Hill and Market Cross had
been the spots chosen j and a sword, as in France
and elsewhere on the Continent, was used, before
the introduction of the Maiden, for beheading.
, Thus we find that in 1564, the magistrates, because
the old beheading sword had become worn out, reteived
from William Macartnay “ his tua-handit
sword, to be usit for ane heidmg sword,” and
gave him the sum of five pounds therefor.
Among some of the most noted eFecutions in the
Grassmarket were those of the fanatic Mitchel in
1676, for attempting to shoot Archbishop Sharp in
1668; of Sergeant John Nisbett, of Hardhill, in
1685, who had received seventeen wounds at the
battle of Pentland, and fought at Drumclog, according
to the Wodrow Biographies ; of Isabel Alison
and Marion Harvey-the latter only twenty years of
age-two young women, for merely having heard
Donald Cargill preach. The human shambles in
this place of wailing witnessed executions of this
kind almost daily till the 17th of February, 1688,
when James Renwick, the celebrated field preacher,
and the last martyr of the Covenant, was found
guilty, on his own confession, of disowning an uncovenanted
king, and executed in the twenty-sixth
yearof his age. Most of the hundred and odd
pious persons who suffered for the same cause in
Edinburgh breathed their last prayers on this spot.
Hence arose the Duke of Rothes’ remark, when a
covenanting prisoner proved obdurate, “ Then let
him glorify God in the Grassmarket”-the death
of that class of victinis always being accompanied
by much psalm-singing on the scaffold. In the time
of Charles II., Alexander Cockburn, the city hangman,
having murdered a King’s Bluegown, died here
the death he had so often meted out to others.
In 1724 the same place was the scene of the
partial execution of a woman, long remembered in
Edinburgh, as ‘‘ Half-hangit Maggie Dickson.” She
was a native of Inveresk, and was tried under
the Act of 1690 for concealment of pregnancy, in
the case of a dead child ; and the defence that she
was a married woman, though living apart from her
husband, who was working in the keels at New-
’
castle, proved of no avail, and a broadside of the
day details her execution with homble minuteness ;
how the hangman did his usual office of dragging
down her legs, and how the ’body, after hanging
the allotted time, was put into a coffin, thecooms
of which were nailed firmly to the gibbet-foot.
After a scuffle with some surgeon-apprentices
who wished to possess themselves of the body, her
friends conveyed it away by the Society Port, but
the jolting of the cart in which the coffin lay had
stirred vitality and set the blood in motion. Thus
she was found to be alive when passing Peffermiln,
and was completely restored at Musselburgh, where
flocks of people came daily to see her. She had
several children after this event, and lived long as
the keeper of an ale-house and as a crier of salt in
the streets of Edinburgh. (“ Dom Ann.” III., StaL
Acct., Vol XVI).
In the account of the Porteous Mob eo1 I.,
pp. I 28-13 I), we have referred to the executions of
Wilson and of Porteous, in 1736, in this placethe
street “crowded with rioters, crimson with
torchlight, spectators filling every window of the
tall houses-the Castle standing high above the
tumult amidst the blue midnight and the stars.”
It Continued to be the scene of such events till
1784; and in a central situation at the east end
of the market there remained until 1823 a qoassive
block of sandstone, having in its c h t r ~ a quadrangular
hole, which served as the socket of the
gallows-tree ; but instead of the stone there is now
only a St. Andrew’s Cross in the causeway to
indicate the exact spot.
The last person who suffered in the Grassmarket
was James Andrews, hanged there on the 4th of
February, 1784, for a robbery committed in Hope
Park ; and the first person executed at the west end
of the old city gaol, was Alexander Stewart, a youth
pf only fifteen, who had committed many depredations,
and at last had been convicted of breaking
into the house of Captain Hugh Dalrymple, of Fordell
in the Potterrow, and NeidpathCastle, the seat of
the Duke of Queensberry, from which he carried off
many articles of value. It was expressly mentioned
by the judge in his sentence, that he was to be
hanged in the Grassmarket, “or any other place
the magistrates might appoint,” thus indicating that
a change was in contemplation ; and accordingly,
the west end of the old Tolbooth was fitted up for
his execution, which took place on the 20th of
April, 1785.
In 1733 the Grassmarket was the scene of some
remarkable feats, performed by a couple of Italian
mountebanks, a father and his son, A rope being
fixed between the half-moon battery of the Castle,](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v4p051.gif "Volume 4 Page 231")
... EXECUTIONS IN THE GUSSMARKET. 231
Market, from the corner of Marlin’s Wynd (where
Blair Street is ...
Vol. 4 p. 231 (Rel. 0.24)
![Cockburn Street.] MACLAREN
tiny sheet at first. “To the daily and bi-weekly
editions, a weekly publication, composed of selections
from the others, was added in 1860, representing
also the venerable CaZedoninn Mercury. A
few years ago the bi-weekly paper was merged into
the daily edition, whicA most of the subscribers
had come to prefer. In all its various forms
the Scofsman has enjoyed a most gratifying run of
prosperity.”
By 1820 the paper having become firmly established,
Mr. Maclaren resumed the editorship,
and very few persons now can have an idea of the
magni6de of- the task he
had to undertake. “Corruption
and arrogance,” says
the memoir already quoted,
“ were the characteristics of
the party in power-in
power in a sense of which
in these days we know
nothing. The people of
Scotland were absolutely
without voice either in vote
or speech. Parliamentary
elections, municipal government,
the management of
public bodies-everything
was in the hands of a few
hundred persons. In Edinburgh,
for instance, the
member of Parliament was
elected and the government
of the city camed on by
thirty - two persons, and
almost all these thirty-two
took their directions from
4ND RUSSEL 285
of the proudest proofs of his mechanical sagacity is
his having clearly foreseen and boldly proclaimed the
certain success of locomotion by railways, while as
yet the whole subject was in embryo or deemed a
wild delusion. A series of his articles on this
matter appeared in the Scofsman for December,
1824 and were translated into nearly every
European language; and Smiles, in his life of
Stephenson, emphatically acknowledges Maclaren’s
keen foresight in the subject. His great conversational
and social qualities lie apart from the
history of his journal, which he continued to edit
till compelled by ill-health
UEXANDER RUSSEL.
(Fmm a Phfograjh by 7. Moffat, Edidurgk.)
the Government of the day, or its proconsul.
Public meetings were almost unknown, and a free
press may be said to have never had an existence.
Lord Cockburn, in his ‘ Life of Jeffrey,’ says :-‘ I
doubt if there was a public meeting held in Edinburgh
between the year 1795 and the year 1820,’
and adds, in 1852, that ‘ excepting some vulgar,
stupid, and rash’ newspapers which lasted only
a few days, there was ‘no respectable opposition
paper, till the appearance of the Scofsman, which
for thirty-five years has done so much for the
popular cause, not merely by talent, spirit, and
consistency, but by independent moderation.”’
Its tone from the first had been that of a decided
Whig, and in church matters that of a ‘‘ voluntary.”
Apart from his ceaseless editorial labours, Mr.
Maclaren enriched the literature of his country by
many literary and scientific works, the enumeration
of which is somewhat unnecessary here ; but one
td resign in 1847. He
died in 1866, sfter having
lived in comparative retirement
at his suburban
villa in the Grange Loan, in
his eighty-fourth year, having
been born in 1782, at
Ormiston, in West Lothian.
In the management of
the paper he was ably succeeded
by Alexander Russel,
a native of Edinburgh,
who, after editing one or
two provincial journals,
became connected with the
Scotsmen in 1845, as assistant
editor. . He was a Whig
of the old Fox school, and
contributed many brilliant
articles to the Edinburgh
and Quurferb Reviews, the
“Encyclopzedia Britannica,”
and also B/ackwood’s Magazine.
As editor of the Scotsman he soon attracted
the attention of Mr. Cobden and other
leaders of the Anti-corn-law agitation, and his
pen was actively employed in furtherance of the
objects of the League ; and among the first subjects
to which he turned his attention in the S2ofsman
was the painful question of Highland destitution in
1847. A notable local conflict in which the paper
took a special interest was that of ~ 8 5 6 , on the
final retirement of Macaulay from the representation
of Edinburgh, and the return of Adam Black,
the eminent publisher ; and among many matters
to which this great Scottish journal lent all its
weight and advocacy in subsequent years, was the
great centenary of Robert Bums.
To the change in the Stamp Act we have already
referred-a change which, by the introduction of
daily papers, entailed an enormous increase of
work upon the editors ; but we are told that “ Mr.](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v2p105.gif "Volume 2 Page 285")
... Street.] MACLAREN
tiny sheet at first. “To the daily and bi-weekly
editions, a weekly publication, ...
Vol. 2 p. 285 (Rel. 0.24)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Portoklla
Portobello once belonged, Mr. James Cunningham,
W.S., one of the earliest ...
Vol. 5 p. 146 (Rel. 0.24)
... Wynd.1
the interest of LI,OOO to day labourers as aforesaid
of the neighbouring parish of Liberton ; ...
Vol. 2 p. 309 (Rel. 0.24)
... of the corps would make their last actual
appearance in public at the laying of the foundation
of his ...
Vol. 1 p. 138 (Rel. 0.24)
... THE CLAN REGIMENTS. 327
venerable Market Cross, with the heralds, pursuivants,
and the magistrates (many ...
Vol. 2 p. 327 (Rel. 0.23)
![Edinburgh Castle.] KIRKALDY’S SURRENDER. 49
fourth, under Sir Henry Lee, were somewhere near
St. Cuthbeds church ; while the fifth, under Sir
Thomas‘Sutton, was on the line of Princes Street,
and faced King Davids Tower.
All these guns opened simultaneously on Sunday,
the 17th of May, by salvoes; and the shrieks of
the women in the Castle were distinctly heard
in the camp of the Regent and in the city.
The fire was maintained on both sides with unabated
vigour-nor were the arquebuses idle-till
the 23rd, when Sutton’s guns having breached
sieged depended chiefly for water. This great
battery then covered half of the Esplanade
Holinshed mentions another spring, St. Margaret‘s
Well, from which Kirkaldy’s men secretly obtained
water till the besiegers poisoned it ! By this time
the survivors were so exhausted by toil and want
of food as to be scarcely able to bear armour, or
work the remaining guns. On the 28th Kirkaldy
requested a parley by beat of drum, and was
lowered over the ruins by ropes in his armour, to
arrange a capitulation ; but Morton would hear
ANCIENT POSTERN hND TURRET NEAR THE QUEEN’S POST.
Davfd’s Tower, the enormous mass, with all its
guns and men, and with a roar as of thunder, came
crashing over the rocks, and masses of it must have
fallen into the loch zoo feet below. The Gate
Tower with the portcullis and Wallace’s Tower,
were battered down by the 24th. The guns of
the queen’s garrison were nearly silenced, now, and
cries of despair were heard. The great square
Peel and the Constable’s Tower, with the curtain
between, armed with brass cannon-dikes of
great antiquity-came crashing down in succession,
and their d&is choked up the still existing drawwells.
Still the garrison did not quite lose
heart, until the besiegers got passession of the
Spur, within which was the well on which the bea
of nothing now save an unconditional surrender,
so the red flag of defiance was pulled down on the
following day. By the Regent’s order the Scottish
companies occupied the breaches, with orders to
exclude all Englishmen. “The governor delivered
his sword to Sir William Drury on receiving the
‘solemn assurance of being restored to his estatc
and liberty at the intercession of Q-ueen Elizabeth
The remnant of his gamson marched into the city
in armour with banners displayed ; there came
forth, with the Lord Home, twelve knights, zoo
soldiers, and ten boys, with several ladies, including
the Countess of Argyle.” The brave commander
was basely delivered up by Drury to the
I vindictive power of the Regent j and he and his](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v1p061.gif "Volume 1 Page 49")
... Castle.] KIRKALDY’S SURRENDER. 49
fourth, under Sir Henry Lee, were somewhere near
St. Cuthbeds ...
Vol. 1 p. 49 (Rel. 0.23)
... INDEX.
299, 307, 342 ; Lord Provost, 11.
282 283 293' hisfuneral I 155
Kindid, b a d , of Coates ...
Vol. 6 p. 381 (Rel. 0.23)
![Arthur’s Seat.] . ORIGIN OF
battle of Camelon, unsupported tradition has always
alleged that Arthur‘s Seat obtained its name ; while
with equal veracity the craigs are said to have
been so entitled from the Earl of Salisbury, who
accompanied Edward 111. in one of his invasions
of Scotland, an idle story told by h o t , and ofter,
repeated since.
Maitland, a much more acute writer, says, ‘(that
the idea of the mountain being named from Arthur,
a British or Cimrian king, I cannot give into,” and
305 THE NAME.
“Do thou not thus, brigane, thou sal1 be brynt,
With pik, tar, fire, gunpoldre, and lynt
On Arthuris-Sete, or on a hyar hyll.”
And this is seventy-seven years before the publication
of Camden’s c‘Britannia,” in which it is so
named. But this is not the only Arthur‘s Seat in
Scotland, as there is one near the top of Loch
Long, and a third near Dunnichen in Forfarshire.
Conceriiing the adjacent craigs, Lord Hailes in a
note to the first volume of his Annals, says of ‘‘ the
THE HOLYROOD DAIKY.* (firm a CarOtypr (5. Dr. Tkmmu Keith.)
[The circular structure in the background to the right waq a temporary Government store.]
adds that he considers (‘ the appellation of Arthur’s
Seat to be a corruption of the Gaelic Ard-na-Said,
which implies the ‘ Height of Arrows ; ’ than which
nothing can be more probable; for no spot of
ground is fitter for the exercise of archery, either
at butts or rovers, than this; wherefore Ard-na-
Sad, by an easy transition, might well be changed
to Arthur‘s Seat.”
Many have asserted the latter to be a name of
yesterday, but it certainly bore it at the date of
WalterKennedy’s poem, his “ flyting,” With Dunbar,
which was published in 1508 :- 1
precipice now called Salisbury Craigs; some of
my readers may wish to be informed of the ongin
of a word so familiar to them. In the Anglo-
Saxon language, saw, sme, means dty, withered,
zcrasfe. The Anglo-Saxon termination of Burgh,
Burh, Barrow, BUY^, Biry, implies a castle, town,
or habitation ; but in a secondary sense only, for it
is admitted that the common original is Beorg a
rock . . . . Hence we may conclude, &m>bury,
Sbisbuv, Salisbury, is the waste or dg hbifafion.
An apt description, when it is remembered that the 1 hills which now pass under the general but corrupted
Dr. J. A. Sidey writes: “The Holyrood Dairy, which stood at the enhance to St. Aone’s Yard, had no reference to the F’alaoc (from
which it was 19 feet distant) except in =gad to name. It was taken down about 1858. and was kept by R o b McBan, whose sm was afterwards
m e of the ‘ Keeperr’ d the F’ab(as Mr. Andrew Kar tdL me) and Rad the old sign in his porrasion. Mr. K a says the dairy Man@
m the Corpont;on of Path, and was held for charitable purpmq and sold frr the sum of money that wuuld yield the ame amount as the reatal of
the dairy.”
87](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v4p125.gif "Volume 4 Page 305")
... Seat.] . ORIGIN OF
battle of Camelon, unsupported tradition has always
alleged that Arthur‘s Seat ...
Vol. 4 p. 305 (Rel. 0.23)
... 18 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [University.
meant as a check upon the teacher and the taught,
as it depended upon ...
Vol. 5 p. 18 (Rel. 0.23)
... V
CHAPTER XV.
T H E CALTON H I L L .
e .
?AGS
Origin of the Name-Ghbet and Battery them-The Quarry ...
Vol. 4 p. 387 (Rel. 0.23)
![George Street.] THE MASONIC HALL. k5 1
Glasgow Union Bank Company, which dates from
1830; in 1843 the name was changed to the
Union Bank of Scotland. ‘ As was stated by Mr.
Gairdner to the Committee of the House of
Commons on “Banks of Issue” (1874), several
private and public banks were incorporated from
time to time in the Union: notably, the Thistle
Bank of Glasgow in 1836, the Paisley Union Bank
iri 1838, the Ayr Bank, the Glasgow Arms and
Ship Gank in 1843, Sir William Forbes and J.
Hunter and Co. in the same year. The Aberdeen
Bank was also absorbed in the Union system in
1849, and the Perth Banking Company in 1857.
The special general ;meeting €or “ considering
whether or not this bank should be registered
under the Companies Act, 1862,” was called on
the 10th December, 1862, but the bank had in
fact %een so registered on the 3rd November of
the same year. At the meeting, Sir John Stuart
Forbes, Bart., was in the chair, and it was unanimously
agreed “that it is expedient that the
bank register itself 9s an unliniited company under
the Companies Act, 1862, and that the meeting do
now assent to the. bank being so registered, and
authorise the directors to take all necessary steps
for carrying the motion into effect.”
Opposite the Northern Club-3 mere plain
dwelling-house-is the Masonic Hall and offices
of the grand lodge of Scotland, No. 98, George
Street. The foundation &one was laid on the
24th of June, 1858, with due masonic honours, by
the Grand Master, the Duke of Athole, whose
henchman, a bearded Celt of vast proportions, in
Drumrnond tartan, armed with shield and claymore,
attracted great attention. The streets were lined
by the i7th Lancers and the Staffordshire Militia.
The building was finished in. the following year,
snd, among many objects of great masonic interest,
contains the large picture of the “ Inauguration of
Robert Bums as Poet Laureate of the Grand
Lodge of Scotland,” by William Stewart Watson,
a deceased artist, nephew of George Watson, first
president of the Scottish Academy, and cousin of
the late Sir John Watson-Gordon. He was an ardent
Freemason, and for twenty years was secretary
to the Canongate Kilwinning Lodge.
His picture is a very valuable one, as containing
excellent portraits of many eminent men who took
part in that ceremony. He was the same artist
who designed the embellishments of the library at
Abbotsford, at the special request of Sir Walter
Scott, to whom he was nearly related.
In this office are the rooms and records of the
Grand Secretary, and there the whole general
business of the’ entire masonic body in Scotland is
transacted.
Three fine bronze pedestrian statues decorate
this long and stately street.
The first of these statues, at the intersection of
George Street and Hanover Street, to the memory
of George IV., is by Chantrey, and was erected in
November, 183r. It is twelve feet in height, on a
granite pedestal of eighteen feet, executed by Mr.
Wallace. The largest of the blocks weighed
fifteen tons, and all were placed by meatls of some
of the cranes used in the erection of the National
Monument.
The second, at the intersection of Frederick
Street, is ’also by Chantrey, to the memory of
William Pitt, and was erected in 1833.
The third, at the intersection of Castle Street, on
a red granite pedestal, was erected in 1878 to the
memory of Dr. Chalmers, and is by the hand of
Sir John Steel.
CHAPTER XX
QUEEN STREET.
The Philosophical Iostitution-House of Bamn Ode-New Physicians’ Hall-Sir James Y. Simpron, M.D.-The House of hf-
Wilson-Sir John Leslic-Lord Rockville-Sir Jams Grant of Grant-The Hopetoun Rooms-Edinburgh Educational Institution
for Ladies.
QUEEN STREET was a facsimile of Princes Street,
but its grouping and surroundings are altogether
different.
Like Princes Street, it is a noble terrace, but not
overlooked at a short distance by the magnificent
castle and the Dunedin of the Middle Ages. It
looks northward pver its whole length on beautiful
gardens laid out in shrubs and flowers, beyond
which lie fair white terraces and streets that far
excel itself-the assembled beauties of another new
town spreading away to the wide blue waters of the
Firth of Forth. How true are the lines of Scott !-](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v3p163.gif "Volume 3 Page 151")
... Street.] THE MASONIC HALL. k5 1
Glasgow Union Bank Company, which dates from
1830; in 1843 the name was ...
Vol. 3 p. 151 (Rel. 0.23)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Cunie.
East of St. Katherine’s is a rising ground now
called Grace Mount, and of ...
Vol. 6 p. 329 (Rel. 0.22)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Cunie.
East of St. Katherine’s is a rising ground now
called Grace Mount, and of ...
Vol. 6 p. 330 (Rel. 0.22)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [North Bridge.
musical farce, entitled HaZZow 3a+, which is not
included in tne ‘‘ ...
Vol. 2 p. 348 (Rel. 0.22)
... AND NEW EDINBURGH.
- -- 314
has been erected by the duke near it, at the foot of
the Granton ...
Vol. 6 p. 314 (Rel. 0.22)
![Salisbury Road.] THE HOSPITAL FOR INCURABLES. 5<
three plain shields under a moulding, with the date
1741-
Though disputed by some, Sciennes Hill House
once the residence of Professor Adam Fergusson
author of the (‘ History of the Roman Republic,’
is said to have been the place where Sir Waltei
Scott was introduced to Robert Burns in 1786
when that interesting incident occurred which ir
related by Sir Walter himself in the following letter
which occurs in Lockhart’s Life of him :--“As foi
Rums, I may truly say, 1GYgiZimn vidi tantum. I
was a lad of fifteen in 1786-7, when he first cam€
to Edinburgh, but had sense and feeling enough to
he much interested in his poetry, and would have
given the world to know him; but I had very
little acquaintance with any literary people, and
less with the gentry of the West County, the two
sets he most frequented. I saw him one day at the
venerable Professor Fergusson’s, where there were
several gentlemen of literary reputation, among
whom I remember the celebrated Dugald Stewart.
“ Ofcourse, we youngsters sat silent, and listened.
The only thing I remember which was remarkable
in Burns’s manner was the effect produced upon
him by a print of Bunbury’s, representing a soldier
lying dead on the snow, his dog sitting in misery
on one side ; on the other his widow, with a child
in her arms. These lines were written underneath
:-
“ ‘ Cold on Canadian hills, or Minden’s plain,
Perhaps that parent wept her soldier slain-
Bent o’er her babe, her eyes dissolved in dew,
The big drops mingling with the drops he drew,
Gave the sad presage of his future years,
The child of misery baptised in tears.’
‘‘ Burns seemed much affected by the print, or
Tather, the ideas which it suggested to his mind.
He actually shed tears. He asked whose the lines
were, and it chanced that nobody but myself remembered
that they occur in a half-forgotten poem
of Langhorne’s, called by the unpromising title of
‘ The Justice of the Peace.’ I whispered my information
to a friend present, who mentioned it to
Burns, who rewarded me with a look and a word,
which, though of mere civility, I then received,
and still recollect, with very great pkasuye.”
Westward of Sciennes Hill is the new Trades
Maiden. Hospital, in the midst of a fine grassy
park, called Rillbank. The history of this
charitable foundation, till its transference here, we
have already given elsewhere fully. Within its
walls is preserved the ancient ‘( Blue Blanket,” or
banner of the city, of which there will be found
an engraving on page 36 of Volume I.
In Salisbury Road, which opens eastward off
Minto Street, is the Edinburgh Hospital for Incurables,
founded in 1874; and through the chanty
of the late Mr. J. A. Longmore, in voting a grant
of &IO,OOO for that purpose, provided the institution
‘‘ should supply accommodation for incurable
patients of all classes, and at the same time commemorate
Mr. Longmore’s munificent bequest for
the relief of such sufferers,” the directors were
enabled,in 1877, to secure Nos. g and 10 in this
thoroughfare. The building has a frontage of 160
feet by 180 feet deep. It consists of a central
block and two wings, the former three storeys high,
and the latter two. The wards for female patients
measure about 34 feet by 25 feet, affording accommodation
for about ten beds.
Fronting the entrance door to the corridors are
SEAL OA THE CONVENT OF ST. KATHARINE.
(After H. Laing.)
ieparate staircases, one leading to the female
iepartment, the other to the male. On each floor
.he bath, nurses’ rooms, gic., are arranged similarly.
[n the central block are rooms for “paying patients.’’
The wards are heated with Manchester open fire-
)laces, while the corridors are fitted up with hot
Mater-pipes. The wards afford about 1,100 cubic
’eet of space for each patient.
Externally the edifice is treated in the Classic
;tyle. In rear of it a considerable area of ground
ias been acquired, and suitably laid out. The site
:ost A4,000, and the hospital LIO,OOO. Since it
Nas opened there have been on an average one hunlred
patients in it, forty of whom were natives of
Edinburgh, and some twenty or so from England
md Ireland. The funds contributed for its support
ire raised entirely in the city. It was formally
3pened in December, 1880.
A little way south from this edifice, in South](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v5p066.gif "Volume 5 Page 55")
... Road.] THE HOSPITAL FOR INCURABLES. 5<
three plain shields under a moulding, with the ...
Vol. 5 p. 55 (Rel. 0.22)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Roxburgh Place.
sion, belonging to the Lords Ross and to the age
of stately ceremony ...
Vol. 4 p. 338 (Rel. 0.22)
![Wright’s Houes.] WRYCHTISHOUSIS. 3.1
the genealogist of the Napier family conceives,
with great probability, that the property was held
by the tenure of payment to the king of a silver
penny yearly upon the CasfZe aiZZ of Edinburgh.
The edifice to which we refer was undoubtedly
one of the oldest, and by far the most picturesque,
baronial dwelling in the neighbourhood of the city ;
and blending as it did the grim old feudal tower
of the twelfth or thirteenth century with more ornate
additions of the Scoto-French style of later years,
it must have formed-even in the tasteless age
that witnessed its destruction-a pleasing and
striking feature from every part of the landscape
broken, and the whole of them dispersed. Among
those we have examined,” says Wilson, “there is
one now built into the doorway of Gillespie’s School,
having a tree cut on it, bearing for fruit the stars
and crescents of the family arms, and the inscription,
DOMINUS EST ILLUMINATIO MEA ; another, placed
over the hospital wall, has this legend below a
boldly cut heraldic device, CONSTANTIA ET LABORE,
1339. On two others, now at Woodhouselee, are
the following: BEATUS VIR QUI SPERAT IN DEO,
1450, and PATRIE ET POSTERIS, 1513, The only
remains of this singular mansion that have escaped
, the general wreck,” he adds, ‘‘ are the sculptured
THE AVENUE, BRUNTSFIELD LlNKS.
around it, especially when viewed from Bruntsfield
Links against a sunset sky.
One of the dates upon it was 1339, four years
after the battle of the Burghmuir, wherein the
Flemings were routed under Guy of Narnur.
Above a window was the date 1376, with the
legend, SICUT OLIVA FRUCTIFERA. Another bore,
IN DOMINO CONFIDO, 1400. Singular to say, the
arms over the principal door were those of Britain
after the union of the crowns. Emblems of the
Virtues were profusely carved on different parts of
the building, and in one was a rude representation
of our first parents, with the distich-
“Quhen Adam delved, and Eve span,
Quhair war a’ the gentles than ? ”
There were also heads of Julius jhsar and
Octavius Secundus, in fine preservation. “ Many
of these sculptures were recklessly defaced and
101
pediments and heraldic carvings buiit into the
boundary-walls of the hospital, and a few others,
which were secured by the late Lord Woodhouselee,
and now adorn a ruin on Mr. Tytler’s estate at the
Pentlands.”
Arnot mentions, without proof, that this house
was built for the residence of a mistress of Jams
IV.; but probably he had never examined the dates
upon it.
It is impossible to discover the origin of the name
now ; though Maitland’s idea, that it was derived
from certain wnghfs, or carpenters, dwelling there
while cutting down the oaks on the Burghmuir
is far-fetched indeed. One of the heraldic sculptures
indicated an alliance betxeen a Laird of Wrychtishouse
and a daughter of the neighbouring Lord of
Merchiston, in the year 1513.
In 1581, William Napier of the former place
became caution in LI,OOO for the appearance and](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v5p044.gif "Volume 5 Page 33")
... Houes.] WRYCHTISHOUSIS. 3.1
the genealogist of the Napier family conceives,
with great probability, ...
Vol. 5 p. 33 (Rel. 0.22)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [North Bridge
they occupied when obtained, that we are tempted to
conclude the ...
Vol. 2 p. 360 (Rel. 0.22)
... OLD AYD NEW EDINBURGH. [The Lawnmarket.
Duke of York and Mrs. Mary Anne Clarke made
some noise in London ...
Vol. 1 p. 102 (Rel. 0.22)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Cahoa Hill.
on their return from the Army of Occupation in
France, under Colonel ...
Vol. 3 p. 104 (Rel. 0.22)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [The Second High School.
behind the class in which I was placed both in
years and ...
Vol. 4 p. 294 (Rel. 0.22)
... not correspond in paint of date with the
shirts they accompanied.” Lord Napier died in
1823.
His house, ...
Vol. 3 p. 158 (Rel. 0.21)
![Waniston.] LORD WARRISTON. 99
family, the Laird of Dunipace ; but, owing to some
alleged ill-treatment, she grew estranged from him,
and eventually her heart became filled with a
deadly hatred.
An old and attached nurse began to whisper of
a means of revenge and relief from her married
thraldom, and thus she was induced to tamper
with a young man named Robert Weir, a servant
or vassal of her father at Dunipace, to become her
instrument.
At an early hour in the morning of the 2nd of
July, Weir came to the place of Warriston, and
being admitted by the lady to the chamber of her
husband, beat him to death with his clenched fists.
He then fled, while the lady and her nurse remained
at home. Both were immediately seized,
subjected to a summary trial of some kind before
the magistrates, and sentenced to death ; the lady
to have “ her heade struck frae her bodie ” at the
Canongate Cross.
In the brief interval between sentence and execution,
this unfortunate young girl, who was only
twenty-one, was brought, by the impressive discourse
of a good and amiable clergyman, from a
state of callous indifference to a keen sense of
her crime, and also of religious resignation. Her
case was reported in a small pamphlet of the day,
entitled, “Memorial of the Conversion of Jean
Livingston (Lady Waniston), with an account of
her carriage at her execution ”-a dark chapter of
Edinburgh social history, reprinted by Charles
Kirkpatrick Sharpe. “She stated, that on Weir
assaulting her husband, she went to the hall, and
waited till the deed was done. She thought she
still heard the pitiful cries uttered by her husband
while struggling with his murderer.” She tried to
. weep, but not a tear could she shed, and could
only regard her approaching death as a just expiation
of her crime.
Deeply mortified by the latter and its consequences,
her relations used every effort to secure
as much privacy as was possible for the execution;
hence it was arranged that while her nurse
was being burned on the Castle Hill at four o’clock
in the morning, thus attracting the attention of
all who might be out of bed at that time, Lady
Waniston should be taken to the Girth Cross, at
the east end of the town, and there executed by
the Maiden.
“The whole way as she went to the place,”
says the pamphlet referred to, “ she behaved herself
so cheerfully as if she was going to her
wedding, and not to her death. When she came
to the scaffold, and was carried up upon it, she
looked up to the Maiden with two longsome looks,
for she had never seen it before.
of her, to which all that saw her will bear record,
that her only countenance moved [sic, meaning
that its expression alone was touching], although
she had not spoken a word; for there appeared
such majesty in her countenance and visage, and
such a heavenly courage in gesture, that many
said, ‘That woman is gifted with a higher spirit
than any man or woman’s! ’”
She read an address to the spectators at the four
corners of the scaffold, and continued to utter
expressions of devotion till the swift descent of
the axe decapitated her. Balfour, in his “Annals,”
gives the year 1599 as the date of this tragedy.
Four years after Weir was taken, and on the
26th January, 1606, was broken on the wheel, a
punishment scarcely ever before inflicted in Scotland.
In the year 1619 Thomas Kincaid of Wamston
was returned heir to his father Patrick Kincaid of
Warriston, in a tenement in Edinburgh. This was
probably the property that was advertised in the
Couranf of 1761, as about to be sold, “that
great stone tenement of land lying at the head of
the old Bank Close, commonly called Warriston’s
Land, south side of the Lawn Market, consisting
of three bedchambers, a dining-room, kitchen, and
garret.” There is no mention of a drawing-room,
such apartments being scarcely known in the Edinburgh
of those days.
In 1663 another proprietor of Warriston came
to a tragic end, and to him we have already referred
in our account of Waniston’s Close.
This was Sir Archibald Johnston, who was known
as Lord Warriston in his legal capacity. He wag
an advocate of 1633. In 1641 he was a Lord of
Session. He was made Lord Clerk Register by
Cromwell, who also created him a peer,under the title
of Lord Wamston, and as such he sat for a time
in the Upper House in Parliament. After the
Restoration he was forfeited, and fled, but was
brought to Edinburgh and executed at the Marke
Cross, as we have recorded in Chapter XXV. ct.
Volume I.
Wodrow, in his “History of the Church of
Scotland,” states that Wamston’s memoirs, in his
handwriting, in the form of a diary, are still extant ;
if so, they have never seen the light. His character,
admirably drawn in terse language by his nephew,
Bishop Burnet, is thus given in the U History of his
Own Times,” Vol. 1.:-
“ Waniston was my own uncle. He was a man of
great application ; could seldom sleep above three
hours in the twenty-four. He studied the law
carefully, and had a great quickness of thought,
This I may say ,
.
*](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v5p110.gif "Volume 5 Page 99")
... LORD WARRISTON. 99
family, the Laird of Dunipace ; but, owing to some
alleged ill-treatment, she grew ...
Vol. 5 p. 99 (Rel. 0.21)
![Holymod.] ‘ QUEEN MARY AND JOHN KNOX. 67
religion of the land, yet on the first Sunday
subsequent to her return she ordered mass to be
said in the chapel royaL Tidings of this caused
a dreadful excitement in the city, and the Master
of Lindsay, with other gentlemen, burst into the
palace, shouting, ‘‘ The idolatrous priest shall die
the death!” for death was by law the penalty of
celebrating mass; and themultitude, pouring towards
the chapel, strove to lay violent hands on the priest.
Lord James-afterwards Regent-Moray succeeded
in preventing their entrance by main strength, and
thus gave great offence to the people, though he
alleged, as an excuse, he wished to prevent “ any
Scot from witnessing a service so idolatrous.”
After the function was over, the priest was committed
to the protection of Lord Robert Stuart,
Commendator of Holyrood, and Lord John of
Coldingham, who conducted him in safety to his
residence. “ But the godly departed in great grief
of heart, and that afternoon repaired to the Abbey
in great companies, and gave plain signification
that they could not abide that the land which God
had, by His power, purged from idolatry should
be polluted again.” The noise and uproar of these
companies ” must have made Mary painfully
aware that she was without a regular guard or
armed protection ; but she had been barely a week
in Holyrood when she held her first famous interview
with the great Reformer, which is too well
known to be recapitulated here, but whichaccording
to himself-he concluded by these
remarkable words :-cc I pray God, madam, that ye
may be as blessed within the commonwealth of
Scotland, if it be the pleasure of God, as ever
Deborah was in the commonwealth of Israel.”
The Queen’s Maries, so celebrated in tradition,
in history, and in song, who accompanied her to
France-namely, Mary, daughter of Lord Livingston,
Mary, daughter of Lord Flemihg, Mary, daughter of
Lord Seton, and Mary Beaton of Balfour, were all
married in succession ; but doubtless, so long as
she resided at Holyrood she had her maids ol
honour, and the name of “Queen’s Maries”
became a general designation for her chosen attendants
; hence the old ballad :-
“Now bear a hand, my Maries a’
And busk me braw and fine.”
Her four Maries, who received precisely the same
education as herself, and were taught by the
same masters, returned with her to Scotland with
their acknowledged beauty refined by all the
graces the Court of France could impart; and in
a Latin masque, composed by Buchanan, entitled
the “Pomp of the Gods,” acted at Holyrood in
July, 1567, before her marriage with Damley,
Diana speaks to Jupiter of her $%e Manes-the
fifth being the queen herself; and well known is
the pathetic old ballad which says :-
“ Yest’reen the Queen had foyr Manes,
This night she’ll have but three ;
And Mary Carmichael and me.”
There was Marie Beaton and Mane Seaton
In a sermon delivered to the nobles previous to
the dissolution of Mary’s first Parliament, Knox
spoke with fury on the runiours then current concerning
the intended marriage of the Queen to a
Papist, which “ would banish Christ Jesus from the
realm and bring God‘s vengeance on the country.’l
He tells that his own words and his manner of’
speaking them were deemed intolerable, and that
Protestants and Catholics were equally offended.
And then followed his second interview with Mary,
who summoned him to Holyrood, where he wasintroduced
into her presence by Erskine of Dun, and
where she complained of his daring answers and
ingratitude to herself, who had courted his favour;
but grown undaunted again, he stood before her
in a cloth cap, Geneva cloak, and falling bands,
and with “ iron eyes beheld her weep in vain.”
‘‘ Knox,” says Tytler, “ affirmed that when in
the pulpit he was not master of himself, but must
obey His commands who bade him speak plain,
and flatter no flesh. As to the favours which had
been offered to him, his vocation, he said, was
neither to wait in the courts of princes nor in
the chambers of ladies, but to preach theGospel.
‘I grant it so,’ reiterated the queen; ‘but what
have you to do with my mamage, and what are
you within the commonwealth 7 ’ ‘ A subject
born within the same ; and albeit, madam, neitherbaron,
lord, nor belted earl, yet hath God made
me, however abject soever in your eyes, a useful
and profitable member. As such, it is my duty
to forewarn the people of danger ; and, therefore,
what I have said in public I repeat to your own
face ! Whenever the nobility of this realm so farforget
themselves that you shall be subject to an
unlawful husband, they do as much as in
them lieth to renounce Christ, to banish the
truth, betray the freedom of the realm, and perchance
be but cold friends to yourself!’ This
new attack brought on a still more passionate
burst of tears, and Mary commanded Knox to quit
the apartment.”
Then it was, as he was passing forth, “ observing
a circle of the ladies of the queen’s household
sitting near in their gorgeous apparel, he
could not depart without a word of admonition.
‘ Ah, fair ladies,’ said he, ‘ how pleasant were this
life of yours if it should ever abide, and then b](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v3p079.gif "Volume 3 Page 67")
... ‘ QUEEN MARY AND JOHN KNOX. 67
religion of the land, yet on the first Sunday
subsequent to her return ...
Vol. 3 p. 67 (Rel. 0.21)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [North Bridge.
Soon after, Mr. Ross advertised that he found
‘‘ the general voice ...
Vol. 2 p. 342 (Rel. 0.21)
... THE SCOTTISH TEMPLARS. 51
ances of the order from the Master of England,
who received them from the ...
Vol. 3 p. 51 (Rel. 0.21)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [University.
that young men are sent here from Ireland, from
Flanders, and even from ...
Vol. 5 p. 22 (Rel. 0.21)
![Arlhur‘s Seat.] DR. JOHN BELL 303
sity of Edinburgh that the Medical Society has
contributed much to the prosperity and reputation
of this school of physic.”
Such are still the objects of the Royal Medical
Society, which has now, however, quitted its old
hall and chambers for newer premises in 7 Melbourne
Place. Its staff consists of four presidents,
two honorary secretaries, curators of the library
and museum, with a treasurer and sub-librarian.
Many old citizens of good position had residences
in and near the High School yards and
Surgeon Square. Among these was Mr. George
Sinclair of Ulbster, who married Janet daughter of
Lord Strathmore, and who had a house of seven
rooms in the yard, which was advertised in the
Courant of 1761. His son was the eminent agriculturist,
and first baronet of the family.
In 1790 a theatre for dissections and an anatomical
museum were erected in Surgeon Square
by Dr. John Bell, the eminent anatomist, who was
born in the city on the 12th May, 1763, and who
most successfully applied the science of anatomy
to practical surgery-a profession to which, curiously
enough, he had from his birth been devoted by
his father. The latter,about a month before the
child’s birth, had-when in his 59th yea-undergone
with successapainful surgicaloperation, and his gratitude
led him tovowhe would rear his son John to the
cause of medicine for the relief of mankind ; and
after leaving the High School the boy was duly
apprenticed to Mr. Alexander Wood, surgeon, and
soon distinguished himself in chemistry, midwifery,
and surgery, and then anatomy, which had been
somewhat overlooked by Munro.
In the third year after his anatomical theatre
had been opened in the now obscure little square,
he published his “ Anatomy of the Human Body,”
consisting of a description of the action and play
of the bones, muscles, and joints. In 1797 appeared
the second volume, treating of the heart
and arteries. During a brilliant career, he devoted
himself with zeal to his profession, till in 1816 he
was thrown from his horse, receiving a shock from
which his constitution never recovered.
CHAPTER XXXVII.
AKTHUR’S SEAT AND ITS VICINITY.
The Sanctuary-Geology of the Hill-Origin of its Name, and that of the Craigs-The Park Walls, 2554-A Banquet alfrrsc6The Pestilence
-A Duel-“The Guttit Haddie”-Mutiny of the Old 78th Regiment-Proposed House on the Summit-bfuschat and his Cairn-
Radical Road Formed-May Day-Skeletons found at the Wells 0’ Wearic-Park Improvements-The Hunter’s Bog-Legend of the
Hangman’s big-Duddingston-The Church-Rev. J. Thomson-Robert Monteith-The Loch-Its Sw-ans-Skatcrs--The Duddingston
Thoro-The Argyle and Abercorn FamilisThe Earl of Mob-Lady Flon. HastingsCnuvin’s Hospica-Parson’s Grecn-St.
Anlhonfs Chapel and Well-The Volunteer Renew before the Queen.
TAKING up the history of the districts of the city
in groups as we have done, we now come to Arthur‘s
Seat, which is already well-nigh surrounded, especially
on the west and north, by streets and
mansions.
Towering to the height of 822 feet above the
Forth, this hill, with the Craigs of Salisbury, occupies
the greater portion of the ancient Sanctuary of
Holyrood, which included the royal park (first
enclosed and improved from a condition of natural
forest by James V. and Queen Mary), St. Anne’s
Yard and the Duke’s Walk (both now obliterated),
the Hermitage of St. Anthony, the Hunter’s Bog,
and the southern parks as far as Duddingston, a
tract of five miles in circumference, in which persons
were safe from their creditors for twenty-four
hours, after which they must take out a Protectim,
as it was called, issued by the bailie of the abbey ;
the debtors were then at liberty to go where they
pleased on Sundays, without molestation j but later
legal alterations have rendered retirement to the
Sanctuary to a certain extent unnecessary.
The recent formation of the Queen’s Drive
round the hill, and the introduction of the rifle
ranges in the valley to the north of it, have destroyed
the wonderful solitude which for ages
reigned there, even in the vicinity of a busy and
stormy capital. Prior to these changes, and in
some parts even yet, the district bore the character
which Arnot gave it when he wrote :-“ Seldom are
human beings to be met in this lonely vale, or any
creature to be seen, but the sheep feeding on the
mountains, or the hawks and ravens winging their
flight among the rocks’: The aspect of the lionshaped
mountain and the outline of the craig
are known to every one. There is something certainly
grand and awful in the front of mighty slope
and broken rock and precipice, which the latter
present to the city. Greenstone, which has been
upheaved through strata surfaced with sandstone](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v4p123.gif "Volume 4 Page 303")
... Seat.] DR. JOHN BELL 303
sity of Edinburgh that the Medical Society has
contributed much to the ...
Vol. 4 p. 303 (Rel. 0.21)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Parliament House.
the old High School in 1659, and studying law
at Leyden, became a ...
Vol. 1 p. 170 (Rel. 0.21)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [The Water of Leith.
After this, no one attempted to break into his
grounds.
No. 29, ...
Vol. 5 p. 74 (Rel. 0.21)
... made the ornate edifice we find it now, with
‘oriel windows and clustering turrets. He was
author of “The ...
Vol. 5 p. 50 (Rel. 0.21)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [ Inchkeith.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
INCHKJZITH.
The Defences of Leith-Inchkeith Forts-St. ...
Vol. 6 p. 290 (Rel. 0.21)
![Victoria Street.] THE MECHANICS’ LIBRARY. 291
CHAPTER XXXV.
SOME OF THE NEW STREETS WITHIN THE AREA OF THE FLODDEN WALL (concZuded).
Victoria Street and Ter-The India Buildings-Mechanics’ Subscription Library-George IV. BridgeSt. Augustine’s Church-Martyrs’
Church-Chamber of the Hiehland and Amicultural Societv--SherifP Court Buildings and Solicitors’ Hall-Johnstone Terrace-St. John’s -
Free Church-The Church of Scotland Training College.
VICTORIA STREET, which opens from the west side
of George IV. Bridge, and was formed as the result
of the same improvement Scheme by which
that stately bridge itself was erected, from the
north end of the Highland and Agricultural Society’s
Chambers curves downward to the northeast
corner of the Grassmarket, embracing in that
curve the last remains of the ancient West Bow.
Some portions of its architecture are remarkably
ornate, especially the upper portion of its south
side, where stands the massive pile, covered in
many parts with rich carving, named the India
Buildings, in the old Scottish baronial style, of
unique construction, consisting of numerous offices,
entered from a series of circular galleries, and
erected in 1867-8, containing the Scottish Chamber
of Agriculture, which was instituted in November,
1864. Its objects are to watch over the interests
of practical agriculture, to promote the advancement
of that science by the discussion of all subjects
relating to it, and to consider questions that
may be introduced into Parliament connected with
it. The business of the Chamber is managed by
a president, vice-president, and twenty directors,
twelve of whom are tenant farmers. It holds fixed
meetings at Perth in autumn, and at Edinburgh
in November, annually; and all meetings are open
to the press.
In the centre of the southern part of the street
is St. John’s Established church, built in 1838, in
a mixed style of architecture, with a Saxon doorway.
It is faced on the north side by a handsome
terrace, portions of which rise from an open arcade,
and include a Primitive Methodist church, or
Ebenezer chapel, and an Original Secession
church. Victoria Terrace is crossed at its western
end bya flight of steps, which seem to continue
the old line of access afforded by the Upper West
Bow.
No. 5 Victoria Terrace gives access to one of
the most valuable institutions in the city-the
Edinburgh Mechanics’ Subscription Library. It
was established in 1825, when its first president
was Mr. Robert Hay, a printer, and Mr. John
Dunn, afterwards a well-known optician, was vicepresident,
and it has now had a prosperous career
of more than half a century.
The library is divided into thirteen sections :-
I, Arts and Sciences ; 2, Geography and Statistics ;
3, History; 4, Voyages, Travels, and Personal
Adventures ; 5, Biography ; 6, Theology ; 7, Law ;
8, Essays; 9, Poetry and the Drama; 10, Novels
and Romances ; I I, Miscellaneous ; I 2, Pamphlets ;
13, Periodicals. Each of these sections has a particular
classification, and they are all constantly
receiving additions, so as to CaNy out the original
object of the institution-“ To procure an extensive
collection of books on the general literature
of the country, including the most popular works
on science.”
Thus every department of British literature is
amply represented on its shelves, and at a charge
so moderate as to be within the reach of all classes
of the community: the entry-money being only
2s. 6d., and the quarterly payments IS. 6d.
The management of this library has always been
vested in its own members, and few societies adhere
so rigidly to their original design as the
Mechanics’ Library has done. It has, from the
first, adapted itself to the pecuniary circumstances
of the working man, and from the commencement
it has been a self-supporting institution ; though
in its infancy its prosperity was greatly accelerated,
as its records attest, by liberal donations of works
in almost every class of literature. Among the
earliest contributors in this generous spirit, besides
many of its own members, were Sir James Hall,
Bart., of Dunglas, so eminent for his attainments
in geological and chemical science; his son,
Captain Basil Hall, R.N., the well-known author ;
Mr. Leonard Horner ; and the leading publishers
of the day-Messrs. Archibald Constable, William
Blackwood, Adam Black, Waugh and Innes, with
John Murray of London. Some of them were
munificent in their gifts, “ besides granting credit
to any amount required-an accommodation of
vital service to an infant institution.”
The property of the library is vested in trustees,
who consist of two individuals chosen by vote
every fifth year, in addition to “the Convener of
the Trades of the City of Edinburgh, the principal.
librarian to the Faculty of Advocates, and the
principal librarian to the Society of Writers to Her
Majesty‘s Signet, for the time being.”
The right of reading descends to the heirs](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v2p111.gif "Volume 2 Page 291")
... Street.] THE MECHANICS’ LIBRARY. 291
CHAPTER XXXV.
SOME OF THE NEW STREETS WITHIN THE AREA OF THE ...
Vol. 2 p. 291 (Rel. 0.21)
... AND NEW EDINBURGH. [George Street. I42
ever heard speak on such topics. The shrewdness
and decision of the ...
Vol. 3 p. 142 (Rel. 0.21)
... 2 2 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Convivialii
CHAPTER XII.
THE OLD EDINBURGH CLUBS.
Of Old Clubs, and some Notabilii ...
Vol. 5 p. 122 (Rel. 0.21)
![High Street.] CONSTABLES SHOP. 211 .
Oxford ; Mr. Alexander Campbell, author of the
(‘ History of Scottish Poetry ”; Dr. Alexander
Murray, the famous self-taught philologist ; Dr.
John Leyden, who died at Java; Mr. (afterwards
Sir Walter) Scott ; Sir John Graham Dalzell ; and
many others distinguished for a taste in Scottish
literature and historical antiquities, including I)r.
Jarnes Browne, author of the “History of the
Highland Clans,” and one of the chief contributors
to Constable’s Edinburgh Magazine.
The works of some of these named were among
the first issued from Constable’s premises in the
High Street, where his obliging manners, professional
intelligence, personal activity, and prompt
attention to the wishes of all, soon made him
popular with a great literary circle ; but his actual
reputation as a publisher may be said to have
commenced with the appearance, in October, I 802,
of the first number of the Edihburgh Rtwiew.
His conduct towards the contributors of that
famous quarterly was alike discreet and liberal,
and to his business tact and straightforward
deportment, next to the genius and talent of the
projectors, much of its subsequent success must
be attributed.
In 1804 he admitted as a partner Mr. Hunter
of Blackness, and the firm took the name of
Constable and Co. ; and after various admissions,
changes, and deaths, his sole partner in 1812 was
Mr. Robert Cadell. In 1805 he started 2%
Edinburgh Medical and Surgicd Journal, a work
nrojected in concert with Dr. Andrew Duncan;
and in the same year, in conjunction with Longman
and Co., of London, he published “ The Lay
of the Last Minstrel,” the first of that long series of
romantic publications in poetry and prose which
immortalised the name of Scott, to whom he gave
LI,OOO for “Marmion” before a line of it was
written. In conjunction with Messrs. Millar
and Murray, and after many important works, including
the “ Encyclopzedia Britannica,” had issued
from his establishment in 1814, he brought out the
first of the “ Waverley Novels.”
Constable’s shop ‘‘ is situated in the High Street,”
says Peter in his “Letters to his Kinsfolk,” “in
the midst of the old town, where, indeed, the
greater part of the Edinburgh booksellers are still
to be found lingering (as the majority of their
London brethren also do) in the neighbourhood of
the same old haunts to which long custom has
attached their predilections. On entering, one
sees a place by no means answering, either in point
of dimensions or in point of ornament, to the
notion one might be apt to form of the shop from
which so many mighty works are every day issuing
-a low, dusky chamber, inhabited by a few clerks,
ind lined with an assortment of unbound books and,
stationery-entirely devoid of all those luxurious
attractions of sofas and sofa-tables and books of
prints, &c., which one meets with in the superb
nursery of the Quarter+ Revim in Albemarle
Street. The bookseller himself is seldom to be
seen in this part of his premises ; he prefers to sit
in a chamber immediately above, where he can
proceed with his owo work without being disturbed
by the incessant cackle of the young Whigs who
lounge beiow ; and where few casual visitors are
admitted to enter his presence, except the more
important members of the great Whig Corporation
-reviewers either in esse, or at least supposed to
be so in posse-contributors to the supplement of
the ‘Encyclopxdia Britannica.’ . . . . The
bookseller is himself a good-looking man, apparently
about forty, very fat in his person, with a
face having good lines, and a fine healthy complexion.
He is one of the most jolly-looking
members of the trade I ever saw, and, moreover,
one of the most pleasing and courtly in his address.
One thing that is’remarkable about him,
and, indeed, very distinguishingly so, is his total
want of that sort of critical jabber of which most
of his brethren are so profuse, and of which custom
has rendered me rather fond than otherwise. Mr.
Constable is too much of a bookseller to think it
at all necessary that he should appear to be
knowing in the merits of books. His business is
to publish books ; he leaves the work of examining
them before they are published, and criticising
them afterwards, to others who have more leisure
on their hands than he has.”
In the same “Letters” we are taken to the
publishing establishment of Manners and Millar,
on the opposite side of the High Street--(‘ the true
lounging-place of the blue-stockings and literary
beau monde of the Northern metropolis,” but long
since extinct.
Unlike Constable’s premises, there the anterooms
were spacious and elegant, adorned with
busts and prints, while the back shop was a veritable
btjbu ; “its walls covered with all the’most
elegant books in fashionable request, arrayed in
the most luxurious clothing of Turkey and Russia
leather, red, blue, and green-and protected by
glass folding doors from the intrusion even of the
little dust which might be supposed to threaten a
place kept so delicately trim. The grate exhibits
a fine blazing fire, or in its place a fresh bush of
hawthorn, stuck all over with roses and lilies, and
gay as a maypole,” while paintings by Turner,
Thomson, and Williams meet the eye on every’](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v2p031.gif "Volume 2 Page 211")
... Street.] CONSTABLES SHOP. 211 .
Oxford ; Mr. Alexander Campbell, author of the
(‘ History of Scottish ...
Vol. 2 p. 211 (Rel. 0.21)
![Parliament House.] THE COLLEGE OF JUSTICE. -
a vote among themselves in favour of that protest,
declaring it to be founded on the laws of the realm,
for which they were prosecuted before Parliament,
and sharply reprimanded, a circumstance which
gave great offence to the nation..
The affairs ot the Faculty are managed by a
Dean, or President, a Treasurer, Clerk, and selected
Council ; and, besides the usual branches
of a liberal education, those who are admitted
.as advocates must have gone through a regular
course of civil and Scottish law.
Connected with the Court of Session is the
Society of Clerks, or Writers to the Royal Signet,
whose business it is to subscribe the writs that
pass under that signet in Scotland, and practise as
attorneys before the Courts of Session, Justiciary,
and the Jury Court The office of Keeper of the
Signet is a lucrative one, but is performed by a
deputy. The qualifications for admission to this
body are an apprenticeship for five years with one of
the members, after two years’ attendance at the University,
and on a course of lectures on conveyancing
given by a lecturer appointed by the Society, and
also on the Scottish law class in the University.
Besides these Writers to the Signet, who enjoy
the right of conducting exclusively certain branches
.of legal procedure, there is another, but‘ inferior,
society of practitioners, who act as attorneys before
the various Courts, in which they were of long
standing, but were only incorporated in 1797, under
the title of Solicitors before the Supreme Courts,
The Judges of the Courts of Session and Justiciary,
with members of these before-mentioned
corporate bodies, and the officers of Court, form
the College of Justice instituted by James V., and
of which the Judges of the Court of Session enjoy
the title of Senators.
The halls for the administration of justice immediately
adjoin the Parliament House. The Court
af Session is divided into what are nanied the
Outer and Inner Houses. The former consists of
five judges, or Lords Ordinary, occupying separate
Courts, where cases are heard for the first time;
tbe latter comprises two Courts, technically known
.as the First and Second Divisions. Four Judges
sit in each of these, and it is before them that
litigants, if dissatisfied with the Outer House decision,
may bring their cases for final judgment,
unless .afterwards they indulge in the expensive
luxury of appealing to the House of Lords.
The Courts of the Lords Ordinary enter from
the corridor at the south end of the great hall, and
Those of the Inner House from a long lobby on the
east side of it.
Although the .College of Justice was instituted
by James V., and held its first sederunt in the
old Tolbooth on the 27th of May, 1532, it
was first projected by his uncle, the Regent-
Duke of Albany. The Court originally consisted
of the Lord Chancellor, the Lord President,
fourteen Lords Ordinary, or Senators (one-half
clergy and one-half laity), and afterwards an indefinite
number of supernumerary judges, designated
Extraordinary Lords. The annual expenses of
this Court were defrayed from the revenues of
the clergy, who bitterly, but vainly, remonstrated
against this taxation. It may not be uninteresting
to give here the names of the first members of the
Supreme Judicature :-
Alexander, Abbot of Cambuskenneth, Lord
President ; Richard Bothwell, Rector of Askirk
(whose father was Provost .of Edinburgh in the
time of James 111,); John Dingwall, Provost of
the Trinity Church; Henry White, Dean of
Brechin ; William Gibson, Dean of Restalrig ;
Thomas Hay, Dean of Dunbar; Robert Reid,
Abbot of Kinloss ; George Kerr, Provost of
Dunglass ; Sir William Scott of Balwearie ; Sir
John Campbell of Lundie ; Sir James Colville
of Easter Wemyss; Sir Adam Otterburne of
Auldhame ; Nicolas Crawford. of Oxengangs ; Sir
Francis Bothwell (who was provost of the city
in 1535); and James Lawson of the Highriggs.
The memoirs which have been preserved of
the administration of justice by the Court of
Session in the olden time are not much to its
honour. The arbitrary nature of it is referred to
by Buchanan, and in the time of James VI. we
find the Lord Chancellor, Sir Alexander Seaton
(Lord Fyvie in 1598), superintending the lawsuits
of a friend, and instructing him in the mode and
manner in which they should be conducted. But
Scott of Scotstarvit gives us a sorry account of
this peer, who owed his preferment to Anne of
Denmark. The strongest proof of the corrupt
nature of the Court is given us by the -4ct passed
by the sixth parliament of. James VI., in 1579,
by which the Lords were prohibited, “ No uther be
thamselves, or be their wives, or servantes, to take
in ony times cumming, bud, bribe, gudes, or geir,
fra quhat-sum-ever person or persones presently
havand, or that hereafter sal1 happen to have
ony actions or causes persewed before them,”
under pain of confiscation (Glendoick’s Acts, fol.).
The necessity for this law plainly evinws that
the secret acceptance of bribes must have been
common among the judges of the time; while,
in other instances, the warlike spirit of the people
paralysed the powers of the Court.
When a noble, or chief of rank, was summoned tu](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v1p179.gif "Volume 1 Page 167")
... House.] THE COLLEGE OF JUSTICE. -
a vote among themselves in favour of that protest,
declaring it to ...
Vol. 1 p. 167 (Rel. 0.21)
... THE CRAIG HOUSE. ‘ 43
at Marischal College, Mr. Burton was apprenticed
to a legal practitioner ...
Vol. 5 p. 43 (Rel. 0.21)
... Spcet.1 PROFESSOR WILSONS MOTHER. I < <
He died of disease of the heart at 52, Queen
Street, on the ...
Vol. 3 p. 155 (Rel. 0.21)
![“ CLARINDA.” 327 Bristo Strht.]
pointed out by Sir Walter himself to the late Dr.
Robert Chambers. In 1792 Mr. Luckmore was
appointed one of the four English masters of the
High School on the city’s establishment, and continued
to hold that office till his death, in 181 I. Sir
Walter Scott, on leaving his school in Hamilton’s
Entry, was placed under the domestic tutelage of
Mr. James French, who prepared him to join Mr.
Luke Fraser‘s second class at the High School,
in October, 1779.
Another interesting locality in Bristo Street, at its
junction with the Potterrow, was long known as the
General’s Entry, No. 58, thoughhow it exists but
in name. This was a desolate-looking court of
ancient buildings. The south and east sides of the
quadrangle were formed by somewhat ornate edifices.
The crowstepped gable at the south-east
angle bore an antique sun-dial, with the quaint
legendand
beyond this was a row of circular-headed
dormer windows, in the richly decorated style of
James VI, One of these bore a shield, charged
with a monkey and three mullets-in-chief, surrounded
by elaborate scroll-work of the same reign
and bearing the initials J.D.
Unvarying tradition has assigned this mansion to
General Monk as a residence while commanding
in Scotland, but there is not much probability to
support it. The house was furnished with numerous
out-shots and projections, dark, broad, and
bulky stacks of chimneys, reared in unusual places,
all blackened by age and encrusted by the smoke
of centuries. It is said to have been built by Six
James Dalrymple, afterwards first Viscount Stair,
one of the Breda Cammissioners, and who continued
his practice at the bar with great reputation afte1
the battles of Dunbar and Worcester.
That he was a particular favourite with General
Monk, and even with Cromwell, to whom the
former recommended him as the fittest person foi
the bench in 1657, is well known; and under such
circumstances, it may be supposed ‘that Monk
would be his frequent visitor when he came from
his quarters at Dalkeith to the capital. Tradition
has assigned the house as the permanent residence
in those days of the Commander of the Forces in
Scotland. But there is sufficient proof that it was
the town abode of the Stair family, till, like the
rest of the Scottish nobility, they abandoned Edinburgh,
after the Treaty of Union. “ I t is not
unlikely,” says Wilson, ‘‘ that the present name oj
the old court is derived from the more recen!
residence there of John, second Earl of Stair, wha
served during the protracted campaigns of the
“ WE SHALL DIE ALL ; ”
Duke of Marlborough, and was promoted to the
rank of lieutenant-general after. the bloody victory
of Malplaquet. He shared in the fall of the great
duke, and retired from Court until the accession of
George I., during which interval it is probable that
the family mansion in the Potterrow formed the
frequent abode of the disgraced favourite.”
But Generalk Entry is perhaps now most
intimately associated with one of Burns’s heroines,
Mrs. McLehose, the romantic Clarinda of the notorious
correspondence, in which the poet figured
as Sylvander. He was introduced to her in the
house of a Miss Nimmo, on the first floor of an
old tenement on the north side of Alison Square.
A little parlour, a bed-room, and kitchen, accord.
ding to Chambers, constituted the accommodation
of Mrs. Agnes McLehose, “now the residence of
two, if not three, families in the extreme of humble
life.“
In December, 1787, Burns met at a tea-party
this lady, then a married woman of great beauty,
about his own age, and who, with her two children,
had been deserted by a worthless husband. She
had wit, could use her pen, had read “ Werther”
and his sorrows, was sociable and fl.irty, and possessed
a voluptuous lovelines% if we may judge by
the silhouette of her in Scott Douglas’s edition of
thepoet’s works. She and Burns took afancy to each
other on the instant. She invited him to tea, but he
offered a visit instead. An accident confined him
for about a month to his room, and this led to the
famous Clarinda and Sylvander correspondence.
At about the fifth or sixth exchange of their letters
she wrote: “ I t is really curious, so much fun
passing hetween two persons who saw each other
only once.”
During the few months of his fascination for this
fair one in General’s Entry, Bums showed more of
his real self, perhaps, than can be traced in other
parts of his published correspondence. In his first
letter to her after his marriage, he says, in reply to
her sentimental reproaches, ‘‘ When you call over
the scenes that have passed between us, you will
survey the conduct of an honest man struggling
successfully with temptations the most powerful
that ever beset humanity, and preserving untainted
honour in situations where the severest virtue
would have forgiven a fall.” But had Clarinda
been less accessible, she might habze discovered
eventually that much of the poet’s warmth *as
fanciful and melodramatic. From their correspondence
it would appear that she was in expectation
of Bums visiting her again in Alison
Square in 1788.
She was the cousin-german of Lord Craig, who,](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v4p147.gif "Volume 4 Page 327")
... CLARINDA.” 327 Bristo Strht.]
pointed out by Sir Walter himself to the late Dr.
Robert Chambers. In 1792 ...
Vol. 4 p. 327 (Rel. 0.21)
... burned, and ‘‘ that ilk mail in Edinburgh have
his lumes (vents) full of watter in the nycht, under
pain ...
Vol. 1 p. 122 (Rel. 0.21)
![Greyfriars Church.] DR ERSKINE. 379
I manhood was a sitter in the Old Greyfriars, and his
parents, Mr. and Mrs. Scott,” says an old tutor of
Sir Walter, writing to Lockhart, “ every Sabbath,
when well and at home, attended with their fine
young family of children and their domestic servants-
a sight so amicable and exemplary as
often to excite in my breast a glow of heart-felt
satisfaction.”
In “ Guy Mannering,” Scott introduces this old
church-now, with St. Giles’s, the most interesting
place of worship in the city-and its two most distinguished
incumbents. When Colonel Mannering
came to Edinburgh (where, as we have already
said, Romance and History march curiously side
from all quarters for the first service, a mass of
. blackened ruins. It has since been repaired at
considerable expense, adorned with several beautiful
memorial windows, the triplet one in the
south aisle being to the Scottish historian, George
Buchanan.
Among the ancient tombs within the church
were those of Sir William Oliphant, King‘s Advocate,
who died in 1628 ; and of Sir David Falconer,
of Newton, Lord President of the Court of Session,
who spent the last day of his life seated on the
bench in court.
The antiquity of our Scottish churchyards, and the
care taken of them, greatly impressed Dr. Southey
strangely contrasted with a black wig, without a ‘
grain of powder ; a narrow chest and stooping
posture; hands which, placed like props on each
side of the pulpit, seemed necessary rather to support
the person than to assist the gesticulation of
the preacher ; a gown (not even that of Geneva), a
tumbled band, and a gesture which seemed scarcely
voluntary, were the first circumstances which struck
a stranger.”
Dr. Erskine, previously minister of the New
Greyfriars, was the author of voluminous theological
works, which are known, perhaps, in Scotland
only. After ministering at the Greyfriars for fortyfive
years, he died in January, 1803, and was buried
in the churchyard
Principal Robertson pre-deceased him. He died
in June, 1793, in the seventy-first year of his age,
and was interred in the same burying-ground.
The Old Greyfriars was suddenly destroyed on
the morning of Sunday, 19th January, 1845, by a
fire, and presented to the startled people, assembling
greatest, grandest, and most renowned, who have
lived during a period of three hundred years.
In the year 1562 the Town Council made an
application to Queen Mary to grant them the site
and yards of the Greyfriars Monastery, to form a
a new burial-place, as ‘‘ being somewhat distant
from the town.” Mary, in reply, granted their request
at once, and appointed the Greyfriars yard,
or garden, to be devoted in future to the use specified,
and as St Giles’s Churchyard soon after began
to be abandoned, no doubt interments here would
proceed rapidly ; all the more so that the other
burial-places of the city had become desecrated.
‘‘ Before the Reformation,” says Wilson, “there
were the Blackfriars Kirkyard, where the Surgical
Hospital or old High School now stands ; the
Kirk-of-Field-now occupied by the college,
Trinity College, Holyrood Abbey, St. Roque’s ’
and St. Leonard’s Kirkyards. In all these places
human bones are still found on digging to any
depth.”](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v4p199.gif "Volume 4 Page 379")
... Church.] DR ERSKINE. 379
I manhood was a sitter in the Old Greyfriars, and his
parents, Mr. and Mrs. ...
Vol. 4 p. 379 (Rel. 0.2)
![Cowgate.] THE BIRTHPLACE OF SCOTT. 255
inaugural thesis containing an outline of his celebrated
discovery of fixed air, or carbonic gas, which
with his discovery of latent heat laid the foundation
of modem pneumatic chemistry, and has opened
to the investigation of the philosopher a fourth
kingdom of nature, viz., the gaseous kingdom.
Other brilliant achievements in science followed
fast before and after Dr. Black‘s appointment to a
chair in Glasgow in 1756. Ten years after he
became Professor of Chemistry in Edinburgh, and
was so fm twenty-nine years. .He died in 1799,
while sitting at table, with his usual fare, a few
prunes, some bread, and a little milk diluted with
water. Having the cup in his hand, and feeling the
approach of death, he set it carefully down on his
knees, which were joined together, and kept it
steadily in his hand, in the manner of a person
perfectly at ease, and in this attitude, without
spilling a drop, and without a writhe on his countenance,
Joseph Black, styled by Lavoisier “the
illustrious Nestor of the chemical revolution,” expired
placidly, as if an experiment had been wanted
to show his friends the ease with which he could
die.
In another house at the wynd head, but exactly
opposite, Sir Walter Scott was born on the 15th
of August, 1771. It belonged to his father Walter
Scott, W.S., and was pulled down to make room for
the northern front of the New College. According
to the simple fashion of the Scottish gentry of that
day, on another floor of the same building-the first
flat-dwelt Mr. Keith, W.S., father of the late Sir
Alexander Keith, of Ravelston, Bart. ; and there,
too, did the late Lord Keith reside in his student
days.
Scott’s father, deeming his house in the College
Wynd unfavourable to the health of his familyfor
therein died several brothers and sisters of Sir
Walter, born before him-removed to an airier
mansion, No. 25, George Square ; but the old wynd
he never forgot. ‘( In the course of a walk through
this part of the town in 1825,” says genial Robert
Chambers, “Sir Walter did me the honour to
point out the site of the house in which he had
been born. On his mentioning that his father had
got a good price for his share of it, I took .the
liberty of jocularly expressing my belief that more
money might have been made of it, and the public
certainly much more gratified, if it had remained to
be shown as the birthplace of the man who had
written so many popular books. ‘Ay, ay,’ said
Sir Walter, that is very well ; but I am afraid I
should have required to be dead first, and that
would not have been so comfortable, you know.”‘
The house of Mr. Scott, W.S., on the flat of the
old tenement, was approached by a turnpike stair,
within a little court off the wynd head ; in another
corner of it resided Mr. Alexander Mumy, the
future solicitor-general, who afterwards sat on the
Bench as Lord Henderland, and died in 1795.
It was up this narrow way, on Sunday the
15th of August, 177j-when Scott was exactly a
baby of two years old-that Boswell and Principal
Robertson conducted Dr, Johnson to show him
the College.
Within the narrow compass of this ancient wynd
-so memorable as the birthplace of Scott-were
representatives of nearly every order of Scottish
society, sufficient for a whole series of his Waverley
novels, No wonder is it then, beyond the experience
of ‘‘ Auld Reekie,” that we should find one
of Kay’s quaintest characters, “ Daft Bailie DuK”
a widow’s idiot boy, long regarded as the indispensable
appendage of an Edinburgh funeral,
dwelling in a little den at the foot of the alley,
where he died in I 7 88.
Most picturesque were the venerable ‘edifices
that stood between the foot of the College and the
Horse Wynds, though between them 4 St. Peter‘$
Close, which, in its latter days, led only to a byre,
and a low, dark, filthy, and homble place, “ full of
holes and water.”
On the east side of St. Peter‘s Pend was a very
ancient house, the abode of noble proprietors in
early times, but which had been remodelled and
enlarged in the days of James VI. Three large
and beautiful dormer windows rose above its roof,
the centre one surmounted by an escallop shell,
while a smaller tier of windows peeped out above
them from the “sclaited roof,” and the lintel of
its projecting turnpike stair, bore all that remained
of its proprietors, these initials, v. P. and A. V.
On the other side of the Pend, and immediately
abutting on the Horse Wynd, was that singularly
picturesque timber-fronted stone tenement, of which
drawings and a description are given in the ‘‘ Edinburgh
Papers,” on the ancient architecture of the city
published in 1859, and referred to as “another of
the pristine mansions of the Cowgate-the houses
where William Dunbar and Gavin Douglas may
have paid visits, and probably sent forth mailed
warriors to Flodden. . . . . Here, besides the
ground accommodation and gallery floor, with an
outside stair, there is a contracted second flosr,
having also a gallery in front with a range of small
windows. On the gallery floor at the head of the
outside stair, is a finely-moulded door, at the base
of an inner winding or turnpike stair leading up
to the second floor. Such is the style or door to
be seen in all these early woden houses-a style](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v4p075.gif "Volume 4 Page 255")
... THE BIRTHPLACE OF SCOTT. 255
inaugural thesis containing an outline of his celebrated
discovery of ...
Vol. 4 p. 255 (Rel. 0.2)
... AND NEW EDINEURGH. [South Bridge.
. . .~ 374
in 1765, and two ancient thoroughfares, the Wynds
of Marlin and ...
Vol. 2 p. 374 (Rel. 0.2)
... West Chum.: MR. ROBER’T PONT. 13x1
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE CHURCH OF ST. CUTHBERT.
Iiirtory and ...
Vol. 3 p. 131 (Rel. 0.2)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH.
So difficult was it to induce people to build in a
spot so sequestered and far apart ...
Vol. 3 p. 118 (Rel. 0.2)
![Restalrig.] LHL LA31 UP THE LOGANS. I35 -_7n T I”-
,
sible eyrie, Fast Castle, there to await the orders
of Elizabeth or the other conspirators as to the disposal
of his person.
Logan’s connection with this astounding treason
remained unknown till nine years after his death,
when the correspondence between him and the
Earl of Gowrie was discovered in possession of
Sprott, a notary at Eyemouth, who had stolen
them from a man named John Bain, to whom
they had been entrusted. Sprott was executed,
and Logan’s bones were brought into court to
havea sentence passed upon them, when it was
ordained “that the memorie’and dignitie of the
said umqle Robert Logan be extiiict and abolisheit,”
his arms riven and deleted from all books
of arms and all his goods escheated.
The poor remains of the daring old conspirator,
were then retaken to the church of St. Mary at
Leith and re-interred j and during the alterations
in that edifice, in 1847, a coffin covered with the
richest purple velvet was found in a place where
no interment had taken place for years, and the
bones in it were supposed by antiquaries to be
those of the turbulent Logan, the last laird of
Restalrig.
His lands, in part, with the patronage of South
Leith, were afterwards bestowed upon James
Elphinstone, Lord Balmerino ; but the name still
lingered in Restalrig, as in 1613 we find that
John Logan a portioner there, was fined LI,OOO
for hearing mass at the Netherbow with James of
Jerusalem.
Logan was forfeited in 1609, but his lands had
been lost to him before his death, as Nether Gogar
was purchased from him in I 596, by Andrew Logan
of Coatfield, Restalrig in 1604 by Balmerino, who
was interred, in 1612, in thevaulted mausoleum beside
the church ; “and the English army,’ says
Scotstarvit, “ on their coming to Scotland, in 1650,
expecting to have found treasures in that place,
hearing that lead coffins were there, raised up his
body and threw it on the streets, because they
could get no advantage or money, when they expected
so much.”
In 1633 Charles I. passed through, or near,
Restalrig, on his way to the Lang Gate, prior to
entering the city by the West Port.
William Nisbet of Dirleton was entailed in the
lands of Restalrig in 1725, and after the attainder
and execution of her husband, Arthur Lord Balmerino,
in I 746, his widow-Elizzbeth, daughter
of a Captain Chalmers-constantly resided in the
village, and there she died on the 5th January, 1767.
Other persons of good position dwelt in the
village in those days; among them we may note
’
Sir James Campbell of Aberuehill, many years a
Commissioner of the Customs, who died there 13th
May, 1754, and was buried in the churchyard ; and
in 1764, Lady Katharine Gordon, eldest daughter
of the Earl of Aboyne, whose demise there is
recorded in the first volume of the Edinburgh
Adverhjer.
Lord Alemoor, whose town house was in Niddry’s
Wynd, was resident at Hawkhill, where he died in
1776 ; and five years before that period the village
was the scene of great festal rejoicings, when
Patrick Macdowal of Freugh, fifth Earl of Dumfries,
was married to Miss Peggy Crawford, daughter of
Ronald Crawford, Esq., of Restalng.”
From Peter Williamson’s Directory it appears
that Restalrig was the residence, in 1784, of Alexander
Lockhart, the famous Lord Covington. In
the same year a man named James Tytler, who had
ascended in a balloon from the adjacent Comely
Gardens, had a narrow escape in this quarter. He
was a poor man, who supported himself and his
family by the use of his pen, and he conceived the
idea of going up in a balloon on the Montgolfier
principle ; but finding that he could not carry a firestove
with him, in his desperation and disappointment
he sprang into his car with no other sustaining
power than a common crate used for packing
earthenware; thus his balloon came suddenly
down in the road near Restalrig. For a wonder
Tytler was uninjured; and though he did not
reach a greater altitude than three hundred feet,
nor traverse a greater distance than half a mile, yet
his name must ever be mentioned as that of the
first Briton who ascended with a balloon, and who
was the first man who so ascended in Britain.”
It is impossible to forget that the pretty village,
latterly famous chiefly as a place for tea-gardens
and strawbemy-parties, was, in the middle of the
last century, the scene of some of the privations
of the college life of the fine old Rector Adam of
the High School, author of “Roman Antiquities,”
and other classical works. In 1758 he lodged
there in the house of a Mr. Watson, and afterwards
with a gardener. The latter, says Adam, in some
of his MS. memoranda (quoted by Dr. Steven),
was a Seceder, a very industrious man, who had
family worship punctually morning and evening,
in which I cordially joined, and alternately said
prayers. After breakfast I went to town to attend
my classes and my private pupils. For dinner I
had three small coarse loaves called baps, which I
got for a penny-farthing. As I was now always
dressed in my best clothes, I was ashamed to buy
these from a baker in the street. I therefore went
down to a baker‘s in the middle of a close. I put](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v5p146.gif "Volume 5 Page 135")
... LHL LA31 UP THE LOGANS. I35 -_7n T I”-
,
sible eyrie, Fast Castle, there to await the orders
of ...
Vol. 5 p. 135 (Rel. 0.2)
... - OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [West Church.
mode of procedure, made no resistance; and so
.active were the workmen ...
Vol. 3 p. 138 (Rel. 0.2)
![High Street.] DR. CULLEN. 271 -
it jure tan‘io hyfotheca till he was paid the price
of it.”
The same house was, in the succeeding century,
occupied by Dr. William Cullen, the eminent
physician; while Lord Hailes lived in the more
ancient lodging in the south portion of the Mint,
prior to his removal to the modern house which
he built for himself in New Street, Canongate.
William Cullen was born in Lanarkshire, in
1710, and after passing in medicine at Glasgow,
made several voyages as surgeon of a merchantman
between London and the Antilles; but tiring of
thesea, he took a country practice at Hamilton,
and his luckily curing the duke of that name of an
illness, secured him a patronage for the future, and
after various changes, in 1756, on the death of Dr.
Plummer, he took the vacant chair of chemistry
in the University of Edinburgh. On the death
of Dr. Piston he succeeded him as lecturer in
materia medica, and three years afterwards resigned
the chair of chemistry to his own pupil,
Dr. Black, on being appointed professor of the
theory of medicine.
As a lecturer Dr. Cullen exercisedagreat influence
over the state of opinion relative to the science
of medicine, and successfully combated the specious
doctrines of Boerhaave depending on the
humoral pathology ; his own system was founded
on the enlarged view of the principles of Frederick
Hoffnian. The mere enumeration of his works on
medicine would fill a page, but most of them were
translated into nearly every European language.
. He continued his practice as a physician as well as
his medical lectures till a few months before his
death, when the infirmities of age induced him to
resign his professorship, and one of many addresses
he received on that occasion was the following :-
“ On the 8th of January, 1790, the Lord Provost,
magistrates, and Council of Edinburgh, voted a
piece of plate of fifty guineas of value to Dr. Cullen,
as a testimony of their respect for his distinguished
merits and abilities and his eminent services to the
university during the period of thirty-four years,
in which he has held an academical chair. On the
plate was engraved an inscription expressive of the
high sense the magistrates, as patrons of the university,
had of the merit of the Professor, and of
their esteem and regard.”
Most honourable to him also were the resolutions
passed on the 27th of January by the entire
Senatus Academicus ; but he did not survive those
honours long, as he died at his house in the Mint,
on the 5th of February, 1790, in his eightieth year.
By his wife-a Miss Johnston, who died there in
1786-he had a numerous family. One of his
sons, Robert, entered at the Scottish Bar in 1764,
and distinguishing himself highly as a lawyer, was
raised to the bench in 1796, as Lord Cullen. He
cultivated elegant literature, and contributed several
papers of acknowledged talent to the Mirror and
Lounger; but it was chiefly in the art of conversation
that he shone. When a young man, and
resident with his father in the Mint Close, he was
famous for his power of mimicry. He was very
intimate with Dr. Robertson, the historian, then
Principal of the university.
“TO show that Robertson was not likely to be
imitated it may be mentioned from the report of a
gentleman who has often heard him making public
orations, that when the students observed him pause
for a word, and would themselves mentally supply
it they invariably found that the word which he did
use was different from that which they had hit upon.
Cullen, however, could imitate him to the life, either
in the more formal speeches, or in his ordinary discourse.
He would often, in entering a house which
the Principal was in the habit of visiting, assume
his voice in the lobby and stair, and when arrived
at the drawing-room door, astonish the family by
turning out to be-Bob Cullen.”
On the west side of the Mint were at one time
the residences of Lord Belhaven, the Countess of
Stair, Douglas of Cavers, and other distinguished
tenants, including Andrew Pnngle, raised to the
bench, as Lord Haining, in I 7 29. The main entrance
to these lodgings, like that on the south, was by a
stately flight of steps and a great doorway, furnished
with an enormous knocker, and a beautiful example
of its ancient predecessor, the nsp, or Scottish
tirling-pin.
The Edinhqh Courant of August 12,1708, has
the following strange announcement :-
‘I George Williamson, translator (i.e. cobbler) in
Edinburgh, commonly known by the name of Bowed
Geordie, who swims on face, back, or any posture,
forwards or backwards, and performs all the antics
that any swimmer can do, is willing to attend any
gentlemen and to teach them to swim, or perform
his antics for their divertisement : is to be found at
Luckie Reid’s, at the foot of Gray’s Close, on the
south side of the street, Edinburgh.”
Elphinstone’s Court, in the close adjoining the
Mint, was so namedfrom Sir James Elphinstone, who
built it in 1679, and from whom the loftytenement
therein passed to Sir Francis Scott of Thirlstane.
The latter sold it to Patrick Wedderburn, who
assumed the title of Lord Chesterhall on his elevation
to the bench in 1755. His son, Alexander
Wedderburc, afterwards Lord Loughborough, first
Earl of Rosslyn, and Lord High Chancellor of](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v2p091.gif "Volume 2 Page 271")
... Street.] DR. CULLEN. 271 -
it jure tan‘io hyfotheca till he was paid the price
of it.”
The same house ...
Vol. 2 p. 271 (Rel. 0.2)
... AND NEW EDINBURGH. [High Street. 250
Sleat, and so named probably from the vast resort
and slaughter of seals ...
Vol. 2 p. 250 (Rel. 0.2)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. : [Convivialia
In 1783, “ a chapter of the order” was adver
tised “to be held at ...
Vol. 5 p. 124 (Rel. 0.2)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [West Church.
the 27th October, 1592, by ‘(the hail1 elderes, deacones,
and honest ...
Vol. 3 p. 132 (Rel. 0.2)
![York Place.] DR. ABERCROMBIE. 187
imagined, but can scarcely be described,“ says the
CaZedonian Mercury of the 18th March. ‘‘ From
eighty to a hundred persons, ladies as well as
gentlemen, were precipitated in one mass into an
apartment below, filled with china and articles of
vertu. The cries and shrieks, intermingled with
exclamations‘ and ejaculations of distress, were
heartrending ; but what added to the unutterable
agony of that awful moment, the density of the
cloud of dust, impervious to the rays of light, produced
total darkness, diffusing a choking atmosphere,
which nearly stifled the terrified multitude,
and in this state of suspense they remained several
minutes.” Among the mass of people who went
down with the floor were Lord Moncrieff, Sir
James Riddell of Ardnam~rchan, and Sir Archi-
. bald Campbell of Succoth. Many persons were
most severely injured, and Mr. Smith, banker, of
Moray Place, on whom the hearth-stone fell, was
killed.
. York Place, the continuation of this thoroughfare
to Queen Street, is nearly all unchanged since
it was built, and is broad and stately, with spacious
and lofty houses, which were inhabited by Sir
Henry Raeburn, Francis Homer, Dr. John Abercrombie,
Dr. John Coldstream, Alexander Geddes,
A.R.A., and other distinguished men.
No. 10 was the abode of Lord Craig, the successor
on the bench of Lord Hailes in 1792, and
whose well-known attainments, and especially his
connection with the Mirror and bunger, gave his
name an honourable place among local notorieties.
He was the cousin-german of the celebrated Mrs.
McLehose, the Clarinda of Robert Burns, and to
her he bequeathed an annuity, at his death, which
occurred in 1813. His house was afterwards occupied
by the gallant Admiral Sir David Milne, who,
when a lieutenant,. took possession of the P i p e
frigate, after her surrender to the Blanche, in the
West Indies ; captured L z Seine,, in I 798, and Lu
Vengeance, of 38 guns, in I 800, and who commanded
the hprepable, in the attack on Algiers, when he
was Rear-Admiral, and had 150 of his crew killed
and wounded, as Brenton records in his “Naval
History.” He died a Knight Grand Cross of the
Bath, and left a son, Sir Alexander Milne, also
K.C.B., and Admiral, more than once commander
of fleets, and who first went to sea with his father
in the flag-ship hander, in 1817. Sir David died
on board of a Granton steamer, when returning
home, in 1845, and was buried at Inveresk.
Doctor John Abercrombie, Physician to Her
Majesty, lived in No. 19, and died there in 1844,
aged 64. He was a distinguished consulting
physician, and moral writer, born at Aberdeen, in
1781; F,RC.S. in 1823; and was author of
“ Inquiries concerning the Intellectual Powers,”
which has gone through many editions, “The Philosophy
of the Moral Feelings,” &c. His bust is
in the museum of the Royal College of Surgeons.
Concerning his death, the following curious story
has found its way into print. A Mrs. M., a native
of the West Indies, was at Blair Logie at the time
of the demise of Dr. Abercrombie, with whom she
had been very intimate. He died suddenly, without
any previous indisposition, just as he was about to
enter his carriage in York Place, at eleven o’clock
on a Thursday morning. On the night between
Thursday and Friday Mrs. M. dreamt that she saw
the whole family of Dr. Abercrombie dressed entirely
in white,dancing a solemn hneral dance, upon which
she awoke, wondering that she should have dreamt
anything so absurd, as it‘was contrary to their
custom to dance on any occasion. Immediately
afterwards her maid came to tell her that she had
seen Dr. Abercrombie reclining against a wall
“with his jaw fallen, and a livid countenance,
mournfully shaking his head as he looked at her.”
She passed the day in great uneasiness, and wrote
to inquire for the Doctor, relating what had h i p
pened, and expressing her conviction that he was
dead, and her letter was seen by several persons
in Edinburgh on the day of its amval.
No. 22 was the house of Lord Newton, known
as the wearer of “ Covington’s gown,” in memory
of the patriotism and humanity displayed by the
latter in defending the ’Jacobite prisoners on their
trial at Carlisle in 1747. His judicial talents and
social eccentricities formed the subject of many
anecdotes. He participated largely in the bacchanalian
propensities so prevalent among the legal
men of his time, and was frequently known to put
‘‘ three lang craigs ” (i.e. long-necked bottles of
claret) “ under his belt ” after dinner, and thereafter
dictate to his clerk a paper of more than skty pages.
The MS. would then be sent to press, and the
proofs be corrected next morning at the bar of the
Inner House.
He would often spend the whole night in con,
vivial indulgence at the Crochallan Club, perhaps
be driven home to York Place about seven in the
morning, sleep for two hours, and be seated on the
bench at the usual hour. The French traveller
Simond relates his surprise “on stepping one
morning into the Parliament House to find in the
dignified capacity and exhibiting all the dignified
bearing of a judge, the very gentleman with whom
he had just spent a night of debauch and parted
from only one hour before, when both were excessively
intoxicated.”
.](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v3p199.gif "Volume 3 Page 187")
... Place.] DR. ABERCROMBIE. 187
imagined, but can scarcely be described,“ says the
CaZedonian Mercury of the ...
Vol. 3 p. 187 (Rel. 0.2)
... Letters,” that the Countess of Stair was subject
to hysterical fits-the result perhaps of all she ...
Vol. 1 p. 106 (Rel. 0.2)
... -
CHAPTER XXVII.
LEITH-CONSTITUTION STREET, THE SHORE, COAL HILL, AND SHERIFF ...
Vol. 6 p. 396 (Rel. 0.2)
... COBOURG STREET. 255
ing is the inscription on the pedestal-‘ This memorial
of David Johnston, D.D., who ...
Vol. 6 p. 255 (Rel. 0.2)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [West Church,
and by an assessment on the real property within
the parish; the expense ...
Vol. 3 p. 136 (Rel. 0.2)
![St Andrew Square] ROYAL BANK
bank. The other existing banks have all been
constituted by contracts of co-partnery since the
year 1825, and, with the exception of the Caledonian
Banking Company, are all carrying on
business under the Companies Act of 1862. With
this office is incorporated No. 41, which, in 1830,
was the shop of Messrs. Robert Cadell and Co.,
the eminent booksellers and publishers.
The Royal Bank of Scotland occupies a pre
minent position on the west side of the square, in a
deep recess between the British Linen Company
and the Scottish Provident Institution.
It was originally the town house of Sir Lawrence
Dundas, Bart., and was one of the first houses
built in the square, on what we believe was intended
as the place for st. Andrew’s church. The
house was designed by Sir William Chambers, on
the model of a much-admired villa near Rome, and
executed by William Jamieson, mason. Though
of an ancient family, Sir Lawrence was the architect
of his own fortune, and amassed wealth as a conimissary-
general with the army in Flanders, 1748 to
1759. He was the second son of Thomas Dundas,
a bailie of Edinburgh, whose diffculties brought
him to bankruptcy, and for a time Sir Lawrence
served behind a counter, He was created a
baronet in 1762, with remainder, in default of
male issue, to his elder brother, Thomas Dundas,
who had succeeded to the estate of Fingask. His
son Thomas was raised to the peerage of Great
Britain as Baron Dundas of Aske, in Yorkshire, in
August, 1794 and became ancestor of the Earls of
Zetland.
About 1820 the Royal Bank, which had so long
conducted its business in the Old Bank Close in
the High Street, removed to the house of Sir
Lawrence Dundas.
We have thus shown that St. Andrew Square is
now as great a mart for business as it was once a
fashionable quarter, and some idea may be had of
the magnitude of the interests here at stake when
it is stated that the liabilities-that is, the total sums
insured-of the six leading insurance houses alone
exceed ~45,ooo,ooo, and that their annual income
is upwards of ~1,8oo,ooo-a revenue greater than
that of several States !
Melville’s monument, in the centre of the square,
was erected in 1821, in memory of Henry Dundas,
first Viscount Melville, who was Lord Advocate in
1775, and filled some high official situations in the
Government of Britain during the administration
of William Pitt He was raised to the peerage in
OF SCOTLAND. 171
1802, and underwent much persecution in 1805
for alleged malversation in his office as treasurer to
the navy; but after a trial by his peers was triumphantly
judged not guilty.
Designed by William Burn, this monument consists
of pedestal, pillar, and statue, rising to the
height of 150 feet, niodelled after the Trajan
column at Rome, but fluted and not ornamented
with sculpture; the statue is 14 feet in height.
The cost was _f;8,ooo, defrayed-8s the inverse
side of the plate in the foundation stone states
-“by the voluntary contribbtions of the officers,
petty-officers, seamen, and marines of these united
kingdoms.” It was laid by Admirals Sir D a d
Milne and Otway, naval commander-inchief in
Scotland, after prayer by Principal Baird, on the
anniversary of Lord Melville’s birthday. In the
stone was deposited a great plate of pure gold,
bearing the inscription. A plate of silver bearing
the names of the committee was laid in the stone
at the same time.
The Hopetoun monument, within the recess in
front of the Royal Bank, is in memory of Sir John
Hope, fourth Earl of Hopetoun, G.C.H., Colonel
of the gznd Gordon Highlanders, who died in
1823, a distinguished Peninsular officer, who assumed
the command of the army at Corunna, on
the fall of his countryman Sir John Moore. It was
erected in 1835, and comprises a bronze statue, in
Roman costume, leaning on a pawing charger.
West Register Street, which immediately adjoins
St. Andrew Square, is a compound of several
short thoroughfares, and contains the site of
‘( Ambrose’s Tavern,” the scene of Professor NIson’s
famous “Noctes Ambrosianze,” with a remnant
of the once narrow old country pathway
known as Gabriel’s Road. cG Ambrose’s Tavern,”
a tall, three-storeyed edifice, like a country farmhouse,
enjoyed much repute independent of the
“Noctes,” and was removed in 1864. Hogg, the
Ettrick .Shepherd, who was fond of all athletic
sports and manly exercises, was long made to
figure conspicuously in these Noctes ” in BZack3
wmZs Magazine, which gave his name a celebrity
beyond that acquired by his own writings.
At one of the corners of West Register Street is
the great palatial paper warehouse of the Messrs
Cowan, one of the most elaborately ornate busiqess
establishments in the city, which was erected in
1865, by the Messrs. Beattie, at a cost of about
A7,000, and has two ornamental fronts with chaste
and elegant details in the florid Italian styk](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v3p183.gif "Volume 3 Page 171")
... Andrew Square] ROYAL BANK
bank. The other existing banks have all been
constituted by contracts of co-partnery ...
Vol. 3 p. 171 (Rel. 0.2)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Restalrig.
did not appear, sentence of outlawry was passed
upon him. Meanwhile the ...
Vol. 5 p. 142 (Rel. 0.2)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [George Street. --
already been made in the account of that institution,
of which he ...
Vol. 3 p. 144 (Rel. 0.2)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Leith Walk.
belonged to different vehicles. It is standing opposite
the Tron Kirk. ...
Vol. 5 p. 154 (Rel. 0.2)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [North Loch.
whose windows perhaps the accident occurred
“that the fox will not set ...
Vol. 3 p. 82 (Rel. 0.2)
... TolbOoth.1 PORTEOUS EXECUTED. 131
some proposed to slay hini on the spot, was told
by others to prepare for ...
Vol. 1 p. 131 (Rel. 0.2)
... Street I ST. CECILTA’S HALL. 25 I
years, and in June, 1749, died in a cottar’s humble
dwelling at ...
Vol. 2 p. 251 (Rel. 0.2)
... OLD -4KD NEW EDINBURGH. ELauristollr - _
.. . . .
whom were the Duke of Buccleuch, the Earl 01
Stair, and ...
Vol. 4 p. 358 (Rel. 0.2)
![North Bridge.] CONTRACT FOR BUILDING THE NORTH BRIDGE. 337
of the old loch, to the excavation where the
stone lay, As they proceeded a “band of the
fraternity,” says the Edinburgh Museunr for 1763,
‘ I accompanied with French horns and other instrumental
music, sung several fine airs, marches, &c.
The Grand-Master, surrounded by about 600
brethren, and in view of an infinite crowd of
spectators, after having applied severally the
square, the plumb, level, compass, and the mallet,
and used other ceremonies and symbols common
.on such occasions, laid the stone, amid the acclamation
and applause of all present.”
There were placed in the cavity of the stone
three medals struck for the occasion. On one was
an elevation of the intended bridge, on another
a profile of George 111. The last one bore a
repetition of the inscription, which is cut on the
stone in large capital letters.
By five o’clock the ceremony was over, and the
brethren marched in procession to the Assembly
Hall, where they passed the evening “with that
social cheerfulness for which the society is so
eminently distinguished.”
Still the bridge was not proceeded with, and there
would seem to have been some indecision as to who
was to be the architect thereof, as in the Edinburgh
Advertiser of 19th February, 1765, we read that
“the committee appointed to judge of the several
plans given in for erecting a bridge over the North
Loch, determined in favour of No. 5, This turns
out to be the performance of Mr. David Henderson,
mason and architect at Sauchie, near Alloa,
who lately published proposals for printing a book
of architecture. On account of his plan he is
entitled to the reward of thirty guineas.”
Henderson’s design, however, was not adopted.
It had been forwarded in consequence of the
following advertisement, which appeared in the
Scottish papers in the January of that year :-
“The Lord Provost, Magistrates, and Tom Council of
Edinburgh, being sensible of the great advantage which will
accrue to this city and to the public in general from having
a proper communication befweera fke High Street andthe
fildi on the nmth, have unanimously resolved to follow out
the design of making one, and have appointed a committee
of their number for carrying the scheme into execution.
“ This public notice is therefore made, inviting all architects
and others to give in plans and elevations for making a
communication, by bridge or otAm>e, from the Cap-and-
Feather Close, in a straight line to the o?posite side, leading
to the Multer’s Hill, with an equal declivity of one foot
in eighteen to one in seventeen. Such persons as intend to
give in plans and elevations must send them sealed, addressed
to the Lord Provost, to the care of Mr. James Tait, or Mr.
Alexander Duncan, Depute Town Clerks, at the Council
Chamber, on or before the first day of February next.
Within the plan, upon a separate piece of paper, sealed up,
43
the person offering the plan will write his name, the seal of
which paper is not to be broke [sic] up, unless the plan it
belongs to is approven.
“ The person whose plan is approved of will receive thirty
guineas, or a medal of that value. . . . . It is expected
that the plans to be given in will be done in such a manner
as that estimates of expense may be made from them ; and
it is required that the breadth of the bridge betwixt the
parapets be 40 feet” (Editzburgh Advn?isn; voL iii. p. 22).
On the 1st of August, 1765, the contract for the
erection of the bridge was signed, the parties being
the magistrates of Edinburgh on the one hand, and
on the other William Mylne, architect, descendant
of the hereditary Master Masons of Scotland; and
brother of Robert Mylne. The work was to ‘be
completed by Martinmas, 1769, and to be upheld
for ten years, for the sum of LIO, 140 ; but of the
great sum which it is said to have cost, viz.;
~ ~ 8 , 0 0 0 , after selling the areas, on the east, west,
and at the south end, which drew about x3,000,
there remained xz5,ooo of nett expenditure.
By the contract, the bridge was to consist of five
arches, three of 27 feet span, and two of 20 each ;
the four piers to be 13 feet 6 inches thick in the
body. There were to be two abutments, 8 feet
thick, with wing walls and parapets ; those on the
west to terminate at hfylne’s Square ; those on the
east to be carried no farther than Shearer’s Land.
The length from the north to the south pedestal
on the west side to be 1,134 feet, with 40 feet
between the parapets; but 50 to be between them
from the north end of the south abutment to the
north end of Mylne’s Square, This difference is
apparent on the bridge to the present day.
“The earth to be dug out at the charge of Mr.
hiylne, and to be by him moved to such places
as shall be necessary to fill up any part of the
spaces over the arches. The foundations to be
sunk to the rock, or natural earth, which has never
been moved ; or if the natural foundation be bad,
it is to be.properly assisted and made good by
art.”
So actively and diligently did Mr. Mylne set
about his work, that by the midsunimer of 1769
the arches were all completed, the keystone of the
first of the three larger ones “was struck on
Saturday, May 11, 1768.” .
An unforeseen difficulty occurred, however, in the
course of the work. As the north part of the hill
on which the old city stands is extremely steep, it
had been found convenient in early times to throw
the earth dug from the foundations of the ancient
wynds and closes towards the North Loch ; thus
the whole mass then consisted almost entirely of
travelled earth. Unaware of. this, to some extent,
Mylne ceased to dig at a place where there were no](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v2p157.gif "Volume 2 Page 337")
... Bridge.] CONTRACT FOR BUILDING THE NORTH BRIDGE. 337
of the old loch, to the excavation where the
stone ...
Vol. 2 p. 337 (Rel. 0.2)
... Seat.1 ST. ANTHONY’S CHAPEL. 319
farmers, who are maintained in it for six years;
“whom failing, ...
Vol. 4 p. 319 (Rel. 0.19)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH.
Hume, Alexander, High School
H u e , don. Baron David, I. 121,
I66 11.-
Hum;, David. ...
Vol. 6 p. 379 (Rel. 0.19)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH.
Hume, Alexander, High School
H u e , don. Baron David, I. 121,
I66 11.-
Hum;, David. ...
Vol. 6 p. 380 (Rel. 0.19)
... seems peculiarly applicable to the Edinburgh
of Jsmes V., and still more to that of
James 11.
“He ...
Vol. 1 p. 7 (Rel. 0.19)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Leith Walk.
On the east side of the walk, overlooking the
steep and deep Greenside ...
Vol. 5 p. 158 (Rel. 0.19)
... THE CASTLE BLOCKADE WITHDRAWN. 331
Livingstone’s Yard, where a Highlander was
assassinated by a ...
Vol. 2 p. 331 (Rel. 0.19)
... here and there were sedgy pools and lonely displayed; stout and true Covenanters borne forth
tarns, where the ...
Vol. 1 p. 8 (Rel. 0.18)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Edinburgh Castle.
‘‘ by a net tied to an iron ring ; he fell and fractured
by Miss ...
Vol. 1 p. 70 (Rel. 0.18)
... past there, and how to betray his mistres;
for they could not chuse a more fitte man than
him to do such ...
Vol. 2 p. 261 (Rel. 0.18)
... 283, 335, 343 343
III, 140; dew of, II. 169
vanous buildings in, 11. 172; it!
early residents, 11. ...
Vol. 6 p. 389 (Rel. 0.17)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [High Street.
OF the house of Provost Nicol Edward (or Udward,
to which we have ...
Vol. 2 p. 246 (Rel. 0.17)
... OLD APU'D NEW EDINBURGH.
CHAPTER XXII.
ST. ANDREW SQUARE.
PAGE
St. Andrew Sq-Lst .of Early R e s i d e ...
Vol. 4 p. 388 (Rel. 0.17)
... creature were chained in '{the good old may be imagined.
times " romancists write so glibly of. ...
Vol. 1 p. 71 (Rel. 0.17)
![Canongate.] , THE MOROCCO LAND. 7
per month. A number of the ailing were hutted
in the King’s Park, a few were kept at home, and
aid for all was invoked from the pulpits. The
Session of the Canongate ordained, on the 27th of
June, that, “to avoid contention in this fearful
time,” all those who died in the park should be
buried therein ; for it would seem that those who
perished by the plague were buried in places apart
from churchyards, lest the infection might burst
forth anew if ever the graves were reopened.’
Maitland records. that such was the terror prevailing
at this period that the prisoners in the
Tolbooth were all set at liberty, and all who were
not free men were compelled,
under severe penalties, to quit
the city, until at length, “ by the
unparalleled ravages committed by
the plague, it was spoiled of its
inhabitants to such a degree that
there were scarcely sixty men left . capable of assisting in the defence
of the town in case of an
attack,”
At this crisis a large armed
vessel of peculiar rig and aspect
entered the Firth of Forth, and
came to anchor in Leith Roads.
By experienced seamen she was
at once pronounced to be an
Algenne rover, and dismay spread
over all the city. This soon
reached a culminating point when
a strong band landed from her,
and, entering the Canongate by
Moors. After some conference with his men he
intimated his possession of an elixir of wondrous
potency, and demanded that the Provost’s daughter
should be entrusted to his skill, engaging that if he
did not cure her immediately to embark with his
men, and free the city without ransom. After considerable
parley the Provost proposed that the
leader should enter the city and take up an abode
in his house.”
This was rejected, together with higher offers of
ransom, till Sir John Smith yielded to the exhortations
of his friends, and the proposal of the Moor
was accepted, and the fair sufferer was borne to a
house at the head of the Canongate,
wherein the corsair had taken
up his residence, and from thence
she went forth quickly restored
and in health.
The most singular part of this
story is its denouement, from
which it would appear that the
corsair and physician proved to
be no other than the condemned
fugitive Andrew Gray, who had
risen high in the favour and service
of the Emperor of Morocco.
“He had returned to Scotland,”
says Wilson, ‘‘ bent on revenging
his own early wrongs on the magis-.
trates of Edinburgh, when, to his
surprise, he found in the destined
object of his special vengeance
relation of his own. He married
the Provost’s daughter, and settled EFFIGY OF THE MOOR, MOROCCO LAND.
the.Water Gate, advanced to the
Netherbow Port and required admittance. The
magistrates parleyed with their leader, who demanded
an exorbitant ransom, and scoffed at the
risk to be run in a plague-stricken city.
The Provost at this time was Sir John Smith, of
Groat Hall, a small mansion-house near Craigleith,
and he, together with his brother-in-law, Sir William
Gray, Bart., of Pittendrum, a staunch Cavalier,
and one of ’the wealthiest among the citizens, to
whom we have referred in our account of Lady
Stair’s Close, agreed to ransom the city for a
large sum, while at the same time his eldest son
was demanded by the pirates as a hostage. “ It
seems, however,” says Wilson, “that the Provost’s
only child was a daughter, who then lay stricken
of the plague, of which her cousin, Egidia Gray,
had recently died. This information seemed to
work an immediate change on the leader of the
-
“Dom. Ann.,” Vol. 11.
down a wealthy citizen in the burgh
of Canongate. The house to which his fair patient.
was borne, and whither he afterwards brought
her as his bride, is still adorned with an effigy
of his royal patron, the Emperor of Morocco,
and the tenement has ever since borne the name
of the Morocco Land. . . . . We have had
the curiosity to obtain a sight of the title-deeds
of the property, which prove to be of recent
date. The earliest, a disposition of 1731, so far
confirms the tale that the proprietor at that date is
John Gray, merchant, a descendant, it may be, of
the Algerine rover and the Provost’s daughter.
The figure of the Moor has ever been a subject of
pcapular admiration and wonder, and a variety of
legends are told to account for its existence. Most
of them, though differing in almost every other
point, seem to agree in connecting it with the last
visitation of the plague.’’
Near this tenement, a little to the eastward, was
the mansion of John Oliphant of Newland, second](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v3p019.gif "Volume 3 Page 7")
... , THE MOROCCO LAND. 7
per month. A number of the ailing were hutted
in the King’s Park, a few were ...
Vol. 3 p. 7 (Rel. 0.17)
![Leith.] OLD LEITH MEN AND MANNERS. 209
CHAPTER XXII.
LEITH HISTORICAL SURVEY (concluded).
Leith and Edinburgh Peopk in the First Years of the Nineteenth Century-Gorge 1V. Pmkied-His Landing at Leith-Temtory Of the
Town defined-Landing of Mons Meg-Leith during the Old War--The Smacks.
UNLESS it be among the seafaring class, no difference
is perceptible now between the inhabitants of
Edinburgh and Leith ; but it was not so once, when
the towns were more apart, and intercourse less frequent
; differences and distinctions were known
even in the early years of the present century.
A clever and observant writer in 1824 says that,
as refinements and dissimilarities existed then between
the Old and New Town, so did they exist
in the appearance, habits, and characteristics of the
Leith and Edinburgh people.
‘‘ Not such,” he continues, as accidentally
take up their residence there for a sea prospect and
a sea-breeze, but those whose air is Leith air from
their cradles, and who are fixtures in the placemerchants,
traders, and seafaring persons : the
latter class has a peculiarity similar in most maritime
towns; but it is the rich merchants and
traders, together with their wives and daughters,
who are now before us.” (“ The Hermit in Edin.?”
The man of fortune and pleasure in Edinburgh,
he remarks, views his Leith neighbours as a mere
Cit, though in point of fact he is much less so than
the former. “The inan of fashion residing in
Edinburgh for a time, for economy or convenience,
and the Scottish nobleman dividing his time betwixt
London, Edinburgh, and his estates, sets
down the Leith merchant as a homespun article.
Again, the would-be dandy of the New Town eyes
him with self-preference, and considers him as his
inferior in point of taste, dress, living, and knowledge
of the beau monde-one who, if young, copies
his dress, aspires at his introduction into the higher
circle, and borrows his fashions ; the former, however,
being always ready to borrow his name or
cash; the first looking respectable on a bill, and
the second not being over plenty with the men of
dress and of idle life in Edinburgh. Both sexes
follow the last London modes, and give an idea
that they are used to town life, high company,
luxuries, late hours, and the manner of living in
polished France.”
All this difference is a thing of the past, and
the observer would be a shrewd one indeed who
detected any difference between the denizen of the
capital and of its seaport.
But the Leith people of the date referred to
Vol. 11.)
.
were, like their predecessors, more of the old
school, and, with their second-class new fashions,
and customs were some time in passing into desuetude,
old habits dying hard there as elsewhere. The
paterfamilias of Leith then despised the extremes
of dress, though his son might affect them, and hn
was more plodding and business-like in bearing
than his Edinburgh neighbour; was alleged to
always keep his hands in his pockets, with an expression
of independence in his face ; while, continues
this writer, in those “of the Edinburgh
merchants may be read cunning and deep discernment.
Moreover, the number of Leith traders is
limited, and each is known by headmark, whilst
thpse employed in commerce and trade in the
northern capital may be mistaken, and mixed up
with the men of pleasure, the professors, lawyers,
students, and strangers j but an observing eye will
easily mark the difference and the strong characteristic
of each-barring always the man of pleasure,
who is changeful, and often insipid within
and without.”
In 1820 the Edinburgh and Leith Seamen’s
Friendly Society was instituted.
In the same year, when some workmen were
employed in levelling the ground at the south end
of the bridge, then recently placed across the river
at Leith Mills (for the purpose of opening up a
communication between the West Docks and the
foot of Leith Walk), five feet from the surface they
came upon many human skeletons, all of rather unusual
stature, which, from the size of the roots of
the trees above them, must have lain there a very
long time, and no doubt were the remains of some
of those soldiers who had perished in the great
siege during the Regency of Mary of Lorraine.
The proclamation of George IV. as king, after
having been performed at Edinburgh with great
ceremony, was repeated at -the pier and Shore
of Leith on February grd, 1820, by the Sheriff
Clerk and magistrates, accompanied by the heralds,
pursuivants and trumpeters, the style and titles 01
His Majesty being given at great length. At one
o’clock the ship of the Admiral and other vessels
in the Roads, the flags of which had been halF
hoisted, mastheaded them at one p.m, and fired
forty-one guns. They were then half-hoisted till
the funeral of George 111. was over.](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v6p026.gif "Volume 6 Page 207")
... OLD LEITH MEN AND MANNERS. 209
CHAPTER XXII.
LEITH HISTORICAL SURVEY (concluded).
Leith and Edinburgh ...
Vol. 6 p. 207 (Rel. 0.17)
![3 76 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH.
Xrskine, Lady Elizabeth, 11. 115
3rskine. Mrs. Mary, 11. 272, 362
Erskine Club, 11. 27
2scape of risoners from Edinburgh
Ssk, The river, 111. 318, 346, 353,
3% 361, 364;
Sskgrove, Lord,\I.d, 120,111.367
Ssplanade, The, I. 79, 83, 86
Esten, Mrs., the actress, I. 346,
Castle, &tempted, I. 71
3557 357, 358, 35
the coal seams 171. 358, 359
11. 778
Edinburgh Dock, Leith, 111. 284,
Edinburgh Duke of 111. 288
Edinburgh' Dukedok of 111. 126
Edinburghkducational Ihstitution,
Edinburgh Hospital for Incurables,
Edinburgh IndustrialSchool, I. 264,
Edinburgh Institution for Educa-
286, 287
11. 158
111. 55
* 265
tion
Edinb
Educafion 11. 344
Edinburgh ~teruyInstitute,III.g~
Edinburgh Mechanics' Subscription
tion If. 200
Edindlrrgh Kruinv, The, I. 339,
11. 143 191 203 47 111. 43
Edinburih difle b k n t e e r Hall,
11. 326
Edinburgh School of Art, I. 379,380
Edinbureh Theatrical Fund Asso-
Gr; ~ ~ a t e ' 2 9
,gh kolunteer Artillery, I.
286, 323
Edinburgh Volunteers, 11. 76, 82,
188, 219, 371, 372, 373. 374>'"377r
Edidurgk We&& jrrumal, 111.
799 82, 89, 143, 754
Edzn6argh WreRly IWagozitre, I.
3331 11. 3 53 111.83, 1:4~ IS?, 744
Edinburgh toung Mens Chnstran
Association I. 379
Edmonston 6dge, 1. 43, 111. 338
Edmonstone, Lord, 111. 339
Edmonstone, Colonel, 11. 161
Edmouctone 111. 339
EAmonstone'House, 111. 338, '31;
its owners, 111. 338, 33
Edmonstone of Duntreat;, 11. 139,
111. 338
Edmonstones The 111. 338, 339
Edward I., 1.'23, i1. 46,111.41~43,
351 ; captures Edinburgh Castle,
111.39
338
Elcho, Lord, I. 326,327.11.31~318,
Elder. Lord Provost. 11. IW. 176.
322, 111. 198, zzz, 366
, -.. . .
17?.'282. 111. 21
Eldii, Li&t.-Col&el, 11. 371
Elder Street, 11. 176
Eldin, Lord, II., 186, 187, 111. 167,
260; hisfondnessforuts, 11. 186'
;cadent at the sale ofhis effects.
11.
Eldin:%hn Clerk of, 11. 186, 191
Eldin douse, 111. 359
Electric time-ball, The, 11. 108
Elgin Earl of I. 107, 336
Elibak, PatAck Lord, I. 83, 101,
Elizabeth Countess of Ross, I. 246
Elizabeth: Queen, I. 47. 49, 111.
174, 175, 178 : her death, I. zoz
Elllock, Lord, 111. 142
Elliot, Sir George, I. 210
11. 27, 166, 351
Elliot Sir Gilbert, 11. 273
Ellio; Sir ohn 111. 340
Elliot: Archaid architect, 11. 188
Klliot of Minto, sir Gilbert, 11. 161
Elliot of Minto, Miss Jeannie,
Elliot thepublisher I. 181 111.154
Elm Place Leith, iII. 268
Elm Row Leith Walk, II1.154,158
Elphinstdne, Lord, 11. 103, 352
Elphinstone, James, Lord Balme-
Elphidstone, Charles Lord, 11.174 ;
Elphinstone, 3owager Lady, 11.
authoress, 11. a71
rino 111. 135
his sons, i6.
279
11. 274
'36
Elphinstone, Admiral Sir Charles,
Elphinstone, Lieut.-Gen. Lord, 11.
Elphmstone, Sir Howard, 11. a83
Elphinstone, Sir James, I. 271, 11.
Elphinstone Sir ohn 111. 42
Elphinstone' Sir fohnitone, 111. 91
Elphinstone: Hon. Alexander, 111.
262, 263
Elphinstone Court, I. 271--274,
*27z ; distinguished residents in,
203. 111.128
I. 271-274
Elphinstone of Barnton, Lord Bal-
Elphinstone, The Master of, 111.
merino, 111. 317
182
Elphinstone family, The, 111. azz
Elphinstone, Mistress of, I. 257
Elphinetones of Lopie, The, 111. 91
Emery, the actor, I. 348
" Encyclopredia Britannica." The,
I. ZII, 223, 339,Il. 126,165, 111.
En myhe's Well, 1. 276, 277
English Episcopal Chapel, I. 262
English in Scotland, The, I. 23, 24,
II!. 3+, 35: ; driven out, I. 25
English invasion expected, 11. 330
Englishmen captured by Scotsmen,
7$ 247
1. 3'
Entablature above the Gateway,
Edinburgh Castle I. 51
Environs of Edinbdrgh, The, 111.
314-368 : map of, 111. * 325
EpimplChapel Cowgate 11.247
*q9, 111. 63 ;'its bell, iI. 247 i
its ministers, i6.
Episcopal €hapel, Leith, Theearly,
111. 230
Episcopacy in Edinburgh, Attempt
to enforce,.I. 51 144 208, 11. 131,
a46, 375 ; its sekcei at one time
@armed by stealth, 111. 231
Euiscoualian Church. Portobello.
-111. i '53
Errol, Earl of, I. 147, 11. 159, 318,
111. 323 ; Countess of, II.59,166,
3x8
Erskine. Tohn. Earl of Mar. I. *37. . ...
44 335- .
Ersdine, Lord Chancellor, 11. 111,
Erskine, John Lord, 11. zrg, 111.
z87, 111. 271
31?
111. 318
Erskme, Sir Alexander, I. 220,371,
Erskine of Cynbq Sir Charles, I.
37'
Erskine, Sir Harry, 11. 344
Erskine, SirThomas 111. 318
Erskme, Gen. Sir Wham, 11.307
Erskine Sir William I. 63 111.258
Erskingof Alva, Chgles h r d Justice-
clerk I. 236 237
Erskineof &a, SiiCharles, 11.243
Erskine of Cardross, I. 282
Erskine of Carnock 11.379
Erskine of Dun II.'67, 68
Enkine of Foikst, Capt. James
Erskine of Mar, John Francis, 11.
Erskme of Scotscraig, Sir Arthur,
Erskine of Torrie, Sir James, 11.89
Enkine, Hon. Andrew. 11.115
Erskine. Hon. Henrv. 1. 115, 15%
Francis, 11. 282
249
11. 70
166, G5, II.26,122; 143, 163, rig;
Enkme, Hon. James, I. 247 (sec
Grange, Erskine, Lord)
Erskine, Dr. John, 11. 37
Erskine, Lady Barbara, I?. 319,320
248, 339, 111. 34, 362
Eton Tekace, 111. 74
Ettrick Shepherd, The (see Hogg,
Etty, the painter, 11. 89, 91
Evers Lord I. 43
Ewbank, John, the painter, 11. 19,
Ewing, Greville, I. 361, 362
Exchange, The I. 176 178
Exchange Buiidings, 'Leith, 111.
1713 244, "245
Exchequer, The, I. 178
Excise Office, The, 1. IIZ, 113, 217,
*zm, 11. 23, 110, 191. 259, 260;
robberies at the, I. n2--114
Excise Office, Drummond Place, 11. * rgz, 111. '24
Execution of English pirates at
Leith, 111. 190, 191
Executions for various offences, I.
83. 84. 867 115, 117, 122, 1 6 2347
281, 332, 11. 228, 230,231, 238
(set &sa Grassmarket)
James)
111. 79
F
Faed, the painter, 11. 89, 111. 82
Fairbairn, Rev. Dr., 111. 303, *304;
Fairfax Admiral d r W. G., 11. 198
Fairho<me Adam 111. 47
Fairholm: Bailie' 111. 47
Fairholme: Jam,;, 111. 46, 47
Fairholme, George, 111. 47
Fairholme Thomas, 111. 47
Fairies' or Ha gis Knowe, 11. 319
Fair Maid of 8alloway, The, I. 31
Fairnielee, Alan of, Provost, 11. 278
Fairy Boy, The, 11. 101
Fairy Halec Newhaven 111. 299
Falcon Had, 111. 39 ; 'its owner,
Falconer, hliss, 111. 38
Falconer of Borrowstounnes. Sir
his philanthropy 111. 303
111. 38
David, Lord President, II.'379,
Falconer Patrick 111. 365
Falconer' Will& author of the
Falconer ofHalkertoun.Lord.II.97~
111. 199, 202, 206
"Shipkreck," I.'216
Falkirk, Battle of (see battl&] "-_
Falkirk Road, 11. 215
False news, Easy circulation of,
I. 60
11. &A. *&F. 111. 67
Falshaw, Sir James, Lord Provost,
FalshawStreG; 111.
Fast Castle, 111. 37, 134, 135
Faucit, Mis Helen, actress, I. 351
Fenton, Viscount, 111. 318
Fentonbams, Lord, I. 207
Fenwick, the ainter, 11. 1%
Fergusson Large (Lord Her.
mand) i. 170 173 11. 207; hir
defenh of the '45pr?lsoners, I. 17c
Fergussan, Sir C. Dalrymple, 111.
367
Fergusson, Robert, poet, I. I q ,
119, 230, 238, 348, 11. 127. 194,
310, 324, 38, 111. 125, 295, 269
tomb of If. * 30
Fergusso;, Robert, I' the plotter,'
I. 66
Fergusson of Pitfour Jams I. 202
Fergusson, Dr. A&, histokm, I.
123,236,11.27,29,191,111.55,24~
Fergussoii, Dr., the friend of H u e ,
1. 99
Fergusson, Dr., 11. 153
Ferrier, James, Clerk of Session,
11. 139
Ferrier, Miss Susan, novelist, I.
106, 11. 139, 194; her husband,
Ferries of Leith, The ancient, 111.
Ferry Rcad, 11.82, I I ~ , 116,111.64
11. 139
211,212
Fettes, Lord Provost Sir William,
11.31. 173,283.111.82, 97 ; Lady,
11. 318
Fettes College, 111. *Eo, 82, 97, 288
Fettes, the painter, 11. 89
Fettes Row, I. 135, 11. 185
Feuds of the Newhaven and her.
toil ns fishermen 111. 300 01
Fife, Earl of, I. 350,'II. 86, &86,
146 ; Lady, 111. 265
Figgate Burn. 111. 143, 144, 146,
259, 263
Figgate hluir, 111 142, 143
Figgate Whins 111. 144, 236
Filby, Goldsmih's tailor, 11. a51
Fincaytle Lord 11. 120
Fingzie Glace, Leith, 111. 266
Finlay, Wilson's friend, 11. 199
Fire of 1824, Ruins of the, I. ' 185
Fire, SirW. Scott'ssto ofa, 11.5 6
First Parliament of Tames VIi.
Cavalcadeat theopening of, I.%;
FirthofForth,The, 11.151.319,III.
164, 165, 166, 169, 180, 181, 188,
191, 192, 1931 198, 201, 202, 209,
2x2, 228, 270. 274, 282, 287, 312,
Fishermen, Rigits of the Newhaven,
111. 301
Fisher's Close, I. I I I . 11. 242
Fish-hwks, First mmufacturer of.
314, 3227 326, 66
11. 263
" Fishwives' Causeway," I. 10, 12,
Fishwomen ot Musselburgh, 11. 22
F.( sec . also Newhaven)
itzsimmons, Rev. Mr., 11. 248
Flaxman the sculptor, 11. 135
Fleming,'Lurd, I. 40, 262, 111.~98,
349; marriage of 11. 306
Flemihg, Sir lame;, I. 196
Fleshers The 11. 265
Flesh Mkket,'The,I. 1gz,21g,II.17
Fleshmarket Close, 1.113, 1~1,138,
*232, 236, 338, 11. 77 ; formerly
the Provost's office 11. 227
Fletcher Laurence cbmedian, 11.40
Fletche;ofSaltoui, 11.34, 111. go,
Flockhart's tavern 11. 333
Flodden Field Ba;Lle of(reeBatt1es)
Flodden Wall: The, I. 38, + 40,183,
278, 381, 11. 221, 239, 339 a
Flora Macdonald, 11. 87, ~ 1 4 ~ 124
Faod riots 111. 87
Football, k'rohibition of, 111. p
Foote, the comedian, I. 342, 343,
Fwte, Maria, actresq, I. 350
Forks Lord 11. 194
Forbeid Cuioden, Lord President
Duncan 1. 159,161, 166, 330, 11.
83,382;'his fondness for golf, 111.
31, 262 ; his biographer, 111. 43
Forbes Sir John Stuart 11. 151
~ o r h ' of Pitsligo, sir killiam, I.
142, 143, 188, ?93, 318,'11I. 47:
244, 323 ; his wife, 11. 383
Forks, Prof. Edward, t he naturalist,
111. 68 242, 307
Forbes df Tolquhoun, Sir Alexander,
I. 236
Forks-Drummond, Sir JohnJI. 270
Forks The Master of 1. 8
F o r k : Rev. Rokrt: Bisiop of
Fordun, John de, I. 297, 11. 53,
Fordyce of Aytoun, I. 275
Foreign clothiers. Introduction of,
111. 144, 165
150
111. 163
158, 176, 179-181, 239 11. 120
Caithness, 111. 231
111. 27
Forglen, Lord, I. 235, 236
Forglen's Park, 11. 325
Forres Street 11.
Forrest of domiston, Sir James,
Lord Provost, 11. 284, 111. 326
Forrest Road, 11. 103, ~ 6 7 ~ 323.326,
Forrest's Coffee-house, Edinburgh,
Forrester Lord 111. 119
Forrester: Sir kdam, I. 122, 278,
Forrester Sir Andrew, 11. 24
Forrester: Sir John, I, 31, Ill. 115,
367
111. 210 .
111. 115, 118, 327
11% 318
Forreater Lords, 111. 119-121
Forreste; family, The, 111. 116,](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v6p195.gif "Volume 6 Page 376")
... 76 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH.
Xrskine, Lady Elizabeth, 11. 115
3rskine. Mrs. Mary, 11. 272, 362
Erskine Club, 11. ...
Vol. 6 p. 376 (Rel. 0.17)
![H o l y d . ] MODERN IMPROVEMENTS. 79
bade them farewell in the Gallery of the Kings,
while a vast concourse assembled outside, all
wearing the white cockade. Another: multitude
was collected at Newhaven, where the Fishermen's
Society formed a kind of body-guard to cover the
embarkation.
'' A few gentlemen," says the editor of " Kay's
Portraits," " among whom were Colonel Macdonel,
the Rev. Mr. (afterwards Bishop) Gillis, John Robinson,
Esq., and Dr. Browne, accompanied His
Majesty on board the steamer, which they did not
leave till she was under weigh. The distress of the
king, and particularly of the dauphin, at being
obliged to quit a country to which they were so
warmly attached was in the highest degree affecting.
The Duc de Bordeaux wept bitterly, and the Duc
d'AngouEme, embracing Mr. Gillis d la 3ranfaise,
gave unrestrained scope to his emotion. The act
of parting with one so beloved, whom he had
known and distinguished in the salons of the
Tuileries and St. Cloud, long before his family had
sought an asylum in the tenantless halls of Holyrood,
quite overcame his fortitude, and excited
feelings too powerful to be repressed. When this
ill-fated family bade adieu to our shores they
carried with them the grateful benedictions of the
poor, and the respect of all men of all parties who
honour misfortune when ennobled by virtue."
In Edinburgh it is well known that had H.K.H.
the late Prince Consort-whose love of the picturesque
and historic led him to appreciate its
natural beauties-survived a few years longer, many
improvements would have taken place at Holyrood
; and to him it is said those are owing which
have already been effected.
Southward of the palace, the unsightly old tenements
and enclosed gardens at St. Anne's Yard
were swept away, including a quaint-looking dairy
belonging to the Duke of Hamilton, and by
1857-8-9 the royal garden was extended south
some 500 feet from the wall of the south wing, and
a new approach was made from the Abbey Hill,
a handsome new guard-house was built, and the
carved door of the old garden replaced in the wall
between it and the fragment of the old abbey
porch ; and it was during the residence of H.R.H.
the Prince of Wales at Holyrood that the beautiful
fountain in the Palace Yard was completed, on the
model of the ancient one that stands in ruin nowy
in the quadrangle of Linlithgow, and which is
referred to by Defoe in his "Tour in Great
Britain."
The fountain rises from a basin twenty-four feet in
diameter to the height of twenty-eight feet, divided
into threestages, andby flying buttresses has theeffect
of a triple crown. From the upper of these the water
flows through twenty ornate gurgoils into three
successive basins. The basement is of a massive
character, divided by buttresses into eight spaces,
each containing a lion's head gurgoil. This is surmounted
by eight panels having rich cusping, and
between these rise pedestals and pinnacles. The
former support heraldic figures with shields. These
consist of the unicorn bearing the Scottish shield, a
lion bearing a shield charged with the arm of
James IV. and his queen, Margaret of England;
a deer supports two shields, with the arms of the
queens of James V., Magdalene of France, and
Mary of Guise ; and the griffin holds the shields of
James IV. and his queen, Margaret of Denmark.
The pinnacles are highly floriated, and ,enriched
with flowers and medallions
It is in every way a marvellous piece of stone
carving. The flying buttresses connecting the stages
are deeply cusped. On the second stage are eight
figures typical of the sixteenth century, representing
soldiers, courtiers, musicians,' and a lady-falconer,
each two feet six inches in height. On the upper
stage are four archers of the Scottish Guard, supporting
the imperial crown. It occupies the site whereon
for some years stood a statue of Queen Victoria,
which has now disappeared.
Still, as of old, since the union of the cron-ns:
for a fortnight in each year the Lord High Conimissioner
to the General Assembly of the Church
of Scotland holds semi-royal state in Holyrood,
gives banquets in its halls, and holds his ledes in
the Gallery of the Kings.](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v3p091.gif "Volume 3 Page 79")
... o l y d . ] MODERN IMPROVEMENTS. 79
bade them farewell in the Gallery of the Kings,
while a vast concourse ...
Vol. 3 p. 79 (Rel. 0.17)
... extinct Scottish regiments, and various weapons
from the field of Culloden, particularly the Doune
steel ...
Vol. 1 p. 76 (Rel. 0.16)
![REGENT MURRAY’S FUNERAL. 143 St. Giles’s Church.]
Beware of injured Rothwellhaugh !
“ The death-shot parts-the charger springs-
Wild rises tumult’s startling roar !
And Murray’s plumy helmet rings-
Rings on the ground to rise no mare ! ”
When his remains were committed to the tomb in
which they still lie, the thousands who crowded
the church were moved to tears by the burning
eloquence of Knox. “Vpoun the xiiij day of the
moneth of Februar, 1570,” says the “ Diurnal of
Occurrents” “ my lord Regentis corpis, being brocht
in ane bote be sey, frz Stirling to Leith, quhair it
was keipit in Johne Wairdlaw his hous, and thereafter
cary it to the Palace of Holyrudhous, wes
transportit fra the said Palace to the College Kirk
the Regent Murray, the Regent Morton, and his
great rival, John Stewart Earl of Athole, are buried ;
and adjoining the aisle where the sorely mangled
remains of the great Marquis of Montrose were
so royally interred on the 7th of January, 1661.
The Regent’s tomb, now fully restored, stands
on the west side of the south transept, and on
many accounts is an object of peculiar interest.
Erected to the memory of one who played so conspicuous
a part in one of the most momentous
periods of Scottish history, it is well calculated to
interference of the General Assembly, and a riot
ensued.
The portion of the church which contained
these monuments was eftered by a door adjoining
the Parliament Close, and, as it was never shut,
“the gude regent’s aisle,” as it was named,
became a common place for appointments and
loungers. Thus French Paris-Queen Mary’o
servant-in his confession respecting the murder
of King Henry, stated that during the communings
which took place before that dark deed was resolved
on, he one day “took his mantle and sword
and went to prumencr (walk) in the high church.”
Probably in consequence of the veneration entertained
for the memory of the Regent, his tomb
rouse many a stirring association.
All readers of
history know how the Regent
fell under the bullet
of Bothwellhaugh, at Linlithgow,
in avenging the
wrongs inflicted on his
wife, the heiress of Woodhouselee.
As the “Cadyow
Ballad ” has it-
“ ’Mid pennoned spears a stately
Proud Murray’s plumage
Scarce could his trampling
So close the minions crow-
“ From the raised vizor’s shade,
Dark rolling, glanced the
And his steel truncheon waved
Seemed marshalling the iron
“But yet his saddened brow
A passing shade of doubt
Some fiend was whispering in
grove,
floated high ;
charger move,
ded nigh.
his eye,
ranks along ;
on high,
throng,
confessed,
and awe ;
his breast,
~
of Sanctgeill, in this manner; that is to say,
.i‘illiam Kirkaldie of Grange, Knycht, raid fra the
said palace in dule weid, bearing ane pensal!
quherin was contenit ane Reid Lyon; after him
followit Colvill of Cleishe, Maister (of the) Houshold
to the said Regent, with ane quherin was
contenit my lords regentis armes and bage.” The
Earls of Mar, Athole, Glencairn, the Lords
Ruthven, Methven, and Lindsay, the Master of
Graham, and many other nobles, bore the body
through the church to the grave, where it “was
JOHN KNOX’S PULPIT, ST. GILES’S.
(From tk Scottish Anfaquarinn Museum).
buryit in Sanct Anthonie’s
yle.” On the front of the
restored tomb is the ancient
brass plate, bearing
an inscription composed
by George Buchanan :-
’( Iur060 Stuvarto, Mwm’e Cornifi,
Scotie Prwqi;
Vim, a t a t i s szw, longe opt*
mo : a6 inirnik,
0mni.- rnemorie deterrimis, ex
insdiis exfindo,
Ceu pafn‘ commwni, pafna
mcprens $omit.’’
Opposite, on the north side
of the west transept, was
the tomb in which the Earl
of Athole, Chancellor of
Scotland, who died suddenly
at Stirling, not without
suspicion of poison,
was interred with great
solemnity on the 4th of
July, 1579. A cross was
used on this occasion, and
as flambeaux were borne,
according to Calderwood,
the funeral probably occurred
at night ; these paraphernalia
led to the usual](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v1p155.gif "Volume 1 Page 143")
... MURRAY’S FUNERAL. 143 St. Giles’s Church.]
Beware of injured Rothwellhaugh !
“ The death-shot ...
Vol. 1 p. 143 (Rel. 0.16)
![Canongate.] MORAY HOUSE. 31
fined here under a guard of Cromwell’s soldiers,
effected their escape by rending their blankets
and sheets into strips. In January, 1675, the
captain of the Edinburgh Tolbooth complained
to the Lords of Council that his brother official
in the Canongate used to set debtors at liberty
at his own free will, or by consent of the creditor
by whom they were imprisoned without pemiission
accorded.
After the erection of the Calton gaol this edifice
was used for the incarceration of debtors alone;
and the number therein in October, 1834, was only
seventeen, so little had it come to be wanted for
that purpose.
Within a court adjoining the Tolbooth was the
old Magdalene Asylum, instituted in 1797 for the
reception of about sixty females j but the foundation-
stone of a new one was laid in October, 1805,
by the Provost, Sir
William Fettes, Bart, in
presence of the clergy
and a great concourse
of citizens. “In the
stone was deposited a
sealed bottle, containing
various papers relating
to the nse, progress, and
by an arrangement with her younger sister, Anne
Home, then Countess of Lauderdale, by whom the
mansion was built. “It is old and it is magnificent,
but its age and magnificence are both different
from those of the lofty piled-up houses of
the Scottish aristocracy of the Stuart dynasty.”
Devoid of the narrow, suspicious apertures,
barred and loopholed, which connect old Scottish
houses with the external air, the entrances and
proportions of this house are noble, spacious,
and pleasing, though the exterior ha$ little ornament
save the balcony, on enormous trusses, projecting
into the street, with ornate entablatures
over their great windows and the stone spires of
its gateway. There are two fine rooms within,
both of them dome-roofed and covered with designs
in bas-relief,
The initials of its builder, M. H., surmounted
by a coronet, are sculp
THE STOCKS, FROM THE CANONGATE TOLBOOTH.
(Now in the Scottisk A ~ ~ ~ w w % z R Mfucum.)
present state of the
asylum.” This institution was afterwards transferred
to Dalry.
A little below St. -John Street, within a court,
stood the old British Linen Hall, opened in 1766
by the Board of Manufactures for the Sale and
Custody of Scottish Linens-an institution to be
treated of at greater length when we come to its
new home on the Earthen Mound. Among the
curious booth-holders therein was (( old John
Guthrie, latterly of the firm of Guthrie and Tait,
Nicholson Street,’’ who figures in “ Kay’s Portraits,”
and whose bookstall in the hall-after he ceased
being a travelling chapman-was the resort of all
the curious book collectors of the time, till he
removed to the Nether Bow.
A little below the Canongate Church there
was still standing a house, occupied in 1761 by
Sir James Livingstone of Glentenan, which possessed
stables, hay-lofts, and a spacious flowergarden.
By far the most important private edifice still
remaining in this region of ancient grandeur and
modern squalor is that which is usually styled
Moray House, being a portion of the entailed property
of that noble family, in whose possession it
remained exactly zoo years, having become the
property of Margaret Countess of Moray in 1645
tured on the south &-
dow, and over another
on the north are the
lions of Home and
Dudley impaled in a
lozenge, for she was the
daughter of Lord Dudley
Viscount Lyle, and
then the widow of Alexander
first Earl of Home, who accompanied
James VI. into England. She erected the house
some years before the coronation of Charles I.
at Edinburgh in 1633; and she contributed
largely to the enemies of his crown, as appears
by a repayment to her by the English Parliament
of ~ 7 0 , 0 0 0 advanced by her in aid‘ of the
Covenanters; and hence, no doubt, it was, that
when Cromwell gained his victory over the
Duke of Hamilton in the north of England, we
are told, when the (then) Marquis of Argyle conducted
Cromwell and Lambert, with their army,
to Edinburgh, they kept their quarters at the
Lady Home’s house in the Canongate, according
to Guthrie, and there, adds Sir James Turner,
they came to the terrible conclusion ‘( that fhere
was a necessitie fa fake away fhe King‘s Zzyee;’’ so
that if these old walls had a tongue they might
reveal dark conferences connected with the most
dreadful events of that sorrowful time. In conclave
with Cromwell and Argyle were the.Earls of
Loudon and Lothian, the Lords Arbuthnot, Elcho,
and Burleigh, with Blair, Dixon, Guthrie, and other
Puritans. Here, two years subsequently, occurred,
on the balcony, the cruel and ungenerous episode
connected with the fallen Montrose, amid the
joyous banquetings and revelry on the occasicn of](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v3p043.gif "Volume 3 Page 31")
... MORAY HOUSE. 31
fined here under a guard of Cromwell’s soldiers,
effected their escape by rending ...
Vol. 3 p. 31 (Rel. 0.16)
![Leith Walk.] THE REV. JOHN KELLOE. I55
of sand, much of it was carted away, and, with the
ashes of the malefactors of centuries, converted into
mortar, and used in the erection of the New Town.
So far from being a knoll, the place is now a hollow.
It is related that, every day while the carts were
taking away the sand, the proprietor of the knoll
stood regularly at the place receiving the money in
return, and “every little sum he got was converted
into liquor, and applied to the comfort of his inner
man. A public-house was at length erected oe the
spot for his particular behoof; and, assuredly, as
long as the Gallow Lee lasted this house did not
want custom, Perhaps, familiar as the reader may
be with stories of sots who have drunk away their
last coin, he never before heard of this thing being
done in so literal a manner.”
It immediately adjoined the place known as
Shrub Hill. Ordinary malefactors were hanged at
the Cross in the Grassmarket, or on the shore of
Leith ; but the Gallow Lee was latterly the special
place for the execution of witches, and for hanging
in chains the bodies of those who had committed
great crimes. Sometimes only a hand or other limb
was gibbeted here, while the rest of the body was
buried elsewhere. Among the most noted executions
and gibbetings here, we may add the following
to those which have been referred to incidentally
elsewhere in our pages :-
Crawford of Drumsoy records that two criminals
were burned to death here in 1570; and then he
relates an execution at the same place in the autumn
of the year, which made some excitement even in
the Scotland of those days.
Mr. John Kelloe, minister of Spott, near DunSar,
being seized by a sudden remorse of conscience,
came to Edinburgh, and judicially made confession
of a crime which otherwise would never have been
proved against him. He had been married to a
poor but very handsome and attractive girl, “ very
witty and fond, a very little woman, but well
shap’d,” before he got the benefice of Spott, after
which he began to propose to himself a second
marriage with the wealthy daughter of a laird,
whose name Crawford omits, provided he could by
any means rid himself of his first wife, to whom
now he began to behave harshly and petulantly.
To prepare the way for the execution of his design,
and to conceal it when done, he suddenly began to
dissemble in his treatment of her ; his manner was
full of tenderness, kindness, and delicacy.
“She who now thought herself the happiest of
her sex,” continues Crawford in his “ Memoirs,”
written in I 705, “ effusively strove to make him so
too, and hastened her own ruin ; for, upon a Sunday
morning, as she was saying her prayers upon
her knees, he came softly behind her, put a rope
(which he had kept all night in his pocket) about
her neck, and after he had strangled her tied her up
to an iron hook which a day or two before he had
purposely nailed to the ceiling of the room. This
done, he bolted his gate, crept out of his parlour
window, stept demurely to church, and charmed
his hearers with a most excellent sermon.”
The murderer next imited two or three of his
parishioners to sup with him, telling them casually,
as it were, that ‘‘ his wife was not well, and of late
somewhat inclined to melancholy ; that she had not’
come to kirk that day, but would be glad to see
them at her house.” On knocking at the gate, the
Rev. Mr. Kelloe affected to be much astonished
that there was no response. Ultimately he and his
guests were obliged to make a forcible entrance, and
the murdered wife was found hanging from the
hook to which her corpse had been attached. The
reverend incumbent of Spott now feigned grief
and counterfeited sorrow so much to the life that
his neighbours almost forgot to mourn for the dead
so much were they afraid of losing the living.
However, these forged tears, by the mercy of
God to this great offender, suddenly became real
ones.”
Tortured by conscience, after six weeks of misery
he made a confession of his crime to the schoolmaster
of Dunbar, according to Crawford-to
Andrew Simpson, minister there, according to the
“ Historie of King James the Sext ”-and after
being convicted, on his own confession, at Edinburgh,
he was conveyed to the Gallow Lee, on the
4th of October, and strangled. His corpse was
then consumed by fire and the ashes scattered on
the air. ‘‘ Never did any man appear more penitent
or less fearful of death. He was attended from
the prison to the stake by three of the clergy, and
by the way he rather instructed them than received
any assistance from them.”
A century or so later and we have some appalling
accounts of the cremation of so-called witches
at the terrible Gallow Lee.
In 1678 five were (mercifully) strangled first and
burnt to ashes there, by sentence of the Lords;
and other four, their companions, were burned
at Painston Muk, in their own parish. The accusations
against them were intimacy with the devil,
dancing with him, renouncing their baptism, and
being kissed by him, though his lip3 were icy cold,
and his breath like damp air ; taking a communion
at his hands, when ‘‘ the bread was like wafers, the
drink sometimes blood and other times like black
moss water,’’ and much more to the same purpose,
all of which is gravely recorded by Lord Fountain](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v5p166.gif "Volume 5 Page 155")
... Walk.] THE REV. JOHN KELLOE. I55
of sand, much of it was carted away, and, with the
ashes of the ...
Vol. 5 p. 155 (Rel. 0.16)
... AND NEW EDINBUKGH. [I eith.
and Mary, constituting their uncle, Rend, Marquis
dElbeuf, Regent of Scotland. ...
Vol. 5 p. 178 (Rel. 0.16)
![388 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH.
2307 33O7 3447.3501 359s
at er, 11. 255; hls fat er
house, 11. 340, *PI; his mdkk
11. 142, 340; his various resi
dences, 11. 163 -164, 165 111.
359; @~study,'II. 163; las; resi
dence in bdtnburgh, 11.210 ; hi!
birthplace, 11.251~255 ; his par
trait, 11. 254; his arms, 11. *a54
his school Me, 11. 293, 294, 326
111. 8 ; his childhood 11. 30
burial-place ofhisfamil;, 11. 383
hls first love ib.; his son, 11,
294 ; his dauihter 11.165
Scott, Anne (sir &alter Scott'!
daughter), 11. 165
Scott of Balcomie, General, 11.191,
201, 269, 111. 42, 307; anecdote
of, 11. 191 ; his wife, 111. 124
Scott of Bavelaw 111. 331
Scott of Branxhoim, Sir Water, I.
194
ScottofBuccleuch Sir Waiter,]. zz:
Smtt of Cauldhou& 11. 2.9
Scott of Harden, Slr Wllliam, I.
Scott'of Kirkstyle I. 210
Scott ofMalleny;i.hefamiIyof, 111.
a02 111. 136
. .
334,335
Scott of Scotstanit, Sir John, I.
167, zm, 11. 3, 223, Ill. 135,199,
ScottbfThirlstane SirFrancis,I.z71
Scott ofThirlstan;, Patrick, 11. a y
Swtt. Lieut.-Col. (Sir Walter'sson),
2903 317. 343, 364
11. 294
Scott, David, the painter, 11. 92,
111. 68, 78, 223
Scott ohn Miracle of, 11. 55, 56
Scottl dicLe1, €1.
Scott: William. Greek professor.
111; 15 .
16~
k t t centenary, The first, 11. 150,
scb;'is Close, 11.271
kott's monument, I. *r 11. 126,
127, *12g ; statnetteson'it II. 1z1
Scottlsh Academv of Paint& 11. -.
90s 9'
Scottish Antiquar$n Society, 1.
Scottlsh Baptist meeting-house,
Scottrsh Barrack office 11.42
Scottish Chamber ofA&ulture, I.
Scottish currency, Value of the, in
258, 270
+le Square, 11.274
291
1707, 1.270
Scottish Episcopal chapels, I. 278
Scottish Episcopalians, The, I. 239,
Scottish Equitable Asurance Sc-
Scottish Hentable Security Com-
111. 231
ciety, 11. 170
PanY 11. I53
Scottish Horse Guards The I. 5'
Scottish judge+ Emhent, i. 167,
Scottish Liberal Club 11. 125
Scottish matrons, S& spirit of,
169-173
Sck?sh Miniitem' Widows' Fund,
ScottLhmonarchs, Portraits of the,
11. 378
11. 73, 74,177
Scottish National Fire and Life
Scottish Naval anh Militarv
Assurance Company 11.168
Academy, 11. 138
Scottish MV~, Formation of a, 111.
Sc%h Provident Institution, 11.
168
Scottish Records State of I. 367
11. 119 ; the& removal' to thi
Register House, I. 368
Scottish ReformationSocietp I. 294
Scottish Rights Association i1. 150
Scottish Roscius, The, I. ;47 ; his
Scottiih School of Design 11. 86
ScottishTemplars, Trialsifthe, 11.
ScotkhTreacury Room, The, 1.178
Scottish Union and National Inwife
ib.
46 50, 51, 111. 130
surance Company, 11. 170, 171 * 172
Scottish Universities Act, 111.24
Scottish Vulcanite Company, I1
Scotttsk Widows' Fund, 11. 1%
Scou&l, John, the painter, I. 22:
Sculptured stone, Newhaven, I1
Sea Penctbles The 111. 303
Seafield Cha&ello: I. 163
Seafield' Earl of 11: 33 111. 191
Seafield' Leith ill. 14; 263 266
Seafie1d'Hous;and B a d , Hi. 26c
Seafield Toll 111. 286
Sea-fight in k i t h harbour. A. 111
219, 220
168 172
223, 11. 90
299 *3?
duel on the site of rb.
, . r83,-184
the, 11. 307-310
Seaforth Highlanders, Revolt (
Seaforth, Kenneth Mackenzie. Ea
of 11. 307, 3 9
Seaiorth, Franci Lord, 111. IOI
Seal of Edinburgh, The Commox
his son, i6.
1. *a
Se&an'sHospital, Leith, 111.22:
Seamen, Wages of the Leith. 111
278
Leith 111. 278
Seamen's Friendly Society, Th
Seaton,'Sir Alexander, I. 167
Seceders, 'lhe, 1. 323,325, 333
Secession and Relief Church=
Union of the 111. 88
Secret subtenahean pLssages,Edii
burgh Castle, I. 82
Secretary's Register The I. 370
Sedan chairs, Use o( in Edinburgl
11. 120, 343 ; number of in 1775
11. 282 ; fracas resulting from th
useof, 111. 13
Sederunt, ~ c t s oP I. IW 11.315
Seqave, Sir Johdde, Ilk 351
Selkirk. Earl of, I. 274, 373 11.144
166,205,III. 122; mansion ofthc
1. *273, 274, '276, 11. 246, 249
Selkirk Countess of, 11. 335
Sellars"Ciose, I. 55
Semple, Lords, I. 91,92,11.3oo,35
Semple's Close I. 91
Senate Hall, Edinburgh University
111. 23, 24, 27
Session, Court of, I. 166, 167, 337
11. 174; probable extinction a
the, I. 174
Seton, Lord, 11. 35, 52 ; Lady, 111
52, 53.
Seton, Sir Alexander, III.49,318
Seton family, The, 111. 53, 54, 24
>ton House I1 35
Seven sist2;s oi Borthwick."The
I. 36
%mow Lord Webb 11.347
SbakesGe Club Tie, 111.126
Shakespeare in dinburgh, 11.39
Shakespeare Square, I. 218, 340
343, 336, 47, 3531 11. 176, 336
337 ;new 20, the back of, 1. *34!
Shandwick Place, 11. z q , 210
Shank I. 254
Sharp:, James, Archbishop of St
Andrews, 1. 215 259; his son':
residence, 111. 385
Sharpe of Hoddam Charles Kirk
patrick, 11.191, I&, 193, 243,342
111.99, IZO, 131, 230 ; saleofhir
curiosities, 11. 193
Sharpe of Hoddam, Mrs., 11. 26
Shearsmith, The first, 11. 26
Sheephead Wynd, Leith, 113 227
Shellycoat, The demon, Ill. 282
Shepherds' Ha' 111. 144
Sheridan, the a&, I.
Sheriff Brae, or Shirra &ge, Leith,
111. 247 248 250 ~51,*253,zBs
Sheriff Coirt, i. 166
Sheriff Court Buildings, I. 294, 29:
Sheriff Hall, 111. 16 , 963
ship Hotel,Theold,fxtth, III.rg5,
245 246. the new 111. 245 246
;hipduildiAg at LeAh, Newkven,
&c. 111.281
jhip&ng, Numberof, in Leith, 111.
188 'go 276 277; lawsrespening'the
i11. ;75
jhipmast'ers' Widows' Fund, The,
111. 278
jhoemakers' C!ose, 11. 10, 19
Shoemakers' Lands 11. g 10
Shore, The, Leith,' 111. '177, 184
'94, 1959 207, 209, 21% 227. 22g
Short'Sanh The 111. 282
Short's O&rvat&y, I. 87, 91, I1
'05
ShrubHill 111. 155 163
Sibbald- Si Rohert i 123 167 201
304,&, 363,II. ;4;, I I i . r6;,33:
Sibbald, James, booksellexand anu
quary, I. 181 111. 154
Siddons Mrs.: 1. 108, 343, 344
amusing anecdote of, 111. 24a
Siddons, Henry, 1. 348, 11.125~17:
Siddons, Mrs. Henry, I. 348, 349
350,351,111. 158,159 ; her grand
father, I. 351
Sidey Dr. J. A. 11. 305,347
Signe;, Keeper df the I. 367, $8
librarian of the (sm Ikng, David
Silvermills, The, 11. 117, 182, 111
Sd~~nrulls House, 111.
Sirnon Master of Lovat, 9.3z57, 251
Simon'square, 11.337
Simond, theFrenchtraveller, 11.18:
Simony, Practice of 111. 116
Simple, Robert, the'player, 11. 9
Simpson, Professor Sir Jame
'156, &,170,315,362, III.79,xa
Simpson the architect, 111. 339
Sinclair 'EVI w i l l i I. 661 ; hi
prince& I.&?,III.&7; hisstyb
oflivini ib.
Sinclair(o; St. clair) family, E ~ I !
history of the, 11. 247,111. 34
Sinclairof Dunbeath, Sir John, If1
63 ; Dame, 111. 62, 63
Siclair, Si John, the agriculturist
11. 17, 120, 126, 144, 172; hi
daughter Catherine 11. 126 165
Sinclau, Sir William, k d the kigt
School affray of 1595, I. no
111 297.
Siucl;ir of Roslin, Sir William, 111
354
Sinclair, Henry first Lord, 11. 251
Sinclair ot Ulbster George 11.30:
Sinclair of Murkle: Lady, iI. 188
Sinclair, John, Bishop of Brechin
Sinclair, Lady Janet, 11. 17~ IM
Sinclair ofstevenaon, Lady, 11. 33:
Sinclair, Catherine, 11. 126, 165
Kinclair, Margaret, 11. 165
Sinclair, the actor, I. 350
Sinclair Fountain, The, 11. 126
Kiclair's, Professor, " Satan's In.
viribleWorld Discovered."I.~z8.
236 238 245,246, 247, PhtC 31
345 ; $er popularity, 1. 345, 346
8- 84.
Young 11. 130. 153, 154, 155
I. 121
Street 11. *r64
Six FeeiClub The 111. 125. 326
jkene, M a j o r h d r a l Robert, 11.
310
jkene of Rubislaw Sir W. Scott's
friend 11.98 163'III.86,145,3jq
jkenes :f CurAehiil, The, 111.334,
Sir Jam- and Sir John, 11.302,
4kinners The 11. 264,111. z
jkinner'i Cl&, I. 139, 266, 167,
3aney's Hotel, I. 222
ilnteford, I. 323, 111. 326
jlaughterhousea, The city 11. 218
ilezer, Captain, author ofl" Theatrum
Scotire," 11. ,367, 111. 350
heaton's Clore Leith 111. 226
hellie, Williad, thepkter, I. 235,
236,383.11. 87, 1p0 111.31
imellie, the naturalist: 11. 311
imith, Provost Sir John, I. 102, no,
11 "
I.II.334, 335
11.247
i%h; Lord Chief Baron, Episcopal
chapel founded by I. 262 11.247
imith, Adam, I. 114 156, i36, 273,
11. 17, 21, 161, 194, 111. 240;
residence of, 11. 21 ; graye of,
with, Alexander, the poet, 111.
102, 30!
Nmith George, I. 113 *117; rob- be4 in concern whh Deacon
Hrodie, I. 113-115
mith, Sydney, 11. 203
11. 29
Smith, Dr. John, the physician, 11,
SZA the banker, Deathof, 11.18,
Smollett, Tobu., I.@, 155,239,lI.
26 127, 111. 262. his sister 11.
26'; his wife, ib. f his h o d , 11.
-e '"
Smythe Sir Jeremiahand theDutch
Snuff-taking in church, an offence,
fleet, i. 58,111. re8
11. 133
Society Close, I. 213, -14
SocietyofEdiburghGolfers III.31
Society for the PropagaAon of
Chrlstian Knowledge, I. 214, 359
Society Port, The, II.231,234,268,
2% 274, 346
Soldiersof EdinburghCastle, Tomb
in memoryof 11. 30
Soldiers first iuartered in Leith,
III. '931 I94
Solicitors before the Supremecourt,
Library of I. 123
Solway, ad of 11.37
Solway, Rout &, 11. 64,65
Sothern the actor, 1. 351
Somers"tavern I. 120
Somerset Dulce of I, 43
Somervilie, Lards,'I. 150, 155,183.
316,II. 161 111. 346
Somervjlle fai!nily, The, 111. 346
Somerville Bartholomew, I. 97, 314
Somerville: Major, and Capt. Crawford
Encounter between I. 95
Somerhle mansion The i. 314
Sounding-boards I i 32d
South back of ;he Longate, 11.
238, 245
South Blacket Place 111. 55, 56
South Bridge, I. 24;. 373-382, 11.
139,238 251 274 282 2 8, 334,
359, I d . I&; %e ;or8 commenced,
I. 374; valueof thesite,
ib.
South Bridge Street I 374 111.23
South Castle Street '11: 82 '165
South Clerk Street,'III. 5;
SouthCollegeStreet 1I.330,111.23
South Foulis' Close,'I. 276
South Frederick Street 11. 92
South Gray's C l m 1. ;673 274
South Leith, 111. r&, 165, 166,188,
South Leith, b+dge of, 11. 47
South Leith bunal-ground, 111.171
South Leith Freechurch, 111.1~8,
South Leith Poor-house 111.249
South Lach,The, 1. 8, h . 2 7
South Hanover Street, 11. 162, 192
South Niddry Street, 11. 251
South St.Andrew Street II.99,159
South St. David Street.'II. oz. 160
193, 210, 21
266
, ~. -162
Southern Market The, 11. 346
Southfield 111. I&
Spalding Pund. The, 11. 92
Spalding Peter 11. 92
Spaldina: the dtorian. 11. 10. 111. . _. . .
211
Spence, Thomas, Bishop of Aber-
Spence Willim I. 59 6a
Spendthrift Clud, I.he,'III. r z ~
Spjttal, Sir James, 11. 215
Spittal Street, 11. 215, 223
Spattiswc.de, Archbishop, I. 287,
298, 11. 39, 111. 2x9 ; hls house,
I. 208
Spottigwoode I. 166
Sputtkwood 'John, Superintendent
of Lothid I. 46 208
Spottkwood Road,'I11. 46
Springfield, 111. 356, 360
Springfield Street, 111. 163
Spur, The, Edinburgh Castle, 1.36,
Spylaw 111. 34
Spynie'Lord I. mg IIZ. 113
St. Andrew the Apoitle I. 261
St. Asdrew'saltar. Hol;rwd. 11. z8
deen, I. 300, 301
49, 5x1 52, 54, 86, 218
St. Andrew's Chapel, 'Carrubbeis
St. Andrew's Church. Geom
Close, I. 239.11. 242
Street, 11. 120, 144, *145, 14,
17' ; interior of, 11. 148
9t. Andrew's Hall, 1. 302
St. Andrew's Lane, 11.160
3t. Andrew's Port, I. 366
3. Andrew's Square, I. 2r7, 222,
267, 279, 11. 110, 118, 136, 161,](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v6p207.gif "Volume 6 Page 388")
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH.
2307 33O7 3447.3501 359s
at er, 11. 255; hls fat er
house, 11. 340, *PI; his ...
Vol. 6 p. 388 (Rel. 0.15)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Northumberland Street.
A noted antiquary, he was Correspondant du
Comitk Imp2riaZ des ...
Vol. 4 p. 198 (Rel. 0.15)
... OLD AND NEW’ EDINBURGH. [Canongate.
refain its distinct dignity as a burgh of regality.
In its arms it bears ...
Vol. 3 p. 2 (Rel. 0.15)
![North Bridge.] MR. AND MRS. WYNDHAM. 351
who was present can ever forget. Scott, it may be
remarked, was sensible to various impulses which
are utterly blank to other men. There were associations
about Mr. Murray and his sister as ‘ come
of Scotland’s gentle bluid’ and the grandchildren
of a man prominent in the Forty-five which helped
not a little to give him that strong and peculiar
interest in the Theatre Royal, which he constantly
displayed from 1809 downwards.”
The association here refeAed to was the circumstance
that Mrs. Henry Siddons and her brother
were the grandchildren of John Murray of Broughton,
who was secretary to Prince Charles Edward,
and gained a somewhat unenviable notoriety by
turning king‘s evidence against Lord Lovat and
others, when he was taken prisoner subsequent to
the battle of Culloden.
Mrs. Henry Siddons’ twenty-one years of the
patent ended in 1830; but her completion of
twenty-one annual payments of L2,ooo to the
representatives of Mr. John Jackson made her
sole proprietor of the house; and on the 29th of
March she took farewell of the Edinburgh stage,
in the character of Lady Townley in the Prmuked
Husband, and retired, into private life, carrying
with her, as we are told, “the good wishes of all
in Edinburgh, for they had recognised in her not
merely the accomplished actress, but the good
mother, the refined lady, and the irreproachable
member of society.”
Her brother, Mr, Murray, obtaining a renewal of
the patent, leased the house from her for twentyone
ye‘ars; but, save Rob Roy and Gzry Manner-
&, the day of the Waverley dramas was past, yet
to him the speculation did not prove an unsuccessful
one; and the supernumerary house, the Adelphi
in Leith Walk, was alike a rival, and a dead weight
on his hands, till, on the expiring of his lease,
he retired, in the zenith of his favour with the
Edinburgh public, in 1851, and with a moderate
competency, withdrew to St. Andrews, where he
died not long after.
After being let for a brief period to Mr. Lloyd
the comedian, Mr. Rollinson, and Mr. Leslie, all
of whom failed to make the speculation a paying
one, it passed into the management of its last lessees,
Mr. and Mrs. R. H. Wyndham, the greatest
favourites, as managers, and in public and private
life, that the Royal had ever possessed, not even
excepting Mrs. Henry Siddons.
Mr. Wyndham, a gentleman by education and
position, who adopted the stage by taste as a profession,
came to Edinburgh, about 1845, as a
member of Mr. Murray’s company, to support Miss
Helen Faucit, and after being in management at
,
*
the Adelphi, he obtained that of the Royal in
succession to Messrs. Rollinson and Leslie, and,
as managed by him and Mrs. Wyndham, it
speedily attained the rank and character of
one of the best-conducted theatres in the three
kingdoms. The former, always brilliant in light or
genteel comedy, was equally pleasing and powerful
in his favourite delineations of Irish character,
while Mrs. Wyndham was ever most touching and
pathetic in all tender, wifely, and motherly parts,
and could take with equal ease and excellence
Peg Woffington or Mrs. Haller, Widow Smilie or
Lady Macbeth.
Under their rkiime, the scenery and properties
attained a pitch of artistic excellence of which
their predecessors could have had not the slightest
conception; and some of the Waverley dramas
were set upon the stage with a magnificence and
correctness never before attempted. While pleasing
the public with a constant variety, these, the
last lessees of this famous old theatre, did much
for the intellectual enlightenment of Edinburgh by
producing upon their boards all the leading members
of the profession from London, and also
giving the citizens the full benefit of Italian opera
almost yearly.
Kean and Robson, Helen Faucit, old Paul
Bedford in conjunction with Wright, and latterly
J. L. Toole, the unfortunate Gustavus V. Brooke,
Madame Celeste, Alfred Wigan, Mrs. Stirling,
Sothern, Mesdames Ristori and Titiens, Mario and
Giuglini, and all the most famous artistes in every
branch of the modern drama, actors and singers,
were introduced to the Edinburgh public again
and again ; and, though last, not least in stature,
Sir William Don, of Newton-Don, “ the eccentric
Baronet.”
In recognition of these services, and their own
worth, a magnificent service of plate was presented
to them in 1869. It was unquestionably under
Mr. Wyndham’s management that the Edinburgh
stage was first raised to a perfect level with the
stages of London and Dublin, and it was under
his auspices that both Toole the comedian and
Irving the tragedian first made a name an the
boards.
The acquisition of the site occupied by the old
theatre by the Government for the sum of A5000
for the erection of a new General Post Office thereon,
though the latter had long been most necessary,
and the former was far from being an ornament to
the city, was a source of some excitement, and of
much regret to all old playgoers; and when the
night came t k t the curtain of fate was to close
upon it, after a chequered course of niriety years,](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v2p171.gif "Volume 2 Page 351")
... Bridge.] MR. AND MRS. WYNDHAM. 351
who was present can ever forget. Scott, it may be
remarked, was sensible ...
Vol. 2 p. 351 (Rel. 0.15)
... 111. *333, 334 .
Leopdd Place,’IlI. 158; Greenside
Church from, Ill. * 161
Leper Hospital, ...
Vol. 6 p. 383 (Rel. 0.15)
... 111. *333, 334 .
Leopdd Place,’IlI. 158; Greenside
Church from, Ill. * 161
Leper Hospital, ...
Vol. 6 p. 384 (Rel. 0.15)
... 111. *333, 334 .
Leopdd Place,’IlI. 158; Greenside
Church from, Ill. * 161
Leper Hospital, ...
Vol. 6 p. 382 (Rel. 0.15)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Water of Leith
name doesnot appear in the Baronage) was Sheriff and
Provost of ...
Vol. 5 p. 62 (Rel. 0.15)
... lock was placed upon it for the same purpose.
In 1647 only three open thoroughfares are shown
OLD AND ...
Vol. 3 p. 17 (Rel. 0.15)
![Burghmuir.] ST. ROQUES CHAPEL. 47
Greenhill, whereon stood an old gable-ended and
gableted manor-house, on the site of which is now
the great square modem mansion which bears its
name. In a street here, called Greenhill Gardens,
there stands a remarkable parterre, or open burialplace,
wherein lie the remains of more than one proprietor
of the estate. A tomb bears the initials
J. L. and E. R., being those of “John Livingstone
and Elizabeth Rig, his spouse,” who acquired
the lands of Greenhill in 1636 ; and the adjacent
thoroughbre, named Chamberlain Road, is so
called from an official of the city, named Fairholme,
who is also buried there.
A dispute-Temple and Halliday with Adam
Cairns of Greenhill -is reported before the
lords in 1706, concerning a tenement in the
Lawnmarket, which would seem to have been
“spoiled and deteriorated” in the fire of 1701.
(Fountainhall.)
In 1741 Mr. Thomas Fairholme, merchant in
Edinburgh, married Miss Warrender, daughter of
Sir George Warrender of Bruntsfield, and his death
at Greenhill is reported in the Scuts Magazine for
1771. There was a tenement called Fairholme
Land in the High Street, immediately adjoinicg
the Royal Exchange on the east, as appears from
the Scuts Magazine of 1754, probab!y erected by
Bailie Fairholme, a magistrate in the time of
Charles 11.
Kay gives us a portrait of George Fairholme of
Greenhill (and of Green-know, Berwickshire), who,
with his younger brother, William of Chapel, had
long resided in Holland, where they became
wealthy bankers, and where the former cultivated
a natural taste for the fine arts, and in after life
became celebrated as a judicious collector of
pictures, and of etchings by Rembrandt, all of
which became the property of his nephew, Adam
Fairholme of Chapel, Berwickshire. He died in
his seventieth year, in 1800, and was interred in
the family burying-place at Greenhill.
In a disposition of the lands of the latter estate
by George Fairholme, in favour of Thomas Wright,
dated 16th, and recorded 18th February, 1790, in
the sheriffs’ books at Edinburgh, the preservation of
the old family tomb, which forms so singular a
feature in a modern street, is thus provided for :-
“ Reserving nevertheless to me the liberty and
privilege of burying the dead of my own family,
and such of my relations to whom I, during my
own lifetime, shall communicate such privilege, in
the burial-place built upon the said lands, and
‘Teserving likewise access to me and my heirs to
repair the said burial-place from time to time, as we
shall think proper.”
’ Greenhill became lztterly the property of the
Stuart-Forbeses of Pitsligo, baronets.
After passing the old mansion named East
Morningside House, the White House Loan joins
at right angles the ancient thoroughfare named the
Grange Loan, which led of old from the Linton
Road to St. Giles’s Grange, and latterly the Causewayside.
On the south side of it a modern villa takes its
name of St. Roque from an ancient chapel which
stood there, and the ruins of which were extant
within the memory of many of the last generation.
The chapels of St. Roque and St. John, on the
Burghmuir, were both dependencies of St. Cuthbert’s
Church. The historian of the latter absurdly
conceives it to have been named from a French
ambassador, Lecroc, who was in Scotland in 1567.
The date of its foundation is involved in obscurity;
but entries occur in the Treasurer‘s Accounts for
1507, when on St. Roque’s Day (15th August) James
IV. made an offering of thirteen shillings. “ That
this refers to the chapel on the Burghmuir is
proved,” says Wilson, “ by the evidence of two
charters signed by the king at Edinburgh on the
same day.”
Arnot gives a view of the chapel from the northeast,
showing the remains of a large pointed window,
that had once been filled in with Gothic tracery;
and states that it is owing “to the superstitious
awe of the people that one stone of this chapel has
been left upon another-a superstition which, had
it been more constant in its operations, might have
checked the tearing zeal of reformation. About
thirty years ago the proprietor of the ground
employed masons to pull down the walls of the
chape! ; the scaffolding gave way ; the tradesmen
were killed. The accident was looked upon as a
judgment against those who were demolishing thk
house of God. No entreaties nor bribes by the
proprietor could prevail upon tradesmen to accomplish
its demolition.”
It was a belief of old that St. Roque’s intercession
could protect all from pestilence, as he was
distinguished for his piety and labours during a
plague in Italy in 1348. Thus Sir David Lindesay
says of-
1‘- Superstitious pilgramages
To monie divers imagis ;
Sum to Sanct Roche with diligence,
To saif them from the pestilence.”
Thus it is, in accordance with the attributes ascribed
in Church legends to St. Roque, that we find
his chapel constantly resorted to by the victims of
the plague encamped on the Burghmuir, during the
prevalence of that scourge in the sixteenth century.](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v5p058.gif "Volume 5 Page 47")
... ST. ROQUES CHAPEL. 47
Greenhill, whereon stood an old gable-ended and
gableted manor-house, on the ...
Vol. 5 p. 47 (Rel. 0.15)
... Grange.! GRANGE HOUSE. 49
“The chapel of St. Roque,” says Wilson, ‘‘ has
not escaped the notice of ...
Vol. 5 p. 49 (Rel. 0.15)
... Close.
CHAPTER XIX.
THE PARLIAMENT CLOSE.
Probable Extinction of the Court of Session-Memorabilia of ...
Vol. 1 p. 174 (Rel. 0.15)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [High Street.
especially to the removal of the numerous middens,
the repair of the ...
Vol. 2 p. 194 (Rel. 0.15)
... THE GAELIC CHAPEL. 235
target, andnogentlemantookthe road without pistols
in his holsters, and was ...
Vol. 4 p. 235 (Rel. 0.15)
![Princes Street.] EDINBURGH IN 1783. 119
vincial towns were combined in the case of Edinburgh
She was the titular capital of Scotland, and
as such, was looked up to with pride and veneration
by the nation at large. She was then the
residence of many of the old Scottish nobility, and
the exclusion of the British from the Continent,
during a long, protracted war, made her, either for
business, society, or education, the favourite resort
of strangers. She was the headquarters of the
legal profession at a time when both the Scottish
bench and bar were rendered illustrious by a numbet
of men celebrated far their learning, eloquence, and
wit. She was the head-quarters of the Scottish
Church, whose pulpits and General Assembly were
adorned by divines of great eminence and piety.
Lastly, she was the chief seat of scholarship, and
the chosen home of literature and science north of
the Tweed.”
With the Edinburgh of those days ,and of the
present we have now deal
CHAPTER XVII.
PRINCES STREET.
A Glance at Society-Change of BIanners, &-The Irish Giants-Poole’s Coffee-house-Shop of Constable 8 Co.-Weir’s Muscum, 1794-
The Grand Duke Nichoh-North British Insurance Life Association4ld Tax Office and New Club-Craig of Ricarton-“?he
White Rose of Scotland”‘-St. John’s Chapel-Its Tower and Vaults, &.-The Scott Monument and its MUseum-The Statues of Professor
Wilson, Allan Ramsay, Adam Black, Sir James Sirnpson, and Dr. Livingstone-The General Improvements in Princes Street.
IN 1774 a proposal to erect buildings on the south
side of Princes Street-a lamentable error in taste
it would have proved-led to an interdict by the
Court of Session, which ended in a reference to
the House of Lords, on which occasion Imd
Mansfield made a long and able speech, and the
result was, that the amenity of Princes Street was
maintained, and it became in time the magnificent
terrace we now find it.
Of the city in 1783 some glimpses are given us
in the ‘‘ Letters of Theophrastus,” appended to the
second edition of “Arnot.” In that year the
revenue of the Post Office was only ~ 4 0 , 0 0 0 .
There were four coaches to Leith, running every
half hour, and there were 1,268 four-wheeled carriages
and 338 two-wheeled paying duty. The
oystercellars had become numerous, and were
places of fashionable resort. A maid-servant’s
wages were about f;4 yearly. In 1763 they wore
plain cloaks or plaids; but in 1783 “silk, caps,
ribbons, ruffles, false. hair, and flounced. petticoats.”
In 1783 a number of bathing-machines had been
adopted at Leith. People of the middle class and
above it dined about four o’clock, after which no
business was done, and gentlemen were at no pains
to conceal their impatience till the ladies retired.
Attendance at church . was, much neglected, and
people did not think it “genteel” to take their
domestics with them. “In 1783 the daughters
even of tradesmen consume the moriings at the
toilet (to which rouge is now an appendage) or in
strolling from the perfumer‘s to the milliner’s.
They would blush to be seeri at market. The
cares of the family devolve upon a housekeeper,
’
and Miss employs those heavy hours when she
is disengaged from public or private amusements
in improving her mind from the precious stores of
a circulating library.” In that year a regular cockpit
was built for cock-fighting, where all distinctions
of rank and character were levelled. The weekly
concert of music began at seven o’clock, and
mistresses of boarding-schools, &c., would not allow
their pupils to go about unattended ; whereas,
twenty years before “young ladies might have
walked the streets in perfect security at all hours.”
In I 783 six criminals lay under sentence of death
in Edinburgh in one week, whereas it1 1763 three
was an average for the whole kingdom in a year.
A great number of the servant-maids still continued
“ their abhorrence of wearing shoes and stockings
in the morning.” The Register House was unfinished,
‘‘ or occupied by pigeons only,” and the
Records “ were kept in a dur.geon called the high
Parliament House.”
The High Street alone was protected by the
guard. The New Town to the north, and all the
streets and new squares to the south, were totally
unwatched ; and the soldiers of the guard still preserved
“the purity of their native Gaelic, so that
few of the citizens understand, or are understood
by them ;” while the king‘s birthday and the last
night of the year were ‘‘ devoted to drunkenness,
outrage, and riot, instead of loyalty, peace, and
harmony,” as of old.
One of the earliest improvements in the extended
royalty was lighting it with oil lamps; but in
the Adnerh’ser for 1789 we are told that “while all
strangers admire the beauty and regularity of the](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v3p131.gif "Volume 3 Page 119")
... Street.] EDINBURGH IN 1783. 119
vincial towns were combined in the case of Edinburgh
She was the titular ...
Vol. 3 p. 119 (Rel. 0.15)
![Moray Place.] LORD JEFFREY. 203
Morrison as a suspected person, and you will not
liberate him without a communication with me ;
and you may inform him of these, my orders.
And further, I shall do all I can to prevent him
from receiving any compensation from any part of
his property which may either be destroyed by the
euemy or the King‘s troops to prevent it falling
into their hands.”
In the debate that ensued, Fox and Pitt took
animated parts, and Charles Hope ably defended
himself, saying that had Mr. Whitbread made such
an accusation against him in Edinburgh, “there
would be IOO,OOO tongues ready to repel the
charge, and probably several arms raised against
him who made it.” He described the defenceless
state of the country, and the anomalous
duties thrown upon the Lord Advocate since
the Union, after which the Privy Council, Lord
Chancellor, and Secretary of hate, were illegally
abolished, adding that Momson was influenced by
the Chairman of the “ Society of Friends of Universal
Liberty,” in Portsoy, one of whose favourite
measures was to obstruct and discourage the formation
of volunteer corps to repel the expected
invasion.
Pitt spoke eloquently in his defence, contending
that “great allowances were to be made for an
active and ardent mind placed in the situation of
Advocate-General.” He voted for the order of the
day, and against the original motion. When the
House divided, 82 were for the latter, and 159
against it ; majority, 77.
On the death of Sir David Rae of Eskgrove, in
1804, he was appointed Lord Justice Clerk, and
ou taking his seat addressed the Bench in a concise
and eloquent speech, which was long one of the
traditions of the Court. During seven years that
he administered justice in the Criminal Court,
his office was conducted with ability, dignity, and
solemnity.
On the death of the Lord President Blair, in
1811, Charles Hope was promoted in his place,
and when taking his seat, made 9 warm and pathetic
panegyric on his gifted predecessor, and
the ability with which he filled his station for a
period of thirty years is still remembered in the College
of Justice. He presided, in 1820, at the special
commission for the trial of the high treason cases
in Glasgow and the West; and sixteen years afterwards,
on the death of James Duke of Montrose,
K.G., by virtue of an act of parliament, he was ap
pointed Lord Justice-General of Scotland, and as
such, having to preside in the Justiciary Court, he
went back there after an absence of twenty-five
years. At the proclamation of Queen Vi<toria he
wore the robes of Lord Justice-General. He died
and was succeeded in office, in 1841, by the Right
Hon. David Boyle of Shewalton; and his son
John, who in that year had been appointed Lord
Justice Clerk, after being Dean of Faculty, also
died at Edinburgh in 1858.
No. 24 Moray Place was fie last and long the town
residence of Lord Jefiey, to whom we have had
often to refer in his early life elsewhere. Here it
was, that those evening reunions (Tuesdays and
Fridays) which brightened the evening of his life,
took place. “Nothing whatever now exists in
Edinburgh that can convey to a younger generation
any impression of the charms of that circle. If
there happened to be any stranger in Edinburgh
worth seeing you were sure to meet him there.”
The personal appearance of the first recognised
editor of the Edinburgh Review was not remarkable
His complexion was very swarthy; his features were
good and intellectual in cast and expression ; his
forehead high and lips firmly set. He was very
diminutive in stature-a circumstance that called
forth innumerable jokes from his friend Sydney
Smith, who once said, ‘‘ Look at my little friend
JefTrey ; he hasn’t body enough to cover his mind
decently with ; his intellect is indecently exposed.”
On another occasion, Jefiey having arrived unexpectly
at Foston when Smith was from home,
amused himself by joining the children, who were
riding a donkey. After a time, greatly to the delight
of the youngsters, he mounted the animal,
and Smith returning at the time, sang the following
impromptu :-
“Witty as Horatius Flaccus,
Great a Jacobin as Gracchus,
Short, but not as fat as Bacchq
Riding on a little Jackass 1 ”
His fondness for children was remarkable. He
was never so happy as when in their society, and
was a most devoted husband and father.
He was Dean of Faculty, and prior to his elevation
to the Bench, when he came to 24 Moray
Place, had some time previously resided in 92
George Street. Deemed generally only as a crusty
and uncompromising critic, he possessed great goodness
of heart and domestic amiability. In his
latter years, when past the psalmist-appointed term
of life, he grew more than ever tendex-hearted and
amiable, praised nursery songs, patronised mediocrities,
and wrote letters that were childish in their
gentleness of expression. ‘‘ It seemed to be the
natural strain of his character let loose from some
stem responsibility, which made him sharp and
critical through all his former life.”
In their day his critical writings had a brilliant](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v4p023.gif "Volume 4 Page 203")
... Place.] LORD JEFFREY. 203
Morrison as a suspected person, and you will not
liberate him without a ...
Vol. 4 p. 203 (Rel. 0.15)
![The Royal Excharge.] THE ROYAL EXCHANGE. 183 -
CHAPTER XX.
THE ROYAL EXCHANGE-THE TRON CHURCH-THE GREAT FIRE OF NOVEMBER, 1824.
The Royal Exchange-Laying the Foundation Stonc-Ddption of the Exchange-The Mysterious Statue-The Council Cbarnber-hventiom
of Royal Burghs : Constitution thereof, and Powers-Writen’ Court-The “ Star and Garter” Tavern-Sir Walter Scott’s Account
of the Scene at Cleriheugh‘s-Lawyers’ High Jinks-The Tron Church-Histor] of the Old Church-Tht Gnat Fire of rSa~-lnciden~s
of the Conflagration-The Ruins Undermined-Blown up by Captain Head of the Engineers,
Ira 1753 we discover the first symptoms of vitality
in Edinburgh after the Union, when the pitiful
sum of A1,500 was subscribed by the convention
of royal burghs, for the purpose of “ beautifying
the city,” and the projected Royal Exchange was
fairly taken in hand.
If wealth had not increased much, the population
had, and by the middle of the eighteenth
century the citizens had begun to find the inconvenience
they laboured under by being confined
within the old Flodden wall, and that the city was
still destitute of such public buildings as were
necessary for the accommodation of those societies
which were formed, or forming, in all other capitals,
to direct the business of the nation, and provide
for the general welfare ; and so men of tas‘te, rank,
and opulence, began to bestir themselves in Edinburgh
at last.
Many ancient alleys and closes, whose names
are well-nigh forgotten now, were demolished on
the north side of the Righ Street, to procure a
site for the new Royal Exchange. Some of these
had already become ruinous, and must have been
of vast antiquity. Many beautifully-sculptured
stones belonging to houses there were built into
the curious tower, erected by Mr. Walter Ross at
the Dean, and are now in a similar tower at Portobello,
Others were scattered about the garden
grounds at the foot of the Castle rock, and still
show the important character of some of the
edifices demolished. Among them there was a
lintel, discovered when clearing out the bed 01
the North Loch, with the initials IS. (and the
date 1658), supposed to be those of Jaines tenth
Lord Somerville, who, after serving long in the
Venetian army, died at a great age in 1677.
On the 13th of September, 1753, the first stone
of the new Exchange was laid by George Drummond,
then Grand Master of the Scottish Masons,
whose memory as a patriotic magistrate is still remembered
with respect in Edinburgh. A triumphal
arch, a gallery for the magistrates, and covered
stands for the spectators, enclosed the arena.
“The procession was very grand and regular,”
says the Gentleman’s Magazine for that year.
each lodge of maSons, of which there were
thirteen, walked in procession by themselves, all
uncovered, amounting to 672, most of whom were
operative masons.” The military paid proper
honours to the company on this occasion, and escorted
the procession in a suitable manner. The
Grand Master and the present substitute were
preceded by the Lord Provost, magistrates, and
council, in their robes, with the city sword, mace,
&c., carried before them, accompanied by the
directors of the scheme.
All day the foundation-stone lay open, that the
people might see it, with the Latin inscription on
the plate, which runs thus in English :-
“ GEORGE DKUMMOND,
Of the Society of Freemasons in Scotland Grand Master,
Thrice Provost of the City of Edinburgh,
Three hundred Brother Masons attending,
In presence of many persons of distinction,
The Magistrates and Citizens of Edinburgh,
And of every rank of people an innumerable multitude,
And all Applaudipg ;
For convenience of the inhabitants of Edinburgh,
And the public ornament,
Laid this stone,
Wdliam Alexander being Provost,
On the 13th September, 1753. of the Era of Masonry 5753,
And of the reign of George II., King of Great Britain,
the 27th yea.”
In the stone were deposited two medals, one
bearing the profile and name of the Grand Master,
the other having the masonic arms, with the collar
of St. Andrew, and the legend, “ In the Lord is
all our trust.”
Though the stone was thus laid in 1753, the
work was not fairly begun till the following year,
nor was it finished till 1761, at the expense of
A31,5oo, including the price of the area on which
it is built ; but it never answered the purpose for
which it was intended-its paved quadrangle and
handsome Palladian arcades were never used by
the mercantile class, who persisted in meeting, as
of old, at the Cross, or where it stood.
Save that its front and western arcades have
been converted into shops, it remains unchanged
since it was thus described by Arnot, and the back I
view of it, which faces the New Town, catches the
eye at once, by its vast bulk and stupendous height,
IOO feet, all of polished ashlar, now blackened with -
the smoke of years :--.“The Exchange is a large
and elegant building, with a court in the -centre.
,](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v1p195.gif "Volume 1 Page 183")
... Royal Excharge.] THE ROYAL EXCHANGE. 183 -
CHAPTER XX.
THE ROYAL EXCHANGE-THE TRON CHURCH-THE GREAT FIRE OF ...
Vol. 1 p. 183 (Rel. 0.15)
![270 OLD AND *NEW EDINBURGH. [Brown Square.
Till about 1780 the inhabitants of these districts
formed a distinct class of themselves, and had their
own places of amusement, independent of all the
rest of the city. Nor was it until the New Town
was rather far advanced that the sowfh side lost its
attractions; and we are told that, singular as it
may appear, there was one instance, if not more, of
a gentleman living and dying in this southern district
without having once visited, or even seen, the
New Town, although at the time of his death it
had extended westward to Castle Street. (Scott’s ‘‘ Provincial Antiquities.”)
In the notes to “ Redgauntlet,” the same author
tells us, that in its time Brown Square was hailed
“as an extremely elegant improvement ” on Edmburgh
residences, even witli its meagre plot of
grass and shabby iron railings. It is here he
places the house of Saunders Fairford, where Man
is described as first beholding the mysterious Lady
GreenmanfZe, and as being so bewildered with her
appearance, that he stood as if he had been
senseless. “ The door was opened, out she went,
walked along the pavement, turned down the
close (at the north-east end of the square leading
into the Cowgate), and put the sun, I believe,
into her pocket when she disappeared, so suddenly
did dulness and darkness sink down on the
square when she was no longer visible.”
To show how much this new locality was thought
of, we will here quote a letter in the Edinburgh
Adverfiser of 6th March, 1764 (Vol. I.) :-
“Su,-\Vith pleasure I have observed of late
the improvements we are making in this metropolis,
and there is nothing which pleases me yore than
the taste for elegant buildings, than which nothing
can be a greater ornament to a city, or give a
stranger a greater impression of the improvement
of the inhabitants in polite and liberal arts.
“ That very elegant square, called Brown Square,
which, in my opinion, is a very great beauty to the
town, is now almost finished, and last day the
green pasture was railed in. Now, I think, to
complete the whole, an elegant statue in the
middle would be well worth the expense; and I
dare say the gentlemen who possess houses there
would not grudge a small sum to have that part
adorned with an equestrian statue of his present
Majesty George the Thud, and which I should think,
would be contributed to by public subscriptions,
set a-foot for that purpose. Whie we are thus
making such improvements, I am surprised nobody
has ever mentioned an improvement on our
College [the old one was then extant] which, as it
now is, gives strangers but an unfavourable idea of
our University, which, however, is at present so
flourishing. . . . , To have a handsome building
for that purpose is surely the desire of every good
citizen. This could be easily accomplished by
various means. Suppose a lottery should be proposed,
every student I dare say would take a
ticket, and I would venture to ensure the success
of it.”
But George 111. was fated not to have a statue
either in Brown Square or Great King Street, according
to a suggestion some sixty years afterwards
; yet as a proof that the square was deemed
alike fashionable and elegant, we may enumerate
some of those who resided there. . Among them
were the Dowager Lady Elphinstone (daughter of
John sixth Earl of Wigton) who had a house here
in 1784; Henry Pundas (afterwards Viscount
Melville), when a member of the Faculty of Advocates;
Sir Islay Campbell, Bart., of Succoth, in the
days when it was the custom of the senators to
walk to court in the morning, with nicely powdered
wigs, and a small cocked hat in the hand-a practice
retained nearly to the last by Lord Glenlee:
he was afterwards Lord President. He bought
Lord Melville’s house in Brown Square, and after
a time removed to York Place.
His successor in the same residence, No. 15,-
was John Anstruther of that ilk, Advocate, with
whom resided the family of Charles Earl of
Traquair, whose mother was a daughter of Sir
Philip Anstruther of Anstrutherfield. Other residents
were Lord Henderland and the future Lord
President Blair of Avontoun, both when at the bar,
and William Craig, afterwards a Lord of Justiciary
in 1792; Sir John Forbes-Drummond, when a
captain of the Royal Navy, and before he became
Baronet of Hawthornden ; Henry Mackenzie, the
ubiquitous “ Man of Feeling ; ” Lord Woodhouselee,
and the Lord President Miller, whose residence
was the large house (No. 17) with the painted front,
on the north side, the interior of which, with its
frescoes and panelings, is now one of the finest
specimens remaining of a fashionable Edinburgh
mansion of the eighteenth century; and therein
lived and died his son Lord Glenlee, who (uZtimus
Scoforum 2) resisted the attraction of three successive
New Towns, to which all his brethren had
long before fled.
He retained, until within a few years of his death,
the practice referred to, of walking daily to Court,
hat in hand, with a powdered wig, through Brown
Square, down Crombie’s Close, across the Cowgate,
xnd up the Back Stairs to the Parliament Houser
ittended by his valet, and always scrupulously
kessed in black. In 1838, when nearly eighty
years of age, this grand lord of the old school,](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v4p090.gif "Volume 4 Page 270")
... OLD AND *NEW EDINBURGH. [Brown Square.
Till about 1780 the inhabitants of these districts
formed a distinct ...
Vol. 4 p. 270 (Rel. 0.15)
![High Street.3 CHANGES IN THE HIGH STREET. 203
Mortality,” I 7041 gives us the long inscription on the
tomb of the Colonel’s wife, in the Greyfriars, beginning
:-“ Nic $osita Rdiquire Lectissrna rnatronq
Jeanne ]ohnsone, conizcgl’s Archibaldi Row, Re@
Scloppetarz>rum, hpmzis,” &c. She died in
1702.
On the 8th of March Anne was proclaimed
Queen of Scotland, at the Cross, with all the usual
solemnities.
In January, 1703, George Young, merchant in
the High Street, was appointed by the Provost, Si1
Hugh Cunningham, and the Council, to act a
a constable, and along with several other citizen:
of respectable position, “ oversee the manners and
order of the burgh, and the inhabitants thereof,
and on the evening of the 24th, being Sunday, he
went through some parts of the city to see “that
the Lord‘s day, and the laws made for the observance
thereof, were not violated.” ’ In the house
of Marjory Thom, a vintner, this new official found,
about 10 P.M., several companies in several rooms,
and expostulated with her on the subject, aftei
which, according to his own account, he quietly
withdrew.
As he proceeded up the close to the High Street,
he and his comrades were followed by Mr. Archi.
bald Campbell, son of the Lord Niel Campbell,
who warned him that if he reported Marjory’s
house to the magistrates, he would repent it. This
affair ended in a kind of riot next day, in Young’:
shop, opposite the Town Guard House, and Campbell
would probably have slain Young, had not the
latter contrived to get hold of his sword and keep
it till the Guard came, and the matter was brought
before the Privy Council, when such was the
influence of family and position, that the luckless
Mr. Young was fined 400 merks, to be paid to
Campbell, and to be imprisoned till the money
was forthcoming.
On the 14th of February, 1705, appeared tlie
first number of the Bdinbwgh Courant, a simple
folio broadsheet, published by James Watson, in
Craig’s Close. Its place was afterwards taken by
MacEwen’s Rdifzburgh Evening Courant, in I 7 18,
a permanent success to this day. It was a Whig
print, and caused the starting of the now defunct
Caledonkn Mercury, in the Jacobite interest,
a little quarto of two leaves.
According to the Courant of April gth, 1724 the
denizens of the High Street, aud other greater
thoroughfares, were startled by “a bank ” of drums,
beating up for recruits for the King of Prussia’s
-
gigantic regim’ent of Grenadiers. Two guineas as
bounty were offered, and many tall fellows were
enlisted. The same regiment was recruited for
in Edinburgh in 1728.
By the year 1730 great changes had been
effected by the magistrates in enforcing cleanliness
in the streets, and repressing the habit (accompanied
by the temble cry of Gardezl‘eau) of throwing slops
and rubbish from the windows. Sir James Dick of
Prestonfield, the wise provost of 1679, transported
away by personal energy a vast stratum of the
refuse of ages, through which people had to make
literal lanes to their shops and house-doors and
therewith enriched his lands by the margin of
Duddingston Loch (Act of Parl. James VII., I.,
cap. IZ), till their fertility is proverbial to the
present day. But still there was no regular system
of cleaning, and though Sir Alexander Brand, a
well-known magistrate and manufacturer of Spanish
leather gilt hangings, made some vigorous proposals
on the subject, they were not adopted, till in
1730 the magistrates endeavoured by the strong arm
of the law to repress the obnoxious habit of
throwing household litter from the windows, a
habit amusingly described by Smollett forty years
after in his ’’ Humphrey Clinker.”
On the 6th of September, 1751, the fall of
a great stone tenement on the north of the High
Street, near the Cross, six storeys in height, with
attics, sinking at once from top to bottom, and
occasioning some loss of life, caused a general
alarm in the city concerning the probable state of
many of the more ancient and crumbring houses.
A general survey was made, and many were
condemned, and orderec! to be taken down.
But from 1707 Edinburgh stood singularly still
till 1763, when the citizens seemed to wake
fiom their apathetic lethargy. After that period
the erection of adjuncts to the old city (tcr
be referred to in their own localities) led to the
general desertion of it by all people of position and
wealth. Among the last who lingered there, and
retained his mansion in the High Street, was
James Fergusson of Pitfour, M.P., whose body was
borne thence in October, 1820, for interment in the
Greyfriars Churchyard.
In the March of 1820 the High Street was
iighted with gas for the first time. “ This has been
done,” says a print of the day, “by the introduction
of a single cockspur light into each of the
old globes, in which the old oil lamps were formerly
suspended.”](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v2p023.gif "Volume 2 Page 203")
... Street.3 CHANGES IN THE HIGH STREET. 203
Mortality,” I 7041 gives us the long inscription on the
tomb of ...
Vol. 2 p. 203 (Rel. 0.15)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [1745!.
CEIAFTER XL.
E D I N B U R G H IN 1745.
Provost Stewart-Advance of the ...
Vol. 2 p. 322 (Rel. 0.15)
![The Mound.] A PROPOSED HARBOUR. no
“And such a lot, my Skene, was thine,
When thou of late wert doomed to twine- - Just when thy bridal hour was by-
The cypress with the myrtle tie.
Just on thy bride her sire had smiled,
And blessed the union of his child,
When love must change its joyous cheer,
And wipe affection’s filial tear.”
In the subsequent March Scott had left his
beloved house in Castle Street for ever.
Among the memorials of the Pictish race, illustrated
so ably in Dr. Stuarfs “ Sculptured Stones
of Scotland,” is one with the peculiar emblems of
the crescent and sceptre, which was found under
the Castle rock and near the west churchyard.
The line of railway which intersects the garden,
and passes by a tunnel under the new portion of
St. Cuthbert’s churchyard, fails to mar its beauty,
as it is almost entirely hidden by trees and
shrubbery, especially about the base of the rock,
from which the castle “looks down upon the
city as if out of another world: stem with all its
peacefulness, its garniture of trees, its slopes of
grass. The rock is dingy enough in colour,
but after a shower its lichens laugh our greenly
in the returning sun, while the rainbow is brightening
on the lowering sky beyond. How deep
the shadow which the castle throws at noon
on the gardens at its feet, where the children
play! How grand when giant bulk and towery
crown blacken against the sunset !
In the extreme western portion of the gardens
lie some great fragments of masonry, which have
fallen down in past sieges from some of the older
walls in the vicinity of the sallyport, while thefoundations
of these are to be traced from point to point,
some feet on the outside of the present fortifications,
and lower down the rock.
In the western hollow is an ornamental fountain
of considerable beauty, and formed of iron, named
after its donor, Mr. Ross, who spent A3;ooo on
its erection. In 1876 the gardens were acquired
by the citizens, and were thea much improved
They are used in summer for musicaI promenades,
and in contour and embellishment, though
much more extensive, have a certain resemblance
to the gardens on the east side of the Earthen
Mound.
For long years after the loch had passed away
the latter was but a reedy, marshy hollow, intersected
by what was called the Little Mound, that
led from near South St. Andrew Street to the foot
of Mary King’s Close. The ground was partially
drained when the North Bridge was built, but
more effectually about 1821, when it was let as a
nursery.
.When the Union canal was projected, towards
the close of the last century, the plans for it, not
unlike those of the Earl of Mar in 1728, included
the continuation of it through the bed of the North
Loch, past where a street was built, and actually
called Canal Street. “From thence it was proposed
to conduct it to Greenside, in the area of
which was an immense harbour ; and this, again,.
being connected by a broad canal with the sea, it
was expected that by such means the New Town
would be converted into a seaport, and the
unhappy traders of Leith compelled either to
abandon their traffic or remove within the precincts
of their jealous rivals. Chimerical as this project
may now appear, designs were furnished by experienced
engineers, a map of the whole plan was
engraved on a large scale, and no doubt our civic
reformers rejoiced in the anticipation of surmounting
the disadvantages of an inland position, and
seeing the shipping of the chief ports of Europe
crowding into the heart of their new capital ! ”
The operations for forming the canal were
delayed in 1776 by a dispute between the magistrates
and the feuars of the extended royalty
relative to Canal Street, that ended in the Court
of Session, which sustained “ the defences pled by
the magistrates of Edinburgh, and assoilie from the
conclusion of the declarator j but with respect to
the challenge brought with regard to particular
houses being built contrary to the Act of Parliament,
1698, remit to the Lord Ordinary to hear
parties to do as he shall see cause.” The Lord
President, the Lord Justice Clerk, and Lord
Covington, were of a different opinion from the
rest of the court, and condemned the conduct of
the magistrates in very severe terms.
The Act of 1698, referred to, was one restricting
the height of houses within the city, and to
the effect that none should be above five storeys,
with a front wall of three feet in thickness at the
base. In March, 1776, the dispute was adjusted,
and a print of the time tells us that the public
‘‘ will now be gratified with a pleasure-ground upon
the south side of Princes Street, to a considerable
extent ; and the loch will in time be formed into a
canal, which will not only be ornamental, but of
great benefit to the citizens”
This Utopian affair was actually commenced, for
in the Edinburgh We&y Magazine of the 28th
March, 1776, we are told that on the 25th instant
twenty labourers “ began to work at the banks of
the intended canal between the old and new town
but how far the work proceeded we hake no means
of knowing.
The site of the projected canal is now occupied](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v3p111.gif "Volume 3 Page 99")
... Mound.] A PROPOSED HARBOUR. no
“And such a lot, my Skene, was thine,
When thou of late wert doomed to ...
Vol. 3 p. 99 (Rel. 0.15)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. rHigh Street.
was, in 1876, LIZ 5s. zd., the total cost being
A~,ggo 18s. zd.
The ...
Vol. 2 p. 266 (Rel. 0.15)
... Bridge.7 . JAMES SUTHERLAND. 363 #
4 I
say nothing of the cost of new plants, so difficult
to procure in ...
Vol. 2 p. 363 (Rel. 0.15)
... and howitzers on the bastions of the latter
and the Calton Hill. The sharp encounter there,
and at St. ...
Vol. 1 p. 55 (Rel. 0.15)
... Street. NIDDRY’S WYND. 245
to protect the powdered head of loftily-dressed
hair, when walking or driving, ...
Vol. 2 p. 245 (Rel. 0.15)
... OLD APU’D NEW EDINBURGH. [Corstorphine.
meaning, no doubt, the panelled box-beds so
common of old in ...
Vol. 5 p. 114 (Rel. 0.15)
... B
CHAPTER XV.
. THE CHURCH OF ST. GILES. PAGE
SL Giles’s Church-The Patron Saint-Its Wgh and early ...
Vol. 2 p. 387 (Rel. 0.15)
![Leith] MACKINTOSH OF BORLUM. 191
the further strengthened by the fact that the Speedy
Return, a Scottish ship, had been absent unusually
long, and the rumours regarding her fate were
very much akin to the confessions of the crew of
the Worcester.
A report of these circumstances having reached
the Privy Council, the arrest was ordered of Captain
Green and thirteen of his crew on charges of
piracy and murder. The evidence produced against
them would scarcely be held sufficient by a jury of
the present day to warrant a conviction; but the
Scots, in their justly inflamed and insulted spirit,
viewed the matter otherwise, and a sentence of
death was passed. This judgment rendered many
uneasy, as it might be an insuperable bar to the
union, and even lead to open strife, as the relations
in which the two countries stood to each other were
always precarious ; and even Macaulay admits “that
the two kingdoms could not possibly have continued
another year on the terms on which they had been
during the preceding century.” The Privy Council
were thus reluctant to put the sentence into execution,
and respited the fourteen Englishmen ; but
there arose from the people a cry for vengeance
which it was impossible to resist. On the day appointed
for the execution, the 11th of April, the
populace gathered h vast numbers at the. Cross
and in the Parliament Square ; they menaced the
Lords‘of the Council, from which the Lord Chancellor
chanced to pass in his coach. Some one
cried aloud that “ the prisoners had been reprieved.”
On this the fury of the people became boundless ;
they stopped at the Tron church the coach of the
Chancellor-the pitiful Far1 of Seafield-and
dragged him out of it, and had he not been rescued
and conveyed into Mylne Square by some friends,
would have slain him ; so, continues Arnot, it became
absolutely necessary to appease the enraged
multitude by the blood of the criminals. This was
but the fruit of the affairs of Darien and Glencoe.
Now the people for miles around were pouring
into the city, and it was known that beyond doubt
the luckless Englishmen would be tom from the
Tolbooth and put to a sudden death.
Thus the Council was compelled to yield, and
did so only in time, as thousands who had gathered
at Leith to see the execution were now adding to
those who filled the streets of the city, and at
eleven in the forenoon word came forth that three
would be hanged-namely, Captain Green, the first
mate Madder, and Simpson, the gunner.
According to Analecfu Scofica they were brought
forth into the seething masses, amid shouts and
execrations, under an escort of the Town Guard,
and marched on foot through the Canongate to the
Water Port of Leith, where a battalion of the Foot
Guards and a body of the Horse Guards were
drawn up. “ There was the greatest confluence of
people there that I ever saw in my life,” says
Wodrow; “for they cared not how far they were
off so be it they saw.”
The three were hanged upon a gibbet erected
within high-water mark, and the rest of the crew,
after being detained in prison till autumn, were set
at liberty; and it is said that there were afterwards
good reasons to believe that Captain Drummond,
whom they were accused of slaying on the high seas,
was alive in India after the fate of Green and his
two brother officers had been sealed. (Burton’s
‘’ Crim. Trials.”)
On the site of the present Custom House was
built the Fury (a line-of-battle ship, according tb
Lawson‘s “Gazetteer”) and the first of that rate
built in Scotland after the Union.
In I 7 I 2 the first census of Edinburgh and Leith
was taken, and both towns contained only about
48,000 souls.
The insurrection of 1715, under the Earl of
Mar, made Leith the arena of some exciting scenes.
The Earl declined to leave the vicinity of Perth
with his army, and could not co-operate with the
petty insurrection under Forster in the north of
England, as a fleet under Sir John Jennings, Admiral
of the White, including the RqaC Anm, Pew4
Phnix, Dover Custk, and other frigates, held the
Firth of Forth, and the King‘s troops under Argyle
were gathering in the southern Lowlands. But, as
it was essential that a detachment from Mar‘s army
should join General Forster, it was arranged that
2,500 Highlanders, under old Brigadier Mackintosh
of Borlum-one of the most gallant and resolute
spirits of the age-should attempt to elude the fleet
and reach the Lothians.
The brigadier took possession of all the boats
belonging to the numerous fisher villages on the
Fife coast, and as the gathering of such a fleet as
these, with the bustle of mooring and provisioning
them, was sure to reveal the object in view, a
clever trick was adopted to put all scouts on a false
scent.
All the boats not required by the brigadier he
sent to the neighbourhood of Burntisland, as if he
only waited to cross the Firth there, on which the
fleet left its anchorage and rather wantonly began
to cannonade the fort and craft in the harbour.
While the ships were thus fully occupied, Mackintosh,
dividing his troops in two columns, crossed the
water from Elie, Pittenweem, and Crail, twenty miles
eastward, on the nights of the 12th and 13thOctober,
without the loss of a single boat, and lwded](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v5p202.gif "Volume 5 Page 191")
... MACKINTOSH OF BORLUM. 191
the further strengthened by the fact that the Speedy
Return, a Scottish ship, ...
Vol. 5 p. 191 (Rel. 0.15)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [High Street
Close was seized, and a battery erected on the
summit thereof to assail ...
Vol. 2 p. 278 (Rel. 0.15)
![Bell’s Mills.] LADY SINCLAIR. 63
portray. She was born Margaret Learmouth, at
~ 6 , St John Street, in the Canongate, in January)
1794, while that street and much of the neighbour.
hood around it were still the centre of the literaq
and fashionable society of the then secluded
capital of Scotland.
Thus she was old enough to have seen and
known many who were “ QUt with the Prince ” b
1745, and reminiscences of these people and 01
their days were ever a favourite theme with hei
when she had a sympathetic listener. “Old
maiden ladies,” she was wont to say, with a sort 01
sad pitifulness in her tone, “were the last lea1
Jacobites in Edinburgh ; spinsterhood in its loneli.
ness remained then ever true to Prince Charlit
and the vanished dreams of youth.” Lady Sinclaii
used to relate how in the old Episcopal Chapel in
the Cowgate, now St. Patrick‘s Church, the last
solitary representative of these Jacobite ladies nevei
failed to close her prayer-book and stand erect, in
d e n t protest, when the prayer for King George 111.
‘( and the reigning family ” was read in the Church
Service. Early in her girlhood her family removed
from St. John Street to Picardy Place, and the
following adventure, which she used to relate,
curiously evinces the difference between the social
customs of the early years of this century and those
of the present day.
“ Once, when she was returning from a ball, the
bearers of her sedan-chair had their bonnets carried
off by the wind, while the street oil-lamps were
blown out, and the ‘ Donalds ’ departed in pursuit
of their head-gear. It was customary in those
times for gentlemen to escort the sedan-chairs
that held their fair partners of the evening, and
the two gentlemen who were with her-the Duke
af Argyle and Sir John Clerk of Penicuickseized
hold of the spokes and carried her home.
‘Gentlemen were gentlemen in those days,’ she was
wont to add, ‘and Edinburgh was the proper
residence of the Scottish aristocracy-not an inn
.or a half-way house between London and the
Highland muirs.’ ”
In 1821 she was married to Mr. Sinclair, afterwards
Sir John Sinclair, Bart., of Dunbeath, and
for fifty years afterwards her home was at the
House of Barock, in Caithness, where her influence
among the poor was ever felt and gratefully
acknowledged. She was a staunch and
amusingly active Liberal, and, with faculties clear
and unimpaired in the last week of her long life,
noted and commented on Mr. Gladstone’s famous
“ hlidlothian speeches,” and rejoiced over his
success. She was always scrupulously dressed,
and in the drawing-room down to the day of
her death. She saw all her children die before
her, in early or middle life; her eldest, Colonel
Sinclair, dying in India in his forty-fifth year. After
Sir John’s death she settled in Edinburgh.
“I am the last leaf on the outmost bough,”
she was wont to say, “and want to fall where I
was born.” And so she passed away.
When she was interred within the Chapel Royal
at Holyrood, it was supposed that she would be one
of the last to whom that privilege would be accorded.
It was not so ; for the remains of James,
Earl of Caithness, who died in America, were laid
there in April, 1881.
The Dean, or Den, seems to have been the old
general name for the rocky hollow now spanned
by the stately bridge of Telford.
Bell’s Mills, a hamlet deep down in a grassy
glen, with an old bridge, aver which for ages lay
the only road to the Queensferry, and now overshadowed
by fashionable terraces and crescents, is
described by Kincaid in 1787 as a village, “one and
three-quarter niiles north-west of Edinburgh, on the
north bank of the Water of Leith, and .a quarter
of a mile west of West Leith village.” * It received
its name from an old proprietor of the
flour-mills, which are still grinding there, and have
been long in existence. ‘‘ On Thursday night
last,” says the Zdinburgh Advertseer of 3rd January:
1764, “ the high wall at Bells Brae, near the
Water of Leith Bridge, fell down, by which accident
the footpath and part of the turnpike road are
carried away, which makes it hazardous for carriages.
This notice may be of use to those who have
occasion to pass that road.”
At the head of the road here, near the Dean
Bridge, is a Free Church, built soon after the
Disruption-a little edifice in the Saxon style, with
a square tower ; and a quaint little ancient crowstepped
building, once a toll-house, has built into
it some of the old sculpture from the Dean House.
At the foot of the road, adjoining Bell’s Mills
Bridge, are old Sunbury distillery and house, in a
lelta formed by the Leith, which sweeps under a
steep and well-wooded bank which is the boundary
3f the Dean Cemetery.
The Water of Leith village, which bears marks of
peat antiquity, is fast disappearing amid the enxoachments
of modern streets, and yet all that renains
of it, deep down in the rocky hollow, where
:he stream, flowing under its quaint old bridge,
3etween ancient mills, pours in a foaming sheet
wer a high, broad weir, is wonderfully striking
ind picturesque. Dates, inscriptions, crowstepped
:ables, and other features of the seventeenth
:entury, abound here in profusion.
.](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v5p074.gif "Volume 5 Page 63")
... Mills.] LADY SINCLAIR. 63
portray. She was born Margaret Learmouth, at
~ 6 , St John Street, in the ...
Vol. 5 p. 63 (Rel. 0.15)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Restalrig.
latter married a lady whom Burke calls “Miss
Alston, of America,” and ...
Vol. 5 p. 138 (Rel. 0.15)
![Leith.] RENNIE’S REPORT ON THE HARBOUR EXTENSION. “I2
In 1753 an Act was passed, in the reign of
George II., for enlarging and deepening the harbour
of Leith, but less was achieved than had been done
in the reign of King James II., three hundred years
before. As there were no adequate means provided
by the statute for defiaying the expense, says
h o t , “nothing was done in consequence.”
Yet soon after we find that a curious scheme
mras formed for enlarging it on a greater scale, by
making a canal from it eastward ‘through Bernard’s
Nook to the old Glass House, and from thence
into a basin. To carry this project into execution
a Bill was framed by which an additional duty, from
a penny to sixpence per ton, was to be laid upon
the tonnage of all shipping in the harbour ; but in
consequence of the poverty and lethargy entailed
by the Union, and some opposition also, the scheme
was rapidly dropped.
These suggestions, however, led ultimately to the
formation by the Town Council of Edinburgh of a
short pier in 1777 on the west side of the harbour,
afterwards known as the Custom House Quay;
and the harbourwas at the same time widened and
deepened.
In 1785 a miserable apology for a naval yard
(as it was pompously named) was established in
Leith as a depBt for supplying such material as
might be wanted by His Majesty‘s ships coming
into the Forth.
Five bridges now connect North and South
Leith, the latest of which is the Victoria swing
bridge.
One of the drawbridges at the foot of the Tolbooth
Wynd (superseding that of Abbot Ballantyne)
was erected in 1788-9, by authority of an Act of
Parliament. The second drawbridge, opposite the
foot of Bernard Street, was erected in 1800; and
a thud bridge, finished about 1820, connected the
new streets at Hill House Field and the Docks
with Leith Walk.
Notwithstanding the erection of the Custom
House Quay, the accommodation for shipping remained
insufficient and unendurable, the common
quays being the chief landing-places, where the
vessels lay four and five abreast, discharging their
cargoes across each other’s decks, amid confusion,
dirt, and much ill-temper on the part of seamen and
porters. Besides, the channel of the river, at the
recess of the tides, offered only an expanse of uncovered
and offensive mud and ooze, till, as the
kade of the port increased towards the close of the
kentury, demands were loud and long for an ameli.
Oration and enlargement of the then accommodation.
In 1789, the light that had first been placed a1
the pier-end was replaced by a new and improved
131
one, with reflectors, as the Edinburgh Advertiser
specially mentions, adding that “its effect at sea
is surprising, and the expense of maintaining it
does not exceed that of the former one.”
In 1799, John Rennie, the celebrated engineer,
was employed to examine the entire harbour, and
to form designs for docks and extended piers, on a
scale somewhat proportioned to the necessities of
the advancing age.
The gravamen of his report was that no permanent
and uniform depth of water along the
mouth of the harbour of Leith could ever be obtained,
and that no achievement of science could
destroy or prevent the formation of the shifting
bar, unless by carrying a pier, or weir, on the east
side of the channel, and quite across the sands
into low water, and that, by this means, three, or
possibly four, feet of additional depth of water
might be obtained; but though the soundness of
his principle has been fully vindicated by the result
of subsequent operations which were carried out by
its guidance, little or nothing was done at his suggestion,
nor for many years afterwards, with regard to
the piers or entrance.
The crowded state of the harbour was the cause
of many a fatal accident, and of constant confusion.
Thus we read that, between nine and ten in the
morning of the 13th of August, 1810, as a foreign
vessel, after passing the beacon, was about to enter
the harbour, with two pilots on board, a shot was
suddenly fired into her from a boat. This, the
pilots imagined, was from a Greenland whaler, and
they did not bring to. A few minutes after a second
musket-shot was fired, which mortally wounded
the mate in the right breast, and he expired in
fifteen minutes. The boat belonged to H.M. gunbrig
GaZZanf, of fourteen guns, commanded by
Lieutenant William Crow, which was at that time
what is technically called “rowing guard.” The
fatal shot had been fired by a rash young midshipman,
named Henry Lloyd, whose hail had
been unheard or unnoticed; and for this he was
lodged in the prison of Edinburgh. As too often
is the case in such calamities, the prints of the
time announce that ‘‘ the sufferer has left a widow
and three young children, for whose relief a subscription
has been opened.”
In 1818 Messrs. J. and H. Morton invented
their patent slip, and the first one was laid down
by themse1ves.h the upper part of the old harbour
-an invention of more than European reputation.
The firm began to build iron ships, but after completing
a few steamers, a sailing-ship, and some large
dredges, the trade came to a temporary stand ; yet
the business of ship-building was not abandoned
.](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v6p092.gif "Volume 6 Page 273")
... RENNIE’S REPORT ON THE HARBOUR EXTENSION. “I2
In 1753 an Act was passed, in the reign of
George II., ...
Vol. 6 p. 273 (Rel. 0.15)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Burdiehouse.
intelligence to the enemy, which occasioned the
imprisonment of his ...
Vol. 6 p. 342 (Rel. 0.15)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [The Great Fire.
while the weather changed rapidly ; the wind,
accompanied by rain, ...
Vol. 1 p. 190 (Rel. 0.15)
... OLD AKD NEW EDINBURGH. [IFeriot Row.
lady weak poems, which were noticed by Lockhart
in the Quarterly Rmim, ...
Vol. 4 p. 194 (Rel. 0.14)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [North Bridge.
Newcastle, to witness what all spoke of with
wonder. There were one day ...
Vol. 2 p. 346 (Rel. 0.14)
![Granton.] CAROLINE PARK. 311
and most gifted men of his time,” and had his town
residence in one of the flats in James’s Court,
where it is supposed that his eccentric daughter,
who became Lady Dick of Prestonfield, was born.
In 1743, John, the celebrated Duke of Argyle,
entailed his ‘‘ lands of Roystoun and Grantoun,
called Caroline Park ” (“ Shaw’s Reg.”), doubtless
so called after his eldest daughter Caroline, who, in
the preceding year, had been married to Francis,
Earl of Dalkeith, and whose mother had been a
maid of honour to Queen Caroline. The estates
of Royston and Granton were her$ and through
her, went eventually to the house of Buccleuch.
The Earl of Dalkeith, her husband, died in the
lifetime of his father, in 1750, in his thirtieth year,
leaving two children, afterwards Henry, Duke of
Buccleuch, and Lady Frances, afterwards wife of
Lord Douglas. .
Lady Caroline Campbell, who was created a
Reeress of Great Britain, by the title of Lady
Greenwich, in 1767, had, some years before that,
married, a second time, the Right Hon. Charle:
Townshend, Chancellor of the Exchequer. He1
barony of Greenwich being limited to the issut
male of her second marriage, became extinct or
her death at Sudbrooke, in her seventy-seventl
year, one of her two sons, who was a captain ir
the 45th Foot, having died unmarried; and thc
other, who was a captain in the 59th, having corn
mitted suicide ; thus, in 1794, the bulk of her rea
and personal property in Scotland and England
but more particularly the baronies of Granton anc
Royston, devolved upon Henry, third Duke o
Buccleuch, K.G. and KT:, in succession, to thc
Duke of Argyle, who appears as “ Lord Royston,’
in the old valuation roll.
Old Granton House, sometimes called ROYS~OI
Castle, which is founded upon an abutting rock
was entered from the north-west by an archway 11
a crenelated barbican wall, and has three crow
stepped gables, each with a large chimney, and iI
the angle a circular tower with a staircase. Thc
external gate, opening to the shore, was in thii
quarter, and was surmounted by two most ornatc
vases of great size j but these had disappeared b;
1854. The whole edifice is an open and roofles
ruin.
On the east are the remains of a magnificen
camage entrance with two side gates, and twc
massive pillars of thirteen courses of stone work
gigantic beads and panels alternately, each havinj
on its summit four inverted trusses, capped b1
vases and ducal coronets, overhanging what wa
latterly an abandoned quany.
The Hopes had long a patrimonial interest ii
;ranton. Sir Thomas Hope, of Craighall, King’s
Pdvocate to Charles I., left four sons, three of
vhom were Lords of Session at one time, who all
narried and left descendants-namely, Sir John
Hope of Craighall, Sir Thomas Hope of Kerse,
sir Alexander Hope of Granton, ahd Sir James
Hope of Hopetown.
Sir Alexander of Granton had the post at court
)f ‘‘ Royal Carver Extraordinary, and he was much
ibout the person of his Majesty.”
The best known of this family in modem times,
was the Right Hon. Charles Hope of Granton,
Lord Advocate of Scotland in 1801, afterwards
Lord President of the Court of Session, to whom
we have already referred amply, elsewhere.
The more modem Granton House, in this
quarter, was for some time the residence of Sir
John McNeill, G.C.B., third son of the late
McNeill of Colonsay, and brother of the peer of
that title, well known as envoy at the court of
Persia, and in many other public important capacities,
LLD. of Edinburgh, and D.C.L: of Oxford.
George Cleghorn, an eminent physician in Dublin,
and his nephew, William Cleghorn, who was associated
with him as Professor of Anatomy in Trinity
College, Dublin, were both natives of Granton.
George, the first man who established, what might
with any propriety, be called an anatomical school
in Ireland, was born in 1716 of poor but reputable
and industrious parents, on a small farm at Granton,
where his father died in I 7 19, leaving a widow and
five children. He received the elements of his
education in the parish school of’ Cramond village,
and in 1728 he was sent to Edinburgh to be
further instructed in Latin, Greek, and French,
and, to a great knowledge of these languages, he
added that of mathematics. Three years after he
commenced the study of physics and surgery under
the illustrious Alexander Monro, with whom he
remained five years, and while yet a student, he
and some others, among whom was the celebrated
Dr. Fothergill, established the Royal Medical
Society of Edinburgh.
In 1736 he was appointed surgeon of Moyle’s
Regiment, afterwards the zznd Foot (in which,
sbme years before, the father of Laurence Sterne
had been a captain) then stationed in Minorca,
where he remained with it thirteen years, and
accompanied it in 1749 to Ireland, and in the
following year published, in London, his work on
“ The Diseases of Minorca.”
Settling in Dublin in 175 I, in imitation of Monro
and Hunter he began to give yearly lectures
on anatomy. A few years afterwards he was
admitted into the University as an anatomical](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v6p130.gif "Volume 6 Page 311")
... CAROLINE PARK. 311
and most gifted men of his time,” and had his town
residence in one of the flats ...
Vol. 6 p. 311 (Rel. 0.14)
![High Street.] STRICHEN’S CLOSE. 255
pike stairs compelled the use of taverns more than
now. There the high-class advocate received his
clients, and the physician his patients-each practitioner
having his peculiar how$ There, too,
gentlemen met in the evening for supper and conversation
without much expense, a reckoning of a
shilling being deemed a high one, so different then
were the value of money and the price of viands. In
1720 an Edinburgh dealer advertises his liquors at
the following prices :-“ Neat claret wine at I Id.,
strong at 15d.; white wine at ~ z d . ; Rhenish at
16d.; old hock at zod., all per bottle; cherrysack
at 28d. per pint; English ale at 4d. per
bottle.”
In those days it was not deemed derogatory for
ladies of rank and position to join oyster parties in
some of those ancient taverns; and while there
was this freedom of manner on one hand, we are
told there was much of gloom and moroseness on
the other; a dread of the Deity with a fear of hell,
and of the power of the devil, were the predominant
feelings of religious people in the age subsequent
to the Revolution; while it was thought, so says
the author of ‘ I Domestic Annals ” (quoting Miss
Mure’s invaluable Memoirs), a mark of atheistic
tendencies to doubt witchcraft, or the reality of
apparitions and the occasional vaticinative character
of dreams.
A country gentleman, writing in 1729, remarks
on ‘‘ the increase in the expense of housekeeping
which he had seen going on during the past twenty
years. While deeming it indisputable that Edinburgh
was now much less populous.than before the
Union, yet I am informed,” says he, “ that there is
a greater consumption since than before the Union
of all -provisions, especially fleshes and wheat.
bread. The butcher owns that he now kills thret
of every species for one he killed before the Union.
. . . . Tea in the morning and tea in tht
evening had now become established. There
were more livery servants, and better dressed.
and more horses than formerly.”
Lord Strichen did not die in the house in thf
close wherein he had dwelt so long, but at Stricher
in Aberdeenshire, on the 15th January, 1775, ir
his seventy-sixth year, leaving behind him the repu
tation of an upright judge. “ Lord Strichen was i
man not only honest, but highly generous; for
after his succession to the family estates, he paic
a large sum of debts contracted by his prede
cessor, which he was not under any obligation tc
pay.”
One of the last residents of note in Strichen’!
Close was Mr. John Grieve, a merchant in thc
Royal Exchange, who held the office of Lorc
’rovost in 1782-3, and again in 1786-7, and who
ras first a Town Councillor in 1765. When a
nagistrate he was publicly horsewhipped by some
r Edinburgh bucks ” of the day, for placing some
emales of doubtful repute in the City Guard
Xouse, under the care of the terrible Corporal
ihon Dhu--an assault for which they were arrested
.nd severely fined.
The house he 6ccupied had an entrance from
itrichen’s Close ; but was in reality one that beonged
to the Regent hlorton, having an entrance
rom the next street, named the Blackfriars Wynd.
3e afterwards removed to a house in Princes
street, where he became one of the projectors of
he Earthen Mound, which was long-as a mistake
n the picturesque-justly stigmatised as the RIud
Brig,” the east side of which was commenced a
ittle to the eastward of the line of Hanover Street,
ipposite to the door of Provost Grieve’s house,
ong ago turned into a shop.
John Dhu, the personage refTrred to, was a wellmown
soldier of the C;ty Guard, mentioned by Sir
Walter Scott as one of the fiercest-looking men he
lad ever seen. “That such an image of military
violence should have been necessary at the close of
:he eighteenth century to protect the peace of a
British city,” says the editor of ‘( Kay’s Portraits,”
“presents us with a strange contrast of what we
lately were and what we have now become. On
me occasion, about the time of the French Revolution,
when the Town Guard had been signalising
the King’s birthday by firing in the Parliament
Square, being unusually pressed and insulted by
the populace, this undaunted warrior turned upon
one peculiarly outrageous member of the democracy,
and, by one blow of his battle-axe, laid him
lifeless on the causeway.”
The old tenement, which occupied the ground
between Strichen’s Close and the Blackfriars Wynd
(prior to its destruction in the fire of zznd February,
18zj), and was at the head of the latter,
was known as “Lady Lovat’s Land.” It was
seven storeys in height. There lived Primrose
Campbell of Mamore, widow of Simon Lord
Lovat, who was beheaded on Tower Hill in 1747,
and there, 240 years before her time, dwelt Walter
Chepman of Ewirland, who, with Miller, in 1507,
under the munificent auspices of James IV., introduced
the first printing press into Scotland, and on
the basement of whose edifice a house of the Revolution
period had been engrafted.
Though his abode was here in the High Street,
his printing-house was in the Cowgate, from whence,
in 1508, “The Knightly Tale of Golagras and
Gawane ” was issued ; and this latter is supposed
He died in 1803.](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v2p075.gif "Volume 2 Page 255")
... Street.] STRICHEN’S CLOSE. 255
pike stairs compelled the use of taverns more than
now. There the ...
Vol. 2 p. 255 (Rel. 0.14)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [High Street
On becoming provost, he was easily led by his
religious persuasion to ...
Vol. 2 p. 222 (Rel. 0.14)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Broughton Street.
ruary, Messrs. Margarot, Muir, Skirving, and
Palmer-to whose memory ...
Vol. 3 p. 178 (Rel. 0.14)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Leith.
memorials of still earlier fabrics here and there
meet the eye, and carry back ...
Vol. 6 p. 214 (Rel. 0.14)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [High Street.
CHAPTER XXIIL
THE HIGH STREET (continuedJ.
The Black Turnpike-Bitter ...
Vol. 2 p. 204 (Rel. 0.14)
![west Port.] BURKE AND HARE. 227
by a distinguished anatomist for the body of a poor
old pensioner, named Donald, who died in their
hands, a short time before his pension became due.
Hare, who expected to be reimbursed for A4 owing
to him by Donald, was exasperated by the loss,’and
filling the coffin with bark from the adjacent
tannery, it was buried, while the corpse in a sack
was carried alternately by Burke and Hare, through
College Street, to Surgeon Square, and sold for
seven pounds ten shillings, to Dr. Knox and his
assistants.
The money so easily won seemed to exert a
magnetic influence over the terrible quaternion in
Tanner‘s Close. The women foresaw that other
lodgers mz@ die, and hoped to flaunt in finery
before the poor denizens of the Portsburgh ; and
the steady and studied career of assassination began,
and was continued, by Burke’s own confession,
from Christmas, 1827, to the end of October, 1828.
-( Week&JoumaZ, Jan. 6th, 1829.)
The modus ojei-avzdi was very simple: the unknown
and obscure wayfarer was lured into the
“ lodging-house,” weary and hungry, perhaps, then
generally well dosed with coarse raw whisky, preparatory
to strangulation, glass after glass being
readily and cordially filled in contemplation .of
the value of the future corpse, as in the case of
one unfortunate creature named Mary Haldane.
Then, ‘‘ all is ready-the drooping head-the
closing eye-the languid helpless body. The women
get the hint. They knew the unseemliness of
being spectators-nay, they were delicate ! A
repetition of a former scene, only with even less
resistance. Hare holds again the lips, and Burke
presses his twelve stone weight on the chest.
Scarcely a sigh; but on a trial if dead a long
gurgling indraught More is not required-and
all is still in that dark room, with the window
looking out on the dead wall.” By twelve the
same night the body of Mary Haldane was in the
hands of “the skilled anatomist,” who made no
inquiries; and as thb supply from Log‘s lodgings
increased, the value for each subject seemed to
increase also, as the partners began to get from
6 1 2 to A14 for each-nearly double what they
had received for the body of the poor Highland
pensioner.
The attempt to rehearse in detail all the crimes
of which these people were guilty, would only weary
and revolt the reader. Suffice it to say, that the
discovery of the dead body of a woman, quite nude,
and with her face covered with blood, among some
straw in an occupied house of Burke and another
Irishman named Broggan, caused the arrest of the
four suspects. Hare turned King‘s evidence, and
on the 24th December, 1828, amid such excitement
as Edinburgh had not witnessed for ages, William
Burke and Helen McDougal were arraigned at the
bar of the Justiciary Court, charged with a succession
of murders ! Among these were the murder
of a very handsome girl named Mary Paterson in
the house of Burke’s brother, Constantine Burke, a
scavenger residing in Gibb’s Close, Canongate ;
that of a well-knowp idiot, named James Wilson
(“Daft Jamie”), at the house in Tanner’s Close; of
Mary McGonegal, or Docherty, at the same place.
These were selected for proof as sufficient in the
indictment j but the real lit was never known or
exhausted. Among the cases was supposed to
be that of a little Italian boy named Ludovico,
who went about the city with white mice. Two
little white mice were seen for long after haunting
the dark recesses of Tanner‘s Close, and in Hare’s
house a cage with the mice’s tuming-wheel was
actually found. Of this murder Burke was supposed
to be guiltless, and that it had been a piece of
private business done by Hare on his own account.
The libel contained a list of a great number of
articles of dress, &c., worn or used by the various
victims, and among other things were Daft Jamie’s
brass snuff-box and spoon, objects which excited
much interest, as Jamie was a favourite with the
citizens, and his body must have been recognised
by Dr. Knox the instant he saw it on the dissecting
table. The presiding judge of the court was the Lard
Justice-clerk Boyle; the others were the Lords
Pitmilly, Meadowbank, and M‘Kenzie ; the prosecutor
was Sir Wdiam Rae, Lord Advocate. The
counsel for Burke was the Dean of Faculty ; that
for M‘Dougal the celebrated Henry Cockburn.
The witnesses were fifty-five in number-the two
principal being Hare and the woman Log, received
as evidence in the characters of soni’ mininis.
When all had been examined, and the cases were
brought fatally home to Burke, while his paramour
escaped with a verdict of “not proven,” a loud
whisper ran through the court of (‘ Where are the
doctors ?” as it was known the names of Knox and
others were placed on the back of the indictment
as witnesses ; yet they could scarcely have appeared
but at the risk of their lives, so high was the tide
of popular indignation against them.
Burke was sentenced to death in the usual form,
the Lord Justice-clerk expressing regret that his
body could not be gibbeted in chains, but was to
be publicly’dissected, adding, “and I trust that if
it is ever customary to preserve skeletons yours will
be preserved, in order that posterity may keep in
remembrance your atrocious crimes.” So the
body of Burke was sent appropriately where he](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v4p047.gif "Volume 4 Page 227")
... Port.] BURKE AND HARE. 227
by a distinguished anatomist for the body of a poor
old pensioner, named Donald, ...
Vol. 4 p. 227 (Rel. 0.14)
... of Braid to the sandy shores of the Firth of
Forth.
Edinburgh, now within a few hours’ journey ...
Vol. 1 p. 2 (Rel. 0.14)
... THE HOUSEHOLD TROOPS. . 75
’ blew gowns, each having got thirty-five shillings in
a purse, came up ...
Vol. 3 p. 75 (Rel. 0.14)
![Lord Provost?.] THE DUNDAS RIOTS. 281
daughter of the head of the firm. When he took
ofice politics ran high, The much-needed reform
of the royal burghs had been keenly agitated
for some time previous, and a motion on the subject,
negatived in the House of Commons by a
majority of 26, incensed the Scottish public to a
great degree, while Lord Melville, Secretary of
State, by his opposition to the question, rendered
himself so obnoxious, that in many parts of Scotland
he was burned in effigy. In this state of excitement
Provost Stirling and others in authority at
Edinburgh looked forward to the King’s birthdaythe
4th of June, 1792-with considerable uneasiness,
and provoked mischief by inaugurating the festival by
sending strong patrols of cavalry through the streets
at a quick pace with swords drawn. Instead of
having the desired effect, the people became furious
at this display, and hissed and hooted the cavalry
with mocking cries of “Johnnie Cope.” In the
afternoon, when the provost and magistrates were
assembled in the Parliament House to drink the
usual loyal toasts, a mob mustered in the square, and
amused themselves after a custom long peculiar to
Edinburgh on this day, of throwing dead cats at
each other, and at the City Guard who were under
arms to fire volleys after every toast.
Some cavalry officers incautiously appeared at this
time, and, on being insulted, brought up their men
to clear the streets, and, after considerable stonethrowing,
the mob dispersed. Next evening it
re-assembled before the house of Mr. Dundas in
George Square, with a figure of straw hung from a
pole. When about to burn the effigy they were
attacked by some of Mr. Dundas’s friends-among
others, it is said, by his neighbours, the naval hero
of Camperdown, and Sir Patrick Murray of
Ochtertyre. These gentlemen retired to Dundas’s
house, the windows of which were smashed by the
mob, which next attacked the residence of the
Lord Advocate, Dundas of Amiston. On this it
became necessary to bring down the 53rd Re$-
ment from the Castle ; the Riot Act was read, the
people were fired on, and many fell wounded, some
mortally, who were found dead next day in the
Meadows and elsewhere. This put an end to the
disturbances for that night ; but on Wednesday
evening the mob assembled in the New Town with
the intention of destroying the house of Provost
Stirling at the south-east corner of St. Andrew
Square, where they broke the City Guards’ sentry
boxes to pieces. But, as an appointed signal, the
ancient beacon-fire, was set aflame in the Castle,
the Bind frigate sent ashore her marines at Leith,
and the cavalry came galloping ih from the eastward,
an which the mob separated finally.
By this time Provost Stirling had sought shelter
In the Castle from the mob, who were on the point
Jf throwing Dr. Alexander Wood (known as Lang
Sandy) over the North Bridge in mistake for him.
For his zeal, however, he was made a baronet of
Great Britain. The year 1795 was one of great
listress in the city ; Lord Cockbum tells us that
16,000 persons (about an eighth of the population)
were fed by charity, and the exact quantity of food
each family should consume was specified by public
proclamation. In 1793 a penny post was established
in Edinburgh, extending to Leith, Musselburgh,
Dalkeith, and Prestonpans. Sir James
Stirling latterly resided at the west end of Queen
Street, and died in February, 1805.
Sir William Fettes, Lord Provost in 1800 and
1804, we have elsewhere referred to ; but William
Coulter, a wealthy hosier in the High Street, who
succeeded to the civic chair in 1808, was chiefly remarkable
for dying in office, like Alexander Kina
i d thirty years before, and for the magnificence
with which his funeral obsequies were celebrated.
He died at Morningside Lodge, and the cortkge
was preceded by the First R E. Volunteers, and
the officers of the three Regiments of Edinburgh
local militia, and the body was in a canopied
hearse, drawn by six horses, each led by a groom in
deep mourning. On it lay the chain of office, and
his sword and sash as colonel of the volunteers.
A man of great stature, in a peculiar costume,
bore the banner of the City. When the body was
lowered into the grave, the senior herald broke and
threw therein the rod of office, while the volunteers,
drawn up in a line near the Greyfriars’ Church,
fired three funeral volleys.
Sir John Marjoribanks, Bart., Lord Provost in
1813, was the son of Marjoribanks of Lees, an
eminent wine merchant in Bordeaux, and his
mother was the daughter of Archibald Stewart, Lord
Provost of the city in the memorable ’45. Sir John
was a partner in the banking-house of Mansfield,
Ranisay, and Co., and while in the civic chair was
the chief promoter of the Regent Bridge and Calton
Gaol, though the former had been projected by Sir
James Hunter Blair in 1784 When the freedom
of thedty was given to Lord Lynedoch, “the gallant
Graham,” Sir John gave h k a magnificent dinner,
on the 12th of August, I815-two months after
Waterloo. There were present the Earl of Morton,
Lord Audley, Sir David Dundas, the Lord Chief
Baron, the Lord Chief Commissioner, Sir James
Douglas, Sir Howard Elphinstone, and about a
hundred of the most notable men in Edinburgh,
the freedom of which was presented to Lord
Lynedoch in a box of gold ; and at the conclusion](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v4p103.gif "Volume 4 Page 283")
... Provost?.] THE DUNDAS RIOTS. 281
daughter of the head of the firm. When he took
ofice politics ran high, The ...
Vol. 4 p. 283 (Rel. 0.14)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Infirmary Street.
._
Freirs xx li. owing to them, at this last Fasterns
evin, for ...
Vol. 4 p. 286 (Rel. 0.14)
... 344 341, 111. 158; Foote's
attack on Whitefield I. 342
Whiteford, Sir John, I.'106,~82, 11.
35 ...
Vol. 6 p. 392 (Rel. 0.12)
... GENERAL INDEX.
Tytlm of Woodhouselee, William,
Tytler, the aeronaut, 111. 135
I. 155
U
Umbrella First ...
Vol. 6 p. 391 (Rel. 0.1)
... INDEX. 385 -
Nisbet Lord 111. 67
Nisbet: Sir .&exander. 111. 136
Nisbet Sir Henry 111. 136
Nisbet: ...
Vol. 6 p. 385 (Rel. 0.09)
... INDEX.
Christ’s Church at the Tron, I. 187
Christ‘s Church. Castle Hill. I. 82
Chrystie ...
Vol. 6 p. 373 (Rel. 0.07)
