... . . . . . 320
Coliiiton . . . . . . . . . . . 321
Dreghorn Castle . . . . . . . 324
MapoC the Environs of ...
Vol. 6 p. 402 (Rel. 2.1)
![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")
... old edifice, of the
same name, form a kind of decorative ruin.
Dreghorn Castle , a stately modern edifice, ...
Vol. 6 p. 323 (Rel. 2)
... beauty and boldness of contour. The fine pas-
DREGHORN CASTLE ,
Meantime it was very pleasant, and made ...
Vol. 6 p. 324 (Rel. 1.91)
... not correspond in paint of date with the
shirts they accompanied.” Lord Napier died in
1823.
His house, ...
Vol. 3 p. 158 (Rel. 1.1)
... 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. 1.05)
![THE FREE CHURCH COLLEGE. 95 The Mound.]
Much of all this was altered when the bank was
enlarged, restored, and most effectively re-decorated
by David Bryce, R.S.A., in 1868-70. It now
presents a lofty, broad, and arch-based rear front of
colossal proportions to Princes Street, from whence,
and every other poiiit of view, it forms a conspicuous
mass, standing boldly from among the
many others that form the varied outline of the
Old Town, and consists of the great old centre with
new wings, surmounted by a fine dome, crowned
by a gilded figure of Fame, seven feet high. In
length the facade measures 175 feet; and 112 in
height from the pavement in Bank Street to the
summit, and is embellished all round with much
force and variety, in details of a Grecian style.
The height of the campanile towers is ninety feet.
The bank has above seventy branches ; the subscribed
capital in 1878 was A1,875,000 ; the paidup
capital LI,Z~O,OOO. There are a governor (the
Earl of Stair, K.T.), a deputy, twelve ordinary
and twelve extra-ordinary directors.
The Bank of Scotland issues drafts on other
places in Scotland besides those in which it has
branches, and also on the chief towns in England
and Ireland, and it has correspondents throughout
the whole continent of Europe, as well as in
British America, the States, India, China, Australia,
New Zealand, South Africa, and elsewhere-a ramification
of business beyond the wildest dreams oi
John Holland and the original projectors of the
establishment in the old Bank Close in 1695.
Concerning the Earthen Mound, the late Alex.
ander Trotter of Dreghorn had a scheme foi
joining the Qld Town to the New, and yet avoiding
Bank Street, by sinking the upper end of the
mound to the leve! of Princes Street, and carrying
the Bank Street end of it eastward along the north
of the Bank of Scotland, in the form of a handsomc
terrace, and thence south into the High Street b)
an opening right upon St. Giles’s Church. Thf
next project was one by the late Sir Thomas Dick
Lauder. He also proposed to bring down thc
south end of the mound “to the level of Prince;
Street, and then to cut a Roman arch through thc
Lawnmarket and under the houses, so as to pas!
on a level to George Square. This,” say!
Cockburn, “was both practical and easy, but i
was not expounded till too late.’’
Not far from the Bank of Scotland, in I(
North Bank Street, ensconced among the might!
mass of buildings that overlook the mound, arc
the offices of the National Security Savings Ban1
of.Edinburgh, established under statute in 1836, an(
certified in terms of the Act 26 and 27 Victoria
cap. 87, managed by a chairman and cominittel
I
if management, the Bank of Scotland being
reasurer.
Of this most useful institution for the benefit of
,he thrifty poorer classes, suffice it to say, as a
ample of its working, that on striking the yearly
iccounts on the 20th of November, 1880, “the
balance due to depositors was on that date
&r,305,27g 14s. 7d., and that the assets at the
same date were x1,3og,3g2 Ss., invested with the
Commissioners for the Reduction of the National
Debt, and A3,1o4 3s. gd., at the credit of the
3ank’s account in the Bank of Scotland, making
the total assets L1,312,496 11s. gd., which, after
ieductionof the above sum of L1,305,279 14s. 7d.,
leaves a clear surplus of A7916 17s. zd. at the
:redit of the trustees.”
The managers are, ex oficio, the Lord Provost,
the Lord Advocate, the senior Bailie of the city,
:he Members of Parliament for the city, county,
md Leith, the Provost of Leith, the Solicitor-
General, the Convener of the Trades, the Lord
Dean of Guild, and the Master of the Merchant
Company.
In the sanie block of buildings are the offices of
the Free Church of Scotland, occupying the site of
the demolished half of James’s Court. They were
erected in 1851-61, and are in a somewhat
Rorid variety of the Scottish baronial style, from
designs by the late David Cousin.
In striking contrast to the terraced beauty of the
New Town, the south side of the vale of the old
loch, from the North Bridge to the esplanade of
the Castle, is overhung by the dark and lofty gables
and abutments of those towering edifices which
terminate the northern alleys of the High Street,
and the general grouping of which presents an
aspect of equal romance and sublimity. From
amid these sombre masses, standing out in the
white purity of new freestone, are the towers and
facade of the Free Church College and Assembly
Hall, at the head of the Mound.
Into the history of the crises which called
these edifices into existence we need not enter
here, but true it is, as Macaulay says, that for the
sake of religious opinion the Scots have made
sacrifices for which there is no parallel in the
annals of England; and when, at the Disruption,
so many clergymen of the Scottish Church cast
their bread upon the waters, in that spirit of
independence and self-reliance so characteristic of
the race, they could scarcely have foreseen the
great success of their movement.
This new college was the first of those instituted
in connection with the Free Church. The idea
was origipally entertained of making provision for](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v3p107.gif "Volume 3 Page 95")
... FREE CHURCH COLLEGE. 95 The Mound.]
Much of all this was altered when the bank was
enlarged, restored, and ...
Vol. 3 p. 95 (Rel. 1.01)
... ; theCalton
Hill plays 11. IDrawbridge'lhe
Leith 111. I 8
Dreghorn, iord, '11. 156,166, ...
Vol. 6 p. 375 (Rel. 0.98)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Libertou.
extended from east to west over all the country.
This inequality in the ...
Vol. 6 p. 326 (Rel. 0.97)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. lcolinton.
the Belitice Puetaruni Scuiurum. He was a convert
to the Protestant ...
Vol. 6 p. 322 (Rel. 0.96)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [St. Andrew squan. I
CHAPTER XXII.
ST. ANDREW SQUARE.
St Andrew Square-List of Early ...
Vol. 3 p. 166 (Rel. 0.94)
... OF ILLUSTRATIONS .
--c-
THE OLD CHURCH OF ST . CUTHBERT’S AND THE NORTH LOCH (after CZffSh of ...
Vol. 2 p. 392 (Rel. 0.73)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. tThe Castle Hill.
the steep flight of steps that descend to Johnston
Terrace, we find a ...
Vol. 1 p. 88 (Rel. 0.7)
![1745.1 GENERAL- PRESTON, 329
the operations subsequent to his council of war,
though the inscription on his tomb in Westminster
CHARLES EDWARD IN HIS YOUTH,
(Frm t@ Portrait 6y Torque.)
when " besieged by the rebels."
The officers of state had now fled from Edinburgh
to defend which he instantly adopted the most
vigorous measures. He wrote to the Secretary of
State, acquainting him that if not soon relieved he
would be compelled to surrender, as his stock of
provisions was so small. This letter fell into the
hands of the Prince, by whom the Castle was
never formally summoned. Preston had now been
seventy years in the service. He was in his eighty,
seventh year, and was so enfeebled by time and
wounds as to be unable to walk j yet so constant
was his vigilance, that every two hours he was
wheeled round the posts to see that his sentinels
were on the alert, and whenever a Highlander could
be seen, a gun loaded with grape was fired at him
CHAPTER XLI.
EDINBURGH IN 1745 (concluded).
General] Guest's '' Bravery "-Popularity of the Prince-Castle Blockaded-It Fires on the City-kith Bombarded-End of the Blockade-
Departure of the Highland Army for England-Prisoners in the Castle-Macdopald of Teindreich-Duke ofCurnberlan'd in Edinburgh-
Burning of the Standards.](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v2p149.gif "Volume 2 Page 329")
... GENERAL- PRESTON, 329
the operations subsequent to his council of war,
though the inscription on his tomb ...
Vol. 2 p. 329 (Rel. 0.69)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Bradie's Close.
Cullen, a single-minded and upright man, the
transition is great ...
Vol. 1 p. 112 (Rel. 0.67)
... IN THE CASTLE BELOW QUEEN MARY’S ROOM.
CHL4PTER 111.
CASTLE OF EDINBURGH-(cantinued.~~e~.)
The Legend ...
Vol. 1 p. 21 (Rel. 0.66)
... would ensure their total destruction, yet
he escaped them. Aware that a day of trial was
coming, and ...
Vol. 1 p. 33 (Rel. 0.66)
... CASTLE, RAMSAY GARDENS, BANK OF SCOTLAND, AND EARTHEN MOUND, FROM PRINCES ...
Vol. 3 p. iii (Rel. 0.65)
... 48 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. LCowgate.
the historian) became senior minister of the Cowgate
chapel.
One of his ...
Vol. 4 p. 248 (Rel. 0.65)
... THE MELVILLES..
/
LASSWADE CnuKCH, 1773. (Afdw an Etching by Yohn Clerk of E(din.1
CHAPTER XLIII.
THE ...
Vol. 6 p. 361 (Rel. 0.61)
... 1 LATDTNG OF THE ENGLISH ARMY, 309
I. CAROLINE PARK; a, RUINS OF GRANTON CASTLE ; 3, EAST ...
Vol. 6 p. 309 (Rel. 0.6)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Craigmillar.
CRAIGMILLAR CASTLE.
I, The Hall ; 2, The Keep ; 3. Queen Mary's Tree ...
Vol. 5 p. 60 (Rel. 0.6)
... his queen in the then solitary Castle,
Grime (who, according to Buchanan, began his
reign in the year ...
Vol. 1 p. 16 (Rel. 0.59)
... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J
CHAPTER I.
P R E H I S T O R ...
Vol. 2 p. 385 (Rel. 0.58)
... 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. 0.58)
... Castle Hill.
solid, and her camage winning and affable to her
inferiors.” One of the most ardent of her ...
Vol. 1 p. 84 (Rel. 0.56)
![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. 0.56)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH.
CHAPTER VII.
PAGE
EDINBURGH CASTLE (conclzded). .
The Torture of Neville ...
Vol. 2 p. 386 (Rel. 0.55)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [1745-
General Preston saluted with cannon the officers
of State who returned to ...
Vol. 2 p. 332 (Rel. 0.55)
... leaders of that movement, and with cold and
hard hostility they gazed upon her wasted but ...
Vol. 1 p. 45 (Rel. 0.55)
... to 500 men.” This enumeration probably
includes wounded.
On the 13th of June the duke pulled down ...
Vol. 1 p. 65 (Rel. 0.53)
![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. 0.53)
... 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. 0.52)
... permanent and undisputed capital of Scotland.
Sorrow and indignation spread over all the realm
when the fate ...
Vol. 1 p. 29 (Rel. 0.52)
... 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. 0.52)
... as a spy from Elizabeth. “He was next
visited, in a pretended friendly manner, by Sir
Williain Drury, ...
Vol. 1 p. 48 (Rel. 0.51)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [COrStOrphiie.
fact came to her kcoivledge. Inspired with fury
she repaired at once to ...
Vol. 5 p. 120 (Rel. 0.51)
... Castle Hill,” says Dr. Chambers, “ is partly ’
an esplanade, serving as a parade ground for ...
Vol. 1 p. 79 (Rel. 0.5)
... following day, accompanied by twelve armed
‘ men, disguised as seamen, with hoods over their
helmets, he ...
Vol. 1 p. 26 (Rel. 0.5)
... by the hand of the Major-General commanding.
From the “ Archieologia Scotica ” we cull ...
Vol. 1 p. 56 (Rel. 0.5)
... the royal marriage and coronation of
Tames 111. with Margaret of Oldenburg-both of
which ceremonies took ...
Vol. 1 p. 32 (Rel. 0.49)
... 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. 0.49)
... this time a strange story went abroad
concerning the spectre of Dundee ; the terrible
yet handsome ...
Vol. 1 p. 66 (Rel. 0.49)
... IV., while preparing for his fatal invasion
rn 1513, went daily to the Castle to inspect and
prove his ...
Vol. 1 p. 36 (Rel. 0.48)
... troops, chiefly cavalry, now gave way, but
still fighting with the dogged valour of Walloons.
Part of ...
Vol. 1 p. 25 (Rel. 0.47)
... cross was raised, " In memory of Colonel
Kenneth Douglas Mackenzie, C.B., who served for
forty-two ...
Vol. 1 p. 80 (Rel. 0.47)
... Castle. 44
old one with France. So their young queen was
betrothed to the Dauphin, and 6,000 ...
Vol. 1 p. 44 (Rel. 0.46)
![The Castle Hill.] THE DUKE OF GORDON’S HOUSE. 89
ter of the Duke of Norfolk and wife of Duke
George, who SO gallantly defended the Castle
against the troops of William of Orange; during
the lifetime of the duke she retired to a Belgian
convent, but afterwards returned to the old mansion
in Edinburgh, where she frequently resided till
her death, which took place at the abbey in 1732,
life, destroyed utterly the ancient Gothic fireplace,
which was very beautiful in its design.
This house is mentioned in the “Diurnal of
Occurrents” as being, in 1570, the residence of
~ Patrick Edgar; and after it passed from the Gordons
it was possessed by the family of Newbyth,
who resided in it for several generations, and
ALLAA RAMSAY’S HOUSE.
sixteen years after that of the duke at Leith.
The internal fittings of the mansion are in many
respects unchanged since its occupation by the
duchess. It is wood-panelled throughout, and
one large room which overlooks the Esplanade. is
decorated with elaborate carvings, and with a large
painting over the mantelpiece the production of
Norrie, a famous housedecorator of the eighteenth
century, whose genius for landscapes entitles him
to a place among Scottish painters. An explosion
of gunpowder which took place in the basement
of the house, in 1811, attended with serious loss of
12
therein, on the 6th December, 1757, was born
the gallant Sir David Baird, Bart., the hero of
Seringapatam and conqueror of Tippoo Saib ; and
therein he was educated and brought up. Returning
years after, he visited the place of his birth,
which had long since passed into other hands.
Chambers relates that the individual then occupying
the house received the veteran hero with great
respect, and, after showing him through it, ushered
him into the little garden behind, where some boys
were engaged in mischievously throwing cabbage
stalks at the chimneys of the Grassmarket. On](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v1p101.gif "Volume 1 Page 89")
... Castle Hill.] THE DUKE OF GORDON’S HOUSE. 89
ter of the Duke of Norfolk and wife of Duke
George, who SO ...
Vol. 1 p. 89 (Rel. 0.46)
... THE GAELIC CHAPEL. 235
target, andnogentlemantookthe road without pistols
in his holsters, and was ...
Vol. 4 p. 235 (Rel. 0.46)
... AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Corstrophinc
- ~- I
CRAIGCROOK IN THE PRESENT DAY.
than doubled all the specie ...
Vol. 5 p. 112 (Rel. 0.45)
![THE GUISE PALACE. 93 The Castle Hill.]
queen’s Deid-room, where the individuals of the
royal establishment were kept between their death
and burial. In 1828 there was found walled up
in the oratory an infantine head and hand in wax,
being all that remained of a bambina, or figure of
the child Jesus, and now preserved by the Society
of Antiquaries. The edifice had many windows
on the northern side, and from these a fine view
spent her youth in the proud halls of the Guises
in Picardy, and had beell the spouse of a Longueville,
was here content to live-in a close in
Edinburgh! In these obscurities, too, was a
government conducted, which had to struggle with
Knox, Glencairn, James Stewart, Morton, and
many other powerfd men, backed by a popular
sentiment which never fails to triumph. It was
DUKE OF GORDO~’S HOUSE, BLAIR’S CLOSE, CASTLE HILL.
must have been commanded of the gardens in
the immediate foreground, sloping downward to
the loch, the opposite bank, with its farm-houses,
the Firth of Forth, and Fifeshire. ‘‘ It was interesting,”
says the author of “ Traditions of Edinburgh,”
“to wander through the dusky mazes of
this ancient building, and reflect that they had
been occupied three centuries. ago by a sovereign
princess, and of the most illustrious lineage. Here
was a substantial monument of the connection
between Scotland and France. She, whose ancestors
owned Lorraine as a sovereignty, who had
the misfortune of Mary (of Guise) to be placed in
a position to resist the Reformation. Her own
character deserved that she should have stood in
a more agreeable relation to what Scotland now
venerates, for she was mild and just, and sincerely
anxious for the welfare of her adopted country. It
is also proper to remember on the present occasion,
that in her Court she maintained a decent gravity,
nor would she tolerate any licentious practices
therein. Her maids of honour were always busied
in commendable exercises, she herself being an
examplc to them in virtue, piety, and modesty,](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v1p105.gif "Volume 1 Page 93")
... GUISE PALACE. 93 The Castle Hill.]
queen’s Deid-room, where the individuals of the
royal establishment were ...
Vol. 1 p. 93 (Rel. 0.45)
... a matrimonial alliance having been concluded
between Ermengarde de Beaumont (cousin of
Henry) and King ...
Vol. 1 p. 23 (Rel. 0.44)
... all human shape at the foot of the cliff. James V,
was struck with remorse on hearing‘ bll this ...
Vol. 1 p. 86 (Rel. 0.44)
... according to P. Williamson’s Directory for
1784.
Amid the tumultuom excitement of the ...
Vol. 2 p. 328 (Rel. 0.43)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. 1174S- .
to England or theremote districts of Scotland. The
old Chevalier was ...
Vol. 2 p. 330 (Rel. 0.42)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Edinburgh Castle.
entrance to the apartment in which her daughter
was delivered of ...
Vol. 1 p. 78 (Rel. 0.42)
... - OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH.
- 52 -
set at liberty ; but on the suppression of the order
throughout Scotland, ...
Vol. 3 p. 52 (Rel. 0.42)
... Stratl CATHERINE SINCLAIR. 165
principal duty as clerk in court was to sit below
the bench, watch the ...
Vol. 3 p. 165 (Rel. 0.41)
... Edinburgh Castle, tome and tower,
God grant thou sinke for sinne,
An that even for the black dinner
Earle ...
Vol. 1 p. 31 (Rel. 0.41)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Bmughtoa --
REMAINS OF THE VILLAGE OF OLD RROUGHTON, Isj2.
(From a Drawing by Gcorp ...
Vol. 3 p. 180 (Rel. 0.41)
... OF ILLUSTRATIONS . .
THE UNIVERSITY.-~~ontirpi~ce.
PAGE
The Kirk-of-Field . . . . . . . I
Rough Sketch of ...
Vol. 6 p. 401 (Rel. 0.41)
... -- Edinburgh Castle. THE EARL OF ARGYLE
which he received the sentence of death. His
guards in the Castle were ...
Vol. 1 p. 59 (Rel. 0.41)
... and howitzers on the bastions of the latter
and the Calton Hill. The sharp encounter there,
and at St. ...
Vol. 1 p. 55 (Rel. 0.4)
![THE CASTLE -4ND GLEN. 34 7 Roslin.]
further repaired, as an ornate entrance seems tc
show, with its lintel, inscribed “ S.W.S., 1622.’’
The same initials appear on the half-circular pedi.
ment of a dormer window. Above this door, which
is beautifully moulded and enriched, is a deep and
ornate squqre niche, the use for which it is difficult
to conceive.
From its windows it commands a view of the
richly-wooded glen, between the rocky banks and
dark shadows of which the Esk flows onward with
a ceaseless murmur among scattered boulders,
where grow an infinite variety of ferns. The
eastern bank rises almost perpendicularly from the
river’s bed, and everywhere there is presented a
diversity of outline that always delights an artistic
eye.
The entrance to the castle was originally by a
gate of vast strength, and the whole structure must
have been spacious and massive, and on its northern
face bears something of the aspect of old Moorish
fortresses in Spain. A descent of a great number of
stone stairs conducts through the existing structure
to the bottom, leading into a spacious kitchen,
from which a door opens into the once famous
gardens. The modern house of 1563 is ill-lighted
and confined, and possesses more the gloom of
a dungeon-like prison than the comforts of a residence.
Grose gives us a view of the whole as they
appeared in 1788--“ haggard and utterly dilapidated-
the mere wreck of a great pile riding on a
l ~ t l e sea of forest-a rueful apology for the once
grand fabric whose name of ‘ Roslin Castle ’ is so
intimately associated with melody and song.”
It is unknown when or by whom the original
castle was founded. It has been referred to the
year 1100, when William de St. Clair, son of
Waldern, Count of St. Clair, who came to England
with William the Conqueror, obtained from
Malcolm 111. the barony of Roslin, and was
named “the seemly St. Clair,” in allusion to his
grace of deportment ; but singular to say, notwithstanding
its importance, the castle is not mentioned
distinctly in history till the reign of James II.,
when Sir William Hamilton was confined in it in
1455 for being in rebellion with Douglas, and again
when it was partly burned in 1447.
Father Richard Augustine Hay, Prior of St.
Piermont, in France, who wrote much about the
Roslin family, records thus :--
“About this time, 1447, Edmund Sinclair of
Dryden, coming with four greyhounds and some
rackets to hunt with the prince (meaning William
Sinclair, Earl of Orkney), met a great company of
rats, and among them an old blind lyard, with a
straw in his mouth, led by the rest, whereat he
greatly marvelled, not thinking what was to follow;
but within four days after-viz., the feast of St.
Leonard, the princess, who took great delight in
little dogs, caused one of the gentlewomen to go
under a bed with a lighted candle to bring forth one
of them that had young whelps, which she was
doing, and not being very attentive, set on fire the
bed, whereat the fire rose and burnt the bed, and
then rose to the ceiling of the great chamber in
which the princess was, whereat she and all that
were in the dungeon (keep?) were compelled to fly.
“ The prince’s chaplain seeing this, and remembering
his master‘s writings, passed to the head of
the dungeon, where they were, and threw out four
great trunks. The news of this fire coming to the
prince’s ears through the lamentable cries of the
ladies and gentlemen, and the sight thereof coming
to his view in the place where he stood-namely,
upon the College (Chapel?) Hill-he was in sorrow
for nothing but the loss of his charters and other
writings; but when the chaplain, who had saved
himself by coming down the bell-rope tied to a
beam, declared how they were saved, he became
cheerful, and went to re-comfort his princess and
the ladies, desiring them to put away all sorrow,
and rewarded his chaplain very richly.” The
i‘ princess ” was the Elizabeth Countess of Roslin,
referred to in page 3 of Vol. I.
In 1544 the castle was fired by the English
under Hertford, and demolished. The house of
1563, erected amid its ruins nineteen years after,
was pillaged and battered by the troops of Cromwellin
1650.
+4t the revolution in 1688, it was pillaged again
by a lawless mob from the city, and from thenceforward
it passes out of history.
Of the powerful family to whom it belonged we
can only give a sketch.
The descendants of the Norman William de St.
Clair, called ihdifferently by that name and Sinclair,
received from successive kings of Scotland
accessions, which made them lords of Cousland,
Pentland, Cardoine, and other lands, and they lived
in their castle, surrounded by all the splendour of a
rude age, and personal importancegiven by the
acquisition of possessions by methods that would
be little understood in modern times.
There were three successive William Sinclairs
barons of Roslin (one of whom made a great
figure in the reign of William the Lion, and gave
a yearly gift to Newbattle,pro saZufe mime we)
before the accession of Henry, who, by one account,
is said to have mamed a daughter of the
Earl of Mar, and by auother a daughter of the Earl](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v6p166.gif "Volume 6 Page 347")
... CASTLE -4ND GLEN. 34 7 Roslin.]
further repaired, as an ornate entrance seems tc
show, with its lintel, ...
Vol. 6 p. 347 (Rel. 0.4)
... 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. 0.4)
![The Castle Hill.] THE RAGGED SCHOOL. 87
the said burgh situated under the Castle Hill t+
wards the north, to the head of the bank, and so
going down to the said North Loch,” &c.
This right of proprietary seems clear enough,
yet Lord Neaves decided in favour of the Crown,
and found that the ground adjacent to the
Castle of Edinburgh, including the Esplanade and
the north and south banks or braes,” belonged,
(‘jure coronte, to Her Majesty as part and pertinent
of the said Castle.”
CHAPTER IX.
THE CASTLE HILL (cmclded).
Dr. Guthrie’s Original Ragged School-Old Houses in the Streetof the Castle Hill-Duke of Gordon’s House, Blair’s Close-Webster‘s
CloscDr. Alex. Webster-Boswell’s Court-Hyndford House-Assembly Hall-Houses of the Marquis of Argyle, Sir Andrew Kcnnedy,
the Earl of Cassillis, the Laird of Cockpen--Lord Semple’s House-Lord Semple-Palace of Mary of Gub-Its Fate.
ON the north side of this thoroughfare-which,
within 150 years ago, was one of the most
aristocratic quarters of the old city-two great
breaches have been made: one when the Free
Church College was built in 1846, and the other, a
little later, when Short’s Observatory was built in
Ramsay Lane, together with the Original Ragged
School, which owes its existence to the philanthropic
efforts of the late Dr. Guthrie, who, with
Drs. Chalmers, Cunningham, and Candlish, took
so leading a part in the pon-intrusion controversy,
which ended in the disruption in 1843 and the
institution of the Free Church of Scotland. In 1847
Guthrie’s fervent and heart-stirring appeals on behalf
of the homeless and destitute children, the little
street Arabs of the Scottish capital, led to the
establishment of the Edinburgh Original Ragged
Industrial School, which has been productive of
incalculable benefit to the children of the poorer
classes of the city, by affording them the blessing of
a good common and Christian education, by training
them in habits of industry, enabling them to
earn an honest livelihood, and fitting them for
the duties of life,
All children are excluded who attend regular
day-schools, whose parents have a regular income,
or who receive support or education from the parochial
board; and the Association consists of all subscribers
of 10s. and upwards per annum, or donors
of A5 and upwards; and the general plan upon
which this ragged school and its branch establishment
at Leith Walk, are conducted is as follows,
viz.:-“To give children an adequate allowance of
food for their daily support; to instruct them in
reading, writing, and arithmetic ; to train them in
habits of industry, by instructing and employing
them in such sorts of work as are suited to their
years; to teach them the truths of the Gospel,
making the Holy Scriptures the groundwork of
instruction. On Sabbath the children shall receive
food as on other days, and such religious instruction
as shall be arranged by the acting committee,”
which consists of not less than twelve members.
To this most excellent institution no children
are admissible who are above fourteen or under five
years of age, and they must either be natives of
Edinburgh or resident there at least twelve months
prior to application for admission, though, in special
cases, it may be limited to six. None are admitted
or retained who labour under infectious disease, or
whose mental or bodily constitution renders them
incapable of profiting by the institution. All must ,
attend church on Sunday, and no formula of
doctrine is taught to which their parents may
object ; and children are excused from attendance
at school or worship on Sunday whose parents
object to their attendance, but who undertake that
the children are otherwise religiously instructed in
the tenets of the communion to which they belong,
provided they are in a condition to be entrusted
with the care of their children.
Such were the broad, generous, and liberal views
of Dr. Guthne, and most ably have they been
carried out.
According to the Report for 187g-which may
be taken as fairly typical of the work done in this
eminently useful institution-there was an average
attendance. in the Ramsay Lane Schools of 216
boys and 89 girls. The Industrial Department
comprises carpentry, box-making, shoemaking, and
tailoring, and the net, profits made by the boys
in these branches amounted to &;I& 14s. 5+d.
Besides this the boys do all the washing, help the
cook, make their beds, and wash the rooms they
occupy twice a week. The washing done by boys
was estimated at A130, and the girls, equally
industrious, did work to the value (including the
washing) of A109 7s.
Full of years and honour, Dr. Thomas Guthne
died 24th February, 1873.
Memories of these old houses that have passed
away, yet remain, while on the opposite side of the](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v1p099.gif "Volume 1 Page 87")
... Castle Hill.] THE RAGGED SCHOOL. 87
the said burgh situated under the Castle Hill t+
wards the north, to the ...
Vol. 1 p. 87 (Rel. 0.4)
... 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. 0.39)
... to Bellenden, was now standing boldly
at bay, and, with its branching antlers, put the life
of the ...
Vol. 1 p. 22 (Rel. 0.39)
... for some raid, act of treason, or murder, he
would perhaps appear at the bar in a suit of mail,
with as ...
Vol. 1 p. 168 (Rel. 0.39)
... THE FORRESTERS. I21
took the name of Ruthven, and occupied the castle,
the family honours and ...
Vol. 5 p. 121 (Rel. 0.39)
... AND NEW EDINBURGH. [North Bridge.
after nnmixous schemes and suggestions, the North
Bridge was widened in ...
Vol. 2 p. 340 (Rel. 0.38)
... at sea, yet he adds, “our numbers
amounted to 700, and with the loss of three we
made ourselves ...
Vol. 5 p. 173 (Rel. 0.38)
... of glittering jewels, of which Tytler gives
the list. In the “inventory” of the Jewel House
are ...
Vol. 1 p. 35 (Rel. 0.38)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Leith.
.but the3ittle .warlike episode connected with Inchkeith
forms a part of ...
Vol. 5 p. 172 (Rel. 0.37)
... might be baptised in Protestant form,
The queen only replied by placing the child in
his arms. Then the ...
Vol. 1 p. 47 (Rel. 0.37)
![192 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. lThe High S e e a
and Sweden, tells us, at the storming of Boitzenburg,
there was “ a Scottish gentleman under the
enemy, who, coming to scale the walls, said aloud,
‘Have with you, gentlemen ! Thinke not now
you are on the streel of Edhlburgh bravading.’ One
of his own countrymen thrusting him through the
body with a pike, he ended there.”
In the general consternation which succeeded
* the defeat of the army at Flodden a plague raged
within the city with great violence, and carried off
great numbers. Hence the Town Council, to prevent
its progress,
ordered all shops
and booths to be
closed for the space
of fifteen days, and
neither doors nor
windows to be
opened within that
time, but on some
unavoidable occasion,
and nothing
to be dealt in but
necessaries for the
immediate support
of life. All vagrants
were forbidden
to walk in the
streets without hiving
each a light;
and several houses
that had been occupied
by infected
persons were demolished.
*
In 1532 the
High Street was
first paved or causewayed,
and many of
the old tenements
“These, however,” says Arnot, “are not to be
considered as arguing any comparative insignificancy
in the city of Edinburgh. They proceeded
from the rudeness of the times. The writers of
those days spoke of Edinburgh in terms that show
the respectable opinion they entertained of it. ‘ In
this city,’ says a writer of the sixteenth century-
Braun Agrippinensis--‘ there are two spacious
streets, of which the principal one, leading from
the Palace to the Castle, is paved with square
stones. The city itself is not built of bricks,
ANDREW CROSBY. (Fmm the Portrait in tkePadiament Haii.)
[The orkinal ofCuunseZZnr PLydelZ in “ Guy Mamneiing.“]
renovated. The former was done under the superintendence
of a Frenchman named Marlin, whose
name was bestowed on an alley to the south. The
Town Council ordered lights to be hung out by
night by the citizens to light the streets, and Edinburgh
became a principal place of resort from all
parts of the kingdom.
Till the reign of James V., the meal-market, and
also the flesh-market, were kept in booths in the
open High Street, which was also encumbered by
stacks of peat, heather, and other fuel, before every
door; while, till the middle of the end of the seventeenth
century, according to Gordon’s map, a fleshmarket
was kept in the Canongate, immediately
below the Nether Bow.
but of square freestones,
and so
stately is its app
ear an c e, that
single houses inay
be compared to
palaces. From the
abbey to the castle
there is a continued
street, which on
both sides contains
a range of excellent
houses. and the
better sort are built
of hewn stone.’
There are,” adds
Amot, ‘‘ specimens
oT the buildings of
the fifteenth century
still (1779) remaining,
particularly
a house on
the south side of
the High Street,
immediately above
Peeble’s Wynd,
having a handsome
front of hewn stone,
and niches in the
walls for the images of saints, which may justify
our author‘s description. The house was built
about 1430 (temp. James I.) No private building
in the city of modern date can compare
with it.”
The year 1554 saw the streets better lighted,
and some attempts made to clean them.
The continual wars with England compelled the
citizens to crowd their dwellings as near the Castle
as possible ; thus, instead of the city increasing in
limits, it rose skyward, as we have already mentioned
; storey was piled on storey till the streets
resembled closely packed towers or steeples, each
house, or “land,” sheltering from twenty to thirty
families within its walls. This was particularly thc](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v1p204.gif "Volume 1 Page 192")
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. lThe High S e e a
and Sweden, tells us, at the storming of Boitzenburg,
there was “ ...
Vol. 1 p. 192 (Rel. 0.37)
... OLD -4ND NEW EDINBURGH. [Calton Hill.
~~~~
sea or land, with all its defects it makes a ...
Vol. 3 p. 108 (Rel. 0.37)
... of Belhaven, the Earl Marischal, after having
opposed the Union in all its stages, refused to be
present at ...
Vol. 1 p. 67 (Rel. 0.37)
... brave prince, demanded instant restitution, and,
at the head of an army, laid siege to the Normans
in the ...
Vol. 1 p. 18 (Rel. 0.37)
... These documents had been perfidiously
sent to Scotland by General Monk. The marquis
was condemned to ...
Vol. 1 p. 58 (Rel. 0.37)
... These documents had been perfidiously
sent to Scotland by General Monk. The marquis
was condemned to ...
Vol. 1 p. 59 (Rel. 0.37)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Leith
of Brockhouse, contracted with the corporation to
provide accommodation for ...
Vol. 6 p. 194 (Rel. 0.37)
... ‘married Henry Stuart Lord Methven, on
finding that the former was about to seize her
dower-lands, fled, ...
Vol. 1 p. 43 (Rel. 0.37)
... 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. 0.36)
... N ~ S , attracted by the dampness of the soil,
where for ages the artificial loch lay. A few feet
eastward of ...
Vol. 1 p. 82 (Rel. 0.36)
... _- George S1rret.l THE ASSEMBLY ROOMS.
ducted in Europe; but the regulations as issued for
them a century ...
Vol. 3 p. 149 (Rel. 0.36)
![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. 0.36)
... whom she took up her abode. After having
effectually lulled all suspicion, she affected to remember
a vow ...
Vol. 1 p. 30 (Rel. 0.36)
... Lawomarket.1 MAJOR SOMERVILLE. 9s
visitor could be fully visCd before admission was
accorded. In many other ...
Vol. 1 p. 95 (Rel. 0.36)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Edinburgh Castlc.
brother Sir James, with two burgesses of the City,
were drawn ...
Vol. 1 p. 50 (Rel. 0.36)
![Leith.] THE HIGHLAND MUTINEERS ON THE SHORE. 195 - .
the battery guns facing the city-which was filled
with consternation-while a rather helpless force of
cavalry took possession of the Castle HilL The
crisis was, indeed, a perilous one, as the vaults of
the fortress were full of French and Spanish prisoners
of war, while a French squadron was cruising off the
mouth of the Forth, and had already captured some
vessels. Next day the company capitulated, all
save one, who, with his claymore, assailed an officer
of the Ioth, who struck him down and had him
made a prisoner.
The cavalry occupied the fortress until the arrival
of Lord Lennox’s regiment, the 26th or Cameronians,
when‘a court-martial was held. One Highlander
was sentenced to be shot, and another to
receive a thousand lashes ; but both were forgiven
on condition of serving beyond the seas in a battalion
of the line.
Another mutiny occurred in the April of the
following year.
Seventy Highlanders enlisted for the 42nd and
71st (then known as the Master of Lovat’s
Regiment) when marched to Leith, refused to
embark, a mischievous report having been spread
that they were to be draughted into a Lowland
corps, and thus deprived of the kilt; and so much
did they resent this, that they resolved to resist to
death. On the evening they reached Leith the
following despatch was delivered at Edinburgh
Castle by a mounted dragoon :-
(‘ To Governor Wemyss, or the Commanding
Officer of the South Fencible Regiment. 7
“ Headquarters, Apri!, I 7 79.
“ SrR,-The draughts of the 71st Regiment
having refused to embark, you will order 200 men
of the South Fencibles to march immediately to
Leith to seize these mutineers and march them
prisoners to the castle of Edinburgh, to be detained
there until further orders.-I am, &c.,
“ JA. AmLPnus OUGHTON.”
In obedience to this order from the General
Commanding, three captains, six subalterns, and
zoo of the Fencibles under Major Sir James
Johnstone, Bart., of Westerhall, marched to Leith
on this most unpleasant duty, and found the
seventy Highlanders on the Shore, drawn up in
line with their backs to the houses, their bayoiiets
fixed, and muskets loaded. Sir James drew up his
detachment in such a manner as to render escape
impossible, and then stated the positive orders he
would be compelled to obey.
His words were translated into Gaelic by Sergeant
Ross, who acted as interpreter, and who,
after some expostulation, turned to Sir James,
saying that all was over-his countrymen would
neither surrender nor lay down their arms. On
this Johnston‘e gave the order to prepare for firing
-but added, “Recover ams.”
A Bighlander at that moment attempted to
escape, but was seized by a sergeant, who was
instantly bayoneted, while another, coming to the
rescue with his pike, was shot. The blood of the
Fencibles was roused now, and they poured in
more than one volley upon the Highlanders, of
whom twelve were shot dead, and many mortally
wounded. The fire was returned promptly enough,
but with feeble effect, as the Highlanders had only
a few charges given to them by a Leith porter;
thus only two Fencibles were killed and one
wounded ; but Captain James Mansfield (formerly
of the 7th or Queen’s Dragoons), while attempting
to save the latter, was bayoneted by a furious
Celt, whose charge he vainly sought to parry with
his sword. A corporal shot the mutineer through
the head: the Fencibles-while a vast crowd of
Leith people looked on: appalled by a scene so unusual-
now closed up with charged bayonets, disarmed
the whole, and leaving the Shore strewn
with dead and dying, returned to the Castle with
twenty-five prisoners, and the body of Captain
Mansfield, who left a widow with six children, and
was interred in the Greyfriars churchyard.
The scene of this tragedy was in front of the
old Ship Tavern and the tenement known as the
Britannia Inn.
After a court-martial was held, on the 29th ot
May, the garrison, consisting of the South and West
Fencibles and the cavalry, paraded on the Castle
Hill, in three sides of a hollow square, facing inwards.
With a band playing the dead march, and
the drums muffled and craped, three of these Highland
recruits, who had been sentenced to death,
each stepping slowly behind his open coffin, were
brought by an escort down the winding pathway,
under the great wall of the Half-moon Battery,
and placed in the open face of the square by the
Provost-marshal. They were then desired to kneel,
while their sentence was read to them-Privates
Williamson and MacIvor of the Black Watch, and
Budge of the 7 1st-to be shof fo death f
The summer morning was bright and beautiful ;
but a dark cloud rested on every face while the
poor prisoners remained on their knees, each man
in his coffin, and a Highland officer interpreted the
sentence in Gaelic. They were pale and composed,
save Budge, who was suffering severely from wounds
received at Leith, and looked emaciated and
ghastly. Their eyes were now bound up, and the
firing party were in the act of taking aim at the
.](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v6p014.gif "Volume 6 Page 195")
... THE HIGHLAND MUTINEERS ON THE SHORE. 195 - .
the battery guns facing the city-which was filled
with ...
Vol. 6 p. 195 (Rel. 0.36)
... extinct Scottish regiments, and various weapons
from the field of Culloden, particularly the Doune
steel ...
Vol. 1 p. 76 (Rel. 0.35)
... of the garrison made a fruitless defence
till the 6th of June, 1296, when they were compelled
to ...
Vol. 1 p. 24 (Rel. 0.35)
![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. 0.35)
... 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. 0.35)
... College Church (restored) . . . . 289
Victoria Street and Terrace, from George Iv. Bridge. ...
Vol. 2 p. 394 (Rel. 0.35)
... had been paying his addresses to a girl
possessed of great attractions, daughter of Richard
Lawson of ...
Vol. 1 p. 42 (Rel. 0.35)
![Manor Place.] HAYMARKET STATION. 213
A shot fired from the belfry apprised the multi-
&de far down below of the close of the ceremony,
and immediately the choir, along with other officials
of ‘the church in surplices stationed in the garden,
sung the hymn “Praise ye the Lord, ye Heavens
in the nave and clerestory bear the arms of many
ancient Scottish families,
Away to the westward of the quarter we have
described, at the delta of the old Glasgow and
Dalry roads, where for several generations stood
ST. MAPY7S CATHEDRAL, INTERIOR VIEW. (Fpom a Phofosrnph by G. W. Wikm ad Co., ACrdem.)
by the Lord Provost.
Sir Gilbert Scott did not live to see the completion
of this cathedral, which is one of the many
lasting monuments of his skill as an architect.
Among the gifts to the cathedral are a peal of ten
bells presented by Dean Montgomery ; the great
from Glasgow by wings upon the two roads, formed
a junction and halted, while the officers had breakfast
or dinner before pushing on to the Castle by
the Lang Dykes and latterly by Princes Street and ,
the Earthern Mound-is the Haymarket Railway
Station, the first or original terminus of the Edin](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v4p033.gif "Volume 4 Page 213")
... Place.] HAYMARKET STATION. 213
A shot fired from the belfry apprised the multi-
&de far down below of ...
Vol. 4 p. 213 (Rel. 0.35)
... blood of the Trojans. In Albanye (now called
Scotland) he edified the Castell of Alclude, which
is Dumbreyton ...
Vol. 1 p. 15 (Rel. 0.35)
... AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Craigmillar.
-- 58
competition, the first prize for the chapel, &c., was
awarded to ...
Vol. 5 p. 58 (Rel. 0.35)
... Castle Hill~l LORD SEMPLE 9s -
spire which surmounts the massive Gothic tower at
the main entrance rises to ...
Vol. 1 p. 91 (Rel. 0.35)
... 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. 0.34)
... OLD AKD NEW EDINBURGH. [Arthur's Scat.
sey, and a deep excitement prevailed, when it was
whispered-none ...
Vol. 4 p. 308 (Rel. 0.34)
![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. 0.34)
![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. 0.34)
... 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. 0.34)
... goods. He accused Edinburgh of an unreasonable
jealousy of its seaport, and invited the inhabitants
of that ...
Vol. 5 p. 188 (Rel. 0.33)
... THE CLAN REGIMENTS. 327
venerable Market Cross, with the heralds, pursuivants,
and the magistrates (many ...
Vol. 2 p. 327 (Rel. 0.33)
![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. 0.33)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Corstorphine.
of the House of Orkney. He is represented in
armour of the fifteenth ...
Vol. 5 p. 118 (Rel. 0.33)
... Vlll OLD' AND NEW EDINBURGH.
CHAPTER XXXIX.
, T H E W E S T B 0 W (conclud-d.) PAGE
A Hand to Hand ...
Vol. 2 p. 390 (Rel. 0.33)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. IHolyrood
these ecclesiastical foundations :-The Priory of St.
Mary’s Isle, in ...
Vol. 3 p. 46 (Rel. 0.33)
![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. 0.33)
![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. 0.32)
... cap, it was perhaps the most lawless land
in Europe.
All save those who possessed. zoo merks ...
Vol. 1 p. 28 (Rel. 0.32)
... don't play riddle games with Giants, or get tricked by Faerie Queens. They don't follow Blind ...
Vol. 3 p. 54 (Rel. 0.32)
![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. 0.32)
... Everything about him-his coat, his
wig, his figure, his face, his scrofula, his St. Vitus’s
dance, ...
Vol. 1 p. 100 (Rel. 0.31)
![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. 0.31)
... with legends, dates, and coats of arms,
for ages formed one of the most important features
of the ...
Vol. 5 p. 32 (Rel. 0.31)
![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. 0.31)
![Bristo Street.] ALISON RUTHERFORD. 329
and conversed on various topics, we took leave
of the venerable lady, highly gratified by the interview.
To see and talk with one whose name is so
indissolubly associated with the fame of Bums,
and whose talents and virtues were so much
fare, where, in the days of her widowhood, as Mrs
Cockburn of Ormiston, resided Alison Rutherford
of Fahielee, Roxburghshire, authoress of the
modem version of the ‘‘ Flowers of the Forest ” and
other Scottish songs-in her youth a “forest flower
esteemed by the bard-who has now (in 1837)
been sleeping the sleep of death for upwards of
forty years-may well give rise to feelings of no
ordinary description. In youth Clarinda must
have been about the middle size. Bums, she
said, if living, would have been about her own age,
probably a few months older.”
Off Bristo Street there branches westward
Crichton Street, SO named from an architect of the
time, a gloomy, black, and old-fashioned thoroughof
rare beauty.” She removed hither from Blair‘s
Close in the Castle-hill, and her house was the
scene of many happy and brilliant reunions Even
in age her brown hair never grew grey, and she
wore it combed over a toupee, with a lace band tied
under her chin, and her sleeves puffed out in the
fashion of Mary‘s time. “She maintained,” says
Scott, “that rank in the society of Edinburgh
which French women of talent usually do in that of
Paris ; and in her little parlour used to assemble a](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v4p149.gif "Volume 4 Page 329")
... Street.] ALISON RUTHERFORD. 329
and conversed on various topics, we took leave
of the venerable lady, ...
Vol. 4 p. 329 (Rel. 0.31)
![High Street.] THE QUACK DOCTOR’S ACROBATS. 201
an audience. Then he began to vend his drugs
at eightpence per packet. Nicoll admits that they
were both good and real, and describes the antics
of the assistants.
Upon a great rope, fixed from side to side of
the street, a man descended upon his breast with
~ ~ ~~~~
danced seven-score times, without intermission,
lifting himself and vaulting s k quarter high above
his own head and lighting directly upon the tow
(rope) as punctually as if he had been dancing on
the plain stones.”
Four years after a different scene was witnessed
THE NETHER BOW PORT, FROM THE CANONGATE. ( F m an Etcking6y Jams SKrrrc of RdGhw.)
his arms “stretched out like the wings of a fowl,
to the admiration of many.” Nicoll adds that the
country chirurgeons and apothecaries, finding his
drugs both cheap and good, came to Edinburgh
from all parts of the realm, and bought them for
the purpose of retailing them at a profit. The
antics and rope-dancing were continued for many
days with an agility and nimbleness “admirable
to the beholders; one of the dancers having
28
in the High Street, when, in 1666, after the battle
of the Pentland Hills-a victory celebrated by
the discharge of nearly as many guns from the
Castle as there were prisoners-the captives were
marched to the Tolbooth. They. were eighty
in number; and these poor Covenanters were
conveyed manacled in triumph by the victor,
with trumpets sounding, kettle-drums beating, and
banners displayed. And Crookshank records in](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v2p021.gif "Volume 2 Page 201")
... Street.] THE QUACK DOCTOR’S ACROBATS. 201
an audience. Then he began to vend his drugs
at eightpence per ...
Vol. 2 p. 201 (Rel. 0.3)
![Parliament House.] TREATY OF UNION. 163
to regain the throne; for the proposed union
with England had inflamed to a perilous degree
the passions and the patriotism of the nation.
In August the equivalent money sent to Scotland
as a blind to the people for their full participation
in the taxes and old national debt of England, was
pompously brought to Edinburgh m twelve great
waggons, and conveyed to the Castle, escorted by
a regiment of Scottish cavalry, as Defoe tells us,
amid the railing, the reproaches, and the deep
curses of the people, who then thought of nothing
but war, and viewed the so-called equivalent as
the price of their Scottish fame, liberty, and
honour.
In their anathemas, we are told that they spared
not the very horses which drew the waggons, and on
the return of the latter from the fortress their fury
could no longer be restrained, and, unopposed by
the sympathising troops, they dashed the vehicles
to pieces, and assailed the drivers with volleys of
stones, by which many of them were severely
injured.
“It was soon discovered, after all,” says Dr.
Chambers, “ that only LIOO,OOO of the money was
specie, the rest being iu Exchequer bills, which the
Bank of England had ignorantly supposed to be
welcome in all parts of Her Majesty’s dominions.
This gave rise to new clamours. It was said the
English had tricked them by sending paper instead
of money. Bills, payable 400 miles of, and which
if lost or burned would be irrecoverable, were a
pretty price for the obligation Scotland had come
under to pay English taxes.’’
In the following year, during the sitting of the
Union Parliament, a terrible tumult arose in the
west, led by two men named Montgomery and
Finlay. The latter had been a sergeant in the
Royal Scots, and this enthusiastic veteran burned
the articles of Union at the Cross of Glasgow, and
with the little sum he had received on his discharge,
enlisted men to march to Edinburgh, avowing his
intention of dispersing the Union Parliament,
sacking the House, and storming the Castle. I n
the latter the troops were on the alert, and the
guns and beacons were in readiness. The mob
readily enough took the veteran’s money, but
melted away on the march ; thus, he was captured
and brought in a prisoner to the Castle, escorted by
250 dragoons, and the Parliament continued its
sitting without much interruption.
The Articles of Union were framed by thirty
commissioners acting for England and thirty acting
for Scotland ; and though the troops of both COUTI’
tries were then fighting side by side on the Continent,
such were their mutual relations on each side
of the Tweed, that, as Macaulay says, they could
not possibly have continued for one year more ‘‘ on
the terms on which they had been during the
preceding century, and that there must have been
between them either absolute union or deadly
enmity; and their enmity would bring frightful
calamities, not on themselves alone, but on all the
civilised world Their union would be the best
security for the prosperity of both, for the internal
tranquillity of the island, for the just balance of
power among European states, and for the immunities
of all Protestant countries.”
As the Union debates went on, in vain did the
eloquent Belhaven, on his knees and in tears,
beseech the House to save Scotland from extinction
and degradation; in vain did the nervous
Fletcher, the astute and wary Lockhart, plead for
the fame of their forefathers, and denounce the
measure which was to close the legislative hall
for ever. “ Many a patriotic heart,” says Wilson,
“ throbbed amid the dense crowd that daily assembled
in the Parliament Close, to watch the decision
of the Scottish Estates oa the detestable scheme
of a union with England. Again and again its fatetrembled
in the balance, but happily for Scotland,
English bribes outweighed the mistaken qeal ot
Scottish patriotism and Jacobitism, united against
the measure.”
On the 25th of March, 1707, the treaty or
union was ratified by the Estates, and on the zznd
of April the ancient Parliament of Scotland adjourned,
to assemble no more. On that occasion
the Chancellor Seafield made use of a brutal jest,
for which, says Sir Walter Scott, his countrymen
should have destroyed him on the spot.
It is, of course, a matter of common history,
that the legislative union between Scotland and
England was carried by the grossest bribery and
corruption; but the sum actually paid to members
who sat in that last Parliament are not perhaps
so well known, and may be curious to the
reader.
During some financial investigations which were
in progress in 1711 Lockhart discovered and
made public that the sum of Lzo,540 17s. 7d. had
been secretly distributed by Lord Godolphin, the
Treasurer of England, among the baser members ot
the Scottish Parliament, for the purpose of inducing
them to vote for the extinction of thek country,
and in his Memoirs of Scotland from the Accession
of Queen Anne,” he gives us the following list of
the receivers, with the actual sum which was paid
to each, and this list was confirmed on oath hy
David Earl of Glasgow, the Treasurer Deputy of
Scotland .
I
.](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v1p175.gif "Volume 1 Page 163")
... House.] TREATY OF UNION. 163
to regain the throne; for the proposed union
with England had inflamed to ...
Vol. 1 p. 163 (Rel. 0.3)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Grassmarket:
houses which were inhabited by this gang were
well chosen for the ...
Vol. 4 p. 230 (Rel. 0.3)
... SIR THOMAS CFLAIG. 321
Riccarton, with those of Warriston, in the barony
of Currie, were given by ...
Vol. 6 p. 321 (Rel. 0.3)
![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. 0.3)
... AND NEW EDINEURGH. LSouth Bridge. 376
In 1837 he succeeded Professor Macvey Napier
as Librarian to the Signet ...
Vol. 2 p. 377 (Rel. 0.3)
![Leith.] WITCHCRAFT IN LEITH; I81
-
dated 15th March, 1603, among many enumerations,
all in favour of Edinburgh, power is again
given the magistrates to enlarge and extend the
port towards the sea, with bulwarks on both sides
of theaiver; and to build, strengthen, and fortify the
Andrew Sadler, through the agency, in the former
case, of a little bag of black plaiding, wherein she
put some grains of wheat, worsted threads of divers
colours, hair, and nails of “ mennis fingeris ;” and
I in the latter case by a shirt dipped in a certain
GRANT’S SQUARE, 1851.~ (A&r a Dmwiw by W. Chanring.)
same in a substantial and durable manner for the
safety of shipping.
As the sixteenth century was drawing to its close,
the criminal records give many instances of the
dark and gross superstition that had spread over
the land even after the days of Knox. Thus, in
1597, Janet Stewart, in the Canongate, and Christian
Livingstone, in Leith, were accused of witchcraft
and casting spells upon Thomas Guthry and
well ; for which alleged crimes they were sentenced
to die on the Castle Hill, “ thair bodies to be
Grant’s Square has entirely disappeared. “It was,“ writes Dr.
Robtrt Paterson, “the square in which existed the old Parliament
Houu, once occupied in Mary’s time. The m m in which the Par-
L i e n t met must have been a spacious one, as when I remember it it
was divided into numerous smaller rooms for poor tenants, but yet tkc
carved oak panelling and the richly-decorated mof told of former
magnificence. All has, however, now been cleared away, and replaced
by a granary.”](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v5p192.gif "Volume 5 Page 181")
... WITCHCRAFT IN LEITH; I81
-
dated 15th March, 1603, among many enumerations,
all in favour of Edinburgh, ...
Vol. 5 p. 181 (Rel. 0.29)
... all neatly done up with red tape. . . .
His own writing apparatus was a very handsome
old box, richly ...
Vol. 3 p. 164 (Rel. 0.29)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [The West Bow.
Jambites pointing t a it with mingled howls and
jeers, as a proof of ...
Vol. 2 p. 318 (Rel. 0.29)
... (said Sir Walter Scott, in the Quarter@
Revkw,) instead of rousing the hearts of the
volunteers, like the ...
Vol. 2 p. 324 (Rel. 0.29)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [High Street
lawyer and judge. Admitted an advocate at the
early age of nineteen, he ...
Vol. 2 p. 272 (Rel. 0.29)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Nether Bow.
with cannon stone-shot in 1544, ere advancing
;against the Castle. “ ...
Vol. 2 p. 218 (Rel. 0.29)
... were captured, among others old McLean,
who made a desperate resistance in the West Port
with a musket and ...
Vol. 1 p. 69 (Rel. 0.29)
... with other four in the angles. The tiar, or
bonnet, was of purple velvet; but, in 1685, it got a
.cap of ...
Vol. 1 p. 74 (Rel. 0.28)
... Church 1 THE TRON CHURCH. 187
is, into which the sun scarcely penetrates. But it
once contained a tavern of ...
Vol. 1 p. 187 (Rel. 0.28)
![Queen Street.] SIR JAMES GRANT OF GRANT. I57
own performance that he tumbled off his chair in a
fit of laughter.”
No. 62 Queen Street was inhabited by Lord
Jeffrey from 1802 till 1810. In the following year
it became the residence of Sir John Leslie, K.H.,
Professor of Mathematics in the University of
Edinburgh, who in 1800 invented the differential
thermometer, one of the most beautiful and delicate
instruments that inductive genius‘ ever contrived
as a help to experimental research ; and the
results of his inquiries concerning the nature and
laws of heat, in which he was so much aided by
this exquisite instrument, were published in 1804,
in his celebrated “Essay on the Nature and Propagation
of Heat.” Sir John Leslie was one of
those many self-made men who are peculiarly the
glory of Scotland, for he was the son of a poor
joiner in Largo, yet he attained to the highest
honours a university can bestow. In 1832, along
with Herschel, Brewster, Hams, Nichols, and others,
on the recommendation of Lord Brougham, he was
created a Knight of the Guelphic Order, but died
in the November of that year from an attack of
erysipelas.
No. 64 was, and is still, the town residence of
the Earls of Weniyss, but has had many other
tenants. Among others here resided ‘‘ Lang Sandy
Gordon? as he was named in those days of simple
and unassuming familiarity, the son of William,
second Earl of Aberdeen, who was admitted an
advocate in 1759, and became Stewart-depute of
Kirkcudbright in 1764. Twenty years afterwards
he was raised to the bench as Lord Rockville, and
resided long in the close which bore .that name on
the Castle Hill, and afterwards in Queen Street
He was remarkable for his manly beauty and
handsome figure. He was a member of the Crochallan
Club, and a great convivialist. Walking
down the High Street one day, when the pavement
was unsafe by ice, he fell, and broke his arm.
He was conveyed to Provost Elder‘s shop, opposite
the Tron church, where surgical aid was procured
and his arm dressed ; but, unfortunately, when his
friends were conveying him to his new home at
No. 64, one of the chairmen fell and overturned
the sedan in the street, which unsettled the splinting
of his lordship’s arm, and ultimately brought on
afever, of which he died on the 13th of March,
‘792.
No. 64 was afterwards occupied by Sir James
Grant, Bart., of Grant, usually known as “the
good Sir James.” His town house, with extensive
stable-offices, had previously been at the ,foot of
the Canongate, where it was advertised for sale
in 1797, as “ presently possessed by Professor
Stewart.” At a period when the extensive Highland
proprietors were driving whole colonies of
people from the abodes of their forefathers, and
compelling them to seek on distant shores that
shelter which was denied them on their own, and
“when absenteeism and the vices of courtly intrigue
and fashionable dissipation had sapped the
morality of too many of our landholders, Sir James
Grant escaped the contagion, and during a long
life was distingifished for the possession of those
virtues which are the surest bulwarks of the peace,
happiness, and strength of a country. Possessed
of extensive estates, and surrounded by a numerous
tenantry, his exertions seemed to be equally devoted
to the progressive improvement of the one
and the present comfort and enjoyment of the
other.” ’
Among his clau he raised two regiments of Highland
Fencibles within a few months of each other.
One was numbered as the 97th, or Strathspey
Regiment, 1,800 strong, and a portion of it joined
the 4nnd for service in the West Indies. Sir
James died at Castle Grant in 181 I.
No. 66, now offices, was occupied by Stewart of
Castle Stewart ; and in No. 68 lived George Joseph
Bell, Advocate, Professor of Law, and author of
“ Principles of the Law of Scotland.” No. 7 I, in
181 I, was the residence of Francis, Lord Napier,
who served in the American war under General.
Burgoyne, but left the army in 1789. He took a
leading part in many local affiirs, was Grand
Master Mason of Scotland, Colonel of the Hopetoun
Fencibles in 1793, Commissioner to the
General Assembly in 1802, and a member of the
Board of Trustees for the Encouragement of Scottish
Manufactures and Fisheries.
His prominently aquiline face and figure were
long remarkable in Edinburgh ; though, at a time
when gentlemen usually wore gaudy coloursfrequently
a crimson or purple coat, a green plush
vest, black breeches, and white stockings-when
not in uniform, he always dressed plainly, and with
the nicest attention to propriety. An anecdote of
his finical taste is thus given in Lockhart’s “Life
of Scott ” :-
“Lord and Lady Napier arrived at Castlemilk
(in Lanarkshire), with the intention of staying a
week, but next morning it was announced that a
circumstance had occurred which rendered it indispensable
for them to return without delay to
their own seat in Selkirkshire. It was impossible
for Lady Stewart to extract any further explanation
at the moment, but it afterwards turned out that
Lord Napier’s valet had committed the grievous
mistake of packing up a set of neckcloths which](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v3p169.gif "Volume 3 Page 157")
... Street.] SIR JAMES GRANT OF GRANT. I57
own performance that he tumbled off his chair in a
fit of ...
Vol. 3 p. 157 (Rel. 0.28)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. 11745.
-the identical vehicle in which the deputies had returned
from Gray’s Mill, ...
Vol. 2 p. 326 (Rel. 0.28)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. 11746.
b
ONE of the most important events in the annals
of Edinburgh was the erection ...
Vol. 2 p. 334 (Rel. 0.28)
![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. 0.28)
... OLD AND ‘NEW EDINBURGH. [High Street.
there was born in 1741 his son, the celebrated
statesman, Henry ...
Vol. 2 p. 208 (Rel. 0.28)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [North Loch.
whose windows perhaps the accident occurred
“that the fox will not set ...
Vol. 3 p. 82 (Rel. 0.28)
... of the Scottish court. She was magnificent
in her own attire ; she increased the number
of persons in ...
Vol. 1 p. 19 (Rel. 0.27)
![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, ...
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... 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. 0.27)
![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 ...
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... F e Tolbooth. 124
as the- martlet did in Macbeth’s castle. Of
later years .these booths have degenerated ...
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... THE HOUSEHOLD TROOPS. . 75
’ blew gowns, each having got thirty-five shillings in
a purse, came up ...
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... to the muzzle with musket-balls was depressed
to sweep it, and did so with awful effect.
According to the ...
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... OLD APU'D NEW EDINBURGH.
CHAPTER XXII.
ST. ANDREW SQUARE.
PAGE
St. Andrew Sq-Lst .of Early R e s i d e ...
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... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Cowgate.
Mr. Andrew Anderson, printer to the King’s most
Excellent Majesty, for Mr. ...
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... STAIR. 105 Lady Stair’s closol
House of Lords and Court of Session. In support
of what he stated, ...
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![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 ...
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... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [The Castle HX
one going plump down a vent they set up a shout
of joy. Sir David ...
Vol. 1 p. 90 (Rel. 0.27)
![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 ...
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![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 ...
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... THE CASTLE BLOCKADE WITHDRAWN. 331
Livingstone’s Yard, where a Highlander was
assassinated by a ...
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... ancient ruby ring which the kings of Scotland
wore at their coronation. It was last used by the
unhappy ...
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![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 ...
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![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. 0.26)
![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. 0.25)
... the most brilliant conversationalists and the
kindest-hearted of men in Edinburgh.
Among the prizes competed ...
Vol. 3 p. 113 (Rel. 0.25)
![Chongrte.] A LEGEND BY SIR WALTER SCOT‘I’. 5 -
when the Castle of Duiiglass was blown up by
gunpowder.
An old house at the head of the Canongate, on
the north side, somewhere in the vicinity of Coull’s
Close, but now removed, was always indicated as
being the scene of that wild story which Scott
relates in his notes to the fifth canto of ‘‘ Rokeby,”
and in his language we prefer to give it here.
He tells us that ‘( about the beginning of the
eighteenth century, when the large castles of the
Scottish nobles, and even the secluded hotels,
hke those of the French noblesse, which they
had each 40,000 merks Scots as a fortune, their
uncle, the Earl of Argyle, being cautioner for the
payment, “for relief whereof he got the wadset of
Lochaber and Badenoch” Lady Jean, a third
daughter, was also married in the ensuing January,
with a fortune of 30,000 merks, to Thomas, Earl
of Haddington, who perished in the following year,
bearers insisted upon his being blindfolded. The
request was enforced by a cocked pistol, and
submitted to ; but in the course of the discussion
he conjectured, from the phrases employed by the
chairmen, and from some parts of their dress not
completely concealed by their cloaks, that they
were greatly above the menial station they had
assumed. After many turnings and windings the
chair was carried upstairs into a lodging, where his
eyes were uncovered, and he was introduced into
a bed-room, where he found a lady nen-ly delivered
of an infant, and he was commanded by his
possessed in Edinburgh, were sometimes the scenes.
of strange and mysterious transactions, a divine of
singular sanctity was called up at midnight to pray
with a person at the point of death. This was no
unusual summons ; but what followed was alarming-
He was put into a sedanchair, and after he had
been transported to a remote part of the town the
EAST END OF HIGH STREET, NETHER BOW, AND WEST END OF CANONGATE. (Frmn G d w ofRofhiemay’r Mu!.)
48, Blackfriars Wynd : 49, l’odrig‘s Wynd ; 50, Gay’s Wynd ; 51, St. Mary’s Wynd : 58, Leith Wynd ; 8, Suburbs of the Canongate : g, High
Street : 14, The Nether How ; h, The Nether-bow Port; 18, The Flesh Stocks in the Goongate.](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v3p017.gif "Volume 3 Page 5")
... A LEGEND BY SIR WALTER SCOT‘I’. 5 -
when the Castle of Duiiglass was blown up by
gunpowder.
An ...
Vol. 3 p. 5 (Rel. 0.25)
... MACDONALD OF TEINDREICH. 333
landers, after their retreat from England, were besieging
Stirling, Lord ...
Vol. 2 p. 333 (Rel. 0.25)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Wardie.
In this district evidences have been found of the
luck,” and it sometimes ...
Vol. 6 p. 306 (Rel. 0.25)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. . [Craigcrook
Local tradition makes Craigcrook the scene of a
murder, but this is a ...
Vol. 5 p. 108 (Rel. 0.25)
![Braid.] THE LANDS OF BRAID. 41
the city on the south, and directly overlook
Morningside. Their greatest altitude is 700 feet
According to one traditional legend, these hills
were the scene of “ Johnnie 0’ Braidislee’s ” woeful
hunting, as related in the old ballad.
exposed to more than one
military visitation from
the garrison in Edinburgh
Castle. Knox’s secretary
records that on the 25th
May twelve soldiers came
to Braid, when the laird
was at supper, and
rifled the house of the
miller. Braid appeared,
but was treated with contempt,
and was told that
they would bum the house
about his ears if he did
not surrender to Captain
Melville, who was one of
the eight sons of Sir lames
Melville of Raith, and his
lady Helen Napier of Merchiston.
Though called “ a
quiet man,” the wrath of
the laird was roused, and
he rushed forth at the
head of his domestics,
the north bank of the latter stream, which meanders
close to it, and which takes its rise in the bosom
of the Pentlands, near the Roman camp above
Bonally.
It is a two-storeyed villa, with a pavilion roof
CHRIST. CHURCH, MORNINGSIDE.
armed with an enormous two-handed sword, and
cut down one of the soldiers, who fired their hackbuts
without effect, and were eventually put to flight.
In the early part of the eighteenth century Braid
belonged to a family named Brown, and a great
portion of it in the present century had passed into
the possession of Gordon of Cluny.
between the Braid Hills and Blackford, stands the
beautiful retreat called the Hermitage of Braid, on
In a romantic, sequestered, and woody dell,
102
and little corner turrets, in that grotesque style of
castellated architecture adopted at Gillespie’s
Hospital, and is evidently designed by the same
architect, though built about the year 1780. It
was the property of Charles Gordon of Cluny,
father of the ill-fated Countess of Stair, the once
beautiful “Jacky Gordon,” whose marriage was
annulled in 1804, after which it frequently formed
her solitary residence. It afterwards became the
property of the widow of the late John Gordon of](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v5p052.gif "Volume 5 Page 41")
... THE LANDS OF BRAID. 41
the city on the south, and directly overlook
Morningside. Their greatest altitude ...
Vol. 5 p. 41 (Rel. 0.25)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Cunie.
’ for provisions, and the enemy in confident expectation
of starving them ...
Vol. 6 p. 334 (Rel. 0.24)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Coltbridge;.
from Inverleith Row, and a third from the narrow
lane leading to East ...
Vol. 5 p. 102 (Rel. 0.24)
... RIT. ITO. CELIO. HADKIANO
ANTONINOA.U G. Pro. PATRIP. ATRIB.
Although the Roman military ...
Vol. 1 p. 10 (Rel. 0.24)
![North Bridgt.]
were again seen bivouacking all night, on straw or
pallets, under the portico of the house, or in the
adjacent square, for the purpose of securing seats
for their employers the moment the doors were
open. Again it became a recognised amusement
for peop!e to proceed thither after breakfast to see,
about the time of the box-office unclosing, the
fights that ensued between the liverymen and the
imtable Highland porters.
But in the year 1819 Miss O’Neill quitted the
stage, and became eventually Lady Becher of
Ballygiblio Castle, in the couiity of Cork.
THE WAVERLEY DRAMAS.
which she had to pay yearly as rent and purchase.
money.
Thus one day she was shocked and startled by
a harsh, cold letter, in the usual legal form, arresting
all moneys in her hands until certain claims were
settled, at a time when she had scarcely a penny
wherewith to make payment.
It was at this desperate crisis that Walter Scott
came to the rescue. His Rob Roy, operatically
dramatised, hadalreadyproved a marked success at
Covent Garden, and it was now prepared for the
Edinburgh Theatre, with an excellent cast and much
?49
girl, Miss Elizabeth ONeill, “who seemed designed
by nature to catch the tragic mantle as it fell from
Mrs. Siddons’ shoulders,” appeared in the theatre
in August, ISIg-two months after Waterloo.
The characters in which she always achieved the
greatest success were Juliet, Mrs. Haller, Jane
Shore, and Mrs. Beverley ; and on the occasion of
her first appearance, the old scene of the Siddons
furore was renewed, and porters and livery servants
In 1816 Edmund Kean appeared in Edinburgh,
to startle and delight the people by his vivid
action; then came the elder Matthews, with his
wondrous humour and power of mimicry, and then
Miss Stephens and Mr. and Mrs. Charles Kemble ;
yet with all this excellence the management did
not prosper, and when the season of 1819 opened,
matters seemed so gloomy that it was doubtful if
Mrs. Henry Siddons could collect the L2,ooo
THE OLD 1HEATRE ROYAL. (Fmm a Drawing by T. H. Shfherd.publi~hdin 1829.)](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v2p169.gif "Volume 2 Page 349")
... Bridgt.]
were again seen bivouacking all night, on straw or
pallets, under the portico of the house, or in ...
Vol. 2 p. 349 (Rel. 0.24)
... worth consideration ; but, interesting as it is, it
need not detain us long here.
In the ? Myrvyian, or ...
Vol. 1 p. 14 (Rel. 0.24)
... OLD AKD NEW EDINBURGH. me West Bow.
sorely. Keeping on the defensive, Westerhall
gave way step by step, ...
Vol. 2 p. 316 (Rel. 0.24)
... end we might pass to Heaven with all this
gear! But fie on the knave Death !-that will
come whether ye will ...
Vol. 3 p. 68 (Rel. 0.24)
![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. 0.24)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Merchistom
captain named ScougaL
After a hard struggle, during which several ...
Vol. 5 p. 36 (Rel. 0.24)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Water of Leith
name doesnot appear in the Baronage) was Sheriff and
Provost of ...
Vol. 5 p. 62 (Rel. 0.24)
![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. 0.24)
... NISBET$ OF DEAN. 65 The Water of Leith.1
Embosomed among venerable trees, the old
house of a baronial family, ...
Vol. 5 p. 65 (Rel. 0.24)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [North Bridge.
from somewhere about Coltbridge, to fill, and run
through the North ...
Vol. 2 p. 336 (Rel. 0.24)
... made the ornate edifice we find it now, with
‘oriel windows and clustering turrets. He was
author of “The ...
Vol. 5 p. 50 (Rel. 0.24)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Grassmarket.
Watt and Downie, they were brought to trial respectively
in August and ...
Vol. 4 p. 238 (Rel. 0.24)
... reign of James 111. there were two or three
vessels called “royal,” and among them often
appears the ...
Vol. 6 p. 200 (Rel. 0.24)
![Leith Walk.] GAYFIELD HOUSE. IGI
ceeded to the title, which is now extinct. The
latter’s sister, Maria Whiteford, afterwards Mrs.
Cranston, was the heroine of Bums’s song, “The
Idass 0’ Ballochmyle,” her father being one of the
poet’s earliest and warmest patrons.
The Gayfield quarter seems to have been rather
aristocratic in those days. In 1767, David, sixth
Earl of Leven, who had once been a captain in the
army, occupied Gayfield House, where in that year
his sister, Lady Betty, was married to John, Earl of
Walk is shown edificed from the corner of Picardy
Place to where we now find Gayfield Square,
which, when it was first erected, was called Gayfield
Place. West London Street was then called
Anglia Street, and its western continuation, in
which old Gayfield House is now included, was not
contemplated. North of this house is shown a
large area, “ Mrs. D. Hope’s feu ;” and between it
and the Walk was the old Botanical Garden.
In 1783 Sir John Whiteford, Bart., of that ilk,
Gordon, relict of Sir Alexander Gordon of Lesmoir,
Bart., died there.
Gayfield House is now a veterinary college.
In 1800 Sir John Wardlaw, Bart., of Pitreavie,
resided in Gayfield Square ; and there his wife, the
daughter of Mitchell of Pitteadie (a ruined castle
in Fifeshire), died in that year. He was a colonel
in the army, and died in 1823, a lieutenantcolonel
of the 4th West India Regiment.
No. I, Gayfield Place, was long the residence of
BOARD SCHOOL, LOVER’S LOAN.
a well-known citizen in his time, Patrick Crichton,
whose father was a coachbuilder in the Canongate,
and who, in 1805, was appointed lieutenantcolonel
commandant of the 2nd Regiment of Edinburgh
Local Militia. He had entered the army when
young, and attained the rank of captain in the
57th Regiment, with which he served during the
American war, distinguishing himself so much that
he received the public thanks of the comrnanderin-
chief. Among his friends and brother-oficers.
then was Andrew Watson, whose brother George
founded the Scottish Academy. When the war was
over he retired, and entered into partnership with
his father ; and on the first formation of the Volunteers,
in consequence of his great military e x p](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v5p172.gif "Volume 5 Page 161")
... Walk.] GAYFIELD HOUSE. IGI
ceeded to the title, which is now extinct. The
latter’s sister, Maria ...
Vol. 5 p. 161 (Rel. 0.23)
... OLD THEATRE ROYAL, IN PROCESS PP DEMOLITION.
CHAPTER XLV.
EAST SIDE OF THE NORTH BRIDGE ...
Vol. 2 p. 353 (Rel. 0.23)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Greyfriars Church.
and, forming a part of her volunteer forces, six
battalions of ...
Vol. 4 p. 374 (Rel. 0.23)
![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. 0.23)
... were committed prisoners to his care, and
remained there till the pacification of Berwick.
On the 19th ...
Vol. 1 p. 52 (Rel. 0.23)
... ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE. I09
them in the middle of the West Bow, and offered
to write the bond which they ...
Vol. 5 p. 109 (Rel. 0.23)
... OLD AND NEW
Street; and till 1856 the annual sittings of the Free
Assembly were held in it.
Here, too, in ...
Vol. 5 p. 88 (Rel. 0.23)
![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. 0.23)
... House
PARLIAMENT HOUSE IN THE PRESENT DAY.
the Earl of Marchmont
Earl of Cromarty . . . . 300 0 ...
Vol. 1 p. 164 (Rel. 0.23)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Dab.
~~ ~~
Cuthbert’s, in 1831, for .&2,500, and seated for
1,300.
The church ...
Vol. 4 p. 216 (Rel. 0.23)
... OLD AND PEW EDINBUKGH. [Leith.
on the coast of East Lothian, from whence the way
to England was open and ...
Vol. 5 p. 192 (Rel. 0.23)
... 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. 0.23)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. Holyrood.
~ ~~ ~~ ~
period, and in 1736- one of unusual brilliance
was given in ...
Vol. 3 p. 76 (Rel. 0.23)
... 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. 0.23)
... . 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. 0.23)
... 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. 0.23)
... 40 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Moredun.
and a father, his afflicted widow and daughters
erect this memorial of ...
Vol. 6 p. 340 (Rel. 0.23)
![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. 0.23)
... 1 A COMMISSION OF INQUIRY. ‘3
one with a dark lantern ; but notwithstanding that
a pardon and zoo ...
Vol. 5 p. 13 (Rel. 0.23)
![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. 0.23)
![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. 0.23)
![The West Bow.] MAJOR WEIR’S HOUSE. 3 13
an extraordinary quantity of yarn, in the time that
it would have taken four women to do so.
At the place of execution in the Grassmarket a
frenzy seized her, and the wretched old creature
began to rend her garments, in order, as she
shrieked, that she might die ‘‘ with all the shame
she could ! ”
Undeterred by her fate, ten other old women
were in the same year burned in Edinburgh for
alleged dabbling in witchcraft.
flaming torches, as if a multitude of people were
there, all laughing merrily. “This sight, at so
dead a time of night, no people being in the windows
belonging to the close, made her and her
servant haste home, declaring all that they saw to
the rest of the family.”
“For upwards of a century after Major Weir‘s
death he continued to be the bugbear of the Bow,
and his house remained uninhabited. His apparition,”
says Chambers, ‘‘ was frequently seen at
MAJOR WEIR’S LAND.
(Fmm a Measrrrrd Drawing by Thomas HamiZton, #idZiskcd in 183a)
The reverend Professor who compiled “ Satan’s
Invisible World,” relates that a few nights before
the major made his astounding confession, the
wife of a neighbour, when descending from the
Castle Hill towards the Bow-head, saw three
women in different windows, shouting, laughing,
and clapping their hands. She passed on, and
when abreast of Major Weir’s door, she saw a
woman of twice mortal stature arise from the street.
Filled with great fear, she desired her maid, who
bore a lantern, to hasten on, but the tall spectre
still kept ahead of them, uttering shouts of “unmeasurable
laughter,” till they came to the narrow
alley called the Stinking Close, into which the
spectre turned, and which was seen to be full of
40
night, flitting like a black and silent shadow about
the street. His house, though known to be deserted
by everything human, was sometimes observed at
midnight to be full of lights, and heard to emit
strange sounds, as of dancing, howling, and, what
is strangest of all, spinning. Some people occasionally
saw the major issue from the low close at
midnight, mounted on a black horse without a
head, and gallop off in a whirlwind of flame. Nay,
sometimes the whole inhabitants of the Bow would
be roused from their sleep at an early hour in the
morning by the sound of a coach and six, first
rattling up the Lawnmarket, and then thundering
down the Bow, stopping at the head of the terrible
close for a few minutes, and then rattling and](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v2p133.gif "Volume 2 Page 313")
... West Bow.] MAJOR WEIR’S HOUSE. 3 13
an extraordinary quantity of yarn, in the time that
it would have taken ...
Vol. 2 p. 313 (Rel. 0.23)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Weat Port.
~~ ~
the dreadful Irish murders in 1828; but its repute
was very ...
Vol. 4 p. 224 (Rel. 0.23)
![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. 0.23)
![Restalrig.] DRURY’S TREACHERY. x3.z
on it now. Here it probably was that the powerful
Archibald Douglas, fifth Earl of Douglas, Lord
of Bothwell, Galloway, and Annandale, Duke of
Touraine aud Marshal of France, resided in 1440,
in which year he died at Restalrig, of a malignant
fever.
In 1444 Sir John Logan of Restalrig was sheriff
of Edinburgh ; and in 1508 James Logan, of the
same place, was Sheriff-deputy.
Twenty-one years before the latter date an
calsay lyand, and the town desolate.” In the
following year, Holinshed records that “ the Lord
Grey, Lieutenant of the Inglis’ armie,” during the
siege of Leith, “ludged in the town of Lestalrike,
in the Dean’s house, and part of the Demi-lances
and other horsemen lay in the same towne.”
A little way north-westward of Restalrig, midway
between the place named Hawkhill and the upper
Quarry Holes, near the Easter Road, there occurred
on the 16th of June, 1571, a disastrous skirmish, de-
~
RESTALRIG CHURCH IN THE PRESENT DAYEnglish
army had encamped at Restalrig, under the
Duke of Gloucester, who spared the city at the
request of the Duke of Albany and on receiving
many rich presents fiom the citizens, while James
III., in the hand of rebel peers, was a species of
captive in the castle of Edinburgh.
In 1559 the then secluded village was the scene
of one of the many skirmishes that took place between
the troops of the Queen Regent and those
of the Lords of the Congregation, in which the
latter were baffled, “driven through the myre at
Restalrig-worried at the Craigingate ” (i.e., the
Calton), and on the 6th of November,’ “ at even
in the nycht,” they departed ‘‘ furth of Edinburgh
to Lynlithgow, and left their artailzerie on the
signated the BZack Saturday, or Drury’s peace,”
as it was sometimes named, through the alleged
treachery of the English ambassador.
Provoked by a bravado on the part of the Earl
of Morton, who held Leith, and who came forth
with horse and foot to the Hawkhill, the Earl of
Huntly, at the head of a body of Queen Mary‘s
followers, with a train of guns, issued out of Edinburgh,
and halted at the Quarry Holes, where he
was visited by Sir William Drury, the ambassador
of Queen Elizabeth, who had been with Morton in
Leith during the preceding night. His proposed
object was an amicable adjustment of differences,
to the end that no loss of life should ensue between
those who were countrymen, and, in too](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v5p144.gif "Volume 5 Page 133")
... DRURY’S TREACHERY. x3.z
on it now. Here it probably was that the powerful
Archibald Douglas, fifth ...
Vol. 5 p. 133 (Rel. 0.23)
... 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. 0.23)
![The Great Fire.] THE GREAT FIRE. 189
Assemlily Close, then occupied as a workshop by
Kirkwood, a well-known engraver. The engines
came promptly enough ; but, from some unknown
cause, an hour elapsed before they were in working
order, and by that time the terrible element had
raged with such fierceness and rapidity that, by
eleven o'clock the upper portion of this tenement,
including six storeys, forming the eastern 'division
of a uniform pile of buildings, was one mass of
roaring flames, which, as the breeze was from the
to their elevated position, or the roar of the gathering
conflagration, the shouts of the crowd, and
wailing of women and children, their cries were
unheard for a time, until it was too late. The
whole tenement was lost, together with extensive
ranges of buildings in the old Fish Market and
Assembly Closes, to -which it was the means of
communicating the flames.
While these tall and stately edifices were yielding
to destruction, the night grew calm and still, and
THE ROYAL EXCHANGE.
sooth-west, turned them, as they burst from the
gaping windows, in the direction of a house to the
eastward, the strong' gable of which saved it from
the destruction which seemed imminent.
Two tenements to the westward were less fortunate,
and as, from the narrowness of the ancient
close, it was impossible to work the engines, they
soon were involved in one frightful and appalling
blaze. Great fears mere now entertained for the
venerable Courant office; nor was it long before
the fire seized on its upper storey, at the very time
when some brave fellows got upon the roof of a
tenement to the westward, and shouted to the firemen
to give them a pipe, by which they could
piay upon the adjoining roof, But, owing either
I the sparks emitted by the flames shot upwards as if
spouted from a volcano, and descended like the
thickest drift or snow-storm, affecting the respiration
of all. A dusky, lurid red tinged the clouds,
and the glare shone on the Castle wdls, the
rocks of the Calton, the beetling crags, and all the
city spires. Scores of lofty chimneys, set on fire
by the falling sparks, added to the growing horror
of the scene ; and for a considerable time the Tron
Church was completely enveloped in this perilous
shower of embers.
About one in the morning of the 16th the alarm
of fire was given from a house directly oppoife to
the burning masses, and, though groundless, it
added to the deepening Consternation. Mean](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v1p201.gif "Volume 1 Page 189")
... Great Fire.] THE GREAT FIRE. 189
Assemlily Close, then occupied as a workshop by
Kirkwood, a well-known ...
Vol. 1 p. 189 (Rel. 0.23)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [West Church.
the 27th October, 1592, by ‘(the hail1 elderes, deacones,
and honest ...
Vol. 3 p. 132 (Rel. 0.23)
... 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. 0.23)
![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. 0.23)
... 2 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [University.
posts, and make the Grassmarket their headquarters.
The City Militia held ...
Vol. 5 p. 12 (Rel. 0.23)
![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. 0.23)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. ’ [Leith.
preachers, who though profound unbelievers in any
kind of consecration, ...
Vol. 5 p. 174 (Rel. 0.23)
... the Tolbooth; others were held there in 1449
and 1459. In the latter the Scottish word
“Tolbooth,” ...
Vol. 1 p. 126 (Rel. 0.23)
... -4NU NEW EDINBURGH. ... v11t
CHAPTER XXXIV.
INCHKEITH.
PAGE
The Defences of Leith-Inchkeith Forts-%. ...
Vol. 6 p. 399 (Rel. 0.23)
... -4NU NEW EDINBURGH. ... v11t
CHAPTER XXXIV.
INCHKEITH.
PAGE
The Defences of Leith-Inchkeith Forts-%. ...
Vol. 6 p. 398 (Rel. 0.23)
... -4NU NEW EDINBURGH. ... v11t
CHAPTER XXXIV.
INCHKEITH.
PAGE
The Defences of Leith-Inchkeith Forts-%. ...
Vol. 6 p. 397 (Rel. 0.23)
... men; at Bilston Burn is Wallace’s camp, in
the form of a half-moon, defended by a broad deep
ditch-a ...
Vol. 6 p. 356 (Rel. 0.23)
... 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. 0.22)
... Hi11.1 THE LYON KING-OF-ARMS. 37= _.
able testimonial, signed and sealed by all the
members of that ...
Vol. 2 p. 370 (Rel. 0.22)
... Hi11.1 THE LYON KING-OF-ARMS. 37= _.
able testimonial, signed and sealed by all the
members of that ...
Vol. 2 p. 371 (Rel. 0.22)
... “ 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. 0.22)
... PALACE BURNED AND REPAIRED. 73
~
gesse !”’ Then the castle fired a salute, while
silver was scattered to ...
Vol. 3 p. 73 (Rel. 0.22)
... Strathearn, the Rosabelle of Scott’s beautiful
ballad, which tells us-
“ There are twenty of Roslin’s ...
Vol. 6 p. 348 (Rel. 0.22)
... 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. 0.22)
... 1543, when the traitorous Scottish nobles of
what was named the English faction, leagued with
Henry VIII. ...
Vol. 5 p. 169 (Rel. 0.22)
![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. 0.22)
... 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. 0.22)
... 14 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. . [Castle Terrace.
Place, and now chiefly used as a coal dep8t.
Some of the merchants ...
Vol. 4 p. 214 (Rel. 0.22)
![The West Bow.] THE HIDDEN SWORD. 317
from his sick-bed (a few months after to be his
death-bed, though he fled to Newcastle in the
interim); and, donning his armour, drew back the
arras of the Queen’s chamber, looking like a pale
spectre under his steel-barred helmet, on that fatal
night in the March of 1566, when he planted his
dagger into David Rizzio, whose death was mainly
his contrivance; and in the demolition of this
which the blade was covered, such as Vzncere a d
mori, Fide sed cui $e4 and Sdi De0 GZoria. The
manner of its concealment, and the fierce character
of the old Lord Ruthven, within whose ancient
lodging it was discovered, may readily suggest to
the fancy its having formed the instrument of some
dark and bloody deed ere it was consigned to its
strange hiding-place.”
ASSEMBLY ROOMS, WEST BOW.
(From U McMIrcd Diawing T. Hanriltm pu6lished im 1830).
house a singular relic of him apparently was discovered.
‘‘ Between the ceiling ,and floor in one
of the apartments, a large and beautifully chased
sword was found concealed, with the scabbard
almost completely decayed, and the blade, which
was of excellent temper, deeply corroded with
rust half-way towards the hilt.” Was this the corrosion
of blood? ’ “ The point of it,” says Daniel
Wilson, “was broken 06 but it still measured
324 inches long. The maker’s name, WILHELM
WIRSBERG, was inlaid in brass upon the blade.
His device, seemingly a pair of pincers, was
engraved on both sides, surmounted by a coronet,
and encircled on one side with a motto partly
defaced, and on the other with his name repeated,
and the words in.soZ.ingen. Various other mottoes
were engraved amid the ornamental work with
He died at the close of 1566, or early in the
following year;’ and a curious key, which was
found in the demolition of his house, was procured
by the Society of Antiquaries in 1848.
Up the West Bow for centuries did all that was
regal, noble, and diplomatic, advance on entering
the city; and down it, for 124 years-between the
Restoration and I f84-went more criminals than
can be reckoned, to their doom, and many a‘victim
of misrule, such as the luckless and unflinching
Covenanters, testifying to the last and glorying in
their fate.
Down the Bow, on the 3rd of September, 1716,
there were marched from the Castle, en route for
trial at Carlisle, eighty-nine Jacobite prisoners.
‘‘ The departing troop was followed by a wail of
indignant lament fiom the national heart, the](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v2p137.gif "Volume 2 Page 317")
... West Bow.] THE HIDDEN SWORD. 317
from his sick-bed (a few months after to be his
death-bed, though he fled to ...
Vol. 2 p. 317 (Rel. 0.22)
![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. 0.22)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Lord Provosts.
burgh of great numbers of‘ His Majesty’s subjects
and strangers, ...
Vol. 4 p. 280 (Rel. 0.22)
![Fanester’s Wynd.] THE “MIRROR” CLUB. rzr
i “The Diurnal of Occurrents” records, that in
1566, John Sinclair, Bishop of Brechin, Dean of
Restalrig, and Lord President of the College of
Justice, died in Forrester‘s Wynd, in the house of
James Mossman, probably the same man who was a
goldsmith in Edinburgh at that time, and whose
father, also Jarnes Mossrnan, enclosed with the
present four arches the crown of Scotland, by
order of James V., when Henry VIII. closed
the crown of England. In consequence of the
houses being set on fire by the *Castle guns under
Kirkaldy, in 1572, it was ordered that all the
thatched houses between Beith’s J7ynd and St.
Giles’s should be unroofed, and that all stacks of
heather should be carried away from the streets
Fleshmarket Close ; but oftener, perhaps, in Lucky
Dunbar’s, a house situated in an alley that led
between Liberton’s Wynd and that of Forrester’s
Wynd. This Club commenced its publication of
the Mirror in January, 1729, and terminated it in
May, 1780. It was a folio sheet, published weekly
at three-halfpence. The *Lounger, to which Lord
Craig contributed largely, was commenced, by the
staff of the Mirror, on the 6th ot February, 1785,
and continued weekly till the 6th of January, 1787.
paid to their morals, behaviour, and every branch
of education.”
In this quarter Turk’s Close, Carthrae’s, Forrester’s,
and Beith’s Wynds, all stood on the slope
between Liberton’s Wynd and St. Giles’s Church ;
but every stone of these had been swept away many
years before the great breach made by the new
bridge was projected. Forrester‘s Wynd occurs so
often in local annals that it must have been a place
of some consideration.
JOHN DOWIE’S TAVERN. (Fs~m fk Engraving in How’$ YearBwk.’)
Among the members of this literary Club were Mr.
Alexander Abercrombie, afterwards Lord Abercrombie
; Lord Bannatyne ; Mr. George Home,
Clerk of Session ; Gordon of Newhall ; and a Mr.
George Ogilvie ; among their correspondents were
Lord Hailes, Mr. Baron Hurne, Dr. Beattie, and
many other eminent literary men of the time ; but
of the IOI papers of the Lounger, fifty-seven are
the production of Henry Mackenzie, including his
general review of Burns’s poems, already referred to.
In Liberton’s Wynd, we find from the Ediduygh
Advertiser of 1783, that the Misses Preston,
daughters of the late minister of Narkinch, had a
boarding school for young ladies, whose parents
“may depend that the greatest attention will be
18](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v1p133.gif "Volume 1 Page 121")
... Wynd.] THE “MIRROR” CLUB. rzr
i “The Diurnal of Occurrents” records, that in
1566, John ...
Vol. 1 p. 121 (Rel. 0.22)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. LGeorge 2:rtet.
of the first, accompanied by Major-General Hope
and that famous old ...
Vol. 3 p. 150 (Rel. 0.22)
... of Braid to the sandy shores of the Firth of
Forth.
Edinburgh, now within a few hours’ journey ...
Vol. 1 p. 2 (Rel. 0.22)
![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. 0.22)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGR, [High Street.
Torthorwald could defend himself, ran him through
the body, and slew him ...
Vol. 2 p. 196 (Rel. 0.22)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH.
C
Cable’s Wynd, Leith, XI. 226, 227
Caddies,orstreetmesngers, I. 151,
Cadell and ...
Vol. 6 p. 372 (Rel. 0.21)
![High Street.] THE ROYAL MINT. 267
Fortune’s tavern, removed from Skinner‘s Close to
a house at the north-west corner of Nicolson
Square, and latterly at No. 2, St. Andrew Square
(now the London Hotel), where he died, in his
eightieth year, in ISOZ.
In his lordship’s time the office of Commissioner
to the Church, which he held from 1783 to 1801, was
attended with more “pomp and circumstance”
Treasurer, under date February, 1562-3 :-
“ Item, allowit to the carpenter, be payment maid
to Johne Achesoun, Maister Congreave, to Maister
William M‘Dowgale, Maister of Werk, for expensis
maide be him vpon the bigging of the Cwnge-house,
within the castell of Edinburgh, and beting of the
qvnge-hous within the Palice of Halierud-house,
fra the xi. day of Februar, 1559, zens, to the
Comniissioner proceeded on foot, escorted by his
guard of honour.
South Gray’s, or the Mint Close, was one of the
stateliest alleys in the old city, and herein stood the
Cunzie flous, as the Scottish Mint was named
(after its removal from near Holyrood in Queen
Mary’s time) till the Union in 1707, and until lately
its sombre and massive tower of finely polished
ashlar projecting into the narrow thoroughfare of
Cowgate, for three hundred and four years formed
one of the leading features of the latter, and to the
last the old edifice retained many traces of the important
operations that once went on within its
walls.
The first Mint House had been originally erected
in the outer court of the palace of Holyrood, somewhere
near the Horse Wynd, fromwhence, for greater
safety, it was removed to the castle, in which a new
Mint House had been built in 1559, as shown by
edifices of the period,” says Wilson, describing
the edifice prior to its removal. “The whole
building was probably intended, when completed,
to form a quadrangle, surrounded on every side by
the same substantial walls, well suited for defence
against any ordinary assault, while its halls were
lighted from the enclosed court. The small windows
in this part of the building remain in their
original state, being divided by an oaken transom,
and the under part closed by a pair of folding
shutters. The massive ashlar walls are relieved
by ornamental stringcourses, and surmounted by
crowsteps of the earliest form and elegant proportions.
. . . . The internal marks of former
magnificence are more interesting than their external
ones, notwithstanding the humble uses to
which the buildings have latterly been applied ;
in particular some portions of a very fine oak
ceiling still remain, wrought in Gothic panelling,](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v2p087.gif "Volume 2 Page 267")
... Street.] THE ROYAL MINT. 267
Fortune’s tavern, removed from Skinner‘s Close to
a house at the north-west ...
Vol. 2 p. 267 (Rel. 0.21)
... OLD AND NE\V EDINBURGH. [High Street.
to be the same tenement with which he endowed
an altar in the chapel of ...
Vol. 2 p. 256 (Rel. 0.21)
... seems peculiarly applicable to the Edinburgh
of Jsmes V., and still more to that of
James 11.
“He ...
Vol. 1 p. 7 (Rel. 0.21)
... Gilds Churchyard. THE CHURCHYARD. I49
were a hospital and chapel known by the name
of the “Maison Dieu.” ...
Vol. 1 p. 149 (Rel. 0.21)
![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. 0.21)
... OLD AND NEW' EDINBURGH.
'Plague in Leith, The 111. 180,186
Plainstane's close ~ i . ...
Vol. 6 p. 386 (Rel. 0.2)
... JAMES IV. 61
whose contract is still preserved in the city archives.
A minute account of her reception ...
Vol. 3 p. 61 (Rel. 0.2)
... --
CHAPTER I
THE KIRK OF ST. MARY-IN-THE-FIELDS.
YhCD
Memorabilia of the Edifice-Its ...
Vol. 6 p. 393 (Rel. 0.2)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Cahoa Hill.
on their return from the Army of Occupation in
France, under Colonel ...
Vol. 3 p. 104 (Rel. 0.2)
... OLD AND NET
into the royal presence, the king became alarmed,
and retired into the Tolbooth, amid shouts ...
Vol. 1 p. 146 (Rel. 0.2)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Arthur‘s Seat
simultaneously halted, and the royal salute given, 1 the hour of need, ...
Vol. 4 p. 322 (Rel. 0.19)
![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. 0.18)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [West Church,
and by an assessment on the real property within
the parish; the expense ...
Vol. 3 p. 136 (Rel. 0.18)
![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. 0.18)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. -
CHAPTER VI.
THE VALLEY OF THE WATER OF LEITH.
PAGE
Lady Sinclair of ...
Vol. 6 p. 394 (Rel. 0.18)
... . - High Street.; LADY LOVAT.
She was received by Lord Lovat with an extravagant
affectation of welcome, and ...
Vol. 2 p. 257 (Rel. 0.18)
![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. 0.17)
... view below Cramond
Brig, 111. '317
Cramond Bridge, 11. 63, 111. 1x1
CramondChurch 111. 316 ...
Vol. 6 p. 374 (Rel. 0.17)
... Thus we see in the terraced slopes
illustrations of a mode of agriculture pertaining to
times before ...
Vol. 1 p. 12 (Rel. 0.17)
... OLD ANI) NEW EDINBURGH [Candlemaker Row.
and weekly thirty-two carriers put up in the same
quarter.
In that ...
Vol. 4 p. 268 (Rel. 0.17)
... Some have derived it from Coire, a hollow,
stoir, wet steps, and eitherjonn, white, orfein, ...
Vol. 5 p. 113 (Rel. 0.17)
... here and there were sedgy pools and lonely displayed; stout and true Covenanters borne forth
tarns, where the ...
Vol. 1 p. 8 (Rel. 0.17)
... other lands, included those of “Lochflatt,
Pleasance, Se Leonards, Hillhousefield, Bonnytoun,
and ...
Vol. 3 p. 181 (Rel. 0.17)
... 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. 0.17)
![Leith.] REPULSE OF THE ENGLISH AND SCOTS. I77
Cornelle, Shelly, Littleton, Southworthe, and nine
other officers, with 2,240 men.
To keep the. field (i.~., the Reserve), Captain
Somerset, and eight other captains, with 2,400
men.
“Item ; it is ordered that the Vyce Admyralle
of the Queen’s Majesty’s schippes shall, when a
token is given, send Vc. (500) men out of the
Navye into the haven of Leythe, to give an assaulte
on the side of the towne, at the same instant when
the assaulte shal be gevene on the breche.”
Captain Vaughan was ordered to assault the
town near Mount Pelham, and the Scots on the
westward and seaward.
The assault was not made until the 7th of May,
when it was delivered at seven in the morning on
dead they could find, and suspended the corpses
along the sloping faces of the ramparts, where they
remained for several days. The failure of the
attempted storm did not very materially affect the
blockade. On the contrary, the besiegers still continued
to harass the town by incessant cannonading
from the mounds already formed and others they
erected One of the former, Mount Falcon, must
have been particularly destructive, as its guns swept
the most crowded part of Leith called the Shore,
along which none could pass but at the greatest
hazard of death. Moreover, the English were
barbarously and uselessly cruel. Before burning
Leith mills they murdered in cold blood every
individual found therein.
The close siege had now lasted about two months,
PROSPECT OF LEITH, 1693. (Reduced Facainrilc aftw Grernvillr Coil us.)
four quarters, but, for some reason not given, the
fleet failed to act, and by some change in the plans
Sir James Crofts was ordered, with what was deemed
a sufficient force, to assail the town on the north
side, at the place latterly called the Sand Port,
where at low water an entrance was deemed easy.
For some reason best known to himself Sir James
thought proper to remain aloof during the whole
uproar of the assault, the ladders provided for
which proved too short by half a pike’s length;
thus he was loudly accused of treachery-a charge
which was deemed sufficiently proved when it was
discovered that a few days before he had been seen
in conversation with the Queen Regent, who addressed
him from the walls of Edinburgh Castle.
The whole affair turned out a complete failure,
English and Scots were alike repulse2 r%Ah slaughter,
“and singular as it may appear,” says a writer,
“ the success of the garrison was not a little aided
by the exertionsof certain ladies, whom the French,
with their usual gallantry to the fair sex, entertained
in their quarters.” To these fair ones Knox
applies some pretty rough epithets.
The French now made a sally, stripped all the
110
without any prospect of a termination, though
Elizabeth continued to send more men and more
ships ; but the garrison were reduced to such dire
extremities that for food they were compelled to
shoot and eat all the horses of the. officers and
gens Zurmes. Yet they endured their privations
with true French sung froid, vowing never to surrender
while a horse was left, <‘their officers exhibiting
that politeness in the science of gastronomy
which is recorded of the Margchal Strozzi, whose
maifre de cuisine maintained his master‘s table with
twelve covers every day, although he had nothing
better to set upon it now and then except the
quarter of a carrion horse, dressed with the grass
and weeds that grew upon the ramparts.”
The discovery, a few years ago, of an ancient
well filled to its brim with cart-loads of horses’
heads, near the head of the Links, was a singular
but expressive monument of the resolution with
which the town was defended
The unfortunate Queen Regent did not live to
see the end of these affairs. She was sinking
fast. She had contemplated retiring to France,
and had a commission executed at Blois by Francis](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v5p188.gif "Volume 5 Page 177")
... REPULSE OF THE ENGLISH AND SCOTS. I77
Cornelle, Shelly, Littleton, Southworthe, and nine
other officers, ...
Vol. 5 p. 177 (Rel. 0.17)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Moultray’s Hill.
+
CHAPTER XLVII.
MOULTRAY’S HILL-HER MAJESTY’S GENERAL ...
Vol. 2 p. 364 (Rel. 0.16)
![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. 0.16)
... INDEX.
Christ’s Church at the Tron, I. 187
Christ‘s Church. Castle Hill. I. 82
Chrystie ...
Vol. 6 p. 373 (Rel. 0.16)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [High Street.
OF the house of Provost Nicol Edward (or Udward,
to which we have ...
Vol. 2 p. 246 (Rel. 0.16)
... ST. LEONARD’S CHAPEL. 383
entirely to act as barbers. In consequence, the
council, on the 26th ...
Vol. 2 p. 383 (Rel. 0.16)
... creature were chained in '{the good old may be imagined.
times " romancists write so glibly of. ...
Vol. 1 p. 71 (Rel. 0.16)
![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. ...
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... directly at the south-eastern base of Arthur's
Seat, and has long'been one of the daily ...
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... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [New Tom.
- ~~~~ ~ ~
Cockburn, the former spoke thus affectionately
.of the High ...
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... OLD AKD NEW EDINBURGH, [Leith.
1596-7. In 1578 an Act of Parliament was passed
to prevent “ the taking away ...
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... V
CHAPTER XV.
T H E CALTON H I L L .
e .
?AGS
Origin of the Name-Ghbet and Battery them-The Quarry ...
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... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [St. Giles's Church.
establishment, and Maitland gives us a roll of the
forty ...
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... of reptiles. “ Thus was dissipated the illusion,
founded on the Burdiehouse fossils, that saurian
. ...
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![THE MESSRS, NELSON. 355 The Meadows.]
G. H., cut in wood, remained in Several parts of the
l?ouse. The Rev. Dr. Steven, gpvernor of the
hospital, presented a coloured drawing of the house
to the Messrs. Nelson, as “the country residence
of the founder of the hospital.” It perished in the
fire of 1878, but another is preserved.
The house was also, about 1800, the abode of an
aged lady, well known to those of Jacobite proclivities
in Edinburgh, Mrs. Hannah Robertson, an
alleged grand-daughter of Charles II., and whose
sister was ancestress of the Mercers of Gorthy.
She died in 1808.
The well-known firm of the Messrs. Nelson and
Sons was originally established by the late Mr.
Thomas Nelson, whose first business premises were
in a small corner shop at the head of the West Bow,
only lately removed, where he published cheap
editions of the “ Scots Worthies,” Baxter’s “Saints’
Rest,” and similar works; but it was not until
his sons entered the business that the work of the
firm was placed upon a wider basis.
Mr. Nelson was born at a village called Throsk,
near Stirling, in 1780. When twenty years of age
he went to London, and after experiencing his own
share of difficulties, familiar to young men in
pushing their way in the world, he at last entered
the service of a publishing house in Paternoster
Row. This determined the course of his career.
One of his early associates in London was the late
Mr. Kejly, publisher, afterwards raised to the Lord
Mayor’s chair. Mr. Nelson had begun by this time
to show that love for the standard works of the old
theological school which characterised him in afteI
iife. He remained for some years in London, and
then came to Edinburgh, where he soon signalized
himself as a publisher.
Cheap issues are a common feature of the
publishing trade of the country now, but it was
otherwise in the beginning of the century, and he
was among the first to introduce the new order 01
things by the publication of works like those ol
Paley, Leighton, Romaine, Newton, and many
ithers.
For several years in the latter part of his life
le was more or less of an invalid. He died, at the
ige of eighty, on the 23rd of March, 1861. He
.ies buried in Edinburgh in the Grange cemetery,
iext to the grave of Hugh Miller.
The Messrs. Nelsons’ range of offices at Hope
Park were on a scale surpassing any similar place
2f business in Edinburgh, as it consisted of three
:onjoined blocks of neat and plain design, forming
as many sides of a square. In the main building
were three floors, and machinery was used
wherever it was available, and by means of that
and an admirably organised system of the division
of labour, the amount of literary work turned out
was enormous. The process of stereotyping, which
was invented by Mr. William Ged, a goldsmith in
Edinburgh, and has been brought to the highest
perfection in the place of its birth, was here greatly
in practice. By 1870 the Messrs. Nelson employed
fully 600 workpeople, the half of whom were young
women, and on theii own premises they manufactured
all the inks used in printing, and the varnishes
for bookbinding.
The whole of their extensive premises were destroyed
by a calamitous fire, after which the Messrs.
Nelson erected new offices and workshops upon
several acres of land, known as Parkside, with a
fine frontage to the old Dalkeith Road, south of
“The Castle of Clouts,” and near what was called
of old the Gibbet TolL
Erected by the Messrs. Nelson in 1881, two
handsome pillars, surmounted respectively by
the Unicorn and Lion, now ornament the entrance
to the Melville Drive at the east end of the
Meadows. These pillars stand near the site of
their former premises, and were erected as a gift to
the city, in commemoration of the kindness and
sympathy shown to tkm by the magistrates at the
time of the great fire.
CHAPTER XLII.
LAURISTON.
The New University B u i l d h ~ l ’ h c Estimates and Accommodation-George Watson’s Hospital-Founded-Opened and Sold--The New
Infirmary-Its Capabilities for Accommodation-Simpwn Memorial Hospital-Sick C h i l M s Hospital-Mberdust Maiden Haspitai-
Watson’s SchoobIauriston United Resbyterian Church-St. Catharine’s Convent.
IN the district of Lauriston we find quite a cluster
of charitable institutions ; but before treating of the
more ancient one-Heriot’s Hospital-we shall
describe those edifices which lie between the street
and the northern walk of the Meadows
In the city map of 1787, after Watson’s Hospital,](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v4p175.gif "Volume 4 Page 355")
... MESSRS, NELSON. 355 The Meadows.]
G. H., cut in wood, remained in Several parts of the
l?ouse. The Rev. Dr. ...
Vol. 4 p. 355 (Rel. 0.15)
... 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. 0.15)
... 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. 0.15)
... but by a sort of fatuity, often evinced
by persons similarly situated, he gave clues to his
own ...
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... AND NEW EDINBURGH.
- -- 314
has been erected by the duke near it, at the foot of
the Granton ...
Vol. 6 p. 314 (Rel. 0.15)
![Newhaven.] “OUR LADY’S PORT OF GRACE.” 295
1815 it was changed to a revolving light, as at
present. Its elevation is 235 feet above the waterline.
On the 1st October, 1835, thereflecting light was
discontinued, and a dioptric light was put in its
place, It consists of seven annular lenses, which
circulate round a great lamp having three concentric
wicks and produce brilliant flashes once in
every minute, and of five rows of curved mirrors,
which, being fixed, serve to prolong the duration
of the flashes from the lenses. The appearance of
the new light does not, therefore, differ materially
from that of the old one-save that the flashes
which recur at the same periods, are considerably
more brilliant, and of shorter duration. In clear
weather the light is not totally eclipsed between
the flashes at a distance of four or five miles, and
it is visible at the distance of eighteen nautical
miles. . The expense of this lighthouse in 1839 was
The old light of 1803~ with all its apparatus, was
purchased by the Government of Newfoundland,
and is still in use on Cape Spear, near the Narrows
of St. John.
A467 14s. sd.
C H A P T E R XXV.
NEWHAVEN.
Cobbett on Edinburgh-Jam- IV.5 Dockyard -Hi Gift or Newhaven to Edinburgh-The Gnat Mick&Embarkation of Mary of G b
Works at Newhaven in the Sixteenth Century-The L i V k u n t Newhaven-The Feud with Preston-The Sea Fencibles-
Chain Pier-Dr. Fairbairn-The Fishwives-Superstitions.
IT may not be uninteresting to quote, the ideas
entertained of Edinburgh by an English visitor in
the first years of the nineteenth century, as he was
-in his time-considered a typical John Bull,
I now come back to this delightful and beautiful
city,” wrote William Cobbett in his RegWr.
I thought Bristol, taking in its heights and Clifton
with its rocks and river, was the finest city in the
world; but it is nothing to Edinburgh, with its
castle, its hills, its pretty little seaport detached
from it, its vale of rich land lying all around, its
lofty hills in the background, its views across the
Firth. I think little of its streets and its rows of
fine houses, though all built of stone, and though
everything in London and Bath is begary to these ;
I thing nothing of Holyrood House ; but I think a
great deal of the fine and well-ordered streets of
shops ; of the regularity which you perceive everywhere
in the management of business ; and I think
still more of the absence of that foppishness and
that affectation of carelessness and insolent assumption
of superiority in almost all the young men you
meet in the fashionable parts of the great towns in
England. I was not disappointed, for I expected
to find Edinburgh the finest city in the kingdom. . . . The people, however, still exceed the
place; here all is civility; you do not meet with
rudeness, or with the want of disposition to oblige,
even in the persons of the lowest state of life. A
fiend took me round the environs of the city ; he
had a turnpike ticket, received at the first gate,
which cleared five or six gates. It was sufficient
for him to tell the gate-keepers that he had it.
When I saw that, I said to myself, ‘Nota bene:
gate keepers take people’s wordin Scotland,’ a thing
I have not seen before since I left Long Island.”
Now its seaport is no longer (‘ detached,” but has
become an integral part of Edinburgh, and all the
vale of rich land” between it and the Forth to
Granton, Trinity, and Newhaven, is covered by a
network of fine roads and avenues, bordered by
handsome villas.
Newhaven now conjoined to Leith, and long
deemed only a considerable fishing village, lies two
miles north of Princes Street, and yet consists
chiefly of the ancient village \;hich is situated,
quoad civilia, in the parish of North Leith, and
whose inhabitants are still noted as a distinct community,
rarely intermarrying with any other class.
The male inhabitants are almost entirely fishermen,
and the women are employed in selling the produce
of their husbands’ industry in the streets of the city
and suburbs. Intermarriage seems to produce
among them a peculiar cast of countenance and
physical constitution. The women, inured to outdoor
daily labour in all weathers, are robust, active,
and remarkable for their florid complexions, healthy
figures, and regular features, as for the singularity of
their costume.
In the fifteenth century this village was designated
“ Our Lady’s Port of Grace,” from a chapel dedicated
to the Virgin Mary and St. James, some
portions of which still exist in the ancient or
unused burial-ground of the centre of the village.
The nearly entire west gable, with a square window
in it, can still be seen in the Vennel, a narrow](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v6p114.gif "Volume 6 Page 295")
... “OUR LADY’S PORT OF GRACE.” 295
1815 it was changed to a revolving light, as at
present. Its ...
Vol. 6 p. 295 (Rel. 0.15)
... 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. 0.15)
![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. 0.15)
... 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. 0.14)
![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. 0.14)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Canongate
4‘ History of Music j ” Dr. Gregory ; David Xllan ;
Lord Cromarty; and ...
Vol. 3 p. 30 (Rel. 0.14)
... OLD AYD NEW EDINBURGH. [The Lawnmarket.
Duke of York and Mrs. Mary Anne Clarke made
some noise in London ...
Vol. 1 p. 102 (Rel. 0.14)
... 283, 335, 343 343
III, 140; dew of, II. 169
vanous buildings in, 11. 172; it!
early residents, 11. ...
Vol. 6 p. 389 (Rel. 0.14)
... ROMAN AND OTUER ANTIQUITIES. 331
locality; But the ‘‘ Old Statistical Account ” has
the following ...
Vol. 6 p. 331 (Rel. 0.14)
... AND NEW EDINBUKGH. [I eith.
and Mary, constituting their uncle, Rend, Marquis
dElbeuf, Regent of Scotland. ...
Vol. 5 p. 178 (Rel. 0.14)
![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. 0.14)
... 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. 0.14)
![Broughton Street.] THE CALEDONIAN THEATRE. 179
was the band of the 78th, where hung the shields
of Picton and Achmuty, and a brilliant star, with
the mottoes Assnye and Mnida. “Under this
orchestra was a beautiful transparency, representing
an old Scotsman with his bonnet, giving a
hearty welcome to two soldiers of the 42nd and
78th regiments, while a bonny lassie is peeping out
from a cottage door; the background formed a
landscape, with Edinburgh Castle in the distance.”
At eleven o’clock came famous old Neil Gow,
with his band of violins, and the ball-which was
long remembered in Edinburgh-began.
After some time Corri’s Rooms were called the
Pantheon, and in December, 1823, the house was
again opened under the new appellation of the
Caledonian Theatre (which it held for years afterwards),
by Mr. Henry Johnstone, an old Edinburgh
favourite and luckless native of the city.
The papers of the time announce that the dancing
and tumbling of the Pantheon “are superseded;
and, excepting that melodramas are presented in
place of regular tragedies and comedies, the Caledonian
Theatre in no respect difters in the nature
and style of its entertainments from the regular
theatre.” One of the first pieces brought out was
The. Orphan of Geneva.
“The house is dingy and even dirty,” says the
WeekQIoumaZ for that year, ‘< and very defectively
lighted. This is not at all in harmony with Mr.
Johnstone’s usual enterprise, and calls for amendment.
The name of CaZedonian is perhaps conceived
to be a kind of apology for the clumsy
tartan hangings over some of the boxes; but we
can by no means comprehend why the house was
not re-painted. The visitor cannot fail to be immediately
struck with the contrast of its dingy hue, with
the freshness and beauty of the Theatre Royal.”
Mr. Johnstone’s losses compelled him, after a
time, to relinquish management. He left Edinburgh,
and did not return to it till 1830, when
he played four nights .at the same theatre, then
leased by Mr. Bass. Poor Johnstone, an actor
much admired in London, but every wayunfortunate,
eventually went to America.
The theatre was afterwards called the Adelphi,
and was burned in 1853, during the management
of Mr. R. H. Wyndham. On its site was rebuilt
the Queen’s Theatre and Opera House, under the
same enterprising manager, long one of the greatest
theatrical favourites in Edinburgh ; but this also
was destroyed by fire in 1865, when several lives
were lost by the falling of a wall. By a singular
fatality it was a third time completely gutted by
fire ten years afterwards, but was reconstructed in
the latter part of 1875, and reopened in January,
1876, prior to which Mr. and Mrs. Wyndham had
taken their farewell of the stage and of Edinburgh.
It is a h3ndsome building, with a portico, and is
adorned with medallions of Shakspere, Scott,
Molihre, and Goethe. Although erected within the
walls of the theatre burned on the 6th of February,
1875, it is almost entirely a new building internally,
different from all its predecessors, greatly improved,
and seated for 2,300 persons. The works have
been designed and executed by C. J. Phipps, F.S.A.,
architect of the Gaiety Theatre, London.
Immediately adjoining this theatre-the gable
wall being a mutual one-is St. Mary’s Roman
Catholic chapel, now the pro-cathedral of the
Archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh, whose
residence is in the narrow lane to the northward.
It was built in 1813, from designs by James
Gillespie Graham, architect, at the expense of
iE;8,ooo. In the original elevations more omament
was introduced than it was found there were
funds to execute, as these were chiefly raised by
subscription among the Catholics of Edinburgh,
then a small, and still a poor, congregation. The
dimensions of this edifice within the walls are
IIO feet by 57. The eastern front, in which is
the entrance, is ornamented by two central pinnacles
70 feet high, and the adoption of the Gothic
style in this small chapel jirst led to the adoption
of a similar style in various other re!igious edifices
since erected in the city. It possesses a very good
organ, and above the altar is a fine painting of the
Saviour dead. It was presented to the church by
Miss Chalmers, daughter of Sir G. Chalmers.
Some prelates of the Catholic Church lie buried
before the high altar, among them Bishops
Alexander Cameron and Andrew Carruthers. The
interment of the former excited much interest in
Edinburgh in 1Sz8, the funeral obsequies being in
a style never seen in Scotland since the Reformation,
and also from the general esteem in which
the bishop was held by all. He was born in
1747, and went to the Scottish College at Rome
in 1760, and bore away all the prizes Returning
to Scotland in 1772, he was Missionary Apostolic
in Strathearn till 1780, when he was consecrated
at Madeira, and, succeeding Bishop Hay, had re
sided permanently in Edinburgh since 1806.](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v3p191.gif "Volume 3 Page 179")
... Street.] THE CALEDONIAN THEATRE. 179
was the band of the 78th, where hung the shields
of Picton and ...
Vol. 3 p. 179 (Rel. 0.14)
![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. 0.14)
![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. 0.14)
![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. 0.14)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Hope Park.
British House of Lords, would have left the fortress
of honours and of ...
Vol. 4 p. 350 (Rel. 0.14)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [High Stmt.
were also struck some very small copper coins
called pennies, worth ...
Vol. 2 p. 270 (Rel. 0.14)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [The Inch.
CHAPTER XL.
THE ENVIRONS OF EDINBURGH (continued).
The Inch Honse-The ...
Vol. 6 p. 338 (Rel. 0.14)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Parliament House.
the old High School in 1659, and studying law
at Leyden, became a ...
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... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. Holyrood.
Wllliam, who had property in Broughton, after his
death, none bore even ...
Vol. 3 p. 50 (Rel. 0.14)
... lock was placed upon it for the same purpose.
In 1647 only three open thoroughfares are shown
OLD AND ...
Vol. 3 p. 17 (Rel. 0.14)
... the two boys to him, he upbraided
them with their informing upon him, and told them
that they must ...
Vol. 3 p. 183 (Rel. 0.14)
... HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE ISLAND. 29T
~~~~~ ~ ~~
land harbour, was repulsed in an attempt upon
St. ...
Vol. 6 p. 291 (Rel. 0.14)
![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. 0.14)
... and theottadeni, in imitation of their practice,
had adopted the cremation of their dead, yvhile
adhering ...
Vol. 1 p. 11 (Rel. 0.14)
... KATHERINE OSWALD, WITCH. 339
The same Sir John seems to have possessed
property in East Lothian.
In ...
Vol. 6 p. 339 (Rel. 0.14)
... New Haileal LORI) HAILES.
made condemnation seem just as the doom of
Providence to the criminals themselves, ...
Vol. 6 p. 367 (Rel. 0.14)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Leith
for many generations an ancient and lofty signaltower,
the summit of which was ...
Vol. 6 p. 228 (Rel. 0.14)
... I0 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Claigcrook.
perhaps to raise the printing trade in Edinburgh to
the high position it ...
Vol. 5 p. 110 (Rel. 0.14)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Leith.
.%dim, or ‘‘ Miscellaneous Papers relating tc
Scottish Affairs ’’ ...
Vol. 6 p. 262 (Rel. 0.14)
... 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. 0.14)
![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. 0.14)
![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. 0.14)
... Mary’s Wynd.1 THE “ WHITE HORSE” INN. 299
long dwelt the celebrated artistic decorator of
many of the ...
Vol. 2 p. 299 (Rel. 0.14)
![The Old High School.] RECTORS AND TEACHERS, 291
, in use to teach in those mornings and forenoons.
And considering that the ordinary Latin rudiments
in use to be taught children at their beginning to
the Latin tongue is difficult and hard for beginners,
and that Wedderburn’s Rudiments are more plain
and easy, the Council ordain the said masters in
time coming, to teach and begin their scholars with
Wedderburn’s Rudiments in place of the Latin
Rudiments in use as taught formerly. Ro. CHIESLIE,
Provost.’’
David Wedderburn, whose work is thus referred
to, was born about 1570, and was the accomplished
author of many learned works, and died, it is supposed,
about 1644, soon after the publication of
his ‘‘ Centuria Tertia.”
In 1699 A40 Scots was voted by the magistrates
to procure books as a reward for the best scholars,
and when the century closed the institution was in
a most creditable condition, and they-as patrons
-declared that ‘‘ not a few persons that are now
eminent for piety and learning, both in Church and
State, had been educated there.”
In the year I 7 I 6 there was an outbreak among
the scholars for some reason now unknown ; but
they seem to have conducted themselves in an outrageous
manner, demolishing every pane of glass
in the school, and also of Lady Yester’s church,
levelling to the earth even the solid stone wall
which enclosed the school-yard. About this time
the janitor of the institution was David Malloch, a
man distinguished in after life as author of the
beautiful ballad of “ William and Margaret,” a poet
and miscellaneous writer, and under-secretary to the
Prince of Wales in 1733; to please the English
ear, he changed his name to Mallet, and became
an avowed infidel, and a venal author of the worst
description. Dr. Steven refers to his receipt as
being extant, dated 2nd February, 1718, “for
sixteen shillings and eight pence sterling, being his
full salary for the preceding half-year. That was
the exact period he held the office.”
In 1736 we again hear of the BZeis-siher, cca
profitable relic of popery, which it seemed difficult
to relinquish.” Heartburnings had arisen because
it had become doubtful in what way the Candlemas
offerings should be apportioned between the rector
and masters; thus, on the 28th January in that
year, the Council resolved that the rector himself,
and no other, shall collect, not only his own quarterly
fees, but also the fee of one shilling from
each scholar in the other classes. The Council
also transferred the right from the master of the
third, to the mzster of the first elementary class,
to demand a shilling quarterly from each pupil in
the rector’s class; and declared that the rector
and four masters should favourably receive from
the scholars themselves whatever benevolence or
Candlemas offerings might be presented.”
Thomas Ruddiman, the eminent grammarian and
scholar, who was born at Boyndie in 1674 and
who in 1724 began to vary his great literary
undertakings by printing the ancient Cdedonian
Mercqv, about I 737 established-together with
the rector, the masters, and thirty-one other persons-
a species of provident association for their
own benefit and that of their widows and children,
and adopting as the title of the society, “The
Company of the Professors and Teachers of the
liberal arts and sciences, or any branch or part
thereof, in the City of Edinburgh and dependencies
thereof.”
The co-partners were all taxed equally; but
owing to inequalities in the yearly contributions, a
dissolution nearly took place after an existence of
fifty years; but the association rallied, and stcl
exists in a flourishing condition.
One of the most popular masters in the early
part of the eighteenth century was Mr. James
Barclay, who was appointed in June, 1742, and
whose experience as a teacher, attainments, and
character, caused him to be remembered by his
scholars long after his removal to Dalkeith, where
he died in 1765.
When Henry Mackenzie, author of the ‘‘ Man of
Feeling,” was verging on his eightieth year, he
contributed to Dr. Steven’s CL History,” his reminiscences
of the school in his own early years,
between 1752 and 1757, which we are tempted to
quote at length :-
“Rector Lees, a very respectable, grave, and
gentlemanlike man, father or uncle, I am not sure
which, of Lees, the Secretary for Ireland. He
maintained great dignity, treating the other masters
somewhat de had a bar; severe, and rather too
intolerant of dulness, but kind to more promising
talents. It will not be thought vanity, I trust-for
I speak with the sincerity and correctness of a
third person-when I say that I was rather a
favourite with him, and used for several years after
he resigned his office to drink tea with him at his
house in a large land or building at the country
end of the suburb called Pleasance, built by one
Hunter, a tailor, whence it got the name of
‘ Hunter‘s Folly,’ or the Castle 0’ Clouts.’
cc MAsrERs continued-Ersf, or youngest class,
when I was put to school, Farquhar, a native of
Banffshire, cousin-german of Farquhar, author of
admired-and indeed t h q may be called admirable-
sermons, and of Mr. Farquhar, the Vicar of
Hayes, a sort of Parson Adams,’ a favourite ot](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v4p111.gif "Volume 4 Page 291")
... Old High School.] RECTORS AND TEACHERS, 291
, in use to teach in those mornings and forenoons.
And ...
Vol. 4 p. 291 (Rel. 0.14)
![2 1 9 Fountainbridge.] INDIA-RUBBER COMPANY.
flesher would venture to kill any beast till all the
different parts were bespoke, butcher meat being
then a very unsaleable article.”
At the southern extremity of Fountainbridge
stood, till within the last few years, an antique villa,
a little way back from the road, named Bainfield,
for years the residence of an old and well-known
citizen, Bain Whyt, a W.S. of I 789, who was senior
lieutenant and afterwards adjutant of the First
Edinburgh Volunteers formed in 1794, and who
is still remembered in Edinburgh as the founder
of the Wagering Club in 1775. Yearly, on the
night of the 30th January, the members of this
club meet and solemnly drink to the memory
of ‘‘ Old Bain Whyt,” in whose honour songs are
occasionally sung, the character of which may be
gathered from the following two verses of one sung
at the ninetieth anniversary :-
‘‘ Come all ye jolly wagerers, and listen unto me,
And I will sing a little song, composed in memorie
Of the fine old Scottish gentleman, who in 1775,
Did plant the tree that still we see, right hearty and
alive.
Chorus-Right hearty and alive,
In this its ninetieth year !
With mirth and hearty cheer !
‘Ihen drink to-night, to old Bain Whyt,
6‘ When haughty Gaul did fiercely crow and threaten swcird
Bain Whyt among the foremost rose to guard our native
A soldier good, full armed he stood, for home and
The pattern of a Ioyal man, a British volunteer !
in hand,
land ;
country dear,
Chorus-A British volunteer,
And an adjutant was he !
To him with three times three ! ”
Then fill the cup, and quaff it up,
The wagers, for small sums, a bottle of wine, a
dinner, perhaps, are made on the probable course
of current public events. They are then noted and
sealed up, to be opened and read from the chair
that night twelvemonth-the club holding no meetings
in the interim ; and the actual results are often
so far wide of all human speculation as to excite
both amusement and interest.
North of Bainfield, in what is still called Gilmore
Park, are two of the largest and finest manufactories
of India-rubber in the world, and the operations
conducted therein illustrate most ably the
nature and capabilities of caoutchouc. They stand
near each other on the western bank of the Union
Canal, and belong respectively to the North British
Rubber Company, and the Scottish Vulcanite
Company.
In 1855 an enterprising American brought to
Edinburgh the necessary capital and machinery
for an India-rubber manufactory, and acquired
possession of a great quadrangular block of fine
buildings, known as the Castle Silk Mills, which
had long been vacant, the projectors having failed
in their expectations. This edifice consists of two
large blocks of five floors each, with a number of
adjacent buildings.
Here the India-rubber arrives in different forms,
according to the fashion of the countries that produce
it, some shaped like quaint bottles, and some
in balls, of five inches diameter, and it is carefully
examined with a view to the detection of foreign
substances before it is subjected to the processes of
manufacture. After being softened in hot water,
the balls are crushed into thin pieces between
cylinders, the rubber being sent through and
through again and again, until it is thoroughly
crushed and assumes the form of a web. If further
reduction is necessary, it is sent through a third
set of rollers, and to rid it completely of foreign
matter, leaves or bark, &c., washing and cleansing
machines are employed. So adhesive is its nature,
that cleansing would prove abortive in a dry state,
and consequently jets of water flow constantly on
the rubber and cylinders when the machines referred
to are in operation. After being thus
cleansed, the webs are hung in the warm atmosphere
of the drying-room for several weeks.
From thence they are taken to ‘‘ the mill,” which
occupies two entire floors of the main building.
The grinding machines; to the operation af which
the rubber is subjected, consist of two cylinders,
one of which is moderately heated by steam, and
the webs formed by the washing-machines are kept
revolving round and round the cylinders, until the
material becomes quite plastic. At this stage, sulphur,
or other chemical substances, are incorporated
with it, to determinate its ultimate character, and it
is then made up into seven or eight pound rolls,
while all further treatment depends upon the purpose
to which it is to be applied.
Great is the variety of goods produced here.
One of the upper floors is occupied by shoemakers
alone. There boots and shoes of all sizes are
made, but more especially the goloshes for wearing
over them; another floor is occupied by the makers
of coats, leggings, cushions, bags, and so forth. The ‘
light-coloured coats foi India are the finest articles
made here.
The North British Rubber Company have paid
much attention to that department which includes
the manufacture of mbes, springs, washers, drivingbelts,
tires for wheels, &c They made the latter
for the wheels of the road steamer invented by
Rfr. R W. Thomson, of Edinburgh-huge rings of](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v4p039.gif "Volume 4 Page 219")
... 1 9 Fountainbridge.] INDIA-RUBBER COMPANY.
flesher would venture to kill any beast till all the
different parts ...
Vol. 4 p. 219 (Rel. 0.14)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [High Street.
style, with many ornate gables, dormer windows,
%ut was a second time ...
Vol. 2 p. 282 (Rel. 0.14)
... OLD AKD NEW EDINBURGH. [The Mound
and ten elders, of whom five shall retire ‘by
rotation from year to year, ...
Vol. 3 p. 98 (Rel. 0.14)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Leith
helmet, now preserved in the Antiquarian Museum
-and the entrance gate or ...
Vol. 6 p. 258 (Rel. 0.14)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Hawthornden.
walls seven feet thick, and the remains of a banqueting-
hall with large ...
Vol. 6 p. 354 (Rel. 0.14)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Iauwade
families of note. Philip became sheriff of the
Mearns, and ancestor of the ...
Vol. 6 p. 362 (Rel. 0.14)
![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. 0.14)
![North Bridge.] ADAM BLACK. 339
removal in 1850 to a handsome and more spacious
.one, built in a kind of old Scoto-English style of
.architecture, an the opposite side, and on the site
of a portion of Halkerston’s Wynd, and numbered
as 6 in the street, the establishment of the old and
well-known firm of publishers, Adam and Charles
Black. The former, long a leading citizen, magistrate,
and member of the city, was born in 1784,
.and died on the 24th of January, 1874.
Educated at the High School and University of
his native city Edinburgh, though but the son of a
humble builder, Adam Black raised himself to affluuence,
and is said to have more than once declined
the honour of knighthood. After serving his apprenticeship,
he started in business as a bookseller,
and among other important works brought out the
“ Encyclopzedia Britannica,” under the joint conduct
of Professor Macvey Napier and James
Browne, LL.D.; and to this his own pen contributed
many articles. From the beginning of his
career he took an active part in the politics of the
city, and in the early part of the present century was
among the boldest of the slender band of Liberals
who stood up for burgh reform, as the preliminary
to the great measure of a Parliamentary one.
When the other wel!-known firm of constable
and Co. failed, the publication of The Edinburgh
Revim passed into the hands of Adam Black, and
thus drew the Liberal party more closely by his
side. He was Provost of the city from 1843 to
1848, and filled his trust so much to the satisfaction
of the citizens, that they subscribed to have
his portrait painted to ornament the walls of the
Council Room. He was proprietor, by purchase,
of the copyright of ‘‘ The Waverley Novels,” and
many other works by Sir Walter Scott. It was
when he was beyond his seventieth year that he
was returned to the House of Commons as member
. for the city, in succession to Lord Macaulay ; and
being a member of the Independent body, he
was ever an advocate for unsechrian education,
absolute freedom of trade, and the most complete
toleration in religion; but the cradle of his fortunes
was that little shop which till 1821 was, as
we said, deemed ample enough for the postal
establishment and requirements of all Scotland.
The new buildings along the west side of the
North Bridge, from Princes Street to the first open
arch, were erected between 1817 and 1819, with a
Tange of shops then deemed magnificent, but far
outshone by hundreds erected since in their vicinity,
These buildings are twice the height in rear that
they are to the bridge front, and their erection
intercepted a grand view from Waterloo Place
south-westward to the Castle, and thus roused a
spirited, but, as it eventually proved, futile resistance,
on the part of Cockburn and Cranston, Professor
Playfair, Henry Mackenzie, James Stuart of
Dunearn, and others, who spent about &I,OOO in
the work of opposition.
Their erection led to the demolition of a small
edificed thoroughfare named Ann Street, which
once contained the house of a well-known literary
citizen, John Grieve, who gave free quarters to
James Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd, when the latter
arrived in Edinburgh in 1810, and published a
little volume of poems entitled “The Forest Mintrel,”
from which he derived no pecuniary benefit.
Poverty was pressing sorely on Hogg, “but,” says
a biographer, “he found kind and steady friends in
Messrs. Grieve and Scott, hatters, whose welltimed
benevolence supplied all his wants.”
While he was still in obscurity, John Grieve
obtained him introductions to Professor Wilson
and other local literati, which ultimately led to his
becoming a contributor to BZackwood’s Magazine.
Mr. Grieve is referred to in the quarrel between
the Shepherd and the Blackwoods concerning the
famous Nocft-s Ambrosiana ’ He ceased to contribute,
whereupon Wilson wrote thus to Grieve on
the subject :-
“If Mr. Hogg puts his return to ‘Maga’ on the
ground that ‘ Maga’ suffers from his absence from
her pages, and that Mr. B. must be very desirous
of his re-assistance, that will be at once a stumblingblock
in the way of settlement ; for Mr. B., whether
rightly or wrongly, will not make, the admission.
No doubt Mr. H.’s articles were often excellent,
and no doubt ‘Noctes’ were very popular, but the
magazine, however much many readers must have
missed Mr. Hogg and the ‘Noctes,’ has been
gradually increasing in sale, and therefore Mr.
B. will never give in to that view of the Subject.
“ Mr. Hogg in his letter to me, and in a long
conversation I had with him in my own house
yesterday after dinner, sticks to his proposaf of LIOO settled on him, on condition of writing,
and becoming again the hero of the ‘Noctes’ as
before. I see many difficulties in the way of such
an arrangement, and I know that Mr. Blackwood
will never agree to it in any shape, for it might
eventually prove degrading and disgraceful to both
parties, appearing to the public to be a bribe given
and taken dishonourably.”
“My father,” adds Mrs. Gordon, whose life of
the Professor we quote, “never wrote another
‘Noctes ’ after the Shepherd‘s death, which took
place in 1835.”
In consequence of tie increase of populatibn
and traffic by its vicinity to the railway termini,](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v2p159.gif "Volume 2 Page 339")
... Bridge.] ADAM BLACK. 339
removal in 1850 to a handsome and more spacious
.one, built in a kind of old ...
Vol. 2 p. 339 (Rel. 0.14)
![Newhaven.] REV. DR. FAIRBAIRN. 303
In 1820 there were landed at the old stone
pier of Newhaven, John Baud and fourteen other
prisoners, ‘f Radicals ” who had been taken after
the skirmish at Bonny Bridge, by the 10th Hussars
and the Stirlingshire yeomanry. They had been
brought by water from the castle of Stirling, and
were conveyed to gaol from Newhaven in six carriages,
escorted by a macer of justiciary, and the
detachment of a Veteran Battalion.
In the following year, and while railways were
still in the womb of the future, the Scots Magazine
announces, that a gentleman who had left
Belfast on a Thursday, “reached Glasgow the
same evening, and embarked on board the Tounit
(steamer) at Newhaven on Friday, and arrived at
Aberdeen that night. Had such an event been
predicted fifty years ago, it would have been as
easy to make people believe that this journey would
have been accomplished by means of a balloon.”
About five hundred yards westward oi the stone
pier, a chain pier was constructed in the year 1821,
by Captain (afterwards Sir Samuel) Brown, of the
Royal Navy, at the cost of A4,ooo. It is five
hundred feet long, four feet wide, has a depth
at low water of from five to six feet, and served
for the use of the steam packets to Stirling,
Queensferry, and other places above and below
Leith; yet, being unable to offer accommodation for
the bulky steam vessels that frequent the harbour
of the latter or that of Granton, it is now chiefly
used by bathers, and is the head-quarters of the
Forth swimming club.
It was opened on the 14th of October, ISzr,
and was afterwards tested by a weight of twentyone
tons placed upon the different points of
suspension. In 1840 it became the property of
the Alloa Steam Packet Company.
In 1838 Newhaven was erected into a quoad
sma parish, by the aathority of the Presbytery .of
Edinburgh, when a handsome church was erected
for the use of the community, from a design by
John Henderson of Edinburgh.
Near it, in Main Street, is the Free Church,
designed in good Gothic style by James A. Hamilton
of Edinburgh, an elegant feature in the locality,
but chiefly remarkable for the ministry of the late
Rev. Dr. Fairbairn, who died in January, 1879-
a man who came of a notable race, as the wellknown
engineers of the same name were his
cousins, as was also Principal Fairbairn of Glasgow.
He was ordained minister at Newhaven in 1838.
The great majority of his congregation were fishermen
and their families, who were always keenly
sensible of the mode in which he prayed for those
who were exposed to the dangers of the deep.
During his long pastorate these prayers were.a
striking feature in his ministrations, and Charles
Reade, while residing in the neighbourhood, frequently
attended Newhaven Free Church, and has,
in his novel of “ Christie Johnstone,” given a lifelike
portrait of his demeanour when administering
consolation, after a case of drowning.
Perhaps the most useful of thii amiable old
pastor’s philanthropic schemes was that of the
reconstruction of the Newhaven fishing fleet. He
perceived early that the boats in use were wholly
unsuited for modem requirements, and some years
before his death he propounded a plan for replacing
them by others having decks, bunks, and
other compartments. As soon as a crew came forward
with a portion of the money required, Dr. Fairbairn
had no difficulty in getting the remainder
advanced. Thirty-three large new boats, each
costing about Lzso, with as much more for fishing
gear, were the result of his kindly labours. They
have all been prosperous, and hundreds of the
inhabitants of Newhaven, when they stood around
his grave, remembered what they owed to the
large-hearted and prudent benevolence of this old
ministei.
In 1864 a local committee was appointed for
the purpose of erecting a breakwater on the west
side of the present pier, so as to form a harbour
for the fishing craft. Plans and specifications
were prepared by Messrs. Stevenson, engineers,
Edinburgh, and the work was estimated at the
probable cost of L;~,OOO ; and while soliciting aid
from the Board of Fisheries, the Board of Trade,
and the ,magistrates of Edinburgh, the fishermen
honourably and promptly volunteered to convey ’
all the stonework necessary in their boats or otherwise
from the quarry at‘ Qleensferry.
The fishermen of Newhaven rarely intermany
With the women of other fisher communities ; and
a woman of any other class, unacquainted with the
cobbling of nets, baiting and preparation of lines,
the occasional use of a tiller or oar, would be useless
as a fisherman’s wife; hence their continued
intermarriages cause no small confusion in the
nomenclature of this remarkable set of people.
The peculiar melodious and beautiful cry of the
Newhaven oyster-woman-the last of the quaint
old Edinburgh street cries-is well known ; and so
also is their costume ; yet, as in time it may become
a thing of the past, we may give a brief description
of it here. “A cap of linen or cotton,’J says a
writer in Chambers’s EdinQurgh Journal, ‘‘ surmounted
by a stout napkin tied below the chin,
composes the investiture of the hood ; the showy
structures wherewith other females are adorned
,
.](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v6p122.gif "Volume 6 Page 303")
... REV. DR. FAIRBAIRN. 303
In 1820 there were landed at the old stone
pier of Newhaven, John Baud and ...
Vol. 6 p. 303 (Rel. 0.14)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Ravelston.
shady with wood, strikes from the Murrayfield Road
northward past the ...
Vol. 5 p. 106 (Rel. 0.14)
... Luckenbooths
James VI., but no memories of him now remain,
save the alley called Byres’ Close, and his ...
Vol. 1 p. 154 (Rel. 0.14)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [High Street.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
THE HIGH STREET-(continued).
“The Salamander Land ...
Vol. 2 p. 242 (Rel. 0.14)
... 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. 0.14)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Roslin
minute decorations of the latest species of the
Tudor age. It is impossible to ...
Vol. 6 p. 350 (Rel. 0.14)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Leith
named themselves the “ Friends of the People,”
were alarming the ...
Vol. 6 p. 278 (Rel. 0.14)
![THE ROYAL INFIRMARY. 299 h6rmary Street]
students to witness surgical operations. The Infirmary
has separate wards for male and female
patients, and a ward which is used as a Lock
hospital ; but even in ordinary periods the building
had become utterly incompetent for the service
of Edinburgh, and during the prevalence of an epidemic
afforded but a mere fraction of the required
accommodation, and hence the erection of its magnificent
successor, to which we shall refer elsewhere.
The Earl of Hopetoun, in 1742, and for the last
twenty-five years of his life, generously contributed
A400 per annum to the institution when it was
young and struggling. In 1750 Dr. Archibald Kerr
of Jamaica bequeathed to it an estate worth
E218 11s. 5d. yearly; and five years afterwards
the Treasury made it a gift of jG8,ooo j yet it has
never met with the support from Government. that
it ought to have done, and which similar institutions
in London receive.
But the institution owed most of its brilliant
success to Lord Provost Drummond. Among his
associates in this good work he had the honoured
members of the Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons
in Edinburgh, ever first in all works of goodness and
charity; and the first Dr. Munro, Professor of
Anatomy, was singularly sanguine of the complete
success of the undertaking.
That portion of the house which was founded by
the Earl of Cromarty was opened for the reception
of patients in December, 1741. The theatre described
was made to serve the purposes also of a
chapel, and twelve cells on the ground floor, for cases
of delirium fremens, being found unnecessary, were
converted into kitchens and larders, &c. The
grounds around the house, consisting of two acres,
and long bounded on- the south by the city wall,
were laid out into grass walks for the convalescents,
and ultimately the house was amply supplied with
water from the city reservoir.
In the years 1743-4 the sick soldiers of the
regiments quartered in the Castle were accommodated
in the Infirmary; and in the stormy
period of the '45 it was of necessity converted into
a great military hospital for the sick and wounded
troops of both armies engaged at Prestonpans and
elsewhere ; and in I 748 the surgeon-apothecaries,
who since 1729 had given all manner of medical
aid gratis, were feed for the first time. Wounded
from our armies in Flanders have been sent there
for treatment.
In 1748, after paying for the site, building,
furniture, &c., the stock of the institution amounted
to &5,00o; and sick patients not wishing to be resident
were invited to apply for advice on Mondays
and Fridays, and were in cases of necessity
admitted as supernumeraries at the rate of 6d. per
day. About this time there was handed over an
Invalid Grant made by Government to the city,
on consideration of sixty beds being retained for
the use of all soldiers who paid 4d. per diem for
accommodation, This sum, &3, 2 70, was fully made
over to the managers, who, for some time afteqfound
themselves called upon to entertain so many military
patients, that a guard had to be mounted on
the house to enforce order; and liberty was obtained
to deposit all dead patients in Lady Yester's
churchyard, on the opposite side of the street.
Hitherto the physicians had, with exemplary
fidelity, attended the patients in rotation j but in
January, 1751, the managers on being empowered
by the general court of contributors, selected Dr.
David Clerk and Dr, Colin Drummond, physicians
in ordinary, paying them the small honorarium of
;E30 annually.
The University made offer to continue its
services, together with those of the ordinary physicians,
which offer was gladly accepted; and
though the practice fell into disuse, they were long
continued in monthly rotation. To the option of
the two ordinary physicians was left the visiting
of the patients conjointly, or by each taking his
own department. "It was their duty to sign the
tickets of admission and dismission. In case of any
unforeseen occurrences or dangerous distemper, the
matron or clerks were permitted to use this authe
rity ; the physicians en their amval, however, were
expected to append their signatures to the tickets.
The good and economy of the house from the first,
induced the managers to appoint two of their
number to visit the institution once every month,
who were enjoined to inquire how far the patients
were contented with their treatment, and to note
what they found inconsistent with the ordinary
regulations : their remarks to be entered in a book
of reports, to come under review at the first meeting
of managers." (" Journal of Antiq.," VoL 11.)
In 1754 some abuses prevailed in the mode of
dispensing medicines to the out-door patients,
detrimental to the finances ; an order was given for
a more judicious and sparing distribution. In the
following pear application was made to the Town
Council, as well as to the Presbytery of the Church,
to raise money at their several churches to provide
a ward for sick servants-which had been found
one of the most useful in the house. From its
first institution the ministers of the city had, in
monthly rotation, conducted the religious services ;
but in the middle of 1756 the managers appointed
aregular chaplain, whose duty it was to preach
every Monday in the theatre for surgical operations.](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v4p119.gif "Volume 4 Page 299")
... ROYAL INFIRMARY. 299 h6rmary Street]
students to witness surgical operations. The Infirmary
has separate ...
Vol. 4 p. 299 (Rel. 0.14)
![The Lawnmarket] DR. JOHNSON. 95
years, his house was rented by Dr. Blair ; but amid
the gaieties of Pans his mind would seem to have
reverted to his Scottish home. “I am sensible
that I am misplaced, and I wish twice or thrice
aday for my easychair, and my retreat in James’s
Court:’ he wrote to his friend Dr. Ferguson;
then he added, as Burton tells us, Never think,
dear Ferguson, that as long as you are master of
your own fireside and your own time, you can be
unhappy, or that any other circumstance can add
to your enjoyment.” “Never put a fire in the
south room with the red paper,” he wrote to Dr.
Blair ; “ it is so warm of itself, that all last winter,
which was a very severe one, I lay with a single
blanket, and frequently, upon coming in at midnight
starving with cold, I have sat down and read for
an hour as if I had a stove in the room.” One
of his most intimate friends and correspondents
while in France was Mrs. Cockburn of Ormiston,
authoress of one of the beautiful songs called U The
Flowers of the Forest,” who died at Edinburgh,
1794. Some of her letters to Hume are dated in
1764, from Baud‘s Close, on .the Castle Hill.
About the year 1766, when still in Paris, he began
to think of settling there, and gave orders to sell
his house in James’s Court, and he was only prevented
from doing so by a mere chance. Leaving
the letter of instruction to be posted by his Parisian
landlord, he set out to pass his Christmas with
the Countess de Boufflers ai L’Isle Adam ; but a
snow storm had blocked up the roads. He returned
to Paris, and finding that his letter had not
yet been posted, he changed his mind, and
thought that he had better retain his flat in James’s
Court, to which he returned in 1766. He soon
after left it as Under-Secretary of State to General
Conway, but in 1769, on the resignation of that
Minister, he returned again to James’s Court, with
what was then deemed opulence-AI,ooo per annuni-
and became the head of that brilliant circle
of literary men who then adorned Edinburgh. “I
am glad to come within sight of you: he wrote to
Adam Smith, then busy with “The Wealth of
Nations” in the quietude of his mother’s house,
$‘ and to have a view of Kirkcaldy from mywindows ;
but I wish also to be on speaking terms with you.”
In another letter he speaks of ‘‘my old house in
James’s Court, which is very cheerful and very
elegant, but too small to display my great talent
for cookery, the science to which I intend to addict
the remaining years of my life.”
Elsewhere we shall find David Hunie in a more
fashionable abode in the new town of Edinburgh,
and on his finally quitting James’s Court, his house
there was leased by Tames Boswell, whose character
is thus summed up by Lord Macaulay :-“ Servile
and impertinent, shallow and pedantic, a bigot and
a sot, bloated with family pride, and eternally blustering
about the dignity of a born gentleman, yet
stooping to be a talebearer, an eavesdropper, a
common butt in the taverns of London ; so curious
to know everybody who was talked about that,
Tory and High Churchman though he was, he
rnanceuvred for an introduction to Tom Paine ; so
vain of the most childish distinctions, that when he
had been to Court he drove to the office where
his book was printing, without changing his clothes,
and summoned all the printer’s devils to admire
his new rufRes and sword. Such was this man,
and such he was content to be.”
He was the eldest son of Alexander Boswell, one
of the Judges of the Court of Session, a sound
scholar, a respectable and useful country gentleman,
an able and upright judge, who, on his
elevation to the Bench, in compliance with the
Scottish custom, assumed the distinctive title of
Lord Auchinleck, from his estate in Ayrshire.
His mother, Eupham Erskine, a descendant of the
line of Alloa, from the House of Mar, was a woman
of exemplary piety. To James’s Court, Boswell,
in -4ugust, 1773, cohducted Dr. Johnson, from the
White Horse Hostel, in ,St. Mary’s Wynd, then
one of the principal inns of Edinburgh, where he
found him storming at the waiter for having sweetened
his lemonade without using the sugar-tongs, ,
~Johnson and I,” says Boswell, walked arm-inarm
up the High Street to my house in James’s
Court, and as we went, he acknowledged that the
breadth of the street and the loftiness of the buildings
on each side made a noble appearance.” “My
wife had tea ready for him,” he adds, ‘‘ ail we sat
chatting till nearly two in the morning.” It would
appear that before the time of the visit-which
lasted over several days-Boswell had removed
into a better and larger mansion, immediately
below and on the level of the court, a somewhat
extraordinary house in its time, as it consisted of
two floors with an internal stair. Mrs. Boswell,
who was Margaret Montgomery, a relation of the
Earl of Eglmton, a gentlewoman of good breeding
and brilliant understanding, was disgusted with the
bearing and manners of Johnson, and expressed
her opinion of him that he was “a great brute !”
And well might she think so, if Macaulay’s description
of him be correct. “He could fast,
but when he did not fast he tore his dinner like
a famished wolf, With the veins swelling in his
forehead, and the perspiration running down his
cheeks; he scarcely ever took wine; but when
he drank it, he drank it greedily and in large
.
.](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v1p111.gif "Volume 1 Page 99")
... Lawnmarket] DR. JOHNSON. 95
years, his house was rented by Dr. Blair ; but amid
the gaieties of Pans his mind ...
Vol. 1 p. 99 (Rel. 0.14)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [High Street.
likely to have arisen. It happened by accident
that the Earl of ...
Vol. 2 p. 210 (Rel. 0.14)
... tradition, and in song. Professor Aytoun
finely reproduces the feeling of anguish in his ...
Vol. 1 p. 38 (Rel. 0.14)
... 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. 0.14)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Leith.
The first volume of the ‘‘ Parochial Records ”
begins in January, 1605, ...
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... AND NEW EDINEURGH. [South Bridge.
. . .~ 374
in 1765, and two ancient thoroughfares, the Wynds
of Marlin and ...
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... West Chum.: MR. ROBER’T PONT. 13x1
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE CHURCH OF ST. CUTHBERT.
Iiirtory and ...
Vol. 3 p. 131 (Rel. 0.14)
![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. 0.14)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [~dpUCd.
proper exertions been made for their repair and
preservation, particularly by ...
Vol. 3 p. 58 (Rel. 0.14)
![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. 0.14)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [North Bridge.
less than eight feet of this loose earth between his
shovels and the ...
Vol. 2 p. 338 (Rel. 0.14)
![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. 0.14)
... 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. 0.14)
... HALL. 319 Riccar&&l
He was at once-for some reasons known at the
time-accused of having ...
Vol. 6 p. 319 (Rel. 0.14)
![Restalrig.] CAPTAIN MACRAE.‘ ‘39
frewshire Sketches, styles “ a Goth who committed
a most barbarous deed by demolishing the great
and splendid castle (of Houston) in 1780, and
applied the stones to the building of a new village
for lappet weavers.”
During his occupation of Marionville, his tastes
and family being gay and fashionable, the house
was the scene of constant festivities and private
theatricals, of which, many such notices appear in
the papers of the time, like the following from the
Advertiser of April, I 7 89 :-
“On Tuesday last, the tragedy of Yen12 Presmed was
performed before a genteel and select company at Mr.
Macrae’s Private Theatre at Marionville. The following
were the principal Dram&> Persane :-
Priuli . . . . Mrs. Hunter.
Pierre . . . . Captain Mackewan.
Jaffier . . , . Mr. Macrae.
Renault . . . Mr. Welwood.
Bedamar , . . Mr. Dowling.
Duke of Venice . . Mr. Justice.
Belvidera . . . Mrs. Macrae.
Mrs. Macrae and
Captain Mackewan, in particular, performed in a style ol
superior excellence.”
The play gave very great satisfaction.
Captain Macrae, in addition to being a man of
fortune, was well-connected, and was a cousin of
that good Earl of Glencairn who was the friend
and patron of Buyns, while through his mother he
was nearly related to Viscount Fermoy and the
famous Sir Boyle Roche. He was a man of a
generous and warm disposition, but possessed a
somewhat lofty and imperious sense of what he
deemed due to the position of a gentleman; and
being yet young, he was about to return to the
army when the catastrophe occurred which caused
his ruin. All allowed him to be a delightful companion,
yet liable to be transported beyond the
bounds of reason at times by trivial matters.
“ Thus,” says Chambers, “ a messenger of the law
having arrested the Rev. Mr. Cunningham, a brother
of the Earl of Glencairn, far debt, as he was passing
with a party from the drawing-room to the
dining-room of Drumsheugh House, Macrae threw
the man over the stairs. He was prompted to this
act by indignation at the affront which he conceived
his cousin, as a gentleman, had received
from a common man. But soon after, when it was
represented to him that every other means of
inducing Mr. Cunningham to settle his debt had
failed, and when he learned that the messenger had
suffered severe injury, he went to him, made him a
hearty apology, and agreed to pay 300 guineas by
way of compensation.”
His wife was Maria Cecilia le Maitre, daughter of
the Baroness Nolken, wife of the Swedish ambassador.
While resident occasionally with her cousin
in Paris M.adame de la Briche, the private theatricals
they saw at her magnificent house in the
Marais led to the reproduction of them at Marionville.
There the husband and wife both took
character parts, and Sir David Kinloch and the Mr.
Justice already mentioned were among their best
male performers ; and often Mrs. Macrae herselc
The chief lady was Mrs. Carruthers, of Dormont,
in Dumfries-shire, a daughter of Paul Sandby, the
eminent artist, and founder of the English school
of water-colour painting, who died in 1809.
Marionville was quite the centre of fashionable
society ; but, manners apart-alternately stately
and rough-how strange to-day seems what was
fashionable then in Edinburgh ! the ladies with
head-dresses so enormous that at times they had to
sit on the carriage floor ; the gentlemen with bright
coloured coats, with tails that reached to their
heels, breeches so tight that to get them on or off
was a vast toil; waistcoats six inches long; large
frilled shirts and stiff cravats ; a watch in each fob,
with a bunch of seals, and wigs with great side
curls, exactly as Kay shows Macrae when in the
act of levelling a pistol.
In the visiting circle at Marionville were Sir
George Ramsay, Bart., of Banff House, and hiq
lady, whose maiden name was Eleanor Fraser, and
they and the Macraes seem to have been very intimate
and warmly attached friends, till a quarrel
arose between the two husbands about a rather
trivial cause.
On the evening of the 7th April, 1790, Captain
Macrae was handing a lady out of the box-lobby
of the old theatre, and endeavoured to get a sedan
for $er conveyance home. Seeing two chairmen
approach with one, he asked if it was disengaged,
and both replied distinctly in the affirmative.
Macrae wasabout to hand the lady into it, a footman
came forward in a violent manner, and seizing one
of the poles insisted that it was engaged for his
mistress, though the latter had gone home some
time before ; but the man, who was partly intoxicated,
knew not that she had done so.
Macrae, irritated by the valet’s manner, gave him
a rap over the knuckles with his cane, to make hini
quit his hold of the pole ; on this the valet called
him a scoundrel, and struck him on the breast.
On being struck over the head, the man became
more noisy and abusive ; Macrae proceeded to
chastise him, on which several bystanders took
part with the valet ; a general brawl seemed about
to ensue; another chair was got for the terrified
lady, and she was carried away. The details of
this brawl are given in the “ Life of Peter Bumef
’
As -](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v5p150.gif "Volume 5 Page 139")
... CAPTAIN MACRAE.‘ ‘39
frewshire Sketches, styles “ a Goth who committed
a most barbarous deed by ...
Vol. 5 p. 139 (Rel. 0.14)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [High Street
Close was seized, and a battery erected on the
summit thereof to assail ...
Vol. 2 p. 278 (Rel. 0.14)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Bmughton.
superiority of Broughton was yielded by the
Crown, partly in payment of ...
Vol. 3 p. 182 (Rel. 0.14)
... 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. 0.14)
... OLD AED NEW EDINBURGH. [Hanover Street.
in yhich David Hume died the Bible Society oi
Edinburgh was many ...
Vol. 3 p. 162 (Rel. 0.14)
![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. 0.14)
... Hospital.1 WALTER BALCANQU.-II,L. 367
Waucllop Thesauer,” is ordained “ to take down
the stonewark ...
Vol. 4 p. 367 (Rel. 0.14)
... - OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [West Church.
mode of procedure, made no resistance; and so
.active were the workmen ...
Vol. 3 p. 138 (Rel. 0.14)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Parliament Close.
their money brought on horseback to the Parliament
Close, where r ...
Vol. 1 p. 178 (Rel. 0.13)
![Greyfriars Church.] SCOTT’S FIRST LOVE AFFAIR. ’ 383
son, buried respectively I 7 67 and I 8 I 7, Alexander
Monro $rimus, the great anatomist, and Alexander
Monro secwidm, who in 1756 was admitted joint
Professor of Anatomy and Surgery with his distinguished
father.
In the same ground, in 1799, were laid Professor
Joseph Black, the great chemist ; Dr. Hugh Blair, in
1800 ; Henry Mackenzie, “ the Man of Feeling,” in
1831 ; Alexander Tytler, another distinguished
Zittivatear; John Kay, the caricaturist, in 1826 ;
and Dr. McCrie, the well-known biographer of John
Knox.
The monument to Dr. Hugh Hair was erected
in 1817, and is placed on the south side of the
church, in the same compartment with that of Professor
MacLaurin. Thus, one of the most eminent
philosophers and one of the most distinguished
preachers that Scotland has produced are commemorated
side by side.
On the eastern gable of the Old Greyfriars
Church, a grim, repellent, and remarkable monument
catches the eye. In the centre is sculptured
a skeleton, festooned around with surgical implements,
but the inscription is nearly obliterated by
time and the fire of the church, yet it is always an
object of much curiosity.
It marks the grave of James Borthwick, whose
portrait is the oldest now hanging in the Hall of
the Royal College of Surgeons, the incorporation
of which he entered in 1645 ; he was a cadet of
the House of Crookston, and nearly related to
Lord Borthwick, who defended his castle of that
name against Oliver Cromwell after the battle
of Dunbar. He acquired the estate of Stow, in
which he was succeeded by his son James, who
erected this hideously grotesque memorial to his
memory.
Another monument of a different kind, in the
form of a brass plate inserted into a stone, on the
western wall of the church, bore some fine elegiac
verses to the memory of Francisca, daughter of
‘< Alexander Swinton, advocate ; who died . . . . .
aged 7 years.”
But these verses were quite obliterated by 1816.
They ran thus :-
“ The sweetest children, like these transient flowers,
Which please the fancy for a few short hours,-
Lovely at morning, see them burst in birth,
At evening withered-scattered on the earth,
Their stay, their place, shall never more be known,
Save traits enpven on those hearts alone
That fostered these frail buds while here beneath ;
Yes, these shall triumph o’er the powers of death,
Shall spring eternal in the parent’s mind
Till hence transplanted to a realm refined.”
Northward of the two churches stands the tomb
and grave of Duncan Ban Maclntyre, commonly
known in the Highlands as Donnachan ban nun
Oran, who died in the year 1812, and who, though
he fought at Falkirk, outlived all the bards and
nearly all the warriors associated in the Highland
heart with the last chivalrous struggle for the House
of Stuart.
A handsome monument marks the place where
his ashes lie. Though little known in the Lowlands,
Duncan is deemed one of the-sweetest of
the Gaelic poets, and was so humble in his wants
that he had no higher ambition than to become a
soldier in the old City Guard.
The burial-place of Sir Walter Scott’s family lies
on the west side of the ground. “ Our family,” he
wrote, “heretofore (Dec., 1819) buried close by the
entrance to Heriot’s Hospital, on the southern or
left-hand. side as you pass from the churchyard.”
Here the father, Walter Scott, W.S., and several of
his children who died in the old house in the College
Wynd, are interred. Mrs. Scott, her sisters,
and her brother, Dr. Rutherford, are interred in
the burial-ground attached to St. John’s Church, at
the west end of Princes Street. Sir Walter purchased
a piece of ground there, “moved by its
extreme seclusion, privacy, and security; for,” as
he wrote to brother Thomas, who was paymaster
of the 70th Foot, conveying an account of their
mother‘s death, “when poor Jack (their brother)
was buried in the Greyfriars Churchyard, where my
father and Anne (their sister) lie, I thought their
graves more encroached upon than I liked to
witness.”
The Greyfriars Churchyard is, curiously enough,
noted as being the scene of Scott’s first love affair
with a handsome young woman. Lockhart tells us
that their acquaintance began in that place of
dreary associations, “ when the rain was beginning
to fall one Sunday, as the congregation were dispersing.
Scott happened to offer his umbrella, and
the tender being accepted, so escorted her to her
residence, which proved to be at no great distance
from his own. I have neither the power nor the
wish,” adds his biographer, ‘‘ to give in detail the
sequel to this story. It is sufficient to szy that
after he had through several long years nodrished
the dream of an ultimate union with this lady-
Margaret, daughter of Sir John and Lady Jane
Stewart Belshes of Invermay-his hopes terminated
in her being married to the late Sir William Forbes,
Bart., of Pitsligo.”
In December, 1879, there were interred in the
Greyfriars Churchyard, under the direction of the
city authorities, the great quantity of human bones](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v4p203.gif "Volume 4 Page 383")
... Church.] SCOTT’S FIRST LOVE AFFAIR. ’ 383
son, buried respectively I 7 67 and I 8 I 7, ...
Vol. 4 p. 383 (Rel. 0.13)
... CoWgab.1 THE EPISCOPAL CHAPEL.
to preach openly, by taking the oaths to Govemment,
had been founded in ...
Vol. 4 p. 247 (Rel. 0.13)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [ hlorningside.
reported to the Privy Council that he and the
Napiers of Edinbellie, ...
Vol. 5 p. 38 (Rel. 0.13)
... --It OLD AND‘ NEW EDINBURGH. [High Street,
Baron of the Exchequer Court in 1748, and grandson
of James of ...
Vol. 2 p. 214 (Rel. 0.13)
![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. 0.13)
![Leith.] THE FORTIFICATIONS. 17r
then at peace. A small force under Monsieur de
la Chapelle Biron had already preceded this main
body, which consisted of between six and seven
thousand well-trained soldiers, all led by officers of
high rank and approved valour.
Andre de Montelambert, Sieur &Esse, commanded
the whole ; 2,000 of these men were of the
regular infantry of France, and were commanded
by Coligny, the Seigneur d’Andelot, who for his
bravery at the siege of Calais, afterwards was presented
with the house of the last English governor,
Lord Dunford. His father, Gaspard de Coligny,
was a marshal of France in 1516. Gaspare di
Strozzi, Prior of Capua, a Florentine cavalier (exiled
by Alessandro I., Grand Duke of Tuscany), was
colonel of the Italians ; the Rhinegrave led 3,000
Germans ; Octavian, an old cavalier of Milan, led
1,000 arquebussiers on horseback ; Dunois was
captain of the Compagrries d’Oru’omance ; Brissac
D’Etanges was colonel of the horse. Another
noble armament, which was to follow under the
Marquis d‘Elbeuff, was cast away on the coast of
Holland, and only 900 of its soldiers reached
Scotland, under the Count de Martigues.
In the following year D’Esse was superseded in
the command by Paul de la Barthe, Seigneur de
Termes, a knight of St, Michael, who brought with
him IOO cuirassiers, zoo horse, and 1,000 infantry.
He was appointed marshal of France in 1555.
Prior to the arrival of these auxiliaries, Leith
seems to have been completely an open town ; but
Andre de Montelambert, as a basis for future operations,
at once saw the importance of fortifying it,
dependent as he was almost entirely upon support
from the Continent, and having a necessity for a
place to retreat into in case of reverse; so he at
once proceeded to enclose the seaport with strong
and regular works, carried out on the scientific principles
of the time.
As not a vestige of these works now remain, it is
useless to speculate on the probable height or composition
of the ramparts, which were most probably
massive earthworks, in many places faced
with stone, and must have been furnished with a
ferre-plene all round, to enable the gamson to pass
. and re-pass ; and no doubt the work would be efficiently
done, as the French have ever evinced the
highest talent for military engineering.
The works erected then were of a very irregular
kind, partaking generally of a somewhat triangular
form, the smallest base of which presented to
Leith Links on the eastward a frontage of about
2,000 feet from point to point of the flankers or
bastions.
In the centre of this was one great projecting
bastion, 600 feet in length, in the h e of the present
Constitution Street
Ramsay’s Fort, usually called the first bastion,
adjoined the river in the line of BernarC‘s Street
with a curtain nearly 500 feet long, the second
bastion terminating the frontage described as to the
Links. The present line of Leith Walk would seem
to have entered the town by St. Anthony’s Port,
between the third and fourth bastion.
A gate in the walls is indicated by Maitland as
being at the foot of the Bonnington Road, near the
fifth bastion, from whence the works extended to
the riveq which was crossed by a wooden bridge
near the sixth bastion. Port St. Nicholas-so called
from the then adjacent church-entered at the
seventh bastion, which was flanked far out at a very
acute angle, evidently to enclose the church and
burying-ground ; and from thence the fortifications,
with a sea front of 1,200 feet, extended to the eighth
bastion, which adjoined the Sand Port, near where
the Custom House standsnow. The two bastions
at the harbour mouth would no doubt be built
wholly of stone, and heavily armed with guns to
defend the entrance.
Kincaid states that in his time some vestiges of
a ditch and bastion existed westward of the citadel.
Where the Exchange Buildings now stand there
long remained a narrow mound of earth a hundred
yards long and of considerable height, which in the
last century was much frequented by the belles of
Leith as a lofty and airy promenade, to which there
was an ascent by steps. It was called the “ Ladies’
Walk,” and was, no doubt, the remains of the
work adjoining the second bastion of AndI;e de
Montelambert.
The wall near the third bastion, when it became
reduced to a mere mound of earth, formed for a
time a portion of South Leith burying-ground.
“ An unfortunate and unthinking wight of a seacaptain,”
sayscampbell, in his “History,)) “tempted,
we presume, by the devil, once took it in his head
to ballast his ship with this sacred earth. The consequence,
tradition has it, of this sacrilegious act
was, that neither the wicked captain nor his ship,
after putting to sea, was ever heard of again.”
Montelambert D’Esse could barely have had his
fortifications completed when, as already noted, he
was superseded in the command by a senior officer,
Paul de la Barthe, the Seigneur de Termes, one of
whose first measures was to drive the English out
of Inchkeith, where a detachment of them had been
occupying the old castle. The general operations
of the French army at Haddington and elsewhere,
after being joined by 5,000 Scottish troops under
the Governor, lie apart from the history of Leith;](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v5p182.gif "Volume 5 Page 171")
... THE FORTIFICATIONS. 17r
then at peace. A small force under Monsieur de
la Chapelle Biron had already ...
Vol. 5 p. 171 (Rel. 0.13)
![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. 0.13)
![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. 0.13)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Melville Street
pr0mot.e the pleasant intercourse of. those who
practise art either ...
Vol. 4 p. 210 (Rel. 0.13)
![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. 0.13)
![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. 0.13)
![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. 0.13)
... d Stuart St~et.1 PROFESSOR AYTOUN. 207
of sixteen feet there spring curves which bend
round into the arms, ...
Vol. 4 p. 207 (Rel. 0.13)
![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. 0.13)
... Park.1 LORD- DOUGLAS. 351
“My dear little ones, Archy and Sholto, are, I
bless God, in very good health. I ...
Vol. 4 p. 351 (Rel. 0.13)
![Leith.] FIGHT IN THE HARBOUR. ‘33
of war, which had been at anchor for six weeks
in the Roads, and apparently with all her guns
shotted,
About noon on the 10th December, 1613, an
Englishman, who was in a “mad humour,” says
Calderwood, when the captain and most of the
officers were on shore, laid trains of powder throughout
the vessel, notwithstanding that his own son
was on board, and blew her up. Balfour states
that she was a 48-gun ship, commanded by a
Captain Wood, that sixty men were lost in her,
and sixty-three who escaped were sent to London.
Calderwood reduces the number who perished to
twenty-four, and adds that the fire made all her
ordnance go off, so that none dared go near her to
render assistance.
In 1618 Leith was visited by Taylor, the Water
Poet, and was there welcomed by Master Bernard
Lindsay, one of the grooms of his Majesty’s bedchamber;
and his notice of the commerce of the
port presents a curious contrast to the Leith of the
present day :-cc I was credibly informed that within
the compass of one year there was shipped away
from that only port of Leith fourscore thousand
boles of wheat, oats, and barley, into Spain, France,
and other foreign parts, and every bole contains a
measure of four English bushels; so that from
Leith only hath been transported 320,000 bushels
of corn, besides some hath been shipped away
from St. Andrews, Dundee, Aberdeen, &c., and
other portable towns, which makes me wonder that
a kingdom so populous as it is, should nevertheless
sell so much bread corn beyond the seas, and yet
have more than sufficient for themselves.”
In parochial and other records of those days
many instances are noted of the capture of Scottish
mariners by the pirates of Algiers, and of collections
being made in the several parishes for their
redemption from slavery. In the Register of the
Privy Council, under date January, r636, we find
that a ship called the Jdn, of Leith, commanded
by John Brown, when sailing from London to
La Rochelle, on the coast of France, fell in with
three Turkish men-of-war, which, after giving him
chase from sunrise to sunset, captured the vessel,
took possession of the cargo and crew, and then
scuttled her.
Poor Brown and his mariners were all taken to
Salee, and there sold in the public market as
slaves. Each bore iron chains to the weight of
eighty pounds, and all were daily employed in
grinding at a mill, while receiving nothing to eat
but a little dusty bread. In the night they were
confined in holes twenty feet deep aniong rats and
mice, and because they were too poor-being only
mariners-to redeem themselves, they trusted to the
benevolence of his Majesty‘s subjects. By order
of the Council, a contribution was levied in the
Lothians and elsewhere, but with what result we
are not told.
In 1622 the usual excitements of the times were
varied by a sea-fight in the heart of Leith harbour.
On the 6th of June, in that year, the constable of
Edinburgh Castle received orders from the Lords
of Council to have his cannon and cannoniers in
instant readiness, as certain foreign ships were engaged
in close battle within gunshot of Leith
A frigate belonging to Philip IV. of Spain, cbmmanded
by Don Pedro de Vanvornz, had been
lying for some time at anchor within the harbour
there, taking on board provisions and stores, her
soldiers and crew coming on shore freely whenever
they chose; but it happened that one night two
vessels of war, belonging to their bitter enemies,
the Dutch, commanded by Mynheer de Hautain,
the Admiral of Zealand, came into the same anchorage,
and-as the Earl of Melrose reported to
James VI.-cast anchor close by Don Pedro.
The moment daylight broke the startled Spaniards
ran up their ensign, cleared away for action, and a
desperate fight ensued, nearly muzzle to muzzle.
For two hours without intermission, the tiers of
brass cannon from the decks of the three ships
poured forth a destructive fire, and the Spaniards,
repulsed by sword and partisan, made more than
one attempt to carry their lofty bulwarks by
boarding. The smoke of their culverins, matchlocks,
and pistolettes enveloped their rigging and
all the harbour of Leith, through the streets and
along the pier of which bullets of all sorts and
sizes went skipping and whizzing, to the terror and
confusion of the inhabitants.
As this state of things was intolerable, the burgesses
of the city and seaport rushed to arms and
armour, at the disposal of the Lords of Council,
who despatched a herald with the water bailie to
command both parties to forbear hostilities in Scottish
waters ; but neither the herald‘s tabard nor the
bailie’s authority prevailed, and the fight continued
with unabated fury till midday. The Spanish
captain finding himself sorely pressed by his two
antagonists, obtained permission to warp his ship
farther within the harbour ; but still the unrelenting
Dutchmen poured their broadsides upon his
shattered hull.
The Privy Council now ordered the Admiral
Depute to muster the mariners of Leith, and assail
the Admiral of Zealand in aid of the Dunkerpuer;
but the depute reported that they were altogether
vnable, and he saw no way to enforce obedience](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v5p194.gif "Volume 5 Page 183")
... FIGHT IN THE HARBOUR. ‘33
of war, which had been at anchor for six weeks
in the Roads, and apparently ...
Vol. 5 p. 183 (Rel. 0.13)
![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. 0.13)
... Heriot’s Ho.pital.1 THE EDINBURGH VOLUNTEERS.
By the Act of Parliament referred to, the governors
were ...
Vol. 4 p. 371 (Rel. 0.13)
... 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. 0.13)
![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. 0.13)
... 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. 0.13)
![280 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Leith.
number of wounded men on his hands, bore awa]
to Barbadoes to re-fit.
In the spring of the following year, a Leitl
sloop, coming from Strichen, laden with wheat anc
cheese, was taken off St. Abb’s Head by two Frenct
privateers of twelve and sixteen guns-the latter was
Le MarichaZ Duc de NoaiZZes, painted quite black.
When the sloop struck a tremendous sea was run.
ning ; Laverock, the master, ransomed her for IOC
guineas, and reported at Leith that if these twc
great privateers were not taken soon, they wopld
ruin the east coast trade of Scotland.
Soon after another ship of Leith was taken by
them into Bergen, and ransonied for 500 guineas,
though a few days before the privateer had been
severely handled by the EZiza6efh, merchant ship,
Captain Grant, who had also to strike to her, afteI
a most severe combat.
In 1794, the Haith, of Leith, was captured by a
squadron of French ships on the zIst August,
together with the Dundee, whaler, of Dundee. The
latter was re-taken, and brought into Leith by H.M.
brig Fisher, which reported that, previous to re-capture,
the Dundee had picked up a boat, having on
board eight Frenchmen, part of a prize crew of
sixteen put on board the Raifir to take her to
Bergen ; but the mate and another Scottish seaman
had daringly re-taken her, and had sailed none
knew whither. Soon after a letter reached the
owners in Leith from Lyons, the mate, dated from
Lerwick, briefly stating that when fifteen miles
west of Bergen, “1 retook her from the French,
sending nine of the Frenchmen away in one of the
boats, ancl put the rest in confinement.” Eventually
these two brave fellows brought the ship to
Leith, from whence their prisoners were sent to
the Castle.
In those days the Glass House Company had
their own armed ships, and one of these, the
Phemk, Cornelius Neilson, master, had the reputation
of being one of the swiftest sailers in Leith,
and was always advertised to sail with or without
convoy, as she fought her own way.
In 1797, the BreadaZbane Letter of Marque, of
Leith, captured a large Spanish brig off the coast
of South America, and sent her into Leith Roads
for sale, under the convoy of the RoyaZ ChrZoffe,
Captain Elder.
During the latter end of the eighteenth century
Leith possessed two frigate-built ships of remarkable
beauty, the RoseUe, a Letter of Marque, and
the MoreZan/E, her sister ship, which usually fought
their own way; and the former was so like a man-ofwar
in her size and appearance, that she frequently
gave chase for a time to laige foreign privateers.
In the NeraZd for 1798 we read that on her appeacance
off Peterhead, in March, she created such consternation
that the captain of the RoJert, a Greenlandman,
on a gun being fired from her, ran his
ship ashore, according to one account, and, according
to another, made his escape, with the assistance
of his crew, from the supposed enemy. The
MoreZand and the Lady Fwbes,,” of Leith, another
armed ship, seem always to have sailed in company,
for protection, to and from the West Indies.
After many escapes and adventures, the beautiful
RoseZZe, which carried fourteen guns of large calibre,
was captured at last by a Spanish line-of-battle ship,
which, report said, barbarously sank her, with all
on board, by a broadside.
On the 6th December, 1798, theBefsy, of Leith,
Captain Mackie, having the Angus regiment of
volunteers on board, from Shetland, in company
with an armed cutter, was attacked off Rattray
Head by two heavily-armed French privateers. A
severe engagement ensued, in which the volunteers
made good use of their small arms; the
privateers were crippled and beaten off by the
Befsy, which ran next day into Banff, and the
roops were put on shore.
In the same month The Generous Triends, sailing
from Leith to Hull, when a few miles off the
mouth of the Humber, in a heavy gale of wind,
was overtaken by a large black privateer, having a
?oop and fiddle-head painted red and white. The
ieavy sea prevented her from being boarded, and
:he appearance of the Baltic fleet compelling the
:nemy to sheer off, she bore up with the latter, and
yeturned to Leith Roads; but such little excitenents
were of constant occurrence in those stirring
imes
The Nancy, of Leith, Captain Grindley, was
:aken, in July, I 799, off Dungeness, by the Ado&h,
ugger, of eighteen guns and fifty men, who used
iim and his crew with great severity prior to their
Jeing cast into the horrible prison at Valenciennes.
“The behaviour of the Frenchmen to us, when
aken, was most shameful,” he wrote to his owners
n Leith. 6‘ When they got upon our deck, they
Kept firing their pistols, cutting with swords for some
ime, and dragging those who were below out of
Heir beds; they cut and mangled in a cruel manner
me of our men, William Macleod, who was then
it the helm, and afterwards threw him overhoard.
rhis obliged the rest of the crew to leave the
leck and go below. In a short time we were
It is interesting to remark that the original painting, after which the
rawing of Plate 32 ( ‘ I Leith Pier and Harbour, 1798 ”) was made, ws
iainted for Caprain Gourley, who was part owner of the Lady Fades,
The Editor is obliged
o bir. R. F. Todd, owner of the painting in question, for this information.
Letter of Marque that carried 14 mnada.](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v6p099.gif "Volume 6 Page 280")
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Leith.
number of wounded men on his hands, bore awa]
to Barbadoes to re-fit.
In the ...
Vol. 6 p. 280 (Rel. 0.13)
... INDEX. 371
118-121 ; tomb of, Corstorphine
Church, 111. 121
Forrester’s Wynd, I. 121. 122, 148,
219, ...
Vol. 6 p. 377 (Rel. 0.13)
... SIR JOHN WHITEFORD OF THAT ILK 35
but who, after being sentenced to death, escaped to
Rome, where he ...
Vol. 3 p. 35 (Rel. 0.13)
... magistrates fled for shelter to a house in
the Grassmarket, and the mob carried all before
it. Captain ...
Vol. 1 p. 130 (Rel. 0.13)
![*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. 0.13)
![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. 0.13)
![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. 0.13)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Craiglockhart
Cluny (who died recently in London), Lady
Gordon-Cathcart of Killochan ...
Vol. 5 p. 42 (Rel. 0.13)
![Canonmills.] THE ROYAL GYMNASIUM. 87
to search for and seize them for his own use.
Hunter also prosecuted him for throwing his wife
into the mill-lade and using opprobrious language,
for which he was fined 650 sterling, and obliged
to find caution.
A hundred years later saw a more serious tumult
in Canonmills.
In 1784 there was a great scarcity of food in
Edinburgh, on account of the distilleries, which
were said by some to consume enormous quantities
of oatmeal and other grain unfermented, and
to this the high prices were ascribed. A large mob
proceeded from the town to Canonmills, and attacked
the great distillery of the Messrs. Haig
there j but meeting with an unexpected resistance
from the workmen, who, as the attack had been
expected, were fully supplied with arms, they retired,
but not until some of their number had been
killed, and the “Riot Act” read by the sheriff,
Baron Cockburn, father of Lord Cockburn. TheiI
next attempt was on the house of the latter;
but on learning that troops had been sent for, they
desisted. In these riots, the mob, which assembled
by tuckof drum, was charged by the troops, and
several of the former were severely wounded.
These were the gth, or East Norfolk Regiment,
under the command of Colonel John Campbell 01
Blythswood, then stationed in the Castle.
During the height of the riot, says a little “Histoq
of Broughton,” a private carriage passed through thc
village, and as it was said to contain one of thc
Haigs, it was stopped, amid threats and shouts
Some of the mob opened the door, as the bIindr
had been drawn, and on looking in, saw that th<
occupant was a lady; the carriage was therefore
without further interruption, allowed to proceed tc
its destination-Heriot’s Hill.
On the 8th of September subsequently, two of thf
rioters, in pursuance of their sentence, were whippei
through the streets of Edinburgh, and afterwards
transported for fourteen years.
In the famous “Chaldee MS.,” chapter iv.
reference is made to “a lean man who hath hi!
dwelling by the great pool to the north of the Nelr
City.” This was Mr. Patnck Neill, a well-knowr
citizen, whose house was near the Loch side.
In this quarter we now find the Patent Roya
Gymnasium, one of the most remarkable anc
attractive places of amusement of its kind in Edin
burgh, and few visitors leave the city without seeing
it. At considerable expense it was constructed bj
Mr. Cox of Gorge House, for the purpose of afford
ing healthful and exhilarating recreation in the ope1
air to great numbers at once, and in April, 1865
was publicly opened by the provosts, magistrates
tnd councillors of Edinburgh and Leith, accom-
?anied by all the leading inhabitants of the city and
:ounty.
Among the many remarkable contrivances here
was a vast “rotary boat,” 471 feet in circumference,
seated for 600 rowers ; a “ giant see-saw,” named
I‘ Chang,” IOO feet long and seven feet broad, supported
on an axle, and capable of containing zoo
?ersons, alternately elevating them to a height of
ifty feet, and then sinking almost to the ground;
i “ velocipede paddle merry-go-round,” 160 feet
in Circumference, seated for 6co persons, who propel
the machine by sitting astride on the rim, and
push their feet against the ground ; a “ self-adjust-
Lng trapeze,” in five series of three each, enabling
gymnasts to swing by the hands 130 feet from one
trapeze to the other; a “compound pendulum
swing,” capable of holding about IOO persons, and
kept in motion by their own exertions.
Here, too, are a vast number of vaulting and
climbing poles, rotary ladders, stilts, spring-boards,
quoits, balls, bowls, and little boats and canoes on
ponds, propelled by novel and amusing methods.
In winter the ground is prepared for skaters on a
few inches of frozen water, and when lighted up at
night by hundreds of lights, the scene, with its
musical accessories, is one of wonderful brightness,
gaiety, colour, and incessant motion.
Here, also, is an athletic hall, with an instructor
always in attendance, and velocipedes, with the
largest training velocipede course in Scotland. The
charges of admission are very moderate, so as to
meet the wants of children as well as of adults.
A little eastward of this is a large and handsome
school-house, built and maintained by the congregation
of St. Mary’s Church. A great Board
School towers up close by. Here, too, was Scotland
Street Railway Station, and the northern entrance
of the longsince disused tunnel underground to
what is now called ~e Waverley Station at Princes
Street.
A little way northward of Canonmills, on the
north bank of the Water of Leith, near a new bridge
of three arches, which supersedes one of considerable
antiquity, that had but one high arch, is the
peculiar edifice known as Tanfield Hall. It is an
extensive suite of buildings, designed, it has been
said, to represent a Moorish fortress, but was erected
in 1825 as oil gasworks, and speedily turned to
other purposes. In 1835 it was the scene of a
great banquet, given by his admirers to Daniel
O’Connell; and in 1843 of the constituting of the
first General Assembly of the Free Church, when
the clergy first composing it quitted in a body the
Establishment,as described in our account of George](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v5p098.gif "Volume 5 Page 87")
... THE ROYAL GYMNASIUM. 87
to search for and seize them for his own use.
Hunter also prosecuted him for ...
Vol. 5 p. 87 (Rel. 0.13)
![High Street.] CARDINAL BEATON’S HDUSE. 263
his Heraldry :-“ With us (the Scots) angels
have been frequently made use of as supporters.
Cardinal Beaton had his, supported by two angels,
in Dalmatic habits, or, as some say, priestly ones,
which are yet to be seen on his lodgings in Blackfriars
Wynd.” The cardinal’s arms, as borne on
his archiepiscopal seal, are Bethune and Balfour
quarterly, with a cross-crosslet-headed pastoral
staff, and the tasselled hat over all.
Upon all the buildings erected by the archbishop
“his armorial bearings were conspicuously displayed,”
says Wilson, “and a large stone tablet
remained, till a few years since, over the archway
of Blackfriars Wynd, leading into the inner court,
supported by two angels in Dalmatic habits, and
surmounted by a crest, sufficiently defaced to enable
antiquaries to discover in it either a mitre or a
cardinal’s hat, according as their theory of the original
ownership inclined towards the archbishop
or his more celebrated nephew the cardinal.”
Occupying the space between Blackfriars Wynd
and Toddrick’s Wynd, the archiepiscopal palace
afforded a striking example of the revolutions
effected by time and change of manners on the
ancient abodes of the opulent and the noble. As
it appeared before its demolition no doubt could
be entertained that some portions of it had been
rebuilt, to suit the requirements of its last humble
denizens, but much remained to form connectinglinks
in the long chain of ages, The whole of the
entrance floor had been strongly groined with stone,
built on solid pillars, calculated to afford protection
during the brawls and conflicts of the times.
Within the arched passage that led from the
Wynd a broad flight of steps led to the first floor
of the palace, a mode of construction common in
those days, when the architect had to cogsider
security, and how the residents might resist an attack
till terms were obtained, or succour came.
In early times the whole of the space occupied by
the Mint in the Cowgate and other buildings to
the north thereof had been the garden grounds of
the archiepiscopal residence.
Here it was, as we have related, that the Earl
of Arran and his armed adherents held their stormy
conclave on the 30th of April, 1520, concerting the
capture and death of Angus, whose war array held
the High Street and barricaded the close-heads ;
and liere it WLS that Gawain Douglas, the Bishop of
Dunkeld, and translator of Virgil, whose two brothers
fell at Flodden, called on the archbishop,
and strove to keep the peace in vain, for the prelate
was already in his armour, and the dreadful conflict
of “ Cleanse the Causeway ” ensued, giving
victory to the Douglases, and compelling the
fugitive archbishop, during 1525, the time they
were.in power, to seek safety in the disguise of a
shepherd, and, literally, crook in hand, to tend
flocks of sheep on Bograin-knowe, not far from his
diocesan city of Glasgow.
James V, took up his abode in the archiepiscopal
palace in 1528, preparatory to the meeting of
Parliament, and the archbishop, who had been one
of the most active promoters of his liberation from
the Douglas faction, became his host and entertainer.
Here, in after years, resided his nephew,
David Beaton, the formidable cardinal, who, in
1547, was murdered so barbarously in the castle of
St. Andrew, and here also was literally the cradle
of the now farnous High School of Edinburgh, as it
was occupied as the “Grammar Skule” in 1555,
while that edifice, which stood eahward of the
Kirk-of-field, was in course of erection,
We next hear of the little paiace in the reign of
Mary. On the 8th of February, 1562, her brother,
the Lord James Stewart, “ newly created Earl of
Mar (afterwards Moray) “ was married upon Agnes
Keith, daughter to William Earl Marischal,” says
the Diurnal of Occurrents, (‘ in the kirk of Sanct
Geil, in Edinburgh, with solemnity as the like has
not been seen before; the hale nobility of this
realm being there present, and convoyit them down
to Holyrood House, where the banquet was made,
the queen’s grace thereat.” After music and
dancing, casting of fire-balls, tilting with fire-spears,
and much jollity, next evening the queen, with all
her court, came up in state from Holyraod “to
the cardinal’s lodging in the Blackfriar Wynd,
which was preparit and hung maist honourably.”
Then the queen and her courtiers had a joyous
supper, after which all the young craftsmen of the
city came in their armour, and conveyed her back
to Holyrood. Up Blackfriars Wynd, past the
house of the late cardinal, Queen Mary proceeded
on the fatal night of the 9th of February, 1567,
about the same time nearly that Bothwell and his
accomplices passed down the next alley, on their
way to the Kirk-of-field. She had dined that day
at Holyrood, and about eight in the evening went
to sup with the Bishop of Argyle. At nine she
rose from the table, and accompanied by the Earls
of Argyle, Cassilis, and Huntly, escorted by her
archer-guard and torch-bearers, went to visit
Darnley in the lonely Kirk-of-field, intending to
remain there for the night, but returned home. As
she was proceeding, three of Bothwell’s retainers,
Dalgleish, Powrie, and Wilson, in their depositions,
stated that after conveying the powder-bags to
the convent gate, at the foot of the Blackfriars
Wynd, they saw “the Qucnes grace gangand](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v2p083.gif "Volume 2 Page 263")
... Street.] CARDINAL BEATON’S HDUSE. 263
his Heraldry :-“ With us (the Scots) angels
have been frequently ...
Vol. 2 p. 263 (Rel. 0.13)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [High Etreet.
the gentlemen’s mansions and goodliest houses are
obscurely founded in ...
Vol. 2 p. 200 (Rel. 0.13)
... Place 1 LORD ROBERTSON. I93
antiquarian taste consorted with the musical skill
ancl critical sagacity of ...
Vol. 4 p. 193 (Rel. 0.13)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Arthur’s L t .
General Robert Skene, the Adjutant-General there,
summoned all the ...
Vol. 4 p. 309 (Rel. 0.13)
... INDEX.
299, 307, 342 ; Lord Provost, 11.
282 283 293' hisfuneral I 155
Kindid, b a d , of Coates ...
Vol. 6 p. 381 (Rel. 0.13)
... QLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Arthur‘s Seat.
name of Arthur‘s Seat were anciently covered with
wood. The other ...
Vol. 4 p. 306 (Rel. 0.13)
![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. 0.13)
![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. 0.13)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [The Water of Leith.
of Badajoz is extolled by Napier, and who died
fort major of ...
Vol. 5 p. 70 (Rel. 0.13)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Drum.
the resort of the curious still, according to Fullarton’s
“Gazetteer,” ...
Vol. 6 p. 346 (Rel. 0.13)
... 111. *333, 334 .
Leopdd Place,’IlI. 158; Greenside
Church from, Ill. * 161
Leper Hospital, ...
Vol. 6 p. 384 (Rel. 0.13)
... 111. *333, 334 .
Leopdd Place,’IlI. 158; Greenside
Church from, Ill. * 161
Leper Hospital, ...
Vol. 6 p. 383 (Rel. 0.13)
... 111. *333, 334 .
Leopdd Place,’IlI. 158; Greenside
Church from, Ill. * 161
Leper Hospital, ...
Vol. 6 p. 382 (Rel. 0.13)
... death-all the rest having lost their lives
in defence of their country.
If we turn to Holyrood, what ...
Vol. 1 p. 6 (Rel. 0.13)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Infirmary Street.
._
Freirs xx li. owing to them, at this last Fasterns
evin, for ...
Vol. 4 p. 286 (Rel. 0.13)
... and to his children in fee, and a dispute
in law occurred about the division of the property.
Buccleuch ...
Vol. 4 p. 347 (Rel. 0.12)
![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. 0.11)
... 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. 0.11)
... INDEX. 385 -
Nisbet Lord 111. 67
Nisbet: Sir .&exander. 111. 136
Nisbet Sir Henry 111. 136
Nisbet: ...
Vol. 6 p. 385 (Rel. 0.11)
... INDEX. 371
Black Watch, 11. 89, 138, 149, 179.
Black Wigs ClLb, 111. 123
Blackwood, Hnilie, 111. ...
Vol. 6 p. 371 (Rel. 0.1)
... 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. 0.08)
... 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. 0.08)
