Edinburgh Bookshelf

Edinburgh Bookshelf

Search

Index for “brown square”

C a n d l d a Raw.] GEORGE BROWN. 269 ? school ; but Lord Hailes, after removing from Todrig?s Wynd, occupied a house in ?The So- . ciety,? before locating himself in New Street. Brown Square, now nearly swept away, was a small oblong place, about zoo feet east and west, by 150 north and south. During the long delay which took place between the first project of having a New Town, and building a bridge that was to lead to it, a rival town began to spring up in another quarter, which required neither a bridge nor an Act of Parliament, nor even the unanimity of several interested proprietors to mature it, and it soon became important enough to counteract for some years the extension by the ridge of the Lang In this quarter a fashionable boading-school for young ladies was established in the middle of $he last century by Mrs. Janet Murray, widow of Archibald Campbell, collector of the customs at Prestonpans. She died in the Society in 1770, and the establishment was then conducted by her friends under the name of ? Mrs. Murray?s Boarding School? To those who remember it in its latter days the locality seems a strange one for a young ladies? On the ground acquired so cheaply he proceeded at once to erect, in 1763-4, houses that were deemed fine mansions, and found favour with the upper classes, before a stone of the New Town was laid. Repenting of their mistake, the magistrates offered Mr. Brown Az,ooo for the grouid; but he, perceiving the success of his scheme, demanded Lzo,ooo, so the city relinquished the idea The square was quickly finished on nearly three sides, including the Society, znd one old mansion having an octagon turnpike stair, dated 17 18, at the north-east corner next Crombie?s Close, and became filled with inhabitants of a good class while George Square rose collaterally with it. ~ Dykes. This might have been prevented had the magistrates contrived to acquire a piece of ground south of the Old Town, which was offered to them for only ~ I , P O O , but which was purchased by a builder and architect namedGeorge Brown, abrother of Brown of Lindsaylands and Elliston. He was the projector and builder of George Square, and Jso built the large house of Bellevue (for General Scott of Balcomie), which stood so long in Dmmmond Place. THE CUNZIE HOUSE, CANDLEMAKER ROW, ... So- . ciety,? before locating himself in New Street. Brown Square , now nearly swept away, was a small oblong ...

Book 4  p. 269
(Score 4.11)

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 61 means he soon waxed warm, and by degrees his imagination became dreadfully excited. Before leaving Edinburgh, he was so miserably reduced in his circumstances as to be committed to prison for debt, where his pupils attended his lectures. His liberation from jail was principally attributable to the exertions of the eccentric but amiable Lord Gardenstone. Shortly after his arrival in London, the peculiarity of his appearance as he moved along-a short, square figure-with an air of dignity, in a black suit, which made the scarlet of his cheeks and nose the more resplendent-attracted the notice of certain '' Chevaliers d'lndustrie," on the look-out for spoil in the street. They addressed him in the dialect of his country: his heart, heavy as it must have been from the precariousness of his situation and distance from his native land, expanded to these agreeable sounds. A conversation ensued, and the parties by common consent adjourned to a tavern. Here the stranger was kindly welcomed to town, and, after the glass had circuIated for a time, something was proposed .by way of amusement-a game at cards or whatever the Doctor might prefer. The Doctor had been too civilly treated to demur ; but his purse was scantily furnished, and it was necessary to quit his new friends in search of a supply. Fortunately he applied to Mr. Murray the bookseller, who speedily enlightened him as to the quality of his companions. A London sharper, of another denomination, afterwards tried to take advantage of the Doctor. This was an ingenious speculator in quack medicines, He thought a composition of the most powerful st,imulants might have a run under the title of " Dr. Brown's Exciting Pill ;" and, for the privilege of the name, offered him a sum in hand, by no means contemptible, as well as a share of the contemplated profits. Poor Brown, needy as he was, to his honour indignantly rejected the proposal, By his sojourn in London Brown did not improve his circumstances : he persisted in his old irregularities, projecting at the same time 'great designs, and entertaining sanguine expectations of success ; but on the 7th of October 1788, when he was about fifty-two years of age, he was seized with a fit of apoplexy, and died in the course of the night. No. XXVII. DR. BROWN IN HIS STUDY, Writing, we have little doubt, his " Elements of Medicine," a new edition of which, revised and corrected by Dr. Beddoes, was printed in two vols. 8v0, in 1793. ... SKETCHES. 61 means he soon waxed warm, and by degrees his imagination became dreadfully excited. ...

Book 8  p. 87
(Score 3.07)

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, ... OLD AND *NEW EDINBURGH. [ Brown Square . Till about 1780 the inhabitants of these districts formed a distinct ...

Book 4  p. 270
(Score 2.9)

340 OLD AND ?NEW EDINBURGH. [George Square. Centenary celebration in 1872 was a ?? Contract between James Brown, architect in Edinburgh, and Walter Scott, W.S., to feu and bui!d a dnellinghouse, with cellars, coach-house, &c., on the west side of the great square, called George Square (No. 25), at the annual feu of &s 14s.~ the first payment to commence on Whit Sundayl 1773. Six pages, each signed WaZfeer Scoft.? In this house, then, with its back windows overlooking the Meadow Walk, beneath its happy my infirmity (his lameness) as she lifted me coarsely and carelessly over the flinty steps which my brother traversed with a shout and bound. I remember the suppressed bitterness of the moment, and, conscious of my own infirmity, the envy with which I regarded the elastic steps of my more happily-formed brethren.? In No. 25 Scott received, from private tutors, the first rudiments of education ; and he mentions that ?our next neighbour, Lady Cumming, sent THE BLIND ASYLUM (FORMERLY THE HOUSE OF DR. JOSEPH BLACK), NICOLSON STREET, 1820. (AficrStom.) parental roof, were spent the bright young years of Scott, who there grew up to manhood under the eye of his good mother. Among his papers, after death, there was found a piece of verse, penned in a boyish hand, endorsed in that of his mother, ? My WaZter?sJfrst lines.? ?My father?s house in George Square,? says Scott, ?continued to be my most established place of residence (after my return from Prestonpans in 1776) till my marriage in 1797.? Writing of an incidentof his childhood, he says:- ?? Every step of the way (the Meadow Walk, behind George Square) has for me something of an early remembrance. There is the stile at which I recollect a cross child?s maid upbraiding me with to beg that the boys might not be all flogged at the same hour, as though she had no doubt the punishment was deserved, yet the noise was dreadful !? There, too, he had that long illness which confined him to bed, and during which the boy, though full of worldly common sense, was able to indulge in romantic and poetical longings after a mediad age of his own creation, and stored his mind with those treasures of poesy and romance which he afterwards turned to such wondrous account. During the weary weeks of that long illness he was often enabled to see the vista of the Meadow Walk by a combination of mirrors so arranged that while lying in bed he could witness the troops marching out to exercise in the Links, or any other ... OLD AND ?NEW EDINBURGH. [George Square. Centenary celebration in 1872 was a ?? Contract between James Brown, ...

Book 4  p. 340
(Score 2.54)

*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 ... to the proprietor. James Brown, architect, who built Brown Square , having feued from the city of ...

Book 4  p. 339
(Score 2.47)

E I 0 GR A P €I I CA L S K E T C HE S. 347 Brown Square, No. 17, where his house presented a rather striking contrast to the plebeian aspect of the dwellings that surrounded it.’ Formerly it was the custom of the Judges to walk to the Court in the morning with their wigs nicely powdered, and a small cocked hat in their hands: Lozd Glenlee, we believe, was the last to give up this practice. So late as 1830, or even later, his lordship might be met every morning during the Session, except Monday (when the Court does not meet), walking from his own house down Crombie’s Close, across the Cowgate, and up the ‘‘ back stairs,” that led to the Parliament House. He was always dressed, with most fastidious neatness, in a plain suit of black. He had afterwards recourse to the use of a sedan-chair, and was carried by George the Fourth’s Bridge-as the new approach from the South is called-an improvement with which his lordship was greatly pleased. Sir William long enjoyed the reputation of an excellent and accomplished scholar, adding to the learning of the schools the polish and attainments early acquired by foreign travel ; while, in his own peculiar profession of the law, he had for nearly half-a-century been considered one of the brightest ornaments of the Scottish bench. Few men in his rank of life maintained a character so generally esteemed, as well by the exalted as the low ; and no man ever united more real dignity of manner with the same humility and benevolence of disposition. A philosopher, in the true sense of the word, he faithfully performed the duties of his station throughout a term of years not usually allotted to man-conducting himself, amid the varied trials and afflictions from which human nature is rarely exempted, with a fortitude at once exemplary and becoming. We allude more particularly to the lamented death of his son, Lieut.-Colonel William Miller of the Guards, who fell at Waterloo. He was an officer of the utmost promise ; and the gallant manner in which he met his fate- --“His failing eye Still bent where Albion’s banners Ay”- dwelt long in the memory of many of his countrymen. The following extract from a letter, dated “Brussels, June 23, 1815,’7-which went the round of It is said his lordship was greatly annoyed by au itinerant minstrel, who, frequenting the square, endeavoured to “ discourse eloquent music,:’ by blowing upon a cracked clarionet, deficient of one key, and marvellously stiff in the others. For an hour at least every Monday were the visits of this “blind Apollo” repeated, awakening the slumbering echoes with “ Black-Eyed Susan,” till the very name of that popular air became as hateful to the inhabitants of Brown Square, as that of Monsieur Tomma was to the ear of Moiuiew~ Nor6Zieu. The annoyance was the more insufferable to Lord Glenlee, as, the Court not sitting on Monday, that day is usually set apart by the judges of the Inner House for studying the cases they are to advise during the week. He at length despatched his servant with half-a-crown, with a request to the musician that he would discontinue his favours for the future, particularly on the Monday. Highly incensed, the latter replied, “ Give my compliments to Lord Glenlee, and tell him-pocketing the half-crown-I cannot change my rounds for a’ the Lords 0’ Edinburgh.” So saying, his wounded dignity wm appeased, like “ Roasting-Jacks,” by blowing niore fiercely, furiously, and inharmoniously than ever. ... I 0 GR A P €I I CA L S K E T C HE S. 347 Brown Square , No. 17, where his house presented a rather striking ...

Book 9  p. 461
(Score 2.39)

260 I OLD AND NEW EDtNEURGH. [The Cowgate. Full of years and honours, Tam 0? the Cowgate died in 1637. At Tynninghame, his family seat, :here are two portraits of him preserved, and also his state dress, in the crimson velvet breeches of which there are no less than nine pockets. Among many of his papers, which remain at Tynninghame House, one contains a memorandum which throws a curious light upon the way in which political matters were then managed in Scotland. This paper details the heads of a petition in his own each way, and had a border of trees upon its east and south sides. Latterly it bore the name of Thomson?s Green, from the person to whom it was leased by the Commissioners of Excise. The Hammerman?s Close, Land, and Hall, adjoined the site of this edifice on the westward. The Land was in I 7 I I the abode of a man named Anthony Parsons, among the last of those who followed the ancient practice of vending quack medicines on a public stage in the streets. In the THE FRENCH AMBASSADOR'S CHAPEL. (From a Drawing by W. Geikie.) hand-writing to the Privy Council with a prayer to ?gar the Chancellor? do something else in his behalf The Excise Office was removed about 1730 from the Parliament Square to the houge so long occupied by the Earl of Haddington, which afforded excellent accommodation for so important a public institution. The principal room on the second floor, the windows of which opened to the Cowgate, was one of great magnificence, having a stucco ceiling divided into square compartments, each of which contained an elegant device, and there was also much fine paneling. At the back of the house, extending to where the back of Brown Square was built, and entered by a gate from the Candlemaker Row, it measured nearly zoo feet October of that year he advertised in the Scofs Postman-? It being reported that Anthony Parsons is gone from Edinburgh to mount public stages in the country, this is to give notice that he hath left off keeping stages, and still lives in the Hammerman?s Land, near the head of the Cowgate, where may be had the Orvicton, a famous antidote against infectious distempers, and helps barrenness,? &c Four years subsequently Parsons-an Englishman, of course-announced his design of bidding adieu to Edinburgh, and in that prospect offered his quack medicines at reduced rates, and likewise, by auction, ?a fine cabinet organ.? The last of these English quacks was Dr. Green, gauger, of Doncaster, who made his appearance in ... AND NEW EDtNEURGH. [The Cowgate. Full of years and honours, Tam 0? the Cowgate died in 1637. At ...

Book 4  p. 260
(Score 2.26)

.BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 75 Dr. Smith happened to come late, and the company had sat down to dinner. The moment, however, he came into the room, the company all rose up; he made an apology for being late, and entreated them to sit down. “No,” said the gentlemen, ‘(we will stand till you are seated, for we are all yozcr schoZars.” His mother died in extreme old age in 1784. His own health and strength gradually declined (for he began very early to-feel the infirmities of age), till the period of his death, which happened in July 1790. A few days previous to this he gave orders to destroy all his manuscripts, excepting some detached Essays, which were afterwards published, having been entrusted to the care of his executors, Dr. Joseph Black and ‘Dr. James Hutton, with whom he had long lived in habits of the most intimate friendship. Although Dr. Smith‘s income for the latter years of his life was considerable, he did not leave much fortune, owing to the hospitality and generosity of his nature. No man ever did more generous things. It is understood that his library, which was a valuable one, is still .preserved entire. It had devolved to his nephew, the late Lord Reston, and afterwards became the property of his widow. The third figure represents GEORGE BROWPIT, Esq., of Lindsqlands and Elliestown, one of the Commissioners of his Majesty’s Board of Excise for Scotland, a gentleman of amiable temper and suavity of manner. He had been an officer in the army, and was cousin-german to the late Lord Coalstone, one of the Lords of Session. His brother James was an architect of some eminence. He built Brown’s Square (which was named after him), near to the Candlemaker Row, the west side of which has been taken down, for an opening to George the Fourth’s Bridge ; and having feued from the city of Edinburgh the ground upon which George Square is built, he erected most of the houses in it. He built also that large mansion formerly occupied by General Scott of Balconie, in Drummond Place, now the Excise-Office! The Commissioner was very attentive to the business of the revenue, and was for a considerable number of years senior member of the Board of Excise in Scotland. He lived in George Square, and latterly in St. James’s Square, and died on the 5th March 1806, in the eighty-fourth year of his age. He married Miss Dorothea Dundas of Dundas, by whom he had two sons and three daughters, Viscountess Hampden, Lady Wedderburn of Ballendean, and the Hon. Lady Alexander Hope. No. XXXIV. ADAM SMITH, LL.D. AND P.R.S. OF LONDON AND EDINBURGH. THE Doctor is here represented with his celebrated work, “The Wealth of This house wa removed in 1844-1845, in consequence of 8 railway tunnel being carried Nations,” on the table before him. immediateIy underneath ‘it. ... SKETCHES. 75 Dr. Smith happened to come late, and the company had sat down to dinner. The moment, ...

Book 8  p. 108
(Score 2.25)

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 5s deliver in the public hall the usual academical exercise prescribed prior to ordination as a clergyman of the Scottish Establishment. At this point he stopped, and relinquished the profession of divinity altogether ; the sequel will sufficiently explain his motives for this change. Its immediate consequence was his retreat from Edinburgh to Dunse. Here he engaged himself as usher to the school which he had lately quitted ; and in this capacity he officiated a whole year, in the course of which one of the classes in the High School at Edinburgh becoming vacant, Brown appeared as a candidate, but proved unsuccessful. When Brown renounced divinity, he turned his thoughts to the study of medicine ; and in order to defray the necessary expense attendant upon this new pursuit, he became what in college parlance is termed a “grinder,” or preparer of Latin translations of the inaugural dissertations which medical students are bound to publish before taking their degree as Doctors in Medicine. His attention was first directed to this employment by accident. Application being made to one of his friends to procure a person sufhiently qualified to turn an essay of this kind into tolerable Latin, Brown was recommended, and performed the task in a manner that exceeded the expectations both of the friend and the candidate. When it was observed how much he had excelled the ordinary style of such compositions, he said he had now discovered his strength, and was ambitious of riding in his own carriage as a physician. This occurred towards the close of 1759. Brown next turned his attention to the establishment of a boarding-house for students, a resource which would enable him to maintain a family. His reputation for various attainments was, he thought, likely to draw round him a number sufficient to fill a large house. With this prospect he married in 1765 Miss Euphemia Lamont, daughter of Mr. John Lamont, merchant in Edinburgh, by whom he had twelve children. His wccess answered his expectations, and his house was soon filled with respectable boarders ; but he lived too splendidly for his income ; and it is said that he managed so ill, that in two or three years he became bankrupt. Towards the end of 1770, he was miserably reduced in circumstances, but he nevertheless continued to maintain his original independence of character. He seemed to be happy in his family ; and, as far as could be observed, acquitted himself affectionately both as a husbhd and a parent. He still attended the medical classes, which, according to his own account, he had done for ten or eleven years. From the celebrated Cullen he early received the most flattering marks of attention. This speculatist, like Boerhaave, and other men of genius in the same station, was accustomed to watch the fluctuating body of students with a vigilant eye, and to seek the acquaintance of the most promising. Brown’s intimate and classical knowledge of the Latin language served him as a peculiar recommendation ; and his circumstances might induce Cullen to believe that he could render this talent permanently useful to himself. Taking, therefore, its possessor under his immediate patronage, he gave him employment as a private instructor in his own family, and spared no pains in recommending ... SKETCHES. 5s deliver in the public hall the usual academical exercise prescribed prior to ...

Book 8  p. 84
(Score 2.24)

114 [Bmdie?r Close. from, and tried it on the lock by way of experiment, but went no further then. On the 5th of March, Brodie, Smith, Ainslie, and Brown, met in the evening about eight to make the grand attempt. The Deacon was attired in black, with a brace of pistols ; he had with him several keys and a double picklock. He seemed themselves in danger when they heard Mr. Bonar coming down-stairs, they cocked their pistols, determined not to be taken.? Eventually they got clear off with their booty, which proved to be only sixteen pounds odd, when they had expected thousands ! They all separated I -Brown and Ainslie betook themselves to the New in the wildest spirits, and as they set forth he sang the well-known ditty from the ? Beggar?s Opera?- ? Let us take the road, Hark ! I hear the sound of coaches! The hour of attack approaches ; To your arms brave boys. and load. ?See the ball I hold ; Let chemists toil like asses- Our fire their fire surpasses, And turns our lead to gold !? The office was shut at night, but nowatchmancame till ten. Ainslie kept watch in Chessel?s Court, Brodic inside the outer door, when he opened it, while Smith and Brown entered the cashier?sroom. All save the first carwhistle by which he was to sound an alarm if necessary. In forcing the second or inner door, Brown and Smith had to use a crowbar, and the coulter of a plough which they had previously stolen for the purpose. Their faces were craped; they had with them a dark lantern, and they burst open every desk and press in the room. While thus engaged, Mr. James Bonar, the deputy-solicitor, returned unexpectedly to the office at half-past eight, and detection seemed imminent indeed ! ?The outer door he found shut, and on opening it a inan in black (Brodie) hurriedly passed him, a circumstance to which, not having the slightest suspicion, he paid no attention. He went to his room up-stairs, where he remained bnly a few minutes, and then returned, shutting the outer door behind him. Perceiving this, Ainslie became Town, Brodie hurried home to the Lawnmarket, changed his dress, and proceeded to the house of his mistress, Jean Watt, in Liberton?s Wynd, and on an evening soon after the miserable spoil was divided in equal proportions. By this time the town was alarmed, and the police on the alert. Brown (alias Humphry Moore), who proved the greatest villain of the whole, was at that time under sentence of transportation for some crime committed in his native country, England, and having seen an advertisement offering reward and pardon to any person who should discover a recent Homer, one of the many transactions in which Brodie had been engaged of late with Smith and others, he resolved to turn king?s evidence, and on the very evening he had secured his share of the late transaction he went to the Procurator Fiscal, and gave information, but omitted to mention the name of Brodie, from whom he expected to procure money for secrecy. He conducted the police to the base of the Craigs, where they found concealed under a large stone a great number of keys intended for future operations in all directions. In consequence of this, Ainslie, Smith and his wife and servant, were all arrested. Then Brodie fled, and Brown revealed the whole affair. Mr. Williamson, king?s messenger for Scotland, traced the Deacon from point to point till he reached Dover, where after an eighteen days? pursuit he ... [Bmdie?r Close. from, and tried it on the lock by way of experiment, but went no further then. On the 5th of ...

Book 1  p. 114
(Score 2.2)

60 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES, him to others. The favoured pupil was at length permitted to give an evening lecture, in which he repeated, and sometimes illustrated, the morning lecture of the professor, for which purpose he was entrusted with Cullen’s own notes. This friendship, however, was not of permanent duration. When the theoretical chair of medicine became vacant, Brown gave in his name as a candidate. On a former occasion, of a nature somewhat similar, he had disdained to avail himself of recommendations, which he might have obtained with ease; and, though his abilities were far superior to those of the other candidates, private interests then prevailed over the more just pretensions of merit. Such was his simplicity that he conceived nothing beyond pre-eminent qualifications necessary to success. The Magistrates and Council of Edinburgh were the patrons of this professorship, and they are reported, deridingly, to have inquired who this unknown and unfriended candidate was ; and Cullen, on being shown the name, is said to have exclaimed, “Why, sure this can never be our Jock ! ” Estranged from Dr. Cullen, Brown gradually became his greatest enemy, and shortly afterwards found out the New Theory, which gave occasion to his publishing the ‘‘ Elementa Medicinq,” in the preface to which work he gives an account of the accident that led to this discovery. The approbation his work met with among his friends encouraged him to give lectures upon his system. Though these lectures were not very numerously attended by the students, owing to their dependence upon the professors, he had many adherents, to whom the sobriquet of (‘Brunonians ” was attached.’ It is unnecessary to enter upon all the angry disputes that subsequeritly arose. Suffice it to say that the enmity of his medical opponents, his own violence, and the pecuniary embarrassments he laboured under, ultimately compelled him to leave Edinburgh for London in 1786. During his residence in Edinburgh, Dr. Brown was elected President of the Medical Society in 1776, and again in 1780. Observing that the students of medicine frequently sought initiation into the mysteries of Freemasonry, our author thought their youthful curiosity afforded him a chance of proselytes. In 1784 he instituted a society of that fraternity, and entitled it the “ Lodge of the Roman Eagle.” The business was conducted in the Latin language, which he spoke with uncommon fluency. “ I was much diverted,” observes Dr. Macdonald, ‘‘ by his ingenuity in turning into Latin all the terms used in Masonry.” In lecturing, Dr. Brown had too frequently recourse to stimulants. He usually had a bottle of spirit,s-whisky generally-on one side, and a phial of laudanum on the other. Whenever he found himself languid preparatory to commencing, he would take forty or fifty drops of laudanum in a glass of whisky, repeating the quantity for four or five times during the course of the lecture. By these A close intimacy ensued. It may be mentioned as a curious fact, that a “perlegi” was ordered to be put at the end of each medical Thesis, for the purpose of seeing that no part of the Brunonian system was introduced by the candidates for a degree. ... BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES, him to others. The favoured pupil was at length permitted to give an evening lecture, ...

Book 8  p. 85
(Score 2.15)

258 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. A friend of his, a Mr. Corbett from Stirling, had occasion to visit the Excise Office for the purpose of drawing money. Brodie accompanied him ; and while in the cashier’s room the idea first occurred to him. He immediately acquainted his colleagues with the design, and frequently after made calls at the Office, under a pretence of asking for Mr. Corbett, but with the sole purpose of becoming better acquainted with the premises. On one of these visits in company with Smith, he observed the key of the outer door hanging on a nail, from which he took an impression of the wards with putty ; and on the night of the 30th November, with the key formed from this model, they opened the outer door, by way of experiment, but proceeded no farther. It was not till the 5th of March following that the final attempt was made; on which occasion all hands were engaged. Their plan of procedure was previously well concerted, and their tools prepared. They were to meet in the house of Smith about seven o’clock ; but Brodie did not appear till eight, when he came dressed in an old-fashioned suit of black, and armed with:a brace of pistols. He seemed in high spirits for the adventure, and was chanting the well-known ditty from the “ Beggars’ Opera : ”- “ Let us take the road, Hark ! I hear the sound of coaches ! The hour of attack approaches ; To your arms, brave boys, and load. See the ball I hold ; Let the chemists toil like asses- Our fire their fire surpasses, And turns our lead to gold.” Brodie also brought with him some small keys and a double picklock. Particular duties were assigned to each. Ainslie was to keep watch in the courtyard- Brodie inside the outer door-while Smith and Brown were to enter the cashier’s room. The mode of giving alarm was by means of a whistle bought by Brodie the day before, with which Ainslie was to call once, if only one person approached-if two or more, he was to call thrice, and then proceed himself to the back of the building to assist Brown and Smith in escaping by the windows, All of them, save Ainslie, were armed with pistols. Brown and Smith had pieces of crape over their faces. They chose the hour of attack from the circumstance of the office being generally shut at eight o’clock, and no watchman being stationed till ten. Ainslie and Brodie took up their respective positions, while Brown and Smith proceeded to the more arduous task of breaking into the cashier’s room. Smith opened the first door with a pair of curling-irons ; but, in forcing the second or inner door, they had to use both the iron crow and the coulter of a plough, which they had previously stolen for the purpose. Having with them a dark lantern, they searched the whole apartment, opening every desk and press in it. While thus engaged a discovery had nearly taken place, the Deputy-Solicitor, Mr. James Bonnar, having occasion to return to the offibe about half-past eight. The outer door he The party accordingly advanced to the scene of action. ... BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. A friend of his, a Mr. Corbett from Stirling, had occasion to visit the Excise Office ...

Book 8  p. 362
(Score 2.13)

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 325 . The two waiting-men, Brown and Scott, both of whom had been nearly forty years in the establishment, were amply provided for by the long-continued munificence of their aged masters. Scott purchased a property in Leopold Place, where he and Brown resided. The latter bought a small estate in Inverness-shire. No. CCLXXIX. DAVID SMYTHE, LORD METHVEN. LORD METHVEN was the son of David Smythe of Methven, and born in 1746. In possession of the family estates, to which he succeeded on the death of his father in 1764, he did not seek to obtain practice at the bar, but resided entirely in Perthshire, and took an active and influential part in everything that related to the local interests of that county. It was not until after the death of his first wife, in 1795, that he returned to Edinburgh, and betook himself to the law as a profession.' He was shortly afterwards appointed Sheriff-Depute of Perthshire, which office he held until he was promoted to the bench on the death of Lord Gardenstone in 1763. He was appointed one of the Commissioners of Justiciary in the room of Lord Abercromby in 1796. As a judge Lord Methven is represented to have possessed extensive general knowledge and soundness of understanding. He resigned his appointment as a Justiciary Lord in 1804; and died on the 30th of January 1806. His death was remarkably sudden. He was taken ill while walking on the street, and expired in half an hour after having been carried home. His remains were interred in the Canongate churchyard ; and the great attendance at his funeral testified the general esteem in which he had been held. He was twice married ; first to Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Robert Murray of Hillhead, Bart., and sister to General Sir James Murray Pulteney, Bart. ; secondly, to Euphemia Amelia, daughter of Mungo Murray, Esq. of Lintrose.' He had large families by both marriages, of whom there survived three sons, Robert Smythe, Esq. He studied law, and passed advocate in 1769. Lord Methven lived in St. Andrew Square. 1 His practice aa an advocate was limited. In speaking, he hesitated considerably, appearing frequently at a loss for a word ; consequently, although his judicial qualifications were respectable, he appeared to great disadvantage among his brethren. !a This lady was distinguished, on account of her beauty, by the appropriate appellation of the Flower of Strathmore ; and celebrated by Burns in his song of " Blithe waa she," having been seen by that poet when on a visit to her relative, Si William Murray of Ochtertyre.-Mmy of Lintrose waa succeeded by Mnngo Murray, Esq., late of Mumy and Cochrane, printem, Edinburgh. ... SKETCHES. 325 . The two waiting-men, Brown and Scott, both of whom had been nearly forty years in ...

Book 9  p. 433
(Score 2.11)

OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. cst. Andrew Sq- ST. ANDREW SQUARE, The Royal Eank of Scotland. The Scottish Provident Institution. The British Linen Company's Rank The Scottish Widows' Fund Office. CHAPTER XXIII. CHAR L 0 T T E S (2 U X R E. Charlotte Square-Its Early Occupants-Sir John Sinclair, Bart.-Lamond of that Ilk-Sir Williarn Fettes-Lord Chief Commissioner Adam- Alexander Dirom-St George's Church-The Rev. Andrew Thornson-Prince Consort's Memorial-The Parallelogram of the first New Town. CHARLOTTE SQUARE, which corresponds with that of St. Andrew, and closes the west end of George Street, as the latter closes the east, measures about 180 yards each way, and was constructed in 1800, after designs by Robert Adam of Maryburgh, the eminent architect ; it is edificed in a peculiarly elegant and symmetrical manner, all the fasades corresponding with each 0the.r. In 1874 it was beautified by ornamental alterations and improvements, and by an enclosure of its garden area, at a cost of about d3,000. Its history is less varied than that of St. Andrew Square. During the Peninsular war No. z was occupied by Colonel Alexander Baillie, and therein was the Scottish Barrack office. One .of the earliest OCCUpants of No. 6 was Sir James Sinclair of Ulbster, ... AND NEW EDINBURGH. cst. Andrew Sq- ST. ANDREW SQUARE, The Royal Eank of Scotland. The Scottish Provident ...

Book 3  p. 172
(Score 2.03)

140 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH. afterwards possessed by the ancient family of the Nisbets of Dirleton, and by Gordon of Braid ; but, if so, it must have been as tenants, as it was sold by Mr Baird to A. Brown, Esq., of Greenbank, from whom it passed successively to his sons, Colonel George Brown, and Captain James Brown, commander of the ship Alfred, in the East India Company’s service. From these later owners, Brown’s Close, where the modern entrance to the house is situated, derives its name. The name of Webster’s Close, on the same side of the street, by which Brown’s Court was formerly known, served to indicate the site of Dr Webster’s house, the originator of the Widows’ Scheme, and long one of the ministers of the old Tolbooth Kirk. He was a person of great influence and popularity in his day, and entertained Dr Johnson often at his table during his visit to Edinburgh. At a later period it was occupied by the Rev. Dr Greenfield, Professor of Rhetoric and Belles Lettres in the University, after whose time it passed through various hands, and closed its career as a cholera hospital, previous to its demolition in 1837, to make way for the Castle Road. Dr Webster built another house immediately adjoining this, from stones taken out of the North Loch. It was first occupied by Mr Hogg as a banking house, and afterwards, for twenty years, by the Society of Scottish Antiquaries, during the whole of which period, Alexander Smellie, Esq., the Emeritus Secretary, resided in the house. A very handsome old land of considerable breadth stands to the east of this. It presents a polished ashler front to the street, ornamented with string courses, and surmounted by an elegant range of dormer windows, with finials of various design. Over the main entrance, in Boswell’s Court, there is a shield bearing a fancy device, with the initials T. L., and the inscription, 0 * LORD a IN THE IS AL MI * TRAIST. In a compartment on the left of the shield, there are also the initials, I. L., R. W. ; a similar compartment on the right is now defaced.’ Immediately to the west of the Assembly Hall, a tall narrow land forms the last remaining building on the south side of the Castle Hill. In the style of its architecture it differs entirely from any of the neighbouring houses, presenting a pediment in front, surmounted with urns, and otherwise adorned according to the fashion that prevaqed during the earlier part of the last century. This house, as appears from the title-deeds, was built by Robert Mowbray, Esq., of Castlewan, in 1740, on the site of an ancient mansion belonging to the Countess Dowager of Hyndford. The keystone of the centre window in the second floor is orpamented with a curiously inwrought cipher of the initials of Robert Mowbray, its builder; from whose possession it passed into that of William, the fourth Earl of Dumfries, who succeeded his mother, Penelope, Countess of Dumfries in her own right, and afterwards, by the death of his 1 The close, we believe, derives ita name from a Dr Boawell, who reaided there about eighty years since. We were Znformed, hdwever, by the good lady who very politely conducted us over the house, that it was the Earl of Bothwell’s mansion, ‘‘ An’ nae doubt,” said she, aa she showed ua into the best room, with its fireplace lined with Dutch tiles, ‘‘ nae doubt mony queer doings hae taen place here between the add Earl and Queen Mary 1 ” Nothing is 80 amusing, in investigating our local antiquities, iw the constant association of Queen Mary’s name with everything that is old, however homely or even ridiculous. ... MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH. afterwards possessed by the ancient family of the Nisbets of Dirleton, and by Gordon ...

Book 10  p. 151
(Score 2.02)

NOTES TO VOL. I. Page 257, DEACONBR ODIEA ND THE EXCISEO FFICE. The Excise Office was then in Chessels’ Court, Canongate. In the reign of Charles 11. it stood a little below John Knox’s house, just within the Nether Bow Port, From thence it was removed to a fine old building in the Cowgate, on the site of the southeru arches of George IV. Bridge, originally the mansion of the Earl of Haddington, the favourite of James I. Froni this it was transferred to Chessels‘ Court in 1772, and then to the fine mansion of Sir Lawrence Dundas in St. Andrew Square, now the Royal Bank.of Scotland. Brodie’s own house was in .the Lawnmarket, a little below the West Bow, styled after him Brodie’s Close. Page 281, Dr. ALEXAXDEMRO NRO. Among the earliest Scottish photograph portraits, taken with paper negatives, by the late D. 0. Hill, R.S.A., is a very characteristic photograph of Dr. Alexander Monro Tertius. Page 287, EARLO F BUCHANH’SO USE. The Earl of Buchan’s house was at the north-east corner of St. Andrew Sqnare, with its east windows on North St. Andrew Street. There the Society of Antiquaries was originated ; and there the eccentric nobleman figured in such scenes as that of Apollo and the Muses, described in the following note. Page 305, HADDOH’SO LE. The Little Kirk, or Haddo’s Hole, waa the north-west division of Old St. Giles’s Church. Until near the close of last century it was entered through a beautiful Norman porch, the last remains of the earliest structure ; and over this was a chamber to which Maitland gives the name of the Priest’s Prison. In this apartment Sir John Gordon of Haddo was imprisoned in 1644, previous to his trial, and beheading by the Maiden. Hence the name of Haddo’s Hole. Page 306, MUIR of Huntershill and his MONUMENT. The monument referred to as in prospect was at length successfully raised in spite of the proceedings which interdicted its erection for a time, and wasted the funds in law proceedings ; thereby reducing the scheme to the poor obelisk now in the Old Caltou Eurying-ground. Page 315, LORDP RESIDENBLTA IRA ND LORDM ELVILLE. The houses referred to in the note were, it is presumed, in Brown Square. Lord Melville occupied the most westerly house on the north side of the square. The next house was occupied for a time by Sir Ilay Campbell, the predecessor of Lord President Blair. The locality was conveniently near the Parliament House, with easy access by the Cowgate and Old Parliament Stairs. Hence the square was a favourite resort of the Judges. Lord Justice-clerk Miller was succeeded in the centre house on the same side by his son, Lord Glenlee, who continued to occupy it long after the general fashionable migration to the New Town. Page 41 7, APGOWAN’MS USEUM. Pennant, in his Second Tour, gives some account of the contents of Mr. John Macguan’a “ small but select private cabinet.” Some of the objects found in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh appear to have possessed considerable local interest; and especially a fine Roman bronze, representing a beautiful Naiad, with a wine-vat on her head, and a small satyr in one arm. ... houses referred to in the note were, it is presumed, in Brown Square . Lord Melville occupied the most westerly ...

Book 8  p. 603
(Score 1.99)

493 INDEX TO THE NAMES, ETC. Bellaniy, Mrs., 33 Bennet, Mr., surgeon, 25 Berri, Due de, 198 Berri, Duchesse de, 199 Bertrani, Rev. Mr., 107, 108 Reugo, the engraver, 411 Beveridge, Mr. David, 403, 407 Binning, Lord, 125 Birnie, Patie, 410 Bisset, Mr., 124 Blacas, Due de, 201 Black, Rev. Mr., 39 Black, Dr., 75, 450, 451 Black, Rev. Thomas, 192 Black, Rev. Mr., 245 Black, Air. John, 407 Black, Alr. John, junior, 407 Black, Mr., surgeon, 471 Blackenay, General, 271 Blacklock, Dr., 136 Blackwood, air. Jsmes, 403 Hair, Sir James Hunter, 56, 29f Blair, Robert, Esq., of $ventor (afterwards Lord President), 91 251, 380, 433, 439 Blair, Rev. Hugh, D.D., 93, 41: Blair, Villiam, Esq., 130 Blair, Colonel, of Blair, 412 Blakeman, -, 362 Blncher, hiarshall, 296 Bogue, Kev. Dr., 39 Eonaparte, Napoleon, 51, 52, 67. Ronar, Mr. John, 19 Bonar, John, Esq., of Ratho, 10: Bonar, Alexander, Esq., 105 Bond, Oliver, 176, 177 Bordeaux, Due de, 198, 202 Boswell, James, Esq., 20, 57, 58, Boswell, Sir Alexander, 99, 277, Boswell, John, Esq., 277 Boue, Dr., 454 Boyd, Mr. George, 10 Boyd, Dr., 14 Boyd and Oliver, Messrs., 99, 357 Boyd, Justice, 173 Boyle, Hon. David, Lord Justice- Boyle, Hon. Patrick, 417 Boyle, John, Esq., 418 Boyle, Patrick, Esq., 418 Bradford, Sir Thomas, K.B., 307 Braidwood, Mr., 11 Braidwood, Nr. William, 122 68, 198, 261 380 463 Clerk, 326 Braidwood, Mr. William, of th Baptist Congregation, 124 Braidwood, Dir. James, 124 Braidwood, Mr. William, 124 Brain, George, 43 Bransby, Professor, 452 Ereadalbane, Earl of, 411 Bremner, Mr. James, 121 Breton, Eliab, Esq., 246 Brewster, Sir David, 142, 453 Briggs, Dr., 134 Bright, Dr., 452 Brodie, Deacon, 8, 120, 121, 28t Brothers, Richard, 309 Brongham, Lord, 21, 142, 388 413, 414, 432, 447 Brown, Mr., 9 Brown, Dr., 33 Brown, -, carter, 78 Brown, Mr. Robert, 87 Brown, Rev. Dr. William Law Brown, Walter, Esq., 105 Brown, Dr. Andrew, 110 Brown, Rev. John, 237, 279, 35: Brown, Rev. Robert, 279 Brown, Rev. Dr. John, 280, 281 Brown, Archibald, 323, 325 Brown, Professor Thomas, 388 Brown, Nr., 454 Brown, William Henry, Esq., 45: Browne, Citizen M. C., 191 Browne, James, LL.D., advocate Rrownlee, James, Esq., 322 Bruce, Professor John, 19 Bruce, Captain, 76 Brnce, Mr., of Kennett, 76 Bruce, Rev. Professor, 244 Bruce, Nessrs., 286 Bruce, King Robert, 317, 328 Brnce, John, 406 Bnice, James, the Abyssinian traveller, 466 Brune, General, 189 Brunswick, Duke of, 115 Bryce, Mr., 124 Bryce, Rev. Dr., 458 hccleuch, Duke of, 25, 45, 139, 140, 239, 273, 341 hccleuch, Duchess of, 138 3uchan, Mr. John, W.S., 4 hchan, Earl of, 65, 154,195, 449 k h a n , Mr., 334 hchanan, Rev. Dr., 39, 311, 223 luchanan, George, 191 rence, 104 202 Buchanan, Pipe-Major, 273 Buchanan, James, 368 Bugon, Dr., 199 Bulloch, Miss Isabella, 278 Burgoyne, General Sir John, 467 Burke, Edmund, 184 Burn, Mr. Robert, 94 Burns, Robert, the poet, 1, 59, 93, 94, 128, 132, 136, 313, 325, 384, 400, 422, 423, 430 Burns, Rev. Dr. George, 134 Bnrnside, Rev. Mr., 223 Burnett, Mrs., 135 Rurnett, Miss, 135, 136, 137 Burnett, William, Esq., 436 Burnett, Miss Elizabeth, 436 Burnett, Miss Anne, 436 Burnett, Miss Robert Dundas, Burnett, Birs., 437 Rurt, Dr., 101 Bustard, Mr., 13 Bute, James second Earl of, 72 Bute, John third Earl of, 72, 181 Butler, Hon. Sirnon, 121, 168, Butler, Hon. Edwnrd Lynch, I77 Butter, Mr., senior, 32, 92 Butter, Miss Helm, 35 Butter, Miss Anne, 35 Butter, Miss Janet, 35 Butter, Miss Jane, 35 3yron, Admiral, 106 3yron, Lord, 391 C :ADELL, Robert, publisher, 475 >adelk Mr. of Tranent, 446 >ajan, the giant, 115 hllander, John, Esq., of Craig- >allander, Colonel Janies, 51 :allander, air., 361 :allender, Dr., 447 hllender, Miss, 447 hlvin, John, 420 :amage, William, 177 hmeron, Jean, 218 lameron, Colonel, 273 lameron, Messrs. J. and P., 314, 'ameron, Chief of Lochiel, 349 hmpbell, Major-General, 7 !ampbell, Lady Charlotte, 25 'ampbell, Captain John, 35 !ampbell, Archibald, Esq., 35 437 171 forth, 51 315 ... INDEX TO THE NAMES, ETC. Bellaniy, Mrs., 33 Bennet, Mr., surgeon, 25 Berri, Due de, 198 Berri, Duchesse de, ...

Book 9  p. 683
(Score 1.96)

214 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Leith. memorials of still earlier fabrics here and there meet the eye, and carry back the imagination to those stirring scenes in the history of this locality, \+hen the Queen Regent, with her courtiers and allies, made it their stronghold and chosen place of abode ; or when, amid a more peaceful array, the fair Scottish Queen Mary, or the sumptuous Anne of Denmark, rode gaily through the street on their way to Holyrood.? It is a street that carries back the mind to the days of Wood and the Bartons, when the port of Leith was in constant communication with Bordeaux and the Garonne, and when the Scots of those days were greater claret drinkers than the English ; and when commerce here was as we find it detailed in the ledger of Andrew Haliburton, the merchant of Middelburg and Conservator of Scot- ? tish Privileges there, between 1493 and 1505-a ledger that gives great insight to the imports at Leith and elsewhere in Scotland. Haliburton acted as agent for churchmen as well as laymen, receiving and selling on commission the raw products of the Netherlands, and sending home nearly every kind of manufactured article then in use. He appears often to have visited Edinburgh, settling old accounts and arranging new ventures ; and with that piety which in those days formed so much a part of the inner life of the Scottish people? the word JHESUS is inscribed on every account. Haliburton appears to have imported cloths, silk, linen, and woollen stuffs; wheelbarrows to build King?s College, Aberdeen ; fruit, dyugs, and plate ; Gascony, Rhenish, and Malvoisie mines ; pestles, mortars, brass basins, ?and feather beds ; an image of St. Thomas ZL Becket, from Antwerp, for John of Pennycuik ; tombstones from Middelburg ; mace, pepper, saffron, and materials for Walter Chapman, the early Scottish printer, if not the first in Scotland. We reproduce (p. 212) Wilson?s view of one of the oldest houses in the Kirkgate, which was only taken down in 1S45. The doorway was moulded; on the frieze was boldly cut in old English letters Pherrarr flaria, and above was a finely-moulded Gothic niche, protected by a sloping water-table. A stone gurgoyle projected from the upper storey. Local tradition asserted that the edifice was a chapel built by Mary of Lorraine ; but of this there is no evidence. In the niche, no doubt, stood an image, which would be destroyed at the Reformation. Above the niche there was a small square aperture, in which it was customary, as is the case now in Continental towns, to place a light after nightfall, in order that passers-by might see the shrine and ,make obeisance td it. Another very old house on the same side of the Kirkgate, the west, displays a handsome triple arcade of three round arches on squat pillars, with square moulded capitals, a great square chimney rising through the centre of the roof, and a staircase terminating a?crowstepped gable to the street. A tavern in the Kirkgate, kept by a man named John Brown, and which, to judge from the social position of its visitors, must have been a respectable house of entertainment, was the scene of a tragedy on the 8th of March, 1691. Sinclair of Mey, and a friend named James Sinclair, writer in Edinburgh, were at their lodgings in this tavern, when at a late hour the Master of Tarbet (afterwards Earl of Cromarty) and Ensign Andrew Mowat came to join them. ? There was no harm? meant by any one that night in the hostelry of John Brown, but before midnight the floor was reddened with slaughter.? The Master of Tarbet, son of a statesman of no mean note, was nearly related to Sinclair of Mey. He and the ensign are described in the subsequent proceedings as being both excited by the liquor they had taken, but not beyond self-control. A . pretty girl, named Jean Thompson, on bringing them a fresh supply, was laughingly invited by the Master to sit beside him, but escaped to her own room, and bolted herself in. Running in pursuit of her, he went blunderingly into a room occupied by a French gentleman, named George Poiret, who was asleep. An altercation took place between them, on which Ensign Mowat went to see what was the matter. The Frenchman had drawn his sword, but the two friends wrenched it out of his hand. A servant of the house, named Christian Erskine, now came on the scene of brawling, together with a gentleman who could not be afterwards identified. At her urgent entreaty, Mowat took away the Master and the stranger, who carried with him Poiret?s sword. Here the fracas would have ended, had not the Master deemed it his duty to return and apologise. Exasperated to find a new disturbance, as he deemed it, at his room door, the Frenchman knocked on the ceiling with tongs to summon to his assistance his two brothers, Isaac Poiret and Elias, surnamed the Sieur de la Roche, who at once came down, armed with their swords and pistols, and spoke with George, who was defenceless and excited, at his door; and in a moment there came about a hostile collision between them and the Master and Mowat in the hall. Jean Thompson roused Brown, the landlord, but he came too late. The Master and Mowat were ... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Leith. memorials of still earlier fabrics here and there meet the eye, and carry back ...

Book 6  p. 214
(Score 1.95)

High Street.] LORD Justice Clerk in 1748, who long occupied two flats on the west side of the square, the back windows of which overlook the picturesque vista of Cockburn Street, and the door of which was among the last that displayed the ancient riq. This cadet of the loyal and ancient house of ALVA. 23 7 Wily old Simon Lord Lovat, of the ?45, who was perpetually involved in law pleas, frequently visited Lord Alva at his house in Mylne?s Square ; and the late Mrs. Campbell of Monzie, his daughter, was wont to tell that when Lord Lovat caught her in the stair ?he always took her up I ? MYLNE?S SQUARE. Mar was born in 1680, and died in 1763. Before the nse of the new city, it affords us a curious , glimpse of the contfnted life that such a legal dignitary led in those days, when we find him happy during winter in a double flat, in this obscure place, and in summer at the little villa of Drumsheugh, swept away in 1877, and of which no relic now remains, save the rookery with its old trees in Randolph Crescent. in his arms and kissed her, to her horror-he was In this mansion in Mylne?s Square Lord Alva?s two step-daughters, the Misses Maxwell of Reston, were married; one, Mary, became the Countess of William Earl of Sutherland, a captain in the 56th Foot, who, when France threatened invasion in 1759, raised, in two months, a regment among his own clan and followers; the so ugly.?l ... Street.] LORD Justice Clerk in 1748, who long occupied two flats on the west side of the square, the back ...

Book 2  p. 237
(Score 1.93)

___-- - 7 0 EDINBURGH PAST AND PRESENT. Approaching the Cowgate by Infirmary Street and the High School Wynd, we are reminded of the pathetic story of Rub and his 2+ietzds, by dr. John Brown, which opens so happily : ' Four-and-thirty years ago, Bob Ainslie HIGH SCHOOL WYND. OLD HKH SCHOOL. THE MINT. and I were coming up Infirmary Street from the High School, our heads together and our arms intertwisted, as onIy lovers and boys know how or why.' The small engraving on the right shows the old High School, and that on the _____-- ----i - - __ - ... - 7 0 EDINBURGH PAST AND PRESENT. Approaching the Cowgate by Infirmary Street and the High School Wynd, we ...

Book 11  p. 111
(Score 1.92)

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 457 Few men ever enjoyed a course of uninterrupted good health equal to Mr. Sym. When confined to the house for a few days in the latter part of his life, he used to say that no medical man had ever felt hispulse, and that he did not remember having ever in his life taken 6reakfast in bed. Truly B favoured son of Hygeia, he attributed his exemption from disease chieffy to regular living, and to his fondness for early morning exercise. He and Osborne (formerly noticed) were the right-hand men of the grenadiers; and from his stature (six feet four inches), the former had to procure a firelock considerably longer than the common regimental ones. He acted for some time as fugleman to the first regiment; and it is told that, in his anxiety on one occasion to perform his part well, he so twisted his body, while his arms were poised above his head, as to be completely Zoclce&incapable of movement. In tliis painful predicament he stood a few moments, till aided by the famous Major Gould, who, on observing the circumstance, ran to his assistance. Mr. Sym belonged to the old school of Tories, and was intimate with Lord Melville, Chief Baron Dundas, and the other contemporary leaders of the party. The well-known Editor of Blackwood’s Magazine, Professor Wilson, was his nephew; as were also Robert Sym Wilson, Esq., Secretary to the Royal Bank ; James Wilson, Esq., of Woodville, the eminent Ornithologist ; and the Rev. John Sym, one of the ministers of the Old Greyfriar’s Church, Edinburgh. Though in his younger years a gallant of no mean pretension, and in high favour with the ladies, Mr. Sym continued all his life a bachelor. At one period he resided in the buildings denominated “ The Society,” Brown Square, but for the last forty years and upwards he was an inhabitant of George Square. Mr. Sym was a member of the Royal Edinburgh Volunteers. No. CCCXXIV. REV. HENRY GREY, AM., MINISTER OF ST. MARY’S CHURCH, EDINBURGH. MR. GREY was born at Alnwick, in the county of Northumberland, in the year 1778. In early life he was left to the care of a kind and pious mother, who watched over her son with the most tender and anxious assiduity, and lived to receive the reward of her love and devotedness in her son’s clerical reputation and unceasing affection. Mr. Grey received the elements of English education at a private school in his native town. When eight years old he was placed at a seminary in Highhedgely, conducted by an intelligent curate of the Church of England, where he His father was a gentleman of the medical profession. VOL 11. 3N ... he resided in the buildings denominated “ The Society,” Brown Square , but for the last forty years and ...

Book 9  p. 610
(Score 1.91)

ST. ANDREW SQUARE. ... ANDREW ...

Book 3  p. 169
(Score 1.89)

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 399 who was a shrewd, strong-headed man, liked nothing better than to engage Brown in a discussion ; and the nonsense the latter used to utter was vastly amusing. Here the Doctor was in his element. Xumerous were the encounters he had had with the enemy of mankind and his emissaries ; and repeatedly had he defeated them; nay, he had killed the devil and slaughtered numbers of the imps of darknesshence his soubriquet of “ The Devil Killer.”’ Brown died about the year 1822 ; and we cannot close this sketch of his life more appropriately than by quoting the epitaph or elegy which he composed upon himself- One favourite subject was the power of his Satanic Majeaty. ‘‘ The discoverer of the Perpetual Motion, This cold grave is all his portion. The stars will show you at a glance, The perpetual motion is Omnipotence. Before I was, I did not exist, I now exist no more- Nature has to me been just-I’m what I was before.” No. CCCVI. MISS EURNS, . A CELEBRATED BEAUTY OF LAST CENTURY. MISS BURNSo, r MATHEWS( for she assumed both names), represented herself as a native of the city of Durham, in England, where her father had been at one time a wealthy merchant ; but latterly becoming unfortunate, and having con- 1 About this same time, the Parisians were much amused with a character somewhat resembling Dr. Brown, although still more extravagant in his fancies. M. Berbiguier de Terreneuve du Thym -for that was the Frenchman’s name-published a work in three octavo volumes, with plates, entitled “The :Hobgoblins ; or all the Demons are not in the Other World.” M. Berhiguier’s frenzy wa9 entirely of a religious cast ; and he believed himself commissioned to destroy all the demons, which, according to his faith, still lurk unseen in the nether world. His weapons of warfare were brushes, pins, sponges, and snuff. With these he attacked the unembodied enemies of mankind ; and, according to his own account, he allowed no day to pass without imprisoning in a bottle at least thirty hobgoblins. Thus benefiting mankind, M. Berbiguier held on his course with much self-esteem and satifaction, until his work attracted the notice of the Editor of the I‘ Biographie de8 Contemporaires,” who designated it as the “work of a madman,”and severely castigated the publisher for lending his aid to the birth of such a production. This led the much-offended catcher of hobgoblins into the Tribunal of Correctional Police, with an action for damages against the Editor of the ‘ I Biographie,” where he pleaded his own cause in a manner so ridiculous as to set the gravity of the bench and the audience at defiance. With hie pins, sponges, b~shesa,n d bottles, he was clamorous for an opportunity of showing his power. “Mr. President,” said he, “you see this instrument ; if there be in this assembly a single damned soul, in two minutes you shall see it in thh bottle ?” At length M. Berbiguier was ordered to be silent ; and the Court decided that there was no ground for a charge of libel. Much enraged, the hobgoblin champion threatened to appeal from this decision to the Cow Royale, where he was 8ure there were “ no Satanists amongst ita memben.” He even proposed catching the President himself! ... SKETCHES. 399 who was a shrewd, strong-headed man, liked nothing better than to engage Brown in a ...

Book 9  p. 534
(Score 1.84)

THE OLD TOWN. 25 in Parliament Square, is supposed to be under the stone shown in the Engraving.) The Edinburgh Reviewers-Jeffrey, Sydney Smith, Brougham, KNOWS GRAVE Dr. Thomas Brown, Francis Horner, and the rest,-are cultivating the Muses ,on a little oatmeal, moistened by not a littre usquebaugh. Walter Scott is getting up his Border MinstreZsy. Leyden is gulping down languages like Behemoth rivers. Thomas Campbell is completing the incubation of his PZeasures of Hope. Hector MacNeil is resting under the little laurels of his WiZZ a d l e a n and Mary of CasfZecary. Dr. John Jarnieson has come from Forfar to preside over an Anti-Burgher congregation in Nicolson Street, and to issue his stupendous Dictwmzy of the ScottzX hnpuge. Mrs. Grant of Laggan is publishing her Bters from fhe Mozintatits. James Grahame is singing with sweet though rather sepulchral notes his Sabbat/r and Birds of ScotZad. Mrs. Hamilton is brimful of her exquisite novel, 23~C offagerso f GZenbumL; and Mrs. Brunton has secretly prepared a surprise for the world, and her husband too, in her stirring and animated Se(f-ControZ. In the Edinburgh pulpit, Dr. John Inglis, Dr. Brunton, and other magnates, are propping up the Established Church, while in the Relief body Struthers of College Street is gathering together such crowds as have rarely been seen in Edinburgh before, and are not to be seen again till the advent of Chalmers, and is, by his sermon on the battle of Trafalgar, to electrify his audience as much as the news of the great victory had done, while Alison and afterwards Morehead and Sandford are sustaining the credit of the Episcopalian Church. But the period between the year 1815 and 1830 or 1835 may perhaps be called the culmination of Fdinburgh's intellectual- glory. During that time was commenced ihe immortal series of the Waverley Novels, in Iieu of, but a vast stride before, Scott's highly popular Poems. (The D ... OLD TOWN. 25 in Parliament Square, is supposed to be under the stone shown in the Engraving.) The Edinburgh ...

Book 11  p. 43
(Score 1.83)

  Next Page More Results

  Back Go back to Edinburgh Bookshelf

Creative Commons License The scans of Edinburgh Bookshelf are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 License.