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MEMORIALS O F EDINBURGH. -
PART I.
HISTORICAL ASSOCIATIONS.
TO THE FRONTISPIECE OF ABAKUK mssm's BOOKE OF THE OLD YOXUYENTY OF SCOTLAXU.
'Twixt Was, and Ia, how varioua are the Ods !
What one man doth, another doth vndoe :
One conaecrates Religious Workes to Gods,
Another leoues sad Wrackes and Huines now.
Thy Bqoke doth shew that such and such thinga were,
But, would to God that it could say, They are.
When I pererre the South, North, East, and Weat,
And mark, alace, each Monument amia ;
Then I conferre Tyrnes present with the past :
I reade what was, but cannot Bee what is : '
I prayse thy Booke with wonder, but am sorie,
To reade olde Ruines in a recent stork.
Poetical Recreatk~ncsof Mr Akxandet Cmig,
of Rase-Craig. Scoto Brdan. 1623.

... O F EDINBURGH. - PART I. HISTORICAL ASSOCIATIONS. TO THE FRONTISPIECE OF ABAKUK mssm's BOOKE OF ...

Book 10 p. xvii
(Score 1.76)

THE NISBET$ OF DEAN. 65 The Water of Leith.1
Embosomed among venerable trees, the old
house of a baronial family, the Nisbets of Dean,
stood here, one of the chief features in the locality,
and one of the finest houses in the neighbourhood of
From the Water of Leith village a steep path
that winds up the southern slope of the river?s
bank on its west side, leads to the high ground
where for ages there stood the old manor-house of
Dean, and on the east the older village of the
same name.
During the reign of James IV., on the r5th
June, 1513, the Dean is mentioned in the Burgh
Records? as one of the places where the pest
existed; and no man or woman dwelling therein was
regard that the farnily-of-Dean is the only family
of that name in Scotland that has right, by consent,
to represent the original family of the name
of Nisbet, since the only lineal male representative,?
and armorial bearings, it was literally a history in
stone of the proud but now extinct race to which
it belonged.
H e n j Nisbet, descended from- the Nisbets of
Dalzell (cadets of the Nisbets of that ilk), who for
many years was a Commissioner to the Parliament
for Edinburgh, died some time before 1608, leaving
three sons : James, who became Nisbet of Craigintinnie,
near Restalrig; Sir William of Dean,
whose grandson, Alexander,. exchanged the lands
THE DEAN HOUSE, 1832. (Aftv a Dravving ay Rolcrl Gibb.)
permitted to enter the city, under pain, if a woman,
of being branded on the cheek, and if a man, of such
punishment as might be deemed expedient.
In 1532 James Wilson and David Walter were
committed prisoners to the Castle of Edinburgh,
for hamesucken and oppression done to David
Kincaid in the village of Deanhaugh.
In 1545 the Poultry Lands near Dean were held
mm qfi& PuZtrie Regim, as Innes tells us in his
Scottish ? Legal Antiquities.?
of Dean with his cousin, Sir Patrick Nisbet, the
first baronet; and Sir Patrick of Eastbank, a Lord
of Session.
The Nisbets of Dean came to be the head of the
house, as Alexander Nisbet records in his System
of Heraldry,? published in I 7 2 z ; soon after which,
he died, by the failure of the Nisbets of that ilk in
his own person-a contingency which led him to?lay
aside the chevron, the mark of fidelity, a mark of
cadency, used formerly by the house of Dean, in

... NISBET$ OF DEAN. 65 The Water of Leith.1 Embosomed among venerable trees, the old house of a baronial family, ...

Book 5 p. 65
(Score 1.76)

The Cowgate.] THE CORPORATIONS. 265
of the first places where woollen goods were made,
and had, at one time, the most important wool
market in Britain.
The hatmakers were formed into a corporation
in 1473, when ten masters of the craft presented
a petition to that effect; but the bonnet-makers
did not receive their seal of cause till 1530, prior to
which they had been united with the walkers and
shearers, with whom they were bound to uphold
the al+a of St Mark in St Giles?s Church. In
the articles and conditions it contained ; but it is
said that a seal was issued In 1508, Thomas
Greg, (? Kirk-master of the flescheour craft,? OD
behalf of the same, brought before the Council a
complaint, that certain persons, not? freemen of the
craft or the burgh, interfered with their privileges,
and had them forbidden to sell meat, except on
Sunday and Monday, the free market days, ? quhill
thai obtene thair fredome.?
The coopers were incorporated in 1489, binding
-
INTERIOR OF THE CHAPEL OF ST. MARY MAGDALENE. -
1685 an Act of Parliament confirmed all their
privileges, together with those of the litsters, or
dyers. About the middle of the seventeenth century,
owing to the spread of the use of hats, instead of
the national bonnet, among the upper classes, this
society was reduced to so low a condition that
its members could neither support their families or
the expense of a society.
The fleshers were a very old corporation, but
the precise date of their charter is not very clear.
In 1483 regulations concerning the fleshers dealing
in fish in Lent, &c, were issued by the magistrates,
whom they petitioned in 1488 for a seal of
cause, which petition was taken into consideration by
the Council, who ratified and confirmed the whole of
83
themselves to uphold the altar of St. John in St.
Giles?s Church.
The walkers obtained their seal of cause in
August, 1500. They had an altar in the same
church dedicated to SS. Mark, Philip, and Jacob,
to which the following among other fees were
paid :-
Each master, on taking an apprentice paid ten
shillings Scots ; and on any master taking into his
service, either the apprentice or journeyman of any
other master, he paid twenty shillings Scots ; if any
craftsman was found working with cards in the
country, he was to forfeit the sum of fifteen shillings
Scots, to be equally divided between the work of
Si Giles?s, their altar, and the informer. It is also

... Cowgate.] THE CORPORATIONS. 265 of the first places where woollen goods were made, and had, at one time, the ...

Book 4 p. 265
(Score 1.76)

head,? and without the aid of which he could perform
nothing, was cast in also, and it was remarked
by the spectators that it gave extraordinary twistings
and dthings, and was as long in burning as
the major himself. The place where he perished
was at Greenside, on the sloping bank, whereon,
in 1846, was erected the new church, so called.
If this man was not mad, he certainly was a
singular paradox in human nature, and one of a
TRINITY CHURCH AND HOSPITAL, AND NEIGHBOURHOOD. (From Curdon of Rothiemas Map.)
57, Halkerston?s Wynd ; 58, Leith Wynd ; 6. St. Ringan?s Suburbs, or the Beggar Row ; 27, the North Craigs, or h?eil?s Craigs ; 24, the
Correction House ; p, the Colh qe Kirk ; i, Trinity Hospital j i, Leith Wynd Port ; s. St. Paul?s Work.
ing to the Tolbooth from Greenside, she would not
believe that her brother had been burned till toldthat
it had perished too ; ? whereupon, notwithstanding
her age, she nimbly, and in a furious rage, fell upon
her knees, uttering words horrible to be remembered.?
She assured her hearers that her mother
had been a witch, and that when the mark of a
horse-shoe-a mark which she herself displayedcame
on the forehead of the old woman, she could
kind somewhat uncommon-outwardly he exhibited tell of events then happening at any distance, and
the highest strain of moral sentiment for years, and to her ravings in the Tolbooth must some of the
duringall that time had been secretly addicted to
every degrading propensity ; till evenhially, unable
to endure longer the sense of secret guilt and
hypocrisy, With the terrors of sickness and age
upon him, and death seeming nezr, he made a
confession which some at first believed, and on
that confession alone was sentenced to die.
If Weir was not mad, the ideas and confessions
of his sister show that she undoubtedly was. She
evidently believed that her brothefs stick was
one possessed of no ordinav power. Professor
Sinclair tells us, that on one of the ministers returndarkest
traditions of the West Bow be assigned.
She confessed that she was a sorceress, and
among other incredible things, said that many years
before a fiery chariot, unseen by others, came to
her brother?s house in open day j a stranger invited
them to enter, and they proceeded to Dalkeith.
While on the road another stranger came, and
whispered something in the ear of her brother, who
became visibly affected ; and this intelligence was
tidings of the defeat of the Scottisl army, that very
day, at Worcester. She stated, tow, that a dweller
in Dalkeith had a familiar spirit, who span for her

... and without the aid of which he could perform nothing, was cast in also, and it was remarked by the ...

Book 2 p. 312
(Score 1.68)

THE WEST BOW AND SUBURBS. 337
and he’died as he had lived. When bound to the stake, and with the rope about his neck,
he was urged to say, ‘‘ Lord, be merciful to me j ” but he answered, “ Let me alone, I will
not ; I have lived as a beast, and I must die as a beast.” The Rev. Mr Fraser adds :-‘‘ His
black staff was cast into the fire with him. Whatever incantation was in it, the persons
present aver yt it gave rare turnings, and was long a burning, as also himself.”
The reverend author of “ Satan’s Invisible World Discovered,” declines, with mysterious
assumptions of propriety, to discuss what incantation was in the black staff that sufered
along with him. On
one of the ministers returning to the Tolbooth to inform Grizel Weir that her brother was
burnt, ‘‘ She believed nothing of it ; but, after many attestations, she asked where his staff
was? for it seems she knew that his strength and life lay therein. He told her it was
burnt with him; whereupon, notwithstanding of her age, she nimbly, and in a furious
rage, fell on her knees, uttering words horrible to be remembered.” The Major’s mother
appears to have set the example of witchcraft, as his sister, while in prison, declared, ‘‘ She was persuaded her mother was a witch ; ‘ for the secretest thing that either I myself,
or any of the family could do, when once a mark appeared on her brow, she could tell it
them, though done at a distance.’ Being demanded what sort of a mark it was? she
answered, ‘ I have some such like mark myself, when I please, on my forehead.’ Whereupon
she offered to uncover her head for visible satisfaction ; the minister refusing to behold
it, and forbidding any discovery, was earnestly requested by some spectators to allow the
freedom ; he yielded. She put back her headdress, and seeming to frown, there was seen
an exact horse-shoe shaped for nails in her wrinkles, terrible enough, I assure you, to the
stoutest beholder.” This wretched being had unquestionably been driven mad by the
cruelty of her brother, and to her ravings may be traced many of the strangest traditions
of the West Bow. 8he described a fiery chariot that came for them, and took her and her
brother on unearthly errands, while it remained invisible to others ; and confessed to her
enchanted wheel, by means of which she could far surpass any ordinary spinner. She was
condemned to be hanged, and at the execution conducted herself in the same insane manner,
struggling to throw off her clothes, tliat, as she expressed it, she might die with aZ2 the shame
she could.
There were not lacking, however, credible witnesses to confirm the most extraordinary
confessions of Grizel Weir. The Rev. George Sinclair relates, on the authority of a
gentlewoman, a substantial merchant’s wife, and a near neighbour of the Major, that
‘‘ some few days before he discovered himself, this gentlewoman coming from the Castlehill,
where her husband’s niece was lying in of a child, about midnight, perceived about the
Bowhead three women in windows, shouting, laughing, and clapping their hands. The
gentlewoman went forward, till just at Major Weir’s door there arose, as from the street, a
woman about the length of two ordinary females, and stepped forward. The gentlewoman,
not as yet excessively feared, bid her maid step on, if by the lanthorn they could see what
she was ; but haste what they could, this long-legged spectre was still before them, moving
her body with a vehement cahination-a ‘great unmeasurable laughter. At this rate the
two strove for place, till the giantess came to a narrow lane in the Bow, commonly called
the Stinking Close, into which she turning, and the gentlewoman looking after her, perceived
the close full of flaming torches, and as it had been a great multitude of people,
Nevertheless, he tells us enough to show it was no ordinary stick.
2n

... WEST BOW AND SUBURBS. 337 and he’died as he had lived. When bound to the stake, and with the rope about his ...

Book 10 p. 369
(Score 1.66)

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 3 i i
no doubt that the intervention of the Directory of the great Republic will
obtain my liberty. Remember me most affectionately to all my friends, who
are the friends of liberty and of mankind.”
Muir was not disappointed in the sincerity of the French Directory, at whose
request he was delivered up by the Spanish authorities. On entering France
he was warmly hailed by the people ; and in Paris he received every mark of
respect from the government. He did not, however, live long to enjoy the
liberty which it had cost him such peril to obtain. The seeds of a decline had
been sown in his constitution before his departure from Scotland ; and the many
fatigues which he had subsequently undergone, together with the wounds he
had received in the action, proved too complicated and powerful to be resisted.
He died at Chantilly, near Paris, on the 27th September 1798, where he was
interred, with every mark of respect, by the public authorities.
No. CXXVI.
SIR ARCHIBALD HOPE OF PINKIE, BART.
THIS gentleman, who has been dubbed by the artist a “ Knight of the Turf,”
was the ninth baronet of Craighall-the original designation of the family.’
He was grandson to Sir Thomas, a distinguished member of the College of
Justice, and one of the early promoters of agricultural improvements in Scotland.
By his skill in this latter department, the Meadows, now one of the pleasantest
and most frequented walks about Edinburgh, was converted from its original
marshy and waste condition into a state of high cultivation. In commemoration
of this circumstance, it obtained the name of “ Hope Park ;” but it is still
generally known as “ The Meadows.”
SIR ARCHEALDw,h o succeeded to the title on the death of his grandfather
in 1771, does not appear to have been ambitious of obtaining distinction either
at the bar or in the senate j and the only public situation which he ever held
was that of Secretary to the Board of Police, to which he had been appointed
for life ; and, on its abolition, received a compensation in lieu of the office.
On his own estate, and throughout the neighbourhood, he supported the
character of a country gentleman, more intent on improving his lands than
desirous of engaging in those political and party animosities which so much
distract the harmony of society, and retard the progress of substantial national
improvement. On his property he established extensive salt and coal works,
from which he derived very considerable emolument, and which still continue
1 The Hopes of Craighall are the stem from which has sprnng the noble family of Hopetonu,
noticed in a precediug part of this work. The designation of Craighall wra laid aside by Lord
Rankeillor, son of the second baronet, who had been knighted by the title of-Sir Archibald Hope of
that Ilk.

... SKETCHES. 3 i i no doubt that the intervention of the Directory of the great Republic will obtain my ...

Book 8 p. 436
(Score 1.62)

OUTLINE OF ITS GEOLOGY. 147
leaf upon leaf, and mark how they retain even yet the ripple-mark impressed
upon them by the moving water when they were still soft sand and mud,
Many a face of the rock is covered with the trails of sea-worms which have
left no other traces of their former existence. Were we to judge merely from
the scarcity of fossils in these rocks, we might infer that the waters of the sea
were not very prolific of life. Yet some of the beds of black and coal-like
shale are crowded with- remains of gmptuZittes-slim grass-like stalks, each
with a single or double row of close-fitting cells, in which separate individuals
of a simple form of animal life now extinct once lived. These gruptuZifes, of
which many species have been described, are almost the only fossils found
among the Lammermuir and Moorfoot Hills. They are characteristic of that
period of geological time to which the name of Silurian has been given.
Before the close of this period, when a depth of many thousand feet of
sand, mud, and gravel had been accumulated over the sea-bottom, ode of
those great changes took place by which the crust of the earth has from time
to time been affected. The vast mass of submarine sediment was squeezed
and crumpled in such a way that the beds, originally horizontal, came to stand
on end, and to be folded over and over like so many piles of carpets. It was
this subterranean movement, prolonged probably through a succession of
geological ages, which upbeaved the mass of land that has been carved into
the present Highlands and the uplands of the Southern counties.
But though some parts of the sea-floor were no doubt soon raised into land,
and though as the subterranean movements continued the extent of land probably
grew in proportion, the same ocean, with many of the same inhabitants,
still lay beyond. Here and there, too, it ran in bays and channels into the new
land. Among the Pentland Hills,
for example, in the now hardened and broken sediments of' its bottom, occur
the remains of small sponges, corals, crinoids, trilobites, brachiopods, lamellibranchs,
and cephalopods. These fossils are crowded thickly together in
certain bands of rock, while in others they occur but rarely. They agree
generally with those found in the Ludlow and Wenlock formations of the
upper Silurian series of England and Wales.
The underground movements seem to have continued not only to the close
of the Silurian period, but far into the next great chapter of geological t i m e
%hat of the Lower Old Red Sandstone. The sea-bottom over the area of
Britain was thereby raised into an irregular mass of land with wide inland
seas or lakes, some of which may still have retained a communication with
the open ocean. In those enclosed sheets of water the characteristic con-
Its waters in some places teemed with life.

... OF ITS GEOLOGY. 147 leaf upon leaf, and mark how they retain even yet the ripple-mark impressed upon them ...

Book 11 p. 206
(Score 1.6)

The Lawnmarket.
ninety-nine, Portraits of Anderson and his daughter,
in Vandyke costumes, the former with a book
in his hand, and the latter with a pill the size of a
walnut between her fingers, are still preserved in
$he house. It was in 1635 that the Doctor first
tablature, bearing the date 1690, is the main enT
trance to this court, the principal house of which,
forming ,its northern side, has a very handsome
doorway, peaked in the centre, like an ogee arch,
with ornate mouldings that mark the handiwork of
ASSEMBLY HALL (From M Engrayingpu6ZisJiedin 1845.)
made known the virtues of his pills, which is really
a good form of aloetic medicine.
In Mylne?s Court, on the north side of the Lawnmarket,
we find the first attempt to substitute an
open square of some space for the narrow closes
which so long contained the town residences of
the Scottish noblesse. Under a Roman Doric enthe
builder, Robed Mylne, who erected the more
modem portions of Holyrood Palace-the seventh
royal master-mason, whose uncle?s tomb, on the
east side of the Greyfriars churchyard, bears that
he-
?? Sixth master-mason to a royal race,
Of seven successive kings, sleeps in this placc?

... Lawnmarket. ninety-nine, Portraits of Anderson and his daughter, in Vandyke costumes, the former with a ...

Book 1 p. 96
(Score 1.44)

Leith.] EXECUTION OF PIRATES. ?67
C H A P T E R XXX.
LEITH-THE SANDS.
The Sands of Leith-Piates Executed there-The Kaif ofLyane--Captain Potts of the Dreaa31uu~M-A Duel in 1?67-Horse-lacing-?The
Bell?-Leith Races in 1661-?Going Down with the Purse?-Races in 1763 and 1771, etc.
THE Sands of Leith, like other districts we have
described, have a notabilia peculiarly their own,
as the grim scene of executions for piracy, and of
the horse-races, which were long celebrated there
amid a jollity unknown now at the other locality to
which they have been transferred-the Links of
Musselburgh.
All pirates, and those who committed crimes or
misdemeanours upon the high seas, were, down to
1822, hanged within the flood-mark; but there does
not seem to have been any permanent erection, or
even a fixed locality, for this purpose, and thus any
part of the then great expanse of open sand must
have been deemed suitable for the last offices of
the law, and even the Pier and Shore were sometimes
used.
On the 6th of May, 1551, John Davidson was
convicted by an assize of piratically attacking a ship
of Bordeaux, and sentenced to be hanged in irons
on the Sands; and this, Pitcairn observes, is the
earliest notice in Scotland of the body of a criminal
being exposed in chains, to be consumed piecemeal
by the elements.
In 1555, Hilbert Stalfurde and the crew of the
Kait of Lynne, an English ship, were tried for piracy
and oppression, ?( in reiving and spoiling furth of a
hulk of the toun of Stateyne (Stettin), then lying in
the harbour of Leith,? a cable of ninety fathoms,
three or four pistolettes,and other property,for which
theywere all hanged as pirates within the flood-mark.
Pitcairn gives this case in full, and it may not be
uninteresting to note what constituted piracy in the
sixteenth century.
In the ?( Talbot Papers,? published by the Maitland
Club, there is a letter, dated 4th July, 1555,
from Lord Conyers to the Earl of Shrewsbury,
After stating that some ships had been captured,
very much to the annoyance of the Queen-Regent
Mary of Lorraine, she sent a Scottish ship of war to
search for the said ship of Lynne; and, as the
former passed herself on the seas as a merchantman,
the crew of the Kait ?schott a piece of ordnance,
and the Scottis shippe schott off but a slinge, as
though she had been a merchant, and vailed her
bonnet,? or dipped her ensign
The crew of the Kait then hailed, and asked
what she was laden with, and the reply was, ? With
victualles; and then they desired them to borde, and
let them have a ton of bacon for their money.?
The Scots answered that they should do so, on
which there swarmed on board the Kaif a hundred
or eighty men, ?well appoyntit in armoure and
stoutlie set,? on the English ship, which they
brought, with all her crew, into the haven of Leith ;
?and by that I can learn,? adds Lord Conyers,
?there is at least iij. or iiij. of the cheefest of the
Englismenne like to suffer death. Other news I have
none to certifie yr Lordschippe, and so I committ
the same unto the tuicion and governmente of
Almichtie God.?-Berwick, 4th July, 1555.
The seamen of those days were not very particular
when on the high seas, for in 1505 we find
the King?s Admiral, Sir Andrew Wood, obtaining a
remission under the Great Seal for (<ye ri>f an
anchor and cabyell? taken from John of Bonkle
on the sea, as he required these probably for the
king?s service ; and some fifty years later an admiral
of England piratically seized the ship coming from
France with the horses of Queen Mary on board.
In 1610 nine pirates were sentenced by the
mouth of James Lockhart of Lee, chancellor, to be
hanged upon ?the sandis of Leyth, within the
floddis-mark;? and in the same year Pitcairn records
the trial of thirty more pirates for the affair
at Long Island, in Ireland, already related.
In 16 I 2 two more were hanged in the same place
for piracy.
Executions here of seamen were of constant occurrence
in the olden times, but after that of Wilson
Potts, captain of the Dreadnoughf privateer of Newcastle,
on the 13th of February, 1782, none took
place till the execution of Heaman and Gautiez, at
the foct of Constitution Street, in 1822.
Potts was convicted before the Admiralty Court
of having plundered the White Swaiz, of Copenhagen,
of four bags of dollars. He was recommended
to mercy by a majority of the jury, because
it was in proof that he had committed the crime
while in a state of intoxication, and had, on coming
to his senses, taken the first opportunity of restoring
the money to its owners; but the recommendation
was made in vain.

... EXECUTION OF PIRATES. ?67 C H A P T E R XXX. LEITH-THE SANDS. The Sands of Leith-Piates Executed ...

Book 6 p. 267
(Score 1.39)

30 EDINBURGH PAST AND PRESENT.
Dr. James Momson of Glasgow, and others of simiIar mark and likelihood,
used to hang upon his lips like bees on mountain flowers,-and
SURGEONS’ mu,.
there were a wild beauty and fragrance in his utterances! Passing from
Nicolson Square through a pend, we come upon the Potterrow. Here
stood a U.P. Church, where for a lengthened time preached Dr. John
Ritchie, already referred to, whose sobriquet was VoIuntary John, a man of
rare powers of humour, great readiness of speech, and marvellous activity,
who moved through all Scotland like a meteor for several years advocating
the Voluntary cause, and returned regularly on Saturday night to address his
flock on the Sunday, as fresh and full as if he had never stirred from home.
And not far from this we light on memorials of two much better known men
of genius, Robert Burns and Thomas Campbell. On the east pavement of
Potterrow Robert Bums used to pace, and look upward to a window in the
west of the street, where lived Clarinda, his then goddess (interior and exterior
views of whose house in General’s Entry: now taken down, are shown in the
accompanying engravings). We don’t much admire this episode in the history
of the Scottish Bard. His feeling to Mrs. Maclehose was neither love nor
1 General’s Entry derives its name from General Monk, who inhabited a house, now extinct,
in the south-western corner.

... EDINBURGH PAST AND PRESENT. Dr. James Momson of Glasgow, and others of simiIar mark and likelihood, used to ...

Book 11 p. 48
(Score 1.37)

450 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
XVIIL ST GILES’S CHURCH.
THE accompanying ground-plan of St Giles’s Church is designed to illustrate the description of the EUCCeBsive
additions to the ancient Parish Church of Edinburgh, given in the concluding chapter (pp. 377-394). It
exhibits it as it existed previous to the alterations of 1829, and with the adjacent buildings which have been
successively removed during the present century. We are indebted for the original drawing to the Rev, John
She, chaplain of Trinity Hospital, whose ingenipue model of the Old Church, with the Tolbooth, Luckenbooths,
&c., haa already been referred to.
REFERENOETOS THE GROUND-PLAN.
The light subdivisions between the pillars mark the party walls with which the ancient church was partitioned
off into several places of worship. The large letters of reference in each mark the earliest sites of the pulpits.
H shows the old position of Dr Webster’s pulpit in the Tolbooth Church, from which it was removed about the
year 1792 to its latter position against the south wall, in front of the old turnpike, now demolished. K indicates
the site of the old pulpit of the High Kirk, from whence it was removed about the years 1775-80, to its present
position in front of the great east window. Previous to this alteration, the king’s seat projected in front of the
pillar directly opposite the pulpit, so that his Majesty, or the successive representatives of royalty who occupied
it, were within a convenient convereational distance of the preacher. This throws considerable light on the
frequent indecorous colloquies that were wont to ensue between James VI. and the preachers in the High Kirk ;
and shows how very pointed and irritating to royalty must the rebukes and personalities have been, in which
the divines of that day were accustomed to indulge, seated as his Majesty thue was &-a-& with his uncourtly
chaplain, like a culprit on the stool of repentance. King James, however, used to bandy words with the
preacher with a tolerably good-natured indifference to the dignity of the crown.
The following references will enalde the reader to find without difficulty the chief objects of interest in St
Giles’s Church, alluded to in the course of the work :- .
a The Preston, or Assembly Aisle, where the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland held its
b The Montrose Aisle.
c The Tomb of John, fourth Earl of Atholl.
d The Tomb of the Regent Murray.
e Door which stood always open during the day, approached by a flight of steps from the Parliament
f Ancient Tomb (deecribed on page 386), said to be that of William Sinclair, Earl of Orhey, ckated
Earl of Caithness by James II., in 1455. The whole of this chapel to the west of the buttress and centre
pillar is now’removed.
g The South Porch, built in 1387. The beautiful doorway has been rebuilt between the south pillars
of the tower, as an entrance to the Old Kirk. Above this porch was the Painted Chamber (vide page
385), in which a number of ancient charters were discovered in 1829, which, with the turret staircase
indicated in the plan, and the beautiful little dormer window that lighted the Priest’s Chamber, all diaappeared
under the hands of the restorerr
annual sessions previous to 1829.
Close.
A The five Chapels built in 1387.
i The Pillar of the Albany Chapel (vide p. 388), decorated with the arms of Robert Duke of Albany,
The two west ones are now demolished.
and the Earl of Douglas..

... MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH. XVIIL ST GILES’S CHURCH. THE accompanying ground-plan of St Giles’s Church is ...

Book 10 p. 489
(Score 1.34)

APPENDIX. 4-29
of the conhgration. In 1678 the furnishing of the steeple waa completed, by putting up there the old clock
that had formerly belonged to that of the Weigh-house.
The bequest of Thomas Moodie appears to have cost ita trustees some little concern aa to how to dispm of
it, a few years having sufficed to effect very radical changes on the ideas of the civic Council tu to the church
accommodation required by the citizens. The Town of Edinburgh
obtain an act anent Thomas Moodie’s legacy and mortification to them of 20,OOO merks, that in regard
they have no use for a church (which was the end whereto he destined it), that therefore they might be allowed to
invert the same to some other public work The Articles and Parliament recommended the Town to the Privy
Council, to see the will of the defunct fuElled as near as could be; for it comes near to sacrilege to invert a
pious donation. The Town offers to buy with it a peal of Bells to hang in St Gile’s Steeple, tu ring musically
and to warn-to Church, and to build B Tolbooth above the West Port of Edinburgh, and to put Thomas
Moodie’s name and arms thereon. Some thought it better to make it a stipend to tbe Lady Pester’s Kirk, or
to a minister to preach to all the prisoners in the Canongate and Edinburgh Tolbooths, and at the Correctionhouse,
Sunday about.” In the records of the Privy Council, May 15,1688, when Moodie’s bequest was Snally
appropriated towards providing the ejected burghers of Canongate with a Parish Church, it appears that the
annual interest of it had been appropriated to the payment of the Bishop of Edinburgh’s house rent. (Fonntsinhnll‘
s Decisions, voL i p. 505.) The arms of Moodie now form a prominent ornament on the front of the
Canongate Church. In the vestry an elevation of the church is i~servdh,a ving a steeple attached to ita south
front ; but the funds which had been raised for this ornamental addition were appropriated to build the Chapel
of Ease at the head of New Street.
Fountainhall records in 1681 (VOL i p. 156),
LADYP EFYPCEHRvR’ScE -The Inventar of Pious Donations appends to a long list of pious mwtdjicath by
Lady Yester, a genealogical sketch, which we correct and complete from Wood, who thus describw the ecclesiastical
origin of the Lothiin family :--“ Mark Ker, second son of Sir Andrew Ker of Cessford, entering into
holy orders, was promoted in 1546 to the dignity of Abbot of Newbottle ; which station he possessed at the
Reformation, 1560, when he renounced the profession of Popery, and held hie benefice in commendam, . . .
He married Lady Helen Lesly, second daughter of George fourth Earl of Rothes, and by her had issue,
Mark. On the death of hie father in 1584, the Commendatorship of Newbottle, to which the latter had been
provided by Queen Mary in 1567, waa ratified to him by letters under the Qreat Seal ; and he was also
appointed one of the extraordinary Lords of Seasion in his father’s place, 12th November 1584. He had the
lands of Newbottle erected into a barony, with the title of a Baron, 28th July 1587,” &c This waa the father
of Lady Yester, of whom the following account appears in the Inwentar: “The e‘ Dame Margaret Ker was
the eldest [the third] daughter of Mark Commendator of Newbottle, one of the 101 of council and -ion, yrafter
E. of Lothian, procreat betwixt him and LMargaretJ Maxwell, a daughter of Jo. lo/ Herries, In her young
years she was 1st married to Ja Lo. Hay of Yester, and by her wise and vertuous government, she was most
instrumental in preserving and improving of the s‘ estate. By him she had two sons, Jo. 10/ Hay of Pester,
yrafter E. of Tweedale, and Sir Wm. her 2d son, for whom she purchased the Barrone of Lmplam, &c, The s’
Dame Margaret Ker having lived many years a widow, she married Sir Andrew Ker, younger of Fernyhirst,
and procured his father to be made Lo/ Jedburgh. Besides the many Gardens, Buildin- Parka, made be her
in all placea belonging to her husband, in every paroch qr either of her husbands had money-renN she erected
and built Hospitals and e0hooI.a’ After this follows the list, which is altogether -rising, aa evidence of continued
muniticence and benevolent piety ; among which are the following item +
“Towards the building of the Town [Tron?] Kirk of Ehr., &e gifted loo0 m.
“She built an kirk near the High School in Ed’., and bestowed toward the building y’of $lOOOa with 5000
h~ for the use of the minister of $e e‘ church, and a little before her death caused joyne y’to an little Isle for
the use of the minister, q* she lies interred, with an tomb in the wall, with this inscription :-

... 4-29 of the conhgration. In 1678 the furnishing of the steeple waa completed, by putting up there the ...

Book 10 p. 468
(Score 1.33)

-
THE OLD TOWN. 27
Hope, Christison, Lizars, Liston, and Robert Knox In lower but still lofty
literary regions William Knox is singing his Hebrew songs, ' most musical,
most melancholy.' ,The two Chamberses are laying the slow but surefoundations
of their extensive fame and usefulness. Miss Ferrier is writing her
Marriage and Inhe~itame, and Mrs. Johnstone her CZan AZbin. Robert
Pollok has come to town from the Mearns, near Paisley, and is publishing
his highly popular and promising poem, Tke Course of Time, and Thomas Aird
has startled the literary world by his strange and powerful Devit's Dream and
Dmoniac, holding out a grand hope that has, alas ! not been thoroughly
realised. In the Dissenting pulpit, besides old Dr. James Peddie and Dr.
Hall, two men, very different, but both of no ordinary powers, have appeared
in Dr. John Brown and Dr. John Ritchie. In the Newspaper press, the
Wee&& Yourna4 the CaZedonian Mercwy, and above all the manly and
liberal Scofsman, have made their mark. And this last may be considered
the avanf-courmr of Fait's Magazine, which comes to the aid of the Liberal
PAUL STREET.
interest in 1832, and rallies round it, besides its energetic publisher, such
writers as William Weare, Roebuck, FonbIanque, Mrs. Johnstone, Bownng,
Professor Nichol, Robert Nicoll, Sir Thomas Dick Lauder, and the wondrous
De Quincey. Besides, the Edinburgh Literary YourjzaL: edited by Henry
Glassford Bell, is for some years a very meritorious publication, and so is,
in another sphere, the Edfdurgh Christian Instmcfor, edited by Dr. xndrew

... OLD TOWN. 27 Hope, Christison, Lizars, Liston, and Robert Knox In lower but still lofty literary regions ...

Book 11 p. 45
(Score 1.23)

BI 0 GR AP HI C AL SKETCHES. 419
Colquhoun Grant, whose father possessed the farm of Burnside, on the estate
of Castle Grant, in Inverness-shire, was, in his early years, a devoted adherent
of the house of Stuart. He joined the army of the Chevalier on its way towards
the Lowlands; and, on approaching Edinburgh, was one of those detached to
force an entrance into the city.’ The party, which consisted of nine hundred
men, advanced before daylight, and arrived undiscovered at the Nether Bow.
They had with them several barrels of gunpowder, for the purpose of blowing
up the gate, but were saved this alternative by a carriage passing out at the
moment of their arrival, when the Highlanders, rushing in, seized the sentinels,
and at once obtained possession of the town. It is told of Colquhoun Grant,
as an instance of the spirit by which he was animated, that he pursued some of‘
the guard to the very walls of the Castle, where they had just time to close the
outer gate, into which he struck his dirk, leaving it there as a mark of triumph
and defiance.’
Followed
by a small party of about twenty-eight Highlanders, armed with the broadsword
only, he routed a body of dragoons, and took two pieces of ordnance.
For this signal instance of intrepidity, as well as for his former conduct, he was
publicly tbanked by the Prince, at the first levee held at Holyrood House,
who at the same time presented him with a small projle cast of himself: as a
He is generally supposed to have been the “Highland recruit,” by whom, as is told in our
notice of Lord Gardenstone, that gentleman and another volunteer were taken prisoners at Musselburgh
Bridge, where they had gone into a well-known haunt to regde themselves with sherry and oysters.
a The dirk and other relics of Colquhouu Grant are still preserved by his nephew, Captain Gregory
Grant, R.N., who is now is possession of Burnside.
It is now in the hands of Lieutenant-
General Ainslie-author of an elaborate and beautiful work on the French coins of English
sovereigns-to whom it was presented by his friend Donald Maclean, Esq., W.S., formerly of Drimnin,
and son-in-law to the subject of our sketch. The grandfather of Mr. Maclean was also “out in the
forty-five,” and fell, along with two of his sons, at the battle of Culloden, where he headed five
hundred of the clan. In connection with Mr. Maclean’s father, who likewise fought at Culloden, and
was wounded by a ball in the neck, an anecdote is told of William the Fourth. The latter was a
midshipman on board the Thesby, twenty-eight guns, commanded by Captain Hawkins. Being on
the cowt, he landed with a pleasure party near to where Mr. Maclean resided, by whom they were
hospitably received. William, who was young, and of a flippant manner, exclaimed-“You are
all rebels here !” Maclean replied,-“ No, please your Royal Highness ; I did fight for our rightful
prince ; but as Uzut family of Stuarts, who sat upon the throne, is gone, and George the Third, your
Royal father, is now the nearest heir, I can safely declare t,hat the King has not more loyal subjects
than the Jacobites of Scotland.” Captain Hawkins observed, “I am aware that this fact is known
to your Royal father, who is fully senaible that he has not more devoted or loyal subjects than
the OM Jacobites of Scotland, who fought against him 1” The same spirit of gAllant loyalty
which animated the Macleans in the cause of Prince Charles Edward in 1745 was manifasted,
though on a different field, and in another manner, by Mr. Donald Maclean in 1794. We allude to
the democratic riota in the theatre during th@ year, .some notice of which occurs in No. CXLI. It
appears that the success of the loyalists on these occasions was mainly owing to the resolute conduct
of Maclean, who had only been settled in Edinburgh a short time previously. The disturbances were
principally instigated by American and Irish students-a party of whom, on the first night of the
affair, remained covered in the pit during the performance of the King’s anthem. Mr. Maclean,
who was seated in the boxes, leaped down into the pit, and going up into the party, politely requested
them as gentlemen to conform to the usual mark of respect shown to his Majesty. “By J-a, we
won’t 1 ” was the nngacious reply. The blood of Maclean boiled with indignation. “ By J-s, you
At the affair of Prestonpans, Mr. Grant distinguished himself.
We have seen this interesting relic of the young Chevalier.
’

... 0 GR AP HI C AL SKETCHES. 419 Colquhoun Grant, whose father possessed the farm of Burnside, on the estate of ...

Book 8 p. 583
(Score 1.19)

430 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
I‘ Ita needless to erect a marble Tomb :
The daily bread, that for the hungry womb,
And bread of life thy bounty hath provided,
For hungry mula, all times to be divided ;
World-lasting monuments &all reare,
That shall endure till Christ himself appear.
Pos’d waa thy life ; prepar’d thy happy end ;
Nothing in either wa8 without commend,
Let it be the care of all who live hereafter,
To live and die like Margaret Lady Yeater :
Who died 15 March 1647. Her age 75.”
The old Lady Yester’s Church built in 1644, stood at the corner of the High School Wynd, surrounded by
a churchyard. It is a proof of the flimsy character of modern ecclesiastical edifices, aa well aa the little veneration
they excited in the minds of the worshippers, that this church ha already disappeared, and been rebuilt
considerably to the westward, in a very strange and hondewript style of architecture. The tomb of the foundress,
and a tablet recording her good works, are both rebuilt in the New Church, and we presume her body
has also been removed to the new 64minister‘s little isle.”
N. CORPORATION AND MASONIC HALLS.
CANDLEMAKERs.-The H d of this ancient Corporation still stands at the Candlemaker Row, with the arms
of the Craft boldly cut over the doorway on a large panel, and beneath, their appropriate motto, Omnia rnanitesta
Euce, Internally, however, the hall is subdivided into sundry small apartments ; much more circumscribed
accommodation sufficing for the assembly of the fraternity in these days of gaslight and reform. The Candlemakers
of Edinburgh were incorporated by virtue of a Seal of Cause granted them in 1517, wherein it is
required “That na maner of Man nor Woman occupy the said Craft, as to be ane Maister, and to set up Buit,
bot @he be ane Freman, or ells an Freman’cl Wyfe of the said Craft, allanerlie ; and quhan thay set up Buit,
thay sall pay to Sanct Geil’s Wark, half a mark of sylver, and to the Reparatioun, bylding and uphaldiug of the
Licht of ony misterfull Alter within the College Kirk of Sanct Geils, quhair the said Deykin and Craftismen
thinks maist neidfull, and half ane Mark by and q u h i l l the said Craftismen be furniat of ane Alter of thair
awin. And in lykwayis, ilk Maister and Occupiar of the said Craft, sall, in the Honour of Almichtie God, and
of his blessit Mother, Sanct Marie, and of our Patroun, Sanct Geill, and of all Sanctis of Heaven, sall gifzeirlie
to the helping and furthering of ony guid Reparatioun, either of Licht or ony other neidfull wark till ony Alter
situate within the College Kirk, maist neidfull, Ten Shilling ; and to be gaderit be the Deykin of the said
Craft, ay and quhill thay be provydit of an Alter to thameselfFis ; and he that disobeis the same, the Deykin
and the Leif of the Craft sall poynd with ane Officiar of the Toun, and gar him pay walx to oure Lady’s Alter,
quhill thay get an Alter of thair awin. And that nane of the said Craftismen send ony Lads, Boyis, or Servands,
oppinlie upoun the Hie-gaitt with ony Candill, to roup or to sell in playne Streites, under the payne of escheiting
of the Candill, paying ane pund of walx to oure Lady’s Alter, the first falt,” &c. It doea not appear whether
or not the Craft ever founded an altar or adopted a patron saint of their own, before the new Ziyht of the Reformers
of the Congregation put an end to the whole system of candle-gifta and forfeits to the altars of St Giles’s
Church. The venerable fraternity of Candlemakers still exists, no unworthy sample of a close corporation.
The number of its members amounts to’three, who annually meet for the purpose of electing the o5iice-bearers
of the corporation, and distributing equitably the d r i e s and other perquisite8 accruing to them from ita funds
in return for their onemus duties !
..

... MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH. I‘ Ita needless to erect a marble Tomb : The daily bread, that for the hungry ...

Book 10 p. 469
(Score 1.17)

was restored, but in somewhat doubtful taste, by
Thomas Hamilton, architect, and a new square
tower, terminating in a richly cusped open Gothic
balustrade, was erected at its north-western corner,
while the angles of the building were ornamented
ST. MARK?S (SOUTH LEITH) CHURCH, 1882.
by buttresses finished with crocketed finials,
scarcely in accordance with the severe simplicity
of the old time-worn and war-worn church of St.
Mary, the beautiful eastern window of which was
preserved in form.
FOUR HUNDRED AND FIFTY feet north-westward of
St. Mary?s church, and on the same side of the
Kirkgate, opens the ancient alley named Coatfield
Lane, which, after a turn to the south in Charlotte
Lane, led originally to the Links. Dr. Robertson
gives a quotation from the I? Parish Records ? of
South Leith, under date 25th May, 1592, as
showing the origin ? of Coatfield Lane : ?the
quhilk day, the Provost, Johnne Amottis, shepherd,
was acted that for every sheep he beit in ye Kirkyeard
suld pay ix merks, and everie nyt yat carried
(kept) thame betwix the Coatfield and ye. Kirk
style he should pay v. merk.?
But the name is older than the date given, as
Patrick Logan of Coatfield was Bailie of Leith
10th September, 1470, and Robert Logan of the
same place was Provost of the city in 1520-I, as
the ?Burgh Records show ; and when ruin began
to overtake the wily and powerful Baron of Restalrig,
his lands of Mount Lothian and Nether Gogar
were purchased from him by Andrew Logan of
Coatfield in 1596, as stated in the old ?? Douglas
Peerage.?
At the corner of Coatfield Lane, in the Kirkgate,
there stands a great mansion, having a handsome
front to ?the east, exhibiting some curious exampIes

... restored, but in somewhat doubtful taste, by Thomas Hamilton, architect, and a new square tower, terminating ...

Book 6 p. 220
(Score 1.14)

316 B I0 GR A PHI C AL SKETCHES.
“ Their massy boughs, compact on high,
Seasons with all their storms defy-
While some scant brook that oozes by,
Unheeded and unknown,
Slow on each hidden fibre preys-
Loosens amain the earth-fast base ;
And far the forest wonder lays,
A thundering ruin prone !
“ Thus, thus, lamented chiefs ! ye fell
From glory’s loftiest pinnacle,
By destiny severe :
Ere, tranced in Rorrow, we had paid
Due rites to Blair‘s illustrious shade,
With heart-struck woe we hung dismay’d
O’er Melville’s honoured bier.”
As a memorial of respect to his high talents, and to mark the estimation in
which he was held, a statue of the Lord President Blair, by Chantrey, is placed
in the First Division of the Inner-House of the Court of Session.
Mr. Blair married Isabella Cornelia Halkett, youngest daughter of Colonel
Charles Craigie Halkett of Lawhill, Fifeshire. He left one son and three
daughters-one of whom was the wife of Alexander Maconochie, Lord Meadowbank,
one of the Senators of the College of Justice, and a Lord of Justiciary.
About twenty years previous to his lordship’s death he purchased the small
estate of Avontoun, near Linlithgow, beautifully situated, and which continued
always to be his favourite residence. He took great pleasure in agricultural
improvements, and brought it to the highest state of cultivation. The town
residence of the family in 1773 was upon the north side of the passage
between Brown and Argyle Squares,’
No. CXXIX.
THE HON. ROBERT DUNDAS OF ARNISTON,
LORD ADVOCATE OF SCOTLAND.
THIS gentleman has already been amply noticed in NO. XLVIII. The likeness
of him there given was done in 1790, immediately subsequent to his having
been appointed Lord Advocate of Scotland. The present Portrait was executed
nine years later, and represents him, while he still. held that office, in the attititde
of addressing the bench.
1 The house was purchased by Mr. Blair from the Dutch ladies, the Miss Craawfurds.

... B I0 GR A PHI C AL SKETCHES. “ Their massy boughs, compact on high, Seasons with all their storms ...

Book 8 p. 443
(Score 1.09)

Maitland granting a charter to Robert Winton
?of the barony of Hirdmanston, called Curry.?
(Robertson?s Index to Missing Charters.?)
The present bridge of Currie is said to be above
five hundred years old j and the dark pool below
gave rise to the Scottish proverb concerning intense
cunning-? Deep as Currie Brig.?
Currie Church was an outpost of Corstorphine,
and, with Fzla, fomied part of the property given
by Mary of Gueldres to the Trinity College.
NIDDRIE HOUSE.
?? Mr. Adam Letham, minister of Currie, 1568-76,
to be paid as follows: his stipend jc li, with the
Kirkland of Curry. Andrew Robeson, Reidare
(Reader at Curry; his stipend xx lb., but (it.,
without) Kirkland?
After the Reformation there was sometimes only
In the seventeenth century, Mathew Leighton,
nephew of the famous Archbishop of Glasgow, a
prelate of singular piety and benevolence, was
, one minister for four or five parishes.
It was a benefice of the Archdean of Lothian.
Even so late as the reign of Charles I., it does
not appear to have been considered a separate
parish from Corstorphine, for no mention is made of
it in the royal decree for the brief erection of the
see of Edinburgh, though all the adjoining parishes
are noticed.
Till within a few years, ironjougs hung at the
north gate of Currie Churchyard, at Hermiston
(which is a corruption of Herdmanstown), at Malleny,
and at Buteland, near Balerno.
Currie was one of the first rural places in Scotland
which had a Protestant clergyman, as appears
from the Register of Ministers,? published by the
Maitland Club :-
curate of Currie during the reign of Episcopacy ;
and, singular to say, was not expelled from his
incumbency at the Revolution in the year 1688,
but died at an advanced age, and was interred in
the church-yard, where his tomb is still an object
of interest.
The parsonage of Currie is referred to in an Act of
Parliament, under JamesVI., in 1592; and Nether
Currie is referred to in another Act, of date 1587,
granted in favour of Mark, Lord Newbattle.
Cleuchmaidstone is so named from being the
pass to the chapel of St. Katherine in the valley
below, and having a spring, in which, it is said,
pilgrims bathed before entering it.
Some parts of the parish are very elevated.

... granting a charter to Robert Winton ?of the barony of Hirdmanston, called Curry.? (Robertson?s Index to ...

Book 6 p. 332
(Score 1.09)

SIR WILLIAM FETTES. ?73 Charlotte Square.]
Canongate, after which he removed to Charlotte
Square, and finally to that house in George Street
in which he died. He was resident in Charlotte
Square before 1802, as was also the Earl of Minto.
John Lamond of Lamond and that ilk, in Argyleshire,
whose son John commanded the second
He was for many years a contractor for military
stores, and in 1800 was chosen a Director of the ? British Linen Company, in which he ultimately held
stock-the result of his own perseverance and
honest industry-to a large amount. He had in
the meantime entered the Town Council, in which
CHARLOTTE SQUARE, SHOWING ST. GEORGB?S CHURCH.
to the bar in 1822 and raised to the bench in May,
1854. Mrs. Oliphant of Rossie had No. 10, and No.
13 was at the same time (about 1810) the residence
of Sir William Fettes, Bart., of Comely Bank, the
founder of the magnificent college which bears his
name. He was born at Edinburgh on the 25th of
June, 1750, and nine years afterwards attended the
High School class taught by Mr. John Gilchrist.
At the early age of eighteen he began business as
a tea and wine merchant in Smith?s Land, High
Street, an occupation which he combined for twenty
years with that of an underwriter, besides being
connected with establishments at Leeds, Durham,
and Newcastle. His name appears in Wiiliamson?s
Directory for 1788-90 as ? William Fettes, grocer,
ofice he held for the then usual period of two years,
and for a second time in 1805 and 1806. In 1804
between the two occasions, on the 12th May he
was created a baronet. In 1787 he married Mark,
daughter of Dr. John Malcolm of Ayr. The only
child of this marriage was a son, William, born in
1787. He became a member of the Faculty of
Advocates in 1810, and gave early promise of future
eminence, but died at Berlin on the 13th of June,
1815.
Retiring from business in 1800, Sir William took
up his abode in Charlotte Square, and devoted
himself to the management of several estates which
he purchased at different times, in various parts of
The principal of these were Comely ~ Scotland.

... WILLIAM FETTES. ?73 Charlotte Square.] Canongate, after which he removed to Charlotte Square, and finally to ...

Book 3 p. 173
(Score 1.06)

3?6 OLD AKD NEW EDINBURGH. me West Bow.
sorely. Keeping on the defensive, Westerhall
gave way step by step, seeking to gain the advantage
of the ascent, and thus supply the defect ?of
his stature, which Writes perceiving, he bore in
close upon him hand to hand. Thus they continued
in close and mortal combat for about a
quarter of an hour, ?clearing the causeway,? so
that none could venture near them, or leave the
conveyed to their lodgings. Their wounds were
slight, save that which Writes had just received on
his head, from which several pieces of bone came
away. After he was cured, and after the death of
Hugh Lord Somerville, Privy Councillor to James
VI. (an event which occurred in 1597), these combatants
were reconciled, and their feud committed
to oblivion.
ASSEMBLY ROOMS, WEST BOW, LOOKING TOWARDS THE LAWNYARKET.
(F~om a Drawing ay Yawzes Skcnr of RztbicZaw).
shop doors; neither dared any man attempt to
part them, for every thrust and stroke of their
swords threatened all who came near. . .
Westerhall eventually was driven down, fighting
every inch of the way to the foot of the Bow; and,
having on-for riding, probably-a pair of long
black boots drawn close up, was becoming quite
weary, and stepping within a shop door, stood
there on his defence; and then the last stroke
given by Hugh Somerville nearly broke his good
sword, as it struck the stone lintel of the door,
where the mark remained for years after.
?The tome being by this tyme all in an uproar,?
they were separated by a party of halberdiers, and
Eleven years after this, in the month of June,
1605, William Thomson, a dagger-maker in the
Bow, was slain by a neighbour of his own, named
John Waterstone, who, being taken red hand, was
next day beheaded on the Castle Hill. The Earl of
Dunfermline was at that time Provost.
The arched gate at the foot of the first bend in
the Bow is distinctly shown in Rothiemay?s map
(see j. I I 2). Within this and the old city wall, on
the west side, was an ancient timber-fionted tenement,
known as ?Lord Ruthven?s Land,? being the
residence of the gloomy and daring Patrick third
Lord Ruthven, whose son was the first Earl of
Gowrie-the same dark and terrible lord who rose

... OLD AKD NEW EDINBURGH. me West Bow. sorely. Keeping on the defensive, Westerhall gave way step by step, ...

Book 2 p. 316
(Score 1.05)

OLD AND NEW EDINEURGH. LSouth Bridge. 376
In 1837 he succeeded Professor Macvey Napier
as Librarian to the Signet Library ; and when the
new and noble library of the University was opened
he volunteered to arrange it, which he did with
all the ardour of a bibliomaniac. Hewas made
LL.D. of his native university in 1864, and is
believed to have edited and annotated fully 250
rare works on Scottish history and antiquities.
True to its old tradition, No. 49 is still a booksellefs
shop, held by the old firm of Ogle and
Murray.
In No. 98 of the Bridge Street are the Assay
Office and Goldsmith?s Hall, The former is open
on alternate days, when articles of gold and silver
that require to be guaranteed by the stamp of
genuineness, are sent in and assayed. The assay
master scrapes a small quantity of metal off each
article, and submits it to a test in order to ascertain
the quality. The duty charged here on each ounce
of gold plate is 17s. 6d., and on silver plate IS. 6d
One of the earliest incorporated trades of Edinburgh
was that of the hammermen, under which
were included the goldsmiths, who, in 1586, were
formed into a separate company. By the articles
of it, apprentices must serve for a term of seven
years, and masters are obliged to serve a regular
apprenticeship of three years or more to make
them more perfect in their trade. They were,
moreover, once bound to give the deacon of the
craft sufficient proof of their knowledge of metals,
and of their skill in the working thereof. By a
charter of James VI., all persons not of the corporation
are prohibited from exercising the trade of
a goldsmith within the liberties of Edinburgh.
King James VII. incorporated the company by
a charter, with additional powers for the regulation
of its trade. Those were granted, so it runs, ? because
the art and science of goldsmiths is exercised
in the city of Edinburgh, to which our subjects
frequently resort, because it is the seat of our
supreme Parliament, and of the other supreme
courts, and there are few goldsmiths in other
cities.?
In virtue of the powers conferred upon it, the
company, from the date of its formation, tested
and stamped all the plate and jewellery made in
Scotland. The first stamp adopted was the tipletowered
castle, or city arms. ?In 1681,? says
Bremner, in his ?? Industries of Scotland,? ?a letter
representing the date was stamped on as well as
the castle. The letter A indicates that the article
bearing it was made in the year between the 29th
of September, 1681, and the same day in 1682 ;
the other letters of the alphabet, omitting j and
w, representing the succeeding twenty-three years.
Each piece bore, in addition to the castle and date
letter, the assay-master?s initials. Seven alphabets
of a different type have been exhausted in recording
the dates ; and the letter of the eighth alphabet,
for 1869, is an Egyptian capital M. In 1759 the
standard mark of a thistle was substituted for the
assay-master?s initials, and is still continued. In
1784 a ?duty-mark? was added, the form being
the head of the sovereign. The silver mace of.
the city of Edinburgh is dated 1617 ; the High
Church plate, 1643.?
The making of spoons and forks was at one
time an extensive branch of the silversmith trade
in Edinburgh ; but the profits were so small that
it has now passed almost entirely into the hands
of English manufacturers.
The erection of this bridge led to the formation of
Xunter?s Square and Hair Street, much about the
same time and in immediate conjunction with i t
The square and street (where the King?s pnntingoffice
was placed) were both named from Sir James
Hunter Blair, who was Provost of the city when
the bridge was commenced, but whose death at
Harrogate, in 1789, did not permit him to see
the fine1 completion of it.
Number 4 in this small square, the north side
of which is entirely formed by the Tron Church,
contains the old hall of the Merchant Company of
Edinburgh, which was formed in 1681.
But long previous to that year the merchants OF
the city formed themselves into a corporation,
called the guildry, from which, for many ages, the
magistrates were exclusively chosen ; and, by an
Act of Parliament passed in the reign of James
III., each of the incorporated trades in Edinburgh
was empowered to choose one of their number to
vote in the election of those who were to govern
the city, and this guildry was the parent of the
Merchant Company. ?It was amidst some of the
most distressing things in our national histovhangings
of the poor ?hill folk? in the Grassmarket,
trying of the patriot Argyle for taking
the test-oath with an explanation, and so forththat
this company came into being. Its nativity
was further heralded by sundry other things of
a troublous kind affecting merchandise and its
practitioners.??
The merchants of Edinburgh, according to Amot,
were erected into a bodp-corporate by royal charter,
dated 19th October, 1681, under the name of The
Company of Merchants of fhe Cig of Edinburgh.
By this charter they were empowered to choose a
Preses, who is called ? The Master,? with twelve
assistants, a treasurer, clerk, and officer. The
company were further empowered to purchase

... AND NEW EDINEURGH. LSouth Bridge. 376 In 1837 he succeeded Professor Macvey Napier as Librarian to the Signet ...

Book 2 p. 377
(Score 1.05)

114 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
The plays in which she acted were as follows :-
May 22. Venice Preserved. June 5. Jane Shore.
24. Gamester. 7. Douglas.
26. Venice Preserved.
27. Gamester. 10. Mourning Bride.
29. Mourning Bride.
June 1. Douglas. Charity Workhouse).
9. Grecian Daughter (for her benefit).
11. Grecian Daughter (for benefit of the
3. Isabella.
On the 12th she set out for Dublin, where she was engaged to perfonn
twenty nights for 51000.
In speaking of her appearance in Douglas, the Cowant observes, “We have
seen Rlrs. Crawford in the part of Lady Randolph, and she played it perhaps
with more solemnity and as much dignity as Mrs, Siddons, but surely not with
so much interesting sensibility. It would far exceed our limits to point out or
describe the many beauties that charmed us in the representation of this piece,
Mrs. Siddons never once disappoints the spectator ; but from the moment of her
appearance she interests and carries along his admiration of every tone, look,
and gesture. While the discovery of her son gradually proceeds, she suspends
the audience in the most pleasing interesting anxiety.
“ During the beautiful narration of Old Norval, when he says-
‘ Red came the river down, and loud and oft
The angry spirit of the water shriek’d,’ etc.,
she kept the audience by her looks and attitude in the most silent anxious
attention, and they read in her countenance every movement of her soul. But
when she breaks out-
‘ Inhuman that thou art !
How could’st thou kill what waves and tempests spared ?’
they must be of a flinty nature indeed who burst not into tears.
‘( When she discovers herself to her son-
‘ My son ! my son !
I am thy mother, and the wife of Douglas,’
we believe there was not a dry eye in the whole house.”
She shared
250 a night for ten nights, and at her benefit drew €350, besides a sum of
S260, with which a party of gentlemen presented her. From the subscribers
she received an elegant piece of plate, on which was engraved-“ As a mark of
esteem for superior genius and unrivalled talents, this vase is respectfully
inscribed with the name of SIDDONS.
The poetical epistle which follows, showing the ferment into which her
presence threw the town, is clever, and worthy of preservation :-
Mrs. Siddons played eleven nights exclusive of the charity one.
Edinburgh, 9th June 1784.”

... BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. The plays in which she acted were as follows :- May 22. Venice Preserved. June 5. Jane ...

Book 8 p. 168
(Score 1.04)

AND THE VALE OF THE ESK. 13s
principal talker ; and, when Ben and Drummond walked briskly together in
the winter-weather by the paths in the glen itself, close to the house, or on the
high-way or cross-roads near, Ben would still be talking, and Drummond
chiefly listening. You must remember also that Drummond’s was a bachelois
household, and that, when he and Ben were alone together in the evenings,
and the candles were lit in the chief room, and the supper was removed, there
would still be wine on the board. Then, if you know anything of the two
men, you can see the scene as distinctly as if you had been peeping through
the window. You can see the two sitting on snugly by the ruddy fire far into
the night, hardly hearing the murmur of the Esk and the moaning of the wind
outside, but talking of all things in heaven or earth, Ben telling anecdotes of
his London acquaintances back to Shakespeare, and reciting scraps of poetry,
and pronouncing criticisms on poets, and Drummond now and then taking
out a manuscript from a desk and modestly reading as much as Ben would
stand, and Ben helping himself and going off again, and the noise and the
laughter always increasing on his part, till Drummond at length would grow
dizzy with too much of it, and light their bedroom tapers by way of signal.
And next morning you may be sure it would be a late breakfast, and Ben
would be surIy and taciturn for a while ; but gradually he would come round,
and the day’s talk would begin again. As surely, I repeat, as if you had been
a spy sent to watch, this is what went on in Hawthornden House during that
fortnight or so when the great Ben from London was the guest of the cultured
Drummond.
‘ The visit was one to be marked with a red mark in Drummond‘s calendar,
Here he had been for many years in his Scottish retirement, far from the
London world of politics and letters, and with only such information from
that world as might be blown to him among his boors by rumour, or brought
occasionally by Sir William Alexander and other friends. But now he had
under his own roof the very laureate of the London world, the man who had
known everybody of note in it since Elizabeth was queen, and whose habits of
talk made him the very paragon of gossips. It was, doubtless, a great treat.
But there is nothing perfect under the sun. There is evidence that Ilrummond,
when he had Ben all to himself, began to feel that he had caught a Tartar.
Ben’s own poetry, it is to- be remembered, the poetry of general and
miscellaneous strength rather than of the pure and soft musical vein, was not that
which would have predisposed Drummond to forgive him his personal faults
from a sense of literary allegiance. Hence, though he was scrupulously polite
to Ben all the while he was his guest, and must have thought him one of the

... THE VALE OF THE ESK. 13s principal talker ; and, when Ben and Drummond walked briskly together in the ...

Book 11 p. 194
(Score 1.04)

296 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
the mark of approbation which he had this day received from the magistracy of
the metropolis of his native country ; and if anything could add to it, it would
be the very handsome terms in which that testimony had been conveyed to him
by the Lord Provost,
The healths of the Lord Chief Commissioner, and Charles Forbes, Esq.,
M.P. for Beverley, upon whom the freedom of the city was lately conferred,
were also drunk ; and each of these gentlemen made suitable speeches in return.
The Lord Provost then proposed the health of the city Member, to whose
unremitting exertions, his lordship stated, together with those of the Right
Hon. Lord Melville, the city of Edinburgh was entirely obliged for the late
grant towards finishing the College. His health was drunk with the greatest
enthusiasm.
Lord Lynedoch begged leave to give a toast ; and after stating that he had
not intended to have taken so much liberty with the company, he could not
resist proposing the repetition of a toast given by that venerable warrior Prince
Blucher, at a grand dinner given by the Duke of Wellington to all the high
official characters now assembled in Paris, and by them received with the
utmost applause-'' May the Ministers not lose by their pens, what the army
has gained by their swords."
During the latter period of his life, Sir John resided chiefly on his estate of
Lees, and was much respected in the neighbourhood for his beneficence and
many acts of kindness to the poor. He died on the 5th of February 1833,
in the seventy-first year of his age, having been born in 1762-the same year
with his Majesty George IT., whom he was said very much to resemble in
certain points of feature and person.
Sir John was succeeded by his second son,' William, on whose death the
following year, the title and estates devolved on his son, John, a minor, who
was born in 1830.
No. CCLXX.
REV. CHARLES SIMEON, M.A.
OF TRINITY CHURCH, CANBRIDGE.
THIS popular divine was born at Reading in 1759.' He was educated at
Eton, and entered King's College, Cambridge, in 1779. Up to this period
MR.S IMEOwNa s not in any way remarkable for piety. On the contrary, he has
been frequently heard to say that he " was greatly addicted to the gaieties of
Edward, the eldest son, died in India.
a He was a younger brother of the late S i John Simeon, Bart., one of the Masten in chancery.

... BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. the mark of approbation which he had this day received from the magistracy of the ...

Book 9 p. 394
(Score 1.03)

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