Edinburgh Bookshelf

Edinburgh Bookshelf

Search

Index for “france”

20 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
the order of the Blue Blanket was indituted by Pope Urban II., about 1200, and so is
older than any order of knighthood in Europe. According to this author, vast numbers of
Scottish mechanics having followed to the Holy War, took with them a banner bearing
the inscription- “ In bona voluntate tua ed9center muri Jerusalem,” which they styled
the banner of the Holy Ghost, though, from its colour, familiarly called “ The Blue Blanket;
” and this, on their return, they dedicated to St Eloi’s altar in St Giles’s Church.
Whatever foundation there may be for this remoter origin, it is undoubted that James
111. at this time, in requital of the eminent services of the burghers, confirmed them
in many privileges, and bestowed on them this ensign, with their heraldic bearings
embroidered by the Queen’s own hands. It has eYer since been kept in the charge of the
kirk-master or deacon-convener of the crafts for the time being ; every burgher, not only
of the capital, but of Scotland, being held bound to rally at the summons, when it is
unfurled.
Within a brief period after the incidents related, the Duke of Albany being confined a
prisoner in the Castle, succeeded in effecting his escape in a very daring fashion. His rivals
having just obtained their own deliverance, “ counselled the King to justfy the Duke
his brother ; ” which being known at the court of France, a French ship arrived in Leith
Roads the very day before his intended “justification,” the captain of which sent a
messenger to the Duke, offering to supply him with a stock of wines ; and a confidential
servant being thereupon sent for “two bosses full of Malvesy ; ” they were returned by him,
the one containing a letter informing him of the design against his life, and the other filled
with cord to aid him in his escape. Acting on this advice, he invited the captain of the
Castle to supper, and so liberally dispensed the supposed new supply of wine among his
guard, that watching his opportunity, he and his faithful attendant succeeded in overpowering
them, and putting them to the sword; and escapiug to an unguarded wall of
the Castle, they let themselves down by the cord, and so escaped to the French ship ; the
Uuke carrying his attendant on his back, his thigh having been broken in dropping
from the wall. So that his escape was not discovered till the nobles arrived on the following
morning to wait on the King-then himself residing in the Castle-and to witness
the execution.
During this and succeeding reigns, the Parliaments continued to assemble generally at
Edinburgh, although Stirling Castle was the favourite residence of‘ James IIL, where he
retired from the cares of the state ; and there in particular he found opportunity for displaying
that love for “ building and trimming up of chapels, halls, and gardens,” ’ with which
Drummond charges him, as a taste that usually pertains to the lovers of idleness. His love
of display seems to have been shown on every opportunity during his residence at Edinburgh.
We learn from the same authority, he acquired an easily won character for devotion,
by his habit of riding in procession from the Abbey of Holyrood to the churches in
the high town, every Wednesday and Friday.
King James 111. was slain on the 8th of June 1488, by his own rebellious nobles,
on the field of Stirling, nearly on the same arena as had been the scene of Scotland’s
greatest victory under the Bruce. Whatever view the historian may take of this Monarch’s
character and influence on the nation, he contributed more than any other of the
,
Put to death. Hawthornden, p. 81. ... brother ; ” which being known at the court of France , a French ship arrived in Leith Roads the very ...

Book 10  p. 22
(Score 0.66)

I 8 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
Edinburgh, that in requital thereof, he granted to them a charter, empowering the free
citizens to trade to any part of England, subject to no other duties than those payable
by the most highly favoured natives: in acknowledgment, as he states, of the humane and
honourable treatment he had received from the provost, ministers, and burgesses of
Edinburgh. As, however, the house of Lancaster never regained the crown, the charter
survived only as an honourable acknowledgment of their services.
About this time it whs that the Collegiate Church of the Holy Trinity, and the Hospital
attached to it, were founded by the Queen Dowager, Mary of Guelders : and here the
royal foundress was interred in the year 1463.
In 1471, the Scottish capital again witnessed a royal marriage and coronation ; Margaret,
Princess of Denmark, having landed at Leith in the month of July of that year,
where she was received with every demonstration of welcome and rejoicing. The courtly
historians of the period describe her as winning the favour of both Prince and people, by
a beauty and grace rarely equalled among the ladies of the age. Lindsay of Pitscottie
adds-“The gentlevoman being bot twelff yeires of age at the tyme.”’ The alliance
was further rendered acceptable to the nation, by the royal bridegroom, King James III.,
having ‘‘ gatt with the King of Denmarkis dochter, in tocher guid, the landis of Orkney
and Zetland.” To all this we may add, from Abercromby ’-“ The very sight of such a
Queen could not but endear her to all ranks of people, who, to congratulate her happy
arrival, and to create in her a good opinion of themselves and the country, entertained her
and her princely train for many days, with such variety of shows, and such delicious and
costly feasts, that Ferrerius, a foreigner, who had seen all the gallantry and pomp of the
Courts of France and Savoy, tells us that no pen can describe them so much to the advantage
as they deserve.” It is to be regretted that a more detailed account of this royal
reception has not been given, as it would better than any other have served to convey a
lively picture of the manners of the citizens, and the character of the Scottish capital at
this period.
These joyous proceedings speedily gave place to others of a very different character.
The historians, in accordance with the credulity of the times, have preserved the tradition
of numerous prophecies and omens, wherewith the king was forewarned of the troubles that
awaited him, and his jealousy excited against his brothers. The youngest of them, the
Earl of Mar, was committed a prisoner to Craigmillar Castle, from whence he was afterwards
permittet to remove to the Canongnte, when suffering under a violent fever, of
which he died there, under the care of the King’s physician ; not without suspicion of foul
play, After his death, some reputed witches were tried‘ at Edinburgh, and condemned to
the stake, for plotting, along with him, the death of the King ; and these, according to the
historians of the time, confessed that the Earl had dealt with them to have him taken away
by incantation-‘‘ For the King’s image being framed in wax, and with many spells and
incantations baptized, and set unto a fire, they persuaded themselves the King’s person
should fall away as it consumed.”’
The successful confederacy against Cochrane, the succeeding Earl of Mar, and the other
royal favourites, belong not to our subject. But immediately thereafter, in 1481, we find
the King a captive in the Castle of Edinburgh, which served alternately as a palace and a
Pitscottie, vol. i. p. 178. Nartial Achierements, vol. i i p. 407. a Drum. of Hawthornden, p. 48. ... had seen all the gallantry and pomp of the Courts of France and Savoy, tells us that no pen can describe them ...

Book 10  p. 19
(Score 0.66)

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
Street Successful beyond expectation, he shortly afterwards added to his
good fortune by an alliance with a daughter of Mr. James Fergusson,’ coppersmith,
one of the “well-to-do” lairds of the West Bow. She lived only to be
the mother of one son.
Grieved as he might be at this event, Mr. Cooper did not long remain a
widower. He was then a handsome man, and found little difficulty in gaining
the affections of Miss Marion Scott,’ one of three sisters who were left, with
considerable fortunes, under guardians so scrupulous in the selection of suitors,
that the ladies were fain to consult their own judgment, by eloping with the
objects of their choice.
Shortly after his second marriage, Mr. Cooper took two brothers of the name
of Bruce into partnership, This arrangement, as frequently happens in similar
cases, gave rise to much annoyance. The young men had formed an intimacy
with Deacon Brodie, who, though then moving in a respectable sphere, was
known to be a person of irregular habits ; and entertaining an aversion towards
him, for which he could not well account, Mr. Cooper was resolved not to
tolerate his frequent visits to the shop. An opportunity was not long sought
for to lecture his young friends on their want of attention and the impropriety
of their intercourse with Brodie. This brought matters to a crisis : the Bruces
were not to be dictated to, and equally resolute, Mr. Cooper avowed his determination
that the copartnery should cease,
According to the terms of contract, the stock, which was extensive and valuable,
was put up to the highest bidder, who was to find “ caution,” or surety
for the price to be paid-the purchaser to retain possession of the shop. On
the morning of sale Mr. Cooper found himself deserted by his proposed cautioner-
the whole fell into the hands of the Messrs. Bruce-and thus he was
compelled reluctantly to abandon an establishment of which he had been the
originator. Fatally for themselves, the Bruces continued their intimacy with
the Deacon, who, it is said, taking impressions of their keys, effected their ruin
by the midnight plunder of their premises.’
When the aon and successor of this gentleman died, he left about eighteen thousand pounds to
distant relatives ; which sum would have fallen to Mrs. Cooper’s son had he survived his uncle.
-a The eldest sister was married to a Mr. Miller, gunsmith, with whom originated, we believe,
the idea of employing mounted artillery-men in the management of field ordnance. His suggestions
were first tendered (through the medium of a friend) to the British Government, but being treated
with contempt, they were next communicated to the French executive, by whom the plan was at
once appreciated, and instantly carried into effect. After witnessing the success of the scheme in
the hands of their enemies, the British army was not allowed to remain long without the advantage
of a well-disciplined corps of “flyipg artillery.” Miller did not live to tiee the triumph of hi8 project.
The friend to whom he had entrusted his various plans and models, failing to interest the
Government in the matter, passed over to France, where he appropriated the credit, and no doubt
the profit, of the design to himself. He never retuimed to this country ; and rumour asserts that
he w8s guillotined.
Although it may have been projected by Brodie, the robbery was committed by his accomplice,
Smith, alone, the former having refused to go at the time appointed, as he was busily engaged at
play. There was no evidence of this robbery except the roluntary declaration of Smith. Sea
Mernoir of Deaeon Brodie in the first volume. ... interest the Government in the matter, passed over to France , where he appropriated the credit, and no ...

Book 9  p. 380
(Score 0.66)

62 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
panied by his brother, then in bad health, and who died on the journey. On
his return he married Sarah, daughter of Alexander Maitland, Esq. of Stoke
Newington, near London, a gentleman of Scottish extraction. The lady was
heiress of a considerable fortune, and had many suitors; but her choice was
influenced inadvertently by a rival, who, having just returned fyom an excursion
in the Highlands, unfortunately for himself related the feat which had been
performed at the hill of Ben Chei1t.I
After marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Sinclair took up their residence at Thurso,
where his attention was chiefly occupied for a short time with a work on the
Sabbath, but which, by the advice of Dr. Adam Smith, was never published.
The friendship of this eminent philosopher he had early obtained, and to this
circumstance he probably owed his taste for the study of political economy.
Among the first of Mr. Sinclair‘s literary productions was an essay entitled
‘‘ Observations on the Scottish Dialect,” the object of which, while it afforded
one of the fullest collections of what are called “ Scotticisms,” was to facilitate
the acquisition of a purer style of English among his countrymen. A deficiency
in this respect was then considered a formidable barrier to the success of a
Rorth Briton in the capital. The essay was well received, not only as an
ingenious, but useful and amusing production. During its progress he had the
honour of forming the acquaintance of the great English lexicographer, to whom
he was introduced by Boswell.
The Parliamentary career of Mr, Sinclair began in 1780, having been chosen,
at the general election, M.P. for Caithness. The prospects of the country were
then extremely gloomy. The American war had proved ruinous-the ministry
were unpopular, and a pdwerful opposition existed in the Commons. Not
coinciding with the alarmists, whose views he conceived to be anti-national and
violent, he at first gave his support to the cabinet of Lord North, with whom
he was for some time on the most friendly terms.
The first of Mr. Sinclair’s political pamphlets appeared in 1782, entitled,
“Thoughts on the Naval Strength of Great Britain,” and was intended to
dispel the gloom into which the nation had been thrown by the desertion of
her ancient allies the Dutch, and the formidable aspect of the marine of France.
This publication was peculiarly well-timed, and the victory of Admiral Rodney
over De Grasse, on the 12th April, happening a few days afterwards, the author
was highly complimented from all quarters for his sagacity, and the solidity of
the opinions he had advanced. This pamphlet he followed up by another
Previous to Sir John’s tour to the Continent he had entered into a matrimonial negotiation
with Miss Maitland. His proposal was accepted; the marriage contract drawn up; and
nothing more required than to name the day : but Mrs. Maitland felt insuperable repugnance to the
removal of her daughter from her own neighbourhood, and insisted on a promise from her future
son-in-law, that he would reside permanently in England. To this condition public spirit withheld
him from consenting ; and tu he now considered the engagement brokeu off, he made his excursion
to the Continent On his return, however, he learnt, with equal surprive and satisfaction, that Miss
Maitland did not approve, BS he had supposed, of the arbitrary stipulation made by her mother.
He intimated his readiness to renew his addresses-a favourable answer waa returned, and the
maniage was celebrated on the 26th March 1776. ... the Dutch, and the formidable aspect of the marine of France . This publication was peculiarly well-timed, and ...

Book 9  p. 84
(Score 0.66)

HISTORICAL INCIDENTS AFTER THE RESTORA TION. I01
was permitted to retain arms in his possession without a warrant from the Privy Council ;
and religious persecution was carried to such a length, that the people were driven to
open rebellion. ‘(The King’s Majesty resolved
to settle the Church government in Scotland,” but the settlement thereof proved a
much more impracticable affair than he anticipated. One of the first steps towards the
accomplishment of this, was the consecration of Bishops, which took place on the 7th
of May 1662, in the Abbey Church of Holyrood. On the following day, the Parliament
assembled, and the Bishops were restored to their ancient privileges as members of
that body. They all assembled in the house of the Archbishop of St Andrews, at the
Nether Bow, from whence they walked in procession, in their Episcopal robes, attended
by the magistrates and nobles, and were received at the Parliament House with every
show of honour.’
The annals of Edinburgh, for some years after this, are chiefly occupied with the
barbarous executions of the Presbyterian Nonconformists ; in 1663, Lord Warriston,
an eminent lawyer and statesman, who had taken refuge in France, was delivered up by
Louis XIV. to Charles 11. He was sent to Edinburgh for trial, and, though tottering on
the brink of the grave, was condemned and executed for his adherence to the Covenant ;
the only mitigation of the usual sentence was, permission to inter his mutilated corpse in
the Grepfriars’ Churchyard. Others of humbler rank were speedily subjected to the
same mockefy of justice, torture being freely applied when other evidence failed, so that
the Grassmarket, which was then the scene of public executions, has acquired an interest
of a peculiar character, from the many heroic victims of intolerance who there laid down
their lives in defence of liberty of conscience.
The’Bishops, as the recognised heads of the ecclesiastical system, in whose name these
tyrannical acts were perpetrated, became thereby the objects of the most violent popular
hate. In 1668, Archbishop Sharp was shot at, as he sat in his coach at the head of Blackfriars’
Wynd. The Bishop of Orkney was stepping in at the moment, and received five
balls in different parts of his body, while the Archbishop, for whom they were intended,
escaped unhurt. The most rigid search was immediately instituted for the assassin. The
gates of the city were closed, and none allowed to pass without leave from a magistrate ;
yet he contrived, by a clever disguise, to elude their vigilance, and effect his escape, Six
years afterwards, the Primate recognised in one Mitchell, a fanatic preacher who eyed
him narrowly, the featura .of the person who fled from his coach after discharging the shot
which wounded the Bishop of Orkney. He was immediately seized, and a loaded pistol
found on him, but, notwithstanding these presumptive proofs of guilt, no other evidence
could be brought against him, and his trial exhibits little regard to any principle of
morality or justice. He was put to the torture, without eliciting any confession from
him ; and at length, in 1676, two years after his apprehension, he was brought from the
Bass, and executed at the Grassmarket, in order to strike terror into the minds of the
Covenanters.*
The year 1678 is memorable in the annals of the good town, as having closed the career
of one of its most noted characters, the celebrated wizard, Najor Weir. The spot on
The consequence of all this is well known.
.
Bicol’s Diary, p. 366. ’ Arnot, p, 148. Wodrew’a Hkt., TOL i. pp. 875, 613. ... eminent lawyer and statesman, who had taken refuge in France , was delivered up by Louis XIV. to Charles 11. He ...

Book 10  p. 110
(Score 0.65)

444 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
46 Henry VI. with his Queen, his heir, and the chiefs of his family, fled to Scotland after the fatal Battle of
Towton. In this note a doubt was formerly expressed, whether Henry VI. came to Edinburgh, though his
Queen certainly did ; Mr Pinkerton inclining to believe that he remained at Kirkcudbright. But my noble
friend Lord Napier has pointed out to me a grant by Henry of an annuity of forty marks to his Lordship’s
ancestor, John Napier, subscribed by the King bimself at Edinburgh, the 28th day of August, in the thirtyninth
year of his reign, which corresponds to the year of God, 1461. This grant, Douglas, with hies usual
neglect of accuracy, dates in 1368. But this emr being corrected from the copy in Macfarlane’s MSS. pp. 119,
120, removes all scepticism on the subject of Henry VI. being really at Edinburgh. John Napier was son and
heir of Sir Alexander Napier, and about this time was Provost of Edinburgh. The hospitable reception of the
distressed monarch and his family called forth on Scotland the encomium of Molinet, a contemporary poet.
The English people, he say$-
Ung nouveau roj crhrent,
Par despiteux vouloir,
Le vieil en debouthent,
Et aon legitime hoir,
Qui fugtyf alla prendre
D’ESCOEleS g~a rand.
De tous sieclea le mendre,
Et le plus tollerant.’”-RecoUectim des Awanturea.
No such doubt8 seem to have been entertained by earlier writers on the question ‘of Henry’s entertainment
at Edinburgh. The author of the Martial Achievements remarks,in his Life of James 111. (Abercombie’s
Martial Achievements, vol. ii. p. 384) :-‘A battle ensued between Caxton and Towton, King Edward gained
the day, and King Henry, hearing of the event (for he waa not allowed to be at the battle, his presence being
thought fatal to either of the parties that had it), hastened with his wife and only 80% first to Berwick, where
be left the Duke of Somerset, and then to Edinburgh, where he was received with uncommon civility, being
honourably lodged and royally entertained by the joint consent of the then Regents.”
The same writer, after detailing various negotiations, and the final agreement entered into, between Henry
and the administrators of Government in Scotland, James 111. being then a minor, adds :-<( Thpe transactions
being completed, the indefatigable Queen of England left the King, her husband, at his lodgings in the Grey-
Frierspf Edinburgh, where hi3 own inclinations to devotion and solitude made him choose to reside, and went
with her son into France.”--(Ibid, p. 386.)
XV. THE WHITEFRIARS’ MONASTERY.
Tsnfollowing curious fact, relating to the Monastery of the Carmelite Friars, founded at Qreenside, under the
Calton Hill, in the year 1526, is appended in the form of a note to the description of this monastic order, in the
third part of I‘ Lectures on the,Xeligioues ‘Antiquitsees of Edinburgh, by a Member of the Holy Guild of St
Joseph” @. 129), and is stated, we have reason to believe, on the authority of a well-known Scottish
antiquary :-
I( The humble brother of our Holy Quild who is now engaged in an endeavour to form a dloaadicon ~ C O &
canurn, informsme, onundoubted anthority, that the succession of the Priors of Greenside is still perpetuated in
bhe Carmelite Convent at Rome, and his informant has Been the friar who bore the title of I! PacZre Prwre
di Greemide.”
. . . . . . . ... made him choose to reside, and went with her son into France .”--(Ibid, p. 386.) XV. THE WHITEFRIARS’ ...

Book 10  p. 483
(Score 0.65)

YAMES IV. TO THE BATTLE OF FLODDEN.
l’hen rins thou down the gate with gild of boys,
And all the town-tykes hmgand at thy heels ;
Of lads and louns, ther ryses sic a noise,
Quhyle runays rin away with aairt and wheels,
And cadger’a avers, cast baith coals and creils,
Fish.wpea cry, Fy, and cast down skulls and skeils,
For rerd of thee, and rattling of thy butes.
Some clashes thee, some clods thee on the cutea
‘
An allusion of the same nature as the concluding lines, to the fraternity of fishwives,
occurs in the ‘‘ Devil’s Inquest,” by the same author, and would seem to afford historical
evidence that the ancient characteristics of that hardy race are still ably represented in
their descendants.
Kennedp replies in equally caustic terms, ransacking history for delinquencies of the
Dunbars, with which to brand their namesake, and thus advises him:-
Pass to my Comtuiesar and be confest,
And syne gar Stobo for thy life protest ;
Before him cour on knees, and cum in will ;
Renunce thy rymes, baith ban and burn thy bill,
Heive to the Heaven thy hands and hall thee still.
Do thou not thus, Brigane, thou sal1 be brint,
With pik, tar, fyre, gun-powder, and lint,
011 Arthur-sate, or on me higher hill !
It may surprise us that this poet.ic warfare, though begun in play, did not end in earnest
feud, from the zeal with which it is conducted; yet they seemed to have remained to the
last good friends ; and in the “ Lament for the Makaris,” Dunbar bewails the approaching
death of his rival, 8s a friend and brother.
But we must hasten from these merry pastimes of the court, that open on us like a
glimpse of some lively comedy enacted to sweet music of the olden time, delaying us too
long by its quaint pleasantries, and pass on to the more stirring events of the time,
that ended in ‘‘ Flodden’s bloody rout.” The leading historical incidents that preceded
this disastrous field belong not to our subject, even if they were less familiar than they are
to the general reader. But among those that possess a local interest, may be mentioned
the General Synod of the Clergy, which assembled, by permission of the King, in the
Blackfriars,’ at Edinburgh, where, in presence of the Pope’s nuncio, Bagimont’s roll was
revised, and all benefices above forty pounds sterling yearly value, held bound to pay a
certain sum to the Pope; the King, however, reserving to himself the right of making
still larger demands when needed.’
The Queen had already given birth to two sons at Holyrood Palace, both of whom died
in infancy; and in 1512, her third son, who speedily succeeded to the throne as James V.,
was born at Linlithgow ; when the King, seduced by the romantic challenge of the Queen
of France, “ To ride, for her sake, three feet on English ground,” forgot his fair young
Queen and infant son, and in defiance of every argument and artifice that his nobles could
adopt to win him from his purpose, flung away the fruits of a prosperous reign in one unequal
contest. Lindsay of Pitscottie’s account of the warnings that preceded the departure
A.D. 1511. ’ Martial Achievementa, vol. ii p. 629. ... King, seduced by the romantic challenge of the Queen of France , “ To ride, for her sake, three feet on English ...

Book 10  p. 33
(Score 0.65)

342 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
was the Scottish Thistle, surmounted with the national motto, "Nemo me
impune lacesset ;" and underneath, the words *' Agmine Remorum Celeri."
Speedily formed into an effective body of Sea Fencibles, they did not allow
their gallantry to evaporate in mere. words. Besides at all times keeping a
watchful look-out upon the coast, upwards of two hundred of them volunteered,
in 1806, to man the Tern1 ship-of-war, then lying in Leith Roads, and instantly
proceeding to sea, gave chase to some French frigates by whom the coast had
been infested, and numerous depredations committed on our trade. A subscription,
amounting to upwards of ;E250, was raised in Edinburgh, and distributed
among the men, as a reward for this important service.' With the Teml, the
gallant band of Sea Fencibles were next year engaged at Copenhagen, and had
the good fortune to capture a frigate named the Neyden, which they brought
as a prke to Yarmouth Roads, from whence they returned with much eclat
to Newhaven. Some of the old surviving hands of this expedition were won't
to delight in spinning a yarn on the subject-"as how, when I was on board
the Teml."
So early as
the reign of James IT. certain burgal privileges were conferred on it; but
these, at an'after period, were bought up by the Town Council of Edinburgh.x
"Coeval with the erection of this suburb, Janies built a chapel which he
dedicated to St. Mary, and from this fabric the little haven was sometimes
called 'our Lady's Port of Grace.'"a The coincidence of name has probably
given rise to a belief among the simple inhabitants, that the village was designated
'' Mary's Port," from the circumstance of Queen Mary having landed there
on her arrival from France. In confirmation of this they point to an ancientlooking
house near the oentre of the village, said to have been erected in commemoration
of the event, with a tabular stone in the wall, bearing the date
1588, 2nd surmounted by a thistle. The centre of the tablet contains the
figure of a vessel of peculiar form, said to be the Spanish polachre in which
the Queen arrived. Underneath are the words, " In the neam of God ;" also
the figures of two globes, with compass and square, etc. Unfortunately for the
authenticity of this tradition, the young Queen of Scots, according to our
historians, landed at Leith twenty-seven years prior to the above date. Her
mother, Mary of Guise, first came to Scotland in 1538 : an event which, could
Newhaven, small though it be, is a place of some antiquity.
1 It ia with mnch satisfaction we have to state, that the amount of the subscription for the Sea
Fencibles, shipwrights, and some ropemakem, who so handsomely volunteered to go on board Hi9
Majesty's ship Texel, is f250 : 19s. This has enabled Captain Milne to give to each of the men
$1 : 5s. ; to three petty officem, $3 : 3s. each ; and to'dndrew Sandilands, a Sea Fencible belonging to
Leith, E20 in addition, having had his leg broken while on board the TercZ. A small balance
remaining is to be given to a distressed family in Newhaven."-Edinbwgh Newspapm.
By way of denoting, we suppose, the jurisdiction of the city over Newhaven, it waa an ancient
practice of the Magiatrates of Edinburgh to proceed annually to the village, where they publicly
drank wine in what ~KBS then called the Spare.
chanbcl.s''s Qwtteer.-The "Great Michael," a vessel of uncommon dimensions for so early a
period aa the reign of James IV., is supposed to have been built at Newhaven. ... that the village was designated '' Mary's Port," from the circumstance of Queen Mary having ...

Book 9  p. 454
(Score 0.65)

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. i l
The foreign correspondence of Sir John was extensive. The fame of his
works, and the intimacies he had formed during his tours, created great demands
on his time. He held no less than twenty-five diplomas from institutions in
France, Flanders, Prussia, Austria, Saxony, Wurtemberg, Germany, Sweden,
Denmark, Russia, Italy, the United States, and the West Indies. With Presidents
Washington, Jefferson, and Adams he had frequent and interesting communications,
as well as with almost every person of note in the old world;
while few foreigners of any distinction visited Scotland without letters of introduction
to him.
“ In person, Sir John Sinclair was tall and spare ; and even in his advanced
years he was remarkable for the elasticity of his gait and erect carriage. From
his characteristic orderly habits, he was exceedingly neat in his dress ; and he
is said to have been, in youth, distinguished for his manly beauty. In the
private walks of life, and in the exercise of the domestic virtues, he was a perfect
model of the Christian gentleman, and with perhaps as few of the faults and
frailties inherent in poor human nature, as almost ever falls to the share of an
individual. He set a noble example to the world of intellectual activity
uniformly directed from almost boyhood to extreme old age.”’
NO. cxcm.
LORD STONEFIELD.
JOHN CAMPBELL, son of Archibald Campbell, Esq., of Stohefield, many years
Sheriff-Depute of the shires of Argyle and Bute, was admitted to the bar in
1748, and elevated to the bench in 1762, when he assumed the title of Lord
Stonefield. In 1787 he succeeded Lord Gardenstone as a Lord of Justiciary.
This latter appointment he resigned in 1702, but he retained his seat on the
bench till his death, which took place upon the 19th of June 1801, having
By his first marriage, Sir John had two daughters-Hannah, authoress of a popular work on
the principles of Christ@ faith, and whose memoirs are well known ; and Janet, married to the
late Sir James Colquhoun of Luss, Baronet. By his second he had a large family-leaving at his
death, the Hon. Lady Sinclair with six sons and five daughters. The eldest, Sir George, was, during
twenty-six years, Member of Parliament for the county of Caithness ; Alexander, formerly of the
H.EI.C.S., resided in Edinburgh ; John, M.A. and F.R.S.E., author of “Dissertations Vindicating
the Church of England ”-an “ Essay on Church Patronage ’I-“ Memoirs of the Life and Works
of Sir John Sinclair,” etc., was one of the ministers of St. Paul’s Chapel, York Place ; Archibald,
a Captain in the Royal Navy ; William, Rector of Pulborough ; and Godfrey, the youngest son, was
for some time engaged in the office of a Writer to the Signet. Of the danghtem, one married George
fourth Earl of Glasgow ; another Stair Stewart, Esq., of Glasserton and Phpgill ; and Misses Diana,
Margaret, and Catherine, remained unmarried. The last-named, Catherine, was the well-known
authoress of “ Scotland and the Scotch,” “ Modern Accomplishments,” and numerous other works.
She died in 1864, and a monument waa erected to her memory in St. Colme Street, Edinburgh.
1 John, afterwards Archdeacon of Middlesex and Vicar of Kensington, NBS the author of “Sketches of Old
Times and Distant Places,” published in 1875, in which year he also died. ... no less than twenty-five diplomas from institutions in France , Flanders, Prussia, Austria, Saxony, Wurtemberg, ...

Book 9  p. 94
(Score 0.65)

of an age as different in every respect from tht
present as the wilds of North America are differenl
from the long-practised lands of Lothian or Devon,
shire.?
In James?s Court was the residence of Sir Islaj
Campbell, Lord President, whose mother was Heler
Wallace, a daughter of the house of Ellerslie. Ad.
OAK DOOR, FROM THE GUISE PALACE.
(From th OrigiMZ in ihe Scoflish Antiquarian Museum.)
mitted to the bar in 1757, he was one of thecounsel
for the defender in the famous Douglas case, and,
on the decision of the House of Lords being given,
he posted to Edinburgh ere the mail could arrive,
and was the first to announce to the crowds assem.
bled at the Cross the great intelligence. ?? Douglas
for ever ! ?? he cried, waving his hat in the air.
A shout from the people responded, and, untrac.
ing the horses from his carnage, they drew it in
triumph to his house in James?s Court, probably
the same in which his father, who was long one oi
the principal clerks of Session, resided.
This court is a well-known pile of building
which rises to a vast height at the head of the
Earthen Mound, and was erected between 172s
and 1727 by James Brownhill, a speculative builder,
and for years after it was deemed a fashionable
quarter, the denizens of which were all persons of
good position, though each occupied but a flat or
floor ; they clubbed in all public measures, kept a
secretary to record their names and proceedings,
and had balls and parties among themselves ; but
among the many local notables who dwelt here the
names of only three, Hume, Boswell, and Dr. Blair,
are familiar to us now. Burton, the biographer of
the historian of England, thus describes this great
fabric, the western portion of which was destroyed
by fire in 1858, and has erected on its site, in
the old Scottish style, an equally lofty structure for
the Savings Bank and Free Church offices; consequently
the houses rendered so interesting by the
names of Hume, Blair, Johnson, and Boswell, are
among the things that were. ?Entering one of
the doors opposite to the main entrance, the
stranger is sometimes led by a friend, wishing to
afford him an agreeable surprise, down flight after
flight of the steps of a stone staircase, and when
he imagines he is descending so far into the bowels
of the earth, he emerges on the edge of a cheerful,
crowded thoroughfare, connecting together the old
and new town, the latter of which lies spread before
him in a contrast to the gloom from which he
has emerged. When he looks up $0 the building
containing the upnkht street through which he has
descended, he sees that vast pile of tall houses
standing at the head of the Mound, which creates
astonishment in every visitor of Edinburgh. This
vast fabric is built on the declivity of a hill, and
thus one entering on the level of the Lawnmarket,
is at the height of several storeys from the ground
on the side next the New Town. I have ascertained
that by ascending the western of the two stairs
facing the entry of James?s Court to the height of
three storeys we arrive at the door of David Hume?s
house, which, of the two doors on that landing place,
is the one towards the left.?
The first fixed residence of David Hume was in
Riddell?s Land, Lawnmarket, near the head of the
West Bow. From thence he removed to Jack?s
Land, in the Canongate, where nearly the whole of
his ? History of England ? was written ; and it is
somewhat singular that Dr. Smollett, the continuator
of that work, lived? some time after in his sister?s
house, exactly opposite. The great historian and
philosopher dwelt but a short time in James?s Court,
when he went to France ag Secretary to the Embassy.
During his absence, which lasted some ... but a short time in James?s Court, when he went to France ag Secretary to the Embassy. During his absence, ...

Book 1  p. 98
(Score 0.64)

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 321
. Such is a brief account of the election; but when the scrutiny had been
entered into, the precaution of the Dean of Faculty was found to have been
highly judicious. On finding himself in a minority, Dr. Carlyle wisely withdrew
his claim before the report of the committee was presented. Professor Dalziel
was thereupon declared the “ successful candidate.”
PROFESSOARN DREWD ALZIELw as the son of respectable, although not
wealthy parents. His father was a wright, or carpenter, at the village of
Kirkliston, in Linlithgowshire. He was born in 1742, and educated at the
school of the village. Dr. Drysdale was at that time minister of Kirkliston ;
and, fortunately for the young scholar, took much interest in his progress, by
assisting and directing him in his studies.
In course of time young Dalziel entered the University of Edinburgh;
where, with a view to the ministry, he studied with much success, and acquired
a classical as well as theological education. In the Divinity Hall he is known
to have delivered the prescribed course of lectures to the satisfaction of Professor
Hamilton ; but it does not appear that he ever was licensed. About this time
he was fortunately appointed tutor to Lord Maitland (Earl of Lauderdale),
with whom he travelled to Paris, and pleased his pupil’s father so much, that,
shortly after his return from France, the Earl resolved to use his influence with
the Town Council of Edinburgh to procure his election to the Greek chair, then
vacant by the death of Professor Robert Hunter. Among other obstacles in
the way of his preferment, some of the Council favoured another candidate, Mr.
Duke Gordon, afterwards well known for many years as under-librarian of the
College.’ The interest of the Earl of Lauderdale, however, prevailed ; and
Dalziel was appointed to the Greek chair in 1773.
The enthusiastic manner in which the young Professor immediately set about
discharging the duties of the chair justified the choice which had been made.
1 Mr. Duke Gordon was the son of a linen manufacturer, and born in the Potterrow, Edinburgh.
His father was a native of Euntly-a Jacobite-and a thorough clansman. Hence, in testimony of
his respect to the head of the clan, his son was called Duke Gordon. Duke (who abhorred the name)
was educated at a school kept in the Cowgate by Mr. Andrew Waddell-a nonjurant-who had “been
out in the forty-five,” and was of course patronised by all his Jacobitical friends. Duke Gordon made
great progress under Mr. Waddell ; and, although compelled to follow hu father’s profession for several
years, had imbibed such a desire for languages, that he contrived to prosecute his studies ; and, on the
death of the old man, abandoned the manufacture of linen altogether, and devoted himself entirely to
literature. He had views to the ministry ; but some peculiar notions which he entertained on theology
shut the chorch doors upon him. In 1763 he was appointed assistant-librarian of the College Library
-a situation for which he was peculiarly well qualified by his extensive learning and general literary
acquirementa. The emoluments of the office being limited, he taught elasaes at his own house, by
which he added considerably to his income. He never was married ; and, such was his frugality,
he died in 1802 worth a great deal of money. To three of his particular friends-Professor Dalziel,
the Rev. Andrew Johnston, minister of Salton, and Mr. William White, writer in Edinburgh-he
conveyed, by his will, all his effecta, burdened with a life annuity to his only sister, the wife of a
respectable shoemaker, together with several other private legacies. His public bequests were-
E500 to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh ; the reversion of a tenement of houses, of nearly the
aanie value, to the poor of the parish of St. Cuthbert’s ; and such of his books to the Library of the
Univenity of Ediibnrgh as the Librarian should think proper to be added to that collection.
2 T ... father so much, that, shortly after his return from France , the Earl resolved to use his influence with the ...

Book 8  p. 451
(Score 0.63)

YAMES V. TO ABDICA TION OF QUEEN MAR Y. 49
he had great store of all kind of silver wark, yet nottheless, for the greater maa,,anificence,
he set forth ane cupboard furnished with all sorts of glasses of the finest chrystal that
could be made ; and to make the said patriarch understand that there was great abundance
thereof in Scotland, he caused one of his servants, as it had been by aloth and
negligence, pull down the cupboard cloth, so that all the whole christellings suddenly
were cast down to the earth and broken ; wherewith the patriarch was very sorry, but the
Earl suddeuly caused bring another cupboard, better furnished with fine chrystal nor that
was; which the patriarch praised, as well for the magnscence of the Earl, as for the
fineness of the clirystal, affirming that he never did see better in Venice, where he himself
was born.”
The legate exercised considerable influence over the Queen Dowager, and on his departure,
transferred his legatine power to Cardinal Beaton.
Meanwhile, the people were filled with the utmost joy at the prospect of a peace, the
uncertainty which had prevailed for SO many years having nearly destroyed trade. The
merchants bestirred themselves immediately with the liveliest zeal, every seaport of the
kingdom exhibited the most active symptoms of preparation for renewing the commercial
intercourse, so long interrupted with England, and Edinburgh alone fitted out twelve
large vessels, and despatched them laden with the moat valuable merchandise. But the
Cardinal soon regained his liberty; and, aided by the co-operation of the Queen Dowager
and the contributions of the clergy, who at a convocation‘ held at St Andrews, in May
of the Eame year, not only voted him money, but even the silver vessels of their churches,
he speedily overturned all the amichle arrangements with the English Monarch, and the
numerous fleets of merchantmen, that had so recently sailed for the English seaports,
were there seized, their merchandise confiscated, and the crews declared prisoners of war.
The fist use the Cardinal made of this fund, was to turn his arms against his rivals at
home. The Earl of Lennox having appropriated the larger portion of thirty thousand
crowns sent by the King of France to aid the efforts of the Catholic party, the Cardinal
persuaded the facile Regent to raise an army to proceed against him to Glasgow, where
he then lay in the Bishop’s Castle there; but Lennox immediately summoning his own
friends and vassals *to his otandard, marched to Leith at the head of an army of ten
thousand men, from whence he sent a message to the Cardinal at Edinburgh, intimating
that he desired to save him such a journey, and would be ready to meet him any day he
chose, in the fields between Edinburgh and Leith.
Thus were the nobles of Scotland divided into rival factions, and bent only on each
others, overthrow, when, on the 1st of May 1544, an armament, consisting of two hundred
sail, commanded by Dudley Lord l’Isle, then High Admiral of England, which had
been prepared by Henry to send against the French coast, made its appearance in the
Firth of Forth j and so negligent had the Cardinal proved in providing against the enemy,
whom he excited to this attack, that the first notice he had of their intentions, was the
disembarkation of the English forces, under the command of the Earl of Hertford, at
Newhaven, and the seizure of the town of Leith.’ The Cardinal immediately deserted the
capital and fled in the greatest dismay to Stirling. The Earl of Hertford demanded the
unconditional surrender of the infant Queen, and being informed that the Scottish capital
Bishop Lealie’a History of Scotland, Ban. Club, p. 179. ’ Ibid, p. 180.
Q ... portion of thirty thousand crowns sent by the King of France to aid the efforts of the Catholic party, the ...

Book 10  p. 54
(Score 0.63)

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 3 29
the British court. Accordingly he and his family arrived in London, by the
way of France, in 1782. Amongst his recommendatory letters, those to the
Duke and Duchess of Devonshire procured him their kind and powerful
patronage. He was subsequently introduced to the Royal family, from whom he
received several distinguished favours. Presents and benefactions being, however,
no certain provision for his permanent and comfortable maintenance, the Count
naturally became anxious, and at last reluctantly yielded to the representation of
his friends, by adopting the resolution of exhibiting himself. This he did, first
at one guinea-then at five shillings-and afterwards at half-a-crown.’
The acute and sensitive mind of Boruwlaski felt extremely mortified at this
humiliating mode of life, although the curiosity of the public proved for several
years a source of ample revenue. At the time he published his Memoirs, the
novelty had considerably abated ; and the fears he entertained of the future
were feelingly alluded to in the concluding part of his narrative. Amongst
other evils of which he complained, his servant had eloped with trinkets and
valuables to a large amount ; and the small pension which he enjoyed from the
King of Poland had been stopped, in consequence of a report having reached
that monarch‘s ears that he was accumulating a fortune in this country.
When Boruwlaski came to Edinburgh in 1788,’ he was considered an object
of great curiosity, and the peculiar circumstances of his case having excited
general sympathy, he was taken notice of by several respectable gentlemen, and
among others by Mr. Fergusson, who generously endeavoured by their attentions
to sweeten the bitter cup of life to the unfortunate gentleman. It was soon
discovered that the Count was a person of cultivated mind, and possessed of
high conversational powers. The opportunities of seeing men and manners
which his mode of life afforded, and the acuteness which he displayed in the
perception of character, rendered the little foreigner an object of peculiar
estimation. After undergoing the annoyance of “ receiving company,” he used
The Count did not, at least in Edinburgh, exhibit himself as a dwarf-indeed his feelings would
not have allowed of such a thing-he merely received company. He gave a public breakfast, to
participate at which the small charge of 3s. 6d. was demanded. The following is a copy of one of
his advertisements :-‘I Dun’s Hotel, St. Andrew’s Square. On Saturday next, the 1st of August
(17SS), at twelve o’clock, there will be a public breakfast, for the benefit of Count Bornwlaski; in
the course of which the Count will perform some select pieces on the guitar,-Tickets (at 3s. 6d. each)
may be had at the hotel, or at the Count’s lodgings, No. 4 St. Andrew’s Street, where he continues
to receive company every day from ten in the morning till three, and from five till nine. Admittance
One Shilling-*,’ The Count will positively quit this place on Friday the 7th of August.”
In 1784 the Scottish metropolis was honoured by the presence of a lady, who, from the description
of her in the subjoined advertisement, would have been an admirable companion for Boruwlaski :
-“ The Author of Natim is wonderful, even in the least of his works. Just arrived, and to be
seen by any number of persons, in a commodious room within the head of Forrester’s Wynd, first
door and right hand, from eleven o’clock in the morning till eight at night, THEA YAZINWU OMANIN
MII?IATUF~, from Magor in Monmouthshire ; who is, beyond contradiction, the most astonishing
curiosity sportive nature ever held out to be the admiration of mankind. She is now in the 26th
year of her age, and not eighteen pounds weight. A child of two years of age has larger hands and
feet ; and in fact she is the most extraordinary cnriosity ever known, or even heard of in history.
We shall say no mow of this wonder of nature-let those who may honour her with their visita
judge for themselves.-May 26, 1784.”
2 u ... he and his family arrived in London, by the way of France , in 1782. Amongst his recommendatory letters, ...

Book 8  p. 461
(Score 0.63)

JAMES V. TO ABDICA TION OF QUEEN MAR Y. 53
promptitude and success ; she summoned the nobility to Stirling, and urged on them the
immediate assembly of another army. It was determined to despatch ambassadors to
France with a request for instant aid; and at a council held there shortly after, it was
resolved to Bend the young queen, then a beautiful child, in her sixth year, to the French
Court, where she could pursue her education free from the dangers to which she was
exposed in a country divided by rival factions, and exposed to almost constant war.
By their victory at the battle of Ancrum, the Scots in some degree retrieved their ground,
and they were shortly afterwards gratiiied by the opportune arrival of Monsieur D'Esse'
in the Firth of Forth, as ambassador from the French Monarch, with a fleet of six score
sail, bringing a reiuforcement of eight thousand French and one thousand Dutch troops,
which were disembarked at Leith on the 16th of June 1548, along with a numerous train
of artillery.' Monsieur D'EssB was the bearer of the warmest assurance of further aid in
troops, money, and arms, from the French King, and a proposal that the ancient amity
of the two nations should now be confirmed by a.marriage between his son, the Dauphin,
and the Scottish Queen, whose education meanwhile he offered to superintend with the
utmost care and affection. It need not be wondered at, that an alliance proposed in so
very different a manner from the last, was properly acceded to by the Scottish Parliament.
The Earl of Huntly, it is said, when desired to use his influence in favour of
the marriage with Edward VI., after he had been taken prisoner, replied, that however
he might like the match, he liked not the manner of wooing! ' Shortly after, Monsieur
Villegagnon, set sail with four galleys from Leith, and passing round the north of Scotland,
received the youthful Queen on board at Dumbarton. She was accompanied by her
governors, the Lords Erskine and Livingston, and her natural brother, the Lord James,
afterwards the famous Regent Murray, then in his seventeenth year. Along with her
also embarked the Queen's four Maries, famous in Scottish song, selected as her playmates
from the families of Livingston, Fleming, Seaton, and Beaton. What bruit," says
Knox, in referring to them, '( the Maries, and the rest of the dancers of the Court had,
the ballads of that age doe witness. " ' The English Government, on learning of this
design, fitted out a fleet to intercept the Queen, but the squadron fortunately escaped
every danger, and cast anchor in the harbour of Brest on the 13th of August 1548.
The slow recovery even of the chief towns of the kingdom from such repeated ravages,
i s apparent from the fact that Monsieur D'EssB, the French commander, on returning
from the south, undertook the fortification of Leith, but such was its ruinous state from
its frequent burnings, that no lodging could be found there for his men, and they were
forced to seek accommodation in the neighbouring villages.'
The fortification of Leith, however, exercised a most important influence upon it;
people crowded from all parts to shelter themselves under the protection of its garrison ;
and it speedily thereafter, as we shall find, became a place of great importance, when the
conclusion of peace with England permitted the rival factions, into which the kingdom
was already divided, to gain head and assume form and consistency.
Maitland furnishes a detailed account of these fortihations, which had five ports, only
.
1 Diurnal of Occurrents, p. 46. Tgtler, vol. vi. p. 51. Keith's History, Note, vol. i p. 133.
Knox'a History of the Reformation, p. 373-4.-See Minstrehy of the Scottish Border for the old bsllad-''The
Queen's Harie." ' Bishop Lealie, p. 216. ... army. It was determined to despatch ambassadors to France with a request for instant aid; and at a council ...

Book 10  p. 58
(Score 0.63)

YAMES V. TO ABDICATlON OF QUEEN MARK 57
entire nobility, and most influential leaders among the clergy; the Primate of St Andrews,
brother of the Regent, being almost the only man of any weight still adhering to
him.
Moved alike by promises and threats, the imbecile Regent at length resigned the government,
and a Parliament thereupon assembled at Edinburgh on the 12th of April 1554, in
which the transference of the government was ratified, and a commission produced from
Queen Mary, then in her twelfth year, appointing her mother, Mary of Guise, Regent of
the realm, which the estates of Parliament confirmed by their subscriptions and seals.
The Earl of Arran, or as he was now styled, Duke of Chatelherault, then rose, and delivered
up the royal crown, sword, and sceptre, into the hands of Monsieur D’Oysel, the
French ambassador, who received them in the name of Queen Mary, by the authority of
the King of France, and others, her chosen curators ; and immediately thereafter he produced
a mandate from the Queen, in obedience to which he delivered them to the Queen
Do~ager.~T he new Regent acknowledged her acceptance of the office, and received the
homage and congratulations of the assembled nobility. She was then conducted iu public
procession, with great pomp and acclamation, through the city to the Palace of Holyrood,
and immediately entered upon the administration of the government.
The uncertainty of the government, previous to this settlement, and the enfeebled power
of the nominal Regent, exposed the capital as usual to disorders and tumults. From the
Council Register of this year 1554, we learn, that owing to the frequent robberies and
assaults committed in the streets of Edinburgh at night, the Council ordered “ lanterns or
bowets to be -hung out in the streets and closes, by such persons and in such places as the
magistrates should appoint, to continue burning from five o’clock in the evening till nine,
which was judged a proper time for people to repair to their respective habitations.” a The
account is curious and interesting, as furnishing the earliest notice of lighting up the public
streets of the Scottish capital.
The narratives of these disorders, furnishkd by contemporary authors, exhibit a state of
lawless violence that demanded of the magistrates no measured zeal to suppress. The
occasion was made available by rival factions to rencw their ancient feuds, “and to quyt
querrellis, thinking this to be tyme mod convenient.’’ Various deadly combats took
place; the Laird of Buccleuch was slain on the public streets by a party of the Kerrs,
and this was followed as usual by sworn strife between the rival clans. “ About the same
time,” says Bishop Leslie, “ the Master of Ruthven slew a valiant gentleman, called John
C%arteris of Kinclevin, in Edinburgh, upon occasion of old feud, and for staying of a
decret of ane proces which the said John pursued against him before the Lords of Session,”
which led to the passin’g of an Act by the next Parliament, that whosoever should slay a
man for pursuing an action against him, should forfeit the right of judgment in h i action,
in addition to his liability to the laws for the crime. This author further records, that
the Lord Semple slew the Lord Crichtoun of Sanquhar, in the governor’s own house in
Edinburgh; and by the interest of the Archbishop of St Andrews and other friends,
escaped free from all consequences of the crime.5 A state of things that must have made
the people at large rejoice in seeing the reins of government transferred to vigorous
Bishop Leslie, p. 245. Keith’a Hi&, vol. i. p. 142. a Maitland, p. 14.
H
’ Bishop Leslie’s Hiatory, p. 217. Ibid, p. 248. ... the name of Queen Mary, by the authority of the King of France , and others, her chosen curators ; and immediately ...

Book 10  p. 62
(Score 0.63)

THE HIGH STREET AND NETHER BO W. -25 5
turnpike stair has formerly afforded access to the floor above, and the general construction
of the apartment renders it exceedingly probable that it may have been used as a private
chapel before the Reformation. It is now subdivided by flimsy modern partitions, and
furnishes a residence for several families. The only clue afforded by the title-deeds
to former proprietors of any note, is, that here resided a worthy burgess of last century,
competitor with the author of the Gentle Shepherd, in his earlier occupation, and
the grandfather of one of the most eminent of the modern citizens of Edinburgh,
Lord Francis Jeffrey, with whom this old close was a favourite haunt in his boyhood.
Over the doorway of the adjoining staircase, which projects into the close,
the name of pOpIte @Opt is cut in large old English characters, with a defaced coat
of arms between, and on the lowest crow-step a shield is sculptured with armorial
bearings, and the initials I. H. The dilapidated building retains considerable traces
of former magnificence, as well as undoubted evidence of an early date. The large
windows have been each divided with a mullion and transom, and are finished with
unusually rich mouldings at the sides. The hall on the first floor, which has been an
apartment of considerable size, is now subdivided into separate dwellings by slight
wooden partitions. There can be little doubt, we think, from the style of lettering
in the inscription and the general character of the building, that this is the mansion
of John de Hope, the founder of the Hopetoun family, who came from France in 1537,
in the retinue of the Princess Magdalene, Queen of James V., and who afterwards
became a substantial burgher in the Luckenbooths, visiting the continent from time
to time, and importing French velvets, silks, gold and silver laces, and the like valuable
foreign merchandise.’ It seems to be unquestionable that no other John Hope existed in
Scotland till the reign of Charles I. ; a date long posterior to that of the building. This
was his descendant, Sir John Hope of Craighall, the eldest son of the celebrated Lord
Advocate, who was Lord President of the Court of Session during the Protectorate, and to
whom Charles 11. owed the shrewd, though unpalatable advice, ‘‘ to treat with Cromwell
In the next alley, which is termed Sandilands’ Close, a large and remarkably
substantial stone tenement, forms the chief feature on the east side, and presents an
appearance of great antiquity. The ground floor of this building is vaulted with stone,
and entered by doorways with pointed arches, and over the lower of these is a neat small
pointed window or loop-hole, splayed and otherwise constructed as in early Gothic
buildings. We present a view of one of the most interesting pieces of ancient sculpture
in Edinburgh, which forms part of the internal decorations of this old edifice. It seems
to be intended to represent the offering of the Wise Men, and is well executed in bold
relief, although, like most other internal decorations in the Old Town, plentifully
besmeared with whitewash. It appears to form the end of a very large antique fireplace,
the remainder of which is concealed under panneling and partitions of perhaps a century
old, while another, of the contracted dimensions usual in later times, has been constructed
in the further corner. It is exceedingly probable that much more of this interesting
sculpture remains to be disclosed on the removal of these novel additions of recent date.
-for the one halff of his cloake before he lost the quhole.”
* Coltneea Collectionn, Mait. Club, pp. 16,17.
occupied the two booths east of the Old Church style.
From which it appeara that John de Hope and his non Edward ... Hope, the founder of the Hopetoun family, who came from France in 1537, in the retinue of the Princess ...

Book 10  p. 276
(Score 0.63)

iv .OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH.
CHAPTER VIII.
HOLYROOD ABBEY (mnrZu&d).
PAGE
Charter of W X i I.-Trial of the Scottish TemplarsPrendergast?s Reveng-ters by ROM 11. and 111.-The Lord of the Isles
--Coronation of Jams IL-Muliaper of Jam- 11. and III.-Church, &c, burned by the English-Plundered by them-Its
Restoration by Jam- VII.-The Koyal Vault-Dexription of the Chapel Royal-Plundered at the Revolution-Ruined in r+The
West Front-The Belhaven Monument--The Churchyard-Extent of Present Ruin-The Sanctuary-The Abbey Bells . . . . 50
CHAPTER ,IX.
HOLYROOD PALACE.
First Notice of its History-Marriage of James 1V.-The Scots of the Days of Flodden-A Bnwl in the Palace-James V.?s Tower-The
Gudeman of Ballengeich-His MarriageDeath of Queen Magdalene-The Council of November, 192-A Standing h y Proposed-
The Muscovite Ambarradon Entermined by the Queen Regent . . - . . . . . , . . . . . . 60
CHAPTER X.
HOLYROOD PALACE (continued). .
Queen Mary?a Apartments-Her Arrival in Edinburgh-Riot in the Chapel Royal-?The Queen?s Manes?-Interview with Knox-
Mary?s Marriage with Darnley-The Podtion of G o - T h e Murder of Rizrio-Burial of Darnley-Marriage of Mary and Bothwell-
Mary?s Last Visit to Holyd-Jams VI. and the ? Mad? Earl of BothweU-Baptism of the Queen of Bohemia and Charles I.-
Taylor the Water-poet at Holyrood-Charles I.?s Imprisonment-Palace Burned and Re-built-The Palace before 165eThe F?resent
Palace-The Quadrangle-The Galluyof the Kings-The Tapestry-The Audiepce-Chamber . . . . . . . . . 66
.
CHAPTER XI.
HOLYROOD PALACE (comZu&dJ.
The King?s Birthday in 166~-Jams Duke of Alhany-The Duchess of Alhany and General Dabell-Funeral of the Duke of Rothes-
A Gladiatorial Exhibition-Depamuc of the Scottish Household Troops-The Hunters? Company?s Balls-First and Second
Via of the p y a l Family of France-Recent Impropunents-St. h e ? s Yard removed-The Ornamental Fountain built . . , 74 . . . .
CHAPTER XII.
THE MOUND.
The North Loch used for Sousings and DuckinPThe Boats, Swans, Ducks, and Eels-Accidents in the Loch-Last Appearance of the
Loch-Formation of the Mound--? Geordie Boyd?s Mud Brif-The Rotunda-Royal Institution-Board of Manufactures-History of
the Board-The Equivalent Money-Sii J. Shaw Lefenr?s Report-School of Design-Gallery of Sculpture-Royal Society of
Edinburgh-Museum of Antiquities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
CHAPTER XIII.
THE MOUND (conduded).
The Art Galleries-The National Gallery-The Various Collections-The Royal Scottish Academy-Early Scottish Artists-The Institntion-
The First Exhibition in Edinburgh-Foundation of the Academy-Presidents : G. Watson, Si Wdliam Allan, Si J. W.
Gordon, Sir Carge Harvey, Si Daniel Macnee-The Spaldmg Fund , . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
- CHAPTER XIV.
THE HEAD OF THE MOUND.
The Bank of Scotland-Its Charter-%dry of the Royal Bank Notes for L5 and for *-The New Bank of Scotland-Its Present Aspect
-The Projects of Mr. Trotter and Sir Thomas Dick Lauder-The National Security Savings Bank of Edinburgh-The Fm
Church College and Assembly Hall-Their Foundation-Constitution-Library-Museum-B and Theological
Societies-The Dining Hall, &.-The West Princes Street Gardens-The Proposed Canal and Seaport-The East F?rince~ Street . Gardens-Railway Terminus-Waverley Bridge and Market . . . . . , . . . . . . . . . . 93 ... Company?s Balls-First and Second Via of the p y a l Family of France -Recent Impropunents-St. h e ? s Yard ...

Book 4  p. 386
(Score 0.63)

176 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
“ Happening to be in Dublin in October 1829, I solicited a friend of Mr. Rowan to introduce
me to him. He was the last
remnant of that band of patriots, who had trod every selfish feeling under foot for the sake of
their common country, I had from childhood deemed him an impersonation of all that is noble,
and longed to hear from his own lips, after the sufferings he had endured, whether, in the
eighty-fifth year of his age,’ the ardent principles of his youth still held undiminished sway in
his heart. His appearance affected me much ; instead of the tall, broad, manly form I had
read of, he was sadly shrunken ; the fiery eye was dim with years, and almost blind. But his
identity was not difficult to trace-the aompressed lip, the expanded nostril, and the bold outline-
expressed that lofty moral resolution which had always distinguished his career. When
my friend presented me to him, he remarked-‘ You see an old man, who should, long ere now,
have‘been in his grave ; my strength is fast failing me, and, as my early and dearest friends
are all in the other world, I long to follow them. But I .ought not to regret having lived till
now, since I have seen the stains wiped from my country’s brow by the passing of the Relief
Bill.’a When I adverted to the prominent part he had acted in the troubles of 1793, his dim
eye flashed with young life, and he rejoined ‘ Yes, Ireland had then many a clear head and
brave heart.’ On alluding to his unexpected meeting with his friends in Philadelphia, pulses
which had long slumbered seemed again to beat, and he replied, ‘ That was an hour of excessive
interest, and one of the happiest of my chequered life.’ In the course of my interview, I
took the liberty of asking him ‘whether, after his long exile, and numerous bereavements ;
and, more than all, the dark cloud of obloquy in which his enemies had striven to envelope his
name, he still justified his public conduct to himself?’ He replied, with a solemnity and
energy that startled both his friend and me, ‘ So thoroughly does my conscience approve of all
I have done, that had I my life to commence again, I would be governed by the same principles ;
and, therefore, should my country’s interests be compromised, these principles would call me forth
in her defence, even though the obstacles were more numerous and appalling than in the times
in which I suffered.’ I parted with him for ever,
with the same sentiment of profound veneration that I would have felt had I left the threshold
of a Fabricius, a Cincinnatus, or a Cato.”
I considered him the object of the greatest interest in that city.
I remember little else of our conversation.
In 1833, the year previous to his decease, Mr. Moffat had the honour of a
short letter from Mr. Rowan, in which he breathed a firm and consistent attachment
to his original political principles.
The HONOURABLSIEM ON BUTLER-brother of the late, and uncle of the
Earl of Kilkenny-was the third son of the-tenth Viscount Lord Mountgarret.’
Along with Theobald Wolfe Tone, Mr. Butler was a zealous leader of the United
Irishmen. Young, sanguine, and descended of an ancient and honourable family
which claimed kindred with some of the highest and most influential branches
of the Irish aristocracy, he at once became popular among those who sought a
redress of grievances. He presided at the first meeting of the Dublin “ Society
of United Irishmen,” and took an active interest in propagating the principles
and extending the influence of these associations.
That he contemplated other measures than such as might lead to a reform
of the legislature cannot justly be imputed to him, as no direct communications
with the Republicans of France were entered into until 1795. On the
meeting of the Irish Parliament, early in March 1793, the Honourable Simon
The writer waa probably misinformed as to his aga
The ancestore of Nr. Rowan, aa well as himself, were Pmbyterians.
The title of Earl of Kilkenny waa conferred on this branch of the noble family of Butler, 20th
December 1793. ... as no direct communications with the Republicans of France were entered into until 1795. On the meeting of ...

Book 9  p. 235
(Score 0.62)

152 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
. -
Regent’s time, or almost immediately afterwards, a distinct mansion, occupied by Edward
Hope, son of John de Hope,-the ancestor of the celebrated Sir Thomas Hope, and of
the Earls of Hopetom,-who came from France in 1537, in the retinue of Magdalen, Queen
of James V. The earliest title-deeds are wanting, which would fix the date of its acquirement
by Edward Hope, and determine the question as to whether he succeeded the Queen
in its occupancy, or was its first possessor.
Edward Hope was one of the most considerable inhabitants of Edinburgh in the reign
of Queen Nary, and the old mansion, such as we have described it, retained abundant
evidence of the adornments of a wealthy citizen’s dwelling. He appears to have been a
great promoter of the Reformation, and was accordingly chosen, in 1560, as one of the
Commissioners for the Metropolis to the first General Assembly ; and again we find him,
in the following year, incurring Queen Mary’s indignation, as one of the magistrates of
Edinburgh most zealous in enforcing I‘ the statuts of the toun ” against any ‘‘ massemoonger,
or obstinat papist, that corrupted the people, suche as preests, friers, and others
of that sort, that sould be found within the toun.” The Queen caused the provost, Archibald
Douglas of Kilspindie, along with Edward Hope and Adam Fullerton, 1‘ to be charged
to waird in the Castell, and commanded a new electioun to be made of proveist and
baillaes ; ’’ but after a time her wrath was appeased, and civic matters left to take their
wonted course.’ Within this house, in all probability, the Earls of Murray, Morton, and
Glencairn, John Knox, Erskine of Dun, with Lords Boyd, Lindsay, and all the leading men
of the reforming party, have often assembled and matured plans whose final accomplishment
led to results of such vast importance to the nation. The circumstances of that
period may also suggest the probable use of the secret chamber we have described, which
was discovered at the demolition of the building.
The close continues to bear the name of Edward Hope’s through all the title-deeds
down to a very recent period; and in 1622 it appears by these documents to have been
in the possession of Henry Hope, grandson of the above, and younger brother of Sir
Thomas, from whom, also, there is a disposition of a later date, entitled, “ by Sir Thomas
Hope of Craighall, Knight Baronet, his Majesty’s Advocate,” resigning all right or claim
to the property, in favour of his niece, Christian Hope. This appears to have been a
daughter of his brother Henry, who was little less celebrated in his own time than the
eminent lawyer, as the progenitor of the Hopes of Amsterdam, “the merchant-princes” of
their day, surpassing in wealth and commercial enterprise any private mercantile company
ever known. From Henry Hope it passed by marriage and succession through several
hands, until in 1691 it lapsed into the poasession of James, Viscount Stair, in lieu of a
bond for the sum of “three thousand guilders, according to the just value of Dutch
money,” probably some transaction with the great house at Amsterdam. The property
was transferred by him to hia son, Sir David Dalrymple, who in 1702 sold it to
John Wightman of Msuldsie, afterwards Lord Provost of Edinburgh: and the founder
*
1 Calderwood‘s Hiat., Wod. Soc., vol. ii. p. 44.
a It may not be out of place here to correct an error of Maitland. He remarks (Hist. of Edinburgh, p. 227) that
“the title of Lord, annexed to the Provost, being by prescription, and not by grant, every Provost in the kingdom has
an great a right to that epithet ae the Provost of Edinburgh hath.” It appears, however, from Fountainhall’s Decisions
(Folio, YOL i p. 400), that “ The town, in a competition betwixt them and the College of Justice, got a letter from the
King [Charles 11.1 in 1667, by Sir Andrew Ramsay, then their Provost procurement, determining their Provost should
* Ibid, vol. ii. p. 155. Ante, p. 70. ... Thomas Hope, and of the Earls of Hopetom,-who came from France in 1537, in the retinue of Magdalen, Queen of ...

Book 10  p. 164
(Score 0.62)

38 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
The streets of Edinburgh continued to partake largely of the general misrule that
prevailed throughout the kingdom during the long minority of James V. The Lord Home
had convened a council of the nobility so early as 1515, to devise some remedy for the
anarchy that existed, and at his urgent suggestion, John Duke of Albany was invited
from France to assume the reins of government. On his arrival the same year, “he
wes ressaueit with greit honour, and convoyit to Edinburgh with ane greit cumpany, with
greit blythnes and glore, and thair wes constitute and maid governour of this realme;
and sone thairefter held ane Parliament, and ressaueit the homage of the lordis and thre
estaittis ; quhai’r thair wes mony thingis done for the weill of this cuntrey. Evil1 doaria
wes punnesit; amang the quhilkis ane Petir Moffet, ane greit reyer and theif, was heidit,
and for exampill of vtheris, his head wes put on the West Port of Edinburgh.”’ The
Duke took up his residence at Holyrood, and seems to have immediately proceeded with
the enlargement of the Palace, in continuation of the works which the late King had
carried on till near the close of his life. Numerous entries in the Treasurer’s accounts,
for the year 1515-16, furnish evidence of the building being then in progress.
The new governor, after having made a tour of the kingdom and adopted many stringent
measures for strengthening his party, returned to Edinburgh, and summoned L convention
of the nobility to meet him in the Abbey of Holyrood. But already the Lord Chamberlain
had fallen out of favour, and ‘‘ Prior John Hepburn of St Andrews clamb next the
Governor, and grew great in the Court, and remembered of old malice and envy betwixt
him and the Humes.”’ Lord Home, who had been the sole means of the Duke of Albany’s
elevation to the regency, was suddenly arrested by his orders, along with his brother
William. An old annalist states, that “ the Ducke of Albany tooke the Lord Houme,
the chamberlane, and wardit him in the auld touer of Holyrudhouss, which was foundit by
the said Ducke,” ’ an allusion confirming the previous account of the new works in progress
at the palace. A series of charges were preferred against the brothers, of which the
most remarkable is the accusation by the Earl of Jlurray, the natural son of the late King,
that the Lord Chamberlain had caused the death of his father, ‘ L who, by many witnesses,
was proved to be alive, and seen to have come from the battle of Flowden.” They were
both condemned to be beheaded, and the sentence immediately thereafter put in execution,
“and their heads &t on the Tolbooth of Edinburgh,”6 from whence, as we have seen,
they were removed by their faithful adherents, and laid in consecrated ground.
Throughout the minority of James V. the capital continued to be disturbed by successive
outbreaks of turbulence and riot, from the contentions of the nobility and their
adherents, and especially from the struggles of the rival Earls of Angus and Arran. In
order to suppress this turbulent spirit, the Town Council augmented the salary of the
provost, and appointed four attendants armed with halberts, as a perpetual guard to wait
upon him, but altogether without effect on the restless spirit of the nobles.
During nearly the whole of this time the young monarch resided in the Castle of
Edinburgh, pursuing his education under the tuition of Gawin Dunbar, afterwards Archbishop
of Glasgow ; and his sports, with the aid of his faithful page, Sir David Lindsay ;
Diurnal of Occurrents, p. 5. * Marjoribank’s Annale, Liber Cart. p. lxxi. ’ Hawthornden, p. 85.
Crawfurd‘a Lives, vol. i p. 324. Balfour’a Ann. vol. i. p. 245.
a Pitscottie, vol. ii. p. 296. ... urgent suggestion, John Duke of Albany was invited from France to assume the reins of government. On his arrival ...

Book 10  p. 40
(Score 0.6)

308 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
authority on which this rests, it is probable that the utmost countenance afforded by these
divines waa their presence at the rehearsal, and the dinner which succeeded it in the
Erskihe Club, at the Abbey.’ The old tenement, wherein this singular assemblage took
place, has been entirely demolished to make way for a chapel and school founded by the
Duchess of Cordon for the inhabitants of the Sanctuary. The antique building to the
south, separated from this by the vennel mentioned above, appears from the titles to
have been the residence of Francis Lord Napier at the memorable era of the Union
Parliament.
The ancient Tennis Court, the frequent scene of the dramatic amusements of the royal
occupants of Holyrood, which survives now only in name, immediately without the Water
Gate, has been repeatedly referred to in the course of the work.’ The game of Tennis,
which was a favourite sport throughout Europe during last century, is now almost
unknown. Its last most celebrated Scottish players are said to have been James Hepburn,
Esq. of Keith, and the famous John Law, of Laurieston, afterwards Comptroller-
General of the finances in France.8 The whole ground to the eastward of the Tennis Court
appears in Edgar’s map as open garden ground attached to the Palace, with the exception
of the small building known as Queen Mary’s Bath; but shortly after Lord Adam
Gordon, Commander of the Forces in Scotland, took up his residence at Holyrood Palace
in 1789, he granted permission to several favourite veterans, who had served under him
abroad, to erect small booths and cottages along the garden wall; and they so effectually
availed themselves of the privilege that several of the cottages have since risen to be
substantial three and four storied lands. John Keith, a favourite subaltern, obtained at
that time the piece of ground immediately adjoining Queen Mary’s Bath, and in the
course of rearing the large building, which now remains in the possession of his daughters,
he had to demolish part of a turret staircase which led to the roof of the Bath. Here, on
removing a portion of the slating, a richly-inlaid dagger of antique form, and greatly
corroded with rust, was found sticking in the sarking of the roof. It remained for many
years in the possession of the veteran owner, and used to hang above the parlour fire-place
along with his own sword. His daughter, to whom we owe these particulars, described
the ancient weapon (( as though it had the king’s arms on it, done in gold.” It was
finally lent to a young friend, to add to his other decorations, preparatory to his figuring
in one of the processions during the visit of George IV. to Edinburgh in 1822, and was
lost through the carelessness of the borrower. This very curious relic of antiquity has
been supposed, with considerable appearance of probability, to have formed one of the
weapons of the murderers of Rizzio, who are known to have escaped through this part of
the royal garden^.^ This curious and exceedingly picturesque lodge of the ancient Palace
is well worthy of preservation, and it is to be hoped will meet with due care in any,projected
improvements in the neighbourhood of Holyrood House. The tradition of its
having been used as a bath by the Scottish Queen is of old standing. Pennant tells us
ic
Pi& Burton’s Life of Hume, VOL i. p. 420, where it is shown that Dr Robertaon was not then principal, nor Dr
Ferguson, professor; though thin is of little account, if they lived at the time in friendship with Home. Among the
company at the Abbey were Lord Elibank, Lord Milton, Lord Kamea, and Lord Yonboddo.
a Ants, p. 103. ’ Ante p. 76.
* Archseol. Scot., voL i. p. COS.
We have made thie curioue discovery the subjed of careful investigation, and feel aesured that no
one who make, the name inquiries at the respectable proprietora of the house will entertain any doubt on the subject. ... afterwards Comptroller- General of the finances in France .8 The whole ground to the eastward of the Tennis ...

Book 10  p. 336
(Score 0.6)

ECCLESIASTICAL ANTIQUITIES. 381
others. The pillars are decorated with foliated capitals, elaborately finished with sculptured
shields and angels’ heads ; the shafts are fluted according to a regular and beautiful
design, and their bases are enriched with foliated sculpture ; while the other pillars of the
choir are plain octagons, with their capitals formed by a few simple mouldings. The arching
and groining, moreover, of this extended portion of the aisles entirely differs from the
western and earlier part ; for whereas the latter are formed of concentric arches springing
from four sides and meeting in one keystone, so that the top of the windows can
reach no higher than the spring of the arch, the former is constructed on the more nsual
plan of a goined roof, running across the aisle, and admitting of the two eastmost windows
on each side rising nearly to the top of the arch. No less obvious proofs are discoverable of
the addition of the clerestory at the same period. There are flaws remaining in the
lower part of its walk, marking distinctly how far the old work has been taken down.
A slight inclination outward, in part of the wall immediately above the pillars, shows
that the roof of the choir had corresponded in height with the old nave ; and portions of
the original groining springing from the capitals of the pillars still remain, only partially
chiselled away. The extreme beauty of the clerestory groining, and its remarkably rich
variety of bosses, all furnish abdndant evidence of its being the work of a later age than
the other parts of the building. On €he centre boss, at the division of the two eastmost
compartments of the ceiling, is the monogram fQ$, boldly cut on a large shield; and on
the one next to it westward, the following legend is neatly arranged round a carved
centre in bold relief :-%be + gCil .. pbl . bnpl + teCU +-an abbreviation evidently of the
salutation of the Virgin,-Ave Maria, gratia p Zena, dominus tecum,-though from ita
height, and the contractions necessary to bring it within such circumscribed dimensions,
it is not easily deciphered. These, it is probable, stood directly over the site of the high
altar, which does not appear to have been removed from its original position at the east
end of the old choir upon its enlargement and elongation in the fifteenth century, as we
find that Walter Bertrame, burgess of Edinburgh, by a charter dated December 20, 1477,
founded a chaplainry at ‘‘ the Altar of St fiancia, situate behind the Great Altar,” and
endowed it with various annual rents from property in Edinburgh and Leith.l
Another striking feature of the additions made to St Giles’s Church in the fifteenth
century, is the numerous heraldic devices introduced among the ornaments, which afford
striking confirnation as to the period when they were executed., The north-east, or King’s
Pillar, as it is generally called, of which we have already given a view; bears on the east
and west sides the royal arms of Scotland ; on the north side those of May of Gueldersthe
Queen of James 11. and the founder of the Collegiate Church of the Holy Trinityimpaled
with the royal arms ; and on the south side the arms of France. James II. succeeded
to the throne, a mere child, in 1438, and was killed by the bursting of a cannon at
the siege of Roxburgh Castle in 1460 ; and the remaining armorial bearings afford further
proof of the erection of this addition to the church between these two periods. On the opposite
pillar there are, on the south side, the arms of the good town ; and on the west those
of Bishop Remedy, the cousin of James IL and his able and faithful councillor, who was
promoted to the metropolitan see in 1440, and died in 1466. The other arms are those
of Nicolson, and Preston of Craigmillar. On the engaged pillar, on the north side of the
Maitland, p. 271. Inventar of Pious Donations. MS. Ad. Lib. ’ Ante, p. 24. ... the royal arms ; and on the south side the arms of France . James II. succeeded to the throne, a mere child, ...

Book 10  p. 418
(Score 0.6)

Leith.] REPULSE OF THE ENGLISH AND SCOTS. I77
Cornelle, Shelly, Littleton, Southworthe, and nine
other officers, with 2,240 men.
To keep the. field (i.~., the Reserve), Captain
Somerset, and eight other captains, with 2,400
men.
?Item ; it is ordered that the Vyce Admyralle
of the Queen?s Majesty?s schippes shall, when a
token is given, send Vc. (500) men out of the
Navye into the haven of Leythe, to give an assaulte
on the side of the towne, at the same instant when
the assaulte shal be gevene on the breche.?
Captain Vaughan was ordered to assault the
town near Mount Pelham, and the Scots on the
westward and seaward.
The assault was not made until the 7th of May,
when it was delivered at seven in the morning on
dead they could find, and suspended the corpses
along the sloping faces of the ramparts, where they
remained for several days. The failure of the
attempted storm did not very materially affect the
blockade. On the contrary, the besiegers still continued
to harass the town by incessant cannonading
from the mounds already formed and others they
erected One of the former, Mount Falcon, must
have been particularly destructive, as its guns swept
the most crowded part of Leith called the Shore,
along which none could pass but at the greatest
hazard of death. Moreover, the English were
barbarously and uselessly cruel. Before burning
Leith mills they murdered in cold blood every
individual found therein.
The close siege had now lasted about two months,
PROSPECT OF LEITH, 1693. (Reduced Facainrilc aftw Grernvillr Coil us.)
four quarters, but, for some reason not given, the
fleet failed to act, and by some change in the plans
Sir James Crofts was ordered, with what was deemed
a sufficient force, to assail the town on the north
side, at the place latterly called the Sand Port,
where at low water an entrance was deemed easy.
For some reason best known to himself Sir James
thought proper to remain aloof during the whole
uproar of the assault, the ladders provided for
which proved too short by half a pike?s length;
thus he was loudly accused of treachery-a charge
which was deemed sufficiently proved when it was
discovered that a few days before he had been seen
in conversation with the Queen Regent, who addressed
him from the walls of Edinburgh Castle.
The whole affair turned out a complete failure,
English and Scots were alike repulse2 r%Ah slaughter,
?and singular as it may appear,? says a writer,
? the success of the garrison was not a little aided
by the exertionsof certain ladies, whom the French,
with their usual gallantry to the fair sex, entertained
in their quarters.? To these fair ones Knox
applies some pretty rough epithets.
The French now made a sally, stripped all the
110
without any prospect of a termination, though
Elizabeth continued to send more men and more
ships ; but the garrison were reduced to such dire
extremities that for food they were compelled to
shoot and eat all the horses of the. officers and
gens Zurmes. Yet they endured their privations
with true French sung froid, vowing never to surrender
while a horse was left, <?their officers exhibiting
that politeness in the science of gastronomy
which is recorded of the Margchal Strozzi, whose
maifre de cuisine maintained his master?s table with
twelve covers every day, although he had nothing
better to set upon it now and then except the
quarter of a carrion horse, dressed with the grass
and weeds that grew upon the ramparts.?
The discovery, a few years ago, of an ancient
well filled to its brim with cart-loads of horses?
heads, near the head of the Links, was a singular
but expressive monument of the resolution with
which the town was defended
The unfortunate Queen Regent did not live to
see the end of these affairs. She was sinking
fast. She had contemplated retiring to France,
and had a commission executed at Blois by Francis ... She was sinking fast. She had contemplated retiring to France , and had a commission executed at Blois by ...

Book 5  p. 177
(Score 0.6)

MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
@if go@ @t. Bpn affIeitit be,
a9cb pail Bag Cbre$t cbm pain to me.
Btuitb ge Map, wafk gotn tbairiti,
Cm5rate ge trii rb, altanbobn -
The last word, obviously Bin, had been curiously omitted, and a dash substituted for
it, as though for a guess or puzzle. In the centre of this roof there was a ring,
apparently for the purpose of suspending a lamp, and in one of the walls there
was a niche with a trefoil arch very slightly ornamented. The fireplace, which was
of very large dimensions, was entirely without ornament, and in no way corresponded
with the style of finish otherwise prevailing in the apartment, although its size and
massive construction seemed to prove that it must have been a portion of the original
fabric.
Another ceiling of a similar form, in a room adjoining this, on the west side of Blyth’g
Close, was adorned with a variety of emblematic designs, mostly taken from Paradin’s
Emblems (the earliest edition of which, as far as we are aware, was published at Lyons
in 1557), and from the Traictd des Devises Royales, although some of them are not to
be found in either of these works,-such as a hand amid flames, holding up a dagger,
with the motto, Agere et pati fortia; 8 branch covered with apples, Ab insomni non
custodita dragoni; and two hands out of a cloud, one ho1ding.a sword, and the other a
trowel, In utrumque paratus, This species of emblematic device was greatly in vogue in
the sixteenth century, and various other works of similar character still exist in the libraries
of the curious. Among other devices on this ceiling, may be mentioned an ape crushing
her offspring in the fervour of her embrace, with the motto, Cc~cus amr prolis ; a serpent
among strawberry plants, Latet unguis in Hr6a ; a porcupine with apples on its spikes,
Magnum vectigal parsimonia, &c.l These devices were united by a series of ornamental
borders, and must have presented altogether an exceedingly lively and striking appearance
when the colours were fresh, and the other decorations of the chamber in consistent
harmony therewith.’
Another interesting feature in the decoration of the ceilings of this once magnificent
mansion, was the blazonry which distinguished the chief ornaments remaining in some of the
rooms. These consisted of the armorial bearings of the Duke of Chatelherault, with his
initials, I. H.; those of France, with the initials H. R.; and, lastly, those of Guise,
impaled with the Scottish Lion, and having the Queen Regent’s intitials, N. R.3 The first
of these occupied the centre of a large entablature in the ceiling of the outer vestibule of
the apartment, where the elegant Gothic niche stood, to which we have given the name of
l It is much to be regretted that no attempt was made to preserve these interesting specimens of early decorations,
which could have been so easily done, as they were all painted on wood. The restoration in one of the apartments of
the New College would have formed a pleasing memorial of the building that it superseded. The only fragmente that
we know of are now in the collection of C. K. Sharpe, Esq. ’ A few items from “A Collection of Inventories, &c.,” 1815, may afford some idea of the probable furnishing of the
walla. “ The Quene Regentis movables, A.D. 1561; Item, ane tapestrie maid of worsett mixt with threid of gold of
the hiatone of the judgment of Salamon, the deid barne and the twa wiffis. Item, ane tapestrie of the historie of the
Creatioun, contening nyne peces; ane of the King Ruboam, contening foure peces ; ane other of little Salamon,” &a.,
p. 126. Sex
cartis of aundrie cuntreis. Twa paintit brcddis, the ane of the muses, and the uther of crotescque or conceptis. Aucht
paintit broddis of the Doctouris of Almaine,” &c.-Ibid, p. 130.
“Of Rownd Cfloibbis and Paintrie. Item, twa gloibbis, the ane of the heavin, the uther of the earth.
* All now in the posseasion of C. K. Sharpe, Esq. ... Duke of Chatelherault, with his initials, I. H.; those of France , with the initials H. R.; and, lastly, those ...

Book 10  p. 162
(Score 0.6)

  Previous Page Previous Results   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.