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-48 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. WolJlmd
mted with several mouldings, partly circular and
partly hexagonal. The eagle stands upon a globe,
and the shaft has been originally supported on
three feet, which are now gone. The lectern at
present is five feet seven inches in height, and is
inscribed :-?GEORGIUS CREICHTOUN, EPISCOPUS
DUNKENENSIS.?
He died on January 24th, 1543, and the probability
is that the lectern had been presented to
Holyrood on his elevation to Dunkeld as a farewell
? 1523. He had been previously provost of the
collegiate church of Corqtorphine, and was twice
High Treasurer, in 1529 and 1537. In 1538 he
was elected Bishop of KOSS, and held that office,
together with the Abbacy of Ferne, till his death,
jrst November, 1545.
XXIX ROBERT STUART, of Strathdon, a son.of
James V. by Eupham Elphinstone, had a grant of
the abbacy when only seven years of age, and in
manhood he joiiied the Reformation party, in 1559.
THE ABBEY CHURCH. (From an Engravitigin Maitlads ?History of Edinbaq-4.?)
gift, and that it had been stolen from the abbey
by Sir Richard Lea of Sopwell, who accompanied
the Earl of Hertford in the invasion of 1544, and
who carried off the famous brazen font from Holy-
TOO^, and presented it to the parish church of St.
Albans, with a magniloquent inscription. ?? This
font, which was abstracted from Holyrood, is no
longer known to exist, and there seems no reason
to doubt that the lectern, which was saved by
being buried during the Civil Wars, was abstracted
at the same time, and given to the church of St.
hlbans by the donor of the font.??
XXVII. WILLIAM DOUGLAS, Prior of Coldingham,
was the next abbot.
XXVIII. ROBERT CAIRNCROSS,abbot September
He died in r5z8.
He married in 1561, and received from his sister,
Queen Mary, a gift of some Crown lands in
Orkney and Shetland in 1565, with a large grant
out of the queen?s third of Holyrood in the following
year. In 1569 he exchanged his abbacy with
Adam Bishop of Orkney for the temporalities of
that see, and his lands in Orkney and Shetland
were erected into an earldom in his favour 28th
October, 1581.
XXX. ADAM BOTHWELL, who acquired the
abbacy in commendam by this strange and lawless
compact, did not find his position a very quiet one,
and several articles against him were presented in
the General Assembly in 1570. The fifth of these
stated that all the twenty-seven churches of the

... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. WolJlmd mted with several mouldings, partly circular and partly hexagonal. The eagle ...

Book 3 p. 48
(Score 1)

The West Bow.] MAJOR WEIR?S HOUSE. 3 13
an extraordinary quantity of yarn, in the time that
it would have taken four women to do so.
At the place of execution in the Grassmarket a
frenzy seized her, and the wretched old creature
began to rend her garments, in order, as she
shrieked, that she might die ?? with all the shame
she could ! ?
Undeterred by her fate, ten other old women
were in the same year burned in Edinburgh for
alleged dabbling in witchcraft.
flaming torches, as if a multitude of people were
there, all laughing merrily. ?This sight, at so
dead a time of night, no people being in the windows
belonging to the close, made her and her
servant haste home, declaring all that they saw to
the rest of the family.?
?For upwards of a century after Major Weir?s
death he continued to be the bugbear of the Bow,
and his house remained uninhabited. His apparition,?
says Chambers, ?? was frequently seen at
MAJOR WEIR?S LAND.
(Fmm a Measrrrrd Drawing by Thomas HamiZton, #idZiskcd in 183a)
The reverend Professor who compiled ? Satan?s
Invisible World,? relates that a few nights before
the major made his astounding confession, the
wife of a neighbour, when descending from the
Castle Hill towards the Bow-head, saw three
women in different windows, shouting, laughing,
and clapping their hands. She passed on, and
when abreast of Major Weir?s door, she saw a
woman of twice mortal stature arise from the street.
Filled with great fear, she desired her maid, who
bore a lantern, to hasten on, but the tall spectre
still kept ahead of them, uttering shouts of ?unmeasurable
laughter,? till they came to the narrow
alley called the Stinking Close, into which the
spectre turned, and which was seen to be full of
40
night, flitting like a black and silent shadow about
the street. His house, though known to be deserted
by everything human, was sometimes observed at
midnight to be full of lights, and heard to emit
strange sounds, as of dancing, howling, and, what
is strangest of all, spinning. Some people occasionally
saw the major issue from the low close at
midnight, mounted on a black horse without a
head, and gallop off in a whirlwind of flame. Nay,
sometimes the whole inhabitants of the Bow would
be roused from their sleep at an early hour in the
morning by the sound of a coach and six, first
rattling up the Lawnmarket, and then thundering
down the Bow, stopping at the head of the terrible
close for a few minutes, and then rattling and

... West Bow.] MAJOR WEIR?S HOUSE. 3 13 an extraordinary quantity of yarn, in the time that it would have taken ...

Book 2 p. 313
(Score 1)

98 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
No. XLVI.
MR. ALEXANDER THOMSON
AND
MISS CRAWFORD.
THOSE who recollect MR. THOMSON, affirm this representation of him to be
extremely faithful. He was very remarkable for the length of his arms, which,
while walking, he kept dangling by his side, as represented in the Print. He
carried on business as a grocer in a shop nearly opposite the Tron Church,
where, by persevering industry and fair dealing, he is said to have amassed a
considerable fortune ; from which circumstance, together with his long and
honourable career, he obtained the title of the “ Prince of Grocers.” Not much
in accordance, however, with this high-sounding title he was known also by the
less dignified appellation of “Farthing Sandy,” owing to his having at one
period issued a great number of brass farthings, for the better adjustment of
accounts with his numerous customers.
Thomson was a widower of long standing; but having grown in riches as
well as in years, it appears strange fantasies of greatness began to flit before his
imagination. He used to compare himself with the other grocers as a large mastiff
dog, placed in the centre of a number of little terriers. With a view to his
aggrandizement, he sought to connect himself by marriage with some family of
aristocratic blood j and with this “ intention full resolved,” he is represented
in the Print as “ casting an eye” at Miss Crawford-a lady somewhat whimsical,
if not altogether fantastical, in her dress and manners. The scene is lirnned
by Mr. Kay as witnessed on the Calton-Hill, the day on which Mr Tytler’s
“ fire-balloon” ascended from the Abbey grounds. The “ Prince of Grocers,”
however, was not successful in his pursuit, and ultimately became, among the
ladies, an object of ridicule, being known by the feminine sobriquet of “Ruffles,”
from a practice he had of hiding his long fingers in his sleeve appendages.
Had the widower aimed at less lofty game, there would have been no doubt
of success ; his ‘‘ old brass would have bought a new pan.”
Notwithstanding his reputed riches, it is said that Thomson left a mere trifle
at his death, having been nearly ruined by a son, who afterwards went to
Jamaica, where it is believed he died a mendicant.
His house was at the Abbey-Hill.
MISS CRAWFORD, the object of the grocer’s ambition, was the daughter
of Sir Hew Crawford of Jordanhill, and resided at the time at a place called
Redbraes, Bonnington Road. She continued “deaf as Ailsa Craig” to the
wooing of old Ruffles, preferring a life of single blessedness, although it

... BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. No. XLVI. MR. ALEXANDER THOMSON AND MISS CRAWFORD. THOSE who recollect MR. THOMSON, ...

Book 8 p. 142
(Score 0.99)

320 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. Arthur?s h t . 1
Marquis of Douglas. This lady, who was married
in 1670, was divorced, or at least expelled from the
society of her husband, in consequence of some
malignant scandals which a former and disappointed
lover, Lowrie of Blackwood, was so base as to insinuate
into the ear of the marquis.?
Her father took her home, and she never again
saw her husband, who married Mary, daughter of
the Marquis of Lothian, and died in 1700. Lady
Baxbara?s only son, Jznies, Earl of Angus, fell
Martinmas wind, when wilt thou blaw,
0 gentle death, when wilt thou come 7
An?shake the green leaves aft the tree?
For 0? my life I am wearie.?
A public event of great importance in this
locality was the Royal Scottish Volunteer Review
before the Queen on the 7th of August, 1860, when
Edinburgh, usually so empty and dull in the dog
days, presented a strange and wonderful scene.
For a few days before this event regiments from all
RUINS OF ST. ANTHONY?S CHAPEL, LOOKING TOWARDS LEITH. (From n P4oiofln)h by Ale%. A. IngZis.)
bravely at Steinkirk, in his twenty-first year, at the
head of the 26th, or Cameronian Regiment. Two
verses of the song run thus :-
?? Oh, waly ! waly ! gin love be bonnie
A litttle time while it is new ;
But when it ?5 auld it waxeth cauld.
And fades away like morning dew.
Oh, wherefore should I busk my heid?
Or wherefore should I kame my hai ?
For m y true lov- has me forsook,
And says he ?11 never love me mair.
Now Arthur?s Seat shall be my bed,
St. Anton?s Well shall be my drink,
The sheets shall ne?er be pressed by mp ;
Since my true love?s forsaken me !
parts of Scotland came pouring into the city, and
were cantoned in school-houses, hospitals, granaries,
and wherever accommodation could be procured
for them. The Breadalbane Highlanders, led by
the white-bearded old marquis, attracted especial
attention, and, 011 the whole, the populace seemed
most in favour of kilted corps, all such being
greeted with especial approbation.
.Along the north wall of the park there was
erected a grand stand capable of containing 3,ooc
persons. The royal standard of Scotland-a
splendid banner, twenty-five yards square-floated
from the summit of Arthur?s Seat, while a multitude
of other standards and gnow-white bell-ten@
covered all the inner slopes of the Craigs. Bp

... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. Arthur?s h t . 1 Marquis of Douglas. This lady, who was married in 1670, was divorced, ...

Book 4 p. 320
(Score 0.99)

96 QUEENSFERRY TO MUSSELBURGH.
throne, but weak, worn-out, and dyhg. His terrible struggles,-those great,
patriotic efforts he made to wrest our land from the hand of the oppressor and
secure its independence,-had done their sad work upon his naturally vigorous
and powerful frame, and.now at the premature age, comparatively, of fifty-four
years, the strong man had laid him down to die. At this time, when he could
not be troubled with the consideration of such matters, and had not strength
sufficient to inquire into the justice or policy of them, the Town-Council of
Edinburgh, actuated by the meanest and most selfish motives, applied for, and
obtained from, him ‘a grant of the harbour and mills of Leith, with their
appurtenances, for payment of fifty-two merks yearly,’ Nor was their cupidity
content with that. They at the same time seized upon all the waste or
unreclaimed ground adjacent to the harbour and on the banks of the river,
which, however, upon the baron superior, Logan of Restalrig, contesting, they
were ultimately compelled to disgorge, or at least to pay for, which comes
much to the same thing.
This Logan, the baronial proprietor of Leith, appears to have been rather
a heartless old fellow, treating the poor Leithers with as high a hand and as
oppressive a greed as the city Town-Council itself. He would do anything
for money. Give him a good price, only bid high enough, and he would go
to any lengths : no considerations, either moral or Christian, giving him the
least concernment. A man of this type was just the man for the Edinburgh
Town-Councillors ; and they hesitated not to avail themselves of his avaricious
unscrupulousness to effect their own selfish ends. Strange to say, they
approached this man with the extraordin& proposal that ‘ he, for a large
consideration, should grant them a bond by which he should pledge himself
to prevent the inhabitants of Leith, not only from carrying on any sort of
trade, but from keeping shops, or inns, or houses, of public entertainment for
strangers,’ and which proposal was entertained. Nor that only. Some time
subsequently, in the year 1485, this same jealous and oppressive spirit was
manifested in a still more illiberal and impolitic way : it was then ‘ ordained
that no merchant of Edinburgh should take into partnership with him any
inhabitant of Leith under the penalty of forty shillings, and deprivation of
the freedom of the city for a year ; that none bf the revenues of the city
should be farmed to an individual belonging to Leith, and that none of the
farmers of the city should take any of them as a partner with him in such
contracts ; that no staple goods should be stored in warehouses in Leith, or
even disposed of, and in the event of such cruel and oppressive enactments
being evaded or violated, the offender should be visited with swift and condign

... QUEENSFERRY TO MUSSELBURGH. throne, but weak, worn-out, and dyhg. His terrible struggles,-those ...

Book 11 p. 149
(Score 0.98)

THE GUISE PALACE. 93 The Castle Hill.]
queen?s Deid-room, where the individuals of the
royal establishment were kept between their death
and burial. In 1828 there was found walled up
in the oratory an infantine head and hand in wax,
being all that remained of a bambina, or figure of
the child Jesus, and now preserved by the Society
of Antiquaries. The edifice had many windows
on the northern side, and from these a fine view
spent her youth in the proud halls of the Guises
in Picardy, and had beell the spouse of a Longueville,
was here content to live-in a close in
Edinburgh! In these obscurities, too, was a
government conducted, which had to struggle with
Knox, Glencairn, James Stewart, Morton, and
many other powerfd men, backed by a popular
sentiment which never fails to triumph. It was
DUKE OF GORDO~?S HOUSE, BLAIR?S CLOSE, CASTLE HILL.
must have been commanded of the gardens in
the immediate foreground, sloping downward to
the loch, the opposite bank, with its farm-houses,
the Firth of Forth, and Fifeshire. ?? It was interesting,?
says the author of ? Traditions of Edinburgh,?
?to wander through the dusky mazes of
this ancient building, and reflect that they had
been occupied three centuries. ago by a sovereign
princess, and of the most illustrious lineage. Here
was a substantial monument of the connection
between Scotland and France. She, whose ancestors
owned Lorraine as a sovereignty, who had
the misfortune of Mary (of Guise) to be placed in
a position to resist the Reformation. Her own
character deserved that she should have stood in
a more agreeable relation to what Scotland now
venerates, for she was mild and just, and sincerely
anxious for the welfare of her adopted country. It
is also proper to remember on the present occasion,
that in her Court she maintained a decent gravity,
nor would she tolerate any licentious practices
therein. Her maids of honour were always busied
in commendable exercises, she herself being an
examplc to them in virtue, piety, and modesty,

... GUISE PALACE. 93 The Castle Hill.] queen?s Deid-room, where the individuals of the royal establishment were ...

Book 1 p. 93
(Score 0.98)

Wright?s Houes.] WRYCHTISHOUSIS. 3.1
the genealogist of the Napier family conceives,
with great probability, that the property was held
by the tenure of payment to the king of a silver
penny yearly upon the CasfZe aiZZ of Edinburgh.
The edifice to which we refer was undoubtedly
one of the oldest, and by far the most picturesque,
baronial dwelling in the neighbourhood of the city ;
and blending as it did the grim old feudal tower
of the twelfth or thirteenth century with more ornate
additions of the Scoto-French style of later years,
it must have formed-even in the tasteless age
that witnessed its destruction-a pleasing and
striking feature from every part of the landscape
broken, and the whole of them dispersed. Among
those we have examined,? says Wilson, ?there is
one now built into the doorway of Gillespie?s School,
having a tree cut on it, bearing for fruit the stars
and crescents of the family arms, and the inscription,
DOMINUS EST ILLUMINATIO MEA ; another, placed
over the hospital wall, has this legend below a
boldly cut heraldic device, CONSTANTIA ET LABORE,
1339. On two others, now at Woodhouselee, are
the following: BEATUS VIR QUI SPERAT IN DEO,
1450, and PATRIE ET POSTERIS, 1513, The only
remains of this singular mansion that have escaped
, the general wreck,? he adds, ?? are the sculptured
THE AVENUE, BRUNTSFIELD LlNKS.
around it, especially when viewed from Bruntsfield
Links against a sunset sky.
One of the dates upon it was 1339, four years
after the battle of the Burghmuir, wherein the
Flemings were routed under Guy of Narnur.
Above a window was the date 1376, with the
legend, SICUT OLIVA FRUCTIFERA. Another bore,
IN DOMINO CONFIDO, 1400. Singular to say, the
arms over the principal door were those of Britain
after the union of the crowns. Emblems of the
Virtues were profusely carved on different parts of
the building, and in one was a rude representation
of our first parents, with the distich-
?Quhen Adam delved, and Eve span,
Quhair war a? the gentles than ? ?
There were also heads of Julius jhsar and
Octavius Secundus, in fine preservation. ? Many
of these sculptures were recklessly defaced and
101
pediments and heraldic carvings buiit into the
boundary-walls of the hospital, and a few others,
which were secured by the late Lord Woodhouselee,
and now adorn a ruin on Mr. Tytler?s estate at the
Pentlands.?
Arnot mentions, without proof, that this house
was built for the residence of a mistress of Jams
IV.; but probably he had never examined the dates
upon it.
It is impossible to discover the origin of the name
now ; though Maitland?s idea, that it was derived
from certain wnghfs, or carpenters, dwelling there
while cutting down the oaks on the Burghmuir
is far-fetched indeed. One of the heraldic sculptures
indicated an alliance betxeen a Laird of Wrychtishouse
and a daughter of the neighbouring Lord of
Merchiston, in the year 1513.
In 1581, William Napier of the former place
became caution in LI,OOO for the appearance and

... Houes.] WRYCHTISHOUSIS. 3.1 the genealogist of the Napier family conceives, with great probability, that ...

Book 5 p. 33
(Score 0.98)

72 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. IHo~yrOam
Commendator of Coldingham. He was created,
in right of his mother (who was the only sister
of the notorious peer), Earl of Bothwell and
Lord High Admiral of Scotland in 1587. He
became an avowed enemy of the king, and Holyrood
was the scene of more than one frantic
attempt made by him upon the life of James. One
of these, in 1591, reads like a daring frolic, as related
by Sir James Melville, when the earl attacked
at the Girth Cross. On the 24th July, 1593, Bothwell,
who had been outlawed, again burst into the
palace with his retainers, and reached the royal
apartments. Then the king, incapable of resisting
him, desired Bothwell, to ?consummate his treasons
by piercing his sovereign?s heart ; I? but Bothwell
fell on his knees and implored pardon, which the
good-natured king at once granted, though a minute
before. he had, as Birrel records, been seeking flight
the palace at the head of his followers. I was I by the back stair, ?with his breeks in his hand.?
HOLYROOD PALACE AS IT WAS BEFORE THE FIRE OF 1650. (Facrimiie, af#w Cmdon OfRotkicma~.)
at supper with my Lord Duke of Lennox, who
took his sword and pressed forth; but he had no
company and the place was full ofenemies. We were
compelled to fortify the doors and stairs with tables,
forms, and stools, and be spectators of that strange
hurlyburly for the space of an hour, beholding
With torchlight, forth of the duke?s gallery, their
reeling and rumbling with halberts, the clacking
of the culverins and pistols, the dunting of mells
and hammers, and crying for justice.? The earl
and his followers ultimately drew off, but left the
master stabler and another lying dead, and the
king was compelled to go into the city; but eight
of Bothwell?s accomplices were taken and hanged
In 1596 the future Queen of Bohemia was baptised
in Holyrood, held in the arms of the English
ambassador, while the Lyon King proclaimed her
from the windows as ?the Lady Elizabeth, first
daughter of Scotland;? and on the 23rd December,
1600, the palace was the scene of the baptism of
her brother, the future Charles I., with unusual
splendour in the chapel royal, in presence of the
nobles, heralds, and officers of state. ?? The bairn
was borne by the Marquis de Rohan, and the
Lord Lyon proclaimed him out of the west window
of the chapel as ?Lord Charles of Scotland, Duke
of Albany, Marquis of Ormond, Ex1 of ROSS, and
Lord Ardmannoch. Largesse ! Largesse 1 Lar

... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. IHo~yrOam Commendator of Coldingham. He was created, in right of his mother (who was ...

Book 3 p. 72
(Score 0.97)

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 143
compensated by his many good qualities-by his constant equanimity, his cheerfulness,
his simplicity of character, almost infantine, his straight-forwardness,
his perfect freedom from affectation ; and, above all, his unconquerable good
nature. He was, indeed, one of the most placable of human beings; and if,
as has been thought, he generally had a steady eye, in his worldly course, to his
own interest, it cannot be denied that he was, notwithstanding, a warm and good
friend, and a relation on whose affectionate assistance a firm reliance could ever
be placed.” One slight blemish,
however, has been overlooked-personal vanity ; for, strange to say, although
in the eyes of others the worthy knight was very far from an Adonis, yet in his
own estimation he was a perfect model of male beauty.
The general appearance of Sir John is well represented in the Print which
precedes this notice. He was short and corpulent-of a florid cemplexion ’-
and his front teeth projected considerably. In later life his corpulence increased
; * he walked with difficulty ; and he became rather slovenly in his mode
of dress-a circumstance the more surprising, as his anxiety to be thought
young and engaging continued undiminished.
In this character we are disposed to concur.
No. CCXX.
OLD JOHN TAIT,
THE BROOM-MAKER.
THE venerable personage represented in the Print died at the Old Kirk of
Gladsmuir, East Lothian, on the 8th January 1772, in the hundred and tenth
year of his age. He had been a miner or collier, in his younger and more robust
days ; but having, by an accident, been disabled for the pits, he was under the
necessity of having recourse to the
“ Making of brooms-green brooms”-
and was long famed throughout the Lothians as a dealer in that important
branch of industry.
What the natural colour of his hair may have been we cannot say ; but in consequence of the
use of some tincture-Tyrian dye it is said-it generally appeared somewhat of a purple hue.
When unbending his mind from severer labours, the knight resorted to Apicius ; and to his
success in reducing to practice the gastronomical propositions of that interesting writer haa been
ascribed his somewhat remarkable exuberance of abdomen. A legal friend, now, alas ! no more,
once witnessed an amicable contest between Sir John and an eminent individual, celebrated for his
taste in re wZinu&. The latter was invincible in the turtle soup and cold punch, but the former
carried all before him when the “sweets” were placed on the table, To show how easily the
victory was won, besides other fruits produced with the dessert, the knight, without any effort.,
devoured nearly a couple of pounds of almonds and raisins.

... SKETCHES. 143 compensated by his many good qualities-by his constant equanimity, his ...

Book 9 p. 192
(Score 0.97)

The West Bow.] THE HIDDEN SWORD. 317
from his sick-bed (a few months after to be his
death-bed, though he fled to Newcastle in the
interim); and, donning his armour, drew back the
arras of the Queen?s chamber, looking like a pale
spectre under his steel-barred helmet, on that fatal
night in the March of 1566, when he planted his
dagger into David Rizzio, whose death was mainly
his contrivance; and in the demolition of this
which the blade was covered, such as Vzncere a d
mori, Fide sed cui $e4 and Sdi De0 GZoria. The
manner of its concealment, and the fierce character
of the old Lord Ruthven, within whose ancient
lodging it was discovered, may readily suggest to
the fancy its having formed the instrument of some
dark and bloody deed ere it was consigned to its
strange hiding-place.?
ASSEMBLY ROOMS, WEST BOW.
(From U McMIrcd Diawing T. Hanriltm pu6lished im 1830).
house a singular relic of him apparently was discovered.
?? Between the ceiling ,and floor in one
of the apartments, a large and beautifully chased
sword was found concealed, with the scabbard
almost completely decayed, and the blade, which
was of excellent temper, deeply corroded with
rust half-way towards the hilt.? Was this the corrosion
of blood? ? ? The point of it,? says Daniel
Wilson, ?was broken 06 but it still measured
324 inches long. The maker?s name, WILHELM
WIRSBERG, was inlaid in brass upon the blade.
His device, seemingly a pair of pincers, was
engraved on both sides, surmounted by a coronet,
and encircled on one side with a motto partly
defaced, and on the other with his name repeated,
and the words in.soZ.ingen. Various other mottoes
were engraved amid the ornamental work with
He died at the close of 1566, or early in the
following year;? and a curious key, which was
found in the demolition of his house, was procured
by the Society of Antiquaries in 1848.
Up the West Bow for centuries did all that was
regal, noble, and diplomatic, advance on entering
the city; and down it, for 124 years-between the
Restoration and I f84-went more criminals than
can be reckoned, to their doom, and many a?victim
of misrule, such as the luckless and unflinching
Covenanters, testifying to the last and glorying in
their fate.
Down the Bow, on the 3rd of September, 1716,
there were marched from the Castle, en route for
trial at Carlisle, eighty-nine Jacobite prisoners.
?? The departing troop was followed by a wail of
indignant lament fiom the national heart, the

... West Bow.] THE HIDDEN SWORD. 317 from his sick-bed (a few months after to be his death-bed, though he fled to ...

Book 2 p. 317
(Score 0.96)

diere is no proof that the shallow waters of the
Leith, as they debouched upon the sands of what
must have been on both sides an uncultured waste
of links or moorland, ever formed a shelter for the
galleys of Rome ; and it is strange to think that
there must have been a time when its banks were
covered by furze and the bells of the golden broom,
and when the elk, the red deer, and the white bull
of Drumsheugh, drank of its current amid a voiceless
solitude.
GAYFIELD HOUSE.
the gorge of the Low Calton, and descends Leith
Walk till nearly opposite the old manor house of
Pilrig; it then runs westward to the Water of
Leith, and follows the latter downward to the Firth.
The parish thus includes, besides its landward
district, the Calton Hill, parts of Calton and the
Canongate, Abbey Hill, Norton Place, Jock?s
Lodge, Restalrig, and the whole of South Leith.
? Except on the Calton Hill,? says a statistical
writer, ?the soil not occupied by buildings is all
The actual limits of Leith as a town, prior to
their definition in 1827, are uncertain.
South Leith is bounded on the north-east by the
Firth of Forth, on the south by Duddingston and
the Canongate, on the west by the parishes of the
Royalty of Edinburgh, by St. Cuthbert?s and North
Leith. It is nearly triangular in form, and has an
area of 2,265 acres, The boundary is traced for
some way with Duddingston, by the Fishwives?
Causeway, or old Roman Road; then it passes
nearly along the highway between the city and
Portobello till past Jock?s Lodge, making a projecting
sweep so as to include Parson?s Green ; and
after skirting the royal parks, it runs along the
north back of the Canongate, debouches through
susceptible of high cultivation, and has had imposed
on it dresses of utility and ornament in keep
ing with its close vicinity to the metropolis. Imgated
and very fertile meadows, green and beautiful
esplanades laid out as promenading grounds, neat,
tidy, and extensive nurseries, elegant fruit, flower,
and vegetable gardens, and the little sheet of
Lochend, with a profusion of odoriferous encb
sures, and a rich sprinkling of villas with their
attendant flower-plots, render the open or unedificed
area eminently attractive. The beach, all the
way from South Leith to the eastern boundary is
not a little attractive to sea-bathers ; a fine, clean
sandy bottom, an inclination or slope quite gentle
enough to assure the most timid, and a limpid roll

... is no proof that the shallow waters of the Leith, as they debouched upon the sands of what must have been ...

Book 5 p. 165
(Score 0.96)

142 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
to have been the same that k n o t alludes to as one of the private oratories existing in hi8
time, in which ‘‘ The baptismal fonts are still remaining.” It is described by him as a
building nigh the Weigh-house, on the south side of the Castle Hill, which has been set
apart for devotion.’ This idea, first suggested by him, of
these ornamental niches having been originally intended for
baptismal fonts, has been repeated by some of the most careful
writers on the antiquities of Edinburgh in our own day,
although the fitness of such an appendage to a private oratory
seems very questionable indeed. From our own observation,
we are inclined to believe that, in the majority of cases,
they were simply ornamental recesses or cupboards ; and
this is the more confirmed, from their most common position
being at the side of the fireplace, and the base in nearly
all of them being a flat and generally projecting ledge,
“We doubt not,” Arnot adds, “but that many more of
the present dwelling-houses in Edinburgh have formerly been consecrated to religious
purposes ; but to discover them would be much less material than difficult ! ” It may
reasonably be regretted that one who professed to treat of our local antiquities, should have
‘dismissed, in so summary and contemptuous a manner, this interesting portion of his
subject, for which, as he acknowledges, he possessed numerous facilities now beyond our
reach.
A house of a very different appearance from any yet described occupies a prominent
position on the north Castle bank, and associates the surrounding district with the name of
Scotland’s great pastoral poet, Allan Ramsay. The house is of a fantastic shape, but it
occupies a position that, we may safely say, could not be surpassed in any city in Europe,
as the site of a ‘( Poet’s Nest.” It is surrounded by a beautiful garden, and though now
in the very heart of the city, it still commands a magnificent and varied prospect, bounded
only on the distant horizon by the Highland hills. At the time of its erection, it was a
suburban retreat, uniting the attractions of a country villa, with an easy access to the centre
of the city. We have been told by a gentleman of antiquarian tastes, from information
communicated to him nearly fifty years ago, that Ramsay applied to the Crown for as much
ground from the Castle Hill as would serve him to build a cage for his hra?, meaning his
wife, to whom he was warmly attached, and hence the octagon shape it assumed, not unlike
an old parrot cage 1 If so, she did not live to share its comforts, her death having occurred
in 1743. Here the poet retired in his sixtieth year, anticipating the enjoyment of its pleasing
seclusion for many years to come ; and although he had already exhausted his energies in the
diligent pursuit of business, he spent, in this lovely retreat, the chief portion of the last
twelve years of his life in ease and tranquil enjoyment, though interrupted towards its close
by a painful malady. He was remarkably cheerful and lively to the last, and his powers of
conversation were such, that his company was eagerly‘courted by all ranks of society; yet
he delighted in nothing so much as seeing himself surrounded by his own family and their
juvenile companions, with whom he would join in their sports with the most hearty life and
good-humour.
* Amot, p. 245.
.

... MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH. to have been the same that k n o t alludes to as one of the private oratories existing ...

Book 10 p. 153
(Score 0.96)

Leith Wynd.1
the interest of LI,OOO to day labourers as aforesaid
of the neighbouring parish of Liberton ; LIOO
THE WEST BOW.
Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge ;
and no family to receive above A5 sterling per
309
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
T H E W E S T B O W .
The West Baw-Quaint Character of its Houses-Its Modern Aspect-Houses of the Tempbar Knights-The Bowfoot Well-The Bow Port-
The Bow-head-Major Weir?s Land-History of Major Thomas Weir-Personal Appearance-His Powerful Prayers-The ? Holy Sisters ??
-The Bowhead Saints-Weir?s Reputed Compact with the Devil-Sick-bed Confession-Arrest-Search of his House-Priwn Confession
-Trial of Him and His Sister GrLel-Execution--What was Weir ?-His Sister undoubtedly Mad-Terrible Reputation of the House-
Untenanted for upwards of a Century-Patullo?s Experience of a Cheap Lodging-Weir?s Land Improved Out of Existence-Hall of the
Knights of St. John-A Mysterious House-&mervi!le Mansion-The Assembly Rooms-Opposed by the Bigotry of the Times-The
Lad;-Directres;Curious Regulations.
NO part of Edinburgh was so rich in quaint old
houses as ?the sanctified bends of the Bow ?-
singular edifices, many of them of vast and unknown
antiquity, and all more or less irregular,
with stone gables and dovecot gablets, timbergalleries,
outshots, and strange projections, the
dormer windows, patches and additions made in
the succession of centuries, overhanging the narrow
and tortuous street, which took the windings of the
zig-zag road that led of old from the wooded waste
to Dunedin, the fort on the slope, at the gates of
which King David dispensed justice to his people,
and his queen daily distributed bread to the poor.
Among the last charters of David 11. is one to
Thomas Webster, of ?ane land in the West Bow.?
Its antique tenements, covered with heralc5c
carvings and quaint dates, half hidden by signboards
or sordid rags drying on poles, its nooks,
crooks, trap-doors, and gloomy chambers, abounded
with old memories, with heroic stories of ancient
martial families, and with grim legends and grandmother?
s tales of ghosts and of diablerie ; but to
those who see it now, or all that remains of it,
where it abuts on the Grassmarket, cut asunder

... Wynd.1 the interest of LI,OOO to day labourers as aforesaid of the neighbouring parish of Liberton ; ...

Book 2 p. 309
(Score 0.96)

Princes Street. THE sco-rr MONUMENT. 127
- -
Beattie, James Thomson, and John Home, adorn
the west front j those of Queen Mary, King James
features of this beautiful and imposing structure,
the design of a self-taught Scottish artisan, The
four principal arches supporting the central tower
resemble those beneath the rood-tower of a cruciform
church, while the lower arches in the dia-
! gonal abutments, with their exquisitely-cut details,
resemble the narrow north aisle of Melrose.
? The groined roof over the statue is of the same
design as the roof of the choir of that noble abbey
church so niuch frequented and so enthusiastically
admired by Sir Walter. The pillars, canopies
of niches, pinnacles, and other details, are chiefly
copied from the same ruin, and magnificent views
of the city in every direction are to be had from
its lofty galleries.
It cost A15,650, and from time to time statuettes
of historical and other personages who figure
in the pages of Scott have been placed in its
numerous niches. Among these are Prince Charles
Edward, who directly faces Princes Street, in the
Highland dress, with a hand on his sword; the
Lady of the Lake; the Last Minstrel and Meg
Merrilies-these are respectively ou the four
centres of the first gallery; Mause Headrigg,
Dominie Sampson, Meg Dods, and Dandie
Dinmont, are respectively on the south, the west,
the north, and the east, of the fourth gallery ; King
James VI., Magnus Troil, and Halbert Glendinning,
occupy the upper tier of the south-west
buttress ; Minnie Trofi, George Heriot, and Bailie
Nicol Jarvie, are on the lower tier of it; Amy
Robsart, the Earl of Leicester, and Baron
Bradwardine, are on the upper tier of the northwest
buttress ; Ha1 0? the Wynd, the Glee Maiden,
and Ellen of Lorn, are on the lower tier thereof;
Edie Ochiltree, King Robert I., and Old Mortality,
are on the upper tier of the north-east buttress;
Flora MacIvor, Jeanie Deans, and the Laird of
Dumhiedykes, are on the lower tier of it; the
Sultan Saladin, Friar Tuck, and Richard Cceur de
Lion, are on the upper tier of the south-east buttress
; and Rebecca the Jewess, Diana Vernon, and
Queen Mary, are on its lower tier.
On the capitals and pilasters supporting the roof
are some exquisitely cut heads of Scottish poets :
those of Robert Bums, Robert Fergusson, James
Hogg, and Allan Ramsay, are on the west front;
those of George Buchanan, Sir David Lindsay,
Robert Tannahill, and Lord Byron, are on the
south front; those of Tobias Smollett. Tames sonal form of memorial-namely, great genius,
distinguished patriotism, and the stature and
figure of a demi-god.? To his contemporaries
chisel of Sir John Steel, procured at the cost of
;62,000, was inaugurated under the central arches
in 1846.
Sir Walter is represented sitting with a Border
plaid over his left shoulder, and his favourite highland
staghound, Maida, at his right foot.
A staircase in the interior of the south-west
cluster of pillars leads to the series of galleries to
which visitors are admitted on the modest payment
of twopence. It also gives access to the Museum
room, which occupies the body of the tower, and
therein a number of interesting relics were
deposited at its inauguration in April, 1879.
These are too numerous to give in detail, but
among them may be mentioned a statuette of Sir
Walter, by Steel, a bust of George Kemp, the illfated
architect, with his first pencil sketch of the
monument, and a number of models and paintings
of historical interest ; and on the walls are placed
eight alto-relievo portraits in bronze (by J.
Hutchison, R.S.A.) of Scottish characters of
mark, including James V., James VI., Queen
Mary, John Knox, George Buchanan, the Regent
Moray, the Marquis of Montrose, and Charles I.
In the cdlection are some valuable letters in
the handwriting of Sir Walter Scott ; and the walls
are adorned with some of the old flint muskets,
swords, and drums of the ancient City Guard.
The statue of Professor John Witson, ?? Christopher
North,? at the western corner of the East
Gardens, is the result of a subscription raised
shortly after his death in 1854. A committee for
the purpose was appointed, consisting of the Lord
Justice General (afterwards Lord Colonsay), Lord
Neaves, Sir John Watson Gordon, and others,
and three years after Sir John Steel executed the
statue, which is of bronze, and is a fine representation
of one who is fresh in the recollection of
thousands of his countrymen. The careless ease
of the professois ordinary dress is adopted; a
plaid which he was in the habit of wearing
supplies the drapery, and the lion-like head and
face, fill of mental and muscular power, thrown
slightly upward and backward, express genius,
while the figure, tall, massive, and athletic, corres
ponds to the elevated expression of the countenance..
At its inauguration the Lord President Inglis said,
happily, that there was ?in John Wilson every
element which gives a man a claini to this per-
I., King James V., and Drummond of Hawthornden,
are on the north front.
The white marble statue of Scott, from the
this statue vividly recalls Wilson in his every-day
aspect, as he was wont to appear in his class
room or on the platform in the fervour of his

... Street. THE sco-rr MONUMENT. 127 - - Beattie, James Thomson, and John Home, adorn the west front j those ...

Book 3 p. 127
(Score 0.96)

418 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
No. CLXV.
ALLAN MACDOUGALL, ESQ. OF GLENLOCHAN,
ALEXANDER WATSON, ESQ. OF GLENTURKIE,
AND
COLQUHOUN GRANT, ESQ.
THESE gentlemen were intimate friends, and of one profession-Writers to
the Signet. They are here represented in the prosecution of one of their many
walks in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh, where, at some snug house of entertainment,
they were regularly, at least once a week, in the habit of enjoying a
social dinner together.
ALLAN MACDOUGALL-the fir& of the trio-possessed the estate of
Glenlochan, in Argyleshire. Philipsfield, near Leith, now belonging to a gentleman
of the name of Boyd, was also his property. He resided at one period
at the Nether Eow, and latterly in Tweeddale's Court, He married a sister of
the late Lord Tweeddale, but had no family. Mr. Macdougall enjoyed an
excellent business, and was Agent for the Commissioners of the Annexed Estates
of Scotland. He was some time in partnership with hfr. George Andrew, who
held the appointment of Clerk to the Pipe, in conjunction with Alexander
Murray, afterwards Lord Henderland.
The centre figure, ALEXANDER WATSON of Glenturkie, has already been
noticed in the preceding Print.
COLQUHOUN GRANT (the last and most prominent person of the group)
and Mr. Watson were inseparable companions. Both gentlemen lived in
" single blessedness ;" and, having few attractions at home, they were in the
habit of dining daily together in the house of hfr. Thomas Sommers, vintner,
Jackson's Close. There they were furnished with a plain warm dinner at the
moderate charge of '' twa placks apiece ;" and so very frugal were they, that
half a bottle of claret betwixt them-and no more-was their stated allowance.
In those days there were no pint bottles, consequently they were under the
necessity of corking up the remaining portion of liquor for next day's repast.
These were what they called their 'L business delje.lint?s." Their dinners in the
country were of a different description ; and the glass was permitted to circulate
freely.

... BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. No. CLXV. ALLAN MACDOUGALL, ESQ. OF GLENLOCHAN, ALEXANDER WATSON, ESQ. OF ...

Book 8 p. 581
(Score 0.95)

16 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
‘of the Chancellor, in the Castle of Edinburgh. His increasing years, however, seem to
have led to his enjoying greater liberty of person, as well as deference to his opinion.
Under the guidance of the Bishops of Aberdeen and Moray, then residing in Edinburgh,
a conference was held in the church of St Giles, between him and his rival guardians,
which, from their mutual hatred to the Earl of Douglas, again led to an amicable arrangement,
the King making choice of Edinburgh Castle as the place where he should continue
to reside.
No sooner were the rival statesmen reconciled, than they consulted together to aecure
the overthrow of the Douglas, whose exorbitant power was employed for the most oppressive
and tyrannical objects. To have openly proceeded against him as a criminal, while at
the head of his numerous forces, would only have proved the sequel for a civil war. He
was accordingly invited to Edinburgh, with the most flattering assurances of friendship.
On the way, the Chancellor met him at Crichton Castle, about twelve miles &E. of
Edinburgh, where he was entertained with every mark of hospitality, insomuch so as to
have excited the jealous fears of his friends. He rode thereafter to the Castle of Edinburgh,
accompanied by his brother and Sir Malcolm Fleming of Cumbernauld : they were received
with every show of welcome, and admitted to the same table with the King ; but, towards
t.he close of the entertainment, a bull’s head, the well-known symbol of destruction, was
set before them. They recognised the fatal signal, and sprang from the board, but being
immediately surrounded by armed men, they were led forth, in defiance of the tears and
entreaties of the young King, and immediately beheaded 66 in the back court of the Castle
that lyeth to the west ; ” or, according to Balfour, in the great hall of the Castle.’ In the
year 1753, some workmen digging for a foundation to a new storehouse within the Castle,
found the golden handles and plates of a coffin, which are supposed to have belonged to
that in which the Earl of Douglas was interred8
From a protest afterwards taken by the son of Sir Malcolm Fleming, against the
sentence of his father, as being unwarrantable and illegal, as well as from the fact of no
attempt being made to bring the Chancellor to trial for the deed when the Douglas faction
prevailed, there would seem to have been some form of trial, and a sentence of condemnation
pronounced, with the assumed authority of the King.+ The popular estimation of the
deed may be inferred from the rude rhymes quoted by Hume of Godscroft :-
“ Edinburgh Castle, towne and tower,
God grant thou sinke for sinne ;
An’ that even for the black dinner
Earle Douglm gat therein.”
The Chancellor continued to maintain possession of the Castle, even when the Douglas
party succeeded in obtaining the guardianship of the young King, and used the royal
authority for demanding its surrender. Here he held out during a siege of nine months,
till he succeeded in securing satisfactory terms for himself; while of his less fortunate
coadjutors some only redeemed their lives with their estates, and the others, including
three members of the Livingstone family, were all tried and beheaded within its walls.
History of the Douglasses, 1643, p. 165.
Arnot, p. 11.
* Balfour’s Aunals, vol. i. p. 169. ‘ Nartial Achievements, vol. ii. p. 330.

... MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH. ‘of the Chancellor, in the Castle of Edinburgh. His increasing years, however, seem ...

Book 10 p. 17
(Score 0.94)

306 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
from her servitude by his Excellency the Persian Ambassador, during his residence in that city
on his way to England. Embracing the Mohammedan faith, her creed enjoins her to observe the
strictest privacy ; and on no account to expose her features, or even her figure, to any of the male
sex, excepting to particular individuals by the special permission of her lord or protector. *
“I am constrained to confess that her conntenance is far more lovely and interesting than
really beautiful ; and it is a mistaken notion that the Circassian women are the most celebrated
for beauty of any of the inhabitants in the countries round the Caucasus, as it is the Georgian
women who are entitled to this distinction. To attempt a description of the female in question,
we may say with great truth, that her eyes are black and remarkably fine, adorned with arched
black eyebrows, and fringed with long eyelashes of the same colour ; and her whole countenance
is expressive of peculiar modesty and a becoming a d e n c e , that is very pleasing ; and, joined
with a natural and easy politeness, and a sweetness of disposition, renders her altogether a most
interesting young creature. Her teeth are beautiful, and her mouth good, though her lips are
rather thick than otherwise. Her nose is far from handsome. Her hair is a fine, soft, and
glossg jet, which she arranges in a very tasteful manner, and highly becoming her countenance,
which, indeed, is of no ordinary description, and particularly when enlivened with a smile. Her
complexion is brunette, but by no means of 80 dark a hue as the pictures in the Print-shops
exhibit to the public eye ; yet several ladies have asserted that her skin is very soft and clear,
and that a Mush has been frequently seen to mantle over her cheek. She is rather below the
middle stature, and is considered a remarkably good figure for a Circassian, who by art acquire
a very slender waist, which makes them broader about the shoulders than is pleasing to the eye
of a European, and destroys the contours of proportionable beauty. She appeared to be,:about
twenty years of age, though it is said she has only arrived at eighteen. Her dialect is Turkish,
which indeed is the general language of Persia, particularly in the northern parts ; the pure
Persian being considered as the language of the Court of Tehran. She has, however, some knowledge
of this, as well as of the English tongue. The name by which she is:distinguished is Dill
Arurn, which are two Persian words, signifying hean! and quiet; but the more general and
appropriate application corresponds with the small and favourite flower called “Heart’# Ease.”
The writer then goes on to state that ‘‘ it proves the superiority of Dil2 Amcm.
as much as it bespeaks the noble and generous disposition of Mirza Aboul
Hassan Khan, that he not only released her from vassalage, but faithfully
adopted her as the partner of his bosom.” To his Excellency’s affection and
anxiety for her safety the writer attribntes her departure by sea, and considers
it “particularly honourable to his feelings that he would rather forego the
pleasures of her society,” than subject her to the unavoidable constraints and
fatigues of an overland journey. The vessel engaged for her conveyance was a
new coppered brig, the Lord Exmouth, fitted up in a comfortable manner for the
voyage. The fair Circassian was accompanied by the Ambassador‘s two nephews,
Mirza Abul Tallib, and Abbas Begg (the latter of whom was in England with
his Excellency on the former embassy), and other confidential servants.
“ At eight o’clock on Monday morning, the 30th September, three carriages mere in attendance
in the immediate vicinity of the residence of the Ambassador, in Charles Street, Berkeley
Square ; and shortly after the first coach was occupied by three of the Persians who were to
accompany her to Persia. In the second coach was seated the Circassian lady, with three other
Persians, two of whom were the Ambassador’s nephews, and a Persian attendant mounted the
coach-box. The last coach contained Lieut.-Colonel DArcy, of the Royal Artillery, who was a
resident in Persia for five years, aud commanded the military party of the embassy under Sir
Gore Ouseley ; and who, for his eminent and extensive services in that country, was elevated by
the Shah to the rank of Khan, with the title of Alijah or Honourable, and invested with the
Persian order of the Lion and Sun. He was accompanied by Captain George Willock (who is
attached to the present embassy from Persia, and is brother to the British Charge d’Affaires at
Tehran), and also by Mr. Percy, the Persian accountant, who likewise acts as a confidential
secretary. They proceeded along the principal streets on their way to the Artichole Tavern,

... BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. from her servitude by his Excellency the Persian Ambassador, during his residence in ...

Book 9 p. 407
(Score 0.93)

160 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
Rather than allow any person whom he had been employed to prosecute to be
put in jail, he has been frequently known to advance the sum himself, even
when he had not the most distant chance of repayment.
Mr. Macpherson died on the 9th of May 1814. His sister, Sodom, died in
Gillespie’s Hospital.
The centre figure, ROGER HOG, ESQ. of Newliston, whose amplitude
of back is so well delineated, was formerly one of the Directors of the Bank of
Scotland, and a regular attender of their meetings, He has been already pretty
fully described in No. XVII.
No. LXVII.
THE REV. JOHN M‘LURE,
CHAPIAIN TO THE GRAND LODGE.
MR. M‘LURE was originally educated for the church, and obtained the clerical
title by being licensed to preach, after undergoing the usual trials. It was
not his fortune, however, to obtain a kirk. A few embarrassing years of
“ hopes deferred” entirely deadened his ambition for the pulpit ; and at last,
abandoning all intention of “clinging by the horns of the altar,” he settled
down in Edinburgh as a teacher of writing, arithmetic, and book-keeping.
In the memorable year 1745, Mr. hl‘lure, being: then a young man, was a
member of the Trained Band. Marching on one occasion to Musselburgh, in
expectation of meeting with a party of the rebels, it is told of the teacher, that
having made up his mind to be shot, he had fixed a quire of paper-symbolic
of his profession-to his breast, on which the following memorandum was
written :-“This is the body of John MLure, writing-master in Edinburghlet
it be decently interred !” This sepulchral direction happily proved unnecessary.
John was not slain, but lived to become for many years ‘( Grand
Chaplain I’ of the “ Grand Lodge of Scotland ;” and throughout a long life
maintained “ the character of a good man and an excellent mason, being considered
the oracle of the craft in Edinburgh.”
He was married, and left several children, two
of whom, Alexander and Hamilton, were bred to the medical profession. The
former went abroad. The latter was several years a surgeon in Edinburgh,
and died not long after his father.
Mr. M‘Lure died in 1787.

... BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. Rather than allow any person whom he had been employed to prosecute to be put in jail, ...

Book 8 p. 225
(Score 0.92)

I 16 QUEENSFERRY TO MUSSELBURGH.
for other erections. The drama is an excellent piece of poetical composition,
finely conceived and interestingly wrought out, and gives unmistakeable
evidence that the writer was possessed, in no mean degree, of the higher
developments of the tragic Muse. The town can boast, too, of the Rev. John
Logan, one of the ministerial incumbents of South Leith, ‘author of a popular
volume of sermons, some of the Paraphrases, and one or two productions of a
dramatic.kind. Logan had a gift Muse-ward certainly, and did now and
again emit a few sweet notes ; but the very best of the things which he had
the audacity to publish as his own were not his own. Poor, shrinking,
simple-headed, consumptive Bruce was cruelly treated by this friend of his !
To pilfer from him those fine, plaintive, bird-like lays, ‘ Few are thy days, and
full of woe,’ ‘ Behold my servant, see him rise,’ and especially that inimitably
simple and beautifully tender effusion, his ‘ Ode to the Cuckoo,’ and claim
them as his, thus robbing a friend, and a friend departed, of his just meed of
praise-0 the heartlessness of the man I Strange too that a native of Leith
should have been the righter of the bitter wrong thus done Bruce. Dr.
Mackelvie, who with a brave heart and a fearless hand stript this literary jackdaw
of his borrowed plumage, and reduced him to his own honest coat of decen t
black, was the son of humble parents, and if not born, at least was brought up, in
the Kirkgate, and to him in this, as in other respects, literature owes its heartiest
thanks. The Rev. Dr. Michael Russel, of the Episcopal Chapel here, likewise
distinguished himself in the world of letters ; besides several works of
great culture and elegance of composition which he wrote, he was also the
accomplished author of the ‘ Connection of Sacred and Profane History, in
continuation of Prideaux,’ a work of great learning and research, and which
entitles him to rank very high both as a scholar and a writer. In like
manner Mr. Cuthbertson, of the Secession body, and one of the ministers of
Leith, is not unknown as an author: he wrote a very able, temperate and
well received exposition of the Book of Revelation, published in three
quarto volumes, one of the best popular interpretations perhaps of this
wonderful Scripture which has been written. Mr. Cuthbertson, again, was
the immediate predecessor of the late Dr. Smart, of whose sermons a neat
quarto volume has been issued since his death, with a very excellently written
memoir of the good man by his life-long and highly esteemed friend and
brother, the Rev. Principal Harper, D.D. The Rev. Dr. Colquhoun also
published several popular books of a pious nature, and the Rev. Principal
Harper has been long favourably known as a gentleman of literary distinction
and eminent erudition.

... 16 QUEENSFERRY TO MUSSELBURGH. for other erections. The drama is an excellent piece of poetical ...

Book 11 p. 169
(Score 0.92)

404 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
a friend in the evening. Before the hour of dinner arrived, however, he was
discovered in a lifeless state in a field near the gentleman’s house, with his dog
and the fatal instrument of death beside him, The cause of this melancholy
accident has never been ascertained.
The residence of Mr. Bennet was, for many years after he commenced business,
in the Old Assembly Close. He subsequently removed to that house on a
line with, and next to the York Hotel, in Nicolson Street.
Mr. Bennet married Mrs. Scott, the widow of J. Scott, Esq. of Logie.
This lady, whose maiden name was Auchterlony, had a daughter by her first
husband, afterwards married to the late General Hope, brother of the Lord
President. By Mr. Bennet she had three sons and one daughter, the eldest of
whom obtained the rank of Captain in the navy, and married Miss Law,’
daughter of his father’s partner. The second son was in the army, and died in
India. The third holds at present (1837) a situation in the War Office. The
daughter was married to Mr. Law, W.S.
No. CLX.
THREE OFFICERS OF THE HOPETOUN FENCIBLES.
LORD NAPIER, MAJOR PILMER,
AND
MAJOR CLARKSON.
THE centre figure in the group is the RIGHT HONOURABLFREA NCIS
SEVENTH LORD NAPIER, of Merchiston, whose lineal a.ncestor, John
Napier of Merchiston, was the celebrated inventor of logarithms. The subject
of our sketch was born at Ipswich in 1758, and succeeded his father in
1785.
At sixteen years of age his lordship entered the army as an ensign in the
31st Regiment, and served in America during the War of Independence, under
General Burgoyne. He was one of those who piled arms on the heights of
Saratoga in 1777, and was detained a prisoner of mar upwards of six months.
He was then allowed to return to Britain on parole not to serve in America
This lady died in 1836.
2 The male representation of the family is vested in Sir William Napier Milliken of bfilliken,
who enjoys the old Napier baronetcy.

... BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. a friend in the evening. Before the hour of dinner arrived, however, he was discovered ...

Book 8 p. 562
(Score 0.92)

170 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
dinner club.’ One day, while dining with our usual hilarity, the servant informed us that a
gentleman below stairs desired to be admitted for a mmnent. We considered it to be some
brother barrister who requested permission to join our party, and desired him to be shown in.
What wm our surprise, however, on perceiving the figure that presented itself !-a man, who
might have served as 8 model for a Hercules ; his gigantic limbs conveying the idea of almost
supernatural strength ; his shoulders, arms, and broad chest, were the very emblems of muscular
energy ; and his flat, rough countenance, overshadowed by enormous dark eyebrows, and deeply
furrowed by strong lines of vigour and fortitude, completed one of the finest, yet most formid.
able figures I had ever beheld. Close by his side stalked in a shaggy
Newfoundland dog of corresponding magnitude, with hair a foot long ; and who, if he should be
voraciously inclined, seemed well able to devour a barrister or two without overcharging his
stomach. As he entered, indeed, he alternately looked at us and then up at his master, as if
only waiting the orders of the latter to commence the onslaught. His master held in his hand
a large, yellow, knotted club, slung by a leathern thong round his great wrist : he had also a
long smallsword by his side.
‘‘ This apparition walked deliberately up to the table ; and, having made his obeisance with
seeming courtesy, a short pause ensued, duriiig which he looked round on all the company with
an aspect, if not stern, yet ill calculated to set our minds at ease either aa to his or his dog’s
ulterior intentions.
“ ‘ Gentlemen ! ’ at length he said, in a tone and with an air at once so mild and courteous,
nay so polished, as fairly to give the lie, as it were, to his gigantic and threatening figure ;
‘ Gentlemen ! I have heard with very great regret that some members of this club have been so
indiscreet as to calumniate the character of Mary Neil, which, from the part I have taken, I
feel identified with my own : if any present hath done so, I doubt not he will now have the
candour and courage to avow it. W h avows it P’ The dog looked up at him again ; he returned
the glance ; but contented himself, for the present, with patting the animal’s head, and was
silent ; so were we.
‘(The extreme surprise, indeed, with which our party were seized, bordering almost on
consternation, rendered all consultation as to a reply out of the question ; and never did I see
the old axiom, that ‘ what ia everybody’s business is nobody’s business,’ more thoroughly exemplified.
A few of the company whispered each his neighbour, and I perceived one or two steal
a fruit-knife under the table-cloth, in case of extremities ; but no one made any reply, We
were eighteen in number ; and as neither would or could answer for the others, it would require
eighteen replies to satisfy the giant’s single query ; and I fancy some of us could not have replied
to his satisfaction, and stood to the truth into the bargain. He repeated his demand (elevating
his tone each time) thrice : ‘ Does any gentleman avow it ?’ A faint buzz now circulated round
the room, but there was no answer whatsoever. Communication was cut off, and there waa a
dead silence : at length our visitor said with a loud voice, that he must suppose if any gentleman
had made any observations or assertions against Mary Neil’s character, he would have had
the courage and spirit to avow. it : ‘therefore,’ continued he, ‘ I shall take it for granted that
niy information was erroneous ; and, in that point of view, I regret having ahrnzed your society.
And, without another word, he bowed three times very low, and retired backwards towards the
door (his dog also backing out with equal politeness), where, with a salam, doubly ceremonious
Mr. Rowan ended this extraordinary interview. On the first of his departing bows, by a simultaneous
impulse, we all rose and returned his salute, almost touching the table with our noses,
but still in profound silence ; which booing on both sides was repeated, aa I have said, till he
was fairly out of the room. Three or four of the company then ran hastily to the window, to
be sure that he and the dog were clear off into the street ; and no sooner had this satisfactory
denouement been ascertained, than a general roar of laughter ensued, and we talked it over in 8
hundred different ways. The whole of our arguments, however, turned upon the question-
‘ which had behaved the polite& upon the occasion !’ but not one word wm uttered as to which
had behaved the stoutest. ”
He was very well dressed.
. .
One of us, Counsellor Townly Fitgate (afterwards chairman of Wicklow county), having a
pleasure cutter of his own in the harbour of Dublin, used to send her to smuggle claret for us from
the Isle of Man. He made a friend of one of the tideawaitem, and we consequently had the very
best wines on the cheapest possible terms.

... BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. dinner club.’ One day, while dining with our usual hilarity, the servant informed us ...

Book 9 p. 229
(Score 0.92)

LEITH, AND THE NEW TOWN. 363
frequently occurs with slight variations. The earliest instance of it is on the front of an
ancient tenement at the head of Binnie’s Close, St Giles’ Street, where it is accompanied
with a large and finely cut shield, with two coats of arms impaled, and the date 1594.
Near to this, in Muckle’s Close, is the following:-~m . BLISSING .) OF . GOD . IS . GRIT .
RICHES . M . S. 1609. In Vinegar Close,, an ancient building, now greatly modernised,
is adorned with a large sculptured shield, containing the armorial bearings represented in
the vignette at the head of the chapter. In St Andrew Street, over a window on the first
floor of a house fronthg Smeaton’s Close, is the common Iegend-Tm FEIR OF THE LORD
IS THE BEGINNING OF AL VISDOME; and on the same building within the close, another
window bears the brief inscription and -date :-FEIR THE LORD, 1688 ; the year of the
Revolution. The lintel of the ancient doorway of a house in Water Lane, demolished in
1832, bore the following pious couplet, with the date 1574 :-
THEY AR WELCOME HERE,
QUHA TEE LORD DO FEIR.
And over another doorway in Queen Street, there is cut, in more ancient and ornamental
characters-cREDENTI . NIHIL . LINGU~E:. A fine old building near the head of Queen
Street, which was only demolished a few years since, was generally believed to be the
mansion which had been honoured as the residence of the Queen Regent ; but the name
of the street, which probably suggested the tradition, is of recent origin, and superseded
the more homely one of the Paunch Market; and there is no evidence in its favour
sufficient to overturn the statement of Maitland, who wrote at a period when there was
less temptation to invent traditions than now. The ancient tenement, however, was
evidently one of unusual magnificence. Several large portions of very richly carved oak
panelling were removed from it at the time of its demolition, the style of which leaves
little doubt of their being fully as old as the date of the Queen Regent’s abode in Leith ;
and its walls were decorated with well executed paintings, some of which are said to have
had the appearance of considerable antiquity.’ The house was highly decorated on the
exterior with sculptured dormer windows’ and other ornaments common to the buildings
of the period; and the oak window frames were richly carved in the style so
frequently described among the features of oyr earlier domestic architecture. Many such
are still to be met with about Leith, carved in different styles, according to the period
of their execution ; the most common ornament on those of later date being the egg and
arrow.
Frequent mention is made by early historians of the King’s Work, an extensive building
that appears to have occupied the whole ground between the Broad Wynd and Bernard
Street. The exact purpose for which it was maintained is not clearly defined in any
of the early allusions, but it probably included an arsenal, with warehouses, and resident
officials, for storing the goods and managing the revenues of the port. This idea is confirmed
by the reddendum in the charter, by which James VI. afterwards conferred it on
a favourite attendant-viz., that he was to keep one of the cellars in the King’s Work in
repair for holding wines and other provisions for his Majesty’s use.8 That some funds
1 Now in the poasession of C. B. Sharpe, Esq. ’ Campbell’s Hkbry of Leith, p. 314. Arnot, p. 672.

... AND THE NEW TOWN. 363 frequently occurs with slight variations. The earliest instance of it is on the front ...

Book 10 p. 399
(Score 0.91)

468 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
No. CCCXXVIII.
MAJOR SKEY,
AND TFlE
RIGHT HON. LORD CLIVE (NOW EARL OF POWIS), *
OF TEE SHROPSHIRE MILITIA.
THE passing of the Militia Act, in 1797, occasioned great excitement in
Scotland j and several riots of a serious nature having occurred, it was deemed
prudent to aupent the military force of the country. The Shropshire, commanded
by Lord Clive, was the first corps of English militia brought across
the border. Arriving at Musselburgh on the 21st of September 1797, they
were stationed there and at Dalkeith till the 9th of October, when the regiment
removed to Edinburgh, and the same day was inspected in St. Anne's Yard
in presence of Lord Adam Gordon, Commander-in-Chief, and the Comte
d'Artois, who then resided at Holyrood Palace, One thousand strong, a finer
body of men could scarcely be imagined ; but they had marched in their old
clothing, and not having had time to unpack their baggage, they certainly
looked very shabby. Lady Clive was among the company present, and happening
to overhear a gentleman near her say-" How very ill-dressed these men
are;" her ladyship turned smartly round upon him, as she said-"Illdressed,
sir ! we are considered to be the highest dressed regiment in England !'I
The gentleman alluded to their clothes-the lady to the carriage and steadiness
of the men.
.
Of MAJOR SKEY (the figure in advance), we have obtained no particular
information. He was a gentleman of Shropshire, and we believe had previously
been in the army.
EDWARD LORD CLIVE (afterwards EARL OF POWIS), son of Robert
Lord Clive, the able but ill-requited Governor of India, was born in 1754, and
succeeded his father in 1774. The title of Clive belongs to the Irish Peerage :
and until 1794, when called to the House of Lords, as Baron Clive of Walcot,
his lordship represented the borough of Ludlow in Parliament.
Having been appointed Governor of Fort St. George, Lord Clive repaired to
India in 1802, where he distinguished himself during the Mahratta war, and
on his return received the unanimous thanks of both Houses of Parliament.

... BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. No. CCCXXVIII. MAJOR SKEY, AND TFlE RIGHT HON. LORD CLIVE (NOW EARL OF POWIS), * OF ...

Book 9 p. 624
(Score 0.9)

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 257
No. CCLVI.
THE RIGHT HON. WILLIAM PITT,
AND
’ HENRY DUNDAS, AFTERWARDS LORD MELVILLE.
TEE Caricature of the “MODERNC AIN’SL AMENTw”a s a bold satire on the
Prime Minister, at the time hostilities were commenced by Great Britain against
the Republican forces of France. In conjunction with his able coadjutor,
HENRYD UNDASP, m is represented as highly alarmed at the ma,pitude of
the undertaking he had been so instrumental in promoting.
Most readers will be capable of appreciating the effort of Kay’s pencil in
this flight of fancy. Of the light, fragile figure of the Minister he has taken
felicitous advantage ; while the features and more athletic form of his colleague
are strikingly characteristic of the self-possession and calmness for which he was
almost proverbial.
The friendship that existed betwixt Pitt and Dundas was of a warmer
description than what might be supposed to spring from a unison of political
sentiments alone. “As early as the year 1787,” says Wraxall Memoirs, “Dundas
had obtained a commanding influence which no other individual ever
acquired over ’Pitt’s mind. With the other members of the Cabinet, Pitt
maintained only a politicaI union : Dundas was his companion, with whom he
passed not only his convivial hours, but to whom he confided his cares and
embarrassments.”
No two individuals, nevertheless, could be more dissimilar in their deportment-
the one grave, stiff, and formal ; the other free, open, and even careless;
yet Dundas, by a sagacity and clearness of judgment peculiar to himself, became
the most influential member of the Cabinet ; and, by his talent in the House,
ably defended the measures of Government.
The commanding position attained by the Scottish Minister was a circumstance
not to be overlooked by the Opposition. They inveighed against what
they deemed his political inconsistency, and levelled their sarcasms with surpassing
skill and talent; yet their bitter invectives served only to render more
conspicuous the solidity of that influence which they wished to destroy, Alluding
to his ascendancy over the Premier, the “ Rolliad ” says-
“ True to public virtue’s patriot plan,
He loves the Minister and not the nzam :
Alike the advocate of North and wit,
The friend of Shelburne, and the guide of Piit.”
VOL 11. 2L

... SKETCHES. 257 No. CCLVI. THE RIGHT HON. WILLIAM PITT, AND ’ HENRY DUNDAS, AFTERWARDS LORD ...

Book 9 p. 342
(Score 0.9)

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