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I 96 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH,
this memorable event. The newspapers for some time afterwards abound with notices of
the precautions taken, when too late, to prevent the recurrence of an act, the idea of which
can hardly have appeared otherwise than ridiculous even at the time. The gates of the
Nether Bow Port were fastened back to preserve the free access of the military to the city;
guards were established there ; the trained bands were called out ; grenadier companies
quartered in the town and suburbs ; and most effectual means taken to prevent the hanging
of a second Porteous, if any such had existed.’ On the second day after his execution, the
body of Porteous was interred in the Greyfriars Churchyard,’ but the exact spot has long
since ceased to be remembered.’
The Tolbooth of Edinburgh was visited by Howard in the year 1782, and again in
1787, and on the last occasion he strongly expressed his dissatisfaction, declaring that he
had expected to have found a new one in its stead.‘ It was not, however, till the year
1817 that the huge pile of antique masonry was doomed to destruction. Its materiale
were sold in the month of September, and its demolition took place almost immediately
afterwards. The following extract from a periodical of that period, while it shows with
how little grief the demolition of the ancient fabric was witnessed, also points out the
GRAVE OF THE OLD TOLBOOTH. It seems to have been buried with a sort of pauper’s
funeral, on the extreme outskirts of the new city that was rising up beyond those ancient
boundaries of which it had so long formed the heart. Now,” says the writer, (( that the
Luckenbooths have been safely carted to Leith Wynd (would that it had been done some
dozen years ago ! ) and the Tolbooth,-to the unutterable delight of the inhabitants,-is
journeying quickly to Fettes Row, there to be transferred into common sewers and drains,
the irregular and grim visage of the Cathedral has been in a great measure unveiled.”
The unveiling of the Cathedral had formed the grand object of all civic committees of
taste for well-nigh half a century before ; the renovation of the ancient fabric thereby
exposed to vulgar gaze became the next subject of discussion, until this also was at length
accomplished in 1829, at the cost not only of much money, but of nearly all its ancient
and characteristic features. Added to all these radical changes, the assistance rendered
by the Great Fire of 1824, unexpectedly removed a whole range of eyesores to such
reformers, in the destruction of the ancient tenements between St Gilea’s and tb,e Tron
Church.
As the only means of giving width and uniformity to the street, all this comes fairly
within the category of civic improvements ; how far it tended to increase the picturesque
beauty of the old thoroughfare is a very different question. Taylor, the Water Poet,
in the amusing narrative of his Pennylesse Pilgrimage ” from London to Edinburgh,
published in 1618, describes the High Street as “the fairest and goodliest street that
ever mine eyes’ beheld, for I did never see or hear of a street of that length, which
is half an English mile from the Castle to a faire port, which they calle the Neather
1 Caledonian Mwmy, September 23, 1736.
a ‘‘ No less than seventeen criminals escaped from the city jail on this occasion, among whom are the dragoon who
waa indicted for the murder of the butcher’s wife in Dunse, the two Newhaven men lately brought in from Blacknesa
Castle for smuggling, seven sentinele of the city guard, &e.”-Ibid, September 9th. ‘ knot, who never minces matten when disposed to censure, furnishes 8 very graphic picture of the horrors of the
old jail of Edinburgh.-Hit. of Edinburgh, p. 298.
’ Ibid, September 9.
Edin. Mag. Nov. 1817, p. 322.

Book 10 p. 215
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94 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
manner. They deprived and excommunicated the whole body of Archbishops and Bishops,
abolished Episcopacy, and all that pertained to it, and required every one to subscribe the
Covenant, under pain of excommunication.
Leslie was appointed General of their forces ; and on
the 21st of March 1639, they proceeded’to assault Edinburgh Castle. No provision had
been made against such an attack, and its Governor surrendered at the first summons.
Early in 1648, Oliver Cromwell paid his first visit to Edinburgh, after having defeated
the army of the Duke of Hamilton. He took up his residence at Moray House, in the
Canongate, and entered into communication with “ the Lord Marquis of Argyle, and the
rest of the well affected Lords.” There he was visited by the Earl of Loudon, the Chancellor,
the Earl of Lothian, and numerous others of the nobility and leading men.’ The visit was
a peaceable one, and his stay brief.
On the death‘of his father, Charles 11. was proclaimed King at the Cross of Edinburgh;
but the terms on which he was offered the Scottish Crown proved little to his satisfaction,
and the Marquis of Montrose sought to win it for him without such unpalatable conditions.
He completely failed, however, in the attempt, and was seized, while escaping in the
disguise of a peasant, and brought to Edinburgh on the 18th of May 1650. He was
received at the Water Gate by the magistrates and an armed body of the citizens, and
was from thence conducted in a common cart, through the Canongate and High Street,
to the Tolbooth; the hangman riding on the horse before him. He was condemned to
be hanged and quartered, and the sentence was executed, three days after, with the most
savage barbarity, at the Cross of Edinburgh. His head was affixed to the Tolbooth,
and his severed members sent to be exposed in the chief towns of the kingdom.’ The
annals of this period abound with beheadings, hangings, and cruelties of every kind.
Nicol, at the very commencement of his minute and interesting Diary, records that (‘ thair
we8 daylie hanging, skurging, nailling of luggis, and binding of pepill to the Trone, and
booring of tongues I ”
The King at length agreed to subscribe the Covenant, finding no other terms could be
had. He was
surrounded with a numerous body of nobles, and attended by a life-guard provided by the
city of Edinburgh. The procession entered at the Water Gate, and rode up the Canongate
and High Street to the Castle, where he was received with a royal salute. On his return
from thence, he walked on foot to the Parliament House, where a magnificent banquet had
been prepared for him by the Magistrates. (( Thereafter he went down to Leith, to ane
ludging belonging to the Lord Balmarinoch, appointed for his resait during his abyding at
Leitl~.”~T he fine old mansion of this family still stands at the corner of Coatfield Lane,
in the Kirkgate. It has a handsome front to the east, ornamented with some curious specimens
of the debased style of Gothic, prevalent in the reign of James VI.
The arrival of the parliamentary forces in Scotland, and the march of Cromwell to
Edinburgh, produced a rapid change in affairs. ‘‘ The enemy,” says Nicol, ‘( placed their
whole horse in and about the town of Restalrig, the foot at that place called Jokis Lodge,
and the cannon at the foot of Salisbury Hill, within the park dyke, and played with their
cannon against the Scottish leaguer, lying in Saint Leonard’s Craigs.” The English army,
They now had recourse to arms.
On the 2nd of August, he landed at Leith, and rode in state to the capital.
Guthrie’s Memoirs, p, 298. 2 Nicol’s Diary, p. 12. a Ibid, p. 21..

Book 10 p. 102
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200 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
alone, but even, it is said, the honest discharge of commercial obligations.’ For forty
years Mr Creech carried on the most extensive publishing concern in Scotland, and during
the whole of this long period nearly all the valuable literary productions of the time
passed through his hands. He published the writings of the celebrated judge and
philosopher, Lord Kames, who appears to have regarded him with friendship and esteem.
He was also the publisher of the works of Drs Blair, Beattie, Campbell (the opponent of
Hume), Cullen, Gregory, Adam Smith, Henry Mackenzie (the Man of Feeling), Lord
Woodhouselee, Dugald Stewart, and Burns, besides many others of inferior note ; all of
whom resorted to the old land in the Luckenbooths, or to the more select assemblies that
frequently took place at his breakfast table, designated by the wits Creech‘s levees. The
old bibliopolist is the subject of Burns’ amusing poem, “ Willie’s amz,’’ written on the
occasion of a long visit he paid to London in 1787, and forwarded to him by the poet at
the time. One or two of its stanzas are very lively and characteristic :-
0 Willie was a witty wight,
And had 0’ things an uuco slight ;
Auld Reekie aye he keepit tight,
And trig and braw ;
But now they ’11 busk her like a fright,
Willie ‘s awa,.
Nae mair we see his levee door,
Philosophers and poets pour,
And toothy critics by the score
The adjutant of a’ the core,
In bloody raw ;
Willie ’a awa.
From the same classic haunt the Mirror and Lounger were originally issued, the appearance
of which formed a new era in the literature of Edinburgh. The first paper of the
Mirror appeared on Saturday, 23d January 1779, aud created quite a sensation among the
blue-stocking coteries of the capital, The succeeding numbers were delivered at Mr Creech’s
shop every Wednesday and Saturday, and afforded a general source of interest and literary
amusement. Mr Mackenzie was the conductor and principal writer, but the chief contributors
latterly formed themselves into the ‘‘ Mirror Club,” which consisted of Henry
Mackenzie, Lord Craig, Lord Abercromby, Lord Bannatyne, Lord Cullen, George Home
of Wedderburn, William Gordon of Newhall, and George Ogilvie, advocates.’ Mr
Creech, like his predecessor, bore his share in the civic government, and twice filled
the office of Lord Provost. His reputation is still preserved by his “ Fugitive Pieces,” a
work of considerable local celebrity, although affording a very imperfect idea of the wit
Some curious illustrations, both of the wit and penuriousness of this old city bookseller, will be found scattered
through the pages of “ Ray’s Portraits.” ’ Lord Craig, then an advocate, was the originator, and, next to Mackenzie, the greatest contributor to the Mimr. The
Club previously existed under the name of the Tabernacle, but assumed that which had been adopted for their periodical,
The namea of the writers were carefully concealed, and in order to avoid observation, the Club held its weekly meetings
in no fixed place. ‘‘ Sometimes in Clerihugh’s, in Writer‘s Court, sometimes in Somer’s, opposite the Guard House,
in the High Street, sometimea in Stewart’s Oyster House, in the Old Fishmarket Close,” &c., when one of the most
interesting occupations of the evening was the examination of the contents of the Contributors’ box, which stood open
for all correspondents, at Yr Creech’s door.--Vide Scot. Biog. Dictionary,-Article “ Craig.”

Book 10 p. 219
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252 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
Bishop and his stanch non-jurant followers repaired on the downfall of the national
establishment of Episcopacy, and there they continued to worship within its narrow
bounds amid frequent interruptions, particularly after the rising of 1745, resolutely
persisting for nearly a century in excluding the name of the ‘( Eanoverian usurpers ”
from their devotions. The chapel is fitill occupied by a congregation of Scottish Episcopalians,
but the homely worshippers of modern times form a striking contrast to the
stately squires and dames who once were wont to frequent the unpretending fane that
sufficed to accommodate the whole disestablished Episcopacy of the capital.
Immediately below the chapel, a huge escalop shell, expanding over the porch of the
main entrance to an old tenement, marks the clam-shell land. Here was the house of
Ainslie’s master, during Burns’s visit to Edinburgh, at whose table the poet was a
frequent guest, while on another floor of the same land, the elder Sir William Forbes of
Pitsligo, another of the poet’s early friends, resided, until his removal to one of the first
erections in the New Town. The whoIe locality, indeed, is in some degree associated
with the poet’s friends and favourite haunts in the capita1 ; for on the second floor of the
ancient stone land which faces the High Street, at the head of the close, was the abode
of Captain Mathew Henderson, &‘a gentleman who held the patent for his honours .
immediately from Almighty God,” on whom the poet wrote the exquisite elegy preserved
among his works, to the very characteristic motto from Hamlet, “ Should the poor be
flattered ? ”
This old close was the scene of the only unsuccessful speculation of another poet,
whose prudent self-control enabled him through life to avoid the sorrows that so often
beset the poet’s path, and to find in the Muse the handmaid of wealth. Allan Ramsay
was strongly attached to the drama, and in his desire for its encouragement, he built a
play-house at the foot of Carrubber’s Close, about the year 1736, which involved him in
very considerable expense. It was closed immediately after by the act for licensing the
stage, which was passed in the following year, and the poet’s sole resource was in writing
a rhyming complaint to the Court of Session, which appeared soon after in the Gentleman’s
Magazine. The abortive play-house has since served many singular and diverse purposes.
It is the same building, we believe, which bore the name of St Andrew’s Chapel,
bestowed on it soon after the failure of the poet’s dramatic speculation. In 1773 it
formed the arena for the debates of the Pantheon, a famous speculative club. In 1788,
Dr Moyea, the ingenious lecturer on Natural Philosophy, discoursed there to select and
fashionable audiences Qn optics, the property of light, and other branches of science, in
regard to which his most popular qualification was, that he had been blind almost from
his birth. Since then the pulpit of St Andrew’a Chapel has been filled by Mr John
Barclay, the founder of the sect of modern Bereans; by the Rev. Mr Tait, and other
founders of the Rowites, during whose occupancy the celebrated Edward Trving frequently
officiated. The chapel has also been engaged by Relief and Secession congregations, by
the Roman Catholics as a preaching station and schoolroom, and more recently as a hall
for lectures and debates of all kinds ;-a8 strange and varied a medley of actors as even the
fertile fancy of the poet could have foreshadowed for his projected play-house.‘
l It: was latterly called Whitefield Chapel, used for meetings of the Carrubber’s Close Mdiasion. It haa now been
demolished in the conatruction of Jeffrey Street.

Book 10 p. 273
(Score 0.59)

HISTORICAL INCIDENTS AFTER THE RESTORA TION. 113
ment, and confiscation to many of the most active leaders in the movement, and a general
persecution of ‘( Papists, Jacobites, Episcopals, and disaffected persons.” Archibald Stewart,
the Lord Provost of Edinburgh, was regarded with peculiar jealousy, on account of the
city having fallen into the hands of the Highland army, without resistance, or any attempt
at defence. He endured a long and severe trial, in which it was shown that the great
extent, and very dilapidated condition of the walls, as well as the manifest lukewarmness of
a large portion of the inhabitants towards the reigning family, rendered the defence of the
town, for any length of time, against a victorious army, quite impossible. The trial lasted
from the 27th of October till the 2d of November, when the Provost was acquitted by a
unanimous verdict of the jury. This was regarded as a triumph by the Jacobite party, and
a public meeting was summoned to assemble on the following evening in the Baxter’s
Hall; but the magistrates took alarm at the proposal, and the meeting was summarily
interdicted, as calculated to destroy the prestige of the triumphant bonfire so recently
kindled at the Cross.
The house of Provost Stewart was a very curious old building in the West Bow, with
its main entrance at the foot of Donaldson’s Close. It was only one story high, in
addition to the attics, on the north side, while on the south it presented a lofty front
to the Bow. This building stood immediately to the west of Free St John’s Church;
it is described by Chambers1 as being of singular construction, and as full of curious little
rooms, concealed closets, and secret stairs, as any house that ever had the honour of being
haunted. The north wall, which still remains built into the range of shops forming the
new terrace, stood long exposed to view, affording abundant evidence of this. Little
closets and recesses are excavated, almost like a honey-comb, out of the solid rock behind,
many of which, however, have been built up in adapting it to its new purpose. ((In
one of the rooms,” says Chambers, “there was a little cabinet about three feet high,
which any one, not acquainted with the mysterious arcana of ancient houses, would suppose
to be a cupboard. Nevertheless, under this modest, simple, and unassuming disguise,
was concealed a thing of no less importance and interest than a trap ~ t a i r . ” ~ This
ingeniously-contrived passage communicated behihd with the West Bow, and, according
to the same authority, it was said to have afforded, on one occasion, a aafe and unsuspected
exit to Prince Charles and Borne of his principal officers, who were enjoying the hospitality
of the Jacobitical Provost, when an alarm was given that a troop of the enemy, from
the Castle, were coming down the Close to seize them. This curious building derives an
additional interest from its last occupant, James Donaldson, the wealthy printer, from
whose bequest the magnificent hospital that bears his name has been erected at the west
end of the town.
Our historical sketch of the ancient capital of Scotland has mainly embraced the period
during which the Stuart race filled the throne, and made it the arena of many of the most
prominent incidents in the‘ir history; and with this closing scene in the narrative of their
illustrious line, our historic Memorials of the Olden Time may fitly end. The asaociations
with which the local antiquites of Edinburgh still abound, will afford a fitting opportunity
for treating of incidents and characters of a later date, that are worthy of our notice,
Chambera’a Traditions, vol. i. p. 143. . Ibid, voL i p. 144.
P

Book 10 p. 124
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THE WEST 30 W AND SUBURBS. 3 39
His device-seemingly a pair of pincers-was engraved on both sides, surmounted by a
coronet, and encircled on the one side with a motto, partly defaced, and on the other with
his name repeated, and the words in. sol. ingen. Various other mottoes were engraved
amid the ornamental work with which the blade was covered, such as, Vincere aut mort‘,-
Fi& sed cui vide,-Pro ark et foeis,-and Soli de0 gloria Thie singularly curious and
interesting relic was procured from the contractors at the time of its discovery; and was
last in the possession of the late Mr Hugh Paton. The manner of ita concealment, and the
fierce character of the old Lord Ruthven, within whose ancient lod,.ing 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.
The character of the old tenement, wherein the assemblies of fashion were held previous
to 1720, will be best understood by a reference to our engraving. Over the doorway of
the projecting turnpike was inscribed the motto, IND OMINOC omDo-the title of the
eleventh Psalm ; and above this, within an ornamental panel, the arms of the Somervilles
were sculptured, with the initials P. S., J. W., and the date 1602. These are memorials
of Peter Somerville, merchant, and “yin of the present bailies,” in 1624-a wealthy
burgher, who possessed houses in different parts of the town, and whose son and heir,
Bartholamew Somerville, one of the most liberal contributors towards the establishment
of the infant University, has already been referred to in the account of the Lawnmarket.
His picturesque old gabled tenement appears in the same view to which we have referred
for his father’s lodging.
AI1 beyond this building lay without the line of the earliest town walls. A piece of
their massive masonry remained as a part of its southern gable, and retained, till its
demolition, one of the iron hooks on which the ancient gate had hung; though it
must not be overlooked that this portal of the city was retained, like the modern
Temple Bar, as the appointed scene of certain civic formularies and long-established
state ceremonials, for nearly two centuries after it had been supplanted in its military
functions by the West Port. To the west of this was the intricate and singuiar old
mansion of Provost Stewart, where he was believed to have entertained Prince Charles
and some of his principal oEcers in 1745, and to have afforded them hasty exit, in a
very mysterious fashion, on the approach of a party despatched by General Guest with
an urgent invitation for their company in the Castle.‘ The house was one of no mean
note, and appears from its titles to have deserved the name of the Mansion House-such
was the succession of civic dignitaries that dwelt within its walls. It is described as
‘‘ that dwelling-house some time possessed by um$ Bailie George Clerk, merchant ;
afterwards by the Countess of Southesk ; thereafter by Provost John OrJhorn ; thereafter
by Provost George Hallibnrton ; and thereafter by the said Provost Archibald Stewart.”
Beyond this was an antique timber-fronted tenement, which formed of old the mansion
of Napier of Wrychtishousis, and which enjoyed a far more popular reputation, as
containing the little booth.from whence the rioters of 1736 procured the fatal rope
with which Porteons was hung. Many readers will remember a quaint. little Dutch
manikin, with huge goggle eyes, and a bunch of flax in his hand, who presided over its
threshold in latter times. His history was traced for considerably more than a century
Ante, p. 113.

Book 10 p. 371
(Score 0.59)

I 0 0 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
trates, attended by the burgesses in arms, proceeded to the Borough Muir, where the
Marquis’s body was taken up from its ignominious grave, put into a coffin, and born back
to Edinburgh, under a rich canopy of velvet, amid music and firing of guns, and every
demonstration of triumph. The procession stopped at the Tolbooth uutil the head was
taken down and placed beside the body, after which the coffin was deposited in the Abbey
Church of Ho1yrood.l
The other portions of the body ’ were afterwards collected and restored to the coffin, and
on the 11th of May following, the mutilated remains of the great Marquis were brought
back from the Abbey in solemn funeral procession, and buried in the south-east aisle of
St Giles’s Church, (( at the back of the tomb where his grandsire was buried,” and which
retained, until recently, the name of Montrose’s aisle.
Nicol furnishes a minute account of the proceedings on this occasion. The whole line
of street from the Palace to St Giles’s Church was guarded by the burghers of Edinburgh,
Canongate, Portsburgh, and Potterrow, all in armour, and with their banners displayed.
Twenty-six young boys, clad in deep mourning, bore his arms, and were followed by the
Magistrates and all the members of Parliament, in mourning habits. The pall was borne
by some of the chief nobility, and the Earl of Middleton, His Majesty’s Commissioner,
followed as chief mourner.3
The re-establishment of Episcopacy, in defiance of the most solemn engagements of the
King, put a speedy close to the rejoicings of the Scottish nation. The Magistrates of
Edinburgh, however, proved sufficiently loyal and complying. On the day of his Majesty’s
coronation, the Cross was adorned with flowers and branches of trees, and wine freely.
distributed to the people from thence, by Bacchus and his train. After dinner, the
Magistrates walked in procession to the Cross, “and there drank the King’s health
on their knees, and at sundry other prime parts of the city.”*
One of the first proceedings of the dominant party, was the trial and execution of the
Marquis of Argyle, who was condemned in defiance of every principle of justice, by judges,
each of them more deeply implicated than himself, in the acts for which he was brought
to trial. He
was beheaded by the instrument called the Maiden, the same that is said to have been
invented by the Earl of Morton, and was employed for his own execution. The head of
Argyle was exposed on the west end of the Tolbooth, on the same epike from which that of
Montrose had so recently been removed with every demonstration of honour and respect ;
a circumstance that illustrates, in a striking manner, the strange vicissitudes attendant on
civil commotions.
The most arbitrary and tyrannical enactments were now enforced, imposing exorbitant
penalties on any one found with what were styled seditious books in his dwelling; no one
He exhibited the utmost serenity and cheerfulneas after his condemnation.
Nicol’s Diary, p. 317.
Thoresby, the friend of Evelyne, in the iiccount of his Museum, sags :--“But the moat noted of all the humane
curiosities, is the hand and arm cut off at the elbow, positively asserted to he that of the celebrated Marquis of Montrom
It hath never been interred, has a severe wound in the wrist, and seems really to have been the very hand that wrote
the famous epitaph [Great, God, and Just] for King Charles I., in whose cause he auffered. Dr Pickering would not
part with it, till the descent into Spain, when, dreading it should be lost in his absence, he presented it to this Repository,
where it has more than once had the same honour that is paid to the greateet eccleiiastical prince in the world.”-
Ducatus Leodiensis, by Whitaker, p. 3.
Nicol’s Diary, p, 330-2. Ibid, p. 328.

Book 10 p. 109
(Score 0.58)

416 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
And again, in speaking of domestic pilgrimages, he assigns to this saint the virtues for
which he was most noted by the citizens of Edinburgh in early times :-
Sa doith our commoun populare,
Quhilk war to lang for till declare,
Thair superstitious pilgramagie,
To monie divers imagis :
Sum to Sanct Roche, with diligence,
To naif thame from the pestilence :
For thair teith to Sanct Apollene ;
To Sanct Tredwell to mend thair em.
The Chapel of St Roque has not escaped the notice of the Lord Lyon King’s poetic eulogist,
among the varied features of the landscape that fill up the magnificent picture, as Lord
Marmion rides under the escort of Sir .David Lindsay to the top of Blackford Hill, in his
approach to the Scottish camp, and looks down on the martial array of the kingdom covering
the wooded links of the Borough Muir. James IT. is there represented as occasionally
wending his way to attend mass at the neighbouring Chapels of St Katherine or St Roque ;
nor is it unlikely that the latter may have been the scene of the monarch’s. latest acts of
devotion, ere he led forth that gallant array to perish around him on the Field of Flodden.
The Church of St John the Baptist, which was afterwards converted into the Chapel of the
Convent of St Katherine de Sienna, was then just completed; but Geoge Lord Setoun,
whose widow founded the convent a few years later, and Adam Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell,
her father, were among the nobles who marshalled their followers around the Scottish
standard, to march to the fatal field where both were slain. In accordance with the attributes
ascribed by Lindsay to St Roque, we find his chapel resorted to by the victims of
the plague, who encamped on the Borough Muir during the prevalence of that dreadful
scourge in the sixteenth century ; and the neighbouring cemetery became the resting-place
of those who fell a prey to the pestilence. Among the statutes of the Burgh is the following
for December 1530, “We do yow to wit, forsamekle a8 James Barbour, master and
gouernour of the foule folk on the Mure, is to be clengit, and hes intromettit with sindry
folkis gudis and clais quhilkis ar lyand in Sanct Rokis Chapell, Thairfor al maner of personis
that has ony clame to the said gudis that thai cum on Tysday nixt to cum to the officiaris,
and thar dais to be clengit, certyfyand thaim, and thai do nocht, that all the said clais gif
thai be of litill avail1 sal be brynt, and the laif to be gevin to the pure folkis.”’ k n o t
relates that this ancient chapel-an engraving of which is given in the re-issue of the
quarto edition of his history-narrowly escaped the demolition to which its proprietor had
doomed it about the middle of last century, owing to the superstitious terrors of the workmen
engaged to pull it down. The march of intellect, however, had made rapid strides ere
its doom was a second time pronounced by a new proprietor early in the present century,
when the whole of this interesting and venerable ruin was swept away, as an unsightly
encumbrance to the estate of a retired tradesman !
The teinds or tithes of the Borough Muir belonged of old to the Abbey of Holyrood;
but this did not interfere with the acquirement of nearly the whole of jts broad lands by
private proprietors, aud their transference to various ecclesiastical foundations. The name
Acta and Statutes, Burgh of Edinburgh. Mait. Misc, vol ii. p. 117.

Book 10 p. 456
(Score 0.58)

2 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
fails to adorn his pages with the ‘‘ mute inglorious ” history of his native village. All
that tradition could have preserved of its early history, may still be traced by the
intelligent eye in the natural features of its romantic site.
In the midst of a fertile and beautiful country, and within easy distance of a navigable
estuary of the sea, rises a bold and precipitous cliff, towering upon three of its sides, an
inaccessible natural fortress, to the height of 300 feet above the plain. In immediate connection
with this, the sloping hill forms at once the natural approach to the Castle, and
a site protected already on one side by R marsh and lake, and on all but one by steep
approaches, admitting of ready defence and security from surprise. Here at once ’is discovered
a situation, planned, as it were, by the hand of Nature, to offer to the wandering
tribes of early Caledonia the site for their Capital ; when every one’# hand was against his
brother, and war was deemed the only fitting occupation of men. Nor was it until the
union with our once natural foes, had made the rival sisters, “ like kindred drops to mingle
into one,” that Edina ventured forth from her hilly stronghold, and spread abroad her
noble skirts over the valley of the Forth.
But in addition to the natural obscurity of an infant city, the history of Edinburgh, as
of Scotland, is involved in more than usual uncertainty, even down to a period when both
should fill an important page in the annals of the British Isles, owing to the double destruction
of the national records, first under Edward I., and again under Cromwell; leaving ita
historian dependent for much of his material on vague and uncertain tradition, or on information
obtained by patient labour, or fortunate chance in the pursuit of other investigations.
The earliest notices refer almost exclusively to the CastIe, which has been occupied as
a fortified station as far back as our traditions extend. The remotest date we have been
able to discover, assigned for its origin, is in Stow’s Summarie of EngZyshe Chronicles,
where it is placed as far back as 989 years before Christ ; sufficiently remote, we should
presume, for the most zealous chronologist. Ebranke,” says he, “the some of Mempricius,
was made ruler of Britayne ; he had, as testifieth Policronica, Ganfride, and other
twenty-one wyves, of whom he receyved twenty sonnes and thirty daughters ; whyche he
sente into Italye, there to be maryed to the blood of the Troyans. In Albanye (now called
Scotlande) he edified the castell of Alclude, which is Dumbritayn ; he made the castell
of Maydens, now called Edenbrough; he made also the castell of Banburgh in the 23d
yere of his reign. He buylded Yorke citie, wherein he made a temple to Diana, and set
there an Arch-flame ; and there was buried, when he had reigned 49 peares.”
From more trustworthy sources, we learn of its occupation as far back as the fifth century
by the Picts, from whom it was wrested by the Northumbrian Saxons in the pear
452. And from that time, down to the reign of Malcolm IL, its history exhibits a constant
struggle, maintained between them and the Picts, and each alternately victorious.
From Edwin, one of these Northumbrian invaders, it may be remarked, who rebuilt the
fortress about the year 626, the name of Edwinesburg, as it is termed in the oldest charters
we have any notice of, is derived with more plausibility, than from any other of the
contradictory sources from which learned antiquaries have sought to deduce it.
Passing intermediate incidents of uncertain significance, the next important epoch is that
of 1093, when Donald Bane laid siege to the Castle, in an unsuccessful endeavour to pos-
1 Dumbarton.

Book 10 p. 2
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56 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
interfering with a high hand, even to the ‘t ordouring of everie mannis house,” and regulating
with a most rigid economy the number of dishes at each man’s table, according to
his degree. But the most interesting is, that against printing without licence, furnishing
an insight into the variety and character of the writings then issuing from the press, and
already strongly influencing the public mind. ‘‘ l%at na prenter presume to prent ony
buikes, ballattes, sanges, blasphemationes, rime, or tragedies, outher in Latine or English
toung,” without due examination and licence granted, under pain of confiscation of goods,
and banishment of the realm for ever.’ Sir David Lindsay had already published his
Tragedie of tAe Cardinal, and it seems to have been about this time that he put forth
The Historie and Testament of Spuyer Meldrum, one of his most pleasing poems, though
in parts exhibiting a licence, as to incident and language, common to the writers of that
age. This poem is the versification of a romantic incident which occurred under his own
observation during the unsettled period, in the earlier years of the minority of James V.
(August 1517.)’ The rank of Sir D a d Lindsay, and the influence he had enjoyed
during the previous reign, had continued to preserve him from all interference ; nor was
’ it till the accession of Elizabeth to the throne of England, and the steps in favour of the
Protestant party that followed thereon, that the Catholic clergy at length denounced his
writings as the fruitful source of movement in the popular mind.
The object of the Queen Dowager, in her recent visit to France, had been mainly to
secure the interest of that Court in procuring for herself the office of Regent. The Earl
of Arran, who still held that office, seems to have been altogether deficient in the requisite
talents for his responsible position ; swqyed alternately by whichever adviser chanced to
hold his confidence, his government was at once feeble and uncertain.
No sooner had the Queen Dowager secured the approbation and concurrence of the
French King, than her emissaries departed for the Scottish capital, empowered to break
the affair to the Regent, with such advantageous offer as should induce him to yield up
the office without difficulty. Threats were held out of a rigid reckoning being required as
to the dilapidation of the revenue and crown-lands, which had taken place during his
government.
Chatelherault, with ample provision for his eldest aon at the French Court, while like
liberal promises secured to the Queen’s party many of the nobility.
The kchbishop of St Andrews, who had latterly influenced all the motions of the
Regent, chanced at this time to be dangerously ill, so that Arran was left without counsel
or aid, and yielded at length a reluctant consent to the exchange.
On the return of Mary of Guise from France, she accompanied Arran in a progress
through the northern parts of the kingdom, in which she exhibited much of that prudence
and ability which she undoubtedly possessed, and which, in more fortunate times, might
have largely promoted the best interests of the country: while such was the popularity
she acquired, that the Regent became highly jealous of her influence, and when reminded
of his promise, indignantly refused to yield up the government into her hands.
The Queen Dowager, however, already possessed the real power ; and while the Regent,
with his few adherents, continued to reside at Edinburgh, and maintain there the forms of
government, she was holding a brilliant court at Stirling, and securing to her party the
.
On the other hand, he was offered the splendid bribe of the Dukedom of .
l Scots Acta, vol. i. p. 286. * Pitscottie, vol. ii. p, 305.

Book 10 p. 61
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I 0 6 . MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
their will. The magnificent carved stalls, which had just been completed, and all the costly
fittings of the Chapel were devoted to destruction, and the fine old fabric only abandoned
when its newly-completed decorations had been reduced to an unsightly heap of ruins.
Other acts of violence were perpetrated by the rioters; and the students again testified
their zeal, by marching in triumphal procession to the Cross, with banda of music, and the
College mace borne before them, and there again burning the effigy of the Pope.
On the assembly of the Parliament, the Bishop of Edinburgh prayed for the welfare
and restoration of King James, and the Episcopal body generally maintained their fidelity to
the exiled Prince, the well-known consequence of which was the restoration of Presbytery
as the national religion, and the expulsion of the recently-created Bishops from their sees.
On the 11th of April 1688, William and Mary were proclaimed at the Cross, King
and Queen of Scotland. The Castle was still held by the Duke of Clordon for King
James, while Viscount Dundee, after a brief conference with its commander, in which he
endeavoured to induce the Duke to accompany him to the Highlands, engaged him to
hold out that fortification, while he went north to raise the friends of the King. The
citizens were filled with the utmost alarm at the news of this interview. The drums beat
to arms, and a body of troops, which the Duke of Hamilton had quartered in the city, was
called out to pursue Dundee, but no serious consequences resulted; and the Duke of
Gordon, being almost destitute of provisions, at length yielded up the Castle on the 13th
of June 1689, the last considerable place of strength that had remained in the interest of
the exiled Monarch.
In 1695, the grand national project of the Darien expedition was set on foot, and a
company formed for establishing a settlement on the Isthmus of Darien, and fitting out
ships to trade with Africa and the Indies. The highest anticipations were excited by this
project. The sum of 2,400,000 sterling waa speedily subscribed, and a numerous body
embarked for the new settlement. When intelligence reached Edinburgh of the company
having effected a landing at Darien, and successfully repelled the attacks of the Spaniards,
thanksgivings were offered up in all the churches, and a general illumination made
throughout the city. The mob further testified their joy, by securing the city ports ; and
then setting fire to the Old Tolbooth door, they liberated the prisoners incarcerated for
printing seditious publications.
The indignation of the populace was no less vehement on the failure of this national
project than their joy at its first success. The prison was again forcibly opened, the
windows of all obnoxious citizens were broken ; and such violence was shown, that the
Commissioner and officers of state were compelled to leave the city for some days, to escape
the vengeance of the infuriated multitude.
The Old Darien House still stands' within the extended line of the city wall, near the
Bristo Port, a melancholy and desolate looking memorial of that unfortunate enterprise. It
is a substantial and somewhat handsome structure, in the French style, and with the curious
high-pitched roof which prevailed in the reign of William 111. It has more recently been
abandoned to the purposes of a pauper lunatic asylum, and is popularly known by the name
of Redlam. A melancholy association attaches to a more modern portion of it towards the
1 The Darien House was entirely demolished in 1871 ; and its site ia now occupied by several bloclw of buildings,
on the walla of one of which is B tablet indicating where it stood.

Book 10 p. 116
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146 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
single apartment, with a huge fireplace at the west end, and a gallery added to it by the
timber projection in front. The hearth-stone was raised above the level of the floor, and
guarded by a stone ledge or fender, similar in character to a fireplace of the thirteenth century
dill existing at St Mary’s Abbey, York. This room was lighted by a large dormer
window in the roof, in addition to the usual windows in front; and in the thickness of
the stone wall, within the wooden gallery, there were two ornamental stone recesses, with
projecting sculptured sills, and each closed by an oak door, richly carved with dolphins
and other ornamental devices.’ The roof was high and steep, and the entire appearance
of the building singulaTly picturesque. We have been the more particular in describing
it, from the interest attaching to its original possessors. It is defined, in one of the titledeeds
of the neighbouring property, as (( That tenement of land belonging to the chaplain
of the chaplainry of St Nicolas’s Altar, founded within the College Church of St Giles,
within the burgh of Edinburgh;” it is now replaced by a plain, unattractive, modern
building.
The most interesting portions of this district, however, or perhaps of any other among
the private buildings in the Old Town, were to be found within the space including Todd’s,
Nairn’s, and Blyth’s Closes, nearly the whole of which have been swept away to provide a
site for the New College. On the west side of Blyth’s Close there existed a remarkable
building, some portion of which still remains. This the concurrent testimony of tradition
and internal evidence pointed out as having been the mansion of Mary of Guise, the Queen
of James V., and the mother of Queen Mary. There was access to the different apartments,
as is- usual in the oldest houses in Edinburgh, by various stairs and intricate
passages ; for no feature is so calculated to excite the surprise of a stranger, on his first visit
to such substantial mansions, as the numerous and ample flights of stone stairs, often placed
in immediate juxtaposition, yet leading to different parts of the building. Over the main
doorway, which still remains, there is the inscription, in bold Gothic characters, %&U$
gonot! Dto, with I. R., the initials of the King, at thk respective ends of the lintel.
On a shield, placed on the right side, the monogram of the Virgin Nary is sculptured,*
while a corresponding shield on the left, now entirely defaced, most probably bore the usual
one of our Saviour.’ . On the first landing of the principal stair, a small vestibule gave entrance to an apartment,
originally of large dimensions, though for many years subdivided into various rooms
and passages. At the right-hand side of the inner doorway, on entering this apartment, a
remarkably rich Gothic niche remained till recently, to which we have given the name of a
piscina, in the accompanying engraving, owing to its having a hole through the bottom of
it, the peculiar mark of that ecclesiastical feature, and one which we have not discovered in
any other of those niches we have examined. The name is at least convenient for distinction
in future reference to it; but its position was at the side of a very large and handsome
fireplace, one of the richly clustered pillars of which appears in the engraving, on the
outside of a modern partition, and no feature was discoverable in the apartment calculated
For the description of the interior of this ancient building, we are mainly indebted to the Rev. J. Sime, chaplain of
Trinity Hospital, whose uncle long possessed the property. A very oblique view of the house appears in Storer’s ‘‘High
Street, from the Caatle Parade.” Plate 1, vol. ii.
Vide Pugin’s Glossary of Eccl. Ornament, p. 162. 8 Vignette at the head of the Chapter.

Book 10 p. 158
(Score 0.58)

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 389
Smith, the late Professor Thomas Brown, Francis Horner, and Henry (afterwards
Lord) Brougham, he was one of the original projectors of the Edinburgh Reeriew,
begun in 1802, and was for many years the editor, as well as a chief contributor,
to that celebrated work.
While thus wielding the editorial wand of criticism with a felicity and
power that astonished and subdued, Mr. Jeffrey daily rose in eminence at the
bar. Brief poured in on brief; and amid so much business, of a description
requiring the exercise of all the faculties, it was matter of astonishment how
he found convenience for the prosecution of his literary pursuits. The following
lively skktch of the Scottish advocate, in the hey-day of his career, is from
Peter’s Letters to htk Kinsfolk :-
‘I When not pleading in one or other of the Coiirts, or before the Ordinary, he may commonly
be seen standing in some corner, entertaining or entertained by such wit aa suits the-atmosphere
of the place ; but it is seldom that his occupations permit him to remain long in any such position.
Ever and anon his lively conversation is interrupted by some undertaker-faced solicitor,
or perhaps by some hot, bustling exquisite clerk, who comes to announce the opening of some
new debate, at which the presence of Mr. Jeffrey is necessary ; and away he darts like lightning
to the indicated region, clearing his way through the surronnding crowd with irresistible alacrity
-the more clumsy, or more grave doer, that had set him in motion, vainly puffing and elbowing
to keep close in his wake A few seconds have scarcely elapsed, till you hear the sharp, shrill,
but deep-toned trumpet of his voice, lifting itself in some far-off corner, high over the discordant
Babe1 that intervenes-period following period in one unbroken chain of sound, aa if ita links
had no beginning, and were to have no end.
t t t t c
“ It is impossible to conceive the existence of a more fertile, teeming intellect. The flood
of his illustration seems to be at all times rising up to the very brim ; yet he commands and
restrains with equal strength and skill ; or if it does boil over for a moment, it spreads such a
richness around, that it is impossible to find fault with its extravagance. Surely never waa such
a luxuriant ‘ copia fundi’ united with so much terseness of thought and brilliancy of imagination,
and managed with so much unconscious, almost instinctive ease. If he be not the most
delightful, he is by far the moat wonderful of speakers.”
In 1821 Mr. Jeffrey was elected Lord Rector of the University of Glasgow,
an honour the more gratifying that it was obtained in opposition to powerful
political interest. In 1829 he was unanimously chosen Dean of the Faculty
of Advocates, on which occasion, we understand, he gave up all charge of the
Edinburgh Reukw.
In December 1830 Mr. Jeffrey was appointed Lord Advocate for Scotland,
and returned to Parliament, in January following, for the Forfar district of
burghs. In the course of his canvass he was well received, especially by the
inhabitants of Dundee, four hundred of whom sat down to a public dinner
given to the Lord Advocate and his friends, Sir James Gibson-Craig, Mr.
Murray of Henderland, etc. ; but at Forfar, where his opponent, Captain Ogilvy
of Arley, was a favourite, he was so roughly handled by the mob as to have
been in danger of his life. At the general election in 1831 he stood candidate
for the city of Edinburgh, in opposition to Robert Adam Dundas, Esq. Great
excitement prevailed on this occasion. Besides memorials from most of the
Trades’ Incorporations, a petition to which were appended seventeen thousand
signatures, was presented to the Town Council in favour of Mr. Jeffrey; and

Book 9 p. 520
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366 MEMORIALS OF EDfN3URGH.
Andrew’s ; and the ground on which it and the neighbouring tenements were erected is
styled in a charter of Queen Mary, dated 1569, ‘‘ The liberty of the north side of the Water
of Leith, commonly called Rudeside : ” an epithet evidently resulting from its dependency
on the Abbey of the Holyrood. St Ninian’s Chapel still occupies its ancient site on the
banks of the Water of Leith, but very little of the original structure of the good Abbot
remains ; probably no more than a small portion of the basement wall on the north side,
where a small doorway appears with an elliptical arch, now built up, and partly sunk in
the ground. The remaihder of the structure cannot be earlier than the close of the sixteenth
century, and the. date on the steeple, which closely resembles that of the old Tron Church
destroyed in the Great Fire of 1824, is 1675. A large sculptured lintel, belonging to the
latter edifice, has been rebuilt into a more modern addition, erected apparentIy in the
reign of Queen Anne. It bears on it the following inscription in large Roman characters :
-BLESSED. AR . THEY. PAT. EEIR . YE. VORD . OF. QOD . AND. KEEP. IT. LVK . XI. 1600.
By the charter of Queen Mary, which confirmed the rights that had been purchased by the
inhabitants from Lord Holyroodhause, the Chapel of St Ninian was erected into a church
for the district of Rorth Leith, and endowed with sundry annual rents, and other ecclesiastical
property, including the neighbouring Chapel and Hospital of St Nicolas, and their
endowments. An Act of Parliament was obtained in 1606, oreating North Leith a separate
and independent parish, and appointing the chapel to he called in all time coming the
“parish Kirk of Leith benorth the brig.’’
The celebrated George Wishart-welLknown as the author of the elegant Latin
memoirs of Montrose, which were suspended to the neck of the illustrious cavalier when
he was executed-was minister of this parish in the year 1638, wheu the signing of the
Covenant became the established test of faith and allegiance in Scotland. He was soon
afterwards deposed for refusing to suhscribe, and was thrown into one of the dungeons of
the Tolbooth of Edinburgh, in consequence of the disoovery of his correspondence with the
Royalists. Wishart survived the stormy revolution that followed, and shared in the sunshine
of the Restoration. He was preferred to the See of Edinburgh on the re-establishment
of Episcopacy in Scotland, and died there in 1671, in his seventy-first year. He
was buried in the Abbey Church of Holyrood, where a long and flattering Latin inscription
recorded the whole biography of that oele6ris dooctar SopAocardius, as he is styled,
according to the scholastic punning of that age. The last minister who officiated in the
ancient Chapel of St Ninian was the benevolent and venerable Dr Johnston, the founder
of the Edinburgh Blind Asylum, who held the incumbency for upwards of half a century.
The foundation of the pew parish church of North Leith had been laid so early as
1814, and at length in 1826 its venerable predecessor was finally abandoned as a place
of worship, and soon after converted into a granary. “Thus,” says the historian of
Leith, with indignant pathos, “that edifice which had for npwards of 330 years been
devoted to the sacred purposes of religion, is now the unhallowed repository of pease and
barley I ”
The Hospital and Chapel of St Nicolas, with the neighbouring cemetery, were most
probably founded at a later date than Abbot Ballantyne’s Chapel, as the reasons assigned
by the founder for the building of the latter seem to imply that the inhabitants were without
any accessible place of worship. Nothing, however, is now known of their origin, and

Book 10 p. 403
(Score 0.58)

96 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
antique mansion, which forms a prominent feature in the view of the Old Town from
the north, having two terraced roofs at different elevations, guarded by a neatly coped
parapet wall, and commanding an extensive view of the Forth, where the English fleet
then lay.
The preachers were invited by Cromwell to leave the Castle, and return to their pulpits,
but they declined to risk themselves in the hands of the ‘‘ sectaries,” and their places were
accordingly filled, sometimes by the independent preachers, but oftener by the soldiers,
who unbuckled their swords in the pulpit, and wielded their spiritual weapons, greatly
to the satisfaction of crowded audiences, (‘ many Scots expressing much affection at the
doctrine, in their usual way of groans ! ” Cromwell himself is said, by Pinkerton, to have
preached in St Giles’s Churchyard, while David, the second Lord Cardross, was holding
forth at the !Crone.2
On the 13th of November the Palace of Holyrood was accidentally set on fire by some
of the English troops who were quartered there, and the whole of the ancient Palace
destroyed, with the exception of the north-west towers, finished by James V. It seem
probable that the troops, thus deprived of a lodging, were afterwards quartered in some of
the deserted churches. Nicol mentions, immediately after the notice of this occurrence, in
his Diary, that “ the College Kirk, the Gray Freir Kirk, and that Kirk cailit the Lady
Yesteris Kirk, the Hie Scule, and a great pairt of the College of Edinburgh, wer wasted j
their pulpites, daskis, loftis, saittes, and all their decormentis, wer all dung doun to the
ground by these Inglische sodgeris, and brint to asses.” Accommodation was at length
found for them in Heriot’s Hospital, then standing unfinished, owing to the interruption
occasioned by the war ; and it was not without considerable difficulty that General Monk
was persuaded, at a later period, to yield it up to its original purpose, on suitable barracks
being provided elsewhere.
The siege of the Castle was vigorously prosecuted : Cromwell mustered the colliers from
the neighbouring pits, and set them to work a mine below the fortifications, the opening of
which may still be seen in the freestone rock, on the south side, near. the new Castle road.
The commander of the fortress had not been, at the hst, very hearty in his opposition to
Cromwell, and finding matters growing thus desperate, he came to terms with him, and
saved the Castle being blown about his ears, by resigning it into the General’s hands.
One of the earliest proceedings of the new garrison was to clear away the neighbouring
obstructions that had afforded shelter to themselves in their approaches during the siege. ‘‘ Considering that the Wey-hous of Edinburgh was ane great impediment to the schottis
of the Castell, the samyn being biggit on the hie calsey; thairfoir, to remove that impediment,
General Cromwell gaif ordouris for demolisching of the Wey-house ; and upone the
last day of December 1650, the Englisches began the work, and tuik doun the stepill of it
that day, and so contiiiued till it wes raised.”8 We learn, from the same authority, of the
re-ediiication of this building after the Restoration. The Wey-hous, quhilk wes demoleist
by that traitour Cromwell, at his incuming to Edinburgh, eftir the feght of Dumbar,
began now to be re-edified in the end of August 1660, but far inferior to the former
condition.’” The cumbrous and ungainly building thus erected, remained an encumbrance
1 Cromwelliang apud Carlyle’s Letters, &c., vol. i p. 361.
8 Nicol’s Diary, p. 48.
9 Pinkerton’s Scottish Gallery, Lord Cardroas.
4 Ibid, p. 300.

Book 10 p. 104
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304 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
-so nearly connected are these romantic incidents with our own day. He was raised to
the Bench on the death of Lord Swinton, and took his seat as Lord Bannatyne in 1799.
He was the last survivor of the Mirror Club, and one of the contributors to that early
periodical. His conversational powers were great, and his lively reminiscences of the
eminent men, and the leading events of last century, are referred to by those who
have enjoyed his cheerful society, when in his ninetieth year, as peculiarly vivid and
characteristic.
Among the antique groups of buildings in the Canongate, scarcely any one has more
frequently attracted the artist by the picturesque irregularity of its features than the
White Horse Close-an ancient hostelry to which a fresh interest has been attached by
the magic pen of Scott, who peopled anew its deserted halls with the creations of his
fertile genius. Tradition, with somewhat monotonous pertinacity, a&ms that it acquired
its name from a celebrated and beautiful white palfrey belonging to Queen Mary.’ There
is no reason, however, to think, from the style and character of the building, that it is
any older than the date 1623, which is cut over a dormer window on its south front.
The interest is much more legitimate which associates it with the cavaliers of Prince
Charles’s Court, as the quarters of Captain Waverley during his brief sojourn in the capital.
It forms the main feature in a small paved quadrangle near the foot of the Canongate.
A broad flight of steps leads up to the building, diverging to the right and left from the
first landing, and giving access to two singularly-picturesque timber porches which overhang
the lower story, and form the most prominent features in the view. A steep and
narrow alley passes through below one of these, and leads to the north front of the
building, which we have $elected for our engraving, as an equally characteristic and more
novel scene. Owing to the peculiar slope of the ground, the building rises on this side
to more than double the height of its south front; and a second tier of windows in the steep
roof give it some resemblance to the old Flemish hostels, still occasionally to be met with
by the traveller in Belgium. But while the travellers’ quarters are thus crowded into the
roof, the whole of the ground floor is arched, and fitted up with ample accommodation for
his horses-an arrangement thoroughly in accordance with the Scottish practice in early
times. In an Act passed in the reign of James I., 1425, for the express encouragement
of innkeepers, all travellers stopping at burgh towns are forbid to lodge with their
acquaintance or friends, or in any other quarters, but in “the hostillaries,” with this
exception :-“ Cif it be the personee that leadis monie with them in companie”-i.e.,
Gentlemen attended with a numerous retinuec‘ thai sal1 have friedome to harberie with
theh friends; swa that their horse and their meinze be harberied and ludged in the
commoun hostillaries.” Almost immediately adjoining the north front of the White
Horse Inn was a large tank or pond for watering horses, from whence the name of the
principal gate of the burgh was derived. Here, therefore, was the rendezvous fo; knights
and barons, with their numerous retainers, and the chief scene of the arrival and departure
of all travellers of rank and importance during the seventeenth century, contrasting as
strangely with the provisions of modern refinement as any relic that survives of the
Canongate in these good old times.
The court-yard of the White Horse Inn is completed by an antique tenement towards
The house is now used as a manufactory.
Chambers’s Traditions, vol. ii. p. 295.

Book 10 p. 331
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324 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
led to a very handsome stone turnpike on the first floor. The fine doorway was finished
with 'very rich mouldings, and encircled with the following inscription, of which the
woodcut furnishes a fac-simile-a specimen of genuine vernacular which may possibly
puzzle some able linguists :-
GIF . VE . DEID . AS . VE . SOVLD . VE . MYCHT . EUIF . AS . VE . VALD .
Literally rendered into modern English, it is, If we did as me should, me miyiit Rave as
me mould. There can be no question, from the style and character of this inscription,
that the building was of great antiquity, and had probably formed the residence of some
eminent ecclesiastic, or a noble of the court of James V. It possessed an interest, however,
from a recent and more humble occupant. There was the printing establishment of
Bhdrew Symson, a worthy successor of Chepman and Myllar, the first Scottish typographers,
whose printing presses were worked within a hundred yards of this spot.
Symson was a man of great learning and singular virtue, who, though one of the curates
ejected at the Revolution, had escaped the detraction to which nearly all his fellowsufferers
were subjected. We have his own authority for dating that he received a
University education, and was a condisciple of Alexander, Earl of Galloway, by whose
father he was presented to the parish of Kirkinner, in Wigtonshire. He was an author
as well as a printer ; and his most elaborate work, a poem of great length, and of much
more learned ingenuity than poetic merit, is announced in the preface as issued bb from
my printing-house at the foot of the Horse Wynd, in the Cowgate, Feb. 16, 17D5." It
is entitled TRIPATRIARCHI;C OorN, The Lives of the Thee Patriarch, AhraAam, Isauc, and
Jacob, extracted fort4 of the sacred story, and digested into English verse. Before this,
however, he had acted as amanuensis to the celebrated Lord Advocate, Sir George
Mackenzie ; and in 1699 he edited and published a new edition of Sir George's work on the
Laws and Customs of Scotland, a presentation copy of which still exists in the Advocates'
Library in good condition. It is elegantly bound in calf, and bears on the boards the
following inscription in gilt Roman characters :-DONUMA NDRESY~M SOANM, . YD. MD.
The Horse Wynd no doubt derived its name from its being almost the only descent
from the southern suburbs by which a horse could safely approach the Cowgate ; and as
a spacious and pleasant thoroughfare, according to the notions of former times, it was
one of the most fashionable districts of the town. About the middle of the wynd, on the
west side, an elegant mansion, finished with a pediment in front surmounted with urns,
was known in former years as Galloway House, long the residence of Lady Catherine,
Countess of Galloway, who formed the subject of one of Hamilton of Bangour's flattering
poetical tributes. She is referred to in a different style in the Ridotto of Holyrood
House, a satirical and very free ballad, written about a century ago by three witty
ladies, who were wont to bear their part in such gay scenes as it satirises.l Lady
Galloway is described as
" A lady well known by her aira,
Who ne'er goes to revel but after her prayers ! "
1 The Ridotto, which afforda a curious aample of the notions of propriety entertained by the fair wits of last century,
wad the joint production of Lady Bruce of Kinrosu, her sister-in-law, the wife of J. R. Hepburn, Esq., of Keith and
Riccarhn, and Miss Jenny Denoon, their niece, who was counted a great wit in her own day. Some of the most interesting
stanza are quoted in the Traditions, vol. ii. p. 39.

Book 10 p. 352
(Score 0.58)

110 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
regularity, and determined resolution with which it was effected, as well as the secrecy so
successfully maintained, led to the supposition that its leaders must have been of a higher
rank than those usually concerned in popular tumults ; but recent disclosures, resting on
the authority of an intelligent old man, have revealed the chief agent in this daring act
of popular vengeance. Alexander Richmond, according to the narrator, was the son of
a respectable nurseryman at Foulbriggs, near the West Port. He was bred a baker, and,
about the time of the Porteous mob, was a wild and daring lad, who took a prominent
share in all the riotings of the period. On the night of Porteous’s execution, he was sent
early to bed, and deprived of his clothes by his father, who dreaded that his son, as usual,
would involve himself in the turbulent movements that were threatened. But the lad got
hold of his sister’s clothes, and making his escape by a window, joined the mob and took
a prominent part in breaking into the Tolbooth, and in all their other proceedings. On
the passage of the rioters down the West Bow, he entered a shop, from the counter of
which he lifted a coil of rope, and threw down a half guinea he had brought out with him.
With this the wretched Porteous was suspended from the dyer’s pole ; and immediately
thereafter Richmond returned by the West Port to his father’s house. Proclamations
were issued against him at the time as a suspected party, on which he went to eea, and
after an absence of many years, he returned to Leith, and became master of a merchant
vessel.
Richmond disclosed his share in the Porteous mob to a few trustworthy friends, among
whom was the narrator of this account. He made money in his new mode of life, and his
heirs, in the female line, are still a1ive.l
Queen Caroline was highly exasperated on learning of this act of contempt for her
exercise of the royal prerogative. The Lord Provost was imprisoned, and not admitted to
bail for three weeks. A bill was brought into Parliament, and carried through the House
of Lords, for incapacitating him from ever holding any magisterial office in Great Britain,
and for confining him in prison a full year. This bill also enacted the demolition of the
Nether Bow Port, and the disbanding of the city-guard. The Scottish members, however,
exerted themselves effectually in opposing this unjust measure when it was sent down to
the House of Commons, and by their means it was shorn of its most objectionable clauses,
and the whole commuted to a fiqe of 2,2000, imposed on the city for behalf of the Captain’s
widow. Even when thus modified, the bill was only carried by the casting vote of the
chairman, and Porteous’s widow, on account of previous favours shown her by the magistrates,
accepted of m 0 0 in full.
From this period, till the eventful year 1745, nothing remarkable occurs in the history
of Edinburgh. On thk report of the landing of Prince Charles, the city-guard was increased,
and a portion of the royal forces brought into th_e neighbourhood of the city. The town
walls were hastily repaired, and ditches thrown up for additional defence. Upon the approach
of the Prince’s forces, which had crossed the Forth above Stirling, the King’s troops,
along with the city-guard, were posted at Corstorphine and Coltbridge, and a volunteer force
was raised to aid in repelling the rebels. But citizens and soldiers were alike lukewarm in
the Hanoverian cause, or terror-stricken at the sight of the Highland host. The whole
force fled precipitately on their appearance, and communicated such a panic to the citizens,
1 Illustrations of Qeikie’s Etchinpa, p. 8.

Book 10 p. 120
(Score 0.58)

MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
+I i b * c
All curious pastimes and consaitg,
Cud be imaginat be man,
Wea to be 8ene on Edinburgh gaits,
Fra time that brauitie began :
Ye might haif hard on eureie streit,
Trim melodie and musick sweit.’
‘
And so the poet goes on through thirty-four stanzas of like quaint description. At the
Nether Bow, after a representation of marriage had been enacted before them, there was
let down to the Queen, by a silk string, from the top of the Port, a box covered with
purple velvet, and with her Majesty’s initials wrought on it in diamonds and precious
stones,-a parting gift from the good town. More very good psalms followed, and so
they rode home to the Palace, well pleased, it is to be hoped, with the day’s entertainments.’
A few days after, the Magistrates entertained the Danish nobles and ambassadors, with
their numerous suites, at a splendid banquet, ‘‘ maid at the townis charges and expensis, in
Thomas Aitchisoun’s, master of the Cunzie hous lugeing, at Todrik’s Wynd fute,”-a wellknown
building, the massive, polished, ashlar front of which still presents a prominent
object amid the faded grandeur of the Cowgate.
The
wine and ale seem to have formed nearly as important an item in the account as they did
in Falstaffs tavern bills! My Lord Provost undertakes to provide “naiprie” on the
occasion, and if needs be, to advance “ ane hunder pund or mair, as thai sall haif ado ; ”
and the treasurer is directed “ to agrie with the fydleris at the bankit, and the samen sall
be allowit in his compt~.”~
The Lord Bigh Treasurer’s accounts are equally minute, testifying to the truth of an
expression used by James on the occasion, that cca King with a new married wife did
not come hame every day I ” e.g., Item, be his Grace precept and special command,
twentie-thrie elnis and ane half reid crammosie velvet, to be jowppis and breikis to his
Majesties four laquayis. Item, for furnessing of fyftene fedder beddis to the Densis
[Danes] within the Palice of Halierndhous, fra the fourt day of Maij 1590, to the auchtene
day of Julij ; takand for ilk bed, in the nicht, tua schilling !” &c. ; the whole winding up
with an item, to James Nisbet, jailor of the Tolbuith, for his expehses in keeping sundry
witches there, by his Majesty’s orders.
Few incidents, which are very closely connected with Edinburgh, occurred during the
remainder of the King’s life, until his accession to the English throne. In 1596, owing to
a disagreement between him and the clergy, a tumult was excited, which greatly exasperated
him, so that he ordered the Parliament and Courts of Justice to be removed from
thence, and even listened to the advice of several of his nobles, who recommended him
utterly to erase the city from the face of the earth, and erect a column on the site of it, “as
an infamous memorial of their detestable rebellion I ” The magistrates made the most
abject offers of submission, but King James,-who, with all his high notions of prerogative,
enjoyed very little of the real power of a king, so long as he remained in Scotland,-was
The records of the Town Council contain some curious entries regarding this feast.
Description of the Queen’s Entry into Edinburgh, by John Bvrel. Wataon’s Coll. of Scota Poeme.
Hiat. of Jarnes the Sext., p. 38-42. Acta of Town Council, apud Marriage of Jamee VI., p. 36.

Book 10 p. 96
(Score 0.58)

388 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
striking character. On the centre key-stone of the eastern chapel, the monogram of
the Virgin is inwrought with the leaves of a gracefully sculptured wreath, and the same
is repeated in a simpler form on one of the bosses of the neighbouring aisle. But the
most interesting of these decorations are the heraldic devices which form the prominent
ornaments on the capital of the pillar. These consist, on the south side, of the arm8
of Robert, Duke of Albany, the second son of King Robert 11. ; and, on the north side,
of those of Archibald, fourth Earl of Douglas. In the year 1401, David, Duke of
Rothsay, the unfortunate son of Robert III., was arrested by his uncle, the Duke of
Albany and Governor of Scotland, with the consent of the king his father, who had
been incensed against him by the daily complaints which his uncle contrived to have
carried to the old king’s ear. The circumstances of his death have been pictured with
thrilling effect in the popular pages of (( The Fair Maid of Perth.” He was committed
a close prisoner to the dungeon of Falkland Castle, and there starved to death, notwithstanding
the intervention of a maiden and nurse, who experienced a far different fate
from that assigned by Scott, though their efforts to rescue the Prince from his horrible
death are described with considerable accuracy. “The Blacke Booke of Scone saith,
that the Earle Douglas was with the Governour when he brought the Duke from Saint
Andrew’s to Falkland,” having probably been exasperated against the latter, who was
his own brother-in-law, by the indignity which hiu licentious courses put upon his sister.
Such are the two Scottish nobles whose armorial bearings still grace the capital of the
pillar in the old chapel. It is the only other case in which they are found acting in
concert besides the dark deed already referred to ; and it seems no unreasonable inference
to draw from such a coincidence, that this chapel had been founded and endowed by them
as an expiatory offering for that deed of blood, and its chaplain .probably appointed to say
masses for their victim’s soul. A view of this interesting and beautiful part of the
interior of St Giles’s Church-with the gallery and pews removed-forms the vignette at
the head of the chapter.
The transepts of the church as they existed before 1829, afforded no less satisfactory
evidence of the progress of the building. Distinct traces remained of the termination of
the south transept a few feet beyond the pillars that separated the south aisle of the choir
from Preston’s, or the Assembly Aisle, as it was latterly termed. Beyond this, the
groining of the roof entirely differed from the older portion, exhibiting unequivocal evidence
of being the work of a later age. This part of the Old Church forms-or rather, we
should perhaps say, formed-by far the most interesting portion of the whole building,
from its many associations with the eminent men of other days. Here it was that Walter
Chepman, a burgess of Edinburgh, famous as the introducer of the printing-press to
Scotland, founded and endowed a chaplainry at the. altar of St John the Evangelist, (( in
honour of God, the Virgin Mary, St John the Apostle and Evangelist, and all Saints.”
The charter is dated 1st August 1513, an era of peculiar interest. Scotland was then
rejoicing in all the prosperity and happiness consequent on the wise and beneficent reign
of James IV. Learning was visited with the highest favour of the court, and literature
wat3 rapidly extending its influence under the zealous co-operation of Dunbar, Douglas,
Hume of Godacroft’s Hist. of the Douglases, p. 118. Hume attempts to free the Earl from the charge, but with
little a u c c ~ .

Book 10 p. 426
(Score 0.58)

3 d MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
though it is probable their worldly circumstances were thereby left more dependent on
their own peculiar resources. We are informed by an intelligent lady who resided in the
Canongate in her younger years, that one Christiau Burns, who then dwelt in Strachie’s
Close, enjoyed the universal reputation of a witch ; and on one occasion within her recollection
was scored adoon the breatfi-ie., had a deep cut made in her forehead by a
neighbouring maltster, whose brewing, as he believed, had been spoiled by her devilish
cantrips.
The Water Gate has long since ceased to be a closed port, but the Canongate dues were
still for some time after collected there on all goods entering the burgh. Its ancient site
was marked, till a few years since, by a pointed arch constructed of wood, and surmounted
with the Canongate Arms. This ornamental structure having been blown down in 1822,
the fishwives of Newhaven and Musselburgh unanimously rebelled, and refused to pay the
usual burghal impost levied on their burdens of fish. The warfare was unflinchingly maintained
by these amazons for some time, and the Magistrates were at length compelled
to restore peace to their gates, by replacing the decorated representative of the more
ancient structure. This, however, has again been removed, in consequence of the demolition
of an antique fabric on the east side of the gateway; and such .was the apathy of
the then generation that not even a patriotic fishwife was found to lift her voice against
the sacrilegious removal of this time-honoured landmark 1
A radiated arrangement of the paving in the street, directly opposite to the Water
Gate, marks the site of the Girth Cross, the ancient boundary of the Abbey Sanctuary.
It appears in the map of 1573, as an ornamental shaft elevated on a flight of steps ; and
it existed in nearly the same state about 1750, when Maitland wrote his History of
Edinburgh. Every vestige of it has since been removed, but the ancient privileges,
which it was intended to guard, still survive as a curious memorial of the ecclesiastical
founders of the burgh. Within the sacred enclosures that once bounded the Abbey of
Holyrood, and at a later period formed the chief residence of the Scottish Court, the
happy debtor is safe from the assaults of inexorable creditors, and may dwell at ease in his
city of refuge, if he have been fortunate enough to bear off with him the necessary spoils..
It is, in truth, an imperium in imperio, an ancient royal burgh, with its own courts and
judges and laws, its claims of watch and ward, and of fe;dal service during the presence
of royalty, the election of peers, or like occasions of state, which every householder is
bound to render as a sworn vassal of the Abbey. Endowed with such peculiar privileges
and immunities, it :s not to be wondered at that its inhabitants regard the ancient capital
and its modern rival with equal contempt, looking upon them with much the same feeling
as one of the court cavaliers of Charles 11. would have regarded some staid old Presbyterian
burgher or spruce city gallant in his holiday finery. In truth, it is scarcely conceivable
to one who has not taken up his abode within the magic circle, how much of the fashion of
our ancestors, described among the things that were in our allusions to the Cape Club
and other convivial assemblies of last century, still survives in uudiminished vigour under
covert of the Sanctuary’s protection.
On the south side of the main street, adjoining the outer court-yard of the Palace, a
series of pointed arches along the wall of the Sanctuary Court-House indicate the remains
of the ancient Gothic porch and gate-house of Holyrood Abbey, beneath whose groined
.

Book 10 p. 334
(Score 0.58)

414 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
the Earl of Hertford in 1544. No other evidence, however, exists in support of this
than the general inference deducible from the burning of Leith by the English, immediately
before their embarkation ; a procedure which, unless accompanied by more violent
modes of destruction, must have left the remainder of the church in the same condition
as the nave which still exists. Such evidence as may still be gleaned from contemporary
writers leaves little reason to doubt that it was not demolished until the siege of Leith in
1560, when it was subjected to much more destructive operations than the invaders’ torch.
It stood directly exposed to the fire of the English batteries, cast up on the neighbouring
downs, and of which some remains are still left.‘ “In thia meintyme,” says Bishop
Lesley, “the Inglismen lying encamped upoun the south est syd of the tom, besyd
Mount Pellam, schot many gret schottis of cannonis and gret ordinances, at the parrishe
Kirk of Leyth, and Sanct Anthoneis steple, quhilk was fortefiit with mounted artailyerie
thairupoun be the Frenchmen, and brak doun the same.”2 An anonymous historian of
the same period relates still more explicitly :-‘‘ The 15th of Aprill, the fort wes cast and
performed, scituate upon the clay-hills, east from the Kirk of Leith, about twoe fflight
shott; where the greate ordinance being placed, they beganne to shoote at St Antonyes
steeple in Leith, upon the which steeple the Frenchmen had mounted some artillerie,
which wes verie noifiome to the campe ; bot within few howers after, the said steeple was
broken and shott downe, likewise they shott dome some part of the east end of the Kirk of
Leith.’” St Mary’s Church, as it existed at the time our drawing was made, showed at
the east end two of the four great central pillars of the Church, and was otherwise
finished by constructing a window in the upper part of the west arch of the central tower,
much in the same style as was adopted in converting the nave of Holyrood Abbey into a
parish church. The date 1614, which was cut on the east gable, probably marked the
period at which the ruins of the choir were entirely cleared away. The side aisles appear
for the most part to be the work of the same period. A range of five dormer windows
was constructed at that date above both the centre and side aisles, and though a novel
addition to a Gothic Church, must have had a very picturesque and rich effect. The whole
of these, with the exception of the two western ones on the south side of the Church, were
taken down in 1747,” and the remaining ones were demolished in 1847, along with the
east and west gables of the Church, and, in fact, nearly every feature that was worth
preserving ; the architect having, with the perverse ingenuity of modern restorers, preserved
only the more recent and least attractive portions of -the venerable edifice. As
some slight atonement for this, the removal of the high-pitched roof of the side aisles has
brought to light a range of very neat square-headed clerestory windows, which had
remained concealed for upwards of two centuries, and which it is fortunately intended to
retain in the restoration of the building.
The only other ancient parish church that remains to be noticed is that of St Cuthbert.
Its parish appears to have been one of the earliest and most extensive districts set apart
as a parochial charge. ‘( The Church of St Cuthbert,” says Chalmers, (‘ is unquestionably
ancient, perhaps aa old as the age which followed the demise of the worthy Cuthbert,
towards the end of the seventh century.” It was enriched by important grants, and parti-
Ante, p. 66. ’ A Hietorie of the Estate of Scotland, Wodrow Misc., vol. i. p. 84.
Lesley, p. 285.
+ Maitland, p. 494.

Book 10 p. 454
(Score 0.58)

IS2 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
the nynt day of Aprile, the zeir of God 1566 zeris, Johne Sinclare, be the mercie of God
bischope of Brechin and Dean of Redalrig, deceissit in James Mosmanis hous in Frosteris
Wpd, ane honest and cunning letterit man, and president of the College of Justice
the tyme of his deceiss, &c.’” Another diarist records, in describing the firing of the
town by the garrison of the Castle, under Sir William Kirkaldy, in 1572, “ the fyre
happit fra hous to hous throw the maisterie of ane grit wynd, and come eist the gait
to Bess Wynd at the kirk end of Sanct Geill,” e in consequence of which ther wee
ane proclamatioun maid, that all thak houssia suld be tirrit,’ and all hedder stakis
to be transportit at thair awine bounds and brunt; and ilk man in Edinburgh to haue
his lumes full of watter in the nycht, wnder the pane of deid ; ” a very graphic picture of
the High Street in the sixteenth century, with the majority of the buildings on either
side covered with thatch, and the main street encumbered by piles of heather and other
fuel accumulated before each door, for the use of the inhabitants ; and, from amid these,
we may add the stately ecclesiastical edifices of the period, and the Eubstantial mansions
of the nobility, towering with all the more imposing effect, in contrast to their homely
neighbourhood.
The venerable alley called Bess or Beth’s Wynd, after suffering greatly from the slow
dilapidation of time, was nearly destroyed by successive fires in the years 1786 and 1788.
On the latter occasion it was proposed to purchase and pull down the whole of its buildings
extending from the Lawnmarket to the Cowgate, in order to open up the Parliament
House.* This was not effected, however, till 1809, when the whole were swept away in
preparing the site for the Advocate’s Library. ‘‘ All the houses in Beth’s Wynd,” says
Chambers, “ were exceedingly old and crazy ; and some mysterious ‘looking cellar doors
were shown in it, which the old wives of the wynd believe to have been kept shut since
the time of t4.e plague.” The same superstitious belief was prevalent in regard to some
grim and ancient uninhabited dwellings in Mary King’s Close, part of which now remain.
An old gentleman has often described to us his visits to the latter close, along with his
companions, when a schoolboy. The most courageous of them would approach these dread
abodes of mystery, and after shouting through the keyhole or broken window-shutter,
they would run off with palpitating hearts,-
‘‘ Like one, that on a lonesome road
Doth walk in fear and dread,
And having once turned round, walks on
And turns no more his head ;
Because he know a frightful fiend
Doth close behind him tread.”
The popular opinion was, that if these houses were opened, the imprisoned pestilence
would burst out, spreading disease and death through the land,-a belief that was probably
thrown into discredit on the peaceful demolition of the former wynd.
A house at the head of Beth’s Wynd, fronting the Old Tolbooth, was the residence of
Mr Andrew Maclure, writing-master, one of the civic heroes of 1745. He joined the
reluctant corps of volunteers who marched to meet the Highland aruy ou its approach
towards Corstorphine ; but they had scarcely left the town walls a mile behind, when their
Diurnal of Occurrents, p. 98. Ibid, Part 11. p. 326.
. a i.e., All thatched houses should be unroofed. 4 Caledonian MeTcuTy, 17th JanuaT 1788.

Book 10 p. 199
(Score 0.58)

MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
and nation would suffer every disaster before they would submit to his ignominious
terms, he marched immediately with his whole forces upon Edinburgh. The citizens,
being taken by surprise, and altogether unprepared for resisting so formidable a force,
sent out a deputation, with Sir Adam Otterburn, the Provost, at its head, offering to
evacuate the town and deliver up the keys to the commander of the English army, on
condition that they should be permitted to carry off their effects, and that the city should
be saved from fire. But nothing would satisfy the English general but an unconditional
surrender of life and property. He made answer-That his commission extended to the
burning and laying waste the country, unless the governor would deliver the young Queen
to his master. The Provost replied-;; Then it were t5etter the city should stand on its
defence.’’
The English army entered by the Watergate
without opposition, and assaulted the Nether Bow Port, and beat it open on the second
day, with a terrible slaughter of the citizens. They immediately attempted to lay siege to
the Castle. ‘‘ Seeing no resistance, they hauled their cannons up the High Street, by force
of men, to the Butter-Trone, and above, and hazarded a shot against the fore entrie of the
Castle. But the wheel and axle-tree of one of the English cannons was broken, and some
of their men slaine by a shot of ordnance out of the Castle ; so they left that rash enterprise.”
’
Ba%led in their attempts on the fortress, they immediately proceeded to wreak their
vengeance on the city. They set it on fire in numerous quarters, and continued the work
of devastation and plunder till compelled to abandon it by the smoke and flames, as weli
as the continual firing from the Castle. They renewed the work of destruction on the following
day ; and for three successive days they returned with unabated fury to the smoking
ruins, till they had completely effected their purpose.
The Earl of Hertford then proceeded to lay waste the surrounding country with fire
and sword. Craigmillar Castle, which was surrendered on the promise of being preserved
scatheless,’ was immediately devoted to the flames. Roslyn Castle shared the same fate.
Part of the army then proceeded southward by land, burning and destroying every abbey,
town, and village, between the capital and Dunbar. The remainder of the army returned
to Leith, which they plundered and set fire to ip many places ; and then embarking their
whole force, they set sail for England.
. This disastrous event forms an important era in the history of Edinburgh ; if we except
a portion of the Castle, the churches, and the north-west wing of Holyrood Palace, no
building, anterior to this date, now exists in Edinburgh. One other building, Trinity
Hospital, the oldest part of which bore the date 1462, has been swept away by the operations
of the North British Railway, during the past year (1845), unquestionably, with the
exception of the Castle aud churches, at once the most ancient and perhaps interesting
building that Edinburgh possessed8
Such was the means adopted by Henry VIIL to secure the hand of the Scottish Queen
for his son, a method somewhat analogous to the system of wooing he practised with such
An immediate attack was thereupon made.
8 Cdderwood’s History, Wod. Soc. vol. i p, 177. ’ Diurnal of Occurrents, p. 32.
A remarkably interesting view of Edinburgh, previous to ita destruction at this period, is still preserved in the British
Museum ; a careful fac-simile of this is given in a volume of the Bannatyne Club’s Miscellany, some sccount of which win
be found in a later part of this work.

Book 10 p. 55
(Score 0.58)

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