![The Tolhwth] THE SIGNET ANI) ADVOCATES? LIBRARIES. 123
THE genius of Scott has shed a strange halo around
the memory of the grim and massive Tolbooth
prison, so much so that the creations of his imagination,
such as Jeanie and Effie Deans, take the
place of real persons of flesh? and blood, and suchtraders.
They have been described as being ?a
dramdrinking, news-mongering, facetious set of
citizens, who met every morn about seven o?clock,
and after proceeding to the post-office to ascertain
the news (when the mail arrived), generally adjourned
to a public-house and refreshed themselves
with a libation of brandy.? Unfounded articles of
intelligence that were spread abroad in those days
were usually named ? Lawnmarket Gazettes,? in
allusion to their roguish or waggish originators.
At all periods the Lawnmarket was a residence
for nien of note, and the frequent residence of
English and other foreign ambassadors; and so
long as Edinburgh continued to be the seat of the
Parliament, its vicinity to the House made it a
favourite and convenient resort for the members
of the Estates.
On the ground between Robert Gourlay?s house
and Beith?s Wynd we now find some of those portions
of the new city which have been engrafted on
the old. In Melbourne Place, at the north end of
George IV. Bridge, are situated many important
offices, such as, amongst others, those of the Royal
Medical Society, and the Chamber of Commerce
and Manufactures, built in an undefined style of
architecture, new to Edinburgh. Opposite, with
its back to the bridge, where a part of the line of
Liberton?s Wynd exists, is built the County Hall,
presenting fronts to the Lawnmarket and to St.
Giles?s. The last of these possesses no common
beauty, as it has a very lofty portico of finely-flutcd
columns, overshadowing a flight of steps leading to
the main entrance, which is modelled after the
choragic monument of Thrasyllus, while the ground
plan and style of ornament is an imitation of the
Temple of Erechtheius at Athens. It was erected
in 1817, and contains several spacious and lofty
court-rooms, with apartments for the Sheriff and
other functionaries employed in the business of the
county. The hall contains a fine statue of Lord
Chief Baron Dundas, by Chantrey.
is the power of genius, that with the name of the
Heart of Midlothian we couple the fierce fury of
the Porteous mob. ?Antique in form, gloomy and
haggard in aspect, its black stanchioned windows,
opening through its dingy walls like the apertures
~
Adjoining it and stretching eastward is the library
of the Writers to the Signet. It is of Grecian architecture,
and possesses two long pillared halls of
beautiful proportions, the upper having Corinthian
columns, and a dome wherein are painted the
Muses. It is 132 feet long by about 40 broad,
and was used by George IV. as a drawing-room,
on the day of the royal banquet in the Parliament ,
House. Formed by funds drawn solely from contributions
by Writers to H.M. Signet, it is under
a body of curators. The library contains more
than 60,000 volumes, and is remarkably rich in
British and Irish history.
Southward of it and lying psxallel with it, nearer
the Cowgate, is the Advocates? Library, two long
halls, with oriel windows on the north side. This
library, one of the five in the United Kingdom entitled
to a copy of every work printed in it, was
founded by Sir George Mackenzie, Dean of Faculty
in 168z, and contains some zoo,ooo volumes,
forming the most valuable cpllection of the kind
in Scotland. The volumes of Scottish poetry alone
exceed 400. Among some thousand MSS. are those
of Wodrow, Sir James Balfour, Sir Robert Sibbald,
and others. In one of the lower compartments
may be seen Greenshield?s statue of Sir Walter
Scott, and the original volume of Waverley; two
volumes of original letters written by Mary Queen
of Scots and Charles I.; the Confession of Faith
signed by James VI. and the Scottish nobles in
1589-90; a valuable cabinet from the old Scottish
mint in the Cowgate; the pennon borne by
Sir William Keith at Flodden; and many other
objects of the deepest interest. The office of
librarian has been held by many distinguished
men of letters; among them were Thomas Ruddiman,
in 1702; David Hume, his successor, in,
1752 ; Adani Ferguson ; and David Irving, LL.D.
A somewhat minor edifice in the vicinity forms
the library of the Solicitors before the Supreme
Court](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v1p135.gif "Old and New Edinburgh Vol. I Page 123")
... Tolhwth] THE SIGNET ANI) ADVOCATES? LIBRARIES. 123
THE genius of Scott has shed a strange halo around
the ...
Book 1 p. 123
(Score 0.79)
![258 B I0 GR AP HI C AL S KET C HE S.
No. CCLVII.
MR. AND MRS. LEE LEWES,
IN THE CHARACTERS OF ‘‘ GOLDFINCH ” AND ‘‘ WIDOW WARREN.”
NEARLYh alf a century has elapsed since the above performers were in Edinburgh
; yet they are well remembered by many of the old play-going citizens,
who still revert to their early days as the golden age of the Scottish drama.
MR. and MRS. LEE LEWESf,r om the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, made their
first appearance in this city in 1787 ; at which period the Theatre was the
property, and under the management of Mr. Jackson. On the first night of
their engagement, which was limited to four nights, Lee Lewes enacted the part
of Sir John Falstaff ; the next, he appeared in “ Love Makes a Man “-the third,
in the “ Busy Body ”-and on the fourth night, he delivered a comic entertainment,
which was announced as follows :-
“MR. LEE LEWES
WILL EXHIBIT
THE ORIGINAL LECTURE ON HEADS,*
which, with all its whimsical apparatus, he purchased of the late Mr. G. A. Stevens, and lately
revived at the Theatre Iioyal, Covent Garden, several successive nights., with additions by Mr.
Pilon. The whole is a display of upwards of sixty different characters of approved
WIT AND HUMOUR-SATIRAEN D SENTIMENT.”
The success of his lecture was such as to induce a repetition on two subsequent
evenings; and the public were informed, through the medium of the press,
that the lecture, an “ admirable piece of satire,” was to be totally withdrawn
after Saturday night next [2d June]. ‘‘ An entertainment so comic, versatile,
and moral,” continues the paragraph, “ the public have seldom an opportunity
of seeing ; and we hope, for the honour of taste, its last representation will be
crowdedly attended.” Thus terminated the first short season of Lee Lewes on
the Scottish boards.
Jackson, the patentee, having become bankrupt, Mr. Stephen Kemble came
forward, and from the trustees took a lease of the Theatre for one year. This
he did at the suggestion of Mr. Jackson, who, according to a private missive,
was to have an equal interest in the concern. Mr. Kemble, however, refusing
to accept the security produced by Mr. Jackson, retained the sole management
1 That is since 1837, when this was written.
a The first complete edition of this clever jeu d’@t was published by Lee Lewes in 1785, with
an address to the public, written by him, prefixed.](images/thumbs/kays_thumb_pages/kays_v2__Page_351.gif "Kay's Originals Vol. 2 Page 343")
... B I0 GR AP HI C AL S KET C HE S.
No. CCLVII.
MR. AND MRS. LEE LEWES,
IN THE CHARACTERS OF ‘‘ GOLDFINCH ...
Book 9 p. 343
(Score 0.79)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Bmughtoa --
REMAINS OF THE VILLAGE OF OLD RROUGHTON, Isj2.
(From a Drawing by Gcorp ...
Book 3 p. 180
(Score 0.79)
![321 Arthur?s Seat.] VOLUNTEER REVIEW IN 1860.
many a strong man?s heart beat high and his eyes
glisten. The vast hilly amphitheatre was crowded
by more than IOC),OOO spectators, who made the
welkin ring with their reiterated cheers, as the deep
and solid columns, with all their anns glittering in
the sun, were steadilyforniing on the grassy plain
below. Every foot of ground upon the northern
slopes not too steep for standing on was occupied,
even to the summit, where the mighty yellow
standard with the red lion floated out over all.
When the Queen, accompanied by the Prince
Consort, theaged Quchess of Kent, and the royal
children, came in front of the grand stand, the sight
one o?clock all the regiments were in Edinburgh,
and defiled into the park by four separate entrances
at once, and were massed in contiguous close
columns, formed into divisions and brigades of
artillery, engineers, and infantry, the whole undet
the command of Lieutenant-General Sir G. A.
Wetherall, K.C.B.
The scene which burst upon the view of these
volunteers as they entered the park, and the vast
corps being played past by the pipers of the Rossshire
Buffs.
?So admirable was the arrangement,? wrote one
at the time, ?by which the respective corps were
brought back to their original ground, that not ten
minutes had elapsed after the marching-past of
the last company before all was ready for the
advance in line, the officers having taken post
in review order, and the men standing with
shouldered arms. On the signal being given, the
whole line (of columns) advanced, the review
bands playing. The effect of this was, in one
word, indescribable, and when the whole was
was magnificent, when more than two-and-twenty
thousand rifles and many hundred sword-blades
flashed out the royal salute, and then the arms were
shouldered as she drove slowly along the line of
massed columns. The ground was kept by the 13th
Hussars, the 29th Regiment, 78th Highlanders (the
recent heroes of Lucknow), and the West York
Rifle Militia The Queen seemed in the highest
spirits, wore a tartan dress, and bowed and smiled 2.9](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v4p141.gif "Old and New Edinburgh Vol. IV Page 321")
... Arthur?s Seat.] VOLUNTEER REVIEW IN 1860.
many a strong man?s heart beat high and his eyes
glisten. The vast ...
Book 4 p. 321
(Score 0.78)
![H o l y d . ] MODERN IMPROVEMENTS. 79
bade them farewell in the Gallery of the Kings,
while a vast concourse assembled outside, all
wearing the white cockade. Another: multitude
was collected at Newhaven, where the Fishermen's
Society formed a kind of body-guard to cover the
embarkation.
'' A few gentlemen," says the editor of " Kay's
Portraits," " among whom were Colonel Macdonel,
the Rev. Mr. (afterwards Bishop) Gillis, John Robinson,
Esq., and Dr. Browne, accompanied His
Majesty on board the steamer, which they did not
leave till she was under weigh. The distress of the
king, and particularly of the dauphin, at being
obliged to quit a country to which they were so
warmly attached was in the highest degree affecting.
The Duc de Bordeaux wept bitterly, and the Duc
d'AngouEme, embracing Mr. Gillis d la 3ranfaise,
gave unrestrained scope to his emotion. The act
of parting with one so beloved, whom he had
known and distinguished in the salons of the
Tuileries and St. Cloud, long before his family had
sought an asylum in the tenantless halls of Holyrood,
quite overcame his fortitude, and excited
feelings too powerful to be repressed. When this
ill-fated family bade adieu to our shores they
carried with them the grateful benedictions of the
poor, and the respect of all men of all parties who
honour misfortune when ennobled by virtue."
In Edinburgh it is well known that had H.K.H.
the late Prince Consort-whose love of the picturesque
and historic led him to appreciate its
natural beauties-survived a few years longer, many
improvements would have taken place at Holyrood
; and to him it is said those are owing which
have already been effected.
Southward of the palace, the unsightly old tenements
and enclosed gardens at St. Anne's Yard
were swept away, including a quaint-looking dairy
belonging to the Duke of Hamilton, and by
1857-8-9 the royal garden was extended south
some 500 feet from the wall of the south wing, and
a new approach was made from the Abbey Hill,
a handsome new guard-house was built, and the
carved door of the old garden replaced in the wall
between it and the fragment of the old abbey
porch ; and it was during the residence of H.R.H.
the Prince of Wales at Holyrood that the beautiful
fountain in the Palace Yard was completed, on the
model of the ancient one that stands in ruin nowy
in the quadrangle of Linlithgow, and which is
referred to by Defoe in his "Tour in Great
Britain."
The fountain rises from a basin twenty-four feet in
diameter to the height of twenty-eight feet, divided
into threestages, andby flying buttresses has theeffect
of a triple crown. From the upper of these the water
flows through twenty ornate gurgoils into three
successive basins. The basement is of a massive
character, divided by buttresses into eight spaces,
each containing a lion's head gurgoil. This is surmounted
by eight panels having rich cusping, and
between these rise pedestals and pinnacles. The
former support heraldic figures with shields. These
consist of the unicorn bearing the Scottish shield, a
lion bearing a shield charged with the arm of
James IV. and his queen, Margaret of England;
a deer supports two shields, with the arms of the
queens of James V., Magdalene of France, and
Mary of Guise ; and the griffin holds the shields of
James IV. and his queen, Margaret of Denmark.
The pinnacles are highly floriated, and ,enriched
with flowers and medallions
It is in every way a marvellous piece of stone
carving. The flying buttresses connecting the stages
are deeply cusped. On the second stage are eight
figures typical of the sixteenth century, representing
soldiers, courtiers, musicians,' and a lady-falconer,
each two feet six inches in height. On the upper
stage are four archers of the Scottish Guard, supporting
the imperial crown. It occupies the site whereon
for some years stood a statue of Queen Victoria,
which has now disappeared.
Still, as of old, since the union of the cron-ns:
for a fortnight in each year the Lord High Conimissioner
to the General Assembly of the Church
of Scotland holds semi-royal state in Holyrood,
gives banquets in its halls, and holds his ledes in
the Gallery of the Kings.](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v3p091.gif "Old and New Edinburgh Vol. III Page 79")
... o l y d . ] MODERN IMPROVEMENTS. 79
bade them farewell in the Gallery of the Kings,
while a vast concourse ...
Book 3 p. 79
(Score 0.78)
... MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
for the chaplain, and four poor brethren, to have their yearly food, and perpetual ...
Book 10 p. 441
(Score 0.78)
... MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
formed of its original appearance. Not long after its erection, it became the scene ...
Book 10 p. 354
(Score 0.78)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [High Street.
THE mansion of the Earls of Iiyndford immediately
adjoined that of the ...
Book 2 p. 274
(Score 0.77)
... BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
No. XXXI.
ADAM RITCHIE.
THIS old man was by occupation a cowfeeder ; he resided at ...
Book 8 p. 97
(Score 0.77)
![Beechwood.] SIR ROBERT DUNDAS OF BEECHWOOD. 105
to the Castle of Edinburgh under a strong escort of
their comrades.
General Leslie, and Lieutenant MacLean the
adjutant, having accompanied this party a little
way out of Glasgow, were, on their return, assailed
by a mob which sympathised with the Highlanders
and accused them of being active in sending
away the prisoners. The tumult increased,
stones were thrown ; General Leslie was knocked
down, and he and MacLean had to seek shelter
these documents were not formally executed, were
confused in their terms, and good for nothing in a
legal sense, Mrs. Rutherford of Edgerstoun very
generously fulfilled to the utmost what she conceived
to be the intentions of her father.
Sir Robert Dundas, Bart., of Beechwood, like the
preceding, figures in the pages of Kay. He was
one of the principal Clerks of Session, and Deputy
Lord Privy Seal of Scotland. He was born in
June, 1761, and was descended from the Dundases
BEECHWOOD.
in the house of the Lord Provost till peace
officers came, and a company of Fencibles. One
of the mutineers was shot, by sentence of a
court-martial. The others were sent to America.
On his way back to Edinburgh General Leslie
was seized with a dangerous illness, and died at
' Beechwood House on the 27th of December,
'794.
No will could be found among the General's repositories
at Beechwood, and it was presumed that
he had died intestate. However, a few days after
the filneral, two holograph papers were discovered,
bequeathing legacies to the amount of L7,ooo
among some of his relations and friends, particularly
.&I,OOO each to two natural daughters. Although
110
of Amiston, the common ancestor of whom was
knighted by Charles I., and appointed to the
bench by Charles 11. Educated as a Writer to
the Signet, he was made deputy-keeper of Sashes,
and in 1820 a principal Clerk of Session. He was
one of the original members of the old Royal
Edinburgh Volunteers, of which corps he was a
lieutenant in 1794. He purchased from Lord
Melville the estate of Dunira in Perthshire, and
succeeded to the baronetcy and the estate of
Beechwood on the death of his uncle General Sir
David Dundas, G.C.B., who was for some time
Commander-in-Chief of the forces. Sir Robert
died in 1835.
A winding rural carriage-way, umbrageous and](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v5p116.gif "Old and New Edinburgh Vol. V Page 105")
... SIR ROBERT DUNDAS OF BEECHWOOD. 105
to the Castle of Edinburgh under a strong escort of
their ...
Book 5 p. 105
(Score 0.77)
... STUARTS TO THE DEATH OF YAMES III. I3
after this, Henry IV. of England renewed the oft-confuted claim of ...
Book 10 p. 14
(Score 0.77)
... CANONGA TE AND ABBE Y SANCTUAR Y. 297
VMBRA.” On another :-‘‘ UT TU LINGVB TVB, SIC EGO YEAR : AVRIUN ...
Book 10 p. 324
(Score 0.77)
... NISBET$ OF DEAN. 65 The Water of Leith.1
Embosomed among venerable trees, the old
house of a baronial family, ...
Book 5 p. 65
(Score 0.77)
![High Street.] THE POKER CLUB. a31
The only publication of sterling merit which enlivened
the occasion that called it forth was ?? The
History in the Proceedings of Margaret, commonly
called Peg,? written in imitation of Dr. Arbuthnot?s
?History of John Bull.? In the memoirs of Dr.
Carlyle of Inveresk an amusing account is given
of the Poker Club, of which he was a zealous and
constant attender. About the third or fourth meeting
of the club, after 1/62, he mentions that members
were at a loss for a name for it, and wished one
that should be of uncertain meaning, and not so
directly offensive as that of Militia Club, whereupon
Adam Fergusson, the eminent historian and moral
philosopher, suggested the name of Poker, which
the members understood, and which would ?be
an enigma to the public.?
It comprehended all the Ziterati of Edinburgh
and its neighbourhood, most of whom-like Robertson,
Hair, and Hume-had been members of the
select society (those only excepted who were enemies
to the Scottish militia scheme), together with a
great many country gentlemen whose national and
Jacobite proclivities led them to resent the invidious
line drawn between Scotland and England.
Sir William Pulteney Johnston was secretary of
the Poker Club, with two members, whom he was
to consult anent its publications in a laughing hour.
?? Andrew Crosbie, advocate, was appointed assassin
to the club, in case any service of that sort should
be needed ; but David Hume was named for his
assistant, so that between the plus and minus there
was no hazard of much bloodshed.?
After a time the club removed its meetings to
Fortune?s Tavern, at the Cross K$, in the Stamp
Office Close, where the dinners became so showy
and expensive that attendance began to decrease,
and new members came in ?who had no title to be
there, and were not congenial? (the common fate
of all clubs generally) ?and so by death and desertion
the Poker began to dwindle away, though
a bold attempt was made to revive it in 1787 by
some young men of talent and spirit.? When Cap.
tain James Edgar, one of the original Pokers, was
in Paris in 1773, during the flourishing time of the
club, he was asked by D?Alembert to go with him
to their club of literati, to which he replied with
something of bluntness, I? that the company 01
literati was no novelty to him, for he had a club at
Edinburgh composed, he believed, of the ablest
men in Europe. This? (adds Dr. Carlyle, whose
original MS. Lord Kames quoted) ?was no singular
opinion ; for the most enlightened foreigners
had formed the same estimate of the literary society
of Edinburgh at that time. The Princess Dashkoff,
disputing with me one day at Buxton about the
superiority of Edinburgh as a residence to most of
the cities of Europe, when I had alleged various
particulars, in which I thought we excelled, ? No,?
said she, ?but I know one article you have not
mentioned in which I must give you clearly the
precedence, which is, that of all the societies of nieii
of talent I have met with in n;y travels, yours is the
first in point of abilities.? ?
A few steps farther down the street bring us
to the entrance of the Old Stamp Office Close,
wherein was the tavern just referred to, Fortune?s,
one in the greatest vogue between 1760 and 1770.
?The gay men of the city,?? we are told, the
scholarly and the philosophical, with the common
citizens, all flocked hither; and here the Royal
Commissioner for the General Assembly held his
leve?es, and hence proceeded to church with his
co~tt!gz, then- additionally splendid fiom having ladies
walking in it in their court dresses, as well as
gentlemen.?
Thz house occupied by this famous tavern had
been in former times the residence of Alexander
ninth Earl of Eglinton, and his Countess Susanna
Kennedy of the house of Colzean, reputed the most
beautiful woman of her time.
From the magnificent but privately printed
Memorials of the hfontgomeries,? we learn many
interesting particulars of this noble couple, who
dwelt in the Old Stamp Office Close. Whether
their abode there was the same as that stated, of
which we have an inventory, in the time of ?
Hugh third Earl of Eglinton, ?at his house in
Edinburgh, 3rd March, 1563,? given in the ? Memorials,?
we have no means of determining. . Earl
Alexander was one of those patriarchal old Scottish
lords who lived to a great age. He was thrice
married, and left a progeny whose names are interspersed
throughout the pages of the Douglas
peerage. His last Countess, Susanna, was the
daughter of Sir Archibald Kennedy, a sturdy old
cavalier, who made himself conspicuous in the
wars of Dundee. She was one of the co-heiresses
of David Leslie Lord Newark, the Covenanting
general whom Cromwell defeated at Dunbar.
She was six feet in height, extremely handsome,
with a brilliantly fair complexion, and a face of
? the most bewitching loveliness.? She had many
admirers, Sir John Clerk of Penicuick among
others; but her friends had always hoped she
would marry the Earl of Eglinton, though he was
more than old enough to have been her father,
and when a stray hawk, with his iordship?s name
on its bells, alighted on her shoulder as she was
one day walking in her father?s garden at Colzean.
it was deemed an infallible omen of her future.](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v2p051.gif "Old and New Edinburgh Vol. II Page 231")
... Street.] THE POKER CLUB. a31
The only publication of sterling merit which enlivened
the occasion that called ...
Book 2 p. 231
(Score 0.77)
... MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
The streets of Edinburgh continued to partake largely of the general misrule ...
Book 10 p. 40
(Score 0.77)
... SKETCHES.
No. xxxv.
THE SAPIENT SEPTENVIRI.
KING‘S COLLEGE, ABERDEEN.
THE original design of ...
Book 8 p. 109
(Score 0.76)
![George Street.] THE MASONIC HALL. k5 1
Glasgow Union Bank Company, which dates from
1830; in 1843 the name was changed to the
Union Bank of Scotland. ? As was stated by Mr.
Gairdner to the Committee of the House of
Commons on ?Banks of Issue? (1874), several
private and public banks were incorporated from
time to time in the Union: notably, the Thistle
Bank of Glasgow in 1836, the Paisley Union Bank
iri 1838, the Ayr Bank, the Glasgow Arms and
Ship Gank in 1843, Sir William Forbes and J.
Hunter and Co. in the same year. The Aberdeen
Bank was also absorbed in the Union system in
1849, and the Perth Banking Company in 1857.
The special general ;meeting ?or ? considering
whether or not this bank should be registered
under the Companies Act, 1862,? was called on
the 10th December, 1862, but the bank had in
fact %een so registered on the 3rd November of
the same year. At the meeting, Sir John Stuart
Forbes, Bart., was in the chair, and it was unanimously
agreed ?that it is expedient that the
bank register itself 9s an unliniited company under
the Companies Act, 1862, and that the meeting do
now assent to the. bank being so registered, and
authorise the directors to take all necessary steps
for carrying the motion into effect.?
Opposite the Northern Club-3 mere plain
dwelling-house-is the Masonic Hall and offices
of the grand lodge of Scotland, No. 98, George
Street. The foundation &one was laid on the
24th of June, 1858, with due masonic honours, by
the Grand Master, the Duke of Athole, whose
henchman, a bearded Celt of vast proportions, in
Drumrnond tartan, armed with shield and claymore,
attracted great attention. The streets were lined
by the i7th Lancers and the Staffordshire Militia.
The building was finished in. the following year,
snd, among many objects of great masonic interest,
contains the large picture of the ? Inauguration of
Robert Bums as Poet Laureate of the Grand
Lodge of Scotland,? by William Stewart Watson,
a deceased artist, nephew of George Watson, first
president of the Scottish Academy, and cousin of
the late Sir John Watson-Gordon. He was an ardent
Freemason, and for twenty years was secretary
to the Canongate Kilwinning Lodge.
His picture is a very valuable one, as containing
excellent portraits of many eminent men who took
part in that ceremony. He was the same artist
who designed the embellishments of the library at
Abbotsford, at the special request of Sir Walter
Scott, to whom he was nearly related.
In this office are the rooms and records of the
Grand Secretary, and there the whole general
business of the? entire masonic body in Scotland is
transacted.
Three fine bronze pedestrian statues decorate
this long and stately street.
The first of these statues, at the intersection of
George Street and Hanover Street, to the memory
of George IV., is by Chantrey, and was erected in
November, 183r. It is twelve feet in height, on a
granite pedestal of eighteen feet, executed by Mr.
Wallace. The largest of the blocks weighed
fifteen tons, and all were placed by meatls of some
of the cranes used in the erection of the National
Monument.
The second, at the intersection of Frederick
Street, is ?also by Chantrey, to the memory of
William Pitt, and was erected in 1833.
The third, at the intersection of Castle Street, on
a red granite pedestal, was erected in 1878 to the
memory of Dr. Chalmers, and is by the hand of
Sir John Steel.
CHAPTER XX
QUEEN STREET.
The Philosophical Iostitution-House of Bamn Ode-New Physicians? Hall-Sir James Y. Simpron, M.D.-The House of hf-
Wilson-Sir John Leslic-Lord Rockville-Sir Jams Grant of Grant-The Hopetoun Rooms-Edinburgh Educational Institution
for Ladies.
QUEEN STREET was a facsimile of Princes Street,
but its grouping and surroundings are altogether
different.
Like Princes Street, it is a noble terrace, but not
overlooked at a short distance by the magnificent
castle and the Dunedin of the Middle Ages. It
looks northward pver its whole length on beautiful
gardens laid out in shrubs and flowers, beyond
which lie fair white terraces and streets that far
excel itself-the assembled beauties of another new
town spreading away to the wide blue waters of the
Firth of Forth. How true are the lines of Scott !-](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v3p163.gif "Old and New Edinburgh Vol. III Page 151")
... Street.] THE MASONIC HALL. k5 1
Glasgow Union Bank Company, which dates from
1830; in 1843 the name was ...
Book 3 p. 151
(Score 0.76)
... INCIDENTS AFTER THE RESTORATION. 107
south, as having been the scene where poor Ferguson, that unhappy ...
Book 10 p. 117
(Score 0.76)
... 425
1645.-About this date two drawings of Edinburgh appear to have been made, from which engravings ...
Book 10 p. 464
(Score 0.76)
... MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
to a vow on his receiving a signal mercy from God.” The hospital was placed under ...
Book 10 p. 451
(Score 0.76)
... 68 MEMORIALS OF EDIN3URGH.
dramatic exhibitions, this having been used at one time as a public theatre. On ...
Book 10 p. 182
(Score 0.75)
... AND THE NEW TOWN. 357
hold still frowns above the crag that rises from the eastern bank of Lochend; and ...
Book 10 p. 392
(Score 0.75)
![High Street.] U?ARRISTON?S CLOSE. 223
the floors as a picture gallery or exhibition, a new
leature in the Edinburgh of the seventeenth century,
and long before any such idea had been
conceived in France, England, or any other
country. Some of his best works were in possession
of the late Andrew Bell, engraver, the originator
of the ?? Encyclopzdia Britannica,? who married
his granddaughter. ?For some years after the
Revolution,? says Pinkerton, ? he was the only
painter in Scotland, and had a very great run of
business. This brought him into a hasty and
.incorrect manner.? So
here, in the Advocates? -* ~ Close, in the dull and
anorose Edinburgh of
the seventeenth cendury,
was the fashionable
lounge of the dilettanti,
.the resort of rank and
beauty-a quarter from
which the haut ton of the
,present day would shrink
with aversion.
He died at Prestonpans
in the year 1730,
in his eighty-fifth year,
after having witnessed
as startling a series of
political changes as ever
occurred in a long lifetime.
Taking the ancient
.alleys seriatim, Roxburghe
Close comes
next, numbered as 341,
High Street, and. so
- -_
-- = --_= -- -+-
next we come to in descending the north side of
the street, remains only in name, the houses on
both sides being entirely new, and its old steep
descent broken at intervals by convenient flights
of steps; but until r868 it was nearly unchanged
froin its ancient state, some relics of which still
remain.
It had handsome fronts of carefully-polished
ashlar, with richly-decorated doorways with pious
legends on their lintels, to exclude witches, fairies,
and all manner of evil ; there were ornate dormer
named, it may COnfi- HOUSE OF LORD ADVOCATE STEWART, AT THE FOOT
dently be supposed OF ADVOCATES? CLOSE, w e s ~ SIDE.
(though it cannot be
proved as a fact) from having contained the town
residence of some ancient Earl of Roxburghe.
All its ancient features have disappeared, save a
door built up with a handsome cut legend in
raised Roman letters :-?WHATEVER ME BEFALL
I THANK THE LORD OF ALL. J. M., 1586.? This
is said to have been the dwelling-place of the
Roxburghe family, but by tradition only. If true,
it takes the antiquary back to the year in which
.Sir Walter Kerr of Cessford (ancestor of the Dukes
.of Roxburghe), ? baron of Auld-Roxburghe, the
.castle thereof and the lands of Auldtonbum, &c.,?
died at a great age, the last survivor, perhaps, of
the affray in which Sir Walter Scott of Buccleuch
gerished at Edinburgh.
Warriston?s Close (anciently called Bruce?s), the
windows on the roofs
with steep crow-stepped
gables, black with the
smoke and storms of
centuries.
MIHI . SEMPER. DEUS.
1583,? was the legend
which first caught the
eye above a door of a
tenement on the west ?
side, long occupied bj
James Murray, Lord
Philiphaugh, raised to
the bench November Ist,
1689, without having
any predecessor, being
0n.e of the set of judges
nominated after the Re- ,
volution. After being
chosen member of Parliament
for Selkirk in
1681, he had become
an object of special
jealousy to the Scottish
Cavalier Government.
He was imprisoned in
1684, and under terror
? QUI . ERrr . ILLE .
of being tortured in the iron boots, before the
Privy Council in the high Chamber below the
Parliament House, he gave evidence against those
who were concerned in the Rye House Plot.
Lord Philiphaugh had the character of being an
upright judge, but the men of his time never forgot
or forgave the weakness that made him stoop to
save his life, though many of them might no doubt
have acted in the same way, the Scottish Privy
Council of that time being a species of Star
Chamber that did not stand on trifles.
Farther down the close was another edifice, the
lintel of which like some others that were in the
same locality, has been with great good taste
rebuilt, as a lintel, into the extensive printing and
publishing premises of the Messrs. Chambers, a](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v2p043.gif "Old and New Edinburgh Vol. II Page 223")
... Street.] U?ARRISTON?S CLOSE. 223
the floors as a picture gallery or exhibition, a new
leature in the ...
Book 2 p. 223
(Score 0.75)
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