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of 6 1 0 each. The benefits of the endowments are
still destined to burgesses, their wives or children
not married, nor under the age of fifty years.? Ten
others have pensions of 6 1 0 each out of the funds
I
whole area occupied by the church and collegiate
buildings of the Holy Trinity was then included
in the original termini of the. Edinburgh and
Glasgow, the North British, the Edinburgh, Perth,
GROUND PLAN OF TRINITY COLLEGE CHURCH, 1814
following succinct account in the Scofs Magazine
for 1805:-
?In 1741 Captain Alexander Horn, of thecity of
London, by his last will bequeathed &3,500, old
and new South Sea Annuities, to be disposed of at
the discretion of the Lord Provost, Bailies, Dean
of Guild, and Treasurer of the city of Edinburgh,
on account of their early appearance and noble
stand in the cause of liberty (was this a reference
to the Porteous mob ?) as follows :-The interest
of &1,5oo on Christmas-day yearly, to such day
labourers of Edinburgh as by the inclemency of the
weather may be set idle and reduced to want;
interest of &I,OOO to day labourers as aforesaid,
in the Potter Row, Bristo, and West Port; and
I
boundary-wall of its garden, in which he shows
parterres and three rows of large trees, and also a
square lantern and vane above the roof of the large
hall; and in Edgar?s map, a hundred years later,
the waters of the loch came no farther eastward
than the line of the intended North Bridge, between
which and the hospital lay the old Physic Gardens.
?Its demolition brought to light many curious
evidences of its former state,? says Wilson. .?? A
beautiful large Gothic fireplace, with clustered
columns and a low, pointed arch, was disclosed in
she north gable, and many rich fragments of Gothic
ornament were found built into the walls, remains
no doubt of the original hospital buildings, used in
the enlargement and repair of the college.? The

... 6 1 0 each. The benefits of the endowments are still destined to burgesses, their wives or children not ...

Book 2 p. 308
(Score 0.69)

... BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. few particular points both of learning and of practice, but on the whole, his ...

Book 9 p. 589
(Score 0.69)

206 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Leith.
home. He not only took a deep interest in thes
matters, but he studied them with his usual enthu
siasm, and personally superintended every detail.
James IV., one of the most splendid monarch
of his race and time, not only conversed free!
with his mariners at Leith, but he nobly rewardec
the most skilful and assiduous, and visited fami
liarly the houses of his merchants and sea officers
He practised with his artillerymen, often loading
pointing, and discharging the guns, and delightec
in having short voyages with old Andrew Wood o
the Bartons, and others. ?The consequences o
such conduct were highly favourable to him; hc
became as popular with his sailors as he was be
loved by the nobility; his fame was caqied bj
them to foreign countries : thus shipwrights, cannon
founders, and foreign artisans of every description
flocked to his court from France, Italy, and thc
Low Countries.?
In 1512, when James was preparing for hi:
struggle with England to revenge the fall of AndreB
Barton, the retention of his queen?s dowry, and
other insults by Henry-when all Scotland resounded
with. the din of warlike preparation, and,
as the ? Treasurer?s Accounts ? show, ?he castles in
the interiqr were deprived of their guns to arm the
shipping-James, on the 6th of August, held a
naval review of his whole fleet at Leith, an event
which caused no small excitement in England.
Just three months before this De la Mothe, the
French Ambassador (who afterwards fell at Flodden),
coming to Scotland with a squadron, on his
own responsibility, and before war was declared,
attacked a fleet of English merchantmen, sunk
three and captured seven, which he brought into
Leith.
Lord Dacre, who was on a mission at the Scottish
court, promised Henry to get these ships
restored, and to prevent reprisals ; the Bartons, Sir
Alexander Matheson, Sir David Falconer, and other
commanders, were sent to sea to look out for
English ships.
In 1513 La Mothe came again with another
squadron, containing much munition of war for the
Scottish fleet, and arriving off Leith in a furious
storm, he fired a salute of cannon, the object of
which seems to have been mistaken, as it made
every man rush to arms in Edinburgh, where the
common bell was rung for three hours.?
James V. strove to follow in the footsteps of his
father, as the ?Treasurer?s Accounts ? show. In 1539,
? ane silver quhissel,? with a long chain, was given
by his command ?? to the Patroune of the ships.?
It weighed eleven ounces and three-quarters, and
was then the badge of an admiral, as it is now
that of a boatswain. In 1540 payments were made
fur wood cut at Hawthornden for building the
king?s ships, and also for sixteen ells of red and
yellow taffeta (the royal colours) for naval ensigns,
delivered to Captain John Barton of Leith j while
:L sum was paid to Murdoch Stirling for making
ovens for the royal shipping.
In 1511 Florence Carntoune was keeper of
them and their ?gear,? Among them were the
Salamander, the Unicorn, and the LittZe Bark-to
such as these had the armaments of James IV.
dwindled away. John Keir, captain of the first
named, had yearly fifteen pounds. John Brown,
captain of the Great Lyonne, while at Bordeaux on
the king?s service, was paid eighty pounds ; and
the ?fee? of Archibald Penicoke, captain of the
Unicorn, was ten pounds one shilling.
During the wars with Continental countries subsequent
to the union of the crowns, Scotland had
vessels of war, called generally frigates, which are
referred to in the Register of the Privy Council,
Qc., and which seem to have been chiefly named
zfter the royal palaces and castles; and during
these wars Leith furnished many gallant privateers.
But in those far-away times when Scotland was
yet a separate kingdom and the Union undreamt
3f, Leith presented a brisk and busy aspect-an
ispect which, on its commercial side, has been
irigorously maintained up to the present day, and
which is well worthy of its deeply intercsting his.
orical past.

... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Leith. home. He not only took a deep interest in thes matters, but he studied them ...

Book 6 p. 206
(Score 0.69)

APPENDIX. 427
1742.-Of this date is Edgar’s map of Edinburgh, engraved for Maitland’s History of Edinburgh. It was
drawn by W illiam Edgar, architect, for the purpose of being published on a much larger scale ; but he died before
this could be accomplished, when it was fortunately engraved by Maithnd, on a scale sdiciently large for reference
to most of its details. It is of p a t value a an accurate and trustworthy ground-plan of the city almost
immediately before the schemes of civic reform began to modify ita ancient features. A very useful companion
to this is a large map, “ including all the latest improvements,” and dedicated to Provost Elder in 1793. It contains
a very complete reference to all the closes and wynda in the Old Town, many of which have since disappeared,
while alterations in the names of those that remain add to the value of this record of their former nomenclature.
1753.-A s mall folio plate of Edinburgh from the north-west, bearing this date, is engraved from a drawing
by Paul Sandby. It appears to have been taken from about the site of Charlotte Square, though- the town ie
represented at a greater distance. Ita chief value arises from the idea it gives of the site of the New Town, consisting,
on the west side of the Castle, where the Lothian Road has since been made, of formal rows of treee, and
beyond them a great extent of ground mostly bare and unenclosed. Old St Cuthbert’s Church is seen at the
foot of the Castle rock, with a square central tower surmounted by a low spira
In 1816 an ingenious old plan of Edinburgh and ita environs wa published by Kirkwood, on a large
scale. He has taken Edgar as his authority for the Old Town; South Leith from a survey by Wood in
1777 ; the intervening ground, including North Leith and the site of the New Town from a survey made in
1759, by John Fergus and Robert Robinson; and the south of Edinburgh, including the whole ground to
the POW Burn, from another made the same year by Jahn Scott. It is further ‘embellished with a reduced
copy of the view of 1580, and a plan of Leith made in 1681. The names of most of the proprietors of ground
are given from the two last surveys, belonging to the town, and the whole forms B tolerably complete and
curious record of the neighbourhood of Edinburgh about the middle of the eighteenth century.
Gough remarks, in his British Topography, with reference to John Clerk, Esq. of Eldin,-whose amateur
performances with the etching needle are coveted by collectors of topographical illustrations, on account of their
rarity, a few impressions only having been printed for private distribution,-“ I am informed he intends to etch
some views of Edinburgh of large size, having made some very accurate drawings for that purpose.’’ Two of
these, at 1 east, have been etched on narrow plates, about fifteen inches long. One of them, aLview from the north,
has Lochend and Logan of Restalrig’s old tower in the foreground ; with the initials J. C., and the date 1774
The other is from the head of the Links, with Wrychtishousis’ mansion in the foreground. They are not, however,
so accurate as Qough-or more probably his Scottish authority, Mr George Paton-had anticipated
To thia list we may add a south view of Edinburgh 1 y Hollar, on two sheets. We have never seen a copy of
it, nor met with any person who has seen more than one of the sheets, now at Cambridge. It is very rare, has
no date, and is perhaps, after all, only a copy of Qordon’s bird’s-eye view. Gough mentions an ancient drawing
of Edinburgh preserved in the Charter Room of Heriot’s Hospital, but no such thing is now known to exist,
although the careful researches of Dr Steven, in the preparation of his History of the Hospital, could hardly have
failed to discover it, had it still remained there.
Of modern views the best is that drawn by W. H. Williams, or a he is more frequently styled, Grecian
Williams, and engraved on a large scale, with great ability and taste, by William Miller. It is taken from the
top of Arthur’s Seat, so that it partakes of the character of a bird’seye view, with all the beauty of correct perspective
and fine pictofical effect.
A rare and interesting print published in 1751, engraved from a drawing by Paul Sandby, preserves a view
of Leith at that period. It ia taken from the old east road, and, owing to the nature of the ground, and the site
of the town being chiefly a declivity towards the river, little more is seen than the nearest rows of houses and
the steeple of St Mary‘s Church. The rural character of the neighbouring downa, however, is curious, a well
as a singular looking old-fashioned carriage, which forms one of the moat prominent objects in the view.

... 427 1742.-Of this date is Edgar’s map of Edinburgh, engraved for Maitland’s History of Edinburgh. It ...

Book 10 p. 466
(Score 0.69)

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 37
No. XIIL
JAMES MACRAE, ESQ.
JAMESM ACRAE, Esq., of Holmains, had the misfortune to obtain a celebrity,
by no means enviable, as a duellist. He was a capital shot, and, it was
said, obtained his proficiency by firing at a barber's block, kept by him for that
purpose. In April 1790, the event occurred which had the effect of exiling him
from his native land. The following account of the affair is taken from the
#cots Magazine :-
" DUEL BETWIXT SIR GEORGE RAMSAY AND MR. MACRAE.
" On Wednesday the 7th of April, Captain Macrae, thinking himself insulted
by a footman of Lady Ramsay's at the theatre, beat him severely. Mr. Macrae
the next day met Sir George Ramsay in the street, when he told him he was
sorry to have been obliged to correct a servant of his last night at the playhouse.
Sir G. answered, the servant had been a short time with him, was Lady Ramsay's
footman, and that he did not consider himself to have any concern in the matter.
Mr. Macrae then said he would go and make an apology to Lady Ramsay,
which he did. On Monday the 12th, the footman commenced an action against
Mr. Macrae. On Tuesday the 13th, Mr. Macrae sent the following letter to
Sir G. Ramsay :-
" ' Marionville, Tuesday, 2 o'clock.
" ' SIR-I received last night a summons, at the instance of James Merry,
your servant, whose insolent behaviour to me at the theatre on Wednesday last
I was obliged to punish severely, which was the reason of my not insisting on
your turning him off; but as he has chosen to prosecute me, I must now insist
that he shall either drop the prosecution, or that you shall immediately turn
him off. As to his being Lady Ramsay's servant, it is of no consequence to
me ; I consider you as the master of your family, and expect what I have now
demanded shall be complied with. I am, sir, your humble servant,
" ' JAMESM ACRAE.
" Addressed, ' Sir George Ramsay, St. Andrew Square.'
" Sir George returned the following answer :-
" ' SIR-~ am just now favoured with your letter. I was ignorant that my
servant had commenced a prosecution until your letter informed me. He
meets no encouragement from me ; and I hope, on considering the matter farther,
you will not think it incumbent on me to interfere in any respect, especially
as the man at present is far from being well. I am, sir, yours, etc.
6' 6 Tuesday, half past three. U 6 GEORGREA MSAY.'

... SKETCHES. 37 No. XIIL JAMES MACRAE, ESQ. JAMESM ACRAE, Esq., of Holmains, had the misfortune to ...

Book 8 p. 49
(Score 0.68)

THE CA S TL E. 131
in 1682, in firing a royal salute to the Duke of York, afterwards James VII., a circumstance
that did not fail to be noted at the time as an evil 0men.l On her restoration to
Edinburgh, in 1829 (from which she had been taken as a lump of old iron), she was again
received with the honours accorded to her in ancient times, and was attended in grand procession,
and with a military guard of honour, from Leith to her ancient quarters in the
Castle.’
Near the battery on which this ancient relic now stands is situated the postern gate, as
it is termed, which forms the western boundary of the inner fortification, or citadel of the
Castle. Immediately without this, the highest gmund was known, till the erection of the
new barracks, by the name of Hawk-Hill,’ and doubtless indicated the site of the falconry
in earlier times, while the Castle was a royal residence. Numerous entries in the treasurers’
books attest the attachment of the Scottish Kings to the noble sport of hawking, and the
very high estimation in which these birds were held.
On the northern slope of the Esplanade, without the Castle wall, there still exists a long,
low archway, like the remains of a subterraneous passage, the walls being of rubble work,
and the arch neatly built of hewn stone. Until the enclosure and planting of the ground
excluded the public from the spot, this was popularly known as the Lions’ Den, and was
believed to have been a place of confinement for some of these animals, kept, according
to ancient custom, for the amusement of the Scottish monarchs, though it certainly looks
much more like a covered way to khe Castle.’ Storer, in his description of the West Bow,
mentions a house “ from which there is a vaulted passage to the Castle Hill,” as a thing
then (1818) well known, the house being reported to have afforded in earlier times a place
of meeting for the Council. This tradition of an underground way from the Castle, is one
of very old and general belief; and the idea was further strengthened, by the discovery of
remains of a subterranean passage crossing below Brown’s Close, Castle Hill, in paving it
about the beginning of the present century.* At the bottom of the same slope, on the
margin of the hollow that once formed the bedsf the North Loch, stand the ruins of an
ancient fortification, called the Well-house Tower, which dates as early at least as the
erection of the first town wall, in 1450. It formed one of the exterior works of the
Castle, and served, as its name implies, to secure to the garrison comparatively safe access
to a spring of water at the base of the precipitous rock. Some interesting discoveries were
made relative to this fortification during the operations in the year 1821, preparatory to
the conversion of the North Loch into pleasure grounds. d ere moval of a quantity of
rubbish brought a covered way to light, leading along the southern wall of the tGwer to
a strongly fortzed doorway, evidently intended as a sally port, and towards which the
Fountainhall’s Chron. Notes, No. 1.
a A curious and ancient piece of brasa ordnance, now preserved in the Antiquarian Museum, is worthy of notice here
It was found on the battlementa of Bhurtpore, when taken by Lord Combermere,
’ Kincaid, p. 137. “The governor appointed a centinell on the Hauke Hill, to give notice 80 won an he 8aw the
4 A very curious monumental atone stands near the top of the bank, but it can hardly be included, with propriety,
It was brought from Sweden, and presented many yeara since to the Society of Antiquaries
There is engraved on it a serpent encircling a mm, and on the body of the serpent
Vide
from ita connection with Edinburgh.
and bears the iIlECriptiO~~ACOBUM8 ONTEITHH E FECIT, ELHITBURAGNXHO, DOM.1 642
mortar piece fired.”-Siege of the Caatle, 1689.
among our local antiquities.
by Sir Alex. Setoun of Preston.
a Runio inscription, aignifying,-Ari engraved this stone in memory of Hiam, hie father.
Archmlogia Scotica, voL ii p. 490.
Bann. Club, p, 55.
God help hie SOUL
e Chambers’s Traditions, vol. i. p. 156.

... CA S TL E. 131 in 1682, in firing a royal salute to the Duke of York, afterwards James VII., a ...

Book 10 p. 142
(Score 0.68)

HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE NOTES.
BY WILLIAM BALLINGALL.
--
THE Royal Exchange is situated immediately opposite the eastern wing
of Parliament Square. On the north side of the quadrangle, under the piazza,
is the entrance to the Council Chambers, the main approach from the High
Street being through an archway, as shown in the Engraving. Here, in
September 1842, Queen Victoria, on her first visit to Edinburgh, was presented
with the keys of the city. Hugh Miller in describing the Royal
progress writes :-
' There was the gleam of helmets, the flash of swords ; the shout rose high ;
and as the vehicle in front moved on, there was a fluttering of scarfs and
kerchiefs at every casement and in every gallery, as if a stiff breeze had
swept by and shaken them as it passed. The city Magistrates in their scarlet
robes had formed a group in front of the Exchange, and here the Royal
vehicle paused, and the Lord Provost went through the ceremony of delivering
the city keys into the hands of the Sovereign.'
As a link between the present and the past, the Corporation met in the
Council Chambers on the 16th of August 1876, for the purpose of proceeding
to Holyrood to present her Majesty with the keys of the city. On entering
the presence-chamber at the Palace, the Lord Provost read the following
address :-
' May it please your Majesty,-We, your Majesty's most dutiful and loyal
subjects, the Lord Provost, Magistrates, and Town Council, offer for your
Majesty's gracious acceptance the keys of your good town of Edinburgh j we
thus surrender to your Majesty the custody of the city, and place the hearts
and persons of the citizens with unfeigned devotion at the disposal of your
Majesty; and we earnestly beseech the Almighty that He may bless and
long continue your Majesty's reign over us, and ever have your Majesty and
the members of your Royal House in His loving and holy keeping.'
The silver keys, to which are attached white and black ribbons, lay on a
crimson velvet cushion in a silver salver. (For illustration see titlepage.)

... AND DESCRIPTIVE NOTES. BY WILLIAM BALLINGALL. -- THE Royal Exchange is situated immediately opposite ...

Book 11 p. 86
(Score 0.68)

9d OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [The Castle HX
one going plump down a vent they set up a shout
of joy. Sir David laughed, and entreated the
father of the lads ?? not to be too angry ; he and
his brother,? he added with some emotion, ?when
CANNON BALL IN WALL OF nowE IN CASTLE KILL.
living here at the same age, had indulged in precisely
the same amusement, the chimneys then, as
now, being so provokingly open to attacks, that
there was no resisting the temptation.? From
the Bairds of Newbyth the house passed to the
Browns of Greenbank, and from them, Brown?s
Close, where the modern entrance to it is situated,
On the same side of the street Webster?s Close
served to indicate the site of the house of Dr.
Alexander Webster, appointed in 1737 to the
Tolbooth church.. In his day one of the most
popular men in the city, he was celebrated for his
wit and socid qualities, and amusing stories are
still told of his fondness for claret With the a s
sistance of Dr. Wallace he matured his favourite
scheme of a perpetual fund for the relief of
widows and children of the clergy of the Scottish
Church; and when, in 1745, Edinburgh was in
possession of the Jacobite clans, he displayed a
striking proof of his fearless character by employing
all his eloquence and influence to retain the
people in their loyalty to the house of Hanover.
He had some pretension to the character of a poet,
2nd an amatory piece of his has been said to rival
-the effusions of Catullus. It was written in allusion
to his mamage with Mary Erskine. There is
one wonderfully impassioned verse, in which, after
describing a process of the imagination, by which
?he comes to think his innamarata a creature of more
. derives its name.
than mortal purity, he says that at length he clasps
her to his bosom and discovers that she is but a
woman after all !
?? When I see thee, I love thee, but hearing adore,
I wonder and think you a woman no more,
Till mad with admiring, I cannot contain,
And, kissing those lips, find you woman again ! ?
He died in January, 1784.
Eastward of this point stands a very handsome
old tenement of great size and breadth, presenting
a front of polished ashlar to the street, surmounted
by dormer windows. Over the main entrance to
Boswell?s Court (so named from a doctor who resided
there about the close of the last century)
there is a shield, and one of those pious legends
so peculiar to most old houses in Scottish burghs.
0. LORD. IN. THE. IS. AL. MI. TRAIST. Andthis
edifice uncorroborated tradition asserts to have
been the mansion of the. Earls of Bothwell.
A tall narrow tenement immediately to the west
of the Assembly Hall forms the last ancient building
on the south side of the street. It was built in
1740, by hfowbray of Castlewan, on the site of ?
a venerable mansion belonging to the Countess
Dowager of Hyndford (Elizabeth daughter of
John Earl of Lauderdale), and from him it passed,
about 1747, into the possession of William Earl of
Dumfries, who served in the Scots Greys and Scots
Guards, who was an aide de camp at the battle of
Dettingen, and who succeeded his mother, Penelope,
countess in her own right, and afterwards, by the
death of his brother, as Earl of Stair. He was succeeded
in it by his widow, who, within exactly a
year and day of his death, married the Hon.
Alexander Gordon (son of the Earl of Aberdeen),
who, on his appointment to the bench in 1784,
assumed the title of Lord Rockville.
He was the last man of rank who inhabited this
stately uld mansion ; but the narrow alley which
gives?access to the court behind bore the name
of Rockville Close. Within it, and towards the
west there towered a tall substantial edifice once
the residence of the Countess of Hyndford, and
sold by her, in 1740, to Henry Bothwell of Glencome,
last Lord Holyroodhouse, who died at his
mansion in the Canongate in 1755.
The corner of the street is now terminated by
the magnificent hall built in 1842.3, at the cost
of &16,000 for the accommodation of the General
Assembly, which sits here annually in May, presided
over by a Commissioner, who is always a
Scottish nobleman, and resides in Holyrood Palace,
where he holds royal state, and gives levCes in the
gallery of the kings of Scotland. The octagonal

... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [The Castle HX one going plump down a vent they set up a shout of joy. Sir David ...

Book 1 p. 90
(Score 0.68)

252 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
character of this worthy gentleman ; but it may not be here altogether out of
place to reoord an instance of that independence of principle which so much
distinguished him in every transaction. Being frequently called to sit as a juryman,
and on many of these occasions chosen chancellor, Sir William had
occasional opportunities not only of displaying an extensive knowledge of the
, laws and constitution of his country, but also of manifesting a spirit sensible of
the liberties of the subject, and resolute to maintain them. In a trial on one
occasion, for sheep-stealing, the judge on the bench having expressed his dissatisfaction
with the verdict of the jury-acquitting the prisoner-& William,
with the warmth natural to just feeling, reminded his lordship that “the jury
were upon oath-that they had acted accordingly-that they considered themselves
as judges of the law as well as of the fact-and that while they sat in
judgment they had no superiors ! ”
Of SIR JAMES HUNTER BLAIR, the partner of Sir William, a memoir
has already been given-(Pu‘o. XXVIII.)
place of his concealment was for 8ome time a cave, constructed under the arch of a bridge, at a remote
part of the moors of Pitsligo, and the disguise which he assumed was that of a mendicaut. This
disguise, though it did not deceive his friends and tenants, saved them from the danger of receiving
him in his own person, and served as a protection against soldiers and officers of justice, who were
desirous to apprehend him for sake of the price set upon his head. On one occasion he was seized
with asthma, just as a patrol of soldiers were coming up behind him. Having no other expedient,
he sat down by the road-side, and anxiously waiting their approach, begged alms of the party, and
actually received them from a good-natured fellow, who condoled with him at the same time on the
severity of his asthma.
In this way the romantic adventures and narrow escapes of the old Lord Pitsligo were numerous
and interesting. At length, in 1748, the estate having been confiscated and seized upon by Government,
the search became less rigorous. His only son, the Master of Pitsligo, had married the
daughter of Jsmes Ogilvy of Anchiries, and the house of Auchiries received the proscribed nobleman
occasionally under the name of Mr. Brown. The search, however, was frequently renewed ; and on
the last occasion his escape was so very singular, that it “made a deep impression at the time, and
was long narrated by some of the aotors in it, with those feeliigs of awe which the notion of an
approach even ta $he supernatural never fails to produce.
“ In March 1766, and of course long after all apprehension of a search had ceased, information
having been given to the then commanding officer at Fraserburgh, that Lord Pikiligo was at that
moment in the house of Auchries, it waa acted upon with so muoh promptness and secrecy, that the
search must have proved successful, but for a very singular occurrence. Mrs. Sophia Donaldson, a
lady who lived much with the family, repeatedly dreamed on that particular night that the house
was surrounded by soldiers. Her mind became so haunted with the idea, that she got out of bed, and
was walking through the room in hopes of giving a different current to her thoughts before she lay
down again, when, day beginning to dawn, she accidentally looked out at the window as she passed it in
traversing the room, and was astonished at actually observing the figures of soldiers among some
trees near the house. So completely had all idea of a search been by that time laid asleep, that she
supposed they had come to steal poultry ; Jacobite poultry-yards affording a safe object of pillage for
the English soldiers in those days. Under this impression Mrs. Sophia was proceeding to rouse the
servants, when her sister, having awaked, and inquiring what was the matter, and being told of
soldiers near the house, exclaimed, in great alarm, that she feared they wasted something more than
hens 1 She begged Mrs. Sophia to look out at a window on the other side of the house, when not
only soldiers were seen in that direction, hut also an officer giving instructions by signals, and frequently
putting his fingers ou his lips, &9 if enjoining silence.
rousing the family ; and all the haste that could be made was scarcely sufficient to hurry the venerable
man from his bed into a amall recefis behind the wainscot of an adjoining room, which was concealed
by a bed, in which a lady, Miss Gordon of Towie, who was there on a visit, lay, before the soldiers obtained
There was now no time to be lost in’

... BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. character of this worthy gentleman ; but it may not be here altogether out of place to ...

Book 8 p. 353
(Score 0.68)

to extinct Scottish regiments, and various weapons
from the field of Culloden, particularly the Doune
steel pistols, of beautiful workmanship, worn by
Highland gentlemen.
Near this rises the Hawk Hi?l, where kings and
nobles practised falconry of old; on the left is
the Gothic arch of the citadel; and on the right
* rises the great mass of the hideous and uncomfortable
infantry barracks, erected partly on the
archery butts, in 1796, and likened by Sir Walter
Scott to a vulgar cotton-mill. This edifice is 150
feet long, and four storeys high to the westward,
where it rises on a massive arcade, and from its
windows can be had a magniticent prospect, extend-
'ing almost to the smoke of Glasgow, and the blue
cone of Ben Lomond, fifty miles distant.
On the south-west is Drury's gun-hattery, so
named from the officer of Scottish Engineers who
built it in 1689, and in its rear is the square prisonhouse,
built in 1840. Passing through the citadel
gate, we find on the left the modern water-tank,
the remains of the old shot-yard, the door of which
has now disappeared; but on the gablet above it
was a thistle, with the initials D.G.M.S. Here is
the king's bastion, on the north-west verge of the
citadel, and on the highest cliff of the Castle rock.
Here, too, are St Margaret's Chapel, which we
have already described, Mons Meg, frowning, as
of old, from the now-ruinous mortar battery, and
a piece of bare rock, the site of a plain modern
chapel, the pointed window of which was once
conspicuous from Princes Street, but which was
demolished by Colonel Moodie, R.E., in expectation
fhat one more commodious would be erected.
But macy years have since passed, and this has
never been done, consequently there is now no
chapel for the use of the troops of any religious
denomination; while the office of chaplain has
also been abolished, at
a time when Edinburgh
has been made a dep8t
centre for Scottish regiments,
and in defiance
of the fact that the
Castle is under the
Presbytery, and is a
parish of the city.
The platform of the
half-moon battery is
510 feet above the level
of the Forth. It is
armed with old 18 and
24 pounders, one of
which is, at one P.M.,
fired by electricity as a
time-gun, by a wire from the Calton Hill. It is
furnished with a lofty flagstaff, an iron grate for
beacon fires, and contains a draw-well IIO feet
deep. From its massive portholes Charles 11. saw
the rout of Cromwell's troops at Lochend in 1650;
and from there the Corsican chief Saoli in 1771,
the Grand Duke Nicholas in 1819, George IV. in
1822, Queen Victoria, and many others of note,
have viewed the city that stretched at their feet
below.
Within this battery is the ancient square or
Grand Parade, where some of the most interesting
buildings in the Castle are to be found, as it is
on the loftiest, most precipitous, and inaccessible
portion of the isolated rock. Here, abutting on
the very verge of the giddy cliff, overhanging the
Grassmarket, several hundred feet below, stands
all that many sieges have left of the ancient royal
palace, forming the southern and easterr. sides of
the quadrangle. The chief feature of the former is
a large battlemented edifice, now nearly destroyed
by its conversion into a military hospital. This
was the ancient hall of the Castle, in length 80
feet by 33 in width, and 27 in height, and
lighted by tall mullioned windows from the south,
wherein Parliaments have sat, kings have feasted
and revelled, ambassadors been received, and
treaties signed for peace or war. Some remains
of its ancient grandeur are yet discernible amid
the new floors and partitions that have been run
through it. At the summit of the principal staircase
is a beautifully-sculptured stone corbel representing
a well-cut female face, ornamented on each
side by a volute and thistle. On this rests one of
the original beams of the open oak roof, and on each
side are smaller beams with many sculptured shields,
all defaced by the whitewash of the barrack
pioneers and hospital orderlies. " The view from
CHEST IN WHICH THE REGALIA WERE FOUND.
the many windows on
this side is scarcely surpassed
by any other in
the capital. Immediately
below are the picturesque
old houses of
the Grassmarket and
West Port, crowned by
the magnificent towers
of Heriot's Hospital.
From this deep abyss
the hum of the neighbouring
city rises up,
mellowed by the distance,
into one pleasing
voice of life and industry
; while far beyond a

... extinct Scottish regiments, and various weapons from the field of Culloden, particularly the Doune steel ...

Book 1 p. 76
(Score 0.68)

-
which it belonged, and annexed to Restalrig. It
stood on high ground, where its ancient square
belfry tower, four storeys in height, was a very
conspicuous object among a group of old trees,
long after the church itself bad passed away, till
it was blown down by a storm in November, 1866.
The effigy of a knight, with hands clasped, in a
full suit of armour, lay amid the foundations of the
old church as lately as 1855.
Tradition avers the tower had been occasionally
Great quantities of fruit, vegetables, and daily
produce are furnished by Lasswade for the city
markets. Save where some primitive rocks rise
up in the Pentland quarter of the parish, the whole
of its area lies upon the various secondary formations,
including sandstone, clays of several kinds,
and a great number of distinct coal-seams, with
their strata of limestone.
On the western side of the Esk the metals stand
much on edge, having a dip of 6 5 O in some
the manse previously in 1.789,
In the burying-ground are interred the first Lord
Melville and his successors.
Lasswade has long been celebrated for the excellence
of its oatmeal, the reputation of which,
through Lord Melville, reached George 111. and
Queen Charlotte, whose family were breakfasted
upon it during childhood, the meal being duly
? sent to the royal household by a miller of the
village, named Mutter.
surmounted its west gable. The vault, or tomb,
hundred and seventy feet.
On the eastern side of the Esk the metals have
a dip so small-amounting to only I in 7 or 8
-that the coal seams, in contradistinction to the
edge-coals, as they are called on the west side,
have obtained the name of ?flat broad coals.?
One of the mines on the boundary of Liberton
was ignited by accident about the year 1770, and
for upwards of twenty years resisted fiercely every
effort made to extinguish its fire. Besides furable
coal seams are twenty-five in number, an8

... it belonged, and annexed to Restalrig. It stood on high ground, where its ancient square belfry tower, ...

Book 6 p. 358
(Score 0.67)

KING‘S STABLES, CASTLE BARNS, AND CASTLE HILL. I57
devices, and divide the ceiling into irregular square and round compartments, with raised
and gilded stars at their intersections. The fifth painting-of which we have endeavoured
to convey some idea to the reader-possesses peculiar interest, as a specimen of early
Scottish art. It embodies, though under different forms, the leading features of the immortal
allegory constructed by John Bunyan for the instruction of a later age. The Christian
appears fleeing from the City of Destruction, environed still by the perils of the way,
yet guided, through all the malignant opposition of the powers of darkness, by the unerring
hand of an over-ruling Providence. These paintings were concealed, a8 in similar examples
previously described, by a modern flat ceiling, the greater portion of which still remains,
rendering it difficult to obtain a near view of them. Mr Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe has,
in his interesting collection, another curious relic of the decorations of this apartment,
consisting of a group of musicians, which may possibly have been one of the ‘‘ paintit broddis
” mentioned among “ the Quene Regentis Paintrie.” One of the band is playing on
a lute, another on a horn, &c., and all with their music-books before them. This painting
was rescued by its present possessor, just as the recess or cupboard, of which it formed the
back, was about to be converted into a coal-cellar. Fragments of a larger, but much ruder,
copy of the same design were discovered on the demolition of the fine old mansion of Sir
William Nisbet of the Dean, in 1845, which bore above its main, entrance the date 1614.
Most of the other portions of the interior have been renewed at a later period, and exhibit
the panelling and decorations in common use during the last century.
This building appears, from the various titles, to have been the residence of a succession
of wealthy burgesses, as usual with the ‘‘ fore tenements of land,”-the closes being then,
and down to a comparatively recent date, almost exclusively occupied by noblemen and
dignitaries of rank and wealth.
Painted Oak Beam from Mary of Guise’s Chapel.

... STABLES, CASTLE BARNS, AND CASTLE HILL. I57 devices, and divide the ceiling into irregular square and ...

Book 10 p. 171
(Score 0.67)

Corstorphine.] CORSTORPHINE CHURCH. 115
was no side road into which he could have disappeared.
He returned home perplexed by the
oddness of the circumstance, when the first thing
he learned was, that during his absence this friend
had been killed by his horse falling in the Candlemakers
Row.??
The church of Corstorphine is one of the most
interesting old edifices in the Lothians. It has
been generally supposed, says a writer, that Scotland,
while possessed of great and grand remains
of Gothic architecture, is deficient in those antique
rural village churches, whose square towers and
ivied buttresses so harmonise with the soft landscape
scenery of England, and that their place is
too often occupied by the hideous barn-like structure
of times subsequent to the Reformation. But
among the retiring niinor beauties of Gothic architecture
in Scotland, one of the principal is the
picturesque little church of Corstorphine.
It is a plain edifice of mixed date, says Billings
in his ?? Antiquities,? the period of the Decorated
Gothic predominating. It is in the form of a cross,
with an additional transept on one of the sides;
but some irregularities in the height and character
of the different parts make them seem asif they
were irregularly clustered together without design.
A portion of the roof is still covered with old-&ey
flagstone. A small square belfry-tower at the west
end is surmounted by a short octagonal spire, the
ornate string? mouldings on which suggest an idea
of the papal tiara
As the church of the parish, it is kept in tolerably
decent order, and it is truly amazing how it
escaped the destructive fury of the Reformers.
This edifice was not the original parish church,
which stood near it, but a separate establishment,
founded and richly endowed by the pious enthusiasm
of the ancient family whose tombs it contains,
and whose once great castle adjoined it.
Notices have been found of a chapel attached to
the manor of Corstorphine, but subordinate to the
church of St. Cuthbert, so far back as 1128, and
this chapel became the old parish church referred
to. Thus, in the Holyrood charter of King DavidI.,
1143-7, he grants to the monks there the two
chapels which pertain to the church of St. Cuthbert,
?? to wit, Crostorfin, with two oxgates and six
acres of land, and the chapel of Libertun with two
oxgates of land.?
In the immediate vicinity of that very ancient
chapel there was founded ancther chapel towards
the end of the fourteenth century, by Sir Adam
Forrester of Corstorphine; and that edifice is sup
posed to form a portion of the present existing
church, because after its erection no mention whatever
has been found of the second chapel as a
separate edifice.
.The building with which we have now to do
was founded in 1429, as an inscription on the wall
of the chancel, and other authorities, testify, by Sir
John Forrester of Corstorphine, Lord High Chamberlain
of Scotland in 1425, and dedicated to St.
John the Baptist, for a provost, five prebendaries,
and two singing boys. It was a collegiate church,
to which belonged those of Corstorphine, Dalmahoy,
Hatton, Cramond, Colinton, &c. The tiends
of Ratho, and half of those of Adderton and Upper
Gogar, were appropriated to the revenues of this
college.
?Sir John consigned the annual rents of one hundred
and twenty ducats in gold to the church,? says
the author of the ?New Statistical Account,? ?on
condition that he and his successors should have the
patronage of the appointments, and on the understanding
that if the kirk of Ratho were united to
the provostry, other four or five prebendaries
should be added to the establishment, and maintained
out of the fruits of the benefice of Ratho.
Pope Eugenius IV. sanctioned this foundation by a
bull, in which he directed the Abbot of Holyroodhouse,
a$ his Apostolic Vicar, to ascertain whether
the foundation and consignation had been made in
terms of the original grant, and on being satisfied
on these points, to unite and incorporate the church
of Ratho with its rights, emoluments, and pertinents
to the college for ever.?
The first provost of this establishment was
Nicholas Bannatyne, who died there in 1470, and
was buried in the church, where his epitaph still
remains.
When Dunbar wrote his beautiful ? I Lament for
the Makaris,? he embalmed among the last Scottish
poets of his time, as taken by Death, ? the gentle
Roull of Corstorphine,? one of the first provosts of
the church-
?( He has tane Rod1 of Aberdeen,
A d gentle Rod1 of Corstorphine ;
Twa better fellows did nae man see :
Timor mortis conturbat me.?
There was, says the ? The Book of Bon Accord,?
a Thomas Roull, who was Provost of Aberdeen in
1416, and it is conjectured that the baid was of the
same family ; but whatever the works of the latter
were, nothing is known of him now, save his name,
as recorded by Dunbar.
In the year 1475, Hugh Bar, a burgess of Edinburgh,
founded an additional chaplaincy in this
then much-favoured church. ? The chaplain, in
addition to the performance of daily masses for
the souls of the king andqueen, the lords of the

... CORSTORPHINE CHURCH. 115 was no side road into which he could have disappeared. He returned home ...

Book 5 p. 115
(Score 0.66)

xiv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
De Quincey’s Grave, . . . 35
Hamilton’s Entry, . . . 36
Scott’s first School, . . . 36
Buccleuch Place, Jeffrey’s House, 37
Hugh Miller’s Grave, . . 39
Chalmers’s Grave, . I . 39
Merchiston Castle, . . . . 40
Stone on which the Covenant
was signed, . . . . 41
Buchanan’s Grave, . . . 42
Grave of the Regent Morton, . 42
Covenanters’ Prison, . . . 43
Mackenzie’s Tomb-Moonlight, 43
Old Well, West Port,. . . 4
Magdalene Chapel-Interior, . 45
Lord Brougham’s Birthplace, . 46
Middle Walk, Meadows, . . 47
North-east Towers, New Royal
Infirmary, . . . . 48
Armorial Bearings of Sir James
Y. Simpson, Bart., . . . 53
Scott’s House, Castle Street, . 54
Cellar in which the Union was
George Square, . . . * 35
signed, . . . . * 58
Anchor Close, . . . - 58
Craig‘s Close, . . . . 58
North Bridge in 1876, . . 59
North Bridge in 1778, . . 59
Tweeddale Court, , . . 60
Great Hall in the Parliament House, 61
Edinburgh Academy, , . 63
Cairn at St. Bennet’s, . . 65
Entrance to St. Margaret’s Convent,
. . . . 6 5
Slab at Chamberlain Road, .
Knoll near Bruntsfield House, .
The Napier Room, Merchiston
Castle, in which Logarithms
were invented, . . ,
Room in which Chalmers died, .
New Royal Blind Asylum,. .
High School Wynd, . . .
Old High School, . . .
The Mint, . . . , .
St. Paul’s, Carrubber‘s Close, .
Playhouse Close, from Dr. Sidey’s
Collection of Drawings, .
White Horse Inn, do. do., .
Panmure Close, . . . .
Adam Smith‘s Grave, . .
Whiteford House, . . .
Bell of Seton Church, . .
The Roundle, . . . .
The Old Yew Tree, Botanic
Gardens, . . . .
Tablet formerly at Niddry Castle,
Barnbougle Castle, . . .
Craigcrook Castle, . . .
Granton Pier, . . . .
Leith Pier, . . . . .
Musselburgh, Old Bridge, . .
Pinkie House, . . . .
Musselburgh, New Bridge, .
Roslin Chapel, . . . .
Dalkeith Palace, . . .
Geological Diagram, . . .
Newhaven Pier, . . . .
View from above Dunsappie Loch
on Arthur‘s Seat, . . .
PAGE
66
67
68
68
70
70
70
71
71
71
71
72
73
75
49
76
77
78
86
90
92
92
123
I 26
131
I 40
144
153
154
122

... LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE De Quincey’s Grave, . . . 35 Hamilton’s Entry, . . . 36 Scott’s first ...

Book 11 p. xviii
(Score 0.66)

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 241
A good many subscribers were procured for the l1 Retrospect ; ” the manuscript
was nearly completed ; and arrangements for printing it so far entered
into, that the Print by Kay was engraved as a frontispiece to the book.’ The
death of the author, however, prevented the publication. He died on the 16th
of September 1817, in the seventy-fourth year of his age, and the oldest Deacon
of the fourteen Incorporated Trades of Scotland.
The manuscript
remained in the hands of his widow; but on her dea.th in 1832, his
papers unfortunately were so much scattered and destroyed, that almost no
vestige of the work remains.
Mr. Sommers married, first, Joan Douglas, daughter of a glazier who resided
in Libberton’s Wynd ; and, secondly, Jean or Jeanie Fraser, sister of the wife
of Nathaniel Gow, the famous musician.
The (‘ Retrospect ” probably contained much curious matter.
No. CCLI.
MR. FRANCIS ANDERSON, W.S.,
MR. JAMES HUNTER,
AND HIS SON, MR. GEORGE HUNTER.
THIS graphic scene appears from the Print to have occurred in the Parliament
Square, and was probably witnessed by the artist from his own shop window.
Mr. Hunter is in the act of inviting his friend Mr. Anderson to dinner
-the excessive deafness of the latter accounting for the singular posture in
which the parties are placed.
MR. FRANCIS ANDERSON, brother to the banker of that name,
was a Writer to the Signet, and held the appointment of Deputy-Auditor
in the. Exchequer. He resided in George Street, and had his office in the
Royal Exchange. His father, who lived at Stoneyhill,2 was factor to the
Earl of Wemyss, to which situation the subject of our notice latterly BUGceeded.
1 It will be observed, in confirmation of this, that the volume displayed in the hand of the
author contains an outline of the spire of St. Giles. Sornmen’ History was probably suggested by
Creech’s Comparative View of Edinburgh in the yean 1763 and 1783, which wan subsequently
brought down to 1793,
The villa of Stoneyhill is situated on the river Esk, about half s mile above Mnaselburgh. It
was formerly the residence of Sir William Sharp, son of Archbishop Sharp ; and more recently of
the notorious Colonel Charteris.
VOL. 11. 2 1

... SKETCHES. 241 A good many subscribers were procured for the l1 Retrospect ; ” the manuscript was ...

Book 9 p. 322
(Score 0.65)

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 241
A good many subscribers were procured for the l1 Retrospect ; ” the manuscript
was nearly completed ; and arrangements for printing it so far entered
into, that the Print by Kay was engraved as a frontispiece to the book.’ The
death of the author, however, prevented the publication. He died on the 16th
of September 1817, in the seventy-fourth year of his age, and the oldest Deacon
of the fourteen Incorporated Trades of Scotland.
The manuscript
remained in the hands of his widow; but on her dea.th in 1832, his
papers unfortunately were so much scattered and destroyed, that almost no
vestige of the work remains.
Mr. Sommers married, first, Joan Douglas, daughter of a glazier who resided
in Libberton’s Wynd ; and, secondly, Jean or Jeanie Fraser, sister of the wife
of Nathaniel Gow, the famous musician.
The (‘ Retrospect ” probably contained much curious matter.
No. CCLI.
MR. FRANCIS ANDERSON, W.S.,
MR. JAMES HUNTER,
AND HIS SON, MR. GEORGE HUNTER.
THIS graphic scene appears from the Print to have occurred in the Parliament
Square, and was probably witnessed by the artist from his own shop window.
Mr. Hunter is in the act of inviting his friend Mr. Anderson to dinner
-the excessive deafness of the latter accounting for the singular posture in
which the parties are placed.
MR. FRANCIS ANDERSON, brother to the banker of that name,
was a Writer to the Signet, and held the appointment of Deputy-Auditor
in the. Exchequer. He resided in George Street, and had his office in the
Royal Exchange. His father, who lived at Stoneyhill,2 was factor to the
Earl of Wemyss, to which situation the subject of our notice latterly BUGceeded.
1 It will be observed, in confirmation of this, that the volume displayed in the hand of the
author contains an outline of the spire of St. Giles. Sornmen’ History was probably suggested by
Creech’s Comparative View of Edinburgh in the yean 1763 and 1783, which wan subsequently
brought down to 1793,
The villa of Stoneyhill is situated on the river Esk, about half s mile above Mnaselburgh. It
was formerly the residence of Sir William Sharp, son of Archbishop Sharp ; and more recently of
the notorious Colonel Charteris.
VOL. 11. 2 1

... SKETCHES. 241 A good many subscribers were procured for the l1 Retrospect ; ” the manuscript was ...

Book 9 p. 321
(Score 0.65)

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 241
A good many subscribers were procured for the l1 Retrospect ; ” the manuscript
was nearly completed ; and arrangements for printing it so far entered
into, that the Print by Kay was engraved as a frontispiece to the book.’ The
death of the author, however, prevented the publication. He died on the 16th
of September 1817, in the seventy-fourth year of his age, and the oldest Deacon
of the fourteen Incorporated Trades of Scotland.
The manuscript
remained in the hands of his widow; but on her dea.th in 1832, his
papers unfortunately were so much scattered and destroyed, that almost no
vestige of the work remains.
Mr. Sommers married, first, Joan Douglas, daughter of a glazier who resided
in Libberton’s Wynd ; and, secondly, Jean or Jeanie Fraser, sister of the wife
of Nathaniel Gow, the famous musician.
The (‘ Retrospect ” probably contained much curious matter.
No. CCLI.
MR. FRANCIS ANDERSON, W.S.,
MR. JAMES HUNTER,
AND HIS SON, MR. GEORGE HUNTER.
THIS graphic scene appears from the Print to have occurred in the Parliament
Square, and was probably witnessed by the artist from his own shop window.
Mr. Hunter is in the act of inviting his friend Mr. Anderson to dinner
-the excessive deafness of the latter accounting for the singular posture in
which the parties are placed.
MR. FRANCIS ANDERSON, brother to the banker of that name,
was a Writer to the Signet, and held the appointment of Deputy-Auditor
in the. Exchequer. He resided in George Street, and had his office in the
Royal Exchange. His father, who lived at Stoneyhill,2 was factor to the
Earl of Wemyss, to which situation the subject of our notice latterly BUGceeded.
1 It will be observed, in confirmation of this, that the volume displayed in the hand of the
author contains an outline of the spire of St. Giles. Sornmen’ History was probably suggested by
Creech’s Comparative View of Edinburgh in the yean 1763 and 1783, which wan subsequently
brought down to 1793,
The villa of Stoneyhill is situated on the river Esk, about half s mile above Mnaselburgh. It
was formerly the residence of Sir William Sharp, son of Archbishop Sharp ; and more recently of
the notorious Colonel Charteris.
VOL. 11. 2 1

... SKETCHES. 241 A good many subscribers were procured for the l1 Retrospect ; ” the manuscript was ...

Book 9 p. 323
(Score 0.65)

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 355
dominions; and he died in exile. He
bore a respectable character as an honest and industrious tradesman ; and had
been twenty-four or twenty-five years a member of the Corporation of Goldsmiths,
during a considerable period of which he held the office of Treasurer
to the Incorporation.
He was married and had a family.
His shop was in the Parliament Square.
No. CXLII.
MR. THOMAS BLAIR,
LATE OF THE STAMP-OFFICE, EDINBURGH.
THIS is an excellent portraiture of the little gentleman. The upcast eye,
and cocked hat, set perpendicularly on the forehead, are highly characteristic.
MR. BLAIR was Deputy-comptroller of the Stamp-Office. To this situation
he had been appointed in 1784 ; and he continued until his death to discharge
the duties of the office with credit to himself and advantage to the establishment.’
In growth the Deputy-comptroller was somewhat stunted j but however niggardly
nature had been to him in point of‘ length, she amply compensated for the
deficiency in rotundity of person. To use a common phrase, he was “ as broad. as
he was long.” This adjustment, however, by no means proved satisfactory to
the aspiring mind of Mr. Blair. Like a certain nobleman, of whom Dean
Swift had said-
“ Right tall he made himself for show,
Though made full short by God ;
And when all other Dukee did bow,
This Duke did only nod ”-
the Deputy was anxious on all occasions to make himself “ right tall ;” and,
we doubt not, would have eagerly submitted to any process by which his stature
could have been increased. As it was, he managed matters to the best advantage,
and even with some degree of ingenuity. He always wore a high-crowned
cocked-hat ; and his neatly frizzled and powdered Wig was so fomed, by the aid
of wires, that it sat at least an inch above the scalp of his sconce j thus to keep
up the deception which the high-crowned hat could not in all circumstances be
supposed to maintain.
Notwithstanding these little weaknesses, Mr. Blair was a worthy sort of personage,
and a jolly companion at the social board. The gentlemen of the Stamp-
Office were not deficient in the spirit of good-fellowship peculiar to the times.
Once a year they were in the habit of dining together (at their own expense)
in Fortune’s tavern, Old Stamp-Office Close ; and as the friends of the higher
He was succeeded by Mr. Jamea Crawford.

... SKETCHES. 355 dominions; and he died in exile. He bore a respectable character as an honest and ...

Book 8 p. 496
(Score 0.65)

. I64 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Leith.
*
LElTH WALK, FROM GAYFIELD SQUARE, LOOKING SOUTH.
CHAPTER XVII.
LEITH-HISTORICAI, SURVEY.
Origih of the Nme?-Boundariee of South and North Leith-Links of Nor& Leith-The Tom first mentioned in History-King Robert?e Charter
-Superiority of the Logam and Magistrates of Ediuburgh-Abbot Ballantyne?s Bridge and Chapel-Newhaven given to Edinburgh by
Jarnes 1V.-The Port of I53c-The Town Burned by the English.
LEITH, the sea-port of Edinburgh, lies between it
and the Firth of Forth, but, though for Parliamentary
purposes separate from it, it is to all intents an
integral portion of the capital city. Of old the
name was variously written, Leyt, Let, Inverleith,
and the mouth of the Leith, and it is said to have
been derived from the family of the first recorded
proprietors or superiors, the Leiths, who in the reign
of Alexander 111. owned Restalrig and many extensive
possessions in Midlothian, till the superiority
passed by the marriage of the last of the
Leiths into the family of the Logans. However,
?it seems much more probable that the family took
their name from the river, which has its rise in the
parish of Cume, at Kinleith, where three springs
receive various additions in their progress, particularly
at the village of Balerno, where they are joined
hy the Bavelaw Bum.
This stream, when its waters were pure, abounded
in fish-trout, loche or groundling, and the nine
eyed-eel Or river lamprey; and it must have contained
salmon too, as in the Edinburgh HeraZd for
August, 1797, we read of a soldier in the Caledonian
Regiment being drowned in the Salmon
Pool, in the Water of Leith, by going beyond his
depth when bathing there.
In his ? Historical Inquiries,? Sir Robert Sibbald
suggests that a Roman station of some kind existed
where Leith now stands ; but it has been deemed
more probable, as the author of CaZedonia Rqnana
supposes, that from the main Roman road that went
to Caer-almon (or Cramond) a path diverged by
the outlying camp at Sheriff Hall to Leith, where
Chalmers (? Caledonia,? Vol., I.), records that ?the
remains of a Roman way were discovered, when
one of the piers was being repaired ; I? and this is
further supported by the fact that some Roman
remains were found near the citadel in 1825, Still,

... I64 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Leith. * LElTH WALK, FROM GAYFIELD SQUARE, LOOKING SOUTH. CHAPTER ...

Book 5 p. 164
(Score 0.65)

North Bridge.] MRS. SIDDONS. 34s
her first engagement the appearances of Mrs.
Siddons were as follows :-
May zznd, Venice Preserved.
24th, The Gamester.
? 26th, Venice Preserved.
? zfth, The Gamester.
? zgth, Mourning Bride.
June Ist, Douglas.
? 3rd. Isabella.
? Sth, Jane Shore
with a magnificent piece of plate. The Courunt
tells us that during her performance of Lady
Randolph U there was not a dry eye in the whole
house.? During the summer of 1785 she was again ?.
in Edinburgh, and played on eighteen nights, her
receipts being more than handsome, averaging
about A120 per night, and Azoo for the Gamester.
Never did the old theatre behold such a firorc
1 as Mrs. Siddons excited, and during the time of
VIEW FROM THE BACK OF SHAKESPEARE SQUARE. ( A f t r EdatA.)
June fth, Douglas.
?
? loth, Mourning Bride.
?
gth, Grecian Daughter (her beneht).
11th. Grecian Daughter (for the benefit of the
Charity Workhouse).
Kay gives us an etching of her appearance as
Lady Randolph, in a powdered toupee ; but costume
was not a study then, nor for long after. Indeed,
Donaldson, in his I? Recollections of an Actor,?
mentions, ?In 1815, in Scotland, I have seen
Macbeth dressed in a red officer?s coat, sash, blue
pants, Hessian boots, and cocked hat !?
On the ~ z t h of June Mrs. ,Siddons departed for
She?had shared A50 for ten nights ; at
her benefit she drew &so, and was presented
I Dublin:
44
her second engagement nothing was thought of or
talked of but her wondrous power as an actress,
and vast crowds gathered not at night, but in the
day, hours before the doors were open, to secure
places. It became necessary to admit then1 at
three in the afternoon ; then the crowds began to
gather at twelve to obtain admittance at three;
and a certain set of gentlemen, by subscribing
&zoo as a guarantee beforehand, considered
themselves very fortunate in securing a private and
early entrance to the pit; and eventually the
General Assembly of the Church, then in session,
were compelled to arrange their meetings with
reference to the appearance of Mrs. Siddons.
?People came from distant places, even from

... Bridge.] MRS. SIDDONS. 34s her first engagement the appearances of Mrs. Siddons were as follows :- May ...

Book 2 p. 345
(Score 0.65)

North Bridgt.]
were again seen bivouacking all night, on straw or
pallets, under the portico of the house, or in the
adjacent square, for the purpose of securing seats
for their employers the moment the doors were
open. Again it became a recognised amusement
for peop!e to proceed thither after breakfast to see,
about the time of the box-office unclosing, the
fights that ensued between the liverymen and the
imtable Highland porters.
But in the year 1819 Miss O?Neill quitted the
stage, and became eventually Lady Becher of
Ballygiblio Castle, in the couiity of Cork.
THE WAVERLEY DRAMAS.
which she had to pay yearly as rent and purchase.
money.
Thus one day she was shocked and startled by
a harsh, cold letter, in the usual legal form, arresting
all moneys in her hands until certain claims were
settled, at a time when she had scarcely a penny
wherewith to make payment.
It was at this desperate crisis that Walter Scott
came to the rescue. His Rob Roy, operatically
dramatised, hadalreadyproved a marked success at
Covent Garden, and it was now prepared for the
Edinburgh Theatre, with an excellent cast and much
?49
girl, Miss Elizabeth ONeill, ?who seemed designed
by nature to catch the tragic mantle as it fell from
Mrs. Siddons? shoulders,? appeared in the theatre
in August, ISIg-two months after Waterloo.
The characters in which she always achieved the
greatest success were Juliet, Mrs. Haller, Jane
Shore, and Mrs. Beverley ; and on the occasion of
her first appearance, the old scene of the Siddons
furore was renewed, and porters and livery servants
In 1816 Edmund Kean appeared in Edinburgh,
to startle and delight the people by his vivid
action; then came the elder Matthews, with his
wondrous humour and power of mimicry, and then
Miss Stephens and Mr. and Mrs. Charles Kemble ;
yet with all this excellence the management did
not prosper, and when the season of 1819 opened,
matters seemed so gloomy that it was doubtful if
Mrs. Henry Siddons could collect the L2,ooo
THE OLD 1HEATRE ROYAL. (Fmm a Drawing by T. H. Shfherd.publi~hdin 1829.)

... Bridgt.] were again seen bivouacking all night, on straw or pallets, under the portico of the house, or in ...

Book 2 p. 349
(Score 0.65)

I 18 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
memory, have devoted his picturesque old domicile to destruction. The Collegiate Church
of Mary of Guelders is destined to a similar fate; and, in truth, it would seem as if a
regular crusade had been organised by all classes, having for its object to root out everything
in Edinburgh that is ancient, picturesque, or interesting, owing to local or historical
associations, and to substitute in their stead the commonplace uniformity of the New Town.
One effect, however, of all this has been, by so greatly diminishing these ancient fabrics,
to awake an increased interest in the few that remain, while, even by the demolition of
others, many curious features have been brought to light, which would otherwise have
remained unknown.
It is earnestly to be desired that a lively veneration for these monuments of past times
may be more widely diffused, and produce such a wholesome spirit of conservatism, as may
at least preserve those that remain from reckless destruction. An antiquary, indeed, may
at times seem to resemble some querulous crone, who shakes her head, with boding predictions
of evil at the slightest variance from her own narrow rule ; but the new, and what
may be called- the genteel style of taste, which has prevailed during the earlier portion of
the present century, has too well justified his complaints. The old Parliament Close, with
its irregular Elizabethan Court homes, and the ancient Collegiate Church (which on that
side at least was ornate and unique), have been remodelled according to the newest fashion,
and, to complete the change, the good old name of Close, which is pleasingly associated
with the cloistral courts of the magnificent cathedrals and abbeys of England, has been
replaced by the modern, and, in this case, ridiculous one of Square. In full accordance
with this is the still more recent substitution of the name of North British Close for that
of Hrtlkerston’s Wynd-the only thing that remained about that ancient alley to commemorate
the death of David Halkerstoun of Halkerstoun, while bravely defending this
passage against the English in 1544. Modern imitations of the antique, such as have
been attempted in the newest thoroughfares in the Old Town, are easily erected, with more
or less taste, and as easily replaced. But if the Old Town of Edinburgh is once destroyed,
no wealth can restore the many int.eresting associations that still linger about its ancient
halls.
VIGNETTE-Ancient Doorway in Halkerston’a Wynd.

... 18 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH. memory, have devoted his picturesque old domicile to destruction. The Collegiate ...

Book 10 p. 129
(Score 0.65)

244 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Cowgate.
farlane sent for the magistrates, who secured the
house and servants. -4 contemporary says :-
?? I saw his (Cayley?s) corpse after he was unclothed,
and saw his blood where he lay on the floor for
04 hours after he died just as he fell, so it was difficult
to straighten him.? (? Dom. Ann.,?? Vol. 111.)
Criminal letters were raised against .Mrs. Macfarlane
by the Lord Advocate, Sir David Dalrymple,
and the father and brother of the deceased, who
was a native of York. Not appearing for trial
she was declared an outlaw, while her husband was
absolved from all blame.
Mrs. Murray, Cayley?s landlady, who kept a
grocery shop in the Cowgate, vindicated herself
in a pamphlet from imputations which Mrs. Mac-
In wild terror Mrs. Macfarlane now rushed from
the room, locked the door, and sending for her
husband showed him the body, and told him all
that had transpired. ? Oh, woman !? he exclaimed,
in misery, ?what have you done?? His friends
whom he consulted advised her instant flight, and
at six o?clock that evening she walked down the
High Street, followed by her husband at a little
distance, and disappeared.
By ten that night-deeming her safe-Mr. Mac-
Walter Scott, related to him more than once, that
when she, a little girl, was once left alone in
Swinton House, Berwickshire, she wandered into
the dining-room, and there saw an unknown lady,
?beautiful as an enchanted queen, pouring out
teg at a table. The lady seemed equally surprised
as herself, but addressed the little intruder kindly,
in particular desiring her to speak first to her
mother Sy herself of what she had seen.? Margaret
for a moment looked out of the window,
and when she turned the beautiful lady had
vanished! On the return of the family from
church, she told her mother of what she had
seen, was praised for her discretion, and pledged
to secresy in what seemed to be a dream. Subfarlane?s
accusations had thrown upon her character,
and denying that the lady had been in the house
on the Saturday before the murder; ?but evidence
was given that she was seen issuing from the close
in which Mrs. Murray resided, and after ascending
the Back Stairs was observed passing through the
Parliament Square towards her own house.?
Of this Scottish Lucretia the future is unknown,
and the only trace seems something of the marvellous.
Margaret Swinton, a grand-aunt of Sir
OLD HOUSES IN THE COWGATE.

... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Cowgate. farlane sent for the magistrates, who secured the house and servants. -4 ...

Book 4 p. 244
(Score 0.65)

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS . xi ..
P
Deacon Brodie . . . . . . . .
The First Interview in 1786: Deacon Brodie and
George Smith-? . . . . . . .
Sir George Lockhart of Carnwath . . . .
Robert Gourlay?s House . . . . . .
John Dowie?s Tavern . . . . . . .
John Dowie . . . . . . . .
Edinburgh. from St . Cuthbert?s to St . Giles?s . .
Interior of the Signet Library . . . . .
The Heart of Midlothian . . . Tofacrpq
Relics from the Tolbooth. now in the Scottish Antiquarian
Museum . . . . . . .
Lord Monboddo . . . . . . .
The Tolbooth . . . . . . . .
The Guard-house and Black Turnpike . . .
The City Guard-house . . . . . .
Three Captains of the City Guard . . . .
LochaberAxes of thecity Guard . . . .
Sed of St . Giles . . . . . . .
The Norman doorway. St . Giles?s. which was destrojed
towards the end of the eighteenth century . .
John Knox?s Pulpit. St . Giles?s . . . . .
The Lantern and Tower of St Giles?s Church . .
Plan of St . Giles?s Church. prior to the alterations in 1829
Jenny Geddes? Stool . . . . . . .
Carved Centre Groin Stone or Boss . . . .
Interior of the High Church. St . Giles?s . . .
St . Giles?s Church in the present day . . . .
Grave of John Knox . . . . . . .
The City Cross . . . . . . . .
Creech?s Land . . . . . . . .
William Creech . . . . . . . .
The Old Parliament House . . . . . .
Great Hall. Parliament House . . To facepage
Parliament House . . . . . . .
Parliament House in the present day . . . .
Union Cellar . . . . . . . .
View from the Cowgate of the Buildings on the South
side of the Parliament Close. the highest buildings
Plan of the Parliament House and Law Courts . .
Ruins in Parliament Square after the Great Fire. in
in Edinburgh. 1794 . . . . . .
Interior of the Justiciary Court . . . . .
November. 1824 . . . . . . .
George Heriot?s Drinking Cup . . . . .
Sir William Forbes. of Pitsligo . . . . .
November. 1824 . . . . . . Ruins in the old Market Close after the Great Fire of
The Parliament Stairs . . . . . .
Dr . Archibald Pitcairn . . . . . .
Seal of Arnauld Lammius . . . . .
Cleriheugh?s Tavern . . . . . . .
The Town Council Chamber. Royal Exchange
To facepage
General View of the Ruins after the Great Fire of
November. 1824 . . . . . .
PAGE
Tal1y.stick. bearing date of 1692 . . . . 186
General Planof the RoyalExchange . . . 188
TheRoyalExchange . . . . . . 189
New Year?s Eve at the Tron Church . To faccpage 15-
Andrew Crosby . . . . . . . 192
The OldTronChurch . . . . . . 193
PlanofEdinburgh. fromSt.Giles?s toHackerston?s Wynd 197
The Nether Bow Port. from the Canongate . . 201
Edinburgh. from St . Giles?s Church to the Canongate . 205
Allan Ramsay . . . . . . . . z08
AllanRamsay?sShop. Highstreet . . . . mg
Knox?s Study . . . . . . . . 212
John Knox?s House . . . . Tofwepegr zq
Portrait and Autograph of John Knox . . . 213
Knox?s Bed-room . . . . . . . 216
Knox?s Sitting-room . . . . . . . 217
The Excise Office at the Nether Bow . . . . 220
The Nether Bow Port, from the High Street . . 221
House of Lord Advocate Stewart. at the foot of Advocates?
Close. west side . . . . . 223
William Chambers . . . . . . . 224
Robert Chambers . . . . . . . 224
Advocates? Close . . . . . . . 225
Stamp OfficeClose . . . . . . . 229
Fleshmarket Close . . . . . . . 232
Susanna. Countessof Eglinton . . . . . 233
Lintels of Doorways in Dawney Douglas?s Tavern . 236
Mylne?s Square . . . . . . . . 237
St . Paul?s Chapel. Carrubber?s Close . . . . 240
House in High Street with memorial window. ?? Heave
awa. lads, I?mno deidyet I ? . . . . 241
Ruins in the Old Assembly Close. after the Great Fire.
November. 1824 . . . . . . . 244
GeorgeBuchanan . . . . . . . 248
St . Cecilia?s Hall . . . . . . . 252
House of the Abbots of Melrose. Strichen?s Close . 256
Tiding Pin. from Lady Lovat?s House. Blackfriars Wynd 258
House of the Earls of Morton. Blackfriars Street . 260
Stone. showing the Armorial Bearings of Cardinal
Beaton. from his house. Blackfriars Wynd % . 261
. . . . . . Blackfriars Wynd * 257
Cardinal Beaton?sHouse . . . . . . 264
Edinburgh United Industrial School . . . . 265
Lintelof theDoor of theMint . . . . . 267
Theold ScottishMint . . . . . . 268
Kelicsof the old Scottish Mint . . . . . 269
Elphinstone Court . . . . . . . 272
The Earl of Selkirk?s qouse. Hyndford?s Close (South
view) . . . . . . . . 273
TheEarlofSelkirk?sHouse. Hyndford?sClose(Westview) 276
Tweeddale House . 277
The Scokman Office . . . . . . . 284
Lord Cockburn Street and Back of the Royal Exchange
Tofiepap 285
Alexander Russel . . . . . . . 285
Interior of Trinity College Church. Jeffrey Street . 288
. . . . . .

... OF ILLUSTRATIONS . xi .. P Deacon Brodie . . . . . . . . The First Interview in 1786: Deacon Brodie ...

Book 2 p. 393
(Score 0.64)

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