... WEST BOW AND SUBURBS. 335
perties, which would seem to imply that these sacred legends were not always ...
Book 10 p. 366
(Score 1.08)
... MEMURIALS OF EDINBURGH.
Moray House, which is one of the most remarkable objects of interest in the ...
Book 10 p. 320
(Score 1.05)
... HIGH STREET. 243
bouring buildings with a majestic and imposing effect, of which the north front of ...
Book 10 p. 264
(Score 1.04)
... ESIA S TICA L ANTIQUITIES. 417
of Gillie Grange, by which a part of it is still known, and that of The ...
Book 10 p. 457
(Score 1.02)
... MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
Mackenzie, and who sat for nearly half a century on the Bench under the title of ...
Book 10 p. 284
(Score 1.02)
... MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
were derivable from it to the Crown is proved by the frequent payments with which it ...
Book 10 p. 400
(Score 1.01)
... MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
oup north,” Sir William Alexander, afterwards Earl of Stirling. His tragedies, ...
Book 10 p. 310
(Score 1.01)
... MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
champions ; and the verity which was found, was, that they dared both to fight in ...
Book 10 p. 48
(Score 1)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH.
vestments, bearing the arm-bone of the saint ; then
they passed the Cross, the fountain ...
Book 3 p. 62
(Score 0.98)
![382 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
altar, are the arms of Thomas de Cranston, Seutifer Regis, a man of considerable influence
in the reign of James IL, and a frequent ambassador to foreign courts, who died about
1470; and on the engaged pillar to the south, the arms are those of Isabel, Duchess of
Albany and Countess of Lennox, who, in 1450-about a year before her death-founded
the Collegiate Church of Dumbarton, and largely endowed other religious foundations.’
Maitland remarks-“ In the year 1462, a great work seems to have been in hand at this
church ; for it was by the Town Council ordained that all persons presuming to buy corn
before it was entered should forfeit one chalder to the church work.” This may be supposed
to refer to the same additions to the choir begun in the reign of James 11. and then in
progress, though it will be seen that other works were proceeded with about the same time.
The work had no doubt been aided by the contributions of that monarch, and may have
been further encouraged by the gifts of his widowed queen for masses to his soul. The
repetition of the royal arms on the King’s Pillar is probably intended to refer to James III.,
in whose reign the work was finished. To the south of the choir, a second aisle of three arches,
with a richly-groined ceiling, forms the Preston Aisle, erected agreeably to a charter granted
to William Prestoune, of Gortoune, by the city of Edinburgh in 1454, setting forth (‘ pat
forasmekle as William of Prestoun the fadir, quam God assoillie, made diligent labour and
grete menis, be a he and mighty Prince, the Eing of France, and mony uyr Lordis of
France, for the gettyn of the arme bane of Saint Gele ;-the quhilk bane he freely left to
our moyr kirk of Saint Gele of Edinburgh, withoutyn ony condition makyn;-we considrand
ye grete labouris and costis yat he made for the gettyn yrof, we pmit, as said is
yat within six or seven zere, in all the possible and gudely haste we may, yat we sal big
an ile, furth frae our Lady Ile, quhare ye said William lyes in the said ile, to be begunyin
within a zere ; in the quhilk ile yare sall be made a brase for his crest in bosit work ; and
abone the brase a plate of brase, with a writ, specifiand, the bringing of yat relik be him
in Scotland, with his armis ; and his armis to be put, in hewyn marble, uyr thre parts of the
ile.” ’ The charter further binds the Provost and Council to found an altar there, with a
chaplain, and secures to the lineal descendants of the donor the priyilege of bearing the
precious gift of St Giles’s arm bone in all public processions. The aims of Preston still
remain on the roof of the aisle, as engaged to be executed in this charter ; and the same
may be seen repeated in different parts of their ancient stronghold of Craipillar Castle ;
where also occurs their Rebus, sculptured on a stone panel of the outer wall : a press, and
tun or barrel.’ They continued annually to exercise their chartered right of bearing the
arm bone of the Patron Saint till the memorable year 1558, when the College of St Giles
walked for the last time in procession, on the 1st of September, the festival of St Giles,
bearing in procession a statue hired for the occasion, from the Grey Friars, to personate the
Great Image of the Saint, as large M life, because ‘( the auld Saint Geile” had been
fist drowned in the North Loch as an adulterer, or encourager of idolatry, and thereafter
1 A letter on the subject of these armorial bearings, signed A D. [the late Alexander Deuchar, we presume, a firatrate
authority on all matters of heraldry], appeared in the Scota Nagaaine, June 1818. The writer promises to send the
result of further observations, but he does not appear to have followed out his intentions. ’ Maitland, p. 271.
a Archmlogia Scotica, vol. i. p. 575. ’ The Rebus of Prior Bolton, in Westminster Abbey, is very similar ta this : a tun, or barrel, with a bolt thrust
-
through it.](images/thumbs/memorials/memorials_v1_Page_437.gif "Memorials of Edinburgh in the Olden Time Page 419")
... MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
altar, are the arms of Thomas de Cranston, Seutifer Regis, a man of considerable ...
Book 10 p. 419
(Score 0.96)
... BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
distinguished for his good taste and public spirit, No one maintained a more
liberal ...
Book 9 p. 171
(Score 0.95)
![Salisbury Road.] THE HOSPITAL FOR INCURABLES. 5<
three plain shields under a moulding, with the date
1741-
Though disputed by some, Sciennes Hill House
once the residence of Professor Adam Fergusson
author of the (? History of the Roman Republic,?
is said to have been the place where Sir Waltei
Scott was introduced to Robert Burns in 1786
when that interesting incident occurred which ir
related by Sir Walter himself in the following letter
which occurs in Lockhart?s Life of him :--?As foi
Rums, I may truly say, 1GYgiZimn vidi tantum. I
was a lad of fifteen in 1786-7, when he first cam?
to Edinburgh, but had sense and feeling enough to
he much interested in his poetry, and would have
given the world to know him; but I had very
little acquaintance with any literary people, and
less with the gentry of the West County, the two
sets he most frequented. I saw him one day at the
venerable Professor Fergusson?s, where there were
several gentlemen of literary reputation, among
whom I remember the celebrated Dugald Stewart.
? Ofcourse, we youngsters sat silent, and listened.
The only thing I remember which was remarkable
in Burns?s manner was the effect produced upon
him by a print of Bunbury?s, representing a soldier
lying dead on the snow, his dog sitting in misery
on one side ; on the other his widow, with a child
in her arms. These lines were written underneath
:-
? ? Cold on Canadian hills, or Minden?s plain,
Perhaps that parent wept her soldier slain-
Bent o?er her babe, her eyes dissolved in dew,
The big drops mingling with the drops he drew,
Gave the sad presage of his future years,
The child of misery baptised in tears.?
?? Burns seemed much affected by the print, or
Tather, the ideas which it suggested to his mind.
He actually shed tears. He asked whose the lines
were, and it chanced that nobody but myself remembered
that they occur in a half-forgotten poem
of Langhorne?s, called by the unpromising title of
? The Justice of the Peace.? I whispered my information
to a friend present, who mentioned it to
Burns, who rewarded me with a look and a word,
which, though of mere civility, I then received,
and still recollect, with very great pkasuye.?
Westward of Sciennes Hill is the new Trades
Maiden. Hospital, in the midst of a fine grassy
park, called Rillbank. The history of this
charitable foundation, till its transference here, we
have already given elsewhere fully. Within its
walls is preserved the ancient ?( Blue Blanket,? or
banner of the city, of which there will be found
an engraving on page 36 of Volume I.
In Salisbury Road, which opens eastward off
Minto Street, is the Edinburgh Hospital for Incurables,
founded in 1874; and through the chanty
of the late Mr. J. A. Longmore, in voting a grant
of &IO,OOO for that purpose, provided the institution
?? should supply accommodation for incurable
patients of all classes, and at the same time commemorate
Mr. Longmore?s munificent bequest for
the relief of such sufferers,? the directors were
enabled,in 1877, to secure Nos. g and 10 in this
thoroughfare. The building has a frontage of 160
feet by 180 feet deep. It consists of a central
block and two wings, the former three storeys high,
and the latter two. The wards for female patients
measure about 34 feet by 25 feet, affording accommodation
for about ten beds.
Fronting the entrance door to the corridors are
SEAL OA THE CONVENT OF ST. KATHARINE.
(After H. Laing.)
ieparate staircases, one leading to the female
iepartment, the other to the male. On each floor
.he bath, nurses? rooms, gic., are arranged similarly.
[n the central block are rooms for ?paying patients.??
The wards are heated with Manchester open fire-
)laces, while the corridors are fitted up with hot
Mater-pipes. The wards afford about 1,100 cubic
?eet of space for each patient.
Externally the edifice is treated in the Classic
;tyle. In rear of it a considerable area of ground
ias been acquired, and suitably laid out. The site
:ost A4,000, and the hospital LIO,OOO. Since it
Nas opened there have been on an average one hunlred
patients in it, forty of whom were natives of
Edinburgh, and some twenty or so from England
md Ireland. The funds contributed for its support
ire raised entirely in the city. It was formally
3pened in December, 1880.
A little way south from this edifice, in South](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v5p066.gif "Old and New Edinburgh Vol. V Page 55")
... Road.] THE HOSPITAL FOR INCURABLES. 5<
three plain shields under a moulding, with the ...
Book 5 p. 55
(Score 0.93)
... MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
of Eglinton, resided during her latter years, and was visited by Lady Jane ...
Book 10 p. 315
(Score 0.92)
![ST LEONARD’S, ST MAR Y’S WYND, AND CO WGATE. 319
Earl of Angus, and in all probability putting him to death, when Gawin Douglas,
Bishop of Dunkeld, the celebrated author of the Pallis of Honor, waited on the Archbishop,
to entreat his mediation between the rival chiefs. The result of the interview has
been related in the earlier part of this work. The Archbishop-was already in armour,
though under cover of his rochet, and when they met again after the bloody contest of ‘‘ Cleanse the Causeway,” it was in the neighbouring Church of the Blackfriars’, where
the poet’s interference alone prevented the warlike Bishop from being slain in arms at
the altar. After living in obscurity for a time, he was promoted to the Metropolitan See
of St Andrew’s by the interest of the Duke of Albany, and yet, such were the strange
vicissitudes of that age, that he is believed to have escaped the vengeance of the
Douglases during their brief triumph in 1525 by literally exchanging his crozier for a
shepherd’s crook, and tending a flock of-sheep upon Bogrian-knowe, not far from his own
diocesan capital. His venerable lodging in the capital is styled by Maitland, “ The
Archiepiscopal Palace, belonging to the See of St Andrews.” James V. appears to have
taken up his abode there on his arrival in Edinburgh, in 1528, preparatory to summoning
a Parliament; and the Archbishop, who had been one of the most active promoters of his
liberation from the Douglas faction, became his entertainer and host. The tradition
which assigns the same mansion as the residence of Cardinal Beaton, the nephew of its
builder, appears exceedingly probable, from his propinquity to the Archbishop, though no
mention is made of him in the titles, unless where he may be referred to by the Episcopal
designation common to both.’
The Palace of the Bishops of Dunkeld, and of Gawin Douglas in particular, the friendly
opponent of the Archbishop, stood on the opposite side of the same street, immediately
to the west of Robertson’s Close, and scarcely an hundred yards from Blackfriars’ Wynd.2
It appears to have been an extensive mansion, with large gardens attached to it, runniug
back nearly to the Old Town wall. Among the pious and munificent acts recorded by
Mylne’ of Bishop Lauder, the preceptor of James II., who was promoted to the See
of Dunkeld in 1452, are the purchasing of a mansion in Edinburgh for himself and successors,
and the founding of an altarage in St Giles’ Church there to St Martin, to which
his successor, Bishop Livingston, became also a c~ntributor.~T he evidence quoted
.
The ancient mansion of the Beatons posseases an additional interest, aa having been the first scene of operations of
the High School of Edinburgh, while a building w a erecting for ita use, as appears from the following notices in the
‘Burgh Record:-“March 12, 1654.-Caus big the grammer skule, lyand on the eist syd of the Kirk-of-Field Wynd.
Jun. 14, 1555.-House at the fute of the Blackfrier Wynd tane to be the grammer scole quhill Witsonday uixt to cum,
for xvj li. of male.” Tabula Naufragii. Motherwell, privately printed. Gla. 1834. ’ This site of the Biishop of Dunkeld‘a lodging was pointed out by Mr R. Chambers in a communication read before
the Society of Antiquaries, Feb. 7, 1847. The following notice, which occurs in a MS. list of pious donations in the
Advocates’ Library, of a charter of mortification, dated ult. Jan. 1498, confirms the description :-“A charter by Thos.
Cameron, mortifying to a chaplain of St Catharine’s altar in St Oeiles’ Kirk, his tenement in Edinburgh, in the Cowgate,
on the south side thereof, betwixt the Bishop of Dunkeld‘s Land on the east, and William Rappillowes on the west, the
common street on the north, and the gait that leads to the Kirk-of-Field [i.e., Inerrnary Street] on the south.” W e
have referred, however, in a previous chapter to the Clarn-aiLcu Turnpike in the High Street, 88 bearing the eame de.
signation ; and the following applies it to a third tenement seemingly on the north side of the aame street :-“A charter
be Janet Pateraon, relict of umq” Alex. Lowder of Blyth, mortiefieing to a chaplaine in St Gilies Kirk an ann. rent of 4
merks out of Wnr. Carkettel’s land in Edinburgh on the north side of the street, betwixt the Bishop of Dunkell’s land
on the east, and the 10/ St Jo. [Lord St John’s] land on the west,” dated “20 June, Regni 10,” probably 1523.
Dec. an. reg. Jac. V.
a Vitoe Dunkeldensis Eccleaise Episcoporum, p. 24.
“ Charter of mortification by Mr Thomas Lauder, canon in Aberdeen [the future bishop, as we presumel, to x chap](images/thumbs/memorials/memorials_v1_Page_365.gif "Memorials of Edinburgh in the Olden Time Page 347")
... LEONARD’S, ST MAR Y’S WYND, AND CO WGATE. 319
Earl of Angus, and in all probability putting him to death, ...
Book 10 p. 347
(Score 0.91)
![High Street.] MISS NICKY MURRAY. 243
in the charter room of the burgh, dated 1723, is
described as being ?that big hall, or great room,
now known by the name of the Assembly House,
twice upon it in one night, and often the most
beautiful girls in the city passed it, as inere spectators,
which threw serious duties on the gentlemen
There it was that the Honourable Miss Nicky
Murray reigned supreme as lady-directress and
goddess of fashion, for many years during the
middle of the eighteenth century. She was a
sister of the Earl of Mansfield, and was a woman
possessed of much good sense, firmness, knowledge
of the world, and of the characters of those by
whom she was surrounded. With her sisters she
lived long in one of the tenements at the head of
Bailie Fyfe?s Close, where she annually received
whole broods of fair country cousins, who came to
town to receive the finishing touches of a girl?s education,
and be introduced to society-the starched
and stately society of old Edinburgh.
The Assembly Room was in the close to which
it gave its name. It had a spacious lobby, lighted
by sconces, where the gilded sedans set down their
powdered, hooped, and wigged occupants, while
links flared, liveried valets jostled, and swords were
sometimes drawn; and where a reduced gentleman-
a claimant to the ancient peerage of Kirkcudbnght-
sold gloves, for which he was rather
ungenerously sneered at by Oliver Goldsmith.
From this lobby the dancing-hall opened at
once, and up-stairs was a tea-room. The former
had in its centre a railed space,-within which were
the dancers ; while the spectators, we are told, sat
on the outside, and no communication was permitted
between the different sides of this sacred
pale. Here it was that in 1753 Goldsmith first
saw, with some astonishment, the formalities of
the old Scottish balls. He relates that on entering
the dancing-room he saw one end of it taken up
by the ladies, who ?sat dismally in a group by
themselves. ?On the other end stand their
pensive partners that are to be, but no more
intercourse between the sexes than between two
countries at war. The ladies, indeed, may ogle,
and the gentlemen sigh, but an embargo is laid on
any closer commerce.?
The lady directress occupied a high chair, or
species of throne, upon a dais at one end, and
thereon sat Miss Nicky Murray in state. Her
immediate predecessors there had been Mrs.
Browne of Colstoun, and Lady Minto, daughter
of Sir Robert Stuart of Allanbank.
The whole arrangements were ofa rigid character,
iartner for the whole year! The arrangements
were generally made at some preliminary ball or
Ither gathering, when a gentleman?s cocked hat
was unflapped and the ladies? fans were placed
;herein, and, as in a species of ballot, the beaux
hew forth the latter, and to whomsoever the fan
3elonged he was to be the partner for the season,
I system often productive of absurd combinations
md many a petty awkwardness. ? Then,? as Sir
Alexander Boswell wrote-
? The Assembly Clbse received the fair-
Order and elegance presided there-
Each gay Right Honourable had her place,
To walk a minuet with becoming grace.
No racing to the dance, with rival hurry-
Such was thy sway, 0 famed Miss Nicky Murray !
Each lady?s fan a chosen Damon bore,
With care selected many a day before ;
For, unprovided with a favourite beau,
The nymph, chagrined, the ball must needs forego,
But previous matters to her taste arranged,
Certes, the constant couple never changed ;
Through a long night, to watch fair Delia?s will,
The same dull swain was at her elbow still.??
With sword at side, and often hat in hand, the
gallants of those days escorted the chairs of their
partners home to many a close and wynd now the
ibode of squalor and sordid poverty; for much
Df stately and genuine old-fashioned gallantry prevailed,
as if it were part of the costume, referred
to by the poet :-
? Shades of my fathers ! in your pasteboard skirts,
Your broidered waistcoats and your plaited shirts,
Your formal bag-wigs, wide extended cuffs,
Your five-inch chitterlings and nine-inch ruffs.
Gods! how ye strut at times in all your state,
Amid the visions of my thoughtful pate ! ?
Those who attended the assemblies belonged
exclusively to the upper circle of society that then,
existed in Edinburgh ; and Miss Murray, on
hearing a young lady?s name mentioned to her for
approval, was wont to ask, ?? Miss-of what? ? and,
if no territorial or family name followed, she might
dismiss the matter by a wave of her fan, for,
according to her views, it was necessary to be
??a lady 0? that ilk;? and it is well known, that
?upon one occasion, seeing at an assembly a
wan who had been raised to wealth in some](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v2p063.gif "Old and New Edinburgh Vol. II Page 243")
... Street.] MISS NICKY MURRAY. 243
in the charter room of the burgh, dated 1723, is
described as being ?that ...
Book 2 p. 243
(Score 0.9)
![canongate.] ROXBURGH HOUSE. 15
~~ House, there stood in those days the mansion of
the Earls of Roxburgh, surrounded by a beautiful
As a set-off against these items, we have the following,
in 1660-1, when Argyle?s fate came :-
To Alexander Davidson for a new axe to ye
Maiden, and is to maintain it all ye days of his
life . . . . . * . . . . p 12 o
To 4 Drummers when ArgyZe and Swzjtton were
brought from Leith . . . . . 14 8 o
To 17 extra Drummers, a days, when Montrose
was buried and Argyle executed . . , 21 12 o
The marquis was interred amid great pomp in
the Church of St. Giles at the Restoration; but
when a search was made for his remains in the
Chepman aisle, in April, 1879, no trace of them
whatever could be found there.
Amid the gloom and?horror of scenes such as
these executions, and the general events of the wars
of the Covenant, all traces of gaiety, and especially
of theatrical entertainments, disappeared in Edinburgh,
as forbidden displays; but in January,. 1659,
the citizens were regaled with the sight of a travelling
dromedary, the first that had ever been in
Scotland. Nicoll describes it as ?ane heigh great
beast, callit ane dummodary, quhilk being keepit
clos in the Canongate, none had a sight of it, without
three pence the person. . . . . It was
very big, and of great height, cloven futted like
unto a kow, and on the bak ane saitt, as it were
a sadill to sit on. Thair was brocht in with it ane
lytill baboun, faced lyke unto an aip.?
In 1686 the public attendance at mass by some
of the officers of state excited a tumult in the city,
and many persons of rank were insulted on returning
therefrom by the rioters. One of these, a
journeyman baker, was, by order of the Privy
Council, whipped through the Canongate, and
ultimately the Foot Guards had to fire on the mob
that assembled.
In that year an Act of Parliament empowered
the magistrates to impose a tax of A500 sterling
yearly, for three years, to cleanse the town and
Canongate, and free both from beggars ; and in 1687
the whole members of the College of Justice voluntarily
offered to bear their full share of this tax,
and appointed two of their body to be present when
it was levied.
In 1692 we find an instance in the Canongate
of one of the many troubles which in those days
arose from corporation privileges, by which the
poor and industrious tradesman was made the
victim of monopoly.
In the open ground which now surrounds Milton
I which performs the whole journey in thirteen days,
I without any stoppage (if God permit), having eighty
Fepairs in this house, when Thomas Kinloch, Dea-
:on of the Wrights in the Canongate, came with
Jthers, and violently carried off all the tools of
Somerville and his workmen, on the plea that they
were not freemen of the burgh; and when the
tools were demanded formally, two days after,
they were withheld.
Robert, Earl of Roxburgh (who afterwards died
m his travels abroad), was then a minor, but his
curators resented the proceedings of Kinloch, and
sued him for riot and *oppression. Apparently, if
the Roxburgh mansion had been subject to the
jurisdiction of the Canongate, the Privy Council
would have given no redress ; but when the earl?s
ancestor, in 1636, had given up the superiority
of the Canongate, as he reserved his house to be
holden of the Crown, it was found that the local
corporation had no right to interfere with his
workmen, and Somerville?s tools were restored to
him by order of the Council.
Earl Robert was succeeded in this house by his
brother John, fifth Earl and first Duke of Roxburgh,
K.G., who sold his Union vote for LSOO,
became Secretary of State for Scotland in 1716,
and died in 1741.
Long ere that time the effect of the Union had
done its worst upon the old court burgh. Maitland,
writing in 1753, says :-?This place has suffered
more by the inion of the kingdoms than all the
other parts of Scotland : for having, before that
period, been the residence of the chief of the
Scottish nobility, it was thqn in a flourishing condition
; but being deserted by them, many of their
houses are fallen down, and others in a ruinous
condition ; it is in a piteous case ! ?
Five years after the Union we find a London
coach announced as starting from the Capongate,
the advertisement for which, with regard to expedition,
comfort, and economy, presents a curious contrast
to the announcements of to-day, and is worth
giving at length, as we find it in the NkwcastZe
Cau~unt of October, I 7 I 2.
? Edinburgh, Berwick, Newcastle, Durham, and
London Stage-coach begins on Monday, 13th
October, 1712. All that desire to pass from
Edinbro? to London, or from London to Edinbro?,
or any place on that road, let them repair to Mr.
John Baillie?s, at the Coach and Horses at the head
of the Canongate, every Saturday, or the Black
Swan in Holborn, every other Monday, at both of
which places they may be received in a stagexoach](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v3p027.gif "Old and New Edinburgh Vol. III Page 15")
... ROXBURGH HOUSE. 15
~~ House, there stood in those days the mansion of
the Earls of Roxburgh, ...
Book 3 p. 15
(Score 0.9)
... Captain Matthew, 252
Bailie, 214
Qeorge, 192
Henry L of England, 377,378
.II. of England, ...
Book 10 p. 504
(Score 0.89)
![Arlhur?s Seat.] DR. JOHN BELL 303
sity of Edinburgh that the Medical Society has
contributed much to the prosperity and reputation
of this school of physic.?
Such are still the objects of the Royal Medical
Society, which has now, however, quitted its old
hall and chambers for newer premises in 7 Melbourne
Place. Its staff consists of four presidents,
two honorary secretaries, curators of the library
and museum, with a treasurer and sub-librarian.
Many old citizens of good position had residences
in and near the High School yards and
Surgeon Square. Among these was Mr. George
Sinclair of Ulbster, who married Janet daughter of
Lord Strathmore, and who had a house of seven
rooms in the yard, which was advertised in the
Courant of 1761. His son was the eminent agriculturist,
and first baronet of the family.
In 1790 a theatre for dissections and an anatomical
museum were erected in Surgeon Square
by Dr. John Bell, the eminent anatomist, who was
born in the city on the 12th May, 1763, and who
most successfully applied the science of anatomy
to practical surgery-a profession to which, curiously
enough, he had from his birth been devoted by
his father. The latter,about a month before the
child?s birth, had-when in his 59th yea-undergone
with successapainful surgicaloperation, and his gratitude
led him tovowhe would rear his son John to the
cause of medicine for the relief of mankind ; and
after leaving the High School the boy was duly
apprenticed to Mr. Alexander Wood, surgeon, and
soon distinguished himself in chemistry, midwifery,
and surgery, and then anatomy, which had been
somewhat overlooked by Munro.
In the third year after his anatomical theatre
had been opened in the now obscure little square,
he published his ? Anatomy of the Human Body,?
consisting of a description of the action and play
of the bones, muscles, and joints. In 1797 appeared
the second volume, treating of the heart
and arteries. During a brilliant career, he devoted
himself with zeal to his profession, till in 1816 he
was thrown from his horse, receiving a shock from
which his constitution never recovered.
CHAPTER XXXVII.
AKTHUR?S SEAT AND ITS VICINITY.
The Sanctuary-Geology of the Hill-Origin of its Name, and that of the Craigs-The Park Walls, 2554-A Banquet alfrrsc6The Pestilence
-A Duel-?The Guttit Haddie?-Mutiny of the Old 78th Regiment-Proposed House on the Summit-bfuschat and his Cairn-
Radical Road Formed-May Day-Skeletons found at the Wells 0? Wearic-Park Improvements-The Hunter?s Bog-Legend of the
Hangman?s big-Duddingston-The Church-Rev. J. Thomson-Robert Monteith-The Loch-Its Sw-ans-Skatcrs--The Duddingston
Thoro-The Argyle and Abercorn FamilisThe Earl of Mob-Lady Flon. HastingsCnuvin?s Hospica-Parson?s Grecn-St.
Anlhonfs Chapel and Well-The Volunteer Renew before the Queen.
TAKING up the history of the districts of the city
in groups as we have done, we now come to Arthur?s
Seat, which is already well-nigh surrounded, especially
on the west and north, by streets and
mansions.
Towering to the height of 822 feet above the
Forth, this hill, with the Craigs of Salisbury, occupies
the greater portion of the ancient Sanctuary of
Holyrood, which included the royal park (first
enclosed and improved from a condition of natural
forest by James V. and Queen Mary), St. Anne?s
Yard and the Duke?s Walk (both now obliterated),
the Hermitage of St. Anthony, the Hunter?s Bog,
and the southern parks as far as Duddingston, a
tract of five miles in circumference, in which persons
were safe from their creditors for twenty-four
hours, after which they must take out a Protectim,
as it was called, issued by the bailie of the abbey ;
the debtors were then at liberty to go where they
pleased on Sundays, without molestation j but later
legal alterations have rendered retirement to the
Sanctuary to a certain extent unnecessary.
The recent formation of the Queen?s Drive
round the hill, and the introduction of the rifle
ranges in the valley to the north of it, have destroyed
the wonderful solitude which for ages
reigned there, even in the vicinity of a busy and
stormy capital. Prior to these changes, and in
some parts even yet, the district bore the character
which Arnot gave it when he wrote :-? Seldom are
human beings to be met in this lonely vale, or any
creature to be seen, but the sheep feeding on the
mountains, or the hawks and ravens winging their
flight among the rocks?: The aspect of the lionshaped
mountain and the outline of the craig
are known to every one. There is something certainly
grand and awful in the front of mighty slope
and broken rock and precipice, which the latter
present to the city. Greenstone, which has been
upheaved through strata surfaced with sandstone](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v4p123.gif "Old and New Edinburgh Vol. IV Page 303")
... Seat.] DR. JOHN BELL 303
sity of Edinburgh that the Medical Society has
contributed much to the ...
Book 4 p. 303
(Score 0.88)
... HANNAH ROBERTSON. 21
of stone with a
Panmure of Forth, and was the last who possessed
this house, in ...
Book 3 p. 22
(Score 0.88)
... HANNAH ROBERTSON. 21
of stone with a
Panmure of Forth, and was the last who possessed
this house, in ...
Book 3 p. 21
(Score 0.88)
... , MEMORIALS UP- EDINBURGH.
Balcarras, Lord, 208
Baldredus, Deacon of Lothian, 377
.Balfour, Sir James, ...
Book 10 p. 499
(Score 0.86)
... These documents had been perfidiously
sent to Scotland by General Monk. The marquis
was condemned to ...
Book 1 p. 58
(Score 0.82)
... These documents had been perfidiously
sent to Scotland by General Monk. The marquis
was condemned to ...
Book 1 p. 59
(Score 0.82)
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