... the sad fortunes of his house. Returning from
LOCHESD.
France -whence he had to flee for having slain in a duel a ...
Book 11 p. 164
(Score 1.16)
![Le:th.] LANDING OF QUEEN MARY. 179
Thus the whole line of fortifications facing the
city were levelled, but those on the east remained
long entire; and considerable traces of them were
only removed about the beginning of the eighteenth
century.
On the 20th of August, 1560, Queen Mary
landed at the town to take possession of the throne
of her ancestors. The time was about eight in the
morning, and Leith must have presented a different
aspect than in the preceding year, when the cannon
of the besiegers thundered against its walls. No
vestige now remains of the pier which received her,
though it must have been constructed subsequent
to the destruction of the older one by the savage
Earl of Hertford-the pier at which Magdalene of
France, the queen of twenty summer days, had
landed so joyously in the May of 1537.
The keys of St. Anthony?s Port were delivered to
Mary, who was accompanied by her three uncles-
Claude of Lorraine, Duc d?Aumale, who was killed
at the siege of Rochelle thirteen years after; Francis,
Grand Prior of Malta, general of the galleys of
France, who died of fatigue after the battle of
Dreux; and Rend, Marquisd?Elbeuff, who succeeded
Francis as general of the galleys. She was attended
also by her ?? four Maries,? whose names, as given by
Bishop Leslie, were Fleming, Beaton, Livingstone,
and Seaton, who had been all along with her in
France. Buchanan in 1565 mentions five Maries,
and the treasurer?s account at the same date mentions
si;., including two whose names were Simparten
and Wardlaw.
The cheers of the people mingled with the boom
of cannon, and, says Buchansn, ?the dangers she
had undergone, the excellence of her mien, the
delicacy of her beauty, the vigour of her blooming
years, and the elegance of her wit, all joined in her
recommendation.?
As the genial Ettrick Shepherd wrote :-
?? After a youth by woes o?ercast,
After a thousand sorrows past,
The lovely Mary once again
Set foot upon her native plain ;
Kneeled on the pier with modest grace,
And turned to heaven her beauteous face . . . I .
There rode the lords of France and Spain,
Of England, Flanders, and Lorraine ;
While semed thousands round them stood,
From shore of Leith to Holyrood.?
But Knox?s thunder was growling in the distance,
as he records that ?? the very face of heaven did
manifestlie speak what comfort was brought to this
country with hir-to wit, sorrow, dolour, darkness,
and all impiety; for in the memory of man never
was seyn a more dolorous face of the heaven than
was at her arryvall . . . . . the myst was so thick
that skairse mycht onie man espy another ; .and the
sun was not seyn to shyne two days befoir nor two
days after !IJ
Four years after this the poor young queen,
among other shifts to raise money in her difficulties,
mortgaged the superiority of Leith to the city
of Edinburgh, redeemable for 1,000 merks ; and in
1566 she requested the Town Council by a letter
to delay the assumption of that superiority ; but
she could only obtain a short indulgence to prevent
the consequence of her hasty act falling on the
devoted seaport.
In 1567, taking advantage of the general confusion
of the queen?s affairs, on the 4th of July the
Provost, bailies, deacons, and the whole craftsmen
of the city, armed and equipped in warlike array,
with pikes, swords, and arquebuses, marched to
Leith, and went through some evolutions, meant to
represent or constitute the capture and conquest of
the town, and formally trampled its independence
in the dust. From the Links the magistrates
finally marched to the Tolbooth, in the wynd
which still bears its name, and on the stair thereof
held a court, creating bailies, sergeants, clerks, and
deemsters, in virtue of the infeftment made to
them by the queen ; and the superiority thus established
was maintained, too often with despotic
rigour, till Leith attained its independence after the
passing of the Reform Bill in 1832.
During the contention between Morton and the
queen?s party, when the former was compelled with
his followers to take shelter in Leith, where thq
Regent Mar had established his headquarters on
the 12th of January, 1571, a convention, usually
but erroneously called a General Assembly of the
Kirk, was convened there, and sat till the 1st of
February, and in it David Lindsay, minister of
Leith, took a prominent part. The opening sermon
on this occasion was lately reprinted by Principal
Lee. It is now extremely scarce, and is entitled
? Ane sermon preichit befoir the Regent and
nobilitie, in the Kirk of Leith, 1571, by David
Fergussone, minister of the Evangell at Dunfermlyne.
The sermon approvit by John Knox, with
my dead hand but glaid heart, praising God that of
His mercy He lenis such light to His Kirk in this
desolation.?
M?Crie says that the last public service of Knox
was the examination and approval of this sermon.
During the minority of James VI. Leith figured
in many transactions which belong strictly to the
general history of the realm ; thus from November,
1571, till the August of the following year, it was
the seat of the Court of Justiciary, and again in
thus :-](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v5p190.gif "Old and New Edinburgh Vol. V Page 179")
... savage
Earl of Hertford-the pier at which Magdalene of
France , the queen of twenty summer days, had
landed so ...
Book 5 p. 179
(Score 1.15)
![Lauriston.] JOHN LAW OF LAURISTON. 111
tisement announces, ? that there was this day
lodged in the High Council House, an old silver
snuff-box, which was found upon the highway leading
from Muttonhole to Cramond Bridge in the
month of July last. Whoever can prove the property
will get the box,.upon paying the expense incurred;
and that if this is not done betwixt this
and the roth of November next, the same will be
sold for payment thereof.? .
In the time of King David 11. a charter was
given t9 John Tennand of the lands of Lauriston,
with forty creels of peats in Cramond, in the county
of Edinburgh, paying thirty-three shillings and fourpence
to the Crown, and the same sum sterling to
the Bishop of Dunkeld.
The present Castle of Lauriston-which consisted,
before it was embellished by the late Lord Rutherford,
of a simple square three-storeyed tower, with
two corbelled turrets, a remarkably large chimney,
and some gableted windows-was built by Sir
Archibald Kapier of Merchiston and Edenbellie,
father of the philosopher, who, some years before
his death, obtained a charter of the lands and
meadow, called the King?s Meadow, 1?587-8 and of
half the lands of ?& Lauranstoun,? 16th November,
1593.
On two of the windows there yet remain his
initials, S. A N., and those of his wife, D. E. M.,
Dame Elizabeth Mowbray, daughter of Mowbray
of Banibougle, now called Dalmeny Park.
Tie tower gave the title of Lord Launston to
their son, Sir Alexander Napier, who became a
Lord of Session in 1626.
Towards the close of the same century the tower
and estate became the property of Law, a wealthy
gddsmith of Edinburgh, descended from the Laws
of Lithrie, in Fifeshire ; and in the tower, it is said,
his son John, the great financier, was born in April,
1671. There, too, the sister of the latter, Agnes,
was married in 1685 to John Hamilton, Writer to
the Signet in Edinburgh, where she died in 1750.
On his father?s death Law succeeded to Lauriston,
but as he had been bred to no profession, and
exhibited chiefly a great aptitude for calculation,
he took to gambling. This led him into extravagances.
He became deeply involved, but his
mother paid his debts and obtained possession of
the estate, which she immediately entailed. Tall,
handsome, and addicted to gallantry, he became
familiarly known as Beau Law in London, where
he slew a young man named Wilson in a duel, and
was found guilty of murder, but was pardoned by
the Crown. An appeal being made against this
pardon, he escaped from the King?s Bench, reached
France, and through Holland returned to Scotland
(Robertson?s Index.)
in 1700, and in the following year published at
Glasgow his ? Proposals and Reasons for Constituting
a Council of Trade in Scotland.?
He now went to France, where he obtained an
introduction to the Duke of Orleans, and offered
his banking scheme to the hfinister of Finance,
who deemed it so dangerous that he served him
with a police notice to quit Paris in twenty-four
hours. Visiting Italy, he was in the same summary
manner banished from Venice and Genoa as a daring
adventurer. His success at play was always
great; thus, when he returned to Pans during the
Regency of Orleans, he was in the possession of
&IOO,OOO sterling.
On securing the patronage of the Regent, he received
letters patent which, on the 2nd March, I 7 16,
established his bank, with a capital of 1,200 shares
of 500 livres each, which soon bore a premium.
To this bank was annexed the famous Mississippi
scheme, which was invested with the full sovereignty
of Louisiana for planting co1onie.s and extending
commerce-the grandest and most comprehensive
scheme ever conceived-and rumour went that gold
mines had been discovered of fabulous and mysterious
value.
The sanguine anticipations seemed to be realised,
and for a time prosperity and wealth began to pre
vail in France, where John Law was regarded as its
good genius and deliverer from poverty.
The house of Law in the Rue Quinquempoix, in
Pans, was beset day and night by applicants, who
blocked up the streets-peers, prelates, citizens,
and artisans, even ladies of rank, all flocked to that
temple of Plutus, till he was compelled to transfer
his residence to the Place VendBme. Here again
the prince of stockjobbers found himself overwhelmed
by fresh multitudes clamouring for allotments,
and having to shift his quarters once more,
he purchased from the Prince de Carignan, at an
enormous price, the HBtel de Soissons, in the
spacious gardens of which he held his levees.
It is related of him, that when in the zenith of his
fame and wealth he was visited by John the ?great
Euke of Argyle,? the latter found him busy writing.
The duke never doubted but that the financier
was engaged on some matter of the highest importance,
as crowds of the first people of France were
waiting impatiently an audience in the suites of
ante-rooms, and the duke had to wait too, until &It.
Law had finished his letter, which was merely one
to his gardener at Lauriston regarding the planting
of cabbages at a particular spot !
In 1720 he was made Comptroller-General ot
the Finances, but the crash came at last. The
amount of notes issued by Law?s bank more
?](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v5p122.gif "Old and New Edinburgh Vol. V Page 111")
... this
pardon, he escaped from the King?s Bench, reached
France , and through Holland returned to ...
Book 5 p. 111
(Score 1.13)
... there, and receiving the ambassador of Charles VI. of
France , with whom he renewed the league entered into with ...
Book 10 p. 13
(Score 1.13)
... and
immediately thereafter to embark for France .
On the 19th of July,-the third day after the ...
Book 10 p. 74
(Score 1.11)
... of Valence, arrived as a commissioner from the
Court of France , and attempted to mediate between the Regent aiid ...
Book 10 p. 73
(Score 1.1)
... by Lord Alva. It
is addressed to a person unknown in France , by the leaders of the Scottish army, ...
Book 10 p. 473
(Score 1.1)
... treaty of peace, including Scotland, England, and
France , but died ere it could be concluded, on
the 10th ...
Book 5 p. 178
(Score 1.09)
![High Street.] LORD
Justice Clerk in 1748, who long occupied two flats
on the west side of the square, the back windows
of which overlook the picturesque vista of Cockburn
Street, and the door of which was among the
last that displayed the ancient riq.
This cadet of the loyal and ancient house of
ALVA. 23 7
Wily old Simon Lord Lovat, of the ?45, who
was perpetually involved in law pleas, frequently
visited Lord Alva at his house in Mylne?s Square ;
and the late Mrs. Campbell of Monzie, his
daughter, was wont to tell that when Lord Lovat
caught her in the stair ?he always took her up
I ?
MYLNE?S SQUARE.
Mar was born in 1680, and died in 1763. Before
the nse of the new city, it affords us a curious
, glimpse of the contfnted life that such a legal
dignitary led in those days, when we find him
happy during winter in a double flat, in this
obscure place, and in summer at the little villa of
Drumsheugh, swept away in 1877, and of which
no relic now remains, save the rookery with its old
trees in Randolph Crescent.
in his arms and kissed her, to her horror-he was
In this mansion in Mylne?s Square Lord Alva?s
two step-daughters, the Misses Maxwell of Reston,
were married; one, Mary, became the Countess
of William Earl of Sutherland, a captain in
the 56th Foot, who, when France threatened
invasion in 1759, raised, in two months, a regment
among his own clan and followers; the
so ugly.?l](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v2p057.gif "Old and New Edinburgh Vol. II Page 237")
... of Sutherland, a captain in
the 56th Foot, who, when France threatened
invasion in 1759, raised, in two ...
Book 2 p. 237
(Score 1.09)
... of John Knox's return to Scotland. On his escape from
France -whither he had been carried a prisoner, after ...
Book 10 p. 64
(Score 1.09)
... is known with certainty
about it-to have been cast in France , and
was shipped from Dunkirk to Leith, ...
Book 1 p. 184
(Score 1.08)
... object of the Queen Dowager, in her recent visit to France , had been mainly to
secure the interest of that ...
Book 10 p. 61
(Score 1.07)
![Leith.] THE BARTONS. 203
is the second of the name, who died in 1513,
John the senior was certainly dead in 1508.
Charles, Duke of Burgundy, was so incensed by
the capture of the Juliuna in Flemish waters that
he demanded the surrender of Pret and Velasquez
to himself, with due compensation to Barton, but
failed in both cases. Joam 111. was then King of
Portugal.
Robert Barton would seem also at one time to
have faHen into the hands of the Portuguese ; and
there is extant a letter sent by James IV. to the
Emperor Maximilian, requesting his influenCe to
have him released from prison, and therein the
king refers to the quarrel of 1476, and merely
states that old John Barton was thrown into a prison
also.
In 1506, at a tournament held by James IV. in
Stirling, we read of a blackamoor girl, captured
from the Portuguese by Captain Barton, seated in
a triumphal chariot, being adjudged the prize of
the victor knight ; but the Bartons sent other gifts
to the king, in the shape of casks full of pickled
Portuguese heads.
In 1498, when Perkin Warbecli and his wife, the
Lady Katharine Gordon, left Scotland for Flanders,
they were on board a ship which, Tytler says, was
commanded by and afterwards the property of the
celebrated Robert Barton. Amongst her stores,
noted in the ?.Treasurefs Accounts,? are ?? ten tuns
and four pipes of wine, 8 bolls of aitmele, 18 marts
of beef, 23 muttons, and a hogshead of herring.?
Andrew Barton, the brother of the captain (and,
like him, a merchant in Leith), is mentioned as
having furnished biscuit, cider, and beer, for the
voyage.
In 1508 this family continued their feud with the
Portuguese. In that year Letters of Marque were
granted to them by James IV., and they run thus,
according to the ?Burgh Records of Edinburgh ? :-
?]~callus Dei Gratia Rex Scatorurn, deZectis semit
o d u s nosiris. John Barton and Robert Barton,
sons of our late beloved servant John Barton, shipmaster,
and other shipmasters our lieges and subjects,
in company of the said John Barton for the
time (greeting) :
? Some pirates of the nation of Portugal attacked
a ship of our late illustrious ancestor (James HI.),
which, under God, the late John commanded, and
with a fleet of many ships compelled it to surrender,
robbed it of its merchandise, of very great
value, and stripped it of its armament On account
of which, our most serene father transmitted his complaint
to the King of Portugal.? Justice not having
been done, the document runs, Jarnes 111. decreed
Letters of Reprisal against the Portuguese. ? We,
moreover, following the footsteps of our dearly
beloved ancestor . . . . . concede and grant by
these presents to you, John and Robert aforesaid,
and our other subjects who shall be in your company
for the time, our Letters of Marque or Reprisai,
that you may receive and bring back to us
from any men whomsoever of the nation of Portugal,
on account of the justice aforesaid being.
desired, to the extent of 3,000 crowns of money
of France . . . . Givenunder our Privy Seal, &c.?
Under these letters the brothers put to sea in
the quaint argosies of those days, which had low
waists with towering poops and forecastles, and
captured many Portuguese ships, and doubtless
indemnified themselves remarkably well ; while
their elder brother, Andrew, an especial favourite
of James IV., who bestowed upon him the then
coveted honour of knighthood, ? for upholding
the Scottish flag upon the seas,? was despatched
to punish some Dutch or Flemish pirates who had
captured certain Scottish ships and destroyed theircrews
with great barbarity. These he captured,
with their vessel, and sent all their heads to LeitL
in a hogshead.
As is well known, he was killed fighting bravely
in the Downs on the 2nd August, 1511, after a
severe conflict with the ships of Sir Thomas and Sir.
Edward Howard, afterwards Lord High Admiral of
England, when he had only two vessels with him,
the Lion of 36 great guns, and a sloop name$ the.
Jenny. The Howards had three ships of war and
an armed collier. The Lion was afterwards added
to the English navy, as she was found to be only
second in size and armament to the famous Great
Harry. His grandson Charles married Susan
Stedman of Edinburgh, and from them are said tobe
descended nearly all of that name in Fife, Kinross,
and Holland.
For his services as Admiral on the West Coast,
John Barton received the lands of Dalfibble ; and
in April, 1513, he returned from a diplomatic mission
to France, accompanied by the Unicorn Pursuivant;
and so important was its nature that he
took horse, and rode all night to meet the king,
who was then on the eve of departing for Flodden.
On the 26th of July in the Same year he joined
the squadron, consisting of the Great Michael, the
James, Marguret, the S/$ of Lynne (an English
prize), a thirty-oared galley, and fourteen other
armed ships, commanded by Gordon of Letterfourie
(and having on board the Earl of Arran and
3,000 soldiers), which sailed from Leith as a present
to Anne, Queen of France-a piece of ill-timed
generosity on the part of the princely Jarnes IV.,
who accompanied the armament as far as the Isle](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v6p022.gif "Old and New Edinburgh Vol. VI Page 203")
... to the extent of 3,000 crowns of money
of France . . . . Givenunder our Privy Seal, &c.?
Under ...
Book 6 p. 203
(Score 1.03)
![Leith.] THE FORTIFICATIONS. 17r
then at peace. A small force under Monsieur de
la Chapelle Biron had already preceded this main
body, which consisted of between six and seven
thousand well-trained soldiers, all led by officers of
high rank and approved valour.
Andre de Montelambert, Sieur &Esse, commanded
the whole ; 2,000 of these men were of the
regular infantry of France, and were commanded
by Coligny, the Seigneur d?Andelot, who for his
bravery at the siege of Calais, afterwards was presented
with the house of the last English governor,
Lord Dunford. His father, Gaspard de Coligny,
was a marshal of France in 1516. Gaspare di
Strozzi, Prior of Capua, a Florentine cavalier (exiled
by Alessandro I., Grand Duke of Tuscany), was
colonel of the Italians ; the Rhinegrave led 3,000
Germans ; Octavian, an old cavalier of Milan, led
1,000 arquebussiers on horseback ; Dunois was
captain of the Compagrries d?Oru?omance ; Brissac
D?Etanges was colonel of the horse. Another
noble armament, which was to follow under the
Marquis d?Elbeuff, was cast away on the coast of
Holland, and only 900 of its soldiers reached
Scotland, under the Count de Martigues.
In the following year D?Esse was superseded in
the command by Paul de la Barthe, Seigneur de
Termes, a knight of St, Michael, who brought with
him IOO cuirassiers, zoo horse, and 1,000 infantry.
He was appointed marshal of France in 1555.
Prior to the arrival of these auxiliaries, Leith
seems to have been completely an open town ; but
Andre de Montelambert, as a basis for future operations,
at once saw the importance of fortifying it,
dependent as he was almost entirely upon support
from the Continent, and having a necessity for a
place to retreat into in case of reverse; so he at
once proceeded to enclose the seaport with strong
and regular works, carried out on the scientific principles
of the time.
As not a vestige of these works now remain, it is
useless to speculate on the probable height or composition
of the ramparts, which were most probably
massive earthworks, in many places faced
with stone, and must have been furnished with a
ferre-plene all round, to enable the gamson to pass
. and re-pass ; and no doubt the work would be efficiently
done, as the French have ever evinced the
highest talent for military engineering.
The works erected then were of a very irregular
kind, partaking generally of a somewhat triangular
form, the smallest base of which presented to
Leith Links on the eastward a frontage of about
2,000 feet from point to point of the flankers or
bastions.
In the centre of this was one great projecting
bastion, 600 feet in length, in the h e of the present
Constitution Street
Ramsay?s Fort, usually called the first bastion,
adjoined the river in the line of BernarC?s Street
with a curtain nearly 500 feet long, the second
bastion terminating the frontage described as to the
Links. The present line of Leith Walk would seem
to have entered the town by St. Anthony?s Port,
between the third and fourth bastion.
A gate in the walls is indicated by Maitland as
being at the foot of the Bonnington Road, near the
fifth bastion, from whence the works extended to
the riveq which was crossed by a wooden bridge
near the sixth bastion. Port St. Nicholas-so called
from the then adjacent church-entered at the
seventh bastion, which was flanked far out at a very
acute angle, evidently to enclose the church and
burying-ground ; and from thence the fortifications,
with a sea front of 1,200 feet, extended to the eighth
bastion, which adjoined the Sand Port, near where
the Custom House standsnow. The two bastions
at the harbour mouth would no doubt be built
wholly of stone, and heavily armed with guns to
defend the entrance.
Kincaid states that in his time some vestiges of
a ditch and bastion existed westward of the citadel.
Where the Exchange Buildings now stand there
long remained a narrow mound of earth a hundred
yards long and of considerable height, which in the
last century was much frequented by the belles of
Leith as a lofty and airy promenade, to which there
was an ascent by steps. It was called the ? Ladies?
Walk,? and was, no doubt, the remains of the
work adjoining the second bastion of AndI;e de
Montelambert.
The wall near the third bastion, when it became
reduced to a mere mound of earth, formed for a
time a portion of South Leith burying-ground.
? An unfortunate and unthinking wight of a seacaptain,?
sayscampbell, in his ?History,)) ?tempted,
we presume, by the devil, once took it in his head
to ballast his ship with this sacred earth. The consequence,
tradition has it, of this sacrilegious act
was, that neither the wicked captain nor his ship,
after putting to sea, was ever heard of again.?
Montelambert D?Esse could barely have had his
fortifications completed when, as already noted, he
was superseded in the command by a senior officer,
Paul de la Barthe, the Seigneur de Termes, one of
whose first measures was to drive the English out
of Inchkeith, where a detachment of them had been
occupying the old castle. The general operations
of the French army at Haddington and elsewhere,
after being joined by 5,000 Scottish troops under
the Governor, lie apart from the history of Leith;](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v5p182.gif "Old and New Edinburgh Vol. V Page 171")
... whole ; 2,000 of these men were of the
regular infantry of France , and were commanded
by Coligny, the Seigneur ...
Book 5 p. 171
(Score 1.02)
![Rcstalrig.] THE NISBETS OF CRAIGANTINNIE. ?37
receiving and returning their visits as such.
After a four-days? debate, the Lords of Session
pronounced for the defender, with expenses. The
son John, as sixth baronet; but not without a
contest, as fourteen years afterwards a Mr. John
Edgar raised in the Court of Session an action
of reduction of his service, as nearest lawful heir
of the late baronet, on the plea that the latter had
never been legally married to his wife.
It was alleged that he had gone to France, and
there had formed a connection with a lady whose
social position was inferior to his own, but who
accompanied him to Britain, where she bore him
The question was, whether from the whole circumstances,
Sir John and this lady were to be
considered as married persons? In evidence it
appeared that they had never doubted that they were
so, though Sir John, in dread of his proud relations,
had sedulously kept the fact a secret while in
Scotland, where, it was alleged for the pursuer,
Sir John had ventured to pay his addresses to a
lady of rank.
On the other side there was the evidence of an
Locn END.
two sons. After selling out of the army, in 1775,
Sir John went to Carolina, to settle upon an estate
he possessed there, taking with him this lady and
his two sons, and the process stated that after
their arrival in America, in 1775, or the beginning
of 1776, Sir John and his lady were shipwrecked
and drowned. From this awful catastrophe their
two sons were preserved, having been left at school
in the Jerseys. Some time afterwards the boys
were sent over to this country, and the eldest of
them-the defender in this action-on the 15th
August, 1781, was served heir to his father. From
the time of his father and mother?s death, till
1790, when this action was raised, he had been in
the uninterrupted possession of his fatheis estates.?
114](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v5p148.gif "Old and New Edinburgh Vol. V Page 137")
... married to his wife.
It was alleged that he had gone to France , and
there had formed a connection with a lady ...
Book 5 p. 137
(Score 1.02)
![KING’S STABLES, CASTLE BARNS, AND CASTLE HILL. 151
a piscina; and those of France were in the same position in the floor above.‘ In their
original po,sition these devices were so obscured with dirt and whitewash as to appear
merely rnde plaster ornaments ; but on their removal they proved to be very fine and carefully-
finished carvings in oak, and retaining marks of the colours with which they had
been blazoned. These heraldic bearings are not only interesting, as confirming the early
tradition first mentioned by Maitland,-a careful and conscientious antiquary,-of its
having been the residence of Mary of Guise, but they aEord a very satisfactory clue to the
period of her abode there. James Hamilton, Earl of Arran, was created Duke of Chatelherault
in the year 1548, but not fully confirmed in the title till 1551, when it was
conceded to him as part of his reward for resigning the Regency to the Queen Dowager ;
and that same year she returned from France to assume the government. The death of
Henry 11. of Frame occurred in 1559, just about the period when the complete rupture
took place between the Regent and the Lords of the Congregation, after which time her
chief place of residence was in Leith, until her last illness, when she took up her abode
in the Castle of Edinburgh, where she died. The interval between these dates entirely
coincides with that period of her history when she might be supposed to have chosen such a
residence within the city walls, and near the Castle, while the burning of the Capital and
Palace by the English army in 1544 was of so recent occurrence, and the buildings of the
latter were probably only partially restored.’
In rtccordance with the traditions of the locality, we have described the property in Todd’s
Close as forniing a part of the Guise Palace, entered from Blyth’s Close, and with which
there existed an internal communication. It appears, however, from the title-deeds of the
property, that this portion of the range of ancient buildings had formed, either in the
Chambers mentions (Traditions, vol. i p. 80) having seen, in the possession of an antiquarian friend, the City Arms,
which had been removed from a similar situation in the third floor. We have reason to believe, however, that he w a ~
mistaken in this, and that the arms he saw were removed from an old houae on the south side of the Canongate.
“ The Queen Dowager,”
says Calderwood, A.D. 1554, “came from the Parliament Houa, to the Palace of Halyrudhous, with the honnoura borne
before her ” [vol. i. p, 2831, on which Knox remarks, that, “ It waa als seemelie a sight to see the crowne putt upon her
head, as to see a aaddle putt upon the backe of an unrulie kow ! ” This, however, and similar alluaiona to her going to
the Palace on occasions of state, cannot be considered as necesaarily inconsistent with the occupation of a private
mansion. The titledeeds of the property which we have examined throw no light on this interesting question. They
are all comparatively recent, the earlieat of them bearing the date of 1622.
Some curious information about the household of Mary of Guise is furnished in the selection from the register of
the Privy Seal of Scotland, appended to Pitcairn’s Criminal Trials, e.g. 1538. “ Item, for iiij elnia grene veluet, to be
ye covering of ane eadill to the fule.” Again, “for vij elnis, 4 elne grene birge satyne, to be the Q u d s fule, ane
goune . . . sallow birge satyne, to be hir ane kirtill . . . blaid black gray, to lyne ye kirtill,” &c., and at her coronation
in 1540, “Item, deliuerit to ye Frenche tehur, to be ane cote to Serrat, the Quenis fule,” &c. Green and
yellow seems to have been the Court Fool’s livery. This is one of the very few instances on record of a Female
Buffoon or Fool, for the amusement of the Court The Queen’s establishment also included a male and female dwarf,
whose dresses figure in these accounts, alongside of such items, gs-“ For vj elnis of Parise blak, to be Maiter George
Balquhannane ane goune, at the Quenia Grace entre in Edinburghe.” “To Janet Douglaa, spous of David
Lindesay, of the Monthe XI. li.” To the POW penny, deliuerit to David Lindesay, Lyoune herald, on the Quenia
[Magdalen] Saull-Nes and Dirige,” &c. The following items from the Treasurer’s accounts show the existence of
similar eervitors in Queen Mary’s household :-“ 1562, Paid for ane cote, hois, lynyng and making, to Jonat Yusche,
fuler84,5a. 6d. Ane
abnkement to Jaquelene gouernance de la Jordiner. 1566, Ane garment of reid and yellow to be ane gowne, hois, and
cote, to Jane Colquhoun, fule. 1567, Ane abnlement of braid inglis yellow, to be cots and breikis,4lso aarkis,-to
James Geddie, fule.” Subsequent entries show that Queen Mary had a Female Fule, called 9‘ Niwlau, the Queen’s
Grace fule,” who would appear, from the following item, to have been retained in the service of the Regent after the
Queen’s flight to England :-“ 1570, The first day of August, be the Regent’s g. speciale command, to Nichola the fule,
to mak hir expensis and fraucht to France, L15.”
* No allusion occurs in any of the historians of the period in con6rmation of the tradition.
1565, For grene plading to mak ane bed to Jardinar, the fule, with white fustiane, feddem, &c.](images/thumbs/memorials/memorials_v1_Page_181.gif "Memorials of Edinburgh in the Olden Time Page 163")
... BARNS, AND CASTLE HILL. 151
a piscina; and those of France were in the same position in the floor above.‘ ...
Book 10 p. 163
(Score 0.99)
![Kolyrood.] THE COFFIN OF JAMES V. 65
Appended to this scroll was a minute of thei
possessions, with a hint of the pecuniary advantager
to result from forfeiture. This dangerous policy
James repelled by exclaiming, ?? Pack you, javels !
(knaves). Get you to your religious charges ; reform
your lives, and be not instruments of discord
between me and my nobles, or else I shall reform
you, not as the King of Denmark does, by im
prisonment, nor yet as the King of England does
by hanging and heading, but by sharp swords,
if I hear of such hotion of you again ! ?
From this speech it has been suppqsed that
Jxnes contemplated some reform in the then
dissolute Church. But the rout at Solway
followed; his heart was broken, and on learning
the birth of his daughter Mary, he died in despair
at Falkland, yet, says Pitscottie, holding up his
hands to God, as he yielded his spirit. He was
interred in the royal vault, in December, 1542,
at Holyrood, where, according to a MS. in the
Advocates? Library, his body was seen by the Earl
of Forfar, the Lord Strathnaver, and others, who
examined that vault in 1683. ?We viewed the
body of James V. It lyeth within ane wodden
coffin, and is coverit with ane lead coffin. There
seemed to be hair upon the head still. The
body was two lengths of my staff with twa inches
more, which is twae inches and more above twae
Scots elms, for I measured the staff with an ellwand
afterward. The body was coloured black with ye
balsam that preserved it, and which was lyke
melted pitch. The Earl of Forfar took the measure
with his staf lykewayes? On the coffin was the
inscription, flhstris Scoturum, Rex Jacobus, gus
Nominis E, with the dates of his age and death.
The first regent after that event was James,
second Earl of Arran (afterwards Duke of Chatelherault,
who had been godfather to James, the
little Duke of Rothesay, next heir to the crown,
failing the issue of the infant Queen Mary), and in
1545 this high official was solemnly invested at
Holyrood, together with the Earls of Angus, Huntly,
and Argyle, with the collar and robes of St.
Michael, sent by the King of France, and at the
hands of the Lyon King of Arms.
We have related how the Church suffered at
the hands of English pillagers after Pinkie, in
1547. The Palace did not escape. Seacombe, in
his ?? History of the House of Stanley,? mentions
that Norns, of Speke Hall, Lancashire, an
English commander at that battle, plundered
from Holyrood all or most of the princely
library of the deceased King of Scots, James V.,
?particularly four large folios, said to contain
the Records and Laws of Scotland at that time.?
He also describes a grand piece of wainscot,
now in Speke Hall, as having been brought from
the palace, but this is considered, from its style,
doubtful.
During the turmoils and troubles that ensued
after Mary of Guise assumed the regency, her
proposal, on the suggestion of the French Court,
to form a Scottish standing army like that of
France, so exasperated the nobles and barons,
that three hundred of them assembled at
Holyrood in 1555, and after denouncing the
measure in strong terms, deputed the Laird of
Wemyss and Sir James Sandilands of Calder to
remonstrate with her on the unconstitutional step
she was meditating, urging that Scotland had
never wanted brave defenders to fight her battles
in time of peril, and that they would never submit
to this innovation on their ancient customsc
This spirited remonstrance from Holyrood had the
desired effect, as the regent abandoned her pro--
ject. She came, after an absence, to the palace in
the November of the following year, when the
magistrates presented her with a quantity of new
wine, and dismissed McCalzean, an assessor of the
city, who spoke to her insultingly in the palace on
the affairs of Edinburgh; and in the following
February she received and entertained the ambassador
of the Duke of Muscovy, who had been
shipwrecked on his way to England, whither she
sent him, escorted by 500 lances, under the Lord
Home.
After the death of Mary of Guise and the arrival
of her daughter to assume the crown of her ancestors,
the most stirring scenes in the history of the
palace pass in review.](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v3p077.gif "Old and New Edinburgh Vol. III Page 65")
... collar and robes of St.
Michael, sent by the King of France , and at the
hands of the Lyon King of Arms.
We ...
Book 3 p. 65
(Score 0.99)
... spirit which is exercising so strong an influence in France , Germany,
and England, as well as in other pmts ...
Book 10 p. xvi
(Score 0.98)
![THE GUISE PALACE. 93 The Castle Hill.]
queen?s Deid-room, where the individuals of the
royal establishment were kept between their death
and burial. In 1828 there was found walled up
in the oratory an infantine head and hand in wax,
being all that remained of a bambina, or figure of
the child Jesus, and now preserved by the Society
of Antiquaries. The edifice had many windows
on the northern side, and from these a fine view
spent her youth in the proud halls of the Guises
in Picardy, and had beell the spouse of a Longueville,
was here content to live-in a close in
Edinburgh! In these obscurities, too, was a
government conducted, which had to struggle with
Knox, Glencairn, James Stewart, Morton, and
many other powerfd men, backed by a popular
sentiment which never fails to triumph. It was
DUKE OF GORDO~?S HOUSE, BLAIR?S CLOSE, CASTLE HILL.
must have been commanded of the gardens in
the immediate foreground, sloping downward to
the loch, the opposite bank, with its farm-houses,
the Firth of Forth, and Fifeshire. ?? It was interesting,?
says the author of ? Traditions of Edinburgh,?
?to wander through the dusky mazes of
this ancient building, and reflect that they had
been occupied three centuries. ago by a sovereign
princess, and of the most illustrious lineage. Here
was a substantial monument of the connection
between Scotland and France. She, whose ancestors
owned Lorraine as a sovereignty, who had
the misfortune of Mary (of Guise) to be placed in
a position to resist the Reformation. Her own
character deserved that she should have stood in
a more agreeable relation to what Scotland now
venerates, for she was mild and just, and sincerely
anxious for the welfare of her adopted country. It
is also proper to remember on the present occasion,
that in her Court she maintained a decent gravity,
nor would she tolerate any licentious practices
therein. Her maids of honour were always busied
in commendable exercises, she herself being an
examplc to them in virtue, piety, and modesty,](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v1p105.gif "Old and New Edinburgh Vol. I Page 93")
... monument of the connection
between Scotland and France . She, whose ancestors
owned Lorraine as a ...
Book 1 p. 93
(Score 0.97)
![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")
... and
grete menis, be a he and mighty Prince, the Eing of France , and mony uyr Lordis of
France , for the gettyn of ...
Book 10 p. 419
(Score 0.94)
![45 2 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
lower churchyard, in 1844 ; the following notices of the Town Council Records, indicates the date and reason
of their disuse. An Act of Council, September 30th, 1618, ‘‘Discharges Oak Kircts to be made for burials of
the deceased persones within the Brough” Thia, however, must have met with very slight attention, the
ancient usages in reference to the burial of the dead being in all countries and states of society the most
diBcult to eradicate. Another Act of the Town Council, in February 1635, prohibits the Oak Kbts being
brought to the Greyfriars’ Churchyard, ‘‘ The-burial place in Greyfriars being scarce capable of the dead bodiea
occasioned through Wainscott Kists.” Even this failed in securing sufficient room for the dead, and an Act of
Town Council, dated 1st April 1636, provides for the augmentation of the areyfriars’ burial-ground.
XIX. ANCIENT LODGINGS.
A FEW additional notices of some value, regarding some of the ancient mansions referred to in the come of
the work, are introduced here, having been overlooked when preparing the Text, or only discovered when too
late to insert in their proper places.
The
following notice of it appears in the Diurnal of Occurrsnts, a very curious collection of contemporary records of
the sixteenth century, printed by the Bannatyne Club, the practical value of which is greatly abridged by the
want of an index :-“ Vpon the xiij day of Februar, the zeir of God foirsaid, Henrie lord Dernlk, eldest Bone to
Matho erle of Lennox, come to Edinburgh be post fra Ingland, and wes lugeit in my lord Seytouna lugeing
in the Cannongait besyid Edinburgh.’-(Diurnal of Occurrents in Scotland, p. 79.)
CARDINABLE ATONH’So usE.-From the following notices it will be wen that the ancient tenement which
stood till lately in the Cowgate, at the foot of Blackfriars’ Wynd, was the scene of the first festivities in
Edinburgh after the arrival of Queen Mary, and was, not long after, honoured by her own presence, with
the chief nobles of her court :-
U Vpoun the xix day of August lxj, Marie, quene of Scottis, our souerane ladie, e tin th e raid of Leith
at sex houris in the mornyng, accumpanyit onlie with tua gallionis ; and thair come with hir in cumpany
monsieur Domell, the grand pryour, monsieur marques [d’ElbeufJ the said quenes grace moder broder, togidder
with monsieur Danguill [d’hville], second sone to the constable of France, with certane vther nobill gentilmen
; and at ten houris the samen day, hir hienes landit vpoun the schoir of Leith, and remanit in Andro
Lambis hous be the space of ane hour, and thairefter wes convoyit vp to hir palice of Halyrudhoua
“Vpoun the xxiiij day of August, quhilk wes Sonday, the quenes grace causit say mes in hir hienes chappell
within hir palace of Halyrudhous, quhairat the lordis of the congegatioun wes grittumlie annoyit
. (6 Vpoun $he lust day of Aqwt lxj, the toun of Edinburgh maid thc banked to m&r DomeU, the grand
mow, marques, and monsieur Danguill, in am honourable maner, within the lugeing mrntynts pertenying to tha
cardinall.
“Vpoun the h t day of September, the said monsieur Domell depairtit, with the twa gallionis quhilk.
brocht the quenes grace hame to France, and his broder remanit in Scotland,
((Vpoun the secund day of September lxj, the quenes grace maid hir entrea in the burgh of Edinburgh on
tbis maner. Her hienes depairtit of Halyrudhous, and raid be the lang gait on the north syid of the said burgh,
vnto the tyme scho come to the castell, quheir wee ane xet maid to hir, at the quhilk scho, wcumpanijt with the
maist pairt of the nobilitie of Scotland except my lord duke and hia none, come in and raid vp the castell bank
to the caatell, and dynit thairin ; and quhen sho had dynit at tuelf houris, hir hienea come furth of the said
WINTOUNH OUSE.-The site of the ancient mansion of the Earls of Wintoun is described on page 303.](images/thumbs/memorials/memorials_v1_Page_509.gif "Memorials of Edinburgh in the Olden Time Page 491")
... Danguill [d’hville], second sone to the constable of France , with certane vther nobill gentilmen
; and at ten ...
Book 10 p. 491
(Score 0.92)
... to make an offer of their young Queen
to the Dauphin of France , an offer which his father
at once accepted, and ...
Book 5 p. 170
(Score 0.9)
... by Great Britain against
the Republican forces of France . In conjunction with his able coadjutor,
HENRYD ...
Book 9 p. 342
(Score 0.89)
Go back to Edinburgh Bookshelf
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![Holymod.] ? QUEEN MARY AND JOHN KNOX. 67
religion of the land, yet on the first Sunday
subsequent to her return she ordered mass to be
said in the chapel royaL Tidings of this caused
a dreadful excitement in the city, and the Master
of Lindsay, with other gentlemen, burst into the
palace, shouting, ?? The idolatrous priest shall die
the death!? for death was by law the penalty of
celebrating mass; and themultitude, pouring towards
the chapel, strove to lay violent hands on the priest.
Lord James-afterwards Regent-Moray succeeded
in preventing their entrance by main strength, and
thus gave great offence to the people, though he
alleged, as an excuse, he wished to prevent ? any
Scot from witnessing a service so idolatrous.?
After the function was over, the priest was committed
to the protection of Lord Robert Stuart,
Commendator of Holyrood, and Lord John of
Coldingham, who conducted him in safety to his
residence. ? But the godly departed in great grief
of heart, and that afternoon repaired to the Abbey
in great companies, and gave plain signification
that they could not abide that the land which God
had, by His power, purged from idolatry should
be polluted again.? The noise and uproar of these
companies ? must have made Mary painfully
aware that she was without a regular guard or
armed protection ; but she had been barely a week
in Holyrood when she held her first famous interview
with the great Reformer, which is too well
known to be recapitulated here, but whichaccording
to himself-he concluded by these
remarkable words :-cc I pray God, madam, that ye
may be as blessed within the commonwealth of
Scotland, if it be the pleasure of God, as ever
Deborah was in the commonwealth of Israel.?
The Queen?s Maries, so celebrated in tradition,
in history, and in song, who accompanied her to
France-namely, Mary, daughter of Lord Livingston,
Mary, daughter of Lord Flemihg, Mary, daughter of
Lord Seton, and Mary Beaton of Balfour, were all
married in succession ; but doubtless, so long as
she resided at Holyrood she had her maids ol
honour, and the name of ?Queen?s Maries?
became a general designation for her chosen attendants
; hence the old ballad :-
?Now bear a hand, my Maries a?
And busk me braw and fine.?
Her four Maries, who received precisely the same
education as herself, and were taught by the
same masters, returned with her to Scotland with
their acknowledged beauty refined by all the
graces the Court of France could impart; and in
a Latin masque, composed by Buchanan, entitled
the ?Pomp of the Gods,? acted at Holyrood in
July, 1567, before her marriage with Damley,
Diana speaks to Jupiter of her $%e Manes-the
fifth being the queen herself; and well known is
the pathetic old ballad which says :-
? Yest?reen the Queen had foyr Manes,
This night she?ll have but three ;
And Mary Carmichael and me.?
There was Marie Beaton and Mane Seaton
In a sermon delivered to the nobles previous to
the dissolution of Mary?s first Parliament, Knox
spoke with fury on the runiours then current concerning
the intended marriage of the Queen to a
Papist, which ? would banish Christ Jesus from the
realm and bring God?s vengeance on the country.?l
He tells that his own words and his manner of?
speaking them were deemed intolerable, and that
Protestants and Catholics were equally offended.
And then followed his second interview with Mary,
who summoned him to Holyrood, where he wasintroduced
into her presence by Erskine of Dun, and
where she complained of his daring answers and
ingratitude to herself, who had courted his favour;
but grown undaunted again, he stood before her
in a cloth cap, Geneva cloak, and falling bands,
and with ? iron eyes beheld her weep in vain.?
?? Knox,? says Tytler, ? affirmed that when in
the pulpit he was not master of himself, but must
obey His commands who bade him speak plain,
and flatter no flesh. As to the favours which had
been offered to him, his vocation, he said, was
neither to wait in the courts of princes nor in
the chambers of ladies, but to preach theGospel.
?I grant it so,? reiterated the queen; ?but what
have you to do with my mamage, and what are
you within the commonwealth 7 ? ? A subject
born within the same ; and albeit, madam, neitherbaron,
lord, nor belted earl, yet hath God made
me, however abject soever in your eyes, a useful
and profitable member. As such, it is my duty
to forewarn the people of danger ; and, therefore,
what I have said in public I repeat to your own
face ! Whenever the nobility of this realm so farforget
themselves that you shall be subject to an
unlawful husband, they do as much as in
them lieth to renounce Christ, to banish the
truth, betray the freedom of the realm, and perchance
be but cold friends to yourself!? This
new attack brought on a still more passionate
burst of tears, and Mary commanded Knox to quit
the apartment.?
Then it was, as he was passing forth, ? observing
a circle of the ladies of the queen?s household
sitting near in their gorgeous apparel, he
could not depart without a word of admonition.
? Ah, fair ladies,? said he, ? how pleasant were this
life of yours if it should ever abide, and then b](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v3p079.gif "Old and New Edinburgh Vol. III Page 67")
