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308 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Granton.
called in the Herar?d for 1797-9 in its announcements
of the purchase of the buildings for the erection
of Gillespie?s Hospital.
In one of the villas at Boswell Road, Wardie,
immediately overlooking the sea, Alexander Smith
the well-known poet and essayist, author of the
?? Life Drama,? which was held up to Continental
admiration in the Reuue des Deux Mondes, ? City
Poems,? ?? Dreamthorpe,? and other works, and
whom we have already mentioned in the account
in the western part of Royston and the adjacent
lands of Wardie, both above and below the tide
mark, and that when fuel was scarce, the poor even
went to carry the coal away; also that a pit
was sunk in Pilton wood in 1788, but was
abandoned, owing to the inferiority of the coal. In
the links of Royston there are vestiges of ancient
pits.
Bower mentions that a great ?carrick? of the
Lombards was shattered on the rocks at Granton,
MAP OF GRANTON AND NEIGHBOURHOOD.
of Warriston Cemetery, resided for many years,
and there he died on the 5th of January, 1867.
The Duke of Buccleuch is proprietor of Caroline
Park, and has at his own expense raised erections
which will attract shipping to the incipient
town and seaport of Granton, and lead to the
speedy construction of another great sea-port for
Edinburgh, to which it will soon be joined by a
network of streets ; in many quarters near it these
are rising fast already.
But before describing its stately eastern and
western piers, we shall glance at some of the past
history of the locality.
In the ?Old Statistical Account,? we find it stated,
that there are appearances of coal on the sea-side,
in October, 1425, where, curiously enough, some
ancient Italian coins were found not long ago.
The place at which the English army landed in
1544, and from there they began their march on
Leith, was exactly where Granton pier is now. In
an account of the late ? Expedition in Scotland,
sente to the Ryght Honorable Lord Russell, Lorde
Privie Seale, from the kings armye there by a
friend of hys,? the landing is described thus
(modernised), and is somewhat different from
what is generally found in Scottish history.
?That night the whole fleet came to anchor
under the island of Inchkeith, three niiles from the
houses of Leith. The place where we anchored
hath long been called the English R0a.d; the

... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Granton. called in the Herar?d for 1797-9 in its announcements of the purchase of the ...

Book 6 p. 308
(Score 1.02)

Gilmerton.; THE HOUSE IN THE ROCK. 345
character or by the stronger claims of natural affection.
Choosing, therefore, a dark and windy night,
when the objects of his vengeance were engaged in
a stolen interview, he set fire to a stack of dried
thorns and other combustibles, which he had caused
to be piled against the house, and reduced to
a pile of glowing ashes the dwelling and all its
inmates.?
In 1587 Gilmerton Grange was the property of
Mark Kerr, Master of Requests in 1577, and for
each apartment there was a skylight-window. It
was all thoroughly drained and finished about the
end of 1724.
Alexander Pennicuik, ?? the burgess-bard of
Edinburgh,? furnished the following inscription,
which was carved in stone over the entrance :
?? Here is a house and shop hewn in this rock
with my own hand.-GEoRGE PATERSON.
?? Upon the earth there ?s villany and woe,
But happiness and I do dwell below ; 1
DRUM HOUSE.
whom Newbattle was erected into a temporal lordship
in 1591. He died first earl of the house of
Lothian.
The soft and workable nature of the sandstone at
Gilmerton tempted a blacksmith named George
Paterson, in 1720, to an enterprise of a very remarkable
character. In the little garden at the
end of his house he excavated for himself a dwelling
in the living rock, comprising several apartments.
Besides a smithy with a forge, there were
a dining-room fourteen feet six inches long, seven
feet broad, and six in height, furnished with a bench
all round, a table, and bed recess; a drinking
parlour, rather larger ; a kitchen and bed-place ; a
cellar seven feet long ; and a washing-house. In
140
My hands hewed out this rock into a cell,
Wherein from din of life I safely dwell :
On Jamb?s pillow nightly lies my head,
My house when living and my grave when dead :
Inscribe upon it, when I?m dead and gone,
? I lived and died within my mother?s womb.? ?
In this abode Paterson dwelt for eleven years.
Holiday parties came from the city to see him and
his singular house, and even judges of the courts
imbibed their liquor in his stone parlour. ?The
ground was held in feu, and the yearly duty and
public burdens were forgiven him, on account of
the extraordinary labour he had incurred in makig
himself a home.?
He died about 1735, and his cave is occasionally

... THE HOUSE IN THE ROCK. 345 character or by the stronger claims of natural affection. Choosing, ...

Book 6 p. 345
(Score 1.01)

University. 1 A COMMISSION OF INQUIRY. ?3
one with a dark lantern ; but notwithstanding that
a pardon and zoo merks (about 6110 sterling)
were offered by the Privy Council to any who
would discover the perpetrators of this outrage,
they were never detected.
The gates of the college were ordered to be shut,
and the students to retire at least fifteen miles
distant from the city; but in ten days they were
permitted to return, upon their friends becoming
caution for their peaceable behaviour, and the
gates were again thrown open ; but all students
? above the Semi-class ? were ordered by the Privy
Council to take the oaths of allegiance and supremacy,
and go regularly to the parish churches ;
but, says Fountainhall, ?? there were few or none
who gave thu conditions.?
-the seat of Sir Jarnes Dick, Lord Provost, the
family being in town-was deliberately set in flames
by fire-balls, and burned to the ground, with all
its furniture.
A barrel ha.Y full of combustible materials, and
bearing, it was said, the Castle mark, was found in
the adjacent park, and several people deposed
that on the night of the conflagration they saw
many young men going towards the house of
Priestfield with unlighted links in their hands, and
?
repress faction and panish disorder ; to correspond
with the other Scottish Universities, so that a uniformity
of discipline might be adopted; and to
report fully on all these matters before the 1st of
November, 1683. ?What the visitors did in
consequence of this appointment,? says Amot,
? we are not able to ascertain.?
As this visitation was to be for the suppression
of fanaticism, upon the accomplishment of the
Revolution a Parliamentary one was ordered of all
the universities in Scotland by an Act of William
and Mary, ?? with the purpose to remove and
? oppress such as continued attached to the hierarchy
or the House of Stuart. From such specimens
of their conduct in a visitorial capacity as we have
been able to discover, we are entitled to say,? re-
To prevent a recurrence of such outbreaks,
Charles 11. appointed a visitation of the university,
naming the great officers of state, the bishop, Lord
Provost, and magistrates of the city, and certain
others, of whom five, with the bishop and Lord
Provost should be a quorum, to inquire into the
condition of the college, its revenues, privileges, and
buildings; to examine if the laws of the realm, the
Church government, and the old rules of discipline
were observed j to arrange the methods of study; to
PART OF THE BUILDINGS OF THE saum SIDE OF THE QUADRANGLE OF THE OLD UNIVERSITY.
(From am Engraving ay W. H. Lienn of a Drawing ay Payfair.)

... 1 A COMMISSION OF INQUIRY. ?3 one with a dark lantern ; but notwithstanding that a pardon and zoo ...

Book 5 p. 13
(Score 1.01)

AND THE VALE OF THE ESK. '37
Charles I., and his despondency over the state of the times, the evidence is
sufficient ; but that Charles's death in any way occasioned Dkmmond's no
one is bound to believe. There was an interval of ten months between the
two events ; and Drummond had at any rate .reached the limit of life that
might have been anticipated. He had passed, by seven years, the age attained
by his father; and he had outlived all his brothers and sisters, except his
brother James, the next to him in age, who is heard of as surviving him for a
year or two.'
. Drummond's grave is still to be seen. It is in the churchyard of Lasswade,
the parish in which Hawthornden is situated.
LASSWADE VILLAGE.
' The Church and Churchyard of Lasswade are on a height overlooking the
village, and about two miles and a half from Hawthornden. The present
church was built about a hundred years ago ; but, in a portion of the well-kept
churchyard, railed in separately from the rest, as more select and important,
there is the fragmentaj outline of the smaller old church, with some of the
sepulchral monuments that belonged to it. Drummond's own aisle, abutting
from one part of the ruined wall, is still perfect, a small arched space of stonework,
with a roofing of strong stone slabs; and a grating of iron for door-way.
Within that small arched space Drummond's ashes certainly lie, though there
is no inscription to mark the precise spot as distinct from the graves of some
of his latest descendants who are also buried there, and to one of whom there
is a commemorative tablet. The small arched aisle itself is his monument,
and it is a'sufficient one. There could hardly be a more peaceful rustic
burying-ground than that in which it stands, the church and the manse close
to it on the height, with only steep descending lanes from them to Lasswade
village and to the road leading from Lasswade to Edinburgh.'
The Village of Lasswade lies in a leafy hollow, through which runs the Esk.
In its churchyard, besides the poet Drummond and other notable Scotchmen of
his century; lies Henry Dbdas, first Viscount Melville, ' the colleague and
friend of Pitt, and from 1775 to 1805 the virtual king of Scotland.' His seat,
Melville Castle, lies farther down the Esk, between Lasswade and Dalkeith.
It was in the summer of 1798 that Scott and his wife, when they had been
a few months mamed, hired a pretty little cottage at Lasswade. ' It is a small
house,' says Lockhart, 'but with one room of good dimensions, which ME.
Scott's taste set off at very humble cost-a paddock or two, and a garden
(commanding a most' beautiful view), in which Scott delighted to train his
S

... THE VALE OF THE ESK. '37 Charles I., and his despondency over the state of the times, the evidence ...

Book 11 p. 196
(Score 1)

LEITH. 103
ratified with so deep and solemn a reverence, as in Leith: a fact which shows
very plainly, as it seems to us, that whatever their feelings or beliefs in the
days of Mary of Guise with respect to religion, they had non- quite decided
for the Reformation doctrine. Whether, indeed, any of the Leithers was
bellicose enough to buckle on the sword, or shoulder the firelock, and march
across the Border under the able leadership of the old and astute Earl of
Leven, we are not in a position to say. We hope, however, that they did not
just suffer all their zeal and ardour for Protestantism to evaporate or melt
away in the signing of that very solemn and formidable document, but that
some of them at least had the courage to face the warlike and disciplined
forces of Newcastle, and leave their mark upon, if not their bodies before,
the strongly-walled and gallantlydefended city of Durham.
A dark day of terrible suffering was now fast hurrying up, and ready to
burst in lamentation and woe over Leith. That ancient scourge of Scotland,
the Plague, the horrors of which were at this time aggravated by a dreadful
famine, then visited the town and neighbourhood, cutting down in its malignant
wrathfulness young and old, rich and poor, and bringing sorrow and desolation
into almost every home. The town then numbered about 5000 inhabitants
; but so fatal were the ravages of this dreadful disease, that in the short
space of six or seven months it was reduced to a little less than the half. The
churchyards could not receive the bodies requiring interment, and numbers of
the dead, wrapped in the blankets in which they had died, were carried forth
and buried in the Links and adjacent grounds. As just observed, the Plague
was accompanied by a famine, which perhaps was even more fatal in its consequences
; and upon a representation to Parliament of the impoverished and
starving condition of the inhabitants, authority was given to the magistrates to
seize on, and make use of, the grain and other provisions then in the stores
and warehouses, for the support or maintenance of the people, payment to be
made subsequently by voluntary subscription.
The next important event in the annals of the town took place in the year
1650. We refer to the fact that, while the forces of Cromwell were moving
upon Edinburgh after their victory over the Scottish army at Dunbar, a detachment,
under the command of Major-General Lambert, entered and took possession
of Leith. It did not suffer much, however, from this untoward event.
Only a contribution of some x z z sterling was exacted, a matter which, in
ordinary circumstances, would not have been felt by them, but which, follqwing
unhappily so closely upon the heel of the Plague and famine, was rather a
grievance. Shortly after this, however, Lambert was appointed elsewhere, and

... 103 ratified with so deep and solemn a reverence, as in Leith: a fact which shows very plainly, as it ...

Book 11 p. 156
(Score 0.99)

142 ROSLIN, HAWTHORNDEN,
bodies lay as thick as a man may notte cattell grasing in a full plenished pasture,
and 'the ryvere ran a1 red with blood.' 1 At nightfall the English mustered
again near Inveresk and gave a shout that the people heard in the streets of
Edinburgh. Next morning the English set to work to bury their dead ; and,
some halfcentury ago, a great number of the skeletons were excavated at
Pinkie-bum. A copsewood has been planted to mark out these rows ; and on
the spot where the Protectois tent was pitched, on the outskirts of Eskgrove,
a memorial pillar stands with this inscription upon it :-
THEP ROTECTORD, UKEO F SOMERSET,
Encamped here, 9th September,
1547.
The marriage between the children of the two realmsnever tookplace.
Somerset withdrew into England, and the little Mary was shipped off to France.
Twenty years elapsed, and once more two hostile forces met on the banks of
the Esk, within sight of the battlefield of Pinkie. Mary Stuart and Bothwell,
with some 2000 followers, were stationed upon Carberry Hill, while at a little
distance, on the other side of a hollow, were ranged the forces of the Confederate
Lords, flaunting their banner, on which was painted the figure of a dead man.
AI1 through the June day the Lords conferred with Bothwell and the Queen,
who, sitting upon a stone, clad in her runaway garb of short jacket and red
petticoat, was alternately fierce, tearful, and haughty. Then, as evening was
closing in, the Lords made their last proposition, and Mary knew she must
submit to it. Bothwell was to go free, and Mary was to be led away captive.
She consented, and on the green slope of Carbemy Hill they parted for ever.
Bothwell rode away upon his horse ; and Mary was taken back into Edinburgh,
dusty, tear-stained, and desperate, amidst the execrations of the crowd.'
' Cover my face for me :
I cannot heave my hand up to my head ;
Mine arms are broken.-Is he got to horse 7
I 'do not think one can die more than this.
I did not say fare~ell.'~
At Musselburgh, the Roman bridge, now preserved in the clutches of
strong iron bands, and succeeded, for all rougher traffic, by a broad modem
1 Patten's Expedicimn : vide Statistical Account.
3 Froude's ffistmy of EngZand, 1865, vol. ix. p. ga.
a EothwcZl, by A. C. Swinbume.

... ROSLIN, HAWTHORNDEN, bodies lay as thick as a man may notte cattell grasing in a full plenished pasture, and ...

Book 11 p. 201
(Score 0.99)

Leith.] ST. JAMES?S CHAPEL. 243
CHAPTER XXVII.
LEITH-CONSTITUTION STREET, THE SHORE, COAL HILL, AND SHERIFF BRAE.
Constitution Street-Pirates Executed-St. James?s Episcopal Church-Town H a l l S t . John?s Church-Exchange Buildings-Head-quarten of
the Leith Rifle Volunteen4ld Signal-Tower-The Shore-Old and New Ship Taverns--The Markets-The Coal Hill-Ancient Council
House-The Peat Ne&-Shim Bme-Tibbie Fowler of the Glen-St. Thomas?s Church and Asylum-The Gladstone Family-Creat
Junction Road.
CONSTITUTION STREET, which lies parallel to, and
eastward of the Kirkgate, nearly in a line with the
eastern face of the ancient fortifications, is about
2,500 feet in lehgth, and soon after its formation
was the scene of the last execution within what is
termed (? flood-mark.? The doomed prisoners were
two foreign seamen, whose crime and sentence
excited much interest at the time.
Peter Heaman and Francois Gautiez were accused
of piracy and murder in seizing the briglane
of Gibraltar, on her voyage from that place to
the Brazils, freighted with a valuable cargo, including
38,180 Spanish dollars, and in barbarously
killing Johnson the master, and Paterson a seaman,
and confining Smith and Sinclair, two other
seamen, in the forecastle, where they tried to suffocate
them with smoke, but eventually compelled
them to assist in navigating the vessel, which they
. afterwards sank off the coast of Ross-shire. They
landed the specie in eight barrels on the Isle of
Lewis, where they were apprehended.
This was in thesummer of 1822, and they were,
after a trial before the Court of Justiciary, sentenced
by the Judge-Admiral to be executed on the 9th of
? the subsequent January, ?on the sands of Leith,
within the flood-mark, and their bodies to be afterwards
given to Dr. Munro for dissection.?
On the day named they were conveyed from the
Calton gaol, under a strong escort of the dragoon
.guards, accompanied by the magistrates of the city,
who had white rods projecting from the windows of
the carriages in which they sat, to a gibbet erected
? at the foot of Constitution Street-oi raiher, the
. northern continuation thereof-and there hanged.
Heaman was a native of Carlscrona, in Sweden ;
Gautiez wa8 a Frenchman. The bodies were put
4 in coffins, and conveyed by a corporal?s escort of
? dragoons to the rooms of the professor of anatomy.
During the execution the great bell of South Leith
church was ttilled with minute strokes, and the
papers of the day state that ? the crowd of spectators
was immense, particularly cn the sands, being little
short of from forty to fifty thousand; but, owing to
the excellent manner in which everything was
In 1823 the same thoroughfare witnessed another
legal punishment, when Thomas Hay, who had
- arranged, not the slightest accident happened.?
been tried and convicted of an attempt at assassination,
was flogged through the town by the common
executioner, and banished for fourteen years.
Between Constitution Street and the Links stands
St. James?s Episcopalian church, an ornate edifice
in the Gothic style, designed by Sir Gilbert Scott,
having a fine steeple, containing a chime of bells,
It was built in 1862-3, succeeding a previous chapel
of 1805 (erectedatthe cost ofx1,6ro)on an adjacent
site (of which a view is given on p. 240), and to which
attention was frequently drawn from the literary
celebrity of its minister, Dr. Michael Russell, the
author of a continuation o? Prideaux?s Connection
of Sacred and Profane History,? and other works.
According to h o t , the congregation had an origin
that was not uncommon in the eighteenth century,
when the persecution
was set on foot against those of the Episcopal
communion in Scotland who did not take the
oaths required by law, the meeting-house in Leith
was shut up by the sheriff of the county. Persons
of this persuasion being thus deprived of the form
of worship their principles approved, brought from
the neighbouring country Mr. John Paul, an English
clergyman, who opened this chapel on the 23rd
June, 1749. It is called St. James?s chapel. Till
of late the congregation only rented it, but within
these few years they purchased it for Azoo. The
clergyman has about L60 a year salary, and the
organist ten guineas. These are paid out of the
seat rents, collections, and voluntary contributions
among the hearers. It is, perhaps, needless to add
that there are one or more meeting-houses for
sectaries in this place (Leith), for in Scotland there
are few towns, whether of importance! or insighificant,
whether populous or otherwise, where there
are not congregations of sectaries.?
The congregation of St. James?s chapel received,
in about the year 1810, the accession of a nonjuring
congregation of an earlier date, says a writer
in 1851, referring, doubtless, to that formed in the
time of the Rev. Mr. Paul.
The Leith Post Office is at the corner of Mitchell
and Constitution Streets; it was built in 1876, is
very small, and in a rather meagre Italian style.
The Town Hall, which is at the corner of Constitution
and Charlotte Streets, was built in 1827, at a
After the battle of Culloden,

... ST. JAMES?S CHAPEL. 243 CHAPTER XXVII. LEITH-CONSTITUTION STREET, THE SHORE, COAL HILL, AND SHERIFF ...

Book 6 p. 243
(Score 0.98)

? klth] KING JAMES V1.5 HOSPITAL 217
Barker, whose office ceased to exist after the Burgh
Reform Bill of 1833.
The seal of the preceptory is preserved in the
Antiquarian Museum. It bears the figure of St.
Anthonyina hermit?s garb, with a book in one
hand, a staff in the other, and by his side is a sow
with a bell at its neck. Over his head is a capital
T, which the brethren had sewn in blue cloth on
their black tunics. Around is the legend,
S. Cornmum PreceptoriC Sancfi Anthunii, Propc L&cht.
there when the ground was opened to lay down
gas-pipes; and in the title deeds of a property
here, ? the churchyard of St. Anthony ? is mentioned
as one of the boundaries.
The grotesque association of St. Anthony with a
sow is because the latter was supposed to represent
gluttony, which the saint is said to have overcome ;
and the further to conquer Satan, a consecrated
bell is suspended from his alleged ally the pig.
On the east side of the Kirkgate stood King
ST. MARY?S (SOUTH LEITH) CHURCH, 1820. (After .Ytme+.)
Sir David Lindesay of the Mount refers in his
vigorous way to
?The gruntil of St. Anthony?s sow,
There was an aisle, with an altar therein, dedicated
to him in the parish church of St. Giles; and among
the jewels of James 111. is enumerated ?Sanct
Antonis cors,? with a diamond, a ruby, and a great
pearl,
Save the fragments of some old vaults, not a
vestige of the preceptory now remains, though its
name is still preserved in St. Anthony?s Street,
which opens westward off the Kirkgate, and is sup
posed to pass through what was its cemetery, as
large quantities of human bones were exhumed
Quhilk bore his holy bell.?
124
James?s Hospital, built in 1614 by the sixth monarch
of that name, and the site of which now forms
part of the present burying-ground. At the southeast
angle of the old churchyard, says Wilson, there
is an ?? elegant Gothic pediment surmounting the
boundary wall and adorned with the Scottish regalia,
sculptured in high relief with the initials
J. R. 6., while a large panel below bears the
royal arms and initials of Charles 11. very boldly
executed. These insignia of royalty are intended
to mark the spot on which KiEg James?s Hospital
stood-a benevolent foundation which owed no
more to the royal patron whose name it bore than
the confirmation by his charter in 1614 of a portion
of those revenues which had been long before

... klth] KING JAMES V1.5 HOSPITAL 217 Barker, whose office ceased to exist after the Burgh Reform Bill of ...

Book 6 p. 217
(Score 0.98)

LEITH. 99
an outrage he was particularly commanded to commit. And so, having
accomplished the object of the invasion, he re-embarked with his victorious
forces, proud of their success and laden with spoil, committing, however, on
leaving, the port and its shipping to the flames.
Leith, only three years afterwards, was again visited by the same scourge,
now Duke of Somerset, and again suffered by fire at his hand, although not
to the same extent. Not that he on that occasion was less relentless, or not
so much bent on damaging and destroying Scottish property; but simply
because he then met with a stouter resistance, and had less opportunity.
Still he left his mark on this, as on the former occasion, and Leith has no
reason to remember with gratitude the visits, or presence among them, of
this fierce and pitiless firebrand of war.
A few years subsequent to this, and Leith again comes prominently to the
front. Hardly any event indeed of any great national importance occurred
without the port being in some way, less or more, closely connected with it.
Now were the days of the Reformation struggle, when Popery and Protestantism
fought a fierce hand-to-hand battle with varying fortune. Mary of Lorraine
was then Regent, and did her best to crush the rising spirit of rebellion as
directed against prelacy and despotism ; the reformers, on the other hand,
brave-hearted and fearless men, dared to despise the decrees and enactments
of royalty, and bade defiance to the uplifted arm, though sceptred with the
golden rod of sovereignty. For a good wide the battle went on with little
advantage to either side; neither party inclined to sheathe the sword, each
being eagerly bent upon victory, and determined to put down and trample
out the other. The right, however, ultimately prevailed. Popery went to
the wall, and Protestantism triumphed, but it was at a fearful cost of life and
treasure.
Mary of Lorraine, when the
palace was no longer safe for her, retired thither and fortified it, garrisoning
it with a body of French troops. The wall which was then thrown up was,
as it appears, of an octangular form with eight bastions at so many angles ;
and following the line of the present Bernard and Constitution Streets, from
nearly the west end of the latter, it pursued a northerly direction towards the
river. Here a wooden bridge, about 115 yards below the present erection at
the west end of Great Junction Street, connected the continuation of the wall
which reached to the citadel, and then taking an easterly course terminated
at Sandport Street. The bastions were of great strength, and the wall was
entirely built of stone. It had several ports or gates, the chief of which was
'
Leith figures very largely in this struggle.

... 99 an outrage he was particularly commanded to commit. And so, having accomplished the object of the ...

Book 11 p. 152
(Score 0.98)

234 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [High Street.
~~ ~~ ~~~ ~
the evil passions indulged in by many, Hamilton
draws the contrast thus :-
U Unlike, 0 Eglintoun ! thy happy breast,
Calm and serene, enjoys the heavenly guest ;
From the tumultuous rule of passions freed,
Pure in thy thought and spotless in thy deed ;
In virtues rich, in goodness unconfined,
Thou shin?st a fair example to thy kind ;
Sincere and equal to thy neighbour?s name,
How switl to praise ! how guiltless to defame !
Bold in thy presence bashfulness appears,
And backward merit loses all its fears.
Supremely blest by Heaven-Heaven?s richest grace
Confest is thine, an early blooming race ;
Whose pleasing smiles shall guardian wisdom arm,
Divine instruction ! taught of thee to charm ;
What transports shall they to thy soul impart
(The conscious transports of a parent?s heart),
When thou behold?st them of each grace possest,
And sighing youths imploring to be blest ;
After thy image formed, with charms like thine,
Or in the visit, or the dance to shine!
Thrice happy who succeed their mother?s praise,
The lovely Eglintounes of other days.?
Save Lady Frances, all her daughters were well
married; but her eldest son, Earl Alexander, was
her especial favourite. In his youth, she said, she
preserved the goodness of his nature by keeping
his mind pure and untainted, and giving him just
ideas of moral life. She is said never to have
refused him a request but once. On the accession
of George 111. to the throne, the young earl was
appointed one of the lords of the bedchamber.
Proud of his stately mother and of her noble figure,
he begged that she would walk in the procession
zt his Majesty?s coronation ; but the Countess-a
true Jacobite-excused herself, that she was too
old to wear robes now. His melancholy death at
the hands of Mungo Campbell, in 1769, well nigh
overwhelmed her. Indeed, she never entirely recovered
from the shock of seeing her beloved son
borne home mortally wounded.
During Dr. Johnson?s visit to her, it came out that
she was mamed before he was born ; upon which
she smartly and graciously said to him that she
might have been his mother, and now adopted him ;
and at parting she embraced him, a mark of affection
and condescension which made a lasting impression
upon the mind of the great literary bear. In 1780
she died at Auchans, at the age of ninety-one, preserving
to the last her grandeur of mien and her marvellous
purity of complexion, a mystery to all the
women of her time, and the secret of which was said
to be that she periodically bathed her face with sow?s
milk/ ?? I have seen a portrait,? says Chambers,
?(taken in her eighty-first year, in which it is observable
that her skin is of exquisite delicacy and
tint. Altogether the Countess was a woman of
ten thousand! . . . . One last trait maynow
be recorded : in her ladyship?s bedroom was hung
a portrait of her sovereign de jure, the ill-starred
Charles Edward, so situated as to be the first object
which met her sight on awaking in the morning.?
With the state leve?es of the old Earl of Leven
as High Commissioner at Fortune?s tavern the
ancient glories of the Stamp Office Close faded
away; but an unwonted spectacle was exhibited at
the head thereof in 1812-a public execution.
On the night of the 31st December, 1811, a
band of young artisans and idlers, most of them
under twenty years of age, but so numerous and
so well organised as to set the regular police of the
city at defiance, sallied forth, about eleven o?clock,
into the streets, then crowded as usual at that
festive season, and proceeded with bludgeons to
knock down and rob every person of decent appearance
who fell in their way-the least symptom
on the part of the victims to resist, or protect their
property, proving only a provocation to fresh outrages.
These desperadoes had full possession of
the streets till two in the morning, for the police,
who at that period were wretchedly insufficient,
w-ere rquted and dispersed from the commencement
of the murderous riot.
One watchman, who did his duty in a resolute
manner, was killed on the spot ; a great number of
persons were robbed, and a greater number dangerously,
some mortally, wounded. When the
police recovered from their surprise, assisted by
several gentlemen, a number of the rioters were
arrested, some with stolen articles in their possession,
and the chief ringleaders were soon after
discovered and taken into custody.
Four were tried and convicted; and three of
these young lads were sentenced to be hanged.
The magistrates had them executed on the zznd
of April, 181 2, on a gallows erected at the head of
the Stamp Office Close, in order to mark more
impressively the detestation of their crimes, and
because that place had been the chief scene of the
bloodshed during the riot.
A small work entitled ?? Notes of Conversations,?
with these young desperadoes, was afterwards published
by the Reverend W. Innes.
In 1821 the Stamp Office was removed from
this close to the new buildings erected at Waterloo
Place.

... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [High Street. ~~ ~~ ~~~ ~ the evil passions indulged in by many, Hamilton draws the ...

Book 2 p. 234
(Score 0.97)

310 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH [The West Bow.
by Victoria Terrace, replaced in one part by a
flight of stairs, in another by the Free Church 01
St John, and sloping away eastward into Victoria
Street, it is impossible to realise what the old Wed
Bow, which served as a connecting link between
the High and the Low Town, the Lawnmarket and
the Grassmarket, really was. The pencil of the
artist alone may reproduce its features.
At its lower end were the houses that belonged
to the Knights of the Temple, whereon, to mark
them as beyond the reach of corporation enactments,
the iron cross of St. John was placed sc
lately as the eighteenth century, by the Bailie oj
Lord Torphichen, as proprietor of the !ands of St.
John of Jerusalem ; and there flows, as of old, the
Bowfoot Well, built by Robert Mylne in 1681, jus1
where it is shown in Edgar?s map of the city when
the Bow was then, as it had been centuries before,
the principal entrance to the city from the west.
One of the chief relics in the West Bow wa:
an enormous rustyiron hook, on which hung an
ancient gate of the city wall, the upper Bow Port
built in 1450. It stood in the wall of a house a1
the first angle on the east side, about four feet-from
the ground. When Maitland wrote his history ir
1753, two of these hooks were visible; but by tht
time that Chambers wrote his ? Traditions,? ir
1824, the lower one had been buried by the leve
of the street having been raised.
Among those slain at the Battle of Pinkey, ir
1547, we find the name of John Hamilton (of tht
house of Innerwick), a merchant in the West Bow
This John Hamilton was a gallant gentleman
whose eldest son was ancestor of the Earls 0,
Haddington, and whose second son was a seculai
priest, Rector of the University of Paris, and one
of the Council of the League that offered thc
crown of France to the King of Spain in 1591.
Qpposite St John?s Free. Church and the
General Assembly Hall there stood, till the spring
of I 878 that wonderfully picturesque old tenement,
with a description of which we commenced? the
story of the houses on the south side of the Lawn.
market; and lower down the Bow was another,
demolished about the same time.
The latter was a stone land, without any timbe1
additions, having a dark grey front of polished
ashlar, supposed to have been built in the days
of Charles I. String-courses of moulded stone
decorated it, and on the bed-corbel of its crowstepped
gable was a shield with the lettersI. O.,I. B.,
with a merchant?s mark between them, doubtless
the initials of the first proprietor and of his wife.
From its gloomy history and better architecture,
the next tenement, which stood a little way back
-for every house in the Bow was built without the
slightest reference to the site of its neighbouris
more worthy of note, as the alleged abode of the
temble wizard, and bearing the name of Major
Weir?s Land-but in reality the dwelling of the
major stood behind it.
The city motto appeared on a CU~~OLIS dormer
window over the staircase, and above the elaborately
moulded entrance door, which was only five
feet six inches in height by three feet six i l l
breadth, were the legend and date,
SOLI. DEO. HONOR. ET
CLORIA. D.W. 1604.
In the centre were the arms of David Williamson,
a wealthy citizen, to whom the house belonged.
This legend, so common over the old doorways of
the city, was the fashionable grace before dinner
at the tables of the Scottish noblesse during the
reigns of Mary and James VI., and like others
noted here, was deemed to act as a charm, and to
bar the entrance of evil. But the turnpike stair
within, says Chambers, ?was said to possess a
strange peculiarity-namely, that people who ascended
it felt as if going down, and not up a stair.?
A passage, low-browed, dark, and heavily vaulted,
led, until February, 1878, through this tall tenement
into a narrow court eastward thereof, a
gloomy, dark, and most desolate-looking place,
and there abode of old with his sister, Grizel, the
notorious wizard whose memory is so inseparably
woven up with the superstitions of old Edinburgh.
Major Thomas Weir of Kirktown was a native
of Lanarkshire, where the people believed that his
mother had taught him the art of sorcery, before he
joined (as Lieutenant) the Scottish army, sent by
the Covenanters in 1641 for the protection of the
Ulster colonists, and with which he probably
served at the storming of Carrickfergus and the
battle of Benburb; and from this force he had
been appointed, when Major in the Earl of Lanark?s
Regiment, and Captain-Lieutenant of Home?s
Regiment, to the command of that ancient
gendarmerie, the Guard of Edinburgh, in which
capacity he attended the execution of the great
Montrose in 1650.
He wasa grim-featured man, with a large nose,
and always wore a black cloak of ample dimensions.
He usually carried a staff, the supposed magical
powers of which made it a terror to the community.
He pretended to be a religious man, but was in
reality a detestable hypocrite ; and the frightful
story of his secret life is said to have furnished
Lord Byron with the plot of his tragedy Manfreed;
md his evil reputation, which does not rest on
ibscure allusions in legendary superstition, has left,

... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH [The West Bow. by Victoria Terrace, replaced in one part by a flight of stairs, in ...

Book 2 p. 310
(Score 0.97)

Pottobello.] CHURCHES AND CHAPELS. I47
burgh, Portobello returns one member to the
House of Commons.
The Established parish church was built in
1810 as a chapel of ease, at the cost of only
A2,650, but was enlarged in 1815. The Relief
Chapel, belonging to a congregation formed in
1834, was built in 1825, and purchased in the
former-named year by the minister, the Rev. David
Crawford. St. John?s Catholic chapel (once Episcopal)
in Brighton Place, was originally in 1826 a
school is situated in the Niddry Road, about
half a mile from the centre of the town, and was
erected in 1875-6 at the cost of L7,ooo. It is a
handsome edifice in the collegiate style for the
accommodation of about 600 scholars.
In form Portobello is partially compact or continuous.
Its entire length is traversed by the High
.Street (or line of the old Musselburgh Road), is
called at its north-west end and for the remaining
part Abercorn Street; and what-were the town an
PLAN OF PORTOBELLO.
villa, purchased in 1834 by the Bishop of Edinburgh
for A600. The United Secession chapel is of
recent erection, and belongs to a congregation
formed in 1834. The Independent chapel was
built in 1835, and belongs to the congregation
which erected it. St. Mark?s Episcopal chapel is
private property, and used to be rented at A40
yearly by the congregation, which was established
in 1825. It was consecrated by Bishop Sandford
in 1828. Another church, with a fine spire, has
recently been erected in the High Street, for
a congregation of United Presbyterians. A Free
church stands at the east end of the main street.
It was erected in 1876-7, and is a handsome
Gothic edifice with a massive tower. A public
old one and a marketing community-would be
the Cross, is a point at which the main thoroughfare
is divided into two parts, and where Bathgate
goes off to the sea, and Brighton Place towards
Duddingston.
The suite of hot and cold salt-water baths was
erected in 1806 at the cost of A4,000, and overlooks
the beach, between the foot of Bath Street
and that of Regent Street.
Much enlargement of the town eastward of the
railway station, and even past Joppa, to comprise
a crescent, terraces, and lines of villas, was planned
in the spring of 1876, and a projection of the new
Marine Parade, which is 26 feet wide, was planned
300 yards eastward about the same time. At right

... CHURCHES AND CHAPELS. I47 burgh, Portobello returns one member to the House of Commons. The ...

Book 5 p. 147
(Score 0.97)

120 B I0 GRAPH I C AL SIC ET C H E S.
house in Princes Street, where he became instrumental in raising the Earthen
Mound, vulgarly called the “Mud Brig,” the east side of which, where it was
commenced, may be observed to be a little eastward of the line of Hanover
Street, and opposite Provost Grieve’s door, being particularly intended for the
convenience of that gentleman. Mr. Grieve died in May 1803.
No. LVII.
REV. HUGH BLAIR, D.D.
OF THE HIGH CHUFtCR, EDINBURGH,
THE author of the “Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles Lettres,” and of five
volumes of universally admired Sermons, whose life and writings have done so
much credit to the Scottish pulpit, was born at Edinburgh in 1718. His
father was a merchant, and grandson to Robert Blair, an eminent Presbyterian
“ Scots Worthy ” of the seventeenth century.’
Young Blair commenced his academical studies in 1730 ; and having been
prevented by constitutional delicacy of health from participating much in the
pastimes peculiar to youth, he became the more closely devoted to the acquisition
of knowledge. His first striking demonstration of talent was exhibited
in an “Essay on the Beautiful,’’ written while a student of logic, and when
only in his sixteenth year, which, as a mark of distinction, was ordered by
Professor Stevenson to be publicly read at the end of the session.
In 1741 he was licensed by the Presbytery of Edinburgh ; and his sermons
being distinguished at the very outset for correctness of design, and that peculiar
chastity of composition which so much distinguished his after productions, his
talents as a preacher soon became the topic of public remark. His first charge
was the parish of Colessie in Fife, presented to him by the Earl of Leven in
1742; but the very next year he was recalled to the metropolis, by being
elected one of the ministers of the Canongate Church. Here, in 1745, on the
breaking out of the Rebellion, he preached a sermon warmly in favour of the
Hanoverian line, which was afterwards printed, and it is said had the effect of
strengthening the loyalty of the people.
Blair continued in the Canongate eleven years, during which period he had
the satisfaction of attracting an immense congregation from all quarters of the
city, aud found himself daily acquiring popularity. In 1754, he was called to
In 1754 were published at Edinburgh, “ Memoirs of the Life of Mr. Robert Blair, Minister of
the Gospel, aometime at Bangor in Ireland, and afterwards at St. Andrews in Scotland: in two
pairts. The first paid wrote by himsel, and the secoud by Mr. William Row, sometime Minister of
the Gospel at Cerea.” This work is exceedingly curious.

... B I0 GRAPH I C AL SIC ET C H E S. house in Princes Street, where he became instrumental in raising the ...

Book 8 p. 175
(Score 0.97)

LEITH. "7
~~~ ~~~ ~
There are other names, both living and dead, which well deserve some notice
here; but our limits forbid. There are two, however, we must not overlook;
we refer to Robert Nicoll and Robert Gilfillan Of the former we regret to
say that Leith has not shown herself very sensible of the honour his connection
with her has conferred; otherwise she never would have suffered his
grave to remain so long in the neglected and shameful condition in which it
is. On paying it a visit the other day, we were perfectly shocked to find it
quite overgrown with rank grass and nettle, with nothing to mark it off from
the other deep deep sleepers but an humble stone with the humble inscription,
' In memory of Robert Nicoll, Author of Poems and Lyrics, who died on the
7th December 1837, aged 23 years.' A youthful genius of so much promise,
which the rude, rough hand of death had so prematurely plucked, denying
him the opportunity of cultivating and ripening into fruit the mighty
potentialities which were in him, deserves a sweeter spot and a more adorned
resting-place. Surely it would involve no great sacrifice on the part of our
merchant princes, and would be creditable alike to their head and their heart,
to raise over his lowly dust some tablet or monument honouring to him and
worthy of themselves.
And what is true of Robert Nicoll in this respect is, in some measure,
true also of his brother-lyrist, Robert Gilfillan. He has not had the honour
done him, either, that his name and memory deserve ; and we trust the day is
not far distant when our fellow-townsmen will bestir themselves in the matter,
and evince, in some substantial and handsome way, their livelier sympathy
with, and deeper interest in, the genius and eminence which has budded and,
blossomed in their own streets and within their own walls. Gilfillan, like
Nicoll, although not a native of, was very early in life connected with, Leith,
long occupying the situation of collector of police rates in the burgh,-not
a lucrative office certainly, but one in which he could fairly live,-and
employing his leisure hours in courting the Muses, and pouring out those
short, sweet, linnet-like likings of which he has given us but too few.
James Hogg says of Burns's fine Song, ' The Lass 0' Ballochmyle,' that ' upon
first reading it, it made the hair of his head stand on end, he thought it so
beautiful.' We cannot say that we were just so moved upon hem'ng sung for
the first time that tender, regretful effusion of our Leith bard, '0 why left I
my hame?' but we thought it very beautiful. Elliot the poet observes of
Nicoll, ' Unstained and pure, at the age of 23, died Scotland's second Bums.'
We have no such high word of praise for Gilfillan ; but this at least we shall
venture to say, that, if not 'a second Bums,' he has at any rate much of

... "7 ~~~ ~~~ ~ There are other names, both living and dead, which well deserve some notice here; but ...

Book 11 p. 170
(Score 0.96)

84 QUEENSFERRY TO MUSSELBURGH.
the year 1636, when it was disjoined and erected into a parish and royal
burgh. The reasons which led to this we have not been able to learn ; but
no doubt they were quite satisfactory to the movers in the matter of that day.
As a regality its magistracy consists of a provost, a land bailie, two sea bailies,
a dean of guild, and a towncouncil. How these worthies demeaned themselves
in their ‘sage devisings for the public weal’ in days long gone by is
very amusing, as the burgh records relate ; but hardly less so than their more
distant successors, especially on the occasion of the election of a parishminister
or parliamentary representative. It is but a year or two since this
little sea-side town bulked very largely in the‘ public eye in these respects ; and
really, the way in which ‘those then in authority’ conducted themselves on
both occasions was ludicrously picturesque. We remember reading the
reports of their sayings and doings at the period, as given in the journals,
with the intensest zest-the Scotsman and the Dati‘y Revkw, for the time
being, actually taking the place of Punch and Fun, and affording almost as
great an amount of real hearty, laughable enjoyment. Not that we thought
meanly of the little burgh then, 01‘ wouId speak depreciatingly of it now : we
merely felt how absurdly funny it was that ‘honest folks,’ as a douce towncouncil,
should so entirely lose their heads, and break with common sense,
as to make themselves the 4pl dif of the nation in that very unenviable sense
of the phrase. -
The surroundings of this breezy little seaside town are very interesting.
A little to the west is a place called the Binks, rendered historical by the
landing of Edgar Atheling,. with his mother Agatha, and his sisters Margaret
and Christina, when driven forth by Norman conquest from home and
country ; Port Edgar, farther westward still, is hardly less memorable from
the twofold circumstance, of being the rock on which the same Saxon prince
landed a year after,-when again driven to seek safety in flight from the highhandedness
of dynastic usurpation, and the place selected, a few centuries
later, for the embarkation of his Majesty George IY., on his return, from his
visit to Scotland, into England ; then on the right again, and nearly half-way
to the other ferry, stands ‘ old Garvey’s castled cliff,’ abruptly lifting its huge
black back from the waters of the Firth, and threatening ‘ with its teethed
embrasures every daring foe,’ a bold and picturesque object; while on the
opposite shore, and within tidal mark, as sung by Cririe-
-
Rosyth
Lifts high her towering head, in ruins now,
Of noble Stuarts once the fortress strong,’

... QUEENSFERRY TO MUSSELBURGH. the year 1636, when it was disjoined and erected into a parish and royal burgh. ...

Book 11 p. 135
(Score 0.96)

.BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 227
No. XCIV.
MR. MOSS,
IN THE CHARACTER OF '' CALEB."
THE fist notice of this comedian which we have been able to discover
occurs in the year 1773, when he is announced as performing at the Theatre-
Royal, Edinburgh. Gibbet, the first grave-digger in Hadet-Alonzo, in The
Tempest-and Justice Shallow, are the principal characters we find noted,
as personated by him, in the newspapers of that time.
After a lapse of nine years, during which period history or tradition say not
how or where he was employed, he returned to the Edinburgh boards ; and, immediately
after his benefit, the following advertisement occupied a conspicuous
place in the columns of the Evening Courant :-
" Mr. Moss takes the earliest opportunity of returning his sincere thanks,
and expressing his warmest gratitude to the public, for the uncommon favour
shown to him at his benefit on Monday night last [April 71. The great overflow
from every part of the theatre is a new proof that the liberal and generous
spirit of the inhabitants of this city never overlooks the smallest endeavours to
please them ; and their kindness, shown to a stranger, evinces that that hospitality
for which Scotland was ever renowned still flourishes in its pristine
vigour. He begs leave to add, that such a distinguished mark of approbation
will constantly stimulate him to increase his endeavours to contribute all in his
power to the entertainment of the public.-cANONGATE, 12th April 1783."
The play appears to have been a " comedy, never performed here, called
The School fur Mirth; or, Woman's a Riddle,"-in which be acted Aspen,
with the additional attraction of Miss Farren being cast for the part of Miranda.
The afterpiece was The Agreeable Surprke,-in which Moss played Lingo.
The next season was also passed in Edinburgh ; and, on the night of his
benefit (19th April 1784), Moss acted the part of Croaker, in Goldsmith's very
excellent, and, in our opinion, best comedy? The Good-natured Man, which,
in the advertisement, is stated never to have been before acted in Edinburgh.
Not content with the title conferred on it by the author-and perhaps, with
the view of rendering it still more attractive-it was styled, " or, The Whimsieul
Alarm."
Between the play and farce was produced a new comic interlude, called The
Good Woman without a Head;: or, Dhrmugh M'Finnan's Voyage to Am&+
the Good Woman without a Head, Mr. Moss. To which was added, for that
night only, a new musical farce, called Lingo's Wedding; being a sequel to
The song of " I'm the Daudy, 0," was written, as stated on the engraving, by R. T. Crosfield,
then a student of physic at the University, and first sung by Mr. Moss on the Edinburgh stage.

... SKETCHES. 227 No. XCIV. MR. MOSS, IN THE CHARACTER OF '' CALEB." THE fist notice ...

Book 8 p. 320
(Score 0.96)

Calton Hill.] THE HIGH SCHOOL. IT1
ture, including reading, orthography, recitation,
grammar, and composition, together with British
history, forms the prominent parts of the system ;
while the entire curriculum of study-which occupies
six years-embraces the Latin, Greek, French,
and German languages, history, geography, physiology,
chemistry, natural philosophy, zoology,
botany, algebra, geometry, drawing, fencing,
gymnastics, and military drill. In the library are
same form, each possessing no advantage over his
schoolfellow. ?? Edinburgh has reason to be proud
of this noble institution,? said Lord Provost
Black at the examination in 1845, ?as one which
has conferred a lustre upon our city, and which has
given a tone to the manners and intellect of its
Whether they remain in Edinburgh
or betake themselves to other lands, and whatever
be the walk of life in which they are led, I believe
I inhabitants.
all4ikelihood never will be.
In the long roll of its scholars are the names
of the most distinguished men of all professions,
and in every branch of science and literature,
many of whom have helped to form and consolidate
British India. It also includes three natives
of Edinburgh, High School callants,? who have
been Lord Chancellors of Great Britain-Wedderburn,
Erskine, and Brougham.
The annual examinations always take place in
presence of the Lord Provost and magistrates, a
number of the city clergy and gentlemen connected
with the other numerous educational establishments
in the city. There is also a large concourse of the
parents and friends of the pupils. The citizens have
ever rejoiced in this ancient school, and are justly
proud of it, not only for the prominent position it
occupies, but from the peculiarity of its constitumanity.
Dr. Carson held the office till October,
1845, when feeble health compelled him to resign,
and he was succeeded by Dr. Leonhard
Schmitz (as twenty-sixth Rector, from D. Vocat,
Rector in 151g), the first foreigner who ever held L
classical mastership in the High School. He was a
graduate of the University of Bonn, and a native
of Eupen, in Rhenish Prussia. He was the author
of a continuation of Niebuhr?s ?History of
Rome,? in three volumes, and many other works,
and in 1844 obtained from his native monarch
the gold medal for literature, awarded ?as a mark
of his Majesty?s sense of the honour thereby conferred
on the memory of Niebuhr, one of the
greatest scholars of Germany.? In 1859 he was
selected by her Majesty the Queen to give a
course of historical study to H.R.H. the Prince
, of Wales, and during the winter of 1862-3, he

... Hill.] THE HIGH SCHOOL. IT1 ture, including reading, orthography, recitation, grammar, and composition, ...

Book 3 p. 111
(Score 0.96)

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 289
Besides the voluminous correspondence which he almost constantly maintained
with men of literature of all nations, and the incessant exertions into
which his active mind betrayed him, the Earl was not insensible to the softer
wooings of the Muses, to whom his leisure moments were sometimes devoted.
Only a very few of these productions, however, have been given to the public ;
but we have been informed that he excelled in a “light, elegant, extemporaneous
style of poetry.”
The Earl of Buchan married, on the 15th October 1771, Margaret, eldest
daughter of William Fraser, Esq. of Fraserfield, but had no issue. His lordship
died in 1829,’ and was succeeded by his nephew, Henry David, eldest son of
his brother, the Hon. Henry Erskine.
No. CXVII.
HENRY D UNDAS, VIS COUNT MELVILLE,
IN THE UNIFORM OF THE ROYAL EDINBURGH VOLUNTEERS.
As we have previously mentioned, MR. SECRETARDYU NDAbSe came a member
of the “Royal Edinburgh Volunteers” on the 6th July 1795. He was immediately
requested to accept the station of Captain-Lieutenant-an honour
which he declined. In his letter of reply, addressed to Lord Provost Stirling,
after acknowledging in handsome terms the mark of respect paid to him, he
says-“ I shall always recollect the proposition with the sentiments I ought.
But it is my sincere conviction that the precedent of filling any commission
with the name of a person whose other avocations may prevent him from exercising
the duties of it, may ultimately prove detrimental to the principle of the
establishment; and I trust, therefore, my declining to accept of it will be
received as an additional proof of the sense I entertain of the incalculable utility
of the corps, established and acting upon the principles which have contributed
to bring them to that perfection which cannot but secure to them the,admiration
of every lover of his country.”
At the “grand field day of the whole brigade of Edinburgh and Leith
Volunteers,” which took place at Drylaw Mains, on the 16th October 1798, Mr.
Secretary Dundas was present. Sir Ralph Abercromby was then Commanderin-
Chief in Scotland. The following particulars from the Courant of that period,
relative to the review, may be deemed interesting :-
“ The different corps paraded in the New Town at ten o’clock, and marched
There are numerous portraits and busts of his lordship. An excellent paiuting (from Sir
Joshua Reynolds) adorna the hall of the Scottish Antiquaries. Another, by Alexander Runciman,
is in the Museum of the Perth Antiquarian Society. He also presented to the Faculty of Advocates
a portrait in crayons, with an inscription written by himself, and highly complimentary to the donor.
2 P

... SKETCHES. 289 Besides the voluminous correspondence which he almost constantly maintained with men ...

Book 8 p. 405
(Score 0.95)

358 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
No. BXLIV.
THOMAS ELDER, ESQ. OF FORNETH,
LATE LORD PRQVOST OF ERINBURGH.
TRIS gentleman held the office of Chief Magistrate of Edinburgh at the
following different periods-first, from 1788 till 1790; again, from 1792 till
1794; and, lastly from 1796 till 1798.
Great responsibility WCLS attachable to the office during the second period of
his pravostship, in consequence of the disturbed state of the country, and the
measures of agitation resorted to by the “Friends of the People.” Provost
Elder exerted himself vigorously to check the inroad of democracy, Although
the troops then scattered over Scotland were under two thousand, he ventured,
assisted by a few only of the more respectable citizens of Edinburgh, to
suppress the meeting of the memorable British Convention, held on the 5th
December 1793, taking ten or twelve of the principal members prisoners; and,
in a similar manner, on the 12th of December, he dissolved another meeting,
held in the cock-pit at the Grassmarket.
On the 13th January 1794 an immense crowd had assembled on occasion of
the trial of Maurice Margarot, for the purpose of accompanying him to the
Court of Justiciary. In anticipation of this, the Magistrates, City-Guard, and
constables, with a number of respectable inhabitants, met at an early hour
in the Merchants’ Hall, and sallying forth, with the Chief Magistrate at their
head, about ten o’clock, they met Margarot and a number of his friends walking
in procession under an ornamental arch, on which the words “Liberty,
Justice,” etc. were inscribed. The canopy was instantly seized and thrown over
the east side of the North Bridge; and, with the assistance of the crew of a
frigate lying in Leith Roads, the crowd was dispersed, and the two arch-bearers
captured.
At ameeting of the Town Council on the 9th September, immediately previous
to the annual change in that body, they “unanimously returned their
thanks, and voted a piece of plate to the Right Hon. the Lord Provost, for his
spirited and prudent conduct while in office, and especially during the late commotions.”
On the formation of the Royal Edinburgh Volunteers, in the summer of
1794, Mr. Elder intended, on retiring from the provostship, to enter tbe ranks
as a common volunteer ; but this resolution was rendered nugatory by a mark
of distinction emanating from the members of the association. For obvious
reasons the commission of Colonel was to be invested in the Chief Maa&trate

... BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. No. BXLIV. THOMAS ELDER, ESQ. OF FORNETH, LATE LORD PRQVOST OF ERINBURGH. TRIS ...

Book 8 p. 500
(Score 0.94)

238 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
The Lord Provost, by virtue of his office, was Oolonel of the regiment ; and
all the other commissions were conferred by the King on the recommendation
of the Volunteers themselves.’
The first review of the Volunteers took place at Bruntsfield Links on the
22d November 1794, when they were inspected by the Duke of Buccleuch,
Lord-Lieutenant of the county. On this occasion the spectators were very
numerous and highly respectable. Among the nobility and gentry present were
-the Duchess of Buccleuch and family, the Earl of Morton, Lord Ancrum,
the Lord President, the Lord Advocate, and many of the Lords of Session,
On the 6th July 1795, they had another “grand field-day ” at the Links, when
the Right Honourable Mr. Secretary Dundas was received as a volunteer into
the corps. The same day he gave an elegant entertainment, in Fortune’s
Tavern, to the Lord Provost, Magistrates, and Council, and to several other
gentlemen. As a mark of respect, Mr. Dundas was immediately afterwards
requested, by the Lord Provost, in name of the COTS, to accept the station of
Captain-Lieutenant, which he declined, but gratefully acknowledged the honour
in a highly complimentary letter.
The patriotic example of arming in defence of their country which had been
shown by the gentlemen of Edinburgh, was speedily followed throughout
Scotland. Every district had its band of armed citizens-the discontented
became silent, and loyalty was the order of the day-
“ We’ll give them a welcome, we’ll give them a grave,”
was the prevailing sentiment, should the enemy dare to set a foot on Scottish
ground. Burns, in his impassioned song of “ The Dumfries Volunteers,” seems
to have thoroughly embodied in it the spirit of the times,-
“ Does haughty Gaul invasion threat ?
Then let the loons beware, sir :
There’s wooden walls upon our seas,
And volunteers on shore, sir.
The Nith shall rin to Corsincon,
And Criffel sink in Solway,
Ere we permit a foreign foe
On British ground to rally ! ”
* * *
“ The kettle 0’ the Kirk and State,
Perhaps a clout may fail in’t ;
But dei1 a foreign tinkler loon
Shall ever ca’ a nail in’t.
hut for its extreme length, might have been worth transcribing. At that period no less than fiftyfive
members of the celebrated “ Cape Club ” were enrolled in the corps. Five old Bovereigm of the
Cape were doing duty in one company, and seven knights were officers of the Volunteers.
The privates of each company were permitted to name individuals of their number to be their
officers ; and it is related, as a curious fact, that several of these officers owed their elevation solely
to their being unfit to march, or keep their places in the ranks properly, having been selected by the
privates in order that they might get rid of the annoyance of an awkward comrade.

... BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. The Lord Provost, by virtue of his office, was Oolonel of the regiment ; and all the ...

Book 8 p. 335
(Score 0.94)

Xigh Street.] EXCISE OFFICE. 217
not only to inspire his enthusiasm, but improve his
seamanship ; and there was something prophetic
in the poem, as the frigate Azlroru, in which he
served, perished at sea in 1769.
Eastward of Knox?s manse is an old timberfronted
land, bearing the royal arms of Scotland
on its first floor, and entered by a stone turnpike,
the door of which has the legend Beus Benedictat,
and long pointed out as the excise office of early
times. ? The situation,? says Wilson, ? was peculiarly
convenient for guarding the principal gate of
das?s splendid mansion in St. Andrew?s Square,
now occupied by the Royal Bank. This may be
considered its culminating point It descended
thereafter to Bellevue House, in Drummond Place,
built by General Scott, the father-in-law of Mr.
Canning, which house was demolished in 1846 in
completing the tunnel of the Edinburgh and Leith
Railway; and now we believe the exciseman no
longer possesses a local habitation ? within the
Scottish capital.?
The interesting locality of the Nether Bow takes
the city, and the direct avenue (Leith Wynd) to
the neighbouring seaport. . . . . . Since
George 11.?~ reign the excise office had as many
rapid vicissitudes as might mark the ?areer of a
profligate spendthrift. In its earlier days, when a
floor of the old land in the Nether Bow sufficed
for its accommodation, it was regarded as foremost
among the detested fruits of the Union. From
thence it removed to more commodious chambers
in the Cowgate, since demolished to make way for
the southern piers of George IV. bridge. Its next
resting place was the large tenement on the south
side of Chessel?s Court in the Canongate, the scene
of the notorious Deacon Brodie?s last robbery.
From thence it was removed to Sir Lawrence Dun-
28
its name from the city gate, known as the Nether
Bow Port, in contradistinction to the Upper Bow
Port, which stood near the west end of the Eigh
Street. This barrier united the city wall from St.
Mary?s Wynd on the south to the steep street known
as Leith Wynd on the north, at a time when, perhaps,
only open fields lay eastward of the gate,
stretching from the township to the abbey of Holyrood.
The last gate was built in the time of Tames
VI. ; what was the character of its predecessor
we have no means of ascertaining; but to repair it,
in 1538, as the city cash had run low, the magistrates
were compelled to mortgage its northern
vault for IOO rnerks Scots; and this was the gate
which the English, under Lord Hertford, blew open

... Street.] EXCISE OFFICE. 217 not only to inspire his enthusiasm, but improve his seamanship ; and there was ...

Book 2 p. 217
(Score 0.94)

MODERN DWELLINGS OF THE PEOPLE. 81
The necessity of doing something to provide better house-accommodation was
fully realised ; the difficulties in carrying out any comprehensive and complete
scheme were perceived ; the prospects of success, and the chances of failure
were put into the scales with deliberate impartiality. The origin and
outcome of this movement mark an epoch in the modem annals of Edinburgh.
Quietly and steadily the workers plodded on, against ignorance, prejudice,
and interested opposition, With undivided zeal they set their minds
to the task of organisation, and there was no example then to guide them.
Public meetings were held at which men of influence, who intelligently
sympathised with the scheme, gave addresses ; appeals were made and
information was diffused through the press. Gradually a capital of &IO,OOO,
and then of ~ Z O , O O O , was accumulated ; land was purchased, and building
commenced. In fifteen years accommodation has been provided for wellnigh
10,000 individuals, and houses have been erected to the value of not less
than A304000-the dividends, which have ranged from seven to fifteen per
cent, contributing towards the comfort of many thousands.
Had nothing more been done, this would have been a great industrial
triumph, and although we claim nothing for it but a successful and welldirected
combination for a specific end, the influence does not terminate with
the financial results ; it is many-sided, and bears the impress of a high moral
and social purpose. As a commercial undertaking-as a means of social
amelioration and industrial advancement-as a practical illustration of what
unity, economy, and perseverance can do, the Edinburgh Co-operative Building
Company must be accepted as a signal success. It may not have solved
any great problem, but it has certainly established the fact that good and
pleasantly situated houses for workmen can be erected so as to meet all
sanitary requirements, and yield a fair return on the capital invested. The
houses may not realise our highest ideal, but they will compare favourably
in every respect with the best of the class ewcted elsewhere; they vary in
size and internal arrangements ; for the most part they are two stories high,
and contain from three to six moderately sized apartments, with every convenience,
the best -ita+ arrangements, and (as at Stockbridge) a plot of ground
twenty feet square in front, and the use of an ample bleaching green. The first
row of houses or street erected was named Reid Terrace. Hugh Miller Place
followed j elsewhere Colville Place-named in recognition of one of the chief
workers. Many other places, terraces, and streets gradually rose up, making
here a goodly town, surrounded (as shown in our illustration) by picturesque
scenery, and containing within itself every healthful and elevating influence.
I.

... DWELLINGS OF THE PEOPLE. 81 The necessity of doing something to provide better house-accommodation ...

Book 11 p. 130
(Score 0.94)

286 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Infirmary Street.
._
Freirs xx li. owing to them, at this last Fasterns
evin, for thair bell, conform to the act maid thairupon
? (Burgh Records).
In 1553 another Act ordains ?John Smyson? to
pay them the sum ?of xx li compleit payment of
thair silver bell;? and in 1554-5 in the Burgh Accounts
is the item-?To the Blackfriars and Greyfriars,
for their preaching yeirlie, ilk ane of thame
:elf ane last of sownds beir; price of ilk boll
xxviij s. summa, xvj li. xvj s.?
When John Knox, after his return to Scotland,
began preaching against the Mass as an idolatrous
worship, he was summoned before an ecclesiastical
judicatory held in the Blackfriars? church on the
15th May, 1556. The case was not proceeded
with at the time, as a tumult was feared j but the
summons so greatly increased the power and popularity
of Knox, that on that very 15th of May he
preached to a greater multitude than he had ever
done before. In 1558 the populace attacked the
monastery and church, and destroyed everything
they contained, leaving the walls an open ruin.
In 1560 John Black, a Dominican friar, acted
as the permanent confessor of Mary of Guise,
during her last fatal illness in the Castle of Edmburgh,
and Knox in his history indulges in coarse
innuendoes concerning both. His name is still
preserved in the following doggerel verse :-
? There was a certain Black friar, always called Black,
And this was no nickname, for bluck was his work ;
Of all the Black friars he was the blackest clerk,
Born in the Black Friars to be a black mark.??
This Dominican, however, was a learned and
subtle doctor, a man of deep theological research,
who in 1561 maintained against John Willox the
Reformer, and ex-Franciscan, a defence of the
Roman Catholic faith for two successive days, and
gave him more than ordinary trouble to meet his
arguments. He was. afterwards stoned in the
streets ?by the rabble,? on the 15th December,
or, as others say, the 7th of January.
By 1560 the stones of the Black Friary were
used ? for the bigging of dykes,? and other works
connected with the city. The cemetery was latterly
the old High School Yard, and therein a battery
of cannon was erected in 157 I to batter a house in
which the Parliament of the king?s men held a
meeting, situated somewhere on the south side of
the Canongate.
The Dominican gardens, in which the dead
body of Darnley was found lying under a tree, and
their orchard, lay to the southward, and in 1513
were intersected, or bounded by the new city wall,
in which there remained-till July, 1854, when some
six hundred yards of it were demolished, and a
parapet and iron railing substituted-an elliptically
arched doorway, half buried in the pavement, three
feet three inches wide, and protected by a round
gun-port, splayed out four feet four inches wide.
Through this door the unscathed body of Darnley
must have been borne by his?murderers, ere they
blew up the house of the Kirk-of-field. It was
an interesting relic, and its removal was utterly
wanton.
The next old ecclesiastical edifice on the other
side of the street was Lady Yester?s church, which
in Gordon?s map is shown as an oblong barn-like
edifice surrounded by a boundary wall, with a large
window in its western gable.
Lady Yester, a pious and noble dame, whose
name was long associated with ecclesiastical chGties
in Edinburgh, was the third daughter of Mark
Kerr, Commendator of Newbattle Abbey, a Lord of
Session, and founder of the house of Lothian. Early
in life she was married to James Lord Hay of Yester,
and hac! two sons, John Lord Yester, afterwards
Earl of Tweeddale, and Sk William, for whom she
purchased the barony of Linplum After being a
widow some years she married Sir Andrew Kerr
younger of Fernyhurst.
In 1644 she built the church at the south-east
corner of the High School Wynd, at the expense of
LI,OOO of the then money, with 5,000 merks for
the salary of the minister. It was seated for 817
persons, and in August, 1655, the Town Council
appointed a district of the city a parish for it.
Shortly before her death, Lady Yester ?caused
joyne thereto an little isle for the use of the
minister, yr she lies interred.? This aisle is
shown by Gordon to have been on the north side
of the church, and Monteith (1704) describes the
following doggerel inscription on her ?? tomb on the
north side of the vestiary? :-
? It?s needless to erect a marble tomb : .
The daily bread that for the hungry womb,
And bread of life thy bounty hath provided
For hungry souls, all times to be divided ;
World-lasting monuments shall reare,
That shall endure, till Christ himself appear.
Posd was thy life, prepared thy happy end ;
Nothing in either was without commend.
Let it be the care of all who live hereafter,
To live and die, like Margaret Lady Yester.?
Who dyed 15th Match, 1647. Her age 75.
?Blessed are the dead, which die in the Lord ; they rest
from their labours, and their works do follow them.?-
Rev. xiv. 13.
After Cromwell?s troops rendered themselves
houseless in 1650 by burning Holyrood, quarters
were assigned them in the city churches, including
Lady Yester?s; and in all of these, and part of the

... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Infirmary Street. ._ Freirs xx li. owing to them, at this last Fasterns evin, for ...

Book 4 p. 286
(Score 0.93)

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 27
they succeeded in obtaining from him no less a sum, it is said, than one hundred
pounds sterling.
The Doctor was a regular attendant at church, and always contributed to the
plate. That his charity on such occasions might be duly appreciated by those
who were in attendance, instead of throwing in his halfpence in the usual careless
way, he piled them up into one solid massive column of copper, and gently
placing the pillar down, left it, a conspicuous monument of his benevolence.
One act of public spirit, however, does mark the Doctor’s-life, and if his motive
in performing it, as was uncharitably reported at the time, was vanity, one cannot
help being struck with the ingenuity which directed him on the occasion.
He presented the governors of the Orphan Hospital with a bell! His fame
was thus literally sounded throughout the city ; yet, lest any should have been
ignorant of the gift, he took care when in company, on hearing it ring, to advert
to its fine tone, and thus lead the way to a narrative of his generosity.
The other figure in the Print represents Laird Robertson holding up one of
his sticks ; the nndermost figure represents Principal Robertson ; the one on
tlie top the eccentric Dr. James Graham, no great favourite of Dr. Glen’s.
Eeing once troubled with sore eyes, after in vain trying the prescriptions of
several physicians, he applied to Dr. Graham, who cured him in a very short
time, for which he expressed great gratitude. Wishing to make him some
remuneration, he consulted some of the young members of the Faculty ; and,
as the most genteel way of doing what he wished, they recommended him to
invite the Doctor and a few of his own friends to dinner in Fortune’s (the most
fashionable tavern at that time), and provide himself with a hltndsome purse,
containing thirty guineas or so, and offer it to the Doctor, which they assured
him he would not accept. They accordingly met, and after a few bottles of
wine had been drunk, the old Doctor called Dr, Graham to the window, and
offered him the purse, which he at once accepted, and, with a very low bow,
thanked him kindly for it. The Doctor was so chagrined that he soon left the
company, who continued till a pretty early hour enjoying themselves at his
expense.
The father of Dr. Glen was a native of the west of Scotland, and had three
sons, all of whom were prosperous in the world. One of these gentlemen was
appointed governor of one of the 7Qest India Islands, where he amassed
a large fortune, of which he left $30,000 to his niece, the daughter of the
third brother, who ultimately succeeded to the reversion of the Doctor’s
property. This amiable lady was subsequently married to the late Earl of
Dalhousie, father to the present noble Earl.
Dr. Glen enjoyed, by purchase, an annuity from the city of Edinburgh, of
which he lived so long to reap the benefit, that the magistrates gave up all hopes
of his ever dying at all, and began to consider him as one of the perpetual
burdens of the city. He, however, died in 1786.

... SKETCHES. 27 they succeeded in obtaining from him no less a sum, it is said, than one hundred pounds ...

Book 8 p. 35
(Score 0.92)

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