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136 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [West Church,
and by an assessment on the real property within
the parish; the expense for each inmate in those
days was only A4 IS. 6d. On the demolition of
the old church, its pulpit, which was of oak, of a
very ancient form, and covered with carving, was
placed in the hall of the workhouse. The number
of the inmates in the first year was eighty-four.
The edifice, large and unsightly, was removed, with
the Diorama and several other houses, to make
space for the Caledonian railway, and the poor
of St. Cuthbert?s were conveyed to a more airy and
commodious mansion, on the site of the old farmhouse
of Werter.
When the Act of Parliament in 1767 was obenclosed
by a wall, on which a line of tombs is
now erected.
In the eighteenth century the building of note
nearest to the church of St. Cuthbert, on the opposite
side of the way, now named Iathian Road, was
a tall, narrow, three-storeyed country villa, called,
from its situation at the head of the slope, Kirkbraehead
House. There the way parted from the
straight line of the modern road at the kirk-gate,
forming a delta {the upper base of which was the
line of Princes Street), in which were several cottages
and gardens, long since swept away. A row
of cottages lay along the whole line of what is now
Queensferry Street, under the name of Kirkbraehead.
OLD WEST KIRK, AND WALLS OF THE LITTLE KIRK, 1772. (FmVJ alr Engraving of a Drawing fro?# a Moder.)
tained for extending the royalty of the city ol
Edinburgh, clauses were inserted in it disjoining
a great portion of the ground on which the future
new city was to be built, and annexing it to the
parish of St. Giles, under the condition that the
heritors of the lands should continue liable, as
formerly, for tithes, ministers? stipends, and A300
annually of poor?s money. Thus the modern
parishes of St Andrew, St. George, S t Mary, and
St. Stephen-all formed since that period-have
been taken from the great area of the ancient
parish of St Cuthbert
No very material alteration was made in the
burying-ground till April, I 787, when the north
side of it, which was bordered by a marsh 2,000
feet in length (to the foot of the mound) by 350
broad-as shown in the maps of that year-was
drained and partially filled with earth. Then the
walls and gates were repaired. The ground at
the east end was raised a few years after, and
The villa referred to was, towards the close of
the century, occupied by Lieutenant-General John
Lord Elphinstone, who was Lieutenant-Governor
of the Castle, with the moderate stipend of
LISO 10s. yearly, and who died in 1794.
At a subsequent period its occupant was a Mr.
John Butler, who figures amocg ? Kay?s Portraits,?
an eccentric character but skilful workman, who
was king?s carpenter for Scotland; he built Gayfield
House and the house of Sir Lawrence Dundas,
now the Royal Bank in St. Andrew Square. He
was proprietor of several tenements in Carmbber?s
Close, then one of the most fashionable portions of
the old town.
The villa of Kirkbraehead had been built by his
father ere the Lothian Road was formed, and concerning
the latter, the following account is given
by Kay?s editor and others.
This road, which leaves the western extremity of
Princes Street at a right angle, and runs southward

... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [West Church, and by an assessment on the real property within the parish; the expense ...

Book 3 p. 136
(Score 0.49)

xii OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH.
PAGE
The First Trades Maiden Hospital, 1830 . . . 273
TheIndustrialMuseum . , . Tofacrpa,oz 275
Old Mmto House . . . . . . . 276
Chambersstat . . . . . . . 277
Sir James Falshaw, Bart., and H.M. Lieutenant of
Edinburgh . . - . - . . . 285
LadyYester?sChurch, 18x1 . . . . . 288
Carved Stone which was over the Main Entrance to
the High School from 1578 to 1777 . . ? . 289
TheHighSchoolerectedin 1578 . . - 292
TheSecondHighSchool, 1820. . . . . 296
Dr. Adam . - . . . . . . . 297
TheOldRoyalInfirmary . . - . . . 300
The OldRoyalInfirmary, 18m. . . . . 301
Plan of Arthur?s Seat (the Sanctuary of Holyrd) . 304
TheHolyroodDairy . . . . . . - 305
Clockmill House, 1780 . . . . . . 308
Duddingston Village, from the Queen?s Drive . 309
StMargaret?sWell . . . . - . - 311
DuddingstonChurch (Exterior) . . - . 312
Duddingston Church(1nterior) . . . . 313
Gateway of Duddingston Church, showing the Jougs
andhuping-on-Stone . . . . . 314
Duddingstonhh - . . . . . I 316
Prince Charlie?s House, Duddingston . . . . 317
Ruins of St. Anthony?s Chapel, looking towards Leith 320
The Volunteer Review in the Queen?s Park, 1860
To facc page 3 2 I
St. Anthony?s Chapel in 1 5 4 and 1854 - . . 321
St. AnthonfsWell . - . . . . . 322
Thecharity Workhouse, 1820 - . - . . 324
DarienHouse, 1750 . . . . . . . 325
The Merchant Maiden?s Hospital, Bristo,. ISZO . . 328
Bristo Port, 1820 . . . . - . 329
Clarinda?s House, General?sEntry . . . . 332
1
Room in Clarinda?s House, General?s Entry . .
The Mahogany Land, Potterrow, 1821 . . .
Surgeon?s Hall - . + . . . . .
The Blind Asylum (formerly the house of Dr. Joseph
Black), NicolsonStreet, 1820 - . . .
George Square, showing house (second on the left) of
Sir Walter Scott?s father . . , . -
Park Place, showing Campbell of Succoth?s House .
TheOrganintheMusic-classRoom . . . .
TheMeadows, about 1810. . . . . ,
The Burgh Loch . . . . . . .
The Archers? Hall . . . . . . .
Archers? Hall: the Dining Hall. . . . .
Thomas Nelson. . . . . . .
The Edinburgh University Medical School, Lauriston .
George Watson?s Hospital . . . . - .
Bird?s-eye View of the New Royal Infirmary, from the
North-East, 1878 . . . . . -
Reduced Facsimile of a View of Heriot?s Hospital by
GordonofRothiemay . . . . . .
George Heriot . . . , . . , .
Reduced Facsimile of an Old Engraving of Heriot?s
Hospital . . . . . . .
Heriot?s Hospital, from the South-west Tifutepage
The Chapel, Heriot?s Hospital . . . . .
Heriot?s Hospital : the Council Room. , . ,
The North Gateway of Heriot?s Hospital . . .
Heriot?s Hospital, 1779; Porter?s Lodge; Dining
Hall ; Quadrangle, looking North ; Quadrangle,
looking South . . - . . .
A Royal Edinburgh Volunteer . . . . .
The Repentance Stool, from Old Greyfriars Church .
GreyfriarsChurch . . . . . .
Tombs in Greyfriars Churchyard, Edinburgh - .
MonogramofGeorgeHeriot?sName - . . -
?AGE
333
336
337
340
341
344
345
348
349
352
353
356 .
357
360
361
364
365
368
369
369
372
373
376
377
379
3%
381
384

... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. PAGE The First Trades Maiden Hospital, 1830 . . . 273 TheIndustrialMuseum . , . ...

Book 4 p. 394
(Score 0.49)

412 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
Mr. Sibbald was the son of a farmer at Whitelaw, in Roxbnrghshire, where
he was born about 1747. He received his education at the grammar-school of
Selkirk. Although fond of literary amusements, he does not seem to have contemplated
following any other profession than that of his father. Accordingly,
his first attempt to establish himself in the world was by becoming a lessee
of the farm of Newton, which he held from Sir Walter Elliot of Stobbs. Here
he carried on the business of farming for several years, relieving the monotony
of rustic life by literary and scientific pursuits. In May 1779, however, finding
the agricultural interest considerably depressed, he sold off his stock, gave up
his lease, and, without any fixed purpose, repaired to Edinburgh with little
more than a hundred pounds in his pocket.
Having some acquaintance with Mr. Charles Elliot, an eminent and enterprising
bookseller, he engaged for a short time as his shopman ; and, in about a
year afterwards, bought the circulating library which had originally belonged to
Allan Ramsay the poet.’ He then opened a bookseller’s shop in the Parliament
Square, where, by a degree of enterprise surpassing his contemporaries, he soon
obtained distinction. He was the first to introduce the better order of engavings
into Edinburgh, many of which were coloured to resemble paintings. They
were considered as altogether of foreign or English manufacture, and as such
were extensively purchased ; but, having been one day detected in the act of
colouring them himself, from that unlucky period his business in this line
diminished.
In 1783, Sibbald commenced the Edinburgh Magazine: which was exceedingly
well received, and in which, as editor and principal contributor, he displayed
much talent and great research. Anxious to devote his attention exclusively
to literary pursuits, he formed an arrhngement .in 1791 with two young
men, Lawrie and Symington, by which they were to have his stock and business
on payment of an annual sum. Mr. Sibbald then entered into a newspaper
speculation, the “ Edinburgh Herald,” which he conducted ; but it did not continue
for any length of time. He next went to London: where he resided
1 It was from this librarp, originally established by the author of the “ Gentle Shepherd,” and
we believe the oldest institution of the kind in the kingdom, that Sir Walter Scott, according to his
own statement, read in his younger years with such avidity. The collection latterly contained above
thirty thousand volumes. It was called the Edinburgh Circulating Library ; but the selection of
books was very superior to what are usually to be met with in collections of that description. Almost
all the eminent men of last century who studied in Edinburgh,’as well as many of a succeeding period
(some of whom filled the first offices in the state), were readers of this library. After the death of
Mr. Sibbald, it was purchased, and enlarged, by Mr. Alexander Hackay-of Blackcastle in Edinburghshire-
who was then a bookseller in the High Street ; and who, upon retiring from business about
the year 1832, and not finding a purchaser for the whole, sold it off by public auction.
To this work Lord Hailea was a contributor. The Magazine wm subsequently conducted by
Dr. Robert Andewon, author of the Lives of the Poets, and published by Mr. Mackay.
While in London his Scottish relations altogether lost sight of him ; they neither knew where
he lived, nor how he lived. At length his brother William, a merchant in Leith, made particular
inquiry into these circumstances by a letter, which he sent through such a channel as to be sure of
reaching him. The answer was comprised in the following words :-I‘ My lodging is in Soho, and
my business is so-so.”

... BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. Mr. Sibbald was the son of a farmer at Whitelaw, in Roxbnrghshire, where he was born ...

Book 8 p. 573
(Score 0.49)

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 403
of Edinburgh, their chaplain, in a most impressive prayer. The battalion was immediately after
inspected by Brigadier-General Graham and Colonel Callander, who expressed themselves highly
pleased with the appearance and discipline of the corps. To those pieces of ceremony succeeded
the presentation of an elegant silver cup to Colonel Bennet, from the non-commissioned officers and
privates of the regiment, delivered by Field-Serjeant Thomas Sommers, who, upon the occasion,
addressed the Colonel in a most impressive manner. This being over, the battalion marched upon
a visit to the Commander-in-Chief (the Earl of Moira), at Duddingston House, when his lordship
took a view of the regiment in line ; and, when formed into a hollow square, addressed them in a
manner truly complimentary and striking. They immediately after returned to town, when,
upon depositing the colours in the Colonel’s house, they were regaled by him in a very liberal and
handsome style of hospitality.”
About the same period, Mr. Bennet received another testimony of respect,
by having the freedom of the city of Londonderry conferred upon him. It was
transmitted in a silver box by William Leckie, Esq., senior magistrate, to Mr.
Bennet for his kindness and attention to his son-a student at the Universitywho
fell in a duel near Duddingston. The following short account was all that
was given of this fatal affair at the time :-
“Wednesday morning, July 3 (1805), a duel was fought, in the neighbourhood of Duddingston,
between Mr. Romney and Mr. Leckie, students attending the medical classes in the University, when
the latter received a wound in the groin, in consequence of which he died next Saturday morning,
Four shots were, we understand, exchanged. Mr. Leckie received his wound by the first 6re, but
did not discover it. After shaking hands with his antagonist, he declared he was mortally wounded,
and desired Mr. Romney, the seconds, and the surgeon who attended, to make their escape, which
they accordingly did. ”
The personal appearance of Mr. Bennet is’ accurately delineated in the foregoing
etching ; even so minute a peculiarity as the mole on his right cheek has
not been overlooked by the artist. His form was exceedingly spare ; and his
legs, in particular, were remarkable for their tenuity. Perfectly sensible how
niggardly nature had been of her gifts in this respect, Mr. Bennet used to anticipate
the observations of his friends by occasional humorous allusions to the
subject. One day, having called on his tailor to give a fresh order, he facetiously
inquired if he could measure him for a suit of small clothes. “ 0 yes,” rejoined
his friend of the iron ; “hold up your stick, it will serve the purpose well
enough.”’
Among other amusements, Mr. Bennet was particularly partial to the sports
of the field ; and
“ When westlin winds and slaughtering guns
Brought Autumn’s pleasant weather,”
he annually repaired to the moors with his dog and gun. On the morning of
the 10th of October 1805, he left Edinburgh, attired in his “shooting Faith,”
with the view of enjoying a day’s excursion in the kingdom of Fife. A gentleman,
who crossed over with him in the morning at Queensfemy, mentions that
he had seldom seen him in higher spirits. After passing the ferry, Mr. Bennet
proceeded in the direction of Kinghorn, where he had been invited to dine with
There are two portraits of Nr. Bennet painted by Sir Henry Raeburn-one is preserved by
his family, and the other is in the possession of his old friend and associate Lord Panmum.

... SKETCHES. 403 of Edinburgh, their chaplain, in a most impressive prayer. The battalion was ...

Book 8 p. 561
(Score 0.49)

478 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
335. KING, QUEEN, and DAUPHIN OF FRANCE.' This well-executed Print
of the unfortunate Louis the Sixteenth, and his equally ill-fated Consort and Son,
is said by Kay to have been taken from the lid of a French snuff-box.
336. This is rather an ingenious Portrait of the EMPERORN APOLEONI. ;
but whether the design be original or a copy has not been stated by Kay.
337. TOUSSAINLTO WERTURGEe,n eral of the black troops of St. Domingo,
and Governor of that island. Born a slave,
his means of instruction were extremely limited, yet he acquired a tolerable
knowledge of the rudiments of education, and conducted himself with the
utmost propriety while a bondsman. On the revolt of the blacks he joined
his countrymen, and gradually attained the supreme command. During the
period of his government, he displayed a capacity for legislation equal to his
courage and generalship in the field. When, after a severe struggle for the
independence of Hayti, he at length submitted to the overwhelming forces of
the French, and had retired to his estate, under the guarantee of protection,
he was privately seized, carried on board a French man-of-war, and hurried away
to France, where he was thrown into prison, and there expired, after a lingering
illness, in the second year of the Consulate (1803). His fate, however,
operated with talismanic effect upon his countrymen ; they flew to arms ; and,
headed by the brave but cruel Dessaline, completed that independence of which,
under the patriotic Louverture, they had shown themselves worthy.
He was an extraordinary man.
338. HENRYB ROUGEAMa, fterwards Lord Brougham and Vaux. This
Etching of the la.te Lord High Chancellor is from a medal, cast in 1812, to
commemorate his exertions in the cause of commerce. The public life of Lord
Brougham is too well known to require any comment here. His father, Henry
Brougham, of Brougham Hall, in Westmoreland, happening to visit Edinburgh,
was recommended to reside with the widow of the Rev. Mr. Syme, sister of
Principal Robertson, who occupied the second flat of WLellan's Land, head of
the Cowgate. Here he found himself so much at home that he was induced to
prolong his stay ; and at length falling in love with Miss Eleanor, daughter of
Mrs, Syme, he married her, and settled in Edinburgh. For some time the
parties continued to reside with Mrs. Syme, but they afterwards removed to
St. Andrew Square, where the subject of the medal was born in 1779. He
was the eldest son ; and, as generally known, studied for the Scottish bar, to
which he was admitted in 1800, and where he practised for some time prior to
A curious volume was printed some time ago, the object of which waa to establish that the
Dauphin escaped from the revolutionary murderers-that the Empress Josephine and Napoleon were
cognisant of his existence-that he lived for a series of years as a watchmaker in Prnssia-and that,
if he were allowed half-an-hour's conversation with the Duchess d'ilngoulbme, he could establish his
birth. He set up no claim to the crown of France, but merely demanded restoration of his civil
rights as a true-born Frenchman. He commenced legal proceedings to have his status established,
but these were stopped by Louis Philippe. He took the title of Duke of Normandy.

... BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 335. KING, QUEEN, and DAUPHIN OF FRANCE.' This well-executed Print of the ...

Book 9 p. 636
(Score 0.49)

202 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
Nary, the Scottish Parliaments and the College of Justice assembled there, until their sitting
were transferred to the fine hallwhich still remains in Parliament Square, though so strangely
disguised externally by its modern facing. On the desertion of the New Tolbooth by the
Scottish Estates and Courts of Law, it was exclusivly devoted to the deliberations of
the civic counsellors, until the erection of the Royal Exchange provided enlarged
accommodation for the Council. The Laigh Hall, where Assemblies both of the Kirk
and Estates had often been held, was a large and handsome room. Its ceiling was beautifullywrought
in various panels, with rich pendants from their centres, and finished with
emblazonry and gilding. On its demolition some interesting and valuable relics of early
decorations were brought to light. The walls had been originally panelled with oak, and
when at a later period this came to be regarded as old-fashioned and inelegant, the antique
panelling was concealed, without removal, behind a modern coating of lath and plaster.
There is reason to believe that the compartments of the walls when first completed had
been filled with a series of portraits, but unfortunately, little attention was paid to the old
building at the period of its destruction, and we are only aware of one of the paintings that
has been preserved. There is much probability in favour of this being an original portrait
of the Queen Regent, Mary of Guise. It is well painted on an oak panel, and in fine
condition, and was at -first believed to represent Queen Anne, the consort of James VI.,
having been almost completely obscured by smoke and dirt at the time of its discovery. It
was then thought that it must have been accompanied by a portrait of .James ; and it is
e xceedingly probable that others of equal value to the one thus accidentally preserved may
have been thrown aside and destroyed with the discarded panelling. This curious portrait
is now in the possession of Alexander Mackay, Esq. of Blackcastle. It represents the
Queen in a high-bordered lace cap and ruff, such as both she and her daughter are usually
painted with. The details of the lacework are elaborately rendered, and the expression of
countenance is dignified and very pleasing. On the painting being cleaned, an ingenious
monogram was brought to light, burned into the back of the panel, composing the word
MARIA, and leaving, we think, little doubt of the genuineness of the portrait, which was
thus found by accident, and has passed through no picture-dealer’s hands.
To this ancient building belong many of the later historical associations that have been
referred by some of our local historians to its predecessor. It was from one of its windows
that the affrighted monarch James VI. attempted in vain to appease the enraged citizens
in 1596, when, “had they not been restrained by that worthy citizen, John Watt, the
deacon-convener,-who at this dangerous juncture assembled the crafts,-they would
undoubtedly have forced the door, and probably have destroyed the King and all that
were with him.” The whole tumult appears to have resulted in mutual distrust, which
was taken advantage of by some designing meddlers to set the Court and citizens at
variance. The Kirk and King were at the time nearly at open strife, and Mr Robert
Bruce was preaching to a select audience in St Giles’s Church, preparatory to framing
“ certain articles for redresse of the wrongs done to the Kirk,” while the King was Bitting
in the neighbouring Tolbooth, “ in the seate of Justice, among the Lords of the Sessioun,”
seemingly thinking of nothing less than the granting of any such requests. While the
Commissioners went to the Tolbooth to make their wishes known to the King, “Mr
Maitland, p. 48.

... MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH. Nary, the Scottish Parliaments and the College of Justice assembled there, until their ...

Book 10 p. 221
(Score 0.49)

KING‘S STABLES, CASTLE BARNS, AND CASTLE HILL. 135
so generally placed on them, all afford tests as to the period of their erection, fully a6
definite and trustworthy as those that mark the progressive stages of the ecclesiastical
architecture of the Middle Ages. The earliest form of the crow-stepped gable presents a
series of pediments surmounting the steps, occasionally highly ornamented, and always
giving a rich effect to the building. Probably the very latest specimen of this, in Edinburgh,
is the h e old building of the Mint, in the Cowgate, which
bears the date 1574 over its principal entrance, while its other ornaments
axe similar to many of a more recent date. After the adoption
of the plain square crow-step, it seems still to have been held as an
important feature of the building ; in many of the older houses, the
arms or initials, or some other device of the owner, are to be found
on the lowest of them, even where the buildings are so lofty as to
place them almost out of sight. The dormer window, surmounted
with the thistle, rose, &c., and the high-peaked gable to the street,
are no less familiar features in our older domestic architecture.
Many specimens, also, of windows originally divided by stone mullions, and with lead
casements, still remain in the earliest mansions of the higher classes ; and in several of
these there are stone recesses or niches of a highly ornamental character, the use of which
has excited considerable discussion among antiquaries. A later form of window than
the last, exhibits the upper part glazed, and finished below with a richly carved wooden
transom, while the under half is closed with shutters, occasionally highly adorned on the
exterior with 8 variety of carved ornaments.
Towards the close of Charles 11,’s reign, an entirely new order of architecture was
adopted, engrafting the mouldings and some of the principal features of the Italian
style upon the forms that previously prevailed. The Golfers’ Land in the Canongate is
a good and early specimen of this. The gables are still steep, and the roofs of a high
pitch; and while _the front assumes somewhat of the character of a pediment, the crow:
steps are retained on the side gables ; but these features soon after disappear, and give way
to a regular pediment, surmounted with urns, and the like ornaments,-a very good specimen
of which remains on the south side of the Castle Hill, as well as others in various
parts of the Old Town. The 6ame district still presents good specimens of the old wooden
fronted lands, with their fore stairs and handsome inside turnpike from the fist floor, the
construction of which Maitland affirms to be coeval with the destruction of the extensive
forests of the Borough Muir, in the reign of James IV. We furnish a view of some other
remarkably picturesque specimens of the same style of building in this locality, recently
demolished to make way for the New College. All these various features of the ancient
domestic architecture of the Scottish Capital will come under review in the course of the
Work, in describing the buildings most worthy of notice that still remain, or have been
demolished during the present century.
f
Immediately below the Castle rock, on its south side, there exists an ancient appendage
of the Royal Palace of the Castle, still retaining the name of the King’s Stables, although
no hoof of the royal stud has been there for wellnigh three centuries. Thie district lies
without the line of the ancient city wall, and was therefore not only in an exposed sitna-
- -

... STABLES, CASTLE BARNS, AND CASTLE HILL. 135 so generally placed on them, all afford tests as to the ...

Book 10 p. 146
(Score 0.49)

iv OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. -
CHAPTER VI.
THE VALLEY OF THE WATER OF LEITH.
PAGE
Lady Sinclair of Dunbeath-Bell's Mills-Water of Leith Village-Mill at the Dean-Tolbwth there-Old Houses-The Dean and Poultry
-Lands thereof-The Nisbet Family-A Legend-The Dean Village-Belgrave Crescent-The Parish Church-Stewart's Hospital-
Orphan Hospita-John Watson's Hospital-The Dean Cemetery-Notable Interments there . . . . . . . . . 62
CHAPTER VII.
VALLEY OF THE WATER OF LEITH (continued).
The Dean Bridge-Landslips at Stockbridge-Stone Coffins-Floods in the Leith-Population in ~74z-St. Bernard's Estate-Rods Tower-
" Chritopher North " in Aune Street-De Quincey there-St. Bernard's Well-Cave at Randolph Cliff-Veitchs Square-Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . in the Locality-Sir Henry Raeburn-Old Deanhaugh House ' 70
CHAPTER VIII.
VALLEY OF THE WATER OF LEITH (concluded).
E.niiuent Men connected with Stockbridge-David Robert7. RA.--K Macleay, R.S.A.-James Browne, LL.D.-James Hogg-Sir J. Y.
Simpson, Bart. -Leitch Ritchie-General Mitchell-G. R. Luke-Comely Bank-Fettes Collegc--Craigleith Quarry-Groat Hall-Silver
Mills-St. Stephen's Church-The Brothers Lauder-Jam- Drummond, R.S.A.-Deaf and -Dumb Institution-Dean Bank Institution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . -The Edinburgh Academy -78
CHAPTER IX.
CANONMILLS AND INVERLEITH.
CanonmillgThe Loch-Riots of 1784-The Gymnasium-Tanfield HalL-German Church-Zoological Gardens-Powder Hall-Rosebank
Cemetery-Red BraesThe Crawfords of Jordanhill-Bonnington-Bishop Keith-The Sugar Refinery-Pilrig-The Balfour Family-
Inverleith-Ancient ProprietorsThe Touris-The Rocheids-Old Lady Inverleith-General Crocket-Royal Botanical GardensMr.
JamesMacNab. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
CHAPTER X.
THE WESTERN NEW TOWN.
Coltbridge-Roseburn House-Traditions of it-Murrayfield-Lord Henderland-Beechwood-General Leslie-The Dundaxs-Ravelston-
The Foulises and Keiths-Craigcrook-Its fint Proprietors-A Fearful Tragedy-Archibald Constable-Lord Jeffrey-Davidson's
Mains-LauristonCastle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .IOZ
CHAPTER XI,
C O R S T O R P H I N E .
ContorphintSupposed Origin of the N a m t T h e Hill-James VI. hunting there-The Cross-The Spa-The Dicks of Braid and con^
phine-" Contorphine Cream '%onvalerent House-A Wraith-The Original Chapel-The Collegiate Church-Its Provosts-Its
Old Tombs-The Castle and Loch of Cohtorphine-The Forrester Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . I 12
CHAPTER XII.
rHE OLD EDINBURGH CLUBS.
Of Old Clubs, and some Notabilia of Edinburgh Life in the Last Century-The Horn Order-The Union Club-Impious Clubs--Assembly
of Birds-The Sweating Club-The Revolution and certain other Clubs-The Beggars' Benison -The Capillaim Club-The Industrious
Company-The Wig, Exulapian, Boar, Country Dinner, The East India, Cape, Spendthrift, Pious, Antemanurn, Six Feet, and
Shakespeare Clubs-Oyster Cellars-" Frolics "-The "Duke of Edinburgh" . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. - CHAPTER VI. THE VALLEY OF THE WATER OF LEITH. PAGE Lady Sinclair of ...

Book 6 p. 394
(Score 0.48)

ECCLESIASTICAL ANTIQUITIES. 415
cularly by the gift from Macbeth of Liberton, of the tithes and oblations of Legbernard
-a church of which all traces are now lost-onferred on it in the reign of David I., previous
to the foundation of Holyrood Abbey. The Chapels of Corstorphine and Liberton
pertained to it. The Crown lands surrounding the Castle were bestowed on it by David
I., and it claimed tithes of the fishing on the neighbouring coast ; so that it was then the
wealthiest church in Scotland, except that of Dunbar ; but from the date of the foundation
of St David‘s Abbey of Holyrood it became a vicarage, while the Abbey drew the
greater tithes. Besides the high altar, there were in St Cuthbert’s Church several altars,
dedicated to the Holy Trinity, to St Anne, and other saints, of most of which no very
accurate account is preserved. The ancient church was subjected to many viciseitudes, and
greatly modified by successive alterations and repairs, so that comparatively little of the
original fabric remained when the whole was demolished about the middle of last century,
and the present huge, unsightly barn erected in its stead. In Gordon’s bird‘s-eye view it
appears as a large cross church, with a belfry at the west gable, and a large square tower,
probably of great antiquity, standing unroofed at the south-west corner of the nave. The
ancient church was nearly reduced to a heap of ruins by the Duke of Cordon, during the
siege of the Castle in 1689; and little attempt was likely to be made at that period to
preserve any of its early features in the necessary repairs preparatory to its again being
used as the parish church.
Among the dependencies of the ancient Church of St Cuthbert there were the Virgin
Mary’s Chapel, Portsburgh, of which nothing more is known than its name and site; and
St Roque’s and St John’s Chapels on the Borough Muir. About half a mile to the west
of Grange House there stood, till the commencement of the present century, the ruins-of
the ancient Chapel of St Roque, dedicated to the celebrated saint of that name. A later
writer derives its title from the unconsecrated surname of its supposed founder, Simon La
Roque, French ambassador,’ but without assigning any authority. In the treasurer’s
accounts for March 20th, 1501-2, the following entry occurs :-“Item, to the wrichtis of
Sanct Rokis Chapell xiiij a.” This, it is exceedingly probable, indicates the erection of
the chapel, as it corresponds with the apparent date suggested by its style of architecture.
It cannot, however, be certainly referred to the chapel on the Borough Muir, as a subsequent
entry in 1505, of an offering (‘ to Sanct Rowkis Chapell,” describes the latter as
at the end of Stirling Bridge. Of the following, however, there can be no doubt:-
‘( 1507, Augt 15. The Sanct Rowkis day to the kingis offerand in Sanct Rowkis Chapell
xiiij s.” That this refers to the chapel on the Borough Muir of Edinburgh is proved
by the evidence of two charters signed by the king at Edinburgh on the same day. The
shrine of St Roque was the special resort of aflicted outcasts for the cure of certain
loathsome diseases. Lindsay, in The Monarchie, describes the saint as himself bearing
a boil or ulcer as the symbol of his peculiar powers :-
Sanct Roche, weill seisit, men may see,
Ane byill new broki on his knee.
1 HiSt. of Weat Kirk, p. 11. Possibly Monsieur Lacrak, ambaeaador in 1567, here meant. It is, at any rate,
without doubt, an error, originating probably in the similarity of the namea

... ANTIQUITIES. 415 cularly by the gift from Macbeth of Liberton, of the tithes and oblations of ...

Book 10 p. 455
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 35
was at the dinner given by Mr. John Paton, in 1805, on being chosen one of
the Deacons of Mary’s Chapel-an affair of much importance in former days.
Mr. Butter had participated in the jollity of many a “deacons choosing;” and
on the occasion alluded to, in spite of his years and debility, entered into the
spirit of the festive board with all the energy of his younger years.
He was married, and had four daughters ; the eldest of whom, Helen, was
married to the late George Andrew, Esq., writer ; the second, Anne, continued
unmarried, and resided in Perth ; the third, Janet, became the wife of Captain
John Campbell of Glenfalloch ; and the fourth, Jane, was married to Archibald
Campbell, Esq., for many years Lieut.-Colonel of the Royal Edinburgh Highland
Volunteers.
MR., or rather SIR, JOHN MORRISON, of whom the Print affords a
striking likeness, was for many years a Clerk in the Excise Office.’ In early
life he had been valet de chambre to Lord Charles Douglas, and was with that
nobleman in Lisbon, whither he had gone for his health, when the great earthquake
occurred there on the 1st November 1755.’ After the death of Lord
Charles, which occurred in England the year following, Mr. Morrison obtained
a situation in the Excise Office through the influence of the Queensberry
family; and, by the same interest, he was placed on the roll of the Poor
Knights of Windsor, from which circumstance he was generally known by the
title of SIRJ OHMNO RRISON.
Sir John lived in a very quiet manner, first at the Calton Hill, and latterly
in one of Mr. Butter’s houses in Shakspeare Square, His salary as a clerk was
only fifty pounds a year, and the gratuity from his Majesty was supposed to
amount to as much more. By the good management of Mrs. Morrison, who
took in boarders, the gross amount of his yearly income was fully adequate to
his expenditure. They had no young family to educate and bring up, “ Miss
Nancy,” as she was called, the only daughter, having passed her teens, and being
capable of aiding in the management of the house. While living at the Calton
.
The first shock was felt a little before ten o’clock A.M. The greater portion of the city, as
well 89 the shipping, was destroyed; and, according to some accounts, upwards of one hundred
thousand of the inhabitants were buried in the ruins. In a letter written by one of the domestics
of Lord Charles Douglas, dated Lwbon, November 8, the writer says-“ We made our escape over
many dead bodies, that lay under the ruins, and some calliig for mercy and help ; but none dared
stay to help them for fear of their own lives, the earth being still in motion. His lordship and all
of us were saved by staying a minute under an archway. Nobody could be more careful of his
lordship than good Nr. I). ; and, had it pleased God we should die, we had all gone together. His
lordship had surprising strength. When the shocks were a little abated, we set out for the country,
to the British Envoy’s, whose house did not fall, but was much cracked. We lay two nights in a
field near the house : none of us have been in bed these five nights. We are now safe on board the
Ezpedition packet.’’ In another letter, from Abrahalu Castres, Esq., his Majesty’s Envoy
Extraordinary to the King of Portugal, when speaking of the dilapidated state of his own house,
and the great number of countrymen who h d taken refuge with him, he says-“ I have accommodated
them as well as I could under tents in my large garden, nobody but Lord Charles Douglas,
who is actually on board the packet, besides our chaplain and myself, having dared hitherto to
sleep in my howe since the day of our disaster.”

... SKETCHES. 35 was at the dinner given by Mr. John Paton, in 1805, on being chosen one of the Deacons ...

Book 9 p. 47
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342 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
was the Scottish Thistle, surmounted with the national motto, "Nemo me
impune lacesset ;" and underneath, the words *' Agmine Remorum Celeri."
Speedily formed into an effective body of Sea Fencibles, they did not allow
their gallantry to evaporate in mere. words. Besides at all times keeping a
watchful look-out upon the coast, upwards of two hundred of them volunteered,
in 1806, to man the Tern1 ship-of-war, then lying in Leith Roads, and instantly
proceeding to sea, gave chase to some French frigates by whom the coast had
been infested, and numerous depredations committed on our trade. A subscription,
amounting to upwards of ;E250, was raised in Edinburgh, and distributed
among the men, as a reward for this important service.' With the Teml, the
gallant band of Sea Fencibles were next year engaged at Copenhagen, and had
the good fortune to capture a frigate named the Neyden, which they brought
as a prke to Yarmouth Roads, from whence they returned with much eclat
to Newhaven. Some of the old surviving hands of this expedition were won't
to delight in spinning a yarn on the subject-"as how, when I was on board
the Teml."
So early as
the reign of James IT. certain burgal privileges were conferred on it; but
these, at an'after period, were bought up by the Town Council of Edinburgh.x
"Coeval with the erection of this suburb, Janies built a chapel which he
dedicated to St. Mary, and from this fabric the little haven was sometimes
called 'our Lady's Port of Grace.'"a The coincidence of name has probably
given rise to a belief among the simple inhabitants, that the village was designated
'' Mary's Port," from the circumstance of Queen Mary having landed there
on her arrival from France. In confirmation of this they point to an ancientlooking
house near the oentre of the village, said to have been erected in commemoration
of the event, with a tabular stone in the wall, bearing the date
1588, 2nd surmounted by a thistle. The centre of the tablet contains the
figure of a vessel of peculiar form, said to be the Spanish polachre in which
the Queen arrived. Underneath are the words, " In the neam of God ;" also
the figures of two globes, with compass and square, etc. Unfortunately for the
authenticity of this tradition, the young Queen of Scots, according to our
historians, landed at Leith twenty-seven years prior to the above date. Her
mother, Mary of Guise, first came to Scotland in 1538 : an event which, could
Newhaven, small though it be, is a place of some antiquity.
1 It ia with mnch satisfaction we have to state, that the amount of the subscription for the Sea
Fencibles, shipwrights, and some ropemakem, who so handsomely volunteered to go on board Hi9
Majesty's ship Texel, is f250 : 19s. This has enabled Captain Milne to give to each of the men
$1 : 5s. ; to three petty officem, $3 : 3s. each ; and to'dndrew Sandilands, a Sea Fencible belonging to
Leith, E20 in addition, having had his leg broken while on board the TercZ. A small balance
remaining is to be given to a distressed family in Newhaven."-Edinbwgh Newspapm.
By way of denoting, we suppose, the jurisdiction of the city over Newhaven, it waa an ancient
practice of the Magiatrates of Edinburgh to proceed annually to the village, where they publicly
drank wine in what ~KBS then called the Spare.
chanbcl.s''s Qwtteer.-The "Great Michael," a vessel of uncommon dimensions for so early a
period aa the reign of James IV., is supposed to have been built at Newhaven.

... BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES was the Scottish Thistle, surmounted with the national motto, "Nemo me impune ...

Book 9 p. 454
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.276 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [High Street.
and from Lord Lindesay?s Lives or the Lindesays? ?
we learn that his nephew, Walter Scott, when a boy,
occasionally accompanied his aunt on visits to the
Countess of Balcarres, and some forty years after,
when having occasion to correspond with Lady
Anne, he wrote : ?? I remember the ZocaZe of Hyndford?
s Close perfectly, even to the Indian screen
with harlequin and columbine, and the harpsichord,
though I never had the pleasure of hearing
Lady Anne play upon it. I suppose the close,
once too clean to soil the hem of your ladyship?s
garment, is now a resort for the lowest mechanics
- a n d so wears the world away. . . . It is, to be
sure, more picturesque to lament the desolation
~~ ~
carres, who died in 1768, a lady who is said to
have been the progenitrix of as many persons as
ever any woman was in the same space of time,
for Sir Bernard Burke records her as having eight
children and fifteen grandchildren. Her eldest
daughter, Anne-and of all her family almost the
only one remembered now-was the authoress of
the sweet ballad of Add Robin Gray, written to
the ancient Scottish air called ?The bridegroom
greets when the sun gaes doon.? She was born
on the 8th of December,
1750, and was
married to Sir Andrew
Barn a r d, C ol on ial
Secretary at the Cape
of Good Hope, and
she died at Berkeley
Square, London, in
1825, after surviving
her husband eighteen
years. The whole history
of the ballad, and
her authorship thereof,
are too well known to
require repetition here ;
but the first verse, as
she wrote it, is invariably
omitted now:-
?When the sheep are in
the fauld, and the kye
a? at hame,
When a? the weary world
to sleep are gane,
The waes 0? my heart fa?
in showers from m y ee?
While my gudeman lies
sound by me.?
the whole place has been (1847) converted into
store-rooms and cellars.? As in many other instances,
not even a tradition or a memory of the
names even of the great or noble who dwelt here
has come down to us.
The close nunbered as go in Edgar?s old map is
called the Fountain, it is supposed from the circumstance
of its entrance being opposite the stone
conduit in the recess near John Knox?s house. A
fountain named ? the Endmylie?s Well,? frequently
occurs in old historical works connected with the
city, or offices therein, but whether it is the same
cannot be determined now. William Powrie, one
of Bothwell?s accomplices in the murder of Darnley,
of towers on hills and haughs than the degradation
of an Edinburgh close ; but I cannot help thinking
on the simple and cosie retreats where worth and
talent, and elegance to boot, were often nestled,
and which now are the resort of misery, filth,
poverty, and vice.?
The little tea-parties of Lady Balcarres, who was
a daughter of Sir Robert Dalrymple of Castleton,
were always famous for the strong infusion of Jacobite
spirit that pervaded them, attainted peers and
baronets being always
spoken of, or announced,
with their old
Scottish rank and titles
in defiance of all acts
of attainder, though she
lived to see the ninth
year of the reign of
George 111.
The next alley,called
South Foulis? Close, is
named Fowler?s in
Edgar?s map of the
city, and some portion
of this alley must have
escaped the conflagration
of 1544, as Wilson
refers to a large mansion
?that bears the
date 1539 over its
main doorway, with
two coats of arms impaled
on one large
shield in the centre,
but all now greatly defaced.
Another nearly
opposite to it exhibits

... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [High Street. and from Lord Lindesay?s Lives or the Lindesays? ? we learn that his ...

Book 2 p. 276
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YAMES YI. TO RESTORATION OF CHARLES 11. 89
very willing to make the most of such an occasion as this, and remained for a time inexorable.
The magistrates were required to surrender themselves prisoners at Perth, and one
of them having failed to appear, the town was denounced, the inhabitants declared rebels,
and the city revenues sequestrated to the King’s use.
The magistrates at length went in a body to the Palace of Holyrood House, and, kneeling
before him, made offer of such concessions as the indignant monarch was pleased to
accept. One of the conditions bound them to deliver up, for the King’s sole me, the
houses in their kirkyard, occupied by the town ministers, which was accordingly done, and
on the site of them the Parliament House, which still stands (though recently entirely
remodelled externally), was afterwards built. They also agreed to pay to him the sum of
twenty thousand merks, and 80 at length all difficulties were happily adjusted between
them, and the city restored to its ancient privileges.
After the execution of the famous Earl of Gowry and his brother at Perth, their dead
bodies were brought to Edinburgh and exposed at the Market Cross, hung in chains. From
that time, James enjoyed some years of tranquillity, living at Holyrood and elsewhere in
such homely state as his revenues would permit; and when the extravagance of his
Queen,-who was a devoted patron of the royal goldsmith, George Heriot,-or his
own narrow means, rendered his housekeeping somewhat stinted, he was accustomed
to pay a condescending visit to some of the wealtllier citizens in the High Street of
Edinburgh.
An interesting old building, called Lockhart’s Court, Niddry’a Wpd, which was
demolished in constructing the southern approach to the town, was especially famous as
the scene of such civic entertainment of royalty. We learn, from Moyses’s 34emoirs, of
James’s residence there in 1591, along with his Queen, shortly after their arrival from
Denmark, and their hospitable reception by Nicol Edward, a wealthy citizen, who was
then Provost of Edinburgh.’
His visits, also, to George Heriot were of frequent occurrence, and, as tradition reports,
he made no objection to occasionally discussing a bottle of wine in the goldsmith’s little
booth, at the west end of St Giles’s Church, which was only about seven feet square.*
The death of Queen Elizabeth, in 1603, produced a lively excitement in the minds both
of King and people. The anticipation of this event for years had gradually prepared, and
in some degree reconciled, the latter to the idea of their King going to occupy the throne of ‘‘ their auld enemies of England,” but its injurious influence on the capital could not be
mistaken. On the 31st of March the news was proclaimed at the City Cross by the secretary
Elphinstone, and Sir David Lindsay, younger, the Lyon King.
King James, before his departure, attended public service in St Giles’s Church, where he
had often before claimed the right of challenging the dicta of the preachers from the royal
gallery. An immense crowd assembled on the occasion, and listened with deep interest to
a discourse expressly addressed to his Majesty upon the important change. The King took
it in good part, and, on the preacher concluding, he delivered a farewell address to the
people. Many were greatly affecied at the prospect of their King’s departure, which was
generally regarded as anything rather than a national benefit. The farewell was couched
in the warmest language of friendship. He promised them that he would defend their
’
Mopes’s Memoirs, p. 182. * Chambers’s Traditions, VOL ii. p. 210.
M

... YI. TO RESTORATION OF CHARLES 11. 89 very willing to make the most of such an occasion as this, and remained ...

Book 10 p. 97
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108 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
English supremacy. No sooner, therefore, were the articles made public, in the month of
October 1706, than a universal clamour and uproar ensued. The outer Parliament House
and the adjoining square were crowded with an excited multitude, who testified their
displeasure at the Duke of Queensberry, the Commissioner, and all who favoured the
Union. On the 23d of the month, hhe populace proceeded to more violent acts of
hostility against the promoters of the scheme. They attacked the house of Sir Patrick
Johnston, their representative in Parliament, formerly a great favourite when Provost of
the city, and he narrowly escaped falling a victim to their fury. From this they proceeded
to other acts of violence, till they had the city completely at their mercy, and were only
prevented blocking up the ports by the Duke ordering out the military to take possession
of the Nether Bow Port, and other of the most important points in the city.
Three
regiments of foot were on constant duty; guards were stationed in the Parliament Close and
the Weigh-house, as well as at the Nether Bow ; a strong battalion protected the Abbey ;
a troop of horse-guards regularly attended the Cornmissioner, and none but members were
allowed to enter the Parliament Close towards evening, on such days as the house was
sitting. His Grace, the Commissioner, walked from the Parliament House, between
a double file of musketeers to his coach, which waited at the Cross ; and he was driven
from thence at full gallop to his residence at the Palace, hooted, cursed, and pelted by the
rabble.
The mob were fully as zealous in the demonstration of their good will as of their
displeasure. The Duke of Hamilton, whose apartments were also in the Palace, was an
especial object of favour, and was nightly escorted down the Canongate by several hundreds
of them cheering him,*and commending his fidelity. It was on one of these occasions, after
seeing the Duke home, that the excited rabble proceeded to the house of the city member,
when he so narrowly escaped their fury.’ Fortunately, however, for Scotland the popular
clamour was unavailing for the purpose of preventing the Union of the two kingdoms, though
the corrupt means by which many of the votes in Parliament were secured, was sufficient
to have justified any amount of distrust and apposition. A curious ornamental summerhouse
is pointed out in the pleasure grounds attached to Moray House, in the Canongate,
where the commissioners at length assembled to affix their clignatures to the Treaty of Union.
But the mob, faithful to the last in their resolution to avert what was then regarded as the
surrender of national independence,‘ pursued them to this retired rendezvous, and that
important national act is believed to have been finally signed and sealed in a ‘‘ high shop,”
or cellar, No. 177 High Street, nearly opposite to the Tron Church.2 This interesting
locality, which still remains, had formed one of the chief haunts of the unionists during the
progress of that measure, and continued to be known, almost to our own day, by the name
of the Union Cellar. On the 16th of January 1707, the Scottish Parliament assembled for
the last time in its old hall in the Parliament Close, and having finally adjusted the Articles
of Union, it was dissolved by the Duke of Queensberry, the King’s Commissioner, never
again to meet as a National Assembly+
The general discontent which resulted from this measure, and the irritation produced by
The Commissioner, and all who abetted him, were kept in terror of their lives.
.
Lockhart’s Mem., 1799, p. 229-229.
a Tales of a Grandfather, vol. vi. p. 327.
Smollett’s Hist., p. 469. Arnot, p. 1S9.

... MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH. English supremacy. No sooner, therefore, were the articles made public, in the month ...

Book 10 p. 118
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346 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
quarters at Dalkeith Palace. The old mansion continued to be the town residence of the
noble family of Stair, until, like the rest of the Scottish peers, they deserted their native
capital soon after the abolition of our national Parliament by the Act of Union. It is
not unlikely that the present name of the old court is derived from the more recent
residence there of John, second Earl of Stair, who served during the protracted campaigns
of the Duke of Narlborough, and was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-General soon
after the bloody victory of Malplaquet. He shared in the fall of the great Duke, and
retired from Court until the accession of Geoge I., during which interval it is probable
that the family mansion in the Potterrow formed the frequent abode of the disgraced
favourite.
Degradation and decay had long settled down on the old aristocratic haunt, when
Clarinda wrote from the same place in 1788, in anticipation of a visit from the poet
Burns, " I hope you '11 come a-foot, even though you take a chair home. A chair is so
uncommon a thing in our neighbourhood, it is apt to raise speculation-but they are all
asleep by ten."' The first interview between Mrs M'Lehose, the romantic Clarinda,
and her Sylvander, took place at the house of Miss Nimmo, a mutual friend, who resided
in Alison Square, Potterrow; an equally humble locality, and within a few paces of
General's Entry, but which derives a still deeper interest from having been the place
where the youthful poet Thomas Campbell lived during his stay in Edinburgh, while
engaged in the composition of his Pleasures of Hope. To appreciate the later associations
of these scenes of poetic inspiration and intellectual pleasures, the reader should rise
from the perusal of the ardent and romautic correspondence of Clarinda and Sylvander,
and proceed to visit the dusky little parlour on the first floor of the crazy tenement in the
Potterrow, where the poet was welcomed by the enthusiastic Clarinda. It is on the
north side of General's Entry, and approached by a narrow turnpike stair, where the
whole accommodations of Mrs M'Lehose consisted of a kitchen, bedroom, and the
straitened parlour wherein she received the visits of the poet. Here this young and
beautiful woman resided with her infant children, and struggled against the pinching
cares of poverty, and the worse sorrows created by an acutely sensitive mind. The
emigration, however, of the gentry of the Old Town to the more fashionable dwellings
beyond the North Loch had been very partially effected in 1788 ; and the contrast between
the little parlour in General's Entry, and the drawing-rooms of the poet's wealthier hosts,
was by no means so marked and striking as it afterwards became. Such are the strangely
mingled associations of rank, historic fame, and genius, with lowly worth and squalid
poverty, which still linger around so many old nooks of the Scottish capital, and give
so peculiar an interest to its scenes.
Beyond this lies the more modern district that preceded the New Town, and included
in its various districts accommodation designed for very different ranks of society. Nicolson
Street, which now forms a portion of the principal southern avenue to the city, was constructed
towards the close of last century on an extensive unoccupied space of ground
lying between the Pleasance and Potterrow. It belonged to Lady Nicolson, whose house
stood nearly at the junction of South College Street with Nicolson Street, and on the
knee.
Correspondence between Burns and Clarinda, p. 152. The poet was at thi period lame, from an injury in his

... MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH. quarters at Dalkeith Palace. The old mansion continued to be the town residence of ...

Book 10 p. 379
(Score 0.48)

3’AME.Y TO ABDICATION OF QUEEN MARE: 79
A loud explosion about two o’clock in the morning, while it shook the whole town and
startled the inhabitants from their sleep, satisfied the conspirators that their plot had
succeeded. An arch still exists in the city wall, behind the Infirmary, described by Arnot
as the door-way leading into the Provost’s house, which was built against the wall. Itg
position, however, is further to the east than the house is shown to have stood; and
Malcolm Laing supposes it to have been a gunrport, connected with a projecting tower,
which formerly existed directly opposite Roxburgh Street ; but its appearance and position
are much more those of a doorway, and no port-hole resembling it occurs in my other
part of the wall. In a drawing of the locality at the time of the murder, preserved in the
State Paper Ofiice (a fac-simile of which is engraved in Chalmers’s Life of Queen Mary),
the ruins of the Provost’s house seem to extend nearly to the projecting tower, so that the
tradition is not without some appearance of probability.
The murder of Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, proved fatal to the hapless Queen of
Scotland. She took refuge for a time in the Castle of Edinburgh, and only left it, on
the urgent remonstrance of her Council, who dreaded injury to her health from her “ close
and solitary life.”
On Saturday, the 12th of April, the Earl of Bothwell was arraigned in the Tolbooth,
on the charge of the murder, but no evidence appeared against him, and he was acquitted.
It is not our province in this history to follow out the narrative of his forcible ravishment
of the Queen, and the fatal consequences in which she was thereby involved. On the
15th of June 1567, she surrendered to the Earl of Morton, at Carbery Hill, near Musselburgh.
It was late in the evening before the captive Queen entered Edinburgh, but she was
recognised as she passed along the streets, and assailed with insulting cries from the rude
populace. She was lodged in the Black Turnpike, the town house of the Provost, Sir
Simon Preston.’ This ancient and most interesting building stood to the west of the
Tron Church, occupying part of the ground now left vacant, as the entrance to Hunter
Square, and the site of the corner house. Mrtitland describes it as a ‘‘ magnificent edifice,
which, were it not partly defaced by a false wooden front, would appear to be the most
sumptuous building perhaps in Edinburgh.” The views that exist of it, show it to have
been a stately and imposing pile of building, of unusual height and extent, even among
the huge “ lands ” in the old High Street. At the time of its demolition, in 1788, it was
believed to be the most ancient house in Edinburgh.
Here Queen Mary passed the night, in a small apartment, whose window looked to the
street; and the first thing that met her eye on looking forth in the morning was a large
white banner, ‘‘ stented betwixt two spears,” whereon was painted the murdered Darnley,
with the words, “ Judge and revenge my cause, 0 Lord.” The poor Queen exclaimed to
the assembled multitude,--“ Good people, either satisfy your cruelty and hatred by taking
away my miserable life, or release me from the hands of such inhuman tyrants.” Some
of the rude rabble again renewed their insulting cries, but the citizens displayed their
ancient standard, the Blue Blanket, and ran to arms for her deliverance ; and hadnot the
confederates removed her to Holyrood, on pretence of restoring her to liberty, she might
probably have been safe for a time under her burgher guards.
See the VIGNETTaEt t he head of this Chapter.

... TO ABDICATION OF QUEEN MARE: 79 A loud explosion about two o’clock in the morning, while it shook the ...

Book 10 p. 86
(Score 0.47)

404 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
foundation of St David’s Abbey has already been referred to, with the picturesque
legend from whence it derives its name. The beautiful fragment of the Abbey Church
which still remains, forming the nave of the ancient building, retains numerous traces
of the original work of the twelfth century, though enriched by the additions of a
later age. The earliest drawing of the Abbey and Palace that exists is the bird’s-eye
view of 1544, where it is marked by its English draughtsman as “ the King of Skotts
palis,” although the sole claimant to the throne at that date was the infant daughter
of James V. A comparison of this with the portions still remaining leaves little doubt
of its general accuracy. The Abbey Church appears with a second square tower at
the west front, uniform with the one still standing to the north of the great doorway.
The transepts are about the usual proportions, but the choir is much shorter than it
is proved from other evidence to have originally been, the greater part of it having,
perhaps, been reduced to ruins before the view was taken. During the levelling of the
ground around the Palace, and digging a foundation for the substantial railing with
which it was recently enclosed, the workmen came upon the bases of two pillars, in a
direct line with the nave, on the site of the east railings, proving that the ancient choir
had been of unusual length. A mound of earth which extends still further to the east,
no doubt marks the foundationa of other early buildings, and from their being in the direct
line of the building, it is not improbable that a Lady Chapel, or other addition to the
Abbey Church, may have stood to the east of the choir, as is frequently the case in larger
cathedral and abbey churches. A curious relic of the ancient tenants of the monastery
was found by the workmen already referred to, consisting of a skull, which had no
doubt formed the solitary companion of one of the monks. It had a hole in the top
of the cranium, which served most probably for securing a crucifix; and over the brow
was traced in antique characters the appropriate maxim, Memento Mori. This solitary
relic of the furniture of the Abbey was procured by the late Sir Patrick Walker, and is
still in the possession of his family. The English army that “brent the abbey called
Holyrode house, and the pallice adjonynge to the same,” in 1544, returned to complete
the destruction of the Abbey in 1547, almost immediately after the accession of Edward
VI. to his father’s throne. Their proceedings are thus recorded by the English chronicler :
-(( Thear stode south-westward, about a quarter of a mile from our campe, a monasterie :
they call it Hollyroode Abbey. Sir Water Bonham and Edward Chamberlayne gat
lycense to suppresse it ; whearupon these commissioners, making first theyr visitacion
thear, they found the moonks all gone, but the church and mooch parte of the house well
covered with leade. Soon after, thei pluct of the leade and had down the bels, which
wear but two ; and according to the statute, did somewhat hearby disgrace the hous. As
touching the moonkes, bicaus they wear gone, thei put them to their pencions at large.”‘
It need hardly excite surprise, that the invaders should not find matters quite according
to the statute, with so brief an interval between such cisitacions. The state in which they
did find the Abbey, proves that it had been put in effectual repair immediately after their
former visit.
The repeated burnings of the Abbey by the Englieh army were doubtless the chief
cause of the curtailment -of .the church to its present diminished size; yet abundant
Patten’s Expedition to Scotland. Frag. of Swt. Hiet.

... MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH. foundation of St David’s Abbey has already been referred to, with the ...

Book 10 p. 443
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I 86 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
The ancient prison of Edinburgh had its EAST and WEST ENDS, known to the last by
these same distinctive appellations, that mark the patrician and plebeian districts of the
British metropolis. The line of division is apparent in our engraved view, showing the
western and larger portion of the building constructed of coarse rubble work, while
the earlier edifice, at the east end, was built of polished stone. This distinction was
still more apparent on the north side, which, though much more ornamental, could
only be viewed in detail, owing to the narrowness of the street, and has not, as far
as we are aware, been represented in any engraving.’ It had, on the first floor, a large
and deeply splayed square window, decorated on either side with richly carved Gothic
niches, surmounted with ornamental canopies of varied designs. A smaller window
on the floor above was flanked with similar decorations, the whole of which were, in all
probability, originally filled with statues. Maitland mentions, and attempts to refute, a
tradition that this had been the mansion of the Provost of St Giles’s Church, but there
seems little reason to doubt that it had been originally erected as some such appendage
to t,he church. The style of ornament was entirely that of a collegiate building attached
to an ecclesiastical edifice ; and its situation and architectural adornments suggest the
idea of its having been the residence of the Provost or Dean, while the prebends and
other members of the college were accommodated in the buildings on the south side
of the church, removed in the year 1632 to make way for the Parliament House. If this
idea is correct, the edifice was, in all probability, built shortly after the year 1466, when
a charter was granted by King James III., erecting St Giles’s into a collegiate church ;
and it may further have included a chapter-house for the college, whose convenient
dimensions would lead to its adoption as a place of meeting for the Scottish Parliaments.
The date thus assigned to the most ancient portion of the “ Heart; of Midlothian,”
receives considerable confirmation from the style of the building ; but
Parliaments had assembled in Edinburgh long before that period ; three, at least, were
held there during the reign of James I., and when his assassination at Perth, iu 1437, led
to the abandonment of the Fair City as the chief residence of the Court, and thh ’capital of
the kingdom, the first general council of the new reign took place in the Castle of Edinburgh.
We have already described the remains of the Old‘ Parliament Hall still existing
there; and this, it is probable, was the scene of all such assemblies as were held at
Edinburgh in earlier reigns.
The next Parliament of James 11. was summoned to meet at Stirling, the following
year, in the month of March; but another was held that same year in the month of
November, “ in pretorio burgi de Edinburgh.” The same Latin term for the Tolbooth is
repeated in the minutes of another Assembly of the Estates held there in 1449 ; and, in
1451, the old Scottish name appears for the first time in “ the parleament of ane richt hie
and excellent prince, and our soverane lorde, James the Secunde, be the grace of Gode,
King of Scotts, haldyn at Edinburgh the begunyn in the Tolbuth of the samyn.”2 A
much older, and probably larger, erection must therefore have existed on the site of the
We have drawn the view at the head of the Chapter from a slight aketch taken shortly before ita demolition, by
Mr D. Somerville ; with the assistance of a most ingenious model of St Giles’s Church and the aurroonding buildings,
made by the Rev. John She, about the year 1805, to which we were also partly indebted for the south view of the aame
building.
Acts of Scottish Parliaments, folio, vol. ii.

... 86 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH. The ancient prison of Edinburgh had its EAST and WEST ENDS, known to the last ...

Book 10 p. 204
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B I0 GRAP HI C AL SKETCHES. 239
hands clasped ; tattered clothes ; and with expressive countenance bemoaning
his forlorn and miserable situation ! This picture, when finished, reflected high
honour on the painter, being much admired. It was sent to the Royal Exhibition
in London, where it was also highly esteemed, and there purchased by a
gentleman of taste and fortune at a considerable price. I have often expressed
a wish to see a print from it, but never had that pleasure ; as it exhibited a
portrait of my favourite bard, which, for likeness, colouring, and expression,
might have done honour to the taste and pencil of Sir Joshua Reynolds.”
In the Prodigal’s Return, however-
another picture by Runciman-the likeness of the poet, though in a
different attitude, is said to have been strictly adhered to. From this picture
an engraving was prefixed to an edition of Fergusson’s Poems, published in
1821, with Preface and Life of the Author, by James Gray, then of the High
School, Edinburgh.
. Although the Life of Fergusson is almost the only production for which Mr.
Sommers is known, his time was much occupied by literary pursuits ; and it is
probable that the gratification of his taste in this way was inimical to the due
prosecution of business. After giving up his shop in the Parliament Square,
lie resided for some years in the land known by the name of the ‘‘ Clamshell
Turnpike ;” and latterly in the Advocate’s Close. From the following draught
of a letter in his own handwriting (found among his papers), some idea may be
formed of the circumstances in which he was then placed, and the cause to which
he attributed his want of success in trade. The paper is addressed to the Hon.
Henry Erskine, who, during the brief administration of “ All the Talents,” held
the office of Lord Advocate of Scotland :-
This painting is now lost or unattainable.
“MY LoRD,-Mthough I approach your lordship with some diffidence, yet it is at the same
time mixed with a degree of confidence, while I humbly call on you to listen to the following
short detail of facts.
“In the year 1776 I was a member of the Council of Edinburgh-a period singularly marked
for political bustle and contention, respecting the City’s then worthy representative in Parliament,
Sir Laurence Dundas. I was one of his friends, and suffered much by the combined
interest of the Duke of Buccleuch and the House of Arniston. Sir Laurence, however, justly
prevailed in the contest, but soon after died ; previous to which he procured for me the appointment
of His Majesty’s Glazier for Scotland ; but as Mr. Henry Dundas and his friends came into
the political management of the city, my interest failed ; and to this day, now thirty years, no
pecuniary advantage whatever has arisen to me from that commission (which I still hold), not
even so much as to the value of the 05cial expenses in obtaining it ! My worthy friend, Lord
Dundas, is well acquainted with these circumstances, to whom I wrote, upon the late change of
administration, soliciting his lordship’s interest in a small Crown appointment, independent of
the influence or control of the Town Council. I have not, however, been honoured with a return
from his lordship, which may probably be owing to his attention having been engaged in business
of higher importance.
‘‘My Lord, I am now sixty-four years of age ; notwithstanding of which, 1 have, from an
attachment to my country, been a Field-Sergeant in the battalion (late Spearmen) of Edinburgh
Volunteers, now commanded by my worthy friend, William Inglis, Esq., and in which corps, I
hope I have, since it was first embodied at the instance of the trades, been a constant and active
member. Although my age and state of health prevent me from being fit for active business
The engraving was shown to t.he late Robert Pitcairn, Esq., Keeper of the Register of Probative
Writs, who was well acquainted with Fegusson, but he could trace uo resemblance to the Poet.

... I0 GRAP HI C AL SKETCHES. 239 hands clasped ; tattered clothes ; and with expressive countenance bemoaning his ...

Book 9 p. 318
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362 MEMORIAL S OF EDINB URG H.
old oaken chair remained till recently an heirloom, bequeathed by its patrician occupants
to the humble tenants of their degraded dwellings. A recent writer on the antiquities
of Leith, conceives it probable that this may have been the residence of the Regent
Lennox; but we have been baffled in our attempts to arrive at any certain evidence
on the subject by reference to the titles. “ Mary,” says Maitland, “ haviug begun
to build in the town of Leith, was followed therein by divers of the nobility, bishops,
and other persons of distinction of her party; several of whose houses are still remaining,
as m y be seen in sundry places, by their spacious rooms, lofty ceilings, large staircases,
and private oratories or chapels for the celebration of mass.” Beyond the probable
evidence afforded by such remains of decaying splendour and former wealth, nothing
more can now be ascertained. The occupation of Leith by nobles and dignitaries of
the Church was of a temporary nature, and under circumstances little calculated to
induce them to leave many durable memorials of their presence. A general glance, therefore,
at such noticeable features as still remain, will suffice to complete our survey of the
ancient seaport.
The earliest date that we have discovered on any of the old private buildings of the
burgh, occurs on the projecting turnpike of an antique tenement at the foot of Burgess
Close, which bears this inscription on the lintel, in Roman characters :-NISI DNS FRUSTBA,
1573. This ancient alley is the earliest thoroughfare in the burgh of which we have
any account. It was granted to the burgesses of Edinburgh, towards the close of the
fourteenth century, by Logan of Restalrig, the baronial over-lord of Leith, before it
acquired the dignity of a royal burgh, and the owner of nearly all the lands that extended
along the banks of the harbour of Leith. We are led to infer from the straitened proportions
of this narrow alley, that the whole exports and imports of the shipping of Leith were
conveyed on pack-horses or in wheel-barrows, as it would certainly prove impassable for
any larger wheeled convejance. Its inconvenience, however, appears to have been felt at
the time, and the Laird of Restalrig was speedily compelled to grant a more commodious
access to the shore. The inscription which now graces this venerable thoroughfare, though
of a date so much later than its first construction, preserves a memorial of its gifts to the
civic Council of Edinburgh, as we may reasonably ascribe to the veneration of some wealthy
merchant of the capital the inscribing over the doorway of his mansion at Leith the
very appropriate motto of the City Arms. To this, the oldest quarter of the town, indeed,
we must direct those who go “in search of the picturesque.” Watera’ Close, which
adjoins Burgess Close, is scarcely surpassed by any venerable alley of the capital, either in
its attractive or repulsive features. Stone and timber lands are mixed together in admired
disorder ; and one antique tenement in particular, at the corner of Water Lane, with a
broad projecting turnpike, contorted by corbels and string courses, and every variety of
convenient aberration from the perpendicular or horizontal, which the taste or whim of its
constructor could devise, is one of the most singular edifices that the artist could select as a
subject for his pencil.
The custom of affixing sententious aphorisms to the entrances of their dwellings appears
to have pertained fully as much to the citizens of Leith as of Edinburgh. BLISSIT . BE .
GOD . OF . HIS . GIFTIS . 1601., I. W., I. H., is boldly cut on a large square panel on
the front of an old house at the head of Sheriff Brae; and the same favourite motto

... MEMORIAL S OF EDINB URG H. old oaken chair remained till recently an heirloom, bequeathed by its patrician ...

Book 10 p. 398
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 161
thus speaks of himself-“I am now in my eighty-sixth year. I have never
used spectacles, nor is my hearing in the least diminished ; and my mind is as
acute as ever.” He died on the 21st of April 1827, in the eighty-seventh year
of his age.
Dr. Hamilton’s personal appearance is described as having been prepossessing,
and his manner dignified and agreeable. His time was almost wholly devoted
to good deeds and piety; and so much did he indulge in self-debasement,
that he withheld from his friends all records which could assist them in
compiling any lengthened memoir of his life. He even forbade the delivery of
a funeral sermon on his demise. Several interesting reminiscences, however,
have been preserved by some of his old friends, in letters to his son, Mr.
Francis Hamilton of Kentish-town. From these we shall make two quotations.
The first, illustrative of his talent for religious conversation-the other, of his
charity :-
‘‘I was privilege*’ (says the Rev. Robert Johnson), “with his company on a journey of
upwards of one hundred miles. He was a most pleasant and instructive travelling companion.
There were several passengers in the coach at different stages, to whom we were entire strangers.
During the whole of the journey the Doctor’s conversation was upon divine things. He, in a
familiarly instructive and striking manner, explained many important passages of Scripture, and
showed the necessity of experimental and practical religion. The eyes and ears of the passengers
hung upon his lips. He eyed
the Doctor from head to foot, and on every side. At that time the Doctor dressed in the costume
of the old physicians ; having a wig, with a large square silk bag behind. The Scotchman for
a long time looked and listened : at last he said, ‘ Pray, sir, are you a minister ’?’ The Doctor
very pleasantly replied, ‘ No ; I am only his man.’ ”
“Compassion for the poor ” (writes the Rev. James Wood), “was another trait in the
character of my departed friend. When he resided in Leeds, he attended in the vestry of the
old chapel one day in every week, where the poor had full liberty to apply for his adyice. If I
found any sick poor destitute of medical attendance, he was always ready to visit them without
fee or reward. One instance of the kindness he felt for the poor, I am thankful for an opportunity
of recording. When I was stationed at Leeds, Dr. Hamilton called on me one morning,
to ask me if I knew of any person in particular want, saying, he had just received a sum of money
which he had considered as a bad debt, and he therefore wished to give it to the poor. I had
just received a letter from a pious man at Sunderland, where I had been stationed a few years
before, stating his difficulties through want of employ, and that it had been impressed on his
mind to write to me. I showed the Doctor this letter, who gave me two guineas for the poor
man, which was sent without delay ; shortly afterwards a letter from the same person, full of
gratitude to God and to the donor, came to hand, which I showed to my friend, who gave me
three guineas more for the worthy object. The impression on the mind of the poor man-the
time when the letter came-a sum of money unexpectedly received-and the inquiry made after
proper objects, all concurred to show the hand of Providence, and that the Lord careth for the
righteous.”
The figure to the left of Mr. Wesley is that of the REV. JOSEPH COLE,
of whose life almost no memorial whatever has been preserved. He was for
thirty-five years a Methodist preacher, having joined the Rev. John Wesley in
1780. He maintained an unblemished character, and was esteemed an acceptable
“ labourer in the vineyard’’ His talents were respectable ; and his &-
courses were distinguished for simplicity, spirituality, and energy. He was
stationed in Edinburgh during the years 1789-90 and 179 1. ‘‘ His recollections
Amongst them was a Scotchman, who appeared quite astonished.
VOL. II. Y

... SKETCHES. 161 thus speaks of himself-“I am now in my eighty-sixth year. I have never used ...

Book 9 p. 216
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 3 29
the British court. Accordingly he and his family arrived in London, by the
way of France, in 1782. Amongst his recommendatory letters, those to the
Duke and Duchess of Devonshire procured him their kind and powerful
patronage. He was subsequently introduced to the Royal family, from whom he
received several distinguished favours. Presents and benefactions being, however,
no certain provision for his permanent and comfortable maintenance, the Count
naturally became anxious, and at last reluctantly yielded to the representation of
his friends, by adopting the resolution of exhibiting himself. This he did, first
at one guinea-then at five shillings-and afterwards at half-a-crown.’
The acute and sensitive mind of Boruwlaski felt extremely mortified at this
humiliating mode of life, although the curiosity of the public proved for several
years a source of ample revenue. At the time he published his Memoirs, the
novelty had considerably abated ; and the fears he entertained of the future
were feelingly alluded to in the concluding part of his narrative. Amongst
other evils of which he complained, his servant had eloped with trinkets and
valuables to a large amount ; and the small pension which he enjoyed from the
King of Poland had been stopped, in consequence of a report having reached
that monarch‘s ears that he was accumulating a fortune in this country.
When Boruwlaski came to Edinburgh in 1788,’ he was considered an object
of great curiosity, and the peculiar circumstances of his case having excited
general sympathy, he was taken notice of by several respectable gentlemen, and
among others by Mr. Fergusson, who generously endeavoured by their attentions
to sweeten the bitter cup of life to the unfortunate gentleman. It was soon
discovered that the Count was a person of cultivated mind, and possessed of
high conversational powers. The opportunities of seeing men and manners
which his mode of life afforded, and the acuteness which he displayed in the
perception of character, rendered the little foreigner an object of peculiar
estimation. After undergoing the annoyance of “ receiving company,” he used
The Count did not, at least in Edinburgh, exhibit himself as a dwarf-indeed his feelings would
not have allowed of such a thing-he merely received company. He gave a public breakfast, to
participate at which the small charge of 3s. 6d. was demanded. The following is a copy of one of
his advertisements :-‘I Dun’s Hotel, St. Andrew’s Square. On Saturday next, the 1st of August
(17SS), at twelve o’clock, there will be a public breakfast, for the benefit of Count Bornwlaski; in
the course of which the Count will perform some select pieces on the guitar,-Tickets (at 3s. 6d. each)
may be had at the hotel, or at the Count’s lodgings, No. 4 St. Andrew’s Street, where he continues
to receive company every day from ten in the morning till three, and from five till nine. Admittance
One Shilling-*,’ The Count will positively quit this place on Friday the 7th of August.”
In 1784 the Scottish metropolis was honoured by the presence of a lady, who, from the description
of her in the subjoined advertisement, would have been an admirable companion for Boruwlaski :
-“ The Author of Natim is wonderful, even in the least of his works. Just arrived, and to be
seen by any number of persons, in a commodious room within the head of Forrester’s Wynd, first
door and right hand, from eleven o’clock in the morning till eight at night, THEA YAZINWU OMANIN
MII?IATUF~, from Magor in Monmouthshire ; who is, beyond contradiction, the most astonishing
curiosity sportive nature ever held out to be the admiration of mankind. She is now in the 26th
year of her age, and not eighteen pounds weight. A child of two years of age has larger hands and
feet ; and in fact she is the most extraordinary cnriosity ever known, or even heard of in history.
We shall say no mow of this wonder of nature-let those who may honour her with their visita
judge for themselves.-May 26, 1784.”
2 u

... SKETCHES. 3 29 the British court. Accordingly he and his family arrived in London, by the way of ...

Book 8 p. 461
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KING’S STABLES, CASTLE BARNS, AND CASTLE HILL. I43
The poet was extremely proud of his new mansion’, and appears to have been somewhat
surprised to fiud that its fantastic shape rather excited the mirth than the admiration of his
fellow-citizens. The wags of the town compared it to a goose pie ; and on his complaining
of this one day to Lord Elibank, his lordship replied, ‘‘ Indeed, Allan, when I see you in
it, I think they are not far wrong! ”
On ‘the death of Allan Ramsay, in 1757, he was succeeded in his house by his son, the
eminent portrait-painter, who added a new front and wing to it, and otherwise modified its
original grotesqueness; and since his time it was the residence of the Rev. Dr Baird,
late Principal of the University. Some curious discoveries, made in the immediate neighbourhood
of the house, in the lifetime of the poet, are thus recorded in the Scots Magazine
for 1754,-(‘ About the middle of June, some workmen employed in levelling the upper
part of Mr Ramsay’s garden, in the Castle Hill, fell upon a subterraneous chamber about
fourteen feet square, in which were found an image of white stone, with a crown upon its
head, supposed to be the Virgiu Mary ; two brass candlesticks ; about a dozen of ancient
Scottish and French coins, and some other trinkets, scattered among the rubbish. By
several remains of burnt matter, and two cannon balls, it is guessed that the building above
ground was destroyed by the Castle in some former confusion.” This, we would be inclined
to think, may have formed a portion of the ancient Church of St Andrew, of which so little
is known; though, from Dlaitland’s description, the site should perhaps be looked for
somewhat lower down the bank. It is thus alluded to by him,--“ At the southern side of
the Nordloch, near the foot of the Castle Hill, stood a church, the remains whereof I am
informed were standiiig within these few years, by Professor Sir Robert Stewart, who had
often seen them. This I take to have been the Chnrch of St Andrew, near the Castle of
Edinburgh, to the Trinity Altar, in which Alexander Curor, vicar of Livingston, by a
deed of gift of the 20th December 1488, gave a perpetual annuity of twenty merks Scottish
money.” In the panelling of the Reservoir, which stands immediately to the south
of Ramsay Garden, a hole is still shown, which is said to have been occasioned by a shot
in the memorable year 1745. The ball was preserved for many years in the house, and
ultimately presented to the late Professor Playfair.
An old stone land occupies the corner of Ramsay Lane, on the north side of the Castle
Hill. It presents a picturesque front to the main street, surmounted with a handsome
double dormer window. On its eastern side, down Pipe’s Close, there is a large and
neatly moulded window, exhibiting the remains of a stone mullion and transom, with which
it has been divided; and, in the interior of the same apartment, directly opposite to this,
there are the defaced remains of a large gothic niche, the only ornamental portions of which
now visible are two light and elegant buttresses at the sides, affording indication of its
original decorations.
Tradition, as reported to us by several different parties, assigns this house to the Laird
of Cockpen, the redoubted hero, as we presume, of Scottish song ; and one party further
a5rms, in confirmation of this, that Ramsay Lane had its present name before the days
of the poet, having derived it from this mansion of the Ramsays of Cockpen.’ Its
Maitland, p. 206.
* The Lairds of Cockpen were U branch of the Rameays of Dalhousie ; Douglas’s Peerage, vol. i. p. 404. Maitland in
his List of Streets, &e., mentions a Ramaay’a Cloae without indicating it on the map.

... STABLES, CASTLE BARNS, AND CASTLE HILL. I43 The poet was extremely proud of his new mansion’, and ...

Book 10 p. 154
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L UCKENBOOTHS AND PARLIAMENT CLOSE. 189
It used to be a very interesting sight, on a fine summer morning,’ between seven and
eight o’clock, before the Canongate Kirk bell began to ring for the appointed service, to
see the strange groups of Bbe Gowns of all ages,’ from forty-five to ninety and upwards,
assembling in front of the kirk Venerable looking men, bent with the weight of years ;
some lame, others blind, led by a boy or a wife, whose tartan or hodden-grey told of the
remote districts from whence they had come, or perhaps by a rough Highland dog, looking
equally strange on the streets of the ancient burgh ; while all the old bedemen were
clad in their monastic-looking habits, and with large badges on their breasts. It was
curious thus to see pilgrims from the remotest parts of Scotland and the Isles,-the men
of another generation,-annually returning to the capital, and each contriving to arrive
there on the very day of the King’s birth and bounty. The reverend almoner, however,
could scarcely have had a more inattentive congregation,-a fact probably in Bome degree
to be accounted for by many of them understanding nothing but Gaelic. At the close of
the sermon the bread and ale were distributed, along with their other perquisites, and
thereafter the usual benediction closed the services of the day, though generally before
that point was reached the bedemen had disappeared, each one off to wend his way homeward,
and to ‘‘ pass and repass,” as his large badge expressly bore, until the return of the
annual rendezvous.
Shortly after the accession of her present Majesty, whose youth must have had such
an economic effect on the royal bounty, this curious relic of ancient alms-giving waa shorn
of nearly all its most interesting features. Certain members of the Canongate kirksession,
it is said, were scandalised at the exhibition of the butt of ale at the kirk vestry
door, and possibly also at its exciting so much greater interest with the Queen’s bedemen
than any other portion of the established procedure. Whatever be the reason, the annual
church service has been abandoned; the royal almoner’s name no longer appears in the
list of her Majesty’s Scottish household; and the whole business is now managed in
the most matter-of-fact and commonplace style at the Exchequer Chambers in the
Parliament Square, not far from the ancient scene of this annual distribution of the royal
bounty.
At the west end of the Tolbooth a modern addition existed, as appears in our engraving,
rising only to the height of two stories. This was occupied by shops, while the flat
roof formed a platform whereon all public executions took place, after the abandonment
of the Grassmarket in the year 1785. The west gable of the old building bore the appearance
of rude and hasty construction ; it was without windows, notwithstanding that it
afforded the openest and most suitable aspect for light, and seemed as if it had been so
left for the purpose of future extension. The apartments on the ground floor of the main
building were vaulted with stone, and the greater part of them latterly fitted up for
shops,’ until the demolition of the citadel of the old guard in 1785, Boon after which
those on the north side were converted into a guard-house for the accommodation of that
veteran corps.
James Aikman, tailyeour, heia hous, to the palace of Halyrude how” &c.
appear to have been anciently made at the palace.
From thh last entry, the distribution would
For many years the 4th of June, the Birthday of Gorge 111.
In one of theae Yr Horner, father of the eloquent and gifted Francia Homer, M.P., one of the originatom of the
Edinburgh Review, carried on buainees as a silk mercer.

... UCKENBOOTHS AND PARLIAMENT CLOSE. 189 It used to be a very interesting sight, on a fine summer morning,’ ...

Book 10 p. 207
(Score 0.46)

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