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Index for “A Series of Original Portraits and Caricature Etchings”

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 389 Smith, the late Professor Thomas Brown, Francis Horner, and Henry (afterwards Lord) Brougham, he was one of the original projectors of the Edinburgh Reeriew, begun in 1802, and was for many years the editor, as well as a chief contributor, to that celebrated work. While thus wielding the editorial wand of criticism with a felicity and power that astonished and subdued, Mr. Jeffrey daily rose in eminence at the bar. Brief poured in on brief; and amid so much business, of a description requiring the exercise of all the faculties, it was matter of astonishment how he found convenience for the prosecution of his literary pursuits. The following lively skktch of the Scottish advocate, in the hey-day of his career, is from Peter’s Letters to htk Kinsfolk :- ‘I When not pleading in one or other of the Coiirts, or before the Ordinary, he may commonly be seen standing in some corner, entertaining or entertained by such wit aa suits the-atmosphere of the place ; but it is seldom that his occupations permit him to remain long in any such position. Ever and anon his lively conversation is interrupted by some undertaker-faced solicitor, or perhaps by some hot, bustling exquisite clerk, who comes to announce the opening of some new debate, at which the presence of Mr. Jeffrey is necessary ; and away he darts like lightning to the indicated region, clearing his way through the surronnding crowd with irresistible alacrity -the more clumsy, or more grave doer, that had set him in motion, vainly puffing and elbowing to keep close in his wake A few seconds have scarcely elapsed, till you hear the sharp, shrill, but deep-toned trumpet of his voice, lifting itself in some far-off corner, high over the discordant Babe1 that intervenes-period following period in one unbroken chain of sound, aa if ita links had no beginning, and were to have no end. t t t t c “ It is impossible to conceive the existence of a more fertile, teeming intellect. The flood of his illustration seems to be at all times rising up to the very brim ; yet he commands and restrains with equal strength and skill ; or if it does boil over for a moment, it spreads such a richness around, that it is impossible to find fault with its extravagance. Surely never waa such a luxuriant ‘ copia fundi’ united with so much terseness of thought and brilliancy of imagination, and managed with so much unconscious, almost instinctive ease. If he be not the most delightful, he is by far the moat wonderful of speakers.” In 1821 Mr. Jeffrey was elected Lord Rector of the University of Glasgow, an honour the more gratifying that it was obtained in opposition to powerful political interest. In 1829 he was unanimously chosen Dean of the Faculty of Advocates, on which occasion, we understand, he gave up all charge of the Edinburgh Reukw. In December 1830 Mr. Jeffrey was appointed Lord Advocate for Scotland, and returned to Parliament, in January following, for the Forfar district of burghs. In the course of his canvass he was well received, especially by the inhabitants of Dundee, four hundred of whom sat down to a public dinner given to the Lord Advocate and his friends, Sir James Gibson-Craig, Mr. Murray of Henderland, etc. ; but at Forfar, where his opponent, Captain Ogilvy of Arley, was a favourite, he was so roughly handled by the mob as to have been in danger of his life. At the general election in 1831 he stood candidate for the city of Edinburgh, in opposition to Robert Adam Dundas, Esq. Great excitement prevailed on this occasion. Besides memorials from most of the Trades’ Incorporations, a petition to which were appended seventeen thousand signatures, was presented to the Town Council in favour of Mr. Jeffrey; and ... SKETCHES. 389 Smith, the late Professor Thomas Brown, Francis Horner, and Henry (afterwards Lord) ...

Book 9  p. 520
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366 MEMORIALS OF EDfN3URGH. Andrew’s ; and the ground on which it and the neighbouring tenements were erected is styled in a charter of Queen Mary, dated 1569, ‘‘ The liberty of the north side of the Water of Leith, commonly called Rudeside : ” an epithet evidently resulting from its dependency on the Abbey of the Holyrood. St Ninian’s Chapel still occupies its ancient site on the banks of the Water of Leith, but very little of the original structure of the good Abbot remains ; probably no more than a small portion of the basement wall on the north side, where a small doorway appears with an elliptical arch, now built up, and partly sunk in the ground. The remaihder of the structure cannot be earlier than the close of the sixteenth century, and the. date on the steeple, which closely resembles that of the old Tron Church destroyed in the Great Fire of 1824, is 1675. A large sculptured lintel, belonging to the latter edifice, has been rebuilt into a more modern addition, erected apparentIy in the reign of Queen Anne. It bears on it the following inscription in large Roman characters : -BLESSED. AR . THEY. PAT. EEIR . YE. VORD . OF. QOD . AND. KEEP. IT. LVK . XI. 1600. By the charter of Queen Mary, which confirmed the rights that had been purchased by the inhabitants from Lord Holyroodhause, the Chapel of St Ninian was erected into a church for the district of Rorth Leith, and endowed with sundry annual rents, and other ecclesiastical property, including the neighbouring Chapel and Hospital of St Nicolas, and their endowments. An Act of Parliament was obtained in 1606, oreating North Leith a separate and independent parish, and appointing the chapel to he called in all time coming the “parish Kirk of Leith benorth the brig.’’ The celebrated George Wishart-welLknown as the author of the elegant Latin memoirs of Montrose, which were suspended to the neck of the illustrious cavalier when he was executed-was minister of this parish in the year 1638, wheu the signing of the Covenant became the established test of faith and allegiance in Scotland. He was soon afterwards deposed for refusing to suhscribe, and was thrown into one of the dungeons of the Tolbooth of Edinburgh, in consequence of the disoovery of his correspondence with the Royalists. Wishart survived the stormy revolution that followed, and shared in the sunshine of the Restoration. He was preferred to the See of Edinburgh on the re-establishment of Episcopacy in Scotland, and died there in 1671, in his seventy-first year. He was buried in the Abbey Church of Holyrood, where a long and flattering Latin inscription recorded the whole biography of that oele6ris dooctar SopAocardius, as he is styled, according to the scholastic punning of that age. The last minister who officiated in the ancient Chapel of St Ninian was the benevolent and venerable Dr Johnston, the founder of the Edinburgh Blind Asylum, who held the incumbency for upwards of half a century. The foundation of the pew parish church of North Leith had been laid so early as 1814, and at length in 1826 its venerable predecessor was finally abandoned as a place of worship, and soon after converted into a granary. “Thus,” says the historian of Leith, with indignant pathos, “that edifice which had for npwards of 330 years been devoted to the sacred purposes of religion, is now the unhallowed repository of pease and barley I ” The Hospital and Chapel of St Nicolas, with the neighbouring cemetery, were most probably founded at a later date than Abbot Ballantyne’s Chapel, as the reasons assigned by the founder for the building of the latter seem to imply that the inhabitants were without any accessible place of worship. Nothing, however, is now known of their origin, and ... MEMORIALS OF EDfN3URGH. Andrew’s ; and the ground on which it and the neighbouring tenements were erected ...

Book 10  p. 403
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96 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH. antique mansion, which forms a prominent feature in the view of the Old Town from the north, having two terraced roofs at different elevations, guarded by a neatly coped parapet wall, and commanding an extensive view of the Forth, where the English fleet then lay. The preachers were invited by Cromwell to leave the Castle, and return to their pulpits, but they declined to risk themselves in the hands of the ‘‘ sectaries,” and their places were accordingly filled, sometimes by the independent preachers, but oftener by the soldiers, who unbuckled their swords in the pulpit, and wielded their spiritual weapons, greatly to the satisfaction of crowded audiences, (‘ many Scots expressing much affection at the doctrine, in their usual way of groans ! ” Cromwell himself is said, by Pinkerton, to have preached in St Giles’s Churchyard, while David, the second Lord Cardross, was holding forth at the !Crone.2 On the 13th of November the Palace of Holyrood was accidentally set on fire by some of the English troops who were quartered there, and the whole of the ancient Palace destroyed, with the exception of the north-west towers, finished by James V. It seem probable that the troops, thus deprived of a lodging, were afterwards quartered in some of the deserted churches. Nicol mentions, immediately after the notice of this occurrence, in his Diary, that “ the College Kirk, the Gray Freir Kirk, and that Kirk cailit the Lady Yesteris Kirk, the Hie Scule, and a great pairt of the College of Edinburgh, wer wasted j their pulpites, daskis, loftis, saittes, and all their decormentis, wer all dung doun to the ground by these Inglische sodgeris, and brint to asses.” Accommodation was at length found for them in Heriot’s Hospital, then standing unfinished, owing to the interruption occasioned by the war ; and it was not without considerable difficulty that General Monk was persuaded, at a later period, to yield it up to its original purpose, on suitable barracks being provided elsewhere. The siege of the Castle was vigorously prosecuted : Cromwell mustered the colliers from the neighbouring pits, and set them to work a mine below the fortifications, the opening of which may still be seen in the freestone rock, on the south side, near. the new Castle road. The commander of the fortress had not been, at the hst, very hearty in his opposition to Cromwell, and finding matters growing thus desperate, he came to terms with him, and saved the Castle being blown about his ears, by resigning it into the General’s hands. One of the earliest proceedings of the new garrison was to clear away the neighbouring obstructions that had afforded shelter to themselves in their approaches during the siege. ‘‘ Considering that the Wey-hous of Edinburgh was ane great impediment to the schottis of the Castell, the samyn being biggit on the hie calsey; thairfoir, to remove that impediment, General Cromwell gaif ordouris for demolisching of the Wey-house ; and upone the last day of December 1650, the Englisches began the work, and tuik doun the stepill of it that day, and so contiiiued till it wes raised.”8 We learn, from the same authority, of the re-ediiication of this building after the Restoration. The Wey-hous, quhilk wes demoleist by that traitour Cromwell, at his incuming to Edinburgh, eftir the feght of Dumbar, began now to be re-edified in the end of August 1660, but far inferior to the former condition.’” The cumbrous and ungainly building thus erected, remained an encumbrance 1 Cromwelliang apud Carlyle’s Letters, &c., vol. i p. 361. 8 Nicol’s Diary, p. 48. 9 Pinkerton’s Scottish Gallery, Lord Cardroas. 4 Ibid, p. 300. ... MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH. antique mansion, which forms a prominent feature in the view of the Old Town from the ...

Book 10  p. 104
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 317 " After much trouble, expense, and reiterated experiments, I have happily succeeded in completing a new weaving-loom, of which a working-model, with cloth in it, is presented to the Society for their inspection. It has, upon trial, succeeded beyond expectation-answers in every respect the purpose for which it is intended, and has met with the approbation of manufactivers of the fist respectability in the country. '' After many different attempts, I think I have brought my weaving-loom, which may be driven with water or steam, to such a state of perfection, as to prove its utility the more it is known and employed. " My first attempt was made in the year 1789.' I at that time entered a caveat for a patent, but relinquished the idea of obtaining one, and have since made many improvements upon my original plan. In 1796 a report in4 its favour waa made by the Chamber of Commerce and Manufactures at Glasgow ; and in the year 1798 a loom waa actually set at work, in Mr. J. Monteith's spinning-works at Pollockshaws, four miles from Glasgow, which answered the purpose 80 well, that a building was erected by Mr. Monteith for containing thirty looms, and aftemarda another to hold about two hundred. " The model now submitted is an improvement upon those constructed for Mr. Monteith." The power-loom thus appears to have occupied his attention for a number of years ; and as an instance of the enthusiasm with which he prosecuted his labours, he was on one occasion heard to say that "he had often wished some person would put him in jail, that he might have time to follow out his ideas undisturbed." Mr. Austin was awarded a silver medal by the Society of Arts, for his " various improvements in machinery ;I' but his invention, after all, is understood to have been chiefly valuable as the means of stimulating others to produce looms of greater utility. As indicated by his portrait, Mr. Austin was a heavy, corpulent man: but very energetic, and could perform some extraordinary gymnastic feats. On one occasion, when locked up in a jury case, by way of amusement, he seated himself on the ground, and holding up his feet with his hands, astonished his fellow-jurors by hobbling in this position round the room. He was a jolly, cheerful companion ; and, notwithstanding the failure of his scientific speculations, continued to maintain a philosophical cheerfulness of temper. He occupied a delightful cottage at the head of the Public Green, which was then a fashionable situation for villas. Judging from the appearance of the house, and the profusion of shrubbery and flowers with which the enclosure was adorned, any one would have pronounced Mr. Austin a man of taste and cultivated mind, independently of the reputation he had acquired by his mechanical and musical pursuits. Mr. Austin, we believe, began business an a manufacturer in Glasgow much abont the same time with Mr. Jam= Monteith, Mr. Robert Thomson, and the Messrs. M'Ilquham, all of whom either realised immense fortunes, or put their families in the way of doing 80. Mr. Austin was not so fortnnate, though a man of intelligence, tsste, and skill. While his plodding contemporaries were steadily pursuing their immediate interests, he was seldom without some abstraoting conceit, which for the time exclusively engaged his attention. In a print engraved by Sherwin, after a design by Rowlandson, called '* Smitbfield Sharpers," an excellent likeness of Mr. Austin is to be found in the jolly landlord, who is in the act of bringing in a bowl of punch. Boniface weam a cocked hat, and 80 did Mr. Austin at the time referred to. The reaemblance waa once pointed out to him in a jocular way by a friend. With characteristic good humour, Mr. Austin replied by exclaiming, '' 0, you buffer ! " meaning, no doubt, that it WBB unfair to place him in such company. The print, though rsre, is still occasionally to be met with. VOL. 11. 3c ... SKETCHES. 317 " After much trouble, expense, and reiterated experiments, I have happily ...

Book 9  p. 503
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THE HIGH STREET AND NETHER BOW. 267 separated only by very narrow uprights. It is decorated with string courses and rich mouldings, and forms a fine specimen of an Old-Town mansion of the sixteenth century. It is stated by Chambers to be entailed with the estate of the Clerks of Pennycuik, and to have formed the town residence of their ancestors. This we presume to have been the later residence of Alexander, fifth Lord Home; the same who entertained Queen Mary and Lord Darnley in his lodging near the Tron in 1565, and who afterwards turned the fortune of the field at the Battle of Langside, at the head of his border spearmen. He was one of the noble captives who surrendered to Sir William Durie on the taking of Edinburgh Castle in 1573. He was detained a prisoner, while his brave companions perished on the scaffold; a.nd was only released at last after a tedious captivity, to die a prisoner at large in his own house-the same, we believe, which stood in Blackfriars’ Wynd. A contemporary writer remarks :-“ Wpoun the secund day of Junij [1575], Alexander Lord Home wes relevit out of the Castell of Edinburgh, and wardit in his awne lugeing in the heid of the Frier Wynd, quha wes carijt thairto in ane bed, be ressone of his great infirmitie of seiknes.”’ Scarcely another portion of the Old Town of Edinburgh was calculated to impress the thoughtful visitor with the same melancholy feelings of a departed glory, replaced by squalor and decay, which he experienced after exploring the antiquities of the Blackfriars’ Wynd. There stood the deserted and desecrated fane ; the desolate mansions of proud and powerful nobles and senators ; and the degraded Palace of the Primate and Cardinal, where even Scottish monarchs have been fitly entertained; and it seemed for long as if the ground which Alexander 11. bestowed on the Dominican Monks, as a, special act of regal munificence, was not possessed of value enough to tempt the labours of the builder. Emerging again through the archway at the head of the wynd, which the royal masterprinter jitted at his pleasure above three centuries ago, an ancient., though greatly modernised, tenement in the High Street to the east of the wynd attracted the notice of the local historian as the mansion of Lord President Fentonbarn!, a man of humble origin, the son of a baker in Edinburgh, whose eminent abilities won him the esteem and the suffrages of its contemporaries. He owed his fortunes to the favour of James VI., by whom he was nominated to fill the office of a Lord of Session, and afterwards knighted. We are inclined to think that it is to him Montgomerie alludes in his satirical sonnets addressed to M. J. Sharpe-in all probability au epithet of similar origin and signilicance to that conferred by the Jacobite8 on the favourite advocate of William 111. The poet had failed in a suit before the Court of Session, seemingly with James Beaton, Archbishop of Glasgow, and he takes his revenge against “ his Adversars Lawyers,” like other poets, in satiric rhyme. The lack of ‘‘ gentle blude ” is a special handle against the plebeian judge in the eyes of the high-born poet ; and his second sonnet, which is sufEcientlp vituperative, begins :- A Baxter’s bird, a bluiter beggar borne ! ’ This old mansion was the last survivor of all the long and unbroken range of buildings between St Giles’s Church and the Nether Bow. In its original state it was one of l Diurnal of Occurrenta, p. 348. Alexander Montgornerie’s Poems ; complete edition, by Dr Irving, p. 74. ... HIGH STREET AND NETHER BOW. 267 separated only by very narrow uprights. It is decorated with string courses ...

Book 10  p. 290
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writing of the siege, he says, ? upon the twentieth day, the principal block-house of Leith, called St. Anthony?s Kirk, was battered down.? And we have already referred to the Act of Council in 1560, by which it was ordered that this block house and the curtain-wall facing Edinburgh should be levelled to the sound. . Immediately opposite St;. Mary?s Church stands the Trinity House of Leith, erected on the site of the original edifice bearing that name, This Seaman?s Hospital was dedicated to the Holy Trinity, and the insctiption which adorned the ancient building is now built into the south wall of the new one, facing St. Giles?s Street, and . ters :- ?IN THE NAME OF THE LORD, YE MASTERIS AND MARINERIS BYLIS THIS HOVS TO YE POVR. ANNO DOMINI, ~555.? In the east wing of the present edifice there is preserved a stone, on which is carved a cross-staff and other nautical instruments of the sixteenth century, an anchor, and two globes, with the motto :- apply those dues in the maintenance of a hospital for the keeping of ?poor, old, infirm, and weak matiners.? Long previous to 1797, the association, though calling itself ?? The Corporation of .Shipmasters of the Trinity House of Leith,? was?. A corporation only by the courtesy of popular language, and posseised merely the powers of a charitable body ; but in that year it was erected by charter into a corporate body, whose office-bearers were to be a master, assistant and deputy-=aster, a manager, treasurer, and clerk, and was vested with powersreserving, however, those of the Corporation of the city of Edinburgh-to examine, and under its ? Zmtituted 1380. Buiit rj55. RebuiZt 1816.? ?The date of this foundation,? says Daniel Wilson is curious, Its dedication implies that it originated with the adherents of the ancient faith, while the date of the old inscription indicates the very period when the Queen Regent assumed the reins of government. That same year John Knox landed at Leith on his return from exile ; and only three years later, the last convocation of the Roman Catholic clergy that ever assembled in Scotland hnder the sanction of its laws was held in the Blackfriars Church at Edinburgh, and signalised its final session by proscribing Sir David Lindsay?s writings, and enacting that his buik should be abolished and burnt.? ? From time immemorial the shipmasters and mariners of Leith received from all vessels of the port, and all Scottish vessels visiting it, certain duties, called ? prirno gilt,? which were expended in aiding poor seamen ; and about the middle of the sixteenth century they acquired a legal right to tained, but they were then ( I 7 7 9) all out-pensioners. In the inventory of deeds belonging to this institution is enumerated :-? Ane charter granted by Mathew Forrester, in favour of the foresaide mariners of Leith, of thesaid land of ye hospital bankes, and for undercallit ye grounds lying in Leith. . . also saide yeird. . . dated 26 July, 1567, sealit and subscnbit be the saide Mat. Forrester, Prebender of St. Antoine, near Leith.? (?< M o n s ticon Scotz.?) During the Protectorate the ample vaults under the old Trinity House (now or latterly used as wine stores) were filled with the munition of Monk?s troops, for which they paid a rent. ? By his Highness? council1 in Scotland, for the governing theirof: these are to require z,ooo forthwith out of such moneys dew or schal come to the hands of the Customes, out of the third part of the profits arysing from the Excyse in Scotland, to pay \Villiam Robertson (collector for the poore of Trinitie House in Leyth) the sornme of A3 15s. ... of the siege, he says, ? upon the twentieth day, the principal block-house of Leith, called St. Anthony?s ...

Book 6  p. 222
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writing of the siege, he says, ? upon the twentieth day, the principal block-house of Leith, called St. Anthony?s Kirk, was battered down.? And we have already referred to the Act of Council in 1560, by which it was ordered that this block house and the curtain-wall facing Edinburgh should be levelled to the sound. . Immediately opposite St;. Mary?s Church stands the Trinity House of Leith, erected on the site of the original edifice bearing that name, This Seaman?s Hospital was dedicated to the Holy Trinity, and the insctiption which adorned the ancient building is now built into the south wall of the new one, facing St. Giles?s Street, and . ters :- ?IN THE NAME OF THE LORD, YE MASTERIS AND MARINERIS BYLIS THIS HOVS TO YE POVR. ANNO DOMINI, ~555.? In the east wing of the present edifice there is preserved a stone, on which is carved a cross-staff and other nautical instruments of the sixteenth century, an anchor, and two globes, with the motto :- apply those dues in the maintenance of a hospital for the keeping of ?poor, old, infirm, and weak matiners.? Long previous to 1797, the association, though calling itself ?? The Corporation of .Shipmasters of the Trinity House of Leith,? was?. A corporation only by the courtesy of popular language, and posseised merely the powers of a charitable body ; but in that year it was erected by charter into a corporate body, whose office-bearers were to be a master, assistant and deputy-=aster, a manager, treasurer, and clerk, and was vested with powersreserving, however, those of the Corporation of the city of Edinburgh-to examine, and under its ? Zmtituted 1380. Buiit rj55. RebuiZt 1816.? ?The date of this foundation,? says Daniel Wilson is curious, Its dedication implies that it originated with the adherents of the ancient faith, while the date of the old inscription indicates the very period when the Queen Regent assumed the reins of government. That same year John Knox landed at Leith on his return from exile ; and only three years later, the last convocation of the Roman Catholic clergy that ever assembled in Scotland hnder the sanction of its laws was held in the Blackfriars Church at Edinburgh, and signalised its final session by proscribing Sir David Lindsay?s writings, and enacting that his buik should be abolished and burnt.? ? From time immemorial the shipmasters and mariners of Leith received from all vessels of the port, and all Scottish vessels visiting it, certain duties, called ? prirno gilt,? which were expended in aiding poor seamen ; and about the middle of the sixteenth century they acquired a legal right to tained, but they were then ( I 7 7 9) all out-pensioners. In the inventory of deeds belonging to this institution is enumerated :-? Ane charter granted by Mathew Forrester, in favour of the foresaide mariners of Leith, of thesaid land of ye hospital bankes, and for undercallit ye grounds lying in Leith. . . also saide yeird. . . dated 26 July, 1567, sealit and subscnbit be the saide Mat. Forrester, Prebender of St. Antoine, near Leith.? (?< M o n s ticon Scotz.?) During the Protectorate the ample vaults under the old Trinity House (now or latterly used as wine stores) were filled with the munition of Monk?s troops, for which they paid a rent. ? By his Highness? council1 in Scotland, for the governing theirof: these are to require z,ooo forthwith out of such moneys dew or schal come to the hands of the Customes, out of the third part of the profits arysing from the Excyse in Scotland, to pay \Villiam Robertson (collector for the poore of Trinitie House in Leyth) the sornme of A3 15s. ... of the siege, he says, ? upon the twentieth day, the principal block-house of Leith, called St. Anthony?s ...

Book 6  p. 223
(Score 0.56)

374 MEiWORIALS OF EDINBURGH. charier, one of his mills of Dean, with the tenths of his mills of Liberton and Dean ; and although all that now remains of the villages of Bell’s Mills and the Dean are af a much more recent date, they still retain unequivocal evidences of considerable antiquity. Dates and inscriptions, with crow-stepped gables and other features of the 17th century, are to be found scattered among the more modern tenements, and it was only in the year 1845 that the curious old mansion of the Dean was demolished for the purpose of converting the Deanhaugh into a public cemetery. This was another of those fine old aristocratic dwellings that once abounded in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh, but which are now rapidly disappearing, like all its other interesting memorials of former times. It was a monument of the Nisbeta of the Dean, a proud old race that are now extinct. They had come to be the head of their house, as Nisbet relates with touching pathos, owing to the failure of the Nisbets of that Ilk in his own person, and as such .“ laid aside the Cheveron, a mark of cadency used formerly by the House of Dean, in regard that the family of Dean is the only family of that name in Scotland that has right, by consent, to represent the old original family of the name of Nisbet, since the only lineal male representer, the author of this system, is like to go soon off the world, being an old man, and without issue male or female.” The earliest notice in the minutes of Presbytery of St Cuthberts of the purchase of a piece of family burying-ground, is by Sir William Nisbet of Dean, in March 1645, the year of the plague. ‘‘ They grantit him ane place at the north church door, eastward, five elnes of lenth, and thrie elnes of bredth.” It appears to have been the piece of ground in the angle formed by the north transept and the choir of the ancient Church of St Cuthbert ; and the vault which he erected there still remains, surmounted with his arms ; a memorial alike of the demolished fane and the extinct race. When we last saw it, the old oak door was broken in, and the stair that led down to the chamber of the dead choked up with rank nettles and hemlock ;-the fittest monument ihat could be devised for the old Barons of the Dean, the last of them now gathered to his fathers. The old mansion-house had on a sculptured stone over the east doorway the date 1614, but other parts of the building bore evident traces of an earlier date. The large gallery had an arched ceiling, painted in the same style as one already described in Blyth’s Close, some portions of which had evidently been copied in its execution. The subjects were chiefly sacred, and though rudely executed in distemper, had a bold and pleasing effect when seen as a whole. One of the panels, now in the possession of C. K. Sharpe, Esq., bears the date 1627. The dormer windows and principal doorways were richly decorated with sculptured devices, inscriptions, and armorial bearings, illustrative of the successive alliances of its owners; many of which have been preserved in the boundary walls of the cemetery that now occupies its site. The most curious of these are two pieces of sculpture in 6amo relievo, which surmounted two of the windows on the south front. On one of them a judge is represented, seated on a throne, with a lamb in his arms ; in his left hand he holds a drawn sword resting on his shoulder, and in his right hand a pair of scales. Two lions rampant stand on either side, as if contending litigants for the poor lamb ; the one of them . 1 Nisbet’a Heraldry, vol. ii part 4, p. 32. a History of the Weat Kirk, p. 24. Alexander Nisbet, Gent., published the first volume of hie system of heraldry in 1722 ; his death took place shortly stteiwarda.-V& Preface to 2d Edition Fol. ... MEiWORIALS OF EDINBURGH. charier, one of his mills of Dean, with the tenths of his mills of Liberton and Dean ...

Book 10  p. 411
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396 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH. lover of Gothic architecture that now remains in the capital. Unhappily, however, the march of improvement threatens its demolition. It has already been marked for a prey by the engineers of the North British Railway, for the purpose of enlarging their terminus; and unless the exertions of the lovers of antiquity succeed in averting its destruction, the doom has already been pronounced of this venerable fane which covers the remains of Mary of Guelders, the Queen of James 11.’ The vestry affords, externally, a fine specimen of the old Scottish method of ‘‘ theiking with stone,” with which the whole church, except the central tower, was roofed till about the year 1814, when it was replaced with slates. The vestry also exhibits a rare specimen of an ancient Gothic chimney, an object of some interest to the architect, from the few specimens of domestic architecture in that style which have escaped the general destruction of the religious houses in Scotland, The collegiate buildings, erected according to the plan of the foundress, were built immediately adjoining the church on the south side, while the hospital for the bedemen stood on the opposite side of Leith Wynd. In 1567 the church, with the whole collegiate buildings, were presented by the Regent Murray to Sir Simon Preston, Provost of Edinburgh, by whom they were bestowed on the town. New statutes were immediately drawn up for regulating “ the beidmen and hospitdaris now present and to cum;”2 and the hospital buildings being found in a ruinous condition, part of the collegiate buildings were fitted up and converted into the new hospital, which thenceforth bore the name of Trinity Hospital. This veuerable edifice was swept away in 1845 in clearing the site for the railway station, and its demolition brought to light many curious evidences of its earlier state. A beautiful large Gothic fireplace, with clustered columns and a low-pointed arch, was disclosed in the north gable, while many rich fragments of Gothic ornament were found built into the walls-the remains, no doubt, of the original hospital buildings used in the enlargement and repair of the college. In the bird’s-eye view in Gordon’s map, an elegant Gothic lantern appears on the roof above the great hall, but this had disappeared long before the demolition of the building. In enlarging the drain from the area of the North Loch, in 1822, an ancient causeway was discovered fully four feet below the present level of the church floor, and extending a considerable way up the North Back of the Canongate. Its great antiquity was proved on the recent demolition of the hospital buildings, by the discovery that their foundations rested on part of the same ancient causeway thus buried beneath the slow accumulations of centuries, and which was not improbably a relic of the Roman invasion. One of the grotesque gurgoils of the Trinity Hospital is now preserved in the Antiquarian Museum. In the view of Trinity College Church, drawn by Paul Sandby for Maitland’s History of Edinbargh, a building is shown attached to the west end of it, which appears to have been a separate hospital maintained by the town, after the Magistrates had obtained the exclusive control of the Queen’s charitable foundation, In the will of Katharine Norwell, for example, the widow of the celebrated printer Thomas Bassendyne, bted 8th August 1 As anticipated, Trinity College Church was taken down on the construction of the North British Railway in 1846. The stonea having been almost entirely preserved, and a aite obtained on a spot nearly opposite to where it originally stood, it is now (1872) being rebuilt. ’ Maitland, pp. 211, 490. ... MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH. lover of Gothic architecture that now remains in the capital. Unhappily, however, the ...

Book 10  p. 434
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176 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. “ Happening to be in Dublin in October 1829, I solicited a friend of Mr. Rowan to introduce me to him. He was the last remnant of that band of patriots, who had trod every selfish feeling under foot for the sake of their common country, I had from childhood deemed him an impersonation of all that is noble, and longed to hear from his own lips, after the sufferings he had endured, whether, in the eighty-fifth year of his age,’ the ardent principles of his youth still held undiminished sway in his heart. His appearance affected me much ; instead of the tall, broad, manly form I had read of, he was sadly shrunken ; the fiery eye was dim with years, and almost blind. But his identity was not difficult to trace-the aompressed lip, the expanded nostril, and the bold outline- expressed that lofty moral resolution which had always distinguished his career. When my friend presented me to him, he remarked-‘ You see an old man, who should, long ere now, have‘been in his grave ; my strength is fast failing me, and, as my early and dearest friends are all in the other world, I long to follow them. But I .ought not to regret having lived till now, since I have seen the stains wiped from my country’s brow by the passing of the Relief Bill.’a When I adverted to the prominent part he had acted in the troubles of 1793, his dim eye flashed with young life, and he rejoined ‘ Yes, Ireland had then many a clear head and brave heart.’ On alluding to his unexpected meeting with his friends in Philadelphia, pulses which had long slumbered seemed again to beat, and he replied, ‘ That was an hour of excessive interest, and one of the happiest of my chequered life.’ In the course of my interview, I took the liberty of asking him ‘whether, after his long exile, and numerous bereavements ; and, more than all, the dark cloud of obloquy in which his enemies had striven to envelope his name, he still justified his public conduct to himself?’ He replied, with a solemnity and energy that startled both his friend and me, ‘ So thoroughly does my conscience approve of all I have done, that had I my life to commence again, I would be governed by the same principles ; and, therefore, should my country’s interests be compromised, these principles would call me forth in her defence, even though the obstacles were more numerous and appalling than in the times in which I suffered.’ I parted with him for ever, with the same sentiment of profound veneration that I would have felt had I left the threshold of a Fabricius, a Cincinnatus, or a Cato.” I considered him the object of the greatest interest in that city. I remember little else of our conversation. In 1833, the year previous to his decease, Mr. Moffat had the honour of a short letter from Mr. Rowan, in which he breathed a firm and consistent attachment to his original political principles. The HONOURABLSIEM ON BUTLER-brother of the late, and uncle of the Earl of Kilkenny-was the third son of the-tenth Viscount Lord Mountgarret.’ Along with Theobald Wolfe Tone, Mr. Butler was a zealous leader of the United Irishmen. Young, sanguine, and descended of an ancient and honourable family which claimed kindred with some of the highest and most influential branches of the Irish aristocracy, he at once became popular among those who sought a redress of grievances. He presided at the first meeting of the Dublin “ Society of United Irishmen,” and took an active interest in propagating the principles and extending the influence of these associations. That he contemplated other measures than such as might lead to a reform of the legislature cannot justly be imputed to him, as no direct communications with the Republicans of France were entered into until 1795. On the meeting of the Irish Parliament, early in March 1793, the Honourable Simon The writer waa probably misinformed as to his aga The ancestore of Nr. Rowan, aa well as himself, were Pmbyterians. The title of Earl of Kilkenny waa conferred on this branch of the noble family of Butler, 20th December 1793. ... BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. “ Happening to be in Dublin in October 1829, I solicited a friend of Mr. Rowan to ...

Book 9  p. 235
(Score 0.55)

THE HIGH STREET. 245 house,’’ to which Arnot adds the more definite though scanty information, At the head of Bell’s ’Wynd there were an hospital and chapel, known by the name of Maison Dieu.’” Like most other religious establishments and church property, it passed into the hands of laymen at the Reformation by an arbitrary grant of the crown, so that the original charters of foundation no longer remain as the evidences of its modern claimants. It is styled, however, in the earliest titles extant, “ the old land formerly of George, Bishop of Dunkeld ; ” EO that its foundation may be referred with every probability to the reign of James V., when George Crighton, who occupied that see from the year 1527 to 1543, founded the hospital of St Thomas near the Watergate, about two years before his death, and endowed it for the maintenance of certain chaplains and bedemen, (‘ to celebrate the founder’s anniversary o6it, by solemnly singing in the choir of Holyrood Church, on the day of his death yearly, the PZaceJo and Dirige, for the repose of his soul,” &c.~ There can be little doubt, moreover, that the old land, which was only demolished in the year 1789, was the same mansion of Lord Home, to which Queen Mary retreated with Darnley, on her return to Edinburgh in 1566, while she was haunted with the horrible recollections of the recent murder of her favourite, Rizzio, and her mind revolted from the idea of returning to the palace, the scene of hia assassination, whose blood-stained floors still called for justice and revenge against the murderers. ‘( Vpoun the xviij day of the said moneth of Ifarch,” says the contemporary annalist,’ 6‘oup soueranis lord and ladie, accumpanij t with tua thowsand horssmen come to Edinburgh, and lugeit not in thair palice of Halyrudhous, bot lugeit in my lord Home’s lugeing, callit the auld bischope of Dunkell his lugeing, anent the salt trone in Edinburgh; and the lordis being with thame for the tyme, wes lugeit round about thame within the said burgh.” Lord Home, who thus entertained Queen Mary and Darnlep as his guests, was, at that date, so zealous an adherent of the Queen, that Randolph wrote to Cecil from Edinburgh soon after that he would be created Earl of March ; and although at the battle of Langside he appeared against her, he afterwards returned to his fidelity, and retained it with such integrity till his death as involved him in a conviction of treason by her enemies. In the following reign this ancient tenement became the property of George Heriot, and the ground rents are still annually payable to the treasurer of the hospital which he founded. The portion of. the High Street still marked as the site of this ancient building, is closely associated with other equally memorable incidents in the life of Queen Mary; for almost immediately adjoining it, on the east side, formerly stood the famous Black Turnpike already alluded to,‘ as the town house of Sir Simon Preston, Provost of Edinburgh in 1567, to which the unhappy Queen was led by her captors, amid the hootings and execrations of an excited rabble, on the evening of her surrender at Carbery Hill. This ancient building was one of the most stately and sumptuous edifices of the Old TO,WR It was lofty and of great extent, and the tradition of Queen Mary’s residence in it had never been lost sight of. A small apartment, with a window to the High Street, was pointed out 1 Yaitland, p. 189. Arnot, p. 246. Maitland, p. 154. Keith furnishes this character of the bishop, “A man nobly disposed, very hospitable, and s magnificent housekeeper ; but in matters of religion not much skilled.” ’ Diurnal of Occurrenta, p. 94. Keith, vol.-ii p. 292. ‘ Ante, p. 79. ... HIGH STREET. 245 house,’’ to which Arnot adds the more definite though scanty information, At the head of ...

Book 10  p. 266
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408 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH. reflections on “ this worthy and memorable motto! ” The visit of Taylor to the Palace and Chapel was almost immediately after that of James VI. to Scotland, so that he no doubt saw them in all the splendour which had been prepared for the King’s reception. The palace was probably abandoned to neglect and decay after the last visit of Charles I. in 1641, otherwise it is probable that Cromwell would have taken up his abode there during his residence in Edinburgh. The improvements, however, effected by Charles, both on the Palace and Abbey Church, appear to have been considerable. One beautiful memorial of his residence there is the elaborately carved sun-dial which still adorns the north garden of the Palace, and is usually known as Queen Mary’s Dial, although the cipher of her grandson, with those of his Queen and the Prince of Wales, are repeated on its most prominent carvings. The Palace was converted into barracks by Cromwell soon after his arrival in Edinburgh, and as Nicoll relates, ‘ I ane number of the Englisches futemen being ludgit within the Abay of Haly Rud HOUSi,t fell out that upone an Weddinsday, being the threttene day of November 1650, the hail1 royal1 pairt of that palice wes put in flame, and brint to the ground on all the pairtes thairof.’’I The diarist, however, has afterwards qualified this sweeping assertion by adding, “ except a lyttel ; ” and there is good reason for believing that the oldest portion of the Palace, usually known as James the Fifth’s Tower, entirely escaped the conflagration, as its furniture, if not so old as Queen Mary’R time, certainly at least dates in the reign of Charles I., some of it being marked with the cipher of that monarch and his Queen, Henrietta Maria. A fac-simile of a rare print, after a drawing by Gordon of Rothiemay, in the first volume of the Bannatyne Miscellany, preserves the only view of the Palace that has come down to us as it existed prior to this conflagration. The main entrance appears to occupy nearly the same site as at present. It. is flanked on either side by round embattled towers, or rather semicircular bow windows, between which is a large panel, surmounting the grand gateway, and bearing the royal arms of Scotland. A uniform range of building, pierced with large windows, extends on either side, and is flanked on the north by the great tower which still remains, but finished above the battlements asrepresented in the vignette on page 34. The empty panels also which still remain in the front turrets appear to hare been filled with sculptured armorial bearings. No corresponding tower existed at the south-west corner of the building until its remodelling by Sir William Bruce. The Palace was speedily rebuilt by order of the Protector, but his work came under revision soon after the Restoration. The directions given by Charles 11. for its alteration and completion enter into the minutest details, among which such commands as the following were probably dictated with peculiar satisfaction ;-(< Wee doe hereby order you to cause that parte thereof which was built by the usurpers, and doth darken the court, to be taken down.”= The zeal with which both Charles 11. and James VIL devoted. 1 Nicoll’s Diary, p. 35. a Royal warranta. Liber. Cart. p. cxxk The royal orders would appear to have been occasionally departed from, e.g., the Ear1 of Lauderdale writes, by command of Charles II., in 1671 :-“His Maj“. likes the front very well as it is Designed, provided the gate where the King’a coach is to come in be large enough, Aa also he likes the taking doune of that narrow upper parte which was built in Cromwell’a time. Hee likes not the covering of all that betwixt the two great toures with platfoipl at the second storie, but would have it heightened to a third storie, as all the inner court is, and sklaited with skaily as the rest of the court is to be ; ” in all which respecta the original design has evidently been carried out, notwithstanding his Majesty’s directions to the contrary. ... MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH. reflections on “ this worthy and memorable motto! ” The visit of Taylor to the ...

Book 10  p. 447
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHEX. 221 castellated mansion, the demolition of which, by the Trustees of the Institution, occasioned much regret among the lovers of antiquity. From the Edinburgh Mugazhe for 1800 we quote the following remarks by a correspondent :- “ How grateful must it have been to the inhabitants of Edinburgh, to be able to point the attention of a prejudiced stranger to the towering and venerable fabric of Wrytes Hme, one existing memorial, among many others, of the ancient power and greatness of Scotland, and of her early proficiency in the architecture and sculpture formerly in repute. Will persons of taste in this country believe it ?-will liberal and lettered Englishmen believe it ?-this beautiful castle, in the environs of the capital, and the ornament of Bruntsfield Links, a public resort, ie at this moment resounding the blows of the hammers and axes of final demolition ! ” “The Managers of the late Mr. Gillespie’s mortification having, by reason, it is said, of the voracity of some greedy proprietor, been disappointed in their original intentions, ‘ They spied this goodly castle, Which choosing for their Hospital, They thither marched.’ And who could have doubted that it might easily have been transformed into a most capacious and elegant hospital-a truly splendid abode for decayed Gillespies ! t I I “But down it must come, if it should be for the sake only of the timber, the slates, and the stones. A few weeks will leave scarcely a trace to tell where once it stood. Ten thousand pounds would not rear such another castle ; and, if it did, still it would be modern. Above one window was the inscription, ‘Sicut Oliva fructifera, 1376 ;’ and above another, ‘In Domino emfido, 1400.’ There are several later dates, marking the periods, probably of additions, embellishments, or repairs, or the succession of different pr0prietors.l The arms over the principal door were those of Britain after the union of the crowns. On triangular stones, above the windows, were five emblematical representations- Its fate is now irretrievable. “ WryteS House: was of considerable antiquity. ‘ And in those five, such things their form express’d, As we can touch, taste, feel, or hear, or see.’ . A variety of the virtues also were strewed upon different parts of the building. In one place was a rude representation of our first parents, and underneath, the well-known old proverbial distich- ‘ When Adam delv’d and Eve span, Quhair war a’ the gentles than.’ In another place was a head of Julius Ccesar, and elsewhere a head of Octavius Secundus, both in good preservation. Most of these curious pieces of sculpture have been defaced or broken, no measure having been taken to preserve them from the effects of their fall.’ This is much to be regretted, as there can be little doubt that some good gentleman, who would not only have given the contractor an advanced price, but would have so disposed of these relics aa to ensure their future existence and preservation. Had the late Mr, Walter Ross been alive they would not have been allowed to &ash against the ground and shiver into fragments ! What, suppose the Managers themselves were yet to erect a little Gothic-looking mansion, in some convenient corner, constructed entirely of the sculptured and ornamented stones of the castle. l In a note by the editor of the Magazine, it is stated as the opinion of another antiquarp, that these dates were more likely to have been inscribed at the same period, to record some particular e m in the history of the ancestors of the owner ; and that the neatness, distinctness, and uniformity of the letters, rendered this opinion highly probable. * ‘* A long stone, on which was curiously sculptured a group resembling Holbein’s Dance of Death, was some time ago (July 1800) discovered at the head of Forrester’s Wynd,:which in former days was the western boundary of St. Giles’s High Churchyard. “his relic, too, was much defaced, and broken in two, by being carelessly tossed down by the workmen. It was a curioua piece. Amid other musicians who brought up the rear, ww an angel playing on the Highland bagpipe-a national conceit, which appears also on the entablature of one of the pillars of the supremely elegant Gothic chapel at Roslin.” ... SKETCHEX. 221 castellated mansion, the demolition of which, by the Trustees of the ...

Book 9  p. 294
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THE CANONGA TE AND ABBE Y SANCTUAR Y. 283 an antique timber projection is thrown out as a covered gallery, within which there is a very large fireplace on the external front of the stone wall, proving, as previously pointed out, that the timber work is part of the original plan of the building. The first floor is approached as usual by an outer stair, at the top of which a very beautifully moulded doorway affords entrance to B stone turnpike, forming the internal communication to the different floors. A rich double cornice encircles this externally, and beneath it is the inscription in antique ornamental characters :-SOLI - DE0 * HONOR * ET - GLORIA. Owing to the protection afforded by the deep mouldings and the timber additions, this inscription has been safely preserved from injury, and remains nearly as sharp and fresh as when cut. The character of the letters corresponds with other inscriptions dating early in the sixteenth century, and the whole building is a very perfect specimen of the best cliss of mansions at that period. The interior, though described in the titles as having “ a fore chamber and gallery, a chamber of dais,” &c., has in reality accommodations only of the very homeliest description, each floor consisting of a simple and moderately-sized single apartment, subdivided by such temporary wooden partitions as the convenience of later tenants has suggested. It appears to have been the mansion of John the second son of Lawrence, fourth Lord Oliphant, an active adherent of Queen Mary. His elder brother, who is styled Master of Oliphant, joined the Ruthven couspirators in 1582, and perished shortly afterwards with the vessel and whole crew, when fleeing from the kingdom. The other tenement, apparently of equal antiquity, and similar in style of construction, though with fewer noticeable features, adjoins it on the west. It formed, at a somewhat later date, the residence of Lord Daxid Hay of Belton, to whom that barony was secured in succession by a charter granted to his father, John, second Earl of Tweeddale, in 1687. The locality, indeed, appears from the ancient deeds to have been one of honourable resort down to a comparatively recent period, as knights and men of good family occur among the occupants during the eighteenth century. The boundaries of the house are defined on the north “ by the stone tenement of land some time belonging to the Earl of Angus.” Only a portion of the walls of this noble dwelling now remains, which probably was the town residence of David, the eighth Earl, and brother of the Regent Morton. At the latest, it must have formed the mansion of his son Archibald, ninth Earl of Angus, the last of the Douglases who bore that title. As nephew and ward of the Regent Morton, he was involved in his fall. After his death he fled to England, where he was honourably entertained by Queen Elizabeth, and became the friend and confident of Sir Philip Sidney while writing his Arcadia.‘ He afterwards returned to Scotland, and bore his full share in the troubles of the time. He died in 1588, the victim, as was believed, of witchcraft. Godscroft tells that Barbara Napier in Edinburgh was tried and found guilty, though she escaped execution ; and ‘‘ Anna Simson, a famous witch, is reported to have confessed at her death that a picture of wax was brought to her, having AD. written on it, which, as they said to her, did signify Archibald Davidson ; and she, not thinking of the Earl of Angus, whose name was Archibald Douglas, and might have been called Davidson, because his father’s name was David, did consecrate, or execrate it after her form, which, she said, if she had known to have represented him, she would not have done it 1 Hume of Qodscroft’s History of the Doughsea, p. 362. ... CANONGA TE AND ABBE Y SANCTUAR Y. 283 an antique timber projection is thrown out as a covered gallery, within ...

Book 10  p. 307
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406 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH. below, on the oak beam of the great doorway. Between the windows an ornamental tablet of the same date, and decorated in the style of the period, bears the inscription :-BASILICAN HANG, CARO~VS REX, OPTINVS INSTAVRAVIT, 1633; with the further addition in English ;-HE SHALL BUILD A H O UF~OR MY NAME, AND I WILL ESTABLISH THE THRONE OF HIS KINGDOM FOR EVER ; a motto of strange significance, when we consider the events that so speedily befell its inscriber, and the ruin that overwhelmed the royal race of the Stuarts, as with the inevitable stroke of destiny. The chief portions of the west front, however, are in the most beautiful style of early English, which succeeded that of the Norman. The details on the west front of the tower, in particular, with its elaborately sculptured arcade, and boldly cut heads between the arches, and the singularly rich variety of ornament in the great doorway, altogether unite to form a specimen of early ecclesiastical architecture unsurpassed by any building of similar dimensions in the kingdom. A beautiful doorway on the north side, in a much later style, is evidently the work of Abbot Crawfurd, by whom the buttresses of the north side were rebuilt as they now remain, in the ornate style of the fifteenth century. He succeeded to the abbacy in 1457, and according to his namesake, in the “Lives of Officers of State,” he rebuilt the Abbey Cburch from the ground. Abundant evidence still exists in the ruins that remain to disprove so sweeping a slateruent, but the repetition of his arms on various parts of the building prove the extensive alterations that were effected under his directions. He was succeeded by Abbot Ballantyne, equally celebrated as a builder, who appears to have completed the work which his predecessor had projected. Father Hay records, that “ he brocht hame the gret bellis, the gret brasin fownt, twintie fowr capis of gold and silk; he maid ane chalice of fine gold, ane eucharist, with sindry chalicis of silver ; he theikkit the kirk with leid; he biggit ane brig of Leith, ane othir ouir Clide; with mony othir gude workis, qwilkis ware ouir prolixt to schaw.” The brazen font here mentioned was carried off by Sir Richard Lee, captain of the English pioneers in the Earl of Hertford’s army, and presented to the Abbey Church of St Alban’s, with a gasconading Latin inscription engraved on it, which may be thus rendered:--“When Leith, a town of some celebrity in Scotland, and Edinburgh, the chief city of that nation, were on fire, Sir Richard Lee, Knight of the Garter, snatched me from the flames, and brought me to England. In gratitude for such kindness, I who heretofore served only to baptize the children of Kings, now offer the same service to the meanest of the English nation. Farewell. A.D. 1543-4. 36 Hen. VIII.” This font a second time experienced the fate of war, during the commotions of Charles I.’s reign, when the ungrateful Southron, heedless of its condescending professions, sold it as a lump of useless metal.’ Seacome, in his History of the House of Stanley, refers to an old but somewhat confused tradition of an ancestor of the family of Norris of Speke Hall, Lancashire, who commanded a company, as would appear from other sources, at the Battle of Pinkie, “in token whereof, he brought Lee, the conqueror, so wills it. 1 Liber Cartsrum, p. xxxii. ’ Camden’a Britannia, by Cfough, vol. i p. 338, where the original Latin inscription ia given. ... MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH. below, on the oak beam of the great doorway. Between the windows an ornamental ...

Book 10  p. 445
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328 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. Blind ; one of the Committee of Management of the Deaf and Dumb Institution ; one of the Extraordinary Directors of the House of Refuge; and one of the Ordinary Managers of the Royal Infirmary, and of the Royal Public Dispensary. To the Society of Antiquaries, Sir Henry communicated an interesting account of the opening of the grave of King Robert the Bruce, which took place at Dunfermline, in presence of the Barons of Exchequer and other gentlemen, on the 5th of November 1819.’ i The other figure with the volunteer cap, immediately in the rear of Sir Henry, is the late SIR ROBERT DUNDAS of Beechwood, Bart., one of the Principal Clerks of Session, and Deputy to the Lord Privy Seal of Scotland. He was born in June 1761, and descended of the Arniston family, whose common ancestor, Sir James .Dundas, was knighted by Charles I., and appointed a Senator of the College of Justice by Charles 11. His father, the Rev. Robert Dundas, brother to the late General Sir David Dundas, K.G.C.B., and some years Commander-in-Chief of his Majesty’s Forces, was a clergyman of the Established Church, and some time minister of the parish of Humbie, in the county of Haddington. Sir Robert-the subject of our notice-was educated as a Writer to the Signet, After a few years’ practice, he was made Deputy Keeper of Sashes; and, in 1820, appointed one of the Principal Clerks of Session. He succeeded to the baronetage and the estate of Beechw9od (near Edinburgh) on the death of his uncle, General Sir David Dundas. He acquired by purc)ase, from, Lord Viscount Melville, the beautiful estate of Dunira, in Perthshire. Sir Robert was an original member of the Royal Edinburgh Volunteers, and held the commission of Lieutenant in 1794. In 1792, he married Matilda, daughter of Baron Cockburn, by whom he had eight children. He died on 1 The communication of Sir Henry appeared in the Society’s Tyamactiom, printed in 1823, vol. ii. part ii., together with a drawing of the coftin, and a facsimile of a plate of copper supposed to have been attached to it. This relic is stated to have been found by the workmen a few days a f h the opening of the grave, and is described as “ five and a half inches in length, and four in breadth, and about one-eighth of an inch in thickness, with holes at each corner for fixing it on the coffin, bearing this inscription, Robertus Xcotomm Rex; the letters resemble those on the coins of this King [Bruce]. A cross is placed under the inscription, with a mullet or star in each angle, with the crown, precisely of the form iu those coins. It was found among the rubbish which had been removed on the 5th, close to the vault on the east side, and most probably had been adhering to thc atones of the vault, and had thus escaped our notice at the time.” The plate, so minutely and gravely described, was forwarded by Provost Wilson of Dunfermline, and duly deposited in the Museum of the Scottish Antiquaries ; but it afterwards transpired that the “important fragment,” as it was termed, was nothing more than an ingenious device, the work of a blacksmith, contrived for the purpose of hoaxing the Antiquariev ! The success of his attempt waa complete ; and but for his own imprudence, or rather an irresistible desire to enjoy the laugh at the expense of the Society, the deception might have remained undiscovered. It may not be unworthy of notice that Sir Henry wiw one of the commissioners appointed, along with Sir Walter Scott and others, to open the chest which contained the Regalia of Scotland, deposited in Edinburgh Castle, but which, according to rumour, had been carried to the Tower of London, and that he had the high gratification of being the first to lay hands upon the Crown, which he held up to the view of the spectators. It was found on the 4th of February 1818. ... BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. Blind ; one of the Committee of Management of the Deaf and Dumb Institution ; one of ...

Book 9  p. 437
(Score 0.54)

370 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH. were exhumed in digging for the foundation of the north pier of the Dean Bridge. They we very slightly burned, and the ornamental devices, which have been traced on the soft clay, bear a striking resemblance to those usually found on the fragments of ancient pottery which have been discovered in the Tumuli of the North American Continent. Annexed is a view of one of those discovered at the Dean, and now in the Museum of the Society of Antiquaries. Another interesting feature which belongs to the history of the New Town, in common with many other cities, is the absorption of hamlets and villages that have sprung up at an early period in the neighbouring country and been gradually swallowed up within its extending outskirts. First among such to fall before the progress of the rising town, was the village of Moutrie’s Hill, which stood on the site of the Register Office and James’ Square, the highest ground in the New Town. This suburban hamlet is of great antiquity, and its etymology has been the source of some very curious research. Lord Hailes remarks on the subject, ‘‘ Moutrees is supposed to be the corruption of two Gaelic words, signifying the covert or receptacle of the wild boar.”’ It appears, however, from contemporary notices, to have derived its name from being occupied by the mansion of the Noutrays, a family of distinction in the time of James V. A daughter of Alexander Stewart, designed of the Grenane, an ancestor of the Earls of Galloway, who fell at the Battle of Flodden, was married in that reign to Moutray of Seafield.’ Upon the 26th April 1572, while the whole country around Edinburgh was a desolate and bloody waste by reason of long protracted civil war, a party of the Regent Mar’s soldiers, who had been disappointed in an ambuscade they had laid for seizing Lord Claud Hamilton, one of the opposite leaders, took five of their prisoners, Lieutenant White, Sergeant Smith, and three common soldiers, and hanged them immediately on their return to Leith. The leaders of the Queen’s party, in Edinburgh, retaliated by like barbarous executions, “ and causit hang the morne theirefter twa of thair souldiouris vpoun ane trie behind Movtrays Hous, in sicht of thair aduersaris, in lycht, quha hang ane day, and wer takin away in the nycht be the saidis aduersaris.”’ Another annalist, who styles the locality ‘‘ The Multrayes in the hill besyid the toun,” adds, “ The same nycht the suddartia of Leith come to the said hill and cuttit doun the deid men, and als distroyit the growand tries thairabout, quhairon the suddartis wer hangit. Thir warres wer callit amang the peopill the Douglass wearres.” ‘ Near to the scene of these barbarous acts of retaliation, on the ground UON occupied by the buildings at the junction of Waterloo Place with Shakespeare Square: formerly stood an ancient stronghold called Dingwdl Castle. It is believed to have derived its name from John Dingwall, who was Provost of the neighbouring Collegiate Foundation of Trinity College, and one of the original Judges of the Court of Session on the spiritual side. The rains of the castle appear in Gordon of Rothiemay’s map as a square keep with round towers at its angles; and some fragments of it are believed to be still extant among the fouudations of the buildings on its site. Near to this also there would appear to have been an ‘ Annals of Scotland, vol. i. p. 96. * Wood’s Peerage, voL i p. 618. Diurnal of Occurrents, p. 262. ’ Ibid, p. 294. * Shakespeare Square, in the centre of which stood the old Theatre Rojal, was removed in 1860 for the erection of the new Poet-Office. ... MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH. were exhumed in digging for the foundation of the north pier of the Dean Bridge. ...

Book 10  p. 407
(Score 0.54)

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 99 agreement to contribute a trifle weekly towards a fund for alleviating similar cases in future. Mr. Campbell’s next and last undertaking of any note was “Albyn’s Anthology; or, a Select Collection of the Melodies and Local Poetry peculiar to Scotland and the Isles.” The first volume of this work-published by Messrs. Oliver and Boyd of Tweeddale Court-appeared in 1816, and the second in 1818. The musician had long contemplated a publication of this description. The design was associated with his early national aspirations ; and throughout many years of vicissitudes, crosses, and disappointments, he appears still to have cherished the idea of collecting the stray melodies of his native land. In the preface to the first volume, he says- This small beginning was the origin of the present useful Society. A third was intended, but did not follow. “ So far back as the year 1790, while as yet the Editor of ALBYN’SA NTHOLOGwYa s an organist to one of the Episcopal chapels in Edinburgh, he projected the present work. Finding but small encouragement at that period, and his attention being directed to other pursuits of quite a different nature, the plan dropped ; till very recently, an accidental turn of conversation at a gentleman’s table, whoin to name is to honour, the Hon. Fletcher Norton (one of the Barons of Exchequer), gave a spur to the speculation now in its career. He, with that warmth of benevolence peculiarly his own, offered his influence with the Royal Highland Society of Scotland, of which he is a member of long standing ; and, in conformity to the zeal he has uniformly manifested for everything connected with the distinction and prosperity of our ancient realm, on the Editor’s giving him a rough outline of the present undertaking, the Hon. Baron put it into the hands of Henry M‘Kenzie, Esq. of the Exchequer, and Lord Bannatyne, whose influence in the Society is deservedly great. And immediately on Mr. M‘Kenzie laying it before a select committee for music, John H. Forbes, Esq. (Lord Medwyn), advocate, as convener of the committee, convened it ; and the result was a recommendation to the Society at largg, who embraced the project cordially ; voted a sum to enable the Editor to pursue his plan ; and forthwith he set out on a tour through the Highlands and Western Islands. Having performed a journey (in pursuit of materials for the present work) of between eleven and twelve hundred miles, in which he collected one hundred and ninety-one specimens of melodies and Gaelic vocal poetry, he returned to Edinburgh, and laid the fruits of his gleanings before the Society, who were pleased to honour with their approbation his success in attempting to collect and preserve the perishing remains of what is so closely interwoven with the history and literature of Scotland.” Among the contributors to “ Albyn’s Anthology ” appear the names of Scott, Hog, Maturin, Jamieson, Mrs. Grant, Boswell, and other distinguished individuals- several pieces are from the pen of the Editor; and a full fourth of the letterpress is devoted to Gaelic verse, in which language he seems to have been a proficient. The popular song of “ Donald Caird ” was contributed specially for the work by Sir Wdter Scott-the original MS. of which is preserved in the copy of the Anthology belonging to the nephew of the Editor. We believe the favourite air-best known by Tannahill’s song of ‘‘ Gloomy Winter’s now Awa’”--is not generally understood to have been the composition of Mr. Campbell. It appears in the Anthology to the Editor’s own words- Wakest thou, love ? or art thou sleeping?” “ Come, my bride, haste away, haste away, and is very modestly claimed in a footnote as follows :-- “The Editor, in thus claiming an early composition of his own, feels a mingled sensation of diffidence and sativfaction in venturing to insert it in a selection such as the present. But as the ... SKETCHES. 99 agreement to contribute a trifle weekly towards a fund for alleviating similar cases in ...

Book 9  p. 132
(Score 0.54)

ECCLESIASTICAL ANTIQUITIES. 413 tradition of its dedication to St Anthony; but the silver stream, celebrated in the plaintive old song, “ 0 waly, waly up yon bank,” still wells clearly forth at the foot of the rock, ming the little bason of St Anthony’s Well, and rippling pleasantly through the long grass into the lower valley.’ The Chapel and Hermitage of St Anthony, though deserted and roofless for centuries, appear to have remained nearly entire, with the exception of the upper portion of the tower, till about the middle of the last century. Arnot, writing about the year 1779, remarks:- “ The cell of the Hermitage yet remains. It is sixteen feet long, twelve broad, and eight high. The rock rises within two feet of the stone arch, which forms its roof; and at the foot of the rock flows a pure stream, celebrated in an old Scottish ballad.” All that now remains of the cell is a small recess, with a stone ledge constructed partly in the natural rock, which appears to have been the cupboard for storing the simple refreshments of the hermit of St Anthony. The Chapel is described by the same writer as having been 8 beautiful Gothic building, well suited to the rugged sublimity of the rock. “It was fortythree feet long, eighteen feet broad, and eighteen high. At its west end there was a tower of nineteen feet square, and it is supposed, before its fall, about forty feet high. The doors, windows, and roof, were Gothic; but it has been greatly dilapidated within the author’s remembrance.”’ The tower is represented in the view of 1544 as finished with a plain gabled roof; and the building otherwise corresponds to this description. The wanton destruction of this picturesque and intefesting ruin proceeded within our own recollection ; but its further decay has at length been retarded for a time by some slight repairs, which were unfortunately delayed till a mere fragment of the ancient hermitage remained. The plain corbels and a small fragment of the groined roof still stand ; and an elegant sculptured stoup for holy water, which formerly projected from the north wall, was preserved among the collection of antiquities of the late firm of Messrs Eagle and Henderson. It is described by Maitland as occupying a small arched niche, and opposite to it was another of larger dimensions, which was strongly fortified for keeping the Pix with the consecrated bread;’ but no vestige of the latter now remains, or of m y portion of the south wall in which it stood. Towards the close of the fourteenth century, St Mary’s Church at Leith appears to have been erected; but notwithstanding its large size-what remains being only a small portion of the original edifice-no evidence remains to show by whom it was founded. The earliest notice we have found of it is in 1490, when a contribution of an annual rent is made ‘‘by Peter Falconer, in Leith, to a chaplain in St Piter’s Alter, situat in the Virgin Mary Kirk in Leith.”3 Similar grants are conferred on the chaplains of St Bartholomew’s and St Barbarie’s Altars, the latest of which is dated 8th July 1499- the same year in which the Record of the Benefactors of the neighbouring preceptory is brought to a close.’ Maitland and Chalmers,6 as well as all succeeding writers, agree in assigning the destruction of the choir and transepts of St Mary’s Church to the English invaders under 1 Arnot, p. 256. Inventar of Pioua Donations, YS. Ad. Lib. 4 One charter of a later date is recorded in the Inventar of Pious Donations, by “ Jo. Logane of Kestalrig, mortifyf Maitland, p. 497. Cdedonia, vol. ii. p. 786. Maitland, p. 152. ing in St Anthooy’a Chapel in Leith, hi tenement, lying on the south side of the Bridge,” dated 10th Feb. 1505, ... ANTIQUITIES. 413 tradition of its dedication to St Anthony; but the silver stream, celebrated in ...

Book 10  p. 453
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As the time of her accouchement drew near, she was advised by the Lords of Council to remain in the fortress and await it; and a former admirer of Mary?s, the young Earl of Arran (captain of the archers), whose love had turned his brain, was sent from his prison in David?s Tower to Hamilton. STORE WHICH FORMERLY STOOD OVER THE BARRIER-GATEWAY OF EDINBURGH CASTLE. (From tke Original ~ G W in tht Mwccm of tht So&& of Antiquaries of Scofkrul.) A French Queen shall beare the some And he from the Bruce?s blood shall come To rule all Britainne to the sea, As near as to the ninth degree.? According to the journalist Bannatyne, Knox?s secretary, Mary was delivered with great ease by On the ground floor at the south-east corner of thc Grand Parade there still exists, unchanged anc singularly irregular in form, the room wherein, a1 ten o?clock on the morning of the 19th of June 1566, was born James VI., in whose person thc rival crowns of hlary and Elizabeth were to bc united. A stone tablet over the arch of the 016 doorway, with a monogram of H and M and the date, commemorates this event, unquestionably thc greatest in the history of Britain. The royal arms of Scotland figure on one of the walls, and an orna. mental design surmounts the rude stone fireplace, while four lines in barbarous doggerel record the birth. The most extravagant joy pervaded the entire city. Public thanksgiving was offered up in St. Giles?s, and Sir James Melville started on the spur with the news to the English court, and rode with such speed that he reached London in four days, and spoiled the mirth of the envious Elizabeth for one night at least with the happy news. And an old prophecy, alleged to be made by CIPHER OF LORD DARNLEY AND QUEEN MARY. (Over entrancr fo tkr RvaZ Apartments, ddidurglr Castle.) Thomas the Rhymer, but proved by Lord Hailes to be a forgery, was now supposed to be fulfilled- <? However it happen for to fall, The Lycn shall be lord of all 1 the necromantic powers of the Countess ot John Earl of Athole, who was deemed a sorceress, and who cast the queen?s pains upon the Lady Reres, then in the Castle. An interesting conversation between Mary and Darnley took place in the little bed-room, as recorded in the ?Memoirs? of Lord Herries Daniley came at two in the afternoon to see his royal spouse and child. ?? My lord,? said the queen, ?God has given us a son.? Partially uncovering the face of the infant, she added a protest that it was his and no other man?s son. Then turning to an English gentlemar, present, she said, ? This is the son who, I hope, shall first unite the two kingdoms of Scotland and England.? Sir William Stanley said, ?Why, madam, shall he succeed before your majesty and his father?? ?Alas !? answered Mary, ?his father has broken to me,? alluding to the conspiracy against Rizzio. ?? Sweet madam,? said Darnley, ?is this the promise you made--that you would forget and forgive all ? ?I ? I have forgiven all,? replied the queen, ?but will never forget. What if Faudonside?s (one of the assassins) pistol had shot? What would have become of both the babe and me ? ?? ? Madam,? replied Darnley, ?these things are past.? ?Then,? said the queen, ? let them go.? So ended this conversation. It is a curious circumstance that the remains of In infant in an oak coffin, wrapped in a shroud marked with the letter I, were discovered built up in the wall of this old palace in August, 1830, but were re-consigned to their strange place of jepulture by order of General Thackeray, comnanding the Royal Engineers in Scotland. When John Spotswood, superintendent of Lo- :hian, and other Reformed clergymen, came to :ongratulate Mary in the name of the General kssembly, he begged that the young Duke of ... the time of her accouchement drew near, she was advised by the Lords of Council to remain in the fortress and ...

Book 1  p. 46
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YAMES VI. TO RESTORATION OF CHARLES I.. 83 Sanct Mary’s Wynd, hurtful to the keiping of this burghe.” And, again, on the Sth, they caused the doors and windows of all the tenements on the west side of St Mary’s- Wynd to be “ biggit up and closit,” as well as other great preparations for defence. On the 20th of June, three pieces of brass ordnance were mounted on St Giles’s steeple, and the holders of it amply stored with provisions and ammunition for its defence, and all the malls, fosses, and ports, were again ‘ I newlie biggit and repairit ; ” and within a few days after, the whole merchants and craftsmen remaining in the burgh, mustered to a ‘‘ wappinschawing” in the Greyfriars’ Churchyard, and engaged to aid and assist the Captain of the Castle in the service of the Queen.’ When all others means failed, an ingenious plot was devised for taking the Nether Bow Port by a stratagem, nearly similar to that by which the Castle was recovered in 1341; but the ambush was discovered by chance, and the scheme, happily for the citizens, defeated. Immediately thereafter, “ the Lords and Captain of the Castle causit big ane ne‘w port at the Nether boll, within the auld port of the same, of aisler wark, in the maist strenthie maner ; and tuik, to big the saniyn with, all the aisler stanis that Alexander Clerk haid gadderit of the kirk of Restalrig to big his hous with.”s This interesting notation supplies the date of erection of the second Nether Bow Port, and accounts for its position behind the line of the city wall ; as the original gate in continuation of St Mary’s Wynd would have to be retained and defended, while the new works were going on within. On the earlier site, but, we may presume to some extent at least, with these same materials, the fauous old “ Temple Bar of Edinburgh,” was again rebuilt in the form represented in the engraving, in the year 1606. At a still later date, the same parties, in their anxiety to defend this important pass, “causit all the houssis of Leith and Sanct Marie Wyndis heidis to be tane dounl” The Earl of Mar was no less zealous in his preparations for its assault. He caused trenches to be cast up in the Pleasance, for nine pieces of large and small ordnance, and mounted others on Salisbury Crags, ‘‘ to ding Edinburgh with,” so that the poor burghers of that quarter must have found good reason for wishing the siege to draw to a close. Provisions failed, and all fresh supplies were most diligently intercepted; military law prevailed in its utmost rigour, and the sole appearance of their enjoying a moment’s ease occur^ in the statement, that “ uochttheles the remaneris thairin abaid patientlie, and usit all plesouris quhilkis were wont to be usit in the xnoneth of Maij in ald tymes, viz., Robin Hude and Litill Johne.” This frightful state of affairs was at length brought to a close, with little advantage to either party; and on the 27th of July 1572, the whole artillery about the walls, on the steeple head of St Giles’s, and the Kirk-of-Field, were removed to the Castle, and the Cross being most honourably hung with tapestry, a truce was proclaimed by the heralds, with sound of trumpets, and the hearty congratulations of the people.“ In the month of August Knox returned to Edinburgh, after an absence of nearly two years. His life was drawing rapidly to a close, and on the 24th of November 1572 he expired in his sixty-seventh year. His body was interred in the Churchyard of St Giles, and was attended to the grave by a numerous concourse of people, including many of the chief , Diurnal of Occurrenta, pp. 220, 226, 251. Diurnal of Occurrenta, p. 241. ’ Ante, p. 8. ’ Ibid, p. 308. ... VI. TO RESTORATION OF CHARLES I.. 83 Sanct Mary’s Wynd, hurtful to the keiping of this burghe.” And, ...

Book 10  p. 91
(Score 0.54)

maters past there, and how to betray his mistres; for they could not chuse a more fitte man than him to do such an act, who, from his very youth had been renouned for his treacherie, and of whom his oune father had no good opinion in his very infance; for, at a certain time, his coming foorth with him in a garden where his father was, with some one that had come to visit him, busy in talk, the nurse setting down the childe on thegreen grass, and not much mindinge him, th boy seeth a foude, which he snatched up and had eaten it all till a little of the legges, which when shee saw, shee cried out, thinking he should have been poisoned, and shee taking the legges of the toade that he had left as yet oneaten, he cried out so loud and shrill, that his father and the other gentleman heard the outcries, who went to see what should burgh,attainted and foundguiltie I?oNE* THE ARMoRTA?, account of the conflagration in the Scots --Magazine for that William Douglas of Whitting- . . families have lost their all. An of heigh treason for the murder of the king his maister.? OF CARDINAL BEATOX, FROM HIS HOUSE, BLACKFRIARS WYND. (From the Scoffiflr Anfiquarinn Museum.) year, which ?adds, ? many poor ? opponent of Bishop William Abernethy Drummond of the Scottish Episcopal Church, one of the few clergymen who paid his respects to Charles Edward when he kept his court at Holyrood. By his energy Dr. Hay constructed a chapel in ChalmeIIs Close, which was destroyed in 1779, when an attempt to repeal the penal statutes against Catholics roused a ?NO Popery? cry in Edinburgh. On the and of February a mob, including 500 sailors from Leith, burned this chapel and plundered another, while the bishop was living in the Blackfriars Wynd, and the house of every Catholic in Edinburgh was sacked and destroyed. Principal Robertson, who was supposed to be friendly :o Catholics, and defended themin the ensuing General Assembly, had his house attacked, his hame, grandson- of Archibald who made a disposition of the house in Blackfriars Wynd, was a contemporary of Morton?s, and was closely associated with him in the murder of Darnley. His name appears as one of the judges, in the act (? touching the proceedings of the Gordons and Forbesses,? and he resigned his seat as senator in 1590. Lower down, on the east side of the wynd, was a most picturesque building, part of which was long used as a Catholic chapel. It was dated 1619, and had carved above its door the motto of the city, together with the words, In te Domint Speravi-f?ax intrantibus-SaZvus exeunti3us- Blissit be God in aZZ his gzyfis. On the fifth floor of this tenement was a large room, which during the greater part of the eighteenth century was used as a place of worship by the Scottish Catholics, and, until its demolition lately, there still remained painted on the door the name of the old bishop-Mr. Nay-for, in those days he dared designate himself nothing more. He was ce1,brated in theological literature as the old respectable citizen, above. 80, was carried out during the fire. Nearly opposite to it was another large tenement,? the upper storey of which was also long used as a Catholic chapel, rand as such was dedicated to St. Andrew the Apostle of Scotland, until it was quitted, in 1813, for a more complete and ornate church, St. Mary?s in Broughton Street. After it was abandoned, ? the interior of the chapel retained much of its original state till its demolition. The framework of the simple altar-piece still remained, though the rude painting of the patron saint of Scotland which originally filled it had disappeared. Humble as must have been the appearance of this chapel-even when furnished with every adjunct of Catholic ceremonial for Christmas or Easter festivals, aided by the imposing habits of the officiating priests that gathered round its little altar-yet men of high rank and ancient lineage were wont to assemble among the worshippers.? With oihers, here caine coiistantly tc mass a d Happily. no lives were lost.? ... past there, and how to betray his mistres; for they could not chuse a more fitte man than him to do such ...

Book 2  p. 261
(Score 0.54)

274 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH. Tweeddale, a somewhat versatile politician, who joined the standard of Charles I. at Nottingham, in 1642, during the lifetime of his father. He afterwards adopted the popular cause, and fought at the head of a Scottish troop at the Battle of Marston Moor. He assisted at the coronation of Charles 11. at Scone, and sat thereafter in Cromwell’s Parliament as member for the county of Haddington. He was sworn a privy councillor to the King on his restoration, and continued in the same by James VII. He lived to take an active share in the Revolution, and to fill the office of High Chancellor of Scotland under William 111.) by whom he was created Marquis of Tweeddale, and afterwards appointed High Commissioner to the Scottish Parliament in 1695, while the grand project of the Darien expedition was pending. He died at Edinburgh before that scheme was carried out, and is perhaps as good a specimen as could be selected of the weathcock politician of uncertain times. The last noble occupant of the old mansion at the Nether Bow was, we believe, the fourth Marquis, who held the office of Secretary of State for Scotland from 1742 until its abolition. The fine old gardens, which descended by a succession of ornamental terraces to the Cowgate, were destroyed to make way for the Cowgate Chapel, now also forsaken by its original founders. This locality possesses a mysterious interest to our older citizens, the narrow alley that leads into Tweeddale Court having been the scene, in 1806, of the murder of Begbie, a porter of the British Linen Company’s Bank-an occurrence which ranks, among the gossips of the Scottish capital, with the Ikon Basilike, or the Man in the Iron Mask. !heeddale House was at that time occupied by the British Linen Banking Company, and. as Begbie was entering the close in the dusk of the evening, having in his possession 24392, which he was bringing from the Leith Branch, he was stabbed directly to the heart with the blow of B knife, and the whole money carried off, without any clue being found to the perpetrator of the deed. A reward of five hundred guineas was offered for his discovery, but although some of the notes were found concealed in the grounds of Bellevue, in the neighbourhood of the town, no trace of the murderer could be obtained. There ia little doubt, however, that the assassin was James Mackoull, a native of London, and ‘( a thief by profession,” who had the hardihood to return to Edinburgh the following year, and take up his residence in Rose Street under the name of Captain Moffat. He was afterwards implicated in the robbery of the Paisley Union Bank, when 220,000 were successfully carried off; and though, after years of delay, he was at length convicted and condemned to be executed, the hardy villain obtained a reprieve, and died in Edinburgh Jail fourteen years after the perpetration of the undiscovered murder. The exact spot on which this mysterious deed was efYected is pointed out to the curious. The murderer must have stood within the entry to a stair on the right side of the close, at the step of which Begbie bled to death undiscovered, though within a few feet of the most crowded thoroughfare in the town. The lovers of the marvellous may still be found occasionally recurring to this riddle, and notlist of Lady Yester’s “Mortifications ” (MS. Advoc. Lib.) is the following:--“At Edinburgh built and repaired ane great lodging, in the south side of the High Street, near the Nether Bow, and mortified out of the same me yearly an : rent 200 m. for the poor in the hoapital beside the College kirk 9’; and yrafter having resolved to bestow ye s‘ lodging, with the whole furniture yrin to Jo : now E. of Tweeddale, her ay, by consent of the Town Council, ministers, and kirk sessions, she redeemed the a‘ lodging, and freed it, by payment of 2000 merks, and left the sd lodging only burdened with 40 m. yearly.’’ ... MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH. Tweeddale, a somewhat versatile politician, who joined the standard of Charles I. ...

Book 10  p. 298
(Score 0.54)

THE HIGH STREET. 239 and Gillies, with other men eminent for learning and rank. Nr Smellie may be regarded as in some degree the genius loci of this locality ; the distinguished printing-house which he established is still occupied by his descendants,’ and there the most eminent literary men of that period visited, and superintended the printing of works that have made the press of the Scottish capital celebrated throughout Europe. There was the haunt of Drs Blair, Beattie, Black, Robertson, Adam Ferguson, Adam Smith, Lords Monboddo, Hailes, Kames, Henry Mackenzie, Arnot, Hume, and, foremost among the host, the poet Burns ; of whom some interesting traditions are preserved in the office. The old desk is still shown, at which these and other eminent men revised their proofs ; and the well used desk-stool is treasured as a valuable heir-loom, bearing on it an inscription, setting forth, that it is “ the stool on which Burns sat while correcting the proofs of his Poems, from December 1786 to April 1787.” Not even the famed Ballantyne press can compete with this venerable haunt of the Scottish literati, whose very ‘‘ devils ” have consumed more valuable manuscript in kindling the office kes, than would make the fortunes of a dozen modern autograph collectors 1 It need not surprise us to learn that even the original manuscripts of Burns were invariably converted to such homely purposes ; the estimation of the poet being very different in 1787 from what it has since become. Of traditions of remote antiquity, the Anchor Close has ita full share; and the numerous inscriptions, as well as the general character of the old buildings that rear their tall and irregular fronts along its west side, still attest its early importance. Immediately on entering the close from the High Street, the visitor discovers this inscription, tastefully carved over the first entrance within the pend: THE * LORD * IS ONLY - MY - SVPORT -; and high overhead, above one of the windows facing down the close, a carved stone bears a shield with the date 1569, and, on itB third and fourth quarters, a pelican feeding her young with her own blood. Over another doorway a little further down is this pious legend: 0 * LORD * IN THE - IS AL ’ MY - TRAIST Here was the approach to Daunie Douglas’s tavern, celebrated among the older houses of entertainment in Edinburgh as the haunt of the Crochal1a.n corps. It is mentioned under the name of the Anchor Tavern in a deed of renunciation by James Deans of Woodhouselee, Esq., in favour of his daughter, dated 1713, and still earlier references allude to its occnpants as vintners. The portion of this building which faces the High Street, retains associations of a differeut character, adding another to the numerous examples of the simpler notions of our ancestors who felt their dignity in no way endangered . when It is styled in most of the title deeds (‘ Lord Forglen’s Land,” 80 that on one of the stories of the same building that furnished accommodation to the old tavern, resided Sir Alexander Ogilvie, Bart., one of the Commissioners of the Union, and for many years a senator of the College of Justice under the title of Lord Forglen. Fountainhall records some curious notes of an action brought against him by Sir Alexander Forbes of Tolquhoun, for stealing a gilded mazer cup ’ out of his house, but which was at length accidently discovered in the hands of a goldsmith at Aberdeen, to whom Sir Alexander had himself entrusted it some years before to be repaired; and he having forgat,, it lay there unrelieved, in security for the goldsmith’s the toe of the peasant came so near the heal of the courtier.” This printing-office, together with the other objecta of interest here described in connection with Anchor Cloae, waa taken down on the construction of Cwkburn Street in 1859. ’ h f m Cup, a drinking cup of maple. ... HIGH STREET. 239 and Gillies, with other men eminent for learning and rank. Nr Smellie may be regarded as in ...

Book 10  p. 260
(Score 0.54)

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