![THE FREE CHURCH COLLEGE. 95 The Mound.]
Much of all this was altered when the bank was
enlarged, restored, and most effectively re-decorated
by David Bryce, R.S.A., in 1868-70. It now
presents a lofty, broad, and arch-based rear front of
colossal proportions to Princes Street, from whence,
and every other poiiit of view, it forms a conspicuous
mass, standing boldly from among the
many others that form the varied outline of the
Old Town, and consists of the great old centre with
new wings, surmounted by a fine dome, crowned
by a gilded figure of Fame, seven feet high. In
length the facade measures 175 feet; and 112 in
height from the pavement in Bank Street to the
summit, and is embellished all round with much
force and variety, in details of a Grecian style.
The height of the campanile towers is ninety feet.
The bank has above seventy branches ; the subscribed
capital in 1878 was A1,875,000 ; the paidup
capital LI,Z~O,OOO. There are a governor (the
Earl of Stair, K.T.), a deputy, twelve ordinary
and twelve extra-ordinary directors.
The Bank of Scotland issues drafts on other
places in Scotland besides those in which it has
branches, and also on the chief towns in England
and Ireland, and it has correspondents throughout
the whole continent of Europe, as well as in
British America, the States, India, China, Australia,
New Zealand, South Africa, and elsewhere-a ramification
of business beyond the wildest dreams oi
John Holland and the original projectors of the
establishment in the old Bank Close in 1695.
Concerning the Earthen Mound, the late Alex.
ander Trotter of Dreghorn had a scheme foi
joining the Qld Town to the New, and yet avoiding
Bank Street, by sinking the upper end of the
mound to the leve! of Princes Street, and carrying
the Bank Street end of it eastward along the north
of the Bank of Scotland, in the form of a handsomc
terrace, and thence south into the High Street b)
an opening right upon St. Giles?s Church. Thf
next project was one by the late Sir Thomas Dick
Lauder. He also proposed to bring down thc
south end of the mound ?to the level of Prince;
Street, and then to cut a Roman arch through thc
Lawnmarket and under the houses, so as to pas!
on a level to George Square. This,? say!
Cockburn, ?was both practical and easy, but i
was not expounded till too late.??
Not far from the Bank of Scotland, in I(
North Bank Street, ensconced among the might!
mass of buildings that overlook the mound, arc
the offices of the National Security Savings Ban1
of.Edinburgh, established under statute in 1836, an(
certified in terms of the Act 26 and 27 Victoria
cap. 87, managed by a chairman and cominittel
I
if management, the Bank of Scotland being
reasurer.
Of this most useful institution for the benefit of
,he thrifty poorer classes, suffice it to say, as a
ample of its working, that on striking the yearly
iccounts on the 20th of November, 1880, ?the
balance due to depositors was on that date
&r,305,27g 14s. 7d., and that the assets at the
same date were x1,3og,3g2 Ss., invested with the
Commissioners for the Reduction of the National
Debt, and A3,1o4 3s. gd., at the credit of the
3ank?s account in the Bank of Scotland, making
the total assets L1,312,496 11s. gd., which, after
ieductionof the above sum of L1,305,279 14s. 7d.,
leaves a clear surplus of A7916 17s. zd. at the
:redit of the trustees.?
The managers are, ex oficio, the Lord Provost,
the Lord Advocate, the senior Bailie of the city,
:he Members of Parliament for the city, county,
md Leith, the Provost of Leith, the Solicitor-
General, the Convener of the Trades, the Lord
Dean of Guild, and the Master of the Merchant
Company.
In the sanie block of buildings are the offices of
the Free Church of Scotland, occupying the site of
the demolished half of James?s Court. They were
erected in 1851-61, and are in a somewhat
Rorid variety of the Scottish baronial style, from
designs by the late David Cousin.
In striking contrast to the terraced beauty of the
New Town, the south side of the vale of the old
loch, from the North Bridge to the esplanade of
the Castle, is overhung by the dark and lofty gables
and abutments of those towering edifices which
terminate the northern alleys of the High Street,
and the general grouping of which presents an
aspect of equal romance and sublimity. From
amid these sombre masses, standing out in the
white purity of new freestone, are the towers and
facade of the Free Church College and Assembly
Hall, at the head of the Mound.
Into the history of the crises which called
these edifices into existence we need not enter
here, but true it is, as Macaulay says, that for the
sake of religious opinion the Scots have made
sacrifices for which there is no parallel in the
annals of England; and when, at the Disruption,
so many clergymen of the Scottish Church cast
their bread upon the waters, in that spirit of
independence and self-reliance so characteristic of
the race, they could scarcely have foreseen the
great success of their movement.
This new college was the first of those instituted
in connection with the Free Church. The idea
was origipally entertained of making provision for](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v3p107.gif "Old and New Edinburgh Vol. III Page 95")
... FREE CHURCH COLLEGE. 95 The Mound.]
Much of all this was altered when the bank was
enlarged, restored, and ...
Book 3 p. 95
(Score 0.48)
![KING’S STABLES, CASTLE BARNS, AND CASTLE HILL. 151
a piscina; and those of France were in the same position in the floor above.‘ In their
original po,sition these devices were so obscured with dirt and whitewash as to appear
merely rnde plaster ornaments ; but on their removal they proved to be very fine and carefully-
finished carvings in oak, and retaining marks of the colours with which they had
been blazoned. These heraldic bearings are not only interesting, as confirming the early
tradition first mentioned by Maitland,-a careful and conscientious antiquary,-of its
having been the residence of Mary of Guise, but they aEord a very satisfactory clue to the
period of her abode there. James Hamilton, Earl of Arran, was created Duke of Chatelherault
in the year 1548, but not fully confirmed in the title till 1551, when it was
conceded to him as part of his reward for resigning the Regency to the Queen Dowager ;
and that same year she returned from France to assume the government. The death of
Henry 11. of Frame occurred in 1559, just about the period when the complete rupture
took place between the Regent and the Lords of the Congregation, after which time her
chief place of residence was in Leith, until her last illness, when she took up her abode
in the Castle of Edinburgh, where she died. The interval between these dates entirely
coincides with that period of her history when she might be supposed to have chosen such a
residence within the city walls, and near the Castle, while the burning of the Capital and
Palace by the English army in 1544 was of so recent occurrence, and the buildings of the
latter were probably only partially restored.’
In rtccordance with the traditions of the locality, we have described the property in Todd’s
Close as forniing a part of the Guise Palace, entered from Blyth’s Close, and with which
there existed an internal communication. It appears, however, from the title-deeds of the
property, that this portion of the range of ancient buildings had formed, either in the
Chambers mentions (Traditions, vol. i p. 80) having seen, in the possession of an antiquarian friend, the City Arms,
which had been removed from a similar situation in the third floor. We have reason to believe, however, that he w a ~
mistaken in this, and that the arms he saw were removed from an old houae on the south side of the Canongate.
“ The Queen Dowager,”
says Calderwood, A.D. 1554, “came from the Parliament Houa, to the Palace of Halyrudhous, with the honnoura borne
before her ” [vol. i. p, 2831, on which Knox remarks, that, “ It waa als seemelie a sight to see the crowne putt upon her
head, as to see a aaddle putt upon the backe of an unrulie kow ! ” This, however, and similar alluaiona to her going to
the Palace on occasions of state, cannot be considered as necesaarily inconsistent with the occupation of a private
mansion. The titledeeds of the property which we have examined throw no light on this interesting question. They
are all comparatively recent, the earlieat of them bearing the date of 1622.
Some curious information about the household of Mary of Guise is furnished in the selection from the register of
the Privy Seal of Scotland, appended to Pitcairn’s Criminal Trials, e.g. 1538. “ Item, for iiij elnia grene veluet, to be
ye covering of ane eadill to the fule.” Again, “for vij elnis, 4 elne grene birge satyne, to be the Q u d s fule, ane
goune . . . sallow birge satyne, to be hir ane kirtill . . . blaid black gray, to lyne ye kirtill,” &c., and at her coronation
in 1540, “Item, deliuerit to ye Frenche tehur, to be ane cote to Serrat, the Quenis fule,” &c. Green and
yellow seems to have been the Court Fool’s livery. This is one of the very few instances on record of a Female
Buffoon or Fool, for the amusement of the Court The Queen’s establishment also included a male and female dwarf,
whose dresses figure in these accounts, alongside of such items, gs-“ For vj elnis of Parise blak, to be Maiter George
Balquhannane ane goune, at the Quenia Grace entre in Edinburghe.” “To Janet Douglaa, spous of David
Lindesay, of the Monthe XI. li.” To the POW penny, deliuerit to David Lindesay, Lyoune herald, on the Quenia
[Magdalen] Saull-Nes and Dirige,” &c. The following items from the Treasurer’s accounts show the existence of
similar eervitors in Queen Mary’s household :-“ 1562, Paid for ane cote, hois, lynyng and making, to Jonat Yusche,
fuler84,5a. 6d. Ane
abnkement to Jaquelene gouernance de la Jordiner. 1566, Ane garment of reid and yellow to be ane gowne, hois, and
cote, to Jane Colquhoun, fule. 1567, Ane abnlement of braid inglis yellow, to be cots and breikis,4lso aarkis,-to
James Geddie, fule.” Subsequent entries show that Queen Mary had a Female Fule, called 9‘ Niwlau, the Queen’s
Grace fule,” who would appear, from the following item, to have been retained in the service of the Regent after the
Queen’s flight to England :-“ 1570, The first day of August, be the Regent’s g. speciale command, to Nichola the fule,
to mak hir expensis and fraucht to France, L15.”
* No allusion occurs in any of the historians of the period in con6rmation of the tradition.
1565, For grene plading to mak ane bed to Jardinar, the fule, with white fustiane, feddem, &c.](images/thumbs/memorials/memorials_v1_Page_181.gif "Memorials of Edinburgh in the Olden Time Page 163")
... STABLES, CASTLE BARNS, AND CASTLE HILL. 151
a piscina; and those of France were in the same position in ...
Book 10 p. 163
(Score 0.48)
![George Street.] THE BLACKWOODS. I39
CHAP,TER XIX.
GEORGE STREET.
Major Andrew Faser-The Father of Miss Femer-Grant of Kilgraston-William Blackwoad and his Magazine-The Mother of Sir Waltn
Scott-Sir John Hay, Banker-Colquhoun of Killermont-Mrs. Murray of Henderland-The Houses of Sir J. W. Gomon, Sir Jam-
Hall. and Sir John Sinclair of Ulbster-St. Andrew's Church-Scene of the Disruption-Physicians' Hall-Glance at the Histcry of thecollege
of Physicians-Sold and Removed-The Commercial Bank-Its Constitution-Assembly Rooms-Rules of 17+Banquet to Black
Watch-" The Author of Waverley"-The Music Hall-The New Union Bank-Its Formation, &c.-The Mlasonic Hall-Watsoa'E
Pictureof Bums-Statues of George IV., Pitt, and Chalmers. .
PREVIOUS to the brilliant streets and squares
erected in the northern and western portions of
new Edinburgh, George Street was said to have no
rival in the world ; and even yet, after having undergone
many changes, for combined length, space,
uniformity, and magnificence of vista, whether
viewed from the east or west, it may well be
pronounced unparalleled. Straight as an arrow
flies, it is like its sister streets, but is 1x5 feet
broad. Here a great fossil tree was found in 1852.
A portion of the street on the south side, near
the west end, long bore the name of the Tontine,
and owing to some legal dispute, which left the
houses there mfinished, they were occupied as
infantry barracks during the war with France.
Nos. 3 and 5 (the latter once the residence of
Major Andrew Fraser and cf William Creech the
eminent bookseller) forni the office of the Standard
Life Assurance Company, in the tympanum of
which, over four fine Corinthian pilasters, is a
sculptured group from the chisel of Sir John Steel,
representing the parable of the Ten Virgins. In
George Street are about thirty different insurance
offices, or their branches, all more or less ornate
in architecture, and several banks.
In No. 19, on the same side, is the Caledonian,
the oldest Scottish insurance company (having
been founded in June, 1805). Previously the
office had been in Bank Street. A royal charter
was granted to the company in May, 1810, and
twenty-three years afterwards the business of life
assurance was added to that of fire insurance.
No. 25 George Street was the residence (from
1784 till his death, in 18zg), of Mr. James Ferrier,
Principal Clerk of Session, and father of Miss
Susan Ferrier, the authoress of " Marriage," &c.
He was a keen whist player, and every night of his
life had a rubber, which occasionally included Lady
Augusta Clavering, daughter of his friend and client
John, fifth Duke of Argyll, and old Dr. Hamilton,
usually designated " Cocked Hat " Hamilton, from
the fact of his being one of the last in Edinburgh
who bore that head-piece. When victorious, he
wcdd snap his fingers and caper about the room,
to tbe manifest indignation of Mr. Ferrier, who
would express it to his partner in the words, "Lady
Augusta, did you ever see such rediculous leevity
in an auld man 7 " Robert Burns used also to be
a guest at No. 25, and was prescnt on one occasion
when some magnificent Gobelins tapestry arrived
there for the Duke of Argyll on its way to Inverary
Castle. Mrs. Piozzi also, when in Edinburgh, dined
there. Next door lived the Misses Edmonstone,
of the Duntreath family, and with them pitched
battles at whist were of frequent nightly occurrence.
These old ladies figure in " Marriage " as
Aunts Jacky, Grizzy, and Nicky; they were grandnieces
of the fourth Duke of Argyll. The eldest
Miss Ferrier was one of the Edinburgh beauties in
her day ; and Bums once happening to meet her,
while turning the corner of George Street, felt suddenly
inspired, and wrote the lines to her enclosed
in an elegy on the death of Sir D. H. Hair. Miss
Ferrier and Miss Penelope, Macdonald of Clanronald,
were rival belles ; the former married
General Graham ot Stirling Castle, the latter Lord
Belhaven.
In No. 32 dwelt Francis Grant of Kilgraston,
father of Sir Francis Grant, President of the Royal
Academy, born in 1803 ; and No. 35, now a shop,
was the town house of the Hairs of Balthayock, in
Perthshire.
No. 45 has long been famous as the establishment
of Messrs. Blackwood, the eminent publishers.
William Blackwood, the founder of the magazine
which stills bears his name, and on the model of
which so many high-class periodicals have been
started in the sister kingdom, was born at Edinburgh
in 1776, and after being apprenticed to the
ancient bookselling firni of Bell and Bradfute, and
engaging in various connections with other bibliopoles,
in 1804 he commenced as a dealer in old
books on the South Bridge, in No. 64, but soon
after became agent for several London publishing
houses. In 1S16 he disposed of his vast stock of
classical and antiquarian books, I 5,000 volumes in
number, and removing to No. 17 Princes Street,
thenceforward devoted his energies to the business
of a-general publisher, and No. 17 is to this day a
bookseller's shop.](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v3p151.gif "Old and New Edinburgh Vol. III Page 139")
... Street.] THE BLACKWOODS. I39
CHAP,TER XIX.
GEORGE STREET.
Major Andrew Faser-The Father of Miss ...
Book 3 p. 139
(Score 0.48)
![The Water of Leith.] DANIEL STEWART. 67
with sword and sash, wig and cocked hat, queue
and ruffles. After looking at him steadily, but sadly,
the figure melted away; and, as usual with such
spectral appearances, it is alleged young Nisbet was
shot at the same moment, in an encounter with the
colonists.
In 1784 the Dean House was the residence of
Thomas Miller, Lord Barskimming, and Lord
Justice Clerk. In 1845 it was pulled down, when
the ground whereon it had stood so long was
acquired by a cemetery company, and now-save
the sculptured stones we have described--no relic
remains of the old Nisbets of Dean but their burial
place at the West Church-a gloomy chamber of
the dead, choked up with rank nettles and hemlock.
By 1881 the old village of Dean was entirely
cleared away. Near its centre stood the blacksmith?s
forge of Robert Orrock, who was indicted for
manufacturing pikes for the Friends of the People
in 1792. He and his friend, Arthur McEwan,
publican in Dean Side, Water of Leith village,
were legally examined at the time, and it is supposed
that many of the pikes were thrown into the
World?s End Pool, below the waterfall at the
Damhead. South of the smithy was the village
school, long taught by ? auld Dominie Fergusson.?
North of it stood the old farmhouse and steading
of the Dean Farm, all swept away like the quaint
old village, which?was wont to be a bustling place
when the commander-in-chief of the forces in
Scotland tenanted the Dean, and mounted orderlies
came galloping up the steep brae, and often reined
up their horses at the ?Speed the Plough? alehouse,
before the stately gate.
Somewhere in the immediate vicinity of this
old village a meeting-house was erected in 1687
for the Rev. David Williamson, of St. Cuthbert?s,
who was denounced as a rebel, and intercommuned
in 1674 for holding conventicles, but was sheltered
secretly in the Dean House by Sir Patrick Nisbet.
In 1689 he was restored to his charge at the West
Church, and was one of the commissioners sent to
congratulate King William on his accession to the
throne.
Now all the site of the village and farms, and
the land between them and the Dean Bridge, is
covered by noble streets, such as Buckingham
Terrace and Belgrave Crescent, the position of
which is truly grand. In 1876 a movement was
se: on foot by the proprietors of this crescent, led
by Sir James Falshaw, Bart, then Lord Provost,
which resulted in the purchase of the ground between
it and the Dean village, at a cost of about
A5,ooo. In that year it was nearlyall covered by
kitchen gardens, ruinous buildings, and brokendown
fences. These and the irregularities of the
place have been removed, while the natural undulations,
which add such beauty to the modem
gardens, have been preserved, and the plantations
and walks are laid out with artistic effect,
The new parish church-which was built in
1836, in the Gothic style, for accommodation of
the inhabitants of the Water of Leith village1 and
those of the village of Dean-stands on the western
side of the old Dean Path.
Farther westward is Stewart?s Hospital, built in
1849-53, after designs by David Rhind, at a cost
of about ~30,000, in a mixture of the latest
domestic Gothic, with something of the old castellated
Scottish style. It comprises a quadrangle,
about 230 feet in length by IOO feet in minimum
breadth, and has two main towers, each 120 feet
high, with several turrets.
Mr. Daniel Stewart, of the Scottish Exchequer,
who died in 1814, left the residue of his property,
amounting (after the erection and endowment of a
free school in his native parish of Logieraitj to
about ;G13,000, with some property in the old
town, to accumulate for the purpose of founding a
hospital for the maintenance of boys, the children
of honest and industrious parents, whose circumstances
do not enable them suitably to support and
educate their children at other schools. Poor boys
of the name of Stewart and Macfarlane, resident
within Edinburgh and the suburbs, were always
to have a preference. The age for admission was
to be from seven to ten, and that for leaving at
fourteen .
The Merchant Company, as governors, taking
advantage of the powers given them by the provisional
order obtained in 1870, opened the hospital
as a,day school in the September of that
year. The education provided is of a very superior
order, qualifying the pupils for commercial
or professional life, and for the universities. The
course of study includes English, Latin, Greek,
French, German, and all the usual branches, including
drill, fencing, and gymnastics.
The Orphan Hospital at the Dean was erected
in 1833, after elegant designs by Thomas Hamilton,
at a cost of A16,000, in succession to the
older foundation, which we have already described
as standing eastward of the North Bridge, on the
site of the railway terminus. It comprises a large
central block, with two projecting wings, a portico
of Tuscan columns, and two light, elegant quadrangular
towers with arches, and has within its
clock-turret on the summit of its front the ancient
clock of the Nether Bow Port.
Its white facade stands boldly and pleasingly](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v5p078.gif "Old and New Edinburgh Vol. V Page 67")
... Water of Leith.] DANIEL STEWART. 67
with sword and sash, wig and cocked hat, queue
and ruffles. After looking ...
Book 5 p. 67
(Score 0.48)
![THE NORMAL SCHOOL. 295 George IV. Bridge.]
highly qualified examiners, on every point of which
it takes cognisance. It grants annually ten bursaries
of L z o each, and five of LIO each, to be
competed for by pupils of schools approved .of by
the directors.
The Society?s vested capital now? amounts to
&o,ooo, and its annual revenue reaches more than
&,~oo, besides the receipts for general shows,
The Argyle Fund, for the education of young Highland
gentlemen for the navy, now amounts to
A5,639, and was instituted by John fifth Duke of
Argyle, the original president of the Society.
From its chambers, No. 3, George IV. Bridge, surveying
a width of range and multiplicity of objects
worthy of its wealth and intellect, its opulence of
power and resource, the Soqiety promotes the erection
of towns and bridges, the formation of roads,
the experiments and enterprises of agriculture, the
improvement of farm stock, the sheltering processes
of planting, the extension of fisheries, the introduction
of manufactures, the adaptation of machinery
to all useful arts, the ready co-operation of
? local influence with legislative and public measures,
the diffusion of practical knowledge of all that may
tend to the general good of the Scottish nation,
and the consolidation of the Highlanders and
Lowlanders into one great fraternal community.
? The Society awards large and numerous premiums
to stimulate desiderated enterprises, and in
1828 began the publication of the Quarter0 lown
d of Agridtztre, for prize essays and the dissemination
of the newest practical information ; it
patronises great annual cattle shows successively in
different towns, and by means of them excites and
directs a stirring and creditable spirit of emulation
among graziers, and, in general, it keeps in play
upon the community, a variety of influences which,
as far as regards mere earthly well-being, have
singularly transformed and beautified its character.?
Its arms are a figure of Caledonia on a pedestal,
between two youths-one a Highland reaper, the
other a ploughboy-being crowned. The motto is,
Sem$er armis nunc et industria. The Highland
Society?s hall and chamber form a very symmetrical
and also ornamental edifice, with a beautiful sculpture
of its coat of arms from the chisel of A.. H.
Kitchie. It formerly contained a most interesting
agricultural museum, which has been removed elsewhere.
Simil7.r societies on the same model have
since been established-by England in 1838, and
by Ireland in 1841.
The other edifice referred to, the Sheriff?s Court
Buildings, contiguous to the open arches over the
Cowgate, was erected in 1865-8, from designs
by David Bryce, at a cost of more than A44,ooo. -
It rises from a low basement, with an extensive
and imposing flank to the south, and presents in
its fapde an ornate variety of the Italian style
of architecture ; but within exhibits simply the
usual features of legal courts, with three subordinate
official chambers, unless we except the Society
hall of the solicitors-at-law, a minor legal body in
Edinburgh, which was incorporated by royal charter
in 1780, and only certain members of which are
qualified to act as agents before the Supreme Courts.
Johnstone Terrace, King?s Road, and Castle
Terrace crossing the King?s Bridge, the foundation
stone of which was laid in 1827, unitedly extend
about go0 yards along the southern limb, or southwestern
skirt of the Castle Rock, connecting the
head of the Lawnmarket with the Lothian Road,
at a point about 180 yards south of the west end
of Princes Street. These were formed between
1825 and 1836, to afford improved access to the
Old Town from the westward. They are collectively
called the New Western Approach, and apart
from being a very questionable improvement as
regards artistic taste, have destroyed the amenity
of the Castle Rock, and lessened its strength as a
fortress.
In Johnstone Terrace, to which we shall confine
ourselves for the present, at the eastern end,
resting at the corner of the Old West Bow, is St.
John?s Free Church, a handsome edifice in a mixed
style of early Gothic It was built from designs
furnished by Robert Hamilton in 1847, and is
chiefly famous for its congregation having enjoyed
for some years the ministry of the celebrated Dr.
Guthrie, and of Dr. Williani Hanna, a graduate of
the University of Glasgow, who was ordained to
the ministry of the Presbyterian Church in 1835,
and who is so well known as the author of ?Wycliffe
and the Huguenots,? and as the affectionate
biographer of Chalmers.
Westward of this edifice is St. Columba?s Episcopal
church, also a Gothic structure, but of an earlier
style, with a low, square battlemented tower;
built in 1845.
At the cost of about ;GIO,OOO, the Normal School
of the Church of Scotland was built westward of it,
in 1845, and is a large and handsome edifice.
It is called the Normal School, or Church of
Scotland Training College. It is under the control
and management of the Education Committee of
the Church. It is a double college, and like that
in Glasgow, trains both masters and mistresses.
The course of training extends over two years,
and none are admitted as students but those who
have passed a preliminary examination ; but the
committee exercise their discretion in making their](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v2p115.gif "Old and New Edinburgh Vol. II Page 295")
... NORMAL SCHOOL. 295 George IV. Bridge.]
highly qualified examiners, on every point of which
it takes ...
Book 2 p. 295
(Score 0.47)
... Place 1 LORD ROBERTSON. I93
antiquarian taste consorted with the musical skill
ancl critical sagacity of ...
Book 4 p. 193
(Score 0.47)
![Lord Provost?.] THE DUNDAS RIOTS. 281
daughter of the head of the firm. When he took
ofice politics ran high, The much-needed reform
of the royal burghs had been keenly agitated
for some time previous, and a motion on the subject,
negatived in the House of Commons by a
majority of 26, incensed the Scottish public to a
great degree, while Lord Melville, Secretary of
State, by his opposition to the question, rendered
himself so obnoxious, that in many parts of Scotland
he was burned in effigy. In this state of excitement
Provost Stirling and others in authority at
Edinburgh looked forward to the King?s birthdaythe
4th of June, 1792-with considerable uneasiness,
and provoked mischief by inaugurating the festival by
sending strong patrols of cavalry through the streets
at a quick pace with swords drawn. Instead of
having the desired effect, the people became furious
at this display, and hissed and hooted the cavalry
with mocking cries of ?Johnnie Cope.? In the
afternoon, when the provost and magistrates were
assembled in the Parliament House to drink the
usual loyal toasts, a mob mustered in the square, and
amused themselves after a custom long peculiar to
Edinburgh on this day, of throwing dead cats at
each other, and at the City Guard who were under
arms to fire volleys after every toast.
Some cavalry officers incautiously appeared at this
time, and, on being insulted, brought up their men
to clear the streets, and, after considerable stonethrowing,
the mob dispersed. Next evening it
re-assembled before the house of Mr. Dundas in
George Square, with a figure of straw hung from a
pole. When about to burn the effigy they were
attacked by some of Mr. Dundas?s friends-among
others, it is said, by his neighbours, the naval hero
of Camperdown, and Sir Patrick Murray of
Ochtertyre. These gentlemen retired to Dundas?s
house, the windows of which were smashed by the
mob, which next attacked the residence of the
Lord Advocate, Dundas of Amiston. On this it
became necessary to bring down the 53rd Re$-
ment from the Castle ; the Riot Act was read, the
people were fired on, and many fell wounded, some
mortally, who were found dead next day in the
Meadows and elsewhere. This put an end to the
disturbances for that night ; but on Wednesday
evening the mob assembled in the New Town with
the intention of destroying the house of Provost
Stirling at the south-east corner of St. Andrew
Square, where they broke the City Guards? sentry
boxes to pieces. But, as an appointed signal, the
ancient beacon-fire, was set aflame in the Castle,
the Bind frigate sent ashore her marines at Leith,
and the cavalry came galloping ih from the eastward,
an which the mob separated finally.
By this time Provost Stirling had sought shelter
In the Castle from the mob, who were on the point
Jf throwing Dr. Alexander Wood (known as Lang
Sandy) over the North Bridge in mistake for him.
For his zeal, however, he was made a baronet of
Great Britain. The year 1795 was one of great
listress in the city ; Lord Cockbum tells us that
16,000 persons (about an eighth of the population)
were fed by charity, and the exact quantity of food
each family should consume was specified by public
proclamation. In 1793 a penny post was established
in Edinburgh, extending to Leith, Musselburgh,
Dalkeith, and Prestonpans. Sir James
Stirling latterly resided at the west end of Queen
Street, and died in February, 1805.
Sir William Fettes, Lord Provost in 1800 and
1804, we have elsewhere referred to ; but William
Coulter, a wealthy hosier in the High Street, who
succeeded to the civic chair in 1808, was chiefly remarkable
for dying in office, like Alexander Kina
i d thirty years before, and for the magnificence
with which his funeral obsequies were celebrated.
He died at Morningside Lodge, and the cortkge
was preceded by the First R E. Volunteers, and
the officers of the three Regiments of Edinburgh
local militia, and the body was in a canopied
hearse, drawn by six horses, each led by a groom in
deep mourning. On it lay the chain of office, and
his sword and sash as colonel of the volunteers.
A man of great stature, in a peculiar costume,
bore the banner of the City. When the body was
lowered into the grave, the senior herald broke and
threw therein the rod of office, while the volunteers,
drawn up in a line near the Greyfriars? Church,
fired three funeral volleys.
Sir John Marjoribanks, Bart., Lord Provost in
1813, was the son of Marjoribanks of Lees, an
eminent wine merchant in Bordeaux, and his
mother was the daughter of Archibald Stewart, Lord
Provost of the city in the memorable ?45. Sir John
was a partner in the banking-house of Mansfield,
Ranisay, and Co., and while in the civic chair was
the chief promoter of the Regent Bridge and Calton
Gaol, though the former had been projected by Sir
James Hunter Blair in 1784 When the freedom
of thedty was given to Lord Lynedoch, ?the gallant
Graham,? Sir John gave h k a magnificent dinner,
on the 12th of August, I815-two months after
Waterloo. There were present the Earl of Morton,
Lord Audley, Sir David Dundas, the Lord Chief
Baron, the Lord Chief Commissioner, Sir James
Douglas, Sir Howard Elphinstone, and about a
hundred of the most notable men in Edinburgh,
the freedom of which was presented to Lord
Lynedoch in a box of gold ; and at the conclusion](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v4p103.gif "Old and New Edinburgh Vol. IV Page 283")
... Provost?.] THE DUNDAS RIOTS. 281
daughter of the head of the firm. When he took
ofice politics ran high, The ...
Book 4 p. 283
(Score 0.46)
![The Cowpate.] TAM 0? THE COWGATE. 259
derived from Dickson by the stars, according to
Nisbet in his ?Heraldry.? A John Dickison of
Winkston, who was provost of Peebles, was assassin260
I
OLD AND NEW EDtNEURGH. [The Cowgate.
Full of years and honours, Tam 0? the Cowgate
died in 1637. At Tynninghame, his family seat,
:here are two portraits of him preserved, and also
his state dress, in the crimson velvet breeches of
which there are no less than nine pockets. Among
many of his papers, which remain at Tynninghame
House, one contains a memorandum which throws
a curious light upon the way in which political
matters were then managed in Scotland. This
paper details the heads of a petition in his own
each way, and had a border of trees upon its east
and south sides. Latterly it bore the name of
Thomson?s Green, from the person to whom it
was leased by the Commissioners of Excise.
The Hammerman?s Close, Land, and Hall, adjoined
the site of this edifice on the westward.
The Land was in I 7 I I the abode of a man named
Anthony Parsons, among the last of those who
followed the ancient practice of vending quack
medicines on a public stage in the streets. In the
THE FRENCH AMBASSAUOR?S CHAPEL. (From a Drawing by W. Geikie.)
hand-writing to the Privy Council with a prayer to
?gar the Chancellor? do something else in his behalf
The Excise Office was removed about 1730 from
the Parliament Square to the houge so long occupied
by the Earl of Haddington, which afforded excellent
accommodation for so important a public
institution. The principal room on the second
floor, the windows of which opened to the Cowgate,
was one of great magnificence, having a stucco
ceiling divided into square compartments, each of
which contained an elegant device, and there was
also much fine paneling. At the back of the
house, extending to where the back of Brown
Square was built, and entered by a gate from the
Candlemaker Row, it measured nearly zoo feet
October of that year he advertised in the Scofs Postman-?
It being reported that Anthony Parsons
is gone from Edinburgh to mount public stages in
the country, this is to give notice that he hath left
off keeping stages, and still lives in the Hammerman?s
Land, near the head of the Cowgate, where
may be had the Orvicton, a famous antidote against
infectious distempers, and helps barrenness,? &c
Four years subsequently Parsons-an Englishman,
of course-announced his design of bidding adieu
to Edinburgh, and in that prospect offered his quack
medicines at reduced rates, and likewise, by auction,
?a fine cabinet organ.?
The last of these English quacks was Dr. Green,
gauger, of Doncaster, who made his appearance inated
in the High Street of that town, on the
1st of July, 1572, and James Tweedie, burgess of
Peebles, and four other persons, were tried for the
crime and acquitted. This is supposed to be the
John Dickison who built the house, and had placed
upon it these remarkable devices as a bold proof of
his adherence to the ancient faith ? The hand.
some antique form of this house, the strange
armorial device of the original proprietor, the tradition
of the Catholic chapel, the singular figures
over ?the double dormer window, and Dickison?s
own tragic fate, in the midst of a frightful civil war,
when neither party gave quarter to the other, all
combine to throw a wild and extraordinary interest
over it, and make us greatly regret its removal.?
(? Ancient Arch. of Edin.?)
The peculiar pediment, as well as the sculptured
lintel of the front door, were removed to Coates?
House, and are. now built into different parts of the
northern Wing of that quaint and venerable ch2teau
in the New Town.
In the middle of the last century, and prior to
1829, a court of old buildings existed in the Cowgate,
on the ground now occupied by the southern
piers of George IV. Bridge, which were used as
the Excise Office, but, even in this form, were
somewhat degraded from their original character,
for there resided Thomas Hamilton of Priestfield,
Earl of Melrose in 1619, and first Earl of Haddington
in 1627, Secretary of State in 16~2, King?s
Advocate, and Lord President of the Court of
Session in 15 92.
He rented the house in question from Macgill of
Rankeillor, and from the popularity of his character
and the circumstance of his residence, he
was endowed by his royal master, King James,
whose chief favourite he was, with? the sobriquet of
Tarn d the Cowgate, under which title he is better
remembered than by his talents as a statesman or
his Earldom of Haddington.
He was famous for his penetration as a judge,
his industry as a collector of decisionsAswing
up a set of these from 1592 to i6q-and his
talent for creating a vast fortune. It is related of
him, in one of many anecdotes concerning him,
communicated by Sir Walter Scott to the industrious
author of the ?? Traditions of Edinburgh,?,
that, after a long day?s hard labour in the public
service, he was one evening seated with a friend
over a bottle of wine near a window of his house
in the Cowgate, for his ease attired in a robc de
chrnbre and slippers, when a sudden disturbance
was heard in the street. This turned out to be a
bicker, one of those street disturbances peculiar to
the boys of Edinburgh, till the formation of the
present police, and referred to in the Burgh Records
so far back as 1529, anent ?gret bikkyrringis
betwix bairns;? and again in 1535, when they
wefe to be repressed, under pain-of scourging and
banishment.
On this occasion the strife with sticks and stones
was between the youths of the High School and
those of the College, who, notwithstanding a bitter
resistance, were driving their antagonists before
them.
The old Earl, who in his yduth had been a High
School boy, and from his after education in Paris,
had no sympathy for the young collegians, rushed
into the street, rallied the fugitives, and took such
an active share in the combat that, finally, the High
School boys-gaining fresh courage upon discovering
that their leader was Tam 0? the Cowgate, the
great judge and statesman-turned the scale of
victory upon the enemy, despite superior age and
strength. The Earl, still clad in his robe and slippers,
assumed the command, exciting the lads to the
charge by word and action. Nor did the hubbub
cease till the students, unable by a flank movement
to escape up the Candlemaker Row, were driven
headlong through the Grassmarket, and out at the
West Port, the gate of which he locked, compelling
the vanquished to spend the night in the fields
beyond the walls. He then returned to finish his
flask?of wine. And a rare jest the whole episode
must have been for King James, when he heard of
it at St. James?s or Windsor.
When, in 1617, the latter revisited Scotland,. he
found his old friend very rich, and was informed
that it was a current belief that he had discovered
the Philosopher?s Stone. James was amused with
the idea of so valuable a talisman having fallen
into the hands of a Judge of the Cburt of Session,
and was not long in letting the latter know of the
story. The Earl immediately invited the king,
and all who were present, to dine with him, adding
that he would reveal to them the mystery of the
Philosopher?s Stone.
The next day saw his mansion in the Cowgate
thronged by the king and his Scottish and English
courtiers After dinner, James reminded him of
the Philosopheis Stone, and then the wily Earl
addressed all present in a short speech, concluding
with the information that his whole secret of success
and wealth, lay in two simple and familiar
maxims :-cc Never put off till tomorrow what can
be done today; nor ever trust to the hand of
another that which your own can execute.?
?
__](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v4p078.gif "Old and New Edinburgh Vol. IV Page 258")
... Cowpate.] TAM 0? THE COWGATE. 259
derived from Dickson by the stars, according to
Nisbet in his ?Heraldry.? A ...
Book 4 p. 258
(Score 0.43)
... view below Cramond
Brig, 111. '317
Cramond Bridge, 11. 63, 111. 1x1
CramondChurch 111. 316 ...
Book 6 p. 374
(Score 0.29)
Go back to Edinburgh Bookshelf
The scans of Edinburgh Bookshelf are licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 License.
