![High Street.] MESSRS. W. & R. CHAMBERS. 225
fortyyfve years ago. This little work came out in
the Augustan days of Edinburgh, when Jeffrey and
Scott, Wilson and the Ettrick Shepherd, Dugald
Stewart and Alison, were daily giving the producpublic
victory, and in a few days the sale in Scotland
alone was 50,000 copies, while No. 3 rose to
80,ooo in the Esglish market. Robert threw himself
heart and soul into the successful periodical ;
tions of their minds
to the public, and
while yet Archibald
Constable acted as
the unquestioned
emperor of the publishing
world.?
In 1826 Robert
published his ? Popular
Rhymes of
Scotland,? and the
? Picture of Scotland,?
and shortly
afterwards five
volumes of Scottish
history, for Consiable?s
Miscellany.
The brothers were
now making
money, and in tolerably
prosperous
c i r cu m s t a n c es,
though they lost
much of their hardwon
savings by assisting
their father
in a piece of unsuccessful
litigation.
About that time
William produced
the ?Book of Scotland,?
a work describing
the institutions
of the country,
for which he
got A30, while
Robert got 6100
for preparing a
?Gazetteer of Scotland
;? and in I 83 2
William projected
the great work
ADVOCATES? CLOSE.
which made the firm prosperous and famous wherever
the English language is spoken-- Chambers?s Edinburgh
journal, the vanguard of all that is wholesome,
sensible, and unsectarian in cheap literature, as it ap
peared six weeks before the famous Penny Magazin~
The first weekly number appeared on the 4th
February, 1832. Robert thought the speculation a
hazardous one, but William?s courage achieved a
29
and speaking of
partnership with
him, his brother
writes : ?? Such was
the degree of mutual
confidence between
us that not
for the space of
twenty-one years
was it thought expedient
to execute
any deed of agreement.?
While constantly
contributing
to the Journal,
Robert, in 1835,
completed his ?Biographical
Dictionary
of Eminent
Scotsmen,? in foul
volumes.
The brothers
issued, in the preceding
year, their
?? Information for
the People,? and
after this venture
came a series of
about a hundred
school books-the
? Chambers?s Edu,
cational Course,?
still so familiar to
many middle-class
school-boys. While
collecting information
upon the subject
of public education,
William got
together materials in
1839 for his ?Tour
in Holland and the
Rhine Countries i
and about this time, twenty volumes of a series
entitled ? Chambers?s Miscellany ? were issued by
the firm, which had an enormous circulation j but
the great and crowning enterprise of Messrs.
W. and R Chambers was unquestionably their
?? Encyclopzedia, or Dictionary of Uni;ersal Information
for the People,? a work begun in 1859 and
completed in 1868-a work unrivalled by any in](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v2p045.gif "Old and New Edinburgh Vol. II Page 225")
... Street.] MESSRS. W. & R. CHAMBERS. 225
fortyyfve years ago. This little work came out in
the Augustan ...
Book 2 p. 225
(Score 1.64)
... MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
On the south side of the Parliament Close, near to John’s Coffeehouse, was the ...
Book 10 p. 231
(Score 1.64)
... BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
in the magistracy, had, through negligence, allowed a poinding of his furniture
to be ...
Book 9 p. 630
(Score 1.63)
... I4 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
it wad be a treat for her to see the inside like other strangers ! ” The renovators ...
Book 10 p. 233
(Score 1.62)
... 0 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
Among the representatives of the rougher sex in this very miscellaneous assemblage is ...
Book 10 p. 449
(Score 1.61)
... SKETCHES. 257
No. CCLVI.
THE RIGHT HON. WILLIAM PITT,
AND
’ HENRY DUNDAS, AFTERWARDS LORD ...
Book 9 p. 342
(Score 1.6)
... MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
able from the introduction of the Weigh-house steeple, demolished by Cromwell in 1650, ...
Book 10 p. 465
(Score 1.6)
... SKETCHES. 23
the task of improving the condition of those who resided upon it. The village ...
Book 8 p. 29
(Score 1.6)
... INDEX TO THE PORTRAITS, ETC.
w
KO. Page
.WALKER, Rev. Dr. John, Professor of
Natural History .. ...... ... ...
Book 9 p. 681
(Score 1.6)
![BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 383
Dictionary of Decision8 of the Court of Session,
vols. iii and iv. 1778. Folio.
Plan and Outlines of a Course of Lectures on'Universa1
History, Ancient and Modern, illustrated
with Maps of Ancient and Modern Geography,
and a Chronological Table. 1782. Afterwards
much enlarged, and published under the title of
Elements of Qeneral History.
Nos. 17, 37, 59, 79, of the Mirror, first publishad in
1779 and 1780; also Nos. 7, 19. 24, 44, 63, 70, 79,
of the Lounger, tirst published in 1785 aud 1786.
Account of the Life and Writings of Dr. John Grego~y,
pretixed to an edition of his works, published at
Edinburgh in 1787.
History of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, making
the First Part of the First Volume of the Transactions
of the Royal Society, printed in 1787.
Biographical Account of Lord President Dundas,
printed in the Second Volume of the Transactions
of the Royal Society.
Account of some extraordinary Structures on the
tops of Hills in the Highlands, with Remarks on
the Progress of the Arts among the Ancient Inhabitanta
of Scotland. Printed in the Second
Volume of the Tnrnsnctions of the Royal Society.
Essay on the Principles of Translation, 8vo. Pablished
by Cadell, London Second edition, with
additions, 1797. 8vo.
Critical Examination of Yr. Whitaker's Course of
Hmnibal over the Alps.
New edition of Derham's Physic+Theology, with
large Notes and an Account of the Life and
Writings of the Author. Published, January
1789.
Ireland ProUting by Example, or the Question whether
Scotland haa Gained or Lpst by a Union, ilnally
discussed, 1799.
Remnrks on the Writings and Qenius of Allan
Rameay. Prefixed to a new edition of his works,
in 2 vols. 8v0, edited by the lata George Chalmers,
Eaq. 1800. 8vo.
An Essay on Military Law, and the Practice of C o d -
Martial. Edinburgh, 1800. 8vo.
Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Henry Home,
Lord games. 1807. 2 vols. 4h. Republished
in three vols. 8vo.
Historical and Critical Essay on the Life and Character
of Petmch Crown 8vo.
Published, 1798.
WILLIAM ROBERTSON (LORDR OBERTSONth),e figure next to Lord
Woodhouselee, was the eldest son of Dr. Robertson, the eminent Historian
and Principal of the University of Edinburgh. He was born in December
1754; and became a member of the Faculty of Advocates in 1775. In 1779
he was chosen Procurator of the Church of Scotland, after a keen contest, in
which he was opposed by the Hon. Henry Erskine, whose professional eminence
is so well known.
In 1805, after thirty years' successful practice at the bar, Lord Robertson
was promoted to the bench, on the death of David Ross (Lord Ankerville),
where he was distinguished not more for his legal talents than for his sagacity
and good sense. His appearance is thus described by the author of Peter's
Letters to his Kinsfolk :-
" In his [the Lord Justice Clerk's] Division of the Civil Court, one of his most respected
aqsessors is Lord Robertmn, son to the great historian ; nor could I see, without a very peculiar
interest, the son of such a man occupying and adorning such a situation, in the midst of a people
in whose minds his name must be associated with so niany feelings of gratitude and admiration.
" The son of such a man as the Historian of Scotland is well entitled to share in these
honourable feelings of hereditary attachment among the people of Scotland ; and he does share
in them. Even to me, I must confess, it afforded a very genuine delight, to be allowed to
contemplate the features of the father, aq reflected and preserved in the living features of his son.
A more careless observer would not, perhaps, be able to trace any very striking resemblance between
the face of Lord Robertson and the common portraits of the Historian ; but I could easily do so.
In those of the prints which represent him at an early period of hie life, the physiognomy of
Robertson is not seen to its best advantage. There is, indeed, an air of calmness and tastefuluess
even in them which cannot be overlooked or mistaken ; but it ie in those later portraits,
which give the features after they had been divested of their fulness and smoothnesa of outline,
and filled with the deeper lines of age and comparative extenuation, that one traces, with most
ease and satisfaction, the image of genius, and the impress of reflection. And it is to these lnst
portraits that I could perceive the strongest likeness in the general aspect of the Judge, but most
of all in his grey and overhanging eye-brows, and eyes, eloquent equally of sagacity of intellect
and gentleness of temper."](images/thumbs/kays_thumb_pages/kays_v2__Page_520.gif "Kay's Originals Vol. 2 Page 512")
... SKETCHES. 383
Dictionary of Decision8 of the Court of Session,
vols. iii and iv. 1778. Folio.
Plan ...
Book 9 p. 512
(Score 1.6)
![Victoria Street.] THE MECHANICS? LIBRARY. 291
CHAPTER XXXV.
SOME OF THE NEW STREETS WITHIN THE AREA OF THE FLODDEN WALL (concZuded).
Victoria Street and Ter-The India Buildings-Mechanics? Subscription Library-George IV. BridgeSt. Augustine?s Church-Martyrs?
Church-Chamber of the Hiehland and Amicultural Societv--SherifP Court Buildings and Solicitors? Hall-Johnstone Terrace-St. John?s -
Free Church-The Church of Scotland Training College.
VICTORIA STREET, which opens from the west side
of George IV. Bridge, and was formed as the result
of the same improvement Scheme by which
that stately bridge itself was erected, from the
north end of the Highland and Agricultural Society?s
Chambers curves downward to the northeast
corner of the Grassmarket, embracing in that
curve the last remains of the ancient West Bow.
Some portions of its architecture are remarkably
ornate, especially the upper portion of its south
side, where stands the massive pile, covered in
many parts with rich carving, named the India
Buildings, in the old Scottish baronial style, of
unique construction, consisting of numerous offices,
entered from a series of circular galleries, and
erected in 1867-8, containing the Scottish Chamber
of Agriculture, which was instituted in November,
1864. Its objects are to watch over the interests
of practical agriculture, to promote the advancement
of that science by the discussion of all subjects
relating to it, and to consider questions that
may be introduced into Parliament connected with
it. The business of the Chamber is managed by
a president, vice-president, and twenty directors,
twelve of whom are tenant farmers. It holds fixed
meetings at Perth in autumn, and at Edinburgh
in November, annually; and all meetings are open
to the press.
In the centre of the southern part of the street
is St. John?s Established church, built in 1838, in
a mixed style of architecture, with a Saxon doorway.
It is faced on the north side by a handsome
terrace, portions of which rise from an open arcade,
and include a Primitive Methodist church, or
Ebenezer chapel, and an Original Secession
church. Victoria Terrace is crossed at its western
end bya flight of steps, which seem to continue
the old line of access afforded by the Upper West
Bow.
No. 5 Victoria Terrace gives access to one of
the most valuable institutions in the city-the
Edinburgh Mechanics? Subscription Library. It
was established in 1825, when its first president
was Mr. Robert Hay, a printer, and Mr. John
Dunn, afterwards a well-known optician, was vicepresident,
and it has now had a prosperous career
of more than half a century.
The library is divided into thirteen sections :-
I, Arts and Sciences ; 2, Geography and Statistics ;
3, History; 4, Voyages, Travels, and Personal
Adventures ; 5, Biography ; 6, Theology ; 7, Law ;
8, Essays; 9, Poetry and the Drama; 10, Novels
and Romances ; I I, Miscellaneous ; I 2, Pamphlets ;
13, Periodicals. Each of these sections has a particular
classification, and they are all constantly
receiving additions, so as to CaNy out the original
object of the institution-? To procure an extensive
collection of books on the general literature
of the country, including the most popular works
on science.?
Thus every department of British literature is
amply represented on its shelves, and at a charge
so moderate as to be within the reach of all classes
of the community: the entry-money being only
2s. 6d., and the quarterly payments IS. 6d.
The management of this library has always been
vested in its own members, and few societies adhere
so rigidly to their original design as the
Mechanics? Library has done. It has, from the
first, adapted itself to the pecuniary circumstances
of the working man, and from the commencement
it has been a self-supporting institution ; though
in its infancy its prosperity was greatly accelerated,
as its records attest, by liberal donations of works
in almost every class of literature. Among the
earliest contributors in this generous spirit, besides
many of its own members, were Sir James Hall,
Bart., of Dunglas, so eminent for his attainments
in geological and chemical science; his son,
Captain Basil Hall, R.N., the well-known author ;
Mr. Leonard Horner ; and the leading publishers
of the day-Messrs. Archibald Constable, William
Blackwood, Adam Black, Waugh and Innes, with
John Murray of London. Some of them were
munificent in their gifts, ? besides granting credit
to any amount required-an accommodation of
vital service to an infant institution.?
The property of the library is vested in trustees,
who consist of two individuals chosen by vote
every fifth year, in addition to ?the Convener of
the Trades of the City of Edinburgh, the principal.
librarian to the Faculty of Advocates, and the
principal librarian to the Society of Writers to Her
Majesty?s Signet, for the time being.?
The right of reading descends to the heirs](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v2p111.gif "Old and New Edinburgh Vol. II Page 291")
... Street.] THE MECHANICS? LIBRARY. 291
CHAPTER XXXV.
SOME OF THE NEW STREETS WITHIN THE AREA OF THE ...
Book 2 p. 291
(Score 1.59)
... Luckenbooths
James VI., but no memories of him now remain,
save the alley called Byres? Close, and his ...
Book 1 p. 154
(Score 1.59)
... ANTIQUITIES. 385
2%h, 1387, between “ Adam Forster, Lord of Nether Leberton, Androw Yichtson, ...
Book 10 p. 423
(Score 1.58)
![High Street.] HOUSE OF THE ABBOTS OF MELROSE. 253
CHAPTER XXX.
THE HIGH STREET (caitfirzued).
Dickson?s and Cant?s Closes-The House of the ? Scottish Hogarth ? and the Knight of Tillybole-Rosehaugh?s, or Strichen?s, Close-House 01
the Abbots of Melrose-Sir Georye Yaclteuzie of Rosehaugh-Lady h n e Dick-Lord Strichen-The hlanncls of 1730-Pmvost Grieve-
John Dhu, Corporal of the City Guard-Lady Lovat?s Land-Walter Chnpman, Printer-Lady Lovat.
DICKSON?S CLOSE, numbered as 118, below the
modern Niddry Street, gave access to a handsome
and substantial edifice, supposed to be the work of
that excellent artificer Robert Mylne, who built the
modern portion of Holyrood and s3 rnacy houses
of an improved character in the city about the time
of the Revolution. Its earlier occupants are unknown,
but herein dwelt David Allan, known as
the ? Scottish Hogarth,? a historical painter of
undoubted genius, who, on the death of hlexander
Runciman, in 1786, was appointed director and
master of the academy established by the board of
trustees for manufacturers in Scotland.
While resident in Dickson?s Close he published,
in 1788, an edition of the ?Gentle Shepherd,? with
characteristic etchings, and, some time after, a collection
of the most humorous old Scottish songs with
similar drawings ; these, with his illustrations of
? The Cottar?s Saturday Night ? and the satire,
humour, and spirit of his other etchings in aquatinta,
won him a high reputation as a successful
delineator of character and nature. His drawing
classes met in the old college, but he received
private pupils at his house in Dickson?s Close after
his marriage, on the 15th November, 1788. His
terms were, as advertised in the Nucz~ry, one
guinea per month for three lessons in the week,
which in those simple days would restrict his pupils
to the wealthy and fashionable class of sqciety.
He died at Edinburgh on the 6th of August, 1796.
Lower down the close, on the same side, a
quaint old tenement, doomed to destruction by the
Improvements Act, 1867, showed on the coved bedcorbel
of its crowstepped gable the arms of Haliburton,
impaled with another coat armorial, with
the peculiar feature of a double window corbelled
out ; and in a deed extant, dated 1582, its first proprietor
is named Master James Haliburton. Afterwards
it was the residence of Sir John Haliday, of
Tillybole, and formed a part of Cant?s Close.
Its appearance in 1868 has been preserved to us
by R. Chambers, in a brief description in his
?? Traditions . ? According to this authority: it was
two storeys in height, the second storey being
reached by an outside stair, within a small courtyard,
which had originally been shut by a gate.
The stone pillars of the gateway were decorated
with balls at the top, after the fashion of entrances
to the grounds of a country mansion. It was a
picturesque building in the style of the sixteenth
century in Scotland. As it resembled a neat oldfashioned
country house, it was odd to find it
jammed up amid the tall edifices of this confined
alley. Ascending the stair, the interior consisted
of three or four apartments, with elaborately-carved
stucco ceilings. The principal room had a double
window on the west to Dickson?s Close.
In 1735 this mansion was the abode of Robert
Geddes, Gird of Scotstoun in Peeblesshire, who sold
it to George Wight, a burgess of Edinburgh, after
which it became deteriorated, and its stuccoed
apartments, froin the attics to the ground floor,
became each the dwelling of a separate family, and
a scene of squalor and wretchedness.
A considerable portion of the edifices in Cant?s
Close mere once ecclesiastical, and belonged to
the prebendaries of the collegiate church, founded
at Ciichton in 1449, by Sir William Crichton of
that ilk, Lord High Chancellor of Scotland.
In Kosehaugh?s Close, now called Strichen?s, the
next alley on the east, was the town-house of the
princely mitred abbots of Melrose. In Catholic
times the great dignitaries of the church had all
their houses in Edinburgh ; the Archbishop of St.
dndrews resided at the foot of Blackfriars Wynd ;
the Bishop of Dunkeld in the Cowgate ; the Abbot
of Dunfermline at the Netherbow ; the Abbot of
Cambuskenneth in the Lawnmarket ; and the Abbot
of Melrose in the close we have named, and his
?ludging? had a garden which extend?ed down to
the Cowgate, and up the opposite slope on the
west side of the Pleasance, within the city wall.
The house of the abbot, a large and massive
building enclosing a small square or court in the
centre of it, was entered from Strichen?s Close.
?? The whole building has evidently undergone
great alterations,?? says the description of it written
in 1847; ?a carved stone bears a large and very
boldlycut shield, with two coats of arms impaled,
and the date 1600. There seems no reason to
doubt, however, that the main portion of the
abbot?s residence still remains. The lower storey is
strongly vaulted, and is evidently the work of an
early date. The smalrquadrangle also is quite in
character with the period assumed for the building;
and at its north-west angle is Cant?s Close,](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v2p073.gif "Old and New Edinburgh Vol. II Page 253")
... Street.] HOUSE OF THE ABBOTS OF MELROSE. 253
CHAPTER XXX.
THE HIGH STREET (caitfirzued).
Dickson?s and ...
Book 2 p. 253
(Score 1.58)
... 78 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
of the Church of Megginche, one of the dependencies of the Abbey of Holyrood.L It is ...
Book 10 p. 415
(Score 1.58)
... BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
The irritation of the populace against Sir James gradually subsided ; and
latterly ...
Book 8 p. 524
(Score 1.56)
... MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
occupied, the outer framework on one side being nearly cut away ; but its original ...
Book 10 p. 160
(Score 1.56)
... BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES,
QUARTER-MASTER TAYLOR, the portly figure in the fourth division,
was one of the famous ...
Book 9 p. 64
(Score 1.53)
... SKETCHES. 393
one of the Senators of the College of Justice, and Anne Horn, heiress of Horn
and ...
Book 9 p. 526
(Score 1.52)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. me Mound.
distinguished trustees of whom it has been composed
since its formation ; ...
Book 3 p. 86
(Score 1.51)
... BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
No. CCXXIX.
MARGARET SUTTIE,
A HAWKER OF SALT.
THIS well-known character was an ...
Book 9 p. 223
(Score 1.5)
... BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
increase of itinerant preachers, attracted the notice of the General Assembly,
and, in ...
Book 8 p. 468
(Score 1.48)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Holyroob
chateau of Chantilly, from plans by the royal
architect, Sir William Bruce of ...
Book 3 p. 74
(Score 1.47)
... SKETCHES. 81
these he gave full play to a natural gaiety of spirit, which rendered his company
quite ...
Book 9 p. 109
(Score 1.47)
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