Edinburgh Bookshelf

Edinburgh Bookshelf

Search

Index for “strange figure of mr arnot”

286 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
“ His celebrated ancestor, the Marquis of Montrose, scarcely exhibited more
devotion to the cause of Charles I. in the field, than his descendant displayed
for George the Third in the House of Commons. Nor did he want great energy,
as well as activity of mind and body. During the progress of the French
Revolution, when the fabric of our constitution was threatened by internal and
external attacks, Lord Graham, then become Duke of Montrose, enrolled himself
as a private soldier in the City Light Horse. During several successive years he
did duty in that capacity, night and day, sacrificing to it his ease and his time ;
thus holding out an example worthy of imitation to the British nobility.”
His Grace died on December 30, 1836, being, strange to say, the third
individual who had held the family honours since the accession of his grandfather
to them in 1684, in the reign of Charles 11.-a period of a hundred
and fifty-three years. He was twice married, and left two sons and three
daughters. He was succmded by James (4th Duke), eldest son of the second
marriage.
THE EARL OF BUCHAN was born in 1742, and succeeded to the title
and estates of the family in 1767. His course of education being completed at
the University of Glasgow, he soon after entered the army, in which he rose to
the rank of lieutenant ; but, disliking the profession of arms, he did not continue
long in the service. In 1’766, he was appointed Secretary to the Eritish Embassy
in Spain; but, on the death of his father the year following, he returned to
his native land, resolved to prosecute pursuits more congenial to his strong
literary bias.
The first instance of the Earl’s activity was the formation of the Society of
Scottish Antiquaries in 1780.’ The want of such a Society had long been felt j
yet it is strange his lordship experienced illiberal oppositim from parties, who
In 1792, the first volume of their transactions was published ; and the following discourses by
the Earl appear in it :--“Memoirs of the Life of Sir James Stiiart Denham”-“ Account of the
Parish of Uphall”-“Account of the Island of 1colmkiln”-and “A Life of Mr. James Short, optician.”
Besides various fugitive pieces, in prose and verse, he printed, in conjunction with Dr. Walter Minto,
“An Account of the Life, Writings, and Inventions of Napier of Merchiston.”
In addition to the other objects of this Society, it was resolved to establish a mwem of natural
history, for the better cultivation of that science, and of which museum Mr. Smellie wm appointed
curator. He was likewise permitted to deliver the projected course of lectures on the philosophy of
natural history in the hall of the museum. The Society at the time having applied for a RoyaLCharter
of incorporation, an unexpected opposition arose (already alluded to in our notice of Mr. Smellie) from
Dr. Walker, Professor of Natural History in the University, and also from the Senatus Academicus a8
a body, who memorialised the Lord Advocate (Mr. Henry Dundas, afterwards Lord Viscount Melville)
against the proposed grant of a charter, alleging that the Society would intercept the communication
of many specimens and objects of natural history which would otherwise h d their way to the College
Museum, as well as documents tending to illustrate the history, antiquities, and laws of Scotland,
which ought to be deposited in the Advocates’ Library. They likewise noticed that the possession of
a museum of natural history might induce the Society to institute a lectureship on that science, in
opposition to the professorship in the University, The Faculty of Advocates and other public bodies
also joined in thia opposition ; but, after an elaborate reply on the part of the Antiquaries, the Lord
Advocate signified his approval of their request ; and, on the very next day, the royal warrant passed
the privy seal, in which his Majesty voluntarily declared himself Patron of the Society.
1787, 4to.

... BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. “ His celebrated ancestor, the Marquis of Montrose, scarcely exhibited more devotion ...

Book 8 p. 401
(Score 1.25)

EDINBURGH FROM WARRISTON CEMETERY,
AS SEEN FROM THE GRAVE OF SIR JAMES Y. SIMPSON.
BY THE AUTHOROF ' The NoteZ du Petit St. Jean,' ' ykra,' etc.
IF it be true, as the proverb avers, that while God made the country
man makes the town, it is also certain that the town in its turn does a good
deal towards making the man.
Profaned as the name of citizen has been by 'the extravagance and cruelty
of the revolutionists who appropriated it, it is yet a good and a brave word;
a good name, and like good names it covers an excellent meaning and many
good things. It implies sonship and brotherhood,-for it is one thing to be
a citizen and another to be a mere denizen and dweller within the gates. To
be a citizen is to add a cell to the great beehive, it is to give and receive in
your home the best benefits of civilisation, to know the dignity of labour and
the pleasures of success. It is to see sympathy reflected in a thousand faces,
it is to feel the beating of many hearts, to return the pressure of many hands.
It is to lead an active, useful, brotherly life, to have a sphere larger than our
common forms of single and dual selfishness, it is to go up with the multitude
when it keeps holiday, it is to tremble when the mourners go about the streets,
it is to be fellow-heirs and fellow-workers for the reputation and welfare of
the city.
Charles Lamb declared that for the growth of the mind it was absolutely
necessary to inhabit towns, and the noise and traffic of the busiest capitaIs
have always had a strange attraction for their noblest sons. Let their city
give them work, or let it even deny them bread, still they love her. She in
her turn receives from them praise or blame, and if she accords them crowns,
gains through them an immortality of interest. The tie between them can

... FROM WARRISTON CEMETERY, AS SEEN FROM THE GRAVE OF SIR JAMES Y. SIMPSON. BY THE AUTHOROF ' The ...

Book 11 p. 77
(Score 1.25)

E1 0 GR AP HI C AL S K ET C 11 ES. 197
from the chaise, and, in the twinkling of an eye, prostrated the nearest assailant.
The other fellow took to his heels ; but Aytoun, who was as swift of foot as he
was strong of arm, gave chase, and captured the unlucky footpad, whom, along
with his companion, he bundled into the chaise, and conveyed to Manchester,
where they were handed over to the civic authorities.
In a very short time the regiment of Royal Manchester Volunteers (afterwards
the 72d of the line) was raised and sent out to Gibraltar, under Lieut.-
Colonel Gladstone. Mr. Aytoun was appointed to the Command of the Grenadier
Company, and remained in the fortress during the whole of the memorable
siege. On the return of the regiment to Britain he was promoted to the rank
of Major, and shortly afterwards married his second wife, Miss Sinclair of Ealgregie.
After this he retired on half-pay, and was never again actively engaged,
although he subsequently rose to the rank of Major-General.
On the formation of the First Regiment of Edinburgh Volunteers-somewhat
emphatically denominated “ the True Blues”-General Aytoun, as one of
the military men residing in Edinburgh, was invited to superintend the drilling
of the corps. This, it may be imagined, was no easy task, considering the
material of which the regiment was composed ; however, the volunteers themselves
were abundantly satisfied with the appearance they made, and were
undeniably as good “ food for powder” as if they had handled the musket from
their youth upwards. Their nominal Colonel was Provost Elder, who, it is
allowed on all hands, cut a most martial figure in his bandeliers of a Saturday,
but was not quite the fittest person for a drill, being somewhat unused to the
complicated evolutions which it was his duty to direct.
In 1797, when General Aytoun was drilling the Blues, Count d‘htois and
the Duc d’Angouleme were residing at Holyrood. The Duke, as we have said
before, was a constant attendant at the drills ; but Count d’Artois never could
get over his horror at the uniform of the Volunteers, which reminded him too
sadly of his own domestic tragedy in France. Kay’s contrast of the Duke and
General Aytoun is very happy. The Portrait of the General, in particular, is
acknowledged by all who knew him as an excellent likeness. The title of the
‘‘ Great and the Small” is further applicable to the figures of the other volunteers.
Mr. Osborne, the right-hand man of the company was a perfect.giant, being two
inches taller than the General ; and his burly form is well set off against the
diminutive figure of Mr. Rae the dentist, who acted as fugleman to the corps,
and was very expert at the manual exercise.
General Aytoun died at his family estate of Inchdairney, we believe, about
the year 18 10, leaving behind him a large family of sons and daughters. He
was succeeded by his grandson, Roger Aytoun of Inchdairney, eldest son of John
Aytoun (served Aytoun of Aytoun in 1829), and who was long a prisoner at
Verdun.‘
Jam- Aytoun, Esq., advocate, who for several years waa an efficient member of the Town
Council of Edinburgh, and who stood candidate for the representation of the city in Parliament, waa
a son of the General.

... 0 GR AP HI C AL S K ET C 11 ES. 197 from the chaise, and, in the twinkling of an eye, prostrated the nearest ...

Book 9 p. 266
(Score 1.24)

Truir Church 1 THE TRON CHURCH. 187
is, into which the sun scarcely penetrates. But it
once contained a tavern of great consideration in
its time, ?The Star and Garter,? kept by a man
named Cleriheugh, who is referred to in ? Guy Mannering,?
for history and romance often march side
by side in Edinburgh, and Scott?s picture of the
strange old tavern is a faithful one. The reader
. of the novel may remember how, on a certain
Saturday night, when in search of Mr. Plzydell,
Dandie Dinmont, guiding Colonel Mannering,
turned into a dark alley, then up a dark stair, and
then into an open door.
While Dandie ?was whistling shrilly for the
waiter, as if he had been one of his collie dogs,
Mannering looked around him, and could hardly
conceive how a gentleman of a liberal profession
and good society should choose such a scene foi
social indulgence. Besides the miserable entrance,
the house itself seemed paltry and half ruinous.
The passage in which they stood had a window to
the close, which admitted a little Irght in the daytime,
and a villainous compound of smells at all
times, but more especially towards evening. Corresponding
to this window was a borrowed lighl
on the other side of the passage, looking into the
kitchen, which had no direct communication with
the free air, but received in the daytime, at second.
hand, such straggling and obscure light as found
its way from the lane through the window opposite.
At present, the interior of the kitchen was visible
by its own huge fires-a sort of pandemonium,
where men and women, half-dressed, were busied
in baking, boiling, roasting oysters, and preparing
devils on the gridiron; the mistress of the place,
with her shoes slipshod, and her hair straggling
like that of Megzra from under a round-eared
cap, toiling, scolding, receiving orders and giving
them and obeying them all at once, seemed the
presiding enchantress of that gloomy and fiery
Tegion.?
Yet it was in this tavern, perhaps more than any
other, that the lawyers of the olden time held
their high jinks and many convivialities. Cleriheugh?s
was also a favourite resort of the magistrates
and town councillors when a deep ,libation was
deemed an indispensable element in the adjustment
of all civic affairs; thus, in the last century,
city wags used to tell of a certain treasurer d
Edinburgh, who, on being applied to for new rope
to the Tron Kirk bell, summoned the Council to
consider the appeal. An adjournment to Cleriheugh?s
was of course necessary ; but as one dinnei
was insufficient for the settlement of this weighty
matter, it was not until three had been discussed
that the bill was settled, and the old rope spliced !
Before proceeding with the general history ot
the High Street we will briefly notice that of the
Tron Church, and of the great fire in which it was
on the eve of perishing.
The old Greyfriars, with the other city churches,
being found insufficient for the increasing population,
the Town Council purchased two sites, on
which they intended to erect religious fabrics.
One was on the Castle Hill, where the reservoir
now stands ; the other was where the present Tron
Church is now built. This was in the year 1637,
when the total number of householders, as shown
by the Council records, could not have been much
over 5,000, as a list made four years before ?shows
the numbers to have been 5,071, and the annual
amount ofrents payable by them only ;EI~z,I 18 ss.,
hots money.
Political disturbances retarded the progress of
both these new churches. The one on the Castle
Hill was totally abandoned, after having been
partially destroyed by the English during the siege
in 1650 ; and the other-the proper name of which
is Christ?s Church at the Tron-was not ready for
public worship till 1647, nor was it completely
finished ,till 1663, at the cost of A6,000, so much
did war with England and the contentions of the
Covenanters and Cavaliers retard everything and
impoverish the nation. On front of the tower over
the great doorway a large ornamented panel bears
the city arms in alto-relievo, and beneath them the
inscription-XDEM HANC CHRISTO ET ECCLESIE
SACRARUNT CIVES EDINBGRGENSES,, ANNO Doxr
MDCLI. It is finished internally with an open roof
of timber-work, not unlike that of the Parliament
House.
Much of the material used in the construction of
the sister church on the Castle Hill was pulled
down and used in the walls of the Tron, which the
former was meant closely to resemble, if we may
judge from the plan of Gordon of Rothiemay. 10
1644 the magistrates bought 1,000 stone weight of
copper in Amsterdam to cover the roof; but such
were the exigencies of the time that it was sold,
and stones and lead were substituted in its place.
In 1639 David Mackall, a merchant of Edinburgh;
gave >,so0 merks, or about ;E194 sterling,
to the magistrates in trust, for purchasing land, to
be applied to the maintenance of a chaplain in
the Tron Church, where he was to preach every
Sunday morning at six o?clock, or such other hour
as the wgistrates should appoint They may be
truly said, continues Arnot, ?to have hid this
talent in a napkin. They did not? appoint a
preacher for sixty-four years. As money then
bore ten per cent., although the interest of thii

... Church 1 THE TRON CHURCH. 187 is, into which the sun scarcely penetrates. But it once contained a tavern of ...

Book 1 p. 187
(Score 1.24)

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 409
believe him guilty of such an absurdity; for, with all his preciseness in
matters of duty, and his sensitive notions of etiquette, he entertained a much
greater dread of rendering himself unbecomingly conspicuous, than of any
ridicule that could possibly arise from an oversight in the punctilio of dress.
He was particularly kind
and attentive to such young persons as appeared bashful ; and, that they might
feel more at ease, lost no opportunity of engaging them in conversation.
Lord Napier married Maria-Margaret, eldest daughter of Lieut.-General Sir
William Clavering, K.B. By this marriage his lordship had nine children.
He died in 1823: and was succeeded by his eldest son, William-John eighth
Lord Napierl-a spirited and benevolent nobleman, long eminent in the south
of Scotland as an improver in store-farming, and as a benefactor of the Forest.
He died in his forty-eighth year, at Macao, in China, October 11, 1834, of a
lingering fever, brought on by anxiety in the performance of a high official duty,
as Chief Superintendent of British Trade in that empire, and which was increased
by the harsh treatment he received from the Chinese government.
In company his lordship was far from reserved,
The figure to the right of Lord Napier is an excellent likeness of
old MAJOR PILMER. He was a native of Fifeshire, and commenced his
military life as an ensign in the 21st Regiment of Foot. He had seen a great
deal of service, and served along with Lord Napier during the war in America,
where he was wounded. He retired from the army on the half-pay of a Captain,
and resided in the neighbourhood of Cupar-Fife, where he had at one period
a small estate; but which, it is believed, was entirely dissipated while he
was abroad, His appointment in the Hopetoun Fencibles, by which his
half-pay was relinquished for the full pay of a Major, was obtained through the
influence of Lord Napier.
There was something rather remarkable in the appearance of Old Pilmer.
His regimentals were none of the newest, and his boots-which the artist has
hit off with great precision-were of a curious and antique description. They
had been so often mended and re-mended, that it is questionable whether, like
Sir John Cutler's stockings, any portion of the original remained, While
stationed at Aberdeen, along with the Rutland Fencible Cavalry, the officers of
that corps used to amuse themselves occasionally at the expense of Major Pilmer
and his boots j and Pilmer at last became a standard and expressive appellation
amongst them. " You have got your PiZmers on to-day ! " was a common remark
to any one whose boots were a little the worse for wear.
The Major, who was L worthy old soldier, relished his bottle and a joke at
table, and did not feel at all out of humour at the allusions to his Pilrners.
The third figure represents MAJOR CLARKSON, another veteran. He
at one time possessed the estate of Blackburn, in Linlithgowshire. He entered
1 Captain Charles Napier, R.N., who lately distinguished himself in the service of the Queen of
3 6
Portugal, and the late Lord Napier were cousins.

... SKETCHES. 409 believe him guilty of such an absurdity; for, with all his preciseness in matters of ...

Book 8 p. 568
(Score 1.24)

118 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
No, LVI.
CAPTAIN GEORGE GORDON,
CAPTAIN GEORGE ROBERTSON, AND
JOHN GRIEVE, ESQ.,
LORD PROVOST OF EDINBURGH.
CAPTAIN GORDOK, the first figure in the Print, is repre nted as in ttendance
on the Lord Provost. He was formerly an officer of the Scottish
Brigade’ in the service of Holland, and was appointed to his situation as
Captain in the Town Guard, on the death of Captain Robertson in 1787. He
lived in Bell’s Wynd, High Street, and was somewhat remarkable for his
forenoon or meridian potations, an indulgence by no means uncommon in his
day. He died on the 25th September 1803.
CAPTAIN ROBERTSON, who is in the attitude of receiving instructions
from the Lord Provost, has already been noticed as one of “ the Three Captains
of Pilate’s Guard,” No. XV.
JOHN GRIEVE, ESQ., the centre figure of this triumvirate, was a
merchant in the Royal Exchange, and held the office of Lord Provost in the
years 1782-3 and again in 1786-7. He entered the Town Council so early as
1765, was treasurer in 1’769, and Dean of Guild in 1778-9. Mr. Grieve possessed
a great deal of natural sagacity, to which he entirely owed his success in business,
The Scottish Brigade in Holland were a body of about six battalions, originally sent for the
purpose of assisting the Republic. They continued to be supplied with recruits from Scotland, and
kept in an effective state ; but under one pretence or other they were detained so long in the service
of the Dutch that it almost came to be a matter of dispute whether there existed a right to recall
them. In 1763 the chiefs or officers of the regiment addressed a strong remonstrance to the British
Secretary at War, expressing a desire to be removed from the provinces on account of indifferent
usage ; but, either from inability or neglect, their remonstrance was not sufficiently attended to. In
1779, they again made offer of their services to the British Government, being unwilling to loiter
away their time in garrison towns, “while the enemies of their country were uniting against her ; ”
but the States of the United Provinces resolved that the Scotch Brigade should, on and after the
1st of January 1783, be incorporated with the Dutch troops, and in every way similarly situated.
At that time the Scotch Brigade had been above 200 years in the service of the States, and in the
numeiwus battles and sieges in which they had been engaged they never lost a single colour, having
on all occasions defended them with the utmost bravery. “At Bergen-op-Zoom, in 1747, in particular,
General Marjoribank‘s regiment consisted of 850 rank and file, of which only 220 survived the fatal
storm of the place ; but these brave handful of men, although many of them were wounded, cut their
way through the grenadiers of France, and carried off their colours in triumph into the lines of the
Allied army of Steebergen.” On this conjunction of the Scotch Brigade with the Dutch regiments,
mauy of the officers refusing to subscribe the new oaths of allegiance, returned to their native country.

... BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. No, LVI. CAPTAIN GEORGE GORDON, CAPTAIN GEORGE ROBERTSON, AND JOHN GRIEVE, ...

Book 8 p. 172
(Score 1.23)

I4 .OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [University.
marks Arnot, ? that these Parliamentary visitors
proceeded with great violence and injustice.?
Before the autumn of 1690 the professors who
were faithful to the House of Stuart were expelled
by a royal commission. Proclamation was made
at the Cross, and an edict fixed to it and the
college gates, and at Stirling, Haddington, and
elsewhere, warning the principal and professors,
and all schoolmasters in Edinburgh and the adjacent
counties, to appear before the Committee of
Visitors on the 20th of August, to answer upon
the points contained in the .Act of Parliament.
? ?AZso summoning and warning aZZ the &gees who
haw anything to oyect against the said pinc$aZ,
professors, &c., to appear befare the said Cammittee,
the said day and $ace, to giw in olyedions,
Erc.? After an edict which bespoke that the
country, although it had been subjected to a revolution,
had not acquired a system of liberty nor
the iudiments of justice: after an invitation so
publicly thrown out by the Commissioners of
Parliament in a nation disturbed by religious a d
political factions, it is not to be supposed that
informers would be wanting.? (Ibid.)
Sir John Hall, Knight, the Lord Provost, sat as
president of this inquisition, which met on the day
appointed ; and after adjourning his trial-for such
it was-for eight days, they brought before them
Alexander Monro, who had succeeded Cant as
principal in 1685, and Sir John Hall, addressing
him, bade him answer to the various articles of
his indictment, and commanded the clerk to read
them aloud.
To the first two articles (one of which was that
he had renounced the Protestant faith) the principal
replied extempore. But when he discpvered that the
clerk was about to read from a list, bringing forward
he knew not what charges, ?( he complained of proceedings
so unjust and illegal, desired to know his
accusers, and be allowed? time to prepare his defences.?
Thereupon he was furnished with an unsigned
copy of the informations lodged against him, and
had a few days given him to prepare replies.
Having sent in these, containing an acknowledgment
of certain matters of small moment, and a
denial of the rest, he was asked by the commissioners
if he was prepared to take all the tests, religious
and political, imposed by the new laws of the
Revolution.
To this he replied in the negative, on which a
sentence of deprivation was passed upon him, in
which his acknowledgment of certain charges made
against him and his refusal to embrace the new
formulas were mingled as grounds for the said
sentence. (Presbyterian Inquisition, as quoted by
Arnot.)
Dr. John Strachan,? Professor of Divinity since
1683, was next brought before these commkioners.
Like the principal, he was served with an unsigned
indictment. His case and the proceedings thereon
were identical with those of the principal, and he
too was expelled from his chair; but it does not
appear that any more than these two were served
thus.
Gilbert Rule, the new principal, held his chair
till 1703, and was famous for nothing but seeing
?a ghost ? on one or two occasions, as we learn
from Wodrow?s ?Analecta.?
In the year 1692 the professors of the university
seem to have held several conferences with their
patrons, the Town Council and magistrates, as to
the expediency of restoring, or perhaps establishing
permanently, the oftices of rector and chancellor,
which, owing to civil war and tumult, had fallen into
disuse or been permitted to pass away; and now the
time had come when a spirit of improvement was
developing itself among men of literary tastes in
Scotland, and more particularly among the regents
of her universities generally.
In a memorial drawn up and prepared by the
principal, Gilbert Rule, the professors urged, ?That
in obedience to the commands of the honourable
patrons, they have considered the rise and establishment
of the university; and they find from
authentic documents that she has been in the
exercise of these powers, and for a considerable
time governed in that manner, wherein consists
the distinguishing character of a university from
the lesser seminaries of learning. She continues
in the possession of giving degrees to all the learned
sciences; but her government by a rector has
now, for some considerable time, gone into disuse.
To what causes the sinking the useful office of
rector is most likely to have been owing, they are
unwilling to explore, lest the scrutiny should lead
them into the view of some unhappy differences,
whereof, in their humble opinion, the memory
should not be recalled. It is plain, however, the
university in former times was more in the exercise
of certain rights and privileges, and in certain
respects carried more the outward face of a
iiniversity than she has done for some time past.?
Whether the Lord Provost, Sir John Hall, and
the Council, were hostile to these wishes we know
not, but the memorialists failed to achieve their
end.
In 1694 we hear of an advance in medical education
in Edinburgh, eleven years before the first
professor of anatomy was appointed. In the latter

... .OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [University. marks Arnot, ? that these Parliamentary visitors proceeded with great ...

Book 5 p. 14
(Score 1.23)

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 425
The centre figure, DR, WILLIAM LAING, represented as holding a little
girl, his niece, by the hand, was a medical gentleman of good reputation and
respectable character, His conciliatory manner and amiable disposition gained
him the esteem of a numerous circle of friends. He originally .came from
Jedburgh. The attitude in which he is portrayed was suggested by the Doctor
himself.
As an instance of Dr. Laing’s kindly disposition, and the interest which he
took in the encouragement of youth, a gentleman well known in the literary
circles of Edinburgh, and to whose extensive information the proprietor of this
work is much indebted, mentions that he was for several years a pensioner of
the Doctor, who insisted on his calling every New-year’s-day to receive a gift
of two shillings and sixpence; and which he obliged our respected friend to
accept, even after he had become so old as to be ashamed of the donation.
Dr. Laing lived in Carrubber’s Close, where he died 13th March 17 8 9.
The last figure of the group, DR. JAMES HAY, of Hayston, was long
well known in this city, where he died on 10th October 1810, in the eightysixth
year of his age. Having adopted the medical profession, he served as an
army-surgeon in 1744, under the Duke of Cumberland in Flanders, where,
being a man of shrewdness and observation, the beautiful and well-cultivated
fields of that country attracted his notice, and probably gave him a taste for
agricultural pursuit,s, which afterwards proved a source of amusement to him,
when he succeeded to his paternal property of Hayston, in Tweeddale. His
spirited example and intelligence tended greatly to improve and advance the
agriculture of that district.
Notwithstanding these pursuits, Dr. Hay lived chiefly in Edinburgh ; and,
as was the custom of the time, was a regular frequenter of the meetings of the
citizens at the Cross,’ among whom he was esteemed for his gentlemanly manners
and friendly address. It was probably on occasion of some of those accidental
greetings that Kay may have seen the parties together whom he has grouped in
this Print.
Dr, Hay held the office of Inspector of the Military Ward in the Infirmary
of this city till his death. In 1805, on the failure of the heirs-male of the body
of Sir James Hay of Smithfield, he was served heir to the baronetcy, as the
lineal descendant of Sir James’s next brother, and became Sir James Hay. His
grandson, Sir John Hay, who for some time represented the county of Peebles in
Parliament, was succeeded in the title by his brother, the late Sir Adam Hay, Bart.
At the time the foregoing Print was executed, Dr. Hay lived in New Street,
Canongate. He had previously resided in the Potterrow, near which there is a
small street named after him.
Edinburgh at that time was confined almost exclusively to the old city. The concouwe of the
They there met to discuss the topics of the day, and
These meetings always
The Cross was situated in the centre of the principal
citizens at the Cross served a double purpose.
to see their acquaintances, without the labour and waste of forenoon calls.
took place between the hours of one and two.
street of the old town.
3 1

... SKETCHES. 425 The centre figure, DR, WILLIAM LAING, represented as holding a little girl, his niece, ...

Book 8 p. 591
(Score 1.22)

-
THE OLD TOWN. 27
Hope, Christison, Lizars, Liston, and Robert Knox In lower but still lofty
literary regions William Knox is singing his Hebrew songs, ' most musical,
most melancholy.' ,The two Chamberses are laying the slow but surefoundations
of their extensive fame and usefulness. Miss Ferrier is writing her
Marriage and Inhe~itame, and Mrs. Johnstone her CZan AZbin. Robert
Pollok has come to town from the Mearns, near Paisley, and is publishing
his highly popular and promising poem, Tke Course of Time, and Thomas Aird
has startled the literary world by his strange and powerful Devit's Dream and
Dmoniac, holding out a grand hope that has, alas ! not been thoroughly
realised. In the Dissenting pulpit, besides old Dr. James Peddie and Dr.
Hall, two men, very different, but both of no ordinary powers, have appeared
in Dr. John Brown and Dr. John Ritchie. In the Newspaper press, the
Wee&& Yourna4 the CaZedonian Mercwy, and above all the manly and
liberal Scofsman, have made their mark. And this last may be considered
the avanf-courmr of Fait's Magazine, which comes to the aid of the Liberal
PAUL STREET.
interest in 1832, and rallies round it, besides its energetic publisher, such
writers as William Weare, Roebuck, FonbIanque, Mrs. Johnstone, Bownng,
Professor Nichol, Robert Nicoll, Sir Thomas Dick Lauder, and the wondrous
De Quincey. Besides, the Edinburgh Literary YourjzaL: edited by Henry
Glassford Bell, is for some years a very meritorious publication, and so is,
in another sphere, the Edfdurgh Christian Instmcfor, edited by Dr. xndrew

... OLD TOWN. 27 Hope, Christison, Lizars, Liston, and Robert Knox In lower but still lofty literary regions ...

Book 11 p. 45
(Score 1.22)

3 34 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
world associations with the knights of St John. Here was the strange old timber-fronted
tenement, where rank and beauty held their assemblies in the olden time. Here was the
Provost’s lodging where Prince Charles and his elated counsellors were entertained in
1745, and adjoining it there remained till the last a moment0 of his royal ancestor, James
11.’~m assive wall, and of the old Port or Bow whereat the magistrates were wont to
present the silver keys, with many a grave and costly ceremonial, to each monarch who
entered his Scottish capital in state. Down this steep the confessors of the Covenant were
hurried to execution. Here, too, was the old-fashioned fore stair over which the amazed and
stuppified youth, who long after sat on the bench under the title of Lord Monboddo, gazed in
dreamy horror as the wretched Porteous was dragged to the scene of his crime, on the night
of the 7th September 1736, and near by stood the booth at which the rioters paused,
and with ostentatious deliberation purchased the rope wherewith he was hung at its foot.
Nor must we forget, among its most durable memorabilia, the wizards and ghosts who
claimed possessions in its mysterious alleys, maintaining their rights in defiance of t6e
march of intellect, and only violently ejected at last when their habitations were tumbled
about their ears.
This curious zig-zag steep was undoubtedly one of the most ancient streets in the Old
Town, and probably existed as a roadway to the Castle, while Edwin’s burgh was comprised
in a few mud and straw huts scattered along the higher slope. Enough still remains
of it to show how singularly picturesque and varied were the tenements with which
it once abounded. At the corner of the Lawnmarket is an antique fabric, reared ere
Newton’s law of gravitation wa,s dreamt of, and seeming rather like one of the mansions
of Laputa, whose builders had discovered the art of constructing houses from the chimneytops
downward! A range of slim wooden posts sustains a pile that at every successive
story shoots further into the street until it bears some resemblance to an inverted
pyramid. The gables
and eaves of its north front, which appear in the engraving of the Weigh-house, are
richly carved, and the whole forms a remarknhly striking specimen, the finest that now
rhmains, of an ancient tim6er-land. Next come8 a stone-land, with a handsome polished
ashlar front and gabled attics of the time of Charles I, Irregular string courses decorate
the walls, and a shield on the lowest crowwstep bears the initials of its first proprietors,
I. O., I. B., with a curious merchant’s mark between. A little lower down, in one of the
numerous supplementary recesses that added to the contortions of this strangely-crooked
thoroughfare? a handsomely sculptured doorway meets the view, now greatly dilapidated
and time-worn. Though receding from the adjoining building, it forms part of a stone
turnpike that projects considerably beyond the tenement to which it belongs : so numerous
were once the crooks of the Bow, where every tenement seemed to take up its own
independent standing with perfect indifference to the position of its neighbours. On a
curiouslr-formed dormer window which surmounts the staircase, the city motto appears
to have been cut, but only the first. word now remains legible. Over the doorway below,
a large shield in the centre of the lintel bears the Williamson arms, now greatly defaced
with this inscription, and date on either side, SOLID. EO. HONO.R E T. GLOBIA, D . W .
1 . 6 . 0. 4 . The initials are those of David Williamson, a wealthy burgese in the time
of James VI. But the old stair once possessed-or was believed to possess-strange pro-
It is, nevertheless, a fine example of an old burgher dwelling.

... 34 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH. world associations with the knights of St John. Here was the strange old ...

Book 10 p. 365
(Score 1.22)

428 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
IIL CHURCHES.
TRONCH nRcE.-The Tron Church, or Christ’s Church at the Tron, as it should be more correctly termed,
ia one of two churches founded about the year 1637, in consequence of want of accommodation for the citizens
in the places of worship then existing. They proceeded very slowly, impeded no doubt by the political disturbances
of the period. In 1647 the Church at the Tron was so far advanced as to admit of its being used for
public worship, but it was not entirely finished till 1663. On the front of the tower, over the great doorway,
a large ornamental panel bears the city arms in alto ~eEieuo, and beneath them the inscription BDEM HANO
CHRISTO ET ECCLESI~ SACBARUNT CIVES EDINBURQENSES, ANNO DON. MDCXLI. Some account has been given
@age 260) of the changes effected on the church in opening up the southern approaches to the city, in the
year 1785. It is finished internally with an open timber roof, somewhat similar to that in the Parliament
House j but its effect has been greatly impaired by the shortening of the church when it was remodelled externally.
In 1884 the old steeple was destroyed by fire. It wa built according to a design frequently repeated
on the public buildings throughout Scotland at that period, but the examples of which are rapidly disappearing.
Old St Nicholas’s Church at Leith still preserves the model on a small scale, and the tower of Glasgow College
is nearly a facsimile of it. The old tower of St Mary’s Church, as engraved in our view of it, was another
nearly similar, but that has been since taken down ; and a destructive fire has this year demolished another
similar erection at the Town Hall, Linlithgow. The site chosen for the second of the two churches projected
in 1637 was the Castle Hill, on the ground now occupied by the Reservoir. The building of the latter church
was carried to a considerable extent, as appears from cfordon’s View of Edinburgh, drawn about ten years later ;
but the Magistrates discovering by that time that it was much easier to project than to build such edifices, they,
according to Arnot, “pulled down the unfinished church on the Caste1 Hill, and employed the materials in
erecting the Tron.” There is good reason, however, for believing that Arnot is mistaken in this account of the
interruption of the former building. It is unquestionable, at any rate, that at no period since the Reformation
has the same zeal been manifested for religious foundations as appears to have prevailed at that period. In
1639, according to Amot, David Machall, merchant burgess of Edinburgh, left three thousand five hundred
merks, or, as in the Inventar of Pious Donations, I‘ 1000 merks yearly, to maintain a chaplain in the Tron
Church of Edin’ to mak Exercise every Sunday from 8 to 9 in the morning.” In 1647, Lady Yester.founded
the church that bears her name ; and in 1650, Thomas Noodie, or as he is styled in Slezer‘s Theatrum Scotia,
Sir Thomas Moodie of Sachtenhall, bequeathed the mm of twenty thousand merks to the Town Council, in
trust, for building a church in the town, and which, after variou.3 projects for its application to different purposes,
was at length made use of for providing a church for the parishioners of the Canongate, on their ejection
from Holyrood Abbey by James VII. in 1687. Such does not seem to be a period when a church which had
been in proopess for years, and, as would appear from Gordon’s View, was advancing towards completion,
would be deliberately levelled with the ground, from the difficulty of raising the necessary funds. The following
entry in the Inventar of Pious Donations, throws new light both on this and on the object of Moodie’s
bequest : ‘‘ Tho’ Mudie left for the re-edyfing to the Kirk that was throwne doun by the English in the Castle
Hill of E@, 40,000 merks,-but what is done fin I know not.” There is added on the margin in a later
hand, seemingly that of old Robcrt Milne, circa 1700.; “ The Wigs built the Canongate Kirk yrw’.” From this
it appears that the church on the Castle Hill shared the same fate as the old Weigh-house, its materials having
most probably been converted into redoubts for Cromwell’s artillery, during the siege of the Castle, for which
purpose they lay very conveniently at hand. In the year 1673, a bell, which cost 1490 merla and 8 shillings
Scots, was hung up in the steeple, and continued weekly to summon the parishioners to church till the Great
Fire of 1824, when, after han@g till it was partly melted by the heat, it fell with a tremendous crash among
the blazing ruins of the steeple, Portions of it were afterwards made into quaichs and other similar memorials

... MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH. IIL CHURCHES. TRONCH nRcE.-The Tron Church, or Christ’s Church at the Tron, as it ...

Book 10 p. 467
(Score 1.22)

400 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
toy merchant,’ having failed, he took the bankrupt’s goods at a valuation, and
entered into his shop as his successor. In the course of a short time he added
groceries to his other stock ; and, finding that branch turn out the most advantageous,
latterly discarded the hardware business altogether.
Mr. Johnston’s manner was peculiar, and he spoke very fast and indistinctly.
He died on the 20th May 1’197, aged sixty-three.
The other bulky figure, with the indescribable head-dress, kept a millinery
establishment, as has been already mentioned, in the Royal Exchange. MISS
SIBILLA HUTTON was the daughter of a very worthy dissenting clergyman,
the Rev. Mr. William Hutton of Dalkeith.’ Xi6by-for that was the name by
which she was best known-was, without exception, the most fantastic lady of
her day. This disposition grew with her growth, and strengthened with her
strength. She by no means coincided with the poet’s idea of beauty-
When unadorned, adorned the most.”
From her infancy she had been remarkable for her love of ornament ; and, notwithstanding
all the injunctions and rebukes of her father, Sibby still admired
and followed the capricious changes of fashion.
Sibby carried on business to great purpose, and daily added to the heaviness
of her purse, as well as to the rotundity of her person. Neither did she neglect
her early imbibed notions of personal decoration. She was always at the head
of the ton, and indeed generally so far in advance that few attempted to follow.
Miss Sibi!la’s silks, too, and the profusion of lace with which she was overlaid,
were always of the most costly description, and must have been procured at
immense expense.
During her residence in Edinburgh she occasionally visited her friends at
Dalkeith. The old Secession minister was sadly scandalised at Sibby’s obduracy
in the practice of vain ornament. One day Sibby appeared at Dalkeith
with the identical head-dress in which she is portrayed in the Print. It was
the first occasion on which it had graced her portly figure. ‘‘ Sibby ! Sibby ! ”
said the father, with more than usual gravity; “do you really expect to get to
heaven with such a bonnet on your head?” “And why not, father?” said
Sibilla, with her accustomed good humour ; “ I’m sure I’ll make a better appear-
Merchant in Scotland at that time was applied to all traders, whether wholesale or retail.
An anecdote is told of him and the Rev.
Mr. Sheriff, whose prayers are said to have been so wonderfully efficacious in driving Paul Jones to
sea, when that adventurer threatened to land at Leith in 1779. The Dalkeith minister was on one
occasion preaching before the Synod, when, on the expiry of the first hour, by way of giving him a
gentle hint, Mr. Sheriff held out his watch in such a way as he could not fail to observe it. The
preacher paused for a moment, but immediately went on with renewed vigour, till another hour had
expired. Mr. Sheriff then repeated his former motion, but still without effect ; and a third hour
elapsed ere the sermon came to a conclusion. At dinner the preacher ventured to inquire the reason
of his friend’s having acted the part of monitor. “The first
hour I heard you with pleasure, and, as I hope every one else did, with profit ; the second, I
listened with impatience ; and the third with contempt /“
-a Mr. Hutton was rather famed for lengthy sermons.
I‘ I will tell you,” said Mr. Sheriff.

... BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. toy merchant,’ having failed, he took the bankrupt’s goods at a valuation, ...

Book 8 p. 557
(Score 1.21)

North Bridge.] THE ORPHAN HOSPITAL 359
c
CHAPTER XLVI:
EAST SIDE OF THE NORTH BRIDGE (concZdeJJ.
The Old Orphan Hospital-Its Foundation. Object, and Removal-Lady Glenorchy?s Chapel-Her Disputes with the Presbytery-Dr. SnelI
Jones-Demolition of the Chapel and School-Old Physic Gardens Formed-The Gardens-Sir Andrew Balfm-James Sutherland-
Inundated in x68pSutherland?s Efforts to Improve the Gardcn-Professor Hope.
ABOUT IOO feet east of the bridge, and the same
distance south of the theatre which Whitefield
to his dismay saw built in the park of the Orphan
Hospital, stood the latter edifice, the slender,
pointed spire of which was a conspicuous object in
this quarter of the city.
A hospital for the maintenance and education
of orphan children was originally designed by Mr.
Andrew Gardiner, merchant, and some other
citizens, in 1732. The suggestion met with the
approval of the Society for the Propagation of
Christian Knowledge, then located in what was
anciently named Bassandyne?s Close ; and it was
moreover assisted by liberal subscriptions and
collections at the church doors. At first a house
was hired, and thirty orphans placed in it. According
to Maitland, in November, 1733, the
hospital was founded; it stood 340 feet northwest
of the Trinity College Church, and in its
formation a part of the burial ground attached to
the latter was used.
In 1738 the Town Council granted the hospital
a seal of cause, and in 1742 they obtained royal
letters patent creating it a corporation, by which
most of the Scottish officers of State, and the heads
of different societies in Edinburgh, are constituent
members. This chanty is so extensive in its
benevolence, that children from any part of the
British Empire have the right of admission, SO far
as the funds will admit-indigence, and the
number of children in a poor family being the
None, however, are admitted under the age of
seven, or retained after they are past fourteen, as
at that time of life the managers are seldom at a
loss to dispose of them, ?the young folks,? says
Arnot, ? choosing to follow trades, and the public
entertaining so good an opinion of the manner in
which they have been brought up, that manufacturers
and others are very ready to take them into
their employment. There are about,? he adds, in
1779, ?one hundred orpham maintained in this
hospital.?
This number was increased in 1781, when Mr.
Thomas Tod, merchant in Edinburgh, became
treasurer. It was then greatly enlarged for the
better accommodation of the children, ?? and to
enable them to perform a variety of work, from the
. best title to it.
produce of which the expenses of their education
and maintenance were lessened, and healthy and
cheerful exercise furnished, suitable to their years.?
It is remarkable,? says Kincaid, ? that from
January, 1784, to January, 1787, out of from 130 to
140 young children not one has died. A particular
account of the rise, progress, present state,
and intended enlargement of this hospital was
publisted by the treasurer (Mr. Tod), wherein is a
print of the elevation, with two wings,.which the
managers intend to build so soon as the funds will
permit, when there will be room for zoo orphans.?
In its slender spire hung two bells, and therein
also stood the ancient clock of the Netherbow
Port, now in use at the Dean.
The revenues were inconsiderable, and it was
chiefly supported by benefactions and collections
made at the churches in the city. Howard, the
philanthropist, who visited it more than once, and
made himself acquainted with the constitution and
management of this hospital, Acknowledged it to be
one of the best and most useful charities in Europe.
A portrait of him hangs in the new Orphan Hospital
at the Dean, the old building we have described
having been removed in 1845 by the operations
of the North British Railway, and consequently
being now a thing of the past, like the chapel of
Lady Glenorchy, which shared the same fate at the
same time.
This edifice stood in the low ground, between
the Orphan Hospital and the Trinity College
Church, about 300 feet eastward of the north arch
of the Bridge.
Wilhelmina Maxwell, Viscountess Dowaget of
John Viscount Glenorchy, who was a kind of
Scottish Countess of Huntingdon in her day, was
the foundress of this chapel, which was a plain,
lofty stone building, but neatly fitted up- within
with two great galleries, that ran round the sides
of the edifice, and was long a conspicuous object
to all who crossed the Bridge. It was seated for
2,000 persons, and the middle was appropriated to
the poor, who sat there gratis to the number of
some hundreds. ?? Whether,? says Arnot, ?before
Lady Glenorchy founded this institution there were
churches sufficient for accommodating the inhabitants
we shall not pretend to determine. Such,
indeed, is the demand for seats, and so little arg

... Bridge.] THE ORPHAN HOSPITAL 359 c CHAPTER XLVI: EAST SIDE OF THE NORTH BRIDGE (concZdeJJ. The Old Orphan ...

Book 2 p. 359
(Score 1.2)

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 71
use of the small-sword, and subsequently, to teach them to ride in the
menage.”-(‘ During this time,” continues Angelo the younger, ‘‘ my father
frequently took me thither, when he attended his royal pupils, and I rarely came
away without a pocketful of sweetmeats.” At an interview with the King, on
which occasion Tremamondo displayed the various styles of riding on his favourite
horse Monarch, among others that of riding the “great horse,” his Majesty
was pleased to declare that Angelo was the most elegant horseman of his day ;
and it was in consequence of this interview that the King persuaded Mr. West,
the celebrated artist, when he was commissioned to paint the picture of the
“Battle of the Boyne,” to make a study of Tremamondo for the equestrian figure
of King William. He also sat to the sculptor for the statue of King William,
subsequently set up in Merrion Square, Dublin.
While in London, Tremamondo was challenged to a trial of skill with a Dr.
Keys, reputed the most expert fencer in Ireland. The scene of action was in
an apartment of the Thatched House Tavern, where many ladies and gentlemen
were present. When Tremamondo entered, arm-in-arm with his patron, Lord
Pembroke, he found the Doctor without his coat and waistcoat, his shirt sleeves
tucked up, and displaying a pair of brawny arms-the Doctor being a tall
athletic figure. After the Doctor had swallowed a bumper of Cognac he began
the attack with great violence. Tremamondo acted for some time on the defensive,
with all the grace and elegance for which he was renowned, and after
having planted a dozen palpable hits on the breast of his enraged antagonist, he
made his bow to the ladies, and retired amid the plaudits of the spectators.
Angelo the younger relates another anecdote of his father, which he calls
“ a fencing-master’s quarrel.” Shortly after Tremamondo’s appointment as
fencing-master to the Prince of Wales and the Duke of York, a Mr. Redman,
an Irishman, who had been formerly patronised by the royal family, was continually
abusing *Tremamondo for a foreigner, and for having supplanted him.
They met one day in the Haymarket, where words ensued, and then blows-the
Irishman with a shillelah, and the Italian with a cane. On this occasion also,
Tremamondo was victorious, having broken his opponent’s head ; but next day,
to wipe off the disgrace of having fought like porters, he challenged his rival to
meet him with swords, but Redman answered that he would put him in (‘ the
Crown Office,” and immediately entered an action against him in the King’s
Bench, which ended in Tremamondo having to pay 2100 damages and $90
costs.
We
find little more recorded of him than that he was acquainted with almost all the
celebrated characters of his day, whether of the ‘‘ sock and buskin,” or the gymnastic
(( art of equitation,” He was generous in the extreme, and Angelo the
younger had an opportunity at his father’s well-replenished table of forming a
most extensive and interesting acquaintance.
Old Dominico died at Eton in 1802, aged eighty-six, aid was so much in possession
of his faculties that he gave a lesson in fencing the day before his death.
So much for the gallant Dominico Angelo Malevolti Tremamondo.

... SKETCHES. 71 use of the small-sword, and subsequently, to teach them to ride in the menage.”-(‘ ...

Book 8 p. 102
(Score 1.19)

ST LEONARD’S, ST MARY’S WYND, AND CO WGATE. 311
the modern town. To the same period may be referred, with much probability, the erection
of homes along the ancient roadway from Leith that skirted the east wall of the
town ; and probably also the founding of the nunnery from whence the southern portion
of it derived its name, although Chalmers, seemingly on insdcient evidence, assigns the
origin of the latter to “ the uncertain piety of the twelfth century.”l Spottiswoode
remarks, (c in the chartularies of St GiIes’s, the Nuns of St Mary’s Wynd in the City of
Edinburgh are recorded. The chapel and convent stood near to the walls of the garden
belonging at present to the Marquis of Tweeddale, and from its being consecrated to the
Virgin Mary, the street took its name which it still retains.”P Acurious allusion to this
chapel occurs in the statutes of the burgh of Edinburgh, enacted during the dreadful
visitation of the plague in 1530, where Marione Clerk is convicted by an assize of concealing
her infection, and of having “past amangis the nychtbouris of this toune to the
chapel1 of Sanct Mary Wynd on Sonday to the mess, and to hir sisteris house and vther
placis,” the pestilence being upon her, and thereby, as the statute says, doing all that was
in her to have infected the whole town. The unhappy woman, convicted of the crime of
going to church during her illness, is condemned to be drowned in the Quarell holes, and
there can be no doubt that the cruel and barbarous sentence was carried into execution.s
The salary of the chaplain of St Mary’s Nunnery was, in 1490, only sixteen shillings and
eightpence sterling yearly ; and its whole revenues were probably never large, the most of
them having apparently been derived from voluntary contribution^.^ The site of this
ancient religious foundation was on the west side of the wynd, where it contracts in
breadth, a few yards below the Nether Bow. Of its origin or founders nothing further is
known, but it was most probably dismantled and ruined in the Douglas wars, when the
houses in St Mary’s and Leith Wynds were unroofed and converted into defensive barriers
by the beleaguered citizen^.^
1 Caledonia, vol E. p. 761.
a Acts and Statutes of the Burgh of Edinburgh ; Mait. Misc. vol. ii. p. 115.
a Spottiswoode’a Religious Houses, 1755, p. 283.
This proceeding ia by no means a
solitary case. The following, which is of date August 2, 1530, is rendered more noticeable by the reasons for “erg that
follow :-“ The quhilk day forsamekle as it we8 perfytlie vnderabnd and kend that Dauid Duly, tailyour, has haldin his
wif seyk in the contagiua seiknes of pestilens ij dayis in his house, and wald nocht revele the samyn to the officiaris of
the tome quhill scho wes deid in the wid seiknes. And in the meyn tyme the said Dauid past to Sanct Gelis Kirk
quhilk waa Sonday, and thair said mess amangis the cleyne pepill, his wif beandin eztrentiS in the said seiknes, doand quhat
was in him till haif infekkit all the toune. For the quhilk causis he was adiugit to be hangit on ane gebat befor his awin
dum, and that we8 gevin for dome.”
The following notice of same date proves the execution of this strange sentence on the unfortunate widower, though
he happily survived the effects :-“ The quhilk day fforsamekle as Dauid Duly waa decernit this day, befor none, for hie
demeritis to be hangit on ane gebbat befor his dure quhar he duellis, nochtwithstanding beawe at the toill of W heha
exhapit, and tht raip brokin, and faUin of thc yibbat, a d i a am pure m mi& h maU barn&, and for pte of him, the
prouest, ballies, and counsall, bannasia the said Bauid this toune for all the daia of his lyf, and nocht to cum tharintill
in the meyn tyme vnder the pain of deid’,-Ibid, pp. 107,108.
The following is the reference to the chapel in the titlea of the property occupying ita site :-“ All and hail these
two old tenements of land lying together on the west side of St Mary’s Wynd, near the head of the same; the one on
the south of old pertaining to Robert and Andrew Harts, and the other on the north called Crenzen’s Laud; and that
high dwelling-house, entering from St Yary’a Wynd, on the west aide thairof, in the south part of the tenement, of old
called St Yary’s ChapeL” In the Inwn&rium Jocal~unaB E& bfonaderii San& C-, 1493 (Bann. Mkc voL ii. p. 24),
there is mentioned “vna reliquia argentea pro altari Sancte Katerine cum oase eiusdem, quam fecit dominus Iohannes Cruneanne,
quondam Vicarius de Vre.” [Aberdeenshire.] It is poeaible this may have been the chaplain of the nunnery from
whence the neighbouring tenement derived ita name. Besides Alterages dedicated to the Virgin, there were in Edinburgh
and ita neighbourhood the Abbey Church of Holyrood, founded in honour of the Holy Cross, the Blessed Virgin,
and all aainta ; Trinity College Church, in honour of the Holy Trinity, the ever blessed and glorious Virgin Yary, &c. ;
the large Collegiate Church of St Nayy in the Fields; St Yary’s Chapel and Nunnery in St Mary’s Wynd ; St Mary’s
-
4 Arnot, p. 247.

... LEONARD’S, ST MARY’S WYND, AND CO WGATE. 311 the modern town. To the same period may be referred, with much ...

Book 10 p. 339
(Score 1.18)

I 26 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
of one of them as it still exists, with the wooden frame-work that sustained the hammocks
of the prisoners.
Immediately below Queen May’s Room, there is another c~iously-vaulted dungeon,
partly excavated out of the solid rock, and retaining the staple of an iron chain, doubtlesS
used for securing the limbs of some wretched captive in ancient times. No date can with
any certainty be assigned to these massive foundations of the Castle, though they undoubtedly
belong to a remote period of its history.
In making some repairs on the west front of the royal apartments in the year 1830, a
remarkably curious and interesting discovery was made. Nearly in a line with the Crown
Room, and about six feet from the pavement of the quadrangle, the wall was observed,
when struck, to sound hollow, as though a cavity existed at that place. It was accordingly
opened from the outside, when a recess was discovered? measuring about two feet
six inches by one foot, and containing the remains of a child, enclosed in an oak coffin,
evidently of great antiquity, and very much decayed. The remains were wrapped in a
cloth, believed to be woollen, very thickly wove, so as to resemble leather, and within this
’ were the decayed fra-pents of a richly-embroidered silk covering, with two initials wrought
upon it, one of them distinctly marked I. This interesting discovery was ieported at the
time to Major General Thackery, then commanding the Royal Engineers, by whose orders
they were again restored to their strange place of sepulture, where they still remain. It
were vain now to attempt a solution of this mysterious discovery, though it may furnish
the novelist with mat.eria1 on which to found a thrilling romance.
Within this portion of the old Palace is the Crown Room, where the ancient Regalia
VIoNmTE--French Prisoners’ Vault in the Caatle.

... 26 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH. of one of them as it still exists, with the wooden frame-work that sustained the ...

Book 10 p. 137
(Score 1.18)

OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Arthur's Seat 304
in places where the sandstone has been quarried
(as the craigs were for years to pave the streets of
London), beautiful specimens have been obtained of
radiated haematites, intermixed with steatites, green
fibrous iron ore, and calcareous spar, a most uncommon
mixture.
the glacier are to be found all over these craigs and
Arthur's Seat, and on various parts are found rounded
' boulders, some of which have been worked backwards
and forwards till left at last, stranded by the
farewell ebb of an ancient sea.
The rocky cone of Arthur's Seat is strongly mag-
PLAN OF ARTHUR'S SEAT (THE SANCTUARY OF HOLYROOD).
veins of calcareous spar, talc, zoolite, and amethystine
quartzose crystals; and strange to say several
large blocks of the same greenstone of which they .
are composed are to be found on Arthur's Seat, at
elevations of from eighty to 200 feet above the
craigs.
In ascending the steep path which leads from
Holyrood to the top of the latter, we pass over
layers of sandstone which show ripple marks-the
work of the ice-of unknown ages, grinding and
depositing pebbles, coarse sand, and sedimentary
rock. The bluffs above the path must have had
many a hard struggle, when glaciers crashed against
tion of men of science to this circumstance in 183 I,
when he stated that at some points he found the
needle completely reversed. (Edn. PhiZ. Juurnal,
No. XXII.)
Concerning the origin of the name of this remarkable
mountain, and that of the adjacent craigs,
there have been many theories. Arthur is a name
of-frequent occurrence in Scottish, as well as Welsh
and English topography, and is generally traced by
tradition to the famous Arthur of romance, and
who figures so much in half-fabulous history. From
this prince, who is said to have reigned over Strathclyde
from 508 to 542, when he was shin at the

... AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Arthur's Seat 304 in places where the sandstone has been quarried (as the craigs ...

Book 4 p. 304
(Score 1.17)

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 131
a raw beef-steak, peppered and salted in the Abyssinian fashion. “ You will
be pleased to eat this,” he said, “or fight me.” The gentleman preferred
the former alternative, and with no good grace contrived to swallow the proffered
delicacy. When he had finished, Bruce calmly observed, “ Now, sir,
you will never again say it is impossi61e.”
Bruce was a man of uncommonly large stature, six feet four inches, and latterly
very corpulent. With a turban on his head, and a long staff in his hand,
he usually travelled about his grounds ; and his gigantic figure in these excursions
is still remembered in the neighbourhood. On the 20th of May 1776,
he took as his second wife, Mary, daughter of Thomas Dundas of Fingask,
by Lady Janet Maitland, daughter of Charles sixth Earl of Lauderdale.
On the 26th of April 1794, after entertaining a large party to dinner, as he
was hurrying to assist a lady to her carriage, his foot slipped, and he fell headlong
from the sixth or seventh step of the large staircase to the lobby. He was
taken up in a state of insensibility, though without any visible contusion, and
died early next morning, in the sixty-fourth year of his age.
Thus he who had undergone such dangers, and was placed often in such imminent
peril, lost his life by an accidental fall. He left, by his second marriage,
a son and a daughter. His son succeeded him in his paternal estate, and died
in 1810, leaving an only daughter, who married Charles Cumming of h ~ e i l s e ,
a younger son of the family of Altyre, who assumed the name of Bruce, and is
presently (1 837) member of Parliament for the Inverness district of burghs.
His daughter, who survived him many years, became the wife of John Jardine,
Esq., advocate, sheriff of Ross and Cromarty.
Bruce took with him in his travels a telescope so large that it required six
men to carry it. He assigned the following reason to a friend by whom the
anecdote was communicated :-“ That, exclusive of its utility, it inspired the
nations through which he passed with great awe, as they thought he had some
immediate connection with Heaven, and they paid more attention to it than they
did to himself.”
PETER WILLIAMSON, the second figure in this Print was born of poor
parents at Hirnley, in the parish of Aboyne, county of Aberdeen, North
Britain. When still very young he was sent to reside with an aunt in Aberdeen,
as he tells us in his autobiography,’- “where, at eight years of age, playing
one day on the quay with others of my companions, I was taken notice of by
two fellows belonging to a vessel in the harbour, employed, as the trade then
was, by some of the worthy merchants of the town, in that villanous and execrable
practice called kidnapping, that is, stealing young children from their
parents, and selling them as slaves in the plantations abroad. Being marked out
by these monsters as their prey, I was cajoled on board the ship by them, where
1 Vide ‘‘ French and Indian Cruelty, exemplified in the Life and rarious Vicissitudes of Fortune
of Peter Willismson, etc., dedicated to the Right Hon. William Pitt, Esq. Written by himself.
Third edition, with considerable Impmvements. Glasgow : printed by J, Bryce and I). Pateraon,
for the benefit of the unfortunate Author, 1758.”

... SKETCHES. 131 a raw beef-steak, peppered and salted in the Abyssinian fashion. “ You will be ...

Book 8 p. 189
(Score 1.17)

c
152 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH, [Leith Walk,
In I 748 the thoroughfare is described as ?a very
handsome gravel walk, twenty feet broad, which is
kept in good repair at the public expense, and no
horses suffered to come upon it.? In 1763 two
stage coaches, with three horses, a driver, and
postilion each, ran between Edinburgh and Leith
every hour, consuming an hour on the way, from
8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ; and at that time there were no
other stage coaches in Scotland, except one which
set out at long intervals for London.
Before that nothing had been done, though in
1774 the Week0 Magazine announced that ?a new
road for carriages is to be made betwixt Edinburgh
and Leith. It is to be continued from the end of
the New Bridge by the side of Clelland?s Gardens
and Leith Walk. [Clelland?s Feu was where Leith
Terrace is now.] We hear that the expense of it
is to be defrayed by subscription.?
In I779 Arnot states that ?so great is the concourse
of people passing between Edinburgh and
HIGH STREET, PORTOBELLO.
In 1769, when Provost Drummond built the
North Bridge, he gave out that it was to improve
the access to Leith, and on this pretence, to conciliate
opposition to his scheme, upon the plate in
the foundation-stone of the bridge it is solely described
as the opening of a new road to Leith;
and after it was opened the Walk became freely
used for carriages, but without any regard being
paid to its condition, or any system established
for keeping it in repair ; thus, consequently, it fell
into a state of disorder ?from which it was not
rescued till after the commencement of the present
century, when a splendid causeway was formed at
a great expense by the city of Edinburgh, and a
toll erected for its payment.?
Leith, and so much are the stage coaches employed,
that they pass and re-pass between these towns
156 times daily. Each of these carriages holds
four persons.? The fare in some was 2hd.; in
others, gd.
In December, 1799, the Herald announces that
the magistrates had ordered forty oil lamps for
Leith Walk, ?? which necessary k~iprovement,? adds
the editor, will, we understand, soon tzke place.?
Among some reminiscences, which appeared
about thirty years ago, we. have a description of
Anderson?s Leith stage, ? I which took an hour and
a half to go from the Tron Church to the shore. A
great lumbering affair on four wheels, the two fore
1 painted yellow, the two hind red, having formerly

... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH, [Leith Walk, In I 748 the thoroughfare is described as ?a very handsome gravel ...

Book 5 p. 152
(Score 1.17)

Mary in March, 1566, a gift of all the patronages
and endowments in the city, which had belonged
to the Franciscan and Dominican priories, including
the ancient school, which, till then, had been
vested in the abbey of the Holy Cross, in January,
1567, they resolved to erect a suitable schoolhouse
on the land of the Blackfriars monastery ; and
this edifice, which was built for E250 Scots (about
A40 sterling) was ready for occupation in the
following year.
-
LADY YLSTER?S CHURCH, 1820. (AfitrStorw.)
ascertained, and they were obliged to teach gr.afi;
the sons of all freemen of the burgh.
For the ultimate completion of its buildings,
which included a tall square tower with a conical
spire, the school was indebted to James Lawson,
who succeeded John Knox as one of the city
clergy ; but it did not become what it was originally
intended to be-an elementary seminary for logic
and philosophy as well as classics ; but it led to the
foundation of the University in its vicinity, and
This edifice, which was three-storeyed with
crowstepped gables, stood east and west, having on
its front, which faced the Cowgate, two circular
towers, with conical roofs, and between them a
square projection surmounted by a gable and
thistle. The main entrance was on the east side
of this, and had over it the handsome stone panel,
which is still preserved in the last new school, and
which bears the city arms, the royal cypher, and
the motto.
MVSIS , RES PUBLICA . FLORET . 1578.
At that time, says Amot, there appears to have
been only two teachers belonging to this school,
with a small salary, the extent of which cannot be
hence, says Dr. Steven, ?? they may be viewed as
portions of one great institution.?
The encouragement received by the masters was
so small that they threatened to leave the school if
it were not bettered, on which they were ordered
to receive a quarterly fee from the sons of the freemen
; the masters of three, and the usher of two
shillings Scots (nearly 6s. and nearly 4s. sterling)
from each; and soon after four teachers were
appointed with fixed salaries and fees, which
were augmented from time to time as the value of
money changed, and the cost of living increased
(Arnot).
In 1584, a man of superior attainments and
considerable genius, named Hercules Rollock, a

... in March, 1566, a gift of all the patronages and endowments in the city, which had belonged to the ...

Book 4 p. 288
(Score 1.17)

OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Corstrophinc
- ~- I
CRAIGCROOK IN THE PRESENT DAY.
than doubled all the specie circulating in France,
when it was hoarded up, or sent out of the country.
Thus severe edicts were published, threatening with
dire punishment all who were in possession of Azo
of specie-edicts that increased the embarrassments
of the nation. Cash payments were stopped at the
bank, and its notes were declared to be of no value
after the 1st November, 1720. Law?s influence was
lost, his life in danger from hordes of beggared and
infuriated people. He fled from the scenes of his
splendour and disgrace, and after wandering through
various countries, died in poverty at Venice on the
zist of March, 1729. Protected by the Duchess of
Bourbon, William, a brother of the luckless comptroller,
born in Lauriston Castle, became in time a
Mardchal de Camp in France, where his descendants
have acquitted themselves with honour in
many departments of the State.
C H A P T E R XI.
CORSTORPHINE.
hrstorphine-Suppd Origin of the Name-The Hill-James VI. hunting there-The Cross-The Spa-The Dicks of Braid and Corstorphine--?
Corstorpliine Cream?-Convalt.scent House-A Wraith-The Original Chapel-The Collegiate Church-Its Provosts-Its Old
Tombs-The Castle and Loch of Corstorphine-The Forrester Family.
CORSTORPHINE, with its hill, village, and ancient
church, is one of the most interesting districts of
Edinburgh, to which it is now nearly joined by lines
of villas and gas lamps. Anciently it was called
Crosstorphyn, and the name has proved a puzzle to
antiquarians, who have had sonie strange theories
on the subject of its origin.
By some it is thought to have obtained its name
from the circumstance of a golden cross-Croix
d?orjn-having been presented to the church by
a French noble, and hence Corstorphine; and
an obscure tradition of some such cross did once
exist. According to others, the name signified
?? the milk-house under the hill,?? a wild idea in

... AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Corstrophinc - ~- I CRAIGCROOK IN THE PRESENT DAY. than doubled all the specie ...

Book 5 p. 112
(Score 1.17)

THE CANONGA TE AND ABBEY SANCTUAR Y. 309
seriously that Mary is reported to have used a bath of white wine to exalt her charms, a
. custom, he adds, strange, but not without precedent.’ Other no less efficacious means
have been assigned as the expedients resorted to by Queen Mary for shielding her beauty
against the assaults of time, but the existence of a very fine spring of water immediately
underneath the earthen floor might reasonably suggest her use of the pure and limpid
element.
Beyond this lies the district of Abbey Hill, an old-fashioned suburb that has risen
up around the outskirts of the Palace, and includes one or two ancient fabrics that have
probably formed the residence of the courtiers of Holyrood in days of yore. Here is a
narrow lane leading into St Anne’s Park, which bears the curious Gaelic title of Croftan-
rzgh, or the King’s Field; a name that furnishes very intelligible evidence of its
former enclosure within the royal demesnes. One ancient tenement near the Palace has
the angles of its southern gable flanked with large round turrets, in the castellated style
of James VI.’s reign, while the north front is ornameuted with dormer windows. This
antique fabric answers generally to the description of the mansion purchased by William
Graham, Earl of Airth, from the Earl of Linlithgow, at the instigation of his woefull wyse
d e . It is described by him as the house at the back of the Abbey of Holyrood House,
which sometime belonged to the Lord Elphinstone ; and though, he adds, ‘‘ within two
years after, or thereby, that house took fyre accedintallie, and wes totallie burned, as it
Btandeth now, like everie thing that t.he unhappie womau, my wyfe, lade hir hand to,” ’
many of our old Scottish houses have survived such conflagrations, and still remain in
good condition.
Pennant’s Tour, vol. i. p. 71. Minor Antiquities, p. 271.

... CANONGA TE AND ABBEY SANCTUAR Y. 309 seriously that Mary is reported to have used a bath of white wine to ...

Book 10 p. 337
(Score 1.16)

tumblers. Everything about him-his coat, his
wig, his figure, his face, his scrofula, his St. Vitus?s
dance, his rolling walk, his blinking eyes, his insatiable
appetite for fish sauce and veal pie with
plums, his mysterious practice of treasuring up
scraps of orange-peel, his morning slumbers, his
saw a man led by a bear!? So romantic and
fervid was his admiration of Johnson, that he tells
us he added A500 to the fortune of one of his
daughters, Veronica, because when a baby she was
not frightened by the hideous visage of the lexicographer.
LORD SEMPLE?S HOUSE, CASTLE HILL.
midnight disputations, his contortions, his mutterings,
his gruntings, his puffings, his vigorous,
acute, and ready eloquence, his sarcastic Wit, his
vehemence and his insolence, his fits of tempestuous
rage,? &e, all served to make it a source of
wonder to Mrs. Boswell that her husband could
abide, much less worship, such a man. Thus, she
once said to him, with extreme warmth, ?I have
seen many a bear led by a man, bur I never before
?
Among those invited to meet him at James?s
Court was Margaret Duchess of Douglas, a lady
noted among those of her own rank for her illiteracy,
and whom Johnson describes as ?talking
broad Scotch with a paralytic voice, as scarcely
understood by her own countrymen ; ? yet it was
remarked that in that which we would term now a
spirit of ?? snobbery,? Johnson reserved his attentions
during the whole evening exclusively for the

... Everything about him-his coat, his wig, his figure, his face, his scrofula, his St. Vitus?s dance, his ...

Book 1 p. 100
(Score 1.15)

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 413
for a number of years, and produced a work, entitled “Record of the Public
Ministry of Jesus Christ,” which was published at Edinburgh in 1798.
Mr. Sibbald again returned to Edinburgh, where, in 1797, he brought out a
musical publication, entitled “ The Vocal Magazine.” In a year or two afterwards
the bookselling stock devolved into his own hands, and he continued to carry on
business as a bookseller until his death. His next work, published in 1802, and
by which he is best known, was a selection from the early Scottish poets, entitled
‘‘ A Chronicle of Scottish Poetry, with a Glossary of the Scottish Language ”-
a work of taste and erudition, and a valuable accession to Scottish literature.
Mr. Sibbald died at his lodgings in Leith Walk, at the age of fifty-six, in
April 1803. “He was a man of eccentric but amiable character. He belonged
to a great number of social clubs; and was beloved by so many of his
associates in those fraternities, that for some years after his death they
celebrated his birth-day by a social meeting.”
The third figure, with a print of Martin the auctioneer in his hand, is
GEORGE FAIRHOLME, Esq. of Greenhill, near Edinburgh, and of Greenknow,
in Berwickshire. This gentleman, together with his younger brother
William (of Chapel, in Berwickshire), had long resided in Holland as eminent
bankers, where they realised a very considerable fortune ; and, on their return
to their native country, they became extensive shareholders in the Bank of
Scotland, and in other public securities.
While in Holland, Mr. Fairholme had an opportunity of cultivating a strong
natural taste for the fine arts ;’ and was subsequently well known as a keen and
judicious collector of pictures and rare works of art. His collection of the
inimitable etchings of Rembrandt was nearly complete ; and these, together
with his cabinet of pictures, are now the property of his nephew, Adam Fairholme,
Esq. of Chapel.
Mr. Fairholme died on the 1st February 1800, aged seventy; and was
interred in the family burying-place at Greenhill-which estate now belongs to
Sir John Stuart Forbes, Bart. of Pitsligo.
The fourth figure, behind hlr. Fairholme, represents JAMES KERR, Esq.
of Blackshiels. His father, Alexander Kerr, having left Scotland to reside at
Bordeaux, as a wine-merchant, he was brought up and educated along with his
cousins, the Tytlers of ?Voodhouselee;2 and, at a proper age, was bound
apprentice in the banking establishment of Sir William Forbes and Co. After
the expiry of his indenture, having succeeded to an ample fortune by the death
of his father, Mr. Kern went abroad on his travels, and remained a considerable
1 Mr. Fairholme’s taste for the fine arts has descended to his nephew, George Fairholme, Esq.,
now of Greenknow, who, during repeated visits to Italy, has acquired a small but extremely choice
cabinet of pictures of the highest class, together with a valuable collection of original drawings by
the old masters.
Mr. Alexander Kerr maiTied Miss Craig of Dalmair, sister of MIX. Tytler of Woodhouselee.
The last of the Dalmair family was Sir James Craig, Governor-General of British North America.

... SKETCHES. 413 for a number of years, and produced a work, entitled “Record of the Public Ministry ...

Book 8 p. 574
(Score 1.15)

Previous Results More Results

Go back to Edinburgh Bookshelf

Creative Commons License

The scans of Edinburgh Bookshelf are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 License.