![Leith Wynd.] PAUL?S WORK. 301
issued an edict, that among the bedesmen entertained
there should be ?na Papistes,? but men of
the ? trew religion.? The buildings having become
ruinous, were reconstructed under the name of
Paul?s Work in 1619, and five Dutchmen were
brought from Delft to teach certain boys and girls
lodged therein the manufacture of coarse woollen
stuffs. ? They furnished the poor children whom
The Town Council of Edinburgh became proprietors
of this charity, according to their Register,
in consequence of Queen Mary?s grant to them of
all such religious houses and colleges in Edinburgh;
and in 1582 they resolved to adapt the bishop?s
college for other purposes than he intended, and
? Edinburghers in 1621, as Calderwood records, on
the 1st of May, certain profane and shperstitious
? weavers in Paul?s Worke, Englishe and Dutche,
set up a highe May-pole, with garlants and bells,?
crqusing a great concourse of people to assemble ;
and it seemed eventually that the manufacture did
not succeed, or the Town Council grew weary of
, encouraging it j so they converted Paul?s Work
ding,? says Arnot, ?and paid the masters of the
work, thirteen pence and a third 01 a penny
weekly, during the first year of their apprenticeship.
This was considered as a very beneficial institution,
and accordingly, many well-disposed people enriched
it with donations :? but to the horror of the
COWGATE PORT. (Fvom a View by Ewbank, published in 1825.)](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v2p121.gif "Old and New Edinburgh Vol. II Page 301")
... Wynd.] PAUL?S WORK. 301
issued an edict, that among the bedesmen entertained
there should be ?na Papistes,? ...
Book 2 p. 301
(Score 1.26)
... 1,,firwry Strert.1 1NFIRMARY SUGGESTED.
CHAPTER XXXVI.
THE OLD ROYAL INFIRMARY-SURGEON SQUARE.
The Old Royal ...
Book 4 p. 297
(Score 1.25)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Parliament Close.
their money brought on horseback to the Parliament
Close, where r ...
Book 1 p. 178
(Score 1.25)
... THE VALE OF THE ESK. 743
bridge some hundred yards lower down the Esk, was, until modern times, the
only ...
Book 11 p. 202
(Score 1.24)
... SKETCHES. 147
may be inferred from the fact that during the first year no fewer than 2857
cases were ...
Book 9 p. 196
(Score 1.23)
... OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
BIRD’BE YEV IEW OF EDINBURGH IN 1647, BY JAKEGSOR DON OF ROTHIEMAY, Front*&.
1. ...
Book 10 p. ix
(Score 1.22)
... MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
bounded on the east by Brown’s Close, and forms a detached block of houses of ...
Book 10 p. 149
(Score 1.2)
![Leith] THE GLASS WORKS. 2 3 9
fashion that the hamlet near Craigmillar was namec
?Little France? from the French servants o
Mary.
U In a small garden attached to one of the house:
in Little London,? says a writer, whose anecdote
we give for what it is worth, ? there was a flowerplot
which was tended with peculiar care long
after its original possessors had gone the way 01
all flesh, and it was believed that the body of a
young and beautiful female who committed suicide
was interred here. The peculiar circumstances
attending her death, and the locality made choice
of for her interment, combined to throw romantic
interest over her fate and fortunes, and
her story was handed-down from one generation
to another.?
In Bernard Street, a spacious and well-edificed
thoroughfare, was built, in 1806, the office of the
Leith Bank, a neat but small edifice, consisting of
two floors ; a handsome dome rises from the north
front, and a projection ornamented with four Ionic
columns, and having thin pilasters of the same.
decorates the building. It is now the National
Bank of Scotland Branch.
Since then, many other banking offices have been
established in the same street, including that of
the Union Bank, built in 1871 after designs by
James Simpson, having a three-storeyed front in the
Italian style, with a handsome cornice and balustrade,
and a telling-room measuring 34 feet by 32 ;
the National Bank of Scotland ; the Clydesdale
and British Linen Company?s Banks; many insurance
offices; and in No. 37 is the house of the
Leith Merchants? Club.
Bernard Street joins Baltic Street, at the southeast
corner of which is the spacious and stately
Corn Exchange, which is so ample in extent as to
be frequently used as a drill-hall by the entire
battalion of Leith Rifle Volunteers.
North of Baltic Street are the old Glass Works
The Bottle House Company, as it was named,
began to manufacture glass vessels in North Leith
in 1746, but their establishment was burnt down
during the first year of the partnership. Thus, in
1747 the new brick houses were built on the sands
of South Leith, near the present Salamander Street,
and as ~e demand for bottles increased, they
built an additional one in 1764, though, according
to Bremner, glass was manufactured in Leith so
early as 1682.
Seven cones, or furnaces, were built, but in later
years only two have been in operation. In the
year 1777 CO less -than 15,8834 cwts. were made
here in Leith, the Government duty on which
amounted to A2,779 odd ; but as there are now
many other bottle manufactories in Scotland, thetrade
is no longer confined to the old houses that.
adjoin Baltic and Salamander Streets.
A writer in the Bet, an old extinct &dinburgh,
periodical, writing in 1792, says that about thirty
years before there was only one glass company in.
Scotland, the hands working one-half the year in
Glasgow, and the other half at Leith, and adds :-
?NOW there are six glass-houses in Leith alone,.
besides many others in different parts of the
tountry. At the time I mention nothing else
than bottles of coarse green glass were made there,
and to that article the Glass House Company in
Leith confined their efforts, till about a dozen yearsagoI
when they began to make fine glass for phials.
and other articles of that nature. About four yearsago
they introduced the manufacture of crown
glass for windows, which they now make in great
perfection, and in considerable quantities. After
they began to manufacture white glass, they fzll
into the way of cutting it for ornament and engraving
upon it. In this last department they havereached
a higher degree of perfection than it hasperhaps
anywhere else ever attained. A young
man who was bred to that business, having discovered
a taste in designing, and an elegance of
execution that was very uncommon, the proprietors
of the works were at pains to give him every aid in
the art of drawing that this place can afford, and
he has exhibited some specimens of his powers in
that line that are believed to be unrivalled. It is.
but yesterday that this Glass House Company (who
are in a very flourishing state), encouraged by their
success in other respects, introduced the art of
preparing glass in imitation of gems, and of cutting
it in facets, and working it into elegant fomis for
chandeliers and other ornamental kinds of furniture.
In this department their first attempts have
been highly successful, and they have now executed
some pieces of work that they need not be ashamed
to compare with the best that can be procured
elsewhere.?
The works of the Glass House Company at
Leith were advertised as for sale in the Courani
of 1813, which stated that they were valued at
~40,000, with a valuable steam-engine of sixteen
horse power, valued at E2 1,000.
Quality Street, and the fine long thoroughfare
named Constitution Street, open into Bernard
Street. Robertson gives us a drawing of an old and
richly-moulded doorway of a tenement, in the
rorrner street, having on its lintel the initials P. P.,
E. G., and the date 1710. At the corner of Quality
Street stands St. John?s Free Church, which was
built in 1870-1, at a cost of about A7,500, and](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v6p058.gif "Old and New Edinburgh Vol. VI Page 239")
... THE GLASS WORKS. 2 3 9
fashion that the hamlet near Craigmillar was namec
?Little France? from the French ...
Book 6 p. 239
(Score 1.2)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Univtrsitv.
He seemed greatly delighted with the result,
and felt much ...
Book 5 p. 10
(Score 1.2)
... SKETCHES. 33
may be mentihned Gayfield House, at the foot of Gayfield Square ; the house
of Sir ...
Book 9 p. 45
(Score 1.19)
... SKETCHES. 361
hoisted Blue Peter; while all agreed that he set the darbies and .u$les ...
Book 9 p. 480
(Score 1.19)
... AND DESCRTPTIVE NOTES. 77
~
little to the east of Winchburgh station, the old square keep is ...
Book 11 p. 122
(Score 1.19)
... 28 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Prinm Street.
fiery oratory; and to succeeding times it will
preserve a vivid ...
Book 3 p. 128
(Score 1.18)
... GEORGE HERIOT. 363
diameter and 22 feet high; one school-room, 52
feet long by 26 wide ; and two ...
Book 4 p. 363
(Score 1.18)
... BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
London. This lady, who resided at Dulwich, in the neighbourhood of the
metropolis, was ...
Book 9 p. 16
(Score 1.18)
![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 1.18)
... MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
were exhumed in digging for the foundation of the north pier of the Dean Bridge. ...
Book 10 p. 407
(Score 1.17)
![Restalrig.] THE CHURCHYARD. 131
That the church was not utterly destroyed is
proved by the fact that the choir walls of this
monument of idolatry ? were roofed over in 1837,
as has been stated.
An ancient crypt, or mausoleum, of large diniensions
and octangular in form, stands on the south
side of the church. Internally it is constructed with
a good groined roof, and some venerable yews cast
their shadow over the soil that has accumulated
above it, and in which they have taken root. It is
believed to have been erected by Sir Robert Logan,
knight, of Restalrig, who died in 1439, according
to the obituary of the Preceptory of St. Anthony at
Leith, and it has been used as a last resting-place
for several of his successors. Some antiquaries,
however, have supposed that it was undoubtedly
attached to the college, perhaps as a chapter-house,
or as a chapel of St. Triduana, but constructed on
the model of St. Margaret?s Well. Among others
buried here is ?LADY JANEr KER, LADY RESTALRIG,
QUHA DEPARTED THIS LIFE 17th MAY, 1526.?
Wilson, in his ?? Reminiscences,? mentions that
?? Restalrig kirkyard was the favourite cemetery of
the Nonjuring Scottish Episcopalians of the last
century, when the use of the burial service was
proscribed in the city burial-grounds ; ? and a strong
division of dead cavalry have been interred there
from the adjacent barracks. From Charles Kirkpatrick
Sharpe he quotes a story of a quarrel carried
beyond the grave, which may be read upon a flat
stone near that old crypt.
Of the latter wrote Sharpe, ?I believe it belongs
to Lord Bute, and that application was made to him
to allow Miss Hay-whom I well knew-daughter
of Hay of Restalrig, Prince Charles?s forfeited
secretary, to be buried in the vault. This was
refused, and she lies outside the door. May the
earth lie light on her, old lady kind and vener.
able !?
In 1609 the legal rights of the church and parish
of Restalrig, with all their revenues and pertinents,
were formally conferred upon the church of South
Leith.
In 1492, John Fraser, dean of Restalrig, wa?
appointed Lord Clerk Register; and in 154C
another dean, John Sinclair, was made Lord 01
Session, and was afterwards Bishop of Brechin and
Lord President of the Court of Session. He it war
who performed the marriage ceremony for Queen
* Mary and Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley. In 1592
the deanery was dissolved by Act of Parliament,
and divided between ? the parsonage of Leswadc
and parsonage of Dalkeith, maid by Mr. Georgt
Ramsay, dean of Restalrig.?
After the Logans-of whom elsewhere-tht
Lords Balmerino held the lands of Restalrig till
their forfeiture in I 746, and during the whole period
of their possession, appropriated the vaults of the
forsaken and dilapidated church as the burial-place
of themselves and their immediate relations. From
them it passed to the Earls of Bute, with whose
family it still remains.
In the burying-ground here, amid a host of
ancient tombs, are some of modem date, marking
where lie the father of Lord Brougham ; Louis
Cauvin, who founded the hospital which bears his
name at Duddingston ; the eccentric doctor known
as Lang Sandy Wood,? and his kindred, including
the late Lord Wood ; and Lieutenant-Colonel
William Rickson, of the I 9th Foot, a brave and distinguished
soldier, the comrade and attached friend
of Wolfe, the hero of Quebec. His death is thus
recorded in the Scots Magazine for 1770 :-cr At
his house in Broughton, Lieutenant-Colonel William
Rickson, Quartermaster-General and Superintendent
of Roads in North Britain.? His widow died
so lately as 1811, as her tomb at Restalrig bears,
?? in the fortieth year of her widowhood?
Here, too, was interred, in 1720, the Rev. Alexander
Rose, the last titular bishop of Edinburgh.
In tracing out the ancient barons of Restalrig,
among the earliest known is Thomas of Restalrig,
nxa 1210, whose name appears in the Regktruum
de DunferrnZine as Sheriff of Edinburgh.
In the Macfarlane MSS. in the Advocates?
Library, there is a charter of his to the Priory of
Inchcolm, in the Firth of Forth, circa 1217, very
interesting from the localities therein referred to,
and the tenor of which runs thus in English :-
?To all seeing or hearing these writings,
Thomas of Lestalrig wishes health. Know ye,
that for the good of my soul, and the souls of all
my predecessors and successors, and the soul of
my wife, I have given and conceded, and by this
my charter have confirmed, to God and the canons
of the church of St. Columba on the Isle, and the
canons of the same serving God, and that may yet
serve Him forever, that whole land which Baldwin
Comyn was wont to hold from me in the town of
Leith, namely, that land which is next and adjoining
on the south to that land which belonged to
Ernauld of Leith, and to twenty-four acres and a
half of arable land in my estate of Lestalrig in that
field which is called Horstanes, on the west part of
the same field, and on the north part of the high
road between Edinburgh and Leith (it., the Easter
Road) in pure and perpetual gift to be held by
them, with all its pertinents and easements, and
with common pasture belocging to such land, and
with free ingress and egress, with carriage, team,](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v5p142.gif "Old and New Edinburgh Vol. V Page 131")
... THE CHURCHYARD. 131
That the church was not utterly destroyed is
proved by the fact that the choir ...
Book 5 p. 131
(Score 1.15)
... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Leith.
Tolbooth had become decayed and ruinous, and
soon after the demolition af the ...
Book 6 p. 230
(Score 1.15)
... OLD TOWN. 33
Do& spirit. So that we may almost change the name of this Row slightly, and
call it Poet ...
Book 11 p. 55
(Score 1.15)
... SKETCHES. 225
the next wm married to a Mr. Stoddart, who had realised a fortune abroad ;
the third ...
Book 8 p. 317
(Score 1.15)
... AND DESCRIPTIVE NOTES. 61
publishing houses of the city. Near at hand is that of the brothers ...
Book 11 p. 98
(Score 1.14)
... MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
Geddes, the heroine of 1637, was one of the kail wives of the Tron, her famous ...
Book 10 p. 271
(Score 1.14)
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