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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.) ... 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)

297 1,,firwry Strert.1 1NFIRMARY SUGGESTED.
CHAPTER XXXVI.
THE OLD ROYAL INFIRMARY-SURGEON SQUARE.
The Old Royal Infirmary-Projected in time of Gorge I.-The First Hospital Opened-The Royal Charter-Second Hospital Built-
Opened 1741-Sizc and Constitution-Benefactors? Patients-Struck by Lightning-Chaplain?s Dutier--Cases in the Present Day-The
Keith Fund-Notabilities of Surgeon Squan-The H o w of CumehiU-The Hall of the Royal and Medical Society-Its Foundation-
Bell?s Surgical Theatre.
THOUGH the ancient Scottish Church had been
during long ages distinguished for its tenderness
and charity towards the diseased poor, a dreary
interval of nearly two centuries, says Chambers,
intervened between the extinction of its lazar-houses
and leper-houses, and the time when a merely
civilised humanity suggested the establishment of
a regulated means for succouring the sicknessstricken
of the poor and homeless classes.
86
A pamphlet was issued in Edinburgh in 1721
suggesting the creation of such an institution, and
there seems reason to suppose that the requirements
of her rising medical schools demanded it;
but the settled gloom of the ? dark age ? subsequent
to the Union, usually stifled everything. and the
matter went to sleep till 1725, when it was revived
by a proposal to raise Az,ooo sterling to carry it
out ... 1,,firwry Strert.1 1NFIRMARY SUGGESTED. CHAPTER XXXVI. THE OLD ROYAL INFIRMARY-SURGEON SQUARE. The Old Royal ...

Book 4  p. 297
(Score 1.25)

178 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Parliament Close.
their money brought on horseback to the Parliament
Close, where r the company?s business was
thenceforward wholly restricted for a time to
lending money, and all transactions to be in
Edinburgh.
In the fire we have mentioned as occumng in
1700 the bank perished. Assisted by the Earl of
Leven, Governor of the Castle and also of the
bank, with a party of soldiers, and by David Lord
Futhven, a director, who stood in the turnpike
stair all night, keeping the passage free, the cash,
bank-notes, books, and papers, were saved. Thus,
though every other kind of property perished, the
struggling bank was able to open an office higher
up in the city.
In that fire the Scottish Treasury Room perished,
with the Exchequer and Exchange, and the Parliament
Square was afterwards rebuilt (in the picturesqae
style, the destruction of which was so
much regretted), in conformity with an Act passed
in 1698, regulating the mode of building in Edinburgh
with regard to height, Convenience, strength,
and security from fire. The altitude of the houses
was greatly reduced. Previous to the event of
1700, the tenements on the south side of the
Parliament Close, as viewed from the Rirkheugh,
were fifteen storeys in height, and till the
erection of the new town were deemed the most
splendid of which the city could boast.
Occurring after ? King William?s seven years of
famine,? which the Jacobites believed to be a curse
sent from heaven upon Scotland, this calamity
was felt with double force; and in 1702 the Town
Council passed an Act for ?? suppressing immoralities,?
in which, among the tokens of God?s wrath,
?the great fire of the 3d February? is specially
referred to.
Notwithstanding the local depression, we find
in 1700 none of the heartless inertia that charac.
terised the city for sixty years after the Union.
Not an hour was lost in coinmencing the work
of restoration, and many of the sites were bought
by Robert Mylne, the king?s master-mason. The
new Royal Exchange, which had its name and the
date 1700 cut boldly above its doorway, rose tc
the height of twelve storeys on the south-deemed
a moderate altitude in those days. On its eastern
side was an open arcade, with Doric pilasters and
entablature, as a covered walk for pedestrians,
and the effect of the whole was stately and im.
posing. Many aristocratic families who had been
burned out, came flocking back to the vast tene
ments of the Parliament Close, among others tht
Countess of Wemyss, who was resident there in 2
fashionablz flat at the time of the Porteous mob
(?Hist: of Bank of Scot.,? 1728.)
.
and whose footman was accused of being one of
the rioters, and who very nearly had a terrible
tragedy acted in her own house, the outcome of
the great one in the Grassmarket.
It is related that the close connection into
which the noble family of Wemyss were thus
brought to the Porteous mob, as well as their
near vicinity to the chief line of action, naturallj
produced a strong impression on the younger
members of the family. They had probably been
aroused from bed by the shouts of the rioters
assembling beneath their windows, and the din of
their sledge-hammers thundering on the old Tolbooth
door. Thus, not long after the Earl of
Wemyss-the Hon. Francis Charteris was born
in 1723, and was then a boy-proceeded, along
with his sisters, to get up a game, or representation
of the Porteous mob, and having duly
forced his prison, and dragged forth the supposed
culprit, ?the romps got so thoroughly into the
spirit of their dramatic sports that they actually
hung up their brother above a door, and had weli
nigh finished their play in real tragedy.,?
The first coffee-house opened in Edinburgh was
John Row?s, in Robertson?s Land, a tall tenement
near the Parliament House. This was in 1673.
It was shut up in 1677, in consequence of a
brawl, reported to the Privy Council by the
Town Major, who had authority to see into such
matters.
The north-east corner of the Parliament Close
was occupied by John?s coffee-house. There, as
Defoe, the historian of the Union, tells us, the
opponents of this measure met daily, to discuss
the proceedings that were going on in the Parliament
House close by, and to form schemes of
opposition thereto; and there, no doubt, were
sung fiercely and emphatically the doggerel rhymes
known as ?? Belhaven?s Vision,? of which the only
copies extant are those printed at Edinburgh in
1729, at the Glasgow Arms, opposite the Corn
Market; and that other old song, which was
todched by the master-hand of Burns :-
?I What force or guile could not subdue,
Through many warlike ages,
Is now wrought by a coward few
For hireling traitor?s wages ;
The Englishsteel we could disdain,
Secure in valour?s station ;
But England?s gold has been our bane-
Such a parcel of rogues in a nation ! ?
John?s coffee-house was also the resort of the
judges and lawyers of the eighteenth century for
consultations, and for their ?? meridian,? or twelve
o?clock dram ; for in those days every citizen had ... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Parliament Close. their money brought on horseback to the Parliament Close, where r ...

Book 1  p. 178
(Score 1.25)

AND THE VALE OF THE ESK. 743
bridge some hundred yards lower down the Esk, was, until modern times, the
only means of transit across the river there.
If you would follow the Esk to the very end, you must proceed along the
left bank under the trees, and turn leftwards away from the town to the
sea-shore, where the little river widens out in its shallow bed and glides almost
imperceptibly into the waters of the Forth. A few black crows stalk and
peck at the water edge ; a Aock of white sea-gulls flutter in the air. Freshwater
plants grow on the moist ground, and mussel-shells innumerable are
mingled with the stones upon the beach. Out on the Forth gleam the white
walls of Inchkeith lighthouse, and there is a white sail in the distance.
We have seen the Esk a ‘ burnie’ and a stream : going briskIy over
stones, and sleeping sulkily in pools; clear from the hills, and brown and
foaming from the mill-wheel. We have seen it winding under the stately
walls of Roslin, through the ‘ woody Iabyrinth’ of Hawthornden, and among
the sunlit deer-parks’of;Dalkeith. And now, as it loses itself in the Forth,
we will bid it adieu. ... 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)

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 147
may be inferred from the fact that during the first year no fewer than 2857
cases were determined ; and in the second a diminution of only 392 had taken
place. But however inflexible or abstractly just in his conceptions of equity,
the administration of justice by Judge Tait was far from satisfactory. His
conduct was viewed as too severe and unbending ; and there were not a few to
accuse him of occasionally overstepping the limits of his commission.
The clamour against Mr. Tait was for the most part ill-founded. His office
was a difficult one ; and of a nature which almost precluded the possibility of
giving general satisfaction. Ult,imately it was deemed expedient to procure a
new Act of Parliament, which, among other alterations, declared the office of
Judge of the Police Court to be abolished. By the Act of 1805, the appointment
had been rendered permanenta law presenting insuperable objections :
insomuch that while the magistracy were a changing body, and therefore in
some degree amenable to public opinion, the Judge of Police remained superior
to any such control ; and whether he might happen to be a tyrant or CL dunce,
the community were compelled to suffer from the severities of the one, or the
mistakes and incapacity of the other. By the new Act, the decision of police
causes was again placed in the hands of the magistrates, who successively occupy
the bench. The “ last sitting ’’ of the Court, as originally constituted, occurred
on the 6th July 1812-on which occasion Mr. Tait delivered the following
valedictory address :-
“ I am now to close this Court, after having officiated in it for nearly seven years of nnabating
solicitude, during which above twelve thoi~sand cases have been determined, as appears from
the volumes on the table, containing abstracts of the judicial procedure. I was placed here in
consequence of an Act of Parliament, of an cxperirnental nature. The experiment has been made
-several defects have been discovered-and these have been obviated by a new Act, which
makes great additions to the means of preventing offences, and of detecting offenders, from
which the most beneficial effects may be expected. But here I must be permitted to repeat a
remark made by the highest authority in this place, and which cannot be too strongly enforced,
that ‘no institution of police can be effectual without the cordial siipport of the community.’
And, I may also notice, that there are many attentions necessary on the part of those who have
the charge of youug persons, with respect to religious as well as moral duties, for want of
which the greatest exertions of the best regulated police will not compensate. Leaving the
administration of the police of this place in much better hands, to whom I most sincerely wish
all possible success, I return, with much satisfaction, to the exercise of a profession, the cares
of which, though great, are pleasures, compared to the anxiety which I have, for some years,
experienced. I cannot, however, leave this place without expressing my acknowledgment to
the Clerk, the Inspectors, and other officers of Police, for the assistance they have rendered.
They may have had troublesome duties to perform ; and I trust that, when the difficulties
inseparable from a new institution, the smallness of the number of men employed, the want of
a fund to procure information, and other untoward circumstances are considered, great allowances
will be made for us all.”
Some of the foregoing remarks refer to the “great riot,” as it is termed,
which occurred in Edinburgh on the night of the 31st December 1811,
“ Hogmanay “-or the night preceding New-year’s-day-has been from time
immemorial devoted to festivity ; and nowhere in Scotland was the practice
more enthusiastically adhered to than in the capital-the streets being thronged
with people of both sexes, in the pursuit of light-hearted frivolity, and the
joyous interchange of mutual good feeling. A number of young men-mostly ... 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)

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
BIRD’BE YEV IEW OF EDINBURGH IN 1647, BY JAKEGSOR DON OF ROTHIEMAY, Front*&.
1. Ancient Carved Stone, Edinburgh Castle,
2. ANOIEZHTOT USEC, ANONHILLS,
3. Carved Stone from the Old Barrier Gate,
4, The Castle, from a Map of 1575,
5. Corbel, from St Giles’s Church,
6. The Old High Street, .
7. Ancient Houses, near the Kirk-of-Field,
8. Nary of Guelders’ Arm& from her Seal,
.
Edinburgh Caatle, . ..
. .
. 9. TRINITYC OLLEGCEE URCHF, ROM THE SOUTH-
10. Bishop Kennedy’s Arms, St Pies’s Church, .
11. The Castle, from the West Port, 1640,
12. The King’s Pillar, St Giles’s Church,
13. Ancient Padlock, dug up in the Greyfriara’
Churchyard, .
14. City Cross, ,
15. Palace of Holyrood previoua to 1554,
16. BLACKFRIARWS’Y ND, .
17. HOLYROOCDH BPELE, NTRANCE TO THE ROYAL
18. Norman Capital, Holyrood Abbey, .
19. Black Turnpike, .
20. THE GREATH ALL,T RINITYH OSPITAL,
21. Ancient Chapel, Kirkgate, Leith, .
22. Corbel from the ancient South Porch, St
Giles’s Church, .
23. ST MARY’S CHURCHS,O UTHLE ITH, .
24. HURT OF MIDLOTHIAN, .
25. Saint Qilea, from the City Seal, 1565,
26. Queen Mary’s Bath, .
27. Carved Stone in the Castle, containing the
Cipher of Queen Mary and Henry Lord
Darnley, .
WEST,
VAULT, .
28. Tower of the City Wall in the Vennel,
29. Holyrood Chapel, .
30. OLD TOLBOOTHLE, ITH,
31. The Maiden, .
32, Jenny Geddes’s Stool,.
33. DUN BAR'^ CLOSE, HIGH STREET, .
34. The Citadel, Leith, .
35. Parliament House. about 1646. .
.
PAQE
1
a
6
8
10
11
14
17
18
21
22
24
27
33
34
39
4b
46
47
48
54
64
64
72
73
76
77
80
81
81
86
92
97
97
. 99
36. THE GOLFER’S LAND, CANONOATE, . . 104
37. The Darien House, . . 107
PAOE
38. WEST Bow, FROM TRE CASTLE ROAD,
1843,. , 111
39. The Capital of the City Cross, 6 115
40. Interior of the Tower of the Ancient Town
Wall, in the Vennel, . . 116
41. Ancient Doorway, Halkerston’s Wynd, . 118
43. French Prisoners’ Vault in the Castle, . 126
. 44. Mouldinga of the Chancel Arch, St Margaret’s
45. Lintel from the Guiae Palace, Blyth‘a Close, . 134
46. Ancient Crow-Steps from the Mint, , . 135
47. Cipher of Ilobert Mowbry of Castlewan, .. 140
48. Gothic Niche, Kennedg’s Close, Castlehill, . 142
49. Lord Sempill’a House, Castlehill, . . 145
50. PISCINAPA, LACOFE M ARYO F GUISE,C ASTLEHILL,
. . 145
51, Oaken Front of Ancient Cupboard, from the
Guise Palace, , 147
62. Ancient Carved Doorway, do., . 148
63. EDWARDH om’a HOUSE, TODD’SC LOSE,
CASTLEHILL., . 152
54. Large Gothic Niche, Blyth’a Close, . . 154
55. Ancient Niches, Blyth’s Close, , . 155
56. ANCIENHTO USESC, ASTLEHILL, . . 156
57. Painted Oak Beam from the Guiae Chapel . 157
58. Gladstone’s Land, Lawnmarket, , . 158
59. Ancient Lintel, Lady Stair’s Close, . . 164
60, RIDDLE’SC LOSE,L AWNMABKEBTa,i lie Macmoran’s
House, . . 168
61. Ancient Corbel, from the Old Bank Close, . 172
62. OLDBANKC LOSE, , . 176
63. Carved Stone, from the Old Bank Close, . 176
64. Carved Stone, from the Old Bank Close, . 179
66. HEADOF WESTB ow, LAWNBCAEKE. T, , 183
68. TEE WEIGH-HOUSE, . . 193
70. REID’S CLOSE, CANONQATE, . . 217
71. A r m s of Edinburgh, from Common Seal of
72. House of Adam Bothwell, Bishop of Orkney. 227
73. Ancient Lintel, from Roxburgh Close, . 230
42, The Castle, about 1750, , . 121
Chapel, in the Castle, _. . 128
65. GOSFORDC’EL OSEL, AWNMARKET, . . 180
67. North Side of the Tolbooth, . . 184
69. The Old Parliament Stairs, . . 212
the City, 1561, . f . 221 ... OF ILLUSTRATIONS. BIRD’BE YEV IEW OF EDINBURGH IN 1647, BY JAKEGSOR DON OF ROTHIEMAY, Front*&. 1. ...

Book 10  p. ix
(Score 1.22)

138 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
bounded on the east by Brown’s Close, and forms a detached block of houses of various
dates and styles, all exhibiting considerable remains of former magnificence.
The house that now forms the kouth-west angle towards the Castle Hill bears, on the
pediment of a dormer window facing the Castle, the date 1630, with the initials A. M.,
M. N. ; and there still remains, sticking in the wall, a cannon ball, said to have been shot
from the Castle during the cannonade of 1745, though we are assured that it was placed
there by order of government, to indicate that no building would be permitted on that
side nearer the Castle. Through this land‘ there is an alley called Blair’s Close, leading
by several curious windings into an open court behind. At the first angle in the close,
a handsome gothic doorway, of very elegaut workmanship, meets the view, forming the
entry to a turnpike stair. The doorway is surmounted with an ogee arch, in the tympanum
of which is somewhat rudely sculptured a coronet with supporters,--‘( two deerhounds,”
says Chambers, ‘‘ the well-known supporters of the Duke of Goidon’s arms.” ’
This accords with the local tradition, which states it to have been the town mansion of
that noble family ; but the style of this doorway, and the substantial character of the
whole building, leave no room to doubt that it is an erection of a much earlier date
than the Dukedom, which was only created in 1684. Tradition, however, which is never
to be despised in questions of local antiquity, proves to be nearly correct in this case, as
we find, in one of the earliest titles to the property now in the possession of the City Improvements
Commission, endorsed, I-‘ Disposition of House be Sir Robert Baird to William
Baird, his second son, 1694,” it is thus defined,-“All and hail that my lodging in the
Caste1 Hill of Edinburgh, formerly possessed by the Duchess of Gordon.” This appears,
from the date of the disposition, to have been the first Duchess, Lady Elizabeth Howard,
daughter of the Duke of Norfolk. She retired to a Convent in Flanders during the lifetime
of the Duke, but afterwards returned to Edinburgh, where she principally resided
till her death, which took place at the Abbey Bill in 1732, sixteen years after that of
her huaband.
In 1711, her Grace excited no small stir in Edinburgh, by sending to the Dean and
Faculty of Advocates, -‘aI silver medal, with a head of the Pretender on one side, and on
the other the British Isles, with the word Reddite.” On the Dean presenting the medal,
the propriety of accepting it was keenly discussed, when twelve only, out of seventyfive
members present, testxed their favour for the House of Hanover by voting its
rejection.s
The most recent of the interior fittings of this mansion appear old enough to have
remained from the time of its occupation by the Duchess. It is finished throughout with
wooden panelling, and one large room in particular, overlooking the Castle Esplanade, is
elegantly decorated with rich ‘carvings, and with a painting (one of old Norie’s pictorial
idornments) filling a panel over the chimney-piece, and surrounded by an elaborate piece
.
1 The term ImuZ, in this and similar instances throughout the Work, is used according to its Scottish acceptation,
* Traditionq vol. i p. 153.
* Norie, a house-decorator and painter of the last century, whom works are very common, painted on the panels of
Pinkerton remarks, in his introduction to the ‘‘ Scottish Gallery,” 1799,-“Norie’a
and signifies a building of several stories of separate dwellings, communicating by a common stair.
Douglas’s Peerage, vol. i. p. 654.
the older houaea in Edinburgh.
genius for landacapea entitles him to o place in the list of Scotch paintera” ... 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 ... 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)

I0 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Univtrsitv.
He seemed greatly delighted with the result,
and felt much self-gratification at the part he had
himself borne. lhus, immediately after the removal
of the court to Paisley, on the 25th Gf July,
1617, he addressed the following letter to the magistrates
of Edinburgh :-
? JAMES R.
? Trustie and weill beloved, we greet you weill.
? Being sufficientlie perswadit of the guid beginning and
progresse which ye haiff madein repairing and building of
your college, and of your commendable resolution constantlie
to proceed and persist thairin, till the same sal1 be perfytlie
finished; for your better?encouragement in a wark so
universallie beneficial for our subjectis, and for such ornament
and reputation for our citie, we haiff thocht guid not
only to declair our special1 approbation thairof, but lykewayes,
as we gave the first being and beginning thairunto, so we
haiff thocht it worthie to be honoured with our name, of
our awin impositione ; and the raither because of the late
air, which to our great content, we ressaived of the gude
worth and sufficiencie of the maisters thairof, at thair being
with us at Stirling : In which regard, these are to desyre
you to order the said college to be callit in all times herafter
by the name of KING JAMES?S COLLEGE : which we intend
for an especial1 mark and baidge of our faivour towards the
same. *
?So we doubting not but ye will accordinglie accept
thairof, we bid you heartilie fairweill.?
Though James gave his name to the college,
which it still bears, it does not appear that he gave
anything more valuable, unless? we record the tithes
of the Archdeacanry of Lothian and of the parish
cf Wemyss, together with the patronage of the Kirk
of Currie. He promised what he called a ? Godbairne
gift,? but it never came.
The salary of the principal was originally very
small; and in order to make his post more comfortable
he was allowed to. reap the emoluments of the
professorship of divinity, with the rank of rector;
but in 1620 these offices were disjoined, and his
salary, from forty guineas, was augmented to sixty,
and Mr. Andrew Ranisay was appointed Professor
of Divinity and Rector, which he held till 1626,
when he resigned both.
They remained a year vacant, when the Council
resolved to elect a rector who was not a member
of the university, and chose Alexander Morrison,
Lord Prestongrange. a judge of the Court of Session,
who took the oath de j d d i adviinistratione, but
never exercised the duties of his position.
In the year 1626 Mr. William Struthers, a
minister of Edinburgh, in censuring a probationer,
used some expression derogatory to philosophy,
among others terming it ?the dishcZout to divinity,?
which was bitterly resented by Professor James
Reid, who in turn attacked Struthers? doctrine.
The latter, in revenge, got his brother to join him,
and endeavoured to get Reid deposed by the
Council ; and so vexed did the question ultimately
become; that the professor, weary of the contest,
resigned his chair.
It would seem to have been customary for the
Scottish Universitiesto receivein those daysstudents
who had been compelled to leave other seats of
leaining through misbehaviour, and by their bad
example some of them led the students of Edinburgh
to conimit many improprieties, till the Privy
Council, by an Act in 1611, forbade the reception
of fugitive students in any university.
In 1640 the magistrates chose Mr. Alexander
Henrison, a minister of the city, Rector of the
University, and ordained that a silver mace should
be borne before him on all occasions of solemnity.
They drew up a set of instructions, empowering
him to superintend all matters connected with the
institution. The custody of the Matriculation
Roll was also given to him ; the students were to
be matriculated in his presence, and he was
furnished with an inventory of the college revenues
and donations in its favour. ?For some years,?
says Arnot, ?we find the rector exercising his office;
but the troubles which distracted the nation, and
no regular records of this university having been
kept, render it impossible for us to ascertain when
that office was discontinued, or how the college
was governed for a considerable period.?
From the peculiar constitution of this college,
and its then utter dependence upon the magistrates,
they took liberties with it to which no similar
institution would have submitted. ? Thus, for
example,? says Bower, ?? they borrowed the college
mace in 165 I, and did not return it till 1655. The
magistrates could be under no necessity for having
recourse to this expedient for enabling them to
make a respectable appearance in public when
necessary, attended by the proper officers and
insignia of their office. And, on the other hand,
the public business of the college could not be
properly conducted, nor in the usual way, without
the mace. At all public graduations, &c., it was,
and still is, carried before the principal and professors.??
The magistrates of Edinburgh were in those days,
in every sense of the word, proprietors of the university,
of the buildings, museums, library, anatomical
preparations, and philosophical apparatus ; and
from time to time were wont to deposit in their
own Charter Room the writs belonging to the institution.
They do not seem to have done this from the
earliest period, as the first notice of this, found by
Bower, was in the Register for 1655, when the
writs and an inventory were ordered to be ... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Univtrsitv. He seemed greatly delighted with the result, and felt much ...

Book 5  p. 10
(Score 1.2)

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 33
may be mentihned Gayfield House, at the foot of Gayfield Square ; the house
of Sir Lawrence Dundas, then M.P. for the city, now occupied by the Royal
Bank, St. Andrew Square ; the Register Office, etc.
Besides the Chapel-now occupied as the " Whitefield Chapel "-Mr. Butter
was proprietor of several tenements in Carrubber's Close, then one of the most
fashionable portions of the Old Town, and which yet retains evidence of the
respectability of its former inhabitants. Some large houses about Shakspeare
Square (so called from the Theatre Royal which stood there) also belonged to
him, part of which stood directly in front of the Regent Bridge, forming a junction
with Leith Street. A portion of this property was acquired by the Commissioners
for the City Improvements, for which they paid $12,000, in order to make way
for the splendid opening, formed in 1822, from Princes Street towards the
Calton' Hill.
It was deemed fortunate for Mr. Butter, as the old saying has it, that '' his
father was born before him." Although by no meana addicted to the excesses
of the times in which he lived, yet his notions of social life were materially
different from those of his father. Fond of music and the drama, he was a
liberal patron to performers ; and, among others, the improvident Digges,' then
the universal favourite with the Edinburgh audience, received no inconsiderable
share of his admiration and friendship. The old man had no sympathy for the
refined tastes of his son, and he used to say that " ne'er an Italian fiddler cam'
to Edinburgh but Willie was sure to find him out." Of a kindly disposition '
Mr. Digges, both as a manager and an actor, was a favourite with the play-going people of
Edinburgh. Out of compliment to the fair, but frail, George Anne Bellamy, who lived with him, he
assumed her name, and actually performed as Mr. Bellamy for one if not two seasons. The following
anecdote, although not related in Mrs. Bellamy's " Apology" for her life, is nevertheless authentic :-
" The disputes between Nr. Digges and that lady at one time, when they were together in Edinburgh,
ran so high, that although it waa then midnight, and in the winter season, he began to take
off his clothes in a violent rage, with an intention to drown himself in a pond which was contiguous
to their lodgings. Mrs. Bellamy surveyed the operation with the utmost calmness ; and, when he
had run out of the house, arose from her 6er.t with the same nonchalance, and fastened the street-door.
The rigour of the season, with a little reflection, soon cooled his passion. On his return, a capitulation
took place before entrance was granted him. His teeth chattering in his head with cold, he was
obliged to submit to the severest terms the lady in possession of the fortress thought proper to
impose ; after which he was permitted to enter, and an act of general amnesty was issued for that
time,
He was always in debt ;
and, although living in splendour, contrived to pay as few of his creditors as possihle. With his
laundress be ran up a long score, and with his washerwoman a longer. It happened that they both
arrived at his house accidentally upon the same errand, to dun him for the fiftieth time. Some difficulty
arose in proouring access, as he was denied, Digges, hearing voices in altercation, desired the
ladies to walk upstairs, and he would give them audience separately. He called into operation his
powers of persuasion. He completely subdued the laundress, who left the apartment perfectly
contented, though without receiving one farthing of the debt ; and the rugged heart of tbe washerwoman
melted before him, and she departed penniless, exclaiming he wag a sweet gentleman ! His
correspondence with Mrs. Ward, an actress of great celebrity, was printed at Edinburgh (Skvenson),
1833. 8vo. * Hay mentions as an instance, that when the Lodge of the Roman Eagle held a funeral meeting,
in 1789, in honour of Doctor Brown, the founder of the Institution, as soon as Mr. Butter understood
that the profits were to be devoted to the widow and family of the Doctor, he without solicitation
offered the gratuitous use of his chapel in Carrubber's Close.-an offer gladly accepted by the Lodge.
Their union, however, was shortly afterwards dissolved. "
Digges was a devoted slave to the fair, and his address was admirable.
VOL. 11. F ... SKETCHES. 33 may be mentihned Gayfield House, at the foot of Gayfield Square ; the house of Sir ...

Book 9  p. 45
(Score 1.19)

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 361
hoisted Blue Peter; while all agreed that he set the darbies and .u$les charmingly,
and that nothing was wanting to complete his full dress but a nosegay,
which he would easily procure among the Flowers of Edinburgh.” The prisoner
arrived in Glasgow on the 8th of April 1812-was committed for trial-and
while in jail offered to put the bank in possession of $1000 of their money,
which their agent in London actually procured from Mr. Harmer, who was then
Mackcoull’s solicitor.’ He also gave a bill for $400, granted by himself on
Ann Wheeler, his sister, with her endorsation. Notwithstanding this implied
admission of his guilt, he ran his letters against the King’s Advocate ; and it
being supposed that sufficient proof could not be procured to convict him
capitally, he was liberated on the 2d July 1812.
Mackcoull now returned to London, and with great activity set about cashing
his Scotch notes. Besides employing a confidential individual in the business,
he made several journeys to Scotland, buying bills on London in various
names. On the last of these expeditions, in 181 3, having been seen by Mr.
I)enovan, who then superintended the Leith Police, his motions were carefully
observed, After purchasing bills, amounting to nearly $1 000, at various banking
establishments in Edinburgh and Leith, he was again apprehended on the
5th of March, when just on the eve of sailing by one of the smacks. He was
next day examined before the Magistrates of Edinburgh ; but, from a belief
that he could not be legally prosecuted after having “run his letters” on the
former occasion, Mackcoull was again set at liberty. His bills and money,
however-with the exception of 336 (in English notes)-were retained in the
hands of Mr. Callander, the City Clerk. That he did not insist on having the
whole of the money restored to him at that time was probably owing to his
anxiety to escape.
In October 1813, while Mackcoull was confined in Newgate for a breach of
the peace, committed in the house of his wife (for at that time he was not
living with her), the Paisley Union Bank obtained possession of the bills from
the Magistrates of Edinburgh, on lodging a bond of indemnity and relief; but
it was not till 1815 that he mustered assurance enough to demand restitution.
He first wrote several letters to Mr. Callander-next came himself to Edinburgh
-called at the British Linen Company’s Office, and imperiously demanded the
bills he had purchased from them in 1813. He wrote a statement of his case
to the then Lord Advocate (Colquhoun of Killermont) ; and, failing to procure
his interference, made personal application to the Council Chambers, where
his conduct was such as to cause the city officers to turn him out.
Mackcoull first brought his case before the Sheriff Court, but not meeting
with success, he commenced a series of proceedings in the Supreme Court,
which lasted several years, and in which he had well-nigh been victorious. The
1 This snm had been deposited for the purpose by Mackcoull’s mother. As an instance of his
villany, after the death of Old Uunpowder (as he called her), he instituted a process against Mr.
Harmer, on the ground that he had no authorityfvom him for paying away the money, and was
actually successful.
VOL. IL S A ... SKETCHES. 361 hoisted Blue Peter; while all agreed that he set the darbies and .u$les ...

Book 9  p. 480
(Score 1.19)

HISTORICAL AND DESCRTPTIVE NOTES. 77
~
little to the east of Winchburgh station, the old square keep is distinctly seen
from the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway. It is well known that the unfortunate
Mary Stuart found shelter within its massive walls, on her flight from
Loch Leven to the disastrous field of Langside, in 156%. Her loyal host and
protector' was long commemorated by a brief inscription on an oblong stone
tablet surmounting the east window of the Castle. Unfortunately, the tablet
has disappeared within the last few years ; but the restoration of the inscription
is contemplated by the Earl of Hopetoun, to whom the ancient structure
now belongs. The tablet appears on the following page.
THE OLD YEW TREE
While leaving the more historical features, let us glance for a little -at the
picturesque, and from the Dean Cemetery, with its memories of departed
1 George, seventh Lord Seton, who was Provost of Edinburgh in 1557. He was the elder
brother of John, first Baron of Cariston in the county of Fife, and half-bro:her of Mary Seton, one
of the ' four Maries ' in attendance upon the beautiful Scottish Queen. The office of Provost was
also held by his distinguished son Alexander, Earl of Dunfermline (younger brother of the first
Earl of Winton). from IS+ to I*. Lord Dunfermline, whose armocia1 ensigns appear
in the upper portion of the great south window in the Parliament House, was appointed President
of the Court of Session in 1593, and discharged the duties of Chancellor of Scotland from
1604 till his death at Pinkie in 1612. Impartial as a judge and able as a statesman, he is praised
by both Spttiswoode and Calderwood ... AND DESCRTPTIVE NOTES. 77 ~ little to the east of Winchburgh station, the old square keep is ...

Book 11  p. 122
(Score 1.19)

I 28 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Prinm Street.
fiery oratory; and to succeeding times it will
preserve a vivid ?representation of one who,
apart from all his other claims to such commemoration,
was universally recognised as one
of the most striking, poetic, and noble-looking men
of his time.?
About the same period there was inaugurated at
erected by the late Lord Murray, a descendant and
representative of Ramsay?s. It rises from a pedestal,
containing on its principal side a medallion
portrait of Lord Murray, and on the reverse side
one of General Ramsay (Allan?s grandson), on the
west one of Mrs. Ramsay, and on the east similar
representations of the general?s two daughters,
DEAN RAMSAY. (From a Photpajh by/& Mofld.)
the eastern corner of the West Gardens a white
marble statue of Allan Ramsay. A memorial
of the poet was suggested in the Sots Magazine
as far back as 1810, and an obelisk to his memory,
known as the Ramsay monument, was erected near
Pennicuick, nearly a century before that time.
The marble statue is from the studio of Sir John
Steel, and rather grotesquely represents the poet
with the silk nightcap worn by gentlemen of his
time as a temporary substitute for the wig, and was
Lady Campbell and Mrs. Malcolm. ?Thus we
find,? says Chambers, ?? owing to the esteem which
genius ever commands, the poet of the Genfle
Shepherd in the immortality of marble, surrounded
by the figures of relatives and descendants who so
acknowledged their aristocratic rank to be inferior
to his, derived from mind alone.?
Next in order was erected, in ~ 8 7 7 , the statue to
the late Adam Black, the eminent publisher, who
represented the city in Parliament, held many ... 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)

Luriston.1 GEORGE HERIOT. 363
diameter and 22 feet high; one school-room, 52
feet long by 26 wide ; and two others of 42 feet by
24; with, on the upper floors, the nursery, bed-rooms,
music, store and governesses? rooms. The building
was opened in 1819, and two years after contained
80 girls, its annual revenue being then about
E3,ooo sterling.
In 187 I another hospital for the girls was erected
elsewhere, and the edifice described was appropriated
for the use of George Watson?s College
Schools, with an entrance from Archibald Place.
The design of these schools is to provide boys
with a liberal education, qualifying them for CMrnercial
or professional life, and for the universities.
Their course of study includes the classics,
English, French, and German, and all the other
usual branches of a most liberal education, together
with chemistry, drill, gymnastics, and fencing. The
number of foundationers has Seen reduced to 60,
at least one fourth of whom are elected by competitive
examination from boys attending this and the
other schools of the Merchant Company, and boys
attending these schools have the following benefits,
viz. I : A presentation to one of the foundations of
this, or Stewart?s Hospital, tenable for six years j
2. A bursary, on leaving the schools of 6 . 5 yearly
for four years.
The foundationers are boarded in a house belonging
to the governors, with the exception of
those who are boardedwith families in the city.
When admitted, they must be of the age of nine,
and not above fourteen years. On leaving each is
allowed f;7 for clothes; he may rsceive for five
years LIO annually; and on attaining the age of
twenty-five a further sum of A50, to enable him
to commence business in Edinburgh.
The Chalmers Hospital, at the south side of the
west end of huriston Place, is a large edifice, in a
plain Italian style, and treats annually about 180
in-door, and over 2,500 out-door patients. It was
erected in 1861. George Chalmers, a plumber
in Edinburgh, who died on the 10th of March,
1836, bequeathed the greater part of his fortune,
estimated at ~30,000, for the erection and the
endowment of this ;?Hospital for the Sick and
Hurt.?
The management of the charity is in the hands
of the ,Dean and Faculty of Advocates, who, after
allowing the fund to accumulate for some years, in
conformity to the will of the founder, erected the
building, which was fully opened for patients in
1864; and adjoining it is the new thoroughfare
called Chalmers Street.
The Lauriston Place United Presbyterian church,
a large and handsome Gothic structure at the
corner of Portland Place, was built in 1859 ; and
near it, in Lauriston Gardens, is theCatholic convent
of St. Catharine of Sienna-the same saint to
whom the old convent at the Sciennes was devoted-
built in 1859, by the widow of Colonel
Hutchison. It is in the regular collegiate style,
and the body of the foundress is interred in the
grounds attached to it, where stands an ancient
thorn-tree coeval with the original convent
CHAPTER XLIII.
GEORGE HERIOT?S HOSPITAL AND THE GREYFRIARS CHURCH.
Notice of George Heriot-Dies Chiidless-His Will-The Hospital founded-I& Progrw-The Master Masons-Opened-Number of Scholars
-Dr. Balcanquall-Alterations-The Edifice-The Architecture of it-Heriot?s Day and Infant Schools in the City-Lunardik Balloon
Ascent-Royai Edinburgh Volunteers-The Heriot Brewery-Old Greyfriars Church-The Covenant-The CromwcllLms-The Conrunting
Prhonern-The Martyrs? Tomb-New Greyfriars-Dr. Wallace-Dr. Robertson-Dr. ErskinAld Tombs in the Chorch-Gmt by
Queen Mary-Morton Interred-State of the Ground in 177g-The Graves of Buchanan and others--Bona from St Gda?s Church.
AMONG the many noble charitable institutions of
which Edinburgh may justly feel proud one of the
most conspicuous is Heriot?s Hospital, on the
north side of Lahriston-an institution which, in
object and munificence. is not unlike the famous
Christ?s Hospital in the English metropolis.
Of the early history of George Heriot, who, as a
jeweller and goldsmith was the favourite and
humble friend of James VI. and who was immortalised
in one way by Scott in the ?Fohnes of
Nigel,?.? but scanty records remain,
He is said to have been a branch of the Heriots
of Trabroun, in East Lothian, and was born at
Edinburgh in June, 1563, during the reign of
Mary, and in due time he was brought up to the
profession of a goldsmith by his father, one of the
craft, and a man of some consideration in the city,
for which he sat as Commissioner more thanonce
in Parliament. A jeweller named George Heriot,
who was frequently employed by Jarnes V., as the
Treasury accounts show, was most likely the elder
Heriot, to whose business he added that of a
. ... 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)

14 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
London. This lady, who resided at Dulwich, in the neighbourhood of the
metropolis, was in the perfect enjoyment of all her faculties, though in her ninetyfourth
year.
The coachman, who declares he " will not spare them," is a striking likeness
of MR. GEORGE BOYD, a clothier, who had his shop at the head of Gosford's
Close, He in some measure deserved the elevation he has obtained by the
great interest he took in originating the design of the Mound. The inscription
on the post-" G. B.'s Bridge "-is in allusion to this. He was a brother of the
late Dr. Boyd, solicitor-at-lam, author of " The Nature and Offices, and Duty
of a Justice of the Peace.'' 2 vols. Quarto.
The footman, MR. WILLIAM YETTS, who is urging '' Geordie " to whip
hard, kept a hairdresser and hosier's shop at the head of Forrester's Wynd.
The building is now taken down. He possessed a great fund of humour ; and,
although a member of the Club, used to indulge very frequently in ridiculing
their transactions.
Although he had a wife
and family,' with whom he lived reputably for many years, he thought proper to
fall in love elsewhere ; but the object of his attachment (a married lady) not
exactly comprehending his unusually liberal principles,indignantlyrejected his suit.
The discarded lover, as in duty bound, instantly became inspired with the
despair of an ancient hero of romance ; and, amongst other notable results of
distracted love, imitated the well-known Kitty Fisher, who, in the zenith of her
charms, ate a Bank of England hundred-pound note between two thin slices of
bread and butter. But his meal, though less expensive, must have been more
difficult to swallow ; for he actually took Jive $veqound notes of Sir William
Forbes' Bank from his pocket, and devoured them, without, however, the
head and butter accompaniment of Miss Kitty. As a suitable termination to
this folly, the infatuated barber crowned the whole by leaving his family in a
destitute condition, and entering himself on board a man-of-war.*
The newly-shipped tar soon found himself exposed to all the perils of active
service. He fought on board the Bellerophon at the battle of the Nile in 1789 ;
and, in the dreadful conflict which that ship maintained with her stupendous
opponent, the Orient, he had several narrow escapes. While engaged in supplying
ammunition, a tall comrade by his side had his head carried off, and the
ball passed so near to Yetts that he said he actually felt himself lifted up from
the deck.
The history of poor Yetts is somewhat romantic.
The family consisted of one son and two daughters. They emigrated, we believe, to New
South Wales.
!a A friend who felt interested in the welfare of the destitute family, called on Sir William
Forbes, to whom he told the circumstances of the case ; and, on his single testimony alone, obtained
from that humane gentleman the sum of twenty-jveppounds in lieu of the notes destroyed by Yetts.
This act of generosity, it may well be conceived, proved a moet seasonable and unexpected supply
for the family. ... 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 ... Street.] THE MECHANICS? LIBRARY. 291 CHAPTER XXXV. SOME OF THE NEW STREETS WITHIN THE AREA OF THE ...

Book 2  p. 291
(Score 1.18)

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

Book 10  p. 407
(Score 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, ... 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)

230 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Leith.
Tolbooth had become decayed and ruinous, and
soon after the demolition af the Heart of Midlothian
its doom was pronounced. Sir Walter Scott,
Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe, and other zealous antiquaries,
left nothing undone to induce the magistrates
of Edinburgh, under whose auspices the
work of demolition proceeded, to preserve the
picturesque street front, and re-build the remainder
on a proposed plan.
A deputation waited upon the provost for this
purpose, but ? were courteously dismissed with the
unanswerable argument that the expense of new
designs had been incurred; and so the singular
old house of justice of Queen Mary was replaced
by the commonplace erection that now occupies
its site.?
The old edifice was demolished in 1819, and
its unprepossessing successor was erected in 1822,
at the expense of the city of Edinburgh, in a
nondescript style, which the prints of the time
flattered themselves was Saxon; ?but though it
has several suites of well-lighted cells, and is said
to be a very complete jail,? wrote a statistical
author, ? it remained, at the date of the Commissioners?
Report on Municipal Corporations, and
possibly still remains, unlegalised. An objection
having been judiciously made to its security, the
Court of Session refused an application to legalise
it; and a misunderstanding having afterwards arisen
between the Corporation of Edinburgh and the
community of Leith, the place was neglected, and
not allowed the benefit of any further proceedings
in its favour. A lock-up house, consisting of cold,
damp, and unhealthy cells, such as endangered
life, was coolly permitted to do for the police
prisoners the honours and offices of the sinecure
Tolbooth.?
About 1730 there would seem to have been
established in the wynd an institution having in
it a Bath Stove, which, as a curious old handbill,
preserved in the Advocates? Library, and without
date, informs the public, ?is to be found in
Alexander Hayes? Close, over against the entry to
Babylon, betwixt the Tolbooth and the shore.?
The bill runs thus :-
?At Leith there is a Bath Stove, set up by
William Paul, after the fashion of Poland and Germany,
which is approven by all the doctors of physic
and apothecaries in Edinburgh and elsewhere-a
sovereign remedy in curing of all diseases, and
preventing sickness both of old and young. This
bath is able to give content to fourscore persons
a day.
?The diseases which are commonly cured by
the said bath are these :-The hydropsis, the gout,
deafness, and itch ; sore eyes, the cold unsensibleless
of the flesh, the trembling axes (sic), the Irish
tgue, cold defluxions ; inwardly, the melancholick
iisease, the collick, and all natural diseases that
ire curable ; probaturn est.
?This bath is to be used all times and seasons,
both summer and winter, and every person that
iomes to bathe must bring clean linen with them
for their own use, especially dean shirts. All the
days of the week for men, except Friday, which is
reserved for women and children.?
On the north side of the wynd, opposite the
new Tolbooth, opened the irregular alley named
the Paunch Market, which contained the Piazzas
and Bourse of Mary of Lorraine, and from whence
a narrow alley, called Queen Street, leads to the
shore.
A stately old building at the head of the latter,
but which was pulled down in the year 1849, is stated
to have been the residence of Mary of Lorraine
during some portion of her quarrels with the
Protestants; and the same mansion is said by
tradition to have been briefly occupied by Oliver
Cromwell.
Its window-frames were all formed of oak, richly
carved? and the panellings of the doors were of
the same wood, beautifully embellished. Its walls
were decorated with well-executed paintings, which
seemed of considerable antiquity, and were afterwards
in possession of Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe.
The mansion was elaborately decorated on the exterior
with sculptured dormer windows, and other
ornaments common to edifices of the period.
Wilson seems inclined to think that the modern
name of the street may have suggested the tradition
that it was the residence of the Queen Regent, as
it superseded the more homely one of the Paunch
Market; but adds, ?there is no evidence in its
favour sufficient to overturn the statement of Maitland,
who wrote at a period when there was less
temptation to invent traditions than now.?
The Rev. Parker Lawson, in his Gazetthr, says:
?About a score of old houses are pointed out as
the residence of the Queen Regent and Oliver
Cromwell, but in Queen Street, formerly the
Paunch\ Market, is an antique mansion of elegant
exterior, said to have been the actual dwelling of
the queen.?
Over a doorway in this street, says Wilson, there
is cut in very ancient and ornamental letters,
CREDENTI. NIHIL. LINGUW.
On the west side of this narrow thoroughfare
stood the early Episcopal Chapel of Leith. Referring
to the period of Culloden, Chalmers says :- ... 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)

THE OLD TOWN. 33
Do& spirit. So that we may almost change the name of this Row slightly, and
call it Poet Xow. The name suggests to us a number of kindred spirits, such
as James Ballantine, Alexander Maclagan, Thomas Tod Stoddart, Alexader
Smart, William Sinclair', David Vedder, Robert Gilfillan, and Peter Gardner,-
all poets, and all more or less connected with Edinburgh and its Old Tom,-
not omitting one of a still higher order, EIugh Miller, also a poet, and who here
gained his richer laurels as a journalist and a scientific yet imaginative geologist.
Nor can we forget to mention among the past celebrities, Dean Ramsay,
the genial-hearted author of Reminisceaces of Scothsh Lqe and Character, Lord
Ardmillan, AIexander Russel, the able and dauntless editor of the Scotsman;
and among the present notabilities, Dr. John Brown, the ingenious author
of Rab and his liriends; Lords Deas, Neaves, and Moncreiff; J. Campbell
Smith, J. Arthur Crichton, J. Guthrie Smith, and William Pitt Dundas,
Registrar General for Scotland, among the advocates ; Dr. Donaldson and
Macdonald of the High School-elsewhere, Dr. Harvey, Clyde, Bryce, and
David Pryde ; among the divines, Dr. Cotterill, Dr. Macgregor of St. Cuthbert's,
Dr. Walter C. Smith, Dr. Andrew Thomson, Professor Kirk, Dr. W. Lindsay
Alexander; and at the New College, Professors Rainy, Duff, Duns, and Blaikie;
and among other men of letters, Dr. John Stuart of the Register House, David
Laing of the Signet Library, John Hill Burton, and Professor Archer. The
Museum of Science and Art behind the College is too well known to require ... 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)

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 225
the next wm married to a Mr. Stoddart, who had realised a fortune abroad ;
the third to James Marshall, Esq., Secretary to the Provincial Bank of Ireland
in London; and the youngest to the late Reverend Dr. Robertson of South
Leith. The rest mostly died when young. The only son who reached manhood
was the late William Jamieson, W.S., who died in 1626. This gentleman
attained a temporary celebrity by his attacks on the Judges of the Court of
Session ; for which, however, he smarted pretty severely-perhaps more so than
the case required.
The third figure is MR. ARCHIBALD M'DOWALL, clothier, North
Bridge, for many years a leading member of the Town Council. He is represented
as holding in his hand a plan of the improvement proposed by the
Magistrates.
His
father, James M'Dowall of Canonmills, was nearly related to the late Andrew
M'Dowall, Lord Bankton. In the entail of the estate of Bankton, in East
Lothian, and certain other property, executed in 1756, he is a nominatim
mbstitute, and is therein stated to be his lordship's cousin.' Mrs. Gilmour of
Craigmillar, the great-grandchild of this James M'Dowall, was consequently
grand-niece of Mr. Archibald M'Dowall. Being the descendant of his eldest
brother, she succeeded to the property of Canonmills, on the death of her
father, while in minority. It may not be out of place to mention that Mr.
Patrick M'Dowall, the father of James M'Dowall of Canonmills, was the first
private banker who discounted bills in Edinburgh. He carried on business
before the erection of the Bank of Scotland, under the Act of Parliament in 1695,
and for a considerable time afterwards.
Mr. M'Dowall was born in 1743, and married in early lie a near relation of
the late Dr. John Macfarlan, minister of the Canongate Church (who married
his sister), and father of John Macfarlan of Kirkton, Esq., advocate, and also
of the present Dr. Patrick Macfarlan of Greenock. He commenced the first
cloth manufactory in Scotland,' similar to those carried on so extensively at
Leeds, and brought a number of workmen from England for that purpose.
This establishment was at Paul's Work, at the south back of Canongate, now
called M'Dowall Street, from which he afterwards removed to Brunstane Mill,
Mr. M'Dowall was a cadet of the ancient family of M'Dowall of Logan,
The Countess of Dalhousie, who happened to be the nearest heir of entail to the Logan and
Bankton estates, was long engaged in a lawsuit with the possessor, so that, failing his brother, she
might be enabled to enter into possession. ' In order to encourage Mr. M'Dowall's manufactory, the Earl of Buchan proposed that such
gentlemen of the Antiquarian Society as intended to be present at the first anniversary meeting of
the Society on the 30th November 1781, should be dressed entirely in "home-made" articles.
Accordingly, they all appeared with clothes of M'Dowall's manufacture, worsted hose, etc. Lord
Buchan, being the last to make his appearance, on looking round, immediately exclaimed, " Gentlemen,
there is not one of you dressed according to agreement, myself excepted ; your buckles and
buttons are entirely English, whereas mine are made from jasper taken from Arthur's Seat." And
very beautiful they were. The bed of jasper is now exhausted.
2 6 ... 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)

HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE NOTES. 61
publishing houses of the city. Near at hand is that of the brothers Chambers,
and from the little corner shop at the Bow we follow the NeIsons to their
magnificent establishment at Hope Park ; Adam and Charles Black are in
the North Bridge ; Oliver and Boyd in Tweeddale Court ;l and from the Old
Town we accompany the Blackwoods to George Street in the New. Ranked
with them are the names of Constable, Clark, and Ballantyne, as letterpress
printers, and Johnston and Bartholomew as geogaphers and engravers.
Beside the memorial tablet to Napier of Merchiston, on the north wall of
St. Giles’s Cathedral, are the remains of the City Cross : Mr. Drummond’s
drawing shows the shaft as it stood in the grounds at Drum.
GREAT HALL IN THE PARLIAMENT HOUSe
The renovated choir of St. GiIes’s Cathedral was opened on Sunday morning,
9th March 1873, by the Rev. Dr. knot. The magnificent stained grass
windows by Ballantine add to the dignity of the venerable edifice, one of them
fo&ing a memoria1 to Stevenson, the engineer of the Bell Rock Lighthouse.
1 Tweeddale House, associated with the family of that name, became afterwards the British
Linen Company’s Bank, and has been for a long period occupied by Messrs. OIiver and Boyd. ... AND DESCRIPTIVE NOTES. 61 publishing houses of the city. Near at hand is that of the brothers ...

Book 11  p. 98
(Score 1.14)

250 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
Geddes, the heroine of 1637, was one of the kail wives of the Tron, her famous stool-the
formidable weapon with which she began the great rebellion, by hurling it at the Dean of
St Giles’ head-must have perished in this repentant ebullition of joy, and accordingly
that the relic shown in the Museum of the Society of Antiquaries is undeserving of credit.
We must protest, however, against so rash an hypothesis, which would involve the
destruction of the sole monument of the immortal Janet’s heroic onslaught; seeing there can
be no reasonable question that a dame so zealous and devout would reserve her best stool for
the Sunday’s services, and content herself with a common creepie for her week-day avocations
at the Tron I There is no doubt, however, that Jenny gave unequivocal proofs of
her loyalty at a later period, as she is specially mentioned in the Mercurius Caledonius, a
newspaper published immediately after the Restoration, as having taken a prominent share
in similar rejoicings on the coronation of the king in 1661. “But among all our bontados
and caprices,’’ says the curious.annalist, ‘‘ that of the immortal Jenet Geddis, Princesse of
the Trone Adventurers, was most pleasant, for she was not only content to assemble all her
creels, basquets, creepies, frames, and other ingredients that composed the shope of her
sallets, radishes, turnips, carrots, spinage, cabbage, with all other sort of pot merchandise
that belongs to the garden, but even her leather chair of state, where she used to dkpense
justice to the rest of her langkale vassals, were all very orderly burned; she herself
countenancing the action with a high-flown flourish and vermillion majesty.”
Halkerston’~W ynd, which is the first close now remaining on the north side of the
. High Street below the Tron Church, had once been a place of considerable note, but
nearly every vestige of antiquity has disappeared. We have already given a view a of a
very curious ancient lintel still remaining on the east side, which bears on it the monogram
IHS, and a cross-Jeury, with a coronet surmounting the letter D. The whole style
and character of this doorway indicates a date long anterior to the Reformation, but the
building to which it belonged has been demolished, all but a portion of the outer wall,
and we have failed to obtain any clue to its early history. It was in its later state a
timber-fronted land, having a good deal of carving along the gables, and an ornamental
stone stair-case projecting beyond, altogether indicatiug the remains of a magnxcent
and costly mansion of the olden time. Adjoining this, another doorway, forming a
similar vestige of a more modern building, bears the common inscription, BLISSIT . BE
GOD . FOR . AL . HIS . GIFTIS . and the initials and date RD * D - 1609.. This ancient
alley formed one of the accesses to the city from the north, previous to the erection of the
North Bridge. Fountainhall’ gives a curious account of an action brought by Robert
Malloch in 1701 against the magistrates of Edinburgh, for shutting up the Halkerston’s
Wynd Port. From this it appears that a suburban village had sprung up on Moutrie’s
Hill, the site now occupied by James’ Square, in which a number of poor weavers and other
tradesmen had set up in defiance of the incorporations of the Gude Toun. The deacons
finding their crafts in danger, took advantage of an approaching election to frighten the
magistrates into a just sense of the enormity of tolerating such unconstitutional interlopers
Even Jenny Geddes’s well-earned reputation “cannot live out of the teeth of emulation.” Kincaid (Hist. of Edin.
p. 63) puts forward a new claimant to her honours, “ an old woman named Hamilton, grandmother to Robert Mein,
late Dean of Guild officer in Edinburgh”
Ante, p. 118. Fountainhall’s Decisions, vol. ii. p. 110. ... 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)

132 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
defences of the tower were principally directed. The walls are here of very great thickness,
and pierced by a square cavity in the solid mass, for the reception of a sliding beam
to secure the door, while around it are the remains of various additional fortifications to
protect the covered way.
During the same operations, indications were discovered of a pathway up the cliff, partly
by means of steps cut in the shelving rock, and probably completed by moveable ladders
and a drawbridge communicating with the higher story of the Well-house Tower. About
seventy feet above, there is a small building on an apparently inaccessible projection of the
cl3, popularly known as ‘ I Wallace’s Cradle ” (an obvious corruption of the name of the
tower below), which would seem to have formed a part of this access from the Castle to
the ancient fountain at its base. In excavating near the tower, and especially in the neighbourhood
of the sally port, various coins were found, chiefly those of Edward 111. and
Cromwell, in very good preservation. There were also some foreign coins, and one of
Edward I., many f r a p e n t s of bombshells, a shattered skull, and other indications of
former warfare. The coins are now in the Antiquarian Museum, and are interesting
from some of them being of a date considerably anterior to the supposed erection of the
tower.a
The ancient fortifications .of the town of Edinburgh, reared under the charter of James
11.) formed, at this part, in reality an advanced wall of the Castle, the charge of which
was probably committed entirely to the garrison. The wall, after extending for a short
way from the Well-house Tower, along the margin of the Loch, was carried up the Castle
bank, and thence over the declivity on the south, until it again took an easterly direction
towards the ancient Overbow Port, at the first turning of the West Bow, so that the whole
of the Esplanade was separated from the town by this defence. There was in the highest
part of the wall, a gate which served as a means of communication with the town by the
Castle Hill, and was styled the Barrier Gate of the Castle. This outer port was temporarily
restored for the reception of George IT., on his visit to the Castle in the year 1822, and it
was again brought into requisition in 1832, in order completely to isolate the garrison,
during the prevalence of Asiatic cholera.
Previous to the enclosure and planting of the Castle bank and the bed of the ancient
North Loch, the Esplanade was the principal promenade of the citizens, and a road led
from the top of the bank, passing in an oblique direction down the north side, by the
Well-house Tower, to St Cuthbert’s Church, some indications of which still remain. This
church road had existed from a very early period, and is mentioned in the charter of
.
1 The following extracts from the Diurnal of Occurrents, p. 332-3, in reference to the siege of the Castle by Sir
William Drury in 1573 (ante, p. 84), embrace various interesting allusions to the local detail :- “ Wpoun the xxij
day of Maij, the south quarter of the toure of the Castell, callit Dauid’s toure, fell through the vehement and continual1
achuting, togidder with some of the foir wall, and of the heid wall beayd Sanct Margaretia set.
“ Wpoun the xxiiij day, the eist quarter of the said tour fell, with the north quarteris of the port cuheis ; the tour
als callit Wallace tour, with some mair of the foir wall, notwithstanding the Castell men kust thair hand with schutting
of small artailzerie. . . . . Wpoun the xxvj day, the hail1 cumpangis of Scotland and Ingland, being quietlie
convenit at vij houris in the mornyng, passed with ledders, ane half to the blookhous, the vther half to Sanct Katherin’a
eet, on the west syd, quhair the syid wea schote doun.” The Caatle vwa at length rendered by Sir William Kirkaldy
on the 29th of the month. In Calderwood’s History, Wodrow Soc., vol. iii. 281, the followiug occurs, of the same
date :-“Captain Nitchell waa layed with his band at Sanct Cuthbert’a Kirk, to atoppe the passage to St Margaret’a
Well.” Also in “The Inventory of Royal Wardrobe,” dcc,, p. 168,-“1tem, am irne yet for Sanct Margareth’a
t.o ur*, ”A &rcch. wlogia Scotica, vol. ii. pp. 469-477. ... MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH. defences of the tower were principally directed. The walls are here of very great ...

Book 10  p. 143
(Score 1.13)

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