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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 117 key, and then the coat will fit to a certainty.’’ The servant kept his promise. In a day or two the t.ailor returned-found O’Brien in excellent humour ; and the greatcoat-“ 0, nothing in the world could be more completer 1” While in Edinburgh, O’Brien exhibited himself in the premises known as the “ Salamander Land,”l opposite the Royal Exchange. The following piece of bombast was a standing paragraph in his advertisements :- ‘I How fortunate for Mr. O’Brien that he holds such a situation in existence that no one can rival him in the public estimation. Kings may be dethroned-ministers dismissed-actors supplanted-tradesmen ruined-and every other situation experience a similar reverse of fortune, except the above gentleman, whose transcendent superiority is universally acknowledged ; and who would not be injured in the least if kings, ministers, actors, and tradesmen were to unite their efforts to produce a rival, since they would find themselves unequal to such magnanimous undertaking. ” Our giant was, in money matters, a very prudent person. He managed his receipts so well, “that,” as observes his biographer,’ “ at the moment he is distinguished as the largest, he is also known to be not the least independent man in the kingdom, having in the neighbourhood of his residence at Enfield several houses his own property ; which render his further exhibition unnecessary.” O’Brien died at the Hot-Wells, Bristol, upon the 8th of September 1806, and was interred at the Catholic Chapel, in Trenchard Street. His coffin was nine feet five inches, and so broad that five ordinary men could lie in it with ease. The brass plate contained the following inscription :-“ Patrick Cotter O’Brien, of Kinsale, Ireland, whose stature was eight feet one inch, died Sth September 1806, aged forty-six” AIR. WILLIAM RANKEN, although diminutive in contrast with the enormous bulk of the Irish Hercules, was of the middle size, and a man of goodly proportions. He was a native of the south side of Edinburgh, and the son of a respectable tailor. Having been brought up to his father’s profession, he commenced business on his own account about the year 1778, in one of the old houses’ opposite the City Guard. He afterwards moved to a house in the Lawnmarket ; and latterly resided in the land forming the north-east corner of the Parliament Square-with piazzas and a stone stair in frontdestroyed by the great f i e in 1524. This property he purchased from the heirs of the late Mr. Dempster, jeweller. Mr. Ranken was one of the most extensive and respectable clothiers in Edinburgh. He took an interest in city politics, and was first chosen Deacon of the Incorporation in 1791, and Deacon Convener in 1799 and 1800. These offices he filled repeatedly afterwards, and was for many years an influential 1 So called from its having escaped two great fires ; the lsst of which, in 1824, destroyed the “Extraordinary Characters of the Nineteenth Century,” London, 1805, 8vo ; a very rare and Parliament Square, and a portion of the south side of the High Street. curious work, which was never finished. The text and plates are both engraved on copper. a Since rebuilt. ... SKETCHES. 117 key, and then the coat will fit to a certainty.’’ The servant kept his promise. In ...

Book 9  p. 156
(Score 0.77)

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 409 Elect and make choice of the foresaid Provost James Moodie to be their Commissioner or Delegate for them, and in their name to meet and Convene at the Burgh of Inverkeithing, being the presiding Burgh of the District for the time, upon Monday, the 20th day of June current.” At the election, which took place on the 20th June 1796, the Hon. Andrew Cochrane Johnstone was returned member for the Inverkeithing district of burghs, but not without a protest on the part of Sir John Henderson, Bart., the defeated candidate. In a petition presented to the House of Commons, the latter complained that the elections of the delegates for Stirling, Culross, and Queensferry,’ the three burghs opposed to him, ‘( were all and each of them brought about by undue means, made by unqualified persons ; were illegal, and contrary to the statutes made and provided for regulating the elections of commissioners, or delegates ; and because the commissions pretended to be given to the said persons severally were also illegal, informal, and essentially defective, and that the majority of legal votes at the said election were in favour of the petitioner.” The delegate for Dunfermline* voted for Sir John ; and, as the petitioner had himself been the commissioner for Inverkeithing-the returning burgh-fliv- Johr, very naturally voted for Sir John. Thus two votes were in favour and three against him ; but, if successful in striking off one of the latter, the casting vote secured his election. The petition was ordered to be taken into consideration; and, on the 17th March 1797, a Select Committee of the House of Commons was appointed to (( try and determine the merits of the said petition.” The Hon. Charles James Fox was nominated by the counsel for the petitioner, and William Grant, Esq., by that of the sitting member. Bryan Edwards, author of the ‘‘ History of the West Indies,” was elected chairman, Among other parties summoned before the Select Committee were the townclerk of Kinghorn and Lucky Skinner. We are unable to gratify our readers with a report of the evidence, or even an outline of the curious facts obtained in the course of the investigation ; but it is well known that the wary hostess came off with flying colours. The information sought to be elicited from hlrs. Skinner of course related chiefly to the jollifications of the electors-as to what extent they had been entertained-and by whom the expenses had been paid. Sir James Mackintosh, who was on the Committee, was the first to interrogate her. After the usual queries as to name and residence, he proceeded- And now for the sequel to the “Battle of Kinghorn.” “ Tqu keep an inn in Kinghorn 2 ” “ No, sir,” was the reply. ‘‘ A tavern 1 ” ‘ ‘ No, sir.” “What, then-a public-house, or place of entertainment, it must be 1” , “ Nane 0’ the twa 0’ them,” replied Lucky Skinner-chuckling at the idea of having taxed the ingenuity of her learned countryman ; “ for wee1 micht ye ken that in Scotland it’s the man and no the woman that keeps the house.” The delegate for Stirling, John Gdchrist, Esq. ; for Culrosg Patrick Geddes, Esq. ; and for Queensferry, David Williamson, Esq., afterwards Lord Balgray. Provost Moodie, who had been chosen delegate at the second meeting of the Council, voted under protest in the opposite interest ; hut the legality of his commission does not seem to have been established. * William Wemyss, Esq., of Cuttlehill. VOL. 11. 3 G ... SKETCHES. 409 Elect and make choice of the foresaid Provost James Moodie to be their Commissioner or ...

Book 9  p. 545
(Score 0.76)

THE STUARTS TO THE DEATH OF YAMES 111 17 The increasing importance which the royal capital was now assuming, speedily drew attention to its exposed situation. In the reign of Robert IL the singular privilege had been conceded to the principal inhabitants, of building dwellings within the Castle, so as to secure their families and wealth from the constant inroads of the English; but now, in the year 1450, immediately after the battle of Sark, the ancient city was enclosed within fortified walls, traces of which still exist. They extended along the south declivity of the ridge on which the older parts of the town are built; after crossing the West Bow, then the principal entrance to the city, from the west; and running between the High Street, and the hollow where the Cowgate was afterwards built, they crossed the ridge at the Nether Bow, and terminated at the east end of the North Loch. Within these ancient limits the Scottish capital must have possessed peculiar means of defence ; a city set on a hill, and guarded by the rocky fortress-“ There watching ‘high the least alarms,”-it only wanted such ramparts, manned by its burgher watch, to enable it to give protection to its princes, and repel t.he inroads of the southern invader. The important position which it now held, may be inferred from the investment in the following year of Patrick Cockburn of Newbigging, the Provost of Edinburgh, in the chancellor’s oEce as governor of the Castle ; as well as his appointment along with other commissioners, after the-defeat of the English in the battle of Sark, to treat for the renewal of a truce. To this the young King, now about twenty years of age, was the more induced, from his anxiety to see his bride, Mary of Gueldera,--“ a lady,” says Drummond, “ young, beautiful, and of a masculine constitution,”-whose passage from the Netherlands was only delayed till secure of hindrance from the English fleet, She accordingly arrived in Scotland, accompanied by a numerous retinue of princes, prelates, and noblemen, who were entertained with every mark of royal hospitality, and witnessed the solemnisation of the marriage, as well as the coronation, of the young Queen thereafter, both of which took place in the Abbey of Holyrood, with the utmost pomp and solemnity. The first fruit of this marriage seems to have been the rebellion of the Earl of Douglas, who, jealous of the influence that the Lord Chancellor Crichtou had acquired with the Queen, almost immediately thereafter proceeded to revenge his private quarrel with fire and sword ; so that in the beginning of the following year, a- Parliament was assembled at Edinburgh, whose first enactmenta were directed against. such encroachments on the royal prerogative. His further deeds of blood and rapine, at length closed by a hasty blow of the King’s dagger in Stirling Castle, belong rather to Scottish history ; as well as the death of the Monarch himself shortly after, by the bursting of the Lyon, a famous cannon, at the siege of Roxburgh Castle, in the year 1460. At this time, Henry VI., the exiled King of England, with his heroic Queen and son, sought shelter at the Scottish Court, where they were fitly lodged in the monastery of the Greyfriars, in the Grassmarket ; and so hospitably entertained by the court and citizens of VIQNETTE-M~V of Gueldera’ Armefrom her -1. C ... STUARTS TO THE DEATH OF YAMES 111 17 The increasing importance which the royal capital was now assuming, ...

Book 10  p. 18
(Score 0.75)

THE LA WNMARKET. 183 courage failed them, and they marched hastily home again without having even seen the enemy. This corps of martial burghers became a favourite butt for the Jacobite wits ; and, among other proofs of their self-devoted zeal, it transpired that the gallant penman had secured within his waistcoat the professional breastplate of a quire of paper, and prepared himself for his expected fate by affixing thereon a label, inscribed,--“ This is the body of Andrew Maclure, let it be decently interred,” in the hope that he might thereby be secure of Christian burial ! Before closing the chapter, we may add that the Lawnmarket appears to have been, at all periods, a place of residence for men of note. In 1572 Mr Henry Killigrew, the ambassador of Queen Elizabeth, arrived at Edinburgh to congratulate the Earl of Morton on his accession to the Regency,”when he ‘‘ depairtit to Dauid Forrestaris lugeing abone the tolbuith,” ’ in the same neighbourhood as the mansion in Old Bank Close, soon afterward occupied by Sir William Durie. So long as Edinburgh continued to be the seat of the Scottish Parliament, its vicinity to the Parliament House made the Lawnmarket be selected as a favourite place of residence, as appears from numerous passing allusions to the old nobility, though the particular houses referred to cannot now be traced. Defoe, for example,-who was resident in Edinburgh at the period,-tells us in his history of the Union, that on the 28th October 1706, the Parliament sat late, and the Parliament Close was so full of people waiting the result of their decision, that the members could scarcely get out. On this occasion the Duke of Hamilton, the popular favourite, who was usually conducted in triumph by the mob to his lodgings in the Abbey, iL on leaving the house, was carried up to the Lawnmarket, and so to the lodgings of the Duke of Atholl,” who was appointed, as Loclchart tells us, in the place of the Duke of Queensberry at the beginning of this session of parliament, the latter wishing to see the course of public affairs before he ventured himself to face the difficulties of that period, ‘‘ and therefore he sent the Duke of Atholl down as Commissioner, using hi& as the monkey did the cat in pulling out the hot roasted chestnuts.”‘ Here also was the house of Sir Patrick Johnston, the city member,-tradition points out the old land still standing at the head of Johnston’s Close:-which was attacked and gutted by the same excited mob, in their indignation at his favouring the unpopular measure of the Union. l Adjoining Mr Yaclure’s house waa the Baijen Hole, an ancient and once celebrated baker’s shop 1 The origin of this epithet haa puzzled our local historiana, but it occurs in Crawfurd’a History of the Univemity of Edinburgh, BB applied to the junior class of Students, whose patronage, above a century ago, of a famed apeciea of rolls manufactured there, under the name of Souter’r CZods, had doubtlesa led to this title fer the place, which resembled the high shqpr still remaining underneath the oldest houses of the High Street. Craufurd’s Memoirs, p. 244. This we have on the authority of an old man, a pewterer, who haa been an inhabitant of Xhe Bow for the last Wty 8 Diurnal of Occurrenta, p. 313. 4 Lockhart’s Hems. p. 139. yearn. ... LA WNMARKET. 183 courage failed them, and they marched hastily home again without having even seen the enemy. ...

Book 10  p. 201
(Score 0.75)

418 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. addressed from the bar ; and entered either on the margin of the papers, or in a blank paper book, the opinion of each judge as it was delivered. In the Criminal and Jury Courts, where he presided, he recorded the evidence that was adduced with remarkable precision and accuracy, omitting what was really extraneous, but preserving everything in the slightest degree important. Though necessarily resident in Edinburgh during the greater portion of the year, he took a deep interest in whatever related to his native county, and was at all times a ready adviser in cases affecting its welfare. His paternal estate of Shewalton, to which he succeeded on the death of his elder brother, John Boyle, Esq., is situated within a mile or two of Irvine, and has long been distinguished for a full participation in those agricultural improvements which have probably . been nowhere carried to a greater degree of perfection than in Ayrshire. His lordship was a member of the Privy Council. In 1841 he was promoted to the presidentship on the retirement of the Right Hon. Charles Hope. The Lord President was twice married; first, on the 24th December 1804, to Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Alexander Montgomery of Annick, brother of Hugh Earl of Eglinton, of which union there were several children.' Upon the demise of this amiable lady, his lordship married, secondly (11th July 1827), Camilla, eldest daughter of the late Lord Methven, by whom he also had issue. ADAM GILLIES (LORDG ILLIES)y, oungest son of Robert Gillies, Esq., of Little Keithock, and brother of the late Dr. Gillies, Historiographer for Scotland, author of the " Ancient History of Greece," etc.: was born at Brechin, in the county of Forfar in 1766. He passed advocate in 1787, and was appointed Sheriff-Depute of the county of Kincardine in 1806. In 181 1 he was elevated to the bench on the death of Charles Hay (Lord Newton); and, the year following, succeeded Lord Craig as one of the Lords of Justiciary. In 1816 he was nominated one of the Lords Commissioners of the Jury Court ; and in 1837 appointed Judge of the Court of Exchequer in Scotland. Having on that occasion resigned his gown as a Lord of Justiciary, he was succeeded by Lord Cockburn. Opposed as he was in politics to the party in power in 1811, the elevation of Mr, Gillies to the bench was a marked tribute to his legal knowledge and experience at the bar. When the proposal was communicated to him, a limited time was assigned for his acceptance ; and being wholly unexpected on his part, he mentioned the circumstance to some of his personal and political friends. From the standing of Mr. Gillies at the bar, and the large professional income enjoyed by him, they viewed his elevation to the bench as involving too great a pecuniary sacrifice on his part j but not coinciding in this opinion, he placed The eldest of whom, Patrick, born 29th March 1806, and admitted a member of the Faculty of Advocates in 1829, married, 17thAugust 1830, Mary-Francis, daughter of Sir Robert D. H. Elphinstone, Bart., of hgie and Elphinstone. Dr. Gillies died at Clapham on the 16th of February 1836, in the ninetieth year of his age. . Lord Gillies ww by twenty-one yeare the junior of his brother the historian. ... BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. addressed from the bar ; and entered either on the margin of the papers, or in a blank ...

Book 9  p. 559
(Score 0.73)

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 75 his neck. He had, however, contracted (which the Print does give) an inveterate habit of stooping, which was rather injurious to his general aspect. In convivial society, especially when at the head of his own hospitable table, he was much disposed to be jocular, and was liberal of his store of pithy sayings and droll stories. In particular, he highly enjoyed the meetings of the well-known Poker Club, of which he was a member, along with his brother, and to which belonged at that time, Patrick Lord Elibank, Lord Ellioch, Dr. Adam Smith, Drs. Cullen, Black, and Gregory, Dr. Adam Fergusson, Old Ambassador Keith, Sir Gilbert Elliot, and many others ; some of them men of letters, others, persons of high birth, or eminent in public life. John Home was extremely regular and methodical in all his habits, punctual to his time in whatever he had to do, and not very tolerant with those who failed in this (as he rightly thought it) important article. It could not be truly affirmed that he was of an equally calm and placid temperament as his brother, the philosopher ; but the brothers entertained the most cordial affection for each other, and continued in constant habits of kind intercourse and mutual good offices to the end of their lives. Under the historian's will, the principal part of his effects went to his brother, who survived him. John Home died at Ninewells, on the 14th of November 1786, after a short illness, and in great composure of mind. He was interred in the family vault, under his parish church at Chirnside. He had always been on friendly terms with the good and worthy pastor of that parish, Dr. Walter Anderson, whom indeed no one could dislike, who valued simplicity and mildness of character, or felt the importance of the due discharge of all the duties of that holy office. By his marriage to Agnes Carre, John Home, who survived her, had eight children, of whom three sons, .Joseph, David, and John, and two daughters, Catherine and Agnes, survived him.' Joseph, when a young man, served as Captain in the Queen's Bays or 2d Dragoon Guards. He afterwards resided as a country gentleman, at Ninewells, where he died on the 14th of February 1832, unmarried, and at the advanced age of eighty-one. David was an advocate at the Scottish bar, and held successively the offices of Sheriff-Depute of Berwickshire, Sheriff-Depute of West Lothian, Professor of the Law of Scotland in the University of Edinburgh, one of the Principal Clerks to the Court of Session, and one of the Barons of the Court of Exchequer for Scotland; from which office he retired, on the statutory allowance, in February 1834. John was a man of great worth and good parts j and nature had gifted him with no small share of genuine pleasantry and humour, which were combined with a generous and an affectionate disposition. In the earlier part of his life, he did business with much credit, in Edinburgh, as a Writer to the Signet. In his latter years he gave up practice there, and took up his residence at Ninewells, with his eldest brother, the laird, who committed to him the chief or rather the entire charge of the management of his affairs, and the improvement of his estate. They carried into execution sundry judicious projects of draining, enclosure, and "he other three children, namely, Robed, Helen, and Agatha, died in infancy or early youth. ... SKETCHES. 75 his neck. He had, however, contracted (which the Print does give) an inveterate habit ...

Book 9  p. 99
(Score 0.73)

?4 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH. Queen’ Mary had ever been present at the Assembly of the Estates, and its proceedings were conducted with unusual pomp. The Queen rode in procession to the Tolbooth, in robes of state, with the crown, sceptre, and sword borne before her, escorted by a brilliant cavalcade, and was hailed with loyal greetings as she passed along the High Street, The hall was crowded with the nobles and other members, in their most costly habiliments, and glit,tered with the gay trappings of the royal household, and the splendour and beauty of the Court, that surrounded the throne. The Queen opened the proceedings with an address which won the favour of her audience, no less than her extreme beauty, so that the people were heard to exclaim, Did ever orator speak so sweetly?” On three succeeding days she rode thus to the Tolbooth, greatly to the dissatisfaction of the preachers, who spoke boldly “ against the superfluities of their clothes,” and at length presented articles for regulating apparel and reforming other similar enormities.’ It may be mentioned, as characteristic of the times, that the Town Council, “ for the satisfaction of many devout citizens, and to prevent the crime of fornication,” enacted, about the same period, that all guilty of this crime should be ducked in a certain part of the North Loch, then an impure pond of stagnant water, and a pillar was erected there for the more efficient execution of such sentences. The punishment, however, was not always reserved for such carnal offenders, but was also enforced against the moat zealous adherents of the ancient faith. In the month of August, a serious disturbance occurred, in consequence of the Queen’s domestics at Holyrood being found, during her absence at Stirling, attending mass at the chapel there. Patrick Cranston, “ a zealous brother,” as Knox styles him, entered the chapel, and finding the altar covered, and R priest ready to celebrate mass, he demanded of them how they dared thus openly to break the laws of the land? The magistrates were summoned, and peace restored with difficulty. A much more serious display of popular intolerance was exhibited in the year 1565. The period appointed by the ministers of the Congregation for the celebration of the comregarded as a peculiar aggravation of the crime of “ massing,’’ when it was done at the same time as they were administering the sacrament, the indignation of the reformers was greatly excited by the customary services of the Roman Catholics at this period. A party of them, accordingly, headed by one of the bailies, seized on Sir James Tarbat, a Catholic priest, as he was riding home, after officiating at the altar. He was imprisoned in the Tolbooth, along with several of his assistants; but the populace, not content to abide the course of law, brought him forth, clothed in his sacerdotal garments, and with the chalice secured in his hand. He was placed on the pillory at the Market Cross, and exposed for an hour to the pelting of the rude rabble ; the boys serving him, according to Knox, with his Easter eggs. He was brought to trial with his assistants on the following day, and convicted of having celebrated mass, contrary to law. He was again exposed for four hours on the pillory, under the charge of the common hangman, and ao rudely treated that he was reported to be dead. The Queen, justly exasperated at this cruel and insulting proceeding, sent to her friends God save that sweet face I . muuion chanced to fall at the season of Easter, and as it seems to have been at all times . a Rnox’a Hist., p. 295. Keith, voL ii. p. 199. ... MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH. Queen’ Mary had ever been present at the Assembly of the Estates, and its ...

Book 10  p. 81
(Score 0.72)

108 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH. English supremacy. No sooner, therefore, were the articles made public, in the month of October 1706, than a universal clamour and uproar ensued. The outer Parliament House and the adjoining square were crowded with an excited multitude, who testified their displeasure at the Duke of Queensberry, the Commissioner, and all who favoured the Union. On the 23d of the month, hhe populace proceeded to more violent acts of hostility against the promoters of the scheme. They attacked the house of Sir Patrick Johnston, their representative in Parliament, formerly a great favourite when Provost of the city, and he narrowly escaped falling a victim to their fury. From this they proceeded to other acts of violence, till they had the city completely at their mercy, and were only prevented blocking up the ports by the Duke ordering out the military to take possession of the Nether Bow Port, and other of the most important points in the city. Three regiments of foot were on constant duty; guards were stationed in the Parliament Close and the Weigh-house, as well as at the Nether Bow ; a strong battalion protected the Abbey ; a troop of horse-guards regularly attended the Cornmissioner, and none but members were allowed to enter the Parliament Close towards evening, on such days as the house was sitting. His Grace, the Commissioner, walked from the Parliament House, between a double file of musketeers to his coach, which waited at the Cross ; and he was driven from thence at full gallop to his residence at the Palace, hooted, cursed, and pelted by the rabble. The mob were fully as zealous in the demonstration of their good will as of their displeasure. The Duke of Hamilton, whose apartments were also in the Palace, was an especial object of favour, and was nightly escorted down the Canongate by several hundreds of them cheering him,*and commending his fidelity. It was on one of these occasions, after seeing the Duke home, that the excited rabble proceeded to the house of the city member, when he so narrowly escaped their fury.’ Fortunately, however, for Scotland the popular clamour was unavailing for the purpose of preventing the Union of the two kingdoms, though the corrupt means by which many of the votes in Parliament were secured, was sufficient to have justified any amount of distrust and apposition. A curious ornamental summerhouse is pointed out in the pleasure grounds attached to Moray House, in the Canongate, where the commissioners at length assembled to affix their clignatures to the Treaty of Union. But the mob, faithful to the last in their resolution to avert what was then regarded as the surrender of national independence,‘ pursued them to this retired rendezvous, and that important national act is believed to have been finally signed and sealed in a ‘‘ high shop,” or cellar, No. 177 High Street, nearly opposite to the Tron Church.2 This interesting locality, which still remains, had formed one of the chief haunts of the unionists during the progress of that measure, and continued to be known, almost to our own day, by the name of the Union Cellar. On the 16th of January 1707, the Scottish Parliament assembled for the last time in its old hall in the Parliament Close, and having finally adjusted the Articles of Union, it was dissolved by the Duke of Queensberry, the King’s Commissioner, never again to meet as a National Assembly+ The general discontent which resulted from this measure, and the irritation produced by The Commissioner, and all who abetted him, were kept in terror of their lives. . Lockhart’s Mem., 1799, p. 229-229. a Tales of a Grandfather, vol. vi. p. 327. Smollett’s Hist., p. 469. Arnot, p. 1S9. ... MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH. English supremacy. No sooner, therefore, were the articles made public, in the month ...

Book 10  p. 118
(Score 0.71)

136 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH. tion for the royal stables, but the approach to it from the Castle must have been by a very inconvenient and circuitous route, although it was immediately overlooked by the windows of the royal apartments. It seems more probable that the earliest buildings on this site were erected in the reign of James IV., when the low ground to the westward was the scene of frequent tiltings and of magnificent tournaments, the fame of which spread throughout Europe, and attracted the most daring knights-errant to that chivalrous Monarch’s Court.’ Considerable accommodation would be required for the horses and attendants on these occasions, as well as for the noble combatants, among whom the King, it is we11 known, was no idle spectator ; but the buildings of that- date, which we presume to have been reared for these public combats, were probably only of a temporary nature, as they were left without the extended wall, built at the commencement of the following reign, in 1513, a procedure not likely to have taken place had they been of much value. Maitland, however, mentions a chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary, the remains of which were visible in his time (1750) at the foot of the Chapel Wynd; and Kincaid,’ who wrote towards the close of the century, speaks of them a8 still remaining there ; but since then they have entirely disappeared, and nothing but the name of the Wynd, which formed the approach to the chapel, survives to indicate its site. This may, with every probability, be presumed to have been at the point of junction with that and the Lady’s Wynd, both evidently named from their proximity to the same chapel. On this locality, now occupied by the meanest buildings, James IV. was wont to preside at the jousting5 of the knights and barons of his Court, and to present the meed of honour to the victor from his own hand; or, as in the famous encounter, already related, between Sir Patrick Hamilton and a Dutch knight, to watch the combat from the Castle walls, and from thence to act as umpire of the field. The greater portion of the ancient tilting ground remained unenclosed when Maitland wrote, and is described by him as a pleasant green, about one hundred and fifty yards long and fifty broad, adjoining the chapel of the Virgin Mary, on the west. But this U pleasant green ” is now crowded with slaughter-houses, tan-pits, and dwellings of the humblest description. In the challenge in 1571, between Alexander Stewart, younger, of Garlies, and Sir William Rirkaldy of Grange, the place of combat proposed is, “upon the ground the baresse be-west the West Port of Edinburgh, the place accustomed, and of old appointed, for triell of suche matera.”’ The exact site of this interesting spot is now occupied in part by the western approach, which crosses it immediately beyond the Castle Bridge; it is defined in one of the title-deeda of the ground, acquired by the City Improvements Commission, as ‘(,4 11 and hail1 these houses and yards of Orchardfield, commonly called Livingston’s Yards, comprehending therein that piece of ground called The Barras.” The interest attaching to these scenes of ancient feats of arms has been preserved by successive events almost to our own day. In 1661 the King’s Stables were purchased by the Town Council for f,lOOO Scots, and the admission of James Boisland, the seller, to the freedom of the city.4 The right, however, of the new possessors, to whom they would seem to have been resold, was made a subject of legal investigation at a later date. Foun- Ante, p. 23. 3 Maitland, p. 172. Kincaid, p. 103. ’ Calderwood‘a Hist, Wnd. Soc., vol. iii. p. 108. Coun. Reg., vol. xx. p. 268, apud Kincaid, p. 103. ... MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH. tion for the royal stables, but the approach to it from the Castle must have been by ...

Book 10  p. 147
(Score 0.71)

404 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH. foundation of St David’s Abbey has already been referred to, with the picturesque legend from whence it derives its name. The beautiful fragment of the Abbey Church which still remains, forming the nave of the ancient building, retains numerous traces of the original work of the twelfth century, though enriched by the additions of a later age. The earliest drawing of the Abbey and Palace that exists is the bird’s-eye view of 1544, where it is marked by its English draughtsman as “ the King of Skotts palis,” although the sole claimant to the throne at that date was the infant daughter of James V. A comparison of this with the portions still remaining leaves little doubt of its general accuracy. The Abbey Church appears with a second square tower at the west front, uniform with the one still standing to the north of the great doorway. The transepts are about the usual proportions, but the choir is much shorter than it is proved from other evidence to have originally been, the greater part of it having, perhaps, been reduced to ruins before the view was taken. During the levelling of the ground around the Palace, and digging a foundation for the substantial railing with which it was recently enclosed, the workmen came upon the bases of two pillars, in a direct line with the nave, on the site of the east railings, proving that the ancient choir had been of unusual length. A mound of earth which extends still further to the east, no doubt marks the foundationa of other early buildings, and from their being in the direct line of the building, it is not improbable that a Lady Chapel, or other addition to the Abbey Church, may have stood to the east of the choir, as is frequently the case in larger cathedral and abbey churches. A curious relic of the ancient tenants of the monastery was found by the workmen already referred to, consisting of a skull, which had no doubt formed the solitary companion of one of the monks. It had a hole in the top of the cranium, which served most probably for securing a crucifix; and over the brow was traced in antique characters the appropriate maxim, Memento Mori. This solitary relic of the furniture of the Abbey was procured by the late Sir Patrick Walker, and is still in the possession of his family. The English army that “brent the abbey called Holyrode house, and the pallice adjonynge to the same,” in 1544, returned to complete the destruction of the Abbey in 1547, almost immediately after the accession of Edward VI. to his father’s throne. Their proceedings are thus recorded by the English chronicler : -(( Thear stode south-westward, about a quarter of a mile from our campe, a monasterie : they call it Hollyroode Abbey. Sir Water Bonham and Edward Chamberlayne gat lycense to suppresse it ; whearupon these commissioners, making first theyr visitacion thear, they found the moonks all gone, but the church and mooch parte of the house well covered with leade. Soon after, thei pluct of the leade and had down the bels, which wear but two ; and according to the statute, did somewhat hearby disgrace the hous. As touching the moonkes, bicaus they wear gone, thei put them to their pencions at large.”‘ It need hardly excite surprise, that the invaders should not find matters quite according to the statute, with so brief an interval between such cisitacions. The state in which they did find the Abbey, proves that it had been put in effectual repair immediately after their former visit. The repeated burnings of the Abbey by the Englieh army were doubtless the chief cause of the curtailment -of .the church to its present diminished size; yet abundant Patten’s Expedition to Scotland. Frag. of Swt. Hiet. ... MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH. foundation of St David’s Abbey has already been referred to, with the ...

Book 10  p. 443
(Score 0.7)

EARLIEST TRADITIONS. 5 having been concluded between Ermengarde de Beaumont, cousin to King Henry, Edinburgh Castle was gallantly restored as a dowry to the Queen, after having been held by an English garrison for nearly twelve years. In the year 1215, Alexander II., the son and successor of William, convened his first Parliament at Edinburgh ; and during the same reign, still further importance was given to the rising city, by a Provincial Synod being held in it by Cardinal l’Aleran, legate from Pope Gregory IX. The revenues of Alexander could not rival the costly foundations of his great-grandfather, David I. ; but he founded eight monasteries of the Mendicant Order, in different parts of Scotland; one of which, the monastery of Blackfriars, stood nearly on the same spot as the Royal Infirmary now occupies ; near which was the Collegiate Church of St Mary-in-the-Field, better known as the Kirk-0’-Field, occupying the site of the College-all vestiges of which have long since disappeared. But of these we shall treat more at large in their proper place. His son and successor, Alexander III,, having been betrothed to Margaret, daughter of Henry 111. of England, nine years before, their nuptials were celebrated at York, in the year 1242, Arnot tells us “ the young Queen had Edinburgh Castle appointed for her residence ; ” but it would seem to have been more in the character of a stronghold than a palace ; for, whereas the sumptuousness of her namesake, Queen of Malcolm Canmore, the future St Margaret of Scotland, while residing there, excited discontent in the minds of her rude subjects, she describes it as “ a sad and solitary place, without verdure, and by reason of its vicinity to the sea, unwholesome ; that she was not permitted to make excursions through the kingdom, nor to chose her female attendanta ; and lastly, that she was excluded from all conjugal intercourse with her husband, who by this time had completed his fourteenth year.” “ Redress of her last grievance,” Dalrymple adds, ‘‘ was instantly procured, redress of her other grievances was promised.” Shortly after, the Castle was surprisedbp Alan Dureward, Patrick Earl of March, and other leaders, while their rivals were engaged in preparation for holding a Parliament at Stirling ; and the royal pair being liberated from their durance, we shortly afterwards find them holding an interview with Henry, at Werk Castle, Northumberland. During the remainder of the long and prosperous reign of Alexander III., the Castle of Edinburgh continued to be the chief place of the royal residence, as well as for holding his courts for the transaction of judicial affairs ; it was also during his reign the safe depository of the principal records, and of the regalia of the kingdom.’ From this time onward, through the disastrous wars that ultimately settled the Bruce on the throne, and established the independence of Scotland, Edinburgh experienced its full share of the national sderings and temporary humiliation; in June 1291, the town and Castle were surrendered into the hands of Edward I. Holinshed relatea that he came to Edinburgh, where “ he planted his siege about the Castell, and raised engines which cast stones against and over the walls, sore beating and bruising the buildings within ; so that it surrendered by force of siege to the King of England’s use, on the 15 daie after he had first laid his siege about it.”3 He was here also again on 8th July 1292, and again on the 29th of the same month; and here, in May 1296, he received within the church in the Castle, the unwilling submission of many magnates of the kingdom, acknowledging him as Lord Paramount; and on the 28th of August following, William de Caledonia, vol. ii. p. 586. = Ibid., p. 687. ’ Chronicles, 1586, vol. iii. p. 300. ... TRADITIONS. 5 having been concluded between Ermengarde de Beaumont, cousin to King Henry, ...

Book 10  p. 6
(Score 0.7)

36 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH. expected manner ; they no doubt regretted that luxury and taste for improvement had led them so far out into the unprotected country.' But they certainly did afterwards retrieve their native character of prudence, as scarcely a house arose beyond the second wall for two hundred and fifty years; and if Edinburgh increased in any respect, it was only by piling new flats on the Ancient Royalty, and adding to the height rather than to the extent of the city.' The utmost energy was immediately displayed in supplying the needful defences ; the farmers of the Lothians lent their labourers and horses to the national work ; the citizens rivalled one another in their zeal for the fortification of the capital against the dreaded foe, '( our auld inymis of Ingland." ' So that, in an incredibly short time, the extended city was enclosed within defensive walls, with ports, and battlements, and towers, an effective protection against the military engineering of the age. Considerable portions of this wall have remained to the present time, exhibiting abundant tokens of the haste with which it was erected, as well as preserving, in the name of the Flodden wall, by which it is still known, another proof of the deep impression that disastrous field had left on the popular mind. Fortunately for Scotland, Henry VIII. was too deeply engrossed with the French war to follow up the advantage he had gained; and Queen Margaret, who now assumed the government in name of her infant son, having appealed to his generosity, towards a sister and nephew, he willingly secured the neutrality of the Scots by a peace. Shortly after this truce, a legate arrived at Edinburgh from the Pope, bearing his congratulations to the young King on his accession to the crown,s and presented him with a consecrated cap and sword from his Holiness-the latter of which is still preserved among the Regalia in Edinburgh Castle. C1515.1 The nation now experienced all the evils of's long minority; the Queen having speedily accepted Archibald Douglas, Earl of Angus, in marriage, was thereby held to have forfeited the Regency; a6d from this time, till the young King asserted his independence, the people knew Rcarcely any other rule than the anarchy of rival factions contending for power, in all. which the capitaT had always a principal share. The Earl of Arran, upon the marriage of the Queen, marched to Edinburgh, numerously attended by his kinsmen and friends, and laid claim to the Regency, as the nearest of blood to the King. The Earl of Ang-us immediately followed him thither, attended by above 500 armed retainers, ready to assert his claims against every opponent. So soon as Arran, who, '' with the chief of the nobility of the west, had assembled at the Archbishop of Glasgow's house, in the foot of Blackfrier Wynd,'" had learned of his arrival, he ordered. the gates to be secured, little aware of the formidable host he was thus enclosing within the walls. On the following morning, Angus received early intimation of the rash scheme of his rival, for making him prisoner, and lost no time in mustering his followers, whom he drew up, well armed and in battle array, above the Nether Bow, and thereupon a fierce and sanguinary conflict ensued between them, which was not stayed till Sir Patrick Hamilton, Montgomery, and above seventy men had fallen in the affray. Though the Regent pub- Chambers's Traditions, vol. i p. 3. Balfour's Ann. vol. i. p. 239. 1 Diurnal of Occurrents. ' Crawford's Live#, vol. i. p. 69. ... MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH. expected manner ; they no doubt regretted that luxury and taste for improvement had ...

Book 10  p. 38
(Score 0.7)

Leith.] HOME-COMING OF MONS MEG. 209 by the foot o the Calton Hill towards the Palace of Holyrood. As a souvenir of this event, on the first anniversary of it a massive plate was inserted on the Shore, in the exact spot on which the king first placed his foot, and there it remains to this day, with a suitable inscription commemorative of the event. In 1829, Mons Meg, which, among other ord nance deemed unserviceable, had been transmitted by the ignorance of an officer to London, and retained there in the Tower, was, by the patriotic efforts of Sir Walter Scott, sent home to Scotland. This famous old cannon, deemed a kind of Palladium by the Scots, after an absence of seventy-five years, was landed from the Happy Janet, and after lying for a time in the Naval Yard, till arrangements were made, the gun was conveyed to the Castle by a team of ten horses decked with laurels, preceded by two led horses, mounted by boys clad in tartans with broadswords. The escort was formed by a 123 grooms and esquires; Sir Patrick Walker, as Usher of the White Rod; a long alternation of cavalry and infantry, city dignitaries, and Highlanders, followed. At the end of the vista, preceded by ten royal footmen, two and two, sixteen yeomen of the Scottish Guard, escorted by the Royal Archers, came the king, followed by the head-quarter staff, three clans of Highlanders, two squadrons of Lothian yeomanry, three of the 3rd Dragoon Guards, Scots Greys, and the Grenadiers of the 77th regiment; and after some delay in going through the ceremony of receiving the city keys-which no monarch had touched since the days of Charles I.-the magnificent train moved through the living masses Lochend to the latter on the east, tA-e middle of Leith Walk on the south, and Wardie Bum on the west. Adam White was the first Provost of Leith after the passing of the Burgh Reform Bill in 1833; and it is now governed by a chief magistrate, four bailies, ten councillors, a treasurer, town clerk, and two joint assessors. Powers have since then been conferred upon the Provost of Leith as admiral, and the bailies as admirals-depute. There are in the town four principal corporations - the Shipmasters, the Traffickers, the Malt-men, and the Trades. The Traffickers, or Merchant Company, have lost their charter, and are merely a benefit society, without the power of compelling entries ; and the Ship masters, ordinarily called the Trinity House, vi11 be noticed in connection with that institution. The Trades Corporation is multifarious, and independently of it there is a body called ? The Convenery,? consisting of members delegated from troop of the 3rd Dragoon Guards, and detachments of the Koyal Artillery and Highlanders. In the evening the Celtic Society, all kilted, IOO strong, dined together in honour of the event, Sir Walter Scott in the chair; and on this occasion the old saying was not forgotten, that Scotland would never be Scotland till Mons Meg cam hame.? The gun was then on the same ancient carriage on which it had been taken away. It was not until 1827 that the precise limits of Leith as a town were defined, and a territory given to it which, if filled, would almost enable it to vie with the metropolis in extent, More extensive boundaries were afterwards assigned, and these are the Firth of Forth on the north, a line from SIGNAL TOWER, LEITH PIER, 1775. (ABw Ckrk ofEUin.) ... HOME-COMING OF MONS MEG. 209 by the foot o the Calton Hill towards the Palace of Holyrood. As a souvenir ...

Book 6  p. 209
(Score 0.7)

I N D E X . [IN Part I. of this Work, the incidents are related in chronological order; and in Part 11. (p. 119), according to a systematic arrangement indicated in the headings of the several Chapters. By a reference to the Contents, any historical event, or the description of a particular locality, may be readily found. The Index is intended as a, guide to incidental notices throughout the volume ; and, to render it more complete, all noblemen mentioned merely by their titles in the course of the work. are here distin-g uished from one another by their proper names, and other individuals generally by some distinctive title or descript,ion.] Abbey Hill, 138, 309 Abbotsford, 154, 185, 348, 353 Aberdeen, William 2d Earl of, 141 Aberuchill, Lord, 178 Acheson, Sir Archibald, House of, 297 Adam of St Edmunds, Parson of Restalrig, 399 ddvocate’s Library, 182, 210 African Company, 107 Aikenhead, Sir Patrick, 208 Airth, Earl of, the Mansion of, 309 Albany, Alexander Duke of, 19, 20 Close, 229 Arms of, 395 John Duke of, 38, 39 Robert Duke of, 388 Isabell, Duchess of, 382 Alesse, Alexander, 314, 424 Alexander I., 3 . II., 5, 377 III., 5, 356 VI., Pope, 23 Sir William. See Stirling, Earl of Alison Sqnare, 346 Allan, David, the Painter, 260 Allen, Janet, the Witcb, 305 Allison’s CIose, Cowgate, 329 Alva, Lord, 193, 195 Amiens, Bishop of, 64, 68 Anand, Sir David de, 7 Anchor Close, 238 Ancrum, Battle of, 53 Angus, Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of, 36, 37, 40, 61, 319 Archibald, 8th Earl of, 84 Archibald, 9th Earl of, 283 dune, the Lady, 102, 206,287,341 Queen, 133 of Denmark, 86, 315, 341 Street, Stockbridge, 98 Anatruther, Sir Philip, 284 Antiquaries of Scotland, the Society of, 140,180, 376 Argyle, Bishop of, 78 Archibald, 5th Earl of, 63, 64, 67, 84 Archibald, Marquis of, 100, 123, 141, 188, 2953 Archibald, 9th Earl of, 123, 174, 203, 216, 305, 403 316 Lodging of, 316 Countess of, 75, 174 Duke of, 109 Armstrong, Johnnie, 41 Will., 244 Armada, Spanish, 369 Arnot, Hugo, 142 Arran, James, 1st Earl of, 36, 37, 40, 318 James, 2d Earl of, 48, 51, 56, 63, 67, 68, 82, 151 James, 3d Earl of, 174 James Stewart, Earl of, 176 Assembly Aisle, St Qiles’s Church, 390. See Prestm Aisle. Rooms, Assembly Close, 243 Bell’s Wynd, 243 West Bow, 243, 338 Atholl, Duke of, 145, 183 Walter Stewart, Ear1 of, the execution of, 15 John, 4th Earl of, 389 Burial Place of, 389, 390 Auchinleck, Lord, 161 Austin, Dr, 145, 332 Bagimont’s Roll, 31 Baijen Hole, 183 Bailie’s Court, Cowgate, 329 Bailie Fife’s Close, 264 Baird, Dr, 143 Sir David, the Birth Place of, 139 Sir Bobert, 138 Bakehouse Close, Canongate, 296 Balcanquall, Dr, 170 Walter, If0 ... N D E X . [IN Part I. of this Work, the incidents are related in chronological order; and in Part 11. (p. 119), ...

Book 10  p. 498
(Score 0.69)

208 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH. was he in his attachment to Presbyterianism, that he relinquished his profession as an advocate in 1681 rather than take the !Pest. Nevertheless, he learned soon after to hold the favour of royalty in greater esteem. By a special dispensation from the King. he was restored to his rank as an advocate j and on the removal of Lord Edmonston from the Bench, in consequence of his opposition to the royal inclinations in one of his votes as a judge, Swinton, the once resolute declaimer against the encroachments of royalty, was selected as the most pliant successor that could be found. The poor King, James VII., displayed at all times little judgment in the choice of his friends, and in this case his selection appears to have been peculiarly unfortunate. The Revolution ensued immediately after Swinton’s elevation to the Bench, and if Lord Balcarras’s account is to be believed, the new judge took a leading share in some of the strangest proceedings that followed. The mob signalised the dethronement of the King by an assault on the Abbey Chapel, in which several of them were killed and wounded by the guard who were stationed to defend it. On the following day Lord Mersington headed a rabble, accompanied by the Provost and Magistrates, and renewed the attack on Captain Wallace and his men. The guards were speedily put to flight, and my lord and the rest of the rioters completely gutted the chapel, which had been fitted up in the most gorgeous and costly style. Balcarras styles Lord Mersington “ the fanatical judge,” and, according to his description, he figures on the occasion girt with a broad buff-belt, with ‘( a halbert in his hand, and as drunk as ale and brandy could make him.”l He was the only judge on the Bench at the Revolution that was reappointed by the new government. On the third floor in the eastern turnpike of the back land, Sir David Home, Lord Crossrig, resided,-one of the first judges nominated after the Revolution, and shortly afterwards knighted by King William. The judicial report of tenants and valuations exhibits a curious assemblage of occupants, from the renters of garrets, and laigh houses ‘‘ beneath the grund,” at the annual rate of twelve pound Scots, to my Lord Crossrig, who pays three hundred pounds Scots for his flat, and share of the common stair 1 The Laird of Merchistoun, Lady Hartfield, Sir James Mackenzie, Sir Patrick Aikenhead, Commissar Clerk, Lady Harviston, Lady Colston, with Bailies, Merchants, and humble craftsmen, all figure in the impartial articles of sale ; sharing together at their several elevations, above and below ground, the numerous lodgings of this populous neighbourhood. While the sale of%his property was going on, the “ Great Fire ” suddenly took place, and made a settlement of all valuations and purchases by reducing the whole lofty range to a heap of ruins. “ The fire broke out in the lodgeing immediately under the Lord Crossrig’s lodgeing, in the Meal Mercat of Edinburgh, while part of his family were in bed, and his Lordship going to bed; and the allarum was so sudden, that he was forced to retire in his night cloaths, with his children half naked; and that when people were sent into his closet to help out with his cabinet and papers, the smoke was Brunton 8; Haig’s Senators of the College of Justice, p. 432. In contrast to this account, we may add the notice of his death, by.Sir James Stewart, Lord Advocate, in a letter to Carataira. ‘‘ On TueBday last the Lord Mersington dined well with a friend in the Merse, and went well to bed, but was found dead before four io the morning, his lady in bed with him, who knew nothiog of his dying. He waa a good mau, and is much regretted” A warning stroke. ... MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH. was he in his attachment to Presbyterianism, that he relinquished his profession as ...

Book 10  p. 227
(Score 0.69)

BATTLE OF FLODDEN TO DEATH OF YAMES V. 37 lished an edict prohibiting any of the name of Douglas or Hamilton to interfere in the election of provost, the Earl of Arran, who had held that high office during the previous year, 1519, attempted to control the citizens in their free choice. They immediately shut their gates upon him, and a scu€0e ensued, in which one of the deacons of the crafts was slain. . A fierce and sanguinary tumult followed this, in consequence of the attempt of Arran and the nobles of the west to surprise the Earl of Angus; in which Gawin Douglas, the Bishop of Dunkeld, tried in vain to act as mediator. “he following is the graphic account which Drummond furnishes of this famous contest :-Angns with an hundred resolute followers, armed with long spears and pikes, which the citizens, as he traversed the streets, furnished them from their windows, “invested a part of the town, and barricado’d some lanes with carts and other impediments, which the time did afford, The adverse party, trusting to their number, and the supply of the citizens (who, calling to mind the slaughter of their deacon, showed them small favour), disdaining the Earl should thus muster on the streets, in great fury invade him. Whilst the bickering continued, and the town is in a tumult, William Douglas, brother to the Earl of Angus, Sir David Hume of Wedderburn, George Hume, brother to the late Lord, with many others by blood and friendship tyed together, enter by violence the east gate of the town, force their passage through the throngs, seek the Earl’s enemies, find them, and scour the streets of them, The Master of Montgomerp, eldest son to the Earl of Eglinton, sir Patrick Hamilton, brother to the Earl of Arran, with almost fourscore more, are left dea.d upon the place. The Earl himself f&ideth an escape and place of retreat through a marsh upon the north side of the town ; the Chancellor and his retinue took sanctuary in the Dominican Friars. Some days after, the Humes, well banded and backed with many nobles and gentlemen of their lineage, took the Lord Hume’s and his brother’s heads from the place where they h h been fixed, and with the funeral rites of those times interred them in the Black-Friars.” James Beatoun, Archbishop of Glasgow and mancelIor of the kingdom, who was a zealous adherent of Arrmn, and had taken an active share both in planning and executing the scheme, on the discomfiture of his party &d .to the Black Freir Kirk, and thair was takin out behind the alter, and his rockit rivin aff him, and had beine slaine, had not beine Mr Gawin Douglas requeisted for him, mying, it was shame to put hand on ane consecrat bischop.” ’ It was at the commencement of this affray, which took place on the 30th April 1520, and is khown by the name of Cleanse tAe Causey, from the scene of contest, that the well-known repartee of Gawin Douglas to the Archbishop of Glasgow occurred. Douglas, who was uncle to the Earl of Angus, and now Bishop of Dunkeld, having appealed to the Archbishop to use his influence with his friends to compromise matters, and prevent, if possible, the bloodshed that must otherwise ensue ; the Archbishop excused himself, on many accounts, adding, 6‘ Upon my conscience, I cannot help it; ” at the same time, striking his breast in the heat of his asseveration, he betrayed the presence of a concealed coat of mail, whereupon Douglas retorted, ‘‘ How now, my lord, methinks yonr conscience clatters.” * Hawthornden, p. 88. * Pitscottie, vol. ii p. 288. ?I Crawford’s Lives, vol. i p. 62. The term ckzttms is peculiarly expreeaive here, as it signitlea either & a mise, or tdUea, and may be rendered thus :-Methinks ~10urQOnrcientae lls anothcr talc ! ... OF FLODDEN TO DEATH OF YAMES V. 37 lished an edict prohibiting any of the name of Douglas or Hamilton to ...

Book 10  p. 39
(Score 0.68)

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 149 of fashion and etiquette were very widely at variance ; and at no time was her lord and husband more fretful than when the annual accounts for dress came to be presented. It is said that Dr. Gloag, one of the ministers of Edinburgh, was on one occasion invited to the house of Mr. Rigg to dinner. He wi~le ntertained in a plain but very substantial manner. On taking leave, he was pressed by the lady to repeat his visit a few days afterwards. “This,” said she, “is one of Mr. Hume’s quiet affairs; the next will be mine!” Dr. Gloag kept his appointment ; and was astonished to find himself one of a large party, for whom a sumptuous dinner had been prepared, in a style of splendour, and with an array of waiting-men, for which he was little prepared.’ Mr. R i g had no children to inherit his wealth-a circumstance which g-ieved him deeply ; and, by a will, supposed to have been made in one of his fretful moods, a short time before his demise, he left only a small jointure to his widow. He died at his house, in Gosford‘s Close* (now removed to make way for George the Fourth Bridge), on the 23d January 1788-a month which had been fatal to his grandfather, father, and elder brother. Patrick Rim, Esq., of Dounfield and Tarvit, succeeded to the whole of his property. The personage with whom Mr. Hume Rigg is represented as in conversation, is ISAAC GRANT of Hilton, W.S. He was a stout, corpulent man, and pretty far advanced in years at the time when the etching was taken. Professionally, he maintained an honourable character ; had extensive employment, and was long Clerk to the Commissioners of Teinds. He was wealthy; and, it is said, liberal. He participated with freedom in the social spirit of the times ; and, over a bottle, was one of the most jolly men imaginable. Mr. Grant lived and died a bachelor.’ He always “ Could stan’ stieve in his shoon ;” Mrs. Rigg was altogether a lady of uncomnion vivacity and gaiety of spirit ; and her youthful fancies were not easily sobered down to the quiet, cool, domestic enjoymentq of mature ago. Skilled in all the feminine accomplishments, her lively temper embraced others of a more masculine character. She was one of the most agile and graceful dancers of the age, and an excellent violin player ; and has been known frequently to accompany her movements on “ the light fantastic toe ” by the inspiring strains of her own cremona. a A description of Mr. Rigg’s house, which was situated at the bottom of the close, may furnish an idea of the taste and fashion of the “ olden time.” The dining and drawingrooms were Rpacious and lofty ; indeed, more so than those of any private modern house we have ever seen. The bedrooms were proportionally large and elegant. The lobbies were all variegated marble, and a splendid mahogany staircase led to the upper storey. There was a large garden behind, with a statue in the middle, and at the bottom was a summer-house ; but such v’as the confined entry to this elegant mansion, that it was impossible even to get a sedan chair near to the door. A sister of Yr. Hume Rigg-Miss Mally-who resided in a house adjacent to her brother, was killed by the falling in of a chimney during the violent hurricane 20th January 1773. The storm, which began early in the morning, was described in the journals of the day as the severest that had occurred since the wiudy January 1739. “ About half an hour after four, a atack of chirnnies on an old house at the foot of Gosford’s Close, Lawnmarket, possessed by Nr. Hugh Mossman, writer, was blown down ; and, breaking through the roof in that part of the house where he and his spouse lay, they both perished in the ruins, but their children wera providentially saved. In the storey below, Niss Mally Rigg, sister to Mr. Rigg of Morton, also perished.” He left several children, who inherited his wealth. ... SKETCHES. 149 of fashion and etiquette were very widely at variance ; and at no time was her lord ...

Book 9  p. 199
(Score 0.68)

144 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH. last recorded noble occupants are mentioned by Chambers as ((two ancient spinsters, daughters of Lord GraF.” Over the main entrance of the next land, there is a defaced inscription, with the date 1621. The house immediately below this is worthy of notice, as a fine specimen of an old wooden fronted land, with the timbers of the gable elegantly carved. During the early part of the last century, this formed the family mansion of David, the third Earl of Leven, on whom the title devolved after being borne by two successive Countesses in their own right. He was appointed Governor of Edinburgh Castle by William and Mary, on its surrender by the Duke of Gordon in 1689 ; and shortly after he headed his regiment, and distinguished himself at the battle of Killicrankie by running away! To the east of this there formerly stood, at the head of Sempill’s Close, another wooden fronted land, ornamented with a curious projecting porch at the entrance to the close, and similar in general style to those taken down in 1845, of which we furnish an engraving. It hung over the street, story above story, each projecting further the higher it rose, as if in defiance of all laws of gravitation, nntil at length it furnished unquestionable evidence of its great age by literally tumbling down about the ears of its poor inmates, happily without any of them suffering very serious injury. Immediately behind the site of this house stands a fine old mansion, at one time belonging to the Sempill family, whose name the close still retains. It is a large and substantial building, with a projecting turnpike stair, over the entrance to which is the inscription, PRAISED BE THE LORD MY GOD, MY STRENGTH, AND MY REDEEMER. ANN0 DOM. 1638, and a device like an anchor, entwined with the letter S. Over another door, which gives entrance to the lower part of the same house, there is the inscription, SEDES MANET OPTIMA CGLO, with the date and device repeated. On the left of the first inscription there is a shield, bearing party per fesse, in chief three crescents, a mullet in base. The earliest titles of the property are wanting, and we have failed to discover to whom these arms belong. The house was purchased by Hugh, twelfth Lord Sempill, in 1743, from Thomas Brown and Patrick Manderston, two merchant burgesses, who severally possessed the upper and under portions of it. By him it was converted into one large mansion, and apparently an additional story added to it, as the outline of dormer windows may be traced, built into the west wall. Lord Sempill, who had seen considerable military service, commanded the left wing of the royal army at Culloden. He was succeeded by his son John, thirteenth Lord Sempill, who, in 1755, sold the family mansion to Sir James Clerk of Pennycuik. The ancient family of the Sempills is associated in various ways with Scottish song. John, son of Robert, the third Lord, married Mary Livingston, one of ‘I the Queen’s Maries.” Their son, Sir James, a man of eminent ability and great influence in his day, was held in high estimation, and employed as ambassador to England in 1599 ; he was the author of the clever satire, entitled “ The Packman’s Paternoster.” His aon followed in his footsteps, and produced an “ Elegy on Habbie Simsou, the piper of Kilbarchan,” a poem’ of great vigour and much local celebrity; while his grandson, Francis Sempill of Beltrees, is the author both of the fine old song, “ She rose and let me in,” and of a curious poem preserved in Watson’s collection, en titled ‘‘ Banishment of Poverty,” written about Watson’8 Collection of Scots Poems, 1706, part i. p. 32. ... MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH. last recorded noble occupants are mentioned by Chambers as ((two ancient ...

Book 10  p. 155
(Score 0.67)

JAMES ZV. TO THE BATTLE OF FLODDEN. 23 Tolbooth of Edinburgh, and uuder the influence of the leaders at the Field of Stirling, enacted, in his name, many harsh and unjust laws, directed against the adherents of the late King, involving suspension or deprivation to all officers of state, and handing over (‘ all churchmen taken in armour, to their ordinaries, to be punished according to law.” The first occurrence that tended to rescue the King from implicit confidence in his father’s enemies, was the splendid victory obtained by Sir Andrew Wood, over a fleet sent by Henry VII. of England, to execute reprisals on the murderers of the late King. They had committed great ravages on the Scottish shipping, and completely blockaded the mouth of the Forth ; when Sir Andrew Railed against them, and with an inferior force, completely defeated, and brought the whole armament, consisting of five large ships, into Leith. Shortly after this, the King concluded a truce with England, and on the 15th day of February 1490, his second Parliament met at Edinburgh, and again another in the following year, both of which enacted many salutary laws ; and, at the same time, Andrew Foreman, Protonotary of Pope Alexander VL, arrived at the Scottish Court with consolatory letters to the King, whose grief at the share he had taken in the fatal rebellion against his father still manifested itself in severe penances and mortifications. He was also the bearer of a bull, addressed to the abbots of Paisley and Jedburgh,’ empowering them to absolve and readmit into the church all such as had been accessory to the death of King James 111. of famous memory, on their expressing sincere repentance for the same.* And now the King, drawing towards manhood, the ominous clouds that had threatened the commencement of his reign disappeared, and a long and prosperous calm succeeding his early troubles, left him free to give the rein to his chivalrous tastes, and extend his royal patronage to the many eminent men that adorned the Scott,ish Court. During this reign, Edinburgh became celebrated throughout Europe, as the scene of knightly feats of arms. tournaments are of great antiquity ; they were held. in Edinburgh in the reign of milliam the Lion, and in those of many of the succeeding Princes. The valley or low ground lying between the wester road to Leith, and the rock at Lochend, was bestowed by James 11. on the community of Edinburgh, for the special purpose of holding tournaments and other martial sports.” Here, most probably, the weaponshaws which were of such constant recurrence at a later period, ‘ as well as such martial parades as were summoned by civic authority, were held, unless in cases of actual preparation for war, when the Borough Muir seems to have been invariably the appointed place of rendezvous. The favourite scene of royal tournaments, however, was a spot of ground near the King’s Stables, just below the Castle wall. Here James IT., in particular, often assembled his lords and barons, by proclamation, for jousting; offering such meeds of honour as a spear headed with gold, and the like favours, presented to the victor by the King’s own hand; so that ‘‘ the fame of hisjusting and turney spread throw all Europe, quhilk caused many errand knyghtis cum out of vther pairtes to Scotland to seik justing, becaus they hard of the kinglie fame of the Prince of Scotland. Bot few or none of thame passed away vnmached, and oftymes overthromne.” ‘ One notable encounter is specially recorded, which took place between Sir John Cockbewis, a Dutch knight, and Sir Patrick Hamilton. “ Being assembled togidder on great In this country,” says Arnot, Hawthornden, p. 68 Arnot, p. i l . ’ Martial Achievements, voL ii. p. 497. ’ Piboottie, vol. E. p. 246. ... ZV. TO THE BATTLE OF FLODDEN. 23 Tolbooth of Edinburgh, and uuder the influence of the leaders at the Field ...

Book 10  p. 25
(Score 0.67)

THE HIGH STREET AND NETHER BOW. 266 Wryts of ane lodging,” &c., on the east side of the close, a charter is mentioned, dated 1456, “ granted be David Rae, vicar generall ; Ffindlay Ker, prior ; . and the rest of the Convent of Graifriers att Edinburgh, to Andrew Mowbray, burgess,” of a certain piece of land on which it is built, bounded by the king’s wall on the south. About halfway down the close, on the east side, stands the ancient mansion of the Earls of Selkirk, having a large garden to the south, while the principal entrance is from Hyndford‘s Close. The building has the appearance of great antiquity. The ground floor of the south front seems to have been an open arcade or cloister, and on the west wall a picturesque turret staircase projects from the first floor into the close. This ancient tenement has successively formed the residence of the Earls of Stirling, of the Earl of Hyndford, and, at a still later period, of Dr Rutherford, the maternal grandfather of Sir Walter Scott. Hyndford’s Close, which forms the main approach to the house, retains its antique character, having on the west side a range of singularly picturesque overhanging timber gables. It is neatly paved, terminating in a small court, open at one side, and altogether presents a very pleasing specimen of the retired, old-fashioned gentility which once characterised these urban retreats. The fine old house described above, which forms the chief building in the close, possesses peculiar interest as a favourite haunt of Scott during his earlier years. Its vicinity to the High School gave it additional attractions to him, while pursuing his studies there, and he frequently referred in after life to the happy associations he had with this alley of the Old Town. A very pleasing view of the house from the garden is given in the Abbotsford edition of the great novelist’s works. To the south of this mansion, in the Mint Close, a lofty tenement, enclosing a small paved area, still bears the name of Elphinstone’s Court, having been built by Sir James Elphinstone in 1619. From him it passed to Sir Francia Scptt of Thirlstane, by whom it was sold to Patrick Wedderburn, Esq., who assumed the title of Lord Chesterhall on his elevation to the Bench in 1755. His son Alexander, afterwards the celebrated Lord Loughborough, Lord High Chancellor of England, disposed of it shortly after his father’s death to Lord Stonefield, who sat as a judge in the Court of Session during the long period of thirty-nine years, and died in the Mint Close at the beginning of the present century; so recent is the desertion of this ancient locality by the grandees of the capital. Various ancient tenements are to be found in the adjoining closes, of which tradition has kept no note, and we have failed to obtain any other clue to their history. One large mansion in South Foulis Close bears the date 1539 over its main doorway, with two coats of arms impaled on one large shield in the centre, but all now greatly defaced. Another, nearly opposite to it, exhibits an old oak door, ornamented with h e carving, still in tolerable preservation, although the whole place has been converted into storerooms and cellars. But adjoining this is a relic of antiquiQ, beside which the works of the iifteenth and sixteenth centuries appear but as things of yesterday, and even the ancient chapel of St Margaret in the Castle becomes .a work of comparatively recent date. In the front of a tall and narrow tenement at the Nether Bow, nearly opposite to John Knox’s house, a piece of ancient sculpture has long formed one of the most noted ... HIGH STREET AND NETHER BOW. 266 Wryts of ane lodging,” &c., on the east side of the close, a charter is ...

Book 10  p. 292
(Score 0.67)

THE HIGH STREET. 225 On another part of the building the initials I D ., and K * T *, appear attached to some curiously-formed marks, and are doubtless those of the original owners ; but unfortunately all the early titles are lost, EO that no clue now remains to the history of this singular dwelling. The lower story, which is believed to have formed the black-hole or dungeon of the English t.roopers, is vaulted with stone, and around the massive walls iron rings are affixed, as if for the purpose of securing the prisoners once confined in these vaults. The east wall of the main room above is curiously constructed of eliptic arches, resting on plain circular pillars, and such portions of the outer wall as are not concealed by the wooden appendages of early times, exhibit polished ashlar work, finished with neat mouldings and string courses. Immediately to the north of this ancient mansion, there is a large land eutering from the foot of Sellar’s Close, which has two flat terraced roofs at different elevations, and forms a prominent and Eiomewhat graceful feature of the Old Town as seen from Princes Street. This is known by the name of (( The Cromwell Bartizan,” a and is pointed out, on the same traditional authority, as having been occupied by the General, owing to its vicinity to his guards, and the commanding prospect which its terraced roof afforded of the English fleet at anchor in the Firth. Over a doorway, which divides the upper from the lower part of this close, a carved lintel bears this variation of the common legend :-THE . LORD . BE . BLEIST . FOR . AL. HIS. GIFTIS .3 A building on the west side, finished in the style prevalent about the period of James VI., has the following inscription over a window on the third floor :- @- THE LORDIS TEIE PORTION OB MINE INHERITANCE AND OF MY CUP ; THOU MAINTAINEST MY LOT. PSALX.V I. VERSE 5. In the house which stood opposite, a very large and handsome Gothic lire-place remained, in the same style as those already described in the Guise Palace. In Brown’s Close adjoining this, Arnot informs us that there existed in his time a private oratory,” containing -a ‘( baptismal font,” or sculptured stone niche ; but every relic of antiquity has now disappeared ; and nearly the same may be said of Byres’ Close, though it contained only a few years since the town mansion built by Sir John Byres of Coates, the carved lintel of which was removed by the late Sir Patrick Walker, to Coates House, the ancient mansion of that family, near Edinburgh. It bears the inscription, “ Blissit be God in a1 His giftis,” with the initials I B a, and 31 B ., and the date 1611.4 Dunbar’s, Brown’s, and Sellar‘s closea, mentioned in this chapter, are now obliterated by recent city improvementa. ’ Vide p. 95, some confusion exists in the different attempts‘ to lix the exact house, but these discrepancies tend to confirm the general probability of the tradition; the name BartiZan, however, would seem to determine the building now assigned in the text 8 In that amusing collection “Satan’s Invisible World Discovered,” written for the purpose of confounding atheiste, the following is given as an Eat Lothian grace, ‘‘in the time of ignorance and superstition :” Lord be bless’d for all His gifts, Defy the Devil and all his shifts. Qod send me mair d e r . Amen. . * The front land to the west of Byree’ Close, wan long the residence, Post Office, and miscellaneous establishment of the noted Peter Williamson, who advertised himself as “from the other world I ” and published an ingenioua narrative of his Adventures in America, and Captivity among the Red Indians.--Piale Kq’r Portraits, voL i. p. 137. 2 F ... HIGH STREET. 225 On another part of the building the initials I D ., and K * T *, appear attached to ...

Book 10  p. 245
(Score 0.67)

70 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Edinburgh Castle. ?? by a net tied to an iron ring ; he fell and fractured by Miss Balrnain, who remained in her stead, and who was afterwards allowed to go free. , In 1752 the Castle received a remarkable prisoner, in the person of James Mhor Macgregor of Bohaldie, the eldest of the four sons of,Rob Roy, who had lost his estate for the part he had taken in the recent civil strife, ?and holding a major?s commission under the old Pretender.? Robin Oig Macgregor, his younger brother, having conceived that he would make his fortune by at his captious employers. ~ ?An old and tattered great-coat enveloped him ; he had donned a leather apron, a pair of old shoes, and ribbed stockings. A red night-cap was drawn to his ears, and a. broad hat slouched over his eyes.? He quitted the Castle undiscovered, and left the city without delay; but his flight was soon known, the city gates were shut, the fortress searched, and every man who had been on duty was made a prisoner. A court-martial, consisting of thirteen officers, sat - considered as the chief instigator of this outrage, thus the vengeance of the Crown was directed against him rather than Robin, ?who was considered but a half-wild Highlandman ; ? and in virtue of a warrant of fugitation issued, he was arrested and tried. The Lords of Justiciary found him guilty, but in consequence of some doubts, or informality, sentence of death was delayed until the 20th of November, 1752. In consequence of an expected rescue-meditated by Highlanders who served in the city as caddies, chairmen, and city guards, among whom Macgregor? s bravery at Prestonpans, seven years before, made him popular-he was removed by a warrant from the Lord Justice Clerk, addressed to General Churchill, from the Tolbooth to the Castle, there to be kept in close confinement till his fatal day amved. But it came to pass, that on the 16th of November, one of his daughters-a tall and very handsome girl-had the skill and courage to disguise herself as a lame old cobbler, and was ushered into his prison, bearing a pair of newlysoled shoes in furtherance of her scheme. The sentinels in the adjacent corridors heard Lady Bohaldie scolding the supposed cobbler with considerable asperity for some time, with reference to the indifferent manner in which his work had been his- skull,? on tlie rock facing Livingstone?s Yards, -the old tilting ground, oin the south side of the Castle? rock. This was a singularly unfortunate man in his domestic relations. His eldest son was taken prisoner at Carlisle, and executed there with the barbarity then usual. His next son, Thomas, was poisoned by his wife, the famous and beautiful Katherine Nairne (who escaped), but whose paramour, the third son, Lieutenant Patrick Ogilvie of the 89th or old Gordon Highlanders (disbanded in 1765), was publicly hanged in the Grassmarket. In July, 1753, the last of those who were tried for loyalty to the House of Stuart was placed in the Castle-Archibald Macdonald, son of the aged Cole Macdonald of Barrisdale, who died a captive there in 1750. Arraigned as a traitor, this unfor. tunate gentleman behaved with great dignity before the court; he admitted that he was the person accused, but boldly denied the treason, and asserted his loyalty to his lawful king. ?On the 30th March he was condemned to die; but the vengeance of the Government had already been glutted, and after receiving various successive reprieves, young Barrisdale was released, and permitted to return to the Western Isles.? From this period till nearly the days of Waterloo the Castle vaults were invariably used in every war ... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Edinburgh Castle. ?? by a net tied to an iron ring ; he fell and fractured by Miss ...

Book 1  p. 70
(Score 0.67)

I 60 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH. aspectdormer windows rise above the line of roof-and a bold projection supported on a large ornamental stone corbel, admits of a very tall window at an oblique angle below it, evidently constructed to catch every stray gleam of light, ere the narrow alley gave way to the improvements of the royal master-mason. Over the entrance to the stair there is the very common inscription, Blissit. be. God. in . a l . his. Gi~?is., with the date 1580; and while the whole of the east side is substantially built of hewn stone, the south front, -looking directly down the old West Bow-is a very picturesque timber fapade, with irregular’gables, and each story thrusting its beams farther into the street than the one below it. One of the earliest proprietors of this ancient dwelling appears from the titles to have been Bartholomew Somerville, merchant burgess ; the most conspicuous among those generous citizens to whose liberality we are mainly indebted for the establishment of the University of Edinburgh on a lasting basis. “ In December [1839] following,” says Craufurd, ‘‘ the Colledge received the greatest accession of its patrimony which ever had been bestowed by any private person. Mr Bartholomew Somervale (the son of Peter Somervale, a rich burgess, and sometime Baylie),’ having no children, by the good counsel of his brothers-in-law, Alex. Patrick and Mr Samuel Talfar, mortified to the College 20,000 merks, to be employed for maintenance of an Professor of Divinity, and 6000 merks for buying of Sir James Skeen’s lodging and yaird, for his dwelling.” This worthy citizen was succeeded in the old tenement by Sir John Harper of Cambusnethan. Immediately to the east of Milne’s Court, a more modern erection of the same kind exists, which is associated in various ways with some of the most eminent men that have added lustre to the later history of the Scottish capital. To this once fashionable and aristocratic quarter David Hume removed in 1762 from his previous place of residence in Jack’s Land, Canongate; here also, and in the same house, BoHwell resided when he received and entertained Paoli, the Patriot Corsican Chief, in 1771, and the still more illustrious Dr Johnson, when he visited Edinburgh in 1773, on his way to the Western Islands. Entering by a narrow alley which pierces the line of lofty houses along the Lawnmarket, the visitor finds himself in a large court, surrounded by high and substantial buildings, which have now evidently fallen to the lot of humbler inhabitants than those for whom they were erected, These spaces, walled off by the intervening houses from the main street, were in the Scottish metropolis like the similar edsces of the French nobility, frequently designed with the view of protecting those who dwelt within the gate from the unwelcome intrusion of either legal or illegal force. But James’s Court scarcely dates back to times so lawless, having only been erected by a wealthy citizen in 1727, on the site of various ancient closes, containing the residences of judges, nobles, and dignitaries of 1 Peter Somerville’s house stood near the head of the West Bow, with the Somerville arms over the doorway, surmounted by his initials, and the date 1602. ’ Craufurd’s Hist of the University, p. 136. An apartment on the first floor of this land, lighted by two large windows looking into Milne’s Court, has a modern ceiling about ten feet from the floor-a comparison of thie, with the height of the next story, shows, that a space of about three feet must be enclosed between it and the floor above. It is exceedingly probable that the modern plaster-work may conceal another painted roof similar to those described in Blyth‘s Close. ... 60 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH. aspectdormer windows rise above the line of roof-and a bold projection supported ...

Book 10  p. 174
(Score 0.67)

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES, 375 obliged to retire again into the house ; Not content with this, they proceeded to the house of the Lord Advocate (Dundas of Amiston), whose windows they broke. It then became necessary to bring a party of the military from the Castle to prevent farther mischief. The Sheriff attended and read the riot act; but the mob not dispersing, after repeated intimation of the consequences, the military at last fired, when several persona were wounded, and some mortally. “On Wednesday, in the evening, the mob assembled in the New Town, with an htenfion of destroying the house of the Chief Magistrate.a A fire was lighted on the Castle, and two guns were fired, 89 a signal to the marines of the Bind frigate, stationed at Leith, and the dragoons quartered about a mile east of the town. and the mob began to break the windows. This put a period to the outrages for that night. On their appearance the mob finally separated.”3 During the prevalence of these riots, Provost Stirling prudently sought shelter in the Castle. In so doing he a‘cted wisely, as, if the mob had laid hands on him, there is no saying what might have followed. It was at this time that “Lang Sandy Wood,” whom the crowd mistook for the Provost, narrowly escaped being thrown over the North Bridge. The Magistrates, naturally alarmed at what had occurred, thought it best to lay the whole facts of the case before their fellow-citizens. With this view, a public meeting of the inhabitants was called, in the New Church aisle, on the Thursday forenoon following-the Lord Provost in the chair. Of this meeting the following account is given in the journals :- “ The Lord Advocate, Mr. Sheriff Pringle, the Lord-President, Lord Adam Gordon, Commanderin- Chief, &. Solicitor Blair, and several others, declared their sentiments. The meeting unanimously expressed their full approbation of the measures pimued by the Magistrates and the Sheriff, for suppressing the riots ; and publivhed resolutions to that effect. “A proclamation was issued the same evening, recommending to the people not to assemble in crowds, or remain longer on the streets than their lawful business required, as the most decisive measures had been resolved upon for quieting the least appearance of any farther disorder ; and offering a reward of one hundred guineas for discovery of the ringleaders. Fifty guinens were also offered by the Merchant Company, who, and all the incorporations, voted thanks to the hfagi8trates for the measures taken to suppress the riots. It is said that certain attempts to procure a vote of thanks to the Magistrates for introducing the military into the town,predozls to any riotous act, proved abortive.” Perhaps the zeal displayed by Provost Stirling, in support of the existing administration on this occasion, may have recommended him as a suitable object for ministerial favour; however this may be, on the 17th of July following, “the King was pleased to grant the dignity of a Baronet of the kingdom of Great Britain to the Right Hon. James Stirling, Lord Provost of the city of Edinburgh, and the heirs-male of his body lawfully begotten.” The gentlemen who made this hazardous attempt, we have been informed, were the late Lord Viscount Duncan, then Rear-Admiral of the White, and the late Sir Patrick Murray of Ochtertyre, then attending the law classes at the University. Duncan, although in his sixty-first year, was a strong athletic man. Armed with a crutch belonging to old Lady Dundas, which he seized on nwhing out of the house, he laid about him among the crowd with great vigour ; and even after the head of the crutch had been demolished, he continued to use the staff, until compelled to retreat by the overwhelming inequality of numbers. He then resided at the south-west corner of St. Andrew Square. a No damage was sustained upon the premises of the Lord Provost. The destruction was limited to two sentry-boxes placed near the door, it being then deemed an indispensable accessory to the dignily of Provost, that two of the city-guard should keep station before his house. ... SKETCHES, 375 obliged to retire again into the house ; Not content with this, they proceeded to the ...

Book 8  p. 523
(Score 0.66)

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