The Tolhwth] THE SIGNET ANI) ADVOCATES? LIBRARIES. 123
THE genius of Scott has shed a strange halo around
the memory of the grim and massive Tolbooth
prison, so much so that the creations of his imagination,
such as Jeanie and Effie Deans, take the
place of real persons of flesh? and blood, and suchtraders.
They have been described as being ?a
dramdrinking, news-mongering, facetious set of
citizens, who met every morn about seven o?clock,
and after proceeding to the post-office to ascertain
the news (when the mail arrived), generally adjourned
to a public-house and refreshed themselves
with a libation of brandy.? Unfounded articles of
intelligence that were spread abroad in those days
were usually named ? Lawnmarket Gazettes,? in
allusion to their roguish or waggish originators.
At all periods the Lawnmarket was a residence
for nien of note, and the frequent residence of
English and other foreign ambassadors; and so
long as Edinburgh continued to be the seat of the
Parliament, its vicinity to the House made it a
favourite and convenient resort for the members
of the Estates.
On the ground between Robert Gourlay?s house
and Beith?s Wynd we now find some of those portions
of the new city which have been engrafted on
the old. In Melbourne Place, at the north end of
George IV. Bridge, are situated many important
offices, such as, amongst others, those of the Royal
Medical Society, and the Chamber of Commerce
and Manufactures, built in an undefined style of
architecture, new to Edinburgh. Opposite, with
its back to the bridge, where a part of the line of
Liberton?s Wynd exists, is built the County Hall,
presenting fronts to the Lawnmarket and to St.
Giles?s. The last of these possesses no common
beauty, as it has a very lofty portico of finely-flutcd
columns, overshadowing a flight of steps leading to
the main entrance, which is modelled after the
choragic monument of Thrasyllus, while the ground
plan and style of ornament is an imitation of the
Temple of Erechtheius at Athens. It was erected
in 1817, and contains several spacious and lofty
court-rooms, with apartments for the Sheriff and
other functionaries employed in the business of the
county. The hall contains a fine statue of Lord
Chief Baron Dundas, by Chantrey.
is the power of genius, that with the name of the
Heart of Midlothian we couple the fierce fury of
the Porteous mob. ?Antique in form, gloomy and
haggard in aspect, its black stanchioned windows,
opening through its dingy walls like the apertures
~
Adjoining it and stretching eastward is the library
of the Writers to the Signet. It is of Grecian architecture,
and possesses two long pillared halls of
beautiful proportions, the upper having Corinthian
columns, and a dome wherein are painted the
Muses. It is 132 feet long by about 40 broad,
and was used by George IV. as a drawing-room,
on the day of the royal banquet in the Parliament ,
House. Formed by funds drawn solely from contributions
by Writers to H.M. Signet, it is under
a body of curators. The library contains more
than 60,000 volumes, and is remarkably rich in
British and Irish history.
Southward of it and lying psxallel with it, nearer
the Cowgate, is the Advocates? Library, two long
halls, with oriel windows on the north side. This
library, one of the five in the United Kingdom entitled
to a copy of every work printed in it, was
founded by Sir George Mackenzie, Dean of Faculty
in 168z, and contains some zoo,ooo volumes,
forming the most valuable cpllection of the kind
in Scotland. The volumes of Scottish poetry alone
exceed 400. Among some thousand MSS. are those
of Wodrow, Sir James Balfour, Sir Robert Sibbald,
and others. In one of the lower compartments
may be seen Greenshield?s statue of Sir Walter
Scott, and the original volume of Waverley; two
volumes of original letters written by Mary Queen
of Scots and Charles I.; the Confession of Faith
signed by James VI. and the Scottish nobles in
1589-90; a valuable cabinet from the old Scottish
mint in the Cowgate; the pennon borne by
Sir William Keith at Flodden; and many other
objects of the deepest interest. The office of
librarian has been held by many distinguished
men of letters; among them were Thomas Ruddiman,
in 1702; David Hume, his successor, in,
1752 ; Adani Ferguson ; and David Irving, LL.D.
A somewhat minor edifice in the vicinity forms
the library of the Solicitors before the Supreme
Court
