140 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [St. Giles's Church.
establishment, and Maitland gives us a roll of the
forty chaplaincies and altarages therein.
An Act of Council dated twelve years before
this event commemorates the gratitude ,of the
citizens to one who had brought from France a
relic of St. Giles, and, modernised, it runs thus :-
*' Be it kenned to all men by these present letters,
we, the provost, bailies, counselle and communitie
of the burgh of Edynburgh, to be bound
and obliged to William Prestoune of Gourton, son
and heir to somewhile iVilliam Prestoune of Gourton,
and to the friends and sirname
of them, that for so much
that William Prestoune the
father, whom God assoile, made
diligent labour, by a high and
mighty prince, the King of
France (Charles VII.), and
many other lords of France, for
getting the arm-bone of St. Gile,
the which bone he freely left to
our mother kirk of St. Gile of
Edinburgh, without making any
condition. We, considering the
great labour and costs that he
made for getting thereof, promise
that within six or seven years,
in all the possible and goodly
haste we may, that we shall
build an aisle forth from our
Ladye aisle, where the said William
lies, the said aisle to be
begun within a year, in which
aisle there shall be brass for his
lair in bost (it., for his grave in
embossed) work, and above the
brass a writ, specifying the
bringing of that Rylik by him
into Scotland, with his arms, and
his arms to be put in hewn
church of his name in the Scottish quarter of
Bruges, and on the 1st of September is yearly
borne through the streets, preceded by all thedrums
in the garrison.
To this hour the arms of Preston still remain in
the roof of the aisle, as executed by the engagement
in the charter quoted; and the Prestons
continued annually to exercise their right of bearing
the arm of the patron saint of the city until
the eventful year 1558, when the clergy issued
forth for the last time in solemn procession on
the day of his feast, the 1st
SEAL OF ST. G1LES.t (A ffw Henry Lain&.
work, in three other parts of the aisle, with book
and chalice and all other furniture belonging
thereto. Also, that we shall assign the chaplain
of whilome Sir William of Prestoune, to sing at the
altar from that time forth. . . . . Item, that
as often as the said Rylik is borne in the year,
that the sirname and nearest of blood of the said
William shall bear the said Rylik, before all
others, &c. In witness of which things we have
set to our common seal at Edinburgh the 11th
day of the month of January, in the year of our
Lord 1454"*
The other arm of St. Giles is preserved in the
Frag. : " Scotomomastica."
September, bearing with them
a statue of St. Giles-"a marmouset
idol," Knox calls itborrowed
from the Grey Friars,
because the great image of the
saint, which was as large as life,
had been stolen from its place,
and after being '' drouned " in
the North Loch as an encourager
of idolatry, was burned
as a heretic by some earnest
Reformers. Only two years
before this event the Dean of
Guild had paid 6s. for painting
the image, and Izd. for
polishing the silver arm containing
the relic. To give dignity
to this last procession the
queen regent attended it in
person; but the moment she
left it the spirit of the mob
broke forth. Some pressed close.
to the image, as if to join in
its support, while endeavouring
to shake it down; but this.
proved impossible, so firmly was
it secured to its supporters; and
the struggle, rivalry, and triumph
of the mob were delightful -to Knox, who described
the event with the inevitable glee in which
he indulged on such occasions.
Only four years after all this the saint's silverwork,
ring and jewels, and all the rich vestments,
wherewith his image and his arm-bone were wont
to be decorated on high festivals, were sold by
the authority of the magistrates, and the proceeds
employed in the repair of the church.
f Under a canopy supported by spiral columns a full-length figure of.
St. Giles with the nimbus, holding the crozier in his right hand, and ih
his left a Look and a branch. A kid, the usual attendant on St. Giles,
is playfully leaping up to his hand. On the pedestal is a shield bearing
the castle triple-towered, S. COMMUNE CAPTI BTI EGIDII DEEDINBURGH.
(Apfindrd to a chartrr by the Provost [ Waite, FodesJ d Chuptrr
of St. Gdes of fke man= andgkk in favmrof the magisfrates and'
conzmndy of Edindrryh, A.D. 1496.")
