any goods on hand in their shops, everything had
to be ordered long before it was required ; and it
was always usual for the goldsmith and his customer
to adjourn together to the B ~ j e n Hole, an
ancient baker?s shop, the name of which has proved
a puzzle to local antiquarians, or to John?s Coffee
House, to adjust the order and payment, through
the medium of a dram or a stoup of mellow ale.
But, as time passed on, and the goldsmiths of
Edinburgh became more extensive in their views,
capital, and ambition,
the old booths in the
Parliament Close were
in quick succession
abandoned for ever.
The workshop of
George Heriot existed
in this neighbourhood
till the demolition of
Beth?s Wynd and the adjacent
buildings. There
were three contiguous
small shops, with projecting
wooden superstructures
above them,
that extended in a line,
between the door of the
old Tolbooth and that
of the 1,aigh Councilhouse.
They stood upon
the site of the entrancehall
of the present Signet
Library, and the central
of these three shops was
the booth of the immortal
George Heriot,
the founder of the great
hospital, the goldsmith
to King James VI.-the
good-humoured, honest,
Humble though this booth, after the execution
of ?the bonnie Earl of Gowrie,? when the extravagance
of Anne of Denmark-a devoted patron
of George Heriot -rendered the king?s private
exchequer somewhat impaired, he was not above
paying visits to some of the wealthier citizens in
the Lawnmarket or Parliament Square, and, among.
others, to the royal goldsmith. The latter being.
bred to his father?s business, to which in that age
was usually added the occupation of a banker, was
GEORGE HERIOT?S DRINKING CUP.
(De-d Sy himsew)
and generous ?Jingling Geordie? of the ?? Fortunes
of Nigel.?
It measured only seven feet square ! The back
windows looked into Beth?s Wynd ; and, to show
the value of local tradition, it long appeared that
this booth belonged 10 George Heriot, and it became
a confirmed fact when, on the demolition of
the latter place, his name was found carved above
the door, on the stone lintel. His forge and
bellows, as well as a stone crucible and lid, were
also found on clearing away the ruins, and are now
carefully preserved in the museum of the hospital,
to which they were presented by the late Mr.
Robertson, of the Commercial Bank, a grateful
?? Auld Herioter.?
admitted a member of
the Incorporation of
Goldsniiths on the 28th
May, 1588. In 1597 he
was appointed goldsmith
to Queen Anne, and
soon after to the king.
Several of the accounts
for jewels furnished by
him to the queen are
inserted in Constable?s
? Life of Heriot,? published
in 1822.
It is related that one
day he had been sent
for by the king, whom
he found seated in one
of the rooms at Holyrood,
before a fire composed
of cedar, or some
other perfumed wood,
which cast a pleasant
fragrance around, and
the king mentioned incidentally
that it was
quite as costly as it
was agreeable, ? If your
majesty will visit me at
my booth in the Parliament
Close,? quoth
Heriot, ?I will show you a fire more costly than
that.? ?? Say you so ! ? said the king ; ?? then I
will.?
On doing so, he was surprised to find that Heriot
had only a coal fire of the usual kind.
?Is this, then, your costly fire?? asked the
king.
? Wait, your highness, till I get my fuel,? replied
Heriot, who from an old cabinet or almrie took a
bond for Az,ooo which he had lent to James, and,
laying it on the fire, he asked, laughingly, ?Now,
whether is your majesty?s fire in Holyrood or
mine the most costly ??
? Certainly yours, Master Heriot ! ? replied the
king.
