I82 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Parliament Close.
for a considerable amount, binding themselves to
support the Beacon, against which such strong proceedings
were instituted that the print was withdrawn
from the public entirely by the zznd of
September. ?But the discovery of the bond,?
continues the magazine just quoted, ?was nearly
leading to more serious consequences, for, if report
be true, Mr. James Gibson, W.S., one of those who
had been grossly calumniated in the Beacon, had
thought proper to make such a demand upon Sir
Walter Scott as he could only be prevented from,
ordinary scene for the indulgence of mirth and of
festivity than this subterranean crypt or denfacetiously
named the Greping O#ce-certainly
could not well be conceived, nor could wit, poetry,
and phgsic well have chosen a darker scene; yet
it was the favourite of one whose writings were
distinguished for their brilliancy and elegant
htinity. He died in 1713, and was buried in
the Greyfriars? Churchyard.
In the fourth floor of the Zand overlooking the
aforesaid cellar, there dwelt, about 1775, Lord
to the justice of Heaven; but it seems scarcely
credible, though such was the fact, that the still
more calamitous fire of 1824, in the same place, was
?attributed by the lower orders in and near Edinburgh
also to be the judgment of Heaven, specially
commissioned to punish the city for tolerating such
a dreadful enormity as-the Musical Festival ! ?
. Early on the morning of the 24th of June, rF24,
a fire broke out in a spirit-vault, or low drinkingshop,
at the head of the Royal Bank Close, and it
made great progress before the engines arrived,
and nearly all the old edifices being panelled or
wainscoted, the supply of water proved ineffectual
to check the flames, and early in the afternoon the
eastern half of the Parliament Square was a heap of
blackened ruins. To the surprise of all who witnessed
this calamity, and observed the hardihood
and temerity displayed by several persons to save
property, or to arrest the progress of the flames, the
only individual who fell a sacrifice was a city oflicer
named Chalmers, who was so dreadfully scorched
that he died in the infirmary a few days after.
liament Close, was attributed by the magistrates?is
portrait of George 111. :-
? Well done, my lord ! With noble taste,
You?ve made Charles gay as five-and-twenty,
We may be xarce of gold and cam,
?But sure there?s lead and oil in plenty ;
Yet, for a public work like this,
You might have had some famous artist ;
Though I had made each merk a pound,
I would have had the very smartest.
? Why not bring Allan Ramsay down,
From sketching coronet and cushion? ?
And knows-the English Constitution.
But why thus daub the man all over,
The cream complexion of HANOVER? ?
For he can paint a living khg,
The mgk-white s#ed is well enough ;
And to the swarthy STUART give
In 1832, when a drain was being dug in the
Parliament Square, close by St. Giles?s Church,
there was found the bronze seal of a Knight of St.
John of Jerusalem. It is now preserved in the
Museum of Antiquities, and bears the legend,
? S. AERNAULD LAMMIUS.?
the son of the poet, who had just painted the
The Royal Excharge.] THE ROYAL EXCHANGE. 183 -
CHAPTER XX.
THE ROYAL EXCHANGE-THE TRON CHURCH-THE GREAT FIRE OF NOVEMBER, 1824.
The Royal Exchange-Laying the Foundation Stonc-Ddption of the Exchange-The Mysterious Statue-The Council Cbarnber-hventiom
of Royal Burghs : Constitution thereof, and Powers-Writen? Court-The ? Star and Garter? Tavern-Sir Walter Scott?s Account
of the Scene at Cleriheugh?s-Lawyers? High Jinks-The Tron Church-Histor] of the Old Church-Tht Gnat Fire of rSa~-lnciden~s
of the Conflagration-The Ruins Undermined-Blown up by Captain Head of the Engineers,
Ira 1753 we discover the first symptoms of vitality
in Edinburgh after the Union, when the pitiful
sum of A1,500 was subscribed by the convention
of royal burghs, for the purpose of ? beautifying
the city,? and the projected Royal Exchange was
fairly taken in hand.
If wealth had not increased much, the population
had, and by the middle of the eighteenth
century the citizens had begun to find the inconvenience
they laboured under by being confined
within the old Flodden wall, and that the city was
still destitute of such public buildings as were
necessary for the accommodation of those societies
which were formed, or forming, in all other capitals,
to direct the business of the nation, and provide
for the general welfare ; and so men of tas?te, rank,
and opulence, began to bestir themselves in Edinburgh
at last.
Many ancient alleys and closes, whose names
are well-nigh forgotten now, were demolished on
the north side of the Righ Street, to procure a
site for the new Royal Exchange. Some of these
had already become ruinous, and must have been
of vast antiquity. Many beautifully-sculptured
stones belonging to houses there were built into
the curious tower, erected by Mr. Walter Ross at
the Dean, and are now in a similar tower at Portobello,
Others were scattered about the garden
grounds at the foot of the Castle rock, and still
show the important character of some of the
edifices demolished. Among them there was a
lintel, discovered when clearing out the bed 01
the North Loch, with the initials IS. (and the
date 1658), supposed to be those of Jaines tenth
Lord Somerville, who, after serving long in the
Venetian army, died at a great age in 1677.
On the 13th of September, 1753, the first stone
of the new Exchange was laid by George Drummond,
then Grand Master of the Scottish Masons,
whose memory as a patriotic magistrate is still remembered
with respect in Edinburgh. A triumphal
arch, a gallery for the magistrates, and covered
stands for the spectators, enclosed the arena.
?The procession was very grand and regular,?
says the Gentleman?s Magazine for that year.
each lodge of maSons, of which there were
thirteen, walked in procession by themselves, all
uncovered, amounting to 672, most of whom were
operative masons.? The military paid proper
honours to the company on this occasion, and escorted
the procession in a suitable manner. The
Grand Master and the present substitute were
preceded by the Lord Provost, magistrates, and
council, in their robes, with the city sword, mace,
&c., carried before them, accompanied by the
directors of the scheme.
All day the foundation-stone lay open, that the
people might see it, with the Latin inscription on
the plate, which runs thus in English :-
? GEORGE DKUMMOND,
Of the Society of Freemasons in Scotland Grand Master,
Thrice Provost of the City of Edinburgh,
Three hundred Brother Masons attending,
In presence of many persons of distinction,
The Magistrates and Citizens of Edinburgh,
And of every rank of people an innumerable multitude,
And all Applaudipg ;
For convenience of the inhabitants of Edinburgh,
And the public ornament,
Laid this stone,
Wdliam Alexander being Provost,
On the 13th September, 1753. of the Era of Masonry 5753,
And of the reign of George II., King of Great Britain,
the 27th yea.?
In the stone were deposited two medals, one
bearing the profile and name of the Grand Master,
the other having the masonic arms, with the collar
of St. Andrew, and the legend, ? In the Lord is
all our trust.?
Though the stone was thus laid in 1753, the
work was not fairly begun till the following year,
nor was it finished till 1761, at the expense of
A31,5oo, including the price of the area on which
it is built ; but it never answered the purpose for
which it was intended-its paved quadrangle and
handsome Palladian arcades were never used by
the mercantile class, who persisted in meeting, as
of old, at the Cross, or where it stood.
Save that its front and western arcades have
been converted into shops, it remains unchanged
since it was thus described by Arnot, and the back I
view of it, which faces the New Town, catches the
eye at once, by its vast bulk and stupendous height,
IOO feet, all of polished ashlar, now blackened with -
the smoke of years :--.?The Exchange is a large
and elegant building, with a court in the -centre.
,
