HISTORICAL INCIDENTS AFTER THE RESTORA TION. 113
ment, and confiscation to many of the most active leaders in the movement, and a general
persecution of ‘( Papists, Jacobites, Episcopals, and disaffected persons.” Archibald Stewart,
the Lord Provost of Edinburgh, was regarded with peculiar jealousy, on account of the
city having fallen into the hands of the Highland army, without resistance, or any attempt
at defence. He endured a long and severe trial, in which it was shown that the great
extent, and very dilapidated condition of the walls, as well as the manifest lukewarmness of
a large portion of the inhabitants towards the reigning family, rendered the defence of the
town, for any length of time, against a victorious army, quite impossible. The trial lasted
from the 27th of October till the 2d of November, when the Provost was acquitted by a
unanimous verdict of the jury. This was regarded as a triumph by the Jacobite party, and
a public meeting was summoned to assemble on the following evening in the Baxter’s
Hall; but the magistrates took alarm at the proposal, and the meeting was summarily
interdicted, as calculated to destroy the prestige of the triumphant bonfire so recently
kindled at the Cross.
The house of Provost Stewart was a very curious old building in the West Bow, with
its main entrance at the foot of Donaldson’s Close. It was only one story high, in
addition to the attics, on the north side, while on the south it presented a lofty front
to the Bow. This building stood immediately to the west of Free St John’s Church;
it is described by Chambers1 as being of singular construction, and as full of curious little
rooms, concealed closets, and secret stairs, as any house that ever had the honour of being
haunted. The north wall, which still remains built into the range of shops forming the
new terrace, stood long exposed to view, affording abundant evidence of this. Little
closets and recesses are excavated, almost like a honey-comb, out of the solid rock behind,
many of which, however, have been built up in adapting it to its new purpose. ((In
one of the rooms,” says Chambers, “there was a little cabinet about three feet high,
which any one, not acquainted with the mysterious arcana of ancient houses, would suppose
to be a cupboard. Nevertheless, under this modest, simple, and unassuming disguise,
was concealed a thing of no less importance and interest than a trap ~ t a i r . ” ~ This
ingeniously-contrived passage communicated behihd with the West Bow, and, according
to the same authority, it was said to have afforded, on one occasion, a aafe and unsuspected
exit to Prince Charles and Borne of his principal officers, who were enjoying the hospitality
of the Jacobitical Provost, when an alarm was given that a troop of the enemy, from
the Castle, were coming down the Close to seize them. This curious building derives an
additional interest from its last occupant, James Donaldson, the wealthy printer, from
whose bequest the magnificent hospital that bears his name has been erected at the west
end of the town.
Our historical sketch of the ancient capital of Scotland has mainly embraced the period
during which the Stuart race filled the throne, and made it the arena of many of the most
prominent incidents in the‘ir history; and with this closing scene in the narrative of their
illustrious line, our historic Memorials of the Olden Time may fitly end. The asaociations
with which the local antiquites of Edinburgh still abound, will afford a fitting opportunity
for treating of incidents and characters of a later date, that are worthy of our notice,
Chambera’a Traditions, vol. i. p. 143. . Ibid, voL i p. 144.
P
114 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
as well as for a more detailed consideration of some of those that have already been alluded
to in this introductory sketch.
The appearance which Edinburgh presented at this period, as well as the character and
manners of its inhabitants, cannot be readily realised by those of the present generation.
Its general features had undergone little change since the departure of the Court to England
in 1603. The extended wall, erected in the memorable year 1513, still formed the
boundary of the city, with the exception of the enclosure of the High Riggs, as already
described, on the south. The ancient gates remained kept under the care of jealous
warders, and nightly closed at an early hour; even as when the dreaded inroads of the
Southon, with fire and sword, summoned the burgher watch to guard their walls. At the
foot of the High Street, the lofty tower and spire of the Nether Bow Port terminated the
vista, surmounting the old Temple Bar of Edinburgh, interposed between the city and the
ancient burgh of Canongate.
This handsome structure was rebuilt in its latest form in the year 1606, diiectly in
a line with St Mary's and Leith Wynds, and about fifty yards further eastward than the
second erection already mentioned. It was by far the mwt conspicuous and important
of the six gates which gave access to the ancient capital, and was regarded as an object in
the maintenance and protection of which the honour of the city was so deeply involved,
that, as we have seen, its demolition was one of the penalties by which the government
sought to revenge the slight put upon the royal prerogative by the Porteous mob. In
style of architecture, it bore considerable resemblance to the ancient Porte St Honore of
Paris, as represented in old engravings; and it is exceedingly probable that it was
constructed in imitation of Borne of the old gates of that capital, between which and
Edinburgh so constant an intercourse was maintained, at a somewhat earlier period than
the date of its erection.
When the destruction of this, the main port of the city, was averted by the strenuous
patriotic exertions of the Scottish peers and members of Parliament, it was regarded as a
national triumph ; but, unhappily, towards the middle of the last century, a perfect mania
seized the civic rulers throughout the 'kingdom, for sweeping away all the old ruh'sh, as
the ancient fabrics that adorned the principal towns were contemptuously styled. The
Common Council of London set the example by obtaining an Act of Parliament, in 1760,
to remove their city gates ; and, only four years afterwards, the Town Council of Edinburgh
demolished the Nether Bow, one of the chief ornaments of the city, which, had it been
preserved, would have been now regarded as a peculiarly interesting relic of the olden time.
The ancient clock, which was removed from the tower, was afterwards placed in that of the
old Orphan's Hospital, and continued there till the demolition of the latter building in
1845.
It is worthy of remark, however, that the destruction of this stately structure was not
the earliest symptom of improved taste in our civio dignitaries. Their first step towards
'' enlarging and Jeautfying " the city, was the removal of the ancient Cross, an ornamental'
structure, possessed of the most interesting local and national associations. The lower part
of it was an octagonal building of a mixed style of architecture, rebuilt in the year 1617,
in the form aIready represented.' In ita reconstruction, the chief ornaments of the
Ante, p. 33. . 6
