THE CA S TL E. 131
in 1682, in firing a royal salute to the Duke of York, afterwards James VII., a circumstance
that did not fail to be noted at the time as an evil 0men.l On her restoration to
Edinburgh, in 1829 (from which she had been taken as a lump of old iron), she was again
received with the honours accorded to her in ancient times, and was attended in grand procession,
and with a military guard of honour, from Leith to her ancient quarters in the
Castle.’
Near the battery on which this ancient relic now stands is situated the postern gate, as
it is termed, which forms the western boundary of the inner fortification, or citadel of the
Castle. Immediately without this, the highest gmund was known, till the erection of the
new barracks, by the name of Hawk-Hill,’ and doubtless indicated the site of the falconry
in earlier times, while the Castle was a royal residence. Numerous entries in the treasurers’
books attest the attachment of the Scottish Kings to the noble sport of hawking, and the
very high estimation in which these birds were held.
On the northern slope of the Esplanade, without the Castle wall, there still exists a long,
low archway, like the remains of a subterraneous passage, the walls being of rubble work,
and the arch neatly built of hewn stone. Until the enclosure and planting of the ground
excluded the public from the spot, this was popularly known as the Lions’ Den, and was
believed to have been a place of confinement for some of these animals, kept, according
to ancient custom, for the amusement of the Scottish monarchs, though it certainly looks
much more like a covered way to khe Castle.’ Storer, in his description of the West Bow,
mentions a house “ from which there is a vaulted passage to the Castle Hill,” as a thing
then (1818) well known, the house being reported to have afforded in earlier times a place
of meeting for the Council. This tradition of an underground way from the Castle, is one
of very old and general belief; and the idea was further strengthened, by the discovery of
remains of a subterranean passage crossing below Brown’s Close, Castle Hill, in paving it
about the beginning of the present century.* At the bottom of the same slope, on the
margin of the hollow that once formed the bedsf the North Loch, stand the ruins of an
ancient fortification, called the Well-house Tower, which dates as early at least as the
erection of the first town wall, in 1450. It formed one of the exterior works of the
Castle, and served, as its name implies, to secure to the garrison comparatively safe access
to a spring of water at the base of the precipitous rock. Some interesting discoveries were
made relative to this fortification during the operations in the year 1821, preparatory to
the conversion of the North Loch into pleasure grounds. d ere moval of a quantity of
rubbish brought a covered way to light, leading along the southern wall of the tGwer to
a strongly fortzed doorway, evidently intended as a sally port, and towards which the
Fountainhall’s Chron. Notes, No. 1.
a A curious and ancient piece of brasa ordnance, now preserved in the Antiquarian Museum, is worthy of notice here
It was found on the battlementa of Bhurtpore, when taken by Lord Combermere,
’ Kincaid, p. 137. “The governor appointed a centinell on the Hauke Hill, to give notice 80 won an he 8aw the
4 A very curious monumental atone stands near the top of the bank, but it can hardly be included, with propriety,
It was brought from Sweden, and presented many yeara since to the Society of Antiquaries
There is engraved on it a serpent encircling a mm, and on the body of the serpent
Vide
from ita connection with Edinburgh.
and bears the iIlECriptiO~~ACOBUM8 ONTEITHH E FECIT, ELHITBURAGNXHO, DOM.1 642
mortar piece fired.”-Siege of the Caatle, 1689.
among our local antiquities.
by Sir Alex. Setoun of Preston.
a Runio inscription, aignifying,-Ari engraved this stone in memory of Hiam, hie father.
Archmlogia Scotica, voL ii p. 490.
Bann. Club, p, 55.
God help hie SOUL
e Chambers’s Traditions, vol. i. p. 156.
