Memorials of Edinburgh in the Olden Time

All Books Kay's Originals Vol. 1 Kay's Originals Vol. 2 Memorials of Edinburgh in the Olden Time Edinburgh Past and Present Old and New Edinburgh Vol. I Old and New Edinburgh Vol. II Old and New Edinburgh Vol. III Old and New Edinburgh Vol. IV Old and New Edinburgh Vol. V Old and New Edinburgh Vol. VI

Go to: « Kay's Originals Vol. 1 « Kay's Originals Vol. 2 Memorials of Edinburgh in the Olden Time Cover Title Pages Contents List of Illustrations Preface Part 1: Historical Associations Part 1 Ch 1: Earliest Traditions Part 1 Ch 2: From The Accession of The Stuarts to the Death of James III Part 1 Ch 3: From the Accession of James IV to the Battle of Flodden Part 1 Ch 4: From the Battle of Flodden to the Death of James V Part 1 Ch 5: From the Death of James V to the Abdication of Queen Mary Part 1 Ch 6: From the Accession of James VI to the Restoration of Charles II Part 1 Ch 7: Historical Incidents after the Restoration Part 2: Local Antiquities and Traditions Part 2 Ch 1: The Castle Part 2 Ch 2: King's Stables, Castle Barns, and Castle Hill Part 2 Ch 3: The Lawnmarket Part 2 Ch 4: The Tolbooth, Luckenbooths, and Parliament Close Part 2 Ch 5: The High Street Part 2 Ch 6: The High Street and Nether Bow Part 2 Ch 7: The Canongate and Abbey Sanctuary Part 2 Ch 8: St Leonard's, St Mary's Wynd, and The Cowgate Part 2 Ch 9: The West Bow and Suburbs Part 2 Ch 10: Leith, and The New Town Part 2 Ch 11: Ecclesiastical Antiquities Appendix » Edinburgh Past and Present » Old and New Edinburgh Vol. I » Old and New Edinburgh Vol. II » Old and New Edinburgh Vol. III » Old and New Edinburgh Vol. IV » Old and New Edinburgh Vol. V » Old and New Edinburgh Vol. VI

I 86 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH. The ancient prison of Edinburgh had its EAST and WEST ENDS, known to the last by these same distinctive appellations, that mark the patrician and plebeian districts of the British metropolis. The line of division is apparent in our engraved view, showing the western and larger portion of the building constructed of coarse rubble work, while the earlier edifice, at the east end, was built of polished stone. This distinction was still more apparent on the north side, which, though much more ornamental, could only be viewed in detail, owing to the narrowness of the street, and has not, as far as we are aware, been represented in any engraving.’ It had, on the first floor, a large and deeply splayed square window, decorated on either side with richly carved Gothic niches, surmounted with ornamental canopies of varied designs. A smaller window on the floor above was flanked with similar decorations, the whole of which were, in all probability, originally filled with statues. Maitland mentions, and attempts to refute, a tradition that this had been the mansion of the Provost of St Giles’s Church, but there seems little reason to doubt that it had been originally erected as some such appendage to t,he church. The style of ornament was entirely that of a collegiate building attached to an ecclesiastical edifice ; and its situation and architectural adornments suggest the idea of its having been the residence of the Provost or Dean, while the prebends and other members of the college were accommodated in the buildings on the south side of the church, removed in the year 1632 to make way for the Parliament House. If this idea is correct, the edifice was, in all probability, built shortly after the year 1466, when a charter was granted by King James III., erecting St Giles’s into a collegiate church ; and it may further have included a chapter-house for the college, whose convenient dimensions would lead to its adoption as a place of meeting for the Scottish Parliaments. The date thus assigned to the most ancient portion of the “ Heart; of Midlothian,” receives considerable confirmation from the style of the building ; but Parliaments had assembled in Edinburgh long before that period ; three, at least, were held there during the reign of James I., and when his assassination at Perth, iu 1437, led to the abandonment of the Fair City as the chief residence of the Court, and thh ’capital of the kingdom, the first general council of the new reign took place in the Castle of Edinburgh. We have already described the remains of the Old‘ Parliament Hall still existing there; and this, it is probable, was the scene of all such assemblies as were held at Edinburgh in earlier reigns. The next Parliament of James 11. was summoned to meet at Stirling, the following year, in the month of March; but another was held that same year in the month of November, “ in pretorio burgi de Edinburgh.” The same Latin term for the Tolbooth is repeated in the minutes of another Assembly of the Estates held there in 1449 ; and, in 1451, the old Scottish name appears for the first time in “ the parleament of ane richt hie and excellent prince, and our soverane lorde, James the Secunde, be the grace of Gode, King of Scotts, haldyn at Edinburgh the begunyn in the Tolbuth of the samyn.”2 A much older, and probably larger, erection must therefore have existed on the site of the We have drawn the view at the head of the Chapter from a slight aketch taken shortly before ita demolition, by Mr D. Somerville ; with the assistance of a most ingenious model of St Giles’s Church and the aurroonding buildings, made by the Rev. John She, about the year 1805, to which we were also partly indebted for the south view of the aame building. Acts of Scottish Parliaments, folio, vol. ii.

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