L UCKENBOOTHS AND PARLIAMENT CLOSE. . 213
custom, part of the bride’s plenishing ; but the brooch and wedding-ring no doubt
demanded a similar errand to the goldsmiths’ booths, and would form a still readier
introduction to the whole secrets of courtship. On such occasions the customer paid
for the refreshments when giving the order, and the trader returned the compliment on
his second visit to receive and pay for the goods, which were then rarely to be found on
hand ready for sale.
The external appearance of the old Parliament House has been. rendered familiar to
thousands who never saw it in its original state by the view of it on the notes of Sir
William Forbes and Co.’s Bank. Tradition pointed to Inigo Jones as the designer,
not without some coniirmation Gom its general style. It was no model of architectural
beauty certainly, yet it presented a highly picturesque appearance and individuality
of character, which, with its thorough accordance with the age in which it wits erected,
ought to have secured the careful preservation of its antique turrets and sculptures,
as a national monument associated with great historical events. There was a quaint
stateliness about its irregular pinnacles and towers, and the rude elaborateness of its
decorations, that seemed to link it with the courtiers of Holyrood, in the times of the
Charleses, and its last gala days under the Duke of York’s vice-regency. Nothing can
possibly be conceived more meaningless and utterly absurd than the thing that superseded
it. The demolition of the adjoining buildings, and the extension of the Court
Houses, so as to make the older part form only a subsidiary wing of the whole, have
given some consistency to what is, at best, a very commonplace design ; but the original
screen of stone, now forming the west wing of the Court Houses, which was built to hide
the antique faqade of 1636, had neither relation to the building it was attached to, nor
meaning of its own.
Over the main entrance of the old fabric were the royal arms of Scotland, boldly sculptured,
supported on the right by Mercy holding a crown wreathed with laurel, and on the
left by Justice having the balance in one hand, and a palm-branch in the other, with the
appropriate inscription, Stunt his felieia regna, and immediately underneath the national
arms this motto, Uni unionum. This entrance, which stood facing the east, is now completely
blocked up. Over the smaller doorway which forms the present main access to the
Parliament Hall, the city arms occupied an ornamental tablet, placed between two sculptured
obelisks, and underneath this inscription, on a festooned scroll,-Dominus custodit
introitum nostrum. The general effect of the whole will be best understood by a reference
to the view on page 99.
An amusing anecdote is told of one of the old frequenters of the Parliament Close,
regarding the ancient doorway we have described. James bbertson, Esq. of Kincraigie,
an insane Jacobite laird, on being pressed on one occasion by the Honourable Henry
Erskine to accompany him into the Parliament House, somewhat abruptly declined the
invitation,--(-( But I’ll tell you what, Harry,” added he, pointing to the statue that
stood over the porch, ‘‘ tak’ in Justice wi’ ye, for she has stood lang at the door, and
We have the authority of an experienced matron for the following as a complete inventory of the bride‘s plenishing,
according to old Scottish notion#, and which is often still regarded asindispensable:-1. A cheat of drawers, “split new,”
and ordered for the occasion ; 2, Bed and table linen,-or nai.;cl aa it is styled,-with a supply of blankets j 3. The
silver spoons; and, in wme districts, 4. An eight-day clock. But the Sine pecd m of all waa-5. A LADLE !
2 I4 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
it wad be a treat for her to see the inside like other strangers ! ” The renovators of
the old hall seem to have taken the &ft laird’s hint,-Justice has vanished from the
porch, to reappear in a most gaudy and tasteless fashion in the painted glass of thegreat
window.’ An incident, however, in connection with the fate of these ancient
warders of the Parliament porch, will best illustrate the taste of its beautifiers. Shortly
after the modernisation of the old Trent, the late Bailie Henderson observed a cart
conveying along the South Bridge a load of carved stones, among which the statues of
Justice and Mercy formed the most prominent objects. On inquiring at the carter as to
their destination, he learned that one of the Professors, who kept a Polar bear, had
applied to the Magistrates for stones to erect a bear’sdouse within the College quadrangle,
and he accordingly obtained a gift of these old rubbish for the purpose. The
Bailie gave the carter a fee to turn his horse’s head, and deposit them at his own villa near
Trinity, from whence he sent him back with his cart full of stoneg equally well adapted
for the Professor’s bear’s house. On the death of Bailie Henderson, the statues, along
with other ornamental portions of the old building, were procured by A. G. Ellis, Esq., in
whose posqession they now are.
The great hall measures 122 feet long, by 40 broad, and although its windows have
recently been altered, its curious, open-timbered oak roof remains, springing from a
series of grotesquely sculptured corbels of various designs. Long after it had been forsaken
by the Scottish Estates it retained the high throne at its southern end, where the
Sovereign, or his Commissioner, was wont to preside over their deliberations, and on
either side a range of benches for the nobles and barons, with lower ones in the centre
for the Commissioners of Burghs, the Scottish Estates having formed to the last only
one deliberative assembly. Without thia area a pulpit was erected for sermons to the
Parliament,-the same, we believe, that is now preserved in the Nuseum of the Society
of Antiquaries under the name of ‘(John Knox’s pulpit.” Along the walls there hung
a seriea of portraits of sovereigns and eminent statesmen, including paintings by
Sir Godfrey Kneller ; but some of these were the first of its decorations that disappeared,
having, it is said, been bestowed by Queen Anne on her Secretary, the Earl of Mar.:
Others, however, of these paintings adorned the walls, and are now, we believe,
among the miscellaneous collection at Holyrood House. Portions also of early decorations,
including fragments of ancient tapestry, were only removed in the latter end
of last century,-the same hangings, in all probability, as were put up during the Protectorate.
Nicoll tells us, ‘‘ The Preses and the remanent memberis of the great counsall
did caus alter much of the Parliament Hous, and did calm hing the Over hous with riche
hingeris, in September 1655, and removit these roumes thairintill appoyntit for
passing of the billis, and signeting of letters. So wes also the Lower HOUS, diligatlie
hung.’’ Nor should we omit to mention the Creed and Ten Commandmenta, once 80
In 1868, this window was replaced by a magnificent stained one, representing the inauguration of the College of
Justice, or the Supreme Court of Scotland, by King Jarnes V., in 1532.
The following are mentioned in Brown’s “ Stranger’s Guide,” for 1820 +“ The outer
hall is ornamented by full Iength portraita of King William III., Queen Mary, his consort, and Queen Anne, all done
by Si Godfrey Kneller ; also of George I., John Duke of Argyle, and Archibald Duke of Argyle, by Mr Aikman of
Carney.
’ Minor Antiquities, p. 187,
Nicoll’s Diary, p. 216.
