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

218 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH. them to adjourn. It must be regarded as proving how thoroughly the cruel wrongs which the Scottish Covenanters had suffered at the hands of their persecutors during the reign of Charles 11. were laid to the charge of the active agents in their execution, that the statue of that “ Monarch of Misrule ” survived the rabblements of this period, and still graces the area of the Parliament Close, The name that still survives all other memorials of the Scottish hierarchy, recalls the time when “ the honours ” of the kingdom were laid on the table, and the Lord High Commissioner occupied the throne as the representative of majesty, while the eloquent Belhaven, the astute and wary Lockhart, and the nervous Fletcher, pleaded for the ancient privileges of their country, and denounced the measure that was to close its Legislative Hall for ever. Many an ardent patriotic heart throbbed amid the dense crowd that daily assembled in the Parliament Close, to watch the decision of the Scottish Estates on the detested scheme of Union with England. Again ahd again its fate trembled in the balance, but, happily for Scotland, English bribes outweighed the mistaken zeal of Scottish patriotism and Jacobitism united against the measure. On the 25th March 1707, the Treaty of Union was ratified by the Estates, and on the 22d April following, the Parliament of Scotland adjourned, never again to assemble. The Lord Chancellor Seafield, the chief agent in this closing scene of our national legislature, exclaimed on its accomplishment, with heartless levity, ‘‘ There is an end of an auld sang ; ” but the people brooded over the act as a national indignity and wrong; and the legitimate line of their old Scottish kings anew found favour in their eyes, and became the centre of hope to many who mourned over Scotland as .a degraded province of her old southern rival. Since then the ancient hall retains only such associations as belong to men eminent for learning, or high in reputation among the members of the College of Justice. Duncan Forbes, Lord Kames, Monboddo, Hume, Erskine, Mackenzie, and indeed nearly all the men of note in Scottish literature,-if we except her divines,-have formed a part of the busy throng that gave life and interest to Scotland’s Westminster Hall. Our own generation has witnessed there Cockburn, Brougham, Horner, Jeffrey, and Scott, sharing in the grave offices of the Court, or taking a part in the broad humour and wit for which the members of “ the Faculty ” are so celebrated ; and still the visitor to this learned and literary lounge cannot fail to be gratified in a high degree, while watching the different groups who gather in the Hall, and noting the lines of thought or humour, and the infinite variety of physiognomy, for which the wigged and gowned loiterers of the Law Courts are peculiarly famed. Among the more homely associations of the Old Parliament Close, the festivities of the King’s birthday demand a special notice, as perhaps the most popular among the longcherished customs of our ancestors, which the present generation has beheld gradually expire. It was usual on this annual festival to have a public repast in the Parliament Hall, where tables were laid out at the expense of the city, covered with wine and confeotions, and the magistrates, judges, and nearly all the chief citizens, assembled for what was styled “ the drinking of the King’s health.” On the morning of this joyous holiday the statue of King Charles wa8 gaily decorated with flowers by the L L Add Gallants,” as the e’lhes of Heriot’s The Old Parliament House witnessed thenceforth more legitimate scenes.

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L UCKENBOOTHS AND PARLIAMENT CLOSE. 219 Hospital are still termed, who claimed this office by long prescription, and their acknowledged skill in the art of loyal decoration, acquired in the annual custom of decking their own founder’s statue.‘ This formed one of the chief attractions to the citizens throughout the day, as well as to their numerous rustic visitors who crowded into the capital on the occasion, to wituess or share in the fun. Towards the afternoon the veteran corps of the city guard were called out to man the eastern entrance into the Parliament Close while the guests were assembling for the civic entertainment, and thereafter to draw up in front of the great hall, and announce with a volley to the capital at large each loyal toast of its assembled rulers. Never did forlorn hope undertake a more desperate duty! The first volley of these unpopular guardians of civic order was the signal for a frenzied assault on them by the whole rabble of the town, commemorated in Ferguson’s lively Address to the Muse on the Dead dogs and cats, and every offensive missile that could be procured for the occasion, were now hurled at their devoted heads ; and when at last they received orders to march back again to their old citadel in the High Street, the strife became furious; the rough old veterans dealt their blows right and left with musket and Lochaber axe wielded by no gentle hand, but their efforts were hopeless against the spirit and numbers of their enemies, and the retreat generally ended in an ignbminious rout of the whole civic guard. All law, excepting mo6 Zuw, was suspended during the rest of the evening, the windows of obnoxious citizens were broken, the effigies of the most unpopular public men frequently burnt, and for more than half a century, the notorious Johnny Wilkes,” the editor of the North Briton, and the favourite of the London apprentices, was annually burnt in effigy at the Cross and other prominent parts of the town-an incremation which ‘ has lately altogether fallen into desuetude. Previous to the remodelling of the Parliament House, while yet the lofty lands of the old close reared their huge and massy piles of stone high above the neighbouring buildings, and the ancient church retained its venerable though somewhat dilapidated walls, the aspect of this quadrangle must have been peculiarly grand and imposing, and such as we shall look for in vain among the modern erections of the capital. It would be folly, bowever, after recording so many changes that have passed over it at successive periods, to indulge in useless regrets that our own day has witnessed others as sweeping as any that preceded them, obliterating every feature of the past, and resigning it anew to the S~OW work of time to restore for other generations the hues of age that best comport with ita august and venerable associations. We shall close our notice with the following extract from a local poem referring to the same interesting nook of the old Scottish capital :- King’s birthday.” A scene of grave yet busy life Within the ancient city’s very heart, Teeming with old historic memories, rife With a departed glory, stood apart. High o’er it rose St Giles’s ancient tower Of curious fret work, whence the shadow falls,- As the pale moonbeams through its arches pour,- Tracing a shadowy crown upon the walls 1 One of the graceful and innocent customs-of earlier times, which was for sometimeiu abeyance, but is now happily again revived.

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