324 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
led to a very handsome stone turnpike on the first floor. The fine doorway was finished
with 'very rich mouldings, and encircled with the following inscription, of which the
woodcut furnishes a fac-simile-a specimen of genuine vernacular which may possibly
puzzle some able linguists :-
GIF . VE . DEID . AS . VE . SOVLD . VE . MYCHT . EUIF . AS . VE . VALD .
Literally rendered into modern English, it is, If we did as me should, me miyiit Rave as
me mould. There can be no question, from the style and character of this inscription,
that the building was of great antiquity, and had probably formed the residence of some
eminent ecclesiastic, or a noble of the court of James V. It possessed an interest, however,
from a recent and more humble occupant. There was the printing establishment of
Bhdrew Symson, a worthy successor of Chepman and Myllar, the first Scottish typographers,
whose printing presses were worked within a hundred yards of this spot.
Symson was a man of great learning and singular virtue, who, though one of the curates
ejected at the Revolution, had escaped the detraction to which nearly all his fellowsufferers
were subjected. We have his own authority for dating that he received a
University education, and was a condisciple of Alexander, Earl of Galloway, by whose
father he was presented to the parish of Kirkinner, in Wigtonshire. He was an author
as well as a printer ; and his most elaborate work, a poem of great length, and of much
more learned ingenuity than poetic merit, is announced in the preface as issued bb from
my printing-house at the foot of the Horse Wynd, in the Cowgate, Feb. 16, 17D5." It
is entitled TRIPATRIARCHI;C OorN, The Lives of the Thee Patriarch, AhraAam, Isauc, and
Jacob, extracted fort4 of the sacred story, and digested into English verse. Before this,
however, he had acted as amanuensis to the celebrated Lord Advocate, Sir George
Mackenzie ; and in 1699 he edited and published a new edition of Sir George's work on the
Laws and Customs of Scotland, a presentation copy of which still exists in the Advocates'
Library in good condition. It is elegantly bound in calf, and bears on the boards the
following inscription in gilt Roman characters :-DONUMA NDRESY~M SOANM, . YD. MD.
The Horse Wynd no doubt derived its name from its being almost the only descent
from the southern suburbs by which a horse could safely approach the Cowgate ; and as
a spacious and pleasant thoroughfare, according to the notions of former times, it was
one of the most fashionable districts of the town. About the middle of the wynd, on the
west side, an elegant mansion, finished with a pediment in front surmounted with urns,
was known in former years as Galloway House, long the residence of Lady Catherine,
Countess of Galloway, who formed the subject of one of Hamilton of Bangour's flattering
poetical tributes. She is referred to in a different style in the Ridotto of Holyrood
House, a satirical and very free ballad, written about a century ago by three witty
ladies, who were wont to bear their part in such gay scenes as it satirises.l Lady
Galloway is described as
" A lady well known by her aira,
Who ne'er goes to revel but after her prayers ! "
1 The Ridotto, which afforda a curious aample of the notions of propriety entertained by the fair wits of last century,
wad the joint production of Lady Bruce of Kinrosu, her sister-in-law, the wife of J. R. Hepburn, Esq., of Keith and
Riccarhn, and Miss Jenny Denoon, their niece, who was counted a great wit in her own day. Some of the most interesting
stanza are quoted in the Traditions, vol. ii. p. 39.
STLEONARD’S, ST MARY’S WYND, AND COWGATE. 325
She was noted among our precise grandames for her pre-eminent pomp and formality, and
would order out her carriage to pay a ceremonious visit to some titled neighbour it the
corner of the wynd. Here, too, resided Lord Rennet, Baron Stuart, and other suitable
occupants of so aristocratic a quarter. Lord Covington, Lord Minto, and other titled
dwellers in the Cowgate and the neighbouring alleys in recent times might be mentioned,
but enough has already been said to illustrate the striking revolution that took place in
this locality within a very brief period.
Nearly opposite the site of the Old Parliament Stairs, a uniform and lofty range of
handsome tenemepts forms the front of an enclosed quadrangle, which includes within its
precincts the Tailors’ Hall, by far the most stately of all the corporation halls, if we except
St Magdalen’s Chapel, and one interestingly associated with important national and civic
events. A handsome broad archway, considerably ornamented, forms the entrance through
the front tenement to the inner quadrangle. This exterior gateway is surmounted by an
ornamental tablet, decor&ed with a huge pair of shears, the insignia of the craft, and
bearing the dat,e 1644, with the following elegant distich:-
ALMIGHTIE GOD WHO FOVND
ED BVILT AND CROVND
THIS WORK WITH BLESSINGS
MAK IT TO ABOVhTD.
This building, as seen from within the quadrangle, has an exceedingly picturesque and
imposing effect. Two loftly crow-stepped gables project, as uniform wings, into the court,
and between them is the deep-browed arch leading from the Cowgate, above which rises a
double tier of windows, surmounted by a handsome ornamental gable in the roof. All
this, however, is the mere vestibule to the Tailors’ Hall, which occupies the south and east
sides of the court. Here, again, we find evidence that the craft were wont of old, as now,
to extend their professional patronage to the muses. The accompanying vignette represents
the Hall as it appeared prior to its receiving the addition of another story, to adapt
it for its modern use as a brewer’s granary; for, alas, the glory has long since departed
from the Tailor Craft in Edinburgh ! Over the ornamental pediment which surmounts the
east wing of the building, the insignia of the shears is again seen, with the date 1621, and
this pious inscription :-GOD . GIVE . THE . BLISING . TO . THE . TAILZER. CRAFT . IN
THE . GOOD . TOVN . OF . EDINBURGEO. n the lowest crow-step beside this is cut the
professional device of three balls of thread ; and over the main entrance is the following
elegant and laudable dedication of the Hall and whole Corporation, as the temple and
ministers of virtue. No wonder than good citizens were scandalised when the former was
diverted from its legitimate use to the profane orgies of the players :-
TO. TfiE. GLORE. O F . GOD. AND. VERTEWIS. RENOWNE.
THE. CWMPANIE . O F . TAILZEOVRS. WITHIN. THIS. GOOD. TOVNE .
FOR. MEITING . O F . THAIR . CRAFT. THIS . HAL . HES . ERECTED .
WITH. TRUST. I N . GODS. GOODNES. TO. B E . BLIST. AND. PROTECTED.
Internally this venerable hall has been so entirely altered that no idea can now be
