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

LEITH, AND THE NEW TOWN. 365 ing of them in tyme cuming as ze wilI anser to us thairapon.” This royal mandate, which was subscribed at Holyrood Palace on the 1st of March 1563, appears to have had the desired effect, as an ornamental tablet in the upper part of the building had the Scottish Arms, boldly sculptured, with two unicorns for supporters, and the inscription and date in large Roman characters-IN DEFENCE, M. R, 1565. Soon after the demolition of the Heart of Midlothian, the’doom of the ancient Tolbooth of Leith was pronounced, and plans procured for a new court-house and prison. Great exertions were then used by several zealous antiquaries, and particularly by Sir Walter Scott and Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe, Esq., to induce the Magistrates of Edinburgh, under whose authority the work proceeded, to preserve the picturesque and venerable fagade, while the remainder of the building could be demolished and rebuilt according to the proposed plan. The proposition was treated with the usual good taste of our civic reformers. A deputation who waited on my Lord Provost to urge their petition, were cavalierly dismissed with the unanswerable argument, that the expense of new designs had already been incurred ; and so the singular old house of justice of Queen Mary was replaced by the commonplace erection that now occupies its site. Near the top of the Tolbooth Wynd, an ancient signal-tower stood, which i8 represented in the accompanying engraving. It waa furnished with little portholes at the top, resembling those designed for musketry in our old Border peel towers aud fortalices, but which were constructed here, we presume, for the more peaceful object of watching the owners’ merchant vessels as they entered the Firth. An unusually striking piece of sculpture, in very bold relief, occupied a large panel over the archway leading into the courtyard behind. It bore the date 1678, and, amongst sundry other antique objects, the representation of a singularly rude specimen of mechanical ingenuity. This consisted of a crane, the whole machinery of which was comprised in one large drum or broad wheel, made to revolve like the wire cylinder of a squirrel’s cage, by a poor labourer who occupied the quadruped’s place and clambered up, Sisyphus-like, in his endless treadmill. The perspective, with the grouping and proportions of the whole composition, formed altogether an amusizlg and curious sample of both the mechanical and the fine arts of the seventeenth century, At the foot of the Tolbooth Wynd, the good Abbot Ballantyne, who presided over the Monastery of Holyrood during the closing years of the fifteenth century, caused a handsome stone bridge of three arches to be erected Over the Water of Leith, and Boon after its completion, he built and endowed a chapel at the north end of the bridge, and dedicated it to the honour of God, the Virgin Mary, and St Ninian. The Abbot appears to have had considerable possessions in Leith. He appointed two chaplains to officiate, who were yearly to receive all the profits arising out of a house erected by the founder at the southern end of the Bridge of Leith, with four pounds yearly out of his lands or tenements in South Leith. In addition to the offerings made in the chapel, the tolls or duties accruing from the new bridge were to be employed in repairing the chapel, bridge, and tenement, and the surplus given to the poor. This charter of foundation was confirmed by James IV. on the 1st of January 1493.’ St Ninian’s Chapel was built with the consent of the Chapter of Holyrood Abbey, and the approbation of William, Archbishop of St Maitland, p. 25. a Ibid, p. 497.

  Shrink   Print