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

394 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH. the Church, were ordered to be converted into great guns for the use of the Town,” a resolution so far departed from, that they were sold the following year for two hundred and twenty pounds.’ Two of the remaining bells were recast at Campvere in Zealand, in 1621 ; ’ and the largest of these having cracked, it was again recast at London in 1846. In 1585, St Giles’s Church obtained some share of its neighbours’ spoils, after having been stripped of all its sacred furniture by the iconoclasts of the sixteenth century. That year the Council purchased the clock belonging to the Abbey Church of Lindores in Fife, and put it up in St Giles’s steeple,s previous to which time the citizens probably regulated time chiefly by the bells for matins and vespers, and the other daily services of the Roman Catholic Church. Such is an attempt to trace, somewhat minutely, the gradual progress of St Giles’s, from the small Parish Church of a rude hamlet, to the wealthy Collegiate Church, with its forty altars, and a still greater number of chaplains and officiating priests ; and from thence to its erection into a cathedral, with the many vicissitudes it has since undergone, until its entire remodelling in 1829. The general’paucity of records enabling us to fix the era of the later stages of. Gothic architecture in Scotland confers on such inquiries some value, as they suffice to show that our northern architects adhered to the early Gothic models longer than those of England, and executed works of great beauty and mechanical skill down to the reign of James V., when political and religious dissensions abruptly closed the history of ecclesiastical architecture in the kingdom. No record preserves to us the names of those who designed the ancient Parish Church of St Giles, or the elaborate additions that gradually extended it to its later intricate series of aisles, adorned with every variety of detail. It will perhaps be as well, on the whole, that the name of the modern architect who undertook the revision of their work should share the same oblivion. Very different, both in its history and architectural features, from the venerable though greatly modernised Church of St Giles, is the beautiful edifice which stood at the foot of Leith Wynd, retaining externally much the same appearance as it assumed nearly 400 years ago, at the behest of the widowed Queen of James II., whose ashes repose beneath its floor. The Collegiate Church of the Holy Trinity was founded in 1462, by the Queen Dowager, Mary of Guelders, for a provost, eight prebends, and two singing boys; in addition to which there was attached to the foundation an hospital for thirteen poor bedemen, clad, like the modern pensioners of royalty, in blue gowns, who were bound to pray for the soul of the royal foundress. In the new statutes, it is ordered that (‘ the saidis Beidmen sal1 prepair and mak ilk ane of yame on yair awin expensis, ane Blew-gown, COBform to thefirst Foundation.” The Queen Dowager died on the 16th November 1463, and was buried ‘‘ in the Queen’s College besyde Edinburgh, quhilk sho herself foundit, biggit, and dotit.” ‘ No monument remains to mark the place where the foundress is laid; but her tomb is ienerdly understood to be in the vestry, on the north side of the church. The death of the Queen so soon after the date of the charter of foundation, probably prevented the completion of the church according to the original design. As it now stands it consita of the choir and transepts, with the central tower partially built, and evidently 1 Maitland, p. 273. * Ibid, p. 62. 8 Burgh Register, YOL vii. p. 177. Maitland, p. 273. ‘ haley’s Hkt. p. 36.

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