HISTORICAL AND DFSCRIPTIVE NOTES. 67
escutcheon, confirm the tradition in question, the armorial bearings (three
cinquefoils) are not those pertaining to the surname of Lawson, but to that of
Liviagsfon; and moreover it appears, from the city records, that the Town
Treasurer or Chamberlain, up to Martinmas 1645, was John Fairholme, his
successor in office being John Jossie, the friend of George Heriot.
On the north wall of the mansion-house of Greenhill, in the immediate
neighbourhood of the enclosure, is a semicircular stone with the letters
already mentioned (I * L and E * R), under the date 1637 ; and on a similar
stone, in the west wall, is an ornamental escutcheon, surmounted by the
initials E - R, and charged with a saltire between a mullet in chief and a'
crescent in base, bearing a close resemblance to the armorial seal of Hugh
Rigg of Carbeny, described in Nisbet's System of UeraZdry. In all probability,
the initiaIs E + R (Elizabeth Rigg ?) indicate the wife of a certain
John Livingston, whose virtues are recorded on the monumental slab ; and
this view is corroborated by the following entry in the Register of Proclamations
and Marriages for the city of Edinburgh :--20 Aprilis 1626. Johnne
Levingstoun Merchant, Elizabeth Rig.' Above the initials on the north wall,
on a smalI semicircular stone surmounted by a crescent, are some scriptural
lines; while the ninth verse of the thirty-fourth Psalm is inscribed on a
similar stone adjoining the escutcheon on the west wall :-' 0 feare the Lord
yee His saints; for there is no want to them that feare Him.'
'
. .
KNOLL NEAR SRUNTSBIELD HOUSF.
Near the south-eastern corner of Bruntsfield Links is an interesting
knoll, from whiich the chivalrous James IV. is said to have surveyed his army
previous to the battle of Flodden. In the formation of a new street through
the grounds of Sir George Jarrender, this historical spot will probably soon
be removed, the hand of the spoiler is even now upon it.
