LEITH. 103
ratified with so deep and solemn a reverence, as in Leith: a fact which shows
very plainly, as it seems to us, that whatever their feelings or beliefs in the
days of Mary of Guise with respect to religion, they had non- quite decided
for the Reformation doctrine. Whether, indeed, any of the Leithers was
bellicose enough to buckle on the sword, or shoulder the firelock, and march
across the Border under the able leadership of the old and astute Earl of
Leven, we are not in a position to say. We hope, however, that they did not
just suffer all their zeal and ardour for Protestantism to evaporate or melt
away in the signing of that very solemn and formidable document, but that
some of them at least had the courage to face the warlike and disciplined
forces of Newcastle, and leave their mark upon, if not their bodies before,
the strongly-walled and gallantlydefended city of Durham.
A dark day of terrible suffering was now fast hurrying up, and ready to
burst in lamentation and woe over Leith. That ancient scourge of Scotland,
the Plague, the horrors of which were at this time aggravated by a dreadful
famine, then visited the town and neighbourhood, cutting down in its malignant
wrathfulness young and old, rich and poor, and bringing sorrow and desolation
into almost every home. The town then numbered about 5000 inhabitants
; but so fatal were the ravages of this dreadful disease, that in the short
space of six or seven months it was reduced to a little less than the half. The
churchyards could not receive the bodies requiring interment, and numbers of
the dead, wrapped in the blankets in which they had died, were carried forth
and buried in the Links and adjacent grounds. As just observed, the Plague
was accompanied by a famine, which perhaps was even more fatal in its consequences
; and upon a representation to Parliament of the impoverished and
starving condition of the inhabitants, authority was given to the magistrates to
seize on, and make use of, the grain and other provisions then in the stores
and warehouses, for the support or maintenance of the people, payment to be
made subsequently by voluntary subscription.
The next important event in the annals of the town took place in the year
1650. We refer to the fact that, while the forces of Cromwell were moving
upon Edinburgh after their victory over the Scottish army at Dunbar, a detachment,
under the command of Major-General Lambert, entered and took possession
of Leith. It did not suffer much, however, from this untoward event.
Only a contribution of some x z z sterling was exacted, a matter which, in
ordinary circumstances, would not have been felt by them, but which, follqwing
unhappily so closely upon the heel of the Plague and famine, was rather a
grievance. Shortly after this, however, Lambert was appointed elsewhere, and
