I 06 QUEENSFERRY TO MUSSELBURGH.
Streets, up Leith Walk, through York Place and St. Andrew Square, into
Princes Street, then turning eastward, proceeded by Regent Bridge and
Waterloo Place, rounding the foot of the Calton Hill, amid shout and cheer,
the roar of cannon, the roll of drum, and the shrill scream of pibroch--a_ll
the route lined with a well-dressed, well-behaved, and loyal people-and
reaching Holyrood at last, when a salute was fired from all the batteries in
intimation of the fact, which made the heavens ring again, echoing far and
near, hill answering to hill, and vale to vale. In the evening there was a
grand display of fireworks. Arthur’s Seat, crowned with flames, glorious as
another sun rising upon midnight, looked down upon a city actually ablaze ;
while Leith, hardly less so, was brilliantly lighted up with a profusion of
lamps and beautifully transparent devices. It is estimated that no fewer than
300,000 people were eye-witnesses that day of the most magnificent and
imposing spectacle ever before beheld in Scotland.
‘ The news has flown from mouth to mouth,
, The North for ance has banged the South ;
Carle, noo the King’s come !
The de’il a Scotsman ’U die 0’ drouth,
Squire and knight and belted peer,
Lowland chief and mountaineer,
The best, the bravest, all are here,
Carle, noo the King’s come !’
In general, the inhabitants of Leith were an industrious and hard-working
people. Life with them was an earnest thing, and to provide for themselves,
and especially for those of their household, a sacred duty. Still, they had
their days of amusement and recreation likewise j and these days, when freed
from toil and care, they did enjoy, although occasionally in rather a boisterous
and extravagant manner. Particularly was this the case during the week of
their long-famed horse-races, an institution which dates back to the period of
the Restoration. These races usually took place on the last week of July, or
the first week of August, and continued for four or five days. Edinburgh and
Leith were then crowded with people of wealth and fashion from all quarters,
to witness the sports of the race-ground, as well as to attend the balls and the
assemblies which were held in the city in the evenings. The sands, over
which the races, during the recess of the tide, were run, were on these days,
but especially on the Saturday, the scene of the most disorderly and drunken
