136 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [West Church,
and by an assessment on the real property within
the parish; the expense for each inmate in those
days was only A4 IS. 6d. On the demolition of
the old church, its pulpit, which was of oak, of a
very ancient form, and covered with carving, was
placed in the hall of the workhouse. The number
of the inmates in the first year was eighty-four.
The edifice, large and unsightly, was removed, with
the Diorama and several other houses, to make
space for the Caledonian railway, and the poor
of St. Cuthbert?s were conveyed to a more airy and
commodious mansion, on the site of the old farmhouse
of Werter.
When the Act of Parliament in 1767 was obenclosed
by a wall, on which a line of tombs is
now erected.
In the eighteenth century the building of note
nearest to the church of St. Cuthbert, on the opposite
side of the way, now named Iathian Road, was
a tall, narrow, three-storeyed country villa, called,
from its situation at the head of the slope, Kirkbraehead
House. There the way parted from the
straight line of the modern road at the kirk-gate,
forming a delta {the upper base of which was the
line of Princes Street), in which were several cottages
and gardens, long since swept away. A row
of cottages lay along the whole line of what is now
Queensferry Street, under the name of Kirkbraehead.
OLD WEST KIRK, AND WALLS OF THE LITTLE KIRK, 1772. (FmVJ alr Engraving of a Drawing fro?# a Moder.)
tained for extending the royalty of the city ol
Edinburgh, clauses were inserted in it disjoining
a great portion of the ground on which the future
new city was to be built, and annexing it to the
parish of St. Giles, under the condition that the
heritors of the lands should continue liable, as
formerly, for tithes, ministers? stipends, and A300
annually of poor?s money. Thus the modern
parishes of St Andrew, St. George, S t Mary, and
St. Stephen-all formed since that period-have
been taken from the great area of the ancient
parish of St Cuthbert
No very material alteration was made in the
burying-ground till April, I 787, when the north
side of it, which was bordered by a marsh 2,000
feet in length (to the foot of the mound) by 350
broad-as shown in the maps of that year-was
drained and partially filled with earth. Then the
walls and gates were repaired. The ground at
the east end was raised a few years after, and
The villa referred to was, towards the close of
the century, occupied by Lieutenant-General John
Lord Elphinstone, who was Lieutenant-Governor
of the Castle, with the moderate stipend of
LISO 10s. yearly, and who died in 1794.
At a subsequent period its occupant was a Mr.
John Butler, who figures amocg ? Kay?s Portraits,?
an eccentric character but skilful workman, who
was king?s carpenter for Scotland; he built Gayfield
House and the house of Sir Lawrence Dundas,
now the Royal Bank in St. Andrew Square. He
was proprietor of several tenements in Carmbber?s
Close, then one of the most fashionable portions of
the old town.
The villa of Kirkbraehead had been built by his
father ere the Lothian Road was formed, and concerning
the latter, the following account is given
by Kay?s editor and others.
This road, which leaves the western extremity of
Princes Street at a right angle, and runs southward
West Church.] THE LOTHIAN ROAD. =37
towards Bruntsfield Links, had long been projected,
but owing to the objections raised by the
proprietors of many barns, byres, and sheds which
stood in the way, the plan could not be matured,
till after several years of trouble and speculation j
in length by twenty paces in breadth." This
scheme he concerted with address, and executed
with nautical promptitude It happened to be the
winter season, when many men were unemployed.
He had no difficulty in collecting several hundreds
ST. CUTHBERT'S CHURCH.
and when at last the proposal was about to be of these at the Kirkbraehcad upon the appointed
agreed to by the opposing parties, the broad and ' morning before sunrise, when he gave them all a
stately road was-to the surprise of the public and ' plentiful breakfast of porter, whisky, and bread and
mortification of the opposition-made in one day ! cheese, after which, just as the sun rose, he ordered
'' some to tear down' en-
John Clerk, Bart., of Pennicuik (an' officer: of't'hc ! dlosuresi others to unroof and demolish cottages,
in 1784). laid a bet with a friend to the effect I with to fill up the natural hollow (near the church-
" that he. would, between sunrise and sunset, ' yard gate) to the required height. The inhabitants,
execute the line of road, extending nearly a mile 1 dismayed at so vast a force and so summary a
It so happened that a gentleman, said to be! Sir. 1 th,e% ,to* set to, work
royal navy, who succeeded his father, Sir George, I and a considerahle portion to bring' earth where-
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