74 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Holyroob
chateau of Chantilly, from plans by the royal
architect, Sir William Bruce of Balcaskie and
Kinross, the palace as we find it now was built by
Charles 11. and James VII., with a zeal that has
been supposed to imply forethought of having a
fit retreat in their ancient capital if driven from
that of England. The inscription in large Roman
letters-
FVN . BE. RO . MYLNE . MM . IVL . 1671-
marks the site of the foundation of the modern
additions ; it is in a pier of the north-west piazza.
Before the Antiquarian Society in 1858 was
read a statement of the ? Accounts of Sir William
Bruce of Balcaskie, General Surveyor of H.M.
Works, 1674-9.?? The re?ckoning between these
years was it;160,000 Scots, of which sum four-fifths
were spent on Holyrood, the new works on which
had been begun, in 1671, and so vigorously carried
on, that by January, 1674, the mason-work had been
nekly completed. The Dutch artist, Jacob de
Urt, was employed to paint ? One piece of historia
in the king?s bed-chamber? for A120 Scots. The
coats-of-arms which are above the great entrance
and in the quadrangle were cut from his designs.
Holyrood Palace is an imposing quadrangular
edifice, enclosing a piazza-bounded Palladian
court, ninety-four feet square. Its front faces the
west, and consists of battlemented double towers
on each flank. In the centre is the grand entrance,
having double Doric columns, above which
are the royal arms of Scotland, and over them an
octagonal clock-tower, terminating in an imperial
crown.
The Gallery of the Kings, the largest apartment
in the palace, is 150 feet long by 27 feet broad,
and is decorated by a hundred fanciful portraits
of the Scottish kings, from Fergus 1. to James VII.,
by Jacob de Urt, and there is an interesting
portrait of Mary and of the latter monarch, and at
the end of the gallery are four remarkable paintings,
taken from Scotland by James VI., and sent
back from Hampton Court in 1857. They represent
James 111. and his queen Margaret of Denmark
(about 1484), at devotion; on the reverses
are Sir Edward Boncle, Provost of Trinity College
; the figure of St. Cecilia at the organ represents
Mary of Gueldres, and the whole, which are by
an artist of the delicate Van Eck school, are
supposed to have formed a portion of the altarpiece
of the old Trinity College Church. In this
gallery the elections of the Scottish peers take place.
Beyond it are Lord Darnley?s rooms ; among the
portraits there are those of Darnley and his
brother, and from thence a stair leads to Queen
Mary?s apartments above. The Tapestry Room
contains two large pieces of arras, and among
several valuable portraits one of James Duke of
Hamilton, beheaded in 1649.
The Audience Chamber-the scene of Mary?s
stormy interviews with Knox-is panelled and
embellished with various royal initials and coatsarmorial
; the furniture is richly embroidered, and
includes a venerable state-bed, used by Charles I.,
by Prince Charles Edward, and by Cumberland on
the night of the 30th January, 1746. Mary?s bedchamber
measures only 22 feet by 18 feet, and at
its south-west corner is her dressing-room, The
ancient furniture, the faded embroideries and
tapestries, and general aspect of this wing, which
is consigned peculiarly to memories of the past
are all in unison with the place ; but the royal
nursery, with its blue-starred dome, the Secretary
of State?s room, with the royal private apartments
generally now in use, are all in the south and
eastern sides of the palace, and are reached by a
grand staircase from the south-east angle of the court.
CHAPTER XI.
HOLYROOD PALACE (concZdaf).
The King?s Birthday in 1665-James Duke of Albany-The Duchess of York and G e n d Daltell-Funeral of the Duke of Rothes - A
Gladiatorial Exhibition-Departure of the Scottish Household Troops-The Hunters? Company?s Balls-Fmt and Second Viis
of the Royal Family of France-Recent Improvements-St. h e ? s Yard removed-The Ornamental Fountain built.
IN the IntelZ&zce for the 1st of June, 1665, we
have a description. of the exuberant loyalty that
followed the downfall of the Commonwealth.
?Edinburgh, May 29, being His Majesty?s birthday,
was most solemnly kept by all ranks in this
city. My Lord Commissioner, in his state, With
his life-guard on horseback, and Sir Andrew
Ramsay, Lord Provost, Bailies, and Council in their
robes, accompanied by all the Trained Bands in
arms, went to church and heard the Bishop of
Edinburgh upon a text well applied for the work
of the day. Thereafter thirty-five aged men in
