William Arbuthnot, who twice held the chair in
1815, and again in 1821. He was created a
baronet by the King in person on the 24th of
August, 1822, at the banquet given to his Majesty
by the City in the Parliament House; but the
patent bore date, 3rd April, 1823. He was a son
of Arbuthnor of Haddo, who, like himself, had
been an official in the Trustees office. In the
interim Kincaid Mackenzie and John Manderston
had been Lords Provost-the former in 1817. He
was a wine merchant in the Lawnmarket, and while
in office had the honour of entertaining at his house
in Gayfield Square, first, the Russian Grand Duke
Michael, and subsequently Prince Leopold, the
future King of the Belgians.
Among the most eminent Lords Provost of later
years we may refer to Sir James Forrest, Bart., of
Comiston, who received his title in rS38. During
his reign Queen Victoria paid her first visit to her
Scottish metropolis in 1842. He was worthily
succeeded in 1843 by the late Adam Black, M.P.,
the distinguished publisher,
In 1848 the Lord Provost was the eminent
engraver William Johnstone, who was knighted in
1851, when he was succeeded by Duncan
M?Laren, a wealthy draper in the High Street,
afterwards M.P. for the city, and well known as a
steady upholder of Scottish interests in the House.
On the 7th August, 1860, during the prorostry of
Francis Brown Douglas, Advocate, there took place
thegreat review before the Queen and Royal Family
in Holyrood Park of 22,ooo Scottish Volunteers,
? merchants perhaps in Scotland, and who had the
honour to entertain at his house, 35, George Square,
the Prince and Princess of Wales. It was during
Mr. Lawson?s reign that, on the 10th of hfarch,
1863, the Prince?s marriage took place, an occasion
that gave rise to the great and magnificent illumination
of the city-a spectacle the like of which has
never been seen, before or since, in this country.
His successor, in 1865, was William Chambers,
LL. D., the well-known Scottish writer, and member
of the eminent publishing firm of W. and
R. Chambers, High Street, during whose double
tenure of office the work of demolition in connection
with the city improvements commenced
in the block of buildings between St. Mary?s Wynd
and Gullan?s Close, Cannongate, on the 15th June,
1868. A grand review and sham-fight of volunteers
and regulars, to the number of 10,000 men, took
place in the royal park on the 4th July ; and subsequently
the freedom of the City was bestowed
upon Lord Napier of Magdala, and upon that
far-famed orator, John Bright, M.P. In 1874
James Falshaw was elected to the chair, the j ~ s t
Englishman who ever held such an office in Edinburgh.
He was created a baronet of the United
Kingdom in 1876 on the occasion of the unveiling
by the Queen of the Scottish National Memorial of
the late Prince Consort in Charlotte Square. He
was preceded in the chair by William Law, and
succeeded in 1877 by Sir Thomas Jamieson Boyd,
the well-known publisher, who was knighted in
1881 on the occasion of the Volunteer Review.
CHAPTER XXXV.
INFIRMARY STREET AND THE OLD HIGH SCHOOL.
Blackfriars Monastq-Its Formdation-Destrpyed by Fire-John Black the Dominican-The Friary Gardens- Lady Yester : her Church
and TomLThe Buryiug Ground-The Old High School--The Ancient Grammar School-David Vocat-School Founded-Hercules
RdlLlock-Early ClassesThe House Destroyed hy the English-The Bleis-Silver-David Malloch-The Old High Schml-Thomas
Ruddiman, Rector-Barclay?s Class-Henry Mackenzii?s Reminiscences-Dr. Addam, Rector : his Grammar-New Edifice Proposcd
and Erected-The School-boy Days of Sir Water Scott-Allan Masterton-The School in 1803-Death of Rector Adam-James
Pdans, M.A., and A R Canon, RectorsThe New Schwl Projected-The Old one Abandoned.
INFIRMARY STREET is now a continuation of
Chambers Street to the eastward, and is a thoroughfare
of great antiquity, as it led from the north
side of the Kirk-of-field, past the Dominican
Monastery and &to the Old High School Wynd.
In 1647 it was a double street with one long continuous
line of houses, occupyiing the whole front- ! Dominican or Blackfriars? Monastery, founded in
age of the future infirmary, and having six long
abutments (or short closes) running south towards
the south-eastem flank of the City wall.
On the exact site of the Old Surgical Hospital
there stood for nearly four hundred years a great
edifice of which now not a trace remains, the
