316 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Doddingston.
hills around glistening in the sun, the ring of the
ice, the shouts of the careering youth, the rattle
of the curling-stones, and the shouts of the players,
once heard and seen, would never be forgotten.?
It was to Duddingston, in 1736, that the fugitive,
? Geordie Robertson,? the stabler at Bristo
Port, after effecting that escape from St. Giles?s
Church by the generous courage of Wilson, which
led to the catastrophe of the Porteous mob, and
after passing through the East Cross Causeway,
Not far from it, and nearly opposite the gate of
the Manor House, stood for ages a memorable
thorn, known as Queen Mary?s Tree. It was one
of the oldest in Scotland, and of great proportions,
being over nine feet in circumference. It formerly
stood within the park, but on widening the carriageway,
it remained outside, and many fissures being
found in its root, they were filled up with lime
and stone by order of the road trustees ; but too
late: a storm in 1840 tore it up by the roots. A
DUDDINGSTON LOCH.
took his breathless flight. When reaching the village,
he fainted from exhaustion, but after receiving
some refreshment-the first he had obtained for
three days-he procured a horse, rode away, and
was never heard of again.
Western Duddingston, at the north end of the
loch, was once a populous village, wherein some
forty looms were at work in the Loan, making
a coarse linen stuff, then known as Duddingston
hardings. It is surrounded by gardens and
plantations, and in it is still shown the house in
which Prince Charles slept, with his staff, on the
night before he marched to Prestonpans. It was
then thatched, but has now a tiled roof, and consists
of two storeys.
well-known and justly-reputed statist, who resided
in the neighbourhood, ascertained that the Duddingston
Thorn existed so far back as the reign
of Alexander I. (IIO~), when it was one of the
landmarks of the property on which it grew. It
is mentioned in the title-deeds of the Abercorn
estate, and hence the desire of the family to
preserve a precise knowledge of the spot where
it stood.
The barony of Duddingston, which comprehends
the greatest part of the whole parish, was long in
possession of a family named Thomson, created
baronets ot Nova Scotia, 1636, in the person of
Sir Thomas Thomson of Duddingston, by CharlesI.
Sir William Thomson-his son, probably-was a
