322 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Arthur?s Seat
simultaneously halted, and the royal salute given, 1 the hour of need, of the freedom and integrity of
caught up by the crowds on the hill, and rolled
back fo the plain, again .and again to burst forth
with redoubled energy, until it merges into one
the silent grandeur of the scene, broken only by
the National Anthem, sent a thrill of heart-stirring
awe through the assembled multitude. But on a
sudden the death-like silence is broken, and the
pent-up enthusiasm of the Volunteers breaks forth
like the bursting of some vast reservoir. A cheer,
such as only Britons have in them to give, goes
forth with the full power of 22,000 loyal throatsa
cheer such as old Holyrood never heard before,
Castle, August 26th, ?the spectacle yesterday
presented to her Majesty was an admirable
sequel to the great review held recently at
the empire.??
On the sameground, in August 1881, and before
a vast multitude, Her Majesty reviewed a force of
40,000 Scottish Volunteers. So many men under
arms had not been massed together in Scotland
since James IV. marched to Flodden. ? Although
unhappily marred by continuous rain,? says the
Duke of Cambridge?s order, dated Edinburgh
est accident occurred, and
the slopes of the great hills were bared of their
multitudes as if by magic. The great review
was over, and in due time came the following order
from the Adjutant-General Sir J. Yorke Scarlett :-
?Horse Guards, August Ioth, 1860.
? The Adjutant-General has received the Queen?s
commands to convey her thanks .to the several
corps of Artillery and Rifle Volunteers assembled
at Edinburgh on the 7th instant, and to assure
them of the satisfaction and gratification with
which Her Majesty beheld the magnificent spectacle
presented to her.
I? Her Majesty could not see without admiration
the soldier-like bearing of the different corps as
they passed before her ; and she finds in the high
state of efficiency to which they have attained in
an incredibly short space of time another proof
that she may at all times surely rely on the loyalty
and patriotism of her people for the defence, in
donald; and perhaps
none were more applauded in the march past than
the London Scottish, led by Lord Elcho. The bands
of the Black Watch and 5th Fusileers were placed
beside the saluting post, whereon was hoisted the
royal standard, as borne in Scotland, the lion
rampant being first and fourth in the quarterings.
Undeterred by the incessant deluge of rain, the
Queen remained till the last, and so did the rest of
the royal party; but even ere the second division
had defiled before her the vast slopes of Arthur?s
Seat had been greatly denuded of spectators, ? and
the great mass of umbrellas slipped down and
gathered about the Holyrood gates, egress through
which was still denied,? owing to certain instructions
adapted evidently to a fair-weather gathering.
It was greatly to the credit of theseScottish troops,
and a proof of their excellent discipline, that to the ,
very close of that trying and harassing day, their
behaviour was quiet, orderly, and admirable to the
last, and not a single accident occurred.
Bristo Streei.1 THE DARIEN SCHEME. 323
C H A P T E R XXXVIIP.
BRISTO AND THE POTTERROW.
Bristo Street-The Darien House-The Earl of Roaebery-Old Charity Workhouse-A Strike in 176441d GeorgeInn-U. P. Church-
Dr. Peddie -Sir Walter Scott?s First School-The General?s Entry and the Dalrymplcs of Stair-Burns and Clarinda-Crichton Street-
Alison Rutherford of Famielee-The Eastern Portsburgh-The Dukeof Lennox Men-The Plague-The Covenanters? GunFoundry-
A Witch-A Contumacious Barber-Tailors? Hall-Story of Jean Brown-Duke of Douglas?s How-Thomas Cpmpbcll the Poet
-Earl of Murray?s House-Charles Street and Field.
THOSE who see Forrest Road now-a broad and
handsome thoroughfare-can form no conception of
the features of its locality for more than a hundred
years before 1850.
A great archway, in a modern addition to the
city wall, led from the Bristo Port by a winding
pathway, a hundred yards long, and bordered by
trees to a wicket, or klinket.gate, in the city wall,
opposite the centre walk of the meadows. On
its west side rose the enormous mass of the dd
Charity Workhouse, with a strong box at its gate,
inscribed, 44 He that giveth unto the poor lendeth
unto the Lord,? and having an orifice, wherein the
charitable passer might drop a coin. On its
east side were the ancient offices of the Darien
Company, the Correction House, and Bedlam, to
which another pathway diverged south-eastward
from before the Workhouse gate. On the east
and south rose the mass of the embattled city
wall, black with smoke and years, and tufted with
grass.
A group of mansions of vast antiquity, their dark
chimneys studded by glistening oyster-shells, were
on the west side of the Bristo Port, the name ofwhich
is still retained by two or three houses of modern
construction.
In 1647 the whole of the area referred to here
was an open grass park of oblong form, about 250
paces long by 200 broad, according to Gordon?s map.
Till lately the west side of Bristo Street, from the
Port to Teviot Row, was entirely composed of the
dead angle of the city wall, Immediately within
this, facing the south, stood the office of the Darien
Company, a two-storeyed and substantial edifice,
built of polished freestone, with the high-pitched
roof that came into fashion with William of Orange ;
but till the last it was a melancholy and desolate
memorial of that unfortunate enterprise.? A row
of eight arched niches were along its upper storey,
but never held busts in them, though intended for
such.
This edifice was built in 1698, as an ornamental
tablet above the main entrance bore, together with
a sundial, and within, a broad flight of handsome
stairs, guarded by balustrades, led to the first floor.
Here, then, was transacted the business of that
grand national project, the Darien Expedition,
formed for establishing a settlement on the isthmus
of that name, and fitting out?ships to trade with
Africa and the Indies. By this the highest an.
ticipations were raised; the then large sum of
~400,000 was subscribed, and an armed expedition
sailed from Scotland for the new settlement.
Apart from people of all ranks who were subscribers
to this scheme, we may mention that the
Faculty of Advocates, the Merchant Company of
Edinburgh, with Sir Robert Christie the Provost,
the Cities of Edinburgh and Perth, joined it as
communities ; but meanwhile, the furious denunciations
of the English Parliament proved a
thorough discouragement to the project in London,
and nearly the whole of the stockholders there
silently withdrew from it. Under the same influence
the merchants of Hamburg were induced
to withdraw their support and co-operation, leaving
Scotland to work out her own plans by, herself.
She proceeded to do so with a courage to be
admired.? (? Dom. Ann.,? Vol. 111.) The house
described was built, and schemes for trade With
Greenland, Archangel, and the Gold Coast, were
considered, and, under the glow of a new and
great national object, all the old feuds and antipathies
of Covenanter and Cavalier were forgotten,
till pressure from without crushed the whole enterprise.
When intelligence reached Edinburgh that the
company had planted the Scottish flag on Darien,
formed Fort St. Andred and successfully repulsed
the Spaniards, who were urged to the attack by
William of Orange, thanksgivings were offered up
in St. Giles?s and all the other churches; the city
was illuminated ; but the mob further testified their
joy by seizing all the ports, setting fire to the
Tolbooth door, and liberating all the prisoners
incarcerated there for issuing seditious prints against
the king and the English Court
No less vehement was the fury of the populace
on the destruction of this national enterprise, than
their joy at its first brief success. The Tolbooth
was again forced, the windows of all adherents of
King Williiam were broken, and such rage was
exhibited, that his commissioner and the officers
