352 OLD AIVD NEW EDINBURGH. [Hope Park.
?a broadsword, a real Andrea Femara blade, hung
by his bed-side, and over the clock (a very old
French one), on the chimneypiece, were attached a
broken pipe and withered rose.? The pipe was
the gift of a comrade, and a secret story attached
to the withered rose ; but, the writer adds, when
he handed me his snuff-box, the rniniufum on the
lid told everythkg-a blue bonnet, a white rose in
it, the graceful flowing tartan, and the sfar upon the
breast? He was the son of a Jacobite exile, whom
having perished by fire about the beginning of the
eighteenth century, little is known of its constitution
prior to the time of Queen Anne. A society
for the encouragement of archery was first formed
in the reign of Charles II., by order of the Secret
Council, in 1676, though with what military utility
at that time is not very apparent; its seal bore
Cupid and Mars, with the motto, IN PEACE AND
WARR. They were ordered to ? be modelled and
drawn up in a formal company, with drums and
THE ARCLIERS? HALL.
none knew ; but when he died, he had nothing to
bequeath to his friend but his foreign cross, the
snufi?box, the claymore, and the pipe, and his
story, whatever it was, died with him
The Archers? Hall, in this district, is famous as
being the head-quarters of the Royal Company of
Archers, or King?s Body Guard for Scotland.
This remarkable corps, which takes precedence
of all royal guards and troops of the line, is composed
entirely of nobles and gentlemen cf good
position, under a captain-general, who is always a
peer of the highest rank, with four lieutenantsgeneral,
four majors-general, four ensigns-general,
sixteen brigadiers, an adjutant, and surgeon.
The ancient records of the Royal Company
colours, whereof the officers are to be chosen by
the said Counsill, and which company, so formed,
shall meet on the Links of Leith,? or elsewhere ;
each archer, ?? with sufficient shuting graith, carrying
the Company?s. seal and arms in their hatts or
bonnets as their proper cognisance.?
The Marquis of Athole, with the Earl of Kinghorn
andLordElphmstone, commanded, and the Scottish
Treasury gave a prize worth Azo sterling to be
shot for. This corps, sometimes called the King?s
Compapy of Archers, frequently met during the
reigns of Charles 11. and James VII., but little can
be traced of it after the Revolution.
Upon the accession of Queen Anne and the
death of the Marquis of Athole, they elected 3s
The Meadows.] THE ROYAL .ARCHERS. 353
a captahseneral the famous Sir George Mackenzie,
then Lord Tarbat, and Secretary of State, and afterwards
Earl of Cromartie. Having judiciously
chosen a leader of powerful influence and approved
fidelity, they obtained from Queen Anne, on the
6th March, 1704, a charter under the Great Seal
of Scotland, erecting them into a royal company,
receiving and ratifying in their behalf the old laws
and acts in favour of archery ; giving them power
to enrol members, to select a council, and choose
for the Jacobites to omit utilising it for eventual
military purposes, and thus when, in 1714, the critical
state of the country and the hopes and fears of
opposite factions were roused by the approaching
death of Queen Anne and the distracted state of
her ministry, an unusual amount of vigour inspired
the Royal Company of Archers. Their laws were
extended on vellum, adorned with festoons of
ribbon, and subscribed by all the members ; and
they did not hesitate to engross in their minute
ARCHERS? HALL: THE DINING HALL.
their own leaders ; ?? as also of convening in military
fashion, by way of weapon-shaw, under the
guidance of their own officers . . . . and of
going forth as often as to it shall seem proper, at
least once in each year, about Midsummer, to shoot
arrow with a bow at a butt.? (?Laws, &c., of the
Royal Company of Archers ?-J. B. Paul?s Hist.,
&c.). The magistrates of Edinburgh soon after
gave them a silver arrow, to be shot for yearly.
These new rights and privileges they were appointed
to possess after the mode of 2 feudal tenure,
and to hold them in free gift of her Majesty and her
successors, paying therefor an annual acknowledgment
of a pair of barbed arrows.
Such an organisation as this proved too tempting
03
book, in terms not to be misunderstood, that on
his birthday they drank to the health of the exiled
James VIII.
The first
bears on one side Mars and Cupid within a wreath
of thistles, with the motto mentioned ; on the other
is a yew-tree, supported by two archers, with the
motto, Daf gZoria vires. The second colour has
on one side the royal standard, or lion rampant,
with a crowned thistle and the national motto,
Nemo me impune Zacessif. On the other side is St.
Andrew on his cross, with a crown over all, and
the then very significant motto, Dufce pro patria
pwicuZum.
On the 14th of June the Earl cf Cromartie, then
They still carry a pair of colours.
