246 OLD AND NEW EDINEURGH. [Cowgate.
showed that the barrel had been placed so as to collect
the rain water from the eaves of a long defunct
house, with a stepping-stone to enable any one to
reach its contents.
The old Meal Market was the next locality of
importance on this side. In 1477 James 111.
ordained this market to be held ? fra the Tolbooth
up to Liberton?s Wynd, alsua fra thence upward to
the treviss;? but the meal market of 1647, as
shown in Gordon?s map, directly south of the
. Parliament House, seems to have been a long,
unshapely edifice, with two high arched gates.
. In 1690 the meal market paid to the city,
A77 15s. 6d. sterling. As we have related elsewhere,
all this quarter was destroyed by the ? Great
Fire? of 1700, which ?broke out in the lodging
immediately under Lord Crossrig?s lodging in the
meal market,? and from which he and his family
had to seek flight in their night-dress. One of
his daughters, Jean Home, died at Edinburgh in
Feb. 1769.
Edgar?s map shows the new meal market, a huge
quadrangular mass, with 150 feet front by 100 in
depth, immediately eastward of the Back Stairs.
This place was the scene of a serious not in 1763.
In November there had been a great scarcity of
meal, by which multitudes of the poor were reduced
to great suffering; hence, on the evening of the
zIst, a great mob proceeded to the gimels in the
meal market, carried off all that was there, rifled
the house of the keeper, and smashed all the furniture
that was not carried OK At midnight the
mob dispersed on the amval of some companies
of infantry from the Castle, to renew their riotous
proceedings, however, on the following day, when
they could only be suppressed ?by the presence
of the Provost (George Drummond), bdies, trainband,
constables, party of *e military, and the
city guard.? Many of the unfortunate rioters
were captured at the point of the bayonet, and
lodged in the Castle, and the whole of the Scots
Greys were quartered in the Canongate and Leith
to enforce order, ? The magistrates of Edinburgh,
and Justices of Peace for the County of Midlothian,?
says the Norfh BnYish Magazine for I 763,
have since used every means to have this market
supplied effectually with meal ; but from whatever
cause it may proceed, certain it is that the scarcity
of oatmeal is still severely felt by every family who
have occasion to make use of that commodity.?
The archiepiscopal palace and the mint, which
were near each other, on this side of the street,
have already been described (Vol. I., pp. 262-4;
267-270); but one of the old features of the locality
still remaining unchanged is the large old
gateway, recessed back, which gave access to the
extensive pleasure-grounds attached to the residence
of the Marquises of Tweeddale, and which seem to
have measured 300 feet in length by 250 in breadth,
and been overlooked in the north-west angle by the
beautiful old mansion of the Earls of Selkirk, the
basement of which was a series of elliptical arcades.
These pleasure grounds ascended from the street
to the windows of Tweeddale House, by a succession
of terraces, and were thickly planted on the
east and west with belts of trees. In Gordon?s
map for 1647, the whole of this open area had
been-what it is now Secoming again-covered
by masses of building, the greatest portion of it
being occupied by a huge church, that has had, at
various times, no less than three different congregations,
an Episcopal, Presbyterian, and, finally,
a Catholic one.
For a few years before 1688 Episcopacy was
the form of Church government in Scotlandillegally
thrust upon the people; but the selfconstituted
Convention, which transferred the
crown to William and Mary, re-established the
Presbyterian Church, abolishing the former, which
consisted of fourteen bishops, two archbishops,
and go0 clergymen. An Act of the Legislature
ordered these to conform to the new order of
things, or abandon their livings; but though expelled
from these, they. continued to officiate
privately to those who were disposed to attend to
their ministrations, notwithstanding the penal laws
enacted against them-laws which William, who
detested Presbyterianism, and was an uncovenanted
King,? intended to repeal if he had
lived. The title of archbishop was dropp?ed by
the scattered few, though a bishop was elected
with the title Primus, to regulate the religious
affairs of the community. There existed another
body attached to the same mode of worship,
composed of those who favoured the principles
which occasioned the Revolution in Scotland,
and,adopting the ritual of the Church of England,
were supplied With clergy ordained by bishops of
that country. Two distinct bodies thus existeddesignated
by the name of Non-jurants, as declining
the oaths to the new Government The first
of these bodies-unacknowledged as a legal
association, whose pastors were appointed by
bishops, who acknowledged only the authority of
their exiled king, who refused to take the oaths
prescribed by lam; and omitted all mention of the
House of Hanover in their prayers-were made
the subject of several penal statutes by that
House.
An Episcopal chapel, whose minister was qualified
241 CoWgab.1 THE EPISCOPAL CHAPEL.
to preach openly, by taking the oaths to Govemment,
had been founded in Edinburgh by Baron
Smith, and two smaller ones were founded about
1746, in Skinner?s and Carrubber?s Closes; but as
these places were only mean and inconvenient
apartments, a plan was formed for the erection of
a large and handsome church. The Episcopalians
of the city chose a committee of twelve gentlemen
to see the scheme executed. They purchased from
the Royal College of Physicians the area of what
had formerly been the Tweeddale gardens, and
opened a subscription, which was the only resource
they had for completing the building, the
trifling funds belonging to the former obscure
chapels bearing no proportion to the cost of so
expensive a work. But this impediment was removed
by the gentlemen of the committee, who
generously gave their personal credit to a considerable
amount.
The foundation stone was laid on the 3rd of
April, 1771, by the Grand Master Mason, Lieutenant-
General Sir Adolphus Oughton, K.B.,
Colonel of the 31st Foot, and Commander of the
Forces in Scotland. The usual coins were deposited
in the stone, under a plate, inscribed thus :-
EDIFICII SAC. ECCLESIW EPISC. ANGLIB,
PRIMIlM POSUIT LAPIDEY,
I. ADOLPHUS OUGHTON,
CURIO MAXIMUS,
MILITUM PRWFECTUS,
REONANTE GEORGIO 111.
TERTIO APR. DIE,
A.D. MDCCLXXI.
IN ARCHITECTONICA storm RFPUB.
Towards this church the Writers to the Signet
subscribed zoo guineas, and the Incorporation
of Surgeons gave 40 guineas, and on Sunday, the
9th of October, 1774, divine service was performed
in it for the first time. ?This is a plain,
handsome building,? says Arnot, ? neatly fitted up
in the inside somewhat in the form of the church
of St. Martin?s-in-the-Fields, London. It is 90
feet long by 75 broad pver the walls, and is omamented
with a neat spire of a tolerable height. In
the spire hangs an excellent bell, formerly belonging
to the Chapel Royal at Holyrood, which is
permitted to be rung for assembling the congregation,
an indulgence that is not allowed to the
Presbyterians in England. This displays a commendable
liberality of sentiment in the magistrates
of Edinburgh ; but breathes no jealousy for the
dignity of their national Church. In the chapel
there is a fine organ, made by Snetzler.of London.
In the east side is a niche of 30 feet, with a
Venetian window, where stands the altar, which is
adorned with paintings by Runciman, a native of
Edinburgh. In the volta is the Ascefision; over
the small window on the right is Christ talking
with the Samaritan woman ; on the left the Prodigal
returned. In these two the figures are halflength.
On one side of the table is the figure of
Moses ; on the other that of Elias.?
At the time Arnot wrote L6,Soo had been spent
on the building, which was then incomplete. ? The
ground,? he adds, ?? is low ; the chapel is concealed
by adjacent buildinis ; the access for carriages inconvenient,
and there is this singularityattending it,
that it is the only Christian church standing north
and south we ever saw or heard of. . . . . . . . . There are about I,ooo persons in this
congregation. Divine service is celebrated before
them according to all the rites of the Church of
England. This deserves to be considered as a
mark of increasing moderation and liberality among
the generality of the people. Not many years ago
that form of worship in all its ceremonies would
not have been tolerated The organ and paintings
would have been downright idolatry, and the
chapel would have fallen a sacrifice to the fury of
the mob.?
Upon the death of Mr. Can; the first senior
clergyman of this chapel, he was interred under its
portico, and the funeral service was sung, the voices
of the congregation being accompanied by the
organ. In Arnot?s time the senior clergyman was
Dr. Myles Cooper, Principal of New York College,
an exile from America in consequence of the revolt
of the colonies.
In the middle?of February, 1788, accounts
reached Scotland of the death and funeral of Prince
Charles Edward, the eldest grandson of James VII.,
at Rome, and created a profound sensation among
people of all creeds, and the papers teemed with
descriptions of the burial service at Frascati ; how
his brother, the Cardinal, wept, and his voice broke
when singing the office for the dead prince, on
whose coffin lay the diamond George and collar of
the Garter, now in Edinburgh Castle, while the
militia of Frascati stood around as a guard, with
the Master of Nairn, in whose arms the prince
expired.
In the subsequent April the Episcopal College
met ?at Aberdeen, and unanimously resolved that
they should submit ? to the present Government of
this kingdom as invested in his present Majesty
George III.,? death having broken the tie which
bound them to the House of Stuart. Thenceforward
the royal family was prayed for in all their
churches, and the penal statutes, after various
modifications, were repezled in 1792. Eight years
afterwards the Rev. Archibald Alison (father of
