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Old and New Edinburgh Vol. IV

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opposite the east wing of the Museum of Science and Art. It was erected in 1876-7, and presents a central block with two side pavilions; and has. also a deeply recessed principal entrance, with four massive columns on each side, and a bold surmounting pediment, projected on massive corbels or trusses. OLD MINT0 HOUSE, 1873- (From a Drawing in tlrrpossessimr @or. Rob& Paie~sun.) . The architecture, by Mr. David Rhind, of this new College, which is opposite the Industrial Museum, is simple in character, the more conspicuous features of the elevations being large bay windows and effective Mansard pavilion roofs. On the second floor is the lecture hall, which measures forty-eight feet by forty, and has a ceiling Church of Scotland, destined to supplement, and eventually to supersede, the edifice in Johnstone Terrace, the arrangements and accommodation of which have proved somewhat defective. The principal object aimed at in the new premises is to provide a separate college entirely devoted to the training of male students, while the present school will thus be enlarged, and the seventh and eighth standards instituted in addition to those recognised in the Code, enabling the committee to form an upper elementary, or lower secondary school, for the instruction of advanced English, elementary Latin, French, and Mathematics. be considered one of the chief features in the building. -4 noteworthy circumstance in connection with the site of this new Training College is that the staircase is said to stand exactly over the spot where stood the room in which Sir Walter Scott was born. In this street is the new Dental Hospital and School, inaugurated in October, 1879, and which bids fair to become the headquarters of dentistry in Scotland At the east end of Chambers Street is the Theatre of Varieties, seated for 1,200 persons, and opened in 1875. But this seems doubtful.
Volume 4 Page 276
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277 --_ - b r d Prumts.1 THE FIRST MAGISTRATE. c- CHAMBERS STREET. CHAPTER XXXIV. THE L9RD PROVOSTS OF EDINBURGH. The FLt Magistrate of EdinburghSome noted Prwosts-William de Dedzryl., Alderman-John Wigmer and the Ransom of David 1 I.- John of Quhitness, First Provost -Willkm Bertraham-The Golden Charter-City Pipers-Archibald Bell-the-cat-Lord Home- Arran and Kilspindie-Lord Maxwell-? Greysteel s ? Penance-James VI. and the Council-Lord Fyvie-Provost Tod and Gordon?s Map-The First Lord Provost-George Drurnmond-Freedom of the City given to Benjamin Franklin-Sir Lawrence Dundas and the Parliamentary Contest-Sir James Hunter Blair--Riots of 179-Provost Coulter?s Funeral--Lord Lynedoch-Recent Provosts-The First Englishman who w u Lord Provost of Edinburgh. THE titles by which the chief magistrate is known are ? The Right Honourable the Lord Provost of the City of Edinburgh, Her Majesty?s Lieutenant and High Sheriff within the same and Liberties thereof, Justice of the Peace for the County of Midlothian, and Admiral of the Firth of Forth,?? &c. A sword and mace are always borne before hiin. It has been suggested that at some early period the chief magistrate had an official residence, and Lawson, in his Gazetteer, gives us a tradition that it was in the well-known alley from the High Street to the Public Markets, ?now called the Fleshmarket Close, but formerly the Provost?s CZose..? Few Highland names appear among those of the chief magistrates before the fifteenth century, while in the earlier ages many Norman and Saxon are to be found, as these elements existed largely in the Lowlands. We have the son of Malcolm 111. addressing his subjects thus :--?Eadgarus Rex Scotorum, omnibus per regnum suum Scotis et AngZi~, salufem,? with reference no doubt to the English Border counties, then a portion of the realm. Although seven aldermen and three provosts appear among the first men in authority over Edinburgh, it is probable that the office of bailie, bailiff, or rent-gatherer, is more ancient than either, as such an officer was originally appointed by the king ta collect revenues and administer justice within the burghs. In 1296 the first magistrate, whose name can be traced to Edinburgh, was William de Dederyk, aZdermarr; he appears as such in ?Prynne?s Records of the Tower, and the Ragman Rolls.? In the preceding year John Baliol held a Parliament at Edinburgh, and a convention of the burgesses of
Volume 4 Page 277
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