126 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Convivialia
party by appointment, especially in winter, after
evening closed in, and took their carriages as near
as they could go conveniently, to these subterranean
abysses or vaults, called Zu&h shops, where
the raw oysters and flagons of porter were set out
plentifully on a table in a dingy wainscoted room,
lighted, of course, by tallow candles. The general
surroundings gave an additional zest to the supper,
and one of the chief features of such entertainments
would seem to have been the scope they afforded
to the conversational powers of the company.
Ladies and gentlemen alike indulged in an unrestrained
manner in sallies and witticisms, observations
and jests, that would not have been tolerated
elsewhere; but in those days it was common for
Scottish ladies, especially of rank, to wear black
velvet masks when walking abroad or airing in the
carriage ; and these masks were kept close to the
kce by a glass button or jewel which the fair
wearer held by her teeth.
Brandy or rum punch succeeded the oysters and
porter ; dancing then followed; and when the ladies
had departed in their sedans or carriages the gentlemen
would proceed to crown the evening by an
unlimited debauch.
?It is not,? says Chambers, writing in 1824,?
? more than thirty years since the late Lord Melville,
the Duchess of Gordon, and some other
persons of distinction, who happened to meet in
town after many years of absence, made up an
Dyster cellar party by way of a frolic, and devoted
me winter evening to the revival of this almost forgotten
entertainment of their youth. It seems diffixlt,?
he adds, ? to reconcile all these things with
the staid and somewhat square-toed character which
3ur country has obtained amongst her neighbours.
The fact seems to be that a kind of Laodicean
3rinciple is observable in Scotland, and we oscillate
letween arigour of manners on one hand, and a
axity on the other, which alternately acquires a
iaram ount ascendency. ?
In 1763 people of fashion dined at two o?clock,
ind all business was generalIy transacted in the
:vening ; and all shop-doors were locked after one
or an hour and opened after dinner. Twenty
rears later four or five o?clock was the fashionable
linner hour, and dancing schools had been estadished
for servant girls and tradesmen?s apprentices.
We may conclude this chapter on old manners,
~y mentioning the fact, of which few of our readers
are perhaps aware, that Edinburgh as a dukedom
is a title much older than the reign of Queen Victoria.
GeorgQ III., when Prince of Wales, was
Duke of Edinburgh, Marquis of Ely, and Earl of
Chester.
when silver medals were given for rifle-shooting
throwing a hammer 16 pounds in weight, single
stick, &c. On these occasions, Sir Walter Scott
Professor Wilson, and the Ettrick Shepherd, werc
frequently present, and often presided. In 182l
we find the club designated the Guard of Honou
to the Lord High Constable of Scotland. Its chair
man was termed captain, and Sir Walter Scott wa!
umpire of the club.
The SHAKESPEARE CLUB was, as its name im
ports, formed with a view to forward dramatic art anc
literature, yet was not without its convivial feature!
also, Among its members, in 1830, were W. D
Gillon of Walhouse, M.P., the Hon. Colonel Ogilv)
of Clova, Patrick Robertson, afterwards the well
known and witty Lord Robertson, Mr. Pritchard 0.
the Theatre Royal, and other kindred spirits.
Edinburgh now teems with clubs, county anc
district associations, and societies ; but in tone, anc
by the change of times and habits, they are verj
different from most of the old clubs we have enume.
rated here, clubs which existed in ? the Dark Age
of Edinburgh,? when a little fun and merrimeni
seemed to go a long way indeed, and when grim
professional men appeared to plunge into madcaF
and grotesque roistering and coarse racy humour,
as if they were a relief from, or contrast to, the
general dull tenor of life in those days when, aftei
the Union, the gloom of village life settled ovei
the city, and people became rigid and starched in
their bearing, morose in their sanctimony, and the
most grim decorum seemed the test of piety and
respectabiIity.
Many who were not members of clubs, by the
occasional tenor of their ways seemed to protest
against this state of things, or to seek relief from it
by indulging in what would seem little better than
orgies now.
In the letters added to the edition of Arnot?s
?History in 1788,? we are told that in 1763 there
were no oyster cellars in the city, or if one, it was
for the reception of the lowest rank; but, that
in 1783, oyster cellars, or taverns taking that name,
had become numerous as places of fashionable
resort, and the frequent rendezvous of dancing
parties or private assemblies. Thus the custom
of ladies as well as gentlemen resorting to such
places, is a curious example of the state of manners
during the eighteenth century.
The most famous place for such oyster parties
was a tavern kept by Lucky Middlemass in the
Cowgate, and which stood where the south pier of
the first bridge stands now. Dances in such
places were called ?? frolics.?
In those days fashionable people made up a
