Leith.] THE FIRST BRIDGE. 167
Kirk aark, and to be-deprived of- the freedom (of
the city) for ane zeare.? 1
.of the harbour, for the erection of quays and wharfs
and for the loading of goods, with the liberty to
have shops and granaries, and to make all necessary
roads thereto ; but this grasping feudal baron
afterwards sorely teased and perplexed the town
council with points of litigation, till eventually he
roused them to adopt a strong measure for satiating
.at once his avarice and their own ambition.
Bought over by them with alarge sum of nionfy
.drawn from the city treasury, Sir Robert Logan on
;the 27th of February, 1413, granted them an extraordinary
charter, which has been characterised as
an exclusive, ruinous, and enslaving bond,? restraining
the luckless inhabitants of Leith from
.carrying on trade cE any sort, from possessing warehouses
or shops, from keeping inns for strangers,
? so that nothing should be built or constructed on
the said land (in Leith) in future, to the prejudice
and impediment of the said community.? The
witnesses to this grant are George Lauder the Pro-
Test, and the Bailies, William Touris of Cramond,
William of Edmondston, James Cant, Dean of
Guild, John Clark of Lanark, Andrew Learmouth,
and William of the Wood.
In 1428 King James I. granted a charter under
.his great seal, with consent of the community of
Edinburgh, ordaining ? that in augmentation of the
fabrik and reparation of the port and harbour of
Leith, there should be uplifted a certain tax or toll
upon all ships and boats entering therein,? This
is dated from the Palace of Dunfermline, 31st
December. (Burgh Records.)
In 1439 Patrick, abbot of Holyrood, granted to
Sir Robert Logan and his heirs the office of bailie
aver the abbey lands of St. Leonards, ?lyande in
the town of Leicht, within the barony of Restalrig,
on the south halfe the water, from the end of the
gret volut of William Logane on the east part to
the common gate that passes to the ford over the
water of Leicht, beside the waste land near the
house of John of Turing,? etc. (Burgh Charters.)
Not content with the power already given them
over their vassals in Leith, the magistrates of Edinburgh,
after letting the petty customs and haven
siller? of Leith for the sum of one hkdred and
ten merks in 1485, passed a remarkable order in
council :-? That no merchant of Edinburgh presume
to take into partnership any indweller of the
town of Leith, under pain of forty pounds to the
he proceeded to Leith tb hold his water courts,
such an escort being deemed necessary for the
In 1497 the civic despots of Edinburgh obtained,
on writ from the Privy Council, that ? all manner
of persons, quhilk are infectit, or has been infectit
and uncurrit of the contageouse plage, callit
the grand gore, devoid red and pass furth of
this towne, and compeir on the sandis of Leith,
at ten hours before noon, and thair shall have
boats reddie in the Haven, ordainit to thame be
the officears, reddie furnished with victualles, to
have them to the inche, there to remain quhi!l
God provide for thair health.? (Town Council
Records.)
As regards Leith, a much more important event
is recorded four years before this, when Robert
Ballantyne, abbot of Holyrood, ? with the consent
of his chapter and the approbation of William,
Archbishop of St. Andrews,? first spanned the
river by a solid stone bridge, thus connecting South
and North Leith, holding the right of levying a toll
therefor. It was a bridge of three arches; of
which Lord Eldin made a sketch in 1779, and part
of one of the piers of which still remains. Abbot
Ballantyne also built a chapel thereby, and in his
charter it is expressly stated, after enumerating the
tithes and tolls of the bridge, ?that the stipend of
each of the two incumbents is to be limited to
fifteen merks, and after the repairs of the said
bridge and chapel, and lighting the same, the surplus
is to be given to the poor.?
This chapel was dedicated to St. Ninian the
apostle of Galloway, and the abbot?s charter was
confirmed by King James IV. on the 1st June,
1493. He also established a range of buildings
on the south side of the river, a portion of which,
says Robertson, writing in 1851, still exists in
the form of a gable and large oven, at the locality
generally designated ? the Old Bridge End.? ?
The part in Leith whereon, it is said, the first
houses were built in the twelfth century, is bounded ,
on the south by the Tolbooth Wynd, on the west
by the shore or quay, on the north by the Broad
Wynd, and on the east by the Rotten Row, now
called Water Lane. One of the broadest alleys in
this ancient quarter is the Burgess Close,? ten feet
in width, and was the first road granted to the
citizens of Edinburgh by Logan of Kestalng.
In the year 1501, all freemen of the city, to the
number of twenty or so, were directed by the
magistrates to accompany the water bailie when
168 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Leith.
and cleaning the channel of the river at Leith.
(Burgh Records.)
In 1510, on the 9th March, James IV. granted
to the city of Edinburgh the port denominated the
New Haven, which he had lately formed on the seacoast,
with the lands thereunto belonging, lying
between the chapel of St. Nicholas at North Leith
and the lands of Wardie Brae, with certain faculties
and privileges ; and by another charter of the same
date he confinned that by Logan of Restalrig,
formerly mentioned.
ship laden with timber laid her cargo on the shore,.
as sold to the Provost and bailies; then came
Robert Bartoun, of Overbarton, called the Controller,
with a multitude of the men of Leith, and
?? masterfullie tuik the said tymmyr ? from the
treasurer and a bailie, which caused the Lords of
Council to issue a decree as to the privileges of the
city and the seaport, and that none but freemen .
were at liberty to buy from or sell to strangers at
the said port in time to come.
Fresh disputes about similar affairs seem to have 1
HALFWAY HOUSE, LEITH WALK.
In the followeing year eight mn, whose names
are recorded, were sworn on the holy evangels as
pioneers, to labour and serve the merchants at the
port and haven of Leith, and to keep ? the shore
clear of middings, fulzie, and sic stufe.?
In 1514 the tapsters and wine dealers in Leith
were summoned before the magistrates of Edinburgh
for injuring the privileges thereof by the sale
of wine within the sea-port.
Three years after this we find the Laird of Restalrig
entering a protest with regard to an arrestment
made on the shore of Leith, and maintaining
that it should not prejudice his rights as Baron of
Restalrig. It would seem that in 1517 a Dutch
occurred between the same parties in 1522-3,
and we find George, abbot of Holyrood, entering a
protest that whatever took place between them it
should not be to the prejudice of the Holyrood.
(Burgh Records.)
In 1528 a vessel belonging to the town, called
the Portuguese barque-most probably a prize
captured by the famous fighting Bartons of Leith
-was ordered to be sold to ? thaise that will gif the
maist penny thairfore?-i.e., to the highest bidder.
Two years afterwards Leith was afflicted by
a pestilence, and all intercourse between it and the
city was strictly forbidden, under pain of banishment
from the latter for ever.
