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Old and New Edinburgh Vol. V

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Moming+3c] THE ROYAL EDINBURGH ASYLUM. 39 sions and villas seem to crowd and jostle each other, till it has become an integral part of Edinburgh; but the adjacent hamlet of Tipperlinn, the abode chiefly of weavers, and once also a summer resort, has all disappeared, and nothing of it now remains but an old draw-well The origin of its name is evidently Celtic. Falcon Hall, eastward of the old village, is an elegant modem villa, erected early in the present century byawealthy Indian civilian, named Falconer; but, save old Morningside House, or Lodge, before that time no other niansion of importance stood here. In the latter-which stands a little way back kom the road on the west side-there died, in the year 1758, William Lockhart, Esq., of Carstairs, who had been thrown from his cliaise at the Burghmuir- head, and was so severely injured that he expired two days after. Here also resided, and died in 1810, William Coulter, a wealthy hosier, who was then in office as Lord Provost of the city, which gave him a magnificent civic and military funeral, which was long remembered for its grandeur and solemnity. On this occasion long streamers of crape floated from Nelson?s monument ; the bells were tolled. Mr. Claud Thompson acted as chief mourner-in lieu of the Provost?s only son, Lieutenant Coulter, then serving with the army in Portugal-and the city arms were borne by a man seven feet high before the coffin, whereon lay a sword, robe, and chain of office. Three volleys were fired over it by the Edinburgh Volunteers, of which he was colonel. A portrait of him in uniform appears in one of Kay?s sketches. In 1807 Dr. Andrew Duncan (already noticed in the account of Adam Square) proposed the erection of a lunatic asylum, the want of which had long been felt in the city. Subscriptions came in slowly, but at last sufficient was collected, a royal charter was obtained, and on the 8th of June, 1809, the foundation stone of the now famous and philanthropic edifice at Morningside was laid by the Lord Provost Coulter, within an enclosure, four acres in extent, south of old Morningside House Towards the erection a sum of LI,IOO came from Scotsmen in Madras. The object of this institution is to afford every possible advantage in the treatment of insanity. The unfortunate patients may be put under the care of any medical practitioner in Edinburgh (says the Scots Magmine for that year) whom the relations may choose to employ, while the poor will be attended gratis by physicians and surgeons appointed by the managers. In every respect, it is one of the most efficient institutions of the kind in Scotland, It is called the Royal Edinburgh Asylum, and has as its patron the reigning sovereign, a governor, four deputies, a board of managers, and another of medical men. The original building was afterwards more than doubled in extent by the addition of another, the main entrance to which is from the old road that led to Tipperlinn. This is called the west department, where the average number of inmates is above 500. It is filled with patients of the humbler order, whose friends or parishes pay for them 6 1 5 per annum. The east department, which was built in 1809, is for patients who pay not less than A56 per annum as an ordinary charge, though separate sitting-rooms entail an additional expense. On the other hand, when patients are in straitened circumstances a yearly deduction of ten, or even twenty pounds, is made from the ordinary rate. In the former is kept the museum of plaster casts from the heads of patients, a collection continually being added to ; and no one, even without a knowledge of phrenology, can behold these lifeless images without feeling that the originals had been afflicted by disease of the mind, for even the cold, white, motionless plaster appears expressive of ghastly insanity. In the west department the patients who are capable of doing so ply their trades as tailors, shoemakers, and so forth; and one of the most interesting features of the institution is the printing-office, whence, to quote Chambers?sJournal, ?is issued the Morningside Mirror, a monthly sheet, whose literary contents are supplied wholly by the inmates, and contain playful hits and puns which would not disgrace the habitual writers of facetious articles.?? From the list of occupations that appear in the annual report, it would seem that nearly every useful trade and industry. is followed within the walls, and that the Morningside Asylum supplies most of its own wants, being a little world complete in itself. Occupation and amusement here take the place of irksome bondage, with results that have been very beneficial, and among the most extraordinary of these are the weekly balls, in which the patients figure in reels and in country dances, and sing songs. At the foot of Morningside the Powburn takes the singular name of the Jordan as it flows through a farm named Egypt, and other Scriptural names abound close by, such as Hebron Bank, Canaan
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40 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Braid. ~~ Lodge, and Canaan Lane. By some, the origin of these names has been attributed to Puritan times ; by others to gipsies, when the southern side of the Muir was open and unenclosed. In the secluded house of Millbank, westward of Canaan Lane, there occurred, on the 26th of September, 1820, a marriage which made some noise at the time-that of ? Alexander Ivanovitch, Sultan Katte Ghery Krim Gery, to Anne, fourth daughter of Tames Neilson, Esq., of Millbank,? as t ~~ for education. There he married, Dr. Lyall visited him in 1822, and describes him and his sultana as living in the greatest happiness. According to Mr. Spencer, he had not succeeded in 1836 in making a single convert.? He was dead before 1855, when his mother was living near the field of Alma. He had a son in the Russian army, and a daughter who became ladyin- waiting to the wife of the Grand Duke Constantine. Mrs. Neilson was alive in 1826, as her BRAID COTTAGES, 1850. (Fmm 1 Drawiwh Williom C&nnm?&-, in th# #OSEGSJ~UU of D+./. A. Sidey.) it is announced in the Edinburgh papers for that year. According to a writer in ? Notes and Queries,? in 1855, this personage-the Sultan of the Crimeahad fled from his own country in consequence of his religion, and was being educated in Edinburgh, at the expense of the ?Emperor Alexander of Russia, with a view to his returning as a Christian missionary, ?? and his wife was hardly ever known by any other appellation than that of Sultana.? A portion of this story is further corroborated by ?Clarke?s Travels.? ? It is here (Simpheropol) that Katti Gheri Krim Gheri resides. Having become acquainted with the Scotch missionaries at Carass, in the Caucasus, he was sent to Edinburgh name occurs in the Directory for that year as resident at ? Millbank, Canaan,? Morningside, Sn aged thorn-tree, that overhung the road leading to Braid, was long a feature in the view south of Morningside. At this tree, on the 25th of January, 1815, two Irish criminals, named Kelly and O?Neil (who had been convicted of different acts of robbery, under circumstances of great brutality), were hanged before a great multitude. They were brought hither from the Tolbooth to the limits of the City jurisdiction by the high constable, and handed over to the sheriff clerk for execution. They are said to have been buried by the wayside, near the old thorn-tree. The range of pastoral hills named Braid bound
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