194 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Leith
of Brockhouse, contracted with the corporation to
provide accommodation for soldiers. His agreement
was to quarter three companies of infantry
? in the back land in Leith, at Coatfield Gutter, and
up the back vennel, where the lane leadeth to the
Links,? for which he was to be paid by the town four
shillings per week for every man, on finding sufficient
bedding, coals, and candles ; but the speculation
did not prove remunerative, and much litigation ensued,
without consequences (Robertson).
On the 8th of February, 1746, when Cumberland
was on his march to the north from Perth, the armament
of 5,000 Hessian troops, under his brother-inlaw
the Prince of Hesse, arrived in Leith Roads to
assist in the suppression of the Jacobite clans. He
landed that night at the harbour, attended by the
Earl of Crawford (so famous in the wars of
George II.), by a son of the Duke of Wolfenbuttel,
and other persons of distinction ; and was taken to
Holyrood, under a salute from the Castle. On the
15th the Duke of Cumberland was to pax him a
fornial visit, and they held a council of war in Milton
House, after which the Duke set forth again, leaving
the Prince of Hesse to follow.
Many public persons flocked to welcome the
latter, and the ministers of Edinburgh and Leith,
we are told, poured forth torrents of vituperation on
? the Pretender and his desperate mob,? for which,
to their astonishment, they were sharply rebuked by
the Prince, ?with the sternest air he could assume ; ?
and he told them that Prince Charles was no pretender,
but the lawful grandson of James VII., as all
men knew; and that it was ?very indecent and illmannered
in a gentleman, and base and unworthy
in a clergyman, to use reproachful and opprobrious
names ? (Constable?s Miscel., vol. xvi.). At a supper
a Whig gentleman made a remark derogatory
of Prince Charles, ?to which his Serene Highness
replied with great warmth: ?Sir, I know it to be
false. I am personally acquainted with him; he
has many great as well as good qualities, and is
inferior tu few generals in Europe. We made two
campaigns together, and he richly deserves the character
the Duke of Berwick gave him from Gaeta
to the Duke of Fitzjames.??
The Hessian amy won the esteem of the people
of Edinburgh and Leith, and were the first to introduce
the use of bl?ack rajjee into this country ; but
it soon began the march northward, to uphold the
House of Hanover in the Highlands.
The utterly defenceless state in which the coast
of Scotland was left after the Union caused alarms
to be very easily created in time of war. Hence,
in July, 1759, the appearance of two large ships in
the Firth of Forth, standing off and on, with Dutch
colours flying, brought the cavalry in the Canongate,
and the infantry in the castle, under arms,
with a train of cannon, for the security of Leith,
where every man armed himself with whatever came
to hand. Why these ships displayed Dutch colours
we are not told, but they proved to be the Swaa
and one of our own sloops of war, full of impressed
men, going south from the Orkney Isles.
Four years afterwards peace was proclaimed with
France and Spain, by sound of trumpet by the
heralds, escorted by Leighton?s Regiment (the 32nd
Foot), which fired three volleys of musketry. The
ceremony was performed in four places-at the
gqtes of the castle and palace, the market cross, and
the Shore of Leith.
In 1771 Arnot mentions that the latter was very
ill-supplied with water, and that, as the streets were
neither properly cleaned nor lighted, an Act of
Parliament was passed in that year, appointing
certain persons from among the magistrates and irhabitants
of Edinburgh, the Lords of Session, and
Leith Corporation, commissioners of police, empowering
theln to put this Act in execution by
levying a sum not exceeding sixpence in the pound
upon the valued rent of Leith. ?The great change
upon the streets of Leith,? he adds, ?which has
since taken place, shows that this act has been
judiciously prepared and attentively executed.?
Before the great consternation excited in Leith
by the advent of Paul Jonesthe town was greatly
disturbed by two mutinies among the Highland
troops.
In 1778, the West Highland Fencibles, who had
recently brought with them to Edinburgh Castle
sixty-five French prisoners, resented bitterly some
innovations on their ancient Celtic garb-particularly
the cartridge-box-which they oddly alleged
? no Highland regiment ever wore before ; ?? and,
by a preconcerted plan, the whole battalion, when
paraded on the Castle Hill, simultaneously tore
them from their shoulders and flung them conteniptuously
on the ground, refusing to wear them. A
few days after this, the general commanding, having
made his own arrangements, marched four companies
of the corps to Leith, where they were surrounded
by the 10th Light Dragoons-now Hussars-
and compelled at the point of the sword to
accept the pouches, which were piled up on the
Links before them. By a drum-head court-martial
held on the spot, several of the ringleaders were
tried and flogged, after which the remainder were
marched to Berwick.
Meanwhile, a company which formed the guard
in the Castle, on hearing of this, openly revolted,
lowered the portcullis, drew up the bridge, loaded
.
