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Kay's Originals Vol. 2

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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHEX. 221 castellated mansion, the demolition of which, by the Trustees of the Institution, occasioned much regret among the lovers of antiquity. From the Edinburgh Mugazhe for 1800 we quote the following remarks by a correspondent :- “ How grateful must it have been to the inhabitants of Edinburgh, to be able to point the attention of a prejudiced stranger to the towering and venerable fabric of Wrytes Hme, one existing memorial, among many others, of the ancient power and greatness of Scotland, and of her early proficiency in the architecture and sculpture formerly in repute. Will persons of taste in this country believe it ?-will liberal and lettered Englishmen believe it ?-this beautiful castle, in the environs of the capital, and the ornament of Bruntsfield Links, a public resort, ie at this moment resounding the blows of the hammers and axes of final demolition ! ” “The Managers of the late Mr. Gillespie’s mortification having, by reason, it is said, of the voracity of some greedy proprietor, been disappointed in their original intentions, ‘ They spied this goodly castle, Which choosing for their Hospital, They thither marched.’ And who could have doubted that it might easily have been transformed into a most capacious and elegant hospital-a truly splendid abode for decayed Gillespies ! t I I “But down it must come, if it should be for the sake only of the timber, the slates, and the stones. A few weeks will leave scarcely a trace to tell where once it stood. Ten thousand pounds would not rear such another castle ; and, if it did, still it would be modern. Above one window was the inscription, ‘Sicut Oliva fructifera, 1376 ;’ and above another, ‘In Domino emfido, 1400.’ There are several later dates, marking the periods, probably of additions, embellishments, or repairs, or the succession of different pr0prietors.l The arms over the principal door were those of Britain after the union of the crowns. On triangular stones, above the windows, were five emblematical representations- Its fate is now irretrievable. “ WryteS House: was of considerable antiquity. ‘ And in those five, such things their form express’d, As we can touch, taste, feel, or hear, or see.’ . A variety of the virtues also were strewed upon different parts of the building. In one place was a rude representation of our first parents, and underneath, the well-known old proverbial distich- ‘ When Adam delv’d and Eve span, Quhair war a’ the gentles than.’ In another place was a head of Julius Ccesar, and elsewhere a head of Octavius Secundus, both in good preservation. Most of these curious pieces of sculpture have been defaced or broken, no measure having been taken to preserve them from the effects of their fall.’ This is much to be regretted, as there can be little doubt that some good gentleman, who would not only have given the contractor an advanced price, but would have so disposed of these relics aa to ensure their future existence and preservation. Had the late Mr, Walter Ross been alive they would not have been allowed to &ash against the ground and shiver into fragments ! What, suppose the Managers themselves were yet to erect a little Gothic-looking mansion, in some convenient corner, constructed entirely of the sculptured and ornamented stones of the castle. l In a note by the editor of the Magazine, it is stated as the opinion of another antiquarp, that these dates were more likely to have been inscribed at the same period, to record some particular e m in the history of the ancestors of the owner ; and that the neatness, distinctness, and uniformity of the letters, rendered this opinion highly probable. * ‘* A long stone, on which was curiously sculptured a group resembling Holbein’s Dance of Death, was some time ago (July 1800) discovered at the head of Forrester’s Wynd,:which in former days was the western boundary of St. Giles’s High Churchyard. “his relic, too, was much defaced, and broken in two, by being carelessly tossed down by the workmen. It was a curioua piece. Amid other musicians who brought up the rear, ww an angel playing on the Highland bagpipe-a national conceit, which appears also on the entablature of one of the pillars of the supremely elegant Gothic chapel at Roslin.”
Volume 9 Page 294
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