Edinburgh Bookshelf

Edinburgh Bookshelf

Search

Index for “dreghorn castle”

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 151
on the 28th March 1815, in the sixty-sixth year of his age. His estates were
separated-the Ascog estate falling to Frederick Campbell Stewart, Esq., the
next substitute of entail-and the Milton property returning to the heir of his
father, John Macarthur. His unentailed and personal estate was left to a lady
-a distant relation-who had for some years before his death taken charge of
him.
The figure next to Stewart is that of the HON. JOHN LESLIE, then a
Captain, and afterwards a Lieut.-General in the army. He was t.he son of
David sixth Earl of Leven, and born in 1759. He joined the army in 1778,
as an ensign in the first Foot Guards, with which regiment he fought, against the
French in Holland in 1794, where he was wounded.’ He was subsequently
promoted. In 1808 he was made Lieut.-General, and served on the Continent
during a considerable portion of the late war. He died about the year 1827.
His widow, the Hon. Mrs. Leslie, was a daughter of the late Thomas Cumming,
Esq., banker.
The handsome figure to the right represents CAPTAIN (afterwards Major-
General) WEMYSS of Wemyss Castle, then M.P. for the county of Fife.
Being cousin to the Duchess of Sutherland, he was appointed Colonel of the
regiment of Fencibles raised on her estate in 1779, and which was disbanded in
1783. When this corps was reimbodied in 1793, he was again invested with
the command, and served with the regiment in Ireland during the Eebellion.
In the meantime his rank in the army going on, he became Major-General ;
and, in 1800, was commissioned to form a regiment of the line, which he did,
chiefly composed of those who had previously served in the Sutherland
Fencibles, reduced on the suppression of the Eebellion about two years before.
This corps still exists as the 93d Highlanders.
Major-General Wemyss married the eldest daughter of General Sir W.
Erskine, Bart., by which connection the estate of Tor$ fell to the possession
of his son, Captain James Erskine Wemyss, then M.P. for Fife. He died at
Wemyss Castle, on the 5th February 1822.
The ladies introduced in the Print are some of the fair friends in whose company
the parties were occasionally to be seen on the fashionable promenades.
Their costumes display the prevailing taste of the times. The head-dresses
were those in vogue immediately prior to the introduction of the Lunardi bonnets.
1 Captain Leslie wan of so very spare a figwe, that his brother officers affected to be greatly
snrprised at the possibility of his having received aflesh wound.
Sir James Erskine of Tarry, brother-in-law of the late General Wemyss, was 8 devoted
admirer of the fine arts, and formed a collection of paintings, marbles, and bronzes, said to have
cost about f15,000, the whole of which he bequeathed to the College of Edinburgh, for the purpose
of “laying a foundation for a Gallery for the encouragement of the fine arts.” Si James died in
1825. The title and estate descended to his brother John (a bachelor), on whose death in 1836,
the will of the donor became available ; and the pictures are now deposited in the National Gallery
until funds can be procured foi carrying the intentions of the testator more fully into effect.
The wound was in the thigh. ... SKETCHES. 151 on the 28th March 1815, in the sixty-sixth year of his age. His estates ...

Book 9  p. 201
(Score 0.56)

132 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
mercial stagnation his lordship was ever ready to enter into any scheme of relief;
and to the necessitcus generally he was a constant friend. In domestic life he
displayed much of the spirit and manners of the ancient baron. He was always
accessible to his numerous tenantry ; and notwithstanding a certain austerity
of manner, lived on terms of familiarity with those around him.’ He was much
devoted to niusic as an evening amusement-performed on the violin with considerable
skill-and composed the popular tunes called “ Lady Montgomerie’s
Reel,” and “ Ayrshire Lasses,” besides several other admired airs-a selection
of which was recently arranged for the pianoforte, and published by Mr.
Although for several years a member of the House of Commons, and deeply
interested in the political questions of the day, the Earl was never distinguished
for his oratory. Better qualified for the camp or for the field, he wisely refrained
from attempting to contend in the arena of debate ; but in all practical matters
his assistance was equally ready and efficient. The following lines by Burns
are truly descriptive of his character.:-
Turnbull of alas’“, OW.
“ Thee, sodger Hugh,2 my watchman stented,
If bardies ere are represented :
I ken, if that your sword were wanted,
Ye’d lend your hand ;
But when there’s aught to say anent it,
Ye’re at a stand.3
The Earl married Eleanore, fourth daughter of Robert Hamilton, Esq. of
Eourtreehill, in the county of Ayr, and sister to Jean Countess of Crawford and
Lindsay ; and had by her two sons and two daughters.
The eldest, Archibald Lord Montgomerie, died while abroad for his health
in 1814.‘ He was Major-General, and a gallant officer; much esteemed and
Among the privileged characters who used to frequent the Castle, Daft WiZZ Speir, well
known in that quarter, was the most regular. On his way from the kitchen one day after dinner,
where he had heeu plentifully supplied, Will wa.9 met by his lordship, who inquired where he had
been. “Ou, ay,” replied Will, in the act of polishing a pretty roughish bone, “plenty 0’ freen’s
whan a body has ocht. Yesterday, ye ne’er looked the road I was on.”
Although Will knew that nothing provoked the Earl so much as passing through his policies,
yet he generally took the nearest way, independent of all ohstructions. In the act of crossing a
fence one day, he was discovered by his lordship, who called out-“Come back, sir, that’s not the
road.” “DO ye ken,” said Will, “ whaur I’m gaun ? ” “ Wee1 how
the dei1 do ye ken whether this be the road or no 2” (The Earl was particularly careful about his
policies, and frequently prosecuted offenders with much severity.)
“ No,” replied the Earl.
* He was at that time Major Montgomerie.
These lines, although omitted in the “Earnest Cry and Prayer,” are given in Cunninghame’s
edition of Burns, from the poet’s MSS.
Lord Montgomerie married Lady Mary Montgomerie, eldest daughter of Archibald, the
eleventh Earl of Eglinton, by whom he had two aons. The eldest, a boy of great promise, died
when about eix years of age. He was much caressed by his grandfather, with whom he resided ;
and who caused an elegant column of white marble to be erected to his memory in a sequestered
spot among the woods, near Eglinton Castle. The second son, Archibald, born in 1812, succeeded
to the title, During his minority it is understood the estate WBS relieved of many of the burdens ... BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. mercial stagnation his lordship was ever ready to enter into any scheme of relief; and ...

Book 9  p. 175
(Score 0.56)

Grassmarket.] EXECUTIONS IN THE GUSSMARKET. 231
Market, from the corner of Marlin?s Wynd (where
Blair Street is now) to the east end of the Grassmarket,
where it continued to be held until within
the last few years.
It was not until about a century later that this
great market place began to acquire an interest of
a gloomy and peculiar character, as the scene of
the public execution of many victims of religious
intolerance, who died heroically here, and also as
the spot where niany criminals met their doom.
Prior to the adoption of this place for public
executions, the Castle Hill and Market Cross had
been the spots chosen j and a sword, as in France
and elsewhere on the Continent, was used, before
the introduction of the Maiden, for beheading.
, Thus we find that in 1564, the magistrates, because
the old beheading sword had become worn out, reteived
from William Macartnay ? his tua-handit
sword, to be usit for ane heidmg sword,? and
gave him the sum of five pounds therefor.
Among some of the most noted eFecutions in the
Grassmarket were those of the fanatic Mitchel in
1676, for attempting to shoot Archbishop Sharp in
1668; of Sergeant John Nisbett, of Hardhill, in
1685, who had received seventeen wounds at the
battle of Pentland, and fought at Drumclog, according
to the Wodrow Biographies ; of Isabel Alison
and Marion Harvey-the latter only twenty years of
age-two young women, for merely having heard
Donald Cargill preach. The human shambles in
this place of wailing witnessed executions of this
kind almost daily till the 17th of February, 1688,
when James Renwick, the celebrated field preacher,
and the last martyr of the Covenant, was found
guilty, on his own confession, of disowning an uncovenanted
king, and executed in the twenty-sixth
yearof his age. Most of the hundred and odd
pious persons who suffered for the same cause in
Edinburgh breathed their last prayers on this spot.
Hence arose the Duke of Rothes? remark, when a
covenanting prisoner proved obdurate, ? Then let
him glorify God in the Grassmarket?-the death
of that class of victinis always being accompanied
by much psalm-singing on the scaffold. In the time
of Charles II., Alexander Cockburn, the city hangman,
having murdered a King?s Bluegown, died here
the death he had so often meted out to others.
In 1724 the same place was the scene of the
partial execution of a woman, long remembered in
Edinburgh, as ?? Half-hangit Maggie Dickson.? She
was a native of Inveresk, and was tried under
the Act of 1690 for concealment of pregnancy, in
the case of a dead child ; and the defence that she
was a married woman, though living apart from her
husband, who was working in the keels at New-
?
castle, proved of no avail, and a broadside of the
day details her execution with homble minuteness ;
how the hangman did his usual office of dragging
down her legs, and how the ?body, after hanging
the allotted time, was put into a coffin, thecooms
of which were nailed firmly to the gibbet-foot.
After a scuffle with some surgeon-apprentices
who wished to possess themselves of the body, her
friends conveyed it away by the Society Port, but
the jolting of the cart in which the coffin lay had
stirred vitality and set the blood in motion. Thus
she was found to be alive when passing Peffermiln,
and was completely restored at Musselburgh, where
flocks of people came daily to see her. She had
several children after this event, and lived long as
the keeper of an ale-house and as a crier of salt in
the streets of Edinburgh. (? Dom Ann.? III., StaL
Acct., Vol XVI).
In the account of the Porteous Mob eo1 I.,
pp. I 28-13 I), we have referred to the executions of
Wilson and of Porteous, in 1736, in this placethe
street ?crowded with rioters, crimson with
torchlight, spectators filling every window of the
tall houses-the Castle standing high above the
tumult amidst the blue midnight and the stars.?
It Continued to be the scene of such events till
1784; and in a central situation at the east end
of the market there remained until 1823 a qoassive
block of sandstone, having in its c h t r ~ a quadrangular
hole, which served as the socket of the
gallows-tree ; but instead of the stone there is now
only a St. Andrew?s Cross in the causeway to
indicate the exact spot.
The last person who suffered in the Grassmarket
was James Andrews, hanged there on the 4th of
February, 1784, for a robbery committed in Hope
Park ; and the first person executed at the west end
of the old city gaol, was Alexander Stewart, a youth
pf only fifteen, who had committed many depredations,
and at last had been convicted of breaking
into the house of Captain Hugh Dalrymple, of Fordell
in the Potterrow, and NeidpathCastle, the seat of
the Duke of Queensberry, from which he carried off
many articles of value. It was expressly mentioned
by the judge in his sentence, that he was to be
hanged in the Grassmarket, ?or any other place
the magistrates might appoint,? thus indicating that
a change was in contemplation ; and accordingly,
the west end of the old Tolbooth was fitted up for
his execution, which took place on the 20th of
April, 1785.
In 1733 the Grassmarket was the scene of some
remarkable feats, performed by a couple of Italian
mountebanks, a father and his son, A rope being
fixed between the half-moon battery of the Castle, ... EXECUTIONS IN THE GUSSMARKET. 231 Market, from the corner of Marlin?s Wynd (where Blair Street is ...

Book 4  p. 231
(Score 0.56)

encrusted with legends, dates, and coats of arms,
for ages formed one of the most important features
of the Burghmuir.
This was the mansion of Wrychtis-housis, belonging
to an old baronial family named Napier,
WRIGHT?S HOUSES AND THE BARCLAY CHURCH, FROM BRUNTSFIELD LINKS.
alliances by which the family succession of the
Napiers of the Wrychtis-housis had been continued
from early times.?
By the Chamberlain Rolls, William Napier of
the Wrychtis-housis was Constable of the Castle of
to which additions had been made as generations
succeeded each other, but the original part or
nucleus of which was a simple old Scottish tower
of considerable height. ? The general effect of this
antique pile,? says Wilson, ? was greatly enhanced
on approaching it, by the numerous heraldic
devices and inscriptions which adorned every
window, doorway, and ornamental pinnacle, the
whole wall being crowded with armorial bearings,
designed to perpetuate the memory of the noble
Edinburgh in 1390, in succession to John, Earl of
Carrick (eldest son of King Robert 11.); and it is
most probable that he was the same William
Napier who held that office in 1402, and who,
in the first years of the fifteenth century, with the
aid of Archibald, Earl of Douglas, and the hapless
Duke of Rothesay, maintained that important
fortress against Henry IV. and all the might of
England.
To the gallant resistance made on this occasioo, ... with legends, dates, and coats of arms, for ages formed one of the most important features of the ...

Book 5  p. 32
(Score 0.56)

castle Street.] NUMBER THIRTY-NINE CASTLE STREET. 163
lived for a time James Grant of Corrimony,
advocate, who had his town house in Mylne?s
Court, Lawnmarket, in 1783. This gentleman, the
representative of an old Inverness-shire family,
was born in 1743, in the house of Commony in
Urquhart, his mother being Jean Ogilvie, of the
family of Findlater. His father, Alexander Grant,
was induced by Lord Lovat to join Prince Charles,
and taking part in the battle of Culloden, was
wouiided in the thigh. The cave at Corrimony in
which he hid after the battle, is still pointed out to
tourists. His son was called to the bar in 1767,
and at the time of his death, in 1835, he was the
oldest member of the Faculty of Advocates. Being
early distinguished for his liberal principles, he
numbered among his friends the Hon. Henry
Erskine, Sir James Macintosh, Francis Jeffrey, and
many others eminent for position or attainments;
In 1785 he published his ?? Essays on the Origin of
Society,? Src j in 1813, ?Thoughts on the Origin
and Descent of the Gael,? &c: works which, illustrated
as they are by researches into ancient Greek,
Latin, and Celtic literature, show him to have been
a man of erudition, and are valuable contributions
to the early history of the Celtic races.
The next thoroughfare is Castle Street, so called
from its proximity to the fortress. As the houses
spread westward they gradually improved in external
finish and internal decoration. By the French
Revolutionary war, according to the author of
?Old Houses in Edinburgh,? writing in 1824, an
immense accession of inhabitants of a better class
were thrown into.the growing city, All the earlier
buildings of the new town were rubble-work, nnd
so simple were the ideas of the people at that
time, ? that main doors (now so important) were
not at all thought of, and many of the houses in
Princes Street had only common stairs entering
from the Mews Lane behind. But within the last
twenty years a very different taste has arisen, and
the dignity of a front door has become almost
indispensable. The later buildings are, with few
exceptions, of the finest ashlar-work, erected on a
scale of magnificence said to be unequalled ; yet,
it cannot be denied that here and there common
stairs-a nuisance that seems to cling to the very
nature of Edinburgh-have crept in. However,
even that objection has in most cases been got
over by an ingenious contrivance, which renders
them accessible only to the occupants of the various
flats,? it., the crank communicating from eabh,
with the general entrance-door below-a feature
altogether peculiar to Edinburgh and puzzling to
all strangers.
No. I Castle Street, now an hotel, was in 1811
he house of the first Lord Meadowbank, already
.ererred to, who died in 1816. At the same time
:he adjoining front door was occupied by the Hon.
Miss Napier (daughter of Francis; seventh Lord
Napier), who died unmarried in 18zc~. No. 16
,vas the house of Skene of Rubislaw, the bosom
iiend of Sir Walter Scott, and the last survivor of
$e six particdar friends to whom he dedicated
:he respective cantos of ? Marmion.? He possessed
the Bible used by Charles I. on the scaffold, and
which is described by Mr. Roach Smith in his
? Collectanea Antiqua.? Latterly Mr. Skene took
up his residence at Oxford. pis house is now
legal offices.
About 1810 Lady Pringle of Stitchel occupied
No. 20, at the corner of Rose Street. She was the
daughter of Norman Macleod of Macleod, and
widow of Sir James Pringle, Bar!., a lieutenantcolonel
in the army, who died in 1809. At the
opposite corner lived Mrs. Fraser of Strichen; and
No. 27, now all sub-divided, was the residence of
Robert Reed, architect to the king. No. 37, in
1830, was the house of Sir Duncan Cameron, Bart.,
of Fassifem, brother of the gallant Colonel Cameron
who fell at Quatre Bras, and won a baronetcy for
his family. And now we come to the most important
house in New Edinburgh, No. 39, on the east side
of the northern half of the street, in which
Sir Walter Scott resided for twenty-six years prior
to 1826, and in which the most brilliant of his
works were written and he spent his happiest years,
?from the prime of life to its decline.? He considered
himself, and was considered by those about
him, as amassing a large fortune ; the annual profits
of his novels alone had not been less than A;IO,OOO
for several years. His den, or study, there is thus
described by Lockhart :-? It had a single Venetian
window, opening on a patch of turf not much
Larger than itself, and the aspect of the place was
sombrous. . . . A dozen volumes or so, needful
for immediate purposes of reference, were placed
close by him on a small movable form. All the
rest were in their proper niches, and wherever a
volume had been lent its room was occupied by a
wooden block of the same size, having a card with
the name of the borrower and date of the lending
tacked on its front . . . The only table wasa
massive piece of furniture which he had constructed
on the model of one at Rokeby, with a desk and all
its appurtenances on either side, that an arnanuensis
might work opposite to him when he chose, with
small tiers of drawers reaching all round to the
floor. The top displayed a goodly array of session
papers, and on the desk below were, besides the
MS. at which he was working, proof-sheets and so ... Street.] NUMBER THIRTY-NINE CASTLE STREET. 163 lived for a time James Grant of Corrimony, advocate, who ...

Book 3  p. 163
(Score 0.56)

I 8 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
Edinburgh, that in requital thereof, he granted to them a charter, empowering the free
citizens to trade to any part of England, subject to no other duties than those payable
by the most highly favoured natives: in acknowledgment, as he states, of the humane and
honourable treatment he had received from the provost, ministers, and burgesses of
Edinburgh. As, however, the house of Lancaster never regained the crown, the charter
survived only as an honourable acknowledgment of their services.
About this time it whs that the Collegiate Church of the Holy Trinity, and the Hospital
attached to it, were founded by the Queen Dowager, Mary of Guelders : and here the
royal foundress was interred in the year 1463.
In 1471, the Scottish capital again witnessed a royal marriage and coronation ; Margaret,
Princess of Denmark, having landed at Leith in the month of July of that year,
where she was received with every demonstration of welcome and rejoicing. The courtly
historians of the period describe her as winning the favour of both Prince and people, by
a beauty and grace rarely equalled among the ladies of the age. Lindsay of Pitscottie
adds-“The gentlevoman being bot twelff yeires of age at the tyme.”’ The alliance
was further rendered acceptable to the nation, by the royal bridegroom, King James III.,
having ‘‘ gatt with the King of Denmarkis dochter, in tocher guid, the landis of Orkney
and Zetland.” To all this we may add, from Abercromby ’-“ The very sight of such a
Queen could not but endear her to all ranks of people, who, to congratulate her happy
arrival, and to create in her a good opinion of themselves and the country, entertained her
and her princely train for many days, with such variety of shows, and such delicious and
costly feasts, that Ferrerius, a foreigner, who had seen all the gallantry and pomp of the
Courts of France and Savoy, tells us that no pen can describe them so much to the advantage
as they deserve.” It is to be regretted that a more detailed account of this royal
reception has not been given, as it would better than any other have served to convey a
lively picture of the manners of the citizens, and the character of the Scottish capital at
this period.
These joyous proceedings speedily gave place to others of a very different character.
The historians, in accordance with the credulity of the times, have preserved the tradition
of numerous prophecies and omens, wherewith the king was forewarned of the troubles that
awaited him, and his jealousy excited against his brothers. The youngest of them, the
Earl of Mar, was committed a prisoner to Craigmillar Castle, from whence he was afterwards
permittet to remove to the Canongnte, when suffering under a violent fever, of
which he died there, under the care of the King’s physician ; not without suspicion of foul
play, After his death, some reputed witches were tried‘ at Edinburgh, and condemned to
the stake, for plotting, along with him, the death of the King ; and these, according to the
historians of the time, confessed that the Earl had dealt with them to have him taken away
by incantation-‘‘ For the King’s image being framed in wax, and with many spells and
incantations baptized, and set unto a fire, they persuaded themselves the King’s person
should fall away as it consumed.”’
The successful confederacy against Cochrane, the succeeding Earl of Mar, and the other
royal favourites, belong not to our subject. But immediately thereafter, in 1481, we find
the King a captive in the Castle of Edinburgh, which served alternately as a palace and a
Pitscottie, vol. i. p. 178. Nartial Achierements, vol. i i p. 407. a Drum. of Hawthornden, p. 48. ... 8 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH. Edinburgh, that in requital thereof, he granted to them a charter, empowering the ...

Book 10  p. 19
(Score 0.56)

Bristo Street.] ALISON RUTHERFORD. 329
and conversed on various topics, we took leave
of the venerable lady, highly gratified by the interview.
To see and talk with one whose name is so
indissolubly associated with the fame of Bums,
and whose talents and virtues were so much
fare, where, in the days of her widowhood, as Mrs
Cockburn of Ormiston, resided Alison Rutherford
of Fahielee, Roxburghshire, authoress of the
modem version of the ?? Flowers of the Forest ? and
other Scottish songs-in her youth a ?forest flower
esteemed by the bard-who has now (in 1837)
been sleeping the sleep of death for upwards of
forty years-may well give rise to feelings of no
ordinary description. In youth Clarinda must
have been about the middle size. Bums, she
said, if living, would have been about her own age,
probably a few months older.?
Off Bristo Street there branches westward
Crichton Street, SO named from an architect of the
time, a gloomy, black, and old-fashioned thoroughof
rare beauty.? She removed hither from Blair?s
Close in the Castle-hill, and her house was the
scene of many happy and brilliant reunions Even
in age her brown hair never grew grey, and she
wore it combed over a toupee, with a lace band tied
under her chin, and her sleeves puffed out in the
fashion of Mary?s time. ?She maintained,? says
Scott, ?that rank in the society of Edinburgh
which French women of talent usually do in that of
Paris ; and in her little parlour used to assemble a ... Street.] ALISON RUTHERFORD. 329 and conversed on various topics, we took leave of the venerable lady, ...

Book 4  p. 329
(Score 0.55)

EARLIEST TRAD ITI ONS. 9
have elevated the character of his people. Tradition represents him as beguiling his
tedious captivity in England with his pencil ; and Barnes relates that he left behind him,
in a vault in Nottingham Castle, the whole story of our Saviour’s passion, curiously
engraved on a rock with his own hand.’
With the death of this unfortunate prince terminated the direct line of the Bruce, that
had so nobly established, in the independence of Scotland, their right to the throne ; and
with it, too, may be considered to close the first epoch in the history of the Scottish capital,
while as yet it was only the occasional seat of her Parliaments, and the temporary residence
of her prince ; with many of the characteristics of a frontier town, ever on the watch to
repel the approach of foreign invaders, or with resolute endurance to stand the Gst brunt
of the Southron’s hostile inroads.
Abercromby* says of it at this time : ‘‘ Edinburgh was then but a small burgh, or rather,
as Walsingham calls it, a village, the houses of which, because they were so often exposed
to incursions from England, being thatched for the most part with straw and turf; and
when burnt or demolished, were with no great difficulty repaired. me strength of the
Castle, the convenience of the Abbey, the fruitfulness of the adjacent country, and its no
great distance from the borders, made after kings chuse to reside for the most part, to hold
their Parliaments, and keep their courts of justice in this place.” Their mode of defence
corresponded with the character of their habitations. When an overwhelming host crossed
the borders, and poured down in irresistible fury upon the neighbouring Lothians, like the
borderers of later times, they drove off their cattle, concealed their more bulky wealth,
and even carried away the straw roofs of their houses, as some security against a conflagation:
leaving the. enemy to wreak their futile vengeance upon the walls, that could be again
replaced, to satisfy their simple wants, almost ere the retreating foes had reached their
homes. Yet they never failed to retaliate ; and no sooner had the invaders been starved
into a retreat from the deserted plains, than the burghers of the smoking hamlet were at
their heels ; and, as Abercromby adds, “ Conformably to their usual custom, followed the
enemy into his own country, and never put up their swords till by a retaliating invasion
they had made up for their losses.”
To complete the view of national manners at this early period, we shall add the lively
picture of Froi~sart,w~h ich, notwithstanding the peculiarities incident to a foreigner’s
description of habits altogether new to him, exhibits traits that may still be found under
comparatively slight modifications at the present day, after a11 the changes that five centuries
have produced. ‘( The Scots,” says he, (‘ are bold and hardy, and much inured to
war ; they bring no carriages with them, on account of the mountains they have to pass,
neither do they carry with them any provisions of bread or wine ; they have no occasion
for pots or caldrons, for they dress the flesh of their cattle in the skins, after they have
taken them off, and being nure to find plenty of them in the country they invade, they
carry none with them. Under the flaps of his saddle, each man carries a broad plate of
metal,’ andthe trusses behind him a bag full of meal. They place this plate over the fire,
.
’
Martial Achievementa, vol. ii. p. 141. * Bid, voL ii. 189. a Banatyne, Mkc. Edin. Re- Scotorum Dwcrip. ’ Ibid, voL i p, 32.
a Scottiec, A Girdle.
B ... TRAD ITI ONS. 9 have elevated the character of his people. Tradition represents him as beguiling ...

Book 10  p. 10
(Score 0.55)

ECCLESIASTICAL ANTIQUITIES. 415
cularly by the gift from Macbeth of Liberton, of the tithes and oblations of Legbernard
-a church of which all traces are now lost-onferred on it in the reign of David I., previous
to the foundation of Holyrood Abbey. The Chapels of Corstorphine and Liberton
pertained to it. The Crown lands surrounding the Castle were bestowed on it by David
I., and it claimed tithes of the fishing on the neighbouring coast ; so that it was then the
wealthiest church in Scotland, except that of Dunbar ; but from the date of the foundation
of St David‘s Abbey of Holyrood it became a vicarage, while the Abbey drew the
greater tithes. Besides the high altar, there were in St Cuthbert’s Church several altars,
dedicated to the Holy Trinity, to St Anne, and other saints, of most of which no very
accurate account is preserved. The ancient church was subjected to many viciseitudes, and
greatly modified by successive alterations and repairs, so that comparatively little of the
original fabric remained when the whole was demolished about the middle of last century,
and the present huge, unsightly barn erected in its stead. In Gordon’s bird‘s-eye view it
appears as a large cross church, with a belfry at the west gable, and a large square tower,
probably of great antiquity, standing unroofed at the south-west corner of the nave. The
ancient church was nearly reduced to a heap of ruins by the Duke of Cordon, during the
siege of the Castle in 1689; and little attempt was likely to be made at that period to
preserve any of its early features in the necessary repairs preparatory to its again being
used as the parish church.
Among the dependencies of the ancient Church of St Cuthbert there were the Virgin
Mary’s Chapel, Portsburgh, of which nothing more is known than its name and site; and
St Roque’s and St John’s Chapels on the Borough Muir. About half a mile to the west
of Grange House there stood, till the commencement of the present century, the ruins-of
the ancient Chapel of St Roque, dedicated to the celebrated saint of that name. A later
writer derives its title from the unconsecrated surname of its supposed founder, Simon La
Roque, French ambassador,’ but without assigning any authority. In the treasurer’s
accounts for March 20th, 1501-2, the following entry occurs :-“Item, to the wrichtis of
Sanct Rokis Chapell xiiij a.” This, it is exceedingly probable, indicates the erection of
the chapel, as it corresponds with the apparent date suggested by its style of architecture.
It cannot, however, be certainly referred to the chapel on the Borough Muir, as a subsequent
entry in 1505, of an offering (‘ to Sanct Rowkis Chapell,” describes the latter as
at the end of Stirling Bridge. Of the following, however, there can be no doubt:-
‘( 1507, Augt 15. The Sanct Rowkis day to the kingis offerand in Sanct Rowkis Chapell
xiiij s.” That this refers to the chapel on the Borough Muir of Edinburgh is proved
by the evidence of two charters signed by the king at Edinburgh on the same day. The
shrine of St Roque was the special resort of aflicted outcasts for the cure of certain
loathsome diseases. Lindsay, in The Monarchie, describes the saint as himself bearing
a boil or ulcer as the symbol of his peculiar powers :-
Sanct Roche, weill seisit, men may see,
Ane byill new broki on his knee.
1 HiSt. of Weat Kirk, p. 11. Possibly Monsieur Lacrak, ambaeaador in 1567, here meant. It is, at any rate,
without doubt, an error, originating probably in the similarity of the namea ... ANTIQUITIES. 415 cularly by the gift from Macbeth of Liberton, of the tithes and oblations of ...

Book 10  p. 455
(Score 0.55)

140 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
afterwards possessed by the ancient family of the Nisbets of Dirleton, and by Gordon of
Braid ; but, if so, it must have been as tenants, as it was sold by Mr Baird to A. Brown,
Esq., of Greenbank, from whom it passed successively to his sons, Colonel George Brown,
and Captain James Brown, commander of the ship Alfred, in the East India Company’s
service. From these later owners, Brown’s Close, where the modern entrance to the house
is situated, derives its name.
The name of Webster’s Close, on the same side of the street, by which Brown’s Court
was formerly known, served to indicate the site of Dr Webster’s house, the originator of
the Widows’ Scheme, and long one of the ministers of the old Tolbooth Kirk. He was a
person of great influence and popularity in his day, and entertained Dr Johnson often at
his table during his visit to Edinburgh. At a later period it was occupied by the Rev. Dr
Greenfield, Professor of Rhetoric and Belles Lettres in the University, after whose time
it passed through various hands, and closed its career as a cholera hospital, previous to its
demolition in 1837, to make way for the Castle Road. Dr Webster built another house
immediately adjoining this, from stones taken out of the North Loch. It was first occupied
by Mr Hogg as a banking house, and afterwards, for twenty years, by the Society of
Scottish Antiquaries, during the whole of which period, Alexander Smellie, Esq., the
Emeritus Secretary, resided in the house.
A very handsome old land of considerable breadth stands to the east of this. It presents
a polished ashler front to the street, ornamented with string courses, and surmounted by
an elegant range of dormer windows, with finials of various design. Over the main entrance,
in Boswell’s Court, there is a shield bearing a fancy device, with the initials T. L.,
and the inscription, 0 * LORD a IN THE IS AL MI * TRAIST. In a compartment
on the left of the shield, there are also the initials, I. L., R. W. ; a similar compartment
on the right is now defaced.’
Immediately to the west of the Assembly Hall, a tall narrow land forms the last remaining
building on the south side of the Castle Hill. In the style of its architecture it differs
entirely from any of the neighbouring houses, presenting a pediment in front, surmounted
with urns, and otherwise adorned according to the fashion that prevaqed during the earlier
part of the last century.
This house, as appears from the title-deeds, was built by Robert
Mowbray, Esq., of Castlewan, in 1740, on the site of an ancient
mansion belonging to the Countess Dowager of Hyndford. The
keystone of the centre window in the second floor is orpamented
with a curiously inwrought cipher of the initials of Robert Mowbray,
its builder; from whose possession it passed into that of
William, the fourth Earl of Dumfries, who succeeded his mother,
Penelope, Countess of Dumfries in her own right, and afterwards, by the death of his
1 The close, we believe, derives ita name from a Dr Boawell, who reaided there about eighty years since. We were
Znformed, hdwever, by the good lady who very politely conducted us over the house, that it was the Earl of Bothwell’s
mansion, ‘‘ An’ nae doubt,” said she, aa she showed ua into the best room, with its fireplace lined with Dutch
tiles, ‘‘ nae doubt mony queer doings hae taen place here between the add Earl and Queen Mary 1 ” Nothing is 80
amusing, in investigating our local antiquities, iw the constant association of Queen Mary’s name with everything that
is old, however homely or even ridiculous. ... MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH. afterwards possessed by the ancient family of the Nisbets of Dirleton, and by Gordon ...

Book 10  p. 151
(Score 0.55)

BI 0 GRAPH1 CAL SKETCHES. 263
and again, in 1794-5, when he was also chosen Deacon Convener of the Trades.
He took much interest in city affairs ; and was distinguished as an active and
energetic member of the Town Council. Frequently in opposition, he was
conspicuously so when the ‘‘ levelling of the High Street ” was first proposed ;
in the Print of which, formerly given, he figures as a principal opponent.
Dr. Hay resided first in Strichen’s Close ; again at the head of Blair Street,
in the house next to Messrs. Smith and Co., purveyors of oils and lamps ; and
latterly in George Street, where he died on the 11th of April 1816. He
married Miss Jean Graham, sister of the late Lieut.-General Grahaql Deputy-
Governor of Stirling Castle, and left several children, John Hay, Esq., late
member of the Medical Board, Madras, being the eldest, and Dr. David Hay,
of Queen Street, the youngest.
A memoir of SIR JAMES STIRLING has already been given in the first
volume of this Work. From accurate information, we may here state that his
father, Alexander-son of Gilbert Stirling, Esq., and Margaret, daughter, of
Alexander Cumming, Esq., of Birness, cadet of the family of Altyre, Aberdeenshire-
was a merchant of much respectability in Edinburgh, having a shop in the
Luckenbooths, for the sale of cloth and other goods. His mother was a daughter
of James Moir, Esq., of Lochfield, in Perthshire, cadet of the family of
Moir of Leckie.
The honour of a baronetage was conferred on Sir James in 1792, as expressly
stated to him by the Secretary of State for the Home Department, as a
mark of his Majesty’s most gracious approbation of his conduct during the riots
in that year, when (according to the statement of his friends), so far from taking
refuge in the Castle from the fear of personal consequences, he remained there
at great inconvenience to himself, in order that the military should have a civil
magistrate ready to accompany them when called on, which he did on more
occasions than one.
The
other two sons, Jarnes and William, died in infancy.
Sir James left only one son, who succeeded him in the baronetcy.
In Stewart’s Mil&wy Sketches the following remarkable circumstance is related of General
Graham, then a Lieat.-Colonel, and on service in the West Indies :-“A ball had entered his side
three iuches from the back-bone, and, passing through, had come out under his breast ; another, or
perhaps the same ball, had shattered two of his fingers. No assistance could be got but that of a
soldier’s wife (of the 42d regiment), who had been long in the service, and was in the habit of attending
sick and wounded soldiers. She washed his wounds, and bound them up in such a manner, that
when a surgeon came and saw the way in which the operation had been performed, he said he could
not have done it better, and would not unbind the dressing. The Colonel soon afterwards opened
his eyes, and, though unable to speak for many hours, seemed sensible of what was passing around
him. In this state he lay nearly three weeks, when he WBS carried to Kingston, and thence conveyed
to England. He was still in a most exhausted state, the wound in his side discharging matter from
both orifices. He went to Edinburgh with little hopes of recovery, but on the evening of the illumination
for the battle of Camperdown, the smoke of 80 many candles and flambeaux affecting his
breathing, he coughed with great violence, and, in the exertion, threw np a piece of cloth, left, no
doubt, by the ball in ita passage through his body. From that day he recovered as by a charm.”-
Colonel Graham was at this time residing in Blaii Street with his brother-in-law, Dr. Hay. ... 0 GRAPH1 CAL SKETCHES. 263 and again, in 1794-5, when he was also chosen Deacon Convener of the Trades. He ...

Book 9  p. 350
(Score 0.55)

High Street.] THE QUACK DOCTOR?S ACROBATS. 201
an audience. Then he began to vend his drugs
at eightpence per packet. Nicoll admits that they
were both good and real, and describes the antics
of the assistants.
Upon a great rope, fixed from side to side of
the street, a man descended upon his breast with
~ ~ ~~~~
danced seven-score times, without intermission,
lifting himself and vaulting s k quarter high above
his own head and lighting directly upon the tow
(rope) as punctually as if he had been dancing on
the plain stones.?
Four years after a different scene was witnessed
THE NETHER BOW PORT, FROM THE CANONGATE. ( F m an Etcking6y Jams SKrrrc of RdGhw.)
his arms ?stretched out like the wings of a fowl,
to the admiration of many.? Nicoll adds that the
country chirurgeons and apothecaries, finding his
drugs both cheap and good, came to Edinburgh
from all parts of the realm, and bought them for
the purpose of retailing them at a profit. The
antics and rope-dancing were continued for many
days with an agility and nimbleness ?admirable
to the beholders; one of the dancers having
28
in the High Street, when, in 1666, after the battle
of the Pentland Hills-a victory celebrated by
the discharge of nearly as many guns from the
Castle as there were prisoners-the captives were
marched to the Tolbooth. They. were eighty
in number; and these poor Covenanters were
conveyed manacled in triumph by the victor,
with trumpets sounding, kettle-drums beating, and
banners displayed. And Crookshank records in ... Street.] THE QUACK DOCTOR?S ACROBATS. 201 an audience. Then he began to vend his drugs at eightpence per ...

Book 2  p. 201
(Score 0.55)

Parliament House.] TREATY OF UNION. 163
to regain the throne; for the proposed union
with England had inflamed to a perilous degree
the passions and the patriotism of the nation.
In August the equivalent money sent to Scotland
as a blind to the people for their full participation
in the taxes and old national debt of England, was
pompously brought to Edinburgh m twelve great
waggons, and conveyed to the Castle, escorted by
a regiment of Scottish cavalry, as Defoe tells us,
amid the railing, the reproaches, and the deep
curses of the people, who then thought of nothing
but war, and viewed the so-called equivalent as
the price of their Scottish fame, liberty, and
honour.
In their anathemas, we are told that they spared
not the very horses which drew the waggons, and on
the return of the latter from the fortress their fury
could no longer be restrained, and, unopposed by
the sympathising troops, they dashed the vehicles
to pieces, and assailed the drivers with volleys of
stones, by which many of them were severely
injured.
?It was soon discovered, after all,? says Dr.
Chambers, ? that only LIOO,OOO of the money was
specie, the rest being iu Exchequer bills, which the
Bank of England had ignorantly supposed to be
welcome in all parts of Her Majesty?s dominions.
This gave rise to new clamours. It was said the
English had tricked them by sending paper instead
of money. Bills, payable 400 miles of, and which
if lost or burned would be irrecoverable, were a
pretty price for the obligation Scotland had come
under to pay English taxes.??
In the following year, during the sitting of the
Union Parliament, a terrible tumult arose in the
west, led by two men named Montgomery and
Finlay. The latter had been a sergeant in the
Royal Scots, and this enthusiastic veteran burned
the articles of Union at the Cross of Glasgow, and
with the little sum he had received on his discharge,
enlisted men to march to Edinburgh, avowing his
intention of dispersing the Union Parliament,
sacking the House, and storming the Castle. I n
the latter the troops were on the alert, and the
guns and beacons were in readiness. The mob
readily enough took the veteran?s money, but
melted away on the march ; thus, he was captured
and brought in a prisoner to the Castle, escorted by
250 dragoons, and the Parliament continued its
sitting without much interruption.
The Articles of Union were framed by thirty
commissioners acting for England and thirty acting
for Scotland ; and though the troops of both COUTI?
tries were then fighting side by side on the Continent,
such were their mutual relations on each side
of the Tweed, that, as Macaulay says, they could
not possibly have continued for one year more ?? on
the terms on which they had been during the
preceding century, and that there must have been
between them either absolute union or deadly
enmity; and their enmity would bring frightful
calamities, not on themselves alone, but on all the
civilised world Their union would be the best
security for the prosperity of both, for the internal
tranquillity of the island, for the just balance of
power among European states, and for the immunities
of all Protestant countries.?
As the Union debates went on, in vain did the
eloquent Belhaven, on his knees and in tears,
beseech the House to save Scotland from extinction
and degradation; in vain did the nervous
Fletcher, the astute and wary Lockhart, plead for
the fame of their forefathers, and denounce the
measure which was to close the legislative hall
for ever. ? Many a patriotic heart,? says Wilson,
? throbbed amid the dense crowd that daily assembled
in the Parliament Close, to watch the decision
of the Scottish Estates oa the detestable scheme
of a union with England. Again and again its fatetrembled
in the balance, but happily for Scotland,
English bribes outweighed the mistaken qeal ot
Scottish patriotism and Jacobitism, united against
the measure.?
On the 25th of March, 1707, the treaty or
union was ratified by the Estates, and on the zznd
of April the ancient Parliament of Scotland adjourned,
to assemble no more. On that occasion
the Chancellor Seafield made use of a brutal jest,
for which, says Sir Walter Scott, his countrymen
should have destroyed him on the spot.
It is, of course, a matter of common history,
that the legislative union between Scotland and
England was carried by the grossest bribery and
corruption; but the sum actually paid to members
who sat in that last Parliament are not perhaps
so well known, and may be curious to the
reader.
During some financial investigations which were
in progress in 1711 Lockhart discovered and
made public that the sum of Lzo,540 17s. 7d. had
been secretly distributed by Lord Godolphin, the
Treasurer of England, among the baser members ot
the Scottish Parliament, for the purpose of inducing
them to vote for the extinction of thek country,
and in his Memoirs of Scotland from the Accession
of Queen Anne,? he gives us the following list of
the receivers, with the actual sum which was paid
to each, and this list was confirmed on oath hy
David Earl of Glasgow, the Treasurer Deputy of
Scotland .
I
. ... House.] TREATY OF UNION. 163 to regain the throne; for the proposed union with England had inflamed to ...

Book 1  p. 163
(Score 0.55)

APPENDIX. 439
trA model of Edinburgh was executed by the late Gavin Hamilton, bookeeIler : it was most accurat&
done, with his intended improvements of carrying a street of a gentle ascent from the Grassmarket in a line up
to the west end of the Luckenbooths, for which purpose he could shift the repmentation of the home, and
lay open his plan to public view. This finished work cost him some yeears’ labour, and was shown in a room
of the Royal Infirmary in 1753 and 1754 : but after his .death it was neglected, and destroyed for firewood
His proposals, like other commodious, salutary, and beneficial projects for the improvement of the place, were
rejected ; as was likewise the scheme of an entry into the High Street of Edinburgh from St Cuthbert’s or West
Church, along the hill side by south and west of the Castle, which by a gradual ascent might be completed at
no very considerable sum, to facilitate the easier conveyance of carriages from the south and west than by the
West Bow, a most inconvenient and steep height for horses with coals and other articles for the citizens’ me ;
this might terminate the head of the causeway on the Castle HilL A south entry to the High Street being
much wanted for the =me necessary purposes, has been of late proposed, but hitherto rejected also, from an
excessof toll all needful carriages would be subjected to, which many of the inhabitants are unable to
bear.
“Sir John Dalrymple has been at uncommon care and expence in causing to be executed an accnrate
survey and plan for an easy access inta the city from the south, by a gentle declivity and ascent from the High
Street at the head of Marlin’s Wynd to Nicolson’BPark in a streight line, without any amh.”
The following jm d’e8p-d may suffice, like some of the school-rhymed arithmetical and grammatical d e s ,
days of the month, and the like useful help8 to short memories, to preserve in the reader’s recollection some
memento of the strange associations that have already been related in sober prose as pertaining to the old
West Bow : the like of which he will in vain seek for in any existing corner either of the Old or New
Town.
THE WAST BOW.
DEDICATETDO THE HON.BO ARDOF COMMISSIONEFROSR C r r ~IM PBOVEMWXTS.
Through the auld Wast Bow, and to the Grass-Market,
Mony a ane haa gane daun fast an’ erie ;
Gentles wi’ htillands fn’ brawly besarkit*-
Covenant hauldera 0’ warld’a care fu’ weary,-
Doom gaol an’ gallows birds naething has carkit,
Fu’ dauntonly fitting it to the Gram-Market.
Hurrying doun, stoiterin’ an’ stumhlin’,
The gleger ye gang better luck against tumblin’ :
Up o’er its crooked an’ dingy suld oausey,
Fu’ atately an’ trig in their cleadin’ 0’ braws,
Our Jamiea escorted ilk royal Scottish lassie
To weddin’ and beddin’ in Holyrood ha’s ;
Our pedant, King Jamie, King Charlie the naucy,
As’ bauld Noll, rade in state, ilka ane o’er ita caueey,
Hurrying doun, 8c.
An’ Provost an’ Bailies, fu’ prudely I’se warrant,
Ha’e bided for Royalty doun the Wast Bow ;
An’ speered at the yet\ whan he cam, fur his errand,
An’ keeked round the corner, wi’ face in a IOW ;
An’ h o n an’ Guild-Dean, an’ Town-Clerk auld-farand,
Pracheging their beat bow id loyale I’M warrant.
Hurrying douti, &O . ... 439 trA model of Edinburgh was executed by the late Gavin Hamilton, bookeeIler : it was most ...

Book 10  p. 478
(Score 0.54)

230 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Grassmarket:
houses which were inhabited by this gang were
well chosen for the purpose to which they were
put. Burke?s dwelling, in which he has only
resided since June last, is at the end of a long
passage, and separated from every other house
except one. After going through the close from
the street there is a descent by a stair to the
passage, at the end of which is to be found this
habitation of wickedness. I t consists of one apartment,
an oblong square, at the end of which is a
miserable bed, under which may still be seen some
straw in which his murdered victims were concealed.
The house of Hare is in a more retired
situation. The passage to it is by a dark and
dirty close, in which there? are no inhabitants,
except in the tlat above. Both houses are on the
ground floor.?
Tanner?s Clme still exists, but the abodes of
those two wretches-the most cold-blooded criminals
in history-are now numbered, as we have stated,
among the things that were.
At the head of Liberton?s Wynd three reversed
stones indicate where, on this? and on other occasions,
the last sentence of the law was carried out.
CHAPTER XXX.
THE GRASSMARKET.
The Grassmarket-The Mart of 1477-Margaret Tudor-Noted Executions-?Half Hangit Maggie Dickson?4talian hlountebanks-Grey
Friary Founded by Jam- I.-Henry VI. of England a Fugitive-The Grev Friars Port-New Corn Exchanee-The White Hone Inn
-Camels-The Castle Wvnd-First Gaelic ChatKl therdurrie Close-The Cockpit-Story of Watt and Downie, ?The Friends of the
People ?-Their Trial aniSentencc-Executbn bf Watt.
THE Grassmarket occupies that part of the
southern valley which lies between the eastern
portion of the Highnggs and the ridge of the Castle
Hill and Street. It is a spacious and stately
rectangle, 230 yards in length, communicating at
its south-east corner with the ancient Candlemaker
Row and southern portion of the old town, and at
its north-east angle with the acclivitous, winding,
narrow, and more ancient alley, the West Bow, or
that fragment of it which now NOS into Victoria
Street, and the steps near the (now demolished)
Land of Weir the wizard.
The Grassmarket is darkly overhung on the
north by the precipitous side of the Castle Esplanade,
the new west approach, and the towering
masses of Johnstone Terrace and the General
Assembly Hall, but on the south is the gentler
slope, crowned by the turrets of Heriot?s Hospital
and the heavy mass of the Greyfriars churches.
The western end of this rectangle was long
closed up and encroached upon by the Corn
Market, an unsightly arcaded edifice, 80 feet long
by 45 broad, with a central belfry and clock, now
swept away, and its eastern end, where the old
Corn Market is shown in Edgar?s map, is deeply
associated with much that is sad, terrible, and
deplorable in Scottish history, as the scene of the
fervid testimony and dying supplications of many
a martyr to U the broken covenant,? in defence of
that Church, every stone of which may be said to
have been cemented by the blood of the people.
Now the Grassmarket is the chief rendezvous
of carriers and farmers, and persons of various
classes connected with the county horse and cattle
markets, and presents a remarkably airy, busy, and
imposing appearance, with its infinite variety of
architecture, crow-stepped gables, great chimneys,
turnpike stairs, old signboards, and projections of
many kinds.
The assignment of this locality as the site ot a
weekly market dates from the year 1477, when
King James 111. by his charter for the holding of
markets, ordained- that wood and timber be sold
?fra Dalrimpill yarde to the Grey Friars and
westerwart; alswa all old graith and geir to be
vsit and soldin the Friday market before the Greyfriars
lyke as is usit in uthir cuntries.?
In 1503, on the mamage of Margaret of England
to James IV., the royal party were met at the
western entrance to the city by the whole of the
Greyfriars-whose monastery was on the south side
of the Grassmarket-bearing in procession their
most valued relics, which were presented to the
royal pair to kiss ; and thereafter they were stayed
at an embattled barrier, erected for the occasion,
at the windows of which appeared angels singing
songs of welcome to the English bride, while one
presented her with the keys of Edinburgh.
In 1543 we first hear of this part of the city
having been causewayed, or paved, when the
Provost and Bailies employed Moreis Crawfurd to
mend ?the calsay,? at 26s. 8d. per rood from the
Upper Bow to the West Port
In 1560 the magistrates removed the Corn ... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Grassmarket: houses which were inhabited by this gang were well chosen for the ...

Book 4  p. 230
(Score 0.54)

Riccarton.1 SIR THOMAS CFLAIG. 321
Riccarton, with those of Warriston, in the barony
of Currie, were given by royal charter to Marion
of Wardlaw, and Andrew her son, and have had
many proprietors since then.
In the Privy Council Register we find that in
1579 the Lairds of Brighouse and Haltoun became
referred in the account of his town residence in
Wamston?s Close. He was born at Edinburgh
about 1538, and in 1552 was entered as a student
at St. Leonard?s College in the University of St.
Andrews, which he quitted three years subsequently,
after receiving his degree of Bachelor of Arts
COL\?TO?.
bound in caution, that the former shall pay ?to
Harie Drummond of Riccartoun, LIOO on Martinmas
next, the 11th November, in the Tolbooth of
Edinburgh, for behoof of William Sandeland and
Thomas Hart,? whom he had hurt and mutilated,
?I or else shall re-enter himself as a prisoner in the
said Tolbooth, on the said day.?
During the middle of the sixteenth century
Riccarton became the property of the famous
feudal lawyer, Sir Thomas Craig, to whom we have
137
He next studied at the University of Pans, and
became deeply versed in Civil and Canon laws.
Returning to Scotland about 1561, he was called
to the bar three years afterwards, and in 1564 was
made Justice-Depute.
In 1566, when Prince James was born in Edinburgh
Castle, he wrote a Latin hexameter poem
in honour of the event, entitled GenethZiacon Jacobi
Prinn$is Soforum, which, with another poem on his
departure, when king, for England, is inserted in ... SIR THOMAS CFLAIG. 321 Riccarton, with those of Warriston, in the barony of Currie, were given by ...

Book 6  p. 321
(Score 0.54)

20 EDINBURGH PAST AND PRESENT.
principle of selection let us name some of the leading men, in various departments
of eminence, more or less connected with the city. And first among
our Monarchs. It was rather late in OUT early history that the seat of the
Scottish monarchy was removed from Scone to Edinburgh, the attraction
being at first the strength of the Castle. But since it has been honoured
by the presence and linked to the fate.of our most famous kings,-James the
fiery-faced, of Flodden memory, who summoned his army to assemble on the
Borough Muir of Edinburgh, and to whom at the Cross of the city came the
awful midnight summons, meant, but in vain, to deter him from his dangerous
southern journey; Mary Stuart, who here spent her guiltiest yet perhaps
happiest days, and ‘has added at once a classical charm and a. weight of
COUECR AND SDUTB BRiDGe STREET.
mystery to the Got, although the College has now annexed and obliterated
the Kirk of Field ; lames VI. and I., who was born in the CastIe here, and
who here passed the earlier portion of his inglorious reign ; Charles I., also
* born here, and whose visits to the city afterwards were more frequent than to
it welcome or. honourable to himself; Charles II., who came to it half as a
monakh and half as a captive, and who, reverting to this visit in after life,
thought probably more of the curb of the Covenant than of the glory of the
Scottish Crown ; Cromwell, who entered the Northern Metropolis flushed
with the victory of Dunbar-and sureIy never a braver, truer man trode the
streets of the proud city, although perhaps with ‘greater pride,’ even while
his watchword was Th:Lord hath delivered it into my hands j’ James VII., ... EDINBURGH PAST AND PRESENT. principle of selection let us name some of the leading men, in various ...

Book 11  p. 34
(Score 0.54)

West Church.] MR. NEIL MWICAR. I33 -
those of other sections of the city, took courage, and
sought to retrieve their past ill-conduct by noisily .
preparing to raise forces to defend themselves in
case of a second visit from the Highlanders.
the General Assembly met in the church, and
passed an Act, which, however necessary, perhaps,
in those harassing times, concerning ?? the sine and
guilte of the king and his house,? caused much
suffering to the Covenanters after the Restoration.
It was known by the name of the West Kirk Act,
and was approved by Parliament the same day.
Subsequently, during his siege of the castle
Cromwell made the church a barrack; hence its
roof and windows were destroyed by the guns of
the fortress, and soon little was left of it but the
bare walls, which were repaired, and opened for
service in 1655.
For some years subsequent the sole troubles
of the incumbents were breaches
of ?the Sabbath,? such as when
William Gillespie, in 1659, was
?fund carrying watter, and his
wyfe knoking beir,? for which
they had to make public repentance,
or filling people for
?taking snuff in tyme of sermon,?
contrary to the Act of
18th June, 1640; till 1665,
when the ?? great mutiny? in
the parish occurred, and the
minister, William Gordon, for
? keeping of festivals,? was
railed at by the people, who
closed the doors against him,
for which a man and a woman,
according to Wodrow, were
scourged through Edinburgh.
At the Revolution, those
of ground to the west was added to it (including
the garden,with trees, shown in Gordon?s Map), from
the old boundary to the present west gate at the
Lothian Road. About the same time several
heritors requested permission to inter their dead
in the little or Wester-kirk, which had been a
species of ruin since the invasion of Cromwell.
In 1745, after the victory of the Highlanders at
Prestonpans, a message was sent to the ministers
of the city, in the name cf ?Charles, Prince Regent,?
desiring them to preach next day, Sunday,
as usual; but many, alarmed by the defeat of Cope,
sought refuge in the country, and no public worship
was performed within the city, save by a
ST. CUTHBERT?S CHURCH.
(From Cmdm of Potkicmay?s Mu@.)
ministers who had been ejected in 1661, and were
yet alive, returned to their charges. Among them
was Mr. David Williamson, who, in 1689, was
settled in St. Cuthbert?s manse ; but not quietly,
for the castle, defended by the Duke of Gordon,
was undergoing its last disastrous siege by the
troops oC William, and the church suffered so much
damage from shot and shell, that for many months
after the surrender in June, the people were unable
to use it, and the repairs amounted to LI,~OO.
If tradition has not wronged him, Mr. Williamson
is the well-known (? Dainty Davie? of Scottish
song, who had six wives ere the seventh, Jean.
Straiton, survived him. He died in August, 1706,
and was buried in the churchyard, where the
vicinity of the grave is alone indicated by the
letters D. W. cut on the front of the tomb in which
he lies.
The ancient cemetery on the knoll having been
found too small for the increasing population and
consequent number of interments, in 1701 a piece
clergyman named Hog a t t h e
Tron.
It was otherwise, however,
at St. Cuthbert?s, the incumbent
of which was then the Rev.
Neil McVicar, yho preached
to a crowded congregation,
many of whom were armed
Highlanders, before whom he
prayed for George 11. and also
for Charles Edward in a fashion
of his own, recorded thus by
Ray, in his history of the time,
and others :-
?(Bless the king! Thou
knowest what king I mean.
May the crown sit long on his
head. As for that young man
who has come among us to
seek an earthly crown, we ... Church.] MR. NEIL MWICAR. I33 - those of other sections of the city, took courage, and sought to retrieve ...

Book 3  p. 133
(Score 0.54)

OLD AND NEW EDINEURGH. LSouth Bridge. 376
In 1837 he succeeded Professor Macvey Napier
as Librarian to the Signet Library ; and when the
new and noble library of the University was opened
he volunteered to arrange it, which he did with
all the ardour of a bibliomaniac. Hewas made
LL.D. of his native university in 1864, and is
believed to have edited and annotated fully 250
rare works on Scottish history and antiquities.
True to its old tradition, No. 49 is still a booksellefs
shop, held by the old firm of Ogle and
Murray.
In No. 98 of the Bridge Street are the Assay
Office and Goldsmith?s Hall, The former is open
on alternate days, when articles of gold and silver
that require to be guaranteed by the stamp of
genuineness, are sent in and assayed. The assay
master scrapes a small quantity of metal off each
article, and submits it to a test in order to ascertain
the quality. The duty charged here on each ounce
of gold plate is 17s. 6d., and on silver plate IS. 6d
One of the earliest incorporated trades of Edinburgh
was that of the hammermen, under which
were included the goldsmiths, who, in 1586, were
formed into a separate company. By the articles
of it, apprentices must serve for a term of seven
years, and masters are obliged to serve a regular
apprenticeship of three years or more to make
them more perfect in their trade. They were,
moreover, once bound to give the deacon of the
craft sufficient proof of their knowledge of metals,
and of their skill in the working thereof. By a
charter of James VI., all persons not of the corporation
are prohibited from exercising the trade of
a goldsmith within the liberties of Edinburgh.
King James VII. incorporated the company by
a charter, with additional powers for the regulation
of its trade. Those were granted, so it runs, ? because
the art and science of goldsmiths is exercised
in the city of Edinburgh, to which our subjects
frequently resort, because it is the seat of our
supreme Parliament, and of the other supreme
courts, and there are few goldsmiths in other
cities.?
In virtue of the powers conferred upon it, the
company, from the date of its formation, tested
and stamped all the plate and jewellery made in
Scotland. The first stamp adopted was the tipletowered
castle, or city arms. ?In 1681,? says
Bremner, in his ?? Industries of Scotland,? ?a letter
representing the date was stamped on as well as
the castle. The letter A indicates that the article
bearing it was made in the year between the 29th
of September, 1681, and the same day in 1682 ;
the other letters of the alphabet, omitting j and
w, representing the succeeding twenty-three years.
Each piece bore, in addition to the castle and date
letter, the assay-master?s initials. Seven alphabets
of a different type have been exhausted in recording
the dates ; and the letter of the eighth alphabet,
for 1869, is an Egyptian capital M. In 1759 the
standard mark of a thistle was substituted for the
assay-master?s initials, and is still continued. In
1784 a ?duty-mark? was added, the form being
the head of the sovereign. The silver mace of.
the city of Edinburgh is dated 1617 ; the High
Church plate, 1643.?
The making of spoons and forks was at one
time an extensive branch of the silversmith trade
in Edinburgh ; but the profits were so small that
it has now passed almost entirely into the hands
of English manufacturers.
The erection of this bridge led to the formation of
Xunter?s Square and Hair Street, much about the
same time and in immediate conjunction with i t
The square and street (where the King?s pnntingoffice
was placed) were both named from Sir James
Hunter Blair, who was Provost of the city when
the bridge was commenced, but whose death at
Harrogate, in 1789, did not permit him to see
the fine1 completion of it.
Number 4 in this small square, the north side
of which is entirely formed by the Tron Church,
contains the old hall of the Merchant Company of
Edinburgh, which was formed in 1681.
But long previous to that year the merchants OF
the city formed themselves into a corporation,
called the guildry, from which, for many ages, the
magistrates were exclusively chosen ; and, by an
Act of Parliament passed in the reign of James
III., each of the incorporated trades in Edinburgh
was empowered to choose one of their number to
vote in the election of those who were to govern
the city, and this guildry was the parent of the
Merchant Company. ?It was amidst some of the
most distressing things in our national histovhangings
of the poor ?hill folk? in the Grassmarket,
trying of the patriot Argyle for taking
the test-oath with an explanation, and so forththat
this company came into being. Its nativity
was further heralded by sundry other things of
a troublous kind affecting merchandise and its
practitioners.??
The merchants of Edinburgh, according to Amot,
were erected into a bodp-corporate by royal charter,
dated 19th October, 1681, under the name of The
Company of Merchants of fhe Cig of Edinburgh.
By this charter they were empowered to choose a
Preses, who is called ? The Master,? with twelve
assistants, a treasurer, clerk, and officer. The
company were further empowered to purchase ... AND NEW EDINEURGH. LSouth Bridge. 376 In 1837 he succeeded Professor Macvey Napier as Librarian to the Signet ...

Book 2  p. 377
(Score 0.54)

40 EDINBURGH FAST AND PRESENT.
mansion standing amidst the deep solitary woods, the high ragged rocks, and
the foaming waters of the Findhorn.
Toward Morningside, with its, alas ! too well known magnificent Asylum,
you pass Merchiston Castle, where Napier, the famous inventor of Logarithms,
one of Scotland’s highest scientific men, spent the greater portion of his life.
Above Faicon Hall on the roadside at its highest point, is seen the Bore Stone,
marked by an inscription, into which James IV. sunk the shaft of his royal
IIfiRcHISTON CASTU.
standard on setting out for Flodden (ah ! how different from that of a similar
designation still to be seen near Bannockburn, where Scotland’s flag at the
close of that ‘bloody summer day,’ June 24th, 1314, was stirred by the breeze
of victory, and seemed in every fold and flutter to be speaking of freedom !) ;
and it was in the first house on the left in Church Hill that Chalmers was found
in his bed--dead, yet with an aspect which might have accompanied the
triumph of a translation. It is refreshing, after the excitement and exhaustion
of passing so many classic spots and speaking silences, to find yourseIf
now in the free fresh country, amidst the quiet commonplace of its fields and
the breathing balm of its summer winds !
There are still some places of great interest which must not, even in a
review so rapid and sketchy, be omitted, such as the Greyfriars Church and
Churchyard, the Grassmarket and the Cowgate.
’ Built in 1612, half blown up in 1718, compIetely destroyed by fire in
- ... EDINBURGH FAST AND PRESENT. mansion standing amidst the deep solitary woods, the high ragged rocks, and the ...

Book 11  p. 64
(Score 0.53)

I 96 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH,
this memorable event. The newspapers for some time afterwards abound with notices of
the precautions taken, when too late, to prevent the recurrence of an act, the idea of which
can hardly have appeared otherwise than ridiculous even at the time. The gates of the
Nether Bow Port were fastened back to preserve the free access of the military to the city;
guards were established there ; the trained bands were called out ; grenadier companies
quartered in the town and suburbs ; and most effectual means taken to prevent the hanging
of a second Porteous, if any such had existed.’ On the second day after his execution, the
body of Porteous was interred in the Greyfriars Churchyard,’ but the exact spot has long
since ceased to be remembered.’
The Tolbooth of Edinburgh was visited by Howard in the year 1782, and again in
1787, and on the last occasion he strongly expressed his dissatisfaction, declaring that he
had expected to have found a new one in its stead.‘ It was not, however, till the year
1817 that the huge pile of antique masonry was doomed to destruction. Its materiale
were sold in the month of September, and its demolition took place almost immediately
afterwards. The following extract from a periodical of that period, while it shows with
how little grief the demolition of the ancient fabric was witnessed, also points out the
GRAVE OF THE OLD TOLBOOTH. It seems to have been buried with a sort of pauper’s
funeral, on the extreme outskirts of the new city that was rising up beyond those ancient
boundaries of which it had so long formed the heart. Now,” says the writer, (( that the
Luckenbooths have been safely carted to Leith Wynd (would that it had been done some
dozen years ago ! ) and the Tolbooth,-to the unutterable delight of the inhabitants,-is
journeying quickly to Fettes Row, there to be transferred into common sewers and drains,
the irregular and grim visage of the Cathedral has been in a great measure unveiled.”
The unveiling of the Cathedral had formed the grand object of all civic committees of
taste for well-nigh half a century before ; the renovation of the ancient fabric thereby
exposed to vulgar gaze became the next subject of discussion, until this also was at length
accomplished in 1829, at the cost not only of much money, but of nearly all its ancient
and characteristic features. Added to all these radical changes, the assistance rendered
by the Great Fire of 1824, unexpectedly removed a whole range of eyesores to such
reformers, in the destruction of the ancient tenements between St Gilea’s and tb,e Tron
Church.
As the only means of giving width and uniformity to the street, all this comes fairly
within the category of civic improvements ; how far it tended to increase the picturesque
beauty of the old thoroughfare is a very different question. Taylor, the Water Poet,
in the amusing narrative of his Pennylesse Pilgrimage ” from London to Edinburgh,
published in 1618, describes the High Street as “the fairest and goodliest street that
ever mine eyes’ beheld, for I did never see or hear of a street of that length, which
is half an English mile from the Castle to a faire port, which they calle the Neather
1 Caledonian Mwmy, September 23, 1736.
a ‘‘ No less than seventeen criminals escaped from the city jail on this occasion, among whom are the dragoon who
waa indicted for the murder of the butcher’s wife in Dunse, the two Newhaven men lately brought in from Blacknesa
Castle for smuggling, seven sentinele of the city guard, &e.”-Ibid, September 9th. ‘ knot, who never minces matten when disposed to censure, furnishes 8 very graphic picture of the horrors of the
old jail of Edinburgh.-Hit. of Edinburgh, p. 298.
’ Ibid, September 9.
Edin. Mag. Nov. 1817, p. 322. ... 96 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH, this memorable event. The newspapers for some time afterwards abound with notices ...

Book 10  p. 215
(Score 0.53)

94 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
manner. They deprived and excommunicated the whole body of Archbishops and Bishops,
abolished Episcopacy, and all that pertained to it, and required every one to subscribe the
Covenant, under pain of excommunication.
Leslie was appointed General of their forces ; and on
the 21st of March 1639, they proceeded’to assault Edinburgh Castle. No provision had
been made against such an attack, and its Governor surrendered at the first summons.
Early in 1648, Oliver Cromwell paid his first visit to Edinburgh, after having defeated
the army of the Duke of Hamilton. He took up his residence at Moray House, in the
Canongate, and entered into communication with “ the Lord Marquis of Argyle, and the
rest of the well affected Lords.” There he was visited by the Earl of Loudon, the Chancellor,
the Earl of Lothian, and numerous others of the nobility and leading men.’ The visit was
a peaceable one, and his stay brief.
On the death‘of his father, Charles 11. was proclaimed King at the Cross of Edinburgh;
but the terms on which he was offered the Scottish Crown proved little to his satisfaction,
and the Marquis of Montrose sought to win it for him without such unpalatable conditions.
He completely failed, however, in the attempt, and was seized, while escaping in the
disguise of a peasant, and brought to Edinburgh on the 18th of May 1650. He was
received at the Water Gate by the magistrates and an armed body of the citizens, and
was from thence conducted in a common cart, through the Canongate and High Street,
to the Tolbooth; the hangman riding on the horse before him. He was condemned to
be hanged and quartered, and the sentence was executed, three days after, with the most
savage barbarity, at the Cross of Edinburgh. His head was affixed to the Tolbooth,
and his severed members sent to be exposed in the chief towns of the kingdom.’ The
annals of this period abound with beheadings, hangings, and cruelties of every kind.
Nicol, at the very commencement of his minute and interesting Diary, records that (‘ thair
we8 daylie hanging, skurging, nailling of luggis, and binding of pepill to the Trone, and
booring of tongues I ”
The King at length agreed to subscribe the Covenant, finding no other terms could be
had. He was
surrounded with a numerous body of nobles, and attended by a life-guard provided by the
city of Edinburgh. The procession entered at the Water Gate, and rode up the Canongate
and High Street to the Castle, where he was received with a royal salute. On his return
from thence, he walked on foot to the Parliament House, where a magnificent banquet had
been prepared for him by the Magistrates. (( Thereafter he went down to Leith, to ane
ludging belonging to the Lord Balmarinoch, appointed for his resait during his abyding at
Leitl~.”~T he fine old mansion of this family still stands at the corner of Coatfield Lane,
in the Kirkgate. It has a handsome front to the east, ornamented with some curious specimens
of the debased style of Gothic, prevalent in the reign of James VI.
The arrival of the parliamentary forces in Scotland, and the march of Cromwell to
Edinburgh, produced a rapid change in affairs. ‘‘ The enemy,” says Nicol, ‘( placed their
whole horse in and about the town of Restalrig, the foot at that place called Jokis Lodge,
and the cannon at the foot of Salisbury Hill, within the park dyke, and played with their
cannon against the Scottish leaguer, lying in Saint Leonard’s Craigs.” The English army,
They now had recourse to arms.
On the 2nd of August, he landed at Leith, and rode in state to the capital.
Guthrie’s Memoirs, p, 298. 2 Nicol’s Diary, p. 12. a Ibid, p. 21.. ... MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH. manner. They deprived and excommunicated the whole body of Archbishops and ...

Book 10  p. 102
(Score 0.53)

Leith.] WITCHCRAFT IN LEITH; I81
-
dated 15th March, 1603, among many enumerations,
all in favour of Edinburgh, power is again
given the magistrates to enlarge and extend the
port towards the sea, with bulwarks on both sides
of theaiver; and to build, strengthen, and fortify the
Andrew Sadler, through the agency, in the former
case, of a little bag of black plaiding, wherein she
put some grains of wheat, worsted threads of divers
colours, hair, and nails of ? mennis fingeris ;? and
I in the latter case by a shirt dipped in a certain
GRANT?S SQUARE, 1851.~ (A&r a Dmwiw by W. Chanring.)
same in a substantial and durable manner for the
safety of shipping.
As the sixteenth century was drawing to its close,
the criminal records give many instances of the
dark and gross superstition that had spread over
the land even after the days of Knox. Thus, in
1597, Janet Stewart, in the Canongate, and Christian
Livingstone, in Leith, were accused of witchcraft
and casting spells upon Thomas Guthry and
well ; for which alleged crimes they were sentenced
to die on the Castle Hill, ? thair bodies to be
Grant?s Square has entirely disappeared. ?It was,? writes Dr.
Robtrt Paterson, ?the square in which existed the old Parliament
Houu, once occupied in Mary?s time. The m m in which the Par-
L i e n t met must have been a spacious one, as when I remember it it
was divided into numerous smaller rooms for poor tenants, but yet tkc
carved oak panelling and the richly-decorated mof told of former
magnificence. All has, however, now been cleared away, and replaced
by a granary.? ... WITCHCRAFT IN LEITH; I81 - dated 15th March, 1603, among many enumerations, all in favour of Edinburgh, ...

Book 5  p. 181
(Score 0.53)

forth, all neatly done up with red tape. . . .
His own writing apparatus was a very handsome
old box, richly carved, lined with crimson velvet,
and containing ink-bottles, taper-stand, &c., in
silver, The room had no space for pictures, except
one, an original portrait of Claverhouse, which
SIR WALTER SCOTT?S HOUSE, CASTLE STREET.
the upper leaves before opening it. I think I have
mentioned all the furniture of the room, except a
sort of ladder, low, broad, and well carpeted, and
strongly guarded with oaken rails, by which he
helped himself to books from his higher shelves.
On the top step of this convenience, Hinse, a
hung over the chimney-piece, with a Highland
target on either side, and broadswords and dirks
(each having its own story) disposed star-fashion
round them. A few green tin boxes, such as
solicitors keep their deeds in, wee piled over each
other on one side of the window, and on the top of
these lay a fox?s tail, mounted on an antique silver
handle, wherewith, as often as he had occasion to
take down a book, he gently brushed the dust off
venerable tom-cat, fat and sleek, and no longer
very locomotive, usually lay, watching the proceedings
of his master and Maida with an au cif
dignified equanimity.?
Scott?s professional practice at the bar was never
anything to speak of; but in 1812 his salary and
fees as a Principal Clerk of Session were commuted
into a fixed salary of ;Gr,6oo annually, an income
he enjoyed for upwards of twenty-five years. His ... all neatly done up with red tape. . . . His own writing apparatus was a very handsome old box, richly ...

Book 3  p. 164
(Score 0.53)

  Previous Page Previous Results   Next Page More Results

  Back Go back to Edinburgh Bookshelf

Creative Commons License The scans of Edinburgh Bookshelf are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 License.