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216 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
Lord Kinnoull and several other prisoners were equally successful in getting out of the
castle, by letting themselves down over the rock with their sheets and blankets cut into
strips ; and others confined in the Canongate Tolbooth effected, by like means, a similar
jail delivery for themselves.’ When a better understanding had been established between
the Protector and hia Scottish subjects, the old hall was restored to more legitimate uses.
There, in the following year, General Monck and the leaders of the Commonwealth were
feasted with lavish hospitality, and the courts of law resumed their sittings, with an
honest regard for justice scarcely known in Scotland before.
glorious Restoration,” under the auspices of the once republican
general ; and the vice-regent and royal commissioner, the Duke of York, was feasted
with his fair princess and daughter, attended by the beauty and chivalry of Scotland,
anxious to efface all memory of former doing in the same place. But sad as was the
scene of Scotland‘s children held captive in her own capital by English jailers, darker
times were heralded by this vice-regal banquet, when the Duke presided, along with
Dalaiell and Claverhouse, in the same place, to try by torture the passive heroism of the
confessors of the Covenant, and the astute lawyer, Sir George Mackenzie, played the part
of king’s advocate with such zeal, as has won him the popular title which still survives
all others, of “ Bluidy Mackenzie.” The lower rooms, that have so long been dedicated
to the calm seclusion of literary study, are the same that witnessed €he noble, the
enthusiastic, and despairing, alike prostrate at the feet of tyrants, or subjected to
cruel tortures by their merciless award. There Guthrie and Argyll received the barbarous
sentence of their personal enemies without. form of trial, and hundreds of less note
courageously endured the fury of their persecutors, while Mercy and Justice tarried at the
door.
A glimpse at the procedure of this Scottish Star Chamber,-furnished by Fountainhall,
in his account of the trial of six men in October 1681, on account of their religion and
fanaticism,”-may suffice for a key to the justice administered there. Garnock,. one of
the prisoners, having railed at Dalziell in violent terms, “the General in a passion
struck him with the pomel of his shable on the face, till the blood sprung.”a With
such men for judges, and thumbekins, boots, and other instruments of torture as the means
of eliciting the evidence they desired, imagination will find it hard to exceed the horrors
of this infamous tribunal.
Aninteresting trial is mentioned by Fountainhall as having occurred in 1685.8 Richard
Rumbold, one of Cromwell’s old hopsides, was brought up, accused of being implicated in
the Rye House Plot. He had defended himself so stoutly against great odds that he was
Then came the
1 The Scottish prisoners would seem to have been better acquainted with the secrete of their own strongholds than
their English jailem. Nicoll remarks, “ It waa a thing admirable to considder how that the Scottia prissoneris being so
cloalie keepit heir within the Castle of Edinburgh, and in the laich Parliament Hous, and within the Tolbuith of the
Cannogait, and daylie and nychtlie attendit with a gaird of sodgeris, sould Ea oft escaip imprisaonment. And now laitlie,
npone the 27 day of Maij 1654, being Settirday at midnicht, the Lord Kynnoull, the Laird of Lugtoun, ane callit Marechell,
and another callit Hay, by the nioyen of one of the Inglische centrie escapit forth of the Castell of Edinburgh,
being lat doun be thairawin bedscheittis and blankettis, hardlie knut. AlI these four, with ane of the Inglische centrie,
escapit. Thair waa ane uther prettie gentill man, and a brave sodger, eavaping to do the lyke, he, in his doungoing, fell
and brak his neck, the knotia of the scheittia being maid waik by the former persoues wecht that past doun before him.”
-Nicoll‘s Diary, p. 128. ’ Fountainhall’s Decisions, voL i. p. 159. Ibid, vol. i p. 365. ... MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH. Lord Kinnoull and several other prisoners were equally successful in getting out of ...

Book 10  p. 235
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?745.1 THE CASTLE BLOCKADE WITHDRAWN. 331
Livingstone?s Yard, where a Highlander was
assassinated by a soldier, who crept towards him
with a pistol. The same night a party of the 47th
made a sally against the same post, and captured
Captain Robert Taylor and thirty privates.
On the morning of the 4th Preston commenced
a wanton and destructive bombardment, chiefly in
the direction of James?s Court, and continued it till
dusk, when, ?led by Major Robertson, a strong
party, with slung muskets, sallied with spades and
axes to the Castle Hill, where they formed a trench
fourteen feet broad and sixteen deep, midway
between the gate and the reservoir. From the
breastwork formed by the de?bris that night zoo
muskets, besides field pieces, continued to blaze
upon the city, in unison with the heavy 32-pounders,
which from the lofty batteries above swept the
entire length of the High Street with round shot,
grape, and canister. Many persons were killed
and wounded; but the following night the Same
operations were renewed with greater vigour.
Under this tremendous fire the 47th (then numbered
as the 48th) made another sally, pillaged all the
houses in their vicinity, and, after obtaining a
supply of bread and ale, and several barrels of
water from the reservoir, set on fire several houses,
and a deserted foundry, after which they retired
behind their trench. Many of the poor citizens
who attempted to extinguish the flames were killed,
for once more the batteries opened with greater
fury than ever. The glare of the burning houses,
the boom of so many field and battery guns, the
hallooing of the soldiers, the crash of masonry and
timber as chimneys and outshots came thundering
down on all sides, together with the incessant roar
of zoo muskets, struck the inhabitants with such
consternation, that, abandoning their houses, goods,
and chattels, they thought only of saving themselves
by flight. A miserable band of half-clad
and terrified . fugitives, bearing their children, their
aged parents, their sick and infirm friends, to the
number of many hundreds, issued from the Nether
Bow Gate, and fled towards Leith, but were met
midway by the inhabitants of that place, flying
from similar destruction, for at that time the Fox,
and LudZow CastZe, two frigates (whose captains,
from the Roads, had heard the cannonading, and
seen the blaze of the conflagration) were hauled
close in-shore, and lay broadside towards Leith,
and with a villainous cruelty-for which English
hostility towards Scotland was no apology-were
raking and bombarding the streets with the most
fatal effects. . When the fugitives met ?all was
perplexity and dismay ; the unhappy citizens stood
still, wringing their hmds, and exe,crating the cruel
necessities of war.? Fodteen days after, the Pox
was wrecked on the rocks of Dunbar, when Captain
Edmond Beavor and all his crew perished.?
The Highlanders maintained their posts without
Bmching amid all this peril and consternation, and
at five o?clock next evening, in defiance of field
and battery guns, led by their officers, and inspired
by their pipers, they stormed the breastwork by one
wild rush,.sword in hand, driving in the garrison,
which retired firing by platoons; but the capture
was made with such rapidity that the Prince lost.
only one officer and twenty privates. As the
trench was too exposed, it was abandoned. Several
balls went through the Luckenbooths, and many
lodged in the walls of the Weigh-house, where they
were found on its demolition in 1822 j and Charles
Edward, seeing the misery to which Preston ex-.
posed the people, generously withdrew the blockade;
and thus ended the last investment of the
Castle of Edinburgh ; and it was said to be about
this time that he made the narrow escape from,
capture in the Provost?s house in the West Bow.
An act of hostility was committed by General,
Preston on the z 1st September, when, overhearing
some altercation in the dark at the West Port,
where the Highland guard made some delay about.
admitting a lady in a coach drawn by six horses,
he ordered three guns to be loaded with grape,.
depressed, and fired. Though aimed at random,
the coach was pierced by several balls, and its fair
occupant, Mrs. Cockburn, authoress of the modern
version of the ?:Flower$ of the Forest,? had a
narrow escape, while Willkm Earl of Dundonald,.
captain in Forbes?s Foot, who rode by her side,
had his horse shot under him. At that moment,
hlrs. Cockburn, who was returning from Ravelston,
and who was a keen Whig, had in her pocket a
burlesque parody on one cif Prince Charles?s proclamations,
to the air of ?? Clout the Cauldron.?
Another hostile act was committed when the
Highland army, now increased to double its first
strength, was reviewed on the Lipks of Leith prior
to the march for England, when the guns from the
Argyle Battery compelled Charles to change the
scene of his operations to the Links of Musselburgh,
at a time when the Forth was completely
blocked up by ships of war. On the 30th the
Prince slept at Pinkie House, and ?on the 31st
he commenced his memorable invasion of England,
with an army only six thousand in number, but onein
rivalry and valour. They departed in three
columns ; at the head of the third Charles marched
on foot, clad in the Highland garb, with his clay--
more in his hand, and a target slung over his left
s!ioulder.? ... THE CASTLE BLOCKADE WITHDRAWN. 331 Livingstone?s Yard, where a Highlander was assassinated by a soldier, ...

Book 2  p. 331
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the ancient ruby ring which the kings of Scotland
wore at their coronation. It was last used by the
unhappy Charles I., and, after all its wanderings
with his descendants, is now in its old receptacle,
together with the crown, sceptre, sword of state,
and the golden mace of Lord High Treasurer.
The mace, like the sceptre, is surmounted by a
great crystal beryl, stones doubtless of vast antiquity.
The " great beryl " was an amulet which
[Edinburgh Castle.
with the like number of diamonds and sapphires
alternately, and the points tipped with great pearls;
the upper circle is elevated with ten crosses floree,
each adorned in the centre with a great diamond
betwixt four great pearls placed in the cross, one
and one, and these crosses floree are interchanged
with ten high flews de fix, all alternately with the
great pearls below, which top the points of the
second small circle. From the upper circle proceed
cage, the regalia now lie on a white marble table
in the crown-room, together with four other memorials
of the House of Stuart, which belonged
to the venerable Cardinal York, and were deposited
there by order of King William in 1830. These
are the golden collar of the Garter presented to
James VI. by Elizabeth, with its appendage the
George; the order of St. Andrew, cut on an onyx
and having on the reverse the badge of the Thistle,
which opens with a secret spring, revealing a beau-
The ancient crown worn by Robert I. and his
successors underwent no change till it was closed
with four arches by order of James V., and it is
thus described in the document deposited with the
Regalia in the crown-room, in 1707 :-
"The crown is of pure gold, enriched with
many precious stones, diamonds, pearls, and curious
enamellings. It is composed of a fillet which
goes round the head, adorned with twenty-two
large precious stones. Above the great circle there
THE REGALIA OF SCOTLAND. ... ancient ruby ring which the kings of Scotland wore at their coronation. It was last used by the unhappy ...

Book 1  p. 72
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urgh Castle.] THE ROYAL LODGING. 77
for woodwork in the ? Gret Ha? windois in the
Castell, gret gestis and dowbill dalis for the myd
? chalmer, the king?s kechin, and the New Court
kechin in David?s Toure,? and for the Register
House built in 1542 by ?John Merlyoune,? who
first paved the High Street by order of James V.
On the east side of the square is the old palace,
or royal lodging, in which many stirring events
have happened, many a lawless deed been done,
where the longest line of sovereigns in the British
Isles dwelt, and manv have been born and
gorgeous landscape is spread out, reaching almost
to the ancient landmarks of the kingdom, guarded
on the far east by the old keep of Craigmillar, and
on the west by Merchiston Tower.? Besides the
hall in this edifice there was another in the fortress ;
for among the items of the High Treasurer?s accounts,
in 1516, we find for flooring the Lord?s
James VI. was unable to take with him to England
-lay so long hidden from view, and where they are
now exhibited daily to visitors, who number several
thousands every meek. The room was greatly
improved in 1848, when the ceiling was repaired
with massive oak panelling, having shields in bold
relief, and a window was opened to the square.
Two barriers close this room, one a grated door of
vast strength like a small portcullis.
In this building Mary of Guise died in 1550,
and a doomay, bearing the date of 1566, gives
1 have died. It is a handsome edifice, repaired so
~ lately as 1616, as a date remains to show ; but its
octagonal tower, square turrets and battlements,
? were probably designed by Sir James Hamilton
of Finnart, the architect to James V. A semioctagonal
tower of considerable height gives access
to the strongly vaulted and once totally dark room
EDINBURGH, FROM THE KING?S BASTION, 1825. (After EwJank.) ... Castle.] THE ROYAL LODGING. 77 for woodwork in the ? Gret Ha? windois in the Castell, gret gestis and ...

Book 1  p. 77
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222 OLD ?AND NEW EDINBURGH. [West Port.
prehending the main street of the West Port (the
link between Fountainbridge and the Grassmarket),
the whole of Lauriston from the Corn-market and
foot of the Vennel to the Main Point, including
Portland Place on the west, and to Bruntsfield
Links on the east, including Home and Leven
Streets.
In IIGO John AbbotofKelso grantedtoLawrence,
the son of Edmund of Edinburgh, a toft situated
between the West Port and the Castle, on the left
of the entrance into the city. In this little burgh
there were of old eight incorporated trades, deriving
their rights from John Touris of Inverleitk
Many of the houses here were roofed with thatch
in the sixteenth century,
and the barriergate
by which the whole
of the district was cut
off from the city was
milt in 1513, as a port
in the ?,F?lodden wall.
Some gate may, however,
have existed previously,
as Balfour in
his ?Annales,? tells that
the head of Robert Graham,
oneof the assassins
of James I., in 1437,
?was sett ouer the West
Port of Edinburgh ;?
and in I 5 I 5 the head of
Peter Moffat, ?ane
greit swerer and thief,?
was spiked in the same
place, after the reins
of government were
that every man in the city ?be reddy boddin for
weir,? in his best armour at ?? the jow of the common
bell? for its defence if necessary. Nearly
similar orders were issued concerning the gates in
1547, and the warders were to be well armed
with jack, steel helmet, and halberd or Jedmood
axe, finding surety to be never absent from their
In 1538 Mary of Guise made her first entry by
the West Port on St. Margaret?s day, ? with greit
trivmphe,? attended by all the nobility (Diurnal of
OCC.). There James VI. was received by ? King
Solomon ? on his first state entry in 1579 ; and by
it Anne of Denmark entcred in 1590, when she was
posts. (Ibid.)
HIGHRIGGS HOUSE, 1854. (Afler P Drawing by Ihr Aidkor.)
assumed by John Duke of Albany. (? Diurnal of
Occurrents.?)
In the same year it was ordained by the magistrates
and council that only three of the city gates
were to be open daily, viz., ?the West Port, Nether
Bow, and the Kirk-of-Field-and na ma. -4nd
ilk port to haif twa porteris daylie quhill my
Lord Govemoure?s hame coming. [Albany was
then on the Borders, putting down Lord Home?s
rebellion.] And thir porteris suffer na maner of
person on hors nor fute, to enter within this toune
without the President or one of the bailies knaw
of their cuming and gif thame licence. And the
said personis to be convayit to thair lugings be one
of the said porteris, swa that gif ony inconvenient
happenis, that thair hoste niycht answer for thame as
efferis.? (Burgh Records.) It was also ordained
that a fourth part of the citizens should form a
watch every night till the return of Albany, and
received by a long Latin
oration, while the garrison
in the Castle
?gave her thence a
great volley of shot,
with their banners and
ancient displays upon
the walls ? (?( Marriage
of James VI.,? Bann.
Club). Here also in
1633, Charles I. at his
grand entrance was
received by the nymph
Edina, and again at the
Overbow by the Lady
Caledonia, both of
whom welcomed him
in copious verse from
the pen, it is said, of
the loyal cavalier and
poet, Drummond of
Hawthornden.
Fifteen years before this period the Common
Council had purchased the elevated ridge of ground
lying south of the West Port and Grassmarket,
denominated the Highriggs, on a part of which
Heriot?s Hospital was afterwards built, and the
most recent extension of the city wall then took
place for the purpose of enclosing it. A portion of
this wall still fomis the boundary of the hospital
grounds, terminating at the head of the Vennel, in
the only tower of the ancient fortifications now
remaining.
In 1648 the superiority of the Portsburgh was
bought by the city from Sir Adam Hepburn for
the sum of 27,500 merks Scots; and in 1661
the king?s stables were likewise purchased for
EI,OOO Scots, and the admission of James Baisland
to the freedom of Edinburgh.
In 1653 the West Port witnessed a curious
, scene, when Lieutenant-Colonel Cotterel, by order ... OLD ?AND NEW EDINBURGH. [West Port. prehending the main street of the West Port (the link between ...

Book 4  p. 222
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George Street.] THE MASONIC HALL. k5 1
Glasgow Union Bank Company, which dates from
1830; in 1843 the name was changed to the
Union Bank of Scotland. ? As was stated by Mr.
Gairdner to the Committee of the House of
Commons on ?Banks of Issue? (1874), several
private and public banks were incorporated from
time to time in the Union: notably, the Thistle
Bank of Glasgow in 1836, the Paisley Union Bank
iri 1838, the Ayr Bank, the Glasgow Arms and
Ship Gank in 1843, Sir William Forbes and J.
Hunter and Co. in the same year. The Aberdeen
Bank was also absorbed in the Union system in
1849, and the Perth Banking Company in 1857.
The special general ;meeting ?or ? considering
whether or not this bank should be registered
under the Companies Act, 1862,? was called on
the 10th December, 1862, but the bank had in
fact %een so registered on the 3rd November of
the same year. At the meeting, Sir John Stuart
Forbes, Bart., was in the chair, and it was unanimously
agreed ?that it is expedient that the
bank register itself 9s an unliniited company under
the Companies Act, 1862, and that the meeting do
now assent to the. bank being so registered, and
authorise the directors to take all necessary steps
for carrying the motion into effect.?
Opposite the Northern Club-3 mere plain
dwelling-house-is the Masonic Hall and offices
of the grand lodge of Scotland, No. 98, George
Street. The foundation &one was laid on the
24th of June, 1858, with due masonic honours, by
the Grand Master, the Duke of Athole, whose
henchman, a bearded Celt of vast proportions, in
Drumrnond tartan, armed with shield and claymore,
attracted great attention. The streets were lined
by the i7th Lancers and the Staffordshire Militia.
The building was finished in. the following year,
snd, among many objects of great masonic interest,
contains the large picture of the ? Inauguration of
Robert Bums as Poet Laureate of the Grand
Lodge of Scotland,? by William Stewart Watson,
a deceased artist, nephew of George Watson, first
president of the Scottish Academy, and cousin of
the late Sir John Watson-Gordon. He was an ardent
Freemason, and for twenty years was secretary
to the Canongate Kilwinning Lodge.
His picture is a very valuable one, as containing
excellent portraits of many eminent men who took
part in that ceremony. He was the same artist
who designed the embellishments of the library at
Abbotsford, at the special request of Sir Walter
Scott, to whom he was nearly related.
In this office are the rooms and records of the
Grand Secretary, and there the whole general
business of the? entire masonic body in Scotland is
transacted.
Three fine bronze pedestrian statues decorate
this long and stately street.
The first of these statues, at the intersection of
George Street and Hanover Street, to the memory
of George IV., is by Chantrey, and was erected in
November, 183r. It is twelve feet in height, on a
granite pedestal of eighteen feet, executed by Mr.
Wallace. The largest of the blocks weighed
fifteen tons, and all were placed by meatls of some
of the cranes used in the erection of the National
Monument.
The second, at the intersection of Frederick
Street, is ?also by Chantrey, to the memory of
William Pitt, and was erected in 1833.
The third, at the intersection of Castle Street, on
a red granite pedestal, was erected in 1878 to the
memory of Dr. Chalmers, and is by the hand of
Sir John Steel.
CHAPTER XX
QUEEN STREET.
The Philosophical Iostitution-House of Bamn Ode-New Physicians? Hall-Sir James Y. Simpron, M.D.-The House of hf-
Wilson-Sir John Leslic-Lord Rockville-Sir Jams Grant of Grant-The Hopetoun Rooms-Edinburgh Educational Institution
for Ladies.
QUEEN STREET was a facsimile of Princes Street,
but its grouping and surroundings are altogether
different.
Like Princes Street, it is a noble terrace, but not
overlooked at a short distance by the magnificent
castle and the Dunedin of the Middle Ages. It
looks northward pver its whole length on beautiful
gardens laid out in shrubs and flowers, beyond
which lie fair white terraces and streets that far
excel itself-the assembled beauties of another new
town spreading away to the wide blue waters of the
Firth of Forth. How true are the lines of Scott !- ... Street.] THE MASONIC HALL. k5 1 Glasgow Union Bank Company, which dates from 1830; in 1843 the name was ...

Book 3  p. 151
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APPENDIX. 427
1742.-Of this date is Edgar’s map of Edinburgh, engraved for Maitland’s History of Edinburgh. It was
drawn by W illiam Edgar, architect, for the purpose of being published on a much larger scale ; but he died before
this could be accomplished, when it was fortunately engraved by Maithnd, on a scale sdiciently large for reference
to most of its details. It is of p a t value a an accurate and trustworthy ground-plan of the city almost
immediately before the schemes of civic reform began to modify ita ancient features. A very useful companion
to this is a large map, “ including all the latest improvements,” and dedicated to Provost Elder in 1793. It contains
a very complete reference to all the closes and wynda in the Old Town, many of which have since disappeared,
while alterations in the names of those that remain add to the value of this record of their former nomenclature.
1753.-A s mall folio plate of Edinburgh from the north-west, bearing this date, is engraved from a drawing
by Paul Sandby. It appears to have been taken from about the site of Charlotte Square, though- the town ie
represented at a greater distance. Ita chief value arises from the idea it gives of the site of the New Town, consisting,
on the west side of the Castle, where the Lothian Road has since been made, of formal rows of treee, and
beyond them a great extent of ground mostly bare and unenclosed. Old St Cuthbert’s Church is seen at the
foot of the Castle rock, with a square central tower surmounted by a low spira
In 1816 an ingenious old plan of Edinburgh and ita environs wa published by Kirkwood, on a large
scale. He has taken Edgar as his authority for the Old Town; South Leith from a survey by Wood in
1777 ; the intervening ground, including North Leith and the site of the New Town from a survey made in
1759, by John Fergus and Robert Robinson; and the south of Edinburgh, including the whole ground to
the POW Burn, from another made the same year by Jahn Scott. It is further ‘embellished with a reduced
copy of the view of 1580, and a plan of Leith made in 1681. The names of most of the proprietors of ground
are given from the two last surveys, belonging to the town, and the whole forms B tolerably complete and
curious record of the neighbourhood of Edinburgh about the middle of the eighteenth century.
Gough remarks, in his British Topography, with reference to John Clerk, Esq. of Eldin,-whose amateur
performances with the etching needle are coveted by collectors of topographical illustrations, on account of their
rarity, a few impressions only having been printed for private distribution,-“ I am informed he intends to etch
some views of Edinburgh of large size, having made some very accurate drawings for that purpose.’’ Two of
these, at 1 east, have been etched on narrow plates, about fifteen inches long. One of them, aLview from the north,
has Lochend and Logan of Restalrig’s old tower in the foreground ; with the initials J. C., and the date 1774
The other is from the head of the Links, with Wrychtishousis’ mansion in the foreground. They are not, however,
so accurate as Qough-or more probably his Scottish authority, Mr George Paton-had anticipated
To thia list we may add a south view of Edinburgh 1 y Hollar, on two sheets. We have never seen a copy of
it, nor met with any person who has seen more than one of the sheets, now at Cambridge. It is very rare, has
no date, and is perhaps, after all, only a copy of Qordon’s bird’s-eye view. Gough mentions an ancient drawing
of Edinburgh preserved in the Charter Room of Heriot’s Hospital, but no such thing is now known to exist,
although the careful researches of Dr Steven, in the preparation of his History of the Hospital, could hardly have
failed to discover it, had it still remained there.
Of modern views the best is that drawn by W. H. Williams, or a he is more frequently styled, Grecian
Williams, and engraved on a large scale, with great ability and taste, by William Miller. It is taken from the
top of Arthur’s Seat, so that it partakes of the character of a bird’seye view, with all the beauty of correct perspective
and fine pictofical effect.
A rare and interesting print published in 1751, engraved from a drawing by Paul Sandby, preserves a view
of Leith at that period. It ia taken from the old east road, and, owing to the nature of the ground, and the site
of the town being chiefly a declivity towards the river, little more is seen than the nearest rows of houses and
the steeple of St Mary‘s Church. The rural character of the neighbouring downa, however, is curious, a well
as a singular looking old-fashioned carriage, which forms one of the moat prominent objects in the view. ... 427 1742.-Of this date is Edgar’s map of Edinburgh, engraved for Maitland’s History of Edinburgh. It ...

Book 10  p. 466
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416 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
century, it was his turn, along with another of the Royal Chaplains, to officiate.
The latter opened the proceedings with a prayer most elaborately composed for
the occasion. His eloquence attracted notice, and expectation was excited in
regard to the prayer with which the proceedings were to be terminated, and
which fell to be offered by the subject of this sketch, when the reverend gentleman
stood up, and rightly judging that neither the circumstances nor the services
called for anything but the femest and simplest words, with great solemnity
repeated the Lord’s Prayer, to the no small surprise of the audience, some of
whom had the bad taste to term it unsuitable to the occasion,
The death perhaps of no clergyman ever produced a greater sensation in the
neighbourhood where it occurred. It was announced by bills hawked about
the streets of Edinburgh; and the presence of thousands of persons at the
funeral attested the veneration in which their pastor was held. Only one of
Mr. Paul’s sermons was ever published, although some of them have since
appeared in the periodical publications of the day. His venerable widow
survived him till 21st November 1828.
This Print was executed by the artist from recollection, after the reverend
gentleman’s death.
No. CLXIV.
BYRNE, THE IRISH GIANT,
MR. WATSON, MR. M‘GOWAN, MR. FAIRHOLME,
AND
GEORDIE CRANSTOUN.
THIS Print, which is one of the early productions of the artist, represents the
Giant in conversation with Mr. Watson, while Mr. M‘Gowan, Mr. Fairholme,
and Geordie Cranstoun are listening very attentively to what is going on.
Some account of MR. FAIRHOLME, the first figure to the left, will be
found in our notice of “The Connoisseurs.” The likeness here afforded may
not be so accurate or distinct in the outlines as the one in the group alluded to ;
yet the person and attitude are very characteristic of the upright and somewhat
pompous figure of the original.
The next figure presents an equally graphic portraiture of MR. JOHN
M‘GOWAN, who lived for many years in the Luckenbooths, where he occupied
the second and third flats above Creech the bookseller’s shop. He latterly
removed to a house in Princes Street, between Castle and Charlotte Streets,
where he died. ... BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. century, it was his turn, along with another of the Royal Chaplains, to officiate. The ...

Book 8  p. 578
(Score 0.46)

of the most brilliant conversationalists and the
kindest-hearted of men in Edinburgh.
Among the prizes competed for are the gold
THE HIGH SCHOOL.
medal was first awarded." The appendix to
Stevens's history of the famous school contains a
most interesting list of 180 boys, medallists or
city for Greek in the Rector's class ; the Ritchie
gold medal, presented in 1824, by Mr. William
Ritchie, for twenty-three years a master of the
school; the Macdonald, a third class medal,
given by Colonel John Macdonald, of the regiment
of Clan Alpine, son of the celebrated Flora
Macdonald, and presented for the first time in
1824.
The College Bailie silver medal for writing, the
personal gift of the gentleman holding that office
for the year, was first presented in 1814, and for
the last time in 1834.
"The head boy or dux of the school, at the yearly
examination, till about the close of the eighteenth
century," says Dr. Steven, '( usuallyreceived from the
city, as a prize, a copy of the best edition of one of
the classics. This was prior to I 794, when a gold
63
a gold medal given by Lieut.-Colonel Peter
Murray, Adjutant-General in Bengal in 1794, and
the name of which was changed to the Macgregor.
institution in the kingdom has ever sent forth SO
many pupils who have added fresh laurels to the
glory of their country.
In it is still preserved as a relic the carved
stone which was over the principal entrance of the
first school from'1578 to 1777. It bears within a
panel the triple castle of the city, with the initials
I. S., and, under the thistle, the date and legend :-
MVSIS : RESPUBLICA
FLORET. 1578.
Above t6is in a pediment is an imperial cronm,
with two thistles and the initials I. R. 6.
The High School Club, composed of old
scholars, was first instituted in 1849.
At a great entertainment given in the city to Mr.
(afterwards Lord) Brougham, on the 25th of April,
1825, presided over by Henry (afterwards Lord)
Of the distinguished men in every department of
life who conned their studies in the class-rooms, even
of the new High School, it is impossible to attempt ... the most brilliant conversationalists and the kindest-hearted of men in Edinburgh. Among the prizes competed ...

Book 3  p. 113
(Score 0.46)

CHAPTER V.
THE HIGH STREET.
WING to the peculiar site of the Scottish
capital, no extension of the Old Town
beyond its early limits has in any degree
detracted from the importance of its most
ancient thoroughfare, which extends under
different names from the Palace to the
Castle, and may be regarded as of antiquity
coeval with the earliest fortifications of the
citadel to which it leads. Alongside of this
roadway, on the summit of the sloping ridge,
the rude huts of the early Caledonians were
constructed, and the first parish church of St
Giles reared, so early, it is believed, as the
ninth century.’ Fynes Moryson, an English
traveller, who visited Edinburgh in the year
1598, thus describes it :-“ From the King’s Pallace at the east, the city still riseth higher
and higher towards the west, and consists especially of one broad and very faire street,-
which is the greatest part and sole ornament thereof,-the rest of the side streetes and
allies being of poore building, and inhabited with very poore people.” We may add, however,
to his concluding remark, the more accurate observation of the eccentric traveller,
Taylor, the water-poet, who visited the Scottish capital a few years later, and shows his
greater familiarity with its internal features by describing ‘‘ many by-lanes and closes on
each side of the way, wherein are gentlemen’s houses, much fairer than the buildings h the
High Street, for in the High Street the merchants and tradesmen do well, but the gentlemen’s
mansions, and goodIiest houses, are obscurely founded in the aforesaid lanes.”
The preceding chapter is chiefly devoted to some of the more ancient and peculiar
features of this street. Yet strictJy speaking, while every public thoroughfare is styled in
older writs and charters ‘‘ the King’s High Street,” the name was only exclusively applied
Amot, p. 268. * Itinerary, London, 1617. Bann. Mia. vol. ii. p. 393.
VIcmm~-Common Seal of the City of Edinburgh, from a charter dated AD. 1565. Vidc p. 73, for the
Counter Seal ... V. THE HIGH STREET. WING to the peculiar site of the Scottish capital, no extension of the Old ...

Book 10  p. 241
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EDINBURGH PAST AND PRESENT.
Seton, in which James the Sixth was ' graciously pleased to rest himselfe,' the
day on which he journeyed from Holyrood to London, to take possession of
the English Crown.' With the following allusion to that touching incident
Tytler concludes his Hidory of ScotZand:--' As the monarch passed the
House of Seton, near Musselburgh, he was met by the funeral of the Earl of
Winton, a nobleman of high rank; which, with its. solemn movement and
sable trappings, occupied the road, and contrasted strangely and gloomily
with the brilliant pageantry of the royal cavalcade. The Setons were one
of the oldest and proudest families of Scotland; and (the father of) that
Lord whose mortal remains now passed by, had been a faithful adherent of
the King's mother: whose banner he had never deserted, and in whose
cause he had suffered exile and proscription, The meeting was thought
ominous by the people. It appeared, to their excited imagination, as if the
moment had amved when the aristocracy of Scotland was about to merge in
that of Great Britain j as if the Scottish nobles had finished their career of
national glory, and this last representative of their race had been arrested on
THE ROUNDLE.
his road to the grave, to bid farewell to the last of Scotland's kings. As the
mourners moved slowly onward, the monarch himself, participating in these
melancholy feelings, sat down by the wayside, on a stone still pointed out to
the historical pilgrim ; nor did he resume his progress till the gloomy procession
had completely disappeared.'
While Seton Church and Winton House are both about three miles beyond
the eastern border of Midlothian, Niddry Castle, in Linlithgowshireanother
possession of the Seton famiIy-is within a still shorter distance of its
western boundary. Prettily situated on a tributary of the Almond Water, a
The cut of the Roundle in
the text is from a sketch made in 1824. Both the Roundle and the adjoining road were slightly
altered when the North British Railway was constructed in 1845.
1 Si Richard Maitland's Hisfmy of firc Uosrsc of Sqtoun, p. 60. ... PAST AND PRESENT. Seton, in which James the Sixth was ' graciously pleased to rest himselfe,' ...

Book 11  p. 121
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Chongrte.] A LEGEND BY SIR WALTER SCOT?I?. 5 -
when the Castle of Duiiglass was blown up by
gunpowder.
An old house at the head of the Canongate, on
the north side, somewhere in the vicinity of Coull?s
Close, but now removed, was always indicated as
being the scene of that wild story which Scott
relates in his notes to the fifth canto of ?? Rokeby,?
and in his language we prefer to give it here.
He tells us that ?( about the beginning of the
eighteenth century, when the large castles of the
Scottish nobles, and even the secluded hotels,
hke those of the French noblesse, which they
had each 40,000 merks Scots as a fortune, their
uncle, the Earl of Argyle, being cautioner for the
payment, ?for relief whereof he got the wadset of
Lochaber and Badenoch? Lady Jean, a third
daughter, was also married in the ensuing January,
with a fortune of 30,000 merks, to Thomas, Earl
of Haddington, who perished in the following year,
bearers insisted upon his being blindfolded. The
request was enforced by a cocked pistol, and
submitted to ; but in the course of the discussion
he conjectured, from the phrases employed by the
chairmen, and from some parts of their dress not
completely concealed by their cloaks, that they
were greatly above the menial station they had
assumed. After many turnings and windings the
chair was carried upstairs into a lodging, where his
eyes were uncovered, and he was introduced into
a bed-room, where he found a lady nen-ly delivered
of an infant, and he was commanded by his
possessed in Edinburgh, were sometimes the scenes.
of strange and mysterious transactions, a divine of
singular sanctity was called up at midnight to pray
with a person at the point of death. This was no
unusual summons ; but what followed was alarming-
He was put into a sedanchair, and after he had
been transported to a remote part of the town the
EAST END OF HIGH STREET, NETHER BOW, AND WEST END OF CANONGATE. (Frmn G d w ofRofhiemay?r Mu!.)
48, Blackfriars Wynd : 49, l?odrig?s Wynd ; 50, Gay?s Wynd ; 51, St. Mary?s Wynd : 58, Leith Wynd ; 8, Suburbs of the Canongate : g, High
Street : 14, The Nether How ; h, The Nether-bow Port; 18, The Flesh Stocks in the Goongate. ... A LEGEND BY SIR WALTER SCOT?I?. 5 - when the Castle of Duiiglass was blown up by gunpowder. An old ...

Book 3  p. 5
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17451 MACDONALD OF TEINDREICH. 333
landers, after their retreat from England, were besieging
Stirling, Lord Tweeddale wrote to General Guest,
stating that they meant to take the capital again.
On this, the Edinburghers at once held a solemn
council of war, and valiantly resolved to defend the
city; and once more all their plate and valuables
were committed to the care of General Guest. It was
take, Hawley, who had served as a major at
Sheriffniuir, and always expressed contempt 'for
the Highlanders, marched with fourteen battalions,
besides cavalry and artillery, to Falkirk, where his
army was routed as completely as that of Cope
had been, and all his guns were taken, save one
brought off by the 4th Regiment.
CHARLES EDWARD IN HIS LATER YEARS.
(From a Partrait Sy Oeim Humjhy, R.A., iake?a at Fhrme, 1776.)
arranged that a store of provisions should be
immediately laid in, that the cannon should be
mounted on travelling carriages, that the walls and
gates should be more completely fortified, that a
corps of really resolute soldiers should be embodied;
and again arms were issued to the
Seceders, and all who required them ; but on hearing
that Charles had actually made a requisition
for horses to draw his battering train, their courage
evaporated a second time, and all ideas of fighting
were abandoned; but the arrival of General
Hawley's army relieved them from immediate
apprehension.
Erecting an enormous gallows in the Grassmarket,
whereon to hang all prisoners he might
In the Castle he lodged his sole trophy, the
brave Major Donald Macdonald of Teindreich,
who struck the first blow in the revolt at the
Spean Bridge, and who had been captured in the
smoke at Falkirk. He was brought in bound with
ropes,'and kept in a dungeon till he was sent in
chains to Carlisle, to be butchered with many
others. He was a handsome man, and bore his
sufferings with great cheerfulness.
" It was principle, and a thorough conviction of
its being my duty to God, my injured king and
oppressed country," said he, "which induced me
to take up arms under the standard of his Royal
Highness Charles Prince of Wales, and I solemnly
declare I had no bye views in drawing my sword in
' ... MACDONALD OF TEINDREICH. 333 landers, after their retreat from England, were besieging Stirling, Lord ...

Book 2  p. 333
(Score 0.45)

306 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Wardie.
In this district evidences have been found of the
luck,? and it sometimes came ; to propitiate him,
his moderate demands became, ere he died, an
established claim. Hence it would seem that now
to say to a crew at sea, ?(John Brounger ?s in your
head-sheets,? or ?? OR board of you,? is sufficient to
cause her crew to haul in the dredge, ship their
oars, and pull the boat thrice round in a circle, to
break the evil spell, and enough sometimes to make
the crew abandon work.
But apart from such fancies, the industrious
fishermen of Newhaven still possess the noble
qualities. ascribed to them by the historian of
Leith, in the days when old Dr. Johnston was
their pastor : ?It was no sight of ordinary interest
to see the stem and weather-beaten faces of these
hardy seamen subdued by the influence of religious
feeling into an expression of deep reverence and
humility, before their God. Their devotion seemed
. - I mansion, pleasantly situated on the sea-shore, about
to have acquired an additional solemnity of character,
from a consciousness of the peculiarly
hazardous nature of their occupation, which,
throwing tKem immediately and sensibly on the
protection of their Creator every day of their lives,
had im5ued them with a deep sense of gratitude to
that Being, whose outstretched arm had conducted
their little bark in safety through a hundred storms.?
In the first years of the present century there
was a Newhaven stage, advertised daily to start
from William Bell?s coach-office, opposite the Tron
church, at ten am., three and eight p-m.
We need scarcely add, that Newhaven has long
been celebrated for the excellence and variety of
its fish dinne&, served up in more than one oldfashioned
inn, the best known of which was, perhaps,
near the foot of the slope called the Whale
Brae.
CHAPTER XXXVI.
WARDIE, TRINITY, AND GRANTON.
Wardie Muir-Human Remains Found-Banghalm Bower and Trinity Lodge-Christ Church, Trinity-Free Church, Granton Road-Piltoa
-Royston--Camline Park-Grantan-The Piers and Harbours-Morton?s Patent Slip.
WARDIE MUIR must once have been a wide, open,
and desolate space, extending from Inverleith and
Warriston to the shore of the Firth; and from
North Inverleith Mains, of old called Blaw Wearie,
on the west, to Bonnington on the east, traversed
by the narrow streamlet known as Anchorfield
Bum.
Now it is intersected by streets and roads,
studded with fine villas rich in gardens and teeming
with fertility; but how waste and desolate the
muiland must once have been, is evinced b i those
entries in the accounts of the Lord High Treasurer
of Scotland, with reference to firing ,Mons Meg,
in the days when royal salutes were sometimes
fired with shotted guns !
On the 3rd of July, 1558, when the Castle
batteries saluted in honour of the Dauphin?s marriage
with Queen Mary, Mons Meg was fired by
the express desire of the Queen Regent; the
pioneers were paid for ?I their jaboris in mounting
Meg furth of her lair to be schote, and for finding
and carrying her bullet from Wardie Muir to the
Castell,? ten shillings Scots.
Wardie is fully two miles north from the Castle,
and near Granton.
native tribes. Several fragments of human remains
were discovered in 1846, along the coast of
Wardie, in excavating the foundations for a bridge
of the Granton Railway ; and during some earlier
operations for the same railway, on the 27th
September, 1844 a silver and a copper coin of
Philip 11. of Spain were found among a quantity
of huiiian bones, intermingled with sand and shells;
and these at the time were supposed to be a
memento of some great galleon of the Spanish
Armada, cast away upon the rocky coast,
In the beginning of the present century, and
before the roads to Queensferry and Granton
were constructed, the chief or only one in this
quarter was that which, between hedgerows and
trees, led to Trinity, and the principal mansions
near it were Bangholm Bower, called in the
Advertiser for 1789 ? the Farm of Bangholms,?
adjoining the lands of Wamston, and which was
offered for lease, with twelve acres of meadow,
?lying immediately westward of Canonmills Loch;??
Lixmount House, in 1810 the residence of Farquharson
of that ilk and Invercauld; Trinity
Lodge, and one or two others. The latter is
described in the Advertiser for 1783 as a large ... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Wardie. In this district evidences have been found of the luck,? and it sometimes ...

Book 6  p. 306
(Score 0.45)

INDEX. 463
Douglas, Daunie, 239
Cause, 163
Douglas, Heron, & Co.’s Bank, 284
Dow Craig, Calton Hill, 82
Dowie, John, 181
Dowie’s Tavern, Libberton’s Wynd, 164, 181
Downie, accused of High Treason, 123
Drama, Scottish, 285, 326
DreM, 14, 45
Dromedary, Exhibition of a, 286
Drowning, The Punishment of, 454
Drum, The, 115
Drumlanrig, 43
Lord, 299
Drummond, Bishop Abernethy, 265
Lord, 296
of Eawthorndeo, 91, 240
Sir Qeorge, 240
Qeorge, 207
Drumaelch, Forreat of, 276
Drury, Sir William, 84,132, 174, 273, 424
Dryden, 103
Duddingatone, Village of, 111
Dudley, Lord, 294
Dumbarton Castle, 2, 53, 130
Dumfries, William Earl of, 140, 141
Dunbar, Battle of, 93
Church, 129
Lord L’Isle, 49
Penelope, Countess of, 140
Qawin, 38
Town of, 50, 63, 77, 321
William, the Poet, 26, 28, 30
Canongate, 277
Donbar’s Close, 95,224
Dundas, Lord President, 243,253
Sir Lawrence, 259
Dundee, Viscount, 106,123,216,217
Dundonald, Earl of,. 163.
Dunfermline Abbey, 3
Dunkeld’a Palace, Bishop of, 319, 320
Dunnybristle House, 391
Dunrobin Castle, 154
Dunsinnane, Lord, 193
Dureward, Allan, Justiciary of Scotland, 5
Durham, Bishop of, 26
Durie, Abbot, Andrew, 261
Abbot, George;257
Lord, 243
Abbot of, 12,257 ’
Durie’s Close, 244
Dyvoura, 223
Ebranke, 2,419, 423
Edgar, Patrick, 139
Edinburgh, Ancient Maps of, 424
Ancient Painting of, 156
Viscount of, 7
Edmonston, Lord, 208
Edmrd I., 2, 4, 6, 132, 321, 399
II., 6,379
III., 132, 384
IV., 19
Edward VI., 48, 51, 58
Nicol. See Udward
Edwin, King of Northumbria, 2, 419
Eglinton, Earl of, 241
Elgin, Countess of, 166
Elibank, Lord, 143,
Elizabeth, Queen, 61, 62, 68, 89,174
Elliot, Sir Gilbert, 256, 332
Mise Jeanie, 332
Elphinstone, Lord, 309
Susannah, Counteea of, 241,289
Sir George, 286
Secretary, 89
Tower, 51
Elphinstone’s Court, 269, 314
Emblems, Paradin’s, 150
Erskine, Lord, 53
of Dun, 75
Sir Alexander, 227
Exchange, Royal, 122 .
Excise Office, 259
Palconer, William, 275
Falkland, 45, 388
Farquharson, Dr, 180
Fenelon, Xonsieur de la Motte, 175
Fentonbarns, Lord, 267
Fergus I., 91
Ferguson, Robert, the Poet, 106,181, 237, 242, 347
Fettes Row, 196
Fiery C r o ~5, 1
Figgate Whins, 244
Fires, 13, 209
Fisher’s Cloae, 169
Flezning, Lord, 22, 266
Robert, the Plotter, 192
Sir Ifalcolm, 16 .
Sir James, 368
Fleshmarket Close, 242
Canongate, 278
Fletcher, Lawrence, Comedian, 286
Flodden Field, Battle of, 31, 34, 38
Fonts, 142, 147, 353
Forbes, Lord, 48
of Milton, Andrew. See Miltor, h d
Duncan, of Culloden, 112, 192, 209
Sir Alexander, 239
Sir William, 212, 252
Foreman, Andrew, 23
Forglen, Lord, 239, 240
Forreat, Mer., Provost of the Kirk-of-Field, 397
Forrester’s Wynd, 181
Forster, Adam, Lord of Nether Liberton, 385
Fortune’s Tavern, 242
Fountain Close, 270
Fountainhall, Lord, 161, 203, 207,287
Fowler, William, the Poet, 240
Francis I., 41
Fraser of Strichen, Alexander, 261
Freemasons, 431
French Ambwador’s Chapel, Covgate, 328
Well, 258, 391
Tibbie, of the Glen, 367 ... 463 Douglas, Daunie, 239 Cause, 163 Douglas, Heron, & Co.’s Bank, 284 Dow Craig, Calton Hill, ...

Book 10  p. 502
(Score 0.45)

I08 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. . [Craigcrook
Local tradition makes Craigcrook the scene of a
murder, but this is a mistake, though there was
such a crime connected with it.
Mr. John Strachan before-mentioned-whose
charitable bequest is still known as ?the Craigcrook
Mortification?-in 1707 had a house in
the High Street of Edinburgh, which was kept
for him by a servant named Helen Bell, and as
she was l&ft in town a good deal by herself, ?as
other young women in her situation will do, she
two bottles and the large house-key to carry, that
her burden might be lightened,
No doubt she had been intending to take the
old road that led by the Dean to Craigcrook, but
on coming to a narrow and difficult part of the
way, called the Three Step, at the foot of the
Castle Rock, they threw her down and cruelly slew
her by blows of a hammer.
In a confession made subsequently by Thomson,
they hurried back to town, with the intention of
RAVELSTON HOUSE.
admitted young men to see her in her master?s
house.?
On Hallowe?en night, in the year of the Union,
two young craftsmen came to visit her-William
Thomson and John Robertson-whom she chanced
to inform that on Monday morning, the second
morning thereafter, she had to go westward to Craigcrook,
leaving the house in the High Street empty.
At five in the morning of the 3rd of November,
the poor girl locked up the house and set forth on
her short journey, little foreseeing it was the last
she would take on earth. As she was traversing
the dark and silent streets, Thomson and Robertson
joined her, saying they were going a part of the
way, and would escort her. On this she gave them
ransacking Mr. Strachan?s house for money or
valuables, and on passing through the Grassmarket
they swore, mutually, to give their bodies and souls
to the devil if either should inform on the other in
the event of being captured.
?In the empty streets,? says the ?Domestic
Annalist of Scotland,? quoting Wood?s ? History of
Cramond,? ?in the dull grey of the morning,
agitated by the horrid reflections arising from their
barbarous act and its probable consequences, it is
not very wonderful that almost any sort of hallucination
should have taken possession of these
miserable men. It was stated by them that on
Robertson proposing that their engagement should
be engrossed in a bond, a man stated up between ... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. . [Craigcrook Local tradition makes Craigcrook the scene of a murder, but this is a ...

Book 5  p. 108
(Score 0.45)

Braid.] THE LANDS OF BRAID. 41
the city on the south, and directly overlook
Morningside. Their greatest altitude is 700 feet
According to one traditional legend, these hills
were the scene of ? Johnnie 0? Braidislee?s ? woeful
hunting, as related in the old ballad.
exposed to more than one
military visitation from
the garrison in Edinburgh
Castle. Knox?s secretary
records that on the 25th
May twelve soldiers came
to Braid, when the laird
was at supper, and
rifled the house of the
miller. Braid appeared,
but was treated with contempt,
and was told that
they would bum the house
about his ears if he did
not surrender to Captain
Melville, who was one of
the eight sons of Sir lames
Melville of Raith, and his
lady Helen Napier of Merchiston.
Though called ? a
quiet man,? the wrath of
the laird was roused, and
he rushed forth at the
head of his domestics,
the north bank of the latter stream, which meanders
close to it, and which takes its rise in the bosom
of the Pentlands, near the Roman camp above
Bonally.
It is a two-storeyed villa, with a pavilion roof
CHRIST. CHURCH, MORNINGSIDE.
armed with an enormous two-handed sword, and
cut down one of the soldiers, who fired their hackbuts
without effect, and were eventually put to flight.
In the early part of the eighteenth century Braid
belonged to a family named Brown, and a great
portion of it in the present century had passed into
the possession of Gordon of Cluny.
between the Braid Hills and Blackford, stands the
beautiful retreat called the Hermitage of Braid, on
In a romantic, sequestered, and woody dell,
102
and little corner turrets, in that grotesque style of
castellated architecture adopted at Gillespie?s
Hospital, and is evidently designed by the same
architect, though built about the year 1780. It
was the property of Charles Gordon of Cluny,
father of the ill-fated Countess of Stair, the once
beautiful ?Jacky Gordon,? whose marriage was
annulled in 1804, after which it frequently formed
her solitary residence. It afterwards became the
property of the widow of the late John Gordon of ... THE LANDS OF BRAID. 41 the city on the south, and directly overlook Morningside. Their greatest altitude ...

Book 5  p. 41
(Score 0.45)

326 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
of Methven; William Smythe, Esq., advocate; and the Rev. Patrick M.
Smythe, of Tanworth, in the county of Warwick;’ and two daughters, the
eldest of whom was married to the Right Hon. David Boyle, Lord Justice-clerk.
No. CCLXXX.
GENERAL FRANCIS DUNDAS,
SIR HENRY JARDINE,
SIR ROBERT DUNDAS OF BEECHWOOD, BART.,
CAPTAIN HAY,
THE LATE EARL OF EGLINTON,
AND THE
MISSES MAXWELL, ETC.
THIS Print is highly illustrative of society in the Scottish metropolis during
the warlike era of the Volunteers. On the Castle Hill, Princes Street, or the
Meadow Walks, similar groups might be daily witnessed. The first and most
conspicuous of the military gentlemen is the late GENERAL FRANCIS
DUNDAS, son of the second President Dundas, and brother of the late Lord
Chief Baron. At the time the Engraving was executed, in 1795, he was
Colonel of the Scots Brigade-a corps long distinguished in the service of
Holland, and afterwards embodied in the British line as the 94th regiment.
Colonel Dundas attained the rank of Major-General in 1795 ; Lieut.-General
in 1802; and General in 1812. In 1809, he was appointed Colonel of the
71st light infantry, six companies of which were draughted in 1810 to serve
in Spain under the Duke of Wellington.
In 1802-3 he was Governor of Cape of Good Hope, During the brief
peace of Amiens, in accordance with his instructions to evacuate the colony,
the garrison had embarked on board the British squadron ; but having, on the
evening of embarkation, fortunately received counter-orders, the General relanded
1 Another son, George Smythe, Esq., advocate, was unfortunately killed by a fall from a gig.
This gentleman was a member of the Bannatyne Club, and contributed for the use of that Society a
very curious and valuable volume, entitled “Letters of John Grahame of Claverhouse, Viscount of
Dundee, with illustrative documents.” Edin. 1826, 4to. ... BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. of Methven; William Smythe, Esq., advocate; and the Rev. Patrick M. Smythe, of ...

Book 9  p. 434
(Score 0.45)

158 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
however-and the consequent regret of those to whom the offer had been made
-may be imagined, when, by due return of post, intelligence was brought that
the very ticket, which had concerned him so much to get rid of, had turned up
a prize of &10,000 !
He died in 1788.
He married the beautiful Miss Chalmers, sister of the late lady of the venerable
Lord Glenlee, and daughter of an extensive grain merchant in Edinburgh. By
this lady he left one son' and six daughters, most of whom were advantageously
married.
Mr. Thomas Cumming (the son) predeceased his father.
No. CCXXVI.
REV. JOHN WESLEY,
DR. HAMILTON, AND THE REV. MR. COLE.
THIS '' Triumvirate of Methodist Clergymen " was etched by Kay when Mr.
Wesley visited Scotland for the last time, in 1790, The three gentlemen are
portrayed as they appeared in company, while returning from the Castle Hill,
where Mr. Wesley had delivered a sermon. The inscription bears-" Ninetyfour
years have I sojourned on the earth, endeavouring to do good ;" but the
artist must have been misled as to the age of the patriarchal preacher, as he
was then only in his eighty-seventh year,
The leading incidents in the life of the REV. JOHN WESLEY have already
been given with his Portrait in a preceding portion of this Work. With respect
to his voluminous writings, we may remark, that many of them are extensively
known and duly appreciated, especially by the very numerous sect of which he
was the founder; but it is perhaps not generally understood that the talents of
this ceFbrated individual were by no means confined to religious topics aIonephilosophy,
medicine, politics, and poetry by turns engrossed his pen j and he
was a strenuous defender of the administration of Lord North.
The stout figure, supporting the right arm of Mr. Wesley, represents DR.
JAIVES HAMILTON, Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh.
Dr. Hamilton was born at Dunbar in 1740 ; and his medical studies, it is
This gentleman, now dead, was in person something like his grandfather ; about the same size,
but had a much greater rotundity of back. He did not, however, possess the old man's penurious
feelings ; on the contrary, he was exceedingly fond of the turf, and was usually on the race-grounds,
although he seldom left his carriage. ... BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. however-and the consequent regret of those to whom the offer had been made -may be ...

Book 9  p. 212
(Score 0.44)

434 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
which originally appeared in a note to “The Household Book of Lady Marie Stewart, Countess of Mar”&
a work now of great rarity, only a very small edition having been printed. It was edited by Charles Kirkpatrick
Sharpe, Esq. There is no date to it, but we are informed by the editor that it WM published in 1814.
It is aa an illustration of’ the followiq entry of 1st September 1640. (Page 43) The Comptar craveu
allowance of two nights charges, being sent to waitt upon the buriall of COL Blexander, his corps, which was
buried before he came att Tyninghame, 63sh. 4d.” To this the editor appends the following note in reference to
the Colonel :-“ Colonel Alexander Erskine, Lady Mar’s third son, was blown up in the Castle of Dungha,
together with his brother-in-law the Earl of Hadington. ‘ Upon Sunday the 30th August 1640, the Earl of
Hadington, with about eighty persons, of Knights, Barons, and Gentlemen, within the place of Dunglass in the
Merse pertaining heritably to the Lord Hume, was suddenly blown up in the air, by a sudden tire occasioned
thus : Haddington, with his friends and followels, rejoicing how they defended the army’s magazine frae the
English garrison of Berwick, came altogether to Dunglass, having no fear of evil, where they were all sudd edy
blown up with the roof of the house in the air, by powder, whereof there was abundance in this place, and
never bone nor hyre seen of them again’-&aZding. Bishop Guthrie remarks, that ‘ The very day the Scota
entered Newcastle, Dunglass Castle, in the keeping of Haddington (who had left the King’s party, and held it
under Ledie), was blown up about mid-day ; he and about sixty gentlemen were buried under one of the walls,
which fell upon them as they stood in the close. The King said upon it, albeit he had been very ungrateful
to him, yet he was sorry that he had not at his dying some time to repent.’
U Sir Robert cfordon, in his History of the Sutherland Family, asserts that Lord Haddigton and Colonel
Alexander.Erskine had returned the day before from a victorious skirmish with the English, and were at
dinner when the explosion took place. He adds, ‘This was ascryved to a servant of the Earle’s (ane Englishman)
who was his barbour, but how truly I know not.’
“Alexander Erskine, son to John Earl of Mar, had a letter of provision of the abbacy of Cambuskenneth,
31st May 1608. Re and his brother, Lord Cardrm, were two of the chief mourners at the funeral of their
Uncle, Ludovick Duke of Lennox, who died 16th Februay 1624, and was buried at Westminster’(8z’r Robert
Gordon’e ETistory of thc Sutherland Family). He was knighted, but at what time is uncertain, and was in the
French milita,ry service, as appears from a letter printed by Lord Hailes, and communicated by Lord Alva. It
is addressed to a person unknown in France, by the leaders of the Scottish army, written in bad French (which
is translated by Lord Hailes), a d dated from the camp at Dunse, 20th August 1640 :-
a ‘ Sq-The state of our affairs has constrained us to levy a numerous army for preserving this kingdom
from utter ruin ; hence it is that we coidd not permit Colonel Erskine to transport his regiment (into France)
last year, and the same course still obligea us to employ the Colonel at home in the defence of his country.
Although he is exceedingly zealous in the public service, yet he will not accept of any commission from UH,
unless with the consent of his Most Christian Majesty, and under the condition of being permitted to repair to
France at whatever time he may be required. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Peace is the aim of our
desires, and the wish of our souls ; as soon as that is concluded, we shall demonstrate, by our assisting Colonel
Erskine in his levies, and by procuring good recruits for his Majesty’s service, that true Scotsmen can never
forget their ancient alliances, and the common interest which unitea them with fiance ; and therefore, Sir, we
again entreat you to represent what has been here said, and the situation of Colonel Erskine’s affairs, to his
Majesty, and to his Eminence. We hope to obtain these favours by pour means ; and, besidea the obligations
which you will thereby confer on the Colonel, you will oblige ua to remain, Sir, your most humble servants,
k LESLIE. AROYLE. RorEEa. MAR BALCAXRAS. BELMERINOSE. AFOBTE.’
This letter waa written only ten days previous to the Colonel’s death, which tradition affirm8 to have been
regarded as I punishment of Providence for hie amorous pejuriee tow& Anna Bothwell (a &er of Lord
-Holyroodhonse),whose lament has exercised the subtile wits of antiquarians, in the ascertainment of her
pedigree She has been made out to be the divorced Countess of Bothwell, and also, I believe, a Miss Boawell ... MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH. which originally appeared in a note to “The Household Book of Lady Marie Stewart, ...

Book 10  p. 473
(Score 0.44)

334 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Cunie.
? for provisions, and the enemy in confident expectation
of starving them out,asoldier accidentally caught
some fish in his bucket (in the act of drawing water),
which the governor boastingly held out in sight
of the besiegers. On seeing this unexpected store,
the assailants hastily raised the siege, deeming it
hopeless to attempt to starve a garrison that was
so mysteriously supplied.? It is probable that
this episode octurred during the war between the
king?s and queen?s party, which culminated in the
siege of Edinburgh Castle in 1573.
Curriehill Castle, the ancient ruins of which
stand on the opposite bank of the Leith, at a little
distance, and which was the stronghald and ,for
ages the abode of the Skenes, was a place of some
note during that war. Among the six chief places
mentioned as being fortified and garrisoned in the
neighbourhood of Edinburgh are Lennox Tower,
on the loyalists? or queen?s side, and Curriehill
for the king.
In Crawford of Drumsoy?s ?Memoirs of the
Affairs of Scotland,? we find the following, under
date I572 :-
?The siege of Nidderie-Seaton being raised for
the relief of Merchiston, the governor found means
to supply his masters at Edinburgh with some corn
and about fifty or sixty oxen. Those who guarded
the booty mere in their turn taken by the Lairds of
Colington and Curryhill, and imprisoned at Corstorphin.
This galled the loyalists, lest it should
dishearten the governor and garrison of Nidderie;
and to let them see how much they rwented the
loss, the Lord Seaton was sent out with a hundred
horse, who took the Laird of Curryhill out of his
own house, and delivered him to the governor.
The same day he lighted by chance upon Crawford
of Liffnorris, who was coming into Leith, attended
with fifty horse, to assist the Associators. These,
with their leader, were taken without blows, and
were sent next morning to the governor, to keep
Curryhill company, but in a day or two were exchanged
for those at Corstorphin. Seaton, however,
kept the horses to himself, and brought them into
Edinburgh loaded with provisions, which he bought
at a doubleprice from the country people; nor did
the loyalists at any time take so much as one
bushel of corn which they did not pay for, though
they often compelled the owners to sell it.?
Malleny and Baberton, in Cume, are said to
have been the property of James VI. ; and Alexander
Brand, to whom he gave the latter house,
was a favourite of his.
Eastward of, Kinleith, at the north-east end of
the Pentland range, are the remains of a camp
above a pass, through which General Dalyell
marched with the Grey Dragoons and other horse
to attack the Covenanters at Rullion Green, in
1666.
The following is the rofl of the heritors of Currie
Parish in 1691 :-
Lord Ravelrig. Sir John Maitland of Ravelrig
was a senator of the College of Justice, 1689-17 10;
afterward fifth Earl of Lauderdale, who early joined
the Revolution party.
Robert Craig of Riccarton.
John Scott of Malleny.
Alexander Brand of Baberton
Charles Scott of Bavelaw.
Lawrence Cunningham of Balerno, whose family
William Chiesley of Cockburn.
About the niiddle of the last century an English
company endeavoured to work the vein of copper
ore at Eastmiln, but failing to make it profitable,
the attempt was abandoned.
Currie was celebrated in former days as the residence
of several eminent lawyers ; and, curiously
enough, the principal heritors were at one time
nearly all connected with the Court of Session.
Of these, the most eminent were the Skenes of
Curriehill, father and son, said, in the ? Old Statistical
Account,? to have been connected with the
royal family of Scotland.
John Skene of Curriehill came prominently forward
as an advocate in the reign of James VI. In
the year 1578 he appears in a case before the
Privy Council, connected with Hew Campbell of
Loudon, and others, as to the Provostship of the
town of Ayr, and in the following year as Prolocutor
for the magistrates of Stirling, in a case against the
craftsmen of that burgh.
In the year 1588 he was elected to accompany
Sir James Melville of Halhill, the eminent Scottish
memorialist, on a mission to the Court of Denmark.
?I told his Majesty? (James VI.), he records,
?that I would chuse to take with me for a lawyer
Mr. John Skeen. His Majesty said he judged
there were many better lawyers. I said he was best
acquainted with the German customs, and could
make them long harrangues in Latin, and that he
was good, true, and stout, like a Dutchman. Then
his Majesty was content that he should go with
me.?
This mission was concerning the marriage of
Anne of Denmark, and about the Orkney Isles.
In 1594 Sir John Skene of Curriehill was appointed
Lord Clerk Register, and in 1598 he seems
to have shared that office with his son James.
Three years before that he appears to have been an
Octavian-zs the eight lords commissioners, who
was for three centuries resident there. ... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Cunie. ? for provisions, and the enemy in confident expectation of starving them ...

Book 6  p. 334
(Score 0.44)

102 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Coltbridge;.
from Inverleith Row, and a third from the narrow
lane leading to East Warriston House. In the
grounds are spacious catacombs, above which
is a balustraded terrace with a tastefvl little
mortuary chapel; and there are many elegant
monuments. The chief, though the simplest of
these, is the stone which mqks the spot where,
on.the slope of the terrace, lie, with those of some
of his family, the remains of Sir James Young
Simpson, Bart., recalling the sweet lines which were
among the last things he wrote :-
?? Oft in this world?s ceaseless strife,
When flesh and spirit fail me,
I stop and think of another life,
Where ills can never assail me.
Where my weaned arm shall cease its fight,
My heart shall cease its sorrow ;
And this dark night change for the light
? Of an everlasting morrow.?
Near this grave a little Greek temple (designed
by his grandson John Dick Peddie, M.P.) marks
the last resting-place of the venerable Rev. James
. Peddie, who was so long minister of the Bristo
Street Church. Near the eastern gate, under a cross,
lie the remains of Alexander Smith, author of the
*? Life Drama,? and other poems, which attracted
much attention at the time of their publication.
?It claims special notice,? says a writer in the
Scofsmaa, ?as one of the most artistic and appropriate
works of the kind to be seen in our cemeteries.
It is in the form of an Iona or West High-.
land cross of Binney stone, twelve feet in height, set
in a massive square base four feet high. In the centre.
of the shaft is a bronze medallion of the poet, by
William Brodie, R.S.A., an excellent work of art,
and a striking likeness, above which is the inscription
? Alexander Smith, poet and essayist,?
and below are the places and dates of his birth
and death. The upper part of the shaft and the.
cross itself are elaborately carved in a style of?
ornament which, though novel in design, is strictly
characteristic. For the design of this very striking
and beautiful monument the friends of the poet
are indebted to Mr. James Drummond, R.S.k-a
labour of love, in which artistic skill and antiquarian
knowledge have combined to the production of a
work, which, of its own kind is quite unique, and
commands the admiration of the least instructed?
In another part of the ground is an elegant
reproduction of the ?Maclean Cross? of Iona,
erected by a member of the family. The grave of?
Horatio Macculloch, R.S.A., the well-known landscape
painter, is also here, and also that of the Rev.
James Millar, a good, worthy, and pious man, well
known to the whole British army, and remarkable
as being the last Presbyterian chaplain of the Castle
of Edinburgh, who died in 1875, in about the.
thirtieth year of his ministry, and was interred herewith
military honours.
~
CHAPTER X.
THE WESTERN NEW TOWN.
Coltbridge-Rosebum House-Traditions of it--Murrayiield-Lord Henderland-Beechwood-General Leslie-The Dundase-RaveIstm-
The Foulises and Keiths-Craigmk-Its first ProprietorSA Fearful Tragedy-Archibald Constable-Lard Jeffrey-Davidson?s Mains-
Lauriston Castle.
COLTBRIDGE, once a little secluded hamlet qn the
Water of Leith, having two bridges, an old one and
a new one, is now a portion of the western New
Town, but is only famoys as the scene of the
amazing panic exhibited in 1745, by Sir John
Cope?s cavalry, under Brigadier Fowke-the 13th
and 14th Dragoons-who fled in great disorder,
on seeing a few Highland gentlemen-said to be
only seven in number-approach them, mounted,
and firing their pistols, while the little force of
Prince Charles Edward was marching along the old
Glasgow road.
Passing the huge edifices called the Roseburn
Maltings, belonging to the Messrs. Jeffrey, distillers,
consisting of two floors 600 feet in length by 120
in width, for storing ale, a narrow winding path
I leads to the ancient house of Roseburn and theold
Dalry flour mills which now adjoin it.
Small, quaint, and very massively built, with
crowstepped gables and great chimneys, it exhibitsmarks
of very great antiquity, and yet all the history
it possesses is purely traditional. It has two.
door lintels, one of which is the most elaborate
ever seen in Edinburgh, but it has been broken, and
in several places is quite illegible. In the centre
is a shield with the royal arms of Scotland and the:
motto IN DEFENS. There are two other shields,
now defaced; and two tablets, one inscribed thus :-
QVEN. VOU.
VIL. ENTER
AT. CRIST
IS. DVRE
1562. ... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Coltbridge;. from Inverleith Row, and a third from the narrow lane leading to East ...

Book 5  p. 102
(Score 0.44)

IMIPERATC~OERSAI RIT. ITO. CELIO. HADKIANO
ANTONINOA.U G. Pro. PATRIP. ATRIB.
Although the Roman military causeway-o
which some fragments still remain--from Brittano
dunum to Alterva (i.e. from Dunbar ta Cramond
passed close to it, the Castle rock never appear!
to have become a Roman station; and it is suf
ficiently curious that the military engineers of thc
invaders should have neglected such a strong an(
natural fortification as that steep and insulatec
mass, situated as it was in Valentia, one of thei
six provinces in Britain.
Many relics of the Romans have been turnec
up from time to time upon the site of Edinburgh
but not the slightest trace has been found to indicatc
that it was ever occupied by them as a dwelling
place or city. Yet, Ptolemy, in his ? Geography,?
speaks of the place as the Casfrum alaturtz, ??2
winged camp, or a height, flanked on each sid<
by successive heights, girded with interinediatt
valleys.?? Hence, the site may have been a nativt
fort or hill camp of the Ottadeni.
When cutting a new road over the Calton Hill,
in 1817, a Roman urn was found entire; anothei
(supposed to be Roman), eleven and a half inches
in height, was found when digging the foundation
of the north pier ol
the Dean Bridge,
that spans a deep
ravine, through
which the Water ol
Leith finds its way
to the neighbouring
port. In 1782 a
coin of the EmperoI
Vespasian was found
in a garden of the
Pleasance, and is
now in the Museum
of Antiquities ; and
when excavating in ROMAN URN FOUND AT THE DEAN.
(Frwtn th Anfiqnanan Museum.) St. Ninian?s Row, on
the western side of
the Calton, in 1815, there was found a quan?tity of
fine red Samian ware, of the usual embossed character.
In 1822, when enlarging the drain by which
the old bed of the North Loch was? kept dry,
almost at the base of the Castle rock, portions of
ar. ancient Roman causeway were discovered, four
feet below the modem road. Another portion of
a Roman way, composed of irregular rounded
stones, closely rammed together on a bed of
forced soil, coloured with fragments pf brick, was
discovered beneath the foundations of the Trinity
College Church, when it was demolished in 1845.
The portions of it discovered in 1822 included a
branch extending a considerable way eastward
along the north back of the Canongate, towards the
well-known Roman road at Portobello, popularly
known as ? The Fishwives? Causeway.? ? Here,?
says Dr. Wilson, ?we recover the traces of the
Roman way in its course from Eildon to Cramond
and Kinneil, with a diverging road to the importanttown
and harbour at Inveresk, showing beyond
doubt that Edinburgh had formed a Zink between
these several Roman sites.??
Within a few yards of the point where this road
crossed the brow of the city ridge were built into
the wall of a house, nearly opposite to that of
John Knox, two beautifully sculptured heads of
the Emperor Septimius Severus and his wife Julia.
These busts, which Maitland, in his time (I~so),
says were brought from an adjacent building, Wilson
the antiquary conjectures were more probably
found when excavating a foundation; but under
the causeway of High Street, in 1850, two silver
denarii of the same emperor were found in excellent
preservation.
These busts were doubtless some relic of the
visit paid to the colony by Septimius Severus, for
Alexander Gordon, in his ? Itinerarium Septentrionale,?
published in 1726, says :-? About this
time it would appear that Julia, the wife of Severus,
and the greatest part of the imperial family, were
in the country of Caledonia; for Xephilin, from
Dio, mentions a very remarkable occurrence which
there happened to the Empress Julia and the wife
3f Argentocoxus, a Caledonian.??
Passing, however, from the Roman period, many
listant traces have been found of people who
lwelt on, or near, the site of Edinburgh, in what
may be called, if the term be allowable, the preiistoric
period.
In constructing the new road to Leith, leading
iom the centre of Bellevue Crescent, in 1823,
several stone cists, of circumscribed form, wherein
:he bodies had been bent double, were found;
ind these being disposed nearly due east and west,
were assumed, but without evidence, to have been
.he remains of Christians. In 1822 another was
ound in the Royal Circus, buied north and south ;
he skeleton crumbled into dust on being exposed,
ill save the teeth.
During the following year, 1823, several mde
tone coffins were discovered when digging the
oundations of a house in Saxe Coburg Place, near
;t. Bernard?s Chapel. One of them contained two
irns of baked clay, from which circumstance it was
#upposed that this was a place of interment, at the
ieriod when the Romans had penetrated thus far ... RIT. ITO. CELIO. HADKIANO ANTONINOA.U G. Pro. PATRIP. ATRIB. Although the Roman military ...

Book 1  p. 10
(Score 0.44)

North Bridgt.]
were again seen bivouacking all night, on straw or
pallets, under the portico of the house, or in the
adjacent square, for the purpose of securing seats
for their employers the moment the doors were
open. Again it became a recognised amusement
for peop!e to proceed thither after breakfast to see,
about the time of the box-office unclosing, the
fights that ensued between the liverymen and the
imtable Highland porters.
But in the year 1819 Miss O?Neill quitted the
stage, and became eventually Lady Becher of
Ballygiblio Castle, in the couiity of Cork.
THE WAVERLEY DRAMAS.
which she had to pay yearly as rent and purchase.
money.
Thus one day she was shocked and startled by
a harsh, cold letter, in the usual legal form, arresting
all moneys in her hands until certain claims were
settled, at a time when she had scarcely a penny
wherewith to make payment.
It was at this desperate crisis that Walter Scott
came to the rescue. His Rob Roy, operatically
dramatised, hadalreadyproved a marked success at
Covent Garden, and it was now prepared for the
Edinburgh Theatre, with an excellent cast and much
?49
girl, Miss Elizabeth ONeill, ?who seemed designed
by nature to catch the tragic mantle as it fell from
Mrs. Siddons? shoulders,? appeared in the theatre
in August, ISIg-two months after Waterloo.
The characters in which she always achieved the
greatest success were Juliet, Mrs. Haller, Jane
Shore, and Mrs. Beverley ; and on the occasion of
her first appearance, the old scene of the Siddons
furore was renewed, and porters and livery servants
In 1816 Edmund Kean appeared in Edinburgh,
to startle and delight the people by his vivid
action; then came the elder Matthews, with his
wondrous humour and power of mimicry, and then
Miss Stephens and Mr. and Mrs. Charles Kemble ;
yet with all this excellence the management did
not prosper, and when the season of 1819 opened,
matters seemed so gloomy that it was doubtful if
Mrs. Henry Siddons could collect the L2,ooo
THE OLD 1HEATRE ROYAL. (Fmm a Drawing by T. H. Shfherd.publi~hdin 1829.) ... Bridgt.] were again seen bivouacking all night, on straw or pallets, under the portico of the house, or in ...

Book 2  p. 349
(Score 0.44)

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