Edinburgh Bookshelf

Edinburgh Bookshelf

Search

Index for “dreghorn castle”

26 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
continued with great spirit till near two in the morning, when the company sat down to a most
elegant supper, in four different rooms, where they were served with a profusion of the best wines,
and a most superb dessert. After supper, the dancing recommenced with redoubled vigour, and
w a continued till an hour after sunrising.”
In 1806, when the Opposition came into power, Lord Moira was appointed
Master-General of the Ordnance. In 1810 he was nominated Governor of the
Charter-house. The Earl being generally popular, and having zealously exerted
himself in favour of the Prince of Wales, when the parliamentary inquiry into
his financial embarrassments was going on, he thus stood high in the favour of
the Regent. Accordingly, on the assassination of Mr. Percival in 1812, he was
empowered by his Royal Highness to form a new Ministry. With this view
Lord Grey, Grenville, Erskine, etc., were consulted by his lordship ; but, as is
well known, the proposed arrangements came to nothing.
Soon after this the Prince Regent conferred the Order of the Garter on the
Earl; and in 1813 his lordship was appointed Governor-General and Commander-
in-Chief of the forces of British India. He remained nins years in the
East ; and during that period brought two important wars to a satisfactory conclusion,
and managed affairs with the utmost credit to himself and advantage to
the country. As a reward for his services, he was created (on the 7th December
1816) Viscount Loudon, Earl of Rawdon, and Marquis of Hastings, and twice
received the thanks of the Court of Directors of the East India Company, as
well as ’of both Houses of Parliament. In consequence of ill health the Earl
was recalled, at his own desire, in 1822. He returned to England, but without
having enriched himself by his long residence in a country wThich had proved a
source of wealth to his predecessor. During the summer of 1823, his lordship
and family paid a short visit to Loudon Castle,’ their residence in Ayrshire,
This affair gave rise to much local speculation at the time. In a small volume of poems, by
John Ramsay, Kilmarnock, 1836, the event is celebrated in a poem of some length, entitled “ Hope
and Despair ; or, the Loudon Campaign.” In this burlesque effusion the poet satirises his military
townsmen without mercy. In a prefatory note he says- “If half that old Fame detailed of the
preparations made at Loudon for their entertainment was true, such a slaughter had not taken place
since the dedication of Solomon’s Temple. Many went from feelings of respect to the noble veteran ;
others, whose sentiments we had an opportunity of knowing, were attracted by somethiug of a very
different nature; and some had even promised to use their influence to get their friends and
acquaintances introduced to be sharers of the spoil.” It appears that Fame had indeed prodigiously
magnified the “preparations made at Loudon ;” and it is on the well-merited disappointment which
“the guzzlers” experienced that the humour of the poet hinges.
“ Slow murmuring hameward cam’ the squad,
Their bellies swamp, their hearts richt sad ;
The very Major swore-‘By G-d,
And brocht a stain and odium bad,
It wa9 a shame,
On Hastings’ name.’
“ The drummer raised his plaintive wail,
The rocks gave back the doleful tale j
Yea, and the sober evening gale
That swept alang,
Bore far away, o’er hill and dale,
The mournful saug.”

... BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. continued with great spirit till near two in the morning, when the company sat down to a ...

Book 9 p. 35
(Score 0.32)

L UCKENBOOTHS AND PARLIAMENT CLOSE. I97
Bow, . . the buildings on each side of the way being all of squared stone, five,
six, and seven stories high.” When I came first into the High Street,” says another
traveller, writing more than a century after him, ‘‘ I thought I had never seen anything
of the kind more magn3cent.” Gradually, however, the traveller learned, from his
civic entertainers, to mingle suggestions of improvement with his admiration. ‘‘ You
have seen,” says Topham, writing from Edinburgh in 1776, “the famous street at
Lisle, la Rue Royale, leading to the port of Tournay, which is said to be the finest in
Europe, but which, I can assure you, is not to be compared either in length or breadth
to the High Street at Edinburgh.” He adds, however, ‘‘ would they be at the expense
of removing some buildings which obstruct the view, nothing could be conceived .
more magnificent.’’ ’ Similar remarks might be quoted from later travellers ; we shall
only add that of our greatest living landscape painter, k n e r , expressed since the removal
of the Luckenbooths, that ‘‘ the old High Street of Edinburgh was only surpassed in
Europe by that of Oxford” Imposing as the effect of the High Street still is,-
although scarcely a year passes without the loss of some one or other of its ancient and
characteristic features,-we doubt if its broad and unencumbered thoroughfare will ever
again meet with the praise that it received from travellers who had to pass through the
narrow defile of the Purses, or thread their way along by the still more straitened
Krames that clung on to the old church walls. So far as picturesque effect is concerned,
this improvement very much resembles a reform effected of late years in Salisbury
Cathedral. An ancient screen which divided the Lady Chapel from the choir had long
been an eyesore to certain men of taste, who found in the glimpses of the little chapel
that they caught beyond, far too much left to their imagination. It was accordingly
demolished, under the direction of Mr Jamea Wyatt, when, to their surprise, much of the
rich effect of the chapel vanished along with the screen, and they began to think that it
might have been a part of the original designer’s intention to conceal the plain shafts of
the pillars, while their capitals, and the rich groinings of the roof, alone appeared. We
strongly suspect our city reformers fancied that every bit of the old church which the
Luckenbooths concealed was to disclose features as rich as the fine Gothic crown they
saw towering over the chimney-tops.’
The ancient buildings that occupied the middle of the High Street, between the
Tolbooth and the Cross, formed a range of irregular and picturesque lands, nearly all
with timber fronts and lofty peaked gables projecting into the street. Through one of
these, an alley, sometimes called the Old-Kirk Style, led from the head of Advocates’
Close to the old north porch of St Giles’s Church, obliterated in the remodelling of that
venerable edifice. This ancient alley is alluded to by the name it generally received
to the last in Dunbar’s Address to the Merchants of Edinburgh, written about the year
Letters from the North of Scotland, 1754.
Topham’s Lettem, p. 8. There is an amusing tendency in many-minds to regard every near object aa obstructing
the &U, without the least consideration of what liea beyond it. We heard lately of an English lady, who, on her arrival
in Edinburgh, took up her abode in fashionable lodgings at the west end of Princea Street. On B friend inquiring how
she liked the proapect from her window, she replied, that the view would really be very fine, were it not for that great
castle standing in the way I
The chief ornament of Edinburgh is St Giles’s Church, a magnificent Gothic pile, the beauties of which are almost
wholly concealed by the Louses in ita near neighbourhood, particularly the Luckenbooths, which, it is expted, will
shortly be pulled down.”-Campbell’s Journey, 1802, rol. 5. p. 125.
a

... UCKENBOOTHS AND PARLIAMENT CLOSE. I97 Bow, . . the buildings on each side of the way being all of squared stone, ...

Book 10 p. 216
(Score 0.32)

YAMES l? TO ABDICATION OF QUEEN MARK 59
This year also is the period of John Knox's return to Scotland. On his escape from
France-whither he had been carried a prisoner, after the taking of the Castle of St
Andrews-he had remained in England till the death of Edward VI., whence he went for
a time to Geneva. Immediately on his return to Scotland, he began preaching against
the mass, as an idolatrous worship, with such effect that he was summoned before the
ecclesiastical judicatory, held in the Blackfriars' Church in Edinburgh, on the 15th of
May 1556. The case, however, was not pursued at the time, probably from apprehension
of a popular tumult; but the citation had the usual effect of increasing his popularity;
" and it is certain," says Bishop Keith, '' that Mr -Knox preached to a greater auditory
the very day he should have made his appearance, than ever he did before."' At this
time it was that the letter was written by him to the Queen Regent, entreating for
reformation in the Church, which, on its being delivered to her by the Earl of Glencairn,
she composedly handed it to the Archbishop of Glasgow, after glancing at it, saying-
" Please y-o.u , my Lord, to look at a pasquill I "-a striking contrast to the influence he
afterwards exercised over her royal daughter.' No sooner had John Knox accepted an
invitation, which he received that same year, from an English congregation at Geneva,
than the clergy cited him anew before them, and in default of his appearance, he was
condemned as an heretic, and burned in effigy at the Cross of Edinburgh.
Towards the close of the year 1555, the City of Edinburgh gave a sumptuous
entertainment to the Danish Ambassador, at the expense of twenty-five pounds, seventeen
shillings, and one penny Scots I doubtless a magnificent civic feast in those days.' About
this time, the Queen Regent, acting under the advice of her French councillors, excited
the general indignation of the Scottish nobility and people in general, by a scheme for
raising a standing army, to supersede the usual national force, composed of the nobles
and their retainers, and which was to be supported by a tax imposed on every man's
estate and substance. Numerous private assemblies of the barons and gentlemen took
place to organise a determined opposition to the scheme ; and at length three hundred of
them assembled in the Abbey Church of Holyrood, and despatched the Lairds of Calder
and Wemyss to the Queen Regent and her council, with so resolute a remonstrance, that
the Queen was fain to abandon the project, and thought them little worthy of thanks that
were the inventors of what proved a fertile source of unpopularity to her government'
The contentions arising from differences in religion now daily increased, and the populace
of the capital were among the foremost to manifest their zeal against the ancient faith.
In the year 1556, they destroyed the statues of the Virgin Mary, Trinity, and St Francis,
in St Giles's Church, which led to a very indignant remonstrance from the Queen Regent,
addressed to the magistrates ; but they do not seem to have been justly chargeable with
sympathy in such reforming movements, as we find the council of that same year, in
addition to other marks of honour conferred on the Provost, ordering that for his greater
state, the servants of all the inhabitants shall attend him, with lighted torches, from the
vespers or evening prayers, to his house.6
On the breaking out of war between England and France, in 1557, the Queen Regent,
.
1 Bishop Keith's History, vol. i. p. 150.
8 Council Registers, Maitland, p. 14.
Calderwood's Historp, Wodrow Soc., voL i. p. 316.
Bishop Leslie'n Hist., p. 255.
Maitland, p. 14.

... l? TO ABDICATION OF QUEEN MARK 59 This year also is the period of John Knox's return to Scotland. On ...

Book 10 p. 64
(Score 0.32)

BATTLE OF FLODDEN TO DEATH OF JAMES V. 41
address and vigour, and with only two attendants, made his escape from t.he Douglas faction,
at Falkland, to Stirling Castle. Shortly after this, he repaired to Edinburgh, whither he
summoned his barons to advise with him, and, with a degree of decision far beyond his
years, proceeded to assert his own independence and authority. One of the acts of this
Parliament against them, “ quha cummis and burnis folkes in their howis,”’ exhibits in no
very pleasing light the rude violence prevailing at the period.
The year 1530 is assigned as the date of Lindsay’s famous satire, The Complaint of
the Papingo,’ which may be regarded as the first note of the reforming movement by him,
of whom Pinkerton has said, ‘‘ In fact, Sir David was more the reformer of Scotland than
John Knox ; for he had prepared the pound, and John only sowed the seed” The farewell
of the papingo to the capital is couched in terms the more flattering, as coming
from so keen 8 sathi&,-
“ Adew Edinburgh, thou heich triumphand toun,
Within quhose boundia, richt blgthful have I bene,
Of trew merchandin, the rute of thie regioun,
Most reddy to resaave Court, King, and Queue;
Thy policie, and justice, may be sene,
Were devotioun, wysedom, and honestie,
And credence, tint, they micht be found in thee.”
Various notices occurring ahout this period, exhibit the first symptoms of the reforming
doctrines showing themselves in the capital, e.g., in the Diurnal of Occurrents for 1532,
“ In this zeir was ane greit objuratioun of the favouraris of Mertene Lutar, in the Abbay
of Halymdhous.” About the same period, it records the destruction of nearly the whole
town by an accidental fire. This same year, the nobles assembled at Edinburgh, at the
King’s summons, with their followers, to the number of twelve thousand, for the famous
hunting match, in which Johnnie Armstrong, the Border reiver, renowned in song and
story, was hanged, ‘( to daunton the theives of Tividaill and Annandaill.”
Notice has already been taken of Dunbar’s allusions to the Court of Session, in the
former reign, but now, in 1537, the King instituted the College of Justice, and established
the Court on a pernianent footing, with the confirmation of Pope Clement VII.
This event is one of the most important in the history of Edinburgh, on which, from that
time, both its prosperity and its metropolitan claims have more depended than on any occurrence
in its history ; and which, from the aecurity and the ready means of redress it afforded
to the inhabitants against the turbulent nobles of the period, made the town a place of
greater resort than it had ever before been.
The King now, with that self-reliance and energy that marked his entire character, after
negotiating for the hand of various noble ladies in marriage, set sail from Leith, accompanied
by a large fleet and a numerous retinue; and, arriving at the French Court, he wooed
and won for himself the Princess Magdalene, eldest daughter of Francis I. On the 29th
of May the royal pair landed at Leith, amid every display of welcome; and after tarrying
for a few days at the Palace of Holyrood, till the preparations of the citizens were
completed, the Queen made. her entry in atatc into the capital, with processions of great
Scots Actg 1Zmq TO]. i. p. 201. ’ Parrot. ‘ Hawthornden, p. 99. Scots Ads, 12m0, vol i. p. 217,
Diurnal of Occurrents, p, 15. ’ Pitscottie, voL ii. p. 342.

... OF FLODDEN TO DEATH OF JAMES V. 41 address and vigour, and with only two attendants, made his escape from ...

Book 10 p. 45
(Score 0.32)

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 127
they were assembled round a small hill or knoll 2t the village called HoodshiZl,
where the Colonel had caused breakfast to be prepared for them, and where a
vast crowd had assembled to witness their departure. Mrs, Montgomerie and
her two daughters, the latter of whom were attired in scarlet riding-habits, with
Highland bonnets, together with the Colonel and several of the neighbouring
gentry, also breakfasted in a tent set apart for them, When breakfast was
finished, and the soldiers marshalled in close order, the lady of Coilsfield,
ascending a proper eminence on the hill, addressed them in a neat and appropriate
speech. She regretted the occurrence of circumstances by which they
were called from their homes ; but she hoped that Scotland would never lack
the hearty support of her sons when a foreign foe threatened invasion. To ;the
women-some of whom were assembled no doubt to take leave of their husbands
or lovers-she observed that, however disagreeable parting might be,
it was a bereavement which she herself, in common with them all, had to submit
to, and which it became them to endure with becoming resolution. Mrs.
Montgomerie concluded her address, during which she was repeatedly cheered,
by expressing a hope that peace would soon restore their friends. The volunteers,
who were in regimentals, and presented a very fine appearance, then
deployed in marching order, the villagers following and cheering them for
several miles.
Immediately after the West Lowland Fencibles had been embodied, Colonel
Montgomerie raised another corps for more extended service, called the “ Glasgow
Regiment,” which was disbanded in 1795, the men being drafted into
other regiments of the line. About this time the Colonel was appointed Lieut.-
Governor of Edinburgh Castle, in the room of Lord Elphinston.
In 17’96 he was again returned Member of Parliament for the county of
Ayr ; but his seat became vacated almost immediately after, having succeeded
to the earldom of Eglinton, upon the death of his cousin Archibald,’ t.ho eleventh
Earl, on the 30th October of the same year.
While limited to the patrimonial revenue of Coilsfield,P the Colonel was
doubt, uncornmonly expeditious ; in proof of which it is told that on some particular occasion he
had made a coat in one day ; but then his “ steeks” were prodigiously long, and with him fashion
was out of the question, abiding 3s he always did by the “good old plan.” The result was, that,
while his brethren of the needle were paid eightpence a day, Sannders acknowledged his inferiority
by claiming no more than sixpence ! The military ardour of the poet was somewhat evanescent.
Whether the duties were too fatiguing, or whether his compatriots had no relish for poetical excitements,
we know not ; but true it is that, in the dusk of a summer evening, some few weeks after
the departure of the Fencibles, Saunders WBS seen entering the village, leading a goat which he had
procured in his travels, and followed by a band of youngsten, who had gone to meet him on his
approach. “ Sawney Tait ” lived to a great age ; and retained his spirit and activity to the last.
Brother.to Alexauder, the tenth Earl, who was shot in the well-known affair with Mungo
Campbell. Their mother was the celebrated Countess of Eglinton, no less famed for her mental
accomplishments than her beauty. She w a ~th e patron of Allan Ramsay, who dedicated “The
Gentle Shepherd” to her, and a great patroness of literature.
* The old family of Coilsfield are still remembered for their homely manner and kind attention
to the people in the neighbourhood. During the winter season, it was no uncommon thing to see
the old Laird at the loch, surrounded by a number of his elderly tenanta, in keen “curling contest
against the Najor, with an equal number of the more youthful villagers. These contests were

... SKETCHES. 127 they were assembled round a small hill or knoll 2t the village called HoodshiZl, where ...

Book 9 p. 170
(Score 0.32)

YAMES V. TO ABDICATION OF QUEEN MAR Y. 69
The Three Estates immediately assembled at Edinburgh on the 16th of January, and
despatched the Lord James, the chief leader of the Congregation, as ambassador to the
Scottish Queen, to invite her return to her own dominions. Ere his departure on this
mission, four commissioners arrived from the Queen, with assurances of her intention of
speedily returning home, and meanwhile bearing a commission to certain of the leading
men of Scotland, authorising them to summon a Parliament.
About this time a serious riot occurred in Edinburgh. ( L That the work of reformation
might not be retarded, Sanderson, deacon of the fleshera, or butchers, was, by the Council,
ordered to be carted for adultery.”’ This the trades resented, as a general insult to their
body, and assembling in a tumultuous manner, they broke open the prison and released
him from durance. The magistrates, on this, applied to the Privy Council for aid against
the rioters-a number of the craftsmen were committed prisoners to the Castle, and the
corporations so intimidated, that they made humble supplication to the Council for release
of their brethren, promising all obedience and submission to the magistrates in time
coming. Upon this the craftsmen were released, and the offending deacon, it may be presumed,
duly carted according to order.
The magistrates the same year removed the Corn Market, from the corner of Marlin’s
Wynd, Cowgate (where Blair Street now is), to the east end of the Grassmarket, where
it continued to be held till the present century. At the same time, they forbade the
continuance of a practice that then prevailed of holding public markets on the Sundays,
and keeping open shops and taverns during divine service, under the pain of corporal
punishment.z
The enforcement of some of the more stringent enactments that had been‘introduced
for the reformation of manners, gave rise to another and more serious tumult. Notwithstanding
the acts already referred to, the people still attempted the revival of some
of their ancient games. On the 21st of June, a number of the craftsmen and apprentices
united together for the purpose of playing Robin Hood-“which enormity was of many
years left off, and condemned by statute.:’ The magistrates intedeered, and took from
them some weapons and an ensign. This the populace keenly resented, the city gates
were held by the mob, and numerous acts of violence committed. The magistrates, to
appease them, restored the banner and other spoils; but, watching a favourable
opportunity, they seized on James Gillon, a shoemaker, one of the ringleaders of the mob,
tried him on the charge of stealing ten crowns, and condemned him to be hanged. The
deacons of the crafts used all their influence with the magistmtes to obtain his pardon,
but in vain. A deputation from the same body waited on John Knox, and besought his
influence on behalf of the offender, but he refused to be a patron to their impiety.” A
gallows was erected below the Cross, and all preparations completed for the execution,
when the rioters resumed their weapens, broke down the gallows, and put the magistrates
to flight; pursuing them till they took refuge in a writer’s booth. There they were held
captive, while the mob proceeded to assault the Tolbooth within sight of them. They
broke in the door with sledge hammers, and set Gillon and all the other prisoners at
liberty. On their departure, the magistrates took refuge in the Tolbooth, and thence
fired on them on their return from an attempt to pasa out by the Nether Bow Port;
Council Register, Nov. 22d, 1560. Maitland, p. 20. Ibid.
...-

... V. TO ABDICATION OF QUEEN MAR Y. 69 The Three Estates immediately assembled at Edinburgh on the 16th of ...

Book 10 p. 75
(Score 0.32)

3’AME.Y TO ABDICATION OF QUEEN MARE: 79
A loud explosion about two o’clock in the morning, while it shook the whole town and
startled the inhabitants from their sleep, satisfied the conspirators that their plot had
succeeded. An arch still exists in the city wall, behind the Infirmary, described by Arnot
as the door-way leading into the Provost’s house, which was built against the wall. Itg
position, however, is further to the east than the house is shown to have stood; and
Malcolm Laing supposes it to have been a gunrport, connected with a projecting tower,
which formerly existed directly opposite Roxburgh Street ; but its appearance and position
are much more those of a doorway, and no port-hole resembling it occurs in my other
part of the wall. In a drawing of the locality at the time of the murder, preserved in the
State Paper Ofiice (a fac-simile of which is engraved in Chalmers’s Life of Queen Mary),
the ruins of the Provost’s house seem to extend nearly to the projecting tower, so that the
tradition is not without some appearance of probability.
The murder of Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, proved fatal to the hapless Queen of
Scotland. She took refuge for a time in the Castle of Edinburgh, and only left it, on
the urgent remonstrance of her Council, who dreaded injury to her health from her “ close
and solitary life.”
On Saturday, the 12th of April, the Earl of Bothwell was arraigned in the Tolbooth,
on the charge of the murder, but no evidence appeared against him, and he was acquitted.
It is not our province in this history to follow out the narrative of his forcible ravishment
of the Queen, and the fatal consequences in which she was thereby involved. On the
15th of June 1567, she surrendered to the Earl of Morton, at Carbery Hill, near Musselburgh.
It was late in the evening before the captive Queen entered Edinburgh, but she was
recognised as she passed along the streets, and assailed with insulting cries from the rude
populace. She was lodged in the Black Turnpike, the town house of the Provost, Sir
Simon Preston.’ This ancient and most interesting building stood to the west of the
Tron Church, occupying part of the ground now left vacant, as the entrance to Hunter
Square, and the site of the corner house. Mrtitland describes it as a ‘‘ magnificent edifice,
which, were it not partly defaced by a false wooden front, would appear to be the most
sumptuous building perhaps in Edinburgh.” The views that exist of it, show it to have
been a stately and imposing pile of building, of unusual height and extent, even among
the huge “ lands ” in the old High Street. At the time of its demolition, in 1788, it was
believed to be the most ancient house in Edinburgh.
Here Queen Mary passed the night, in a small apartment, whose window looked to the
street; and the first thing that met her eye on looking forth in the morning was a large
white banner, ‘‘ stented betwixt two spears,” whereon was painted the murdered Darnley,
with the words, “ Judge and revenge my cause, 0 Lord.” The poor Queen exclaimed to
the assembled multitude,--“ Good people, either satisfy your cruelty and hatred by taking
away my miserable life, or release me from the hands of such inhuman tyrants.” Some
of the rude rabble again renewed their insulting cries, but the citizens displayed their
ancient standard, the Blue Blanket, and ran to arms for her deliverance ; and hadnot the
confederates removed her to Holyrood, on pretence of restoring her to liberty, she might
probably have been safe for a time under her burgher guards.
See the VIGNETTaEt t he head of this Chapter.

... TO ABDICATION OF QUEEN MARE: 79 A loud explosion about two o’clock in the morning, while it shook the ...

Book 10 p. 86
(Score 0.32)

36 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
expected manner ; they no doubt regretted that luxury and taste for improvement had led
them so far out into the unprotected country.' But they certainly did afterwards retrieve
their native character of prudence, as scarcely a house arose beyond the second wall for
two hundred and fifty years; and if Edinburgh increased in any respect, it was only by
piling new flats on the Ancient Royalty, and adding to the height rather than to the
extent of the city.'
The utmost energy was immediately displayed in supplying the needful defences ; the
farmers of the Lothians lent their labourers and horses to the national work ; the citizens
rivalled one another in their zeal for the fortification of the capital against the dreaded
foe, '( our auld inymis of Ingland." ' So that, in an incredibly short time, the extended
city was enclosed within defensive walls, with ports, and battlements, and towers, an
effective protection against the military engineering of the age.
Considerable portions of this wall have remained to the present time, exhibiting abundant
tokens of the haste with which it was erected, as well as preserving, in the name of
the Flodden wall, by which it is still known, another proof of the deep impression that
disastrous field had left on the popular mind.
Fortunately for Scotland, Henry VIII. was too deeply engrossed with the French war
to follow up the advantage he had gained; and Queen Margaret, who now assumed the
government in name of her infant son, having appealed to his generosity, towards a sister
and nephew, he willingly secured the neutrality of the Scots by a peace. Shortly after
this truce, a legate arrived at Edinburgh from the Pope, bearing his congratulations to the
young King on his accession to the crown,s and presented him with a consecrated cap
and sword from his Holiness-the latter of which is still preserved among the Regalia
in Edinburgh Castle.
C1515.1 The nation now experienced all the evils of's long minority; the Queen
having speedily accepted Archibald Douglas, Earl of Angus, in marriage, was thereby
held to have forfeited the Regency; a6d from this time, till the young King
asserted his independence, the people knew Rcarcely any other rule than the anarchy
of rival factions contending for power, in all. which the capitaT had always a principal
share.
The Earl of Arran, upon the marriage of the Queen, marched to Edinburgh, numerously
attended by his kinsmen and friends, and laid claim to the Regency, as the nearest of
blood to the King. The Earl of Ang-us immediately followed him thither, attended by
above 500 armed retainers, ready to assert his claims against every opponent. So soon as
Arran, who, '' with the chief of the nobility of the west, had assembled at the Archbishop
of Glasgow's house, in the foot of Blackfrier Wynd,'" had learned of his arrival, he ordered.
the gates to be secured, little aware of the formidable host he was thus enclosing within the
walls. On the following morning, Angus received early intimation of the rash scheme of
his rival, for making him prisoner, and lost no time in mustering his followers, whom he
drew up, well armed and in battle array, above the Nether Bow, and thereupon a fierce and
sanguinary conflict ensued between them, which was not stayed till Sir Patrick Hamilton,
Montgomery, and above seventy men had fallen in the affray. Though the Regent pub-
Chambers's Traditions, vol. i p. 3.
Balfour's Ann. vol. i. p. 239.
1 Diurnal of Occurrents. ' Crawford's Live#, vol. i. p. 69.

... MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH. expected manner ; they no doubt regretted that luxury and taste for improvement had ...

Book 10 p. 38
(Score 0.32)

I 86 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
The ancient prison of Edinburgh had its EAST and WEST ENDS, known to the last by
these same distinctive appellations, that mark the patrician and plebeian districts of the
British metropolis. The line of division is apparent in our engraved view, showing the
western and larger portion of the building constructed of coarse rubble work, while
the earlier edifice, at the east end, was built of polished stone. This distinction was
still more apparent on the north side, which, though much more ornamental, could
only be viewed in detail, owing to the narrowness of the street, and has not, as far
as we are aware, been represented in any engraving.’ It had, on the first floor, a large
and deeply splayed square window, decorated on either side with richly carved Gothic
niches, surmounted with ornamental canopies of varied designs. A smaller window
on the floor above was flanked with similar decorations, the whole of which were, in all
probability, originally filled with statues. Maitland mentions, and attempts to refute, a
tradition that this had been the mansion of the Provost of St Giles’s Church, but there
seems little reason to doubt that it had been originally erected as some such appendage
to t,he church. The style of ornament was entirely that of a collegiate building attached
to an ecclesiastical edifice ; and its situation and architectural adornments suggest the
idea of its having been the residence of the Provost or Dean, while the prebends and
other members of the college were accommodated in the buildings on the south side
of the church, removed in the year 1632 to make way for the Parliament House. If this
idea is correct, the edifice was, in all probability, built shortly after the year 1466, when
a charter was granted by King James III., erecting St Giles’s into a collegiate church ;
and it may further have included a chapter-house for the college, whose convenient
dimensions would lead to its adoption as a place of meeting for the Scottish Parliaments.
The date thus assigned to the most ancient portion of the “ Heart; of Midlothian,”
receives considerable confirmation from the style of the building ; but
Parliaments had assembled in Edinburgh long before that period ; three, at least, were
held there during the reign of James I., and when his assassination at Perth, iu 1437, led
to the abandonment of the Fair City as the chief residence of the Court, and thh ’capital of
the kingdom, the first general council of the new reign took place in the Castle of Edinburgh.
We have already described the remains of the Old‘ Parliament Hall still existing
there; and this, it is probable, was the scene of all such assemblies as were held at
Edinburgh in earlier reigns.
The next Parliament of James 11. was summoned to meet at Stirling, the following
year, in the month of March; but another was held that same year in the month of
November, “ in pretorio burgi de Edinburgh.” The same Latin term for the Tolbooth is
repeated in the minutes of another Assembly of the Estates held there in 1449 ; and, in
1451, the old Scottish name appears for the first time in “ the parleament of ane richt hie
and excellent prince, and our soverane lorde, James the Secunde, be the grace of Gode,
King of Scotts, haldyn at Edinburgh the begunyn in the Tolbuth of the samyn.”2 A
much older, and probably larger, erection must therefore have existed on the site of the
We have drawn the view at the head of the Chapter from a slight aketch taken shortly before ita demolition, by
Mr D. Somerville ; with the assistance of a most ingenious model of St Giles’s Church and the aurroonding buildings,
made by the Rev. John She, about the year 1805, to which we were also partly indebted for the south view of the aame
building.
Acts of Scottish Parliaments, folio, vol. ii.

... 86 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH. The ancient prison of Edinburgh had its EAST and WEST ENDS, known to the last ...

Book 10 p. 204
(Score 0.32)

HISTORICAL INCIDENTS AFTER THE RESTORATION. 1 I7
terior, with the embrasures and loop-holes, aa it appeared before the erection of the Infant
School there.
We have already mentioned the erection of the wall in Leith Wynd, a considerable
portion of which still remains, by virtue of an Act of Parliament in 1540.' Maitland
describes another addition in 1560, extending from thence to the end of the North Loch,
at the foot of Halkerston's Wynd.' The southern wall of the west wing of Trinity Hospital
included part of this ancient defence. It stood about six feet south from the present
retaining wall of the North British Railway, in the Physic Gardens: and was a piece of
such substantial masonry, that its demolition, in 1845, was attended with great labour,
requiring the use of wedges to break up the solid mam. In 1591, the citizens were
empowered, by Parliament, to raise money on all lands and rents within Edinburgh, towards
strengthening the town, by an addition of height and thickness to its walls, with forcing
places, bulwarks, or flankers, 8;c. ; * and finally, the Common Council having, in 1618,
bought from Tours of Innerleith ten acres of land at the Creyfriars' Port, they immediately
ordered it to be enclosed with a wall, a considerable portion of which forms the western
boundary of the Heriot's Hospital grounds. It only remains to be added, that the last
attempt made to render these walls an effective defence, wa.s in the memorable year 1745;
with how little success has already been narrated. From the evidence brought out in the
course of Provost Stewart's trial, they seem to have been, at that period, in a most ruinous
condition, and it is improbable that any efforts were made after that to stay their further
decay.
The changes wrought upon the town itself during the same period are no less remarkable.
Owing to its peculiar situation, crowning the ridge of the hill, on the highest point
of which the Castle is perched, and sloping off to the low grounds on either side, its limits
seemed to our ancestors to be defined almost beyond the possibility of enlargement. The
only approach to the main street, from the west, previous to the commencement of the
North Bridge, in 1765, was up the steep and crooked thoroughfare of the West Bow, by
which kings and nobles so often entered in state, and from thence it extended, in unbroken
continuity to St Mary's and Leith Wynds. The remainder of the street, through the
Canongate, has fortunately, as yet, escaped the revision of '' improvements commissioners,"
and presents, in the continuation of the principal thoroughfare through the Nether Bow to
the Palace, many antique features, awaking associations of the period when the Scottish
nobility resided there in ciose vicinity to the Court.
A very few years, however, have sufficed to do the work of centuries in the demolition
of time-honoured and interesting fabrics. St Giles's Church has been renovated externally,
and reduced to the insipid standard of modern uniformity. George IV. Bridge, and its
approaches, have swept away nearly all the West Bow, Gosford's and the Old Bank Closes,
Libberton's Wynd, and some of the most interesting houses in the Cowgate. The projectors
of the New College have taken for its site another portion, including the Guise Palace,
in. Blyth's Clow, which bore, on its north front, the earliest date then existing on any
private building in Edinburgh ; and the same parties, in their zeal to do honour to Knox's
,
1 Ante, p. 44.
a Maitland, p. 20, where it ia defined aa at the foot of Libbwton'r Wynd, but this is obviously an error. ' So called from having long been the site of the Botanical Gardens. ' Kaitland, p, 45.

... INCIDENTS AFTER THE RESTORATION. 1 I7 terior, with the embrasures and loop-holes, aa it appeared before ...

Book 10 p. 128
(Score 0.32)

257 . - High Street.; LADY LOVAT.
She was received by Lord Lovat with an extravagant
affectation of welcome, and with many assurances
of the happiness his lady would receive from
seeing her. The chief then went to the lonely
tower in which Lady Lovat was secluded, without
decent clothes, and even without sufficient nourish.
ment. He laid a dress before her becoming her
rank, commanded her to put it on, to appear and
to receive her friend
as if she were the mistress
of the house in
which she was, in fact,
a half-starved prisoner.
And such was the strict
watch he maintained,
and the terror which
his character inspired,
that the visitor durst
not ask, nor LadyLovat
communicate, anything
respecting her real
situation.?
Long after, by a
closely-written letter,
concealed in a clue of
yarn dropped over a
window of the Castle
to a confidant below,
she was enabled to let
her relations know how
she was treated, and
means were taken to
separate her judicially
from her husband.
When, years after, his
share in the Jacobite
rising in 1745 brought
him to the Tower of
London, Lady Lovat
thought only of her
arrears, &so0 of which she spent in furnishing her
house at the head of the Blackfriars Wynd; and
small though her income she was long famous in
Edinburgh for her chanty and. goodness to the
poor.
In her gloomy house, on the first floor of the
turnpike stair, with a cook, maid, and page, she
not only maintained herself in the style of a gentle-
BLACKFRIARS WYND.
duties as a wife, and offered to attend him there ;
but he declined the proposal, and the letter in
which he did so contained the only expressions
of kindness he had bestowed upon her since their
marriage day; but he made no reference to her
in the farewell letter which he sent to his son
Simon, the Master of Lovat, to whose care he
specially commended his other children.
After his execution some demur arose about the
jointure of his unfortunate widow-only A190 per
annum-and for years she was left destitute, till
some of her friends, among others Lord Strichen,
offered money on loan, which, being of an independent
spirit, she declined. At length the dispute
was settled, and she received a p:etty large suiii of
33
woman of the period,
but could give a warm
weicome to many a
poor Highland cousin
whose all was lost OF
the field of Culloden.
Lady Dorothea Primrose,
who was her niece,
and third daughter of
Archibald first Earl of
Rosebery, lived with
her for many years,
and to her, in the goodness
of her heart, she
assigned the brightest
rooms, that overlooked
the broad High Street,
contenting herself with
the gloomier, that faced
the wynd. There, too,
she supported for years
another broken-down
old lady, the Mistress
of Elphinstone, whose
nightly supper of porridge
was on one occasion
fatally poisoned
by a half-idiot grandson
of her ladyship.
She was small in
stature, and retained
much of her beauty
and singular delicacy of feature and complexion
even in old age. ??When at home her dress
was a red silk gown, with ruffled cuffs, and sleeves
puckered like a man?s shirt, a fly-cap encircling
the head, with a mob-cap laid across it, falling
over the cheeks and tied under the chin; her
hair dressed and powdered; it double muslin
handkerchief round the neck and bosom ; Zammerbeads;
a white lawn apron edged with lace ; black
stockings with red gushets, and high-heeled shoes.
. . . , As her chair emerged from the head of
the Blackfriars Wynd, any one who saw her sitting
in it, so neat and fresh and clean, would have
taken her for a queen in wax-work pasted up in a
glass case,? .

... . - High Street.; LADY LOVAT. She was received by Lord Lovat with an extravagant affectation of welcome, and ...

Book 2 p. 257
(Score 0.32)

THE LA WNMARKET. 171
The son and namesake of the first William Little was Provost of Edinburgh in 1591,
and helped to complete the work which his generous relatives had so well begun. On the
election of a librarian, in the year 1647, we find the Magistrates showing a grateful sense
of their obligations to these noble benefactors of the town, by appointing a descendant of
theirs to the office. ‘4 Many favoured Mr Thomas Speir, son of an honest family, laureat
at the Lambas preceeding, especially in regard of his grandfather, William Little, Provost,
a most especial friend to the Colledge, and his great grand-uncle, Mr Clement Little,
commissary of Edinburgh, who gave the first being to the library.”’
The house, although occupied towards the close of last century as the Sheriff-clerk’s
chambers, remained an entailed property in the possession of Clement Little’s descendants,
until its demolition, and the principal carved stones are now preeerved in the garden at
Inch House. According to the traditions of last century, as Creech informs us in his ‘‘ Fugitive Pieces,’’ this interesting old mansion formed the residence of Cromwell during
part of the time he resided in Edinburgh,’ possibly while engaged in the siege of the
Castle. This close, which bears, in the earliest titles of property within it, the name of its
old residenter, Clement Little, appears in Edgar’s map of 1742, as Lord Cullen’n Close, so
that here also resided that eminent lawyer and judge, Sir Francis Grant of Cullen, who, in
1689, almost singly swayed the whole Scottish nation, when vacillating between the feudal
vassallage due to the old line of kings, and their sense of violated rights by its latest
representative; and to whose influence was mainly owing the happy consistency of the
Scottish Parliament in their declaration that King James had, by his own act, forfeited
his throne, and left it vacant. He was raised to the bench in 1709, yet, though thus acute
on other people’s matters, Lord Cullen was so utterly regardless about his own, that his
more shrewd and calculating spouse was accustomed to have all questions relating to his
own property represented to him in the form of a case; ” and having obtained his
opinion as a lawyer, she took the advice for her direction, without troubling him with
further information as to whom it concerned. His friend, Wodrow, has recorded in his
history the closing scene of his life,-a scene which we may associate with the ancient
alley that bore his name :-{‘ Brother,” said he to one who informed him of his mortal
illness, “you have brought me the best news ever I heard I ” And the historian adds, in
figurative depiction,
The transition is great from this single-minded and upright judge to the next
occupant who gave his name to the close, which it still retains, that of William, or, as he
was more generally called, Deacon Brodie. This notorious character, who was executed
at the Old Tolbooth on the 1st of October 1788, resided in the same elegant mansion
as had previously been the abode of such very different persons,-a suitable enough
dwelling for one who stood high in repute as a wealthy and substantial citizen, until the
daring robbery of the Excise Office in Chessel’s Court, Canongate, brought to light a longcontinued
system of housebreaking, scarcely ever surpassed in reckless audacity.’
The principal apartment in the house was lofty and elegant in its proportions. A
large arched window gave light to it from the west, and a painting on the panelling,
That day when he died was without a cloud I ”
l Craufurd‘s Hiat., p. 159.
a For a particular account of this worthy, see Kay’~P ortraits, vol. i. p. 256,
’ Edinburgh Fugitive Piecen, p. 64.

... LA WNMARKET. 171 The son and namesake of the first William Little was Provost of Edinburgh in 1591, and ...

Book 10 p. 186
(Score 0.32)

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 187
In the unfortunate “ Walcheren Expedition,” undertaken in 1809, under
the late Earl of Chatham, the Marquis commanded the fourth division. The
object of this armament, which had been fitted out on a very extensive scale,
was the destruction of the fleet and arsenal at Anbwerp, but except in the bombardment
of Flushing, the expedition entirely failed of success.
With the Walcheren expedition closed the foreign military career of the
Marquis of Huntly. His subsequent life was distinguished bya patriotic and active
zeal in whatever tended to the honour or advantage of his native country. He was
long a member, and frequently President, of the Highland Society, an association
which has done so much to improve the agriculture and condition of the
peasantry of Scotland. As a mark of distinction, in 1813, the Marquis was
appointed General of the ancient body denominated the Royal Archers of
Scotland, or King’s Body Guard. Of the Celtic Society he was also an equally
honoured member ; and, in short, in all patriotic or national associations he was
found to yield enthusiastic co-operation.
On the death of his lordship’s father, in 1827, he succeeded to the dukedom
of Gordon in Scotland, and the earldom of Norwich in England ; and in the
still more extended sphere of influence thus opened to him, the spirit which
had animated the Marquis continued to be manifested in the Duke. The great
improvements which he effected on his extensive estates-the exquisite taste
displayed in laying out the grounds and ornamenting the lawns around the
princely Castle of Gordon-together with his successful .exertions in improving
the breed of Highland cattle, and promoting agriculture, are well-known instances
of the Duke’s untiring zeal and perseverance.
He married, in 1813, Elizabeth, daughter of the late Alexander Brodie,
Esq. of Am Hall, but had no issue. His Grace died at London in June 1836,’
and with him the dukedom of Gordon and earldom of Norwich became extinct.
The title of Marquis of Huntly, and some of the inferior dignities, devolved to
his Grace’s ‘‘ heir-male whatsoever,” the Earl of Aboyne. The estates passed
by virtue of an entail to his nephew, the Duke of Richmond.
As a tribute to the memory of the Duke of Gordon, we beg to append the following letter of
condolence to the Duchess from the Governors of the London Scottish Hospital, whose opportunities
of knowing his Grace’s exertions in the cause of charity give peculiar weight to their sentiments :
Unto her Grace Elizabeth Duchess of Gordon, Marchioness of Huntly, Countess of
Huntly; Enzie, and Norwich, Viscountess of Inverness, etc. etc etc. etc.
MADAM,
WE, the Vice-Presidents, Treasurer, and Governors of the Scottish Hospital of the foundation of
King Charles the Second, re-incorporated by King George the Third, in General Court assembled,
beg leave thus to olfer our heartfelt condolence upon the severe bereavement with which God in his
Providence has seen meet to make trial of your “faith and patience.”
Be assured, Madam, that it is not in the observance of a mere formality, but because of that
alfectionate regard which we must ever entertain for the memory of our late noble President, that
we intrude thus early upon that grief in which we do sincerely participate.
When, at the command of our present most gracious King and Patron, the Duke of Gordon
entered upon the Presidency of this Institution, we congratulated ourselves on the acquisition of a
nobleman whose ancient and honourable lineage, and whose generous, chivalrous character, concurred
with his previoua knowledge of the Society, and zeal for its interests, to recommend him to our

... SKETCHES. 187 In the unfortunate “ Walcheren Expedition,” undertaken in 1809, under the late ...

Book 8 p. 264
(Score 0.32)

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 273
The same paragraph thus briefly relates the story of the standard, which had
caused so much speculation :-
“ On the celebrated 21st of March, when the French Invincibles found their retreat entirely
cut off by the Highlanders, two French officers advanced to Major Stirling and delivered their
standard into his hands, who immediately committed it to the charge of Sergeant Sinclair. Sinclair
being afterwards wounded, it was picked up in the field by a private of the Minorca corps, who
carried it to his own regiment. The standard was marked with the names of the different victories
of the Hero of Italy, but considerably worn. The name of the battle of Lodi was scarcely
visible.”
The following short account of the third monthly meeting of the Highland
Society of London, on the 23d of April 1802, is from a newspaper of that
period, and may not be deemed unentertaining :-
“ The meeting was held at the Shakspeare Tavern, Covent Garden, Lord Macdonald, president
for the year, in the chair. The company was very numerous, among whom appeared Lieut.-
Colonel Dickson, and thirteen officers of the 42d Regiment, in their uniforms, wearing the gold
medals presented to them by the Grand Signior. An elegant dinner was served at half-past six
o’clock, during which several national airs on the pipe were performed by the pipers of the
Society ; and a few pibrochs, with wonderful skill and execution, by Biichsnan, Pipe-Major of
the 42d Regiment. After dinner, severalloyal and appropriate toasts were given in the Gaelic
language, and many plaintive and martial songs were sung ; and the greatest harmony and
conviviality prevailed during the evening.‘ On the complimentary toast to the 42d Regiment,
and the two other Highland corps on the Egyptian service, having bcen given, the following
Stanza, the exemptore composition of a member present, was introduced by Digoum in the
characteristic air of ‘ The Garb of Old Gaul :’-
‘ The Pillar of Pompey, and famed Pyramids,
Have witnessed our valour and triumphant deeds ;
Th‘ Invincible standard from Frenchmen we bore,
In the land of the Reys, the laurels we wore ;
For such the fire of Highlanders, when brought into the field,
That Bonaparte’s Invincibles must perish, or must yield ;
We’ll bravely fight, like heroes bold, for honour and applause,
And we defy the Consul and the world to alter oiir laws.’ ”
The “Royal Highlanders ” returned to Scotland h 1802, and experienced
the most gratifying reception in all the towns as they marched from England
towards the capital of their own country, where they were welcomed with excess
of kindness and applause. During their stay in Edinburgh at this period the
regiment was presented with a new set of colours, on which were the figure of
a sphinx, and the word Egypt, as emblematic memorials of their gallant services
in the campaign of 1801. The interesting ceremony took place on the
Castle Hill, where, the regiment having been formed, the Rev. Principal Baird
delivered an appropriate prayer ; after which the Commander-in-Chief, General
Vyse, presented the colours to Colonel Dickson, and addressed his “ brother
soldiers of the 42d Regiment ” in a very energetic harangue. A vast concourse
of spectators were present on the occasion, amongst whom were the Duke of
Buccleuch, General Don, Colonels Cameron, Scott, Eaillie, Graham, and
several other military officers.
Gow’s band of ins€rumental music, Murphy the Irish piper, together with the vocal strains
of Dignum, and other public singers, added much to the general festivity.
VOL. 11. 2 N

... SKETCHES. 273 The same paragraph thus briefly relates the story of the standard, which had caused so ...

Book 9 p. 363
(Score 0.32)

Leith.] HOME-COMING OF MONS MEG. 209
by the foot o the Calton Hill towards the Palace
of Holyrood.
As a souvenir of this event, on the first anniversary
of it a massive plate was inserted on the
Shore, in the exact spot on which the king first
placed his foot, and there it remains to this day,
with a suitable inscription commemorative of the
event.
In 1829, Mons Meg, which, among other ord
nance deemed unserviceable, had been transmitted
by the ignorance of an officer to London, and retained
there in the Tower, was, by the patriotic
efforts of Sir Walter Scott, sent home to Scotland.
This famous old cannon, deemed a kind of Palladium
by the Scots, after an absence of seventy-five
years, was landed from the Happy Janet, and after
lying for a time in the Naval Yard, till arrangements
were made, the gun was conveyed to the Castle by
a team of ten horses decked with laurels, preceded
by two led horses, mounted by boys clad in tartans
with broadswords. The escort was formed by a
123
grooms and esquires; Sir Patrick Walker, as
Usher of the White Rod; a long alternation of
cavalry and infantry, city dignitaries, and Highlanders,
followed.
At the end of the vista, preceded by ten royal
footmen, two and two, sixteen yeomen of the
Scottish Guard, escorted by the Royal Archers,
came the king, followed by the head-quarter staff,
three clans of Highlanders, two squadrons of Lothian
yeomanry, three of the 3rd Dragoon Guards, Scots
Greys, and the Grenadiers of the 77th regiment;
and after some delay in going through the ceremony
of receiving the city keys-which no monarch
had touched since the days of Charles I.-the
magnificent train moved through the living masses
Lochend to the latter on the east, tA-e middle of
Leith Walk on the south, and Wardie Bum on the
west.
Adam White was the first Provost of Leith after
the passing of the Burgh Reform Bill in 1833;
and it is now governed by a chief magistrate, four
bailies, ten councillors, a treasurer, town clerk, and
two joint assessors.
Powers have since then been conferred upon the
Provost of Leith as admiral, and the bailies as
admirals-depute. There are in the town four
principal corporations - the Shipmasters, the
Traffickers, the Malt-men, and the Trades. The
Traffickers, or Merchant Company, have lost their
charter, and are merely a benefit society, without
the power of compelling entries ; and the Ship
masters, ordinarily called the Trinity House, vi11
be noticed in connection with that institution.
The Trades Corporation is multifarious, and
independently of it there is a body called ? The
Convenery,? consisting of members delegated from
troop of the 3rd Dragoon Guards, and detachments
of the Koyal Artillery and Highlanders. In the
evening the Celtic Society, all kilted, IOO strong,
dined together in honour of the event, Sir Walter
Scott in the chair; and on this occasion the old
saying was not forgotten, that Scotland would
never be Scotland till Mons Meg cam hame.?
The gun was then on the same ancient carriage
on which it had been taken away.
It was not until 1827 that the precise limits of
Leith as a town were defined, and a territory given
to it which, if filled, would almost enable it to vie
with the metropolis in extent, More extensive
boundaries were afterwards assigned, and these
are the Firth of Forth on the north, a line from
SIGNAL TOWER, LEITH PIER, 1775. (ABw Ckrk ofEUin.)

... HOME-COMING OF MONS MEG. 209 by the foot o the Calton Hill towards the Palace of Holyrood. As a souvenir ...

Book 6 p. 209
(Score 0.32)

26 MEMORIALS OF EDlNBURGH.
expenses of the building, preserve a valuable record of its progress and character; no
expense seems to have been spared to render it a fitting residence for the future Queen.
Though some idea of the homely fashion of building still common, may be inferred from
an allusion of Dunbar, in his poem of the “ Warld‘s Instabilitie : ”-
“Qreit Abbais grayth I nil1 to gather,
Bot ane Kirk scant coverit with hclder ! ”
James IV. was not only an eminent encourager of literature, but by fame reputed both a
poet and musician, though nothing survives from his pen but the metrical order to his
treasurer, in reply to “The Petition of the Grey Horse, Auld Dunbar;” but whatever
may have been the value of his own productions, his taste is abundantly proved by the
eminent men he drew around him.
Gawin Douglas undoubtedly owed his fkvour at court, as well as the friendship and
patronage of the Queen, and the partiality of Leo X. at a later period, to his learning and
talents,, when through their good offices, he obtained, against the most violent opposition,
his appointment to the bishopric of Dunkeld in 1516. Kennedy, too, seems to have been
tt constant attendant at court, while Dunbar was on the most intimate footing with
his royal master, and employed by him on the most confidential missions to foreign courts.
In 1501, he visited England with the ambassadors sent to conclude the negotiations for
the King’s marriage, and to witness the ceremony of affiancing the Princess Margaret in
January following ; and atclength, on the 7th of August 1503, the Queen, who had attained
the mature age of fourteen years, made her public eutrance into Edinburgh, amid every
demonstration of national rejoicing. A most minute account of her reception has been
preserved by John Young, Somerset Herald, her attendant, and an eye-witness of the whole;
which exhibits, in an interesting light, the wealth and refinement of the Scottish capital at
this period.’ The King met his fair bride at the castle of Dalkeith, where she was hospitably
entertained by the Earl of Morton, and having greeted her with knightly courtesy,
and passed the day in her company, he returned to hys bed at Edinborg, varey well
countent of so fayr meetyng.” The Queen was attended on her journey by the Archbishop
of York, the Bishop of Durham, the Earl of Surrey, and a numerous and noble retinue ;
and was received, on her near approach to Edinburgh, by the King richly apparelled in
cloth of gold, the Earl of Bothwell bearing the sword of state before him, and attended by
the principal nobility of the c o ~ r t . ~Th e King, coming down from his own horse, (‘k yssed
her in her litre, and mounting on the pallefray of the Qwene, and the said Qwene behind
hym, so rode thorow the towne of Edenburgh.” On their way, they were entertained with
an opposite scene of romantic chivalry-a knight-errant rescuing his dietressed ladye love
from the hands of her ravisher. The royal party were met at the entry to the town by the
Grey Friars-whose monastery, in the Grassmarket, they had to pass-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 “ angells synging joyously for the comynge of so noble a ladye,” while another
angel presented to her the keys of the city. .I
Dunbar’s Memoira D. Laing. 1834. ’ Leland’s Collectanea, vol. iv. p. 287-300. 8 Ibicl, 287.

... MEMORIALS OF EDlNBURGH. expenses of the building, preserve a valuable record of its progress and character; ...

Book 10 p. 28
(Score 0.32)

a2 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
Deacons mustered the whole burgher force of the city, armed and equipped in warlike array,
and marched at their head to the Links of Leith. From thence the magistrates proceeded
to the town, and ‘( held ane court upon the Tolbuyth stair of Leith, and created bailies,
sergeants, clerks, and demstars,’ and took possession. thereof by virtue of their infeftment
made by the Queen’s grace to them.”’ The superiority thus established, continued to be
maintained, often with despotic rigour, until the independence of Leith was secured by the
Burgh Reform Bill of 1833.
On the 22d of August, the Earl of Murray was invested with the dignity of Regent,
and proclamation of the same made at the Cross of Edinburgh; with great magnificence
and solemnity. In his strong hand, the sceptre was again swayed for a brief period with
such stern rigour, as checked the turbulent factions, and restored, to a great extent, tranquillity
to the people. But his regency was of brief duration; he fell by the hand of
an assassin in the month of January 1570, and the Earl of Lennox succeeded to hie
office. He was buried in St Giles’s Church, and a monument erected to his memory
in the south transept, which remained a point of peculiar attraction in the old fabric,
until it was most barbarously demolished, during the alterations effected on the building
in 1829.
The Castle, at this time, was held by Sir William Kirkaldy of Grange, who still adhered
to the Queen’e party ; and he abundantly availed himself of the unsettled state of affairs
to strengaen his position. He had seized all provisions brought into Leith, and raised and
trained soldiers with little interruption. On the 28th of March 1571, he took forcible
possession of St Giles’s Church, and manned the steeple to keep the citizens in awe ; and
again on the 1st of May, the Duke of Chatelherault, having entered the town with 300
men, the men of war in the steeple, ‘( slappit all the pendis of the kirk,’ for keeping
thairof aganis my Lord Regent,” and immediate preparations were made for the defence
of the town. Troops crowded into the city, and others mustered against it, the Regent
being bent on holding a Parliament there. The Estates accordingly assembled in the
Canongate, without the walls, but within the liberties of the city, which extended to
St John’s Cross, and a battery was erected for their protection, upon (‘ the Dow Craig‘
abone the Trinity College, beside Edinburgh, to ding and seige the north-east quarter of
the burgh.’’ ’
The place indicated is obviously that portion of the Calton Hill where the house of the
governor of the jail now stands, a most commanding position for the purpose in view ;
from this an almost constant firing was kept up on the city during the sittings of the Parliament.
The opposite party retaliated by erecting a battery in the Blackfriars (the old
High School Yard), from which they greatly damaged the houses in the Canongate, while
the Nether Bow Port was built up with stone and lime, the more effectually to exclude
them from the usual place of meeting.
Diligent preparations were made for the defence of the town after the Parliament had
withdrawn. On the 6th of June, commandment was given ‘‘ by the lords of the nobility
in Edinburgh, to tir and tak down all the tymmer work of all houses in Leith Wynd and
Le., Judge8 or doomem, latterly hangmen. 9 Diurnal of Occurrents, p. 117.
e Diurnal of Oocurrenta, p. 213.
3 Ibid, p. 202.
6 Most probably from the Gaelic A, i c , Black Craig.
i.e., Broke out loap-holes in the arched roof.

... MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH. Deacons mustered the whole burgher force of the city, armed and equipped in warlike ...

Book 10 p. 90
(Score 0.32)

YAMES V. TO ABDICATION OF QUEEN MARY. 71
each of them frankly disclosing opinions, involviig the causes ‘of the collision that
speedily followed.
The Queen soon after made a progress to the north, and on her return to Edinburgh,
preparations were made on a most magnificent scale for welcoming her. On the 3d of
September, she dined in the Castle, and thereafter made her public entry. Fifty black
slaves, magniiicently apparelled, received her at the west gate of the city; twelve of the
chief citizens, dressed in black velvet gowns, with coats and doublets of crimson satin,
bore a canopy, under which ahe rode in state, and immediately on her entry, a lovely boy
descended from a globe, and addressing her in congratulatory verses, at which she was
seen to smile, presented her with the keys of t,he city, and a Bible and Psalter. The most
costly arrangements were made for her reception ; all the citizens were required to appear
in gowns of fine French satin and coats of velvet, and the young men to devise for
themselves some befitting habiliments of taffeta, or other silk, to convey the Court in
triumph. A public banquet was given to the Queen and the noble strangers by whom
she was accompanied ; and most ingenious masks and pageants provided for her entertainment,
peculiarly chagacteristic of the times. A mystery was performed, in which Korah,
Dathan, and Abiram were destroyed, while offering strange fire upon the altar, as a
warning of the vengeance of God upon idolaters. A still more significant interlude had
been provided for her Majesty’s benefit, in which a priest was to have been burnt at the
altar while elevating the host; but the Earl of Huntly persuaded them, with aome
difficulty, to content themselves with the first allegory.
All the public way through which the procession had to pass, was adorned with splendid
hangings and devices, and the Nether Bow Port, where the Queen bade adieu to her entertainers,
was decorated for the occasion in the most costly fashion.‘
The ancient Tolbooth, or “ Pretorium,” as it is styled in the early Acts of the Scottish
Parliaments, had fallen, at this time, into a very decayed and ruinous condition. The
Queen addressed a letter to the Town Council, bearing date the 6th of February 1561,
charging the Provost, Bailies, and Council to take it down with all possible diligence, and
provide, meanwhile, sufficient accommodation elsewhere for the Lords of the Session and
others ministering justice.
The royal letter expresses a most affectionate dread for “ the skayth and great slaughter”
that may happen to the lieges by the downfall of the building, if not speedily prevented ;
but no apology seems to have been thought necessary for the very arbitrary demand
that the city of Edinburgh should erect, at its own charge, parliament and court-houses
for the whole kingdom. The proceedings of the Town Council, for many months after
this, are replete with allusions to the many difficulties they had to encounter in raising
money and providing materials for the new building. The master of’ the works is
ordered “gyf the tymmer of the Auld Tolbuith will serve for the wark of the New
Tolbuith, to tak the same as ma serve.” In consequence of the proceedings, in
obedience to this order, the renters of the neighbouring booths appear with no very gentle
remonstrance against him, complaining “ that presentlie the maister of wark was takand
away the jeists above their buthis, quhilk jeists had been bocht be thame, and laid thair,
and wes thair awin propir guddis.” The magistrates seem to have pacified them with a
’ Council Register, 3d Sept. 1561. Keith, vol. U. p. 81, 82. Kuox’a Hist., p. 269, Herriea’ Mem., p. 56.

... V. TO ABDICATION OF QUEEN MARY. 71 each of them frankly disclosing opinions, involviig the causes ‘of the ...

Book 10 p. 77
(Score 0.32)

374
*316,317; view below Cramond
Brig, 111. '317
Cramond Bridge, 11. 63, 111. 1x1
CramondChurch 111. 316 '320
Cramond harbou; 111. 31;
Cramond House i11.317,318, *3a2
Cramond Island: 111.315
Cramond Regis, 111. 107, 316
Cramond, Baroness, 111. 315
Cranston, Mn., 111. 161
Cranston Street 11. 17
Cranstoun, Hdn. George, Lord
Corehouse, 11. 6, m7; his
sister 11. .106 111. IOI
Cranstdun, Thd- of, Provost, 11.
278
Cranstoun Geordie thedwarf 11.19
Crawford,'Earls of: I. 62, 68, mg,
Crawford of Jordanhill, Sir Hew,
Crawford'Sir Gregan I.'za
Crawford'of D ~ m s o i 11.181, 111.
11. 354,'III. 194, 222
111. 90- his daughters i6.
zg. 61, IS$ 34
Crawford S l r f V i l l h , 11. 47
Crawford' Captain, and Major
Crawford, S:r John, 111,. 51, 52, 5
Crawford, Thomas, High S c h d
Crawfoid of Jordanhill. Capt.. 111.
somuvhe I. 95
rector II. qa
. _ .
1 9 Crawfurd of Crad.udland, Howie-
CrZC;; j k e s , Provost, 11. a78
Creichtoun of Felde, Deputy Pm
Creighton, Willivn of 11. 47
~ r e e ~ h , william, bo~ise~~er, I. ' 5 5
139 ; portrait of, I. 156 ; Burns'
poem on, i. 156
Crceclr, Lord Provost, and Mh
Burns 11. 158 159
C-h': Land, i. 153. 156 191
"Creech's Levee," I. 156
Crichton, Lord Chancellor, 11. 54
Crichton, Bamn, I. zg, 30, 053
Crichton Castle, 111. 61
Crichton of Lugton, David, 11. 39
Crichton, h. Andrew, 111. 79
Crichtonb Dr. Archbald, 11. 123,
111. 162
Crichton, George, Bishop of Dun.
keld 1. 149 204 11. rj, 47, 48
Crichrbo, Rdhard: architect, 11.94
Crichton of Elliock, Robert, I. 126
Crichton, Lieut.-Col. Patrick, Ill.
161 ; duelhy, 111.16~ ; hisson, d.
Crichton Street, 11. 329, 334 333,
Cr%c%of Brunstane,The,III.xp
Cringletie, Lord, 11. 174
Crisp, Henry, 1. 343
Crispm, Feasts of St., 11. 104
Cruchalh Club, 1. 235, 239, 11.
Cmckat Lieut -General 111 95
Croft-ad-Righ,'m the Gield'of $
cromarty, Earls of, I. 1x1, 11, zg8,
Crombie's Close, 11. 239, 2~
Cromwell, Oher, I. 4, 54, 55. 56,
353. 367, 371. 11. 31, 73. rgz,2~8,
286, 290. 327,367, 375, 383, 111.
186,187, 193, 21% 222, 230, 2s
318,329,33073431 347 ; p r o p 3
statue of 111.72
ter, 1. 34
vost, 11.279
-157, 166, 176, 212, 229, 11. Im
157, 187, 111. IZZ
King, 11. 41, *#
215, 3x0
299. 3532 356 111- 30. I16 2 x 6
741 75, 159, -# %'B 218,227. 298,
439 99, 103, 1x3, 14% 143. 151,
Cromwelrs'tarracks III. 257
'' Crookbacked Dici" of Glouces
Crookshank the historian, I. 101
Crosby, Andrew, advocate, I. 192,
C-4 the City, I. 50, 60, 98, 1x6,
334 11. 2 62.75, 131,111.1~ 72,
146: 755 191. cruel punishments
ihct&l th&e, 1. 150, 151 ;
k q u e t s at the, I. zm; exccuuons
there, 11.14, III.187,268
zm 231.11. IF
122, 146, 152, 195, +03,227, 298,
C T GusewaY, 11. 334, 341, 3451
346
Cross Ke s Tavern I. 251
Cross of &. John iI. z
Cm~~rig, Lord 1.'161, 162, 11. 246
Crown Hotel, h. 118
OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH.
Crown-mom, Edinburgh Castle, I.
Cullayne, Capt. James, I. z6a
Cullen, Lord Robert I. 27, 11. 171
Cullen, Dr., I. 156,'171, 271, 11.
Culloden Battle if &te Battles)
Cumberl;nd, Duke of, I. 332. 334,
* 69
146, 302, 111. 23 35
I. 203 11. 281 111. 15
Cunninglham, si will- 11.153,
Cunnineham of Baberton. House
111. 57
of 11; 162
Curkingham Rev.Dr. 1.87 111.51
Cunninghamk, Dr. deorgk, the
Cunzie House. The, Candlemaker
phycian, 11. 298
. .
Row 11 *= .
CunzidNkk, ?he, 11. 267
Curious dream sto 111. rgz 193
currie, III. 321, ?36; its 1-1
history, 111. 39-333; its ancient
military remaim, 111. 331; the
bridge, III.33?,333; the church,
111. 332; heritors roll of the
parish. 111. 334 : longevity of its
inhabitants, 111. 337
Cnrrie's Close, 11. 236
Currie's Tavern, I. 179
Curriehill. Lord. 11. qm
Curriehil~castle, 111: 334
Currichill How, 11. 01 '' Curses," the Union Bong, I. 164
Custom House, Granton, 111. 14
Custom House, The, Leith, 311.
171. I I, 192, 228, 259, *264, z&
CustomhouxQua ,Lath, 111.273
Cuthbert's Lane, 11: 1.38
D
DArcy, Lady Camlime, 11. ~9
?+r Lord I 274
D+y Rmirw The I. 288 2@
Dalelcish. Bot'hwelis accokdia in
Dak Bailie Duff," 11. 255
Dm-le3smurder 1.263 f11. 6 6
Dalgleish, Nicol kinis& of St.
Cuthbert's Chukh, 11.131
Dalgleish'sClose I. z q 252
Dalhousie, Earl bf, I. :s+, 11. 26,
98, 166, 318, 111. 342 ; Countess
of 11. 318
DalLouie Marquis of 111. 88
Dalkeith, hlsof.11. &, 111. d g .
282,.311
Dalkeith, 11.236, 283, zg1,327, 111.
Dalieith House 111. 146
Dalkeith railwa;, I. 384
Dalkeith Road, 11. 346, 355, 111.
Dalmeny Park, 111. III
Dalry burn, 11. 347
Dalry, Uistrict of, 11.213, 216,217,
Dalry manor-house, II.*217,III. 78
Dalry Road 11. 214 216 217 218
Dalrynple, bavid, iard'Wdthall,
Dalrymple, Hugh,LadDNmmore,
Dalrymple, Sir David, I. 17ir 172,
Dalrymple Sir Hew, 111. 262, 340
Dalrympld Sir James, 11. 327
Dalrymple: Sir John, 11. 26, 86,
Dalrymple Sir Robert, 11. 143
DalrympldofCastleton, Sir Robert,
Dalrymple of Cousland, 11. 348
Dalrymple, William, 11. 293
Dalrymple, Ca t Hugh, 11. 231
WIrymple, JoRn of, Provost, II.
Dalymple, John, Provost, 11. 282,
DalrympL of Stair I. 62 111. 323
Dalrymple, Lady, iI. 342
Ilaliymple's Yard I. 219
Dalyell Sir John braham 11. r6a
Dalyell((or Dalrell), Sir Tiomas, I.
12,334; town mansion of, 11. 19
Dancing girl, Sale of a, I. 201
6r 134, 364
51, 57
111. 27, 35, 9a
I. 222
I. 251
11. 243s 366
272, 335
I. 276
278
I1 . 36
a4 161, m, 378, 11: 75, 354, 111.
Dancing school, The first, m Leith,
Danube Street, 111. 72, 79
Darien Company, 111. 190 ; office
Darien &edition, The, 111. 190
Darien House, 11. 323, 324, *325,
Dark ageofEdinburgh, I. 187,111.
Dark Pit The I. 6g
111. 231
of the 11. 322
326
126
116, 168, m.( 107, 276, 11. 18, 27,
Queen Mary and, I. 46 ; murder
of lI.jw,71 III.~--;r,m,23;emd
l m i n g o f i i s w y , 11.71, 111.7
Dasses The 11. 313
David k., 1. ;r, ~ 2 ~ 7 8 . 148,14g, 186:
II.&,III. 86, 26 339, 346,
legendof the d ? ? Z H k , 11.21,
22, 2% 42, 111. 19; charter of
H o l y r d Abbey, 11. 42, 43, 80,
David II., I. &, zk, 11. 3, 47, 53,
9+ '3% 3=5.3=7, 33'. 338, 354
Dand's miraculous cross, King,
11. #
David's Tower, Edinburgh Castle,
1. 26, 33 34, 36,*2# 44? 4% 48,49r
77 a ~i SS
Daad.& 2 Muirhouse 111. 316
Davidson's Close. 11. zi
D-b,'Lord' 1. 45.46. 47, 50, 78,
35, ~ 8 ~ 6 % 67,G% 74,286,III. 59 ;
180 111. 1x5 166 247
. 5 6 58, 278, 3% 111- 35, 41. 421
Davidson's Hook, Ca-tle Hill, I. 55
Davidson's Mains, 111. IIO
Davit: IJeans' Cottage, 1. 383, 384,
11. 310
Dawick, Laud of, I. 1%
Dawney Douglas's Tavern, I. 235 ;
the"CrownRwm,"ib.; lintelof
dqorway is, two views, 1. 235,
236
Dawson the comedian 11.24.
~ean damnia~ family 'of, II. 134
Dean: or Dene, Village of, I. 183,
3591 111- 62,633 642 66, 67, I*
Dean Bank 111.75- theeducaUonaI
institution III. 6
Dean Bridg;, I. 10, 111. 6 3 , y 70,
71, Pkte ZJ ; Roman urn onnd
near, 1,. xo
Dean Bndge Rcad, 111. 82
Dean cemetery, I. 218, IL am, -1
111. 63, 66, 68, '6g
Dean Church 111.67
Dean Farm iII. 67
Dean Haugh I. 366 II.28qIII. 65
Dean manoAhouse: 111. *65, 68;
h a n Orphan H q i t a l , HI. SI
Dean Path 111. 67
Dean Side,'III. 67
Dean Street, 111. 77
Dean Street Church: fh. 75
Dean T e n a a 111. 72,7
Deanhaugh Sireet, Stak%ridge, 11.
Deemster '$he (executioner), 1. ?42
Defencelhss state of the Fifeshire
-3t aftertheunion, III.194,197
DefenceJ of Leith,The, 111. zgc-zg5
De Foe, Daniel I. 216 zp, 11. 79
Degraver, Dr. Pierre, 1. 1x5
Deidchack The I. I 6
Denham, S'u J&es gtewart, 111.
its owners, III.66,67
Ij8, II1. 5, 79
146, 342
Denham, the actor, I. 350
Denham's Land, 11. 324, 325
Dental Hospitaland School, 11. 276
Derby, Countess of, mistress of
Charles II., 11. zr
Desmond Earls of I. 104
Destitute' Childred, Home for, 11.
26
Devil Legend of raising the, 11. 3
nevits Elbow The I. 7'
pwar's Close: 11. 6
Diamond Beetle &se: The j r r
Sesprit of 11. 207
Dick, Sir A l h d e r , 11. 86, 111.57,
1x4
Dick, Sir James, Lord Provost, I.
Dick of Grange, The family of,
Dick fa%,, The, 111. 114
Dick, Lady Anne, Strange habits
111.
of I 254, 111. 114 (rct Royston,
Lbrd)
Dick-Cunningham family 111. 56
Dickens, Charles, in Edinburgh, 11.
Dickison of Winkston. House of
'50
Digges, 3'0 the Zomeddian, I. 34% 343,
11. 23, z4, 111. 241
Dilettanti Socie The I. 108
Dingwall, Lord,?? z62,'III. 62
Dingwall Sir John I. 340
Dingwalis Castle, f. 340, 353
Dirleton Lord, 111. 318, 348
Dirom Colonel 11. 120, 174
Dirtyklub Th; 111. 12
Disruption'of d e Scottist Church,
11. 95, 96, 138, 1441 '45, m.5, 111-
Di%nterr Various sectsof, 111. p
Distress oi the Edinburgh poor UI
Dobdl Sydney 111. 148
Dock gtreet d i t h 111. 255
Dock Place,'Leith,'lII. 259
Doctors of Faculty Club, 111. 123
Dominicanmanasre lI.z50,~8+'
Darnley's body k n d in th;
gardensof 11. 286 288
Don, Sir Aixander,' 11. 159, 111.
1795 11. 283
339
Don, Si William, the actor, I. 351
Don, Lad I1 343, 111. 95
Donacha ha; 1.136
Donaldson'a dospital, I. 318, 11.
Do~ldson's Close. I. 318
Donalds~n, Dr. James, 11. 112, 126
Donaldson, the bookseller, 1. 3x8;
Donaldson. the theatrical author. 1.
214 PMC 10
hw son Jams, 1. 18, 11.214
DOMldSOll, Capt., d. 153
343,. y 5 '
DonnibnstleCastle, I. 246,III.11~
302
Eoo Park, 111. 37
Doubling the Cap," 111. 125
Douglas, Duke of I. 105, 14a, 11.
331, 354 351; buchess of, 11.
351, 111. 124
Douglas, Marquis of, 11. 3x7
Douglas, Earls Of, 2% 30. 31r34r 3%
old mansion ofthr. 11. 257
38. 39. 4 3 43. 258, 111. 133, 338 ;
Douglag Archibald, 'Earl d-Angus,
Douglas,.&hiba?d, Marquis, I I. 350
IJou~Is, Archbald Earl uf, 11.
Provost 11. 27
331,111. 3.2
Douglas, James Marquis of 11. 351
Douglas, James, Earl of harton,
DougL, Sir Archibald, I. 196
Douglas, Sir Archubald and Si
Dounlas. Sir Georee. I. 106
I1 80
Robert, 11. 59
Douglas' Sir am& '11. 283
Douglas' Sir keil, iI. 153
Douglas: Sir Rotprt, the historian.
I. I28,II. 35,37,1I1.11gr 318,348,
301
Douglac of Brackhouse, The family
~odg~as ofcave- I. 271
Douglas ofGlenbervie, Sir Willii,
Douglas of Hawthornden 111. 27
Douglas oCHawthornden,'Sir JoL,
Douglas of Hyvelie William, 111.34
Douglas of Kilspiddie Archibald,
Provost, 11. a79, do; begs the
royal intercession, 11. 280
Douglas of Parkhead, Sir James,
1. 54 I95
Douglas of Parkhead. George, the
murderer of Rizzio, I. 9, 11. 74
235; Provost, 11. 280
Douglas Ladylsabell I 97
Douglas'pcerage, The,?. 98,349--
Douglascs and Hamiltons, Feuds
Dough? of Spott 111. 330
DouglaqofWhitt:nghame, William,
of 111. 193, 315
11. 279, 111. 53
111. 354
35'
between the, 11. 63, 279, 285
1. 259,161

... view below Cramond Brig, 111. '317 Cramond Bridge, 11. 63, 111. 1x1 CramondChurch 111. 316 ...

Book 6 p. 374
(Score 0.32)

YAMES V. TO ABDICA TION OF QUEEN MAR Y. 49
he had great store of all kind of silver wark, yet nottheless, for the greater maa,,anificence,
he set forth ane cupboard furnished with all sorts of glasses of the finest chrystal that
could be made ; and to make the said patriarch understand that there was great abundance
thereof in Scotland, he caused one of his servants, as it had been by aloth and
negligence, pull down the cupboard cloth, so that all the whole christellings suddenly
were cast down to the earth and broken ; wherewith the patriarch was very sorry, but the
Earl suddeuly caused bring another cupboard, better furnished with fine chrystal nor that
was; which the patriarch praised, as well for the magnscence of the Earl, as for the
fineness of the clirystal, affirming that he never did see better in Venice, where he himself
was born.”
The legate exercised considerable influence over the Queen Dowager, and on his departure,
transferred his legatine power to Cardinal Beaton.
Meanwhile, the people were filled with the utmost joy at the prospect of a peace, the
uncertainty which had prevailed for SO many years having nearly destroyed trade. The
merchants bestirred themselves immediately with the liveliest zeal, every seaport of the
kingdom exhibited the most active symptoms of preparation for renewing the commercial
intercourse, so long interrupted with England, and Edinburgh alone fitted out twelve
large vessels, and despatched them laden with the moat valuable merchandise. But the
Cardinal soon regained his liberty; and, aided by the co-operation of the Queen Dowager
and the contributions of the clergy, who at a convocation‘ held at St Andrews, in May
of the Eame year, not only voted him money, but even the silver vessels of their churches,
he speedily overturned all the amichle arrangements with the English Monarch, and the
numerous fleets of merchantmen, that had so recently sailed for the English seaports,
were there seized, their merchandise confiscated, and the crews declared prisoners of war.
The fist use the Cardinal made of this fund, was to turn his arms against his rivals at
home. The Earl of Lennox having appropriated the larger portion of thirty thousand
crowns sent by the King of France to aid the efforts of the Catholic party, the Cardinal
persuaded the facile Regent to raise an army to proceed against him to Glasgow, where
he then lay in the Bishop’s Castle there; but Lennox immediately summoning his own
friends and vassals *to his otandard, marched to Leith at the head of an army of ten
thousand men, from whence he sent a message to the Cardinal at Edinburgh, intimating
that he desired to save him such a journey, and would be ready to meet him any day he
chose, in the fields between Edinburgh and Leith.
Thus were the nobles of Scotland divided into rival factions, and bent only on each
others, overthrow, when, on the 1st of May 1544, an armament, consisting of two hundred
sail, commanded by Dudley Lord l’Isle, then High Admiral of England, which had
been prepared by Henry to send against the French coast, made its appearance in the
Firth of Forth j and so negligent had the Cardinal proved in providing against the enemy,
whom he excited to this attack, that the first notice he had of their intentions, was the
disembarkation of the English forces, under the command of the Earl of Hertford, at
Newhaven, and the seizure of the town of Leith.’ The Cardinal immediately deserted the
capital and fled in the greatest dismay to Stirling. The Earl of Hertford demanded the
unconditional surrender of the infant Queen, and being informed that the Scottish capital
Bishop Lealie’a History of Scotland, Ban. Club, p. 179. ’ Ibid, p. 180.
Q

... V. TO ABDICA TION OF QUEEN MAR Y. 49 he had great store of all kind of silver wark, yet nottheless, for the ...

Book 10 p. 54
(Score 0.32)

HISTORICAL INCIDENTS AFTER THE RESTORA TION. rog
the presence of a host of English tax-gatherers who speedily thereafter overran the whole
of Scotland, were mainly influential in directing anew the thoughts of the people to the
exiled family of the Stuarts. Edinburgh, however, took no share in the rising of 1715.
The magistrates exerted themselves to p t the city in an effective state of defence. The
walls and gates were immediately repaired and fortified. The sluice at the east end of the
North Loch was dammed up, and trenches made at various accessible points, The cityguard
was augmented, the trained bands armed, and four hundred men ordered to be raised
and maintained at the city’s expense.
These measures saved the capital from any concern in this rash enterprise, beyond an
ineffectual attempt upon the Castle. A party of the insurgents marched towards Edinburgh,
but finding it in vain to attempt an assault, they repaired to Leith, and fortified the
citadel. This they were speedily compelled to evacuate, on the approach of the Duke of
Argyle’s forces ; and after a feeble struggle, this ill-concerted rising was suppressed, and
tranquillity restored to the country.
The year 1736 is rendered memorable in the annals of the city by the famous Porteous
mob. The accounts already furnished of some of the more serious tumults that have
from time to time occurred in the Scottish capital, must have sufKced to show the daring
character of the populace, and their hearty co-operation in any such deed of violence. Yet
the cool and determined manner in which this act of popular vengeance was effected has
probably never been equalled.
The incidents of this remarkable transaction have been rendered so familiar by the
striking narrative of Scott (in all its most important features strictly true), that a very
hasty sketch will suffice. Captain John Porteous, the commander ‘of the city-guard, having
occasion to quell some disturbances at the execution of one Wilsdn, a smuggler, rashly
ordered his soldiers to fire among the crowd, by which six were killed, and eleven wounded,
including females, and some of the spectators from the neighbouring windows. Porteous
was tried and condemned for murder, but reprieved by Queen Caroline, who was then acting
as Regent, in the absence of her husband, George II., at Hanover.
The people, who had regarded Wilson in the light of a victim to the oppressive excise
laws and other fruits of the hated Union, were exasperated at the pardon of one who had
murdered so many of their fellow-citizens, and determined that he should not escape. Many
people, it is said, assembled from the country to join in the enterprise. The leaders of the
mob were disguised in various ways, some of them in female attire. They surprised the
town-guard, armed themselves with their weapons, and then forcing the door of the Tolbooth,
by setting it on fire, they dragged from thence the unhappy object of their vengeance,
and led him to the scene of his crime, the ordinary place of execution, in the Grassmarket.
It was intended at first to have erected the gallows and executed him there with greater
formality, but the ringleaders found th!s project attended with too serious a loss of time,
and he was hastily suspended from a dyer’s pole, over the entrance to Hunter’s Close, in
the south-east corner of the Grassmarket. As soon as their purpose was effected, the
rioters threw away their weapons and quietly dispersed.
Notwithstanding the most searching investigations instituted, and the imprisonment
of various parties on suspicion of being concerned in this violent deed, no person was convicted
for i’t, and no discovery ever made concerning any of its perpetrators. The order,

... INCIDENTS AFTER THE RESTORA TION. rog the presence of a host of English tax-gatherers who speedily ...

Book 10 p. 119
(Score 0.32)

craftsmen. Thus we see in the terraced slopes
illustrations of a mode of agriculture pertaining to
times before all written history, when iron had not
yet been forged to wound the virgin soil.?*
In those days the Leith must have been a broader
and a deeper river than now, otherwise the term
? Inverleith,? as its mouth, had never been given to
the land in the immediate vicinity of Stockbridge.
THE ROMAN ROAD, NEAR PORTOBULLO-THE ?? FISHWIVES? CAUSEWAY.?
(From a Draw+ 6y WaZh H. Palm, R.S.A.)
Other relics of the unwritten ages exist nea
Edinburgh in the shape of battle-stones ; but many
have been removed. In the immediate neigh.
hourhood of the city, close to the huge monolith
named the. Camus Stone, were two very large
conical cairns, named Cat (or Cdh) Stones, until
demolished by irreverent utilitarians, who had
found covetable materials in the rude memorial
stones.
Underneath these cairns were cists containing
human skeletons and various weapons of bronze
and iron. Two of the latter material, spear-heads,
are still preserved at Morton Hall. Within the
grounds of that mansion, about half a mile distant
from where the cairns stood, there still stands an
ancient monolith, and two larger masses that are in
its vicinity are not improbably the relics of a ruined
cromlech. ?? Here, perchance, has been the battleground
of ancient chiefs, contending, it may be,
with some fierce invader, whose intruded arts
startle us with evidences of an antiquity vhich
seems primeval. The locality is peculiarly suited
for the purpose. It is within a few miles of the
sea, and enclosed in an amphitheatre of hills ; it is
the highest ground in the immediate neighbourhood,
and the very spot on which the wamors of
a retreating host might be eFpected to make a
stand ere they finally betook themselves to the
adjacent fastnesses of the Pentland Hills.?
t On the eastern slope of the same hill there was found a singular relic
of a later period, which merits special notice from its peculiar characteristics.
It is a bronze matrix, bearing the device of a turbaued head, with
the legend SOLOMONB AR ISArounAd it Cin H ebrew characten j and
by some it has been supposed U, be a talisman or magical signet.
(?Prehist. Ann. Scat.")
The origin of the name ?Edinburgh? has proved
the subject of much discussion. The prenomen
is a very common one in Scotland, and is always
descriptive of the same kind of site-a doye.
Near Lochearnhead is the shoulder of a hill called
Edin-achip, ?? the slope of the repulse,? having
reference to some encounter with the Romans; and
Edin-ample is said to mean ?the slope of the
retreat.? There are upwards of twenty places
having the same descriptive prefix j and besides the
instances just noted, the following examples may
also be cited :-Edincoillie, a ?? slope in the wood,?
in Morayshire ; Edinmore and Edinbeg, in Bute ;
Edindonach, in Argyllshire ; and Edinglassie, in
Aberdeenshire. Nearly every historian of Edinburgh
has had a theory on the subject. Arnot
suggests that the name is derived from Dunea?in,
?the face of a hill ; I? but this would rather signify
the fort of Edin; and that name it bears in
the register of the Priory of St Andrews, in 1107.
Others are fond of asserting that the name was
given to the town or castle by Edwin, a Saxon
prince of the seventh century, who ?repaired
it;? consequently it must have had some name
before his time, and the present form may be a
species of corruption of it, like that of Dryburgh,
from Durrach-brush, ?the bank of the grove
of oaks.?
Another theory, one greatly favoured by Sir
Walter Scott, is that it was the Dinas Eiddyn (the
slaughter of whose people in the sixth century is
lamented by Aneurin, a bard of the Ottadeni); a
place, however, which. Chalmers supposes to be
elsewhere. The subject is a curious one, and

... Thus we see in the terraced slopes illustrations of a mode of agriculture pertaining to times before ...

Book 1 p. 12
(Score 0.32)

HISTORICAL INCIDENTS AFTER THE RESTORA TION. 113
ment, and confiscation to many of the most active leaders in the movement, and a general
persecution of ‘( Papists, Jacobites, Episcopals, and disaffected persons.” Archibald Stewart,
the Lord Provost of Edinburgh, was regarded with peculiar jealousy, on account of the
city having fallen into the hands of the Highland army, without resistance, or any attempt
at defence. He endured a long and severe trial, in which it was shown that the great
extent, and very dilapidated condition of the walls, as well as the manifest lukewarmness of
a large portion of the inhabitants towards the reigning family, rendered the defence of the
town, for any length of time, against a victorious army, quite impossible. The trial lasted
from the 27th of October till the 2d of November, when the Provost was acquitted by a
unanimous verdict of the jury. This was regarded as a triumph by the Jacobite party, and
a public meeting was summoned to assemble on the following evening in the Baxter’s
Hall; but the magistrates took alarm at the proposal, and the meeting was summarily
interdicted, as calculated to destroy the prestige of the triumphant bonfire so recently
kindled at the Cross.
The house of Provost Stewart was a very curious old building in the West Bow, with
its main entrance at the foot of Donaldson’s Close. It was only one story high, in
addition to the attics, on the north side, while on the south it presented a lofty front
to the Bow. This building stood immediately to the west of Free St John’s Church;
it is described by Chambers1 as being of singular construction, and as full of curious little
rooms, concealed closets, and secret stairs, as any house that ever had the honour of being
haunted. The north wall, which still remains built into the range of shops forming the
new terrace, stood long exposed to view, affording abundant evidence of this. Little
closets and recesses are excavated, almost like a honey-comb, out of the solid rock behind,
many of which, however, have been built up in adapting it to its new purpose. ((In
one of the rooms,” says Chambers, “there was a little cabinet about three feet high,
which any one, not acquainted with the mysterious arcana of ancient houses, would suppose
to be a cupboard. Nevertheless, under this modest, simple, and unassuming disguise,
was concealed a thing of no less importance and interest than a trap ~ t a i r . ” ~ This
ingeniously-contrived passage communicated behihd with the West Bow, and, according
to the same authority, it was said to have afforded, on one occasion, a aafe and unsuspected
exit to Prince Charles and Borne of his principal officers, who were enjoying the hospitality
of the Jacobitical Provost, when an alarm was given that a troop of the enemy, from
the Castle, were coming down the Close to seize them. This curious building derives an
additional interest from its last occupant, James Donaldson, the wealthy printer, from
whose bequest the magnificent hospital that bears his name has been erected at the west
end of the town.
Our historical sketch of the ancient capital of Scotland has mainly embraced the period
during which the Stuart race filled the throne, and made it the arena of many of the most
prominent incidents in the‘ir history; and with this closing scene in the narrative of their
illustrious line, our historic Memorials of the Olden Time may fitly end. The asaociations
with which the local antiquites of Edinburgh still abound, will afford a fitting opportunity
for treating of incidents and characters of a later date, that are worthy of our notice,
Chambera’a Traditions, vol. i. p. 143. . Ibid, voL i p. 144.
P

... INCIDENTS AFTER THE RESTORA TION. 113 ment, and confiscation to many of the most active leaders in the ...

Book 10 p. 124
(Score 0.31)

THE WEST 30 W AND SUBURBS. 3 39
His device-seemingly a pair of pincers-was engraved on both sides, surmounted by a
coronet, and encircled on the one side with a motto, partly defaced, and on the other with
his name repeated, and the words in. sol. ingen. Various other mottoes were engraved
amid the ornamental work with which the blade was covered, such as, Vincere aut mort‘,-
Fi& sed cui vide,-Pro ark et foeis,-and Soli de0 gloria Thie singularly curious and
interesting relic was procured from the contractors at the time of its discovery; and was
last in the possession of the late Mr Hugh Paton. The manner of ita concealment, and the
fierce character of the old Lord Ruthven, within whose ancient lod,.ing it was discovered,
may readily suggest to the fancy its having formed the instrument of some dark and bloody
deed, ere it was consigned to its strange hiding-place.
The character of the old tenement, wherein the assemblies of fashion were held previous
to 1720, will be best understood by a reference to our engraving. Over the doorway of
the projecting turnpike was inscribed the motto, IND OMINOC omDo-the title of the
eleventh Psalm ; and above this, within an ornamental panel, the arms of the Somervilles
were sculptured, with the initials P. S., J. W., and the date 1602. These are memorials
of Peter Somerville, merchant, and “yin of the present bailies,” in 1624-a wealthy
burgher, who possessed houses in different parts of the town, and whose son and heir,
Bartholamew Somerville, one of the most liberal contributors towards the establishment
of the infant University, has already been referred to in the account of the Lawnmarket.
His picturesque old gabled tenement appears in the same view to which we have referred
for his father’s lodging.
AI1 beyond this building lay without the line of the earliest town walls. A piece of
their massive masonry remained as a part of its southern gable, and retained, till its
demolition, one of the iron hooks on which the ancient gate had hung; though it
must not be overlooked that this portal of the city was retained, like the modern
Temple Bar, as the appointed scene of certain civic formularies and long-established
state ceremonials, for nearly two centuries after it had been supplanted in its military
functions by the West Port. To the west of this was the intricate and singuiar old
mansion of Provost Stewart, where he was believed to have entertained Prince Charles
and some of his principal oEcers in 1745, and to have afforded them hasty exit, in a
very mysterious fashion, on the approach of a party despatched by General Guest with
an urgent invitation for their company in the Castle.‘ The house was one of no mean
note, and appears from its titles to have deserved the name of the Mansion House-such
was the succession of civic dignitaries that dwelt within its walls. It is described as
‘‘ that dwelling-house some time possessed by um$ Bailie George Clerk, merchant ;
afterwards by the Countess of Southesk ; thereafter by Provost John OrJhorn ; thereafter
by Provost George Hallibnrton ; and thereafter by the said Provost Archibald Stewart.”
Beyond this was an antique timber-fronted tenement, which formed of old the mansion
of Napier of Wrychtishousis, and which enjoyed a far more popular reputation, as
containing the little booth.from whence the rioters of 1736 procured the fatal rope
with which Porteons was hung. Many readers will remember a quaint. little Dutch
manikin, with huge goggle eyes, and a bunch of flax in his hand, who presided over its
threshold in latter times. His history was traced for considerably more than a century
Ante, p. 113.

... WEST 30 W AND SUBURBS. 3 39 His device-seemingly a pair of pincers-was engraved on both sides, surmounted by ...

Book 10 p. 371
(Score 0.31)

Previous Results More Results

Go back to Edinburgh Bookshelf

Creative Commons License

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