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42 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
magnificence, and such displays of loyal attachment, as testified the hearty welcome of
the people. The young Queen was of R most tender and affectionate disposition; she
seems to have given
‘(Her hand with her heart in it ”
to her royal lover, with a gentle spirit of resignation. So soon a8 she stepped on the Scottish
shore, she knelt and kissed the ground, praying for all happiness to her adopted country
and people ; but ere six weeks had elapsed, the pomp of worldly honour that had greeted
her arrival, was called to follow the young bride to the tomb. She was buried with the
greatest mourning Scotland ever, till that time, was participant of, in the church of Holyrood
House, near King James 11.’ Buchanan, who was an eye-witness, says it was the
f i s t instance of mourning-dresses being worn by the Scots ; and triumph and mirrinea
was all turned into deregies and soul1 massis, verrie lamentable to behold.”
Sir David Lindsay, in a poem of singular inequality, has expressed his Deploratioun of
the Deith of Quene Magdalene. He thus apostrophises (Crewel1 Deith) : -
Theif ! raw thow nocht the p i t preparatyvis
Of Edinburgh, the nobill famous toun,
Thow saw the pepill, lauboring for thair lyvis,
To mak tryumphe, with trump, and clarioun ;
Sic plesour waa never into this regioun,
A8 suld haif bene the day of hir entrsce,
With greit propynis,‘ gevin till hir Grace.‘
Thow saw makand right costlie scaffalding,
Depaintit weill, with gold, and &sure fyne,
Reddye preparit for the upsetting,
With fontanis, flowing water cleir, and wyne,
Disagysit folks: lyke creaturis divyne,
On ilk scaffold, to play ane syndrie storie,
Bot, all in greiting turnit thow that glorie.
Provest, baillies, and lordis of the toun,
And princis of the preistis venerabill,
Full plesandlye in thair processioun,
With all the cunnyng clerkis honorabill ;
The herauldis, with their awful vestimentis,
With maseris upon ather of thair handis,
To rewle the press, with burneist silver wandis.
Syne, last of all, in ordour-tl-gumphall,
That maist illuster Princee honorabill,
With hir the lustye ladyis of Scotland,
Quhilk sulde haif bene ane sicht maist delectabil :
Hir rayment to rehers, I am nocht habill,
Of gold, and perle, and precious stonis brycht,
Twinklyog lyke aterris in ane fostie nycht.
Under ane pale of golde scho suld haif paat,
Be burgeis borne, clothit in silkie fyne, ;
1 Hawthornden, p, 104. Ibid. a Pitacottie, vol. ii. p 374.
4 Presents. Disguised folk or &ora. a Macer.

... MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH. magnificence, and such displays of loyal attachment, as testified the hearty welcome ...

Book 10 p. 46
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368 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
"The edition said to be nndertaken with his
approbation : obsolete words altered, with corrections
in spelling and punctuation."
A specimen of a book entitled Ane Compendious Booke
of Godly and Spintual Sangs, collectit out of
enndrie parts of the Scripture, with sundrie of
other Bailates changed out of Prophaine Sanges,
for avoyding of Sin and Harlotrie, with augmentation
of sundrie Gude and Qodly Ballates,
not contained in the 8rst edition. Edinburgh,
printed by Andro Hart, 12mo. Edinburgh, 1765,
pp. 42 ; with a Glossary of four pages.
Meniorials and Letters relating to the History of
Britain in the reign of Charles I., published from
the Originals. Glasgow, 1766, pp. 189. Chiefly
eoliectedfrom the manuscripts of the Rev. Robert
Wodrow, author of the History of the Church of
Scotland. Inscribed to Robert Dundas of Arniston,
Lord President of the Court of Session.
An Account of the Preservation of Charles 11. after
the Battle of Worcester, drawn up by himself; to
which are added, his Letters to seveyal persona.
Glasgow, 1766, pp. 190, from the MSS. of Mr.
Pepys, dictated to him by the King himself, and
communicated by Dr. Sandby, Mnster of Magdalen
College. The Letters are collected from various
sources, and some of them are now first published.
Dedicated to Thomas Holles, Duke of Newcastle,
Chancellor of the University of Cambridge. Some
copies havexa reprinted title page, dated Edinburgh,
1801, with one OT two additional Letters,
and a Portrait prefixed of General Thomas Dalziel.
The Secret Correspondence between Sir Robert Cecil
and James VI. 12mo. 1760.
A Catalogue of the Lords of Seasion from the Institution
of the College of Justice, in the year 1532,
with Historical Notes. Suum cuique-rependet
posteritas. Edinburgh, li67,4to, pp. 26.
A Specimen of Notes on the Statute Law of Scotland.
No date, 8v0, very rare.
A Specimen of similar Notes during the Reign of Mary
Queen of Scots. No date, Svo, very rare.
The Private Correspondence of Dr. Franris Atterbury,
Bishop of Rochester, and his friends, in 1725,
never before published. Printed ip 1768, 4to.
Advertisement pp. 2. Letters, pp.pO. fac-simile of
the firat letter from Bp. Atterbury to John Camemn
of Lochiel prefixed.
An Examination of some of the Arguments for the high
Antiquity of Regiam Majestatem; and au Inquiry
into the Authenticity of the Leges MaZcolmi.
Edinburgh, 1769, 4t0, pp. 52.
Historical Memorials concerning the Provincial Councils
of the Scottish Clergy, from the earliest accounts
to the era of the Reformation. Edinburgh,
1769, 4t0, pp. 41.-Nota, Having no high opinion
of the popularity of his writings, he prefixes to
this work the following motto :-"Si delectamur
quum scrihimus, qui8 est tam invidus qui ab eo
nos abducat P sin labotamus, qui8 est qui aliena
modum atatuat industriaP"4icero.
Canons of the Church of Scotland, drawn up in the
Provinrial Councils held at Perth, A.D. 1242, and
1269.
Ancient Scottish Poems, published from the MS. of
George Bannatyne, 1568. Edinburgh, 1770, I2mo.
Preface, six pages. Poems, pp. 221, very CW~OUS
Notes, pp. 92. Qlossary, and list of passages and
words not undemtood, pp. 14.
Edinburgh, 1769, ate, pp. 48.
The Additional Case of Elizabeth, claiming the title
and dignity of Countess of Sutherland. By her
Guardians. Wherein the facts and argumenta in
support of her claim are more fully stated, and the
errors iu the additional cases for the claimants am
detected, 4to. .
This singularly learned and able case Was subscribed
by Alexander Wedderbnrn (afterwards Lord
Chancellor and Earl of Rosslyn) and Sir Adam Fergnsson,
but is the well-known work of Lord Hailes. It
ought not to be regarded merely as a Law Paper of
great ability, but as a Treatise of profound research into
the history and antiquity of many important and
general points of succession and family history. Introduction,
pp. 21. The first four chapters, pp. 70
The 6fth and sixth ohapters, pp. 177.
Remarks on the History of Scotland. By Sir David
Dalrymple.
" Utinam tam facile vera invenire possem, qnani
falsa convincere."-C&To.
Edinburgh, 1773. Inscribed to George Lord
Lyttleton, in nine chapters, pp. 264, l h o .
Specimen of a Glossary of the Scottish Language.
No date, 8vo.
Remarks on the Latin Poems of Dr. Pitcairn, in the
Edinburgh Magazine for February 1774.
Huberti Langueti Epistole ad Philippum Sydneium
Equitem Anglum. Accurante D. Dalrymple de
Hniles. Eq. Edinburgh, 1776, 8vo. Inscribed to
Lord Chief Baron Smythe.-Virorum Eruditorum
testimonia de Langueto, pp, 7. Epistolz, 289.
Index Nominum, pp. 41.
Aunals of Scotland, from the Accession of Malcolm
HI., surnamed Canmore, to the Accession of
Rohert I. By Sir David Dalrymple. Edinburgh.
1776, pp. 311. Appendix, pp. 51.
Tables of the Succession of the Kings of Scotland
from Malcolm 111. to Robert I., their marriages,
children, and time of their death; and also of
the Kings of England and France, and of the
Popes who were their contemporaries.
Chronologlcsl Abridgment of the Volume, pp. 30.
The Appendix contains eight Dissertations.
1. Of the Law of Evenw and Mercheta Mulierum,
2. A Commentary on the 22d Statute of William
3. Of the 16th Statute of Alexander IIL, pp. 6.
4. Bull of Pope Innocent IV., pp. 6.
6. Of Walter Stewart, Earl oP Menteth, 1296,
6. Of M'Duff, slain at Falkirk in 1298, pp. 3.
7. Of the Death of John Comyn, 10th February
8, Of the Origin of the. House of Stewart, pp. 6.
pp. 17.
the Lion, pp. 8.
PP, 7.
1305, pp. 4.
-
Snnals of Scotland, from the Accession of Robert I.
surnamed Bruee, to the Accession of the House
of Stewart. By Sir David Dalrymple. Edinburgh,
1779, 4t0, pp. 277. Appendix, pp. 54.
containing-
1. Of the Manner of the Death of Marjory,
2. Journal of the Campaign of Edward 111.. 1327,
daughter of Robert I., pp. 7.
PP. 9.

... BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. "The edition said to be nndertaken with his approbation : obsolete words altered, ...

Book 8 p. 514
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BI 0 GRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 93
but the Italian exhibited a degree of considerate partiality for the musical
brothers, by affording them instructions at half-price. By degrees Mr. Campbell
acquired some celebrity as an amateur vocalist, and having become favourably
known to the Rev. Robert Walker (the colleague of Blair), he was recommended
by that gentleman to the Rev. Dr. Macfarlan of the Canongate Church, who
procured for him, in 1775, the situation of precentor.
While studying under Tenducci, the aptitude and obliging disposition of the
scholar had been such as to gain the respect and esteem of his tutor. To the
friendship of that foreigner-displayed in a novel and characteristic manner-
Mr. Campbell attributed his first start, as well as his future success, as a teacher
of music. When about to leave Edinburgh he hrevailed on the latter to sit
to Allan for a portrait ; but for what purpose he did not explain. This he had
engraved on a small scale, with the initials “C-p-11, P-n-r, C-g-e
C-11 ” beneath, copies of which he inclosed in circulars to all his employers
in high life, among whom were the witty Duchess of Gordon, the volatile Lady
Wallace, the Earl of Hopetoun, Sir John Halket, and other equally distinguished
persons. Tenducci having left the city without giving the smallest hint of what
he had done, Campbell was astonished to find letters dropping into him every
other day from the families of the nobility, requesting his professional services’;
and some time elapsed ere he became aware of the obligation under which he
lay to his benefactor. Thus encouraged, in conjunction with his brother Alexander,
he devoted himself exclusively to teaching, and rapidly attained
professional reputation and respectability.
Having fairly overcome his early difficulties, Mr. Campbell married in 1776
Margaret, daughter of Alexander Ogilvie, glover in Edinburgh. Not many
years after this his prosperity received a severe check by the flight of a brotherin-
law, for whom, along with another individual, he had become security to the
amount of a thousand pounds. From the creditors, however, he experienced
such sympathy as rendered the settlement comparatively easy.
Early skeled against misfortunes, Mr. Campbell possessed a happy equanimity
of mind, with philosophy enough, in as far as possible, to render the various
occurrences of life subservient to his own and the happiness of all within his
circle. The poet Burns, while starring
among the “Embro Gentles,” was a frequent and welcome guest at the table of
He was of a kind and social disposition.
Tenducci in Dublin, in AT~UCinB ‘ Artaxerxes,’ which I had seen in London on its first coming out
in 1762. His singing Water Parted ’ was the great attraction, as were the airs he sung as the first
spirit in Comus, The
frolicsome Dublin boys used to sing about the streets, to the old tune of ‘Over the Hills and far away,’
At his benefits there, he had thirty, forty, and fifty guinea8 for a single ticket.
(‘ ‘ Tenducci was 8 piper’s son,
And he waa in love when he was young ;
And all the tuna that he could play,
Was (( Water parted from the Say I’ ”
In 1784, Thew Tenducci in London, when he set to music Captain Jephson’s ‘ Campaign.’ ”
Father of Dr. Patrick Macfarlan of Greenock.

... 0 GRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 93 but the Italian exhibited a degree of considerate partiality for the ...

Book 9 p. 125
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66 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
the house and window tax. With this object in view he spent some time in
London, and was introduced at Court, where the elegance of his manners, and
the dignity of his appearance, are said to have excited both surprise and admiration.
He succeeded in his efforts, though no clause to that effect was introduced
into any Act of Parliament. The ministers were charged annually with
the duty, but the collectors received private instructions that no steps should be
taken to enforce payment.
Public spirit was a conspicuous part of the character of the Doctor. The
love of his country seemed to be the most active principle of his heart, and the
direction in which it was guided at a period which seriously menaced the good
order of society, was productive of incalculable benefit among those over whom
his influence extended. He was so fortunate in his early days as to form an
acquaintance with all those celebrated men whose names have added splendour
to the literary history of the eighteenth century. Smollett, in his “Expedition
of Humphry Clinker,” a work in which fact and fiction are curiously blended,
mentions that he owed to Dr. Carlyle his introduction to the literary circles of
Edinburgh, After mentioning a list of celebrated names, he adds-“ These
acquaintances I owe to the friendship of Dr. Carlyle, who wants nothing but
inclination to figure with the rest upon paper.”
Dr. Carlyle was a particular friend of hlr. Home, the author of Douglas, and
that tragedy, if we are not misinformed, was, previous to its being represented,
submitted to his revision. It is even stated, although there appears no evidence
of the truth of the assertion, that Dr. Carlyle, at a private rehearsal in Mrs.
Ward’s lodgings in the Canongate, acted the part of Old Norval, Dr. Robertson
performing Lord Eandolph-David Hume, Glenalvon, and Dr. Blair ! !
Anna‘-Lady Randolph being enacted by the author. He exerted, as may be
supposed, his utmost efforts to oppose that violent opposition which was raised
against Mr. Home by the puritanical spirit, which, though by that time somewhat
mitigated, was still far from being extinguished in this country ; ’ and
successfully withstood a prosecution before the Church courts for attending the
performance of the tragedy of Douglas.
Dr. Carlyle rendered an essential service to literature, in the recovery of
Collins’ long lost “ Ode on the Superstitions of the Highlands.” The author, on
his death-bed, had mentioned it to Dr. Johnson as the best of his poems, but
it was not in his possession, and no search had been able to discover a copy.
At last, Dr. CarlyIe found it accidentally among his papers, and presented it to
See Edinburgh Evening Post, January 31, 1829.
Upon occasion of the representation of the tragedy, a variety of squibs, both for and against,
issued from the press. In one of them, entitled, “ The First Night’s Audience, an excellent new
ballad, to the tune of ‘ A cobbler there was, ’ ” 4t0, pp. 4, occurs the following stanza, applicable to
Dr. Carlyle :- ‘‘ Hid close in the green-room some clergymen lay,
Good actors themaelves too-ikeir whole Zife a play ;
C-lyle with a cudgel and genius rare,
With aspect aa stern aa a Hessian hussar.
Derry down,” etc.

... BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. the house and window tax. With this object in view he spent some time in London, and ...

Book 8 p. 94
(Score 0.26)

448. MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
Till by old age you gently die,
To live immortal in the sky.
To own my faults I have no will,
For I have done both good and ill ;
Aa to the crime for which I die,
To my laat gasp, Not guilty, I.
But to this magisterial hate
I shall aasign the pristine date.
When the intrepid, matchless Charles
Came here with many Highland Car4
And o’er my top, in public sight,
Proclaim’d aloud his Father’s Right ;
From that day forth it waa agreed,
That I should a8 a %be1 bleed ;
And at this time they think it meet.
To snatch my fabric off the street,
Lest I should tell to them once more
The tale I told ten years before,
At my deatroyers bear no grudge,
Nor do you 8 t h their mason-lodge,
Tho’ well may all by-standers nee
That better masona built up me.
The royal statue in the close
Will share the fate of me, poor Crosa ;
Heav’ns, earth, and sea, all in a range,
Like me, will perish for Ezcliangc“
Few civic events connected with the destruction of old, or the rearing of new buildings, escape the poet’s
notice. One poem records the repair of the Abbey Church ; another mourns the &ling of ita sepulchres ; a
third refers to the laying the foundation-stone of St Bernard’s Mineral Well, 15th September 1760 ; while between
these are lampoons and eulogies on old citizens, most of them long since forgotten. The fate of the Nether
Bow Port, which he witnessed, forms the subject of some of hirr wittiest prose, in ‘&A Sermon preached by
Claudero, on the Condemnation of the Nether Bow Porch of Edinburgh, 9th July 1764, before a crowded
audience.” A brief extract from this will suftice for an example of his humour, which is the more curious, as
what was then extravagant hyperbole, sounds now like the shrewdest foresight :-
(‘ What was too hard for the great ones of the earth, yea even queens, to effect, is now, even now in our day,
accomplished. No patriot duke opposeth the scheme, aa did the p a t hull in the grand senate of our nation ;
therefore the project shall go into execution, and down shall Edina’s lofty porches be hurled with a vengeance.
-Streets shall be extended to the east, regular and beautiful, as far as the Frigate Whins, and Port0 Bello shall
be a lodge for the captom of tea and brandy. The city shall be joined to Leith on the North, and a procession
of &e masons shall there lay the foundation of a spacious harbour. Pequin or Nanquin shall not-be able to
compare with Edina for magnificence. Our city shall be the greatest wonder of the world ; and the fame of
its glory shall reach the distant ends of the earth.
“No more shall the porch resound to the hammer of the cheerful Zaccheus ; and hia neighbours are bathed
in team at the overthrow of his well-tuned anvil.
I‘ The Nether Bow coffee-house of the loyal Smieton can now no longer enjoy ita ancient name with propriety
; and from henceforth !& Revolutiun Cofeehousc shall its name be called.
“ Our gates must be extended wide for accommodating the gilded chariots, which, from the luxury of the age,
are become numeroua-With an impetuous career they jostle against one another in our streets, and the u n w q
foobpasaenger is in danger of being crushed to piecea

... MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH. Till by old age you gently die, To live immortal in the sky. To own my faults I ...

Book 10 p. 487
(Score 0.26)

30 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
the various royal servitors, affording a curious insight into the crafts of the period.
brief extract will s&ce :-
A
Cunyouris, carvouria, and carpentaris,
Beildaris of barkis, and ballingaria ;
Masounis, lyand upon the land,
And schip wrichtis hewand upone the strand ;
Glaaing wrichtis, goldsmythis, and lapidaria,
Pryntouris, paptouris, and potingaris ; &c.
The introduction of printers in the list, shows the progress literature was making at this
time; as early as 1490, the Parliament enjoined the education of the eldest sons of all
barons and freeholders, in the Latin language, as well as in science and jurisprudence;
but it was not till 1507 that the art of printing was introduced into Scotland, under the
royal auspices, when a patent was granted to Walter Chepman and Andrew Myllar, conferring
on them the exclusive privilege of printing there. Some of Dunbar's own poems
seem to have been among the very first productions that issued from their press, and form
now very Bcarce and highly valued reliques of the art. It affords evidence of the success
that attended the printing press, immediately on its introduction, that, in the year 1513,
Walter Chepman founded a Chaplainry at the altar of St John the Evangelist, on the
southern side of St Giles's Church, and endowed it with an annuity of twenty-three
marks.' But, perhaps, the most lively characteristics of the times,. occur in " The
Flytings " of Kennedy and Dunbar, already referred to,--a most singular feature of the
age, afterwards copied by their successors,-in which many local and personal allusions
are to be found. These poems consist of a series of pungent satires, wherein each depicts
his rival in the most ridiculous characters, and often in the coarsest language.
This literary gladiatorship originated in no personal enmity, but seems to have been a
friendly trial of wits for the amusement of the court. A few extracts, in connection with
our local history, will suffice, as specimens of these most singular literary effusions. Dunbar
addresses Kennedy,'-
Thou brings the Carrick clay to Edinburgh Cross,
Upon thy buitinga hobbland hard aa horn,
Strae wisps hing out quhair that the wata ar worn ;
We sal1 gar skale our Schulia all thee to acorn,
Come thou again to skar us with thy straea,
And atane thee up the oahy as thou gaes.
The boys of Edinburgh, as the bees out thaws,
And c y s out ay, Heir cum8 our awin queer Clerk I
Then fleia thou like a houlat chaist with craws,
Quhyle all the bitches at thy buitinga bark,
Then carlings cry, Keip curches in the merk,
Our gallows gapes, 10 I quhair ane graceless gaes :
Anither saya, I see him want a eark,
I red ye, Kimmer, tak in your lining dais.
1 Maitland, p. 271.
a These extracts from a' The Flyting" are taken, with a few verbal exceptions, from Ramssy's Evergreen, an being
more easily understood by the general reader, than the pure version of Mr Laing.

... MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH. the various royal servitors, affording a curious insight into the crafts of the ...

Book 10 p. 32
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 257
this degrading vice to account as a source of revenue ; and it appears, from an
action raised against him by one Hamilton, a chimney-sweeper, that he did not
scruple to have recourse to the usual tricks resorted to by professed gamblers.1
In the gratification of this ruling passion, he was in the habit of meeting, almost
nightly, a club of gamblers at a house of a most disreputable description, kept by
a person of the name of Clark, in the Fleshmarket Close. Xotwithstanding his
profligate habits, Brodie had the address to prevent them from becoming public ;
and he contrived to maintain a fair character among his fellow-citizens. So
successful was he in blihding the world, that he continued a member of the
Council until within a short period of the time he committed the crime for which
he afterwards suffered ; and it is a singular fact that, little more than a month
previously, he sat as a juryman in a criminal cause, in that very court where
he himself soon afterwards received sentence of death !
Although Brodie had for many years been licentious and dissipated, it is
believed that it was not until 1786 that he commenced that career of crime which
he ultimately expiated on the scaffold. About that time he became acquainted
with his fellow-culprit, George Smith ; and shortly afterwards, at the gambling
haunt, with Ainslie and Brown-men of the lowest grade and most abandoned
principles. The motives that induced Brodie to league himself with these
desperate men are not very obvious. In comfortable circumstances, and holding
situations of trust among his fellow-citizens, it is not easy to guess what could
impel him to a line of conduct so very unaccountable. Let his motives have
been what they might, however, Erodie, from his professional knowledge and his
station in society, had great facilities for furthering his contemplated depredations,
and he became the leader of these miscreants, who acted by his orders,
and were guided by his information.
About the latter end of 1787 a series of robberies were committed in and
around Edinburgh, and no clue could be had of the perpetrators. Shops were
opened, and goods disappeared, as if by magic.' The whole city at last became
alarmed. In the most of these Brodie was either actively or passively concerned ;
but it was not until the last " fatal affair "-the robbery of the Excise 05cethat
he was discovered, and the whole machinery laid open.
This undertaking, it appears, was wholly suggested and planned by Brodie.
In this action he is accused of having used loaded or false dice, by which Hamilton lost upwards
of six guineas. ' An old lady mentions that a female friend of hers, who, from indisposition, was unable to go
one Sunday to church, was, during divine worship, and in the absence of her servant, surprised by
the entrance of a man, with a crape over his face, into the room where she was sitting. He very
coolly took up the keys which were lying on the table before her, opened her bureau, and took out II
considerable sum of money that had been placed there. He meddled with nothing else, but immediately
re-locked the bureau, replaced the keys on the table, and, making a low bow, retired. The lady was
panic-struck the whole time. Upon the exit of her mysterious visitor, she exclaimed, "Surely that was
Deacon Brodie ! " But the improbability of a person of his opulence turning a housebreaker, induced
her tu preserve silence at the time. Subsequent events, however, soon proved the truth of her aunnisea.
2 L

... SKETCHES. 257 this degrading vice to account as a source of revenue ; and it appears, from an action ...

Book 8 p. 361
(Score 0.26)

40 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
* * *
Ilk man efter thair qualitie,
Thay did solist his Majestie,
Sum gad him ravel1 at the rakket,
Some harlit him to the hurly hakket.
And sum to schaw their courtlie corsis,
Wald ryid to,Leith, and rin tbair horsis.
at the last thair vaiked ane benefice quhilk pat thame all at variance for the dispositioun
of the same.”l And so, after dividing with more or less success the patronage of the
crown, the nobles parted in greater disagreement than ever ; “ bot Bischope James
Beatoun remained &till in Edinburgh, in his awin ludging, quhilk he biggit in the Frieris
Wynd.” ’
C1525.1 The nominal rule of the youthful Sovereign proved of little avail to stay the
turbulence of hia haughty nobles ; Angus again seized the government, nominating his
uncle, Archibald Douglas, Provost of Edinburgh. And such waa the power he possessed,
that, under his protection, the assassins of M’Lellan of Bombie, who was slain in open
day at the door of St Giles’s Church, walked with impunity about the streets ; while the
Queen herself deemed his safe conduct. necessary, while she resided in Edinburgh, though
the Parliament was sitting there at the time. And so the King returned again to honourable
durance in the dilapidated palace of the Castle ; or only made his appearance to act
as the puppet of his governor.
At this time it was that Arran and his faction demanded that the Parliament should
assemble within the Castle, to secure them against popular coercion ; but Angus, and
a numerous body of the nobles, and others, protested ‘‘ that the Parliament be kept
in the accustomed place, and that the King be conveyed along the High Street, and
in triumph shown to his own people.” And this being denied them, they surrounded the
Castle with two thousand men in arms, completely preventing the supplies of the garrison.
Those in the Castle retaliated, by firing on the town : but their differences were happily
accommodated, and “ the King in. magnificence and pomp is convoyed from the Castle to
his palace at Holyrood House, and the Estates assemble in the wonted place of the town
of Edinburgh.”
C1526.1 The Earl of Lennox assembled a numerous body of adherents in the following
year, and marched towards Edinburgh to the rescue of the King; but Angus not only
caused the provost to ring the alarum bell, and raise the town in his defence, but he persuaded
the Eing, though much against his will, to head the burgher force against his own
friends. “Then the King caused sound his trumpets, and lap upon horse, and caused
ring the commoun bell of Edinburgh, commanding all manner of men to follow him ; so he
issued forth at the Wast Port, and the touoes of Edinburgh and Leith with him, to the
number of thrie thousand men, and passed forwards with thame,” but only to arrive
in time to witness the death of the Earl of Lennox, and the complete discomfiture of his
Paw.
C1528.1 Frequent attempts were made thereafter for the King’s delivery from this thraldom
; but that which so many had failed in securing, he at length effected, by his’ own
Pitscottig vol. ii p. 312. Ibid, p. 313. 8 Hawthornden, p. 93.

... MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH. * * * Ilk man efter thair qualitie, Thay did solist his Majestie, Sum gad him ravel1 ...

Book 10 p. 43
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 173
As might have been expected from the Doctor’s enthusiastic character, he
took an active interest in the Society for Propagating Christian Knowledge.
So long as his strength continued, he was one of its most zealous members; and
when the infirmities of age would no longer permit him to attend personally at
their meetings, he was frequently consulted on matters of importance to the
Society at his own house.
Dr. Erskine had never been in possession of much corporeal strength; and his
weakly constitution began the sooner to feel the effects of approaching old age.
Indeed, it is much to be wondered that his slender frame so long endured such
an excess of mental and even bodily labour as distinguished his whole life.
For several winters previous to his death he had not been able to preach
regularly; and, for the last thirteen months, was compelled to leave it off
altogether, his voice having become so weak as to be incapable of making himself
heard. His mind, however, survived unimpaired amid the gradual decay of
his bodily powers. His judgment was as clear, and his memory as good as in
his younger years ; and almost to the last minute of existence he maintained the
pursuit of those labours which had combined the business and the pleasure of
his existence. On the 19th of January, the day previous to his demise, he was
occupied in his study till a late hour. About four o’clock on the morning of
the 20th (1803) he was suddenly taken ill; and although the alarm was immediately
given, he expired, seemingly without a struggle, before his family could
be collected around him.
The funeral was
attended by a vast train of mourners, and an immense concourse of spectators
assembled to witness the last obsequies to the remains of their venerable and
much respected pastor. At the request of his widow, the Reverend Dr. Davidson,
who was an esteemed friend of the deceased, preached a funeral sermon in
the Old Greyfriars’ Church, on the following Sunday, to a numerous and
affected audience.
Dr. Erskine was married to the Honourable Miss M‘Kay, daughter of Lord
Reay, by whom he had a family of fourteen children, but only four survived-
David Erskine, Esq. of Carnock, and three daughters, one of whom was the
mother of James Stewart, Esq. of Dunearn.
Of Dr. Erskine’s voluminous writings we cannot here even attempt a bare
enumeration. They are, however, extensively known throughout the country.
His first work, “ On the Necessity of Revelation,” ’written in his twenty-first
year, and in which he had occasion to advocate some of the opinions maintained
in Dr. Warburton’s “ Di+ine Legation of Moses,” procured him the approbation
nnder the signature of “ A. C.,” by whom he was accused of favouring the views of the “ Illuminati ”
-a German sect, at the head of whom was Nicholai, a celebrated bookseller and publisher-either
through ignorance of the characters of those men whose writings he had patronised and introduced
to the notice of the British public, or “ with the view to revive the old exploded hue-and-cry against
Popery.” To the accusations thus put forward, Dr. Erskine, then in his seventy-eighth year, auccwsfully
replied in a pamphlet entitled “Dr. Erskine’a Reply to a Printed Letter directed to him by ‘ A. C.,’ in which the gross misrepresentations in said letter are considered.”
His body was interred in the Greyfriars’ churchyard.

... SKETCHES. 173 As might have been expected from the Doctor’s enthusiastic character, he took an ...

Book 8 p. 245
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 371
which he was destined so long and so honourably to fill. After attending the
usual academical courses, and having obtained authority to preach, his character
and talents soon procured for him the parish church of Langton, in Berwickshire,
to which he was ordained in 1759. He remained there, however, only about
six years, having been then called to the more important charge of North Leith,
the population of which, though at that time only seven hundred, had increased
to as many thousands before his death.
There are seldom any striking incidents to record in the biography of a
parish clergyman. “ The even tenor of his way ” is less liable to be disturbed
by those ruder shocks which frequently assail men in other spheres of life. This
observation is peculiarly applicable to the subject of the present sketch. If we
except the frequent alarms experienced by the inhabitants of Leith during the
early part of the last war, when the country was threatened with foreign invasion,
and the interesting yet arduous duty which he faithfully discharged in consoling
the fears and animating the courage of his people, no occurrence very peculiar
falls to be narrated within the scope of his history; but it would require a
volume of no ordinary dimensions to note down all the acts of genuine Christian
philanthropy in which he was engaged almost every day of his existence. In
the pulpit he inculcated, with earnestness and power, those principles and
doctrines which all feel to be the very basis of the moral structure ; while, in his
parochial visitations, he sedulously laboured to carry the precepts of religion
home to the firesides of his parishioners.’ Many still alive remember with what
diligence their venerated pastor continued, even in old age, to visit the bumble
dwellings of the poor, and to attend the bed of sickness and of death, carrying
along with him that consolation which the mission of peace never fails to bestow.
Neither was his solicitude confined to the spiritual welfare of his people. In
their temporal affairs he took a lively interest, and felt for their misfortunes as
if they were his own. “ To the widow, he wm as a husband-to the orphan, as a
father-to the destitute and helpless, a steward of Heaven’s bounty ; their
protector, patron, and support.”
He was no
sentimentalist, to weep at the recitation of a well-told tale, and yet turn his
eyes away from actual misery. In a maritime district such as North Leith,
where a great portion of the inhabitants are engaged in the precarious and
dangerous occupation of fishing, casualties are of frequent occurrence. The
moment he heard of a case of distress, he could not remain satisfied without
instantly doing something to assist the sufferers ; and, while he was no niggard
of his own means, he was indefatigable in his endeavours to procure aid from
others. Whether his charity was exerted in behalf of individuals or of institutions,
he was equally unremitting in his endeavours ; and whenever a benevolent
project was pointed out to him, he entered into the scheme with the most ardent
Dr. Johnston’s philanthropy was of the most active description.
On one of hia cakchetical-rounds among the cottagea of the Lhennen of Newhaven, the curioua
veraion of ddam’u fall ~ ~ g8ive9n, whicb, aa the anecdote is illustrative of that peculiar class of.
people, will be found related in our notice of e “ Newhaven Oyster Lass.”

... SKETCHES. 371 which he was destined so long and so honourably to fill. After attending the usual ...

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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 225
the next wm married to a Mr. Stoddart, who had realised a fortune abroad ;
the third to James Marshall, Esq., Secretary to the Provincial Bank of Ireland
in London; and the youngest to the late Reverend Dr. Robertson of South
Leith. The rest mostly died when young. The only son who reached manhood
was the late William Jamieson, W.S., who died in 1626. This gentleman
attained a temporary celebrity by his attacks on the Judges of the Court of
Session ; for which, however, he smarted pretty severely-perhaps more so than
the case required.
The third figure is MR. ARCHIBALD M'DOWALL, clothier, North
Bridge, for many years a leading member of the Town Council. He is represented
as holding in his hand a plan of the improvement proposed by the
Magistrates.
His
father, James M'Dowall of Canonmills, was nearly related to the late Andrew
M'Dowall, Lord Bankton. In the entail of the estate of Bankton, in East
Lothian, and certain other property, executed in 1756, he is a nominatim
mbstitute, and is therein stated to be his lordship's cousin.' Mrs. Gilmour of
Craigmillar, the great-grandchild of this James M'Dowall, was consequently
grand-niece of Mr. Archibald M'Dowall. Being the descendant of his eldest
brother, she succeeded to the property of Canonmills, on the death of her
father, while in minority. It may not be out of place to mention that Mr.
Patrick M'Dowall, the father of James M'Dowall of Canonmills, was the first
private banker who discounted bills in Edinburgh. He carried on business
before the erection of the Bank of Scotland, under the Act of Parliament in 1695,
and for a considerable time afterwards.
Mr. M'Dowall was born in 1743, and married in early lie a near relation of
the late Dr. John Macfarlan, minister of the Canongate Church (who married
his sister), and father of John Macfarlan of Kirkton, Esq., advocate, and also
of the present Dr. Patrick Macfarlan of Greenock. He commenced the first
cloth manufactory in Scotland,' similar to those carried on so extensively at
Leeds, and brought a number of workmen from England for that purpose.
This establishment was at Paul's Work, at the south back of Canongate, now
called M'Dowall Street, from which he afterwards removed to Brunstane Mill,
Mr. M'Dowall was a cadet of the ancient family of M'Dowall of Logan,
The Countess of Dalhousie, who happened to be the nearest heir of entail to the Logan and
Bankton estates, was long engaged in a lawsuit with the possessor, so that, failing his brother, she
might be enabled to enter into possession. ' In order to encourage Mr. M'Dowall's manufactory, the Earl of Buchan proposed that such
gentlemen of the Antiquarian Society as intended to be present at the first anniversary meeting of
the Society on the 30th November 1781, should be dressed entirely in "home-made" articles.
Accordingly, they all appeared with clothes of M'Dowall's manufacture, worsted hose, etc. Lord
Buchan, being the last to make his appearance, on looking round, immediately exclaimed, " Gentlemen,
there is not one of you dressed according to agreement, myself excepted ; your buckles and
buttons are entirely English, whereas mine are made from jasper taken from Arthur's Seat." And
very beautiful they were. The bed of jasper is now exhausted.
2 6

... SKETCHES. 225 the next wm married to a Mr. Stoddart, who had realised a fortune abroad ; the third ...

Book 8 p. 317
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300 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
talents and amiable character. Although differing on some points of church
polity, the two incumbents lived on terms of the closest intimacy during the
short period of their connection j and the kind attentions of Dr. Hunter contributed
much to promote the comfort of his venerable friend in the declining
years of his long and useful life.
The lectures of Dr. Hunter, as Professor of Divinity, were distinguished by a
plain, clear, and accurate statement of the evidences and doctrine of Christianity j
and it was his uniform and earnest endeavour to promote practical piety and
ministerial usefulness among his students. For this purpose he cultivated an
acquaintance with them in private j and, to such as he found most worthy and
most in want of assistance, he not only made presents of books but frequently
aided them with sums of money, which he conveyed in such a way as to insure
the gratitude without injuring the feelings of the receiver ; while, for those who
were distinguished by piety and talents, he endeavoured to procure situations of
usefulness and respectability. He also, from his own funds, gave a prize yearly
for the best theological essay on a prescribed subject; and he was remarkable
for the candour and impartiality which he observed in adjudging the reward.
In the pulpit Dr. Hunter had an earnest and affectionate manner of delivery;
and his discourses were sound in their doctrine and practical in their tendency.
Several of his sermons, on particular occasions, have been published: one, in
1792, is entitled “The Duties of Subjects,” which seems to have been written
with a view to counteract the republican mania which the French Revolution
had introduced into the country. The discourse is characterised by a comprehensive
view of the relative duties of those who govern and of the governed.
The arguments are judicious and forcible, and the language moderate and conciliatory.
We find another published sermon by Dr. Hunter, entitled “ Christ’s
Drawing all Men unto Him,” preached before the Edinburgh Missionary Society,
in Lady Glenorchy’s Chapel, on Thursday the 20th of July 1797 ;l and in the
“ Scottish Preacher ”-a publication of very considerable excellence-two other
discourses will be found.
tion for the moderatorship ; when, in spite of every exertion by the opposing party, he was elected
by a decided majority. Although frequently urged, Dr. Drysdale always dec1ined;giving his sermons
to the world, At his death, however, several of them were collected and published in two volumes
8v0, with a Memoir of his Life by his son-in-law, Professor Andrew Dalziel-a Portrait of whom
will be found in a subsequent part of this work.
1 The office-bearers of the Society at this time were-
PRESJDENT-JameS Haldane, Esq.
VICE-PRESIDENT-Rev. Dr. Johnston.
SECRETARYR- ev. Greville Ewing.
Rev. Dr. Hunter. Rev. Mr. Buchanan. Mr. John CampbelL
Rev. Mr. Hall. Rev. Mr. Bennet Mr. William Ellis.
Rev. Mr. Peddie. Rev. Mr. Culbertson. Mr. William M‘Lean.
Rev. Mr. Black. Mr. John Pitcairn. Mr. Alexander Pitcairn.
Rev. Mr. Colquhoun. Mr. William Pattison. Mr. George Gibson.
Rev. Mr. Struthers.
TRWWREE-M~. John Tawse, Writer.
CLERK-Mr. William Dymock, Writer.
DIRECTORS.
Mr. James Scott. Mr. John Aihan.

... BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. talents and amiable character. Although differing on some points of church polity, the ...

Book 8 p. 420
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60 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
under the influence of Henry 11. of France, assembled a considerable force at Kelso, and
sought, by all means, to persuade the nobility to unite with her in invading England.
But though the Borderers availed themselves, with their usual alacrity, of the first
symptoms of hostilities, to make a raid across the marches, the general sense of the
nobility was strongly opposed to thus rashly plunging into war, without any just cause ;
and so resolute were they against it, that the Queen Regent, after various ineffeciual
attempts to precipitate hostilities, was compelled to dismiss the army, and abandon all
further attempts at co-operation with France.’
From this occurrence may he dated the true rise of those divisions in this country
which alienated from the Queen Regent the Scottish party, on which she had most
depended, and ultimately led to the war of the Reformation ; and from this time forward
the ecclesiastical is intimately blended with the civil history of the country, mainly
influencing every important occurrence,
The continuation of war between France and Spain at this period, induced the French
Monarch to seek to hasten on the proposed alliance between the Dauphin and the Queen
of Scots, to which the Queen ,Regent lent all her influence. A Parliament accordingly
assembled at Edinburgh on the 14th of December 1557, before which a letter was laid
from the King of France, proposing khat the intended marriage should be carried into
effect without delay. Jamea Stewart, prior of St Andrews, afterwards the Regent Murray,
and others of the leaders of the Protestant party, were chosen by the Parliament as Commissioners,
empowered to give their assent to the marriage, on receiving ample security
for the preservation of the ancient laws and liberty of the kingdom. They accordingly
proceeded to Paris, and there, on the 24th of April 1558, were witnesses of the marriage,
which was solemnised with the utmost pomp and magnificence in the Cathedral of Notre
Dame.
Another Parliament was summoned immediately ob their return, and accordingly
assembled at Edinburgh in the beginning of December. It ratified the transactions of
the Commissioners, and agreed, at the same time, to confer on the Dauphin the Crown of
Scotland during the continuance of the marriage.
As the reformed opinions spread among the people, they manifested their zeal by
destroying images, and breaking down the carved work of the monasteries and churches.
It was the custom at this period for the clergy of Edinburgh to walk annually in grand
procession, on the.first of September, the anniversary of St Giles, the patron saint of the
town ; but in the year 1558, before the arrival of St Giles’s day, the mob contrived to
get into the church, and carrying off the image of the saint, which was usually borne in
procession on such occasions, they threw it into the North Loch-the favourite place for
ducking all offenders against the seventh commandment-and thereafter committed it to
the flames.’ The utmost confusion prevailed on its being discovered to be amissing.
The bishops sent orders to the Provost and Magistrates either to get the old St Giles, or
to furnish another at their own expense ; but this they declined to do, notwithstanding
the threats and denunciations of the clergy, alleging the authority of Scripture for the
destruction of I‘ idols and images.’’
Bishop Leslie’s Hint., pp. 260, 261. Calderwood’s Hist., vol. i. p. 344.

... MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH. under the influence of Henry 11. of France, assembled a considerable force at Kelso, ...

Book 10 p. 65
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BI 0 GRAPH I C AL SKETCH E S. 43
Walter Hamilton, Esq., was elected Lord Provost. This office he filled, as
usual, for two years.
The copartnery with Mr. Allan’ having been dissolved, Provost Steuart commenced
business on his own account in Leith, as a general merchant. At a
later date he became a wine-merchant in Edinburgh, but was far from successful
in his commercial speculations. In his early years, with the view of
following a mercantile profession, he resided for some time on the Continent,
where he acquired an intimate knowledge of modern languages. He was a man
of excellent taste, and passionately fond of literature.
He was a great book-collector, and his library, for its size, was one of the
finest in Scotland. His residence abroad had given him great facilities for
collecting rare and curious works. In May 1801, when he exposed a part of
his library to sale by auction, it was described as “ a small, but select collection
of books, in which is to be found some of the finest specimens of typography
extant, from the first attempt on wooden blocks until the present time.” But
the prices offered not coming up to Mr. Steuart’s expectations, the greater part
were bought in, either by himself or his friends. Two of the finest specimens of
early printing which now enrich the Library of the Faculty of Advocates were
formerly in his possession, viz.-lst, The first edition of the Latin Bible, and
one of the earliest books executed with movable types, in two large volumes
folio, supposed to have been printed by Gutternbeg and Faust in the year
1450. The other is the Breviary of the .Roman Church, beautifully printed
on the finest vellum at Venice by Nicholas Jenson in 1478, and finely illuminated.
Provost Steuart married Miss Ann Fordyce, an Aberdeenshire lady, by whom
he had sixteen children, five of whom, two sons and three daughters, are presently
alive. In’ the latter part of life he suffered much as a martyr to the
gout; and finally left Edinburgh about the year 1815. From that time he
continued to reside with his son-in-law, Mr. Mair,” at Gretna Hall, near Annan,
where he died on the 17th May 1824.
MR. JOHN LOTHIAN was a cloth-merchant in that shop, No. 313
High Street., in the west wing of the front of the Royal Exchange. He was
elected one of the Merchants’ Councillors, in 1762 ; and in 1768, upon the
death of Bailie William Callender, was appointed third bailie in his stead ; in
1769, he was one of the old bailies; in 1774, second bailie; in 1775, old
bailie. He died unmarried, at Edinburgh, suddenly, on the 12th August 1790.
He was second son of Richard Lothian, writer in Edinburgh, the eldest son of
George Lothian, Esq., of Belsis, near Ormiston, in East Lothian, and cousin-
1 Robert Allan was father of the late Thorn= Allan, Esq., who bought the estate of Lauriston,
in the county of Edinburgh, which had for nearly a century and a half been the property of the
representatives of the celebrated John Law of Lauriston, who was born there.
a hLrs. Mair was remarkable for the beauty of her face and the graceful elegance of her figure,
but the sweetness of her manner was stii more remarkable than either.

... 0 GRAPH I C AL SKETCH E S. 43 Walter Hamilton, Esq., was elected Lord Provost. This office he filled, ...

Book 8 p. 58
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234
sic an auncienl city, tool I’m tauld the Apostle Paul ance visited this very
district we’re sitting in the noo.” “ Nonsense !” exclaimed his crony-‘‘ Ye’re
gyte, now,” said the landlady ; “ I’m sure I’ve read the Testament mony a time,
an’ I ne’er saw sic a thing in’”’’-‘‘ What’ll ye bet, then 0” quoth the wily
precentor. “ It’s no for the like 0’ me to be betting,’’ said she ; “ but, in a case
like this, I’ll haud ye the gill on the table there’s no a word about the
Patterraw.” The Testament was produced-Tam turned over the leaves with
affected difficulty-till at last he hit upon the passage, Acts xxi. 5. “And we
came with a straight course into Coos, and the day following int,o Rhodes, and
from thence into P-a-t-a-r-a.” Against such conclusive evidence the simple
hostess could urge no appeal ; and was so highly pleased with the discovery, that,
like Eve, she wished the “gudeman” to be made as wise as herself, even at
the expense of another gill. John, who had been engaged in the cellar, very
opportunely made his appearance, and, being told of the astonishing fact, was
as incredulous as his rib had been. John was better acquainted with the process
of reducing bead twenty-two to thirty than he was with the contents of the New
Testament ; nevertheless, he could with great security “ wager ony man half-amutchkin
that the Patterraw, nor ony ither raw in a’ Edinburgh, was nae sae
muckle as mentioned between the twa buirds 0’ the Bible.” The half-mutchkin
stoup, instead of the small tantalising measure which had hitherto occupied the
table, was accordingly filled by the gudewife, who was secretly gratified that
John’s wisdom, so immaculate in his own estimation, was about to be found
somewhat faulty. We need scarcely add that the “P-a-t-a-r-a” of the text at
once decided who should “pay the piper ;” and Tam, thus plentifully supplied,
was spared the alternative he had dreaded of parting with a dry mouth.
Like most others whose talents become so much an object of social gratification,
Tam, who at first drank for the sake of good company, latterly drank for
the sake of good liquor. He knew and felt this, and by no means attempted
either to deceive himself or others on the subject. Mr. Nisbet of Dirleton
(himself an excellent musician, and contemporary of the musical Earl of Kelly’)
happened to meet the jovial precentor pretty early one forenoon, in the High
Street, rather more than half-seas-over. Dirleton challenged Tam for being
“ SO groggy before meridian.” ‘‘ Why,” said he, “ don’t you let your debauch
stand till night 1’’ Tam acknowledged the justice of his censure,-“ Vera true,
sir-vera true ; but as I maun aye be this way ance a day, I maun just tak‘ it
when I can get it.”
Tam continued to be that way very frequently for a great length of timehis
constitution apparently experiencing little or no bad effects from the practice.
He lived to a good old age, and died within a few days of the close of last
century. His death is thus recorded in the Edinburgh Magazine for 1800 ;-
“Died, December 7, Thomas Neil, wright, and precentor in the Old Church
A few copies of his lordship’s minuets were published, from the original manuscripts, by
Some of them are par-
B I 0 GRAPH I C AL S KE T C €I E S.
C. I(. Sharpe, Esq. Small folio-Edinburgh, 1836 : Thos. Stevenson.
ticularly god.

... an auncienl city, tool I’m tauld the Apostle Paul ance visited this very district we’re sitting in ...

Book 8 p. 329
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 3 8 i
is said that this is a Louse in fact, and that t4e veritas wnvicii a d ;an d mention is made
of a-decision in the case of Chalmers v. Douglas. I have always had a great veneration for the
decisions of your Lordships ; and I am sure will always continue to have while I sit here ; but
that case was determined by a very small majority, and I have heard your Lordships mention
it on various occasione, and you have always desiderated the propriety of it, and I thiik have
departed from it in some instances. I remember the circumstances of the case well :-Helm
Chalmers lived in Musselburgh, and the defender, Mrs. Baillie, lived in Fisherrow ; and at that
time there was much intercourse between the genteel inhabitants of Fisherrow, and Musselburgh,
and Inveresk, and likewise Newbigging ; and there were balls, or dances, or assemblies, every
fortnight, or oftener, and also sometimes I believe every week ; and there were card-parties,
assemblies once a fortnight, or oftener ; and the young people danced there also, and others
played at cards, and there were various refreshments, such as tea and coffee, and butter and bread,
and I believe, but I am not sure, porter and negns, and likewise small beer. And it was at one
of these assemblies that Mn. Baillie called Mrs. Chalmers a -, or an -- , and mid she
had been lying with Commissioner Cardonald, a gentleman whom I knew very well at one time,
and had a great respect for. And Mrs. Chalmers brought an action
of defamation before the Commissaries, and it came by advocation into this Court, and your
Lordships allowed a proof of the werites convicii, and it lasted a very long time, and in the end
answered no good purpose even to the defender herself, while it did much hurt to the pursuer’s
character. I am therefore for REFUSING a proof in this casc ; aud I think the petitioner in this
case and his Beetle have h e n slandered, and the petition ought to be seen.
“LORD METHVEN.-If I understand this a-a-&-interlocutor, it is not said that the a--a
-a-a-Egyptian Lice are Beetles, but that they may be, or -a-a-a-a-resemble Beetles.
I am therefore for sending the process to the Ordinary to ascertain the fact, aa I think it depends
upon that whether there be a-a-a-a-convicium or not. I think also the petitioner should
be ordained to a-a-a-produce his Beetle, and the defender an Egyptian Louse or Pediculus,
and that he should,tske a diligence a-a-a-to recover Lice of various kinds ; and these may
be remitted to Dr. Nonro, or Mr. Playfair, or to some other naturalist, to report upon the
subject.
He is dead many years ago.
‘($geed to.”‘
[No. CCCI.
REV. ALEXANDER EING,
OF THE RELIEF CONGREGATION, DALKEITEL
THE father of this gentleman was at one period a teacher at Lasswade,’ and
afterwards a minister of the gospel in connection with the Relief. Having
studied for the clerical profession, MR. KING, the younger, became a licentiate
of the same body; and, in 1799, obtained a call to the Relief Chapel in
Dalkeith.
During the few years he officiated there, he was greatly esteemed by his congregation,
as a young man of superior talent and zeal. His oratory was ’ A pretty correct version of “ The Diamond Beetle Case” appeared in an amusing volume, post
8v0, entitled “Literary Gems,” compiled by Yr. Jamea Shaw. Edinburgh: M‘Lschlan and
Stewart, 1826. ’ He taught the parish school, having probably been a licentiate of the Church of Scotland;
but, on being accused of inculcating doctrines or opinions at variance with the principles of the
Establishment, and proceedings having been instituted against him before the Pmbytery of Dalkeith,
at the instance of the eldera and minister of his parish, he joined the Relief body, and .soon thereafter
waa ordained to a pastoral charge.

... SKETCHES. 3 8 i is said that this is a Louse in fact, and that t4e veritas wnvicii a d ;an d mention ...

Book 9 p. 517
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110 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
University of Aberdeen, and subsequently for five years at Edinburgh, he
repaired to London, Rouen, and Paris, and took his degree at Leyden about the
year 1740.l He afterwards practised for some time at Rotterdam, where he
married Miss Sarah Lombe, a lady of much piety and high mental attainments.
By this union he had a son and daughter. Miss
Grant, afterwards married to the late Dr. Andrew Brown, was much celebrated
for her acquirements. She was an accomplished musician, and performed with
science and taste on the piano and pedal harp.
Some time after the death of his first wife, Dr. Grant again entered into the
married state, by espousing a daughter of Sir Archibald Grant of Monymusk.
By this marriage he had two sons and a daughter. The eldest, Archibald,
went out to Jamaica to a relation-Grant of Rothiemurcus-where he died.
Thg other son, Johnson, studied for the Church, much against the will of his
father, who was desirous that he should follow out the profession of medicine,
and settled in the vicarage of Kentish-town, London. The daughter was
courted and married by Dr. Thorpe, physician at Leeds, while a student at the
University of this city.
On settling in Edinburgh, Dr. Grant rapidly acquired a wide range of professional
employment, chiefly among the leading families from the north ; and a
course of lectures on the Practice of Physic, delivered about 1770, secured for
him a flattering increase of reputation.’ In chemistry he was known to possess
pretty extensive knowledge; and part of his house was fitted up with the
necessary apparatus for experimenting on a large scale in that interesting
department of science.’ It may be worth mentioning, as illustrative of his
humane disposition, that he devoted an hour, between eight and nine o’clock
every morning-winter as well as summer-to the service of the poor, to whom
he gave medicine and advice gratis. He was long a manager of the Orphan
Hospital, devoting much of his attention to its interests, and was the projector
of the Hospital at Grantown, in Strathspey.
Moving in the best circles of society, the Doctor was a joyous supporter of
the social character ascribed to the last century inhabitants of Edinburgh; and
his house in James’s Court ‘-top flat of the left hand turnpike-was the scene
of many fashionable entertainments. His parties, at which the Duchess of
Gordon and other ladies of high rank were frequently present, were given generally
in the evening, and called “musical supper~.”~ As an instance of the
The former died in infancy.
1 While abroad Dr. Grant enjoyed the friendship of many of the most eminent medical men of
F’rofesaor Lied, of Rouen, wished much that he ahould have become Professor of
* In 1761 he was a candidate for the chair of the Practice of Physic in the University of
Some valuable morbid preparations of the bones, which Dr. Grant had procured at Rotterdam,
the Continent.
Chemistry there.
Edinburgh.
afterwards formed part of the museums of Dr. Barclay and Mr. John Bell. ‘ The Doctor’s horses and carriage were accommodated at Ramsay Gardens.
The gentlemen more regularly in attendance were, Sir James Grant of Grant, Sir John Sinclair,
Mr. Henry M‘Kenzie, and Mr. John Bell, surgeon. The concerts were led by the famous Stabilini.

... BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. University of Aberdeen, and subsequently for five years at Edinburgh, he repaired to ...

Book 9 p. 147
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I12 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
The church was crowded with an unusually numerous auditory, among whom he recognised
many Jacobites, as well as a number of the Highland soldiers, attracted by the report
of his intentions, and the knowledge of his intrepid character. He prayed, as usual, for
King George, by name, and then added,--“And as for this young man who has come
among us seeking an earthly crown, we beseech thee that he may obtain what is far better,
a heavenly one ! ” When this was reported to Prince Charles he is said to have laughed,
and expressed himself highly pleased at the courage and charity of the worthy
minister.’
For some days after the Battle of Prestonpans, the communication between the town
and the Castle remained uninterrupted. But the Highlanders, who kept guard at the
Weigh-house, having received orders to prevent all further intercourse with the fortress, the
governor, retaliated by threatening to cannonade the town. Messengers were immediately
despatched by the Lord Provost to the Palace, informing the Prince of the danger the city
was exposed to ; but the governor having waited in vain for a favourable answer, a severe
cannonading at last took place, killing and wounding several of the inhabitants, besides
damaging many of the houses nearest the Castle, and spreading such consternation through
the town, that a great portion of the citizens were prepared for immediate flight. The
consequences that were apprehended from such proceedings were, however, happily averted
by a proclamation of the Prince, declaring the infinite regret he felt at the many murders
committed on the inhabitants by the commander of the garrison, and that he had ordered
the blockade of the Castle to be taken off, and the threatened punishment of his enemies to
be suspended, when he found that thereby innocent lives could be saved. Shortly after
this the Prince left Edinburgh, on his route to England, at the head of an army of about
five thousand men ; from thence he was followed, on his return northward, by the Duke
of Cumberland, who, on his arrival in Edinburgh, occupied the same apartments in the
Palace which had so recently been appropriated to the use of the Prince ; and during his
stay there, the paintings of the Scottish monarchs, in the great gallery, were slashed and
otherwise greatly defaced by the English soldiers.
After the final overthrow of the Highland army at Culloden, a species of triumph was
exhibited in Edinburgh, in full accordance with the magnanimity of the Duke, who claimed
the entire credit of a victory, achieved rather by the policy of Duncan Forbes of Culloden.
Fourteen of the standards that had been taken from the insurgents were burnt at the Market
Cross with every mark of contempt. They were ignominiously carried thither by chimney
sweepers,-the Prince’s own standard being particularly distinguished by being borne by
the common hangman ; and as each wa8 thrown into the fire, the heralds proclaimed the
names of the commanders to whom they had belonged!
. The usual election of magistrates having been prevented by the presence of the Highland
army in Edinburgh, they were chosen in the following year by virtue of a royal mandate,
and the newly-elected Council testified their loyalty to the Hanoverian dynasty by
voting the freedom of the city to the Duke of Cumberland, and presenting to him the charter
of citizenship in a massive gold box, embossed with the city arms outside, and having the
Duke’s own arms, with a suitable inscription, engraved within.
The overthrow of the adherents of Prince Charles was followed up by fines, imprisonl
Hist. of the West Kirk, p. 119.

... MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH. The church was crowded with an unusually numerous auditory, among whom he ...

Book 10 p. 123
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 109
but they were received with steady coolness by the British troops. The field
was contested with various success, until General Menou, finding that all his
endeavours proved fruitless, ordered a retreat, which, from the want of cavalry
on the part of the Eritish, he was enabled to accomplish in good order. This
battle, which proved decisive of the fate of Egypt, and left an impression not
easily to be effaced of British courage and prowess, was dearly gained by the
death of Sir Ralph himself. Early in the morning he had taken his station in
the front line, from the exposed nature of which, and at a moment when he had
dispersed all his staff on various duties, the enemy attempted to take him
prisoner.’ From this perilous situation the General was relieved by the valour
of his troops, when it was discovered that he had been wounded in the thigh.
He was repeatedly pressed by the soldiers to have the wound attended to ; but
he treated it as a matter of no moment, and continued to give directions on the
field until victory became certain by the retreat of the enemy. The intense
excitement of action being thus over, Sir Ralph at last fainted from loss of blood;
and although the wound was immediately examined, every attempt to extract
the ball proved unsuccessful. He was carried on a litter aboard the Foudroyant
where he died on the 28th of March.
The death of General Abercromby was looked upon as a national calamity.
A ‘monument was ordered to be erected to his memory by the House of
Commons ; and his Majesty, as a mark of further respect, conferred the title of
Baroness on his lady, and the dignity of Baron to the heirs-male of his body.
On the recommendation of his Majesty, a pension of two thousand pounds per
annum was voted to the Baroness, and to the two next succeeding heirs.
The capital of his native country was not backward in acknowledging the
honour reflected by so worthy a son. At a meeting of the Magistrates and
Town Council of Edinburgh, it was resolved that a monument to the memory
of Sir Ralph Abercromby should be erected on the wall of the High Church;
and a very liberal collection was made in all the churches and chapels for the
relief of the families of “ the brave men who had fallen in Egypt.” In honour
of his memory, also, the Edinburgh Volunteer Brigade, on the 2d of June,
performed a grand military spectacle at the Meadows. They were dressed in
“ deep funeral uniform,” while the bands performed (‘ plaintive pieces of music,
some of which were composed for the occasion.”, The crowd of spectators, as
may be supposed, was immense, and the scene is said to have been “ solemn
and impressive.”
Sir Ralph married Anne, daughter of John Menzies of Fernton (Ferntower),
in the county of Perth, by whom he had four sons and two daughters. His
eldest son, George, on the death of his mother, 17th February 1821, became
1 Two of the enemy’s cavalry dashing forward, and “ drawing up on each side, attempted to lead
him away prisoner. In this unequal contest he received a blow on the breast ; but with the vigour
and strength of arm for which he was distinguished, he seized on the sabre of one of those who
struggled with him, and forced it out of his hand. At this moment a corporal of the 42d Highlanders,
seeing his situation, ran up to his assistance, and shot one of the assailants, on which the other retired.”

... SKETCHES. 109 but they were received with steady coolness by the British troops. The field was ...

Book 8 p. 160
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NOTES TO VOL. I.
Page 257, DEACONBR ODIEA ND THE EXCISEO FFICE.
The Excise Office was then in Chessels’ Court, Canongate. In the reign of Charles
11. it stood a little below John Knox’s house, just within the Nether Bow Port, From
thence it was removed to a fine old building in the Cowgate, on the site of the southeru
arches of George IV. Bridge, originally the mansion of the Earl of Haddington, the
favourite of James I. Froni this it was transferred to Chessels‘ Court in 1772, and
then to the fine mansion of Sir Lawrence Dundas in St. Andrew Square, now the Royal
Bank.of Scotland. Brodie’s own house was in .the Lawnmarket, a little below the
West Bow, styled after him Brodie’s Close.
Page 281, Dr. ALEXAXDEMRO NRO.
Among the earliest Scottish photograph portraits, taken with paper negatives, by
the late D. 0. Hill, R.S.A., is a very characteristic photograph of Dr. Alexander
Monro Tertius.
Page 287, EARLO F BUCHANH’SO USE.
The Earl of Buchan’s house was at the north-east corner of St. Andrew Sqnare, with
its east windows on North St. Andrew Street. There the Society of Antiquaries was
originated ; and there the eccentric nobleman figured in such scenes as that of Apollo
and the Muses, described in the following note.
Page 305, HADDOH’SO LE.
The Little Kirk, or Haddo’s Hole, waa the north-west division of Old St. Giles’s
Church. Until near the close of last century it was entered through a beautiful
Norman porch, the last remains of the earliest structure ; and over this was a chamber
to which Maitland gives the name of the Priest’s Prison. In this apartment Sir John
Gordon of Haddo was imprisoned in 1644, previous to his trial, and beheading by the
Maiden. Hence the name of Haddo’s Hole.
Page 306, MUIR of Huntershill and his MONUMENT.
The monument referred to as in prospect was at length successfully raised in spite
of the proceedings which interdicted its erection for a time, and wasted the funds in law
proceedings ; thereby reducing the scheme to the poor obelisk now in the Old Caltou
Eurying-ground.
Page 315, LORDP RESIDENBLTA IRA ND LORDM ELVILLE.
The houses referred to in the note were, it is presumed, in Brown Square. Lord
Melville occupied the most westerly house on the north side of the square. The next
house was occupied for a time by Sir Ilay Campbell, the predecessor of Lord President
Blair. The locality was conveniently near the Parliament House, with easy access by
the Cowgate and Old Parliament Stairs. Hence the square was a favourite resort of
the Judges. Lord Justice-clerk Miller was succeeded in the centre house on the same
side by his son, Lord Glenlee, who continued to occupy it long after the general fashionable
migration to the New Town.
Page 41 7, APGOWAN’MS USEUM.
Pennant, in his Second Tour, gives some account of the contents of Mr. John
Macguan’a “ small but select private cabinet.” Some of the objects found in the neighbourhood
of Edinburgh appear to have possessed considerable local interest; and
especially a fine Roman bronze, representing a beautiful Naiad, with a wine-vat on her
head, and a small satyr in one arm.

... TO VOL. I. Page 257, DEACONBR ODIEA ND THE EXCISEO FFICE. The Excise Office was then in Chessels’ Court, ...

Book 8 p. 603
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224 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [High Street.
ROBERT CHAMBERS.
(From a *ate PkOtog~U#h.)
1
volume by the firm in 1868, and is the preface tD
which Robert writes :-
?<I am about to do what very few could do
without emotion-revise a book which I wrote
turreted edifice, that now forms the west side of
Warriston?s Close, and built in 1868. It bears
the legend Gracia . Dei. Ro6erfus . Bruiss, with a
WILLIAM CHAMBERS.
(From a Pktograplr by jokta Lamwrd.)
shield at each end, one having the arms sf Bruce
of Binning in Linlithgowshire, impaled with those
of Preston-three unicorns? heads.
The eminent publishers, whose extensive premises
now occupy the west side of Warriston?s
Close, William and Robert Chambers-the great
pioneers of the cheap literature movement-were
born at Peebles, in 1800 and 1802 respectively.
Their ancestors were woollen manufacturers, and
their father carried on the business in cotton at
Peebles, on so large a scale that he used sometimes
to have a hundred looms at work.
He was thus enabled to give his sons a good
education at the schools of their native town, where
Robert passed through a classical course, with the
view of taking orders in the church of Scotland ;
but monetary misfortunes having overtaken his
parents, the family removed to Edinburgh, where
the two brothers were thrown in a great measure
on their own resources, but formed the noble
resolution to try by stem industry to regain the
ground their family had lost ; and a love of reading
led them gradually into the business of bookselling.
William served an apprenticeship, from 1814 to
1819, with Mr. Sutherland, Calton Street, who gave
him four shillings weekly as wages, and on this
small sum-shrinking from being a burden on his
delicate and struggling mother-he took a lodging,
it IS. 6d. per week, in Boak?s Land, West Port, a
ittle bed closet, which he shared with a poor
livinity student from the hills of Tweeddale. Out
)f these slender wages he contrived to save a few
ihillings, and began business, in a very small way,
n 1819, and by the following year added printing
hereto, having taught himself that craft, cutting
vith his own hand the larger types out of wood.
By 1818 Robert had begun business in a tiny
;hop as a bookstall-keeper, in Leith Walk, and
iaving a strong literary turn, he made an essay
is author, by starting a small periodical called
he KaZez?doscoje, the types of which were set up
md printed off by William, in an old rickety
xess, which, he relates, ? emitted a jangling,
xeaking noise, like a shriek of anguish,? when
vorked. After a brief career this publication was
hopped, to enable Robert, in 1822, to write a
rolume likely to be popular-? Illustrations of the
4uthor of Waverley,? referring to the supposed
xiginal characters of the novelist. Of this work
William was printer, binder, and publisher, and a
iecond edition appeared in 1824.
Immediately after its issue he began his ? Traiiitions
of Edinburgh ? (in the plan and production
Df which the brothers anticipated a joint work, that
was to have been written by Scott and Kirkpatrick
S1iarpe)-a book re-written and re-published in one
.

... OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [High Street. ROBERT CHAMBERS. (From a *ate PkOtog~U#h.) 1 volume by the firm in ...

Book 2 p. 224
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3 30 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
the usual substitute with our simple forefathers for the comfortable glazed sash that now
admits the morning beams to the meanest dwelling. Gawin Douglas, in his prologue
to the seventh book of the 4‘Bneid,’’ which contains a description of winter, warned
that the “ day is dawing ” by the whistling of a sorry gled, and glancing through
A schot wyndo onschet, a litill on char,
Pemavyt the mornyng bla, wan, and har.
Douglas, at the time he undertook his vigorous translation of Virgil, was Provost of the
Collegiate Church of St Giles, and we could hardly wish for more conclusive evidence of
the general prevalence of this rude device throughout the Scottish capital during the
prosperous era of the reign of James IT., than the very natural and graphic manner in
which the keen wintry prospect he espies through his half-open shutter is described, and
the comfortable picture of his own blazing hearth, where he solaces himself by the
resumption of his pleasing task :-
The dew-droppis congelit on stibbill and r p d ,
And scharp hailstanys mortfundeit of kynd,
Hoppand on the thak and on the causay by :
The scbot I closit, and drew inwart in hy,
Chyvirrand for cdd, the ae8~onw as so snell,
Schupe with hayt flambe to fleym the freezyng fell.
And as I bownyt me to the fyre me by,
Baith up and down the hows I dyd aspy :
And seeand Virgill on ane lettron stand,
To write onone I hynt a pen in hand.
Another of these picturesque tenements is Palfrep’s or the King’s Head Inn, a fine
antique stone land built about the reign of Charles I. An inner court is enclosed by the
buildings behind, and it long remained one of the best frequented inns of old Edinburgh,
being situated nearly at the. junction of two of the principal approaches to the town
from the south and west. From the style and apparent age of the building, however,
there can be little question that its original occupants ranked among the old Scottish
aria tocracy.
In making the excavations necessary for the erection of a handsome suit of additional
court-rooms for the accommodation of the Lords Ordinary, built to the south of the old
Parliament Hall towards the close of 1844, some curious discoveries were made, tending
to illustrate the changes that have been effected on the Cowgate during the last four
centuries. In the space cleared by the workmen, on the site of the Old Parliament Stairs,
a considerable fragment of the fist city wall was laid bare ; a solid and substantial mass
of masonry, very different from the hasty superstructure of 1513. On the sloping ground
to the south of this, at about fourteen feet below the surface, a range of strong oaken
m 5 a were found lying close together, and containing human remains, In one skull
the brain remained 80 fresh as to show the vermicular form of surface, although the
ancient Churchyard of St Giles, of which these were doubtless some of the latest occupants,
had ceased to be used as a place of sepulture since the grant of the Greyfriars’
gardens for that purpose in 1566. The form of these coffins was curious, being quite
straight at the sides, but with their lids rising into a ridge in the centre, and altogether
closely resembling in form the stone coffins of a still earlier era. During the same

... 30 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH. the usual substitute with our simple forefathers for the comfortable glazed sash that ...

Book 10 p. 360
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20 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
the order of the Blue Blanket was indituted by Pope Urban II., about 1200, and so is
older than any order of knighthood in Europe. According to this author, vast numbers of
Scottish mechanics having followed to the Holy War, took with them a banner bearing
the inscription- “ In bona voluntate tua ed9center muri Jerusalem,” which they styled
the banner of the Holy Ghost, though, from its colour, familiarly called “ The Blue Blanket;
” and this, on their return, they dedicated to St Eloi’s altar in St Giles’s Church.
Whatever foundation there may be for this remoter origin, it is undoubted that James
111. at this time, in requital of the eminent services of the burghers, confirmed them
in many privileges, and bestowed on them this ensign, with their heraldic bearings
embroidered by the Queen’s own hands. It has eYer since been kept in the charge of the
kirk-master or deacon-convener of the crafts for the time being ; every burgher, not only
of the capital, but of Scotland, being held bound to rally at the summons, when it is
unfurled.
Within a brief period after the incidents related, the Duke of Albany being confined a
prisoner in the Castle, succeeded in effecting his escape in a very daring fashion. His rivals
having just obtained their own deliverance, “ counselled the King to justfy the Duke
his brother ; ” which being known at the court of France, a French ship arrived in Leith
Roads the very day before his intended “justification,” the captain of which sent a
messenger to the Duke, offering to supply him with a stock of wines ; and a confidential
servant being thereupon sent for “two bosses full of Malvesy ; ” they were returned by him,
the one containing a letter informing him of the design against his life, and the other filled
with cord to aid him in his escape. Acting on this advice, he invited the captain of the
Castle to supper, and so liberally dispensed the supposed new supply of wine among his
guard, that watching his opportunity, he and his faithful attendant succeeded in overpowering
them, and putting them to the sword; and escapiug to an unguarded wall of
the Castle, they let themselves down by the cord, and so escaped to the French ship ; the
Uuke carrying his attendant on his back, his thigh having been broken in dropping
from the wall. So that his escape was not discovered till the nobles arrived on the following
morning to wait on the King-then himself residing in the Castle-and to witness
the execution.
During this and succeeding reigns, the Parliaments continued to assemble generally at
Edinburgh, although Stirling Castle was the favourite residence of‘ James IIL, where he
retired from the cares of the state ; and there in particular he found opportunity for displaying
that love for “ building and trimming up of chapels, halls, and gardens,” ’ with which
Drummond charges him, as a taste that usually pertains to the lovers of idleness. His love
of display seems to have been shown on every opportunity during his residence at Edinburgh.
We learn from the same authority, he acquired an easily won character for devotion,
by his habit of riding in procession from the Abbey of Holyrood to the churches in
the high town, every Wednesday and Friday.
King James 111. was slain on the 8th of June 1488, by his own rebellious nobles,
on the field of Stirling, nearly on the same arena as had been the scene of Scotland’s
greatest victory under the Bruce. Whatever view the historian may take of this Monarch’s
character and influence on the nation, he contributed more than any other of the
,
Put to death. Hawthornden, p. 81.

... MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH. the order of the Blue Blanket was indituted by Pope Urban II., about 1200, and so ...

Book 10 p. 22
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I 8 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
Edinburgh, that in requital thereof, he granted to them a charter, empowering the free
citizens to trade to any part of England, subject to no other duties than those payable
by the most highly favoured natives: in acknowledgment, as he states, of the humane and
honourable treatment he had received from the provost, ministers, and burgesses of
Edinburgh. As, however, the house of Lancaster never regained the crown, the charter
survived only as an honourable acknowledgment of their services.
About this time it whs that the Collegiate Church of the Holy Trinity, and the Hospital
attached to it, were founded by the Queen Dowager, Mary of Guelders : and here the
royal foundress was interred in the year 1463.
In 1471, the Scottish capital again witnessed a royal marriage and coronation ; Margaret,
Princess of Denmark, having landed at Leith in the month of July of that year,
where she was received with every demonstration of welcome and rejoicing. The courtly
historians of the period describe her as winning the favour of both Prince and people, by
a beauty and grace rarely equalled among the ladies of the age. Lindsay of Pitscottie
adds-“The gentlevoman being bot twelff yeires of age at the tyme.”’ The alliance
was further rendered acceptable to the nation, by the royal bridegroom, King James III.,
having ‘‘ gatt with the King of Denmarkis dochter, in tocher guid, the landis of Orkney
and Zetland.” To all this we may add, from Abercromby ’-“ The very sight of such a
Queen could not but endear her to all ranks of people, who, to congratulate her happy
arrival, and to create in her a good opinion of themselves and the country, entertained her
and her princely train for many days, with such variety of shows, and such delicious and
costly feasts, that Ferrerius, a foreigner, who had seen all the gallantry and pomp of the
Courts of France and Savoy, tells us that no pen can describe them so much to the advantage
as they deserve.” It is to be regretted that a more detailed account of this royal
reception has not been given, as it would better than any other have served to convey a
lively picture of the manners of the citizens, and the character of the Scottish capital at
this period.
These joyous proceedings speedily gave place to others of a very different character.
The historians, in accordance with the credulity of the times, have preserved the tradition
of numerous prophecies and omens, wherewith the king was forewarned of the troubles that
awaited him, and his jealousy excited against his brothers. The youngest of them, the
Earl of Mar, was committed a prisoner to Craigmillar Castle, from whence he was afterwards
permittet to remove to the Canongnte, when suffering under a violent fever, of
which he died there, under the care of the King’s physician ; not without suspicion of foul
play, After his death, some reputed witches were tried‘ at Edinburgh, and condemned to
the stake, for plotting, along with him, the death of the King ; and these, according to the
historians of the time, confessed that the Earl had dealt with them to have him taken away
by incantation-‘‘ For the King’s image being framed in wax, and with many spells and
incantations baptized, and set unto a fire, they persuaded themselves the King’s person
should fall away as it consumed.”’
The successful confederacy against Cochrane, the succeeding Earl of Mar, and the other
royal favourites, belong not to our subject. But immediately thereafter, in 1481, we find
the King a captive in the Castle of Edinburgh, which served alternately as a palace and a
Pitscottie, vol. i. p. 178. Nartial Achierements, vol. i i p. 407. a Drum. of Hawthornden, p. 48.

... 8 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH. Edinburgh, that in requital thereof, he granted to them a charter, empowering the ...

Book 10 p. 19
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