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288 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
have greatly exceeded their ideas of economy. A thorough blood-a “good
once-had-been”-was accordingly procured : and as they could not think of
enjoying themselves separately, they had recourse to the contrivance of ‘‘ rideand-
tie.” In this way, alternately riding and walking, they frequently went
ten or twelve miles into the country of a morning.
Neither of the two friends were good horsemen ; and the sorry appearance
of the old hack, with the awkwardness of the riders, exposed them sometides to
the ridicule of the neighbouring villagers. One day, Sunday too, it happened
to be, they were proceeding down hill to Lasswade, where they calculated on
arriving for dinner before sermon should be finished. Contrary to their usual
custom, both were mounted at once, and Rosinante was jogging on very stiffly
under the unusual burden, a,mid the jeers of a few idlers, who were attracted
by the oddness of the spectacle. Perceiving that the parish church was about
to pour forth its assembled worshippers, and anxious, if they could not get
out of sight, at least to cut as smart a figure as possible, they had just spurred
their veteran charger into something like a canter ; when 10 ! an unlucky stone
came in contact with his foot, and away he rolled head foremost down the hill !
Overwhelmed with confusion, and stunned by the fall, the worthy equestrians
were glad to effect a speedy retreat, and to drown all remembrance of the
accident in an extra libation.
’ Though fond of good fellowship, and possessing a keen relish for the ludicrous,
Mr. Cooper displayed, both in appearance and in manner, a high
degree of dignity, and well knew how to exact the respect he was invariably
prepared to yield to others. He was naturally of a proud and impetuous
temper, but generous and warm-hearted. The unknown fate of his brother,
with whom he had parted at Newcastle, often recurred painfully to his recollection.
He could scarcely hope, still there was a probability that sooner or
later some intelligence of him might transpire. One day, when absent in
the county, a person called at the shop, apparently very anxious to see Mr.
Cooper, but he would neither explain his business nor leave his address. At a
late hour he repeated his visit for the third time, and was informed that, though
still absent, he would be certain to find him by ten o’clock next morning. All
this appeared mysterious enough to Mr. Cooper when apprised of the circumstance.
He inquired minutely as to the personal appearance of the strangerhe
became thoughtful-and was heard to utter involuntarily, “If he be the
person I suspect, to-morrow will be the happiest day of my existence.” In this
frame of mind he retired to a sleepless pillow, having first given directions that
the stranger should be instantly admitted the moment he arrived. To-morrow
came-the person called at the hour appointed-was shown into the parlourand
Mr. Cooper, in a state not easily to be described, hastened down stairs to
meet-whom ?-an impertinent tax-collector I demanding arrears that had
been long ago settled, and for which the receipts were in his possession. The
pleasing dream thus rudely dissipated-rage gave way to every other feeling ;
and, on rushing down at the terrible noise that ensued, Mr. Cooper’s family

Book 9 p. 382
(Score 2.5)

PREFACE. xiii
accordingly described in succeeding chaptkrs; the walls of which evidently suffered no very
great injury from that des tructive conff aption. . .
I am far from conceiving that the materials for an antiquarian history of Edinburgh are
exhausted, ,though probably .nearly all has now been gleaned from traditional sources to
which any worth can be attached. There is, indeed, no lack of such legeuds to those who
clioose to go in search of them. The Scottish antiquary finds an amount of sympathy in
his pursuit among the peasantry and the lower classes of the town population,. wlich,
however it be accounted for, he will look for in vain among the more educated, as a class.
The tenants of the degraded dwellings of the old Holyrood aristocracy cherish the memory
of their titled predecessors with a zeal that would do credit to the most accomplished
editor of the Blue Book. One half of the old wives of Edinburgh prove, on evidence
which it would be dangerous to dispute, that their .crazy mansions were once the abodes of
royalty, or the palaces of Scottish grandees, while the monotony of hackneyed tales of
Queen’ Mary and Cromwell-the popular hero and heroine of such romances-is occasionally
varied by the ingenious embellishments of some more practised story-teller,
Modern local traditions, however; are like the moden antiques of our ballad books ; their
genealogy is more difficult to trace than the evidence of their spuriousness. One might,
indeed, pardon the fictions of antiquarian romancers, if they brought to the aid of the
memorialist such skilful forgeries as Chatterton furnished to the too credulous historian of
Bristol ; finding in the unfailing treasures of the .old muniment chest of St Mary’s Retcliffe,
and the versatile parchments of (( The gode prieste RomZey,” whatever the diligent
antiquary wished to discover I The exorcisms of such disenchantera as the modern architect
of St Giles’s, however, have put to flight more pleasant facts, and fictions too, than the
inventive genius even of a Chatterton can restore ; while popular periodical literature,
diluted into halfpenny worths of novelette and romance, has so poisoned the pure old
springs of tradition, that one detects in the most unsophisticated grand-dame tales of
the present day, some adulteration from the manufactory of the literary hack. This
it is which makes it so reasonable SL source of regret, that Arnot should have stalked
through the parlieus of Old Edinburgh, elevated on historic stilts, at a time when a
description of what lay around him, and a relation of the fireside gossip of the stately
old Scottish dames of the eighteenth century, would have snatched from oblivion 8
. thousand curious reminiscences, now altogether beyond recall. To a very different
and much less attractive source, we are compelled to turn for the chance of recovering
‘

Book 10 p. xv
(Score 1.95)

‘34 ROSLTN, HAWTHORNDEN,
that built the more modern portion of the mansion as we now see it,
repairing or renewing the more ancient house that stood on. the same rock and
fragments of which still remain, Hawthornden, in short, is a kind of minor
Abbotsford, much nearer Edinburgh, and much more antique than the greater
one; and it is this’ that makes it an object of curiosity, and invests all its
accessories with a precise human interest.’ 1
Perhaps the most interesting fact in Drummond’s life was the visit paid to
him by Ben Jonson, who had walked from London into Scotland. He had
not come, qs is generally stated, on purpose to see Drummond; but he had
known Drummond by reputation for some time, and was very glad to make
his acquaintance personally. Accordingly, after having met Drummond in
Edinburgh (where Jonson, as a celebrity from ‘London, was received with
great distinction by all classes of people, and even presented with the
freedom of the city at a banquet in his honour),‘he accepted Drummond’s
invitation to stay a week or two with him in Hawthornden House. The time
was about the Christmas of 1618 or the New Year’s Day of 1619 ; and the visit
has been sketched as follows :-
‘Retter than most myths of the kind is the myth which would tell us
exactly how the visit began, Drummond, it says, was sitting under the great
sycamore-tree in front of his house, expecting his visitor, when at length,
descending the well-hedged avenue from the public road to the house, the
bulky hero hove in sight. Rising, and stepping forth to meet him, Drummond
saluted him with “Welcome, welcome, royal Ben !” to which Jonson replied
Thank ye, thank ye, Hawthornden IJJ and they laughed, fraternised, tmd went
in together.
‘ For two or three weeks, at all events, Drummond had Ben Jonson all to
himself. There would, doubtless, be friends from Edinburgh, perhaps Scot
of Scotstarvet and two or three more, asked out every other day to make
dinnercompany for the great man ; and again, once or twice, Drummond and
Ben may have trudged into Edinburgh together in the forenoon, or walked
together by cross-roads to the house of some neighbour of Drummond’s.
(Carriages were not then much in fashion near Edinburgh, and I do not think
Drummond kept one, or had a horse fit for a rider of Ben’s size.) But then,
even when there’were other guests at Drummond’s table, Ben would be the
1 This and the following extracts are taken from Professor Masson‘s Drammond of fiaw
thorn&# : Tiu Story of his Ltyc and Writings.

Book 11 p. 193
(Score 1.88)

23 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
No. VII.
LORD GARDENSTONE.
MR. FRANCIS GARDEN, judicially denominated Lord Gardenstone, was distinguished
as a man of some talent and much eccentricity. Born in 1721, the
second son of it Banffshire gentleman, he chose the profession of an advocate, and
was admitted a member of Faculty upon the 14th of July 1744, On the 3d of
July 1764, he was raised to the Bench. Re is here represented in the latter
part of life, as he usually appeared in proceeding from his house at Morningside
(the one next the Asylum), to attend his duties in the Court. Kay has endeavoured
to represent him as, what he really was, a very timid horseman, mounted,
moreover, on a jaded old hack, which he had selected for its want of spirit, preceded
by his favourite dog Smash; and followed by a Highland boy, whose duty
it was to take charge of his Rosinante on arriving at the Parliament House.
In early life, Mr. Garden participated largely in the laxities of the times.
He was one of those ancient heroes of the bar, who, after a night of hard
drinking, without having been to bed, and without having studied their causes,
would plead with great eloquence upon the mere strength of what they
had picked up from the oratory of the opposite counsel.‘ In 1745, being in
arms as a loyal subject, he was despatched by Sir John Cope, with another
gentleman, to reconnoitre the approach of the Highland army from Dunbar.
As the two volunteers passed the bridge of Musselburgh, they recollected a
house in that neighbourhood where they had often regaled themselves with
oysters and sherry, and the opportunity of repeating the indulgence being
too tempting to be resisted, they thought no more of their military duty till a
straggling Highland recruit entered and took them both prisoners. John Roy
Stnart made a motion to hang them as spies ; but their drunkenness joined so
effectually with their protestations in establishing their innocence, that they
were soon after liberated on parole?
In his more mature years, Lord Gardenstone distinguished himself by a benevolent
scheme of a somewhat unusual kind. Having, in 1762, purchased the
estate of Johnstone, in Kincardineshire, he devoted himself for some years to
At one time there seems to have been a speculation set on foot to provide a convenient place
for vyk.shing the members of the College of Justice ; for in the minutes of the Faculty of Advocates,
13th February 1741, there is au entry relative to a petition presented to the Dean and Faculty by Jaines
Balfour of Forrett, stating that he intended to build a coffee-house adjoining to the west side of the Parliament
House, “for the conveniency and accommodation of the members of the College of Justice, and
of the Senators of Couit,” and that he was anxious for the patronage of the Society. He also men*
tioned that he had petitioned the judges, who had unanimously approved of the project. A remit was
made to the curators of the library, and to Messrs. Cross and Barclay, to consider the petition, and
report whether it should be granted ; but nothing appears to have been done by the committee.
a Lord Rain- once took it upon him to reprove his brother judge for his love of the fair-
“Gang to the deil, my lord I ” was the rejoinder ; “ my fauts aye grow the langer the less ; but
yours (alluding to his parsimony) aye the lnnger the waur.”

Book 8 p. 27
(Score 1.73)

1 MARRIAGE OF MARY AND BOTHWELL. 71
dragged through the bed-room to the door of the
presence-chamber, where the conspirators gathered . about him and completed the bloody outrage. So
eager were all to take part in the murder that
they frequently wounded each other, eliciting
greater curses and yells ; and the body of Rizzio,
gashed by fifty-six wounds, was left in a pool of
blood, with the king?s dagger driven to the hilt in
it, in token that he had sanctioned the murder.
After a time the corpse was flung down-stairs,
stripped naked, dragged to the porter?s lodge, and
treated with every indignity.
Darnley and the queen were meanwhile alone
together in the cabinet, into which a lady rushed
to announce that Rizzio was dead, as she had
seen the body. ?Is it so?? said the weeping
queen ; ? then I will study revenge ! ? Then she
swooned, but was roused by the entrance of
Ruthven, who, reeking with blood; staggered into
a chair and called for wine. After receiving
much coarse and unseemly insolence, the queen
exclaimed, ??I trust that God, who beholdeth all
this from the high heavens, will avenge my
wrohgs, and move that which shall be born of me
to root out you and your treacherous posterity ! ?
-a denunciation terribly fulfillkd by the total destruction
of the house of Ruthven in the reign of
her son, James VI.
In the middle of a passage leading from the
quadrangle to the ,chapel is shown a flat square
stone, which is said to mark the grave of Rizzio ;
but it is older than his day, and has probably
served for the tomb of some one else.
The floor at the outer door of Mary?s apartments
presents to this day a dark irregular
stain, called Rizzio?s blood, tlius exciting the ridicule
of those who do not consider the matter.
The floor is of great antiquity here-manifestly
alder than that of the adjacent gallery, laid in the
time of Charles I. ?We know,? says Robert
Chambers,in his ?Book of Days,? ? that the stain has
been shown there since a time long antecedent to
that extreme modern curiosity regarding historical
matters which might have induced an imposture,
for it is alluded to by the son of Evelyn as being
.shown in I 7 a a.?
Joseph Rizzio, who arrived in Scotland soon
after his brother?s murder, was promoted to his
vacant office by the queen, and was publicly named
as one of the abettors of Morton and Bothwell in
the murder of Darnley-in which, with true Italian
instinct, he might readily have had a hand. After
the tragedy at the Kirk of Field in 1567, the body of
Dmley was brought to Holyrood, where Michael
Picauet, the queen?s apothecary, embalmed it, by
her order; the treasurer?s accounts, dated Feb.
Izth, contain entries for ? drogges, spices-colis,
tabbis, hardis, barrelis,? and other matters
tiecessary ? for bowalling of King?s Grace,? who was
interred in the chapel royal at night, in presence
of only the Lord Justice Clerk Bellenden, Sir
James Tracquair, and others.
After Bothwell?s seizure of Mary?s person, at
the head of I,OOO horse, and his production of the
famous bond, signed by the most powerful nobles
in Scotland, recommending him as the most fitting
husband for her-a transaction in which her enemies
affirm she was a willing actor-their marriage ceremony
took place in the great hall of the palace
on the 15th of May, 1567, at four o?clock in the
morning, a singular hour, for which it is difficult to
account, unless it be, that Mary had yielded in
despair at last. There it was performed by the
reformed prelate Adam Bothwell, Bishop of Orkney,
together with Knox?s coadjutor, Craig, according
to the Protestant form, and on the same day:in
private, according to the Catholic ritual. To the
Latter, perhaps, Birrel refers when he says they were
married in the chapel royal. Only five of the
nobles were present, and there were no rejoicings
in Edinburgh, where the people looked on with
grief and gloom j and on the following morning
there was fouiid affixed to the palace gate the
ominous line from Ovid?s Fasti, book v. : ?Mense
malus Maio nubere vuZgus aif.?
The revolt of the nobles, the flight oT Bothwell,
and the surrender of Mary at Carberry to avoid
bloodshed, quickly followed, and the last visit she
paid to her palace of Holyrood was when, under a
strong guard, she was brought thither a prisoner
from the Black Turnpike, on the 18th of June and
ere the citizens could rescue her ; as a preliminary
step to still more violent proceedings, she was
secretly taken from Holyrood at ten at night,
without having even a change of raiment, mounted
on a miserable hack, and compelled to ride at
th;rty miles an hour, escorted by the murderers
Ruthven and Lindsay, who consigned her a prisoner
to the lonely castle of Lochleven, where she signed
the enforced abdication which placed her son upon.
the throne.
Holyrood was one of the favourite residences of
the latter, and the scene of many a treaty and
council during his reign in Scotland,
In the great hall there, on Sunday, the 23rd
of October, he created a great number of earls
with much splendour of ceremony, with a corresponding
number of knights.
Another Earl of Bothwell, the horror of James
VI., now figures in history, eldest son of the

Book 3 p. 71
(Score 1.71)

GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 9
stranger who had come to visit it ‘in Erin’s yellow vesture clad,’ and in’
bearing ‘ every inch a king.‘
The second time was when, in 1842, we saw the young Prince Albert and
Victoria riding up from Holyrood to the Castle. Then too Nature was propitious,
and her smile mingled with those of tens of thousands of the loyal
and leal-hearted of the land, at the sight of the princely pair in ‘the day of
their espousals, and in the day of the gladness of their heart’ Nor did any
prophetic whisper then darken or disturb the general and enthusiastic joy.
Surely it was one of the proudest and most magnificent days that our Scottish
metropolis ever saw-and she looked that morning as if she herself felt that
it was.
OLD INPIRUARY TOWER

Book 11 p. 13
(Score 1.54)

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 381
sense of Dundas, would have been unable much longer to have withstood, when
the recovery of the King happily removed them from their difEculties.
The Chief Justice stood opposed to the administration of Pitt until the
violent nature of the Revolution in France induced him and other individuals
of his party to join the ministerial ranks. He was almost immediately invested
with the high office of Lord Chancellor ; and to the influence which- he thus
acquired in the councils of his Majesty are to be attributed many of those
vigorous and decisive measures which were subsequently adopted by the
Government.
Lord Loughborough held the Chancellorship till 1801, when he was created
Earl of Rosslyn, with a remainder to his two nephews ; and, nearly worn out
with the fatigues of a long and active career, he retired altogether from public
life, carrying with him the highest esteem of his sovereign, by whom he continued
to be honoured with every mark of respect. “ During the brief interval
allowed to him between the theatre of public business and the grave, he paid
a visit to Edinburgh, from which he had been habitually absent for nearly fifty
years. With a feeling quite natural, perhaps, but yet hardIy to be expected in
one who had passed through so many of the more elevated of the artificial
scenes of life, he caused himself to be carried in a chair to an obscure part of
the Old Town, where he had resided during the most of his early years. He
expressed a particular anxiety to know if a set of holes in the paved court
before his father‘s house, which he had used for some youthful sport, continued
in existence ; and, on finding them still there, it was said that the aged statesman
was moved almost to tears.’”
His demise is thus announced
in the journals of the period :-
“At his seat at Baylis, near Salthill, in Berkshire, aged seventy-two, the Right Hon. Alexander
Wedderhurn, Earl of Rosslyn, Baron of Loughborough, in Leicestershire, and Baron Loughborough,
in Surrey. His lordship had been long subject to the gout ; but for some weeks past he was so much
recovered as to visit round the neighbourhood j and on Tuesday night, January 1, accompanied the
Countess to her Majesty’s f6te at Frogmore.
“ Next morning his lordship rode on horseback to visit several of the neighbouring gentlemen ; and,
after his return to Baylis, went in his carriage to Bulstrode to visit the Duke of Portland, and
returned home apparently in perfect health. At six o’clock, as his lordship sat at table, he was
suddenly seized with a fit of the apoplectic kind, and fell speechless in his chair. At twelve o’clock
he expired.
“ His lordship married, 31st December 1767, Betty Anne, only daughter and sole heiress of
John Dawson, Esq. of Morley, in Yorkshire, who died 15th February 1781. He had no issue. His
second lady, whom he married 12th September 1782, vas the youngast daughter of William Viscount
Courtenay, by whom he had a son, horn 2d October 1793, and since dead. Ry a second patent,
October 31, 1795, he was created Baron Loughborongh, in the county of Surrey, with remainders
severally and successively to Sir James St. Clair Erskine, Bart., and to John Erskine, his brother ;
and, by tr patent, April 21, 1801, Earl of Rosslyn, in the county of Mid-Lothian, to him and his
heirs-male, with remainder to the heirs-male of Dame Janet Erskine, deceased, his sister. He
was succeeded in the title by his nephew, Sir Jam= St. Clair Erskine, Bart. The remains of the
Earl were interred in St. Paul’s Cathedral. ”
His lordship died on the 2d January 1805.
In private life Lord Loughborough was esteemed a most agreeable com-
Traditions of Edinburgh.--The house, which consists of four stories, and is dated 1679, was
situated in Elphinstone’s Court, South Gray’s Close, oppotlite the ancient Mint

Book 8 p. 531
(Score 1.39)

308 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
Signet Hall. He then drove to the’palace of Holyrood House; and after
being conducted through the public apartments, returned to the hotel. Next
day (Sabbath) during the interval of public service, escorted by the Lord
Provost, several of the Magistrates, and Sir Thomas Bradford, K.B., and his
Staff, his Excellency visited the Castle, went into the Crown-Room, and saw
the Regalia of Scotland. He inspected, different parts of the garrison, and
appeared to be much pleased with the martial appearance of a small body of
Highlanders then stationed in the Castle. In the course of the afternoon he
repaired to Leith, viewed the new docks, pier, etc.
Being slightly indisposed on Monday, his Excellency remained in the hotel ;
but, on the following day, he visited the Register House, Heriot’s Hospital,
and rode through several of the streets on horseback, attended by an officer of
the Staff, and another gentleman. The same evening, after dining with the
Lord Provost and a select party, he went to the Pantheon, accompanied by the
then Lord Advocate (Sir William Rae, Bart.), the late Sir John Sinclair, and
other gentlemen. The house was filled to overflowing with the rank and fashion
of the city, and he was received with every mark of respect.
On Wednesday the Ambassador was waited upon by the Earl of Glasgow,
Sir William Elliot, and various persons of distinction, His Excellency afterwards
proceeded to the Calton Hill, the hazy weather the day previous having
induced him to postpone his visit. With the promenade round the hill, and
the wide expanse of prospect afforded at every point, the Ambassador was
highly gratified, and frequently stopping short to admire the scene before him,
gave vent to his feelings of admiration by repeatedly exclaiming-“ grand,”
“ very grand,” “the finest city in Europe,” etc. No prominent object escaped
him ; and his minute inquiries sufficiently indicated the deep interest taken in
what he witnessed. Requesting to be informed the meaning of the round tower
erected on the grave of Hume, he expressed peculiar satisfaction on learning
that the memorial marked where the ashes of the Historian of England were
deposited. From the Calton Hill his Excellency rode down to Leith; and
proceeding westward, by the Fort, returned to the hotel.
On Thursday morning his Excellency departed for Hamilton Palace, on a
visit to the Duke. On his way he breakfasted with the Earl of Morton at
Dalmahoy. During his short stay in Edinburgh the attention he experienced
from the public authorities, and others who attended him in his perambulations,
called forth the most lively expressions of satisfaction. In the Print by Kay,
the Mirza is represented in his riding-dress. When here, he might be in his
forty-fourth or forty-fifth year. His manners were dignified, and courteous in
his intercourse with the authorities and other gentlemen ; but his demeanour in
the hotel did not accord so well with the refinement and amiableness of feeling
attributed to him in the reminiscences of Lord Radstock and the other writer.
Several females of respectability were insulted by him ;’ and it was necessary
His Excellency entertained the idea that, on meeting, it was the custom here for gentlemen to
One
He
salute the fair sex.
moruing, when coming clown stairs, the youngest of them was encountered by the Amhassador.
Two ladieu on a visit from London resided in the same hotel with him.

Book 9 p. 409
(Score 1.39)

124 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. princcs Street
came into her possession, the pocket-knife, fork,
and spoon which Prince Charles used in all his
marches and subsequent wanderings. The case is
a small one, covered with black shagreen ; for
pottability, the knife, fork, and spoon are made to
screw upon handles, so that the three articles form
six pieces for close packing. They are all engraved
with an ornament of thistle-leaves, and the fork
and spoon have the prince?s initials, C. s : all have
the Dutch plate stamp, showing that they were
manufactured in Holland.
It is supposed that this case, with its contents,
came to Lady Mary Clerk through Miss Drelincourt,
daughter of the Dean of Armagh, in Ireland, ,
While her mother was still confined to bed a
Highland party, under a chieftain of the Macdonald
clan, came to her house, but the commander, on
learning the circumstances, not only chivalrously
restrained his men from levying any contribution,
but took from his bonnet his own white rose or
cockade, and pinned it on the infant?s breast,
?that it might protect the household from any
trouble by others. This rosette the lady kept to
her dying day.? In after years she became the
wife of Sir James Clerk of Pennicuick, Bart., and
when he went off to the royal yacht to present him
with the silver cross badge, the gift of ?the ladies
of Scotland.?
From the king, the case, with its contents, passed
to the Marquis of Conyngham, and from him to
his son -4lbert, first Lord Londesborough, and they
are now preserved with great care amidst the
valuable collection of ancient plate and b2jbuien2 at
Grimston Park, Yorkshire.
Sir Walter Scott was a frequent visitor at
No. 100, Princes Street, as he was on intimate
terms with Lady Clerk, who died several years
after the king?s visit, having attained a green old
age. Till past her eightieth year she retained an
( ? I Book of Days.?)
who became wife of Hugh, third Viscount Pnmrose,
in whose house in London the loyal Flora
Macdonald found a shelter after liberation from
the long confinement she underwent for her share
in promoting the escape of the prince, who had
given it to her as a souvenir at the end of his
perilous wanderings.
In the Edinburgh Obsmw of 1822 it is
recorded that when George IV. contemplated his
visit to Scotland, he expressed a wish to have
some relic of the unfortunate prince, on which
PRINCES STREET, LOOKING EAST FROM SCOTT?S MONUMENT.

Book 3 p. 124
(Score 1.36)

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 345
attended with the best results. The fishermen and their families consider this
place of worship more peculiarly their own, and take a pride as well as a pleasure
in assembling under its roof.
“he political agitations of the last half-dozen years, too, have not been without
their influence on the character of the fishermen. Many of them now
discuss state questions with all the nonchalance of thorough politicians. By the
Reform Bill, a measure in which they greatly rejoiced, not a few of them obtained
the parliamentary franchise, and it was altogether a new and flattering thing to
be solicited by a candidate for their suffrage. The chief spokesman of the community,
Thomas Wilson, was presented with a handsome silver snuff-box by the
Reformers of Edinburgh, in approbation of his conduct. He was also gratified
by a visit from O’Connell, during his visit to Edinburgh. Mr. Wilson was a
shrewd, sensible, hard-working man ; was landlord of a small public house, and
when not out at the fishing, presented his box for a pinch with much sociality,
not unfrequently accompanied by some remark about his friend the “ member for
Ireland.”’
No. CCLXXXIV.
WILLIAM MACDONALD,
OFFICER TO THE HIGHLAND SOCIETY OF SCOTLAND.
THE individual who thus figures in the national uniform is still a denizen of
Modern Athens ; and though a lapse of thirty-five years has not failed to effect
a proportionate change in the outer man, he still retains much of the original
freshness and vigour of his more early days. WILLIAMM ACDONALaD n, ative
of Fothertie, near Dingwall, Ross-shire, came to Edinburgh in 1790. He was
then about fifteen years of age, and for some time afterwards was engaged
in the service of one or two respectable families in the city. He was next
employed as keeper of the Subscription Room, in Fortune’s Hotel, Princes Street,
then much frequented by members of the Caledonian Hunt, to many of whom
he was well known.
The Print of Macdonald was executed in 1803, the first year of his officiating
as officer to the Society, which then held its meetings in the premises now
occupied as the Subscription Library, South Bridge. The likeness, though it
In ddition to the suggestions, in pages 342-3, respecting the “ tabular stone in the wall” of
a house in Newhaven, it is worthy of remark that the date, “1588,” is the era of the memorable
Spanish Armada. In the wreck which befel this formidable armament, many of the ships were
lost on the coasts of Scotland ; and it is probable that the “ signal deliverance” then experienced
was meant to be commemorated by the tablet in question.
VOL. 11. 2 Y

Book 9 p. 458
(Score 1.36)

tion, such as David Laing, Robert Chambers, and
Cosmo Innes. In his ? Diary? Scott writes of him
as ?a very remarkable man. He has infinite wit
and a great turn for antiquarian lore. His
drawings are the most fanciful and droll imaginable
-a mixture between Hogarth and some of those
foreign masters who painted ?Temptations of St.
Anthony ? and such grotesque subjects, My idea
is that Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe, with his oddities,
tastes, satire, and high aristocratic feelings,
resembles Horace Walpole.?
THE EXCISE OFFICE, DRUMMOND PLACE
portraits, some on the walls, but many more on the
floor. A small room leading out of this one was
the place where Mr. Sharpe gave audiences. Its
diminutive space was stuffed full of old curiosities,
cases with family bijouterie, &c. One petty object
was strongly indicative of character, a calling card of
Lady Charlotte Campbell, the once adored beauty,
stuck into the frame of a picture. He must have
kept it, at that time, about thirty years.?
This lady, one of the celebrated Edinburgh
beauties, was the second daughter of John, Duke of
The resemblance in their abodes was more
strictly true. The house of Sharpe, No. 28 Drummond
Place, was one of the sights of Edinburgh to
the select few who found admittance there, with its
antique furniture, tapestries, paintings, and carvings
-its exquisite enamels, weapons, armour, bronzes,
bijouterie, ivories, old china, old books, and cabinets-
the mighty collection of a long life, and the
sale of which, at his death, occupied six long days
at the auction rooms in South Hanever Street.
Robert Chambers deseribes a visit he paid him
in Princes Street. ?? His servant conducted me to
the first floor, and showed me into what is called
amongst us the back drawing-room, which I found
carpeted with green cloth and full of old family
(From a Drawing Sy She&%?, #&shed in 1829.)
Argyle, who died in 1806, and the visit referred to
took place about 1824.
To Mr. Sharpe Sir Walter owed many of the
most graphic incidents which gave such inimitable
life to the productions of his pen ; and a writer in
the Gentleman?s Magazine justly remarked that
?his collection of antiquities is among the richest
which any private gentleman has ever accumulated
in the north. In Scottish literature he will be
always remembered as the editor of ?Law?s Memorials?
and of ? Kkkton?s History of the Kirk of
Scotland.? His taste in music was no less cultivated
than peculiar, and the ~ curious variety of
singular and obsolete musical instruments which
enriched his collection, showed how well t b ~

Book 3 p. 192
(Score 1.28)

High Street.] TULZIES IN THE HIGH STREET. 195 - -
his own friends and servants into two armed parties,
set forth on slaughter intent.
He directed his brothers John and Robert
Tweedie, Porteous of Hawkshaw, Crichton of
Quarter, and others, to Conn?s Close, which was
directly opposite to the smith?s booth; while he,
accompanied by John and Adam Tweedie, sons of
the Gudeman of Dura, passed to the Kirk (of Field)
Wynd, a little to the westward of the booth, to cut
off the victim if he hewed a way to escape ; but as
he was seen standing at the booth door with his
back to them, they shot him down with their
pistols in cold blood, and left him lying dead on
the spot.
For this the Tweedies were imprisoned in the
Castle; but they contrived to compromise the
matter with the king, making many fair promises ;
yet when he was resident at St. James?s, in 1611,
he heard that the feud and the fighting in Upper
Tweeddale were as bitter as ever.
On the 19th of January, 1594, a sharp tulzie, or
combat, ensued in the High Street between the
Earl of Montrose, Sir James Sandilands, and others.
10 explain the cause of this we must refer to
Calderwood, who tells us that on the 13th of
February, in the preceding year, John Graham of
Halyards, a Lord of Session (a kinsman of Montrose),
was passing down Leith Wynd, attended by
three or four score of armed men for his protection,
when Sir Janies Sandilands, accompanied by his
friend Ludovic Duke of Lennox, with an armed
I company, met him. As they had recently been
in dispute before the Court about Some temple
lands, Graham thought he was about to be attacked,
and prepared to make resistance. The
duke told him to proceed on his journey, and that
no one would molest him; but the advice was
barely given when some stray shots were fired by
the party of the judge, who was at once attacked,
and fell wounded. He was borne bleeding into
an adjacent house, whither a French boy, page to
Sir Alexander Stewart, a friend of Sandilands, followed,
and plunged a dagger into him, thus ending
a lawsuit according to the taste of the age.
Hence it was that when, in the following year,
John Earl of Montrose-a noble then about fifty
years old, who had been chancellor of the jury that
condemned the Regent Morton, and moreover was
Lord High Chancellor of the kingdom-met Sir
James Sandilands in the High Street, he deemed
it his duty to avenge the death of the Laird of
Halyards. On the first amval of the earl in Edinburgh
Sir James had been strongly recommended
by his friends to quit it, as his enemies were too
strong for him ; but instead of doing so he desired
the aid and assistance of all his kinsmen and
friends, who joined him forthwith, and the two
parties meeting on the 19th of January, near the
Salt Tron, a general attack with swords and hack
buts begun. One account states that John, Master
of Montrose (and father of the great Marquis), first
began the fray; another that it was begun by Sir
James Sandilands, who was cut down and severely
wounded by more than one musket-shot, and
would have been slain outright but for the valour
of a friend named Captain Lockhart. The Lord
Chancellor was in great peril, for the combat was
waged furiously about him, and, according to the
? Historie of King James the Sext,? he was driven
back fighting ?to the College of Justice ( i e . , the
Tolbooth). The magistrates of the town with
fencible weapons separatit the parties for that time ;
and the greatest skaith Sir James gat on his party,
for he himself was left for dead, and a cousingerman
of his, callit Crawford of Kerse, was slain,
and many hurt.? On the side of the earl only one
was killed, but many were wounded.
On the 17th of June, 1605, there was fought in
the High Street a combat between the Lairds of
Edzell and Pittarrow, with many followers on both
sides. It lasted, says Balfour in his AnnaZes, from
nine at night till two next morning, with loss and
many injuries. The Privy Council committed the
leaders to prison.
The next tulzie of which we read arose from the
following circumstance :-
Captain James Stewart (at one time Earl of
Arran) having been slain in 1596 by Sir James
Douglas of Parkhead, a natural son of the Regent
Morton, who cut off his .head at a place called
Catslack, and carried it on a spear, ?leaving his
body to be devoured by dogs and swine;? this
act was not allowed to pass unrevenged by the
house of Ochiltree, to which the captain-who had
been commander of the Royal Guard-belonged.
But as at that time a man of rank in Scotland
could not be treated as a malefactor for slaughter
committed in pursuance of a feud, the offence was
expiated by an assythement. The king strove
vainly to effect a reconciliation ; but for years the
Imds Ochiltree and Douglas (the latter of whom
was created Lord Torthorwald in 1590 by James
VI.) were at open variance.
It chanced that on the 14th of July, 1608, that
Lord Torthonvald was walking in the High Street
a little below the Cross, between six and seven in
the morning, alone and unattended, when he suddenly
met William Stewart, a nephew of the man
he had slain. Unable to restrain the sudden rage
that filled him, Stewart drew his sword, and ere

Book 2 p. 195
(Score 1.21)

104 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Cahoa Hill.
on their return from the Army of Occupation in
France, under Colonel Wallace.
One of the last feasts of St. Crispin was held in
the Calton Convening Rooms, in 1820, when six
hundred of the ancient Corporation of Cordiners,
bearing St. Crispin with regal pomp, marched from
Holyrood. ?On reaching the Cross,?says the Week0
Journal for that year, ? it was found impossible to
proceed farther, from the mass of people collected ;
the procession therefore filed off into the Royal
Exchange, until a guard of the 13th Foot arrived
from the Castle ; then it proceeded along the
mound to the New Town.? It is added that fortyfour
years had elapsed since the last procession of
the kind.
The same paper, in 1828, records :hat a mighty
ing of the Regent Bridge, the foundation stone of
which was laid in 1815, forming a magnificent
entrance to the New Town from the east. The arch
is fifty feet wide, and about the same in height,
having on the top of the side ledges, arches, and
ornamental pillars, connected with the houses in
Waterloo Place. The whole was finished in 1819,
and formally opened on the visit of Prince Leopold,
afterwards King of Belgium j but the bridge must
have been open for traffic two years before, as it was
crossed by the 88th Connaught Rangers, in 1817,
15,000 men, and about the date above mentioned,
Earl Grey entered the city amid a vast concourse
of admirers. He was presented with the freedom
of the city in a gold box, and was afterwards entertained
at a public banquet, in a pavilion erected
for the occasion, 113 feet long by IDI broad. in
the eastern compartment of the High School on
the south side of the Calton Hill. Archibald,
Earl of Rosebery, K.T., in absence of the Duke
of Hamilton, occupied the chair.
On the north-west shoulder of the hill is the
old observatory, a rough, round-buttressed tower,
three storeys in height. The scheme for the
erection of a building of this kind was first projected
in 1736, but the local commotions occasioned
by the Porteous mob caused it to be relinquished
mass of rock, fully fifty tons in weight, fell from
under Nelson?s monument with a great crash from
a height of twentyfive feet, and carrying all before
it, rolled on the roadway below.
On the 15th September, 1834, there occurred the
only local event of interest since the visit of
George 1V.-the Grey banquet. A great portion
of the citizens had signalised themselves in their
zeal for the Reform Bill, the passing of which, in
August, 1832, they celebrated by a grand procession
of the trades, amounting to more than
NELSON?S MONUMENT, CALTON HILL, FROM PRINCES STREET. (Fwm a Dmwiwby A. Kaswytfi, pnbliskd in 18a6.)

Book 3 p. 104
(Score 1.21)

OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Bristo Street. 328
1837. ?? We found her sitting in the parlour, with
some papers on the table. Her appearance at
first betrayed a little of that languor and apathy
which attend age and solitude; but the moment
she comprehended the object of our visit, her
countenance-which even yd retains the lineaments
of what Clarinda may be supposed to have beenbecame
animated and intelligent ? That,? said
she, rising ~ p , and pointing to an engraving over
the mantelpiece, ?is a likeness of niy r.elative
at his death in York Place, in 1813, left her an
annuity, and thirty years after still found her living
in Edinburgh.
?? She is now nearly eighty years of age, but enjoys
excellent health,? says Kay?s editor in February,
that is ; it was presented to me by Constable and
Co., for having simply declared what I know to
be true-that the likeness was good.? We spoke
of the correspondence between the poet and
Clarinda, at which she smiled, and pleasantly
remarked on the great change which the lapse of
so many years had produced in her personal
appearance. Indeed, any observation respecting
Burns seemed to afford her pleasure. Having
prolonged our intrusion to the limits of courtesy,
(Lord Craig), about whom you have been inquiring.
He was the best friend I ever had.?
After a little conversation about his lordship, she
directed our attention to a picture of Bums by I Horsburgh, after Taylor, (You will know who
THE MERCHANT MAIDEN?S HOSPITAL, BRISTO, 1820. (AjtmStorw.)

Book 4 p. 328
(Score 1.15)

Cowgatel THE COLLEGE WYND. 253
that its occupants were worthy neighbours of the
aristocratic tenants of the Cowgate. The stucco
ornaments were all of the era of Charles I., and
most prominent among them was the crowned
heart of the house of Douglas.
From this it has been supposed to have been the
one of the doors of the stair possessed the oldfashioned
appendage of a tirling-pin. Many of the
buildings which remained till the total demolition
of the wynd bore the initials of their builders on
an ornamental shield, sculptured on the lowest
crowstep, with the date-1736.?
I 1
HIGH SCHOOL WYND. (Aflrr E w b d . )
town residence of one of the first Earls of Queensberry-
probably William, whose title was created
by Charles I. on his visit to Scotland in 1633.
?The projecting staircase of the adjoining tenement
to the south had a curious ogee-arched window,
evidently of early character, and fitted with
the antique oaken transom and folding shutters
below. A defaced inscription and date were decipherable
over the lintel of the outer doorway, and
When Scott was a little boy some of the houses
opposite his father?s windows would be barely forty
years old.
It is not improbable that the land or tenement
referred to so elaborately by Wilson was connected
in some way with that referred to in the Burgh
Records, under date August 30th, 1549, when the
Town Council consented to the feuing of a land
(in the wynd) pertaining to the chaplaincy of the

Book 4 p. 253
(Score 1.1)

332 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
Not discouraged by the reproof conveyed in the decision of the Assembly,
Mr. M'Donald is known in the religious world for his praiseworthy exertions in
various parts of the Highlands, and particularly in behalf of the previously
much-neglected inhabitants of St. Kilda'-the most distant and isolated of all
the islands of Scotland. Commissioned by the Society for Propagating Christian
Knowledge, his first visit was undertaken in 1822, for the purpose of
ascertaining the religious and moral condition of the inhabitants. In his journal
Mr. M'Donald gives an interesting account of his reception by the natives.
He was accompanied by Mr. M'Lellan, the tacksman of the island; and not
being able to effect a landing on the eastern coast, in consequence of the boisterous
state of the weather, the boat veered round to the leeward, where shelter
was found in an arm of the sea. Upon landing, he and Mr. M'Lellan
walked towards the village, a distance of nearly two miles. " When descending
the brow of the hill above the village," says the journal, "we observed
some persons standing without ; and on a sudden, in consequence, as we afterwards
learned, of his sounding the alarm, all the souls in the village appeared
at once ; at first flying in different directions, until they discovered from what
quarter the strangers were coming, when they made toward us in a body, shook
hands with their tacksman, and welcomed him to the place. After these salutations
were over, he introduced me to them as a minister who had come to visit
them, and was sent by the Society. Upon this they immediately shook hands
with me, as if we had been many years acquainted ; and, ' God bless the Society
which sent him, and God bless him for coming,' was the general exclamation."
Mr. M'Donald remained nearly a fortnight on the island, during which he
embraced every opportunity of preaching to them ; and in his private conversations
entered so warmly into their affairs and interests, that when the day of
departure came, he had much difficulty in sustaining the emotions'with which
the scene overpowered him. Mr. M'Lellan and he were accompanied by the
inhabitants to the beach, where they assisted in launching the boat-took an
affecting farewell-and long after the party had bid adieu to the shores of St.
Kilda, they could still see the group of islanders clustering round the gentle
rising ground, gazing as if unwilling to lose sight of their recent visitors.
The report which Mr. M'Donald submitted to the Society on his return contains
some interesting particulars regarding St. Kilda and its inhabitants. We
need offer no apology for the following extract :-
1 St. Kilda, or Kirta, a solitary isle in the Atlantic Ocean, belonging to the range of the Hebrides,
but removed to a considerable distance from the main cluster. The nearest land to it is Harris, from
which it is distant sixty miles in a west-south-west direction ; and it is about one hundred and forty
mile3 from the nearest point of the mainland of Scotland.-EncycZopdiu Britannica.
Of late a trip to St. Kilda has become a favourite steamboat and pleasure-yacht excursion ; and
some curious, though rather exaggerated, descriptions of the isle and its inhabitants were in circulation
a short time ago. In former days, however, little intercourse was maintained with the mainland ;
and so late as about the middle of last century the island was the prison of the lady of Erskine of
Grange, brother of the Earl of Mar, attainted for his concern in the Rebellion of 1715. The cruel
treatment of the unfortunate lady was attributed to a violence of temper on her part, and a fear on
that of her husband lest she might betray the secrets of the party to which he was attached. She
was a daughter of Chiesley of Dalry, who was executed for the murder of President Lockhart in 1689.

Book 9 p. 442
(Score 1.09)

I 04 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
portion of the ground between the old port and the building still known as Queen Mary’s
Bath, the intervening ground being then entirely unoccupied. After being devoted to the
humble purpose of a weaver’s workhouse, it was at length burnt to the ground, in the year
1777.l
Many traditions
still preserved prove his keen relish for this game, in which he is said to have become a
proficient. ‘‘ The Duke of York,” says Tytler, ‘‘ was frequently seen in a party at golf .on
the Links at Leith, with some of the nobility and gentry. I remember, in my youth, to
have often conversed with an old man, named Andrew Dixon, a golf club-maker, who
said that, when a boy, he used to carry the Duke’s golf clubs, and to run before him and
announce where the ball fell.” ’
The general harmony of the Court of Holyrood, during the visit of the Duke of York,
was, however, occasionally interrupted by other annoyances besides those occasioned by the
struggles of the Covenanters.
A custom had long prevailed in Edinburgh, of annually burning the Pope in effigy on
Christmas-day ; but the magistrates, justly conceiving that such a procedure was calculated
to afford little satisfaction to the Duke, determined to prevent its recurrence during his
stay in Edinburgh. The populace, however, were not then impressed with such awe for
civic enactments as the modern system of police has since produced. The students of the
College took up the matter, and bound themselves by a solemn oath to effect the incremation
of his Holiness in defiance of both Duke and magistrates. The military were called
out to put a stop to their proceedings, and some of the most active ringleaders taken
captive; but the populace rose in defence of the students, and finished the day’s work
The students, as the most
zealous movers in thk tumult, were first visited with the wrath of offended authority. The
college gates were ordered to be closed, and the collegians to remove to the distance of
fifteen miles from the city ; but the excitement after a time abated, and they were again
restored to their wonted privileges.
In 1682, the famous old cannon, Mons Meg, was burst in firing a salute in honour of
the Duke of York, shortly before his return to England. The Duke took his departure in
great state in the month of May, leaving the citizens of Edinburgh to resume their quiet
decorum, unseduced by the example of the Court. The older gentry of the last age continued
to cherish a pleasing remembrance of his visit, and to tell, with great delight, of
the gaiety and brilliancy of the court at Holyrood House.
The intelligence of the death of Charles 11. reached Edinburgh on the 6th of February
1685. The Chancellor and other officers of state, with the Privy Council, the lords of session,
the magistrates, and many of the chief nobility, proceeded to the Crosfi, accompanied by the
Lyon King-at-Arms, and his heralds, and proclaimed James Duke of York, King of Great
Britain. In April, on the assembling of Parliament, an act was passed for the confirmation
of the Protestant religion, and fresh tests enacted for its protection ; but the actions of the
King showed little respect for such laws, and much excitement was occasioned by proceedings
that were generally believed to be preparatory to the subversion of the Protestant
Church.
Leith Links was the usual scene of the Duke’s trials of skill at golf.
. by burning the Provost’s house at Priestfield to the ground.
Amot, p. 195. 9 Archaelogia Scotica, vol. i. p. 504.

Book 10 p. 113
(Score 1.09)

346 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
quarters at Dalkeith Palace. The old mansion continued to be the town residence of the
noble family of Stair, until, like the rest of the Scottish peers, they deserted their native
capital soon after the abolition of our national Parliament by the Act of Union. It is
not unlikely that the present name of the old court is derived from the more recent
residence there of John, second Earl of Stair, who served during the protracted campaigns
of the Duke of Narlborough, and was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-General soon
after the bloody victory of Malplaquet. He shared in the fall of the great Duke, and
retired from Court until the accession of Geoge I., during which interval it is probable
that the family mansion in the Potterrow formed the frequent abode of the disgraced
favourite.
Degradation and decay had long settled down on the old aristocratic haunt, when
Clarinda wrote from the same place in 1788, in anticipation of a visit from the poet
Burns, " I hope you '11 come a-foot, even though you take a chair home. A chair is so
uncommon a thing in our neighbourhood, it is apt to raise speculation-but they are all
asleep by ten."' The first interview between Mrs M'Lehose, the romantic Clarinda,
and her Sylvander, took place at the house of Miss Nimmo, a mutual friend, who resided
in Alison Square, Potterrow; an equally humble locality, and within a few paces of
General's Entry, but which derives a still deeper interest from having been the place
where the youthful poet Thomas Campbell lived during his stay in Edinburgh, while
engaged in the composition of his Pleasures of Hope. To appreciate the later associations
of these scenes of poetic inspiration and intellectual pleasures, the reader should rise
from the perusal of the ardent and romautic correspondence of Clarinda and Sylvander,
and proceed to visit the dusky little parlour on the first floor of the crazy tenement in the
Potterrow, where the poet was welcomed by the enthusiastic Clarinda. It is on the
north side of General's Entry, and approached by a narrow turnpike stair, where the
whole accommodations of Mrs M'Lehose consisted of a kitchen, bedroom, and the
straitened parlour wherein she received the visits of the poet. Here this young and
beautiful woman resided with her infant children, and struggled against the pinching
cares of poverty, and the worse sorrows created by an acutely sensitive mind. The
emigration, however, of the gentry of the Old Town to the more fashionable dwellings
beyond the North Loch had been very partially effected in 1788 ; and the contrast between
the little parlour in General's Entry, and the drawing-rooms of the poet's wealthier hosts,
was by no means so marked and striking as it afterwards became. Such are the strangely
mingled associations of rank, historic fame, and genius, with lowly worth and squalid
poverty, which still linger around so many old nooks of the Scottish capital, and give
so peculiar an interest to its scenes.
Beyond this lies the more modern district that preceded the New Town, and included
in its various districts accommodation designed for very different ranks of society. Nicolson
Street, which now forms a portion of the principal southern avenue to the city, was constructed
towards the close of last century on an extensive unoccupied space of ground
lying between the Pleasance and Potterrow. It belonged to Lady Nicolson, whose house
stood nearly at the junction of South College Street with Nicolson Street, and on the
knee.
Correspondence between Burns and Clarinda, p. 152. The poet was at thi period lame, from an injury in his

Book 10 p. 379
(Score 1.07)

The Lawnmarket.] JAMES BOSWELL. I01
duchess. A daughter of Douglas of Mains, she was
the widow of Archibald Duke of Douglas, who died
in 1761.
While on this visit, Patrick Lord Elibank, a
learned and accomplished noble, addressed a letter
to him, and they afterwards had various conversatkns
on literary subjects, all of which are duly
On one occasion he was in a large party, of
which David Hume was one. A mutual friend
proposed to introduce him to the historian, ?? No,
sir ! ? bellowed the intolerant moralist, and turned
away. Among Boswell?s friends and visitors at
James?s Court were Lords Kames and Hailes, the
annalist of Scotland; Drs. Robertson, Slab, and
recorded in the pages of the sycophantic Boswell.
Johnson was well and hospitably received by all
classes in Edinburgh, where his roughness of
manner and bearing were long proverbiaL ?? From
all I can learn,? says Captain Topham, who visited
the city in the following year, ?he repaid all their
attention to him with ill-breeding; and when in
the company of the ablest men in this country
his whole design was to show them how little he
thought of them.?
Beattie, and others, the most eminent of his
countrymen; but his strong predilection for
London induced him to move there with his
family, and in the winter of 1786 he was called to
the English bar. His old house was not immediately
abandoned to the plebeian population, as
his successor in it was Lady Wallace, dowager of
Sir Thomas Wallace of Craigie, and mother of the
unfortunate Captain William Wallace of the 15th
Hussars, whose involvement in the affairs of the

Book 1 p. 101
(Score 1.06)

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

Book 11 p. 34
(Score 1.05)

JAMES VI. TO RESTORATION OF CHARLES 11. 91
In the following year, the Common Council purchased the elevated ground lying to the
south of the city, denominated the High Riggs, on part of which Heriot’s Hospital was
afterwards built, and the latest extension of the city wall then took place for the purpose
of enclosing it. A portion of this wall still forms the western boundary of the Hospital
grounds, terminating at the head of the Vennel, in the only remaining tower of the ancient
city wall. The close of the succeeding year was signalised by the visit of Ben Jonson, on
his way to Hawthornden, the seat of the poet Drummond, where the memory of his
residence is still preserved.
The accession of Charles I. was marked by demands for heavy contributions, for the
purpose of fitting out ships, and erecting forts for securing the coasts of the kingdom.
The Common Council of Edinburgh entered so zealously into this measure, that the King
addressed to them a special letter of thanks ; and as a further proof of his gratitude, he
presented the Provost with a gown, to be worn according to King James’s appointment,
and a sword to be borne before him on all public occasions.
The citizens were kept for several years in anticipation of another royal visit, which
was at length accomplished in 1633. The same loyalty was displayed, as on similar occasions,
for receiving the King with suitable splendour. The celebrated poet, Drummond
of Hawthornden, was appointed to address him on this occasion, which he did in a
speech little less extravagant than that with which the town-clerk had hailed his royal
father’s arrival.
The King was received at
the West Port by the nymph Edina, and again at the Overbow by the lady Caledonia, each
of whom welcomed him in copious verse, attributed to Drummond’s pen. The members
of the College added their quota, and Mercury, Apollo, Endymion, the Moon, and a whole
host of celestial visitants made trial of the royal patience in lengthy @ymes !
Fergus I. received the King at the Tolbooth, and “in a grave speech gave many
paternal and wholesome advices to his royal successor ; ” and Mount Parnassus was
erected at the Trone, “with a great variety of vegetables, rocks, and other decorations
peculiar to mountains,’’ and crowded with all its ancient inhabitants. The whole fantastic
exhibition cost the city upwards of 3241,000 Scottish money!’ The most interesting
feature on the occasion was a series of the chief works of Jamesone, the famous Scottish
painter, with which the Nether Bow Port was adorned. This eminent artist continued to
reside in Edinburgh till his death, in 1644. He was buried in the Greyfriars’ Churchyard,
but without a monument, and tradition has failed to preserve any record of the
spot.
This hearty reception by the citizens of Edinburgh was followed by his coronation, on
the 18th of June, in the Abbey Church of Holyrood, with the utmost splendour and pomp ;
but the King was not long gone ere the discontents of the people were manifested by murmuring
and complaints. Under the guidance of Laud, Charles had resolved to carry out
the favourite project of his father, for the complete establishment of Episcopacy in Scotland
; but he lacked the cautious prudence of James, no less than the wise councillors of
Elizabeth. He erected Edinburgh into a separate diocese, taking for that purpose a portion
of the ancient Metropolitan See of St Andrews, and appointed the Collegiate Church
The orator’s poetical skill was nest called into requisition.
Maitland, p. 63-69.

Book 10 p. 99
(Score 1.05)

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

Book 10 p. 102
(Score 1.05)

408 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
reflections on “ this worthy and memorable motto! ” The visit of Taylor to the Palace
and Chapel was almost immediately after that of James VI. to Scotland, so that he no
doubt saw them in all the splendour which had been prepared for the King’s reception.
The palace was probably abandoned to neglect and decay after the last visit of Charles I.
in 1641, otherwise it is probable that Cromwell would have taken up his abode there during
his residence in Edinburgh. The improvements, however, effected by Charles, both on the
Palace and Abbey Church, appear to have been considerable. One beautiful memorial of
his residence there is the elaborately carved sun-dial which still adorns the north garden of
the Palace, and is usually known as Queen Mary’s Dial, although the cipher of her grandson,
with those of his Queen and the Prince of Wales, are repeated on its most prominent
carvings. The Palace was converted into barracks by Cromwell soon after his arrival in
Edinburgh, and as Nicoll relates, ‘ I ane number of the Englisches futemen being ludgit
within the Abay of Haly Rud HOUSi,t fell out that upone an Weddinsday, being the
threttene day of November 1650, the hail1 royal1 pairt of that palice wes put in flame, and
brint to the ground on all the pairtes thairof.’’I The diarist, however, has afterwards
qualified this sweeping assertion by adding, “ except a lyttel ; ” and there is good reason
for believing that the oldest portion of the Palace, usually known as James the Fifth’s
Tower, entirely escaped the conflagration, as its furniture, if not so old as Queen Mary’R
time, certainly at least dates in the reign of Charles I., some of it being marked with the
cipher of that monarch and his Queen, Henrietta Maria. A fac-simile of a rare print, after
a drawing by Gordon of Rothiemay, in the first volume of the Bannatyne Miscellany,
preserves the only view of the Palace that has come down to us as it existed prior to this
conflagration. The main entrance appears to occupy nearly the same site as at present.
It. is flanked on either side by round embattled towers, or rather semicircular bow windows,
between which is a large panel, surmounting the grand gateway, and bearing the royal
arms of Scotland. A uniform range of building, pierced with large windows, extends on
either side, and is flanked on the north by the great tower which still remains, but finished
above the battlements asrepresented in the vignette on page 34. The empty panels also
which still remain in the front turrets appear to hare been filled with sculptured armorial
bearings. No corresponding tower existed at the south-west corner of the building until
its remodelling by Sir William Bruce.
The Palace was speedily rebuilt by order of the Protector, but his work came under
revision soon after the Restoration. The directions given by Charles 11. for its alteration
and completion enter into the minutest details, among which such commands as the following
were probably dictated with peculiar satisfaction ;-(< Wee doe hereby order you
to cause that parte thereof which was built by the usurpers, and doth darken the court,
to be taken down.”= The zeal with which both Charles 11. and James VIL devoted.
1 Nicoll’s Diary, p. 35.
a Royal warranta. Liber. Cart. p. cxxk The royal orders would appear to have been occasionally departed from,
e.g., the Ear1 of Lauderdale writes, by command of Charles II., in 1671 :-“His Maj“. likes the front very well as it is
Designed, provided the gate where the King’a coach is to come in be large enough, Aa also he likes the taking doune of
that narrow upper parte which was built in Cromwell’a time. Hee likes not the covering of all that betwixt the two
great toures with platfoipl at the second storie, but would have it heightened to a third storie, as all the inner court is,
and sklaited with skaily as the rest of the court is to be ; ” in all which respecta the original design has evidently been
carried out, notwithstanding his Majesty’s directions to the contrary.

Book 10 p. 447
(Score 1.03)

them were captured, among others old McLean,
who made a desperate resistance in the West Port
with a musket and bayonet. Many who rolled
down the rocks to the roadway beneath were
severely injured, and taken by the City Guard. A
sentinel was bound hand and foot and thrown into
Macintosh, of Borlum, in his 80th
captivity of fifteen years, for participation
rising of 1715; and for twelve months,
there were confined in a small, horrid, unhealthy
chamber above the portcullis,
many a year as '' the black hole " of
south) where he confessed the whole plot ; the
corporal was mercilessly flogged ; and Sergeant
Ahslie was hanged over the postern gate. Colonel
Stuart was dismissed ; and Brigadier Grant, whose
regiment was added to the garrison, was appointed
temporary governor.
From this period, with the exception of a species
of blockade in 1745, to be related in its place,
the history of the Castle is as uneventful as that of
the Tower of London, save a visit paid to it in t+
time of George I., by Yussuf Juniati, General and
Governor of Damascus.
Many unfortunate Jacobites have suffered most
protracted periods of imprisonment within its walls.
' with her daughters, the Ladies Mary
who were brought in by an escort of twenty
under a ruffianly quartermaster, who
with every indignity, even to tearing weddingring
from Lady Strathallan's finger, and
daughters of their clothes. During the
these noble ladies were in that noisome
the gate, they were without female attendance,
under the almost hourly surveillance sergeants
of the guard. The husband of
was slain at the head of his men on
Culloden, where the Jacobite clans were
by neither skill nor valour, but the sheer
numbers and starvation.

Book 1 p. 69
(Score 1.02)

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