(SortteliuB 31. OJabigatt 
 
The Siory of Edinburgh 
 l,y Oliphant Smeaton 
 
 Illustrated by Herbert Railton 
 and y. Ayton Symington 
 
 London: J, M, Dcut & Co. 
 Aldine House ^ 29 and 30 Bedford Street 
 Covent Garden, IV. C. « * 1905 
 
Preface 
 
 Training Scheme, when I shall supplement what 
 may be lacking here on these two points. 
 
 I must express my obligations to Mr. William 
 Cowan of the Edinburgh Bibliographical Society, 
 the erudite author of The Holyrood Press and 
 kindred works, for having given me the benefit 
 of his great historical and topographical knowledge 
 of Edinburgh, by reading the proofs. I am also in- 
 debted to Professor Niecks, Mus. Doc, of the Reid 
 Chair of Music in Edinburgh University, for enabling 
 me to reply to certain criticisms on early Scottish 
 Music. To those who assisted me in the larger 
 volume and who again have been so ready to help 
 in furthering the interests of this one, both as 
 regards Scottish ecclesiastical affairs past, present 
 and future, and general social and literary history, 
 Rev. Principal Rainy, D.D., the Rev. Dr. and Mrs. 
 Whyte, Rev. Dr. Robson, Mr. Taylor Innes, Miss 
 Eve Simpson, daughter of the late Professor Sir James 
 Simpson, M.D., Mr. John Geddie of the Scotsman^ 
 Mr. David Graham, the well-known dramatist and 
 critic, Mr. George Stronach, M.A., of the Advocates' 
 Library, and to many others who, if unnamed, are 
 not unremembered, I would again make grateful 
 acknowledgments. 
 
 O. S. 
 
 The Grange, 
 Edinburgh, August 1905. 
 
 vi 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Queen of the North " .... I 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 Edinburgh under the Stuarts to the end of the 
 
 Reign of James IL . , . 15 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 In the Reign of James II, . . . 22 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 In the Reign of James III. . . . . 33 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 In the Reign of James IF. .... 49 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 In the Reign of James F. , , . . 56 
 
 vii 
 
Contents 
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 PAGE 
 
 In the Reign of Mary . . . . . 64. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 In the Reign of J ames FL . . . . 83 
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 From the Union of the Croivns to the Union of 
 
 the Kingdoms, 1 603-1 707 ... 98 
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 From the Union of the Kingdoms to the Rebellion 
 ofiJ^S 
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 From the Rebellion to the Present Time . , T25 
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 Edinburgh Castle . . . . .140 
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 The Castlehill and the Laivnmarket . . 155 
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 The Parliament Square and St. Giles^ Church . 1 74 
 
Contents 
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 From St. Giles' to the Tron Church 
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 From the Tron Church to St. Mary Street 
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 The Canongate : from St. Mary's PTynd to the 
 Girth Strand ..... 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 The Abbey and Palace of Holyrood 
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 
 The Cowgate, Grassmarket^ Portsburgh^ King's 
 Stables ...... 
 
 CHAPTER XX 
 
 Princes Street and the Older Parts of the New 
 Touun ...... 
 
 CHAPTER XXI 
 
 The Older Parts of the Ne^ Town 
 
 CHAPTER XXII 
 
 Modern Parts of the New Town 
 
Contents 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 PAGE 
 
 From the Post Office by George IV* Bridge to 
 
 Tollcross . . . . . .332 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 The Southern Suburbs . . . . . 363 
 
 CHAPTER XXV 
 
 The Northern Knvirons . . . . 372 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI 
 
 The Souther/^ Environs . . , .390 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII 
 
 The Academic and Literary Associations of 
 
 Edinburgh ..... 400 
 
 X 
 
 I 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 St, Margaret's Chapel .... 9 
 
 The Castle^ as it was before 1573 . . 13 
 
 Holy rood Palace^ as it nvas before the Jire of 1650. 
 
 After Gordon of Rothiemay ... 29 
 Trinity Hospital^ Women's Ward . . 35 
 
 The F/odden Wall 53 
 
 Palace of Mary of Guise and the Laus Deo 
 
 House . . . . . .. 71 
 
 The West Bozo and Lazvnmarket . . 163 
 
 Bailie Macmorran' s House . . . 167 
 
 Gladstone's Land . . . . .172 
 
 Creech's Shop in the Luckenbooths . . . 177 
 
 The Old Parliament House . . . . 179 
 
 P/an of St. Giles' . . . . .189 
 
 Door Heads, Advocates' Close . .194 
 
 Advocates' Close , . . . .195 
 
 Clerihugh's Tavern . . .196 
 
 The Union Cellar . . . . 202 
 
 ' xi 
 
Illustrations 
 
 PAGE 
 
 *The Black Turnpike and the Town Guard House 205 
 
 The House of Cardinal Beaton^ Blackfriars 
 
 IVynd . . . . . .211 
 
 The Nether Bow Port . . . .215 
 
 PauPs Work , . . . , . 225 
 
 Morocco Land . . . . . .228 
 
 Moray House . . . . . .235 
 
 The White Horse Inn^ near Holy rood . 239 
 
 The Great IV e stern Doorway . . 255 
 
 Queen Mary's Bath . . . . .258 
 
 Palfrey's Inn, in the Cowgaie . . 265 
 
 College IVynd ..... 267 
 
 The Magdalen Chapel . . . . .270 
 
 The Gibbet at the foot of the West Bow . 273 
 
 No. T^g Castle Street, Edinburgh . . . 297 
 
 St. Mary's Cathedral 323 
 
 Grey friars Church .... . 337 
 
 The Old University . . . . .345 
 
 Potterrow . . . . . . .347 
 
 The New Medical School . . . -351 
 
 The Royal Infirmary . . . . '357 
 
 Dalkeith Palace . . . . 393 
 
 Lass wade Cottage . . . . -395 
 
 Plan of Edinburgh . . . facing 417 
 xii 
 
CHAPTER I 
 
 " Queen of the North " 
 
 "... thou fair city disarrayed 
 Of battled war and rampart's aid ; 
 As stately seems but lovelier far 
 Than in that panoply of war." 
 
 SUCH is the picture presented to the mind's eye, of 
 that city whose name Walter Scott has indis- 
 solubly interlinked with his own in the phrase of fond 
 appropriation, '•'mine own romantic town^ Upon him, 
 as upon others of her sons before and since, the 
 glamour of Edinburgh's solemn but seductive beauty 
 continued strong from youth to age, and during his 
 last illness, when the great intellect was already under 
 eclipse, he constantly recalled " sights and scenes " in 
 the " High Street and Canongate," every ancient 
 building of which he knew so well. A better 
 description of Edinburgh could scarcely be desired 
 than that given in Marmion by Scotland's mightiest 
 minstrel. After the English envoy and his guide, 
 " Sir David Lyndsay of the Mount, Lord Lyon 
 
 A I 
 
T^he Story of Edinburgh 
 
 King-at-Arms," had reached the rounded summit of 
 Blackford Hill on their journey to the Scottish 
 Capital, and admired the fair scene around them, they 
 let their gaze travel onward to — 
 
 Where the huge castle holds its state, 
 And all the steep slope down, 
 Whose ridgy back heaves to the sky 
 Piled deep and massy, close and high. 
 Mine own romantic town." 
 
 If her claims to beauty could be urged then, with 
 stronger reason may they be pressed now. Not alone 
 the partiality of a Caledonian causes me to say that few 
 fairer spots exist on earth, whether we view her 
 charms from the vantage ground immortalised by Scott, 
 or from " Arthur's Seat," whose altitude of 800 feet 
 commands, under favouring conditions, a prospect of 
 some seven or eight counties, from the banks of Forth 
 to the hills overlooking Tweed. 
 
 On a clear May morning, one of those whereof 
 Chaucer loved to sing, let us ascend the hill, early 
 enough to admire the glorious landscape before the 
 smoke from those countless chimneys, which has 
 earned for Edinburgh the sobriquet " Auld Keekie," 
 has cast a haze over the scene. If young and agile, 
 we shall probably scale the hill on its western side, 
 where the feet of innumerable climbers throughout ages 
 past have worn steps in the grassy slope ; if the grey frost 
 of years has tinged our hair, or the snows of age lie 
 deep upon us, we shall probably prefer the easier path 
 which advances on the eastern side from the shores of 
 Dunsappie Loch by a gentle ascent, until the pinch " 
 is reached leading to the summit. Fortunately this 
 steep portion of the track continues but for a short 
 distance. Presently the top is reached called " King 
 Arthur's Chair." Here, tradition records, the 
 2 
 
" Queen of the North " 
 
 monarch witnessed a battle between his followers (the 
 Britons of the kingdom of Calatria) and the Picts, in 
 which he contributed to the success of the issue by an 
 expedient somewhat similar to that by which Moses 
 ensured victory to the Israelites over the Amalekites 
 at the Rock of Rephidim. 
 
 Only scenes of peace and rural beauty, however, greet - 
 the gaze of those who seat themselves in the " Chair " to- 
 day. The vivid emerald of the embosoming woods, amid 
 which in spring the city seems to nestle, contrasts with 
 the deeper green of the grassy hills encircling it. On the 
 north shimmers 'Hhe silver streak " of the estuary of the 
 Forth, dotted with islands and the " white wings " of 
 the shipping, while in the background is unfolded the 
 panoramic view of the fertile fields in the " Kingdom of 
 Fife." Eastward, the estuary broadens into the noble 
 expanse of what might be termed, as it was by some geo- 
 graphers last century, the " Bit " or " Bight of Esk- 
 mouth/' studded from Leith to Aberlady with seaboard 
 villages and hamlets gleaming white in the sunshine, 
 while from the blue waters of the Frith, the country rises 
 gently in undulating slopes of exquisitely diversified land- 
 scape, towards the mountain range of the Lammermoors 
 that bars the horizon. On the south are the rounded 
 outlines of the Pentlands, the Lammermoors, the Moor- 
 foots, and in the far south-west is misty Tinto, robed in 
 the romantic azure of distance. Westward, the eye 
 luxuriates over the rural contrasts of grove and meadow, 
 of crag and stream, which present themselves in that long, 
 rich strath that stretches towards Linlithgow. Verily 
 a marvellously varied picture instinct with life, light and 
 colour ! 
 
 Edinburgh — or Edwinsburgh — has its foundation lost 
 amidst the mists of a hoary antiquity. Its Castle was, 
 in all probability, in existence long before the town — 
 the latter possibly springing up around the fortress, the 
 
 3 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 protection and shelter of which were invoked in time 
 of war. The name it bears is that of a comparatively 
 modern Saxon king, Edwin of Deira, who, after 
 his victory over Aethelfrith of Bernicia (a.d. 629), 
 established it as his northern outpost. Long prior to 
 that event, however, the huge, beetling rock, whereon 
 the Castle stands, and which Sir Roderick Murchison 
 proved must in distant prehistoric times have been 
 washed on all sides by the sea, had been a fortress of 
 almost impregnable strength, held first by the Picts and 
 then by the Britons. It was certainly associated with 
 that hero of romance. King Arthur, who gave his 
 name to more than one of the outstanding physical 
 features of the district. Some, of course, deny the 
 existence of such a personage, but there can be little 
 doubt that a man and a monarch bearing the name was 
 in some manner associated with the entire western 
 districts of Britain from Bristol to Dumbarton. 
 
 As the Greeks enthroned their Zeus in Olympus 
 and out of a great warrior and administrator evolved 
 the " Father of the Gods," so the half-mythical, half- 
 historical heroes of the Western tribes were magnified 
 into monarchs of surpassing greatness, physical as well 
 as moral. That the Britons were intimately connected 
 with the territory now called the Lothians," in 
 which were comprised the kingdoms of "Calatria" 
 and " Bernicia," has been recently shown to be 
 probable by both Mr. Andrew Lang and Professor 
 Hume Brown. The British kingdom of Strathcluyd 
 extended from Wales up to the rock of Alcluyd 
 (Dumbarton), and doubtless the intercourse between 
 the districts was both frequent and close. 
 
 The early history of the district now called 
 Midlothian "is, however, so wrapped in the haze of 
 romance and legend that it is not easy to discern the 
 real figure of the great British Chieftain, " the blame- 
 4 
 
Queen of the North 
 
 less King " of the Tennysonian " Idylls," or to trace 
 even the more prominent features of his career. That 
 one of his name waged fierce war with the Saxon 
 kings of Northumbria and that many of his great 
 exploits were performed in the district lying between 
 the Tweed and the Forth is at least probable. To 
 enter into any argument as to the authenticity of the 
 Arthurian cycle of legends, and how much of historic 
 fact mingles with fiction, would here be out of place. 
 Suffice it to say that there seems little doubt that 
 Arthur was the leader of those Northern Cymry who 
 afterwards became absorbed in the population of 
 Southern Scotland and of the English Border, and 
 that the Welsh names which occur in such words as 
 Tweed, Teviot, Clyde, Nith, Annan, Esk, ISeven, 
 were actually indicative of localities where Arthur 
 waged his " last great conflict in the West," when 
 British valour made its final stand against Saxon 
 aggression before retiring to the fastnesses of the hills. 
 
 For two or three centuries the fact has been known 
 that "Arthur's head" is preserved, cut out in profile 
 against the rocks of Salisbury Crags. About the 
 middle of the eighteenth century the resemblance of 
 the rock-sculpture to a human face was very marked. 
 Sir Walter Scott delighted to point it out, but even in 
 his day it was disappearing, and now it needs favouring 
 circumstances to enable one to detect it. Standing on 
 the Calton Hill, however, and looking across towards 
 Arthur's Seat and Salisbury Crags anyone can verify 
 the fact on a clear day, for there, just at the " Cat 
 Nick," standing out against the deep blue sky, the 
 rugged, advanced edge of the crags presents the profile 
 of a grand, kingly face — not unlike that which Dore 
 has given to Arthur in his famous illustrations of 
 Tennyson's " Idylls " — looking southward over the 
 hills and dales where he overthrew the Northern kings. 
 
 5 
 
T'he Story of Edinburgh 
 
 We see no reason to doubt that tradition here follows 
 fact and that Arthur, worn out by the protracted 
 struggle, seated himself to rest upon the hill and actually 
 witnessed the battle which for the time checked the 
 advancing Saxons. 
 
 The Castle, as has been already stated, was known 
 far and wide as a place of strength as early as the fifth 
 century. During the time it was held by the Britons 
 they called it Castelh Mynedh Agnedh^ which means, 
 not as some think, the Castle of the Maidens or 
 Virgins, owing to the supposition that there the 
 daughters of the reigning British monarchs were kept 
 during the period of their education — but the hill of 
 the plain'* or "the hill overlooking the plain," a 
 meaning implying that the fort was used for purposes 
 of observation in times of war. The prospect from it 
 is, of course, of a most extensive character. Edwin 
 of Deira, having conquered Aethelfrith of Bernicia, 
 gained the throne of Northumbria. Among the 
 Britons he made his power very strongly felt. That 
 he might more effectively hold them in check, 
 he occupied their rock fortress and built a new one, 
 with a village attached, and this may be said to have 
 been the origin of the town of Edinburgh " or 
 Edwinsburgh." By the Gaelic-speaking population 
 of the Strathcluyd, it was called " Dun-Edin " — hill or 
 fort of Edwin, a form often used by Scott, and which 
 has given a name to one of the largest cities in New 
 Zealand. George Buchanan, the tutor of James VI., 
 Latinised it as " Edina," which also has become a 
 favourite with our modern minstrels. 
 
 Protected by the Castle, the little Saxon hamlet 
 increased in course of time and gradually stretched 
 eastward towards the base of the crags. The protec- 
 tion of the fortress was not always effective. Shortly 
 after the middle of the seventh century the Picts swept 
 6 
 
" Queen of the North 
 
 down on the township and well-nigh destroyed it, to 
 be almost exterminated in their turn by the warriors 
 from the Castle, who unexpectedly returning from 
 some expedition were in time to take their revenge. 
 For at least three-fourths of the seventh century 
 Edinburgh was rather a Saxon or Northumbrian than 
 a Scots town. This is shown by the fact that the 
 kings of Northumbria frequently resided there and 
 kept their Court in the Castle. But in 685, in the 
 great battle of Nectansmere (Dunnichen in Forfarshire), 
 Ecgfrith was defeated and slain by the Pictish King 
 Brudi, and Northumbrian influence was shattered. 
 From that defeat until the year 844, at which time 
 Kenneth MacAlpin united the Scottish and Pictish 
 people, the relations of Picts and Scots to each other 
 gradually became closer, until union resulted. They 
 were thus able to present a firm front to the Angles of 
 Bernicia and the Britons of Strathcluyd. 
 
 Authentic history may be said to commence with the 
 reign of Malcolm II. (1005- 1034), which marks an 
 epoch in Scots history as distinctively as those of Kenneth 
 MacAlpin, David I., Robert I., or James I. The 
 kingdom of Northumbria had again for a brief season 
 risen into greatness and had reasserted its authority 
 over the Lothians, which in those days extended as 
 far as Durham. But in 966 its power had waned, 
 and the territory had been divided by the King of 
 England, on condition of his overlordship being 
 recognised. After one or two reverses, Malcolm in 
 10 1 8 led his forces into Lothian, for one supreme 
 final effort. Aided by his kinsman, Owen, King of 
 Cumbria, Malcolm met the Northumbrians at Carham, 
 on the Tweed, and inflicted on them a defeat by which 
 nearly the whole of the male population between 
 Tweed and Tees was cut off. By a definite transaction 
 afterward confirmed by King Cnut, all the territory 
 
 7 
 
"The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 north of the Tweed was added to the kingdom of 
 Scotland. This final cession of Lothian was an event 
 second in importance to none in Scottish history. 
 Had Lothian remained in the possession of England 
 rather than Scotland, Edinburgh would have been an 
 English town and would have probably not risen in 
 importance beyond Berwick or Carlisle. The Battle 
 of Carham, therefore, is an event of supreme moment 
 in the history of the city. 
 
 The situation of the great Castle Rock as a point of 
 observation overlooking all the various routes by which 
 any invader could pass northward from the south, or 
 southward from the north, suggested to Malcolm IIL 
 ( Ceanmohr — Bighead) the advisability of erecting 
 such a fortress as would be well-nigh impregnable. 
 Accordingly, he spared neither trouble nor expense in 
 rebuilding the Castle, in which he erected a royal 
 residence wherein he lived with his beautiful and pious 
 wife, Margaret, sister of Edgar the Atheling, and 
 niece of Edward the Confessor, whose fine early 
 Norman chapel is still in existence on the Castle Rock. 
 
 The aim of the young queen was to introduce 
 culture and civilisation among the rude and semi-savage 
 people with whom she lived. She also sought, but 
 it is to be feared with scant success, to soften and 
 enlighten her husband. 
 
 This princess (since canonised by the Roman 
 Church) resided alternately in the Castle and in 
 Dunfermline Tower ; and the place where she crossed 
 the Forth to ancf from her residences, is still 
 commemorated in " The Queen's Ferry " — marked 
 by two villages on either side the Frith* 
 
 Queen Margaret's memory is, however, preserved in 
 connection with the Castle in the Early Norman 
 Chapel, where she was wont to spend much of her 
 time in prayer. Her chamber was situated on the site 
 8 
 
" Queen of the North 
 
 of the Argyll Battery adjoining the Chapel, and Sir 
 Daniel Wilson has shown with some probability that 
 this was the veritable spot where the good queen died. 
 Her husband and eldest son had both been slain at the 
 siege of Alnwick Castle (November 13, 1093) and, as 
 
 Turgot, her confessor, tells us, on the fourth day after 
 the king's death, before the news reached her, the 
 queen — who then appears to have been dying of decline, 
 induced by her ascetic life — went into her oratory to 
 hear Mass, and having partaken of the Sacrament 
 returned to her bed. She then asked to have the 
 sacred relic, the Black Rood, alleged to be a piece of 
 the true cross, brought to her, and was still grasping it 
 when her second son entered the room and told the 
 
 9 
 
T'he Story of Edinburgh 
 
 sad tidings of Malcolm's death. Thereupon, raising 
 her eyes and hands towards heaven, the saintly queen 
 thanked God even for His trials of her faith, and 
 passed peacefully away. 
 
 Edinburgh was not suffered to retain her hallowed 
 dust. Scarcely had the king's death been announced, 
 when his brother, Donalbain, who had caused himself 
 to be proclaimed king in conformity with the ancient 
 law of tanistry, surrounded the Castle with a force of 
 savage Highlanders, bent on slaughtering his nephews, 
 so as to obtain undisputed possession of the Crown. 
 Through the postern or " Sally port," still existing on 
 the western side of the ramparts, the youths escaped to 
 find refuge in England ; while by the same means 
 Turgot conveyed the remains of the Queen for inter- 
 ment to Dunfermline, favoured in his design by a 
 dense mist, which was ascribed to supernatural agency. 
 
 Her son Edgar returned to defeat his usurping uncle 
 and recover the kingdom, but died shortly afterwards 
 in Edinburgh Castle. By his brother, David I., who 
 succeeded him, the land at the foot of the Castle Rock, 
 a tangled wilderness of brambles, gorse, and thick 
 underwood, interspersed with deep pools and dangerous 
 morasses, was converted into a garden. 
 
 From the statements of Boece we obtain at once a 
 confirmation of our idea that Edinburgh was at this 
 time little better than a congeries of mud huts nestling 
 under the shadow of the Castle, and a vivid picture of 
 the exceedingly contracted limits of the town. He 
 informs us that King David, who in the fourth year of his 
 reign was residing at the Castle of Edinburgh, then 
 surrounded by ^*ane gret forest," was induced to go out 
 hunting on the day of the Holy Rood, and nearly lost 
 his life, owing to an attack made upon him by an 
 infuriated stag, which eventually was scared by the 
 sight of a cross, mysteriously thrust into the king's hand. 
 
 lO 
 
Queen of the North 
 
 That same night the " sair saunct to the Croon 
 was warned in a dream to build a monastery for the 
 canons regular of the Augustinian order, on the exact 
 spot where God had interposed to save his Hfe. 
 Thus the Abbey of Holyrood was endowed, though 
 the actual building was not commenced until a later date. 
 
 David I. was henceforward so earnest in his piety 
 and so generous a benefactor to the clergy that he 
 extorted the angry jibe from James I., " Humph, he 
 was a sair saunct to the Croon." Our present interest 
 in him lies in the fact that he materially strengthened 
 the Castle, erecting several of the outworks, in par- 
 ticular building the great Norman Keep, of which 
 fragments are still to be traced in the lower portion of 
 the Argyll Tower over the " Portcullis Gate." The 
 Castle was for many years a royal residence, though 
 Holyrood in times of peace shared the honour. 
 Round the fortress a considerable town sprang up, 
 which David referred to as enjoying the privileges of 
 a burgh in his charter of 1 128. 
 
 Almost from the first Edinburgh was regarded as a 
 place of importance. In 12 15 Alexander II. held a 
 Parliament here, and in 1235 ^ provincial Synod of 
 the Church met in the town, presided over by the 
 Pope's Legate. The kings of Scotland were, it is 
 true, crowned at Scone, but Edinburgh ranked as one 
 of the four royal burghs, the others being Stirling, 
 Roxburgh and Berwick. 
 
 References occur in contemporary chronicles to the 
 residence in the Castle of all the successors of David I. 
 down to the age of Edward I. It was the home of 
 Margaret, daughter of Henry III., the girl-wife of 
 Alexander III., who, however, complained of it as "a 
 sad and solitary place without verdure and by reason 
 of its vicinity to the sea unwholesome." 
 
 After the tragic death of Alexander in 1286, and 
 
 1 1 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 throughout the wars of the Scottish Succession, the 
 Castle was held by Edward I. of England, having 
 been captured by him in June 1291, after a siege of 
 fifteen days ; and in May 1 296, within the church of 
 the fortress, he received the submission of many of 
 the nobles of the kingdom as their Lord Paramount, 
 to be followed two months later by the sworn fealty of 
 the " alderman of the town," William de Dederyk. 
 
 Twice was the Castle captured and recaptured 
 during the patriotic struggle of Robert Bruce, and 
 on being finally taken by the Scots, under Randolph, 
 Bruce ordered it to be dismantled. 
 
 The narrative of these assaults and captures is full of 
 thrilHng incidents. The Castle was in 13 12 among 
 the few places held by the English in Scotland, and its 
 surprise by Thomas Randolph, nephew of Robert 
 Bruce and afterwards Earl of Moray, was a splendid 
 example of cool daring. 
 
 Another noteworthy capture of the Castle by the 
 Scots is recorded as having taken place twenty-nine 
 years later. Once more the English held the fortress, 
 Edward III. having rebuilt it in 1336, as soon as he 
 had temporarily wrested the country from David II., 
 the worthless son of the great Bruce. This time the 
 hero was Sir William Douglas of Liddesdale, but the 
 stratagem was devised by an ex-priest, William Bullock. 
 
 King David, who returned to Scotland from 
 France, only to fall a prisoner into the hands of the 
 Southrons, after the disastrous defeat of Neville's 
 Cross, was ransomed by the chief towns of his 
 kingdom, each becoming security for the annual pay- 
 ment of a certain proportion of the sum exacted — viz., 
 100,000 marks. In making this engagement, which 
 was enacted and sanctioned by a Parliament held at 
 Edinburgh in 1357, the representatives of seventeen 
 burghs were parties, and of these Edinburgh for the 
 12 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 first time stood at the head. On his return from 
 captivity in England King David II. resided in the 
 Castle and may be said to have completed the 
 restoration of the fortress begun by the officers of 
 Edward III. To assist him in rendering it as im- 
 pregnable as possible, he called to his aid the mili- 
 tary and engineering experience of John, Earl of 
 Carrick (afterwards Robert III.), who, fresh from 
 the French wars, was familiar with all the current 
 modes of fortification. At the request of the king 
 he erected that lofty tower which stood on the 
 northern side of the fortress, and long bore the name 
 David's Tower." So impregnable did Carrick 
 make the Castle, that in 1400 it was able to resist 
 successfully the assaults of Henry IV. David II. died 
 in the tower referred to in 1370, and was buried at 
 Holyrood, terminating in his person the direct line of 
 the Bruce. 
 
 Here ends the first epoch in the history of 
 Edinburgh. The town hitherto has scarcely been 
 worthy of the name. It was then but a small 
 
 burgh" or rather "village," the houses of which, 
 because they were so often exposed to incursions from 
 England, being for the most part thatched with straw 
 and turf. When burned or demolished, therefore, 
 they were soon restored. When an overwhelming 
 host crossed the Borders and poured down in irre- 
 sistible fury upon the neighbouring Lowlands, the 
 citizens as soon as they had been warned by " the 
 bale-fire's gleam," drove off their cattle, concealed 
 their more bulky wealth, even carrying away the straw 
 roofing of their houses as some security against a con- 
 flagration, and left the enemy to wreak his futile 
 vengeance upon the walls, which could be replaced 
 almost ere the retreating foe had reached their homes. 
 
 14 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 Edinburgh under the Stuarts to the end of 
 the Reign of James 11, 
 
 EDINBURGH was distinctively the city of the 
 Stuarts. Although not founded by that gay, 
 accomplished, improvident race, whose very faults seemed 
 to render them dearer to their people, the town was 
 extended, beautified, and raised in the scale of national 
 importance during their era. By them, too, it was 
 adopted as the capital of the kingdom, where the seat 
 of justice was located, and where the king himself had 
 his residence. 
 
 David II. was succeeded by his nephew Robert II., 
 son of Walter the Steward. From his reign the 
 history of Edinburgh takes definite shape. In 1383, 
 the first of the Stuarts received in the Castle the 
 ambassador of Charles VI. of France, and there (as 
 stated by Froissart, who also describes the town as he 
 saw it), that league of perpetual amity, entered into 
 between the two nations nearly a century before, was 
 formally renewed. In 1385, the truce having ended 
 between England and Scotland, the Duke of 
 Lancaster invaded Scotland and laid Edinburgh in 
 ashes. In this incursion, the old Parish Church of St. 
 Giles suffered severely, only parts of its great central 
 tower being left to mark the place where it stood. 
 
 Another item of interest in the annals of the town 
 occurs under date 1383, when the Earl of Carrick 
 (afterwards Robert III.) confers on the burgesses the 
 
 IS 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 singular privilege of building houses for themselves 
 within the Castle walls," owing to the sufferings they 
 had undergone during the previous invasions. The 
 permission was not largely taken advantage of, as the 
 conditions attaching to such residence were incon- 
 venient to householders. 
 
 Edinburgh Castle was also the scene of another 
 renewing of the bonds of amity between France and 
 Scotland. In 1390 Robert III. succeeded his father, 
 and in the same year we find the ambassadors of 
 Charles VI. once more in Scotland to obtain the re- 
 affirming of the Treaty of 1383 regarding mutual aid 
 and defence against the English. The reply of 
 Henry IV. to this compact was to revive the ancient 
 claim of supremacy over Scotland. To enforce his 
 demands he appeared before Edinburgh with a large 
 and well-appointed army. He had advanced through 
 a desert, however, where supplies neither for man nor 
 beast were to be obtained. Though he laid siege to 
 the Castle and prosecuted it briskly for some time, the 
 approach of winter, the rain, the cold, and the absence 
 of proper food soon compelled the invader to raise the 
 inglorious siege, and retreat across the Border as 
 rapidly as possible, pursued as usual far into England 
 by his remorseless but almost invisible enemy. 
 
 Robert III. and his queen, the once peerlessly 
 beautiful Annabella Drummond (ancestress of the poet 
 of Hawthornden), resided almost wholly in Edin- 
 burgh alternately between the Castle and Holyrood 
 Abbey — even in its ecclesiastical state regarded as 
 a semi-royal abode. Not in the town he loved so 
 well was he to die, however, when, heart-broken over 
 the mysterious death of his eldest son, the Duke of 
 Rothesay, and the capture of his second son, James, 
 by the emissaries of Henry IV., he laid down the 
 burden of life. In Bute the sad event took place, in 
 16 
 
Sdtnburgh under the StuarU 
 
 the year 1406, and for eighteen years Scotland was to 
 groan under all the miseries, not only of a minority 
 but of an absentee monarch. Under the regency of 
 the Duke of Albany (1406-1420) Edinburgh became 
 recognised as the seat of Government.'' Its Castle 
 was a convenient refuge when nobles proved refractory, 
 and here he could better watch the movements 
 of English invaders or the machinations of such 
 traitors as the renegade Earl of March. 
 
 To Albany and to James I., however, Edinburgh 
 owed little. The former was too weak to exercise 
 the influence he wished upon the progress of the town, 
 while the latter preferred Perth as a place of residence. 
 Still, proofs are not lacking that Edinburgh was 
 steadily growing both in size and importance. In 
 1430 James I. held a brilliant Court in the Abbey. 
 There a singular scene occurred. Donald, Lord of 
 the Isles, one of the nobility who threw off allegiance 
 to the Crown during the regencies of Albany and 
 Murdoch, his son, finding all his attempts to make 
 headway against the king unavailing, appeared and 
 placed his life and lands at the monarch's dis- 
 posal, when the latter was at Mass in Holyrood. 
 James accepted the submission, and sentenced 
 Donald to a nominal term of imprisonment in the 
 Castle of Tantallon, but the fact that within a few 
 weeks he was standing sponsor for the royal twins, to 
 which the queen gave birth at Holyrood shortly after, 
 proves how short was his incarceration. 
 
 Towards the end of James I.'s reign (1437) and 
 the commencement of that of his son, architecture 
 began to make very real progress in the town. The 
 king himself showed the example when he built and 
 endowed the monastery of the Greyfriars which 
 stood on the south side of the Grassmarket, nearly 
 opposite the West Bow. Its spacious gardens are 
 B 17 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 now occupied by Greyfriars Churchyard and the 
 grounds of Heriot's Hospital. The dwelUng-houses 
 were rarely more than two storeys in height, and were 
 usually constructed of wood brought from the forests 
 of the Boroughmuir. The danger from fire was great, 
 and this consideration, as much as the growing 
 culture and refinement of the people, led to the intro- 
 duction of stone edifices. For example, as early as 
 the fourth Parliament of James I.'s reign (1425), we 
 read in the Statute book that " as anents fire, it is 
 scene speedful that the Aldermen, Baillies, or the 
 Governoures of the tbunes, see and gif bidding 
 within their tounes that na hempe, lint, stray (straw), 
 haie, hedder nor broome be put near the fire ; item^ 
 that sellers of haie, or fodder in burgh come not to 
 their haie-house with candle but lanterne." Then, as if 
 that were not enough, the legislators come back to the 
 subject, " Item, in ilk burgh there be ordained of the 
 commoun coaste (at the public expense) sex, seven or 
 aught ledders, after the quantity of the burgh, twentie 
 fute the ledder, and that they be keeped in a reddie 
 place of the toune and to that use and nane uther 
 under the paine of unlaw. And of the samin wise 
 ther be ordained thre or foure sayes (saws) to the 
 commoun use, and six or maa (more) cleikes of 
 iron to draw downe timber and roofs that are 
 fired." 
 
 What a picture this old statute affords us of ancient 
 Edinburgh, with its rude thatched houses, with their 
 wooden galleries and quaint overhanging eaves. How 
 primitive the customs and how happy-go-lucky the 
 whole style of life. For example, when the houses 
 were constructed of materials so inflammable, and 
 when, in addition, each man kept his stock of firewood 
 before his door or somewhere inside the building, one 
 would imagine the common sense of the inhabitants 
 18 
 
Edinburgh under the Stuarts 
 
 would have deterred them from the practice of carry- 
 ing lighted torches or open fire." 
 
 James I. was fully conscious of the disadvantages 
 his country had experienced in the past from lack of 
 skill in archery among its people. The battles both 
 of Halidon Hill and Homildon Hill had been decided 
 by the English archers. He therefore enacted in his 
 first Parliament (i Jac. i, cap. 17), that "na man 
 playe at the fute-baa (football) under paine of fifetie 
 schillings," but that all men busk them to be archers 
 fra they be twelfe zeir of aige." For this purpose the 
 butts were prepared in Edinburgh on a green sward at 
 the foot of the Castle Rock, near where the King's 
 Stables " are now situated. But all his royal anathe- 
 mas were fruitless. The charms of football exceeded 
 those of archery, and the Scots continued to fight in 
 their own way. 
 
 In the time of James I. the Scots, despite their 
 dislike to foreigners, had adopted many of the French 
 customs as regards dress, food, architecture and the 
 furnishing of their houses. Rude though their social 
 economy still was, it exhibited a great change from 
 what had prevailed in the days *of Bruce and his son. 
 The existence of inns or " hostillaries," as they were 
 called, is evidence of this. Previous to 1424 we 
 meet with no trace of them. Men lived with their 
 friends while travelling from place to place, or sought 
 shelter in the numerous religious houses. But James, 
 who had come to know the value of such public places 
 of entertainment from his stay in England, encouraged 
 their establishment throughout the country. Ap- 
 parently, however, this innovation did not win the 
 patronage of the people, for, two years later, the 
 monarch is constrained to take notice of a petition 
 from the innkeepers, that the lieges did not patronise 
 them but abode with friends, and the king is obliged 
 
 19 
 
T^he Story of Satnburgh 
 
 to threaten a penalty against all those who prefer to 
 stay with friends to lodging in the wretched places of 
 accommodation then provided. 
 
 To us to-day nothing is more remarkable than the 
 nonchalant manner in which the king and his council 
 interfered with the liberty of the subject. In no 
 matter is this more evident than with regard to the 
 regulation of attire. The Sumptuary Laws of James 
 I. are exceedingly stringent in the rules they lay 
 down. For example, in the Edinburgh of the Poet- 
 king, none might wear silk or costly furring of 
 martrickes, funzies, purry, nor greater nor richer 
 furring, bot allanerlie (only) Knichtes and Lordes of 
 twa hundred marks at the least of zeirlie rent, and 
 their eldest sonnes and their aires, but (save with) 
 speciall leave of the king asked and obtained," and 
 none others than they were to wear broderie 
 (embroidery), pearl nor bulzeone (gold lace), bot 
 array them at their awin list in all their honest 
 arraiments as serpes, belts, brooches, and cheinzies.^' 
 
 Although James I. had but little connection with 
 Edinburgh, his cruel ^assassination in February 1437, 
 in the Blackfriars Monastery at Perth, raised a storm 
 of indignation which only subsided when the more 
 important conspirators suffered at the Cross of 
 Edinburgh. 
 
 We obtain a glimpse of Edinburgh in James I.'s 
 time from the sketch of ^neas Sylvius Piccolomini, 
 afterwards Pius II., who visited Scotland in 1434. 
 
 '*The towns have no walls, and the houses are for the most 
 part constructed without lime. The roofs of the houses are 
 made of turf, and the doors of the humbler dwellings of the 
 hides of oxen. The common people are poor and destitute of 
 all refinement. They eat flesh and fish to repletion, and bread 
 only as a dainty. The men are small in stature, bold and 
 forward in temper ; the women fair in complexion, comely and 
 pleasing." — (Commentarii Rerum Memorabilium,^ 
 20 
 
Edinburgh under the Stuarts 
 
 The long minority of James II., which was to 
 inflict such miseries on Scotland, proved the turning- 
 point in the fortunes of Edinburgh. The preference 
 of James I. for Perth had led to St. Johnstone, as it 
 was called, being regarded as the virtual capital of 
 Scotland ; but the assassination of James I. ex- 
 tinguished the hopes of Perth, and after the reign of 
 James II. there was only one metropolis in Scotland — 
 Edinburgh ! 
 
 21 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 In the Reign of James II, 
 
 TAMES II., otherwise " James of the Fiery Face," 
 ^ may be styled the foster-father of Edinburgh as 
 we know it to-day. Out of the depth of his affection 
 for his birthplace — for the fact will be remembered 
 that he saw the light in Holyrood and had Donald 
 of the Isles as his sponsor — he sought to make Edin- 
 burgh what it really became, the chief city " in his 
 dominions. His youthful training during his minority 
 led up to this affection for the town. In Edinburgh 
 Castle he resided during the earlier years of his boy- 
 hood, and it was from that fortress that he was led in 
 state by the Lords of Parliament down the Hie 
 Gait" and through the ecclesiastical burgh of the 
 Canongate, until he was brought before the high altar 
 in the Church of Holyrood, and solemnly crowned as 
 James 11. 
 
 Scarcely had he been brought safely back to the 
 Castle, guarded on the one side by the great Earl of 
 Douglas — Duke of Touraine in France — and now 
 Lieutenant-Governor of the kingdom, and on the 
 other by Crichton, the Lord Chancellor, and Sir 
 Alexander Livingstone, the Regent — than the game 
 of " king-stealing " commenced. 
 
 For two years (1438-40) the young monarch lived 
 in the Castle under the care of Crichton. Gradually, 
 however, the queen-mother (who was the child's 
 guardian) and Livingstone found that they were being 
 ousted by the Chancellor, who refused to allow them 
 22 
 
In the Reign of yames II, 
 
 access to the king, and proceeded to exercise the 
 functions of Government in the name of the latter. 
 But the crafty statesman was outwitted by woman's 
 wiles. Pretending to quarrel with Livingstone, the 
 queen took up her residence with her son, nominally 
 under the protection of the Chancellor. After remain- 
 ing there some weeks and lulling all suspicion, she 
 affected to remember that she was under vow to pay a 
 visit to Whitekirk and bade adieu to the Chancellor 
 overnight with many tender recommendations of the 
 young king to his care. Early next morning she 
 started with baggage, borne on sumpter horses, and in 
 one of the chests was concealed her son. They 
 reached Leith safely, where they took ship to Stirling, 
 where Livingstone was in waiting. 
 
 Livingstone now besieged Crichton in the Castle. 
 The Chancellor, finding he was not strong enough to 
 withstand Livingstone, the king and the queen, sur- 
 rendered the keys of the fortress into the hands of the 
 youthful monarch, stipulating that he should be con- 
 tinued in his office of Chancellor, and as Governor of 
 Edinburgh Castle, while Livingstone was to be Regent 
 and, along with the queen, to retain the custody of the 
 royal person. The agreement was confirmed and the 
 parties supped together in high good humour, after 
 which Livingstone and the queen returned with their 
 charge to Stirling. 
 
 Still another scene in the drama falls to be chronicled. 
 Queen Joanna soon quarrelled with the Regent, who 
 apparently wished to play the same game as the 
 Chancellor, and to leave her out in the cold. Once 
 more she " stole " her son and repaired again to Edin- 
 burgh, where Crichton and she soon patched up their 
 differences. Livingstone followed, and bloodshed was 
 imminent, when the Bishops of Moray and Aberdeen 
 proposed a conference for the settlement of their 
 
 23 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 difFerences. This settlement was all the more urgent 
 owing to the increasing power of the House of 
 Douglas, which was threatening to overshadow the 
 Crown. In the Church of St. Giles the complete 
 reconcilement of the rivals took place on the ground 
 of their common enmity to the Earl of Douglas. 
 
 The Castle of Edinburgh was now to be the scene 
 of a tragedy whereby the House of Douglas suffered 
 irreparable loss. This great family, to which Scotland 
 owed so much of weal and woe, had now reached the 
 zenith of its power and influence. From the epoch of 
 the trusty Achates of Robert the Bruce, the good Sir 
 James, and for many a day thereafter, the Douglases 
 were the bulwarks of the kingdom. As their pos- 
 sessions and wealth increased, however, so did their 
 pride, until they began to set themselves up as rivals 
 of the Crown. 
 
 The great earl, who, as Lieutenant-Governor of 
 the kingdom, had held both Chancellor and Regent in 
 check, had recently died, and was succeeded by his 
 son William, a lad of seventeen. The latter, because 
 he was not invested with his father's dignity of Lieu- 
 tenant-Governor, chose to manifest marked hostility 
 towards the Crown. He never came to Edinburgh to 
 reside at Restalrig but he was attended by i 500 men- 
 at-arms all sheathed in mail, and Buchanan informs us 
 that he sent Sir Malcolm Fleming and Sir John Lauder 
 of the Bass as an embassy to France to obtain for him 
 a new patent of the Duchy of Touraine conferred on 
 his father by Charles VII. Arrogance so supreme, 
 coupled with the assumption of the right to despatch 
 ambassadors to foreign Courts, which was the pre- 
 rogative of the Crown alone, startled both Chancellor 
 and Regent. They could only see in it an open 
 defiance of the monarch's rights. 
 
 They therefore laid their plans and invited William 
 24 
 
In the Reign of James II, 
 
 Douglas to return to Edinburgh, to take his share in 
 advising for the good of the realm." The youth was 
 flattered, and with his brother repaired to Edinburgh 
 Castle, where, after a mock trial, they were pronounced 
 traitors and beheaded. James made repeated efforts to 
 save them, even to taking up arms, until Crichton said 
 sternly, that either they must die or he, as the 
 kingdom could not hold both a Stuart and a Douglas. 
 
 To bring the perpetrators of this foul outrage to 
 account no attempt was ever made. Little doubt is 
 entertained now that James the Gross, great-uncle of 
 the murdered man, who succeeded to the title and 
 estates, had been at least privy, if not a party, to the 
 crime. 
 
 When his son William succeeded him in 1443, 
 power of the Douglases reached its height. The new 
 earl formed a coalition with Livingstone in order to 
 obtain possession of the king and to crush Crichton. 
 They succeeded in the former part of their scheme ; 
 they failed in the latter. Crichton, secure in the 
 Castle of Edinburgh, bade them defiance, and formed 
 a close alliance with one of the greatest and noblest of 
 Scots ecclesiastics, James Kennedy, a nephew of 
 James I., and at that time Bishop of St. Andrews. 
 Than his no name shines with greater lustre during all 
 these troubled years in Scots history — a man of sterling 
 integrity, splendid administrative powers, and a courage 
 as dauntless as it was determined. He foresaw the 
 danger to the country from the ambition of the 
 Douglases, and did what he could to counteract it by 
 casting the authority of the Church on the side of 
 Crichton. 
 
 The Douglases, however, had been adding to their 
 prestige and doing excellent service in Border warfare 
 against the English, by harrying Northumberland in 
 the trail of the retreating Earl of Salisbury, and next 
 
 25 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 by the severe defeat they inflicted on the Percies near 
 Gretna, on the banks of the Sark. 
 
 Meantime James II. had been growing up to 
 manhood, and when eighteen years of age was 
 adjudged fit to assume the reins of Government. No 
 sooner had he done so than he instantly showed 
 himself in his true colours, as a strong, resolute, almost 
 masterful ruler — the nobles being banded together into 
 three great factions ! Douglas — who for some years 
 previous had stood high in favour with the youthful 
 king — Crichton and Livingstone, were made to realise 
 that their Sovereign Lord had now his own hand on the 
 helm. The one man whom he trusted at this juncture 
 was James Kennedy, nor was his trust betrayed ! 
 
 In 1449 Edinburgh showed itself en fete to do 
 honour to the bride-elect of the monarch, Mary, 
 daughter of Arnold, Duke of Gueldres and niece of 
 Philip the Good of Burgundy. She arrived at Leith 
 on July 3, 1449, being met by the young king and 
 many of his leading nobles, and escorted up to 
 Holyrood Abbey Church, where the marriage was 
 celebrated in the presence of a brilliant company. 
 
 Edinburgh, notwithstanding all the troubles to 
 which Scotland had been exposed, had steadily 
 increased both in size and in population. During the 
 decade since the death of James L, a considerable 
 proportion of the leading nobility had taken steps to 
 erect town mansions for themselves, a custom which 
 became more general when James II., after he had 
 assumed the reins of Government, took up his residence 
 almost wholly in Edinburgh Castle, 'and summoned 
 nearly all his Parliaments to meet in the city which, 
 every year, was coming to be regarded more un- 
 questionably as the capital. 
 
 After his marriage with the beautiful Mary of 
 Gueldres, and before he embarked on the final stage of 
 26 
 
In the Reign of y antes II, 
 
 his deadly duel with the Douglases, James engaged in 
 two undertakings, both connected with the defence 
 and beautiti cation of Edinburgh. The first of these 
 was his scheme for surrounding it with a fortified wall, 
 broken at intervals by those old "tower-forts," which 
 in the science of fortification preceded the bastion. 
 Of this wall only one fragment remains, the ruin of the 
 Wellhouse Tower, situated at the foot of the Castle 
 Rock on the northern side. 
 
 This earliest of the city walls seems to have 
 commenced on the northern side with the " Wellhouse 
 Tower," so called from a spring of excellent water, of 
 which, owing to this fortification, the garrison never 
 could be deprived. The line of circumvallation then 
 ran eastward some eighty or a hundred yards, there- 
 after trended due south across what is now the 
 Esplanade until it reached the edge of the steep 
 declivity overlooking the Grassmarket and the deep 
 ravine of the Cowgate. From this point it turned 
 east again, crossed the West Bow, then the chief 
 entrance into Edinburgh, and was carried along the 
 line of the ridge overhanging the Cowgate " Glen," 
 until it came to the foot of St. Mary's Wynd (now St. 
 Mary's Street). Here it turned northward, crossed 
 the High Street at the top of the Wynd in question, 
 where was situate the Netherbow Port, and followed 
 the steep slope of the northern declivity until it again 
 reached the waters of the North Loch, a little below 
 Halkerston's Wynd, where were the sluice gates to 
 regulate the flow of water. 
 
 The Nor' or North Loch was at the time of its con- 
 struction a broad and deep artificial sheet of water which 
 filled the valley at the foot of the Castle Rock and the 
 ridge whereon the town was placed. In prehistoric 
 ages a river — possibly the Water of Leith — had flowed 
 down this hollow, but its waters had been dried up or 
 
 27 
 
T'he Story of Edinburgh 
 
 the channel had been diverted, for by the era of 
 Malcolm Canmore and Margaret there were only 
 marshes and deep, sedgy pools to mark the spot where 
 once it had flowed. These, however, were drained, 
 and as we have seen, the King's Gardens " were 
 located there as early as the reign of David I. 
 
 James was quite prepared to forego the delights of 
 his pleasaunce if only he could ensure the safety of 
 the town. The gardens therefore were destroyed and 
 a lake substituted which originally extended from the 
 western end of the Castle Rock to a point a little 
 above the line of the Netherbow. By the close of the 
 eighteenth century it had decreased to at least one- 
 fourth of its original size both as regards length and 
 breadth. Its utility was then a thing of the past, and 
 the loch was gradually allowed to silt up. 
 
 This was one improvement," if such it could be 
 called, which James effected with regard to his 
 favourite city. The second was the erection of a 
 palace where his queen could reside without her 
 being brought into contact with the rough and coarse 
 soldiery who formed the garrison of the Castle. In 
 this way Holyrood Palace took its rise. Although 
 the greater part of the more ancient portion of the 
 Palace was altered and renewed fifty years afterwards 
 when his grandson, James IV., brought his bride, 
 Margaret of England, to the Scots capital, there can 
 be no question that the Palace was at least commenced 
 by James II. and was still further enlarged by his son, 
 James III. 
 
 Meantime in the Castle of Stirling, probably at the 
 very time when the royal residence at Holyrood was 
 a-building, a tragedy was enacted which has affixed an 
 indelible stain upon the memory of the king, when 
 William, Earl of Douglas, was stabbed to death by 
 James under circumstances of peculiar perfidy. 
 28 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 The crime was bitterly resented by the Douglases. 
 James, the younger brother of the murdered man, took 
 up the quarrel, aqd after in a theatric manner with- 
 drawing his allegiance from " the so-called King of 
 Scotland," he attacked and ravaged the royal lands 
 and the town of Stirling. 
 
 The duel then began in deadly earnest. James led 
 his forces into the territory of the Douglases in 
 Annandale and Galloway, and prosecuted the 
 campaign with such vigour that in three months' time 
 Earl James Douglas was a fugitive in England and his 
 family splendour ruined for ever. At the Parliament 
 held in Edinburgh in June 1455, the great chief of the 
 Black Douglases was attainted, along with his mother, 
 his brother Archibald, Earl of Moray, and Douglas of 
 Balveny, their estates being either attached to the 
 Crown or granted to those nobles who had aided in 
 the overthrow of the traitors. 
 
 During the last five years of his life James had 
 peace within his borders, at least from any internal 
 dissensions, and was therefore able to devote himself 
 to the steady development of the resources of his realm. 
 The progress and prosperity of Edinburgh was one of 
 his prime cares, and in 1455 that epoch of 
 
 expansion lasting until 1603, during which the city 
 increased by leaps and bounds. 
 
 Curious in the extreme are the enactments which 
 stand in the old Scots Corpus Legum with regard to 
 intercourse with the English. To his subjects he 
 thought nothing could result therefrom but evil. To 
 preserve them, therefore, from any approach to amity 
 and intercourse with the hated Southron, he actually 
 decreed outlawry against those who should desire, even 
 in this time of peace, to smooth down the differences 
 which divided the two peoples. Against Englishmen 
 visiting Scotland without leave, the law was especially 
 30 
 
In the Reign of James II. 
 
 severe ; nor was any Scotsman to be allowed to become 
 security or guarantor for an Englishman under any 
 circumstances whatever, unless he wished to be accused 
 of high treason. Nay, even legitimate trade was 
 forbidden. No Scotsman was to supply the English 
 garrisons in Berwick or Roxburgh with food. 
 
 One of the most important of these enactments 
 related to the kindling of the signal fires, which flashed 
 the news through Scotland by day or night that an 
 English invasion was pending. Nothing shows more 
 clearly that Edinburgh was now regarded as the 
 capital of the country, than the position assigned to her 
 in this system of signalling. She was the central point 
 towards which all these signals were directed. The 
 enactment provided that this was to be done by a series 
 of bale-fires " lighted according to a particular 
 arrangement. 
 
 The law provided, as is indicated in The Lay of the 
 Last Minstrel, that the watchers on Hume Castle — 
 about seven miles from the Border — were to be warned 
 by their comrades stationed at the fords of Tweed. 
 Whenever an English army began to move towards 
 Scotland, the alarm was to be given either by kindling 
 a beacon or by special messenger. No sooner had the 
 intelligence reached Hume than the bale-fires " were 
 lighted on the ramparts of the Castle. One " fire 
 signified that the Southrons were in motion, two that 
 they were advancing to the fords, while four in a row 
 betokened that the enemy was in great strength, and 
 that a large force would be needed to check them. 
 The moment the watchers at Eggerhope Castle, or on 
 Boon Hill, saw the gleam of the " bales " at Hume, 
 they lighted theirs ; the latter blaze was seen by the 
 *' bale-keepers " af Soutra Edge," whose light in turn 
 was seen by the garrison of Edinburgh Castle. 
 
 Within half an hour the news would be flashed from 
 
 31 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 Tweed to Tay, and thence to the North of Scotland. 
 This system of signalling frustrated the success of 
 many an English invasion. 
 
 James II. was at once a warrior and a statesman. 
 Had he not met his untimely end before Roxburgh 
 Castle, he probably would have become the greatest of 
 the Stuarts, and redeemed that royal race from the 
 charge of improvidence. To his initiative was due the 
 choice of Edinburgh as the great central depot for 
 military stores, and as the chief rendezvous for the 
 forces of the kingdom in time of war ; while his 
 eagerness that his people should excel in martial 
 exercises is also proved by the grant which he made 
 in 1456 to the citizens of Edinburgh, of that piece of 
 ground at Greenside (whereon Greenside Street now 
 stands) on which tilts and tournaments could be held. 
 
 An eventful reign, therefore, in many respects was 
 that of James II. Edinburgh owed much to him. 
 Up to that date Perth had divided with it the honour 
 of being the place of royal residence. But the murder 
 of James I. at the Blackfriars Monastery in the " Fair 
 City " settled for ever, as we have already said, the 
 claims of the latter. Fearful lest any recrudescence of 
 Highland savagery might lead to the slaughter of the 
 young king, his nobles, as we have seen, kept him in 
 Edinburgh during his minority. From the hour of his 
 actually assuming the reins of government to that of 
 his death he gave to Edinburgh the honours which 
 were her due as the capital of the country. 
 
 32 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 In the Reign of James III. 
 
 E have now reached the epoch when every year saw 
 some permanent improvement effected in connec- 
 tion with Edinburgh. James II. had been the founder 
 of its prosperity by constituting it de facto, if not as yet 
 de jure, the capital of the kingdom. By James III. 
 and James IV. further improvements were made. 
 
 James II. was killed in August 1460, and our early 
 historians following Pitscottie draw a pathetic picture 
 of Mary of Gueldres, immediately after the sad event, 
 advancing into the middle of the Scottish army, lead- 
 ing her little nine-year-old son, and beseeching the 
 warriors to avenge their dead lord and show their 
 loyalty to their new one, by taking Roxburgh Castle. 
 Whether or not this was one of the imaginative Pits- 
 cottie's fictions is immaterial, but one fact is certain, 
 that a week later James III. was crowned in Kelso 
 Abbey, Roxburgh was captured, and the Scots 
 thereafter ravaged the North of England. 
 
 The campaign on the Borders having prevented the 
 Estates of the kingdom meeting before February I461, 
 on the 22nd of that month the first Parliament of 
 James III. assembled in the Castle of Edinburgh. 
 The work it performed was in the highest degree 
 important. Owing to the quarrels of the two great 
 parties in the State, those who followed the queen- 
 mother, Mary of Gueldres, and those who acknow- 
 ledged Kennedy, Bishop of St. Andrews, and George 
 Douglas, fourth Earl of Angus, a strong hand was 
 c 33 
 
The Story of Sdinburgh 
 
 needed at the political helm to steer the bark of State 
 clear of ever imminent complications. 
 
 Meantime James III. was being educated, residing 
 for the most part in Edinburgh Castle but occasionally 
 visiting Stirling. His training was as liberal as the 
 age permitted, and in all probability some seeds from 
 the Renaissance harvest field in Italy must have been 
 blown across to Scotland. The monarch, whenceso- 
 ever he obtained them, undoubtedly showed traces of 
 having been influenced by the warmth and colour of 
 the New Culture. We are too apt to estimate his 
 abilities at the valuation put upon him by his rebellious 
 nobility. He was not a warrior, but loved letters, 
 architecture and artistic handicraftsmanship, pursuits 
 contemptible in the eyes of men whose sole occupations 
 were war and the chase. Only when he was dead did 
 his countrymen come to understand his nature, and 
 James IV. benefited by his parent's misfortunes. 
 
 Shortly after her husband's death, Mary of Gueldres 
 founded the ancient Church of Trinity College which, 
 under the name of the " College Church," still exists 
 in Jeffrey Street near the site it originally occupied in 
 Leith Wynd. This thoroughfare was of old the 
 great highroad to the Port of Leith and extended from 
 the Netherbow Port or Eastern Gate of the town to 
 Multries' Hill, thence along the present line of Leith 
 Walk down to the Shore." 
 
 The building of the church was vigorously pro- 
 ceeded with, but the original plan was never completed. 
 After the choir, the aisles and the transepts of the 
 church had been erected, and the edifice opened for 
 worship, the foundress suddenly died, and on the 1 6th 
 November 1463 was interred with solemn funeral rites 
 in the northern aisle. At the Reformation, the Regent 
 Murray bestowed this collegiate church and its revenues 
 on Sir Simon Preston, Provost of the city, who gener- 
 34 
 
In the Reign of James ITT. 
 
 ously gave them to the Town Council. The church, 
 which stood about two hundred yards north by west 
 of the site of the modern ** College Church," was one 
 of the finest examples of pre- Reformation architecture 
 in Scotland, and with its dusky and mouldering 
 buttresses, its pinnacles, niches and Gothic windows, 
 
 was a familiar object to the citizens of Edinburgh. 
 Unfortunately the inexorable march of railway con- 
 struction in 1840-45 necessitated the demolition of the 
 Trinity Church and the Trinity Hospital, and the 
 North British Railway now occupies the site of the 
 grand old foundation of Mary of Gueldres. The 
 tomb of the foundress was situated in the sacristy, 
 latterly the vestry, and there the body was discovered 
 during the process of the church's demolition with the 
 teeth still entire in the jaws. The bones were placed 
 
 35 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 in a handsome coffin of oak and velvet and re-interred 
 at Holyrood. 
 
 Attached to the church was the famous Trinity- 
 Hospital endowed by the same generous patroness, 
 which, although the original building has long since 
 been demolished, still remains as the Trinity Fund, 
 the oldest eleemosynary institution in connection with 
 Edinburgh. The building was two-storied, forming 
 two sides of a square and, as has been said, though far 
 from ornamental, its air of extreme antiquity, the 
 smallness and depth of its windows, its silent, melan- 
 choly and deserted aspect in the very heart of a 
 crowded city, and latterly amid the uproar and bustle 
 of the fast-encroaching railway terminus, seldom failed 
 to strike the spectator with a mysterious interest. At 
 its demolition in 1845, some forty-two persons were 
 resident in the hospital, who thereafter received pen- 
 sions of £26 each; and by interlocutor of the First 
 Division of the Court of Session of 3rd February 
 1880, a new scheme was authorised for the distribu- 
 tion of its benefits. It is interesting to study the de- 
 velopment of this great eleemosynary trust which, 
 founded by a Scottish queen in 1462, still remains 
 to carry out, in part at least, the wishes of the pious 
 foundress. 
 
 We come now to note the foundation of another 
 ecclesiastical building, which was associated with much 
 of the history of Edinburgh, viz., the Cathedral 
 Church of St. Giles, whose crown-shaped campanile 
 is visible from nearly all parts of the town. Al- 
 though a chapel of some kind existed on the site 
 practically from the ninth century, not until 11 20 is 
 there definite mention made of the church, when 
 Alexander I. erected a new building on the site. 
 It consisted merely of a choir and nave with small 
 side aisles and central tower, built in the massive 
 
 36 
 
In the Reign of James III. 
 
 style of the Early Norman period. Chambers de- 
 scribes it as a substantial Parish Church bordered by 
 the parish burying-ground on the south, the site of 
 which ground is now occupied by Parliament Square 
 and the Law Courts." In the year 12 14, during the 
 reign of Alexander II., it must have had a ''vicar," 
 for to certain copies of Papal Bulls and charters of 
 Megginch, a dependency of the Abbey of Holyrood, 
 " Baldredus, Deacon of Lothian, and John, perpetual 
 Vicar of St. Giles', Edinburgh," afEx their seals in 
 attestation. 
 
 Richard II., in retaliation for alleged wrongs, in- 
 vaded Scotland with an English army in 1385, laid 
 waste the country, took possession of Edinburgh, then 
 an unwalled town, and after an occupation of five days 
 committed the city to the flames. The first building 
 of St. Giles' perished in the conflagration. What 
 remained was incorporated in the rebuilding of the 
 Church which, commenced in 1387, continued to be 
 prosecuted until 1416, during the Regency of Albany, 
 and was also included in those renewed efforts to extend 
 and beautify the building carried out by James III., 
 in 1460, of which more anon. 
 
 In the year 1469, the town was again called upon 
 to show its loyalty in a special manner on the occasion 
 when Margaret, Princess of Denmark, having landed 
 in Leith, with a large and brilliant train of nobles and 
 attendants, was conducted up to Edinburgh to be 
 married at Holyrood to the youthful monarch, then 
 only in his nineteenth year. The ceremony was 
 performed in Holyrood Abbey and the young pair 
 began their wedded life under the most favourable 
 auspices, a life that was to close amidst gloom so 
 profound. 
 
 Shortly after his marriage, the king took a step 
 which shows he had been making inquiries as to the 
 
 37 
 
"The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 sources of revenue available in other countries. He 
 found that in Denmark, France, England, and else- 
 where, fish formed an article not only of diet but of 
 commerce. Accordingly in the sixth Parliament of 
 James III. (1471) we find an Act passed in which its 
 exportation is encouraged. Edinburgh took her share 
 in this enterprise. In the Council Record several entries 
 occur relative to providing " twa busses (boats) with 
 alle necessar gear," which may be regarded as the be- 
 ginning of the Edinburgh Fish Market. 
 
 The eighth decade of the fifteenth century 
 witnessed a great advance in social and commercial 
 organisation. In 1475 incorporation of the two 
 important trades of the wrights and masons took 
 place, followed next year by the incorporation of the 
 weavers, both these events being of historic moment 
 as indicating the date when the incorporated trades 
 began to form themselves into those strong industrial 
 associations which were, in several instances, to defy 
 both the Sovereign and the Town Council when ' 
 they conceived them to be acting unjustly. 
 
 Edinburgh at this period consisted of one long street, 
 extending from the Castle to the Netherbow Port, and 
 thence, through the ecclesiastical burgh of the Canon- 
 gate, to Holyrood Abbey and Palace. OfF-shoots, or 
 alleys called *' closes " (from the French word clos^ a 
 narrow enclosed space), ran from the High Street to 
 the suburban districts of the Cowgate and the Grass- 
 market. James having had the fact brought under his 
 knowledge that there were no fixed places set apart 
 for holding the different markets, and that the lack 
 of such often gave rise to strife among the citizens, 
 accordingly ordained by letters patent that the markets 
 for the sale of the various commodities should be held 
 in the following places of the burgh, viz., the hay, 
 straw and horse-meat markets in the Cowgate from 
 
 38 
 
/// the Reigfi of James III. 
 
 Forresters' Wynd down to Peebles' Wynd (which 
 latter was pulled down three centuries afterwards in 
 the construction of the South Bridge) ; the fish market 
 from Friar Wynd to the Nether Bow, in the Hie Gait 
 (High Street) ; the salt market in Niddry's Wynd; 
 the Krames of chapmen from the Bellhouse down 
 to the Tron (afterwards the Tron Kirk) ; the hat- 
 makers and skinners opposite to them on the south 
 side of the street ; the wood and timber market from 
 Dalrymple Yard to the Greyfriars and westward ; the 
 shoe market from Forresters' Wynd westward ; the 
 nolt or flesh market about the Tron ; the poultry 
 market at the Cross ; the cattle market at the King's 
 Stables, at the back of the Castle ; the meal and 
 corn market from the Tolbooth up to Liberton's 
 Wynd; from thence to the Treves (Bowhead), the 
 cloth and lawn market. Butter, cheese, wool, and 
 all goods be weighed at the Upper Bow, and a Tron 
 or Weigh to be set up there (the Weigh House) ; 
 the cutlers and all smith work was located beneath 
 the Nether Bow about St. Mary's Wynd ; while all 
 saddlery work was to be executed at the Greyfriars, 
 Grassmarket. 
 
 The markets were merely the gathering together into 
 a special place of all those merchants who dealt in a 
 particular commodity. The shops were only booths or 
 frames about seven or eight feet square. Sometimes 
 plastered on to the walls of adjoining churches or 
 public buildings, or standing by themselves in a long 
 row, as in the case of the whitesmiths at the Bowhead. 
 From a very early period this custom prevailed, while 
 the craftsmen with their apprentices kept up the 
 constant repetition of the invitation to buy, with the 
 enumeration of the goods. The streets of Edinburgh 
 therefore in the fifteenth century were quite as noisy as 
 those of London. But the booths, as in the Lawn- 
 
 39 
 
"The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 market, were often of a movable kind, being simply a 
 sort of table-counter with a canopy affording shelter 
 both to goods and merchant. The booth could there- 
 fore be shifted from place to place as the fancy of the 
 trader suggested. At this time great complaints began 
 to be made about the debasing of the coinage. Those 
 who presented a piece of money in exchange for 
 goods, only received in return commodities up to 80 
 per cent, of the coin's face value. The people com- 
 plained bitterly of this, and, of course, laid all the blame 
 upon the monarch. From the records of Parliament 
 we note that he made a strenuous effort to cope with 
 the crisis, summoning a Parliament in 147 5 to meet at 
 Edinburgh, wherein it was enacted that no one should 
 coin money without the king's license, also that 
 
 "in time to come — the Rose Noble to be worth 35s.; the Henry 
 Noble 3 IS.; the Angel 23s,; the French Crown 13s. 4d.; the 
 Demy 13s. 4d.; the Scots Crown 13s.; the Salute 15s. 6d.; the 
 Lew 17s. 6d.; the Rydar 15s. 6d.'* 
 
 In 1478, the citizens of Edinburgh were involved in 
 the lamentable strife which broke out between the king 
 and his brothers, the Duke of Albany and the Earl of 
 Mar. Hitherto James's career had been one of almost 
 unbroken prosperity. The tide was now to turn. 
 While the monarch was a man devoted to studious 
 pursuits and to the science of the age, which may be 
 summed up in the one word " alchemy," his brothers 
 were men of action and decision of character. 
 
 Albany, the second son of James II., was a man of 
 affairs — the most accomplished knight of his age, as 
 Leslie calls him, and one whose achievements won for 
 him in France the title of '< The Father of Chivalry." 
 Mar, the third son, seems to have been one of like tastes 
 with Albany, a preux chevalier in every sense of the 
 word, though he died at so early an age that he really 
 had not had time to show his mettle. 
 40 
 
In the Reign of James III. 
 
 The king by allowing his mind to brood over the 
 difference of the feelings entertained by the people 
 towards his brothers, and those towards himself, had 
 become morbid and suspicious. Nor did the study of 
 astrology improve matters, inasmuch as it led him to 
 suspect treason where none existed. The astrologer 
 (Dr. Andrews) whom the king maintained and con- 
 sulted on all occasions, had informed him that he 
 would be slain by the followers of a kinsman. Im- 
 mediately his suspicions pointed to his two brothers, 
 whom he caused to be arrested and imprisoned, Albany 
 in Edinburgh Castle and the Earl of Mar in Craigmillar. 
 
 The charges against the two brothers were never put 
 to the proof, and their guilt was almost decided by 
 the bare assertions of enemies. The whole story is a 
 romantic one. At the time when Mar was arrested 
 he was ill with fever. After a few days' incarceration 
 at Craigmillar, he was brought into a house in the 
 Canongate, where he was attended by the king's own 
 physician. Tradition reports that, having been found 
 guilty of conspiring with witches against the king's life, 
 he was sentenced to have a vein in his leg opened, then 
 to be placed in a warm bath and allowed to bleed to 
 death. But the discoveries regarding his treason from 
 the testimonies of the witches, were not made until after 
 he was in his grave. Therefore it is impossible to 
 blame the king for this result. The most probable 
 surmise is that he had been surgically bled to reduce 
 the fever, in accordance with the medical ideas of the 
 time, that he insisted on taking a warm bath, and that 
 the heat of the water induced the recurrence of 
 haemorrhage. 
 
 The Duke of Albany was, in one way, more 
 fortunate. He lived to reveal himself the traitor he 
 was alleged to have been. He was committed to close 
 ward in King David's Tower in Edinburgh Castle, 
 
 41 
 
'T^he Story of Edinburgh 
 
 his gaolers being informed that their lives would 
 answer for his, if he escaped. His friends, neverthe- 
 less, managed to acquaint him with the fact that, off 
 the Port of Leith, lay a small vessel laden with 
 Gascon wine, by which he might escape if only he 
 could break out of the Castle. 
 
 From the vessel came a present to him of two small 
 kegs or runlets of wine, which contained also a rope, 
 with a waxen roll enclosing an unsigned letter, stating 
 that the king's minions had resolved he should die 
 ere to-morrow's sun set," and adding that the boats of 
 the French vessel would await him at the harbour of 
 Leith. Albany took his measures at once. He 
 invited the captain of the guard and three of his 
 principal officers to sup with him, and having succeeded 
 in making them intoxicated, killed them in their 
 stupefied condition, and threw their bodies on the 
 fire. 
 
 Albany and his attendant then lowered themselves 
 over the walls, and escaped. The attendant, however, 
 had a bad fall and broke his leg, and Albany, unwilling 
 to leave him to the certain death awaiting him, with a 
 nobility of nature contrasting strangely with his recent 
 ferocity, raised him on his back and actually carried 
 him to Leith ! He proceeded in the vessel to Dunbar, 
 where having obtained surgical aid for his attendant, 
 and supplies for his vessel, he betook himself to 
 France. With daylight, of course, came the discovery 
 of the escape by the inmates of the Castle. 
 
 James, meantime, with his cultured instincts and 
 intense devotion to letters, was drifting apart from his 
 nobility. If it be not his culture which casts so 
 strange a glamour over his personality, the mystery of 
 his life is rendered all the more inexplicable. 
 Whither was he to turn for companionship ? His 
 nobles were utterly uncongenial alike in sympathies 
 42 
 
In the Reign of James III. 
 
 and manners. There was, however, a small group of 
 men who had been affected by the early breath of 
 Renaissance learning, as it blew northward from the 
 Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. These were 
 Thomas Cochrane, an architect, a man of sterling 
 ability ; William Roger, a musician and composer 
 whose eminence is attested by many of his con- 
 temporaries ; William Torphichen, a fencing master, 
 mentioned as one of the best teachers of the age, in an 
 accomplishment, at this very time, held in such esteem 
 in France and Italy that its professors were regarded as 
 associates for the highest in the land ; John Leonard, 
 a goldsmith from Milan, who had also worked for 
 Cosimo de' Medici of Florence ; John Ireland, a 
 doctor of the Sorbonne, a diplomatist and man of 
 letters, whom his contemporaries styled " Doctor 
 doctissimus." Now these men would, of course, be 
 caviare to the rude nobility, inasmuch as while belong- 
 ing to the people they nevertheless took rank by their 
 accomplishments in the king's estimation before the 
 peers of the realm. 
 
 In 1 48 1 James summoned a great army to meet 
 him on the Borders, while he himself, after obtaining 
 supplies from the Parliament meeting at Edinburgh in 
 April 148 1, had authority to raise the country in its 
 own defence, set out to place himself at the head of 
 his forces. Edward IV. by a trick induced him to 
 disband his army. Scarcely was the Scots army 
 disbanded, however, when the English attacked them 
 both by land and sea, Leith and the seaboard towns 
 of the Firth of Forth suffering severely from the 
 English fleet 
 
 In March 1482, however, the Parliament which 
 met at Edinburgh took up the matter of the defence 
 of the kingdom and of the invasion of England in 
 right earnest. The spirit in which they met may be 
 
 43 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 judged by the phrase used towards Edward, that 
 revare (robber) Edward calland hymsel Kynge of 
 Ingeland." For the defence of the kingdom, the 
 proclamation was made that all fighting men should be 
 ready to appear on a warning of eight days, also that 
 the Castles of Dunbar and Lochmaben should be 
 victualled and supplied with ammunition, while the 
 castles near the Borders or on the sea coast, such as 
 St. Andrews, Aberdeen, Tantallon, Hume, Douglas, 
 Adringtown (Haddington), the Hermitage, were to be 
 strongly garrisoned and defended from our enemies of 
 England; also that each lord stuff his own house 
 and strengthen them with victuals, men and artillery." 
 
 Albany had in the meantime broken off relations 
 with the King of France. The efforts of the latter 
 to reconcile him to his brother had proved futile, and 
 Albany accordingly played the traitor right manfully, 
 by throwing himself into the arms of Edward ' IV. 
 The latter was too astute a diplomatist not to improve 
 the occasion. An agreement was come to, that, in 
 consideration of Edward assisting ''Alexander, King 
 of Scotland " — as Albany styled himself — to " regain " 
 his kingdom, the latter would do homage for the same, 
 and fourteen days after entering Edinburgh would 
 surrender the town and Castle of Berwick. 
 
 The plot began to work at once. By the middle of 
 June, the Duke of Gloucester accompanied by Albany 
 was moving north. But James was not idle. After 
 his army had assembled on the Boroughmuir, he set 
 out for the south and reached Lauder. He, however, 
 committed the fatal error of taking with him the whole 
 train of his Court favourites. The painful sequel has 
 no connection with Edinburgh, so that we need not 
 describe it in detail. Suffice to say the leading 
 nobility, headed by the Earls of Angus, Huntly and 
 Lennox, proceeded to the royal quarters, laid hands 
 44 
 
In the Reign of James III. 
 
 on the favourites, and hanged them over Lauder 
 Bridge. They then placed James under restraint, and 
 proceeded with him back to Edinburgh, where they 
 lodged him in the Castle, under the charge of his 
 uncle, the Earl of Athole. 
 
 Meantime, Gloucester and Albany advanced through 
 Scotland, laying waste the country as they proceeded. 
 In the circumstances nothing could be done to check 
 them. Accordingly, when the expedition appeared 
 before Edinburgh, overtures were made for peace. For 
 reasons now inexplicable, the Duke of Gloucester con- 
 cluded a treaty, the conditions of which were manifestly 
 unfair to his brother, King Edward. Albany was to 
 be reinstated in all his former honours, and, on condition 
 of his acknowledgment of James's authority, was to 
 receive absolution for all past offences. Nevertheless 
 the king was not released from his confinement in Edin- 
 burgh Castle. Albany was made Lieutenant-General 
 and Earl of Mar. Yet this singular fact has now been 
 authenticated without possibility of doubt, that in 
 January he despatched into England his confederate 
 Angus with other agents, and through them renewed the 
 dastardly contract of the previous year (Feb. ii, 1483) 
 By the provisions of this document, Edward was to assist 
 Albany to secure the Crown. Should the latter die, 
 the traitor earls were to be lieges of the English king 
 and hold their castles for him. Bell-the-Cat " was 
 actually a traitor, and one of the meanest of all traitors, 
 becauseheallowedanother to bear the blame of hiscrime! 
 And yet by the 19th of March of the same year — only 
 four weeks later — we find James liberated from 
 durance, largely by the help of his brother and the 
 citizens of Edinburgh, Albany humbly acknowledging 
 his treason to his royal brother, while Angus and 
 Buchan were forbidden to approach the royal presence. 
 Any real reconciliation, however, between the brothers 
 
 45 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 was impossible, and in July 1483, Albany was declared 
 a traitor and an outlaw, his estates being forfeited. 
 
 We have now to record an interesting event 
 immediately affecting the municipal government of the 
 Scottish capital. When Albany made that inexplicable 
 move on the political chess-board by which James was 
 freed from durance in Edinburgh Castle, he had called 
 in the assistance of the citizens of the town under the 
 command of Walter Bertraham, the Provost. Out of 
 gratitude for his so-called "deliverance," James 
 granted two important charters " to the Provost, 
 Town Council and Community," by which he 
 conferred on the citizens many valuable privileges. 
 The chief magistrate was created Hereditary High 
 Sheriff within the city — an office by the way which 
 the Lord Provost of Edinburgh still enjoys as Lord. 
 Lieutenant of the County of the City of Edinburgh. 
 At the same time the magistrates were invested with 
 the power of making laws for the better government 
 of the town. The citizens, moreover, were not only 
 freed from the payment of duty on many necessary 
 commodities, but a grant was given them whereby 
 they were empowered to levy custom on certain 
 merchandise imported and exported at the Port of 
 Leith. This grant is termed the " Golden Charter." 
 Further, the incorporated trades, in recognition of 
 their loyalty, were presented with a banner or standard, 
 which, from its colour, received the name of the 
 Blue Blanket:' 
 
 As showing how small must have been the popula- 
 tion of Edinburgh at this time we may mention that 
 the Petty Customs of the town were let for 27 merks 
 Scots (£1, 19s. ii|d.). The Petty Customs and 
 Haven Silver of Leith were let at no merks Scots 
 (£6, 28. 2d.), the Common Mills fetched 480 merks 
 (£26, 13s. id.) . To give our readers some idea of the 
 46 
 
the Reign of yames III. 
 
 rents for booths or shops which ruled in Edinburgh in 
 the year 1484, the said booths being about six or 
 seven feet square, eight of them on the northern side 
 of the old Tolbooth were rented at £4 Scots per 
 annum each (6s. 8d.), while five shops on the southern 
 side fetched prices ranging from £5 Scots (8s. 4d.) 
 to £2 Scots (3s. 4d.). 
 
 About this time also the citizens of Edinburgh ac- 
 quired the superiority over the port and town of Leith 
 by purchasing it from Logan of Restalrig. Under 
 this document there accrued to them the exclusive 
 privilege of carrying on every species of traffic in 
 the town, also of keeping inns and warehouses for the 
 reception of travellers and the storing of their goods. 
 In order, however, to prevent the inhabitants of Leith 
 from rivalling or competing with the citizens of Edin- 
 burgh in trade, the magistrates of the capital actually 
 passed an Act ordaining that — 
 
 No merchant of Edinburgh should presume to take into 
 partnership with him an inhabitant of Leith, under the penalty 
 of 40s. Scots to the Church work, and to be deprived of 
 the freedom of the town for one year ; also that none of the 
 town's revenues should be let to an inhabitant of Leith, nor any 
 of the * farmers ' of the said revenues take a Leither as a 
 partner in any contract relative to the same under the above 
 penalties." 
 
 At this time great activity seems to have prevailed 
 among the Guilds or Trades. They were all seeking 
 incorporation under special charters, for which they 
 were prepared to pay handsomely. In 1483-84, the 
 famous Society of Hammermen, whose constitution 
 included the blacksmiths, lorimers, saddlers, cutlers, 
 bucklers, or armourers, received their charter, the 
 terms of which throw a curious light upon the trade 
 customs of the time. 
 
 James was now nearing the end of his troubled 
 reign. Darker and yet more dark grew the thunder- 
 
 47 
 
"The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 clouds of national dissatisfaction with his irrresolute 
 rule. The nobles considered they had no guarantee 
 for the stability of the tenure of their estates. 
 Accordingly in 1488 a conspiracy was formed against 
 him, which might well have caused a bolder spirit than 
 James's to quail. In its ranks were included the Earls 
 of Angus and Argyle, the Lords Gray, Hume, 
 Hailes, Drummond, and Lyle, who had obtained 
 possession of the person of the heir- apparent, James, 
 Duke of Rothesay, afterwards James IV. In fact, 
 so dangerous was it that James was forced to leave 
 Edinburgh and to take refuge in the north, where 
 many of the nobles were still faithful to him, viz., the 
 Earls of Huntly, Errol, Crawford, Athole, Rothes, 
 Sutherland, Caithness, the Earl Mareschal, and others. 
 Both parties prepared for the struggle by levying forces. 
 
 At last the quarrel came to a crisis. In June 1488 
 at Sauchieburn, in sight of the field of Bannockburn, 
 the two armies met. In two hours all was over and 
 James was a fugitive. He had not ridden far before 
 he leaped from his horse and took refuge in a 
 neighbouring mill with the intention of lying concealed 
 till dusk. But the victory of the insurgents would 
 have been but half gained if the king had escaped ; 
 and the pursuit was eager. The discovery of the 
 king's horse was a sure token its master could not be 
 far off ; and before nightfall the unhappy king was 
 found in his hiding-place and slain in cold blood. 
 
 48 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 In the Reign of y antes IV. 
 
 JAMES IV. was but a lad of fifteen when he came 
 to the throne. He had many things to reproach 
 himself with in connection with his father's death, and 
 there is little doubt he bitterly regretted having been 
 dragged into the conspiracy against his unfortunate parent. 
 For several years he wore a chain of iron around his 
 waist in token of penance, and history records he 
 added a heavy link to it each year. 
 
 James IV., next to Robert Bruce, was the greatest 
 of Scotland's kings, certainly he was the best and the 
 noblest of the Stuarts, and his policy, until his last 
 fatal error, which he expiated with his life, was as 
 provident as it was public-spirited. By him learning, 
 the laws, the social progress of his people, commerce, 
 printing, nay, even music and painting, were con- 
 sistently fostered, and if he sometimes mistook 
 extravagance for liberality, his very faults leaned to 
 virtue's side, and he erred out of excess of desire to do 
 what was best for his country. 
 
 To him Edinburgh owed much. He was the first 
 king who really " kept Court " in Edinburgh in a 
 style becoming the growing wealth and importance of 
 his kingdom. He encouraged the nobles to erect 
 town houses for themselves and showed them the ex- 
 ample in prosecuting the erection of Holyrood Palace, 
 begun by his father. Every work promising benefit to 
 his subjects was eagerly approved by him. 
 
 The state of education was at this time very low all 
 D 49 
 
Hhe Story of Edinburgh 
 
 over Scotland, and the children of the nobility fared 
 little better than those of commoners. Few of them 
 could read and fewer still could write. To remedy this 
 disgraceful state of affairs, and to qualify the eldest 
 sons of barons' and freeholders for exercising the 
 functions of Sheriffs and Judges ordinary, James 
 directed that an Act of Parliament be passed which 
 enjoined 
 
 *' that all barons and freeholders that are of substance put their 
 eldest sons and aires (heirs) to the schules frae they be sex or 
 nine years of age and till (to) remaine at them quhill (until) 
 they be competentlie founded and have perfite Latine ; and 
 thereafter to remaine three zeirs at the schules of art and jure, 
 swa that they may have knawledge and understanding of the 
 lawes." 
 
 James, as has been said, showed himself a strong, 
 in addition to being a wise, governor, earning the 
 respect as well as the affection of his subjects. Trade 
 rapidly increased in consequence of the policy he 
 pursued, manufactures began to be started in the 
 country, the people commenced to slough their semi- 
 savage habits as regards their domiciles and menage^ 
 and Edinburgh as his chosen capital, was the first to 
 feel and benefit by the new customs. Architecture 
 was carefully considered in erecting the town 
 mansions of the nobles and great churchmen, while the 
 pageants, processions and tournaments, of which it was 
 the daily scene, brought money to the artificers and 
 tradespeople. 
 
 His marriage with Margaret of England was spoken 
 of for a century afterwards as one of the most 
 gorgeous spectacles ever witnessed in the grand old 
 city. He met his fair bride at Liberton, on her way 
 from the Earl of Morton's castle at Dalkeith, where 
 he had previously visited her. She then left the litter 
 wherein she had been travelling and mounted pillion- 
 50 
 
/;; the Reign of yames IV. 
 
 wise on a palfrey behind her husband-elect. They 
 were received with great pomp and rejoicings as they 
 entered the city. Pageants and processions met them 
 at every turn. The Cross was temporarily converted 
 into a fountain discharging different sorts of wines into 
 specially-prepared basins ; bonnie bairns " descended 
 from golden globes and harangued them on the duty 
 of sovereigns, the Grey Friars met them with holy relics, 
 including the arm-bone of St. Giles, while the Black 
 Friars presented to them for their adoration, the 
 celebrated phial containing three drops of the blood 
 of Christ." On high stages " Mystery and Morality 
 plays " were enacted, in which such diverse personages 
 as Paris, Venus, Juno and Minerva, the Angel Gabriel, 
 the Virgin, the Four Virtues, Holofernes, Nero, and 
 Sardanapalus took part, while the houses all along the 
 royal route were hung with tapestry, scarlet cloth 
 edged with gold. Everywhere the old grey walls 
 were hidden under flags and streamers. Next day the 
 illustrious pair were married by the Archbishop of 
 Glasgow, in the Abbey Church, and in view of this 
 auspicious event, William Dunbar, unquestionably the 
 greatest poet of his age, wrote his beautiful epitha- 
 lamium, The Thistle and the Rose. 
 
 Although Margaret, only fourteen years of age at 
 the date of her marriage, was far from proving an ideal 
 wife, being headstrong and of violent temper, testimony 
 is not lacking that she became genuinely fond of her 
 manly husband — "the beste jouster and the most 
 parfite knyghte" of the age — as he of her until the 
 differences over the invasion of England alienated 
 them. The Court of Scotland at this epoch was 
 reckoned among the most brilliant in Europe, being 
 the resort of all the chivalrous spirits of the time. 
 But James's own indiscretion was to mar this fair 
 prospect. He allowed himself to be seduced into 
 
 SI 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 supporting the cause of France against England, when 
 Anne of Brittany, wife of Louis XII., sending him 
 her ring and her glove, named him her chosen knight, 
 and begged him to advance three feet into English 
 ground and strike a blow for her honour. Thus it 
 came to pass that Scotland was thrown into mourning 
 for a foolish woman's whim over Flodden's deadly- 
 field on that dark 9th September 15 13, when Scot- 
 land's bravest and best, literally her Flowers of the 
 Forest," were " a' wede awa." The defeat was 
 severe, but during the last year or two documents have 
 been discovered in the Rolls Office giving the details 
 of the losses on the English side. From these one 
 learns that the latter had suffered in rank and file 
 even more heavily than the Scots. Their leaders, 
 however, had been practically untouched by the awful 
 hand-to-hand fighting and were able to direct the 
 operations of their men, while the Scots had lost every 
 general worth the name, including the king. 
 
 After intelligence of the disaster reached Edinburgh, 
 but before the fact became known that Surrey was 
 slowly retreating southwards, unable owing to his 
 losses to reap any advantage from the victory, a 
 municipal proclamation had been made at the City 
 Cross by which all good citizens were enjoined to 
 muster " at the jowing (ringing) of the common bell," 
 while the women were exhorted to cease their 
 clamour and repair to church and pray for the welfare 
 of the State." All males (and as many females as 
 volunteered) were impressed into the service of build- 
 ing a strong wall round the city, in order to bid 
 defiance to the English should they come. The old 
 wall of James II. was both ruinous and insufficient, 
 the city having expanded far beyond its limits. 
 Under the direction of craftsmen the new circum- 
 vallation, with its ramparts, bastions and gates, was 
 
 52 
 
In the Reign of James IF. 
 
 completed in a very few days. Its line extended 
 from the Castle Hill across the Grassmarket to the 
 
 middle of the Vennel, thence S.E. to Bristo Port, 
 thence E. and N.E. by the Potterrow Port and the 
 line of Drummond Street to the Pleasance and the 
 
 S3 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 foot of St. Mary's Wynd, and thence North by the 
 Netherbow Port to Leith Wynd Port. 
 
 Though James IV. by his will had left his wife 
 Regent of the kingdom and governor of their infant 
 son, she only held these offices some seven months. 
 After giving birth prematurely to a posthumous son, 
 she suddenly married, within three months, the Earl 
 of Angus, a handsome youth not yet one-and-twenty, 
 and three or four years her own junior. This foolish 
 act lost her the support of all the leading men in the 
 kingdom. Henceforth she was simply the tool of her 
 brother, in working up the English party in Scotland. 
 The Duke of Albany, son of a younger brother of 
 James TIL, became Regent, and between him and 
 Margaret a deadly feud arose, to be prolonged during 
 the whole of her troubled life. 
 
 Any sketch of Edinburgh in the days of James IV. 
 presents us with the picture of a busy, bustling town, 
 already expanding far beyond the limits of the " hog's 
 back " ridge and its ofF-shooting closes. The Cow- 
 gate was now beginning to be regarded as a fashionable 
 thoroughfare. The Pleasance and Potterrow were 
 thriving suburbs, while the Grassmarket was becoming 
 a fine square for the sale of all kinds of produce. 
 From the poems of Dunbar, Kennedy and Gawain 
 Douglas, we obtain a vivid glimpse of the Edinburgh 
 of James IV. 
 
 Albany, who had lived in France for the greater 
 part of his life, was practically a Frenchman in tastes, 
 sympathies, and habits. French customs, French 
 ideas, and French institutions, became general, while 
 from this epoch dates that Franco-Scottish style of 
 architecture which became so common in Edinburgh 
 during the succeeding century. 
 
 But Albany had neither the authority nor the power 
 to control the turbulent baronage and Lowland Scot- 
 54 
 
In the Reign of James IV. 
 
 land. Edinburgh especially was kept in a perpetual 
 state of alarm by the faction fights of the Douglases 
 and the Hamiltons. One of these brawls (or tu/zies) 
 passes current under the name of Cleanse the Cause- 
 way," because the fighting took place in the High 
 Street, and had the effect of clearing the street in a 
 twinkling of all save the actual combatants 
 
 Such episodes as these, occurring almost daily, soon 
 disgusted the Duke of Albany, who, after a few years 
 of a troubled Regency, returned to France, leaving 
 Scotland's king in the hands of the Douglases. Still, 
 the great prosperity of the country during the reign of 
 James IV. was not wholly arrested. Don Pedro de 
 Ayala, Spanish Ambassador, wrote glowingly of the 
 country shortly before Flodden, and his account is 
 practically corroborated in every detail by John Major, 
 writing in 1 52 1. 
 
 Albany, during his Regency, did much for Edin- 
 burgh. He continued the building of Holyrood Palace, 
 he erected the first part of the Tolbooth, he adorned 
 St. Giles', and generously assisted many of the religious 
 orders, whose houses had fallen into disrepair, to render 
 their places of abode impervious to the weather. The 
 ignorance, however, that prevailed in Scotland at this 
 time is pathetically lamented by William Dunbar in 
 more than one of his poems : 
 
 Jok that was wont to keip the stirkis, 
 Can now draw him ane clerk of kirkis, 
 With ane fals cairt into his sleif, 
 Worth all my ballattis undir the birkis, 
 Excess of thocht dois me mischief." 
 
 Interest, not merit, settled promotion, and the most 
 unsuitable individuals were literally pitchforked into 
 benefices. Not until after the Reformation was learn- 
 ing to become popular in the land of the mountain and 
 the flood." 
 
 55 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 In the Reign of yames V. 
 
 JAMES V. was crowned at Stirling, September 21, 
 I 5 1 5, and during his long minority the kingdom of 
 Scotland retrograded in many ways, owing to the 
 lawlessness that began to prevail. The stern justice 
 that was meted out to wrong-doers in the reign of his 
 father disappeared, and manslayers, provided they had 
 purchased the protection of the Douglases, might be 
 seen defying the law, by appearing, as it was termed, 
 " at kirk and causey " with impunity. 
 
 Edinburgh, notwithstanding all, continued to grow. 
 Scarcely a year passed but one of the greater nobles or 
 churchmen erected a town house in one of the closes of! 
 the *' Hie Gait" (High Street) or in the ecclesiastical 
 borough of the Canongate. James was then residing 
 in the Castle of Edinburgh, prosecuting his studies under 
 the care of Gavin Dunbar, afterwards Archbishop of 
 Glasgow, and Sir David Lyndsay of the Mount, Lord 
 Lyon King-at- Arms ; and from the poems of the latter 
 we obtain an interesting insight into the intimate relations 
 existing between them. 
 
 Not alone at the Castle did the boy pursue his 
 studies, but also at Craigmillar and Dalkeith. When, 
 however, he reached the age of twelve, the Douglas 
 party felt that if he was to be of any use to them in 
 furthering their schemes of family aggrandisement, 
 James must be invested, nominally at least, with the 
 full powers ot royalty. Accordingly, the king, who 
 had been taken to Stirling that he might not fall under 
 
 56 
 
In the Reign of James V, 
 
 his mother's influence, was brought through the town 
 to Holy rood. From the citizens he received a warm 
 welcome, entertaining as they did the hope that now 
 the king had come into his own again, the state of 
 anarchy would cease. Alas, this was a fond delusion. 
 The Douglases found the sweets of power too tempting 
 to be lightly resigned. Every precaution was taken to 
 prevent the king acquiring any real influence in the 
 affairs of the kingdom. 
 
 From that moment James's whole endeavours were 
 directed to escaping from the power of the Douglases, 
 and the credit of his liberation is due to his own 
 ingenuity, in proclaiming, while at Falkland Palace, a 
 series of hunting parties, and when suspicion had been 
 allayed regarding these early morning rides, in suddenly 
 making a dash for Stirling Castle and liberty. Within 
 ten hours the Douglases were outlaws in the land 
 whereof the day before they had been practically the 
 rulers. 
 
 The reign of James V. was at first singularly 
 prosperous. The young king was popular with all 
 parties. He set himself to render justice to gentle 
 and simple, with a stern impartiality, that reminds one 
 of James I., his great-great-grandfather. The law- 
 lessness of the nobles was repressed with a vigour and 
 an iron resolution that struck terror into those who 
 had been wont to deem themselves superior to all laws. 
 The relentlessness of his hatred to the Douglases may 
 have been a fault, but when we consider all he had 
 suffered from them, and the evils they had inflicted on 
 the country, one can scarcely be surprised. 
 
 James was distinctively the " King ot the Commons " 
 — the title he afterwards received, owing to his habit 
 of wandering in disguise among his subjects studying 
 their characters and habits, and hearing their com- 
 plaints. Alas, towards the end of his short life, he 
 
 57 
 
T'he Story of Edinburgh 
 
 became fond of unworthy favourites, and in that way 
 alienated the respect and affection the nobility would 
 otherwise have entertained for him. Difficulties with 
 his uncle, Henry VIII., also ensued, and war became 
 inevitable sooner or later, although the address of the 
 statesmen on both sides postponed it for some years. 
 
 James was very fond of Edinburgh, and resided 
 there during a great part of each year. He also did 
 much to increase the importance of the town and 
 to beautify it. This was especially the case after his 
 marriage first to Madalene, daughter of Francis I., King 
 of France, on January i, 1537, and second to Mary, 
 daughter of the Duke of Guise, and widow of the Duke 
 de Longueville, June 1538. The first-named was his 
 wife only six months when death claimed her. In fact 
 she had been far gone in consumption when married, 
 but both she and the King of Scots had fallen so deeply 
 in love with each other, that nothing else could be 
 done but let them wed," says an old French chronicler. 
 Madalene landed at Leith on Whitsun Eve, and 
 falling on her knees kissed the soil of the land which 
 was henceforth to be her home. Never was Scottish 
 queen loved as she was loved. Her gentleness, her 
 marvellous, almost unearthly beauty, and her deep piety 
 all endeared her to the people, and these qualities were 
 still further impressed upon their minds by her early 
 death. Within six weeks of her arrival the young 
 queen died, the sorrow of the nation breaking out into 
 almost frenzied expressions of grief, while funeral 
 customs were introduced then which have lasted until 
 the present day. 
 
 Yet, despite this sorrow, within a year, James's 
 second spouse, Mary of Guise, was welcomed with 
 rejoicings and " sindrie showes," which in their arrange- 
 ment look suspiciously like that programme drawn up 
 for her predecessor, which that "heartless Thief" 
 
 58 
 
In the Retgn of yames V. 
 
 Death, whom Sir David Lyndsay had belaboured with 
 so many epithets, had so unceremoniously interrupted. 
 Mary's entry into Edinburgh was made on Saint 
 Margaret's day with greit triumphe and als with 
 ordour of the hail nobillis ; her Grace come in first at 
 the West Port, and raid down the Hie Gait, to the 
 Abbay of Halyrudhous, with greit sports playit to her 
 Grace." 
 
 The influence of French fashions on Scottish life, 
 manners, dress and architecture, became still more 
 marked after these marriages. Several French courtiers 
 and ladies-in-waiting had accompanied both queens " 
 to Scotland, and some of them settled in the country and 
 exercised a civilising effect upon the somewhat rough 
 customs of the native inhabitants. One great reform is 
 due to this. James, when in Paris for his marriage 
 with Madalene, had observed the advantages accruing 
 from having the Law Courts stationary in the capital. 
 Formerly the whole Courts of Justice had gone on 
 circuit, obviously a very inconvenient arrangement for 
 litigants. James IV. had unsuccessfully striven to 
 remedy the matter in view of the bitter complaints re- 
 garding delay in hearing cases. ( Cf, Dunbar's Tidings 
 fra the Sessioun and Lady Solicitors at Court,) His 
 son, however, wisely determined to decide the matter 
 in such a way as still further to increase the import- 
 ance of his capital, and henceforth the Court of Session 
 was permanently located in Edinburgh — the judges 
 taking circuit duty in turn (1532). By 1535, Edin- 
 burgh had become a busy, thriving town. The houses 
 erected at this time and during the next eighty years, 
 before religious austerity began to regard architectural 
 beauty as a weakness of the flesh, were in the highest 
 degree picturesque and romantic. James V. had an 
 enlightened taste in architecture and encouraged his 
 people to make the town beautiful. The majority of 
 
 59 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 the dwellings had their fronts either of polished ashlar, 
 or were timber-fronted, with wooden galleries opening 
 on to the " Hie Gait/' from which the burgesses were 
 wont to exchange salutations. As population increased 
 and more accommodation was required, and as, more- 
 over, it was considered unfashionable " to live with- 
 out the walls, the timber fronts gave place to those 
 towering lands" or tenements of fourteen and fifteen 
 storeys for which Edinburgh became noted. 
 
 The craftsmen of the capital were deservedly held 
 in esteem, an Edinburgh armourer being reckoned as 
 amongst the most skilful in the Europe of the sixteenth 
 century. A foundry in which various kinds of iron- 
 work and excellent cannon were produced, had been 
 established at the foot of the Castle Rock by Robert 
 Borthwick, and the enterprising smith was liberally 
 patronised by James and his nobles. 
 
 In the High Street the ground flat or lowest storey 
 of the houses was usually allocated to the booths of 
 the tradespeople, each booth being surmounted by a 
 significant signboard indicating the nature of the 
 business carried on beneath, while the nobles, gentry, 
 and better-class citizens generally resided in the alleys 
 or closes. These closes, as we have said, ran from the 
 summit of the ridge extending from the Castle to 
 Holyrood and occupied by the High Street, to the 
 shores of the Nor' Loch on the north side and to the 
 level of the suburb called the Cowgate on the south. 
 
 In 1532 the High Street was paved for the first 
 time by Marlin, a Frenchman, who was interred at his 
 own request under the street he had so notably im- 
 proved. To understand the boon this innovation con- 
 ferred, one has to picture the thoroughfare as a sort of 
 quagmire owing to the amount of traffic that passed up 
 and down. 
 
 Meantime relations with England, as we have seen, 
 60 
 
In the Reign of James V. 
 
 were going from bad to worse. In the year 1540, 
 when the most casual observer could see that the main- 
 tenance of peace was only a question of days, James 
 insisted that the walls of Edinburgh should be still 
 further extended and strengthened. Had his advice 
 been followed, Hertford's invasion, a few years later, 
 would not have found the capital so easy a prey. As 
 it was, the question of funds being a difficulty, only the 
 extension from St. Mary's Wynd and the Nethcrbow 
 to the point where Leith Wynd crossed the Nor' 
 Loch, was completed, the old Scots Act directing 
 '*the Proveste and Baillies to bigge an honest, sub- 
 stantious wall fra the Port of ye Netherbowe to ye 
 Trinitie College." 
 
 At this same Parliament a statute was passed 
 ordaining that every nobleman, gentleman and burgess 
 should procure armour and arms suitable to his 
 station, so as to be able to take the field. As showing 
 the unrest in expectation of war that prevailed in the 
 country, nearly every statute of this and the succeeding 
 Parliament of James V. had some connection with 
 military preparations. 
 
 Though the shadow of war thus lay dark over the 
 land, the magistrates of Edinburgh did not neglect the 
 welfare of the town, and accordingly we find that as it 
 was inconvenient for the market of Edinburgh to be 
 held in the open High Street owing to the fact that 
 (Cf, cap. 103, vii. James V.) — 
 
 "Ane multitude of vile unhoneste and miserable creatures 
 conveenis to the saide mercatte to get their sustentation and 
 living, it is thocht expedient that the said meal mercatt be re- 
 moved off the Hie-gate in sum honest gainand and convenient 
 place, where the nichtboures of the saide toune and uthers the 
 kingis lieges may conveene for selling and buying of sic 
 victualles in time to cum." 
 
 Another evidence of the great progress made by 
 Edinburgh is to be found in the statutes of James V., 
 
 61 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 caps. 121, 12 2. Owing to the large numbers resort- 
 ing to Court, or for other reasons going to reside in 
 Edinburgh, there appears to have been a scarcity 
 entailed both of bread and meat. Accordingly 
 Monday, Wednesday and Friday were ordained as 
 days for selling bread ; and Sunday, Monday and 
 Thursday for meat. 
 
 During the last three years of his reign ( i 539-42), 
 James's relations with his nobles became very strained, 
 and culminated in their desertion of him on the field 
 of Solway Moss, when he committed the mistake of 
 appointing Sir Oliver Sinclair (son of Sir Oliver 
 Sinclair of Roslin, who in turn was the eldest son by 
 second marriage of William, last Earl of Orkney), 
 Commander-in-Chief of the forces advancing against 
 the English. The latter, under the Duke of Norfolk, 
 had invaded the Lowlands, burned many of the grand 
 old abbeys, and were now striking westward to com- 
 plete the devastation by harrying Nithsdale and 
 Annandale. The English, seeing a state of con- 
 fusion prevailing in their enemy's camp consequent on 
 the proclamation of Sinclair's appointment, suddenly 
 made an attack on the Scots' position, and within an 
 hour James's fine army was well-nigh annihilated. 
 To their credit, be it stated, that, though they brought 
 this disaster on their king and country, the moment the 
 English onset was made, the nobles endeavoured to 
 stem the panic that ensued, but in vain. 
 
 To James, who had remained at Lochmaben, the 
 intelligence was quickly conveyed, and the effect on 
 him was terrible. He sank into a profound melancholy 
 from which he could not be roused. From Loch- 
 maben he proceeded to Edinburgh, and thence to 
 Falkland, where he took to his bed. On the 8th 
 December news was brought to him that his queen 
 had given birth to a daughter, but the news only 
 62 
 
In the Reign of James V, 
 
 increased his gloom. Recalling the manner in which 
 the Crown had come into the Stuart family, through 
 the marriage of Walter the Steward (father of Robert 
 II.) with Marjory, daughter of Robert Bruce, and 
 also apprehending that Henry VIII., with only a 
 feeble infant between him and the Scots throne, would 
 refrain from no deed of violence to achieve his end, he 
 muttered sadly, " It came wi' a lass and it will go wi' 
 a lass." A week later the care-worn king breathed 
 his last. 
 
 65 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 In the Reign of ^Mary 
 
 THE apprehensions entertained by James V. regarding 
 the purposes of his crafty uncle were fully justified 
 by events. The luckless King of Scotland was scarcely 
 cold before Henry VIII. revealed his intentions. Had 
 the Scots not identified such proposals with the loss of 
 their independence, there can be no doubt that the 
 policy would have spared Scotland infinite suffering, 
 and England the lives of thousands of brave men. 
 Henry suggested that the daughter of James should 
 marry his son, and that the kingdoms should be united. 
 Blinded by ultra-patriotism and by the influence of the 
 Church of Rome, ever malign to Scotland, the Scots 
 of that period did not see that their political welfare 
 was really bound up in such a line of action. It was 
 therefore declined, and Henry prepared to exact it by 
 force, despatching the Earl of Hertford to bring the 
 Scots to their senses." Had the advice of James V. 
 been followed and an extension been made to the 
 Flodden Wall, Hertford would have been able to 
 inflict comparatively little injury upon Edinburgh. 
 
 But it made a poor defence. The cowardly 
 Cardinal Beaton, at whose door lay the responsibility 
 for all the trouble, fled panic-stricken to Stirling, 
 accompanied by many of the leading townspeople, and 
 the English easily made themselves masters of the 
 place, but were unable to reduce the Castle. They, 
 however, laid the town in ashes, and also burned 
 Craigmillar Castle, Rosslyn Castle, with every abbey, 
 
 64 
 
In the Reign of <SMary 
 
 town and village between Edinburgh and Dunbar ; 
 and ended by sacking Leith, just before sailing 
 away. 
 
 This invasion of Hertford constitutes an era in the 
 history of Edinburgh, inasmuch as there are very few 
 buildings older than 1544. As Wilson remarks, If 
 we except portions of the Castle, the churches, and the 
 north-west wing of Holyrood Palace, scarcely a single 
 building anterior to this date exists in Edinburgh." 
 
 If Henry VIII. had exercised more patience he 
 would have succeeded, because even then the Protestant 
 leaven was at work. But bluff King Hal was better 
 adapted for the Bluebeard role of wife- killing than for 
 weaving the webs of subtle diplomacy. He sought to 
 force where he should have flattered. Nor was his 
 son, Edward VI. of pious memory, much better, 
 where his own interests were concerned. A second 
 expedition, again under Hertford, who had become 
 Duke of Somerset, was despatched to Scotland in 
 1547, shortly after the accession of the young king, to 
 exact a fulfilment of the marriage pledge, alleged to 
 have been given by the Earl of Arran in 1543. At 
 Pinkie the Scots were severely defeated, Edinburgh 
 and Leith were once more pillaged, and the Abbey of 
 Holyrood again given to the flames. Then the 
 patience of the Scots gave way, and the young queen 
 was betrothed to the Dauphin of France, being also 
 sent thither to be educated. 
 
 Mary's reign nominally began in December 1542, 
 at the death of her father, but her actual rule only 
 extended from August 1561 to July 1567. She is 
 historically credited, however, with all that was done 
 in her name between these two dates — 1 542-1 567. 
 
 Shortly before the departure of the young queen, her 
 mother, by the exercise of her influence with her 
 relatives in France, obtained assistance from that 
 E 65 
 
"The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 country. In June 1548, a strong body of men-at-arms, 
 numbering nearly 10,000, completely equipped and 
 furnished with supplies and military engines of all kinds 
 then in vogue, landed at Leith, under the command of 
 Andre de Montalembert, Comte d'Esse, who also 
 Drought with him the formal confirmation of the 
 matrimonial alliance between the Dauphin and Mary. 
 
 Comte d'Esse, after the departure of the young 
 queen, strongly advised the Scots Estates to begin a 
 systematic fortification of Edinburgh in view of the 
 constant attacks by the English. The Estates agreed 
 with him, and a commencement was made at Leith, to 
 which we shall refer in our chapter on the port. As 
 the English, before leaving the Forth, had erected a 
 fort on the island of Inchkeith, which stands about two 
 miles off the coast, immediately opposite the harbour, 
 d'Esse considered that the initial step for regaining the 
 command of the estuary was to capture the stronghold 
 on the island. A general attack was therefore made 
 upon it, and although the English fought with mag- 
 nificent courage, they were overpowered by numbers 
 and compelled to surrender at discretion. The ruins 
 of the old fort are still visible. 
 
 Gradually the English invaders were driven from 
 the remaining places of strength in Scotland — Hume 
 Castle, Fast Castle, Broughty Ferry, Haddington — 
 after a succession of desperate encounters in which both 
 sides lost heavily, and in 1550 peace was concluded 
 between the Powers. France and England had signed 
 a treaty, and the former insisted that Scotland, her 
 ancient ally, should be included in it. 
 
 Leith, rather than Edinburgh, had been the scene ot 
 these last conflicts. The defences of the port had been 
 greatly strengthened by the French auxiliaries, who 
 were the most expert military engineers in Europe. 
 Many Edinburgh people therefore betook themselves to 
 
In the Reign of <3Iary 
 
 Leith, where they could live in peace and safety under 
 the protection of the garrison. 
 
 The ravages which the English invasions of i 544 
 and 1547 had inflicted on the country were not without 
 a certain amount of compensatory benefit. Formerly 
 the houses had been mean and insignificant in most 
 instances, while the citizens still clung to the use of 
 thatch. But after these invasions, when the fact became 
 known that, as compared with other nations, the Scots 
 were far behind in the matter of household accommoda- 
 tion, a great stimulus was given to building, the style 
 being mostly an imitation of the French baronial. 
 
 Their Gallic allies, however, before long came to 
 be regarded by the Scots with feelings only a little 
 less inimical than those they entertained towards the 
 English. The French men-at-arms, accustomed to the 
 luxury of their own highly-cultured and civilised 
 country, did not take pains to conceal their contempt 
 for the semi-barbarous Scots, and the latter were by 
 nature only too ready to read insult into every action of 
 their helpers. 
 
 After a visit paid to France in 1551, the queen- 
 regent induced the Earl of Arran to resign the regency 
 in her favour, an office he had held since the death 
 of the late king. Strong pressure was brought to bear 
 on him, and as even his own friends were obliged to 
 admit his egregious unfitness for the office, an unfit- 
 ness which entailed many evils on the country through 
 misgovernment, the queen-mother attained the object 
 of her ambition, at the Parliament convened in the 
 Tolbooth of Edinburgh in April 1 554. One has only 
 to read the Town Council Register of Edinburgh to 
 understand the state of anarchy which prevailed in 
 the capital as the result of Arran's weak rule. 
 
 But the queen-regent had a strong hand, and after one 
 or two of the most turbulent of the nobility had been 
 
 67 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 imprisoned and heavily fined, they realised that to 
 purchase the revenge of an hour by long months of 
 durance was short-sighted policy. Not that either she 
 or her government was popular. This is shown by 
 a statute passed by the Estates in 1555 entitled 
 " Anent the speaking evil of the Queen's Grace or 
 Frenchmen." 
 
 In looking through the statutes passed at this (1555) 
 session of the Scots Parliament, and the next (1558), 
 we are confronted with numerous facts illustrative of the 
 rapid rise of the " commons " or great mass of the people 
 into power. For example, the " Estates " considered it 
 necessary to limit the power of the nobility over their people 
 and to insist that the queen's writ should " run " every- 
 where in Scotland as regards nobles, gentry and people. 
 
 Moreover, the laws against exporting tallow, 
 victuals, and flesh, also wool, skins, hides, and ^'all 
 other staple gudes customable," were re-affirmed. 
 True, attempts were made to check the power of the 
 people, manifestly at the orders of the queen-mother 
 and her advisers, by insisting that all deacons of the 
 craft and " visitors of the trades " should be chosen by 
 the Provost, Bailies, and Councils of the Boroughs. 
 This was done because there had been " great trouble 
 in boroughs, commotion and rising of the lieges in 
 divers parts, and making of leagues and bands among 
 themselves, and betwixt borough and borough, which 
 deserves great punishment." 
 
 Singular also is it that we find the Romanist advisers 
 of the queen-mother frowning upon the ancient games 
 and spectacles of" Robin Hood," the "Abbot of Un- 
 reason," and the " May Queen," and forbidding them 
 under severe penalties. Such austerity is usually ascribed 
 to the period of Presbyterian ascendency. Even maidens 
 were to be forbidden to dance around the Maypole or to 
 chant their lays in the streets of the towns. 
 68 
 
In the Reign of SVLary 
 
 In the year 1555-56 John Knox returned for a short 
 time to Scotland, after his imprisonment in France for 
 being concerned in the slaughter of Cardinal Beaton at 
 St. Andrews in 1 546. His preaching against the abuses 
 and immorality in the Church of Rome was attended 
 with such success that he was summoned before the 
 Provincial Council of the Church, held in the Blackfriaf s 
 Monastery, May 1556. The charge, however, was 
 suffered to drop, because the heads of the Church were 
 warned they would lose more than they would gain by 
 such a course. 
 
 In December 1557, owing to the outbreak of war 
 between France and Spain, and the earnest desire of 
 the former to strengthen itself against its antagonist, 
 with which England was in close alliance, the Estates 
 of the Realm were summoned to deliberate on a letter 
 received from Henry II., King of France, proposing 
 that the marriage between the Dauphin and Mary 
 Oueen of Scots should be solemnised. 
 
 The French had been severely defeated by the 
 Spaniards assisted by the English at St. Quentin, and 
 Henry urged Mary of Lorraine to create a diversion 
 by declaring war against England. This the Scots 
 nobles refused to do. With England they had no 
 quarrel at present, they said, and the queen-regent, in 
 anger and chagrin, had to resort to petty acts of pro- 
 vocation to effect her ends. To induce the Scots to 
 prosecute such a policy as we have indicated, Henry 
 II., on Mary of Lorraine indicating the failure of her 
 attempt to breed strife between the two ancient enemies, 
 wrote the letter proposing the consummation of the 
 long-talked-of matrimonial scheme. The young queen 
 had developed into one of the most beautiful and 
 fascinating women in Europe. Her intellectual powers 
 were on a par with her loveliness, and she was deeply 
 versed in all the diplomacy of her time. She had 
 
 69 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 also studied under the best teachers, and had benefited 
 so materially by their tuition that her culture was 
 esteemed to be as marvellous as her charms. Such 
 was the blooming young beauty who was to be wedded 
 to the diseased and weakly Dauphin. 
 
 The Scots Estates agreed to send commissioners to 
 the marriage, but empowered these representatives only 
 to give their assent on receiving ample security for the 
 preservation of the ancient laws and liberties of the 
 kingdom. The marriage was celebrated with great 
 pomp in the Cathedral of Notre Dame, April 24, 
 1558. Immediately thereafter the commissioners were 
 requested to tender the " Crown Matrimonial " to 
 Francis, but replied they had no authority so to do. 
 From that hour the interest of France in Scotland 
 steadily decreased. 
 
 Edinburgh, as the capital of Mary's kingdom, was 
 meantime increasing rapidly, both as regards population 
 and importance. Large and magnificent mansions 
 were being erected within the walls by the nobility, the 
 queen-mother setting the example by building the 
 splendid palace which long occupied the site where 
 now stands the New College and Assembly Hall of 
 the United Free Church. Some of these mansions are 
 standing to this day. 
 
 The Reformed party was now steadily acquiring 
 supreme power in the State, thanks to the bold and 
 uncompromising attitude of John Knox and his 
 coadjutors, whom he had entrusted with the direction 
 of affairs during his absence in Geneva. Events 
 came to a head at the Feast of St Giles, ist September 
 1558, when the image of the Saint was thrown into 
 the Nor' Loch. 
 
 The queen-regent was ordered by her relatives in 
 France to adopt stringent measures to suppress the 
 new Reforming party, the leaders of which had taken 
 70 
 
T^he Story of Edinburgh 
 
 the name of " The Lords of the Congregation." 
 Compelled to do so against her better judgment, she 
 cited several of these leaders to appear before her and 
 the ecclesiastical authorities, and to lend the colour of 
 justice to her new policy, a Provincial Synod, the 
 last of its kind ever held in Scotland while Roman 
 Catholicism was the religion of the State, met in 
 Blackfriars' Church, Edinburgh. As they were 
 themselves fully conscious that the chief cause of the 
 growth of the Reformed doctrines was the immoral 
 lives and gross ignorance of the Romanist clergy, the 
 Convention passed resolutions affirming the need for 
 reformation in the lives of the priests, and also that 
 several of the doctrines of the Church should be 
 modified. All was of no avail. Suddenly the news 
 was brought to the Convention that John Knox had 
 returned to Scotland, and in a state of panic the Con- 
 vention adjourned never to meet again. 
 
 The queen-mother with her French men-at-arms 
 and the Romanist clergy withdrew to Dunbar, leaving 
 Edinburgh in the hands of the " Congregation." 
 After a meeting had taken place between representa- 
 tives of the two parties at the Quarry Holes, when a 
 pledge was given that the detested French soldiery 
 would be despatched back to their own country, the 
 Regent returned to Holyrood, and immediately began 
 to plot how she might evade fulfilment of the con- 
 ditions of the treaty. She was very anxious that St. 
 Giles' should be restored" for the purposes of 
 Catholic worship. To this, however, the Lords of 
 the Congregation would not consent, as it was daily 
 used for service by themselves. In order to interfere 
 as much as possible with the Reformed worship, the 
 French soldiers used the great open space of the nave 
 for lounging and promenading, while Willock or Knox 
 was preaching in the choir. In vain the preachers 
 72 
 
In the Reign of ^ary 
 
 and the people complained : redress of the grievance 
 had to come in a more drastic way. 
 
 Meantime, Sir Ralph Sadler having been sent to 
 Scotland by Elizabeth, had entered into negotiations 
 with the Reformed party. War was seen to be 
 imminent by both parties, and preparations for it were 
 made accordingly. Reinforcements came from France, 
 and Leith was strongly fortified by them, to which the 
 Lords of the Congregation retaliated by proclaiming 
 the queen-regent deposed. At first the raw levies of 
 the Reformed party were decisively defeated by the 
 experienced French men-at-arms in these assaults 
 upon Leith. So disheartened were the Lords of the 
 Congregation by these reverses that they abandoned 
 Edinburgh, which was re-occupied by the queen- 
 regent. Suddenly, at this juncture, several large 
 vessels were seen bearing up the Forth. The French 
 commander concluded they were reinforcements from 
 France until, to his amazement, he saw his transports 
 and food-ships captured. The newcomers were the long- 
 promised ''aid" from England. Now, for the first 
 time, Scot and Englishman fought side by side. Gradu- 
 ally the dogged courage and experience of the English 
 troops told, and the French, driven within the forti- 
 fications of Leith, began to suffer severely from famine. 
 
 The French artillery was mounted on the walls and 
 on every point of vantage within the town of Leith, 
 one very annoying battery being situated on the tower 
 of the Preceptory of St. Anthony. The English 
 mounted theirs on huge mounds on Leith Links, yet 
 visible to this day, and named respectively Mount Pel- 
 ham and Mount Somerset (though known locally as 
 ''Giant's Brae" and " Somers Brae from which 
 St. Mary's Church suffered severely. 
 
 Meantime, the health of the queen-regent had 
 been steadily growing worse. Shortly afterwards she 
 
 73 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 ended her life on the 9th or loth of June 1560, and 
 her body, wrapped in lead, was kept in the Castle till 
 the 19th October, when it was conveyed by ship to 
 France. She was buried in the abbey of St. Peter in 
 Rheims,in Champagne, where her sister was then abbess. 
 
 No sooner was the queen-regent dead, than both 
 parties showed that they were inclined for peace, and 
 after a conference between their representatives, this 
 end was brought about, the French undertaking to 
 depart at once. On the i6th July of the same year 
 they embarked, and thus ended the association of 
 Scotland with France. 
 
 Scarcely had the first new Scottish Parliament been 
 convened, on August i, when news came of the 
 sudden death of Francis II., Mary's consort. The 
 young queen soon found that there was no place for 
 her in France, owing to the persistent jealousy of her 
 mother-in-law, Catherine de' Medici, and she therefore 
 intimated, to the great joy of her people in Scotland, 
 that she was about to return home. 
 
 By the time of Mary's return to the city of her 
 fathers, the population of Edinburgh was beginning 
 to feel a straitening of its borders that was rapidly 
 becoming serious. The "hog's back ridge," from 
 the Castle to Holyrood, was densely populated as far 
 as the Netherbow. Every available yard of space 
 was occupied. At the foot of that ridge on the 
 north side was the artificial sheet of water known as 
 the Nor' Loch, while on the south side of the ridge 
 was a deep, rocky ravme, through which there had 
 " bickered down " a little stream on its way to dis- 
 charge itself into St. Margaret's Loch. The stream 
 had been diverted, the marshes formed by it drained, 
 and in process of time a noble street was formed, 
 called the Sou-Gait or Cowgate — the first name 
 being derived from its geographical position, and the 
 
 74 
 
In the Reign of SMary 
 
 second from cattle having been driven along it on 
 their way to the pasture lands of St. Leonard's on the 
 east, and King's Stables on the west. The new 
 street had become one of the fashionable parts of the 
 town, where many noble personages had their mansions, 
 being connected with the Hie Gait" (High Street) 
 by wynds and closes. These wynds and closes were 
 flanked on both sides with high tenements, as on the 
 northern side of the High Street, where many of the 
 alleys opened on to the banks of the Nor' Loch. 
 
 On the 19th August 1561, Mary Queen of Scots, 
 the widowed spouse of Francis 11, of France (who 
 had died 3rd December 1560), landed in Leith, to 
 spend seven of the most eventful years a woman ever 
 crowded into a busy life. Attended by her three 
 maternal uncles, Claude of Lorraine, Francis, Grand 
 Prior of Malta, and Rene, Marquis d'Elbceuf, also by 
 her four Maries," she set foot upon her ancestral 
 soil, amid the roar of cannon and the acclamations of 
 her subjects. Received by her natural brother. Lord 
 James Stewart, and by others of the nobility, she was 
 conducted with great pomp and ceremony to Holyrood. 
 Never had reign opened more auspiciously ; alas ! amid 
 what disaster was it to close ! 
 
 |!»[ From the account of her State entry into Edinburgh, 
 on September 2, we get an idea of what was the 
 condition of the Scots capital in the middle of the six- 
 teenth century. She was engaged to dine at the 
 Castle that day, and accordingly she journeyed along 
 the line of Princes Street, then called the " Lang 
 Gait." She must either have entered the city by the 
 West Port or West Gate, or have obtained ingress 
 into the fortress from the line of the present Lothian 
 Road by some pathway not known to us now. Six- 
 teen of the most honourable citizens, clad in crimson 
 satin doublets and long velvet robes, bore a canopy 
 
 75 
 
T^he Story of Edinburgh 
 
 of fine purple velvet lined with red taffeta over her. 
 In the Castle she was entertained by the Scots nobility 
 in the old banqueting hall, at a splendid collation in 
 which French confections played no small part. 
 
 Leaving the Castle by the old " Drawbridge 
 Entrance/' she once more descended the Castlehill 
 until she arrived at the Butter Trone " (or the place 
 where dairy produce was weighed and sold), which 
 stood at the head of the West Bow almost on the site 
 of the Church of Scotland Assembly Hall. Here she 
 was met by a grand procession headed by fifty of 
 the goodliest youths of the city disguised as black- 
 amoors, with crape vizors over their faces and wearing 
 gilded fetters as a token that they were her slaves for 
 ever. Here also she was stopped — 
 
 by ane port (gate) maid of timber in the maist honourabil 
 maner, coloured with fine colours and hung with sundry arms, 
 upon the quhilk (which) * port' were singand certaine bairnes in 
 ye maist hevenlie wyse. Under ye port was ane elude (cloud), 
 opening with four leaves in ye middis (midst), and in ye quhilk 
 was put ane bonnie bairn. When ye Quene's Hieness was 
 coming through ye said port, ye elude opened and ye bonnie 
 bairne discended as if it had been ane angel and deliverit to Her 
 Hieness ye keys of ye town together with ane Bible and Psalm 
 Buke, covered with fine purpour velvet." 
 
 John Knox was present on the occasion and records 
 in his History that when the Bible was presented to 
 her, and the praise thereof declared, she frowned, and 
 passed it on to one of her attendants who was an 
 ardent Papist. 
 
 When Mary reached the Cross, in the High Street, 
 a pageant of four fair Virgins " clad in most heavenly 
 clothing " met her and discoursed to her upon various 
 points in Reformed theology upon which Mary could not 
 be expected to be very well informed. Of course the 
 city fountain " played " wine in place of its natural fluid 
 
 76 
 
In the Reign of <£Mary 
 
 and the citizens crowded to drink the health of their 
 beautiful queen from glass goblets, which they immedi- 
 ately broke that the vessels might not be profaned by any 
 meaner toast. And so amid the roar of artillery from the 
 Castle, the shouting of her loving subjects, and the 
 crashing of glasses, Mary passed down the High Street, 
 through the Netherbow, and back to her Palace of 
 Holyrood. There were now nine ports " at which 
 ingress or egress could be obtained to and from the 
 city — the West Port, Greyfriars or Bristo Port, Potter- 
 row Port, Cowgate Port, Netherbow Port, College 
 Kirk Port, the Port in Halkerston's Wynd, and the 
 Dung Port in Leith Wynd. 
 
 Many changes in manners were eifected by the Re- 
 formation. To the strict observance of all the severer 
 virtues of the Calvinistic rule of faith, as practised in 
 Geneva, the Reformers gave close attention. John 
 Knox, whose association with Calvin had been very 
 intimate, imbibed all his practice as well as his precepts. 
 After 1559-60 a purer tone of social morals, at least 
 on the surface, became manifest. The magistrates of 
 the city, in their zeal to show themselves true sons of the 
 Reformed Faith sometimes committed curious blunders, 
 both in word and deed, as when they ordered all 
 
 idolaters and fornicators " to be banished the town 
 within forty-eight hours, the former class being repre- 
 sented by the adherents of the old religion. Their 
 efforts towards preserving the sanctity of the Sabbath 
 met with more sympathy. During Roman Catholic 
 times a practice had become general of observing the 
 services of the Sunday in a very lax manner. The 
 duties of religion were neglected, sports and recreations 
 were indulged in, the Sabbath being made the prin- 
 cipal day for business, and the one on which fairs and 
 markets were regularly held. To put a stop to such 
 practices, the magistrates enacted that the markets 
 
 77 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 should be held on Thursday and Saturday^ that no shops 
 or taverns should be opened during divine service nor 
 goods sold, under the pain of corporal punishment. 
 
 Although the old Tolbooth had been most sub- 
 stantially built, it had now fallen into a ruinous state, 
 and one of the first acts of Mary's reign was to order its 
 re-erection or entire demolition. The Court of Session 
 met there, and the Lords thereof threatened if better 
 accommodation were not provided by the magistrates 
 of the capital to remove the Law Courts to St. Andrews. 
 Such a contingency by its very suggestion acted as a 
 spur to the lagging intent of the city fathers." They 
 set about the work in earnest, and after certain un- 
 avoidable delays occasioned by the scarcity of money, 
 the work was finished. Thus, standing near each 
 other, were an old and a new Tolbooth. The old 
 Tolbooth was still used as the prison, but in the new 
 one were housed the Parliament, the Court of Session, 
 and the Town Council, together with several muni- 
 cipal departments that had to be near the centre of 
 affairs. 
 
 As showing the changes occasioned by the Refor- 
 mation, we may state that the town's seal and standard 
 were both altered by order of the Town Council, who 
 specially enjoined the figure of St. Giles (called by 
 the Reformers " the Idol " ) , to be cut out of the arms 
 and the Thistle to be substituted. It also ordained, at 
 the same time, that no person should be eligible for any 
 office in the city but such as were of the Reformed 
 Faith. Numerous riots took place between the 
 representatives of the rival creeds. The Reformers 
 demanded freedom of worship for themselves, but they 
 refused to allow the queen the same privilege, hence 
 she could attend no place of worship in the town, but 
 was compelled to have Mass celebrated almost by 
 stealth in her private chapel at Holyrood. 
 
 78 
 
In the Reign of Hilary 
 
 In 1565, Mary having fallen desperately in love 
 with the handsome face and figure of her cousin, 
 Henry, Lord Darnley, eldest son of the Earl of 
 Lennox, married him with a haste approaching the 
 indecorous, and it is a curious instance of the irony of 
 fate that a union in itself so unsuitable, and in its 
 immediate results so unhappy, should have ultimately 
 entailed consequences so important in their bearing upon 
 the course of the after-history both of Scotland and 
 Great Britain. Had this marriage not taken place, 
 the Union of the Crowns might not have occurred, 
 and England and Scotland might have remained 
 in the same condition of jealous enmity for centuries 
 to come. By this union between Mary Stuart, 
 Queen of Scots, and Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, 
 Mary strengthened her position as the heir-presumptive 
 to the Throne of England, for it was in virtue of 
 his father's claims as the grandson of MargaretTudor, 
 as well as of his mother's rights that James VL 
 obtained the English Throne in 1603. 
 
 Three months of married life were sufficient to 
 reveal to Mary that she was married to a vicious 
 weakling, her husband's low amours speedily convert- 
 ing her love into loathing. The Earl of Moray, 
 otherwise known as Lord James Stewart, and upon 
 whom she had lavished honours and wealth, had been 
 alienated from her by the Darnley marriage and was 
 now a fugitive in England. She had literally no one 
 to whom she could turn, and her nature was essentially 
 one that needed some support on which to lean. She 
 had quarrelled also with the " Protestant Lords," the 
 Earls of Morton, Argyle, Glencairn, Rothes, and 
 Lords Boyd, . Ruthven, Lindsay, Ochiltree, and 
 others, in her efforts to restore Roman Catholicism, 
 and had driven them from the country by the short 
 and sharp campaign known as the Chaseabout Raid." 
 
 79 
 
The Story of Sdinhurgh 
 
 Even among the civic rulers of Edinburgh, there was 
 not one who had any real influence or political power. 
 In these circumstances she was thrown almost wholly 
 upon the advice of Rizzio, who neither understood nor 
 sympathised with the Scots character, and accordingly 
 gave her evil counsel. On the 9th March 1566, 
 therefore, a terrible scene was witnessed by the inmates 
 of Holyrood Palace, when Rizzio was murdered by a 
 party of nobles headed by Darnley. 
 
 ^* I shall weep no more," said the queen, when she 
 heard of her favourite's fate, " but will now plan my 
 revenge." And she did. The first move in it was to 
 detach Darnley from the other conspirators, so as to 
 learn their plans ; the second, to ally herself with one 
 of the most dissolute and abandoned, yet at the time 
 one of the ablest of the nobles of her Court, James 
 Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell. For him she appears to 
 have conceived a consuming passion, which she took 
 no pains to conceal. The conspirators, realising that 
 they were in deadly danger, made their escape. Mary, 
 however, was not in a position at that time to 
 complete her revenge. Her time of accouchement 
 had arrived, and having retired to the royal apartments 
 in Edinburgh Castle, she there gave birth to her son, 
 James — afterwards James VI. — (19th June 1566), 
 ten months and a half after her marriage to Darnley. 
 On the 17th December of the same year the infant 
 was baptised in Stirling, and on the loth February 1 567 
 Mary's revenge was consummated on Darnley, a 
 revenge which, whether wrought by herself or through 
 the ministry of others, has aflfixed an indelible stain on 
 her memory. 
 
 Darnley, who, although in Stirling, was not invited 
 to be present at the baptism of his own child, had deter- 
 mined to retire to Bothwell Castle, near Hamilton, 
 and to reside with his father, when he was seized on 
 80 
 
In the Reign of SMary 
 
 the way with a dangerous illness. Historians differ 
 as to its nature. Some assert it was induced by poison, 
 others that it was caused by smallpox, others that it 
 was due to his own low vices. Be this as it may 
 he was able with difficulty to reach Glasgow, but 
 could proceed no further and had to remain in close 
 seclusion. There he was visited by the queen, who, 
 after a reconciliation had been effected, urged Darnley 
 to return with her to Craigmillar, near Edinburgh. 
 He consented to return to the capital, but objected to 
 Craigmillar on the ground that he would be so far 
 separated from her. Therefore Maitland and Bothwell, 
 as tradition relates, took the house, " Kirk of Field,'' 
 situate immediately behind the line of the town wall 
 and as nearly as possible on the spot now occupied 
 by the south-east corner of the University. There 
 Darnley took up his abode towards the end of January 
 and there he was frequently visited by the queen. 
 Apparently they were on the best of terms with each 
 other, the breach seemingly being entirely healed. 
 She showered caresses and endearments on him, and 
 even up to the fatal loth of February 1567, when 
 he was murdered by being blown up by gunpowder, 
 she had " petted and soothed " him until she left him 
 to attend the marriage festivities of her servant, Bastian. 
 By the apologists of Mary the events of that last day 
 and night never have been, and never can be, 
 explained in a manner calculated to acquit her from 
 the guilt of being a moral if not an actual participator 
 in the slaughter of her husband. The evidence 
 elicited by the commissioners which met to examine 
 the Casket Letters was damning to her innocence, even 
 if we set aside the " Letters themselves as unworthy 
 of credence. 
 
 Her subsequent history as it is associated with 
 Edinburgh may be told in a few words. She was 
 F 81 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 married to Bothwell in the Chapel Royal of Holyrood, 
 by his kinsman, Adam Bothwell, Bishop of Orkney, 
 May 15, 1567. They then proceeded to Borthwick 
 Castle to spend their honeymoon. On June 10 the 
 Scots nobility, having resolved on Bothwell's over- 
 throw, appeared with strong forces before the Castle, 
 but the guilty pair eluded their pursuers for the time 
 and fled to Dunbar, where they summoned an army to 
 join them. On the 15th June the two armies met at 
 Carberry, but no engagement took place ; Bothwell 
 made his escape, Mary surrendered to the lords and 
 was by them conveyed to Edinburgh, being lodged, 
 amid cries of execration, in the house of Sir Simon 
 Preston of Craigmillar, where the Royal Exchange 
 now stands. On the following day she was taken for 
 the last time to Holyrood, then was hurried to Loch- 
 leven on the 17th, never again to set foot in 
 Edinburgh. Once more she appears on the stage of 
 Scottish history. Albeit compelled to abdicate in 
 favour of her son (July 24, 1567), she contrived to 
 escape (May 2, 1 568) and repaired to Hamilton, where 
 she held Court, but the crushing defeat of her 
 supporters at the battle of Langside, by the Regent 
 Moray, so disheartened her that she fled to England 
 to throw herself on the generosity of Elizabeth. She 
 thus disappears for ever from the page of her country's 
 annals — a picturesque yet pathetic figure whose 
 misfortunes go far to condone her misdeeds. 
 
 82 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 In the Reign of James VI. 
 
 THE reign of James VI. began on the 29th January 
 1567, and as far as Scotland was immediately 
 concerned, terminated on 5th April 1603. He cannot 
 be said to have done much either for the improve- 
 ment or beautifying of the city of Edinburgh. 
 
 The first years of his minority were characterised by 
 the storm and stress of Civil War. Many of the 
 leading men in the Reformed party were grievously 
 offended by the rigorous measures adopted towards 
 the fair and unfortunate Mary. Gradually a *' queen's 
 party " took shape, headed by Maitland of Lethington, 
 and the heroic but headstrong soldier, Kirkcaldy of 
 Grange, while those who supported the authority of 
 her son, were styled king's men." 
 
 But we are anticipating our narrative. No sooner 
 had Mary been driven into abdication in the lonely 
 Castle of Lochleven, than her half-brother, Lord 
 James Stewart, created by her Earl of Moray, was 
 elected Regent for the infant king (August 22, 1567). 
 He was a man of undoubted ability and force of 
 character, in earlier years politically crafty and 
 ambitious, but, as time went on, that ambition was 
 kept well in check by his sincere piety. While there 
 can be no little doubt that at one time he cast his 
 eyes longingly upon the Crown, to which his accession 
 would have meant peace and prosperity for Scotland, 
 for his powerful personality would have crushed 
 the turbulent nobility into subjection, the infantile 
 
 83 
 
T^he Story of Edinburgh 
 
 helplessness of his nephew appealed irresistibly to his 
 sense of pity, and he deliberately renounced his 
 ambition in favour of the claims of kinship. Dur- 
 ing the seventeen months of his Regency, Scotland 
 enjoyed such a period of quiescence as she had not 
 experienced since the days of James IV., nor was to 
 enjoy again till the days of the Commonwealth. 
 While showing himself a great administrator by the 
 manner in which he governed the kingdom, he also 
 stands revealed as an able general by the skilful manner 
 in which he defeated at Langside the numerically 
 superior forces of the adherents of Mary. His very 
 success, however, proved his destruction. The strong 
 stand he made for the upholding of law and justice 
 roused the resentment of the nobility, whom he com- 
 pelled to respect the royal authority, and he fell by 
 the bullet of an assassin in January 1570. He was 
 interred in the south transept of St. Giles' Church, 
 amid universal mourning, and Knox delivered an 
 eloquent and touching oration over his bier. 
 
 Moray was succeeded by the Earl of Lennox, the 
 father of Darnley, and therefore the grandfather of the 
 king. Troubles began at once. No sooner was the 
 news conveyed to Kirkcaldy of Grange that the Good 
 Regent was dead, than he publicly declared his intention 
 of replacing Mary on the Throne. He was in com- 
 mand of the Castle of Edinburgh, and he now openly 
 defied the " king's party," shut the gates of the great 
 fortress, and in April 1571 began to play his cannon 
 upon the town, after ordering those citizens unfavour- 
 able to the cause of the queen to leave the place. 
 Lennox, having held a Parliament in a private house in 
 the Canongate, at which Kirkcaldy and the leaders of. 
 the queen's party were declared outlaws, withdrew to 
 Stirling, leavmg Morton to prosecute the war. Here 
 he was attacked by Kirkcaldy's lieutenants, the Earl 01 
 
 84 
 
In the Reign of James VI. 
 
 Huntly and the Lairds of Fernihurst and Buccleuch, 
 and for some hours the Earls of Lennox, Morton, 
 Glencairn and Ruthven were in the hands of the 
 " queen's men " until rescued by the Earl of Mar. 
 Lennox, however, was wounded by a pistol shot, of 
 which he died in the course of the day, after a regency 
 of fourteen months. 
 
 The Earl of Mar succeeded him, his regency being 
 mainly notable for the ferocity with which the contest 
 between Kirkcaldy of Grange and the Earl of Morton 
 was carried on. Many citizens lost their lives, and 
 the town of Edinburgh, which was held by the queen's 
 men," was the battle-ground of the parties. The re- 
 gency of Mar only lasted thirteen months, and then 
 he too died, the Earl of Morton being called to fill the 
 vacancy. He set himself without delay to reduce the 
 Castle, and gradually won so much of the town from 
 the " queen's men " that at last Kirkcaldy could only 
 claim the portion of Edinburgh on the Castlehill and 
 on the northern slope. His cruel action in setting fire 
 to a portion of the town and the news of the massacre 
 of St. Bartholomew sealed the doom of the queen's 
 party." Realising that the two countries must unite 
 for the defence of Protestantism, Elizabeth at last 
 listened to the Earl of Morton, and sent Sir William 
 Drury, with a train of siege-artillery and a body of well- 
 equipped troops, to assist in reducing the fortress. 
 
 Kirkcaldy of Grange did all a brave man could to 
 resist the forces against him. Though already short 
 of provisions when the siege commenced — his under- 
 ground passage leading into the town having been 
 discovered and blown up — he yet held out for thirty- 
 three days. In vain, the dying John Knox had sent 
 him a prophetic message of warning which was fulfilled 
 to the letter ; in vain his friends among the " king's 
 men " offered to make surrender easy ; he refused all 
 
 85 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 such endeavours of friends to save him from himself, 
 buoyed up by hopes of aid from France. Batteries 
 were erected by Morton and Drury in front of the 
 main entrance to the Castle, on the ground where 
 Heriot's Hospital now stands, on the further bank of 
 the Nor' Loch, and on a spur of the Calton Hill 
 known as the ^' Doo Craig." Professor Hume Brown 
 say : — 
 
 '*The assault began on the 2ist May, and when for the first 
 time the terrors of a siege were realised, the shrieks of the 
 women rose from the doomed stronghold. The batteries told 
 with deadly effect 5 St. David's Tower fell, the Wallace Tower 
 followed, and before many days the prediction of Knox in his 
 message to Kirkcaldy was fulfilled that the Castle walls would 
 run down like a sandy brae. The position of the besieged was 
 now desperate 5 the wells within the Castle were choked, pro- 
 visions failed, and a mutiny at length drove Grange to sue for 
 terms." 
 
 But of mercy he could expect none. Maitland of 
 Lethington, his companion, perished by his own hand, 
 while Kirkcaldy was hanged at the Tolbooth (3rd 
 August 1573), protesting with his last breath his 
 regret that he had not listened to Knox's warning. 
 
 Morton's regency thereafter was singularly unevent- 
 ful, and his influence upon Edinburgh was almost nil. 
 His rapacity and his cruelty, however, discounted in 
 the eyes of many the vigour and the justice of his 
 government. He had many enemies among the nobles 
 and the clergy, and they united to bring about his ruin, 
 which they effected in January 1581, when he was 
 publicly executed by the " Maiden," a species of 
 guillotine erroneously believed to have been invented 
 by himself. 
 
 In 1579 James resolved to take the government 
 into his own hands, although he was then only in his 
 fourteenth year. The usual triumphal entry was made, 
 when he was harangued in Greek, Latin, Scots and 
 86 
 
In the Reign of "James VI, 
 
 Hebrew ; which last the old historians say, " His High- 
 ness did understand rychte weill.*' The inevitable 
 sermon had, of course, to be preached, after which the 
 king was permitted to go to dinner, his remark on the 
 occasion being that doctrine and a toom wame (empty 
 stomach) didna go well together." 
 
 James did little for Edinburgh. The one great benefit 
 he conferred upon it was his establishment of the Uni- 
 versity in 1582, which, some years after, he graciously 
 permitted to be called after himself. The attendance 
 at first was far from large, though it steadily increased. 
 When one considers its almost insignificant beginning 
 and compares the numbers on the matriculation roll to- 
 day, which render it the largest University in the United 
 Kingdom, a useful lesson is imparted regarding the in- 
 advisability of despising the day of small things. We 
 shall have more to say about the University in the chapter 
 devoted to Edinburgh as an educational centre. 
 
 In 1583-84 some reforms were passed in connection 
 with the " Sett " or Constitution of the burgh and the 
 position of its chief magistrate. Disputes having arisen 
 in the previous year between the merchants and crafts- 
 men relative to their respective rights, a reference of the 
 points at issue to neutral parties was agreed upon, and 
 James VI. was chosen as umpire. The adjudicators 
 drew up an award called the ''Decreet-arbitral," which 
 settled the Sett or Constitution of the burgh, and was 
 acted on until the Reform Bill of 1832. The chief 
 magistrate of the city was, by virtue of his office, entitled 
 to a seat in Parliament — a state of afi^airs prevailing down 
 to the Union of the countries in 1707. 
 
 In 1587 a curious spectacle was witnessed in Edin- 
 burgh. James, being unable to .suppress the quarrels 
 constantly occurring among his nobility, determined to 
 end all disputes by a summary process of reconciliation. 
 Accordingly having assembled the nobles on Sunday, 
 
 87 
 
The Story of Sdinburgh 
 
 14th May, at Holyrood, in the lodging of Sir James 
 Maitland of Thirlestane (as Moyses tells us), he drank 
 to them and then caused them all to shake hands. On 
 the following day, after banqueting them in Holyrood, 
 he caused the Earls of Angus, Montrose, Crawford, 
 Mar, and Glencairn, also the Master of Glammis, and 
 many others — all deadly enemies to one another — to 
 march hand in hand two abreast from the Abbey of 
 Holyrood up the Canongate and High Street of Edin- 
 burgh to the Town Cross, where the provost and bailies 
 had a table spread with wines and sweetmeats. Here 
 the company once more drank to their eternal amity and 
 separated. Alas ! but a few weeks later they were lying 
 in wait, as of old, to kill one another ! In this year 
 also the High Court of Justiciary, formerly aa itinerant 
 tribunal, was permanently fixed at Edinburgh. 
 
 Though the intelligence of the execution of Queen 
 Mary, mother of James VI., did not officially reach the 
 Scots capital until nearly a month after the event, the 
 news put the king into " very great displeasure and grief, 
 so that he went to bed that night without supper / f For 
 a time James vowed vengeance, declined to allow 
 Elizabeth's ambassador to enter Scotland, and sent a 
 herald to demand official satisfaction for the deed. But 
 Elizabeth soothed the young monarch by representing 
 the act to have been done without her cognisance. 
 Certainly the safety of both thrones had demanded that 
 Mary should be removed from the political stage, and 
 both monarchs realised the fact. 
 
 The next gay pageant which delighted the Edin- 
 burghers was the welcome home " to James and his 
 newly- wedded Danish bride. The king had done a very 
 courageous thing — for him ! Gales having delayed the 
 lady's start for Scotland, the monarch fearing the 
 fickle fair might back out of the business, embarked for 
 Denmark, despite storms and witches' incantations, 
 88 
 
/// the Reign of James VI, 
 
 married the lady of his love and started homeward. 
 Naturally such a display of courage on the part of the 
 " Lord's anointed " deserved a triumphal pageant, and 
 he got it ! On the ist of May 1590, the royal pair 
 landed at Leith, where they were welcomed by their 
 subjects with every demonstration of joy. Much the 
 same order of procession was observed as had been the 
 case in the welcome to Scotland " tendered to James's 
 mother, nine-and-twenty years before, when she returned 
 to begin her six years of stormy rule. 
 
 James was at this time exceedingly poor, and some of 
 his shifts to make a good appearance before the Danish 
 ambassadors are very amusing. From the Earl of Mar 
 he borrowed a pair of silk stockings for his own wear, 
 saying in his letter, " Ye wadna wish that your king 
 suld appear a scrub on sic an occasion." John Boswell 
 of Balmuto lent the impecunious James 1000 marks 
 (about £55), induced to do so perhaps by the king's 
 artful appeal to his patriotism, " Ye will rather hurt 
 yersel very far, than see the dishonour of your prince 
 and native country, with the poverty of baith set down 
 before the face of strangers." 
 
 The townsmen evidently were neither poor nor 
 stingy ; for they provided for the young queen a car- 
 riage richly gilt, lined with crimson velvet. Her maids 
 of honour were with her, and the king (carefully packed 
 on a side-saddle) rode on horseback by the door of the 
 carriage, and in that way they reached Holyrood. Two 
 days after her coronation (17th May), Queen Anne 
 made a tour of the town in her coach, accompanied 
 by the king and the ladies and gentlemen of the 
 Court. The fountain at the Cross again flowed claret. 
 Just above the Netherbow there was a pageant enacted 
 representing the royal marriage. But what would appeal 
 to James most of all, from the summit of the post was 
 let down a casket which with contents was valued at 
 
 89 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 20,000 crowns (about £8,500), a present from the 
 town of Edinburgh to the good Queen Anne ! 
 
 Leprosy was still prevalent in Scotland. In 1591 
 the buildings and foundation," which before the 
 Reformation were used for the housing and support 
 of a monastery of Carmelite friars, were now devoted to 
 the purposes of providing a hospital for persons affected 
 with the disease, the prevalence of which, especially 
 in Edinburgh, resulted (i) from the extreme scarcity 
 of water, there being very few wells in the town, while 
 no supply was conveyed from a distance until the seven- 
 teenth century ; (2) from the constant fish diet, many 
 of the poorer classes living on this article of food three 
 parts of the year. When the hospital was opened, seven 
 lepers, all inhabitants of Edinburgh, were admitted. 
 The restrictions put on them were very severe. They 
 were allowed fourpence Scots per week in addition to 
 what alms they could elicit from the public, but were 
 debarred from leaving the hospital, nor were its doors 
 to be open after sunset, under pain of death, a gallows 
 being erected beside the gateway for the punishment of 
 offenders. 
 
 In 1590-91 Edinburgh was unwontedly stirred by 
 an extraordinary series of trials for witchcraft. David 
 Seaton, a farmer in Tranent, having suspected his 
 servant-maid, Geilie Duncan, to be a witch, because 
 she manifested great skill in curing the diseases of 
 man and beast, on his own authority subjected her to 
 torture with the pilniewinks (finger screws), and 
 compelled her in her anguish not only to acknowledge 
 herself such, but to accuse John Fian (or Cunningham), 
 schoolmaster at Prestonpans, Agnes Sampson, midwife 
 of Keith (near Haddington), Barbara Napier, wife of 
 a citizen of Edinburgh, and Euphame M'Calyean, of 
 Edinburgh, a lady of high social position, wife of a 
 lawyer and daughter of a judge of the Court of Session. 
 90 
 
In the Reign of James VI. 
 
 John Fian, when under examination by torture, 
 confessed to many things utterly incredible and im- 
 possible. That they should have been believed, nay, 
 that the king should have been so interested in these 
 trials that he personally presided at them, and even 
 assisted with his own hands in the examination by 
 torture, casts a lurid light upon the degraded superstition 
 of the age. The nails of the unfortunate man were 
 torn away with pincers, needles were thrust up to the head 
 in his fingers, while his legs were crushed in the boots 
 until the blood and marrow spouted forth." He re- 
 sisted all for a long time, then made a confession in his 
 agony that he had often had conferences with the devil, 
 that he had attended several meetings or ^' Devil's Parlia- 
 ments " in company with other wizards and witches, 
 in North Berwick Kirk, at which the " Prince of Dark- 
 ness" presided in the form of a huge black man with 
 horns and a tail, which caudal appendage he was always 
 anxious to conceal. On such occasions Fian stated that 
 he had acted as the Fiend's scribe or secretary of proceed- 
 ings, adding that he had gone with a company of witches 
 from Prestonpans, one stormy night, out to a ship at 
 sea which they caused to sink by their spells. He con- 
 fessed he had chased a cat in Tranent for the purpose 
 of throwing it into the sea to raise storms for the 
 destruction of shipping, also that he had been able to 
 leap over walls six feet high at a bound. In his in- 
 dictment drawn up either by or at the instigation of 
 James, the following was alleged against him, that 
 
 Passing to Tranent on horseback, and ane man with him, 
 he by his devilish craft raisit up four candles upon the horse's 
 twa lugs (ears), and ane other candle upon the staff" whilk the 
 man had in his hand, and gave sic light as if it had been day- 
 licht : like as the said candles returnit with the said man at his 
 hame-coming and causit him fall dead at the entry within the 
 house ! 
 
 Fian afterwards withdrew his confession, and though 
 
 91 
 
T^he Story of Edinburgh 
 
 repeatedly tortured by James, he would not open his 
 lips any more, which caused the sapient monarch to 
 assert that the devil had again entered his heart. Fian 
 was therefore condemned, strangled, and burned on the 
 Castlehill. 
 
 Agnes Sampson, on being tortured also, confessed 
 that she too had been at the night meeting in North 
 Berwick Church. She then stated that 
 
 **The devil in man's likeness met her going out into the 
 fields from her own house in Keith, between five and sax at 
 even, being alone, and commanded her to be at North Berwick 
 Kirk the next night. She passed there on horseback and lighted 
 down at the kirkyard. A little before she came to it, about 
 eleven hours at even, she and others danced alang the kirkyard ; 
 Geilie Duncan playing to them on a trump, John Fian missalit 
 (masked) led all the rest, the said Agnes and her daughter 
 followed next, and some others, in all about ane hundred persons, 
 whereof sax were men, and all the rest women. The women 
 first made their homage, then the men. The men turned nine 
 times ivithershins about (i.e,, contrary to the course of the sun, 
 that is from west to east). The witches then took hands and 
 danced a reel to the music of Geilie Duncan's Jew's trump, 
 singing the while — 
 
 ' Cummer, go ye before, Cummer go ye, 
 Gif ye will not go before. Cummer let me.' 
 
 "John Fian touched the doors with his staff and they opened ; 
 he then with his breath blew in the lights, which were like 
 muckle black candles sticking round the pulpit. The devil then 
 started up in the pulpit, like ane muckle black man, and callit 
 everyane by his or her name, and they answered 'Here, 
 Master.' . . . On his command they openit up the graves, 
 two within and ane without the kirk, and cut off the joints of 
 the fingers, toes and knees of the dead, and partit them amang 
 them, so that having ground them to a powder they might work 
 mischief therewith. They also put to sea on the day James was 
 expected back from Denmark with his bride, and threw a cat 
 into the water, pronouncing at the same time an invocation to 
 the devil. This was intended to raise such a storm that the 
 vessel would be wrecked and the king drowned. (James stated 
 that he could vouch for the truth of this, for his vessel had been 
 greatly troubled by storms and contrary winds, while the other 
 92 
 
In the Reign of James VI, 
 
 vessels of the fleet were bowling along before a favourable wind.) 
 The witches added that they asked the devil why they could not 
 work the king any evil. And the Prince of Darkness replied, 
 * Because he is such a good man, I have no power over him. He 
 is my greatest enemy.'" 
 
 It is said that James regarded this as a high compli- 
 ment. These unfortunate people, all without doubt 
 insane, were burned at the stake on the Castlehill. 
 
 In the year 1593 the Edinburgh Dean of Guild 
 Court was formally constituted and defined as a 
 recognised Municipal Court. It had been in existence 
 for more than two centuries previous, but its duties 
 were exceedingly vague. Now it was empowered to 
 hear all causes between merchants or between merchants 
 and mariners, was also directed to take cognisance of 
 all buildings within the city, and previous to any 
 building being erected a warrant had to be obtained 
 from this court. It had also the right to " visit and in- 
 spect all buildings and to condemn those that are insecure." 
 Two years later occurred the historic tragedy of Bailie 
 MacMorran, when one of the leading magistrates of 
 the city was shot dead by the High School boys. 
 
 The year 1596 was a very important one in the 
 history of Edinburgh, owing to the disputes waged 
 between the king and the clergy of the city, having 
 come to a head over the question of the king permit- 
 ting the popish lords to live within their own houses. 
 To this the Presbyterian ministers objected, and the 
 people, in a petition, vigorously supported their 
 spiritual advisers. Offended by the tone of this 
 document, the king declined to receive it, and on 
 this being reported to the people, a violent tumult 
 resulted, which was suppressed with difhculty. The 
 clergy now took the false step of requesting Lord 
 Hamilton to put himself at the head of the malcontents, 
 in order that the evil advisers who were leading the 
 king into these new and devious paths might be 
 
 93 
 
T^he Story of Edinburgh 
 
 punished. Hamilton was a born courtier, and seeing 
 in this letter a means of ingratiating himself with his 
 Majesty, he at once laid it before the monarch with 
 many expressions of abhorrence at the part the 
 ministers wished him to play. This patent piece of 
 acting was just what James desired. Between him 
 and his dream of absolute sovereignty the clergy alone 
 stood. Affecting to be deeply offended at the insult, 
 James, who had withdrawn to Linlithgow, ordered 
 the Court of Session to follow him thither and to sit 
 no longer in Edinburgh ; and in addition commanded 
 one minister to be imprisoned and certain others to be 
 banished. James had of course no right to do any of 
 these arbitrary acts, but there was no citizen of out- 
 standing courage to withstand him, Andrew Melvil 
 being in St. Andrews and the other leaders in exile. 
 Great consternation prevailed, and the luckless bur- 
 gesses of Edinburgh were only able to make their 
 peace with the king through the intercession of the 
 Queen of England, also by the payment of a round 
 sum and by the forfeiture of many of their privileges, 
 such as that of electing their own magistrates. As a 
 result of this misunderstanding, James insisted on a 
 Town Guard ^' being appointed, thirty men being 
 elected to watch the city and keep order therein. 
 Hitherto the citizens themselves had discharged that 
 duty, taking it in turns, but this new system was intro- 
 duced which lasted until the creation of the Edinburgh 
 Police Constabulary in 1818. 
 
 From this date, James, by every means in his 
 power, sought to suppress Presbyterianism in favour of 
 Episcopacy. He insisted that in future ministers must 
 reside within their own parishes, that one minister 
 must not meddle with the affairs of another, and that 
 all appeals must be to the king alone. 
 
 In 1598 Fynes Moryson paid his historic visit to 
 94 
 
In the Reign of y antes VI, 
 
 Scotland, which he has recorded in his Itinerary, He 
 travelled by road from Berwick and gives a most in- 
 teresting and valuable description of the Edinburgh of 
 his day : — 
 
 " From the village of Fisheraive (Fisherrow) I rode the rest 
 of the way and so in one dayes journey, as I said, came to 
 Edinborrow seated in Lodoney (Lothian) (of old called Pictland) 
 the most civill region of Scotland, being hilly and fruitful in corn, 
 but having little or no wood. This city is the seat of the King 
 of Scotland and the Courts of Justice are held in the same. . . . 
 The city is high-seated in a fruitful soyle and wholesome aire, 
 and is adorned with many noblemen's towers lying about it, and 
 aboundeth with many springs of sweet waters. At the end 
 towards the east is the King's Palace joyning to the Monastery 
 of the Holy Crosse (Holyrood Abbey) which King David the 
 First built. From the King's Palace on the east, the city still 
 riseth higher and higher towards the west and consists especially 
 of one broad and very faire street (which is the greatest part and 
 sole ornament thereof), the rest of the side-streets and allies 
 being of poor building and inhabited with very poore people. 
 Towards the west is a very strong Castle which the Scots hold 
 unexpugnable. In the midst of the aforesaid street is the 
 Cathedrall Church, which is large and lightsome, but little stately 
 for the building, and nothing at all for beauty and ornament. 
 The houses of the city are built of unpolished stone and in the 
 faire street good parte of them is of freestone, which in that 
 broad streete would make a faire shew, but that the outsides of 
 them are faced with wooden galleries, built upon the second story 
 of the houses 5 yet these galleries give the owners a faire and a 
 pleasant prospect into the faire and broad street when they sit 
 or stand in the same." 
 
 As to food, Moryson says that the people 
 
 " Eate much red colewort and cabbage, but little fresh meate, 
 using to salt their mutton and geese. . . . The gentlemen 
 reckon their revenewes not by rents of monie but by chauldrons 
 of victuals and keep many people in their families, yet living 
 mostly on corne and roots, not spending any great quantity on 
 flesh. Myself was at a knighte's house who had many servants 
 to attend him, that brought in his meate with their heads 
 covered with blew caps, the table being more than halfe furnished 
 with great platters of porredge (kail), each having a little piece 
 of sodden meate. When the table was served the servants did 
 
 95 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 sit down with us, but the upper messe insteede of porredge had a 
 pullet with some prunes in the brothe." 
 
 In the year 1599 Scotland was brought into line 
 with all the other countries of the world in the matter 
 of the commencement of the year. Hitherto the Day 
 of the Annunciation (the 25th March) had been re- 
 garded as New Year's Day ; from this date, the ist of 
 January, by proclamation issued from Holyrood House 
 and intimated at the Cross of Edinburgh, was con- 
 stituted the beginning of " the legal year." 
 
 The ideas current at the present day regarding 
 royal state and etiquette, receive a curious commentary 
 when we come to note the familiar social relations 
 whereon James lived with his subjects. When his 
 own larder at Holyrood Palace was somewhat empty, 
 he was not above asking for the wherewithal to make 
 a brave show on his own table. At the baptism of 
 Charles I. he thus writes to the Laird of Dundas : — 
 
 Right traist friend, we grete you heartilie weel. The 
 baptism of our dearest son being appointit at Holyrud-house 
 upon the XXIII. of December instant, whereat some princes of 
 France, strangers, with the specials of our nobility being in- 
 vited to be present, necessar it is that great provisions, gude 
 cheir and sic uther things necessar for decorations thereof be 
 providit, whilks cannot be had without the help of sum of our 
 lovand subjects, quhair of accounting you one of the specialis, 
 we have thought good to request you effectuouslie to propyne 
 (present) with vennysons, wyld meat, Brissil fowls (turkeys), 
 capons and sic other provisions as are maist seasonable at that 
 time and errand, to be sent into Holyrud-house upon the 22nd 
 day of the said moneth of December instant and herewithal to 
 invyte you to be present at that Solemnitie to take part of your 
 awin gude cheir as you tender our honour and the honour of the 
 country : Swa we commett you to God. From Lithgow, this 
 6th of Decemr, 1600. — 'James R.'" 
 
 Towards the end of the century, the Town Council, 
 inspired doubtless by the clergy, passed a by-law, or 
 as it was called "an Act," enjoining that Wednesdays 
 and Fridays were to be observed as Sunday, that all 
 
 96 
 
the Reign of yames VI. 
 
 the shops were to be closed, and that no person should 
 go to a tavern or walk the streets during divine service. 
 As there was the usual Thursday ** Lecture on the 
 Auld Testament," which was only abolished in 1769, 
 the citizens of the good town were well churched." 
 
 We now reach that event which went far to 
 terminate Edinburgh's period of prosperity, by robbing 
 her of the glory of being the residence of the reigning 
 monarch. On the night of Wednesday, March 21, 
 1603, Elizabeth, Queen of England, died, and on the 
 Saturday night following, shortly before midnight, a 
 travel-stained horseman knocked loudly at the gates of 
 Holyrood. Admitted after some difficulty into the 
 royal bedchamber. Sir Robert Carey knelt and saluted 
 James as King of England ; the official announcement 
 from the Privy Council arriving three days later. On 
 Sunday, 3rd April, after service in St. Giles' Church, 
 James VI. and I. took leave of his people in a speech 
 full of affection and regard, and on the Tuesday following 
 set out on his journey to England. He had promised 
 to visit Edinburgh every three years ; fourteen were to 
 elapse before he redeemed his pledge. 
 
 Thus ends Edinburgh's period of splendour. 
 Henceforward she resembled a widow mourning the 
 death of her spouse and forsaking all the gaiety and 
 mirth of her former days. 
 
 G 
 
 97 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 From the Union of the Crowns to the 
 Union of the Kingdoms^ 1 603-1707 
 
 THE remainder of the reign of James was uneventful, 
 as far as it affected Edinburgh. In 1605 the 
 superiority of Edinburgh over Leith was firmly 
 established, the rights acquired by the loan which the 
 town had advanced to Queen Mary being still further 
 enlarged by the purchase from Lord Thirlestane of all 
 those privileges and interests which he held in connec- 
 tion with the port. This was a source of infinite 
 trouble and harassment to the merchants of Leith, 
 inasmuch as the magistrates of Edinburgh did all they 
 could to retard the progress of their dependency. 
 
 James meantime, after seeing the pomp and cir- 
 cumstance " attendant upon municipal business in 
 English towns, and particularly in London, ordered 
 that in future the Provost (not yet Lord Provost, as 
 some assert) should have a sword carried before him, 
 while both he and the magistrates were ordered to 
 wear, on public occasions and at civic functions, gowns 
 indicative of their rank and office. The patterns for 
 these James personally sent down from London. 
 
 In the year 1610 stage-coaches commenced to ply 
 between Edinburgh and Leith, the exclusive right of 
 running them being granted for fifteen years by royal 
 patent to Henry Anderson of Stralsund, in Pomerania. 
 The fare was twopence for each passenger, equal to 
 about sixpence of our money to-day. These coaches 
 became after a time so popular that the service was 
 extended to other places, 
 
 98 
 
From the Union of the Crowns 
 
 Two years later Old Greyfriars' Church was 
 founded. The ground, originally the gardens sur- 
 rounding the monastery of the Franciscan or Grey 
 Friars, had been granted by Mary to the town as a 
 burying-place, when the cemetery at St. Giles' was 
 found to be inconvenient. Though a site had been 
 marked off for a church, the building was not fully 
 completed until 1624. 
 
 James, after the lapse of fourteen years determined 
 to redeem his pledge to revisit Scotland. He had 
 learned that a generation was growing up that did not 
 know him, and that loyalty was beginning to wane in 
 Scotland. Accordingly, in 161 7, he made arrange- 
 ments to proceed north, but as he was anxious the 
 English nobility should not discover that his boasting 
 over the splendour and prosperity of Scotland was 
 empty talk, he ordered that Holyrood Palace should 
 be completely repaired, that the chapel should be 
 rebuilt and refurnished, and that an organ should be 
 erected therein. To decorate the chapel he sent 
 down twelve wooden statues of the Apostles, richly 
 gilt. The people of Edinburgh, however, objected to 
 them as tending to restore Romish idolatry," and he 
 therefore countermanded his orders, but accused the 
 Presbyterian clergy and people of ignorance, because 
 they could not distinguish between statues intended for 
 ornament and images erected as objects of worship. 
 Attended by a special suite, among which were the 
 Duke of Lennox, the Earls of Buckingham, Arundel, 
 Southampton, Pembroke, 'the Bishops of Ely and 
 Lincoln, Laud, then Archdeacon of Huntingdon and 
 Dean of Gloucester, and a large company of English 
 nobles and gentry, James entered Edinburgh on May 
 16, by the West Port, where the Provost and magis- 
 trates, clad in their new robes, received him, and where 
 John Hay, the town clerk of the time, greeted him 
 
 99 
 
"The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 with an address an hour long, in which choice flowers 
 of flattery and hyperbole tickled the pedantic monarch's 
 ears. 
 
 James having " suitably " replied, the procession 
 advanced onward through the Grassmarket, up the 
 West Bow and down the High Street and Canongate, 
 the streets being lined on both sides with the citizens' 
 train-bands, all clad in satin doublets, and with halberts 
 in their hands. The king stopped at St. Giles', where 
 he heard a sermon by the Bishop of St. Andrews. 
 After this the procession was re-formed and proceeded 
 to the Palace of Holyrood, the king stopping for a 
 moment at St. John's Cross, Canongate, to knight the 
 Provost of Edinburgh, William Nisbet. On the 19th 
 June James formally visited the Castle, in order to 
 celebrate his fifty-first birthday in the room wherein he 
 was born. Here he was welcomed by a speech in 
 Hebrew by a boy, Andrew Kerr, nine years of age, 
 and in the banquet which followed in the great hall, 
 the health of the monarch was drunk with enthusiasm. 
 
 One has often wondered at the high mortality rates 
 of these days, but could aught else be expected when 
 we learn that permission was given to candlemakers 
 to keep their shoppes and houses where they melt their 
 tallow and cracklings, within the heart of the burgh ; 
 and to fleshers to keepe their slaughter-shoppes within 
 the towne, and to tuime (empty) the filth of the 
 slaughtered goods upon the high streets and in open 
 vennalles and cloases, whereby it oftentimes falleth out 
 that in mony streets of the said burgh the filth of the 
 slaughtered animals is in such abundance exposed to 
 the view of the people and the cloases and streets are 
 so filled therewith as there can be no passage thorow 
 the same." These nuisances were ordered by royal 
 proclamation to be removed to the north side of the 
 Nor' Loch. Probably, owing to the royal insistency 
 100 
 
From the Union o f the Crowns 
 
 regarding this and cognate matters, we find that early 
 in the following year (March 1618) the Privy 
 Council made certain recommendations to the Magis- 
 trates regarding the cleansing of the streets of the 
 town. The description they give of its condition is 
 terrible, owing to the offal and entrails of slaughtered 
 beasts and the like being allowed to lie festering and 
 rotting on the public thoroughfares. 
 
 After a stay of nearly two months in his native city, 
 the king took farewell of his Scots subjects ; but be- 
 fore leaving he ordered that the University should be 
 called after himself, the College of King James," 
 promising also to provide grants and endowments for it. 
 The latter part of the engagement the Scots Solomon 
 found it convenient to forget. He had also pledged 
 himself to show greater kindness than ever to the land 
 of his birth, but the way he took to manifest that 
 kindness was somewhat peculiar. He immediately 
 caused an Act of Parliament to be passed by means of 
 his creatures in the Scots Estates " investing the 
 king, archbishops and bishops with supreme power, while 
 the clergy who refused to conform were suspended, 
 deprived or imprisoned. The citizens of Edinburgh 
 for their firm adherence to Presbyterian forms were 
 threatened with removal of the seat of government and 
 the Courts of Justice. But all was in vain. Though 
 deprived of their churches, the clergy met in con- 
 venticles to which the people resorted in crowds, leav- 
 ing the churches empty. James and his Commissioners 
 were meditating more stringent measures when the 
 monarch was removed by death (March 26, 1625) and 
 the work was left to his son. 
 
 The only other historic incidents worthy of mention 
 during the reign of James 1. was the visit paid in 161 8 
 by Ben Jonson to William Drummond, at his seat of 
 Hawthornden, about six miles from the capital. The 
 
 101 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 great English dramatist was hospitably received both by 
 his host and the magistrates of Edinburgh and always 
 retained a warm recollection of the kindness shown to 
 him. Ben Jonson was entertained at a banquet by the 
 Provost, Sir William Nisbet, and presented with what 
 was equivalent to the freedom of the city," viz., 
 his ticket as a burgess and guild-brother. Taylor, 
 the " Water Poet,'' also visited Edinburgh at the same 
 time. 
 
 The reign of Charles 1., as regards Edinburgh, was 
 marked by little of a noteworthy character, until near 
 its close. He was perpetually demanding contributions 
 in money, now for his ships, now for coast defence, 
 now for his army, and the magistrates evinced them- 
 selves so generously complaisant in supplying his wants, 
 that he presented the Provost with a new gown of 
 office and a sword to be borne before him on public 
 occasions. 
 
 In July 1628 the trustees or governors, under the 
 will of George Heriot, began the erection of the mag- 
 nificent structure, Heriot's Hospital, which stands on 
 the west side of Greyfriars' Churchyard, and about 
 which we shall say more hereafter. In 1633 Charles 
 I. visited his native land, in order to be crowned. He 
 was warmly welcomed, the address presented on his 
 entry into the Scots capital being written by William 
 Drummond. Charles was met at the West Port by 
 the magistrates clad in scarlet robes and the councillors 
 in black gowns faced with velvet, and conducted 
 through the Grassmarket, up the West Bow, down 
 the High Street and Canongate to Holyrood, all the 
 houses in the streets through which he passed being 
 ornamented with velvet and tapestry, while at stated 
 places on the line of the procession were pictures of 
 local scenery by Jamesone, the great Scottish artist. 
 Around the Netherbow Port in particular, there was a 
 102 
 
From the Union of the Crowns 
 
 fine group of paintings illustrative of Midlothian 
 scenery. The streets were lined by the train-bands, 
 clad in white satin doublets, black velvet breeches, 
 white stockings, and with halberts in their hands. 
 Charles and his suite were magnificently entertained 
 throughout the visit, one state banquet alone costing 
 the town £41,489 Scots, equal to £3457 of our 
 money. 
 
 In 1633 private carriages began to be used by the 
 Scots nobility, the fashion having been introduced by 
 King Charles, who brought down with him no fewer 
 than sixteen coaches in his train. In a few years they 
 became common amongst the gentry, but the merchants 
 and others long preferred to travel on horseback. In 
 
 1635 the Post Office was first established in Edinburgh. 
 The mails to London left twice a week, the postage 
 on a letter to the English metropolis being 8d. In 
 
 1636 the Town Council of Edinburgh purchased from 
 the Earl of Roxburgh the superiority of the Canon- 
 gate burgh of regality, also that of the town of North 
 Leith, part of the barony of Broughton, and a portion 
 of the village of " The Pleasants" (now Pleasance), 
 all these having been vested in the earl at the time of 
 the Reformation. 
 
 No sooner had the king returned to London than, 
 instigated by Laud, he strove to carry out his father's 
 ideas and to overturn the Kirk of Scotland. His plan 
 took the form of erecting Edinburgh into a separate 
 diocese, separated from the old metropolitan see of St. 
 Andrews, the Collegiate Church of St. Giles being 
 named as its cathedral. The new service-book, ex- 
 pressly drawn up for use in the Scottish Church, was 
 ordered to be read there for the first time on Sunday, 
 23rd July 1637. The temper of the people might 
 have warned the authorities what to expect. The 
 dean in his surplice approached the reading-desk and 
 
 103 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 opened 'he service-book. The huge church was 
 crowded to its utmost capacity. The Lord Chan- 
 cellor, the Lords of the Privy Council, the judges and 
 bishops and a vast number of nobles and gentlemen 
 filled the aisles. No sooner, however, did Dean 
 Hanna begin to read the ''office" of morning prayer 
 than a deafening tumult arose. The dean paused, but 
 the bishop called to him to proceed with the collect for 
 the day. This was overheard by an old woman, 
 Jenny Geddes, one of the kailwives, or vegetable- 
 dealers, whose little movable booths were usually 
 pitched near the Tron." " Colic, did ye say ! " 
 she shouted, deil colic the wame o' ye," then hurling 
 her cutty-stool " at the dean's head, she added, '« Ye 
 false thief, wull ye say Mass at my lug ? " In vain 
 Lindsay, Bishop of Edinburgh, the Archbishop of St. 
 Andrews and the Chancellor, tried to still the tumult. 
 Worse instead of better it grew, until the clergy were 
 literally pelted from the church. A similar scene was 
 enacted in Greyfriars' Church and the service-book 
 was effectually banished, for the time at least, from the 
 Church of Scotland. 
 
 Charles made one more effort to carry his point. A 
 royal edict ordering the use of the service-book was 
 proclaimed at the Cross on February 22, 1638. This, 
 however, was at once met by the formation of a league of 
 noblemen, gentlemen, clergy, and burgesses, divided into 
 " Four Tables " according to their rank as specified 
 above. After a formal protest against the edict had 
 been declared, a representative gathering of some 300 
 delegates from these four classes met in the " Tailors' 
 Hall," Cowgate, and discussed the " National Cove- 
 nant," which had been drawn up in 1 580 by John Craig 
 (the colleague and successor of Knox), at the command 
 of James VL, to counteract the attempts then being 
 made by the Roman Catholics to regain their hold on 
 1 04 
 
From the Union of the Crowns 
 
 Scotland. On Sabbath, 28th February, the National 
 Covenant was signed in Greyfriars' Churchyard, many 
 individuals opening a vein in their bodies, and appending 
 their names in their own blood. When space failed, 
 the initials of eager signatories were squeezed into all 
 available corners. People flocked into Edinburgh from 
 every corner of Scotland, eager to defend the Church, 
 and the advocates of Episcopacy were subjected to every 
 kind of maltreatment and disgraceful insult, until the 
 Government, seeing the attempt to be hopeless to im- 
 pose prelacy on an unwilling nation, recalled the edict, 
 and in 1639 the Bishopric of Edinburgh was declared 
 " suspended," until quieter days. 
 
 In this same year the " Covenanters," fearing that 
 Charles was determined to impose his ideas of Church 
 government upon them, took the field with an army 
 under General Lesley and began operations by an attack 
 on Edinburgh Castle, which the governor, Colonel 
 Holden, surrendered almost on demand, having neither 
 the men nor the provisions to stand a siege. Lesley 
 then proceeded to fortify Leith, being the more 
 stimulated to do so, by the defeat which the Marquis 
 of Montrose inflicted on the Covenanting forces at 
 Kilsyth. Montrose indeed sent a threatening message 
 to the Town Council of Edinburgh, that he would 
 attack the city unless the prisoners belonging to the 
 king's party were immediately released. This was 
 done, and in order to protect the city from the danger 
 which threatened it. Sir William Dick, the wealthy 
 Provost, and his fellow magistrates issued a proclamation, 
 forbidding any of the inhabitants to leave the city 
 without their consent, under the penalty of £1000 
 Scots, the loss of burgess freedom, and the forfeiture 
 of all their effects within the city. 
 
 Charles again visited Edinburgh in 1 641, in order to 
 compose the differences with the Covenanters, but 
 
 105 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 completely failed, though he was entertained at the 
 inevitable banquet. Four years later the city was 
 visited by the last epidemic of the plague. Its virulence 
 was so great that the Parliament met in Stirling. In 
 1647 the Tron Church, which had been in course of 
 erection since 1637, was formally opened. The build- 
 ing, though twice burned down, is to-day, in its ex- 
 terior, substantially the same as when erected 250 years 
 ago. 
 
 As late as 1631 we have instances of sumptuary 
 legislation. The Town Council passed an Act for- 
 bidding all women to wear plaids over their heads and 
 faces under a penalty of £5 Scots and the forfeiture of 
 the garment. In 1633, attention having been paid 
 to the order, a new Act was passed decreeing corporal 
 punishment for the offence, and in 1648 the magistrates 
 again directed their officers to seize any offenders and 
 bring them up for punishment. 
 
 Meantime the Marquis of Montrose, who had nearly 
 retrieved the fortunes of Charles in Scotland, was 
 unexpectedly intercepted at Philiphaugh, near the pass 
 of Lochcarron, and suffered complete defeat (May 18, 
 1650). Being betrayed by a false friend to General 
 Lesley, he was brought to Edinburgh, and executed 
 outside the Tolbooth with every species of indignity, 
 his head being afhxed to the gaol and his limbs ex- 
 posed at the gates of Aberdeen, Perth, Stirling, and 
 Glasgow. In this year the understanding which had 
 existed between Cromwell and the Covenanters came 
 to an end. While England declared for the Common- 
 wealth, Charles II. was proclaimed king at the Cross 
 of Edinburgh, and in August of the same year landed 
 at Leith and proceeded in state to the Castle. One of 
 the first things he was requested to do on his return 
 was to sign the Covenant, to which he assented with 
 great reluctance. Cromwell, ere long, was sent north 
 106 
 
From the Union of the Crowns 
 
 to bring the Scots to their senses, and the victory of 
 Dunbar placed Edinburgh in his hands. Had the 
 clergy not interfered with Lesley's plans, Cromwell 
 would have been worsted by his opponent's superior 
 strategy, and compelled to retire, baffled, to England, 
 whereby the after-trend of historical events in Britain 
 might have been changed. Now, however, he advanced 
 upon Edinburgh, occupied it and Leith, and after a 
 brief siege secured possession of the Castle. From 
 1 650- 1 660 Edinburgh was placed under martial law, 
 while the pulpits of its churches were occupied by the 
 Protector's troopers — nay. General Cromwell himself 
 is reported to have preached in St. Giles' Churchyard. 
 He is said to have taken up his quarters in the Earl of 
 Moray's house in the Canongate, while his soldiers 
 were located in the Castle, in Holyrood Palace, and 
 elsewhere. The " guard-house," according to tradi- 
 tion, was situated in Dunbar's Close. Their presence 
 in the Palace led to an irreparable disaster, for their 
 carelessness regarding the extinction of their lights 
 caused this noble memorial of the Scottish kings to be 
 totally destroyed by fire in November 1650, with the 
 exception of the two north-west towers, erected by 
 James V. As additional troops arrived, they were 
 quartered in the churches, Nicoll recording with indig- 
 nation and regret the desecration and destruction of the 
 College Kirk, the Greyfriars' Kirk, Lady Yester's 
 Kirk, the High School, the College of Edinburgh, by 
 these boors, who considered they evinced their piety 
 by the defacement of any ornaments in the buildings. 
 Heriot's Hospital also narrowly escaped being perman- 
 ently converted into barracks. In 1652 the first news- 
 paper was printed in Scotland, to wit Mercurius Scoi'tcus, 
 or a true Character of Affairs in England, Ireland, 
 Scotland, and other foreign parts," being followed by 
 the Mercurius Politicus, 
 
 107 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 Nicoll in his Diary under the year 1658, says : — 
 
 Burning of witches and warlocks were maist frequent. In 
 Februar twa women and ane man were prisoners for this crime 
 in the Tolbooth of Edinburgh. One of the women died in the 
 prison, the warlock was worryit at the stake on the Castlehill. 
 The other woman, Jonet Anderson, wha had only been married 
 three months before, confessit that she had given hersel, bodie 
 and soul to the devil, and that at her wedding she saw Satan 
 standing in the kirk ahint the pulpit. She made ane happy end 
 and gave singular testimonies of her repentance by frequent 
 prayers and singing of psalms before her execution. In the 
 August the same year four women, ane of them a maiden, were 
 burnt on the Castlehill, all confessing the sin of witchcraft. 
 Two months later five women belonging to Dunbar were burnt 
 on the Castlehill together, all confessing they had covenanted 
 with Satan, renounced to him their baptism, and taken from 
 him new names with suitable marks impressed on their flesh ; 
 while a week or two later nine witches from the Parish of 
 Tranent all dyed in Edinburgh with the like confessions on their 
 lips. Yet despite all this the clergy were not satisfied, and 
 complained, 'There is much witchery up and down our land, the 
 English be but too sparing to try it, though some they execut.'" 
 
 Nothing further of interest occurred in Edinburgh 
 until the Restoration, which was celebrated with great 
 rejoicings. Circumstances alter cases. Whereas the one 
 month the Town Council of Edinburgh speak of Crom- 
 well as *' His Highness the umquhile Lord Protector, 
 Oliver Cromwell, under whom we have enjoyed great 
 peace and felicitie," the following month he is styled 
 "That notour tyrant and traitor OHver," while his 
 effigy was burned on the Castlehill in association with 
 that of " his make (partner) and Father, the Devil." 
 The total population of Edinburgh and Leith at the time 
 of the Restoration was 35,372. 
 
 Perhaps the most contemptible monarch who ever 
 sat on the British throne was Charles II. Patriotism, 
 purity and pity seemed alike foreign to his nature, in 
 which selfishness seemed the most prominent attribute. 
 Vain indeed to think such a man should remember the 
 108 
 
From the Union of the Crowns 
 
 pledges given when he was a waif and an exile, and 
 when the Scots virtually stood by him to the last, 
 would be as vain to expect as that a crabtree should 
 bear good fruit. Two years had scarcely elapsed, 
 when he began that policy of coercion of the Scottish 
 people in the matter of their acceptance of Episcopacy, 
 which terminated not only in hurling the Stuarts from 
 the throne, but in establishing Presbyterianism so 
 firmly in Scotland that it is never likely to be displaced. 
 There is an element in the Scots character causing it 
 to cling all the more tenaciously to a principle the 
 more bitter the persecution and suffering which may 
 attend its profession. 
 
 In t66i the remains of the great Marquis of Montrose 
 were exhumed from the Abbey Church ground and, 
 after being carried with much pomp and ceremonial to 
 St. Giles', were re-interred in the tomb of his grandfather. 
 Immediately thereafter the Marquis of Argyle was 
 arraigned and, after a mock trial, was executed, his head 
 being placed on a spit on the Tolbooth whence that of 
 Montrose had been removed. A few days later James 
 Guthrie, one of the noblest of Presbyterian clergy, was 
 also sacrificed to the lust for revenge which inspired 
 Charles and his Scottish ministers, Middleton, Rothes, 
 Lauderdale, and Archbishop Sharp. We must not lay 
 the blame of the excesses of the time wholly upon one 
 party, for both sides were guilty of cruelties and injustice 
 that would have been impossible at an epoch when party 
 feeling did not run so high. 
 
 The Presbyterian clergy, being expelled from their 
 churches, began a systematic series of meetings called 
 " conventicles " in the lonely parts of the mountainous 
 districtsofthe Lothians, Peeblesshire, Lanarkshire, Ayr- 
 shire, Dumfries and Galloway. These being in turn 
 suppressed, the people driven desperate, rose against their 
 oppressors, and marched upon Edinburgh. They were, 
 
 109 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 however, met by General Dalziel at RuUion Green in 
 the Pentland Hills, about five miles from the city, and 
 completely routed. The prisoners who were captured 
 were brought into Edinburgh, and thrust into a dark and 
 dreary dungeon-like chamber in St. Giles' Cathedral, 
 called after Sir John Gordon of Haddo, who was long 
 imprisoned there, " Haddo's Hole." Those of higher 
 rank were sent to the Tolbooth — until their mock trial 
 gave a pretext for sending them to the gibbet, or the 
 plantations. 
 
 We now reach in the history of Edinburgh a matter 
 which is of special interest. Surprise has been expressed 
 why the Provost of Edinburgh is styled " Lord Provost" 
 andthesametitle not extended to the Provostsof Glasgow 
 and Aberdeen. The reason is as follows : Charles having 
 remembered the numerous evidences of loyalty he had 
 received from Edinburgh, of which he had really made 
 no acknowledgment, wrote a letter to the Provost, Sir 
 Andrew Ramsay, in 1667, informing him that he (the 
 king) was anxious that henceforward his Scots capital 
 should not rank below London and Dublin as regards the 
 rank of its chief magistrate. Accordingly he ordained 
 and decreed that the Provost should bear the title of 
 
 Lord Provost," and that no other Scots provost should 
 have a right to the same. 
 
 Meantime death by execution, in company with the 
 meanest criminals, and arbitrary exercise of torture 
 were constantly being inflicted on the Covenanters by 
 the Duke of Lauderdale (who in 1671 was appointed 
 Commissioner for Scotland), and those subordinates 
 who sought to gain favour by imitating their master. 
 Dalziel of Binns, Grierson of Lagg, and Graham of 
 Claverhouse were commissioned to scour the country 
 and to prevent the **outed" ministers from holding con- 
 venticles " with their people, the unfortunate prisoners 
 being always sent to Edinburgh for trial, 
 no 
 
From the Union of the Crowns 
 
 About the year 1675, hackney-coaches began to ply 
 for hire in Edinburgh, and two years later the first 
 cofFee-house was opened in Parliament Close. In 1678, 
 the notorious Major Weir, the Scottish wizard whose 
 crimes and misdemeanours were said to include the 
 most unnameable sins, was burned on the Castlehill, 
 while his sister was hanged on the Gallowlee near 
 Pilrig. For a century thereafter, his house in the 
 West Bow remained untenanted, those who ventured 
 to occupy it for a single night being driven out of it 
 by sights and sounds too terrible for description. In 
 this year also a stage-coach began to run between 
 Edinburgh and Glasgow, but the roads were so bad 
 that the undertaking proving unremunerative was 
 abandoned. 
 
 In 1679 the Lauderdale Administration received its 
 death-blow. On May 3 the cruel murder of Arch- 
 bishop Sharp was perpetrated by a band of religious 
 outlaws led by Hackstone of Rathillet and Balfour of 
 Kinloch ; followed on June i by the battle of Drumclog, 
 in which Graham of Claverhouse was totally defeated ; 
 while on the 22nd of the same month occurred the 
 battle of Bothwell Bridge, which, but for the utter in- 
 capacity of the commander. Sir R. Hamilton, and the 
 interference of the clergy, would have turned out as 
 decisive a Covenanting victory as Drumclog. The. 
 prisoners taken at Bothwell Bridge were brought to 
 Edinburgh and confined in the southern annexe of the 
 Greyfriars' Churchyard, exposed without shelter to 
 the rigour of a Scots winter and shot down by their 
 guards if they raised their heads from the ground after 
 dark. These incidents alarmed Charles. They showed 
 him that Lauderdale was rapidly driving the country 
 into revolution. Accordingly James, Duke of York, 
 came north to assume the position of Commissioner, fix- 
 ing his headquarters in Edinburgh. Making himself at 
 
 1 1 1 
 
T'he Story of Edinburgh 
 
 first exceedingly complaisant and agreeable to the people 
 of Edinburgh and of Scotland, he extorted by cajolery 
 and fair promises, the two Acts, the Act of Succession 
 and the Test Act, than which two more infamous pieces 
 of legislation were never concocted. The fanaticism 
 of Cargill and the extreme section of the Covenanters, 
 however, combined with the ever-present dread of 
 another civil war, determined the Duke of York to 
 revert to the policy of Lauderdale as regards the stamp- 
 ing out of the Covenanters. Never were there so many 
 executions and slaughters as during the duke's viceroy- 
 ship and the designation, the killing time," must really 
 be applied to the term of James's stay in Scotland, 
 1681-82. The duke, however, kept up a splendid 
 Court at Holyrood, while his duchess, Mary d'Este, 
 daughter of the Duke of Modena, was exceedingly 
 affable with the ladies of Edinburgh, holding weekly 
 assemblies or levees, at which " tea " was tasted for the 
 first time in the Scots metropolis. Within thirty years 
 it had become a general article of diet among the 
 better and middle classes. Dramatic performances also 
 became popular, although the clergy and the general 
 mass of the population bitterly denounced them. The 
 actors were sent down from London to Edinburgh, a 
 practice to which Dryden refers in his Miscellanies^ 
 making one of the players thus apologise to the Uni- 
 versity of Oxford for the meagreness of the company : — 
 
 Our brethren have from Thames to Tweed departed, 
 
 To Edinburgh gone or coached or carted ; 
 
 With bonny blue cap there they act all night 
 
 For Scots half-crowns, in English, ' three pence' hight." 
 
 It shows the debasement of the Scots currency that 
 half-a-crown Scots was only equal in purchasing 
 power to "three pence" in English money. The 
 duke was also a keen golfer and for that purpose used 
 112 
 
From the Union of the Crowns 
 
 frequently to repair to Leith Links, where he won a 
 large wager of which we shall speak later on. 
 
 Charles II. died in 1685 and James was at once 
 proclaimed king at the Market Cross with solemn 
 ceremonial. Scarcely had he been seated on the 
 throne than he insisted upon the Abbey Church of 
 Holyrood being given up to the use of the Knights of 
 the Order of the Thistle, which he had recently 
 founded. This, however, was only a subterfuge to 
 get in the service of the Mass. " An altar, vestments, 
 images, priests and their appurtenants," arrived at 
 Leith by the king's yacht from London, for the 
 purpose of completing the restoration of the Abbey to 
 its ancient uses. A college of priests was next estab- 
 lished in Holyrood and daily service performed in the 
 chapel. Fresh riots at once followed, but it was the 
 birth of the Prince of Wales in June 30, 1688, that 
 brought matters to a head. Presbyterians and Episco- 
 palians alike recognised that Protestantism was doomed 
 if a Catholic father were permitted to be succeeded 
 by a Catholic son. All eyes were turned to Holland 
 and to William of Orange, James's son-in-law, as the 
 deliverer. In September 1688, intimation was made 
 that William might be expected to land in England 
 by December. Edinburgh was swarming with his sup- 
 porters, who openly deliberated " as if they had been 
 allowed by authority." TheEarlof Perth, James's Lord 
 Chancellor, in consequence of a riot in the city, left 
 Edinburgh hurriedly, and a few hours later the Catholic 
 Chapel of Holyrood was wrecked and sacked. A con- 
 vention of the " Scots Estates " was held at Edinburgh 
 in April 1689, which decided that "James having 
 forfeited his right to the Crown of Scotland, it should 
 be offered to William and Mary " ; Presbyterianism, by 
 the advice of William Carstares, was fixed as the estab- 
 lished form of Church government ; Episcopacy was 
 H 113 
 
T^he Story of Edinburgh 
 
 declared abolished " (j-/V) and the revolution was 
 complete. The Episcopalians in many cases adhered 
 firmly to the cause of the Stuarts, their bishops con- 
 tinuing to pray for James as the de jure Sovereign of 
 Great Britain. 
 
 As soon as the royal succession, the new regime of 
 government and the restoration of the older type of 
 Church-establishment in Scotland were all definitely 
 determined and settled, the citizens of Edinburgh 
 enjoyed a short period of quiet prosperity, both in 
 their civic affairs and in their commercial undertakings, 
 until the terrible incidents of the Darien Expedition 
 spread ruin far and wide throughout the kingdom. 
 
 The circumstances were these. The Scottish 
 merchants had always desired to share in the East 
 India trade, but were debarred by the jealousy of the 
 English merchants. Presently the proposal was 
 mooted that Scotland should strike out a field of 
 foreign trade for herself, Africa and the West Indies 
 being selected as the sphere of operations. Upwards 
 of £200,000 was subscribed as the capital of the new 
 company, scarcely a householder in Edinburgh or in 
 Scotland failing to take shares. The expedition to 
 colonise and found a settlement at the Bay of Darien, 
 in the Isthmus of Panama, was fitted out and despatched 
 from Leith, in July 1698, amid national rejoicings. 
 A stately Darien House and large offices and store- 
 houses for the company's merchandise were erected, 
 and all imagined they were going to become rich 
 beyond the dreams of avarice. The expedition, which 
 was under the command of William Paterson, founder 
 of the Bank of England, in whose brain the scheme 
 had originated, was mismanaged from the first. The 
 seasons and the natives were alike hostile to success, 
 but worst of all was the jealous interference of the 
 East India Company, which would brook no rival. 
 114 
 
 \ 
 
From the Union of the Crowns 
 
 The King of Spain complained that the expedition had 
 landed in his territory, and was robbing his subjects, 
 the East India directors influenced the king against it, 
 and William actually had the chicken-heartedness to 
 inform the King of Spain that the '* persons " who had 
 landed on Darien were not recognised by him as 
 traders, and that they were in his hands to do with 
 them what he pleased. Such a permit to harass 
 the expedition was availed of to the full, and the end 
 of all was that the settlement at Darien had to be 
 abandoned, and the vessels of the company, while 
 lying in the Thames, were seized as pirates. 
 
 The papers in the Advocates' Library, Edinburgh, 
 relative to this matter are painful reading. When the 
 stunning intelligence reached Edinburgh of the 
 abandonment of Darien and of the reasons leading 
 thereto, the whole country became frenzied with ex- 
 citement. English people resident in Edinburgh had 
 to beat a hasty retreat, and the feelings towards 
 William underwent a radical change. Desperate riots 
 followed the attempts of the authorities to keep the peace. 
 At length one of the East India Company's vessels put 
 into Leith to relit. It was at once seized by the 
 Scots Government by way of reprisal for the treatment 
 accorded to the vessels of the Scottish Darien Com- 
 pany. After a long trial the men were convicted " 
 of piracy and hanged on the Leith sands — martyrs, if 
 ever men were, to popular clamour and unreasoning 
 indignation. This outrageous deed struck terror into 
 the hearts of all London merchants who had trade 
 relations with Scotland, particularly when it was 
 reported that Scotland was preparing for war. The 
 ministry of the day, after taking into their counsels the 
 Duke of Queensberry, the king's Commissioner in 
 Scotland, began those negotiations for the Union of the 
 Kingdoms which ended in the consummation of this 
 
T'he Story of Edinburgh 
 
 desirable undertaking. The difficulties in the way 
 were enormous, for the people of Scotland were gener- 
 ally speaking bitterly averse to the proposal. Led by 
 the Duke of Hamilton, the ''patriots,'' as the 
 opponents to the measure were called, offered deter- 
 mined opposition and they were supported by the 
 citizens of Edinburgh. The last year of the negotia- 
 tions was one prolonged period of tumult, necessitating 
 the calling out of the Castle guards to protect the 
 Commissioner. 
 
 Matter for profound thankfulness is it to-day that the 
 fury of the mob did not daunt Queensberry. Steadily 
 he pressed forward the Articles of Union, oftentimes 
 by sheer dint of bribery and corruption, until at last 
 the negotiations were brought to the point that the 
 signatures had to be appended ; but this had to be done 
 secretly by the Commissioners in a cellar off the High 
 Street through fear of the mob. The moment the 
 documents were signed they were sent by special 
 messenger to London. 
 
 On the 1 6th January 1707 the Scots Parliament 
 met for its final session, the familiar preliminary pro- 
 cession, always so important a feature in the assembling 
 of the " Estates " in the eyes of the Edinburgh people, 
 took place for the last time, and then the House pro- 
 ceeded to discharge its business. On the 25th March 
 everything was completed and amidst solemn silence 
 broken by ill-repressed sobs and groans from those to 
 whom their nation's independence was dear, the Duke 
 of Queensberry formally dissolved the " Scots Estates," 
 and Scotland's history as a separate kingdom was 
 brought to a close. " Thus endeth an auld sang," 
 said the Earl of Seafield, the Chancellor, as he 
 descended from his official chair, assuming an air of 
 jocularity to veil his emotion. 
 
 Edinburgh's history as a capital really ends here. 
 116 
 
From the Union of the Crowns 
 
 To her the Union meant the extinction of her political, 
 commercial, social and metropolitan importance. Up to 
 this date she had been the largest and the most influential 
 town in the kingdom. Now by the removal of her 
 parliamentary representatives to London, from being 
 the capital of Scotland, she sank to the level of a pro- 
 vincial city in the kingdom of Great Britain. Her 
 commercial pre-eminence was ere long wrested from 
 her by Glasgow, and at length she came to be regarded 
 only as the legal and ecclesiastical centre of the country, 
 from the accident that the permanent Sessions of the Law 
 Court and the meetings of the General Assembly Church 
 of Scotland, were held there. 
 
 The fifteen years preceding the Union were years 
 of considerable prosperity until the overwhelming 
 disaster of the Darien Company crushed out, for 
 the time being, all national life and hopefulness. 
 Marvellous indeed that recuperation came so speedily. 
 Among evidences of prosperity prior to Darien were 
 the " Incorporation of the Merchant Company of 
 Edinburgh" in 1681, an association to which Edin- 
 burgh owes more in a commercial and educational 
 sense than to any other institution of the kind ; while 
 the founding of the famous Edinburgh Medical School 
 took place in 1685 by the election of the first Pro- 
 fessors of Medicine in connection with the University. 
 About this time also the Advocates' Library was 
 instituted and several changes were made in the Law 
 Courts. Shortly after the announcement of the failure 
 of the Darien Expedition, occurred the terrible fire in 
 the Parliament Square or Close (1700) which rendered 
 over 200 persons homeless. 
 
 For full fifty years Edinburgh passed through a period 
 of profound depression and gloom. Her people seemed 
 to lose heart as their trade and prosperity declined. 
 Not until the glory of her University and of her 
 
 117 
 
"The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 Medical School, as well as the glamour thrown 
 around her by the brilliant coterie of literary men 
 resident there, had rendered her famous throughout 
 Europe, did she again lift her head and seat herself 
 once more on her throne, as the " grey metropolis of the 
 North/' 
 
 As showing the hatred to the union, and also to 
 the proposed settlement of the Succession on the 
 Elector of Hanover, here is one of the songs of the 
 time : — 
 
 " Scotland and England must be now U- 
 
 'Nited in a nation, 
 And we must all perjure and vow 
 
 And take the abjuration. 
 The Stuarts' ancient freeborn race 
 
 Now we must all give over ; 
 And we must take into their place 
 
 The Bastards of Hanover.'* 
 
 Il8 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 From the Union of the Kingdoms to the 
 Rebellion of 
 
 LITTLE now remains to be told and that may be 
 summarised within the space of a few pages. 
 From 1707 to 1760, Edinburgh exhibits in her 
 historic annals but few incidents worthy of special 
 mention save those connected with the Rebellion. 
 She suffered much from the presence of English tax- 
 gatherers, whom she chose to regard as symbols of' 
 her degradation. Though always ready to grasp at 
 any opportunity of testifying her regret and disappoint- 
 ment over the Union, her loyalty remained unaffected. 
 During the Rebellion of 17 15, she took no steps to 
 encourage the Earl of Mar and the so-called "James 
 the Eight " in their mad enterprise save that a few of 
 the local Jacobites drank the health of James VIII. 
 at the Tron. They were, however, soon suppressed. 
 She had sunk into a lethargy wherein the only signs 
 of vitality were in her ecclesiastical and legal insti- 
 tutions. Society was compounded of two mutually 
 exclusive strata : the first, composed of the clergy, 
 the doctors and the lawyers, affecting to look down 
 on the second, which comprised the merchants and 
 shopkeepers. So severely isolated was she that some 
 years later her clergy, realising that their accent 
 sounded "barbarously provincial" in London ears, 
 actually founded a society for the cultivation of 
 public speaking in the Southern or English fashion." 
 The full details of this scheme are given in the Scots 
 Magazine. 
 
 In 1736, however, an event occurred which 
 
 119 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 threatened the city with the loss of its charters. Two 
 men named Wilson and Robertson, under sentence of 
 death as smugglers, were, according to custom, on the 
 Sabbath prior to their execution, taken to hear 
 sermon in the Tolbooth Church. As the audience 
 was dispersing, Wilson, who was a man of great 
 personal strength, seized one of the guards with each 
 hand, and the third with his teeth, then called to his 
 fellow-prisoner, Run, Geordie, run." This the 
 latter did and escaped. Wilson now became an 
 object of such popular sympathy, that the magistrates, 
 fearing lest the mob should attempt to rescue the 
 prisoner at the execution, ordered the Town Guard 
 to load their guns with bullets. The crowd having 
 pelted the executioner with stones — a common enough 
 proceeding in those times — John Porteous, Captain of 
 the City Guard, in the heat of passion, fired twice 
 himself on the populace, and ordered his men to do 
 the same, whereby six persons were killed and eleven 
 severely wounded. For this deed Porteous was 
 convicted and condemned to death. Queen Caroline, 
 wife of George II., was then regent during the 
 absence of her husband in Hanover, and by her the 
 condemned man was reprieved on the ground that 
 the punishment was in excess of the offence. The 
 populace, enraged at this act, determined to take the 
 law into their own hands. Numbers assembled from 
 different quarters on the night previous to the day on 
 which his execution was originally fixed to have taken 
 place. The clothes which appeared under their 
 various disguises, as well as the conduct and delibera- 
 tion with which their plan was executed, betrayed 
 many of them to be superior to the rabble, nay, that 
 one or two were of high rank. They surprised and 
 disarmed the Town Guard, blocked up the city 
 gates, to prevent the admission of troops, threw open 
 
 120 
 
From the Union of the Kingdoms 
 
 the prison and liberated all therein incarcerated, with 
 the exception of Porteous. Him they conducted to 
 the Grassmarket, broke into a shop in the Bow, and 
 took out ropes, for which they left a guinea, and 
 hanged Porteous on a dyer's pole, near the place 
 where so many of his victims had been slaughtered. 
 
 When intelligence of the riot and its issue reached 
 London, Queen Caroline's indignation knew no 
 bounds. To the Duke of Argyll she threatened to 
 turn Scotland into a hunting-field. The duke looked 
 her full in the face and said with significant emphasis, 
 
 In that case, madam, it is high time I returned 
 home to look after my hounds." The Queen under- 
 stood the warning and said no more. Severe measures 
 were, however, threatened against the city of Edin- 
 burgh ; her Lord Provost was to be imprisoned, her 
 City Guard abolished, the Nether Bow Port removed, 
 and her charter abrogated. These provisions, how- 
 ever, were all dropped in face of the resistance of the 
 Scots members, and at length a fine of £2000 was 
 only inflicted on the city, the money to be applied to 
 the relief of the widow of Captain Porteous. Thus 
 ended the " Porteous Mob Riot," which Sir Walter 
 Scott has introduced with such telling effect into The 
 Heart of Midlothian, 
 
 The next episode of interest in the history of the 
 city was its capture by the army of Prince Charles 
 Edward, son of the old Pretender, who had assumed 
 the title of James VIIL Prince Charles, or the 
 " Young Chevalier " as he was called, landed at 
 Moidart on the west of Scotland in August 1745, 
 and on the i6th September sent a letter addressed to 
 the Lord Provost, Magistrates and Town Council, 
 demanding the immediate surrender of the town. 
 
 The magistrates sent a deputation to interview the 
 prince and to secure delay in giving a direct reply, because 
 
 121 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 they knew that Sir John Cope was marching to their 
 relief. As the coach which had conveyed the deputa- 
 tion to Slateford, and brought them back to Edin- 
 burgh, was now leaving the city for Ramsay's stables 
 in the suburbs of the Canongate, a party of Highlanders, 
 stationed at the Netherbow Port and St. Mary's 
 Wynd, rushed in, overpowered the guard and in a 
 short time were masters of the town. Thus on 
 the morning of Tuesday, 17th September 1745, 
 citizens of Edinburgh found the government of their 
 city transferred from King George II. to the so-called 
 " King James VIII.," the Castle alone still holding 
 out. Charles was not long in taking possession of the 
 ancient capital of his ancestors. Leaving Slateford he 
 entered Edinburgh by the Morningside Road, passed 
 along the leafy lane known as " Grange Loan," which 
 skirted the park walls of the Dick Landers' mansion 
 of Grange, and entered the King's Park near Preston- 
 field. Winding around the shores of Duddingston 
 Loch the army finally encamped first in the Hunter's 
 Bog, and later behind Dunsappie Rock, where they 
 were screened from the fire of the Castle. 
 
 The " Young Chevalier " arrived there about mid- 
 day, and after his men had pitched their camp, an 
 abundant supply of tents, etc., having been found in 
 Edinburgh, he rode forward to Holyrood Palace. 
 The scene that met his gaze on reaching the " Haggis 
 Knowe " near St. Anthony's Chapel, was wondrously 
 varied and animated. Apart from the rare natural 
 beauty of the surroundings, the whole expanse of the 
 park was densely crowded with people attired in holi- 
 day garb, while flags and bunting fluttered on all sides. 
 On the prince making his appearance, attended by the 
 Duke of Perth on the one side and Lord Elcho, son 
 of the Earl of Wemyss, on the other, he was received 
 with shouts and cheers of joy and congratulation. 
 122 
 
From the Union of the Kingdoms 
 
 Young, handsome and debonair, he looked the very 
 incarnation of chivah'ous gallantry and goodness, while 
 his tact in dressing, partially at least in Highland 
 costume, won the hearts of the people. Hundreds 
 knelt to kiss his hand, and his troopers had the greatest 
 difficulty in keeping open a narrow lane through the 
 converging masses of eager human beings, whereby he 
 could reach Holyrood Palace. 
 
 There his headquarters were established ; there 
 assembled his daily '* Cabinet Councils " (as they were 
 jocularly called) with the leaders of the army, there 
 he held his levees, to which all citizens of Edinburgh 
 were welcome, and there he gave those brilliant balls 
 which lived in the memory of Edinburgh's fair ones 
 for over half a century. Having won many hearts 
 by his affability and modesty, he seemed to set the seal 
 of success upon his enterprise when, four days after 
 his arrival, he met Sir John Cope at Prestonpans 
 and severely defeated him. This turn of affairs 
 completely changed the outlook of both parties. 
 Charles immediately determined to march into England, 
 against the wishes of his friends. Despite all his 
 popularity, however, only about 400 of the residents 
 of the town appear to have joined his cause, his 
 adherents and recruits being drawn almost wholly from 
 the North of Scotland. Before beginning his march 
 southwards, the " Young Chevalier " reviewed his 
 forces on Portobello sands, in the presence of hundreds 
 of the Edinburgh residents. On the 31st October he 
 left Edinburgh never to see it again, save, as tradition 
 records, in the disguise of a fugitive. 
 
 A fortnight after Charles had withdrawn from 
 Edinburgh it was re-occupied by the Government 
 troops. Two months later the city was again thrown 
 into terror and confusion by the news that Charles, 
 having abandoned his march into England and 
 
 123 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 returned to Scotland, had totally defeated General 
 Hawley at Falkirk on the 17th January 1746, and 
 would probably return to Edinburgh. This, how- 
 ever, was destined to be Prince Charles's last success. 
 On January 30, Prince William, Duke of Cumber- 
 land, son of George II., who had been appointed 
 Commander-in-Chief in Scotland, arrived in the Scots 
 capital, and stayed at Holyrood, actually sleeping in the 
 same bed that had been occupied by Prince Charles. 
 He also held a levee at the Palace before leaving on 
 the following day to pursue the Young Chevalier." 
 On the 1 6th April, the bloody field of Culloden anni- 
 hilated for ever the hopes of the Stuarts of re-possessing 
 themselves of the throne of Great Britain. 
 
 Of course a scapegoat had to be found on whom 
 to lay the blame of the capture of the city by the 
 Highlanders. Instead of punishing the muddle-headed 
 Cope and the incapable Hawley for their notorious 
 negligence, the Government of the day had to dis- 
 cover a Scotsman whose loyalty might not be of the 
 strongest. They selected Lord Provost Stewart, partly 
 because of his name, partly owing to his office, and 
 having arrested him on his arrival in London to attend 
 to his Parliamentary duties, put him on trial before the 
 High Court of Justicary, bail being only accepted at 
 £15,000 sterling. After a long trial the accused was 
 acquitted of the charge, but the harassment he had 
 gone through left him with shattered health. Thus 
 ended the Rebellion. The Young Chevalier," how- 
 ever, had touched the popular fancy by his handsome 
 exterior and the romantic vicissitudes of his career. 
 He has long lived in song as** Bonnie Prince Charlie," 
 and for years to come the <* White Cockade" was 
 worn in Edinburgh, while ** Will ye no come back 
 again ? " is still sung even by the most loyal subjects of 
 the House of Guelph. 
 124 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 From the Rebellion to the Present Time 
 
 rVTE now reach the period when the city could no 
 
 longer be confined within the limits of the 
 Flodden walls, extended though these had been by 
 later additions. Residence dutside the boundaries of 
 the town being considered unfashionable, this fact led 
 to the continued erection of these towering tenements 
 or lands^ which even reached fourteen and fifteen stories. 
 To live at such an altitude meant many inconveniences 
 and disabilities. For example all the water for use in 
 a family had to be carried up the narrow turnpike 
 stairs ; hence cleanliness became a virtue honoured 
 rather in the breach than the observance. All refuse 
 and household slops had either to be carried down the 
 stairs or thrown out of the windows. After nine 
 o'clock there was danger at every step in walking the 
 streets of Edinburgh. One never knew the moment 
 when the warning cry Gardyloo " (a corruption of 
 the French phrase " Gardez a / eau ") might ring out, 
 following which would come in swift succession an 
 avalanche of unmentionable filth on to the footpath — 
 or the passer-by. Edinburgh therefore was an odorous 
 city. Winifred Jenkins's account of the matter in 
 Smollett's Humphrey Clinker is not a whit over- 
 drawn : — 
 
 "All the 'chairs* in the family are emptied into this here 
 barrel once a day ; and at ten o'clock at night the whole charge 
 is flung out of a back window that looks into some street or 
 lane, and the maid cries ' Gardyloo ' to the passengers, which 
 means, Lord haw mercy upon you ! This is done every night in 
 
 125 
 
T^he Story of Edinburgh 
 
 Haddinborough, so you may guess, Mary Jones, what a sweet 
 savour comes from such a number of perfumery pans. But they 
 say it is wholesome." 
 
 The families of the Scots metropolis were thus 
 literally packed together like herrings in a barrel one 
 above the other. So overcrowded was the town that 
 well-born gentlemen and their households were content 
 with two or three rooms wherein all the manifold 
 duties of social and domestic life had to be performed. 
 Bruce of Kennet, a leading lawyer, afterwards raised to 
 the Bench, lived in a house of three rooms and a 
 kitchen, a parlour, a consulting room for Mr. Bruce 
 and a bedroom. The children with their maid had 
 beds laid down for them at night in the consulting- 
 room, the housemaid slept under the kitchen-dresser, 
 and the one manservant was turned, at night, out of 
 the house. 
 
 As has often been remarked, this slender household 
 accommodation compelled the use of taverns more than 
 now. In his tavern the high-class advocate (barrister) 
 received his clients, and the physician his patients, each 
 practitioner having his particular resort. Almost every 
 tradesman also had his favourite place in his favourite 
 tavern where, business over by eight o'clock, and his 
 booth closed, he had his frugal supper of rizzared 
 haddock, mince-collops, or sheep's head, and cracked 
 his joke with his friends over a bottle before going 
 home for the night. 
 
 Out of this general spirit of conviviality arose those 
 numberless clubs, wherein upon the convivial stem 
 were grafted politics, literature, sport, science, as' well 
 as many other pursuits less worthy and beneficial. No 
 custom, no usage, no jest, in fact, seemed too trivial to 
 be seized upon as the pretext to give a colour of excuse 
 for founding a club. Some were witty, some wise, 
 some degrading. Such clubs as the Cape Club — so 
 126 
 
From the Rebellion 
 
 called by a bibulous burgess, from doubling the " cape " 
 of Leith Wynd, when "half seas over," in order to 
 get home to the burgh of Low Calton " ; the Pious 
 Club, because the brethren met regularly to consume 
 pies ; the Spendthrift Club, because no member was 
 permitted to spend more than fourpence halfpenny ; the 
 Easy Cluh, because the members threw off all re- 
 straints of etiquette ; the Salt Herring Club, the 
 Black Wigs' Club, the Odd Club were harmless in 
 their way and promoted bonhomie among the burghers 
 without leading them into disgraceful excesses. But 
 the Hell Fire Club, the Siveating Club, the Dirty Club, 
 the Ten Tumbler Club, and others of a kindred order, 
 served only to afford opportunity for indulging in 
 license and riot. 
 
 Though the inconvenience of insufficient room was 
 severely felt, the citizens did not take kindly to the 
 idea of removing from the centre of business — the High 
 Street. The New Town of Edinburgh was first pro- 
 jected in 1752, the idea being to extend " the royalty " 
 or city to the north, so as to include the open fields 
 across the Nor' Loch, and the road that went by the 
 name of the Lang Gait," or " Lang Dykes" — now 
 Princes Street — also Moultrie's Hill, where the Register 
 House now stands. The scheme was to be accom- 
 plished by draining the Nor' Loch and throwing a 
 huge bridge across the broad ravine, while the new 
 streets and houses were to be adapted to the increased 
 taste and luxury of the eighteenth century. On 
 October 21, 1763, the foundation of the bridge in 
 question, called the " North Bridge," was laid by 
 Lord Provost George Drummond, with great pomp 
 and ceremonial, but the structure was not finally com- 
 pleted until 1772, an unfortunate landslip causing the 
 fall of a part of the southern end, thus delaying the 
 consummation of this great work. 
 
 127 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 Meantime the extension of the city was briskly 
 pushed forward after 1766, both on the north where 
 the streets of the " New Town " were laid out by Mr. 
 J. Craig, and on the south where George Square was 
 commenced. Princes Street (originally called St. Giles' 
 Street until a change of name was suggested by George 
 III.) was commenced about 1767, the first house built 
 being possibly that one now standing at the corner of 
 West Register Street. 
 
 Four years later Walter Scott was born in a house 
 at the head of College Wynd, one of the offshoots 
 from the Cowgate, and in the same year the first 
 edition of the Encyclopadia Britannica was issued. In 
 1773 Dr. Samuel Johnson paid his historic visit to 
 Edinburgh, and in 1779 a series of anti-Popish riots 
 occurred which were for a time somewhat alarming. 
 In 1785 the construction of the South Bridge to span 
 the ravine of the Cowgate and to carry the great 
 southern road onward towards Newington was begun, 
 and completed in five years; in 1786, Robert Burns, 
 Scotland's greatest poet, came to Edinburgh, and at 
 the house in the Sciennes inhabited by Professor Adam 
 Fergusson (of the chair of Moral Philosophy in the 
 University of Edinburgh) met Walter Scott, then a 
 boy of sixteen. In the following year Burns again 
 visited Edinburgh and brought out, through Creech, 
 the great Edinburgh publisher of the period, whose 
 premises were in the Luckenbooths, the second edition 
 of his poems. Creech's shop in the Luckenbooths 
 was then the resort of all the literati of the city. 
 
 The buildings in which the University of Edinburgh 
 was housed were at this time a disgrace to the capital 
 of Scotland. Many attempts were made to awaken 
 the Town Council, who were the principal patrons of 
 the institution, to a sense of their shortcomings, but in 
 vain. At length necessity drove the city fathers to do 
 128 
 
From the Rebellion 
 
 what public reproach had been unable to achieve and 
 the foundation-stone of the buildings as they stand to- 
 day was laid in 1789, the architect being Robert 
 Adam. Though a beginning was made in the work, 
 the operations were long suspended for lack of funds, 
 the plans having to be greatly modified by W. H. 
 Playfair. The building was in fact not completed 
 until 1834, while the dome was not erected until the 
 tercentenary celebrations in 1884. 
 
 During the final decade of the eighteenth century, 
 great unrest prevailed in Edinburgh in consequence of 
 the principles of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity, 
 preached during the French Revolution (1789-90), 
 taking root in the Scots metropolis. Several of those 
 who had adopted these views formed themselves into 
 an association called " Friends of the People " and 
 held a convention in Edinburgh in December 1792, to 
 which they invited English and foreign delegates. A 
 rival club styling itself Friends of the Constitution was 
 formed among the most prominent residents of the 
 city, and so much influence had they with the Govern- 
 ment of the day that they induced it to bring the 
 leaders of the convention to trial for sedition. Messrs. 
 Muir, Skirving, Margarot, Gerrald, Watt and Downie 
 were accordingly arraigned during 1793-94, convicted 
 and sentenced to fourteen years' banishment from the 
 country, with the exception of Watt, who was executed 
 for having taken up arms. 
 
 The nineteenth century opened in Edinburgh very 
 inauspiciously. Owing to the war then in progress 
 between Great Britain and France the necessaries of 
 life were almost at famine prices, and the poor suffered 
 great privations. The Scottish capital, however, was 
 now approaching the meridian of its day of literary 
 glory. Scott was of course the supreme star in the 
 literary firmament, and his career may be said in reality 
 I 129 
 
The Story of Edtnhurgh 
 
 to have opened with the new century, although he had 
 made some translations from the German during the 
 closing years of the preceding one. The establishment 
 of the Edinburgh Revie<w in 1802 by his friend Jeffrey 
 and the band of coadjutors that gathered around him 
 afforded Scott an opening for testing his powers in 
 writing for the periodical press. In 1 803, his Minstrelsy 
 of the Scottish Border whetted the public appetite for 
 that type of verse in which he was to achieve success so 
 unprecedented with the Lay of the Last Minstrel (1805), 
 Marmion ( 1 808 ) , the Lady of the Lake ( 1 8 1 o) , Rokeby 
 (1813) ; also with the inimitable series of the Waverley 
 Novels beginning with Waverley in 18 14 and ending 
 with Castle Dangerous in 183 i. Though several of 
 these were written in his noble Border home of Abbots- 
 ford, the greater part of them were penned in his " own 
 romantic town," either in his residence, 39 Castle Street, 
 or in sundry hired apartments in various parts of the 
 city — St. David Street, Walker Street, and Shandwick 
 Place. Scott was a true son of " Dunedin " and to 
 the last she inspired his genius. 
 
 But we are anticipating. Nelson's Monument was 
 erected in 1807-8 to commemorate the battle of 
 Trafalgar, and in 18 15 the foundation-stones of the 
 Regent Bridge and of the new Jail at the Calton were 
 laid. In 1817 two distinguished literary enterprises 
 were initiated, which, we are glad to say, are still 
 existing in our midst, with ever-increasing prestige and 
 acceptance. These were the Scotsman newspaper, first 
 published on the 25 th January of that year, and Black- 
 wood^ s Magazine. In 18 18 the ancient regalia of 
 Scotland, which in 1707, at the time of the Union, 
 had been placed in a large chest to prevent them being 
 conveyed to London, were "re-discovered," by a 
 Commission of Investigation appointed by the Prince 
 Regent. They were soon after placed in a suitable 
 130 
 
From the Rebellion 
 
 ^* Crown Room," where they have remained ever since. 
 During the same year the Edinburgh and Glasgow Canal 
 was commenced, and Edinburgh was lighted for the 
 first time by gas, from the new works in the Canongate. 
 
 In August 1822, his Majesty George IV. paid a 
 visit to Edinburgh, and was accorded a magnificent and 
 enthusiastic reception. The last reigning sovereign of 
 Great Britain who had set foot in the northern capital 
 had been Charles I., in 1641 {see page 105), over 180 
 years before. The people therefore by their warm pro- 
 testations of love, and the eager desire they displayed to 
 see the king, showed how firm was their loyalty to the 
 throne. Two years later, a series of terrible fires de- 
 stroyed nearly all the older part of the southern side of 
 the High Street from Parliament Square to the Tron 
 Church, and rendered hundreds of poor people home- 
 less. In this year also (18 24) the Edinburgh Academy 
 in Henderson Row was opened, Sir Walter Scott being 
 the first Chairman of Directors. 
 
 In the next year (1825), Henry Brougham was 
 entertained to a banquet in Edinburgh, where he had 
 been born forty-seven years before. Henry Cockburn 
 presided, and in his reply Brougham said, " I am your 
 fellow-citizen, born, bred and educated in this town. 
 How much I owe to that I want utterance to express. 
 Suffice it to say, I owe everything to the education I 
 received in the High School of Edinburgh, and in the 
 college of this city." Brougham's panegyric on the 
 High School led to a new building being erected on 
 the Miller's Knowe, Calton Hill, the site in Infirmary 
 Street being deemed too far south for the institution to 
 compete on favourable terms with the Academy. The 
 foundation-stone was laid in July 1825, and the build- 
 ing was opened in 1829. 
 
 In February 1827 a public dinner, attended by up- 
 wards of 300 gentlemen, took place in the Assembly 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 Rooms, George Street, in aid of the Theatrical Fund. 
 The chair was occupied by Sir Walter Scott, and the 
 occasion was rendered memorable by the great novelist 
 publicly avowing that he and he alone was the author of 
 all the great series of works known by the general title. 
 The Waverley Novels." 
 
 Edinburgh was horrified, in 1828, by the disclosures 
 made at the trial for murder of an Irishman named 
 William Burke, when facts were elicited showing that 
 for several months the accused and his accomplice, 
 Hare (who turned king's evidence), had carried on a 
 systematic practice of killing human beings and selling 
 the bodies to the surgeons for dissecting purposes. The 
 victims usually belonged to the lowest orders of society. 
 Burke was convicted, and executed on Wednesday, 
 January 28th, 1829. 
 
 Charles X. of France, expelled from his own country, 
 sought refuge in Edinburgh in 1830, and for some con- 
 siderable time occupied Holyrood Palace, along with the 
 Duke and Duchess of Angouleme, his son and niece, and 
 his grandson Henry, Duke of Bourdeaux. He frequently 
 went into Edinburgh society, and was in the habit of hold- 
 ing levees which were largely attended by the leaders of 
 fashion. 
 
 The question of Parliamentary Reform excited great 
 interest during 1831-32 among the inhabitants of Edin- 
 burgh, who were warmly in favour of the principle in 
 question. Great rejoicings greeted the news of the pass- 
 ing of the Bill in March 1832. Under the provisions of 
 the Bill, Edinburgh returned two members ^in place of 
 one, but later on was obliged to part with Leith, which 
 being then created an independent burgh, has continued 
 so to be until the present day, despite efforts to effect 
 amalgamation. 
 
 On 2 1 St September 1832 a gloom was cast over 
 the city by the news of the death of him who has every 
 132 
 
From the Rebellion 
 
 right to rank as Edinburgh's most distinguished son, Sir 
 Walter Scott. Early in October a large public meeting 
 was held in the Assembly Rooms, to make arrangements 
 for erecting a monument to his memory. The Lord 
 Provost presided, and the Duke of Buccleuch, the Lord 
 Advocate (Francis Jeffrey), and Professor Wilson were 
 the chief speakers. There was but one feeling on the 
 subject, and subscriptions were immediately invited for 
 the object. 
 
 The question of Parliamentary Reform being settled, 
 that of Burgh Reform followed as a necessary corol- 
 lary. Accordingly in 1833 a Bill for the enfranchise- 
 ment of the Scottish burghs, and the abolition of the 
 ^* Self-election System " by Town Councils, was brought 
 into Parliament and speedily passed into law. The city 
 being divided into five municipal districts, the poll or 
 popular election of candidates for the newly constituted 
 Town Council took place in November 1833, Mr. James 
 Spittal being the first Lord Provost under the ntvj regime. 
 
 Two ecclesiastical questions were now steadily forcing 
 themselves upon the attention of the citizens, the first of 
 these being the demand by the Secession Churches, which 
 were largely voluntary in doctrine and constitution, for 
 the separation of Church and State ; the second, the 
 claims advanced by a large party of those within the 
 Church of Scotland who maintained evangelical views, 
 that church patronage should be abolished, that con- 
 gregations should have the right to choose their own 
 minister free from any veto by the heritors, and that no 
 minister should be " intruded " upon any congregation 
 against its will. Those who were in favour of this right 
 of choice were called Non-Intrusionists, and the Non- 
 Intrusion Controversy was yet to shake ecclesiastical 
 Scotland to its centre. For the next ten years not a 
 week passed but meetings were held in connection with 
 these two burning questions. 
 
 133 
 
"The Story of Eainburgh 
 
 Leith being nowdissociatedfrom Edinburgh, a scheme 
 was mooted in 1 834 to construct rival low- water wharves 
 and a pier at Granton. The Duke of Buccleuch took 
 a leading part in carrying out the project which, within 
 ten years, was completed at a cost of over one million. 
 The harbour of Granton is one of the finest on the East 
 Coast of Scotland. In this same year. Earl Grey, the 
 hero of the Reform movement, visited Edinburgh and 
 was received with unparalleled enthusiasm, even the royal 
 visit of twelve years before being eclipsed. 
 
 The epoch of the great railway mania and of the 
 Corn Laws agitation was now approaching. In 1838 
 a public meeting was held in the Waterloo Rooms to 
 petition Parliament in favour of a Bill for constructing 
 a railway between Edinburgh and Glasgow ; while in 
 the following year a large gathering in the same place 
 petitioned in favour of the repeal of the tax on the im- 
 portation of corn. As public feeling continued to run 
 high in connection with the Non-Intrusion Controversy, 
 in addition to the meetings which were being held all 
 over the country, the leaders of that party determined 
 to issue a weekly newspaper. Accordingly, on the 1 5th 
 January 184O, the Witness^ edited by Hugh Miller, made 
 its appearance in Edinburgh. It speedily became the 
 most popular journal in Scotland. 
 
 The Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway was opened 
 for traffic in 1842, the first train being run on the 18th 
 February. It accomplished the distance in one hour 
 and forty minutes, then esteemed a marvellous per- 
 formance. In August of this year> the youthful and 
 dearly-beloved sovereign of the country. Queen Vic- 
 toria, paid a visit to Edinburgh, accompanied by her 
 husband. Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg, and was re- 
 ceived with the warmest expressions of loyalty and 
 love. The royal party spent nearly a fortnight in 
 Midlothian, residing at Dalkeith Palace, the residence 
 134 
 
From the Rehellton 
 
 of the Duke of Buccleuch, and during their stay 
 visited all the places of interest in and around the 
 city. 
 
 During the years 1842-43 the Non-Intrusion Con- 
 troversy had reached an acute stage in consequence of 
 the decision of the Law Courts that congregations 
 were not to be permitted to select their own minister, 
 but were under obligation to accept the presentee of 
 the patron. The Government of the day, misled by 
 their Scots advisers, believed that only a few ex- 
 tremists would secede should the worse come to the 
 worst. But on the i8th May 1843, after Dr. Welsh, 
 the retiring Moderator, had read a dignified and 
 pathetic protest against the proceedings of the Law 
 Courts which had interfered with liberty of conscience, 
 he bowed to the Lord High Commissioner, the re- 
 presentative of royalty, and left St. Andrew's Church, 
 George Street, followed by Dr. Chalmers and nearly 
 400 ministers of the Church. On reaching the street 
 the seceding ministers were received with immense 
 enthusiasm, cries " They're out," " They're out," 
 issuing from thousands of throats in the vast crowd. 
 A procession was immediately formed in which were 
 to be found the Lords Provost, both of Edinburgh and 
 of Glasgow, the Sheriff of Midlothian, two Principals 
 of Universities, eight Ex-Moderators of the Church of 
 Scotland, four Theological Professors in Scottish 
 Universities, and many men of learning. The proces- 
 sion, followed by thousands of people, slowly wended 
 its way through the densely-packed streets to Tanfield 
 Hall, Canonmills, where " the Church of Scotland 
 Free" (or as it was officially called, the Free Church 
 of Scotland) was formally constituted. When the 
 roll was finally adjusted by the clerks, it was found 
 that 474 ministers had resigned their parishes for the 
 preservation of spiritual independence. Lord Jeffrey, 
 
 135 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 who was reading in his library in Moray Place when 
 the news arrived that over 400 of the ministers had 
 given up their livings, sprang to his feet with the ex- 
 clamation, " Thank God they have done it ; I am 
 proud of my countrymen." 
 
 In June 1846 the North British Railway from 
 Edinburgh to Berwick was formally opened, and upon 
 the anniversary of his birthday, i 5th August 1846, the 
 beautiful monument to Sir Walter Scott designed by 
 Mr George Kemp, who, alas ! did not live to see the 
 completion of his work, was officially handed over to 
 the town. 
 
 At a public meeting in the Music Hall in April 
 1847, Dr. Guthrie's great scheme was adopted for 
 instituting Ragged or Industrial Schools, where the 
 children of dissolute or criminal parents might be edu- 
 cated and also taught a trade. The detailed plan 
 formulated by the founder was adopted with enthusiasm, 
 and these schools, which are a monument to the 
 philanthropy and Christianity of that great and good 
 man. Dr. Thomas Guthrie, are still flourishing in our 
 midst. During the same month the foundation-stone 
 of the Caledonian Railway Station in Lothian Road 
 was formally laid by the Duke of Athole, and in the 
 following month (13th May 1847) the two large 
 Secession Churches, the United Associate Synod, con- 
 sisting of 24 Presbyteries and the Relief Synod con- 
 sisting of 9 Presbyteries, were united into one church 
 in Tanfield Hall, Canonmills, the new body taking the 
 name of the United Presbyterian Church. The 
 Caledonian Railway was opened on February 15, 1848, 
 whereby Edinburgh was connected with Carlisle. 
 
 The British Association having visited Edinburgh 
 in 1834, returned to the Scots metropolis in August 
 1850, the meeting being one of the most memorable 
 in the history of the association ; and in the same 
 136 
 
From the Rebellion 
 
 month Queen Victoria paid another visit to Edinburgh, 
 but on this occasion took up her abode in Holyrood 
 Palace, which had not been inhabited by a queen 
 regnant since 1561, when her ancestress, Mary Queen 
 of Scots, lived there during her brief and troubled reign. 
 The visit not being a state one, there was not the same 
 amount of display as would otherwise have been the 
 case ; but during it the foundation-stone of the National 
 Gallery was laid by His Royal Highness the Prince 
 Consort. In November of that year the " New Col- 
 lege " or Free Church Theological Hall was formally 
 opened for the reception of students. 
 
 A great building era now commenced in Edinburgh, 
 which ere long entirely changed the character of the 
 town. Edinburgh was still further extended towards 
 the north-west, various terraces erected upon the estate 
 of Dean — Buckingham Terrace, Eton Terrace, Clar- 
 endon Crescent, etc., greatly adding to the amenity of 
 the city. About 1853 also the city began to extend 
 steadily south-westward, the estates of Grange and 
 Merchiston being laid out in streets for detached villa 
 residences, a new departure from the heavy style of 
 city mansion that had been adopted in 1766, when lay- 
 ing out the streets of the New Town. 
 
 In 1 86 1, the foundation-stones of the new Post 
 Office and of the Museum of Science and Art were 
 laid by Prince Consort, and the gradual extension of 
 this structure has swept away Argyle Square and 
 North College Street, out of which the broad thorough- 
 fare of Chambers Street has been evolved. In 1867, 
 a great scheme of City Improvement was entered upon 
 by the Town Council, the somewhat vandal-like pro- 
 secution of which by the city fathers has well-nigh 
 effected the extinction of antiquarian " Edinburgh. 
 In 1870, the existing Royal Infirmary having proved 
 utterly inadequate for the purposes for which it was 
 
 137 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 intended, the foundation-stone of the present magnifi- 
 cent structure in Lauriston was laid by the then Prince 
 of Wales (now King Edward VII.), and the work 
 being pushed on vigorously, the building was ready for 
 occupation in 1879. Meantime, the University had 
 also been found quite inadequate to accommodate the 
 number of students attending it. Accordingly the 
 erection of the new Medical School in Teviot Place 
 was commenced in 1877, and completed in about ten 
 years. In 1878-79, the restoration of St. Giles' 
 Cathedral (divided at one time into four, but latterly 
 into three churches) was carried out largely at the ex- 
 pense of Dr. William Chambers, and the whole of 
 that splendid area now forms one place of worship ; 
 while the noble Edinburgh Cathedral, at the end 
 of Melville Street, the erection of which was begun in 
 1874, was completed and consecrated on the 30th 
 October 1879. In 1884 the University celebrated 
 its tercentenary, amid great enthusiasm, and in 1886 
 the Edinburgh Exhibition was held, being opened by 
 Prince Albert Victor for the Queen. Much of the 
 success which attended this enterprise was due to the 
 tact and wisdom of the then Lord Provost, Mr 
 Thomas Clark, head of the great publishing house of 
 T. & T. Clark, and the baronetcy conferred on him 
 was felt to be only a suitable recognition of his untiring 
 labours. About the same time also the Braid Hills 
 were acquired as a public golf course for Edinburgh, 
 the use of Bruntsfield Links being no longer possible 
 with safety to the lieges. In the following year, 
 thanks to the liberality of Mr J. R. Findlay of Aber- 
 lour, suitable housing " was provided in Queen Street 
 for the National Portrait Gallery and also for the 
 Antiquarian Museum (of which more anon), while the 
 new National Observatory was built on Blackford Hill 
 in 1895, its massive castellated pile forming an im- 
 
 138 
 
From the Rebel/ion 
 
 posing landmark to travellers approaching the city 
 either by land or sea. The new North Bridge was 
 erected and opened in 1899- 1900, thereby easing the 
 constant congestion of traffic ; and another ecclesias- 
 tical Union was consummated on 31st October 1900, 
 when the bulk of the " Free Church," consisting of 
 75 Scottish Presbyteries and 1065 charges, and the 
 United Presbyterian Church," consisting of 29 
 Scottish Presbyteries and 589 charges, were united in 
 the Waverley Market under the common designation 
 of " The United Free Church." 
 
 We have thus briefly sketched the " history " of 
 Edinburgh ; let us now proceed to the more detailed 
 description of the city, with its places and objects of 
 historic interest. 
 
 ^39 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 Edinburgh Castle 
 
 ALMOST of necessity our sketch of Edinburgh 
 begins with the Castle, partly because it stands 
 at the head, even as Holyrood stands at the foot of 
 that *^ hog's-back ridge" whereon historic Edinburgh 
 is situated. 
 
 Let us approach the grand old fortress from the 
 Princes Street side, by way of the " Mound," and 
 Mound Place, passing the gates of the " New College," 
 scaling the steep incline with Ramsay Lodge (where 
 erstwhile stood honest Allan's goosepie" of a house), 
 and Ramsay Garden on the right, until we gain the 
 summit and turn into the " Castlehill," whence we 
 enter the Esplanade." 
 
 The view from this elevation is exquisite, but we 
 push on, remembering that it is even finer from the 
 Argyll Battery, or the " Mons Meg " platform. But 
 stay, was not this part of the Castlehill the scene from 
 about 1437 to 1670, of all those terrible executions 
 for witchcraft which so stained the annals of the times ? 
 Not alone the old, the feeble, the ugly or the ill- 
 tempered were arraigned. The young and beautiful 
 Lady Jane Douglas, widow of John, Lord Glammis, 
 falsely accused by a disappointed suitor of attempting 
 to compass the king's death by sorcery, was here 
 burned alive. The estimate has been made that no 
 fewer than 2000 persons met their death in this place 
 during these 230 years, a dozen witches at a time were 
 frequently " worryit at the stake " (strangled and burned), 
 after being convicted on the most trivial evidence. 
 
 The part of the Castlehill now occupied by the 
 Esplanade was the favourite promenade of the Edin- 
 140 
 
"The Castle 
 
 burgh citizens in the seventeenth and early part of the 
 eighteenth century. In 1753 it was levelled, when the 
 earth thrown out while digging the foundations of the 
 Royal Exchange, High Street, was spread over it. 
 The walls and railings, however, were not raised until 
 the middle of the nineteenth century. Several monu- 
 ments are located here, one to Field-Marshal the 
 Duke of York and Albany, K.G. ; another keeps 
 green the memory of those of the 78th Ross-shire 
 Highlanders who fell during the Indian Mutiny ; while 
 the other two are memorials to the Scottish Horse 
 and the Gordon Highlanders. 
 
 Passing onward we cross the old moat, formerly 
 filled with water pumped up from the Nor' Loch, but 
 now partially paved, and used sometimes as a recreation 
 ground. We enter the Castle by the new battlemented 
 gateway, wherein is a massive door of great antiquity 
 studded with iron bolts. This doorway and the 
 guardhouse near by represent the Outer Port,'* which 
 formerly was the first defence of the fortress. Over 
 the gateway formerly stood the sculptured entablature, 
 now in the Antiquarian Museum, representing mortars, 
 linstocks, barrels of gunpowder and balls, with a gunner 
 ramming home a charge into a very primitive cannon. 
 Onward we follow the roadway past the guardhouse 
 where the sentry steps his measured round," while 
 overhead frowns the great " Half-Moon Battery " 
 (erected in 1573), whence all the salutes are fired on 
 state occasions. The track, a somewhat rough one, 
 studded with uneven cobblestones, conducts us up the 
 steep ascent, flanked by the garrison stores on the right 
 and on the left by the beetling rock itself, until we reach 
 the archway styled " The Portcullis Gate^ under which 
 we can still trace the slit wherein the " pronged 
 portcullis " was hung, ready to descend and bar the 
 passage. Over the archway is the Argyll Tower^ 
 
 141 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 originally constructed by David II. but much injured 
 during the siege of 1573, when the Castle was held 
 by Kirkcaldy of Grange for Queen Mary. The walls 
 are of enormous thickness, averaging from 9 to 17 feet, 
 and in many places betray signs of extreme antiquity. 
 The Tower takes its name from the two Argylls, 
 father and son, who successively occupied the prison 
 chamber over the archway in 1661 and 1685, prior to 
 their execution for fidelity to the principles of Presby- 
 terianism. In this chamber, during the last day on 
 earth of the younger Argyll, that scene occurred which 
 has been commemorated in art by the great fresco 
 painting in the lobby of the House of Commons, 
 entitled "Argyll's Last Sleep." Macaulay thus 
 records the incident : 
 
 " So effectually had religious faith and hope, co-operating 
 with natural courage and equanimity, composed his spirits that 
 on the very day on which he was to die, he dined with appetite, 
 conversed with gaiety at table, and after his last meal, lay down, 
 as he was wont, to take a short slumber, in order that his body 
 and mind might be in full vigour when he should mount the 
 scaffold. At this time one of the Lords of the Council (supposed 
 to have been Middleton), who had probably been bred a 
 Presbyterian, and had been seduced by interest to join in oppressing 
 the Church of which he had once been a member, came to the 
 Castle with a message from his brethren and demanded to see the 
 Earl. It was answered that the Earl was asleep. The Privy 
 Councillor thought that this was a subterfuge and insisted on 
 entering. The door of the cell was softly opened, and there lay 
 Argyll on the bed, sleeping in his irons, the placid sleep of 
 infancy. The conscience of the renegade smote him. He 
 turned away, sick at heart, ran out of the Castle and took refuge 
 in the dwelling of a lady of his family who lived hard by. There 
 he flung himself on a couch and gave himbelf up to an agony of 
 remorse and shame. His kinswoman, alarmed by his looks and 
 groans . . . prayed him to tell her what had disheartened him. 
 He replied,' I have seen Argyll within an hour of eternity sleeping 
 as sweetly as ever man did. But as for me — ! 
 
 After passing through the archway under the Argyll 
 Tower, we reach, on the left-hand side, the stair which 
 142 
 
The Castle 
 
 conducts us to the citadel. Formerly this stair was the 
 only means of reaching the citadel ; now, however, a 
 broad roadway conducts the visitor, by a gently ascend- 
 ing circular detour, to the same spot. 
 
 On the right-hand side, after passing the archway, 
 we note the Argyll Battery^ named after John, Duke 
 of Argyll, who was Commander-in-Chief in Scotland 
 at the Rebellion of 1715 ; while below it, is Mylnes 
 Battery dating back to 1689. On the slope of the 
 steep ascent stand the bomb-proof powder magazine, 
 and the Governor's house ; the latter, a massive piece of 
 architecture of the days of Queen Anne. Behind this 
 building is located the Armoury, where are stands for 
 over 30,000 rifles. Here, as well as in the Governor's 
 house, is a fine collection of old firearms and weapons 
 generally, from the wheel-lock petronel of the fifteenth 
 century, to the magazine rifle ; also coats of mail 
 (some of them belonging to the Knights of Malta), 
 brass howitzers, and a number of Highland claymores 
 of excellent steel, finely damascened. A little to the 
 left are the " New Barracks," erected towards the close 
 of the eighteenth century, a marvel of bad taste and 
 ugliness, rendered all the more marked by contrast with 
 the most recent additions, which exhibit both taste and 
 harmony of design. Immediately behind the Armoury, 
 and overlooking Castle Terrace and the site of the new 
 "Usher Hall," is the ancient postern through which 
 the body of Queen Margaret was conveyed to Dun- 
 fermline when the Castle was besieged by Donalbain 
 in 1093 {see p. 10). To the same postern, or Sally- 
 port," Dundee climbed in 1689 to hold his historic con- 
 ference with the Duke of Gordon, governor of the Castle, 
 regarding the possibility of stirring up the Highland clans 
 to support the cause of the deposed James. Over the 
 postern is a tablet recording this memorable visit. 
 
 We now retrace our steps and mounting the winding 
 
 H3 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 ascent reach the plateau whereon stands the citadel, the 
 ancient royal Palace, the Crown Room, and all the other 
 places of interest located there. Taking our station on 
 the King 5 Bastion^ or old Bomb Battery, we see spread 
 out before us one of the most magnificent prospects in 
 Europe, stretching from Ben Lomond, the Ochils, the 
 Forth Bridge and Dalmahoy Kill on the north-west, 
 to North Berwick Law and Doon Hill above Dunbar 
 on the east ; also from the seaboard villages in the 
 kingdom of Fife and the blue expanse of the sail-dotted 
 Forth on the north, to Soutra Hill, the Lammermoors 
 and the misty line of the Moorfoots on the south. Hill 
 and dale, meadow and mere, farm and hamlet, village 
 and town, with here and there the " white steam pennon " 
 darting between — all are spread out like an immense 
 map before the entranced eye. 
 
 But when, having satiated our gaze with nature's 
 loveliness, we turn to the objects immediately around us, 
 our attention is at once caught by the enormous cannon 
 which crowns the platform. This is the far-famed 
 Mons Meg. Diversity of opinion exists regarding its 
 origin. Some maintain it was forged at Mons in 1476, 
 as is affirmed in the inscription it bears. But that in- 
 scription has been sadly discredited by Sir Walter 
 Scott, who went far to prove that the gun was forged 
 by Kim of Mollance or Mons and presented by the 
 M'Lellans to James IL in 1455, when he arrived with 
 his army at Carlingwark, to besiege William, Earl of 
 Douglas, in Threave Castle. It was certainly used by 
 order of James IV. at the siege of Dumbarton in 1489, 
 when the Treasurer's books record i8s. Scots for 
 " drink money " to the gunners. We next hear of it 
 in connection with the festivities in Edinburgh over the 
 marriage of Mary Queen of Scots to the Dauphin 
 Francis (24th April 1558), when again the Treasurer's 
 Accounts state — **By the Queenis precept andspeciale 
 144 
 
The Castle 
 
 command to certain pyonaris (scavengers), for their 
 laboris in the mounting of Mons furth of her lair to be 
 schote, and for the finding and carrying of her bullet 
 after sho wes schot, frae Weirdie Mure to the Castell 
 of Edinburgh." In 1682 it burst while firing a salute 
 to the Duke of York. Removed to the Tower of 
 London in 1745, it was restored to the Castle in 1829, 
 through the influence of Sir Walter Scott. 
 
 Turning from Mons Meg^ different associations are 
 instantly suggested by the contemplation of St. 
 Margaret's Chapel, at once the oldest and probably 
 the smallest place of worship now standing in Scotland. 
 Crowning the summit of the rock, it measures 1 6 feet 
 in length by 10 in width. Its architecture is Early 
 Norman in character with an admixture of certain 
 Saxon details. At the eastern end and separating 
 the nave from the apse is a fine round-headed chancel 
 arch, decorated with those zigzag mouldings common 
 in ecclesiastical buildings of the period, and surmounted 
 by trigonal hood-mouldings adorned with a border of 
 lozenge-shaped ornaments, the pattern changing as the 
 spring of the arch is approached. The little chancel is 
 destitute of ornament, but the round-headed windows 
 are of great architectural interest. The doorway has 
 been admirably restored, the chapel presenting now, as 
 nearly as possible, the appearance it did in the sainted 
 queen's days. In this chapel Edward I., according to 
 tradition, accepted the fealty of the Abbot of Holyrood 
 and other Scottish ecclesiastics. The building was 
 partially restored in 1853 at the expense of Sir Daniel 
 Wilson and under the superintendence of the late Mr 
 James Grant, while in 1892 the restoration was com- 
 pleted by the liberality of the late William Nelson. 
 
 On the right hand we note the doorway leading us 
 to the Argyll Tower, which we have already described 
 from the outside. A visit should be paid to the 
 K 145 
 
T'he Story of Sdinhurgh 
 
 interior. From this gloomy chamber the Marquis of 
 Argyll might have escaped had not his courage failed 
 him at the last moment ; but his son, twenty years 
 later, was more fortunate. One stormy evening, when 
 the " nor'-westers " were driving the sleet and snow 
 in blinding blasts around the fortress, his step- daughter 
 Lady Sophia Lindsay of Balcarres, came to take fare- 
 well, but the earl disguised as her ladyship's footman 
 left the tower holding her train. When they reached 
 the " Outer Port " his arm was seized by the sentinel 
 and Argyll dropped the dress. His agitation would 
 have betrayed all, when her ladyship with feminine 
 resourcefulness and presence of mind struck him over 
 the head with the muddy train which he had let fall, 
 and angrily scolded him for his clumsiness. The sentry, 
 laughing at the scene, let them pass, and the earl soon 
 reached Holland, not to be recaptured till 1685. In 
 this chamber the ghost of Claverhouse is said to have 
 appeared to his friend and comrade-in-arms. Lord Bal- 
 carres, on the night of Dundee's death at Killiecrankie. 
 
 We now pass round to that Half Moon Battery 
 (built in 1573-74)9 which by its contour completely 
 changed the look of the Castle from the level of the 
 Castlehill. This accounts for the difference between 
 the Castle as it appears prior to 1573 and after it. 
 The battery, which stands 510 feet above the sea, has 
 its embrasures filled with 18 and 24 pounders which 
 command the mouth of the Forth. Visitors usually 
 pay particular attention to the cannon on the left of 
 the clock. This is the " One O'clock Gun " — the 
 housewifes' clock-regulator as it has been called — 
 attached by electric wire to the Time-ball on the top 
 of Nelson's Monument, which in turn is connected 
 with Greenwich Observatory. In this way the gun 
 may really be said to be fired from Greenwich. 
 
 We now enter " Palace Yard," where nearly all 
 146 
 
The Castle 
 
 that is historically interesting in the Castle is to be 
 found. The Royal Apartments" form the southern 
 and eastern sides of the quadrangle, which displays a 
 fine octagonal tower, square turrets and battlements, the 
 design of Sir James Hamilton of Finnart, the architect 
 of James V. The Crown Room is a vaulted and gloomy 
 apartment, with massive oak-panelled ceiling, wherein, 
 guarded by two doors of immense strength and behind 
 a heavy iron grating, repose the Regalia of Scotland — 
 the Crown, Sceptre, Sword of State, Rod of Office, 
 etc. The Crown (which some antiquarians date back 
 to the age of Bruce, but which certainly is not later than 
 that of James V.) consists of a fillet of pure gold, en- 
 riched with twenty-one precious stones — diamonds, 
 pearls, emeralds, sapphires, amethysts, topazes, and 
 rubies — and marked by heraldic enamellings. Above 
 the'great circle is a smaller one of twenty points, adorned 
 with a similar number of diamonds and sapphires arranged 
 alternately, the points being tipped with great pearls. 
 The upper circle is raised with ten crosses Jloree^ each 
 adorned in the centre with a great diamond, betwixt 
 four great pearls placed in the cross, these crosses being 
 alternated with ten high Jleurs-de-lysy and also with the 
 great pearls below, which tip the points of the second 
 small circle. From the upper circle proceed four arches, 
 adorned with enamelled figures, which, meeting, close 
 the top and are surmounted by a mond of gold also 
 enamelled, with stars semees (/.^., powdered), and crossed 
 and enamelled with a large cross pat ee, adorned at the 
 extremities with great pearls and cantoned with other 
 four in the angles. The bonnet was originally of purple 
 velvet, but, in 1685, the purple velvet being old, a cap 
 of crimson velvet was substituted, adorned with four 
 plates of gold, on each being a large pearl, while the 
 bonnet itself is trimmed with ermine. Upon the lowest 
 circle there are eight small holes, two and two, which 
 
 147 
 
The Story of Sdinhurgh 
 
 were for attaching thereto any other precious stones. 
 The Crown is 9 inches in diameter, 27 inches in cir- 
 cumference, and in height from the under circles to the 
 top of the cross patee, 6\ inches. The great pearl in 
 the apex of the Crown is thought to be the same as was 
 found in the Kellie Burn (Aberdeenshire), in 1620, 
 being the finest ever discovered in Scotland. 
 
 The Sceptre, made in Paris for James V., has a stem 
 2 feet long of silver double gilt, is hexagonal in form 
 with engraved sides and has three knobs. On the top 
 of the stem is an antique capital of embossed leaves, the 
 abacus being surrounded by three little statues of the 
 Virgin, St. Andrew, and St. James, while between every 
 statue rises a rullion in the form of a dolphin, and the 
 whole is surmounted with a very fine beryl, said to be- 
 long to an ancient Egyptian sceptre, and to be over 
 3000 years old. 
 
 The Sword of State, presented in 1507 by Pope 
 Julius II. to James IV. along with a consecrated hat 
 and the golden rose, is 5 feet in length. The handle 
 is of silver over-gilt and jewelled, the transverse or cross 
 being in the form of two dolphins. On the blade is in- 
 scribed in gold the words Julius II. P." The scabbard, 
 of crimson velvet, is covered with silver, wrought in 
 filigree work into branches of oak leaves and acorns. 
 
 We describe these national memorials at length 
 because, owing to the destruction of the Crown and 
 Sceptre of England by Cromwell, they are now the 
 only ancient Regalia in Britain. In addition to the 
 above the collection contains the royal jewels be- 
 queathed by Cardinal York, the last of the Stuarts, 
 to George IV., including the George and Collar of 
 the Garter presented by Queen Elizabeth to James 
 VI., the badge of the Thistle belonging to the same 
 monarch, containing a portrait of Anne of Denmark ; 
 and the Coronation Ring of Charles I. 
 148 
 
The Castle 
 
 The Regalia have passed through many vicissitudes 
 before finding their quiet harbourage of to-day in the 
 Crown Room. During the epoch of the Common- 
 wealth, the Scots Privy Council, apprehensive lest 
 Cromwell might decree for the Scots Regalia the same 
 fate as befell the English, sent them to the Castle of 
 Dunnottar, whence they were carried away in a bag of 
 lint on a woman's back and buried beneath the pulpit 
 in Kinneff Church in the Mearns, under the care of the 
 Rev. George Grainger. There they lay until after 
 the Restoration. At the time of the Union of the 
 Kingdoms, the Privy Council, in dread lest they should 
 be removed to England, determined, once more, to 
 conceal them in the Castle. This time, placed in a 
 huge chest, they were deposited in a vaulted chamber, 
 which was sealed up, and an order left that the door 
 was never to be opened. So they remained for no 
 years. In 1794 the room was opened during a search 
 for some Crown deeds, and the iron-clasped chest in 
 which the Regalia were reported to lie was actually 
 shaken, but no sound was emitted, until, gradually, the 
 belief gained ground that the English Government, at 
 the time of the Union, had secretly transported them 
 to England and broken them up. At length, in 181 8, 
 urged thereto by Sir Walter Scott and others, the 
 Regent issued an order to the Scots Officers of State 
 and Sir Walter to enter the so-called Crown Room, 
 break open the chest, and, once for all, decide the fact. 
 Accordingly, on 4th February, a commission, consist- 
 ing of the Lord President of the Court of Session 
 (Charles Hope), the Ivord Justice Clerk (David 
 Boyle), the Lord Chief Commissioner of the Jury 
 Court (William Adam), Major General John Hope, 
 commanding the Forces in Scotland, Lord Provost 
 Kincaid Mackenzie, William Clerk, Esq., Principal 
 Clerk of the Jury Court, Henry Jardine, Deputy Re- 
 
 149 
 
'The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 membrancer in the Exchequer, Thomas Thomson, 
 Deputy Clerk Register, and Walter Scott, one of the 
 Principal Clerks of Session, visited the Crown Room, 
 ordered a smith to break open the lock of the chest, 
 and there, to the delight of the company, covered with 
 a dusty cloth, yet all intact, were found the long-lost 
 Regalia of Scotland. The news was immediately 
 communicated to the crowd outside, a salute was fired 
 from the Castle, and the greatest joy was manifested 
 on all sides. The chamber wherein they were found 
 is the room in which they still remain, while the great 
 chest still stands on view in the same apartment. As 
 revealing the reverence wherewith Scott regarded them, 
 the following incident may not be out of place as 
 recorded in the great novelist's Life : — 
 
 **On the 5th Feb. Scott and some of his brother Commis- 
 sioners revisited the Castle accompanied by several of the ladies 
 of their families. His daughter tells me (Lockhart) that her 
 father's conversation had worked her feelings up to such a pitch 
 that when the lid was again removed, she nearly fainted and 
 drew back from the circle. As she did so she was startled by 
 his voice exclaiming in a tone of deepest emotion — * No, by God, 
 no ! ' One of the Commissioners, not quite entering into the 
 solemnity with which Scott regarded this business, had, it seems, 
 made a sort of motion as if he meant to put the Crown upon the 
 head of one of the young ladies near him ; but the voice and 
 aspect of the great poet were more than sufficient to make the 
 worthy gentleman understand his error." 
 
 Leaving the Crown Room and descending the stair 
 we enter the doorway on the ground floor, at the south- 
 east corner of the quadrangle, over which may be 
 noted on a tablet the date 1566, with the interlinked 
 initials H. and M., standing for Kenry (Darnley) and 
 Mary, the father and mother of James VI., who was 
 born here on the 19th June of that year. The 
 building, however, must be greatly older than that 
 date, for here the queen's mother, Mary of Guise (her- 
 self the widow of James V.) died in 1560. The 
 ISO 
 
The Castle 
 
 queen's bedroom is very small, only about 8 feet long, 
 and very irregular in shape. The wainscotting where- 
 with it is panelled is not the original wood — though, in 
 the matter of age, its antiquity is even greater than the 
 birth of James VI. — for it was taken from the Guise 
 Palace in Blyth Close. The ancient inscription 
 mentioned by all the older historians of the Castle is 
 still extant in the room : — 
 
 " Lord Jesu Chryst that crounit was with Thornse, 
 Preserve the Birth quhais Badgie heir is borne, 
 And send hir sonne successione to Reigne stille, 
 Lang in this Realme, if that it be Thy Will ; 
 Als grant, O Lord, quhat ever of Hir proceed 
 Be to Thy Honer Glorie and Praise ; Sobied." 
 
 19th Junii 1566. 
 
 The ceiling, however, consisting of oaken panels, 
 with the initials I.R. and M.R. in alternate squares, 
 surmounted by the royal Crown, remains as it was in 
 Mary's day. The larger room, which was the sitting- 
 room of the queen, suffered greater change during the 
 intervening years, and stands in need of drastic restor- 
 ation to bring it back to a semblance of its ancient state. 
 The view from the windows over the city and onward 
 to the shimmering Forth is magnificent. Balconies 
 were of old attached to the windows, from which, 
 probably, the queen looked out on many a splendid 
 pageant and procession. 
 
 Leaving the royal apartments we now enter the 
 Old Parliament Hall, which occupies the entire south 
 side of the quadrangle. Restored within the past 
 twelve or fifteen years by the liberality of the late Mr. 
 W. Nelson, it now presents a most impressive 
 spectacle, being 84 feet in length, 33 in width, and 
 27 in height. The grand old fireplace and some of 
 the carved corbels at the top of the principal staircase 
 show an artistic skill of no mean order. The fine oak 
 roof, the beams of which are adorned with numerous 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 sculptured shields, emblazoned with the arms of the most 
 renowned castellans and governors of the Castle from 
 1007 I So 5, imparts a suggestion of loftiness and 
 grandeur to the apartment which accords well with the 
 memorable deeds associated with it. Here assembled 
 the ancient Scottish Parliaments, in particular that one 
 hastily convened (20th March 1437) immediately sub- 
 sequent to the death of James I., at which his son, a 
 boy of six, was proclaimed king, under the title of 
 James II. Here also was given that " bloody banquet " 
 to the young Earl Douglas, by the Chancellor Crichton 
 and the Regent Livingstone (^see p. 25). Here most 
 of the Coronation banquets were held, down to the time 
 of Charles I., and here the Earl of Leven entertained 
 Cromwell in 1 648. From its windows facing the south, 
 and accordingly overlooking the tilting-ground, situated 
 where the Grassmarket now is, the Stuart monarchs 
 were wont to view the jousts. James IV. was particu- 
 larly fond of this exercise, and was accounted one of 
 the finest tilters of the day. Knights came from all 
 parts of Europe to break a lance with the king or his 
 stalwart warriors. One such encounter (Pitscottie tells 
 us) was long remembered. It took place in 1503 and 
 was witnessed by the king from the balcony of this hall — 
 "A famous cavalier of the Low Countries, Sir John Cochbevis, 
 challenged the best knight in Scotland to break a lance, or meet 
 him in combat a Poutrance (/. to the death). Sir Patrick Hamilton 
 of the house of Arran took up his challenge. Amid a vast con- 
 course, they came to the barriers, lanced, horsed and clad in 
 tempered mail, with their emblazoned shields hung around their 
 necks. At sound of the trumpet they rushed to the shock and 
 splintered their spears fairly. Fresh ones were given them, but as 
 Hamilton's horse failed him, they drew their two-handed swords 
 and fought on foot. They fought thus for a full hour, till the 
 Dutchman, being struck to the ground, the king cast his plumed 
 bonnet over the Castle wall to stay the combat, while the heralds 
 and trumpeters proclaimed the Scottish Knight victorious." 
 
 Below the royal apartments are a double series of bomb- 
 152 
 
The Castle 
 
 proof dungeons, some with small iron-barred loopholes 
 for windows, others in total darkness. These were 
 used during the last French war as places of retention 
 for prisoners, and strong though these cells are, no fewer 
 than forty-nine of the captives were able to break out and 
 make a dash for liberty. The iron gratings of the aillets of 
 the dungeons may be seen from Johnstone Terrace below. 
 
 The other side of the quadrangle of Palace Yard is 
 devoted to the military hospital, which was erected 
 about 1753, being built on the site and from the materials 
 of a church of great antiquity and considerable size, 
 supposed to have been dedicated to St. Margaret. By 
 Maitland it was considered to have been raised not only 
 for the use of the garrison, but for the accommodation of 
 the inhabitants who had the privilege of residing within 
 the Castle walls, and for the benefit of the residents of 
 the district before the erection of the second Church 
 of St. Giles. The great font of the church and many 
 beautifully-carved stones were found built into the 
 hospital wall during recent alterations. Mentioned by 
 David I. in the Holyrood charter, as " the Church of 
 the Castle of Edinburgh," the building is again referred 
 to by Alexander III. also in the Papal Bulls relating 
 to the ecclesiastical administration of Edinburgh, as 
 " the paroche Kirk, within the said Castell," and was 
 specially dealt with by the Presbytery of Edinburgh in 
 1595. Its former existence, therefore, is proved beyond 
 doubt. We must not omit mention of the three braziers 
 for bale-fires placed on the east, north-western and 
 south sides of the fortress. These, as we have already 
 stated p. 31), were at once lighted when warning 
 beacons were seen burning on Soutra Hill or on the 
 rising grounds around Edmonston, intimating that a 
 hostile force had crossed the Border. 
 
 We have now completed our survey of the buildings 
 of the Castle. As we pass down the steep stair from the 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 citadel, we must not forget to take a peep at the " dogs' 
 cemetery," situated in an angle of the ramparts Pathetic 
 little memorials are to be read here of those regimental 
 pets, or " Dogs of the Regiment," whose demise was 
 mourned as sincerely as that of many a comrade-in-arms. 
 
 Leaving the Castle Esplanade we ask the reader to 
 accompany us into the West Princes Street Gardens 
 immediately below the fortress. On the green bank 
 outside, is a curious stone (belonging to the Society of 
 Antiquarians, and brought from Norway in 1 787) where- 
 on a Runic cross is engraven, with a flying script encircling 
 it in the shape of a serpent, the runes upon which read 
 as follows — *' Ari, son of Hjalm, to preserve among his 
 fellows his father's deeds, inscribed this stone." Further 
 along we notice the lines of a long, low archway which 
 has been built up. Some have asserted this to have been 
 "the lions' den" (for lions were kept by several of the 
 Scottish kings), but we are inclined to believe it the 
 mouth of the secret or subterranean passage, which 
 connected the Castle with St. Giles' and Holyrood, also 
 with St. Giles' Grange, now the Grange House. The 
 belief that such secret passages existed in Edinburgh is 
 based on a mass of evidence that renders the matter almost 
 beyond doubt. Under the Castle Rock are the ruins of 
 the " Wellhouse Tower," popularly called Wallace's 
 Tower," a confusion of names which long rendered the 
 legend tenable that Scotland's national hero had been 
 in Edinburgh. The tower, however, had no connection 
 with him, but was simply a covering of masonry over 
 the well which at one time supplied the Castle with its 
 best supply of water. Some years ago, when a portion 
 of this tower was being taken down owing to it having 
 became insecure, a flight of steps hewn out of the rock 
 was discovered, buried under the debris of centuries, also 
 a human skull, and some coins dating back to the 
 English occupation. 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 'The Gastlehill and the Lawnmarket 
 
 ON the north bank of the Castlehill, facing the Forth 
 and the fields of Fife, is the site where for over 
 150 years stood Ramsay Lodge, the curious little villa 
 with its octagonal frontage which, in 1742, Allan 
 Ramsay (i 686-1 758), the author of the Gentle Shep" 
 herd, and the founder of Scottish pastoral poetry, erected 
 for himself. The wits of the time likened it to a goose- 
 pie, and the witty Lord Elibank on the poet complain- 
 ing to him of the comparison, retorted, " 'Deed, Allan, 
 now I see ye in it, I'm thinkin' the wits are no far 
 wrong." The house has been incorporated into the 
 great mass of University Hall, whose imposing facade 
 still preserves some of the distinctive features of " denty 
 Allan's" cosy little villa. University Hall is one of 
 several hostelries " founded by Professor Patrick 
 Geddes, to whom Modern Edinburgh owes so much — 
 that lads coming to town to attend college might not 
 only find excellent apartments at a moderate rate, but 
 be able to combine the advantages of English student 
 residential life with the excellence of Scottish teaching. 
 The building, viewed from Princes Street, appears to 
 great advantage, the designer continuing with no little 
 skill the striking architectural efiPects of the lofty U.F. 
 Church Offices, and the New College. The interior is 
 tastefully adorned by several well-known Scottish artists, 
 Mr. Burn Murdoch, in the decorative frieze round the 
 dining-hall, telling the story of " University life " in its 
 historic succession, the series beginning with Socrates in 
 the Agora of Athens, Plato in the groves of Academe, 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 Aristotle in the Stoa Poikile," and coming down 
 through the Dark and Middle Ages and the Monastic 
 Schools, to the days of the EngUsh, Scottish and Con- 
 tinental polymaths. Mr. John Duncan has in turn 
 painted an exquisite series of panels in the " common 
 hall," in which the Scottish heroes, poets and men of 
 note are vividly portrayed. 
 
 We now begin our walk down the Castlehill. Before 
 leaving the Esplanade we should note that the soil of the 
 Castlehill proper was, in the reign of Charles I., held 
 to be the soil of Nova Scotia. In September 1621, 
 Sir William Alexander (later Earl of Stirling), received 
 from King James I. a charter granting him and his heirs 
 the greater part of the northern section of the United 
 States, Canada, and the islands thereof, also giving him 
 permission to utilise the mines and forests, to erect cities, 
 appoint fairs, hold courts, grant lands, coin money — in 
 short to exercise almost absolute authority over a country 
 two or three times larger than the king's realms at home. 
 During the reign of James, Alexander made no use of 
 his gift, but after the accession of Charles I., in 1625, 
 the charter with all its rights was renewed, and the first 
 batch of baronets created, the honour being conferred on 
 payment of a sum of £150 sterling, which sum entitled 
 them besides to a grant of land three miles long by two 
 broad, with power of pit and gallows thereon. The 
 difficulty of enfeoffing them in their possessions was over- 
 come by a royal mandate converting the soil of the 
 Castlehill into that of Nova Scotia, and between 1625 
 and 1649, sixty-four of these baronets took seisin upon 
 the soil of the Castlehill. 
 
 On the right-hand side of the street as we leave the 
 Esplanade, we observe, sticking on the south-west gable 
 of the first house, a cannon-ball said to have been fired 
 from the Half Moon Battery during the blockade of the 
 Castle in 1745, when the town was held by the High- 
 
 156 
 
^The Castlehill and Lawnmarket 
 
 landers. The first close on this side is Blair's Close 
 (entered through BoswelFs Court), where at one time the 
 Duke of Gordon had his dwelling. All that is left now of 
 the exterior of the mansion is the remains of a Gothic 
 archway. Inside, however, there is some fine wood- 
 panelling, particularly in the room overlooking the 
 Esplanade, wherein over the mantelpiece is a landscape 
 painting, the work of the famous eighteenth-century 
 Scots artist and decorator, Norrie. The duchess died 
 here in 1732. After the house had passed out of the 
 hands of the Gordons it became the property of the 
 Bairds of Newbyth, and here (6th December 1757), 
 Sir David Baird, the conqueror of Tippoo Saib and the 
 hero of Seringapatam, was born. A doorway on the 
 right-hand side of the entry of Boswell's Court with 
 the overhead script, O Lord in thee is al my traist," 
 tradition asserts to have belonged to the mansion of the 
 Earls of BothwelL 
 
 Immediately opposite is the great city Reservoir, 
 whence the water is distributed throughout Edinburgh. 
 The history of the water supply of the Scots capital is 
 interesting. Up to 162 1 the burghers depended wholly 
 on the public wells and on supplies brought by the water- 
 carriers. Among the most indispensable vessels in every 
 household of that day were a pair of " stoups," each 
 holding over a gallon. On arriving at the well the 
 newcomer shouted, Wha's last ? and on the reply 
 being given, he or she immediately took up a position 
 at the end of the waiting queue," and never dreamt 
 of attempting to fill the stoups out of turn. In 1674, 
 a German engineer, named Peter Brugsch, offered to 
 provide the city with a water supply from the springs 
 of Comiston, through a leaden pipe of 3 inches bore. 
 On this being agreed to, a waterhouse " was built on 
 the Castlehill, from which the supply could be dis- 
 tributed to the various lands. By 1704 an additional 
 
 157 
 
"The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 supply was needed, and certain springs at Liberton 
 Dams and in the Pentland Hills were utilised until the 
 present supply from Glencorse, Loganlea, Clubbiedean, 
 Gladhouse, etc., was arranged. Even this has proved 
 inadequate and the Talla Reservoir has had to be con- 
 structed. The old " waterhouse " being found in- 
 sufficient, in 184.9 the present fine "reservoir-tank" 
 was constructed, no feet long, 92 broad and 33 in 
 depth, which contains 2,000,000 gallons and can dis- 
 tribute them throughout the town at the rate of 5000 
 gallons per minute. 
 
 Keeping still to the left side of the street we cross 
 Ramsay Lane, at the head of which were located for 
 many years Dr. Guthrie's Ragged or Industrial 
 Schools, until the numbers exceeding the accommoda- 
 tion, the schools were divided, the boys being sent to the 
 new buildings at Liberton, the girls to those at Bruns- 
 wick Road. Prof. Geddes's " Outlook Tower " 
 occupying " Short's Observatory," and the buildings 
 once tenanted by the schools in question, stand on the 
 site of the house of Ramsay of Cockpen (a branch of the 
 family of Ramsay s of Dalhousie), from whom, in 
 common with the poet, the lane and purlieus take their 
 name. Allan himself reckoned Lord Dalhousie as his 
 chief, for in one of his poems he addresses him : — 
 
 ''Dalhousie of an auld descent. 
 My chief, my stoup, my ornament." 
 
 One of the occupants of the house in question was 
 Sir Andrew Ramsay, who was Chief Magistrate of 
 Edinburgh for no fewer than sixteen years, and on 
 whom the title " Lord Provost " was first conferred. 
 
 The next house of interest on this side of the street 
 is that of the Barons Sempill, still standing in the close 
 of the same name. A massive building with projecting 
 octagonal turnpike stair and doors, with polished ashlar 
 
 158 
 
T'he Castle hill and Lawnmarket 
 
 bowtels, it has evidently been a mansion of notein its day. 
 Over the principal doorway is the inscription Praised 
 be the Lord my God, my Strength and my Redeemer. 
 AnnoDom. 1638," with the device of an anchor inter- 
 twined with the letter " S " ; while over the second door- 
 way giving entrance to the lower part of the house is the 
 legend Sedes manet Optima Calo^ 1638." The Sempills 
 of Castle-Sempill were a family intimately connected 
 with Scottish literature, three of them being poets of some 
 note, viz., Sir James Sempill (1566- 1626), author of 
 the Packman s Paternoster^ his son Robert (i 595-1 66 1), 
 author of the Piper of Kilbarchan, and Francis (1618- 
 1685), author of Maggie Lauder^ etc. 
 
 We reach now the " Assembly Halls " of the two 
 great ecclesiastical denominations in Scotland — "the 
 Victoria Hall," the meeting-place of the chief court of 
 the Church of Scotland, and the " United Free Church 
 Assembly Hall," where the annual sessions of that 
 Church are held. The former, erected in 1844, at a 
 cost of £16,000, is an imposing structure in the Pointed 
 Gothic style from designs by Mr. Gillespie Graham. 
 The interior is richly furnished, the throne for the ac- 
 commodation of the representative of the sovereign, the 
 Lord High Commissioner — always a Scottish nobleman 
 of high standing, who, at the meetings of the General 
 Assembly of the Church of Scotland in the month of 
 May, attends in state, to typify thereby the connection 
 between Kirk and Crown — being placed at the western 
 end. In order to furnish a site for the Victoria Hall, 
 many old closes and houses of great historic interest 
 were swept away, among others, the family mansion of 
 the Argylls in Ross's Court, always associated with the 
 name of the " Great Marquis," and in Kennedy's Close, 
 that of the " Kings of Carrick," the Earls of Cassilis. 
 
 The Free Church, however, was even a greater 
 offender, for no less than a royal palace was razed to 
 
The Story of Sdinhurgh 
 
 find a site for the Assembly Hall of that denomina- 
 tion. On the area now covered by the Assembly 
 Hall, the Rainy Hall, the New College and the High 
 Church,' three closes were situated — Blyth's, Tod's, 
 and Nairne's, all of them giving entrance to the 
 several dwellings, into which the great palace of Mary 
 of Guise was sub-divided. Erected probably after 
 Holyrood had been burned by the English under Here- 
 ford, in 1544, it was occupied by the queen-mother and 
 her little daughter, the Queen of Scots, for short in- 
 tervals from 1545 to 1548, during their stay at Linlith- 
 gow, Stirling, and Inchmahome ; but Mary of Guise 
 lived much in this house after her daughter's departure 
 for France (1548), and throughout the remainder of 
 her life. The mansion was a very large one. Over 
 the main doorway was inscribed in large letters Laus 
 Honor Deo, with her husband's initials, I. R., on the 
 lintels. The building was adorned with some exceed- 
 ingly rich oaken doorways and panels, some of which 
 are in the Museum of the Society of Antiquaries. On 
 the principal doorway were carved portraits which 
 Chambers thinks to be those of James V. and Mary of 
 Guise. These may yet be studied in the museum in 
 question. A feature of the house was the number of rich 
 Gothic niches, for the reception of images of the saints, 
 and several fine fireplaces, also distinguished by ornate 
 carving after Gothic designs. Nearly all the ceilings 
 were waggon-shaped, painted in intricate arabesques and 
 with graceful designs of flowers, fruit, and leaves sur- 
 rounding panels with inscriptions in Gothic letters, and 
 furnished with heraldic devices surmounting the initials 
 of the king and his consort, I. R. x M. R. Adjoining this 
 was another house which had Laus Deo, ^59i> 
 front. A similar style of architecture and internal decora- 
 tion prevailed throughout all the houses in the closes 
 named. 
 160 
 
The Castlehill and Lawnmarket 
 
 The United Free Church Assembly Hall is one of 
 the largest in Edinburgh, being capable of containing 
 nearly 3000 persons, since its enlargement in 1902. 
 The body of the hall is reserved for members of 
 Assembly, the seats for the Moderator and Clerks being 
 at the northern end, while the galleries are allocated to 
 the public. Seen during the month of May, when 
 the Assembly is in session, the Hall presents a very 
 imposing spectacle. On the west side of the Assembly 
 Hall is the Rainy Hall, the latter being furnished 
 with many fine portraits of the Fathers of the 
 Church and the Professors of the New College, 
 among others those of Principals Cairns, Rainy (after 
 whom the hall is named), Harper, Professors John 
 Brown, Smeaton, T. Smith, Blaikie, and others. Pass- 
 ing through the corridor we reach an airy vestibule used 
 by the members for promenading in intervals of busi- 
 ness, and then, passing through the main doorway and 
 descending the steps, we stand in the quadrangle of the 
 New College. 
 
 The lecture-rooms of the New College occupy the 
 whole block on our left hand-side, while that on our 
 right is used as a place of worship by the U.F. High 
 Church, of which the pastor-emeritus at the present time 
 (1904) is the poet preacher. Dr. W. C. Smith, whose 
 poems have won a high place in contemporary literature. 
 A fine statue of John Knox, by John Hutchison, R.S.A., 
 and unveiled in May 1896, stands in the quadrangle. 
 The library of the New College is very valuable, 
 numbering over 80,000 volumes, and contains many 
 memorials of the Covenanters and Secession worthies, 
 which have come to the United Free Church through 
 union with the Reformed Presbyterian (1876) and the 
 United Presbyterian Churches (1900). 
 
 After leaving the quadrangle by the barbican-like 
 archway, we turn round to note the general effect of the 
 L 161 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 architect's plan and to admire the skill wherewith he 
 has utilised the presence of the noble spire of the Church 
 of Scotland Assembly Hall behind, to add effect to the 
 ensemble of his own edifice. The College is designed 
 in the English Collegiate style, combining the Tudor 
 with some features of the later Gothic, and has two 
 massive square towers, 1 20 feet in height with crocketed 
 finials. It forms a conspicuous feature m the landscape 
 when viewed from Princes Street or Hanover Street. 
 
 We now proceed eastward for some eight or ten 
 yards, then turn sharply to the right, up Mylne's Court, 
 casting a glance as we pass up North Bank Street, at 
 the noble fa9ade of the great block of buildings in the 
 Scots Baronial style occupied by the Offices of the 
 United Free Church ; and a little further on, but on 
 the opposite side of the street, at the magnificent pile, 
 in the Grasco- Venetian style, of the Head Office of the 
 Bank of Scotland. Whether viewed from Princes 
 Street or the High Street, from the top of Mound 
 Place or the level of St. Giles Street, this grand edifice 
 impresses one with a vivid sense of the symmetry of its 
 several parts and the harmony of its general design. 
 
 Mylne's Court was the work of Robert Mylne, who 
 erected the more modern parts of Holyrood Palace, 
 and was the seventh Royal Master-mason. His uncle's 
 tomb in Greyfriars' Churchyard bears the inscription : — 
 
 " Sixth master-mason to a royal race 
 
 Of seven successive kings sleeps in this place." 
 
 The entrance from the Lawnmarket is through a pend 
 or archway, over which is a Roman Doric entablature 
 with the date 1690. The houses forming the west side 
 of the court have all been removed, but on the northern, 
 the eastern and southern side there are still remains of 
 old mansions showing fine dormer windows rising above 
 the roof. One of the demolished houses on the west 
 162 
 
'The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 side bore the inscription, Blesstt — be — God — in — al 
 — his — giftis + 1580 " ; while one of those demolished 
 on the south front, looking out on the Lawnmarket. 
 was long occupied by Bartholomew Somerville, burgess, 
 the first private benefactor to the University of Edin- 
 burgh, who in 1639 left his entire fortune for the main- 
 tenance of a Professor of Divinity. Many of the rooms 
 in this court still exhibit fine oaken panellings and ceil- 
 ings moulded by the first decorators of their time. 
 
 The Lawnmarket — the name given to that part of the 
 High Street extending from the West Bow to St. Giles' 
 Church — received its name from the fact that either side 
 of the spacious thoroughfare used to be crowded with 
 the moveable stalls and booths of the lawn " or cloth 
 merchants. This accordingly was always a busy centre, 
 hence arose the Edinburgh proverb " as thrang as the 
 Lawnmercat." 
 
 Immediately opposite the mouth of the archway is 
 the head of the West Bow, once the only approach to 
 the city from the west. This picturesque thoroughfare, 
 which extended in shape resembling " a strung bow " 
 down to the Grassmarket, has been " improved " out 
 of all recognition. In it was the house of the famous 
 Major Weir, the wizard (executed for impiety and im- 
 morality in 1670), whose relations even in life with 
 his Satanic Majesty were so intimate that the latter was 
 wont each midnight to send his carriage shaped like a 
 hearse, driven by a headless coachman and drawn by 
 horses in a similarly incomplete condition, to take the 
 major and his sister out for a drive to the Infernal 
 Regions. Sober, sensible citizens had the firmest belief 
 (nay, the residents themselves corroborated it) that 
 those living in the vicinity heard each midnight the 
 rumble of a vehicle coming along the Lawnmarket. 
 Nearer it drew, the noise increasing the while, then it 
 turned down the West Bow stopped for a moment to 
 164 
 
"The Castlehill and Lawnmarket 
 
 take in the major and his sister, then thundered away 
 again, to return at cockcrow with the guilty pair. The 
 legends told of Major Weir are manifold and are they 
 not all recorded in Satan s Invisible World Discovered ? 
 — how his staff, a gift from Satan, used to run his 
 errands for him, and act as a link-boy ; how he could 
 transport himself to any part of the world he chose ; 
 how he had a marvellous fluency in prayer, and so forth ? 
 
 In the West Bow were the Templar Lands ; also 
 the first Assembly Rooms, opened in 1710 ; th( house 
 of Lord Provost Stewart [see p. 124) to which, says 
 tradition. Prince Charles Edward, during the Highland 
 occupation, paid a visit and was only saved from capture 
 by soldiers sent from the Castle, by using a secret staircase 
 (known only to the head of the house) which led him 
 out into the Grassmarket ; the house of Lord Ruthven, 
 father of the first Earl of Gowrie, and the principal 
 agent in the slaughter of Rizzio, whose sword was 
 found concealed between the ceiling and the floor ; of 
 Donaldson, the bookseller and printer, founder of 
 Donaldson's Hospital ; of Napier of Wrightshouses ; 
 of Paul Romieu, the clock-maker, etc. But all these 
 have been sacrificed to the mania for improvement " 
 on the part of the Town Council. 
 
 One tenement, however, which stood at the head of 
 the West Bow and was long a landmark of the district, 
 was interesting both architecturally and historically, as 
 a fine example of the timber-fronted houses, of 154C, in 
 which each storey advanced beyond that below, while 
 on the ground floor a verandah with wooden pillars 
 formed a convenient place for the display of wares. It 
 is historically interesting as the first premises of the 
 great publishing firm of Messrs. T. Nelson & Sons. 
 At the junction of the West Bow with the Castlehill 
 and Lawnmarket stood the old " Weigh House " or 
 
 Butter Tron," where dairy produce was weighed 
 
 1 6s 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 and sold. The first Weigh House was destroyed by 
 Cromwell; the second, erected in 1660, existed down 
 to the commencement of the nineteenth century, and 
 afforded an effective shelter to the Highlanders when 
 attacking the Castle in 1745. 
 
 St. John's United Free Church, standing at the 
 junction of the West Bow with the new thoroughfare 
 which skirts the Castle rock — Johnstone Terrace — 
 was long the scene of the ministrations of one of Scot- 
 land's most impassioned pulpit orators, as well as the 
 originator of the scheme for Ragged or Industrial 
 Schools — Dr. Thomas Guthrie. 
 
 Still keeping to the south side of the Lawnmarket 
 we reach Riddle's Court, which is divided into two 
 parts. In the first of these littje squares there is a 
 lofty tenement on the east and south-east sides, with a 
 fine old outside turret stair, bearing date 1726, Here 
 David Hume lived from 1751 onward, till his removal 
 to Jack's Land, and here he wrote much of his History 
 of England, On the opposite side of the court there 
 is a mansion evidently much older, though bearing the 
 same date. Entering its doorway under a corbelled 
 angle, we ascend a staircase conducting to a landing 
 on the second floor. Proceeding along a passage we 
 finally reach a large room which retains in some par- 
 ticulars the traces of having been used as a theatre. 
 To the inner room, however, our attention must be 
 specially directed. The ceiling, richly moulded in 
 stucco in the French style prevailing about 1670, has 
 a large circle in the centre, wherein is a crown sur- 
 rounded by roses and thistles alternately arranged, and 
 bearing the date 1678. In the corners of the ceiling 
 the Scottish Lion Rampant and the English Lion Statant 
 Gardant are alternately presented. The walls are oak 
 panelled and exquisitely decorated either by Norrie 
 himself or by one of his pupils. Some of the land- 
 166 
 
I'he Castlehih and Lawnmarket 
 
 scapes on the doors, windows and shutters are most 
 artistically executed. Several of these paintings have 
 been removed, but enough remains to show how mag- 
 nificent the apartment 
 must have been when 
 occupied by Sir John 
 Smith of Grotham, 
 Provost of Edin- 
 burgh, and one of the 
 ScotsCommissioners, 
 who proceeded to 
 Breda in 1650 to 
 assure Charles II. of 
 their loyalty. In this 
 house was born Pro- 
 fessor Pillans, who 
 filled the Humanity 
 Chair in the Univer- 
 sity from 1820 to 
 1863, and hfere, as 
 late as 181 5, Pro- 
 fessor Brown, of 
 metaphysical note, 
 lived for some 
 months. But it is the 
 inner section of this 
 double court that is 
 historically the more 
 interesting. This is 
 the house of Bailie John Macmorran, one of the Magis- 
 trates of Edinburgh, whose tragic death at the hands of 
 the High School boys, in the reign of James VI., has 
 thrown a halo of interest around it. The house is one of 
 considerablearchitecturaj pretensions,as maybe seen from 
 the five dormer windows and polished ashlar front. On 
 the massive and highly-ornate pediment of the roof, 
 
 167 
 
T'he Story of Edinburgh 
 
 the bailie's initials, I. M., are still to be traced. One 
 feature should be noted, viz., the carved oaken shatters 
 wherewith the lower half of one of the windows is 
 closed. As Sir Daniel Wilson points out, each shutter 
 is decorated with the **linelled" pattern as it is called, 
 a kind of decoration in common use on the stall-work 
 of Tudor churches ; and this window, with its carved 
 transom and mullions, forms the best extant specimen 
 of this long obsolete fashion. The house was frequently 
 used for important civic banquets both before and after 
 the bailie's death in September 1595. The circum- 
 stances of the tragedy are these ; — 
 
 '* At the time named the youths attending this grand old in- 
 stitution belonged to the very highest families of the land. The 
 boys had made a request to the Town Council for a holiday, but 
 the latter refused, stating that the school work had already been 
 too much interfered with by holidays. Indignant at this treat- 
 ment, the lads having victualled the building to stand a siege, and 
 also provided themselves with fire-arms, expelled their masters 
 and locked the doors. Scared by the threatening look of the 
 affair, the Town Council would have yielded, but Macmorran 
 undertook to bring the culprits to submission. Accompanied by 
 a party of city officers, he went down to the High School in 
 Blackfriars' Wynd, and notwithstanding the threats of the boys, 
 headed by William Sinclair, son of the Chancellor of Caithness, 
 proceeded to force an entrance, by using a long beam as a batter- 
 ing-ram against the door. Infuriated at impending capture, 
 Sinclair snatched up a pistol, and firing point blank at Mac- 
 morran killed him on the spot. Sobered by the terrible deed, the 
 youths tremblingly surrendered and were led away to the Tol- 
 booth." 
 
 By the exertion of strong family influence, as well 
 as by the good offices of the king himself, Macmorran's 
 family was appeased, and the boys were released, 
 though not without the payment of a large sum in 
 solatium^ not to the family for the loss of its head, but to 
 the " gude town " for the affront put upon ane of its 
 Bailies " (j/V) 1 Many distinguished personages occu- 
 pied the mansion during the next 200 years, among 
 168 
 
l^he Castlehill and Lawnmarket 
 
 others Lord Royston of the Court of Session, after 
 whom Royston House (now Caroline Park) was 
 named, and Jean Straiton, the relict of the Rev. David 
 Williamson of the West Kirk, the Dainty Davie" 
 of Scottish Song, who *'had mool'd (buried) sax wives 
 in ae kirkyaird " but was survived by the seventh. 
 
 In Fisher's Close, the next in order, there formerly 
 stood the town mansion of the Buccleuch family, while 
 in Brodie's Close, still further east, we have the 
 " Roman Eagle Hall," the oldest masonic rendezvous 
 in Edinburgh, where the famous Convention of the 
 Grand Lodge of Scotland met, in 1736, to elect a 
 Grand Master in room of William St. Clair, Earl of 
 Rosslyn, in whose family the office had been made 
 hereditary by James II. The hall is a very fine ex- 
 ample of Scots seventeenth-century decorative art. 
 Brodie's Close is also famous as containing the house 
 of the notorious Deacon William Brodie, who while 
 Deacon of the Incorporated Trades, a member of the 
 Town Council and of many societies, lived a veritable 
 dual existence : by day a respectable and respected 
 citizen, by night a wild debauchee and a housebreaker 
 of a dangerous type. His misdeeds became public by 
 the confession of his partners after an attempt on the 
 Scots Exchequer Office in ChessePs Court. Brodie 
 fled, was pursued and arrested by the king's messenger 
 at Amsterdam on the eve of sailing for America. He 
 was tried and executed in 1788. His house is on the 
 first storey up the turnpike stair on the right-hand side 
 of the close, and the door with its lock is said to have 
 been made by Brodie himself. The apartments are all 
 highly adorned with panel paintings, while over the 
 fireplace of the principal room is a painting, of the 
 Adoration of the Magi, executed either by Norrie or 
 Runciman. 
 
 Old Bank Close stood on a part of the ground now 
 
 169 
 
"The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 occupied by Buchanan's Close. The premises of the 
 Bank of Scotland were located there on the founding 
 of the bank in 1695, and so remained until their re- 
 moval in 1805 to their present quarters in Bank Street. 
 The business of the institution was carried on in a 
 house of no little historic note, viz., Gourlay's house, 
 one of the largest in the Edinburgh of its time. Here 
 many of the strangers who were State guests were 
 lodged, such as the French ambassadors ; Sir William 
 Drury, the English general who came up to assist the 
 Scots to bring Kirkcaldy of Grange to terms ; and 
 hither that gallant soldier was brought after his sur- 
 render. Here also lived Sir George Lockhart, Lord 
 President of the Court of Session from 1685-89, and 
 before the door of it he was shot by one of the Chies- 
 leys of Dairy, a disappointed litigant, who thought that 
 the President, being a friend, should have decided in 
 his favour. 
 
 This completes our survey of the houses on the south 
 side of the Lawnmarket. Turning back to the Bow- 
 head, we enter James's Court, which has no fewer than 
 three openings on to the principal thoroughfare. The 
 buildings on the north side of the court are now all in- 
 corporated into the Offices of the United Free Church. 
 Erected in 1727, James's Court was the residence of 
 many of the elite of Edinburgh society. Burton in his 
 Life of Hume describes the place as it had come down 
 to his day, untouched as yet by the repeated trans- 
 mogrifications through which the entire northern side 
 of the court has passed : — 
 
 "Entering one of the doors opposite the main entrance the 
 stranger is sometimes led by a friend wishing to afford him an 
 agreeable surprise down flight after flight of the stony staircase 
 and when he imagines he is descending so far into the bowels of 
 the earth he emerges on the edge of a cheerful crowded thorough- 
 fare. When he looks up to the building containing the upright 
 street through which he has descended, he sees that vast pile of 
 170 
 
The Castlehill and Lawnmarket 
 
 tall houses standing at the head of the Mound which creates 
 astonishment in every visitor of Edinburgh. This vast fabric is 
 built on the declivity of a hill, and thus one entering on the level 
 of the Lawnmarket is at the height of several stories from the 
 ground on the side next the New Town. I have ascertained 
 that by ascending the western of the two stairs facing James's 
 Court to the height of three stories, we arrive at the door of 
 David Hume's house, which is the one towards the left of the 
 two doors on that landing-place.*' 
 
 In the United Free Church Offices, Hume's house 
 is now occupied by the Department of Foreign Mis- 
 sions. After Hume had migrated to St. David Street 
 in the " New Town," his house was leased by James 
 Boswell, the biographer of Johnson, and here the lexi- 
 cographer stayed during his visit to Edinburgh in 1773. 
 BoswelFs position as the son of Lord Auchinleck, of 
 the Court of Session, gave him the entree to the best 
 society in the city, and while Johnson was at James's 
 Court he met Lords Elibank, Kames, Monboddo, and 
 Hailes, Drs. Robertson, Blair, Blacklock, and Beattie ; 
 but, as was said by one of Johnson's own friends, who 
 visited Edinburgh next year, " He repaid all their at- 
 tention to him by ill-breeding ; and when in the com- 
 pany of the ablest men in this country his whole design 
 was to show them how little he thought of them." 
 
 Gardens sloped down to the edge of the Nor' Loch 
 from the houses on the northern slope of the Lawn- 
 market and High Street, and boats were kept for 
 pleasure-sailing upon the loch. Eels abounded in it, 
 also pike and perch, but latterly the fish all died out. 
 
 We return to the Lawnmarket to note a tall, 
 narrow tenement with polished ashlar frontage, erected 
 in 1 63 1 by Thomas Gladstone, said to be, on what 
 authority I know not, ancestor of the late William 
 Ewart Gladstone. On a shield below the crow- 
 stepped western gable are the initials T. G. and 
 B. G., with a corresponding shield on the eastern 
 
 171 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 gable bearing a device not unlike a key. Passing 
 below this house we enter Lady Stair's Close — before 
 the construction of Bank Street the chief thoroughfare 
 
 for those wishing to 
 reach the New Town 
 — which takes its name 
 from Elizabeth, Dow- 
 .^^ ager Countess of Stair, 
 the heroine of the in- 
 cidents recorded in 
 Scott's story, My 
 Aunt Margaret's 
 Mirror." While still a 
 girl, she had been 
 married to James, Vis- 
 count Primrose of Cas- 
 ketfield, who, after 
 treating her with great 
 cruelty and attempting 
 to murder her, deserted 
 her. After some time, 
 during which she had 
 heard nothing of him, 
 a foreign magician 
 visited Edinburgh who 
 professed to disclose the 
 movements of absent 
 ones, however distant. The viscountess went to see him, 
 and on being placed in his room before a large mirror 
 beheld the progress of a marriage service in which the 
 bridegroom was her husband, the service being inter- 
 rupted by a newcomer, whom she also recognised as 
 her own brother, then abroad. On the latter' s return, 
 she asked him about it, and found that all had 
 happened as she had seen, and that he had been in 
 time to prevent the viscount marrying another lady. 
 172 
 
The Castlehill and Lawnmarket 
 
 On the death of Viscount Primrose, his widow de- 
 clared she would never marry, and repeatedly refused 
 Lord Stair, who was deeply enamoured of her, until 
 by bribing her servants to conceal him in the oratory 
 where the viscountess was wont to say her prayers, 
 and by showing himself en deshabille to the passers by, 
 he succeeded in so seriously compromising the reputa- 
 tion of the lady that she had to accept him. She 
 was, however, on the whole, very happy in her later 
 married life. Lord Rosebery some years ago restored 
 the house, which now remains in the state in which it 
 existed in the viscountess's days, who, by the way, was 
 a collateral ancestress of his own. Burns, during his 
 visit to Edinburgh in 1786, had his lodgings in Baxter* s 
 Close, along with his Ayrshire friend ; while in one of 
 these closes Steele gave his famous supper to the eccentric 
 mendicants in Edinburgh and declared he had enjoyed 
 more fun from their sayings and doings than could be 
 derived from the drollest of comedies. 
 
 173 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 T'he Parliament Square and St, 
 Giles' Church 
 
 WE now begin our survey of the High Street 
 proper, commencing with the section from 
 Parliament Square to the Tron Church. 
 
 The new County Buildings, which have just been 
 completed as we write ( 1 90 5 ), form a handsome addition 
 to the famous square, though many regret the demolition 
 of the older edifice with its fine Corinthian hexastyle 
 portico, designed by Mr D. Bryce, after the Temple 
 of Erechtheus in Athens. Down the side of this 
 older building ran the remains of Libertons Wynd, once 
 a noted thoroughfare in the old town, wherein stood 
 John Dowie^s Tavern, one of the most famous of the 
 Edinburgh hostelries. Here Fergusson, the poet, was 
 a constant visitor, also David Herd, the antiquarian. 
 Lord Monboddo, Henry Mackenzie, and at a later 
 date Robert Burns. One dark room, called " the 
 Coffin," was for long indicated as the poet's howff. 
 At the head of this wynd three reversed stones mark 
 the place where the public gallows used to be erected, 
 whereon many criminals suffered, notably the infamous 
 Edinburgh Thug, Burke of Burke-and-Hare notoriety. 
 A number of historic old closes, all extending down 
 the slope to the Cowgate, were removed to make way 
 for the County Buildings and the Signet Library, viz., 
 Carthrae's Close (later Turk's Close), Forester's, and 
 Beth's Wynds. 
 
 The first item of interest in Parliament Square is the 
 fine statue of Francis Walter, fifth Duke of Buccleuch, 
 174 
 
Parliament Square and St. Giles 
 
 designed by Boehm, with a pediment surrounded by 
 bas-reliefs illustrative of stirring incidents in the history 
 of the bauld Buccleuchs." Next comes the Signet 
 Library^ otherwise the library belonging to the Society 
 of Writers to His Majesty's Signet, one of the three 
 great divisions into which the Scottish legal profes- 
 sion is divided, viz., advocates (corresponding to the 
 English barrister). Writers to the Signet (W.S.), and 
 Solicitors before the Supreme Court (S.S.C.). This 
 building, erected in 1825 at a cost of £25,000, con- 
 tains about 100,000 volumes, and is especially rich in 
 Scottish history, archaeology, and literature. The 
 great hall upstairs, used by George IV. as his recep- 
 tion-room when he was banqueted in the Parliament 
 Hall, is upwards of 170 feet long. The ceiling and 
 cornices are exquisitely moulded and painted. 
 
 The area from the line of the street back to the 
 Signet Library is intensely interesting as being the 
 site whereon the ancient " Heart of Midlothian " or 
 Tolbooth stood, which was in turn Parliament House, 
 Municipal Buildings, Privy Council Chambers, Law 
 Courts, and finally the prison for the City of Edinburgh. 
 Erected about 1450, when James IL was beginning his 
 long struggle with the Douglases, it was repaired in 
 1 562, at the time of the erection of the New Tolbooth, 
 and the two edifices continued to discharge many of 
 these multifarious purposes until 181 7, when it was 
 pulled down. Scott describes it graphically in the 
 Heart of Midloth tan : — 
 
 "Antique in form, gloomy and haggard in aspect, its black 
 stanchioned windows, opening through its dingy walls like the 
 apertures of a hearse, it was calculated to impress all beholders 
 with a sense of what was meant in Scots Law by squalor careerist 
 
 In fact, the great novelist's description of the whole 
 locality around the central pile of St. Giles', as it pre- 
 
 17s 
 
'The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 sented itself to the Edinburghers of the eighteenth 
 century, is vivid to a degree : — 
 
 " The Gothic entrance of the ancient prison, as is well known 
 to all men, rears its front in the very middle of the High Street, 
 forming as it were the termination of a huge pile of buildings 
 called the Luckenbooths, which for some inconceivable reason, 
 our ancestors had jammed into the middle of the principal street 
 of the town, leaving for passage a narrow street on the north, 
 and on the south, into which the prison opens, a narrow crooked 
 lane, winding between the high and sombre walls of the Tolbooth 
 and of the adjacent houses on one side, and the buttresses and pro- 
 jections of the old Church upon the other. To give some gaiety 
 to this sombre passage (well known by the name of the Krames) 
 a number of little booths or shops, after the fashion of cobblers' 
 stalls, are plastered as it were against the Gothic projectments 
 and abutments, so that it seemed as if the traders had occupied 
 with nests bearing the same proportion to the building, every 
 buttress and coign of vantage, as the martlet did in Macbeth's 
 Castle. Of later years these booths have degenerated into mere 
 toy shops . . . but at the time of which we write, hosiers, glovers, 
 hatters, mercers, milliners, and all who dealt in the miscellaneous 
 wares now termed * haberdashers' goods,' were to be found in 
 the narrow alley." 
 
 The Tolbooth was the centre of numerous stirring 
 scenes. Around it were waged many of the tuhies or 
 street conflicts of the Scots capital. On the roof of the 
 lower annexe many executions of individuals historically 
 notable took place, while its doors were burst open by 
 the Porteous Mob" during that epoch of heated 
 political passions, dating from the Union to the Re- 
 bellion. Its walls also witnessed the imprisonment of 
 many of Scotland's bravest and best, as well as some 
 of her most infamous sons. A heart formed by variously- 
 coloured cobblestones, let into the crossing, marks the 
 spot where the doorway of the old prison stood. 
 
 At the lower or eastern end of the Luckenbooths 
 was the shop occupied by Allan Ramsay, after he left 
 the " Mercury," opposite Niddrie's Wynd ; and after 
 him by Kincaid and William Creech, the great book- 
 176 
 
Parliament Square and St, Giles 
 
 sellers and publishers of the latter half of the eighteenth 
 century. Ramsay's shop, and, later on, that of Creech, 
 were the rendezvous for 
 the wits and literati of 
 their respective epochs. 
 At that first floor win- 
 dow Gay used to sit for 
 hours looking down on 
 the busy scene, during 
 the time of his residence 
 in Edinburgh with the 
 Duke and Duchess of 
 Queensberry Kitty 
 Hyde ; and here 
 Smollett must have 
 lounged in the manner 
 of his Humphrey 
 Clinker. From 
 Creech's shop were 
 issued the Mirror and 
 its successor, the 
 Lounger^ two weekly 
 papers on the model of 
 the Spectator^ to which 
 all the chief Scottish 
 writers of the time con- 
 tributed — Henry Mac- 
 kenzie, Lord Craig, 
 Lord Abercromby, 
 Lord Bannatyne, Lord 
 Cullen, George Home 
 
 of Wedderburn, Gordon of Newhall, and George Ogilvie, 
 and others. The " Mirror Club " also emanated from 
 this ** set," the members of which were responsible for 
 the matter which went into the journal. The weekly 
 meetings of the club were kept a dead secret, being 
 M 177 
 
'The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 never twice held at the same place. The chief taverns 
 affected by the Mirror-men," as they were called, 
 were " Clerihugh's " in Writers' Court, Fortune's" 
 in Stamp Office Close, '*Somers'," opposite the Guard 
 House in the High Street, and Stewart's Oyster House 
 in Old Fishmarket Close." Robert Burns was a 
 friend of Creech's, the latter issuing the famous " Edin- 
 burgh Edition," and the poet commemorates the char- 
 acteristics of the great publisher in more than one piece. 
 The name Luckenbooths implies the 'Mocked or closed 
 booths," in contradistinction to the open and movable 
 booths. Opposite the northern doorway of St. Giles' 
 (as it is to-day) there was a break or dip in the line of 
 roofs, with a narrow passage between, called " the Stink- 
 ing Stile," to enable passers-by and the inhabitants of the 
 lower flats to see the clock on St. Giles'. Dunbar refers 
 to it in his poem To the Merchants of Edinburgh." 
 
 The Parliament Square has undergone many modifica- 
 tions. Up to 1 574 it was the principal burgh burying- 
 ground, being surrounded by the houses of the clergy of 
 the Cathedral Church. But in that year the graveyard 
 was closed and on the site of the residences of the clergy 
 was erected in 1632 the Great Hall of the Parliament 
 House ^ to which the Estates of the Realm," as the 
 Scots Parliament was termed, moved from the New 
 Tolbooth or Laigh Council House. Around this centre 
 gradually arose the towering lands containing the flats or 
 stories " wherein were housed judges, lawyers, clergy, 
 leading merchants and others whose avocations rendered 
 a central residence a necessity. Before entering the 
 buildings at all, attention must be called to a plate let 
 into the causeway on which are stamped in brass the 
 characters, I. K. 1572." This is the supposed grave 
 of John Knox, one of Scotland's greatest sons, to whom 
 the Protestant Churches of Scotland owe more than 
 some of them are at times disposed to admit, for fight- 
 
 178 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 ing the battle of spiritual freedom and an open Bible. 
 A few yards from here stands the leaden equestrian 
 statue of Charles II., erected in 1684-85, on the site 
 intended for that of Oliver Cromwell. 
 
 We now come to the buildings in the square. The 
 entire range of the block on the south side is occupied 
 by the Courts of Session and certain Government offices. 
 The original edifice, erected in 1632-39, a print of 
 which we now give, had a highly-picturesque appear- 
 ance and a distinct individuality of character. There 
 was a quaint stateliness invested about its irregular 
 pinnacles and towers as well as the "rude elaborateness" 
 of its decorations, that seemed to link it with the brilliant 
 days when Scotland still had a Parliament and the fiction 
 of a Court at Holyrood. Of the Gothic fa9ade, de- 
 signed, tradition states, by Inigo Jones, the most dis- 
 tinguished feature was the main entrance ; over which 
 were the royal arms of Scotland, supported on the right 
 by " Mercy " holding a crown wreathed with laurel, 
 and on the left by " Justice," with the balances in one 
 hand and a palm branch in the other, and the inscription 
 under them — Stant his felicia regna (The prosperity of 
 kingdoms is assured by these), while underneath the 
 national arms was the motto — Uni unionum. This en- 
 trance, which faced the east, is now blocked up. Over 
 the smaller doorway, which now forms the principal 
 entrance to the Parliament Hall, the city arms were 
 placed on a decorated tablet between pillars, with the 
 inscription beneath on a festooned scroll — Dominus 
 custodit introitum nostrum. This fine imposing old 
 building was "renovated" in 1829, and transformed 
 into a mean and unintelligent example of a semi-classical 
 style, which superimposes sphinxes on a Grecian fagade. 
 The colonnade is the one redeeming feature of a glaring 
 instance of architectural bad taste. 
 
 Fortunately the trail of the renovator is only visible 
 180 
 
Parliament Square and St. Giles'' 
 
 outside. Inside the buildings, where "restoration*' 
 has been necessary, it has been executed with due re- 
 gard to the preservation of the ancient characteristics. 
 Entering by the doorway in the south-east corner of the 
 square, after passing through the vestibule, we at once step 
 into the grand old jParliament Hall. If our visit be paid 
 on a Monday, the hall will probably be empty ; if on 
 any other week-day, it will be filled by gowned and 
 wigged advocates pacing up and down its length, either 
 in consultation with clients and their solicitors, or in 
 animated converse with their brethren de omnibus rebus 
 et quibusdam ali'ts. The proportions of this noble hall 
 impress one profoundly. Measuring 122 feet long by 
 49 feet in width, what strikes one most of all is the 
 lofty open roof, 60 feet high, formed of dark oaken 
 beams with cross-braces and hammer-beams resting on 
 curiously-carved corbels, the floor being also of oak com- 
 posed in a sort of parqueterie. There are three fire-places 
 on the west side of the hall, all choicely decorated, the 
 central one being a fine example of wood carving in the 
 old Italian style, the middle panel of which contains a 
 representation of the delivery of the Keys to St. Peter. 
 
 But unquestionably the object which at once arrests 
 the attention of the visitor is the great stained-glass 
 window at the southern or lower end of the hall. 
 Placed in its present position in 1868, it is a fine 
 specimen of German art, having been designed by 
 Wilhelm von Kaulbach and executed by the Chevalier 
 Ainmuller of Munich. The subject of the work is the 
 Institution of the Court of Session by James V. in 1532, 
 the idea which suggested the painting being contained 
 in a Latin narrative of the first meeting of the Court of 
 Session preserved in the Register House. The central 
 figure is of course the King. His mother, Margaret 
 of England, widow of James IV., sits on the right of 
 the throne ; while the figure represented reading the 
 
 181 
 
T'he Story of Edinburgh 
 
 charter of creation is Alexander Myln, Abbot of Cambus- 
 kenneth, Lord President of the Court. Many fine statues 
 and busts, also numerous rare portraits of deceased judges 
 and jurists are ranged along and hung upon the walls, 
 the principal among which are, on the west side, Lord 
 Haining (1675-1754), Lord Alloway (1764-1829) ; 
 on the north wall Lord President Boyle (177 2- 1853), 
 by Sir J. Watson Gordon ; Lord Justice-General Inglis 
 (1810-94), by Sir G. Reid ; Lord Justice-Clerk Hope 
 (1794- 1 858), Baron Colonsay, Lord President of the 
 Court of Session and Lord Justice-General (1793- 
 1874), Lord Robertson (1794-1855), by Sir J. Watson 
 Gordon. On the east wall. Sir Thomas Hope of Craig- 
 hall (1584-1646), Lord Rutherford (1791-1854), by 
 Colvin Smith ; Lord Cockburn (1779- 1854), ^7 
 Syme, R.S.A. ; Lord Brougham (i 778-1868), by Sir 
 D. Macnee ; Lord President Hope (17 63-1851), by 
 Sir J. Watson Gordon ; Sir George Mackenzie, Bart., 
 of Rosehaugh (1636-91), by Sir Godfrey Kneller ; 
 Lord President Lockhart( 163 5-89), killed by Chiesley 
 of Dairy {see^^, 170); Lord President Dalrymple (165 2- 
 I737)> t)y Aikman; Lord President Blair (1743-18 1 1); 
 John, Duke of Argyll (1678-1743), statesman. 
 
 The chief busts and statues are those of Lord Chief 
 Baron Dundas (1758-1819), statue by Chantrey ; and 
 Henry Erskine (1746-1817), bust by Turnerelli, along 
 the west wall ; Lord Colonsay [see above), bust by 
 Steel; Viscount Melville (1742-18 11), statesman, 
 statue by Chantrey ; Lord Cockburn [see above) , statue 
 by Brodie ; Lord President Forbes (1685-1747) one 
 of Scotland's greatest statesmen, statue by Roubillac ; 
 Lord President Boyle [see above), statue by Steel ; 
 Lord Jeffrey (177 3- 1850), lawyer, critic, and founder 
 of xhQ Edinburgh Review, ^idLtu^hy Steel ; Lord President 
 Blair [see above), one of Scotland's greatest lawyers, 
 statue by Chantrey. 
 182 
 
Parliament Square and St, Giles 
 
 The four windows on the west side of the hall are filled 
 in with the heraldic bearings of various eminent lawyers, 
 being placed there in 1870 for the decoration of the hall. 
 The first window at the south end of the west wall is 
 dedicated to the Lords Justice-Clerk of Scotland; the 
 second is devoted to the "Institutional Writers" ; the 
 third is assigned to the " Deans of Faculty,'' and the 
 fourth to the ** Lords Advocate." 
 
 Before leaving the hall we turn and look back once 
 more on the ever-changing picture. How various have 
 been the scenes whereon the grand old roof has looked 
 down since the days when the Scottish Parliament met 
 here, sitting as one chamber like the States-General of 
 France, down through those times when booths and 
 stalls were allowed within the precincts of the hall, and 
 when two judges actually held their courts in it, hearing 
 cases amid the turmoil and babel of tongues which pre- 
 vailed around. Still there ^vere judges in those days," 
 as an eminent legal luminary remarked recently, " and 
 the law of Scotland was administered in its purity." 
 
 The Advocates' Library is entered by the doorway 
 at the south-western end of the hall. Here many hours 
 may profitably be spent in admiring its priceless treasures. 
 Founded about 1680, by Sir George Mackenzie of 
 Rosehaugh, it is one of the five libraries in the United 
 Kingdom which has the right to receive a copy of every 
 book published in the United Kingdom. It contains 
 about 330,000 volumes and over 2000 rare MSS. and 
 black letter publications. Among its treasures are a 
 MS. Bible of the twelfth century, an illuminated breviary 
 of the fifteenth century, the First Covenant, letters 
 written by Mary Stuart and Charles IL, the MS. of 
 Wa'verley^ relics of Prince Charles Edward, and other 
 valuable memorials of the past. The Faculty of Advo- 
 cates is exceedingly generous in extending facilities 
 for investigation within the walls to scholars who may 
 
 183 
 
"The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 desire to avail themselves of the treasures of the great 
 library. 
 
 Reascending the stairs to the great hall, we now enter 
 the corridor wherein are situated the Courts of Session. 
 This, the highest judicial tribunal in Scotland, was 
 founded as we have seen in 1532 by James V., the civil 
 jurisdiction in the kingdom having been previously 
 exercised by various bodies, in most cases committees of 
 Parliament. Upon the model of the College of Justice 
 in France that of Scotland was based, the names* of the 
 officers of Court — President, King's Advocate, Advo- 
 cates, Dean of Faculty, etc., all bearing testimony to 
 French origin. 
 
 The judges of the Court formerly consisted of a Lord 
 Chancellor, Lord President, and fourteen Ordinary 
 Lords, or Senators of the College of Justice, with several 
 supernumerary judges called " Extraordinary Lords," 
 many of the latter being ecclesiastics. " Extraordinary 
 Lords," however, were abolished in 1723, and there- 
 after the Court consisted of a Lord President and four- 
 teen ^' Ordinary Judges." Litigation was in the first 
 place conducted before a single judge, but any appeals 
 were heard by the " Whole Court " sitting in one 
 chamber. Hence arose Bartoline Saddletree's reference 
 (in the Heart of Midlothian)^ during his visit of con- 
 solation to Davie Deans, to the administration of justice 
 by the '* Fifteen Lords of Session and the Five Lords 
 of Justiciary." This constitution of the Court continued 
 until early in the nineteenth century, when the Court 
 was divided into a " First" and Second" Division 
 — presided over respectively by the Lord President and 
 the Lord Justice-Clerk — which, with the five permanent 
 Lords Ordinary, who sit alone, represents the Court of 
 Session in its totality, the number of judges being reduced 
 to thirteen. Of these, five are always set apart, as Lords 
 Commissioners in Justiciary, and together with the Lord 
 184 
 
Parliament Square and St. Giles 
 
 Justice-General (or Lord President, for the offices are 
 now combined) and Lord Justice-Clerk constitute the 
 High Court of Justiciary — the supreme criminal tribunal 
 in Scotland. 
 
 The Court of Session originally sat in the Low or 
 Laigh Council House in the Tolbooth ; whence it was 
 moved to the New Council House ; but while this was 
 in course of erection, it sat in the Holy Blood Aisle of 
 St. Giles' Church. When, however, the new Parliament 
 House was built in 1639 the Court was accommodated 
 in the inner part of it. 
 
 Passing along the corridor, therefore, we come first to 
 the Outer House, consisting of the four Courts. There 
 are in reality five judges, but one is always supposed to 
 be absent. The name " Outer House arises from the 
 fact that formerly (and until 1830) this Court actually 
 met in the great hall, two judges sitting in the recesses 
 now occupied by the statues of Lords Jeffrey and Boyle. 
 The Inner House, composed of the First and Second 
 Divisions, is further along the corridor. These two 
 Courts of Appeal are constituted alike, each being pre- 
 sided over by its chief judge. 
 
 Interesting though the associations attaching to the 
 Court of Session may be, they are as nothing compared 
 with those encircling the venerable pile of St. Giles', 
 to which we next repair. St. Giles' was the original 
 Parish Church of Edinburgh, as we note from Dunbar's 
 poems. Its history can be satisfactorily traced (as Dr. 
 William Chambers says) from the early part of the 
 twelfth century, when it seems to have superseded an 
 edifice of still earlier date. The original pillars of this 
 twelfth-century edifice are still intact. Externally, St. 
 Giles' appears a modern Gothic structure with choir, 
 nave and transepts ; but it is in reality very old, erected 
 at various periods, but with its ancient architecture con- 
 cealed by indifferent and comparatively recent casing. 
 
 18s 
 
'The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 The oldest portions still extant are the coronal-shaped 
 spire and some of the columns inside. After being 
 destroyed by the English army under Richard II., 
 it was rebuilt at the expense of the city in 1387, when 
 among other things, five vaulted chapels were erected 
 on the south side of the nave, two of which remain, 
 forming what is now the South Aisle of the church. 
 Until about 1416, the work of rebuilding and adding to 
 the edifice was continued, mostly on the north side, the 
 beautiful Albany Aisle being one of these additions. 
 An interval then supervened during which compara- 
 tively little was done, until the erection of the 
 King's Pillar" and the four memorial tablets in 
 the shape of shields, placed thereon by James II. 
 and his queen, Mary of Gueldres ; also the shields 
 of Thomas Cranstoun, William Preston, and others, 
 about 1460, when the choir was also completed and 
 the edifice was extended eastwards, the roof being 
 heightened, the clerestory windows added, and the 
 building largely assumed the shape it now bears. 
 The walls surmounting the older pillars were raised 
 and improved, while the clerestory groining was exe- 
 cuted, remarkable for the richness and variety of its 
 bosses, one of which still remains, with the legend 
 upon it, Ave Maria Gratia plena dominus tecum (Hail, 
 Mary, full of grace, the Lord be with thee). Next 
 came the Preston Aisle, on the south side, erected by 
 the Corporation of Edinburgh, in pious memory of 
 William Preston of Gorton, who having with deligent 
 labour and great expense and aided by a high and 
 mighty prince, the King of France, and many other 
 lords of France, succeeded in obtaining possession of 
 the arm-bone of St. Giles, has bequethed this in- 
 estimable relique to our Mothir Kirk of St. Giles of 
 Edinburgh withouten ony condicioun." The Corpora- 
 tion undertook and faithfully redeemed its pledge " to 
 186 
 
Parliament Square and St, Giles" 
 
 build ane aisle, furth fra our Lady Aisle, where the said 
 William now lyis, to erect there his monument with a 
 brass inscription detaeling his services, his arms also to 
 be put in three other parts of the aisle, also an altar 
 and to endow a chaplain to sing for him from that time 
 furth, and granting to his nearest relation the privilege 
 of carrying the relique in all public processions/' The 
 new aisle was 59 feet in length by 24 in breadth, by 
 which addition the choir was greatly enlarged. 
 
 In 1466, just when the Preston Aisle was completed, 
 James III., then a lad of thirteen, converted the Parish 
 Church of St. Giles into a collegiate foundation, with 
 a chapter to consist of a provost, curate, six prebend- 
 aries, a minister of the choir, four choristers, a sacristan 
 and beadle, all of whom were to be exclusive of the 
 other chaplains ministering at the thirty-six altars in 
 the establishment; while in 1470, by Special Bull, 
 Pope Paul II. exempted the clergy of St. Giles' from 
 the jurisdiction of the Bishop of St. Andrews, and 
 placed it directly under the control of the Holy See. 
 The second provost of the new foundation was the 
 celebrated poet, Gawain Douglas (1479- 1522). 
 
 The next addition and the last made was the Chep- 
 man Aisle, built in 15 13 by Walter Chepman, the 
 earliest Scots printer, in honour of his royal patron, 
 James IV., and the queen, Margaret of England. The 
 aisle projected southwards from the Preston Aisle (one 
 of whose windows was appropriated to form an 
 entrance), being immediately east of the south transept 
 of which it seemed an enlargement. Here Chepman 
 was interred in 1532. 
 
 The changes that came over the noble building after 
 this date were mainly of a destructive character, until 
 its final restoration in 1872-83, chiefly by the public- 
 spiritedness of Dr. William Chambers. At the begin- 
 ning of the eighteenth century, owing to the fact that 
 
 187 
 
T'he Story of Edinburgh 
 
 more parish churches were required, the absurd idea 
 was adopted of cutting up St. Giles' into sections and 
 utilising each of these as a parish church. Hence we 
 had the choir (or eastern section) converted into the 
 High Church ; the south-west section became the 
 Tolbooth Church ; a part of the nave and the South 
 Aisle was the Old Kirk, while the Little Kirk or 
 " Haddo's Hole'' occupied the section in the north- 
 west. Each of these had its distinctivecharacteristics : — 
 
 "The High Church had a sort of dignified aristocratic flavour 
 approaching somewhat to prelacy and was frequented only by 
 sound Church-and-State men, who did not care so much for the 
 sermon as for the gratification of sitting in the same place with 
 His Majesty's Lords of Council and Session, and the Magistrates 
 of Edinburgh. . . . The Old Church in the centre of the 
 whole was frequented by people who wished to have a sermon of 
 good divinity about three-quarters of an hour long, and who did 
 not care for the darkness of their temple. The Tolbooth Church 
 was the peculiar resort of a set of rigid Calvinists from the 
 Lawnmarket and Bowhead, termed the 'Tolbooth Whigs,* who 
 loved nothing but extempore Evangelical sermons and would 
 have considered it sufficient to bring the house down about their 
 ears if the precentor had ceased for one verse the old hillside 
 fashion of reciting the lines of the psalm before singing them." 
 
 Kay's sketch of" The Sleepy Congregation " repre- 
 sents an audience in the Tolbooth. 
 
 The principal entrance to St. Giles' is by the 
 west doorway, though on week-days the northern 
 one is usually open. Beginning our survey from 
 this western doorway (which by the way is modern), 
 we first note on the left, the Albany Aisle, which 
 takes its name from Robert, Duke of Albany, 
 second son of Robert H., whose career in Scotland 
 we have already narrated. This aisle, according 
 to a somewhat fanciful tradition, was built by 
 Albany and his associate, Archibald, fourth Earl 
 of Douglas, in expiation of their suspected crime 
 of starving to death David, Duke of Rothesay, the 
 188 
 
T'he Story of Edtnhurgh 
 
 king's son. The capital of the pillar in the centre of 
 the aisle bears two shields, one the Albany arms, in 
 which the Scottish lion is quartered with the fess cheque 
 of the Stuarts; the other, the " Bleeding Heart " and 
 other bearings of the Douglases. The floor is laid 
 with mosaic work and Irish marble, while the whole 
 aisle is enclosed by a screen of wrought iron work. 
 
 After passing the Session House we reach St. Eloi's 
 Chapel (also known as the Hammermen's Chapel), at 
 the altar of which the craftsmen of Edinburgh who 
 had followed Allan, Lord High Steward of Scotland, 
 to the Holy Land and aided in the recovery of the 
 Holy Sepulchre from the Infidels, dedicated the famous 
 Blue Blanket or Banner of the Holy Ghost. Passing 
 the northern transept, separated from the nave by an 
 elaborate stone screen with central doorway, and on 
 either side three niches with pedestals and canopied 
 heads, we reach the choir. The passages are laid with 
 Minton tiles, bearing antique Scottish devices, while 
 the seats are of oak, those for the magistrates and 
 judges bearing appropriate carvings. Here is situated 
 the King's Pillar, commemorating James II. and his 
 queen, while the pulpit of Caen stone, beautifully carved, 
 is placed against the pillar on the south side nearest the 
 east window. On the right-hand side are the Preston 
 Aisle, in which is placed the royal pew ; the Chepman 
 Aisle, within the choir ; also the Moray Aisle, con- 
 taining the beautiful tomb of the Good Regent, and 
 the South Aisle, the last-named being the place where 
 the daily service is held. In the Chepman Aisle is 
 the carved boss bearing the arms of Walter Chepman, 
 impaled with those of his first wife. A corbel termin- 
 ating the groining of the roof represents an eagle 
 holding a scroll on which are the two first words of 
 the Gospel of John as appears in the Vulgate, " In 
 principio.^^ A tablet has been erected to Chepman's 
 190 
 
Parliament Square and St Giles 
 
 memory in the aisle bearing the words, *' To the memory 
 of Walter Chepman^ designated the Scottish C ax ton, who 
 under the auspices of James IV, and his Queen Margaret 
 introduced the art of Printing into Scotland, 150?; 
 founded this aisle in honour of the King and Queen and 
 their family, 1 5 1 3 ; and died in 1532, this tablet is grate- 
 fully inscribed by William Chambers, LL,D,, 1879." 
 The monuments erected to the memory of the Marquises 
 of Argyll and Montrose are choice works of art ; nor 
 must the font, modelled on Thorwaldsen's great work 
 in Copenhagen, be overlooked. 
 
 A number of choice memorial stained-glass windows 
 have been placed in position. Those in the choir, ten 
 in all, refer to the history of our Lord, those in the 
 clerestory are appropriated to the arms of the crafts- 
 men of Edinburgh, the one in the Moray Aisle repre- 
 sents the assassination of the Good Regent and Knox 
 preaching his funeral sermon ; the oriel in the west 
 gable contains the royal arms and the incident of 
 
 David I. and the stag," while the great west window 
 takes the subject of " The Prophets," the upper com- 
 partments representing Jonah, Jeremiah, David, Ezekiel 
 and Daniel, while the lower contain Amos, Jonah, 
 Elijah, Zechariah and Malachi. 
 
 An interesting element of association with the storied 
 past is to be found in the torn and tattered colours 
 which hang in the nave, belonging to the Scottish 
 regiments which have distinguished themselves in the 
 wars of the past. Many of those flags are blood- 
 stained and riddled by shot, telling of many hard-fought 
 fields, from which they had been borne triumphantly. 
 As it stands to-day St. Giles' is an edifice dear to 
 every son of Edinburgh, recalling as it does so much 
 that is great and glorious in his country's history. 
 
 191 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 From St, Giles to the Tron Church 
 
 THE Parliament Close or Square was the Princes 
 Street of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries 
 — the resort of the haut ton of Edinburgh society. If 
 they did not live in the towering lands flanking its 
 eastern side, they daily resorted to the Close to discuss 
 the news or to learn the latest fashionable scandal. 
 Down to 1775, the " Close " was the chosen residence 
 of many lords of the Court of Session, while for 
 upwards of 200 years the goldsmiths and jewellers 
 of the Scots metropolis all congregated here. In 
 close proximity to the Tolbooth was the booth of the 
 most famous goldsmith, banker and working jeweller 
 in the annals of that craft in Edinburgh, viz., George 
 Heriot, alias "Jingling Geordie." His booth, which 
 measured only 7 feet square, bore his name on the 
 lintel and was still legible in the early years of the 
 nineteenth century, when the structure was swept away. 
 Heriot was goldsmith both to James and his consort, 
 Anne of Denmark ; and when his exchequer ran low 
 the monarch was not above paying a visit to the worthy 
 goldsmith and requesting the loan of a few thousand 
 pounds Scots. The royal pair were good customers 
 and, it appears, were reasonably prompt in settlement 
 of accounts. One day " Geordie," on being summoned 
 to Holyrood, found His Majesty sitting before a fire 
 of logs containing aromatic gums, which diffused a 
 pleasant fragrance throughout the room. On Heriot 
 remarking upon the agreeable odour emitted by the 
 fire, the king replied that it was as costly as pleasant. 
 192 
 
From St. Giles to the Tron Church 
 
 To this the goldsmith replied that if James would visit 
 him at his workshop in Parliament Close he would 
 show him a still costlier fire. The king agreed, and 
 next day proceeded to the goldsmith's booth. To 
 James's surprise he saw nothing but an ordinary " sea 
 coal fire as it was called in those days. " Why, 
 Master Heriot, this is not so costly a fire as mine ! " 
 "Wait, Your Majesty, until I get the fuel," said 
 Heriot, who thereupon went to his money- chest, 
 brought out a bond for £2000 Scots which he had lent 
 to James, and laid it on the coals. The pawky monarch 
 waited until it was consumed, then said, " In truth, 
 Geordie, yours is the costlier blaze." 
 
 So indispensable was the goldsmith to James that he 
 had to follow the monarch to London and take up his 
 abode there. Of his native town he was never forget- 
 ful, and the noble hospital which bears his name is proof 
 of his interest. In Parliament Close, also, was the 
 famous " John's Coffee House," the resort of the 
 opponents of the Union in 1 707 ; and in the south side of 
 the close was the banking establishment of Sir William 
 Forbes, now incorporated with the Union Bank. 
 
 The Parliament Close communicated with the Cow- 
 gate by a massive flight of steps called the " Back 
 Stairs," and these are often mentioned in the literature 
 of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. 
 
 We must now recross the High Street and retrace 
 our steps as far as the first close on the north side of it 
 below St. Giles' Street ; this is Byers' Close, wherein 
 was the splendid mansion of Adam Bothwell, Bishop of 
 Orkney and Commendator of Holyrood House, who 
 was the celebrant of the disastrous marriage between 
 Mary Queen of Scots and the Earl of Bothwell. Here 
 too at a later date lived Provost Sir William Dick of 
 Braid, an eminent merchant, who, for his steady adher- 
 ence and assistance granted to the Covenanters, was 
 N 193 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 heavily fined by Charles II. and his creatures, so that 
 from being what in those days was regarded as fabulously 
 wealthy he was plunged into dire poverty. This house 
 
 J^dv^oc&.rej Close- 
 
 has some curiously- carved dormer windows with heraldic 
 devices. 
 
 Advocates^ Close took this name from Sir James 
 Stewart of Goodtrees, Lord Advocate of Scotland, with 
 but few intermissions, from 1 692-1713. Early in the 
 eighteenth century it was a fashionable quarter for leading 
 194 
 
From St. Giles' to the Tron Church 
 
 lawyers and judges. 
 There are still extant 
 some fine old door- 
 ways, bearing date 
 1590, and with the 
 pious script," Blissit 
 be God for al his 
 Giftis." In this 
 close resided 
 Andrew Crosbie, a 
 famous lawyer of 
 the eighteenth cen- 
 tury and the original 
 of Counsellor Pley- 
 dell in Guy Manner- 
 ing. In the next 
 alley, Roxburgh 
 Close (correspond- 
 ing to No. 341 High 
 Street), was the 
 town house of the 
 Roxburgh family. 
 
 Warriston^s Close 
 was named after the 
 famous statesman- 
 martyr, Johnstone 
 of Warriston, who 
 for his zeal in favour 
 of the Covenant and 
 his opposition to the 
 return of the Stuarts, 
 was executed at the 
 Restoration. His 
 family mansion was 
 situated here ; as 
 also those of Sir 
 
 195 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 Thomas Craig of Riccartoun and Bruce of Binning, 
 over whose doorway was placed the script. " Gratia 
 Dei Robertus Bruiss." Another script is worthy of 
 
 note, being a line taken 
 from the first Eclogue 
 of Virgil, ^' Namque 
 ERiT iLLi, MiHi Semper 
 Deus— 1583." This 
 compliment paid by 
 Virgil to Octavianus 
 was evidently applied 
 to James VI. In this 
 close is situated the 
 printing establishment 
 of the great publishing 
 house of W. & R. 
 Chambers, founded 
 about 1828 by the two 
 brothers of that name 
 ( William and Robert) , 
 whose early struggles 
 and dogged heroism as 
 pioneers in the issuing 
 of healthy cheap litera- 
 ture constitute one of 
 the most thrilling chap- 
 ters in the annals of the 
 trade. The firm is now 
 one of the most pros- 
 
 •QerihugK/- la.^* 
 
 perous in Britain, their Journal (founded in 1832), their 
 Encyclopadia, their Cyclopadiaof English Literature^ etc., 
 being known wherever the English language is spoken. 
 
 Writers^ Court was famous as the locale of " Cleri- 
 hugh' s Tavern," one of the most famous of the eighteenth 
 century. It was here that Colonel Mannering and 
 Dandie Dinmont found Counsellor Pleydell engaged in 
 196 
 
From St. Giles to the Tron Church 
 
 the ancient game of " High Jinks ! " Here also was 
 one of the many meeting-places of the Mirror Club/' 
 The court formerly opened into Mary King's Closcy 
 wherein were several flats of houses all reputed to be 
 more or less haunted. Professor Sinclair in his curious 
 work, Satan"* s Invisible World Discovered^ relates the 
 following experiences of an unfortunate lawyer and his 
 wife during the first two or three nights of their occu- 
 pancy of one of those flats : — 
 
 ** As the mistress was reading the Bible to herself on the Sab- 
 bath afternoon she spied the head and face of an old man, grey- 
 headed and with a grey beard, looking straight upon her, the 
 distance being very short : after a little time the goodman (her 
 husband) cast his eye toward the chimney and spied the same old 
 man's head . . . after an hour or more they perceived a young 
 child with a coat upon it, hanging near the old man's head , . . 
 by-and-by a naked arm appears in the air from the elbow down- 
 ward, and the hand stretched out as if to salute him . . . they 
 next saw a little dog come out of the room aforenamed, which 
 composed itself on a chair to sleep . . . then a cat comes leaping 
 out, and in the midst of the hall began to play little tricks . . . 
 then was the hall full of small little creatures dancing prettily." 
 
 In another place the author asserts that — 
 
 " Those who were foolhardy enough to peep through the win- 
 dows of the houses after nightfall saw the spectres of long- departed 
 denizens engaged in their wonted occupations : headless forms 
 danced through the moonlit apartments, and on one occasion a 
 godly minister and two pious elders were scared out of their senses 
 by the terrible vision of a raw-head and blood-dripping arm which 
 protruded from the wall in this terrible close, and flourished a 
 sword above their heads." 
 
 In this close were several cellars which had been 
 sealed up from the time of the plague until 1847. 
 
 We now reach the Royal Exchange^ a handsome pile 
 in the Palladian style mingled with the Scots Baronial, 
 erected in 1753-61, and still further enlarged in 1901. 
 Originally intended as a place of meeting for merchants 
 where they could transact the details of their business, 
 
 197 
 
'The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 the merchants themselves declined to use it, preferring 
 to assemble in the Parliament Close. It has therefore 
 been devoted to the purposes of the Municipal Chambers. 
 The Council- Room, where the City Fathers hold their 
 fortnightly meetings, is a noble hall with richly-orna- 
 mented panels and cornices, while the walls are adorned 
 with portraits of distinguished Lord Provosts. A fine 
 statue of Prince Charles Edward Stuart has also a place 
 in the chamber. Though in front this building only 
 rises to a height of four stories, it attains to an altitude 
 of twelve stories at the back, owing to the dip of the 
 hill towards what was the bed of the Nor' Loch, and 
 presents an impressive picture when viewed from Princes 
 Street. In the Municipal Buildings there is a fine 
 Museum of Antiquities connected with Edinburgh, and 
 illustrative of the life of the old Scots capital. On the 
 spot now occupied by the entrance archway stood the 
 mansion of Sir Simon Preston of Craigmillar, where 
 Mary spent her first night of captivity after the sur- 
 render of Carberry Hill (ist June 1567). 
 
 Craig^s Close^ said to be named after the colleague of 
 Knox, John Craig, contained the shop of Andro Hart, 
 one of the early Scots printers, whose edition of the 
 Bible still excites admiration for its clear and accurate 
 typography ; while his Barbour's Bruce, his Psalms in 
 Scots Metre^ and his edition of Lyndsay*s Poems were 
 equally popular. In later years, both Creech and Con- 
 stable resided here, on the first stair to the right. The 
 houses in this stair contain some finely-decorated ceil- 
 ings and artistically-moulded mantelpieces. Farther 
 down the close was the printing house of Hart, where 
 the works he sold at his booth were produced. Over 
 the doorway was the legend, My hoip is in Christ. 
 A.S.M.K. 1593." James Watson was one of the 
 successors of Andro Hart and brought out the collected 
 edition of Drummond of Hawthornden's Works. In 
 198 
 
From St. Giles to the Tron Church 
 
 Craig's Close was another famous tavern, The Isle of 
 Man Arms^ where the " Cape Club " held its meetings. 
 This society, the minutes of which are preserved in the 
 Museum of the Society of Antiquaries, was formally 
 founded in 1764, but had existed long before, and con- 
 tinued until,the middle of the nineteenth century, though 
 an American offshoot is still in existence in South 
 Carolina. The " Cape Club " seems to have indulged 
 in a sort of parody of the masonic ritual, its members 
 being distinguished by the title " Knights of the Poker," 
 that household utensil being the sceptre of office. Tom 
 Lancashire, the comedian, David Herd, the antiquarian, 
 Fergusson, the poet. Deacon Brodie, the notorious 
 housebreaker, Runciman, the painter, and Sir Henry 
 Raeburn were all members of it. 
 
 Anchor Close is memorable as having contained Daw- 
 ney Douglas's tavern, the meeting-place of a famous con- 
 vivial association, the " Crochallan Club." Founded in 
 1784, by William Smellie, the printer, whose estab- 
 lishment was in the same alley, the club numbered among 
 its members Lords Newton, Hermand, and Gillies, 
 Henry Erskine, Singing Jamie Balfour," Robert Burns, 
 and many others of the beaux esprits of the period. 
 The name was taken from a Gaelic song with which 
 Dawney was wont at times to delight his guests, viz., 
 '* Cro Chalien " or " Colin's Cows," detailing how a 
 sorrowing widower used to see his young wife (who had 
 died after a brief married life) milking the cows in the 
 gloaming and singing the chorus to the lay. The refer- 
 ences by Burns to the club and to Smellie, or " Willie " 
 as he was called, are numerous : — 
 
 As I came by Crochallan 
 I cannily keekit ben. 
 Rattlin*, roarin' Willie 
 Was sittin* at yon board en*, 
 Sittin* at yon board en*. 
 
 199 
 
'The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 And amang guid companie 
 Rattlin', roarin' Willie, 
 You're welcome hame to me." 
 
 The doorways — for there are two — one conducting 
 to what was the lower storey of the famous tavern, and 
 the other to the upper, are adorned with the scripts, " The 
 Lord is only my svport " and " 0 Lord in Thee is al my 
 ^r^/V/," while the architrave has the line from the Psalms, 
 '* Be merciful to me,^^ To Smellie's printing-house Burns 
 used to go to correct his proofs, the desk at which he 
 worked and the stool whereon he sat being long shown. 
 This was also the meeting-place where Drs. Blair and 
 Black, Principal Robertson, Professors Adam Fergus- 
 son andBeattie, Lords Monboddo, Kames, Hailes, and 
 Craig ; Hugo Arnot, Henry Mackenzie, David Hume, 
 Home, the author of Douglas^ constantly assembled to 
 crack a joke or discuss a knotty point in philosophy with 
 rattlin', roarin' Willie," who despite his love of con- 
 viviality was one of the cultured men of his day. 
 
 In Old Stamp Office Close — originally called Eglinton 
 Close — the noble family of that name had its town man- 
 sion, in the days when the beautiful Susanna Kennedy had 
 become Countess of Eglinton. To her husband she bore 
 eight daughters as beautiful as herself, and it used to be 
 one of the sights of Edinburgh to see the countess and 
 her eight daughters being borne in sedan chairs across to 
 the Assembly Rooms, in Old Assembly Close. Such a 
 mistress of deportment and etiquette was the countess, 
 that the expression, She has the Eglinton air," be- 
 came a sort of proverbial saying to indicate a lady who 
 carried herself with majestic dignity. The countess was 
 a warm patroness of letters, and Allan Ramsay, Hamilton 
 of Bangour, and others, were proud to dedicate their 
 works to her. Dr. Johnson was also presented to her and 
 was greatly charmed by her affability. In this close was 
 situated still another of the famous taverns of " Old 
 200 
 
From St. Giles to the Tron Church 
 
 Edinburgh," viz., " Fortune's," where the Earl of 
 Leven, when Lord High Commissioner to the General 
 Assembly of the Church of Scotland, was wont to hold 
 his State levees. 
 
 The remaining alleys on this side of the street are un- 
 important. Crossing Cockburn Street, named after 
 Henry Cockburn (Lord Cockburn), one of the judges of 
 the Court of Session and a great lawyer, besides being 
 one of the most delightful diarists and annalists of his 
 time, we at length reach the North Bridge. Mylne Square^ 
 which stood on the site now occupied by the magnifi- 
 cent Scotsman buildings, was erected by the same archi- 
 tect as designed Mylne's Court. In this square, con- 
 structed in 1689, Charles Erskine, Lord Alva and Lord 
 Justice-Clerk, had his mansion where, prior to 1745, 
 old Simon Eraser, Lord Lovat, was a frequent visitor. 
 L ater the house was occupied by the noble family of Hope- 
 toun as their town mansion, and here the levees were 
 held when the Earl of Hopetoun was Lord High Com- 
 missioner to the General Assembly. Behind this block 
 in the rear of the premises now occupied by the branch of 
 the National Bank of Scotland, is still to be viewed 
 a portion of the famous Union Cellar," where the 
 English and Scots Commissioners finally found shelter 
 and peace to sign the Articles of Union between the 
 countries. 
 
 Returning to Parliament Square we must in turn 
 glance rapidly at the alleys on the south side of the High 
 Street. Before doing so let us devote a moment's atten- 
 tion to the Old City or Mercat Cross," which now 
 stands at the entrance to Parliament Square, but which 
 formerly had its station about fifty yards lower down the 
 street. From this all royal proclamations were and still 
 are made bythe royal heralds and pursuivants. The Old 
 Cross " was removed, in 1756, by order of the Town 
 Council, from the place it had occupied in the High 
 
 201 
 
'The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 Street almost from time immemorial, its stones being 
 broken up or dispersed, and its memory was almost for- 
 gotten. Fortunately some portions of it fell into the 
 hands of those who had more regard for antiquity than 
 the vandals of the Edinburgh Town Council. The 
 shaft was preserved, and for a time stood within the 
 
 railings of St Giles', when the old church was enclosed. 
 During the restoration of the latter the late Right 
 Hon. W. E. Gladstone offered to restore the Cross as 
 nearly as possible to its pristine condition. The offer 
 was gratefully accepted, and Edinburgh once more has 
 its royal proclamations made at Cross and Pierhead." 
 The Old City or " Mercat Cross " has been associated 
 with most of the great historic events in the history of 
 Edinburgh. Many an execution did it witness : 
 William Kirkcaldy of Grange, the Earl of Morton, 
 the two Argylls, Montrose, besides criminals innumer- 
 %0Z 
 
From St. Giles to the Tron Church 
 
 able. At its foot had sat the dyvours^ or bankrupts, 
 of centuries, exposed to the contumely of their more 
 fortunate neighbours ; and around it had gathered the 
 crowds of Edinburgh in joy or in sorrow — if the former, 
 to dip their cups in the basin of the fountain, that ran 
 wine, and drink the health of king or queen ; if the 
 latter, to Jiear the proclamations made regarding death 
 and disaster, and to sorrow with their neighbours as 
 they wended slowly homeward. By the Cross the 
 merchants met to discuss their bargains and to learn 
 the state of trade ; by the Cross the fashionable section 
 of Edinburgh society was wont to gather to gossip and 
 chatter over current events ; while around the Cross 
 were to be found those omniscient messengers called 
 
 caddies," who knew everything about everybody, and, 
 as Lord Kames said, would " fetch any man to ye that 
 ye wanted though they had to gang to h — 11 for him." 
 
 The Edinburgh Metropolitan Police Department 
 occupies the right-hand side of Old Fishmarket Close 
 which formerly led down to the fish market of the city. 
 In this alley George Heriot began his married life ; 
 here Defoe lived when editing his Review from Scot- 
 land — a Scots edition of which was actually published at 
 this place; and here also Lord President Dundas had his 
 residence. In Old Assembly Close lived Lord President 
 Durie, one of the Court of Session judges, who was 
 kidnapped by order of the Earl of Traquair and carried 
 off to the wilds of Annandale until a case upon which 
 it was feared he would give a decision adverse to his 
 lordship, was tried and won. The old ballad of 
 " Christy's Will " commemorates the deed. Here too 
 were the Assembly Rooms " — to which the directors 
 of fashion removed in 1720 from the West Bow — 
 where the youth and beauty of Edinburgh executed 
 those stately dances, the minuet and the pavan^ the 
 quadrille or contre-danse and the galliard^ which so 
 
 203 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 impressed Goldsmith with their funereal solemnity. 
 He recorded his astonishment on entering the dancing 
 hall to see one end of the room taken up with the 
 ladies, who sit dismally in a group by themselves ; at 
 the other end stand their pensive partners that are to be, 
 but no more intercourse exists between the sexes than 
 between two countries that are at war. The ladies 
 indeed may ogle and the gentlemen sigh, but an embargo 
 is laid on any closer commerce.'' 
 
 Covenant Close is memorable as being the place where 
 the Solemn League and Covenant, not the National 
 Covenant as is often erroneously stated, was placed for 
 signature after it had been accepted by the Westminster 
 Assembly of Divines. Four years later it was again 
 placed in the same house — that of one of the Edinburgh 
 ministers — for renewal at the time when Charles II. 
 subscribed both it and the National Covenant, The 
 house in question was only demolished three or four 
 years ago. 
 
 In BelVs Wyndy but with its front facing the High 
 Street, was the " Black Turnpike," and adjoining it 
 the " Clamshell Turnpike," where George Crichton, 
 Bishop of Dunkeld, resided, and where he had his chapel. 
 Here at a later date, when it was the property of Lord 
 Home, Queen Mary stayed with Darnley after they 
 had returned from Dunbar immediately subsequent to 
 the murder of Rizzio. As Wilson says, she probably 
 revolted from the idea of returning to Holyrood, the 
 scene of Rizzio's assassination, witn its bloodstained 
 floors still calling for revenge against his murderers. 
 In this wynd was printed the Scots Postman, after- 
 wards changed to the Neiu Edinburgh Ga%ette, the first 
 Government newspaper printed in Scotland. Here 
 also resided James Johnson, the engraver, whose Scots 
 Musical Museum preserved many ancient songs. To 
 the earlier volumes Burns contributed largely. 
 204 
 
T'he Story of Edinburgh 
 
 We now reach Hunter's Square and the South 
 Bridge, both of which stand upon the site of several 
 old alleys, among others Kennedy's Close and Marlin's 
 Wynd. In the former, on Friday, 28th September 
 1582, there passed away Scotland's famous scholar and 
 historian, George Buchanan, who takes rank as the 
 greatest Latinist in Europe since the days of Augustan 
 Rome. He was interred in Greyfriars' Churchyard, 
 and a skull said to be his is still preserved in Edinburgh 
 University. The latter of the two alleys. Marlines 
 Wynd (abutting on the Tron Church on its east side) 
 was named after a French pavier of that name who 
 resided there and first introduced the practice of paving 
 footpaths. So delighted was he with his invention, 
 says tradition, that, on his deathbed, he begged to be 
 buried under the footpath at the mouth of the close. 
 
 One important feature of this locality up to 1785 
 remains to be mentioned, viz., the City Guard- 
 house," which occupied a position in the centre of the 
 thoroughfare immediately opposite the " Black Turn- 
 pike," and w^as the headquarters of the Town Guard, 
 styled from their russet uniform " the Town Rats." 
 Here was also the lock-up" for drunkenness and 
 offences too trivial for imprisonment in the Tolbooth. 
 The wooden horse, which stood at the end of the 
 building, was used for punishing drunkards, who were 
 placed astride upon it with muskets tied to their feet. 
 The Town Guard, whose arms were a musket and a 
 Lochaber axe, were disbanded in 18 17, when the new 
 " Police Act " came into force. The Town Guards- 
 men were mostly Highlanders and regarded a post in it 
 as the height of human ambition. 
 
 206 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 
 From the Tron Church to St. Mary 
 Street 
 
 THE Tron Church took its name from the Tron or 
 public beam for weighing merchandise, generally 
 designated the Salt Tron to distinguish it from the 
 " Butter Tron or Weigh House at the Bowhead. At 
 the Salt Tron " minor offenders were pilloried, while 
 bonfires and the like were usually kindled at this spot. 
 On the reported landing of Charles II. in the North in 
 1650, "all signs of joy were manifested in a special 
 maner in Edinburgh, by setting furth of bailfyres, ring- 
 ing of bells, sounding of trumpettis, dancing almost all 
 that night through the streitis. The puir kaill wyfes at 
 the Trone, sacrificed their mandis, and creillis and the 
 verie stoolis they sat upone to the fyre." 
 
 The Tron Church was opened for worship in 1647, 
 its erection having been commenced in 1637, but it was 
 not really completed till 1663. Its architecture is a 
 bastard style — a mixture of Gothic and Palladian, — its 
 original spire having been its one feature of singularity. 
 This, however, was consumed in the great fire of 1824 
 — when the whole of the south side of the High Street 
 from Parliament Square to the Tron was destroyed — 
 and that which has replaced it is absolutely simple 
 and unadorned in every particular. The Tron Church 
 pulpit has been occupied by a succession of distin- 
 guished divines. 
 
 After crossing the South Bridge we reach Niddry 
 Street, in which is St. Cecilia's Hall, where all the 
 great concerts of the closing decades of the eighteenth, 
 
 207 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 and the opening ones of the nineteenth century were 
 held, and where the " stars " of the days of our grand- 
 fathers charmed the audiences of their age. Here too 
 was the stately quadrangular mansion of Nicol Edward, 
 a wealthy Edinburgh burgess, who after being Dean of 
 Guild in 1584-85 became Provost in 1591-92. In 
 his house, James VI. and his queen took refuge in 1 591, 
 when the monarch was being persecuted by the Earl of 
 Bothwell. James had no scruple about inviting him- 
 self and his Court to stay with one or more of his 
 wealthy Edinburgh lieges, should the Holyrood larder 
 have shown signs of being unduly depleted. In later 
 days Lord Grange resided here, who, having for many 
 years lived a cat-and-dog life with his wife, managed to 
 get her abducted by the creatures of Simon Eraser (Lord 
 Lovat), and conveyed to the lonely island of St. Kilda. 
 Prior to marriage she was Rachel Chiesley, the daughter 
 of the assassin of Lord President Lockhart, and had 
 been a woman of marvellous beauty. Seduced, while a 
 mere child, by Grange, she called upon him and pre- 
 senting a pistol at his head, gave him the choice of 
 death or signing a paper promising to marry her. For 
 some years — so long as her beauty remained and she 
 was admired in society — their life was not unhappy. 
 But after twenty years of married life and when she had 
 borne him a family, she took to drink, and great un- 
 happiness ensued from her violent temper. Grange, 
 who was one of the judges of the Court of Session, was 
 himself a man whose life alternated between violent out- 
 breaks of licentiousness and fits of religious repentance 
 and melancholy. A judicial separation had been agreed 
 upon, but Lady Grange, according to her husband's ac- 
 count, did not observe the conditions of it, was con- 
 stantly intruding herself into his house and slandering 
 him to the neighbours. After the lady's abduction, her 
 friends for a year or two could obtain no information 
 208 
 
Tron Church to St. ^Mary Street 
 
 about her, and when eventually they learned what had 
 happened, it was too late to help her, for mortification 
 and the hardships she had undergone co-operated with 
 her intemperate habits to unsettle her reason. Seven- 
 teen years later she died. 
 
 Dickson s Close is worthy of remembrance as being 
 the place of residence of David Allan, "the Scottish 
 Hogarth," and the illustrator of Ramsay and Burns. He 
 succeeded Runciman as instructor of the Academy, 
 established by the Board of Trustees, later the Board 
 of Manufactures. In Cantos Close^ named, according 
 to some, after Adam Cant, who was Dean of Guild in 
 1450, but according to others, and more probably, after 
 Andrew Cant, Principal of the University of Edinburgh 
 from 1675-85 and the ancestor of the great Konigsberg 
 metaphysician, the buildings were mainly ecclesiastical, 
 one in particular being noticeable with its gateway and 
 flight of steps, and with its curious double window pro- 
 jecting on a corbelled base into the close. As all the 
 adjoining properties were owned by the Collegiate 
 Church of Crichton, which, by the way, was an 
 establishment of great wealth and influence in its day, 
 being founded in 1449 by Sir William Crichton, 
 Chancellor of Scotland, we may conclude that this 
 building had been the town residence of the Provost of 
 Crichton Church. 
 
 Stricken' s Close (formerly Rosehaugh Close) came 
 next and contained the town residence of the Abbots 
 of Melrose. In pre -Reformation times all the great 
 ecclesiastical dignitaries in Scotland had their mansions 
 in the capital ; that of the Archbishop of St. Andrews 
 being in Blackfriars' Wynd ; that of the Bishop of 
 Dunkeld in the Cowgate ; that of the Abbot of Cam- 
 buskenneth in Old Bank Close in the Lawnmarket ; 
 the Abbot of Dryburgh's in the Canongate. The 
 house of the Abbot of Melrose had pleasant gardens, 
 o 209 
 
"The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 extending down to the Cowgate and up the opposite 
 slopes towards the Pleasance. Walter Chepman, Scot- 
 land's earliest printer, lived at the head of the close, 
 while his printing establishment was situated in the 
 Cowgate. Later residents were Sir George Mackenzie, 
 the great lawyer and legal writer, founder of the Advo- 
 cates' Library ; and his kinsman, Lord Strichen, of the 
 Court of Session. 
 
 Blackfriars^ Wynd^ to which access was obtained by 
 a broad archway or pend^ took its name from the great 
 monastery situated at the foot of it, viz., the Blackfriars, 
 founded by Alexander IL in 1230. Thewyndledto 
 the southern suburbs of the town and contained the 
 residences of many distinguished persons. Chief among 
 these was the mansion of the Beatons — first of James, 
 Archbishop of Glasgow, and next of Cardinal David 
 Beaton, Archbishop of St. Andrews, which stood at the 
 foot of the wynd on the east side. It was a large 
 dwelling of antique appearance, forming two sides of a 
 quadrangle with a porte-cochere giving access to a court 
 behind, and with a picturesque overhanging turret at the 
 exterior angle. On the west side of the wynd was the 
 residence of the Earls of Morton, with a fine Gothic 
 doorway and sculptured tympanum. This residence of 
 the family was probably earlier in date than that on the 
 Castlehill. Also on the west side, and near the head of 
 the wynd, a decorated doorway gave entrance to the 
 
 Auld Cameronian Meeting- House." The lintel of 
 this doorway bore the inscription — " In the Lord is my 
 hope," with the letters I. S. and the date 1564. Here 
 the adherents of that grand old body worshipped from 
 1697 until about 1820, when a new chapel was erected 
 for them in Lady Lawson's Wynd. Also on the west 
 side stood the English Episcopal Chapel, founded in 
 1722 for residents who were in communion with the 
 Church of England in contradistinction to the Non- 
 210 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 juring Scottish Episcopal Church. In this chapel Dr. 
 Johnson worshipped during his visit to Edinburgh in 
 1773. In this wynd also lived during the eighteenth 
 century Bishop Hay, of the Romish Church, one of 
 the rooms of whose house was used as a chapel by the 
 adherents of his faith. By great exertions Dr. Hay had 
 succeeded in erecting a chapel in Chalmers Close, but 
 this building was wrecked in 1779 during a "No- 
 Popery " riot. With Archbishop Sharpe also the 
 wynd was associated, for it is recorded that Mitchell 
 nearly succeeded in assassinating him as he sat in his 
 coach at the heid of the Blackfreirs' Wynd." Finally, 
 the same alley is celebrated as containing the town 
 mansion of William St. Clair, Earl of Orkney, the founder 
 of Roslin Chapel, who (as Wilson says) maintained his 
 Court at Roslin Castle with a magnificence far surpass- 
 ing what had often sufficed for that of the Scottish 
 kings. He was royally served at his own table, in vessels 
 of gold and silver, and by the lesser nobility ; Lord 
 Dirleton being his master of the household. Lord 
 Borthwick his cupbearer. Lord Fleming his carver, with 
 men of ancient lineage and rank for their deputies. 
 
 "His Countess, Margaret Douglas" (says Father Hayther, 
 confessor) "was waited on by seventy-five gentlewomen, whereof 
 fifty-three were daughters of noblemen, all cloathed in velvets and 
 silks and with their chains of gold and other pertinents 5 together 
 with 200 rideing gentilmen, quho accompanied her in alle her 
 journies. She had carried before hir when she went to Edinburgh if 
 it were dark eighty lighted torches. So that in a word none 
 matched hir in alle the contrey save the Quene's Majesty." 
 
 It was in the Blackfriars' Wynd that the famous street 
 tulxie or combat, " Cleanse the Causeway," took place, 
 in 1520, between the adherents of the Earl of Angus 
 and those of the Earl of Arran, wherein the latter were 
 so decisively beaten [see p. 55). 
 
 We next come to South Grays Close or Mint Close ^ 
 which has a connection also with Hyndford's Close » In 
 212 
 
Tron Church to St. <SMary Street 
 
 the former stood the mansion of the Earl of Selkirk ; in 
 the latter, and closely adjoining it, that of the Earl of 
 Hyndford. These dwellings were afterwards thrown 
 into one. Though great alterations have taken place, 
 there are still remains of former magnificence. In still 
 later years, to wit these of the seventh and eighth decades 
 of the eighteenth century, this fine old mansion was 
 inhabited by Professor Rutherford, grandfather of Sir 
 Walter Scott, and here the great novelist was a frequent 
 visitor during boyhood. In South Gray's Close and 
 Elphinstone Court, which adjoins it on the south, Archi- 
 bald, ninth Earl of Argyll, lived ; also Lords Hailes, 
 Haining, Belhaven, and Chesterhall. Lord Chester- 
 hall's son, Alex. Wedderburn (Lord Loughborough) 
 became first Earl of Rosslyn and Lord Chancellor of 
 England. On returning to this place when an old man, 
 he wept to find that the paip holes " where he used to 
 play at the game of "paips" were still in existence. 
 Here also resided Dr William Cullen, the eminent 
 physician and Professor of Materia Medica. In this 
 court was the Scottish " Cunzie House or Mint." The 
 first mint was probably situated in the outer court of 
 Holyrood Palace, not far from Horse Wynd ; thence in 
 1559 it was removed to Candlemaker Row ; but about 
 1574 was finally located in this close, where suitable 
 premises had been prepared for it. Here the Scottish 
 coinage was struck until the time of the Union, when 
 that of England was made common to both. It may 
 interest our readers to know that a large portion of the 
 gold minted in this establishment was extracted from 
 Scottish mines. In fact, so thriving was the industry 
 that in 1424 Parliament granted all the gold mines to 
 the Crown, by whom they were leased to experienced 
 miners. Crawford Muir, Leadhills, the Pentland Hills 
 and Sutherlandshire were the principal goldfields. At 
 the Union, when the native currency was abolished, the 
 
 213 
 
'The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 Commissioners found it had become so debased by clip- 
 ping, or what was called sweating, that its purchasing 
 value or " value sterling " was only one-twelfth of the 
 standard. In other words, £i Scots equalled only is. 8d. 
 The merk was equal to 13 s. 4d., the plack to 4d., and 
 the bodle to 2d. sterling. Some of the instruments used 
 in the mint may still be seen in the Antiquarian Museum. 
 In Hyndford's Close Dr. Chalmers had his first lodgings 
 in Edinburgh, when, in 1800-01, he spent two sessions 
 at the University. 
 
 In Fountain Close was the house of Bassandyne, the 
 early Scottish printer, whose Bible, issued in 1576-79, 
 still excites admiration owing to the excellence of its 
 printing. At the head of this close, built into the wall 
 of Bassandyne's house, were long visible two beautifully- 
 executed bas-reliefs of the Emperor Severus and his 
 wife, Julia, evidently taken from some Roman remains 
 in the vicinity. They are now in the Antiquarian 
 Museum. The fountain " whence this close and land 
 took its name is now situated on the other side of the 
 street, but the evidence which shows that originally it 
 stood at the head of this close seems fairly conclusive. 
 
 Tiveeddale Court formerly contained the town mansion 
 of the marquis of that name, which has now become the 
 publishing house of Messrs. Oliver & Boyd. In the 
 seventeenth and early part of the eighteenth centuries 
 extensive gardens and pleasure-grounds extended down 
 to the Cowgate. For a time the British Linen Com- 
 pany occupied it, and here about five o'clock in the 
 evening of the 13th November 1806 occurred that 
 terrible crime known as the " Begbie Tragedy," in 
 which a bank porter carrying a large sum of money was 
 stabbed to death ; and though the deed was done within 
 sight and sound of hundreds of people, the crime remains 
 to this day an unsolved mystery. A girl named Jane 
 Smith or Smellie, whose parents lived in the close, was 
 214 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 sent by her mother to the Fountain well, almost opposite, 
 to fetch a stoup or pail of water wherewith to make tea. 
 She went at once, passing through the diZxYpend or arch- 
 way which gives admission to the court, and at that time 
 there was nothing to impede free passage through the 
 pend. Proceeding to the well, she had to wait a few 
 seconds while a woman who was before filled her stoup. 
 The delay, however, was only momentary. Jane's 
 stoup was filled in turn and she retraced her steps. In 
 the middle of the pend she stumbled over some obstacle 
 and fell, spilling most of the water. On looking to see 
 what had caused her accident, she found to her horror 
 that it was the body of William Begbie, a well-known 
 and highly-trusted messenger of the British Linen Com- 
 pany's Bank. On the alarm being given, Begbie was 
 lifted up, but was found to be dead ; while a long, 
 narrow-bladed knife was discovered driven up to the hilt 
 in his body. So fiendishly calculating had been the per- 
 petrator, that a sheet of paper was actually placed on the 
 hilt as a guard to prevent the blood of the victim spurt- 
 ing over the assassin's hand. Begbie had been convey- 
 ing a package of notes from the Leith Branch to the 
 Head Office. This was amissing, but two years after- 
 wards £3000 of the larger notes were discovered in the 
 cavity of an old wall in the grounds of Bellevue, where 
 Drummond Place now stands. A prisoner named James 
 Mackoull, who had died in gaol, was suspected of the 
 murder, and subsequent investigations go to confirm the 
 suspicion. 
 
 World's End Close was formerly called Sir John Stan- 
 field^ s Close^ and here it was that William Falconer's 
 fatherhad his barber's shop, where the poet wrote a part 
 of The Shipwreck. At the foot of the close there is an 
 ancient tenement with a shield of arms on its lintel, with 
 the familiar legend, Praisze ye Lord for al His giftis, 
 M. S.5" while a rich Gothic niche is built into a modern 
 216 
 
T'ron Church to St, <SMary Street 
 
 land. This is all that remains to recall another tragedy 
 of Old Edinburgh. Sir James Stanfield was an English 
 manufacturer who had been invited by the Scots Govern- 
 ment to settle at Newmills in East Lothian. He had 
 two sons, of whom the eldest was so profligate that the 
 father had to disinherit him. Sir James himself was a 
 deeply pious man but given to fits of religious despond- 
 ency. It has been thought that, in one of these fits, he 
 drowned himself ; but after his burial, some ill-advised 
 persons started the story that the unfortunate man had 
 been murdered, from the fact that Lady Stanfield had 
 a shroud and dead-clothes ready for him two days be- 
 fore his death — by no means an uncommon thing in 
 Scotland. Two surgeons were sent from Edinburgh 
 to examine the body and report. These worthies, having 
 exhumed it and made an incision in the neck, came to 
 the conclusion that Sir James had met his death by 
 strangulation, being ignorant, seemingly, of the fact that 
 death by drowning would produce such symptoms as 
 manifest themselves in the former case. This exami- 
 nation, which took place in a church, being ended, and 
 the body washed and wrapped in fresh grave-clothes, 
 the eldest son, Philip, and a friend named James Row 
 lifted it to replace it in the coffin, when suddenly, on 
 the side held by the former, an effusion of blood took 
 place, so large as to defile both his hands. Horror- 
 stricken, and realising all it would mean to those present, 
 he cried, " Lord, have mercy on me ! " and let the body 
 fall. On this evidence and on that of servants who had 
 been put to torture to induce them tospeak,the unfortunate 
 youth was condemned to death. Many asserted that 
 Sir James had more than once tried to take his own life 
 " at his house in the Netherbow " (probably the one we 
 are now considering), but such testimony had no effect 
 in staying the execution of the sentence. The youth 
 was hanged at the Mercat Cross, being literally strangled 
 
 217 
 
"The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 by the executioner ; his tongue was cut out and his head 
 spiked on the East Port of Haddington, while his 
 mutilated body was hung in chains at the Gallowlee. 
 Such was justice " in the good old days ! 
 
 We now reach the Netherbow, the fortified gate- 
 way which barred the thoroughfare, and in time of war 
 was no easy obstacle to force. It united the city wall 
 from St. Mary's Wynd on the south, to the steep 
 thoroughfare known as Leith Wynd on the north. 
 The last gateway was built in the reign of James VI. 
 (1606), its predecessor having become ruinous owing 
 to the injury it had received in Hertford's invasions. 
 The new *'port" was an imposing structure, the arch, 
 an ellipse, being in the centre strengthened by round 
 towers and battlements on the eastern or external front ; 
 and in the southern tower there was a wicket for foot- 
 passengers. On the inside of the arch were the arms 
 of the city. The whole building was crenelated and con- 
 sisted of two lofty stories having in the centre a hand- 
 some square tower, terminated by a pointed spire. After 
 the Porteous Mob a Bill was passed through the House 
 of Lords, in 1737, which declared that the Nether bow 
 must be razed. The Scots Members, however, made 
 a stout resistance in the Commons, and the Netherbow 
 Port escaped, only to be demolished in 1 760 by a fatuous 
 Town Council to whom antiquity was synonymous with 
 vulgarity. 
 
 Returning to the North Bridge we must glance 
 cursorily at the alleys on the northern side of the " Hie 
 Gait." The first of these is Halkerston^ s Wynd^ formerly 
 the main approach from the north. In Gordon of Rothie- 
 may's map (^'.'y.) there appears a '<port" at the lower 
 end, while the sluices for regulating the flow from the 
 Nor' Loch were also opposite the foot of this alley, 
 which was named after Halkerston of Halkerston, who 
 died while bravely defending the " port " from an attack 
 218 
 
Tron Church to St <SM^ary Street 
 
 by the English during Hertford's invasion in 1 544. At 
 the head of the wynd, in a picturesque timber-fronted 
 land, only demolished in 1898, Allan Ramsay, Scot- 
 land's greatest pastoral poet, commenced business as a 
 wigmaker at the Sign of the Mercury." Gradually as 
 his fame increased he paid less attention to " polls " and 
 more to poetry and bookselling, until on his removal to 
 the Luckenbooths in 1726, he relinquished wigmaking 
 altogether. To this snug little house at the head of 
 Halkerston's Wynd he brought his bride, the daughter 
 of Mr James Ross, writer, of the Castlehill. It was 
 from this shop that he used to issue his poems and songs 
 in those quarto sheets called '* broadsides " which were 
 hawked about the streets by chapmen ; the old wives of 
 Edinburgh being in the habit of sending their children 
 to fetch Allan's last piece," that it might be read at 
 their " fower 'oors," viz., four o'clock dram, or cup of 
 tea. From the Sign of the Mercury," also, he dated his 
 proposals for the collected edition of his works in 1721. 
 In the next alley, viz., Carrubber's Close, was one of 
 the earliest Non-juring Episcopal Chapels in Edinburgh, 
 while the close itself was the most direct route to Trinity 
 College Church. Carrubber's Close to this day main- 
 tains its connection with religion, for in the mission 
 which is carried on in the hall lower down the street, we 
 have a most successful attempt to deal on undenomina- 
 tional lines with the great problem of evangelising the 
 masses. In Carrubber's Close, Allan Ramsay built the 
 first Edinburgh theatre — a disastrous speculation for him. 
 
 Bishop' s Close and Bishop's Land take their name from 
 having been the town residence of John Spottiswood, 
 Archbishop of St. Andrews, who inherited the house 
 from his father. Here also resided L ady Jane Douglas, 
 the heroine of the famous Douglas Peerage Case," that 
 greatest of the causes celehres of the eighteenth century. 
 Subsequently the residence of Lord President Dundas, 
 
 219 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 it became the birthplace of his distinguished son, Henry 
 Dundas, Lord Melville. At the same place, Archibald 
 Constable, the great Scottish publisher, began business 
 in 1795. To his initiative and enterprise the Edinburgh 
 Review owes its establishment, for Jeffrey and his 
 collaborateurs could have done nothing had he not found 
 the money. In Bailie Fyfe s Close another of Scotland's 
 early printers had his place of business, viz., Thomas 
 Davidson, whose rare black-letter edition of Bellenden's 
 Boece^ printed in 1536, purports to be imprentit in 
 Edinburgh be Thomas Davidson dwelling forenens the 
 Frere Wynd" ; and at its head Sir William Fettes, 
 founder of Fettes College, had his grocer's shop. 
 Ch aimer 5 Close contained the residence of Lord Jeffrey's 
 grandfather, and thither the great critic and jurist was a 
 frequent visitor in boyhood. Here too was the mansion 
 of Ihone de Hope, the founder of the noble family of 
 Hopetoun, who came from France in 1537 in the retinue 
 of the Princess Magdalen, the first queen of James V. 
 In this same mansion lived, nearly 120 years later, his 
 descendant, Sir John Hope, Lord President of the Court 
 of Session, who told Charles XL to " treat with Crom- 
 well for one half of his cloak before he lost the whole." 
 At the foot of this close we obtain a fine view of the 
 old Trinity College Church, which, after being pulled 
 down on its original site where the lines of the North 
 British Railway now run, was re-erected stone by stone 
 upon a new site in Jeffrey Street. Some of the ancient 
 Gothic corbels and gargoyles, as well as the fine old 
 windows, are suggestive of an advanced taste and archi- 
 tectural skill scarcely native to Scotland in the fifteenth 
 century. 
 
 We now reach the house which popular tradition and 
 a certain amount of evidence go to show was occupied 
 by the Reformer, John Knox. That he resided there 
 for at least a year is probable from the evidence furnished 
 220 
 
Tron Church to St. ^ary Street 
 
 by facts connected with the execution of Kirkcaldy of 
 Grange, who, when brought up the Canongate to the 
 gibbet near the Cross, on passing Knox's house, made 
 the remark to the Rev. D. Lindsay of Leith, that Maister 
 Knox was " ane true prophet seeing he had foretauld 
 the occurrences of this day," viz., that Grange would 
 be brought over the walls with shame, and would hang 
 against the sun. (^^ee Calderwood's Historic), Now 
 if Knox's house had been where St. Giles' Street now 
 stands, the cart containing Lindsay and the condemned 
 man could not have passed it ; but they would do so if 
 Knox's house was really situated where tradition assigns 
 it. While admitting the argument to be by no means 
 uncontrovertible, we consider that some reliance must 
 be placed on a story which comes to us practically from 
 contemporary testimony. 
 
 The irregular architecture of the house, the peak-ed 
 French windows, outside stair and projecting gables, 
 prove it to belong to the middle of the sixteenth century 
 though it bears the date 1 490. Over its west front runs 
 an inscription, " Lufe God above al and zour Nichbour 
 as zour self." A small statue, somewhat arbitrarily sup- 
 posed to be Moses receiving the law on the Mount, 
 decorates an angle of the building. The Divine Being, 
 prefigured under the symbol of the Sun of Righteous- 
 ness, is represented rising amid clouds, and on the disc 
 is engraved the Divine name in Greek, Latin, and 
 English, 0EO2— DEUS— GOD. Above the in- 
 scription is a coat of arms to the identity of which we 
 can find no clue. It is a wreath of flowers encircling 
 three trees and three crowns, bearing the initials J. M. 
 and M. A. at the four corners. On the outside of the 
 house a stair leads from the street into the audience hall, 
 now fitted up as a museum. The window in this hall is 
 called the " preaching window," tradition asserting that 
 from it Knox was in the habit of addressing the people 
 
 221 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 below. From this room a circular stair conducts us into 
 the bed-chamber of the Reformer, in which probably his 
 death took place. From the bed-chamber we pass into 
 his sitting-room or study, which may or may not be the 
 room referred to in the following entry in the Town 
 Council Records : — 
 
 "Penultimo Octobris 1561. — The samine day the 
 provost, baillies and counsail ordanes the Dene of Gyld 
 wythe al dyligince to mak ane warm stuydye of dailies, 
 to the ministere Ihone Knocx, wythyn hys hous, abune 
 ye hall of ye samen, wyth licht and windokis theruntoe 
 and al uther necessaris." 
 
 In Knox's time the kitchen was on the fourth floor, 
 being reached by a stair leading from the passage opposite 
 the study. Though greatly renovated and restored by 
 the commendable public-spirit of the Free Church of 
 Scotland (now the United Free Church) the house still 
 remains substantially as it was in the great Reformer's 
 day. 
 
 222 
 
CHAPTER XVII 
 
 The Canongate : from St. ^ary s Wyna 
 to the Girth Strand 
 
 THE Canongate, as we have already seen, was origin- 
 ally a burgh of itself under the ecclesiastical juris- 
 diction of the Abbey of Holyrood, being so established 
 by David I. in 1128. It then reverted to the Crown 
 at the Reformation as a burgh of regality, and was 
 granted by James VI. to the Earl of Roxburgh, by 
 whom it was sold in 1636 to the Magistrates of Edin- 
 burgh. The Canongate then became subordinate to 
 Edinburgh, being governed like Leith by a " baron and 
 bailiff" appointed by the Town Council. 
 
 The real glory of the Canongate, however, departed 
 when James VI. left Edinburgh to ascend the Throne 
 of England. It had been, even more than Edinburgh, 
 the residence of the nobility, owing to its proximity to 
 Holyrood ; and when royalty was no longer present 
 there, those who, by their official or social position, 
 lived in connection with the Court, departed also. 
 
 Before touching upon the Canongate proper, we must 
 call attention to the two wynds which lay outside the 
 Netherbow, viz., Leith Wynd and St. Mary's Wynd. 
 The former was the principal thoroughfare leading to 
 Leith, and it extended down the slope towards the 
 Calton Hill, passing the little villages of Moultrie's Hill, 
 situated where the Register House now stands, and 
 farther on, to Picardy, a colony of French weavers and 
 silk spinners who had settled there. In Leith Wynd 
 were several hospitals and religious foundations, notably 
 
 223 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 the " Hospital of our Blessed Lady," founded by 
 Thomas Spence, Bishop of Aberdeen and Lord Privy 
 Seal, for the reception of twelve poor men. After the 
 Reformation the Town Council, by virtue of Queen 
 Mary's grant to them of all religious houses and colleges 
 in Edinburgh, became the proprietors of this charity ; 
 and in 1582 enacted that the buildings, which had be- 
 come ruinous, should be reconstructed under the name 
 of Paul's Work"; to which in 16 19 five Flemish 
 weavers were brought to teach certain boys and girls, 
 who were the inmates of the Work," the manufacture 
 of coarse woollen stuff. But seemingly the industry did 
 not prosper, for by 1630 the buildings were used as a 
 House of Correction. Later on they were leased by 
 certain enterprising townsmen who started a linen 
 factory; and when Arnot wrote (1779) was occu- 
 pied by a manufacturer of broadcloth. The buildings 
 were, however, all swept away to afford space for the 
 station of the North British Railway. 
 
 In connection with Paul's Work it may be stated that 
 the Ballantyne Press, now situated in Causewayside, 
 Newington district, was formerly located here. This is 
 one of the oldest printing offices in the city, and is in- 
 teresting by the fact that its early history is closely con- 
 nected with Sir Walter Scott, who at one time was a 
 partner in the firm. Scott and James Ballantyne knew 
 each other as boys at Kelso ; and when the latter, who 
 was proprietor of the Kelso Mall, turned his attention to 
 printing, Scott gave him some work to do, the typo- 
 graphical excellence of which so pleased the London 
 publishers that he began to devote his time to book pro- 
 duction. In 1802 he removed to Edinburgh, where, 
 at "Paul's Work," he gradually increased his printing 
 presses to enable him to cope with the production of the 
 Waverley Novels. James and John Ballantyne were the 
 intimate friends of Sir Walter Scott, and regularly visited 
 224 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 him at Abbotsford. On the death of the latter, Sir 
 Walter said to Lockhart, I feel as if there would be 
 less sunshine for me from this day forth." Since those 
 days the business has greatly expanded and is now one 
 of the leading book-printing houses in Scotland. In the 
 entrance hall of Paul's Work may be seen one of the old 
 wooden presses as used by Ballantyne in printing the 
 Waverley Novels. This is a most interesting relic and 
 well worthy of a visit. 
 
 On the west side of the wynd was the Collegiate 
 Church of the Holy Trinity, erected in 1462 by Mary 
 of Gueldres, queen of James II., with its hospital for 
 bedesmen and deserving poor, the successor of which is 
 the Trinity Fund of to-day. In 1540 the proprietors 
 of ruinous houses in Leith Wynd were ordered by the 
 Magistrates to repair them, under threat of their being 
 pulled down to extend the town wall from the Port of 
 the Netherbow to the Trinity College. At a later 
 period, the Physic Gardens, the prototype of our Botanic 
 Gardens of to-day, were located on the west side of the 
 wynd. The end of Jeffrey Street now represents the 
 head of this old thoroughfare. 
 
 St, Marys Wynd^ named from a chapel, convent and 
 hospital of Cistercian nuns dedicated to St. Mary, and 
 which were situated on the west side of the alley, was 
 one of the most interesting places in Old Edinburgh. 
 The wynd ran immediately outside the line of the city 
 wall. In it was situated the " White Horse Inn," which, 
 having been famous for generations, only lost its popularity 
 at the extreme end of the eighteenth century. Here 
 Johnson stayed on his arrival at Edinburgh, and therein 
 occurred the historic scene between the lexicographer 
 and the waiter. At this hostelry most of the leading 
 Scots gentry stayed at one time or another, and the host 
 kept their signatures in a handsome *• Guests' Book," 
 which he called his Family Bible." In St. Mary's 
 226 
 
The Ganongate 
 
 Wynd, James Norrie, the celebrated decorator and the 
 first landscape artist that Scotland produced, had his 
 residence. Here Allan Ramsay, the poet, was a frequent 
 visitor, and here too Allan the Younger," afterwards 
 Allan Ramsay, the celebrated portrait painter to the king, 
 received his early training. At the foot of St. Mary's 
 Wynd was the Colgate Port, a city gate constructed in 
 1 5 1 3. At a subsequent date another was erected across 
 the wynd at its junction with the Pleasance, and as such 
 it appears in Gordon of Rothiemay's map as Porta Plataa 
 Sanctae Maria, afterwards St. Leonard's Port. St. 
 Mary's Wynd has been wholly swept away, the new 
 thoroughfare, St. Mary Street, presenting very few 
 features of architectural interest. In this street are the 
 publishing offices and bindery of one of the largest and 
 most enterprising of Scottish publishing houses, Messrs. 
 Oliphant, Anderson, & Ferrier. 
 
 We must now resume our journey down the Canon- 
 gate. CouWs Close on the north (or left-hand) side of 
 the street was long noted as being traditionally the scene 
 of the incident recorded by Scott in his notes to Rokeby: — 
 
 " About the beginning of the eighteenth century a divine of 
 singular sanctity was called up at midnight to pray with a person 
 at the point of death. He was put into a sedan-chair, but after 
 he had been conveyed a short distance his bearers insisted on his 
 being blindfolded. After many turnings and windings, the chair 
 was carried upstairs into a lodging, where his eyes were uncovered 
 and he was introduced into a bedroom, where he found a lady 
 newly delivered of an infant, and he was commanded by those 
 present to say such prayers by her bedside as were fitting for a 
 dying person. He ventured to remonstrate and observed that her 
 safe delivery warranted better hopes ; but he was sternly ordered 
 to obey the orders first given. With difficulty he recollected 
 himself sufficiently to acquit himself of the task. He was then 
 hurried into the sedan-chair, and as they conducted him down- 
 stairs he heard the report of a pistol. He was conducted safely 
 home, a purse of gold was forced on him, but he was warned that 
 the least allusion to the transactions of the night would cost him 
 his life. He betook himself to rest but was awakened by the news 
 
 227 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 228 
 
 that a fire of uncommon 
 fury had broken out in the 
 
 house of near the head 
 
 of the Canongate, and that 
 the daughter of the pro- 
 prietor, a young lady, emin- 
 ent for beauty and accom- 
 plishments, had perished in 
 the flames. Not for long 
 years did the divine disclose 
 to his brethren the mystery. 
 Many years after, a fire 
 broke out on the same spot 
 
 where the house of had 
 
 formerly stood, and when 
 the flames were at their 
 height, the tumult that pre- 
 vailed was suspended by 
 an extraordinary appari- 
 tion. A beautiful female 
 in a nightdress, extremely 
 rich, but of a style, at least, 
 half a century old, appeared 
 in the very midst of the fire, 
 and uttered these words 
 in her vernacular idiom : 
 *Anes burne d — t w i c e 
 burned — the third time I'll 
 scare ye all.* The belief in 
 the story was so strong that 
 on a fire breaking out near 
 the fatal spot many years 
 later, apprehensions were 
 expressed lest the apparition 
 should make good her 
 threat." 
 
 The attention of the 
 visitor will now be at- 
 tracted to the effigy of a 
 turbaned Moor occupy- 
 ing a sort of pulpit built 
 into thefagadeof alarge 
 square tenement called 
 
'The Canongate 
 
 Morocco Land," which is the frontage of Morocco 
 Close. This is a memorial ot the plague of 1645. 
 A curious legend is connected with the place : — 
 
 '* During one of the popular outbreaks in the city soon after 
 Charles I. had come to the throne, the house of the provost, who 
 had become much disliked, was broken into and a riot ensued. 
 Andrew Gray, son of the Master of Gray, was arrested as ring- 
 leader, and notwithstanding the entreaties of powerful friends, 
 was sentenced, by the exasperated provost, to be executed almost 
 immediately after his trial. The scaffold was already being pre- 
 pared for him, when, on the night before his execution, he escaped 
 from the Tolbooth by means of a rope and file conveyed to him 
 by a faithful friend, a boat lay at the foot of one of the neigh- 
 bouring cl jses by which he was ferried over the North Loch, and 
 long ere the gates were opened in the morning, he was on his way 
 to other lands. Years passed, and all had been forgotten. Gloom 
 and terror pervaded the streets of the capital. It was the terrible 
 year 1645, the last visitation of the plague to Edinburgh ; so 
 awful were its ravages that grass grew in the streets. Meantime 
 the victorious Montrose was threatening the city, and there were 
 scarce sixty men left fit to defend the walls. Still they strove to 
 repair them, and to keep him out. In the midst of these pre- 
 parations a large armed vessel of curious form and rigging was 
 seen to sail up the Forth and cast anchor in Leith Roads. The 
 ship was pronounced, by experienced seamen, to be an Algerine 
 rover, and immediately all was consternation and dismay. A 
 detachment of the crew landed and proceeded towards Edinburgh, 
 which they approached by the Watergate, and passing up the 
 Canongate demanded admission at the Netherbow Port. The 
 magistrates offered to ransom the city on exorbitant terms, warn- 
 ing the Moors, at the same time, of the dreadful scourge to which 
 they would expose themselves if they entered. All was in vain. 
 Sir John Smith, meantime, went to consult some of the more in- 
 fluential citizens, and returned to the Netherbow accompanied by 
 a body of them, among whom was his brother-in-law, Sir William 
 Gray, one of the wealthiest citizens of the period. A large ransom 
 was agreed to be received, when the Moorish leader insisted that 
 the provost's son should be a hostage. He was told the provost 
 had only a daughter, who was lying dying of the plague, of which 
 her cousin, Egidia Gray, had just died. This information pro- 
 duced a singular effect on the pirate. He announced that he had 
 a wondrous elixir, an infallible specific in cases of the pestilence, 
 and demanded that he be allowed to cure the daughter of the 
 
 229 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 provost, promising, if he failed, to free the town of all ransom. 
 After much delay the provost consented, his daughter was carried 
 in a litter to the house which we are now considering, whence, 
 in a day or two, she was restored to her father absolutely cured. 
 Then the secret was declared. The Moor was Andrew Gray. 
 After being captured by pirates and sold as a slave, he had won 
 the favour of the Emperor of Morocco, and had risen to rank and 
 wealth in his service. Returning co Scotland with the intention 
 of revenging his wrongs on the Provost and Magistrates of Edin- 
 burgh, he found, in the destined object of his vengeance, a relative 
 of his own. The remainder of the tale is, that he married the 
 provost's daughter and settled down a wealthy citizen in the burgh 
 of the Canongate. The house to which his fair patient was 
 borne, and where he lived with her as his bride, is still adorned 
 with the effigy of his patron, the Emperor of Morocco." 
 
 In New iS'/r^^'/, which has been greatly altered during 
 the last twenty-five years, were situated the houses of 
 Lord Karnes — the eminent jurist and writer upon the 
 political history and antiquities of Scotland — and Lord 
 Hailes, also a jurist, historian and antiquarian of repute. 
 With regard to the house of the latter an interesting 
 story is told. After his lordship's death no will could 
 be found, and the heir-inale was about to take possession 
 of the estate to the exclusion of the eldest daughter 
 (Miss Dalrymple). The latter was on the eve of re- 
 tiring from the property at New Hailes and also from 
 the house in New Street ; and on the last day of her 
 stay, when her servant was closing the shutters of Lord 
 Hailes's study, which was on the second Hoor, the will 
 dropped out from behind the panel. By it the lady 
 was secured in the tenancy of both the estate and the 
 house, which she enjoyed for upwards of forty years 
 thereafter. Another distinguished resident in the street 
 was Christian Ramsay, daughter of the author of the 
 Gentle Shepherd^ who long shone in Edinburgh society 
 in the reflected reputation of her father. 
 
 Still keeping to the northern side of the street we 
 reach the site of Jack^s Land, to which Hume removed 
 230 
 
The Canongate 
 
 from Riddle's Court, and where he finished his History 
 of England, Susanna, Countess of Eglinton (whom we 
 have already referred to on p. 200) was during her later 
 years a tenant of Jack^s Land, Taming rats was the 
 eccentric amusement of the old age of this lady, who 
 was the greatest mistress of fashion and etiquette of her 
 period. While living in this place she had no fewer 
 than seven of her eight daughters resident with her, all 
 beautiful women. Here she entertained Prince Charles 
 Edward and his suite during the occupation of Edin- 
 burgh by the Highlanders in 1745. The visitors will 
 notice a ring of variegated cobble-stones in the causeway. 
 This was inserted to commemorate the spot where St. 
 John's Cross stood, at which Charles I. at his state 
 entry in 1633, knighted the provost, Alexander Clark. 
 
 In Big Jack's Close, that grim old fire-eater, General 
 Sir Thomas Dalziel lived, Commander-in-Chief of 
 the Scottish forces from 1663. His hatred to the 
 Covenanters was so great through his erroneous supposi- 
 tion that they had been instrumental in selling their 
 king to Cromwell and the Puritans, that he swore to 
 exterminate them. As a reminder, his beard was left 
 uncut from the day of Charles L's execution. After 
 the accession of Charles H. he was able to put his 
 threats into execution and became the most merciless 
 of that knot of Cavaliers which comprised Graham of 
 Claverhouse and Grierson of Lagg. Immediately 
 opposite Moray House is the " Shoemakers' Land." 
 A tablet surmounts the main entrance enriched with 
 angels' heads and a border of Tudor tracery enclosing 
 the shoemakers' arms with the date 1677. Here the 
 Edinburgh guild had its headquarters. An open book 
 is inscribed with the first verse of the Scots metrical 
 version of Psalm cxxxiii. — " Behold how good a 
 thing it is," etc., a motto also over the Tailors' Hall 
 in Easter Portsburgh. The Corporation of the 
 
 231 
 
The Story of Sdinhurgh 
 
 Cordiners or Shoemakers was at one time the wealthiest 
 of all the crafts with the exception of the goldsmiths. 
 
 We now reach the Canongate Tolbooth, still a con- 
 spicuous object in the line of the street, owing to its 
 projecting clock and the extreme antiquity of its archi- 
 tecture. It formed the Courthouse of the burgh, while 
 behind was the gaol. Old as the present structure is, 
 it succeeded a still earlier one on the same site. The 
 date on the tower is 1591, but preparations for its 
 erection seem to have been made several years before. 
 The Canongate Tolbooth, as will be seen from the 
 accompanying illustration, is a substantially-built edifice, 
 surmounted by a tower and spire, flanked by two 
 Scoto-French corbelled turrets in front, from between 
 .which an antique clock of unusual size projects over the 
 footpath. The clock formerly rested on oaken beams, 
 but these have been replaced by cast-iron supports. 
 The building is adorned with a variety of sculptured 
 devices and mottoes in the style of the sixteenth 
 century. Between the windows of the first and second 
 floors of the tower appears an ornamental sun-dial ; 
 while underneath the lower window, a carved tablet 
 bears the inscription '*S.L.B. P atria et Posterts 
 1 591." The three letters have been supposed to imply 
 Senatus Locus Burgh'u Over the inner doorway are 
 the words " Esto Fidus^^^ and in the large Council 
 Hall, between the windows, there is an ornamental 
 panel surmounted by a pediment adorned with a thistle 
 and bearing the legend, " J , R, yustitia et Pietas V alida 
 Sunt Pr'incipis Arces,^^ Within the panel are em- 
 blazoned the arms of the burgh of the Canongate, viz., 
 a stag's head with a cross between the tynes, referring 
 to the incident of King David I. and the stag, to 
 which the Abbey owed its origin. Underneath is the 
 motto, Sic Itur Ad Astra,^^ which, as Wilson says, 
 was an unfailing subject of mirth to the profane wits of 
 232 
 
The Canongate 
 
 the capital as being the avowal of the burgher vassals that 
 they sought the way to heaven through the burgh gaol ! 
 Two bells are hung in the tower, one dated 1608, and 
 bearing the inscription " soli Deo Honor et Grat'ia^^ while 
 the other was cast in i 796. The ancient Market Cross 
 of the Canongate formerly stood opposite the Tolbooth. 
 
 Returning to St. Mary Street we now visit the closes 
 and houses of interest on the south or right-hand side 
 of the Canongate. The houses here are of a superior 
 style of architecture. The first of these which is of 
 any note is ChesseP s Courts where of old was situated 
 the Excise Office, the scene of Deacon William 
 Brodie's last exploit which occasioned his arrest. 
 
 " The shopkeepers of Edinburgh then used to hang their keys 
 on a nail behind their doors, and Brodie, by carrying a piece of 
 wax in the palm of his hand, was able, without arousing sus- 
 picion, to take impressions of them. He kept a blacksmith in his 
 pay who forged exact copies of the keys, wherewith he opened 
 the shops of his fellow-tradesmen by night." — Kay^s Portraits. 
 
 We next come to Playhouse Close ^ a cul-de-sac ^ and 
 Old Playhouse Close (an alley leading down to South 
 Back Canongate) and stand before the cradle of the 
 drama in Scotland. Here was opened, in 1747, the 
 first regular theatre in Edinburgh. Ramsay's venture 
 in Carrubber's Close had not been allowed to open its 
 doors, despite the fact that from 1727 to 1747 the 
 Tailors' Hall in the Cowgate and other halls in the 
 city were used for dramatic representations. From 
 1747 ^^^^ now, Edinburgh has never lacked a playhouse. 
 The most notable piece produced at this theatre was 
 Douglas^ by the Rev. John Home, a minister of the 
 Church of Scotland. Great expectations having been 
 excited by this drama, it achieved a success and a run " 
 rare in those days. " Douglas " was acted by Mr. 
 Digges, " Norval" by Mr. Hayman, *'Lord Ran- 
 dolph" by Mr. Younger, Lady Randolph" by 
 
 233 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 Mrs. Ward, " Anna " by Mrs. Hopkins. The Church 
 Courts came down on the bold clergyman, his friends 
 and supporters. Suspended by the General Assembly, 
 he would have been deposed had he not resigned. 
 Douglas was produced in London with equal success, 
 and when the curtain fell, so great was the enthusiasm 
 that an ardent Scot shouted, Whaur's your Wullie 
 Shakespeare noo \ " The theatre in Playhouse Close 
 continued to be popular until the opening, in 1768, of 
 the new Theatre Royal in Shakespeare Square," 
 where the General Post Office now stands. 
 
 6"/. John Street^ to which access is obtained by a 
 spacious elliptical archway, was one of the most aristo- 
 cratic quarters in Edinburgh up to the time the " New 
 Town " was built. The houses were then deemed un- 
 usually large and airy, and were a great improvement on 
 the flats and turnpike stairs. The first house on the west 
 side of the street was the meeting-place of the old Canon- 
 gate Kilwinning Lodge of Freemasons, where Burns 
 was affiliated and crowned as poet laureate." The 
 mansion at the head of the street, with its front windows 
 overlooking the Canongate, was the town house of Mrs. 
 Telfer of Scotstoun, the sister of Smollett, who in 1766 
 was her guest on his second and last visit to Edinburgh. 
 No. 10 was the residence of James Ballantyne, the elder 
 of the two brothers who were Scott's printers and partners 
 in the disastrous printing business. Here James was wont 
 to give those mysterious dinners on the eve of the publica- 
 tion of a new novel by «'the Author of Wwverley^^ at 
 which, during dessert, the host would read in measured 
 tones and slow a chapter or two of the forthcoming 
 work. In No. 13 lived James Burnett, Lord Mon- 
 boddo, one of the judges of the Court of Session and 
 an author of no small reputation, who long anticipated 
 Darwin's theory of a simian descent for the human race. 
 Monboddo held the curious idea that new-born children 
 234 
 
The Canongate 
 
 had tails, but that doctors and niidwives were in league 
 to nip the caudal appendage off before presenting the 
 babe to its parents. No. 1 5 was the residence of the 
 famous Dr. James Gregory, Professor of the Practice 
 of Physic in Edinburgh University, and father of the 
 compounder of the well-known medicine, " Gregory's 
 Mixture." 
 
 We now reach Moray House, one of the most in- 
 
 teresting mansions in the Canongate. Erected in the 
 early part of the reign of Charles I., by Mary, Countess 
 of Home, whose initials, M. H., surmounted by a 
 coronet, are sculptured over the large central window 
 of the south gable, it was visited or occupied successively 
 by Charles 1., Cromwell, Charles n.,the Earl of Argyll, 
 Lord Chancellor Seafield, and others. Viewed from 
 the street, the chief feature is the balcony (supported on 
 heavy buttresses), on which Lord Lome, afterwards 
 Earl of Argyll, during the ceremony of his marriage to 
 
 23s 
 
T^he Story of Edinburgh 
 
 Lady Mary Stuart, eldest daughter of the Earl of 
 Moray, stepped out with his bride and the wedding 
 guests to see the unfortunate Montrose carted up the 
 street to his place of execution at the Cross. The 
 windows have ornate entablatures over them, while sur- 
 mounting the heavy pillars of the gateway are two large 
 stone spires, which have been a feature of the house for 
 over 200 years. The rooms are large and lofty ; many 
 of the ceilings are exquisitely beautiful, some being 
 moulded in artistic designs representing foliage, flowers 
 and fruit, while in other cases they are divided into 
 squares, each containing the heraldic device associated 
 with the numerous titles of the great House of Moray. 
 In the spacious gardens around the mansion there was 
 long shown a thorn tree believed to have been planted 
 by Queen Mary, while the old stone summer house — 
 only removed in recent years — was one of the places of 
 refuge to which the Union Commissioners vainly resorted 
 in order to sign the " Articles." For a time Moray 
 House was occupied by the British Linen Company's 
 Bank, but since 1847 it has been used by the United 
 Free Church of Scotland as a Training or Normal 
 School for teachers in connection with the system of 
 National Education. 
 
 Leaving Moray House we next come to Bakehouse 
 Close ^ immediately opposite the Canongate Tolbooth, 
 which is interesting as containing a fine old timber- 
 fronted land facing the street, which was formerly the 
 residence of the Marquises of Huntly. It still presents 
 to the Canongate a picturesque row of gables resting on 
 carved corbels, with a cornice projecting from the base- 
 ment and a series of sculptured tablets adorning it, filled 
 with verses from the Latin poets and the Vulgate, as 
 " Ut tu lingua tua, sic ego mear ; aurium^ Dominus sum " ; 
 and on another, " Hodie mihi^ eras t'lhi^ cur igitur cur as " ; 
 and on a third, Constanti pectori res mortalium umbra.^^ 
 236 
 
The Canongate 
 
 On the east side of the close is the handsome mansion 
 of Acheson of Glencairney. Over the pediment above 
 the main entrance is Sir Archibald Acheson's crest, a 
 cock standing on a trumpet, while the three sides of the 
 little court are adorned with dormer windows. The 
 baronet was one of the Secretaries for Scotland. 
 
 We now hasten down the remainder of the Canon- 
 gate that we may reach the grand old Palace and Abbey. 
 On the north or left-hand side, we have first the Canon- 
 gate Church and graveyard. The former is architectur- 
 ally almost inconceivably tasteless, but is interesting from 
 the fact that Dr. Hugh Blair, author of the Lectures on 
 Rhetoric and Sermons (which ran into three editions), 
 and Dr. John Lee, Principal of the University from 
 1840-59, were ministers of it. In the graveyard lie 
 the remains of the unfortunate young poet, Robert 
 Fergusson, with the stone erected over his dust by his 
 brother bard, Robert Burns ; also of Dugald Stewart, 
 the distinguished metaphysician ; of Adam Smith, the 
 immortal author of the Wealth of Nations ; of Dr. 
 Adam Fergusson, the author of the Institutes of Morals 
 and the historian of the Roman Republic ; Dr. Burney, 
 author of the History of Music ; Dr. Horatius Bonar, 
 the well-known hymn-writer ; David Allan, the Scottish 
 Hogarth ; Dr. Gregory, and many others. Passing 
 onward we note Panmure Close^ interesting as contain- 
 ing the town house of the Earls of Panmure, where 
 afterwards resided Adam Smith from 1778-90, when 
 he held the appointment of Commissioner of Customs. 
 
 Still lower down the street, and almost opposite 
 Queensberry House, is the high gable end of The 
 Golfer's Land," said to have been built by John Paterson 
 with the proceeds of a wager won at golf. On the wall 
 are Paterson's arms, and a slab over the entrance door 
 contains an inscription in Latin, beginning, " Cum victor 
 ludo, Scotis qui proprius^ essety^ which is an anagram on 
 
 237 
 
T'he Story of Edinburgh 
 
 the proprietor's name. The legend relates that some 
 of the gentlemen on the Duke of York's suite having 
 asserted that Englishmen could play golf as well as 
 Scotsmen, His Royal Highness wagered that he and a 
 Scottish player he would name would beat any pair of 
 Englishmen. The wager was accepted. The duke 
 then chose Paterson, the champion Scots player, though 
 but a poor shoemaker in the Canongate. The match 
 came off on Leith Links, the Englishmen were 
 ignominiously beaten, chiefly by Paterson's splendid 
 play, and the duke was so delighted that he presented 
 his partner with the stake, with which he erected the 
 house. On its summit he placed his arms, three pelicans 
 feeding their young ; on a chief, three mullets surmounted 
 by a helmet ; crest, a dexter hand grasping a golf club 
 with the motto, Sure and Farre." 
 
 " Jenny Ha's Change-House," a famous tavern, to 
 which Gay and the wits who flocked about Queensberry 
 House were wont to repair, stood hereabout ; while at 
 the further end of Galloivay^s Entry stands what remains 
 of Whitefoorde House, erected on the site of the mansion 
 of Lord Seton, afterwards Earl of Winton, where 
 Darnley lodged when he first came to Edinburgh. This 
 was a very stately edifice, and is specially mentioned by 
 Scott in The Abbot as " Lord Seton's lodging in the 
 Canongate " to which Roland Graeme repaired. After 
 the attainder of George, fourth Earl of Winton, who 
 escaped to Rome when sentenced to death after the 
 battle of Preston in 171 5, his house became ruinous and 
 was sold to Sir John Whitefoorde of that Ilk and 
 Ballochmyle in Ayrshire, who erected on it a fine town 
 house, part of which is still standing. After the death 
 of Sir John, his house was divided into two, each com- 
 plete in itself. One of these was occupied by Professor 
 Dugald Stewart, and the other by Sir William Macleod, 
 raised to the Bench as Lord Bannatyne. He was one 
 238 
 
The Canon^ate 
 
 of the last survivors of the Mirror Club. In private 
 life his benevolent and amiable qualities of head and heart, 
 with his rich stores of literary anecdote, endeared him to 
 a large and highly-distinguished circle of friends. Robert 
 Chambers breakfasted with him in 1832, *'on which 
 occasion the venerable old gentleman talked as familiarly 
 of the levees of the sous-ministre for Lord Bute, in the 
 
 old villa at Abbeyhill, as I could have talked of the 
 Canning Administration." 
 
 We now reach IVhite Horse Close (so called from a 
 palfrey belonging to Queen Mary), where stood the 
 celebrated " White Horse Hostelry " — not to be con- 
 founded with the White Horse Inn of St. Mary's Wynd 
 and Boyd's Close. This was a famous inn and posting- 
 house, where horses were hired for journeys and arrange- 
 ments made for remounts along the line of travel. Here 
 
 239 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 the officers of Prince Charles Edward's army had their 
 headquarters, and the whole surroundings of the place 
 are most vividly described in Scott's Waverley, The 
 hostelry forms the main feature of a small paved quad- 
 rangle near the foot of the Canongate. A broad flight 
 of steps leads up to the building, diverging to the right 
 and left from the first landing and giving access to two 
 singularly picturesque porches which overhang the lower 
 storey. A steep and narrow alley passes through below 
 one of these and leads to the north front of the building. 
 Owing to the peculiar slope of the ground, the building 
 rises on the north side to more than double the height 
 of its south front, and a second tier of windows in the 
 steep roof gives it some resemblance to the old Flemish 
 hostels still seen in Belgium. The courtyard of the 
 "White Horse Inn" is completed by an antique tene- 
 ment towards the street, where Bishop Paterson lived, 
 the chaplain of the Duke of Lauderdale. Eastward a 
 few yards of the White Horse Close stood the " Water 
 Gate," which of old formed the chief entrance to the 
 burgh of the Canongate. It was a " port " or gate of 
 considerable antiquity, being mentioned early in the 
 sixteenth century. 
 
 But stay, what does that line of variegated stones in 
 the causeway mean ? That is the girth " (from the 
 Anglo-Saxon gyrdan^ to enclose) or " strand " which 
 denotes that all the territory within that mark is 
 " sanctuary " or protected ground. Accordingly to 
 cross that narrow boundary by hook or crook was the 
 object of every luckless debtor, many of whom resided 
 years in sanctuary, only issuing from the Abbey bounds 
 on Sundays. At midnight on the Sabbath the bailiffs 
 were all on the qui vive to catch unwary debtors who 
 had outstayed their leave. Ludicrous stories are told 
 of fugitives falling as they crossed the line and having 
 their head and shoulders seized by their brethren! in 
 240 
 
The Canongate 
 
 sanctuary, on the one side, and their heels by the 
 bailiffs on the other. The tug-of-war that resulted was 
 not conducive to the debtor's bodily comfort. 
 
 On the southern or right-hand side of that section 
 of the Canongate extending from the Tolbooth to the 
 Abbey Strand, there are comparatively few closes and 
 houses of interest. A little below the Marquis of 
 Huntly's house and at the head of Reid's Close, 3, square 
 projecting turret, corbelled well out over the pavement, 
 with a massive gable bearing the date 1624, is the town 
 mansion of the Nisbets of Dirleton. Here resided Sir 
 John Nisbet, promoted to the Bench as Lord Dirleton, 
 whose legal treatise entitled Dirleton^s Doubts, was long 
 a standard work. Queensberry House is a large, gloomy 
 building built by the celebrated Lord Halton, after- 
 wards Earl of Lauderdale, and sold by him to William, 
 first Duke of Queensberry, the favourite Scots minister 
 of Charles IL As he declined to countenance the 
 legalising of popery in Scotland, he fell out of favour 
 with James IL, who dismissed him from his offices. 
 He practically rebuilt Halton's house and made Queens- 
 berry House, both inside and out, one of the finest 
 mansions in the country. With the third duke, how- 
 ever, viz., Charles, and his celebrated duchess. Lady 
 Catherine Hyde, the beauty of the Court of George L, 
 the house was chiefly associated. The duchess was 
 celebrated in the verse of Pope, Swift, Prior, and Gay, 
 while Horace Walpole referred to her in her old age 
 as Prior's Kitty, ever fair." Gay was h^v protege and 
 private secretary. Queensberry House was dismantled 
 after the death of Duke Charles by his successor, 
 " Old Q.," and was sold in 1801 to the Government 
 for barracks. It is now a House of Refuge for the 
 Destitute. 
 
 Eastward of Queensberry House, on the site now 
 occupied by one of the numerous breweries with which 
 Q 241 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 the Canongate abounds, was " Lothian Hut," erected 
 in 1750 by William, third Marquis of Lothian, where 
 he died in 1767. His widow resided there for many- 
 years, after which it was occupied by Lady Caroline 
 D'Arcy, Dowager Marchioness of the fourth Mar- 
 quis ; and later by Dugald Stewart before he went to 
 Whitefoorde House. At Lothian Hut Professor 
 Stewart wrote several of his most notable works. 
 
 242 
 
CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 The Abbey and Pa/ace of Holyrood 
 
 " The Abbey Lands," as they are called, constitute a 
 regality by themselves, hence they can never be wholly 
 absorbed within the ever-voracious municipality of the 
 Scottish capital. When David 1. founded the Abbey, 
 he granted to its canons a considerable tract of land 
 lying between the town and the base of Arthur's Seat. 
 Succeeding monarchs added to the territory," which 
 at the Reformation included the whole of what is now 
 known as the King's Park, from Duddingston to Green- 
 side, and from Placentia Brae," now the Pleasance, to 
 Restalrig. In the Lord Treasurer's Accounts for 1 541 
 there is an entry of £406 paid to " Schir David Murray 
 of Balwaird, knycht, in recompense of his lands of 
 Dudingstoune tane into the New Park besyde Holy- 
 rudehous." In the reign of James VI. Fynes Moryson 
 (1598) speaks of the Palace as being surrounded by a 
 park of hares, conies, and deare." The park, how- 
 ever, will be considered later on. Our object at present 
 is principally with the buildings and privileges " of the 
 ancient Palace and Abbey. 
 
 The moment we cross the Girth Strand " we are 
 within the " precincts " of the old sanctuary of the 
 Abbey of Holyrood, of which the foundation charter is 
 still extant among the city archives. In it are recorded 
 the long obsolete privileges " of trial by wager of battle, 
 by water, by red-hot iron, etc., but, singularly enough, 
 the right of girth " or sanctuary is not specifically 
 included among these. It is referred to, however, in a 
 
 243 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 process before the Supreme Courts in 1569, as having 
 existed at the foundation of the Abbey, " quhilk 
 privilege has bene inviolablie observit to all maner of 
 personis cumand wythin the bounder aforesaid, not com- 
 mittand the crymes expresslie exceptit for all maner 
 of girth, and that in all tymes bigane past memorie of 
 man." 
 
 The abolition of imprisonment for debt, in 1880, put 
 an end to the necessity for sanctuary, but the privilege, 
 though not availed of, still exists. 
 
 Passing on vizard from the " strand " we issue in front 
 of the grand old building, veritably " a romance in stone 
 and lime if we take into account the vicissitudes 
 through which it has passed since its foundation as a 
 religious house in 11 28. As we stand before it and 
 gaze upon its weather-stained fagade, upon ruined 
 column and shattered arch, calling to mind the while the 
 manifold scenes it has witnessed of joy and of sorrow, 
 of marriage and of funeral, of gay levee and ghastly 
 tragedy, a profound feeling of reverence arises in the 
 heart for the grey old pile which, though torn by the 
 tooth of time, is still substantially the same edifice as was 
 associated with so much of the weal and the woe alike 
 of Scotland's kings and Scotland's capital. 
 
 We are now standing in the court of the main entrance, 
 beside the great Fountain in Palace Yard, erected by the 
 late Prince Consort, which is adorned with the sculptured 
 heads of the Duke of Sussex, Ida Jrondale, Buchanan, 
 Edward I., Shakespeare, and Oliver Cromwell on the 
 lowest line ; Rizzio, Queen Elizabeth, the Old Town 
 Drummer of Linlithgow, Lady Crauford, the Earl of 
 Stair, Queen Mary, Sir John Cope, and Isabella of 
 France on the second row ; while the third is occupied 
 by four Canongate heralds. The north-west wing (the 
 one on our left hand), terminated by two great towers, 
 is the most ancient part of the Palace extant, having 
 244 
 
The (tAbbey and Palace of Holyrood 
 
 been built by James V. after designs by Sir James 
 Hamilton of Finnart ; in the centre are the State 
 Apartments, while the Royal Apartments are in the 
 southern wing, entering from the door in the south-west 
 corner of the quadrangle. 
 
 A large part of the most ancient portions of the 
 Palace, those erected by James III. and James IV., 
 was consumed by the great fire which occurred while 
 Cromwell was using the building as a barracks. The 
 Palace in its complete state contained five courts or 
 enclosures. The largest of these was the " place " to 
 the west of the principal front, which formed one of its 
 sides ; while at the north-west corner was the vaulted 
 and turreted porch, built in the reign of James IV., but 
 removed as being ruinous about 1750. The next court, 
 to the east of this, was surrounded by buildings which 
 appear to have occupied the space where the inner part 
 of the present quadrangle stands — its northern and eastern 
 sides advancing up to the walls of the south-western 
 tower of the Abbey Church and overlapping its front 
 to some extent. On the south there were two other 
 courts, while the fifth lay eastward, immediately to the 
 south of the Abbey Church. 
 
 The quadrangle, as it now exists, surrounded by the 
 State Apartments, the Great Gallery, etc., remains as 
 it was completed after the Restoration, by Robert 
 Mylne, King's Mason, from the designs of Sir William 
 Bruce of Kinross. Here James II., when Duke of 
 York, held his ''so-called Court " ; in the great ''Picture 
 Gallery of the Kings," Prince Charles Edward held 
 his levees when he was occupying the Palace of 
 his ancestors ; while subsequently, at different times, 
 Louis XVIII. and the exiled Charles X. of France 
 were residents of the Palace. George IV. visited 
 it in 1822, Queen Victoria resided in it at least four 
 times during her reign — 1842, 1850, 1872 and 1887 
 
 24s 
 
"The Story of Sdinburgh 
 
 — while Edward VII. has paid two visits, residing 
 there in 1859 when he was studying under Dr. Leonard 
 Schmitz, Rector of the Royal High School, and again 
 in 1903. Each year the Lord High Commissioner 
 occupies it for a fortnight while representing the 
 sovereign at the General Assembly. 
 
 The general style of the architecture of the Palace 
 is French baronial, chiefly of the time of Louis XIV., 
 the edifice itself being quadrangular in shape and built 
 round a central court 95 feet square. The principal 
 front is 2 1 5 feet long, with two towers at either end of 
 the northern and southern wings. The central front 
 consists of a receding screen of mixed architecture lower 
 than the rest of the Palace ; while the main entrance 
 is composed of four Doric columns surmounted by the 
 Royal Arms of Scotland below an open pediment, on 
 which are two reclining figures, the whole surmounted 
 by an octagonal tower terminating in the imperial crown. 
 
 Having passed through the main entrance, which is 
 guarded by sentries, we reach the quadrangle, surrounded 
 by a piazza or colonnade, having nine arches on each side. 
 The east, north and south sides of the quadrangle are 
 three storeys high, while in the centre of the east wall 
 appears a pediment whereon are sculptured the arms of 
 Great Britain. Beneath the windows of these storeys 
 are rows of pilasters, the uppermost Corinthian, the 
 middle Ionic, and the lowest Doric. 
 
 In the quadrangle we turn to the left, and the first 
 door we reach gives admission to the stair leading to the 
 Picture Gallery — a noble hall, measuring 150 feet in 
 length by 24 in breadth, and with a fine oak roof 20 feet 
 in height. This is not in the older part of the Palace, 
 but in the addition made by Charles II. Its walls are 
 covered with the portraits of 100 reputed Kings of Scot- 
 land, beginning with Fergus I., B.C. 330, and coming 
 down to James VII. and II. The pictures were executed 
 246 
 
The ^Ahbey and Palace of Holyrood 
 
 by a Flemish artist, James de Witt, whose contract with 
 the Government (dated February 1684) for the execu- 
 tion of these pictures is still in existence. De Witt under- 
 took to paint 1 10 portraits in two years, he supplying the 
 canvas and colours, the Government on their part agree- 
 ing to pay him £1 20 sterling, and to give him access to 
 the " originals ! " 
 
 Many of these pictures were slashed by Hawley's 
 dragoons after their defeat by the Young Chevalier at 
 Falkirk. These valiant warriors, having been soundly 
 trounced " by the Highlanders, whom they had been 
 inclined to despise, vented their spleen on the pictures. 
 The injuries were repaired and the perpetrators severely 
 punished, but the ''dishonourable scars " remain. On 
 screens at the end of the room are pictures of a more 
 interesting character. One of them contains a portrait 
 of Sir Edward Boncle, provost of Trinity College, with 
 a figure representing St. Cecilia seated at an organ, which 
 is asserted to be a portrait of Mary of Gueldres, queen 
 of James II. On the reverse there is a portrait of 
 Margaret of Denmark, queen of James III., with a man 
 in armour bearing a banner. On the other screen appears 
 a portrait of James III. and his son, with figures repre- 
 senting the Trinity on the reverse. This apartment was 
 used by Prince Charles Edward as a ballroom during his 
 occupation of the Palace ; and is described in JVaverley 
 as that wherein the hero again met Flora Mclvor, and 
 was received by her as a second brother.'' Since the 
 Union it has usually been the scene of the elections of 
 the Scottish Representative Peers. 
 
 Onleavingthe picture gallery we enter Lord Darnley's 
 suite of rooms, the first of these being the Audience 
 Chamber^ which contains three very fine specimens of 
 tapestry used as arras, the first representing a vineyard, 
 with vines entwining four oak trees, nude Cupids sport- 
 ing on the ground, climbing in the branches, and pluck- 
 
 247 
 
"The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 ing the ripe clusters ; while in the distance is a hamlet, 
 a river and a bridge. The second piece also exhibits 
 oak stems encircled by vines, with boys at play, but 
 through the trees may be traced in long perspective an 
 elegantly-built street with human figures therein. The 
 third design depicts a lake in the background, commanded 
 at one extremity by a castle, while in the centre are two 
 islands. In front is a large orange tree in which nude 
 boys are plucking fruit. All the tapestries are of ex- 
 quisite workmanship and finish.^ 
 
 From the audience chamber by a door on the left we 
 now pass into what was evidently Darnley s Attendant^ s 
 Room, in which there are also some fine pieces of tapestry. 
 One of them illustrates the well-known legend of the 
 appearance of the cross in the heavens to Constantine 
 the Great, on the eve of the battle between him and 
 Maxentius, the motto. In hoc {stgno) vinces^ being con- 
 spicuously displayed. The companion piece represents 
 the battle (a.d. 312) in which Constantine's soldiers 
 appear with the cross emblazoned on their shields and 
 ensigns. The pictures here are of no great value, the 
 best of them being the portraits of James VI., Charles 
 II., James VII., and Henry VI. 
 
 Returning to the audience chamber and passing through 
 a door on the right, we enter Lord Darnley^s Bedroom. 
 The arras-tapestry here, both in texture and design, re- 
 sembles the specimens contained in the audience chamber. 
 This room also contains a screen which belonged to 
 Charles L, an inlaid cabinet, and some ancient chairs. 
 
 ^ In this room are some fine old paintings showing James Stewart 
 (Earl of Moray), when young ; the Admirable Crichton ; Charles 
 11. in armour ; the Queen of James II. (Anne of Denmark), by 
 Van Somers; James VI., by the same artist; the Queen of 
 Bohemia, by C. Janssen ; the King of Bohemia, by C. Janssen ; 
 the children of Charles I., after Vandyke ; Charles II., by Russell ; 
 James VII., by Russell ; Queen Mary ; Henry, Prince of Wales ; 
 and a female head after Verocchio. 
 248 
 
The (iAbbey and Palace of Holyrood 
 
 The principal pictures here are Lord Darnley and his 
 brother," "Queen Mary, consort of William III.," 
 John Knox," Queen Mary," portrait of a lady sup- 
 posed to be Lady Reres, Queen Mary's confidante. 
 From this chamber we turn into the little turret-room 
 on the left which was Lord Darnley s Dressing^Room, 
 but it contains little that is of interest. 
 
 Queen Mary's Apartments : The Private Stair. — 
 From a little turret-room on the right, a private stair, 
 entering from the courtyard on the east side of James 
 V.'s towers, leads up to Queen Mary's apartments. 
 To the student of history this stair is of special interest, 
 because by it the assassins of Rizzio gained admission 
 to the Palace and ascended to the apartments of Darnley, 
 who conducted them to the room where the unfortunate 
 secretary was to be found. The walls of this little 
 turret-chamber are covered with tapestry-arras illustra- 
 tive of the classic story of Meleager and Atalanta. In 
 the foreground Meleager is presenting the head of the 
 Calydonian boar to Atalanta ; on the left is a huntsman 
 with two hounds in the leash, while the background of 
 the picture is filled up by forest scenery. This stair- 
 case, however, is now closed to the public, and the one 
 at present in use opens out of the audience chamber. 
 The first of the suite of apartments is Queen Mary s 
 Audience Chamber^ a room measuring 24 feet long by 
 22 in width, and lighted by two large windows. The 
 roof is divided into panelled compartments, adorned with 
 the initials and armorial bearings of royal personages, 
 while the walls are arrased with ancient tapestry, the 
 colours of which have become almost entirely faded 
 during the lapse of centuries. In this apartment stands 
 the bed used by Charles I. during his residence in 
 Holyrood. Though in its time it has been a magnifi- 
 cent piece of furniture, its curtains of rich embossed 
 velvet are now mouldering and moth-eaten. In this 
 
 249 
 
"The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 bed Prince Charles Edward, great-grand-nephew of 
 the original occupant, slept during his stay in the Palace 
 in September 1745, and in the following year his kins- 
 man and conqueror, the Duke of Cumberland, also 
 passed a night in it. The room also contains some 
 richly embroidered and carved chairs and tables of the 
 period of Charles 1. In this apartment Mary had her 
 historic " wars of words " with John Knox. Some of 
 the pictures here are valuable, notably the portrait of 
 the Regent Moray, also a " Bacchic Festival," and " A 
 Magdalen," the first named being the work of Jamesone. 
 
 From that apartment we pass into Queen Marf s 
 Bed-Chamber (22 ft. by 18 ft. 6 in.), the ceiling of 
 which is also divided into panelled compartments, of 
 diamond and hexagonal shape, adorned with the initials 
 and bearings of various Scottish monarchs. The walls 
 here are likewise arrased with rare tapestry illustrative 
 of the tale from Greek mythology of the Fall of 
 Phaeton," who lost his life through attempting to drive 
 the chariot of his father, the Sun. The bed of Queen 
 Mary stands here with its mouldering hangings of 
 crimson damask with green silk fringes and tassels. 
 What a tale of mingled joy and sorrow, of happiness 
 and despair, could these walls unfold, were they per- 
 mitted to reveal all that had occurred within them ! 
 The pictures in this room also are very valuable, viz., 
 the portraits of Queen Elizabeth and Henry VIII. ; 
 that of a lady unknown (by some said to be Mary 
 Carmichael, one of the " Maries and one of Queen 
 Mary herself. At the south-west corner of this chamber 
 a narrow door leads us into the Queen 5 Dressing- Room, 
 2l small apartment about 10 feet square occupying the 
 eastern buttress of the tower, and hung witn faded 
 tapestry supposed to represent Ariadne deserted. A 
 little to the west of it is another door, half hidden by 
 tapestry, communicating with a secret staircase on the 
 250 
 
The (tAhhey and Palace of Holyrood 
 
 north side of the room, and near the head of this stair- 
 case is the Queen s Supper-Room, in the west buttress. 
 Here the queen was seated with her secretary and one 
 or two familiar friends when Darnley entered, followed 
 by Ruthven, George Douglas, and the other con- 
 spirators ; and hence the wretched Rizzio was dragged 
 through the bedroom and the audience chamber, until 
 the ghastly work was completed at the head of the 
 principal staircase. His blood soaked into the flooring, 
 where the stain is still shown. The partition which 
 now encloses the spot is said to have been erected by 
 order of Mary so that she might not see the marks, 
 though she would not allow them to be obliterated, 
 wishing that they " shulde remane as ane memoriall to 
 quychen and confirm her revenge." 
 
 We now retrace our steps to the inner court. The 
 suites of rooms in the southern wing of the building are 
 what are known as the Royal Apartments, being those 
 occupied by the sovereign when in residence in Holy- 
 rood. They are, however, somewhat limited as regards 
 accommodation for the numerous entourage of a Court 
 in modern times. The usual entrance to the rooms is 
 by the door at the south-east corner of the quadrangle, 
 but it will be more convenient to describe them as they 
 were used during King Edward's visit to Edinburgh in 
 1903. Though the Palace was then only employed 
 for the State functions, His Majesty and the Queen 
 residing at Dalkeith Palace, all the rooms were in 
 occupation. Entering from the Picture Gallery, those 
 invited to the Levee. and Drawing-Room first passed 
 through the King^s Breakfast-Room, a spacious apart- 
 ment with ceiling coved and coffered, the walls partially 
 oak-panelled ; while the mantelpiece and panel above 
 it, into which has been inserted a painting of the 
 " Finding of Moses," are notable examples of oak- 
 carving. Thence we reach the Vestibule, out of which 
 
 251 
 
T'he Story of Edinburgh 
 
 opens the D res sing- Room^ with a ceiling of great beauty, 
 whose centre-piece, an oval panel-painting, represents 
 the Expulsion of Vulcan from Heaven.'' The doors, 
 panels and mantelpiece are elaborately carved, while 
 over the latter is a panel-painting of the " Infant 
 Hercules Strangling the Serpents." 
 
 We now enter the King's Bedroom^ a noble room 
 magnificently furnished and hung with tapestry represent- 
 ing the Destruction of Niobe's Children," and other 
 subjects ; while the panel-painting over the mantelpiece 
 depicts " Venus Anadyomene Rising from the Sea." 
 The ceiling has in the centre an octagonal panel richly 
 moulded. From this we pass into the King's Drawing- 
 Room, the ceiling of which is one of the finest in the 
 kingdom, the large centre panel being deeply coffered and 
 surrounded with hand-wrought mouldings of leaves and 
 fruit. The oak mantelpiece and panel are fine specimens 
 of carving, while in the centre of the panel is a large 
 Venetian mirror. The Gobelins tapestry in this apart- 
 ment is illustrative of scenes in the " History of Diana." 
 Through the Evening Drawing- Room, which also 
 possesses a finely-moulded ceiling and mantelpiece, and 
 is adorned with some exquisite Gobelins tapestry, we 
 pass into the Throne-Room^ a magnificent salon, 56 feet 
 long by 29 in width and 16 feet in height. The walls 
 are richly draped, while at the southern end is the Throne 
 surmounted by the Royal Arms. There are several fine 
 portraits here : — George IV. in Highland costume, by 
 Wilkie ; William and Mary ; Anne and Prince George 
 of Denmark, etc. From it we pass into the Withdraiv- 
 ing' Room, also furnished and adorned in magnificent style. 
 The other rooms call for no special mention, but the 
 Grand Staircase, the ceiling of which with its noble cir- 
 cular panel aroused the admiration of Millais, is worthy 
 of particular notice. The Royal Apartments are not open 
 to the public without special order. 
 252 
 
The (iAbbey and Palace of Holyrood 
 
 We now proceed to the north-east corner of the quad- 
 rangle and enter the ruins of the grand old Abbey. The 
 only portion now remaining of the church is the nave, the 
 choir and transepts — injured during Hertford's invasions 
 — having been completely destroyed at the Reformation. 
 The roof of the nave, however, did not finally give way 
 until 1768, and then only through the folly ot a builder, 
 posing as an architect, who sought to cover it with flag- 
 stones in place of slates. The best point from which to 
 obtain a view of the entire building is in front of the great 
 western doorway. We are now looking up to the western 
 front, which at the present time consists of one tower to 
 the north, on our left hand, and the great doorway 
 immediately before us, with the two very ancient windows 
 above it. The northern tower is a unique specimen of 
 that style of architecture belonging to the period of tran- 
 sitionfrom the Romanesque to the First Pointed or Early 
 English style in Scotland (1168-90). It received its 
 light from four large windows, one on each side, every 
 window being divided by a single shaft, while below these, 
 on the west and south sides, it was adorned by two storeys 
 of arcades, with a row of sculptured heads between them. 
 The lower row of arcades is exquisitely ornamented, 
 being composed of trefoiled arches resting on grouped 
 detached shafts. The doorway, which is high-arched 
 or pointed, and deeply recessed, with eight detached 
 shafts on either side tied together with a band half way 
 up their length, with capitals enriched with foliation, 
 birds and grotesque heads, and with fine floriated and 
 dog-tooth mouldings, is regarded as an excellent example 
 of the Early English style. The tympanum presents an 
 arcade of five pointed arches supported by a row of cherubs 
 on the architrave . The central western windows are early 
 examples of the Perpendicular style, peculiar to England, 
 wherein the stone window-mullions go straight up into 
 the window arch, which they seem to pierce, while the 
 
 253 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 transoms break up the great window into square line. 
 These features must always be repellent to an eye fed 
 on the curves used by the best Gothic architects, who 
 never allowed a straight mullion to approach the arch- 
 head. In these windows, however, there are flat seg- 
 mental arches with pendent cusps or fleur-de-lis instead 
 of the usual tracery and slender mullion shafts, receding 
 from the external surface of the wall. 
 
 Over the western doorway we note the tablet placed 
 there by Charles I. with the inscription, ' He shall 
 build a house for my name and I will stablish the throne 
 of his kingdom for ever ' : Basihcam banc semi-rutam 
 Carolus Rex opt'mus instauravit. Anno Dom cio, 
 
 lOCXXXlII." 
 
 We now enter the chapel in order to admire its noble 
 lines, the fact being always borne in mind that what re- 
 mains is only the nave of the original structure. The 
 proportions of the building in the days of its entirety must 
 have been exceedingly imposing, for again and again 
 it is referred to as the magnificent Abbey-Kirk of 
 Halirude.^' To describe it in detail would occupy more 
 space than we can give. Only the most salient features 
 therefore can be indicated. The eye as its gaze travels 
 along the line of noble pillars, which divides the nave 
 from the aisles, rests almost inevitably on the great 
 window, which occupied nearly the whole of the eastern 
 end of the church. It is 34 feet high by 20 feet in width, 
 and was built after the choir and transepts had been 
 demolished by the English, being filled for about two- 
 fifths of its length with quatrefoil tracery, and subdivided 
 below by four mullions and a transom. The eastern ends 
 of the aisles were, subsequent to the Reformation, filled 
 in with windows in order that the structure might be 
 used as a chapel royal. The south side or southern aisle 
 of the building remains in the best state of preservation, 
 or shall we say has been more artistically restored ? The 
 254 
 
"The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 roof of the aisle and the pillars still remain, with the 
 arches of the triforium and some fragments of the 
 clerestory. The piers or pillars are of the " grouped " 
 type associated with the Early English style, the capitals 
 being richly adorned with foliage and sculptured heads. 
 On the inner surface of the wall of the south aisle, there 
 is an arcade (the same as prevails on the north side), 
 but singularly enough the arches composing it are quite 
 different in style, being of the Pointed type with rounded 
 abacus and keeled bowtells, while the capital is richly 
 floriated, each one being different in design. The western 
 extremity of the southern aisle abuts on the Palace wall, 
 with which it formerly communicated by a doorway 
 now built up. 
 
 The wall of the northern aisle is supported on the out- 
 side by seven upright buttresses adorned with canopied 
 niches and acorn pinnacles, while the doorway at the 
 western end of this aisle is rich in ornament, but the 
 style is later by at least 200 years than its other parts. 
 At the east end of the south aisle, and at the back of the 
 mass of masonry surmounting the Royal Vault, is a small 
 doorway now built up, which communicated with the 
 old cloisters of the Abbey. This door and the portion 
 of the wall immediately adjoining it are undoubtedly the 
 most ancient parts of the edifice now extant, belonging 
 to the closing years of the Romanesque period, for the 
 doorway exhibits the round-headed arch with receding 
 orders " and with zig-zag and billet mouldings resting 
 on two single shafts with a square abacus. On the out- 
 side of this aisle can still be traced the lower stage of 
 five flying buttresses, which springing from piers about 
 10 feet distant from the wall, and crossing what was of 
 old the roof of the cloister, rest against flat pilasters on 
 the wall of the aisle. From these, as well as from the 
 upright buttresses of the north aisle, there sprang a second 
 row or " stage," which spanning the roof of the aisle and 
 256 
 
The (tdbbey and Palace of Hoiyrood 
 
 triforium, supported the wall of the clerestory. In the 
 niches of the lower stage on either side of the building 
 are the arms of Abbot Crawford. The high altar stood 
 of course in the chancel which no longer exists. 
 
 Within the enclosure of the Abbey many distinguished 
 personages are interred. The Royal Vault is in the south- 
 east corner of the chapel, but it was violated by an in- 
 furiated mob at the time of the Revolution (1688), and 
 the coffins of those interred therein were wantonly de- 
 stroyed. Fortunately, however, about five years prior 
 to this, a Commission had been authorised to open and 
 to enter the vault to discover who actually had been 
 buried there. The report then given is in the Advocates' 
 Library to the present day. At that time there were 
 resting in the vault the bodies of James V. and his first 
 queen, Magdalene ; Dame Jane Stewart, Countess of 
 Argyll, and two other coffins without names, the plates 
 having fallen off. There were also the coffins of two 
 children. Darnley was certainly buried in the Royal 
 Vault, but James VI. ordered the body of his father to 
 be brought to England and it was interred in Westminster 
 Abbey. Since then the body of Mary of Gueldres was 
 removed from its resting-place in Trinity College Church, 
 on the latter being taken down, and was interred in the 
 Royal Vault. Among other personages buried in the 
 Abbey are Lord and Lady Reay, Lord Belhaven, 
 George Wishart, Bishop of St. Andrews ; George, 
 fourteenth Earl of Sutherland ; Dame Jean Hamilton, 
 Countess of Eglintoun ; Adam Bothwell, Bishop of 
 Orkney and Shetland and Commendator of Hoiyrood ; 
 while in the north-east corner of the chapel, on the site 
 of the ancient choir, is a monument to Alexander Mylne, 
 one of Scotland's chief architects, to whom the restora- 
 tion of parts of the Palace was due. 
 
 In the beautiful grounds, lying to the west of the 
 building, stands Queen Mary's Dial, a remarkable old 
 R 257 
 
"The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 horologe, which has a separate gnomon on each of the 
 twenty divisions of the apex of the pedestal. Immedi- 
 ately opposite the 
 \r main entrance to the 
 
 Palace stands a low 
 turreted building, 
 occupying the site 
 of what was known 
 as the dwelling of 
 Rizzio, Queen 
 Mary's secretary. 
 This is the Guard 
 House and the 
 Royal Stables. To 
 the north-west of 
 the Palace we catch 
 sight of a quaint 
 little building with 
 pyramidal roof, 
 dormer windows, 
 and lofty chimneys. 
 This is known as 
 Queen Mary^s Bath^ 
 where, says tradi- 
 tion, the beautiful 
 queen was wont to 
 bathe in white wine 
 to increase her 
 charms. Through 
 this house the 
 murderers of Rizzio 
 
 escaped, and in 1789, when workmen were repairing 
 the roof, they found stuck into the sarking a richly- 
 chased dagger, belonging in all likelihood to one of the 
 conspirators. 
 
 Any reference to Holyrood would be incomplete 
 258 
 
The ^bbey and Palace of Holyrood 
 
 without a notice of the King^s Park, by which name 
 the royal demesne round Holyrood is known. To see 
 this to advantage one ought to drive round it, the coach- 
 man being instructed to proceed to the right after leav- 
 ing the outer gates of Palace Yard. 
 
 The drive is both picturesque and delightful. A care- 
 fully-constructed road, The King s Drive^ about three 
 miles and a half long, encircles the park, and the variety 
 and beauty of the scenery obtained at different points, 
 make it without doubt one of the finest carriage drives in 
 Europe. About three quarters of a mile from our start- 
 ing point we reach St, Leonardos Hill, taking its name 
 from an hospital dedicated to a saint of this name which 
 once stood on it. On its eastern slope, and commanding 
 a fine view of Salisbury Crags, is pointed out Jeante 
 Deans Cottage, with its stone seat and garden so familiar 
 to readers of the Heart of Midlothian, and near it are the 
 Dumbiedykes, long ranges of walls stretching towards 
 Holyrood. A little farther on and we pass St. Leonard's 
 Railway Station, the coal depot of the North British 
 Railway, the directors of which purchased it from the 
 Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway Company. This was 
 the first line in the kingdom, being of old drawn by 
 horses, and the horse cars continued to run long after the 
 introduction of steam. It received the nickname of 
 " The Innocent Railway," from the fact that no life was 
 ever known to be lost thereon. We now begin to 
 mount the hill-road which skirts the haunch of the 
 leonine form of Arthur's Seat, leaving the lower road to 
 wind on through the park to the village of Duddingston. 
 When we have reached the summit of the steep ascent we 
 are opposite the Hunter s Bog on the left, of old a favourite 
 hawking ground, and now the place where the rifle-butts 
 are placed. Here a portion of Prince Charles Edward's 
 army encamped in 1745. The Echoing Rock is now 
 just below us, while near the south end of the railway 
 
 259 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 tunnel, situated beyond the lower road 150 feet beneath 
 us, are the celebrated Wells 6* /^^^ry, frequently men- 
 tioned in Scottish ballad literature as the haunt of for- 
 saken lovers. 
 
 "Wade in, wade in, my lady fair, 
 Nae harm sail thee befall, 
 Aft times hae I here watered my steed 
 Wi' the Water of Wearie's well." 
 
 The well is now enclosed in the garden of a cottage. 
 Below us we note the mansion of the late Thomas 
 Nelson, of the great publishing firm of Messrs. T. 
 .Nelson & Son, while a little further on, Prestonfield 
 House meets the eye, the seat of the Dick-Cunnyng- 
 hams. We are now immediately over the curious basaltic 
 rocks in column shape known as Samson s Ribs and at 
 the turn of the road obtain one of the noblest views in 
 the kingdom — sea, meadow, moor, mountain and forest 
 being spread out like a picture before us. Immediately 
 below this lies the village of Duddingston^ with its reed- 
 fringed loch dotted with swans and water-fowl, and its 
 square-towered Norman church, in which the Rev. John 
 Thomson, the landscape painter, ministered for many 
 years. Sir Walter Scott was one of the elders, and when 
 staying with Thomson on one occasion, is said to have 
 written several of the chapters of the Heart of Midlothian 
 in the manse garden. On the wall of the churchyard 
 hangs the "jougs," a sort of iron collar, in which 
 vagrants and scolding wives were temporarily fastened 
 as a punishment. To the right of the village are the woods 
 and grounds of Buddings ton House ^ the seat of the Duke 
 of Abercorn. Directly south is the picturesque pile ot 
 Craigmillar Castle. Pressing onward we pass the almost 
 Highland solitude of Dunsappie Loch and Hill^ near 
 which the remainder of the Highland army encamped in 
 1745, while from this point the ascent of Arthur's Seat 
 can be accomplished with the least fatigue. Rounding 
 260 
 
The ^bbey and Palace of Holyrood 
 
 the corner of the lake, the drive skirts Whinny Hill and, 
 on the right, the mansion of Parson s Green ; while 
 further on to the north-east the eye catches sight of 
 Lochend House and the church and village of Restalrig. 
 Muschat^s Cairn — the scene in 1 720 of an infamous wife 
 murder by a surgeon of dissolute life, Nicol Muschat 
 — St. Margaret's Loch, St, Margaret's Well are passed 
 in turn, and then we note on our right the military Parade 
 Ground^ where the late Queen Victoria held the great 
 reviews of 1861 and 1881. On the left, crowning the 
 slope of the Haggis Knowe,'' are the remains of the 
 old Hermitage of St, Anthony^ with his well in the 
 vicinity. We have no intimation as to who St. Anthony 
 was, but his picturesquely-situated retreat seems to have 
 been built in 1430 and to have had some connection 
 with the Knights Hospitallers of St. Anthony in Leith. 
 Finally we end our drive beside the Duke' s Walk, so 
 called from its having been the favourite sauntering- 
 ground of the Duke of York, afterwards James VH., 
 when he represented his brother, Charles II., in Scot- 
 land. Above us towers the imposing mass of Salisbury 
 Crags, named from the Earl of Salisbury (the husband 
 of the countess in whose honour the most noble Order 
 of the Garter " was instituted), who encamped on them 
 when he commanded one of the divisions of the army 
 wherewith Edward III. invaded Scotland in 1336. 
 At the foot of the precipitous cliffs which form the crest 
 of the " Crags," a pathway has been formed, called The 
 Radical Road, owing to the fact thas it was made in 
 1820, by some unemployed workmen who had become 
 discontented owing to the harangues of certain Radical 
 orators. On the advice of Sir Walter Scott, they were 
 given the job of constructing a " footpath way " around 
 the Crags, and their complaints soon ceased. 
 
 261 
 
CHAPTER XIX 
 
 'The Cowgate^ Grassmarket^ Portsburgh^ 
 ^ng^s Stables 
 
 YVTE dismiss our carriage at the Park Gates im- 
 mediately in front of the Cricket Ground of the 
 Royal High School — a gift to the institution, by the 
 way, from her late Majesty, Queen Victoria. We 
 now take the first turning to the left after passing the 
 gates, and begin to walk slowly up the thoroughfare 
 known as the South Back of the Canongate^ which was 
 formerly occupied by the gardens and pleasure grounds 
 of the mansions of the Canongate. We are now in a 
 region of breweries, one following another in quick 
 succession as we near the Cowgate. The stream, which 
 in old days threaded its way down the rustic glen, still 
 flows, but at a considerable distance underground. So 
 good is the water, and so admirably adapted for brewing 
 purposes, that there is considerable competition to get 
 a site on the line of flow. 
 
 The Cowgate, or Soo-Gate (South Gate), com- 
 mences at the point where the Pleasance — so named 
 from the Convent of St. Mary of Placentia, which was 
 situated near this spot — joins St. Mary Street (of old 
 St. Mary's Wynd). At this place there was, as we 
 have said, a fortified " port " or gateway like that at 
 Netherbow, and in the sixteenth and seventeenth cen- 
 turies it was seldom without a goodly harvest of human 
 heads surmounting its " pricks " or " pinnacles.'' The 
 Cowgate must have been an exceedingly picturesque 
 thoroughfare up to the middle of the eighteenth century, 
 greatly resembling Chester as we know it to-day. Most 
 of the houses were timber -fronted, owing to the almost 
 262 
 
T'he Cowgate^ Grassmarket^ etc. 
 
 inexhaustible supply of wood to be obtained from the 
 Boroughmuir and also because the prevailing taste in 
 Europe [teste Nuremberg even to the present time) 
 was favourable to timber fronts and also to open piazzas 
 and galleries projecting from the fa9ades. The greater 
 part of the Cowgate must have been in existence before 
 the commencement of the sixteenth century, because 
 the Flodden Wall was extended beyond the lines of 
 that of James II. largely to protect this suburb. Next 
 to the Canongate it was the most fashionable of the 
 Edinburgh streets. Beginning our walk we first pass, 
 on the left-hand side, the remains of the Old High School 
 fVynd^ in which stood the Municipal Grammar School 
 with its ancient tower and spire. Hither the school 
 was transferred from Blackfriars' Wynd, to which 
 place it had been brought from Holyrood Abbey, and 
 here it was conducted until it was removed in 1777 
 farther up the slope of the hill to the foot of Infirmary 
 Street. The name given to a lane here, High School 
 Tards, still preserves the memory of what had been the 
 playground of the school. All this south (or left-hand) 
 side of the Cowgate as far as College Wynd was, until 
 the Reformation, the gardens surrounding the great 
 Dominican Monastery of the Blackfriars, which stood 
 immediately opposite the wynd of that name. In 
 High School Wynd resided in later days the satirist 
 " Claudero," otherwise James Wilson, whose skits on 
 local men and manners were so trenchant and racy. A 
 little further west was the town house of the Bishops 
 of Dunkeld, where Gawain Douglas lived and where 
 he wrote part of the translation of the JEneid, A little 
 further along, but on the north or right-hand side of 
 the street, was the Mint, which also had an entrance 
 from the High Street, while St. Patrick's Catholic 
 Church, with the Presbytery attached, has been erected 
 on a part of the site of what once was the Earl of 
 
 263 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 Selkirk's mansion. This church was built early in the 
 nineteenth century as an Episcopal place of worship, of 
 which the Rev. Archibald Alison, father of Sir Archi- 
 bald Alison, was incumbent. Purchased by a United 
 Secession congregation, it was for some years the 
 meeting-place of one of the straitest sects of the 
 Seceders. They, however, migrated in 1856 to other 
 fields and disposed of the edifice to the Roman Catholics. 
 One of the altar-pictures, by Runciman, representing 
 the " Return of the Prodigal Son," is interesting 
 because the poet, Robert Fergusson, sat as a model for 
 it. The picture may still be viewed in the church. 
 
 On the same side of the street, but on the other side 
 of the tunnel passing under the South Bridge, is the 
 " Meal Market,'* where a serious riot occurred in 1763, 
 at a time of great scarcity of bread. A few yards 
 further on is the place where the Back Stairs " 
 formerly joined the Cowgate from the Parliament 
 Close. Up and down these steps thousands of persons 
 — lawyers, litigants, and loungers — passed daily, as they 
 were the readiest means of access to Parliament House. 
 In a house whose entrance was on the stairs resided the 
 young English officer. Captain Cayley, whose death at 
 the hands of a beautiful young married woman, Mrs 
 Macfarlane (daughter of Colonel Straiton, a leading 
 Jacobite, to whom Pope refers in a letter to Lady M. 
 W. Montague), whom he had attempted to outrage, 
 created such a sensation in 17 16. On the site of the 
 Free Library was the house of the celebrated Sir 
 Thomas Hope, King's Advocate to Charles I. in 1626. 
 Hope encouraged that stern resistance to the king's 
 foolish interference with the constitution of the Scottish 
 Church, which ultimately led to the great Civil War. 
 In his house all the consultations with regard to the 
 policy of the Covenanting party were held. He was 
 one of those who framed the modifications in the 
 264 
 
The Cowgate, Grassmarket^ etc. 
 
 National Covenant in 1638, while he assisted Hender- 
 son in drafting the Solemn League and Covenant in the 
 form accepted by the Westminster Assembly. Two 
 of his sons were raised to the Bench while he was yet 
 King's (or Lord) Advocate, and as it was esteemed 
 unfit that a father should plead uncovered before his own 
 children, he was allowed to wear his hat, a privilege 
 
 the Lord Advocate can claim to this day. He died 
 in 1646. In No. 8 Cowgatehead, the windows of 
 which look up Candlemaker Row, there lived in 1777 
 a widow lady named Syme (sister of Principal Robert- 
 son), with whom a young English gentleman, Henry 
 Brougham, of Brougham Hall, went to lodge. He 
 had suffered a great sorrow, his intended bride dying 
 suddenly on the eve of their marriage. He brought 
 letters of introduction to Robertson, and the latter, not 
 being able personally to show him hospitality, asked 
 his sister to take him in. No sooner did the mourning 
 
 265 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 lover see Mrs Syme's daughter, than he fell in love 
 with her, owing to her extraordinary likeness to his 
 deceased fiancee. Miss Syme reciprocated his feelings, 
 the pair were married, and of this union was born 
 Henry, Lord Brougham, Lord Chancellor of England. 
 Next door was Palfrey's King's Head Inn," whence 
 most of the southern stage-coaches by the east coast 
 roads took their departure. Here, too, was the great 
 rendezvous for the carriers, more than thirty of them 
 every week coming and going to and from " Palfrey's " 
 hostelry. 
 
 Returning to our position opposite Blackfriars' Wynd, 
 we take special note of the following houses and closes 
 on the south side of the street, viz.. College Wynd (now 
 called Guthrie Street) at the head of which Sir Walter 
 Scott was born in 1771, and in which for 150 years 
 many of the professors of the University were wont to 
 reside. At an earlier date (1699-17 15) Symson, the 
 Edinburgh printer, had here his timber-fronted dwell- 
 ing, while in the next alley. Horse Wynd, so called, 
 possibly, as being the only thoroughfare leading from 
 the southern suburbs which a horse could safely descend, 
 was the mansion of the Earl of Galloway, whose countess 
 was so very punctilious that she would order out her 
 carriage to pay a call next door. Horse Wynd was an 
 ultra-fashionable quarter, nearly all its denizens in the 
 last decades of the seventeenth and first of the eighteenth 
 century bearing titles. Tailors^ Hall is the next build- 
 ing of interest. A lofty gable pierced by a double tier 
 of windows presents an imposing front to the Cowgate. 
 Passing through a massive archway surmounted by a 
 sculptured pediment decorated with a huge pair of 
 shears, the insignia of the craft, with the date 1 644. and 
 the distich — 
 
 " Almightie God, who founded, built and crown'd 
 
 This wark, with blessings mak it to abound," 
 266 
 
T'he Story of Edinburgh 
 
 we enter the quadrangle which, though now a brewer's 
 yard, still bears traces of former grandeur. Two lofty 
 crow-stepped gables project into the court, and over the 
 ornamental pediment which surmounts the east wing of 
 the building the insignia of the shears appear again, with 
 the date 1621 and the inscription, God give the blis- 
 ing to the Tailzier Craft in the gude toun of Edinburgh." 
 Here the assembly of 300 clergymen met in February 
 1638 to discuss with the Earls of Rothes, Loudon and 
 Lindsay the renewal with modifications of the National 
 Covenant, which on the following day was to be pre- 
 sented to the people in Greyfriars' Churchyard. The 
 Tailors' Hall occupies the south and east sides of the 
 court, and over the entrance was placed the legend : — 
 
 "To the Glore of God and Virteu's Renowne 
 And the Campanie of Tailzeaurs within the gude toun 
 For meeting of their craft this hal Has been erected 
 With trust in all God's goodness to be Blist and protected." 
 
 The hall was used in 1656 as the Courthouse of the 
 Scottish Commissioners appointed by Cromwell for the 
 administration of the forfeited estates of Scottish Roy- 
 alists, and from about 1727 to 1753 it was used as a 
 theatre by itinerating companies. To the west of this 
 is a house of the time of Charles I. with moulded door- 
 way bearing the inscription : — 
 
 "R.H.— O Magnifie the Lord with me— J.H. 
 
 And Let us Exalt His Name together. — An. Dom. 1 64 1 . " 
 
 The doorway of this house is only 3 feet 3 inches 
 wide. We are inclined to think from a careful study 
 of the title of the place that this was the original resi- 
 dence of the Carmichaels, afterwards Earls of Hynd- 
 ford. This also was the house occupied by the Italian 
 wizard, John Damien or Trevira, who lived toward the 
 close of the seventeenth century and concerning whose 
 marvellous powers tradition indicates so much vaguely 
 268 
 
"The Cowgaie, Grassmarket^ etc. 
 
 and so little specifically. Where now the southern piers 
 of the George IV. Bridge stand, was the mansion of 
 Thomas Hamilton of Priestfield, Lord President of the 
 Court of Session in 1592, Secretary of State for Scot- 
 land in 161 2, Earl of Melrose in 1619, and first Earl 
 of Haddington in 1627, but better known by his sobri- 
 quet, Tarn 0' the Coivgate, He was famous for his 
 acumen as a judge and also for his industry in collecting 
 legal decisions. He amassed so much wealth that his 
 master, James VI., with whom he was a chief favourite, 
 firmly believed him to be in possession of the " Phil- 
 osopher's Stone. Tam did not deny the impeachment, 
 but said that if the monarch and his courtiers would dine 
 with him on the morrow he would disclose to them " the 
 secret." Thinking this referred to the Philosopher's 
 Stone," they were all on the qui vive until after dinner, 
 when the earl said, that it was true he was in possession 
 of a sovereign secret to ensure wealth and success which 
 was, Never put off till to-morrow what can be done 
 to-day ; never trust to the hand of another that which 
 your own can do." 
 
 We now reach one of the most remarkable buildings 
 in Edinburgh, the little spire of which has been a land- 
 mark for over 350 years. This is the Magdalen Chapel^ 
 otherwise the Church of St. Mary Magdalene, almost 
 the oldest ecclesiastical edifice in the city. Maitland, 
 in his History of Edinburgh^ states that : — 
 
 ''The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene was erected on the site 
 of a ruinous hospital, called Maison Dieiv, by Michael Macquheen, 
 citizen of Edinburgh, who being greatly affected by a grievous 
 distemper and oppressed with age, appropriated the sum of £,700 
 Scots money towards erecting a charitable foundation, to which 
 divers persons promised to contribute to accomplish so good and 
 desirable a work, but these promises, not being performed, Janet 
 Rynd, relict and executrix to the said Macquheen, was thereby 
 induced to accomplish the design of her husband by adding to his 
 bequest the sum of ^^2000 Scots, with which sums she erected an 
 
 269 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 hospital and chapel, for the accommodation of a chaplain and seven 
 poor men, and endowed the same with a perpetual annuity of 138 
 merks, arising out of certain lands and tenements, and dedicated 
 her new foundation to Mary Mag- 
 dalen, and by deed of settlement, 
 February 1547, granted it to the 
 Corporation of Hammermen, with 
 whom it still remains. This chapel 
 is at present (1753) occupied by the 
 Convenry of this city, who meet 
 occasionally therein." 
 
 The chapel remains very 
 much as left by its foundress. 
 The architecture is quaint and 
 archaic, the cannon-shaped 
 gargoyles round the spire, 
 each with a ball stuck into the 
 muzzle, having been often 
 remarked upon by cognoscenti 
 as unique of their type. Its 
 windows are still adorned with 
 ancient painted glass (the only 
 specimens of pre- Reformation 
 glass known to be extant in 
 Scotland), containing the 
 Royal Arms of Scotland, 
 encircled with a wreath of 
 thistles ; next those of the 
 Queen - Regent, Mary of 
 Guise, within a wreath of 
 laurel ; finally the shields of 
 the founder and foundress 
 '•^-^^^■^ within ornamental borders. 
 
 The little chapel is well 
 worthy of a visit, containing as it does many antiquarian 
 objects of great interest, among others the tomb of the 
 foundress, and a fine St. Bartholomew in stained glass, 
 certainly dating back to the fifth decade of the sixteenth 
 270 
 
The Cowgate^ Grassmarket^ etc. 
 
 century. A very ancient bell hangs in the steeple, on 
 which is the inscription, " 8oTt Deo Gloria Michael 
 Burgerhuys me Fecit — Anno, 1632," while underneath 
 is written, God bles the Hammermen of Magdalen 
 Chapeir John Craig, the reformer, and afterwards 
 colleague of Knox, preached here for some time in 
 Latin, until he had recovered the command of his 
 mother tongue, of which he had lost the familiar use 
 owing to long residence abroad. The General 
 Assembly of 1578 met in the Magdalen Chapel ; and 
 here in June 1685 the decapitated body of the Earl of 
 Argyll was placed, prior to its transmission to the family 
 vault at Kilmun. Over the door of the chapel is a re- 
 presentation of an Edinburgh Hammerman of the period 
 (1555), in doublet and trunk hose, with peaked beard 
 and moustache, and with a hammer grasped in his right 
 hand. 
 
 We now turn to our left and enter the C andlemaker 
 Row, which was of old the roadway leading from the 
 Grassmarket to the lands of Bristo and Powburn. 
 Flanked on the western side by the boundary wall of 
 Greyfriars' Churchyard, on the east, from Greyfriars' 
 Port to the Cowgatehead, there was a continuous line 
 of houses, with an open space behind. In Gordon of 
 Rothiemay's map, two or three houses appear on the 
 western side, at the foot of the Row, one of which was 
 a curious little timber-fronted tenement, surmounted by 
 antique crow-steps while an open gallery projected in 
 front, and rude little shot-windows admitted light to 
 the gloomy chambers within. This in all probability 
 was " The Cunzie Nook," the early site of the Mint 
 prior to its permanent establishment in Mint Close, 
 High Street. Near the foot of the Row on the west 
 side is the old entrance to Greyfriars' Churchyard (of 
 which more anon) which originally bore the following 
 lines on a tablet over the archway : — 
 
 271 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 " Remember, man, as thou goes by, 
 As thou art now, so once was I, 
 As T am now, so shalt thou be : 
 Remember, man, that thou must dee." 
 
 At the head of the Row where it joins Bristo, still 
 stands the hall of the ancient Corporation of Candle- 
 makers with the arms of the craft cut boldly over the 
 doorway on a large, oblong panel above the motto, 
 " Omnia manifesta luce^^ and the date 1722. 
 
 We now retrace our steps to the foot of the Row and 
 enter the Grassmarket, This spacious thoroughfare, 
 rectangular in form and upwards of 230 yards in length, 
 extends from the West Bow to the entrance to the 
 West Port. Modernised as it is, its situation is still 
 wondrously picturesque, but what must have been the 
 scene when its sides were lined with those antique and 
 lofty lands with their peaked and crow- stepped gables ; 
 dormer and recessed windows ; their timber fronts ; 
 projecting "turnpikes" diversified here and there by 
 forestairs ; while overhead towered the mighty mass of 
 the Castle and the line of the houses in the Castlehill 
 and Lawnmarket. At the north-east end of it, im- 
 mediately opposite to the place at the corresponding 
 south-east corner where the Cowgateand Candlemaker 
 Row debouched upon the Grassmarket, was the ter- 
 mination of the West Bow or " Bowfoot," as it was 
 called ; and here, as shown in the accompanying illus- 
 tration, was the place of public execution, where, con- 
 demned to death by those bloodthirsty Scottish Alvas 
 of the seventeenth century, Rothes, Lauderdale, Sharp, 
 Dalziel, Grierson, and Claverhouse, — often after a mere 
 mockery of a trial, often without any at all, — *'the 
 Martyrs of the Covenant," from Guthrie to Renwick, 
 glorified God in the Grassmarket," as one of their 
 so-called judges, the Duke of Rothes, brutally re- 
 marked. Here also occurred the incident of " Half- 
 272 
 
s 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 hangit Maggie Dickson." She was sentenced to death 
 for child murder, and, as supposed, duly executed. 
 She was then put into her coffin and her friends allowed 
 to remove the body. Having placed it in a cart they 
 started on their journey to Inveresk. The jolting of 
 the cart over the rough cobble-stones seems to have 
 restored suspended animation, which otherwise might 
 have flickered out. On passing PefFermill she scared 
 her friends by knocking upon the coffin lid, and on 
 reaching Musselburgh she drank a glass of whisky and 
 declared herself as well as ever she was in her life. 
 On hearing of the incident the law would fain have re- 
 claimed her, but her certificate of execution had already 
 been signed, and the highest legal authorities declared 
 that the Magistrates had no further " rights " over a 
 woman certified dead. She lived for many years there- 
 after, was the mother of several children and was a 
 crier of salt in the streets of Edinburgh as late as 1770. 
 
 Another terrible scene occurred there on the night of 
 the 7th September 1736, when an overflowing tide of 
 excited humanity poured down the West Bow, bearing 
 on its crest a pale and trembling wretch as helpless as a 
 straw amid the maelstrom. Onward the living current 
 rolled until it checked itself before a dyster's (dyer's) 
 pole on the south side, exactly in a line with the place 
 where the gallows usually stood, and there they hanged 
 their victim. It was the Edinburgh mob taking lynch 
 law vengeance upon Captain John Porteous for the un- 
 warrantable slaughter of some of their neighbours 
 five months before. The spot where the socket for the 
 gibbet was wont to be sunk is still marked by a Saint 
 Andrew's Cross in the causeway. 
 
 The Grassmarket was long used for the sale of cattle 
 and horses, the custom having been initiated by the monks 
 of the Greyfriars' Monastery, whose house," church, 
 and gardens covered all the ground south of the Grass- 
 274 
 
T^he Cowgate^ Grassmarket^ etc. 
 
 market up to the Boroughloch. The weekly markets thus 
 commenced by the monks continued to be popular until 
 about eighty years ago, when the new market off Lauriston 
 attracted thither the cattle and sheep. The weekly sale 
 of horses, however, is still maintained. The only house 
 of any historic interest in the Grassmarket is situated at 
 the north-eastern end of the square, and though now a 
 lodging-house was at onetime the residence of Graham 
 of Claverhouse, where the great foe to the Covenanters 
 was wont to watch the executions of the Covenanters. 
 Claverhouse was by no means the bloodthirsty fiend re- 
 presented by many Whig historians. By his own friends 
 he was greatly beloved ; but like Dalziel he esteemed 
 the execution of Charles I. so unpardonable an offence, 
 that he deemed that any sympathiser with the principles 
 of the regicides deserved naught but death. 
 
 At the lower end of the market " and still on the 
 north side, is the White Hart Inn^ a very ancient hostelry. 
 Mentioned by several chroniclers in the sixteenth century, 
 it was still, in the eighteenth, the starting place for all 
 the coaches and carriers proceeding along the great 
 northern and north-western roads. 
 
 In one of the numerous narrow alleys (some say 
 Plainstane's Close) at the back of the Inn, the " Cock- 
 pit was built for the sport of cock-fighting. It was 
 here that the delegates of the British Convention of 
 " Friends of the People " — that association of early 
 Radicals — were seized in December 1793. Their aim 
 was to stir up the masses to assert their rights and 
 privileges. But the movement was both premature and 
 ill-managed, and ended, as we have stated elsewhere, 
 in the transportation of Palmer, Skirving, Margarot, 
 Gerald, Downie, and others, while Watt was executed 
 because he had actually caused arms to be made for the 
 furtherance of the enterprise, a course opposed by the 
 others. 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 Immediately opposite, on the south side, is the Corn 
 Exchange, erected in 1849 Palladian style after 
 
 designs by David Cousin, and fitted up with every con- 
 venience tor the display and testing of grain. Here the 
 grain-merchants are accustomed to meet. The old 
 Corn Exchange stood on the west side of the square. 
 We now strike down the narrow thoroughfare called 
 the West Port," and on the left-hand side come to a 
 steep lane called the V ennel, up which we proceed to 
 climb. The line of the " city wall ran along the 
 eastern side of this alley and was terminated by a battle- 
 mented gateway, somewhat similar to the Netherbow 
 Port," called the " West Port." The Venneiis especi- 
 ally worthy of the visit we make to it because therein 
 is still preserved a section of the old city wall " 
 popularly called the " Flodden Wall." About eighty 
 yards of it are still intact with one bastion, as will be 
 seen from the illustration on page 53. That it was 
 built in haste and by unskilled workmen can be surmised 
 from the character of the materials employed and their 
 unworkmanlike arrangement. It was a time of stress 
 and suffering, when women and children all helped in 
 the prosecution of what was esteemed a necessary under- 
 taking. Retracing our steps to the foot of the Vennel 
 we find ourselves in the ancient burgh or barony called 
 Portsburgh, the superiority of which was purchased by 
 the Town Council from Sir Adam Hepburn in 1648. 
 According to Maitland, it comprehended the main street 
 of the West Port and all that part of Lauriston now 
 extending to Tollcross, on which in afterdays were built 
 some of the suburban mansion houses, surrounded by 
 their orchards and grounds : those, e,g,, of the Vans of 
 Barnbarroch, the Hawthorns of Castlewig, and the 
 Lawsons of Highdggs. Lady Lawson's Wynd, running 
 at right angles from the West Port and named from the 
 last-named family, was originally the road leading up to 
 276 
 
The Cowgate^ Grassmarket^ etc. 
 
 their mansion and long contained the meeting-house of 
 the Cameronians or Reformed Presbyterians. The 
 West Port was also the scene, in 1828, of the terrible 
 succession of murders by William Burke and William 
 Hare. These human ghouls, who lived in a wretched 
 alley called Tanner's Close, on the north side of the 
 street, were in the habit of decoying men, women, and 
 even children into their den, where after being induced 
 to take drink strongly drugged, the wretched victims 
 were suffocated, and their bodies sold to the surgeons 
 for dissection. This awful traffic had gone on for many 
 months before suspicion began to be aroused. At last, 
 owing to the unaccountable disappearance of a city natural, 
 *^ Daft Jamie," suspicions were aroused and investiga- 
 tions instituted which led to the apprehension of the 
 two principals and their female associates, Log and 
 M'Dougal. Against the women nothing definite could 
 be proved, and Burke, to do him justice, did all he could 
 to screen his so-called wife, M'Dougal, but Hare, the 
 greater villain of the two, turned king's evidence. The 
 punishment fell on Burke alone, the commission of at 
 least nine murders being abundantly proved. 
 
 The burgh of Portsburgh, from the " Port to the 
 Tollcross " was formerly the residence of many families 
 of distinction whose houses, situated in off-shooting 
 wynds and closes or on the main street, were in existence 
 until comparatively recently, when the Town Council, 
 under the City Improvement Act, here as elsewhere, 
 swept away many substantial tenements that might well 
 have been allowed to remain. We cannot leave this 
 part of the city without recalling that it was here that 
 Dr. Chalmers initiated his great experiment of " Terri- 
 torial Churches," which has been the model of nearly 
 all Home Mission work from that day to this. The 
 Chalmers' Territorial Church (otherwise the West Port 
 U.F. Church) is the outcome of it, while the district 
 
 277 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 has been changed from being the most degraded and 
 dissolute in the city to one of the most orderly. (^See 
 Hanna's Life of Chalmers, Vol. IV,) 
 
 We now retrace our steps to the Grassmarket, and 
 passing the site of the old Corn Exchange turn to the 
 left into King^s Stables Road. Above us towers the 
 Castle perched on its precipitous crag, with Johnston 
 Terrace winding like a snake round the cliffs, midway 
 between us and the fortress. Of old, the space between 
 us and the terrace in question was occupied by ancient 
 houses, many of them dating back to the sixteenth 
 century. King's Stables Road preserves the name of 
 the Royal Mews, which were situated here from the 
 reign of Robert II. The jousting-ground being located 
 where the western side of the Grassmarket is now, the 
 close proximity of the stables was a necessity. From 
 that day to this the locality has retained its connection 
 with equine accommodation and equestrian exercises, 
 the large Horse Bazaar and Riding School of Messrs. 
 Croall keeping up the tradition. There used to be a 
 small chapel here in pre- Reformation days, especially 
 devoted to shriving knights about to engage in combat. 
 One of the finest old houses in Edinburgh was that of 
 Thomas Borland, which long stood in King's Stables, 
 a handsome and substantial edifice, three storeys in 
 height, including the dormer windows, with picturesque 
 crow-stepped gables and a finely-moulded door in front, 
 over which was the legend : " Fear God ; Honour the 
 King; T,B, ; F.B, 1675." 
 
 Proceeding along King's Stables Road, Castle Terrace 
 crowning the raised bank above us on the left, where 
 also is the chosen site of the new Usher City Hall ; 
 while on the right is the rugged base of the Castle Rock, 
 thickly wooded and with pleasant walks diverging hither 
 and thither, we at length reach the entrance to St. 
 Cuthbert's or the West Kirk, the history of which goes 
 278 
 
T'he Cowgate^ Grassmarket^ etc. 
 
 further back into the dim reaches of history than that 
 of any other ecclesiastical institution in Edinburgh. 
 The site was occupied by a church as early as the eighth 
 century, being dedicated to St. Cuthbert, Bishop of 
 Durham, who had died in 687. Prior to the Reforma- 
 tion its history is involved in obscurity, but a detailed 
 record exists of all its ministers since that event, many 
 of them being men of note in their day, such as Robert 
 Pont, Nicol Dalgleish, David Williamson Denty 
 Davie"), Neil M'Vicar, Thomas Pitcairn, David 
 Dickson, Robert Paul, and Sir Henry MoncriefF. The 
 parish was, in 1835, so large that it measured 5 miles 
 in length, north to south, and 3 ^ in breadth, the present 
 day quoad sacra parishes of Buccleuch, St. Bernard's, 
 Newington, and Lady Glenorchy's being all included 
 in it. The present building was erected in 1775, 
 was altered, modernised and enlarged in 1 895-96. The 
 graveyard contains the dust of many of Scotland's well- 
 known sons, especially those who attained eminence in 
 the Church of Scotland. Here also the remains of 
 Thomas de Quincey rest, the spot well-nigh over- 
 shadowed by the beetling Castle Rock. 'Tis a 
 sequestered and silent corner where he sleeps, all else 
 concealed save nature's beauties, though within sight and 
 sound of the stream of the busy city's life ! 
 
 King's Stables Road here joins the Lothian Road, 
 about a hundred yards from the foot of the latter. At 
 the corner on the right-hand side stands the beautiful 
 Scottish Episcopal Church of St. John's, erected in 
 18 17 in the modern Gothic style after the plans by 
 Mr. William Burn, who designed it in imitation of St. 
 George's Chapel, Windsor. Of this church the pious 
 and genial Dean Ramsay was long the incumbent. In 
 the little graveyard adjoining, or in the vaults under the 
 church, rest Sir Henry Raeburn, one of the greatest of 
 Scottish painters, Sir William Hamilton, Professor of 
 
 279 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 Logic and Metaphysics in the University, and one of 
 the greatest philosophers Scotland ever produced ; 
 Macvey Napier, who edited the Edinburgh Review after 
 Jeffrey's retirement ; Catherine Sinclair, the novelist, 
 and many others. 
 
 Immediately opposite the church is the great terminus 
 of the Caledonian Railway, with the large and magni- 
 ficent hotel attached. The sculpture over the main 
 entrance for foot-passengers is a very fine piece of art. 
 
 With regard to Lothian Road it may interest our 
 readers to know that this thoroughfare was constructed 
 in a single day as the result of a wager. The editor of 
 Kay^s Portraits states that though the road had long 
 been projected, owing to objections raised by the pro- 
 prietors of many neighbouring barns, byres, and sheds, 
 the scheme could not be carried into effect for some 
 years. When at last the proposal was about to be agreed 
 to by the opposing parties, the broad and stately road 
 was, to the surprise of the public and the mortification 
 of the opposition, made in a single day ! 
 
 "A gentleman, said to be Sir John Clerk of Penicuik, laid a 
 bet with a friend to the effect that he would, between sunrise and 
 sunset, execute the line of road, extending nearly a mile in length 
 by twenty paces in breadth. This scheme he concerted with 
 address and executed with promptitude. It happened to be the 
 winter season when many men were unemployed. He had no 
 difficulty in collecting several hundreds of these on the ground at 
 the appointed time, when he gave them all a plentiful breakfast 
 of porter, whisky, and bread and cheese, after which, just as the 
 sun rose, he ordered them to set to work, some to tear down en- 
 closures, others to unroof and demolish cottages, and a consider- 
 able portion to bring earth wherewith to fill ap the natural hollow 
 (near the churchyard gate) to the required height. The inhabitants, 
 dismayed at so vast a force and so summary a mode of procedure, 
 made no resistance. And so active were the workmen that, be- 
 fore sunset, the road was sufficiently formed to allow the bettor 
 to drive his carriage triumphantly over it, which he did amidst 
 the accumulation of a great multitude of persons, who flocked from 
 the town to witness the issue of this extraordinary undertaking." 
 280 
 
CHAPTER XX 
 
 Princes Street and the Older Farts of 
 the New Town 
 
 PRINCES STREET has been aptly styled ^Uhe 
 noblest street in Europe." For variety and rich- 
 ness of scenery, for picturesqueness of situation, for 
 magnificence of architectural effects, as well as for 
 convenience of access and exit it is unrivalled. Yet 
 only 1 60 years ago all the surface, now covered with 
 streets of houses, the stones of which are already 
 beginning to assume the tinge of antiquity, was a wide 
 expanse of cornfields and dairy meadows, where citi- 
 zens went to enjoy a country walk, or to eat curds and 
 cream at " Bearford's Park" or Wood's Farm." 
 Where the East and West Princes Street Gardens are 
 to-day was a wide, sedge-fringed sheet of water, the 
 Nor' Loch, famed for its mammoth eels and its in- 
 numerable water-fowl, while along the high, precipitous 
 northern bank ran a long, straight road, between two 
 low, dry-stone walls, called the Lang Dykes," or 
 the " Lang Gait." Beyond this, down to the village 
 of Canonmills, and the banks of the Water of Leith, 
 were only farmhouses and the cottages of market- 
 gardeners. On the site of the Register House stood 
 the mansion house and home farm of Moultrie's Hill ; 
 and on the ground now occupied by the head office of 
 the Royal Bank, there used to be a house and garden 
 called "Peace and Plenty," where the citizens of the 
 mid-decades of the eighteenth century were wont to 
 treat themselves to strawberries, or a dish of curds and 
 cream. 
 
 281 
 
T^he Story of Edinburgh 
 
 But about the middle of the eighteenth ceDtury, as 
 we have said, the lack of accommodation in the " Old 
 Town " began to be painfully felt. In the cramped 
 menage of the wynds and closes, in which laigh 
 rooms " or underground cellars were too often used as 
 nurseries, a succession of abnormally damp seasons 
 increased the rate of infantile mortality so terribly, that 
 several schemes were proposed for the erection of a 
 
 New Town " on the opposite bank of the Nor' Loch. 
 The North Bridge, which was always presupposed as 
 a sine qua non in any scheme for a "New Town," 
 was several times planned, once by Sir William Bruce 
 of Kinross, the Scottish architect of Charles II., and 
 subsequently by others. The plan, however, which 
 was adopted was that in which the Mylnes were chiefly 
 interested. In 1752 a design was accepted, but no 
 steps were actually taken to further the erection of the 
 bridge until 1759, when the Town Council applied to 
 Parliament for a Bill to extend the "royalty" of the 
 city over the ground whereon the New Town stands 
 to-day. After delays, extending over four years, the 
 Council, incited thereto by the public-spirited George 
 Drummond, had to begin the bridge without having 
 any Bill to authorise it. A portion of the Nor' Loch 
 was drained, foundations were dug, and in 1763 the 
 first stone was laid, amid great rejoicings. After many 
 interruptions and hindrances, some of them caused by 
 the fall of a portion of it, the bridge was completed in 
 1772. In consequence of the increase of traffic it was 
 widened in 1873, and a wholly new structure was 
 substituted in 1899-19 00. 
 
 The erection of the bridge stimulated the laying out 
 of the new royalty. About 1760-61, James Craig, a 
 well-known Edinburgh architect, and the nephew of 
 Thomson, the poet of the Seasons^ prepared a set of 
 plans which were, after some changes, pronounced 
 282 
 
Princes Street 
 
 satisfactory by the Town Council. His idea was that 
 the main streets with those intersecting them should 
 form a series of parallelograms, the names assigned to 
 the thoroughfares being taken chiefly from the royal 
 family and the patron saints of the town. In this 
 scheme Princes Street was originally styled ^' St. Giles' 
 Street/' On the plan being shown to George III., 
 when he saw that the principal street was called *' St. 
 Giles' Street," a name suggesting to a Londoner all 
 that is mean and squalid, he cried, " Hey — hey — what 
 — what — what — call your chief street St. Giles' Street ? 
 Never do, never do ! " Accordingly the designation 
 was changed to Princes Street, after the younger 
 members of the royal family, Frederick Street being 
 called after the Prince of Wales. 
 
 Easy, however, was it for the magistrates to put the 
 plan on paper : a harder task lay before them to induce 
 " Old Town " citizens to begin building in a spot so 
 far removed from the centre of business. For a long 
 time no one offered to build, though several persons 
 purchased feus. The magistrates were accordingly 
 obliged to offer a premium of £20 to the individual 
 who should erect the first residence, and in October 
 1767 a Mr. John Young began the construction of his 
 mansion in Rose Court, George Street, the first house in 
 ^' New Edinburgh." Whether or not the premium was 
 paid to him I cannot discover. One of the earliest houses 
 in Princes Street was erected in the following year by 
 Mr. John Neale, a silk mercer. This building, after- 
 wards the place of business of Archibald Constable, 
 the great publisher, Neale's son-in-law, and still later 
 occupied by the Crown Hotel, is now the branch office 
 of one of the great English railway companies. There- 
 after building proceeded rapidly, and by 1790 the line of 
 Princes Street was fully completed as far as Castle Street. 
 An attempt was made to erect houses on the south side. 
 
 283 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 This design, however, as being a breach of the original 
 contract, was vigorously opposed, and although one or 
 two buildings were raised on the site now occupied by 
 the North British Station Hotel, an interdict of Court 
 stopped further steps in that direction. 
 
 Princes Street, save at its extreme eastern end, was 
 at first wholly devoted to residential purposes, but after 
 1830 business premises began to banish the mansions, 
 and now the magnificent thoroughfare is mainly occupied 
 by the best hotels and the finest shops in the city. The 
 architecture has been carefully watched by the Dean 
 of Guild Court, and no structure of a low elevation or 
 of a type out of harmony with the prevailing character 
 and symmetry of the whole has been permitted to be 
 erected. The result is, as is generally admitted, that 
 Princes Street is now unsurpassed in beauty by any 
 street in Europe. 
 
 To enumerate all the noble buildings on its northern 
 side would be out of place in such a work as this. Only 
 the most outstanding can be touched upon. The finest 
 of the six great blocks into which Princes Street is divided 
 are those between Castle Street and Frederick Street, 
 between Frederick Street and Hanover Street, and be- 
 tween Hanover Street and South St. David Street. In 
 the first of these the premises of the Conservative and 
 University Clubs, and the "Scottish Liberal Club'' ; 
 in the second, the " New Club," the Balmoral Hotel 
 and the offices of the " Life Association of Scotland," 
 with a very ornate fa9ade in the florid Italian style ; and 
 in the third, the adjoining structures of the Royal Hotel 
 and Messrs. Jenner & Company's great emporium, unite 
 artistic taste in design with imposing architectural effects. 
 At the east end of the northern side is the Register 
 House, where historical records and public and private 
 deeds of special value are deposited. From the twelfth 
 to the sixteenth century the " Register House " was 
 284 
 
Princes Street 
 
 located in one of the towers of the Castle, and from some 
 of the "Acts of Sederunt many documents would seem 
 to have been kept there as late as 1679. ^ vault below 
 Parliament House was the second place of deposit for 
 deeds, but owing to damp and vermin they suffered great 
 damage there. For a long time the Government would 
 do nothing, and the erection of the present fine building 
 is really due to James, Earl of Morton (who died in 
 1774), the Lord Clerk Registrar. Seeing it was vain 
 to hope for any official grant, he obtained out of the funds 
 accruing from the forfeited estates of the Jacobites 
 £12,000, which being invested till 1765, almost pro- 
 vided the required sum. In that year Morton renewed 
 his application, this time with success, and the foundation- 
 stone of the new structure was laid in June 1774. The 
 building is of the Palladian order of architecture, being 
 erected from plans prepared by Robert Adam, and com- 
 bines the utmost internal commodiousness with great 
 external beauty. Upwards of 100 vaulted rooms are 
 devoted to the preservation of the historical legal docu- 
 ments of the kingdom. In one of the largest rooms are 
 kept the rolls of the ancient Scots Parliament, the records 
 of the Privy Council, charters of the sovereigns of 
 Scotland from the days of William the Lion to those of 
 Queen Anne, and on one of the tables lies ihe Scottish 
 duplicate of the Treaty of Union. Here, too, is pre- 
 served the Act of Settlement of the Crown upon the 
 House of Stuart, a document by virtue of which the 
 present royal family inherits the Throne. Inside the 
 building is a statue of George III., while immediately 
 in front of the Register House is the equestrian statue 
 of the Duke of Wellington, by the late Sir John Steell, 
 R.S. A., which stands on a pedestal of Peterhead granite. 
 
 The chief points of interest in Princes Street, however, 
 are situated on the south side of it. Opposite the Register 
 House is the splendid new Station Hotel, erected by the 
 
 285 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 North British Railway Company at an estimated cost of 
 £220,000 (including the site), from plans prepared by 
 the late Mr. Hamilton Beattie. The huge building is 
 designed on the principle often adopted in mansions of 
 the Jacobean period, of being erected around an interior 
 quadrangle or courtyard. The clock tower can be seen 
 from nearly all parts of the city and the view from it is 
 magnificent. Immediately opposite the hotel is West 
 Register Street, in which about seventy-five years 
 ago was situated the cosy tavern, Ambrose's," which 
 Professor Wilson made the scene of those " Noctes 
 Ambrosianae " which had such a marvellous success when 
 they appeared in the Blackwood of their day, but which 
 nowadays, for the most part, appear so vapid and unin- 
 teresting, when we have in large measure lost the key 
 to the references to contemporary events. 
 
 Adjoining the hotel are the steps leading down to the 
 Waverley Station, the largest railway station in the world 
 (covering an area of 2^^ acres of ground, of which 13 
 acres are under glass roof), and connecting the North 
 British Rail way with the North Eastern, GreatNorthern, 
 and Midland systems. Immediately to the right of this 
 is the Waverley Market, with its roof laid out in pleasant 
 parterres and clumps of shrubbery, with walks and seats 
 between, affording a grateful contrast by its greenery, 
 to the prevailing grey " of the surroundings. The 
 M^ri^^, erected in 1 872 and devoted to the sale of garden 
 produce, is most commodious and can be speedily con- 
 verted into a large hall for monster meetings. Here the 
 "Union" of the Free and United Presbyterian Churches 
 was consummated on October 31, 1900. It is interest- 
 ing to note that the old Scotland Street tunnel in the 
 Edinburgh, Fife and Dundee Railway, which entered 
 immediately below the line of Princes Street's retaining 
 wall, still exists, but is now devoted to the purpose of 
 mushroom growing. 
 286 
 
Princes Street 
 
 We now cross the upper end of the Waverley Bridge, 
 the present structure being built in 1872-73, and enlarged 
 in 1894-95, and enter the East Princes Street Gar dens ^ 
 laid out in graceful terraces and slopes, and with an es- 
 planade, level with the street, about 100 feet wide, and 
 extending from the Waverley Bridge to the Mound. 
 At the extreme eastern corner is Mrs. D. O. Hill's fine 
 bronze statue of Livingstone, representing the great 
 missionary explorer in traveller's costume, and with 
 
 the Bible which I have found to be mightier than a 
 thousand rifles " occupying a conspicuous place in his 
 hand. A little further on, looking up South St. David 
 Street, is the Scott Monument^ erected in 1844 — at a 
 cost of £15,500, wholly raised by public subscription, 
 from a competitive design prepared by Mr. G. M. 
 Kemp, a young self-taught artist, who while travelling 
 through Europe in order to study Gothic architecture, 
 actually supported himself by working as an ordinary 
 mason. He was accidentally drowned in the Canal 
 before the completion of this great undertaking The 
 monument takes the form of a large open Gothic 
 pinnacle 200 feet high, the central spire resting on four 
 arches which form a canopy over the figure of the novelist 
 seated with a shepherd's plaid thrown around him and 
 with his favourite staghound, Maida, at his feet. Exe- 
 cuted in Carrara marble by Steell, the statue is marvel- 
 lously lifelike and true to nature. The niches above the 
 centres of the four arches are filled with small statues 
 — on the north. Prince Charles Edward, the Young 
 Chevalier ; on the south, the Lady of the Lake ; on 
 the east, Meg Merrilees ; on the west, the Last Minstrel. 
 Four flying buttresses, arched on clustered columns ascend- 
 ing to the first gallery, spring into the air to the height 
 of 90 feet, and terminate in pinnacles beautifully carved 
 and crowned with delicately-finished and richly-orna- 
 mented finials. All over the monument at stated intervals 
 
 287 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 there are niches which are filled with statuettes repre- 
 senting the principal characters in the Waverley 
 Novels," while the capitals of the pilasters supporting 
 the vaulted roof are ornamented by likenesses of cele- 
 brated Scottish writers — Robert Burns, Robert Fergus- 
 son, James Hogg, and Allan fl^msay on the west front ; 
 George Buchanan, Sir David Lyndsay, Robert Tanna- 
 hill, and Lord Byron on the south ; Tobias Smollett, 
 James Beattie, James Thomson, and John Home on the 
 west ; Queen Mary, King James I., King James V., 
 and Drummond of Hawthornden on the north. An 
 internal staircase leads to a series of open galleries en- 
 circling the spire. When the foundation-stone of the 
 structure was laid in 1840, Lord Jeffrey, Scott's early 
 friend, wrote the following inscription to be engraven 
 on the plate affixed to the stone : — 
 
 "This graven plate deposited in the base of a votive building 
 on the 15 day of August, in the year of Christ, 1840, and never 
 likely to see the light again until all the surrounding structures are 
 crumbled to dust by the decay of time, or by human or elemental 
 violence, may then testify to a distant posterity that his country- 
 men began on that day to raise an effigy and architectural 
 monument to the memory of Sir Walter Scott, whose admirable 
 writings were then allowed to have given more delight and to 
 have suggested better feelings to a larger class of readers in every 
 rank of society than those of any other author with the exception 
 of Shakespeare alone, and which were therefore thought likely to be 
 remembered long after this act of gratitude on the part of the first 
 generation of his admirers should be forgotten. He was born at 
 Edinburgh, 1 5 August, 1 77 1, and died at Abbotsford, 2 1 September, 
 1832." 
 
 A little to the east of the Scott Monument, but still 
 on the esplanade in the gardens are the statues of Adam 
 Black, the eminent publisher and founder of the firm of 
 A. & C. Black, and who for some years was Lord 
 Provost of the city and its representative in Parliament, 
 and of Professor John Wilson (178 5-1 854), the 
 " Christopher North " of Blackwood^ a man whom^Sir 
 288 
 
Princes Street 
 
 Walter S<;ott described as one of the first geniuses of 
 his time, j^s poet, critic, essayist, novelist, and 
 philosopher, he achieved his distinction, but, as Lord 
 Robertson said of him, '* the man was infinitely greater 
 than his books." 
 
 We now issue from the East Princes Gardens and 
 cross the foot of The Mound, This is a vast but ugly 
 accumulation of earth bisecting the noble valley. It 
 may be said to have taken its inception about 1781, 
 being gradually formed by the earth thrown out when 
 digging the foundations of the streets in the New 
 Town." By 1830 it had assumed its present dimen- 
 sions, its length being 800 feet, its height towards the 
 north 60, and towards the south 100. Carefully 
 examined in 1859, retaining walls being built where re- 
 quired, its slopes were turfed or sown, and ornamental rail- 
 ings placed along the line of the road formed upon it. 
 The two most interesting buildings situated at its lower 
 end, constructed after the model of two Greek temples, 
 are the Royal Institution, — the one facing Princes Street 
 — and the National Gallery, — standing immediately in 
 the rear of the other — both of them designed by Mr. 
 W. H.'Playfair. The former, founded in 1823, is a 
 fine example of the pure Doric architecture of the 
 Periclean epoch. As originally erected it was without 
 enrichment in the pediments, but the building was 
 largely altered in the year 1836, and now forms an 
 oblong, nearly akin to that of a peripteral temple, with 
 fluted columns all rising from a uniform base of steps 
 and surmounted by a pure Greek entablature. From 
 the north front projects a triple octo-style portico, and 
 from its south front a double octo-style portico, the 
 pediments of both being filled with exquisitely carved 
 Greek scroll-work and honeysuckle. Eight sphinxes 
 adorn the four corners of the roof, while behind the apex 
 of the northern portico is a colossal crowned statue by 
 T 289 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 Steell of the late Queen Victoria, seated in state robes 
 and holding the sceptre and orb. In this building the 
 meetings of the Royal Society are held, and here too 
 is located the Edinburgh School of Design. The 
 Antiquarian Museum used to be housed here, but some 
 years ago was transferred to the fine new quarters 
 prepared for it in York Place. 
 
 The Art Galleries^ the foundation-stone of which 
 was laid in 1850 by the Prince Consort, stand immedi- 
 ately behind the Royal Institution, forming a cruciform 
 structure with its main length extending north and 
 south. At the north and south ends or fronts are 
 exquisitely symmetrical Ionic porticoes, while on the 
 side of each transept is a noble hexastyle Ionic portico. 
 The eastern section or " Gallery " is occupied from 
 February to May of each year by the Royal Scottish 
 Academy's Exhibition ; while the western section is 
 permanently reserved for the National Gallery " or 
 collection of Old Masters. Divided into three great 
 saloons, the first of these contains specimens of Flemish, 
 Dutch, and French art ; the second or central division 
 is allocated to the various Italian Schools — Florentine, 
 Venetian, Neapolitan, Genoese, Milanese, Ferrarese, 
 etc., and the Flemish School — while the third embraces 
 examples of English and Scottish painters. The 
 National Gallery is well worthy of a visit, though it 
 cannot compare for a moment with the great collections 
 in London or on the Continent. It includes, however, 
 favourable specimens of Tintoretto, Titian, Domeni- 
 chino, Roberti, Perugino, Lippi, Vandyke, Jan Van 
 Eyck, Rembrandt, Rubens, Paul Veronese, Velasquez, 
 Murillo, Greuze, Poussin, Huysmans, etc., while the 
 examples of the British and specially of the native school 
 are particularly choice and valuable. A fine collection 
 of water-colours is also housed here, also others of 
 bronzes and marbles. The Royal Scottish Academy 
 290 
 
Princes Street 
 
 only dates back to the early part of the nineteenth 
 century (May 1826), but for centuries before, Scottish 
 artists had won reputation for themselves, chief among 
 these being George Jamesone, The Scots Vandyke " 
 ( 1 586-1650); the two Scougals, who lived in the 
 seventeenth century ; Nicolas Hude, a Huguenot 
 refugee, also of the seventeenth century, who lived in 
 Beth's Wynd ; John Baptisto Medina, who migrated 
 from Flanders and settled in the Canongate, where his 
 son succeeded him ; Allan Ramsay, son of the author 
 of the Gentle Shepherd^ who became royal portrait 
 painter to George II. ; Norrie, the landscape painter 
 and idecorator ; Carse, the Teniers of Scotland ; 
 Runciman, and later, David Allan, Sir William Allan, 
 Sir Henry Raeburn, Sir D. Wilkie, Thomson of 
 Duddingston, the Watsons, etc. Since 1826 the 
 Royal Scottish Academy has had an unbroken career 
 of success, and has ever been the foster-parent of 
 subsidiary and affiliated societies for the cultivation of 
 special branches of Art. 
 
 Crossing the foot of the Mound we now enter the 
 West Princes Street Gardens, beautifully designed and 
 laid out (in 1816-20) by Scott's intimate friend, James 
 Skene of Rubislaw. Here shady walks meander over 
 slope and flat or lead the visitor up to the ridge of the 
 Castle bank, where a magnificent view can be obtained 
 of the whole expanse of the Forth. The gardens con- 
 tain some excellent statues of some of Edinburgh's 
 greatest citizens, beginning with Allan Ramsay, the 
 poet, whose house formerly crowned the crest of the 
 hill on the opposite bank of the Nor' Loch. The statue 
 was executed by Steell, being erected in 1865, at the 
 cost of Lord Murray, a descendant of Ramsay. The 
 medallions around it represent the various descendants 
 of this genial son of song. Proceeding along the broad 
 northern walk we reach the statue of Sir James T. 
 
 291 
 
'The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 Simpson, the beloved physician/' the discoverer of 
 chloroform and one of the most illustrious medical 
 scientists of modern times. The statue, which is by 
 Brodie, presents the great professor seated in his chair, 
 his head slightly bent towards the ground, as though 
 absorbed in thought. A little further along, but in the 
 grounds of St. John's Episcopal Church, stands a fine 
 Celtic cross erected in memory of Dean Ramsay, for 
 many years incumbent of the church and author of a 
 volume which is a household word north of the Tweed, 
 Characteristics of Scottish Life and Character, 
 
 Having completed our survey of Princes Street, we 
 must now take a glance at the streets which run parallel 
 with it and form with it the older part of the " New 
 Town." Crossing the busy thoroughfare beside the 
 great clock, which marks a quinquivium or point of junc- 
 tion of five ways, we turn up Hope Street and enter 
 Charlotte Square, one of the most imposing and splendid 
 of the many noble squares of Edinburgh. The houses 
 are almost entirely occupied by the leading physicians 
 and surgeons of the city. On the western side, so 
 placed as to form a fitting termination to the long stately 
 line of George Street, is St. George's Church, the dome 
 of which is a model on a small scale of that of St. Paul's 
 in London. The pulpit of this church was long occupied 
 by the celebrated Dr. Andrew Thomson. In the 
 gardens which form the centre of the square is the 
 Albert Memorial^ an equestrian statue of the late Prince 
 Consort, by Sir John Steell, unveiled by the late queen 
 in 1876. At the lower end of the north-west corner 
 of the square stands a beautiful monument in the shape 
 of a cross with pyramidal base, erected to the memory 
 of Catherine Sinclair, the novelist. Her father, Sir 
 John Sinclair of Ulbster, a keen politician and Member 
 of Parliament, as well as a voluminous author on such 
 subjects as the Corn Laws, the political state of Europe, 
 292 
 
Princes Street 
 
 Catholic Emancipation, Education, and Infant Schools, 
 lived in " No. 6 " in the square. Other distinguished 
 residents of it have been Lord Neaves (in No. 7), 
 James Syme, the celebrated surgeon (No. 9), Sir 
 William Fettes, who founded Fettes College (No. 13), 
 Lord Cockburn, jurist and man of letters (No. 14), 
 Lord Chief Commissioner Adam, another of Scott's 
 friends (in No. 31), while Lord Robertson, son of the 
 great principal and historian, and himself a judge of 
 ability and a man of much culture, lived in No. 42. 
 
 George Street opens immediately out of Charlotte 
 Square and is one of the broadest and most imposing 
 streets in the city, being 115 feet in width, though its 
 architecture is somewhat heavy. Intendedfor residential 
 purposes, it, too, like Princes Street, has been wholly 
 monopolised by offices and shops. Ithas, however, been 
 adorned by a line of statues which stand at the points of 
 its intersection with cross thoroughfares, that of Chalmers 
 where it joins Castle Street, that of Pitt where it meets 
 Frederick Street, and that of George IV. where it 
 joins Hanover Street, while at the upper end, where it 
 is terminated by St. David Street, there is a fine group 
 of statuary by Steell, representing " Alexander and 
 Bucephalus. On the section between Frederick Street 
 and Hanover Street are the establishments of two famous 
 publishing firms, *'No. 45," that of Messrs. William 
 Blackwood & Son, whence Maga is issued, and the 
 threshold of whose door has been crossed by nearly 
 four generations of authors, from Scott and Gait to 
 Neil Munro. On the opposite side of the street, at 
 "No. 38,'' the great theological and legal publishing 
 firm of Messrs. T. & T. Clark has its headquarters, 
 the present head of which firm is Sir John Clark, Bart. 
 Almost opposite the **house of Blackwood" and 
 sufficiently noticeable by a massive portico and an arcade 
 of three rustic arches are the buildings known as the 
 
 293 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 Assembly Rooms and Music Hall^ where most of the 
 great public social functions and the chief concerts of 
 the musical season are held. On the north side, near 
 the St. Andrew Square end, is St. Andrew's Church, 
 where, on the i8th May 1843, the Disruption in the 
 Church of Scotland took place, when 470 ministers 
 gave up their livings rather than suffer what they be- 
 lieved to be a usurpation of authority on the part of the 
 State over the Church. Immediately opposite St. 
 Andrew's " is the head office of the Commercial Bank 
 of Scotland, a noble edifice, designed by David Rhind 
 in the Graeco-Roman style, and with a hexastyleportico, 
 admitted to be one of the finest examples of this mode 
 in Britain. The Commercial Banking Company was 
 founded in 18 10, and has had a very successful career 
 during the century of existence which it has so nearly 
 completed. 
 
 St. Andrew Square forms the termination of George 
 Street on the east, even as Charlotte Street does on the 
 west. The east and west sides of the square are 
 bounded by St. Andrew Street and St. David Street, 
 the latter being named after David Hume, the great 
 historian and philosopher. He had only recently re- 
 moved into the corner house at the north-west side of 
 the square, the street itself being as yet unnamed, when 
 one morning his servant-maid came running in to tell 
 him that someone (said to be the witty daughter of 
 Chief Baron Orde), had written up the name "St. 
 David Street" on the side of the house, which she con- 
 sidered was done to ridicule her master. " Never mind, 
 lassie," said the philosopher, " many a better man has 
 been made a saint of before ! " To banking establish- 
 ments and insurance offices St. Andrew Square is now 
 largely relegated, the three great institutions, the 
 National Bank of Scotland (founded in 1825), the 
 British Linen Company (in 1746), and the Royal 
 294 
 
Princes Street 
 
 Bank (in 1727), all adjoining each other on the east 
 side. The office of the first named is severely plain, 
 being merely a dwelling-house enlarged by additions 
 behind, to serve the purposes desired. The British 
 Linen Company's office, on the other hand, is a magnifi- 
 cent structure, in the Corinthian style of Grecian archi- 
 tecture, vvith a three-storey fa9ade, having its entablature 
 supported by six fluted and projecting columns and 
 surmounted by six statues, 8 feet in height, representing 
 Navigation, Commerce, Manufacture, Art, Science, 
 and Agriculture. The interior is magnificently finished, 
 with a telling-room adorned with magnificent columns 
 of Peterhead granite, which accord well with its finely- 
 painted walls, its grand cupola of Venetian-stained glass, 
 50 feet in diameter and 30 feet high, and its Roman 
 tile pavement. The Royal Bank occupies the mansion 
 which once belonged to Sir Laurence Dundas, the 
 founder of the family now bearing the title of Earl of 
 Zetland. Standing within its own grounds the bank 
 has a fine gravelled approach, round a central plot on 
 which is placed the monument to Sir John Hope, fourth 
 Earl of Hopetoun, who greatly distinguished himself in 
 the Peninsular War. The house next to the Royal 
 Bank was long occupied as Douglas's Hotel, being one 
 of the best private hotels in the city. In this hotel Sir 
 Walter Scott spent the last days he was ever to pass in 
 Edinburgh, after his return from Italy, and just before 
 he went home to Abbotsford to die. The monument 
 which towers up from the gardens in the centre of the 
 square to a height of 1 10 feet, was erected in 1 821, in 
 memory of Henry Dundas, first Viscount Melville, 
 Lord Advocate in 1775, who held many high offices 
 in the Government of Britain during the administration 
 of Pitt, He was, however, charged with malversa- 
 tion of public funds, during his tenure of the office of 
 Treasurer to the Navy, but triumphantly acquitted. 
 
 295 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 The monument is modelled after the Trajan column at 
 Rome. 
 
 Sir Walter Scott had a great liking for George 
 Street. In No. 107 he began his married life, taking 
 his bride, nee Miss Charlotte Charpentier, thither, until 
 his own house in 39 Castle Street was completed ; and 
 at No. 75 his mother lived from the time of the death 
 of Mr Walter Scott, sen., W.S., in 1798, until her 
 own demise in 1 8 1 9. But it is around the Castle Street 
 house that the interest of all residents in and visitors to 
 Edinburgh will naturally centre, " Poor No. 39," 
 as Scott calls it in his JournaL The first house 
 on the right-hand side of the northern section of the 
 street, it commanded a view of a goodly portion of 
 George Street, as well as the street in which it was 
 situated. To it Scott went in 1802 and in it a great 
 part of his literary work was done, from The Lay of the 
 Last Minstrel to Woodstock, Here his children grew up 
 around him ; here he entertained his visitors and friends 
 during session-time " ; here he lived the sturdy, 
 strenuous life of a high-spirited enthusiastic Edinburgh 
 citizen, proud alike of his birthplace and of its people. 
 Even more than Abbotsford, " No 39 " was identified 
 with all the lights and shadows of Scott's marvellous 
 career. Abbotsford was his show-place," his palace 
 and his pride : No 39 " was his workshop, his 
 magician's cell, within whose mysterious walls he gave 
 definite shape and being to those wondrous creations of 
 his fancy, whose existence, like those of Shakespeare, 
 are not for an age but for all time. Few houses in 
 Edinburgh arouse so many varied emotions in the mind 
 of the observer as " Poor No. 39." 
 
 No. 5 George Street was of old the residence of 
 William Creech, the publisher, after he had left the 
 Old Town ; No. 25 where Mr. James Ferrier resided. 
 Principal Clerk of the Court of Session and father of 
 296 
 
T'he Story of Edinburgh 
 
 Miss Ferrier, the novelist. He was a keen whist- 
 player and every night in his life had a rubber. His 
 party often included Lady Augusta Clavering, daughter 
 of his friend and client, John, fifth Duke of Argyll, 
 and old Dr. Hamilton, who, from the fact of his being 
 the last who habitually wore a cocked hat, was called 
 " Cocked-Hat Hamilton." When victorious, the 
 doctor would give way to extravagant demonstrations 
 of joy, capering about the room and snapping his fingers, 
 to the indignation of stately old Mr. Ferrier, who would 
 say to his partner in his quiet tones, but always using 
 his native Doric, " Leddy Augusta, did ye ever see 
 such rideeclus leevity in an auld man ? " No. 86 was 
 the residence of Sir William Forbes, nephew and heir 
 of the founder of the great banking business of that name. 
 He is still remembered as being the successful suitor for 
 the heart and hand of the lady for whom Sir Walter 
 Scott felt such devoted attachment, viz., the only child 
 and heiress of Sir John Stuart of Fettercairn and 
 Invermay. In Scott's Life we read this extract from 
 a letter of one of his friends — Mr Forbes marries 
 Miss Stuart. This is not good news. I always dreaded 
 there was some deception on the part of our romantic 
 friend, and I now shudder at the thought of its effect 
 on his most irritable and ungovernable mind." For 
 years Scott avoided meeting the lady. 
 
 Of existing places of interest in George Street we 
 may state that at No. 84 the Northern Lighthouses 
 Board has its offices ; at No. 88 the Scottish Society 
 for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is located ; No. 
 96 is the headquarters of Scottish Freemasonry, the 
 offices and rooms with the large meeting-hall attached 
 being situated here; while at No. 125 the Local 
 Government Board for Scotland is established. 
 
 Queen Street runs parallel with George Street and 
 Princes Street, and was also at one time wholly resi- 
 298 
 
[ 
 
 Princes Street 
 
 dential as regards the character of its houses, but they 
 have been converted in a great measure into lawyers' 
 chambers. Nevertheless, the street has an air of inherent 
 gentility, of which even the partial invasion of shops at 
 various points cannot deprive it. The extensive gardens 
 in front impart to it, especially in summer, a semi- 
 suburban character which is shared by Heriot Row and 
 Abercromby Place, which are its vis-a-vis across the 
 pleasure-grounds. In Queen Street many of the nobility, 
 landed gentry, and legal luminaries had their mansions, 
 No. 8 having been the residence of Chief Baron Orde 
 of the Scottish Exchequer — afterwards of Sir Neil 
 Douglas, who led the Cameron Highlanders in Spain 
 during the Peninsular War, and later was Commandant 
 of Edinburgh Castle; at No. 13 the Rev. Sir Henry 
 Well wood MoncriefF, Bart. (17 55-1827), minister of 
 St. Cuthbert's, lived, of whom Cockburn writes : — 
 
 "The Sunday suppers of Sir Henry MoncriefF are worthy of 
 record. This most admirable and somewhat old-fashioned gentle- 
 man was one of those who always dined ' between sermons,' prob- 
 ably without touching wine. He then walked back from his house 
 at the east end of Queen Street to his church, with his bands, his 
 little cocked hat, his tall cane and his cardinal air, preached if it 
 was his turn a plain practical sermon, walked home in the same 
 style, took tea about five, spent some hours in his study, at nine 
 had family prayers, at which he was delighted to see the friends 
 of his sons, after which the whole party sat down to roasted hares, 
 goblets of wine, and his powerful talk." 
 
 In No. 38 lived the celebrated George Patton (1803- 
 68), afterwards Lord Advocate, and finally Lord Justice- 
 Clerk, whose suicide created such a profound impression 
 in 1868. A contemplated examination regarding his 
 relations with the Bridgewater electors during a recent 
 electoral contest in which he was defeated, preying on 
 a mind unusually sensitive to scandal, unhinged his reason 
 and led to this rash deed. His body was found in the 
 River Almond with his throat cut. It may be stated 
 
 299 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 that the allegations were afterwards proved to be ab- 
 solutely false and only started to prejudice his appoint- 
 ment as Lord Justice-Clerk. 
 
 No. 52 will always be a celebrated dwelling, for there 
 the discovery of chloroform as an anaesthetic was made 
 by Professor Sir James Y. Simpson, Bart., M.D. He 
 thus relates his experience : — 
 
 "I had had the chloroform beside me for some days, but it 
 seemed so unlikely a liquid to produce results of any kind, being 
 heavy and unvolatile, that it was laid aside ; and on searching for 
 another subject among some loose papers, after coming home very 
 late one night, my hand chanced to fall upon it, and I poured some 
 of the fluid into tumblers before my assistants, Dr. George Keith, 
 Dr. Duncan, and myself. Before sitting down to supper we all 
 inhaled the fluid, and were all under the mahogany in a trice, to 
 my wife's consternation and alarm. On awakening, my first per- 
 ception was mental, viz., that this was stronger and better than 
 ether, my second was to note that I was prostrate on the floor 
 among a heap of others and that there was confusion and alarm 
 in the room. I then saw that Dr. Duncan was snoring heavily, 
 and that Dr. Keith was kicking violently. We made several 
 more trials with it that evening, all being absolutely satisfactory." 
 
 The house is still occupied by a distinguished 
 physician. Professor A. R. Simpson, nephew of Sir 
 James, and his successor in the Chair of Midwifery. 
 
 In No. 53 John Wilson, " Christopher North," re- 
 sided with his mother even after his marriage, prior to 
 removing to Gloucester Place. Here the famous Chaldee 
 Manuscript was concocted, which created such a sensa- 
 tion when it appeared in Blackwood ; and to the Queen 
 Street home Wilson brought his beautiful bride, Miss 
 Jane Penny, the belle of the Lake District. In No. 62 
 Francis Jeffrey lived when he first actually commenced 
 the formal work of editing the Edinburgh Review^) being 
 succeeded in the tenancy of the house by Professor Sir 
 John Leslie, of the Natural Philosophy Chair in the 
 University, and author of the Essay on the Nature and 
 Properties of Heat, No. 64 was the town house of the 
 300 
 
Princes Street 
 
 Earls of Wemyss ; No. 71 that of Francis, Lord Napier, 
 a distinguished soldier of the race of" Fighting Napier," 
 while in No. 79 Sydney Smith lived during the three 
 years he spent in Edinburgh. Among other places of 
 interest in Queen Street at the present day. No. 22 is 
 where the Offices of the Church of Scotland are situated, 
 and where all the great Standing Committees meet which 
 manage the business details of the numerous missionary 
 and other agencies in connection with the State Church ; 
 while at No. 13 are located the analogous "Offices" 
 of the Episcopal Church of Scotland. No. 9 is now 
 the headquarters of the Royal College of Physicians in 
 Scotland, No. 8 the Edinburgh Institution, one of the 
 best educational seminaries in the city ; No. 4 the 
 Philosophical Institution, where there is a fine lending 
 library, magazine and newspaper-rooms, and where dur- 
 ing the winter season lectures are delivered by well- 
 known individuals on topics of current or general interest. 
 Finally we reach the magnificent structure which ter- 
 minates the long architectural vista of Queen Street, viz., 
 the buildings wherein are housed the Society of Anti- 
 quaries of Scotland^ with their grand Museum of Anti^ 
 quities ; the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, and 
 finally, the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, The 
 splendid pile of fourteenth-century Gothic architecture 
 wherein these are lodged is due to the liberality and 
 public spirit of the late J. R. Findlay, Esq., of Aberlour, 
 one of the proprietors of the Scotsman, and was erected 
 about 1890-95, after designs by Dr. Rowand Anderson, 
 at a cost of £60,000. Both the Museum of Antiquities 
 and the Scottish National Portrait Gallery are worthy 
 not merely of a passing visit, but of detailed study and 
 examination. Both are admirably arranged and classi- 
 fied, and carefully-compiled catalogues are procurable 
 from the custodians, which enable one, even without a 
 great amount of special knowledge, thoroughly to enjoy 
 
 301 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 a visit to these great collections. They are worthy of 
 the land whereof Edinburgh is the capital. 
 
 Queen Street here terminates, but the line of 
 thoroughfare is continued still further eastward by 
 Tork Place (in which, singularly enough, there are two 
 churches, both belonging to the Scottish Episcopal 
 body, St. PauFs and St. George's), and Picardy Place, 
 We must not forget, that, as regards York Place, in 
 No. lo there lived, early in the nineteenth century, 
 William, Lord Craig, a well-known judge (who occu- 
 pied his seat on the bench from 1792-1 8 13). He was 
 one of the contributors to the Mirror and Lounger^ and 
 wrote the paper in the latter on Michael Bruce, the 
 poet, which admirers of the young bard value so highly. 
 Lord Craig was the cousin of the beautiful Mrs Mac- 
 lehose, the Clarinda " of Burns. No. 19 was the 
 residence of the famous Dr. John Abercrombie, author 
 of the Intellectual Powers^ and one of Edinburgh's 
 most celebrated physicians. In No. 22 another judge 
 lived, Charles Hay, Lord Newton, one of the hardest 
 of claret drinkers, yet one of the ablest lawyers of his 
 time. In No. 32, prior to 1820, Sir Henry Raeburn 
 had his studio, and here, it is said, occurred the roman- 
 tic accident by which he won his wife : — 
 
 " One day a young lady presented herself at his studio and 
 desired to sit for her portrait. He instantly remembered having 
 seen her in ?ome of his excursions, when with sketch-book in 
 hand he was noting down fine sketches of scenery, and as she had 
 harmonised with the surroundings he had included her in the 
 sketch. On further acquaintance he found she had sensibility 
 and wit. His respect for her did not affcict his skill of hand, but 
 rather inspired it, and he succeeded in making a fine portrait, 
 with which the lady was greatly pleased. A month or two 
 afterwards she gave him her hand in marriage, bestowing on him 
 at once an affectionate wife and a handsome fortune." 
 
 In No. 47 Alexander Nasmyth, the father of the 
 Scottish School of landscape painting, had his residence, 
 302 
 
Princes Street 
 
 to whom Edinburgh owes not a little of her beauty ; 
 while No. 40 was the residence of Alexander Osborne, 
 Commissioner of the Board of Customs, the tallest and 
 heaviest man of his time, whose height was 7 feet 2 
 inches and his weight 19 stones, while his legs were 
 nearly as large as the body of an ordinary person. 
 Being in London once and having been an enthusiastic 
 volunteer from the inception of the movement, Lord 
 Melville introduced him to George IH. as a specimen 
 of the loyal defenders of the North. On witnessing 
 such a Herculean type of man, the worthy monarch 
 asked eagerly, " What — what — hey — hey, are all my 
 Edinburgh volunteers like you ? " Osborne, supposing 
 the king referred to their status in society, answered 
 promptly, Every one of them, please your Majesty." 
 
 Astonishing ! " cried the king, lifting his hands in 
 wonder. 
 
 In Picardy Place (which, as we have seen, received 
 its name from a colony of Picardy silk weavers, estab- 
 lished here in the seventeenth century), John Clerk, 
 Lord Eldin, a great lawyer and a great wit, lived in 
 No. 16, after he was raised to the Bench. He was a 
 great collector of pictures and prints, as well as of 
 antiquities. His readiness of speech was proverbial. 
 One day, while passing along the street, he heard a 
 young lady behind him say to her friend, That is 
 John Clerk, the lame lawyer, in front of us." In an 
 instant Clerk had wheeled round, Nay, nay, madam, 
 a lame man if ye like, but not a lame lawyer, as * the 
 Fifteen ' know to their cost." 
 
 303 
 
CHAPTER XXI 
 
 The Older ^arts of the New Town 
 
 WE now retrace our steps a little, and striking down 
 Duke Street we reach Abercromby Place 
 (named after the hero of Acre), which, with its con- 
 tinuation, Heriot Row (so styled because the property 
 was on the lands of George Heriot's Trust), faces 
 Queen Street, across the gardens. These are two of 
 the most delightful residential quarters in the older parts 
 of the New Town, and as yet have not been invaded 
 by offices and shops. At No. 21 Abercromby Place, 
 William Edmonstone Aytoun, author of Lays of the 
 Scottish Cavaliersy was born, and at No. 22 James 
 Pillans, LL.D., Professor of Humanity in Edinburgh 
 University, lived from 1820-63. Pillans was one of 
 the finest teachers that ever occupied a chair in the 
 University, though by no means so outstanding a 
 scholar as Dr. Adam of the High School. In No. 3 
 Heriot Row James Ballantyne resided subsequent to 
 1803, when he removed from St. John Street Here 
 Scott dined with him in that year (December 21), 
 and recorded in his Journal : — 
 
 " Dined with James Ballantyne and met my old friend 
 Matthews, the comedian, with his son, now grown up, a clever, 
 rather forward lad, who makes songs in the style of Smith or 
 Colman, and sings them with spirit." 
 
 In No. 6 Henry Mackenzie, author of The Man of 
 Feeling y resided in his later years. Lord Cockburn 
 says in his Memorials : — 
 
 " The title * The Man of Feeling* adhered to him ever after the 
 publication of that novel in 1771, and it was a good example of 
 the difference there sometimes is between a man and his work. 
 
 304 
 
T'he Older Parts of the New T'own 
 
 Strangers used to fancy he must be a pensive sentimental Harley, 
 whereas he was a hard-headed, practical man, full of worldly 
 wisdom." 
 
 In No. 17 Robert Louis Stevenson resided under 
 his father's roof from 1857, when the family migrated 
 from Inverleith Terrace, until he finally left Edinburgh 
 on that weary hunt after health which was eventually 
 to lead him to Samoa. It was in this house, as Miss 
 Margaret Moyes Black says of him, that as a child — 
 
 " He bore the burden of his bad health as bravely in those days 
 as he did in after years, and made for himself plays and pleasures 
 with his nimble brain while his weary body was often tired and 
 restless in that bed whereof he had so much. His mother used 
 to describe, with that same graphic touch which gives life to all 
 her son wrote, the bright games the little fellow invented for him- 
 self, when he was well enough to be up and about and tell how 
 in a corner of the room he made for himself a wonder-world all 
 his own, in which heroes and heroines of romance loved and 
 fought and walked and talked at the bidding of the wizard in 
 frock and pinafore." 
 
 Passing from Heriot Row into Howe Street we note 
 that in No. 18 Sir William Hamilton, the great meta- 
 physician, resided from 1818-27, prior to the era of his 
 professorship. Of this period Carlyle writes in his 
 Journal : — 
 
 In my student life in Edinburgh in 18 19 or 1820 . . . there 
 looked out upon me a back window on the ground floor of a hand- 
 some enough house ; a window that had no curtains, and visible 
 on the sill of it was a quantity of books lying about, gilt quartos 
 and conspicuous volumes several of them ; evidently the sitting- 
 room and working-room of a studious man whose lot in this safe 
 seclusion I viewed with a certain loyal respect." 
 
 From Howe Street we enter Northumberland Street ^ 
 a. fine row of moderately-sized dwellings suitable for 
 households of cultured tastes, but whose means do not 
 permit of residence in more expensive neighbourhoods. 
 In No. 19 the late Dr. Terrot, Bishop of Edinburgh, 
 lived for many years, while in No. 25 John Gibson 
 u 305 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 Lockhart resided in 1823-24, subsequent to his 
 marriage with Sophia, daughter of Sir Walter Scott, 
 and until his removal to London in 1825 to take up 
 the editorship of the Quarterly Review. Of him Sir 
 Archibald Alison writes at this time : — 
 
 " His hair was dark, his eye keen, his lips thin, his complexion 
 sallow, his manners polished but reserved. In general society he 
 was silent and observant, in his intimate circle joyous and ex- 
 pansive. His satirical powers made him an amusing companion, 
 but at the same time there mingled a certain feeling of distrust 
 even with the affection of his most intimate friends : for you 
 never could tell how soon you yourself might become the object 
 of the shafts which he launched with so unmerciful a hand at 
 others." 
 
 From Northumberland Street we pass via Nelson 
 Street into Drummond Place, one of the fine old squares 
 of Edinburgh, the houses in which still retain traces of 
 the days when it was one of the most fashionable quarters. 
 In No. 28 Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe of Hoddam lived 
 for several years before his death, and here was lodged 
 that marvellous collection of antiquities, articles o^vertu 
 and objets £ art which he had amassed through life. He 
 was full of persiflage and graceful wit. Mr. M. S. Tait, 
 one of his early friends, permits us to publish the follow- 
 ing as a specimen of a letter of invitation sent to him 
 by Sharpe over fifty years ago : — 
 " Come on Friday 
 Wet or dry day." 
 
 Chambers described him in his Biographical Dictionary 
 as — 
 
 Peculiar in personal appearance and in the style of his dress, 
 which belonged to a past rather than the present fashion. . . , 
 His manner had all that gracefulness and ease, familiar yet polite, 
 which distinguished the highly-aristocratic school in which he had 
 been brought up." 
 
 While Scott in his Journal says : — 
 
 " He is a very complete genealogist. Strange that a man should 
 be so curious after scandal a century old. Not but that Charles 
 306 
 
"The Older Parts of the New 'Town 
 
 loves it 'fresh and free' also, for being a very fashionable man, 
 he is always master of the reigning report, and he tells the anec- 
 dotes with such gusto that there is no helping sympathising with 
 him, a peculiar voice adding not a little to the general effect. 
 My idea is that Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe, with his oddities, 
 tastes, satire and high aristocratic feelings, resembles Horace 
 Walpole." 
 
 No. 32 Drummond Place was the residence of 
 Patrick Robertson, a man equally celebrated as a lawyer 
 and a wit, who was raised to the Bench under the title 
 of Lord Robertson. He was famous for his mock 
 heroic speeches, for his improvised poems, their merit 
 often lying in their excruciating badness, and for his 
 flow of puns and witticisms. No form was more 
 familiar than his in Parliament House, his face full of 
 grotesque humour, his rotund figure of Johnsonian ampli- 
 tude (as Grant says) being known to all, while his 
 sobriquet^ *' Lord Peter," was in everyone's mouth. 
 Lockhart, who in the Quarterly Review (at least in 
 the single copy sent to Robertson) had written of him as 
 " that peerless paper-lord, Lord Peter, 
 Who broke the laws of God, of man and metre," 
 
 thus described a dinner at which Robertson presided ; — 
 He made his approach to the chair amid such a thunder of 
 acclamation as seems to issue from the cheeks of the Bacchantes 
 when Silenus gets astride his ass, in the famous picture of Rubens. 
 Once in the chair, there was no fear of his quitting it while any 
 remained to do homage to his authority. He made speeches, one 
 chief merit of which consisted, unlike epic poems, in their having 
 neither beginning, middle nor end. He sang songs in which 
 music was not ; he proposed toasts in which meaning was not : 
 but over everything that he said, there was flung such a radiance 
 of mother-wit ... as to diffuse over us all one genial atmosphere 
 of unmingled mirth." 
 
 He was a terror to all bores, and in Wilson s 
 Memorials there is recounted one case in which he 
 completely silenced a talker of this kind : — 
 
 At a dinner-party a learned and pedantic Oxonian was be- 
 coming very tiresome with his Greek erudition which he insisted 
 
 307 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 on pouring forth on a variety of topics. At length at a stage of 
 the discussion on some historical point, Lord Robertson turned 
 round and fixing his large grey eyes upon the Englishman said, 
 with a solemn and judicial air, * I rather think, sir, Dionysius of 
 Halicarnassus is against you there.' ^ I beg your pardon,' said the 
 Oxonian, quickly, * Dionysius did not flourish for ninety years 
 after that period.' ' Oh,' rejoined Robertson, with an expression 
 of face that must be imagined, *I made a mistake, I meant 
 Tkaddeus of TVarsaiv.^ In the shriek of laughter that followed, 
 the Grecian discussion collapsed." 
 
 He, however, always met his match in Scott. 
 Robertson, who was convinced Scott was the author 
 of the Waverley Novels, often tried to draw him. Sir 
 Walter, as is well known, had a very high almost 
 conical forehead, which in age was crowned with a 
 mass of thick white hair. One day the discussion on 
 the authorship of Wa'uerley had grown very animated 
 in the hall of Parliament House among the advocates, 
 when the white head of Scott was seen approaching. 
 The incident occurred just after the publication of 
 Peveril of the Peak^ therefore Robertson pretended to 
 silence the more youthful disputants by saying loud 
 enough for Scott to hear, Hush, boys, hush, here 
 comes old Peveril, I see his Peak.'^ Scott affected 
 not to hear, but passed on with an enigmatic smile, 
 muttering in allusion to Robertson's Silenus-like figure, 
 " Ay, ay, maybe it would be as well to be Peveril o* 
 the Peak, as Peter o' the Paunch." 
 
 No. 38 was the residence of Adam Black, the 
 publisher and founder of the firm of A. & C. Black. 
 Though the son of a humble builder, he lived to 
 become the head of one of the largest publishing houses 
 of his time. Twice he refused knighthood : he was 
 Lord Provost of the city from 1834-48, and was in 
 his seventieth year when he was returned to the House 
 of Commons in preference to Lord Macaulay. As is 
 said of him in his Li/e, Being a member of the inde- 
 308 
 
The Older Parts of the New T'own 
 
 pendent body he was ever an advocate for unsectarian 
 education, absolute freedom of trade, and complete 
 toleration in religion." 
 
 Drummond Place opens into another thoroughfare 
 filled with spacious and substantial dwellings — Great 
 King Street. In No. 3 Professor Sir Robert Christison 
 (1797- 1 88 2) of the Chair of Materia Medica in the 
 University, resided for over half a century. He was 
 probably the greatest authority on toxicology and of 
 the whole science of animal and vegetable poisons, that 
 has lived in modern times. His evidence at the trial 
 of Palmer in London in 1856, was so valuable that he 
 was specially thanked by Lord Campbell. To him 
 also we owe the delightful drink, kola. In No. 9, 
 Thomas De Quincey (1785-1859) lived for a time 
 with his family between the years 1830-34 when he 
 was writing his brilliant series of articles for Blackwood, 
 In No. 72 Sir William Allan (i 784-1852), President 
 of the Royal Scottish Academy, lived and died, while 
 in No. 16 Sir William Hamilton (1788- 1856) resided 
 for several years. In his Memoir the following descrip- 
 tion is given by Veitch of the interior of his mansion : — 
 
 The rooms in which he and his family usually sat were sur- 
 rounded by books ; how clearly does one in which we passed 
 many a pleasant hour rise to mind. In it from floor to roof the 
 bookshelves mounted one above another, almost entirely covering 
 the walls. Beneath some fine engravings of the Italian poets, 
 on a table inlaid with brass, stood two handsome malachite vases, 
 some pieces of old china, and usually a glass with flowers. The 
 room was lighted by one large window, and in its entrance stood 
 a large Indian jar covered with strange devices, which must have 
 had a charmed life, since it had survived many generations of 
 children unscathed. . . . Hamilton (as Professor Von Scheel 
 said) is undoubtedly one of the first-class scholars living in Great 
 Britain. His reading is immense, for he has considered no 
 branch of science entirely foreign to his pursuits, and his memory 
 is admirable." 
 
 Sir William Hamilton founded no school because he 
 
 309 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 devoted himself to the exposition of the principles of 
 Thomas Reid's Philosophy of Common Sense — a course 
 deeply to be regretted. With the exception of his 
 edition of Reid, and his half-dozen articles in the 
 Edinburgh Review, he wrote nothing. His lectures on 
 Logic and Metaphysics prepared for his class require- 
 ments, often the night before delivery, could manifestly 
 be no complete presentation of his philosophical ideas, 
 and the fact has been shown by Professors Veitch, Seth 
 Pringle-Pattison, and others, and not least by the late 
 Herbert Spencer, that not only had John Stuart Mill, 
 in his Examination of Sir W, Hamilton s Philosophy, 
 entirely misapprehended Hamilton's position, but had 
 in many respects set up a man of straw of his own 
 which he certainly annihilated, but without touching 
 Hamilton. That he took a somewhat unfair advantage 
 of one no longer able to reply, by selecting for the 
 brunt of his attack lectures manifestly only adapted for 
 the instruction of very young students of philosophy, is 
 now generally admitted. 
 
 From Great King Street we ascend into the Royal 
 Circus, formed by two stately and spacious crescents " 
 divided by Circus Place, thence through Gloucester 
 Place and Doune Terrace into the celebrated Moray 
 Place, the most magnificent and palatial street in the 
 city. Before referring to it, a word regarding the 
 residents of Gloucester Place, In No. 6 resided, from 
 1825 until his death in 1854, Professor John Wilson, 
 "Christopher North." Here all his best and most 
 enduring work was done. Sir Archibald Alison wrote 
 of him in his Autobiography : — 
 
 He was essentially a man of genius 5 you could not converse 
 with him for five minutes without perceiving it. His very look 
 revealed the fervour of his mind. Blue piercing eyes, thin and 
 flying yellow hair, a fair complexion and sanguine temperament 
 bespoke the Danish blood. His heart contained many of the 
 purest and noblest sentiments, but with these was combined a 
 
 3 10 
 
T'he Older Parts of the New Town 
 
 strange mixture of drollery. . . . He scarcely ever began to 
 work till a day or two before the article required to be printed, 
 and then he wrote straight on often for sixteen or seventeen 
 hours before leaving his room. In the intervening four weeks 
 till the periodical demand of the printer's devil returned, he did 
 little or nothing, dreaming over poetry, fishing up the Tweed or 
 wandering in romantic rapture through the Highland glens." 
 
 Carlyle also writes of him in 1827 : — 
 
 — a man of the most fervid temperament, fond of all stimu- 
 lating things from tragic poetry down to whisky punch. He 
 snuffed and smoked cigars and drank liquors and talked in a 
 most indescribable style. Daylight came on before we parted : 
 indeed it was towards three o'clock when the professor and I 
 walked homeward, smoking as we went. He is a broad sincere 
 man of six feet, with long dishevelled hair and two blue eyes 
 keen as an eagle's." 
 
 No. I Doune Terrace was the residence of Robert 
 Chambers, the younger of the two brothers to whom 
 Scotland and Scotsmen, as well as Edinburgh and its 
 citizens, owe so much. His industry was prodigious, 
 as the list of works he produced amply testifies, be- 
 ginning with the Traditions of Edinburgh and ending 
 with the Book of Days, the preparation of which really 
 killed him. The writer of the Memoir of the Two 
 Brothers says : — 
 
 " Robert was so constituted that remarkably little sleep sufficed 
 for him when in health, seldom more than five hours out of the 
 twenty-four being so spent. Breakfast at eight, writing in his 
 own house till one, a visit to the office, a walk of an hour or two 
 and retirement to his study — when not dining out or entertaining 
 at home — to work from eight to one, appears to have been his 
 daily routine. . . . He used to pay for two pews in different 
 churches, and on being asked the reason, replied, 'Because when 
 I am not in one, it will be concluded by the charitable that I am 
 in the other.* " 
 
 Moray Place, built upon the grounds of the Earl of 
 Moray's beautiful mansion of Drumsheugh, was until 
 1823 open country with surrounding scenery as charm- 
 ing as any in Midlothian. In that year the estate was 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 cut up and feued, and the present " place built upon 
 it in the shape of a pentagon, with a diameter of about 
 325 yards and with a charming enclosed pleasure 
 ground in the centre. The characteristics of the archi- 
 tecture are a series of finely-symmetrical confronting 
 fagades, broken at stated intervals by huge, richly- 
 adorned quarter-sunk Doric pillars, crowned with an 
 imposing entablature. The houses are very large and 
 suitable only for households with an extensive staff of 
 servants. In No. 7 Dugald Stewart lived for a time in 
 1824-25, shortly before his death. Here the second 
 Mrs Stewart dispensed that graceful hospitality for 
 which she was so celebrated. One of her friends thus 
 writes of her : — 
 
 "Though the least beautiful of a family in which beauty is 
 hereditary, she had the best essence of beauty, expression, a bright 
 eye beaming with intelligence, a manner the most distinguished 
 yet soft, feminine and winning. She bestowed a wealth of affec- 
 tion on her husband which was beautiful to witness. Her grace 
 and dignity made a great impression on the pupils who were 
 placed under the professor's care, many of whom attained the 
 highest honours in political life — Lords Palmerston, Lansdowne, 
 Dudley, Kinnaird, and Ashburton. Her talent, wit and beauty 
 made the wife of the professor one of the most attractive women 
 in the city. No wonder, therefore, that her salons were the resort 
 of all that was best of Edinburgh. In her Lord Dudley found 
 indeed a friend : she was to him in the place of a mother, and his 
 respect and affection for her were unbounded. Often have we 
 seen him when she was stricken in years seated near her for whole 
 evenings, clasping her hand in both of his." 
 
 No. 12 Moray Place was the residence of Charles 
 Hope of Granton, Lord President of the Court of 
 Session, who was largely instrumental in raising the 
 large volunteer forces which in Scotland, and in Edin- 
 burgh in particular, at the time of the French scare in 
 1 804 responded to the call of the Government ; while 
 in No. 24 Francis Jeffrey resided from about 1824 
 until his death in 1850. His latter years were spent 
 312 
 
The Older Farts of the New Town 
 
 between this house and his beautiful country home at 
 Craigcrook, about three miles distant. His biographer, 
 Lord Cockburn, says : — 
 
 " One autumn day in 1849, he took what he felt to be a fare- 
 well view of the beauties of this suburban retreat, and on January 
 22, after a brisk walk round the Calton Hill, was attacked by 
 bronchitis, a complaint to which for some years he had been more 
 or less subject. After four days' illness in which he suffered little 
 he breathed his last on the 26th inst. He too felt the ruling 
 passion strong in death, for in his dreams during the three nights 
 prior to his dissolution, the spirit of the Edinburgh Reviewer pre- 
 dominated, so that he was examining proof sheets, reading news- 
 papers and passing judgment on arguments and events as they rose 
 before his mind's eye." 
 
 Moray Place leads us through Great Stuart Street 
 into Ainslie Place, also a noble range of family mansions. 
 In 16 Gr^^/ tS/z/^zr/ »S'/r^'^/, William Edmonstone Ay toun, 
 Professor of Rhetoric and Belles Lettres in the Uni- 
 versity, lived from 1853 until his death in 1865. The 
 following description of the author of the Lays of the 
 Scottish Cavaliers occurs in Sir Theodore Martin's 
 Life of him : — 
 
 " We found him sober in gait, slow and gentle in voice and with 
 a student-like stoop in his shoulders, advancing like a young girl. 
 At this time he must have lost a good deal of the robust health 
 and elasticity of spirits of his earlier days . . . though his colour 
 was still fresh, and his brown hair was neither thinned nor 
 silvered, yet he was extremely indisposed to exertion." 
 
 In No. 6 Ainslie Place Sir Charles Bell, the great 
 surgeon, had his home and consulting-rooms. He will 
 ever be remembered for his great discovery of the dis- 
 tinct functions of the nerves. In his Life and Letters 
 the following reference to this discovery take s place : — 
 
 " We had a cottage at Hampstead. He drove to Haverstock 
 Hill and walked on. He came in breathless and sat down, say- 
 ing to his wife, ' O May ; I have discovered what will im- 
 mortalise me.' He then placed a sheet of paper on the table and 
 sketched on it what he afterwards called the Classification of the 
 
'The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 Lady Bell thus writes of Ainslie Place, after her 
 husband's appointment to the Professorship of Surgery 
 in the University of Edinburgh : — 
 
 " We came to Scotland at the right season and were welcomed 
 by all whom we wished to welcome us. The windows of Ainslie 
 Place looked out to the glorious colouring of the north-west skies, 
 to Corstorphine Hill and the distant Grampians. The garden 
 was in terraces down to the Water of Leith and the walks there 
 among the sweet briar hedges made our home in Edinburgh very 
 delightful." 
 
 In No. 23 Dean Ramsay, the incumbent of St. John's 
 Episcopal Church, lived from 1865-72. In the first- 
 mentioned year his charming work. Reminiscences of 
 Scottish Life and Character^ was published, of which 
 twenty-two editions had been issued in 1872. In Pro- 
 fessor Cosmo Innes's Memoir the following reference 
 to Ramsay occurs : — 
 
 " How accomplished he was, what knowledge he had on many 
 subjects, his fine taste ; his gentleness and Christian piety ; how 
 amusing he was ; and such droll things broke out every now and 
 then." 
 
 The Rev. Dr. Guthrie, the celebrated preacher and 
 Christian philanthropist, another kindred spirit of heroic 
 mould, also wrote of him : — 
 
 "The Dean is just the Dean. To describe him by citing any 
 parallel or analogous type of character would be impossible, for 
 there are none such. He is one of the most saintly and at the 
 same time the most courtly Christian gentlemen it has ever been 
 my fortune to meet. As a clergyman he is sui generis. 
 
 Passing from Ainslie Place, we enter Randolph 
 Crescent^ a delightfully situated range of dwellings, in 
 No. 3 of which the late John Blackwood lived, son of 
 the founder of the famous firm of William Blackwood & 
 Sons. To John Blackwood is due the credit of dis- 
 covering the genius of George Eliot. So highly did 
 he rate her ability as displayed in her early works that 
 he wrote in one of his letters : — 
 
 "I hope the present year will be a successful one and that we 
 
 314 
 
The Older Parts of the New Town 
 
 shall light upon some new authors of genius, though I can never 
 hope to light upon another George Eliot." 
 
 We have now reached the Queensferry Road, the great 
 main thoroughfare to the north-east of Scotland, the 
 Dean Bridge with the glorious view from its centre, 
 and our labour will not be lost if we take a walk down 
 to the old village of the IVater of Leith, Proceeding 
 down the somewhat steep descent which diverges to 
 the left before the main Queensferry Road crosses the 
 Dean Bridge, we speedily enter a new world. Far 
 above us, on the crest of the high, precipitous banks of 
 the ravine, spanned by the noble bridge, erected in 
 1832, by Lord Provost Learmonth of Dean, after plans 
 supplied by Telford, is modern Edinburgh with its 
 fashionable crescents and stately terraces ; down here 
 by the side of the silvery Water of Leith, brawling and 
 foaming and tumbling over its rocky bed, we are trans- 
 ported back into the world of the seventeenth and 
 eighteenth centuries. Here are cottages with curious 
 overhanging eaves, quaint, crow-stepped gables, peaked 
 dormer windows, heavily mullioned and with antique 
 devices over them, massive doorways with heavily- 
 bowtelled lintels and sculptured architraves with the 
 quaint inscriptions and insignia of the old craftsmen, 
 regarding whom we may say : — 
 
 "Their tools are rust, 
 Their bones are dust, 
 
 But their souls are with the saints, we trust." 
 
 Here too are the remains of the mills called " Bell's 
 Mills " — once a hive of industry — which date back 
 to the seventeenth century, some of the buildings of 
 which still retain the curious symbols of the miller's 
 craft over the doorways, although all molindinary 
 operations " (Sir Piercie Shafton dictu) have long since 
 ceased, and the premises have been converted to other 
 purposes. The late J. R. Findlay of Aberlour has 
 
 315 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 erected some cottages here which are models of what 
 such dwellings should be. The view down the valley 
 of the Water of Leith, whether we take it from the 
 site of the old bridge or from the parapet of the great 
 modern structure which towers overhead, is idyllic in 
 its peaceful beauty, and is thus charmingly described by 
 Mr. John Geddie in his delightful volume, the Water 
 of Leith from Source to Sea : — 
 
 The stream here brawls whitely over sharp-edged whinstone 
 ledges or eddies in the brown pools between. Many thousands 
 of foot-passengers have gazed down into the hollow, divided in 
 mind as to whether the palm for picturesque effect should be as- 
 signed to the upstream view (into murky depths out of which rise 
 the grey gables and red roofs of Water of Leith village, fronted 
 by its sheet of falling water and backed by masses of buildings 
 and of foliage, broken by many spires and pinnacles, and ending 
 in the wooded crest of Corstorphine Hill) or to the prospect sea- 
 ward, through the green and winding jaws of the gorge and across 
 Leith and its smoke to the Firth, Inchkeith, and Lar^o Law." 
 
 From the Dean Bridge, looking north - eastward 
 down the course of the river which we are now about 
 to follow, a noble prospect is obtained, whether we elect 
 to let the eye travel along the right or the left bank. 
 On the latter, and extending back to where the ground 
 begins to slope down to the bed of the Forth, are the 
 noble lines of residences formed by Buckingham and 
 Learmonth Terraces, and Clarendon Crescent, with 
 Comely Bank and Raeburn Place lying to the north, 
 the latter being named after the great Scottish painter. 
 Sir Henry Raeburn, upon whose property it was situated. 
 The dwelling of the artist was at St Bernard's,'' a 
 villa overlooking the Water of Leith, and occupied the 
 site where Dean Terrace stands to-day. In No. 21 
 Carlyle lived for nearly two years after his marriage 
 with Jane Welsh, and thus sketches the tenour of his 
 life there : 
 
 "Directly after breakfast, the good wife and the doctor (his 
 316 
 
"The Older Parts of the New Town 
 
 brother John who was staying with them) retire upstairs to the 
 drawing-room, a little place all fitted up like a lady's workbox, 
 where a spunk of fire is lit for the forenoon, and I meanwhile sit 
 scribbling and meditating and wrestling with the powers of dul- 
 ness till one or two o'clock, when I sally forth into the city, or 
 toward the seashore, taking care only to be home for the important 
 purpose of consuming my mutton chop at four. After dinner we 
 all read learned languages till coffee (which we now often take at 
 night instead of tea), and so on till bedtime, only that Jane often 
 sews, and the doctor goes up to the celestial globe, studying the 
 fixed stars through an upshoved window and generally comes 
 down to his porridge about ten, with a nose dripping at its ex- 
 tremity. Thus we pass our days in our little cottage. Many a 
 time, on a soft mild night I smoke my pipe in our little flower 
 garden and look upon all this, and think of all absent and 
 present friends and feel that I have good reason to be thankful 
 I am not in Purgatory." 
 
 Further round is Eton Terrace, with the cosy sub- 
 stantial houses of Ann Street, behind, where in No. 29 
 Professor John Wilson lived, before his removal to 
 Gloucester Place. Here De Quincey resided with 
 him for many months, and Wilson's daughter, Mrs 
 Gordon, thus vividly describes the English " Opium- 
 eater's " habits : — 
 
 "An ounce of laudanum per diem prostrated animal life in the 
 early part of the day. It was no infrequent sight to find him in 
 his room lying on the rug in front of the fire, his head resting on 
 a book, with his arms crossed over his breast in profound slumber. 
 For several hours he would lie in this state until the torpor passed 
 away ; . . the time when he was most brilliant was generally 
 towards the early morning hours ; and then more than once, in 
 order to show him ofl"', my father arranged his supper-parties so 
 that sitting till 3 or 4 a.m. he brought Mr. De Quincey to that 
 point at which in charm and power of conversation he was so 
 truly wonderful." 
 
 On the right-hand bank of the river as we pace along 
 the low road, skirting the water-side, a wide prospect 
 meets the eye as it ranges past the backs'' of the 
 Moray Place houses — a hideous architectural mistake 
 — along the wooded slope above us, noting as we pro- 
 
 317 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 ceed the beautiful structure of St, Bernard's Welly erected 
 by Lord Gardenstone in 1789 in the form of a Doric 
 temple after the model of the Sybil's Fane at Tibur 
 (Tivoli) : past St. Stephen's Church, a massive octagonal 
 structure in the "mixed Roman style," with a lofty square 
 tower tipped at the four corners with crocketed pinnacles, 
 onward to the " Stock or Stake " bridge — the district 
 taking its name from the ancient wooden bridge which 
 spanned the stream. The Water of Leith " here 
 passes through the remains of the ancient hamlet of 
 Silvermills, once the centre of thriving colonies of silver- 
 smiths and of tanners, past the back of Henderson 
 Row, in which stands the Academy, one of the best as 
 well as one of the most fashionable seminaries in Edin- 
 burgh, of which Sir Walter Scott was one of the 
 founders ; then onward to Canonmills, where of old were 
 situated the mills of the Augustinian monks of Holyrood. 
 Here the stream washes the foundations of Tanfield 
 Hall, originally built in the form of a Moorish fortress 
 when it was the works of the Oil Gas Company," an 
 ill-fated speculation in which Sir Walter Scott was 
 interested. In the great workroom of this defunct 
 company, after the place had been adapted to the pur- 
 poses of a hall, the Free Church of Scotland was con- 
 stituted on the 1 8th May 1843, of those who were 
 known as the Non-Intrusionist Party " in the Church 
 of Scotland ; and in the same place the two sections of 
 the Secession Church, the United Secession and the 
 Relief, were welded together into one in May 1847 
 under the name of the United Presbyterian Church. 
 The Water of Leith then skirts the boundary of the 
 Warriston Cemetery ^ charmingly situated on a rising 
 ground on the left bank of the stream, and commanding 
 a glorious view of the city. In this burying-place lie 
 Sir James Y. Simpson, Bart., the discoverer of chloro- 
 form ; Alexander Smith, the poet, author among other 
 
 318 
 
T'he Older Parts of the New Town 
 
 things of A Life Drama (1858), City Poems (1857), 
 Dreamthorp^ a volume of essays, and Alfred Hagart^s 
 Household^ a novel, and undoubtedly his greatest work ; 
 Rev. Dr. Peddle, Horatio MacCulloch, R.S.A., Sir 
 Thomas Clark, Bart., the well-known publisher, and 
 others. The river here passes through what was once 
 the property of the Johnstons of Warriston, a name 
 famous in the great struggle between Presbyterianism 
 and Episcopacy, as being that of one of the great 
 champions of the Covenant. Warriston House, the 
 entrance to which is in Inverleith Row, opposite the 
 Botanic Gardens, is a modern edifice occupying the site 
 of an older one, which was in 1 591 the scene of a dark 
 tragedy : Jean Livingstone, a beautiful young woman of 
 family and fortune, had been forced by her friends into 
 a marriage with John Kincaid of Warriston (who seems 
 to have owned the property before the Johnstons), a 
 man much older than herself, with nothing in common 
 with her, and whom she loathed. Driven to frenzy by 
 his jealousy, cruelty and suspicion, and instigated by an 
 old nurse, whose love for her young mistress seems to 
 have blinded her to aught else, Mrs Kincaid induced 
 one of her serving-men, Robert Weir, to beat her husband 
 to death. As Mr. Geddie says in his Water of Leith : — 
 " All three actors in the murder suffered death. But while 
 the nurse was burned on the Castle Hill, and Weir was broken 
 on the wheel, * Lady Warriston,' now an interesting penitent, 
 ascended the scaffold at the Girth Cross in the Canongate and 
 was beheaded by the ' Maiden,' behaving herself as cheerfully, we 
 are told, * as if she were going to her wedding and not to her 
 death; 
 
 The river until it discharges itself into the sea at 
 Leith now flows on through districts becoming every 
 year more densely populated, but which were only re- 
 cently the wood-dotted parks and green lawns of such 
 fine old family mansions as Bonnington Lodge, Beaver- 
 bank, Old Broughton Hall, Blandford House, Redbraes, 
 
 3^9 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 Bonnyhaugh, Stewartfield, Pilrig, Hillhousefield, etc. 
 
 Eheu ! Eheu ! tempora mutantur et nos mutamur in illis. 
 At Canonmills, Inverleith Row begins. In No. 54, 
 Horatio MacCulIoch, the great Scottish landscape painter, 
 lived and died. The chief place of interest here is the 
 Botanic Gardens and Arboretum^ which rank among the 
 finest in Britain, and are under the care of the Professor of 
 Botany in the University of Edinburgh, who acts as the 
 Regius Keeper of them and during the summer delivers 
 his botanical lectures there. Formed in 1 824, when the 
 old Physic Gardens at the foot of the Calton Hill were 
 abolished, they embrace an area of 27 acres Scots and 
 contain an extensive range of greenhouses, palmhouses, 
 tropical grottos, hothouses, and all the other necessaries 
 for studying the flora of other climes and countries. 
 The Arboretum^ opened in 1881, is more especially 
 devoted to the study and cultivation of arboriculture 
 and forestry and to the encouragement of scientific and 
 ornamental afforestation in Scotland. Delightfully se- 
 cluded pathways lead one deep into woodland glades, 
 where seemingly far from the madding crowd one 
 could fleet the summer's day away in meditation and 
 reverie. Yet we are distant but five minutes' walk 
 from the scenes of the city's life, which ever and anon 
 breaks in with its muffled hum upon the peaceful still- 
 ness of the retreat. 
 
 Adjoining the gardens is Inverleith Public Park^ one 
 of the lungs " of the town, where of an evening all 
 kinds of sports are in progress, and less than a mile 
 north-west of us, standing out white in the sunlight, we 
 descry the splendid pile of Fettes College, which is a 
 conspicuous feature in the landscape for miles around. 
 This noble edifice, erected in 1 870 at a cost of £1 50,000 
 after the designs of David Bryce, R.S.A., is remark- 
 able for the marvellous diversity of its ornamental ac- 
 cessories and the exquisitely harmonious symmetry of 
 320 
 
The Older Parts of the New Town 
 
 the architectural whole. The style adopted is the most 
 ornate type of the Scots Baronial, and the building 
 consists of a grand centre, with wings thrown out at a 
 somewhat obtuse angle, all these exhibiting a profusion 
 of towers, buttresses, pinnacles, and crockets, finished 
 even to the minutest detail with the choicest carving. 
 As a seminary of learning, modelled, as regards the staff 
 of teachers, the course of study pursued, and its internal 
 management, upon the great English schools, Eton, 
 Harrow, and Rugby, Fettes College has taken a very 
 high place, the system of instruction being both thorough 
 in its grounding and comprehensive in its scope. The 
 funds necessary for the erection and equipment of such 
 an institution were derived from the estate of Sir 
 William Fettes, once a grocer at the head of Bailie 
 Fyfe's Close in the High Street of Edinburgh, but who, 
 by probity, perseverance, and foresight, rose to be Lord 
 Provost of Edinburgh and one of the wealthiest men of 
 his time. Beyond the college is another imposing- 
 looking building — the new Leith Hospital for Infectious 
 Diseases. In its architectural details a commendable 
 regard has been paid to the preservation of the amenity 
 of this exquisite landscape. 
 
 Inverleith Row, to which we must now return, ex- 
 tends on to Goldenacre, a popular residential suburb, 
 where many fine villas are in course of erection. Here 
 we meet the boundary line of the Leith, Trinity, and 
 Granton districts, which will be described in a future 
 chapter. 
 
 X 
 
CHAPTER XXII 
 
 <3V[odern Parts of the New Town 
 
 AS the population of the town increased, more ac- 
 commodation for householders became imperative, 
 and accordingly, about 1820, a movement began to be 
 made westward," when the lands of Easter and Wester 
 Coates were feued, and upon these were built East and 
 West Maitland Streets, Shandwick Place, and Coates 
 and Athole Crescents, Maitland Street and Shandwick 
 Place, at first purely residential quarters, are now given 
 up wholly to shops and offices. In No. 6 Shandivkk 
 Place Sir Walter Scott lived, during the winter from 
 1828-30, when he was busy with those various literary 
 tasks by which he hoped to pay off the mountain of debt 
 which had been left upon his shoulders by the failure of 
 the Ballantynes and Constable. At the corner of Walker 
 Street and Shandwick Place is St. George's United Free 
 Church, the scene of the ministrations of one of the 
 greatest and most beloved of Scottish clergymen, the Rev. 
 Alexander Whyte, D.D. By his eloquent sermons, 
 by his lectures to his Bible Classes — classes which never 
 number less than 500 or 600 — and by his books, he has 
 exercised an influence upon the religious thought of Scot- 
 land as deep as it is likely to be lasting. His prede- 
 cessor in the church, the Rev. Dr. Candlish, was a man 
 of immense intellectual force, both as a controversialist 
 and as a preacher. 
 
 Striking along Walker Street we reach Melville Street, 
 which with George Street ranks as the widest street in 
 the city. The houses are large, imposing and substanti- 
 322 
 
^Modern Parts of the New Town 
 
 ally built, while it is nobly terminated at the western end 
 by the majestic proportions of St. Mary's Cathedral — 
 which, however, actually stands in Manor Place. This 
 grand structure, the lofty spire of which, 275 feet in 
 height, can be seen all over Edinburgh, is one of which 
 
 every citizen is proud, be his kirk or creed what it may. 
 Unquestionably it is the most beautiful ecclesiastical edi- 
 fice raised in Scotland since the Reformation. Designed 
 in the Early Pointed style by the late Sir Gilbert Scott, 
 and erected in 1874-78 at a cost of over £1 20,000, the 
 sum was defrayed by a bequest left by the Misses Walker 
 of Coates, whose ancient family mansion still exists 
 adjoining the Cathedral. The length of the building, 
 chancel and nave, is 279 feet by 98 in width. Chastely 
 simple as regards architectural ornamentation, the com- 
 
 323 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 parative absence of this sometimes meretricious accessory 
 adds to the effect produced by the noble outHnes of the 
 building and by its majestic repose. Somewhat removed 
 from the turmoil of the town's great arteries of traffic, 
 it stands restful, solemn, and stately, a fitting house of 
 prayer, whither the steps of worshippers may almost 
 involuntarily turn when the spirit longs for communion 
 with the Eternal. 
 
 The interior is planned and fitted up with the same 
 subtle artistic sense of what is harmoniously accordant 
 and proper. Chancel, nave, choir, aisles, the stalls for 
 the clergy, the seats for the worshippers, the ornamenta- 
 tion of the walls, the reredos, and organ loft, have all 
 been finished and furnished in a manner felicitously con- 
 gruous with the grand central idea that the building is a 
 house of God who is a spirit and must therefore be 
 worshipped in spirit and in truth. The organ is a very 
 fine one, while the peal of bells on a clear day can be 
 distinctly heard at Gilmerton and at Aberdour. 
 
 The bishop, the Right Rev. John Dowden, D.D., 
 who at present occupies the See of Edinburgh, is one 
 who has done much to extend the influence of the Epis- 
 copal Church throughout his diocese, and his efforts are 
 loyally seconded by the dean, the Very Rev. J. S. Wilson, 
 and the canons and clergy of the Cathedral. 
 
 Melville Street^ which is divided into two parts by 
 Melville Crescent, in the centre of which stands a life- 
 like statue of the second Viscount Melville, has been the 
 residence of many distinguished men. In No i Sir David 
 Brewster, Principal of the University of Edinburgh and 
 one of the greatest scientists of his age, lived for some 
 years prior to 1 8 2 7 . He was a remarkable man in many 
 ways, but never quite realised the expectations entertained 
 of him. In The Home Life of Sir David Brewster the 
 writer says : — 
 
 " He used the strongest language to express what to other minds 
 
 324 
 
SModern Parts of the New 'Town 
 
 would have been a comparatively small trial, and events — the 
 smallest circumstances connected with foot servants, foot journeys, 
 or such like, were created by a naturally irritable temper into 
 serious events, and if the slightest thing went wrong were com- 
 mented upon in terms so distressed as to lead — as would have led 
 a stranger — to believe that some calamity of unusual magnitude 
 had occurred. His power of telling sarcasm was very great and 
 came too easily to his hand when he wielded a pen : his entire 
 freedom from it in daily life and speech was however remarkable." 
 
 He was excessively timid and the following anec- 
 dotes are related by his daughter : — 
 
 At the time Lord Rosse*s telescope was drawing so many 
 scientific men across the Channel he was asked if he were going 
 too. * Oh, no,' he replied, *I am much too afraid of the sea.* 
 On a friend telling him that all he had to do was to goto his bed 
 when he went on board and when he awoke he would find himself 
 at his destination. 'What,' cried Brewster, * d'ye actually think 
 I would go to my naked bed ' (a Scotch expression for undressing 
 to go to bed) * in the middle of the ocean ? * On another occasion he 
 was telling a friend how acutely he had been suffering from tooth- 
 ache and his companion asked him why he had not got the tooth 
 drawn. ' Get it drawn,* said the philosopher, * would you have 
 me lose a member of my body ? ' The friend therefore asked 
 what he had done. ' Done, I just sat and roared," was 
 Brewster's reply." 
 
 No. 29 was the residence, for many years prior to his 
 death, of the celebrated Dr. Andrew Thomson, the 
 minister of St. George's Church, Charlotte Square, the 
 greatest man, save Chalmers, the Church of Scotland 
 has produced of recent times. Lockhart wrote of him in 
 Peter^s Letters to his Kinsfolk : 
 
 "I am assured that church-going was a thing completely out of 
 fashion among the fine folks of the New Town of Edinburgh till 
 this man was removed from a church he formerly held in the 
 Old Town and established under the splendid dome of St. 
 George's. He is an active and muscular man about forty, and 
 carries in his countenance the stamp of a nature deficient in none 
 of those elements which are most efiicient in giving a man 
 command over the mind of his fellows." 
 
 He was on one occasion blamed by a co-presbyter for 
 
'The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 the poor substitutes he used to put into his pulpit, his friend 
 saying, " You put everybody into your pulpit, Dr. Thom- 
 son." " No ! no ! " replied the ready-witted Andrew, 
 I don't put everybody, though I believe I put anybody." 
 Dr. Thomson died suddenly when entering his own 
 house on the 9th February 1 83 1 , at the early age of fifty- 
 two. As Dr. Hanna says in his Life of Chalmers : — 
 
 *'It was as a debater in the Ecclesiastical Courts that Dr. 
 Thomson shone pre-eminent. He had studied the constitution 
 and made himself familiar with the practice of these courts. 
 Prompt, self-possessed, and furnished with almost every kind of 
 needful weapon, he varied the closest and most crushing arguments 
 with sallies of broad humour and shafts of playful satire." 
 
 In No. 36, Patrick Eraser Tytler, F.R.S.E., the 
 well-known Scottish historian, resided, and in No. 45 
 George Combe, the phrenologist, had his dwelling where 
 he entertained inquirers from all parts of the world. 
 Here Marian Evans (not yet " George Eliot") visited 
 him in 1854. From Melville Street we pass into Manor 
 Place^ described by Professor Veitch, Sir William 
 Hamilton's biographer, as being (in 1829-33), when the 
 philosopher resided there (in No. 21), " a pleasant row 
 of houses, then at the extreme west end of Edinburgh, 
 which looked into the grounds of the old Manor House 
 of Coates, and afforded easy access into the country." 
 In No. 7 lived Mrs. Grant, of Laggan, authoress of 
 Letters from the Mountains, while in No. 25 William 
 Chambers was residing in 1 862. Five years later, when 
 he was Lord Provost of Edinburgh, he was living in 
 Chester Street (No. 25) — which intersects Manor Place 
 at right angles. Mr. James Payn thus writes of 
 Chambers in Literary Recollections : — 
 
 An amiable weakness of William Chambers was a too great 
 partiality for referring to the days when he earned his matutinal 
 hot roll by reading Roderick Random to the baker and his men 
 before dawn, seated on a folded-up sack in the sill of the window, 
 with the book in one hand and a penny candle stuck in a bottle 
 326 
 
^9\/Iodern Parts of the New "Town 
 
 in the other — reminiscences which his brother Robert did his 
 best to discourage." 
 
 From Chester Street we pass into Douglas Crescent, 
 where, in No. 9, the late Professor John Stuart Blackie 
 lived for many years prior to his death in 1895. The 
 writer was a student in his classes in the early 
 " seventies," and though we learned from him a little 
 of everything, along with Greek, not one of us but 
 loved the dear old sage, and treasured his sayings, to be 
 remembered in after years^ Blackie was a man of true 
 genius, with a strong dash of eccentricity, which those 
 who did not know him affirmed to be put on. Not a 
 bit of it ! Blackie was incapable of affectation. He was 
 a true, leal-hearted, enthusiastic Celt, with a love of 
 nature amounting to a passion, and a passion for beauty 
 in art, letters, and life amounting almost to mania. Peace 
 be to his ashes, and may his memory be forever green ! 
 
 In order to see the remainder of the city, which 
 stretches further westward, our best plan is to mount one 
 of the numerous tramway-cars running to Coltbridge. 
 We pass in turn the Hay market Station of the North 
 British Railway on the left, once the terminus of the 
 Edinburgh and Glasgow line, before the long tunnels 
 below the city streets were constructed which connected 
 Haymarket Station with the Waverley. A little further 
 out, and on the right hand, is a palatial structure in the 
 Tudor style of architecture, resembling in its general 
 features the fine old family mansion of the Cecils at Hat- 
 field. This is Donaldson s Hospital^ erected in 185 1 at 
 a cost of £120,000, from the money left by James 
 Donaldson (175 1- 1 830), printer, of the West Bow, the 
 son of that Alexander Donaldson who was the pioneer 
 in the practice of issuing cheap editions of works newly 
 out of copyright. Donaldson's action in this particular 
 led to the famous litigation over that question, which 
 was forever settled in 1774 by the decision of the 
 
 327 
 
"The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 House of Lords in his favour and against the contention 
 of the London publishers. James added largely to the 
 wealth left by his father, and at his death bequeathed a 
 quarter of a million to found, build and endow an hospital 
 and school for poor children, where they could receive 
 education and be taught a trade. The institution has been 
 of untold benefit to many thousands, 
 
 Coltbridge, where the tram-cars stop, is situated on 
 the Water of Leith, and is historically memorable for 
 the Canter o' Colt brig, an inexplicable panic which 
 suddenly seized the dragoons of Sir John Cope's army 
 in 1745, when marching against Prince Charles Edward. 
 Seven Highland gentlemen chanced to appear, and fired 
 their pistols, whereupon the whole body of dragoons 
 turned and fled along the " Lang Gait,'' now Princes 
 Street, filling the citizens of Edinburgh, who saw it all, 
 with dread and dismay. 
 
 We next come to the massive old mansion house of 
 Roseburn, a curious edifice with innumerable crow- 
 stepped gables, high clustered chimneys, and quaint- 
 sculptured lintels, elaborately decorated. One of these 
 has two tablets, reading : — 
 
 Gyf vou incline 
 vil enter yi eir vn 
 
 AT ChRYST to ye PVRE 
 
 TIS DVRE 
 
 1562 
 
 which Grant considers should read consecutively, as 
 follows, beginning on the left-hand side, " When you 
 will enter at Christ his door x 1562 x Aye mind you 
 the room to the Poor ; " while between two shields, 
 whereon the emblems are defaced, is the inscription in 
 Latin and English from the Breviary, " Lord save 
 thy people whom Thou has redeemed : Lord give peace 
 in our days." In the centre of the doorway is another 
 328 
 
^Modern Parts of the New 'Town 
 
 shield, bearing the Royal Arms, and tradition relates 
 that Mary Queen of Scots resided here, one of the 
 rooms being still called The Queen's Room.'' In 
 later days Roseburn House is said to have been occu- 
 pied for at least one night by Oliver Cromwell, when 
 his army encamped here after their repulse from 
 Edinburgh. 
 
 Murrayfield is a charming suburb, situated near the 
 foot of Corstorphine Hill, and already long terraces 
 and crescents of beautiful villas are springing up on 
 every side. In the immediate neighbourhood are the 
 fine old mansion houses of Beechwood, once the resi- 
 dence of the Dundases of Dunira, and of Ravelston, 
 the home first of the Foulises and later of the Keiths, 
 the latter dwelling having had the honour of suggesting 
 to Sir Walter Scott many of the outstanding features of 
 the Castle of Tullyveolan in Waverley, But, alas ! 
 the trail of the builder is passing over all, and the im- 
 memorial oaks and elms which sheltered generations of 
 rooks and wood-pigeons are memories of the past. 
 
 A short walk brings us to Craigcrook Castle, of old 
 the residence of the Grahams of Kinpunt and DundafF, 
 more recently of Archibald Constable, the publisher ; 
 but within the memory of many now living the home 
 of Francis Jeffrey, where he spent much of his spare 
 time. The house, part of which is very ancient, was 
 enlarged and modernised by Constable and Jeffrey, and 
 now it is a commodious and beautiful mansion. At a 
 little distance from where we now stand is Lauriston 
 Tower, where resided the famous John Law of Lauris- 
 ton, the great financier and founder of the Bank of 
 France ; to which was attached the famous Mississippi 
 Scheme which set all Paris mad with the " specula- 
 tion mania," even as the South Sea Bubble infected 
 London : — 
 
 Law was the idol of the hour : his house in the Rue Quin- 
 
 329 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 quempoix in Paris was beset day and night by applicants for 
 allotments of shares — peers, prelates, ladies of rank, citizens, 
 artizans, all flocked to him, until he had to purchase from the 
 Prince de Carignan, at an enormous price, the Hotel de Soissons, 
 in the spacious gardens of which he held his levees. Here, 
 when in the zenith of his fame, he was visited by John, the great 
 Duke of Argyll, who found him busy writing. The duke, along 
 with a crowd of the first people of France, had to wait im- 
 patiently until he finished his letter, never doubting but he was 
 arranging something of the highest importance, but he was only 
 writing to his gardener at the old Tower of Lauriston about plant- 
 ing cabbages in a particular place." 
 
 The view from the Lookout Tower called " Rest- 
 and-Be-Thankful," on the summit of Corstorphine 
 Hill, is unrivalled in Midlothian. 
 
 We here turn our steps homeward, casting the while 
 a longing glance backward at the beauties we leave 
 unvisited, among other places at the charmingly-situated 
 Convalescent Home of the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, 
 standing so invitingly within its grounds. But the 
 boundary line of the municipality has been reached,, and 
 we must'return to other scenes. Passing along Ravelston 
 Dykesy and noting about a quarter of a mile distant due 
 north, the old Craigkith Quarry^ whence five-sixths of 
 the stone that has built the New Town of Edinburgh 
 have been taken, we reach the Dean Cemetery, another 
 of the beautiful burying-grounds in the vicinity of the 
 city. Here lie the remains of many of Edinburgh's 
 most distinguished sons. Among lawyers of eminence 
 there are Lords Cockburn, Jeffrey, Murray, and 
 Rutherfurd ; Professors Wilson, Aytoun, and Blackie, 
 Sir Archibald Alison, and Alexander Russel [Scots- 
 man) , among men of letters ; Professors Goodsir, 
 Grainger Stewart, and Syme, among physicians and 
 surgeons ; Allan Scott, Sam Bough, and Sir George 
 Harvey, among painters ; Edward Forbes, the naturalist, 
 and many others of equal and lesser note. A more 
 charming spot for the last long slumber of those we 
 330 
 
^^odern Parts of the New Town 
 
 love could scarcely be conceived. In the vicinity are 
 Watson s Institution and Daniel Stewart* s College^ 
 structures of great architectural beauty devoted to the 
 instruction of youth ; and immediately in front, as we 
 pass aloncT Dean Path to join the QuGiensferry Road, 
 another glorious view of the Forth and the lands of 
 Fife expands before us, with the intervening stretch of 
 country, descending to the water's edge in gently- 
 undulating natural terraces, richly v/ooded and dotted 
 with villas and mansions. A few minutes more and 
 we again reach the Dean Bridge, guarded at its northern 
 end by Trinity Episcopal Church, where our walk for 
 the time ends. 
 
 33^ 
 
CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 From the Post Office by George IV. 
 Bridge to Tollcross 
 
 OUR walk on this occasion will not be a long one, 
 but is full of interest. Starting from the Post 
 Office we pass up the wide thoroughfare of the North 
 Bridge, beneath which lies the busy hive of industry of 
 the great Waverley Station. The view both on the 
 right hand and the left is very fine, embracing on the 
 former side the rugged line of the towering buildings of 
 the High Street and its diverging alleys from the Castle 
 to the Tron Church, and on the left, the lower slopes 
 of Salisbury Crags, the High School, the castellated 
 County Gaol, and the Calton Hill, while on the horizon 
 gleams bright amidst the azure of distance the shimmer- 
 ing expanse of the Firth of Forth. Hastening onward, 
 we reach the splendid new range of offices just com- 
 pleted in the Scots Baronial style of architecture, where 
 the Scotsman newspaper is published. The premises are 
 amongst the largest and the most completely equipped 
 in the United Kingdom. The sites at the upper end 
 of the bridge on either side of the street were pur- 
 chased by the Town Council, and sold by them to the 
 present proprietors. The style of architecture is in 
 harmony with that adopted in the Scotsman office. 
 
 We now strike up the High Street until we reach 
 George IV. Bridge (constructed in 1827), which spans 
 the ravine of the Cowgate on fourteen arches, seven 
 being open. Into this we turn, having on our right 
 Melbourne Place, named after Lord Melbourne, Prime 
 Minister of England from 1834-41, and on our left the 
 332 
 
From the Post Office to T'ollcross 
 
 new County Buildings and the Advocates' Library. A 
 little further down on the right, Victoria Street joins 
 the " Bridge," with Victoria Terrace carried along as 
 a colonnade some twenty feet above the main thorough- 
 fare, until it meets what remains of the Old West 
 Bow. Victoria Street contains the lofty pile of the 
 India Buddings^ erected in the old Scots Baronial style, 
 and St, Johns Parish Churchy built in 1 840, before the 
 Disruption, for the eloquent Dr. Thomas Guthrie. 
 Free St. John's, whither he went after the Disruption, 
 is almost immediately opposite. Victoria Street also 
 affords ready access from this part of the city to the 
 Grassmarket. At the point of its junction with George 
 IV. Bridge, but facing the latter, are the offices of the 
 Highland and Agricultural Society, which aims at en- 
 couraging and improving the farming and stockbreeding 
 of Scotland. Founded in 1784, and incorporated by 
 Royal Charter in 1787, it has steadily grown in num- 
 bers and influence, until now its annual income reaches 
 £6000, its invested securities amount to £80,000 and 
 its membership exceed 6000. Every year it holds a 
 great exhibition in some one of the leading centres of 
 population in Scotland, and no event of the year is 
 looked forward to more eagerly by all interested in the 
 various branches of farming. The Society's hall is a 
 tasteful edifice, the doorway being surmounted by the 
 arms of the association with a figure of "Caledonia" 
 on a pedestal supported by a ploughboy and a Highland 
 reaper, with the motto Semper armis nunc et industria. 
 Immediately opposite are the Sheriff Court Buildings, 
 presenting a lofty facade in a mixed type of the Italian 
 variety of architecture, being designed by David Bryce 
 and erected in 1865-68. Adjoining the Highland and 
 Agricultural Society's Offices is the Edinburgh Free 
 library, an ornate edifice in the French Renaissance style, 
 designed by Washington Browne, and founded in 1890 
 
 333 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 by a generous gift of £50,000, from Mr. Andrew Car- 
 negie, the American Steel King." Under the careful 
 superintendence of an excellent committee and the un- 
 wearied eiForts of its chief librarian, Dr. Hew Morrison, 
 it has given the means of instruction and culture to thou- 
 sands who otherwise would have been entirely deprived 
 of them. Not only is there a large Lending Library, but 
 newspaper and magazine rooms, and an excellent Re- 
 ference Library have been added, while of recent years 
 branches from the parent library have been opened in 
 various parts of the city. Such an institution as this, 
 if conducted on lines public-spirited and beneficent, 
 often proves the most efficient coadjutor of the home 
 mission work of the churches. 
 
 From the open ironwork railing of the bridge, we 
 obtain a glimpse of the squalor and poverty of the Cow- 
 gate far below, while a little further on we pass in 
 succession the office of the Scottish Reformation Society 
 and the Martyrs^ Church, the worshippers in which re- 
 present the oldest of the dissenting congregations in the 
 city, dating back as it does to 1682, or " The Killing 
 Time.'' It formerly belonged to the Cameronian or 
 Reformed Presbyterian body (who were of course the 
 Covenanting " Hillmen " of 1662-88), which was long 
 ministered to by one of the most eloquent and scholarly 
 of Scottish ecclesiastics, the Rev. William H. Goold, 
 D.D. (1815-97). Immediately opposite is the Augustine 
 Congregation! Church, the scene of the labours of another 
 great and good clergyman, the late Dr. Lindsay Alex- 
 ander, who both as preacher and theologian did yeoman 
 service to the cause of religion in his day. At the end 
 of the bridge is the famous " Book-Hunters' Stall," a 
 favourite hunting-ground of John Hill Burton and many 
 another bibliophile since ; while the fountain, sur- 
 mounted by the effigy of a dog, which stands at the 
 point of junction of George IV. Bridge and Candle- 
 334 
 
From the Post Office to "To/lcross 
 
 maker Row, and which was erected by the Baroness 
 Burdett Coutts, commemorates " Greyfriars' Bobby," 
 a little dog so faithful to his master, that when the latter 
 was buried in the old graveyard adjoining, he frequented 
 the grave continually for twelve years, save when he 
 was taken into the caretaker's house at night. In the 
 end he died lying stretched across his master's resting- 
 place, and by special permission the grave was allowed 
 to be opened, and the faithful little creature was interred 
 beside him whom he had loved so well. 
 
 Fitting now it is that we visit this old churchyard — 
 by far the most ancient in the city — the main entrance 
 of which is immediately opposite the end of George IV. 
 Bridge. The space now occupied by the Old and New 
 Greyfriars' Churches, the graveyard and the Heriot 
 grounds were all included in the Greyfriars' Monastery 
 and gardens. Founded by James I. about 1429, for 
 the encouragement of learning and culture in Scotland, 
 the Vicar-General of the Franciscan Order (or Grey- 
 friars) at Cologne, in response to a request from the king, 
 sent over a company of the brethren under the charge 
 of Cornelius of Zurich, a scholar of great celebrity. 
 Such was the magnificence of the buildings provided 
 that Cornelius at first refused to accept the office of 
 prior, until the Archbishop of St. Andrews exercised 
 his influence and induced him to comply. That the 
 buildings were exceedingly rich and splendid is evinced 
 by the fact that Mary of Gueldres was temporarily 
 lodged here prior to her marriage to James II. At a 
 later date, as we have seen, Henry VI. of England, 
 his queen and son sought refuge here, after the fatal 
 field of Towton. The schools of the Greyfriars were 
 in great repute ; and tradition asserts that William 
 Dunbar, the poet, was educated there under the great 
 Latinist, John Leyrva, a Lombard. 
 
 In 1558 the Edinburgh mob, when the dawn of the 
 
 335 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 Reformation gave them a chance of showing their 
 execration of the corrupt lives of the priests, expended 
 their zeal in the destruction of the two monasteries of 
 the Dominicans or Blackfriars, and the Greyfriars. So 
 thorough was this purgation of the " Mammon of Un- 
 righteousness," to quote John Knox's words, that even 
 the walls were in some places torn down. At all events 
 the place was in such a ruinous state that in 1562 the 
 Town Council besought Queen Mary to grant them 
 the land as a site for a burial-ground, which in 1566 
 she actually did. During the visitation of the plague, 
 two years later, the dead were interred in the Grey- 
 friars' Kirkzaird," in *'ane muckle pit." Here also, 
 in 1 581, the headless corpse of James Douglas, Earl of 
 Morton, was interred by night in a place reserved for 
 common criminals, and here a year later, Scotland's 
 greatest scholar, George Buchanan, was buried. Alas, 
 the shame of it ! His grave cannot now with certainty 
 be identified. 
 
 In 161 2 the first or Old Greyfriars' Church" 
 was erected, and in 172 1 the New Greyfriars " was 
 added to it, owing to the fact that the older edifice 
 was insufficient to contain the inhabitants of the 
 parish. These two places of worship have continued 
 to be occupied by their respective congregations until 
 the present time. The building to-day presents the 
 appearance of one long, barn-like structure, divided into 
 two by a partition rendering them both of equal length. 
 For a considerable time in the eighteenth century, when 
 the mania for collegiate churches was at its height, four 
 ministers were actually in charge of these two churches. 
 The most famous pair of colleagues were the two 
 associated with Old Greyfriars, viz.. Dr. William 
 Robertson, Principal of the University and the historian 
 of Scotland, also the leader of the Moderate party in 
 the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland ; 
 336 
 
Y 
 
T'he Story of Edinburgh 
 
 and Dr. John Erskine, who was the leader of the 
 opposing or Evangelical party. Despite differences in 
 views the two colleagues were warm friends. The 
 clergymen who at the same period shared the pulpit of 
 New Greyfriars were the Rev. Dr. Henry, author of 
 t\iQ History of Great Britain, and Rev. Dr. Macknight, 
 author of the Harmony of the Four Gospels, Regard- 
 ing the latter an amusing anecdote is told. When his 
 volume on the above-named subject was being published, 
 in which he showed the substantial agreement between 
 the Evangelists despite minor differences, he was absent 
 from his pulpit for some Sabbaths. One of his church 
 members having asked a leading elder of the congrega- 
 tion why the minister was so long away, received the 
 reply — Hoots, he's awa trying to reconcile four men 
 that never cast out" (quarrelled). The father of Sir 
 Walter Scott was for many years a member and later 
 an elder in Old Greyfriars, and the graveyard may 
 well be called the Westminster Abbey of Edinburgh 
 from the number and the high reputation of those who 
 rest therein. To detail them all would be impossible ; 
 suffice to say that in the words of Grant, there are 
 thirty-seven chief magistrates of the city ; twenty-three 
 principals, many of them of European celebrity; thirty- 
 three of the most distinguished lawyers of th.eir day, 
 one a Vice-Chancellor of England and Master of the 
 Rolls ; six Lords President of the Supreme Court of 
 Scotland, twenty-two Lords of Session, and a host of 
 others. Here lie George Heriot, father of the founder 
 of the Hospital ; George Jamesone, the Scottish 
 Vandyke ; Alexander Henderson, the great Covenant- 
 ing divine and delegate from Scotland to the West- 
 minster Assembly ; William Carstares, the ecclesiastical 
 statesman of the Revolution ; Sir George Mackenzie of 
 Rosehaugh, the Lord Advocate of Charles IL ; Allan 
 Ramsay, author of the Gentle Shepherd ; Lords President 
 
 338 
 
From the Post Office to T^ollcross 
 
 Duncan Forbes of Culloden, and Robert Blair of 
 Avonton ; Dr. Hugh Blair, the eloquent preacher ; 
 Henry Mackenzie, author of The Man of Feeling — but 
 why prolong the list ? 
 
 In the southern annexe of Greyfriars' Churchyard, 
 as we have already stated, were confined the unfortunate 
 Covenanting prisoners whom the gaols, already filled to 
 overflowing with the adherents of this cause, could not 
 hold ; and large numbers of them died under the rigours 
 of the winter. Here too the Covenant was signed in 
 1638 on the 'Hhrouchstone " or horizontal gravestone on 
 the south side of the church. By far the most interest- 
 ing memorial, however, in the churchyard is the one called 
 the Martyrs^ Monument^ with its pathetic inscription — 
 
 " Halt, passenger ! tak heed what ye do see, 
 This Tomb doth show for what some men did die. 
 Here lies interred the dust of those who stood 
 'Gainst perjury, resisting unto blood ; 
 Adhering to the Covenants and laws 
 Establishing the same ; which was the cause 
 Their lives were sacrificed unto the lust 
 Of prelatists abjured ; though here their dust 
 Lies mixt with murderers and other crew. 
 Whom justice justly did to death pursue 5 
 But as for them, no cause was to be found 
 Worthy of death ; but only they were found 
 Constant and steadfast, zealous, witnessing 
 For the prerogatives of Christ their King : 
 Which truths were sealed by famous Guthrie's head 
 And all along to Mr Renwick's blood. 
 They did endure the wrath of enemies' 
 Reproaches, torments, death and injuries. 
 But yet they're those who from such troubles came 
 And now triumph in glory with the Lamb " — 
 
 which will be found on the angle of the churchyard 
 near the steps leading to the northern entrance. The 
 present monument was erected in 177 1, replacing the 
 original slab which is now in the Municipal Museum at 
 the Council Chambers. 
 
 339 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 In this churchyard commenced Sir Walter Scott's 
 early love-romance with Margaret, daughter of Sir 
 John and Lady Jane Stewart of Fettercairn and Inver- 
 may. Lockhart says : — 
 
 Their acquaintance began in Greyfriars' Churchyard when, 
 the rain beginning to fall one Sunday as the congregation were dis- 
 persing, Scott happened to offer his umbrella, and the tender being 
 accepted, he escorted her to her residence, which proved to be at 
 no great distance from his own. Through several long years he 
 nourished a hope of ultimate union with this lady, but his hopes 
 were terminated by her being married to the late Sir William 
 Forbes of Pitsligo, Bart. " 
 
 We now issue from the graveyard and recall the fact 
 that we are near the place where was situate the old 
 Bristo or Greyfriars Port^ the New North U.F. 
 Church occupying the site where the guard-house was 
 erected. . A few yards south, in the centre of the 
 triangular block of buildings, was the spot where within 
 the writer's memory stood the Old Darien House. This 
 was the headquarters of that great Scottish commercial 
 speculation which, instigated by William Paterson, as 
 we have already said, in 1698, sent out an expedition 
 to colonise the Isthmus of Darien — an undertaking 
 ruined by the jealousy of the English merchants constitut- 
 ing the East India Company. After the failure of the 
 attempt at colonising Darien, the " House " was con- 
 verted into an asylum for pauper lunatics, and here poor 
 Robert Fergusson, the poet, died in 1774. Bristo was 
 the main thoroughfare leading from Edinburgh to the 
 south of Scotland, via Causewayside, Liberton and 
 Peebles. 
 
 We now strike down Chambers Street, passing on 
 the left the remains of Brown Square, where Lord 
 Glenlee, one of the ablest judges Scotland ever had, 
 resided for many years in the house now occupied by 
 the Dental Hospital. On the right, up a steep lane, is 
 " Society," a part of the town where the ultra fashion- 
 340 
 
From the Post Office to Tollcross 
 
 ables " of the middle of the eighteenth century had their 
 " quarters." So exclusive were the residents that even 
 lawyers other than those on the Bench were eyed 
 askance. Only the clergy, the medical faculty, and 
 the landed gentry, were considered eligible for ad- 
 mission to their social functions. Adjoining this now 
 squalid spot is the imposing pile of the Royal Scottish 
 Museum, the finest institution of the kind outside 
 of London. Standing on the site of a beautiful old 
 square, called Argyll Square, it has gradually been en- 
 larged until it now embraces four extensive storeys, 
 each extending the entire length of the building. The 
 foundation-stone of it was laid in 1861 by the late 
 Prince Consort, and the Museum itself was opened by 
 the Duke of Edinburgh in 1866. Designed in the 
 Venetian Renaissance style, it combines a maximum of 
 accommodation with a minimum of expense in working 
 it. The various halls, salons, and corridors, are so 
 contrived that all of those upon each of the floors open 
 into one another, so that the staff can exercise super- 
 vision with very little trouble. Well-nigh every depart- 
 ment of art, science, trades, manufactures, and antiquities 
 is represented, the model of the British Museum being 
 followed throughout. To describe the whole of this 
 great institution would not be possible with the space at 
 our command, nor would it be proper. It is one of 
 those places which must be seen to be appreciated. 
 The Museum is now open free six days of the week 
 from 10 till 4, and on Wednesday and Saturday evenings 
 from 6 till 10 ; also on Sundays from 2 till 5 p.m. 
 
 On the left-hand side of the street are situated three 
 very important educational institutions. The first of 
 these is the Heriot-Watt College, one of the great 
 establishments promoted by the Governors of the Heriot 
 Trust. It comprehends in the scope of its scheme the 
 dual systems of training pursued by the Heriot Industrial 
 
 34* 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 School and the Watt Institution and School of Arts 
 which was situated formerly in Adam Square, *' a tiny 
 tetrad," as Burton called it, which lay on the west side 
 of the South Bridge just where the east end of Chambers 
 Street is now, but was demolished in 1869. The 
 statue of Watt which adorned the little square, now 
 occupies a most anomalous and unsatisfactory position 
 with its pedestal in the sunk area of the Heriot-Watt 
 College. The institution not only affords an excellent 
 system of technical training, for which it has splendidly- 
 equipped workshops and laboratories, but, by means of 
 evening classes, places the advantages of a literary, 
 scientific, and art education at the disposal of those who, 
 being compelled to work during the day, are thus able 
 to prosecute studies in whatever departments of learning 
 may attract them, after the regular hours of labour are 
 over. Under the direction of Principal Laurie and a 
 staff of carefully-selected professors, the institution is 
 entering upon a new era of usefulness. Alongside of 
 it is the Minto House Medical and Surgical School, one 
 of the great extra-mural establishments for the study of 
 medicine with which Edinburgh is so fully furnished. 
 It is, of course, recognised by the University. The 
 third of the institutions to which we referred is the 
 Church of Scotland Normal School and Training College^ 
 which prepares teachers for their work in connection 
 with the Government system of education. In this 
 effort the Church of Scotland and the United Free 
 Church work hand in hand. Guthrie Street represents 
 what remains of College Wynd, at the head of which, 
 in August 1 77 1, the Wizard of Modern Romance, 
 Walter Scott, first saw the light. 
 
 The remainder of the south side of the street is occu- 
 pied by the great northern flank or side of the University, 
 Chambers Street ending where it joins the South Bridge. 
 The latter, erected in 1785-86, consists of nineteen 
 342 
 
From the Post Office to "Tollcross 
 
 arches, spanning the ravine of the Cowgate, and though 
 it has not the architectural elegance and beautiful natural 
 scenery of the North Bridge, it is nevertheless a fine 
 thoroughfare. In No. 4.9 the celebrated David Laing, 
 the antiquarian, afterwards the chief librarian of the 
 Signet Library, carried on business as a bookseller, and 
 even then acquired a great reputation for the extent of 
 his knowledge of Scots literature. 
 
 Opposite the foot of Chambers Street, but on the east 
 or left-hand side of the South Bridge, is Infirmary 
 Street^ so called because in it was situated the Old 
 Royal Infirmary, started elsewhere in 1 7 29. The build- 
 ing is still standing, a gaunt, four-storied block consisting 
 of an ornate central fagade, with two projecting wings, 
 the centre having a range of Ionic columns surmounted 
 by a Palladian cornice, bearing aloft a pilastered belvi- 
 dere and cupola. Encircled by tall houses on every 
 side, most of which occupy higher ground, and as it 
 has very little open space lying around, it always appears 
 sunless and gloomy. Occupying the site of the Black- 
 friars' Monastery, and erected in 1741, when a series 
 of lamentable deaths among the poorer classes, unable to 
 pay for a doctor, revealed the urgent need for some such 
 institution, the Infirmary owed much in its early days to 
 the self-sacrificing public spirit of George Drummond, 
 the Lord Provost, and the members of the Colleges of 
 Physicians and Surgeons in Edinburgh. From the first 
 the members of these two great bodies placed their ser- 
 vices gratuitously at the disposal of the institution, and 
 from that day to this, to their honour be it said, they 
 have continued to do so, the doctors chosen for service 
 each serving for a certain number of years. But of this 
 more anon. In 1869, owing to the complaints made 
 regarding overcrowding in the Old Infirmary, a move- 
 ment was made to erect a building that would be in all 
 respects up to date, as regards the arrangement of wards, 
 
 343 
 
T^he Story of Edinburgh 
 
 the segregation of special cases, and the prosecution of 
 particular lines of treatment. Accordingly the ground 
 belonging to George Watson's Hospital was purchased, 
 and the institution removed there gradually during the 
 years 1879-80, while the old building thus abandoned 
 was converted into the City Fever Hospital. To this 
 subject we shall return under the heading of Lauriston. 
 At the foot of the street, and devoted now to purposes 
 of a Surgical Hospital, is the " third High School,'' 
 occupied as such from 1 777-1 829. This was the 
 building which Scott attended, and a year or two ago 
 there were still living one or two aged patriarchs who 
 recalled with pride that they had been in the procession 
 of scholars which marched from the old building to 
 the new. 
 
 We now return to the South Bridge and find ourselves 
 in front of Edinburgh University, which occupies the 
 site of the Kirk-of-Field. It is matter for profound 
 regret that this magnificent structure is thus cooped up 
 in a narrow thoroughfare, where its fine proportions, its 
 noble fa9ade with its triple entrance gates, in the form 
 of Grecian porches, supported by six massive Doric 
 pillars, its majestic dome surmounted by the figure of 
 " Youth," carrying the torch of " Knowledge," cannot 
 be seen to advantage. In our chapter on Edinburgh as 
 an educational centre, we shall say more about this great 
 institution, but as regards the present buildings, we may 
 state that they were erected at intervals between 1789 
 and 1 834, after plans prepared originally by the celebrated 
 architect, Robert Adam, but modified after the lapse of 
 years, in accordance with the advice of another dis- 
 tinguished architect, Mr. W. H. Playfair, owing to funds 
 expected not being forthcoming. The edifice as a whole 
 forms a perfect parallelogram, 3 56 feet long by 225 wide, 
 the Grecian style predominating, with some intermixture 
 of Palladian accessories. Let us enter the quadrangle 
 344 
 
"The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 and pace the sunny terrace with its elegant stone balus- 
 trade and broad coping, opening from which are the doors 
 of the class-rooms in the Faculties of Arts, Law, and 
 Divinity. We are in a new world, finding ourselves at 
 once in an atmosphere of academic peace and seclusion. 
 The noise of the city seems to reach us only as a muffled 
 hum. We are surrounded by a mighty cloud of wit- 
 nesses in the memories of the great dead who have been 
 alumni of this glorious college. We envy the light- 
 hearted undergraduates who pass and repass on their way 
 to their various classes, airing opinions upon everything 
 mundane and not a few things supra-mundane, with that 
 brisk " cocksureness which seems the characteristic of 
 the ingenuous collegian. Pleasure and pathos are subtly 
 blended in our feelings as we listen to them and recall 
 the days when we too trod this quadrangle, and also 
 enunciated our critical dicta with the same calm assur- 
 ance. The individual changes, the type remains, and 
 probably will remain, while the Scots academic training 
 retains that element of broad, humanistic culture which 
 has always distinguished it. 
 
 The class-rooms are large, airy, and well equipped. 
 The library, which occupies the south side of the quad- 
 rangle, is a most valuable one, numbering upwards of 
 250,000 volumes and 7000 MSS., many of them of 
 great value ; while the Senate Hall on the second floor 
 is a splendid apartment lined with rare books, and adorned 
 with the busts of the professors of bygone days. At the 
 upper end of the quadrangle is a striking statue of the late 
 Sir David Brewster, who was Principal of the Uni- 
 versity from 1859 to 1868. The view from the foot 
 of the dome is a magnificent one, commanding a prospect 
 of well-nigh all Midlothian, of the Fife coast, and of the 
 borders of Linlithgowshire. 
 
 We now reach South College Street, the first street 
 on our right after leaving the University. Before pro- 
 
From the Post Office to Tol/cross 
 
 ceeding through it, we take a few steps along Nicolson 
 Street — the continuation of the South Bridge — and take 
 a look at the Surgeons^ HalU the great rival of the Uni- 
 versity, and as far as surgery is concerned, the most 
 eminent school in Britain. As it was founded in 1 505, 
 it is the elder of the University by over seventy years. 
 
 It has a large and distinguished staff of professors and 
 lecturers, and a constantly-increasing number of students, 
 its surgical degree being absolutely requisite both for the 
 army and navy. The fagade presented to the street is 
 a beautiful one, designed by W. H, Playfair after the 
 model of a Greek temple, with a fine hexastyle portico 
 and pediment, sustained by fluted Ionic columns. The 
 Museum attached to the Surgeons' Hall is an excellent 
 one ; while in Bristo is the New School of Medicine^ an 
 admirable extra-mural institution affiliated to it. This 
 year (1905) the Hall is celebrating its quater centenary. 
 
 347 
 
'The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 We now proceed up South College Street and its con- 
 tinuation, Lothian Street, the two being intersected by 
 Potterrow on the left and North College Street on the 
 right. Potterrow was formerly a fashionable residential 
 quarter, and until the last year or two still retained some 
 of the old timber-fronted lands. Here Principal Car- 
 stares, the confidential adviser of William III., lived ; 
 here too the Duke of Douglas had his mansion ; on the 
 left-hand side was Alison Square (now Marshall Street), 
 where Thomas Campbell wrote the Pleasures of Hope^ 
 and further down on the right was GeneraPs Entry, mmed 
 after General Monk, who resided there when in Edin- 
 burgh in 1656-59. Here, at a later date, Mrs Maclehose 
 — Burns's " Clarinda — lived while she was carrying 
 on her correspondence with the poet. General's Entry 
 formed a short cut through to Bristo, and at the " mouth " 
 of the ''entry" was Leishmans School, which Sir Walter 
 Scott attended in early boyhood. At the end of Potter- 
 row was the "Potterrow Port," another of the city gates. 
 
 As we reach the head of Lothian Street, we observe 
 a tablet on the third storey of the house on the left-hand 
 side of the street, opposite the end of Brighton Street, 
 which informs us that this was No. 42 Lothian Street," 
 the lodgings which De Quincey occupied for so many 
 years and where he died in 1859. The house was kept 
 by a widow, a Mrs. Wilson, and her maiden sister. Miss 
 Stark. Mr. Richard Rowe, author of Episodes of an 
 Obscure Life, who occupied the rooms after De Quincey's 
 death, writes : — 
 
 "This maiden sister seems really to have been a mature 
 guardian angel to De Quincey. More than once, she said, she 
 had * Put him out ' when he had fallen asleep with his head on the 
 table, and overturned a candle among his papers. She used to buy 
 his apparel for him piecemeal : now a pair of socks, now a pair of 
 boots, now a coat, now a waistcoat, never a whole suit. Once 
 she had to order for him a kind of military cloak lined with red. 
 When he had an engagement to dine out, she had to keep him 
 
 348 
 
From the Post Office to Tollcross 
 
 up to it, and to call for him afterwards, lest he should forget to 
 come home at the hour fixed, as he was apt to get liveliest in 
 the early hours." 
 
 As we issue from Lothian Street we see immediately 
 opposite us in Teviot Place the grand and imposing 
 pile of the Edinburgh University Medical School — 
 otherwise the medical class-rooms in connection with 
 the University — with the noble M^Ewan Hall for the 
 Graduation Ceremonies at the north-east end. In the 
 course of time and owing to the great increase in the 
 number of medical students, the accommodation in the 
 Old University was found to be quite inadequate. The 
 reputation of the Edinburgh Medical School was suffer- 
 ing in consequence. A move therefore was made to 
 remedy the evil, and the present range of buildings — 
 unquestionably the most fully-equipped medical institu- 
 tion in the world — came into being. Erected at a 
 cost of £245,000 upon the site of Teviot Row and 
 Park Place — in the latter of which the late Lord 
 Campbell of Succoth and Dr. Tait, Archbishop of 
 Canterbury, were both born and brought up — designed 
 moreover in the Italian style of the Cinque Cento 
 period, after plans by Dr. Rowand Anderson, its class- 
 rooms, dissecting-rooms, laboratories, and Anatomical 
 Museum — the last-mentioned containing the skeleton 
 of William Burke, the murderer and resurrectionist — 
 are all built according to the most approved patterns 
 and furnished with the latest appliances and instruments. 
 The M'Ewan or Graduation Hall^ also built after the 
 design of Dr. Rowand Anderson at a cost of £1 1 5,000, 
 defrayed by W. M^Ewan, Esq., M.P. for the Central 
 Division of Edinburgh, is a great ornament to the city. 
 Its architecture is of a piece with that of the Medical 
 School. The interior of the hall is fashioned in the 
 form of a Greek theatre. The mural decorations, by 
 Mr. W. M. Palin of London, are executed in a manner 
 
 349 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 rarely seen in buildings in Britain, and attain the very 
 highest standard of artistic excellence. A large panel, 
 lOO feet long, representing the "Temple of Fame," 
 and containing upwards of ninety separate figures, fills 
 the entire space behind the platform ; that on the left 
 of the stage illustrates the "Pursuit of Fame,'* while 
 the one on the right represents " Minerva, Goddess of 
 Wisdom," seated on a throne receiving the gift of the 
 hall, the portrait of the donor being introduced among 
 the figures. The expanse of the great dome is divided 
 into fifteen compartments, each with its symbolical life- 
 size figure, these being representative of subjects in 
 mythology and in ancient and modern history. The 
 organ ranks as one of the largest in the kingdom, being 
 built by Mr. Hope Jones of Birkenhead. Its mechanical 
 parts are invisible, being placed in convenient recesses 
 and connected with the keyboard by electric wires, the 
 air being supplied by a lO-horse power electro-dynamo. 
 
 Directly south of the M'Ewan Hall, and partly 
 screened by it, is the Music Class-room, erected in 
 i860 in the Early Italian style, from funds bequeathed 
 for the purpose by the late General Reid, composer of 
 the march « The Garb of Old Gaul." The hall is 
 beautifully fitted up and contains an almost unique col- 
 lection of musical instruments, while the organ in the 
 building is a very fine one, built under the superintend- 
 ence of the late Professor Sir Herbert Oakeley. East 
 of this class-room is the Unwersity Union or Club- 
 House, erected at the cost of students past and present. 
 Here during the session debates are carried on among 
 the various societies in connection with the University. 
 
 While here we take a walk about 100 yards south, 
 through Charles Street^ in which at No. 7, Lord 
 Jeffrey was born ; and in Crichton Street, running at 
 right angles to it, Mrs. Cockburn of Ormiston, authoress 
 of the later version of the " Flowers of the Forest," 
 350 
 
The Story of Sdinburgh 
 
 resided. In her little drawing-room the most dis- 
 tinguished men of the time used to assemble — David 
 Hume, Adam Fergusson, Lord Monboddo, Adam 
 Smith, Dr. Blacklock, the poet, and others. 
 
 We now enter George Square — so called after 
 George III., who was the reigning monarch at the 
 time when it was built. It represents one of the first 
 attempts to break down the prejudice entertained by 
 the citizens of Edinburgh against living outside the 
 city walls. The site of the square was once occupied 
 by a large antique mansion house, called Ross House, 
 the policies of which extended from Bristo to the 
 Boroughloch, the bed of which was the ground now 
 laid out as public parks, the East and West Meadows. 
 George Square, which even now contains some very 
 handsome houses, became at once a fashionable locality, 
 in which, during the first years of its existence, the 
 directory shows it to have contained the residences of 
 the Countesses of Glasgow and Sutherland, the Ladies 
 Rae and Philiphaugh, the Earl of Kintore, Lord 
 Falconer of Halkerston, Sir John Ross Lockhart, 
 Lord President Blair, the Lords of Session Braxfield, 
 Kennet, and Stonefield, the Duchess of Gordon, Lord 
 Melville, and others. The centre of the square is 
 laid out in beautiful gardens to which the residents 
 alone have keys, and at all times this place has an air 
 of dignified retirement that is grateful to those devoted 
 to study or meditation. 
 
 No. 5 (now the site of the Merchant Company's 
 School for Young Ladies) was formerly Admiral Lord 
 Duncan's house, the hero of the naval victory of 
 Camperdown over the Dutch admiral, De Winter. 
 In The Lives of Eminent Scotsmen we read : — 
 
 Naval tacticians accord to Admiral Duncan great merit for 
 this victory. It stands distinguished from every other naval 
 battle by the bold expedient of running the fleet between the 
 
 352 
 
From the Post Office to Tol/cross 
 
 enemy and a lee-shore, with a strong wind blowing on the land, 
 a mode of attack which none of his predecessors had ever 
 hazarded. When the conflict was over, Duncan called his men 
 together and, falling on his knees before them, thanked God for 
 the victory. This pious act affected the captured Dutch Admiral 
 to tears." 
 
 No. 20 was the residence of Robert Sym, W.S., 
 uncle of Professor Wilson, and the " Timothy Tickler " 
 of the Nodes Amhrosiana» 
 
 At No. 25 resided, from about 1773-96, Walter 
 Scott, W.S., father of Sir Walter, and here the latter 
 passed his youth and early manhood. The future poet 
 and novelist had his convenient parlour," where he 
 pursued his studies, and of this room Lockhart wrote : — 
 
 Walter had soon begun to collect out-of-the-way things of 
 all sorts. He had more books than shelves 5 a small painted 
 cabinet with Scotch and Roman coins in it, and so forth ; a 
 claymore and a Lochaber axe given him by old Invernahyle, 
 mounted guard on a little print of Prince Charlie ; and Brough- 
 torCs Saucer was hooked up against the wall below it. Such was 
 the germ of the magnificent library and Museum at Abbotsford." 
 
 At No. 26 lived the Hon. Henry Erskine, son of 
 the Earl of Buchan and brother of Thomas, Lord 
 Chancellor Erskine — one of the noblest natures, one of 
 the finest lawyers, yet at the same time one of the most 
 delightful wits whom the Edinburgh of the eighteenth 
 century produced. As Jeffrey said of him, " His wit 
 was argument and each of his delightful illustrations a 
 material step in reasoning." He was an ardent Whig, 
 and on being appointed Lord Advocate of the Coali- 
 tion Ministry of 1783, in successior, to Henry Dundas, 
 remarked he must go and order his silk gown (the dis- 
 tinctive attire of the Lord Advocate). Dundas said 
 jestingly, It will not be worth your while, Harry, you'll 
 need it for so short a time, for we'll be in office again 
 in a trice. I'll lend you my old one." " Well, well, 
 long or short," replied Erskine, " it shall never be said 
 z 353 
 
"The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 Henry Erskine adopted the abandoned habits of his 
 predecessors." 
 
 The eloquence and wit of Erskine were so much 
 enjoyed by the Bench that when, on one occasion, he 
 said, " I shall not need to take up much of your lord- 
 ships' time, I shall be very brief," one of the judges at 
 once said, " Hoots, Maister Harry, dinna be brief, 
 dinna be brief ! " 
 
 A friend, meeting him on the street, after the death 
 of an advocate named Wright, who had been very un- 
 successful as an advocate and had been entrusted with 
 very few causes, made the remark, Well, Harry, poor 
 Johnnie Wright is dead. I hear he died very poor and 
 has left no effects." That's not surprising," said 
 Erskine, ''as he had no causes he could not be ex- 
 pected to have any effects." 
 
 No. 27 was, from 1788 onward, the residence of Sir 
 Ralph Abercromby, one of the finest soldiers Scotland 
 has produced. After a brilliant career he fell at 
 Aboukir in the moment of victory (1801). He had 
 a pet ape which he had taught to wear some articles of 
 clothing, and particularly a cocked hat with a feather 
 in it. One day an old maiden lady called, and seeing 
 the animal said, '* Oh, dear. Sir Ralph, that will be one 
 o' thae awfu' French prisoners, I'm thinkin'." 
 
 No. 28 was long the residence of Robert Macqueen, 
 Lord Braxfield, who held the office of Lord Justice- 
 Clerk from 1 788-99. Though a man of rough exterior 
 and sometimes overbearing manners, " the Giant of the 
 Bench," as Cockburn styles him, had a kind heart, and 
 always gave nervous young advocates special considera- 
 tion when making their first appearance, though he was 
 a terror to the '' bar flunkies," as he called the Parlia- 
 ment House fops of his day. He detested all Whigs, 
 Radicals, French Revolutionists, and " sic-like enemies 
 o' the King and Constitution." His remark to Mar- 
 354 
 
From the Post Office to T'ollcross 
 
 garot, one of the Friends of the People," after the 
 latter, who was charged with having attended the 
 " Edinburgh Convention," had made a very able speech 
 in his own defence, is characteristic of the man. 
 *' There's nae doot ye're a vera clever chiel, man, but 
 for a' that, Pm thinkin' ye wad be nane the waur o' a 
 hanging." His butler having given up his place on the 
 ground that his mistress was constantly scolding him, 
 even when he had done nothing wrong, received the 
 reply, Hoots, man, is that a' ye're leavin' for ? Ye've 
 little to complain o' ; ye may be thankfu' ye're no' 
 merrit to her.^' 
 
 No. 33 was, until two years ago, the residence of 
 Sir Noel Paton, the Limner Royal for Scotland, and 
 one of the most exquisite painters of the nineteenth 
 century. His Quarrel of Oberon and Titania " and 
 his " Reconciliation of Oberon and Titania " are simply 
 unrivalled for delicacy of draughtmanship and subtle 
 beauty of colouring. At No. 39 resided Dr Alexander 
 Adam, the famous Rector of the High School, author 
 of an excellent Latin Grammar, which even yet is used, 
 and a volume of Roman Antiquities^ which long was 
 popular among scholars. 
 
 In No. 56 Robert Blair of Avonton (1741-1811), 
 Lord President of the Court of Session, resided. He 
 was an advocate until 1804, when he was raised at once 
 to the Presidentship withobt having occupied any inter- 
 mediate seat on the Bench, being acknowledged without 
 dispute as the greatest lawyer of his day, perhaps the 
 greatest Scotland ever saw. He only held the Presi- 
 dentship seven years. Lord Cockburn says : — 
 
 He had been in court on the day of his death, seemingly in 
 excellent health, and had gone to take his usual walk from his 
 house in George Square round by Bruntsfield Links, the Grange 
 Loan, and the Lover's Loan, where his solitary figure was a known 
 and respected object, when he was struck with sudden illness, 
 staggered home, and died." 
 
 355 
 
'The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 Lockhart,in Peter^s Letters to his Kinsfolk, relates that 
 on one occasion John Clerk (afterwards Lord Eldin) 
 having on one occasion expended all his immense intel- 
 lectual force in preparing a clever and sophistical argument 
 on a case, was so confounded by the President's calm 
 demolition of his fallacious reasoning, that he was heard 
 to mutter between his teeth, " Ma man, God Almighty 
 spared nae pains when He made your brains." 
 
 No. 57, next door, was the residence of Lord Chief 
 Baron Robert Dundas of Arniston, and is memorable as 
 being the place where the first Lord Melville died in 
 1811. Lord Cockburn states: — 
 
 " The first Lord Melville had come into Edinburgh from Melville 
 Castle to attend the funeral next day of his old and dear friend, 
 Lord President Blair. He retired to rest in his usual health but 
 was found dead in bed next morning. These two early attached 
 and illustrious friends were thus lying dead with but a partitiori 
 wall between them.'* 
 
 We must only take a glance at Buc clench Place, a, street 
 of tall, massive and substantial but rather gloomy-looking 
 houses, erected in 1788. The block which stands de- 
 tached, immediately facing the opening from George 
 Square, was formerly the Assembly Rooms for the south 
 side of the city ; while at No. 18 Jeffrey was living in 
 1802-03, when the project of founding the Edinburgh 
 Revieiv was mooted and agreed upon. Behind are the 
 Meadows, originally the bed of a large natural lake called 
 the Boroughloch, of the same geological formation as 
 Duddingston. It was drained partially in 16 12 by the 
 TownCouncil, but completely in 1722 by Thomas Hope 
 of Rankeillor, who besides draining off the water, under- 
 took (and fulfilled to the letter) tc make a walk round 
 what had been the lake-bed, to plant lime trees around 
 it and lay it down in grass. The Meadows, divided 
 into the East and West sections, are convenient grounds 
 for cricket, football, and all athletic sports, while a 
 356 
 
From the Post Office to Tollcross 
 
 broad carriage roadway called the Melville Drive after 
 Lord Melville, encircles them. At the head of the 
 Boroughloch Lane is the Archers* Hall, the headquarters 
 of the Royal Company of Archers, the King's Body- 
 guard for Scotland, formed in 1676 and incorporated 
 by Royal Charter under the Great Seal in 1 704. The 
 Archers are specially granted a portion of the Meadows 
 
 for the practice of their delightful sport, and every year 
 competitions and matches take place. 
 
 We now return by the Meadoiu Walk — a delightful 
 promenade under the leafy canopy of immemorial elms, 
 limes, and beeches, which connects the Old Town with 
 the suburb of the Grange — to resume our walk along 
 Lauriston. The new Royal Infirmary is adjacent to the 
 Meadow Walk, so that we obtain a view from the lower 
 end of it of the complete range of the pavilions facing 
 south, and from the upper end of those facing north. 
 This stupendous institution, covering with its buildings 
 an area of nearly seven acres, was removed hither in 
 
 357 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 1879-80 from the Old Infirmary off the South Bridge. 
 It presents its front fagade to Lauriston — a thoroughfare 
 named after the Laws of Lauriston, whose town house 
 stood on the site of Chalmers's Hospital — but its back ele- 
 vation, looking towards the Melville Drive and the green- 
 sward and leafy walks of the Meadows, is also very impos- 
 ing. The entire establishment, which contains 860 beds 
 and 60 cots, is divided into 4 great sections, the Surgical 
 Department, the Medical, the Gynaecological, and the 
 Special. The first-named occupies the portion of the 
 edifice facing Lauriston, embracing 4 pavilions, each con- 
 taining 6 wards, and each ward from 16 to 22 beds ; 
 the Medical Department, occupying the side of the 
 building facing the West Meadows, embracing also 4 
 pavilions, each containing 3 wards and each ward about 
 28 beds ; the Gynaecological Department, also facing 
 the Meadows, embracing i pavilion ("the Jubilee"), 
 containing 3 wards with 2 7 beds. The Special pavilions, 
 adjoining George Watson's School, embrace the Eye, 
 Ear, Nose, and Throat Wards, capable of accommo- 
 dating in all about 70 patients. Accommodation is also 
 provided in the Surgical House for about 15 patients 
 suffering from diseases of the skin, while in addition there 
 are the 2 " Lock Wards," capable of receiving 30 
 patients, an Isolation Ward, a Students' Ward, Con- 
 valescent Ward, etc. Over and above all these the 
 laundries, the kitchens, the Clerk of Works Department, 
 with the workshops — blacksmiths, carpenters, painters, 
 etc. — are all most complete in their appointments. 
 Coming to the staff, the whole institution is under the 
 direction of a Superintendent ( Colonel W. P. Warburton, 
 M.D.C.S.I.), appointed by the Committee of Managers, 
 while the needs of patients are attended to by a staff of 
 85 physicians, surgeons, and clinical assistants, and over 
 200 nurses. Class-rooms are provided, where instruc- 
 tion is given by the responsible chiefs " of the various 
 
 358 
 
From the Post Office to 'Toilcross 
 
 wards to the medical students, who have the privilege 
 of walking the Infirmary, while clinical lectures are 
 delivered almost daily. During the year 1902-03, 
 10,484 patients were admitted to the Infirmary. Of 
 these 492 1 were discharged cured, 3480 were discharged 
 
 relieved," 603 were discharged on other grounds, and 
 758 died, while 722 patients remained under treatment 
 at the close of the year. In addition, 31,801 out-door 
 patients had their needs attended to. 
 
 The expenses of this great institution are met by 
 voluntary contributions on the part of the public, by 
 donations, legacies, and an annual church collection on 
 
 Hospital Sunday." The ordinary income for 1 902-03 
 was £32,685, while the expenditure was £47,600, 
 leaving a deficit of £14,915, which had to be met out 
 of the reserve funds. The Royal Infirmary is a model 
 of good management, while the skill and attention be- 
 stowed upon every case in the great establishment have 
 worthily earned for it a world-wide reputation. It 
 deserves and receives the confidence and support of the 
 Edinburgh people, while strangers come to it from all 
 parts of the globe. 
 
 Immediately opposite is another magnificent edifice, 
 standing within large and beautifully laid out grounds. 
 This is the far-famed Heriot's Hospital, George Heriot 
 was born in Edinburgh in 1563, the son of the gold- 
 smith of James V., and was admitted to the craft in 
 1588. He speedily became the leading man in the trade 
 in Edinburgh, was appointed goldsmith and jeweller to 
 Anne of Denmark and afterwards to James VI., both 
 of whom were often in his debt to the extent of £20,000, 
 a vast sum in those days. He followed James to 
 London, and speedily acquired an enormous business 
 there. After losing his first and second wives without 
 issue, he determined to leave his great wealth to charity. 
 Having experience of the good which Christ's Hospital 
 
 359 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 did for the children of London burgesses, he sought to 
 establish an Edinburgh establishment upon the same 
 principle, " for the education and upbringing of poor 
 orphans and fatherless children of decayed burgesses and 
 freemen of the burgh of Edinburgh." Accordingly, 
 after his death in 1624, he was found to have left the 
 whole of his fortune to " the civic authorities of Edin- 
 burgh and the clergy thereof" in trust for the carrying 
 out of his wishes. The trustees began the erection of 
 the hospital in 1628, the architect being in all likeli- 
 hood William Wallace, and not Inigo Jones as is popu- 
 larly supposed. Owing to various causes the great 
 edifice was not completed till 1659. The building is 
 a quadrangular four-storied one in shape, measuring 162 
 feet each way, the corners of the great square block being 
 furnished with corbelled turrets having cupola vanes and 
 roofs and on the north and east sides a piazza 6 J feet in 
 breadth. Over the northern gateway, which is an ex- 
 ceedingly ornate piece of work and is a prominent object 
 when viewed from the Grassmarket, is a clock tower 
 surmounted by a dome and lantern. Viewed from any 
 point this fine old Tudor building is impressively majestic, 
 and when the rays of the setting sun tip and tint its 
 numerous towers and pinnacles with a soft roseate glow 
 the effect is exquisitely pleasing. 
 
 From the seventeenth century to the present day 
 " Heriot's foundation " has continued to increase in 
 value. The investments of the capital proved so enor- 
 mously lucrative, that the Governors have really had 
 more funds than were needed for the purposes of the 
 hospital, and have therefore been able to devote con- 
 siderable sums to other means of providing educational 
 advantages to Heriot's native city. Hence the Heriot 
 free schools came into existence ; hence too the Heriot- 
 Watt College was liberally equipped and endowed, 
 whereby technical and industrial training have been so 
 360 
 
From the Post Office to Toilcross 
 
 greatly benefited. The interior of the hospital is even 
 more interesting than the exterior, containing as it does 
 many relics and mementoes of the grand old founder. 
 
 From the hospital we proceed along Lauriston, pass- 
 ing the head of the Vennel, where we again catch a 
 glimpse of that section of the Old City Wall that is 
 extant, passing Archibald Place, at the foot of which 
 we note the spacious school erected by the Merchant 
 Company, and called George Watson's College." 
 By far the most numerously attended of all the educa- 
 tional establishments in Edinburgh, the list of honours 
 taken by its scholars each year at the University is 
 always a very long and distinguished one. In No. i6 
 Archibald Place resided Hugh Miller, when he came to 
 Edinburgh in 1840 to edit the Witness. 
 
 We next pass the new Fire Station at the head ot 
 Lady Lawson's Street, erected in 1900 at a cost of over 
 £34,000 ; while behind it is the Cattle Market^ to 
 which we have already referred. Immediately opposite 
 the head of Lady Lawson's Street is the Chalmers^ 
 Hospital for the Sick and Wounded^ an extensive block 
 of buildings in the Early Italian style, erected in 1861 
 with funds left by George Chalmers, a master plumber 
 in Edinburgh. The management of this excellent insti- 
 tution is vested in the Dean and Faculty of Advocates. 
 Lauriston Gardens with the Convent of St. Catherine 
 of Sienna and the Church of the Sacred Hearty wherein 
 is an image which once belonged to the old Abbey of 
 Holyrood, the Simpson Memorial Maternity Hospital^ 
 erected to commemorate the work of the great and good 
 Sir James Simpson, are all passed by us on our way to 
 Tollcross, one of the busiest centres in the city, and the 
 point of junction of no fewer than four lines of tramway. 
 
 If we take a few steps along Earl Grey Street — 
 originally Wellington Street but changed at the time of 
 the Reform Bill agitation — we reach the densely-peopled 
 
 361 
 
^he Story of Edinburgh 
 
 district of Fountainbridge, in which are the city Abat- 
 toirs, and further on the crowded industrial suburbs of 
 Dairy and Gorgie. At the end of Earl Grey Street is 
 Port Hopetoun, the terminus or basin of the Union Canal, 
 where lie the barges laden deep with coal, pottery and 
 fire-clay ware from the mines and works of the west. 
 At this point too ends the long ascent of the Lothian 
 Road, intersected on the east side by Grindlay Street 
 (in which is the Lyceum Theatre) and by Bread Street, 
 and on the west by Morrison Street, which leads down 
 to Haymarket and Dairy. 
 
 362 
 
CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 The Southern Suburbs 
 
 NOT the least lovely of the notable features of 
 Edinburgh are its suburbs. It may be called 
 " a city of suburbs." The original municipal boundary 
 was an extremely small one owing to the area of the 
 houses having gone to height in place of breadth. 
 Thirty or forty years ago the essential characteristic of 
 these suburbs was villa residences ; but now from the 
 commendable desire that those unable to afford a villa, 
 either detached or semi-detached, should not be de- 
 barred from the enjoyment of suburban residence, the 
 erection of long terraces arranged upon the " flat 
 system has been introduced and has proved an incalcul- 
 able boon to many households which otherwise would 
 have been compelled to remain cooped up amid the 
 smoky atmosphere of the city. This is a prominent 
 feature of the Marchmont and Warrender Park dis- 
 tricts, and is due to the foresight of Sir George 
 Warrender. 
 
 Our last walk terminated at Tollcross. Here also 
 we begin our fresh journey, and in order to enjoy the 
 scenery, and at the same time avoid the fatigue result- 
 ing from a very long tramp, some may prefer to take 
 one of the tramway-cars that are continually plying to 
 and from Braid Hills Road. But for us the foot- 
 path way " ! 
 
 " Jog on, jog on the footpath way, 
 And merrily hent the stile-a, 
 The merry heart goes all the day, 
 The sad tires in a mile-a." 
 
 363 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 About a quarter of a mile from Tollcross on the 
 left-hand side of the street we pass a place of worship 
 whose lofty spire is a conspicuous object in the land- 
 scape for miles around. This is the Barclay United 
 Free Church — a magnificent piece of architecture, 
 erected in 1862-63, at a cost of ^^i 2,000, from designs 
 by Mr W. H. Pilkington. Its pulpit was long occu- 
 pied by the late Rev. Dr. J. H. Wilson. Immediately 
 opposite is Gillesp'u s Hospital^ built in 1800 with funds 
 left by James Gillespie, tobacco and snufF merchant, 
 for whose carriage panels Henry Erskine suggested 
 the motto, " Quid rides^^ with the addendum : — 
 
 " Who would have thought it, 
 That noses would have bought it." 
 
 The Barclay Church stands on the edge of a rolling 
 stretch of meadow, which has for centuries been devoted 
 to the grand old game of golf. This is the Bruntsjield 
 Links, where as far back as 1579 the game of golf was 
 played by grave senators of justice, and leading lawyers, 
 prominent medical men, and landed gentry. It has 
 recently, however, been greatly circumscribed since 
 the opening of the Braid Hills Course." Our direct 
 road now sweeps onward up Bruntsfield Place, still 
 skirting the links and the suburb of Viewforth until it 
 reaches Merchiston Place, and a little further on, the 
 Colinton Road, both of which give access to the 
 numerous crescents and terraces of the sunny and 
 salubrious suburb of Merchiston, one of the most popular 
 residential quarters for the denizens of villadom. In 
 Colinton Road stands the ancient castellated mansion 
 house of Merchiston Castle, the home of the Napiers 
 of Merchiston and the residence for many years of the 
 celebrated John Napier (1550-1617), the inventor ot 
 " Logarithms," his volume on which was published in 
 16 14, dedicated to Prince Charles. The house, now 
 364 
 
The Southern Suburbs 
 
 occupied by Merchiston Castle School, one of the lead- 
 ing Edinburgh educational establishments, still preserves 
 many of the external features of the fortalice, and 
 within it in the " Napier Room " are preserved 
 numerous mementoes of the great mathematician, who 
 singularly enough was regarded by his contemporaries 
 as a wizard of great power. We here leave the direct 
 road for a few moments and doubling back on our 
 tracks for about 300 yards until we come to Bruntsjield 
 Terrace^ we cut across the links and reach Whitehouse 
 Loan and the quaint old mansion of the Warrenders. 
 With its massive gateway, its towering crow-stepped 
 gables, its clustered chimneys, and sculptured door it 
 forms a veritable link with that past when George 
 Warrender was Lord Provost of Edinburgh (1714), 
 and was presented for his services with ane convenient 
 meadow nigh his dwelling." The convenient 
 meadow " has since been feued and has proved a 
 veritable gold mine to the descendants of the worthy 
 baronet. The old house is full of interest, both ex- 
 ternally and internally. Besides the inevitable ghost 
 and secret chamber, those indispensable adjuncts of all 
 well-conditioned mansions with any pretensions to 
 romantic eeriness, it contains some excellent specimens 
 of the decorative art of old Norrie. About 300 yards 
 further on we pass a gateway, surmounted by a massive 
 knotted rope in stone, which gives entrance to St. 
 Margaret's Convent, erected in 1835, and dedicated to 
 St. Margaret, Oueen of Scots, the wife of Malcolm 
 Canmore. The convent is attached to the Order of 
 the Sisters Ursuline of Jesus — an organisation which, 
 by the vast amount of good it achieves amongst the 
 sick poor, deserves well of the community. In the 
 chapel of the convent lie the remains of good Bishop 
 Gillis " — a man whose name for charity and good 
 works is still revered by Catholic and Protestant alike. 
 
 365 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 The buildings of this religious house, though extensive, 
 are severely simple in architectural detail. 
 
 We now press rapidly onward until Whitehouse 
 Loan meets Grange Loan, along which the Young 
 Chevalier led his army in 1745 to escape the fire of the 
 Castle. Here, retired and hidden within its wooded 
 grounds, is Millbank. the suburban residence of the 
 great surgeon, James Syme, where Carlyle was a guest 
 when he came north to deliver his Rectorial Address 
 in 1866. A little further east is the mansion house of 
 St. Roque, in the grounds of which can still be traced 
 the faint outlines of the site of the old chapel which 
 stood here, dedicated to St. Roque, who was believed 
 to have power to save his worshippers from the plague. 
 Hence, during the visitation of the pest in 1562, 
 thousands made a pilgrimage hither. In Marmion 
 Scott thus refers to the place : — 
 
 "Thus clamour still the war-notes when 
 The king to mass his way has ta'en 
 Or to St. Katherine's of Sienne, 
 Or Chapel of Saint Roque." 
 
 (Canto IV. Stanza XXXI.) 
 
 We now travel westward along the Grange Loan, and 
 rejoin the main southern route of the tram-line beside 
 the Parish Church of Morningside, into the boundary 
 wall of which is built the celebrated Bore-Stone," in 
 which the standard of James IV. was fixed when his 
 forces were mustering on the Boroughmuir for that 
 disastrous expedition into England which was to be 
 terminated by the dark day of Flodden. Who does not 
 recall Scott's vivid lines describing the scene : — 
 
 " Highest and midmost, was descried 
 The royal banner floating wide ; 
 
 The staff, a pine-tree, strong and straight, 
 Pitch'd deeply in a massive stone, 
 Which still in memory is shown, 
 
 Yet bent beneath the standard's weight 
 
 366 
 
The Southern Suburbs 
 
 Whene'er the western wind unroU'd, 
 With toil, the huge and cumbrous fold, 
 And gave to view the dazzling field, 
 Where, in proud Scotland's royal shield. 
 The ruddy lion ramp'd in gold." 
 
 All this district, northward almost to the Castle, west- 
 ward to Slateford, eastward to the lands of St. Giles' 
 Grange, belonging to the clergy of St. Giles, and south- 
 ward to Blackford was included in the Boroughmuir^ 
 whence the burghers drew their supplies of timber. 
 
 We here note the various thoroughfares giving access 
 to the secluded yet popular suburb of Morningside^ 
 filled with beautiful and stately villas. As early as the 
 end of the seventeenth century the village of Morning- 
 side was a summer resort of the citizens of Edinburgh, 
 being sheltered from the keen bite of the east winds 
 blowing in from the Forth. For sheer beauty of situation 
 it is perhaps the loveliest of all the suburbs, the view of the 
 green Pentlands stretching westward towards Dunsyre, 
 and of the richly-wooded strath undulating in fertile 
 reaches towards Colinton, being picturesque in the 
 highest degree. 
 
 We now press onward down Morningside Road, 
 noting on the right the great District Lunatic Asylum^ an 
 immense building standing within sequestered grounds ; 
 the quiet Morningside Cemetery, situated by the side 
 of the Suburban Railway, which encircles the city as 
 with necklace of steel. Still onward we push up 
 Comiston Road, between never-ending blocks of houses 
 in the new suburbs of Comiston and Craiglockhart. 
 Still on the right we note the wooded tops of Easter 
 and Wester Craiglockhart Hills, between which lie the 
 ruins of Craiglockhart Castle, the ancient keep of the 
 Lockharts. The City Poorhouse nestles at the foot of 
 the Wester Hill, and at a little distance lies the verit- 
 able " township " which represents the new Fever 
 Hospital^ lately erected by the City Corporation. 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 We now reach the Braid Hills, the greater part of 
 which has been laid out as a golf course at the public 
 expense. The walks here lead one to an endless variety 
 of charming scenery. Seats are provided at points of 
 vantage where one can rest and enjoy at leisure the pros- 
 pect, now of the great city, with its spires, its domes, its 
 lofty lands, its grim old Castle mounting guard on the 
 north-west, with the lion-couchant mass of Arthur's 
 Seat as its fellow sentinel on the east, while behind 
 gleam the blue waters of the Firth. If we turn to the 
 south and west our eye travels along the rounded grassy 
 summits of the Pentland range, from Cairketton on the 
 extreme east, past Allermuir, Capelaw, Bell's Hill, 
 with the top of Castlelaw, along to the misty Black 
 Hill in the dim azure of the extreme west. Between 
 Cairketton and Allermuir lie the cottage, the farmhouse 
 and village of Swanston, identified with the life of 
 Robert Louis Stevenson, and the scenery of which he 
 has introduced with such artistic fidelity into Wetr of 
 Hermiston^ and others of his works. 
 
 Satiated at last even with a pleasure so purely aesthetic 
 as charming scenery, we begin our homeward journey 
 after obtaining refreshments either in the comfortable 
 Braid Hills Hotels or at the Braid Dairy Farm^ where 
 delicious milk is always to be obtained. We strike 
 down the lane skirting the beautiful woods of Hermitage 
 House^ long the residence of Sir John Skelton, and 
 leading to the Blackford Glen and the Rustic Bridge, 
 Within ten minutes we are seemingly buried in a lonely 
 Highland glen, with the lofty crags of Blackford Hill 
 towering above us on the left, while on the right we 
 are shut in by the high meadow lands sloping down 
 from the Braid Hills. Through the middle of the 
 glen murmurs a wimpling stream, clear as crystal — 
 Chattering over stony ways 
 In little sharps and trebles " — 
 
 368 
 
\ 
 
 T/ie Southern Suburbs 
 
 as it winds its way through this sequestered scene down 
 to the sea. Yet the fringe of the city over the crest of 
 the hill is just less than a mile distant. We scale the 
 somewhat steep side of Blackford Hill to the summit, 
 and sitting in the " Travellers' Shelter " erected there, 
 we try to recall the scene which Marmion is said to have 
 beheld beneath him when, with Sir David Lyndsay, he 
 stood and gazed upon the Scottish host below. Scott 
 too was fond of lying here basking in the sun, and 
 nourishing those dreams of romance and chivalry which 
 made him the greatest Wizard of Romance the world 
 has seen. His feelings are thus beautifully described : — 
 
 " Blackford ! on whose uncultured breast, 
 Among the broom, and thorn, and whin, 
 A truant-boy, I sought the nest, 
 Or listed, as I lay at rest 
 
 While rose, on breezes thin. 
 The murmur of the city crowd. 
 And from his steeple laughing loud 
 
 Saint Giles's mingling din." 
 
 Blackford Hill was purchased by the Town Council 
 of Edinburgh in 1884 and thrown open to the public as 
 a recreation ground. As this was done by the advice 
 of the late Sir George Harrison, Lord Provost, a 
 memorial archway of red sandstone at the eastern en- 
 trance to the hill has been erected to commemorate the 
 debt of gratitude Edinburgh owes to its erstwhile chief 
 magistrate. Halfway down the eastern slope towards 
 the archway is the Royal Observatory^ which has been 
 brought here from the position it long had occupied on 
 the Calton Hill. Erected in 1894-95 it has already 
 proved that the present situation is much better adapted 
 for the study of celestial phenomena than the former one. 
 It is under the charge of the Professor of Astronomy 
 in the University, and, besides one very powerful tele- 
 scope, is richly furnished with all necessary instruments 
 for prosecuting those astronomical, aeronometrical, and 
 
 2 A 369 
 
T'he Story of Edinburgh 
 
 seismographic investigations which in the past have won 
 for the Edinburgh Royal Observatory a reputation 
 second to none in Britain. From this point of vantage 
 we obtain a fine bird's-eye view of the suburbs of the 
 Grange, lying immediately below us, and, to the east- 
 ward, of Newington and Mayfield, extending from the 
 vicinity of Arthur's Seat almost to Liberton. More 
 beautifully-situated suburbs could scarcely be conceived. 
 Lying on the southern slopes of the town they bask in 
 the afternoon sun and yet are protected from the bitter 
 northern winds that chill the equally beautiful suburbs of 
 Comely Bank and Ravelston. 
 
 We walk up Blackford Avenue and along Grange 
 Loan until we reach the Grange House, formerly the old 
 grange " or granary of the clergy of St. Giles; also, 
 according to tradition, the abode later of Sir William 
 Kirkcaldy of Grange (Fifeshire), and finally the mansion 
 house of the Dick Lauders of Grange and Fountain- 
 hall. Here Principal Robertson, the historian, lived 
 for many years and here in 1792 he died ; while after 
 it had been enlarged it was the residence during the 
 later years of his life of Sir Thomas Dick Lauder, 
 author of the Morayshire Floods and The Wolf of 
 Badenoch, The house, a curious old edifice in the Scots 
 Baronial style, is amass of corbelled towers, crow-stepped 
 gables, quaint coigns and heavily-mullioned windows ; 
 while the entrance porch, evidently of great antiquity, 
 and the avenue of ancestral beeches leading up from 
 the porter's lodge would appear to date from the 
 still older building, which has been incorporated and 
 absorbed in the present one. There is a tradition that 
 an underground passage connects the Grange House " 
 with the Castle. 
 
 We now traverse the Lovers^ Loan^ once a beautiful 
 walk between hedgerows and the only means of com- 
 munication between the Grange and the " Old Town," 
 
 370 
 
"The Southern Suburbs 
 
 but now enclosed between high walls. This leads us 
 up to the Grange Road and to the gates of the Grange 
 Cemetery^ still another of the picturesquely-situated 
 graveyards of Edinburgh. Plere lie the remains of 
 Thomas Chalmers, Alexander Duff, the great Indian 
 missionary ; Principal Cunningham of the New College; 
 Dr. Thomas Guthrie, founder of the Industrial or 
 Ragged Schools ; Sir Thomas Dick Lauder ; Thomas 
 Nelson, the founder of the firm of T. Nelson & Sons ; 
 Professor A. B. Davidson, the Semitic scholar ; Lord 
 Dunfermline, the jurist, and many others. Immediately 
 opposite the gates is the Chalmers' Memorial Church, 
 long the scene of the labours of the Rev. Dr. Horatius 
 Bonar, one of the finest of English hymn-writers. 
 
CHAPTER XXV 
 
 T^he Northern Environs 
 
 UR point of departure on this occasion is from 
 
 the Post Office, which occupies the site of 
 Shakespeare Square and the old Theatre Royal, which 
 Scott used to patronise so frequently. The foundation- 
 stone of the Post Office was laid in t86i by the Prince 
 Consort, and the new building was opened in 1866. 
 Starting from the Post Office, therefore, we cross the 
 Regent Bridge^ commenced in 181 5 and opened in 
 1819, P^^^ right-hand side what remains of 
 
 the " Old Calton Graveyard," one of the oldest in the 
 city. Here are interred David Hume, the philosopher 
 and historian ; Archibald Constable and William Black- 
 wood, two of the greatest publishers Edinburgh has 
 known, rivals in life but now resting quietly almost side 
 by side ; Dr. Candlish, church leader and theologian ; 
 David Allan, the Scots Hogarth ; Professor George 
 Wilson, author of the Fi^e Gateivays of Knowledge ; 
 and a crowd of others. Two monuments, however, 
 attract immediate attention, one a towering obelisk, 
 which casts its shadow well across the graveyard and is 
 called somewhat inappropriately the " Martyrs' Monu- 
 ment." It was erected in 1844 to the " Friends of the 
 People " — Muir, Palmer, Skirving, Margarot, and 
 Gerald — who were tried, convicted, and banished for 
 daring to avow Radical opinions. The other monu- 
 ment is erected to the memory of President Lincoln^ 
 and serves the double purpose of paying a tribute to one 
 of the noblest men and truest-hearted of Americans, and 
 of commemorating those Scoto-American soldiers who 
 
f 
 
 T'he Northern Environs 
 
 fell in the Civil War. A freed slave kneeling on the 
 pedestal gazes up with grateful love to the bronze 
 statue of the heroic statesman who earned for himself 
 so nobly the title of the " Saviour of the Slave." 
 
 A few steps onward and we pass the Calton Gaol, a 
 picturesquely castellated structure surmounting that part 
 of the Calton Hill called ''The Doo Craig" and 
 erected in 1 808-10. We then cross the street and 
 ascend the flight of steps to the main portion of the 
 Hill, noting as we do the medallions placed there to 
 commemorate the three great Scottish vocalists — 
 Templeton, Wilson, and Kennedy. The summit of 
 the hill is crowned hy ihe National Monument, intended 
 to be a memorial of the splendid achievements of our 
 country during the Peninsular War, the model selected 
 being the Parthenon at Athens. The scheme at its 
 inception was enthusiastically taken up. George IV. 
 laid the foundation-stone during his historic visit to 
 Edinburgh in 1822, but the cost of the great columns 
 was enormous, and ere long the work came to a stand- 
 still for lack of funds, and remains so to this day, all 
 that was completed being the basement, twelve columns 
 of the hard Craigleith stone, and the architraves. 
 Travellers, however, who see the building from the 
 Firth of Forth, say that the unfinished monument is 
 like the Parthenon of the present day, and completes 
 the resemblance between Edinburgh and Athens. 
 
 The other features of interest on the hill are Nelson s 
 Monument, on the southern crest, overlooking the 
 Regent Road, shaped like a marine telescope, and 
 erected during the years 1805-16. In it are collected 
 many mementoes of the victor of Trafalgar. The 
 monument is in electric communication with Greenwich, 
 and by means of the '' time-ball " the one o'clock gun 
 is fired from the Castle every week day. At the foot 
 of the monument are some of the cannon captured from 
 
 373 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 the Russians at Sebastopol. Westward are the Old and 
 New Observatories^ the former erected in 1776, the 
 other in 18 18, with the monument to Professor John 
 Playfair, the physicist, at the south-eastern end of the 
 latter ; while at the head of the steps leading up from 
 Waterloo Place is the memorial to Dugald Stewart, one 
 of Scotland's greatest philosophic thinkers and Professor 
 of Moral Philosophy in the University. 
 
 At the foot of the south-east corner of the Calton 
 Hill is the Royal High School, a capital example of 
 the purest Grecian Doric architecture, and following 
 even in its minutest details the Temple of Theseus at 
 Athens. This institution has played an important part 
 in the educational life of the city and still maintains its 
 high reputation. On the opposite side of the road from 
 the great hall of the High School, is the Burns Monu- 
 ment^ a reproduction of the Greek peripteral Temple of 
 Lysicrates at Athens. 
 
 In order to reach Leith we can either proceed down 
 the Regent Road, past the village of Jockos Lodge, where 
 are situated the Cavalry Barracks of Piershill, through 
 the quaint little hamlet of Restalrig, with its ancient 
 church and burying-ground lying to the north-east, and 
 reach Leith n)ia the Links. We prefer, however, to 
 walk along Regent, Carlton, and Royal Terraces and 
 join Leith Walk at Greenside, where in the days of 
 Mary the jousting lists were placed, and where James 
 Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell, captivated the heart of the 
 fair queen by riding his war horse full speed down the 
 steep incline into the lists. At a little distance down 
 the Walk " and near Pih'ig was the site of the 
 
 Gallowlee," where was the widdy tree or town gibbet 
 in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, too fre- 
 quently decorated with the corpse of a criminal hanging 
 in chains. 
 
 We press on down the long line of Leith Walk until 
 374 
 
T'he Northern Environs 
 
 we cross the burgh boundary at Pilrig and are in the 
 municipality of Leith. The port is almost as ancient 
 as Edinburgh. As far back as the days of David I. 
 we find it recognised as a place of some importance, for 
 the " sair saunct " in his charter to the monks of Holy- 
 rood gave them the water, meadows, and fishings of 
 Inverleith nearest the harbour. The name is variously 
 spelt in the old charters — Leyt, Leathe, Leth, etc. 
 In 1 329 Robert Bruce made a grant of the harbour and 
 village to the town of Edinburgh; and until 1832, 
 when the provisions of the Reform Bill came into force, 
 Leith was subject to the superiority of its larger 
 neighbour; though in 1398 Sir Robert Logan of 
 Restalrig contested the right of Robert L to assign 
 what was not his to give, and compelled the town of 
 Edinburgh to purchase a ratification from him. In 
 1482 James III. granted to Edinburgh a charter con- 
 taining a record of the customs, profits, exactions, and 
 revenues of the Port of Leith. As showing the petty 
 tyranny the magistrates of the capital exercised over 
 the port, we find that in 148 5 they enacted *'that no 
 merchant of Edinburgh presume to take into partnership 
 any indweller of the town of Leith under pain of forty 
 pounds to the Kirk Wark, and to be deprived of the 
 freedom (of the city) for ane zeir." 
 
 The earliest houses built in Leith were erected in the 
 twelfth century, on the Shore," or place where the 
 river empties itself into the sea. This was the site of 
 the first harbour,'* and the houses of merchants 
 clustered round it, the locality being bounded on the 
 south by Tolbooth Wynd,on the west by the Shore" or 
 '*quay," on the north by Broad Wynd, and on the east by 
 
 Rotten Row," now Water Lane. In this oldest part 
 of Leith, the widest alley is only to feet broad and 
 was called Burgess Close, being the earliest road granted 
 to the citizens of Edinburgh by Logan of Restalrig. 
 
 375 
 
'The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 As a seaboard town Leith was exposed to attack 
 from hostile fleets. In 1544, as Knox relates in his 
 Historiey the Earl of Hertford, and his men, disembark- 
 ing from their vessels, marched into Leith on Sunday, 
 4th May, and fand the tables covered, the dynnaris 
 prepared, with abundance of wyne and victuallis, besydes 
 uther substances, that the lyk ritches were not to be fand 
 either in Scotland nor in England." On this occasion 
 Leith was sacked and burned. The same fate over- 
 took it after the battle of Pinkie, four years later (1548). 
 
 During the stirring times of the Reformation struggle 
 (1557-60), Mary of Guise, the queen-regent, made 
 Leith the headquarters of the Catholic cause. Strong 
 fortifications were accordingly thrown up to guard the 
 town against the attacks upon it by the Lords of the 
 Congregation, assisted towards the end of the campaign 
 by the English troops. Despite the stubborn resistance 
 made by the French mercenaries under Marechal 
 Strozzi, whom the queen-regent had brought from 
 France to assist the Catholic cause, they were forced 
 to yield, being reduced to the last straits by famine. A 
 truce, eventually developing into the peace of 1559, was 
 concluded between the belligerents, and the troops of 
 both sides were withdrawn. A century later Leith 
 was again fortified by General Monk, Cromwell's chief 
 lieutenant. On the site of the Church of St. Nicholas 
 he erected the citadel of Leith, a structure of a 
 pentagonal shape, faced with hewn stone, having five 
 bastions, and containing the barracks. The house 
 immediately over the arch, part of which still remains, 
 is said to have been his own dwelling. In July 1689 the 
 disastrous Darien expedition, consisting of four frigates, 
 having on board 1 200 men and 300 gentlemen volunteers, 
 sailed from Leith. After the ferment occasioned by the 
 Union negotiations had subsided, the inhabitants of the 
 port to a man being opposed to any understanding 
 376 
 
The Northern Environs 
 
 whatever with the hated southern merchants who had 
 caused the failure of the Darien scheme, the history of 
 Leith may be said to be summed up in the record of its 
 extraordinary growth in commercial importance. Since 
 it received a municipal constitution of its own in 1833, 
 it has developed with marvellous rapidity, until now it 
 stands sixth in the list of the great ports of the United 
 Kingdom. The population of Leith at the census of 
 1901 was 76,667. Some years ago the question of the 
 re-absorption of Leith in Edinburgh was mooted. But 
 the port having had experience of the tender mercies " 
 of Edinburgh " superiority " for 600 years, was able 
 successfully to resist the strenuous wooing of the 
 amalgamation advocates. 
 
 One of the best streets in Leith is Constitution Street^ 
 which adjoins the Links ^ a fine open expanse of common, 
 where on a Saturday afternoon all sorts of games are in 
 progress. The game of golf was much played here by 
 the Edinburgh people, particularly by the Duke of 
 York, afterwards James IL Here can still be traced 
 the two mounds named respectively Giants^ Brae and 
 Lady Fife s Brae, which are the remains of the two 
 batteries, Fort Somerset " and Fort Pelham," raised 
 by the English auxiliaries sent in 1559 to assist the 
 Reformed Party in Scotland against the queen-regent 
 and the French. At the southern corner of the Links 
 stands the Watt Hospital for the reception and main- 
 tenance of aged men and women in destitute circum- 
 stances, erected in 1862 from funds bequeathed by a 
 Leith merchant named Watt. West of this stands the 
 High School of Leith, a two-storeyed edifice in the Doric 
 style of Grecian architecture, surmounted by a clock- 
 tower and cupola. Returning to Constitution Street 
 we pass the Municipal Buildings and Toivn Hall at the 
 corner of this thoroughfare and Charlotte Street, an 
 ornate pile in which the Grecian Doric and Ionic styles 
 
 377 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 are aptly intermingled, while lower down, towards the 
 foot of Constitution Street on the east side, are the 
 Exchange Buildings^ an imposing edifice also in the 
 Grecian style with a fine tetra-columnar Ionic portico. 
 On the west side of the street is the beautiful Roman 
 Catholic Church of Maris Stella, erected in a mixed 
 type of Early Gothic. Still further on is the hand- 
 some structure of the Leith Chamber of Commerce^ in 
 front of which is the fine statue of Burns, recently erected 
 by the Leith Burns Club. 
 
 From Constitution Street we enter Bernard Street^ so 
 called from a famous taverner called " Bernard Lindsay,'^ 
 who lived early in the seventeenth century. In this 
 street, and covering the ground between it and Broad 
 Wynd stood in ancient times a large building called the 
 " King's Wark." Erected about 1470, it seems to 
 have been the earliest example of a Scots arsenal and 
 naval armoury. As Bernard Street is one of the busiest 
 localities in Leith most of its antiquarian features have 
 disappeared. We therefore turn ere long to our left 
 and enter Water Street^ which is the ancient " Water 
 Lane" often mentioned in early charters. This is 
 the oldest part of Leith, being formerly called " the 
 Rotten Row," and relics of antiquity in ancient houses 
 meet us on all sides. Here Mary of Guise lived while 
 her palace on the Castlehill was building. 
 
 From Water Street we pass into the Kirkgate, the 
 most interesting and most historic thoroughfare in 
 Leith. At the corner of Coatfield Lane and the 
 Kirkgate stand the remains of an old mansion, erected 
 by the Earl of Carrick, but afterwards occupied by 
 Lord Balmerino, who was executed in 1746 for his 
 share in the Highland Rebellion of 1745. The house 
 still betrays traces of its former magnificence. On the 
 opposite side is the Trinity House of Leith, in the 
 style of the Georgian era, but with a Grecian portico 
 
 378 
 
I The Northern Environs 
 
 and pilasters, and erected on the site of the original 
 edifice, built in 1555. The inscription which long 
 adorned the front of the latter is now inserted into the 
 south wall of the present one, facing St. Giles' Street. 
 We read in large, antique ornamental letters the follow- 
 ing dedication : — " In ye Name of ye Lord, ye 
 Masteris and Marineris Byldis this Hous to ye 
 PovR. Anno Dom. 1555," while in the east wing a 
 stone is still preserved whereon is carved a cross staff, 
 two globes, an anchor, and other nautical instruments 
 and implements of the sixteenth century, with the 
 motto, Per via ^ n)trtuti, sidera, terra, mare^^ and 
 beneath this inscription, "Instituted 1380, built 1555, 
 rebuilt 18 16." This association, which prior to 1797 
 was designated " The Corporation of the Shipmasters 
 of the Trinity House of Leith," was originally a 
 charitable society to succour distressed seamen, but in 
 that year was incorporated by Royal Charter into a 
 board to examine and to license persons to be pilots. 
 In the large hall wherein the'' Trinity Masters" meet 
 is a portrait of Mary of Guise, who was the foundress 
 of the " House," also a model of the vessel, La Belle 
 Esperance, in which she came to Scotland. There are 
 likewise several portraits of " Old Brethren of the 
 Trinity House," and a large painting, Vasco da 
 Gama passing the Cape of Good Hope." 
 
 On the opposite side of the street is the ancient 
 Church of Sl Mary, the Parish Church of South Leith. 
 Though renewed in i 848, it still retains many traces 
 of extreme antiquity. First mentioned in contemporary 
 documents in 1490, it must have been in existence at 
 least 2CO years before that time, and the nave as it 
 now stands dates back to the early decades of the 
 fifteenth century. The choir and transepts are of later 
 date, the original fabrics being destroyed by the English 
 during the invasions of 1544 and 1547. The first 
 
 379 
 
"The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 Protestant minister of St. Mary's was the famous 
 David Lindsay, Moderator of the General Assembly 
 in 1567 and 1 582, who attended Kirkcaldy of Grange 
 to the scaffold in 1573. He accompanied James VI. 
 on his wedding trip to Denmark, performed the mar- 
 riage ceremony there, and afterwards baptised their two 
 sons — Prince Henry, who died in 161 2, and Prince 
 Charles, afterwards Charles I. Lindsay yielded to 
 his royal master's wishes, became an Episcopalian and 
 died Bishop of Ross. Cromwell's men, during Oliver's 
 occupation of Leith, often preached in the church, and 
 on one occasion the future Protector himself delivered 
 an exhortation. The graveyard which surrounds the 
 church holds the dust of many illustrious men — the two 
 Bartons, the great sea-captains of the days of James 
 IV. ; Captain Gibson of the Darien expedition ; 
 Home, the author of Douglas^ and many others. King 
 James's Hospital, for the maintenance of indigent 
 females, stood on a part of the ground, the spot being 
 marked at the south-east corner of the churchyard by 
 a Gothic pediment surmounting the boundary wall, 
 adorned with the Scottish Regalia in high relief with 
 the initials J. R., while a large panel below bears the 
 name, royal arms, and initials of Charles II. 
 
 St Anthony 5 Street^ which opens off the Kirkgate, 
 commemorates the Monastery or Preceptory of the 
 Knights Hospitallers of St. Anthony, which stood on 
 the right-hand side of the Kirkgate, a splendid edifice 
 surrounded by gardens and a burying-ground, but only 
 some subterranean vaults remain to mark the mag- 
 nificence that has for ever passed away. Many of the 
 privileges held by the Knights or Canons Hospitallers 
 of St. Anthony have been acquired by St. Mary's 
 Church. The Rev. John Logan, poet and essayist, 
 was for some time minister of this church. 
 
 We now pass from the Kirkgate into Great Junction 
 380 
 
T'he Northern Snvirons 
 
 Street, and thence into Mill Lane^ where is the Letth 
 Hospital^ an admirably-conducted institution ; thence 
 into Sheriff" Brae, associated with the Gladstone family, 
 the ancestors of the late great English statesman having 
 been identified with the district for nearly a hundred 
 years. In Williamson's Directory there stands the 
 name, " Thomas Gladstones, flour and barley merchant. 
 Coal Hill." He was the father of John Gladstone of 
 Fasque, whose youngest son was the late Prime Minister. 
 Sir John Gladstone erected a church here, St. Thomas's, 
 with manse, schoolhouse, and almhouses, the whole 
 forming a noble line of Gothic buildings. 
 
 We now enter the historic locality of " The Shore," 
 another of the very ancient parts of Leith, in which 
 even yet are many houses with quaint, peaked, crow- 
 stepped gables, dormer windows, and ornate mouldings. 
 At the extreme end and adjoining Coalhill stood till 
 recently the ancient Council Chamber^ a five-storied 
 edifice of polished ashlar erected by Mary of Guise, 
 where, when Edinburgh was held by Kirkcaldy of 
 Grange, the successive Regents Lennox, Mar, and 
 Morton were wont to meet, and to concoct measures 
 for the overthrow of the Oueen's Party." We cross 
 the Tolbooth Wynd, which intersects the Shore " 
 here — also until lately filled with antiquarian mementoes, 
 but notable chiefly from the fact that herein stood the 
 old Tolbooth of Leith, which was, until the second 
 decade of the nineteenth century, the municipal build- 
 ings and the gaol of the port. Erected by order of 
 Queen Mary, it was a grim old building, with for- 
 bidding iron gratings over the windows. Identified 
 from first to last with the history of the port, it was by 
 far the most remarkable building in the wynd. 
 
 The chief places of interest on ^'The Shore" are 
 the Old Ship Hotel and the New Ship In?t, almost 
 adjoining each other, and both of them dating back to 
 
 381 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 the seventeenth century. For centuries they have had 
 a great reputation for good cheer and conviviality. 
 Both outside and inside they exhibit numerous links 
 with the historic past. Above the wide and substanti- 
 ally built doorway of the former, with its massive 
 panels, is carved a vessel of the old Dutch type, while 
 over the doorway of the latter, the well-known verse 
 in the Vulgate edition of Psalm cxxi., " Neque dormitet 
 qui custodit te ; ecce non dormitahit neque dormiet qui 
 custodit IsraeV ('*Nor will He sleep who watcheth 
 over thee ; lo, He who keepeth Israel neither slumbers 
 nor sleeps"), has been wittily altered into, " iV^ 
 dormitet custos tuns ; ecce non dormitat neque dormit custos 
 domus " (*' Thy landlord never nods ; behold the host 
 of this house neither slumbers nor sleeps"). The 
 huge staircases, the black panels and wainscotting, the 
 antique cornices and heavy-moulded fireplaces, have all 
 been referred to by many travellers and writers during 
 the past two centuries. Robert Fergusson, in his poem 
 entitled " Good Eating describes both these houses 
 and the merry hours he had spent with congenial spirits 
 in them. 
 
 We now reach the end of " The Shore," and near 
 the place where it joins Tower Street stood till recently 
 the old Signal Tower, a prominent object in all the 
 views ancient and modern of the port, together with the 
 round Martello Tower, erected at some distance from 
 the shore, for the protection of shipping during the last 
 French War. Leith Sands lie further east, formerly 
 the scene of the Leith Races which, as far back as 1 66 1 , 
 drew large crowds from Edinburgh for the annual orgies. 
 The " Town Council's" prize was always despatched 
 by special messenger, and " to go down wi' the Purse " 
 meant to join some three or four thousand gaily-dressed 
 men and women who accompanied the officer, and 
 marched in procession down Leith Walk to the 
 382 
 
I'he Northern Environs 
 
 "Sands." In later years the ''Races" degenerated 
 into scenes of disgusting debauchery and drunkenness, 
 and eventually they were abolished. Still they were a 
 feature in the City's life, and Robert Fergusson in his 
 poem on *• Leith Races" sings : — 
 
 "We'll reel and ramble through the sands, 
 An' jeer wi' a' we meet, 
 Nor hip the daft and gleesome bands 
 That fill Edina's street 
 Sae thrang this day.*' 
 
 We now reach the great Leith Harbour, and see be- 
 fore us its mighty docks, its extensive wharves and long 
 piers. '* The Shore " virtually receives its name from 
 facing the " Inner Harbour," where the river joins the 
 sea and which from time immemorial has been the moor- 
 ing place of shipping. From this spot we obtain an 
 admirable idea of the relative situation of each item in 
 the whole system of Docks." In all there are six of 
 these, exclusive of what is known as the Dry Dock." 
 We are now facing the two '' lighthouses " which stand 
 at the extreme ends of the East and West Piers, On 
 our left hand are the East Old Dock, opened in 1806 
 and covering an area of 5 acres, the JVest Old Dock^ 
 completed in 181 7 and covering acres, and the Fic- 
 toria Dock — which lies the furthest to the north — 
 thrown open in 1852 and embracing also an area of 5 
 acres. Turning now to the right-hand side we note 
 first the Dry Docks, the largest of which is over 450 
 feet long by 80 broad, furnished with every appliance 
 for the convenient and rapid repair of the largest vessels ; 
 next the magnificent Edinburgh Dock, completed in 
 188 I, covering an area of i6| acres, the Albert Dock, 
 opened in 1869 and embracing 1 1 acres, and finally the 
 New Dock, opened in 1902, covering 14 acres. Every 
 appliance of the newest and most approved type for the 
 rapid transmission of goods has been introduced into 
 
 383 
 
"The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 these docks, and the two railway companies, whose 
 stations are within a short distance of the harbour, run 
 their lines down on to the dock sides. Round each of 
 the docks are ranged sheds for the housing of merchan- 
 dise, and most of the great steamship companies, trading 
 to all parts of the world, have their warehouses within 
 a short distance of the various docks. A day may be 
 profitably spent in visiting these great ganglia of traffic 
 where a considerable section of the commerce of the 
 globe is centred. 
 
 Retracing our steps along " The Shore " we cross 
 the bridge at the end of Great Junction Street, and find 
 ourselves in North Leith. There is, however, little of 
 antiquarian interest to attract one's attention here, save 
 the Old Church of St. Ninian, the Parish Church of 
 North Leith, standing on the bank of the river, and one 
 of the oldest in the port, but now used as a store. 
 Some of the gravestones in the ancient churchyard are 
 very quaint. One of them which, as Grant says, per- 
 haps marks the grave of some old shipbuilder, has a 
 pooped three-decker with two Scottish ensigns dis- 
 played, and this line from Horace, Trahunter siccus 
 machinae carinae — 1749, aged 59 y — but the name 
 has been obliterated. The Citadel of Leith^ erected by 
 General Monk, is still represented by some ancient 
 buildings in Commercial Street and by an old archway 
 called "Oliver's Mount." We next pass Leith Forty 
 utilised as a parade and exercise-ground for the artillery, 
 but also still retaining many traces of an ancient origin. 
 
 We now step briskly along the road which skirts the 
 shore, and ere long reach the picturesque fishing village, 
 Neivhaven^ with its pier and little harbour, both of them 
 recently repaired and extended by the Leith Dock 
 Commissioners. The com.munity here is strictly ex- 
 clusive. The fishing lads and lasses intermarry only 
 among themselves, or with their kinsfolk of Fisherrow 
 
 384 
 
The Northern Environs 
 
 (Musselburgh). The women have their distinctive 
 dress, wherein a multiplicity of gaily-coloured petticoats 
 is a prominent feature. Of considerable antiquity, dat- 
 ing back in fact to 1 505, when James IV. was building 
 his mighty vessel, The Great Michael^ many of the 
 houses have carvings and inscriptions upon them which 
 carry their erection back to the sixteenth and seventeenth 
 centuries. A Newhaven " fish-dinner " at the old 
 hostelry on the "Whale Brae" is one of the pleasures 
 in store for all visitors. 
 
 Leaving Newhaven we walk onward to Granton, still 
 by the shore-road, and obtain a fine view of the Islands 
 of Inchkeith and Inchcolm, The former was fortified 
 during the wars with England, being held by the English 
 from 1 548-49, and by the French until their departure 
 from Scotland in 1559. In 1580 it was used as a 
 place whither sufferers from the plague were sent, but 
 thereafter was allowed to remain without inhabitants 
 until 1878, when the new fortifications in connection 
 with the protection of the Forth were initiated. Three 
 heavy batteries have now been placed upon it command- 
 ing the mouth of the estuary. Inchcolm is interesting as 
 containing the ruins of the Priory of St. Serf, of which 
 Walter Bower (138 5-1 449 ) , the continuator of F ordun's 
 Scotichronicon, was Abbot. The view from it, on a 
 clear summer's day, is charming. 
 
 We pass through Trinity^ famous of old for its 
 Chain Pier," beloved of swimmers, Wardie^ a pleasant 
 residential suburb, and reach Granton which at one time 
 was thought to threaten the supremacy of Leith as the 
 port of Edinburgh. Here is the great harbour built in 
 1835 Duke of Buccleuch at a cost of one 
 
 million sterling. Granton has a large trade, but the 
 days when it could have challenged Leith in the trade 
 race are over. Pushing onward we pass the large works 
 of the Edinburgh and Leith Gas Commissioners, with 
 
 2B 385 
 
"The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 the huge gasometer, and eventually reach Caroline Park^ 
 formerly called Royston House, which gave the name of 
 Lord Royston to George Mackenzie, Viscount Tarbet, 
 third son of the Earl of Cromarty, and a judge of some 
 note in his day. It afterwards came into the hands of 
 John, the Great " Duke of Argyll, who named the 
 estate Caroline, after his daughter, who had been married 
 to the Earl of Dalkeith. In this mansion there is 
 decorative work of the very highest order of excellence, 
 in the shape of moulded ceilings and cornices, magnifi- 
 cently-carved fireplaces, painted panels and wainscotting, 
 while some of the mantels above the fireplaces and the 
 frescoes on the walls show the most exquisite artistic 
 taste. The architecture also of Caroline Park deserves 
 notice, particularly the richly-adorned doorway, with 
 its porch surmounted by a balcony and a fine carved 
 French window, surmounted in turn on the third storey 
 by a fine dormer window. Caroline Park now belongs 
 to Messrs. A. B. Fleming & Co., who use it as the 
 offices in connection with their great chemical works and 
 manufactory of printing inks, which are in the vicinity, 
 and the firm exhibits a most commendable zeal in pre- 
 serving the antiquarian and artistic features of this 
 historic mansion, one of the partners having written a 
 delightful description of the place. 
 
 We still push onward, passing the ruins of Old 
 Gr anion House (also called, at a later date, Royston 
 Castle), standing on a grassy knoll. The mansion house 
 was formerly entered by an archway beneath a battle- 
 mented barbican, and has evidently been a fortalice 
 modernised to serve the purposes of a mansion house. 
 This was the seat of the Hopes of Granton, a family 
 founded by Sir Alexander Hope, son of Sir Thomas 
 Hope, the famous King's Advocate to Charles I. 
 
 We have now a charming shore walk of some two 
 miles amid scenery alike on the seaward and landward 
 
 386 
 
The Northern Snvirons 
 
 sides as rich and varied as any in Scotland, until we reach 
 Cramond (Gaelic, C aer- Almond — the fort on the Al- 
 mond), originally a Pictish or Gaelic fort, then later the 
 Roman station of the II. and XX. Legions under 
 Lollius Urbicus, the great Roman road from the south 
 passing by it. Cramond has always retained many historic 
 and antiquarian associations. At the mouth of the river 
 is the Cobble Ferry," by which we cross to the other 
 side, a boon the traveller owes to Lord Rosebery. The 
 scenery here is surpassingly rich, the woods clothing the 
 banks of the river down to the water's edge, while the 
 village nestles amidst the greenery, a beautiful picture of 
 rural peace and seclusion. About half a mile off the 
 coast lie Cramond Isle and Inch Mickery, the latter 
 little better than a bare rock. 
 
 We must now strike up the river bank for some little 
 distance in order to view the famous scene of " The Twa 
 Brigs." The older bridge, dating back to the fifteenth 
 century, consists of three pointed arches, the piers of 
 which are strengthened by heavy buttresses. It has fre- 
 quently been repaired, having become ruinous as early as 
 1607, but early in the nineteenth century, its stability 
 being in doubt, a massive new bridge of eight arches was 
 erected by Rennie. The old bridge, however, will 
 always be remembered as the scene of the wooing of the 
 " Gudeman of Ballangeich," one of the numerous names 
 and disguises of James V. He had been flirting with a 
 pretty country maiden, when he was discovered and 
 assaulted by the fair one's father and brethren along 
 with her rustic suitor, and would have fared badly had 
 not a labourer, Jock Howieson, who was threshing grain 
 with his flail at some little distance, observed the un- 
 equal contest. Shouting out, What, sax agin ane, 
 that's no fair ; I'm for the ane," he threw himself into the 
 combat, whirling his formidable flail, and speedily dis- 
 abling his opponents, delivered the king. The grateful 
 
 387 
 
'The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 monarch asked him to come to Holyrood and ask for the 
 " Gudeman of Ballangeich." Howieson went, and was 
 rewarded with the farm of Braehead, which his de- 
 scendants held till recently, on condition of presenting a 
 ewer, basin, and towel for the king to wash his hands 
 when he passed the farm. This service was performed 
 to George IV. in 1822 and Queen Victoria in 1842. 
 
 The River Almond, winding like a silver snake 
 through rich meadow-lands, green as emerald, here 
 divides Midlothian from Linlithgowshire or West 
 Lothian. Properly speaking, our walk should stop here, 
 but few indeed will blame us, we wot, if we invite them 
 to take the coach from Cramond Brig to Queensferry or 
 to wander with us round the shore-line under the crest 
 of the finely-wooded cliffs until we reach the policies of 
 Dalmeny Park (formerly called Barnbougle), the seat 
 of the Earl of Rosebery. The mansion house, erected 
 in 18 19, does not exhibit any striking architectural 
 features, being essentially modern alike in character of 
 design and execution. The grounds, which extend for 
 three miles between Cramond Brig and South Queens- 
 ferry and slope down to the water's edge, are finely 
 wooded and singularly beautiful, being laid out with taste 
 and discrimination. The view from certain rooms of the 
 house and from well-known points in the home park is 
 very extensive. The old Norman Church of Dalmeny 
 is also well worth a visit, the arch of the entrance door- 
 way being a fine example of dog-tooth moulding", 
 while the arcades over it are notable instances of the 
 pointed arch used in Transition Norman architecture. 
 John Hill Burton, the historian, is buried here. The 
 ruined Castle of Barnbougle has been excellently re- 
 stored and is now used as a dwelling-house. 
 
 Leaving Dalmeny we walk down to South Queens- 
 ferry, which IS a quaint old royal burgh with many 
 red-tiled houses and curiously-moulded doorways. Its 
 
 388 
 
The Northern Environs 
 
 antiquity is very great, as buildings have certainly been 
 in existence here since the days of Queen Margaret after 
 whom it is named. The " Old Hawes Inn," mentioned 
 by Scott in The Antiquary^ is still in existence. From 
 the little pier we look up to the mighty structure of the 
 Forth Bridge, which towers above us. This stupendous 
 fabric, one of the greatest marvels of moderr: engineer- 
 ing, was completed and opened in 1890. Constructed 
 on the cantilever or bracket system, which has been in 
 use among the Chinese for over 2500 years, it consists 
 of north and south approach viaducts, three huge double 
 cantilevers of Siemen's rolled steel, whose brackets 
 extend 680 feet north and south, with tubular towers 
 exceeding in height St. Paul's Cathedral. The bridge 
 is discernible on a clear day from Edinburgh. 
 
 On the eminence above South Queensferry is Dundas 
 Castle^ an ancient fortress with a modern mansion stand- 
 ing by its side. On the other side of the strait is North 
 Queensferry, with St. Margaret's Hope, the site of the 
 new Naval Base, whereon the Admiralty is even now 
 beginning operations. 
 
 Here our journey ends for the present. 
 
 389 
 
CHAPTER XXVI 
 
 'The Southern Environs 
 
 FOR this trip a carriage, motor or cycle will be in- 
 dispensable. Starting from the Post Office, we 
 proceed Dta the North and South Bridges, Nicolson 
 Street, Clerk Street, and Newington, down Minto Street, 
 the central thoroughfare of the suburb of Mayfield, until 
 we reach Lady Road, down which we turn, casting a 
 glance up the while to Liberton, with its square-towered 
 church, behind which is Dr. Guthrie's excellent In- 
 dustrial Schools for street arabs, who are there educated 
 and taught a useful trade. Liberton was of old called 
 "Leper-town" from the lazar-house situated there. 
 As we proceed along the Niddrie Road we descry on 
 our right, embosomed amid woods, the ramparted top of 
 CraigmillarCastle^th^ residence of the Prestons of Craig- 
 millar. Erected in the thirteenth century, it wa s identified 
 with much of Scots history, played a part in the Wars 
 of Independence and was the prison of James III.'s 
 youngest brother, John, Earl of Mar, who was confined 
 here for conspiring against his royal brother's life. 
 Craigmillar consists of a massive donjon keep with wings 
 and ofF-shooting buildings of a later date. It was a 
 favourite residence of Queen Mary, and here certainly 
 was planned the murder ofDarnley, "the bond of blood,'' 
 signed by Maitland, Morton, and the other conspirators, 
 being dated from Craigmillar. 
 
 Passing Peffermill House, from which Sir Walter Scott 
 derived many details for the description of " Dumbie- 
 dykes" in the Heart of Midlothian^ we turn off at the 
 
The Southern Snvirons 
 
 Craigmillar Road and strike due north towards Dud- 
 dingston, passing the St. Leonard's line of the North 
 British Railway and a knot of great breweries. We 
 skirt the south end of Duddingston Loch, pass through 
 the old village of Duddingston, with its ancient Norman 
 Church, and run in a straight line down to Portobello. 
 
 This popular watering-place obtained its name from 
 an old Scottish sailor who, having served with Admiral 
 Vernon in South America and the West Indies in 1739, 
 named the cottage he built on what were then called the 
 " Figgate Burn Sands," Portobello Hut, in honour of his 
 hero's victory there. In 1765, on the banks of the 
 Figgate Burn, a fire-clay field was discovered which has 
 been worked ever since. During the nineteenth century 
 Portobello rapidly increased in popularity as a seaside 
 resort, numerous terraces and streets of new and com- 
 modious houses springing up on every side, until it may 
 now be said to be joined to Edinburgh. Five years ago 
 the municipality was absorbed in the capital and the town 
 as a whole has greatly benefited by the change. Fine 
 new Corporation Baths have been erected and Portobello 
 is embarking on a new era of prosperity. Some years 
 ago a pier was erected at which during the summer 
 pleasure-steamers regularly call for excursions round 
 the beauties of the Forth." 
 
 Joppa is merely a continuation of Portobello on its 
 eastern side, and the two should really be regarded as 
 one. On leaving Joppa to drive towards Musselburgh, 
 we pass the Salt Pans, which have been in operation 
 considerably over 200 years. The coast-road to 
 Fisherrow and Musselburgh is a charming one, as we 
 are in sight and sound of the sea all the way. To 
 Fisherrow we come first, where the fishing population 
 is gathered. Like their Newhaven brethren, they are 
 most exclusive, clinging to their old customs and usages, 
 both in clothing and habits, and intermarrying only 
 
 391 
 
T'he Story of Edinburgh 
 
 among themselves. There are many curious bits of 
 architecture in the village well worth a visit. Fisher- 
 row is divided from Musselburgh by the Esk, here 
 about fifty yards in width, the old foot bridge over the 
 river being unquestionably Roman in construction, 
 though it has been more than once restored. Mussel- 
 burgh has been a burgh for over 400 years, and the 
 High Street is full of tenements whose crumbling crow- 
 stepped gables and dormer windows have borne the 
 stress of storm and shine since the days of the fourth 
 James. Belonging to the Abbey of Dunfermline prior 
 to the Reformation, Musselburgh was conferred by 
 James VI. on the Lauderdales, by whom it was sold 
 to the Buccleuchs, who are still the superiors of the 
 town. Both here and at Inveresk many relics of the 
 Roman occupation of the district have been discovered. 
 In the vicinity of the town the fatal Battle of Pinkie 
 was fought (1547), when the Scots were defeated 
 so decisively by their auld enemies of England." 
 D. M. Moir ( 1 798- 1 8 5 1 ) , the well-known Delta " of 
 Blackwood, whose novel, Mansie Wauch, as well as his 
 essays and poems, is still read, practised as a physician 
 here, the centenary of his birth having been celebrated 
 in 1898; while a monument to his memory stands 
 in the High Street. The famous "Jupiter" Carlyle 
 ( 1 722-1 804), whose Autobiography is still such de- 
 lightful reading, was minister of Inveresk from 1748- 
 1804. Musselburgh has a capital Golf Links and a 
 celebrated Racecourse, both of which are Hberally 
 patronised by the votaries of these distinctive sports. 
 
 A beautiful drive by Inveresk and Wallyford brings 
 us to Dalkeith, which more than any other of the 
 places we have described retains much of its old-world 
 quaintness and picturesqueness. Its High Street is 
 full of historic associations. In the centre of it stands 
 the East Parish Church, a fine example of the " Second 
 392 
 
T^he Southern Environs 
 
 Pointed" style, and dating back to an era prior to 
 1340. Though the choir with its richly adorned 
 canopied niches, and with a trigonal apse and transepts, 
 has fallen into ruins, the nave is in excellent preserva- 
 tion, being used as the Parish Church. The choir 
 was of old the burial vault of the Earls of Morton, and 
 is now that of the ducal House of Buccleuch. In the 
 
 Life of Dr, Norman Macleod, who was a native of 
 Dalkeith, we are told that seventy years ago nave and 
 transept were choked " with little galleries rising tier 
 upon tier behind and around the pulpit. There was a 
 wonderful picturesqueness in the confused thrusting of 
 these lofts into every nook and corner, while the shields, 
 devices and texts, emblazoned on the pews allotted to 
 the several guilds, conveyed quaint lessons. The 
 weavers reminded the congregation how life was pass- 
 ing " swiftly as a weaver's shuttle," and the hammermen 
 how " the word of God smote the rocky heart in 
 pieces." But the glory of Dalkeith is the ducal 
 
 393 
 
'The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 Palace of the Buccleuchs, situated within its magnifi- 
 cent grounds at the upper end of the town. The 
 present edifice occupies the site of the ancient Castle 
 belonging to the Douglases, where Froissart visited 
 Earl William. This was the fortress of which the 
 noble and knightly Earl James spoke when, after 
 capturing the pennon of Hotspur, he said he would 
 set it high on his Castle of Dalkeith." With many- 
 events in Scottish history it was associated. Here 
 James IV. paid his first visit to his queen-elect, 
 Margaret of England, on her arrival in Scotland. In 
 1575 James Douglas, Earl of Morton and Regent of 
 Scotland, erected a splendid mansion on this site, which 
 he was not long to enjoy ; and some sixty years later, 
 Dalkeith Palace — as it was still designated — was pur- 
 chased by Francis Scott, second Earl of Buccleuch. 
 The latter was created first Duke of Buccleuch, while 
 his daughter Anne, who married the Duke of Mon- 
 mouth, became duchess in her own right. The lady, 
 after her husband had atoned for his sins on the scaffold, 
 sought to mitigate her sorrows by devoting herself to 
 the improvement of her estate. By her, Dalkeith 
 Palace as we see it to-day was erected, a massive pile 
 of the Grecian order of architecture, with recessed 
 centre and projecting wings, on a site a little nearer 
 the river and commanding a glorious view of the 
 meeting of the two Esks. In the Palace is a picture 
 gallery containing priceless specimens of most of the 
 " Old Masters " and of nearly all the British schools. 
 
 A mile distant from Dalkeith is Newbattle village 
 and Abbey, the latter founded by David I., in 1140, 
 for the Cistercian Order. A modern dwelling adjoins 
 the ruins of the ancient house of prayer, and here the 
 Marquis of Lothian has his residence. The home 
 park is beautifully wooded, many of the yews and elms 
 in the vicinity of the mansion house dating back to the 
 394 
 
T'he Southern Environs 
 
 time when bells were rung and mass was sung and 
 the people of the district wended their way to the 
 Abbey as their place of devotion. 
 
 We now take the road from Dalkeith to Lasswade, 
 
 a lovely drive along shady lanes scented with sweet 
 brier and jasmine, and through a district rich in arable 
 and pastoral farming. Lasswade is a charming resi- 
 dential village, beautifully situated on the North Esk. 
 Here Sir Walter Scott began his married life, his cottage 
 being still the resort of hundreds of pilgrims every 
 
 395 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 year ; here too at Mavisbush, near Polton, Thomas De 
 Quincey had his family residence and entertained any 
 visitors who might come from afar to see the Wizard 
 of English Prose. 
 
 Passing through Polton, lying in a deeply-wooded 
 vale through which the Esk flows, doing service here 
 for numerous paper mills, we reach Hawthornden, one 
 of the most romantic and lovely glens in all Scotland. 
 A walk through the grounds of Hawthornden House 
 keeps the visitor, who is at all impressionable, in a 
 continual state of rapturous admiration, as bit after bit 
 of the most glorious scenery unfolds itself to him. The 
 Esk here brawls down its rocky bed in a series of 
 miniature cascades, but often the water is hid from 
 sight by the wealth of foliage, and one only guesses 
 its presence by its murmurous music. 
 
 The mansion house (the seat of Sir J. Hamlyn 
 Williams-Drummond, Bart.) is a venerable and truly 
 picturesque structure, consisting — if you view it from 
 the right-hand bank of the Esk, the best standpoint — 
 of a grey pile of ivy-clad masonry, much of it over 600 
 years old, while the portion occupied by the family is 
 aquaint,jirregular edifice with innumerable towers, turrets, 
 buttresses, peaked crow-stepped gables, richly-sculptured 
 dormer windows, and clustered chimneys. It looks 
 down upon a sea of foliage in which every variety of 
 green is visible, while from the unseen depths of the 
 rocky ravine comes the mellowed chatter of the stream 
 flowing over its pebbly bed. Romantic though the 
 situation may be, it is excelled in interest by the historic 
 associations clinging round the grand old home. Here 
 William Drummond of Hawthornden ( 1 5 8 5- 1 649), the 
 Scottish Petrarch, had his home ; here he was born, here 
 he wooed and won his lady-love. Miss Cunningham of 
 Barns, only to see her snatched away by death shortly 
 before his anticipated union. To this home also he 
 
The Southern Environs 
 
 brought the lady whom he married, loving her as he said 
 for her marvellous resemblance to the object of his first 
 affection. Here Drummond wrote all his mystically- 
 beautiful poems, and here in the winter of 1 6 1 8 he was 
 visited by Ben Jonson, during the visit which the great 
 dramatist paid to Scotland in that year. Drummond 
 was awaiting his visitor sitting under one of the large 
 sycamores near the house. At last the great man ap- 
 peared. Stepping forward Drummond held out his hand 
 and said, " Welcome, welcome, royal Ben," Thank'ye, 
 thank' ye, Hawthornden," was the rhyming response of 
 the visitor — at least according to tradition ! Of that 
 meeting Masson says in his Drummond of Haivthorri' 
 den : — 
 
 " You can see the two sitting snugly on by the ruddy fire far 
 into the night, hardly hearing the murmur of the Esk and the 
 moaning of the wind outside, but talking of all things in heaven and 
 earth, Ben telling anecdotes of his London acquaintance back to 
 Shakespeare, and reciting scraps of poetry and pronouncing criti- 
 cisms on poets, and Drummond now and then taking out a 
 manuscript from a desk and modestly reading as much as Ben 
 would stand, and Ben helping himself, and going off again, and 
 the noise and the laughter always increasing on his part, until 
 Drummond at length would grow dizzy with too much of it and 
 light their bedroom tapers by way of signal.*' 
 
 The poet both enlarged and embellished the house, 
 and in a Latin inscription near the doorway he has re- 
 corded the fact that he did so for his successors as well 
 as for himself. Under the house are some artificial 
 caves, where many brave men during the Wars of In- 
 dependence used to hide, whence they issued to cut off 
 unwary stragglers. One of the caves, in which are a 
 number of pigeon-holes and shelves, is called The 
 Library ; another is designated " Bruce's bed-chamber," 
 and a two-handed sword, said to have belonged to the 
 hero, was formerly exhibited in it. On the end of the 
 house is an inscription to Sir Lawrence Abernethy, who 
 
 397 
 
"The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 in 1338 conquered Lord Douglas five times in one 
 day, but yet was taken prisoner before sunset. 
 
 The walk through the woods to Roslin is as delight- 
 ful as could be desired, and we can pick up our carriage 
 at the other end. The vale continues to increase in 
 loveliness the higher we go, for the surroundings of" the 
 Scottish Arno," as the North E'^k has been called, are 
 as picturesquely beautiful as they are exquisitely varied. 
 As we issue from the Hawthornden grounds and approach 
 the linn " the scene becomes more impressive. The 
 rugged grandeur of beetling cliff and lichened rock, of 
 foaming cascade and eddying linn is succeeded by rich 
 diversity and vivid contrasts of colour in the marvellously 
 tinted foliage. Flowery banks and grassy knolls, fairy 
 meads and daisied holm succeed the darkling forest 
 depths, where the eye endowed with fancy's vision, gazes 
 down the forest boles into the mystery and magic of 
 distance until sight becomes lost in " seeming," and the 
 elves and fairies become possible to the imagination. 
 
 Roslin village has few features of interest apart from 
 its wondrous glen, its Caetle, and its Chapel. The Castle 
 was for centuries the residence of " the lordly line of 
 high St. Clair/' Barons of Roslin, Earls of Orkney and 
 Caithness and later Dukes of Oldenburg, and a fortress 
 must have existed here from iioo, when William De 
 St. Clair, is found possessed of the Barony of Roslin. 
 The edifice whose ruins attract us to-day was built by 
 Sir William De St. Clair, who set out with Lord James 
 Douglas to carry the Bruce's heart to Palestine. It 
 consists of a great central donjon keep, with adjoining 
 buildings branching out from it. The family continued 
 to increase in wealth and splendour, until their glory 
 culminated in Earl William, who flourished about the 
 middle of the fifteenth century, and of whose mag- 
 nificence as well as that of his wife we have already 
 spoken. Destroyed by fire in 1452, the Castle 
 
 398 
 
The Southern Environs 
 
 was almost demolished during the English invasion of 
 1544. Partially restored in 1580, it was again injured 
 by Monk in 1650, and was never fully repaired. 
 
 The Chapel, which stands at a short distance from 
 the Castle, was erected in 1450, by this same Earl 
 William De St. Clair, as a Collegiate Church for a 
 provost and six prebendaries, and is undoubtedly one of 
 the most remarkable of pre- Reformation buildings. Both 
 internally and externally it is a marvel of beauty and ex- 
 treme wealth of ornamentation. Sir Gilbert Scott desig- 
 nating it a poem in stone." Designed in conformity 
 with a type of Pointed Gothic " that is very rare, it 
 has many features present in it suggestive of later addi- 
 tions. Inside, the chapel exhibits the same excessive 
 richness of ornamental detail, the 'Prentice Pillar in 
 particular, even becoming cloying after a time, owing to 
 the excess of ornament that has been placed upon it. 
 The legend attaching to that pillar is so well-known that 
 we need scarcely inflict it again upon our readers. Such 
 then are the southern environs of Edinburgh, scenes of 
 beauty which not alone to visitors, but even to those who 
 live among them from day to day, are joys for ever ! 
 
 J99 
 
CHAPTER XXVII 
 
 The Academic and Literary Associations 
 of Edinburgh 
 
 EDINBURGH may fittingly be styled a city of 
 song." From the days of William Dunbar, the 
 Laureate of the fourth James, down to those of Scott, 
 Wilson and Aytoun, poets have been born and bred 
 within her gates, and she in turn has inspired their song. 
 Almost from the earliest years of their tenure of the 
 Throne, the Stuarts made her the home of learning and 
 of culture. No one can read the history of Scots literature 
 without being impressed by the fact that the Scots capital, 
 at least from the fifteenth century, was the source and 
 the centre of the intellectual as well as of the political, 
 legal, and social life of the kingdom. True, St. Andrews 
 was the seat of the oldest Scots university, but its tendency 
 was towards ecclesiasticism rather than culture ; and the 
 statement made more than once by prominent writers 
 that Edinburgh had no literature worth speaking of until 
 after the foundation of the University in 1582 is quite 
 erroneous, the names of such citizens as William Dunbar, 
 Gawain Douglas, and George Buchanan being conclusive 
 evidence to the contrary. 
 
 Further, that the troubadours and minstrels of other 
 parts of Europe were unrepresented at the Courts of the 
 Scots kings is incredible, even when we give all due 
 weight to such testimony as that of Froissart, ^neas 
 Sylvius, Jacques de Lalain, and those other authorities 
 whereon Buckle, in his Sketch of Scotland in Early Times, 
 rests his case for the contention that the country was a 
 wilderness and the people barbarians. Many of our 
 400 
 
d^cademic and Literary Associations 
 
 early poets and writers refer to minstrels as being quite 
 as prominent and popular personages at the Court of the 
 Scottish kings as elsewhere in Europe. Dr. Dickson, in 
 his introduction to the Accounts of the Lord High 
 Treasurer of Scotland," says, ''Minstrels as contributing 
 largely to the general enjoyment were not forgotten, a 
 gratuity usually of 9s. to i8s. being given to each one 
 present whether they were in the king's service or not.'' 
 Travelling minstrels were always welcomed and such 
 entries occur in the Treasurer's books : '' 1495 — Item, 
 to the English menstrellis, by the king's command, 
 £13, 6s, 8d." ; '' 1497 — Item, to the minstralis for their 
 Pasche (Easter) reward"; "Item — that sayme day 
 giffen to twa fithelaris (fiddlers) that sang Greystetl to 
 the king, ixs. (9s.)" — Greysteil being the old ballad 
 of that name. 
 
 Education was certainly by no means widely diffused 
 outside the great religious houses. That these were the 
 principal, in many cases the sole, sources of light and 
 leading in most Scottish towns is beyond question, the 
 majority of the monasteries having schools attached to 
 their cloisters wherein they taught the children of their 
 dependants and others. For example, the Augustinian 
 monks of Holyrood founded the Royal High School 
 early in the thirteenth century ; the Dominicans or 
 Blackfriars of the Cowgate, and the Franciscans or 
 Greyfriars of the Grassmarket, also had celebrated 
 schools which attracted pupils, especially when such a 
 scholar as John Leyrva, the great Franciscan Latinist, 
 was one of the teachers. Gradually the existence of 
 these schools began to leaven the community, especially 
 in the reigns of James III. and James IV., though the 
 attitude of the great mass of the nobility continued to be 
 that recorded of " Bell the Cat " in Marmion : — 
 
 ** Thanks to St. Bothan, son of mine, 
 Save Gawain, ne'er could pen a line." 
 
 2 C 401 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 During the reign of James III. the first faint ripples 
 of the Renaissance movement appear to have reached 
 Scotland. Learning and culture advanced with rapid 
 strides. St. Andrews University (founded in 1411 by- 
 Bishop Wardlaw), and Glasgow University (founded 
 in 145 1 by Bull of Pope Nicholas V., obtained by 
 James II. at the instigation of Bishop Turnbull), both 
 showing themselves affected by it ; the result being that 
 Scots students began to flock to the great seats of learn- 
 ing abroad, whence they returned bringing with them 
 new ideas and a fresh inspiration to labour for the good 
 of their country. 
 
 The invention of printing was another indispensable 
 element in promoting the spread of letters in Scotland, 
 and here Edinburgh, through its early craftsmen, Chep- 
 man and Myllar, at once took the lead. Books were 
 both printed locally and largely imported from England 
 and abroad, and the universities were thus able to deepen 
 the impression made by the prelections of teachers, by 
 circulating a compendium of their teaching for the use 
 of students. In a word, then, by the close of the fif- 
 teenth century culture was steadily permeating all the 
 upper strata of Society. 
 
 That Walter Bower, Prior of Inchcolm, the " con- 
 tinuator " of Fordun, was intimately associated with 
 Edinburgh is now accepted as a fact by most scholars. 
 From his quiet retirement in his sea-girt monastery he 
 was able to exercise an influence as weighty as it was 
 wide. More than one of the six Jameses must be 
 regarded as warm foster-fathers of the nascent learning. 
 James I. (1394-1437)5 whose education in England 
 had familiarised him with all that was best in the litera- 
 ture of that land, especially with the poems of — 
 
 **my maisteris dere, 
 Gowere and Chaucere, that on the steppes satt, 
 Of rhetorike, superlative as poets laureate**— 
 402 
 
(L/icacJemic and Literary (^Associations 
 
 SL knowledge admirably utilised in his noble poem, the 
 King^s Quhair, and which reacted powerfully upon the 
 minds of his subjects. 
 
 James III. (145 1-88) was, as we have seen, so far 
 ahead of his time and of his fellow-countrymen that he 
 was actually hounded to death by those who regarded 
 his culture as unkingly and his knowledge of letters an 
 evidence of weakness. During his reign, in addition to 
 the men with whom he was on terms of friendship, 
 certain others appear to have flourished — " Maister John 
 Clerk and James AfHek,'' Sandy Traill, Sir Mungo 
 Lockhart of the Lee, Clerk of Tranent, and Sir Gilbert 
 Hay, Roull of Corstorphine, and Patrick Johnston, 
 Robert Henryson, " Chaucer's aptest and brightest 
 scholar,'^ and Sir John the Ross — all of whom were 
 more or less associated with Edinburgh. 
 
 The reign of James IV. (1473-1513) was the golden 
 age of the Stuart dynasty, and Edinburgh then became 
 " a nest of tuneful choristers." William Dunbar, the 
 Laureate of the reign, the author of " The Thistle and 
 the Rose," that noble Epithalamium " on the marriage 
 of James and Margaret of England, of " The Golden 
 Targe," of the solemn elegy " The Lament for the 
 Makars," of which this stanza is a specimen — 
 
 Sen he has all my brethren ta'en, 
 He will not let me live alane. 
 On forse, I maun his next prey be, 
 Timor mortis conturbat me " — 
 
 and sundry satires as pungent as they are pithy, stands 
 at the head of the list, closely followed by Gawain 
 Douglas, Bishop of Dunkeld, author of the Palace of 
 Honour^ and a translation of the ^neid ; while Walter 
 Kennedy — Dunbar's friend and fellow-flyter — Andro(?) 
 Merser, Gentle Stobo and Quentin Shaw " were all 
 resident in the Scots capital during this reign. Then 
 came James V., a poet himself as well as the friend and 
 
 403 
 
The Story of Sdinburgh 
 
 patron of poets and, best title to commendation of all, 
 the admirer of Sir David Lyndsay of the Mount, author 
 of the Satire of the Three Estates " and other works 
 of antiquarian rather than poetic merit. 
 
 During the reign of Mary and her son James VI., 
 culture of letters became more general, and Edinburgh 
 was the home of several writers of outstanding merit, 
 such as Alexander Scott, the Scots Anacreon," whose 
 lyrics can yet be read with delight ; Alexander Mont- 
 gomerie, author of the Cherrie and the Slae'*; 
 Alexander Hume, whose Day Estival " — the descrip- 
 tion of a charming summer's day — is as exquisitely 
 musical in rhythm as it is realistic in language : — 
 
 O perfect light ! which shed away 
 
 The darkness from the light, 
 
 And set a ruler o'er the day, 
 
 Another o'er the night." 
 
 The Earl of Ancrum, and William Alexander of 
 Menstrie, created Earl of Stirling, were also poets of 
 decided ability, while James VI. himself wrote several 
 pieces, one or two of which are not without merit, as 
 for instance his " Poem on Time." But the glory of 
 his epoch was William Drummond of Hawthornden, in 
 whom a subtle mingling of musical assonance and metrical 
 grace, with true pathos and profound insight, imparted to 
 his poems an elevation and a strength such as are present 
 in the work of no other Scots writer of the day. His 
 madrigal, A Kiss," is worthy of Ben Jonson : — 
 '* Hark, happy lovers, hark, 
 
 This first and last of joys, 
 
 This sweetner of annoys, 
 
 This nectar of the gods 
 
 You call a kiss, is with itself at odds, 
 
 And half so sweet is not 
 
 In equal measure got 
 
 At light of sun, as it is in the dark. 
 
 Hark, happy lovers, hark." 
 
 Another charming lyrist, who anticipated Herrick, 
 404 
 
(tAcademtc and Literary dAssociattons 
 
 was Sir Robert Aytoun, whose Forsaken Mistress " 
 has often been quoted : — 
 
 I do confess thou'rt sweet, yet find 
 
 Thee such an unthrift of thy sweets, 
 
 Thy favours are but like the wind. 
 
 Which kisses everything it meets. 
 
 And since thou canst love more than one 
 
 Thou'rt worthy to be loved by none.*' 
 
 During this same period the great Scots historian and 
 master of Classic Latinity, George Buchanan, at one time 
 the tutor of James VI., was also resident in Edinburgh. 
 The influence he exercised on his time, both as author 
 and reformer, was second only to that of John Knox. 
 
 We have now reached the era of the foundation of 
 Edinburgh University. In 1582 the Town Council, 
 after long hesitation, decided that the Scots capital 
 should no longer be in a position of inferiority to St. 
 Andrews, Glasgow, and Aberdeen. Not that they can 
 claim the merit of initiating the proposal. That was due 
 to Robert Reid, who, in 1558, bequeathed to the town 
 the sum of 8000 merks for the purpose of erecting a 
 University. Queen Mary eagerly supported the pro- 
 posal and in 1566 drew up a charter pointing out how 
 the new institution could be suitably endowed. But her 
 abdication soon after, rendered her scheme null and void, 
 and the Council was left to undertake the work itself, 
 with the " royal approbation " of James VI., and in 
 1617 his gracious permission that the college might be 
 called after himself. In 1582 the members of the Town 
 Council busied themselves in securing suitable buildings 
 at Kirk-of-Field, where Darnley had met his death, 
 and next year, Robert Rollock, then a professor at St. 
 Andrews, was invited to become the first Regent and 
 Master of the New College." He had virtually to 
 formulate an academic system and curriculum, and as 
 at the outset he had to do all the teaching himself, he 
 was compelled to place all the students in one class. 
 
 405 
 
T'he Story of Edinburgh 
 
 Such a course was very discouraging for those who 
 were more advanced, and next year he was allowed the 
 assistance of Duncan Nairn, who taught the junior 
 classes. Not till 1585 did Rollock receive the title of 
 Principal, and in that year, owing to the increase of 
 students, two more Regents" or Professors, as they 
 were now called, were appointed, viz., Adam Colt of 
 Inveresk and Alexander Scrimgeour of Irwin. The 
 staff, therefore, four years after the foundation of the 
 college, consisted of a principal and three regents, each 
 of whom carried his classes through all the subjects — 
 Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Philosophy, Divinity, and the 
 sciences. The magistrates of the city were in those 
 days the virtual owners of the University, and took 
 liberties with its management which were most un- 
 warrantable. In fact, until 1859, the influence of the 
 Town Council in directing the affairs of the college was 
 absolute with regard to many questions and offices, and 
 had a most deteriorating effect upon its prosperity. In- 
 efficientprincipalsand professors were more than once in- 
 truded into positions for which they were egregiously un- 
 fit, simply because they chancedto belong totheparty then 
 dominant in the Town Council. Quarrels frequently 
 occurred between the University staff and the Town 
 Council, on which occasions the civic fathers had no 
 scruple in crushing out the opposition with an iron hand. 
 Such for example took place in 1663, when the Council 
 wished the provost appointed as ex officio rector of the 
 institution. On the Principal and professors objecting, 
 the magistrates marched with their halbertsto the college, 
 removed all the charters and papers, and ordered that 
 in future the provost was to be regarded as the rector 
 of the Uni versity . This absurd regulation only remained 
 in force two years, when it was abolished. 
 
 Despite all, however, from its foundation until the 
 present day, the institution has steadily advanced along 
 406 
 
dyicademic and Literary ^Associations 
 
 the best lines of progress and development, until now, 
 albeit the youngest, it is by far the largest of the Scots 
 universities. Its system of teaching has in most cases 
 been admirably adapted to the needs of life, as is proved 
 by the large number of its alumni who have taken 
 leading places in all departments of human activity and 
 in all parts of the globe. 
 
 It may interest our readers to know what the 
 academic curriculum embraced in the earlier days of 
 the University's existence. Its professors did not err 
 on the side of making their working day or their work- 
 ing year too short. In fact, the number of hours 
 during which teaching was pursued seems almost in- 
 credible in the light of our experience of to-day. The 
 session lasted from October to the end of August, when 
 an examination took place before the Town Council. 
 The first year's students read Cicero and Virgil, with 
 constant practice in writing and speaking Latin. Greek 
 was commenced in the first year, the text-books used 
 being the Greek Testament, Homer, Hesiod and 
 Isocrates. In the second year Greek Rhetoric was 
 studied, the text-book of Talasus, the disciple of Peter 
 Ramus, being prescribed. The student then went on 
 to the Progymnasmata of Aphthonius, the Organon of 
 Aristotle, with the Categories^ Analytics^ Topics^ and 
 Elenchu In the third year the study was devoted to 
 the higher branches of Ancient Logic, Hebrew, and 
 Anatomy, the latter being studied wholly from books, 
 no dissections being allowed. The fourth year was 
 devoted to Physics, or natural phenomena, the De Calo 
 and Sph^era of Sacroboscus being used, with the De 
 Ortu and De Antma^ concluding with Hunter's Cosmo- 
 graphia. The classes assembled at 6 a.m. in winter 
 and 5 a.m. in summer, and studied till 9. Reassem- 
 bling at 10 a.m. they continued till 12 noon, at which 
 hour the disputations commenced and continued till 4 
 
 407 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 p.m. An interval was allowed until 6 p.m., when 
 they reassembled for examination, which lasted till 8. 
 The " regent system of one man carrying his class 
 through the entire curriculum of subjects continued in 
 force till 1708, when the practice of appointing pro- 
 fessors for special subjects was introduced. Since 
 Rollock, the first Principal, twenty-four individuals 
 have held the office, down to Sir William Turner, 
 K.C.B., D.C.L., the present head of the college. 
 Among both the principals and the professors many 
 distinguished men of European reputation have been 
 found, who have thrown the lustre of their genius and 
 culture over the University with which they were 
 associated. Among the principals such notable names 
 occur as Robert Leighton, William Carstares, William 
 Robertson, Sir David Brewster, and the present holder 
 of the office. To name all the illustrious men who 
 have filled the professorial chairs would be beyond the 
 space at our command. 
 
 The influence of the University upon the learning 
 and culture of Edinburgh has been incalculable. Since 
 the foundation of the college, that distinctively academic 
 " atmosphere " which always distinguishes a university 
 town has been increasingly perceptible. The Revolu- 
 tion, and more particularly the succession of the 
 unpopular Hanoverian dynasty, stirred into activity the 
 poetic life of the city and its University, and scores of 
 pasquils and satires, on both the Jacobite and the 
 Royalist sides, were poured out from the press during 
 the last decade of the seventeenth and the first of the 
 eighteenth century. Such pieces as " Would Ye Know 
 What a Whig Is ? 
 
 " Would ye know what a Whig is and always was, 
 I'll shew ye his life as it were in a glass, 
 He's a rebel by nature with a villanous face, 
 A s^int by profession who never had grace" — 
 408 
 
^Academic and Literary (tAssociations 
 
 with its reply couched in imitation of the first Psalm 
 in the metrical version — 
 
 " That man is blest who hath not lent 
 
 To French pistoles his ear ; 
 
 Nor raised himself as traitors do, 
 
 Nor sat in trickster's chair ; 
 
 But in the laws of Old England 
 
 Doth set his whole delight, 
 
 And in these laws doth exercise 
 
 Himself both day and night** — 
 
 show the bitterness of feeling at the time in Edinburgh. 
 Yet at this same time the scholarly William Carstares, 
 the trusted statesman-cleric of William III., was Prin- 
 cipal of the University, Colin Drummond was Professor 
 of Logic, James Gregory of Mathematics, and William 
 Law of Moral Philosophy, while the celebrated Dr. 
 Archibald Pitcairn was writing his delightful " Latin 
 Eclogues," wherein the quaint familiar life of the old 
 town is so vividly described ; and Allan Ramsay was 
 deep in his matchless pastoral idyll, the Gentle Shepherd^ 
 wherein the existence of the rural environs of the city 
 is so marvellously reflected. 
 
 The next half century — 1725-75 — may be said to 
 have witnessed the close of the romantic Edinburgh of 
 the wynds and closes, the close of that epoch of snug 
 familiarity, when you could^shake hands with your friends 
 from your respective windows on opposite sides of the 
 closes ; when conviviality was a cardinal virtue and the 
 man who did not " belong " to a club or a tavern, to 
 which he went as regularly as to church, and where his 
 accustomed seat was always reserved for him, was looked 
 upon as a being of a different order of nature. This 
 was the epoch of those prolonged dinners when one was 
 apt to forget whether he was sitting at yesterday's dinner 
 or to-day's ; when potations pottle-deep were regarded 
 as a duty ; when a magnum of claret per man was con- 
 sidered as by no means savouring of intemperance ; and 
 
 409 
 
T^he Story of Sdinburgh 
 
 when a club of judges, lawyers, and gentlemen of the 
 town actually existed called the Ten Tumbler Club, the 
 qualification for membership of which was ability to 
 carry, with unimpeachable staidness of gait and speech, 
 that amount of toddy. These were the days when re- 
 ligion was summed up in morality, and sermons were 
 thought to savour of Quakerism if the name of the Saviour 
 were too frequently mentioned. And yet this was the 
 era when David Hume (1711-75) was writing his noble 
 History of England and those philosophic works which 
 have yet not ceased to influence the thought of the world ; 
 when William Robertson, elected Principal of Edinburgh 
 University at forty-one, took the reading world by storm 
 with his History of Scotland, his History of America, and 
 his Charles V,, to which was prefixed what is the most 
 valuable of all his works, his View of the State of Society 
 in Europe to the Beginning of the Sixteenth Century ; when 
 Professor Adam Fergusson wrote his still readable 
 History of the Roman Republic, his Essay on Civil Society, 
 and his Institutes of Moral Philosophy ; when the two 
 Monroes, primus and secundus, were creating the great 
 Anatomical School ; when Cullen and the Gregorys 
 were revolutionising the teaching of Medicine " in the 
 University, just as Professor Stevenson was doing in the 
 subjects of Logic and Metaphysics ; when Home was 
 writing his Douglas which lost him his position as a 
 minister in the Church of Scotland ; when Tytler was 
 telling the other side of the story from Robertson as 
 regards the History of Scotland ; when Professor Colin 
 MacLaurin, one of Scotland's greatest mathematicians, 
 was demonstrating at the time of the Highland Rebellion 
 of '45, by the counsel he gave to the magistrates regarding 
 the defence of the town, that a mathematician may be 
 an authority on fortification, and when Dr. Hugh Blair 
 delivered those delightful lectures on Rhetoric and Belles 
 Lettres which won for him the chair of that important 
 410 
 
(lAcadernic and Literary Associations 
 
 subject in the University. The era was one rich in 
 great men, a large proportion of whom were attached 
 to the capital. Here Adam Smith came to spend the 
 evening of his days in the brilliant society which moved 
 around Hume ; here too were Lord Hailes, jurist and 
 antiquarian ; Lord Kames, whose work upon feudal 
 tenure, and his Essay on Man earned for him even a 
 higher reputation as an author than as a judge ; and 
 Lord Monboddo, whose eccentric system of metaphysics 
 still finds readers among the lovers of what may be called 
 the antiquarian side of philosophy. Nor must we forget 
 Falconer, the author of the Shipwreck ; Dr. Blacklock, 
 the poet, whose blindness lent a peculiar interest to those 
 exquisite descriptions of natural scenery which he had 
 never seen ; Robert Fergusson, whose poems in the 
 vernacular inspired the muse of Burns ; Hamilton of 
 Bangour, another bard whose friendship with Ramsay 
 brought the latter into connection with Susanna, Countess 
 of Eglinton, and Henry MacKenzie, author of The 
 Man of Feeling, who lived to become the doyen of letters 
 in the days of Scott. In truth it was a brilliant circle, 
 and if history and philosophy somewhat overshadowed 
 poetry, the succeeding age was to adjust the balance. 
 
 The half century from 1775-1825 was also a period 
 of extraordinary literary brilliance. Though the number 
 of stars studding the intellectual firmament in Edinburgh 
 was less numerous than in the preceding, the name and 
 fame of Walter Scott, by the splendour of his genius and 
 the world-wide diffusion of his reputation, atoned for 
 any falling-off in numbers. Scott's literary career really 
 commenced in 1796 with the translation of Burger's 
 Lenore, and all his best work was done by 1826, when 
 the crisis in the publishing world involved him in ruin. 
 Robertson still had twelve years before him of life and 
 of the high office of the Principalship of the University, 
 and was succeeded by Dr. Baird, a good Hebraist and 
 
 411 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 administrator, but a man destitute of any pretensions to 
 letters. Before the advent of Scott, Professor Dugald 
 Stewart had earned for himself a European reputation 
 in philosophy as the chief exponent of the doctrines of 
 Thomas Reid ; while his colleague, Professor Thomas 
 Brown, was at the head of what came to be known as 
 the Scots Sensationalist School. Professors Playfair and 
 LesHe in Mathematics and Physics, Dunbar in Greek, 
 Pillans in Humanity, Monro tertius in Anatomy, drew 
 the attention of the world of science and culture to their 
 investigations in their several departments, while the 
 Royal High School under successive rectors — Adam, 
 Pillans, and Carson — attained to a pinnacle of reputa- 
 tion which has not since been surpassed by any kindred 
 institution. 
 
 In Belles Lettres the school of Scott was the mighty 
 force before which, both in prose, and verse, all other 
 contemporary forms for the time being waned in lustre ; 
 but Thomas Campbell with the Pleasures of Hope, James 
 Graham with his solemnly beautiful poem on the 
 " Sabbath," Robert Pollock in the Course ofTime^ John 
 Leyden, D. M. Moir, John Wilson (Christopher North), 
 and others, had their own audiences, by whom they were 
 loved none the less if, for a time, the dynamic influence 
 of the genius of The Wizard of the North " com- 
 pelled their allegiance. The great publishing houses of 
 Creech, Constable, and Blackwood had each its circle 
 of authors whose works tended to swell the aggregate 
 of the literary productions issuing from Edinburgh, and 
 the establishment of the Edinburgh Review, under the 
 able editorship of Jeffrey, and of Blacknvood* s Edinburgh 
 Maga%ine into which John Wilson, John Gibson Lock- 
 hart, James Hogg, and others, poured the wealth of 
 their genius, attracted attention to Edinburgh by means 
 of channels of interest different from any that had yet 
 been known. Nor must we forget the influence of the 
 412 
 
Academic and Literary (*Associations 
 
 ecclesiastical element. The eloquence and vast scientific, 
 philosophic, and theological attainments of Thomas 
 Chalmers, combined with his wide sympathy with all 
 the most pressing social and economic problems, rendered 
 him one of the most potent spiritual forces of the age ; 
 while Dr. Thomas M'Crie's eminence as an ecclesias- 
 tical historian and as a theologian imparted a weight to 
 his statements regarding all questions coming within the 
 domain of his studies, which even so great an authority 
 as Sir Walter Scott was compelled to acknowledge. 
 
 After the death of Scott in 1832, Edinburgh's liter- 
 ary pre-eminence speedily waned. True, many distin- 
 guished men were associated with her University and 
 with herself throughout the remainder of the nineteenth 
 century. Principal Baird was succeeded in that re- 
 sponsible office by Dr. John Lee, a clergyman of great 
 personal worth but of merely local reputation. In 1859 
 the University ceased to be under the heel of the Town 
 Council, and a Principal corresponding in celebrity and 
 influence to the great institution over which he would 
 preside, and not merely one distinguished by prominence 
 in Church Courts, was selected — Sir David Brewster. 
 The precedent of electing a layman has been con- 
 sistently followed since, and the position has been ex- 
 cellently filled by Sir Alexander Grant and Sir William 
 Muir, both of them retired officials of the Indian Civil 
 Service, with the prestige of a long and distinguished 
 career behind them. 
 
 Though her literary glory decidedly waned as time 
 went by, and as London continued more and more to 
 attract men of letters to that spot, which more than any 
 other on earth may be styled the " centre of the world's 
 life," there were still many distinguished men who 
 deliberately chose Edinburgh as their home. The city 
 which among its University professors boasted of a 
 Blackie and a Butcher in Greek, a Sellar in Humanity, 
 
 413 
 
The Story of Edinburgh 
 
 3, Sir William Hamilton in Logic and Metaphysics, a 
 John Wilson in Ethics, a Kelland in Mathematics, a 
 Spalding, an Aytoun, and a Masson in Rhetoric and 
 English Literature, a Chalmers in Divinity, a Syme and 
 a Lister in Surgery, a Simpson in Midwifery, and a 
 Christison in Materia Medica^ can scarcely be said to be 
 obscure or undistinguished. But in addition to these, 
 the traditions of the past were maintained by such writers 
 as Sir Archibald Alison, who, if he did not reside 
 wholly in Edinburgh, always looked upon it as his home. 
 Thomas De Quincey came hither to spend the evening of 
 his days, and here much of his best work was done. 
 Here also resided Captain Thomas Hamilton, the 
 brother of Sir William, a novelist of great descriptive 
 gifts ; Miss Ferrier, author of Marriage^ and the succes- 
 sor of Scott in the delineation of Scots character ; James 
 Grant, author of the Romance of War ; Sir Theodore 
 Martin, the biographer of the Prince Consort ; 
 Alexander Smith, whose Life Drama aroused hopes in 
 the minds of readers which the poet did not afterwards 
 fulfil ; James Ballantine, who has the misfortune to be re- 
 membered by his least worthy production, the Gaber- 
 lunzie*s Wallet^ while his chastely-beautiful Lilias Lee is 
 unread ; Mrs. Crowe, an authoress whose genius for the 
 delineation of the terrific was only surpassed by that of 
 Mrs. RadclifFe ; W. F. Skene, the erudite historian of 
 Celtic Scotland, a man whose learning was so profound 
 in many varied fields ; John Hill Burton, the historian 
 of Scotland, whose history he has written with praise- 
 worthy impartiality notwithstanding his own strongly- 
 marked views on many important subjects ; Sir John 
 Skelton, the defender of Queen Mary ; David Laing, 
 the editor of many ancient Scottish works in prose and 
 verse ; Robert Louis Stevenson, poet, novelist,dramatist 
 and essayist, a man whose nature was as noble as his 
 genius was varied, and who might have been greater even 
 414 
 
(^Academic and Literary (^ Associations 
 
 than he was, had disease not hurried him from Europe to 
 America, from America to Oceania, to die in lonely 
 Samoa — these/?/ omnes ceterorum whose names are pass- 
 ing dear to us to-day, were the sons either by birth or 
 adoption of our Scots " City of the Seven Hills." 
 
 Our story of Edinburgh is ended. Notwithstanding 
 the romantic interest which still invests the grand old 
 city, a poignant feeling of sadness is also aroused when 
 the fact becomes daily more apparent how rapidly the 
 " Edinburgh of the past " is disappearing from view. 
 Soon it will have become but a memory and a dream. 
 Another Edinburgh — spic, span, and new from the 
 hands of the omnipresent jerry builder — is in process of 
 evolution. Of two things, however, she can never 
 be deprived, her matchless situation and the exquisite 
 natural scenery of her environs. Professor Wilson's 
 noble tribute expresses the feelings of all who have spent 
 any time within her, and come to love her as she de- 
 serves — and with these lines we close our story : — 
 
 "Then proudly fling thy white arms to the sea, 
 Queen of the unconquered North ! lo! yonder deep, 
 With all his subject waves, doth worship thee ! 
 Stately thou sittest on thy mountain throne, 
 Thy towers and temples like a cloudy sky ; 
 And scarce can tell what fabrics are thine own, 
 Hung 'mid the air-built phantoms floating by. 
 Oh ! ne'er may that bright diadem be shorn, 
 By thee, for many an age, majestically worn ! " 
 
Plan of Edinburgh showing Places of Interest 
 
 Tie. Eiiibnrglx G«cj1ap}ucal Insmuir Cogyn^t 
 
INDEX 
 
 A 
 
 Abercrombie, Dr. John, 302 
 Abercromby Place, 299, 304 
 Abercromby, Sir Ralph, 304, 354 
 Aberdeen, 44 
 Aberlady, 3 
 Adam, Dr., 412 
 
 Adringtown, or Haddington, 
 
 Castle, 48 
 Advocates' Close, 194 
 Advocates' Library, 115, 117, 183 
 Aethelfrith of Bernicia, 4 
 Ainslie Place, 313 
 Albany, Alexander, Duke of, 40, 
 42, 45 
 
 Albany, John, Duke of, 54, 55 
 Albany, Robert, Duke of, 17 
 Albany, Murdoch, Duke of, 17 
 Albert, Prince-Consort, 134 
 Alcluyd, 4 
 
 Alison, Sir Archibald, 264, 330, 
 414 
 
 Allan, David, 237, 372 
 Allan, Sir W., 309 
 Alexander, Dr. Lindsay, 334 
 Alexander IL, 11 
 Alexander IIL, 311 
 Almond, River, 388 
 Anchor Close, 199 
 Ancient Council Chamber, Leith, 
 381 
 
 Ancrum, Earl of, 404 
 Angus, Earl of, 39, 44, 48 
 Ann Street, 317 
 Annan, 5 
 
 Anne, of Denmark, Queen, 88, 89 
 Antiquarian Museum, 138, 301 
 Antiquaries, Society of, 301 
 Archery, 19 
 Argyll, Duke of, 386 
 Argyll, Earls of, 48, 145, 235, 271 
 Argyll, Marquis of, 109 
 Arran, Earl of, 54, 67 
 Arthur, King, 4 
 Arthur's Seat, 2, 260 
 Assembly Halls, 159, 160 
 Athole Crescent, 322 
 
 Athole, Earl of, 48 
 
 Augustine Church, 334 
 
 Auld Reekie, 2 
 
 Ayala, Don Pedro de, 55 
 
 Aytoun, Sir Robert, 405 
 
 Aytoun, W. E., 304, 313, 330, 414 
 
 B 
 
 Back Stairs, the, 193, 264 
 Bailie Fyfe's Close, 220 
 Baird, Principal William, 411 
 Bakehouse Close, 236 
 Ballantine, James, 414 
 Ballantyne, James, 234, 304 
 Ballantyne Press, 224 
 Bale-fires, 31 
 Banks — 
 
 British Linen, 295 
 
 Commercial, 294 
 
 National, 294 
 
 Royal, 295 
 
 of Scotland, 162 
 
 Union Bank, 193 
 Bannatyne, Lord, 238 
 Barclay U.F. Church, 364 
 Bearford's Park, 281 
 Beaton, David, Cardinal, 64, 69, 
 210 
 
 Beaton, James, Archbishop of 
 
 Glasgow, 210 
 Beattie, William, 171 
 Beechwood, 329 
 Begbie Tragedy, 214 
 Bell, Sir Charles, 313 
 Bell's Mills, 315 
 Bell's Wynd, 204 
 Bernard St., Leith, 378 
 Bernicia, 4 
 
 Berwick, Town and Castle of, 44 
 Big Jack's Close, 231 
 Bishop's Close, 219 
 Black (A. & C.) Adam, 308 
 Blackford Glen, 368 
 Blackford Hill, 2, 368 
 Blackfriars' Wynd, 39, 210, 266 
 Blackie, Prof. J. S., 327, 330, 413 
 
 2D 
 
 4^7 
 
Index 
 
 Blacklock, Dr., 171, 352, 411 
 Blackwood, John, 314 
 Blackwood, Wm. & Son, 293, 372 
 Blackwood's Magazine, 130 
 Black Turnpike, 206 
 Blair, Dr. Hugh, iii, 237, 410 
 Blair, Lord President, 355 
 Blue Blanket, the, 46 
 Bonar, Dr. Horatius, 237, 371 
 Book Hunters' Stall, 334 
 Bore-Stone, 366 
 Boroughmuir, 44, 366 
 Boroughloch, the, 350 
 Botanic Gardens, 320 ^ 
 Bothwell, Adam, Bishop, 82, 257 
 Both well Bridge, Battle of, in 
 Bothwell, Earl of, 80, 82 
 Bough, Sam, 330 
 Bower, Walter, 385, 402 
 Braid Hills, 138, 368 
 Braxfield, Lord (Robert Mac- 
 queen), 354 
 Brewster, Sir David, 324, 346, 
 ^413 
 Britons, 4 
 
 Broad Wynd, Leith, 375 
 Brodie's Close, 169 
 Brodie, Deacon William, 169, 233 
 Brougham, Henry, Lord, 131, 266 
 Brown, Prof. Hume, 4 
 Brown, Prof. Thomas, 412 
 Bruce, King Robert, 12 
 Bruce, Sir W. (of Kinross), 282 
 Brudi, 7 
 
 Bruntsfield Links, 364 
 Buccleuch, Dukes of, 175, 392 
 Buccleuch Place, 356 
 Buchanan, George, 6, 336, 400, 
 
 405 ^ 
 Buckingham Terrace, 316 
 Burgess Close, Leith, 375 
 Burnett, James, Lord Monboddo, 
 
 234 
 
 Kurney, Dr., 237 
 Burns, Robert, 128, 237 
 Burton, John Hill, 334, 388, 414 
 Butcher, Prof. S. H., 413 
 
 C 
 
 Caithness, Earl of, 48 
 Calatria, 34 
 
 Calendar, alteration of, 196 
 Cameronian Meeting-House, 210 
 334 
 
 Campbell, Thomas, 248, 412 
 Candlemaker Row, 271 
 Candlish, Rev. Dr., 322, 372 
 Canongate Church, 237 
 Canongate, the, 38, 88, 107, 223 
 Canonmills, 28T, 320 
 Cant, Adam, 209 
 Canter o' Coltbrig, 328 
 Carberry Hill, 82 
 Carey, Sir Robert, 97 
 Carham, Battle of, 7 
 Carlton Terrace, 374 
 Carlyle, Rev. Dr. ("Jupiter") 
 392 
 
 Carlyle, Thomas, 311, 316, 366 
 Carnegie, Andrew, 334 
 Caroline Park, 386 
 Carrubber's Close, 219 
 Carstares, William, 348, 409 
 Castle Street. 284, 293 
 Castle, the, 6 
 
 Argyll Tower, 141 
 
 Burgesses allowed to live 
 within the walls of, t6 
 
 Capture by Randolph, 12 
 
 Capture by William Bullock> 
 12 
 
 Crown-Room, 147 
 David's Tower, 14, 41 
 Defended by Duke of 
 
 Gordon, 143 
 Fortified by David II., 14 
 " Half-Moon Battery," 141, 
 
 146 
 
 King's Bastion, view at, 144 
 Mons Meg, 144 
 Old Parliament Hall, 151 
 Royal Apartments, 150 
 St. Margaret's Chapel 9, 
 .145 
 
 Siege of, by Cromwell, 106, 
 107 
 
 Siege of, by Hertford, 64 
 Siege of, by Morton and 
 
 Drurj'', 85 
 Subterranean Passages, 154 
 Time-Gun, the, 146 
 The Esplanade, 140 
 Wellhouse Tower, 27, 154 
 
 Castle Terrace, 278 
 
 Cat Nick, the, 5 
 
 Cathedral, Saint Mary's, 138 
 
 Cellar, the Union, 116, 202 
 
 Chalmers Close, 220 
 
 Chalmers, Dr Thomas, 214, 371,. 
 413, 414 
 
 418 
 
Index 
 
 Chalmers' Hospital, 361 
 Chalmers' Memorial Church, 371 
 Chambers, Robert, 311 
 Chambers Street, 340 
 Chambers, Dr. William, 187, 196, 
 326 
 
 Charles I., 102, 248, 264 
 Charles II., 106, 108, iii, 282 
 Charles X. (of France), 132 
 Charles Edward, Prince, 121, 122, 
 
 T23, 245, 247 
 Charles Street, 350 
 Charlotte Square, 292 
 Charter, the Golden, 46 
 Chaseabout Raid, 79 
 Chepman, Walter, 187, 402 
 Chessel's Court, 233 
 Christison, Prof. Sir Robert, 309, 
 
 414 
 
 Church of St. Mary, South Leith, 
 379 
 
 Clarendon Crescent, 316 
 Clarinda (Mrs. Maclehose), 302, 
 348 
 
 Clark, T. & T., 293 
 " Claudero," 263 
 
 Claverhouse, John Graham of 
 (Viscount Dundee), iii, 272, 
 27s 
 
 *' Cleanse the Causeway " tulzie,55 
 
 Clubs, 127, 284 
 
 Clyde, the, 5 
 
 Coates Crescent, 322 
 
 Cobble Ferry, Cramond, 387 
 
 Cochrane, Thomas, 43 
 
 Cockburn, Lord, 330 
 
 Cockburn, Mrs,, 350 
 
 Cockpit, the, 275 
 
 Coinage, the Scots, 40, 112, 213 
 
 College Street, S. and N., 348 
 
 College Wynd, 266 
 
 Colt, Adam, 406 
 
 ColtlDridge, 327 
 
 Comely Bank, 316 
 
 Congregation, Lords of the, 72, 73 
 
 Constable, Archibald, 283, 329, 
 
 372, 412 
 Constitution Street, Leith, 377 
 Conventicles, 109 
 Cope, Sir John, 123 
 Corn Exchange, 276 
 Cornelius of Zurich, 335 
 Coull's Close, 227 
 Covenant Close, 204 
 Covenant, Solemn League and, 
 
 265 
 
 Covenant, the National, 105, 106, 
 
 268, 272 
 Covenanters, 105, 106, in, 264 
 Cowgate Port, 227 
 Cowgate, the, 38, 60, 74, 262 
 Craigcrook, 329 
 Craig's Close, 198 
 Craig, James, 282 
 Craig, Lord, 302 
 
 Craigmillar Castle, 41, 56, 81, 
 
 260, 390 
 Cramond, 387 
 Crawford, Earl of, 48 
 Creech, William, 128, 176 
 Crichton, Lord Chancellor, 22 
 Crichton Street, 350 
 Cromarty, Earl of, 386 
 Cromwell, 107 
 
 Crosbie, Andrew (Counsellor Pley- 
 
 dell), 192, 195 
 Cross, the City, 39, 201 
 Cullen, William, 410 
 Culloden, Battle of, 124 
 Cumberland, William, Duke of, 
 
 124, 250 
 Cunningham, Principal, 371 
 " Cunzie Nook," 271 
 Cymry, the, 5 
 
 D 
 
 Dalkeith, 50, 56, 134, 251, 393 
 Dalkeith Palace, 394 
 Dalmeny Park, 388 
 Dalziel, General Sir Thomas, no, 
 
 231, 272 
 Darien Expedition, 114, 377 
 Darien House, 340 
 Darnley, Henry, Lord, 79, So, 81, 
 
 247, 251, 257 
 David 1. (Saint), 10, 11 
 David II., 12 
 
 Davidson, Prof. A. B., 371 
 
 Dean Bridge, 315, 316 
 
 Dean Cemetery, 330 
 
 Dean of Guild Court, 93 
 
 De Quincey, Thomas, 279, 309, 
 
 317, 348, 382, 395, 414 
 Dick, Sir William, 105, 193 
 Dick Lauder, Sir Thomas, 370 
 Dickson, " Half-Hangit Maggie," 
 
 274 
 
 Dickson, David, 279 
 Dickson's Close. 209 
 Disruption, the, 135, 294 
 
Index 
 
 Donalbain, lo, 143 
 Donald, Lord of the Isles, 17 
 Donaldson's Hospital, 327 
 Douglas, Castle of, 44 
 Douglas, Gawain, 54, 400 
 Douglas, Home's, 233 
 Douglas, James, Seventh Earl of, 
 24 
 
 Douglas, James, Ninth Earl of, 
 30 
 
 Douglas, William, Sixth Earl of, 
 24 
 
 Douglas, William, Eighth Earl of, 
 24 
 
 Douglases, the, 24, 25, 28, 29, 56, 
 
 Dowden, the Right Rev. John, 
 D.D. (Bishop ^of Edinburgh), 
 324 
 
 Drumclog, Battle of, 11 1 
 Drummond, Annabella, Queen, 
 16 
 
 Drummond, George, 282 
 Drummond Place, 306 
 Drummond, William, of Haw- 
 
 thornden, loi, 397, 404 
 Duddingston, 259, 391 
 Duff, Dr Alexander, 371 
 Duke's Walk, 261 
 Dumbiedykes, 259, 390 
 Dunbar, Castle of, 44 
 Dunbar, Gavin, Archbishop of 
 
 Glasgow, 56 
 Dunbar, Prof. George, 412 
 Dunbar, William, 51, 54, 59, 178, 
 
 335, 400, 403 
 Duncan, Lord, 352 
 Dundas of Arniston, 356 
 Dundas Castle, 389 
 Dundas, Henry, Lord Melville, 
 
 220, 295 
 
 Dundee, Viscount (Claverhouse), 
 
 III, 143 
 Dunfermline, Lord, 371 
 Dunsappie Hill and Loch, 2, 260 
 
 E 
 
 ECGFRITH, 7 ^ 
 
 Edinburgh, opening description 
 of, I 
 
 Becomes joint security for 
 David IL's ransom, 12 
 
 Capture of, by Prince Charles 
 Edward, 122 
 
 Edinburgh (continued) 
 Clubs, 127, 199 
 Constitution of, 87 
 Court of James IV., 49 
 Domestic, 125 
 Effects of the Union, 119. 
 First Wall of, 27 
 Flodden Wall, 52, 53, 64, 276 
 Foundation of, 3 
 Foundation of Holyrood 
 
 Abbey, 10 
 Guilds of, 47 
 
 Merchant Company of, 117 
 North Bridge built, 127, 282 
 One of Royal Burghs, 11 
 Provosts and Lord Provosts, 
 
 46, TIC, 198 
 The high lands in, 125 
 The New Town formed, 127 
 Town Council of, 35, 46 
 Water Supply, 157 
 
 Edinburgh Review, 130, 280 
 
 Edward I., 11 
 
 Edward IV., 44 
 
 Edward VI., 65 
 
 Edvyin of Deira, 4 
 
 Eglinton, Susanna, Countess of, 
 200, 231, 411 
 
 Eldin, Lord (John Clerk), 303 
 
 Eliot, George, 326. 
 
 Elizabeth, Queen, 73, 97, 250 
 
 Episcopacy, 24, 109, 113 
 
 Errol, Earl of, 48 
 
 Erskine, Henry, 199, 353 
 
 Esk, the, 5, 394 
 
 Eskmouth, Bight of, 3 
 
 Eton Terrace, 317 
 
 Exhibition, Edinburgh, 138 
 
 F 
 
 Falconer, William, 411 
 Falkirk, Battle of, 124 
 Falkland, Palace of, 57, 62 
 Fergusson, Prof. Adam, 128, 237 
 
 352, 410 
 Fergusson, Robert, 237, 411 
 Ferrier, James, 296 
 Ferrier, Miss Susan, 414 
 Fettes, Sir William, 220, 320, 321 
 Fife, Kingdom of, 3 
 Figgate Burn Sands, 391 
 Findlay, J. R., 301, 315 
 Fisher's Close, 169 
 Fisherrow, 391 
 
 420 
 
Index 
 
 Fleming, A. B., & Co., 386 
 Flodden, Battle of, 52 
 Flodden Wall, 52, 53, 64, 276, 361 
 Forbes, Edward, 330 
 Forbes, Sir William, 298 
 Fordun, 385 
 Forresters' Wynd, 39 
 Forth Bridge, 389 
 Forth, the, 5, 144, 332 
 Fountain Close, 214 
 Fountainbridge, 362 
 Frances II., 65, 74 
 Frederick Street, 293 
 *' Friends of the People," 129, 274, 
 ,275, 372 
 Froissart, 400 
 
 G 
 
 Gallery, National, 289 
 Galloway's Entry, 238 
 Gallowlee, 218, 374 
 Geddes, Jenny, 104 
 Geddie, John, 316, 319 
 General's Entry, 348 
 Geographical Society, Royal 
 
 Scottish, 301 
 George III., 283 
 George IV., 131, 252 
 George IV. Bridge, 332 
 George Square, 352 
 George Street, 293 
 Giants' Brae, " Fort Somerset," 
 
 377 
 
 Gibson, Captain, 380 
 Gillespie's Hospital, 364 
 Girth, the, 240, 243 
 Gladstone, Sir John, 381 
 Gladstone's Land, 171 
 Gold mining in Scotland, 213 
 Golfer's Land, 237 
 Goodsir, Prof., 3^0 
 Goold, Dr. W. H., 334 
 Graham, James, 412 
 Grange, Lady, 208 
 Grange Cemetery, 371 
 Grange House, 370 
 Grange Loan, 366 
 Grant, Sir Alexander, 413 
 Grant, James, 414 
 Granton, 134, 385 
 Grassmarket, 38, 272, 278 
 Greenside, 374 
 Gregory, Dr. James, 410 
 Gregory, Dr. John, 410 
 
 Greyfriars, 17, 99, m, 268, 271, 
 
 335, 336 
 Greyfriars' "Bobby," 334, 335 
 Grierson of Lag, no, 272 
 Guardhouse, the City, 206 
 '* Gudeman of Ballangeich," 387, 
 
 388 
 Guilds, 47 
 Guthrie, James, 272 
 Guthrie, Dr. Thomas, 136, 166, 
 ^ 333, .371. 390 
 Guthrie Street, 342 
 
 H 
 
 Haddington, Earl of (" Tam 
 
 o' the Cowgate "), 269 
 Haddington, or Adrington, Castle, 
 
 44 
 
 Hailes, Lord, 171, 230, 411 
 Halidon Hill, Battle of, 19 
 Halkerston's Wynd, 218 
 Hamilton of Bangour, William, 
 4". 
 
 Hamilton, Captain Thomas, 414 
 " Hamilton, Cocked-Hat," 298 
 Hamilton, Sir William, 279, 305, 
 
 309, 326, 414 
 Hamiltons, the, 55 
 Hammermen, Guild of, 269, 270, 
 
 271 
 
 Hanover Street, 293 
 
 Hart, Andro, 198 
 
 Hawley, General, 124 
 
 Hawthornden, lor, 397 
 
 Hay market, 327 
 
 Henryson, Robert, 403 
 
 Heriot, George, 102, 192, 193 
 
 Heriot's Hospital, 102, 107, 359 
 
 Heriot Row, 299, 304 
 
 Hermitage Castle, 44 
 
 Hermitage House, 368 
 
 Hertford, Earl of, 64, 65 
 
 Henry VIIL, 65, 250 
 
 High School Wynd, 263 
 
 High Street (anciently Hie Gate), 
 39» 60, 75, 88 
 
 Highland and Agricultural 
 Society, 333 
 
 Huntly, Earls and Marquises of, 
 44, 48, 236 
 
 Hogg, James, *Ettrick Shep- 
 herd," 412 
 
 Holyrood, 10, 11, 28, 29, 49, 55, 
 99, 107, 113, 243 
 
 421 
 
Index 
 
 Home, John, 380, 410 
 
 Homildon Hill, Battle of, 19 
 
 Hope, Lord President Charles, 312 
 
 Hopetoun, Earl of, 220 
 
 Horse Wynd, 266 
 
 Howe Street, 305 
 
 Hume, Alexander, 404 
 
 Hume Castle, 44, 66 
 
 Hume, David, 166, 170, 230, 294, 
 
 ^^352, 372, 410 
 
 Hyndford, Earls of, 268 
 
 Hyndford's Close, 212 
 
 I 
 
 Infirmary, Royal, 137, 343, 357 
 
 Inchcolm, 385 
 
 Inchkeith, 66, 385 
 
 India Buildings, 333 
 
 Inns, statutes regarding, 19 
 
 Institution, Royal, 289 
 
 Institutions — 
 
 Calton Jail, 373 
 
 City Poorhouse, Craiglock- 
 hart, 367 
 
 General Post-Office. 372 
 
 King James' Hospital, Leith, 
 380 
 
 Leith Hospital, 381 
 
 Lunatic Asylum, Morning- 
 side,_ 367 
 
 Municipal Buildings and 
 Town Hall, Leith, 377 
 
 Municipal Buildings, "Royal 
 Exchange," Edinburgh, 
 197, 198 
 
 New Fever Hospital — Colin- 
 ton Mains, 367 
 
 Observatories, Old and New, 
 37.4 
 
 Register House, 284 
 
 Royal Infirmary, 137, 343, 
 357 . . 
 
 Royal Institution, 289 
 
 Royal Observatory, 369 
 Inveresk, 392 
 Ireland, John, 43 
 
 J 
 
 Jack's Land, 230 
 
 James I., 17, 20, 402 
 
 James II., 22, 402 
 
 James III., 33, 42, 245, 390, 401 
 
 422 
 
 James IV., 33, 49, 245, 366, 394, 
 401 
 
 James V., 56, 245, 257, 403 
 James VI., 83, 192, 223, 257, 403 
 James VII. and II., 113 
 James's Court, 170 
 Jamesone, George, 102 
 Jeffrey, Lord, 133, 300, 312, 329 
 Jock's Lodge, 374 
 Jonson, Ben, loi, 397 
 Joppa, 391 
 Justiciary Court, 88 
 
 K 
 
 Kames, Lord, 171,411 
 Kelland, Prof. Philip, 414 
 Kennedy, Bishop, 25, 33 
 Kennedy, Walter, 54, 403 
 King's Drive, 259 
 King's Park, 259 
 King's Stables, 39, 75, 276 
 King's Wark, Leith, 378 
 Kirkcaldy of Grange, 83, 84, 85, 
 370 
 
 Kirkgate, the, Leith, 378 
 Knox, John, 69, 77, 85, 161, 178, 
 220, 249, 271 
 
 L 
 
 Lady Fife's Brae, "Fort Pel- 
 ham," 377 
 Lady Lawson's Street, 361 
 Laing, David, 343, 414 
 Lammermoors, 3 
 Lang, Andrew, 4 
 Lang Dykes (or Lang Gait), 281 
 Lasswade, 395 
 Laud, Archbishop, 99, 103 
 Lauder, 44 
 
 Lauderdale, Duke of, 109, iii, 
 112, 272 
 
 Lauriston Gardens, 361 
 
 Lauriston Tower, 329 
 
 Law, William, of Lauriston, 329 
 
 Law, Prof. William, 409 
 
 Lawnmarket, the, 39, 162 
 
 Laws, Sumptuary, 20, 106 
 Defensive, 30, 31 
 Export and Import, 68 
 
 Lee, Principal John, 413 
 
 Leishman's School, 348 
 
 Leith, 3, 47, 73, 105 
 
Index 
 
 Leith, Harbour and Docks, 383 
 
 Leith Links, 377 
 
 Leith Races, 382 
 
 Leith Walk, 374 
 
 Leith Wynd, 34, 6t, 223 
 
 Lennox, Earl of, 44, 84 
 
 Leonard, John, 43 
 
 Leprosy, 90 
 
 Lesley, General, 105 
 
 Leslie, Prof. Sir John, 412 
 
 Leven, the, 5 
 
 Leydon, John, 412 
 
 Leyrva, John, 335, 401 
 
 Liberton's Wynd, 39, 174 
 
 Library, 333 
 
 Lincoln, President, 372 
 
 Lindsay, Rev. David, "Bishop of 
 
 Ross," 380 
 Lister, Lord, 414 
 
 Livingstone, Sir Alexander (Re- 
 gent), 22 
 Loch Leven Castle, 82 
 Lockhart, John Gibson, 305, 412 
 Lockhart, Lord President, 170 
 Logan, Rev. John, 380 
 Lothian, Marquis of, 394 
 Lothian Road, 279, 280 
 Lothian Street, 348 
 Lounger, the, 177 
 Luckenbooths, the, 178 
 Lyndsay, Sir David, i, 56, 404 
 
 M 
 
 M'Crie, Dr. Thomas, 413 
 M'Ewan Hall, 349 
 Mackenzie, Henry, 304, 411 
 MacLaurin, Prof. Colin, 410 
 Maclehose, Mrs. (Clarinda), 302, 
 348 
 
 Macmorran, Bailie, 93, 167, 168 
 
 M'Vicar, Charles, 279 
 
 Madalene, Queen, 58, 257 
 
 Magdalen Chapel, 269, 270 
 
 Maitland of Lethington, 83, 86 
 
 Maitland Street, 322 
 
 Malcolm IL, 7 
 
 Malcolm IIL (Ceanmohr), 8 
 
 Manor Place, 323 
 
 Mar, John, Earl of, 40 
 
 Mar, the Regent, 85 
 
 Margaret of Denmark, Queen, 37 
 
 Margaret of England, 50 
 
 Margaret, Saint, 8 
 
 Maris Stella, Church of, 378 
 
 Markets and Market-places, 38, 
 
 39, 61, 62 
 Marlin's Wynd, 206 
 Martello Tower, Leith, 382 
 Martin, Sir Theodore, 414 
 Martyrs' Church, 334 
 Mary of Gueldres, Queen, 26, 33, 
 
 247, 257 
 
 Mary of Guise, Queen, 67, 70, 71, 
 
 72, 73» 74» 270, 376, 379 
 Mary King's Close, 197 
 Mary Queen of Scots, 65, 70, 74, 
 
 88, 249, 390, 405 ^ 
 Masson, Prof. David, 397, 414 
 Meadows, the, and Meadow Walk, 
 
 356, 357 
 Medical School, the, 118, 138 
 Melvil, Andrew, 94 
 Melville Street, 324 
 Merchant Company of Edinburgh, 
 
 117 
 
 Merchiston Castle, 364 
 Merchiston Place, 364 
 Middleton, Earl of,^io9 
 Midlothian, 4 
 Millbank, 366 
 Mill Lane, Leith, 381 
 Mint Close, 212 
 Mirror, the, 177 
 Mississippi Scheme, 329 
 Moir, D. M., " Delta," 392, 412 
 Monboddo, Lord, 171, 352, 411 
 MoncriefF, Rev. Sir Henry, 279, 
 299 
 
 Monk, General, 348, 376 
 Monro, Alexander, " Primus," 
 410 
 
 Monro, Alexander, " Secundus," 
 410 
 
 Monro, Alexander, "Tertius," 
 412 
 
 Montalembert, Andr^ de, Comte 
 
 d'Esse, 66 
 Montgomerie, Alexander, 401 
 Montrose, Marquis of, 106, 109 
 Monuments and Statues — 
 
 Adam Black, 288 
 
 Albert Memorial, 292 \ 
 
 Allan Ramsay, 291 
 
 Burns Monument, 374 
 
 Chalmers, Dr., 293 
 
 Dean Ramsay, 291 
 
 Duke of Buccleuch, 175 
 
 George IV., 293 
 
 Livingstone, 287 
 
 Martyrs' Monument, 339 
 
Index 
 
 Monuments and Statues {con- 
 iinued) 
 
 National, 373 
 
 Nelson's, 373 
 
 Playfair, Prof. John, 374 
 
 Prof. John Wilson, 288 
 
 Scott, 133, 136, 287 
 
 Sir J. Y. Simpson, 291 
 
 Stewart, Dugald, 374 
 
 William Pitt, 293 
 Moorfoots, 3 
 
 Moray, Earl of, 79, 83, 191 
 
 Moray House, 235 
 
 Moray Place, 311 
 
 Morningside, 367 
 
 Morocco Close and Land, 228, 
 
 229, 230 
 Morrison, Dr. Hew, 334 
 Morton, Earl of, 50, 79, 86 
 Moryson, F^'nes, 94, 243 
 Moultrie's Hill, 281 
 Mound, the, 289 
 Muir, James, 372 
 Muir, Principal Sir William, 413 
 Municipal Chambers, 198 
 Murchison, Sir Roderick, 4 
 Murray, Lord, 330 
 Murrayfield, 329 
 
 Museum, Royal Scottish, 137, 
 341 
 
 Music Class Room (Reid), 350 
 
 Music Hall, 294 
 
 Musselburgh, 391 
 
 Mylne, Robert, 162, 245 
 
 Mylne Square, 201 
 
 Mylne's Court, 162 
 
 Mystery and Morality Plays, 51 
 
 N 
 
 Nairn, Duncan, 406 
 Napier, Macvey, 280 
 Nasmyth, Alexander, 302 
 National Portrait Gallery, 138 
 Nectansmere, 7 
 Nelson, Thomas, 371 
 Netherbow Port, 38, 218 
 Neville's Cross, Battle of, 12 
 Newbattle, 394 
 
 New College, the (Free Church), 
 
 137, 162 
 Newhaven, 384 
 
 New School of Medicine (Bristo), 
 New Street, 230 
 424 
 
 Newton, Lord (Charles Hay), 
 
 302 
 
 Niddry Street, 207 
 Niddry's Wynd, 39 
 Nisbet of Dirleton, 241 
 Nith, the, 5 
 
 " Noctes Ambrosianae," 286 
 Non-Intrusionists, 133, 135, i36> 
 
 318 
 
 Nor' Loch, the, 27, 60, 171, 282 
 Norrie, J. (Decorator), 169 
 North Bridge, 127, 139, 282 
 Northumbria, 5, 7 
 
 O 
 
 Old Assembly Close, 203 
 Old Bank Close, 169 
 Old Calton Cemetery, 372 
 Old Fishmarket Close, 203 
 Old Granton House, 386 
 Old Stamp Office Close, 200 
 Osborne, Alexander, 303 
 
 P 
 
 Palace of Mary of Guise, 159, 
 160 
 
 Parliament, the (Scots Estates), 
 68, 113 
 
 Parliament Close or Square, 178, 
 192 
 
 Parliament Hall, 181 
 Paterson, William, 114 
 Paton, Sir Noel, 355 
 Patton, George, Lord Justice- 
 Clerk, 299 
 " Paul's Work," 224 
 Peebles' Wynd, 39 
 PefFermill House, 390 
 Pentlands, 3, 367 
 Perth, Earl of, 113, 122 
 Picardy Place, 302, 303 
 Picts, 3, 4 
 
 Piershill Cavalry Barracks, 374 
 Pilkington, W. H., 364 
 Pillans, Prof. J., 304, 412 
 Pinkie, Battle of, 65, 392 
 Pitcairn, Dr. Archibald, 409 
 Pitscottie, 33 
 Playfair, John, 412 
 Playfair, W. H., 347 
 Playhouse Closes, New and Old 
 233 
 
Index 
 
 Pleasance, 54, 243, 262 
 Pollock, Robert, 412 
 Polton, 396 
 
 Porteous Mob, the, 119, 120, 121, 
 274 
 
 Portobello, 391 
 
 Portrait Gallery, National, 301 
 Ports or Gates, 77 
 Post Office, 103, 137 
 Potterrow, 5^, 348 
 Presbyterianism, 94, 109, 113, 114 
 Prestonpans, Battle of, 123 
 Prince-Consort, 134 
 Princes Street, 281, 284 
 Princes Street Gardens, East, 287 
 Princes Street Gardens, West, 291 
 
 Q 
 
 Queen Street, 298 
 Queensberry, Duke of, 115, 177 
 Queensberry House, 241 
 Queensferry, 8 
 Queensferry Road, 315 
 Queensferry, South, 388, 389 
 
 R 
 
 Radical Road, 261 
 
 Raeburn Place, 316 
 
 Raeburn, Sir Henry, 279, 316 
 
 Railways, 134, 136 
 
 Ramsay, Allan, 155, 176, 219, 409 
 
 Ramsay, Dean, 279, 314 
 
 Ramsay Lodge, 155 
 
 Randolph, Thomas, Earl of 
 
 Moray, j 2 
 Randolph Crescent, 314 
 Ravelston, 329 
 Rebellions, the, 119, 121 
 Reform, Burgh, 133 
 Reform, Parliamentary, 132 
 Reformation, the Scots, 70 
 Regalia, the, 130 
 Regent Terrace, 374 
 Regents, or *' Professors," 406 
 Register House, 284, 285 
 Reid, Thomas, 412 
 Reid's Close, 241 
 Renaissance, the, 34, 43 
 Renwick, James, 272 
 Restalrig, 374 _ 
 "Resurrectionists," 132 
 Riddle's Court, 168 
 
 Rizzio, 80, 251, 258 
 Robert III., 14, 15 
 Robertson, Lord, 307 
 Robertson, Principal, 265, 370, 
 411 
 
 Rollock, Robert, 405 
 
 Roman Eagle Hall, 169 
 
 Rood, the Black, 9 
 
 Rose Court (George Street), 283 
 
 Rosebery, Earl of, 388 
 
 Roseburn, 328 
 
 Roses, Wars of the, 33 
 
 Roslin, 398 
 
 Roslin Castle, 398 
 
 Roslin Chapel, 399 
 
 Rothes, Duke of, 109, 272 
 
 Rothes, Earl of, 48 
 
 Rothesay, Duke of, 16 
 
 Roxburgh Close, 195 
 
 Royal Exchange, 197 
 
 Royal Terrace, 374 
 
 Royston, Lord, 169, 386 
 
 Rullion Green, Battle of, no 
 
 Runciman (Artist), i6g 
 
 Russel, Alex. {Scotsman), 330 
 
 Rutherfurd, Lord, 330 
 
 S 
 
 St. Andrew's Church, 294 
 St. Andrew's Square, 294 
 St. Andrew's Street, 294 
 St. Anthony's Street, 380 
 St. Anthony, Hermitage of, 26 
 St. Bernard's Well, 318 
 St. Clair, William de, 212, 399 
 St. Cuthbert's, or the West Kirk, 
 278 
 
 St. David's Street, 294 
 St. George's Church, 292 
 St. George's Church, Free, 322 
 St. Giles', 36, 55, 78, 103, 185 
 St. John's Church, U.F., 333 
 St. John's Episcopal Church, 279, 
 292 
 
 St. John's Parish Church, 333 
 
 St. John's Street, 234 
 
 St. Leonard's, 75 
 
 St. Margaret's Convent, 365 
 
 St. Margaret's Hope, 389 
 
 St. Margaret's Loch and Well, 261 
 
 St. Mary's Cathedral, 323 
 
 St. Mary's Wynd, 39, 61, 223, 226 
 
 St. Ninian's Church, Leith, 384 
 
 St. Roque, 366 
 
 425 
 
Index 
 
 Schools, etc. — 
 
 Daniel Stewart's College, 3^1 
 Edinburgh Academy, 131, 318 
 Edinburgh Institution, 301 
 Fettes College, 321 
 George Watson's College, 361 
 Heriot-Watt College, 341 
 High School, Leith, 377 
 Merchant Company's Schools, 
 352 
 
 Merchiston Castle School, 365 
 Minto _ House Medical and 
 
 Surgical School, 342 
 Normal School, Church of 
 
 Scotland, 342 
 Normal School, U.F. Church, 
 
 236 
 
 Ragged or Industrial, 136, 158 
 Royal High School, 374, 401 
 Watson's Institution, 331 
 Scotichronicon ^ Fordun's, 385 
 Scotland, Church of (Offices oQ, 
 30 T 
 
 Scotsman, The, 130 
 
 Scott, Alexander, 404 
 
 Scott, Allan, 330 
 
 Scott, Sir Gilbert, 323 
 
 Scott, Sir Walter, 128, 129, 130, 
 
 132, 133, 260, 261, 266, 296, 342, 
 
 389, 305, 400, 411, 413 
 Scott, Walter (W.S.), 353 
 Scrimgeour, Alexander, 406 
 Seafield, Earl of. 116 
 Sellar, Prof. W. Y., 413^' 
 Sempill, the Barons, 158 
 Session, Court of, 59, 180, 184 
 Settlement, Act of, 285 
 Shakespeare Square, 372 
 Shandwick Place, 322 
 Sharp, Archbishop, 109, 272 
 Sharpe, C. K.. 306 
 Sheriff Court Buildings, 333 
 Shoemakers' Land, 231 
 Shore, the, Leith, 375 
 Signal Tower, Leith, 382 
 Signet Library, 174 
 Simpson Memorial Hospital, 361 
 Simpson, Prof A. R., 300 
 Simpson, Sir J. Y., 300, 414 
 Skelton, Sir John, 368, 414 
 Skene, W. F., 414 
 Smeaton, Prof. George, 161 
 Smellie, William, 199 
 Smith, Adam, 237, 352, 411 
 Smith, Alexander, 414 
 Smith, Sydney, 301 
 
 426 
 
 Smollett, Tobias, 177 
 Solway Moss, Rout of, 62 
 South Bridge, 342 
 South Gray's Close, 212 
 Spalding, Prof. William, 414 
 Steell, Sir John, 285 
 Stage Coaches, 98 
 Stair, Lady, 172, 173 
 Stanfield, Sir James, 216, 217 
 Stevenson, Prof. John, 410 
 Stevenson, R. Louis, 305, 368, 414 
 Stewart, Dugald, 238, 312 
 Stewart, Lord Provost, 124 
 Stewart, Prof. Sir T. Grainger, 
 330 
 
 Stirling, Earl of (William Alex- 
 ander), 404 
 
 Strathcluyd, 4 
 
 Strichen's Close, 209 
 
 Strozzi, Marechal, 376 
 
 Stuart, Sir John, 298, 340 
 
 Surgeons' Hall, 347 
 
 Surrey, Earl of, 52 
 
 Sutherland, Earl of, 48 
 
 Swanston, 368 
 
 Sylvius, yEneas, 20, 400 
 
 Sym, Robert ("Timothy Tick- 
 ler "), 353 
 
 Syme, Prof. J., 330, 366, 414 
 
 T 
 
 Tailoks' Hall, 266 
 Tait, M. S., 306 
 Tanfield, 318 
 Tantallon Castle, 44 
 Taverns and Hotels — 
 
 Ambrose's, 286 
 
 Clerihugh's, 178, 196 
 
 Douglas Hotel, 295 
 
 Fortune's, 178, 201 
 
 Isle of Man Arms, 199 
 
 Jenny Ha's Changehouse, 238 
 
 Johnnie Dowie's, 174 
 
 John's Coffee House, 193 
 
 New Ship Inn, 381 
 
 North British Railway Sta- 
 tion, 285 
 
 Old Hawes Inn, 389 
 
 Old Ship Hotel, 381 
 
 Somers's, 178 
 
 White Hart Inn, 275 
 
 Whitehorse Inn (St. Mary's 
 Wynd), 226 
 Tea, 112 
 
Index 
 
 Templar Lands, 165 
 Terrot, Bishop, 305 
 Teviot, the, 5 
 
 Thomson, Andrew, D.D., 292, 325 
 Thomson, the Rev. John, 260 
 *' Timothy Tickler" (R. Sym), 353 
 Tinto, 3 
 
 Tolbooth, the Canongate, 232 
 Tolbooth, the, 39, 55, 78, 175 
 Tolbooth, the, Leith, 381 
 Tolbooth Wynd, Leith, 381 
 Tollcross, 363 
 Torphichen, William, 43 
 Trinity, 385 
 
 Trinity College, Church of, 34, 
 
 35, 219, 226, 257 
 Trinity Fund, 36 
 Trinity House, Leith, 378 
 Tron, the, 39 
 
 Tron Church, the, 106, 207 
 Tulzies, 55, 2X2 
 Turgot, 9 
 
 Turner, Principal Sir William, 408 
 Twa Brigs, 387 
 Tweed, the, 5 
 Tweeddale Court, 214 
 Tytler, P. Fraser, 326, 410 
 
 U 
 
 Union, the, 116 
 Union of Presbyterian Churches, 
 318 
 
 United Free Church of Scotland, 
 
 Union of, 139 
 University, the, 87, loi, 128, 138, 
 
 344, 405, 406, 407, 408 
 University Medical School, 349 
 University, Principals of, 408 
 
 V 
 
 Veitch, Prof. John, 326 
 Vennel, the, 276 
 
 Victoria, Queen, 134, 137 
 Victoria Street, 333 
 
 W 
 
 Wardie, 385 
 Warrender House, 365 
 Warrender, Sir George, 363 
 Warriston Cemetery, 318 
 Warriston House, 319 
 Warriston's Close, 195 
 Water of Leith, 315 
 Water of Leith Village, 315 
 Water Street, Leith, 378 
 Waverley Bridge, 287 
 Waverley Hotel, 285 
 Waverley Novels^ 129, 130 
 Waverley Station, 286 
 Weigh-house, the, 39, 165 
 Weir, Major, in, 164 
 Wellington, Duke of, 285 
 Wells o' Wearie, 260 
 West Bow, the, 165, 272, 333 
 West Port, 276 
 Whitefoorde House, 238 
 White Horse Close, 239 
 Whitehouse Loan, 366 
 Whyte, Rev. Alex., D.D., 322 
 William IIL (of Orange), 113 
 William, Roger, 43 
 Williamson, David. 279 
 Wilson, Dr. J. H., 364 
 Wilson John (" Christopher 
 
 North"), 300, 310, 330 
 Wilson, Prof. George, 372 
 Witchcraft, 90, 91, 92, 93 
 Wood's Farm, 281 
 World's End Close, 216 
 Writers' Court, 196 
 
 Y 
 
 York Place, 302 
 Young, John, 283 
 
 THE END 
 
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