EDINBURGH, a city and seat of a university, and the metropolis of the
kingdom of Scotland, situated in longitude 3° 10' 30" (W.), and latitude 55° 57' 29"
(N.), about a mile (S. by W.) from Leith, 47 miles (S. S. W.) from Dundee, 47 (E. by N.)
from Glasgow, 45 (S. by E.) from Perth, 58 (W. by N.) from Berwick-upon-Tweed,
100 (N. by W.) from Carlisle, 109 (S. W. by S.) from Aberdeen, 156 (S. by E.) from
Inverness, 270 (N. E.) from Dublin, and 402 (N. N. W.) from London;
containing 56,330, and, including the suburban parishes of St. Cuthbert
and Canongate, 138,182 inhabitants. The following is a list of the subjects comprised
in the article, with the page in which each head or division occurs:
History 374
General Description of the City 384
Its Extension at various Periods 385
Notice of the Castle 387
Of Holyrood Abbey and Palace
Of the Parliament-House,
and the Libraries of the
Advocates and the Writers
to the Signet
Of the College of Physicians,
that of Surgeons,
and the Medical Society
Of the Royal Exchange, and
the Bank of Scotland
The Register Office 390
Literary and Scientific Institutions;
Gardens; Assembly
Rooms; Theatre 390
Monuments .392
Railways 393
Municipal Affairs; County Hall; Prisons 394
History, Government,Buildings,
of the Univereity 396
New College, High School, and Academy 398
Ecclesiastical arrangements, and Places of Worship 399
Hospitals and other Charitable Institutions 402
Eminent Natives 401;
Historical Account.
This city takes its name, in ancient records Dun Edin,
signifying " the hill of Edin or Edwin ", from its castle,
which was either founded or rebuilt by Edwin, King of
Northumbria, who, having greatly increased his power
and extended his dominions, in 626 erected a strong fortress
for the protection of his newly-acquired territories
from the frequent incursions of the Scots and Picts.
The original fortress is supposed to have existed prior
to the year 452, at which time it was captured by the
Saxons, and Edinburgh remained in their possession till
685, when it was recovered by the Scots; but it was
soon afterwards again taken by the Saxons, and continued
to form part of the kingdom of Northumbria
until 936. In that year it was granted, together with
all the lands reaching to the Firth of Forth, by Athelstan
to his sister on her marriage with Sictrich of
Sihtric; but about 956 it was ultimately regained by
the Scots, since which it has been included in their
kingdom. The very tardy increase of the town, which
did not attain to any considerable importance prior to
the fourteenth century, is attributed to its situation on
the south side of the Firth, and its consequent exposure
to the depredations of the English, by whom it was often
pillaged and burnt in their hostde incursions. From the
frequency of these devastations, moreover, not only was
the progress of the town, which from its castle was called
" Edwin's burgh ", materially retarded, but the public
records (if any) were destroyed; and the city archives
throw light on no transactions of authenticity prior to
the year 1329, when Robert I. granted the inhabitants a
charter. Indeed, even from that period till the year
1581 there occur only a few unconnected and unimportant
events.
It is not known by which of the Scottish monarchs
Edinburgh was first constituted a royal burgh; but that
it was such in the reign of David I. is evident from
reference made to it in charters granted by him to other
towns, and which have been preserved; and it is more
than probable that the lands called the Borough-Moor
and Borough-Myre were bestowed by that sovereign, in
his charter to the city, now lost. In 1385, John, Earl
of Carrick, son of Robert II., and lord high steward of
Scotland, conferred upon the inhabitants, by charter of
the 4th of July, power to erect houses in the precincts
of the castle, with the privilege of free ingress and egress
to their servants; and in 1388, Robert II., by charter
of the 15th of July, gave them a tract of land on the
north side of the Market-street, for the improvement of
the town. In 1437, Walter, Earl of Atholl, his grandson
Robert, and kinsman Robert Graham, were publicly
executed in Edinburgh for the murder of James I.
in the monastery of the Black Friars at Perth. James
II., by charter dated the 4th of November, 1447, allowed
the citizens the liberty of holding an annual fair
on the festival of the Holy Trinity. In 1461, Henry VI.
of England, with his queen Margaret, and his son Edward,
Prince of Wales, after the defeat of his army at
the battle of Towton, fled for refuge into Scotland,
and was hospitably entertained in Edinburgh Castle.
The honourable reception he received from the citizens
induced him on his return to the south, to issue letterspatent
granting to the citizens of Edinburgh full permission
to trade with England, paying no more duties
on merchandise than his own subjects; but his subsequent
exclusion from the throne rendered this privilege
unavailing.
In 1477. James III. gave the citizens a charter enabling
them to appropriate certain parts of the town for
holding the markets, which previously had not been
fixed to any precise spot, or limited to any particular
days. In 1481, this monarch having excited the dissatisfaction
of his brother, Alexander, Duke of Albany,
and others of the nobility, by his inauspicious entertainment
of favourites, they entered into a confederacy for
the removal of those persons by whom he was influenced
to the prejudice of the country; and the king being
intimidated by these proceedings, took refuge in the
castle of Edinburgh, in which he was detained a prisoner
for nearly nine months, while the confederates were appointed
regents of the kingdom. But the Duke of Albany,
discontented with the conduct of the other regents, and
yielding to the importunities of the queen for the liberation
of her husband, appointed a meeting of certain of
his friends at Edinburgh, who, assisted by a body of the
citizens, assaulted the castle, and restored the king to
liberty. James, thus replaced in the government, in
grateful testimony of the loyalty of the citizens, bestowed
upon them two charters in 148'2, conferring many valuable
privileges, among which was the appointment of
sheriffs having power to hold courts for the trial of criminals,
with fines and escheats belonging to their office.
The inhabitants were also invested with liberty to make
laws for the due government of the city, were exempted
from payment of the duties on salt, and received a grant
of customs and dues on the several articles of merchandise
in their port of Leith; and as a perpetual memorial
of their loyalty and services, the king removed the seat
of government and the royal residence, previously at
Perth, to the city of Edinburgh, which he thus made the
METROPOLIS of his kingdom. Among other marks of
his favour bestowed upon the citizens at this time, was
the gift of a standard or banner, to which the craftsmen,
not only of Edinburgh, but of all other cities within the
realm, were bound to repair for the assistance of the
magistrates in defence of their king and of their own
rights. This flag is still preserved by the convener of
the trades, and on its being displayed in times of emergency,
all the artisans of the city and surrounding districts
are compelled to assemble, and place themselves at
his disposal.
Events of the Sixteenth Century.
In 1508, James IV. granted the citizens a charter
enabling them to let the common lands designated the
Borough-Moor, and the marsh called the Common-Myre,
at fee-farm rents. The citizens, on this, immediately
proceeded to clear the grounds, and cut down the trees
with which they were thickly covered; and having in
this manner procured a vast quantity of timber, the
town council, for promoting the sale of it, allowed to all
purchasers of a sufficient quantity to new-front their
houses the privilege of extending them seven feet into
the High-street beyond their former boundaries, on each
side. Thus not only was the principal street reduced
fourteen feet in width, but the houses previously fronted
with stone were now entirely constructed of wood, to the
great prejudice of the general appearance of the city. In
1513, James, who by the intrigues of France was led
into a war with England, in opposition to the counsel of
his nobles, mustered an army on the Borough-Moor, and
being joined by the citizens under their provost the Earl
of Angus, marched into England, and was defeated in
the disastrous battle of Flodden-Field, in which the king
and most of the Scottish nobility were slain. The royal
body, being found after the battle, was carried to Berwick-
on-Tweed, embalmed, and sent, inclosed in lead, to
London, whence it was conveyed to the monastery of
Sheen at Richmond for interment. On the news of this
calamitous defeat, the town council of Edinburgh issued
a proclamation enjoining all the citizens capable of bearing
arms to assemlole at the Cross, and join the lord provost
for the defence of the town against any attempts of
the victorious enemy. A guard was raised; £500 were
voted for purchasing arms and ammunition, and such of
the inhabitants as had gardens attached to their houses
were required, for greater security, to fortify them by the
erection of walls. The consternation of the people was
aggravated by the prevalence of the plague, which was
making dreadful havoc among them. The council, in
consideration of the arduous duties devolving upon the
provost during this period of war and pestilence, ordered
one hundred merks to be added to his annual income;
and to prevent the further ravages of the plague, they
directed that all the houses on the Borough-Moor, at
that time crowded with infected persons, should be unroofed,
and the walls taken down.
In 1524, Francis Bothwell, lord provost of Edinburgh,
having resigned that office according to the king's command,
obtained permission to enter a protest that his
resignation should in no wise be drawn into a precedent
derogatory or prejudicial to the rights and privileges of
the corporation. In 1544, Henry VIII. of England, disappointed
in his efforts to negotiate a marriage between
his son. Prince Edward, and the Princess Mary, daughter
of James V., sent an array into Scotland under the
Earl of Hertford in order to compel the Scots to the
proposed alliance; and the English forces, having landed
at Leith, and taken possession of that town unopposed,
advanced to Edinburgh, which they pillaged and set fire
to, without attempting to reduce the castle. The earl
returned with his army to Leith, burnt the place, and
afterwards retreated into England; but the same nobleman
(now Duke of Somerset) again entering Scotland,
with a more numerous army, in 1547, to force the Scots
to acquiesce in the projected union, achieved a victory
at the battle of Pinkie, and again plundered Edinburgh.
Era of the Reformation.
At the commencement of the Reformation in Scotland,
in 1556, the citizens destroyed the statues of the
Virgin Mary and other saints in the church of St. Giles,
which produced a mandate from the queen dowager, regent
of the kingdom, to the lord provost and council to
discover the offenders, and deliver them to the Archbishop
of St. Andrew's, to be dealt with according to the
statutes of the Church. In 155S, under apprehension
of an invasion from England, the citizens displayed the
utmost zeal in support of the government. The merchants
raised a body of 700 men, well armed and accoutred,
and the craftsmen of the various incorporations, at
a meeting in the Tolbooth, resolved to furnish an equal
number for the defence of the city; the town council,
also, voted considerable supplies for the assistance of the
queen. On the celebration this year of the festival of
St. Giles, the tutelar patron of Edinburgh, according to
custom, the popish priests and monks, in order to prevent
any obstruction from the friends of the Reformation,
requested the presence of the queen regent at the procession;
but on repairing to the church to place the
statue of the saint on the carriage prepared for its reception,
they had the mortification to find that it had been
removed during the preceding night. To obviate the
failure of their purpose, however, a smaller image of the
saint was borrowed from the church of the Grey Friars;
but, the queen retiring from the ceremony before the
procession had concluded, the populace seized the statue,
which they demolished in their rage: the attendants
then betook themselves to flight, and through the prudent
conduct of the magistrates, no further excesses were
committed.
In 1559, the people of Perth having destroyed many
of the monasteries in that town and neighbourhood, the
queen regent, fearful of similar outrages in Edinburgh,
issued a proclamation to the provost and magistrates for
the preservation of the sacred edifices and religious houses
from violence, to which they paid so much attention that
she addressed to them a letter of thanks for their diligent
observance of her mandate. To prevent any attempts
of the populace, the magistrates ordered all the gates of
the city to be closed, with the e.xceptiou of the Nether-
bow and 'West-port, at which they placed sufficient
guards; and to obviate all danger from the lords of congregation,
they sent commissioners to Linlithgow, to
negotiate with them for the safety of the churches and
monasteries, promising to reserve the former for worship
according to the Protestant doctrines, and the latter for
seminaries on the principles of the Reformation. In the
interim, they posted a guard over the church of St. Giles,
and removed the stalls of the choir into the Tolbooth for
greater security. On the 29th of June, the lords of congregation
arrived at Edinburgh, and appointed two commissioners
to attend the council, where it was resolved
that as the change was still in progress, the citizens
should without molestation exercise which form of religion
they might prefer till the 10th of January following.
Upon this, the queen regent sent an order to the council
to summon the citizens, and make a return of their choice
between the two forms of faith. Against such a course
the citizens remonstrated by petition to the lords commissioners,
and they in answer declared that they would
compel no man to act against the dictates of his conscience.
The queen, assisted by a body of French troops,
now made every effort for the maintenance of the corrupt
religion; and the lords of congregation resolved
to collect a body of troops for their defence, in which
they were assisted by the council, who raised for them
a considerable force, with which they marched to Leith,
and summoned the garrison to surrender. On the first
show of resistance, however, they fled with precipitation;
several were slain in the pursuit, and so great was the
panic after their return that they abandoned the city.
But having received a supply of English troops from
Queen Elizabeth, and being reinforced with a body of
400 of the citizens, they again assaulted the town of
Leith, were completely successful in their object, and compelled
the French auxiliaries to quit the country.
Occurrences connected with Mary, Queen of Scots.
Upon the death of the queen regent in 1560, the lords
of congregation became masters of the kingdom; and in
a treaty between them and the ambassadors of Francis
and Mary, it was stipulated that a parliament should be
held in Edinburgh, which event took place in the following
August: at this parliament it was enacted that the
jurisdiction of the pope in Scotland should be abolished,
and the confession of faith drawn up by the General Assembly
established. The result of this meeting excited
the strongest feelings of indignation in the mind of Mary,
who refused to ratify the proceedings, and on the 19th
of August, 1561, arrived at Leith from France to take
possession of the throne. On the 1st of September she
made her public entry into Edinburgh, and was received
with the most enthusiastic acclamations of the citizens,
who testified their loyalty and attachment by every demonstration
of joy; but on the Sunday after her arrival,
the populace raised a tumult, and were with difficulty
restramed by the magistrates from interrupting the performance
of divine service at the chapel of Holyrood
House, and offering violence to the priest, who was officiating
according to the Romish ritual. The magistrates
issued a proclamation against papists, and the queen
addressed to them a letter complaining of the insult thus
offered to her religion; but this produced on their part
only a republication of the edict in severer terms, enjoining
all Roman Catholics to leave the town under heavy
penalties, which so exasperated the queen that she issued
a mandate to the lord provost and council to divest the
magistrates of their office, and elect others in their place,
with which the council complied.
The marriage of the queen with Lord Darnley, who
had the day previously been proclaimed king at the market-
cross, was solemnized in the chapel of the palace of
Holyrood House, on the 27 th of July, 1565; and in the
following year the queen was delivered of a son, afterwards
James VI. of Scotland, who, on the demise of
Elizabeth, succeeded to the crown of England by the
title of James 1. The assassination of David Rizzio,
secretary to the queen, which had taken place in the
palace not long before this birth of an heir, under the
personal superintendence of Lord Darnley, had tended
greatly to alienate the affections of the queen; and the
earl soon after left the court, and retired to Glasgow.
Labouring under severe indisposition, however, he was
here visited by the queen, who tended him during his
illness, and brought him back with her to Edinburgh;
and that he might not be disturbed by the inevitable
tumult of the palace, she fitted up a house for his reception
at a place ia the vicinity, called the Kirk of Field,
where for several nights she slept in an apartment underneath
his chamber. On the 9th of February, 1567, the
queen, having to preside at the marriage of one of her
household, passed the night in the palace; and about
two o'clock on the following morning, the house in W'hich
Lord Darnley lay was blown up by gunpowder, and his
body was found at some distance in an adjoining field,
without any apparent marks of contusion or violence.
The Earl of Bothwell, who was strongly suspected of
the murder of Darnley, was publicly charged with that
crime by the Earl of Lennox, who wrote to the queen
imploring speedy justice on the murderer of his son; but
in a court soon afterwards held, he was acquitted. On
the return of the queen from Stirling, where she had
been visiting her infant son, she was waylaid by Bothwell
at the head of a body of 800 horse, and forcibly
conveyed to Dunbar, at which place she was detained
for some time by the earl. Bothwell, however, subsequently
obtained a pardon for this act of violence and
for ail other crimes, and, having procured a divorce from
his wife, sister of the Earl of Huntly, was married to the
queen, in Holyrood House, on the 15th of May.
This fatal alliance excited the indignation of the chief
nobility, who formed an association for the protection of
the prince, and the punishment of his father's murderers.
Bothwell and the queen, alarmed at the insurrection, fled
from Holyrood, and took refuge in the castle of Borthwick,
on the investment of which by Lord Hume they
eflfected their escape to Dunbar. The confederate lords,
with a force of 3000 men, took possession of Edinburgh;
and Bothwell hearing that they had sustained some disasters,
quitted the fortress of Dunbar, and advanced to
encounter them in the field. The armies met at Carberry
Hill, about six miles from the city; but Mary, mistrusting
the fidelity of her own troops, whom she knew to be
unfavourable to her cause, and having no other resource,
held a conference with Kirkaldy of Grange, and on receiving
some general promises of protection, placed herself
in the hands of the confederates, by whom she was
conducted to Edinburgh amidst the insults of the popu-
lace. During the queen's conference with Kirkaldy,
Bothwell fled unattended to Dunbar, and fitting out a
few small vessels, sailed for the Orkneys, where for a
time he subsisted by piracy; but being pursued by Kirkaldy,
he effected his escape in an open boat, and obtained
a passage to Denmark, where he was thrown into prison,
and died miserably about ten years after. Several of his
servants were made prisoners, and having revealed all
the circumstances of the murder of Darnley, were pu
nished for the crime. The queen was detained as a prisoner
in the house of the lord provost, and subjected to
every reproach from the populace, who on her appearance
at the window displayed a banner bearing the effigy of
her murdered husband, with that of the infant prince by
his side, and the legend " Judge, and revenge my cause,
O Lord." But, the queen appealing to the compassion
of the citizens, it is said they unfurled the standard given
to them by James HL, and, raising a sufficient force,
compelled her persecutors to restore her to the palace of
Holyrood; from which, however, she was on the following
day conveyed to Lochleven Castle. A council of
regency was now appointed, and a deputation waited
upon the captive queen in the castle, requiring her to
sign an abdication in favour of the infant prince, who
was proclaimed king, and soon after crowned at Stirling,
the Earl of Morton taking the coronation oath in his
name. She also agreed to make the Earl of Murray
regent, and to nominate a council to administer the government
till he should arrive from the continent, the
council to consist of the Earls of Lennox, Argyll, Atholl,
and Morton, with others, and to have power to continue
regents in the event of Murray's refusal.
The Earl of Murray, who had been thus appointed
regent, shortly returned from France, and paid a visit
to the queen at Lochleven. He obtained possession of
the castle of Edinburgh, at that time held by a partisan
of Bothwell's, and of which he created Sir WiUiam
Kirkaldy governor; but Sir WiUiam, in 1570, finding
to what severities the queen was subjected, embraced
her cause, and the city, alternately held by both parties,
became for some time the scene of confusion and civil
war. The lords of the regency applied for aid to Elizabeth
of England, and that queen sent to their assistance
1000 infantry and 300 cavalry, under the command of
Sir William Drury. This commander, on his arrival at
Leith, where the Scottish army was encamped, summoned
the governor to surrender the castle of Edinburgh;
but a party who had been driven from the city,
assembling in a hostile manner, put an end to the treaty,
and the war was carried on with the most ferocious
barbarity. To prevent the city from being taken by
surprise, a strong barrier was erected by the queen's
troops at the Netherbow, and every precaution was
adopted for its security; the war continued to rage with
inveterate fury, and such was the rancour that those
who were made prisoners, on either side, w^ere led to
immediate execution. A truce was at length proposed
and agreed upon by the leaders; but Kirkaldy refusing
to concur. Sir William Drury, who had retreated into
England, returned with a more formidable force, and
ultimately compelled the castle to surrender. During
this period the city suffered greatly, being exposed on
the one hand to the destructive firing from the battery of
the castle, and on the other to the devastations of the
contending parties.
Occurrences connected with James VI.
On the conclusion of the war, the Earl of Morton
was established in the regency; but becoming odious
from the unpopularity of his conduct, he resigned the
office to the young king, James VI., and the castle,
which for some time held out under his brother, eventually
capitulated. Morton, however, afterwards resuming
his authority, repaired to Stirling, and obtained
the government of the castle there, and the custody of
the royal person. On this, the citizens of Edinburgh,
anxious for the king's safety, raised an armed force, and
drew out the trained bands, for the service of the privy
council; James applied to the council of Edinburgh for
a guard of 100 men to protect his person, and for some
troops to convey the Earl of Morton to Dunbar Castle,
and they not only complied with this, but gave an additional
100 men to guard the palace of Holyrood House.
The king held a parliament at Edinburgh in 1579; and
on his removal subsequently from Stirling, the citizens
received him with joyful acclamations, and escorted him
to Holyrood with a guard of 2000 horsemen; after
which he convened a parliament in the Tolbooth: the
Earl of Morton, late regent, was accused of being privy
to the murder of Lord Darnley, and on being brought
to trial in 15S0, he was found guilty, and put to death.
In 1.5S7, the king, with a view to reconcile the nobles
of the realm, whom civil war had rent into adverse factions,
gave a royal banquet at Holyrood House, and
thence conducted his hostile guests to the Cross, where
they were entertained by the magistrates of the city, and
pledged each other in goblets of wine.
The magistrates, on the approach of the Spanish Armada
towards the coast, armed the citizens to prevent
the landing of its troops, and raised a body of 300 men
for the defence of Edinburgh; and just before the marriage
of James with the Princess Anne of Denmark,
they fitted out a well-equipped vessel to Denmark, to
bring home the king and his royal bride, on whose arrival
at Leith they escorted the princess to her palace,
and afterwards to the church of St. Giles, and, on the
solemnization of her marriage, presented her with a
very valuable jewel. In 1591, Stuart, Earl of Bothwell,
made an attempt to seize the person of the king; but
his design was frustrated by the vigilance and loyalty of
the magistrates, and the earl and eight of his confederates
were publicly executed. On the birth of the prince
Henry, the citizens sent to the king, at Stirling, a gift
of ten tuns of wine, and a deputation of 100 of the chief
inhabitants to assist at the baptism. An attempt of
James in 1596 to control the language of the pulpits
exasperated both the clergy and the citizens; a tumult
arose, in which the person of the king was insulted; and
on his subsequent introduction of theatrical performances,
a meeting of the presbytery was convened, and a
decree passed against the toleration of them, which, however,
on the presbytery being called before the privy council,
they were compelled to retract.
On the return of the popish lords who had been pardoned
by the crown, the clergy held a convocation of
their most influential ministers at Edinburgh, to which
they gave the title of standing council of the
church; and being cited before the privy council of
the state for a contemptuous disregard of the roval
authority, the minister of St. Andrew's disavowed all
allegiance to the government, and called upon the people
to support the clergy in their opposition. The king
issued a proclamation enjoining the new council to leave
Edinburgh within twenty-four hours; but they refused
to obey it, and in their sermons and prayers invited the
nobles of the land to countenance their resistance to the
royal decree. They drew up a petition, couched in the
most opprobrious language, which the king declined to
receive; and the populace rushed in a body to assault
the Tolbooth, in which the king, the judges, and the
chief officers of state were assembled. This attempt,
however, was frustrated by the loyalty and firmness of
one of the deacons, who, attended by his corporation,
intercepted their purpose; and the mob, in some degree
appeased by the assurances of the lord provost that the
king would accept any petition respectfully worded, and
peaceably presented, at length dispersed, and James returned
unmolested to the palace. On the following day,
the king and the privy council left for Linlithgow, and
a proclamation was published stating that, in consequence
of the late treasonable outrage, in which many
citizens, instigated by the ministers, had taken part,
the crown deemed the city of Edinburgh unworthy to
continue as the seat of government, unfit for the residence
of the court, and for the administration of justice. The
state therefore required the College of Justice, the inferior
judges, and the barons to retire from Edinburgh, and
not to return without the king's special licence. The
citizens would gladly have conciliated the royal favour,
but the ministers were resolved to persevere. These
proclaimed a fast, and assailed the king from their pulpits
with the most virulent reproaches, declaring that
the people might lawfully take the sword out of his
hands; they also addressed a letter to Lord Hamilton,
intreating him to repair to Edinburgh, place himself at
their head, and be the leader of those who had armed
themselves in support of the Church. Hamilton, however,
instead of complying with their request, showed
the letter to the king, who issued his mandate to the
magistrates of Edinburgh, for the incarceration of the
ministers; but having intimation of the intended proceedings,
they contrived to effect their escape.
A deputation of the citizens now waited upon James
at Linlithgow, to endeavour to appease his resentment j
but in vain. The king went the following day to Leith,
and thence to Edinburgh, the keys of which were tendered
to him by one of his officers of state, and the
charge of the city was committed to the Earl of Mar
and the Lords Seaton and Ochiltree; the citizens were
ordered to keep within their houses; the streets were
lined with files of the royal guards, between which the
king passed to the Tolbooth, and a convention of the
states was held. Before this assembly the magistrates
of the city humbled themselves with submissive reverence.
They made the most solemn protestations of
loyalty, and offered a guarantee that none of the ministers
should be permitted to resume their charges, nor
any others be admitted to the pastoral office, without
the royal approbation. They also proposed to present
to the king, and to the lords of the council, a list of all
the officers of the corporation for their approval before
they were appointed; and gave every assurance of their
freedom from any participation in the tumult, and of
their resolution to discover and bring to justice its
authors and abettors. But all these proffers were vain:
the convention of the states pronounced the insurrection
to be high treason, and that the city should be subjected
to all the penalties; it was even proposed that the place
should be rased to its foundations, and that a pillar
should be erected on the site as a lasting monument of
its disgrace. The interposition of Elizabeth obtained
from the king a mitigation of the sentence, but the town
council were notwithstanding ordered, as representatives
of the city, to enter themselves in ward in the town of
Perth; the trial commenced on the 1st of March, when,
one of the council neglecting to appear, the cause was
decided, the community declared rebels, and their revenues
escheated to the crown. Edinburgh continued
for some time in a state of anarchy, but at length the
citizens submitted themselves entirely to the king's
mercy, and on the supplication of the magistrates and
council, they were to a certain extent relieved from the
forfeiture, and restored to their wonted privileges. In
1599, the convention of the states assembled at Edinburgh
on the lOt.h of December, and ordained that the
first day of the year, which had previously been reckoned
the 25th of March, should be thenceforth the 1st of January.
Events of the Seventeenth Century.
In 1603, James VI., being on the death of Elizabeth
successor to the crown of England, took leave of the
citizens in the church of St. Giles, and addressing them
after the sermon, assured them of his future remembrance
and protection; and on the 5th of April he departed
for London, whither he was followed on the 1st
June by the queen and royal family. In 1609, he
granted to the town council of Edinburgh a duty of £4
Scotch on every tun of wine sold within the city, and
ordered that a sword should be borne before the lord
provost, and that the magistrates should in pubhc wear
gowns of state. The king, who on his departure had
promised to visit his native dominions every three years,
found no opportunity of doing so till the year 16 17.
when, on the l6th of May, he arrived at Edinburgh,
and was received with every demonstration of joyful
welcome by the provost and magistrates, who entertained
him with a sumptuous banquet, and presented
him with 10,000 raerks in a silver basin. After the
death of this monarch, his son and successor, Charles,
paid a visit to Edinburgh in 1633, for the purpose of
being crowned King of Scotland, which ceremony was
performed on the ISth June in the chapel royal of Holyrood,
with unusual splendour. Two days afterwards,
the king convened his first parliament in the Tolbooth,
and confirmed the authority of the College of Justice,
the privileges of the royal burghs, and the rights of the
citizens; and on the 18th of July he left the city on his
return to England, halting for a night at Dalkeith, at
Seaton, and at Innerwick, on his route. Charles was
accompanied in this visit by Archbishop Laud, who was
sworn a privy councillor of Scotland at Holyrood House,
and preached several times in the chapel royal; and while
here the king erected the bishopric of Edinburgh.
During the time that he was in Scotland, the people
testified the most loyal attachment to their sovereign;
but great discontents broke out soon after his departure,
and the subsequent introduction of the English liturgy
into the Church of Scotland, in 1637, exasperated these
discontents into open rebellion. On the attempt to
read the liturgy in St. Giles's church, the utmost confusion
was excited; missiles were thrown at the head of
the dean while performing the service, and at Dr. Lindsay,
Bishop of Edinburgh, who had ascended the pulpit
in the hope of appeasing the tumultuous uproar; a mob
collected in the streets, and hurled stones at the bishop
while proceeding home in his carriage with the lord
privy seal, and next day the Earl of 'Traquair and the
Bishop of Galloway escaped with difficulty from the
populace. The National Covenant was renewed and subscribed
the following year by great numbers of the nobility
and gentry, and by the inhabitants generally; while
copies of it were circulated throughout the country.
The king, alarmed at these proceedings, commissioned
the Marquess of Hamilton to negotiate with the Scots,
many of whom were already in arms for the support of
the Covenant; and when the Marquess arrived in Scotland
he found it in a state of rebellion. The town council
of Edinburgh took part with the Covenanters, and
raised a body of 500 men as a reinforcement of their
army, commanded by General Leslie, who assaulted
the castle, at that time garrisoned by a body of troops
under General Ruthven, and which ultimately surrendered
to the Covenanters. The forces under Leslie
afterwards made themselves masters of Dalkeith House,
in which were considerable supplies of military stores;
and, removing these into the castle, they erected some
fortifications at Leith, sent emissaries to England to
enlist the nonconformists in their cause, also applied to
Cardinal Richelieu for immediate aid, and levied large
contributions, by loan, for carrying on the war. Charles
sent the Duke of Hamilton with a fleet of twenty ships
and 5000 land forces, to reduce Edinburgh and Leith to
obedience; but on the arrival of this force in the Firth
of Forth, a treaty took place, according to the terms of
which, the castle and other garrisons being deUvered to
Hamilton, the troops were withdrawn.
In 1641, the king made a second visit to Edinburgh,
where he assembled a parliament, in which a great number
of the nobility were excluded from their privilege
of voting, because they refused to subscribe the Covenant.
The Earl of Argyll, the head of the Covenanters,
was created a marquess; Leslie, who had commanded
the Covenanting army, was made Earl of Leven, and
appointed governor of the castle, and all the tried and
faithful friends of the king were neglected, or superseded
in their offices by the most inveterate of his
enemies, in the hope of conciliation, though the Covenanters,
notwithstanding all these concessions, still
remained in arms, and added daily to the number of
their troops. Charles left Edinburgh on the l6th of
November, and soon after his return to England, which
he found embroiled in civil war, gained some advantages
over the parliamentarian leaders. These, in 1643,
applied to the Scots for assistance; the Scottish parhaincnt
voted a supply of 18,000 foot, '2000 horse, and
1000 dragoons, and the magistrates, notwithstanding
they had received a letter from the king reminding
them of his former favours, raised a regiment of 1'200
foot for the service of his enemies. After the defeat of
the Covenanters' army in 1645 by the Marquess of
Montrose, the city was in great danger; the plague
was raging within its walls, and so much had its population
been reduced by the ravages of war and pestilence,
that, iu case of assault, scarcely a hundred men
could have been mustered in its defence. Montrose
was prevented from entering by the plague alone, and
addressed a letter to the magistrates requiring them to
liberate such of the royalists as they held prisoners.
With this, in their present situation, they thought it
prudent to comply; but the king having at that time
arrived at Newcastle-upon-Tyne with the Scottish army,
to whose protection he had resigned himself, a treaty
was opened with the English parliament, to which the
citizens of Edinburgh sent a deputation, and Charles
was eventually given up to the English commissioners,
in 1647.
From 1650 to 1800.
The Marquess of Montrose, who, after the execution
of the king in 1649, was appointed by Charles II. his
captain-general in Scotland, landed in 1650 with a force
of 500 foreigners, chiefly Germans, hoping to obtain
from the Covenanters more reasonable terms for restoring
the king to the throne; but being defeated by the
army of Gen. David Leslie, he assumed the disguise of
a peasant, and intrusting his person to the protection of
a perfidious friend, was betrayed to his enemies, and
conveyed to Edinburgh amidst the most degrading and
opprobrious insults. He was brought before the parliament
for trial, and being condemned, was publicly executed
in pursuance of his sentence with every demonstration
of wanton barbarity; the execution took place at the
Cross on the 21st May, and this distinguished nobleman
exhibited on the occasion his customary fortitude.
The English parliament, fearing an accommodation between
Charles II., who had for that purpose landed from
Holland, and the Scottish commissioners, who were
then treating with him for his restoration, now sent
Cromwell with an army of 16,000 men into Scotland,
in order to check the negotiation. Cromwell encamped
his troops on the Pentland hills, within a few miles of
Edinburgh; the Scots, commanded by Gen. Leslie, were
drawn up at Corstorphine. After some skirmishing,
Cromwell withdrew to Dunbar, where in a little time he
was so straitened for want of provisions that he purposed
sending his infantry and artillery by sea into
England, and effecting his retreat by forcing his way
with his cavalry through the forces of Leslie, which had
taken post between Dunbar and Berwick. Leslie, however,
being induced to descend into the plain, and give
battle to the parliamentarians, an engagement took place
in which his army was totally routed; and Cromwell,
pursuing his advantage, took possession of Edinburgh
and Leith, and completed the fortifications which the
Scots had begun and left unfinished. The lord provost
and magistrates, on the news of the defeat, left the city,
and fled to Stirling. The principal inhabitants, however,
chose thirty of their number to preserve the peace, and
to treat with Cromwell; and upon the arrival of the
English commissioners at Dalkeith, for settling disputes,
they sent a deputation, soliciting the restitution of their
magistracy, which was granted, accompanied by an order
to elect two representatives to meet the commissioners,
and assist in the arrangement of public affairs.
On the restoration of Charles II., the citizens presented
the king with the sum of £1000 as a testimony
of their loyalty, which he acknowledged by granting
them the privilege of levying one-third of a penny on
every pint of ale, and two-pence on every pint of wine
consumed in the city. But the subsequent efforts of
that monarch to re-establish episcopacy, and introduce
the English liturgy, exasperated their feelings; and the
suppression of conventicles by military force excited in
their minds the most determined opposition. The western
counties rose in arms, surprised a party of the royal
forces at Dumfries, and marched thence to Edinburgh,
professing allegiance to the crown, but demanding the
re-establishment of the Presbyterian form of worship,
and the restoration of their former ministers. On this
insurrection, the city was put into a state of defence: the
gates were closed; the magistrates ordered all the citizens
who had horses to assemble, and hold themselves
in readiness to act for the preservation of order; the
College of Justice formed themselves into a company,
and were supplied with arras for the security of the
government. By these means the insurgents were soon
subdued; about fifty were killed, and 150 taken prisoners.
But the more vigorous were the measures adopted
for the support of episcopacy, the more the Covenanters
increased: the preachers openly called upon the people
to throw off their allegiance; the Archbishop of St. Andrew's
was assassinated near St. Andrew's in his carriage,
and every prospect of conciliation was hopeless. In this
state of excitement, the magistrates of the city took still
further precautions for its safety; the trained bands
joined the forces of the crown, and despatches were forwarded
to London for assistance. The Duke of Monmouth
was sent to Scotland with some troops of cavalry,
being invested with the chief command; and a battle
took place at Bothwell-Bridge, in which 700 of the Covenanters
were killed, and several were made prisoners
and sent to Edinburgh, where two of the most seditious
preachers were hanged.
James, afterwards James II. of England and VII. of
Scotland, while he was Duke of York visited Edinburgh,
where he was received with great pomp by the lord provost
and town council, who entertained him with a banquet
in the parliament-house. During his residence
here he .sought to promote the trade of the city, and, by
his conciliating behaviour and fashionable entertainments,
to render himself popular in Scotland; and
though his partiality to the Church of Rome, and his
encouragement of the drama and other amusements,
had made him odious to the citizens generally, yet on
his accession to the throne, the magistrates presented to
him a loyal address. A parliament was shortly after
held in Edinburgh, which acknowledged his supreme
authority, and declared that the whole force of the
country, from the age of sixteen to sixty, should be at
his disposal; but the open encouragement given to the
celebration of the mass soon excited a tumult, in the
quelling of which the king's guards were brought from
the castle, and, firing upon the mob, killed two men and
a woman. Several of the most active of the insurgents
were afterwards hanged at the Cross; and so great was
the zeal of the dominant party for the re-establishment
of the Roman Catholic faith, that a Popish college in
the palace of Holyrood House printed and circulated
hand-bills inviting all persons to send their children to
be educated in the principles of that religion gratuitously.
On intelligence arriving, however, of the landing of
the Prince of Orange, the regular troops were withdrawn
for the reinforcement of the king's army, and
the Presbyterians flocked to Edinburgh in great numbers.
The greatest severities were exercised against the
Papists, Episcopalians, and the adherents of the exiled
monarch; the Earl of Perth, who was chancellor, abandoned
the country, and the government fell entirely
into the hands of the friends of the Revolution. A mob
assembled in the city; the drums beat to arms, and the
inhabitants proceeded to demolish the royal chapel in
Holyrood House, but were opposed by a party of 100
men, who still adhered to James, and who, by firing
upon them, put the party to flight. The people soon
returned, however, in greater numbers, headed by the
magistrates, who had obtained a warrant from the privy
council, and accompanied by the trained bands and
herald-at-arms. They forthwith summoned the followers
of James to surrender, and after having defeated
their opponents with considerable loss, proceeded to the
royal chapel and the private chapel, which they stripped
of all their ornaments; nearly demolished the college of
the Jesuits; and plundered the houses of many of the
Roman Catholics. The town council tendered their
services to the Prince of Orange; and the Marquess of
Atholl, who, after the flight of the chancellor, had assumed
the reins of government, held a convention of
estates at Edinburgh. This body gave its allegiance to
the government of William and Mary; appointed a
new election of the city magistrates and council, by poll
of the burgesses, in St. Giles' church; ejected several
ministers who refused to pray for the new sovereigns,
and finally re-established the Presbyterian form of worship.
The Duke of Hamilton and other friends of the
Revolution quartered several companies of infantry in
the city; but the castle was still retained for James by
its governor the Duke of Gordon, and the Lords Balcarres
and Dundee also stood firm to the interests of the
exiled monarch. The castle, however, being but ill supplied
with provisions, was soon compelled to surrender;
and the adherents of the Roman Catholic party were
confined in the Tolbooth, where several of them were
detained for two or three years, and subjected to the
severest privations.
In 1695, a company for trading to Africa and the
East Indies was incorporated by act of parliament, with
very considerable privileges; a capital of £400,000 was
quickly raised, and in the following year six ships of
large burthen sailed from the Firth of Forth. The intelligence
of their having effected a settlement on the
Isthmus of Darien arrived on the 2.5th of March, 1699,
and the event was celebrated by public rejoicings, and
by thanksgivings in the several churches of the city;
but the sanguine hopes thus excited were not of long
continuance. The colonists, after one or two fruitless
attempts by the Spaniards, were ultimately driven from
the settlement; and on the news of this arriving, the
citizens were so much excited by rage and disappointment
that they broke out into the most wanton excesses,
and, imputing their failure to the jealousy of the English
merchants, proceeded to such acts of tumult and
outrage that the commissioners and officers of state
found it prudent to retire from the city lest they should
fall victims to the popular fury. These disturbances
occurred in the course of the year I70O.
Events of the Eighteenth Century.
On the accession of Queen Anne, the citizens were
still more exasperated by the seizure of one of the ships
belonging to the African Company, which had been
taken in the river Thames; and upon their solicitation
to the English ministry for its restoration being disregarded,
they seized, by way of reprisal, a ship belonging
to the English East India Company, which had
anchored in the Forth. Captain Green the commander,
and part of the crew, were accused of piracy; and being,
upon slight evidence, convicted of having plundered a
Scottish vessel in the Indies, they were sentenced to
be hanged. On the day fixed for their execution, the
populace surrounded the prison and the parliamenthouse,
in which latter the privy council, assisted by the
magistrates, were deliberating about the expediency of
extending the royal mercy to the captain and his men.
The lord chancellor, on his way from the council to his
house, was dragged from his carriage by the populace,
and only rescued by the timely interposition of his
friends; and so highly were the people incensed at the
idea of a reprieve, that an order was given to execute
the prisoners without delay. On the promulgation of the
Articles of the Union of the two kingdoms in 1707, the
mob attacked the parliament-house, insulted the Duke of
Queensberry, the chief commissioner, and gave vent to
the most violent indignation. They beset the house of
the lord provost, Sir Patrick Johnston, a friend to the
Union, who narrowly escaped their fury; and so greatly
did the numbers of the mob increase, that, before night,
they made themselves entire masters of the city. Their
first purpose was to blockade the gates, to prevent which
the commissioners ordered a body of soldiers to take
possession of the Netherbow, and afterwards, with the
concurrence of the provost, stationed a battalion of
guards in the Parliament-square. Such, indeed, was
the opposition to the Union that all the military of the
surrounding districts were concentrated at Edinburgh,
and three regiments of infantry were constantly on duty
in the city; but the Articles were at length agreed
upon, and ultimately signed by the contracting parties,
in an obscure cellar under a house in the High'Street,
opposite the Tron church, long after occupied as a
tavern and coach-office. The Duke of Queensberry
returned, with the document thus reluctantly obtained,
to London; and several of its chief supporters quitted
the city, deeming it unsafe to remain. The ancient
regalia of the kingdom were, on the completion of the
act of Union, deposited in the crown-room in the castle,
on the 26th of March, 1*07; but it was for a long time
generally supposed that they had been conveyed to
London, and deposited in the Tower; and this opinion
was the more confirmed by the exhibition there of a
crown which the keeper of the jewel-office invariably
described as the royal crown of Scotland.
The discontents of the people induced the Pretender
to make an effort to regain the throne, and a French
fleet soon after appeared in the Firth of Forth for the
invasion of Scotland. The Earl of Leven, at that time
commander of the forces, conveyed information of the
event to the provost of Edinburgh, who, with the magistrates
and the several incorporations, manifested their
loyalty to the existing dynasty by raising a body of
1200 men to serve under the earl. But their services
were rendered unnecessary by the vigilance and activity
of Sir George Byng, who, pursuing the fleet, drove them
from the coast, and freed the country from the danger
with which it had been threatened; and the magistrates
testified .their gratitude for this important service by
presenting Sir George and the principal officers with
the freedom of the city. On the breaking out of the
rebellion in 1715, the council provided for the security
of Edinburgh by repairing and fortifying the walls and
gates, augmenting the town-guard, arming the trained
bands, raising a body of 400 men, well equipped, to be
maintained at the city's expense, and by fitting out
several vessels to assist the king's ships. The forces of
the Earl of Mar made an attempt to surprise the castle,
in which they were frustrated by the vigilance of the
garrison. About 1500 also of the rebel army, under
Brigadier Mc Intosh, contrived to cross the Forth, and
land in East Lothian, whence they marched to Edinburgh;
but the city was too well guarded to afford
them any hope of entering it, and they therefore removed
to Leith, and took possession of the Citadel,
which they fortified. The Duke of Argyll advanced
with his forces to dislodge them, but, being unprovided
with artillery, withdrew, threatening to return with a
reinforcement: during his absence, however, they evacuated
Leith; and, 6000 troops arriving from Holland
to the assistance of the government, the rebellion languished,
and tranquillity was soon restored. In 17^5,
a destructive fire occurred in the Lawnmarket, which
burned with so much rapidity that many houses in the
city, with all their efifects, were destroyed; a subscription
was opened for the relief of the sufferers, and
nearly £1000 were obtained. About this time, in consideration
of the arduous duties devolving on the provost,
an addition of £300 per annum was voted for defraying
his expenses.
In 1736, the execution of a smuggler in the Grassmarket
excited a tumult, on which occasion Porteous,
captain of the guard, ordered his men to fire on the
populace, when six men were killed, and eleven wounded.
For this act, Porteous was prosecuted, and convicted of
murder by the unanimous verdict of the jury; but Queen
Caroline, acting as regent in the absence of George I.
in Hanover, with much reason granted him a reprieve.
This so exasperated the people that they assembled in
great numbers on the night previous to the day originally
fixed for the execution, surprised and disarmed the townguard,
blockaded the gates of the city to prevent the
entrance of troops quartered in the suburbs, and proceeded
to the prison, liberating all the prisoners with
the exception of Porteous. Him they led to the Grassmarket
by torch-light; and after allowing an acquaintance
to receive what property he had, they conducted
him to the spot where the six men had been killed, reproached
him with his inhuman conduct, hanged him,
and then dispersed without committing any further outrage.
To punish this insult to the government, the lord
provost was committed to prison, and, after three weeks'
confinement, admitted to bail, and ordered to appear,
with four of the bailies, at the bar of the house of lords,
in London, where three of the lords justiciary were also
commanded to attend. A bill was brought in for disqualifying
the provost from holding any office of magistracy
in the city of Edinburgh or any other part of
Great Britain, and for confining him in close custody for
one year; for abolishing the town-guard, and taking
down the gates of the Netherbow. All these enactments,
however, were afterwards commuted for a fine of
£2000 to be paid by the city to the widow of Captain
Porteous. In the year 1740, there was a great dearth
of provisions in Edinburgh and the vicinity, and the
magistrates had recourse to every expedient for the relief
of the prevailing distress: large public and private
contributions were raised; the banks volunteered loans
of money without interest to the magistrates, for supplying
food at moderate prices to the poor, and by these
means the calamity was greatly alleviated.
Events of 1745.
In 1745, the council, apprised by letter from one of
the secretaries of state, that the eldest son of the Pretender
meditated an invasion of the kingdom, took every
precaution to meet the threatened danger, and provide
for the security of the city. The town-guard was augmented
to 126 men, the trained bands kept in constant
readiness to act, and a body of 1000 men was raised to
serve under the lord provost and council; the walls were
repaired, the fortifications put into a proper state of
defence, and the banks and public offices sent their cash
and valuable property to the castle. Notwithstanding
these preparations, however, the king's forces, who, with
the town-guard, were posted at Corstorphine, fled precipitately
on the approach of the Young Pretender's
army, which had crossed the Forth a little above Stirling.
The town-guard retreated into Edinburgh, and
the citizens assembled in the New Church to deliberate
upon the expediency of holding out, when it was resolved
to capitulate on the best terms that could be obtained.
But while appointing deputies to treat for this
purpose, a letter was handed to the lord provost and
magistrates, signed " Charles, Prince of Wales," setting
forth that " the prince was now ready to enter with his
army into the metropolis of his ancient kingdom;" and
upon this the meeting broke up in the greatest confusion.
Early the next morning, a coach was seen driving through
the town towards the Netherbow gate, which the sentinel,
suspecting no danger, opened to let it pass; but
no sooner was the gate opened than a party of Highlanders
that had reached it undiscovered rushed into the
town, made themselves masters of the gates, took the
soldiers on duty prisoners, secured the town-guard, and
seized the arms and ammunition. About noon, the
Highland army, headed by the Young Pretender, arrived
in the King's park, and encamped at Duddingston; the
prince and his suite took possession of the palace of
Holyrood House, and compelled the heralds of the town
to publish at the Cross a declaration proclaiming a regency,
and a manifesto promising to the citizens the
free exercise of the Protestant religion, and the unrestrained
enjoyment of all their rights and privileges.
The inhabitants were ordered to deliver up their arms at
the palace; the soldiers and others of the Highland
army were strictly prohibited from molesting the citizens,
or pillaging their property, on pain of summary
execution. A message was sent to the magistrates, requiring
them to furnish a supply of stores, for which
payment was promised on the restoration and settlement
of the pubhc affairs; and an assessment of two
shillings and sixpence in the pound was made for that
purpose on the rents of the citizens.
On the 50th of September, the Young Pretender and
his army marched from their camp at Duddingston,
in pursuit of the royal troops, which consisted of 3000
infantry, with some dragoons and artillery, encamped
near Prestonpans; and early on the following morning,
an engagement took place, which ended in the total defeat
of the royal army, and the loss of their artillery,
baggage, and military chest, with which the prince returned
triumphantly to Edinburgh. The conquerors
conducted themselves with the greatest moderation; their
prisoners were liberated on parole, and the clergy ordered
to continue their sacred functions as formerly,
but they all declined, with the exception of the minister
of the West, and the lecturer of the Tron, kirk, who
continued to pray for the king by name without molestation.
The military abstained from plunder, and during
their stay in the city conducted themselves with order
and regularity. The castle was still unassailed, and the
garrison had hitherto avoided all interference with the
invaders; but on some alarm, a few shots were discharged
on the Highlanders who defended the west gate of the
city, and on the following day orders were issued to the
guard to cut off all intercourse between the city and the
castle. Upon this the governor, fearing a want of provisions,
sent a letter to the lord provost, stating that,
unless free intercourse were permitted, he should be
compelled to dislodge the Highland guard; and the
magistrates thereupon sending a deputation to the Young
Pretender, a truce for a short time was concluded. A
few days afterwards, the sentinels of the West fort
firing upon a party who were carrying provisions to the
castle, the garrison commenced a severe cannonade on
the city. Many of the houses were greatly damaged,
and some set on fire; the streets were scoured with
cartridge-shot discharged from the cannon on the lower
hill, and several of the inhabitants were killed. But on
the next day, the Young Pretender issued a proclamation
withdrawing the blockade of the castle, and all
further hostilities ceased.
Upon the 3 1 st of October, the prince marched for
England with 6000 men, and besieged Carlisle, which he
took by storm; but meeting with little support from his
adherents in England, and iwnpeded by the vigilance of
the royal army, he retreated to Scotland, and having
gained some advantage at Falkirk, returned to Edinburgh,
and made an attempt to reduce the castle, in
which he failed. The force under the Duke of Cumberland
being now in pursuit of the rebels, they retreated
with precipitation towards the north; but the duke
having secured the passes at Perth and Stirling, and
intercepted a vessel from France, which had been sent
with supplies, the Young Pretender's army was overtaken
on the plains of Culloden. Here, after a severe
battle, in which above 5000 were left dead on the field,
the rebellion was totally extinguished; and the prince,
after numerous adventures, in which his life was in the
power of numbers, whom the reward of £30,000 for his
apprehension could not prompt to betray him, escaped
in safety to the continent. Fourteen of the standards
borne by the rebel army were conveyed to Edinburgh,
and burnt at the Cross with every mark of ignominious
contempt; and Archibald Stewart, Esq., the lord provost,
was now brought to trial in London for neglect in
not taking due precautions for the defence of Edinburgh,
but, after a long investigation, was acquitted. The city
was for some time without any settled government, and
the citizens petitioned the king for a restitution of their
rights, which he granted by issuing an order for the
election of their magistrates according to their wonted
usage. The new magistrates and council presented an
address of congratulation to the king on the suppression
of the rebellion, and ordered the freedom of Edinburgh
to be presented to the Duke of Cumberland in a box of
gold; they offered to raise a body of 1000 men for the
support of the government, and after the restoration of
tranquillity paid great attention to the extension and
improvement of the city, by commencing the erection of
the New Town.
During the reign of George IH., the peace was
frequently interrupted. In 1779, a violent tumult was
excited by the enemies of popery; the houses of many
of the Roman Catholics were destroyed, and numerous
outrages committed. For some years, the magistrates
maintained a force of five regiments of cavalry, two
companies of volunteer artillery, and a company of
spearmen, for preserving order. In the progress of the
French Revolution, a numerous party of republicans
calling themselves Friends of the People, and a body
styled the National Convention, assembled in the city,
and held regular meetings, though occasionally dispersed
by the government authorities; and on the 31st of
December, 1811, a large concourse of the most notorious
and lawless characters, armed with bludgeons,
during the whole of that night committed the most
desperate outrages. Several of the police were wounded,
and one man killed; but the riot was ultimately quelled,
and three of the rioters were hanged on a gallows raised
in the High-street. Almost all those concerned in this
outbreak were young men, chiefly under twenty years of
age; and the alarm created by their proceedings led to
several beneficial plans for the better education of the
young. In 1815, the victory of Waterloo was celebrated
here with the most triumphant rejoicings, and a resolution
was passed for the erection of a monument on the
Calton hill in commemoration of the event.
Visits of George IV. and Her present Majesty.
In IS'S^, His Majesty George IV. paid a visit to the
city, on which occasion the influx of strangers from all
quarters of the country, and of all ranks, was immense.
In addition to the several regiments of the Scots Greys,
the dragoon guards, and other troops of the line; yeomanry
cavalry and many parties of Highlanders in
their costume were sent by the chiefs of the various
clans, among which that of Sutherland was the most
conspicuous, to grace the triumphal entry of the sovereign.
The slopes of Salisbury Crags, in the King's
Park, and the north acclivities of the Castle hill, were
covered with military tents and marquees for their temporary
accommodation; and on the front of the Crags
were planted several pieces of cannon. The king, who
arrived in the Leith roads on the 14th of August,
landed on the following day, and made his entrance into
Edinburgh, escorted by a splendid retinue. He advanced
from the harbour, along Leith-walk and the
Terrace-road on Calton hill, to the palace of Holyrood
House, to which a new and more commodious approach
had been opened for the occasion; and during the procession
His Majesty frequently expressed his admiration
of the noble streets and buildings of the city,
and the romantic scenery "in the vicinity. After remaining
for some time at Holyrood House, the king
proceeded to the palace of Dalkeith, the seat of the
Duke of Buccleuch, where he resided during the rest of
his stay in Scotland. In the evening the city was brilliantly
illuminated, and salutes from the castle, from
Sahsbury Crags, the numerous shipping in the roads,
the fort of Leith, and the various regiments, were fired
in honour of the royal visit; bonfires were lighted on
Arthur's Seat and other eminences, and every demonstration
of an ardent and joyful welcome was testified.
Upon the 17th of August, the king held a levee in
Holyrood House, which was attended by a numerous
assemblage of the nobility and gentry, naval and military
officers, and the public functionaries. On the Ipth there
was another levee, at which he received the addresses of
the General Assembly, the Scottish Episcopal Church,
the Universities, and the Highland Society; and on the
20th the king held a drawing-room, which was graced
by the presence of five hundred ladies of the first rank
in the country. His Majesty, on the 22nd, went in
state from the palace, through the Canongate and Highstreet,
to the castle, and on the next day reviewed
about 3000 of the yeomanry cavalry on the Portobello
sands, after which he was present at a grand ball in the
assembly-rooms in George-street, given by the peers
of Scotland. A banquet was given by the civic authorities
in the parliament-house, on Saturday the 24th,
on which occasion the king conferred upon William
Arbuthnot, Esq., the lord provost, the honour of a
baronetcy; and on the morning of Sunday he attended
divine service in the High Church, when the sermon
was preached by Dr. Lamont, moderator of the General
Assembly. On Monday, the 26th, His Majesty appeared
at a ball given in the assembly-rooms by the members
of the Caledonian Hunt. Upon the following day he
authorised the laj'ing of the first stone of the National
Monument by the Duke of Hamilton, grand master
mason of Scotland; and in the evening visited the
theatre. On the same evening there was a ball in honour
of the royal visit, under the patronage of the Duchesses
of Atholl and Montrose and other ladies of high rank.
On Wednesday, the king paid a visit to the Marquess
of Lothian at Newbattle Abbey; and on Thursday, the
29th of August, after a short visit to the Earl of Hopetoun
at his seat, Hopetoun House, he embarked at Port-
Edgar, on his return to England, impressed with a deep
sense of the loyalty of his Scottish subjects.
In the year 1824, a destructive fire broke out in the
city, which continued to rage with unabated fury,
threatening the neighbourhood with desolation, and filling
the inhabitants with consternation and dismay; but
after doing very considerable damage, it was subdued.
In 1842, the city was visited by Her present Majesty,
accompanied by Prince Albert and a distinguished suite.
The royal party arrived in the Firth of Forth on the
night of Wednesday, the Slst of August, and the course
of the vessels bearing the royal visiters was facilitated
by the streams of light issuing from the numerous bonfires
on the adjacent hills, the effect of which was magnificent
in the extreme. On the following morning Her
Majesty landed, and proceeded to Dalkeith, the splendid
seat of the Duke of Buccleuch: on Friday night, the
city was illuminated in honour of the royal visit; and
on Saturday morning, September the 3rd, Her Majesty
made her formal entry into Edinburgh, amid the enthusiastic
acclamations of an immense multitude. The
various public bodies of the city svere arranged in suitable
order on the occasion, to do honour to the Queen;
and in front of the Royal Exchange, the lord provost,
attended by the magistrates and other authorities, presented
the keys of the city to Her Majesty, who immediately
returned them, and proceeded to the castle,
where the royal party remained for a short time. Her
Majesty then passed down Princess-street, and shortly
afterwards quitted the city for Dalmeny, the seat of the
Earl of Rosebery, from which she returned in the afternoon,
through Leith, to Dalkeith. On Monday, the 5th,
the Queen held her court at Dalkeith; and on the
following day set out for the Highlands, where she continued
upon a tour till Tuesday, the 13th, on the afternoon
of which she reached Dalkeith: on Thursday
morning, September 15th, Her Majesty, Prince Albert,
and suite, left for England, by sea.
In the year 1850 the royal family again visited the
city, taking up their residence at Holyrood Palace. The
distinguished visiters arrived by the North-British railway
on Thursday evening, the 29th of August: the royal
train, gliding round the base of Arthur's Seat, stopped
at a private station close to the Queen's Park, expressly
erected for Her Majesty's accommodation; and the
Queen, accompanied by Prince Albert and the remainder
of the royal party, here alighted, and was received by
the Royal Scottish Archers with the Duke of Buccleuch
at their head. The royal carriages proceeded slowly
along the approach to Holyrood in this direction, the
93rd regiment keeping the line of the procession, and
the countless thousands that crowded the side and base
of Arthur's Seat greeting their sovereign with the most
enthusiastic loyalty. On the following morning, at an
early hour, the Queen and the prince consort ascended
to the summit of Arthur's Seat; and at one o'clock, in
the presence of a distinguished circle and of an immense
concourse of spectators, His Royal Highness the prince
laid the foundation stone of a building devoted to the
fine arts, the proposed National Gallery, on the Mound:
the royal children witnessed the proceedings with evident
interest from the Argyll Battery of the castle. In
the course of the same afternoon. Her Majesty and
Prince Albert, with the royal children, rode through the
town and round Arthur's Seat, paying a private visit to
Donaldson's Hospital; and on Saturday morning, the
31st of August, the royal party left Holyrood Palace for
the north, arriving at Her Majesty's Highland residence
of Balmoral in the course of the same day. On the return
of the court from Balmoral in October, Her Majesty
passed a night at Holyrood, and the following
morning proceeded to the south.
Description of the City.
Edinburgh is built on a series of hills rising abruptly
from a level tract of land in the northern portion of the
county, about two miles from the Firth of Forth. The
ground ascends gradually from the Firth for nearly a
mile towards the south, attaining at the plain whereon
the palace of Holyrood House is situated, an elevation
of about ninety-four feet above the level of high-water
mark. From this plain, the hill ou which the Old Town
is built, and which, with reference to the others, may be
called the central hill, rises in the form of a flat ridge,
increasing by degrees in width for almost a mile and a
quarter, and terminating on the west in a precipitous
rock on whose summit stands the castle, elevated about
ISO feet above the plain of Holyrood on the east, and
274 feet above the level of the Firth.
The Old Town, which owed its origin to the castle,
formerly extended but a short distance from that fortress,
and ended at the Netherbow port, one of the
gates of the ancient city, now taken down. It consisted
only of the main street on the summit of the
ridge, and of several wynds and closes stretching down
the steep declivities on both sides. The buildings,
however, were subsequently continued towards the east;
and the High-street at present forms a continuous line
more than a mile in length, including the Castle-walk
(leading from the Castle hill), the Lawn-market, and
the Canongate; the whole extending from the castle on
the west to the palace of Holyrood on the east, and
forming a remarkable thoroughfare with numerous lofty
and well-built houses, many of which are still of ancient
character. " There are thousands of streets in the
civilized world (says the late Sir Thomas Dick Lauder)
to which the High-street of Edinburgh can bear no
comparison, either as to elegance of architecture or
magnificence of design; but the antiquated, unpretending,
and smoke-discoloured fronts of its houses, of some
ten stories, occasionally topped by curious gables and
huge square chimneys, so high in the heavens that,
notwithstanding its great breadth from side to side, it
is painful to look directly up to them from below, give
to it a peculiar species of venerable grandeur which is
to be found no where else". Nearly parallel with the
High-street, on the north, is the street called the North-
Back of the Canongate, communicating by the Calton,
formerly styled St. Niuian'srow, with the road to Lcith;
and on the south is a line of nearly equal length with
the High-street, reaching from the suburb of Portsburgh
on the west, and including the Grassmarket, the Cowgate,
and the South-Back of the Canongate. These
streets are intersected by the Pleasance, continued
through St. Mary's wynd and Leith-wynd; Bridgestreet,
leading along the North and South bridges, and
uniting the southern districts with the Old and New
Town; and St. John's street. To the west of Bridgestreet
are, the site of the ancient Cross now removed,
and the Parliament-square, containing the Parliamenthouse
and other stately edifices. The southern declivities
of the ridge occupied by the main street terminate in a
level tract of inconsiderable breadth, on which the Cowgate
is situated; and beyond this the ground rises gradually,
and expands into a wide open plain. The northern
declivities of the ridge are much more abrupt, and
terminate in some flat ground of moderate breadtli,
which, being formerly covered with water, was called the
North Loch, but which was afterwards laid out in
shrubberies and plantations, and is now partly occupied
as a site for the termini of three great railways. Beyond
this the surface rises, by a gradual ascent, to the flat
hill on which the New Town is built.
The extension of the town on the north side of the
Loch was projected in the reign of Charles H.; but no
efforts were made to that effect till the year 1751, when
the fall of an old house, and the dangerous condition of
many others in the town, led to the draining of the lake
and the foundation of a bridge, the first stone of which
was laid by Provost Drummond on the 21st of October,
1763. The bridge was erected under the superintendence
of Mr. Wm. Mylne, brother of the architect of
Blackfriars bridge, London, and was scarcely completed,
in 1769, when the southern arch and side walls gave way,
and several persons were killed. It was, however, finished
in 1772, at an expense of £18,000, and is a handsome
structure of three noble arches, each seventy-two feet in
span and sixty-eight feet high, with two smaller arches
of about twenty feet span, one at either end, and numerous
others that are inclosed and occupied as warehouses
and vaults. In the year 1767, while this important
work was proceeding, an act of parliament for extending
the royalty was obtained, during the provostship of
Gilbert Laurie, Esq., and a plan for the New Town was
formed by James Craig, architect, nephew of the poet
Thomson.
The New Town is connected with the Old Town by
the bridge just described, called the North bridge, and
also by an immense mound of earth to the west, formed
across the valley, and the acclivities of which are embellished
with plantations. It consists principally of
three spacious parallel streets. Of these. Princes-street,
on the south, forms a magnificent terrace of fine houses
with pleasure-grounds in front, nearly a mile in length,
and communicates with the new London road on the east.
George-street, to the north, extends from Charlottesquare
on the west, a splendid range of noble houses,
to St. Andrew's square on the east, also an elegant area,
surrounded by handsome buildings; while Queen-street,
still further to the north, the third of these spacious
streets, reaches from Albyn-place on the west to Yorkplace
on the east. Between Princes-street and Georgestreet,
and between George-street and Queen-street, are
two parallel ranges of narrower streets, of which the
former includes West, Middle, and East Rose streets,
and the latter Young-street and East and West Thistle
streets; and intersecting these at right angles are numerous
good streets from north to south, the principal of
which are Charlotte, Castle, Frederick, Hanover, St.
David's, and St. Andrew's streets. To the north of
Queen-street, but separated from it to the west by a
wide valley agreeably disposed in pleasure-grounds and
public walks, are Heriot-row, Abercromby-place, Albanystreet,
and Forth-street, the last directly communicating
with Union-street leading to Leith-vvalk. Parallel witli
these, northward, are Jamaica-street, Northumberlandstreet,
and Broughton-place: beyond are Great Kingstreet,
Drumraond-place, and London-street; and parallel
with these, and still further to the north, are Cumberland-
street and Fettes-row. To the west of this part of
the New Town is the Royal Circus, a spacious area
tastefully laid out, and surrounded with elegant houses:
to the east are the Royal-crescent and Bellevue-crescent,
with Claremont street and crescent beyond the latter;
and intersecting the ranges of parallel streets mentioned
in the two preceding sentences, at right angles, arc Indiastreet,
St. Vincent and Howe streets, Pitt and Dundas
streets, and Nelson and Duncan streets. To the east of
the two last-named are Scotland, Dublin, and Duke
streets, all containing well-built houses.
During the delay that occurred in the formation of
the New Town, a very considerable district on the
south of the Old was erected on ground which, the
magistrates having neglected to purchase it, was bought
by Mr. Brown, an enterprising builder, who raised some
handsome houses called Brown-square. The circumstance
of these being soon occupied by respectable
families led to the erection of George-square, ou a more
extensive scale, and in a superior elegance of style:
several fine streets were afterwards built, and also additional
squares, of which Argyll, Adam's, and Nicholson
squares are the principal; many new lines of approach
were opened, and the buildings of the university erected.
This important district was subsequently extended
westward, beyond Heriot's and Watson's hospitals, to
Lauriston, and southward to Newington; and a large
suburb of handsome streets and elegant villas reaches
towards the south-east, almost to the base of Salisbury
Crags, a remarkable hill, forming an exceedingly
romantic feature in the scenery of Edinburgh, and separated
from the yet loftier Arthur's Seat by a deep valley
called the Hunter's Bog. The want of a more direct
line of communication with the Old Town was soon
strongly felt, and for this purpose the South bridge, in
a line with the North bridge, was commenced in 1785,
and completed in 1*89. It is a substantial structure of
twenty-two arches of various dimensions, all of which
are concealed by houses, except one over the Cowgate,
which is thirty feet in span and thirty-six feet in height,
defended on each side by an iron pahsade, affording a
view of the Cowgate beneath. The houses on this bridge
are all uniformly built.
Since the formation of the New Town, very extensive
additions have been made to the city in all directions.
On the north-west, between Charlotte-square
and the Leith water, some splendid ranges of building
were erected in IS^S and subsequent years on the
grounds of Druraseugh, the property of the Earl of Moray,
consisting of Moray-place, a spacious octagon, communicating
with an oval of smaller dimensions on the
west, and in which are mansions in the first style of
elegance; and several squares, streets, and places, among
which are Ainslie-place, Randolph-crescent, and numerous
other stately piles. This is the quarter of the city most
celebrated for the architectural magnificence of its streets,
squares, and crescents, which are all in accordance with
a uniform plan designed by Mr. Gillespie Graham, architect.
In the immediate vicinity, on the great north
road, is a handsome structure called the Dean Bridge,
erected over the ravine through which the Leith water
flows, and connecting the western extremity of the New
Town with the parks on the north side of that river.
This bridge, a massive edifice of four arches, the two
central of which are of stupendous height, was completed
in 1832.
A very considerable addition to the New Town was
made about the same time, to the west of Princes-street,
on the lands of Coates, the property of Sir Patrick
Walker. Some fine ranges of streets were formed in
the park here, previously the seat of the Byres family;
and of these Melville-street, almost in a line with
George-street, contains some very stately buildings:
close to Melville-street, on the Glasgow road, are Atlioll
and Coates crescents, facing each other, with shrubberies
in front, and both remarkable for the beauty of their
architecture; also Rutland-street and Rutland-square, to
the south of which are handsome streets leading to Port-
Hopetoun, built since the Union canal was formed.
To the east of the New Town, also, many important
additions have been made. Picardy-place, an elegant
pile of buildings, has been erected; to the north-east of
which are Gayfield-square and Greenside-place; and a
noble line of approach has been opened from the
Calton hill by the removal of the houses of Shakspearesquare,
at the eastern extremity of Princes-street, and
by the construction of the Regent's bridge. This is a
handsome structure of one arch, fifty feet in span and
fifty feet high, completed in 1819, connecting Princesstreet
with the hill, and communicating with the new
London road. The parapets of the bridge are ornamented
with niches and well-formed pillars connected
with the houses in Waterloo-place, a fine range four
stories in height, on the south side of which are the
post-office and stamp-office, both handsome buildings;
and an elegant hotel has been built by a proprietary
of shareholders, at an expense of £30,000. From
Waterloo-place the new London road sweeps round
the face of Calton hill, in which direction, also, numerous
additions to the city have been made. The Leithwalk,
more than a mile in length, has been wholly
paved, and forms a grand line of approach, having on
both sides numerous detached patches and rows of
buildings, with nurseries and plantations in the intervals;
and on the east of Calton hill, and encircling it at
a considerable height from its base, are Carlton-terrace,
the Royal-terrace, and Regent-terrace, superb lines of
houses commanding a fine view of the Firth of Forth,
the coasts of Fife and Haddington, and the bay of Musselburgh.
To the north-west of Leith-walk, are several
new lines of streets, the most elegant and conspicuous
of them being Claremont street and crescent, in front
of the latter of which are the Zoological gardens: to
the east of Leith-walk, several ranges of handsome
streets have been projected and partly built on the lands
of Hillside, and the slope of the Calton hill.
Additional facilities of communication with the Old
Town were afforded by the erection of George IV.'s
bridge over the Cowgate from the Lawnmarket to
Bristo-street, a well-built structure of numerous arches,
of which three only are left open; and also by the
construction of a bridge on the south side of the castle,
by the commissioners for the improvement of the city.
The Victoria Road, or Queen's Drive, which has been
mostly constructed since Her Majesty's visit to Edinburgh
in 1842, and, we believe, at the royal expense, proceeds
by Arthur's Seat, Salisbury Crags, &c., and forms a
splendid carriage-drive, surpassed perhaps by nothing
of the kind in the kingdom. Commencing beneath the
west point of Salisbury Crag, it passes round the entire
hilly group in an irregular oval course, nearly three
miles and a half in extent. At every step a changing
view meets the eye; the road throughout is higher than
the surrounding country, and a complete panorama
is therefore presented to those who make the circuit.
Much of the road was formed by blasting the solid
rock. At the south-eastern part of the course, this
blasting has taken place at a considerable elevation;
Duddingston Loch and Dunsapie Loch here lie spread out
beneath, and the country for miles constitutes a rich
landscape. The road was opened in 1848.
In conclusion: the long avenues of noble streets intersecting
each other at right angles, and containing
uniform ranges of handsome houses; the numerous
terraces, places, crescents, and squares of splendid
mansions, enlivened with gardens, shrubberies, and
pleasure-grounds in the very centre of the town; the
spacious walks, the statcliness of the public buildings,
the imposing aspect of the ancient castle, the palace,
with the venerable ruins of the abbey of Holyrood, and
parks adjoining; the Botanic, Horticultural, and Zoological
gardens; the monuments on the Calton hill, with
the beautiful line of approach from the town; the romantic
scenery in the immediate vicinity, Arthur's Seat,
Salisbury Crags, the avenue of Leith-walk, and other
lines of communication with the different suburbs, and
a vast variety of other interesting features; all these
contribute to impart to the city an air of impressive
grandeur and magnificence.
The environs in every direction abound with picturesque
and richJy-diversified scenery, and command extensive
prospects over a wide extent of country embellished
with features of romantic beauty and objects of
intense interest. Among the more prominent of these
are, the palace and grounds of Dalkeith, the seat of the
Duke of Buccleuch; Duddingston House, the seat of
the Marquess of Abercorn; Hawthornden, remarkable
for its situation on a precipitous rock overhanging the
North Esk; Roslin Castle, the ancient seat of the St.
Clairs, Earls of Orkney, with the beautiful ruins of the
ancient chapel, one of the richest specimens of ecclesiastical
arcliitecture extant; Corstorphine, adorned by
its luxuriant woods and numerous picturesque villas;
with the towns of Newhaven and Portobello, favourite
resorts for sea-bathing.
The Castle.
Edinburgh Castle is most romantically situated at the
western extremity of the ridge on which the Old Town
is built, and, with its several buildings, occupies an irregular
area of about seven acres, on the summit of a rugged
rock rising almost perpendicularly from its base to a
height of more than 300 feet, and inaccessible on all
sides except the east. The approach from the town is
by an esplanade, 3r)0 feet in length and 300 feet in
breadth, inclosed on both sides by iron palisades, and
forming a favourite promenade: on the north side is a
handsome bronze statue of the Duke of York in the
robes of the order of the garter, placed on a pedestal,
and holding in his hand a field-marshal's baton. At
the west end of the esplanade, a draw-bridge over a
wide and deep fosse, flanked on each side by a battery,
leads to the guard-house, to the left of which is a well
for supplying the garrison with water. Beyond this,
the path conducts round the north side of the rock,
under two gateways, one of which, formerly used as a
state prison, is defended by a portcullis, whence a long
flight of steps forms an ascent to the Half-moon battery
and the more ancient parts of the fortress. The Halfmoon
battery is mounted with fourteen eighteen
pounders, commanding the town, and is a massive
circular tower, above the battlements of which the royal
standard is displayed on public occasions. The Argyll
battery, mounting ten guns of twelve and eighteen
pounders, from which salutes are generally fired, over-
looks the New Town; and on the acclivity of the hill
are the houses of the governor, fort-major, and storemaster,
the ordnance office, the powder-magazine, which
is bomb-proof, the grand store-room, and the arsenal,
which is capable of containing 30,000 stand of arms.
The new barracks, a spacious range of buildings four
stories in height, are adapted for the accommodation
of 1000 men; and near them is the chapel of the garrison,
above which is the bomb-battery, on the highest
point of the rock, having near it the ancient piece of
ordnance called " Mons Meg," mounted on an elegant
carriage bearing the following inscriptions: " Believed
to have been forged at Mons, A.D. I486"; "At the
siege of Norham Castle, A.D. 1497"; "Sent to the
Tower of London, A.D. 1754"; "Restored to Scotland
by his Majesty George IV., A.D. 1829 ".
The more ancient part of the castle comprises a quadrangular
court of considerable extent, of which the
south side is occupied by the buildings formerly the
parliament-house, and now appropriated to the use of
the district military and regimental hospital: the north
side is formed by the barracks, and the west by various
apartments for the garrison. The east side contains
the principal range, surmounted by an octagonal turret
of considerable elevation, and was anciently the royal
residence. Here is the apartment in which James VI.
was born; over the door is the letter M, with the date
1566, and on the north gable are a rose and a thistle,
with the date 161.5. Mary of Guise is said to have died
in this apartment; but in its present state it displays
no appearance to warrant that opinion. In this part
of the quadrangle is the crown room, in which, upon
the Union, were deposited the ancient regalia of
Scotland. They were generally supposed to have been
sent to the Tower of London; but on a search under
a commission issued in 1818 by George IV., then regent,
to several noblemen, the judges of the Supreme
Court, the lord provost, and other gentlemen, among
whom was Sir Walter Scott, they were found inclosed
here in an oak chest, together with a deed of deposition,
dated the 26th of March, 1707. These regalia, which
are open for public inspection daily from twelve to three
o'clock, on producing a ticket, obtainable at the City,
Chambers, consist of the royal crown of Scotland, the
sceptre, the sword of state, and a silver rod of office
supposed to be that of the lord treasurer. In the same
room are preserved the ruby ring, set round with diamonds,
which was worn by Charles I. at his coronation;
the golden collar and badge of the order of the
garter, sent by Queen Elizabeth to James VI.; and the
badge of the order of the thistle, bequeathed by Cardinal
York to George IV., and deposited here in 1830.
This ancient and venerable castle, though much disfigured
in its appearance by an admixture of modern
alterations of incongruous character, forms, from its
elevated and commanding situation, a strikingly impressive
feature in the view of the town.
The Abbey and Palace of Holyrood.
At the eastern extremity of the town are the remains
of the ancient Abbey of Holy hood, founded by David I.
for monks of the order of St. Augustine, in gratitude
for his deliverance from danger while hunting. This
monastery, which was liberally endowed by the king and
by many of his successors, was one of the richest establishments
of the kind in the kingdom; but it was destroyed
by the Enghsh under the Earl of Hertford in
1545, and little of the building remains except the nave
of the ancient church, which was an elegant cruciform
structure, and a portion of which was used as the parish
church of Canongafe, after the Reformation, and was
also appropriated as the chapel royal. The chapel was
repaired in the year 1633, on the visit of Charles I. to
Scotland for his coronation, which took place in the
building. At the time of the Revolution it was plundered
by a mob, who stripped it of the roof, destroyed the
monuments, took away the coffins of the kings and
nobles who had been interred within its walls, and scattered
their bones in the wildest disorder. When opened
a few years previously, in 1683, the royal vault had been
found to contain the coffins of James V. and his queen,
Magdalene; their son Prince Arthur, and Arthur, son
of James IV., who both died in infancy; Lord Darnley;
and Lady Jane Stuart, Countess of Argyll. The chapel
remained roofless till 1758, when it was covered with a
ponderous roof of flag stones, beneath the weight of
which the walls ten years afterwards gave way, and the
building has from that time been a ruin. The remains
consist chiefly of the west front and a portion of the
side walls and piers: the entrance is by a richly-decorated
arch, flanked on each side by a lofty square embattled
tower; above the arch is a noble window of
elegant design, and those parts of the interior which are
yet entire display great beauty and costly magnificence
of style. In the north-west tower is a handsome marble
monument to Lord Belhaven, of the Douglas family,
who died in 1639; but though the chapel is still used
as a burial-place by distinguished families, it contains
no other monuments of importance. In the aisles are
numerous gravestones, one of which is pointed out as
the grave of David Rizzio; and there is a tablet to the
memory of Adam Bothwell, Bishop of Orkney.
The Palace of Holyrood House, originally built
by James IV., and enlarged by James V., and which
was a very spacious structure consisting of five separate
quadrangles, was burnt by Cromwell's soldiers during
, the parliamentary war, and rebuilt, with the exception
of the north-west towers, after the Restoration. The
])resent palace, erected from a design by Sir William
Bruce, is a stately quadrang>ilar structure in the Palladian
style of architecture, inclosing an area about 100
feet square, the principal entrance to which is on the
north-west, by a handsome gateway in the centre of the
front, which at each of the angles is flanked by two
lofty circular towers, embattled, and crowned with a
pyramidal roof terminating in a point surmounted by a
vane. The quadrangle is surrounded with a piazza, in the
south-west angle of which is the entrance to Her Majesty's
apartments, by a grand staircase leading to the throne
room, in which is a portrait of George IV. in Highland
costume, by Wilkic. On the north side of the quadrangle
is the picture gallery, 150 feet in length and
twenty-eight feet wide, the walls of which are painted by
De Wit with more than a hundred full-length portraits
and heads of the Scottish kings, which were mutilated
and defaced by the soldiers under General Hawley, after
their defeat at the battle of Falkirk. In this gallery the
election of the representative peers of Scotland takes
place on the summoning of every new parliament.
The north-west portion of the palace contains the
apartments of Queen Mary, and those of the Duke of
Hamilton, hereditary keeper; the latter occupy the first
floor under the unhappy queen's, and in one of them the
marriage with Bothwell is supposed to have been celebrated.
The apartment in the western front of the tower
called Queen Mary's bed-chamber is hung with tapestry,
and contains a portrait of Queen Elizabeth, the hands of
which are stained with blood; and various articles of
furniture said to have been used by Mary. Attached to
it is the queen's dressing-room, in the south-west turret;
and to the right of it is the closet in which the queen,
with the Countess of Argyll and a few other ladies of
the court, was at supper when Lord Darnley, the Lord
Ruthven, and others, entering by a staircase from the
chapel royal, seized Rizzio, who was sitting at a side table,
and, dragging him to the head of the staircase, despatched
him with their daggers. In Mary's presence-chamber
are numerous paintings, comparatively of recent date;
and in the apartments of the duke are also many paintings
and portraits. From 1795 to 1799 the palace
afforded an asylum to Charles X. of France, then Comte
D' Artois, who, with his suite, occupied the more modern
part of it; and subsequently, from 1830 to 1833, the
same monarch, with his family, consisting of the Duke
and Duchess of Angouleme, the Duchess of Berri, and
her son, the Duke of Bordeaux, resided here. Her present
Majesty's occupation of Holyrood Palace has been
referred to in a former part of the article.
In the grounds on the north and east of the palace and
the chapel royal, and which were inclosed by a handsome
iron palisade on the visit of George IV., the foundations
of the church of the ancient abbey of Holyrood may be
still distinctly traced. In the royal gardens is preserved
Queen Mary's sun-dial; and in the avenue from the
park to the Abbey hill is an ancient building which has
obtained the name of the Queen's Bath; while in the
Canongate is a large edifice that was the residence of
the Earl of Moray, regent, to whom it had been given by
the queen, and in the gardens attached to which is a tree
said to have been planted by her. The sanctuary of
Holyrood House still affords security for twenty-four
hours to persons flying from their creditors, and to whom
a bailie appointed by the Duke of Hamilton afterwards
grants protection, on application in that time. Within
its limits are the parks of St. Anne's Yards, the Duke'swalk,
and Arthur's Seat, on which last are the remains
of the chapel and hermitage of St. Anthony, with a
spring of fine water, called St. Anthony's well; and also
within the precincts of the sanctuary are Salisbury Crags
and the south parks, extending to Duddingston loch. In
August, 1843, an act of parliament was passed authorising
the transfer of the keepership of the royal park of Holyrood
House from the Earl of Haddington, the hereditary
keeper, to the Commissioners of Woods and Forests.
There are still some remains of the ancient palace and
oratory of Mary of Guise, queen of James V., and mother
of Mary, Queen of Scots, situated in Blyth's-close. Over
the door of the former is the cipher of that queen, with
the inscription L«!;s et Honor Deo. The situation of the
building, which has long been divided into small tenements,
and occupied by the humblest class, is exceedingly
inappropriate for a royal residence; and but for
the cipher of Mary of Guise over the door, it could not
be supposed to have had any claims to that distinction.
The Parliament House, and Sciuare.
The parliament-house, situated in Parliament-square,
was built in 1640, at an expense of £11,000. The hall,
in which the parliaments were held, is a noble apartment
12'2 feet in length and nearly fifty feet wide, with a lofty
roof of old timber frame-work, richly carved, and ornamented
with gilding, supported by arches resting on
corbels on the walls. It is lighted by a range of four
spacious windows on the west side; and at the south
end is a handsome window of large dimensions and of
elegant design, though not quite in character with the
hall itself, embellished with stained glass, in which is a
well-painted figure of Justice, with the appropriate emblems.
Near the north end is a statue of the first Lord
Melville, finely executed in marble by Chantrey; on the
east side of the hall is one of the Lord President Forbes
by Roubilliac, erected at the expense of the Faculty of
Advocates; and on the opposite sides, towards the south
end, are two other statues by Chantrey, of Lord President
Blair, and Robert Dundas, lord chief baron of Scotland.
The walls of the parliament-house were formerly
hung with portraits of William IIL, Queen Mary, and
Queen Anne, by Sir Godfrey Kneller, of George L, and
of John and Archibald, Dukes of Argyll, all of which have
been removed. Before the erection of this edifice, the
parliaments used to meet in the Tolbooth.
Connected with the parliament-house are the buildings
appropriated to the library of the Faculty of Advocates,
svhich was founded by Sir George Mackenzie, lord
advocate of Scotland in the reign of Charles IL, and at
present contains about 150,000 volumes. The department
of Scottish poetry is exceedingly rare and curious;
and the manuscripts form an interesting collection, the
most valuable of them relating to the civil and ecclesiastical
history of Scotland. The library is under the
management of a chief librarian, and of five curators, one
of whom retires annually, and is succeeded by a member
of the faculty, elected by the body. A considerable number
of the books are kept in apartments underneath the
hall of the parliament- house, and the remainder in a
handsome building adjoining it, containing two spacious
rooms, the upper of which is elegantly decorated, and
has a richly-carved ceiling, ornamented with gilding. In
this room are, a well sculptured bust of Baron Hume, of
the Scottish exchequer, nephew of the historian, and
portraits of Sir George Mackenzie, the founder; Archbishop
Spottiswoode, lord high chancellor of Scotland;
the Lords Presidents Forbes and Lockhart, and other
judges of the Supreme Court; and a portrait of Andrew
Crosbie, Esq., advocate, the prototype of Sir Walter
Scott's " Counsellor Pleydell " in Guij Mannering. The
Advocates' Library is one of the five libraries that receive
from Stationers' Hall a copy of every new work
published in Great Britain or Ireland.
Attached also to the buildings of the parliament-house,
is the LIBRARY of the Writers to the Signet, a collection
of .50,000 volumes, under the direction of a principal
librarian and a body of curators. It is peculiarly
rich in the department of history, more especially in
British and Irish history. The building comprises two
large apartments, connected with a handsome staircase.
The upper room, which was originally fitted up for the
Advocates' Library, is 130 feet in length and forty feet
wide; the lofty roof is elaborately enriched, and sup-
ported by a noble range of twelve stately columns on
each side, behind which a gallery extends throughout
the whole length. This apartment is lighted by a cupola
in the centre of the ceiling, the interior of which was
painted by T. Stothard, R.A., in IS'2'2, with arabesque
ornaments and figures of Apollo and the Nine Muses,
and three groups with portraits of eminent poets, historians,
and philosophers, respectively; Homer, Virgil,
Shakspeare, Milton, and Burns, among the poets;
Herodotus, Livy, Hume, Robertson, and Gibbon; and
Demosthenes, Cicero, Lord Bacon, Napier of Merchiston,
Sir Isaac Newton, and Adam Smith. On the grand
staircase leading to this splendid room, is a full-length
portrait of Lord President Hope in his robes as lord
justice-general, painted by Watson Gordon; and on the
landing-place, portraits of several eminent lawyers, including
Lord President Blair, painted by Sir Henry
Raeburn, also marble busts of Sir James Gibson Craig,
Bart., and Colin Mackenzie, and a fine cast in terracotta
of the famous Warwick vase.
In the centre of the Parliament-square is an equestrian
statue of Charles II. in lead painted in imitation of
bronze, erected by the corporation in 1685, at an expense
of £1000, and representing the king in the Roman
costume, with a truncheon in the right hand. The
buildings around the area form a semicircular range of
handsome elevation, with a piazza in front, comprising
(in addition to the parliament-house) the exchequer, the
Justiciary courts, the courts of session, various other
offices, and the Union Bank of Scotland.
College of Physicians, and of Surgeons, and
THE Medical Society's Buildings.
The old hall of the College of Phj'sicians, situated on
the south side of George-street, nearly opposite to St.
Andrew's church, and of which the first stone was laid
by Dr. Cullen, in 1775, has been removed to make way
for the handsome new buildings of the Commercial Bank
of Scotland, to which establishment the Physicians sold
their hall. It was a structure in the Grecian style,
having in the centre of the principal front a boldly projecting
portico of four stately Corinthian columns, supporting
an enriched entablature and cornice, and surmounted
by a triangular pediment. The whole of this
elegant edifice was crowned with a parapet and open
balustrade, and the interior comprised a spacious and
chastely decorated hall for the meetings of the members
of the college, with various other apartments; a museum;
and a library fifty feet in length, thirty feet wide, and
twenty feet high, lighted by two ranges of five windows,
and surrounded on three sides by a gallery. The building
was erected after a design by James Craig, nephew
of the author of The Seasons, and architect of the New
Town. The new hall of the College of Physicians,
situated in Queen-street, is a building of much plainer
appearance. Its facade presents three figures, the two
lower ones representing /Esculapius and Hippocrates,
and the upper one Hygeia, the goddess of health: they
were all sculptured by Mr. Alexander Ritchie, a pupil
of Thorwaldsen's. The library is enriched with a series
of works on natural history, presented by Dr. Wright, of
Kersey. Surgeons' Hall, belonging to the Royal College
of Surgeons, incorporated by charter in 1788, is situated
in Nicholson-street, and forms an elegant structure.
erected after a design by Mr. Playfair, at a cost of
£20,000. The front is embellished with a noble portico,
under which is the chief entrance; and the interior comprises
numerous splendid halls for the accommodation
of the members, a pathological museum including collections
by Dr. Barclay and other eminent professors,
and a valuable repository of preparations for the illustration
of the science. The Royal Medical Society appears
to have originated about the time that the medical
schoolof Edinburgh was first established in the university,
and the celebrated Dr. Cullen and Dr. Fothergill were
among its earliest and most active members. It was
erected into a corporate body by royal charter in 1778.
The buildings are situated in Surgeons'-square, to the east
of the Royal Infirmary, and comprise three large rooms,
one of which contains a library of medical works, another
a museum of natural curiosities and anatomical preparations;
and a laboratory for chemical experiments. The
Extra-Academical Medical School may also be mentioned.
The Royal Exchange, and Bank.
The Royal Exchange in High-street, nearly fronting
the Parliament-square, and the first stone of which was
laid by George Drummond, Esq., grand master of the
masonic order, in 1753, was completed in 176l,at a cost
of £30,000. It is a handsome quadrangular structure,
of which the south front has a boldly projecting piazza
rising to the height of the first story, and crowned with
a balustrade: above this the slightly projecting centre of
the front is adorned with four pilasters of the Corinthian
order, supporting an enriched cornice with an attic, surmounted
by a triangular pediment ornamented at the
angles and on the apex with vases, and having in the
tympanum the city arms, finely sculptured. An archway
leads from the piazza into the quadrangular area,
ninety-six feet in length and eighty-six feet in width,
three sides of which are wholly appropriated as shops
and offices, and the other constitutes what is properly
the Exchange buildings. These form a handsome range
1 1 1 feet in length, and fifty-seven feet in depth, comprising
about twenty spacious apartments, now occupied
as the city chambers, for the accommodation of the town
council, the town-clerks, and other civic functionaries.
The Bank of Scotland, situated in Bank-street,
nearly opposite to George theFourth's bridge, was first
established by a company incorporated by act of parliament
in 1695, with a joint-stock of £100,000 sterling,
which has been since increased to £2,000,000. It is
under the direction of a governor, deputy governor, and
a body of twenty-four directors. The building, erected
at an expense of £75,000, is a fine structure of stone, of
the Corinthian order, having in the centre of the front
two projecting porticos of two columns each, rising from
a rusticated basement, and supporting an entablature
and cornice surmounted with an open balustrade that
extends along the whole of the building, at each end of
which are corresponding projections of duplicated Corinthian
pilasters. Over the entrance is a Venetian window
of three lights, divided by Corinthian columns sustaining
an enriched entablature, above which are the arms of
Scotland, having on one side a figure of Plenty, with an
inverted cornucopia, and on the other a figure of Justice,
with the motto Tanto uberior. Behind these, a cupola
and dome rise from the centre of the building.
The Royal Bank of Scotland, situated in a recess to the
east of St. Andrew's square, is a very handsome bu ilding
originally erected by Sir Laurence Dundas as a family
residence, but sold by his son to the Board of Excise, by
whom it was occupied for many years. Eventually it
was purchased from the board by the Royal Bank for its
present use. It was designed by Sir William Chambers,
and is in the Roman or Itahan style, with a slight
projection in the centre of the front, embellished with
four engaged Corinthian columns springing from a rusticated
basement, in which is the entrance, and supporting
an entablature and cornice, and a triangular pediment
having in the tympanum the royal arms.
Some of the other banks in Edinburgh (the Commercial
Bank, the Western Bank, &c.) form also handsome
structures.
The Register Office.
The Register Office, situated in Princes-street,
opposite the north end of Bridge-street, was commenced
in 1774, by a grant of £12,000 obtained by the Earl of
Morton in the reign of George III., and completed in
1822, at an expense of £40,000. This elegant structure,
erected after a design by Mr. Robert Adam, has a principal
front 200 feet in length, from which projects a central
portico of four Corinthian columns, rising from a
rusticated piazza of three arches forming the entrance,
and supporting an enriched entablature and cornice, with
a triangular pediment, in the tympanum of which are
the arms of Great Britain. At each of the extremities
of the front is a projecting wing of similar character,
with two columns, between which is a Venetian window,
surmounted by a turret and dome rising to a considerable
elevation above the balustrade. Behind the central portico
are seen the stately cupola and dome that spring
from the interior of the quadrangle. The quadrangle is
surrounded with handsome ranges of building comprising
ninety-seven vaulted apartments, among which are, an
elegant room thirty-five feet long, twenty- four feet wide,
and twenty-three feet in height, for the use of the lord
registrar, and various rooms for different officers of the
establishment, and for the accommodation of the clerks
of, and attached to or connected with, the courts of session
and justiciary. Within the quadrangle is a circular
saloon, fifty feet in diameter, rising from the centre of
the inclosure to the height of eighty feet, extending to
the sides of the quadrangle, and leaving at the angles
sufficient space for the admission of light. The walls
are divided into compartments by recesses for the reception
of the public documents, to which facility of access
is afforded by a gallery round the interior; and there is
a circular window, fifteen feet in diameter, in the centre
of the dome, which is richly ornamented in stucco.
From the saloon two grand staircases lead to the numerous
other apartments where the national records are
deposited.
Literary and Scientific Institutions.
The Royal Institution, situated at the north end
of the Earthen Mound, in Princes-street, is a spacious
structure erected in 1823, from a design by Mr. Playfair,
upon a foundation of wooden piles which the nature of
the ground rendered necessary for its security. It was
afterwards enlarged by rebuilding the south end, and extending
the range of columns. The buildings are embellished
in front and at the end with columns of the Doric
order, and are surmounted by a magnificent colossal
statue of Queen Victoria, executed by Mr. Steel, and
erected in 1844. They comprise a spacious gallery for
the exhibitions of the Royal Scottish Academy of painting,
sculpture, and architecture, founded in 1826, and
incorporated by royal charter in 1838; and apartments
for the Royal Society of Edinburgh, instituted in 1783;
the Royal Institution for the encouragement of the fine
arts in Scotland, established in 1819, and incorporated
by royal charter in 1827; and the Board of Trustees
appointed by letters-patent in 1727, for the encouragement
of manufactures, &c., in Scotland. It was out of
the public funds under the management of this Board of
Trustees that the buildings were raised. The Royal
Scottish Society of Arts was founded in the year 1821,
and incorporated by royal charter in 1841. The Royal
Association for the Promotion of the Fine Arts in Scotland
was established in 1833, and incorporated by royal
charter in 1847.
The Society of Antiquaries, estahVtshed by royal charter
in the year 1780, has now its hall in George-street, containing
a museum of ancient armour, utensils, charters,
coins, &c.: it had formerly accommodation allotted to
it in the Royal Institution. The Astronomical Institution
was formed in 1812, in consequence of an eloquent address
then issued by the late Professor Playfair on the
importance of an astronomical observatory for Edinburgh.
In 1818 the new Observatory was founded, contiguous
to the old one, on the Calton hill; it is based
on the solid rock, and forms an elegant Doric structure,
after the model of the Grecian Temple of the Winds.
The professor of practical astronomy in the university
has apartments in the building, for his convenience in
making observations. Connected with the university
are the five following literary and scientific societies: the
Dialectic Society, for the prosecution of literary and philosophical
composition, criticism, and debate, which has
existed since 1*87, and probably was founded before that
period; the Scots Law Society, established in 1815; the
Diagnostic Society, established in 1816; the Hunterian
Medical Society, in 1824; and the Metaphysical Society,
in 1838. The Royal Physical Society was instituted in
1771, and chartered in 1788. There are, the Royal Medical
Society, noticed on a preceding page; the Harveian
Socie<!/, founded in 1782; the Medico- Chirurgical Society,
in 1821; the Obstetrical Society, and the Phrenological
Society. The Philosophical Institution is intended to afford
the means not only of acquiring the fullest and most
authentic information on all topics of immediate or passing
interest, but of cultivating and extending the growing
taste for science, art, and literature. For these ends
there are at present provided, a reading-room and library,
a newsroom, and the delivery of popular lectures. Other
institutions that may be mentioned are, the Speculative
Society, established in 1764; the Juridical Society, in
1773; theTheological Society, in 1776; and the School of
Arts, for the instruction of mechanics and tradesmen in
the elements of scientific knowledge, 1821.
The Royal Botanic Garden, on the Inverleith road, is
laid out with great taste, and at the same time with scientific
precision, embracing an area of fourteen acres and
a half, and presenting every facility for prosecuting the
study of botany. This noble garden is surrounded by
trees on the west, south, and east; and on the right-
hand side of the entrance are the class-room of the professor
of botany in the university, and the house of the
superintendent. Before the purchase of the present
ground about twenty-five years ago, there was a botanic
garden on the west side of the road to Leith, formed in
1767; and at a still earlier period, in the latter part of
the seventeenth century, a garden had beon laid out near
the then Trinity Hospital, under the auspices of Sir Andrew
Balfour, and Sir Robert Sibbald, two zealous naturalists.
Sir Andrew Balfour, returning from abroad, and
settling in his native city in I67O, immediately began
the formation of a garden for his own private amusement;
and a few years afterwards, his friend Mr. Patrick Murray
of Livingstone dying, and leaving a collection of a
thousand species of plants, a piece of ground about forty
feet square, in the north yards of the Abbey, was procured,
and the plants were removed to that spot. The
collection still increasing, some ground was obtained
from the city magistrates near the Trinity Hospital, and
laid out, as above mentioned, under the care of Sir Andrew
Balfour and Sir Robert Sibbald, the original founders.
From this early commencement has gradually
grown the present interesting collection of plants. An
annual grant is received from government.
Adjoining the Botanic Garden is the Caledonian Horticultural
Society's Garden, a beautiful and interesting
piece of ground, comprising an area of ten acres. The
society was established in the year 1809, since which
period large sums have been annually expended in promoting
the production of new fruits, flowers, and vegetables,
and encouraging the improvement and bringing
to maturity of those already introduced. In 1 824 ground
was purchased by government for an experimental garden,
and consigned to the society on a long and renewable
lease. An annual grant of £200 a year was also
bestowed towards the support of the garden, to be continued
so long as the members contribute £300 a year
for the same purpose. The gardens are furnished with
the necessary appliances for experiments in horticulture;
the various collections are arranged with care, and in the
centre of the grounds stands a spacious hall for the
society's meetings, in front of which is a fine lawn, where
several exhibitions of exoticf'plants annually take place.
A marble bust, by Steel, of the secretary, Dr. Neill,
adorns the hall.
The Royal Zoological Gardens, Broughton Park, are
pleasantly situated, and laid out with good taste. In
1838, a few individuals began a collection of living animals,
which gradually increasing, an association was
formed, and a piece of ground procured; the collection
is already considerable, and is constantly receiving additions.
On one side of George IV. Bridge is the Museum of
the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotlajid, containing
an extensive collection of agricultural implements
and produce, drawings of the various breeds of domestic
animals, a greenhouse, and, in short, every thing calculated
to advance information in husbandry, and improve
the culture of the soil. The society was founded in
178.5, at first with the object of promoting agricultural
improvements in the Highlands, but subsequently its
plan was enlarged so as to comprehend the whole of
Scotland. A lectureship on agricultural chemistry has
been established in connexion with the society. The
Wernerian Natural-History Society was instituted in 1 808,
by Professor Jameson and a few gentlemen devoted to
the study of natural history. There are also in Edinburgh,
the Botanical Society, founded in 1836; and the
Geological Society.
The College Theological Library was instituted in 1 69S;
the Edinburgh Subscription Library, in 1/94; the Select
Subscription, in ISOO; and the Architectural Subscription
Library, in 1832. There are, besides, the New Town
Subscription, and Mechanics' libraries; and public subscription
reading-rooms. The libraries of the Faculty of
Advocates and the Writers to the Signet have been described
in a previous page.
The Assembly Rooms, in George-street, form an elegant
structure in the Roman style of architecture, having in
the principal front a projecting portico of four columns,
rising from a rusticated basement (forming a piazza, under
which are the entrances) to the whole height of the
building, and supporting a triangular pediment. The
ball-room, which is ninety-two feet long, forty-two feet
wide, and forty feet high, is tastefully decorated, and is
approached by two large staircases, which meet in a
lofty saloon in the middle of the building, which also
gives access to a spacious and very handsome Music
Hall lately erected at the back of, and immediately in
connexion with, the Assembly Rooms. This Hall was
completed at an expense, including the organ, of more
than £10,000; it is fitted up in a style of great splendour,
and measures 108 feet in length, by ninety-one feet
in breadth. The Theatre Royal, situated near the end of
the North bridge, was first opened in 1769.
Monuments.
On the summit of the highest eminence on the Calton
hill, is the ill-designed monument to the memory of
Lord Nelson, completed in 1815, and forming a conspicuous
object in the view of the city both by sea and
land. The structure consists of a lofty cylindrical tower
of several stages, rising from the centre of a heptagonal
building flanked at the angles with projecting embattled
turrets, to the height of 100 feet, and surmounted by an
embattled circular turret, from which springs a flag-staff.
Above the entrance is the (^st of Lord Nelson, with the
stern of the San Josef, in basso-relievo, beneath which is
a tablet with an appropriate inscription. The building
around the base is occupied as a tavern. From the
summit of the tower is obtained a truly magnificent view,
reaching to the German Ocean, and comprehending the
extensive and interesting tract of country to the west.
The National Monument, of which the first stone
was laid by the Duke of Hamilton in 1822, under the
patronage of King George IV., and which occupies a
commanding eminence on the same hill, was commenced
by subscription in commemoration of the Scottish naval
and military ofiicers who fell in the battles consequent
on the French revolution. The design was furnished by
Mr. Playfair, and was intended to be a perfect model of
the Parthenon at Athens; but, the amount of the subscriptions
having been all expended in the erection of
twelve magnificent columns, the works were abandoned,
and the memorial left in an unfinished state. In 1S4S,
however, an act of parliament was passed, to amend the
act which in the reign of George IV. had incorporated
the contributors. Powers were given by this measure
to raise new subscriptions for carrying on the work, and
the act declared that the monument should no longer be
restricted to the objects specified in the former act, but
should be devoted " to the purpose of a receptacle or
gallery for monumental busts and statues, or other memorials
of great and distinguished persons of all nations
and periods". The architecture and decorations were to
be those already approved, but liberty was allowed by
the act to the directors and association to alter them as
might seem expedient. On Calton hill are also the monuments
of Professor Playfair, near the Observatory,
and of Professor Dugald Stewart, overlooking the
Regent's bridge; both structures of elegant appearance,
designed by Mr. Playfair. Upon the edge of another
part of the hill, opposite the High School buildings, is
the monument recently erected in honour of the poet
Burns. This is a handsome circular structure, rising
from an octagonal base with numerous appropriate inscriptions,
and surrounded by Corinthian columns supporting
a highly-enriched entablature and cornice, surmounted
by an attic and a pedestal and figure. Within
was for some time to be seen a beautifully-sculptured
statue of the poet by Flaxman, but this now adorns the
university library. The whole of the monument is elaborately
embellished with emblematical sculpture, in
which the lyre is predominant. The monument of the
historian David Hume, a massive circular tower, is likewise
situated on the Calton hill, in the cemetery overlooking
the Old Town. Within a few yards of this
monument, and also in the Calton burying-ground, is
the obelisk called the Martyrs' Monument, erected by
subscription, to commemorate the political opinions and
the fate of Muir, Palmer, Gerrald, Skirving, and Margarot,
who figured at the close of the last century. The
first stone was laid by Mr. Joseph Hume, M.P., on the
21st of August, 1S44, and the inelegant erection was
finished in the course of the year 1845.
The monument erected in 1828 to the memory of
Lord Melville, in the centre of St. Andrew's square,
is a fluted column 136 feet in height, above the capital
of which is a colossal statue of his lordship, the whole
raised chiefly by subscription of gentlemen connected
with the navy as a tribute of respect to his memory.
To the east of the square, in a recess in front of the
Royal Bank of Scotland, is a bronze statue of General
the Earl of Hoi'etoun by T. Campbell, leaning on a
charger, and placed on a pedestal, erected in 1835 in
grateful remembrance of his military services. At the
intersection of George-street and Hanover-street is a
colossal statue, in bronze, of George IV., by Chantrey,
raised in 1 832, in commemoration of His Majesty's visit;
and at the intersection of George-street and Frederickstreet,
in a line with the former, is a similar bronze
statue of William Pitt, by the same artist. In the
centre of the Parliament-square is the equestrian statue
of Charles II., referred to in a previous page, and which
is deserving of notice for its vigour of design, and general
effect.
Opposite to the extremity of St. David street, in Princesterrace,
and finely situated in the gardens of the North
Loch, is the superb monument to Sir Walter Scott,
erected from the designs of the late Mr. George M.
Kemp. This truly splendid and elaborately-enriched
structure rises to the height of 200 feet, from a base
fifty-five feet square, in a series of gradually diminishing
towers in the decorated EngUsh style. These towers
are strengthened by panelled buttresses, terminating in
crocketed pinnacles with flowered finials; the buttresses
are connected by flying buttresses of scroll-work, and
have angular turrets adorned with canopied shrines, and
springing from pierced parapets. From the angles of
the principal or lowest tower, in which is enshrined a
fine statue of the poet by Steel, are boldly projecting turrets,
of similar character but very much larger, connected
with the main building by lofty and sharply-pointed
arches, richly moulded, and crowned with ogee canopies
of feather-work. The roof of the tower is delicately
groined, and is supported by four piers of slender clustered
columns with flowered capitals, between which are
four spacious and graceful arches affording access to the
interior, to which is an ascent by flights of steps from
the base between the turrets that project from the angles
of the monument. A staircase of 287 steps conducts to
the gallery at the top. In each front of the monument,
above the principal arch, are six small niches, making a
total of twenty-four in the main structure, besides thirtytwo
others in the piers and abutment towers. These
niches are to be occupied by sculptural impersonations
of the characters, historical and fanciful, pourtrayed in
the writings of Sir Walter. The following statues fill
the four principal niches which crown the four lowest
arches. In the northern niche, facing Princes-street, is
the statue of Prince Charles (from IVaverlei/) drawing
his sword; in the eastern niche, on the side next the
Calton hill, Meg Merrilies (from Guy Mannering) breaking
the sapling over the head of Lucy Bertram. Both
these were modelled and sculptured by Mr. A. H. Ritchie.
The southern niche, ne.xt the Old Town, contains the
statue of the Lady of the Lake stepping from a boat to
the shore: this was modelled by Mr. Peter Slater, and
sculptured by his relative of the same name. In the
western niche is the Last Minstrel playing on his harp,
a work modelled and sculptured by Mr. James Ritchie.
The foundation of the Scott Monument was laid on August
15th, 1S40, being the anniversary of Sir Walter's
birthday, and the building was finished in 1844: the
four statues were raised in the following year, and the
fine marble statue of the novelist, underneath the centre
of the tower, was placed there on August 15th, 1846.
In the ravine of the Water of Leith, below Dean bridge,
is a handsome Doric temple, consisting of columns supporting
a circular dome, and in which is placed a statue
of Hygeia, of colossal dimensions, on a pedestal. The
structure is erected over St. Bernard's well, a mineral
spring near the margin of the river, and forms an interesting
and pleasing feature in the scenery.
Lighting, &c.
The streets of the city are well lighted with gas from
extensive works in the North-Back of the Canongate,
erected by a company of shareholders incorporated under
an act of parliament in 1818, with a capital of £100,000,
subscribed in £25 shares. In 1839 a new gas company
was formed, the subscribers to which purchased the
Leith gas-works: they were incorporated by act of parliament;
and pipes being laid down by the company
throughout the streets of Edinburgh, while the works
are carried on at Leith, they thus afford a siipply to both
towns. A water-company was incorporated in 1819,
with a capital of £253,000, also in shares of £25 each.
Previously to the establishment of this company, the
water was brought from Comiston; but, the supply being
very inadequate to the increased extent of the town, it is
now conveyed from more copious springs at Crawley and
Glencross, about eight miles distant, into capacious reservoirs,
at the Castle hill for the northern, and near
Heriot's hospital for the southern, districts; whence it is
distributed by pipes to the houses. The various works
for this purpose were completed at a cost of more than
£200,000; and a large compensation reservoir has also
been constructed in the valley of the Logan water, between
two ranges of the Pentland hills, for the supply of
the different mills and factories in that district. The
quantity of water, however, being still insufficient, and
its quality inferior, the company are now engaged in
bringing an additional supply from the west side of the
hills; and an act of parliament has been passed for a
better supply of water to the city. The markets, which
are spacious and well adapted for their object, are abundantly
furnished with all kinds of provisions, and every
variety of luxuries; and from the vicinity of the Forth,
fish of all sorts is plentiful, and of moderate price. The
new Corn Exchange was opened on the 5th December,
1849. Coal of excellent quality is obtained in the surrounding
districts, and the Union canal and the railways
afford every facility for its conveyance.
Railways, and Canal.
The Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway was commenced
under the authority of an act of parliament which received
the royal assent on the 4th of July, 1838. The
work was begun at the Almond valley in October 1838,
and the line was opened to the public, from the Haymarket,
at the western extremity of Edinburgh, to Glasgow,
on the 21st of February, 1842. In 1844 an act
was passed empowering the company to bring the line
into the heart of the city, and make a terminus at the
North Bridge, in the immense hollow that separates the
Old and New Towns. This station was completed in
May 1S47, and contributes to form one of the most remarkable
features in the metropolis. On the west side
of the North Bridge are the stations of the Edinburgh
and Glasgow and the Edinburgh, Perth, and Dundee
railway companies, while on the east side is the station
of the North-British railway company, the whole presenting
one grand, connected centre of railway communication.
The Glasgow line proceeds from the terminus,
in a direction parallel with Princes-street, along
the bottom of the romantic hollow forming the Princesstreet
gardens. Almost immediately on emerging from
under the bridge over the Waverley road, the line enters
a tunnel under the huge mass of earth called the Earthen
Mound, and then arrives at the West gardens, where
the railway train passes close to the stupendous and
abrupt ridge of rock on which stands the Castle of Edinburgh,
at an altitude of nearly 300 feet above the line.
After this peculiarly striking course along an urban
valley among the trees, beneath an ancient fortress, the
railway train suddenly plunges into the tunnel which
conducts to the first station on the lino, at the Haymarket,
the original terminus, which is a mile and a
half distant from the present terminus. Here there are
various buildings connected with the line; after passing
which, a delightful country is opened up.
The North- British Railway was sanctioned by an act
which received the royal assent in July 1844, and the
works were commenced in September of the same year.
The main line, with a branch to Haddington, was opened
on the 18th of June 1S46. Whilst the railway above
described proceeds westward from the Edinburgh central
station, a distance of forty-seven miles and a half, to
Glasgow, the North-British railway, starting from the
same point, passes in an eastern direction and then
southwards, for nearly fifty-eight miles, to Berwick-upon-
Tweed. Proceeding from the North Bridge, the line is
carried across the North-Back of the Canongate by a
very remarkable iron skew-bridge, of seventy feet span,
rising eighteen feet above the level of the street. This
bridge crosses the line of street at an angle of only
twenty degrees and a half, thus exceeding in obliquity,
by one-fifth, the celebrated skew-bridge over Fairfieldstreet,
Manchester, on the Manchester and Birmingham
railway, which has an angle of twenty-four degrees and
a half. Immediately afterwards, the railway forms a
tunnel of 420 yards, commencing at the southern spur
of the Calton hill, in front of the High School, and terminating
at the east gate of the gaol. On quitting this
tunnel, the line runs along an embankment towards the
Abbey hill, and is conveyed over the road by a viaduct
of iron beams, supported by a stone pier erected in the
middle of the street. At some distance further on, are
the engine-sheds, shops, and warehouses of the company;
and behind the Piershill cavalry barracks is a
wall screen not less than forty-si.x feet in height, raised
to protect the powder magazine in the barracks from ignition
by the sparks of the passing engine:. this screen
forms perhaps the highest wall of the kind in Britain.
At Portobello, three miles distant from the terminus,
the important branch to Hawick, Kelso, and other towns,
diverges from the railway. This and other branches
were formed under special acts of parliament, and opened
subsequently to the main line.
The Edinburgh, Perth, and Dundee Railway, the first
act for which was passed in July 1845, has its terminus,
as already observed, on the west side of the North
Bridge. The line incorporates the Edinburgh, Leith,
and Granton railway; which was opened as the Newhaven
railway, from Scotland-street to Trinity pier on
the Firth of Forth, in 1843; and as the Leith and Granton
railway, from the North Bridge to Leith and to
Granton pier, in 1847. Commencing at the grand terminus,
the Granton line proceeds northward by a tunnel
under St. Andrew's street. Duke-street, Dublin-street,
Drummond-place, and Scotland-street; the tunnel is
1000 yards in length, twenty-four feet wide, and seventeen
feet high, and at its northern extremity is a station.
Soon afterwards the line enters another tunnel, a very
short one, under the turnpike-roads, &c., immediately
east of Canonmills, emerging near Heriothill. Hence
proceeding in the same direction, the railway crosses
the Water of Leith, after which the branch to Leith
diverges eastward, the Granton line continuing its course
northward, by the cemetery at Warriston, to the station
at Newbank, Trinity, where it curves to the west for
Granton pier, on the Firth of Forth. The Edinburgh,
Leith, and Grauton railway is fully amalgamated with the
Edinburgh, Perth, and Dundee; and from the noble pier
at Granton the company's passengers for the north are
conveyed across the Firth to Burntisland.
The Caledonian Railway, whose terminus in Edinburgh
is in the Lothian-road, not far from the castle, was authorized
by an act of parliament passed in July 1845.
The first sod was turned on the Beatock summit in the
following month of August; the foundation stone of the
Edinburgh station was laid with masonic honours in
April 184"; the line was opened from Beatock to Carlisle
in the September following, and the remaining portions
in February 184S. This great national undertaking,
besides minor branches, comprises two main lines, one
from Edinburgh, the other from Glasgow, which meet
near Lanark, and thence form a grand trunk line to
Carlisle. Thus, the Scottish metropolis is connected
with the western counties of England by the Caledonian
railway, as it is with the eastern counties by the North-
British railway. An act was passed in 184" authorizing
the Caledonian company to extend their station in Edinburgh,
to make a branch of four miles to Granton, and
three very short branches to the Edinburgh and Glasgowrailway.
The Union Canal was projected in 1817, and, after
considerable opposition, was begun in 1818 by a jointstock
company, and finished in 1822, at an expense
amounting to nearly £400,000. lu 1849 an act was
passed vesting it in the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway
Company. It commences at Port-Hopetoun Basin, at
the south end of the Lothian-road, Edinburgh, and is
carried through the parishes of St. Cuthbert, Colinton,
Currie, Ratho, and part of Kirkliston, in this county;
those of LTphall, part of Kirkliston, Dalmeny, Abercorn,
and Linlithgow, in, the county of Linlithgow; and
Muiravonside, Polmont, and Falkirk, in the county of
Stirling. It terminates in junction with the Forth and
Clyde (or Glasgow) canal at Port-Downie, near Falkirk,
a distance of thirty-one and a half miles from its commencement.
In its course it is carried by extensive
aqueducts over the Water of Leith, the Almond, and the
Avon, and passes through Prospect-hill tunnel, cut out
of the solid rock for 696 yards; preserving its level to
within a mile of its junction with the Forth and Clyde
canal, whence it falls 110 feet by a series of eleven locks.
The width of the canal at the surface is forty feet; at
the bottom, twenty feet; and its depth is five feet. The
aqueduct over the Leith at Slateford consists of eight
arches; its height is sixty-five feet, and its length 500:
that over the Avon is still more extensive. On the
banks along the line are numerous villages, and it approaches
close to the royal burgh of Linlithgow.
Municipal Affairs.
From a charter of David I. bestowing on the monks
of Holyrood Abbey certain endowments payable out of
"his burgh of Edwinesburg", the town appears to have
been constituted a royal burgh at least as early as the
reign of that monarch; and at a very remote period the
city was one of the four principal burghs, whose commissioners,
with the chamberlain of Scotland, constituted
the "court of the four burghs", for superintending the
affairs of the royal burghs. Under charters granted by
the successors of David, confirming to the inhabitants
his grant of a large portion of the forest lands in the
immediate vicinity of the castle, the citizens had various
privileges, including a license to trade, and to exact tolls
and customs of all merchandise and traffic within the
burgh; to which James III. by charter added the liberty
of appointing a sheriff with extensive jurisdiction. Numerous
additional immunities were conferred on the
burgesses by other kings, and ratified and enlarged by
succeeding nionarchs, especially by James VI., who by
charter granted to the provost, bailies, and council the
site of the city and all its appendages, and the hereditary
offices of sheriff and coroner, with ample civil and criminal
jurisdiction within this burgh, Leith, and Newhaven.
The provost was declared high-sheriff and coroner,
and the bailies conjointly and severally were his
deputy sheriffs and coroners; and the whole of the
escheats, fines, and amercements in their jurisdiction
were constituted part of the common property of the
city. King James's charter, which was called the
"Golden charter", was confirmed by Charles I.; but
many of the privileges, being thought to derogate unreasonably
from the prerogative of the crown, were voluntarily
surrendered by the corporation in 1630, and a
new charter, differing but slightly from that of James
VI., except in those instances thought objectionable, was
granted in 1636, and continued to be the governing
charter till the reign of William IV.
The management of the municipal affairs is vested in
four public bodies, namely, the town council, the police
board, the road trustees, and the county prison board.
The town council consists of thirty-three members, of
whom thirty-one are chosen by the parliamentary voters
qualified within the royalty; the remaining two, being
the dean of guild and the convener of the trades, are
elected respectively by the guild-brethren of the city
and the deacons of the incorporated trades. Out of
their own number, the whole council appoint a lord provost,
four bailies, and a treasurer; and these officers,
with the dean of guild, constitute the magistracy. The
provost is dignified with the title of the Right Honourable,
and in the city takes precedence, on public occasions,
of all the great officers of state and of the nobility,
walking on the right hand of the king or his commissioner,
and having a sword of state and a mace borne
before him. He is also admiral, and the bailies are
admirals-depute, over the city and liberties, and the
town, harbour, and road (anchorage) of Leith. The
council are superiors of the burgh-of-regality of Canongate,
and of the burghs-of-barony of Easter and Wester
Portsburgh; over which they appoint certain of their
number as baron-bailies, and also two burgesses of
Canongate, and two inhabitants of Portsburgh, as resident
bailies. The bailies of Canongate exercise the same
legal jurisdiction within the limits of their district as
magistrates of royal burghs; but the bailies of Portsburgh
perform only the petty duties to which the bailies
of all burghs of barony are now restricted. Formerly
the council used to appoint the magistrates of Leith;
but since 1833 these have been elected by a town
council in that place, and the council of Edinburgh delegate
to them annually their jurisdiction of admiralty
over the town and road of Leith. The Merchant Company
was incorporated by royal charter in 16S1, and
ratified by act of parliament in 1793; each of the members
pays on admission a fee of £63, besides contributing
to a widows' fund, established in 1828. It has, however,
never been acknowledged by the town council as one of
the city corporations; and its members, as such, have
never enjoyed any municipal privileges. The acknow-
ledged corporations, possessed of municipal privileges,
are fourteen in number, the surgeons, goldsmiths, skinners,
furriers, hammermen, wrights, masons, tailors,
bakers, fleshers, cordiners, websters, waulkers, and bonnet-
makers. The members of these incorporations possess
the exclusive right of exercising their respective
professions and trades within the ancient royalty of the
city; and formerly their presidents, bearing the title of
deacons, were members of the town council. Their privileges,
however, are of little value, as the New Town is
entirely free from municipal restrictions of that kind;
the incorporations are dwindling away, and most of them
will probably be soon extinct. The late Police Board of
the city consisted of thirty-two commissioners elected
annually by the ratepayers, and of seventeen public
officers, including the provost, the magistrates of the
city and Canongate, and the sheriff of the county and
his substitutes. In 1848, however, an act was passed
for more effectually watching, cleansing, and lighting
the streets of Edinburgh and the adjoining districts.
By this act, matters of police are assigned to the management
of a new board or commission, consisting of
the provost and bailies, the sheriff and one substitute,
and thirty-two general commissioners annually elected,
one being chosen by each of the tliirty-two wards formed
by the act. There are two resident commissioners in
each ward, also annually elected, who, with the general
commissioner, have the powers of constables; the general
commissioners, and in their absence the resident,
being head constables, intrusted with the carrying out
of the provisions of the statute, and with the preservation
of the peace. The act confers the requisite authority
for levying assessments, the appointment of officers,
&c. The County Prison Board consists of eighteen members
chosen by the town councils of Edinburgh, Leith,
Musselburgh, and Portobello, and the magistrates of the
shire; and has the care of all the prisons, bridewells,
and other places of confinement within the city and
county of Edinburgh, under the control of the general
board of directors of prisons in Scotland, who are appointed
by the crown. The lord provost of the city and
the sheriff of the county are members ex-officio of the
board.
The magistrates, with the powers of sheriff, preside
weekly in a bailie court, the jurisdiction of which comprises
the ancient and extended royalty, and the barony
of Portsburgh. They also sit in the police court, chiefly
for the trial of petty offences, the more serious causes
being remitted for trial to the sheriff or high court of
justiciary. There is a court called the Ten Merks court,
for the determination of civil actions not exceeding ten
merks, in which a summary process is observed; and a
court for the recovery of debts not exceeding £3. 6. 8.
is also held by the magistrates, under the provisions of
an act of the 40th of George III. A dean-of-guild court
is held weekly before the dean, assisted by a council
annually nominated by the town council. The jurisdiction
of the court of admiralty extends over the whole of
the county of the city, which includes the ancient and
extended royalty, Leith, Canongate, and Portsburgh,
and that part of the Firth of Forth lying between a line
drawn from Wardie Brow to the Mickrie Stone on the
west, a line drawn from the shore to the east of Inchkeith
on the east, and the middle of the Firth of Forth on the
north.
The Cou7itii Hall, situated in the Lawnmarket, is an
elegant structure in the Grecian style of architecture.
It has a stately portico of four fluted Ionic columns
rising to the roof of the building, and supporting a
triangular pediment; and on each side of the portico,
to which is an ascent by a flight of steps, the front is
embellished with pilasters of the same order. From its
ill-chosen site, the building loses much of its architectural
interest. The interior comprises a spacious hall
for the county meetings, fifty-six feet long, twenty-six
feet wide, and twenty-six feet high; a court-room fortythree
feet in length, and twenty-nine feet wide, with a
gallery at the south end; apartments for the accommodation
of the judges, magistrates, witnesses, and others
attending the sessions; and various offices. The Old
Tolbooth, in which sessions of parliament, the meetings
of the College of Justice, and the various courts
were formerly held; in which the public business of the
corporation was transacted, and the civic banquets and
other festivities took place; and in which, also, were the
city and county gaols and the debtors' prison, was taken
down in 1817, a new Gaol having been erected on the
Calton hill, at a cost of nearly £30,000. Of this sum,
£10,000 were granted by government, £8000 from the
city, £5000 from the county, and the remainder raised
by assessment. From the period of its erection in 1561
until the year 1640, the Tolbooth served for the accommodation
of parliament and the courts of justice, as well
as for the confinement of prisoners; but after the erection
of the present parliament-house, it was employed
only as a prison. Its situation, in the middle of the
High-street, at the north-west corner of St. Giles's
church, was signally inconvenient. The great entrancedoor,
with its ponderous padlock and key, was removed
to Abbotsford, the seat of Sir Walter Scott, where it is
now to be seen, with the other curiosities of the place;
"it is not without interest", observes Sir Walter, "that
we see the gateway through which so much of the stormy
politics of a rude age, and the vice and misery of later
times, had found their passage, now occupied in the
service of rural economy ". The Tolbooth was sometimes
called by the inhabitants " The Heart of Mid-
Lothian", and under this name has become renowned in
the novel of Sir Walter Scott.
The Bridewell, which is situated on the Calton hill,
nearly behind the gaol, was erected in 1796, after a design
by Mr. Robert Adam, at an expense of £11,794,
raised by subscription and assessments, aided by a grant
from government. The buildings, consisting of a semicircular
range, in front of which is the governor's house,
are five stories in height, and comprise fifty-two working-
rooms and 144 sleeping-cells, some of which are appropriated
to prisoners sentenced to solitary confinement.
The new Debtors' Gaol, on Calton hill, recently
erected, is in what may be called the castellated Norman
style, and presents in its general composition an upright
group of variously-shaped towers, rising above the external
wall of inclosure, and so disposed as to produce
much picturesque effect of outline from different points
of view. The Canongate Tolbooth, an ancient structure,
includes a common room, eight sleeping apartments,
and rooms for the governor of the prison: the front
towards the street has a low tower with angular turrets,
between which is a clock, and is surmounted by a
small spire.
History and Government of the University.
The University was originally founded by the town council, to whom Mary,
Queen of Scots, granted for that purpose the sites and remains of the several ancient
religious houses within the city, together with the lands and revenues in various parts
of the kingdom. This gift was confirmed by James VI., who also bestowed a license
to erect schools and houses
for the students within the precincts of the monastic
demesnes, and to receive benefactions and bequests of
land and other property for its endowment, as well as
to elect professors, with ample powers to remove them
as they might think fit; all which grants, together with
others by the same monarch, were subsequently ratified
by act of parliament. The town council, having likewise
received a bequest of 8000 roerks from Robert
Reid, Bishop of Orkney, for the purpose of founding a
college in the city, began, in 1581, to erect buildings
appropriate for an institution of the kind in the southern
district of the town, within the precincts of the ancient
collegiate Kirk of Field. In 1583, the buildings were so
far advanced that the town council chose Robert Rollock,
formerly of St. Salvator's college in the university of St.
Andrew's, as professor in their college of Edinburgh;
and his talents and popularity soon attracted a considerable
number of students. After the appointment
of other professors, the town council elected Mr. Rollock
principal, in 1586: the institution steadily increasing in
reputation and importance, additional professorships
were created, and the establishment from that time rapidly
advanced in prosperity. James VI. subsequently
granted certain church lands and tithes in the counties
of Lothian and Fife for its further endowment; and for
its due regulation the town council founded an annual
visitation by a committee of sixteen of their own body,
with five of the ministers of Edinburgh, and three advocates,
who made their first inspection in I6l4. The
town council continued these annual visitations till
1640, when they appointed a rector of the university to
superintend the management.
During the parliamentary war in the reign of Charles I.,
the progress of the university met with no interruption;
and Cromwell, in his protectorate, endowed it with an
annuity of £"200. After the Restoration, many of the
students were strongly imbued with the principles of
the Covenant, and, on the visit of the Duke of York,
afterwards James II., to Edinburgh, made preparations
for a public procession for the purpose of displaying
their inveterate abhorrence of the Roman Catholic religion,
by burning an effigy of the pope. To prevent
this outrage to the feelings of the Duke of York, the
magistrates despatched a party of soldiers, when a violent
tumult took place between the military and the
students, the latter aided by the populace; seven of the
rioters were apprehended and lodged in prison, but
after a few days were liberated. With the view of suppressing
these feelings, Charles II. appointed a visitation
to be held in the university by the Bishop of Edinburgh,
the lord provost and magistrates of the city, and others,
enjoining them to make their report in 1683; but the
result is not known. Not long before the Revolution ia
1688, another visitation was held for the same purpose,
when a sentence of deprivation was passed upon the
principal and one of the professors; but since the accession
of William III., the internal policy of the university
has been free from all similar interference. In 1768,
a memorial was presented for rebuilding the university;
but the breaking out of the American war suspended all
further proceedings towards that undertaking. After
the peace, however, it was again proposed, in 1*86; and
the magistrates having raised a subscription, a plan was
designed by Robert Adam for rebuilding it upon the
same site; and the first stone of the present structure
was laid with great ceremony by Lord Napier, grand
master mason of Scotland, on the I6th of November, 1789.
The affairs of the university are under the superintendence
of the town council, by whom the principal
and professors are chiefly appointed, and of a senatus
academicus, assisted by a secretary, librarian, curator
of the museum, and other officers. Of the numerous
PROFESSORSHIPS founded at various periods, that of
humanity, established in 1597, is in the patronage of
the Lords of Session, the Town Council, the Faculty of
Advocates, and the Society of Writers to the Signet.
The Town Council alone present to the professorships of
Greek, founded in 1708; logic and metaphysics, in the
same year; mathematics, in 1674; moral philosophy
and political economy, in 1708; natural philosophy, in
1708; divinity, in 1620; oriental languages, in 164'2;
theory of physic, in 1685; dietetics, materia raedica, and
pharmacy, in I768; chemistry and chemical pharmacy,
in 1713; surgery, in 1831; practice of physic, in 1685;
anatomy and physiology, in 1705; general pathology,
in 1831; midwifery and diseases of women and children,
in 1726; and clinical medicine, in 1741. The professorships
of practical astronomy, founded in I786; rhetoric
and belles-lettres, in 1762; divinity and ecclesiastical
history, in 1695; public law, in 1707; medical
jurisprudence and police, in 1807; clinical surgery, in
1803; military surgery, in 1806; and natural history,
in 1767, are all in the gift of the Crown. The professorship
of universal history, founded in 1719, is in the
patronage of the Faculty of Advocates and the Town
Council; that of agriculture, established in 1790, in the
patronage of the Lords of Session, the Barons of the
Exchequer, the Town Council, and the Senatus Academicus.
Music, founded in 1839, is presented to by the
Principal and Professors. Those of civil law, founded
in 1710, and of the law of Scotland, in 1719, are in the
gift of the Faculty of Advocates and the Town Council.
That of conveyancing, in 1825, is in the patronage of
the Town Council, and Deputy Keeper and Society of
Writers to the Signet; and that of botany, in I676, is
in the patronage of the Crown and the Town Council.
Attached to the university are eighty bursaries, varying
in value from £5 to £100 per annum, of which last sum
there are three; six are of £30; ten of £20; aud their
aggregate value is £1 172 per annum. The winter session
commences on the first Tuesday in November, and
closes at the end of April; the summer session begins
on the first Monday of May, and terminates at the end
of July. The number who graduated in medicine in the
year 1806 was 37; in 1816, 76; in 1826, 118; in 1836,
123; in 1844, 66; and in 1849, 51. The number who
graduated in arts, in 1849, was 12.
Buildings of the University.
The rebuilding of the university, already referred to,
was greatly retarded by want of adequate funds. Though
commenced in 1789, little more than the east front and
part of the north-west range was raised till the year
1815, when government granted an annual sum of
£10,000; a committee was now appointed for its completion,
and the structure was proceeded with, after Mr.
Adam's plan above mentioned, with nvimerous variations,
principally in the internal arrangements, by Mr.
Playfair. The buildings are in a mixed style of architecture,
and of a quadrangular form, measuring 358 feet
by 255, with a spacious court in the centre. The east
front, the line of which is broken by slight projections
in the centre and at each extremity, is embellished with
a stately portico of two duplicated Doric columns, formed
each of one entire block, rising to the height of twentysix
feet, and supporting an entablature aud balu.strade,
above which is a large tablet with an appropriate inscription.
The buildings around the area of the quadrangle
are variously ornamented with close rustic arcades,
and attached columns and pilasters: flights of
steps lead to the hall of the senatus academicus, the
library, the museum, and the several class-rooms, which
are all of spacious dimensions, and many of them elegantly
decorated.
The Library is 1 87 feet in length, and fifty feet in
width; the roof, richly embellished in stucco, is sustained
by noble ranges of pillars, behind which are the
recesses for the reception of the books. The collection,
now containing more than 100,000 volumes, originated
in a bequest by Mr. Clement Little, advocate, who in
1580 left his library, for the use of the citizens, to the
care of the town council, by whom it was deposited in
the university. It has been gradually augmented by
purchases, and donations; by the presentation, under
the copyright act, of a free copy of every work printed
in Great Britain; and by the payment of £5 towards its
increase by each of the professors on his appointment,
and a sovereign by each of the students on his matriculation.
The privilege of receiving free copies of works is
now commuted for an annual grant. In the library are
also some valuable paintings bequeathed to the university
by Sir James Erskine, of Torry, Bart., various
portraits of continental and other reformers, and an interesting
collection of ancient sculptures and other antiquities.
The Museum occupies a lower and an upper
room, each ninety feet long and thirty feet wide. The
lower room contains principally specimens of the larger
quadrupeds and other animals. The upper room, which
is elegantly fitted up, and lighted from the roof, comprises
a beautiful collection of more than 3000 British
aud foreign birds, carefully arranged, including a large
number of stuffed birds lately purchased by the university
from Mr. Dufresne, of Paris. On the tables are
numerous glass-cases containing shells, insects, and
other natural curiosities of a small size; aud in the
galleries and less extensive apartments communicating
with the principal room, are various specimens of minerals,
scientifically arranged by Professor Jameson,
who, on his appointment to the chair of natural history,
presented to the university his own prirate collection, to
which an addition was made by the late Dr. Thompson,
of Naples. The Anatomical Museum contains a very
large collection of valuable specimens and anatomical
preparations, the greater number presented by the grandfather
and father of the present Dr. Monro. The Agricultural
Museum has been formed by the present professor
of agriculture, Mr. Low, aided by a grant from
government; and consists of models of implements of
husbandry, specimens of grain and grasses, and drawings
of the most approved breeds of cattle and horses.
New College.
This institution, which is in connexion with the Free
Church of Scotland, was formed in 1843, in the same
year and at the meeting of the same Assembly that originated
that ecclesiastical body. Though chiefly intended
for the training of students who hold the principles of
the Free Church, it is not exclusively confined to that
class, but is open to all who choose to avail themselves
of its privileges: nor is it a mere theological seminary,
but comprises distinct classes for instruction in the
higher branches of Greek and Roman literature, in
logic, moral philosophy, and natural science. In theology
the curriculum extends over four years, and is
conducted by four professors, who each superintend two
classes of students at different stages of progress, and
deliver a corresponding course of lectures, which embraces
two sessions. It is e.xpected that, previous to
entering on the study of theology, the students shall
complete their literary and philosophical studies, and
also acquire a competent knowledge of the elements of
Hebrew; after which they pass through a course of natural
theology and the evidences of Christianity, systematic
theology or the subject-matter of Christianity,
pastoral theology. Church history, and exegetical theology.
These classes are intended to be so arranged,
that, at whatever years' standing a student may enter,
he may have his own proper class, and pass from one to
another in consecutive order. The funds necessary for
the maintenance of the institution are derived from
contributions made once a year by the congregations
of the Free Church, and from the fees paid by the students
in the college, which do not exceed two guineas
for each class. One or two sums have also been
bequeathed as endowments. The attendance of students
at all the classes has been somewhat various,
though generally on the increase, and on an average
about 300.
The college was opened on the 31st of October, 1843,
by the late distinguished Dr. Chalmers, and the several
classes have since been taught in a house near the middle
of George-street, which was previously a private
dwelling. A new building, however, has been erected,
of which the foundation stone was laid by Dr. Chalmers
on the 3rd of June, 1846, and which is expected to be
ready by November 1850. This structure, which is
situated at the head of the Earthen Mound, on a space
between the Old and New Town, is in the collegiate
style, and built according to plans furnished by the
eminent architect, Mr. Playfair. As originally designed
by that gentleman, the buildings were to embrace three
quadrangles upon different levels, rising one above
another from the level of the Mound to that of the
Castle hill; but as it has been resolved not to extend
the institution beyond a theological faculty, with what
are considered its cognate branches, the present erection
is confined to the first or lowest quadrangle, which contains
seven class-rooms, a library, a museum, and janitor's
house, together with a church upon the east side of
it. The expense of the buildings has been contributed
by twenty individuals, nineteen of whom subscribed
£1000 each, and one subscribed £2000. The library
consists of about 15,000 volumes, of which about 10,000
have been donations; the names of the Right Hon. Fox
Maule, the late Major-General Mac Douall, of Stranraer,
and Frederick Sargent, Esq., of London, being recorded
among the most munificent contributors in this department.
The museum of natural science has also received
very rare and valuable contributions.
High School, and Academy.
The High School of Edmburgh was founded as a
public grammar school, by the town council, in 1518:
and in 15*8, being found inadequate to the wants of the
city, it was refounded on a more extended scale. From
the progressive increase of the number of pupils, the
ancient house in which it was primarily established was
taken down in 1777, and a more extensive building
erected on its site, where it continued to flourish till
1829, when, a more eligible situation having been selected
in 1825, the school was removed to the present
spacious and elegant structure erected for its use on the
Calton hill. It is under the superintendence of a rector
and four classical masters, and teachers of the French
language, writing, arithmetic, and the mathematics, all
of whom are appointed by the magistrates and town
council. The fees in the rector's class are £1. 5. per
quarter, and in each of the four masters' classes £1; for
the French and mathematical classes, lOs. 6d. each; and
in the writing and arithmetical classes, 7*'. 6(/. each. The
average number of pupils is about 500, to the most
successful of whom prizes are awarded at the public examinations,
which take place annually, in August, before
the magistrates and council, the clergy of the city, and
the professors of the university.
The building was erected after a design by Mr. Hamilton,
at a cost of £30,000, of which about £3000 were
raised by subscription, £6000 were obtained as the price
of the old school, and the remaining sum of £21,000
was contributed by the town council, being just so much
added to the city debt. It is a stately structure of freestone,
in the Grecian style of architecture, 270 feet in
length, and embellished in the centre of the principal
front with a small portico of six Doric columns, supporting
an entablature and cornice with a triangular
pediment, and forming the chief entrance, to which is
an ascent by a flight of steps. On each side of the
portico is an open corridor of twelve Doric columns,
with entablature and cornice of corresponding character,
connecting the centre with the wings. The interior
comprises a noble entrance-hall, seventy-five feet in
length and forty-three feet wide, with the various classrooms
for the rector and the four classical masters, of
which the rector's is thirty-eight feet square, and each of
the other four thirty-eight feet long and twenty feet wide.
To each of the class-rooms are attached two smaller
apartments, and every arrangement for affording ample
facility to the purposes of the institution has been
studiously provided. At the entrance into the courtyard
are two lodges, two stories in height, in one of
which are the class-rooms for the writing and mathematical
masters, forty-eight and thirty-six feet in
length respectively, and both eighteen feet wide; the
other lodge is appropriated as a house for the janitor.
Attached to the school are about two acres of playground.
The Edinhurrjh Academy, established in 18'24, on a
plan similar to that of the High School, and situated in
Henderson-row, to the north of the New Town, is
under the superintendence of a board of fifteen directors,
of whom three are annually elected from the body of
subscribers. It is conducted by a rector and four classical
masters, with other teachers; differing in no material
particular from the High School, except in the
amount of fees. The building, erected by shareholders
at a cost of £14,000, is a spacious and elegant structure
in the Grecian style, after a design by Mr. Burn,
containing the requisite class-rooms, halls, and other
arrangements.
Of the other establishments for education, may be
mentioned the Scottish Naval and Military Academy, instituted
in 1825, and which affords education to pupils
destined to serve in the army or navy, or East India
Company's service. There are also the Circus-place
School; the Edinburgh Institution, established in ISS^;
the Southern Academy, George-square, founded in 1S29; &c.
Parishes, and Ecclesiastical Arrangements.
The see of Edinburgh, originally founded by Charles I.
in 1633, and to which the ancient collegiate church of
St. Giles was appropriated as the cathedral, continued
till the Revolution, when the city contained six parishes.
Edinburgh is now the seat of the General Assembly of
the Church of Scotland, and of the presbytery of Edinburgh,
and comprises seventeen civil parishes, besides
which there recently existed for a time twelve quoad
sacra or ecclesiastical parishes. The civil parishes,
with the exception only of Canongate and St.Cuthbert's,
which are under the patronage of the Crown, are all in
the gift of the Town Council, by whom a stipend of
£548 is paid to each of the ministers thus appointed by
them; the ecclesiastical parishes were in the patronage
of various bodies, and the stipends, differing in amount,
were derived from seat-rents and other sources.
The parish of the High Church is wholly within the
city, and contains a population of 2776, under the pastoral
care of two ministers. The church is a portion of
the cathedral of St. Giles, the interior of which was
partitioned, at different times, for four separate congregations,
and is now divided into three churches, one of
them appropriated to the High Church parish, one to
the New North Church parish, and the third to the Old
Church parish. There are 1399 sittings for this parish,
including arrangements for the lord provost, magistrates,
and council of the city, the judges of the High
Court of Session, and the members of the Kirk Session.
The interior of this once splendid edifice was richly embellished,
and contained forty altars to different saints,
numerous relics, sumptuous vestments, and valuable
vessels of gold and silver, all of which were removed or
destroyed at the Reformation. The church was externally
rebuilt or renovated in the year 1830, after a design
by Mr. Burn, architect; and with the exception of the
beautiful lantern or spire, and the interior of the choir,
little or nothing now reniams of the ancient church. It
is a stately structure in the pointed style of architecture,
with a lofty central tower surmounted by a small spire
connected with the battlements by flying buttresses,
uniting in the form of an imperial crown, and rising to
the height of 161 feet from the base. The south aisle
was fitted up for the meetings of the General Assembly,
but, being found inconvenient for that purpose, the
meetings have been discontinued; and it is now occupied
as the church of the Old Church parish. There
were several ancient monuments, among which were
those of the Regent Murray and the Marquess of Montrose,
and one erroneously supposed to be that of Napier
of Merchiston; but they were destroyed on the rebuilding
of the church. John Knox, the intrepid reformer,
was buried in the cemetery of St. Giles, which formerly
occupied the ground where the buildings of the Parliament-
square now stand. The parish contains a preaching
station, at which a missionary, who has a salary of
£50, raised by subscription, officiates every Sunday; an
episcopal chapel, dedicated to St. Paul; a Free church;
and a place of worship in Carrubbers Close, for a congregation
assuming no particular denomination.
The parish of the Old Church is of very limited extent,
and contains a population of 2939. Its church, a
portion of the collegiate church of St. Giles, -was taken
down in 1830, and rebuilt as a hall for the meetings of
the General Assembly. The congregation assembled for
public worship in the rooms belonging to the High
School on Calton hill till 1835, when they removed to a
temporary building containing about 600 sittings: the
south aisle of St. Giles' is now again appropriated for
them, having ceased to be used for the General Assembly's
meetings. There is also a preaching station,
in which service is performed twice every Sunday, at the
expense of the minister of the parish.
The ToLBOOTH parish, so called from the proximity
of its former church to the ancient Tolbooth, is wholly
within the city, and contains a population of 2216. The
congregation now assemble in the Victoria Hall, near
the Castle hill, recently erected for the meetings of the
General Assembly, but which was intended also to serve
as one of the city churches, and has been assigned to
this parish. It was erected at a cost of upwards of
£16,000, jointly defrayed by the government and the
town council, and is a large and very elegant building
in the pointed style, with a tower and spire of great
richness, rising 240 feet in height, and forming one of
the most conspicuous objects in Edinburgh. Besides
the spacious hall or church, it contains apartments for
the officers, committees, and the records of the Assembly.
There are places of worship in the parish for Wesleyans
and members of the Free Church.
The parish of Trinity College is entirely a town
parish, containing a population of 2615. The church,
originally founded by Mary of Gueldres, queen of James
II., for a provost, eight prebendaries, two choristers,
and a sacristan, was a handsome structure in the later
English style, of which only the choir and transepts
were completed j it underwent considerable alterations
in IS'JO, and contained 797 sittings. In a portion of
the building the remains of the queen were interred.
This church was removed a few years ago, to make way
for the North-British railroad; and during the removal,
the remains of Mary of Gueldres were found: they were
carried to the crown-office, and, after lying there some
time, were formally conveyed in July 184S to the chapel
royal at Holyrood, as their final resting-place. A chapel
in connexion with the Established Church, to which a
district containing 816 persons was for a short time annexed,
was founded in 1785 by Lady Glenorchy, who
endowed it for two ministers, the first having a stipend
of £400, and the second one of £200, paid by the
Trustees, the patrons. This chapel, which was taken
down by the North-British Railway Company in the
early part of the year 1845, was a neat plain structure,
containing 1514 sittings, of which 104 were free; and attached
to it was a school for 120 poor children, under
the direction of the trustees. There is a place of worship
for Independents.
The parish of the New North Church, wholly within
the ancient royalty, has a population of 2815. The
western portion of the cathedral of St. Giles is appropriated
as the church of this parish, containing 1397
sittings. There is also a preaching station in the Lawnmarket,
in which divine service is performed every Sunday
by a licentiate of the Establishment; and a place of
worship has been erected in connexion with the Free Church.
The parish of the Tron Church is wholly within the
city, and contains a population of 2498, under the care
of two ministers. The church, properly Christ church,
though, from its proximity to the public weigh-house,
called the Tron Church, is a spacious and handsome
structure in a mixed style, commenced in 1637, and
completed in 1673. It had formerly a spire of wood,
which was destroyed by an accidental fire in 1824, and
replaced by a lofty square tower crowned with an open
balustrade ornamented by pinnacles at the angles, and
surmounted with a low turret of smaller dimensions
having a pyramidal roof, the whole erected by the town
council in 1828. The interior of the church, which
contains 832 sittings, is well arranged, and embellished
with a high roof of richly- carved oak. There is also a
hall in which divine service is performed two or three
times during the week by a licentiate of the Estabhshment;
and the parish contains places of worship for
members of the Free Church, the United Presbyterian
Synod, Scottish Baptists, and the Synod of United Original Seceders.
The parish of the Old Grey Friars, formed in 1722,
is wholly within the city, and contains a population of
2643. The church, erected by the town council in 1612,
on ground which formerly belonged to the ancient monastery
of the Grey Friars, and was given by Queen
Mary to the magistrates for a cemetery, was, previously
to the fire in 1845, a handsome structure in the later
English style, containing 1061 sittings. The tower,
which had been appropriated as the city magazine, was
destroyed in 1718, by an explosion that also greatly
damaged the chiirch; and instead of rebuilding the
tower, the magistrates erected on its site the church of
the New Grey Friars' parish, separated from the former
only by a partition wall. In the churchyard are interred
many persons of distinction, including George Buchanan,
Sir George Mackenzie of Rosehaugh, Colin Maclaurin,
Allan Ramsay, Principal Robertson the historian, who
was for many years pastor of the Old Grey Friars; Dr.
Black, the distinguished chemist; Dr. Hugh Blair; and
Dr. M'Crie, the biographer of Knox. There is a " preaching
station " at the Magdalen chapel in the Cowgate,
where divine service is performed twice every Sunday
by the assistant minister. The parish also comprises
places of worship for members of the Free Church, Scottish
Baptists, Bereans, and Independents.
The parish of the New Grey Friars has a population
of 3207. The church, erected in 1721, adjoining that of
the Old Grey Friars, and repaired and re- seated in 1818,
at an expense of £1518, by the town council, was a neat
structure containing 1302 sittings. It was, however,
together with the church of the Old Grey Friars, accidentally
destroyed by fire on Sunday morning, January
19th, 1845. The flames were first discovered at about
half-past nine o'clock: by half-past ten the Old Grey
Friars' church had almost wholly fallen a prey to the devouring
element, and shortly afterwards the flames seized
upon the roof of the New Grey Friars, which edifice,
notwithstanding the greatest exertions of the firemen,
shared the fate of the other church. This fire was one
of the most appalling that have happened in Edinburgh
since the year 1S24: the walls were almost the only
parts of the churches left standing; the scene presented
after the fire was one of the utmost desolation, and
had the building not been detached, the result would
have been still more lamentable. Service is performed
at the Old Gaelic chapel, twice every Sunday, by a missionary
appointed by the Kirk Session; and there is a
place of worship for a congregation of the United Christian churches.
The parish of St. Andrew, separated from that of St.
Cuthbert, by act of parliament, in 1785, contains a population
of 4974, under the pastoral superintendence of
two ministers. The church, situated on the north side
of George-street, was erected in 1785, at a cost of £7000,
by the town council. It is a handsome structure in the
Grecian style, with a stately portico of four Corinthian
columns, and a lofty and graceful spire rising to the
height of 168 feet from the base; the interior is well
arranged, and contains 1053 sittings. The episcopal
chapel dedicated to St. George was erected in 1794, at
an expense of £3000, after a design by Mr. Robert
Adam, and contains 642 sittings, of which fifty are free.
There are places of worship for members of the Free
Ch\irch, the United Presbyterian Synod, Baptists, Independent
Baptists, Wesleyans, and the followers of Mr.
Mc Lean, who assume no distinctive denomination; and
a Roman Catholic chapel.
The parish of St. George was separated from that of
St. Andrew by the town council and presbytery, under
an act of parliament in 1814. It is partly a rural parish,
and is about a mile and a half in length, and half a
mile in breadth, containing a population of S075. The
church, which is situated on the west side of Charlottesquare,
was erected by the town council in 1814, at an
expense of £33,000, and is a spacious structure in the
Roman style, with a central portico, and a square tower
crowned with a lofty dome surmounted by a cupola and
cross at an elevation of 160 feet from the base. The
interior is chastely decorated, and contains 1687 sittings.
There are places of worship for Baptists and members
of the Free Church.
The parish of Lady Yester's church is wholly a
town parish, comprising about one-fourth of a square
mile, and containing a population of 2'2'23. The church
was originally built in 1647, and rebuilt in 1805 by the
town council, to whom Margaret Kerr, Lady Yester,
gave 10,000 merks for its erection, and 5000 merks towards
its endowment. It is a neat structure with circular
gables and projecting turrets resting on corbels,
and terminating ia slender spires. The building is situated
nearly in the centre of the parish, and contains
1212 sittings, including 160 appropriated to the members
of the university, which is within the parish. There
is a place of worship for Original Seceders.
The parish of St. Mary was separated from that of
St. Andrew by authority of the town council and the
presbytery of Edinburgh in 1824. It is wholly a town
parish, containing a population of 6724. The church,
situated in the centre of Bellevue-crescent, on the eastern
boundary of the parish, was erected by the council in
1824, at an expense of £13,000; it has a portico of
Corinthian columns, and a square tower surmounted by
a circular cupola crowned with a dome, and contains
1646 sittings. The episcopal chapel dedicated to St.
Paul, at the eastern extremity of York-place, was erected
in 1818, at a cost of £13,533, raised by subscription.
It is a handsome structure after a design by Mr. Archibald
Elliott, in the later English style of architecture,
123 feet in length, and seventy-three feet in breadth,
with lofty embattled turrets at each extremity. The
walls of the aisles are strengthened with enriched buttresses
between the windows, terminating in crocketed
pinnacles, and a similar range is continued in the clerestory
of the nave; the east window is of spacious dimensions,
and embellished with stained glass and with
delicate tracery, and above the west entrance is a large
window of the same character. Two ministers are attached
to the chapel, each of whom has a stipend of
£300. There are places of worship for members of the
Free Church, Independents, and Glassites.
The parish of St. Stephen was separated from the
several adjoining parishes by the presbytery and the
town council, under an act of parliament in 1828; it
is wholly a town parish, and comprises a population of
6849. The church was erected in 1828, after a design
by Mr. Playfair, at an expense of £25,000; it is an elegant
structure, with a lofty square embattled tower.
There is a place of worship for members of the Free Church.
The parish of the Canongate is about a mile and a
half in length, and nearly four-fifths of a mile in breadth,
comprising a considerable rural district, and containing
a population of 9944, under the pastoral superintendence
of two ministers, of whom each has a stipend of £240.
The minister of the first charge is appointed by the
Crown, and has a manse; the minister of the second
charge is chosen by the Heritors and Kirk Session, and
has an allowance of £40 in lieu of a manse. Canongate
church was erected in 1688, by the town council, at a
cost of £2400, defrayed partly from a bequest by Mr.
Thomas Moodie, which had been suffered to accumulate;
and was thoroughly repaired and new seated in 1319, at
an expense of £2000. It is a plain cruciform structure
of irregular style, with a portico of four columns having
an entablature and cornice surmounted by a triangular
pediment; the interior is well arranged, and contains
1295 sittings. Before the erection of this building, part
of the Abbey of Holyrood was used as the parish church.
In the churchyard are the tombs of Provost Drummond
and the poet Ferguson: Adam Smith and Dugald Stewart
are also interred here. There is a place of worship
for a congregation of members of the Free Church.
The parish of St. Cuthbert, which was recently subdivided
into several ecclesiastical districts, afterwards
abolished in common with others in Scotland, is of great
extent, and originally included the whole of the city, and
the burgh of Canongate. It is about five miles in length
and three miles and a half in breadth, comprising an
extensive rural district, and containing a population of
71,908. St. Cuthbert's is under the pastoral superintendence
of two ministers appointed by the Crown, who
have each a stipend of £402. 14.: one has also a manse,
and the other an allowance of £60 in lieu; and the
glebe lands, which are equally divided between them,
produce to each an income of £245. The church, situated
at the west end of Princes- street, was built in I76O
at a cost of £4321, and is a spacious structure, with a
lofty square embattled tower surmounted by a spire; it
is neatly fitted up, and contains 2400 sittings. In the
interior of the porch, under the steeple, are erected
monuments to Napier of Merchiston, who was interred
in the old church of St. Cuthbert, and Sir Henry Moncreiff,
one of the ministers of the parish; while on the
exterior is a monument to Sir Henry's colleague. Dr.
Dickson, by Mr. Ritchie. There is a handsome church
at Morningside; and other churches have been erected
in the parish of St. Cuthbert, as noticed in a succeeding
column. The episcopal chapel dedicated to St. James is
situated at the west end of Broughton-place, in connexion
with the houses of that street, and scarcely to be
distinguished from them. It was built in 1820, at an
expense of £4000, raised by subscription; is a handsome
edifice, and contains 850 sittings, of which 100
are free. The minister derives a stipend of £500, chiefly
from the seat-rents. The episcopal chapel dedicated to
St. John, situated at the west end of Princes-street, on
the north side of St. Cuthbert's churchyard, was erected
in I8I7, at a cost of £16,000, also raised by subscription
and donations. It is in the later English style of
architecture, with a square embattled tower crowned by
minarets that terminate in crocketed finials, and having
in the faces double belfry windows, enriched with canopies.
The walls of the aisles are strengthened by panelled
buttresses, surmounted with a pierced parapet,
and a similar arrangement is continued in the clerestory
of the nave; the west entrance is under a deeply-recessed
archway, above which is a spacious window of
elegant design. The nave is separated from the aisles
by fine clustered columns, which support the roof; and
is lighted by a noble range of clerestory windows, and
at the east end by a window of six lights, thirty feet
high, divided by transoms into three compartments, the
upper of which is embellished with a rich Catherine
wheel, and the others with stained glass. The roof of
the nave and aisles is delicately groined, and the whole
of the interior of the edifice is beautifully arranged. There
is however no chancel. The minister has a stipend of
£550, arising from seat-rents, out of which he pays a
curate; and the chapel contains 821 sittings. In the
parish are also places of worship for members of the
Free Church, the United Presbyterian Synod, Reformed
Presbyterians, Original Seceders, the Society of Friends,
Baptists, Wesleyans, Independents, Jews, and Unitarians;
an Episcopal chapel dedicated to St. Peter, containing
420 sittings; two Roman Catholic chapels, and a convent
established at Whitehouse in 1836, and dedicated to St. Margaret.
The parish of Greenside was recently divided from
St. Andrew's, and erected into an independent parish;
it is in the northern part of the city, in the direction of
Leith Walk, and contains 3636 persons. The parish of
St. John is also of very recent formation, and consists
of part of the old parishes of the New Grey Friars, Old
Grey Friars, and New North Church; it has a population
of 2140, and is in the immediate vicinity of the castle.
Besides the churches of these two parishes, there is a
place of worship called St. John's for members of the Free Church.
Former Quoad Sacra Parishes.
The parish of New Street, which in 1841 contained a
population of 1932, was separated from the parish of the
Canongate, under act of the General Assembly in 1834;
it was of small extent, and wholly within the burgh.
The church was originally erected as a chapel of ease, at
a cost, including the site, of £2900; it is a neat structure,
and has 1 1 50 sittings. Leitli M'ytid parish, containing
a population of 1868, was separated also from Canongate,
under act of the Assembly in 1834: the church,
originally built as a chapel of ease, in 1792, is ill adapted
to the use of a congregation; it contains 1094 sittings.
Buccleuch, separated from the parish of St. Cuthbert, was
one mile and a half in length and about half a mile in
breadth, and contained 3168 persons: the church, built
in 1755 and repaired in 1809, is a neat structure, with
accommodation for 1374 persons. St. Bernard's was
about a mile and a half in length and three-quarters of
a mile in breadth, and had a population of 4*68: the
church, erected in 1822, at a cost of £4200, contains
1309 sittings. The parish of Roxburgh was wholly a
town parish, and comprised an area of about one-fourth
of a square mile, having a population of 3683: the
church was built in 1809, at an expense of £2960, as a
place of worship for a Relief congregation, and was purchased
in 1S32 as a chapel of ease; it contains accommodation
for 830 persons. Newington parish, separated,
like the three preceding, from the parish of St. Cuthbert,
was about three-quarters of a mile in length and onequarter
of a mile in breadth, and contained 33 1 persons:
the church, erected by the Kirk Session of St. Cuthbert's
in 1823, at an expense of £6372, contains 1623 sittings.
The Gaelic church in the parish of the Old Grey Friars
was appropriated, under act of the General Assembly in
1834, to the whole of the Highland population of Edinburgh,
Leith, and suburbs, over whom the minister was
invested with the pastoral superintendence. The edifice,
originally built in 1809, by subscription, was purchased
from the subscribers by the Society for the Propagation
of Christian Knowledge, in 1815, at a cost of £3000; it
is a neat structure, and contains 1166 sittings. The parishes
of St. David, Dean, Morningside, and ^S';. Paid were
separated from the parish of St. Cuthbert, and contained
respectively 2913, 2262 (namely, 2154 in St. Cuthbert's,
and 108 in Corstorphine parish), 1795, and 2874 inhabitants.
St. David's church, in Gardner's-crescent, was
purchased by the Kirk Session of St. Cuthbert's as a
chapel of ease, in 1 83 1 , the cost, with the ground attached,
being £2500: it contains 1302 sittings. The churches
of Dean and Morningside are noticed under their own
heads. The parish of St. Luke was separated from that
of St. George, and had a population of 2546: its church
is situated in Young-street, and will accommodate a congregation
of 1000 persons.
Hospitals.
Heriot's Hospital was founded in 1624 by George
Heriot, a native of Edinburgh, who, being appointed
goldsmith and jeweller to James VI., accompanied that
monarch to London on his accession to the throne of
England. He died in 1624, and bequeathed the residue
of his property, which realized £23,625, to the city
ministers, magistrates, and town council, in trust for the
erection and endowment of an hospital for the maintenance
and education of as many poor boys, sons of freemen,
as the funds would allow. The first stone of the
building was laid in 1628, but from the frequent interruption
arising from intestine commotions, the edifice
was not finished till 1650, when it was seized by Cromwell
after the sanguinary battle of Dunbar: it was, however,
restored by General Monk, on his being provided
with other accommodation for his soldiers, he having
kept possession of it for eight years; and in 1659 was
opened for the reception of thirty boys. Since that
period, the annual revenue of the hospital has increased
from £1966 to £15,412; and there are at present 180
boys in the establishment, who are maintained, and instructed
in the English, French, Latin, and Greek languages,
writing, arithmetic, mathematics, book-keeping,
geography, practical mechanics, drawing, and the elements
of music. Boys are eligible at seven years of age,
and under ten years of age. The scholars are kept in
the hospital till they are fourteen; and on leaving the
institution, such as are placed out as apprentices to trades
are liberally supplied with clothes and books, and receive
£10 annually for five years during their apprenticeship,
and a present of £5 on the completion of the indentures.
Those who discover any talents or desire for
the learned professions are sent to the university, with
an allowance of £30 per annum, for four years; and
there are also ten bursaries of £20 per annum for four
years, founded in the university by the trustees of the
hospital, and open to the competition of young men not
connected with the institution.
The buildings, which are pleasantly situated on an
eminence south-eastward of the castle, form a handsome
quadrangular range 162 feet in length, with embattled
turrets at the angles. The design is attributed to Inigo
Jones, and is in that mixed style which dates its origin
from the reign of Elizabeth, and examples of which
are afforded by Drumlanrig Castle in Dumfriesshire,
Northumberland House, London, and many other edifices
throughout the kingdom. In the centre of the principal
front is a square projecting tower, embattled, and surmounted
by an octagonal turret and dome, above which
is a cupola of similar design, with a vane; over the
entrance are the armorial bearings of the founder, and
in a niche above the gateway within the quadrangle is
placed his statue, in the costume of the day. On the
south side of the quadrangle, which is ninety-four feet
square, with a piazza on the north and east sides, is the
chape], projecting beyond the line of the buildings within
the area and also in a noble oriel window in the rear:
the chapel is sixty-one feet in length, and twenty-two
feet wide; its floor is laid with black and white marble,
and the whole of its interior has been recently fitted up
with great elegance. On the west side of the quadrangle
is the large hall, or dining-room; and adjoining it is
the council chamber, a handsome and spacious room, in
which are portraits of the founder and several of the
trustees. The remainder of the building, which is three
stories in height, and four stories at the angles, contains
apartments for the governor, class-rooms, dormitories,
and other requisite offices; and the park and grounds
attached are extensive, well planted with shrubberies,
and inclosed by a low wall.
Connected with the hospital, and maintained from
the same funds, are the Heriot Foundation schools,
established under the act 6th and 7th William IV., cap.
25. By this act the governors of the hospital were
empowered to found and erect, from the surplus revenues,
elementary schools within the city for educating,
free of expense, 1st, the children, in poor circumstances,
of deceased burgesses and freemen; 2nd, the children
of burgesses and freemen who are unable to provide for
their support; and 3rd, the children of poor citizens
and inhabitants of Edinburgh, whilst residing within
the royalty. They were also empowered " to allow to
any of the boys, in the course of their education at such
schools, being sons of burgesses and freemen, such uniform
fixed sum of money in lieu and place of maintenance,
and such uniform fixed sum for apprentice fee
after their education at the said schools is completed, as
shall be determined." There are already ten Heriot
schools, namely, seven juvenile and three infants' schools,
attended by about 3000 boys and girls. In the seven
juvenile schools are Sabbath-evening classes.
George IVatsons Hospital, situated to the west of
Teviot-row, and south of Heriot's hospital, was founded
in 1/23, by Mr. George Watson, for the maintenance
and education of sons and grandsons of decayed merchants
of Edinburgh, for which purpose he bequeathed
£12,000. This sum, being suffered to accumulate,
amounted to £20,000 in 1738, when an appropriate
building was erected by the trustees, at a cost of £5000,
on a site of land comprising seven acres, purchased
from Heriot's trustees; and in the year 1741 twelve
boys were admitted. The number increased in three
years to thirty; and there are at present about eighty
boys on the foundation, who are maintained and clothed,
and instructed in the English, Latin, Greek, and French
languages, writing, arithmetic, book-keeping, the mathematics,
drawing, dancing, and music. Boys are eligible
for admission at from seven to ten years of age. On
leaving the school, each scholar receives a present of £7
for clothing, and £10 annually for five years as an apprentice
fee, and if, after having faithfully fulfilled his
indentures, he remains for three years unmarried, a
further sum of £50 towards establishing himself in business.
Such as display a taste and sufficient degree of
talent for literary pursuits are allowed £20 per annum,
for four years, for their support at the university, and,
after leaving it, £17 per annum for two years. The
hospital is under the superintendence of a body of
governors, consisting of the master, assistants, and
treasurer of the Merchants' Company, the bailies, and
dean of guild, of the corporation, and the two ministers
of the Old Church parish. The buildings form a neat
and substantial pile, comprising a centre and two projecting
wings. The central range, which rises above
the roof of the main edifice, is embellished with a low
tower crowned by a dome, from which springs a turret
with a conical roof surmounted by a vane, representing
a ship in full sail, as the emblem of commerce. Over
the entrance is a tablet having the armorial bearings of
the founder, and in front of the building is an extensive
piece of ground inclosed as a place of exercise for the
pupils. The interior, which is well arranged, comprises
spacious class-rooms, and the various offices for the purposes
of the institution.
John Watson's Hospital was founded by Mr. John
Watson, writer to the signet, who in 1759 bequeathed
the residue of his estate to Lord Milton, Mr. John Mackenzie,
and others, in trust for such pious and charitable
use within the city of Edinburgh as they should
think fit. From those trustees the patronage devolved
upon the keeper and deputy-keeper of the signet, who
in 1S22 obtained an act of parliament for the erection
and endowment of an hospital for the maintenance and
education of destitute children, and for bringing them
up, and assisting their establishment in trade. The
proceeds of the bequest, which in 1781 amounted to
£4721. 9. 6., have since that time greatly accumulated,
and at present exceed £132,000. There are 126 children
in the institution, who are admitted at from five
to eight, and stay till they are fourteen, years of age.
They are maintained and clothed, and instructed in reading,
writing, and arithmetic, the girls also in needlework
and housewifery; and on leaving the school the
boys are placed out to trades, and the girls as servants
in respectable families. The building, which is situated
on the Dean land, was commenced in 1825, and completed
in 1828; it is a spacious and handsome structure
in the Grecian style of architecture, with a stately
portico in the centre of the principal front, and contains
every requisite arrangement for its purpose.
The Merchants' Maiden Hospital, near Heriot's hospital,
was founded in 1695, by the Merchants' Company, in
conjunction with Mrs. Mary Erskine, for the maintenance
and education of daughters or grand-daughters
of merchant-burgesses or ministers of Edinburgh, who
are eligible for admission from the age of seven to eleven,
and are maintained till they are seventeen years of age.
There are at present ninety-six girls in the hospital, who
are instructed in the English and French languages,
writing, arithmetic, geography, history, drawing, dancing,
music, and needle-work; and on leaving the institution,
each receives a present of £9. 6. 8. The hospital is
under the superintendence of a body of governors consisting
of five members of the town council, the master
and three assistants of the Merchants' Company, the
Earl of Mar, and three of the ministers of the city. The
buildings, originally in Bristo-street, having become inadequate
for the purpose, the present edifice was erected
in 1818, at an expense of £12,250; it is a handsome
structure in the Grecian style after a design by Mr.
Burn, 180 feet in length and sixty feet in depth, with
a portico of four columns in the principal front.
The Trades' Maiden Hospital was founded in 1704, by
the freemen of the incorporated trades, in conjunction
with Mrs. Mary Erskine, and is under the superintendence
of a body of governors consisting of the deacons
of the trades, two trades' councillors, and others, incorporated
by act of parliament in 1707- There are about
fifty girls, the daughters or grand-daughters of freemen
of the trades, who are maintained, and instructed in the
English and French languages, writing, arithmetic, geography,
history, music, sewing, and laundry-work. They
are eligible for admission at from seven to eleven years
of age, and remain in the hospital till they are seventeen:
on leaving, each girl receives a present of £5. H. and a
Bible. The building, which is a plain neat structure, is
well adapted to the purpose, and contains all the requisite
accommodations.
The Orphan Hospital was first projected by Mr. Andrew
Gardiner, merchant, in 1727; and in 1733 a house
was hired for the purpose, into which thirty destitute
children were received. A building was erected in 1735,
near the Trinity College church, by the directors, who
were incorporated by act of George II. in 1742; and in
1812 considerable additions were made to the hospital:
but the situation being originally low, and the contiguous
buildings still further obstructing free ventilation,
a new site was fixed upon in the Dean grounds, north
of the Water of Leith, and a very handsome and commodious
edifice was erected there in 1S32 at an expense
of about £16,000. A large number of orphan children
of both sexes are maintained, and instructed in reading,
writing, arithmetic, and geography. The children are
eligible for admission from seven to ten years of age,
and the hospital is open without distinction to all parts
of Scotland.
Gillespie's Hospital was founded by Mr. James Gillespie,
a wealthy tobacco and snuff merchant, who in 1797
bequeathed to the master, treasurer, and assistants of
the Merchants' Company, to five members of the town
council, and the two ministers of the Tolbooth church,
in trust, the whole of his landed property and £12,000
in money, for the erection and endowment of an hospital
for forty-two aged men and women in indigent
circumstances, and of good reputation, and for the
establishment and support of a school for the maintenance
and education of 100 boys. The trustees were
incorporated as governors in ISOl, and in 1802 they purchased
an ancient building called Wrights Houses, near
Bruntfield Links, with the land adjoining it, on the site
of which they erected the present structure. The aged
persons are eligible when fifty-five years old, and, in
addition to their maintenance and lodging, have an
annual allowance in money for clothing; the boys are
received at from six to twelve years of age, and are instructed
in the English language, writing, and arithmetic.
The hospital is a handsome castellated structure
of stone, consisting of a centre and two projecting wings.
In the centre of the front is a massive square embattled
tower, with circular turrets at the angles, resting on
corbels; and the wings, which are of less elevation than
the centre, are embattled, and embellished with angular
turrets of similar design. The buildings contain the
various accommodations for the inmates, house-keepers,
and servants, and a chapel in which divine service is
performed twice daily by the chaplain, who also preaches
a sermon on Sunday. Attached to the hospital is a
spacious garden, and to the school sufficient ground for
e.xercise. There are at present fifty aged persons in the
house, and 150 boys in the school.
Donaldson's Hospital was founded by Mr. James
Donaldson, printer of the Edinburgh Advertiser, who
died in 1830, bequeathing the greater part of his property,
amounting to about £200,000, for the endowment
and erection of an hospital for the maintenance of poor
boys and girls, after the plan of the Orphan Hospital
and John Watson's Institution. The imposing buildings
for this important charity, which were completed
in 1850, are situated at the west end of the city, on the
high bank of the Water of Leith, a mile west of Princesstreet.
They constitute a spacious quadrangular structure
in the Elizabethan style, from an admirable design
by Mr. Playfair, and form, next to the college, the
largest public building in Edinburgh, comprising accommodation
for 300 children, namely 150 boys and
150 girls. Provision has also been made in the plans
for such an addition as will admit fifty more boys and
fifty girls, an increase which it is calculated the funds of
the hospital may in course of time be sufficient to maintain.
Those eligible for admission are declared to be,
first, poor children of the name of Donaldson or Marshall,
as directed by Mr. Donaldson himself in his will,
if they appear to the governors to be deserving; and
second, such poor children as shall appear to be in the
most destitute circumstances, and the most deserving of
admission. The children are to be clothed and maintained,
and taught such useful branches of education as
may be considered suitable to their age, sex, and station.
The age of admission is from six to nine years, and that
of leaving the hospital not later than fourteen years:
they are then to receive such sum of money, or other
assistance during apprenticeship or otherwise, as may
seem advisable to the governors.
Steu-art's Hospital was founded by the late Mr. D.
Stewart, of the Exchequer, who died in the year 1814.
After the payment of certain legacies, and the erection
and endowment of a free school in his native parish of
Logierait, he left the residue of his fortune, amounting
to about £13,000, and some house property in the Old
Town of Edinburgh, to accumulate for the purpose of
building and endowing an hospital for the maintenance
and education of boys, the children of honest and industrious
parents whose circumstances in life do not
enable them suitably to support and educate their children
at other schools. Poor boys of the names of Stewart
and Macfarlane, residing in the city of Edinburgh or its
suburbs, are to have a preference; and, failing them,
any other poor boys living within the same district may
be received. The buildings are now in course of erection,
from designs furnished by Mr. David Rhind.
Caiivin's Hospital, pleasantly situated at Duddingston,
a village about a mile and a half to the east of Edinburgh,
is noticed under the head of Duddingston.
Trinity Hospital is the oldest charitable institution in
Edinburgh. It was originally founded by Mary of
Gueldres, queen of James II., in 1462, in connexion
with Trinity collegiate church, and was subsequently
given by Mary, Queen of Scots, to the corporation, who
took down the ancient bede-house, then in a ruinous
state, and fitted up the buildings occupied by the provost
and prebendaries of the collegiate church, for the
reception of the poor inmates, consisting of decayed
burgesses, their wives, and children. The revenues
have been greatly increased by good management, and
there are at present forty-two aged persons who are
maintained and clotVied, and about 100 out-pensioners
who receive each an allowance of £6 per annum. The
building contained the requisite apartments for the purpose,
and a long gallery of small dormitories; but was
demolished a short time since, as being in the line of
the North-British railway: the inmates now occupy
other premises.
Chalmers Hospital, of which the management is vested
in the dean and faculty of advocates, owes its institution
to Mr. George Chalmers, plumber, of the city, who died
in March 1836, bequeathing the chief part of his property,
estimated at about £30,000, for the relief of sick
and hurt persons.
Miscellaneous Charitable Institutions.
The Royal Infirmary, situated to the east of the university,
was founded by subscription, and placed under
the superintendence of a committee of subscribers, who
were incorporated by act of parliament in 1736. Its
medical department is under the care of the most eminent
physicans and surgeons of the city, and the institution
atfords relief to a very extended number of
patients. The building, erected in 1/38, at a cost of
£5000, and subsequently enlarged by a grant of £8000
from the lords of the treasury, for the appropriation of
sixty beds for sick soldiers, is a handsome and spacious
structure four stories high, consisting of a central range
'240 feet long, and two projecting wings seventy feet in
length. In the centre of the principal range is a portal
of four Ionic columns with two antae, supporting an
entablature and cornice surmounted by an attic; and in
a niche over the entrance is a statue of George II. in the
Roman costume, behind which, rising from the centre of
the building, is an octagonal turret crowned with a
dome. The interior contains a spacious hall, in which is
a bust of Provost Drummond by Nollekens, manager's
rooms, consulting rooms for the physicians and surgeons,
waiting-rooms, rooms for students, and fifteen different
wards for patients. In the fourth story is an operation
room, in the form of a theatre, lighted from the roof, and
arranged for 100 spectators.
The Royal Edinburgh Lunatic Asylum, at Morningside,
on the south-western outskirts of the city, forms a very
extensive range of building. A public hospital for the
insane being greatly needed, an effort was made by Dr.
Duncan in 179^2 to raise subscriptions; but a sufficient
sum could not be procured, till, in 1807, through the
exertions of Sir John Sinclar and the Hon. H. Erskine,
a government grant of £'2000 was obtained. In 1810,
the asylum at Morningside was accordingly commenced,
and in 1813 opened for the reception of patients who
were able to pay the sum required for their support;
the lowest annual charge was £.50, and the poor were
therefore excluded. Of late years, additional buildings
have been raised, at an expense of above £45,000, for the
accommodation of more than 400 patients of the poorer
class; the asylum has received the patronage of the
Queen, and the title of the Royal Edinburgh Asylum
has been adopted. In the original establishment, adapted
for the higher class of patients, the ordinary rate of board
is £60 per annum, and the rate for privileged patients
£55; but the managers exercise a discretionary power of
admitting patients who are in straitened circumstances,
even to the original establishment, at a lower rate.
Where additional accommodation is required, or other
exclusive appliances are desired,a special arrangement is
made. In the new establishment, privileged patients
are admitted at £'20 per annum: any individual or collective
body that contributes £10 or upwards to the institution
may present one privileged patient in respect of
each £10 contributed. A perpetual right of this nature
is also conferred at the rate of £50. For other patients
in the new establishment the rate of maintenance is £25
per annum.
The Asylum for the Blind, in Nicolson-street, was
opened in 1793, through the exertions of the Rev. Dr.
David Johnston, minister of North Leith, and other
charitable gentlemen of Edinburgh, and is supported by
subscriptions and donations. It is under the superintendence
of a president, vice-presidents, and a committee,
and affords relief to about ninety or a hundred inmates,
who are maintained, and instructed in the principles of
religion and in various branches of useful learning. They
are also taught such trades as are best adapted to their
peculiar circumstances, in which several of them have
been made so efficient, as, on leaving the asylum, to
maintain themselves and families in independence. The
buildings, which are plain and substantial, consist of two
houses that were purchased for the purpose, one in 1806,
and the other in IS'2'2; the males occupy the asylum
No. 58, and the females the asylum No. 38, Nicolsonstreet.
The premises originally occupied for the charity
were a house in Shakspeare-square. Besides the provision
made for those who live in the asylum, opportunities
of work and of instruction are afforded to about
as many more blind people out of the house. The foundation
of this benevolent institution was first suggested by
Dr. Blacklock and Mr. David Miller, both sufferers from
blindness; and was actively carried out, as already stated,
by Dr. Johnston and others.
The Institutionfor Deafand Dumb Children was founded
in 1810, and is under a president, vice-presidents, and
committee. The children are maintained, and, in addition
to religious instruction, taught those branches of
learning of which they may be susceptible. They are
trained to habits of industry, and are instructed in
useful trades, the proceeds of which are added to the
funds of the institution.
Fettei Endowment arises from a bequest by Sir William
Fettes, Bart., of Comely Bank, who died in May 1836,
leaving the greater portion of his large fortune for the
maintenance, education, and outfit of young persons
whose parents have fallen into adverse circumstances.
The Normal Institution of the Church of Scotland is a
seminary established on a large scale, a few years ago, by
the General Assembly's education committee. It is intended
for the instruction of young persons devoting
themselves to the profession of teaching in the parochial
and other schools, and occupies a commodious structure
on the Castle hill, erected at an expense of upwards of
£8000, one-half granted by the education committee of
the privy council, and one-half raised by subscription.
The privy council committee also grants £500 per
annum towards the support of the seminary, on condition
of the Assembly committee contributing an equal
amount for the same purpose. Domestic accommodation
is provided in this building for male students; and in
Young-street is a boarding-house, under the charge of a
clergyman's widow, for female students. The Normal
School of the Free Church, another institution for the
preparation of teachers, is held in Moray House, in Canongate.
Among the numerous other institutions may be mentioned,
the Royal Maternity Hospital, and the Magdalen
Asylum, both under the patronage of Her Majesty; the
House of Refuge, Queensberry House; various religious
societies, societies for the relief of the poor, dispensaries,
schools, &c.
Eminent Natives.
Among the natives of the city of Edinburgh may be
enumerated the following: Alexander Alesius, a celebrated
theologian of the sixteenth century, born in 1500;
James VI., born in the castle in 1566; Dr. Halter Balcanquel,
an eminent divine of the seventeenth century, born
about 15S0; the pious and eloquent Robert Leighton,
Bishop of i)unblane, and afterwards Archbishop of
Glasgow, bom in 1610; Gilbert Burnet, Bishop of Salisbury-,
author of the History of the Reformation, born 1643;
Sir John Lauder, Lord Fountainhall, lawyer and statesman,
1646; Dr. Archibald Pitcairne, eminent physician,
1652; John Keill, celebrated mathematician and natural
philosopher, 16*1; the accomplished statesman, John
Dalrymple, second Earl of Stair, 16*3; Dr. Alexander
fVebster, an eminent divine and statistical inquirer, about
170"; John Campbell, LL.D., a distinguished miscellaneous
writer, 1708; the accomplished Hugh Campbell
Hume, third and last Earl of Marchmont, same year;
Alexander Russell, author of the History of Aleppo, about
1710; James Short, optician, and improver of reflectingtelescopes,
I7IO; William Tytler, of Woodhouselee, antiquarian
writer, 17 H; David Hume, the historian, I7II;
John Stuart, third Earl of Bute, prime minister of Great
Britain, 1713; Allan Ramsay, portrait painter, son of
the author of The Gentle Shepherd, same year; William
Strahan, the eminent printer to the king, and a patron of
literature, 1715; Dr. Hugh Blair, author of the celebrated
Sermons, I7I8; Francis Garden, a distinguished judge
under the designation of Lord Gardenstone, 1721; James
Elphmstone, a miscellaneous writer, same year; Sir David
Dalrymple, a celebrated judge and antiquary, commonly
called Lord Hailes, his law title, 1726; Dr. James Hutton,
an eminent philosophical character, same year; Robert
Adam, the architect, 1728; William Falconer, author of
the well-known poem of The Shipwreck, about 1*30; Dr.
Alexander Monro, celebrated as a teacher of medicine,
1733; Robert Mylne, architect, from whose plans Blackfriar.
s-bridge, London, was built, 1734; Alexander Runciman,
a painter of considerable note, 1736; John Donaldson,
also an eminent painter, son of a glover in the city,
1737; Sir William Forbes, of Pitsligo, a distinguished
banker and citizen, 1739; Dr. William Lothian, author
of a History of the United Provinces of the Netherlands,
1740; James Boswell, the friend and biographer of Dr.
Johnson, same year; Ullliam SmelUe, a naturalist, and
useful miscellaneous writer, born about the same time;
Dr. Gilbert Stuart, historical essayist, 1742; Henry
Mackenzie, one of the most illustrious names connected
with polite literature in Scotland, 1/45; William Cruickshanks,
F.R.S., an eminent surgeon in London, partner
and successor of Dr. William Hunter of the Windmillstreet
anatomical school, London, likewise in 1745; the
Hon. Henry Erskine, a great pleader, third son of the
tenth Earl of Buchan, 1746; the accomplished writer
and judge, Alexander Fraser Tytler, styled Lord Woodhouselee,
1747; Hugo Arnot, author of the History of
Edinburgh, 1749; and Robert Fergusson, a poet of considerable
celebrity, 1750.
Within the compass also of the last hundred years,
Edinburgh has rivalled most cities of the empire in the
number and eminence of its gifted men; and we select
the following from a long record of natives: John Brown,
an ingenious artist, born 1752; Lieut.-Col. John Campbell,
known for his gallant defence of the fortress of
Mangalore, in India, 1*53; Dugald Stewart, the highlydistinguished
metaphysical writer, son of Dr. Matthew
Stewart, professor of mathematics in the university, 1753;
Sir Henry Raeburn, celebrated portrait-painter, 1756;
John Pinkerton, the voluminous historian and critic,
175s; Sir Walter Scott, Bart., the illustrious poet and
novelist, 1771; Francis Jeffrey, one of the judges of the
court of session, and distinguished for his ability as a
critic, 1773; Dr. Andrew Duncan, entitled to a prominent
place among those who have distinguished themselves
in the history of medicine, and whose father, of
the same name, was professor in the university, 1773;
William Blackwood, the publisher, originator of the
magazine which bears his name, 1776; Lord Brougham,
formerly lord high chancellor of Great Britian, 1778;
Francis Horner, whose virtues, talents, and eloquence
raised him, while yet a young man, to so high a rank in
public life, 177s; Patrick Gibson, an eminent artist, and
writer upon art, 1782; and Alexander Gordon Laing,
whose name is so mournfully connected with the history
of African discovery, 1793.