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 LIBRARY 
 
 UKIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 RIVERSIDE
 
 To face Title.]
 
 ^15// ^3 
 
 TOINITY COLLEGE 
 
 AND 
 
 TRINITY HOSPITAL 
 
 A Historical Sketch 
 
 BY 
 
 JAMES COLSTON 
 
 AUTHOR OF "the GUILDRY OF EDINBURGH: IS IT AN INCORPORATION?" 
 
 "the EDINBURGH AND DISTRICT WATER SUPPLY, A HISTORICAL SKETCH"; 
 
 "HISTORY OF THE INCORPORATED TRADES OF EDINBURGH"; 
 
 "THE TOWN AND PORT OF LEITH, ITS HISTORICAL CONNECTION WITH EDINBURGH' 
 
 "HISTORY OF THE SCOTT MONUMENT," ETC., ETC. 
 
 VOL I 
 
 PRINTED FOR THE MAGISTRATES AND TOWN COUNCIL 
 
 MDCCCXCVI
 
 L Fnss 
 
 ^.1
 
 Excerpt from the Minutes of the Town 
 Council of Edinburgh, of date 2>^d 
 September 1895. 
 
 After the Magistrates and Council, as Goverttors and Adminis- 
 trators of the Trinity Hospital, had disposed of the report of their 
 Committee recommendi^ig the election of Pensioners, the Lord Provost 
 indicated that it ivould be very desirable that the Governors should 
 have some atithentic record of the History of the Charity, and on his 
 Lordship's motion, the Magistrates and Council unanimously asked 
 Councillor Colston, the present Convener of the Committee , to jinder- 
 take the compilation of such a History.
 
 TRINITY COLLEGE 
 
 AND 
 
 TRINITY HOSPITAL
 
 To face Dedication.)
 
 UNTO 
 
 THE RIGHT HONOURABLE ANDREW MCDONALD, 
 
 LORD PEOVOST, 
 
 AND 
 
 THE HONOURABLE THE MAGISTRATES AND COUNCILLORS 
 
 OF THE CITY OF EDINBURGH, 
 
 THE GOVERNORS AND ADMINISTRATORS OF TRINITY 
 HOSPITAL CHARITY, 
 
 Zbis IDolume 
 
 IS MOST EESPECTFULLY DEDICATED 
 BY 
 
 THE AUTHOR.
 
 IMPRESSION 
 FOUR HUNDRED COPIES.
 
 PEEFACE. 
 
 |HEN requested a year ago — by the Lord Provost, Magis- 
 trates, and Town Council of the City — to draw up a 
 Historical Sketch of that now most important Charity, 
 known as "Trinity Hospital," I deferred complying with their 
 desires, until I had made sufficient inquiry as to the resources 
 available for the somewhat arduous work. After a few weeks' con- 
 sideration and consultation, 1 had the satisfaction of communicating 
 to the Town Clerk that I saw my way to fall in with the wishes 
 of my Colleagues. 
 
 I found that in the course of the work, I would require to deal 
 with three distinct epochs of the history of the Charity. 
 
 Firstly — I had to examine the Charter of Foundation as con- 
 tained in several Bulls of the Pope and other relative documents, 
 as well as the Rules laid down for the management of the pious gift 
 of Queen Mary of Gueldres, so long as the affairs of the College
 
 VIU PREFACE. 
 
 and Hospital were conducted during the pre-reformation period, 
 when the staff of the Institution consisted of a Provost as Principal, 
 several Prebendaries or Priests, as well as Choiristers or Clerks, 
 and thirteen Beidmen. There were also to be inquired into the 
 sources of income or emolument attached to the several officials. 
 Some of the Bulls or Charters had first seen the light of day 
 about half a century ago, having been printed at the instance of 
 the Bannatyne Club. My chief source of information was derived, 
 however, from a volume containing all the documents fully printed 
 in mediaeval Latin, with an English translation at the foot of each 
 page, prepared for and issued by the Town Council, when Sir James 
 D. Marwick, LL.D., was Town Clerk of Edinburgh. 
 
 Secondly — I had to make special reference to the relative Charters 
 and Grants from the Crown, as well as to minutes of the Town 
 Council of the period, when the Church and Hospital came directly 
 under the municipal control after the Eeformation. The rules laid 
 down for the new system of government had also to be quoted. 
 The appropriation of the revenues of the College which were chiefly 
 devoted to the higher education, viz., to the University and Schools, 
 required also to be dealt with, as well as the means taken to uphold 
 the fabric of the Hospital and to support the inmates, by pious 
 donations from fellow-citizens at a time particularly when — the 
 regal Court and the Scottish nobility having been transferred to 
 London — the ancient capital was deprived of much of the wealth 
 which prior to that period circulated so freely among its inhabitants.
 
 PREFACE. IX 
 
 The first fifty years of last century told very severely upon the 
 monetary condition of Edinburgh, and the Charity of Trinity 
 Hospital was no exception to the rule. 
 
 Thirdly — The removal of the Church and Hospital for the 
 purpose of accommodating the North British Railway is the next 
 distinct epoch, and dates back nearly half-a-century ago. It 
 was requisite to relate the bitter feud which so long prevailed 
 in the Town Council Chambers and the Law Courts as to the 
 re-building of the edifices and the appropriation of the money 
 received from the Railway Company. I have thought it right, lest 
 there should arise misapprehension or misconstruction of the views 
 of parties, to give the decisions of the Law Courts, and the opinions 
 of both appellate Courts in extenso ; and I have endeavoured to 
 explain the peculiar social, political, and religious position of the 
 various contending parties at the time. 
 
 As helping to the result eventually attained, it is proper to 
 mention the name of Mr James Gifi'ord, — the respected father of 
 the late Lord Gifi'ord, — a former Treasurer of Trinity Hospital, 
 who, in a series of letters in the Witness newspaper, a bi- 
 weekly of the period, strongly advocated the views ultimately 
 given forth by the House of Lords. Mr Gifi'ord wrote anonymously, 
 under the name of "Justitia," but it was well-known at the time 
 that these letters came from his pen. 
 
 It is a singular fact that while these pages are passing through 
 the press, the author has seen a small volume recently issued.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 entitled "John Gifford — Memories and Letters — edited by his sister, 
 Mary Raleigh," in which the following passage occurs : — " In his 
 (Mr James Gifford) thoughts, he was often in advance of his time. 
 . . . When the North British Railway Company was empowered to 
 buy Trinity College Hospital, which stood in the valley beneath the 
 North Bridge, James Giflford startled his friends by saying that all 
 his influence would be used to prevent its ever being rebuilt. His 
 long experience of such institutions taught him that it was very 
 undesirable to place under one roof old people who had little or 
 no occupation, and whose long acquired tastes and habits unfitted 
 them to live together in peace. The change he desired was made 
 in Trinity Hospital. Gillespie's Hospital followed suit after a 
 time." 
 
 The last thirty years of the Hospital's affairs has been a period 
 of remarkable progress. The revenues derived from the sale or 
 feuing of ground at the estate of Quarryholes on the Easter Road 
 will be found fully referred to in Chapter XV. During the last 
 few weeks, the Governors have received from the Caledonian Railway 
 Company a sum of upwards of £20,000, for the sale of six acres 
 of land for railway purposes. This has enabled them to add a 
 few more pensioners to the roll at the two last half-yearly elections. 
 
 I have endeavoured in this volume to give a succinct view of 
 the Charity during these successive stages of its history. For a 
 considerable period of time, there were no records available to 
 me. The reader, however, must always be the best judge of the
 
 PREFACE. XI 
 
 manner in which any author discharges his duty. I have done 
 what I could, while I must add in the language of the bankers 
 <« erroribus exceptis." 
 
 I have to express my obligations to Mr Robert Adam, F.S.A. 
 Scot., our former much respected City Chamberlain, who for a 
 period of thirty-three years was connected officially with the Charity, 
 first as City Accountant for ten years, and latterly as the Treasurer 
 of Trinity Hospital for twenty-three years. Mr Adam took great 
 care and trouble in revising the proof sheets, and made useful sug- 
 gestions to me. It is right to say that the Chapter regarding the 
 Hospital Revenues is almost entirely the work of Mr Adam. I have 
 also to thank Mr David M'Laren, D.L., of Rydal House, Putney — a 
 former Governor of the Hospital, and a zealous supporter of the late 
 Professor Dick in the action taken by the latter on behalf of the 
 beneficiaries of the Charity. Mr M'Laren rendered aid to me in the 
 same manner as Mr Adam has so freely done. 
 
 I likewise acknowledge my obligations to the eminent publishing 
 firm of Messrs Cassells & Company Limited, for granting me the 
 privilege of reproducing several wood engravings of theirs which 
 were prepared for that interesting work, " Grant's Old and New 
 Edinburgh." 
 
 Mr Thomas Lauder Sawers is deserving of high recognition for 
 the artistic share he has had in the Work, especially for his repro- 
 duction of the diptych in Holyrood wherein the portrait of the 
 illustrious Foundress of the Hospital and other Members of the
 
 XU PREFACE. 
 
 Royal Family, as well as the portrait of Sir Edward Boncle, the 
 first Provost of the College, appear. I also take occasion to 
 refer to the kind consideration of the Master and Assistants of the 
 Merchant Company of Edinburgh, in permitting Mr Sawers access 
 to Drawings of the Old Trinity Hospital which are now in their 
 possession. 
 
 The second volume will contain a full narrative of the manner 
 in which the Charity is administered under the new scheme of 
 the Court of Session, as well as a historical list of the various bene- 
 factions to the Hospital as these are set forth in the voluminous 
 Report to the Court of Session by Ex-Professor Norman Macpherson, 
 as well as other important documents relative thereto. 
 
 3,(1. 
 
 23 Regent Terbaob, 
 October 1, 1896.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 First Historical Eeference to Trinity College and Hospital — Bull of Pope Pius II. — 
 Object of said Bull — Suppression of Soltray Hospital and the Cliancellorship of 
 St Andrews — Alan Cant and John of Tyry — Bishop of St Andrews called in 
 to arrange matters — Bull subscribed at Rome, and published in St Michael's, 
 Linlithgow — Confirmation Charter by the Archbishop of St Andrews — 
 Foundation of " The College and Hospital of the Holy Trinity," consisting of 
 a Provost, eight Prebendaries, two Choiristers, and thirteen Beidmen — Duties 
 to be discharged by each of these, as well as the sources of their emoluments — 
 Certain regulations not to be violated — Qualifications of the various officials — 
 Reading the De Profwndis in remembrance of the Foundress — Matins and 
 Masses — Anniversary Service for James, King of Scots, "our most tender 
 husband," and for the Bishop of St Andrews, ..... 
 
 1-10 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Queen Mary of Gueldres — Her ancestry — Arrival in Leith and Procession through 
 Edinburgh — Her Marriage to King James II. of Scotland — Death of the King
 
 XIV CONTENTS. 
 
 at the Siege of Roxburghe Castle — Subsequent death of the Queen, about 
 three years thereafter — Interred under north aisle of Trinity College Church 
 — Another Bull of Pope Pius II. — John of Tyry's resignation of Chancellorship 
 — Charter of Confirmation of Collegiate Cliurch and Hospital^Sir Edward 
 Boncle as first Provost — Mr John Halkerstone, "Master of the Fabric" — 
 Progress of the Work — Description of the Site — St Ninian's Chapel — The 
 old Orphan Hospital — Lady Glenorchy's Cliapel — Tlie old Physic Gardens — 
 Canongate the Court End of Edinburgh — The Bearford Parks — Tlie North 
 Loch — Defence of the Site, . . . . . . . .11-21 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Religious Houses in Scotland in Catholic times — Their uses and internal arrange, 
 ments — Spencer's " Fairie Queene " — These Houses intended to provide for 
 fellow mortals in their temporal and spiritual wants — Trinity Hospital one of 
 such — Another Bull of Pope Pius II. — Plenary Absolution and Indulgence of 
 all sins, crimes, and excesses, granted to those who shall have helped on the 
 Work — The same Indulgence given to those who were in the Church or 
 Hospital at the time — Arrangements regarding monetary matters — Sir Edward 
 Boncle applies to Parliament as to his emoluments — The Provost of Trinity 
 College a member of the Scottish Parliament — Archbishop of St. Andrews 
 annexes the Church of Dunnottar to the Trinity College— Other two Pre- 
 bendaries appointed, being ten in all — The Archbishop related to the Royal 
 Family — The Function of the Dean — The Revenues of Dunnottar, how to be 
 applied — Death of King James III. — King James IV. succeeds when fifteen 
 years old — Killed at the Battle of Flodden, aged forty — King James V. suc- 
 ceeds to the Throne when two years of age — A long Regency — Progress of 
 the buildings meantime very slow — Interest of the King in the same when 
 twenty years old — A Letter from him to His Holiness Pope Clement VII. — 
 Sir John Dingwall, the Provost of the College at this time — Dingwall Castle, 
 afterwards the site of the old Orphan Hospital, ..... 22-31
 
 CONTENTS. XV 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 PAGES 
 
 The Reformation, its far-reaching effects — Termination of " the Middle Ages " — The 
 Struggle for Freedom — England shakes itself free of the Papal control — 
 Scotland follows — John Kjiox — Magistrates and Town Council take steps to 
 obtain grants of church lands and revenues which had fallen to the Crown — 
 Charter granted accordingly — Moneys to be devoted to support of the Reformed 
 Clergy, and for the establishment and support of schools, colleges, and hospitals 
 for the poor — Town Council, on behalf of the community to collect and receive 
 the rents and take charge of the lands and properties, etc. — Blackfriar's Yards 
 — Site of Trinity Hospital and buildings proposed to be put thereon — The 
 Town Council's energies to be devoted to extending the usefulness and benefits 
 of Trinity Hospital, ..... . . 32-40 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Sir Simon Preston of Craigmillar, Provost of the Burgh, having obtained from the 
 Regent, the gift of the College buildings, etc., in 1567 transfers the same to the 
 Town Council of Edinburgh — King James VI.'s Charter ratifies this — Site 
 regarded by King James VI. as most suitable — The passing traific and 
 likelihood of pecuniary benefits — Buildings to be used for the sustentation of 
 the poor and the sick — First Parliament of King James VI. — Abolition of 
 the Pope — Confession of Faith and Doctrine believed in by the Protestants of 
 Scotland — Clauses of the Act referring to the same — Titles of the Subjects 
 dealt with in said Act — Provost and Canons of the College profess the Reformed 
 Faith, and issue Regulations in accordance therewith — Buildings suffer during 
 Duke of Hertford's invasion — Populace attack monasteries of Black and Grey- 
 friars — Earl of Argyle's party's invasions and demolitions in Edinburgh, . 41-52
 
 XVI CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 PACES 
 
 Bevenues and Endowments of the old Trinity College Church and Hospital — Mr 
 Eobert Pont the last Provost of the College — His descent — Agreement with 
 the Town Council as to his retired allowance — Difficulty of obtaining settlement 
 with him — Power to rebuild the Hospital — Site of the same — The Church 
 appropriated by the Town Council for the use of the district — Maitland's 
 Description of the area of the Parish — Other Charters granted by the King — 
 The Golden Charter of 1603 — ^This Charter granted in consequence of His 
 Majesty having advanced Edinburgh into the dignity and eminence of a 
 Royal City — Edinburgh the first and most distinguished city of the whole 
 Kingdom, the place best fitted for holding public assemblies, and where 
 the stated general conventions are usually held— The Extension by Edinburgh 
 of the Pier and Port of Leith — The Building of more Churches — The 
 Founding of Colleges for the Study of Letters, etc., etc. — The Superiority of 
 the foresaid Town of Leith confirmed and ratified to Edinburgh, . . 53-63 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Two subsequent Charters granted — Charter by King James VI. at Beauvoir Castle — 
 Charter by King Charles I., signed at Newmarket — Soltray and Lempitlaw- — 
 Orchard of Dingwall Castle — The Kirk of Field — Dumbarnie, Potie, and 
 MoncrielF— Vicarage of Currie — The Provostry of the Church of St Giles — 
 The Nunnery of the Scheynis— The Hospital of the "Work of St Paul— The 
 Lady Seytoun — Thomas Spence, Bishop of Aberdeen — Eegulations as to Paul's 
 Work and the Beidmen attached thereto — Extension of Woollen Manufactures 
 — Mr William Dickson from Holland — Other Donations to Paul's Woik — Its 
 failure — After use of the Premises— Cliarter duly witnessed and attested, . 64-75
 
 COM TENTS. xvn 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 PAGES 
 
 The last Royal Charter by King Charles I. — One of Novodamus, with certain 
 changes — Gild Courts to be upheld — Description of the Burgh's I'ights, 
 properties, privileges, and territory — Confirmation of seven former Charters — 
 Several Acts of Parliament and other Documents which bear on Trinity 
 College and Trinity Hospital referred to, . . . . . . 76-83 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The old officials removed — A new and separate Building begun — The Beidmen, the 
 last to leave — Only one Beidman transferred — The rights of others had to be 
 purchased — Provost Pont difficult to deal with — Minutes regarding Pont's 
 resignation — Pont's delivery of the Charter Kist to the Town Council — 
 Jlionestoun appointed Collector — Henry Charteris, merchant, to act in the 
 place of the Provost — The two Ministers of Trinity College Church as Governors 
 of the Hospital, along with the Town Council — New regulations passed for the 
 conduct of the Hospital and the behaviour of the Inmates — Names of the first 
 Inmates — Two Masters appointed to preside over the affairs of the Hospital, 
 one a Merchant of the Town, and the other a Craftsman or Master Tradesman 
 — Sundry punishments for offences committed within the walls — Sacrament of 
 the Lord's Supper administered — Sophia, the young Duchess of Lennox, buried 
 — Lady Jane Hamilton, Countess of the Earl of Eglinton, also interred, . 84-97 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Beidmen and Beidwomen must produce burgess' ticket — The Chaplain under 
 examination by a Committee of the Magistrates and Council — Tries to explain 
 away their difficulty, and asks time to consider — Number of Inmates increased
 
 XVUl CONTENTS. 
 
 — Hospital funds invested in landed securities — Hospital occupies much of 
 the attention of the Town Council — Hospital appreciated by the public, who 
 subscribe generously to its funds — Clergy blamed for not handing over moneys 
 due — All the Beneficiaries to live within the walls — A Matron to supply the 
 wants of Inmates — An "Expectant" to provide morning and evening exercises 
 — Care of Documents connected with foundation — Bad Times for Edinburgh — 
 The Darien Scheme, its success and final collapse — The Union between England 
 and Scotland — Exodus of the Scottish Nobility to London — Mr Andi-ew 
 Gairdner's Pamphlet — His Appeal to the public to support the " Old People's 
 Hospital"— A "Charity Bank"— The Foundation of the Orphan Hospital- 
 Mr Gairdner's Description of the state of the buildings and their surround- 
 ings— Tlie Improvements effected by his timely appeal, .... 98-107 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 Statutes of the Hospital revised in 1730— The Ministers of Trinity College Church no 
 longer included in the list of Governors — The Quorum of Governors regulated 
 by the practice of the Town Council in its ordinary business — The sum required 
 to procure a presentation increased from £250 to £300 — The Treasurer of the 
 Hospital to be the chief officer, and to find caution for his intromissions — The 
 House Governor and the Governess had each to report to the Treasurer ; and 
 the same rule was observed as regards the Caterer or Caterers — Sundry 
 Minutes of Council in 1744, 1759 and 1772 respectively— In 1778, Eules passed 
 as to daily Provisions and Allowances — Hours of attendance in the house — 
 In 1797, Right of Presentation increased to £400— In 1821, opinion of Counsel 
 taken as to out-door pensioners — Counsel reports favourably — Eights of pre- 
 sentation again regulated, viz., £350 to present to the Governors a burgess, or 
 widow, or son or daughter of a burgess, and £450 to present any other person 
 not under fifty years of age, ....... 108-130
 
 CONTENTS. XIX 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 PACBS 
 
 Tbe Inmates a class superior to those in the Poorshouse — The Poorshouse or Charity 
 Workhouse established 1743 — The " High Riggs"— How Poorshouse supported 
 — The Royal Infirmary established 1729 — Canongate, its former grandeur, and 
 its later condition — The Dean of Guild as almoner for the Church — Mr Andrew 
 Gairdner's benefaction to the Hospital— Some of his Reminiscences when 
 Treasurer — Quarrels among the Inmates — Allowances to male and female 
 Inmates — Allowances to them for petty necessaries — Their daily fare — Cheap 
 Provisions of the period — A " Lent Day " — Religious Exercises of the House — 
 Catechising in Scotland — Lord Jeffrey nonplussed, but gets out of the 
 difficulty — Chaplain's examination of the Inmates — Refusal to wear hospital 
 garments involved expulsion — Lord Cockburn's visit to the Hospital — His 
 interview with the Inmates — Miss Brandon's Boarding School in Bristo Street 
 — Her Girls given to Flirtation — Miss Gibb, one of the last of the Inmates — 
 Miss Violet Maitland's legacy and what it led to — The Death of an Inmate 
 — Funeral Charges — Description of the House — The Library — Loss of Missals 
 and important Bibles — Restriction to the Burgess class, a resolution of the 
 Town Council, but not found in the Charters, ..... 131-144 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Finest Specimen of Gothic Ecclesiastical Architecture in Edinburgh — Never properly 
 finished — Description of the same — The Monkey, symbolic of the Devil — No 
 result of the Darwinian theory, or the theory of Evolution^The outcome of 
 the Taste of the period — Representations on the gurgoyles or corbels of a 
 varied kind — Demonstrations of the contest between good and evil, as in the 
 church of Notre Dame — Several Coats of Arms — The Vestry — The centre Aisle 
 — The Choir — The Church used as a Parish Church — The Town divided into four 
 parishes — Partial Demolition of the Church by Argyle and hia followers, and 
 in later times by the apprentices of the Bonnet-makers — Laud's Liturgy —
 
 XX CONTENTS. 
 
 George Hannay, Dean of Edinburgh, in St Giles — Jenny Geddes' stool and 
 what it led to — Its presentation to the Society of Antiquaries — The two rival 
 Tablets in St Giles — The Eiot in the Greyfriars — Laud's Liturgy not read in 
 Trinity College Church — Provosts of the Cliurch and College before the 
 Reformation — Collegiate Ministers after the Reformation from 1597 to 1782 — 
 Ministers after it became a single charge until its demolition — Rev. Walter 
 Tait as pastor, a follower of the Rev. Edward Irving — The Taitites — Holy 
 Catholic Apostolic CTiurch — Tait surrenders his charge — Rev. "William 
 Cunningham appointed — Resigns at the Disruption — The Rev. Dr Steven 
 elected Minister of the Charge — Is followed respectively by the late Rev. Dr 
 Smith, Dr Robert Wallace, Rev. Dr Giffen, Rev. Dr Gentles, and eventually 
 the Rev. Alexander Kennedy, ....... 145-160 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 The buildings of Trinity College Church and Trinity Hospital doomed — The pro- 
 jectors of the North British Railway requii'e the site — Book of Reference and 
 Flans deposited — Royal Mail Coach by land, or Steam ships by sea, the only 
 way of travel usually resorted to between Edinburgh and London — Description 
 of the Mail Coaches, and their origin — Description of the arrival and departure 
 of the London Mail Coaches in and from Edinburgh — The Town Council 
 opposition — Parliamentary procedure then and now, a contrast — Mr Adam 
 Black as Lord Provost, with Mr John Sinclair as Town Clerk, " go forth to 
 fight the savages" — £6000 obtained for the Hospital — Railway Company to 
 find a suitable site and re-erect the Church, subject to the arbitration of the 
 Sheriff, or may make a bargain with the Town Council for a sum of money — 
 Other and future Railway negotiations — Agreement between the Town 
 Council and the Railway Company to accept a sum of money — Terms of 
 said agreement — Eventual Discharge— The Town Council in a " Sea of 
 troubles," 161-173
 
 CONTENTS. XXI 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 PAGES 
 
 Trinity Hospital derived no pecuniary benefits from the emoluments of the officials 
 or Clericals of the old Trinity College — These devoted chiefly to the Clergy 
 and the higher education — Extraordinary Progress of the Eevenues of the 
 Hospital, especially of late years, by the feuing chiefly of the Quarryholes 
 estate in Easter Road — Statistics regarding the Beneficiaries, past and present 
 — Formation of Eegent Bridge in 1818 — Contribution of £4000 by Trinity 
 Hospital Governors towards this object — Parliamentary Report condemns 
 Governors for this Grant — Professor Macpherson reported adversely to the 
 action of the Town Council — The First Division orders the sum to be repaid 
 to the Hospital out of the Common Good Fund, with four per cent, interest 
 until paid — Trinity Hospital has now direct access to its grounds for nothing — 
 Collapse of Building in 1822, consequent on depressed state of business all 
 over the Country — The Tide turned — Trinity Hospital feus in great demand 
 at present time — George Heriot's Hospital Governors, who were neighbouring 
 proprietors, contributed £12,000 to same object — This Grant has never been 
 challenged, .......... 174-185 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Dr Daniel Wilson and the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland — The last Religious 
 Service in the Church — Sir Daniel's denunciations of the Preacher and the 
 Magistrates — The desire to restore the old edifice — Mr David Bryce, architect, 
 employed for the purpose — The numbering of the Stones — These deposited on 
 the lower part of the Calton Hill — The many depredations of the best of these 
 carvings under cloud of night — -The desire of the Antiquaries on the subject — 
 The search for the remains of Queen Mary of Gueldres — The Minutes of the 
 Society of Antiquaries on this question — The finding of the Remains — A 
 reference to Professor John Goodsir — Dr Daniel Wilson's description of the 
 Remains — Their removal at the instance of the Queen's Remembrancer to the 
 Exchequer Chambers in Parliament Square— Their Re-interment within the 
 Royal Vault in the Chapel Royal, Holyrood — A Cast of the Head of the Queen
 
 XXll CONTENTS. 
 
 taken and preserved in the Antiquarian Museum — The Transference from 
 Hampton Court to Holyrood of a Painting supposed by Dr David Laing to 
 be the original altar-piece of the Collegiate Church of the Holy Trinity in 
 Edinburgh — Description of the same by Sir Daniel Wilson, . . . 186-201 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 A new Queen found — Dr David Laing's dinner party — Mr James Ballantine astonishes 
 the Company with the announcement — Professor Goodsir and Sir James 
 Simpson called in to report— They report adversely— Dr Walter Adam's 
 report on the Queen's remains — Some Pleasantries as a result of the surprise — 
 An antique Document, printed in black letter, circulated among the antiquaries, 
 at their Conversazione in December, by Maister D. Douhleyowe, viz., "Ane 
 auld Prophecie, be Merlyne or Tliomas of Erceldoune," with " Ane Ballat of 
 Olde Quene Moll, as sung be ye Menstrallis to ye plesand Tune of 'Olde King 
 Cole,' with variationes " — A Satire on the Edifice — Tlie Provost and the Coal 
 Bunker, 202-217 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Hostile criticism and obloquy, the result of the Town Council's action — Denominational 
 jealousy in consequence of the Disruption — The Established Churches generally 
 not well attended — The Annuity Tax — Its original introduction, chequered 
 history, and solution — Roup for Ministers' Stipend— No Auctioneer in Edin- 
 burgh would undertake a Sale — A fruitless attempt in Frederick Street— A 
 Riot in Hanover Street — An ultimate settlement arrived at — The various Sites 
 for the Church proposed, five in number — Eventually two selected — DiflSculties 
 in the one, and the majority would not have the other — Bailie Fyfe would 
 have taken the price paid by the North British Railway, as a partial settle- 
 ment of the Annuity Tax, without regard to the poor— Extension of the City 
 in 1856 — Municipal jurisdiction and representation made similar to parlia- 
 mentary area — Powers of Police Commissioners vested in the Town Council —
 
 CONTENTS. XXlll 
 
 Re-constitution of Town Council adverse to the friends of the Established 
 Church — Resolution of Town Council to expend about £7000 of the money on 
 Trinity College Church passed by a majority, thereby reversing former 
 decision, .......... 218-230 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Diversity of opinion in the community as to edifice and site — A new departure — 
 Professor Dick's action to have it declared that the money belonged to the 
 Charity as represented by the Beneficiaries— Summons called against the Town 
 Council, the Rev. Dr Steven, the pastor, and the Established Presbytery of 
 Edinburgh — No appearance for Dr Steven or the Presbytery — The Town 
 Council lodge defences — Mr Adam Gilford appeared for the Beneficiaries and 
 Mr George Young for the Town Council — Case decided in favour of Town 
 Council by Lord Ardmillan — Interlocutor reclaimed against — Forrester's 
 Action against the Town Council on behalf of the Minority of the Town Council 
 discussed at same time before First Division — Lord President Inglis and 
 majority of the Division decide in favour of Forrester and his friends — Lord 
 Ivory dissents, for reasons stated — Expenses granted to Forrester and friends, 231-257 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Judgment of House of Lords wholly adverse to the Court of Session's decision — 
 Lord Chancellor (Westbury) narrates History of the Hospital, as well as 
 arrangements made by the North British Railway Company for purchase of 
 site — Condemns the construction put upon the clause by the Court below which 
 would import upon the Governors of the Charity, what it would have been 
 incumbent on the Railway Company to have done, had the Company been 
 called upon to re-build — Declares that the money paid by the Railway 
 Company belongs to the Charity — Declares, further, that the sum of £7000 as 
 proposed by the Town Council is a proper sum to be applied for providing a
 
 XXIV CONTESTS. 
 
 site and building a new Church for the inhabitants of the Parish — Lord 
 Cranworth concurs — Lord Chelmsford states there is nothing in the Charters 
 binding the Corporation to maintain a Church, and, if it had been burnt down 
 they would not have required to re-erect it — He concurs with the Lord 
 Chancellor that the obligation did not transmit to the Town Council — He 
 considers the sum of £7000 sufficient for the Church, and the £10,000 ought 
 to go to the Charity — Proposal by Sir H. Cairns to vest the new Church in the 
 Ecclesiastical Commissioners unanimously refused — Orders of the House — 
 Forrester and friends to pay costs — A member of Trinity College Church 
 writes Editor of Scotsman, and severely blames Mr Adam Black, as bringing 
 about adverse fate, as the party whose name he bears is responsible for the 
 misery of that estate whereinto man fell — Mr Adam Black replies, and defends 
 his position — Royal Veterinary College is on fire the same afternoon as the 
 welcome news came to Professor Dick of the success of his case, . . 258-280 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 Application of the Judgment of the House of Lords — Court of Session decides 
 Hospital not to be rebuilt — Sum of £7000 to be expended on the Church 
 with the interests and accumulations which have accrued or shall hereafter 
 accrue on said sum, imder deduction of any amounts paid for the temporary 
 accommodation of the Congregation— The Town Council ordained to lodge in 
 process within ten days an account of their intromissions with the money, 
 and within six weeks to lodge a minute with a plan of a church and a proposed 
 site — Interlocutor appealed against by the Beneficiaries (1) as to the Hospital 
 being built, and (2) as to the interest — Decision of House of Lords (Lord 
 Hatherley, Chancellor) refuses appeal as to the House, but reverses Court of 
 Session's decision as to interest — Lords Chelmsford, Westbury and Colonsay 
 concur — The ultimate finding of the Appeal Court being the sum of £7000 to 
 be applied in building the church " if so much be required," . . . 281-296
 
 CONTENTS. XXV 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 PACES 
 
 Attempt in 1810 by the City Clergy to obtain possession of the Funds of Trinity 
 Hospital — The Court of Session decided against them — The authorities of the 
 University of Edinburgh begin to make inquiries, but these were futile — The 
 Parochial Board of the City of Edinburgh make a large demand — (1) viz., Feu 
 Duty of New North Church and Poorshouse grounds and adjoining buildings ; 
 
 (2) The proceeds of Paul's Work Mortification ; (3) Trinity Hospital and its 
 funds ; (4) Delivery of all parochial titles, records, and papers — Opinion of 
 Counsel taken — Adverse to the claim of the City Parochial Board in so far 
 as Trinity Hospital is concerned — A Conference with the Town Council 
 suggested — Joint Minute agreed upon, and Signed and Sealed — By that 
 Minute, the Town Council conceded to the Parochial Board the Feu Duty of 
 the Church and the Poorshouse buildings and Grounds, but retained the 
 management of Trinity Hospital, and the charity of Paul's Work, . . 297-310 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 Not more than £7000 to be spent on the Church — Surplus added to Charity, and out- 
 door Relief to be given — Eemit to Professor Norman Macpherson to report : 
 (1) As to sources of the Charity Funds and their amount, (2) How invested, 
 
 (3) Terms and Conditions of any Grants or Mortifications, (4) Selection of 
 Beneficiaries, (5) How many out-door Pensioners, (6) What sum paid to out- 
 door pensioners, (7) Gross Annual Income since Old Hospital removed, (8) 
 Any material or useful fact for future application and administration, (9) 
 What scheme Reporter would recommend for future management, having 
 regard to the Charters, Grants, and Mortifications — Reporter authorised to 
 employ an Accountant or person of skill, under the remit — Diligence granted 
 against havers — Professor Macpherson's Report printed for use of Court — 
 Answers by Town Council — Interlocutor of the Court applying judgment of 
 House of Lords — Intimation to be made to Lord Advocate — A further Eemit 
 to Professor Macpherson — The Alexander Fund — Another interlocutor pro- 
 nounced, and appealed against — Site for the Cliurch — Ireland's Woodyard to
 
 XXVI CONTENTS. 
 
 the front — Court of Session will have none of it — Town Council sells said site 
 at a profit of £4200 — This amount benefits charity — Site in Jeffrey Street 
 approved of — Mr John Lessels appointed architect — Description of Church 
 and old apse — Ancient Baptismal and Communion Plate — Sir George Harvey's 
 Picture of the " Covenanters' Baptism," ...... 311-322 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 Tlie Lord President's (Inglis) Views on Professor Macpherson's Report and Suggestions 
 — Lords Deas, Ardmillan and Mure concur — Professor Macpherson's Views 
 — Mr (now Lord) M'Laren's Views as appearing for the Magistrates and Town 
 Council — The question kept open, ....... 323-335 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 Mr Alexander's Death— His two Deeds of Mortification — Denial of Appellants that 
 Alexander Fund got immixed with Funds of Trinity Hospital— Earl of 
 Annandale and Sir James Johnstone of Westerhall — John Miller, Thesaurer 
 of the Hospital — How moneys of Mortification to be applied — Special Qualifica- 
 tions of Beneficiaries — Dispositive Clause — Investment of sum mortified — 
 Patrons nominated by the Deed — Estate of Dean purchased — No part of 
 Alexander funds invested in same — Detail of the various funds used in the 
 purchase — How Alexander funds were re-invested — Town Council thought 
 House of Lords had not remitted this question — Opposed to the Practice of the 
 Court of Chancery — Investments not taken in the name of those directed — 
 The Dundee case referred to — Difiiculties attendant on Admission of Ministers 
 — A divided Administration — Eeasons stated by Council for the Trinity 
 Hospital Governors, ........ 336-348 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 Lord Blackburn's Views — Lord Hatherley as Lord Chancellor — Lord Gordon — Inter- 
 locutors appealed from, affirmed — Appeal dismissed, with costs — Termination 
 of Historical Part of "the Trinity College and Trinity Hospital," . .349-355
 
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 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Portrait of the Author, and Convener of the Trinity Hospital Committee, to face Title 
 
 Portrait of the Eight Honourable Andrew McDonald, Lord Provost of 
 the City of Edinburgh, and Chairman of the Governors of Trinity 
 Hospital Charity, . . . . . . .to face Dedication 
 
 1. The Seal and Handwriting of Queen Mary of Gueldres, . . . to face page 9 
 
 2. Entrance to Holyrood Palace — The old Gateway (after an Etching by 
 
 James Skene of Rubislaw), ....... „ 16 
 
 3. The Physic Gardens —The Orphan Hospital to the Left — Lady Glenorch/a 
 
 Chapel in the Centre — Trinity College Church to the Right, . . „ 19 
 
 4. The Old Collegiate Seals of Trinity College, .... ,,24 
 
 5. Trinity College Church, and Part of Trinity Hospital to the Right (after 
 
 a Drawing by Clerk of Eldin, 1780), ..... „ 33 
 
 6. View of Trinity Hospital and Part of Trinity College Church, . . „ 41 
 
 7. Trinity College Church, ....... „ 48 
 
 8. View of Trinity Hospital and Grounds — Drying Clothes, ... „ 130 
 
 9. Trinity Hospital Staircase, . . . . . ,,135 
 
 10. Street View of Trinity Hospital — Entrance Gate, .... Between 136-7 
 
 11. South-east Corner of Trinity Hospital, ..... „ 136-7 
 
 12. The Dining Hall of Trinity Hospital, ..... „ 140-1
 
 XXVlll 
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 13. The Con-idor or Hall of Trinity Hospital, . . . . . 
 
 14. The Matron's Boom, ........ 
 
 15. The Chaplain's Room, ....... 
 
 16. Ground Plan of the Trinity College Cliurch (1814), 
 
 17. The Holy Trinity (from Painting in Holyrood House), 
 
 18. James III. of Scotland and his Son afterwards James IV. {circa) 1484. 
 
 Saint Andrew crowning the King (from Painting in Holyrood House), 
 
 19. Queen Mary of Gueldres, represented as St Cecilia, with Sir Edward 
 
 Boncle, first Provost of Trinity College (from Painting in Holyrood 
 House), ......... 
 
 20. Margaret of Denmark, Queen of Scotland {circa) 1484 (from Painting in 
 
 Holyrood House), ........ 
 
 21. New Trinity College Church, Jefirey Street, .... 
 
 22. The Old Apse of Trinity College Church restored. 
 
 PAGES 
 
 Betwetn 140-1 
 
 „ 144-.'5 
 
 „ 144-5 
 
 to face page 145 
 
 Between 200-1 
 
 „ 200-1 
 
 „ 200-1 
 
 „ 200-1 
 
 to face page 320 
 
 321 
 
 A variety of Wood Engravings at the end of each of the Chapters serve to show 
 Specimens of the Carvings which appeared on the gurgoyles and corbels of the old Trinity 
 College Church.
 
 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY 
 
 HOSPITAL. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 OEIGIN AND FOUNDATION. 
 
 HE first historical reference that is made to the founda- 
 tion of Trinity College and Trinity Hospital in the 
 Burgh of Edinburgh, is contained in a Bull, by 
 Pope Pius n., dated at Rome, the 10th day before 
 the Calends of November {i.e., the 23d day of 
 October) 1460. 
 
 The object of the Pope's Bull was to declare the erection of the 
 Hospital of Soltray at an end, and that the same should be sup- 
 pressed by desire of the illustrious Mary (of Gueldres), the widowed 
 Queen of King James H. of Scotland. The Hospital of Soltray had 
 been created for the poor of the Diocese of St Andrews, by 
 Pope Nicholas V., a predecessor of Pope Pius II., already referred 
 to ; and, of apostolic authority, he had, with the consent of Alan
 
 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 Cant, rector of the said hospital, attached to the institution the 
 dignity termed " The Chancellorship of the Church and Diocese of St 
 Andrews," and had constituted the said Alan Cant the Chancellor. The 
 office of Chancellor, which was in the " laic patronage " of the King of 
 Scotland, became vacant through the death of Cant, who to the end of 
 his life peaceably possessed the said distinguished position. 
 
 At the time of Cant's death, which occurred " outwith the Eoman 
 Court," James, King of Scotland, presented John of Tyry, clerk of the 
 Diocese of St Andrews, bachelor in law, to the vacant Chancellor- 
 ship ; and the Bishop of St Andrews, as in duty bound, inducted the 
 new incumbent into his office. But Queen Mary of Gueldrcs did not 
 permit this arrangement long to continue. 
 
 Queen Mary very soon indicated her desire, and that of her son. 
 King James III., that the Hospital of Soltray * should be united and 
 annexed to the Church and Hospital of the Holy Trinity in Edinburgh, 
 requiring at the same time, that the Bishop of Glasgow — after due 
 
 * Soltray, " Soltre " or " Soutra," is an ancient parish in Haddingtonshire. It possessed 
 in an early period of Scotland's history a Church and Hospital, which were built near to the 
 top of Soutra hill. The latter is said to have been founded by King Malcolm IV. (The 
 Maiden), about the middle of the twelfth century. Some historians have given the precise 
 date as 1164, one year before his death. It was established for pilgrims, travellers, and poor 
 people, and was dedicated to the Holy Trinity. After its annexation to the Trinity College, 
 near Edinburgh, as related above, divine sei-vice was still maintained, and a smaller institution 
 was kept up. At the time of the Reformation, it ceased to exist as a distinct parochial charge. 
 The buildings fell into a ruinous condition, and about forty-five years ago (1850), with the 
 exception of a small aisle, which had been secured as a burial vault by the Pringles of Beatraan's 
 Acre, all the walls and foundations were dug up and carted away. Soutra hill is the most 
 westerly ridge of the Lammermuirs. It stands about 1209 feet above the level of the sea, and 
 commands a fine panoramic view of the Lothians and the Firth of Forth, as well as the fertile 
 fields of Fife. The parish of Soutra has been annexed, since 1589, to the adjacent parish of 
 Fala, in Mid-Lothian — See—"Eegiitnim Drnmix de Soltre," by the late David Laing, LL.D 
 {Bamiatyne Club, 1801).
 
 ORIGIN AND FOUNDATION. 
 
 enquiry, and on his obtaining the consent of the parties interested 
 — should suppress the said Chancellorship. Having thus reduced the 
 Hospital of Soltray to its primitive condition, the result was to unite 
 and incorporate the same with the Church and Hospital of the Holy 
 Trinity near the Burgh of Edinburgh. 
 
 John of Tyry, the successor of Cant in the Chancellorship, offered 
 no resistance to the change, but willingly and freely resigned his 
 office. The annual emoluments of the position did not exceed the sum 
 of sixty pounds sterling per annum. The dignified office of Chancellor 
 was therefore suppressed. The Bishop of St Andrews, and other 
 ecclesiastical dignitaries, were called in, according to use and wont, to 
 see the matter properly arranged ; so that the future Rector of the new 
 Hospital of the Holy Trinity should, by himself, or others on his 
 authority, take and retain "corporal possession of the Hospital of 
 Soltray, and its rights and pertinents aforesaid, and to receive its 
 fruits, rents, and proceeds, to be applied for the maintenance of the 
 poor and the infirm, and otherwise for the use of the said hospitals, 
 according to the form of constitution of Pope Clement V. of pious 
 memory, and predecessor." Provision was further made that the fore- 
 said Hospital of Soltray should not be defrauded of its due services, 
 but that its accustomed burdens should be duly supported. 
 
 This Bull, of which the preceding narrative is an abstract, was 
 subscribed at St Peter's, at Rome ; and it was given forth, within the 
 Church of St Michael in the Burgh of Linlithgow, in the presence of 
 Sirs Thomas of Kirkpatrick, Patrick Brown, John Pettigrew, priests ; 
 and James Stewart, John Neilson, Andrew Greenlaw, and George 
 Clark, witnesses to the premises. It was also, in accordance with the 
 custom of the time, attested by a Notary Public in the presence of 
 the Lord Bishop of Glasgow, as a public instrument, with the notary's 
 name and seal attached thereto, as well as the name and seal of the
 
 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 Lord Judge and Bishop. The name of the notary subscribing was 
 Richard Roberts, priest of the Diocese of St Andrews, by imperial 
 authority. The document was made public, or promulgated, on the 
 6th day of March 1461-2. 
 
 The next historical reference that is made is by a Confirmation 
 Charter by James Kennedy, Archbishop of St Andrews, as to the 
 foundation of the Collegiate Church and Hospital of the Holy Trinity, 
 St Andrews, dated 1st April 1462. That Charter ordains that there 
 should be founded and endowed within the City of Edinburgh, a College, 
 or Collegiate Church, with an Hospital, under the name and designation 
 of " The College and Hospital of the Holy Trinity." This College, or 
 Collegiate Church, was to be provided with a provost, — eight preben- 
 daries, priests, or chaplains, — two boys, otherwise designated choiristers 
 or clerks, — and thirteen poor persons, commonly called "beidmen," who 
 were all to be maintained in the Hospital. These beidmen were clad, 
 like the pensioners of royalty in more recent times, in blue gowns, 
 which they had themselves to provide, and they were bound to pray 
 for the soul of the royal foundress. For the maintenance of the 
 College and Hospital, various lands and revenues were given over. 
 Among these were the estates and income of the Hospital and Church 
 of the Holy Trinity of Soltray (already referred to), the lands of 
 Ballerno, the Hospital of Athrogle (or Utherogall),* the Rectory of 
 Wemyss, the lands of the town of Hangandshaw, with their pertinents, 
 and the Church of Lempetlaw, with all the fruits thereto belonging ; 
 but it was conditioned that for the two churches assigned to him, the 
 
 * utherogall, in Moiiimail, was previously a leper hospital, and with the lands of 
 Hospital-Milne, in the adjoining pariah of Cults, was (as the Statistical Account of Scotland 
 says) given by Mary of Gueldres to the Trinity Hospital, and after the suppression, it went 
 eventually to the Earls of Leven. According to Sir Kobert Sibbald, the parish church of 
 Easter Wemyss, in Fife, also belonged " to the Collegiata Sancta Trinitis de Edinburgh:' ■
 
 ORIGIN AND FOUNDATION. 
 
 Provost should bear the Episcopal and Archidiacoual dues of the said 
 churches accordins; to former usage. 
 
 It was provided that the Provostry, or Provost, should be set over 
 the others in pre-eminence, honour, and dignity in the College, as 
 regards the regulation of the choir, and in divine worship, and that 
 sufficient maintenance should be provided for him and those serving 
 under him. He was required to pay the pension to the Vicar of the 
 Church of Soltray, and to sustain three poor persons living there, as 
 well as to keep the building in proper repair. 
 
 It was ordained that the first Prebendary, after the Provost, should 
 be called "The Master of the Holy Trinity near Edinburgh." He was 
 to have for his prebend and suitable maintenance, one fourth part of the 
 revenues of the Rectorial Church of Strathmartin, in the Diocese of St 
 Andrews, two pounds land in the town of Fawlahill within Heriot 
 Moor, two merks of annual rent from the house of the late William 
 Clunes in Leith, twenty shillings in the town of Risolton, five shillings of 
 annual rent from the houses of John AUanson and John Lawson in Leith, 
 twenty shillings yearly from * * * Waulket in Edinburgh, five shillings 
 from the house of the Lord Thomas, Bishop of Dunkeld, six shillings 
 and eight pence from the town of Lauder, a like sum from the town of 
 Strathmiglo, ten shillings from a town near Linlithgow, besides certain 
 other revenues to be afterwards specified. All these the Master of the 
 Hospital had full power to dispense for the good of the poor persons 
 under his care, " so that he may providently and prudently make pro-* 
 vision for all and each, in all necessaries, according to God and a good 
 conscience, and the capabilities of the fruits." He was required at least 
 twice a-year to render an account of his stewardship to the Provost 
 and Chapter. 
 
 The second Prebendary after the Provost was termed "The 
 Sacristan." To him was committed the full disposal of all the fruits
 
 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 pertaining to the Community and Chapter, to be collected and disposed 
 of for the daily necessaries of the Collegiate Church. He had to render 
 an account to the Provost and Prebendaries, four times in the year, " on 
 the four Saturdays of the four Seasons." He could not, however, settle 
 any important business without the advice of the Provost and Chapter. 
 He had laid upon him the duty of keeping the church in all propriety. 
 He had the custody of the ornaments, jewels, and sacred vessels ; he 
 supplied the wine, bread, and wax candles, and he was further enjoined 
 to exercise all the other functions which " according to laudable and 
 observed usage in other churches, are known to belong to the office of 
 Sacristan." He received as his prebend, or emoluments, five merks of 
 lands in the town of Hill, within the Lordship of Ballerno, five merks 
 of the lands of Browderstanes and Gileston, of the Lordship of Soltray, 
 and a fourth part of the profits of the Eectory of Strathmartin. 
 
 The third Prebendary was styled " The Prebendary of Browder- 
 stanes." He had for his prebend five merks of the lands of Browder- 
 stanes and Gileston, and another fourth of the fruits of the Rectory of 
 Strathmartin, already referred to. 
 
 The fourth Prebendary was named " The Prebendary of Strath- 
 martin." His prebend consisted of five merks of the lands of Browder- 
 stanes and Gileston, and the last fourth of the fruits of the Rectory of 
 Strathmartin. 
 
 All these previously-mentioned Prebendaries were bound to under- 
 take all the dues which of right used to be paid to the Bishop, Arch- 
 deacon, and others, with the repair and upholding of the church from 
 the first fruits of the Rectory of Strathmartin, equally divided among 
 the foresaid Prebendaries. The other four Prebendaries had likewise 
 their emoluments and duties assigned to them. 
 
 The fifth Prebendary was called "The Prebendary of Gileston." 
 He had assigned to him five merks of the lands of Browderstanes and
 
 ORIGIN AND FOUNDATION. 
 
 Gileston, and the first fourth-part of the fruits of the Rectory of 
 Ormiston, in the Diocese of St Andrews. 
 
 The sixth Prebendary was styled " The Prebendary of Ormiston," 
 and his prebend was simihxr to the former, having five merks of the one 
 and the second fourth-part of the other. 
 
 The seventh Prebendary was named " The Prebendary of Hill," 
 and he had assigned to him five merks of the lands within the Lord- 
 ship of Ballerno, and the third fourth-part of the fruits of the Rectory 
 of Ormiston. 
 
 The eighth Prebendary was called " The Prebendary of Newlands," 
 and he had given to him five merks of the lands of Newlands, in the 
 Lordship of Soltray, along with the last fourth-part of Ormiston, already 
 referred to. 
 
 It was ordained that these four last-mentioned Prebendaries should 
 bear the dues to the Bishop and Archdeacon, with the repair and up- 
 holding of the Church of Ormiston from the first fruits of the same, 
 with the other burdens wont to be discharged, according to law and 
 custom. 
 
 The Charter further provides for the two clerks or choiristers that 
 they shall have for their maintenance, ten pounds of the lands of 
 Ballerno, to be equally divided between them, and that they should be 
 removable at the pleasure of the Provost and College. It also provides 
 for the maintenance of the thirteen beidmen ; and, for this purpose, it 
 sets aside and ordains the Hospital of Utherogall and the Rectory of 
 Wemyss, in the Diocese of St Andrews, and ten pounds of the annual 
 rents of the town of Edinburgh, from the common good of the same,* 
 
 * In the Appendix to one of the Vols, of Records of the Burgh of Edinburgh, printed 
 for the Scottish Burgh Eecords Society, for the period a.d. 1528 — 1557, appears a sample of 
 the Town's Accounts of the period (1552-3), in which there is the following entry (page 271) : — 
 
 " Item, to the beidmen of the Trinetie College for thair annuall, . . . x^K"
 
 8 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 besides ten pounds from certain lands and tenements, with certain acres 
 and annual rents in the town of Leith. For the repair of the Collegiate 
 Church, and for the supply of necessaries in the same, forty-six pounds, 
 nine shillings of the profits of the Rectory of Kirkurd, in the Diocese of 
 Glasgow, are set aside, along with the remainder of the lands of Ballerno. 
 The Sacristan is ordained to bear the burdens of the dues in wont to be 
 paid to the Bishop, Archdeacon, and others, along with the repair and 
 upholding of the Church of Kirkurd ; and he shall, as before stated, 
 have the receivings of all the goods. 
 
 The duty of the Provost was to be present at matins, mass, and 
 vespers on festival days. He was bound to make personal residence ; 
 and, if he happened to be absent for fifteen consecutive days, the 
 Chapter of the College had the power to enforce his residence by an 
 appeal to the Patron to compel him. In the event of his not returning 
 to reside, with the intention of remaining at his post, the Provostship 
 would be considered, ipso facto, to be rendered vacant, even without 
 any formal deliverance of the Judge. If within fifteen days after such 
 vacancy, the Patron should not have presented a new Provost, then the 
 Chapter had the right to present another Provost to the Ordinary. It 
 was also provided that when the ofiice of Provost was vacant, the new 
 Provost required to be presented to the Ordinary by the King of Scot- 
 land and his successors in office. 
 
 The general duty of all the Prebendaries was, on every day of the 
 year to sing matins, high mass, vespers, and compline, with notes. 
 They were required also to make personal residence, and to discharge 
 all duties laid upon them, by themselves personally, and "not by others, 
 one or more." 
 
 None of the Prebendaries or the clerks could absent himself without 
 first having obtained leave of the Provost ; while he, on the other hand, 
 had the power to grant leave of absence restricted to fifteen days, unless
 
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 ORIGIN AND FOUNDATION. 
 
 for great and pressing reasons. Even the latter licence could only be 
 granted with consent of the Chapter required and obtained. Anyone 
 disobeying, lost, ipso facto, his right of prebend, his position in the 
 College was rendered vacant, and was at the free disposal of the 
 Provost and Chapter, and the provision of the Ordinary. It was like- 
 wise ordained, that " if any of the Prebendaries shall keep a concubine 
 or chamberwoman, and shall not dismiss her on being thrice admonished 
 by the Provost, his prebend shall be held to be, and shall be vacant, 
 and at the collation of the Ordinary in manner aforesaid." 
 
 Regarding the qualifications of the various officials of the College 
 and Hospital, and their various duties, the Charter practically goes 
 on to state : — -The extra-collegiate Vicars of the Churches foresaid, and 
 the Prebendaries of the said College, shall be presented by the Provost 
 and his Chapter to the Ordinary, from whom they shall receive 
 canonical institution ; and no Prebendary shall be appointed " unless 
 he shall be capable of reading and singing in plain chant and descant." 
 The boys, moreover, shall be capable of learning these. It was also 
 ordained that each of the Prebendaries, when he shall be disposed, 
 should have the power to celebrate mass, and afterwards, robed in 
 his sacerdotal habiliments, should go with hyssop to the tomb of 
 the foundress, and there devoutly read the De Profundis, with the 
 prayer of the faithful and an exhortation of the people to devotion. 
 It was likewise provided that between the terms of Whitsunday and 
 Michaelmas, matins should commence at the fifth hour of the morning ; 
 while, on the other hand, between Michaelmas and Whitsunday the 
 hour should be six o'clock ; and on matins being concluded, at the altar 
 of the blessed Virgin, that the weekly mass should be celebrated 
 for travellers ; and that a weekly mass should also be performed in 
 the Chapel of the Hospital, at the ninth hour, for the poor and 
 infirm living there. 
 
 B
 
 10 
 
 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 Provision was also made that, during the lifetime of Queen Mary 
 of Gueldrcs, an anniversary service should be devoutly held for the 
 late most illustrious prince, James King of Scots, "our most tender 
 husband ; and after our decease, on the respective days of his and our 
 decease, they shall sing and celebrate his and our anniversaries, for us 
 and our children, our ancestors and successors, as also for the foresaid 
 reverend Father in Christ, James, the present Bishop of St Andrews, 
 after his decease in all time to come." 
 
 This second Charter, like the former, was duly ratified and sub- 
 scribed by the requisite authorities at St Andrews, with the seal 
 duly affixed. 
 
 This, then, practically gives the origin, foundation and constitution 
 of the original Trinity College and Trinity Hospital of Edinburgh, as 
 it was designed to be erected by Queen Mary of Gueldres, with the 
 advice and sanction of her clerical advisers at the time.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE FOUNDRESS — POPES BULLS — THE SITE. 
 
 UEEN MAEY OF GUELDRES, the Foundress of Trinity 
 College and Trinity Hospital, was the daughter of Arnold, 
 Duke of Gueldres, who was allied to the Royal Family of 
 France — her mother having been daughter of John, Duke of Burgundy. 
 She became the Queen Dowager of King James II. of Scotland. 
 
 According to Drummond, the Historian, she was "young, beauti- 
 ful, and of a masculine constitution." She arrived in Scotland, from 
 the Netherlands, accompanied by a great concourse of princes, prelates, 
 and nobility, who were all witnesses of the marriage, which took place 
 in the Abbey of Holyrood House, where she was crowned. 
 
 When she arrived in Leith, on the 18th day of June 1449, she 
 
 proceeded on horseback, immediately behind the Count de Campvere, 
 
 the Arch-Duke of Austria, and the Duke of Brittany — all of them 
 
 being brothers-in-law to the King of Scotland — together with the 
 
 Dukes of Savoy and of Burgundy, who formed a grand convoy, to her 
 
 apartments in the Convent of the Greyfriars, in Edinburgh, which 
 
 11
 
 12 TRINITY COLLEOK AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 had been specially assigned to her as a temporary residence, until she 
 became the wife of the King. She was also escorted by a l)ody guard 
 of 300 men-at-arms, all cap-a-pie, with the citizens also in their 
 armour, under Patrick Cockburn of Newbigging, Provost of Edinburgh 
 and Governor of the Castle ; and she was warmly welcomed by her 
 future husband. She was visited in the Convent, by the mother of 
 her royal lover, on the day after her arrival. The historian Tytler 
 informs us that " from the moment of the arrival of the Princess of 
 Gueldres, till the solemnization of her marriage and coronation, the 
 time was occupied with feastings, masks, revelry and tournaments." * 
 Contemporary historians relate that her nuptials were celebrated, 
 during the following month of July with the utmost pomp and 
 solemnity, and that there were great rejoicings on the occasion. 
 Eleven years thereafter, viz., in 1460, her royal husband was 
 killed, at the siege of Roxburghe Castle, which, at the time referred 
 to, was in the possession of " our auld inimies of England," and 
 had been held by them after the battle of Durham. It was situate 
 on an eminence, near the junction of the Tweed and the Teviot, 
 and its walls were as strong as the engineers and the builders of 
 the time could raise. The occasion of the King's death was the 
 bursting of a famous cannon, called "The Lyon." 
 
 This event occurred on the 3d day of August, in the twenty-ninth 
 year of the King's age, and the twenty-fourth year of his reign. He is 
 stated to have been brought up, from the days of his youth in a know- 
 ledge of all profitable sciences. He bore either adversity or prosperity 
 with great calmness of mind and moderation of temper. He mani- 
 ftsted great bravery amongst his soldiers, and showed sufficient fortitude 
 against bis adversaries ; in a word, he was much beloved by his 
 
 History of Scotland, Vol. IV. page 67
 
 THE FOUNDRESS — POPE's BULLS — THE SITE. 13 
 
 people ; and great and unfeigned regret was expressed at his only too 
 sudden demise. 
 
 The Queen's firmness of character, on that occasion, as well as 
 during the few remaining years of her life, proves her to have 
 been a princess of no ordinary strength of mind. She took a most 
 active part in the government of the Kingdom, when her son (King 
 James III.) was a mere child. Indeed, it has been stated, by 
 Hector Boece as well as by Drummond of Hawthornden, and other 
 chroniclers of the period, that, at the time of her husband's death, lest 
 the soldiers present should have felt discouraged by the event, after 
 they had covered his body, she with her eldest son, came on that 
 very day into the camp, and with most unexampled courage, continued 
 the siege, and took the castle, and razed it to the ground. It is 
 right, however, to state that this circumstance, which has been recorded 
 by these Scottish historians, is, by others, as stoutly denied ; and the 
 general opinion now prevails that the latter are correct. 
 
 Queen Mary of Gueldres died on the 16th day of November 
 1463, — three years, three months, and thirteen days, after her royal 
 husband — and her remains were interred under the north aisle of 
 what was afterwards known as " the Old Trinity College Church." This 
 was in the centre of what was termed the " Lady Chapel," or " the 
 sacristy" of old, latterly denominated "the vestry." At the time 
 when the ancient edifice was taken down, for the purposes of the 
 North British Railway in 1848, her mortal remains were lifted, and 
 reverently placed in a new coffin, covered with purple cloth, whence 
 they were conveyed to the Abbey of Holyrood, to which a more 
 specific reference will be made at a future stage. 
 
 Prior to the death of the Queen, another Charter (the third) 
 regarding the foundation of the Hospital falls to be referred to. It 
 was a Bull by Pope Pius II., addressed to Her Majesty, confirming
 
 14 TRINITY COT.LKOF, AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 the annexation of the Hospital of Soltray to the Collegiate Church 
 and Hospital of the Holy Trinity. It is dated on the 14th Calend of 
 July {viz., 18th June 1462). This Charter records the singular decision 
 of " our most beloved daughter in Christ, Mary, the illustrious Queen 
 of Scots, and of her great devotion toward us, and the Church of 
 Eome." It goes on to state, that, if it is desirable that such devotion 
 deserves that we should add the confirmation of our " apostolical 
 muniment to the arrangements that have been made by pious ordin- 
 ance, for the praise and glory of the Divine name, as well as for the 
 advantage of the poor and the necessitous, and the weal of souls, so 
 that they may be enriched by continual additions, and remain for 
 ever unimpaired." It then refers to the previous Bull of Pope 
 Nicholas, already quoted from, and to the steps taken for the re- 
 moval of the Chancellorship, an office of high dignity in the Diocese 
 of St Andrews. It then goes on to relate as follows : — " It being 
 subjoined that thou, of the goods bestowed on thee by God, hadst 
 anew founded, and in splendid manner hadst caused to be constructed 
 and erected, to the praise of Almighty God, a Collegiate Church, 
 with an Hospital for the poor, near the Burgh of Edinburgh, on the 
 north side, in the said Diocese, for the furthering of Divine worship, 
 for the reception of Christ's poor and other miserable persons." It 
 then refers to the foundation of the Hospital of Soltray, for the use 
 of Christ's poor, and to King James, the illustrious King of Scots, 
 whose forefathers had furnished the said Hospital ; to the erection of 
 the said Chancellorship already referred to, and to the desire of the 
 Queen that the same should be merged in, or incorporated with, the 
 newly-erected (created) Hospital of the Holy Trinity for ever. 
 
 It further narrates that the said John (Tyry) proposed of his own 
 will and freely to resign the Chancellorship which he held, in favour 
 of such union, and also, " in order that the said Chancellorship should
 
 THE FOUNDRESS — POPe's BULLS — THE SITE. 15 
 
 be reconverted into the Hospital of Soltray as it had been formerly." 
 It then goes on to state, that Pope Pius II. being favourably dis- 
 posed to the change had commissioned the Bishop of Glasgow, that, 
 having summoned all those who had any interest in the matter, 
 he might be diligently informed concerning all and sundry the things 
 aforesaid, and their attendant circumstances ; and, in the event of 
 his deeming it advisable, he should receive and accept the said resig- 
 nation, if it were freely and properly offered. In the event of this 
 having been accomplished, he was enjoined to take over the said 
 Chancellorship, which should become vacant, unless anyone had a 
 special right in it ; but declaring that the express consent of the 
 King should be added. By this Bull, the Chancellorship was entirely 
 suppressed, the Hospital of Soltray was reduced to its pristine con- 
 dition, and was united, annexed, and incorporated with the New 
 Hospital and College of the Holy Trinity in Edinburgh ; its rents, 
 profits, and fruits were reserved for the sustentation of the poor and 
 the infirm ; and otherwise for the use of the said Hospitals, according 
 to the form and constitution of our predecessor Pope Clement V. 
 of pious memory, promulgated regarding the matter in the Council of 
 Vienne, the permission of the Diocesan of the place not being required. 
 The Charter then refers to the fact that " our venerable brother 
 Thomas, present Bishop of Dunkeld," and not the foresaid Alan 
 (Cant) procured the Chancellorship to be created, and at the time of 
 the date of the same letters, the foresaid Church had not as yet 
 been wholly coUegiated, nor completed in splendid structure, and 
 that the fore-mentioned John made the said resignation in the hands 
 of the foresaid Bishop of St Andrews, and thereafter in those of 
 the same Bishop of Glasgow, on account of which doubts might per- 
 chance be entertained regarding the validity of the said letters, " We, 
 being favourably disposed towards thy supplications in that regard,
 
 16 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 and desiring to guard against the possibility of the said letters being 
 on that account branded as surreptitious, will, and by Apostolic 
 authority have decreed, that our foresaid letters, and the proceedings 
 had in respect thereof, and whatsoever has followed thereon, may from 
 the date of these presents have force, and may obtain the full force, and 
 validity, in all and through all, as if in them it had been expressly set 
 forth, that Thomas and not Alan, had procured the said erection to 
 be made, and that the foresaid John had made the said resignation to 
 this effect, first in the hands of the foresaid Bishop of St Andrews, 
 the Ordinary of the See, and afterwards in those of the Bishop of 
 Glasgow, and that at the time of our said letters, no mention had been 
 made that the said Church was wholly complete, and had been erected 
 into a Collegiate Church. The premises, and all those things in the 
 said letters which we wish not to stand in the way, and every- 
 thing else to a contrary purpose notwithstanding. Let no one, 
 therefore (dare) to infringe (the tenor) of our will and consti- 
 tution. But if anyone, etc. (sic). Given at Viterbo, in the year, 
 etc., M.cccc.LXii. the fourteenth Calend of July, of our pontificate the 
 fourth year." 
 
 The fourth or last Charter during the lifetime of the Foundress in 
 regard to the constitution of the Hospital, etc., was contained in another 
 Bull by the Pope, reciting the foundation of the Collegiate Church and 
 Hospital of the Holy Trinity, and confirming the annexation thereto of 
 the Hospital of Soltray, and the Chapel of Utherogall in Fife. It is 
 dated on the sixth of the Ides of July (10th July) 1462, and is recorded 
 " for future memory of the fact." 
 
 It is somewhat similar in terms to what has been previously 
 narrated, in so far as the historical matter is concerned. It, however, 
 winds up with the following : — " We, therefore, who with our whole 
 mind desire the increase of Divine worship, and the advantage of poor
 
 
 
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 o I" 
 
 J kj 
 
 O 
 H 

 
 THE FOUNDRESS — pope's BULLS — THE SITE. 17 
 
 and miserable persons, listening favourably to these supplications, of 
 Apostolic authority, by the tenor of these presents, approve and confirm 
 the foundation, endowment, union, and annexation aforesaid, holding 
 them, and whatsoever has followed thereupon, fixed and approved, 
 supplying all defects, if any perchance shall be found in the same, and 
 nevertheless for the purpose of greater security, erecting of new the 
 said Church into a Collegiate Church, with Collegiate insignia. Decree- 
 ing, moreover, that whatever off'erings of the faithful shall from time to 
 time fall to the said Church shall be applied upon its fabric and the 
 repair thereof ; and we, by the authority of these presents, grant full 
 and free power and authority to the Master of the New Hospital, or to 
 the Rector for the time, to administer all and each of the sacraments 
 of the Church, to all the faithful of both sexes, dwelling therein for a 
 time, and those dying there, as well as to others serving therein, not- 
 withstanding any Apostolic constitution, ordinances, and others con- 
 trary whatsoever. For we, from this time forth, declare whatever may 
 be attempted to the contrary in these matters, by any one, on any 
 authority, knowingly or ignorautly, null and void. Let no one, there- 
 fore, etc., dare to infringe the tenor of our confirmation, approbation, 
 restoration, erection, constitution, and will. If any one, moreover, etc. 
 Given in the Abbey of St Sal va tor, in the Diocese of Clusium, the year, 
 etc., M.cccc.LXli. sixth of the Ides of July. Of our pontificate the 
 fourth year." 
 
 It is proper to state that all the Charters relating to the founda- 
 tion were composed and written in Mediseval Latin — that being, at 
 the time, the language of the Church and the learned. In fact 
 all important documents of the period were so composed and 
 written. 
 
 Sir Edward Boncle was appointed the first Provost, and the plans 
 of the buildings, with the various architectural designs, were prepared 
 c
 
 18 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 by Mr John Halkerstone,* who was designated " Master of the fabric." 
 The original design, it is understood, embraced a choir, nave, tran- 
 septs, chantry chapel, muniment room, in addition to the house for 
 the Provost and the Prebendaries, and the Hospital for the thirteen 
 beidmen. 
 
 During the lifetime of the Dowager Queen, the work proceeded 
 with very great energy. But her premature death, so soon after the 
 date of the Charter of foundation, seems to have had a somewhat 
 depressing influence on those engaged in the work. In all probability 
 it was the means of preventing the original design of the Church being 
 fully carried out, and the buildings completed. The Church, as finished, 
 consisted only of the choir and transepts, with the central tower 
 partially built. The Collegiate buildings were erected to the south of 
 the Church, and the Hospital for the beidmen stood opposite to the 
 foot of Leith Wynd, while on the other side of the road stood the 
 building of Saint Paul's Work, which at one time was an institution 
 of a somewhat similar kind to the Hospital. It is to be afterwards 
 referred to, and was situated near to where Macdowall Street recently 
 stood. Leith Wynd was at that time the chief access from the 
 Royalty of Edinburgh to the Port of Leith, by way of St Ninian's 
 Row and Greenside. In the row, there was in those days, an ancient 
 chapel dedicated to St Ninian. It is recorded that the crypt and 
 other remains of St Ninian's Chapel were removed in the year 1814, 
 for the purpose of clearing the site for the Regent Bridge, which 
 now spans the valley beneath. The chapel of St Ninian must have 
 had some connection with the parish of the same name in Stirling ; 
 
 * It would be interesting to know whether Halkerstone's Wynd, which still leads from 
 the High Street to the site of the Physic Gardens, was built or designed by the John 
 Halkerstone above refeiTed to, and was for that reason uamed after him.
 
 a 
 
 
 3 
 
 •- :j 
 
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 O 
 
 I 
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 ^ p.
 
 THE FOUNDRESS — POPES BULLS — THE SITE. 19 
 
 because up till very recently several houses in the district were 
 assessed for poor-rates by the Stirling authorities. As in Stirling, so 
 in Edinburgh, the colloquial phrase, being no doubt a corruption of 
 the word, was not St Ninian's, but "St Ringan's." St Ninian's Eow 
 in later days had the more common appellation of "The Beggar's 
 Raw." 
 
 The situation of the College and Hospital, according to the opinion 
 of the late Sir Daniel Wilson, was not by any means a favourable one. 
 It was placed in a low lying locality, and in a very poor district of the 
 city. It was situated in what has recently been termed " the Low 
 Calton," not very far from the precipitous rock on which the Edinburgh 
 Jail stands. That rock used to bear the designation of the "Dhu 
 Craig." In the Diurnal of Occurrents, under date 1571, it is so 
 styled, wherein it is recorded that a battery was erected on " the Dow 
 Craig, abone Trinity College, to ding and siege the north-east quarter 
 of the burgh." 
 
 The Hospital, as tlie writer can remember it, was an exceedingly 
 plain and most unpretentious edifice — the architectural features of 
 the buildings connected with the foundation having been no doubt 
 reserved for the Church. The district was regarded, in more modern 
 times, as essentially a poor one. The adjoining buildings consisted 
 of the " old Orphan Hospital," now transferred to the Dean, " Lady 
 Glenorchy's Church " * (a very plain structure), now transferred to 
 
 * Lady Glenorchy's C'hurcli, or " Chapel " as it used to be called, was founded by Her 
 Ladyship, who was a Member of the Breadalbane family, in 1772. It was intended to be a 
 Chapel of Ease — a relief church to the other city charges. The building was finished in 1774, 
 and the city ministers used at first each to take turn in conducting the services. In course 
 of time. Lady Glenorchy sent a communication to the Presbytery of Edinburgh, expressing 
 her desire to present a Mr Grove, — who was at that time preacher to a dissenting Congregation 
 in England — as pastor of her chapel. To this, the Presbytery gave a civil reply, to the effect 
 that " although they approved of her piety, they could not give countenance to the appoint-
 
 20 TRINITY COLLECIK AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 Roxburgh Place, aud the houses, warehouses, and other business 
 premises, which found a local habitation in what was then known as 
 " The Old Physic Gardens," which were in the occupation of the late 
 Professor Hope of the Edinburgh University, who afterwards transferred 
 his Botanic Gardens to some fields of his own property in Leith Walk. 
 Eventually the Gardens were removed to a more suitable place in 
 Inverleith Row, where they are now well known as the Royal 
 Botanic Gardens. 
 
 Critics, antiquarians, and historians have, as a rule, condemned the 
 Church site. Nevertheless, there is something to be said on the other 
 side of the question. One must bear in mind the date of the founda- 
 tion, and the surroundings of the period, when taken in contrast with 
 the much more recent development. In those days there were not 
 breweries, foundries, manufactories, or business premises in the district. 
 The situation was outside of the Royal Burgh, aud beyond the city 
 
 ment of a minister who was no member of the clerical order of the Church of Scotland." Her 
 Ladyship then intimated her intention to present the Bev. Mr Balfour, minister at Lecropt. 
 The Presbytery again intimated to her, that while they heartily approved of her choice, they 
 could not consent to install him, unless there was a regular call from the Congregation and a 
 legal security for the minister's stipend. Lady Glenorchy, however, was far from complying 
 with these conditions. She wrote to them " That the Chapel was her private property, and 
 had never been intended to be put on the footing of the establishment, nor connected with it, 
 but as a Chapel of Ease in the City of Edinburgh. That having built the Church at her own 
 expense, she was entitled to name the minister. By a majority the Presbytery agreed, in the 
 circumstances to induct the minister. This resolution was appealed to the Synod, and after- 
 wards to the Assembly. Suitable arrangements were, however, eventually come to. At the 
 beginning of the present century the late Rev. Dr Jones was the Pastor of the Congregation, and 
 the late Rev. Dr James Begg, afterwards well known in the city of Edinburgh, was liis 
 assistant in 1827. Dr Begg received a call to Paisley, which he accepted. He was afterwards 
 translated to the Parish Church of Liberton. He was one of the leaders of the movement 
 which terminated in the formation of the Free Church in 1843, commonly called " the 
 Disruption." He was instrumental in founding, and was for many years minister of, the 
 Newington Free Church, in South Clerk Street.
 
 THE FOUNDRESS — POPE S BULLS — THE SITE. 21 
 
 walls. To the east of it was the Court end of the old Capital, with the 
 mansion-houses of the nobility and gentr}^ and the beautiful gardens 
 which at that time surrounded these handsome residences. The exist- 
 ence of the Physic Gardens which were, for so long a period, occupied 
 for the use of the students of botany in the University of Edinburgh, 
 would indicate that the site was, even in later times, looked upon as 
 garden ground. Canongate was not then, as it is now, a hive of 
 industry ; but it was the place of fashion and courtly leisure. To 
 the west of the buildings of the Collegiate Church and Hospital, 
 were the North Loch and the grassy sward and braes of the Bearford 
 Parks on which part of the New Town has been built. The North 
 Bridge and the New Town were conceptions of the Corporation up- 
 wards of three hundred years afterwards. No doubt, the Trinity 
 College buildings were placed in a valley, or, as it may be averred, 
 hidden in a valley ; but does not the same remark apply to Melrose, 
 Dryburgh, and many of the other abbeys in the Kingdom, not for- 
 getting even the Abbey of Holyroodhouse ? It was not the practice of 
 the monks of old to live in castellated palaces. They seemed to prefer 
 situations where the rude winds would not blow so fiercely upon them, . 
 as they unquestionably would have done on the higher altitudes. Before 
 condemning the site of Trinity Hospital and the Collegiate Church, 
 one would require to understand the surroundings of the period, and 
 not be so rash as to judge of the situation about four centuries after 
 the selection of the site.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 RELIGIOUS HOUSES — INDULGENCES — DUNNOTTAR, ETC. 
 
 HE foundation of Trinity College and Trinity Hospital must 
 always be regarded as the outcome of a desire on the part 
 of those who, having had means at their disposal, considered 
 it to l)e their duty in Catholic times to establish religious and charit- 
 able houses in various localities throughout Scotland. 
 
 The late Rev. Mr Stothert, who himself was well known in this city 
 as a most devoted Catholic Priest, in his Lectures on the Religions 
 Antiquities of Edinburgh, read to the Holy Gild of St Joseph (Vol. II. 
 page 168), thus refers to these houses : — "The foundation of monasteries 
 was followed by the establishment of smaller houses, called hospitals, 
 once very numerous throughout Christendom. The contracted form of 
 the word Spital, is found in several places in Scotland, and always 
 marks the ancient site of one of these lesser religious houses. They 
 were sometimes called ' Maisons Dieu,' or houses of God. Their uses 
 were very various ; either as the home of the sick, or of pilgrims, or 
 orphan children, or of the aged and infirm poor. In their internal 
 arrangements, they very nearly resembled a house of monks. They 
 
 22
 
 RELIGIOUS HOUSES — INDULGENCES — DUNNOTTAK, ETC. 23 
 
 were governed by a Master, and the hours of prayer and of reading, 
 and refection, and sleep, followed in the same order as in the larger 
 religious houses." 
 
 The Poet Spencer, in his " Fairie Queene " thus describes one of 
 those religious houses : — 
 
 '&■ 
 
 " Eftsoones unto an holy hospitall, 
 That was foreby the way, she did him bring ; 
 In which seven beidmen, that had vowed all 
 Their life to service of high heaven's King, 
 Did spend their dales in doing goodly thing ; 
 Their gates to all were open evermore, 
 That by the wearie way were travelling ; 
 And one sat way ting ever them before, 
 To call in commers-by, that needy were and poore." 
 
 It is right to mention that in none of the Charters regarding 
 Trinity Hospital is anything stated as to the duties to be performed 
 by the beidmen, or as to the qualifications or conditions under which 
 they were to be received as inmates. 
 
 There can be no doubt — what differences soever may have 
 existed, or do still exist, in regard to religious polity, or Christian 
 doctrine — that all will be agreed as to the moving principle which 
 actuated those who, whether rightly or wrongly, gave of their means 
 and substance for what they conceived to be the temporal and 
 spiritual benefits of their fellow-creatures. Their intentions and 
 actions, as they were undoubtedly beneficent, could not fail to be 
 regarded as a boon and a blessing to humanity. Christ's own earthly 
 life was unquestionably one of pure and undefiled charity. They 
 were, therefore, only following, according to their own light, in the 
 footsteps of their blessed Redeemer and Master.
 
 24 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 Trinity Hospital, and the Collegiate Church attached thereto, 
 formed one of those religious houses which existed in Edinburgh, as 
 well as in other districts of Scotland, prior to the Reformation, for 
 the worship of God and the good of souls, according to the wisdom 
 and custom of the times and of the Church. 
 
 Pope Pius II. was not unmindful of the Queen's benefaction. On 
 the 27th day of August 1463, about three months prior to her death, 
 he issued another Bull, to all the faithful in Christ, granting a plen- 
 ary indulgence to all those who, in a devout spirit of contrition, did 
 visit the Church of Trinity College, in the course of five years, during 
 the Feast of its Dedication, on the 10th of Jul)% or its Octaves, etc. 
 
 The Pope, in his charter, refers to the great gift which had 
 been given by Her most Gracious Majesty, as a blessing to her 
 Christian people, for the purpose of — and out of an opportune 
 piety — compassionately washing away the stains (or sins) of souls ; 
 and for the purpose of procuring happiness in Heaven, more especi- 
 ally when the House of God is increased, and more help is afforded 
 to those who may be justly designated as "Christ's Poor." 
 
 The Bull went on to say, that the Almighty God Himself does 
 repay the faithful, with greater gifts than they deserve ; but yet, 
 for their confirmation, and for the purpose of stimulating them, the 
 Church of Christ has, in its great clemency, been accustomed to 
 open to them its benignant bosom, and that of its most pious 
 Mother. It then goes on to relate, as a matter of fact, that a 
 famous Collegiate Church, or Chapel, or Hospital of the Poor of 
 the Holy Trinity, outwith the royal town of Edinburgh, in the 
 diocese of St Andrews, had been founded by our " dearest daughter 
 in Christ," Mary, widow of King James II., and the same has 
 been erected and carried on, by magnificent and expensive workman- 
 ship, to serve the Most High, by the various ofiicials who were
 
 Tin: OLD COLLEGIATE SEALS OF TRINITY COLLEGE. 
 To face page 24.]
 
 RELIGIOUS HOUSES — INDULGENCES — DCNNOTTAR, ETC. 25 
 
 appointed to attend to the same ; and which work, our dearly 
 beloved son in Christ, King- James III., son of the foresaid Queen, 
 intends to complete : — We, in consideration of both of them, 
 and that the faithful may be more readily induced and incited to 
 similar devotion, do, by these presents. Grant and Bestow, on all 
 the faithful in Christ, of both sexes, from what place soever they 
 may come, after they have declared themselves as truly penitent, 
 and have made confession of their sins or their transgressions — who, 
 " on the tenth day of the month of July, which is the day of 
 dedication of the said Church, and on the Octave of the same, from 
 the first vespers to the second vespers inclusive, shall, within the 
 appointed five years have visited the said Church, Chapel, or 
 Hospital, contrite in heart, and confessing with the mouth, and 
 shall have stretched out helping hands to this pious work, accord- 
 ing to their abilities, and by advice of their confessor " — plenary 
 absolution and indulgence of all their sins, crimes, and excesses, 
 even in cases reserved to the Holy See. The same indulgence 
 and absolution were likewise granted to the " poor faithful in 
 Christ " who were resident in the Church or Hospital for the time ; 
 as also to those who may have died there, and who, at the moment 
 of death, and at other times were contrite in heart,' and confessed 
 with the mouth their sins, according to the best of their remem- 
 brance. The date when this indulgence was to come into effect 
 was fixed as the day of the said dedication in the ensuing year, 
 and to continue in force on its successive recurrence every fifth 
 year for the space of fifty years only. For those taking advantage 
 of the same, and that they might more easily obtain the salvation 
 of their souls and the divine compassion, Pope Pius H. granted, 
 by these presents, to suitable confessors, seculars or regulars of 
 whatsoever order, to be deputed, as shall seem expedient by the 
 
 D
 
 26 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 Provost of the said Church, and the Collector of the Apostolic 
 Chamber for the time being, on the said quinquennial day of the 
 said dedication, four days before and four days after, and on their 
 Octaves — to hear confessions, and with full power to grant absolution 
 from sins and to enjoin salutary penance. 
 
 There was provision made in the Bull, that all the moneys paid 
 for such indulgences, as well as for future remission of sins, should 
 be faithfully and religiously kept in a box. This box was to be 
 locked with two keys. Of these keys, it was ordained that one of 
 them should be in the possession of the Provost and two Seniors of 
 the College for the time being, while the Collector of the said 
 Chamber in the Kingdom of Scotland should hold the other key. 
 It was provided that one-third part of " all moneys and effects 
 arising from such offerings and alms, without any fraud," should 
 be reserved to the same Apostolic Chamber, and be immediately 
 handed over by the said Collector for the defence and furtherance 
 of the Catholic faith, " against the most impious and fierce enemies 
 of the name of Christ." To the Provost and the two Seniors of 
 the College, the remaining two-thirds of the money was granted. 
 They were enjoined to devote this revenue towards the comple- 
 tion of the building, the supply of ornaments, the upkeep and re- 
 pair of the fabric, and "for the poor and the said place only, and not 
 in any other way." Failing their doing so, and using these alms 
 for other purposes, they were assured that they would incur the 
 Divine wrath, besides that of the Apostles Peter and Paul. 
 
 The Bull aforesaid closes with these words : — " Let no one, 
 therefore, dare to infringe the tenor of our concession, grant, and 
 will, etc. But if anyone shall presume to attempt this, let him 
 know that he will incur the indignation of Almighty God Himself, 
 and of the Apostles Peter and Paul aforesaid. Given at Tibur, the
 
 RELIGIOUS HOUSES — INDULGENCES — DUNNOTTAR, ETC. 27 
 
 year, etc., m.cccc.lxiii. the sixth of the Calends of September, of 
 our pontificate the fifth year." 
 
 It is proper here to state that in consequence of the unsettled 
 state of the country, Sir Edward Boncle, the first Provost, was soon 
 obliged to apply to the Scottish Parliament for assistance in the 
 realisation of payment of his rents in Teviotdale. 
 
 In June 1526, and for many years thereafter, the Provost of the 
 Trinity College had a seat in the Scottish Parliament. 
 
 Nearly forty years had elapsed since the Bull of Pope Pius II. had 
 been issued (1463), and although the buildings of the College were 
 not completed, the College seems to have been, in the opinion of 
 its ecclesiastical superiors, so successful that, on the 14th day of 
 November 1502, James, Archbishop of St Andrews, granted a charter, 
 to annex the Church of Dunnottar to the Trinity College, for the 
 support of two additional prebendaries. These two additional officials 
 were to be respectively styled "The Dean" and "The Prebendary 
 of Dunnottar " — thus making in all ten prebendaries. At this time 
 Master John Brady was Provost of the Collegiate Church of the 
 Holy Trinity at Edinburgh. The Archbishop of St Andrews was a 
 near relative of the royal family. He was Primate of the whole 
 Kingdom of Scotland, and Legate of the Apostolic See, Duke of Ross, 
 and perpetual Commendator of the Monastery of Dunfermline, etc. 
 
 The grant made of the revenues of the Church of Donnottar, was 
 done on the request of Brady, in which he set forth that, if the 
 number of prebendaries were increased in the Collegiate Church of 
 the Holy Trinity in Edinburgh, it would tend to the great advance- 
 ment of Divine worship, and to the honour and profit of the Collegiate 
 Church itself. It was required that Master Walter Stratoun, the 
 Rector of the Parish Church of Dunnottar, should resign, and de- 
 mit it to others ; and that the said two new prebendaries of Trinity
 
 28 TRINITY COLLKGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 Church "should take corporal, real and actual possession of the said 
 Parish Church, and of the rights and pertinents of the same, by their 
 proper authority, and to convert and for ever retain the same for the 
 use and profit of the said prebendaries themselves, and of a Vicar 
 to be appointed by us (the Archbishop of St Andrews), the licence 
 of any other superior being nowise required for that effect." 
 
 The function of the Dean consisted in this, — that, when the 
 Provost of the College was absent, he became, for the time being, 
 " Principal and President in the choir and chapter of the said 
 Church ; " but when the Provost was present, the Dean's jurisdiction 
 and power ceased. One half of all the fruits, oblations, and teinds, 
 parsonage and vicarage of Dunnottar fell to him ; while the other 
 half of these fell to his Colleague, the prebendary of Dunnottar. 
 It was required of the latter, that he should be " expert and well- 
 learned in organs, and that he shall play upon them on the proper 
 feasts," and he is enjoined to celebrate mass for James, present 
 Archbishop of St Andrews, brother-german of the King of Scotland, 
 when he shall be appointed, at the eleventh hour before noon. 
 Both of these prebendaries, like the others, required to be priests, 
 and learned and expert in reading and understanding plain chant, 
 and responding. They were also required to give personal residence, 
 and be obedient to the Provost. 
 
 It was expressly laid down that the Parish Church of Dunnottar 
 should not, by reason of the change, be deprived of due services, or 
 that the cure of souls should be neglected. The two new Prebend- 
 aries of Trinity College were charged with a yearly payment of 
 twenty merks of the current money of Scotland to a vicar pensioner, 
 for his maintenance. Half of the amount had to be paid by the 
 Dean at the feast of Whitsunday, and the other half by the Pre- 
 bendary of Dunnottar at the feast of Martinmas. While the election
 
 RELIGIOUS HOUSES — INDULGENCES — DUNNOTTAR, ETC. 29 
 
 of the Vicar was reserved by the Archbishop of St Andrews, for himself 
 and successors in office, there was a right of veto on the part of the 
 Provost and the Prebendaries of the said Collegiate Church, for the 
 time being, so that they might decline and refuse any one as unworthy, 
 whom they, after his nomination, deemed " not qualified and learned 
 according to the tenor of the old foundation " of the College. The 
 Archbishop further reserved to himself and his successors the episcopal, 
 archidiaconal, and other rights as these had existed according to law or 
 custom, prior to the present erection, union, and incorporation. The 
 deed was duly signed and attested by a Notary Public — all in the 
 presence of witnesses, whose names and avocations are duly set forth 
 in regular form. 
 
 There seems to have been no increase of the establishment after the 
 Dunnottar benefaction, with its two prebendaries. The last important 
 increase of its property during Catholic times was a royal grant in 
 1502 of the lands of Powis de Erth, and of Cummystoun or Maxwell- 
 Riggs, which were granted to the prebendaries and chaplains of the 
 Collegiate Church. 
 
 Twenty-nine years had passed away since the additional two pre- 
 bendaries had been added. King James III. had been killed at an early 
 age (1489), and he had been succeeded by his son King James IV. when 
 the latter was only fifteen years of age. He, who was much beloved 
 by his people, fell in the battle of Flodden, on the 9th of September 
 1513, in the fortieth year of his age, and twenty-fifth year of his reign. 
 He was succeeded by his son, James V., an infant at that time, only 
 two years old. A considerable period of Eegency and of very great 
 complications was the result. Meantime the buildings of the Trinity 
 Hospital and Trinity College were still progressing slowly. When the 
 King arrived at the age of twenty, he seems to have shown a great 
 amount of interest in the religious house founded by his great-grand-
 
 30 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 mother. From Stirling Castle, where he was resident at the time, he 
 addressed a letter, dated the 22ud March 1531, to His Holiness Pope 
 Clement VH., beseeching of him that he would grant indulgences to 
 those who should visit the Trinity College, and should aid in the 
 completion of the building. The letter is couched in the following 
 terms, viz. : — 
 
 To OUR MOST HOLY LoRD, THE PoPE. 
 Most Blessed Father, — After the most humble prostration at your most holy 
 feet — there is a somewhat famous College, near to our town of Edinburgh, founded by 
 the most Serene Princess, Mary, formerly Queen of Scotland, our great-grandmother, 
 the Provost of which is John Dingwall, a prudent and good man, prothonotary of the 
 Roman See, who Las purposed with himself to make the rest of the church conformable 
 to the magnificently-constructed choir, having thus undertaken a work not to be com- 
 pleted without great expense, which, that he may the more easily accomplish, and that 
 he may be assisted by the help of the public, he desires that by the beneficence of your 
 Holiness, gracious indulgences may be granted, for the lifetime only of the Provost 
 himself, to all who shall visit the College, on this feast of the Holy Trinity, and during 
 the Octaves, for the purpose of devotion, being truly penitent, contrite, and making 
 confession, and who shall put forth helping hands to the building of the same, and that 
 he may be empowered to hear the confessions of those who shall assemble for the sake 
 of obtaining such indulgences, and to absolve them either personally, or by suitable 
 presbyters. Wherefore, we crave your Holiness kindly to assent to these so pious 
 wishes, and to grant indulgences as plenary as possible, and all other things, which the 
 Provost himself may with justice humbly crave. Most Blessed Father, may God 
 Almighty very long preserve your Holiness in felicity ! From our Castle at Stirling, 
 on the twenty-second day of the month of March, in the year one thousand five hundred 
 and thirty-one from our Lord's incarnation. Your most Holiness' 
 
 Devoted Son, The King of Scots, 
 
 JAMES, R. 
 
 No reply seems to have been received in answer to this communi- 
 cation, as otherwise it would have appeared in the charters connected 
 with the Collegiate Church and Hospital. It may be, however, 
 explained, that about this time there were very serious disputations
 
 RELIGIOUS HOUSES— INDULGENCES — DUNNOTTAR, ETC. 31 
 
 in several countries of Europe, as well as in England and Scotland, 
 which may have been the cause of the Pope's neglecting the request 
 contained in the royal message. 
 
 Before passing on to the next chapter, it is proper that some 
 allusion should be made to John Dingwall, the Provost of the Trinity 
 College, at the time when King James V. sent to the Pope the com- 
 munication already referred to. Sir John Dingwall was a man of 
 some consequence in his day. He was Archdeacon of Caithness, Rector 
 of Strabrok in Linlithgowshire, and one of the spiritual Lords of the 
 College of Justice in Scotland. He is stated to have been the son of a 
 Priest who gave him a good education, and was instrumental in most 
 materially helping him to ecclesiastical preferment. He was held in 
 good esteem for his natural talents and his acquired gifts. He was 
 employed at the Court of Rome, and it has been alleged that, in his day, 
 he became possessed of very considerable means, a portion of which he 
 bequeathed to help on the buildings of the Trinity College Church and 
 Hospital. He built a house on the grounds of Trinity Hospital, and in 
 close proximity thereto. This house used to be known as "Dingwall 
 Castle." The ruins of it appear in Gordon's View of the City as a 
 square keep, with round towers at three of the angles ; and a ruinous 
 building, in all probability the chapel, on the east side. All these 
 edifices were eventually cleared away for the building of the Orphan 
 Hospital, which afterwards occupied the ground.
 
 CHAPTEE IV. 
 
 THE REFORMATION — GIFT TO THE TOWN COUNCIL. 
 
 HE Reformation, which may be justly designated as the 
 historical name for the great religious movement of the 
 sixteenth century, had far - reaching effects not only in 
 Scotland and England, but over a considerable part of the Continent 
 of Europe. In Germany, Switzerland, Holland, and France, it un- 
 questionably exercised a most powerful influence for the good of 
 these communities. With the time of the Reformation, the period 
 called "the Middle Ages" might be said to have terminated, and a 
 new era in regard to Europe, and its general culture, had begun. The 
 movement tended, in a great measure, to foster a very strong spirit of 
 civil and religious liberty among the people at large. The invention of 
 the art of printing, which has undoubtedly conferred so much good on 
 society, as well as the circulation of good and wholesome literature 
 as a necessary concomitant, — could not fail to serve as most powerful 
 aids in the great struggle for freedom. Prior to the Reformation, it 
 is stated in Chambers' Encyclopaedia (Vol. VIII. p. 611), "The power 
 
 32
 
 '^,^ 
 
 

 
 THE REFOKMATION — GIFT TO THE TOWN COUNCIL. 33 
 
 of the Church underlay all human relations. It was the consecration of 
 the Church that constituted the family ; the Church defined the rela- 
 tions of rulers and their subjects ; and the Church was the final court 
 of appeal on the ultimate questions of human life and destiny. 
 In the nature of things, such a power could never be realised as it 
 was ideally conceived. Yet during the eleventh and twelfth centuries, 
 the period when the power of the Popes was most adequate to their 
 claims, they went far to make the idea a reality. But the energies of 
 the human spirit were bound sooner or later to issue in developments 
 with which mediasval conceptions were fundamentally irreconcilable. 
 By the thirteenth century, along every line of man's activity, there 
 were already protests, conscious and unconscious, against the system 
 typified in the Pope at Rome." 
 
 In 1532, England had shaken itself free of the papal control. In 
 Scotland, the movement was twenty-eight years later. In 1559, John 
 Knox had returned to Edinburgh, after a long sojourn abroad. His 
 strong personality, combined with commendable zeal and untiring energy, 
 did much to advance the movement for reform. In 1560, the Pro- 
 testant faith became the religion of the country. 
 
 It is not the purpose of the writer to refer more specifically to the 
 causes or the controversies which led up to this state of matters, or the 
 various complications attendant thereon. But, considering the efi"ect 
 produced upon the affairs and arrangements of the Collegiate Church 
 and Hospital of the Holy Trinity near Edinburgh, it is requisite that 
 some passing allusion should be made to the altered system of Church 
 polity which had brought about so great a change. 
 
 Immediately after the Reformation, the Magistrates and Town 
 
 Council of the City of Edinburgh, took steps to obtain grants of the 
 
 church revenues and lands which had then fallen to the Crown, or 
 
 part thereof, that the same might be applied for the maintenance 
 
 ]•;
 
 34 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 of the reformed clergy, and for the establishment and support 
 of schools, colleges, and hospitals for the poor. The Minute of the 
 Town Council of 23d April 15G1, is to the following cflect : — It 
 is deemed desirable that the rents, annual proceeds, and other 
 emoluments, which used formerly to be paid for lands and tene- 
 ments within this Burgh, to papists, priests, friars, monks, and 
 nuns, and others of that wicked sort, for the maintenance of idolatry 
 and vain superstition, seeing that it has pleased the Almighty to open 
 the eyes of the public, and to give them knowledge regarding such 
 vain abuses ; — therefore that the said rents and emoluments be applied 
 to more profitable and godly uses, such as the sustenance of the true 
 ministers of God's Word, the building of hospitals for the poor, and 
 colleges for the upbringing of the youth, and other such godly works.* 
 Following out this resolution, a special application was made by the 
 Town Council to Queen Mary on the 27th August 1561, praying for 
 a grant of the site of the Blackfriars Monastery, together with the 
 yards attached thereto, for the purpose of building a hospital upon it 
 for the poor people who are to wear an uniform, and that we may 
 have the place, church, chambers, and offices of the Kirk of Field — 
 offering a reasonable price therefor, for the purpose of building a 
 school : Also, that your Grace would give and dispone to us for 
 the maintenance of the foresaid hospital and school the annual proceeds 
 
 * The words of the original minute are as follow : — " It is thocht gude that the reuttis, 
 annuellis, and utheris emolunientis, quilkis of before war payit fwrth of landis and tenenientis 
 within yis Bur'- to papestis, priestis, frieries, nionkis, and nonnis, and utheris of yat wicket 
 sort, for mainteinying of idolatrie and vaine superstitioun, seeing it has plesit ye Almichtie 
 to oppin ye eis of all pepile, and to gif yame ye knowledge of sic vaine abusis — Thairfore yat 
 the saidis reuttis and emoluraentis be applyit to mair profitable and godlie uses, sic as for 
 sustenying of the trew niini.stereis of Goddis Word, and biging of hospitalis for the pure, and 
 colleges fer liernying and upbringing of ze youth, and sic other godlie warkis,"
 
 THE REFORMATION — GIFT TO THE TOWN COUNCIL. 35 
 
 which used to go to the chaplains and friars, and which are presently 
 in your Grace's hands, and whatsoever more remains of the same and 
 which pertains to your Grace ; because our town contains a large 
 number of inhabitants, and many of them are poor.* 
 
 In answer to these applications, Queen Mary granted the kirk- 
 livings to the Provost, Bailies, Council and Community of the Burgh 
 of Edinburgh. The Charter is dated 13th March 1566-7. 
 
 In that Charter the Queen goes on to relate that, considering how 
 dishonestly a great number of the prebendaries, chaplains, and friars 
 have, since the change of religion, disponed, alienated, and given away 
 into the hands of certain persons, the lands, annual rents, and emolu- 
 ments previously mortified to their chaplainries, prebends, and other 
 places respectively ; and also, that very many of our lieges have 
 claimed for themselves, by brieves of our chancery, the right to certain 
 lands, tenements, and annual rents, mortified by their predecessors, or 
 otherwise have obtained sasine as heirs of their predecessors, who 
 previously gifted the same to the Church, which has happened partly 
 by the ofiicers of our said Burgh, and partly by the collusion of the said 
 prebendaries, chaplains, and friars : Wherefore we by these presents, 
 rescind and annul all and sundry such alienations, dispositions and 
 sasines, by which the first will and purpose of the founders is infringed, 
 altered and changed by perverting the same to individual (or private) 
 uses, to the effect that the same be converted to proper and legiti- 
 mate uses. 
 
 The Charter by the Queen (which is addressed to all good men 
 
 * The words of the original minute are as follow : — "Ye situation quhar ye black friers 
 war, togidder with zair yards, to beig ane hospitale upoun for ye pouir, and als cause some 
 dress be made, yat we may have ye place, kirk, chalmeris, and houses of ye Kirk of Field, to 
 beig ane scule for said, ye annuellis of cliaplanries and freris, being presentlie in your Grace's 
 liandis, and ye remanent of the samin quhen yai sail pertenc to zoure Grace, and becaus owre 
 said town is populous, and the multitude yairof greit."
 
 36 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 of her own land, clerics and laics) goes on to state that, reflecting 
 upon her duty towards the service of God, and of the ardent zeal which 
 she had for the civil polity, and for preserving good order among her 
 subjects, but chiefly within the Burgh of Edinburgh ; and also that she 
 was bound by her oflace to be careful of her duty towards her God, 
 by whose good providence she was called upon to reign over her 
 kingdom ; and considering, further, that it was her duty, by all 
 honest means, to provide for the ministers of God's Word, and that 
 hospitals for poor mutilated and miserable persons, orphans and 
 children deprived of their parents, may be maintained within her 
 said Burgh, did, on attaining her majority, with the advice of the 
 Lords of the Privy Council, give, grant and dispone, for her and her 
 successors in ofiice, for ever, to her well beloved, the Provost, Bailies, 
 Councillors, and Community of the said Burgh of Edinburgh, and their 
 successors for ever — " All and Singular the lands, tenements, houses, 
 buildings, churches, chapels, yards, orchards, crofts, annual rents, fruits, 
 duties, profits, emoluments, rents, alms, daill-silver, obits and anni- 
 versaries whatsoever, which anywise belonged, or are known to belong 
 to any chaplainries, altarages, and prebends, founded in any church, 
 chapel or college, within the liberty of our said Burgh, by whatsoever 
 patron, in possession whereof the chaplains and prebendaries of the 
 same formerly were," wheresoever the same are to be found or where 
 their respective emoluments were formerly lifted, together with " the 
 manor places, orchards, lands, annual rents, emoluments and duties 
 whatsoever which formerly belonged to the Dominican or Preaching 
 Friars, and to the Minorites or Franciscans of our said Burgh of 
 Edinburgh." 
 
 The Charter likewise provided that the Provost, Magistrates, and 
 Town Council, as acting on behalf of the Community, should possess 
 all the lands, houses, and tenements, within the same Burgh and the
 
 THE REFORMATION — OIFT TO THE TOWN COUNCIL. 37 
 
 liberties thereof, and the annual proceeds of the same, as had been 
 previously given, founded, and granted for religious purposes. They 
 were required to hold and to have the same, and all the proceeds 
 already enumerated ; and to have free ish and entry ; with all the 
 rights pertaining thereto, under-ground as well as above-ground, and 
 which may be said to justly belong to them in any manner of way. 
 They were enjoined to hold the same " freely, quietly, fully, wholly, 
 honourably, well, and in peace, for the time to come, without revocation 
 or challenge whatsoever." 
 
 Provision was also made that the Town Council, on behalf of the 
 Community and their successors, could by themselves or their collectors 
 collect and. receive the rents, fruits, duties, profits, etc. ; as well as to 
 remove any lands or tenements, build, and repair ruinous places, and 
 restore and apply the same for purposes of hospitality as to them, 
 with the advice of the ministers and elders of the Buro-h 
 seemed expedient — in a word all such powers as seemed to be 
 possessed by the Provost, prebendaries, chaplains, and friars formerly 
 mentioned. They were also taken bound, as well as their successors, 
 to support the ministers, readers, and any other ecclesiastical charo-cs 
 out of the aforesaid revenues, and to repair those buildings which were 
 devoted to purposes of hospitality. A direction was further given to 
 " our comptrollers, present and future, and their collectors, factors, and 
 others, whom it concerns in general as well as in special, that none of 
 them presume to receive or levy the said fruits particularly above 
 described, for any time whatsoever, past or future, or offer any obstruc- 
 tion or impediment to the foresaid Provost, Bailies, Councillors, and 
 Community, and their successors, in the peaceable possession of the 
 same." The deed goes on further to relate : — " Eequiring and ordainino- 
 also our Lords of Session that they direct letters, in all the four forms, 
 at the instance of the said Provost, Bailies, Councillors, Community,
 
 38 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 and their successors to the efifect above written "... " Also com- 
 manding all intromitters with the said fruits, that they give prompt 
 attention, (and that they) obey, and make willing and ready payment 
 of the same." The great seal is affixed to the document. The 
 witnesses duly verified the same. The Deed is subscribed at Edin- 
 burgh, the thirteenth day of the month of March, in the year of our 
 Lord, one thousand, five hundred and sixty-six, and the twenty-fifth 
 of our reign. 
 
 It has already been explained, in the Charter quoted from, that 
 Queen Mary of Scots had just reason to complain of the dishonesty of 
 some of the prebendaries, chaplains, and friars of the period. This is 
 not to be wondered at. Too sudden conversion is always questionable. 
 
 The next Charter to which reference requires to be made is what 
 is designated "Letters of Remission by King James VL," in which he 
 agrees to dispense with the erection of an Hospital on the Blackfriars 
 Yards, and grants the site and buildings, etc., of the Trinity College 
 to the Provost, Bailies, Council, and Community of Edinburgh for the 
 purposes of an Hospital. It is dated on the 3d day of January 1567-8. 
 The year should be 1568. 
 
 This Charter is to the following efi"ect : — That his said mother 
 (Queen Mary of Scots) having under her Great Seal, granted and dis- 
 poned the place and yards of the Blackfriars, "commonly called Friars 
 Preachers," burgesses of our Burgh of Edinburgh, with the cemeteries 
 and other pertinents of the same, to erect an Hospital for the poor, by 
 the present Provost, Magistrates, Councillors, and Community of the 
 same, and their successors : And because it was promised that they 
 should begin the same within one year after the date of the said infeft- 
 ment, and should finish the same within ten years thereafter : And 
 because it has been clearly shown to us, and the Archbishop of St 
 Andrews, that the friars' place before mentioned is not so suitable or
 
 THE REFORMATION — GIFT TO THE TOWN COUNCIL. 39 
 
 convenient for the building or construction of the said Hospital as the 
 site of the College of the Holy Trinity, and the yards, houses, and 
 buildings of the same, by reason of the great crowd and concourse, both 
 of the strangers and of the lieges of our Kingdom, who daily approach 
 or pass through and frequent the same, by whom some profit and aid 
 may daily accrue to the said Hospital, and may thereby be of benefit 
 to the indigent persons resident within the same ; and which [Hospital] 
 the said Provost, Bailies, Councillors, and Community have promptly 
 commenced to build and repair, and this all the more willingly, because 
 of the profit and advantage of that particular site, or of its bounds 
 and continuity with the friars' place, may be expended and laid out on 
 the said Hospital of the fore-mentioned College : Therefore, and for 
 divers other good or pious reasons and considerations, moving us and 
 our Regent aforesaid, by the tenor of these presents, we have dispensed 
 and do dispense, in favour of the said Provost, Bailies, Councillors, and 
 Community of our said Burgh of Edinburgh, with that part and clause 
 of the said infeftment relating to the commencement, completion, and 
 building of the foresaid Hospital upon the place and bounds of the 
 fore-mentioned friars within the time before written, and with all loss, 
 injury and prejudice which can accrue to and fall on them from their 
 infeftment above mentioned, for the non-completion or implementing 
 of the same. 
 
 The Charter then goes on to state that the said infeftment was to 
 abide in full force, to them and their successors, and also that they 
 were to have full power to lease, use, and dispone upon the foresaid 
 place, yard, gardens, houses, cemetery, and such pertinents, in feu-farm 
 or yearly rent, as shall be deemed by them to be most expedient. It 
 was likewise provided, that the annual profit, rents, and duties of the 
 same should be applied to the sustentation of the said Hospital of the 
 College of the Holy Trinity, and of the poor residing in the same, and
 
 40 
 
 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 of no others. The Charter was granted "under the testimony of our 
 great seal, at Edinburgh, the third day of the month of January, in the 
 year of our Lord, one thousand five hundred and sixty-seven, and the 
 lirst of our reign." 
 
 The Town Council, as representing the Community at large, were 
 thus relieved of their promise to the Crown to devote the ground 
 and revenues of the B'lackfriars to the purposes originally intended. 
 The reason for this step being taken, was that their energies might be 
 concentrated upon the building up, and better control of, as well as 
 extending the usefulness and increasing the benefits of the Trinity 
 Hospital. 
 
 It may be here remarked in passing, that in the Accounts of the 
 
 Gude Toun, printed as an Appendix to the Burgh Records, Vol. III. 
 
 page 289, there is the following entry : — 
 
 Item, the compter is to be dischargit of xj' x'' for the bringing of ten 
 geistis fra the schip to the Bray Heid of Leith, and for the clossing of 
 ane hoill abouu the yet of the well of the Trinete College ; sunima, xj' x''. 
 
 This was in 1553-4, more than fifteen years before the Hospital 
 began to be managed by the Town Council.

 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 55to]^ 
 
 
 ^^^^ 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 GIFT OF THE BUILDINGS AND SITE, ETC. 
 
 [OWN to the year 1567, the Collegiate Church and Hospital of 
 the Holy Trinity remained in the hands of the Crown, as 
 yet undisposed of. Neither the buildings, nor the revenues 
 belonging thereto, were included in any grant that had been previously 
 made. The Magistrates and Town Council were, however, desirous to 
 erect an Hospital for the maintenance and support of the poor within 
 their burgh. Queen Mary, as we have already seen, by a letter or 
 writing, dated 17th August 1562, in answer to their application had 
 promised that, whenever proper provision was made for the build- 
 ing of "ye Hospitale and schule within written," her Grace would 
 provide "ane rowme (room) convenient yairfore." On the tenth day 
 of November 1567, Sir Simon Preston,* of that Ilk and Craigmillar, 
 
 * The following are the terms of the Minutes of the Town Council as to this matter (as 
 contained in the Burgh Records— Scottish Burgh Records Society, 1875) : — lOtk November 
 1567. — [The bailies, council and deacons of crafts] being convenit in the counsalhous of this 
 burgh, comperit Sir Symon Prestoun of Craigmillar, Knycht, prouest of this burgh, and schew 
 
 F
 
 42 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 Knight, at that time Provost of the City of Edinburgh, informed the 
 Magistrates and Town Council, that he had obtained from the then 
 Lord Regent Murray's hands, the gift of the Trinity College Kirk, 
 houses, biggings, and yards adjacent thereto, and lying contiguous to 
 the same, to be "ane Hospital to the puir, and to be biggit and 
 uphaldane (built and upheld) by the good town, and the elimosinaries 
 to be placed thereinto, by the Provost, Bailies, and Council for the time 
 being ; " and he thereby transferred and made over the same to the 
 Magistrates and Town Council of the Burgh, for behoof of the 
 Community. 
 
 Accordingly, on the 12th day of November of the same year 
 (1567), a Charter was expede of King James VI. of Scotland, with 
 consent of the Regent and the Lords of the Privy Council, in favour of 
 the Civic Corporation and Community of the City, of the Collegiate 
 Church and Hospital of the Holy Trinity. This Charter proceeds upon 
 the narrative, that, moved by " a fervent and zealous purpose, to assist 
 the poverty, penury, and want of many and divers honest, aged, and 
 impotent persons, who, in their old age, have lost their means and 
 substance, by accident and bad fortune, so that they may not utterly 
 perish and die, through extreme hunger, penury, and want of their 
 
 and declarit to the saidis baillies couusall and dekynnis that he had obtenit and impetrat at 
 my Lord regentis handia the gift of the Trinite College, kirk, houssia, bigginis, and yairdia 
 adiacent thairto, and lyand contegue to the samyn, to be ane hospital! to the pure, and to be 
 bigcit and vphaldin be the gude touu, and the elimosinaris to be placit thairinto be the 
 prouest, baillies and counsall, present and being for the tyme, and nochtwithstauding that he 
 hes lauborit the samyn it wes nocht his raynde to laubour it to his awyu behuif, bot to the 
 t^ude tounis as said is, and thairfore presently gaif the gift thairof to the gude toun, and 
 transferrit all rycht and titill that he had or mycht haif thairto in the gude toun fra him and 
 his airis for euir ad perpetuam remanentiam. 
 
 The prowest baillies and counsall foirsaid namit and constitute Adam FuUartoun, baillie, 
 maister of wark to tlie hospitale to be founded in the Trinitie Colledge, with power to him to 
 cheis his offioiaris and warkmen as he sail think gude.
 
 GIFT OF THE BUILDINGS AND SITE, ETC. 43 
 
 requisite sustenance ; we, therefore, being moved by piety and a 
 good conscience, to afford them such relief and assistance as their in- 
 digence and necessity require ; as also, understanding that the aforesaid 
 purpose cannot in all respects be conveniently begun and commenced 
 nor conveniently perfected and accomplished, without our supplement, 
 aid, and authority ; and understanding that Sir Simon Prestoun, of 
 that Ilk, Knight, intends — with deliberate, firm, and set purpose — to 
 build, erect, and with all care and diligence, endow an Hospital, with 
 reasonable support, for such honest, poor, and impotent persons, aged 
 and advanced in years, or sick, being indwellers and inhabitants within 
 our Burgh of Edinburgh ; and also for such other old, indigent, and 
 impotent people, as shall be found fit for receiving such benefits and 
 charity in the said Hospital so to be founded : Therefore, we, and 
 our foresaid Regent, perceiving that the foresaid purpose and work will 
 be in every respect, not only good and Divine, but being also willing to 
 give occasion to others, our subjects ; and for the purpose of inclining 
 the minds of certain others of our lieges and subjects, to accept such a 
 Divine call to a similar purpose and work, with the advice and consent 
 of the Lords of our Privy Council, have deemed it expedient and 
 necessary, to gratify the said Sir Simon, Provost of our said Burgh of 
 Edinburgh, with the gift and donation of such a place now vacant in 
 our hands, and belonging and pertaining to our gift, as shall be most fit 
 and convenient for constructing and building, repairing and perfecting 
 the said Hospital, with the houses, buildings, and yards thereof, which 
 the greatest multitude and concourse of people,* as well strangers as 
 others our lieges of this our town, are seen to frequent and near which 
 
 * It would appear from the above, that Kiug James VI. regarded the site of the Hospital 
 as a most suitable one, in respect of the traffic which daily passed bye, and the pecuniary 
 benefit which the Hospital was likely to receive from being continually before the eye of 
 the public.
 
 44 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 they chiefly have access to, and egress from the town, whereby the 
 daily alms and contributions to the said Hospital are increased and 
 will increase." 
 
 This, therefore, must always be regarded as the first Charter, by 
 which the Town Council of the City of Edinburgh, on behalf of the 
 public, became the Governors and Custodiers of what has for so many 
 generations been known and acknowledged, as the great charity of the 
 Trinity Hospital. The objects of the same and the persons for whose 
 benefit the royal benefaction was so freely given are made sufliciently 
 plain by the context. 
 
 The Charter goes on to state that, in consequence of the 
 good, faithful, and gratuitous services which had been rendered from 
 time to time by Sir Simon, towards ourself, our foresaid Regent, and 
 the said Lords of our Privy Council, as well as for other causes 
 moving us in favour of the Provost, Bailies, Councillors, and Com- 
 munity of our said Burgh of Edinburgh, we have given, granted, 
 and DISPONED, and by the tenor of this Charter, do give, grant, 
 and DISPONE, in their favour and that of their successors. All and 
 Whole the Church called the Collegiate Church of the Trinity, with 
 the churchyard, houses, buildings, ruinous and built, orchards, yards, 
 crofts, dovecot, and pertinents thereof whatsoever, formerly occupied 
 and inhabited by the Provost and Prebendaries of the said Collegiate 
 Church, with all the buildings and yards of the said Hospital, lying 
 contiguous to the said Church, with the yard lying on the west 
 side thereof, at the foot or end of our street or vennel called Leith 
 Wynd. 
 
 It then relates that the Crown having become the undoubted 
 patron of the same, agreeably to the tenor of the Acts and Statutes 
 passed and ordained shortly after the time of the Reformation of 
 religion, and that the Hospital buildings should be used for the susten-
 
 GIFT OF THE BUILDINGS AND SITE, ETC. 45 
 
 tation of the poor and the sick, and for no other use whatever, — it 
 was expedient to transfer these to the Town Council and Community, 
 " in free blench farm for ever." The consideration to be granted by 
 them to the Crown was "a silver penny." 
 
 Provision was, however, made that this gift or grant should in no 
 way be prejudicial to the Provost and Prebendaries of the said Collegiate 
 Church, in regard to their infeftments, rights, and donations to so 
 many of the poor, commonly called beidmen, " now resident in the 
 Hospital, called the Trinity Hospital foresaid, after the tenor of the 
 erection made thereupon." The Charter is duly attested, signed, and 
 sealed in November 1567, being the first year of the reign of King- 
 James VI. 
 
 It may be proper to mention in passing, that an Act was passed 
 by the First Parliament of King James VI., held at Edinburgh, on the 
 15th day of December 1567, by James, Earl of Murray, etc., Regent to 
 this Realm and Lieges.* That Act referred to the Abolition of the 
 Pope, by our Sovereign Lord, with advice of his dearest Regent, and 
 the three Estates of Parliament, by the Statute " maid in the Parliament 
 haldin at Edinburgh, the 24 day of August, the zeir of God, 1560 
 zeiris." The former Act was passed to confirm the latter, and to ordain it 
 to be perpetual law. It states that the jurisdiction and authority of the 
 Bishop of Rome, called "the Pope," has been not only "contumelious 
 to the eternall God, but also very hurtfuU and prejudiciall to our 
 Soveraines authoritie, and common well of this Realme." It then goes 
 on to ordain that the Pope should in future have no jurisdiction or 
 authority in this country ; and that if any of our Sovereign's subjects 
 desired title or right from the said Bishop of Rome, or his sect, each 
 
 * " The Laws and Actes of Parliament, maid be King lames the First and his Svccessovrs 
 Kinges of Scotland." Imprented at Edinburgh, be Robert Waldegrave, prenter to the Kincjes 
 Majestie, 15 Martii. A/iiio Dam. 1597.
 
 46 TRINITY COLLEGE ANU TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 such one would be subjected to the " paines of Barratrie, that is to say, 
 proscription, banischment, and never to brake honour, office, nor 
 dignitie within this Realme." The " contraveneres " of this order were 
 to be called before the justice or his deputes, or before the Lords of the 
 Session (instituted by King James V. on the 17th day of May 1537) 
 and punished therefor, conform to the laws of the country. Anyone 
 who furnished money to such persons, or the purchasers of their title, 
 or who acted as maintainers or defenders of them were to receive a 
 like punishment. It was also statute and ordained, that no Bishop, 
 or other prelate of the realm should use any jurisdiction in all 
 time coming, by the authority of the Bishop of Rome, under similar 
 penalties. 
 
 The other clauses of the Act refer to previous Statutes of the 
 Scottish Parliament, and specially those made during the Reigns of 
 King James the First, Second, Third, Fourth, and Fifth, in which it is 
 alleged that they do not agree " with God's Holy Word, and be them 
 divers persones tuke occasion to maintaine Idolatrie and superstition 
 within the Kirk of God, and repressing of sik persones as were 
 professours of the said Word, quhair throw divers innocents did suffer." 
 All these Acts are declared annulled, and their provisions are to have 
 no force, strength, or effect in all time coming, as being contrary and 
 repugnant to the Word of God, and the Confession of Faith according 
 to the said Word, ratified and approved by the Estates in this present 
 Parliament. 
 
 The Act of Parliament goes on to narrate " The Confession of 
 the Faith and Doctrine beleeved and professed be the Protestantes of 
 Scotland, exhibited to the Estatis of the same in Parliament, and be 
 their publick votis authorised, as a doctrine grounded upon the infallible 
 Word of God." 
 
 The clauses referring to the same, and the subjects therein treated.
 
 GIFT OF THE BUILDINGS AND SITE, ETC. 47 
 
 number twenty-six,* and form quite a "Body of Divinity." There are 
 upwards of 360 Scripture references on the margin which gives the 
 Print more the appearance of what is known as a Reference Bible of the 
 present day, than the rubric of an Act of Parliament. The document 
 ends with the following words : — "Arise (0 Lord) and let thy enimies 
 he confounded, let them fiee from thy presence that hate thy godlie 
 Name. Giue thy seruands strenth to speake thy word in hauldnesse, 
 and let all Natiouns cleaue to thy treiv hnawledge. Amen." 
 
 " Thir Acts and Artickles ar red [sic] in the face of Parliament, 
 
 & ratifyed be the thre Estatis, At Edinburgh, the 17. day 
 
 of August, the zeir of God, 1560. zeiris." 
 
 There were other clauses, which followed thereafter " anent the 
 trew and holy Kirk," also regarding the " King's aith at his Corona- 
 tion," and as to judges of the Court of Session, etc., to which it does 
 not seem requisite specifically to refer. 
 
 Maitland, in his "History of Edinburgh " (1753), page 210, says, 
 " The Reformation of Religion being far advanced in Scotland, the 
 Provost and Canons of this (Trinity) Church judged it their interest 
 to embrace the same ; and, to show they were in earnest, made the 
 
 * The following are the titles of the subjects dealt with, verbatim et literatim : viz. — 1. Of 
 God. 2. Of the Creatioun of Man. 3. Of Original Sinne. 4. Of the Eevelatioun of the 
 Promise. 5. The Continuance, Increase, and Preservatioun of the Kirk. 6. Of the Incarna- 
 tion of Christ lesus. 7. Why it behooued the Mediator to be very God and very Man. 
 8. Electioun. 9. Christ's Death, Passion, and Buriall. 10. Resurrectioun. 11. Ascension. 
 12. Faith in the Holy Ghost. 13. (Awanting.) 14. The Cause of Gude Warkes. 15. What 
 Warkes ar reputed gude befoir God. 16. The Perfectioun of the Law, and the Imperfectioun 
 of Man. 17. Of the Kirk. 18. The Immortalitie of the Saules. 19. Of the Notes, be the 
 quhilk the trewe Kirk is decerned, fra the false, and quha sail be ludge of the Doctrine. 
 20. The Authoritie of the Scriptures. 21. Of generall Councels, — of their power, Authoritie, 
 and Cause of their Convention. 22. Of the Saoramentes. 23. Of the richt Administration of 
 the Sacramentes. 24. To whome Sacramentes appertaine. 25. Of the Civile Magistrate. 
 26. The guiftes freelie giuen to the Kirk. — Waldegrave ut antea, 1597.
 
 48 TRINITY COLLEOE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 followins Declaration or Order : — The Provost and Canons of this 
 College, pursuant to the Keformation of Religion, or change of 
 principles, make the following Articles for the regulation of their 
 Beidmen. . . . The Statutes and Ordinances maid and renewitt be the 
 Provost and Prebendaries be gadderit, to be observit and keipit be the 
 Beidmen and Hospitularis now present and to cum, conform to yair 
 Foundation, Actis and Constitutiones maid yair upoun, Day, Zeir and 
 place foresaid." * 
 
 * The following are the Eegulations referred to : — 
 
 Imprimis, The Hospitularis now present and to cum, sal be swome to observe, keip, and 
 fulfill the Statutes and Ordinances following, under the Panes contenit in the samyn ; and thai 
 quha are now presentit alreddie, sal leir and have perfitlie the Ten Commandimentis of God, 
 the Lordis prayer, and the Articles of the Belief ; and to vat Effect ane certane Day in the 
 Owk to be set be the Maister Hospitaler for instructing of the ignorant ; and thai quha sal 
 happin to be presentit and ressavit heirefter to be expert heirinto, or ellis not to be ressavit. 
 
 Item, It is ordanit, yat the Beidmen sail not be absent fra the Prayeris or Preiching, 
 quhen it sal happin the samyn to be publict in the said College-kirk or Beid-house yairof, 
 without sum leisum Cans and Licence askit and given be the said Maister Hospitaler to yat 
 Effect, the Contempnar heirof to pay ilk Fait Thrie Pennies, or one Half-penny. 
 
 Item, It is ordanit, yat the saidis Beidmen sal prepair and mak ilk ane of yame on yair 
 awin Expenses, ane Blew-gown, conform to the first Foundation, betwixt the Dait of this 
 Presentis, and the first of Junii, anno 1576, nixt to cum, under the Pane of Depreivatioun of 
 him yat sail happin to contempt yis Ordinance, quhais Beidship sal be gevin to ane uther fund 
 qualifiit yairfore. 
 
 Item, Yat the Maister Hospitaler sal have the Cair of the Beidmen, and ressaive yaii- 
 Dewties arissand yame thairof, as he will answer to God, and the Provost and Prebendaries ; 
 and yat their Land or Teinds be set in Few or large Takis be yame and their said Maister 
 Hospitaler, with Consent and Assent of the Provost and Prebendaries ; and yat the Interests 
 and Gersome Silver yat sal happin to be obtenit yairfor, to be tane up and distributed be the 
 Maister Hospitaler amang the said Beidmen equalie, at leist (gif Neid beis) the samyn to be 
 applyit to the repairing and mending of the Hospitale, sa oft as the samyn sail have Neid 
 thairof, as Use is ; and Corapt yairof to be maid to the Provost and Chaptoure, sa oft as he sal 
 require it. 
 
 Item, It is ordanit, gif ony of the Beidmen be drunkinsum, Twilziours, Bannaris, Severars, 
 or outragius, to yair said Maister Hospitaler, to any of the Prebendaries, or to any of the 
 Beidmen yair Brethring, being first reprovit be the Maister Hopitaler, and will not forbeir
 
 GIFT OF THE BUILDINGS AND SITE, ETC. 49 
 
 The buildings of the Hospital at the period when the Town Council 
 got possession of them seem to have been in a somewhat neglected 
 if not a ruinous condition. They had suffered seriously from the 
 invasion of the Duke of Hertford in 1544, when landing at Wardie, he 
 and his army successively seized Newhaven and Leith, and marched on 
 
 the next Fait yairefter, the Offender to pay yairfore Sex Pennies, with Satisfactiouu of the 
 Party offendit ; and the second Fait, Twall Pennies ; the third Fait, the Offender to be put 
 to the Stokkis for the Space of six Howeris and langer, induring the Maister Hospitaler's 
 will. 
 
 Item, And gif it sal happin yis Offender to fail or offend any Man the theird time, it 
 beaud knewin and provin before the Maister Hospitaler, he sal be yairfore removit fra his 
 Beadmanship, and all appertenand yairto, and ane uther qualifiit Persoun placit yairin be the 
 Provost and Prebendaries ; quilkis Faltis and Unlawers sal be tane up be the Maister 
 Hospitaler, and Compt maid to the Chaptoure, sa aft as he sal be requirit, and the samyn to 
 be applyit for beitting and mending of the Hospitale, and keipit to that Effect. 
 
 Item, It is ordanit be the Provost and Chaptoure foresaid, yat how sone it sail pleis God, 
 the said Hospitale be repairit and mendit, yat all the said Beidmen sal have and use yairin 
 Nicht and Day, without Leif askit and given be the said Maister Hospitaler ; ilk Nicht yat 
 thai ar absent, to pay Thrie Pennies the Man ; and yat na Wyfe nor Barnis sal be halden to 
 resort yairin Day nor Nicht, and especiallie in the Nicht, for molesting of the seik, under the 
 Pane of Sex Pennies, to be payit be the Beidmen yat sail happin to have yat Wyfe or Barnis ; 
 and yat nane of the said Beidmen yat are desolate of Wyflis at this present or to cum, sal 
 marie without the Maister Hospitaler's Leif, under the Pane of Depreivatioun, at the leist 
 satisfying of the said Maister Hospitaler. 
 
 Item, It is ordanit, yat the Hospitulares present, and to cum, sal abyde and underly the 
 Correctioun and Executioun of yir Premises of the Maister Hospitaler, and yat thai sal purchas 
 na Lordshippis agains yir Ordinances above written, or to mak plant of yair said Maister, bot 
 to the Provost and Chaptoure ; and gif thai doe the contrair, being knawin, yair Places to 
 waike, and utheris qualifyt to be placit yairin be the Provost and Chaptoure, and ressavit be 
 the Maister Hospitaler, gevin his Ratificatioun of being ressavit yairin to the Persoun 
 presentit, in Write and Possessioun in dew Form, as Use is ; And yis to be done sa oft as ony 
 sal happin to waike, provyding yat the Persoun presentit be examinat be the Maister 
 Hospitaler ; and yat it sail be lesum to the said Maister Hospitaler to agment heirto sic 
 Ordinancis as sal be found relevant, and adapted to the Weill of the said Beidmen ; ordinand 
 him to put yame and yir present Ordinancis in dew Executioun, without Favour, as he sal 
 anser to God, and to the Provost and Chaptoure. Subscrivit be the said Provost and 
 Chaptoure, as follows : — Day, Zeir, and Place above written. 
 G
 
 50 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 to Edinburgh. Of course the Trinity College and Hospital buildings were 
 in the chief route at that time to the city on the west, and Holyrood 
 Palace, Abbey and Chapel on the east. But all these buildings possibly 
 suffered more at the time of the Reformation. The following extracts 
 from Wilsons Memorials of Ediiiburgh may help to emphasise what 
 is here stated and to explain the cause. It was at a time when religious 
 feeling greatly excited all parts of the country. He says : (page 63) 
 " The reforming party now proceeded to those acts of violence, which 
 led to the destruction of nearly all the finest ecclesiastical buildings 
 throughout Scotland. The Queen Regent (Mary of Guise), on learning 
 of their proceedings at Perth, and elsewhere, wrote to the Provost and 
 Magistrates of Edinburgh, requiring them to defend the town, and not 
 suffer the Earl of Argyle and the Congregation to enter ; offering the 
 aid of her French troops for their defence. But this the Magistrates 
 declined, declaring that the entire populace were prepared to favour 
 that party, and could not be restrained by them. Upon receiving this 
 reply, the Regent thereupon withdrew with her French guard from 
 Holyrood Abbey, and retreated towards Dunbar. The Magistrates, 
 though unable to resist this popular movement, exerted themselves to 
 the utmost to restrain its violence. They sent a deputation to the 
 leaders of the reforming party, entreating them to spare both their 
 churches and religious houses, — the former to be continued in use, as 
 places of Protestant worship, and the latter as seminaries of learning. 
 They also placed a guard of sixty men for the protection of St Giles' 
 Church, and as a further security removed the carved stalls of the 
 choir, within the safer shelter of the Tolbooth ; and such was the zeal 
 they displayed, that the Regent afterwards wrote them a letter of 
 thanks for their services. Upon the first rumour of the approach of 
 the Earl of Argyle, the populace attacked both the monasteries of the 
 Black and Grey-Friars, destroying everything they contained, and leav-
 
 GIFT OF THE BUILDINGS AND SITE, ETC. 51 
 
 ing nothing but the bare walls standing. When the Earl of Argyle 
 entered the town with his followers, they immediately proceeded to the 
 work of purification, as it was styled. Trinity College Church and 
 the prebendal buildings attached to it were assailed, and some parts of 
 them utterly destroyed ; and both St Giles' Church, and St Mary's, or 
 the Kirk of Field, were visited, their altars thrown down, and the images 
 destroyed and burnt. They visited Holyrood Abbey, overthrowing the 
 altars, and otherwise defacing the church, and they removed also from 
 thence the coining irons of the mint, compelling the treasurer to deliver 
 up to them a considerable sum of money in his hands." 
 
 It is not surprising, therefore, to find the following Minutes of the 
 Town Council: — 14th November 1567. — "The prouest, baillies, and 
 counsall ordanis Adam Foulertoun, maister of wark of the Trinite 
 College, to caus, with all deligence possibill, conforme to the devise 
 takin be thame, enter to the bigging of the hospitall in the said college, 
 and to transport and intromet with the townis tymmer (wood) lyand 
 in the freris yardis, and to apply the samyn to the werk of the said 
 hospitall, and siclike to mak money of the lime and stane in the saidis 
 freir yardis to be warit vpoun the saidis hospitall as said is. . . . 
 20th November 1567. — The Counsall disponit to certaine persouns in 
 feu farm, the lands sumtyne pertenin to the Blak freris and now to 
 the toun of Edinburgh, for the interes ryluea and yeirlie annual 
 vnderwrittin, to be payit to thair hospitale and sustening of the 
 pure thairof." 
 
 In addition to the miserable condition of the fabrics, the arrange- 
 ments for carrying on the Hospital did not appear to the Town 
 Council to be of a satisfactory nature. It is not surprising, there- 
 fore, that they were compelled to apply to the Parliament for 
 further powers to repair and increase the buildings, having in view the 
 benevolent and charitable purposes to which in future these were to
 
 52 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 be devoted.* The Charter, moreover, which conveyed the buildings, 
 did not convey the revenues of the original College of the Holy Trinity, 
 or of the said Collegiate Church and Hospital. The Provost and 
 Prebendaries, in the meantime, had retained possession of their en- 
 dowments. These became subjects of after negotiation. The Town 
 Council had to look to other sources for obtaining the requisite 
 funds, whereby the inmates of the Hospital might be maintained. 
 
 * The words of the Act of Parliament [1587, c. 14] contain "The Kingis Maiestiea 
 general Eevocatioun," and are iu these words : — ..." Item, we revoik all infeftmentis, 
 giftis and dispositionis quhatsumeuer sett, gevin and grantit be ws in our miuoritie to quhat- 
 sumeuer persoun or personis in fie feu ferme or lyfrent of quhatsumeuir hospittalis, maison- 
 dewis, landis, or rentis appertening thairto in hurt and preiudice of our conscience, to the end 
 that the saidis hospitallis may be reduceit to thair first institution for vphalding of the puir : 
 Prouidiug alwayes that the rentis of the hospitall of the Trinitie College beside the burgh of 
 Edinburgh, quhilk is now decayit, assignit and gevin to the new hospitall erectit to [by] the 
 Prouest, Baillies, and Counsall of the burgh of Edinburgh be nawayes comprehendit vnder 
 this present reuocatioun."
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 OTHER CHARTERS — THE GOLDEN CHARTER. 
 
 |S already mentioned, the Charter of 1567 did not convey any 
 of the revenues or endowments of the Old Trinity College 
 Church and Hospital, but merely the buildings and the 
 grounds adjoining. This was, however, in course of time, rectified. 
 By a Charter by King James VI., confirming Queen Mary's former one 
 (of 13th March 1566), His Majesty conveyed of new the Kirk-livings to 
 the Provost, Bailies, Council, and Community of the Burgh of 
 Edinburgh. This Charter was executed at Stirling, on the 14th day 
 of April 1582. As these Kirk-livings and two subsequent Charters 
 will be more specifically referred to at a future time, when larger 
 grants were obtained from the Crown, it seems undesirable at the 
 present stage to give this deed more than a passing notice. 
 
 In 1585, the Magistrates and Town Council purchased from Mr 
 Robert Pont,* the last Provost of the Trinity College, his benefice of the 
 
 * Pont was a Judge of the Court of Session, an eminent churchman, and a miscellaneous 
 writer. He was the son of John de Pont, an illustrious Venetian, who came to Scotland in 
 the train of Mary of Guise. 
 
 63
 
 54 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 provostry, with all the estates, teinds, patronages, and other privileges 
 and emoluments belonging thereto, which the said Robert Pont forth- 
 with resigned into the King's hands for their behoof. This Contract 
 between the Town Council and Mr Pont is dated at Edinburgh, the 
 26th April 1585. In it he states that he is moved to grant the same, 
 by great zeal, good conscience, and an earnest desire to advance the 
 Hospitals and Colleges of the said Burgh to be founded by the Town 
 Council and their successors ; as well as out of a regard for the poor, 
 sick, aged, decrepid, fatherless and orphans ; and for instruction of the 
 youth in letters and virtue, whereby charity may increase, to the glory 
 of God and for the sake of true religion within the realm. The sum 
 which was agreed by the Provost, Bailies and Town Council to pay to 
 Pont during all the days of his natural lifetime, was "ane hundreth 
 threescoir pundis money foirsaid at twa termes in the yeir, Whitsounday 
 and Martymes in winter be equale proportiones, begynnand the first 
 termes payment at the feast of Martymes nixttocum." It was made a 
 matter of paction that for the sure payment of the same, the Magistrates 
 and Council bound and obliged themselves, for them and their successors, 
 to infeft the said Mr Robert, or any other one he pleased to act for him, 
 in an annual rent of the said amount, " furth of thair commoun mylnis, 
 pertening to thair said Toun of Edinburgh, sufficientlie be charter and 
 sesing, or at the leist be ane sufficient sesing to be given thairupon." 
 The Contract bears the signatures of " M. Robert Pont, Prouest off the 
 Trinitie College," and " Alexander Borthwick of Nethirlany." 
 
 It is proper to state that, notwithstanding the great zeal and 
 interest which Pont professed to take in polite learning and the cause 
 of the poor, the Magistrates and Council had very great difficulty 
 in dealing with him, and bringing him to terms. This we shall 
 have occasion to see in a future chapter. 
 
 The Magistrates and Town Council having thus by the transaction
 
 OTHER CHARTERS — ^THE GOLDEN CHARTER. 55 
 
 with Sir Simon Preston in 1567, and by their subsequent contract with 
 Kobert Pont, acquired full right to the benefice of the Trinity College, 
 with all its pertinents and appurtenances, they forthwith applied for 
 and obtained a new Charter from King James. By this deed, which is 
 dated at Dunfermline, the 23d day of June 1585 (about two months 
 after the Town Council's contract with Pont), His Majesty made a new 
 grant of the benefice, etc., to them. The subjects so made over were 
 those assigned by the Foundation Charter of the Collegiate Church of 
 1462, for the support of the Provost and Prebendaries of the same. 
 This Charter also authorises the Magistrates and Council to rebuild the 
 Hospital which was then in a ruinous condition, in a more convenient 
 situation at or near the College. The Magistrates and Council by this 
 Charter — the details of which it is not requisite to relate, — came to be 
 vested in the whole subjects, including the Church and Hospital build- 
 ings, for the objects specified in the writs referred to, viz., for the 
 support of the sick and decrepid poor within the Hospital, and of poor 
 scholars in the College and Schools. 
 
 Prior to this time, the old Hospital buildings were on the east side 
 of Leith Wynd. The old buildings were then taken down, and part of 
 the College buildings was fitted up and converted into a new Hospital. 
 The buildings, so appropriated, were to the south of the College Church, 
 immediately adjoining thereto, and on the same side of the Leith 
 Wynd. These buildings were ever afterwards, until their removal in 
 1848 for railway purposes, used and employed to the purposes to which 
 they were to be devoted — that is to say, the Hospital was used 
 for hospital purposes, while the Church was appropriated by the 
 Magistrates and Council to the use of the inhabitants of the quarter 
 of the town in which it was situated. According to Maitland, the 
 area of the parish belonging to this Church was as follows : — viz. — 
 " The southern side of the Nordloch, from Warriston's Close eastwards ;
 
 56 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 all Halkerstone's Wynd, and from Gray's Close, eastwards ; all the 
 northern part of the High Street to the Netherbow Port, with all the 
 closes, etc., therein ; together with the western side of Leith Wynd, St 
 Mary's Wynd, and the head of the Canongate." At the time Maitland 
 wrote, there were in the parish six hundred and seventy-seven families ; 
 and of " examinable persons too thousand four hundred and sixty-seven." 
 It is very questionable if the district contains at the present day one- 
 third of the number of inhabitants, which it did then, viz., in 1753. 
 
 In 1587, the King granted another Charter, dated at Holyrood- 
 house, on the 26th day of May, in which he confirmed his previous 
 Charter of 1585, and of new granted the Trinity College, and the whole 
 endowments and property thereof, to the Provost, Bailies, Council, and 
 Community of the Burgh of Edinburgh. That Charter proceeds upon 
 a narrative of the faithful services of the Town, and of their zeal to- 
 wards sustentation of the true gospel, etc. It sets forth as objects of 
 the grant, that the study of humane letters might flourish and increase 
 within the City, and that the indigent and diseased poor might be 
 comforted by means of an hospital. It subsumes that the fruits, profits 
 and emoluments of the Trinity College had been transferred for the use 
 of the ministers, the professors of letters, and the support of the poor. 
 It states that these are given and conceded to the Town Council on 
 behalf of the Community, and to their successors in perpetuity, in order 
 that the fruits, profits, and emoluments of the subjects so disponed may 
 be applied to the sustentation of the ministers of the true religion, for 
 the poor, and the cultivation of learning, by means of College and 
 Grammar Schools. There is a clause specially declaring that the 
 Magistrates and Council should have the full right of property in the 
 subjects in all time coming. Power is also given to them to maintain 
 as many poor persons in the Trinity Hospital, recently repaired by 
 them, as its funds would admit of ; and they were authorised to dispose
 
 OTHER CHARTERS — THE GOLDEN CHARTER. 57 
 
 of the old buildings, if they saw fit. The lands adjoining known as 
 " Dingwall Castle " they were permitted to sell. This is the site on 
 which the old Orphan Hospital used to stand in later times. 
 
 During the same year, His Majesty granted another Charter to 
 the Town Council, proceeding on the narrative of his having attained 
 majority, and of the general annexation of Church lands to the Crown ; 
 with the exception of what had been given over for the benefit of 
 hospitals, schools and colleges ; — of the zeal and liberality of the 
 Magistrates and Town Council in providing for their ministers, for 
 building of an hospital and sustaining of the poor, the erection of the 
 College, and the want of a sufficient provision for the said ministers, 
 hospitals, and schools. His Majesty, then, referring to the previous 
 grants by Queen Mary and by himself — all of which had been ex- 
 cepted from the general revocation of the Crown grants — ratifies and 
 approves of the whole preceding royal Charters, excepting that of 
 1582 (the Foundation Charter of the College or University of the City 
 of Edinburgh). The Charter then contains a clause of novodamus 
 making over to the Magistrates and Town Council the whole of the sub- 
 jects which were contained in the Charters so confirmed, including the 
 Trinity College Church and the Trinity Hospital. All these subjects were 
 so made over to, and the grant was accepted by, the Magistrates and 
 Town Council, under an express provision in the Charter as to the pur- 
 poses for which they were to be applied — viz., for the maintenance and 
 support of the clergy, and the poor, and for the support of educational 
 establishments created and erected by the Corporation,* or their suc- 
 cessors on behalf of the Community of Edinburgh. 
 
 * The terms of the Charter are as follow : — Pro ministrorum et pauperum sustentatione 
 
 ac pro intertenumento dictii collegij per ipsos nuper erecti quod diet prepositus 
 
 ballivi et communitas et eorum successores tenebunter sustentari ministros apud suas ecclesias 
 pro present! ibid servien, et cetera, et cetera. 
 
 H
 
 58 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 On the 5th day of June 1592, being the twelfth Parliament of 
 King James VI., an Act was passed by the Scottish Legislature, 
 ratifying the whole grants and mortifications by Queen Mary and 
 her son, of the lands, benefices and rents devoted for sustentation 
 of the ministers within the burgh, and their successors, in favour of 
 their ministry and hospital, the subjects contained in the said grants 
 to remain with the Provost, Bailies, Council, and Community of the 
 said burgh, and their successors in time coming, for sustentation of 
 their said ministry and Hospital. It also provided for half of the 
 Vicarage of Currie, and the whole of the Vicarage of the Parish of 
 Dumbarney being vested in the Town Council, for the purposes of 
 Trinity College. It is also, by the said Act, enacted and declared, 
 that the Magistrates and Council shall have full right of property and 
 superiority of the said subjects. The lands, annual rents, houses, yards 
 and buildings of the Trinity College are specially mentioned, as forming 
 parts of the subjects annexed.* A subsequent Act to the same effect was 
 passed during the following year, viz., on the 21st day of July 1593. 
 
 * The words of the Act of Parliament are to the following effect : — 
 
 The landes, annual rentes, houses, zairdes, and Biggingea of the Trinitie College, situate 
 within the said Burgh of Edinburgh, alsweil pertaining to the Provest as to the Prebendars 
 thereof, and commoun landes, and annual rentes of the same. Quhilk annexation his Hienesse 
 with advise of his saidis Estaites in Parliament, ratifies and apprievis : As als His Majestie 
 with advise of his saidis Estaites, of new annexis the vther halfe of the Vicarage of Curry, to 
 the quhilk na person is provided : And the haill Vicarage of the said Kirk of Dumbamy, 
 quhilk alswa vakis be deprivation of N. N., last possessour of the same : To remaine with the 
 Provost, Baillies, Councell, and Commuuitie of the said Burgh, and their successoures in time 
 camming, for sustentation of their said ministerie and hospitall. And our Soueraine Lord, 
 and Estaites foresaids, decernis and declaris, that nane of thir particulars before written, 
 disponed of before, and newlie annexed, for sustentation of the said Ministerie and hospitall, 
 were, ar, or salbe ever comprehended in the general! Annexation of the Ecclesiasticall lands 
 and rentes to the Croun ; Bot wer, ar, and salbe excepted therefra : Likeas his Majestie and 
 Estaites foresaidis, of new eiceptis the samin, not in onely fra the said annexation : bot fra 
 his Hienesse reuocation, maid in time by-past, or maid in this present Parliament ; And
 
 OTHER CHARTERS — THE GOLDEN CHARTER. 59 
 
 In 1603, the Magistrates and Town Council obtained from King 
 James VI. the chief Charter that he granted them during his reign. 
 That deed, because of its great importance has been denominated, 
 and is now well known as, " The Golden Charter." It was granted at 
 Holy rood on the 15 th day of March. The King had just completed the 
 twenty-fifth year of his reign. The object of this Charter was to con- 
 solidate and ratify a large number of royal grants given to the City of 
 Edinburgh, as well as to confirm several previous Charters, infeftments, 
 precepts, instruments of sasine, and other documents relating to the 
 burgh. It contains special confirmation of many of the Charters 
 already referred to, particularly of those granted in 1566, 1567, 1582, 
 1585, and 1587, and of the whole properties or subjects belonging to 
 the town. It contains a new grant of the whole, with a clause uniting 
 the various subjects. It was granted by His Majesty in consequence of 
 his ancestors, of most happy memory, having advanced Edinburgh into 
 the dignity and eminence of a Royal City, and through the care, industry, 
 and indefatigable labours of the citizens sailing to foreign regions and 
 exercising trade, the revenue of our royal patrimony has been increased, 
 the kingdom enriched, and our subjects by their example led to a more 
 refined way of living ; and that the said City, in bearing public burdens, 
 in paying taxes and tributes, and in furnishing exactions and imposts, 
 is subject to and sustains the greatest burden when compared with 
 other cities, and that it is not only now, but for ages past has been, 
 the first and most distinguished city of the whole kingdom, and most 
 
 declaris alswa, that the saidis Provest, Baillies, Councell and Comniunitie, and their 
 successoures, in all time cumming, hes, and sail haue sik full richt of propertie and superioritie 
 of the foresaidis landes, annuall rentes and revenues, teunentes and tennendries, and service 
 of free-tennentes thereof : as had the Bishoppes, Abbotes, Priors, Friers, Menkes, Nunnes, 
 Chaplanes, and Prebendares, to quhom the saidis landes and annuall-rentes, perteined of 
 before : Notwithstanding, ony acte or constitution, preceding the dait hereof. — Waldegrave, 
 ut antea, 1597.
 
 60 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 fitted to show forth the dignity and increase the fame of our country ; 
 as being the place best fitted for holding public assemblies, where we, 
 our nobles, counsellors, and courtiers most frequently reside, and the 
 stated general conventions are usually held ; which also the Supreme 
 Court, constituted for the trial of civil suits, from its institution, and 
 the supreme judge of capital or criminal causes, have chosen as their 
 fixed quarters and seat : Moreover, calling to account most notable 
 services rendered by the City to us and our illustrious predecessors, in 
 time of peace and war, not only against foreign enemies, but also 
 against rebels at home, in internal commotions as well as intestine wars, 
 directed against the royal Crown, sometimes when the Princes were 
 infants, with cruel eS"usion of blood, and plundering of their goods, as 
 well as the burning of our buildings and property : Understanding 
 that the Magistrates and Citizens of Edinburgh, have undertaken to 
 renovate and extend their pier and port of Leith, to construct a 
 market-place, as well as a proper area with a wooden fence, for the 
 purpose of receiving and selling wool, logs, and timber of all sorts ; 
 for the erection of buildings, the repairing of streets, the building 
 of more kirks and churches, and the planting of the same, with a 
 sufiicient number of ministers, liberal stipends out of the public funds 
 being given to them, the erecting and founding of colleges for the 
 study of letters, the building of hospitals and houses for orphans, 
 and the supplying of them with sufiicient revenues, and other great 
 and distinguished public works, for the glory of the Divine name, 
 the increase of religion and piety, and the advantage of our whole 
 Kingdom — promoted by them at that time, with great diligence, and 
 that they are daily contriving to do (or confer) still greater benefits : 
 In the completion of which, and the prosecution of other afi'airs of 
 still greater importance to our Majesty, by the payment of large sums 
 of money, the Common Good and Revenues of the City are being
 
 OTHER CHARTERS — THE GOLDEN CHARTER. 61 
 
 expended, and the patrimonies of private citizens are being diminished 
 and their means impaired : And we, being neither in anywise like 
 our predecessors, nor even inferior to them in our munificence or 
 liberality, and the exhibition of our gratitude towards all our subjects, 
 who by their industry, virtues, and magnanimity, can at all deserve 
 well of us, HAVE RESOLVED TO LEAVE to this our city and its citizens, — 
 for their sincere love and fidelity toward us, and services and deeds 
 most worthy of commendation — a perpetual monument to posterity, and 
 a testimony of our royal gratitude and favour, which shall endure 
 to generations yet unborn, not only by a ratification of their original 
 immunities and privileges, confirming their infeftments in public lands, 
 revenues, and royal gifts or grants, but also by the enlargement or 
 augmentation of new, greater, and more worthy [rights and privileges] 
 beyond and above the other cities and towns of our Kingdom. For 
 these and very many other just causes and reasons, moving and impelling 
 us, after our perfect age, and long after our foresaid revocations, of 
 our own proper motion and certain knowledge, and with the advice 
 and consent of the Lords of our Privy Council, as well as with the 
 expressed advice, consent, and assent of our most trusty and well- 
 beloved councillors. Sir George Home of Spott, knight, our treasurer ; 
 and Sir David Murray of Gosperdy, knight, our comptroller, and 
 Master John Preston of Fentonbarns, our collector-general and 
 treasurer of our new augmentations of the Church lands of this our 
 Kingdom to the Crown, we have ratified, approved, and for us and 
 our successors confirmed for ever. 
 
 The " Golden Charter " then goes on to relate the Charter granted 
 by Mary Queen of Scots "our late dearest mother," in 1556 ; it then 
 narrates the Charter of Confirmation granted by King James himself in 
 1582. The details of both of these Charters are all recapitulated. 
 Reference is then made to the Charter of 1567, and to the various
 
 62 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 rights, privileges, and grants or gifts therein conveyed. It then goes 
 on to convey, and in feu-farm heritably demit, and by this our present 
 Charter confirm, to our foresaid well-beloved servants, the Provost, 
 Bailies, Councillors, Burgesses, and Community of our said Burgh of 
 Edinburgh, and their successors for ever, all and whole the foresaid 
 Burgh of Edinburgh, with walls, bulwarks, ditches, gates, ways, streets, 
 causeways, lands, territories, and community of the same, mills, mill- 
 lands, multures, dams, banks, haughs, parts and pertinents, creating 
 and erecting the foresaid Burgh into a free Royal Burgh, with all the 
 sundry liberties, privileges, immunities, and jurisdictions which by the 
 laws and custom of our Kingdom have pertained, do pertain, or can 
 justly belong to a free Royal Burgh. This privilege was granted " in and 
 through all the bounds as far as the sheriffdom principal of Edinburgh 
 extends, or may be extended, both in length and breadth." A special 
 reference is made thus : — " From the brae commonly called ' Edge 
 Buklingbray ' on the east to the water called ' Almound Watter ' on 
 the west, and as far as the foresaid sheriffdom extends towards the 
 south, and to ' the myd watter of Forth ' to the north." 
 
 Special allusion is then made to the provostry and prebends of 
 Trinity College and Hospital, with the annual revenues pertaining to 
 the same, to the Archdeaconry of Lothian, with the parsonage and 
 vicarage of Curry, — all which the Provost, Bailies, Dean of Guild, 
 Treasurer, Councillors, and Community of our said Burgh of Edinburgh, 
 and their successors in all time coming, are freely and peaceably to 
 enjoy and possess for the purposes already stated. 
 
 One other quotation cannot fail at the present time to be referred 
 to. It is as follows : — " And we, considering the said Provost, Bailies, 
 Councillors and Community of our said Burgh, to be a Corporation and 
 Community which in its own nature endures, having no particular 
 successor therefore we decern and ordain that the foresaid
 
 OTHER CHARTERS — THE GOLDEN CHARTER. 63 
 
 sasine once taken, by virtue of this our present new infeftment, by the 
 Provost or by one of the Bailies of our said Burgh, in name of all the 
 Burgesses and Community of the same and their successors, by delivery 
 of earth and stone for the foresaid Burgh lands, mills, and other 
 accessories and dependencies of the same, and by the delivery of a 
 golden penny for the rents, duties, customs, and others their accessories 
 and dependencies, and by the delivery of a baton for the offices and 
 jurisdictions foresaid, and for the superiority of the foresaid town of 
 Leith, and others their accessories and dependencies, and for the delivery 
 of a psalm book for the foresaid benefices, churches, teinds, rents, and 
 others the accessories and dependencies of the same, shall stand and be 
 for ever sufficient without any renovation, retaking, or obtaining of a 
 new sasine hereafter," etc., etc. 
 
 The payment which the Town Council was required to make to the 
 Crown for all the privileges, rights, and revenues conferred upon them 
 by " the Golden Charter " was fifty-two merks sterling, at the terms of 
 Whitsunday and Martinmas, by equal portions in name of feu-farm.
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 ST GILES — SCIENNES — PAULS WORK, ETC. 
 
 N^ addition to those which have been already alluded to and 
 specially to the " Golden Charter," there are two additional 
 deeds which were subsequently granted. These are, first, a 
 Charter granted by King James the Sixth, under his Great Seal, 
 confirming previous grants of the Kirk-livings, and of new granting 
 the same to the Provost, Bailies, Council, and Community of the 
 Burgh of Edinburgh. This Charter was granted at Beauvoir Castle, 
 on the 7th day of August 1612. The other is a Charter granted by 
 King Charles the First, under his Great Seal, to the foresaid 
 authorities, and it is signed at Newmarket, on the 23d day of 
 October 1636. There are also several Acts of Parliament bearing 
 on the same subject. It may be expedient, therefore, to allude to 
 these in their chronological order. 
 
 The first, as already stated, is by King James VI., and it was 
 the last of the charters he granted to Edinburgh. It recapitulates 
 the grant made by "our dearest mother Mary and others and most
 
 ST GILES — SCIENNES — PAUL's WORK, ETC. 65 
 
 noble progenitors of worthy memory, by virtue of divers infeftments, 
 mortifications, annexations, gifts, and dispositions," granted by tbem 
 to the Town Council of Edinburgh on behalf of the Community, 
 towards the increase of policy within the Burgh, the proper support 
 of the clergy, and the masters, regents, and other professors of liberal 
 sciences within the College of the said Burgh ; as well as for the 
 support and entertainment of the Hospital's poor, mutilated and 
 indigent persons, and for orphans and infants destitute of parents. 
 It then goes on to enumerate all those grants which had been 
 previously made in favour of chaplainries, altarages, and prebends, 
 in any church, chapel, or college within the liberty of our said Burgh 
 of Edinburgh, along with the emoluments and duties, which formerly 
 belonged to and were uplifted by the Friars Dominican, Preachers, 
 and Minorites or Franciscans of our said Burgh ; together with all the 
 proceeds which were annually given to, and collected ("given and 
 doted") on behalf of "whatsoever chaplainries, altarages, churches, 
 burials or anniversaries, wheresoever the same lie within our Kingdom 
 of Scotland." It next narrated the benefice of the provostry of 
 the Trinity College, situated near the Burgh, with all and sundry 
 churches, teind sheaves, and other teinds, etc., with the rights of 
 patronage of prebendaries, and chaplainries, and presentations of poor 
 orators, in Scots called beidmen or bedlyaris, and other officers of 
 Trinity College, belonging to, and incumbents of the same. It then 
 referred to the parish churches of Soltray and Lempitlaw, and other 
 churches and teinds annexed thereto, which had been given over to 
 the provostry, together with the orchard and yard called " Dingwall 
 Castle." This was, as has been already noticed, part of the Old 
 Trinity Hospital ground. All these revenues, as have been specified, 
 were anew granted to the civic authorities of Edinburgh, for the 
 purposes already stated. 
 I
 
 fiG TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 The Charter then proceeded to state, that " we had formerly 
 annexed to the College of our said Burgh, the acres of land, place and 
 tenements of the Church of the Fields, or Kirk of Field, situated within 
 the liberty of our said Burgh," together with the parsonage and 
 vicarage of the Church of Currie, and all the teinds, Church lands, 
 pertinents, and privileges of the same, for the support of the masters, 
 regents, and other professors serving the cure within the said College, 
 to be intromitted with, uplifted, used, and disponed upon by the said 
 Corporation of Edinburgh, as acting on behalf of the Community ; and 
 the same were ordained to be granted for the use of the said masters, 
 regents, and other professors specified. 
 
 Provision is then made, with the advice of the Estates of our 
 Kingdom of Scotland, which was convened in the Parliament held at 
 Edinburgh, on the 5th day of June 1592, that all the " donations and 
 mortifications made by our late dearest mother, of the lands, benefices, 
 and rents founded and mortified for the sustentation of the ministers 
 of the Burgh, and for the Hospitals, should be ratified, and of new 
 annexed to the Community of the said Burgh, and their successors," 
 as well as all lands and annual rents lying [outwith the freedom] of 
 the said Burgh, annexed to any benefice, prebend, or religious place 
 situated within the freedom of the said Burgh, with all "profits, 
 emoluments, feu-fermes, maills, and duties thereof." The Provost, 
 Bailies, Councillors, and Community of the Town were further 
 surrogated in the full possession, right, and title of all the lands 
 and their emoluments within the Burgh which had previously per- 
 tained to any bishop, abbot, commendator, prior, or other ecclesiastical 
 superior within Scotland. A new infeftment was directed to be 
 expede thereupon for security, if such a course should be deemed 
 advisable. 
 
 The Church of Dumbarnie is then dealt with, along with the
 
 ST GILES — SCIENNES — PAUL's WORK, ETC. 67 
 
 churches of Potie and Moncrieff, lying within the Sheriffdom of Perth, 
 as well as the vicarage of Currie, formerly referred to, together 
 with all the buildings and yards of Trinity College, with the rights, 
 possessions and revenues of the same which are duly handed 
 over to the Town Council, as acting for the Community of Edin- 
 burgh, to be devoted in all time coming to the sustentation of 
 their said ministry and hospital. Power was given to them to 
 possess full right of property and superiority of the " said lands, 
 annual rents and revenues, tenants, tendandries, and service of free 
 tenants of the same, as had the bishops, abbots, priors, friars, 
 monks, sisters, nuns, chaplains, and prebendaries to whom the 
 said lands and annual rents formerly belonged, notwithstanding 
 any Act or Constitution preceding the said Act of our Parliament, 
 as in the same is more fully contained." 
 
 The Charter goes on to relate, that His Majesty being of 
 lawful and perfect age, and having the advice and consent of the 
 Lords of Privy Council, hereby ratifies, approves, and confirms all 
 that had been done previously by himself, and by " our said late 
 dearest mother, and others our most noble progenitors," in favour of 
 the said Provost, Bailies, and Councillors of our said Burgh of 
 Edinburgh, the College, Schools, and Hospitals of the same, for the 
 entertainment of the ministry " serving the cure at the churches of 
 the said Burgh," of the masters, regents, and other professors serving 
 the cure within the foresaid College and Schools of poor scholars and 
 other poor, aged, decrepit, indigent persons, orphans and infants des- 
 titute of parents within the said Burgh. 
 
 The Charter refers in detail to all that has been conveyed to 
 the Town Council, which it is unnecessary here to repeat. 
 
 His Majesty then goes on to add to his gifts "All and whole 
 the provostry of the church of St Giles, situated within our said Burgh,
 
 68 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 with all and sundry churches, prebends, and chaplainries belonging and 
 pertaining thereto. There is likewise included all and whole the nuns' 
 place of Scheynis, commonly called the Nunrie (Nunnery) of the 
 Scheynis* (Sciennes, as it is now called,) lying within the freedom and 
 territory of our said Burgh, with the place and yards of the same, 
 and all the lands, houses, buildings, churches, chaplainries, prebends, 
 teind sheaves, and other teinds, fruits, rents, emoluments, casualties, 
 rights, profits, tenants, tenandries and service of free tenants, and their 
 just pertinents whatsoever, pertaining and belonging to the same, 
 wherever the same are or lie within our said Kingdom of Scotland. 
 There is also conveyed by the same deed to the Town Council, 
 " All and whole the Hospital of the Work of St Paul, commonly 
 called Sanct PauUis Work, lying at the foot of the vennel called 
 Leyth Wynd," near our said Burgh of Edinburgh on the east side of 
 
 * About the year 1512, some pious ladies and others were engaged in founding a new 
 Convent in Edinburgh, of the order of Dominican Nuus, under the invocation of St Katharine 
 of Sienna. When the buildings were nearly completed, they applied for the sanction of the 
 Holy See ; and a copy of the Bull which Pope Leo X. sent them is understood to be preserved 
 to the present day. It is styled "The Bull of Erection of the Convent of Sisters of St 
 Katharine, of Senis, near Edinburgh." The Ladye Seytoun whose name occurs in the Bull, was 
 a daughter of Patrick, first Earl of Bothwell. Her maiden name was Ladye Jane Hepburn. 
 She was married to George, third Earl of Seytoun, and became the mother of three sons and 
 a daughter. Her husband was killed at the battle of Flodden, and he was " earthed (buried) 
 in the queir of Seytoun church (near Tranent, iu East Lothian) beside his father." The 
 Chronicle of Seytoun says, — After whose decease his lady remained a widow for forty-five 
 years. She was a noble, wise, and generous widow. "Sche gydit (guided) her sonnis leving 
 quhill he was cumit of age." She thereafter resided iu the place of " Senis," on the Borough- 
 muir, beside Edinburgh, during the remainder of her lifetime. " Quhilk place sche helpit to 
 fund and big as maist principale. Sche did mony gude actis." 
 
 She lived to a good old age. Slie died iu 1558, in the Convent of the Sciennes, and was 
 buried in the choir of Seytoun beside her husband. She also devoted her means, according 
 to her death-bed settlement, many sums of money to her friends, as well as to "religious 
 places and Kirks." — History or Chronicle of the House of Seytoun, pages 37-41.
 
 ST GILES — SCIENNES — PAUL's WORK, ETC. 69 
 
 the same vennel. The Hospital of St Paul stood almost immediately 
 opposite to the Trinity Hospital, on the south-east side of the road. 
 
 This charity foundation seems to have been given to the Town 
 Council, by a Charter granted by Thomas Spence, Bishop of Aberdeen. 
 The Hospital was dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and was called 
 " The Hospital of our Lady in Leith Wynd." It was founded by 
 consent of AVilliam, Archbishop of St Andrews, whose name was 
 ' William Schevez,' who came to that See in the year 1478 ; and 
 Bishop Spence, the founder, dying in the year 1482, it must there- 
 fore have been founded in 1479. The object of the benefaction 
 was to entertain twelve poor men, or beidmen. It has been thought 
 requisite to refer specially to Paul's Work,* as the funds are now 
 
 * The regulations made by the Town Council in 1582, in respect of the Master of Paul's 
 Work (Council Register, Vol. VI. folio 190), were to the following effect :— 
 
 1. It is requisite that (the Master) in his outward Life and Manners, that he be of an gud 
 Name, and honest Conversation, grave and digest in his Behaviour, not given to ony common 
 or notabill Vice as ane Blasphemer of Goddis Name, and Swerer of execrable Aithes, ane 
 Drunkard, Dyssyer, Cairter, contentious, or leading ane vagebund or idle life, but exerceing 
 himself in sum honest Industrie. 
 
 2. That he can perfectlie reid and wryte, that he be of indifferent Knowledge, Witt, and 
 Judgement, to behave himself circumspectlie, and in favour of all gud Men ; diligent and 
 expert to govern his Brethren, according to the Eewles given to them, and be cairfull 
 thairiuto. 
 
 3. In Eeligioun, that he be ane opin and zelous Professour of the trew Eeligioun, at present 
 publicklie preichit within this Eealme, and dilligentlie Keiper of the Preicheing and Prayers, 
 habill and qualifiet to instruct his Brethren in the principal Grounds of Eeligioun, and na 
 less cairfull to do the same, instructing and examining thame thairunto. 
 
 4. That he convene with his Brethren ilk day, at ten Houris before None, and thrie 
 Houris after None, in the New Hospitale, in the Trinitie College, where he sail baith dis- 
 tinctlie and devoutlie reid to thame, and the Puir of the said Hospital, the Common Prayers ; 
 to be conversant togidder ane Hour or mair, in serving God, and praying for Increase of the 
 Evangill, the Prosperitie of the King's Grace and haill Eealme, and for the common Weill 
 of this Town tliair Patronis.
 
 70 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 annually merged in Trinity Hospital, and as its revenues were at 
 one time demanded to be handed over to the City Parochial Board, 
 to which a future reference will be made. 
 
 It was originally endowed to the extent of £119, 15s. per 
 annum, Scots money. But by the benefactions of other friends, 
 chiefly through the influence and exertions of the Members of the 
 Corporation, this was in 1573 increased to £137, 19s. 7d. of the 
 same money. In 1582, the Lord Provost, Magistrates, and Councillors 
 appointed a Master for the Paul's Work Hospital, and they at the 
 
 5. That he gif Attendance, that nane of his Brethren be absent from the said Prayers 
 and execute upon theme (that are) the Paines conteith in the Eewles gevin to them, that he 
 sie they keip lykwayes the Prayers and Preiching in the Town. 
 
 6. Anent the comon Kent of the said Hospitale, that he dilligentlie and cairfullie collect and 
 in-bring the same upon his own Expensis, and distribute it faithfullie amongis his Brether, 
 conforme to the principall Foundatioun, and sail mak Compt. thereof zeirlie, at the making 
 of the Townis Comptis to the gud Town, their Patron. 
 
 7. That he do all Things appointit to him in the principall Foundatioun, according to the 
 Mynd of the Foundator, and haif ane Copie in Scottes, gif he understand not the Latin, nor 
 astricting him alwayes, nor his Brether, to ony thing contenit thairin, repugnant to the trew 
 Religioun ; nor zit astricting thame to that, quhilk, in respect to the present Estaite of the 
 said Hospitale, is not possible to be keipit, quhil it be aither repairit, the Rent augmentit, 
 or sic uther gud Order tane thairwith. 
 
 8. That he mention and reid to his Brether now present, and to everie ane that sail be 
 admittet hereafter, at the Tyme of ressaving the Eewles in the said Foundatioun, togidder 
 with thir present Articles and Laws gevin, alsweill to him as thame, that thay pretend na 
 Excuse of Ignorance. 
 
 9. That he find sufficient responsall Suretie to the Patrons for doing his Office in the 
 observing of the said Foundatioun and their present Eewles, and to be answerable for his 
 Intromission with the comon Eent of the said Hospitale. 
 
 Fynallie, that he sail underly all further Order that shall be injoinit to him be his said 
 Patrones or be the Kirk of this Burgh with their Avise. 
 
 Gif he failzie in ony Pointis heir mentionate or be found in Neglect and cairlesa of his 
 Dewtie, or zit obstinate, wilfull, or disobedient, he sail be depryvit for ever fra the said 
 office, and otherwayes puuisit at tlie Discratioun of the said Patrones.
 
 ST GILES — SCIENNES — PAUL's WORK, ETC. 71 
 
 same time drew up a series of Orders which had to he observed by 
 the Master, as well as by the Brethren and Beidmen.* 
 
 The Town Council of Edinburgh, in 1619, having taken into 
 their most serious consideration, that the extension of woollen manu- 
 factures would not only be of great advantage to the nation at large, 
 but to the City of Edinburgh in particular, by the employment of 
 a system of government which it was likely to give to many poor 
 persons ; for this benevolent purpose, they entered into correspondence 
 with a Mr William Dickson, of the City of Delft, in the province of 
 Holland, to come to Edinburgh, for the express object of conferring 
 with them regarding their proposed measures. Dickson duly arrived ; 
 and the Town Council of the day having, to their minds, sufficiently 
 attested his work, entered into a contract with him to instruct 
 the people in manufacturing woollen stuffs, such as grograms, says, 
 bays, etc. Dickson was to engage and bring over from Delft four 
 men who were expert in the art, with the necessary instruments or 
 
 * Anent the Beidmen and Brether of the said Hospitale. — Council Records, 1582, Vol. VI. 
 folio 191. 
 
 1. In thair outword Lyfe and Manners, that thay be not defilit with Blame of an}' 
 notable Vice, bot of gud Fame and Conversatioun, na Blasphemer or Swerer, Drunkard, Cairter, 
 Dysser, Theffes, or Pykers, contentious, idill, or vagabund Persones, na oppin nor sturdie 
 Beggars, bot exerceing thamselves in sum honest and lawfull Trade or Schift, gif Seikness, 
 Aige, or Impotence may suffer thame. 
 
 2. That thay be obedient to their Maister, sua that he haif na Caus to complene ; for the 
 Persons, obstinate, willfull and disobedient, sail be extremelie punisit and depryvit. 
 
 3. In Religioun that they be na Papistes, bot of the trew Eeligioun, knawand the chief 
 Grouudes thairof, specially the Lordis Prayer, Belief, and Commandis, Keip the Preiching 
 and Prayeris, and Examinatioun in the Town, and be eirnest and willing to seik God, and 
 to leirne when they are ignorant. 
 
 4. That thay convene to the Prayeris with thair Maister ilk day in the new Hospitale, at 
 nine Houris before None, and thrie Houris after None, ther to remayne in calling upon God for 
 Incres of the Religioun, Prosperitie of the Town and Realme, and for the common Weill of the 
 Town thair Patronis ; and utherwayes serving God zealouslie an devoutlie an Hour or niair.
 
 72 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 tools of manufacture, and to take and instruct such poor boys or 
 girls as the Town Council should think proper. The terms were 
 adjusted, and the work proceeded. An appeal was made to the 
 public to help forward the work, especially as considerable buildings 
 required to be erected. David Trotter and David Makcall, both 
 merchants in Edinburgh, contributed one thousand merks each ; 
 David Jenkin gave five hundred merks for the same object. The 
 former, on account of their liberality, obtained the right to present 
 two boys to the Work, while the latter presented one. 
 
 Maitland remarks (page 471), "At what time, or on what occasion 
 the name of the aforesaid Hospital was changed from that of Our 
 Lady to that of Paul's WorTc, I cannot learn* ; however, by convert- 
 ing the said Hospital into a Work house, though with a charitable 
 view, cannot be justified ; for by defeating the founder's intentions 
 
 5. The Peraounes absent without Licence, and haill in Bodie, sail tyne ilk Tyme Twa 
 Peniea of his Leving, to be distribute among the Persounes present ; and gif he continues in 
 long Absence, sail be punisit as ane Contemner, and be depryvit for ever. 
 
 6. Anent thair Rent (allowance) thoch it be small, zit thay sail not drink, waist, nor 
 dilapidate the same at anes, bot bestowe if faythfuUie to their necessarie Sustentatioun ; an 
 Pairt in Meit and Drink, ane either in claithing, and qulia sail be honest, and best Stewart 
 theirof, sail half his Portioun helpit best, as the comon Rent thairof may sjiair, or with sic 
 Casualtie as tlie Patrounes of the Kirk sail bestowe upon thame. 
 
 7. That thay do all Things concerning thame as is contenit in the principall Foundatioun, 
 according to the Mynde of the Foundator, sua far as is possible to be done, and as repugns 
 not to the trew Religioun. 
 
 8. That thay sail, underly ony forther Order that sail be gevin thame be the said 
 Patrounes, or be the Kirk with thair Avyse ; and gif ony failzie or contravene ony Point of 
 thir Premises, he sail be depryvit and punist at the Will of the Patrounes according to the 
 Weight of his YsmH.— Maitland, 1753, pp. 468-9. 
 
 * Arnot, who wrote at a later date (about 1780) says, that the Town Council, ad. 1619, 
 converted this hospital into a workhouse, bestowing upon it the name of Paul's Work, which 
 it still retains.
 
 ST GILES — SCIENNES — PAUL's WORK, ETC. 73 
 
 and preventing the Constitution of this Hospital, men inclined to 
 this kind of charity will be greatly discouraged and prevented from 
 bestowing their money in that way, considering the little regard 
 shown to the laudable foundation of Bishop Spence, by spurning at 
 his will, and as it were despising his benefaction." 
 
 No doubt the Town Council of the day were actuated by a 
 desire to make what they thought to be a better and more profitable 
 use of the benefaction, in the much altered circumstances of the 
 times. But the new project did not turn out a success. It had 
 to be abandoned. The premises afterwards became, and for mauy 
 years were continued, as the printing-house of the Messrs Ballantyne, 
 from whose presses the Waverley Novels of Sir Walter Scott, Bart., 
 were produced, at the time when the author was called "The Great 
 Unknown." Paul's Work buildings have ceased to exist, the North 
 British Railway having acquired the grounds. The revenues of Paul's 
 Work now go to Trinity Hospital Fund — therefore it may now 
 be written, " All's well that ends well." 
 
 The revenues, as we have already seen, belonging to the Paul's 
 Work foundation, as well as those belonging to the Church of the 
 Kirk of Field, with the Archdeaconry of Lothian and Church of Currie 
 were likewise conveyed to the Town Council, to be intromitted with, 
 uplifted, used and disponed as the members of the Corporation saw 
 fit for the purposes foresaid. 
 
 It was likewise provided by the said Charter, that all the fore- 
 said properties, lands, emoluments, revenues, etc., as these were most 
 fully detailed, should be called now, and in all time coming, "our 
 Foundation op the Ministry and Hospitality of Edinburgh ; " and 
 we will and grant, and for us and our noble successors ordain, that 
 the Sasine, now once taken by the Provost and Bailies, or any of them, 
 at the Tolbooth of the Burgh, shall stand and be sutiicient Sasine for 
 
 K
 
 74 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 ever in all time coming, for all those properties, rights and possessions 
 already so fully enumerated ; and we ordain them " to have and to 
 HOLD all and sundry the foresaids," etc., which formerly belonged to 
 the said Friars, Dominican Preachers, and Minorites or Franciscans 
 of the said Burgh of Edinburgh. 
 
 The details of this Grant are so abundant, and so specifically detailed 
 that it seems desirable that these should be fully given. They include 
 " all the lands, tenements, annual rents, houses, buildings, yards, teind 
 scheaves and other teinds, fruits, rents, profits, provents, emoluments, 
 rights, casualties and duties, tenants, tenandries, services of free 
 tenants, and just pertinents whatsoever ... by all their just ancient 
 marches and divisions, as they lie in length and breadth, in houses, 
 buildings, woods, plains, moors, marshes, ways, paths, waters, ponds, 
 streams, meadows, pastures and pasturages, mills, multures and their 
 sequels, hawkings, huntings, fishings, peats, turfs, coals, coal pits, 
 rabbits, warrens, doves, dove cots, forges, malt kilns, breweries, and 
 heaths, woods, groves, thickets, wood, timber, stone quarries, stone 
 and lime, with courts and their issues, herezelds, bludewites, marchets 
 of women, with free ish and entry, and with all and sundry other 
 liberties, commodities, profits, and easements, and their just pertinents 
 whatsoever, as well named as not named, as well below the earth as 
 above the earth, far or near, belonging or could justly belong in any 
 manner of way in future, to our foresaid foundation and others the 
 premises, with the pertinents, freely, quietly, fully, wholly, honourably, 
 well and in peace, without any revocation, contradiction, or obstacle 
 whatsoever." 
 
 All these properties, rights, and privileges are granted to the Town 
 Council on behalf of the Community, that they and their successors 
 shall ofl'er devout and humble daily prayers to God Almighty for the 
 preservation of us and our successors, and that they shall maintain the
 
 ST GILES — SCIENNES — PAULS WORK, ETC. 
 
 75 
 
 poor of the said Hospital, support the ministers, masters, and regents 
 of the College and Schools, and their successors, and for " sustaining of 
 the ministers serving the cure at the said churches respectively, and 
 their successors, or paying for their sustentation the third part of the 
 fruits and duties of the churches and benefices above mentioned, at the 
 option of the said Provost, Bailies, Councillors, and Community, and 
 their successors only." 
 
 The Charter was duly witnessed and attested by the Marquis of 
 Hamilton, the Earls of Arran, Marshall, and Dunfermline, and other 
 important personages of the period, and " our Great Seal " was affixed 
 to the same.
 
 CHAPTER VII I. 
 
 CHARTER OF NOVODAMUS BY CHARLES I. 
 
 HE last Royal Charter to the Provost, Bailies, Councillors, 
 and Community of the City of Edinburgh, was in reality a 
 Charter of Novodamus, with certain changes, and it was 
 granted by King Charles I., the son and successor of King James VI. 
 It is dated at Newmarket, on the 23d day of October 1636, — the 
 twelfth year of His Majesty's reign. 
 
 It goes on to relate that, calling to mind and perfectly understand- 
 ing the many good, notable, and thankful services rendered and per- 
 formed by the Corporation and inhabitants of Edinburgh, which is the 
 principal and capital City and Burgh of our ancient Kingdom of 
 Scotland, not only to us from the time of our happy succession to the 
 Kingdom, but also " to our dearest father of eternal memory," and to 
 others, our most noble progenitors. Kings of Scotland, of which 
 particular and notable expressions are contained in ancient infeftments 
 granted to them by our predecessors of eternal memory. These 
 remain to posterity as memorials of their fidelity, and of the great
 
 CHARTER OF NOVODAMUS BY CHARLES I. 77 
 
 and remarkable services rendered and performed by them to the 
 advantage and honour of the realm : Considering, also, that a certain 
 question has been instituted in our said City of Edinburgh regarding 
 the eflfect and the extent of a new infeftment, which was granted to 
 them by King James VI. on March 15, 1603, — and that all difficulty 
 should be averted as to the same, which might tend to the detriment 
 of the common weal and the Kingdom in general, they voluntarily, 
 and of their own free will, appeared in presence of the Lords of our 
 Privy Council, on the 28th day of January 1630. At a meeting 
 there was produced, in presence of the Corporation, as representing 
 the Community of Edinburgh, a certain Act made by the Provost, 
 Bailies, and Councillors, under the subscription of their common clerk, 
 dated the said 28th day of January aforesaid, by virtue of which Act, 
 they ratified the offer made by Sir John Hay, clerk of our register, con- 
 cerning the restriction of the office of Sheriff and Coroner, contained in 
 the said infeftment, granted in the year of our Lord 1603 as aforesaid, 
 with jurisdiction of the same : As also, the holding of their Gild Courts, 
 according to the bounds as after set forth, contained in an offer by our 
 said City, to the nobles and gentry of West Lothian, which comprehends 
 the lands following, viz. : — " Our burgh of Edinburgh, its common mills, 
 common muir, common marsh or myre ; our loch, walls and fosses 
 of the same ; the towns of Leith and Newhaven ; our ports, stations 
 of ships, bulwarks, piers, schoires, raides, links eister and wester of 
 the same ; the lands commonly called the commoun clossetts, burssis, 
 hoilf hallis, and other lands properly belonging to our said Burgh, 
 ways, paths, streets, places, and passages leading to our said Burgh, 
 and from the same to Leith and Newhaven, or from the same respec- 
 tively, through their common muir and marsh, and which have been 
 either constructed or repaired by them, in so far as the said muir and 
 march extend, with the ways and places leading to their common
 
 78 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 mills upon the Water of Leith, and from the same in so far as the 
 said mills, with the mill lands which do properly belong to our said 
 Burgh, do there extend." The Charter then goes on to relate, that 
 as respects the renunciation on the part of the Crown of all rights of 
 regality which were granted to them or their predecessors — if such 
 ever did exist — with all other rights of escheats of criminals condemned 
 before the Magistrates to death ; as well as the escheats of those 
 inhabitants of the Burgh as are put to the horn for civil causes, with 
 all extraordinary liberties, if such exist and are contained in the fore- 
 said infeftment, which have not hitherto been regarded as not 
 competent, as not having been granted to sheriffs, coroners, or free 
 burghs. It also provided that, in respect of the renunciation of all 
 right which the Community had or did exercise, in regard to the 
 south or north banks of our Castle of Edinburgh, without prejudice 
 to anyone establishing before a competent Court of Law a higher and 
 more legal claim, all and any right which the citizens or burgesses 
 have to these banks beyond the memory of man. As also, that the 
 said document contains a humble petition that the Crown would 
 ratify the said Charter, and all the old infeftments therein contained, 
 with free liberty, and the sole and exclusive trade within the bounds 
 of West Lothian which pertained to a free royal Burgh, together 
 with the said offices of Sheriff and Coroner within the bounds of our 
 said Burgh of Edinburgh, the said towns of Leith and Newhaven, 
 and others before and after referred to ; together with all customs, 
 petty customs, etc., of the said Burgh, as well as all liberties, and 
 other privileges as these were contained in the said infeftment, 
 according to the tenor thereof. 
 
 The said Charter goes on to state that, as the Town Council 
 and Magistrates had made and subscribed a full renunciation and 
 resignation of the premises in our favour, and that of our successors,
 
 CHARTER OP NOVODAMUS BY CHARLES I. 79 
 
 WE, out of our gracious respect and favour towards the City of 
 Edinburgh, and as an incitement to them to continue in their good 
 service to us and our successors, have been pleased to accept the 
 said renunciation, and to ratify their said infeftments, with all liberties 
 and privileges therein contained ; therefore, after our lawful and 
 perfect age of twenty-five years complete, and after all our revocations, 
 with the advice and consent of our beloved cousin and councillor, 
 John, Earl of Traquair, Lord Lintoun and Caverstoun, etc., our High 
 Treasurer, our comptroller and collector of our new augmentations of 
 our Kingdom of Scotland, together with the advice and consent of the 
 rest of the lords of our Exchequer of our said Kingdom of Scotland, our 
 commissioners, have ratified, approved and confirmed, — as we now do, 
 for ourselves and our successors for ever confirm, in favour of the 
 Provost, Bailies, Councillors, and Community of our said City of 
 Edinburgh, and their successors, the particular and several charters 
 and infeftments, gifts and others underwritten. Keference is then spe- 
 cifically made to the following — viz. : — 
 
 1. A Charter made and granted by the former King Eobert Bruce, 
 King of Scotland. 
 
 2. A Charter made and granted by our said late dearest grand- 
 mother of the lands which belonged to the Friars Dominican and 
 Franciscan, commonly called the Blackfriars and Grayfriars, with all 
 the rights and privileges thereto pertaining, and which was dated on 
 the 13th March 1566. 
 
 3. A Charter granted by our dearest father, under his great seal, 
 dated at Stirling, on the 14th April 1582, by which he confirms the 
 said former Charter, granted by his said late dearest mother regarding 
 the foresaid lands, and by which he ratifies and approves the demission 
 and renunciation made by John Gib, in favour of the Burgh of Edinburgh 
 of his right to the provostry of the Kirk of Field, and the whole
 
 80 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 houses, lands, etc. ; and which were granted and disponed to the 
 Corporation of the said Burgh, and their successors, with permission and 
 liberty to erect a college, to construct and repair suitable houses for the 
 reception of professors of humanity, letters and languages, philosophy, 
 theology, medicine, laws, and all other liberal sciences ; and to elect 
 competent professors to teach the same. 
 
 4. A Charter made and granted by our said late dearest father, 
 under his great seal, of date the 4th April 1584, by which, in considera- 
 tion of the great charges and expenses incurred by the Corporation, in 
 the erection of the said College and other requisite buildings, and for 
 the support of the Rector and Regents, he conveyed to them All and 
 Whole the archdeaconry of Lothian, with the parsonage of Currie, and 
 all the globe lands, teinds, etc., pertaining to the same. 
 
 5. A Charter made and granted by our said dearest father, under 
 his great seal, on the 26th May 1587, in which, in consideration of the 
 great charges and expenses incurred by the Corporation, on behalf of 
 the Community, in the erection of an Hospital, in sustaining their 
 Ministers, and College foresaid ; — he gave, granted, and disponed to the 
 Provost, Bailies, Councillors, and Community of the Burgh of Edin- 
 burgh, and their successors, All and Whole the provostry of Trinity 
 College, with all the lands, churches, rights, rents, emoluments, etc., 
 belonging thereto. 
 
 6. A Charter made and granted by our said late dearest father, 
 under his great seal, dated 29th July 1587, ratifying the infeftments 
 granted by the late Queen Mary, his mother, of the church lands of 
 Trinity College, provostry of Kirk of Field, and archdeaconry of 
 Lothian : As also, containing a new gift of the said church lauds, 
 provostry. Trinity College, and archdeaconry of Lothian, with all their 
 lands and teinds, for the use of the ministers, college, and poor. 
 
 7. A Charter made and granted by our said late dearest father,
 
 CHARTER OF NOVODAMUS BY CHARLES I. 81 
 
 under his great seal, dated at Beauvoir Castle, the 7th August 1612, 
 ratifying the said previous grants, and the purposes for which these 
 were destined, — with a new gift of the whole of them for the foresaid 
 uses ; provided such ratification shall in no wise comprehend any right 
 of regality, nor shall be extended to the heritable ofiices of Sheriff and 
 Coroner, and jurisdiction of the same, nor to the holding of Courts of 
 
 Gild, but only within the bounds of our said Burgh and within 
 
 the towns of Leith and Newhaven, etc. And said ratification shall in 
 no wise infer impediment nor prejudice to us in our right and royal 
 prerogative to erect burghs of regality, or burghs of barony, in any 
 other part of West Lothian beyond the bounds of the said Sherifi'ship 
 and Coronership, to which the same is restricted in manner foresaid. 
 The Castle Banks, north and south, were also excluded from the 
 Burgh's jurisdiction. Power was also given to the Corporation to have 
 the right, title, and privilege of nominating and presenting of the 
 ministers to serve within the cure of the Burgh of Edinburgh. 
 
 The Charter then concludes: — "Therefore, for the many good 
 services rendered to us in times past by our said City of Edinburgh, 
 and for inciting them to continue in the same in all time to come, we, 
 of our own knowledge and free will, with advice and consent foresaid, of 
 new have given, granted, disponed, and by this our present Charter 
 confirmed, and by the tenor of the same of new give, grant and 
 dispone, and for us and our successors for ever confirm, to the 
 foresaid Provost, Bailies, Councillors, and Community of our said 
 City of Edinburgh and their successors, All and Whole, our said 
 City of Edinburgh, walls, ditches, ports, streets, etc., .... and 
 we have united, erected, and incorporated, and by the tenor of our 
 present Charter, unite, erect, and incorporate the said whole lands, 
 ports, havens, customs, bulwarks, and others foresaid to our said City 
 
 L
 
 82 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 of Edinburgh, and have erected the same into a royal city, with all the 
 liberties, privileges, and immunities belonging to a City or Burgh of 
 Regality .... Paying therefor, yearly, the said Provost, Bailies, 
 Councillors and Community of our said Burgh of Edinburgh, and their 
 successors, to us and our successors, for our said City of Edinburgh, 
 port and havens of Leith and Newhaven, with the whole privileges, 
 liberties, jurisdictions, offices, and others above specified, annexed to our 
 said City, the sum of fifty-two merks money of Sterling, as for the 
 ancient burgh maill contained in the said infeftment of the said 
 Burgh, granted to the said City by King Robert Bruce, at two terms 
 of the year, to wit, Whitsunday and Martinmas in winter, by equal 
 portions ; and also the administration of justice in the said offices 
 of Sheriflf and Coroner and Justice of the Peace, with the services of 
 burgh used and wont ; and for the said ten acres of the lands of 
 Hierigs (High Rigs) ; and for the said presentation and nomination 
 of ministers to serve the cure within all the churches built or to 
 be built in our said City, united and annexed to the same, as said 
 is, two pennies in name of blanch farm, if asked only." 
 
 The Charter is duly sealed and witnessed, by the Archbishop of St 
 Andrews, the Marquis of Hamilton, the Earl of Arran and Cambridge, 
 Lord Aven and Innerdaill, the Earl of Haddington, Lord Binning and 
 Byres (Keeper of our privy seal), the Earl of Stirling, the Viscount 
 of Canada, Lord Tulliebodie (our secretary) ; together with our fami- 
 liar councillors, Sir John Hay of Barro, clerk of our rolls, register 
 and council ; Sir John Hamilton, of Orbieston, our justice-clerk ; 
 and Sir John Scott, of Scottistarvet, director of our chancery — 
 Knights. 
 
 There are several Acts of Parliament and other documents, 
 which bear on the Trinity College and Trinity Hospital which it 
 seems proper to refer to. These are : —
 
 CHARTER OF NOVODAMTTS BY CHARLES I. 83 
 
 1. Act in fauoris of the Hospitall of Edinburgh. [1579, c. 51.] 
 
 2. Act regarding the Annexatioun of the temporalities of benefices 
 
 to the Crown. [1587, c. 8.] 
 
 3. Act regarding the Kingis Maiesties general Revocatiouns. [1587, 
 
 c. 14.] 
 
 4. Act regarding the Revocatioun of the landis and annuellis 
 mortifiet to the Ministerie and Hospitall of Edinburgh. [1592, c. 82.] 
 
 5. Act regarding the Confirmatioun to the Burgh of Edinburgh of 
 thair annuillis. [1593, c. 41.] 
 
 6. Act in fauoris of the Burgh of Edinburgh. [1606, c. 31.] 
 
 7. Warrant for an Act of Parliament superscribed by King James 
 the Sixth, ratifying all previous Grants of Kirk Livings to the Burgh 
 of Edinburgh. [22. October, 1612.] 
 
 8. Act regarding Ratificatioun of diuers infeftmentis grantit to 
 the toun of Edinburgh, for sustentatioun of College, Ministeris, and 
 Hospitallis. [1621, c. 79.] 
 
 9. Act regarding Ratification of His Majesties new Charter of 
 Confirmation in favors of the Burgh of Edinburgh. [1661, c. 123.] 
 
 While these various documents are brought under notice, in 
 passing, it does not seem requisite here to make any quotations from 
 them, as their provisions are in accordance with those of the various 
 Royal Charters which have been already somewhat fully set forth in 
 these pages.
 
 j 
 
 1 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 H 
 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 TOWN COUNCIL CONTROL. 
 
 |HE Royal Charters are now done. The charter-chest has 
 been closed. The olden days have passed away, and a 
 new era has begun to dawn upon the Hospital. The 
 Town Council is in undisputed possession. Provosts, prebendaries 
 or priests, choiristers or clerks, as well as beidmen who formerly 
 held the sway, notwithstanding of their professed attachment to the 
 faith and tenets of the new or Protestant religion — all of them have 
 to disappear under the new control. The last of these beneficiaries 
 — the ultimi Romanorum — to leave the Hospital were of course the 
 beidmen. When the Magistrates and Town Council got possession 
 of the premises, there were thirteen beidmen on the benefaction, and 
 provision was made for twelve more. 
 
 The Town Council began a new and separate building in 1567. 
 But it does not appear to have been completed until 1578, when 
 it is recorded that for the beginning of order in the Hospital in the 
 Trinity College of this burgh the Council resolved, after having taken 
 the advice of the ministers, to furnish twelve beds, and that there 
 
 84
 
 TOWN COUNCIL CONTROL. 85 
 
 should be put therein twelve aged persons, who were infirm and 
 unable to work, and that those so admitted should be sustained 
 by donations put into the charity box of the said Hospital.* 
 
 Again in the Minutes of 28th April and 15th October 1568, it 
 would appear that ten years earlier there were not only beidmen 
 in the house, but also hospitallers. There were practically, therefore, 
 two sets of beneficiaries. In all probability, the hospitallers were 
 sick poor, who were resident for a time ; whereas the beidmen had 
 a locus standi under the old constitution, and could not well be 
 deprived of their privileges, without their being reckoned with. 
 
 As tending to favour this view, it may be mentioned, that in 
 the Town Council Minutes of the period, there is an entry to the 
 following effect : — As to " translating of ye auld hospitall up to ye 
 new hospitall," only one beidman has been traced as having been 
 transferred. On the 10th day of December 1595, he is said to have 
 " demittet and renounceit his plaice of beidmanschip in the awld 
 hospitall in favouris of ye toun," and he was given " a plaice in ye 
 toun's new hospitall amang yair awin puir." Prior to this it is 
 
 ♦ The terms of the minute are to the following effect : — 
 
 21. Jv.ne 1578. — (The provost, bailies, and council), efter avysement with the ministeris 
 and kirk (Session) for begyning of ordour in the Hospitall in the Trinatie College of this 
 burgh, they have concludit that thair salbe preparit and maid rady ane dosoun of 
 furneist beds for the pure, and that thair salbe placit thairintill dosoun aigit pepill seiklie 
 and vni-bill to laubour for thair leving, quhilkis pepill salbe sustenit vpoun the commoun 
 box in the said hospitall in all necessaries sa lang as thay are seiklie quhill farther ordour 
 be taikin, and gif ony of thame convalescia or becumis haill, thay to be removit and 
 vtheris sic personis callit bedrelis input in thair place at the discretioun of the provest, 
 baillies and counsall, with avyse of the ministeris, quha sail present the saidis bedrelis to 
 thame that salbe placit be the maisteris of the hospitall for the tyme, &c. Followis the 
 names of the bedrellis enterit this day : — Walter Broun and his wyfe ; Dauid Forester, 
 blind man ; Margaret Carnyis, in Sclateris Clois ; Issobell Biset, in Vtterburnis Clois ; 
 Jhonne Brome, his wyfe, Cristiane Smyth ; Nyuiane Aitkene, and Jhonne Thomeson.
 
 86 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 recorded on 1st August 1593, that four beidmen renounced their 
 right of beidmanship in consideration of being granted yearly a 
 pension of £16 each. On the 22d March 1593, another beidman is 
 previously reported to have vacated his place on similar terms. 
 The other beidmen gradually died out. No one of the same descrip- 
 tion was appointed in their place. Before 1600, all the old beidmen 
 of pre-Reformation times, as well as those under the last Provost 
 (Pont), had disappeared from the Hospital. 
 
 The Provost was not easily got rid of. He had to be settled 
 with, and it was a very difficult matter to bring him to terms. 
 The following extracts from the Town Council's Minutes of the day, 
 will make this sufficiently plain. 
 
 " 4. February 1579. — The provest, baillies, and counsell ordanis Johne Johnestoun 
 and maister Johne Preatoun, with awyse of maister James Lowsoun, minister, to entir 
 in ressonying with maister Robert Fount, provest of the Trinitie College, in the materia 
 betuix the towne and him concernyng the hospitall thair, and to repoirt thair ansuir 
 the nixt counsall day. 
 
 "25. February 1579. — The prouest, bailleis, and counsell ordanis Alexander 
 Clerk, Williame Litle, and Johne Johnestoun to convene vpone Setterday eftirnone 
 nixt with maister Robert Pont, and entir in forther ressonyng with him tuiching the 
 erectioun and fundatioun of the uniuerseteis in the Trinitie College, and repoirt thair 
 ansuer the nixt counsall day." 
 
 The matter then seems to have gone asleep for several years, 
 until the following Minute was passed : — 
 
 "27. November 1584. — Gevis commissioun to Henrie Nesbet, bailyie, William 
 Fairlie, Alexander Owsteane, to confer and intreatt of new with maister Robert Pont 
 for his rycht of the Provestrie of the Trinitie College, and to sie quhow resonablie 
 thai can agrie with him for ane yeirlie dewtie to be payet to him be the guid toun 
 to thair thesaureris, awa suir as he can devyse, and to report agane Wednisday. 
 
 "17. March 1585. — Ordanis Thomas ALkinhead and Alexander Owsteane to pas, 
 intreatt and confer with maister Robert Pont anent the title of his benefice of the
 
 TOWN COUNCIL CONTROL. 87 
 
 Trinitie College and dismissioun thairof in favouris of the toun, and to report his 
 ansuer thairupoun. 
 
 "25. March 1585. — The baillies [council and deacons of crafts] vpon the declara- 
 tioun of the persouns quha wes direct to confer with maister Robert Pont, anent his 
 rycht of the Provestrie of the Trinitie College, fynds it maist expedient to appoynt and 
 agrie with him for dismissioun thairof in the townis favouris, and thairfore gevis full 
 commissioun and power to Henry Nesbet, William Littill, and Alexander Owsteane to 
 pas and mak ane fynall end and agriement with him thairanent." 
 
 The deputation appears to have settled the matter with Pont, as 
 his Contract (page 53), as has already been seen, was dated on 26th 
 April 1585 — being about five weeks thereafter. The Report of the 
 deputation is contained in the following Minute : — 
 
 " 16. June 1585. — The foresaids, bailyes, dene of gild and [council] in considera- 
 tioun that it wes agreit to mak ane fynall appoyntment with maister Robert Pont, 
 twicheing his rycht of the prouestrie of the Trinitie College, according to ane act maid 
 the XXV day of Marche last, and be the report of the persouns appoyntet to mak the 
 said agrement that it is fynallie endet be word with him, to the setting doun of the sam 
 in writt, and that thair suld be payet to him the sowme iij" merk at the ending of the 
 contract, and yeirlie induring his lyfetyme the sowme of [6Zan.A] ; quhilk at lenth 
 will be ane mater verray profEtabill to the town and helpfull to the College, and yit 
 hes been neglectit sen the said day ; thairfor fynds it most expedient that the sam be 
 endit in writt within a xv dayes ; and gevis commissioun to William Fairlie, Dauid 
 Williamsoun, and George Smyth to caus forme the contract, and ordanis James Ros, 
 thesaurer, to avance and deburse the said sowm of iij° merk to the said maister Robert, 
 at the ending of the said contract, quhilk sail be allowet in his compts ; and ordanis 
 the deykins to be wairnit agane Setterday after the prayers to heir the said contract, 
 and gif thair consent thairto, and for taking ordour to send the sam to the said maister 
 Robert, and to gett ane gift of the Provestrie subscryuit be the King's Grace." 
 
 An agreement having been come to between the parties, the next 
 step was the passing of the following Minute of the Town Council : — 
 
 "28. July 1585. — Ordanis William Fairly to caus send to Henry Nesbet, bailyie, to 
 Sa)mctandrois the procuratioun for dismissioun of the Provestrie of the Trinitie College, 
 in favouris of the guid town, that the said Henry may gett the rychtis thairof past and
 
 88 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 owtred ; and ordanis James Ros, thesaurer, to pay to the said maister Robert Pont the 
 sowme of thrie hundredth merkis promittet to him for the said dismissioun, according to 
 the contract maid betuix him and the guid towne." 
 
 The annual allowance to Pont having now been adjusted, it was 
 desirable that all properties or titles or documents which he possessed 
 should be handed over to the Corporation. Two Minutes of the Town 
 Council of the period seem specially to refer to this matter. The first 
 of these is as follows : — 
 
 " 25. March 1585. — For dyuers consideratiouns moving thame, renunceis the 
 instance of the actioun and precept persewet be thame and thair procuratour fiscall 
 aganis the beidmen of the Trinitie College, for productioun before thame as superioures 
 of the town of Leyth of all infeftments and euidents that the saidis prebendares and 
 beidmen hes of any lands within the town of Leyth, and passis fra the persute of the 
 said actioun intentit be thame pro loco et tempore ; and ar content that the commoun 
 kist of the said College, and euidents contenit thairin sail remayne in custody and 
 keping of maister Robert Pont, provest of the said College till forther ordour be tayne 
 concerning the said mater be commouning betuix him and thame. And this continua- 
 tioun to indure for the space of ane yeir, quhil maters may be amicablie composit amangs 
 thame but proces of law. 
 
 "9. February 1586. — Gevis commissioun to Andrew Sclater, Alexander Vddert, 
 Jhonn Jhonestoun, Henry Chairters, maister Alexander Guthre, to pas, visy, and mak 
 inventour of the euidents in the charter kist of the Trinitie College, quhilk is in the 
 hands of maister Robert Pont, and to present the sam the nixt counsaU day." 
 
 The charter kist in the possession of Pont was delivered up, 
 and intimation of the same was duly made to the Town Council on 
 the 16th day -of February 1586. The terms of the Minute are to the 
 following effect : — " Grantet and confest thame to haif resauet fra maister 
 Kobert Pont, sumtyme provest of the Trinity College, the commoun 
 euidents of the said College and commoun kist thairof, according to ane 
 inventour maid thairof and subscryuet be the said maister Robert [Pont] 
 and Andrew Sclater, bailye, and thairfore exonerat and dischairget 
 the said maister Robert Pont of the samyn ; quhilk kist, euidents and
 
 TOWN COUNCIL CONTROL. 89 
 
 inventour wes delyuerit to Jhone Jhonestoun, collectour, to be sichtit 
 and orderet be him that forther ordour may be tayne thairwith 
 agayne this day aucht dayes." 
 
 The Provost was not the only official the Magistrates and Town 
 Council had to reckon with. The prebendaries had claims and the 
 beidmen had also to be bought up. All this was no doubt a question 
 of time. The following Minute of Council may serve somewhat to 
 illustrate this : — 
 
 " 28. November 1582. — Appoyntit and agreit with maister Jhonn Manderstoun, 
 ane of the prebendares of the Trinity College, anent his title and richt to ane yaird in 
 the said College as foUowes, to witt : In respect the profEtt of the haill yairds cumis to 
 the vse of the puir in the hospitale of the said College, thairfore ordanis the maisters of 
 the said hospitall to pay to the said maister Jhonn the sowm of fourty schillings in full 
 contentatioun of the haill byrun proffeitts quhilk the said maister Jhone may clame for 
 his yaird ; and the maisteris of the said hospitall present and to cum to pay to him 
 yeirly and termely the sowm of fourty schillings induring his lyfetyme, begynnand the 
 first termes payment at Whitsounday nixt ; for the quhilk caus the said maister Johnn 
 renunces all rycht, title and kyndnes quhilk he lies or may pretend to haif to ony of 
 the saidis yairds in tyme cuming, togidder with the byrun proifeits thairof. 
 
 After Font's resignation, the Magistrates and Town Council 
 appointed Henry Charteris, merchant, to act in the place of the 
 Provost, to consult with the prebendaries in the management of the 
 affairs of the College. In other words, to look after the revenues 
 and disbursements, so long as they had a local habitation there. 
 The words of the Minute are as follows : — 
 
 "22. April 1586. — Appoyntis and nominats Henry Chairteris, merchant, for 
 thame and in thair names, as haveand the place of the provestrie of the Trinitie 
 College be donatioun of our Souerane Lord, to convene with the prebendares and 
 chapter of the said College at thair ordinare conventiouns and all vther tymes neidfull, 
 and thair to intreatt, vote, ressoun and conclude vpoun the commoun efFaires of the 
 samyn to be proponit in the said conventioun in and be all things as appertenis to the 
 M
 
 90 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 office of the provest of the said college ; gevand vnto him tliair full power and com- 
 missioun to that eifect be thir presents, to indure ay and quhill the sam be expreslie 
 revoket and discharget ; provyding alwayes that in all materis that may concerne the 
 said provest and bailyeis and counsall in thair rycht of the said provestrie and patron- 
 age of the said Colledge that he mak thame be aduertist thairof before the sam be 
 concludet in the said chapter and tak thair avyse thair vpoun." 
 
 Professor Norman Macpherson in his voluminous Report, an 
 abstract of which appears in the Appendix to this volume, writes as 
 follows (page 4 of the print lodged in the Court of Session) : — " In the 
 early days of the Hospital, there was an intimate relation between the 
 Town Council and the Kirk, or the Session of the Kirk, from which, to 
 a large extent, the funds for supporting the Hospital were at that time 
 derived. There seemed to be in existence no separate minutes of the 
 Kirk or Session ; but the results of their deliberations with the Town 
 Council are frequently recorded in the Minutes of the latter, and the 
 Kirk Treasurer's accounts are instructive on the subject of the manage- 
 ment of the general poor, as are also the city accounts kept by the Town 
 Treasurer." Here the learned Professor seems to confound two things, 
 ,(viz. — the relation of the Kirk Treasurer to the poor, and the clergy's 
 relation to Trinity Hospital. It is quite true that for generations, as 
 can be proved, the Dean of Guild funds were dispensed by the Town 
 Council to those in somewhat needy circumstances, and the Kirk 
 Treasurer was frequently made the medium of these benefactions being 
 bestowed. It is also true that there was an office of Session Clerk who 
 until some ten years ago, or so, was regarded as Clerk of the Sessions 
 of the Kirk, and claimed a monopoly of the fees in regard to the pro- 
 clamation of bans over the whole area of the ancient and extended 
 royalty. But when the learned Professor tries to make out that there 
 was a Presbytery interest in the charity of Trinity Hospital, he makes an 
 entire mistake. A reference to the first code of regulations will show
 
 TO^VN COUNCIL CONTROL. 91 
 
 that the two Ministers of the Trinity College Church of the period 
 who were governors of the Hospital * were led therefore, with their 
 elders and deacons, who were also the nominees of the Town Council 
 at that period, to take a special interest in the Hospital, and to 
 make recommendations, from time to time, as to masters and beid- 
 men ; and the following extracts are to be read in that light : — 
 
 The following are examples: — " Leet given in by _the Kirk 
 Session to the Council of the Good Town for the election of two masters 
 for the Hospital, — annexed in minutes of appointments dated 21st 
 October 1614." But long previous to that entry the same remark 
 is applicable, e.g.: — On 10th January 1581, "the provest, baillies, 
 and counsale, and . . . deykins of craftis, grantis, gevis, and disponis 
 to Mr Gilbert Grott, noter, the place and beidmanship now vacant 
 and in their hands, and beand at their dispositioun be deceis of 
 . . . last possessour thereof, with profFeitts and casualties belonging 
 thairto.' There is also a ratification of the same, which is as 
 follows : — " 7 February 1581, — With avyse of the ministers, elders, 
 and deaconis of the Kirk, grants ane place, bed and room in the 
 new hospitale, induring thair willis, to Mr Gilbert Grot, sum- 
 tyme writter." 
 
 While the Town Council was endeavouring to obtain the resignation 
 of Provost Pont of Trinity College, they considered it to be their duty 
 to select two masters to preside over the affairs of the Hospital. One of 
 these was a merchant of the town, while the other was a craftsman or 
 master tradesman. They also drew up a Code of Regulations for the 
 
 * Vide Footnote contaiuiug No. 1 of the Regulations for conducting the Trinity Hospital, 
 in which out of the three leets of seven, constituting the twenty-one Governors, comprises 
 " the Deacon-Convener, the two Ministers of the College Church for the time being, 
 and the four tradesmen to be appointed by the Town Council."
 
 92 • TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 government of the charity.* On the 14th day of February 1578, 
 William Lytill and Jhonne Harwood were called upon to fulfil the duties 
 until Michaelmas next, and they had to take an oath that they would be 
 faithful " for diligent cura and laubouris to be taikin thairupoun bayth 
 for the pure and caussis concerning the said hospitale to the said day." 
 The first persons on record who became inmates under the 
 
 * The following were the regulations for conducting the aflFairs of Trinity Hospital passed 
 by the Governors, at an early date : — 
 
 1. The Hospital shall be governed by a Council of Governors, consisting of twenty-one 
 persons, whereof the Lord Provost, the four Bailies, the Dean of Guild, and the Treasurer of 
 the City of Edinburgh, during their continuance in office, shall be seven ; the persons who 
 sit in the Town Council in the character of Old Magistrates, during their continuance in the 
 Town Council in that character, shall be seven more ; and the Deacon Convener, the two 
 Ministers of the College Church for the time being, and four Tradesmen to be chosen by the 
 Town Council, shall be the other seven. 
 
 2. The Council of Governors mentioned in the foregoing statutes, whereof eleven are 
 declared to be a quorum, shall meet four times in the year in the Hospital, viz., on the third 
 Monday of October second Monday of January, second Monday of April, and second Monday of 
 July ; and as often at other times as the Hospital shall require ; and shall have power and 
 authority to govern the Hospital ; censure, punish, and extrude the persons entertained in 
 it ; to chuse, censure, and dismiss all officers and servants, as occasion requires ; to direct its 
 oeconomy within and without doors ; to act with the Treasurer ; and, in general, to order all 
 its affairs, determining and concluding by a majority of votes. 
 
 3. The persons to be admitted into, and maintained in the Hospital, shall be no other 
 than old men or old women, burgess' wives, or children of burgesses, not married, nor under 
 the age of fifty years ; or shall be persons of the age and state of life before mentioned, pre- 
 sented by the donators of Two Hundred and Fifty Pounds Sterling ; and the number of the 
 persons to be constantly entertained shall be so many as the revenue of the Hospital can 
 conveniently maintain, after the deduction of the charge of management and of maintaining 
 the fabriok. 
 
 4. Tlie donor of the sum of Two Hundred Pounds Sterling shall be privileged to present 
 any person whatsoever, of the age and state forementioued, to be admitted into and main- 
 tained in the Hospital, at the end of six months after paj'ment of the respective sums 
 before mentioned, and the privileges sliall descend to heirs and successors whatsoever. 
 Providing, nevertheless, that no person be presented upon the decease of another, till twelve 
 months are elapsed after the last person's decease.
 
 TOWN COUNCIL CONTROL. .93 
 
 direction and patronage of the Council were Robert Murdoch, James 
 Kelly, John Muir, James Wright, John Weatherspoones, Isabel 
 Bernard, and Janet Gate. This was prior to the time already alluded 
 to, when twelve new beds were supplied, and after the two masters 
 named had been appointed. 
 
 5. All persons admitted into the Hospital shall be provided with decent apparel, whole- 
 some food, and convenient lodgings, furnished with clean linnen, bed and bed-oloaths ; shall 
 have such allowance paid them weekly for petty incident expenses, as the Council of Governors 
 shall think fit, and shall be decently buried at the Hospital's expence. But, each person shall 
 bring into the Hospital, at their admission, a bed and bed-cloaths for their own use, and shall 
 sign a writ, by which they transfer and dispone to the Masters for behoof of the Hospital, all 
 the goods and gear, money or effects, they are possessed of at their admission. And they shall 
 further solemnly promise before the Council, to demean themselves orderly in the Hospital, 
 to be obedient to the orders of the Council, and to obey the Governor and Governess in all 
 their just and lawful commands. 
 
 6. The officers and servants imployed in the Hospital shall be — two Masters, the one a 
 merchant and the other a tradesman ; a Clerk, a Governess, a Caterer or Cateress, a Porter or 
 Messenger, and as many maid servants as the exigence of the Hospital shall require. Upon 
 the death, demission, or removal of any thereof, the Council shall proceed to chuse others in 
 their places, witliin fourteen days thereafter. 
 
 7. The joint business of the two Masters shall be frequently to visit the Hospital, in 
 order to inspect the conduct and behaviour of all the officers, servants, and persons entertained 
 in it ; to report to the Council what they observe to be amiss ; and to summon meetings of 
 the Council as occasion requires. But it shall be the particular province of the Merchant 
 Master to serve as Treasurer to the Hospital by receiving the revenue, and defraying the 
 expence of it, and keeping regular books of accompts, in the form to be prescribed to him by 
 the Council. And, of the Tradesman Master, to inspect the behaviour of the people in the 
 Hospital in a particular manner, and see to the execution of the Council's orders. 
 
 8. The ofiice of the Clerk shall be, to attend all Meetings and Committees, to keep an 
 exact Sederunt-book of Transactions, and Kegister-book of all persons admitted into the 
 Hospital ; to write all committees' reports ; to draw all writs and evidents which concern 
 the Hospital's affairs ; to keep all the papers belonging to the Hospital in a safe place, and in 
 due order ; and, further, to do what the Council shall, from time to time, direct in his sphere. 
 His salary shall be such as the Council shall appoint, not exceeding Ten Pounds Sterling 
 yearly. 
 
 9. The province of the Governor shall be, to inspect the manners and behaviour of all
 
 94 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 Although a very beneficent institution, and thoroughly appreci- 
 ated by many of those who enjoyed its comforts, free from the cares 
 and vicissitudes of life, — even at a comparatively early stage its manage- 
 ment became a matter of some anxiety and worry to the Corporation. 
 
 persona in the Hospital, particularly of the men, and to report what he finds amiss to the 
 Masters ; to discourse with them, council, advise, and reprove them, as occasion requires ; 
 to sit at table when the men eat ; to officiate as chaplain, by praying with them in the 
 morning and evening, asking God's blessing and returning Him thanks at meat ; and, further, 
 to do what else the Council shall from time to time direct regarding his office. He shall be 
 maintained in the Hospital at bed and board, and his salary, out of which he is to provide 
 himself with decent cloaths, shall be such as the Council shall appoint, not exceeding Twenty- 
 five Pounds Sterling yearly. 
 
 10. The business of the Governess shall be to inspect the manner and behaviour of all 
 persons in the Hospital, particularly of the women ; and to report what she finds amiss to 
 the Masters ; and oificiate as Steward, taking charge of the provisions of meat and drink 
 brought into the Hospital ; overseeing the dressing and disposal thereof ; and acconipting for 
 it to the Masters ; to comptroU the Caterer, or Cateress, and accompt with him or her ; and 
 sit at the head of the table, where the women eat ; and, further, to do whatever the Council 
 shall, from time to time direct, concerning her office. She shall be maintained, and inter- 
 tained in the Hospital ; and her Salary for providing cloaths, and defraying personal charges, 
 shall be such as the Council shall appoint, not exceeding Twelve Pounds Sterling yearly. 
 
 IL The Caterer, or Cateress' business shall be to go to the Mercat, and buy the victuals, 
 accompting to the Governess for his or her intromissions ; and, if a Cateress, to assist in 
 dressing of them, and doing other parts of a Servant's Work in the Hospital, his or her Fee, 
 and the fee of the other servant maids shall be such as the Governess shall agree upon vi-ith 
 them, by advice of the Masters. And the Porter, or Messenger's business shall be, to open 
 and lock the gates regularly, delivering the keys every night to the Governor, and receive 
 them back from him in the morning ; to summon the Governors to all meetings ; and 
 further, to do what the Masters, or the Governor or Governess shall direct, consistent with 
 the rules of ceconomy in the Hospital. Tliey shall be maintained and intertained in the 
 Hospital ; and the porter or messenger's salary shall be what the Council shall appoint, not 
 exceeding Three Pounds Sterling yearly. 
 
 After these laws follows the form of Oath, to be taken by the Governors of the Trinity 
 Hospital, as well as by the Masters ; but as these were in no way altered, when subsequent 
 regulations were enacted in 1730, it does not seem requisite to quote them at this time. 
 
 The annual revenues of the Hospital, when Maitland reported upon them in 1753, were 
 £637, lis. Id. They are now, in this year of grace 1896, more than ten times that amount.
 
 TOWN COUNCIL CONTROL. 95 
 
 At the time when the old beidmen were resident within its walls, 
 there were to be found cases of insubordination continually cropping 
 up. For example : — 
 
 Council Records, Vol. VIII. folio 214, 4th March 1573, W. Synclare, 
 beidman, is decernit to pay to Thomas Libertoun, viii'., quilk he his 
 awand for the mending of William Youngaris held quilk he brake 
 within XX dayis. 
 
 So early as the 26th February 1584, steps had been adopted to put 
 " ordour to all enormities within the said Hospital," and for " depriving 
 and putting forth of sic puir as troubles the rest" — thus on 14th May 
 1589 an order was issued " not to pay the dues of beidmanship in time 
 to come to James Staynes, in respect of his manifold misdemeanours, 
 and mainly towards his wife." 
 
 On the 29th day of Febuary 1660, an Act of the Town Council 
 was passed — that, " with the ministers and masters to purge the 
 Hospital of scandolous persouns," and, with this view, that "one was 
 worthy to be extrudit," a second was to be " sharplie rebuikit," and 
 others were to be "purged furth thairof." 
 
 The offences chiefly complained of were " habitual cursing, 
 calling bad names, creating disturbances in the house, and getting 
 drunk." 
 
 A minor oflfence seems to have consisted of beginning their meals, 
 or carrying off the same, before the blessing had been asked, with the 
 punishment of forfeiting their dinner during the next day. 
 
 Catherine Aitkenhead's offences were habitual cursing, giving bad 
 names, creating disturbances in the family and getting drunk. Many 
 reasons existed for expelling inmates down to so recent a period as 
 1834, when Mr Young was removed from the Hospital for making 
 false reports as to the inmates being neglected, aggravated by his 
 misconduct during a solemn admonition administered by one of the
 
 96 TRINITy COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL 
 
 Magistrates, in the presence of the whole inmates who had been con- 
 vened for the occasion. 
 
 But there were also other trival matters that involved punishment. 
 These chiefly were when any of the inmates sold for a price or gave 
 away for the benefit of others, any meal or bread which the Hospital 
 had provided to them for their own sustenance. 
 
 Notwithstanding that there fell to be occasional expulsions from the 
 misconduct of wicked persons, the Hospital was highly appreciated by 
 the majority of the inmates. Nay it is a fact that there was a great 
 desire on the part of many persons to obtain admission to the House, 
 by the payment of a sum of money for the privilege, either on the part 
 of themselves or their friends or relatives. In the year 1653, Catherine 
 Edglie was admitted as an inmate, on her having assigned to " the 
 hospitall fyve hundredth merkis of good debtis, and two hundredth 
 merkis of desperat ;" Sophia Bennet was admitted in 1745, on a friend 
 of hers own becoming bound to pay £10 a year for her in advance. 
 
 The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was from time to time 
 celebrated within the walls of the Hospital. The following Minute 
 of the Town Council bears upon this point : — " 9th January 1579. — 
 It being found gude be the ministeris and kirk that the taibill 
 of the Lord suld be celebrated vpon Sonday nixt in the Hospitall 
 of the Trinatie College to the bedrellis thair and sic vtheris as sail 
 resort that day resaving thair tikketis conform to the ordour, 
 they ordane Lucas Wilson, dene of gild, to prepair for the said 
 taibill all thingis necessar." 
 
 Before proceeding further in the narrative, it may be well to 
 explain that in May 1592, Sophia Kuthven, the young Duchess of 
 Lennox, was buried, with great solemnity at the east end of the 
 Church of Trinity College. She was a daughter of the luckless Earl 
 of Gowrie, who died in 1584, and was forcibly abducted from a house
 
 TOWN COUNCIL CONTROL. 97 
 
 in Easter Wemyss, wherein she had been secluded to secure her from 
 the violence of the Duke's wrath. But he carried her off on his own 
 horse during the night, and married her in defiance of King and 
 Kirk. These were the days of ancient chivalry. This occurred on 
 the 19th day of April 1591, consequently she did not very long survive 
 her abduction. 
 
 Lady Jane Hamilton, likewise, on the 18th December 1596, by her 
 dying testimony, dated the 9th day of the said month, bequeathed 100 
 merks to the Trinity College Church, for a "buriall place" there. She 
 was the youngest daughter of the Duke of Chatelherault, and Countess 
 of the Earl of Eglinton, from whom she was divorced, because of the 
 parties standing in the fourth degree of consanguinity. She died at 
 Edinburgh, on the 18th of December 1596, nine days after her will had 
 been made and signed. 
 
 N
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 TOWN COUNCIL CONTROL, — Continued. 
 
 HE word " beidmen," although a relic of pre-Reformation times, 
 seems to have been in use for nearly a century and a-half 
 afterwards. It was also made applicable to the female 
 inmates, who were designated " beidwomen." This is made 
 
 evident by the following extract from the Town Council Minutes. The 
 
 meeting seems to have taken place within the walls of the Hospital. 
 
 The Minute is as follows : — 
 
 "At the Trinity Hospitall, the 20th June 1689.— Sederunt of 
 
 the Hospitall Councell. P. Sir John Hall ; Old B., B. Chartres ; B. 
 
 M'Lurg, B. Bruce, D. Gild, Tho. Crawfurd ; Thes"^- Wm. Menzies ; D. 
 
 Stirling, D. Reid, D. Thomsone ; Old Thes'- Muir ; Wm. Wilson, 
 
 Thes'- of the Hospitall. 
 
 "The which day the haill beidmen and beidwomen being called 
 
 upon, the Councell appoynts the Thesaurer of the Hospitall to call 
 
 for James Lindsey, Robert Dun, Ion Kello, and Ion Nicolson, their 
 
 Burges tickets who ar beidmen of the Hospitall ; as also Christian 
 
 98
 
 TOWN COUNCIL CONTROL, — continued. 99 
 
 Robertsone to produce her husband's Burges ticket to the Thesaurer 
 of the Hospitall befor the nixt melting of the Councell ; as also to 
 inquyre what Ryght the rest of them hes. 
 
 " Mr William Halkhead, Chaplane of the Hospitall being called 
 upon and Inquyred at, if he frequently examines the beidmen, beid- 
 women, and servants in the Hospitall, and giff he uses exerceise in the 
 Hospital ? He answered that he only examines the family twyse 
 befor the Administrating of the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, and 
 uses exerceise in the familly morning and evening continually. And 
 being also Inquyred at, if he gives obedience to the Law anent his 
 frequent praying publicly for King William and Queen Mary ? He 
 answered, that he uses frequently publickly to pray for the King and 
 Queen, bot he never named King William and Queen Mary, bot the 
 King and Queen that were established by Law. And being desyred 
 to explaine his meaning, — whether he meaned King William and 
 Queen Mary ? He desyred Wedinsday to give answer." 
 
 What the answer was, when Wednesday did arrive, it has not 
 been possible to find out. 
 
 "The Councell appoynts the origionall Rights of the Hospitall to 
 be inspected and the tenents' tacks of the Hospitall to be dely vered to 
 the present Thesaurer of the Hospitall." 
 
 In 1611, the number of beneficiaries in the house was 35; by 
 1628, it had reached to 50. A gradual reduction then took place, 
 when efi'orts were being made to repair the Hospital, and pay ofl' debt 
 which had been incurred in the investment of the Hospital funds in 
 the acquisition of landed properties. These investments showed great 
 insight on the part of the Trinity Hospital Governors of the day, which 
 are now yielding an annual return of more than was originally paid for 
 them. At the time referred to, there were few on the roll, and these 
 few were boarded out.
 
 100 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TKINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 The Magistrates and Town Council, at this juncture, carried on the 
 affairs of the Hospital, chiefly through donations and bequests on the 
 part of benevolent citizens ; and having frequently made powerful 
 appeals for aid, they seem to have been fairly successful in these 
 appeals to the public. 
 
 Professor Macpherson frankly acknowledges this. He states 
 (page 15 of his Report) : — "The charity seems always to have occupied 
 much of the attention of the Magistrates ; and from the continuous tlow 
 of donations and bequests, larger or smaller, it seems also to have enjoyed 
 the confidence of the community." Again, he says " The institution 
 seems to have been eminently useful in providing for poor people of all 
 conditions, who were (or were related to) burgesses, and the number of 
 applications for the benefit of the charity seems to have been largely 
 in excess of its means of meeting them. The result was a constant 
 struggle between the desire on the one hand to extend the usefulness 
 of the charity, and on the other to keep the expenditure within due 
 limits. The manner of checking excessive expenditure was occasionally 
 somewhat arbitrary. Thus in 1672, there were thirty-three inmates, 
 said to be more than the rents could support, so four were expelled — 
 one for being of 'a bad carriage and behaviour,' being frequently 
 drunken, but the other three for no graver offence than happening 
 to be married. The remedy generally adopted was milder. Thus on 
 30th May 1688, it was resolved to fill no vacancies till the number 
 was reduced from thirty-two then in the Hospital to twenty-eight, 
 ' as the annual rents of the principal due to the Hospital is not able 
 to maintain any more.' Notwithstanding this, a Minute of 10th April 
 1700 shows that there were fifty-one persons in the Hospital." 
 
 There are many entries in the Town Council's Minutes, bearing 
 upon the sums which the Corporation had to spend in the way of 
 buildings and repair. A few extracts will sufl&ce to make this plain.
 
 TOWN COUNCIL CONTROL, — Continued. lOl 
 
 19. May 1581. — Because it was meanit be certane eldares of the Kirk, that the 
 ruif of the hospitale in the Trinity College is failland and habill to decay gif remeid be 
 nocht haistely fund thairto, fyndis it guid that the nychtbouris and inhabiteris of this 
 burgh be requyrit and travellet with for thair help to the reparatioun thairof, and 
 thairfoir appoyntis and nominatis Alexander Owsteane and Edward Galbrayth to 
 speik the deykinis and thair craftis, Jhone Adamesoun and J hone Bury, minister, to 
 speik the men of law, and Alexander Vddert and William Littill to speik the 
 merchantis, and to report thair ansuer the nixt counsale day. 
 
 23. June 1581. — Ordanis James Nicoll, baillie, the dene of gild, William Littill, 
 Edward Galbrayth, and Thomas Aikinheid to pas on Sonday nixt, at afternone to the 
 hospitale, and visy the decayet pairtis thairof in the ruif and cuppillis, and to report 
 quhair the same neidis to (be) repairit and beittit, that ordour may be tane thairanent. 
 
 22. December 1581. — Ordanis Jhonne Robertsoun, thesaurer, to pay to Andrew 
 Sclater, ane of the maisteris of the new Hospitale the sowm of fourty pund debursit be 
 him for bying of sclaittis to the theiking and reparatioun of the said hospitale. 
 
 11. March 1584. — Ordanis James Ros, thesaurer .... to big vp and repair the 
 windowes abone the Hospitall in the Trinitie College with stayne wark or tymmer, and 
 to enter the calsay makers in the maist necessar pairts of the town and calsayes, and 
 to agrie with thame with the avyse of William Littill and Andrew Sclaiter. 
 
 18. August 1585. — Ordanis James Ros, thesaurer, to cans sett vp the ruif of the 
 beidmenis howse of the Trinitie College, repair and theik the samyn, and intromett 
 with the daillis being thairin quhilk ar xxvij in number, as the said thesaurer 
 declairet, and with all vther materialles, and to put in fir geists within the samyn. 
 
 23. December 1586. — Ordanet James Ros, thesaurer, to caus tak the rwif of the 
 
 hospitall in the Trinitie College callit Hospitall with the daillis being thairinto, 
 
 number and inventour the same, and putt thame in the loft of the townis hospitall to be 
 keipet thair quhill the toun half ado with the sam. 
 
 \ith November 1587. — Fynds it expedient that ane dur (door) be strukkin throw 
 the toun wall to serue for entres to the Trinitie College and hospitall thairof at the fute 
 of Halkerstoun's Wynd, als weill for the clengeing of Andrew Sclaiters geir in the awld 
 wallis of Dyngwall as for vther occasiouns quhen the town sail haif ado thairwith, and 
 gevis commissioun to the dene of gild (and five others) to tak ordour for clengeing of 
 the said guidis and strikking furth of the said yett or dur, and ordanet the said dene of 
 gild to mak the expensls of strykkuig furth of the said dur. 
 
 The Town Council likewise from time to time appealed for funds.
 
 102 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 On one occasion, they had to apply to the Ministers whom they bUimed 
 for not handing over to them what they considered was due to the 
 Hospital. The Minute regarding this matter is as follows : — 
 
 I5th January 1584-5. — The foresaidis bailyeis and counsall and James Wod, baxter, 
 ane of the remanent deykins of crafts, vnderstanding that the ministers, eldares, and 
 deaconis of the kirk hes in their hands the sowm of twa hundreth merks left til the puir 
 of the hospitall be dyuers zealous godlie persouns and wald imploy the sam vpoun land 
 or annuelrent, and seeing that the town hes dyuers vther sowmes gevin to the puir, thair- 
 fore amangs the rest ordanis James Ros, thesaurer, to resaue the said sowme to the vse 
 of the town, and grantis that infefftment be gevin to the maisteris of the hospitall of 
 this burgh and thair successouris imputt and electet be the town of ane annuelrent of 
 sextein merkis to be tane furth of the commoun mylnis of this burgh and payet to the 
 said maisteris of the hospitall and bestowet be tharae vpoun the said puir, vnder 
 reuersion alwayes, contenand the said sowm of twa hundreth merkis, to be maid to the 
 town in communi forma. (The following is written on the margin.) Nola. — This tuik 
 na effect be ressoun the kirk imployet thair money vpoun vthers. 
 
 The two following extracts from the Minutes of the Town Council 
 have also reference to contributions to the Hospital : — 
 
 2nd Aurjust 1581. — Vnderstanding that the sowme of [blank] is collected and 
 gadderit of the guid wUl of certane of the sessioun and guid nychtbouris of this burgh 
 for reparatioun of the new hospitale in the Trinity College, ordanis Thomas Aikinheid 
 and Andro Sclateris, maisteris of the said Hospitale, to resaue the said money and 
 imploy the sam in repairing of the said hospitale, and to be comptabill thairfor to the 
 guid towne. 
 
 \Zth October 1581. — Vnderstanding that the money collectitof the nychtboures for 
 reparatioun of the hospitale wes noclit sufficient to repair the sam, for the quhilk caus 
 and that the wark suld nocht lye idill and decay, Jhone Robertsoun, thesaurer, had lent 
 to the maisteris of the said hospitale the sowm of ane hundreth pundis, thau'fore 
 ordainis the said sowme to be allowet to the said thesaurer in his comptis, and the saidis 
 maisteris of the hospitall to be comptabill thairfore. 
 
 By the middle of the seventeenth century, the funds of the 
 Hospital appear to have been in a more prosperous condition. The 
 house had, by that time, become enlarged, a common hall, with kitchen
 
 TOWN COUNCIL CONTROL, — continued. 103 
 
 provided, the rooms were partitioned off, so as to hold two beds each. 
 Agreeably to Minutes of the Town Council of 20th April 1642, and 
 14th May 1643, with the advice of the Ministers and Kirk Session, all 
 the beneficiaries were to live within the walls, and be clothed at the 
 Hospital's expense. A matron was found who contracted to supply the 
 wants of thirteen inmates. An " expectant" was also appointed to pro- 
 vide morning and evening exercises. The number of inmates was fixed 
 from time to time, according to the funds at the disposal of the 
 Governors. 
 
 About this time, however, in so far as the various documents con- 
 nected with the Foundation were concerned, these seem not to have been 
 very carefully attended to, by the officials acting under the Magistrates 
 and Town Council. This remark was also applicable to the papers of 
 other foundations. Possibly there was not sufficient accommodation 
 provided at the time for their proper care. Hence the followino' 
 Minute was passed on 11th April 1656. — " Forasmeikle as the haill 
 writts of Heriot's Hospitall and the Trinitie Hospitall at the fute of 
 Leith Wynd, ar lying scattered up and doun in several places in the 
 inner and outter clerks chalmer, and charter hous and elsquhair, swa 
 that the thesaurers of the said hospitallis can hardlie give accompt of 
 the writtis and evidentis belonging thairto. Quharrforr the Counsell 
 ordaines the haill writtis of the saidis hospitallis to be inventaried and 
 put up in thair severall Cabinets." 
 
 The beginning of the last century (1701) seems to have been a 
 time of great dearth and comparative poverty for the townspeople of 
 Edinburgh. This was very much intensified by the great loss sustained 
 by the citizens through the collapse of the Darien Scheme* in 1702. 
 
 * The Darien Scheme. — In 1695, the Darien Scheme was set on foot. A Company was 
 started in Edinburgh for the purpose of establishing a settlement on the Isthmus of Darien 
 and for fitting out ships to trade with Africa and the Indies, as well as Greenland, Archangel
 
 104 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 Nearly half-a-million of money was sacrificed in this enterprise. The 
 Magistrates and Town Council, in their laudable endeavours to cope 
 with the state of matters in which they found themselves placed, in- 
 creased the number of inmates of the Hospital to fifty-four, besides the 
 
 and the Gold Coast. The large sum of £400,000 was readily subscribed. The highest anticipa- 
 tions were formed regarding the new adventure, and many citizens left Edinburgh, and 
 embarked for the new settlement, in the hope of realising enormous fortunes. Apart from 
 people of all ranks, who were contributors to the scheme, it maj' be mentioned that the 
 Faculty of Advocates, the Merchant Company of the City, with Sir Robert Chieslie, the Lord 
 Provost, the cities of Edinburgh and Perth joined it as communities ; but, in the meantime, 
 " the furious denunciations of the English Parliament proved a thorough discouragement to 
 the project in London, and nearly the whole of the stockbrokers there silently withdrew from 
 it." Under similar influence, the Hamburgh merchants were induced to withdraw from it, 
 leaving Scotland to work out her own salvation in the scheme, possibly "with fear and 
 trembling." She proceeded to do so with an amount of courage which cannot fail to be highly 
 commended. When intelligence reached Edinburgh of the Company having succeeded in 
 effecting a landing in Darien, and of their having successfully repulsed the attacks of the 
 Spaniards, and planted the Scottish flag on Fort " St Andrew," it is related that thanks to 
 Almighty Providence were offered up in St Giles' and the various churches in Edinburgh, and 
 a general illumination, at the instance of the Magistrates, was made within the bounds of the 
 city. The mob, however, taking advantage of the festive occasion, testified their joy by 
 securinc the city ports. They then proceeded to set fire to the door of the Old Tolbooth, and 
 they set free those prisoners who had been incarcerated for printing seditious publications 
 against the King and the English Court. 
 
 The scheme eventually turned out to be a great failure, all those who invested money in 
 the enterprise lost their means. As a result, the indignation of the populace was not one whit less 
 demonstrative when the day of adversity was announced, than they were in the day of its 
 supposed success. The prison doors of the Tolbooth were a second time thrown open, the 
 windows of all adherents of King William were broken ; in a word, there was a general riot, 
 in which much violence was manifested, and the Commissioners and officei-s of state were com- 
 pelled to leave the city for several days to escape the fury of the people. 
 
 The Darien House which stood opposite to the old Charity Workhouse in the High 
 Riggs, within the extended line of the city wall at Bristo Street, was used for many years 
 as a pauper lunatic asylum, under the name of " Bedlam." When the City Poorshouse was 
 removed, in 1870, to Craiglockhart, near Edinburgh, the whole ground was put into the market 
 for feuing purposes, and the old Darien House was levelled to the ground.
 
 TOWN COUNCIL CONTROL, — Continued. 105 
 
 Governor, Governess, and Servants, and the Corporation appealed to 
 the public for aid, by donations and mortifications. In this they were 
 fairly successful. It should here be noted, however, that the Union 
 between England and Scotland having been confirmed in 1707, there was 
 as a result a great exodus of the nobility and the wealthier classes 
 of society from Edinburgh to London. Nevertheless, it was eventually 
 found that the Hospital was fast running into debt. The Town 
 Council, as Governors, were very unwilling to exclude any of the 
 inmates from the benefit of the Institution unless they were found 
 guilty of misdemeanours. But necessity compelled them to adopt a 
 resolution that the number should be brought down to forty inmates 
 in all, and that no more should be admitted. 
 
 The buildings meantime had been getting into a chronic state of 
 decay and disrepair. In 1728, it was found unavoidable to delay the 
 matter any longer. According to Mr Andrew Gairdner,* the Treasurer 
 of the Hospital at the time, " The Slates were tumbling off the House, 
 which have hazarded people's lives walking in the street, the floor in 
 the low gallery, where the women's apartments were, and the joisting 
 was all rot ; the North-Loch ran thro' the North-end of the House, 
 which brought the whole Nestiness {sic) of the North-side of the Town, 
 and of the Butchers' Booths, through the House. There was a 
 Thoroughfare through the House, which kept it in foul weather, both 
 
 * " An Historical Account of the Old People's Hospital, commonly called The Trinity 
 Hospital, in Edinburgh ; with Arguments and Motives pleading for Assistance to pay the 
 present expensive Reparations, and to raise a Fund for maintaining many more people. To 
 vfhich is subjoined, Page 34, Proposals to raise a Fund for the Maintenance of Orplians, 
 educating them in Religion, and bringing them up to Virtuous employments, according to 
 their different Capacities, under the Title of a Charitt-Bank. By Andrew Gairdner, 
 Merchant in Edinburgh, and Treasurer to the Old People's Hospital. Edinburgh, Printed 
 in the year MDCCXXVIII." 
 O
 
 106 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 nesty and cold. When the water did run high, it flowed through the 
 House, and when the water was low, the foresaid Nestiness of the 
 Town and Butchers, with that of their own Houses of Office which 
 were in the West side, and had not Water to carry it oflf, lay beneath 
 the flooring, and made it very noisom and unwholesome." 
 
 Mr Gairdner then proceeds to describe the state of the walls, which 
 besides being in many places neither wind nor water tight, were in 
 some parts rent from top to bottom. This was not surprising, seeing 
 that a great portion of the walls of the buildings had stood for up- 
 wards of three hundred years. 
 
 To remedy all this state of matters, he proceeded to raise a 
 public subscription, whereby great improvements took place on the 
 Hospital, in its outward appearance, as well as its internal arrange- 
 ments. The changes which took place contributed largely to the 
 comfort of the inmates. Mr Gairdner in his report says : — " We have 
 given every man and every woman, in both the high and low Galleries, 
 a room by themselves, as being most convenient for people in their 
 circumstances. And, because many Women, when they were admitted 
 were in such straitened circumstances, they had much to do to provide 
 themselves with the necessaries their rooms wanted, but were obliged 
 to bring such things as they had alongst with them, and the House 
 thereby was never in good order or uniform. To prevent this, for the 
 future, we have given each of the women a new corded bed and 
 curtains, a wainscot table and chair, and all of them except such as have 
 a little room below the stair, a little corner cup-board, with some other 
 little conveniences in their rooms, and some drawers in the stairs that 
 go up to the high rooms." All these articles were understood to belong 
 to the House and could not be removed. Their bedding and bed-clothes 
 they were required to bring with them, and the same had to meet with 
 the approval of the Governess.
 
 TOWN COUNCIL CONTROL, — Continued. 
 
 107 
 
 The lighting of the House was considerably improved by additional 
 windows and fan-lights. The garden was put into a better state of 
 repair, and a handsome stone gateway with iron gate was erected on 
 the North-West side. For his timely intervention, Mr Gairdner 
 conferred an immense boon not only on the Magistrates and Town 
 Council who were the governors ; but also on the Charity itself, the 
 inmates of the Hospital, and indeed upon the public at large.
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 STATUTES AND REGULATIONS. 
 
 ifl^^HE Town Council, on the 10th day of April 1730, considered 
 it to be their duty to revise the statutes for the government 
 iK!i^4^E!i| and control of the Trinity Hospital. Nearly a century 
 and a half had passed, since they took an active interest in 
 the administration of its affairs. It is not wonderful, therefore, 
 that there should have been found reasons for having a revised con- 
 stitution and code of regulations. During the period referred to, great 
 experience had been no doubt gained as to a proper administration 
 of the affairs of the charity. 
 
 The chief changes which took place, at this time, were the 
 following :— (1.) The Ministers of the Trinity College Church were 
 no longer included in the list of Governors, and the whole Town 
 Council, as at that time constituted, became the governing body. 
 (2.) The quorum of a meeting of Governors was regulated by the 
 practice of the Town Council in its ordinary business ; and as the 
 meetings were held weekly on Wednesday, the business of the Hospital 
 had to be transacted along with the City's business, with this exception, 
 that a separate and distinct record was to be kept of the Hospital's 
 
 108
 
 STATUTES AND REGULATIONS. 109 
 
 affairs, apart from the Council's ordinary Minutes. Other meetings 
 of the Town Council, as Governors of the Hospital, might be held, 
 if required. (3.) A sum of £300 was required as a donation, to give 
 a right of presentation. This was an advance of £50 upon the sum 
 formerly arranged. (4.) The functions of the two Masters seem to 
 have been dispensed with. The Treasurer, who appears to have 
 been then constituted the highest officer, was required before entering 
 upon his office to find caution to the satisfaction of the Town Council, 
 to the amount of £400 sterling, for his intromissions, and the fourteen 
 days' restriction as to choosing other officials seems to have been 
 removed. (5.) The duty of the two masters was devolved upon the 
 Treasurer, who was required to inspect the conduct and behaviour of 
 all the officers, servants, and inmates ; to report to the Governors 
 what he saw amiss ; to receive the revenue and defray the expenses ; 
 and have these embodied in carefully kept books, in the form pre- 
 scribed by the Town Council. (6.) The House Governor had the same 
 duties assigned to him as were contained in the original Eegulations, 
 with one exception, viz., that he had to report to the Treasurer, in 
 place of the two Masters. (7.) In regard to the Governess (or Mistress) 
 the same remark applies, as in the previous case. She was to report 
 to the Treasurer. (8.) In reference to the Caterer or Cateress, and 
 the other servants of the establishment, the Treasurer was made to 
 undertake the duties of the two Masters. ' 
 
 The following are the regulations at that time (1730), approved of 
 by the Lord Provost, Magistrates and Town Council : — 
 
 INTRODUCTION.* 
 
 Seeing the welfare and prosperity of all societies depend upon the regular and steady Argument for 
 administration of their affairs in a conformity to the fundamental rules of their con- tuto' "^ *'* 
 
 * Printed by A. Murray & J. Cochrane, Edinburgh. 1772.
 
 110 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 stitution ; and that such is the instability and fluctuancy of human affairs, arising from 
 men's different ways of thinking and acting, that regular and steady administration 
 cannot in any measure be ascertained, without laying down rules or statutes : And 
 seeing the mismanagement of an hospital, and misapplication of its funds, are, by the 
 common consent of mankind, deemed crimes equal in wickedness to sacrilege ; and that 
 it is highly expedient for preventing these evils, and for establishing and maintaining 
 good order and ceconomy, that rules and statutes be laid down, and that the Governors 
 of Hospitals should come under sacred and solemn obligations to observe and obey 
 them, and to act honestly and disinterestedly : Therefore the following statutes are 
 enacted : — 
 
 STATUTE I. 
 
 Council of The sole Governors of the said Hospital are, and shall be, the Lord Provost, 
 
 Magistrates, and Town Council, of Edinburgh, with the Deacons of Crafts, Ordinary 
 and Extraordinary, in Council assembled. 
 
 STATUTE II. 
 
 Powers of the The Council of Governors (whereof a quorum is declared to be the same as the 
 
 and"°time "of quorum of the Town-Council by the sett) shall have power and authority to govern the 
 meeting. hospital ; to censure, punish, and extrude, the persons entertained in it ; to chuse, 
 
 censure, and dismiss, all officers and servants ; to direct its ceconomy within and with- 
 out doors ; to act with the treasurer ; and, in general, to order all its affairs, as occasion 
 requires, determining and concluding by majority of votes. And as the ordinary 
 stated meetings of the Town-Council are on Wednesday weekly, all business respecting 
 the Hospital shall be then and there transacted, and a separate and distinct record 
 thereof kept, as at present ; but prejudice to the Governors to meet oftener, or at other 
 times, as they shall see cause. 
 
 STATUTE III. 
 
 The persons The persons intitled to be admitted into and maintained in the Hospital shall be 
 
 to be admitted ^^ other than Burgesses, Wives of Burgesses, and Children of Burgesses, not married, 
 into the Hoa- o i 
 
 pital described nor under the age of fifty years ; and the number of persons to be constantly entertained 
 by^ their num- ^^^^^ ^^ ^^ many as the revenue of the Hospital can conveniently maintain, after deduc- 
 tion of the charge of management, and of maintaining the fabrick.
 
 STATUTES AND REGULATIONS. Ill 
 
 STATUTE IV. 
 
 The donor of the sum of L. 300 Sterling shall be privileged to present to the Presentations 
 Council of Governors a man or woman, qualified in all respects as in the foregoing 
 statute ; and the donor of the sum of L. 350 shall be privileged to present to the 
 Council of Governors any person whatsoever, who is not married, nor under fifty years 
 of age, to be admitted into and maintained in the Hospital, at the end of six months 
 after payment of the respective sums before mentioned ; and the said privilege shall 
 descend to heirs and successors whatsover : Providing, nevertheless, that no person be 
 presented upon the decease of another, till twelve months are elapsed. 
 
 STATUTE V. 
 All persons admitted into the Hospital shall be provided with decent apparel. The manner 
 wholesome food, and convenient lodging, furnished with clean linen, bed and bed- and mattere'to 
 cloaths, shall have such allowance paid them weekly, for petty incident charges, as the be performed 
 Council of Governors shall think fit, and shall be decently buried at the Hospital's admitted into 
 expence. But each person shall bring into the Hospital, at their admission, a bed and ^^f Hospital, 
 bed-cloaths, for their own use ; and shall sign a writ, by which they transfer and 
 dispone to the Treasurer, for behoof of the Hospital, all the goods and gear, money or 
 effects, they are possessed of at their admission : And shall further solemnly promise, 
 before the Council, to demean themselves orderly in the Hospital, to be obedient to the 
 orders of the Council, and to obey the Household Governor and Mistress, in all their 
 just and lawful commands. 
 
 STATUTE VI. 
 
 That in all time coming, the treasurer shall, before entering upon his office, find The ofEcers 
 . rv ,. <■ 1 andservantsto 
 
 caution, to the satisfaction of the Council, to the amount of L. 400 Sterling, for the be employed. 
 
 faithful discharge of his trust ; and that he, the Household Governor or Chaplain, 
 
 Mistress, and other officers and servants, shall be appointed by the Council, as the 
 
 exigencies of the Hospital require. Upon the death, demission, or removal, of any 
 
 whereof, the Council shall proceed to chuse others in their places. 
 
 STATUTE VII. 
 The business of the Treasurer shall be, frequently to visit the Hospital, in order to The office of 
 inspect the conduct and behaviour of all the ofiicers, servants, and persons entertained * reasurer. 
 in it ; to report to the Council what he may observe amiss ; to receive the revenue, and
 
 1 1 2 TRINITY COLLEGK AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 defray the expence of the Hospital, and keep regular books of accounts, in the form to 
 be prescribed to him by the Council ; to inspect the behaviour of the people in the 
 Hospital, in a particular manner, and see to the execution of the Council's orders ; and 
 keep all the papers belonging to the Hospital, in the charter-house, in due order. 
 
 STATUTE VIII. 
 The Cover- The province of the Household Governor shall be, to inspect the manners and 
 
 and^salan' ^'^ behaviour of all the persons in the Hospital, particularly of the men, and to report 
 what he finds amiss to the Treasurer ; to discourse with them, counsel, advise, and 
 reprove them, as occasion requires ; to sit at table where the men eat ; to officiate as 
 chaplain, by praying with them in the morning and evening, asking God's blessing, and 
 returning him thanks, at meat ; and further to do what else the Council shall from time 
 to time direct concerning his office. He shall be maintained and entertained in the 
 Hospital at bed and board ; and his salary, out of which he is to provide liimself with 
 decent cloaths, shall be such as the Council shall appoint, not exceeding L. 25 Sterling 
 yearly. 
 
 STATUTE IX. 
 The Gover- The business of the Governess or Mistress shall be, to inspect the manners and 
 
 ncfis's t)iisixi€ss 
 
 and salary. behaviour of all persons in the Hospital, particularly of the women, and to report what 
 she finds amiss, and officiate as steward, taking charge of the provisions of meat and 
 drink brought into the Hospital, overseeing the dressing, and disposing thereof, and 
 accounting for it to the Treasurer ; to comptrol the Caterer or Cateress, and account 
 with him or her, and to sit at the head of the table where the women eat ; and further 
 to do whatever the Council shall from time to time direct concerning her office. She 
 shall be maintained and entertained in the Hospital ; and her salary for providing 
 cloaths, and defraying personal charges, shall be such as the Council shall appoint, not 
 exceeding L. 12 Sterling yearly. 
 
 STATUTE X. 
 The Caterer The Caterer or Cateress's business shall be, to go to the market and buy the victuals. 
 
 Maid ^^'^^s^r^ accounting to the Governess for her or his intromissions ; and if a Cateress, to assist in 
 
 vants. Porter dressing of them, and doing the other parts of a servant's work in the Hospital. His 
 
 or Messcnffcr, 
 
 their duty and or her fee, and the fee of the other maid-servants, shall be such as the Governess shall 
 
 fees Uid down j^g^gg yp^jj y^^;^ them, by the advice of the Treasurer. And the Porter or Messenger's
 
 STATUTES AND REGULATIONS. 113 
 
 business shall be, to open and lock the gates regularly, delivering the keys every night 
 to the Governor, and receiving them back from him in the morning ; and further to do 
 what the Treasurer and Governess shall direct, consistent with the rules of oeconomy in 
 the Hospital. They shall be maintained and entertained in the Hospital ; and the 
 Porter or Messenger's salary shall be what the Council shall appoint, not exceeding 
 L. 3 Sterling yearly. 
 
 STATUTE XI. 
 
 Every Governor shall, at his admission, and before he enter upon the exercise of 
 his office, take the following oath, to be administered to him by the clerk, viz. 
 
 " I A. B. do faithfully promise, and solemnly swear, That I will punctually Oath to be 
 " observe the statutes of this Hospital, and demean myself uprightly, disinterestedly, Qg^^rnor and 
 " and honestly, in the choice of officers and servants, and in all other matters which officers. 
 "concern the Hospital ; and if I, at any time, find any person attempting or endeavour- 
 " ing to embezzle its revenue, or defraud it in any manner, I will vigorously oppose liim, 
 " and reveal it to the Council. This I promise, and swear, by God, and as I shall 
 " answer to him at the great day." 
 
 Every Treasurer shall in like manner, before he enter upon the exercise of his 
 office, take the following oath, viz. 
 
 " I A. B. now appointed Treasurer of the Trinity Hospital, do faithfully promise, 
 " and solemnly swear. That I shall faithfully and honestly perform all that is required of 
 "me by the Statutes of this Hospital, by God, and as I shall answer to him at the 
 " great day." 
 
 And the same oath, mutatis mutandis, shall be taken by the Household Governor 
 and by the Mistress. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 The administration of the Hospital's affairs being thus settled, and the faithful The use of 
 execution of these rules being charged home upon the conscience of every Governor and oaths. 
 Officer, it is to be hoped, that, by the blessing of Heaven, the pious and laudable ends 
 of this charitable foundation will be fully attained, to the comfort of the poor, and the 
 honour of those who now are, and in all future time shall be, concirned in the manage- 
 ment of its affairs. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
 p
 
 114 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 These statutes were afterwards revised in 1782, when the following 
 resolutions were adopted by the Town Council, and the terms thereof 
 were incorporated as the Rules of the Institution.* The effect of the 
 same seems to have been to vest in the Town Council as a body 
 several powers previously exercised by the officials. 
 
 At Edinburgh, the Tenth day of April 
 in the year One thousand, seven hun- 
 1730. dred and thirty. 
 
 Which day the Honourable the Magistrates and Council, with the Deacons of Crafts, 
 
 ordinary and extraordinary, of the City of Edinburgh, Governors and Administrators 
 
 Sole govern- of the Trinity Hospital, being assembled ; taking into their serious consideration that, 
 
 the Hospital ^^ *''^® decreet-arbitral pronounced by the Right Honourable Archibald Earl of Islay, 
 
 vested in the recorded in the Council minutes, the eighth instant, it is found and declared, That the 
 
 Town Council 
 
 ordinary and Council could not delegate their power of the government and administration of the 
 
 extraordinary, trinity Hospital to others. And being resolved to conform themselves to all things 
 determined by the said decreet, do unanimously agree, that the sole government of the 
 said Hospital, and its affairs, shall be from this time forth in the Town Council ordinary 
 and extraordinary only, and no longer remain in the Council of twenty-one persons, to 
 which the power of the government and administration thereof was delegated by the 
 Town Council's act, the twenty-sixth day of August, one thousand seven hundred and 
 twenty years, and where it has remained till now ; and therefore the said act is hereby 
 rescinded. And furder, considering that the flourishing of this Hospital does (under 
 God) very much depend on a regular and steady administration ; which, considering 
 the changeableness of the administrators, cannot be so well ascertained as by settling 
 rules and statutes for the management of the rents and funds of the said Hospital with- 
 out doors, and for the regular economy of all matters and things within the house ; the 
 
 Affairs of the Council unanimously agree to govern all the affairs of the aforesaid Hospital by rules 
 
 Hospital to be ./ o o 
 
 governed by and statutes. Therefore, the Council authorise and appoint the present and old 
 
 stetutea Magistrates, Deacon Conveener, Deacon Nimmo, and Deacon Ogilvy, as a committee 
 
 to compose these rules and statutes, and report the same to the Council for their appro- 
 compose rules bation. Extracted from the Records of Council of the city of Edinburgh, by 
 and statutes. (Signed) JoHN GRAY, Clk. 
 
 * Printed by Alex. Smellie, Edinburgh. 1803.
 
 STATUTES AND REGULATIONS. 115 
 
 Nota, By different acts, the treasurer is directed, on occasion of vacancies happen- Treasurer to 
 ins; by death or otherwise, to report the same to the council of Governors. report vacan- 
 
 Governore. 
 
 At Edinburgh, the Eighth day of Fe- 
 bruary, in the year One thousand 
 seven hundred and forty-four, ITU 
 
 Which day the Right Honourable the Lord Provost, Magistrates, and Council of 
 
 the city of Edinburgh, Governors and Administrators of the Trinity Hospital, in council ^.ct relative 
 
 assembled, enact, statute, and ordain, That all grants, powers, and privileges of exhibit- '" preventing 
 
 • XT ■ 11 Hospitallers, 
 
 ing and presenting Hospitallers, to be made and granted to whatever person or persons, in the event 
 
 who, in consideration thereof shall gift or mortify any sum or sums of money to the use monev^'^fallinB 
 of the said Hospital, shall in all time coming be with and under the following condition, below 5 per 
 viz. That, in case that at any time hereafter, the interest or annualrent of money shall 
 be by law reduced to a lower rate than five per cent, upon the death or removal of any 
 poor person or hospitaller, who shall be exhibited and presented in virtue of any such 
 powers and privileges (after annualrent or interest shall be so diminished) his or her 
 room and place shall be and remain vacant and unfilled up, until the annualrent arising, 
 and falling due upon such principal sums as shall be so gifted and mortified, shall run 
 up to a sum, which, when conjoined with the principal sums, shall produce an annual- 
 rent or interest equal to what such principal sums would produce, at the rate of five 
 per cent. Extracted from the record of the said Hospital, by 
 
 John Gray, Clk. 
 
 A t Edinburgh, the Fifth day of Sep- 
 tember, in the year One thousand 
 seven hundred and fifty-nine, 1759. 
 
 Which day the Right Honourable the Lord Provost, Magistrates, and Council of the Actagainatad- 
 
 city of Edinburgh, with the Deacons of Crafts, ordinary and extraordinary, of the City fitting of out- 
 •' " 'J ji J pensioners. 
 
 of Edinburgh, Governors and Administrators of Trinity Hospital, being assembled. 
 Bailie Andrew Simpson from the committee on the Hospital affairs reported, that, 
 according to a list given in to them, it appeared there were fourteen persons who were 
 out-pensioners of the said Hospital, therefore were of opinion, that allowing the funds 
 of the Hospital to be bestowed in that way, gives encouragement to many persons to 
 apply for the said charity that would otherwise not do it, if they were obliged to go 
 into the Hospital ; therefore enacted, statuted, and ordained, that no person in time 
 coming shall be admitted as an out-pensioner of the said Hospital ; and that all and
 
 116 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 every one admitted as members of the said Hospital, shall reside, and be entertained 
 therein in the ordinary way. Extracted from the records of the said Hospital, by 
 
 (Signed) John Gray, Clk. 
 
 At Edinburgh, the Twenty -second day of 
 April, in the year One thovaaiul seven 
 jjy2 hundred and seventy-two, 
 
 Which day the Right Honourable the Lord Provost, the Magistrates, and Council, 
 
 with the Deacons of Crafts ordinary and extraordinary of the City of Edinburgh, 
 
 Statutes for Governors and Administrators of the Trinity Hospital, being assembled, Bailie 
 
 ment^oT^^oci Hamilton produced in Council a scroll of Statutes made up by his committee, in 
 
 order and eco- obedience to the order of Council of the 25th of March last. Which, being read in 
 nomy in the » i , » , « ii 
 
 Hospital. Council, were unanimously approven of, and whereof the tenor toliows. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Introduction. Seeing the welfare and prosperity of all societies depend upon the regular and steady 
 
 administration of their affairs in a conformity to the fundamental rules of their con- 
 stitution ; and that such is the instability and fluctuancy of human affairs, arising from 
 men's different ways of thinking and acting, that regular and steady administration 
 cannot in any measure be ascertained, without laying down rules or statutes : And 
 seeing the mismanagement of an hospital and misapplication of its funds are, by the 
 common consent of mankind, deemed crimes equal in wickedness to sacrilege ; and that 
 it is highly expedient, for preventing these evils, and for establishing and maintaining 
 good order and oeconoiny, that rules and statutes be laid down, and that the governors 
 of hospitals should come under sacred and solemn obligations to observe and obey them, 
 and to act honestly and disinterestedly : Therefore, the following statutes are enacted. 
 
 STATUTE I. 
 Governors of The sole Governors of the Hospital are and shall be, the Lord Provost, Magistrates, 
 
 the Hospital. ^^^ Town Council of Edinburgh, with the Deacons of Crafts ordinary and extraordinary, 
 in Council assembled. 
 
 STATUTE IL 
 Quorum the -phe Council of Governors (whereof a quorum is declared to be the same as the quorum 
 
 same as the i i • ^ ii_ xt • i 
 
 quorum of the of the Town Council, by the sett) shall have power and authority to govern the Hospital ; 
 
 Town Council. ^^ censure, punish, and extrude the persons entertained in it ; to chuse, censure, and 
 Governors. dismiss all officers and servants ; to direct its economy within and without doors ; to
 
 STATUTES AND REGULATIONS. 117 
 
 act with the treasurer ; and, in general, to order all its aflfairs as occasion requires, Business of 
 determining and concluding by majority of votes. And, as the ordinary stated meet- t'"'y^^°^'""'! 
 ings of the Town Council are on Wednesday weekly, all business respecting the the Council 
 Hospital shall be then and there transacted, and a separate and distinct record thereof WTdnesday* 
 
 kept, as at present ; but prejudice to the Governors to meet oftener, or at other times, weekly. 
 
 Separate re- 
 us they shall see cause. cord to be 
 
 kept, but Go- 
 felAlUixlj 111. vernors may 
 
 meet oftener. 
 The persons entitled to be admitted into, and maintained in the Hospital, shall be persons en- 
 no other than Burgesses, wives of Burgesses, and children of Burgesses not married, nor '''l^*^ \° '"' 
 
 '^ ' o ' 6 ) admitted to 
 
 under the age of fifty years ; and the number of persons to be constantly entertained the Hospital. 
 shall be so many as the revenue of the Hospital can conveniently maintain, after deduc- 
 tion of the charge of management, and of maintaining the fabric. 
 
 STATUTE IV. 
 
 The donor of the sum of three hundred pounds Sterling shall be privileged to present Sums to be 
 
 to the Council of Governors a man or woman qualified in all respects as in the fore- of prcsenta- 
 
 going statute ; and the donor of the Ksum of three hundred and fifty pounds, shall be Ji°"' ^•^; 
 
 privileged to present to the Council of Governors any person whatsoever, who is not the Statvites 
 
 married, nor under fifty years of age, to be admitted into and maintained in the ^^jof Council 
 
 Hospital, at the end of six months after payment of the respective sums before men- ^"^^ ^^"■y 
 
 tioned ; and the said privilege shall descend to heirs and successors whatsoever, pro- j^^, person to 
 
 viding nevertheless that no person be presented, upon the decease of another, till twelve ^^ admitted 
 
 ,, , , on decease of 
 
 months are elapsed. another tiU 
 
 STATUTE V. rX^eT'' 
 
 All persons admitted into the Hospital shall be provided with decent apparel, whole- Apparel and 
 
 some food, and convenient lodging, furnished with clean linen, bed and bed-clothes ; °'on '^for ^those 
 
 shall have such allowance paid them weekly for petty incident charges as the Council admitted. 
 
 of Governors shall think fit ; and shall be decently buried at the Hospital's expence. ^o brine in 
 
 And each person shall bring into the Hospital, at their admission, a bed and bed-clothes at their admis- 
 „ , . Ill,,, . , „ , ^ ., , 5'°" * ^^'^ and 
 
 tor their own use ; and shall solemnly promise before the Council to demean themselves bed-clothes. 
 
 orderly in the Hospital, to be obedient to the orders of the Council, and to obey the -po promise 
 
 household-governor and Mistress, in all their just and lawful commands : And shall obedience to 
 
 .,,.,, /. , 1 the ordei"S of 
 
 sign a writ, by which they transfer and dispone to the treasurer, for behoof of the the Council, 
 Hospital, all the goods and gear, money, or effects they are possessed of at their admis- ^<?^^''n°"'> and
 
 118 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 To dispone sion : And, moreover, in terms of the act of Council 2d September 1795, they shall 
 th^"^Hor)ital' 'i''^®'^^is® ''^ ^^^ same deed bind and oblige themselves, in the event of their succeeding 
 Act of Coun- to any heritable or moveable subjects, other than what they were possessed of at the 
 tember 1796. period of their admission, to assign and dispone at least so much thereof, as will com- 
 pleatly reimburse the Hospital of every charge and expence its revenue may have been 
 put to, on such member happening to succeed to, or acquire any future accession of 
 fortune, whether heritable or moveable ; and upon refusing to comply with tbe above, 
 such person or persons shall forfeit the benefit of the Hospital, and be dismissed there- 
 from ; and that in their stead, needy persons shall be admitted from time to time. 
 Ordered, that this regulation shall be intimated and read to every person who shall in 
 future obtain the benefit of tbe Hospital, previous to their admission thereto. It being 
 always understood, that this regulation is meant only to extend to those to be admitted 
 by the Governors on the Burgess fund, and not to affect persons admitted in con- 
 sequence of presentations from the representatives of those who purchased rights of 
 presentation. 
 
 STATUTE VI. 
 
 Treasurer to That, in all time coming, the treasurer shall, before entering on his office, find caution 
 
 find caution to ^^ ^j^^ satisfaction of the Council, to the amount of four hundred pounds Sterling, for 
 
 Sterling. the faithful discharge of his trust ; and that he, the household governor, or chaplain, 
 
 mistress, and other officers, and servants, shall be appointed by the Council, as the 
 
 exigencies of the Hospital require ; upon the death, demission, or removal of any 
 
 whereof, the Council shall proceed to chuse others in their places. 
 
 STATUTE VII. 
 
 Business or The business of the Treasurer shall be frequently to visit the Hospital, in order to 
 
 province of inspect the conduct and behaviour of all the officers, servants, and persons entertained 
 
 the Treasurer. '^ > > r 
 
 in it ; to report to the Council what he may observe amiss ; to receive the revenue, and 
 
 to defray the expence of the Hospital, and to keep regular books of accounts in the 
 
 form to be prescribed to him by the Council ; to inspect the behaviour of the people in 
 
 the Hospital in a particular manner, and see to the execution of the Council's orders, 
 
 and keep all the papers belonging to the Hospital in tbe charter house in due order. 
 
 STATUTE VIII. 
 
 Governor shall be to 
 Governor. of all the persons in the Hospital, particularly of the men, and to report what he finds 
 
 the'llouaehold '^^^ province of the Household Governor shall be to inspect the manners and behaviour
 
 STATUTES AND REGULATIONS. 119 
 
 amiss to the treasurer ; to discourse with them, counsel, advise, and reprove them, as 
 occasion requires ; to sit at table where the men eat ; to officiate as chaplain, by pray- 
 ing with them in the morning and evening, asking God's blessing, and returning Him 
 thanks at meat ; and further to do what else the Council shall from time to time direct 
 concerning his office. He shall be maintained and entertained in the Hospital at bed 
 and board ; and his salary, out of which he is to provide himself with decent cloaths, Salary. 
 shall be such as the Council shall appoint, not exceeding twenty five pounds Sterling 
 yearly. 
 
 STATUTE IX. 
 
 The business of theGoverness or Mistressshall be to inspect the manners and behaviour Province of 
 of all persons in the Hospital, particularly of the women, and to report what she finds '"« '^o^^''"^^'*- 
 amiss, and officiate as steward, taking charge of the provisions of meat and drink 
 brought into the Hospital, overseeing the dressing and disposing thereof, and account- 
 ing for it to the treasurer ; to controul the caterer or cateress, and account with him or 
 her, and sit at the head of the table, where the women eat ; and further to do whatever 
 the Council shall from time to time direct concerning her office. She shall be main- 
 tained and entertained in the Hospital; and her salary for providing cloaths, and Salary, 
 defraying personal charges, shall be such as the CouncU shall appoint, not exceeding 
 twelve Pounds Sterling yearly. 
 
 STATUTE X. 
 The Caterer or Cateress's business shall be, to go to the market, and buy the victuals. Province of 
 accounting to the governess for his or her intromissions ; and, if a cateress, to assist in Cateress. 
 dressing of them, and doing the other parts of a servant's work in the Hospital. His 
 or her fee, and the fee of the other maid servants, shall be such as the Governess shall 
 agree upon with them, by the advice of the treasurer. And the Porter or Messenger's Province of 
 business shall be, to open and lock the gates regularly, delivering the keys every night 
 to the Governor, and receiving them back from him in the morning : and further to do 
 what the Treasurer and Governess shall direct, consistent with the rules of oeconomy 
 in the Hospital. They shall be maintained and entertained in the Hospital ; and the 
 porter or messenger's salary shaU be what the Council shall appoint, not exceeding three 
 pounds Sterling yearly. 
 
 STATUTE XI. 
 Every Governor shall, at his admission, and before he enter upon the exercise of 
 his office, take the following oath, to be administered to him by the clerk, viz.
 
 120 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 Oath to be " I do faithfully promise and solemnly swear, that I will punctually 
 
 Governor^^^'^^t "*'^*®''^® ^'^^ '*''^^^*'^*' °^ this Hospital, and demean myself uprightly, disinterestedly, 
 hie admisaion. " and honestly ill the choice of officers and servants, and in all other matters which concern 
 " the Hospital. And if I at any time find any person attempting or endeavouring to 
 " embezzle its revenue, or defraud it in any manner, I will vigorously oppose him, and 
 "reveal it to the Council. Tliis I promise and swear by God, and as I shall answer to 
 " him at the great day." 
 
 Every Treasurer shall in like manner, before he enter upon the exercise of his 
 ofiBce, take the following oath, viz. 
 
 Oath by the " I now appointed Treasurer of the Trinity Hospital, do faithfully 
 
 ' " promise and solemnly swear, that I shall faithfully and honestly perform all that is 
 " required of me by the Statutes of this Hospital, by God, and as I shall answer to him 
 "at the great day." 
 
 Household And the same oath, mutatis mutandis, shall be taken by the Household Governor, 
 
 (iovernor and 
 
 Mistress. and by the Mistress. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 Conclusion. The adminstration of the Hospital's affairs being thus settled, and the faithful execu- 
 
 tion of these rules being charged home upon the conscience of every Governor and officer, 
 it is to be hoped that by the blessing of Heaven, the pious and laudable ends of this 
 charitable foundation will be fully attained to the comfort of the poor, and the honour 
 of those who now are, and in all future times shall be concerned in the management of 
 its affairs. 
 
 Clerks to ten- Appoint the clerks, on the first Wednesday of October yearly, to tender to the 
 
 to\hl Council several members of Council the oath appointed to be taken by the Governors as raen- 
 
 onlstWednes- tioned in the foregoing statutes. Extracted from the records of the said Hospital, by 
 
 day of October 
 
 yearly. JoHN GeAT, Clk. 
 
 At Edinburgh, the Third day of De- 
 cember, in the year One thousand leven 
 1777. hundred and seventy -seven. 
 
 Which day the Right Honoui-able the Lord Provost, the Magistrates, and Council of 
 the City of Edinburgh, with the Deacons of Crafts, ordinary and extraordinary, of the
 
 STATUTES AND REGULATIONS. 121 
 
 City of Edinburgh, being assembled, they did, amongst other things, on report from the 
 committee on the affairs of Trinity Hospital, for the better internal government of the 
 Hospital, order and appoint, that all the members should be obliged to attend prayers. Members to 
 evening and morning, except in the case of sickness ; and that the names of suoh ^j, "^^.^ 
 persons as did not attend should be marked in a book, and reported to the Treasurer of 
 the Hospital, in order that he may lay the same before the Committee. And the 
 Council, for the more regular conduct of the affairs of the Hospital, and of the several 
 members within the same, vested the Committee with full powers, and recommended to Committee 
 them to meet monthly at the Hospital, or oftener, as they .shall find necessary, for the p^^gps. 
 better ordering of the affairs of the said Hospital. Extracted from the records of said 
 Hospital, by (Signed) John Gray, Clk. 
 
 At Edinburgh, the twenty-ninth day of 
 July in the year One thousaiid seven 
 hundred and seventy-eight, 1778. 
 
 Which day the Right Honourable the Lord Provost, Magistrates, and Council of the 
 City of Edinburgh, with the Deacons of Crafts, ordinary and extraordinary, of the said 
 City, Governors and administrators of the Trinity Hospital, being assembled, Bailie 
 Thomas Cleghorn, pursuant to the remit with full powers to him and his Committee as 
 mentioned in the Council's Act, the third day of December, one thousand seven 
 hundred and seventy-seven, produced in Council a report made up by the said Com- 
 mittee, whereby they give it as their opinion, that in order to remedy sundry abuses, the 
 Council should strictly enjoin the Treasurer to visit the Hospital as frequently as Injunctions to 
 directed by the statutes, and punctually to execute every part of his ofiice in person ; 
 and, wherever any diiBculties arise, to apply to the Committee for assistance, in enforc- 
 ing his orders. The same injunctions ought also to be given to the house governor and To Governor 
 
 Rod Govsr- 
 governess, with regard to their different departments, as pointed out by the statutes, ^ggj 
 
 and immediate dismission should be the consequence of their failure or neglect. 
 
 That the house may be kept clean and in good order, the victuals properly dressed, 
 and everything within the house completely executed, an additional allowance ought to 
 be made to the wages stipulated for the different servants, conform to the situation of Anent the ser- 
 the present times, as what is specified by the statutes is no way adequate to the labour ^^ 
 of such servants as are qualified to do their duty in that house with fidelity ; — and the 
 
 Q
 
 122 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 committee submit to the Council, if it would not be proper to give the servant who acts 
 as cook and cateress, four pounds per annum, one of the other two servants three 
 pounds ten shillings, and the other three pounds Sterling of yearly wages. 
 Members to That all the members in the house should dine at one common table, the governor 
 
 common table, ^"^^ governess to preside thereat in their order ; and no person to be excused, nor the 
 *''• ^actuals allowed to be sent to their own apartments, except in the case of sickness, to 
 
 Hour of din- be certified by the governor or governess ; and the hour of dining shall be at one o'clock, 
 '"S- as at present. The committee took into consideration what would be the proper allow- 
 
 ance for dinner to each person at the public table, having in their eye the regulations 
 tenth April one thousand seven hundred and twenty-one, and propose to the Council 
 that the dinners for each day of the week should be as follows : 
 Daily provi- Monday — Each man to get twopence, each woman one penny halfpenny, as at 
 
 siona to the present, 
 members. 
 
 Tuesday — A rump of beef boiled with barley and roots, or greens, according to the 
 
 season ; half a pound of beef, and one and one half ounce of barley, to be allowed for 
 
 each person ; the roots or greens not to exceed three-pence. 
 
 Wednesday — Beef or mutton roasted, allowing half a pound for each person, with 
 roots of the season, or greens, not exceeding eightpence. 
 
 Thursday — Beef flanks boiled with barley, roots, or greens, as upon Tuesday. 
 
 Friday — Eggs and butter, barley and milk, or potatoes, according to the season, 
 and half allowance of meat. If eggs and butter, each person to be allowed two eggs, 
 and not exceeding half a pound of butter to six. If barley and milk, a pound of second 
 barley, and five mutchkins of milk, and two ounces of brown sugar for four persons. 
 If potatoes, one half of the ordinary allowance of meat, the expence upon the whole not 
 exceeding that of the egg dinner. 
 
 Saturday — A rump of beef boiled with barley, roots, or greens, as upon Tues- 
 day. 
 
 Sunday — Roast beef or mutton, with roots or greens, as upon Wednesday. 
 
 Allowance of That the allowance for ale should be continued as at present, that is, one pint a 
 
 day for each man, and three mutchkins for each woman ; and they should also be 
 
 Allowance of allowed two pounds of meal each per week, for making porridge for breakfast, and 
 
 meal and 
 
 bread, &c. for twelve ounces of bread for dinner and supper. But, if they rather chuse money for 
 
 '''r^an^supper their breakfast and supper ale and meal, they should each of them, in lieu of these 
 
 receive ninepence per week ; in which case they are only to be allowed a mutchkin of 
 
 u'^u Thereof '" *^® ^^'^^ ^'^^ dinner, and twelve ounces of bread, and no meal ; or they may take money
 
 STATUTES AND REGULATIONS. 123 
 
 for their breakfast ale and meal, and then they will be allowed sixpence per week, the 
 men three mutchkins, and the women a chopen of ale each for dinner and supper, 
 twelve ounces of bread, and no meal. 
 
 That no person be allowed to carry off or dispose of provisions of any kind, under No provisions 
 the penalty of extrusion if a member, and of immediate dismission if a servant, and ^^ 
 forfeiture of their bygone wages. The same restrictions to take place with respect to 
 the governor and governess. 
 
 That all the members shall be in the house by eight o'clock at night in winter, and Members to 
 
 ^ be in the 
 nine o'clock in summer ; the bell to be rung at these hours, the roll to be called, and Hoase by 8 
 
 the persons absent to be marked in a book to be kept by the governor for that purpose, ^^^^^° 'g^^^'g 
 
 to be shown to the treasurer and committee, when called for ; the doors to be locked at in summer, 
 
 . , and doors to 
 
 these hours, and none to be admitted into, or to go out of the house thereafter, without j,g locked at 
 
 the express permission of the governor or the governess. ''^"^ 
 
 That all the wards and apartments be cleaned and aired by the servants of the ^^^^^ ^J^^ 
 
 house every day, as well as the public rooms ; and the surgeon of the hospital to report aired every 
 
 the state of the patients, and the manner they are treated, to the treasurer or com- *y- 
 
 mittee once every month. ^^^f 4°^"^ '° ^'^^ 
 
 That the present custom of allowing out-pensioners, being contrary to the statutes, of the patients 
 
 should be discontinued, where the Town has a right to present, without prejudice to "°" ^' 
 
 private patrons ; as the committee are of opinion that the savings from the regulations ^^^^^^ jig. 
 
 above proposed, would produce a fund sufficient for admitting an additional number of continued. 
 
 house-members. 
 
 The committee are further of opinion, that persons admitted into the Hospital Persona ad- 
 
 , J. mitted to 
 
 ought to bring with them a feather bed and bedding of cloaths, in terms ot the condi- brj^g ^ith 
 
 tion in their act of admission, and ought to reside in the Hospital ; and that sending ^g^"" ^/^j'^'^ted'^ 
 out provisions to those who do not comply with this condition, or to those who leave ding, 
 the Hospital, after they come into it, is higlily irregular and improper, and should be ^^ provisions 
 discharged in all time coming. to be sent out 
 
 Which being considered by the Magistrates and Council, they, with the extra- 
 ordinary Deacons, approve of the said report, and did, and hereby do statute, enact, 
 and declare accordingly ; and ordain the said regulations to be strictly observed in time 
 coining, during the Council's pleasure ; and resolve that the same shall take place from 
 and after this date, recommending to the said committee to see the same put to due 
 execution. — Certified from the records of said Hospital, by 
 
 John Geay, Clk.
 
 124 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 At Edinburgh, the sixteenth day of 
 Marchy in the y^ar One thousand 
 1791. seven hundred and ninely-one, 
 
 Which day the Right Honourable the Lord Provost, Magistrates, and Council, with 
 
 the Deacons of Crafts ordinary and extraordinary, of the City of Edinburgh, Governors 
 
 and Administrators of the Trinity Hospital, being in Council assembled, on motion by 
 
 No business the Lord Provost, the Council resolved that in time coming, no motion, petition, &c. 
 
 Hospital to be relating to the Trinity Hospital, shall be made or read in Council, until the ordinary 
 
 done until the business is finished, and announced by the clerks to be so. Extracted from the records 
 
 ordinary busi- ' 
 
 ness is fin- of Council, by John Gray, Clk. 
 
 ished. 
 
 Al Edinburgh, the seventeenth day of 
 May, in the year One thousand seven 
 1797. hujidrcd ntid ninety-seven. 
 
 Act fixing the WHICH day the Right Honourable the Lord Provost, Magistrates and Council of the 
 
 tiai?for*rifht3 ^^^^ °^ Edinburgh, governors and administrators of Trinity Hospital, being assembled, 
 ofpresentation — read representation by Bailie Coulter, bearing, that on the twenty-fifth day of March 
 pital. oiie thousand seven hundred and seventy-two, the following sums were fixed for the 
 
 rights of presentation to the Trinity Hospital, to wit, for a right of presentation at 
 large, three hundred and fifty pounds Sterling, and for a restricted presentation for a 
 burgess or guild-brother, burgess or guild-brother's widow or child, three hundred 
 pounds Sterling, — That it is now found that the interest arising from the above sums is 
 inadequate to the expence of supporting a member in the Hospital at present, owing to 
 the high prices of all the necessaries of life ; and, after consulting the Treasurer of the 
 Hospital, the representer was of opinion, and moved. That the Governors should pass 
 an act, declaring and ordaining, that in future, the sum to be paid for a presentation at 
 large, shall be the siun of four hundred pounds Sterling ; and for a restricted presenta- 
 tion, to wit, for a Burgess or Guild-Brother, Burgess or Guild-Brother's widow or child, 
 the sum of three hundred and fifty pounds Sterling. Which representation and motion 
 having been seconded, the same was unanimously approved of ; and the Council ordained, 
 that the respective sums before mentioned shall be paid for rights of presentation to the 
 Trinity Hospital, from and after this date ; and that this act shall continue in force 
 until the same shall be altered by the Magistrates and CouncU. And ordered, that the 
 same shall make part of the statutes of said Hospital. Extracted from the records of 
 the said Hospital by John Ghay, Clk.
 
 STATUTES AND REGULATIONS. 125 
 
 The last to which reference requires to be made is in the year 
 1821, when the following Regulations were passed.* The chief matter 
 dealt with seems to have been to permit the practice of bestowing of 
 out-door pensions, which former Governors condemned. The decision 
 of the Town Council was likewise in favour of increasing the quali- 
 fication of those who wished to present pensioners to the Hospital, to 
 a capital sum of £350 and £450. A surgeon is also to be appointed 
 to report as to the health of the inmates. 
 
 At Edinburgh, the Twenty-second day of 
 Aiigust, in the year One thousand eight 
 hundred and twenty-one, 1821. 
 
 Which day the Right Honourable the Lord Provost, Magistrates, and Council of the 
 City of Edinburgh, Governors and Administrators of the Trinity Hospital of Edinburgh, 
 being assembled, there was read the following Report by the Committee appointed on 
 the first day of November last, to revise the Statutes of the Hospital. 
 
 REPORT of the Special Committee appointed by the Governors on the first of 
 November 1820, to revise the Statutes of the Trinity Hospital. 
 
 Your Committee having met on the 20th of November last to proceed in the matter 
 remitted to them, found, that various opinions were entertained, not only as to the 
 powers of the Governors, in the administration of their trust, to grant out-pensions, 
 but also as to their right to alter the statutes of the Hospital. In order, therefore, to 
 put an end to all doubts on these important points, it was deemed proper to have legal 
 advice ; and your Committee " Resolved, that a case be laid before counsel in order to 
 " ascertain whether the Governors can legally grant pensions to persons not residing in 
 " the house, and can alter the statutes of the Hospital, from time to time, as they shall 
 " see fit." 
 
 A case was accordingly prepared, and the opinion of the Solicitor-General obtained. 
 To these your Committee beg leave to refer, as ingrossed in the records ; and, in terms 
 of this opinion, they hold it to be clear, — 
 
 * Printed by Alex. Smellie, Edinburgh. 1803.
 
 126 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 Isl, That, if the revenue exceeds what is necessary for supporting those whom the 
 house is capable of maintaining, the Governors are entitled to grant pensions to out- 
 pensioners ; and, 
 
 2d, That the Rules for the general management of the Hospital may be so altered 
 and modified, from time to time, as a change of circumstances may render necessary 
 and beneficial in extending its benefits. 
 
 Your Committee being convinced that, by the granting of out-pensions, the benefits 
 of the institution are greatly extended ; and that the predecessors of the Governors, in 
 passing acts against the granting of these, must either have acted under a mistake in 
 regard to their powers, or upon erroneous views, have no hesitation in recommending 
 that the Acts 5th September 1759, and 29th July 1778, so far as these relate to out- 
 pensioners, be rescinded. 
 
 Your Committee are farther of opinion, that it is improper to attempt to regiUate 
 the order and economy of an establishment of this nature by specific regulations applic- 
 able to every case : And that it is better to make general regulations for the govern- 
 ment of the Institution, and to trust to the efliciency of the officers and controul of the 
 permanent committee for the due administration of these. 
 
 Your committee, in going over the present statutes and existing acts of the 
 Governors, with a view to adapt them to the present times, have not found much to 
 alter. They have endeavoured to embody, in the following Statutes, such detailed 
 rules as at present stand on the authority of acts of the Governors passed since the 
 Statutes were framed ; and, in presenting the Regulations underwritten for their con- 
 sideration, the Committee beg leave to suggest, that, if the Governors shall think fit to 
 adopt them, it will be necessary to suspend the operation of all the acts of the Governors 
 containing separate regulations, and which are henceforward to be considered as super- 
 seded by the following 
 
 STATUTES. 
 
 I. The sole Governors of the Hospital are, and shall be, the Lord Provost, Magis- 
 trates, and Town Council of Edinburgh, with the deacons of crafts, ordinary and extra- 
 ordinary, in council assembled. 
 
 II. The council of Governors (whereof a quorum is declared to be the same as the 
 quorum of the town council, by the sett) shall have power and authority to govern the 
 Hospital ; to censure, punish, and expel persons entertained in it ; to chuse, censure, 
 and dismiss all officers and servants ; to direct its economy within and without doors ; 
 to act with the Treasurer ; and, in general, to order all its afiairs as occasion requires.
 
 STATUTES AND REGULATIONS. 127 
 
 determining and concluding by majority of votes. And, as the ordinary stated meet- 
 ings of the town council are on Wednesday weekly, all business respecting the Hospital 
 shall be then and there transacted, and a separate and distinct record thereof kept as at 
 present without prejudice to the Governors to meet oftener, or at other times and 
 places, as they shall see cause. 
 
 III. The persons entitled to be admitted into, and maintained in the Hospital, or 
 to receive an out-pension, shall be either burgesses, wives of burgesses, or children of 
 burgesses, not married, nor under the age of fifty years ; and the number of persons to 
 be constantly entertained shall be so many as the revenue of the Hospital can maintain, 
 after deduction of the charge of management, and of supporting the fabric. 
 
 IV. The donor of the sum of three hundred and fifty pounds sterling shall be 
 entitled to present to the Council of Governors a man or woman qualified in all respects 
 as in the foregoing statute ; and the donor of the sum of four hundred and fifty pounds 
 shall be entitled to present to the Council of Governors any person whatsoever, who is 
 not married, nor under fifty years of age, to be admitted into and maintained in the 
 Hospital, at the end of six months after pajrment of the respective sums before men- 
 tioned ; and the said privilege shall descend to heirs and successors whatsoever, provid- 
 ing, nevertheless, that no person be presented upon the decease of another, till twelve 
 months shall have elapsed. 
 
 V. All persons admitted into the Hospital shall be provided with decent apparel, 
 wholesome food, and convenient lodging, and furnished with clean linen, bed and bed- 
 clothes ; they shall have such allowance paid them weekly for petty incident charges as 
 the Council of Governors shall think fit ; and shall be decently buried at the Hospital's 
 ex pence. And each person shall solemnly promise to demean themselves orderly in the 
 Hospital, to be obedient to the orders of the Governors, and to obey the Treasurer, 
 Chaplain and Mistress, in all their just and lawful commands : And shall sign a deed, 
 by which they transfer and dispone to the Treasurer, for behoof of the Hospital, all the 
 goods and gear, money or effects they are possessed of at their admission : And, more- 
 over, in terms of the act of the Governors, 2d September 1795, they shall likewise, in 
 the same deed, bind and oblige themselves, in the event of their succeeding to, or acquir- 
 ing any heritable or moveable subjects, other than what they were possessed of at the 
 period of their admission, to assign and dispone at least so much thereof as will com- 
 pletely reimburse the Hospital of every charge and expence its revenue may have been 
 put to on their account ; and, upon refusing to comply with the above, such person or
 
 128 TKINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 persons shall forfeit the benefit of the Hospital, and be dismissed therefrom ; and that, 
 in their stead, needy persons shall be admitted from time to time : And it is ordered, 
 that this regulation shall be intimated and read to every person who shall in future 
 obtain the benefit of the Hospital, previous to their admission thereto : It being always 
 understood, that this regulation is meant only to extend to those to be admitted by the 
 Governors, and not to affect persons admitted in consequence of presentations from the 
 representatives of those who purchased rights of presentation. 
 
 VI. That a Treasurer shall be appointed with a suitable salary ; and, in all time 
 coming, he sliall, before entering on his office, find caution to the satisfaction of the 
 Governors, to the extent of five hundred pounds, for the faithful discharge of his trust ; 
 and that he, a Chaplain, Mistress, and other officers and servants, shall be appointed 
 by the Council, as the exigencies of the Hospital require. 
 
 VII. The business of the Treasurer shall be frequently to visit the Hospital, in 
 order to inspect the conduct and behaviour of all the officers, servants, and persons 
 entertained in it ; to report to the Governors what he may observe amiss ; to receive 
 the revenue ; and, in general, to perform the whole duties of a factor ; to defray the 
 expence of the Hospital ; and to keep regular books of accounts in the form to be 
 prescribed to him by the Governors ; to inspect the behaviour of the people in the 
 Hospital in a particular manner ; to superintend the execution of the Governors' orders, 
 and keep all the papers belonging to the Hospital in the Charter-house, in due order. 
 
 VIII. The province of the Chaplain shall be to inspect the manners and behaviour 
 of all the persons in the Hospital, particularly of the men, and to report what he finds 
 amiss to the Treasurer ; to discourse with them, counsel, advise, and reprove them, as 
 occasion requires ; to officiate, by praying with them in the morning and evening, ask- 
 ing God's blessing, and returning Him thanks at meals : And, further, to do what else 
 the Governor shall, from time to time, direct concerning his office. He shall be main- 
 tained and entertained in the Hospital at bed and board ; and his salary shall be such 
 as the Governors shall appoint. 
 
 IX. The business of the Mistress shall be to inspect the manners and behaviour of 
 all persons in the Hospital, particularly of the women, and to report what she finds 
 amiss, and officiate as house-keeper, taking charge of the provisions of meat and drink 
 brought into the Hospital, overseeing the dressing and disposing thereof, and account- 
 ing for it to the Treasurer ; and, further, to do whatever the Governors shall, from
 
 STATUTES AND REGULATIONS. 129 
 
 time to time, direct concerning her office. She shall be maintained and entertained in 
 the Hospital ; and her salary shall be such as the Governors shall appoint. 
 
 X. That the Surgeon shall make a monthly report of the state of health of the 
 inmates ; and, before any person presented to the Hospital shall be admitted to the 
 House, the Surgeon shall be required to see them, and to report to the Treasurer whether 
 the person presented labours under any disease that may render it dangerous or im- 
 proper to receive him or her into the House ; and, in the event of the report of the 
 Surgeon being against the admission of any person, the Treasurer shall immediately 
 bring the matter under the notice of the Governors. 
 
 XI. All the members of the Establishment shall be obliged to attend prayers 
 evening and morning, except in case of sickness ; and the names of absentees shall be 
 marked in a book, and reported to the Treasurer, in order that he may lay the same 
 before the Governors. 
 
 XII. That all the inmates shall be in the House by eight o'clock at night both in 
 winter and summer. The bell to be rung at that hour, the roll to be called, and the 
 persons absent to be marked in a book to be kept by the Chaplain for that purpose. 
 The doors to be locked at the above hour, and none to be admitted into, or go out of 
 the House thereafter, without the express permission of the Chaplain or Mistress. 
 
 XIII. Every Governor shall, at his admission, and before he enter upon the 
 exercise of his office, take the following oath, to be administered to him by the Clerk, 
 viz. — 
 
 " I do faithfully promise, and solemnly swear, that I will punctually 
 
 " observe the Statutes of this Hospital, and demean myself uprightly, disinterestedly, 
 " and honestly, in the choice of officers and servants, and in all other matters which 
 " concern the Hospital. And if I, at any time, find any person attempting or en- 
 " deavouring to embezzle its revenue, or defraud it in any manner, I will vigorously 
 " oppose him, and reveal it to the Council of Governors. This I promise and swear by 
 "God, as I shall answer to him at the Great Day." 
 
 Every Treasurer shall, in like manner, before he enter upon the exercise of his 
 office, take the following oath, viz. — 
 R
 
 130 
 
 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 " I now appointed Treasurer of the Trinity Hospital, do faithfully 
 
 " promise, and solemnly swear, that I shall faithfully and honestly perform all that is 
 " required of me by the Statutes of this Hospital, by God, and as I shall answer to him 
 " at the Great Day." 
 
 And the same oath, mutatis mutandis, shall be taken by the Chaplain and by the 
 Mistress. — 
 
 (Signed) John Turnbull, Preses. 
 
 The Governors, having considered the foregoing Report, Statutes and Regulations, 
 approved of the same ; enacted and declared, in terms thereof ; directed the same to be 
 printed for the use of the Governors ; and ordered the Memorial, with the opinion of 
 the Solicitor-General above referred to, to be engrossed in the Records. — Extracted 
 from the Records of the said Hospital, by 
 
 C. CUNINGHAM, Conj'. Clk.
 
 WTJl 
 
 O
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 RETROSPECTIVE GLIMPSE OP HOUSE AFFAIRS. 
 
 |T may be interesting to enquire how the affairs of the Hospital 
 were conducted during the last century. It may be taken for 
 granted, that there was likely to be little or no change upon 
 the policy of the governing body, or the management of the affairs of 
 the charity, during most of that period, especially after the revisal of 
 of the Regulations of 1730. The inmates were undoubtedly a class 
 superior to those who were to be found in the City Poorshouse. The 
 latter institution was begun in 1743, for the reception of the ordinary or 
 common poor of the town. It was then popularly known as " the 
 Charity Workhouse." It was built on a space of ground, formerly 
 denominated as the "High Riggs," being about 200 feet to the south- 
 west of the place where Bristo Port stood. It was bounded on the 
 north by the burial ground belonging to the Grayfriars' Church, on the 
 south by the city wall, and on the west by the ground known at the 
 time as the " New Burying Ground," also a part of the High Riggs. 
 It was erected by voluntary contributions by the inhabitants. The 
 annual outlay for maintaining each person at that time was £4, 10s. 
 
 131
 
 132 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 At first the expenses were borne by a tax of two per cent, which was 
 laid upon the valued rents of the old city parish, half of the profits 
 of the ladies' assembly rooms were devoted to the same purpose, and 
 one half of the church door collections were bestowed upon the same 
 object, as well as the results of voluntary contributions among the 
 citizens. The gentlemen of the legal profession refused to be assessed ; 
 but eventually they had to succumb, and pay their rates to assist in 
 providing for the support of the poor. The same exemption was 
 claimed by the Lawyers in regard to the Annuity Tax, a cess laid 
 upon the Ancient and Extended Royalty, for at least one hundred 
 years, to help to pay the Stipends of the City clergy, a tax regarding 
 which a passing allusion will fall to be made at a future stage. 
 
 The Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh had even previous to that 
 time been established, viz., in 1729, for the curable sick, from whatever 
 part of the world they came, without the slightest restriction. The 
 sick poor were, therefore, at that date provided for, by another and a 
 much more thoroughly-equipped institution, with the same or even 
 better relief than that which they formerly enjoyed within the 
 Hospital of the Holy Trinity. 
 
 It was, therefore, for the maintenance of decayed burgesses, 
 their wives and families, that the uses of the Hospital were, during 
 most of that century, exclusively devoted. 
 
 After the Union, which occurred in the year 1707, Edinburgh 
 seems to have been in a state of absolute poverty. The great bulk of 
 the citizens could not fail to have suffered severely from the exodus 
 to London, as well as from the total collapse of the Darien Scheme, 
 to which a direct reference has already been made in these pages. 
 Canongate appears to have had the greatest transformation scene 
 efi"ected on its highways and byeways. The poet Allan Ramsay — 
 looking back upon its gay days, before the King and Court were trans-
 
 RETROSPECTIVE GLIMPSE OF HOUSE AFFAIRS. 133 
 
 ferred to England, and when in place of the braw lads and lassies 
 that paraded on the Cauongate pavement in the days of yore — he 
 found the sturdy artizan and the hardy labourer frequenting its streets, 
 and that they were the tenants of, as well as were living in, those 
 tenements which were previously the resort of the gay and the noble 
 of the land, was constrained thus to write : — 
 
 " Oh ! Cannigate, puir elrich hole, 
 What loss, what crosses dost thou thole ! 
 London and death gar thee look droll 
 
 And hang thy head ; 
 Wow but thou hast e'en a cauld coal 
 
 To blaw indeed." 
 
 This state of affairs was not confined to the Canongate, but it 
 seemed to be the condition of the city generally. The many bene- 
 factions which were then bestowed upon respectable citizens, or their 
 dependants, who might have been thought to have occupied a superior 
 position in Society, would seem to imply that a great proportion of the 
 inhabitants had nothing better to look to at that time than what may, 
 with all truthfulness, be described as " a-hand-to-mouth " state of sub- 
 sistence. The Dean of Guild's Book of Pensions,* which, in so far as yet 
 published, dates from July 20, 1554, to June 13, 1744, gives abundant 
 proof of this. At that time there was practically no parochial 
 relief. The Dean of Guild was almoner in Edinburgh for the Church 
 of Scotland, and the Clerk of the Sessions. As an example, there 
 may be quoted the following entries : — "Nov. 20, 1719. To Margaret 
 Piggot, relict of Mr John Goodall, Professor of Hebrew in the College 
 of this citie, on account of her indigent condition, and to pay her 
 
 * Colston's Guildry of Edinburgh, page 119.
 
 134 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 husband's funeral charges, £25 sterg. as the current half-year's sallarie." 
 "Dec. 11, 1719. To Anne Campbell, relict of Mr Joseph Foord, late 
 preacher of the Gospel in Skinners' Hall, of this citie, for several great 
 and weighty reasons, £25 sterg." There are many other such quota- 
 tions to which reference might be made ; but these may' suffice. They 
 were grants or gifts to people, of even a superior class, when com- 
 pared with the majority of those who were usually included in the 
 Trinity Hospital benefaction. 
 
 The late Mr Andrew Gairdner, to whom a previous reference has 
 been made (page 80) was, for a considerable time, the Treasurer 
 of the Hospital. He was appointed to the office in 1727, and he 
 died in 1739, twelve years thereafter. He was a man of a most 
 benevolent character. He was continually engaged in doing good. 
 He found the house in a state of great disrepair, and he immedi- 
 ately set to work to issue a short Historical Account of the Charity, 
 and to request subscriptions from the public, to enable the Governors 
 to have it put in a creditable state of repair. In this step he was 
 eminently successful. The good services he rendered to the charity 
 during his life time, were highly appreciated by the Town Council 
 and the public. And it is proper to state, that he himself, under his 
 will, left a sum of £200 to the Hospital, in virtue of which the 
 Governors, on 31st July 1745, granted to his son (the then Treasurer 
 of the Hospital in succession to his father) and to his heirs, the power 
 and privilege of presenting a member of the Trinity Hospital from 
 time to time, qualified in all respects. In a pamphlet (already re- 
 ferred to) published at Mr Gairdner's instance,* in which he strongly 
 
 * Mr Gairdner, having had his attention directed to the large number of orphan children 
 in Edinburgh, as well as in other parts of Scotland, who were left in destitute circumstances, 
 and exposed to all the evils which are inseparable from a state of idleness and ignorance —
 
 RETROSPECTIVE GLIMPSE OF HOUSE AFFAIRS. 135 
 
 urges the foundation of a Hospital for Orphan Children, which re- 
 sulted in the Orphan Hospital of the present day being begun, of 
 which institution he was unquestionably the projector and founder, — 
 he thus refers to the feeling of satisfaction which, in his time, seemed 
 to pervade the inmates of Trinity Hospital as to the ample provision 
 made for them, and the comforts which they enjoyed, as well as the 
 immunity from domestic or business cares and worries, of which they 
 were relieved. The speaker he refers to, is made to say : — " I always 
 
 looking upon them, moreover, as in precisely the same condition as those who were the 
 recipients of the Trinity Hospital benefit, with this one exception, that they had youth on 
 their side and a long vista of the future before them — set his heart on providing an institution 
 for this neglected class of the community. 
 
 To assist him in his work he published two pamphlets. The former of these was entitled 
 " A Looking Glass for Rich People, or a Plea for the Poor," while the other was a reprint 
 of a German work, viz., " Pietas Hallensis, or a History of the Orphan House at Glauca, in 
 Saxony, by A. H. Frank, Professor of Divinity in the University of Halle." This he intended 
 to be understood by the public as a model of the proposed new Hospital. Both of these were 
 published prior to the appeal already referred to in 1734. 
 
 A balance of £218, 13s. 5d., after having repaired the Old People's (Trinity) Hospital, was 
 the nucleus of the foundation of the Orphan Hospital. Many other subscriptions began to 
 flow in. It is right, however, to state, that in his exertions Mr Gairdner was assisted by 
 several well-disposed and benevolent inhabitants. In the beginning of the year 1733 they 
 communicated their design to the Society in Scotland for Promoting Christian Knowledge 
 and several persons of distinction. The proposal got great encouragement, a plan was 
 agreed upon, and a constitution was framed for the government of the Hospital. In the 
 month of September of the same year, a house in Bailie Fyfe's Close, belonging to Mr 
 Trotter of Morton, was hired at a rent of £12 per annum, furniture procured to the value of 
 £15, thirty children were elected to the benefits of ehe Institution, a matron or mistress was 
 appointed, and Mr George Brown, one of the teachers of the aforesaid Society, at the Bridge 
 of Kelty, near Dunblane, was chosen master, the Society agreeing to pay his salary, as well 
 as to furnish all the books required by the children for their education. 
 
 In 1734, a general collection was taken in all the churches and meeting houses of the 
 city, as well as in the surrounding districts, on behalf of the Hospital ; and so well did the 
 public respond to the appeal that Mr Gairdner and his friends were enabled to feu a piece of 
 ground, called the Dingwall Park, belonging to the Trinity Hospital, on which the house of 
 Dingwall Castle used to stand, adjacent to the western end of Trinity or College Church.
 
 136 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 used to dread the terms of Wliitsunday or Martinmas, especially if I 
 was not ready with my rent. But now I can look both of these fellows 
 in the face, and as they have nothing to expect from me, I can say 
 straight either to Mr Whitsunday or Mr Martinmas, — How do you do, 
 this morning, gentlemen ? " 
 
 Nevertheless, quarrels and even riots did frequently take place 
 among the inmates. This state of matters was not, therefore, confined 
 to the time when the beidmen had a local habitation, but it extended 
 even to the beginning of the present century. The attention of the 
 
 The foandation-stone was laid on the 28th day of June of the same year, and the edifice was 
 erected in accordance with plans designed by Mr William Adam, one of the most celebrated 
 architects of his day, and brother of Robert Adam, the architect of our University. As an 
 illustration of the popular feeling exhibited at the time, on behalf of the Hospital, 24 
 journeymen wrights of their own free accord, subscribed a paper agreeing to work gratuit- 
 ously for 140 days in the erection of the house ; the candlemakers resolved to give to the 
 Hospital every year large donations of candles, amounting to 13 stones; an anonymous 
 friend was at the expense of a marble frontispiece, with inscription, bearing the date of the 
 foundation of the Hospital, to be put over the entrance. Other benefactions followed after- 
 wards — viz., Dr Glen, of Edinburgh, presented a clock ; John Yoiing gave the dial plate, 
 John Bonar painted it, and Thomas M'Innes put it up. Notwithstanding all these benefac- 
 tions, the cost of the building was upwards of £800. 
 
 In 1735, the children were removed to the new building. During the same year the 
 Town Council granted a seal of cause to the Hospital, which continued to receive an accession 
 to its funds by subscriptions, legacies, and church collections. In 1739, when Mr Gairdner 
 died, there were 74 orphans maintained and educated in the Hospital, and the funds which 
 the Managers had received were invested in the purchase of land near Inveresk. 
 
 At the time the Hospital was built, the New Town and the grand scheme of Provost 
 Drummond's — viz., the North Bridge — had not been contemplated. A few houses leading 
 up by Calton Street to what was then designated " Multrees Hill " (now St James' Square) 
 were the only neighbouring buildings, and the whole ground to the north and west was a 
 continuous line of fields, part of which at the time bore the name of " Bearford's Parks." In 
 1768 a vigorous but unsuccessful attempt was made to prevent the erection of the theatre 
 on a part of Forgleu's Park, adjacent to the Hospital, the site on which the present General 
 Post Office stands. Other innovations were stoutly resisted by the Managers of the Hospital ; 
 but the opposition was generally inefiectual.
 
 o 
 
 /5 

 
 ■J 
 
 Ir. 
 
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 ■si
 
 RETROSPECTIVE GLIMPSE OF HOUSE AFFAIRS. 137 
 
 Governors had been frequently directed to this subject, though the 
 inmates of the House were wont to meet only at meals and at 
 worship. 
 
 Alluding to the behaviour of the inmates (Council Register, 29th 
 July 1778), Arnot writing in 1780 (4to page, 563) says — " The behaviour 
 of the persons maintained in the hospital, although they are a class 
 above the vulgar, and are so comfortably subsisted, supports the argument 
 against maintaining the poor in a congregate body, and public poors- 
 house. The quarrels and riots among them were so frequent, the selling 
 of victuals allowed them, and applying the price to improper purposes, 
 and their nasty way of living (to which the poor people in Scotland 
 are exceedingly addicted) has aroused very lately the attention of the 
 Governors, endeavouring to correct their abuses. Indeed the mob 
 seems a monster so little affected by reason, and so powerfully in- 
 fluenced by religion, that frequent ablutions ought to be inculcated as 
 a part of the Christian, as it has been of the Jewish and Mahometan 
 religions." 
 
 Each of the inmates had a convenient room. The male inmates 
 were annually allowed a hat, a pair of breeches, a pair of shoes, two shirts 
 and two neckcloths. Every second year, each one was provided with 
 a coat and a waistcoat or vest. The female inmates had yearly a pair 
 of shoes, a pair of stockings, and two shifts. Every second year they 
 were each awarded a gown and petticoat. The cap or " mutch " which 
 they were in the habit of wearing, seems to have been provided by 
 themselves. 
 
 For the purchase of petty necessaries, — the men were allowed eight 
 shillings and eightpence a year. This must have been for snuff or 
 tobacco, which were largely in demand in those days. For a somewhat 
 similar reason, the women had an annual allowance of six shillings 
 and sixpence. Regarding food, each inmate had a daily supply of 
 s
 
 138 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 twelve ounces of household bread ; of ale, the men had an imperial 
 Scots pint, while the women had two-thirds of a pint, which was at 
 that time equal to three mutchkins of the present day. For break- 
 fast, they had oatmeal porridge (hasty pudding as it has been desig- 
 nated) ; and for dinner, they had, during four days in the week, broth 
 and boiled beef ; while, for two days, they had roast meat, and on 
 Monday, in lieu of flesh meat, the men had allotted to them the sum 
 of twopence, and the women one penny half-penny to spend as they 
 themselves thought best. 
 
 A reference to the Minutes of the Town Council of the period, as 
 well as a perusal of the House-books, throw strange side-lights, or even 
 foot-lights, on the practice of the time. There is no doubt that the 
 management of the Hospital was conducted on most economical principles. 
 The prices of the various commodities which were then supplied, will 
 bear favourable comparison with those of the present day. It will no 
 doubt be a surprise to the reader, to be informed that three pounds' 
 weight of beef or mutton could at that time be obtained for the 
 sum of fivepence, and that a good leg of lamb could be bought 
 for the small silver coin denominated "one sixpence." The House- 
 book, which was very specific, not only detailed the number of 
 " sows' hedds " that were consumed on the premises, but in the desire 
 of the Town Council of the period, for every scrap of information, as 
 to expenditure, they required to have it duly intimated to them as 
 to the number of "brats" (coarse pinafores or aprons) which were 
 used by the domestics. 
 
 Although the usual weekly menu is specified above, there were 
 occasional departures from the same recorded. The common sense of 
 those in charge would take care to have occasional changes of diet 
 largely dependent upon the particular seasons. For example, a fish 
 diet was from time to time provided every Friday. Possibly this might
 
 RETROSPECTIVE GLIMPSE OF HOUSE AFFAIRS. 139 
 
 with all due propriety be called " a Lent day," — reminding the reader 
 of the old couplet — 
 
 "The Monks of Melrose brewed good ale, 
 On Fridays, when they fasted." 
 
 The fish diet consisted of dried, or " hard fish," with butter and 
 mustard, or "green (fresh) fish," with pepper and ale for sauce. 
 
 There were two public tables in the Hospital, where the various 
 beneficiaries sat down. The one was a table for the females, and the 
 other a table for the males. At the head of the former, the Governess 
 or Mistress presided, while at the latter the Chaplain was accustomed 
 to rule. There were no dinners provided on Sunday. A supper took 
 the place of dinner. 
 
 The religious services of the House were conducted by the 
 Chaplain twice a-day, viz. : — on morning and evening, while, on 
 the Sunday, there were three services. In addition to their having 
 to listen to the ministerial exhortations, they were, according to 
 the old parochial system of " catechising " required not only to con- 
 form to the rules, but to be subjected to the examination of the 
 Chaplain, by observing the custom of their " repetting (repeating) 
 the sermons." 
 
 As regards the custom of " catechising " in Scotland, as it was 
 practised long ago, induces the writer to refer to a story that was 
 told many years ago regarding the late Lord JeS"rey. That emi- 
 nent judge and literary critic was at one time resident in a most 
 secluded part of the West Highlands of Scotland, enjoying his holiday 
 retreat. One afternoon, he received a message from the parish 
 minister, which was conveyed to him by the parish beadle (or 
 betherel) that the clergyman intended next day, at a certain hour, 
 to pay his Lordship a pastoral visit. Lord Jefi'rey was only too
 
 140 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 pleased to have some person of iutelligence to talk to, in his 
 retirement from the busy scenes of life, letters, and industry. When 
 the parson arrived, and was ushered into the drawing-room, his Lord- 
 ship engaged him in a most animated conversation as to all the 
 surroundings of the district and as to their respective proprietors, 
 which somewhat disconcerted the worthy pastor. At last, recover- 
 ing himself the latter said, " My Lord, you are aware that I 
 could not presume to wait upon your Lordship, but for the fact that 
 you are temporarily one of my parishioners, and that it is incumbent 
 on me to call for your Lordship and the family in my pastoral capacity. 
 I have to ask you, therefore, to summon Mrs Jeflfrey and the whole 
 household to ' their exercises.' " Lord Jeffrey at once rang the bell, and 
 the butler was told that all the inmates were to meet without delay in 
 the drawing-room, when a big family Bible was placed before the clergy- 
 man. The parish minister addressing Lord Jeffrey, with the utmost 
 feelings of respect, spoke thus, "My Lord" (strong emphasis on the 
 my), " since I became the pastor of this parish, now upwards of forty 
 years ago, I have never failed to adopt the wholesome system of 
 ' catechising,' which I think is productive of most excellent results ; 
 and, as I always include all my parishioners in my examination, and 
 invariably begin with the head of the household, — May I ask your 
 Lordship, what is Effectual Calling 1 " Never was an Edinburgh Re- 
 viewer more puzzled at a question. His Lordship had many years 
 before forgotten what was popularly known as " his carritches." 
 Nevertheless he was not to be outdone, and he volunteered the 
 following answer — " Well, I would say that the man performs his 
 calling most effectually, who does it with ability and success." The 
 minister accepted the answer, and passed on to Mrs Jeffrey. Per- 
 haps he did not quite realise the scope of the answer ; possibly 
 he did not wish to show his Lordship's ignorance of the orthodox
 
 RETROSPECTIVE GLIMPSE OF HOUSE AFFAIRS. 141 
 
 answer as it is given in the Assembly's Shorter Catechism ; but more 
 probably he did not desire to get into an intricate discussion with 
 the learned judge, in which he might have come off second best. 
 When the minister came to examine the domestics, he found they 
 were better prepared for his questions. They had youth on their 
 side ; and several of them had not many years before emerged from a 
 Parish or a Sunday School, where that Manual of Christian instruction 
 which had been drawn up by the Assembly of Divines at Westminster 
 was as a rule regularly taught to the rising generation, with "the 
 proofs " attached thereto. But to return. 
 
 Whatever came of the Chaplain's examination of the inmates, there 
 were other rules, which were most strictly observed. After the 
 Reformation, the blue gown was dispensed with, and a sombre purple 
 robe eventually took its place. The refusal to wear this garment 
 subjected the individual to pains and penalties : e.g. — One inmate was 
 ordered to remove from the premises, for refusal to wear a vestiture of 
 "sad purple cuUored cloth" which the Governors had selected by way 
 of a livery for the beneficiaries. 
 
 As bearing upon the class of persons who from time to time were 
 admitted to the Hospital, the following quotation may be referred to : — 
 The late Lord Cockburn, writing at so comparatively recent a date as 
 1840, says: — "One of the present female pensioners is ninety-six. 
 She was sitting beside her own fire. The Chaplain shook her kindly 
 by the hand, and asked her how she was. 'Very weel — ^just in my 
 creeping ordinary.' There is one Catholic here, a merry little woman, 
 obviously with some gentle blood in her veins, and delighted to allude 
 to it. This book she got from Sir John Something ; her great friend 
 had been Lady something Cunningham ; and her spinet was the oldest 
 that had ever been made ; to convince me of which she opened it, and 
 pointed exultingly to the year 1776. Neither she, nor the ninety-six-
 
 142 
 
 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 year-old was in an ark, but iu a small room. On overhearing my name, 
 she said she was once at Miss Brandon's boarding-school in Bristo Street, 
 with a Miss Matilda Cockburn, 'a pretty little girl.' I told her that I 
 remembered that school quite well, and that the little girl was my 
 sister ; and then I added as a joke, that all the girls at that school were 
 said to have been pretty, and all light headed, and given to flirtation ; 
 the tumult revived in the vestal's veins. Delighted with the imputation, 
 she rubbed her hands together, and giggled till she wept." It has been 
 said that the octogenarian to whom Lord Cockburn refers was a Miss 
 Gibb, and she was nearly the last of the old inmates of the Hospital. 
 
 Another illustration of the superior class of inmates who occasion- 
 ally found the Hospital a pleasant place of abode, on their retirement 
 from social life, may be illustrated by the following entry : — Miss 
 Violet Maitland, who was resident in the Hospital in 1842, having 
 received a considerable legacy, — did not fail to repay to the Governor 
 all the money she had previously cost the Hospital, and she made a 
 further payment to the Treasurer, on condition that she should be per- 
 mitted to enjoy the privilege of remaining still as one of the inmates. 
 This was about one year before the Imperial Parliament had doomed 
 the destruction of the old Hospital building. 
 
 It was a rule of the House that on the death of any of the inmates, 
 the Charity should make provision for his or her decent interment. 
 About the middle of last century, the sums allowed for a funeral were 
 as follow : — 
 
 Two dozen of clay Tobacco Pipes, 
 Dead Chist (Coffin), . 
 Dead Linnens (Clothes), 
 Gravamen's Dues, . 
 Morte Cloth, gratis, 
 
 Total, 
 
 
 
 £0 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 £l_ 
 
 2 
 
 12.
 
 RETROSPECTIVE GLIMPSE OF HOUSE AFFAIRS. 143 
 
 But this, apparently, did not exhaust the charges. If pipes were 
 supplied, then something was required to put into them. Hence among 
 some other charges, one was found for tobacco : — 
 
 Six gaUons Ale, £0 6 
 
 A peck of Flour in shortbread, . . . 2 
 
 A pint of Brandy, . . . . . 3 
 
 A pound of Tobacco 16 
 
 Together, . . £0 12 6 
 
 The total expenses of a funeral worked out, therefore, at £1, 15s. 4d. 
 
 The building was, before it was taken down, two storeys high, and 
 it formed two sides of a square. It was not by any means ornamental. 
 It had a quaint old-fashioned appearance, and was certainly not a very 
 attractive residence. The windows were narrow and deep, especially 
 in the lower floor. In fact it had a most dismal and repelling aspect ; 
 it was certainly not a house to induce people to resort to it. 
 
 Along the interior of the upper floor, there was a corridor, about 
 half the width of the house. It was lighted from the west, and it 
 served as a library and a place of promenade. The library had several 
 important missals and old Bibles at the time of the house being dis- 
 mantled. Most of these have gone amissing, and there now remain 
 chiefly a large number of works of Divinity, dry-as-dust. Opening 
 upon this corridor, were to be found a range of little rooms, used as 
 bedrooms, which once formed the resort of the prebendaries in former 
 times. The other parts of the House were of more modern con- 
 struction, and these were fitted up when the Hospital came to be used 
 solely for the support of the decayed burgesses of Edinburgh, and 
 their wives and children, upwards of fifty years of age. 
 
 This restriction of the inmates was enacted by a Minute of the
 
 144 
 
 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 Town Council, of date 24th May 1643, and was not by any means 
 in accordance with the terms of the foundation. There seemed to 
 be no such restrictions in the Hospital Charters. 
 
 It was, therefore, a Resolution of the Corporation, pure and 
 simple, on behalf of the burgesses of the period and their relatives, 
 on account of important services rendered by them and their ancestors 
 to the community at large.
 
 u 
 
 ■J 
 
 u 
 
 c
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE TRINITY COLLEGE CHURCH. 
 
 jIT may safely be assumed, that the Trinity College Church 
 was, in 1844, undoubtedly the finest specimen of Gothic 
 ecclesiastical architecture within the City of Edinburgh. 
 Whatever were the original designs, — and these, in consequence of a 
 variety of circumstances to which a passing allusion has already been 
 made, were never entirely carried out, — it is, nevertheless, true, that 
 this place of worship, as it appeared, at the beginning of the present 
 century, was justly regarded as a most beautiful and very rare speci- 
 men of architecture, which gave to the antiquarian and to the man of 
 taste a great deal to think upon and to mentally digest. It is right, 
 however, to state that the nave was never built. This state of 
 matters is capable of explanation. It was not unusual for devout per- 
 sons, in that age of church building, to erect as much as they were 
 able to do in their own day, and then leave the completion of the work 
 to posterity, like the Cathedral of Cologne, which having been begun 
 many centuries ago, has been finished only within the last few years. 
 
 As the building of Trinity College Church stood, at the time, it 
 consisted of a choir and transepts, while the central tower was only 
 partially built ; and the same appeared to have been brought to a 
 
 T
 
 146 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 sudden termination, through its having been finished by crow-stepped 
 gables and a slanted roof. 
 
 The ornamental accessories, with which the edifice seemed copiously 
 to abound, did not fail to exhibit many varieties of design, notwith- 
 standing that that most destroying demon, denominated "Time," had 
 wrought his own fair share of destruction among them. The figure of 
 the Monkey, which has always been regarded as a most fit representa- 
 tion of " the Devil," appeared very frequently in a variety of phases and 
 positions in the gurgoyles. Why his Satanic Majesty should have been 
 called upon to play so conspicuous a part, in a building most religiously 
 dedicated to Christian Worship, is one of those things which possibly 
 no one would be well able to understand, unless it had been on the un- 
 alterable principle recorded in Holy Writ, wherein we are advised most 
 carefully, sedulously, and strenuously, to resist the Devil, and not under 
 any circumstances to flee before or from him. 
 
 Why the Devil should not have appeared to the Trinitarians, in 
 the garb of the more Biblical simile, of a "roaring Lion, seeking whom 
 he may devour," seems equally strange. It could not certainly have 
 been as a representative of the monkey race, and a first development of 
 the human species, in consequence of any Darwinian theory as to 
 evolution or human progression, in the origin of mankind generally, 
 that he was brought to the front. That most speculative theory had 
 not had, for many generations thereafter, a place and principle of local 
 habitation in the human heart or intellect. Possibly the best excuse 
 that can be made for its somewhat peculiar appearance or apparition, in 
 regard to its being tolerated in a house dedicated to the worship of the 
 Almighty God, where Christians were from time to time accustomed to 
 resort for the purpose of religious worship was, that the image of the 
 Monkey happened to be of frequent occurrence in the ecclesiastical 
 buildings which were erected here and elsewhere, during the fifteenth
 
 THE TRINITY COLLEGE CHURCH. 147 
 
 and sixteenth centuries. It was, therefore, a matter of fashion or 
 custom, — the outcome of the ideas or tastes of the period. 
 
 The ornamental details with which the interior of the Trinity 
 College Church was so richly invested, were exceedingly varied and of 
 the most quaint description. There were numerous armorial designs, 
 which adorned many parts of the edifice. These were usually to be 
 found towards the east end of the Choir. 
 
 The various, and equally varied, corbels, represented here and there 
 an angelic form, or some other such beautiful device. But these were 
 of more rare occurrence. The fashion of the day seems to have been 
 to exhibit the contest continually going on between good and evil, 
 as it is so aptly represented in the church of Notre Dame in Paris. 
 The evil passions were demonstrated in a variety of ways, representing 
 the most hideous and grotesque forms of extraordinary monsters, great 
 or small, broad or tall — forms celestial, terrestrial or speculative — 
 as should be supposed by the spectator to be designed for the purpose 
 of bearing or carrying the enormous burdens, which, from their 
 position in the building, they were to be understood to support, on 
 the same principle as Atlas was represented, of old, to carry the 
 Globe on his back. 
 
 One heraldic device has been described by both Maitland and 
 Arnot, as being the arms of Queen Mary of Gueldres, the Foundress of 
 the College and Hospital. It was situated on the side of a buttress 
 at the west angle of the south transept, and it was in excellent pre- 
 servation at the time of the edifice being taken down. A closer 
 inspection and subsequent research have, however, proved it to be 
 the " Coat of Arms " of Alexander, Duke of Albany, the brother-in- 
 law of the Foundress, who, at the time of her death, was resident at 
 the Court of the Duke of Gueldres. In respect of her own " Coat of 
 Arms," these have now generally been supposed to have been carved
 
 148 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 out upon the north-east buttress of what was then " the vestry," near 
 to the place where it was generally understood her mortal remains 
 were deposited at the time of her decease in 1463. 
 
 The vestry, according to the late Sir Daniel Wilson, in his most 
 admirable work entitled " Memorials of Edinburgh in the Olden 
 Time," 1847 (Vol. II. page 176), " afforded externally a fine specimen 
 of the old Scottish method of ' theiking with stone,' " with which the 
 whole church, except the central tower, was roofed, till about the year 
 1814, when it was replaced with slates. The vestry also exhibited 
 a rare specimen of an ancient Gothic chimney, an object of some 
 interest to the architect, as being one of the few specimens of domestic 
 architecture in that style which escaped the general destruction of 
 the religious houses in Scotland. 
 
 The centre aisle of the Trinity College Church was very lofty. The 
 groining was excessively rich in design. There was a most beautiful 
 and handsomely symmetrical doorway, which, being placed under a 
 well-proportioned porch, with firmly-groined roof, gave access to the 
 south aisle of the choir, while a similar, though somewhat smaller one, 
 many previous years before, would appear to have existed immediately 
 under the Great Window of the north transept. 
 
 According to the late Mr James Grant (in his work entitled 
 " Cassell's Old and New Edinburgh," Division II. page 303), " the choir 
 of this church from the apse to the west enclosure of the rood tower 
 was 90 feet long, and 70 feet from transept to transept window ; 
 the north aisle was 12 feet broad, and the south 9 feet. It is a 
 tradition in masonry, that the north aisles of all Catholic churches were 
 wider than the south, to commemorate the alleged circumstance of the 
 Saviour's head on the Cross falling on His right shoulder. In digging 
 the foundation of the Scott Monument, an old quarry, 40 feet deep, 
 was discovered ; and from it the stones from which the church was
 
 THE TRINITY COLLEGE CHURCH. 149 
 
 built were taken. With the exception of Holyrood, it was the finest 
 example of decorated English Gothic architecture in the city, with 
 many of the peculiarities of the age to which it belonged." 
 
 The Trinity College Church, not very long after the Reformation, 
 was used as, and constituted, one of the parish churches of the City 
 of Edinburgh. So early as 1584, — only about seventeen years after 
 the Town Council had obtained from Sir Simon Preston the trans- 
 ference of his right to the Church and pertinents, and just about the time 
 of the deed of agreement with Robert Pont, already referred to (page 
 47), the Lord Provost, Magistrates, and Town Council resolved to divide 
 the town into four parishes, each to have a church. One of these 
 parishes was designated the North-East and the Canongate-Head 
 Parish, and to it was allocated the Trinity College Church.* Again, 
 
 * The Minute of the Town Council is to the following effect, and it not only divides the 
 town into parishes, but also provides for the election of elders and deacons. It thus casts 
 a side light on the religious policy and government of the day : — 
 
 "14. October 1584. — For establissing ane guid ordour and pollicie within the kirk, and 
 execution of the disciplyne thairof, lies agreitt and condiscendit to the heids sett down be 
 the persouns nominat to that effect in maner following, to witt, — The haill towne to be 
 deuydet in foure parochins, according to thair quarters as thai presentlie stand, and euerie 
 parochein to haif thair paroche kirk, according to thair quantitie, the grittest parochein 
 to the grittest kirk, viz. St Geillis Kirk for the sowth west quarter ; the Magdalein Chaipell 
 for the sowth eist within the ports, the New Kirk for the north west, and the Trinity 
 College for the north eist and the Cannogait heid without the port, and to this effect the 
 said college to be incloset within the town, and ane yett to be strikkin furth in the town 
 wall at the fute of Halkerstoun's Wynd, to serue for a passage to the said kirk. Attour, 
 euerie ane of thir paroche kirkis to haif thair awin particulare reidare, and euery parochiner 
 to cum to the prayers, communion, repentance, baptisme, and mariage in his awin paroche 
 kirk. And, last, the provest, bailyies, counsall and deykins, with avyse of the ministers, to 
 elect furth of euerie parochein thre elders and four deaconis, quha sail convene all togidder ilk 
 Thurisday, with twa bailyeis and four of the counsall of the town, to tak ordour with the 
 effairis belanging to their charge, to witt, the correctioun of the maners and support of the 
 puir. And the names of the said eldaris and deaconis to be gevin to the ministers, and 
 intimat be thame to the pepill, that gif any personis haif to say aganes the saidis persouns
 
 150 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 in 1635, in conformity with an arrangement with King Charles, and in 
 obedience to an Act of the Lords of Secret Council of 1st November, 
 and for fulfilling the agreement with King Charles, the Town Council 
 "divided and distinguished the whole town, including the West Port, 
 Cowgate Street, and Head of Canongate and inhabitants thereof into 
 four parochins," and appointed the limits of each. One of these 
 parochins or quarters was the North-East quarter, and for this 
 quarter the Council appointed the "College Kirk." Again in 1641, 
 the Town Council divided the burgh into six parishes, appoint- 
 ing the churches and ministers respectively to each. The third 
 of these parishes was thereby appointed the North-East Parish, and 
 to it was appointed the church, "pertening of auld to the Trinitie 
 Colledge, commonly called the ' CoUedge Church.'" Various other 
 divisions were made from time to time ; but from the commence- 
 ment of the Magistrates and Town Council's right in and manage- 
 ment of the Trinity College Church, it had always been appropriated 
 to, and been used as, one of the city churches ; and it had been 
 invariably allocated to the parish designated as that of the Trinity 
 College. Ministers have always been appointed thereto, by the Cor- 
 poration, in virtue of the right of patronage conferred upon them ; 
 the ministers have been recognised and dealt with by the Presbytery, 
 and by other superior church courts, by Parliamentary enactments, 
 by the courts of law, and otherwise, as of the city ministers, and as 
 having right with their other brethren in the city ministry to the 
 status and the funds which pertained to the city clergy. The whole 
 ecclesiastical arrangements of the city have invariably been made and 
 
 may corupeir, and his complaynt beand fund of trewtli and resonabill, ane vther to be electit 
 in place of tliat eldar or deacon. And ordanis the haill deykins of crafts to be warnet agane 
 Fryday uixt to gif thair consent to the present ordour."
 
 THE TRINITY COLLEGE CHURCH. 151 
 
 sanctioned by the Presbytery. Those arrangements have likewise been 
 acknowledged by the courts of law and other judicatories, civil and 
 ecclesiastical, and have been acquiesced in by every body, on the footing 
 of Trinity College Church having been one of the recogaised city 
 churches. The seat rents were applied in the same way as the other 
 city churches, and the expenses connected therewith were provided for 
 and paid in the same manner. 
 
 As has already been stated, when the Church and College build- 
 ings, with the Hospital came into the hands of the Town Council, all of 
 them had suffered more or less at the hands of Argyle and his followers. 
 The Provost, Magistrates and Town Council had, therefore, to appeal for 
 subscriptions from their fellow citizens to aid them. A building which 
 has been allowed to get into decay, is not as a rule treated with great 
 respect by the populace. In those days the lads and boys of the 
 town were as mischievous as they are at the present time. Their 
 conduct drew the attention of the authorities to them ; hence there 
 is a Minute of the Town Council to the following effect : — 25. June 
 1589. — Understanding that the apprentices and children of the bonnet- 
 maker craft, carries on their occupation daily furth of their masters' 
 houses, " under Craigingatt and in the hie streets," and under pretence 
 of that liberty, " casts staynes and brekis the glas windois in the 
 Kirk of the Trinitie College," therefore ordains them and their masters 
 to be admonished hereof, and charged to keep themselves within their 
 booths and workhouses, and not to be found working either at the 
 said craig or in the streets, and that the Deacon of the craft cause 
 the same to be attended to, and the officers to help him in brinfino- 
 the transgressors to punishment. 
 
 There are several Minutes of the Town Council bearing upon 
 the subject of monetary help being required, which it may be proper 
 to quote.
 
 152 trinity college and trinity hospital. 
 
 Extracts from Town Council Records : — 
 
 "20. May 1586. — William Littill, provest, the bailyeis, thesaurer and ane paii-tof 
 the counsali^ being convenit, Jhonn Jhonestoun, collectour, producet the sowme of 
 fyftie merk in name of ane persone quhome he thocht nocbt expedient to nooiinat, 
 gevin be the said persoun of benevolence to the reparatioun of the Kirk in the Trinity 
 College. Quhilk money wes delyuerit instantly to Alexander Vddart in name of 
 the towne, and he, and Johnn Adamsoun, James Inglis, Andro Cairny, with ane 
 bailyie, appoyntet to pas and seik the benevolence of the nichtboures to that wark, 
 and als the Townes College foundet in the Kirk of Feyld ; and ordanes ane lettre to be 
 pennit to thame to schaw the nichtbouris the mater with the townis guid-wiO to thais 
 wark lattet throw inhabilitie. 
 
 "22. March 1587-8. — Jhonn Jhonestoun, collectour, producet and delyuerit to 
 Alexander Vddert, in name of the guid toun, ane Portugal! ducatt, by and attour 
 the fyftie merk gevin of before to the help of the reparatioun of the Trinity College 
 Kirk, boyth gevin be ane certane persoun of godlie zeal to that vse. 
 
 "21. February 1588-9. — Gevis and disponis to the leparatioun of the Kirk in 
 the Trinity College, the sowm of four hunder merk awand to the toun be the 
 Flemyng wobsters, quha ar past to Sanctandrois (St Andrews), and be their souerties, 
 to be imployet at the sicht and discretioun of the ministers, eldares, and deaconis 
 of the kirk of this burgh. 
 
 " 7. March 1588-9. — For better avancement of the wark to be begun be the 
 sessioun in repayring of the Kirk of the Trinity College, and that the vyce of 
 fornication may be supprest, and the \Tilaws thairof mair exactly vpliftet nor thai 
 half bene heirtofore, and for dyuers vther guid caussis and consideratiouns moving 
 thame, gevis and disponis to the said wark all the vnlawes and penal teis of sic as 
 transgressis the townis acts and ordinances maid aganis the fornicatouris, and sic as 
 huirds, conceillis, and resaitts thame in thair howssis ; and makis and constituts 
 Alexander Speir, writter, collectour, vplifter, and persewar of the samyn, vpoun compt 
 and rekning, to be maid by him to the Sessioun of the Kirk of the samyn, and this 
 present act to stand induring the townis will allanerly. 
 
 " 26. March 1589. — Gevis and grantis to the help of the reparatioun of the Kirk 
 of the Trinity College ane competent number of the reddiest and lowsest staynis of 
 the Hospital of St Pawles Wark, and consentis to the dountaking thairof, to be applyet 
 to the said wark."
 
 THE TRINITY COLLEGE CHURCH. 153 
 
 It may be requisite at this stage that a passing allusion should 
 be made to a matter of considerable importance in connection with 
 Scottish ecclesiastical history, in which the incumbent of the Trinity 
 College Church did not obey the behests of his clerical superiors, or 
 even of his Majesty King Charles I. Sunday, the 23d day of July 
 1637, has for many generations been noted, as the particular occasion, 
 when George Hannay, Dean of Edinburgh, officiated in St Giles, and 
 when there were present a large gathering of dignitaries. It is related, 
 that Spottiswoode, the Archbishop of St Andrews was there, the 
 Bishop of Edinburgh, the Lord Provost and Magistrates of the City, 
 the Judges of the Court of Session, the Members of the Privy Council, 
 and a great concourse of people. The occasion of the gathering was 
 the fact that, by command of the King, Laud's Liturgy was to take 
 the place of the more simple one of John Knox. The fact of its 
 being " a new-fangled liturgy," imported from England, and that 
 it had more Popish tendencies than the usual English liturgy, which 
 it was designed to take the place of, did not at all commend it to 
 the Scottish mind. Besides, it had never been approved of either by 
 Parliament or the General Assembly, but was being forced upon the 
 Edinburgers by the arbitrary command of the Crown. The people 
 of Edinburgh would have none of it. When Dean Hannay opened 
 the new service book, a storm of tumult prevailed ; and a woman 
 of great courage, well-known to posterity by the name of "Jenny 
 Geddes," at once seized her camp stool and hurled it at the head 
 of the offending Dean. Her example was soon followed, and stools 
 and books were being pitched about promiscuously across the place of 
 worship, like snow balls in a snow-ball riot. The indefatigable Jenny 
 Geddes, having heard some one near her join in the response of 
 "Amen," at once struck him in the face, calling out "Traitor, dost 
 thou dare to say Mass at ma lug ? " Jenny Geddes in her zeal for 
 u
 
 154 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 the Protestant faith earned for herself a name in history as a daring 
 and successful reformer.* In St Giles Churcli, the circumstance is 
 duly recorded. On one of the pillars there is a brass plate which 
 states the fact of Dean Hannay's work on that occasion. But there 
 is another brass plate not far from it which practically says " audi 
 alteram imrtem." The wording of it is to the following effect : — 
 
 " Constant oral tradition affirms that, near this spot, a brave Scotch woman, 
 Janet Geddes, on the 23d July 1637, strvck the first blow in the great strvggle 
 for freedom of conscience, which, after a conflict of nearly half a centvry, ended 
 in the establishment of civil and religiovs liberty." 
 
 It is currently reported that the late Eight Hon. John Inglis of 
 Glencorse, Lord President of the Court of Session, is responsible for 
 the latter. 
 
 History records the fact that, on the same Sunday, a lesser riot 
 took place in the Church of the Grayfriars, James Fairly having under- 
 taken to brave the popular storm. His senior colleague in the church, 
 the Sub-Dean, Andrew Ramsay (at one time a Professor of Divinity 
 in the University of Edinburgh, and a man of great scholarship and 
 culture) having refused to read the service. 
 
 In the Trinity College Church, the service was not read, not- 
 withstanding that the incumbent, Henry Rollock, had on the previous 
 Sunday made intimation that Laud's Liturgy would on the occasion 
 be used, and of which he stated to the congregation that he highly 
 
 * The stool of Jenny Geddes may be seen in the Museum of the Society of Antiquaries. 
 It was gifted to the Society by James Watson, Esq., Writer, Duuse. In a communication to 
 them, read to the Fellows on 9th December 1856, he says: — "The stool which belonged to 
 Jenny Geddes was taken possession of by the person who had charge of the church. His 
 daughter married a man uamed Pollock. She got the stool at tlie death of her father. A 
 grandson of this Pollock, a surgeon, settled iu Dunse about 1726. The stool was in his 
 possession. His son, Adam Pollock, who died iu 1813, has often told me its history ; and, 
 at the sale of his furniture, I attended and purclia.scd it."
 
 THE TRINITY COLLEGE CHURCH. 
 
 155 
 
 approved. During the course of the week which intervened, he saw, 
 from the feeling of the people, that it was more prudent in him to 
 desist. He, to all appearance, was afraid to offend the populace. The 
 " Laye Declaration of the King" remarks "whose favour is the onely 
 aire in which he taketh delight to breathe and live." 
 
 The following have been the Provosts and Ministers of the 
 Trinity College Church, so long as the original building lasted, as 
 the same can be traced, from the Kirk-Session records : — 
 
 Provosts of the Church and College, be/ore the Reformation. 
 
 Sir Edward Boncle. 
 
 John Brady, Archdeacon of Lothian. 
 
 Sir John Dingwall. 
 
 William Cunynghame. 
 
 Robert Erskine. 
 
 Sir George Clapperton, Dean of 
 
 the Chapel Royal. 
 Lawrence Clapperton. 
 Robert Pont. 
 
 Collegiate Ministers after the Reforination from 1597 to 1782. 
 
 1597. 
 
 George Robertson. 
 
 1673 
 
 1598. 
 
 Walter Balcanqual 
 
 1674 
 
 1625. 
 
 John Maxwell, A.M. 
 
 
 1626. 
 
 Thomas Sydserf, Dean of Edinburgh. 
 
 1679 
 
 1628. 
 
 Harie Rollock, A.M. 
 
 1689 
 
 1635. 
 
 James Elliot, D.D. 
 
 
 1639. 
 
 William Colville, A.M. 
 
 1692 
 
 1641. 
 
 William Bennet. 
 
 1701 
 
 1644. 
 
 Robert Laurie. 
 
 1710 
 
 1648. 
 
 John Smith, A.M. 
 
 
 1649. 
 
 Hew Mackail. 
 
 1714 
 
 1661. 
 
 John Glendie. 
 
 1732 
 
 1662. 
 
 Joshua Meldrome, A.M. 
 
 1758 
 
 1663. 
 
 Alexander Carncross, A.M. 
 
 1758. 
 
 1669. 
 
 John Macqueene, A.M., Sub-Dean 
 of the Chapel Royal. 
 
 
 Andrew Cant. 
 
 Robert Laurie, A.M., Bishop of 
 
 Brechin. 
 Andrew Cant, junr., A.M. 
 Hugh Kennedy, A.M., Moderator 
 
 of General Assembly of 1690. 
 John Moncrieff. 
 Archibald Riddell, A.M. 
 James Grierson, Moderator of 
 
 General Assembly of 1719. 
 James Bannatine, do. 1739. 
 George Logan, do. 1740. 
 Robert Dick, A.M. 
 Henry Lundie.
 
 156 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 Ministers of the Trinity College Chtirch since it became a single charge in 1782. 
 
 799. David Dickson, D.D., afterwards; 1813. Walter Tait, A.M. 
 
 translated to St Cuthbert's. j 1834. William Cunningham, D.D., after- 
 1802. Robert Anderson. wards Principal of the New 
 
 1804. Thomas Macknight, D.D., Moderator | College, Edinburgh, and Moder- 
 
 of General Assembly of 1820. 1 ator of the Free Church As- 
 
 1810. Andrew Grant, D.D. Dean of the I .sembly of 1859. 
 
 Chapel Royal. j 1843. William Steven, D.D. 
 
 The late Eev. Walter Tait was shortly after the beginning of the 
 present century the incumbent of the charge. Having been ordained 
 ia 1795, he was called to Trinity College Church in 1813. He had a 
 large and influential congregation. It was partly composed of dwellers 
 in the New Town, and residents of the Old Town, with a wholesome 
 admixture of Canigotians. He was very popular as a preacher. About 
 the year 1833, however, he had imbibed new notions regarding 
 Christian tenets, and he was compelled to resign his charge in con- 
 sequence of his departure from the doctrinal standards of the Church 
 of Scotland. The very few that seceded with him, were for many 
 years denominated in Edinburgh as "the Taitites." 
 
 The Rev. Mr Tait was a believer in, and a follower of, a much 
 abler man, the celebrated Rev. Edward Irving. The latter, born in 
 the burgh of Annan, was first of all, after his being licensed to preach 
 the gospel, assistant to the great Rev. Dr Chalmers in St John's Church, 
 Glasgow. From there, he proceeded to London, and preached to 
 Scottish Presbyterians, in the Caledonian Asylum, Cross Street, Hatton 
 Garden. The novelty of his style, and the force and eloquence of 
 his discourses, soon rendered him the most popular preacher of his 
 day, and the singularity of his appearance and gesticulation attracted 
 very large congregations. The principal orators and statesmen of the
 
 THE TRINITY COLLEGE CHURCH. 157 
 
 day crowded to hear him ; he literally became quite " the rage " among 
 the wealthy and fashionable of the Metropolis, and his chapel doors 
 were thronged with carriages, so that it was found necessary to grant 
 admittance only by tickets. About 1827, the chapel in Hatton Garden, 
 already referred to, was found too small to contain the large con- 
 course of persons who continued to throng to it. A subscription was 
 forthwith entered into, for the purpose of erecting a larger and more 
 commodious church ; and the handsome edifice in Eegent Square 
 (which is now very well known by most Scotsmen resident for a 
 short time in the Metropolis, as the church of the late Rev. Dr James 
 Hamilton, the present Rev. Professor Oswald Dykes, and latterly of 
 the Rev. John Macneill) was completed in 1829. In the beginning of 
 1830, Irving's supposed heretical views were brought before the Scottish 
 Church in London, and he was ordained to stand his trial before 
 the Presbytery of the said church, who were charged to examine and 
 report upon his "Work on Christ's Humanity." The libel charged 
 him with holding Christ subject to original and actual sin, and with 
 denying the doctrines of atonement, satisfaction, imputation, and 
 substitution. The exhibition of the " unknown tongues " uttered 
 by some designing or deluded members of his congregation, chiefly 
 females, and pronounced by Mr Irving from the pulpit to be the 
 "manifestations of the Holy Ghost," next occupied public attention. 
 The trustees of the National Scottish Church, Regent Square, at 
 last found it necessary to prefer charges against him, in addition to 
 those already before the Presbytery. On May 2, 1832, the London 
 Presbytery unanimously found him guilty of heresy, and dispossessed 
 him of his charge as minister of the church in Regent Square ; and the 
 Presbytery of Annan, of which he was a member, on March 13, 1833, 
 formally deposed him from the ministry of the Church of Scotland. 
 He died at Glasgow in 1834, about one year after his deposition from
 
 158 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 the Church of his Fathers. He was only in the forty-second year of 
 his age at the date of his death, although he looked much older. 
 His long grey hair and his wrinkled brow gave him a more aged appear- 
 ance. It has been stated that " there can be no doubt but that the 
 melancholy errors and extravagances, into which he was betrayed in 
 the latter years of his life, were the effects of a diseased imagination, 
 arising from that morbid love of the marvellous, and that craving for 
 notoriety for which he was so remarkable, and to which he at last 
 fell a victim." With all his eccentricities, however, and even although 
 his immediate successor in Regent Square Church has well remarked, 
 in the analysis of his character which he has given forth to the 
 public is to the following effect — " his practical wisdom did not keep 
 pace with his discursive powers — the might of his genius, and the 
 grandeur of his views, and the prevailing solemnity of his spirit " left 
 a deep impression on his hearers and contemporaries, and Edward 
 Irving became the founder of a sect. In Britain, they were first popu- 
 larly known as " the Irvingites." They subsequently assumed the name 
 of the "Holy Catholic Apostolic Church," and in London, Edinburgh 
 and Glasgow, from the wealth and influential character of some of the 
 members, they have been enabled to build very large and imposing 
 structures in these cities for their peculiar mode of worship. 
 
 But to return. The Rev. Mr Tait was obliged to surrender his 
 charge of Trinity College Church. The appointment of the Town 
 Council of the day fell upon the Rev. William Cunningham of 
 Greenock, a most able theologian, and who was afterwards well known 
 as the successor to Dr Chalmers in the Principalship of the Free Church 
 or New College in Edinburgh. Mr Cunningham came to Edinburgh 
 under very favourable circumstances. He had great personal ability 
 and public reputation. It has been frequently stated that, for some 
 time after his induction, the demand for sittings in the Trinity College
 
 THE TRINITY COLLEGE CHURCH. 159 
 
 Church was so great, that the vacant seats had to be balloted for. 
 Nevertheless it did not always continue to be so. Cunningham was a 
 most powerful debater in the Church Courts. He had a purely logical 
 mind. He was a Calvinist of the most pronounced type, and he did 
 not try to reconcile his peculiar views with the fashion of the world, in 
 its daily intercourse with society at large. His congregation became 
 " smaller by degrees and beautifully less," and at the time of the Disrup- 
 tion of the Church of Scotland in 1843, it was given up by the Free 
 Church as a separate charge — most of the members going into the fold of 
 the late Eev. Dr John Bruce, who was then the seceding minister from 
 the parish church of St Andrew. The Rev. Dr William Steven, who had 
 previously been for several years House Governor in George Heriot's 
 Hospital, was appointed to the vacant charge in the Established Church 
 during 1843. When the congregation was called upon to find other 
 quarters, they worshipped within the building then known as the 
 Calton Convening Rooms, which is now utilised as the Burgh Assessor's 
 Office. The congregation, during Dr Steven's pastorate, was never 
 a large one, being composed of between 70 and 80 members. On his 
 death, which occurred in 1857, he was succeeded by the late Rev. 
 William Smith, D.D., afterwards translated to the Parish Church 
 of North Leith. During Dr Smith's incumbency, the congregation 
 had so increased in numbers, that other provision had to be made for 
 them. This was done by the Town Council obtaining a lease of Free 
 John Knox's Church, in the east side of the High Street, for a few 
 years. The Rev. Robert Wallace, D.D., became Dr Smith's successor, 
 and the Annuity Tax Bill of 1860 having extinguished the Old 
 Church as one of the City Charges, the congregation of Trinity 
 College Church found accommodation therein. Dr Wallace was nine 
 years thereafter translated to the charge of Old Grayfriars, in suc- 
 cession to the late Dr Robert Lee, and he was appointed Professor of
 
 160 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 Church History in the University of Edinburgh. He subsequently 
 laid down his "holy orders," by resigning his charge and chair, 
 became an English barrister, and has for three successive periods 
 been elected Member of Parliament for the Eastern Division of the 
 City. In 1869, Dr Cornelius GiflFen was appointed successor to Dr 
 Wallace, until he was translated to the parish church of St Mary's 
 in 1872. During that year the Rev. Dr Gentles was appointed in 
 succession to Dr GiflFen, and he again got translated to the Abbey 
 Church, Paisley, in 1879, when the Rev, Alexander Kennedy was 
 called to the vacant charge of Trinity College Church. He is still the 
 incumbent of the parish.
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE SALE or THE CHURCH AND HOSPITAL BUILDINGS. 
 
 HE doom of the ancient fabrics of Trinity College Church 
 and Trinity Hospital was now written. In the inexorable 
 
 t!^3l decrees of fate, both edifices were bound to go ; and the 
 ground space they occupied was destined to be taken advantage of for 
 other and possibly more utilitarian purposes. 
 
 The projectors of the North British Railway — which at that time 
 consisted merely of a proposal to construct a line between the City 
 of Edinburgh and the good old town of Berwick-upon-Tweed — had 
 duly made announcement of their intentions in the newspapers of the 
 day, about the middle of the month of November 1843, all in con- 
 formity with the Standing Orders of the Houses of Parliament in 
 regard to private bills. The Book of Reference and Relative Plans had 
 been as usual deposited with the proper officials on the last day of the 
 month. Although at first, it seemed to be a comparatively limited 
 proposal, involving the construction of about sixty miles of railway, — 
 it was well known that the line was being formed with the view of 
 its being joined to sundry other contributory lines of railway, in 
 order to constitute a grand trunk line to London, by way of Newcastle, 
 Darlington, York, Selby, Doncaster, Grantham, and Peterborough — 
 denominated "the East Coast Route." 
 
 X
 
 162 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 Prior to the formation of the railway system, all communication 
 between Edinburgh and London was either by the Royal Mail Coach 
 (the land service), or by the steamers sailing from Leith or Granton 
 (the sea service). In both cases, about three days were consumed in 
 the journey. The arrival of the London Mail Coach* about three 
 o'clock in the afternoon, was an event which, in the writer's memory, 
 is still a very vivid recollection, as a record of the past. At the sound 
 of the bugle-horn of the red-coated Guard, every vehicle or machine in 
 transit got quickly out of the way, as the four-in-hand Mail Coach 
 came tearing along Nicolson Street, down the South and North Bridges, 
 past the Old Theatre Royal to the then General Post Office in Waterloo 
 Place, and which is now occupied as the New Waverley Hotel. At very 
 rare times the Mail Coach was the depositarian of some fugitive from 
 justice ; and the vehicle, all bespattered with mud as it usually behoved 
 
 * The Eoyal Mail Coach as it existed at that time, was not a very ancient institution. 
 The "Sun" newspaper, a London bi-weekly, on Wednesday, June 5, 1799, contains the 
 following announcement, which is here copied verbatim et literatim. — " Mail Coaches. — The 
 advantages which the public have derived from the establishment of Mail Coaches has long 
 been felt and acknowledged ; and it is with pleasure that we hear that it is now determined 
 on, to extend that benefit north to Inverness, for which place a coach is to commence 
 running on the first day of July next." 
 
 It is requisite to explain that, for the purposes of the post-service, there were no relays 
 of post-boys, or horses, at diflerent stages ; one man and one horse accomplishing the whole 
 ride and taking the necessary rests by the way. For example, the post between Edinburgh 
 and Aberdeen stopped one night at Dundee, and another at Montrose. This system con- 
 tinued in Scotland until well on in the last century. Up till 1763, the communication 
 between London and Edinburgh was only three times a week ; but by that time it was made 
 to be five times a week. At first, the mail was 85 hours in travelling from London to 
 Edinburgh, and 131 hours in returning. Until 1788, there was no direct mail to Glasgow. 
 Previous to that time, the post was sent round by way of Edinburgh, and it took the whole 
 of five days in transit. 
 
 One of the most remarkable steps which the General Post Office took at that time was 
 the adoption of the late Mr Palmer's celebrated plan in 1784. The chief part of this plan
 
 THE SALE OF THE CHURCH AND HOSPITAL BUILDINGS. 163 
 
 to be, after the mail bags had been duly delivered at the Post Office, 
 was then driven along to the entrance to the Edinburgh Jail, which at 
 that time and until very recently was opposite to the steps leading 
 up to the Calton Hill. Within the precincts of the prison-house, 
 the culprit was safely and securely deposited, in the presence of a 
 wondering crowd of spectators who thronged the doorway, to get a 
 passing glance of the prisoner as he passed in. 
 
 The departure of the Mail Coach for London was a sight not less 
 interesting. The stowing away of the bags was witnessed every day 
 by a considerable crowd of wondering spectators. But the depositing 
 of the protecting blunderbuss and the pair of pistols was the last duty 
 to be discharged by the Guard, before he took his place at the back of 
 the Mail Coach. As is recorded of an old Edinburgh character, who 
 
 was to have the mail coaches in charge of au armed guard, by way of stage coaches, — (which 
 thus became mail coaches), instead of tlie mails being conveyed as formerly, by a boy in 
 mailcart or on horseback. Mr Palmer's merit consisted in this, that a greater degree of 
 regularity and of speed in post conveyance was possible; and in catching the hint from the 
 stage coaches which nobody saw but himself. The advantage of employing stage coaches 
 which subserved other purposes, was a species of economy, when taken in contrast with the 
 mail curricles which were exclusively devoted to the duty of only carrying the mails. 
 
 Mr Palmer was afterwards, because of his merits, appointed Comptroller of the Post 
 Office, in which capacity he is understood to have made several important changes in the 
 internal details and arrangements of the office. 
 
 The first mail coaches on Mr Palmer's principle were the Bath and Bristol in 1784. 
 Previous to this plan having been adopted, the ordinary speed of the post bags was 3J miles 
 per hour. On the new plan, the speed became at least, doubled. In later times, the 
 average speed of the Koyal Mails was usually 8 miles 7 furlongs, while the highest reached 
 not unfrequently 10 miles 5 furlongs. 
 
 Royal Mails were first conveyed between Liverpool and Manchester by railway in 1828. 
 When a railway service was established in 1835, between London, Liverpool, Birmingham 
 and Manchester, the service was utilised so far as it could be made available to facilitate the 
 Scottish and Irish service. It was upwards of twelve years thereafter that the Royal Mail 
 Coach ceased to be known on the streets of Edinburgh.
 
 164 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 went by the name of " Bailie DufF," and whose peculiar hobby was to 
 precede all funerals during his lifetime, with two streamers of crape two 
 yards long, suspended from the back of his hat ; so the Mail Coach had 
 in Edinburgh a character of the name of Wishart, whose daily habit it 
 was regularly to attend at Waterloo Place and see the Mail Coach start 
 on its southern journeys. 
 
 But the idea of the old building of Trinity Hospital being about 
 to be taken down, and unquestionably the finest specimen of Gothic 
 architecture in ecclesiastical buildings being about to be for ever 
 removed, did not fail to create quite a sensation in the " Modern 
 Athens," more particularly in antiquarian circles. In those days, the 
 Parliamentary Bar had not got that distinction to which in more 
 modern times it has attained, and which is owing very much to the 
 extraordinary development of the railway system all over the Kingdom. 
 At the time referred to, and for many years previous, learned counsel 
 were rarely employed in regard to local bills. The parties, who were 
 promoting the same, usually appeared before the Committee to which 
 the matter had been relegated in proprid p)G'''Sond, along with their 
 agents ; and they explained to the Members of the Committee the 
 various details of the project, while those who came in opposition 
 were attended by their respective agents, and were heard for their 
 interest. It was so, when the late Mr Duncan M'Laren, as Treasurer 
 of the City of Edinburgh, attended in London in regard to the City 
 Agreement Act of 1838, including a Settlement as to the Leith Docks, 
 the University and Schools revenues, and an Arrangement with the 
 City Creditors. It was equally so, when the late Mr Adam Black, as 
 Lord Provost of the City, went to London, for the purpose of meeting 
 before a Parliamentary Committee, the projectors of the North British 
 Railway and their engineers and agents. In a letter sent at the time 
 to his senior bailie (the College Bailie of the period), Mr William
 
 THE SALE OF THE CHURCH AND HOSPITAL BUILDINGS. 165 
 
 Duncan of Danevale, who was afterwards a son-in-law of Mr Black's, 
 that gentleman very recently informed the writer that Mr Black had 
 sent down instructions to him to send up the late Mr John Sinclair (at 
 that time Keeper of the Council Records, and afterwards Conjunct Town 
 Clerk of the City), to bring with him all the documents that would 
 be required to prove their case. Mr Sinclair was duly despatched, and 
 arrived in London with his books and writs. In another letter the 
 Lord Provost duly announced his satisfaction at Mr Sinclair being beside 
 him ; and writing on the morning when the case was to come before 
 the Parliamentary Committee, he jocularly added — " I feel this morning 
 very much like unto Robinson Crusoe of old, with Sinclair as my man 
 Friday, going forth to fight the savages ! " 
 
 It is, however, right to state at this stage, that it would be a great 
 excess of folly in the present day for any local authority, interested in 
 any vexed question before the Legislature to appear otherwise, in the 
 progress of any Parliamentary Private Bill, except through the most 
 direct, though somewhat expensive, course of employing learned counsel. 
 It has become so much a custom in Westminster, that an attempted 
 recourse to the former method, would certainly prove abortive to any 
 man, or body of men, who were so foolish as to try it. We now live in 
 a difi'erent age, and under very different conditions and surroundings. 
 As the old mediaeval Latin hexameter expresses it : — Tempora mutantur, 
 nos et mutamur in illis — The times are changed, and we have changed 
 along with them. We now live practically in a new state of things — 
 in an age of railways and tramways, of morning daily newspapers as 
 well as evening daily newspapers, of telegrams and telephones, — and he 
 would be a most daring and rather adventurous man who would counsel 
 a return to the former practice, and would seek to imitate those who 
 lived in a byegone age, when other circumstances and different arrange- 
 ments prevailed. He would certainly be found at a discount. One must
 
 166 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 seek in public business to keep abreast of the times, otherwise he is sure 
 to be pronounced "a waster." It is, however, a great drawback of the 
 present system, that three or four members of the Bar require to be 
 employed in any great case, if due attention is to be given to it. Even 
 when these arrangements are made, it not unfrequently happens, that 
 none of them can be got to put in an appearance, when required, — 
 being engaeed in other Committee Rooms. This has been found to 
 be a great drawback, and somewhat of a scandal. Besides the time 
 which an enquiry may take is so uncertain, as frequently to cause con- 
 siderable and quite unprofitable expense, in agents and professional and 
 other witnesses waiting on for many days for the case in which they 
 are interested. This has led to a movement in regard to enquiries as 
 to private bills being taken upon the spot. Whether the measure pro- 
 posed will be successful, is a matter of some dubiety. There is no 
 doubt, however, that some modification of the present arrangements is 
 likely to take place. But, after so long an experience, it will be rather 
 a difiicult matter wholly to do away with the Westminster enquiry in 
 most cases. 
 
 Nevertheless, in the former times, as has been stated, counsel rarely 
 appeared. Mr Adam Black, as Lord Provost of the City of Edinburgh, 
 somewhat successfully fought the promoters of the North British 
 Railway. He obtained for the Corporation of Edinburgh, as the 
 Governors of Trinity Hospital, the sum of £6000 for the hospital 
 buildings and site ; and that sum, at the present time, forms part of the 
 capital stock of the Trinity Hospital fund. 
 
 It was otherwise, however, with the Trinity College Church. That 
 was a subject not quite so easily disposed of, and settled. The power 
 to obtain the site and to take down the College Church, after a great 
 deal of negotiation, was thus adjusted in the North British Railway Act, 
 9 and 10 Vic. cap. 74. The clause is to the following eticct : — " It
 
 THE SALE OF THE CHURCH AND HOSPITAL BUILDINGS. 167 
 
 shall not be lawful for the said North British Railway Company to 
 make any alterations on, or to use for the purposes of the said railway, 
 the additional land in the parishes of Trinity College, St Andrew and 
 Canongate, which by this Act they are authorised to purchase for a 
 terminus in Edinburgh, until they shall have agreed with the Lord 
 Provost, Magistrates and Town Council of the said City, on a plan for 
 the removal and rebuilding, at the expense of the Company, on another 
 site, either within the said parish of Trinity College, or as near thereto 
 as conveniently may be, of a new church, with equal convenience of 
 access and accommodation to that already existing in the said parish ; 
 and that, in such agreement, provision shall be made for the adoption 
 of the same style and model with the existing church, providing always 
 that any difference of opinion between the parties regarding the plan 
 and site of the said new church, shall be subject to the arbitration of 
 the Sheriff of Edinburgh, declaring that it shall be competent to the 
 Railway Company to offer, and the said Magistrates and Council are 
 hereby authorised to accept of, a sum of money as compensation for the 
 said church and in lieu of the foresaid obligation." 
 
 It would have saved the Town Council many a weary debate, and 
 a great deal of litigation, extending over a long period of years, as well 
 as the electors of the city many a contested election in the various 
 wards, if they had most sedulously confined themselves to the former 
 proposition of the North British Railway Company ; and which, briefly 
 interpreted, was "a church for a church, in or near the district or 
 parish, on the old and well-known model." The Town Council did not 
 fail to profit by its experience at a later stage on quite another matter. 
 It was not then a question of " kirk," but one of " market." 
 
 When the North British Railway directors came to the resolution 
 to extend their station-house westwards, which in its initial stage was 
 south of what used to be known as Shakspeare Square, immediately
 
 168 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 behind the Old Theatre Roycal, the site of the present General Post 
 Office ; and when they desired to include the area at the foot of Canal 
 Street and adjacent buildings, at that time well known as the Fruit 
 and Vegetable Market — (a market which had been opened during 
 the civic reign of Lord Provost John Manderston, druggist, East Rose 
 Street, in 1819, and whose name was wont to appear carved on the 
 wateway, which, for railway purposes had afterwards to be removed) — 
 so as to make the site of the Waverley Bridge the new terminus, with 
 the old Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway on the one side of the Station- 
 house, and the North British on the other side ; the former having 
 deposited a Bill in Parliament to extend the line from Haymarket 
 throuo-h the West Princes Street Gardens and East Princes Street 
 grounds to the aforesaid site, — the Town Council of the day resisted 
 the proposals of both these companies. In this, however, they were 
 unsuccessful. Parliament, in its wisdom, deemed it proper to grant 
 the concession to both the Railway Companies in the interest of the 
 public, and for the purpose of affording to the community greater 
 facilities and expedition in travelling; although many citizens of 
 taste inveighed against the barbarism of allowing a railway service 
 through the beautiful garden and valley which had taken the place of 
 the old North Loch. In one respect, however, the Town Council was 
 successful. In regard to the North British Railway, and its appro- 
 priation of the Fruit and Vegetable Market, it came to an Agreement 
 with the Railway Company, that it should, in place of accepting any 
 sum of money, be provided with another market in lieu of the one which 
 by the Bill was taken from the Town. For many years thereafter, 
 the market continued to be regularly held on an area which formed 
 part of the Old Physic Gardens to the east of the middle and large 
 southern arches of the North Bridge. But the exigencies of the 
 Railway Company, through its greatly increased and increasing traffic,
 
 THE SALE OF THE CHURCH AND HOSPITAL BUILDINGS. 169 
 
 required more additional space ; and numerous and varied were the 
 proposals from time to time, on the part of the Railway Directors, 
 to get rid of their obligations under the Act, by converting their 
 responsibilities into the payment of a sum of money. From £21,000 
 to £25,000 was something like the amount offered. It was a tedious 
 and much deferred battle. The Town Council's never-varying demand, 
 however, was " Market for market." Many correspondents in the news- 
 paper press supported the Railway Company as against the Corporation. 
 This was likely to be the case, when there was a large body of 
 interested shareholders. Nevertheless the Town Council remained 
 obdurate ; and in this they were right. When the North British 
 Railway Company resolved to shut up the Scotland Street Tunnel, 
 which was the old access by the Edinburgh and Granton Railway 
 to Fife and the North, and no further traffic was in future to 
 be taken that way, a much easier route having been provided, in the 
 opening of the Abbey Hill and Leith "Walk Stations, — a solution of the 
 difficulty was then found. The present site of the Waverley Market 
 was conceded to, and accepted by, the Town Council ; and the improve- 
 ments which the Corporation have since effected on the site after it 
 came into their hands, have tended greatly to enhance the value of the 
 Market, which, placed as it is in so central and accessible a situation, 
 could not fail to render it a place of continual resort, as well as to make 
 it adaptable to many useful purposes in the public interest. 
 
 It was otherwise, however, in regard to the arrangement as to 
 Trinity College Church. On the 4th day of May 1848, the Town 
 Council had agreed with the North British Railway Directors,* to accept 
 
 * The following is the Deed of Agreement referred to : — 
 
 It is agreed upon between the parties following, viz., The Lord Provost, Magistrates 
 and Council of the City of Edinburgh, of the first part, and the North British Railway 
 Company, incorporated by Act of Parliament, of the second part ; that is to say 
 
 Y
 
 170 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 a sum of money in lieu of the obligations on the part of the latter to 
 find another site and to rebuild the Church. Possibly the Railway 
 Directors saw many complications looming in the distance, which might 
 have a tendency to give them worry, and to produce dissatisfaction. 
 Hence the Deed of Agreement of 4th May 1848. As has been 
 stated, there had been previously received from the Railway Company 
 the sum of £6000 for the Hospital buildings and site. Under the first 
 
 whereas by an Act of the 10th Victoria, caput 74, intituled, "An Act to authorize 
 the construction of several Branch Railways, and other Works in connexion with the 
 North British Railway," the said second parties acquired power to purchase certain 
 additional property in the parishes of Trinity College, Saint Andrew, and Canongato, 
 in the city of Edinburgh, including Trinity College Church, and the ground on which 
 it stands, for the purposes of the .said railway ; and it is thereby provided, that it 
 should not be lawful for the said second parties to make any alteration on, or to 
 use for the purposes of the said railway, the said additional land, until they should 
 have agreed with the said first parties on a plan for the removal and rebuilding, at 
 the expense of the said second parties, of a new church, in manner therein mentioned ; 
 but it is by the said Act declared, that it should be competent for the said second parties 
 to offer, and the said first parties are thereby authorised to accept of, a sum of money 
 as compensation for the .said church, and in lieu of the foresaid obligation ; and whereas 
 the said first parties applied for and obtained an interdict against the said second parties 
 making any alterations on or using for the purposes of the said railway the said additional 
 land, until the said condition should be satisfied ; and whereas certain proceedings took 
 place before the sherifi' of Edinburgh in reference to sites and plans for the new church, and 
 latterly, a site, on ground acquired by the said second parties, with relative plans proposed 
 by them, were approved of by the sheriff, under a reference to him, in terms of the 
 provisions of the Act ; and whereas the ground so fixed on for a site * was subject to a 
 restriction against building in favour of the said first parties as superiors thereof, and 
 having been considered by them to be unsuitable for the said church, they objected thereto, 
 and declined to discharge the said servitude or restriction ; but the said second parties 
 maintain that the said restriction is not now in force ; and the said parties being desirous to 
 put an end to all questions, disputes, and differences, in regard to the said matters, have 
 agreed as follows ; videlicet, — 
 
 * Ireland's Wooriyard. at foot of Leith Wynd.
 
 THE SALE OF THE CHURCH AND HOSPITAL BUILDINGS. 171 
 
 head of the agreement, Mr Rhind, architect, fixed £16,371, 9s. 6d. as 
 the estimated expense of rebuilding Trinity College Church, and it 
 was provided that for this purpose the Railway Company should grant 
 promissory notes ; while, under the fourth head of the agreement, 
 immediate payment should be made of £800 as the price of the site of 
 the Old Church, and £500 for a discharge of the Hospital of a restriction 
 against building on ground to the south of the Old Hospital proposed 
 
 First. The said second parties do hereby oifer, and the said first parties do hereby accept 
 of, the sum of money which shall be fixed bj' David Rhind, esquire, architect, from estimates 
 to be procured by himself, without challenge or interference by either party, as the actual 
 cost of erecting and completing for occupation a church on the site and in exact accordance 
 with the plans approved of by the sheriff as aforesaid, including architect's fees, clerk of 
 works' allowance, and all other necessary charges, and that as compensation for the said 
 church, and in lieu of the obligation on the said second parties under the said Act of Parlia- 
 ment in reference to said church. 
 
 Second. The said sum shall be payable at the term of Whitsunday 1849, with interest at 
 the rate of five per cent, from the term of Whitsunday 1848, and thereafter during the not 
 payment. 
 
 Third. The said second parties shall immediately deliver to the said first parties a 
 promissory note at 12 months' date by [bla7ik] of the directors of the said railway company, for 
 the sum of 15,000^. sterling, which promissory note, when paid, or whatever portion of the 
 sum thereby due shall be recovered, shall, when so paid, be imputed pro tanto of the sum 
 offered and accepted as aforesaid, it being hereby declared that the said promissory note shall 
 not operate as a novation of the claim of the said first parties against the said second parties 
 for implement of the obligation imposed on them in regard to the building of a new church 
 for said parish ; but in the event of said promissory note, or any part of the sum therein 
 contained, not being paid when the said promissory note becomes due, the said first parties 
 shall have recourse against the said second parties and the property of the company for 
 enforcing performance of that obligation. 
 
 Fourth. The said second parties shall make immediate payment to the said first parties of 
 the sum of 1,300?., that is to say, of the sum of 800?. as the price of the site of the present 
 Trinity College Church, and of the sum of 500?. for a discharge of the restriction against 
 building on the ground proposed for the site of a new church as aforesaid. 
 
 Fifth. If the expense of erecting the new church, as the same may be estimated by Mr
 
 172 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 as the site of the New Church. The sums of £800 and £500 were 
 received on 9th May 1848. At the same time, there was received from 
 the Railway Company a promissory note for £15,000, and on the 17th 
 August 1848, a further note for £1371, 9s. Gd., — making up the 
 £16,371, 9s. Gd., as the estimated expense of rebuilding the Church. 
 The promissory notes were partially renewed from time to time, and 
 
 Bhind, together with the foresaid sum of 1,.300/., shall be less than 15,000i. in all, the said 
 first parties shall repay the difference to the said second parties on receiving Mr Ehind's 
 estimate ; and if, on the other hand, the total expense shall exceed 15,000Z., then the difference 
 shall, on the said estimate being received, be paid by the said second parties to the said first 
 parties, either in cash, or by a bill, with interest from its date, to be granted by the said 
 directors at 12 months, in the option of the said directors. 
 
 Sixth. All expenses connected with the transaction and with the proceedings before the 
 slieriff and the Court of Session shall be defrayed, and the expenses already incurred by the 
 said first parties shall be immediately paid to them by the said second parties. 
 
 Seventh. The said first parties on receiving delivery of the said promissory note, and on 
 payment of the foresaid sum of 1,300?. and expenses as aforesaid, agree to withdraw the 
 foresaid interdict at their instance, and consent to the said second parties immediately taking 
 possession of and using the additional property acquired by them under the said Act, includ- 
 ing the present Trinity College Church and the grounds whereon it is erected, in the same 
 manner as if the obligation relative to the rebuilding of a new church had been already im- 
 plemented by them. 
 
 Eighth. The said first parties bind and oblige themselves, whenever required, to execute 
 and deliver to the said second parties, at the expense of the latter, a conveyance in terms of 
 the said second parties' acts, of the said Trinity College Church and site thereof, together with 
 a discharge of the foresaid restriction ; and upon the foresaid promissory note being retired 
 and payment being made of any other sums that may be due under this arrangement, a 
 discharge of the obligation incumbent on the said second parties by the said act in regard to 
 the erection of a new church for said parish, and generally of all claims and demands com- 
 petent to them in the premises. In witness whereof these presents, written upon stamped 
 paper by Peter Young Black, clerk to Messrs. Smith and Kinnear, writers to the Signet, are 
 subscribed (under this declaration, that the words " and have since purchased," on the fourth 
 and fifth lines, and the words " the obligation imposed," on the 32d line, counting from the 
 top, were deleted before subscription) as follows : viz., by the Eight honourable Adam Black, 
 Lord Provost of the citv of Edinburgh, for himself, and as taking burden on him for the
 
 THE SALE OF THE CHURCH AND HOSPITAL BUILDINGS. 
 
 173 
 
 were fully paid up and discharged, with £1643, lis. 5d. of periodical 
 interest, up to 17th May 1852. 
 
 Having made this arrangement with the Railway Company, the 
 Magistrates and Town Council as a Corporation and as Governors of 
 Trinity Hospital were not long in finding themselves involved in a 
 perfect "sea of troubles," out of which they did not emerge for 
 upwards of a quarter of a century thereafter. 
 
 magistrates and council of the said city, at Edinburgh, the 4th day of May 1848, before 
 these witnesses, — Patrick Graham, writer to the Signet, and Joshua Wilson Coomb, apprentice 
 to the said Eight honourable Adam Black ; and by John Learmonth, esquire, of Dean, 
 George Hamilton Bell, esquire. Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh, and 
 Sir James Forrest, of Comiston, baronet, three of the directors of the said North British 
 Railway Company, as follows ; viz. by the said John Learmonth and George Hamilton Bell, at 
 Edinburgh, the said 4th day of May and year last mentioned, before these witnesses, — David 
 Smith, writer to the Signet, and William Balfour Eeid, clerk to the said Smith and Kinnear ; 
 and by the said Sir James Forrest, also at Edinburgh, the same day, before these witnesses, — 
 John Forrest, esquire, residing in the Koyal Circus, Edinburgh, and Alexander Brown, coach- 
 man to the said Sir James Forrest ; and sealed with the corporate seal of the said company, 
 place and date last above mentioned ; this testing clause, from and including the words 
 " these presents " to the end being written by Alexander James Taylor, clerk to the said 
 Smith and Kinnear, by whom the words " At Edinburgh " have been interlined between the 
 sixth and seventh lines counting from the bottom hereof. 
 
 (signed) Adam Black, Lord Provost, 
 
 Joh)i Learmonth, Director. 
 George Ham. Bell, Director. 
 James Forrest, Director.
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 CONCERNING THE HOSPITAL'S REVENUES. 
 
 |T would be a mistake to suppose that the charitable institution, 
 called "The Trinity Hospital," derived pecuniary benefit 
 from those revenues, which, in the Royal Charters, already 
 enumerated and described, were set forth as the emoluments of 
 the respective Provosts, Prebendaries, Choiristers, and Beidmen 
 under the old dispensation. The Hospital, as such, acquired none of 
 these old church revenues. It is desirable that this fact should be 
 made suiiicicntly plain, at this particular stage of the history of 
 the Charity. 
 
 The Town Council after the Reformation, being desirous, as we have 
 seen, to make proper provision for the maintenance of the ministry of the 
 Protestant Church, as well as for the College of Edinburgh, the Schools, 
 and the Poor within the city, did appeal to Mary Queen of Scots, and 
 her son, King James VI., for grants of some of the old Kirk livings 
 or Church benefices in the country. By numerous Royal Charters, and 
 Acts of the Scottish Parliament, several grants of considerable value at 
 the time were made, and confirmed to the City, during the course of the 
 half century subsequent to 1560. These revenues, which were derived 
 
 174
 
 CONCERNING THE HOSPITAL'S REVENUES. 175 
 
 by the Provost, Magistrates, and Town Council, under the before- 
 mentioned charters, were at the first devoted to the three objects already 
 specified, viz., towards the support of the clergy, of education in the 
 higher sense of the term, and the poor or helpless. 
 
 The Town Council, on the 9th day of February 1586, elected James 
 Henrysoun, notary, to be the collector of the rents of the Provostry of 
 the Trinity College, " and the beidmen thairof." A year after, they 
 appointed Jhonn Jhonestoun to be their procurator, factor, and collector 
 of the Kirk Annuals of the Burgh, and to have the oversight of the 
 Town's College or University. The minute of his appointment is in the 
 following terms : — 
 
 11. February 1587. — Considerand that the commoun rent vnderwritten i.s nocht 
 habill to be governet and brocht to ane perfectioun be thair ordinare (officers), the dene 
 of gild and thesaurer, quha hes alreaddy gritter chairge and burding than thai ar habill 
 to owertak, bet will roquyre greitt lawbouris and travell of the maist expert that may 
 be fund, leving him na vther thing to do, and heavand lang pruif and experience in 
 tyme past of the zeall, guid will and qualificatioun of thair belouit nichtbour, Jhonn 
 Jhonestoun, brother germayne to the laird of Elphinstoun, thairfore thai haif maid, 
 creatt and constitute, and be thir presents makis, creats and constitutes the said Jhonn 
 Johnnstoun their verray lawfull and vndowtet procuratour, actor, factour and collectour, 
 gevand, grantand and committand vnto him thair full playne power and commissioun, 
 with expres mandment and chairge to collect, inbring and resave, in name and behalfF of 
 the guid towne and to the vitility and profFeitt thairof, all and quhatsumeuir annuellis, 
 mailles, fermes, grissumes, fruits, teynds, and emoluments, pertening to the personage 
 and vicarage of Currie, callit the archideynrie of Lowthiane, and to the provestrie of the 
 Trinitie College, siclyke to the personage of Dumberny, Poltie and Moncrief, now per- 
 tening to the saidis provest, bailyies, counsall and deykins of crafts and thair succes- 
 souris, and als of the kirk annuellis of this burgh quhilkis ar nocht aJreddy evictet and 
 recoverit be decreitt, and of the few fermes of the new sett furth pairts of the Commoun 
 Mwir . . . and als the said Jhonn to haif the ower-sicht, cuir and governament of the 
 affaires of the College laitly foundet and erectet be the guid toun in the Kirk of Feyld, 
 and of the place, maisteris and students thairof, as his lasour and tyme may serue 
 according to the necessitie of the said affaires thairof, and as he shall be commandet to
 
 176 TEINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 do be the guid toun ; and siclyk to haif the administratioun and seruice of the affaires 
 of the Commoun Mwir and of the Seynis and landis quhilk sumtyme pertenet thairto 
 and is now recoverit be the toun. . . . For the quhilk caus thay haif gevin and grantit 
 vnto him ane yeirlie stipend of the soum of thre hundreth marks money. 
 
 During the year 1640, a separate system of accounting was estab- 
 lished, for the purpose of bringing out clearly the revenues of the 
 University, including the revenue from the country Kirk-livings, in so 
 far as these had not been appropriated to the augmentation of the 
 stipends of the established clergy in the country. The arrangement at 
 that time entered into, continued until the year 1861, when, in virtue 
 of an Act of Parliament, passed during that session, the available 
 revenues derived from the old grants by Queen Mary and King James 
 VI. were directed to be applied towards the endowment of the High 
 School of Edinburgh. 
 
 The grants of the country church livings, or benefices — including 
 the benefices anciently attached to the Trinity College Church and 
 Hospital, did not deal with, or dispose of, the fabrics of the Trinity 
 College Church and Hospital, and their precincts or grounds in the 
 immediate neighbourhood of the same. No doubt, the Collegiate 
 Church of the Holy Trinity, with the churchyard, houses, buildings, 
 orchards, yards and pertinents thereof, which were formerly occupied, 
 or possessed, by the Provost and the Prebendaries of the said Collegiate 
 Church, together with the place (site) and part of the buildings and 
 yards of Trinity Hospital, lying contiguous thereto, with the land lying 
 on the west side thereof, were granted for the building and construction 
 of an Hospital thereon, for the maintenance of such honest, poor, and 
 impotent persons, aged and advanced in years, or sick indwellers and 
 inhabitants within the said burgh, and also for such other old, indigent, 
 and impotent people as should be found fit for receiving such benefit 
 and charity in the said Hospital so to be founded.
 
 CONCERNING THE HOSPITAL'S REVENUES. 177 
 
 By the Charter in 1587 referred to already, King James VI. 
 empowered the Town Council to sustain within the Hospital, recently 
 built and repaired by them, within a part of Trinity College Church, 
 as many poor persons as could be conveniently sustained upon the rents 
 of the Hospital of Trinity College, and to apply Trinity Hospital, which 
 was then in a ruinous condition, to whatever other profitable use as 
 should seem most expedient. 
 
 Thus, at the close of the sixteenth century, there was substituted, 
 in place of the Trinity Hospital of the old foundation, the newly- 
 founded and formed Trinity Hospital, under the administration and 
 fostering care of the " Provost, Bailies, Councillors and community of 
 our said burgh of Edinburgh for the time being," but endowed only 
 with the Church and Hospital, and the immediately surrounding 
 grounds of moderate extent, and left therefore largely dependent, for 
 the means wherewith to support the beneficiaries of the Hospital, upon 
 the pious liberality of the citizens of Edinburgh. 
 
 That such liberality was expected and encouraged, is manifest by 
 the phraseology made use of in some of the old Acts of the Scottish 
 Parliament, e.g. (1579, cap. 51), "Act in favour of the Hospital of 
 Edinburgh. — Moreover because there are divers persons, godly and 
 zealously moved, pitying the miserable state of the poor, and delighting 
 in that godly work of erection of an Hospital within the said burgh, to 
 be annexed thereto for the entertainment of the poor, weak, aged, and 
 sick persons, to be sustained therein ; therefore our sovereign Lord, 
 with advice of his three estates, gives and grants licence to all persons 
 who may be moved to support the said Hospital in lands, tenements, or 
 annual rents, within the said burgh, so to do." 
 
 In the management and control of the new or post-Reformation 
 Hospital, the Magistrates and Town Council were assisted by two 
 Hospital Masters, annually appointed. The one, as we have seen, 
 z
 
 178 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 belonged to the Merchant class, and the other was one of the Crafts- 
 men of the town. It was a part of the duty of these officers to receive 
 and disburse the revenues of the Hospital. The earliest existing 
 account of the Hospital Masters' intromissions is for the year to 11th 
 November 1612, being about twenty-seven years after Pont demitted 
 his duties as the Provost of the Trinity College. 
 
 The accumulated capital in the previous year (1611), which had 
 been derived from donations, legacies, and mortifications or bequests, 
 amounted to about £24,440 of Scots money. The revenue for the 
 year 1611-12 (including £2070 of annual rent, or interest, generally 
 calculated in those days at 10 per cent.) was £2223, and the disburse- 
 ments amounted to £1894, shewing thereby a surplus income of £329. 
 There were received during the period 1611-12, legacies amounting to 
 £999, in addition to a balance of £398, in the hands of the previous 
 year's masters. These were added to the capital sum, which was 
 lent out at interest, making, therefore, the gross sum of the capital 
 £26,200 at the close of the year. 
 
 In 1612, there were 35 beneficiaries resident in the Hospital. For 
 several subsequent years, the numbers were respectively as follows : — 
 viz., 32 in 1613, 35 in 1614, 34 in 1615, 36 in 1616, 45 in 1617, 40 in 
 1618, 38 in 1619, and 35 in 1620. 
 
 The accounts of 1611-12 shew that, at that time, the Hospital did 
 not possess any real or heritable estate, other than the Trinity College 
 Church and the Hospital buildings, together with the site on which 
 these stood and the adjacent grounds. The capital sums already quoted 
 were lent out at interest, and they serve to show that there was a pro- 
 gressive accumulation of the funds. By means of donations and 
 bequests to the Hospital, amounting to about £10,000, during the 
 period from 1612 to 1744, the Town Council, as governors of the 
 charity, purchased, on its behalf, various lands in the neighbourhood
 
 CONCERNING THE HOSPITALS REVENUES. 
 
 179 
 
 of the city. They acquired, in 1628, the lands of Coatfield, at the 
 price of . . . . . . . £3250 
 
 They afterwards purchased 22 additional acres of 
 
 Coatfield for . . . . 864 13 4 
 
 While, in 1641, they bought 16 acres of land at . 
 
 Nether Quarryholes for . . . 527 15 7 
 
 In 1679, they secured 3 additional acres of the 
 
 above for . . . . . 86 13 4 
 
 Sum paid for Coatfield and Quarryholes, . 
 
 Again, in 1739, they purchased part of the estate 
 of Dean (viz. : — Dean Parks and Blinkbonny) 
 at the price of ... . 
 
 £4729 2 3 
 
 3651 1 4 
 
 Making the total of their purchases of land, £8380 3 7 
 
 To show the advantages of these most judicious investments, 
 and the great value to any Corporation in having their funds laid out 
 in land, where in course of time the benefit of the unearned increment 
 comes in, to play a most important part as a factor for good, it may 
 be shewn by the progressive increase of the said subjects down to 
 1889, that this will be made sufficiently plain. 
 
 It may be here stated, that these landed properties form still the 
 chief portion of the Hospital's heritable estate. The results of the 
 income derived from such investments, from time to time, has been 
 as follows : — 
 
 In the 
 
 year 
 
 1612, . 
 
 £ 6 18 10 
 
 
 
 1644, . 
 
 298 2 5 
 
 
 
 1744, . 
 
 445 2 9 
 
 
 
 1845, . 
 
 1971 8 7 
 
 
 
 1873, . 
 
 2408 13 3 
 
 
 
 1889, . 
 
 4463 18 4
 
 180 TRINITY CULLK(iK ANlJ TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 In 1612, the whole ordinary income of the charity was £185 per 
 annum of" sterling money, of which about £7 was derived from heritage, 
 while £173 was from interest, and £5 from other sources. In 1889, the 
 whole ordinary income of the charity (including the income of the Alex- 
 ander Bequest) was £6435, 4s. 4d., of which £4403, 18s. 4d. was derived 
 from rents and feu-duties of lands and heritages, £1870, 4s. 6d. was from 
 interest on moneys lent out, and £101, Is. 6d. was from other sources. 
 
 In 1G12, the number of the beneficiaries was, as we have 
 already seen, 35 ; while the amount expended on their maintenance 
 was £158. In 1889, the number of the beneficiaries was 193, while 
 the amount of payments made to them, or on their account, was 
 £4120. In 1890, the number of beneficiaries was increased by 40, at 
 an annual charge of £600 for pensions, making the total number of the 
 pensioners at that time 233, and the yearly charge therefor £4700. 
 
 These figures, therefore, shew the progressive development of the 
 means and estate of the Trinity Hospital charity, and the continued 
 extension of its benefits within the last 300 years. The growth has been 
 on the one hand largely due to the generous liberality of benevolent 
 citizens in Edinburgh, and on the other, to the wise forethought of the 
 Magistrates and Town Council, as the Governors of the charity, in 
 acquiring for the Hospital, the now very valuable estates of Coatfield 
 and Quarryholes, to the north-east of the city, and which is intersected 
 by the Easter Road, in a direct line to Leith ; and also the lands of Dean 
 Parks and Blinkbonny, in the north-west outskirts of the city. While 
 the former-mentioned lands are at present being quickly utilised for 
 feuing purposes, the latter are still let off as agricultural subjects ; 
 but the rapid extension of the city in that direction, leaves little 
 doubt that early in the next decade, the grounds of Dean Parks owned 
 by the Governors will be speedily built upon, and will yield a greatly 
 increased revenue.
 
 CONCEKNING THE HOSPITAL'S REVENUES. 181 
 
 To show tlie benefits that have been derived from the proper 
 utilisation of the Governors' property in the east of Edinburgh, it may 
 be stated that, on the motion of the writer, the Town Council, in 1875, 
 resolved to terminate the lease of Quarryholes farm, consisting of about 
 100 acres, and which had been ten years before granted on a lease of 
 twenty-one years, at the annual rent of £745, terminable in the year 
 1886. In consequence of the lease having to be relinquished, the 
 tenants of the farm, as a matter of course, made heavy claims upon 
 the Governors. These were submitted to arbitration. The result of the 
 whole was that the Governors had to pay a capital sum of £11,000 by 
 way of compensation to the lessees, and for the laying out of the 
 grounds for feuing purposes, through the formation of roads and 
 drains, and other works. 
 
 Notwithstanding of this large sum having been spent, the result has 
 been extremely satisfactory. The net rents derived from the unfeued 
 grounds, which are chieHy let as grass parks, amount to £430 
 
 The new feu-duties payable are . . . 1920 
 
 Total, . £2350 
 Whereas, as stated above, the old farm rent was 745 
 
 Thereby shewing, in the year 1890, an in- 
 creased annual rent of . . . £1G05 
 
 Since that time, several large portions of the ground have been 
 feued oflf ; and, while these pages are passing through the press, the 
 disposal of a large amount of ground is in course of negotiation with 
 the Caledonian and North British Eailway Companies, the result of 
 which will be referred to at a future stage. 
 
 One other matter the writer considers it to be his duty 
 to notice. When the proposal was made to construct the Regent
 
 182 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 Bridge, a scheme carried out in 1818, whereby a new and most 
 beautiful access was obtained to the city, the matter came under 
 the attention of the Governors of Heriot's Hospital on the one 
 hand and the Town Council as the Governors of Trinity Hospital 
 on the other, — as to the probable eifects upon their lands for feu- 
 ing purposes being opened up and developed. The former had 
 a considerable number of acres to the south-west of what is 
 now known as the Easter Koad. The latter had a still larger 
 holding of land to the north-west and east of the said road. The 
 new bridge implied the formation of the Regent Road, a direct 
 access to Piershill and Portobello, as well as a most important 
 access by the Easter Road to the Town of Leith. Heriot's Hospital 
 Governors contributed £13,000 towards the undertaking; while the 
 Town Council subscribed £8000, of which amount it was resolved 
 that the Trinity Hospital should be debited with one-half, viz., £4000. 
 This was in the year 1813. It is a notable fact that the Minute of 
 the Finance and Property Committee of the Heriot's Ho.spital 
 Governors recommending the same, was signed by the late Rev. Dr 
 John Inglis, as chairman of the said Committee. He was minister of 
 the Old Grayfriars Church, and he was the worthy father of the much 
 respected late Right Hon. John Inglis (Lord Glencorse), President of 
 the Court of Session. No one has ever questioned or impugned 
 the validity of the action of the Heriot Governors of that time, 
 whose contribution was upwards of three times that of the Governors 
 of Trinity Hospital. 
 
 It fared otherwise, however, with the Town Council. In a 
 Parliamentary paper entitled " General Report of the Commissioners 
 appointed to enquire into the state of Municipal Corporations in 
 Scotland, presented to both Houses of Parliament, by command 
 of His Majesty " (page 38), there is the following entry : — " In
 
 CONCERNING THE HOSPITAL'S REVENUES. 183 
 
 some burghs the funds vested in the magistrates and town council 
 for charitable purposes, which are usually called mortifications, have 
 not been properly administered. Mention has already been made of 
 the gross mismanagement in Edinburgh and Aberdeen, and of the 
 practice of the magistrates or council borrowing in their corporate 
 capacity, the funds vested in them as trustees. A striking example 
 of malversation, with relation to the property of Trinity Hospital in 
 Edinburgh has been observed. The Town Council of Edinburgh are 
 the administrators, and they consented to the imposition on its funds 
 of a debt of £4000 for making a road, and building a bridge near the 
 city, by neither of which any part of the property of the Hospital has 
 been benefited."* The reporters were seven legal gentlemen of high 
 position in the city, and their opinion is entitled to that respect which 
 is their due ; but, beyond expressing their own opinion, they do 
 not seem to have taken the opinion of any practical men on the 
 subject. Nevertheless, it may be matter of opinion whether there 
 is not another aspect of the question. The borrowing of money from 
 trusts of which a town council has the management, for municipal 
 purposes, is not now regarded as either wrong, illegal, or inexpedient. 
 It has now the high sanction of the Imperial Parliament, in most of 
 the Corporation Bills which are being yearly passed by both Houses. 
 In regard to the benefit to the feuing ground, which is the property 
 of the Trinity Hospital Governors, and which is intersected by the 
 Easter Road, he would be a bold man, who at the present time 
 would dare to assert, that the bridge-making and the road-formincr 
 referred to, have not essentially benefited the funds both of Heriot's 
 and Trinity Hospitals. Indeed it is a well-known fact that when 
 
 * London : Printed by William Clowes and Sons, Stamford Street, for His Majesty's 
 Stationery Office.— 1835.
 
 184 TRINITY COLLE(}K AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 the learned Reporter (Professor Macpherson) advised adversely to tlie 
 Town Council's contention, he had great difficulty in getting any 
 master-builder to agree with him, although it is quite true that he 
 eventually succeeded in obtaining one. The First Division of the 
 Court of Session (Lord President Inglis presiding) by interlocutor, 
 dated 19th March 1878, adopted the recommendation of Professor 
 Macpherson, and echoed in even stronger language the views of the 
 Parliamentary Commissioners. They ordered that the £4000 should be 
 restored to the funds of the Trinity Hospital, by the Town Council, 
 from out of the Common Good fund of the City, with four per cent, 
 interest from 15th July 1874, until the principal sum was paid. This 
 was accordingly done. The Trinity Hospital has therefore practically 
 got the benefit of better accesses to its grounds for nothing. This has 
 greatly enhanced the value of the lands. It is now reaping a good 
 harvest. Possibly in consideration of its charitable purposes, and on 
 account of the enormous demand by the poor to obtain a place on the 
 roll, it is a condition of affairs not very much to be regretted. But it 
 may still form a debatable question, on which a good deal might be 
 said or written, whether the Town Councillors were not absolutely right 
 in the main, and whether they had better notions than the legal gentle- 
 men as to the ultimate results, as also whether the strictures passed 
 upon them at the time when these observations were made, were 
 strictly correct. 
 
 It is quite possible that the seed had to lie a considerable time before 
 the harvest appeared. And yet, at the time when this great improve- 
 ment was projected, the City of Edinburgh, in so far as building opera- 
 tions were concerned, was in the full blow of prosperity. A joint plan 
 by the late Mr Robert Adam, architect, had been prepared by the 
 consent of Heriot's Hospital Governors and the Town Council, for a 
 great new suburb to the north-east of the city ; and they had obtained
 
 CONCERNINCi THE HOSPITAL'S REVENUES. 185 
 
 the concurrence of the adjacent proprietors of land, to join with 
 them in the enterprise. But the collapse of the building trades in 
 1822, consequent upon the depressed state of business all over the 
 country, put an end to the rapid increase of the city for nearly half 
 a century. The tide of affairs in this respect has during the last 
 twenty years turned ; the progress and extension of the city have 
 been marvellous ; and if Trinity Hospital funds suffered for many 
 years through no return upon the sum of money advanced, that has 
 now been well repaid in the fact that it is receiving a fourfold return 
 at the present time by the uses to which the ground is now put, and 
 the greatly enhanced prices now obtained, when compared with what 
 would have been received fifty years ago. The Trinity Hospital 
 charity is, therefore, deriving full advantage from the Eegent Road 
 and Bridge improvement, to which, as has already been seen, by the 
 decision of the Court it was not practically a contributor, while the 
 other charity of George Heriot's Hospital continued to be a large 
 contributor to the enterprise. 
 
 2 A
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 THE RE-BURIAL OF MARY OF GUELDRES. 
 
 HEN the Hospital and Church of the Holy Trinity were 
 doomed to destruction, the late Sir Daniel Wilson occu- 
 pied at the time the honorary position of Secretary to the 
 Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. His great influence as well as his 
 pen were speedily, though ineffectually, engaged in remonstrances 
 against what was regarded, in many quarters, as so great an act of 
 vandalism, viz. — the removal, from the view of the citizens of Edin- 
 burgh, of the ancient, historic, and beautiful structure of the Trinity 
 College Church. He used every effort in his power to avert, if it had 
 been possible, all traces of this ancient royal foundation being removed 
 from the site. 
 
 In his somewhat recently published work,* he thus writes : — " On 
 Sunday, May 14, 1848, I witnessed the last religious services within the 
 walls of the ancient Church. The City Magistrates, who had sold it to 
 
 * Reminiscences of Old Edinburgh, by Daniel Wilson. Vol. ii. pages 8-10. Edinburgh ; 
 David Douglas, 1878. 
 
 186
 
 THE RE-BURIAL OF MARY OF GUELDRES. 187 
 
 the spoilers, with incongruous ostentation, attended in their official 
 robes, much as they were wont of old to preside over a public 
 execution.* The quaint richly-carved capitals, the beautiful roof, 
 with its sculptured bosses of varied design, the pier-shafts rising 
 from corbels ingeniously grotesque, and leading the eye up to the fan- 
 like ribs of the groined ceiling, all seemed to have only received their 
 perfecting touch in the harmonious tintings of time, since the remains 
 of the Royal Foundress were laid beneath the flooring, where they still 
 rested in peace. The Rev. Dr Steven, the incumbent of the parish, 
 entering into the feelings which the occasion was calculated to awaken, 
 chose his text from Matthew xxiv. 2, ' Verily I say unto you. There 
 shall not be left here one stone upon another that shall not be thrown 
 down.' The words were appropriate ; yet they seemed to sound with 
 a bitter irony in the presence of those by whom this very verdict had 
 been decreed, and from the lips of one who had been no unwilling party 
 to it. I still recall the mingled feelings of mortification and pain with 
 which I quitted for the last time the sacred edifice as such. I was in it 
 many a time thereafter, when it had ceased to be a place of worship, 
 but still retained all its attractive details, tempting the pencil to 
 make some record of them before its last stone was thrown down." 
 
 Sir Daniel Wilson writes possibly somewhat too strongly on the 
 subject; but it is wholly from the antiquarian point of view. He 
 blames both the Town Council and the preacher ; whereas he ought 
 to have borne in mind that they were altogether powerless in the 
 hands of the Houses of the Imperial Parliament, who alone were 
 invested with the power of preserving the edifice. 
 
 * In this the learned writer is wroug. The two junior Magistrates are the only members 
 of the Corporation whose attendance is required for this function ; and their duty is to deliver 
 over to the executioner the corpiis of the culprit, and to give a receipt for the body after the 
 execution.
 
 188 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 The representations which were at the time made to the Town 
 Council, as well as the terms of the North British Railway Act, 
 already referred to — induced the Corporation to take steps to have 
 the edifice rebuilt as it originally stood ; but it behoved to be on 
 another site. With this view, they at once gave instructions to the 
 late Mr David Bryce, architect, that every stone of the old church 
 should be carefully numbered, and should be safely deposited on the 
 lower part of the Calton Hill — now converted into a public pleasure 
 ground — between the south side of the Regent Road and the line 
 of the North British Railway. This work was entrusted to the late 
 Mr Lawrence, and the papers connected with it are in the possession of 
 his son, Mr Peter Lawrence of this city. There, for many years, the 
 stones remained, during the discussion of the much-vexed question of 
 site, and various other questions of law, which cropped up from time 
 to time to trouble the already much-vexed members of the Corpora- 
 tion. It will excite little surprise when it is mentioned that that 
 well-known cairn of stones was not likely to remain long in an 
 undisturbed condition. 
 
 Individual antiquarian tastes always long to be satisfied, as 
 well as the cupidity of curiosity collectors who have not even the 
 antiquarian hobby in their constitution, but have the desire to possess 
 something rare or peculiar — hence, many of the very finest of the 
 stone and other carvings of the Trinity College Church were, usually 
 under the cloud of night, quietly but surely carried away to various 
 parts of the suburbs of the city, which were at the time rapidly 
 extending in what may, for want of a better phrase, be designated 
 ' Villadom,' and these carvings were utilised as a rule in the construc- 
 tion of various rockeries and other fantastic garden erections, in con- 
 nection with private houses. A better colour might have been given 
 to such selfish and wilful misappropriation, if it could have been
 
 THE RE-BURIAL OF MARY OF GUELDRES. 189 
 
 stated on its behalf that the vandalism proceeded from a mistaken 
 feeling of religious enthusiasm — if the sentiment could have been 
 recorded of the depredators : 
 
 " Thy saints take pleasure in her stones, 
 Her veiy dust to them is dear." 
 
 But no such moving spirit could either in truth or veriest justice 
 be ascribed to them in the matter. The carrying away of these relics 
 was regarded at the time as purely and absolutely cases of the most 
 unmitigated covetousness, implying a gross breach of both the eighth 
 and tenth commandments. 
 
 No doubt, when all the facts and circumstances of the case came 
 in the course of years to be adjusted and finally disposed of, it turned 
 out that it would have been impossible for the Town Council to have 
 complied with the desires of the antiquarians, as well as the terms of 
 the North British Eailway Act, in regard to the proposed scheme of 
 restoration. The sum eventually adjudicated by the House of Lords 
 was entirely prohibitory of this being done. But that fact gave no 
 valid excuse at the time for the somewhat scandalous spoliation of a 
 vast number of the quaintest, most grotesque, yet beautiful and much 
 valued carvings, which from time to time were taken away, in the 
 manner already stated. 
 
 When the fabric of the Church came to be removed, the Society 
 of Antiquaries demanded that a search should forthwith be made for 
 the remains of the Royal Foundress. 
 
 The following minute of the Society refers to this subject : — 
 
 3. April 1848. — Mr Laing laid before the Meeting copies of the 
 correspondence with the Lord Provost, the City Clerk, and the Hon. 
 Board of Commissioners of Her Majesty's Woods and Forests, relative 
 to the search for the remains of Queen Mary of Gueldres and their
 
 190 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 removal to Holyrood Chapel. The following were appointed a com- 
 mittee to take such steps as may be necessary in furtherance of this 
 object, and to report, Messrs Chambers, Laing, Macdonald and the 
 Secretaries. The Secretary was directed meanwhile to write to the 
 Chairman of the Board of Directors of the North British Railway, 
 requesting that as the demolition of the Ancient Collegiate Church of 
 the Holy Trinity was now decided on, the carved stones, armorial 
 bearings, etc., might be reserved for the Society's museum. 
 
 In the prosecution of this work, Sir Daniel Wilson took a most 
 lively interest, along with his friend the late Dr David Laing of the 
 Signet Library. The officers of Her Majesty's Board of Works, under 
 the direction of the late Mr Robert Matheson, and his able assistant 
 the late Mr Kerr, began their operations on the 22d day of May 1848. 
 The place where it was understood the Queen's mortal remains were 
 deposited was, as has been already stated, a space under the north 
 aisle, in the centre of the lady's chapel, or sacristy, or, as it was 
 latterly called, " the vestry." * 
 
 * The following Report is extracted from the Minute Book of the Society of Antiquaries 
 of Scotland. It was submitted to a meeting of the Council of the Society held on the 24th 
 day of May 1848, and a copy of it was directed to be transmitted to the Honble. Board of 
 Commissioners of Her Majesty's Woods and Forests. It is as follows : — 
 
 " Mary of Gueldres. On Monday, the 21st of May, at seven a.m., the officers of Her 
 Majesty's Board of Works commenced their search for the remains of Queen Mary of Gueldres, 
 within the Collegiate Church of the Holy Trinity, of which she was the Foundress. The 
 first excavations were made in the North Aisle of the Choir, where a finely-carved Credence 
 Table and other features indicated the site of some of the Altars of the Church. The search 
 afforded evidence that the whole Aisle had been used as a place of sepulture, but nothing was 
 found worthy of special notice, as indicative of the rank of those who had been buried, or 
 of great antiquity in the remains. Attention was then directed to the Aisle, latterly used as 
 the Vestry of the Church, where the existence of a very fine Piscina affords undoubted evi- 
 dence of its having been a chapel of some importance. After excavating in various directions, 
 on digging right down in the centre of the area, the workmen came upon portions of glazed 
 floor tiles, about the level of the old floor, which was fully three feet beneath that of the old
 
 THE RE-BURIAL OF MARY OF GUELDRES. 191 
 
 In the centre of this place, was found an ancient coffin containing 
 the skeleton of a female. A reference was made to the late Mr John 
 Goodsir, an eminent surgeon and the well-known Professor of Anatomy 
 
 Vestry. Most of the tiles were of an orange colour ; but one nearly whole, and several 
 fragments of others, were dark purple, suggesting the probability that the floor had been 
 paved with these in alternate squares, or according to some other regular pattern. Under- 
 neath this, a mass of very solid concrete was found, near the west wall, and, a little lower 
 down, towards the centre of the floor, the workmen exposed the arm bone of a skeleton. 
 
 " On discovering distinct evidence of human remains, on a spot generally assigned by 
 tradition as the place of sepulture of the Royal Foundress, a flat stone was laid above them, 
 and the workmen were set to clear out the length of the grave. On the whole being levelled 
 to the proper depth, the edge of an oak coffin was e.xposed, which proved, on being further 
 uncovered, to be in a state of extreme decay. There were no remains of the lid of the coffin ; 
 but, on the end, at the feet, being cleared, it was found to be narrower at bottom than top, and 
 rising so as to form the segment of a circle on the upper edge, showing that the lid of the coflSn 
 had been rounded at the top. 
 
 " The coffin measured five feet, eleven inches, in length ; the sides were straight, and 
 the breadth, both at the head and foot, eighteen inches. It appeared to have been very 
 shallow, and more so at the feet than the head ; but the extremely decayed state of the wood 
 prevented exact measurements being taken. It may be added that, when the body was 
 removed on the following day, the bottom of the coffin was found to be made of oak planks 
 laid length-ways (contrary to modern practice), and a single transverse bar was fastened across 
 the centre. The whole was secured with iron nails, having very large heads, but otherwise 
 too much corroded to enable any opinion to be formed of their original shape. It should be 
 added that a slightly constructed drain crossed the grave obliquely, and the whole soil 
 was so saturated with moisture, as abundantly to account for the extreme state of decay of 
 the coffin and its enclosed remains. 
 
 " On the skeleton being completely exposed, it was found lying in its natural position 
 with the bones undisturbed. The skull was turned round on the left cheek, and the spine 
 exhibited a remarkable degree of curvature. In this state, the whole was covered over with 
 boards, and left under the care of three trusty workmen of Her Majesty's Board of Works 
 by whom the place was watched all night. 
 
 " On the following morning, shortly after ten o'clock, the skeleton was examined by Mr 
 John Goodsir, Professor of Anatomy in the University of Edinburgh, in presence of Mr 
 Matheson and Mr Kerr of the Woods and Forests Office, several members of the Council of 
 the Society of Antiquaries, some of the Directors of the North British Railway, the Ri^lit 
 Rev. Bishop Gillies, and others. On examining the skull, the Professor pronounced it to be
 
 192 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 in the University of Edinburgh. He very soon pronounced the re- 
 mains to be those of a female of about thirty years of age. His report 
 was to the following effect : — " The skull was characterised by great 
 
 that of a female, though unusually short, and broad behind for a female head. The cheek 
 bones are very delicately formed, the teeth small and regular, and the nose very prominent. 
 The head altogether affords evidence, in his opinion, of a woman of decided character. 
 
 " The examination of the pelvis completely confirmed the evidence of its being a female 
 skeleton. The bones of the legs and arms were also examined, and referred to by the 
 Professor as characterised by feminine delicacy of formation. The marked curvature of the 
 spine, Mr Goodsir stated, was such as must have elevated the right shoulder, but not to such 
 an extent as would amount to a deformity which might not easily be concealed by the dress. 
 The curvature was towards the right breast, with a corresponding return of the lower part 
 of the spine towards the left side. Tlie Professor remarked that such was of very common 
 occurrence in the female skeleton, though not often to so great a degree. The effect it would 
 have on the figure would be to give the appearance of a short body and long limbs. 
 
 "After Professor Goodsir had completed the examination, careful measurements were 
 taken of the exact position of the coffin. The body lay directly east and west, with the feet 
 towards the east. The breadth of the Chapel from north to south, is sixteen feet, four inches ; 
 and the centre of the head of the coffin was found to measure exactly eight feet, two inches 
 from either wall. The Cliapel measures, from east to west, fifteen feet, six inches ; and the 
 head of the coffin was found to be five and a half feet from the west wall, leaving the space 
 from the foot to the east wall of four feet, one inch. On this side, however, the deeply 
 • splayed recess of the window affords great additional breadth, where, in all probability the 
 Altar of the Chapel stood. 
 
 " Under the direction of John Henderson, Esquire, Queen's Remembrancer, and in 
 presence of those who had witnessed the previous examination, with the addition of the Rev. 
 Dr Steven, incumbent of the parish, and other gentlemen connected with the Society of 
 Antiquaries, etc., the remains were carefully removed from the grave ; and after being 
 wrapped in cloth, were deposited in a lead coffin provided for the purpose. This was secured 
 under the direction of Mr Henderson, and sealed with the Exchequer Seal. The remains of 
 the coffin with the earth enclosed in it, were also wrapped up with it and placed in a separate 
 box, which was likewise fastened up and sealed ; after which both were removed in a hearse 
 to the Exchequer Chambers, Parliament Square. 
 
 " It is worthy of notice that the top edge of the coffin was little more than eight or nine 
 inches below the original floor ; so that it was, in all probability covered with a flat slab, 
 decorated, it may be, with a brass, or bearing an inscription and sculptured device. The dis- 
 appearance of all remains of the coffin lid, afforded evidence that the tomb had been opened
 
 THE RE-BURIAL OF MARY OF GDELDRES. 193 
 
 delicacy, especially in the cheek bones and the lower jaw, which also 
 indicated a well-formed chin. The teeth were small and regular, the 
 forehead was broad, but not high, and the nasal bones indicated a 
 well-defined and probably slightly-hooked nose." 
 
 before, and this seemed to be further confirmed by the absence of nearly all the finger bones, 
 notwithstanding the most careful search for them ; so that it seems not improbable that 
 gold or jewelled rings may have tempted the cupidity of the spoilers who invaded the resting 
 place of the dead. The extreme dampness of the soil, however, may possibly account for the 
 absence of these bones, by the ordinary process of decay. A mass of very solid concrete 
 which remained at the head and foot, had probably covered the whole coffin originally, and 
 been the sub-structure on which the paving rested. This had been broken through, but the 
 general state of the skeleton left no room to doubt that the body had been moved from its 
 original position. 
 
 " Mary of Gueldres, the consort of James Second, King of Scotland, died 16th November 
 1463. According to the concurring testimony of all early Scottish Historical Writers, the 
 Queen was interred in the Church of the Holy Trinity, near Edinburgh, which she had 
 founded shortly before her death ; but which from the early death of the Royal Foundress 
 was never completed according to the original design. 
 
 " That the remains thus discovered in the Chapel attached to the Church of the Holy 
 Trinity are those of Mary of Gueldres, Queen of Scotland, the wife of James Second and 
 mother of James Third, appears conclusively and satisfactorily established. On the buttress 
 at the north-east angle of this Chapel, a highly-decorated niche (more ornamental than any 
 other on the whole of the Church) is surrounded by a Tablet, bearing apparently the Royal 
 Arms now greatly defaced and time-worn. The richly-sculptured Piscina in the interior has 
 already been referred to ; and in the south wall separating it from the North Aisle of the 
 Church, and from which it is approached by a highly-decorated doorway, a squint, or hagio- 
 scope, has been discovered in the course of the recent investigations, through which a person 
 seated at the Tomb could see the High Altar. 
 
 " It is provided in the Foundation Charter, that ' whenever any of the Prebendaries shall 
 read High Mass, he shall repair to the Tomb of the Foundress,' and perform certain pre- 
 scribed services. While this direction seems to indicate the Mortuary Chapel of the 
 Foundress, as standing apart from the main body of the Church, it may also account for the 
 arrangements above referred to, by which it is connected with the same. 
 
 " Exactly in the centre of this Chapel, in an oak coffin of antique form and construction, 
 
 and with the feet towards the east, where the Altar of the Chapel must have stood (a practice 
 
 reserved in the Catholic Church for lay persons, ecclesiastics being laid with their head 
 
 towards the Altar), the remains of the Royal Foundress have been discovered, after lying 
 
 2 B
 
 194 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 Several other members of the Society of Antiquaries took a special 
 
 interest in the search. Among these were the late 
 
 Sir James Young Simpson, Bart., M.D. 
 Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe, Esq., of Hoddam. 
 Sir George Harvey, President of the Royal Scottish Academy. 
 W. B. D. D. TuRNBULL, Esq., Advocate. 
 Cosmo Innes, Esq., one of the Principal Clerks of Se.s.sion. 
 Joseph Robertson, Esq., LL.D., of H.M. Register House. 
 James Drummond, Esq., R.S.A. 
 Dr Walter Adam, George Square. 
 The Very Rev. Bishop Gillies, and 
 
 J. Whitefoord Mackenzie, Esq., W.S., Agent of the Convention of 
 Royal Burghs. 
 
 A report was drawn up at the time narrating the circumstances, 
 and conveying the impressions of those self-constituted reporters. 
 
 Sir Daniel Wilson, in his interesting work already referred to, 
 thus writes : — " The chapel in which this ancient coffin lay entombed in 
 the centre of the area, and directly in front of the east window, with the 
 feet towards the site of its long-demolished altar, was entered from the 
 north aisle of the choir by a circular-headed doorway of fine proportions 
 
 interred for nearly four centuries. The absence of any ornaments, rings, or other insignia 
 of rank, may be but too easily accounted for, from the evident indications of the grave having 
 been opened at some former period. Nor must it be overlooked, in reference to the apparent 
 plainness of her sepulture, that, though a Queen, she was a widow at the time of her death ; 
 her son. King James III. was scarcely ten years of age ; and while the period was one 
 of distraction and strife, the terms in which she has been alluded to by contemporary 
 historians, afford no less evidence of the bitterness of her enemies, than the incompleteness 
 of her pious foundation and the lukewarmness of her friends. It may be added that, after 
 extensive excavations in the Centre Aisle and the Transept of the Church, nothing has been 
 found worthy of special notice, or coeval with the period of the foundation of the Church 
 with the solitary exception of a billon penny of James Third. 
 
 "The Council of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, in forwarding this Report to the 
 Honble. Board of Commissioners of Her Majesty's Woods and Forests, in accordance with the 
 request of the Officers of the Board of Works, beg to add that it seems to them only consistent
 
 THE RE-BURIAL OF MARY OF GUELDRES. 195 
 
 and workmanship ; and on the buttress of its north-east angle were the 
 arms of the Fomidress, Gueldres, impaled with those of Scotland. Within, 
 it had been paved with encaustic tiles of orange and purple ; and it may 
 be assumed that, by sepulchral brass, incised slab, or altar-tomb, the 
 precise site of the royal ■ vault was originally indicated. But the 
 encaustic pavement lay buried three feet under the modern flooring ; 
 and the covering of the vault of concrete appeared to have been broken 
 through without disturbing the skeleton, which lay there in its natural 
 state, with the bones undisplaced." 
 
 He then goes on to state : — "The head rested on its left cheek, and 
 was regarded with all the interest which pertained to its supposed 
 identification as that of the Queen of James II. and the mother of James 
 III. It required no anatomical training to discern, in the delicately- 
 formed zygomata and cheek bones, the well-developed nose and chin, 
 and the small, regular teeth, the indications of refined and probably 
 beautiful features. The only defect was a curvature of the spine, 
 sufficient to have slightly elevated the right shoulder, and to which 
 by-and-by an amusing prominence was assigned when the identity 
 
 with the rank of the Koyal Foundress of the Collegiate Church of the Holy Trinity, and her 
 direct connection with her Koyal Descendant, our gracious Queen Victoria, that the remains 
 of Queen Mary of Gueldres should be removed to the Eoyal Vault at Holyrood, with suitable 
 honours, now that an Act of the British Parliament has sanctioned the demolition of the 
 Church which she founded, and the Mortuary Chapel erected for her Tomb. 
 
 "(Signed) .J. T. Gibson-Craio, Chairman. 
 
 " D. Laing, Treasurer. 
 
 " DaNl, Wilson, Secretarij. 
 
 " In addition to the preceding Report, the Council directed that it should be entered on 
 the Minutes, that the removing of the royal remains from their original resting place, and the 
 depositing of them in the leaden coffin was accomplished by Dr Walter Adam, a member of 
 the Royal College of Physicians, and Fellow of this Society, and he was accordingly requested 
 to communicate to the next meeting of the Society the result of his observations on that 
 occasion. .J. T. Gibson-Craio, C."
 
 196 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 of its owner came in question. Professor Goodsir, when first pointing 
 it out, remarked that it was not rare to find such curvature in the 
 female skeleton. It did not amount to more deformity than might 
 easily be concealed by the dress, and such as passes unheeded in 
 many a fair lady of modern days." 
 
 The remains of Mary of Gueldres were for a second time deposited 
 in a handsome coffin, to be taken hence for a final resting place until 
 the Resurrection morn. The place to which they were first conveyed 
 was the Exchequer Chambers in Parliament Square, which at that 
 time was also used as the oftice of H.M. Board of Works, and after- 
 wards to the ancient Palace of Holyroodhouse. On a beautiful 
 summer morning, viz. — on the 15th day of July 1848, in the royal 
 vault of Holyrood Abbey, Her Majesty's remains were then appro- 
 priately placed. The following account of the ceremony appeared in 
 the Scotsman newspaper of 19th July 1848 : — 
 
 " Re-Interment of the Remains of Queen Mary of Gueldres. — 
 The re-interment of the remains of Mary of Gueldres, Queen of James 
 II. which were discovered some time ago in the Sacristy of Trinity 
 College Church, of which she was the Foundress, took place on Saturday 
 in the Chapel Royal, Holyrood, in presence of the Lord Provost, 
 Magistrates, and Town Council, the Society of Antiquaries, and a 
 numerous assemblage of literary and scientific gentlemen and their 
 ladies. The coffin was conveyed to the Chapel from the Exchequer 
 Chambers in a hearse, at half-past seven o'clock in the morning, it 
 having been the desire of Her Majesty's Commissioners of Woods and 
 Forests that the ceremony should be performed in a private manner. 
 The outer coffin was covered with purple cloth, and enclosed a leaden 
 coffin, which contained another, within which the remains of the Queen 
 were arranged in the same position in which they were found by 
 Professor Goodsir, embedded in plaster of Paris for preservation. The
 
 THK RE-BURIAL OF MARY OF GUELDRES. 197 
 
 coffin bore the following inscription : — ' Mary of Gueldres, Queen of 
 James II., King of Scots, interred in the Church of the Holy Trinity, 
 Edinburgh, a.d. 1463, removed from thence, and re-interred in the 
 the Chapel Eoyal, Holyrood, 15th July 1848.' At eight o'clock, the 
 funeral procession entered the Abbey from the Palace Gardens, the 
 coffin being borne on the shoulders of six men. Mr Robert Rutherford, 
 W.S., as agent of His Grace the Duke of Hamilton, and Deputy Keeper 
 of the Palace, acted as chief mourner, walking at the head of the body, 
 and the ribbons being held by the Lord Provost (Adam Black), Bailie 
 Tullis, Treasurer Dick, Mr Mackenzie, W.S., Mr Matheson of the Board 
 of Works, etc. The members of the Antiquarian Society and other 
 gentlemen followed, and the procession slowly wound its way to the 
 Royal Vault, at the south-east corner of the Abbey, amidst the deepest 
 manifestations of respect and of solemn interest by the spectators, who 
 thronged the surroundins; tombs and the broken shafts of the columns 
 in the Chapel. The coffin was then deposited in the vault, amidst the 
 kindred remains of royalty, in presence of the company, and the 
 assemblage soon after separated." The vault in which the royal remains 
 have been deposited was the burying place of James V. and Magdalen 
 of France his first Queen, and the Earl of Darnley, and other of the 
 mouarchs and royal family of Scotland. The fury of the mob, however, 
 at the period of the Revolution, sadly impaired this royal place of sepul- 
 ture, which has since been allowed to remain in a state of dilapidation 
 and decay, and the leaden coffins which at no distant date enclosed 
 the remains of the " illustrious dead " have been entirely carried away, 
 with portions of the skulls and other bones. A cast of the head 
 of the Queen was taken the day before the funeral, in presence of 
 the Council of the Society of Antiquaries and the gentlemen above 
 named, and is still preserved in the Society's Museum. 
 
 Before closing this chapter, the writer considers it his duty to
 
 198 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 bring before the readers' attention another matter of some importance 
 in connection with Trinity Hospital and Trinity Church, as well as the 
 Eoyal Foundress, for which he is again indebted to Sir Daniel Wilson. 
 He thus writes : — " By a curious coincidence, at the very time when 
 historical students were mourning the destruction of this fine archi- 
 tectural memorial of the fifteenth century, the transference from 
 Hampton Court to Holyrood* of a painting long recognised as con- 
 taining portraits of James HI. and his Queen, Margaret of Denmark, 
 led to its identification by Mr David Laing, as the original altar-piece 
 of the Collegiate Church, founded by the mother of that king. It is 
 a work of art of singular interest, as the only example of a Scottish 
 pre-Reformation altar-piece known to exist, and includes portraits of 
 great historical value. It is a diptych, painted on both sides of its 
 two leaves. The two exterior compartments are thus filled up : On 
 the one is King James III. with his son, ' The Flodden King,' as a 
 youth of about twelve years of age. The two are represented as 
 kneeling, with St Andrew, the patron saint of Scotland, behind them ; 
 on the other, is the Queen, and a figure in armour, with an aureole — 
 possibly designed for St Olave of Denmark — holding over her a banner, 
 inscribed Ave Maria. On the right inner compartment is the Trinity : 
 the Divine Father, enthroned in glory, sustaining the Redeemer in His 
 passion ; while the Holy Spirit rests on Him in the form of a dove. 
 This clearly points to the dedication of the Church ; while, on the left 
 compartment, the beautiful Foundress, as it has been assumed, is 
 represented in the character of St Cecilia playing on an organ. An 
 angel who looks out from behind has been surmised by Mr Laing as 
 possibly representing her daughter. The arms of the Queen, impaled 
 
 * Reminiscence!: of Old Edinburjjk, by Daniel Wilson. Vol. ii. page.s 8-10. Edinburgh : 
 David Douglas, 1878.
 
 THE RE-BURIAL OF MARY OF GUELDRES. 199 
 
 in a lozenge with the royal arms of Scotland, place beyond doubt the 
 identity of the principal characters ; and another shield is equally 
 confirmatory of the relation of the whole to the Collegiate Church, 
 founded by Mary of Gueldres. In front of the organ at which St 
 Cecilia presides, is a kneeling ecclesiastic, with marked features, 
 strongly indicative of individual portraiture ; and, as appears from 
 the arms blazoned alongside of him on the organ stool, this is Sir 
 Edward Bonkil, first provost of the church, and confessor of its 
 Foundress." 
 
 Sir Daniel then goes on to say, "The historical interest of this 
 picture is greatly increased from the means it supplies of judging of the 
 actual condition of art in Scotland, at a time when the King, James III., 
 was charged with keeping low company ; because he preferred the society 
 of artists and musicians to that of the rude barons of his realm ; and 
 even made of his two chief artistic favourites, Cochrane and Ramsay, 
 his advisers in state affairs. Alike in drawing and execution, the merits 
 of the painting are great ; as historical portraits, its picturings are 
 invaluable ; and Pinkerton has justly said of it that ' hardly can any 
 kingdom in Europe boast of a more noble family picture of this 
 early epoch.' The features of St Cecilia are not of that idealised cast 
 of beauty which would become the mere saint, but are rather suggestive 
 of individual portraiture. The temptation is great to recognise in them 
 the likeness of the deceased Queen, and to trace in her avocation a 
 possible reference to special musical tastes, so that James III. may have 
 inherited from his mother his passionate love for music. But it may be 
 noted that the name Mary is the only baptismal one which, according 
 to the usage of the medieval church cannot be changed at confirmation ; 
 and had the features of Mary of Gueldres been represented in beatified 
 saintship, there would have been a special aptness in the introduction of 
 the Virgin Mother, as the counterpart to the Trinity. There is, indeed,
 
 200 TRINITY COLLEGK AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 a certain incongruity in the design, in which the Provost, Sir Edward 
 Bonkil, plays so prominent part, as the companion piece to the conven- 
 tional representation of the Holy Trinity, which tempts us to look for 
 an explanation in some events of the time. It is worthy of note that 
 so early as 1474, proposals were made for the betrothal of the Princess 
 Cecilia, the daughter of Edward IV., to the Prince James of Scotland, 
 then only two years old ; and this proposed alliance was not finally 
 abandoned till 1483,* when the City of Edinburgh acquired its peculiar 
 constitution as a distinct county, or sheriffdom, in return for advancing 
 the money to refund to England the Princess Cecilia's dowry. To one 
 of the latest stages of this proposed alliance with the House of York, 
 
 * In Wilson's Mevwrials of Edinburgh (page 19), the following narrative is given of the 
 circumstances ; and as these are more fully related therein, it has been deemed advisable to 
 reproduce it : — " William Bertraham, the provost of Edinburgh, and with him the whole 
 fellowship of merchants, burgesses, and community of the said town, loyally and generously 
 obliged themselves to repay to the King of England, under certain circumstances, the dowry 
 to his daughter, the Lady Cecil ; or otherwise, ' undertook for the King of Scotland, their 
 Sovereign Lord, that he should concur in his former obligations, provided he or they, the 
 said provost and merchants, were informed of the King of England's pleasure by the next 
 feast of All Saints;' which obligations they afterwards fulfilled, repaying the money, 
 amounting to 6000 marks sterling, upon the demand of Garter King-of-Arms, the King of 
 England's messenger. In acknowledgment of this loyal service, the King granted to the city 
 a deed in 1492, by which the provost and bailies were created sheriffs, within all the bounds 
 of their own territories, and rewarded with other important privileges contained in that 
 patent, which is known by the name of the Golden Charter. He also conferred upon the 
 craftsmen the famous banner, long the rallying point of the burger ward in every civil com- 
 motion, or muster for war, which is still preserved by the Incorporated Trades, and known by 
 the popular name of the Blue Blanket." [Wilson is wrong as to the Golden Charter. The 
 important deed so known, was as we have seen (page 58) the work of James VI. on the 15th 
 March 1630. Pennecuik also refers to the transaction in his Work published in 1722. 
 Wilson's account is much the same as Pennecuik's, but the latter gives the date as 1482, and 
 he makes no reference to the Banner of the Crafts at this time. On the other hand, he seeks 
 to trace the Blue Blanket to a much earlier period in history, viz., to the " Origine of the 
 Croisade, from whence he asserts that it undoubtedly had its rise."]
 
 11 1 1: 
 
 llOl.V TRlXnV. (I-rom Painlingin Holyrood House.) 
 
 (>) 
 
 [ I'clween pages 200-1
 
 JAMES III. OF SOJTLAM) AND HIS SON, AFTERWAKDS 
 JAMES IV. (area) 14S4. SAINT ANDREW CROWXINC. 
 THE KING. {From rainlin-g ill Holyrood House.) 
 
 (2) [Helween pages 200-1.
 
 iJbELX MAKV OF GUELDRES REI'KESENTED AS ST 
 CECILIA, WITH SIR EDWARD BONCLE, FIRST 
 PROVOST OF TRINITY COLLEGE. (From rainling in 
 Ilolvn'od House. ) 
 
 (3) 
 
 [Uclweeti pages 200-1.
 
 -\1A1<(jAK1-.T III- DENMARK, QUEEN CJF SCUTLAMi 
 {circa) 14S4. (From Paiiiling in Holyrooil House.) 
 
 (4) lUetWL-en paj;i:s 200-1.
 
 THE RE-BURIAL OF MARY OF GUELDRES. 
 
 201 
 
 may possibly be due, the curious intermingling of sacred allegory and 
 portraiture in this altar-piece of the Collegiate Church — even if we 
 suppose St Cecilia to preserve the portraiture of the Royal Foundress, 
 and assume the attendant angel to represent the affianced princess of 
 the House of York. 
 
 " In truth, if the stories of old chroniclers are to be relied 
 upon, the Queen was no saint. The Church which she founded was, 
 in more ways than one, a curious historical memorial of her age ; and 
 its sculptures — from which many of the tail-pieces of these chapters 
 have been selected — furnished some singular disclosures relative to 
 the faith of the times." 
 
 2c
 
 
 
 
 H 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 A SURPRISE, AND WHAT IT LED TO. 
 
 HIS world has been called "one of surprises." Although it 
 does sometimes occur that " the unlooked-for happens," the 
 old adage is nevertheless true, that " exception proves the 
 
 rule 
 
 The event which has just been recorded, as to the mortal remains 
 of Mary of Gueldres, was not likely to pass away without some new 
 sensation taking possession of the minds of a certain class of the 
 community, whose chief attribute seems to consist in their objective- 
 ness. The AthencBum (a well-known London publication) declared 
 two months thereafter that the remains of the right Queen had turned 
 up, and among other proofs of the veracity of their informant or 
 reporter, it was added that, " There is a lateral curve on the spine which 
 corresponds with a report that Mary had a vertebral deformity." All 
 the newspaper press of the day was ablaze ; and, according to some of 
 these journals, it was foolishly stated that this must be the real Queen, 
 because there was found a crown upon her head, rings on her fingers, 
 
 202
 
 A SURPRISE, AND WHAT IT LED TO. 203 
 
 and the royal arms wrought in silver on her coffin. Any amount 
 of gullibility that would tend to amaze the public and sell the news- 
 papers was resorted to. The primary cause of the sensation was as 
 follows : — 
 
 The late Dr David Laing had invited to dinner, on the 20th 
 September of the same year, to his house in Portobello, a few 
 antiquarian friends. It need not be said that at such a gathering 
 there was likely to be "a feast of reason and a flow of soul." But this 
 suddenly terminated when the announcement was made that another 
 Queen Mary had been dug up from among the ruins that very day. 
 The late James Ballantine, poet and painter, who was present, declared 
 that he had seen the exhumed remains, — that it had been found in the 
 centre of the apse, in a lead coffin, with a rounded projection for the 
 head, and that from the perpendicular and an tero -posterior extent of the 
 frontal region of the head, the very small cerebral space, the unsym- 
 metrical, contracted and undeveloped state of the base, and the retarded 
 condition of the wisdom teeth, the remains were those of one of feeble 
 or deficient intellect. This was the opposite of what had been always 
 written regarding Mary of Gueldres. 
 
 In all probability, the remains at that time found, were either 
 those of the young Duchess of Lennox, or the Countess of Eglinton, 
 referred to in pp. 96-97 of this volume. 
 
 "A little spark often causes muckle wark." Such is the old 
 saying, and such was the effect of the " new find " having got abroad. 
 One very notable feature was afterwards found out in the case. It 
 has already been stated, that, in the latter skeleton, the top of the 
 skull had been sawn off'. When opened for examination, the two 
 consulted professors discovered "in the exposed interior, certain bony 
 spiculoB protruding into the cerebral region," which in the opinion of 
 Professor Simpson, suggested the probability that the owner had
 
 204 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 been subject to epileptic fits. All the circumstances seemed to indicate 
 that the female remains referred to had been buried about a century 
 later than Mary of Gueldres. That fact would serve to support 
 the theory that they were the remains of one of the noble ladies 
 previously mentioned. The antiquaries and their friends were therefore 
 reassured that they had deposited the proper remains in the Royal 
 
 Vault. 
 
 The following is the official report by Professor J. Y. Simpson, 
 M.D., Professor of Midwifery in the University of Edinburgh, and 
 John Goodsir, Esq., Professor of Anatomy and Physiology in the 
 same University, upon the female remains recently discovered in the 
 choir of Trinity College Church, as it was read at a meeting of 
 the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, on the 9th day of November 
 1848 ; and the same was ordered to be engrossed in their minutes. 
 It was as follows : — 
 
 "Edinburgh, 2 November 1848. 
 
 "We have examined the skeleton found in a leaden coffin, under the High 
 Altar of Trinity College Church, and we are of opinion, that the female to which 
 it belonged was of a feeble frame ; and more particularly from the weak and delicate 
 condition of the skeleton generally; but especially of the spine, the long bones of 
 the limbs, and of the skull. 
 
 " We are also of opinion that from the small perpendicular and antero-posterior 
 extent of the frontal region of the head; the very small cerebral space; the un- 
 symmetrical, contracted, and undeveloped state of the base; the retarded condition 
 of the wisdom teeth (and the skull having been opened for examination) ; this female 
 who certainly was above twenty, but below thirty years of age, was of feeble or 
 deficient intellect. (Signed) "J. Y. Simpson. 
 
 "John Goodsie." 
 
 The Secretary was instructed to send a copy of this report 
 to H.M. Board of Works, and to add that the place of interment 
 of these remains indicate those of a person of such rank that propriety
 
 A SURPRISE, AND WHAT IT LED TO. 205 
 
 would seem to dictate their re-interment in Holyrood Chapel if not 
 in the Royal Vault. 
 
 At a previous meeting of the Society of Antiquaries, Dr Walter 
 Adam of George Square, son of the celebrated Dr Alexander Adam, 
 Rector of the High School, under whom Sir Walter Scott, Lords 
 Brougham, Cockburn, and Jeffrey, the Messrs Francis and Leonard 
 Horner, and the great galaxy of illustrious Scotsmen, who flourished 
 at the end of last century and the beginning of the present were 
 educated, was requested by the Society to act for them in this matter, 
 and he was further asked to submit a report on the subject to a 
 future meeting. 
 
 The meeting was held on June 1st, 1848, when a report was read 
 and approved of. Mr C. Trotter moved, seconded by Mr Turnbull, 
 special thanks to the Secretary. The thanks of the Society were also 
 voted to Messrs Matheson and Kerr, for their great courtesy and 
 ready co-operation. 
 
 At the request of the Society, Dr Walter Adam having furnished 
 the following Report on the subject, the same was submitted to 
 the meeting : — 
 
 Edinburgh, 29 May 1848. 
 In compliance with the desire of the CouncU of the Society of Antiquaries of 
 Scotland, I beg to submit to the Society the following Report of what I actually 
 did and observed during the exhumation of the remains of Mary of Gueldres, Queen 
 Dowager of Scotland, within Trinity College Church, Edinburgh, on Tuesday, the 
 23d of May 1848. 
 
 1. Being within the said Trinity College Church, by invitation from Dr Steven, 
 the clergyman thereof, about half-past eleven o'clock on the forenoon of the 23d of 
 May 1848, and learning that no other individual then present was acquainted with 
 the human structure, I made offer to John Henderson, Esquire, Remembrancer of 
 Her Majesty's Exchequer, to remove from their resting place, the bones which I 
 understood had been discovered on the evening of the 2 2d of May, and which had 
 earlier on the forenoon of the said 23d day of May, been inspected by Professor Goodsir.
 
 206 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 2. Having accordingly descended into the grave, I found tlie head, collar-bones, 
 and spiuo exposed to view : the spine showing a great degree of curvature, while there 
 was a perfect continuity of all the vertebra3. 
 
 3. The bones were imbedded in a dark red, moist, and tenacious soil. They were 
 inclosed at the sides by thin boards of nearly black, and much softened wood, and 
 they rested on a floor of similar wood. 
 
 4. The head, the collar-bones, and the vertebrae of the neck, I found to be free from 
 all injury or decay ; the other bones partaking of the colour of the soil, and tending 
 to decomposition. 
 
 5. The small bones of the hands and feet had in great part disappeared ; and, 
 with the exception of a few nails, I could not after the most diligent search, perceive 
 a trace of any metallic substance. 
 
 6. The bones having been partially arranged on boards, I, as carefully as time 
 and situation permitted, and without attempting to free the bones from the adherent 
 soil, wrapped them in thin woollen and cotton cloth. I then placed them all together, 
 at the broad end of the leaden coffin which had been provided for their reception — 
 said coffin having been thereafter sealed with the Exchequer seal. I saw it safely 
 conveyed from the Church to the hearse outside the churchyard. 
 
 7. So far as it may be proper to add any expression of opinion, I should say : — 
 
 First. — That from relative appearances, it may be inferred that the head 
 and neck had been effectually protected from those influences which 
 had altered the hue and the firmness of the other bones of the body. 
 
 Secondly. — That whatever invasion there may have been of the Royal Tomb, 
 the absence of any displacement of the vertebrae warrants the belief that 
 the spine itself had never been disturbed. 
 
 8. In conclusion, I would suggest that the future preservation of those bones 
 cannot be more efiectually secured, than by their being, previously to re-interment, 
 inclosed in a vase of strong glass. 
 
 Also. — That before the hollow, now open, is filled up, a block of durable stone 
 should be laid in the very place which had been so long occupied by the remains of 
 Mary of Gueldres. 
 
 All which 1 hereby report to the Antiquarian Society. 
 
 (Signed) Walter Adam.
 
 A SURPRISE, AND WHAT IT LED TO. 
 
 207 
 
 But the occasion of the surprise referred to in this chapter did 
 not pass away without a certain amount of fun, and some pleasant 
 literature being circulated. 
 
 At a Conversazione of the Society of Antiquaries held on the 20th 
 day of December 1848, an antique document, printed in black letter, 
 was freely circulated among those present. It was said to be the 
 composition of Maister D. Doubleyotve, which puzzled not a few 
 as to its authorship. The well-known initials of the accomplished 
 Secretary (D. W.) only too plainly revealed the fact. It is herewith 
 reproduced : — 
 
 aiaiB aaiLH ^is®^?e©©iie, tot tioutte tf 
 
 Mnl^nc or ^fjomas of ©wfltoune, 
 
 funtiin unicr ge altav=stam of ge 
 
 (Qurngis fflollegc of ge |l?alj) Crinitic 
 
 be^^tis aS'Otnbnxgf), aiai9 iiligcntlte 
 
 coinparit tottf) gc (ttrongrlis ani 
 
 mlti WIAx^tinqiB quftilfe gaiito eSm, 
 
 be Mmttx IB. Boufilfgotor, anc 
 
 iJrtttei of ge aunctrnt 
 
 jFraternittc of ge 
 
 antiquarifs. 
 
 (!guf)at=for of Btoglfe antgqtogtegs 
 
 Srtat gat set tialc garc lielgte 
 
 (Sfst or Storg for to torgtf, 
 
 ©togir in Mttj^xe, or in ^Urosr, 
 
 dFIurgBiiJC fagrlg gatrr purpose 
 
 Jlffilgtl) qwegnt ant) curgous circumstance, 
 
 ^0 lags ftactis in plcsance, 
 
 iliioH satisroto of 2123snto)Dn.
 
 208 
 
 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 (Qurnc laarp of Srotlantc, pe Uuik of 
 ©illtrlnntiis liourttrr, and sistrris ioucttct 
 to ge IDuife of iJurgonr, spoiwit in tt)c b" 
 of ffiotj m.crrr.ilii. to liing famrs ge smmli 
 toitf) gc fiftic farr, Jl^gr unecligng fta i)Kt aton 
 (HolUfle btsxi^i tStfnturgt), quJjilfe sijo i)8C self 
 funtit biggtt anl) totit. also of anf atorsum 
 ant) mrrtoalous Sfmone quJ)a Bctf t)gs ffttte on tgt 
 tanfs, ant of ant ijalg anti pgous dFtatrrnitic qul)a 
 unrrtit ti)c 0amBn in spgtc of i)BS tfti)f, anti of gc ttoa 
 baliant ltngrf)tis qiiija iiscomfgtit ti)e monstrous 
 teste, anil strafe \)m lioune, ant pusi)ionit 
 i)gm incontinent togti) t)gB atoin malgce. 
 anS® of some qulja loofeit tnaist 
 stout ant rgrfjt cocfee=Bute 
 at ge teggnin, qut)a 
 loofeit bine gineurij 
 gin ge tgnterente.
 
 A SURPRISE, AND WHAT IT LED TO. 
 
 209 
 
 line ISallat of ©lire Ouenc fHoll ; as sung te 
 |)f JHenstrallis to gf plesantr STune of " <©ltie 
 l^gng (ffolf," toit!) bariationes. 
 
 tlTfim librt a ("Suenc in ti^e ©Iticn iirimp, 
 
 :anir a pious <Qucnc teas i8f)f, 
 anb B})c botort a boto tijat a kirfe Bf)e'ii builli, 
 an' toi' i3robost anti ^rrbcnliB it sfjoulti be fiUcli, 
 an' toitl) priest, an' Sacrist, anti Singrt sfeillrt, 
 an in fijr laorti) Olountrie. 
 
 ^Tftis pious ^urnr, it rijancfb Ijrr,— 
 
 .^For toi)a toilt not?— to t\ct; 
 an', foe a' t)fc tofefns o' piftie, 
 jFolfe bobjfi) sail prnancc stjc maun tittc, 
 Jpox tt)f8 ra'ti i)ct nae brttfr tijan sftr sfiouli be, 
 an tn tf)c i^ottt (flountttf. 
 
 Uut tfjc priests tfjeg djaunteir ttjf ftalB mass, 
 anlf tf)c ffllerfes tfieg sang, pertie; 
 an' ilfe ^wbenb tl)c " Bt profunbis " satb, 
 as toi' f)alB toatrt f)c sprgnfedrb 
 5ri)e tt)toufli)=Bfanc tof)aut ti^f (!§uene teas lailj, 
 an in tfje Sactistic. 
 
 an' gears gart bg, anb changes toorc, 
 
 an' times nane tl)ougi)t to see; 
 JTfiete cam' a IBemon, ti)e ISemon o' Steam ; 
 €f)c JBtagon o' SSHantlg teas naetf)ing to f)im, 
 ?^e gobleb boton rl)urcf)es lifee stratobercies anb cream, 
 
 ®r a caup o' flummerie ! 
 
 <!rf)ts truculent ISemon a longing toofe, 
 212fttcn tungrg i)f ctianceti to be, 
 €0 mafe' a snaefe 0' f)er pious bones,— 
 Itirfe, transept, bestrg, steeple, anb roans, 
 
 2 D
 
 210 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 l^e't) stoalloto, anti mafec no bonrs o' ti)c stonfs ;— 
 ail m tl)c Satristtc. 
 
 iivt, as goo^ lucfe tooultf f)abc it, tfjcrc cf)anrrt tj)r totilf, 
 
 5nc pioug jfvatfrnifif, 
 an ault)=tDarl^, monkisf) rare o' frcrcB, 
 a2Bf)a illta lang=kistrt 6ane rrbftrs 
 as a sauntrt rclir o' bpf^ganr grars, 
 
 Hll in tf)c iBlortf) (Sountric. 
 
 an' tf)ffi botort a bote, an' tl)Ej) sainrt a sign, 
 
 an tt)PB shjarc fu' piouslic; 
 an' ncbct a man o' t|)cm a' teas aftar'ti, 
 Jpox tf)f8 grippit t^c Steam JBcmon bg t)is brart, 
 an' ttirg totofeit lijr ©urnc frac tjr moulbg pirt, 
 
 an in ti)f Sacristtr. 
 
 an' tljfg bigf)tei) tf)cir specs, an tf)fB tubbit tt)eti ern, 
 
 an' tl)C2 botDfii tf)E (©uenc b3as st)f ; 
 an' tf)fs foofe a cast o' f)n pious skull, 
 an' ttrg feistfb })cr bancs in a Icabcn sf)cU, 
 an' t^cfi ficbcb i)ft unici a bclbct pall, 
 an m t{)c JRoob abbic. 
 
 <!ri)f Bcmon tab set f)is teart on f)fr bancs, 
 
 an' an angrg JDcmon teas Ijc; 
 ?tjc toofe tf)c aulb feirfe in t)is f)ungrg mato, 
 an' f)c cruncficli it ioun bcttoiit tooti) anb rata, 
 an' l)c licfet i)iB ci)ops, anb ci)ucfelcti, ^ato ! })ato ! 
 
 fflitftc sJjall see— to^at toe sijall see ! 
 
 dFor it cijanccb 'mong tf)e aulb=toarlb bcab toere laib 
 
 In tf)E iSirfe fu' peacefullie, 
 Jgc turneb up, to^ar ance ttje altar stoob, 
 W!Ai' its mgBtie tost anti its talg roob, 
 Some rotten bancs lapp'b in leab anb toooti, 
 
 ail in ti)e Sacraric.
 
 A SUKPRISE, AND WHAT IT LED TO. 211 
 
 an' fu' louli t)e sfjttrfeit an clritrf) laugt. 
 
 sin' rfbcngci) f)f tiJali br; 
 ?t}c sent in fjastt for fijc (©ucen's Jarmcmiiranrfr, 
 'B.xiti iSiti i)im cook up tf)c fianrs insfantrr, 
 an' stoear tf)cm to tlfc anttquarian baunlcr, 
 
 Ei)t (Butnc's tianrs in bcritir. 
 
 2rSe (©uern's JJcmemfirancer f)c cam post ^aatc, 
 
 an' h)t' ijtm tlk anttquarie ; 
 E\it fflurator loofe'i uts, tf)E Crrasutct: loofe'b blue, 
 C^c S«wtatg sniffrt, but i)e onlg ssliO, Mtli)rto ! 
 anil tl^e ^^resiiient groanrt out, SSJaiiat sfjall toe io? 
 
 jFor it stinfeit maist billainouslic! 
 
 iSat ti)tre cam in Ijot f)astc, as best tijcg migljt, 
 
 Some hj{)a foremost afore maun it; 
 an' eacf) stootr Jolt up, like an innocent man, 
 .-fTor tl)ep sutitienlj) rememterelj— let tot)a toill ban,— 
 Cf)fB neber f)ai beliebeti ttje aulb (IBuenc Uias tije one, 
 
 dFrae tije first tljeg neber iiaii— not ti)ej) ! 
 
 Uesiies 'ttoas as plain as a beggar's pifee^staff— 
 
 as tJieg suiienls cam to see,— 
 Ctiat a pious (Queue, in i)er mouliric bei, 
 aJUas altoags ftnobin bj? being lapp'tr in leali,— 
 3rf)o' sucJ) logic, 'tis certain, matie some sijabe Hjeir l)eaii, 
 
 iSaitf) in iSortJ) anli Soutlj (ffountrie! 
 
 iSg gooli lucfe tl&ere eljanceti, on tf)e nonce, rttiing bg, 
 
 <!rb3a Unigfits o' tf)e lancet, periie; 
 $ toarrant, at ti)e sigftt, ttjc Srcretarie, 
 'fc7ice:^resttient, ^Treasurer, anti all, gou migi)t see 
 aoofe as tl)Ougf) suci) lcat)=logie t^ep tljougijt migfjt bjcigi) 
 Somcb)i)at sljort of ti)e beritie.
 
 212 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 JTijctc toas :?jof)n o' tijc iioiu, a ngfjt «0ooJj=str, 
 
 anti Sic :?iamfs o' /Wilitoifrnc; 
 (!ri)e tanr, a biiflljt, fat, foiigrl (ifielij, 
 ^iAV BometDtat o' rate auitt tfUvosc's tmil^, 
 JT^c toll)cx teas lang as t'S lancf, aficlir 
 iiaiti) l\nigl)ts o' gulic trgrrc. 
 
 Cf)c JBcmon, agfjasf, liflrfjcti smofec anti stsam 
 
 at ti)c tljrcat 0' SIC cnmitic; 
 ISut on catrt)tng a glotucr o' tijcic tiauntless rni, 
 ia,]»c loofeit first rcii, tljrn j,)cUoto ant) grrrn, 
 CtU at last, in a fit o' o'rrmaistnfu' splcrn, 
 ji}c iitoam'ii atoa' uttrrlif. 
 
 CtfB prtcfett f)is Ijitf, anti botort toi' tfje iancs 
 
 (jri)at pusljionit t)e sijoulii lie; 
 tirtieg took up t1)e skuU, anti tfjc one satti, jFaugij ! 
 a (©uene! quotl) tljc otijcr,— ste a (©uene J ne'er sate- 
 as f)e tljnist a ti)igl>l)ane in tlje JBeuicn's mato,— 
 
 lijut tj)e (!5uene o' ^lJe^llamie ! 
 
 2ri)c Beitton i)t groanei, anti cougiieli, ant) rijofeci), 
 
 ant) sputteret) maist furiouslie; 
 iiut some tl)at toerc tijcrc, I can toarrant jjou, 
 Burst scarce B|)oto tljeir faces, tijei' loofeeti sac tlue, 
 ant) tlje Secretarie boluetr, anti "fcJice^prcstticnt too. 
 'Ctoas ti)c rarest mare's=nest eber on bieto 
 ail in ti)e jaorti) flTountric.
 
 A SURPRISE, AND WHAT IT LED TO. 213 
 
 jHoral. 
 
 iS^otD all gou antitjuanrs betoare toto »ou stocar 
 
 Co a (©umc's itrcntitie, 
 iHnlfSS in ff)c case it sljoulli cijanrc, tntirrt, 
 i!ri)at ti)e laige turns up ludl lappt in Irati, 
 aSiitJ a croofe in Ijrr spinr, anli a clcfl in i^tt i)cati, 
 512af)iri), as ebErgfiolJi) fenotos, ate tijc matfes agteet 
 
 dFot a (©uene in tije i^ortf) (ilountric ! 
 
 The colophon of the original black-letter edition of fifty copies 
 bore that it was " imprented be Andreiv Jack, prenter to y^ Quenis 
 Males ties leiges, dwelland at y® fit of Niddryes Wynde, in y" Quenis 
 Hie Gaitc, aneist y° Chapele of Sanct Mary in y" Coiv-Gaite fundit 
 be Elizabeth, Countess of Ross of auld, in Edenburgh, in y" yere of 
 Grace do lo cccxl. ix." 
 
 The following satire referred to the edifice : — 
 
 A fane it was where sculpture's curious wile, 
 
 And all the grace of mediaeval art, 
 Were richly blended in the ornate style 
 
 Of that old century ; whereof a part, 
 
 Thus fossilised, lived on within the heart 
 Of the succeeding centuries, as one 
 
 Trustworthy chronicle 
 In lasting characters of graven stone.
 
 214 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 An honest chronicle it was of facts 
 
 Such as fond lovers of those good old times 
 
 Scarce look for record of 'mid pious acts 
 
 Of royal devotion ; trail of shameless crimes 
 And follies wherewith still the Devil limes 
 
 To catch weak mortals ; — but no prurient taint 
 Is to be dreamt of 'neath 
 
 The modish piety of ancient saint ! 
 
 It was, in truth, with its grotesque, and grave, 
 
 And leering drollery, from corbel, boss, 
 And capital, and gurgoyle ; and with nave 
 
 Shorn of its purposed graces ; a most gross. 
 
 Plain-spoken petrifaction of the loose 
 And sensual guise of that old century's faith ; 
 
 Like motley mingling with 
 The solemn shroud and smileless gaze of death. 
 
 Yet had it, too, its look of the divine 
 
 And earnest faith that claimed in that old creed 
 
 Such place as golden chalice in the shrine 
 
 Honoured to hold both bones of sainted dead, 
 And paten, emblem of Christ's living bread : — 
 
 A fitting ohantry for such queenly saint 
 To vow and fashion thus 
 
 With mystic imagery and sculptui'e quaint. 
 
 The Secretary was uot pleased with the Town Council of the day, 
 although, as already explained, they had only to follow the orders of 
 the Imperial Parliament. He had also a grudge at the Rev. Dr 
 Steven, the minister of the parish. Hence he penned the following 
 lines : — 
 
 THE PROVOST AND THE COAL BUNKER. 
 
 O siCAN a Provost as Embrugh has got. 
 
 An' sican a Council an' Bailies an' a'. 
 For the camstrary bodies, nae body kens how, 
 Hae pawn'd ane o' the kirks, an' there's sic an ado.
 
 A SURPRISE, AND WHAT IT LED TO. 215 
 
 What wi' vriters and clergy, sic hullabaloo, 
 Folk wunna hear tell o't ava. 
 
 A gousty auld rickle o' sticks an' stanes. 
 
 Yet some cankered carles wunna let it gae ; 
 Sin' the kirk's stood already 'boon four hunder year. 
 They threep it might stan' for four hunder mairj 
 An' they've measured and skeitched it frae riggin' to flair, 
 
 Just as tho' it were worth a strae ! 
 
 An' then they uphaud as a matter o' taste — 
 
 A queer thrawn taste I trow they maun hae, — 
 
 That the skeely wark o' the auld Papist loons 
 
 Is worth mair nor a fee o' gude Scots pouns. 
 
 An' its sculptur has value beyond a' bounds, 
 Just for its antiquitie ! 
 
 Auld Knox, I jalouse, taught us better a wheen ; 
 
 An' a credit to the gude town 'twad be, 
 Gin the parish session would tak the pains. 
 An' put sic fule booers to stocks and stanes 
 In the cutty-stool sark, for the kirk's amends. 
 
 An' the cure o' sic Papistrip. 
 
 Gudesakes ! the auld kirk stood out o' the way ; 
 
 Was't Sundays or Mondays made unco sma' matter: 
 Gin the folk stayed at hame 'twasna want o' room, 
 Mass John, worthy man, little fashed his thoom ; 
 Though the laigh pews were scant, and the galleries toom, 
 
 He aye wailed his best screed o' dreich clatter. 
 
 But our Provost has ettled a lucky thought; 
 
 An eident chield, as right sould, was he. 
 Some new neighbours hard by had drawn in their stools 
 And they wanted a bunker to haud some coals. 
 Ye may guess the clanjamfry o' rogues and fules 
 
 0' a railway companie !
 
 216 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 The kirk, though 'twas auld, was stout and Strang, 
 
 As four-hunder-year wark behoved to be ; 
 For sic neebors he thought it weel worth a ware, 
 Sae our slee pawkie Provost bespak them fair, 
 Aughteen thousand punds — neither less nor mair, — 
 An' the kirk-fauld sould weir the colliery. 
 
 Some folk wad hae thought him gane gyte in his mind — 
 In fact clean wud-mad and demented ! — 
 
 Or maybe his Lordship did but droll ! 
 
 Aughteen thousand punds down for a stance, an' the whole 
 
 For nae purpose on earth but to baud a wheen coal 
 To Stan' by just until they be wanted ! 
 
 But the slee pawkie loon kent his customers weel, 
 
 Sican gentry are chancey o' reference — 
 Mair for token the siller, when a's come and gane, 
 Wared on sic a dooms rickle o' timmer an' stane. 
 Turns out to've been ither folks 'stead o' their ain, — 
 Whilk ye'll own maks a wonderfu' difference ! 
 
 Mass John — though ye'd hardly expeckit the thing, — 
 Made a grane o' a mane — sican blethers ! 
 
 He owned to sair doubts how the bargain would tell ; 
 
 An', somehow, the auld kirk and he sorted f u' weel ; 
 
 Then to gie up, free haun', to the muckle black deil — 
 Or neist thing to't — the kirk o' our faithers ! 
 
 But our Provost can whistle in a'body's lug ; 
 
 Quo' he, "Ye'reyour ain light, my man, in; 
 Yer Rev'rence maun lippen for ance to advice, 
 I hae gien a slee hint to a skeely man, Bryce, 
 And he'll rig up a braw bran-new kirk in a trice 
 
 Whar the crowds scarce'll find room for stanin' ! " 
 
 The auld kirk's lang doun, an' the coal-fauld's in use, 
 An' precisely aneuch paid the feeing ;
 
 A SURPRISE AND WHAT IT LED TO. 
 
 217 
 
 What's thought now o' the bargain is ither folk's wark, 
 But Mass John maun byde on for his braw-fashioned kirk, 
 An' the crowds he was promised, frae mornin' till mirk, 
 For I sair doubt our Provost's a slee ane. 
 
 sican a Provost as Embrugh has got, 
 
 An' sican a Council, an' Bailies an' a' ! 
 They wad wyle the auld lark frae the lift sae hie, 
 An' the swan frae the loch, and the gled frae the tree, 
 An' a minister's sell frae his pulpit sae slee. 
 
 An' a' wi' a wink an' a blaw ! 
 
 2 E
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 DIFFICULTY OF THE SITUATION — THE ANNUITY TAX. 
 
 HEN the Houses of Parliament ordained that the Trinity 
 Hospital, and the Trinity Church and College buildings, 
 which had, notwithstanding occasional devastations and 
 spoliations of the times, survived more than three and a half centuries, 
 — should be levelled with the dust, — it is not surprising to find that 
 there were a considerable number of objectors, who most strenuously 
 resisted the supposed sacrilege. Objectors are to be found every- 
 where, and in every variety of circumstances. 
 
 The very idea of removing, and still more of possibly obliter- 
 ating from mortal vision, the most beautiful specimen of Gothic 
 architecture in the capital of Scotland, was a matter not to be 
 tolerated under any circumstances. When the Town Council, in an 
 evil hour, took upon itself the choice of a site, and the restoration 
 of the old building of Trinity College Church, it subjected its 
 members, for many long years, to an amount of hostile criticism 
 and obloquy, that it could not by any possibility have foreseen, 
 
 218
 
 DIFFICULTY OF THE SITUATION — THE ANNUITY TAX. 219 
 
 otherwise it would certainly never have sought to place them, for so 
 long a time, in the very unenviable position to which they were 
 undoubtedly exposed. 
 
 Denominational jealousy, in the City of Edinburgh, was never 
 more exhibited than it was about the period referred to. The 
 Church of Scotland had been rent in twain by the much-to-be- 
 regretted Disruption. In fact, religious jealousy dominated the 
 ancient capital. By far the larger number of the Edinburgh 
 Established Church clergymen had resigned their charges, when the 
 secession took place ; and the bulk of the people, who were attached 
 to their ministers, and connected with their respective congregations, 
 went out along with them, and joining the Free Church of Scotland. 
 With the exception of St Stephen's, Greenside, and Lady Yestcr's, 
 the churches presented little else than an array of empty benches. 
 In so far as the three churches mentioned were concerned, their 
 success was attributable to the fact that their respective pastors 
 considered it to be their duty to remain in "the auld Kirk." The 
 strongest ecclesiastical and political feeling seemed to pervade the 
 minds and hearts of all classes of the community. The feelings en- 
 gendered at the time seemed even to enter into the purely business 
 relations of the town. Free Church people sought out those who were 
 of the same communion in the distribution of their patronage, and 
 the same remark may be likewise said to apply to the members of 
 the Established Church. In addition to the causes of the Disruption, 
 and its effects, there was at the time the old burning sore of what 
 was known as " the Annuity Tax," * a heavy tax which all the rate- 
 
 * The Annuity Tax. — This tax was originally proposed by King Charles I. He sent 
 certain proposals to the Magistrates of Edinburgh in 1625. The Magistrates answered 
 these proposals, and some further negotiations followed between the Crown and the Magis- 
 trates, in consequence of which an Act of the Privy Council was passed in 1634. The
 
 220 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 payers in the ancient and extended royalty, with the exception of the 
 lawyers (members of the College of Justice), were called on to pay 
 for the support of the city clergy. So long as the Church of 
 
 Privy Council acted under powei-s received from Parliament. By that Act of the Privy 
 Council, power was given to levy a tax not exceeding 1200 merks of Scots money for 
 behoof of the ministers ; but it excepted from the tax the Lords of Council and Session. 
 This went on until the year 1649, when a proposal was made to increase the number of 
 ministers, and to levy an additional sum of money, in order to pay the stipends of the larger 
 number. By an Act of Parliament passed on 2d March 1649, authority was given to lay 
 on a tax of five per cent, for the purpose of enabling the Magistrates to raise a sum of 
 19,000 merks for the payment of six ministers. This rate, however, was not found sufficient 
 for the purpose. A further Act was passed raising the rate to six per cent, in June 1661. 
 The next Act was 106 years thereafter, viz. in 1767. Under that Act, the Magistrates 
 obtained power to extend the royalty, and to levy within the area of extension the same 
 taxes as they were authorised to levy within the ancient royalty. Sub.'iequent extensions 
 took place by Acts of Parliament in 1785, 1786, and 1809 respectively. By the Act of 1661, 
 the tax provided for only six ministers ; whereas that of 1809 was made applicable to the 
 payment of all the ministers. Shortly thereafter a question arose between the Magistrates 
 and the ministers as to the distribution of the funds. The Magistrates maintained that 
 the Annuity Tax was a fund out of which they were entitled to allocate such stipends as 
 they thought fit for the behoof of the ministers : in point of fact they argued, in the 
 law proceedings which commenced in 1810, that the ministers were mere stipendiaries ; 
 that the Magistrates received the whole funds applicable to the payment of the ministers' 
 stipends, paid the same into the hands of the City Chamberlain, and allocated from time 
 to time to the ministers such stipends as they thought the circumstances of the case required. 
 The ministers, on the other hand, maintained that the whole produce of the Annuity Tax 
 was their exclusive property, and that they were not to remain, as they had hitherto been, 
 the mere stipendiaries of the Magistrates. The ministers, therefore, raised an action of 
 declarator in the Court of Session, for the purpose of having their rights determined by a 
 decree of the Supreme Court. 
 
 The law plea, which was begun in 1810, ended in 1814. The judges were at first 
 equally divided upon the point ; — three were in favour of the contention of the Magistrates, 
 and three in favour of the ministers. They, therefore, pronounced no decision, but ordered 
 additional pleadings. The case came a second time before the Court, when only five judges 
 were present. Of these, three supported the ministers, and two supported the Magistrates. 
 The final decision was, therefore, in favour of the ministers. There was no appeal taken. 
 The case was taken out of Court by a minute of compromise between the parties.
 
 DIFFICULTY OF THE SITUATION — THE ANNUITY TAX. 221 
 
 Scotland was by far the most numerous religious body in the city, 
 the Voluntary or Nonconformist element had quietly to submit, 
 although there were several who yearly showed their entire dis- 
 
 The members of the legal fraternity claimed exemption from the tax from the time the 
 Act of 1661 was passed. It is stated by Fountainhall, that the exemption of the College of 
 Justice had not been pleaded till a short time before 1678. In 1687, the Court of Session 
 declared " the members of the College of Justice exempt from payment of the ministers' 
 stipends, as also from watching, warding, and all impositions for the same ; " and, in 1778, the 
 members of the College of Justice were found exempted from the payment of poor's money, 
 and other taxations imposed by the Magistrates. 
 
 When the law case above referred to was taken out of Court, a contract was entered into 
 between the Magistrates of the city on the one hand, and the ministers on the other, whereby 
 the latter assigned all their rights to the former, and the Magistrates continued to collect the 
 revenues applicable to the payment of the ministers' stipend just as they had done before 
 the lawsuit, engaging to pay to each of the ministers a stipend of £520 each per annum. 
 The contract was to subsist from 1814 to 1820. When the ministers ceased to be stipendiaries of 
 the Magistrates in 1820, the formidable opposition to the tax on the part of a large portion 
 of the public began. The Magistrates, however, did not continue to disburse the funds. 
 They appointed a Collector, who found caution to them for his inti-omissions, and who was 
 ordered to put the whole proceeds of his collection into a chartered bank, and a committee 
 of the ministers superintended the distribution of the funds. They had a factor or law 
 agent of their own, so soon as they ceased to be stipendiaries. By a decision of the Court of 
 Session, afterwards ratified by the House of Lords, the Magistrates were held not to be 
 responsible for any defalcations on the part of the Collector, after he had found proper 
 caution for his intromissions. This was made final against an appeal by the ministers to 
 have it ordained to be found otherwise. The annual value of the various taxable subjects 
 was at that time decided by a body of Stentuiasters (in number 30) appointed by the Town 
 Council. This was before the passing of the Public Statute in regard to the Valuation 
 of Lands and Heritages in Scotland. 
 
 It may be proper here to state one or two facts in connection with the history of this 
 much hated tax. The Act of the Privy Council of Scotland, dated the 18th day of March 1634, 
 gives the following as the reason for its being imposed : — " For sa meikle as there is nothing 
 more consonant to equitie and reason, than that all such persouns that dailie enjoy in 
 plentie that blessing of the word of God, and heares the same preached, and does perticipat 
 in the benefit of the clergy, should contribute to the maintenance of the ministri in these 
 places where they take the foresaid benifit." Then the Act of Parliament in 1649 narrates : — 
 "That the provyding and maintaining of the sex ministeris doth concern tlie worship of God,
 
 222 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 approbation at their having to pay what they termed "Tribute to 
 Caesar," and that too in strict opposition to what was their con- 
 scientious convictions. Several of them went the length of a passive 
 
 and tend to the propagating and maintaining thereof in the chief citie of this Kingdom, from 
 which non that are partakers of so great a benefit will in conscience withdraw or exaim them- 
 selves, without great guiltiness before God." Again the Act of 1661 says : — " That the common 
 good and patrimonie thairof is exhausted and overburthened, and upon the considerations 
 foresaid are the inhabitants of the said burgh, who hes the comfort and benefit of preaching 
 of the Gospel and ministerie within the same be the space of divers years vntil this tyme hes 
 been in use to pay for the provision and stipend of sex of the ministeris of the said burgh," 
 etc. All these Statutes are clear evidence, that the heritors and others, having a right to the 
 houses, were not liable to the tax, unless they did occupy or inhabit the same ; and this 
 principle was embodied in all the Statutes passed for the extension of the royalty of the 
 city. The Act of 1767 reserved the teinds payable from the lands over which the royalty 
 was extended to the owners of those teinds, and left the lands subject to the burdens incident 
 to them, in so far at least as the parishes from which they were disjoined and annexed to the 
 royalty were concerned. For example, the lands which formed the extended royalty con- 
 tinued to be subject to teinds in the parishes of St Cuthbert and South Leith respectively, 
 while the inhabitants of the houses built upon lands in these districts paid, so long as it 
 continued to be exacted, the old Annuity Tax. 
 
 The opposition to the Annuity Tax began in 1820, when the ministers ceased to be 
 stipendiaries of the Magistracy, and commenced to take the full benefit of the revenues, as 
 they thought, of the fund provided for their support. The difhculties which then arose 
 proceeded chiefly from a spirit of discontent, because of the invidious privilege of the 
 lawyers. One person, a respectable publisher, and belonging to the Established Church, was 
 apprehended and incarcerated as a debtor. The gentleman referred to was Mr William 
 Tait of Prior Bank, Melrose, the originator and publisher of "Tait's Magazine," and a 
 brother-in-law of the late Mr Adam Black. After remaining for a time in prison, the debt 
 was paid, but the liberation of the person so incarcerated, assumed the form of a triumphal 
 procession through the public streets, leading to his dwelling-house. Thousands of the 
 inhabitants were witnesses of the scene ; and, probably as his reward, he was returned to 
 the Town Council, as a member of the Corporation, under the election which took place 
 after the Keform Bill was passed. A period of quiet afterwards arose ; very much because 
 little was at that time done to enforce payment. Arrears accumulated, resistance to attempts 
 to sell the effects of the debtors assumed a more decided shape ; and when it was found 
 that the attempts of public sales of goods were hopeless, one of the Magistrates of the 
 day, the late Mr Joseph Hood Stott, along with another citizen who had conscientiously
 
 DIFFICULTY OF THE SITUATION — THE ANNUITY TAX. 223 
 
 resistance, and allowed their goods to be distrained, rather than of 
 their own motive to pay what they called " the Obnoxious Tax." 
 In such instances, there were always to be found a class of 
 
 refused to pay the tax, preferred to go into prison, where they both remained for tlie period 
 of three weeks. The result, however, was, that the law was vindicated, and the tax was 
 paid. One-third of the amount levied could not be collected. There was yearly from 
 £2000 to £3000 of arrears. Indeed, between 1844 and 1850 inclusive, the arrears were 
 £19,672, 13s. lid. A select committee of the House of Commons was appointed on the 
 6th of May 1851, who heard voluminous evidence on the subject, and two months thereafter 
 their report was ordered to be printed. The result of that report was that they recommended 
 that the stipends of the eighteen ministers be fixed at £600 per annum, viz. £10,800 ; and 
 that the two ministers of Canongate receive, in addition to the seat-rents, £250 each, viz. 
 £500= £11,300 as a total charge. This they proposed to provide for in the following 
 manner : — From the Leith Docks £2000, from seat-rents £2000, from interest on balance 
 of Trinity Church Fund, after setting apart £10,000 for the immediate erection of a new 
 church £250, from the revenues of the Deans of the Chapel Royal to be transferred to the 
 Queen's Remembrancer for Scotland and appropriated towards payment of the ministers' 
 stipend, the Corporation giving up to the Government the patronage of three of the city 
 churches, £2300 ; and to be paid out of the proceeds of a municipal tax, not exceeding 
 three per cent, on the police rental of the ancient and extended royalties of the City of 
 Edinburgh, and that part of the Canongate subject to the assessment. 
 
 The proposals of the Parliamentary Committee were not entertained. The late Baron 
 MoncreifF was instrumental in 1860 in carrying a Bill which made considerable modifications 
 on the incidence of the tax. Briefly stated, it was to this effect : — That several of the double 
 charges should be made single charges, as the incumbents died out ; that the members of 
 the College of Justice should be taxed equally with their fellow citizens ; that there should 
 be no separate rating for the substitute for the Annuity Tax, but that 3d. per £ extra should 
 be levied in respect of watching, lighting and cleansing within the boundary of the ancient 
 and extended royalty, with one penny per £ on the southern and outward districts ; also that 
 the seat-rents of the churches should be applied to redemption of the tax, fixing the calculated 
 amount at £2000 per annum. The Bill became law. While it modified greatly the rate levied 
 on those who had previously paid the tax, it caused a larger amount of opposition than ever, 
 chiefly on account of the new tax of one penny per £ on the southern districts of the "town. 
 Agitation still continued, and partial payments were resorted to, so that a new and modified 
 Bill was brought in by Lord Advocate Young, whereby the levying of any rate should be 
 restricted to a certain number of years. This was the merit of the Act of 1870, which 
 restored peace in the city, in so far as " Roups for Ministers' Stipends " were concerned.
 
 224 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 political agitators, who did not fail to get it duly published to their 
 fellow-citizens, when a sale by auction of this kind was announced, 
 that it was a " Roup for Ministers' Stipend." This, as a matter of 
 course, produced a large and infuriated mob, who hustled and 
 jostled the auctioneer, and those who were prepared to go in for 
 a bargain and purchase the eflfects. To so great an extent did this 
 prevail, that no auctioneer in the city could be got to undertake 
 any roup for failure to pay the Annuity Tax. On one occasion, a 
 member of the fraternity from Glasgow was so bold as to come 
 through to make the attempt. He tried to be courteous and civil, 
 without effect. He was simply jeered at, and sneered at. The first 
 sale, which was in Frederick Street, was a failure ; and the second, 
 which took place, during the afternoon, in Hanover Street, led to 
 something approaching to a riot, to which the military were called 
 out. Indeed so great was the increasing popular feeling against 
 the tax, that it was found absolutely requisite to find a remedy. 
 After a great deal of legislation, it got a satisfactory solution towards 
 the end of the year 1870, when an arrangement was made by which 
 the Public Loan Commissioners advanced a sum of £56,500 to the 
 Corporation for payment to the Representatives of the City Churches 
 (the Ecclesiastical Commissioners) in addition to sums from other sources 
 which had been previously given over for the support of the city clergy 
 — in all £90,000. The sum advanced by the Loan Commissioners was 
 repaid by an assessment levied over the City Parish and Canongate 
 Parish in terms of Young's Act of 1870, which extinguished the debt in 
 about nine years. During the time that this tax was a direct levy on 
 the ratepayers, it had the effect of materially lessening the influence of 
 the Church of Scotland in the city. It helped to cause the Church 
 of Christ to be spoken of as a reproach and a bye-word among a very 
 numerous and respectable body of the community. The immunity
 
 DIFFICULTY OF THE SITUATION — THE ANNUITY TAX. 225 
 
 which the Church of Scotland received from scathing public criticism, 
 at the time when this unfortunate question of public taxation was satis- 
 factorily settled, has told greatly in favour of Church Establishment. 
 At the present time, the Established Church in Edinburgh is by far 
 the most powerful and the strongest of all the religious denominations 
 in the city, and every year it is obtaining a greater and more abiding 
 hold on the sympathies and support of the community at large. 
 
 It may be said, that it formed no part of the duty of the writer, 
 in compiling a History of Trinity Hospital and Trinity College, to 
 diverge into so lengthened an account of the ecclesiastical struggles 
 of the period, and specially to refer to that, for so long a time, vexed 
 question of the Annuity Tax. Nevertheless, it would be very difficult 
 indeed, when called upon to write a history of the subsequent phases 
 of this question of Trinity College Church, and especially as to the 
 long-disputed question of a site, without bringing into view the ecclesi- 
 astical, political, and even social, surroundings of the period. 
 
 When the question of the site came to be discussed, it was clear 
 that, in the obviously-divided state of opinion, there was not much 
 prospect of harmony being arrived at. There were undoubtedly a 
 Church party and an Anti-church party in the Town Council. The 
 followers of the former were desirous of having the old church erected 
 on some site near to, or in, the New Town ; while the other party 
 desired, on the lines of the agreement with the North British Railway 
 Company, to have the edifice erected as near the site of the former 
 church as was possible, and particularly within the parish, if this 
 arrangement could by any means be effected. Five sites were at the 
 time suggested, viz. : — 
 
 1. A site at the corner of the Calton Hill, adjoining the stairs 
 which lead to the hill, and immediately to the east of what used to 
 be known as the Calton Convening Eooms. 
 2 V
 
 226 TRINITY COLLEGK AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 2. A site to the east of the Burns Monument, opposite to the 
 west-end of Regent Terrace, and adjoining to the New Calton 
 Burial Ground. 
 
 3. A site to the south-east of the East Princes Street Gardens, 
 immediately opposite to what is now the publishing office of the 
 Edinhxcrgh Evening News. 
 
 4. A site in Market Street near to the Bank of Scotland, where 
 the Imperial Hotel now stands. And 
 
 5. A site for many years well known as " Ireland's Woodyard," 
 at the west side of the foot of Leith Wynd, and within the parish of 
 the Trinity College Church. 
 
 The four sites last named obtained the favour and support of the 
 Church party, while the latter was strenuously upheld and supported 
 by the Nonconformist section of the Town Council. It also obtained 
 the approval of the Sheriff. It would seem to be a work of super- 
 erogation to relate the various meetings which took place regarding 
 both sides of the question, and the amount of bitter sectarian and 
 political hatred and schism to which it led. All these are now things 
 of the past, and had better be relegated to that region of oblivion, 
 which is possibly the best place to which they can be consigned. 
 
 The site adjoining the Burns Monument was departed from. The 
 same remark may be applied to the East Princes Street Garden one, 
 and to the Market Street site. The only two that held their place in 
 the competition, were Calton Hill site on the one hand and Ireland's 
 Woodyard on the other. 
 
 The Calton Hill stance was the favourite one with the Church 
 party in the Council as well as with the Antiquaries. But it would 
 appear from the evidence of the late Sir William Johnston, the Lord 
 Provost of the time, before a Parliamentary Committee as to the 
 Annuity Tax in 1851 (Report, page 16) that there were difficulties in the
 
 DIFFICULTY OF THK SITUATION — THE ANNUITY TAX. 227 
 
 way of having the building of the Church proceeded with. His words 
 were : — " The Presbytery applied to the Town Council some time ago 
 to proceed with the building of the Church. At that time there were 
 difficulties in the way. The Town Council purchased a site to which 
 they could not get access, from the heir or the person owning the land 
 not being of age ; and even yet we have not got the site which was 
 purchased ; it is not in our hands." Sir William, who was a Free 
 Churchman, expressed his opinion in favour of the site when it could 
 be utilised. He likewise said that he was in favour of the old building- 
 being restored stone by stone. He explained that in order to carry 
 out this idea all the stones had been marked and numbered. The 
 leading members of the Town Council in favour of this site were the 
 late Bailies Forrester and Cassels. The latter was at the time one of 
 the elders of the Trinity College Church. 
 
 But there was on the other hand a Nonconformist party in the 
 Town Council to be reckoned with. They took up the position that 
 all that was required was that a church suitable for the parish, and on 
 a site in or near the parish, was what was incumbent on the Town 
 Council. The site of Ireland's Woodyard, therefore, presented to their 
 minds the best solution of the question. 
 
 The late Bailie Andrew Fyfe may be quoted as a representative 
 of the Nonconformist class. Before the same Parliamentary Com- 
 mittee he had occasion to express his views, which (page 220) were as 
 follow : — " I have examined the transactions regarding the Trinity 
 College Church, and the result of that examination is to produce a 
 conviction on my mind that the Town Council is under no legal 
 obligation to rebuild or restore the old Church, or to expend the whole 
 fund which they received from the Railway Company in rebuilding 
 that Church. That is the result of my examination of the whole of 
 the documents which have passed between the Town Council and the
 
 228 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 Railwfiy Company. I think that the only obligation upon them is to 
 rebuild such a church as will afibrd adequate accommodation to the 
 parish." In answer to the Judge Advocate, and other Members of 
 Committee, Mr Fyfe stated that was the opinion he had formed not 
 only from the construction of the clause in the Act of Parliament, but 
 also from the terms of the agreement entered into subsequently by the 
 Town Council and the Railway Company. In reply to a question put 
 by the late Sir William Gibson Craig, Bart., viz., — " Supposing the 
 Town Council were to build a sufficient church for the accommodation 
 of the congregation for £6000, what power do you consider they have 
 with reference to the appropriation of the residue of the money ? " 
 Mr Fyfe's reply was to the following effect : — " I consider that they are 
 entitled to appropriate it, in such a way as they may consider most 
 advantageous for the interests of the community, seeing that out of 
 the ordinary revenue or common good, large sums of money for building 
 churches have been expended by the City. It has been found by the 
 final decision of the Court of Session, in an action regarding the seat- 
 rents of the city churches, that the Town Council are entitled to 
 reimbursement of the money so expended : The amount of that fund 
 will not be less than £50,000. Hence I hold it is quite clear that the 
 Town Council is not only legally, but equitably, entitled to apply such 
 portion of the price of Trinity College Church as they may consider 
 necessary to any purpose to which they might apply the ordinary 
 revenues of the city." Mr Fyfe would not have objected even if the 
 money had been applied in part redemption of the Annuity Tax. He 
 seemed altogether to neglect the interests of the beneficiaries in his 
 own views of religious and church policy. Happily, however, there 
 were those who, though they were Nonconformists, took a difi"erent 
 view of the question, — being deeply impressed with the thought 
 contained in the two lines —
 
 DIFFICULTY OF THE SITUATION — THE ANNUITY TAX. 229 
 
 " Blessed is he that wisely cloth 
 The poor man's case consider." 
 
 The matter which had been so long debated reached a climax in 
 the November of 1856. It was, during this year, that the city's 
 boundaries had been extended so as to be co-equal with the Parlia- 
 mentary area. The baronies of Canongate, Calton, Portsburgh, and 
 Broughton ceased to exist, and were to form part of the city. The 
 Southern Districts, which, up to that time had had a separate jurisdic- 
 tion, became also directly under the municipal control. The Com- 
 missioners of Police, who for many years had been elected by the 
 ratepayers to attend to the departments of watching, lighting, and 
 cleansing, were, by the same Bill, abolished — their functions in future 
 devolving upon the Municipal Corporation. The Town Council, which 
 previously consisted of thirty-one elected members, with the Dean 
 of Guild and the Convener of Trades, was now enlarged to forty-one, 
 being eight additional elected members, or thirty-nine in all, and the 
 other two members already referred to. The city was divided into 
 thirteen wards, with three representatives to each. Although the 
 boundaries of the city have since been greatly enlarged, no additional 
 members have been added to the Town Council, — a re-adjustment of 
 the various areas of the municipal districts having met the exigencies 
 of the occasion. 
 
 The re-construction of the Town Council in 1856 told sorely 
 against the Church party. Prior to the November election, they were 
 in a decided majority, and had carried a resolution during that very 
 year, to apply the whole of the Eailway money to the rebuilding of 
 the Trinity College Church. This resolution was not carried out, in 
 consequence of an action of declarator having been raised in the 
 Court of Session, to which special reference will fall to be made in the
 
 230 
 
 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 next chapter. In the meantime, however, it may be mentioned that, 
 in consequence of the changed aspect of the constitution of the Council, 
 it was proposed in 1858, and carried by a majority (the minority 
 of course dissenting and protesting) that only a sum of about £7000 
 should be devoted to the building, and that it should not be in 
 the same style and model of the previous edifice.
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 THE beneficiaries' LAW PLEA. 
 
 IHILE the question of a site for the Trinity College Church 
 was agitating the community, and occasioning great 
 diversity of opinion not only among Town Councillors and 
 dissenters on the one hand, and the Established Presbytery, church- 
 men, and antiquaries on the other, and when the Town Council by 
 a majority had come to the conclusion to devote the whole of the 
 money to the rebuilding of the Church on the site at the south-west 
 corner of the Calton Hill, an important step was being taken to cir- 
 cumvent all their views, and which, when propounded, filled many 
 minds with consternation. 
 
 This was an action of declarator raised, chiefly on the instigation 
 of the late Professor William Dick (Founder of the Royal Edinburgh 
 Veterinary College), the late Dr John Renton, and several other 
 Radical members of the Town Council. The late Mr William Wother- 
 spoon, W.S., acted as agent in the case, which was called on the 
 8th day of August 1856. It was an action in the Court of Session, at 
 the instance of eleven of the Hospital Beneficiaries. As most of them 
 
 231
 
 232 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 were somewhat advanced in life, it was thought desirable that as many 
 as could be found to act as " our lovites," should appear as pursuers. 
 Most of them did not survive to see their case practically successful. 
 Margaret Hume, residing in No. 40 Candlemaker Row, whose name 
 appeared first on the list, did not live to see the result. But Margaret 
 Clephane of 15 Buccleuch Street (the second name mentioned) seems to 
 have enjoyed a better lease of life, and was therefore cognisant of 
 the termination of the legal fight in which for years her name was 
 prominently brought before the Law Courts of the country. 
 
 The action was laid against (1) the Lord Provost, Magistrates 
 and Town Council, both as representing the community of the said 
 city, and as trustees, administrators, and governors for the time 
 being of the said Trinity Hospital of Edinburgh, and for themselves 
 and their successors in office ; (2) as also, against the Reverend 
 William Steven, doctor of divinity, then one of the ministers of 
 the City of Edinburgh, and claiming to be the minister of the parish 
 or district of the said City of Edinburgh, known by the name 
 of Trinity College Parish, for any interest competent to him or his 
 successors in office in the premises ; (3) as also, against the Reverend 
 the Moderator of the Presbytery of Edinburgh, and all the individual 
 members thereof, whose names are all duly recorded (as well as those 
 of the Town Council) — being all members, or claiming to be members, 
 of the said Presbytery of Edinburgh, or the major part thereof, and 
 for themselves and their successors in office, as representing the said 
 Presbytery for any right or interest they or the said Presbytery have 
 in the premises — defenders. 
 
 The contention was, that the church or building known by the 
 name of Trinity College Church, and which was situated near the foot 
 of Leith Wynd, Edinburgh, together with the building known as Trinity 
 Hospital, Edinburgh, situated adjoining to the said Church, with the
 
 THE BENEFICIARIES LAW PLEA. £33 
 
 ground pertaining thereto, belonged to and were vested in the Lord 
 Provost, Magistrates, and Town Council of the City of Edinburo-h, as 
 trustees and administrators, solely and exclusively for the ends, uses 
 and purposes mentioned and contained in a charter by King James VI. 
 of Scotland, with consent of the Lord Eegent and of the Lords of the 
 Secret Council, in favour of the said Provost, Magistrates, Council, and 
 Community of the said burgh, dated 12th November 1567, and which 
 charter was ratified, approved, and confirmed by various subsequent 
 charters, grants, and Acts of Parliament. It was contended that said 
 charter was still a valid and subsisting grant, and that the defenders, 
 the Lord Provost, Magistrates, and Town Council were bound therebj^ 
 and by the terms and conditions thereof, in all points, and were not 
 entitled to use and apply the property thereby conveyed, or the pro- 
 duce or prices thereof, in any other manner, or for any other uses and 
 purposes, than the uses and purposes contained in the said charter. It 
 was likewise contended, that the Magistrates and Town Council were 
 bound to apply the sum of £17,671, 9s. 6d. received by them from the 
 North British Eailway Company, as the price of, or compensation for, 
 the said Trinity College Church, and ground pertaining thereto, and 
 for other rights of property or servitude belonging to the said defenders, 
 as trustees and administrators of Trinity Hospital, or whatever sum 
 they received for the said church and property, and interest thereon, 
 solely and exclusively for the use and behoof of Trinity Hospital, and 
 " for the building and construction of the said Hospital, houses, yards, 
 and policies thereof, and for the maintenance of the poor and sick to 
 be placed therein, and for no other use whatever," all in terms of the 
 said charter of 12th November 1567. It was specially contended that 
 the Lord Provost, Magistrates, and Town Council were not entitled to 
 apply the sum received as the price or compensation for the church and 
 property taken by the North British Railway Company, or any part 
 2 G
 
 234 TRINITY COLLKGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 thereof, to any use and purpose which would not be for behoof of, or 
 beneficial to, or in furtherance of, the purposes of the said Trinity 
 Hospital ; and particularly that the defenders were not entitled to 
 apply the said sum, or any part thereof, in the purchase of ground or 
 site for, or in the erection of, a church to be used as one of the city 
 churches of Edinburgh, or for any other purpose not conducive to the 
 use and benefit of the said Trinity Hospital. Interdict was also asked 
 against the Town Council using or applying the sum received from the 
 Eailway Company as compensation for the church and site, or for any 
 other use or purpose than for the benefit and behoof of the foresaid 
 charity ; and interdict was further asked against the application of the 
 whole or any part of the money being devoted to the purchase of a site 
 for, or in the erection of, any church whatever, whether to be used as 
 one of the city churches of Edinburgh, or otherwise. 
 
 As the summons concluded for expenses against any, or all of 
 the defenders compearing, and as the Town Council undertook to de- 
 fend, no appearance seems to have been made by the Rev. Dr Steven, 
 the incumbent, or by the Presbytery of Edinburgh as such. 
 
 The Town Council on the other hand contended tliat Trinity 
 College Church formed no part of the property of the Hospital applic- 
 able for the support of the poor, but that, before it came into the hands 
 of the Magistrates and Council, it was used as a church in terms of the 
 original foundation for Divine Worship ; and that after it was acquired 
 by the Magistrates and Council, it was used as one of the city churches, 
 for the use of the Trinity College Parish, until it was taken down by 
 the North British Railway Company. No rent was ever paid to the 
 Hospital for or in respect of the church, nor was any of the expenses of 
 the repair of the church laid against the funds of the Hospital. The 
 entire expenses of maintaining and repairing the fabric were defrayed out 
 of the funds belonging to the common good of the city. The Council,
 
 THE beneficiaries' LAW PLEA. 235 
 
 however, admitted that no seat-rents were ever charged against the 
 oHicials or the inmates of the Hospital for their accommodation iu 
 the church.' They averred that the city had from time to time 
 been divided into districts or parishes, and different churches had 
 been appropriated for the use of the inhabitants of the localities in 
 which they were situated. They referred to the fact which has been 
 already brought out, that so early as 1584, about seventeen years 
 after the Town Council obtained the transfer from Sir Simon Prestoun 
 of his reversionary right to the Trinity College and pertinents, and 
 after the agreement with Robert Pont, apparently with the view of 
 securing a proper title to the church — the Magistrates and Town 
 Council resolved to divide the city into four divisions or parochins. 
 Again, this arrangement was ratified in 1625, in conformity with an 
 arrangement with King Charles I. In 1641, the Town Council divided 
 the city into six parishes, appointing churches and ministers thereto. 
 Various other divisions took place from time to time. The Town 
 Council maintained that, from the very beginning of their management 
 of the Trinity College Church and Hospital, the church had been 
 allocated to the Trinity College Parish, and been utilised as one of the 
 city churches ; that all the ministers of the same had been appointed 
 by them, in virtue of the right of patronage conferred upon them ; 
 that the ministers of the said church have been recognised and dealt 
 with by the Presbytery and by the other Church Courts, by Parlia- 
 mentary enactments, by the Courts of Law and otherwise, as city 
 ministers, and as having right with the other city ministers to the 
 status and funds provided for the city clergy ; that the whole ecclesi- 
 astical arrangements in the city have invariably been made, sanctioned 
 by the Presbytery, acknowledged by the Courts of Law and other 
 judicatories, civil and ecclesiastical, and acquiesced in by every body 
 on the footing of Trinity College being one of the city churches ;
 
 236 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 that the seat-rents had been applied, and the expenses connected 
 therewith had been provided for in accordance therewith. The Town 
 Council further referred to the fact that in 1810, an action was 
 instituted by the then ministers of Edinburgh, including the minister 
 of the Trinity College Church, against the Magistrates and Town 
 Council, in which, founding on the charter of 1566 by Queen Mary, 
 and subsequent charters already adverted to, they claimed right to the 
 church lands and revenues thereby conveyed, on the ground that these 
 were vested in the Magistrates and Council, to be applied to the 
 suj)port of the ministers of the city, and other ecclesiastical purposes. 
 The Town Council, however, maintained in defence, that these were des- 
 tined to various other purposes besides payment of the ministers' sti- 
 pends. After a great deal of procedure, the Magistrates and Council were 
 assoilzied from this part of the conclusions of the action of 1810, and 
 ever since the Trinity College Church has been dealt with, as previously, 
 as one of the city churches. They explained that during all the time 
 they had charge of the charity, the funds of Trinity Hospital had been 
 received and administered by a separate treasurer. The Town goes on 
 further to explain that, according to the Act of Parliament, the Directors 
 of the Railway Company were themselves taken bound to erect a new 
 church, after the style and model of the one taken down, on a site 
 as near as possible to the old one ; but that there was a stipulation that 
 that agi'eement might be set aside by a payment of money ; that as the 
 money had been accepted by the Town Council, the latter were bound 
 under their contract with the former, and in obedience to the Act of 
 Parliament, to erect a suitable building on the best site they could 
 obtain to supply the place of the former church. They further denied 
 the right of the pursuers, being only beneficiaries or pensioners, enjoying 
 the benefits of Trinity Hospital, to appear against their governors — the 
 Magistrates and Town Council of the city.
 
 THE BENEFICIARIES* LAW PLEA. 237 
 
 The late Mr Adam Gifford, Advocate (afterwards Lord Giflford), 
 appeared for the pursuers or beneficiaries, and Mr George Young, Advo- 
 cate (now Lord Young), appeared for the Town Council as Governors 
 of the Hospital, who both addressed the Court at great length on the 
 subject. The case was heard before the late Lord Ardmillan (James 
 Craufurd) as one of the Lords Ordinary in the Outer House. The 
 following was his Lordship's decision on the various points raised: — 
 
 " Edinburgh, 29th January 1859. — The Lord Ordinary having heard 
 counsel for the parties, and made avizandum, and considered the closed 
 record, productions, and whole process — Finds that the pursuers, 
 Margaret Hume and others, have sufficient title to institute and pursue 
 this action, and accordingly repels the first plea in law stated for the 
 defenders : Finds on the merits that, having regard to the charters and 
 titles and documents in process, to the admitted fact of the long 
 unbroken and unquestioned possession and use of the Trinity College 
 Church, and to the provisions of the Act of Parliament, 9 and 10 Vict, 
 cap. 74, the pursuers are not entitled to decree as concluded for against 
 the defenders, the Lord Provost and Magistrates of Edinburgh, to the 
 effect that the said defenders are bound to apply the whole sum 
 received by them from the North British Railway Company, under the 
 provisions of the said Act, ' solely and exclusively for the use and 
 behoof of the Trinity Hospital, and for the building and construction 
 of said hospital, houses, etc., and for the maintenance of the poor and 
 sick to be placed therein, and for no other use whatever,' and that the 
 pursuers are not entitled to decree as concluded for, to the effect that 
 the defenders are not entitled ' to apply the said sum or any part 
 thereof, in the purchase of ground or site for, or in the erection of, a 
 church to be used as one of the city churches of Edinburgh,' and that 
 the pursuers are not entitled to interdict as craved : Finds that the 
 first and second conclusions for declarator are only introductory and
 
 238 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 ancillary to the leading conclusions to which the above findings apply. 
 Therefore assoilzies the defenders from the conclusions of the action, 
 and decerns : Finds the pursuers liable to the defenders in expenses ; 
 allows an account thereof to be given in, and remits the same, when 
 lodged, to the auditor to tax and report." 
 
 The pursuers, however, did not allow the matter to rest. They 
 reclaimed against the above judgment to the Lords of the First 
 Division. The reclaiming petition was sent to the debate roll on the 
 8th day of February 1859. 
 
 This was not, however, the only difficulty in which the Town 
 Council was placed. By the election of 1856, and the reconstruction 
 and enlargement of the Council, a new generation of civic rulers had 
 arisen who refused to carry out the decision that had been arrived at 
 a few months previously, and declared that £7000 was quite sufficient 
 to expend on the building of a new church. This did not please Bailie 
 Forrester and others, who had previously led the Corporation in the 
 matter. The result was that an action of declarator was raised in 
 the Court of Session on the 22d February 1858, at the instance of 
 William Forrester, one of the bailies, Thomas Murray and others, Town 
 Councillors, being a minority of the Magistrates and Town Council, 
 with consent and concurrence of Robert Chambers, publisher, and 
 others, residing in and citizens of Edinburgh, against the Lord Provost, 
 Magistrates, and Town Council of the City of Edinburgh, concluding as 
 follows : — Therefore it ought and should be found and declared, that 
 the sum of £17,671, 9s. 6d. received by the defenders or their prede- 
 cessors, as on the 15th day of May 1848, from the North British 
 Railway Company, under and by virtue of the Act 9 and 10 Vict, 
 cap. 74, with the interest which has accrued, or may hereafter accrue 
 thereon, is held by them in trust for the erection of a new church, 
 within the parish of Trinity College, or as near thereto as conveniently
 
 THE BENEFICIARIES LAW PLEA. 239 
 
 may be, with equal convenience of access and accommodation to that 
 formerly, and at the date of the said Act, existed in the said parish, 
 and of the same style and model : And the said defenders ought and 
 should be decerned and ordained, by decree foresaid, to execute the 
 purposes of said trust, and forthwith to build, or cause to be built, 
 within the said parish of Trinity College, or as near thereto as con- 
 veniently may be, a new church, with equal convenience of access and 
 accommodation, and of the same style and model as the church formerly 
 existing in said parish, at the date of said Act, all agreeably to a plan, 
 to be approved of and authorised by our said Lords in the course of the 
 process to follow hereon : And the said defenders ought and should be 
 interdicted, prohibited, and discharged, by decree of the said Lords, 
 from employing the funds held by them in trust, as aforesaid, in the 
 erection of any other church than a church of the construction, accom- 
 modation, style, and model before described, or otherwise than as 
 before set forth. 
 
 In their condescendence, the pursuers stated that Trinity College 
 Church had, since 1587, been used and dealt with in every respect 
 by the defenders, their predecessors, and all parties, as one of the 
 parish churches of Edinburgh. It was a very ancient building, the 
 most perfect specimen of the particular order of architecture to 
 which it belonged, an object of interest to historians, architects, anti- 
 quarians, and the citizens. In the Bill which the Railway Company 
 introduced into Parliament, they asked power to acquire the said 
 church on the ordinary footing, leaving the compensation to be regu- 
 lated by the Lands Clauses Consolidation Act. The proposed destruc- 
 tion of the church by the Railway Company excited great discontent 
 among the citizens, and accordingly the Bill was opposed on behalf 
 of the citizens. Protracted discussions took place before the Committee 
 of the House of Commons appointed to consider the Bill. They
 
 240 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 inserted in the Bill a clause in the following terms : — (For this clause, 
 vide page 166). After the above clause was inserted, the Bill passed 
 both Houses of Parliament, and received the royal assent on 26th 
 June 1846, and it now forms the Act 9 and 10 Vict. cap. 74, and 
 the said clause forms section 8 of this Act. 
 
 In carrying out this clause, the Railway Company and the 
 Magistrates and Town Council differed both upon the site and the 
 plans for the new church ; whereupon, in terms of the Statute, they 
 applied to the Sheriff, before whom a variety of procedure took place. 
 Ultimately, on 11th September 1847, the Sheriff approved of a 
 certain site, provided that the Railway Company could give a clear 
 title to it, and, on 26th February 1848, the Sheriff aproved of a report 
 by Mr David Rhind, architect, and relative plans, as the plans for 
 the New Trinity College Church. Instead of the Railway Company 
 building the church, in conformity with the plan thus approved of, 
 an agreement, dated 4th May 1848, was entered into between the 
 Lord Provost and Magistrates, or by the then Lord Provost for their 
 behoof, on the first part, and the said Railway Company on the second 
 part, wherein the foresaid 8th clause was recited, and it was set forth 
 that, — " Whereas certain proceedings took place before the Sheriff 
 of Edinburgh, in reference to the sites and plans for the new church, 
 and latterly a site on ground acquired by the second parties, with 
 relative plans proposed by them, were approved of by the Sheriff, 
 under a reference to him, in terms of the provisions of the said Act ; 
 and whereas the ground so fixed on for a site was subject to a 
 restriction against building, in favour of the said first parties as 
 superiors thereof, and having been considered by them to be unsuitable 
 for the said church, they objected thereto, and declined to discharge 
 the said servitude or restriction ; but the said second parties maintain 
 that the said restriction is not now in force;" and they "agreed that
 
 THE beneficiaries' LAW PLEA. 241 
 
 the second parties did thereby offer, and the said first parties did 
 thereby accept of the sum of money, which shall be fixed by David 
 Rhind, Esq., architect, from estimates to be procured by himself, without 
 challenge or interference by either party, as the actual cost of erecting 
 and completing for occupation, a church on the site, and in exact 
 accordance with the plans approved of by the Sheriff as aforesaid, 
 including architects' fees, clerks of works' allowance, and all other 
 necessary charges, and that as compensation for the said Church, and 
 in lieu of the obligation on the said second parties under the said Act 
 of Parliament in reference to the said Church." The sum thus to be 
 fixed was to be payable at the term of Whitsunday 1849, with interest 
 at the rate of five per cent, from the term of Whitsunday 1848, and 
 the second parties were also to make immediate payment to the said 
 first parties of the further sum of £1300 ; that is to say, of the sum 
 of £800 as the price of the site of the then Trinity Church, and of 
 the sum of £500 for a discharge of the restriction against building 
 on the ground proposed for the site of the new church, as therein 
 mentioned. Under, and in accordance with the agreement then made, 
 Mr Rhind ascertained and fixed the sum to be paid by the Railway 
 Company, in addition to the £1300 before mentioned, at £16,371, 
 9s. 6d., composed of the particulars specified in his report, dated 15th 
 July 1848. The £16,371, 9s. 6d. thus fixed, added to the £1300, 
 made in all £17,671, 9s. 6d. The sum of £16,371, 9s. 6d. was the 
 exact amount of the actual cost, as calculated by Mr Rhind, which would 
 have been incurred by the construction of the Church, according to the 
 plans approved of by the Sheriff. These sums were therefore paid, in 
 accordance with this agreement. Very soon after the 4th May 1848, 
 the old church was taken down, and the site has ever since been 
 occupied by the Railway Company. The Lord Provost, Magistrates, 
 and Town Council did not execute the plans so approved of; and, 
 2 H
 
 242 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 after a delay of many years, have now resolved (the pursuers and 
 others dissenting and protesting) to expend only £7000 on the erection 
 of a church. They have called for plans of a new church, and have 
 refused to require that they shall be of the same style and model 
 as the church formerly existing, — requiring merely that it shall be a 
 suitable church for the parish. The church which the defenders 
 propose to erect, is not a church of the style and model of the 
 old Trinity College Church. No church capable of meeting the 
 statutory requirements can be constructed for the sum which the 
 defenders propose to apply to the purpose. Hence the present 
 action. 
 
 The defenders' (the Lord Provost, Magistrates, and Town Council) 
 statement was to the following effect: — The defenders narrated (1) 
 the particulars connected with the foundation by Mary of Gueldres 
 of the College or Collegiate Church, with its provost, prebendaries, 
 choiristers, etc., as these are fully detailed in Chapter I. of this 
 volume. (2) They narrated the duties of the various officials and the 
 means by which they were supported, or by which their livings were 
 provided. And (3) they recapitulated the allowance which was 
 o-iven to the beidmen, apart from the revenues of those beneficiaries 
 which have been already mentioned. 
 
 They then declare (6) that after the Reformation, the Magistrates 
 and Town Council of the city passed an Act of Council (on April 
 23, 1561), setting forth that "it is thocht gude that the rentis, 
 annuellis, and utheris emolumentis, quilkis of before was payit furth 
 of landis and tenementis within yis burt, to papestis, priests, freries, 
 monks, nonnis and utheris of yat wicket sort, for maintenying of 
 idolatrie and vain superstitioune, seeing it has plesit ye Almichtie to 
 oppin ye eis of all peiple, and give yame ye knowlege of sic vain 
 abusis, — Therefore, yat ye saidis rentis and emolumentis be applyit
 
 THE BENEFICIARIES LAW PLEA. 243 
 
 to mair profitable and gocllie uses, sic as for susteriying of the true 
 ministereis of Goddis word, and biging of hospitals for the pure, and 
 colleges for leirnying and upbringing of ye zouth, and sic uther 
 godlie wurkis." (7) On August 27, 1561, they presented a supplica- 
 tion to Queen Mary, praying for a grant of the situation where the 
 Blackfriars had been, with their yards that they might build an 
 hospital, and of the Kirk-of-Ficld for a school, offering to pay a 
 reasonable price therefor, and of certain rents of chaplainrics, then 
 in Her Majesty's hands, for sustaining of the Hospital and School. 
 Queen Mary in 1562 (March 16) granted a charter in favour of 
 the Magistrates and Town Council of the piece of ground so asked, 
 for the construction and plantation of an hospital for support of 
 the poor. 
 
 (8) On January 3, 1566, King James gave a letter to the Council 
 setting forth the terms of the above charter, and authorised the 
 Magistrates and Town Council to use and dispose of the subjects so 
 conveyed to them at their discretion, but so that the annual profit 
 and return should be applied for the sustenance of the poor in 
 the hospital. 
 
 (9) About two months thereafter (March 13, 1566), Queen Mary 
 made a grant in favour of the Corporation of a number of ecclesiastical 
 subjects and revenues which are specified (10 and 11). Sir Simon Pres- 
 ton's conveyance to the Council, and charter of King James's approval, 
 and transference of the same, quoted at large (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 
 and 18). Allusion is made to the Town Council's control of the 
 Church and Hospital, to Font's resignation of ecclesiastical subjects 
 and revenues, to further grants from the Crown for the foundation 
 of the Edinburgh or Town's College, the School, etc., down to the 
 time when King James attained majority. (19) The Act passed by 
 the Scottish Parliament, ratifying all these arrangements is next
 
 244 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 referred to. (20) The Golden Charter is then quoted from. (21) 
 King Charles's Charter is introduced. (22) The division of the town 
 into four parochines or quarters, and the subsequent division into six 
 is next explained. (23) The Magistrates and Council deny that the 
 College Church was a parish church in the ordinary sense, although 
 they had used it as such. (24) The Hospital derived no revenue 
 from the Church. The Council made use of it as a convenient 
 practical arrangement, and the fabric was maintained by grants from 
 the common good fund of the burgh. (27) Reference is made to 
 the other action pending in the case {Clc2)hane, etc.), in which it was 
 contended that the money belonged to the charity, and there was 
 no need to build the Church at all. The Magistrates and Council 
 then add — After much discussion and deliberation, the defenders 
 came to be of opinion that the most reasonable, expedient, and proper 
 course, with reference to the legitimate interests of all parties, was 
 to erect a suitable church for the use of the district or parish of 
 Trinity College, and to apply so much of the money in question 
 as might be requisite for that purpose. They resolved, accordingly, 
 by a majority. The resolution was opposed by the pursuers, who 
 constituted the minority. The defenders were advised that if a 
 balance should remain after providing for a suitable church, that 
 it must be used in their discretion with reference to the purposes 
 of the Royal Charters, to which reference has been made. The 
 Magistrates and Council have not as yet adopted any resolution in 
 regard to the disposal of any such balance. (29) The defenders are 
 of opinion that the true interests of the district and parish, and of 
 the congregation attached to it, will be better consulted, and pro- 
 vided for, by the erection of a suitable church, constructed with 
 reference to the convenience of a Presbyterian congregation, and 
 the Presbyterian form of worship, than by the reconstruction of the
 
 THE beneficiaries' LAW PLEA. 245 
 
 old church, which, as already stated, was not adapted to the purpose 
 for which it was applied. 
 
 The pursuers {Forrester and Others) pleaded : That under a just 
 construction of the Act of Parliament 9 and 10 Vict. cap. 74, in 
 reference to the facts detailed in the record, the sum received by the 
 defenders from the Railway Company does not belong absolutely to 
 the Magistrates and Council, but is held by them in trust for the 
 erection of a church, within the parish of Trinity College, or as near 
 thereto as conveniently may be, with equal convenience of access and 
 accommodation, and of the same style and model as the church which 
 formerly existed at and previous to the date of the said Act. 
 
 The defenders {Magistrates and Town Council) pleaded : That 
 the pursuers' averments were insufficient in law to support the action. 
 That it was quite lawful for the Corporation to apply the money in 
 question, in conformity with the resolution of the majority, to which 
 resolution no legal objection existed. That the provisions of the 
 Act 9 and 10 Vict. cap. 74 did not import any legal obligation on the 
 defenders to apply the money in question in the manner specified in 
 the conclusions of the summons. Neither were they so bound by virtue 
 of the Act or agreement with the Railway Company referred to in the 
 summons, or otherwise. 
 
 There were thus two diiferent actions to be disposed of ; and it 
 was deemed advisable that they should be heard together. 
 
 The two cases came before the Court of Session, during the month 
 of June 1860, The judgment of the Court was pronounced on the 
 26th day of the month. On the Bench were the Lord President 
 (Inglis), Lord Ivory, Lord Curriehill, and Lord Deas. Lord Ivory 
 differed from his brethren in the view their Lordships took of the 
 position of affairs. The majority of the Bench supported their decision, 
 at great length ; but in view of after events, it does not seem to the
 
 246 TRINITY COLLEGK AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 writer requisite to have these embodied in tins work, other than the 
 reasons given by the Lord President Inglis. 
 
 The Lord President said — This action at the instance of certain members of the 
 Town Council against certain other members of the Town Council, concludes to have 
 it found and declared "that the sum of .£17,G71, 9s. 6d. received by the defenders or 
 their predecessors, on 15th May 1848, from the North British Railway Company, 
 under and by virtue of the Act 9 and 10 Victoria, cap. 74, with the interest which 
 has accrued, or hereafter may accrue thereon, is held by them in trust for the erection 
 of a new church within the parish of Trinity College, or as near thereto as con- 
 veniently may be, with equal convenience of access and accommodation to that 
 formerly, and at the date of the said Act, existing in said parish, and of the same 
 style and model ; " and that they should be ordained " to execute the purposes of 
 the trust, and forthwith to build, or cause to be built, within the said parish of 
 Trinity College, or as near thereto as conveniently may be, a new church, with equal 
 convenience of access and accommodation, and of the same style and model as the 
 Church formerly existing in said parish at the date of said Act ; " and that they 
 ought to be interdicted from employing the funds held by them in trust, "in the 
 erection of any other church than a church of the construction, accommodation, style, 
 and model before described." The pursuers rest their contention in support of 
 these conclusions upon the Act of Parliament 9 and 10 Victoria, cap. 74, and upon 
 the circumstances under which that provision of the Act was passed by the Legislature. 
 It appears that this Trinity College Church was part of subjects that had been held 
 by the Magistrates for a great length of time, and held by them under a charter — 
 I need not go further back than the charter of 1567 — which gave right to Trinity 
 College Church, and to certain subjects in the neighbourhood of it. That Church 
 appears to have been used as a church, so far as it was used at all, from that time 
 downwards until 1846, when this Act of Parliament was passed. It would appear 
 that the Railway Company require to get possession of the subjects, belonging to 
 Trinity Hospital, or to the Magistrates — whoever might be the proprietors of 
 them — that were in that locality, and the Legislature appears to have dealt with 
 the Church which stood there differently from the other subjects that were there. 
 The provision in the Act is — " That it shall not be lawful for the said North British 
 Railway Company to make any alterations on, or to use for the purposes of said 
 railway, the additional land in the parishes of Trinity College, St Andrew, and 
 Canongate, which by this Act they are authorised to purchase for a terminus in
 
 THE BENEFICIARIE5?' LAW PLEA. 247 
 
 Edinburgh, until they shall have agreed with the Lord Provost, Magistrates, and 
 Town Council of the said city on a plan for the removal and rebuilding, at the 
 expense of the company, on another site, either within the said parish of Trinity 
 College, or as near thereto as conveniently may be, of a new church, with equal 
 convenience of access and accommodation to that already existing in the said parish • 
 and that in such agreement provision shall be made for the adoption of the 
 same style and model with the existing church." That is the leading provision. 
 I have not the Act of Parliament before me, but I believe it is not disputed that 
 this property was scheduled in the Act, and the Magistrates were represented 
 as the proprietors. I do not know whether that remark is applicable to other por- 
 tions of the property disposed of — whether the whole of the property connected with 
 Trinity Hospital was scheduled in the same way. That has not been explained to us. 
 But the Magistrates were inserted as the proprietors of that portion of the property 
 now in question. The clause which I have read is the leading part of the pro- 
 vision, but there is a proviso as to any differences that may arise regarding the plan 
 or site; these are to be subject to the arbitration of the Sheriff; and there is a 
 declaration "that it shall be competent to the Railway Company to offer, and the 
 said Magistrates and Town Council are hereby authorised to accept of a sum of money 
 as compensation for the said Church, and in lieu of the foregoing obligation." I 
 understand the fact to be, that the sum paid by the Railway Company to the 
 
 Magistrates under that provision of the Statute, was made up of three elements ; one 
 
 the larger one — was the sum which was estimated as the cost of replacing the 
 Church on a site selected, or to be selected ; another was the value of the site of the 
 old Church ; and a third was the value of a certain servitude against building, that 
 was possessed over certain ground in that locality. It did not comprehend the value 
 of other lands or property, nor the site of the Church. The question now arises as 
 to the application of the fund which has been so received by the Magistrates. They 
 appear to have at one time contemplated the execution of the purpose which the 
 present pursuers contend was the proper purpose, viz., the erection of a church similar 
 to the former one; but they afterwards came to entertain a different opinion as to 
 their duties and rights, and their present statement to us is, that they consider that 
 they ought not to go to the expense of erecting a fabric of such a costly character as 
 would be a church in the style and model of that which existed. They do not tell us 
 what they propose to do with the balance. They state that they have a discretionary 
 power as to the management of this fund. I do not know exactly upon what principle. 
 It was not very clearly explained whether they claim the same discretionary power in
 
 248 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 regard to it, which they have in regard to all funds belonging to the Corporation, or 
 whether it is a discretion within certain limits which the Act of Parliament has imposed 
 upon them, or whether it is a discretion within certain limits imposed upon them by 
 the titles under which they formerly held the properly. That has not been made 
 clear ; but I do not find that there is, on the part of the Magistrates, any statement 
 or admission of unwillingness to erect a church. On the contrary, I understand their 
 contention to be that they are entitled to erect a church, and have some intention of 
 doing so ; but that they think it would be a waste of the money, to employ so much of 
 it in the erection of a fabric of the style and model of the Church formerly existing, 
 and that it would be a sounder exercise of discretion, and a more proper execution of 
 the duties devolved upou them, that they should apply part of that sum to other objects 
 connected either with the Hospital, or with educational purposes generally, or other- 
 wise. It appears to me that, in this action, there is an indication of the same views 
 and the same contention as in the other action which we<ire going to deal with, at the 
 instance of the persons interested in the Hospital ; and, though that is not the immediate 
 case I am speaking to, yet I may mention in regard to the matter there involved, that 
 I am not disposed, in anything that I may say in this case, or in anything that I may 
 say in that other case, to interfere in any degree, or to concur in any judgment that in 
 my opinion will interfere in any degree, with the general principle, that when money is 
 devoted to a particular purpose, and especially to a charitable purpose, and where the 
 title upon which that is given, and the objects for which it is destined, are expressed 
 unambiguously, it is incompetent for the parties who are administrators of the trust to 
 divert it to other purposes. There are cases which I think go very decidedly to that 
 effect, and some of them of comparatively recent occurrence. There is the case of Heriot's 
 Hospital, there is the case of Dundee, and there is perhaps as clear an exposition as 
 any in the case of the Ramsay bursaries at St Andrews. But, while that is my opinion, 
 it does not exclude this consideration which may come into some of those questions, viz., 
 whether when the title under which the property is held, or the deed which is appealed 
 to as constituting the trust to the parties holding it is not unambiguous, whether in 
 that case what has all along been done in reference to the execution of the trust may 
 not be taken as construing and establishing the true character and nature of the trust, 
 and the proper mode of administerLng it. I observe, in reference to this particular pro- 
 perty, that it was conveyed to the Magistrates in the form of a church. There was 
 the Trinity Collegiate Church, there were certain gardens connected with it, and there 
 was the Hospital and certain grounds connected with it ; the property being divided 
 as the Magistrates state, and as all the parties state, into these separate portions.
 
 THE beneficiaries' LAW PLEA. 249 
 
 The portion which we are now dealing with is the Church — the Church, and the 
 ground merely upon which the Church stood, and not any of the other subjects. Now, 
 that particular subject so conveyed as a church, remained always as a church, while 
 in the possession of the Magistrates. It may be that the Trinity Hospital had certain 
 interests in that Church. I think it so appears from the statement, which I do not 
 understand to be contradicted, that the beneficiaries of the Hospital derived certain 
 benefits from that Church, by accommodation within the Church without payment. I 
 do not understand that the beneficiaries of the Hospital were ever charged for that 
 accommodation. They obtained seats within that Church, administration of service 
 within that Church, and of course these benefits could not be obtained for them with- 
 out certain expenses connected with obtaining them. I do not desire at present to go into 
 any question as to how any surplus, after providing for them these benefits — any surplus 
 that may have been derived from the seat-rents — should have been applied, or how they 
 may have applied ; and, in the case that is now before us, I do not see that the conclusions 
 of the action contain anything as to the uses that are to be made of the new Church, or 
 of the interests that arc to exist in that church after it is erected. It is simply an action 
 to obtain the erection of a church, within the locality described by the Act of Parliament, 
 and of the style and model prescribed by the Act of Parliament. The question, then, 
 arises — whether that demand is well founded, or whether the defence that is main- 
 tained against it is well founded ? It appears to me that the demand is well founded. 
 I think, in the first place, that it is impossible to read the clause in the Act of Parlia- 
 ment, without seeing that this property was dealt with in a manner totally different 
 from the ordinary rights and interests that parties promoting public works have under 
 the Lands Clauses Act. It is made matter of legislative stipulation, not that the 
 property shall be valued, but that a certain Church shall be erected in lieu of the 
 old Church. It is not the mere passing of a Bill allowing the matter to proceed in the 
 ordinary way, allowing the parties to prove the value of the masonry as it stands, 
 or of the interest which they derive, or could have derived from letting the seats, they 
 upholding the fabric and providing the preacher, or for letting the entire building as 
 a church for rent. It is not that. It is the introduction of an anxious stipulation that 
 something shall be done, which is now said to be unnecessary, and to be a mere waste of 
 money on costly ornament ; but still it is a dealing with that subject out of the ordinary 
 way, because there is a provision that the Railway Company are not to be entitled 
 to take the ground, unless or until they provide a church within that locality which is 
 specified, and of the same style and model with the existing Church. There is a declara- 
 tion that it shall be competent to the Railway Company to ofier, and to the Town 
 2 I
 
 250 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 Council to accept of, a sum of money, as compensation for the Church, and in lieu of the 
 foregoing obligation. It is not that in lieu of the obligation they are to receive a sum as 
 compensation for the loss of the Church ; but that they are to receive a sum as compensa- 
 tion for the Church, and as the price of relieving the Railway Company from the obligation 
 to take upon themselves the duty of erecting the Church of the same costly style and 
 model. There is the sum to be paid for the cost of erecting after that particular style 
 and model, apart from or in addition to the intrinsic value of the property, or the price 
 which could be obtained for it. I attach great importance to that. I think it shows 
 that the sum we are now dealing with, is a .sum that comes not merely in lieu of what 
 might have been the assessed value of the property if the matter had been proceeded 
 with in the ordinary course of going to a jury, and assessing the value according to the 
 Lands Clauses Act, but it is a sum that comes in lieu of an obligation to do another 
 tiling which is quite different — a thing implying cost for ornament and otherwise. It 
 was foreseen that it might be inconvenient for the Railway Company to delay their 
 occupation of the ground till they did that thing themselves ; and it was provided that 
 they might implement their obligation, and be allowed access to the ground by handing 
 over to the Magistrates the requisite sum for doing the thing which they themselves 
 were to have done. I cannot read this clause in any other sense, than that the Magis- 
 trates hold this money as having come in lieu of that obligation which was on the 
 Railway Company, and as a sum to be applied to the fulfilment of that obligation, as 
 far as necessary for the accomplishment of that which the Legislature required to be 
 done. I therefore think that the true meaning of this clause is, that that money is to 
 be so applied, in so far as it is necessary for the accomplishment of that object. It may 
 be — and I do not wish to pronounce anything upon that just now — it may be that 
 the object that is required by the Legislature to be accomplished — the erection of a 
 church of the same style and model with the Church then existing — may be 
 attained without the expenditure of all this money, and the interest that is now 
 accumulating. That is a possible case. I do not know how that may be ; and, if the 
 Church shall be erected, and a surplus shall exist, I do not wish at present to 
 pronounce anything as to how that surplus is to be disposed of. All the demand now 
 made is, that the Church shall be erected, and that the money shall be so expended, 
 as far as is necessary for that object. If additional ornament is demanded beyond what 
 was upon the ancient Church, it may be a question whether the surplus ought to be appro- 
 priated to that, or would be more properly appropriated to something else. It may remain 
 a question after this Church is erected, what are to be the interests in any revenues that 
 are to be derived from HI I do not desire to decide that question now. It is not
 
 THE BENEFICIARIES LAW PLEA. 251 
 
 raised. All the leugth I propose to go, is to decide that the Magistrates are bound to 
 erect that Church, ante omnia, to erect the Church. That is what is asked. It may 
 be that, after it is erected, it may be found that the Trinity Hospital have material 
 interests, such as to have seats in it, or other interests. That is possible. But the 
 first question is, is that Church to be erected 1 I think the Act of Parliament cannot 
 be avoided in that particular, and I think that the whole history of the Church, and 
 the use that has been made of it from the beginning as a church, shows very clearly 
 that it was a fitting shape in which to retain that part of the property. I do not at 
 present go into questions that may be raised hereafter. I reserve my opinion on the 
 question that may be raised as to other interests that are said to exist in that Church 
 apart from those of the Hospital, as to other uses to which it has been applied, and 
 may be applied. The conclusion at which I arrive, then, is, that the substance of the 
 Lord Ordinary's interlocutor in this first case is right as to the erection of the Church. 
 I also think that, before ordering the parties to erect the Church, some steps ought to 
 be taken, such as the Lord Ordinary points at, in regard to the obtaining of plans and 
 estimates, and the adjustment of a site. I am, however, disposed to think that the 
 phraseology of the Lord Ordinary's interlocutor ought to be a little altered, and that 
 the sum be corrected, and should not comprehend the estimated price of the servitude. 
 I would, therefore, recall the interlocutor, and pronounce another substantially the same. 
 Then, in regard to the other case at the instance of Reid and Others, I have 
 already stated generally my view as to trusts of this kind. I think that where 
 there is no ambiguity, the parties in possession cannot be heard to plead anything 
 against the plain and obvious and unquestionable meaning of the trust. On the other 
 hand, where there is room for construction, I think that, in the matter of construction, 
 great light might be derived from usage. But the view I take of this case does not 
 require me to deal with that point. I think that this action has for its object and 
 purpose substantially, as exhibited in its conclusions, taking them as a whole, to have 
 the Magistrates prevented from building any church at all. The first conclusions 
 as to declaration of the trust are of a general character, and introductory, I 
 think, to what follows. Then there is a conclusion that it " should be found 
 and declared, by decree foresaid, that the defenders, the said Lord Provost, 
 Magistrates, and Town Council of Edinburgh, are bound to apply the sum of 
 £17,671, 9s. 6d. received by them from the North British Railway Company, as the 
 price of, or compensation for, the said Trinity College Church and ground pertaining 
 thereto, and for other rights of property or servitude belonging to the said defenders 
 as trustees and administrators of Trinity Hospital, or whatever sum they received
 
 252 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 for the said Church and property, and interest thereon, solely and exclusively for 
 the use and behoof of Trinity Hospital," and " for the building and construction of 
 the said Hospital, houses, yards, and policies thereof, and for the maintenance of the 
 poor and sick to be placed therein, and for no other use whatever." That is the 
 first operative conclusion of the summons. Now, I would read that conclusion, 
 standing by itself, as meaning that the whole of the money is to be applied for the 
 building and construction of said Hospital, houses, yards, and policies thereof, and 
 for the maintenance of the poor and sick to be placed therein, which would necessarily 
 exclude the rebuilding of the Church. That which I regard as the natural reading 
 of this primary conclusion is, I think, made clear by the final conclusion, which 
 seeks to prohibit the defenders from doing certain things, — "and, in particular, 
 they should be prohibited and interdicted from applying the whole or any part of 
 the said sum Ln the purchase of a site for, or in the erection of, any church whatever, 
 whether to be used as one of the city churches of Edinburgh, or otherwise." The 
 argument submitted to us on the part of the pursuers was to the same effect, and 
 directed to the same end. Now, I am of opinion, that, in the position in which 
 the Magistrates are placed, it is their duty to build a church, of the same style and model 
 with that which previously existed ; and I cannot sustain an action which has, for its 
 object and scope, the interposing and preventing them from doing that which I think is 
 their duty under the Statute, in execution of the trust which they hold under the Statute, 
 now that the money is in their hands. Such being iny view of their duty, I cannot give 
 effect to these conclusions. There are other conclusions in the action, but they are all 
 mixed up with this, its leading object, and I cannot take the action to pieces and re- 
 arrange or reconstruct it, or deal with it bit by bit in a fragmentary way. I am for 
 assoilzieing the defenders from this action, but I do not wish to preclude the pursuers 
 from bringing any other action which may be more suitable for the clearing of their 
 interests. I do not wish to preclude them from bringing any other action which 
 may make more clear their construction of the trust, or their interest in the Church, 
 or in any surplus of the fund. I do not wish to decide anything against them in 
 that respect. I would leave that open to them. But I think that the plain object 
 and scope of this action — its primary and its final conclusions, are for the preventing 
 of the erection of any church, or, in other words, to prevent the Magistrates from 
 doing that which I consider it to be their duty to do, under the Act of Parliament 
 I am, therefore, on that ground, against sustaining this action. I am for assoilzieing 
 the defenders. I do not throw out of sight any of the cases that have been 
 decided as to the duty of trustees. I think that the principle I have stated in regard
 
 THE BENKFICIARIES' LAW PLEA. 253 
 
 to that matter is clear, and I do not interfere with it ; but I do not think that this 
 action brings out that principle purely. I think it is directed to an object which 
 is not a proper one in reference to the trust which the Magistrates have undertaken, 
 and therefore I am for assoilzieing the defenders from it. 
 
 The Court pronounced the following Interlocutors : — 
 In the action at the instance of William Forrester and Others : — 
 The Lords having considered the Reclaiming Note, No. 25 of process, 
 and having heard counsel for the parties thereon, and on the whole 
 cause, Recall the interlocutor reclaimed against, and in place thereof, 
 find that the sums of £16,371, 9s. 6d. and £800 mentioned in the 
 record, and making together a sum of £17,171, 9s. 6d. received by the 
 defenders or their predecessors, as on the 15th day of May 1848, from 
 the North British Railway Company, under and by virtue of the Act 
 9 and 10 Victoria, chapter 74, with the interest which has accrued, or 
 may hereafter accrue thereon, is held by them in trust for the erection 
 of a new church, within the locality designated in the said Act as the 
 parish of Trinity College, or as near thereto as conveniently may be, 
 with equal convenience of access and accommodation, and of the same 
 style and model as the Church formerly, and at the date of the said 
 Act existing: Find that the defenders are bound to build, or cause to 
 be built, and to expend the said sum of £17,171, 9s. 6d. and interest, 
 or as much thereof as may be necessary, in acquiring the site 
 and in the erection of the said new Church as aforesaid : To the above 
 extent and efi'ect, Repel the pleas in law for the defenders, and 
 decern and declare in terms of the declaratory conclusions of the libel ; — 
 And, with a view to the adjustment of the site and plan of the new 
 Church, and the carrying of the above findings into effect, and the 
 disposal of the further conclusions of the action. Remit to the Lord 
 Ordinary to proceed with the cause : Find the defenders liable to 
 the pursuers in expenses hitherto incurred, both in the Outer House
 
 254 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 and Inner House, without prejudice to, but reserving all questions of 
 ultimate liability and relief between the defenders, the Lord Provost, 
 Magistrates, and Town Council of the City of Edinburgh, and all or 
 any of the individual defenders or others whatsoever; Allow an 
 account of expenses to be given in, and remit the account, when 
 lodged, to the Auditor of Court, to tax the same and report ; 
 Appoint the report to be made to the Lord Ordinary, and Remit 
 to his Lordship to decern for the taxed amount thereof. 
 
 In the action at the instance of the pensioners in Trinity 
 Hospital : — The Lords having considered the reclaiming note for Mary 
 Ann Reid and Others, No. 1 6 of process, and heard counsel for the 
 parties thereon, and on the whole cause. Recall the interlocutor of the 
 Lord Ordinary reclaimed against ; and, in place thereof, find that the 
 sums of £16,371, 9s. 6d. and £800 mentioned in the record, making 
 together a sum of £17,171, 9s. 6d. received by the defenders or their 
 predecessors, as on the 15th day of May 1848, from the North British 
 Railway Company, under and by virtue of the Act 9 and 10 of Victoria, 
 chapter 74, with the interest which has accrued or may accrue thereon, 
 is applicable to the acquiring of a site, and the erection of a church, 
 within the locality designated in the said Act, as the parish of Trinity 
 College, or as near thereto as conveniently may be, with equal con- 
 venience of access and accommodation, and of the same style and model 
 as the Church formerly, and at the date of said Act, existing, and that 
 the defenders are bound so to apply the said sum and interest, or as 
 much thereof as may be necessary, for the accomplishment of the 
 above purposes : Find that the present action is directed substantially 
 and specifically against the said sum and interest ot any part thereof, 
 to the said purposes, or any of them ; and that the other or more 
 general conclusions contained in the summons are so libelled as to be 
 merely introductory and ancillary to the said operative conclusions,
 
 THE BENEFICIARIES LAW PLEA. 255 
 
 which have for their object to prevent the said sum and interest, or 
 any part thereof, from being applied as aforesaid — therefore Assoilzie 
 the defenders from the conclusions of the action, in so far as directed 
 against the application to these purposes of the said sum and interest ; 
 and, quoad ultra, Dismiss the action, reserving all questions as to the 
 rights and interests of parties in the said Church when erected, and as to 
 the uses and purposes to which the same may be applied, and the rights 
 and interests of parties in the surplus, if any, which may remain of said 
 sum and interest, after the Church has been erected, and all other ques- 
 tions hinc inde between the parties, to be disposed of in any other action 
 as accords of law, and Decern : Find no expenses due to either party. 
 
 Lord Ivory's reasons for not concurring, may be briefly stated. 
 His Lordship said he took little interest in the feud raging between the 
 Town Councillors as to church and site. He viewed the question from 
 the interests of the trust and charity. He regarded the Church as part 
 of the charity, and not as the property of the city or as a parish 
 church. He doubted whether the actions as laid, were conceived in 
 the best shape for a well matured, and precise, and exhaustive judgment 
 of the most important questions involved in them. He thought that 
 some more extended inquisition into the facts, and some more deliber- 
 ate analysis and dissection of titles and evidence would be necessary. 
 Fortunately his difficulties were not shared by the rest of the Court, 
 and he had the comfort of feeling that what he had to say would not 
 aSect the judgment to be pronounced. Referring to the charters, his 
 Lordship said, " There is not a word from beginning to end of all this 
 which points at keeping up the edifice, or for directing it to any 
 different purpose or use from the locality contiguous, which was given 
 along with it. Both were given simul et semel, and both equally given 
 for the one eleemosynary purpose which was so energetically set forth 
 above, and for no other use. There is not a word from beginning to
 
 256 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TPJNITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 end which points at an ecclesiastical endowment." . . . "There was no 
 grant of the Church to the City — to be endowed out of the City funds, or 
 to be appropriated as a city church. . . . Judging from the elements we 
 possess, I have no sort of doubt, that, in the outset, and on the face of 
 the original grant, the intent was very clearly to apply it for the bene- 
 ficial uses of the charity, and so far as I have yet been able to discover, 
 I cannot satisfy my mind that it was ever legally or effectively diverted 
 from these objects. . . . The trust title being the only title which the 
 City have, and it being set forth on the very face of that title what was 
 the specific purpose for which they received it, and there being no 
 conflicting title in the person of anybody since, it appears to me that 
 no length of mere use could prescribe a contrary right ; and therefore 
 that the Church remains substantially a trust property as much as 
 ever. ... If a church were to be held even as a proper accessory to the 
 charity, so far as necessary for the accommodation of its members, the ends 
 of the trust, in this respect, would seem to have been fully answered, by 
 confining the re-erection to the measure of want which was thus indi- 
 cated ; and as to the surplus, throwing it into the general estate of the 
 charity for the more peculiar ends for which itself had been created." . . . 
 His Lordship, in winding up his observations, referred to a proposal in cer- 
 tain quarters to use the money in a settlement of the Annuity Tax ques- 
 tion ; or to have it applied for some civic purpose. He added, " I am 
 decidedly against giving the least countenance to such an abuse of the 
 trust, which the defenders are bound to execute in the interests exclusively 
 of the charity. It might have been enough in this view, to give the pur- 
 suers' contention in this second action a simple absolvitor. But as your 
 Lordships have arrived at a difi'erent conclusion generally, it is needless to 
 speculate upon what might have been done under a different view." 
 
 The learned Counsel and Agents who represented the parties, were 
 as follows : —
 
 THE beneficiaries' LAW PLEA. 257 
 
 For William Forrester and Others — Mr Patton and Mr A. Ruther- 
 
 furd Clark. Agent— Mr James Webster, S.S.C. 
 For Mary Ann Reid and Others (afterwards Clephane, etc.) — Mr 
 Moir and Mr Adam Gilford. Agents — Messrs Wotherspoon 
 and Morrison, W.S. 
 For the Lord Provost, Magistrates, and Town Council of Edin- 
 burgh — Mr George Young and Mr A. B. Shand. Agent 
 —Mr Patrick Graham, W.S. 
 Lord Ivory, though he stood alone, had taken a firmer and 
 more judicious grip of the question than his learned colleagues on 
 the Bench. He had viewed the matter not from a parochial, as 
 well as judicial, point of view, but from the broad and catholic basis 
 as to what was best to be done in the circumstances for the charity 
 of Trinity Hospital. 
 
 2k
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 AN APPEAL TO THE HOUSE OF LORDS. 
 
 HE decision of the Court of Session in both actions narrated in 
 the last chapter was appealed to the House of Lords. In 
 the case of Clephane there was no difficulty found. But in 
 regard to the judgment in that of Forrester and Others, on the strong 
 advice of Mr George Young (now Lord Young) appearance was made 
 on behalf of the Corporation as respondents. The judgment of the 
 House of Lords was wholly adverse to the opinion of the Court below, 
 and the speeches of the Appellate Lords are so interesting and instruc- 
 tive, that it has been considered advisable to reproduce them verbatim 
 et literatim. 
 
 Messrs Anderson, Q.C., and C. Grey Wotherspoon appeared as 
 counsel for Clephane and Others, along with Messrs Deans and Stein, 
 Westminster, and Messrs Wotherspoon and Mack, W.S., Edinburgh. 
 
 Mr Rolt, Q.C., and Sir Henry Cairns, Q.C., appeared as counsel 
 for the Magistrates of Edinburgh, along with Messrs Maitland and 
 Graham, Westminster, and Messrs Graham and Johnston, W.S., 
 Edinburgh. 
 
 258
 
 AN APPEAL TO THE HOUSE OF LORDS. 259 
 
 The Attorney-General (Palmer) and Selwyn, Q.C., appeared as 
 counsel for Forrester and Others, along with Messrs Loch and Maclauriii, 
 Westminster, and Mr James Webster, S.S.C., Edinburgh. 
 
 After hearing counsel — 
 
 The Lord Chancellor (Westbury) said — My Lords, I think it desirable to call 
 your Lorships' attention particularly to this case, the circumstances of which I will 
 carefully review, in the hope that not only the grounds of your Lordships' decision may 
 be fully stated and well understood, but also in the hope, which I am almost afraid 
 to entertain, that further litigation in this matter may be prevented. 
 
 The case is one of very great simplicity, and, to a mind acquainted with the 
 subject, and with the principles wliich ought to govern the administration of charities, 
 it can present uo possible difficulty. The material facts are these : Anterior to the 
 Reformation, and from a foundation made in the fifteenth century, there was 
 established in Scotland, immediately without the precincts of the City of Edinburgh, 
 but now, I believe, included within these precincts, a College, or, as we should call it 
 in England, a chantry of priests, to which an ahns-house or Hospital was annexed. It 
 appears that the ecclesiastical part of this eleemosynary foundation consisted of a 
 provost, eight prebendaries, and two choiristers. The purely eleemosynary part of 
 it consisted apparently of thirteen beidmen, poor men. There was attached to the 
 College a Church, apparently built in a very beautiful manner, and presenting, 
 though imperfect, a fine specimen of the order of architecture according to which 
 it was erected. The Church consisted merely of a choir, and of what is called 
 in Scotland a cross, or by us more frequently a transept. It was undoubtedly of 
 dimensions far beyond what was required by the priests and by the beidmen ; and, 
 therefore, it is reasonable to infer, that it afforded accommodation to the neighbouring 
 residents. In this state of things, the Reformation swept over Scotland. The priests 
 were driven out of the place, the beidmen apparently were permitted to remain there. 
 It would seem that the Church was disused for some time before the grant of 
 the charter of 1567, and part of the Hospital appears to have fallen into a state 
 of ruin. 
 
 In this condition of things, during the infancy of King James I. {i.e. of England 
 but VI. of Scotland), the charter of 1567 was granted. It is unnecessary to call 
 your Lordships' attention to that charter, in any considerable detail. Your Lordships 
 will find, that, for charitable purposes, a grant is made by King James to Sir Simon
 
 260 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 Prestoun, who was at that time Provost of the City of Edinburgh, being a grant 
 of the whole of the Church called "Collegiate Church of the Trinity," with the 
 churchyard, buildings, and so forth, appertaining thereto, and also the Hospital at 
 that time denominated " Trinity Hospital." The whole of this is granted to the 
 Provost and Magistrates of Edinburgh. The purposes of the grant appear to be these : 
 an obligation is thrown upon the Magistrates to rebuild or construct the Hospital, and 
 to support the poor and the sick, who were the objects of the charity ; and it is 
 provided that the whole of the property so granted shall be devoted to these uses 
 and to none other. 
 
 It would seem that the Master of the Hospital, that is, the superintendent of the 
 poor men, continued to reside in the Hospital at the time of the grant ; and accordingly 
 we find a contract, that was made between the Magistrates of Edinburgh and the 
 jVIaster of the Hospital, a person of the name of Robert Pont, which it is material 
 only to advert to, for the purpose of pointing out, that Mr Pont surrendered into the 
 hands of the Crown, for the benefit of the grantees, namely the Magistrates of 
 Edinburgh, the benefice of Trinity College, and all the things appertaining to it ; and 
 that, in consideration of this transfer, the Magistrates paid to Mr Pont a sum of 
 money, and the Magistrates also contracted to pay Mr Pont the sum of .£160 Scots 
 yearly, during his lifetime. I advert to this only for the purpose of pointing out, that 
 it is reasonable to infer, that some money was paid by the Magistrates, probably out 
 of their own funds, for the purpose of this charity. 
 
 In that state of things, another grant was made by King James I. (VI. of 
 Scotland) to which it is material to refer. It appears to be dated in the month of 
 June 1585. Its materiality, as bearing upon the present subject of enquiry, lies in 
 the fuller description which it contains of the objects of the Hospital. After a more 
 full and ample description of the objects of the grant, it is declared, that it should be 
 taken and held by the Provost and Magistrates of the city pro sustentatione, and so 
 forth ; for the maintenance of the aged decrepit men, orphans, and poor within the 
 Hospital, and poor scholars within the College and Schools, at all times thereafter. 
 The charter also proceeded to authorise the Magistrates and Council to rebuild the 
 Hospital, which was then in a ruinous condition, in a more convenient situation at or 
 near the College. 
 
 A little anterior to this particular grant, in the year 1584, the Magistrates appear 
 to have divided the Town or City of Edinburgh into four districts or parishes. And 
 your Lordships will find, that on the 14th October 1584, a resolution or order was 
 made by the Town Council, by which the Trinity College Church, that is, the Church
 
 AN APPEAL TO THE HOUSE OF LORDS. 261 
 
 of this charity, was appropriated for the accommodation of the north-east parish or 
 district. I wish particularly, therefore, to point out, that, from the very earliest 
 times, and as soon as it could be supposed that the grantees took possession of the 
 subject of the grant, there was a dedication of the Collegiate Church, so far as it could 
 be applied without prejudice, to the use of the Hospital, for the accommodation and 
 service of the inhabitants of the district. 
 
 Your Lordships will find, from the subsequent charter, that the Hospital was 
 rebuilt by the Magistrates of Edinburgh ; and then come two important charters of 
 May and July 1587, to which I will, for a moment, direct attention. The important 
 part of them appears to be a statement by the King in the charter of May 1587, that 
 it shall be lawful for the Provost and Magistrates and their successors to use the old 
 Hospital, in order that they may be able (it is printed very inaccurately, but your 
 Lordships will be able to make the necessary corrections) to support the poor within 
 the Hospital, which has been recently repaired by them, by means of the rents of 
 the said Hospital, in a convenient manner. 
 
 Then, in a subsequent charter, your Lordships will find a declaration made, that 
 the grant is made for the support of the ministers and the poor, and for the entertain- 
 ment of the said College (that I suppose means for the preservation or the maintaining 
 of the said College) lately erected by them, that is the Magistrates. Then follows 
 a provision, that the Provost and community, and their successors, shall be bound to 
 support the ministers serving at the Churches. 
 
 To that may be added an Act of Parliament, which was passed in 1592, which 
 also recognises the position of the Council and Magistrates with respect to the charity. 
 
 I have troubled you at this length with these details, for the purpose of showing 
 that, at that time, by an order made in October 1584, the Church had been dedicated 
 to the purposes of the district, so far as it was not required for the Hospital ; that 
 that use of the Church, which must have been then perfectly well known, is nowhere 
 adverted to as being at variance with the purposes of the charity, and must therefore 
 be taken to be sanctioned and confirmed by the subsequent grants to which I 
 have adverted. 
 
 In that state of things, your Lordships will find a further statement, which is 
 material, in which it is stated and appears to have been admitted, that Trinity College 
 parish, or Trinity College district, was well known as one of the districts into which 
 the city was divided, and that the building therein used as the Church has been 
 constantly treated as if it were the Parish Church of the district. 
 
 Now, from these facts, therefore, I submit to your Lordships that two conclusions
 
 262 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 may with propriety be drawn. First, that the permitting Trinity Church to be used 
 as a place of worship for the inhabitants of the district, after reserving full accommoda- 
 tion for the poor and the officers of the Hospital, was not a breach of trust, but was 
 perfectly consistent with the purposes of the charitable grant. And, secondly, that 
 inasmuch as such user has continued uninterruptedly from the foundation of the 
 charity to the present time, it must be considered, that the maintenance of the Church 
 for the use of the Hospital and the inhabitants of the adjoining district is one of the 
 lawful purposes of this charity. These being, as I conceive, just conclusions to draw 
 from the facts to which I have referred, I now pass on to the transactions which have 
 subsequently occurred, and which have given rise to this litigation. 
 
 The North British Railway Company was empowered by its Act of Parliament to 
 take, for the purposes of its railway and for the purpose of constructing a station for 
 that railway, the piece of land on which this Collegiate Church stood ; and, of course, 
 it was a matter of great importance that the terms and conditions on which the 
 Railway Company should be permitted to take this land should be accurately and 
 clearly defined in their Act of Parliament. I desire you to pause for a minute to 
 consider what is the object of one of these Railway Acts of Parliament. The object of 
 an Act of Parliament of that kind is, to define the manner in which the Railway 
 Company shall be bound to make compensation to the owner of the property taken, but 
 it is not a part of the object of such an Act of Parliament, to interfere at all with the 
 title to that property, or to lay down any rule affecting the ownership of the property, 
 or the manner in which the money to be given to the owner of the property shall be 
 employed. To do any such thing would be greatly beyond the proper scope and limits 
 of that description of legislation. 
 
 Now, with that general observation, I will beg attention to the clause in the 
 North British Railway Act, which is the 8th section of the 9 and 10 Vict. cap. 74, 
 upon the particular language of which a great part of this legislation is founded. 
 And, indeed, on the construction proposed to be given to that section, the whole of 
 the second suit, brought by Forrester and Others, is entirely based. Now, the section 
 (reading it shortly) may be divided into three parts. The first portion of it enables the 
 Company to restore and rebuild the Church, which they purpose to take down ; and, in 
 the event of their doing that, the obligation is carefully imposed upon the Company of 
 restoring and rebuilding it exactly as they found it, at the time they took possession 
 of it. And, in order to meet any questions that might arise in the course of that 
 operation, a tribunal or arbiter is provided, namely the Sheriff of Edinburgh, to whom 
 any differences of opinion arising in the course of that operation might be referred.
 
 AN APPEAL TO THE HOUSE OF LORDS. 263 
 
 Then the section concludes with an alternative, which it is put in the power of tho 
 Railway Company to adopt, namely, that in lieu of the obligation which has been thus 
 carefully described, to rebuild tho Church themselves, that they may give to tho 
 Magistrates and Town Council a sum of money as compensation for the Church. And 
 by a species of refinement and subtle construction, which I regret that any person 
 has been found to entertain, because it has produced years of litigation, and has been 
 an impediment to the use and application of the money belonging to this charity, it 
 appears to have been thought, that it was possible to construe the clause in such a 
 manner as to attach to the money to be paid by the Railway Company, an obligation 
 of application precisely to the same effect as that which the Railway Company would 
 have been bound to observe, in the event of their adopting the first alternative of 
 undertaking to restore the Church. 
 
 I think it impossible that any such ingenious subtlety should receive any kind of 
 acceptance. One of your Lordships (Lord Cranwoeth) suggested what is the true inter- 
 pretation, as I humbly think, of these words : — in lieu of the said obligation, namely, 
 the obligation of restoration, which is described in the first part of the clause. If it 
 be not the alternative embraced by the Company, it is still to be the measure of the 
 amount of compensation, so that, in point of fact, the object of the clause is this : 
 that if the Company did not undertake to restore the Church actually, they were 
 bound to pay to the Magistrates, as trustees of the charity, such a sum of money as 
 they would have required to expend, as if the first alternative had been embraced by 
 them. That is a reasonable interpretation to give to the clause, and it gives a standard 
 of the compensation to be paid. 
 
 It appears that practically this was the construction which the parties put upon 
 the clause. For proceedings were taken for the purpose of ascertaining what ought 
 to be done in order to restore the Church, and they were prosecuted so far as to enable 
 the referee to determine exactly the sum of money which the Railway Company would 
 have to expend, if they had entered upon and completed the work of restoration. 
 The Railway Company very wisely preferred to pay the money, rather than to undertake 
 the duty of seeing to its expenditure, and presiding over the restoration of the Church • 
 and that sum of money, which is very considerable, amounting altogether, I think, to 
 £17,000, was actually paid over to the trustees of the Hospital in the month of 
 May 1848. 
 
 Now, that money, when received by the trustees of the Hospital, was part of the 
 general funds of the charity, applicable for the purpose of re-instating the Church in 
 a reasonable time, precisely in the same condition in which it stood at the time when
 
 264 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 the Churcli was taken away by the Railway Company. But it would be ridiculous to 
 suppose, for a moment, that it was the object of the Act of Parliament, or that there 
 can be any principle of law, or any suggestion of reason or common sense, that would 
 lead the mind to the conclu.sion, that this money, when received by the Magistrates 
 and Town Council, was received under an obligation to have it expended entirely, or 
 the greater part of it, in the actual re-production, with all its architectural decorations, 
 of that exact building which was taken by the Railway Company. It is a lamentable 
 thing that such a suggestion was ever made ; it is as unfounded in law, as it has 
 been lamentable in consequences. I hope your Lordships will not yield the smallest 
 countenance to any such contention, which ought not to have been entertained by 
 any reasonable mind, and which would be utterly repudiated by anyone knowing well 
 the principles upon which charities ought to be administered. 
 
 This leads at once to the conclusion, that the whole of that suit, instituted by 
 Forrester and Others, and which was brought expressly for the purpose of maintaining 
 the proposition, that the whole of the money paid by the Railway Company should be 
 dedicated to the purpose of an exact reproduction of the original building, is founded 
 upon an entire misconception and erroneous construction of the clause of the Act of 
 Parliament ; and, therefore, I have not the smallest hesitation in advising your 
 Lordsliips, that the whole of the interlocutors in that suit which have been appealed 
 from should be reversed ; that the defenders shall be absolved from the conclu- 
 sions of the summons, and the summons itself be dismissed. I am very sorry to 
 be obliged to add, in consequence of the countenance that has been given to that 
 suit, that I cannot individually advise your Lordships to go further than to dismiss 
 it without expenses. 
 
 Then, that suit having been cleared away, we come to the consideration of the other 
 suit, originally instituted by persons having a du-ect interest in the charity, as being 
 some of the objects of that charity. To that suit, the Magistrates and Town Council 
 of Edinburgh are called as defenders, in their capacity of trustees of this Hospital, 
 and although there has been a good deal of criticism upon the conclusions of that 
 summons, and although it is true that some of the conclusions are rather directed 
 to an end that would be inconsistent with the re-erection of a Church sufficient 
 for the accommodation of the inhabitants who would resort to the old Church, yet I 
 think the conclusions of that summons, fairly construed, especially in a charity case, 
 might well have warranted the Court of Session in taking upon themselves, to 
 pronounce in that suit the order which I think common sense and reason imperatively 
 required should be pronounced, in some suit or other directed to the end of efifecting
 
 AN APPEAL TO THE HOUSE OF LORDS. 2G5 
 
 the proper administration of this charity-property, and the proper application of this 
 sum of money which has been allowed to remain so long unappropriated. 
 
 Therefore, I shall not hesitate to recommend your Lordships to reverse the 
 interlocutors which are appealed from in that suit, and further, I shall recommend 
 your Lordships to make that suit the basis or foundation of an order which I trust, if 
 your Lordships approve of it, will be found to comprehend all the material objects that 
 are now required to be provided for, in the hope of securing a just and reasonable 
 administration of the charity. 
 
 It is material to observe, that the Magistrates suggested that a sum of £7000 
 only was required for the acquisition of a site, and for the erection of a new Church of 
 sufficient capacity to provide for the wants of the inmates of the Hospital, in the 
 enlarged scale on which I hope it will be established, and also for the accommodation 
 of the neighbouring inhabitants. I wish I could add to that what I have looked for 
 with anxiety, a clear and definite expression on the part of the Magistrates, of their 
 willingness to have this fund devoted to the purpose of the proper augmentation and 
 re-establishment of this charity, after deducting so much as should be required for 
 erecting the new Church. But what I have found not so clearly expressed in the 
 pleadings has been supplied by the Counsel for the Magistrates at the Bar, and I under- 
 stand from their counsel, that they are quite willing, as it is their duty to be, that 
 the whole of this fund, Ttdnus the sum that shall be absolutely required for the 
 rebuilding of the Church, shall be at once applied in the augmentation of the charity. 
 
 In the hope, therefore, of providing for these ends, which, as I observed during 
 the argument, at the first blush of the thing must have presented themselves, as being 
 the clear objects to be attained by a Court of Justice in this case, I have at some 
 length perused the order which I will submit to your Lordships, as the proper order to 
 be pronounced under the circumstances of the case. I propose that the order of your 
 Lordships' House in both appeals should run thus : — 
 
 Reverse all the interlocutors in the second suit, that is, the suit by Forrester and 
 Others ; Assoilzie the defenders from the conclusions of the summons, and Dismiss the 
 same, but without expenses ; and, in the first suit, that of Clephane and Others, Reverse 
 the interlocutors appealed from, and declare that, under the circumstances of the case, 
 and having regard to the usage which has uniformly prevailed since the establishment 
 of the charity, it is fit and proper that so much of the money received by the defenders 
 from the North British Railway Company, as will be sufficient for the purpose, but 
 not exceeding £7000, shall be applied to the purchase of a site and in building a 
 Church, which, after reserving full accommodation for all the inmates of the Hospital 
 2 L
 
 266 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 and persons connected therewith, will aflford to the inhabitants of the district as much 
 accommodation as was afforded by the Collegiate Church which has been removed ; and 
 declare, that such Church ought to be built in connection with the Hospital, or on a 
 site as near thereto as can be conveniently obtained ; and declare, that the duty of 
 building such Church belongs to the defenders as trustees of the charity, and that 
 they will not be under any obligation to observe or follow the style or model of the 
 old Church in such new building ; and declare that such Church will be the property 
 of the charity, subject to its being used, and if so used, then to its being kept in repair, 
 and maintained in like manner as the old Church was before its removal by the Rail- 
 way Company, and that the defenders forthwith bring in and lodge with the Court 
 below, a minute showing the site and plan of the building of such new Church, and 
 the building is not to proceed until such plan and site have been approved of by the 
 Court; and declare that all the residue of the money received from the Railway 
 Company, and all interest thereon, and all the rest of the property of the Hospital is 
 applicable to the enlargement and maintenance of the charity, as declared and estab- 
 lished by the charter of May 1567 and November 1587, according to a scheme to be settled 
 for that purpose (I may say in passing, that the reason in my mind for introducing both 
 charters is this, that your Lordships will find in the charter of November 1587 a 
 rather more full description of the objects of the charity than is contained in the 
 charter of 1567) ; and refer it to the Court below to settle and approve of such scheme 
 accordingly ; and let the Court inquire and ascertain of what the property of the 
 Hospital consists, and in what manner the money received from the Railway Company 
 has been invested by the defenders, and when such investments were made, and what 
 sums have been received for interest thereon, and by whom and how such sums have 
 been applied ; and declare, that the expenses properly incurred by the pursuers and de- 
 fenders in the suit of Clephane and Others ought to be paid out of the funds of the charity, 
 and let the same be duly taxed, and the amounts paid out of such parts of the funds of 
 the charity as the Court of Session shall deem most fit to be applied for that purpose. 
 
 I humbly submit to your Lordships that this order wUl, as far as we can now 
 foresee, provide for the immediate necessities of the case ; and I trust that there wiU 
 be found, in carrying this order into effect, a conscientious spirit that shall recognise the 
 religious and moral duty that rests upon these parties no longer to keep the charity 
 fund in abeyance, but to apply it as it ought fifteen or sixteen years ago to have been 
 applied, to the purposes of this useful charity. 
 
 Lord Cranworth. — My Lords, the full manner in which my noble and learned 
 friend has gone through the details of this case, I feel, has absolved me from the
 
 AN APPEAL TO THE HOUSE OF LORDS. 267 
 
 necessity of adding more than a single word. In the first place, the long usage since 
 the time of the charter, seems to me perfectly to justify this House in saying, that the 
 maintenance of the Church as connected with the Hospital is one of its legitimate 
 objects. That being so, supposing no Acts of Parliament had passed such as that of 
 the North British Railway Company, but that by lapse of time, or by some accident, 
 the Church had been burnt down or destroyed, what would have been the duty of the 
 trustees ? Clearly their duty would have been to rebuild the Church, or to build a 
 Church with at least as good accommodation as that which existed before. But I take it 
 to be perfectly clear, that there would have been no duty, or obligation, to rebuild it in 
 the particular ornamental style in which the old building had been constructed. That 
 being so, it is impossible to suppose that the Legislature, in passing a Railway Act, 
 meant to alter the trusts which were imposed upon the trustees, of adequately dis- 
 charging the duties connected with this charity. It is impossible that it could have 
 meant to impose upon them the duty of building a Church in any particular style. 
 The reason why that obligation was imposed upon the Railway Company, if they 
 rebuilt the Church, is obvious. Had such an obligation not been imposed upon them, 
 they might have built the Church in a very imperfect and improper style. It was to 
 secure the public against that, that this provision was made. But if the alternative 
 was adopted, which anyone looking reasonably at the subject must have known would 
 be adopted, namely, for the Company to pay the price or the value, instead of rebuild- 
 ing the Church themselves, then, when the money comes into the hands of the trustees, 
 they have no other obligation upon them with reference to that money than would 
 have been imposed upon them, if the Church had been in some other way destroyed and 
 then rebuilt out of any funds which they might have in their hands for the purpose of 
 rebuilding it. I think that the provisions which have been proposed by my noble and 
 learned friend exhaust the subject, and I trust that they will put an end to this not 
 very creditable litigation, which has now extended over a period of fifteen or sixteen 
 years, and deprived both the Hospital and neighbourhood of the advantages which they 
 have a right to derive from the use of the Church. 
 
 Lord Chelmsford. — My Lords, I concur in the view which has been taken of 
 this case by my two noble and learned friends, and I can state the grounds of my 
 opinion in a very few wtords. In order to ascertain what was the trust that attached 
 upon this trust, and the consequent obligation upon the Corporation of Edinburgh 
 at the time of the passing of the North British Railway Company's Act, it will be only 
 necessary for me to advert very shortly to the terms of the charter of 1567. Now, what 
 was the object of that charter f It is expressed very shortly in the recital to be, " to
 
 268 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 found and endow a Hospital," and for that purpose, certain property, including the 
 Church in question, called the Collegiate Church of Trinity, was given to the Corpora- 
 tion of Edinburgh, for the building and construction of the said Hospital, for the 
 maintenance of the poor and sick, to be placed by them thereon for no other use. 
 And there is subsequently given a power to the Corporation, to dispose of this property 
 as shall seem good, with a qualification, that they shall be bound to apply it to the 
 foresaid use, and no other. Now, whether this means, that they were to apply the 
 existing subjects of the grant to the purposes of the Hospital, or whether they were 
 entitled to sell the property and apply all the proceeds to that use, it is immaterial 
 to consider. Throughout the whole of this charter, there is nothing to bind the 
 Corporation to maintain this Church ; there is nothing to show that, either as a work 
 of art, or for any other reason, it was such an object of interest, that it was considered 
 desirable to preserve it. I apprehend that, under the words of the charter, it was 
 competent to the Corporation to have applied the building itself — the Church — to the 
 purposes of the Hospital ; and there is nothing whatever to prevent their doing what 
 they did, namely, applying the Church to the use for which it was fitted, for the 
 purposes of divine worship. Now originally, for about seventeen years, the Church 
 appears to have been applied exclusively for the use of the Hospital, but in 1584, 
 and again in 1625, it was appropriated to one of the parishes into which Edinburgh 
 ■was divided. Now, whether the Corporation had a right to appropriate this Church 
 as a Parish Church, may perhaps be questioned. But, undoubtedly, as there was 
 sufficient accommodation, not only for inmates of the Hospital, but beyond what 
 was necessary for them, it could have been no breach of trust on the part of the 
 Corporation to have allowed the inhabitants of the parish, that is, the inhabitants of 
 the neighbourhood of the Hospital, to have sittings in the Church. Even if it were 
 objectionable, there were no persons who were likely to object to it, because it seems that 
 the inmates of the Hospital were invariably provided with the sittings, and the other 
 persons, the inhabitants of the parish, paid for the sittings which they occupied, and 
 all the sums received in respect of those payments were applied to the maintenance of 
 the Church, and therefore so far the funds of the Hospital were relieved. Thus matters 
 continued from the year 1584 down to the year 1846, and it is perfectly clear, I 
 apprehend, that although the Corporation had applied this Church as a Parish Church, 
 and therefore in some degree had taken it from the Hospital, yet, inasmuch as the 
 trusts of the charter are perfectly clear, it was not competent to them to divert that 
 Church from the uses to which it was applicable under the charter. 
 
 Therefore, in 1846, at the time of the passing of the North British Railway Act,
 
 AN APPEAL TO THE HOUSE OF LORDS. 269 
 
 the state of things was this, that the Church was applicable to the uses of the Hospital, 
 and had to be maintained by the Corporation, and maintained, if you please, to the extent 
 of the use to which it had been applied for so many years, nearly three centuries, namely, 
 for the accommodation beyond the inmates of the Hospital of other inhabitants of the 
 neighbourhood. Therefore, as my noble and learned friend (Lord Cranwouth) has 
 said, the obligation upon the Corporation, at the time of the passing of the North British 
 Railway Act, in case the Church had been burnt down and it had been necessary to 
 restore it, would have been merely to provide another Church with equal and similar 
 accommodation to that which had been provided for the long period I have mentioned. 
 Then it appears that the North British Railway Company, upon the introduction of their 
 Bill, desired to obtain powers for the purpose of removing this Church for the construc- 
 tion of their railway ; and if the question of compensation between them and the Corpora- 
 tion had been left to the ordinary provisions of the Lands Clauses Act (an Act which 
 passed, I think, only the year before this North British Railway Act), it is perfectly 
 clear, that all the Corporation would have been entitled to receive as compensation 
 would have been the amount which was necessary to build a Church with similar 
 accommodation to the one which was removed. And no jury would ever have given 
 them what may be called a sentimental value for the Church which was to be removed, 
 however great its architectural beauty might have been. But the Corporation were 
 desirous of obtaining a larger sum than they, could possibly have obtained by the 
 ordinary mode of compensation, and the Company were not unwilling to give them the 
 advantage of a larger compensation than would have been received through a jury. 
 Therefore, I consider this 8th section of their Act to have been introduced for the 
 purpose of providing machinery to enable the Corporation to receive a larger amount of 
 compensation than they would otherwise receive. Now the mode which was adopted 
 for that purpose was very plain. The Legislature provides, that the Company shall 
 not be allowed to remove the existing Church until they shall have agreed with the 
 Corporation on a plan for the rebuilding, at the expense of the Company, and upon 
 another site either within the parish, or as near thereto as conveniently may be, of 
 a new Church, and that in such agreement provision shall be made for the adoption of 
 the same style and model as the existing Church. 
 
 Now that, as I apprehend, was the mode of ascertaining the value of the 
 compensation which was to be paid to the Corporation. Plans, of course, could be 
 made, and a suitable site would be ascertained, and an estimate would be made of the 
 value of the site and of the cost of the building according to the plans which were 
 agreed upon, and if there was any difference of opinion between the parties, the
 
 270 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 Sheriff was to settle it. But in that mode the sum of money was ascertained as the 
 amount of compensation which the Corporation would be entitled to receive under this 
 clause in respect of the Church. 
 
 And then, in order to provide for this money passing into the hands of the 
 Corporation, the Act declares that the Company shall bo at liberty to offer, and the 
 Corporation to accept, a sum of money, as compensation for the said Church, and in 
 lieu of the foregoing obligation. It is quite clear, that the contemplation of all parties 
 was, that the cost of the erection of the Church, according to the plans, upon a proper 
 site having been ascertained, that that sum of money should be the amount which 
 should be paid over by the Railway Company and received by the Corporation, as the 
 amount of compensation to be received by the Corporation, in lieu of the obligation 
 which was imposed upon the Railway Company. There was not the slightest intention 
 that there should be any new obligation imposed upon the Corporation, to erect the 
 Church in any different manner than they would have been required to do, supposing 
 it had been left to the ordinary mode of compensation. There was not the least 
 intention that this obligation, which was attached upon the Railway Company merely 
 for the purpose of fixing the value, should be transferred from the Railway Company to 
 the Corporation upon the payment of the money. If that had been intended, it would 
 have been easy to add just a few words, and after the words in lieu of the foregoing 
 obligation, to have said " which obligation shall then be transferred to and fulfilled by 
 the Magistrates and Town Council." But no such obligation is imposed upon the 
 Corporation. The money is transferred to them by this machinery which the Act has 
 provided, and then the Corporation have only the same obligation attaching upon them 
 which they would have had if this clause had never been introduced into the Act. 
 They are bound to provide a Church with the same accommodation as that which 
 previously existed, and that being so, it is quite clear, that only a portion of the sum 
 of £17,000 would be applicable to that purpose. The sum of £7000 seems to be a very 
 fair limit to their liabiHty in that respect. The other £10,000, the surplus, is clearly 
 applicable to the uses of the Hospital. 
 
 For these reasons, I entirely agree with the opinion which has been so clearly 
 expressed by my noble and learned friend. 
 
 Sir Hugh Cairns. — Before the question is put, will your Lordship allow me to 
 submit two considerations which perhaps your Lordships might think it right to give 
 weight to in your order? The first relates to the costs. Your Lordships propose 
 (as I understood) to dismiss Forrester's action without costs. I would submit to your 
 Lordships, that provision should be made in your order for the costs of that action, and
 
 AN APPEAL TO THE HOUSE OF LORDS. 271 
 
 of the appeal of the Corporation, and also, that it would be necessary in point of form 
 that provision should be made for the repetition or repayment by Forrester of the costs 
 ordered to be paid to him, and which have been paid. And further, that in Clephane's 
 action, in which the order which has been read by the Lord Chancellor proposed to 
 provide for the costs, the costs provided for should be not only the costs of the action, 
 but also of the appeal which would not follow without special words. The other point 
 I should submit to your Lordships is one which has not been referred to in the argu- 
 ment on either side, but which I may perhaps mention as one which your Lordships 
 may think it right to give some attention to in the order that goes into so much detail. 
 An Act of Parliament passed in the year 1860 (called the Annuity Tax Abolition Act), 
 made in §§ 56 and 57, certain provisions with regard to the city and town churches 
 of Edinburgh, and it named as one of those Trinity College Church, and it transferred 
 to the Commissioners under that Act such rights of administration and custody as were 
 then vested in the Town Council and Corporation, with certain provisions as to pew 
 rents. As I understand the order which has been suggested to your Lordships as the 
 one fit to be made in this case, I am not aware that that order will actually conflict 
 with any of these provisions ; but your Lordships might think it proper that I should 
 now mention the Act, in order that, if your Lordships in your wisdom thought fit, 
 some notice should be taken of it in your present order, with a view to prevent it 
 appearing to conflict with the provisions of that Act of Parliament. 
 
 Lord Chancellor. — My Lords, with regard to the last point which has been 
 mentioned at the Bar, I would not advise your Lordships that it is either necessary to 
 advert to it, or that it would be proper to do so — not necessary, because undoubtedly 
 whatever may be the provisions of that Act, it will be quite competent to the Court of 
 Session, in carrying your Lordships' directions into efiect, to take the provisions of that 
 Statute into consideration. But I should particularly object to mentioning that Act 
 in the present order, because, although we approve of this Church, as the property of 
 the charity, being used for the benefits of the district, yet, I apprehend, that your 
 Lordships by no means mean to lay it down as law, that this Church when rebuilt will 
 become a Parish Church. With regard to the other point, I must confess that I feel 
 somewhat unwilling to go so far as to give the Magistrates of Edinburgh the whole of 
 the expenses of this litigation, because I cannot but think that a little more enertn^ and 
 diligence, and a little more candour in these proceedings, would have prevented the 
 great delay that has taken place. At the same time, I am glad to say, that the conduct 
 of the Magistrates in the argument of this appeal has been everything that could be 
 desired by your Lordships. And if, therefore, your Lordships desire to give the
 
 272 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 Magistrates out of the charity fund the costs that they have been put to by reason of 
 the proceedings in the suit of Forrester and Others, I shall entirely concur in your 
 Lordships' views upon that matter. I think it will be necessary that the order should 
 be so expressed, as to give to the Magistrates and to the appellants in Clephane's suit, 
 if your Lordships approve of it, the costs of the appeal. I would therefore ask your 
 Lordships to intimate your opinion, whether you think that the expenses of the 
 Magistrates in Clephane's suit should come out of the funds of the charity, and I hope 
 that your Lordships will approve of its being now distinctly stated, that, in the 
 administration of this fund, for all the objects of the trust, the parties who are now 
 intrusted with the carrying out of these trusts are not to consider that the Court will 
 be justified in allowing the costs of any proceedings, except those which are con- 
 scientiously and properly directed to the just ends of administering the charity. 
 
 Lord Cranworth. — My Lords, I concur with my noble and learned friend in all 
 that he has said. In the first place, I certainly concur with him in a very deep regret 
 at the expenditure of what I consider a very unnecessary amount of costs in a matter that 
 might have been more speedily and cheaply settled. But I confess I do not feel that the 
 case is strong enough to require me to say, that, as the trustees of this fund, the Magis- 
 trates ought not to have their costs. And therefore I shall concur in my noble and 
 learned friend's proposal, that they should have their costs out of the funds of the charity. 
 
 Lord Chelmsford. — I entirely concur with my noble and learned friends. 
 
 Sir Iluffh Cairns. — With regard to the repayment of the costs paid to Forrester ? 
 
 Lord Chancellor. — That would follow as a matter of course. I will put it into 
 the order, and in that part of the order which declares that the expenses properly 
 incurred by the pursuers and defenders, in the suit of Clephane and Others ought to 
 be paid out of the funds of the charity. I will insert the words " including the Appeal," 
 and also the defenders' costs in the other suit and appeal. And in the suit of 
 Forrester and Others, I will make this addition to the order, that any sums paid by 
 the defenders to the pursuers under the interlocutors hereby reversed, be repaid by the 
 pursuers to the defenders. 
 
 The Orders of the House, as ultimately drawn up, were as 
 
 follow : — 
 
 " I. — It is ordered and adjudged, by the Lords Spiritual and Tem- 
 poral in Parliament assembled, that the said interlocutors, so far as 
 complained of in the said appeal, be, and the same are hereby reversed.
 
 AN APPEAL TO THE HOUSE OF LORDS. 273 
 
 And it is declared that, under the circumstances of the case, and 
 having regard to the usage which has uniformly prevailed since 
 the establishment of the charity in the proceedings mentioned, it is 
 fit and proper, that so much of the money received by the defenders 
 (respondents) from the North British Railway Company as will be 
 sufficient for the purpose, but not exceeding £7000, should be 
 applied in the purchase of a site, and in building a Church which, 
 after reserving full accommodation for all the inmates of the Hospital 
 in the said proceedings mentioned, and persons connected therewith, 
 will aiford to the inhabitants of the district in the said proceedings 
 mentioned, as much accommodation as was afforded by the Collegiate 
 Church in the said proceedings mentioned, which has been removed. 
 And it is further declared, that said Church ought to be built in 
 connection with the Hospital (if the same shall be rebuilt under the 
 scheme hereinafter directed), or on a site as near thereto as can be 
 conveniently obtained : And it is further declared, that the duty of 
 building such Church belongs to the defenders (respondents), as 
 trustees of the said charity, and that they will not be under any 
 obligation to observe or follow the style or model of the old Church 
 in the said proceedings mentioned, in such new building : And it is 
 further declared, that such new Church will be the property of the 
 said charity, subject to its being used, and if so used, then to its being 
 kept in repair, and maintained in like manner as the said old Church 
 was, before its removal by the said Railway Company : And it is 
 further ordered, that the defenders (respondents) do forthwith bring 
 in and lodge with the Court of Session a minute, showing the site 
 and plan of building of such new Church ; and the building is not 
 to proceed until such plan and site have been approved of by the 
 said Court : And it is further declared, that all the residue of the money 
 received from the said Railway Company, and all interest thereon, 
 2 M
 
 274 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 and all the rest of the property of the said Hospital is applicable 
 to the enlargement and maintenance of the said charity, as declared 
 and established by the charters dated respectively the 12th November 
 1567 and 2Gth May 1587, in the said proceedings mentioned, accord- 
 ing to a scheme to be settled for that purpose (including therein the 
 rebuilding of the Hospital, if the same shall be deemed necessary) : 
 And it is further ordered, that it be referred to the said Court of 
 Session to settle and approve of such scheme accordingly, and to 
 enquire and ascertain of what the property of the said Hospital con- 
 sists, and in what manner the money received from the said Railway 
 Company has been invested by the said defenders (respondents), and 
 when such investments were made, and what sums have been received 
 from interest thereon, and by whom and how such sums have been 
 applied : And it is also further declared, that the expenses properly 
 incurred by the pursuers and defenders in this cause in the Court 
 below, and the costs properly incurred by the said appellants and 
 respondents in this appeal, ought to be paid out of the funds of the 
 said charity ; and it is, therefore, further ordered, that the expenses 
 so properly incurred by the said pursuers and defenders in this cause 
 in the Court below, and the costs so properly incurred by the said 
 appellants and respondents in the said appeal, be duly taxed, and 
 the amount of such taxed costs in the said cause in the Court 
 below, and the amount certified by the Clerk of the Parliaments 
 of such costs of the said appeal, be paid out of such parts of 
 the funds of the said charity as the said Court of Session shall 
 deem most fit to be applied for that purpose : And it is also 
 further ordered, that the cause be, and is hereby, remitted back 
 to the Court of Session in Scotland, to do therein as shall be 
 just and consistent with these declarations and directions, and this 
 judgment.
 
 AN APPEAL TO THE HOUSE OF LORDS. 275 
 
 "II. — It is ordered and adjudged, by the Lords Spiritual and 
 Temporal, in Parliament assembled — That the said interlocutors, so 
 far as complained of, and the said appeal be, and the same are, hereby 
 reversed, and that the defenders (appellants) be assoilzied from the 
 conclusions of the summons in the proceedings mentioned : And it 
 is declared that the expenses properly incurred by the said defenders 
 in this cause in the Court below, and the costs properly incurred by 
 the said appellants in this appeal, ought to be paid out of the funds 
 of the charity in the said proceedings mentioned : And it is therefore 
 further ordered, that the expenses so properly incurred by the said 
 defenders in this cause in the Court below, and the costs so properly 
 incurred by the said appellants in the said appeal, be duly taxed, 
 and the amount of such taxed costs, in the said cause in the Court 
 below, and the amount certified by the Clerk of the Parliaments of 
 such costs of the said appeal, be paid out of such parts of the funds 
 of the said charity as the said Court of Session shall deem most fit to 
 be applied for that purpose : And it is further ordered, that any sum 
 paid by the said defenders to the pursuers, in the said suit, under the 
 said interlocutors hereby reversed, be repaid by the said pursuers to 
 the said defenders : And it is also further ordered, that the cause be, 
 and is, hereby remitted back to the Court of Session in Scotland, to 
 do therein as shall be just and consistent, with this declaration and 
 these directions, and this judgment." 
 
 It need hardly be stated that this decision of the House of Lords 
 came upon the citizens of Edinburgh as a surprise. The Nonconformist 
 or Voluntary party rejoiced ; and the Established Church party along 
 with the Antiquarians mourned the result. 
 
 The veteran Mr Adam Black came in for a fair share of abuse. 
 But, like a brave man, as he always was, he gallantly defended himself 
 against attack. The following correspondence will make this manifest.
 
 276 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 " A Member of Trinity College Church " writing in the Scotsman of 
 20th February 1864, says: — 
 
 Siu,— In your article of this morning on the Trinity College Church case, there 
 occurs the following — "We cannot pretend that we should have been inconsolable had 
 the Church not been to be rebuilt at all. There are many more churches in Edinburgh 
 than are well filled." 
 
 I am sure you intend no unfairness, but it is quite possible that strangers to the 
 facts of the case may infer from your words that you would regard the re-erection of 
 Trinity College Church in any form as an addition to the already sufficiently large 
 number of empty churches in Edinburgh. To prevent such a misconstruction, will you 
 allow me to state that our Church at the present moment numbers considerably above 
 700 communicants, and that in the old church of St Giles, temporarily lent to us l)y 
 the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, every available sitting is let. Rebuilt on a suitable 
 site, Trinity College Church runs little risk of being empty. 
 
 Will you allow mo further to say how much I rejoice in your suggestion that Mr 
 Adam Black should bring the whole matter under the notice of Parliament. If this 
 should be done at all, it is specially proper that it should be done by him. He is 
 as distinctly responsible for the present miserable state of matters, as the party whose 
 name he bears is for the misery of that estate whereinto man fell. Ho is virtually the 
 father of the Trinity College Church Act of 1846, and if Lord Westbury has shown 
 anything, he has shown that that Act was not worded so as to express unmistakably 
 its own intention. The Act, as everybody knows, in offering to the Magistrates the 
 alternative of a sum of money in lieu of the Church, meant that they were to be held 
 bound to build a facsimile of the original Church with the money. Lord Westbury 
 has authoritatively told us that the wording of the Act cannot be interpreted to 
 mean this, except by a " subtle construction that cannot receive any countenance." 
 Clearly then Mr Black must have put his foot in it. Under his auspices, Parlia- 
 ment, meaning one thing, has been made to say another. But surely Parliament 
 must be allowed, — nay, is in fairness bound to correct its blunder; and on Mr 
 Black, above all its members, lies the burden of this duty. He put Parliament 
 wrong — he, too, should put it right. To expiate his original sin of the ill-drawn 
 alternative clause, he is bound to do his best to got the real intention of the Legis- 
 lature so expressed that not even Lord Westbury shall be able to avoid seeing its 
 meaning. — 1 am, etc.
 
 AN APPEAL TO THE HOUSE OF LORDS. 277 
 
 To this Mr Adam Black, M.P., replied in the Scotsman of 27th 
 February : — 
 
 MR ADAM BLACK, M.P., AND TRINITY COLLEGE CHURCH. 
 
 " Oh ! be his tomb like lead to lead 
 Upon its dull destroyer's head." 
 
 London, February 25, 1864. 
 
 Sir, — My attention has been called to a letter which appeared in the Scotsman of 
 Saturday the 20th, regarding Trinity College Church, in which the writer says that 
 Mr Adam Black should bring the whole matter before Parliament, as " He is virtually 
 the father of the Trinity College Church Act of 1846, and if Lord Westbury has 
 shown anything, he has shown that that Act was not worded so as to express unmis- 
 takably its own intention." " Clearly then Mr Black must have put his foot in it. 
 He put Parliament wrong — he, too, should put it right," etc. The writer of this letter 
 appears to be equally ignorant of the facts of the case, and of the powers of a Com- 
 mittee of Parliament in the case of a private bill. It is only necessary that I should 
 state shortly the facts, as far as I am concerned. 
 
 In 1846, when the North British Railway Company wanted Trinity College 
 Church to be removed for the purposes of the Railway, and refused to make any 
 reasonable arrangement with the Town Council for replacing it by another Parish 
 Church, the Town Council in their straitened circumstances were unwilling to incur 
 the very heavy expenses of a Parliamentary contest, and I volunteered to go, at my 
 own expense, and conduct the case as I best could, without feeing counsel. My offer 
 was accepted, and I received carte blanche to act on my own responsibility in the case. 
 I, therefore, am bound to accept the responsibility so far, and if there was anything 
 done wrong on the side of the Council, I take upon myself the whole blame. But 
 how stands the fact ? When I appeared before the Committee, the proposition I made 
 was a very simple one. The Railway Company having proposed to remove the Church 
 (which, by-the-bye, was by this time very much injured by the Railway), I consented on 
 condition that if they took it away they should give us just such another. I think I 
 used the word facsimile, but that is of no importance, for there could be no doubt of 
 what we asked, as we presented to the Committee lithographed views of the old Church 
 which we urged should be restored. With the aid of the City Clerk, Mr John Sinclair, 
 one of the shrewdest and most intelligent men I ever knew, and our London solicitors.
 
 278 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 a clause wajs prepared for this purpose. The very words of our proposed clause it is 
 impossible now to give, but the sum and substance of it was, that when the Railway 
 Company removed the old Church, they should provide us with one having equal 
 accommodation, and in the same style and model as the one that was to be removed. 
 The Committee did not adopt our clause, but substituted one of their own, embodying 
 our views but making two important alterations — the first giving the Council a stringent 
 compulsitor on the Railway Company, by which the Company were completely stopped 
 in their operations till they fulfilled their obligations in regard to the Church ; the 
 other authorising the Railway Company to ofifer, and the Town Council to accept of, a 
 sum of money in lieu of their obligation to build. These conditions were inserted by the 
 Committee, not by me, and I had no power to resist them if I wished. Still, how- 
 ever, I thought then, as I do still, that the clause, if rightly interpreted, carried out our 
 views, though I recollect saying to Mr Hawes, the chairman, after the Committee had 
 decided, that I regretted the insertion of this last proviso, as I wished the responsibility 
 of building to rest upon the Railway Company, but he said the Committee thought 
 that by this alternative, if diificulties arose, parties might come to an arrangement. 
 Now, sir, I affirm that the whole contest was about the building of the Church and the 
 kind of church that was to be built by the Railway Company, or by the Town Council, 
 provided they accepted the money for that purpose ; and if the Town Council had not 
 objected to the plan prepared by the Railway Company, every penny of that money 
 would have been spent in building the Church for which the Railway Company had 
 prepared plans. Notwithstanding the contempt which Lord Westbury pours upon 
 those who were so ridiculous as to suppose that there was any principle of law or of 
 common sense tvhich compelled the Magistrates to expend the money on the actual repro- 
 duction of all the fanciful decorations of the old building, I am content to bear it in 
 such good company when I am classed with the learned judges in our Supreme Court, 
 whom his Lordship taunts as adopting suggestions unfitting for any reasonable mind to 
 entertain ; for I believe it would not only have been reasonable to have restored the 
 Church with all its decorations, but the question in dispute between the parties having 
 been decided by the Committee which acted as umpire in the case, I hold that, as 
 honourable men, we were bound to fulfil our part of the contract after we received the 
 money. 
 
 Although this letter is becoming tedious to me to write, and ■will be as tedious to 
 your readers to read, I must as briefly as possible notice the principal transactions that 
 followed in this case during my provostship. The Railway Company employed Mr 
 Rhind, the architect, to prepare plans for building the Church in Ireland's Woodyard.
 
 AN APPEAL TO THE HOUSE OF LORDS. 279 
 
 Tliis showed their interpretation of the Act — that it was the building of a church and 
 that it was only that which the clause provided for. The Magistrates objected to the 
 plan, especially to the site ; the SherLfiF, however, decided in favour of Mr Rhind's 
 plan ; but we, having a servitude over the site, put it in force, which checkmated the 
 Railway Company. The Directors then applied to me to see if we would take the 
 money and build ourselves. To this I agreed, and proposed to fix the sum payable by 
 the cost of the Church which they proposed to build. For this purpose Mr Rhind was 
 desired to procure estimates for the completion of his plan. These amounted to above 
 £16,000, which was paid to the Magistrates, whom I considered bound to proceed as 
 soon as convenient to implement their part of the bargain — to build the Church in the 
 form and model of the old one ; and if it had cost more than the money received from 
 the Railway Company for this purpose, they must have provided it. If it cost less, they 
 would be entitled to devote the balance to any useful purpose, and I recommended that, 
 in the event of there being a balance over, it should be expended on the repair of the 
 Greyfriars Church. Shortly after this, Mr Bryce, the architect, made what appeared 
 to me an excellent suggestion — that we should restore the Church stone by stone as 
 they stood, and that where they were decayed he could easily have them replaced ; 
 that he would thus literally remove the Church as it originally stood to another locality, 
 and at the same time complete what was unfinished of the original plan, which ho 
 estimated could be all done for from £10,000 to £12,000, and if we could have secured 
 an appropriate site, this would have been dooe. But by-and-by the Spirit of Discord 
 entered the Council, and after eighteen years of strife and heart-burnings and litiga- 
 tion, the bone of contention has been seized by a few old women who had the good 
 luck to enlist Professor Dick as their preux chevalier. 
 
 Now that the Goths have prevailed, what is to be done ? Some hint at an applica- 
 tion to Parliament. This, I suspect, would be unconstitutional — Parliament could not 
 reverse a decision, right or wrong, of the highest Court in the kingdom. At all 
 events, I do not think the House of Commons would listen to any application of 
 the kind, and to make any such attempt would be to involve ourselves in confusion 
 worse confounded. If the Church is to be restored, I can only see one way of accom- 
 plishing it, but even of that I have no great hope — a public subscription to supplement 
 the £7000 allowed by the Lord Chancellor ; and if it could be completed at nearly Mr 
 Bryce's estimate, this would be from £3000 to £5000. 
 
 I fear that we (I mean those who contended for the restoration of the Church) 
 have lost all but our honour. I have often contemplated in the gay visions of the mind 
 this fine specimen of ancient architecture adding to the embellishments of our beautiful
 
 280 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 City ; but at the Lord Chancelloi-'s thunder I awoke, and behold it was a dream. — I 
 am, etc., Adam Black. 
 
 It is a somewhat singular fact, that Lord Provost Black, Mr 
 John Sinclair, and the Society of Antiquaries, in their desire for the 
 restoration of a rare specimen of ancient church architecture, should 
 have so thoroughly lost sight of the chief object of the Charity, as it 
 had been developed since the Reformation, viz., — the support of the 
 poor. 
 
 The result of the Trinity College Church case was known in 
 Edinburgh on the 16th day of February 1864. It is a remarkable 
 coincidence, that on the afternoon of that same day, at 4.30, fire was 
 found to have broken out in the Royal Veterinary College, Clyde Street. 
 Some wags averred that the worthy Professor had kindled a bonfire 
 to celebrate his victory on behalf of the beneficiaries ; whilst, on the 
 other hand, it was alleged that it was the act of some evil-disposed 
 son of the Church, who did not relish the news. The cause of the 
 conflagration was never found out.
 
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 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 A NEW DIFFICULTY AND A SECOND APPEAL CASE. 
 
 |HEN the judgment of the House of Lords came to be applied, 
 as regards the case of Clephane and Others v. The Magistrates 
 and Town Council of Edinburgh, before the First Division of 
 the Court of Session (Lord President Inglis presiding), the interlocutor, 
 pronounced by the Court on the 11th day of December 1866, con- 
 tained inter alia the following findings : — " Further, finds that the 
 funds so to be employed by the said defenders shall consist of £7000 
 of the sum of £17,671, 9s. 6d. which they received from the Railway 
 Company as the price of the said former Church, with the interests and 
 accumulations thereof which have accrued, or shall hereafter accrue, to 
 the said defenders on the said sum of £7000, under deduction of such 
 sums as have been, or shall be, paid by them in the meantime for pro- 
 viding accommodation for the said congregation : Further, find that it 
 is not necessary or expedient, that the defenders should rebuild the 
 Hospital which belonged to the said charity, and which also has been 
 2 N
 
 282 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 removed by the said Railway Company, and appoint the said defend- 
 ers, within ten days from this date, to lodge in process a state of the 
 foresaid fund as it is at this date, and also, within six weeks from 
 this date, to lodge a minute, with a plan setting forth a site for, and 
 a plan of, the church to be built as aforesaid." 
 
 A perusal of the above order will show to any candid reader, that 
 whatever delays may from time to time occur in the tedious course 
 which requires to be pursued in the Law Courts, there was very little 
 consideration shown in the somewhat exacting nature of the above order, 
 which involved the labour and time of accountants and architects, with- 
 out any regard to the requirements of their ordinary avocations. The 
 only declaration in the above judgment which gave satisfaction was 
 the compliance with the desire expressed by the Corporation that the 
 Hospital should not be rebuilt, but that the money given for that 
 purpose should be capitalised, and the interest devoted to the granting 
 of additional outdoor pensions to the many applicants who were found 
 every half-year to be persistently knocking at the door of the Governors 
 of the charity. 
 
 But the order of the Court of Session was put a stop to, by 
 the pursuers (Clephane and Others) having again intimated an appeal 
 to the House of Lords. The object of the appeal was twofold. They 
 objected to the addition of interest on the £7000 being applied to the 
 building of the Church, and they contended on behalf of the beneficiaries, 
 that the Hospital should be rebuilt as well as the Church. On February 
 26, 1869, the appeal came before the House of Lords, when Mr James 
 Anderson, Q.C., and Mr C. Grey Wotherspoon again appeared for the 
 appellants. After hearing their case, it is proper to state that Sir R. 
 Palmer, Q.C., and Mr Mellish, Q.C., who appeared for the respondents, 
 were not called upon to reply. The following was the opinion of the 
 Appellate Lords, which is given word for word : —
 
 A NEW DIFFICULTY AND A SECOND APPEAL CASE. 283 
 
 Lord Chancellor Hatherlky. — My Lords, we are asked upou the present 
 occasion to reverse an interlocutor of the Court of Session, pronounced in December 
 1866. It appears that this important charity (for so I must denominate it) received, 
 in consequence of the purchase of part of its property by a Railway Company, a sum 
 of £17,000, nearly twenty-one years ago, I think in May 1848. Then a course of pro- 
 cedure has taken place by which, instead of dealing with this £17,000 for the purposes 
 and objects of the charity, a vast amount of expense has been incurred. The objects 
 of the charity have been to a certain extent (and perhaps to a certain extent only) dis- 
 regarded, whilst a contest has been going on between the Provost and Corporation of 
 Edinburgh, and those persons who are interested in the charity, as to the exact mode 
 in which this £17,000 shall be disposed of. The matter, however, came before your 
 Lordships' House exactly five years ago, and the decision of your Lordships was pro- 
 nounced in February 1864. It was to be hoped that the decision to which this House 
 came, and the order which was very carefully penned upon that occasion, for the 
 purpose of preventing all further dispute and litigation, might have had that beneficial 
 effect. However, unfortunately, it would appear to have been far otherwise, and now 
 in this fifth year since that order was pronounced, we are again called upon to decide 
 in a conflict, which a little good humour, joined to the great amount of intelligence 
 which, I have no doubt, is possessed by the parties, might have prevented ; and so an 
 end might have been put at once to this controversy, and there might have been long 
 since built in Edinburgh the Church which your Lordships' House desired should be 
 erected, and the rest of the fund might have been simply appropriated towards the 
 objects of the charity. 
 
 Now, the order of your Lordships being this, that a sum not exceeding £7000 
 should be appropriated to the erection of a Church on the site of that which has been 
 removed ; and your Lordships having plainly declared what the exact position of the 
 parties was, with reference to the property which had been taken, by saying that the 
 Church, when so erected at the expense of £7000, should be appropriated for the 
 benefit of those who were receiving the advantages of the charity; and that "subject to 
 that it should also be appropriated for the benefit of those who, for many years previous 
 to this litigation arising, had had the use of the Church as residents in Edinburgh," 
 and that, after erecting the Church, at an expense and not exceeding £7000, which 
 would be sufiicient for the purpose indicated, the residue should be appropriated for 
 the benefit of the charity, the House proceeded to direct inquiries, and the order 
 involved, amongst other things, this direction that "all the residue of the money 
 received from the said Railway Company, and all interest thereon, and all the rest
 
 284 TRINITY CX)LLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 of the property of the said Hospital, is applicable to the enlargement and maintenance 
 of the charity, as declared and established by the charters dated respectively the 12th 
 of November 1567, and the SGth of May 1587, in the proceedings mentioned, according 
 to a scheme to be settled for that purpose, including therein the rebuilding of the 
 Hospital, if the same shall be deemed necessary." 
 
 Now, I should have thought that it was plain and intelUgible to every mind to 
 which the words which I have read should be presented, and, therefore, to the appellants, 
 that it was intended that a proper scheme and arrangement should be submitted to 
 the Court in Scotland for the administration of the funds, and that such proper 
 scheme, if it should be deemed necessary, but not otherwise, should include the 
 erection of an Hospital ; and that, therefore, it was remitted to those who had to 
 consider, when brought before them in a proper manner by the submission of a 
 scheme, and to decide whether or not they, in their judgment, deemed the erection 
 of an Hospital necessary. If so, the whole of the learned argument to which we 
 have this day listened, is an argument addressed to us, for the purpose of asking 
 us to do that which it is impossible for us to do, viz. : — to reverse the decision 
 pre%'iously come to by your Lordships' House in the year ISGi. Because it appears 
 to me, that the argument which has been used is, that it is open to us now to say, 
 that, although it has been deemed unnecessary by those to whom the question has 
 been referred, that the Hospital should be erected, yet we must hold not only 
 that it is necessary, but that it was impossible for your Lordships, or for any other 
 tribunal whatever, to exercise any discretion on the subject. That is the argument 
 which has been addressed to us, and authorities have been cited to prove to us, 
 that we cannot alter, and that no one but the Legislature can alter, the pro\-isions 
 which, it is alleged, were made by the original charter by making any use of these 
 funds until the Hospital be first erected as a substantial building. 
 
 There one perhaps might stop, for really the whole case seems to turn upon 
 that single point. But I think it is due to your Lordships' House to say, that it 
 does not appear to me, that any error existed in the conclusion which was so come to. 
 For what, after all, is the true object, purport, and intent of this charter with which 
 we have to deal t The charter contains the following recital : — " Know ye us, and 
 our dearest cousin, James Earl of Murray, Regent of our kingdom, moved by fervent 
 and zealous purpose to support and assist the poverty, penuary, and want of money, 
 and diverse aged and impotent persons, who, in their old age, have lost their means 
 and estates, by and through the events of adverse fortune, so that they may not 
 perish and die through extreme hunger, penuary, and want of necessary sustenance j
 
 A NEW DIFFICULTY AND A SECOND APPEAL CASE. 285 
 
 and, therefore, moved by piety and a good conscience, to afford them such help and 
 assistance as their want and need require ; as also understanding that this purpose can- 
 not be properly carried into effect without our supplement and authority." That 
 indicates the motive on the part of the Crown. The motive there is simply sustaining 
 the poverty, penury, and want of those persons who are so afflicted, in order " that they 
 might not perish and die through extreme hunger, penuary, and want of necessary sus- 
 tenance." And then, as regards Sir Simon Preston, to whom the grant is made by the 
 Crown, it proceeds to state what his object was : — viz., " that Sir Simon Preston has the 
 intention and deliberate, firm and set purpose, to build, found, and with all care and 
 diligence endow an Hospital with reasonable support, for such foresaid honest, poor, and 
 impotent persons, aged and sick indwellers and inhabitants within our burgh of Edin- 
 burgh, and also for such other old, impotent, and indigent people as shall be found fit 
 objects for receiving such benefits and charity in the Hospital so to be founded." Then 
 it proceeds to say, that, in order to set the example to the subjects of good works, the 
 Crown grants this property, which is vacant in its hands, "and at our gift and disposal, 
 as shall be most fit and convenient for building, erecting, repairing, and reforming the 
 said Hospital, with houses, biggings, and yards thereof, where there seems to be the 
 greatest concourse and passage of people, as well stranger as townsman, by whose daily 
 alms said Hospital may be benefited." Then the Crown proceeds to grant the Church, 
 called the Collegiate Church of the Trinity, with all the buildings belonging to it ; and 
 the grant is expressed to be " for the building and construction of the said Hospital, 
 houses, yards, and policies thereof, for the maintenance of the poor and .sick, to be 
 placed by them therein only, and for no other use." 
 
 Now I apprehend, that the real scope and scheme of the whole of that charter 
 was this, that the primary and leading object, first of the Crown and then of Sir 
 Simon Preston, was the relief of the poor and distressed, and providing for the necessi- 
 ties of the aged, and impotent, and infirm ; and that, finding a place where he coukl 
 conveniently erect a building for that object, he obtained from the Crown a grant to 
 enable him to carry that primary object into effect, by the erection of a suitable 
 building or Hospital. It is not what is ordinarily found in foundations of hospitals 
 as such. It is not a scheme by which anythmg in the shape of a permanent building 
 and a permanent staff thereto attached, or the constant continuance of the building 
 for the purpose here described, is suggested. Nothing of that kind appears in the 
 grant. There is no provision for a governor, or a master, or matron, or nurses, or 
 chaplain. There is not one of those provisions, and the grant does not seem to indicate 
 any more than what I have described, viz., that the mind of the Crown is set, and the
 
 286 TRINITY COLLEUK AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 mind of Sir Simon Preston is set, upon doing all that can be done for persons in this 
 infirm and unhappy condition. And tbat which appears to have presented itself to 
 the mind both of the Crown and Sir Simon Preston was this : Here is a place which 
 will assist us in carrying this work into eflect. Here we can erect a building, and 
 here can place the poor, the sick, and infirm. 
 
 Now, what happened was this : Time after time the building was in a bad 
 state of repair, and at one time it appears to have become almost ruinous. At one 
 time there seems to have been a charter granted, which .stated, that the building 
 might be taken down and disposed of by the Corporation in such a manner as was 
 thought most useful, and they thought it most useful to rebuild it. I refer to that 
 passage, which is to be found in the condescendence of the appellants, .simply for the 
 purpose of showing, that the original intent and purpose and scheme of the whole 
 charity were such as I have described, and that it was not a charity for which it was 
 essential that a building should be provided which should be always attached to the 
 charity, or one with regard to which any provision was made for continuing it in the 
 shape of an Hospital, to be governed by rules, ordinances, and regulations such as 
 those to which I have referred, and such as you find in the constitution of ordinary 
 hospitals, founded for a special purpose of their being continued in perpetuity under the 
 terms of the grant. 
 
 Now, that bemg so, what do we find in point of practice, has occurred 1 We find 
 that, for more than eighty years, the course has been (and it appears to me not incon- 
 sistent with the objects either of the founders or of the Crown) to afford relief to the 
 distressed objects mentioned in the grant outside the walls of the building. It seems 
 to have been thought, that the existence of a substantial edifice formed no necessary 
 part whatever of the object of the founder. Since the year 1846 or 1847, when the 
 Hospital was taken down by the RaDway Company, the charity has been continued to 
 be wholly administered in that manner. The sick, the aged, and the poor have been 
 relieved in a different manner from that prescribed by the charter. And so your Lord- 
 ships appear to have thought it might possibly be administered hereafter ; that the 
 House was not inflexibly bound by the charter to administer it through the medium of 
 residence within the four walls of the building, and that it was right and reasonable, 
 that a judgment should be exercised by competent authority upon that subject, and 
 that it was open to such authority to exercise a judgment upon it. That conclusion 
 having been come to, your Lordships' House left it to the adjudication of those to 
 whom the whole scheme was to be submitted. And I apprehend, that that being so, 
 no rule of law was transgressed. And I am happy to think that the case was such ;
 
 A NEW DIFFICULTY AND A SECOND APPEAL CASE. 287 
 
 because there had never been in our judgment anything in that decision ■which 
 militated against any previous rule of law. It would undoubtedly not bo competent 
 to us at the present moment, without having that case reheard (if such a thing was 
 possible), to reverse that decision. 
 
 The only remaining question to which I need advert, is this. It is said, if it be 
 not necessary to erect the Hospital, why erect the Church 1 There, again, we are un- 
 doubtedly precluded by the order of the House, pronounced on the former occasion. 
 But, even if it were not so precluded, I do not at all admit the justice of the argument. 
 Many of these persons who are relieved by means of this charity may be residing in the 
 neighbourhood. There is no reason why it should not be so ; and the probal^ility is, that 
 many of them would have their residence in the neighbourhood of this Church, and 
 many of them, therefore, would be partakers of the benefit which the decree of this 
 House was intended to secure to them. 
 
 The only remaining point which occurred in the argument was the point with re- 
 ference to the objections which were taken to the " states " brought in before the Court 
 of Session. It appears to me, I confess, that there is nothing whatever of which the 
 appellants are to complain in that respect. The only important item which they might 
 have some ground hereafter for disputing (if the parties have not the good sense, which 
 I trust they will have, to arrange all these matters in the manner in which charities above 
 all things should be arranged) is under the twelfth objection, which was raised with 
 reference to certain expenditure incurred on account of plans and surveys, and other 
 matters of that description in connection with the Church. That is expressly reserved 
 by the interlocutor complained of. We have, therefore, nothing to do with that part of 
 the case. And with regard to the other objections, I see nothing of substance in them. 
 The only alteration which appears to me necessary to be made, is with regard to what 
 has already been suggested by one of your Lordships, namely, the omission of the 
 interest which has occurred in the £7000 as being the sum properly applied to the 
 erection of a Church ; because it is quite clear that, by the order made upon the former 
 occasion, £7000 was appointed as the maximum. There was no question of the interest 
 which might arise upon the £7000, but whenever the Church is built, no more than 
 £7000 is to be expended upon it, and it may be that not so much is necessary, at all 
 events no more can be expended. I would, therefore, upon that point propose to your 
 Lordships after the words £7000 in the second finding, to add the words "if so much 
 be required." 
 
 Then, with regard to costs, in substance the appellants fail in the present appeal, 
 and the costs must follow. The appellants sue as paupers, and, of course, as far as they
 
 288 TRINITY COLLEGK AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 are concerned, they will pay no costs. The House will not make any order with 
 reference to the payment of costs by them. But it appears to me that, with your 
 Lordships' sanction, no costs ought to bo allowed to them in this appeal. With regard 
 to the respondents, I confess that after what we have heard, and especially after what 
 has last fallen from Mr Anderson, v'iz., that although there was a suggestion, that the 
 question of interest should be waived, in order that fewer points might arise for 
 argument, it was distinctly stated, that it would make no difference whatever in 
 the appeal being prosecuted, it seems to me that the respondents are entitled to have 
 their costs out of the charity. Therefore, what I should propose to your Lordships 
 would be to affirm the decree, with th6 variations which I have suggested ; to grant no 
 costs to the appellants, and to direct that the costs of the respondents should be paid 
 out of the charity estate. 
 
 LoED Chelmsford. — My Lords, with reference to the argument on behalf of the 
 appellants, the only question to be determined is, whether the Magistrates of Edinburgh 
 were bound to erect a new building to be used as an Hospital in place of that which 
 was taken down to make room for the railway ? This question depends upon the effect 
 of the charter, and upon whether it fastens on the Magistrates of Edinburgh an 
 irrevocable trust, that there shall always be a building to be used as an Hospital to the 
 end of time. 
 
 Now, the primary object of the charter of James VI. in 1567, as my noble and 
 learned friend on the Woolsack has pointed out, was the help and assistance to aged 
 and impotent persons. There was no recital in the charter, that for those persons it 
 was necessary to build and endow an Hospital ; but all that is said is, " Understanding 
 that this purpose cannot be properly carried into effect, without our supplement and 
 authority," and then it goes on to recite, that " Sir Simon Preston has expressed his 
 intention to build, found, and endow an Hospital, with reasonable support for such 
 foresaid honest and poor and impotent persons." Then, there is a grant to the 
 Magistrates of Edinburgh for the building and construction of the Hospital, " for the 
 maintenance of the poor and sick, to be placed by them therein only, and for no other 
 use," with a proviso that they shall be bound to apply " the places and others foresaid 
 to the foresaid use, and no other." Now, I understand by that merely this, that as 
 long as the building remains, it shall be used for the purposes of an Hospital, and for 
 no other use or purpose, and not that there shall always be a building to be applied to 
 the purposes of the charter. That it was not necessary that a building should always 
 exist for this purpose, appears to me to be clear upon the words of the charter of 26th 
 May 1587, which authorised the Magistrates to apply the old Hospital buildings which
 
 A NEW DIFFICULTY AND A SECOND APPEAL CASE. 289 
 
 had become ruinous to whatever profitable use might seem expedient. And there i.s no 
 direction whatever, that, if the ruinous building is taken down, another shall be erected 
 in its place. 
 
 Now, if the effect of the charter was, that the Magistrates should always maintain 
 an Hospital for the reception of poor persons, there certainly was great difficulty in 
 justifying the former order of this House, leaving the question of the re-erection of 
 an Hospital to depend upon whether it should be deemed necessary. But no necessity 
 for the continuance of a building as an Hospital for ever can be deduced from the 
 charters. This seems to me conceded by the appellants themselves ; for, in the conde- 
 scendence, viz. Cond. 25, they say, " In consequence of the building of the Hospital having 
 been removed by the Railway Company, and of no new Hospital buildings having 
 been yet erected, there are no inmates or poor persons supported or maintained in any 
 one building or Hospital at present ; but instead, pensions in weekly, monthly, or 
 termly payments are granted to the pursuers, and to a great many other poor persons. 
 In the event of a new Hospital being erected, the pursuers or some of them would 
 be entitled to be received as inmates thereof." They, therefore, state it as a contingency 
 whether a new Hospital will be erected or not. If the erection of a new Hospital had 
 been absolutely necessary, their words would have been, " When a new Hospital is 
 erected, the pursuers or some of them will be entitled to be received as inmates 
 thereof." 
 
 This being so, the order of the House, upon the former occasion, was perfectly 
 correct. It was justified by the provisions of the charter, and it is in itself conclusive 
 of this question ; because, after providing £7000 for the Church, it is declared 
 " that all of the residue of the money received from the Railway Company, and all 
 interest thereon, and all the rest of the property of the said Hospital, is applicable 
 to the enlargement and maintenance of the said charity as declared and established 
 by the charters dated respectively 12th November 1567 and 26th May 1587, in 
 the said proceedings mentioned, according to a scheme to be settled for that purpose, 
 including therein the rebuilding of the Hospital, if the same shall be deemed necessary. 
 And it is further ordered, that it be referred to the Court of Session to settle and 
 approve of such scheme accordingly." 
 
 The Court of Session by their interlocutor applied that judgment ; and they 
 directed, amongst other things, that a statement of the moneys which belonged to 
 the property of which the Hospital consisted should bo made ; and also that, within 
 four weeks, the parties should lodge a scheme showing the proposed application "of 
 the said properties and funds." In pursuance of that interlocutor, a scheme was
 
 290 TBINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 accordingly proposed by the trustees of the Hospital, and submitted to the Court 
 of Session, and in that scheme there is the following statement : — " The trustees beg 
 to state that, in their opinion, it is unnecessary and inexpedient that a new Hospital 
 should be buUt. It appears to them, that the funds under their management would 
 be more beneficially applied by continuing the out^door system of relief." Upon 
 this, the Court of Session pronounced their interlocutor, finding "that it is not 
 necessary or expedient that the defenders should rebuild the Hospital, which belonged 
 to the said charity, and which has been also removed by the said Railway Company." 
 And against this interlocutor, this appeal is made. 
 
 I think that I have already shown your Lordships sutEciently, that the order that 
 was made by the House upon the previous occasion was well founded, and that there 
 is no objection to it with reference to any restrictive words in that charter. I, 
 therefore, entirely agree with my noble and learned friend upon the Woolsack, that 
 this interlocutor must be affirmed. I also agree with him, with regard to the 
 alteration which he has suggested, and likewise upon the subject of the costs. 
 
 Lord Westbury. — My Lords, I should hardly feel it necessary to add a word to 
 what has been addressed to your Lordships, but for some observations which fell from 
 the appellants' counsel, and which served to show, that the subject of the administration 
 of charitable trusts is not yet perfectly apprehended. The jurisdiction of the Court of 
 Session and jurisdiction of a Court of Equity in England upon the subject of the 
 administration of charitable trusts are one and the same. Undoubtedly, in England, 
 we have had a greater number of cases, and therefore the principles have been more 
 fully developed. The rules which have been laid down, and the authorities in England, 
 are of course not binding on the Court of Session, yet, as they are illustrations of the 
 convenient mode of the application of the same principles of law, I daresay, that when- 
 ever an opportunity arises, the Court of Session will deem them entitled to respect 
 and attention. 
 
 Now, in both Courts this principle has prevailed, namely, that there shall be a 
 very enlarged adminLstration of charitable trusts. You look to the charity which is 
 intended to be created, that is to say, the benefit of the beneficiary, and you distinguish 
 between the charity and the means which are directed to the attainment of that charity. 
 Now, the means of necessity vary from age to age. Take a charity consisting, as it 
 does here, of the relief of the poor. The condition of the country, or the condition of 
 the town at the time when that charity was created, may have dictated what at that 
 time were very convenient means for the application of the particular charity. In the 
 progress of society, and with the greater difi^ision of wealth and growth of population.
 
 A NEW DIFFICULTY AND A SECOND APPEAL CASE. 291 
 
 the means originally indicated may become inadequate to the end, and the Courts of 
 Equity have always exercised the power of varying the means of carrying out the 
 charity from time to time, according as by that variation they can secure more effectually 
 the great object of the charity, namely, the benefit of the beneficiary. 
 
 Now, it is perfectly true, that you cannot substitute one charity for anotlier ; you 
 may substitute for a particular charity which has been defined, and which has failed, 
 another charity ejusdem yeneris, or which approaches it in its nature and character ; but 
 it is quite true that you cannot take a charity which was intended for one purpose and 
 apply it altogether to a different purpose. Some instances occur in our English reports 
 upon the subject, but on an examination it will be found that what was done in those 
 cases was not done under the ordinary authority of the Court of Equity, but that it was 
 done in cases where the cliarity described failed by reason of its illegality, and where it 
 fell to the Crown to declare what should be the form of administration to be adopted. 
 I mention this, because our attention has been directed to the language which was used 
 by Lord Eldon in the case of the Attorney-General v. Mansfield. That language was 
 never intended at all to alter the law upon this subject, namely, that the means for the 
 attainment of the end may be altered from time to time. Neither was that language 
 intended to interfere with the settled doctrine of what is called cypres application in a 
 Court of Equity. But it was intended only to apply to such a case as this. Supposing 
 that an attempt is made to take a charity given for the relief of the poor in a particular 
 district, and to employ the money so dedicated for the purpose of building a bridge, or 
 making a road, or draining a town, — those objects being quite diverni yeneris from the 
 objects for which the charity was given, — probably those objects would not come within 
 the powers of a Court of Equity. But the power of a Court of Equity to alter the 
 means so as to adapt them to the end, is undoubtedly not limited. 
 
 Now, what is the case which we have to consider here 1 Tlie benevolence of Sir 
 Simon Preston, and of the Court acting at his instance, was moved on account of the 
 condition of the poor of Edinburgh, and as one means of benefiting the condition of 
 the poor, he was able to erect, and had land granted to him, upon which he might erect 
 dwellings for the poor ; for, although you call it an " Hospital," yet the word " Hospital " 
 is to be considered with reference to that which is here described, and you must not 
 derive from the word " Hospital " the idea which is frequently attached to it at the 
 present day, namely, a particular building with a certain staff of ofiicers, and with 
 directions to receive annuitants therein, and to allow them certain sums of money, and 
 to keep up a number of oflBcers, a chaplain, and a superintendent, and so on, who are 
 directed to be maintained in an Hospital. That is an Hospital consisting of a certain
 
 292 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 number of recipients of charity, whose interest in the charity is defined, and the 
 Hospital is to be for them a place of permanent dwelling. But, in the direction here 
 given, for the establishment of an Hospital, there is nothing more, so far as the charters 
 go, than as it were the erection of an ordinary poorbouse, where the poor and the sick 
 may be received and lodged and maintained, so long as may be necessary, and the whole 
 seems to be left entirely to the arbitrium and discretion of the superintending authority 
 by the founder of the charity. 
 
 Now, those buildings, such as they were, have been swept away by the authority 
 of the law, by a Railway Company, and there is substituted for the buildings a large 
 sum of money. Where is the necessity that that sum of money constituting the 
 property of the charity should be dedicated to the use and service of the poor, in 
 the same manner as that in which, at the time of the foundation of the charity, 
 it was considered that the end of relieving the poor might be accomplished 1 If 
 the end of relieving the poor can be better accomplished now, by hiring dwellings for 
 them, or by enabling them to get lodging or cottages or dwellings of their own, 
 the substantial object will be accomplished ; and, of course, it is palpable to every 
 one, that if we allow, for example, the laying out of £10,000 in the erection of 
 suitable buildings for the reception of the poor, the inteiest of that money will be 
 so much taken away from the number of pensions which might be given in out-door 
 relief. Whether it should be the one, or whether it should be the other, depends on 
 the circumstances of the time, and on what constitutes a wise and prudent and discreet 
 administration of the funds of the charity, and that administration may alter. It 
 does not follow that, because we approve of out-door relief to-day, the scheme 
 continuing that form of application should have perpetual duration. Another 
 set of circumstances may arise ten, twenty or fifty years hence, which will suggest 
 another, and a more beneficial form of administration. And thus it is, that charity 
 in the eye of the Court is not bound up to any absolute and no longer beneficial mode 
 of administration ; but it may receive, under these wise maxims, from time to time, 
 that application and that administration of the fund which will best accomplish the 
 great end in view. 
 
 I, therefore, think that these considerations would Justify to the mind, not only 
 of every lawyer, but I should hope of every wise man, who was really intent upon 
 works of benevolence, the sort of order which was made by this House. The House 
 undoubtedly saw no legal obligation for the erection of a building, or for the 
 maintenance of a building, and it therefore only regarded the building as something 
 suggested at that time with a view to an end. Whether there should be another
 
 A NEW DIFFICULTY AND A SECOND APPEAL CASE. 293 
 
 building or not, was left to the discretion of those who were armed with the power 
 of administering this charity, and it was accordingly settled deliberately by 
 this House, that if they deemed a new Hospital necessary, a new Hospital should 
 be built; but that if they deemed the building of a new Hospital unnecessary 
 for the benefit of the poor, then there was no obligation to erect such a building. 
 
 Now, the appellants have neither here, nor in the Court of Session, presented any 
 considerations, or any peculiar circumstances, or any facts upon which the Court of 
 Session would have been warranted in coming to the conclusion, that it was necessary 
 to build an Hospital. What then, have we here 1 We have an administration which 
 has been exclusively directed to out-door relief for the last twenty-one years, and an 
 administration which has consisted as to the greater portion of the funds, in out-door 
 relief since 1785. Then, what is there to justify our departing from all that has 
 been done, altering the course which we find to have existed, and directing so much 
 of the funds of this charity to be laid out in what would probably be found to be 
 a wasteful and useless form of application 1 
 
 If these things had been considered, as I think they ought to have been considered 
 below, I think we should not have observed the strange spectacle of an appeal brought 
 here in the hopeless attempt to alter the order of the House ; and I think that we 
 might have been spared observations which were directed to show, that the order 
 of the House was inconsistent with law and with justice. I have dwelt so much upon 
 this point, not because I felt that the orders of your Lordships' House required to be 
 remedied, but only to repeat the considerations which were present to the minds of 
 my noble and learned friends, who with me heard the former appeal, and to my own 
 mind, when that order was pronounced. 
 
 There is nothing else, I think, which remains to be said, except with regard to 
 the variation which is proposed to be made in the interlocutor appealed from. It is 
 quite true, that words have crept into the interlocutor, which have proceeded upon 
 a misunderstanding of a portion of your Lordships' order. It is unnecessary to 
 show how clear the language of that order was, and that it ought not to have been 
 misunderstood, because the respondents very handsomely say, that it was a misunder- 
 standing of the order, and they desire to have deleted from the order so much of the 
 language as contains that misunderstanding. It thus becomes requisite to add to the 
 words " £7000," in the passage which has been referred to, the words, " if so much 
 be required," and then to delete the words which follow in italics. 
 
 With respect to the rest of the appeal, the indignation and complaint against 
 the charges relating to plans, are answered at once by this, that there is an inquiry
 
 294 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 which is not yet exhausted. There will probably be very important questions arising 
 upon that portion of the objections ; but we, of course, do not deal with matters which 
 are reserved by the Court of Session for further consideration. 
 
 I entirely concur with my noble and learned friend on the Woolsack, as to the 
 manner in which he proposes to your Lordships to dispose of the costs. If, indeed, this 
 appeal had been directed only to the erroneous part of the interlocutor, then I should 
 have required the respondents to show, that they had been willing to abandon that 
 erroneous part. But then they were told, that, whether they did it or not, the appeal 
 would go forward. I think that the respondents acted with great propriety In telling 
 the appellants : — We do not mean to maintain that part of the order ; and, if you, 
 indeed, bring it forward before the House, it is more becoming that it should be ex- 
 pun'^ed by the authority of the House, than that we should make any application to the 
 Court of Session to alter the judgment which has been pronounced. 
 
 I, therefore, think, that the respondents are entitled to their costs. But I hope 
 and trust that this is the last we shall hear of this matter ; and I rejoice the more, that 
 we can with perfect justice refuse to the appellants their costs ; because I think that it 
 will be one of the most effective and most salutary modes of preventing further litiga- 
 tion. Let that be remembered, because without it I feel certain, that if hereafter there 
 were a peg upon which an appeal could be hung, we should have that appeal brought 
 here. Probably this matter will not be any longer a subject of litigation in this House, 
 when the parties find that they cannot look with anything like confidence to the costs 
 coming out of the fund. 
 
 Lord Colonsay. — My Lords, as to the question whether or not another building 
 should be erected as an Hospital, the matters for consideration in the Court below 
 appear to have been first, whether they rightly understood the judgment or deliver- 
 ance of your Lordships as having dealt with that question, and secondly, whether if they 
 rightly understood it as having dealt with that question, and having left it to the 
 discretion of those who had the management of the charity, there has been anything 
 advanced to show that that discretion has been ill-used. Now, upon both these points, 
 I think that the case is clear. I think it very clear, from reading the judgment or 
 deliverance of this House in 1864, that the House did deal and did intend to deal with 
 the question, whether or not an Hospital building should be erected, and that the 
 House dealt with it by leaving it to the discretion of those who had the management 
 of the charity, to determine, whether it was expedient or necessary that such a building 
 should be erected. Those parties having come to the conclusion, that it was not 
 necessary, and that it was not expedient to erect an Hospital, but that it was more
 
 A NEW DIFFICULTY AND A SECOND APPEAL CASE. 295 
 
 expedient and more fitting that the relief should be given to the objects of it out of 
 doors, and nothing having been urged here as matter of discretion against that 
 decision, I think we have no course here but to affirm the judgment of the House and 
 of the Court below in that matter. If it had been open to us now to go into the 
 question, whether the charters which have been read made it absolutely necessary that 
 an Hospital should be erected, and precluded all discretion under all circumstances, we 
 might have had a different course of proceeding to follow out. But, as far as I have 
 been able to judge from the argument which has been submitted to us, I see no reason 
 to doubt that the deliverance of this House in 1864, was perfectly in accordance with 
 the principle and with the tenor of these charters. 
 
 But there is another point in this case, as to the sum which was intended to be 
 applied to the building of a Church. I have no doubt now, after hearing what your 
 Lordships who took part in the proceedings in 1864 have said, that the Court below 
 have misread the judgment or deliverance of the House upon that matter. They have 
 interpreted it in a sense in which it was not intended to be interpreted, and therefore 
 the alteration which has been suggested in the judgment of the Court below must be 
 made, and the amount of money to be applied to the erection of a Church must be 
 limited to the sum of £7000. I hope, however, with regard to that matter, there will 
 bo no further delay in carrying out the direction of the House or of the Court below. 
 As long as that matter is delayed, that sum, whatever it may be, which ought long 
 ago to have been applied to the erection of a Church, is lying accumulating for 
 the benefit, as it is said, of the charity, but to the detriment of those who are to 
 have the benefit of the Church. I hope, therefore, that no impediment will be inter- 
 posed to the application of that fund to the purpose to which it has been directed to be 
 applied. 
 
 As to the notion, that, if there is to be no building of an Hospital, there is to be no 
 Church, I think that I must regard that as more ingenious than sound. I cannot go along 
 with the notion, that no parties are to have the benefit from the Church accommodation 
 except the parties who reside within the buildings of the Hospital, and those parties 
 residing in the neighbourhood of the Church, who are recipients of the fund. I think, 
 under the interpretation which has been put upon the charters, the recipients of this 
 charity are the parties who are primarily entitled to the benefit of accommodation in 
 that Church, and that when the judgment of the Court below used the expression 
 " beneficiaries," it used it properly, seeing, that in the view which that Court took, and 
 in the view which this House has taken, there were to be no inmates. It did not 
 follow from that, that the beneficiaries of the charity are to be deprived of Church
 
 296 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 accommodation. They are entitled to have it, and then further accommodation is to 
 be given to the parties residing in the neighbourhood. 
 
 As to the matter of costs, I entirely concur in what has been suggested by my 
 noble and learned friend. 
 
 The Lord Chancellor put the question as follows : — That the 
 interlocutor complained of be affirmed, with the following variations, 
 that is to say, by inserting in the second finding the words " if so much 
 be required" after "£7000 " where they first occur in that finding, and 
 by omitting in the same finding all the words, that follow the word 
 " Church." And that the appellants neither receive nor pay costs of 
 this appeal. And that the costs of the respondents be retained by 
 them out of the charity estate. 
 
 The appellants' agents were Messrs AVotherspoon and Morrison, 
 W.S., Edinburgh, and Messrs Simson and Wakeford, Westminster. 
 
 The respondents' agents were Messrs Millar, Allardice and Robson, 
 W.S., Edinburgh ; and Mr John Graham, Westminster.
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 THE CARCASE AND THE EAGLES. 
 
 T is related in the New Testament, " wheresoever the carcase 
 is, there will the eagles be gathered together." The funds 
 of the Trinity Hospital Charity were no exception to the 
 rule thus laid down in holy writ. 
 
 In the year 1810, an attempt was made by the clergy of the city 
 to obtain possession for themselves of the rich heritage, as they sup- 
 posed, which had been provided for what might in all truthfulness at 
 that time be designated "the genteel poor of Edinburgh." An action 
 was raised by the city ministers, including the minister of Trinity 
 College Church, to have it found and declared that, under the Charter 
 of 1566 by Queen Mary, as well as under subsequent charters already 
 adverted to, they were entitled to claim right to the Church lands and 
 revenues thereby conveyed, on the ground that these were vested in 
 the Magistrates and Town Council, for the purpose of their being 
 applied by them to the support of the ministers of the city and other 
 ecclesiastical purposes. The defenders, however, maintained in their 
 defences, that the funds referred to were destined to various other 
 purposes besides the payment of the stipends of the clergy. We have 
 2 p
 
 298 TRINITY COLLKGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 already seen that the late Bailie Andrew Fyfe would not have hesi- 
 tated to have appropriated the revenues of the charity in helping to 
 put an end to the Annuity Tax in the city, and thereby save the 
 ratepayers' pockets. We are thus presented with the strange anomaly 
 of the radical voluntary at a later period, practically adopting the views 
 of the city clergy of a previous generation, though their respective 
 motives were very different. The clergy were unsuccessful in their law 
 suit. The Court decided adverse to their claim. After a good deal 
 of debate and Court procedure, the Magistrates and Town Council, as 
 Governors of Trinity Hospital, were assoilzied from the conclusions of 
 the action at the instance of the city ministers ; and, for at least half 
 a century thereafter, the Corporation was allowed to manage the affairs 
 of the charity after the fashion or mode that they had been accus- 
 tomed to do previously. 
 
 When the question of the sale of the Trinity College Church and 
 Hospital came to the front, chiefly in consequence of the large sum 
 given by the Railway Company for the ecclesiastical edifice, as well 
 as the sum allowed for the site of the Hospital and adjacent grounds, 
 the representatives of the University authorities tried to institute pro- 
 ceedings against the Governors, as if they had some claim, or reason 
 why they should be allowed to partake in some degree of the good 
 things which they supposed were agoing at the time. They gave a 
 considerable amount of bother, and occupied no end of time that might 
 have been more profitably spent by the town's officials. But they 
 found out, in due course, that their inquiries were of no avail. They 
 had already got all that they were entitled to receive. They found out 
 that they had no title to participate — how much soever they desired 
 
 it in what was given for, and for generations had been, the heritage 
 
 of the poor burgesses of Edinburgh. In fact, with the exception of 
 the fabrics of the Church and Hospital and the adjacent grounds, the
 
 THE CARCASE AND THE EAGLES. 299 
 
 benefactions to the charity were the result of repeated appeals to the 
 benevolence of the public on the part of the successive bodies of 
 Governors, as well as the pious mortifications of citizens and friends, 
 who possessed hearts to feel for and sympathise with the suflcrings 
 and straits of their less-favoured sisters and brothers. 
 
 Another claimant, however, appeared that was not quite so easily 
 disposed of. 
 
 This was the Parochial Board of the Parish of the City of Edin- 
 burgh, who, on the second day of October 1863, raised an action at the 
 instance of Mr George Greig (their inspector) to have certain funds in 
 the possession of the Town Council, for behoof of the poor of the city, 
 transferred to them and so placed under the parochial control and 
 dispensation. The following observations are abstracted from the 
 Memorial which the Poor's Board laid before learned Counsel for their 
 guidance in the matter : — 
 
 I. The Parochial Board of the City Parish of Edinburgh (which is 
 exclusively a Burghal Parish) claims from the Magistrates and Town 
 Council, as representing the Corporation of the City of Edinburgh, the 
 following property and funds : — 
 
 (1.) The houses and ground now occupied by the poor, including 
 therein right to the feu-duty of the Free New North Church (part of 
 the Poorshouse grounds feued by the Corporation), and right to resume 
 Forrest Road (also part of the Poorshouse grounds), for the benefit of 
 the poor. 
 
 (2.) The City Bonds forming the residue of Paul's Work Morti- 
 fication. 
 
 (3.) Trinity Hospital, and the funds thereto pertaining ; and 
 
 (4.) Delivery of all parochial titles, records, and papers. 
 
 The facts on which these claims were rested, were detailed in the 
 printed document.
 
 300 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 It would extend this volume to unusual dimensions, were* reference 
 made to the various documents prepared by the City Parochial Board, 
 and submitted to learned counsel as to this claim, which in the language 
 of the present day would be designated " a very large order." 
 
 It may be sufficient to note the demands which were made upon 
 the Town Council, as Governors of the Trinity Hospital, and to leave 
 the other claims to take care of themselves. 
 
 In the demands of the City Parochial Board, for the funds pertain- 
 ing to the Trinity Hospital, it is right to state that these were based 
 upon the fact that, on 12th November 1567, King James VI., moved 
 by fervent and zealous purpose to support and assist the poverty, 
 penury, and want of many and divers aged and impotent persons, 
 who, in their old age have lost their means and estates by and through 
 the events of adverse fortune, or that they may not perish and die 
 through extreme hunger, penury, and want of sustenance ; and there- 
 fore, moved by piety and good conscience to afford them such help 
 and assistance as their want and need require (reference is then made 
 to Sir Simon Prestoun and his resolution to found a hospital, as the 
 same has already been duly recited in this volume) ; and the paper 
 concludes with the followins; observations : — 
 
 What was then " our Burgh of Edinburgh " is now " the City 
 Parish of Edinburgh." The Corporation was at that time bound to 
 support "cruicked focke, seik focke, impotent focke, and weak focke " 
 (sic); and in 1579 — twelve years after this charter, the class of paupers 
 so to be supported and housed by the Corporation, was defined by Act 
 of Parliament, to be " all aged, pure, impotent, and decayed persons, 
 whilkes of necessitie maun live by almes." In 1587, the Council 
 acquired from Robert Pont, then provost of Trinity College, the 
 provostry thereof, and its revenues ; and having thus become vested 
 in the whole subjects, applied to the Crown, and procured ratifications
 
 THE CARCASE AND THE EAGLES. 
 
 301 
 
 and confirmations thereof, and of the titles thereof, in the person of 
 the Council. In particular, the grant of "the College Kirk, callit 
 the Trinitie College, w' ye kirkyaird yairof, the mansioues the hous's 
 and zairds yairof, ye hospitall callit ye Hospitall of ye Trinitie College, 
 and zaird," was ratified by His Majesty in 1587 to the Council, "to ye 
 efl'ect zat ye said Provost, Baillies and Counsall my' big and erect ane 
 hospitall upown ye samen for sustentation of ye puir, honest, aget, 
 and decayit personis within ye said burgh, and utheris having neid 
 of support, as the said donation and gift, of ye dait ye xii day of 
 November, the zeir of God 1567 zeiris in lyk maner, at mair len' pro- 
 portis." The grant of Trinity Hospital was again, with all previous 
 grants to "the poor, aged, decripped, and indigent persons, orphans 
 and infants destitute of parents, within the said burgh, of whatsomever 
 dates, tenor, and contents the same be," confirmed by the Crown, on 
 7th August 1612, by the great charter of Kirk livings, in favour of 
 this Council. 
 
 It will thus be seen that the poor were, by 
 
 
 Statute Law. 
 
 
 Trinity Charter, 1567. 
 
 
 New Grant, 1612. 
 
 1. 
 
 Cruicked folk. 
 
 5. 
 
 Sick. 
 
 3. 
 
 Decripped. 
 
 2. 
 3. 
 
 Sick folk. 
 Impotent folk. 
 
 3. 
 4. 
 
 Impotent. 
 Aged. 
 
 5. 
 
 Orphans and in- 
 fants destitute of 
 
 4. 
 
 Weak folk. 
 
 2. 
 
 Poor. 
 
 
 parents. 
 
 
 Act, 1579. 
 
 1. 
 
 Honest Poor. 
 
 2. 
 
 Aged. 
 
 5. 
 6. 
 
 Aged. 
 Poor. 
 
 3. 
 6. 
 
 Impotent. 
 Indigent people, as 
 
 1. 
 4. 
 
 Poor. 
 
 Indigent persons 
 
 7. 
 
 Impotent ; and 
 
 
 shall be found out, 
 
 
 " within the said 
 
 8. 
 
 Decayed persons, 
 which " of neces- 
 sity, must live 
 by alms." 
 
 
 fit objects for re- 
 ceiving such bene- 
 fits and charity. 
 
 
 burgh,"
 
 302 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 and that not one feature in the legal poor is awanting in the charter 
 of erection, or in the confirmation thereof ; all three being self-evident 
 descriptions of one class — the common poor. While the beneficiaries 
 under the foundation of Trinity Hospital, and the beneficiaries under 
 the Poor Law Acts then in operation, were thus identical, the trustees 
 were the same in both, and hence the City Parochial Board apprehends 
 that the foundation was just one for the benefit of the common 
 poor then resident within the City of Edinburgh. Both were poor, 
 honest, aged, impotent, indigent indwellers, and decayed persons, 
 within the same bounds, as shall be found to be fit subjects of 
 charity, who, of necessity, must live by alms, or who have need of 
 support. 
 
 From an early period, the Town Council seems to have inverted 
 this foundation. In Maitland's " History of Edinburgh," published in 
 1753, page 480, the then existing Statutes of the Hospital are quoted : — 
 Section III. of the Statutes provides, — "The persons to be admitted 
 into, and maintained in the Hospital shall be no other than old men, 
 or old women, burgesses, ivives or children of burgesses, not married, 
 nor under the age oi fifty years, or shall be persons of the age and 
 state of life, before mentioned, presented by the donators of £250 
 sterling, and the number of persons to be constantly entertained shall 
 be so many as the revenue of the Hospital can conveniently maintain, 
 after the deduction of the charge of management, and of maintaining 
 the fabric, — so that the stock or capital always remained entire. By 
 Section IV., donors of £200 are privileged to present any person 
 whatsoever, of the age and state before mentioned, within twelve 
 months of vacancies occurring. By Section V., each person, on being 
 admitted, shall sign a writ, by which they transfer and dispone all 
 they have, at their admission, for behoof of the Hospital. 
 
 Arnot, in his " History of Edinburgh " to the year 1780, published
 
 THE CARCASE AND THE EAGLES. 303 
 
 in 1816, page 435, refers to Maitland's Statutes, and mentions that 
 the public had viewed the institution in so favourable a light, that 
 it had been enriched by many pious donations, especially from the 
 citizens of Edinburgh. 
 
 In 1823, the Statutes of the Hospital seem to have been revised 
 and re-enacted by the Town Council, and these revised Statutes seem to 
 be those under which the Hospital has since been administered. By 
 the revised Statutes, the persons " entitled to be admitted into, and 
 maintained in the Hospital, shall be either burgesses, wives of burgesses, 
 or children of burgesses, not married, nor under the age of fifty years." 
 Besides assigning their property at the date of admission, for behoof of 
 the Hospital, applicants shall also dispose such property as they shall 
 subsequently acquire, " at least so much thereof as will completely 
 re-imburse the Hospital of every charge and expense its revenue may 
 be put to on their account." If they refuse, they are dismissed the 
 Hospital ; and, in their stead, needy persons shall be admitted from time 
 to time. 
 
 The schedule to be filled up by applicants requires them to answer 
 certain questions, and among others, "{2d.) Is the applicant a burgess 
 of Edinburgh, or the widow, son, or daughter of a burgess ? " And from 
 a list of applicants seeking the benefit of the Hospital at February 1861, 
 it is seen that these are from all parts of the country, burgesses' wives 
 or children of burgesses, all above fifty years of age, some of them as 
 old as eighty-one. 
 
 The statement then goes on to give a synopsis of the afi"airs of the 
 Hospital, and of its income and expenditure, and how that was likely 
 to be increased from time to time ; as also of the various legal cases, 
 which had arisen and which have already been dealt with in these pages, 
 in the hope eventually of obtaining the revenues of Trinity Hospital, 
 with the view of reducing the amount to be annually assessed by the
 
 304 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL 
 
 City Parochial Board, upon their fellow citizens for the relief of the 
 poor of the City Parish. 
 
 1 1. — Another part of the Memorial to Counsel related to the claim 
 of the City Parochial Board to the City Bonds, which formed the 
 residue of what was formerly known as Paul's Work Mortification. 
 
 An elaborate account is entered into, under this head, as to the 
 origin of the charity, and the various changes which were made upon it 
 by the Town Councils of the period ; but as these have been sufficiently 
 dealt with and explained in previous chapters, it does not seem at all 
 necessary to recapitulate them. The only matter wherein a ray of new 
 light is cast upon the subject, may be briefly explained : — When the 
 proposal of the Town Council to instruct the people in the manufacture 
 of woollen works, by William Dickson, of the city of Delft, in Holland, 
 proved unsuccessful, the Town Council, in 1683, converted the place into 
 a linen manufactory, in which boys were to be trained up in virtue and 
 industry ; and they entered into a tack of the work to Sir William 
 Binny. This inversion of the mortification was questioned, in the Court 
 of Session, but the right of the Town Council was maintained on the 
 22d day of November 1698, by a majority of one. 
 
 Various acts of the Town Council were recited ; in particular, a 
 statement is made that, from 26th August 1752 to 1781, the revenues 
 from Paul's Work were accounted for to the Charity Managers. In 
 1787, they likewise demanded payment of arrears for Forglen's Park. 
 A reference seems to have been made on the subject to the Hon. 
 Henry Erskine and Bailie Galloway, one of the Magistrates, who decided 
 in favour of the Charity Managers. The payments by the Corporation 
 to the Managers continued until 1822, when they were temporarily 
 withheld, in consequence of a debt claimed by the City from the 
 Parochial Board Managers. 
 
 A long series of counter claims was the result. On the 27th July
 
 THE CARCASE AND THE EAGLES. 305 
 
 1838, the City Agreement Act was passed by the Legislature. As the 
 result of this, negotiations went on between the Town Council and the 
 Charity Workhouse Governors up to the year 1851, viz., for 105 years 
 before the passing of the Poor Law Amendment Act, and for six years 
 thereafter. But in 1851, the Town Council, on a report by their clerk 
 that the term for which the revenue of Paul's Work Mortification had 
 been granted to the poor had long since elapsed, it was ordered that the 
 revenue was to be paid and accounted for in future to Trinity Hospital, 
 and it has been accordingly so paid and accounted for, since Lammas 
 1851, and the Corporation declined to listen to any claim on the part 
 of the Board to that fund. 
 
 Reference is then made to an Act of the Town Council (of 24th 
 March 1731) wherein they agreed to adopt this place as a Charity 
 Workhouse, and ordained that a committee should be annually 
 appointed for the management of the institution, the committee to 
 consist of a certain number of the Town Council, the College of Justice, 
 and other bodies. 
 
 Allusion is then made to the fact of the Town Council having, for so 
 long a period of time, permitted the funds of Paul's Work to have been 
 devoted to the objects of the Charity Workhouse ; and the question is 
 argued not as one of constitutional right, but as one of special contract, 
 and so it was laid before learned counsel. 
 
 There are several lengthy prints on the subject, to which it is not 
 requisite special allusion should now be made, except to state that most 
 of these were prepared by Mr David Curror, of Wester Craigduckie, 
 S.S.C, and that the chief counsel consulted were the late Mr Edward 
 S. Gordon, afterwards Baron Gordon of Drumearn, and Mr William 
 Watson, now Baron Watson of Thankerton. 
 
 As it seemed to be, as has already been stated, " a large order," it 
 was requisite, in a history of the Trinity Hospital Charity, that the 
 2 Q
 
 306 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 grounds of it should be sufficiently explained. But, beyond this, it 
 may be enough to state that all these affairs were never debated in 
 Court. They became eventually matter of mutual arrangement and 
 agreement. 
 
 In a report of the Law Committee of the City Parochial Board on 
 4th July 1861, the following entry occurs : — 
 
 " Read minute by Sub-Committee as to Mr Curror's Report. The Meeting adopt 
 the Report as the Report of this Committee to the Board, and recommend that, as the 
 questions at issue are between two public Boards, the Town Council should be invited to 
 a conference with this Board, with the view to an amicable arrangement of the claims, 
 either privately or by a reference to a counsel of eminence. Instruct the In.spector in 
 the meantime to have the Report printed and circulated among the members of the 
 Board, so that it may be fully before the Board, and disposed of at its next meeting. 
 
 "George Cairns, Convener." 
 
 Prior to this they had received the following opinion from the 
 learned counsel whom they had consulted : — 
 
 " We are of opinion that Trinity Hospital, and the mortifications 
 thereto pertaining, did not pass to the Parochial Board, by virtue of the 
 Poor Law Amendment Act. 
 
 "The foundation charter, of 12th November 1567, bears, that the 
 Hospital is to be erected and endowed, with reasonable support, for 
 such ' honest, poor, and impotent persons, aged and sick, indwellers and 
 inhabitants, within our burgh of Edinburgh, and also for such other old, 
 indigent, and impotent people as shall be found fit objects for receiving 
 such benefit and charity in the Hospital so to be founded.' And the 
 Act of Ratification granted by King James the Sixth to the Town 
 Council, in the year 1587, recognises as the proper inmates of the 
 Hospital of the Trinity College, ' Ye puir, honest, aget, and decayit 
 personis within ye said burgh, and utheris haveing neid of support.' 
 In both of these documents, the honest, poor, impotent, aged, sick, and
 
 THE CARCASE AND THE EAGLES. 307 
 
 decayed within the burgh of Edinburgh, are the class first indicated as 
 the objects of the charity, but to these are added others having need of 
 support. Now, if the foundation is to be construed as limited to the 
 legal poor, then it includes the poor of other parishes than Edinburgh. 
 If, on the other hand, it is to be read as confined to the burgh of Edin- 
 burgh, it includes others than the legal poor. On either construction, it 
 is equally difficult to hold that the charity falls within the 52d section 
 of the Poor Law Amendment Act. In our opinion, the provisions of 
 that clause of the Statute do not apply, either to cases where, by the 
 constitution of a charitable trust, property is held for the behoof of the 
 legal poor of more than one parish or combination, or where such 
 property is not held for the exclusive benefit of the legal poor of such 
 parish or combination. 
 
 " Whilst we have arrived at the conclusion that Trinity Hospital, and 
 the funds thereto pertaining, did not vest in the City Parochial Board, 
 we still think that the Town Council cannot be held as duly administer- 
 ing the trust, so long as no part of the Hospital funds is devoted by 
 them to the relief of the legal poor within the City Parish. By the 
 foundation of the charity, such poor have, in our opinion, an undoubted 
 right to participate in its benefits. The poor, ' within our burgh of 
 Edinburgh ' are the recipients first enumerated, both in the charter of 
 King James, and in his Act of Ratification. And we are of opinion, that 
 the Memorialists, and any ratepayer within the City Parish, have a 
 good title to call the Magistrates and Council to account for their 
 administration, and to compel them to recognise the claims of the legal 
 poor to a share of the revenues of the Hospital. It is not easy for us to 
 specify the exact proportion of the annual revenues which should be 
 allotted to them. That is a matter left, in the first instance, to the dis- 
 cretion of the trustees, subject to the control of the Court, in the event 
 of abuse."
 
 308 TRINITV COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 In regard to Paul's Work, the learned counsel consulted said — We 
 are of opinion that the Parochial Board arc entitled to claim the whole 
 fund which now represents the residue of Paul's Work, and the morti- 
 fications thereto pertaining, as now vested in them under the Statute. 
 It does not clearly appear that, by the original foundation of this 
 charity, its benefits were intended for any others than the poor of the 
 City of Edinburgh ; and from the earliest period, down to the year 1851, 
 the legal poor of the city have uniformly been the recipients of the 
 charity. 
 
 Acting upon the advice of counsel, the Parochial Board Managers 
 came at last to arrange matters with the City Corporation. The 
 following Minute, presented to the Court of Session, will make this 
 matter sufiiciently plain : — 
 
 ".Joint Minute for the Parties, in actions of Declarator, etc., George Greig, 
 Inspector of the Poor of the City Parish of Edinburgh, pursuer, against the Lord 
 Provost, Magistrates, and Town Council of Edinburgh, defenders. Watson for 
 the pursuer, and Gifford for the Defenders, — stated that the parties had come 
 to an agreement in reference to the matters to which this action relates, the terms 
 of which are expressed in a Minute of Agreement, dated 12th, and recorded in the 
 Books of Council and Session as a probative writ, ■22d January 1869, an extract 
 of which has been lodged in process, and they therefore moved the Lord Ordinary 
 to waken the process of consent, and to interpone his authority and sanction to 
 said agreement, and to dismiss the action, finding neither party entitled to expenses." 
 
 The Minute of Agreement was to the following efi'ect : — 
 
 "We, the parties after mentioned, viz., The Lord Provost, Magistrates, and Town 
 Council of the City of Edinburgh, as representing the Community of the said City, o f 
 the first part, and the Parochial Board of the City Parish of Edinburgh, of the second 
 part, do hereby, for ourselves, and for our respective successors in office, agree to com- 
 promise and settle the disputes and differences arising between us, in regard to the 
 claims of the said second party embraced in a Summons raised at their instance 
 against the said first paity, in or about the month of October Eighteen hundred and
 
 THE CARCASE AND THE EAGLES. 309 
 
 sixty-three, and also in rugarj to the claims of the legal poor of the City Parish of 
 Edinburgh, and of the said second party, to the lands, properties, revenues, funds, and 
 effects held by the said first party as Trustees, Administrators and Governors of the 
 Trinity Hospital of Edinburgh, and that upon the terms and conditions following : — 
 
 First. That the said first party shall dispone and convey to the said second party 
 the Poorhouse of the City Parish of Edinburgh, and grounds therewith connected, 
 mentioned in the conclusions of said Summons ; with entry as at the term of Whit- 
 sunday Eighteen hundred and sixty-four, and warrandice from fact and deed 
 allenarly. 
 
 Second. That the said first party shall dispone and convey to the said second 
 party the Superiority of the Seven hundred and thirty-two, or thereby, square yards 
 of ground mentioned in the conclusions of said Summons as having been feued by 
 the said first party, or their predecessors in oflice, to Andrew Howden, Writer to the 
 Signet ; Archibald Gibson, Accountant, and others ; together with the feu-duty and 
 ground rent or annual of Thirty-five pounds sterling per annum thereto attached ; 
 with entry as at the term of Whitsunday Eighteen hundred and sixty-four, and 
 warrandice from fact and deed allenarly. 
 
 Third. That the said fii\st party shall dispone and convey and assign to, and in 
 favour of, the said second party, the solum of Forrest Road or Street, so far as they 
 have any right or interest therein ; with warrandice from fact and deed allenarly, and 
 with entry as at the term of Whitsunday Eighteen hundred and sixty-four. 
 
 Fourth. That the said second party shall assign and make over to and in favour 
 of the said first party all and any right or claim which they have, or may be held to 
 have, to the property, funds, or mortifications belonging to or connected with the 
 Hospital of Saint Paul's Work, or to any of the funds mortified by Robert Johnston of 
 the Parish of St Ann's, Blackfriars, London, or to any of the funds and mortifications 
 included in the foresaid Summons, and that the said second party shall do whatever 
 may be legally required, to enable the said first party to vindicate and make good the 
 claims and rights above referred to, and shall allow the said first party to use their name in 
 any legal proceedings for that purpose, but always at the expense of the said first party. 
 
 Fifth. That the said second party renounce and discharge, as at Whitsunday 
 Eighteen hundred and sixty-four, all right or claim to the sum of Fifty-two pounds ten 
 shillings, hitherto annually paid to them, and to their predecessors in the administration 
 of the funds, for support of the poor of the City Parish of Edinburgh, by the said first 
 party, for the burial of paupers. 
 
 Sixth. That the said second party shall assign and make over to and in favour of
 
 310 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 the said first party, all and any claims or rights which they may have, or may be held 
 to have, to or iu the lands, properties, revenues, funds, and efifects presently vested in 
 or held by the said first party, as the Trustees, Administrators, and Governors of the 
 Trinity Hospital of Edinburgh, with warrandice from fact and deed allenarly ; and 
 that the said second party shall do whatever may be legally required to enable the 
 said first party to vindicate and make good the claims and rights above referred to, 
 and shall allow the said first party to use their name in any legal proceedings for that 
 purpose, but always at the expense of the said first party. 
 
 Lastly. We, the said parties hereto, mutually bind ourselves to execute and deliver 
 to each other all deeds necessary for the purpose of implementing and giving effect to 
 the foregoing heads of Agreement. And in case any disputes or differences may arise 
 between us, in regard to the meaning or effect of said heads of Agreement, or in regard 
 to the nature or terms of the deeds which it will be necessary for us respectively 
 to grant in implement thereof, or in regard to the expense of executing such deeds, 
 or any other expenses herewith connected, we hereby agree to submit and refer the 
 same to the amicable decision of Edward Strathearn Gordon, Esquire, Advocate, whom 
 failing of Andrew Rutherfurd Clark, Esquire, Advocate, whom failing of George 
 Monro, Equire, Advocate. — In Witness whereof these presents, written by Alexander 
 Wright Grant, Clerk to Millar, Allardice and Robson, Law Agents and Conveyancers, 
 Edinburgh, are subscribed in duplicate as follows, viz., by George Greig, Inspector of 
 Poor of the City Parish of Edinburgh, for and on behalf of the Parochial Board of 
 said Parish, at Edinburgh, upon the Thirteenth day of November Eighteen hundred and 
 sixty-eight, before these witnesses, Andrew Ferrier, Clerk to the said Parochial Board, 
 and William Morton, Apprentice to George Cairns, Solicitor at Law, Edinburgh, and 
 by Peter Miller, Esquire, Bailie, and Preses, of the Town Council of Edinburgh, elected 
 in absence of the Lord Provost, who is at present furth of Scotland, and James David 
 Marwick, Town Clerk of Edinburgh, in name and by authority of the Magistrates 
 and remanent members of the Town Council, present in Council at Edinburgh upon 
 the Twelfth day of January Eighteen hundred and sixty-nine, before these witnesses, 
 Robert Beatson, Writer in Edinburgh, and Robert Renwick, Clerk to the said James 
 David Marwick. (Signed) P. Miller, Bailie and Preses ; J. D. Marwick, Town Clerk ; 
 G. Greig, Inspr. ; Rob. Beatson, Witness ; Rob. Renwick, Witness ; And. Ferrier, 
 Witness; Wm. Morton, Witness.
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 A NOTABLE YEAR — THE CHURCH TO BE BTJILT. 
 
 HE year 1869 was a notable one for the Governors of Trinity 
 Hospital Charity. As was mentioned in the last chapter, 
 on the 22cl January of that year, the Parochial Managers 
 had not only abandoned their claim to the management of the 
 Charity and the control of its funds, but they allowed the morti- 
 fication of Paul's Work to be utilised as a part, small though it be, 
 of the Trinity Hospital benefaction. During the following month 
 (February) the House of Lords had given its final decision, that no 
 more than £7000 should be expended upon the building of the new 
 Church, if even so much should be required. Their Lordships had also 
 ordained that all the surplus funds and accumulations should be 
 devoted to the charity, and they likewise concurred in the proposal 
 that the Governors were not bound to rebuild the Hospital, but to 
 devote the money to granting sums of out-door relief, to those who 
 had previously the benefit of the House, or who in the meantime 
 had been added to the roll of beneficiaries. 
 
 311
 
 312 TRINITV COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 The Lord Provost, Magistrates, and Town Council, as Governors 
 of Trinity Hospital, on the 21st May of the same year, presented a 
 Petition to the Court of Session, to apply the judgment of the House 
 of Lords, together with a minute for the said party of date 2d July 
 1869, and their Lordships of the First Division, on the last day of the 
 summer session (viz. 20th July) pronounced the following interlocu- 
 tor : — "Remit to Norman Macpherson, Esquire, Advocate, Professor 
 of the Law of Scotland in the University of Edinburgh, to inquire 
 and report — (1st) From what sources the various Funds forming the 
 Capital of the Charity, called Trinity College, or Trinity Hospital, 
 have been derived, and the original and present amount thereof; (2) 
 The mode in which these Funds have been from time to time, and 
 are at present, invested ; (3) The Terms and Conditions of any Grants 
 or Mortifications which have from time to time been made by private 
 individuals in favour of the Charity, or of the Trustees of the Charity ; 
 (4) By whom, and in what manner, and from what class of persons, 
 the Beneficiaries have been from time to time selected, and, in particular, 
 whether any, and what rights of selecting or nominating Beneficiaries 
 have been exercised, or claim to be exercised, by parties other than the 
 Magistrates and Council as Trustees of the Charity ? (5) How many 
 out-door Pensioners have from time to time been admitted to the 
 benefits of the Charity ? (6) What allowances have from time to time 
 been paid to such out-door Pensioners, and upon what principle such 
 allowances appear to have been fixed ; (7) What has been the Gross 
 Annual Income of the Charity since the Old Hospital was removed ; 
 what Deductions have been made, or fall to be made, therefrom ; and 
 what has been the Free Annual Income applicable and applied for 
 behoof of the Beneficiaries ? (8) Any other fact or matter which may 
 appear to the Reporter to be material or useful for the information of 
 the Court in settling a Scheme for the future Administration and
 
 A NOTABLE YEAR. — THE CHURCH TO BE BUILT. 313 
 
 Applicatiou of the Funds of the Charity. (9) What Scheme the 
 Reporter would recommend to the Court as expedient and proper to 
 be adopted for future application and administration, having reference 
 to the Terms of the Charters, Grants, and Mortifications in favour of 
 the Charity, and the judgments of this Court, and the House of Lords 
 in the present and relative proceedings ; and authorised the Reporter 
 to take the assistance of an accountant, or other person of skill, in so 
 far as he may find such assistance necessary for the due execution of 
 this Remit ; and to hear parties interested, who may desire to be heard, 
 and to require production or exhibition of all writings and documents 
 pertinent to the inquiry ; and for this purpose grant diligence against 
 havers, and commission to the Reporter to take their evidence and 
 receive their exhibits as accords." 
 
 (Signed) "John Inglis, I.P.D." 
 
 On the 15th July 1874, about five years after the above Remit, 
 the learned Professor had his Report printed and boxed for the use of 
 the Court of Session. It was a document of 136 quarto pages, with an 
 Appendix of 118 pages additional. It gave rise to considerable discussion 
 before the Court, particularly in regard to the benefaction called the 
 Alexander Fund; and the matter was not finally adjusted until 17th 
 February 1880. Meantime, the procedure which followed upon it was 
 to the effect, that — 
 
 The First Division of the Court, on 18th July 1874, al- 
 lowed Professor Macpherson's Report and Appendix to be seen by 
 the defenders, the Magistrates and Town Council, and ordained 
 them to lodge Objections by the third sederunt day in October, then 
 next. These Objections were accordingly lodged on the 17th day 
 of October, and, on the 20th day of the same month the Court 
 pronounced an interlocutor, appointing Professor IMacpherson's Re- 
 2 R
 
 314 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 port and Appendix thereto, with the defenders' Objections, to be put 
 to the roll. 
 
 The case was in due course heard before the First Division of the 
 Court, and strange to say, for a second time, on the last day of the 
 summer session, another Trinity Hospital decision is again arrived at. 
 On 20th July 1875, — "The Lords having resumed consideration of the 
 Petition to apply the judgment of the House of Lords, with the Report 
 of Professor Macpherson, and heard counsel, — Find that the funds 
 mortified by Master James Alexander in the year 1695 have been 
 hitherto held, administered, and applied by the petitioners, in the same 
 way as the Funds belonging to the Trinity Hospital, and have been 
 immixed with and dealt with as part of the funds of the said Hospital : 
 Find that in terms of the said James Alexander's Mortification, the 
 funds mortified by him fall to be held and administered by the Lord 
 Provost, Magistrates, and Council of the City of Edinburgh, and the 
 ministers of the said city, present and to come, and to be applied in 
 the first place, in relief of poor persons of the founder's kindred ; in the 
 second place, in relief of poor persons of the name of Alexander, and 
 lastly in relief of other persons, all as directed by his deed of mortifi- 
 cation, dated 23d October 1695 : Find that, for this purpose, it is 
 necessary to ascertain the present amount of the capital of the said 
 funds mortified by the said James Alexander, and to set apart the same 
 to be administered and applied as aforesaid : Find that in the year 
 1700 the said funds amounted in all to £2270, and that the said funds 
 to that amount have been immixed as aforesaid with the funds and 
 property of the Trinity Hospital, from an early period down to the 
 present time, and must be held to have participated proportionally with 
 the said funds and property in the increase of value of the aggregate 
 funds and property between the year 1700 and the year 1873 : Remit 
 of new to Professor Macpherson to ascertain the value of the whole
 
 A NOTABLE YEAR. — THE CHURCH To BE BUILT. 315 
 
 funds and property of the said Hospital, as in the year 1700, drawing 
 back to the said date, the value of all additional gifts and legacies 
 received by the Hospital after the year 1700, on such terms as may 
 seem reasonable ; also to ascertain and fix the amount or value of the 
 whole aggregate funds and property as in the year 1873, and to report 
 what is the present amount of the said Alexander's Funds taken in the 
 same proportion to the present value of the whole Hospital funds and 
 property in 1700, ascertained as aforesaid : And, having considered the 
 recommendations of the Reporter on pages 124 and 132 of the Report, 
 and the Objections thereto. No. 73 of process,* Approve of the first 
 four heads of the said recommendations ; as regards the 5th and 6th 
 heads, delete the words ' or Leith ' ; in the 7th head, vary the recom- 
 mendation by declaring that the salary of the medical ofiicer shall not 
 be less than £105 ; Vary, in like manner, the 8th head, by declaring 
 that the salary of the lady visitor shall not be less than £63 ; Sustain 
 the objections to the 9th and 10th heads of the recommendations ; 
 Vary the 11th head, by striking out the words, ' subject to the general 
 rule as to maximum income ' ; Sustain the objections to the 12th, 13th, 
 and 14th heads; in place of the 17th head, substitute the words 
 ' private rights of patronage can only be exercised after the lapse of 
 twelve months from the death of the last presentee ' ; Quoad ultra, 
 approve of the recommendations of the Reporter, and remit to him of 
 new to prepare a scheme for the administration of the Trinity Hospital, 
 and its funds and estate, and also a separate scheme for the adminis- 
 tration of the Alexander Mortification : Appoint counsel to be heard 
 on the question raised as to the appropriation of a sum of £4000, and 
 also on the question whether the administration and patronage both of 
 the Trinity Hospital and also of the Alexander Mortification ought not 
 
 • These refer to the future administration of tlie charity, which will fall afterwards to be 
 specially dealt with. Vi'de page 355 of this Volume.
 
 316 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 to be vested for the future in a Committee or Committees of the whole 
 body of Trustees or Governors : And, in order to the due execution of 
 the Remits aforesaid, renew the powers and authority conferred on the 
 Reporter by the interlocutor of 29th June 1869." 
 
 (Signed) "John Inglis, I.P.D." 
 
 On the 30th December 1875, the case was again heard, and the 
 
 following interlocutor was pronounced : — " The Lords, having resumed 
 
 consideration of the same, and heard counsel on the questions reserved 
 
 by the interlocutor of 20th July 1875, — Appoint intimation to be 
 
 made to the Lord Advocate, in terms of the 16th Section of the Trusts 
 
 (Scotland) Act, 1867." 
 
 (Signed) "John Inglis, I.P.D." 
 
 A note for the Lord Advocate was thereafter lodged on 24th 
 January 1876, which after reciting the above interlocutor, stated 
 that his Lordship had considered this process, and in terms of the 
 16th Section of the Trusts (Scotland) Act, 1867, he appears and 
 intervenes for the interests of the charity, or any object of the trust 
 or the public interest. 
 
 On the 8th January 1876, the Court appointed the case to be 
 put to the Summar Roll, and on the 21st day of the said month, the 
 case was heard, and an interlocutor pronounced relative to the sum 
 of £4000 advanced by the Governors for the construction of Regent 
 Bridge and Regent Road, towards the formation of an access road 
 across the Calton Hill, when a further remit was made to Professor 
 Macpherson on the point. The Professor lodged another Report on 
 the subject on 3d March 1877, and on 19th March of the same year, 
 the Court decided adversely to the Governors.* 
 
 • This matter has already been fully explained in pages 199-202 of this Volume.
 
 A NOTABLE YEAK. — THE CHURCH TO HE BUILT. 317 
 
 Returning again to the question of the Alexander Fund, it 
 may be stated that on 7th July 1877 Professor Macpherson lodged 
 a third Report, dated 30th June 1877, as following out the remit 
 made to him by the interlocutor of 20th July 1875, — (1) in 
 regard to the present amount of the Alexander Fund ; and (2) 
 as to an amended scheme for the administration of Trinity Hos- 
 pital, and likewise a separate scheme for the administration of the 
 Alexander Fund. 
 
 On the 10th July 1877, the Court appointed the case to be put 
 to the roll, with the Report of Professor Macpherson, and on the 19th 
 of the same month (being time one day before the close of the summer 
 session), an interlocutor was pronounced, allowing the defenders to 
 lodge objections to the same. This was done on the 26th October, 
 and the Court on the following day appointed the case to be put to 
 the Summar Roll. 
 
 After hearing counsel, the following was the judgment of the 
 Court of Session : — " Edinburgh, 19th March 1878. — The Lords, having 
 resumed consideration of the cause, with the Report by Professor 
 Macpherson, dated 7th July 1877, in answer to the remit contained 
 in the interlocutor of the Court, dated 20th July 1875, and Objections 
 thereto for the defenders, No. 123 of process, and heard counsel 
 for the defenders, — Find that, in ascertaining the value of the 
 whole funds and property administered by the defenders as Governors 
 of the Hospital in 1700, no account is to be taken of the Trinity 
 College Church, or of the Trinity College ouildings, or of any lands 
 held and possessed by the Governors for the Hospital in the year 
 1700, and thereafter retained by them in forma specifica; and, on 
 the other hand, find that, in ascertaining the value of said whole 
 funds and property in the year 1873, no account is to be taken of 
 the prices received by the defenders for the said Church and for
 
 318 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 the said Hospital buildings (including the price of a servitude in 
 favour of the said Hospital building mentioned in the said Report), 
 inasmuch as such prices are of known amount, and either have been 
 kept separate, or are readily separable from the aggregate funds and 
 property belonging to the Alexander Mortification : Find that the 
 price or prices of parts of the lands held and possessed by the defenders 
 in 1700, but since sold, must be included in the account of the value 
 of the said whole funds and property in the year 1873, inasmuch as 
 the said price or prices have been im mixed with the aggregate funds 
 and property which comprehend the funds and property of the 
 Alexander Mortification ; and, on the other hand, that in ascertaining 
 the value of the said whole funds and property in the year 1700, the 
 said price or prices must be drawn back to the said date, on the same 
 terms on which additional gifts and legacies received since 1700 are to 
 be drawn back as hereinafter directed : Find that the lands acquired 
 by the defenders, as Governors, since the year 1700, by purchase, and 
 not by donation or mortification, must be taken into account in 
 ascertaining the value of the said aggregate funds and property in 
 the year 1873 : Approve of the valuation ascertained and reported by 
 Professor Macpherson, and appoint the value of the said lands to be 
 taken at £640 per acre in the year 1873 : Find that the sum of 
 £5730, 9s. 2d., which the defenders are appointed by interlocutor of 
 this date to restore to the Trinity Hospital, but without interest, 
 is to be reckoned as part of the said aggregate funds and property 
 as existing in the year 1873 : Find that the mode adopted by the 
 Accountant, and reported by Professor Macpherson, of drawing back 
 to the year 1700, the value of all additional gifts and legacies received 
 by the Governors of the Hospital since 1700, and immixed with the 
 said aggregate funds and property, is a reasonable and equitable mode, 
 and approve thereof accordingly, as applicable not only to the said
 
 A NOTABLE YEAR. — THE CHURCH TO BE BUILT. 319 
 
 additional gifts and legacies, but also to the price or prices obtained 
 for portions of the lands held and possessed by the Governors in 1700, 
 and subsequently sold : Further, in accordance with the above finding, 
 sustain the first and second objections stated by the defenders to the 
 Report : Find that the third objection has been obviated by the above 
 findings : Eepel the other objections, and decern : Remit of new to 
 Professor Macpherson to prepare, with the assistance of the Accountant, 
 a state showing the amount as in 1700 of the Trinity Hospital Estate 
 and of the Alexander Fund respectively, and the amount of the said 
 two estates or funds respectively in the year 1873, upon the principles 
 settled by the previous interlocutor of 20th July 1875." 
 
 (Signed on 20th March 1878) " John Inolis, I.P.D." 
 
 On 5th July 1878, Professor Macpherson lodged a fourth Report, 
 showing the amount of the Trinity Hospital Estate and the Alex- 
 ander Fund, respectively, as at 1700 and at 1873, according to the 
 principles laid down in the foregoing interlocutor. According to 
 the Professor, the amount of the Alexander Fund at 1700 was only 
 £2270, Os. 8d. ; while in 1873 it had attained to £30,537, 19s. Od. 
 
 On the 9th July 1878, the Court pronounced the following inter- 
 locutor : — " The Lords allow the fourth Report of Professor Macpherson, 
 No. 130 of process, to be seen till Thursday next, and appoint the case 
 to be put to the Summar Roll on Friday next." 
 
 (Signed) " John Inglis, /.P.D." 
 
 Another interlocutor was pronounced for hearing counsel ; but 
 further proceedings were stopped by notice having been given of 
 an appeal to the House of Lords, in which the appellants obtained 
 an order of service on the respondents (pursuers) and on the Lord 
 Advocate, dated 12th July 1878. The Lord Advocate, however, in- 
 timated to the appellants that he did not intend to appear and
 
 320 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 intervene in the appeal, in order to support the judgment of the Court 
 of Session. 
 
 The scheme for the future administration of the charity was there- 
 fore postponed, pending this Aj^peal. 
 
 But the decision of the House of Lords was of a dual nature. 
 Whatever differences might arise in regard to the future management 
 and control of the charity, it was quite otherwise in regard to the 
 Church. The limited sum placed at the disposal of the Governors, put it 
 quite out of the criticism of antiquaries and eesthetic gentlemen to cavil 
 with the plans of any church which was to be erected. The Calton Hill 
 site was dropped by its backers, and it is understood some of them lost 
 money by the transaction. 
 
 The House of Lords had decreed that a sum of not more than 
 £7000 should be applied to the object ; and as if to preserve the funds 
 of the charity, and keep the Governors on the safe side, it was added 
 " if even so much be required." In applying the judgment, the Court 
 of Session ordained that not less than £7000 should be spent. Such a 
 decision might be within their powers ; but it was scarcely following 
 out the desires of the Appellate Lords. 
 
 Again the site of Ireland's Woodyard came to the front ; but it 
 was denounced as in a hollow, and in a low-lying locality, with bad 
 service of light. Against this was quoted, by the supporters of the 
 site, the lines from Milton's well-known poem, H Penseroso. 
 
 And love the high embowed roof 
 With antique pillars massy-proof. 
 And stoned windows richly dight 
 Casting a dim religious light. 
 
 There let the pealing organ blow, 
 To the full-voiced quire below
 
 NEW TRINITY COLLEGE CHURCH, JEFFREY STREET. 
 
 To face page 320. ]
 
 THE OLD AI'SK OK TRIXITV rOLLKCU-: C[IUKC1I KESTORKO. 
 To face page 321.]
 
 A NOTABLE YEAR. — THE CHURCH TO BK BUILT. 321 
 
 In service high and anthems clear, 
 
 As may with sweetness, through mine ear. 
 
 Dissolve me into ecstasies, 
 
 And bring all Heaven before mine eyes. 
 
 It was of no use. The Lords of the First Division would have none 
 of it. It had to be abandoned. It was not, however, a bad investment. 
 It was purchased by the Magistrates and Town Council, as Governors of 
 Trinity Hospital (per Disposition dated 19th April 1848, with entry to 
 the subjects at AVhitsunday 1853) for £1700. Thirty years thereafter 
 the same subjects were sold to the North British Railway Company for 
 £5900, or a profit of £4200. The Trinity Hospital charity was, there- 
 fore, a great gainer. 
 
 At the time referred to, Jeffrey Street was being formed, under 
 the improvement scheme of the then Lord Provost, William Chambers. 
 He suggested to the Town Council to offer for the approval of the 
 Court a site in the centre of the south side of Jeffrey Street on 
 the line of what used to be Chalmers' Close, which led from High 
 Street to the old Physic Gardens. One merit this site possessed ; it 
 was within the parish. It began to be erected in 1872, from draw- 
 ings prepared by the late Mr John Lessels, architect. It is an oblong 
 structure, with details in the Norman Gothic style, with a tower and 
 spire 115 feet in height. It was opened for divine service in October 
 1877, and it is seated for 900 persons. The ancient baptismal font 
 that stood in the vestry of the Church of Mary of Gueldres is placed 
 in the lobby. 
 
 In the course of the construction of the Church, Mr Lessels 
 endeavoured to make use of as many of the old stones of the ancient 
 edifice as could be made available for the purpose, and the old apse 
 has been restored in toto. This is perhaps the most interesting 
 and picturesque part of the whole building. But it cost the City 
 2 s
 
 322 
 
 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 somewhat over £2000 beyond the sum authorised by the House of 
 Lords. This came, as matter of course, from the Common Good 
 Fund. 
 
 It may be mentioned that the ancient baptismal and Communion 
 plate of the Trinity College Church are very valuable, and the former 
 is depicted in the late Sir George Harvey's well-known picture of 
 the " Covenanters' Baptism," and like the Communion table date from 
 shortly after the Reformation, and have been the gifts of various 
 pious individuals.
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 THE ALEXANDER CASE IN THE COURT OF SESSION. 
 
 N the previous chapter a lengthened reference has been made 
 to that part of Professor Macpherson's Eeport which deals 
 with the Alexander Fund. And as the question was 
 likely to be debated before the House of Lords on appeal, it may 
 be desirable that — besides giving what has already been done, the 
 decision of the First Division of the Court of Session — there should 
 be furnished to the reader the opinions of the Judges, as delivered 
 by them on Tuesday, July 20, 1875 : — 
 
 The Lord President (Inglis). — My Lords, the remit under which we are acting in 
 this case is contained in a judgment of the House of Lords pronounced so long ago 
 as 15th February 1864. A great many causes have combined to produce delay in 
 carrying out that remit. After the cause was resumed in this Court, a further inter- 
 locutor of a very important nature was pronounced on 7th December 1866, and that 
 again was carried to appeal ; and of course during the dependence of that appeal no 
 proceedings could take place in this Court. But in 1869 a petition was presented by 
 the Lord Provost, Magistrates, and Council of the City of Edinburgh, and the remit sot 
 
 323
 
 324 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 out iu that petition, on which we iire now proceeding, is expressed in the following 
 terms: — " It is dechired," ifcc. [Reads.] Upon considering this remit, wo found tliat 
 a very extensive inquiry into the condition of the Trinity Hospital funds at stake would 
 be necessary, in order to enable us to carry it out ; and accordingly, upon 20th July 1869, 
 we made a remit to Professor Macpherson, and the heads of the inquiry which we 
 directed him to make may be stated shortly. He was to inquire, first of all, of what 
 capital fund the charity consisted, and from what sources it was derived ; in the 
 second place, the manner in which the funds are invested ; in the third place, the terms 
 and conditions of any grants or mortifications that have been made in favour of the 
 Hospital by private individuals subsequent to the institution of the Hospital ; in the 
 fourth place, who were the beneficiaries, and how they were selected ; in the fifth place, 
 how many out-door pensioners had been admitted to the benefit of the charity ; in the 
 sixth place, what allowances had been made to them, and on what principle these were 
 fixed ; in the seventh place, what has been the gross annual income of the charity since 
 the old Hospital has been removed, and what deductions have been made or fall to be 
 made therefrom, and what has been the free annual income applicable to the bene- 
 ficiaries. We directed him also to inquire generally into any matters that appeared to 
 him to be necessary to enable us to frame a scheme in terms of the remit of the House 
 of Lords, and to suggest tlie terms of such a scheme as occurred to him. We have now 
 before us a very able, and necessarily also a very elaborate, report by Professor 
 Macpherson. The questions which are thereby raised for our consideration are, 
 fortunately, not very numerous, and I shall endeavour to notice them in the natural 
 order in which they occur. 
 
 The most prominent and perhaps the most interesting question which is raised 
 by this report relates to what is called the Alexander Fund. Now, that is a mortifica- 
 tion which was made by a person of the name of Alexander, by two several deeds of 
 gift, the first of which is dated 23d October 1695 ; and it is necessary to attend to the 
 terms of that deed in order to see distinctly what is the nature and what are the con- 
 ditions of the gift thereby made. [Refers in detail to the provisions of the deed.] By 
 another deed an addition is made to this mortification, but it is not necessary to refer 
 particularly to that, as it falls to be ruled upon precisely the same footing as the money 
 destined by this deed. 
 
 Now, it appears that for a very long period, how far back it is very difficult to say, 
 the funds of the Alexander Mortification have been mixed up with the other funds of 
 the Hospital, and the income arising from the Alexander Mortification and the income 
 of the Hospital have been administered together and for the same purpose. It would
 
 THE ALEXANDER CASE IN THE COURT OF SESSION. 325 
 
 appear that the order of i)reference suggested by Mr Alexander has not been observed ; 
 that his own kindred and persons of the name of Alexander have not been preferred to 
 other indigent persons ; and that the income arising from the Alexander Mortification 
 has been used just like the other funds of the Hospital, for the support of indigent 
 persons generally. It also appears that the Lord Provost, Magistrates, and Council, as 
 representing the community of Edinburgh, who have the sole right of administration of 
 the funds of the Hospital pi^oper, have assumed to themselves also the entire administra- 
 tion of the Alexander Fund without associating with them the ministers of Edinburgh, 
 who are also named in thi.« deed as jointly with them patrons and administrators and 
 feoffees of the trust. The consequence of thi.s has been, that the fund is no longer dis- 
 tinguishable in point of administration and as regards the manner in which the accounts 
 are kept ; and the referee suggests to us whether it is necessary that the funds of this 
 Alexander Mortification should be separate, and administered as a separate trust, or 
 whether we can sanction, what has hitherto been done, the mixing up of the Alexander 
 Fund with the other funds of the Hospital, and allow the Lord Provost, Magistrates, 
 and Council alone, to administer the whole. Now, my Lords, I confess I do not 
 entertain much doubt about this. The length of time during which this has been going 
 on, I am afraid, cannot be allowed to have any effect on this question. There can 
 be no doubt that it was an entire departure from the deed of mortification for the 
 Magistrates and Council alone, without the other feoffees of the trust and administrators, 
 to take upon themselves the administration of this fund. There can be just as little 
 doubt that it was a contravention of the deed of mortification to have no consideration 
 for those claims of preference which might have been put forward by the kindred of the 
 mortifier or donor, or by poor persons of the name of Alexander. And, lastly, it is just 
 as clear — as a sequence, indeed, of those other points — that the mixing up of this fund 
 with the funds of the Hospital generally was not in accordance with the intention and 
 design of the founder ; and that being so, it follows of necessity, I think, according to 
 all the principles upon which we have been in use to administer charitable trusts, that 
 this must be set right, that the Alexander Mortification must form the subject of a 
 separate administration, and must be devoted to the purposes for which it was destined 
 by the founder. The principles upon which we have proceeded in such cases are 
 nowhere better expounded than they are in the case of The Presbytery of Dundee v. The 
 Magistrates of Dundee, both in this Court and in the House of Lords, 20 Dunlop, 849 • 
 1 Macpherson, 228 ; and 1 Macpherson, 483. Now, applying those principles here, the 
 first thing we have got to ascertain is, what is or ought to be the present amount of 
 the Alexander Mortification 1, and how is this to be ascertained ? We are told by the
 
 326 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 reporter that the means of a precise accounting are in existence, and this appears to be so. 
 The funds left by Mr Alexander were invested in particular securities, and those securities 
 were not called up or changed until about the middle of the last century, and we have 
 distinct evidence of what the amount of the fund was at that time. Now, if we pro- 
 ceeded upon the principle of a strict accounting against the Magistrates here as trustees, 
 of course the way of bringing out the balance would be to charge them with this capital, 
 as at the date when we lind it in their hands, and then charge them with the income 
 as it accrued, and let them discharge themselves the best way they could. But it rather 
 appears to me that in a case of this kind, and looking to the nature of the trust, and the 
 way in which it was necessarily administered, that would be too strict a principle of 
 accounting ; and while I think it is our undoubted duty to separate this Alexander 
 Fund, and secure that it shall be administered as a separate trust in all time coming, 
 we may deal with bygones in a way more favourable for the administrators of Trinity 
 Hospital. The income of the fund has apparently been spent, and it has not been spent, 
 so far as we can see, upon pui-poses alien to the intentions and wishes of the founder. 
 His wishes and intentions have only been to a certain extent disregarded ; that is to 
 say, the fund has not been in the right hands of administration, and there has not been 
 in the selection of the objects of the bounty that order of preference which he desired. 
 But still the fair result of the evidence appears to be, that, at all events for a very long 
 period, the income of the Alexander Fund was bestowed upon poor and indigent persons 
 of the kind generally here contemplated. It was employed, along with the income of 
 the other funds of the Hospital generally, for such purposes ; and therefore I cannot 
 see that there can be, especially against a shifting body of trustees like the Magistrates 
 and Town Council of Edinburgh, any responsibility for the expenditure of that income. 
 It is not alleged that they appropriated this fund to their own purposes as individuals, 
 or that they appropriated it to the uses of the Corporation of the City of Edinburgh. 
 If that had been so, it would have raised a question of a very different kind. But 
 that does not appear to have been so, and therefore I incline to the opinion that, in so 
 far as regards the past income of this fund, there is no room for any accounting at all. 
 
 But then the next question comes to be — How are we to ascertain what sum now 
 in the hands of those trustees will adequately and fairly represent the capital of the 
 Alexander Fund ? Now, that is a question of some difficulty ; but at the same time I 
 think it admits of a solution. We know that the Alexander Fund was invested upon 
 two bonds, as it was originally settled by the donor himself — the one upon the Annan- 
 dale estates for £1725, 17s. 8|d., and the other upon the Westerhall estates for 
 £544, 1.3s. of sterling money; for I am speaking now of the amount as converted into
 
 THE ALEXANDER CASE IN THE COURT OF SESSION. 327 
 
 sterling money and actually paid up in the course of last century. These two sums 
 amount together to £2270. Now, the mortification wa.s in the year 1695, and it may 
 certainly be assumed, without any great stretch, that that money came into the hands 
 of the Hospital Trustees by the beginning of the last century — say in the year 1700. 
 Therefore they were possessed in 1700 of this capital sum as representing the Alexander 
 Mortification. They were at the same time possessed of a very considerable estate 
 belonging to the Hospital, and it is not at all difficult to ascertain what the amount of 
 that estate was. In that way we discover what was the relative or comparative value 
 of those two estates in the year 1700. But it is very apparent upon the face of the 
 report before us, and the abundant information which we have on the subject, that this 
 joint mixed estate, consisting to a large extent of the funds and estate of the Hospital 
 proper, but also to a more limited extent of Alexander's Fund, has largely increased in 
 amount and value between the year 1700 and the present day. Now it seems to me 
 that this estate so jointly administered having greatly increased in value between those 
 two dates, the Alexander Fund must be entitled to participate in that prosperity. 
 Thus, supposing that in 1700 the estate of the Hospital proper amounted to £10,000 in 
 value, and the Alexander Fund to £2000 in value, making together £12,000, but that 
 at the present day the joint estate, as it appears in the hands of the administrators, 
 amounts to £50,000 in value, then that £50,000 must be apportioned between the same 
 funds in the same proportion that they bore to each other in the year 1700 ; that is, as 
 10 to 2. I am taking the figures I have mentioned as entirely suppositious, not supposing 
 they represent the entire value, by any means. On the contrary, the value, as we see, 
 is very much greater. Now there may be some little difiiculty in adjusting the precise 
 way in which this result is to be brought about. In the first place, the Alexander 
 Fund in 1700 consisted of money lent out on heritable security ; but the Hospital estate 
 consisted to a very considerable extent of heritable property, and therefore to institute 
 any proper comparison between the two estates in the year 1700, it would be necessary to 
 convert the heritable estate of the Hospital into money, and that must be done upon some 
 fixed rate. That, however, is not a matter of very great difficulty. But then there 
 occurs also this consideration : The Hospital estate proper has increased very much in 
 amount in the interval between 1700 and the present day by additional gifts and 
 mortifications, and therefore it would not be fair to the Hospital to compare its estate 
 as it stood in 1700 with the Alexander estate as it stood at that time, and then to take 
 that proportion for dividing the fund as it now stands, because the Hospital estate has 
 been added to very largely by benefactions of other individuals, whereas the Alexander 
 estate has been stationary. Then it is not possible to take in those additional sums
 
 328 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 which the Hospital estate has received at different times as of precisely the amount 
 which they were at the time they were received. It is necessary, in order to bring out 
 a proper comparison such as I am suggesting, that the value of those additional dona- 
 tions to the Hospital shall be taken as at 1700, and so it becomes necessary to draw 
 back to the year 1700 the value of the additional mortifications and gifts, and it would 
 be necessary in that way to fix at what rate of interest that drawback is to be made, 
 and also whether the interest is to be simple interest or compound interest. It is 
 obvious that, so far as the Hospital is concerned, and the interest of its inmates and 
 beneficiaries, the larger its estate can be made in the year 1700, the better for it now in 
 this question with the Alexander Fund; and on the other hand, that, so far as the 
 Alexander Fund is concerned, the more the value of the Hospital funds can be brought 
 down in the year 1700, the greater will be the share of the present joint estate to which 
 the Alexander Fund would be entitled in a division at the present day. Therefore the 
 fixing of these things, — first of all, the rate of conversion of the heritable estate into 
 money as at 1700 ; and secondly, the rate of interest at which the additional donations 
 are to be drawn back to 1700, and whether that is to be simple or compound interest, — 
 are questions of very great importance, and upon which it is not desirable to come to 
 any premature or rash decision. I am only for the present endeavouring to explain the 
 principles upon which this ascertainment of the Alexander Fund is to be made ; there- 
 fore what I should suggest would be that we should fix some period, say the year 1873, 
 or some recent period of that kind, at which the division of the existing aggregate estate 
 is to be made, and that we should arrive at the result, when we have once got the 
 requisite materials, simply by a sum in proportion ; because, as the Hospital funds stood 
 to the Alexander Fund in 1700, so they should stand in 1873 ; and the only matter we 
 require in order to get our result, is to fix the different figures which shall enter into 
 that proportion. The fund being ascertained, it appears to be, and I believe it to be, 
 that for the future it must be administered, not by the Lord Provost, Magistrates, and 
 Council alone, but by those trustees, with the addition of the ministers of Edinburgh, 
 who are named in the deed. The circumstance that the ministers of Edinburgh have 
 never claimed to be conjoined in this administration, is of no consequence. No persons 
 of an official character can give away the rights of their successors in office under a trust 
 of this kind, and therefore the trust must be constituted and administered now as pro- 
 vided by the truster in his deed of mortification ; and this fund, which is to be placed 
 in their hands, and administered by them for the future, must he administered not as 
 part of the Hospital estate, but precisely in terms of the directions of Mr Alexander in 
 his deed of mortification. There must be a preference for his kindred, if there be any
 
 THE ALEXANDER CASE IN THE COURT OF SESSION. 329 
 
 living ; there must be a preference for indigent persons of the name of Alexander, if any 
 such apply, in terms of the deed ; and it is only after the fulfilment of those require- 
 ments that the remainder of the fund can be used for indigent persons generally. 
 
 Now, that seems to be all that it is necessary for us to determine at the present stage, 
 because until we have the precise figures before us, enabling us to fix the amount of 
 the Alexander Fund, we cannot proceed any further. 
 
 There is another matter of very considerable importance, but about which, although 
 it is distinctly stated in the report of Professor Macpherson, we did not hear any 
 observations from the counsel for the Magistrates. I refer to a sum of £4000, which is 
 said to have been expended in payment, fro parte, of the new road across the Calton 
 Hill, in the year 1813. Now, this sum stands in a very peculiar position. I am not 
 at present going to give any opinion as to what should be done about it, because I 
 think that would be wrong, without giving the Magistrates and Council an opportunity 
 of being heard on the matter. But as the point is stated on page 107 of Professor 
 Macpherson's Report, it seems from it that the Magistrates were under obligation by an 
 Act of Parliament to spend a certain sum of money — apparently £8000 — out of the 
 Corporation funds, for the promotion of an improvement consisting of the making of 
 this road, the building of the new jail, and some other things, and that of that £8000 
 they made the Trinity Hospital contribute £4000. Now, if that be so, it is not very 
 easy to see how the indigent persons who were to be maintained out of the Hospital 
 funds were to be benefited by the making of a new road across the Calton Hill ; and if 
 by the expenditure of that sum of £4000 out of the Trinity Hospital funds the estate 
 of the Corporation of the City of Edinburgh was to that extent benefited, it would seem 
 to follow from the ordinary principles applicable to such cases that the Corporation must 
 be answerable to replace that sum. However, I do not wish to be understood as giving 
 any opinion upon that subject at present. It is a very important point, and obviously 
 must be a point involving pretty large liability ; and we should desire, before dispos- 
 ing of it, to have all the assistance we possibly can have from the counsel for the 
 Magistrates. 
 
 These are the only two matters of very general importance, I think, that it is 
 necessary to determine, as raised by Professor Macpherson's Report ; but there are 
 certain matters besides, connected with this scheme, which the reporter has suggested, 
 to which objections have been lodged by the Magistrates, and I shall endeavour to 
 state as shortly as I can the conclusions I have arrived at on these. The suggestions of 
 the reporter begin on page 124 of his report. They are recommendations as to the future 
 application and administration of the charity — that is, the Trinity Hospital funds, of 
 2 T
 
 330 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 course, apart from the Alexander Fund. The first four of these suggestions are not 
 objected to at all on the part of the Magistrates, and they seem to be very well judged. 
 But the fifth and sixth heads of the recommendations seem to be liable to an objection 
 in respect of the introduction of the reference to Leith, and the Magistrates say that 
 that implies an extension of the benefits of the charity to persons in Leith as well as in 
 Edinburgh, and that that is contrary to the terms of the foundation. I do not know 
 whether that is precisely what the reporter had in view, but certainly, as the matter 
 stands, it bears something of that appearance ; and it rather appears to me that the 
 simple way of getting the better of that difficulty is to omit the mention of Leith 
 altogether, and let the matter stand as it is with that exception. In regard to the 
 seventh head, the Magistrates do not seem to object to the appointment of a medical 
 officer, but they think that his salary should not be fixed, but should be left to be 
 varied according to the discretion of the trustees themselves. The object of the 
 reporter in making this suggestion, I do not suppose to have been that the salary 
 should be in all time coming 100 guineas a-year, because that would be a very 
 unfavourable suggestion for the medical officer a hundred years hence ; but if 
 his salary is stated to be not less than 100 guineas, I think that would probably 
 obviate all objection. There is a similar objection stated in regard to the salary of the 
 lady visitor, who, it is suggested, should be appointed ; and so far as the salary is 
 concerned, that objection may be obviated in the same way. But then the Magistrates 
 are of opinion that there should be no lady visitor, or, at all events, that they should 
 be left to their own discretion to employ such an officer or not as they think fit. I 
 beUcve your Lordships are all of opinion that the suggestions of the reporter in this 
 respect ought to be adhered to, as a very useful and valuable suggestion. In the ninth 
 article, which relates to the scales of allowance, the reporter proposes that in future, 
 instead of the two scales of £20 and £10 now in use, there should be four scales, £25, 
 £20, £15, and £10, it being in the power of the Governors to put those elected on 
 whatever scale they think fit, on consideration of the ascertained circumstances of the 
 applicant and the state of the pension roll. The Governors object to this proposal, 
 and they are strongly of opinion that for the permanent administration of the charity 
 there should be only two scales, the one scale being fixed at £15 instead of £10 as at 
 present, and the other at £25 instead of £20 as at present. Now it rather appears to 
 me, and I believe your Lordships are all agreed about that, that the suggestion of the 
 reporter is too complicated, and that the more practical course is that selected by the 
 Governors, that there should be two scales only, but raised, as they suggest, to £15 and 
 £25 respectively. In regard to the 10th head of the recommendations, a considerable
 
 THE ALEXANDER CASE IN THE COURT OF SESSION. 331 
 
 practical diflBculty again suggests itself — viz., how it is to be ascertained what the 
 person's income is from all sources. It would require a great deal of investigation, and 
 it does not appear to us that the difficulty of making those inquiries, and the duty of 
 making those inquiries, is one that can very well be laid upon the trustees of this funn. 
 Upon the whole, we are inclined to think it is not desirable to introduce this condition, 
 But it is quite right that, if a pensioner ceases to be a proper object of the charity, the 
 charity should be withdrawn ; and I do not think it is necessary to enact that as a part 
 of any new scheme, because I presume that in this, as in all other charities, if a 
 pensioner or recipient of bounty of this kind ceases to require relief, that relief must be 
 withdrawn. The 11th article is a rule dependent on the adoption of the four scales of 
 allowance, and therefore it will require to be modified in that respect. There does not 
 seem to be objection to it in any other way. The 12th article also will require to be 
 altered in conformity with the resolution to have only two scales. The 13th article is 
 a little startling. The law is always very jealous of any interference with the freedom 
 of marriage, and even people in the condition of pensioners on this fund cannot be 
 
 deprived of the right of marrying if they see fit, notwithstanding that their age not 
 
 to be under fifty — seems rather to be a disqualification for entering into that happy 
 taste. But it is not desirable, at all events, that the rule .should be expressed as for- 
 feiting the right to this fund upon marriage, because that is expressly enactino- a 
 penalty upon marriage. It certainly is a very fair subject for the consideration of the 
 trustees of the charity that a person who is a pensioner upon their bounty has "ot 
 married. It may indicate a change of circumstances altogether, and at all events it is 
 a matter requiring investigation and consideration ; and therefore, in place of enacting 
 a forfeiture of this kind, we should be disposed rather to recommend that where 
 marriage occurs in the case of one of the beneficiaries, his claim as a beneficiary of the 
 charity shall be reconsidered by the trustees. The 14 th article is, perhaps, a little 
 imperfect, as is suggested by the Magistrates in their paper of objections. I presume 
 that what the reporter meant was "supported by Parochial Boards in lunatic asylums • " 
 and if that is the meaning of it, it seems quite right ; but a person might be confined in 
 a lunatic asylum and yet not be supported by the Parochial Authorities, and that mi^ht 
 make a different case for consideration altogether. But with that addition — " supported 
 by Parochial Boards in lunatic asylums " — the recommendation is quite right. Articles 
 15 and 16 seem to be quite unobjectionable. Article 17 is a little ambiguous. It may 
 mean that private rights of patronage can only be exercised within twelve months after 
 the death of the presentee, or it may mean that they can only be exercised after the 
 lapse of twelve months.
 
 332 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 Professor Macpherson. — I may mention that it is a condition in the grant of private 
 patronage in every case in which it has been purchased. 
 
 The Lord President. — Is it so expressed % 
 
 Professor Macpherson. — It is, in every case. 
 
 The Lord President. — Still, it is not a very happy expression ; but that absolves 
 the reporter, at all events, from being the author of the words. What is meant, I 
 understand, is that the right of patronage shall not be exercised till after the lapse of 
 twelve months. 
 
 Professor Macpherson. — Yes. 
 
 The Lord President. — Then it may be expressed in this way : — " Private rights 
 of patronage can only be exercised after the lapse of twelve months from the death of the 
 last presentee." But, then, I do not know whether that might be held to apply to the 
 presentations to the Alexander Mortification. If there were any chance of that, it 
 would be necessary to except the Alexander Mortification from the operation of that 
 rule ; but perhaps it would hardly be supposed to apply to it. 
 
 Professor Macpherson. — It was not made a condition by the Magistrates of 
 accepting the Alexander Fund ; it was a condition of the right of patronage in the 
 other cases. 
 
 The Lord President. — It might perhaps be right to add that the rule is not to 
 apply to the Alexander Fund. The other suggestions of the reporter are not objected 
 to by the Magistrates, and seem to be very suitable and well framed. 
 
 That, I think, exhausts the whole matter it is necessary to dispose of at present. 
 But there is another question of general importance that has suggested itself to the 
 minds of the Court in consultation, and which they wish to intimate to the parties, with 
 a view to receiving any suggestions or any argument upon the subject that they may 
 see fit to address to them. The trustees or governors of this charity are a very numerous 
 body, and they would be still more numerous, as regards the Alexander Fund, by the 
 addition of the ministers of Edinburgh in the future. The Court cannot help feeling 
 that a charity of this kind would be more conveniently managed, and perhaps more 
 beneficially managed, by a smaller number ; and it would be quite within the power of 
 the Court, in framing this scheme, to appoint that the administration of this charity 
 should be in a committee of the whole body, to be chosen by the whole body. But as 
 this is a topic that has not been hitherto discussed at all, and upon which we have not 
 had the benefit of hearing the views of the Magistrates, we should still desire to do so. 
 There are obvious considerations of convenience and advantage in favour of such a 
 proposal, but there may be counter-considerations of equal or greater importance which
 
 THE ALEXANDER CASE IN THE COURT OF SESSION. 333 
 
 have not occurred to the minds of the Court, and therefore we should be very sorry 
 prematurely to pronounce any opinion upon the matter. But it will be under.stood that 
 upon two matters we desire to hear further agreement and suggestion from the Magis- 
 trates — (1) With regard to that sum of £4000 which I have already mentioned, and (2) 
 with regard to the propriety of providing that the administration of the charity shall be 
 vested in a committee of the whole trustees, instead of being administered by the entire 
 body. The other matter to which I have referred, connected with the framing of the 
 scheme, will be very easily given efifect to ; and as regards the Alexander Fund it will be 
 necessary, in order to ascertain what is the present capital sum upon the principles that I 
 have endeavoured to explain, to make a further remit to Professor Macpherson and the 
 accountant who shall be employed in the matter, to give us the requisite materials for 
 carrying those principles into efifect. 
 
 Lords Deas, Aedmillan, and Mure concurred. 
 
 Mr McLaren. — Before your Lordships fix by interlocutor the mode or principle on 
 which effect is to be given to your Lordships' judgment with regard to the question of 
 accounting in the matter of the Alexander Mortification, a remark has occurred to me 
 in reference to the mode of making allowance for the pecuniary legacies which have 
 come into the Hospital funds since the year 1700. It is obvious that the inequality 
 which these legacies would produce in the present proportions may be redressed in two 
 ways, — either by taking the value of the legacies as at 1700, and thereby augmenting 
 the capital sum at the credit of the Hospital as at that date, or those legacies having 
 been simply invested in the ordinary way, and the income applied since that time — by 
 deducting the amount of those legacies from the present value of the estate, and thereby 
 diminishing the aggregate fund which is to be divisible between the Trinity Hospital 
 and the Alexander Mortification. 
 
 The Lord President. — Deducting the amount as at present ? 
 
 Mr McLaren. — Yes. Suppose £20,000 had been left in legacies to the Hospital 
 since 1700. You might just deduct £20,000 from the capital fund as at the present 
 day, and divide the difference proportionally. Perhaps your Lordships will leave that 
 point open for consideration ; I would not like to say, without further inquiry, which 
 view we would prefer. 
 
 The Lord President. — I should not like to foreclose any point upon which you desire 
 to be heard. Perhaps we can deal with the matter in such a way as to give general instruc- 
 tions to the accountant. Your position is a very peculiar one now, because, according to the 
 view of the Court, you are now divided, and you are in the position of representing both 
 the general fund and the Alexander Fund, which seem to me to have conflicting interests.
 
 334 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 Lord Deas. — "Which fund are you speaking for now 1 
 
 Mr M'Laren. — I want instructions simply as to the correct way of performing an 
 arithmetical operation. It is quite right, of course, that the Magistrates should not 
 any longer represent distinctively the interests of the Alexander Mortification, and 
 perhaps some other body may be found to do so. I suppose Professor Macpherson will 
 continue, under the remit, to look after the interests of the mortification. 
 
 The Lord President. — Yes ; I think the interests of the Alexander Fund are 
 very safe in his hands, without any separate appearance. I think that probably the 
 proper way to proceed, as regards the Alexander Fund, would be to remit to the 
 reporter substantially to give us the elements of that sum in proportion which we want, 
 and he might also report any other mode of doing it that occurs to himself, or that 
 might be suggested by the parties. 
 
 Mr M'Laren. — That will be quite satisfactory to us. 
 
 The Lord President. — I mean, any other mode than that mode which I suggested in 
 the course of my observations. For example, suppose you were to say that the reporter 
 is to value the heritable property of the Hospital, as at the year 1700, as worth 22 
 years' purchase, and suppose we were to say further, that he was to take into account 
 the subsequent donations, drawing them back in value to the year 1700, at such rate 
 of interest as he may suggest, — and also to give the alternate view, — and then to say 
 that he should report any other mode of stating the proportions that occurs to him or 
 that may be suggested. 
 
 Mr M'Laren. — There is also a question how far the Alexander Mortification would 
 be entitled to participate in the heritable property specifically left to Trinity Hospital, 
 — the original Trinity Hospital estate, — or whether it should only participate in the 
 increase of any general funds which were afterwards invested. I believe the great 
 part of the increase of this trust, as a whole, arises from the old Trinity lands having 
 become available for building sites, and become more valuable. I think it would be 
 a question for argument, whether the Alexander Mortification would be entitled to 
 participate in that increase. 
 
 Lord Ardmillan. — The investments having been before the date of the mor- 
 tification ? 
 
 The Lord President. — Do you mean the original property of Trinity 
 Hospital ? 
 
 Mr M'Laren. — Yes. If your Lordships take that, as capitalised in 1700, at 22 
 years' purchase, the effect is to give to the Alexander Mortification a share of the 
 benefit of all the increase in the Trinity Hospital property, over its capitalised value
 
 THE ALEXANDER CASE IN THE COURT OF SESSION. 
 
 335 
 
 of 22 years' purchase in 1700, — in short, the conversion of agricultural land into 
 building land, through causes no ways affected by the Alexander Fund. 
 
 The Lord President. — Yes, and for that and a great many other reasons that 
 might be suggested, the mode of fixing the Alexander Fund is a rough one, but then 
 you must keep in view that it is adopted for the purpose of saving you from a strict 
 accounting. At the best, you know, anything of this kind must be very rough. 
 
 Mr McLaren. — Of course it is impossible to have anything like an exact actual 
 accounting, but according to the mode in which it is done, a very large alteration in 
 the value of the special trust may be affected. But if your Lordships reserve this as 
 open to us, that is all I desire. 
 
 The Loud President. — I think we can keep it open.
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 THE ALEXANDER MOKTIFICATION. 
 
 IHE Alexander Mortification has of late years played so 
 prominent a part in connection with the administration of 
 the Trinity Hospital charity, that it seems requisite that 
 special reference should be made to it. This is all the more desirable, 
 inasmuch as the proceedings in the Court of Session have been fully 
 recorded in the last chapter, and it seems reasonable that the present 
 Governors and the friends of Trinity Hospital should be made acquainted 
 with the grounds upon which the Town Council of the day considered 
 it to be their duty, on the advice of the learned counsel whom they 
 consulted, to carry this case to the House of Lords. 
 
 Mr James Alexander, who died in 1696, mortified or settled a sum 
 of money in connection with Trinity Hospital, and the circumstances 
 under which he gifted the money will appear evident in the statement 
 which follows : — 
 
 1. The first and main point advocated in the appeal, was, whether 
 the Alexander Fund had been improperly mixed with the funds of Trinity 
 Hospital from 1700, and was therefore entitled to a proportionate share 
 
 886
 
 THE ALEXANDER MORTIFICATION. 337 
 
 of the increased value of all the lands purchased after that date by the 
 Town Council. The result of this would be that, as already stated, 
 according to Professor Macpherson, the Alexander Fund, which was a 
 special fund, with a preference for the kin of the founder, or those who 
 bore the same name, would be entitled to be credited with a capital 
 sum of £30,537, 19s. lOd. as at 1873, whereas the original sum of the 
 mortification amounted only as at 1700 to £2270, Os. 8d. It should 
 also be borne in mind that the interest of that sum had been duly 
 applied every year. The result of the proposal was, therefore, pre- 
 judicial to the other beneficiaries of the Hospital, who had previously 
 raised an action in the Law Courts to establish their rights which had 
 been successful in the House of Lords in 1864. 
 
 The appellants denied that the Alexander Fund was mixed up 
 with the Trinity Hospital funds in the way stated by the Court of 
 Session, and was not therefore entitled to the increase. 
 
 The appellants considered it to be their duty to bring under the 
 review of the House of Lords the whole findings of the Court of Session, 
 in regard to the cases ; but they specially refer to the cardinal finding 
 of the Court below, wherein the Court held that in the year 1700, the 
 said funds {i.e. the Alexander Fund) amounted in all to £2270, and that 
 the said funds to that amount have been immixed, as aforesaid, with the 
 funds and property of the Trinity Hospital, from an early period down 
 to the present time, and must be held to have participated proportion- 
 ally with the said funds and property in the increase of value of the 
 aggregate funds and property, between the year 1700 and the year 1873. 
 
 If this finding is reversed, the subsequent findings in that inter- 
 locutor, and the findings in the subsequent interlocutor of 13th March 
 1878, relative to the amount of the Alexander Fund, and on the 
 principles on which it is to be ascertained, must necessarily also be 
 reversed. 
 
 2 u
 
 838 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 The grounds upon which this finding was made by the Court, are 
 stated in the opinion of the Lord President, already quoted. 
 
 ' Before examining the Lord President's views, it is desirable that 
 the appellants' case should be stated. 
 
 The Print then goes on to narrate the origin of the charity, and 
 its reconstruction after the Reformation, with the regulating charters of 
 the charity. It states the object of the charity, and refers to the 
 beidmen and the sick poor, who were lodged and maintained within 
 the walls of the Hospital, and the boarding out of several who could 
 not be allowed to live within the building. 
 
 It alludes to the fact that, since 1567, and almost exclusively since 
 1587, the institution had been under the sole management and control 
 of the Magistrates and Town Council of the City of Edinburgh. 
 
 It then goes on to state that, in addition to its original property, it 
 had received more than 140 separate mortifications or endowments, of 
 the value of 200 merks or upwards, most of which were for the benefit 
 of the poor of the Hospital generally, but some of which continued 
 preferences in the first instance. 
 
 The origin of the Alexander Mortification is then referred to. It 
 would appear that Mr James Alexander, son of the deceased Mr John 
 Alexander, parson of Hoddam, granted two deeds of mortification. The 
 first was dated 23d October 1695, and the second was an eik to that 
 deed, dated also 23d October 1695. Both deeds were put on record 
 on 25th February 1697. By the principal deed of mortification, the 
 said James Alexander, on the narrative that certain debts were due to 
 him by the Earl of Annandale and Sir James Johnstone of Westerhall, 
 disponed to and in favour of the Trinity Hospital, and the poor thereof 
 after specified, " and to John Miller, present thesaurer thereof, and 
 succeeding thesaurers of the same, for the use and behove, and to the 
 efi"ect after specified," the sum of 40,000 merks Scots.
 
 THE ALEXANDER MORTIFICATION. 339 
 
 The yearly profit and interest of this sum Mr Alexander appointed 
 to be employed " towards the accommodating and entertaining of twelve 
 indigent persons, — viz., eight men and four women, or failzing the said 
 number of men qualified, and applying in manner after mentioned, als 
 many women in their place as will make up the full number ; or failzing 
 the said number of women, als many men qualified, and applying in 
 manner after mentioned, as will make up the full number .... who 
 have been of good reputation, and have not fallen into decay through 
 their own vice or prodigalitie, to be received into the said Hospitall, 
 being for the time unmarried, and not under fiftie years of age at their 
 entre, and to remaine and continue unmarried in the said Hospitall 
 during their lyfetime, and to be accomodate and entertained therein at 
 the rate and expense of the other persons who are or shall be received 
 in, and entertained upon the former mortifications belonging to the 
 said Hospitall." 
 
 The special qualifications of the beneficiaries are thus declared : — 
 "That the patrons underwritten of this present mortification shall be 
 obbleidged to receive into the benefite thereof such persons, men or 
 women, qualified in manner foresaid. First, those of my own kindred, 
 friends or relatives upon father or mother side ; secondlie, those of my 
 own sirname of Alexander, who shall apply for the benefite thereof, 
 within the space of three score days next after any vacancies shall occur, 
 and that whether they be burgesses of Edinburgh or not ; and failzing 
 thereof, such indigent persones qualified in manner foresaid, as the said 
 patrons underwritten shall think fitt." 
 
 Then there follows a dispositive clause of certain specific securities 
 or debts, being the debts due by the Earl of Annandale and Sir James 
 Johnstone, estimated as amounting in all to 40,000 merks, " in favour 
 of the said Hospitall, and indigent persones foresaid, and of the said 
 John Miller, merchant in Edinburgh, present thesaurer of the said
 
 340 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 Hospital!, and his successors in the said office of the samen, and patrons 
 after specified as feoffees of trust and administrators for the use and 
 behove of the said Hospitall and indigent persones foresaid." 
 
 With reference to the investment of the sum mortified, it was pro- 
 vided "That how often and whensoever the somes of money above 
 mortified and disponed, or any part thereof, shall be uplifted by the 
 said John Miller, thesaurer, and his successors in office, thesaurers of 
 the said Hospitall, and patrons foresaid, they shall be bund and 
 obblidged, likeas by their acceptation hereof they for themselves, and 
 in name of their successors, bind and oblidge them and their successors 
 in the said offices, als oft of new agane, to secure, wair, bestow, and 
 employ the same upon sufficiente and well holdine land, or other good 
 and sufficient securitie, for annual rent, payable to the said thesaurer 
 of the said Hospitall and patrons thereof and their successors, in name 
 and behalf and for the use and behove of the said Hospitall and indigent 
 persones foresaid." 
 
 The patrons nominated by the deed were " The Right Honourable 
 the Lord Provost and Bailzies and Councell of Edinburgh and their 
 successors in office for the communitie thereof, and ministers of the said 
 burgh * present and to come ; " and the power of presentation to the 
 benefit of the mortification was conferred upon the patrons. 
 
 By the eik added by Mr Alexander of the same date, he mortified 
 another sum under the same conditions ; but as the additional amount 
 was never received from his debtors, it is unnecessary to make any 
 further allusion to it. 
 
 * At the date when this benefaction was made, the two ministers of Trinity College 
 Church were members of the Governing Body, who had charge of the afl'airs of the Hospital. 
 This state of matters continued down to 1729-30, when on the 12th day of March, Lord Islay, 
 in his Decree Arbitral, decreed as follows ; — " And finds, decerns, and declares, that the Council, 
 ordinary and extraordinary, have the sole power and right of governing the Trinity Hospital, 
 and cannot delegate the same to any other person or persons whatsoever." If then, the twelve
 
 THE ALEXANDER MORTIFICATION. 341 
 
 Mr Alexander, the truster, died in 1696. 
 
 The amount of the funds so bequeathed remained as a debt on the 
 original security of the Annandale estates until Lammas 1744, when it 
 was paid up. The sum then realised was £1725, 7s. Sgd. The debt of 
 Sir William Johnstone of Westerhall was not paid up until 1753, when 
 it amounted, exclusive of interest, to £544, 13s. Od. The two sums were 
 therefore £2270, Is. 8id. 
 
 No part of this money could have been mixed up with or applied 
 to the purchase of the estate of Dean. The entry of that purchase, 
 according to Professor Macpherson's Report is to the following effect : — 
 
 " 1739. — Part of the estate of Dean was purchased, and extensive 
 permanent improvements immediately executed, the whole at 
 a cost of (sterling) .... £4634, 13 11^." 
 
 This was the only purchase of importance made by the Governors 
 of the Hospital after the year 1700. The lands of Coatfield and 
 Quarryholes had been acquired antecedent to this. The estate of 
 Dean is now likely to become a very valuable one, one of the most 
 eligible in the near future for feuing purposes. The lands originally 
 purchased were at first called simply part of Dean estate. Sub- 
 sequently, however, a portion of it having been enclosed, it 
 received the name of " Dean Parks," and the remainder was called 
 "Blinkbonny." 
 
 It would appear, however, that the entry already referred to from 
 Professor Macpherson's Report was not quite accurate. The purchase of 
 the lands was made in 1734, and the whole improvements were com- 
 
 beneficiaries provided for in Mr Alexander's will were to be maintained within the Hospital 
 under the conditions provided for in his settlement, this of itself was a sufBcient reason for the 
 non-interference of the clergy. A mere desire, or whim of an individual donor, could not alter 
 the constitution of an old-established institution when the law was against the same, under tlie 
 charters of foundation and otherwise. This view appears to the writer not to have been so 
 strongly put before the Courts of Law as it might have been.
 
 342 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 pleted and the charges therefor approved of by a Committee of the 
 Governors, and paid for in 1738. The purchase was authorised to be 
 made for behoof of Trinity Hospital. The following were the special 
 funds which contributed to the purchase, viz. : — The Mortifications of 
 
 Charles Scherare, 
 
 Sir James M'Lurge, of Vogrie, 
 
 Lady Grizel Sempill, 
 
 William Brown, Dalgowrie, 
 
 George Watson, 
 
 John Wightman, of Mauldsl}', 
 
 John Hog, of Cambo, 
 
 Robert Murray, and 
 
 John Young. 
 
 No part of the funds of the Alexander Mortification could, there- 
 fore, be used for the purpose ; inasmuch as they were at that date 
 still invested in the original securities handed over by the representa- 
 tives of the truster, viz., the Annandale and Westerhall bonds. Not- 
 withstanding of the above facts, the Court of Session held that the 
 Alexander Fund was entitled to receive a proportionate share of 
 the increase of the value of the lands of Dean which had been 
 purchased out of Trinity Hospital Funds and not out of the Alex- 
 ander Funds. 
 
 The statement of the Corporation goes on to show how the 
 Alexander Funds were re-invested, after the original bonds were 
 realised. At the time permanent securities were not available. This 
 is frequently the case in everyone's experience, and never more so than 
 at the present time. If there was any intermixing of the Alexander 
 Funds with the Trinity Hospital revenues, it could only have dated 
 from the year when these became available to the trustees for re-invest- 
 ment. The investments made at the time are all detailed in Professor
 
 THE ALEXANDER MORTIFICATION. 343 
 
 Macpherson's Report and relative appendices, to which it would be 
 better to refer for details. 
 
 Part of the money seems to have been lent to the Corporation 
 itself. This the Town Council defended, as it was done at the time 
 in optima Jide, and as being quite usual at the time. They further 
 justified themselves in doing so, because the Imperial Parliament had 
 recently sanctioned the very principle which the Court of Session and 
 Professor Macpherson condemned. 
 
 The Court, following the judgment of the Lord President, having 
 decided that the Alexander Funds had got immixed with those of 
 Trinity Hospital, and that a count of reckoning of the same should 
 take place from 1700, based upon the increased value of the Dean 
 Parks estate, the Magistrates and Town Council, as advised by those 
 whom they had consulted, considered it to be a wholly illegal proposi- 
 tion. They contended that, in any circumstances, such a claim, if at 
 all legal, could not go further back than 1744 and 1753, when the 
 respective amounts of the two bonds were paid over to them. 
 
 The Town Council further considered that the Remit from the 
 House of Lords to the Court below did not contain any warrant for the 
 extended and costly enquiry which the latter had thought fit to direct. 
 The enquiry had embraced nearly three centuries of trust administra- 
 tion, involving accountability for a period of one hundred and seventy- 
 eight years. Such a principle was opposed to the practice of the Court 
 of Chancery, and to those principles which are applicable to the 
 jurisdiction of the Scottish as well as the English Courts in relation 
 to charities. 
 
 The statement for the Town Council pointed out that the Remit to 
 the Court of Session was an enquiry of a more limited nature : — viz., to 
 ascertain "of what the property of the said Hospital consists, and in 
 what manner the money received from the said Railway Company has
 
 344 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 been invested by the said defenders, and when such investments were 
 made, and what sums have been received for interest thereon, and by 
 whom and how such sums have been applied." There was thus no order 
 for an enquiry into past administration. It appeared to be a somewhat 
 strange way of describing an enquiry into the history and financial 
 administration of a charity for three hundred years, to call such a 
 statement " of what the property of the charity now consists." Several 
 cases in the English Courts were quoted by the learned counsel on 
 behalf of the Corporation's contentions. 
 
 Another point raised in the case was the proportion of the sexes 
 benefited. This is a matter, however, of detail ; and seems to be of 
 little importance. 
 
 A more important matter, however, was that the number of twelve 
 beneficiaries had not always been maintained in the house. The Town 
 Council's reply to this assertion was (1.) That the Alexander Fund did 
 not yield six per cent, as contemplated by the donor, and (2.) that the 
 cost of the maintenance of the immates gradually increased far beyond 
 the amount he had contemplated. 
 
 There are other questions of minor consideration set forth, to which 
 it does not seem requisite to allude. 
 
 The remaining question of consequence was that " the investments 
 were not taken in the names of those directed." This refers to the fact 
 that the ministers of Edinburgh never having accepted the trust, or 
 acted as trustees, were not named as trustees in the investment of the 
 funds, which were taken in the name of the Hospital treasurer. The 
 learned counsel on this point state that — Inasmuch as the Hospital 
 treasurer held these funds in trust for the charity, and as the amount 
 of the capital fund was always clearly defined, or easily ascertainable, 
 there is no force in this objection. 
 
 But the matter was also put in an alternative form, viz. : — "The
 
 THE ALEXANDER MORTIFICATION. 345 
 
 patronage had not been exercised by the persons on whom it was 
 bestowed." Against this, it was pleaded that the inaction of the 
 ministers of Edinburgh could not be made a ground of charge against 
 the Town Council, who undertook and discharged their trust. It was 
 a mere matter of assumption, for which there was no evidence, that the 
 ministers had the same means as any other trustees for ascertaining 
 the terms of Mr Alexander's will. 
 
 In regard to whether the ministers of Edinburgh should in future 
 be assumed, and which it was decided by the Court of Session in the 
 affirmative, — a reference was made to the case of Dundee {Bcdrd and 
 Others v. Tlie Magistrates of Dundee), where the decision of the House 
 of Lords was as follows : — "And this House doth declare, that having 
 regard to the length of time during which the Provost, Bailies, and 
 Council of the town of Dundee have had the administration, as the 
 trustees of the property arising from Johnstone's legacy, they, the 
 Provost, Bailies, and Town Council, ought to be taken and declared to 
 be the lawfully constituted trustees of the charity provided by the said 
 legacy." 
 
 The Town Council drew attention to the fact of the admitted usage 
 in favour of the Corporation's administration, and to the absence of any 
 claim on the part of the ministers to participate in the disposal of the 
 Alexander Mortification. They suggested that it was probable that it 
 was arranged, at the time, when the bequest accrued, that the ministers 
 should leave the care of this small endowment to the Magistrates and 
 Council. It may be kept in view that Mr Alexander left his money to 
 the Trinity Hospital Charity, and evidently intended that it should be 
 managed as part of that foundation. It would be very inconvenient to 
 the ministers of Edinburgh to be summoned to every meeting of the 
 Town Council, at which any business connected with the Trinity 
 Hospital was to be done. Not only would this be so, but if the trust 
 2x
 
 346 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 were strictly carried out, the ministers would be kept waiting while 
 the general business of the Trinity charity was being discussed, and 
 would be called in only to vote in the matter of the nomination of the 
 twelve pensioners amongst whom the proceeds of Alexander's legacy 
 were to be divided. Such an arrangement would most probably be 
 distasteful both to the Town Council and to the ministers. 
 
 Moreover the ministers of Edinburgh were a numerous body, not 
 fewer than thirteen in number, assuming that the words in the inter- 
 locutor " The ministers of the said city, present and to come," refer only 
 to the ministers of the old city churches ; while, if these words are 
 meant to include the whole ministers of the Established Church in 
 Edinburgh, their number would be upwards of thirty. It would be 
 extremely inconvenient to have so large a number of trustees, who 
 besides, would be continually changing by new appointments, deaths, 
 or removals. 
 
 It was further argued that a corporation is not bound to accept a 
 bequest or endowment on any terms. The terms of a bequest might be 
 such as to cause a corporation either to decline it, or to accept it only 
 on condition of some change in non-essential matters. Three cases in 
 the English Courts, in support of this contention, were referred to by 
 counsel. 
 
 It was stated, on behalf of the Town Council, that it was very 
 unlikely that their predecessors would have accepted the Alexander 
 bequest under the condition of admitting another class of corporators 
 into the administration of the charity ; and the usage which has followed 
 is, in their apprehension, evidence of an arrangement amounting to a 
 qualified acceptance on their part, an acceptance on the condition that 
 they should have the sole administration of the legacy. The objections 
 to a divided administration of the Trinity Hospital fund are as strong 
 still as they were at the time the bequest accrued.
 
 THE ALEXANDER MORTIFICATION. 347 
 
 The following were the reasons appended to the statement pre- 
 pared by the learned counsel : — 
 
 First. — Because the finding that the Alexander Fund amounting 
 to £2270, or thereby, has been immixed with the funds and 
 property of the Trinity Hospital from an early period down 
 to the present time, and must be held to have participated 
 proportionally with the said funds and property in the in- 
 crease of values of the aggregate funds and property between 
 the year 1700 and the year 1873, is without foundation in 
 fact. 
 
 Second. — Because the lands of Dean and Blinkbonny were pur- 
 chased and paid for prior to 1739, out of moneys of Trinity 
 Hospital, and not out of moneys of the Alexander Fund, which 
 was at that date wholly invested in the original bonds over 
 the Annandale and Westerhall estates, and consequently the 
 Alexander Fund is not entitled to any share in the increase 
 in the value of the lands of Dean and Blinkbonny. 
 
 Third. — Because the moneys belonging to the Alexander Fund 
 were not at any time invested in the purchase of land ; but, 
 on the contrary, were paid up by the original debtors, and 
 invested, along with certain other funds of the Trinity 
 Hospital, in securities or investments which can be traced ; 
 and, therefore, the Alexander Fund is not entitled to any 
 increase in value of any of the lands now held by the 
 Hospital, and purchased out of the Hospital funds, but 
 is entitled only to a proportionate share of the invest- 
 ments actually made with the moneys of the Alexander 
 Fund. 
 
 Fourth. — Because the ministers of Edinburgh are not now entitled, 
 after the long contrary usage, to claim a right to be joined as
 
 348 
 
 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 trustees in tlie administration of the Alexander Fund. And 
 it is not expedient that they should be so found. 
 The written pleadings in the case bear the names of 
 
 Edward E. Kay, Q.C. (now Lord Justice Sir E. E. Kay). 
 John M'Laren (afterwards Lord Advocate, and now Lord 
 
 M'Laren). 
 iEneas J. G. Mackay (Ex-Professor of History, and now 
 Sheriff of Fifeshire). 

 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 THE THIRD HOUSE OF LORDS CASE. 
 
 HEN the case of the Alexander Benefaction came to be 
 discussed before the House of Lords, on the 21st day of 
 July 1879, there were present 
 
 Lord Hatherley, as Lord Chancellor, 
 Lord Blackburn, and 
 Lord Gordon. 
 The learned counsel having been heard, it fell to Lord Blackburn 
 to deliver the leading opinion. It was to the following efiect : — 
 
 Lord Blackburn. — My Lords, — The Town Council of Edinburgh were the 
 administrators of Trinity Hospital, and as such held considerable funds before the 
 year 1696. In that year Mr James Alexander died, having previously made a 
 mortification to the Lord Provost and Town Council of Edinburgh and their successors 
 in ofla.ce, and the ministers of the said Burgh present and to come. The ministers at 
 that time did not take any steps to assert their right to join in administering this 
 mortification. The Council got possession of the funds, and from the time they did so 
 down to the making of the interlocutors appealed against, administered those funds as 
 if they had been mortified to them as administrators of the funds of Trinity Hospital. 
 
 349
 
 350 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 In a suit for the proper administration of the funds of Trinity Hospital, the 
 Court of Session had to decide a great many questions. Two and two only of their 
 decisions are now by this Appeal brought before this House : — 1. The Court of Session 
 decided that the funds of the Alexander Mortification ought to have been from the 
 beginning administered by the Council and the ministers and not by the Council alone, 
 and that notwithstanding the length of time during which a contrary practice had 
 prevailed, they could not sanction it in future ; and that the funds of that mortification 
 must be in future administered, in terms of the mortifier's trust, by the Council and the 
 ministers. 
 
 This was the first decision appealed against. I think none of your Lordships who 
 heard the argument doubted that the Court of Session could not have decided otherwise ; 
 and the counsel for the appellants were not able to urge anything substantial against 
 this decision. 
 
 But then, having determined that the Alexander Fund was to be administered 
 separately in future, there arose a question what was the fund which was to be so 
 administered. I do not think that I can state the point more briefly than is done by 
 the Lord President. He says : — " The funds left by Mr Alexander were invested in 
 particular securities, and those securities were not called up or changed until about the 
 middle of the last century, and we have distinct evidence of what the amount of the 
 fund was at that time. Now, if we proceeded upon the principle of a strict accounting 
 against the Magistrates here as trustees, of course the way of bringing out the balance 
 would be to charge them with this capital, as at the date when we find it in their 
 hands, and then charge them with the income as it accrued, and let them discharge 
 themselves the best way they could. But it rather appears to me that, in a case of 
 this kind, and looking to the nature of the trust and the way in which it was necessarily 
 administered, that would be too strict a principle of accounting ; and while I think it is our 
 undoubted duty to separate this Alexander Fund, and secure that it shall be administered 
 as a separate trust in all time coming, we may deal with bygones in a way more 
 favourable for the administrators of Trinity Hospital. The income of the fund has 
 apparently been spent, and it heis not been spent, so far as we can see, upon purposes 
 alien to the intentions and wishes of the founder. His wishes and intentions have 
 only been to a certain extent disregarded ; that is to say, the fund has not been in the 
 right hands of administration, and there has not been in the selection of the objects of 
 the bounty that order of preference which he desired. But still the fan- result of the 
 evidence appears to be that, at all events for a very long period, the income of the 
 Alexander Fund was bestowed upon poor and indigent persons of the kind generally
 
 THE THIRD HOUSE OF LORDS CASE. 351 
 
 here contemplated. It was employed, along with the income of the other funds of the 
 Ho.'ipital, generally, for such purposes ; and therefore I cannot see that there can be, 
 especially against a shifting body of trustees like the Magistrates and Town Council of 
 Edinburgh, any responsibility for the expenditure of that income. It is not alleged 
 that they appropriated this fund to their own purposes as individuals, or that they 
 appropriated it to the uses of the Corporation of the City of Edinburgh. If that 
 had been so, it would have raised a question of a very different kind. But that does 
 not appear to have been so, and therefore I incline to the opinion that, in so far as 
 regards the past income of this fund, there is no room for any accounting at all. 
 
 "But then the next question comes to be; — How are we to ascertain what sum 
 now in the hands of those trustees will adequately and fairly represent the capital 
 of the Alexander Fund 1 Now that is a question of some difficulty, but at the same 
 time I think it admits of a solution. We know that the Alexander Fund was invested 
 upon two bonds, as it was originally settled by the donor himself — the one upon the 
 Annandale estates for £1725, 17s. 8|d., and the other upon the Westerhall estates for 
 £544, 13s. of sterling money; for I am speaking now of the amount as converted 
 into sterling money and actually paid up in the course of last century. These two 
 sums amount together to £2270. Now the mortification was in the year 1695, and 
 it may certainly be assumed, without any great stretch, that that money came into 
 the hands of the Hospital trustees by the beginning of the last century, say in the 
 year 1700. Therefore they were possessed in 1700 of this capital sum as represent- 
 ing the Alexander Mortification. They were at the same time possessed of a very 
 considerable estate belonging to the Hospital, and it is not at all difiicult to ascertain 
 what the amount of that estate was. In that way we discover what was the relative 
 or comparative value of those two estates in the year 1700. But it is very apparent 
 upon the face of the report before us, and the abundant information which we have 
 on the subject, that this joint mixed estate, consisting to a large extent of the 
 funds and estate of the Hospital proper, but also to a more limited extent of 
 Alexander's Fund, has largely increased in amount and value between the year 
 1700 and the present day. Now it seems to me that this estate so jointly 
 administered having greatly increased in value between these two dates, the 
 Alexander Fund must be entitled to participate in that prosperity. Thus, suppos- 
 ing that in 1700 the estate of the Hospital proper amounted to £10,000 in value, 
 and the Alexander Fund to £2000 in value, making together £12,000, but that 
 at the present day the joint estate, as it appears in the hands of the administrators, 
 amounts to £50,000 in value, then that £50,000 must be apportioned between
 
 352 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL. 
 
 the same funds in the same proportion that they bore to each other in the year 
 1700, that is as 10 to 2. I am taking the figures I have mentioned as entirely 
 suppositious, not supposing they represent the entire value by any means. On 
 the contrary the value as we see is very much greater. Now there may be some 
 little difficulty in adjusting the precise way in which this result is to be brought 
 about." He then proceeds to give various directions as to what was to be done 
 in ascertaining the amount, which I need not further notice. 
 
 No other way was suggested at the Bar in which the fund, if the two were 
 inextricably mixed up, could be apportioned except that of taking the proportion 
 which the two funds bore to each other and dividing the mixed fund in that 
 proportion, and I cannot myself see any other way. But it was argued that the 
 two funds were not inextricably mixed up, and the point which the appellants' 
 counsel made was fairly raised by the facts as to the purchase of the Dean 
 estate. It appears that the Town Council in 1734 purchased this estate for 
 £3675. In course of time that estate has become part of the Town of Edinburgh, 
 and is now worth a very large sum of money, and this has been a very profitable 
 investment. At dates subsequent to 1734, they invested funds in City Bonds, and 
 the City having become insolvent and compounded with its creditors, this has been 
 a losing investment. 
 
 The decision of the Court of Session is that the investments are to be taken 
 as made for the mixed funds, and that on the figures supposed by the Lord 
 President, the Alexander Fund is entitled to two-twelfths of the profit made by 
 the profitable investment in the Dean estate, and is to bear two-twelfths of the 
 loss on the unprofitable investments in City Bonds. And the result of that will 
 be that in administering the Alexander Fund the administrators will have the 
 management of a very considerably larger sum than what the testator Alexander 
 had and mortified in 1695. The contention of the appellants is, that the invest- 
 ment in the Dean estate is to be considered as made exclusively for the benefit 
 of Trinity Hospital, and that the Alexander Fund wiU have no share in the 
 profitable investment, but will have to bear a share of the loss on the subsequent 
 investments, so that the fund now to be administered as the Alexander Fund 
 will be less than what the mortifier left in 1695. This is a result which does 
 not at the first view seem so fair and just as that produced by the decision of 
 the Court of Session. 
 
 In order to understand the grounds on which their argument is based, it is 
 necessary to examine what the facts were. The testator Alexander left in 1696
 
 THE THIRD HOUSE OF LORDS CASE 353 
 
 the funds available for his mortification invested in two bonds. The administrators 
 of Trinity Hospital, by usurpation, became possessed of the control of both those 
 bonds before 1734, and they in fact received the interest on those bonds and 
 mixed the interest thus received with the revenue which they received from the 
 property of Trinity Hospital, and from that mixed revenue defrayed the expenses 
 which they incurred for the whole charity, without making any distinction what- 
 ever as to whether those expenses were incurred for objects proper under the 
 terms of the Alexander Mortification, or for purposes proper under the Trinity 
 Hospital charity only. This is clearly proved by the account for the year 1722, 
 which was in process, though not printed, and which was produced at the Bar 
 during the argument. No doubt this was wrong ; but, as pointed out by the 
 Lord President in the passage I have read, these purposes were not alien to 
 each other, and, though wrong, this was not a wrong like what it would have 
 been if they had appropriated it to their own purposes. But though they treated 
 the funds as one, the two bonds remained in specie just as Alexander left them, 
 not called up. 
 
 When the Council bought the Dean estate in 1739, they gave directions to their 
 Treasurer to pay for it, and for that purpose to uplift some securities, including the 
 bond over Westraw for £544, 13s. Od. which was one of the bonds left by Alexander. 
 Nothing could more clearly prove that in making the investment the Council were 
 (as far as intention went) intending to make an investment for the behoof of the 
 whole mixed fund, which they, improperly it is true, treated as one fund. But 
 the Treasurer did not follow these instructions. In his account, after showing what 
 the whole disbursements in paying for the Dean estate and improvements on it 
 had been, and that there remained a balance of £465, 18s. 5d. unpaid, he adds 
 this: — "Tho' the Accomptant was authorized by the Council to upUft £544, 13s. Od. 
 St. contd. in Sir James Johnstone's heritable bond to the hospital to replace the above 
 charge, which, as it was well secured, and the interest duly paid, he judged it more 
 for the interest of the hospital to uplift only the sum due by Mr John and Mr 
 Charles Cockburn, their bond being £200 stg., and the meantime to advance the rest 
 himself, £200, Os. Od. Balance due to him on acct. of the inclosing, £265, 18s. 5d." 
 Consequently the two bonds remained in specie not called up for some years 
 later. 
 
 The argument founded on this was that as the bonds remained in specie and 
 earmarked as it were, and as it appeared that the estate of Dean was in fact paid 
 for out of funds originally belonging to Trinity Hospital and uplifted for that 
 2y
 
 354 TRINITY COLLEGE AND TRINITY HOSPITAL, 
 
 purpose, it followed as a matter of law that, whatever the Council intended, the 
 funds must be followed, and that the Dean estate belonged exclusively to Trinity 
 Hospital. According to this reasoning, if the Treasurer had obeyed his instructions, 
 the Alexander Fund would have been entitled to share in the Dean estate in the 
 proportion which £544, 13s. Od. bore to the whole cost. As he did not, they are 
 to Lave no share in it. 
 
 This makes the question depend entirely on an accident, and is not a satisfactory 
 result ; still if the law was settled that it was so, we must follow it. But I do not 
 tliink there is any case, either in England, or Scotland, in which such a question has 
 been raised. No doubt when the question has been whether those who represented 
 the trust could claim property on the ground that it was procured by trust funds 
 which they had a right to follow, the identity of the fund is all-important. But 
 such a case as the present as to an investment has never, that I can find, been 
 raised. 
 
 In Pennell v. Duffell (4 De Gex, Macnaghten and Gordon, 372) it might have 
 been raised, but those entitled to the different estates which then were proved to be 
 jointly entitled to the fund very sensibly settled the proportions in which they were 
 entitled without going to law about it. 
 
 Being therefore, as I think it is, a new question, it must be settled on principles 
 of justice. Speaking for myself alone, I should have had great difficulty in deciding 
 this case if it had come before me as sitting in the Court of Session. I doubt whether 
 I should have had acuteness enough to discover the mode in which the Court of Session 
 have solved the difficulty. But they have solved it in a way perfectly consistent with 
 justice and good sense, and not inconsistent with any technical rule of law, and no 
 other solution has been suggested which would be so satisfactory. I certainly, therefore, 
 am not prepared to advise your Lordships to reverse the judgment below, especially 
 seeino- that I am not prepared to advise your Lordships to adopt any other rule. 
 
 I move therefore, that the interlocutors below should be affirmed and the Appeal 
 dismissed, with costs. 
 
 The judgment of the Appellate Court was as follows : — 
 "Interlocutors appealed from, affirmed; and Appeal dismissed, with 
 costs." 
 
 At this point terminates the historical part of the Trinity College 
 and Trinity Hospital. It must be referred to another volume to deal
 
 THE THIRD HOUSE OF LORDS CASE 
 
 355 
 
 with the new scheme of administration which was adopted, based on 
 the interlocutor of the Court of Session of date February 3, 1880. The 
 second Volume will also comprise the voluminous Eeport of Professor 
 Macpherson, with the valuable information therein conveyed ; as well 
 as the various answers and replies of the Town Council in regard to 
 the said Report, so long as it was a matter of discussion between the 
 Lords of Council and Session on the one hand and the Lord Provost, 
 Magistrates, and Town Council, as the administrators of the Trinity 
 Hospital charity, on the other. 
 
 'i^
 
 INDEX. 
 
 A. 
 
 Accommodation of inmates, 137. 
 
 Acts of Parliament, 45, 58, 83. 
 
 Adam, Dr Walter, 20.5. 
 
 Agreement with North British Railway Company 
 
 as to Trinity College Church, 169, 240. 
 Albany, Duke of, 147. 
 Alexander Mortification, 314. 
 
 Account of, 323-356. 
 
 Origin of, 338. 
 
 Allowances to inmates, 137. 
 
 Altar-piece of the Collegiate Church, 198. 
 
 Ane Auld Prophecie be Merlyne or Thomas of 
 
 Erceldoune (in black letter), 207. 
 Ane BaUat of Olde Queue MoU {in black letter), 
 
 209. 
 Annandale, Earl of, 338-9. 
 Annuity Tax, 132, 159, 218-230. 
 Antiquaries, Society of, 189-195, 205. 
 Ardmillan, Lord, 237. 
 Argyle, Earl of, 50, 51. 
 Amot's History, 302. 
 Athrogle, Hospital of, 4, 
 
 B. 
 
 Ballantine, James, 203. 
 Beneficiaries' Law Plea, 231-257. 
 Beidmen, 4, 7, 23, 45, 48, 84, 85, 86, 98. 
 Beidwomen, 98. 
 
 Black, Adam, 164, 166, 275, 277. 
 Blackburn, Lord, 277, 349. 
 Blackfriars Monastery, 34, 38, 60. 
 Blinkbonny, 179, 341, 347. 
 Botanic Gardens, 20. 
 
 Boncle, Sir Edward, first Provost of the College, 
 
 17, 199. 
 Brady, John, Provost, 27. 
 Brown, William, Dalgowrie, 342. 
 Burgesses, 143, 302, 303. 
 Burgh Records, 40, 41. 
 Bulls, Papal. {See Papal Bulls.) 
 
 Caiens, Sir H., 258-270. 
 
 Cant, Alan, 2. 
 
 Carcase and the eagles, 297. 
 
 Cassels, Bailie, 227. 
 
 Catechising in Scotland, 139. 
 
 Catholic Apostolic Church, 158. 
 
 Chambers, Lord Provost, 321. 
 
 Charity Workhouse, 131. 
 
 Charles I., 64, 76. 
 
 Charters, 4, 27, 35, 38, 42, 53, 65, 56, 57, 59, 64, 
 
 76, 79-81. 
 Chelmsford, Lord, 267, 288. 
 Choiristers or Clerks, 4, 7. 
 Church lands and revenues. Claim by" the clergy, 
 
 297. 
 Church, Original, 8-18. 
 
 partially destroyed, 51. 
 
 Church, Trinity CoUege, 145-160. 
 
 Clephane v. The Magistrates and Council, 232. 
 
 {See Hume v. Magistrates and Council. ) 
 Clothing of inmates, 137, 141. 
 Coatfield, 179. 
 Cockbum, Lord, 141. 
 Collegiate Buildings, Site of, 18. 
 Colonsay, Lord, 294. 
 Commissioners of Police, Abolition of, 229. 
 
 2Z 
 
 357
 
 358 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Cranworth, Lord, 266. 
 Cunningham, Rev. William, 158. 
 Currie, Vicarage of, 58, 62, 66. 
 Curror, David, 305. 
 
 Dabien Scheme, 103, 132. 
 Dean, Lands of, 179, 341, 347. 
 Dean of Guild, 133. 
 Dean, The, 27, 28. 
 Denominational jealousy, 219. 
 Dick, Professor, 231, 279. 
 Dickson, William, 71. 
 Difficulty of the situation, 218, 230. 
 Dingwall Castle, 57, 65. 
 Dingwall, John, 31. 
 Disruption, The, 219. 
 Dominican Friars, 36, 65, 74. 
 
 Nuns, 68. 
 
 Doubleyowe, Maister D., 207. 
 Dumbarney, Vicarage of, 58. 
 
 Church of, 66. 
 
 Dunnottar Church, 27, 28, 29. 
 
 E. 
 
 Eglinton, Countess of, 97, 203. 
 
 Fairie Queene (Spencer's), 23. 
 
 Fairly, James, 154. 
 
 Food for inmates, 137. 
 
 Forglen's Park, 304. 
 
 Forrester, Bailie, 227. 
 
 Forrester i'. The Magistrates and Council, etc., 238. 
 
 Interlocutor by First Division of Court of 
 
 Session, 253. 
 
 Appeal to House of Lords, 258. 
 
 Decision of House of Lords, 272. 
 
 Foundation of Trinity College and Hospital, 1, 
 
 Franciscans, 36, 65, 74. 
 
 Fruit and Vegetable Market, 168. 
 
 FuUartoun, Bailie Adam, 42, 51. 
 
 Funerals, Allowances for, 142. 
 
 Fyfe, BaiHe, 227, 298. 
 
 G. 
 
 Gairdneb, Andrew, 105, 134. 
 Geddes, Jenny, 153. 
 Gifford, Lord, 237. 
 Gild Courts, 77. 
 
 Golden Charter, 59. 
 
 Goodsir, Professor John, 191, 196, 204. 
 
 Gordon, Baron, of Drumearn, 349. 
 
 Gordon's View of the City, 31. 
 
 Grant, James, 148. 
 
 Greig v. Magistrates and Council. (See Parochial 
 
 B'lard's Claim.) 
 Greyfriars Monastery, 11, 50. 
 Gueldres, Mary of. (See Mary of Gueldres.) 
 Guise, Mary of. (See Mary of Guise.) 
 
 H. 
 
 Hamilton, Lady Jane, 97. 
 
 Hangandshaw, Lands of, 4. 
 
 Hannay, Dean, 153. 
 
 Hatherley, Lord Chancellor, 283, 349. 
 
 Hay, Sir John, 77. 
 
 Heriot's Hospital, 103, 182-185. 
 
 Hertford, Duke of, 49. 
 
 High Riggs, 131. 
 
 Hog, John of Cambo, 342. 
 
 Holyrood Abbey, 50, 51. 
 
 Hospitallers, 85. 
 
 Hume V. Magistrates and Council, etc., 233. 
 
 Interlocutor by Lord Ordinary, 237. 
 
 Appeal, 238. 
 
 Judgment by First Division of Court of 
 
 Session, 254. 
 
 Appeal to the House of Lords, 258. 
 
 Decision of the House of Lords, 272. 
 
 Applicationof House of Lords' Judgment, 281. 
 
 Decision by Court of Session, 281. 
 
 Second Appeal to House of Lords, 282. 
 
 Judgment of House of Lords, 296. 
 
 Petition presented to the Court of Session for 
 
 applying House of Lords' Judgment, 312. 
 
 Remit to Professor Macpher.son, 312. 
 
 Professor Macpherson's Report, 313. 
 
 Second Remit to Professor Macpherson, 315. 
 
 ■ Intimation to Lord Advocate, 316. 
 
 Second Report by Professor Macpherson, 316. 
 
 Third Report by Professor Macpherson, 317. 
 
 Third Remit to Professor Macpherson, 319. 
 
 Fourth Report by Professor Macpherson, 319. 
 
 Third Appeal to the House of Lords, 320. 
 
 Judgment by House of Lords, 354. 
 
 Indulgences, 26, 30. 
 
 Infirmary, Royal, 132. 
 
 Inglis, Lord President, 154, 182, 184, 246, 323. 
 
 Inglis, Rev. Dr John, 182. 
 
 Inmates of Hospital, 99, 100, 131, 136. 
 
 Inmates of Hospital, First, 93.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 359 
 
 Insubordination, 95. 
 Irving, Rev. Edward, 156. 
 Irvingites, 158. 
 Islay, Lord, 340. 
 Ivory, Lord, 245, 255. 
 
 James I., 46. 
 
 James II., 12, 46, 195. 
 
 James III., 2, 25, 29, 46, 195, 198. 
 
 James IV., 29, 46. 
 
 James V 29 46. 
 
 James VI., 38, 42, 43, 45, 59, 64. 77. 
 
 Jeffrey, Lord, 139. 
 
 Johnstone, Sir James, 338-9. 
 
 Johnston, Sir William, 341. 
 
 K. 
 
 KiBK of Field, 34, 35, 51, 66. 
 Kirk Treasurer, 90. 
 Knox, John, 33. 
 
 Lady Glenorchy's Church, 19. 
 Lampetlaw, Church of, 4, 65. 
 Laing, Dr David, 190, 198, 203. 
 Law proceedings, 231-296, 312, 355. 
 Leith, Superiority of, 63. 
 Leith Wynd, 55, 69. 
 Lennox, Duchess of, 96, 203. 
 Lessels, John, 321. 
 Lords of Session, 46. 
 Lothian, Archdeaconry of, 62. 
 
 M. 
 
 Mail Coaches, 162. 
 
 Maisons Dieu, 24. 
 
 Maitland's History, 47, 55, 72, 302. 
 
 Mary of Gueldres, 1, 2, 11, 12, 13, 186-201. 
 
 A Surprise and what it led to, 202-217. 
 
 Mary of Guise, 50. 
 
 Mary Queen of Scots, 34, 35, 38, 41. 
 
 Middle Ages, 32. 
 
 Miller, John, 340. 
 
 Ministers, Collegiate, from 1597 to 1782, 155. 
 
 Ministers of Trinity College Church since it be- 
 came a single charge, 156-160. 
 
 Minorites, 36, 65, 47. 
 
 Moncrieff, Church of, 67. 
 
 Municipal Corporations, Report of Commissioners 
 appointed to enquire into the state of, 182. 
 
 Murray, Regent, 42, 45. 
 Murray, Robert, 342. 
 M'CoU, David, 72. 
 M 'Large, Sir James of Vogrie, 342. 
 Macpherson, Professor Norman, 90, 100, 184, 312, 
 313. 
 
 N. 
 
 North British Railway, 161-169. 
 
 Agreement with, for sum of money in lieu of 
 
 obligation in reference to the church, 169, 240. 
 
 O. 
 
 Officials of College and Hospital. (Sec under 
 
 Qualification.) 
 Old Physic Gardens, 20, 168. 
 Origin of Trinity College and Hospital, 1. 
 Orphan Hospital, 135. 
 
 P. 
 
 Papal Bulls, 1, 13, 16, 24. 
 Parish of Trinity College, 56, 149. 
 Parochial Board's Claim, 299. 
 
 Opinion of Council thereon, 306. 
 
 Agreement for settlement, 308. 
 
 Parochins, Town divided into four, 150. 
 
 Paul's Work. (See St Paul's Work.) 
 
 Physic Gardens, Old. [See Old Physic Gardens.) 
 
 Plans of original buildings, 18. 
 
 Pont, Robert, 53, 54, 55, 86, 87, 88, 89. 
 
 Poorshouse, 131. 
 
 Pope, His Holiness Clement VII., Letter from 
 
 the King, 30. 
 Pope Leo X., 68. 
 Potie, Church of, 67. 
 Preaching friars, 36, 65, 74. 
 Prebendaries, 4, 5, 7, 8, 27, 45, 89. 
 Preston, Sir Simon, 41, 43, 44, 55. 
 Prophecie, Ane auld, 207. 
 Protestant Faith, Articles of, 47. 
 Provost, 4, 5, 8, 45, 86, 155. 
 Provost and the Coal Bunker (poem), 214. 
 
 Q. 
 
 Qualificatioks and duties of officials of College 
 
 and Hospital, 9. 
 Quarry holes, 179. 
 
 R. 
 
 Ramsay, Professor Andrew, 154. 
 Re-burial of M<iry of Gueldres, 186-201. 
 Reformation, Th», 32, 47.
 
 360 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 the affairs of the 
 {See Hume.) 
 
 Regent Bridge, 182. 
 Regulations for Beidmen, 48. 
 Regulations for conducting 
 
 Hospital, 92, 108-130. 
 Reid !'. Magistrates and Council 
 Religious houses, 22. 
 Religious services, 96, 99, 139. 
 Revenues of the Hospital, 174. 
 RoUok, Henty, 154. 
 Eoxburghe Castle, Siege of, 12. 
 
 S. 
 
 St Andrews, Chancellor of the Church and 
 
 Diocese of, 2, 10, 26. 
 St GOes' Church, 50, 67, 153. 
 St Katharine of Sienna, 68. 
 St Ninian's Chapel, 18. 
 St Paul's Work, 68, 73, 304, 305, 308. 
 Sale of the Church and Hospital buildings, 161, 
 
 173. 
 Satire on the edifice (poem), 213. 
 Scherare, Charles, 342. 
 Schevez, WiUiam, 69. 
 Sciennes, Nunnery of, 68. 
 Sempill, Lady Grizel, 342. 
 Seytoun, Ladye, 68. 
 Simpson, Professor Sir J. Y., 203, 204. 
 Site for new Church, difficulty regarding, 225-230, 
 
 321. 
 
 Proceedings before Sheriff, 240. 
 
 Agreement with Railway Company, 160, 240. 
 
 Soltray, Hospital of, 1, 2, 3, 4, 65. 
 Spence, Bishop of Aberdeen, 69. 
 Spital, 24. 
 
 Spottiswoode, Archbishop, 153. 
 Statutes. {See Res^lations.) 
 Steven, Rev. Dr, 159, 187, 205. 214, 234. 
 Stothert, Rev. Mr, 24. 
 
 Tait, Rev. Walter, 156, 158. 
 Town Council, enlargement of, 229. 
 Trotter, David, 72. 
 Tyry, John of, 2, 3. 
 
 XJ. 
 
 Utherogall. {See Athrogle.) 
 
 W. 
 
 Wallace, Dr, 159. 
 
 Watson, Baron, 305. 
 
 Watson, George, 342. 
 
 Waverley Market, 169. 
 
 Wemyss, Rectory of, 4. 
 
 Westbury, Lord Chancellor, 259, 290. 
 
 Wightman, John of Mauldsly, 342. 
 
 Wilson, Sir Daniel, 50, 148, 186, 187, 190, 194, 
 
 198, 200. 
 Woollen Manufactures, 71. 
 Writs of the Hospital, 103. 
 
 y^ 
 
 Y. 
 
 YonNG, Lord, 237. 
 Young, John, 342. 
 
 COLSTON AND COMPANY, LIMITED, PRINTERS, EDINBURGH. 
 
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